Magnus Carlsen thinks this Indian GM is the world’s most creative player

The world’s best chess player, Magnus Carlsen, is so confident in his skills that when he gives high praise to another, it is validation of the highest order.

In a casual video done by Esports World Cup, Carlsen was provided a set of parameters to assemble the best chess player from those still in business.

Interestingly, he picked himself in four of the nine elements, namely ‘strategy’, ‘end game’, ‘variety’ and ‘time management’. Considering he has dominated the chess world across formats since 2011, it is hard to dispute Carlsen’s claims.

But the Norwegian thought there were others better than him in other areas of the game, including one Indian GM, Arjun Erigaisi. Carlsen thinks Arjun’s 'creativity' is the best among the active players.

For ‘opening’, Carlsen chose Fabiano Caruana, while he believes Alireza Firouzja’s ‘aggressiveness’ on the board is on another level. As for ‘Game IQ’, Carlsen opted for Hikaru Nakamura while lauding Nodirbek Abdusattorov’s ‘pressure resistance’.

Very few Indians have earned Carlsen's approval over the years, and Arjun is one of the few. Carlsen isn’t a big fan of India’s World Champion D Gukesh.

Arjun, 22, from Warangal, is only the second Indian ever to cross 2800 Elo points after five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand.