Can You Win At Chess If You're Untalented?

[@flippert0]

Garry Kasparov (who was supremly talented) said this about "hard work vs. talent": "the ability to work hard is itself a talent".

[@saz100]

Exactly. How many people lack determination, discipline, focus and the ability to concentrate for long periods? Having that essentially makes you a very talented person. Unironically, it has much more applications than knowing how to play chess really well.

[@jamesking-lx9xj]

garry the greatest you right brohther but people forget about genetics

[@HarshVTandon]

@@jamesking-lx9xj Yeah the reason one cannot become good at something is because of genetics. High quality copium

[@badcornflakes6374]

​@@jamesking-lx9xj genetics, your upbringing, how people treat you growing up, how you treat others.. everything is taken into account

[@jamesking-lx9xj]

@@badcornflakes6374 great point! ,discipline .staying away from drugs, too much clubbing

[@wiadroman]

Exceptional self discipline is also a talent. Some people seem to be naturally much better at that than others.

[@pedrohlc17]

If I could choose any talent in this world to steal, it would be Cristiano Ronaldo's self discipline. With that I can do anything.

[@seya_2]

Yeah to get better at something you need discipline.

[@josephnewman713]

Discipline, work ethic, and determination are talents required to become elite in any field.

[@antoroos8990]

@@josephnewman713 of course but it's not something you either have or don't people have different levels of it. And when you're talking about chess GM's obviously most of them are very disciplined but compared to eachother one can be more disciplined

[@HarshVTandon]

That is the laziest cope I have ever heard.

[@joeljohansson6097]

Fabi modulates his inner landscape more towards precision than intuition. You can even see it in his demeanour. In classical, that might be more beneficial.

[@TheThedangerzone]

It’s like in school when people would get mad at the student that gets an A on the exam as a “try hard” lol

[@nutie9571]

Yeah yeah indeed lmao 😂😂

[@zarathustra_13]

He actually meant it as a compliment so I see no problem in that

[@PeteQuad]

Lol I never met people like that. Sounds like losers.

[@badcornflakes6374]

I never went to a school where people got upsetty at people who got good grades lol. They would bully people with bad grades however

[@FelixTheForgotten]

Then there's a deadbeat genius who doesn't study and always get +90%

[@zyabayz101]

Dubov says "Magnus--sometimes you see those moments of genius and you can say to yourself, okay, I can not do this...I can work a lot, still I can not do this and it's not going to change." So he seems to be implying that "natural talent" means being able to come up with ideas during a game that no one else could come up with no matter how hard and how long they work. And I've heard Hikaru talk about Magnus in a similar way, for instance during the endgame of the famous game 6 of the World Championship match against Nepomniachtchi. What Magnus did in winning a seemingly dead-drawn endgame appeared even to other top players as something that was almost miraculous. So, perhaps, an exceptional ability to do lots more of those "miraculous" things during games than others can is what Dubov has in mind here.

[@zatoichimasseur6767]

Thanks alot for figuring it out doctor obvious.

[@brenosantos4756]

@@zatoichimasseur6767 Nakamura didn't figured out emotional guy hahahahaha

[@goldbatman]

True lol​@@brenosantos4756

[@kylon1235]

I have always found it borderline insulting when people call me talented at something that I have worked hard to be good at.

[@saz100]

That's interesting because I would personally find the inverse to be more insulting. I would certainly perceive someone calling me an untalented hard worker as implying that they could be as good as me at anything if they bothered trying.

[@davidschneide5422]

I get constant reminders that people worked hard for years to become complete assholes

[@lightofscorpio9396]

whats funny is that this is the complete opposite. people believe dubov is insulting fabi for saying he believes fabi worked hard to be good at chess and isnt naturally talented like magnus is.

[@Jamaramlolz]

@@saz100 The point is it's double edged, I would say, and open for interpretation.

