Chaos and Cosmos

A few hours separate Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura from the start of their unofficial World Fischerandom Chess Championship match which will take place at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter at Høvikodden in Bærum municipality, Norway from 9 to 14 February 2018. For Magnus, it is a little like coming home. “Yes, it has been a few years since I’ve lived in Bærum, but I still have a connection with it”, he told Budstikka. He directly challenged at Fischer’s chess the unofficial World Champion of specialty. “No one was stronger than him at Fischerandom chess. He has a long experience with it, for sure more than me. He’s very strong in fast time controls, and generally can handle chaos on the board quite well. So he is the most exciting opponent for me”, says Carlsen, who does not want to call himself a favourite. Nakamura doesn’t want too. “Magnus is obviously a strong player. He is World Chess Champion. He has actually not played so much Fischerandom chess. Therefore, I may have a small advantage from my experience. Nevertheless, every time that a random starting position will turn into a more ‘classical’ shape, well, it will definitely be in his favour”, Hikaru said. Photo: Eva Groven.