This is not simply a question of comparing two sorts of chess genius — an invidious task. Where Carlsen has an obvious advantage over the troubled American is that he is psychologically robust, in large part the result of a very stable family background, something that was sadly lacking in the case of Fischer. Carlsen's career was initially managed by his father Henrik, a former engineer with Exxon (indeed, both his parents are engineers by profession, which makes the event's venue peculiarly appropriate for the Carlsen family as a whole). Yet although Magnus is now a multi-millionaire, when he is not on the road his home is the basement of the family's house in Oslo.
Henrik told me that he first identified his son's peculiar talent when, even before his second birthday, the tot Magnus would spend hours solving jigsaw puzzles with more than 50 pieces. Henrik, a strong amateur chess player, taught his son the moves at the age of five, but the boy was not interested. It was only when he played his elder sister at the age of eight, and she won, that Magnus suddenly decided he had to become good — he couldn't bear the idea of being beaten by her.
Of course, all boys are competitive with their siblings. Yet in Magnus, an extraordinary innate aptitude for concentration is allied to an almost preternatural competitiveness. Again, all chess grandmasters will have a strong urge to win. But Magnus Carlsen has become most feared by his peers for the way in which he will play on for hour after hour in seemingly dead drawn positions, and yet somehow his implacable determination can cause the mightiest opponents to crack and make a blunder they would never normally commit.
It certainly helps in this that Magnus is a very fit young man, with apparently limitless reserves of energy — at least when sitting down at the chessboard. But there is also no doubt that his sheer will to win intimidates even the strongest personalities. As one of his rivals admitted to me, "Magnus always plays his moves with such confidence. There is a definite aura about him." That, at least, he has in common with Bobby Fischer. Viktor Korchnoi, who I believe is the only man to have played the two of them, has ascribed to both the effect of "hypnotising" the opponent. Anyway, readers of this column should at all costs try to see if Carlsen can do the same to his illustrious rivals on the banks of the Thames: Vladmir Kramnik in particular is himself an awesome competitor who will not yield a millimetre even under the most extreme pressure.
