Kazakhstan’s 18-year-old grandmaster Alua Nurman takes a selfie with the world’s No 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen.
The world’s No 1 chess player, Magnus Carlsen, reported an opponent for having a phone moments after he agreed to take a selfie with her before an official match.
Carlsen, the five-time world champion, faced Kazakhstan’s 18-year-old grandmaster Alua Nurman at a freestyle chess tournament in Germany, the Grenke Chess Festival.
As the players sat down to begin the match, Nurman took out her phone and asked Norway’s Carlsen for a picture, with the 35-year-old smiling for the selfie over the chess board.
Video from the event, however, showed that Carlsen stepped away from the board to inform an official that Nurman had a phone in her possession. The official then came across and confiscated Nurman’s phone.
Being in possession of a phone during an official match is against the rules, as it could be used to cheat – either by looking up moves online or by receiving hidden messages and possible signals through the phone’s vibration.
There was no suggestion that Carlsen reported Nurman for cheating or the 18-year-old used her phone illegally. The world No 1 was praised by some fans for reporting Nurman before the match started, rather than her possibly facing disqualification later.
Carlsen went on to win the match but Nurman finished second in the women’s category. She said she was inspired by another grandmaster who took a selfie with Carlsen before a match last year.
“When I saw the pairings, I was out of my mind,” she told ChessBase India. “Last year [French grandmaster] Etienne Bacrot also took a selfie. I thought like, why not? I’m very grateful that Magnus agreed to this.”
Carlsen responded to the incident by also telling ChessBase India: “It’s alright for me. I won both the games so I’m not complaining.”