Magnus Carlsen Quotes

Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's OK to lose. I don't. You have to be merciless.

You need to have that edge, you need to have that confidence, you need to have that absolute belief that you're - you're the best and you'll win every time.

What I admired most about him [Bobby Fischer] was his ability to make what was in fact so difficult look easy to us. I try to emulate him.

Without the element of enjoyment, it is not worth trying to excel at anything.

You have to choose the move that feels right sometimes; that's what intuition is.

I am trying to beat the guy sitting across from me and trying to choose the moves that are most unpleasant for him and his style.

Maybe if I didn't have the talent in chess I'd find the talent in something else. The only thing I know is that I have talent in chess, and I'm satisfied with that.

I don't think there is a thing like overconfidence in chess. It's always better to be too confident than too reluctant.

People ask what my goal is. I don't have a goal.

When you have fun then you're more interested in learning.

I'm more interested in the games than the people.

Kids love games and chess is a game where you have to sit down and concentrate and it just helps in every way.

I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up.

I've never really had a favorite player, past or present.

Once you're a chess player, you spend a lot of time thinking about the game and you can't get it completely out of your head.

There are so many games that I've seen that I've learned from. I never - that's also part of the same - never single out a particular player or a particular game.

I'm definitely the first no.1 in the world since Fischer, and probably at least since Kasparov, who probably has the most potential to dominate for the foreseeable future.

Contrary to many young Colleagues, I do believe that it makes sense to study the Classics.

I honestly don't read that much. Obviously I read chess books - in terms of favorites, Kasparov's 'My Great Predecessors' is pretty good.

I get more upset at losing at other things than chess. I always get upset when I lose at Monopoly.

I think with chess as with everything, marketing is the main issue.

If you want to get to the top, there's always the risk that it will isolate you from other people.

Right now I'm really happy with how things are going with my chess career, so I'm not thinking of doing anything else.

I don't really watch too many movies. I don't have the patience usually to watch one, one and a half or two hours in a row.

It's easy for me to get along with chess players. Even though we are all very different, we have chess in common.

My father, a fine chess player himself, has been a massive influence throughout my life.

I learnt an enormous amount, but there came a point where I found there was too much stress. It was no fun any more. Outside of the chessboard I avoid conflict, so I thought this wasn't worth it.

I don't look at computers as opponents. For me it is much more interesting to beat humans.

It's nice to be financially secure. Apart from that, I really don't care too much about money.

For me, the most important thing is to continue to play well and to be a positive figure and hopefully a role model for kids as well.

Chess only appeals to quite a small minority. It does not have the cachet of a mainstream popular sport.

I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.

The Nanjing games are homework by Garry Kasparov and me, [...] Today's game was provided by Garry.

Unfortunately I'm still not a fashion expert.

I feel sorry for players who are always lying awake at night, brooding over their games.

There are certainly loads of players that I admire; I try to learn from all of the great masters both of the past and contemporary as well.

Not winning a tournament is not an option for me, unless it's no longer theoretically possible - then of course winning becomes impossible. But up to that point, not winning is just not an option.

I enjoy hiking and skiing, like most Norwegians. In winter, there will be snow for months on end. In the summer, there are the long evenings to enjoy.

My former coach, Simen Agdestein, used to be the best player in Norway.

It's just not my nature to go around idolizing people.

I'm not really into rap.

I really enjoy the experience of playing humans. The psychological game is so much more important.

I played like a child!