[@danielrichwine2268]

Some people are talented in chess, just as some can run faster than other naturally. At the top levels you have to be freakishly talented and have to work freakishly hard. Hikaru, Fabi, etc. must be proud to have accomplished what they have and yet they still look up and see Magnus above them must be hard.

[@lightofscorpio9396]

many people still dont want to acknowledge that talent is a real thing.

[@mrtrikxx]

@@lightofscorpio9396Thats the problem. Denying the existence of natural talent is absurd.

[@martinstepniewski7093]

@@mrtrikxx is it? What's the context, pretty much every top player/athlete has put it the work. I think it's the opposite, people like to give excuses to themselves that they don't have the talent for something rather than acknowledging how much work successful people put it. There might be some genetic factors that help in certain fields, but I dont think thats what people think of when they say talent. Is shaq talented for being 7 foot tall and having the frame to carry his muscle mass?

[@Chronicles-t9t]

​@@lightofscorpio9396 real

[@brenosantos4756]

​​@@martinstepniewski7093Dubov implied in the interview that "Natural Talent" are those people that can do something and others even with hard work cannot do... I agree with that... for example everyone says that Magnus Carlsen is the best endgame player of all time... This gets even more pronounced when someone is naturally talented in an area... stops for a while... and when they come back... they still do well in what they excelled at... or with little amount of pratice when others struggle to get back in shape...

[@DoddyIshamel]

People are a bit harsh on Dubov about this. In context he just wishes he could work as hard as Fabi as he thinks he could be as good as Fabi with that work.

[@aleksandarignjatovic3130]

But he did not say it like that. We cannot know what he really meant.

[@Blaisem]

It's still inane. It implies Fabi is working harder than everyone around him by a wide margin, which is an insult to the other top players. It just seems like Dubov believes he's seen through Fabi's game and imagines to himself that he could be Fabi if he just worked harder. Like an excuse to justify to Dubov's ego that there's a world where he's a top player instead of stuck on the fringes.

[@lostblue5651]

It would be even worse. So he says he is not number 2 in the world just because he doesnt want to study.

[@DoddyIshamel]

@@lostblue5651 why would rhat be worse?

[@ronald3836]

He says: I know I can't be like Magnus, but for sure I would be better than Fabi if I could just be bothered to put in the work.

[@seunmejule651]

Fabi top 5 in blitz rating though. I think its just a personality thing. Fabi looks like he works hard and Magnus looks like he does not.

[@ronald3836]

Agreed.

[@johanliebert5781]

It's cuz Fabi looks a little "nerdy" and Magnus looks a little "jock"ish.

[@winfredj9820]

exactly

[@albertofernandez5943]

Fabi works so hard that he forgot how to talk to girls and be sociable

[@ronald3836]

@@albertofernandez5943 Fabi certainly has no sociability issues. Maybe you have not seen him interact with people?

[@jeremiahjohnson4572]

If lack of preparation is the key to talent then chess 960 is the best metric.

[@wanderlust4080]

In which Fabi is probably still in the top 5 or so. For Dubov to say that all top 20 players are more talented than him is simply delusional.

[@Nader-m5x]

The problem is chess960 isnt balanced so sometimes small mistakes can be too Consequential and sometimes white is favoured too much when 1 mistake happens . So its basically Luck often among top players because your openings can randomly be Good for someone . I think classical is way better because its even every Gm knows every Opening and the mid to endgame is pure skill . So no one Can luckily get a better Position because the position is so unbalanced abd hard to understand

[@SecureSnowball]

A hard worker will win chess 960 classic and a naturally talented will win 960 3+1.

[@feranmiadeakin9850]

Also fabi made it to the grand final in chess 960 and dubov calls him talentless

[@Chronicles-t9t]

​@@wanderlust4080 you are delusional coz you can only think one dimensionally

[@colegieseking5136]

Fabi is the Rock Lee of chess. He is a genius at working hard.

[@supremespanker]

Fabiano is VERY sane and rational while being imaginative. That's a spectacular talent, it is hard to satisfy these conditions simultaneously. Fabi could easily be a scientist, which is impossible for other players at the moment. Dubov under appreciates sanity, and over appreciates finding moves over the board.

