Latest news with #GrenkeFreestyleChessOpen
Scottish Sun
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Chess grandmaster's glamorous wife is ‘more attracted to him' after he reaches incredible feat
The chess guru tied the knot with his long-term girlfriend earlier this year CHECK MATE Chess grandmaster's glamorous wife is 'more attracted to him' after he reaches incredible feat CHESS Grand Master Magnus Carlsen has claimed his wife now finds him MORE ATTRACTIVE after he achieved a major career milestone The 34-year-old recently made freestyle chess history by breaking the previously elusive 2900 rating. 6 Magnus Carlsen recently made freestyle chess history Credit: REX 6 The 34-year-old recently broke the previously elusive 2900 rating Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABANGBANG 6 And he claims his wife now finds him more attractive after breaking the record Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABANGBANG The Norwegian achieved the mammoth milestone in the freestyle rankings recently released by the Freestyle Chess Organisation. Carlsen is proud as punch with his achievement, although he's seemingly happier by the potential effect it'll have on his intimacy with his other half, Ella Victoria. Carslen, who is better known on the chess circuit as Fischer Chess, said: "A new standard has been set." The five-time world champion then joked: "My wife is way more attracted to me now that I've achieved 2900." READ MORE IN SPORT JEN PARTY Brooks Koepka's wife Jena Sims goes braless in see-through outfit in weird video Carlsen tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend in January in a beautiful ceremony with their friends and family. Ella has been supportive of her hubby's passion for chess from the moment they met. So much so that she's a regular at his events. Carlsen will likely soon be joined in the over-2900 club by at least three of his rivals. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 6 Ella Victoria Carlsen has been a big supporter of her hubsand's career Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABELLABANGBANG 6 The couple tied the knot in January Credit: REUTERS 6 They have been the picture of happiness ever since tying the knot Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABANGBANG American Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura currently has a rating of 2818, while Fabiano Caruana sits third on the list with 2804. Indian phenom Praggnanandhaa comes in at number four with a rating of 2773. New app creator predicts Madison Square Garden to sell out for live chess match And the top five of the prestigious rankings is rounded out by Ian Nepomniachtchi. Carlsen has been in fine form this year, winning the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam title in Paris and the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open.
The Irish Sun
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Chess grandmaster's glamorous wife is ‘more attracted to him' after he reaches incredible feat
CHESS Grand Master Magnus Carlsen has claimed his wife now finds him MORE ATTRACTIVE after he achieved a major career milestone The 34-year-old recently made freestyle chess history by breaking the previously elusive 2900 rating. Advertisement 6 Magnus Carlsen recently made freestyle chess history Credit: REX 6 The 34-year-old recently broke the previously elusive 2900 rating Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABANGBANG 6 And he claims his wife now finds him more attractive after breaking the record Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABANGBANG The Norwegian achieved the mammoth milestone in the freestyle rankings recently released by the Freestyle Chess Organisation. Carlsen is proud as punch with his achievement, although he's seemingly happier by the potential effect it'll have on his intimacy with his other half, Ella Victoria. Carslen, who is better known on the chess circuit as Fischer Chess, said: "A new standard has been set." The five-time world champion then joked: "My wife is way more attracted to me now that I've achieved 2900." Advertisement READ MORE IN SPORT Carlsen tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend in January in a beautiful ceremony with their friends and family. Ella has been supportive of her hubby's passion for chess from the moment they met. So much so that she's a regular at his events. Carlsen will likely soon be joined in the over-2900 club by at least three of his rivals. Advertisement Most read in Other Sports Breaking JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 6 Ella Victoria Carlsen has been a big supporter of her hubsand's career Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABELLABANGBANG 6 The couple tied the knot in January Credit: REUTERS 6 They have been the picture of happiness ever since tying the knot Credit: INSTAGRAM@ELLABANGBANG Advertisement American Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura currently has a rating of 2818, while Fabiano Caruana sits third on the list with 2804. Indian phenom Praggnanandhaa comes in at number four with a rating of 2773. New app creator predicts Madison Square Garden to sell out for live chess match And the top five of the prestigious rankings is rounded out by Ian Nepomniachtchi. Carlsen has been in fine form this year, winning the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam title in Paris and the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open. Advertisement
