Magnus Carlsen Quotations

I honestly don't read that much. Obviously I read chess books - in terms of favorites, Kasparov's 'My Great Predecessors' is pretty good.

I got the travel bug when I was quite young. My parents took me and my sisters out of school and we travelled all over Europe. It was an eye-opening experience and, although I love Norway, I also enjoy visiting new countries. I don't get homesick.

I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up.

I've never been much of a computer guy at least in terms of playing with computers. Actually until I was about 11 I didn't use a computer for preparing for games at all. Now, obviously, the computer is an important tool for me preparing for my games. I analyze when I'm on the computer, either my games or my opponents. But mostly my own.

One of the things that first attracted me to chess is that it brings you into contact with intelligent, civilized people - men of the stature of Garry Kasparov, the former world champion, who was my part-time coach.

Right now I'm really happy with how things are going with my chess career, so I'm not thinking of doing anything else.

People ask what my goal is. I don't have a goal.

Once you're a chess player, you spend a lot of time thinking about the game and you can't get it completely out of your head.

Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's okay to lose. I don't. You have to be merciless.

I don't look at computers as opponents. For me it is much more interesting to beat humans.

My former coach, Simen Agdestein, used to be the best player in Norway.

If you want to get to the top, there's always the risk that it will isolate you from other people.

I get more upset at losing at other things than chess. I always get upset when I lose at Monopoly.

It's easy for me to get along with chess players. Even though we are all very different, we have chess in common.

I started by just sitting by the chessboard exploring things. I didn't even have books at first, and I just played by myself. I learnt a lot from that, and I feel that it is a big reason why I now have a good intuitive understanding of chess.

Maybe if I didn't have the talent in chess I'd find the talent in something else. The only thing I know is that I have talent in chess, and I'm satisfied with that.

It's just not my nature to go around idolizing people.

I enjoy hiking and skiing, like most Norwegians. In winter, there will be snow for months on end. In the summer, there are the long evenings to enjoy.

I was lucky enough to attend schools where they were understanding about when I needed to go abroad to play chess. Of course, socially it is important to go to school and interact with people your own age.

My father, a fine chess player himself, has been a massive influence throughout my life.

Without the element of enjoyment, it is not worth trying to excel at anything.

Chess only appeals to quite a small minority. It does not have the cachet of a mainstream popular sport.

It's nice to be financially secure. Apart from that, I really don't care too much about money.

Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's OK to lose. I don't. You have to be merciless.

What I admired most about him [Bobby Fischer] was his ability to make what was in fact so difficult look easy to us. I try to emulate him.

Of course, analysis can sometimes give more accurate results than intuition but usually it’s just a lot of work. I normally do what my intuition tells me to do. Most of the time spent thinking is just to double-check.

Self-confidence is very important. If you don't think you can win, you will take cowardly decisions in the crucial moments, out of sheer respect for your opponent. You see the opportunity but also greater limitations than you should. I have always believed in what I do on the chessboard, even when I had no objective reason to. It is better to overestimate your prospects than underestimate them.

You need to have that edge, you need to have that confidence, you need to have that absolute belief that you’re the best and that you’ll win every time.

I am trying to beat the guy sitting across from me and trying to choose the moves that are most unpleasant for him and his style.

All I expect are wins and to get pleasure from the game. And if someone thinks something about me, if someone's dissatisfied with something... that's not my headache. I hope someday I'll become World Champion - and I'll make all these people happy. But even if for some reason that doesn't happen it won't stop me getting pleasure from chess. I'm sure of that.

You have to choose the move that feels right sometimes; that's what intuition is.

I don't think there is a thing like overconfidence in chess. It's always better to be too confident than too reluctant.

There wasn't any particular player I modeled my game after. I tried to learn from everyone and create my own style. I studied past players. Truth be told I never had a favorite player. It's just not my nature to go around idolizing people. I just go try to learn.

I learnt an enormous amount, but there came a point where I found there was too much stress. It was no fun any more. Outside of the chessboard I avoid conflict, so I thought this wasn't worth it.

The Nanjing games are homework by Garry Kasparov and me, [...] Today's game was provided by Garry.

Contrary to many young Colleagues, I do believe that it makes sense to study the Classics.

I don't consider myself a particularly young chess player. I have been playing in the best tournaments in the world since I was 16 years old. In other sports, if you have been playing for seven years, you are not a young prodigy any more. You're one of the pros.

Unfortunately I'm still not a fashion expert.

I played like a child.

For me right now I think being the world number one is a bigger deal than being the world champion because I think it shows better who plays the best chess. That sounds self-serving but I think it's also right.

I feel sorry for players who are always lying awake at night, brooding over their games.

I really enjoy the experience of playing humans. The psychological game is so much more important.

I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.

I can’t count the times I have lagged seemingly hopelessly far behind, and nobody except myself thinks I can win. But I have pulled myself in from desperate [situations]. When you are behind there are two strategies - counter-attack or all men to the defences. I’m good at finding the right balance between those.

Not winning a tournament is not an option for me, unless it's no longer theoretically possible - then of course winning becomes impossible. But up to that point, not winning is just not an option.

I'm not really into rap.