Far and Near

When asked in the post-game press conference whose broadcast commentary would he be watching if he wasn’t playing, Magnus Carlsen took a pause and replied: “I’m really sorry, I just don’t remotely care!”. As the owner of the media outlet for which his interviewer was working, 16th World Chess Champion could not say of course that if only he could he’d be watching another story — where his old rival Fabiano Caruana is invited every day to share his keen insight on chess issues from the pulpit and blessing of the superstar guest, namely 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), a four-time Women’s World Chess Champion, a Rhodes Scholar and a Full University Professor. Screenshot collage from the live stream.