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Magnus Carlsen: Beyond #1
APRIL 24 — Chess can be war. If it was war, then Norwegian grandmaster and presently the highest-ranked chess player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, has just invaded and grabbed more territory than ever. Already a legend, Carlsen pulled off something mega jaw-dropping at the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open (held in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany): A perfect 9/9 score, winning every single game. That's like Brazil or Germany winning every match they played on the way to victory at the World Cup — no draws, no play-offs, no extra-time sudden-death, no penalties, nada. Just defeating every opponent, every challenger. That's not just winning; it's domination so absolute it is like Carlsen is playing a different game altogether. Because, duh (!), at Grenke, Carlsen wasn't up against nobodies. He was up against top grandmasters like Awonder Liang and Parham Maghsoodloo, players who can make most of us feel like we're playing congkak. The final opponent Carlsen defeated was Vincent Keymer, one of the world's strongest players and among the top 20 in ratings. People were wondering if Keymer could stop the Carlsen train — alas, there was nobody slowing down this Norwegian engine. Carlsen mowed them down, game after game. As he put it himself, 'It's incredible. I have never done that in classical chess, or in any format —and it's not gonna happen again!' That's probably not arrogance; that's a guy who knows he just climbed a new Everest nobody else has. Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen arrives at the 9th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony in Los Angeles April 15, 2023. — Reuters pic What also makes this streak mega-wild is the context. Freestyle chess, or Chess960, involves randomising the starting position of pieces, throwing opening theory out the window. No memorising lines or leaning on computer prep here — just raw chess intellect, piece-crunching, analysis, etc. Carlsen thrives in this chaos, where creativity and instinct reign. His ability to adapt, to see patterns where others see a mess, is why he's been the world's No. 1 since 2011. This wasn't just a garden-variety tournament win (Carlsen's 128th of his career!); it was a statement that, even at 34, he's still the king of the board. With freestyle chess, it's all about unpredictability, chaos and fun. One could say that Carlsen, by cementing his supremacy in the game, is also shaping the future of chess, reminding us why we fell in love with this 32-pieces-on-64-squares-board entertainment in the first place. As Carlsen said, freestyle chess brings back the 'childish joy' of playing; you can feel that passion in every move he makes. Let's also speculate on what kind of mental and psychological firepower it takes to pull off such a seven-game winning streak. I mean, sure there's "hard work" and "talent" involved, of course, but is there something else? I reckon that, first, you've got to have a brain that's wired a bit differently from the rest. Chess at the grandmaster level isn't about memorising moves — it's pattern recognition on steroids. Carlsen's mind likely processes the board like a living algorithm, seeing dozens of moves ahead while simultaneously reading his opponent's intentions. A bit like an expert taxi-driver who just knows where certain streets are, how fast each traffic light will change, the likelihood of on-coming cars, the possibility of it raining and causing a jam, and keeping all this in mind while navigating through heavy traffic and maintaining a conversation with his customer. Because winning seven straight games means Carlsen isn't just solving the puzzle of each position but doing it faster and more accurately than world-class opponents. This isn't merely intelligence; it's a kind of hyper-awareness, where every piece, every square, every possibility is tracked in real-time. Imagine juggling while solving a Rubik's Cube and defusing a bomb? And let's not forget that crazy inexplicable factor called creativity. Freestyle chess means the average chess player is naked without prep. Seven wins means Carlsen is inventing solutions on the fly, turning chaos into art. This is where genius borders on magic — his ability to find beauty in a random position, to craft a plan where others see noise. This is some vision slash sorcery the world isn't used to seeing. In short, Carlsen's victory at Grenke requires a mind that's part supercomputer, part predator, part artist, with the stamina of a marathoner and the swagger of a rock star. Damn, it almost feels unfair. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
Malay Mail
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Magnus Carlsen: Beyond #1
