Magnus Carlsen about his game with Naroditsky, “It is a fascinating position”
The first interview with Magnus Carlsen after he becomes a dad is by Sagar Shah from Chessbase India, right before the start of Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown 2025. Carlsen talks about how he feels about being a dad, his expectations for the tournament
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The Chessbase India team had prepared two positions on the board for Carlsen. The first was his very first game in the Saint Louis Chess Club against Kamsky.
The second position was from a game of Carlsen vs Daniel Naroditsky. Magnus said, “This I saw online just the other day. […] I also remember playing it, I blundered a rook early on and came back in the game. It is a fascinating position really, three pairs of doubled pawns.”
Carlsen had some nice words to add, “What is interesting about Naroditsky is that he had a style very different from mine. So I generally do well in faster formats, unless I somehow get mated. And that’s what was interesting about Naroditsky, he was able to drum up attacks out of nothing. And he would quite often checkmate me. For me that clash of style was extremely interesting.”
Magnus Carlsen on Daniel Naroditsky, “It’s a great loss. It’s very sad for all of us”