[@jimbojet]

Agreed. Fabi and MVL brain-goated.

[@ronald3836]

Does Fabi have an academic background?

[@SpacexTitanic]

Fabi is not talented

[@insidercam]

excellent take. scientist, this would suit him so well, i think.

[@insidercam]

@@ronald3836 yes, he studied Economics, but hasn't graduated, as i remember him saying.

[@SUbH_4]

The infinite reaction loop

[@IvanPovshednyi1712]

Bro cooked Fabi with that thumbnail 😭

[@truecuckoo]

I was looking forward to this reaction video. Hikaru has mentioned in interviews a few times that he viewed his older brother as a natural amazing chess talent. I was hoping he was gonna talk a bit about that, assuming he has been seeing raw talent up close. But maybe it was just older brother syndrome. The older brother is always a few years ahead in development. As a kid that might seem like impossible talent. Nice video nonetheless.

[@plottwistaftercredits3144]

Fabiano's speaking is very eloquent

[@tennisCharlzz]

He's really a very thoughtful guy. He thinks very carefully on many topics.

[@saktzyofficial3387]

@@tennisCharlzzbecause he’s a gemini lol

[@nonchablunt]

The harder you practice, the more talented you get. - Not Gary Player Pattern recognition and any kind of chess idea can be practiced. Lost against an 11yo OTB yesterday who studies chess, while I just play it.

[@brenosantos4756]

@@nonchablunt Some people even with a lot of pratice cannot reach someone that is very talented...

[@maximix5447]

I disagree with your take on Dubov. He clearly says that he admires the hard work that Fabi puts in, which is what makes him able to compete with the top guys, who may have better instincts than him. He doesn't seem salty and doesn't downplay fabis achievements.

[@Chronicles-t9t]

When asked whats more important in bullet - Hikaru: speed> accuracy Alireza: speed>>> accuracy Magnus: accuracy> speed Thats the difference

[@drooga81]

hikaru is an exceptionally clear thinker and communicator. i really admire how he gets to the heart of an argument very quickly and lays out the issues.

[@jmm00702]

Hikaru is an exceptionally literally not carer. I really admire how he gets to the heart of an argument very quickly and literally doesn't care

[@ronald3836]

Hikaru is neither a clear thinker nor a good communicator. At the start of this video he argues that Dubov is referring to Fabi's lack of blitz ability, but Dubov never mentions blitz. Obviously you can't get really good at blitz without putting in a lot of work. Fabi definitely is an exceptionally clear thinker and commuinicator, as his comments show.

[@Bezpolezniq]

​@@ronald3836its called context clues about him not mentioning any blitz

[@Marioandluigi-j2k]

all about confidence and hard work

[@chesneytube1]

I don't know how Dubov can know Fabi's level of talent... more likely Dubov has constructed an ideal in his mind that he needs and projects it onto Fabi

[@ech00mxi]

I mean they have been playing against each other for years so he knows stuff about the players

[@darrenjohn8524]

Look at how Fabiano blundered against him in the last world blitz championship 🤣.

[@chesneytube1]

@@ech00mxi but how do you gauge natural talent?

[@ech00mxi]

@@chesneytube1 it’s basically the ability to find creative moves in hard circumstances and that is something Caruana lacks

[@chesneytube1]

@@darrenjohn8524 you can't tell anything from one blunder, everyone blunders including Magnus

[@BerndThomasSchuller]

Even in rapid and blitz you can develop intuition by hard work: play through and analyse thousands of games and you will surely develop a intuitive feeling for positions and good moves. Chess talent for me is the ability to calculate well, to be able to work very hard and to memorize many thousands of positions and understand what to do in those positions.

