What makes Magnus Carlsen so good at chess | GothamChess and Lex Fridman

Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

GUEST BIO:
Levy Rozman, also known as GothamChess, is a professional chess player, streamer, and educator.

PODCAST INFO:

SOCIAL:

[snipzmattio]

When Magnus plays weird move he is a 'genius' and a 'chess prodigy'; but when i do it i get called and idiot and 400 elo

[TheChessNeck]

"They have to swim on their own" that was a cool quote. Like Magnus is taking them to the depths where you really need to know how to swim well.

[rightwing]

Levy is very good at explaining the nuts and bolts of the game. Not just, “if he takes here then I will recapture, blah blah.”

[miroslavstankov]

Magnus is simply on another level, in a league of his own.

[QNoland]

My dad played Levi in Dallas 2 years ago (or maybe it was Vegas). Had a drawn position but lost it (my dad is trying to make master at 60 years old). He’s about 2100 right now. Quit for a long, long time in his “prime”, before computers came and changed the chess game. Levi was kind enough to go over the game 2 years ago with my dad. A rare thing when an IM beats an expert. Very down to earth guy

[igormorais]

Carlsen has an eidetic chess memory, as well as just being a creative genius. It's hard to beat someone with either of those things, he's the greatest at both.

[rudolphschmidt]

It's incredibly rare to see a champion dominate his sport so much as magnus has. Especially when there's as much competition in the sport as there is.

[apocalypseap]

I think the real problem is that people don't get that Stockfish is evaluating a move based on a high level/perfect response. Maybe the person is not going to see that response at all, and that's where "knowing your opponent" REALLY comes into play. You can't just take look at the engine move and say "that move will always be bad." Maybe a particular opponent will be fooled by the first appearance of a particular structure and make a rash decision. It's happened many times.

[mzkbmwd]

Didn't expect Levy to come across so well but he did. Well spoken and intelligent guy, good choice of guest again Lex! Legends

[jonathanchristopher]

I remember one interview of Magnus (I don't remember with who) when asked how he creates a strategy and he said something to the effect of: It's not so much strategy but when a move "doesn't look right" I somehow try to make my position look right. He also said he doesn't know how he does that, he just is able to when something doesn't look right.

[TheChessNeck]

It is hard to explain why he is so good. He just is and I don't even think he could fully explain it. Obviously he has studied a lot, but so have the other GMs he destroys lol

[Janet_Airlines]

Levi is really good at explaining complex parts of the game for the average person. He has the best YouTube channel to learn from.

[stockstuff]

Still one of my favorite pod casts and interviewers. The more I watch the more I enjoy and appreciate it . Quickly crawling into my top ten people I'd love to have dinner with and pick their mind. Keep up the great work!

[Antmanwald]

Levy blew up so quickly for good reason. I can see these two being friends.

[noornasri]

For the memory, a lot of people are assuming he's born with it. This is more from my experience, but I think what we remember shifts based on what we care about, and the way our memory recalls events is very practical in chess. I always joked about having bad memory because I need to write down peoples names and go through them so many times, because unless its someone I actively interact with the memory just escapes me. On the flip side, I can find myself randomly remembering algorithms and solutions I covered half a decade ago when solving certain coding problems. Our brains are incredibly powerful, and I think the best recollection happens through series of linked events. We link a memory to a specific idea, when we encounter a situation that reminds us of that one thing, it'll lead to another until we have the full image in our head. More like a recreation of what actually happened through key events.

With that, I think for the super GMs who started playing chess as children and developed to truly understand the sport (usually GMs by 15), those games are what's essential in their heads. They don't need to remember the actual boards, just the specific series of moves. The ability to remember thousands of these and be able to recall ones based on similarity seems insane to us, but I think it's all the same idea.

[ukervwc]

good to see Levy here, lex has the most interesting guests

[erdavtyan]

Lex looks like a rendered character from a game with excellent graphics.

[FoieGras]

Magnus is one of those rare combination of talent, hard work, balance, humility, and activism that comes along only once in a millenium or so. We are lucky to have him IMHO .

[loftiswrites]

Great collab. Love all the chess love, Lex.

[omarihoward]

Uh…I just thought it was because he’s named like a f*ckin Bond villain 😂🤣