Sjakkgeniet Magnus Carlsen gjestet Bård Tufte Johansen og Harald Eias nye humorshow "Storbynatt" på NRK1 9. November 2010. All ære til statskanalen og rettighetseierne. Translation (THANKS to 1monire): Bård: Please welcome Magnus Carlsen! B:Welcome Magnus, how are you? Magnus: I'm all right. B: You just came home from Grand Slam tournament in China, how did it go? M: I became first. B: Very good, and the world ranking? M: Right now I'm number 2, but if you include China, I'm number 1. B: How old are you? M: I'm 19 years old. B: Has a 19-year old ever topped the world ranking? M: No, not until now. B: What's your I.Q.? M: I don't know! B: Clever, I'll write 150. Marital status? M: Eeh, nothing right now:)... B: Another clever answer. I'll write "single". OK, now let's start the interview. Can you tell me what it takes to become #1 chess player in the world? M: I guess it's a combination of factors, like good intuition, good memory... Harald: I'm a chess player on a "back-packer" level; I'm good at beating people after they have smoked a joint;) When you play chess, is it like you visualize a lot of opportunities, or do you follow a line?? M: Most often I see 2 or 3 moves in each position. H: I see. When I play chess there's like 10 alternatives, and I don't have a clue which one to choose. But when you know what you're doing, there's less options? M: Yes, when you reach a certain level hehe, it is - at least for me - easier to know what to look for, and to single out irrelevant moves. H: I just have to ask; is it like you can see a trail in the jungle and know where to move? 'cause I can see like 2 moves ahead of me... M: It could be a trail, but then it would be very narrow. However, being in such a trail, I can follow it for like 15 or 20 moves. But if the trail has a lot of branches, then - naturally - you stop after a few moves, and it's not quite as easy to find the way until the end of the game. H: Nice trail-metaphor. Keep it and use it:) H: Last question from me: I remember a remarkable clip where you at the age of 13 play chess against Kasparov, the best chess player in the world, at the time - and manage a draw. We have a clip, watch this.... H: You are a child, but you're walking around....it's very cool. B: You went for a walk during the game, what did you do? M: It was in the opening, and I believe I thought "Why does he have to think so hard? This is familiar stuff", and since I had no answer, I thought I might as well take a walk to watch some of the other games:) B: So, you were looking for someone to play with, right? M: Probably, hehe:) H: If you were sitting alone in a room playing chess on a computer, would you be able to know whether you're playing against a machine or a human?...obviously not knowing in advance... M: Hehe, I haven't tested it out, but I'm pretty sure I would have noticed, yes. There is a big difference in how a machine plays vs. a human. H: Like what? M: Umm, first of all, machines don't get afraid. You can't use psychological tricks. H: Oh oh, is that like you and the computer are military commanders, and you and your soldiers are watching all of these guys coming towards you, and then you figure out that you have enough time to let your soldiers run along to an apple-tree in order to eat some apples and increase their strenght and then be back like half a second before BANG,.....and that you manage to be so fearless - in a way??? M: Yes, you might put it like that:) Another good metaphor. B: Yes, you can have this one, as well as the trail-metaphor. Both of them. You did a photo-shoot with Liv Tyler, and we have some pictures.... B: There is a pattern here 'cause after you'd been with her, you played poorly. And after you met Alexandra in WCC blitz Moscow 2010, - let's see a pic of her...a beautiful lady, then you played poorly as well. And I'm asking you to be honest here; Do you get distracted by beautiful ladies? M: I don't know if that's the case, or the results were purely coincidental. B: Oh, but I understand you perfectly:D I myself would have been heavily distracted to play against such a lovely lady... M: Umm, let's just say that then:D B: As the world's #1, have you now exposed yourself and shown everybody your weakness.....a cleavage and you're all shaky and have lost your concentration??? Don't you think you've made it very difficult for yourself? M: Yes, but luckily - for me - it will take a while until all the players are ladies with cleavages:D B: Aah, very good. I wish you good luck and hope you'll stay on top as long as you live - Magnus Carlsen!