[@zatoichimasseur6767]

Na bruhhh somepeople just suck…

[@insidercam]

I really loved your reactions and your thoughts to these declarations of Dubov. You know, I always thought you were the funniest chess player and a really good one too, but i didn't trust your objectivity that much. You have an excellent reasoning and good arguments. I saw Dubov at the time of the interview, then I saw Fabi and Cris's reactions and, now, seeing that you made a video with it I was really curious about your thinking. I enjoyed even your mimic when seeing their reactions. And you know what else? Seeing that the greatest minds in chess have so similar take on what talent means, what `good chess player` implies, what it takes to become good and how much respect you have for the other is completely fascinating for me and shows me once again that professionals can and will appreciate each other much more and evaluate each other much more accurately and in a nuanced way than those lower on the rating list. Dubov has a lot to learn from you both. Hugs from Romania, Camelia. :)

[@unfixablegop]

When Dubov says talent, he must mean genius - producing strong moves that can't be produced by knowledge and reason alone. It's clear that a good memory and logical thinking are not part of what Dubov calls talent. He only has respect for what he cannot do himself. Dubov is damning with faint praise of course when he says that he has great respect for Curuana having come so far with so little "talent". He knows its unfair because everyone can only work with what he was given, but Dubov can't help but look down on it.

[@craigrathe2469]

LOL ... i find it funny that these convos happen in any competitive sport -- on Gils Arena, i listened to NBA players have this circular debate as well, talent vs skill, and struggled without any real definition.

[@HarshVTandon]

"Can you win at chess if you're untalented?" Yes ofcourse, just ask Kramnik

[@gayming4197]

You never reach top 4 with hard work alone. NEVER. In top 4 you still must be far more talented than 99,999% on the planet.

[@swadom4627]

dubov speeks about top30, not about the whole planet

[@gayming4197]

@@swadom4627 My bad... I guess, I felt the need to underline the exceptional talent anyone (!) far up there must have...

[@Jamaramlolz]

top 5 though any old schmuck can do that ;)

[@AndrewKeifer]

Capablanca was very good at blitz (just have a look at his St. Petersburg 1914 results) and is quite possibly STILL the most talented chess player to have ever played the game, perhaps there's some merit to the argument about blitz requiring more talent than preparation. He also, as far as I know, didn't receive any instruction, nor was he mentored, nor did he spend a lot of time preparing for his opponents. In fact, I've read in the past that he often didn't take his opponents seriously, for whatever that's worth. He was almost 100% purely natural talent. He was dubbed "The Chess Machine" for a reason.

[@nonchablunt]

Talented? Capablance was exposed to chess as a 2-3 yo and even before as he grasped the rules at an incredibly early age thanks to adults playing chess around him all the time. So if you equate practice with 'talent', then I'd agree.

[@AndrewKeifer]

@@nonchablunt if you could go from learning by watching your dad play (at the age of 4 he pointed out that his dad was making an illegal move which indicates that his dad wasn't any good at chess) all the way to beating the Cuban national champ in roughly 9 years (just before his 13th birthday) without the aid of books to study or any sort of coaching, everyone would be doing it. Practice only gets you so far. You need talent to compete at the highest levels.

[@kidrenegade8525]

The stories about Capablanco not working hard enough are just that, stories. He’s has admitted himself how much chess took on his time.

[@AndrewKeifer]

