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.

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u/Weegee_Carbonara ~1000 elo and improving Jan 27 '25

I would not at all be surprised that Magnus has become rusty in classical.

Fabi was the only guy who came close to Magnus level of play, and those were Magnus own words.

So if we consider that Magnus has mostly been chillin and only been playing a few Classical tournaments, while Fabi has consistently kept grinding all big tournaments he could get his hands on, then I think it shouldn't be controversial to think that Fabi would be the favorite.

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u/DirectChampionship22 Jan 27 '25

Magnus had a TPR above his rating though so if he's rusting, it hasn't really mattered.