G minor

On the eve of the last classical game of the World Chess Championship match, the discussion focused on the issue of how many hours a day Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana have been spending on chess training prior their “High Noon” in London, United Kingdom. It’s not a mystery that Caruana uses to spend hours at the board. “We work all day. All in all, I’d say from eight to ten hours daily”, Grandmaster Ioan-Cristian Chirila — one of Fabiano’s seconds — told NRK. On the contrary Magnus Carlsen appears to devote very little time, physically speaking, to his chess study — reportedly not more than two three hours a day, provided he is in the mood, for otherwise he does not study at all. What is his secret? El País correspondent Leontxo García dares to venture an explanation: “Magnus studies in his own way. Whether he is running, swimming, skiing, or playing soccer, he is able to analyse positions, no matter if without chessmen and board. Magnus Carlsen always thinks about chess”, he told NRK. Of course, a memory like Morphy’s can do anything, and doesn’t need matter to come into being. But Caruana, as an aspiring filmmaker, must have read Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin’s poetic drama “Mozart and Salieri”, and justly refuses to act as Wolfgang Amadeus’ Italian rival. He just thinks the story of Carlsen’s superpowers is fiction. Does Magnus never study? “I do not believe it”, Caruana told NRK. He, too, wants to play Mozart’s immortal symphony.

Magnus Carlsen (right) and Fabiano Caruana (left) attending the press conference following the eleventh game of their World Chess Championship match in London. Grandmaster Daniel John King, the host and moderator, is seated amid them. Photo: World Chess.