APRIL 24 — Chess can be war. If it was war, then Norwegian grandmaster and presently the highest-ranked chess player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, has just invaded and grabbed more territory than ever. Already a legend, Carlsen pulled off something mega jaw-dropping at the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open (held in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany): A perfect 9/9 score, winning every single game. That's like Brazil or Germany winning every match they played on the way to victory at the World Cup — no draws, no play-offs, no extra-time sudden-death, no penalties, nada. Just defeating every opponent, every challenger. That's not just winning; it's domination so absolute it is like Carlsen is playing a different game altogether. Because, duh (!), at Grenke, Carlsen wasn't up against nobodies. He was up against top grandmasters like Awonder Liang and Parham Maghsoodloo, players who can make most of us feel like we're playing congkak. The final opponent Carlsen defeated was Vincent Keymer, one of the world's strongest players and among the top 20 in ratings. People were wondering if Keymer could stop the Carlsen train — alas, there was nobody slowing down this Norwegian engine. Carlsen mowed them down, game after game. As he put it himself, 'It's incredible. I have never done that in classical chess, or in any format —and it's not gonna happen again!' That's probably not arrogance; that's a guy who knows he just climbed a new Everest nobody else has. Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen arrives at the 9th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony in Los Angeles April 15, 2023. — Reuters pic What also makes this streak mega-wild is the context. Freestyle chess, or Chess960, involves randomising the starting position of pieces, throwing opening theory out the window. No memorising lines or leaning on computer prep here — just raw chess intellect, piece-crunching, analysis, etc. Carlsen thrives in this chaos, where creativity and instinct reign. His ability to adapt, to see patterns where others see a mess, is why he's been the world's No. 1 since 2011. This wasn't just a garden-variety tournament win (Carlsen's 128th of his career!); it was a statement that, even at 34, he's still the king of the board. With freestyle chess, it's all about unpredictability, chaos and fun. One could say that Carlsen, by cementing his supremacy in the game, is also shaping the future of chess, reminding us why we fell in love with this 32-pieces-on-64-squares-board entertainment in the first place. As Carlsen said, freestyle chess brings back the 'childish joy' of playing; you can feel that passion in every move he makes. Let's also speculate on what kind of mental and psychological firepower it takes to pull off such a seven-game winning streak. I mean, sure there's "hard work" and "talent" involved, of course, but is there something else? I reckon that, first, you've got to have a brain that's wired a bit differently from the rest. Chess at the grandmaster level isn't about memorising moves — it's pattern recognition on steroids. Carlsen's mind likely processes the board like a living algorithm, seeing dozens of moves ahead while simultaneously reading his opponent's intentions. A bit like an expert taxi-driver who just knows where certain streets are, how fast each traffic light will change, the likelihood of on-coming cars, the possibility of it raining and causing a jam, and keeping all this in mind while navigating through heavy traffic and maintaining a conversation with his customer. Because winning seven straight games means Carlsen isn't just solving the puzzle of each position but doing it faster and more accurately than world-class opponents. This isn't merely intelligence; it's a kind of hyper-awareness, where every piece, every square, every possibility is tracked in real-time. Imagine juggling while solving a Rubik's Cube and defusing a bomb? And let's not forget that crazy inexplicable factor called creativity. Freestyle chess means the average chess player is naked without prep. Seven wins means Carlsen is inventing solutions on the fly, turning chaos into art. This is where genius borders on magic — his ability to find beauty in a random position, to craft a plan where others see noise. This is some vision slash sorcery the world isn't used to seeing. In short, Carlsen's victory at Grenke requires a mind that's part supercomputer, part predator, part artist, with the stamina of a marathoner and the swagger of a rock star. Damn, it almost feels unfair. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
Indian Express
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Leon Mendonca, the Goan chess whiz known for Hawaiian shirts, attacking chess and appetite for big scalps
