Magnus wants some fun!

Twenty-one-year-old Magnus Carlsen, the highest-rated player in the world, hates to lose.

It’s not an unusual mindset for a successful chess player or athlete.

It puts him in the same class as Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky and Garry Kasparov, each a former world champion — a title that Carlsen is likely to achieve.

To a certain extent, chess was a grim business when the older champions played. Winning was not only important; it was almost everything.

Carlsen is more relaxed. He approaches each game with a sense of fun and discovery.

“The result’s always important, of course, but I’m talking about getting pleasure from the game,” he recently told ChessProjournalist Evgeny Atarov.

He seeks out unconventional and unclear positions for the challenge and enjoyment they offer.

When he was 12 or 13, he recalled, people were already praising his talent. But he hardly noticed.

“I basically wasn’t bothered if I’d become a strong player or not. I simply played and enjoyed it.”

Sensing that he is fearlessly ready to play with great energy till the game has exhausted its possibilities, his opponents are often intimidated.

They consequently seem to make more mistakes than they would against other grandmasters.

Source: http://www.dispatch.com