Magnus Carlsen Says Years Of Experience Gave Him A “Very Good Natural Feeling” For Chess

Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players in history, has revealed that chess did not come naturally to him when he first learned the game as a child.

The Norwegian grandmaster said it took time before he developed a deep interest in chess and began studying it extensively on his own.

“It took a little bit of time, and then I started studying it a lot on my own. Eventually, it became my thing,” Carlsen said in an interview with Firstpost.

The 35-year-old said players can have different strengths, with some possessing a greater natural ability to calculate positions quickly. For him, however, years of competition and study have built an instinctive understanding of the game.

“There are others who are kind of quicker in their calculations,” Carlsen said, adding that his experience had developed a “very, very good natural feeling” for chess.

Carlsen also revisited his viral table-banging reaction against D Gukesh during Norway Chess last year. The outburst came during a tournament that had otherwise gone almost perfectly for the Norwegian.

Carlsen said he was particularly frustrated because a victory would have given him a second win over Gukesh, the reigning world champion.

“It was pure despair,” he recalled, admitting the viral moment was “not my proudest moment” and saying his fiercely competitive nature contributed to the reaction.

Away from chess, Carlsen also spoke about fatherhood. He and wife Ella Victoria welcomed their first child in September last year. He said the reduced sleep in the early months sometimes affected him at tournaments, but fatherhood also made losses easier to accept.

“Because there’s always someone smiling at you at home,” he said.

Carlsen's next event is the Carlsen Chess Challenge in Oslo from September 19 to 24, followed by the London Classic from November 15 to 24.