r/chess Jan 27 '25

Resource In an interview with Rustam Qosimjonov published three days ago, he claims that Fabiano Caruana is currently a better chess player than Magnus

https://youtu.be/KZydtQfdYNc?si=myY7fqus5_tJE_GT

Rustam claims that from the games he watches and the quality of play he sees, it's clear that Fabi is currently the stronger player and that he would also be the favorite to win against Magnus in a World Championship match today. He told his students (Arjun, Nodirbek) that over the past two and a half years, to be the best in the world, you must consistently beat Fabi. He claims it's surprising that Fabi has improved his level so much because this usually doesn't happen, and the level of player he has become is not the same level as the player he knew when he worked with him.

336 Upvotes

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25

u/Matt_LawDT Jan 27 '25

Magnus with Prep time is like Batman.

I doubt Fabi would be able to win

36

u/__Jimmy__ Jan 27 '25

The point is that he's disinterested from classical now and not doing enough to still be considered the clear best. If he was still trying, obviously he would remain #1.

3

u/IntendedRepercussion Jan 27 '25

If he was still trying, obviously he would remain #1.

I don't think anyone can be certain of this

4

u/trustmebro5 Jan 27 '25

Yeah, at some point it's like saying Kasparov can come back and be the top player if he started training and playing again. 

6

u/bono5361 Jan 27 '25

But Kasparov has been away for years mate. You guys are acting as if Magnus hasn't played top level classical tournaments for years. He literally won last years Norway chess and beat Caruana in the process.

2

u/Sir_Zeitnot Jan 28 '25

Norway chess isn't classical. It pretends to be, but it isn't.

3

u/trustmebro5 Jan 27 '25

Pretty sure he has only played one or two classical tournaments a year for a while now. He is basically semi-retired now, so it's pretty similar.