Was Magnus Carlsen A 'Limited' Player? Viswanathan Anand Says 'Areas Where No One...'

Last Updated:August 11, 2025, 09:38 IST

Viswanathan Anand has spoken on Magnus Carlsen's growth from a limited player to an unbeatable chess force, emphasising his endgame skills.

Viswanathan Anand lost the World Championship in 2013 to Magnus Carlsen (Picture credit: AFP)

Legendary Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand has said that Magnus Carlsen used to be a limited player, in the sense that some of his tactics in the endgame and technical positions were brilliant, which made him almost impossible to beat for a long period.

It was Carlsen who ended Anand’s long reign at the pinnacle of the sport and he has spoken in detail about the former’s style of play and what made him an unbeatable beast.

Anand elaborated on what happened in 2013 and 2014 when he first lost his World Championship title to Carlsen and then couldn’t recapture it in 2015 after winning the Candidates.

“As for Magnus, he used to be quite a limited player, very, very good in that specific area. He limited himself to areas where no one else was focusing, like the endgame and dry technical positions," Anand said while speaking on Prakhar Gupta’s podcast. 

“He (Carlsen) saw potential where others saw paint drying and he was able to lure a lot of unsuspecting chess players to their doom over and over again. He was cashing in those points before people learned the hard way to take those positions seriously and start working on them," Anand said. 

“Dry positions, where it seems you’re just on the way to making a draw… he understood that you still need to be precise. When people relax, they stop being precise; they go through the motions but aren’t paying attention anymore," Anand added. 

Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Champion and the reigning (shared with Ian Nepomniachtchi) eight-time World Blitz Chess Champion.

Carlsen has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE rankings since 1 July 2011, the longest successive streak and trails just Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. 

News18 Sports brings you the latest updates, live commentary, and highlights from cricket, football, tennis, badmintion, wwe and more. Catch breaking news, live scores, and in-depth coverage. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated!

Location :

First Published:

August 11, 2025, 09:38 IST

News sports Was Magnus Carlsen A 'Limited' Player? Viswanathan Anand Says 'Areas Where No One...'

Read More