Beyond the Magnus Selfie: Kazakhstan’s Alua Nurman Climbs the Chess Ranks

Kazakhstani chess player Alua Nurman attracted attention on social media after taking a selfie with top-ranked Magnus Carlsen at a tournament. However, some chess analysts suggest that greater attention should be paid to her recent success on the board. This year, 18-year-old Nurman was awarded the International Master (IM) title by FIDE, the international governing body of chess. She previously held the lower-ranking Woman Grandmaster title. Nurman delivered strong performances at the Prague International Chess Festival in late February and early March, and again at the Agzamov Memorial tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where she defeated American grandmaster Brandon Jacobson, whose classical chess rating is about 2,590. Her rating has increased by around 65 points to more than 2,440 as a result of her recent results. The International Master title requires a rating of at least 2,400. “Alua didn't just take a selfie w/ Magnus, she also earned the IM title, had the best tournament performance of her career, got her highest-rated win ever, & became No. 1 in the girls' junior rankings!” Women’s Chess Coverage, a social media account focused on women’s chess, said on X. FIDE defines juniors as players under 20. Nurman is Kazakhstan’s second-ranked female chess player after Bibisara Asaubayeva, who is currently competing in the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. The selfie was taken on April 2, just before Nurman and Carlsen played at the Grenke Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany. Nurman asked for a selfie, and Carlsen obliged. The Kazakhstani player then put her phone in her bag. After a moment, Carlsen got up and told a tournament official that Nurman had a phone, and it was confiscated for the duration of the game. FIDE generally prohibits players from having electronic communication devices during matches because of concerns about cheating. The selfie incident occurred before the start of the match, which the Norwegian won. Nurman was delighted with the experience of playing Carlsen, who is widely considered one of the best chess players of all time. “Dream come true!!” she said on Instagram. It was, Nurman added, a “truly enjoyable game.”

Magnus Carlsen Criticizes Almaty’s Air Quality After Chess Championship

Former world chess champion Magnus Carlsen has spoken about the challenges he faced while competing in the World Rapid Chess Championship in Kazakhstan. Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Norwegian grandmaster revealed that Almaty’s poor air quality forced him to seek refuge in the mountains to recover and breathe fresh air. Carlsen described the tournament venue as a “strange place,” noting that Almaty suffers from severe air pollution in winter, creating an uncomfortable environment. To cope, he traveled to a mountainous area about an hour from the city, where he said the landscape resembled the Swiss Alps, with peaks reaching 3,500 meters. This trip caused Carlsen to be late for his match against Belarusian grandmaster Vladislav Kovalev. He started the game 2.5 minutes behind schedule, a significant disadvantage in a format where players have just three minutes for the entire game, plus two seconds per move. Despite the setback, Carlsen won both the match and the championship. “I was so miserable in the city that I realized if I wanted to keep playing, I needed to get out and get some fresh air. I decided to take the risk, and it worked,” he said in an interview. The tournament began on December 25, 2022, in Almaty, with a total prize fund of $1 million, fully sponsored by general partner Freedom Broker. Carlsen, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players in history, held the world championship title from 2013 to 2023. He has won the World Rapid Chess Championship five times, claimed eight Blitz Chess titles, and secured victory in the 2023 FIDE World Cup.