At the recently-concluded Grenke Freestyle Chess Open 2025, a new terror on the chess board emerged from India: 19-year-old Leon Luke Mendonca, who defeated players like Ian Nepomniachtchi and Richard Rapport and ground out draws against grandmasters like Alexey Sarana, Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. After the nine-round event ended on Monday in Karlsruhe, Leon was 10th in the standings out of 297 players. Of these, 31 players started the event with a better rating than the ever-smiling, bespectacled boy from Goa with a penchant for Hawaiian shirts and attacking chess. For Leon, who became India's 67th grandmaster in 2020, moments under the bright arc lights on the global stage have been limited. His rise, after all, coincided with India discovering its golden generation with stars like world champion Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi. Unlike a Gukesh or a Pragg, who hail from chess-loving Chennai, Leon took his first steps in the sport in the small town of Saligao in Goa. But his rise is also testament to the fact that the sport is spreading fast in India, at outposts away from the traditional centres. Before Leon, Goa had one more grandmaster in the form of Anurag Mhamal. The Grenke Freestyle Chess Open was Leon's second big-ticket event this year. He was part of the Tata Steel chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee earlier this year with the likes of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi. But that event had not gone as per plan with him winning just one game and finishing 13th out of 14 players. The event in Grenke, though, saw him play some of his best chess and that too in the freestyle variant, which most elite players agree feels like a completely different sport than regular chess. 'It's my first time playing a freestyle chess tournament. This freestyle variant is the best thing. I hope this is the future of chess. It kind of forces players to focus on their own skills rather than memorizing opening theory,' Leon told the tournament's YouTube handle right after beating Nepomniachtchi. Just to get a measure of how good Leon was at the Grenke Chess tournament, Nepomniachtchi held an advantage of 114 rating points on the Indian and was yet forced to resign in 36 moves in round 3. In the next round, Richard Rapport (rated 79 rating points ahead of Leon) was handed defeat in 35 moves. In his nine games, he lost just once to end as the second best placed Indian at Grenke, behind Erigaisi. Leon's first motivation to play the sport has echoes of Magnus Carlsen: they both wanted to beat their elder sisters on the battlefield of 64 squares. 'His sister Beverly was first given a chess set as a gift, that's when we sent her to a class to get coaching. She would then teach Leon, who was just around four or five at that time, what she had learnt at the class that day. That's how he started,' father Lyndon told The Indian Express. Even as his sister soon moved on to other pursuits, the boy was so enamoured by the sport that he would often play against himself at home. Back when he started to become good at the sport, Leon's biggest challenge was getting top-quality coaching in Goa, said Lyndon. So father and son became journeymen, chasing elite chess knowledge around the country. They lived with Akash Thakur in Nagpur for a while, where his basics were strengthened. With online chess coaching still not a thing back in those days, there were also other stints with Rajesh Bahadur in Madhya Pradesh and Shashikant Kutwal in Pune. 'Because at some point, we realized that we had to move on (from Goa). So, we started going to neighboring states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and then Tamil Nadu,' said Lyndon. Around 2015, when Leon started to show serious potential, they approached grandmaster RB Ramesh to be his coach. Ramesh has shaped the careers of many elite players like Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali and Aravindh Chitambaram. But it meant plenty of days spent in Chennai to learn at one of the country's premier finishing institutes in chess: Ramesh's Chess Gurukul. Currently, Leon is being mentored by Vishnu Prasanna, the man who shaped the career of Gukesh, who last year became the world's youngest world champion in chess history. Leon also benefitted from being part of the first cohort of students at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy, started by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand. Lyndon said that what makes his son unique is that he never really complains about anything: no fuss about hotel rooms, no hissy fit over hectic travel itineraries, no rants about arbiters or tournament organisers. To illustrate this, he gives the example of the time both of them were stranded in Budapest for many months when the world shut down abruptly due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of going stir-crazy at being caught in a foreign land in one of the most uncertain times in living memory, Leon, accompanied by his father, chased his goals on the chess board, claiming the three norms that one needs to become a grandmaster during the pandemic in the chess-revering cities. 'Raising Leon has always been a pleasure for me because he is very dedicated to whatever he does. He has come up the hard way. But with him, there are never any complaints. So, we never had issues even in those uncertain times, be it food or accommodation,' said Lyndon who said that Leon even joined a church choir in Budapest with a second-hand violin that he had arranged for in exchange for giving the previous owner chess lessons.
