# Can Magnus Carlsen do anything else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542 "2012-02-21T18:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/1 "2012-02-21T18:19:08Z")
Besides chess? Watching some of the videos of him on the CNN website was interesting. He’s a very impressive kid. That got me thinking though. He’s not a kid anymore. Is chess all that he can do? That’s it? All he will ever be is a chess prodigy entertainment attraction? Could he quit chess and go into something else? Science? Math? Any other field? Would he have the same relative “prodigy-ness?” ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/2 "2012-02-21T18:34:01Z")
He’s also modeled for [G-Star](http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6485)… ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/3 "2012-02-21T18:41:54Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > He’s also modeled for [G-Star](http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6485)… Yes, I heard he makes around $1 million/year doing endorsements, ads, etc. I’m not worried he’ll starve. He might go crazy though. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/4 "2012-02-21T19:11:54Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > All he will ever be is a chess prodigy entertainment attraction? Oh, is that all? Not, like, the best player of the world’s oldest and most prestigious game to ever walk the Earth, but an entertainment attraction? If Magnus Carlsen is an entertainment attraction, then Tiger Woods is a three-card monty game outside the airport. ETA: I wonder if you understand that you’re talking about a guy that’s ranked 35 points higher than the world fucking champion. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/5 "2012-02-21T19:17:51Z")
Yea, I’m not sure I understand the OP. The guys the top-ranked chess player in the world. I guess he could start over and go into something else, but just by regression to the mean he probably wouldn’t have the same success that he’s having at chess, and even if he did he presumably take another decade or two to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/6 "2012-02-21T19:40:30Z")
I think I understand what he is saying. Magnus is obviously a genius. But he uses his superpower to play a game. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/7 "2012-02-21T19:47:21Z")
What do you mean, besides chess? You don’t think being the world’s top chess player is a full-time job? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/8 "2012-02-21T19:51:08Z")
[Here](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/yale-bound-hess-seeks-to-capture-u-s-chess-title-as-wall-street-beckons.html) is an article from Bloomberg about Robert Hess, a 19-year-old grandmaster who was planning to attend Yale to study finance. It mentions that he spent a summer interning at a hedge fund, where he analyzed stocks. The article suggests that the skills one develops in chess are useful in the finance business. So if Magnus Carlsen wants to, I’m sure that he could find a job on Wall Street. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/9 "2012-02-21T20:10:39Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I think I understand what he is saying. Magnus is obviously a genius. But he uses his superpower to play a game. Oh, I see. In that case, it seems the OP and perhaps you have bought into the mythology surrounding the elite chess players. They’re not geniuses. They gain their skill in the same way as anyone else- practice. They don’t have superpowers. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/10 "2012-02-21T21:16:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I think I understand what he is saying. Magnus is obviously a genius. But he uses his superpower to play a game. Yes, this. I’d like factual answers about Carlsen’s mental capabilities, and people like him. ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/11 "2012-02-21T21:53:16Z")
I just watched the [60 minutes](http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7399370n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox) segment - anybody who can beat ten other players in simultaneous blind-chess, can probably do something else, if they put their mind to it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/12 "2012-02-21T22:09:32Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Yes, this. > > I’d like factual answers about Carlsen’s mental capabilities, and people like him. Well Kasparov has gone on to be a vocal if ineffectual political figure in Russia. The “Searching for Bobby Fisher” guy is a mildly successful marital arts competitor. The actual Bobby Fisher became a paranoid conspiracy theorist. So of the three retired chess prodigies I’m aware of, two seem to have had mildly successful careers but aren’t anywhere close to the level of success that they enjoyed in the chess world. The third went off the deep end. (Deep Blue appears to be residing in the Computer Science Museum, which doesn’t seem very intellectually taxing, and smacks of resting on your laurels, IMHO) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/13 "2012-02-21T23:05:57Z")
Deep Blue probably wouldn’t even be the top chess computer any more, anyway. It’s been, what, ten years since it played? That’s a very long time, in the world of computers. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/14 "2012-02-21T23:33:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Deep Blue probably wouldn’t even be the top chess computer any more, anyway. It’s been, what, ten years since it played? That’s a very long time, in the world of computers. Which is why it should switch to a different field. Perhaps it and Kasparov could run on a unity ticket in Russia. Seems like there’s a good campaign ad in there about how Putin brings even famous adversaries together to oppose him. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/15 "2012-02-22T00:39:30Z")
People find always find it very impressive when chess players play simultanous blind chess. But I don’t think it is particularly impressive, compared to how good he is at normal chess. I’m certainly no genious, and I have played two people in simultanous blind chess. Also, I think that all sports stars are sort of a waste, since they earn a lot of money, but don’t actually contribute anything to society. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/16 "2012-02-22T01:17:09Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Also, I think that all sports stars are sort of a waste, since they earn a lot of money, but don’t actually contribute anything to society. I guess if you consider the point of life to be something other than happiness that’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/17 "2012-02-22T01:48:32Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Also, I think that all sports stars are sort of a waste, since they earn a lot of money, but don’t actually contribute anything to society. My Giants contributed a lot to me. They made me very happy and won me $1600 in Vegas this year. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/18 "2012-02-22T01:52:58Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > He’s also modeled for [G-Star](http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6485)… He’s got an interesting face. It’s like he’s spent so much of his time staring at a chess board and pondering his next move that his face just got stuck that way. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/19 "2012-02-22T05:57:47Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Also, I think that all sports stars are sort of a waste, since they earn a lot of money, but don’t actually contribute anything to society. I find that quite doubtful. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542/20 "2012-02-22T07:55:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The “Searching for Bobby Fisher” guy is a mildly successful marital arts competitor. Casanunda? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnus-carlsen-do-anything-else/613542.md?page=2)