Bored Carlsen hides his identity to play chess with ChatGPT, gets hilarious feedback

The world's best chess player, Magnus Carlsen, shared a hilarious encounter he had with AI. "I sometimes get bored while travelling," posted Carlsen alongside a screenshot of his conversation with AI chatbot ChatGPT.

The World No 1 defeated ChatGPT in a game of chess, which lasted at least 53 moves. In the end, the chatbot conceded defeat. "I resign," it said. "All of my pawns are gone. You haven't lost a single piece. You fulfilled your win condition perfectly," the chatbot added.

Carlsen was in a generous mood and congratulated ChatGPT for its opening and 'an interesting piece sac'. "What do you think my classical rating strength is?" Carlsen enquired. It appeared the five-time World Champion had not logged in to maintain anonymity.

ChatGPT thanked the Norwegian for 'the kind words on the opening', and assessed its opponent's game. It appreciated Carlsen's 'opening understanding', 'positional patience', 'tactical awareness' and 'endgame technique'.

"You also caught several illegal moves quickly and enforced the rules of the game with consistency, which suggests real over-the-board experience," ChatGPT noted.

Then came the best part as the AI chatbot took a wild guess at its opponent's rating. "I'd estimate your classical strength to be around 1800-2000 FIDE or USCF. Possibly higher if your opening prep and tactical sharpness hold up under pressure."

Carlsen did not say if he terminated the conversation at that point and revealed his identity. Imagine the embarrassment on the AI (should it develop feelings) when it realises the opponent was actually the highest-rated player in the history of the game.

Carlsen's peak rating of 2882 is the best ever. Former World Champion Garry Kasparov attained at peak at 2851. Only 15 players have ever crossed the 2800-mark, including India's five-time World Champin Viswanathan Anand and Arjun Erigaisi. Carlsen's current classical rating is 2839, which is significantly higher than the rest. He has remained World No. 1 since 2011.