Fabiano Caruana

World No. 3

“We’re not supposed to play video games, are we? I’d like to watch people play video games, but chess is not a video game.

The fact that Alireza can move his mouse and flag at the right time — isn’t particularly interesting for me as a spectator. Yes, that’s part of the game. But you need to focus on the fundamentals. You need to win winning positions in chess. You need to not blunder pieces. It’s not always easy, but that’s what you have to do to win.

For example, in basketball, you don’t need to do things outside of basketball. If someone throws a shoe — it’s not my job as a basketball player to be able to dodge someone throwing a shoe from the outside. The same in chess — it’s not my job to be able to move a mouse really fast.

And then there’s this thing — surprising moves. Even if they’re not good, they can work because they cause your opponent to run out of time. To me, it doesn’t feel like part of the game.”