No Longer World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen Sets Sights On Poker
May 03, 2024 Connor Richards Editor & Live Reporter U.S.
Five-time 😗 World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen shocked the public in July 2024 when he announced that he wouldn't be defending the 😗 title he had held for a decade. And while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren were at St. Regis Hotel in 😗 Kazakhstan last month battling to take his place as supreme leader of the chess world, Carlsen was getting ready for 😗 a trip to the sunny Mediterranean coast.
Carlsen is one of less than a hundred players remaining out of a field 😗 over 1,098 entries in the EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event as part of 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) 😗 presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®, proving that his analytical genius is far from limited to a 64-square grid.
In his first interview 😗 since giving up his World Chess Champion Title, Carlsen sat down with PokerNews and PokerStars for an exclusive look at 😗 what the future holds for the 32-year-old Norwegian chess prodigy.
Returning to Monte Carlo
As it turns out, the trip to Monte 😗 Carlo was not Carlsen's first. He came to Monaco 15 years ago, but it was to play a different kind 😗 of tournament.
"I came here to this exact location in Monaco in 2007," Carlsen said, "because I was playing a (chess) 😗 tournament here. And I came to watch the European Poker Tour because (Russian chess grandmaster) Alexander Grischuk, who was like 😗 back then a top ten (chess) player — (and) is still like a very, very good chess player — he 😗 was playing here in the Main Event. So I went to watch him play."
A decade and a half later, there's 😗 a new grandmaster on the felt.
Magnus Carlsen sits down with PokerNews and PokerStars for his first interview since giving up 😗 his World Chess Champion title
Carlsen isn't the only contemporary chess star who has taken a liking to poker. Popular chess 😗 streamer Alexandra Botez is also here at EPT Monte Carlo, as is two-time United States Women's Champion and PokerStars Pro 😗 Jen Shahade.
Are there any other chess players who Carlsen thinks would excel at poker?
"I think the current World Champion Ding 😗 (Liren) here should be really strong," he said. "I know from talking to him, he calculates really quickly in chess 😗 is really, really good at math. So I'm sure he could do well."
"An Interesting Challenge"
Widely considered one of the best 😗 chess players of all time, it is tempting to draw parallels between Carlsen's pivot to poker and Michael Jordan's infamous 😗 (and short-lived) early retirement from the National Basketball Association to play professional baseball.
But Carlsen, who cited Rafael Nadal, not Jordan, 😗 as his greatest sports influence, said such a comparison would be a mistake.
"I have no ambitions in poker," Carlsen said. 😗 "I like playing, it's an interesting challenge, but I have no ambitions."
Magnus Carlsen
Without ambitions to be one of the poker 😗 greats, it doesn't bother Carlsen to play under the spotlight with cameras overhead and viewers at home scrutinizing his play.
"I 😗 have no ambitions in poker. I like playing, it's an interesting challenge, but I have no ambitions."
"I don't like to 😗 take a lot of pride and my poker," he said. "So I'm trying to, you know, learn a little bit, 😗 so it doesn't bother me that much. But if I do something really stupid, then that's to be expected. So 😗 that's fine."
A Natural On the Felt
Despite his lack of ambition to master the game, Carlsen has demonstrated an impressive aptitude 😗 and understanding of poker. During his appearance on Hustler Casino Live last month, Carlsen made a heroic call with just 😗 bottom pair against content creator Nick Austin to win a pot ofR$13,775.
Like a seasoned pro, Carlsen assessed, both in the 😗 moment and after the fact, that his opponent would be unlikely to triple barrel with many of his value hands 😗 given how the hand played out.
"I sort of thought he was the kind of player who showed who would probably 😗 show down some weak one pair of hands you had," he told PokerNews. "So I thought there was a reasonable 😗 chance he was bluffing. And, you know, sometimes ... you just feel it. And then sometimes you're right."
Magnus Carlsen
Even more 😗 impressively, Carlsen made these assessments naturally as he admitted that he "(doesn't) really study."
"I probably should, but I enjoy, like 😗 learning, talking to people about the hand(s) we're playing."
Different Games, Similar Strategies
Perhaps Carlsen's innate abilities at the poker table have 😗 to do with the similarities between poker and the game that earned him five World Champion titles.
"I think the similarities 😗 between poker and chess are more than people would think," he said. "Of course, there is perfect information in chess, 😗 but still, you make a lot of decisions based on, like, imperfect calculation. So in that sense, it's a little 😗 bit of the same."
One similarity between tournament poker and some chess formats is the use of shot clocks. As an 😗 accomplished blitz player, Carlson has experience making difficult decisions on the fly.
"I played like a little bit (of blitz) with 😗 my friends ... like during the pandemic," he said. "And I found it really stressful, really intense."
Carlsen said he deals 😗 with that stress the same way many poker players do: by listening to music.
"I think the similarities between poker and 😗 chess are more than people would think. Of course there is perfect information in chess, but still, you make a 😗 lot of decisions based on, like, imperfect calculation. So in that sense, it's it's a little bit of the same."
"Usually 😗 when I play ... blitz chess online or even rapid chess, I like to listen ... to music," said Carlsen. 😗 "It sort of helps me calm down and sort of just use my instinct. But here, I'm not sure of 😗 that. I feel that I have to think more because I have less knowledge. So I feel that like having 😗 some of that noise may just distract me. So I just try to, you know, sit there, follow what's happening, 😗 try and pick up as much as I can."
Playing on the televised feature table with high-stakes pro Mike Watson to 😗 his immediate left and other accomplished players like Mark Teltscher and Oleg Vasylchenko just a few seats over, Carlsen certainly 😗 has an uphill battle ahead of him. But if there's anyone up for the monumental challenge, it may just be 😗 the five-time World Chess Champion.
Magnus Carlsen at the feature table
