What it’s like to play chess against a grandmaster

Once against one Grandmaster Playing a game of chess is a bit like playing against Lukas Weißhaidinger in the discus throw to compete or against Sofia Polcanova in table tennis. Despite all the motivation, the prospect of success is rather slim. It was rather surprising that the fun would be over so quickly.

Markus Ragger is just such a grandmaster. The 36 year old is the National coach of the Austrian chess men and, after the naturalized Russian Kirill Alexejenko, the best player in the country. On the occasion of the currently ongoing World Chess Championship in Singapore I challenged the grandmaster to an online game. Blitz chess. A total of 3 minutes thinking time plus 2 seconds per move.

Of course I can play chess. I know the moves, I know that you should bring the minor pieces into play quickly and then perhaps castle in order to connect the rooks at some point. I have a positive record against my mother; on the online platform I am ranked 7.2 million in the world rankings.

Ragger is number 236 in the world. And playing a blitz game against a grandmaster is a different league. The 36-year-old’s moves come lightning fast (of course) and there’s hardly any time to think about it. What kind of train is that? A fork! And my lady is gone – and the game is lost. Ragger used just eleven seconds of his time. I can still defend myself a little, but after 17 moves it’s all over – checkmate! The “fun” didn’t even last two minutes – while Ding Liren and D. Gukesh are currently sitting opposite each other at the board for four to six hours a day at the World Cup.

Ragger tries to console: “Playing 3+2 with little experience is incredibly fast.” And he gives further tips: “From a practical point of view, you should play 3… Bc5 or Be7 and then Ng5. This is how you can avoid the variant.”

I would like to thank you and try to heed the advice in the coming games. Successfully. I have now improved in the rankings to number 6.9 million.