​@@kidrenegade8525 a quote by Julius du Mont (marked: "London, December, 1919") from the preface of the autobiographical "My Chess Career," written by Capablanca, quote: "The writer has had many opportunities of judging of the scope of Capablanca's reading and study outside the realm of chess, and he can safely assert that those people who imagine that the ambit of his mentality is chess, that he thinks chess, dreams chess and lives chess only, are hopelessly wrong. In fact, he devotes much less time to chess, I should say, than many an enthusiastic amateur." In this book, in the introduction, in his own words, Capablanca describes how he got his start in chess as a child. He recounts how little chess he played from age 4 to age 11, playing "only occasionally at home." He mentions again (as he did in an article in Munsey's Magazine written in Oct 1916) that, on some medical advice (however farcical it may be) that he should avoid playing too much chess. He mentions that he played 2 games, at around age 11, against Juan Corzo and lost them both. In chapter 2, he first mentions receiving books on chess before his match against the reigning Cuban champion Juan Corzo which occurred just before his 13th birthday. He writes: "Some of my admirers thought that I should have a good chance of beating J. Corzo. They attributed my defeats to the fact that I had never seen a chess book and urged me to study. One of them gave me several books, among which, one on endings. I liked the endings and studied some of them. meanwhile, the match with Corzo was arranged; the winner of the first four games - draws not counting- would be declared the victor. I began to play with the conviction that my adversary was superior to me; he knew all the openings and I knew none; he knew many games of the great masters by hear, things of which I had no knowledge whatever; besides, he had played many a match and had the experience and all the tricks that go along with it, while I was a novice." Capa goes on to say about the same match, "The victory made me, morally at least, the champion of Cuba. I was then twelve years old. I had played without any book knowledge of the openings; the match gave me a better idea of them. I became more proficient in the middle game and decidedly strong once the Queens were exchanged." We see this today with Magnus's games. He seems to always be stronger than his opponents once the queens leave the board. Compare this to Fischer, who learned to play at age 6 from an instruction booklet included with the chess set his sister bought him and began studying books on chess at age 10. The point of the OP isn't that Capa never studied books, but that he spent far less time in preparation and study than his peers.

[@AndrewKeifer]

More from Capablanca in his book, "My Chess Career," picking up where he left off after having defeated Juan Corzo at age 12 he writes: "For the next two years I devoted my attention to finishing my High School course. In 1904 I went to the U.S.A. to learn English and to prepare myself to enter Columbia University. In 1905 I paid my first visit to the Manhattan Chess Club of New York. although I had not played for a long time I won the first game, in good style, against one of the many first-class players of that famous club. I became a Sunday afternoon visitor, and one year later, in 1906, I was already looked upon as, at least, the equal of any of the players of that institution. In quick and lightning chess I was easily the best of all, and could compete with the strongest in the world, as I proved soon, winning a so-called Rapid Transit Tournament from a field of thirty-two, which included the chess champion of the world, Dr. E. Lasker, undoubtedly the foremost player there was in any kind of chess." "That same year I entered the University of Columbia to follow the chemical engineering course. In passing my entrance examinations I obtained the high mark of 99% in algebra, employing only one hour and fifteen minutes of the three hours we were allowed to do the work. I also had high marks in the other scientific subjects. I relate the facts for whatever deductions the psychologists may desire to draw." "After two years, in the course of which I had done a great deal of physical sport, I left the University and dedicated most of my time to chess. During those two years I played many a serious game, mostly in Summer, against the strongest players of the Manhattan Chess Club, and as one by one I mowed them down without the loss of a single game my superiority became apparent." As we can see, during his two years at university, Capa spent less time on chess than he did on his engineering course and sports. He was about 20 years old by the time he started dedicating most of his time to chess. This is nothing like Fischer or Carlsen or any modern GM, who all took advantage of their early signs of talent, beginning studying and coaching at young ages.

[@Kommaer]

If you are motivated by the loss that is a winner's mentality

[@gamma9141]

Fabi just smoked everyone in 960 😅😅

[@insidercam]

which is played with no opening lines, prep etc. If that isn't talent.. what can we say

[@th3atomu555]

Hikaru communicates so clearly 👌 Communication and understanding skills are on par with his chess skills

[@josephroxursox]

I think everyone is missing the point here of what talent means. Talent is just your raw natural potential, it is not an indicator of skill whatsoever. I'm a musician and I define talent as how quickly you pick up the instrument and intuitively you learn musical concepts. The equivalent in chess would be intuition, instinct, general awareness. Basically, talent is a huge advantage (in any field) but it is not a direct indicator of skill. Talent and skill have a correlation, but not a causation.

[@biffboffo]

Hikaru’s expression at the beginning shows so much glee - he finds this entire topic delightfully awkward.

