Dignified Rube wrote:
Carlsen won the world rapid and blitz championships today, beating Nakamura from the U.S. He already was the World Champion of classical chess.
The guy is unbelievable to be so dominant at that level. It's enjoyable to watch him in blitz games against on-line opponents where he's giving commentary as he goes along, just to hear how his brain works. He calculates everything instantly however many moves deep. What he understands better than anyone is the harmony of the pieces. It's rare that he gets himself caught making a bad move, and even when he does, he can quickly equalize by going on the attack. The only person I would say he would have a tough time with among the past greats is Fischer and perhaps Tal. Carlsen drew against Kasparov when Carlsen was very young and beat Karpov at a young age.
The video of Carlsen vs. Kasparov.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjEmquJhSasObjectively, I'd have to say he is the greatest in the modern era, i.e. since the rankings that started in the early 70s. It's hard to say how he stacks up against guys like Morphy, Alekhine, Capablanca, or Lasker. And for me- and I imagine for a lot of Americans close to my age- Fischer will always be the man.