Magnus Carlsen recently took a lie detector test and also played chess simultaneously. (PHOTO: Screengrab courtesy Chess dot com)
Magnus Carlsen, arguably the world’s greatest chess player, recently took on a new challenge: answering questions about his chess career and his personal life while being strapped to a lie-detector.
Asking Carlsen questions and playing chess against him simultaneously was chess commentator GM David Howell. In the video, posted by Chess dot com on Tuesday, Carlsen is asked plenty of tough and potentially awkward questions. While the duo asked each other questions, Orjan Hesjedal, a polygraph examiner, interprets whether the replies are true or false.
In the video, Carlsen is asked whether he regrets walking away from the World Chess Championship title, where the World No 1 says he doesn’t. Hesjedal confirms that the reading suggests this is true.
The video was shot before India’s 17-year-old prodigy, D Gukesh, won the Candidates chess tournament. But when Carlsen is asked later on in the video whether he believes world champion Ding Liren will be able to defend his title against whoever wins the Candidates tournament, Carlsen says “no”.
After outwitting Ian Nepomniachtchi in a nerve-wracking World Chess Championship encounter last year, China’s Ding Liren has not played in too many events. But in whatever events he ended up playing, he has appeared shaky and vulnerable. At the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T event, which is backed by Carlsen, Ding finished last in the eight-man field.
Grandmaster D. Gukesh of India during his Round 14 match against Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura of USA at the FIDE Candidates 2024 chess tournament, in Toronto, Canada, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (PTI Photo via FIDE/Michal Walusza)
At the Tata Steel Masters event in Wijk aan Zee, Ding had ended up ninth in a 14-player field with two wins, including over Gukesh, and three defeats, including against Praggnanandhaa R.
When Magnus Carlsen cried after a game of chess
In the Chess dot com video, the Norwegian is asked a few personal questions, like whether he is a romantic person, whether he’s ever tried to psych out a player during a game, and the most embarrassing moments from his career. He says: “I’ve peed my pants, spilt water over the board, I’ve knocked over pieces and I have pressed the clock without making a move because I thought the opponent had pressed the clock without making a move. It’s a long list.”
The Norwegian GM also admits to crying “many times” after a game of chess.
“The last time I can remember was at the London Candidates in 2013,” Carlsen says.
The World No 1 is also asked if he has kids in the future, whether he would teach his kids chess and encourage them to have a career in the sport. To this, Carlsen admits very honestly: “I would teach my kids chess, but I would not encourage them to play professionally.”
While Hesjedal says that the Carlsen is “not sure about the answer, the grandmaster elaborates: “I think becoming one of the best chess players in the world is not easy. There are other areas where you could be worse at something and have an easier life.”