[@anotherelvis]

The ability to remember openings is also a talent. It isn't just hard work and will to win..

[@chessaudiobooks3079]

Remember that Dubov is a disciple of Morozevich who is also a "Chess Purist"

[@Pandora_The_Panda]

What does it mean to be a chess purist?

[@darkook8472]

After fabi won the us championship for the 4th time, Nakamura uploaded this video, i can tell you that he hates fabi so much.

[@seal3081]

The whole video Hikaru is defending fabi. Fabi is a genuinely nice guy, I don't think anyone could hate him.

[@HeyWhySoSalty]

Hard work always outshines natural talent in most occasions. In chess it's more like a mix nowadays but yes, morphy was legendary. I would say morphy has a strong suit in both hard work ethics and natural talent.

[@intrinsic2941]

How good you are at blitz is definitely a product of how hard you've worked (and how early you started working on it in your childhood) imo. When you play blitz and bullet, you're showcasing your intuition, which is what you train/improve by practicing. I would define your talent as the upper-limit of how good your intuition can get through maximum training. Some people probably have naturally higher intrinsic limits than others I'd guess and that has to be the most useful definition of "talent" imo.

[@amatya.rakshasa]

Ultimately nobody cares about talent, however you define it. All that matters is output. Maybe someone was out there more talented than Newton or Da Vinci but nobody cares. We remember and are thankful for the output produced by folks like Newton, Einstein, Da Vinci etc. Even on a more modest level, I want a doctor that performs the best surgery and not someone who was more talented but whose surgeries are not as good because he doesn’t want to work hard.

[@MasterInHD]

From an outsider perspective, Hikaru and Fabi can articulate their thoughts like a million times better than Magnus. That's one of the biggest indications of memory and IQ. Fabi to me sounds like a genius. The way he talks, it's just such a pleasure to here. Saying he isn't talented is very laughable. He probably has the the highest IQ out of everyone; especially, since he can remember the longest prep out of every top player.

[@chessaudiobooks3079]

Talent can be measured somewhat by the speed one learns or absorbs the skill in question.

[@ashishsingh-vr5dx]

That speed of absorbing the skill is also a skill that can be mastered over time with hard work

[@ashishsingh-vr5dx]

Basically anyone can become talented with hard work

[@Henrox1]

“Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.” Kevin Durant. Fabi Top 5

[@jamesduggan7200]

Obviously I can't contribute to a discussion of what happens with 2700+ players; I can say that Dubov is now communicating in his 2d language. Asking him to define with clarity in English is not quite fair IMHO

[@jimbojet]

He made the same comment in Russian on Mustreader's Russian channel nearly two years ago.

[@grmpf]

His comments were quite two-dimensional indeed.

[@ronald3836]

@@grmpf But chess is only two-dimensional anyway :)

[@avalope]

Its also important to note that fabi has more chess talent than 99.99% of chess players. Its just that hes number 30 in the top 30.

[@Joe67343]

In athletics the most important natural gift is having superior hand-eye coordination, something you are born with, can't be learned later. In art, it's the ability to draw well at a young age. In chess, this key "natural" ability some players possess is more elusive to identify. Maybe it is a deeper spatial understanding of the position of the pieces, might be something else (haha).

[@RootGroves-hl8kt]

It is about the value of the pieces and how well they coordinate with each other.

[@manuelmed98]

Spatial-visual pattern recognition among others but yeah it's more elusive. It definitely exists though. Talent exists which I find many people are trying to downplay

[@lightofscorpio9396]

@@manuelmed98 talent definitely exists, but i think because its something unseen and unexplainable, people dont want to believe its real.

[@johnfrancis3073]

19:14 "Maybe Maybe"😂😂

[@facesbookses2044]

The talent of working very hard is everything you really need to thrive at a something. Unless you have some mental or physical disabillity that unables you. Considet what working hard is: Repetition, dedication, studyig, exploring, effort, filing, learning, going above and beyond the typical expectations and excel in something. Apply this to anything like: weight lifting, poker, chess, skateboarding, fighting, parenting, investing, middle level manegement, skiing etc. This is the only way to become good at something.

