World Champion Magnus Carlsen stopped by Reddit to be interviewed on "Ask me Anything" on Tuesday, March 19th, generating a whopping 3100 comments on the site within the first few hours.

Although at least partly motivated by a desire to promote his new mobile app Play Magnus, the appearance prompted a number of revealing responses from Carlsen concerning his personal history, his sense of humor and his approach to chess.

As with Hikaru Nakamura's similar Q & A session three weeks ago, we've excerpted some of the highlights below.



Among the diverse range of topics, we learned that Carlsen was particularly impressed by the 1994 Candidates match between Anand and Kamsky, that his favorite chess book is Kramnik: My Life & Games, and that he is not averse to a little friendly trash talking.

For fans of the American number one, this exchange will surely raise an eyebrow:

Reddit user: What do you think of Nakamura joking with calling you Sauron on Twitter?

Magnus Carlsen: I've never actually watched Lord of the Rings...if I had, and Nakamura had been a better chess player, I might have been more insulted.

Nakamura already managed to respond (you can compare the players' blitz and rapid ratings using our Head-to-Head feature!):

You'll find the full comment thread over on Reddit.



Magnus, What was your most memorable/important victory and what was your most memorable defeat.

My most memorable victory was in the Norwegian Championship Under 11, when I was 9 years old.

Defeat: Perhaps my loss to Ivanchuk in the Candidates last year, although fortunately that story had a happy ending.

We all know you as a child prodigy. What I wanted to know is whether you had a clear understanding of chess principles, openings and defenses as a child or did the game just naturally make sense to you and you winged it?

My coach Peter Heine told me that he saw me play as a ten-year-old, and gained the impression of someone who knew a lot of theory but couldn't play that well on his own. So, it has been a long process and gradually I have learned more and more about the game.

Did you ever feel like you have plateaued with your game, that you did not think you could get better, or did you always know that you could be the best player ever? And if you did think you could not get better, how did you get better?

Times when I was struggling, I always kept a very positive mindset. I thought that things would turnaround in the next game, or the next tournament. Eventually it did.

As for plateaued, I still feel that I have plenty to learn. It's just about translating more knowledge into better play and better results.



How much of an impact do you think starting at a young age has? Do you think it's possible to become a master after having started later in life? Is it so rare?

I think in order to be one of the best in the world, you need to start early on and have a passion and great drive to learn more. In order to become a Master or an International Master, I think you can start later and it's more about putting in the time and hard work rather than talent.

What is your response to the general idea that you are too much of a grinder? A great many number of people have said that you specialize in squeezing out dry positions rather than playing attacking chess. Many GMs have called your style of chess as its death in some aspects.‌

I think it's an important trait of a good player to be able to have the same level of focus and creativity in simple positions as well as more complicated ones and thus create chances at any point in the game. I don't think making few mistakes and playing very accurately for a long time should be a negative.

I noticed on your Twitter account that you are closely following the 2014 Candidates tournament. Are there any games or positions that have struck you as particularly interesting or beautiful?

I was impressed by Anand's win against Aronian in the first round. It's not often that you beat the number 2 player in the world purely by technique.

There's a pretty large age gap beetwen you and the 2014 Candidates participants Do you think that's to your advantage? Also of the younger Grandmasters who do you see as a future threat to the World title?

I think players like Anand, Kramnik, Topalov and Svidler are part of a very strong generation of players, so it's kind of natural that they're still sticking around.

To the second question: I think it is very early to say who will be a future threat, it's really hard to see those traits before players are fully developed.

What do you think made you the strongest man in the world?



Raisins.

How many beers would you need to drink for a Master to be able to beat you?

There is no answer to this question...even extremely intoxicated my chess strength and knowledge is still in my bones.

Just wondering what is your favorite unorthodox opening?

I don't play an orthodox openings. I prefer to give mainstream openings my own spin.

Is perfect chess a draw or win for white?

I don't know, but I am very much leaning towards a draw.

How serious do you take simuls? Once you leave a board, do you only focus on the next board or do you find yourself still considering previous positions? Do you have certain strategies you aim for, such as do you tend towards more sharp positions for fun and out calculate your opponents, or do you tend towards more positional games and out maneuver to victory?

Sometimes when I play simuls, I make a mistake on one board and I spend some time being upset about that; but usually I try to move on and focus on the next one. I take pride in what I do and I always try to do my best and play the best moves ― not play for tricks.

What's the biggest problem facing the world of competitive chess right now?

There are some good things happening right now, but I think there can be improvement in presenting the game so that it can reach a broader audience, draw more sponsors and thus have a more stable tournament cycle.

Time Controls are a big debate in the chess world. If it were up to you, would you make chess more spectator-friendly by reducing time controls or would you keep them where they are at the moment?

I think the currently classical time control is a good one, it gives plenty of time to think and come up with good ideas, while still keeping the excitement for viewers.

What makes a good second and why did you pick the ones you did?



Basically two things:

1. Being good at chess

2. Getting along well with me

What is your favorite European football team, and who do you think will win the World Cup?



I'm assuming you're referring to soccer? I think I'm going to be "original" and pick Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany in the semi-finals...anything can happen from there.

What's your favorite non-chess book?



Close race between several Donald Duck comics (seriously).

Are there any other games you're particularly good at? Strategy games?

No I basically suck at everything else...