[@Abhishek-y6i3j]

According to Hiakru Being world champion in Classical ❌ Blitz ✅ According to hikaru it should be! Wow this is insane.

[@Bezpolezniq]

Classical is pure nerd-ness. If you dont remember 20 moves before the game you cant compete. Simple. Blitz and bullet require way more skill since you need to think fast and its not pure memorization

[@Abhishek-y6i3j]

@@Bezpolezniq bro after 20 moves you have to come up with absolutely precise move with accurate calculation slight inaccuracy is dangerous. And also in blitz you also play the first 20 theoretical moves. Of course in blitz you have to come with moves fast but inaccuracies are accepted. So this is very subjective to say which one is better. But if you want to judge the real capacity of a player then it is classical.

[@johnfrancis3073]

Somebody tell Hikaru when he is reacting to stuff we will watch the video even if it is 40+ minutes

[@inoderlulzer5163]

Hikaru: I literall don't care. Fabiano: I literally don't know if I care.

[@Hooper33Andrew]

Would like to see Dubov at the Freestyle 960 tournaments next year.

[@yevgeny8796]

Basically Dubov compared Magnus to Mozart and Fabi to Salieri, case closed ...

[@sarterus]

100% agree on your Morphy comment. Natural talent he was nutz amazing. He did also study the few books he had, but the resources avalible were so much less.

[@dragosbalan1738]

Dubov is right... Fabi and Hikaru should listen carefully, among the 3 only Dubov is world champion!!

[@janesjanes4553]

Dubov is basically saying fabiano is the only chess player working hard and you and magnus are just waking up at tournaments and playing 😭

[@Chronicles-t9t]

What dubov is saying is that you practice math everyday to score well in the exam but there is that douchebag who would also score well in the exam without working that much coz his brain naturally does math well

[@plavyn]

First hikaru says there is no natural talent, then proceed to say that Magnus has it 😂

[@Remixer0000]

I personally don't think that talent or hard work are important metrics, because no matter what quality you have, your results will be the only thing that matters. Someone could be a talented mathematician for example and not apply themselves, and someone could be a hard worker yet work very hard towards goals that may not benefit their objective.

[@ronald3836]

Also, what does talent mean. One could say a GM who picked up the game at the ripe age of 12 must be the most talented one because most other GMs will have started playing chess seriously beefore the age of 8 or earlier. But obviously the GM who only started at 12 will have to work really really hard to make up for the loss of those crucial years.

[@brendanpolk6038]

This is actually a really deep convo tbh

[@martinpaddle]

In football (soccer) the analogy would be comparimg players like Messi or Maradona with other top players. Some few can produce "wtf" moments that no amount of training can get others to produce, and it's this what he means. Of course, it's something that's hard to capture with metrics.

[@MicahHeard]

“Like… I cannot do this” is a great compliment

[@Laila_Ha_d]

I think that each player is talented in their own way, talent isn’t a metric, it’s the result of different metrics like analytical thinking, calculation, speed… some players are good in some things and less good in other metrics, and personally I think that Fabiano is the God of calculation, he can calculate deeply and his moves are extremely accurate (that’s why he’s the only one who took Magnus to 12 draws in classical world championship match), and to be honest, it’s in classical chess that we can see the player’s real strength, this said… I think in the top level, if you’re not talented, hard work can’t help you. And I think that Fabiano being number 2 in the world surpassed only by Magnus and Dubov being number whatever speaks for itself !

[@unknown-unknown69]

FABI just won the USA championship 🏆🥇 by 1.5 points ahead of hans, levon, sam sevian, liang and leinier Dominguez tying for second place And he also won the tournament ( Fischer random chess) defeated Hikaru in style, he didn't let Hikaru breath the whole game He didn't lose a single game in the last 24 games he played in classical and rapid 11 draws and 13 win

[@Laila_Ha_d]

@ yeah I saw that. You’re point being ?

[@spacemonkey3161507]

Yeah he has no talent compared to the top 30,yet he's 2800+,been number 2 in the world for ever , a 4 time US champion and the only person Magnus said was kind of close to reaching him...

[@zatoichimasseur6767]

Hes washed up bro, get over it…. Go cry to your mom.

[@unknown-unknown69]

Who's washed out kid Fabi just won the USA championship, and Fischer random chess tournament Undefeated in last 24 games in all format

[@stquishh]

vishy and fabi the most hard working

[@pierrefoulquie6272]

"Sans technique un don n'est rien qu'une sale manie" (Georges Brassens, Le mauvais sujet repenti) "Without technique a gift is nothing but a bad habit"

[@polonc5]

I guess Chess960 strength is more related to natural talent than rapid and blitz compared to classical.

[@dalwand]

I love REACTIONS to REACTIONS! 😅

[@Knor]

Good video, I think for these types of videos I think no music or music very very quiet is better. I want to hear the video and hikaru clearly, vs TT videos music is great cuz most of the time its just chess or hikaru's thoughts which is good with music IMO. Thanks @ editor

[@MrGaryStaples]

Wouldn’t Fischer random be the best way to determine talent?

[@pabelhernandez6186]

not at all. Magnus has been preparing since a couple of years, because he kew before anyone else about freestyle chess championship in germany this year. This means Magnus has more expierence tha others which, is same as Fabi stated, We don´t now hou much someone works, but Magnus has working so hard due to his 5 titles, and that, lead to recopilate more knowledge, which is the base to make decisions "intuitively" corect.

[@alexkontogiannis3520]

Guys fabi is number 3 in rapid at the moment and number 5 in blitz in the world ,what on earth is hikaru talking about ,hes behind fabi in rapid and fabiano has probably way more golds than hikaru in top rapid events .obviously live blitz is the most whatever format of the 3 but i see fabi way ahead of dubov in rating there as well so ....

[@ritikhans372]

yaah now fabi is good in all 3 formats

[@alexkontogiannis3520]

@@ritikhans372 yea not to add that he became grandmaster at 14 and only handful of people were few months earlier at that moment so yea not very talented guy ...

[@Interspirituality]

@@alexkontogiannis3520”not to add that” - but you did add that

[@MrGaryStaples]

There’s not a lot of rated rapid tournaments

[@Bezpolezniq]

​@@alexkontogiannis3520he studied chess for 14 hours a day. Thats not talent thats hard work. A talent is being born able to juggle with and hard work is when you learn to juggle without even being close to be able to do it before

[@kevin6385]

The problem is ego. That some were not mentioned.

[@SpacexTitanic]

Dubov said perfect thing😂 Obviously rest getting offended Just proved Dubov was super correct

[@Callisto_31]

Hikaru are you taken?

[@1Plebeian]

Not in the past 5 minutes

[@blackman7186]

He is

[@chessWoRpire1449]

No, he is Captured

[@axm7597]

takes takes takes

[@gichukimaina]

​queen e2

[@JrgenMonkerud-go5lg]

From the perspective of managing theory and calculation and the quality of intuition when you depart from prep, results are basically all we have. We have the perpencity to not make low # sequences blunders, which is a calculation thing, how often do you neglect a need for line by line calculations where it is important, and this is where computers i think just simply crush humans because it always does to some extent where as humans rarely compute all lines to a certain depth. The problem of how to use prep is to get in a position, and the prospects from that position is still a skill because we don't close the activity by some sort of hard solve, so it is basically looking for a position where it is plausible that you could gain some advantage or secure a draw, without knowing anything objective about all continuations, that is definitely a skill, knowing what is acceptable or favorable to pick up what the computer left you and how to manage time spent on that process. You can't deny that skill and talent play a part there because there is a subjective judgment there that is conceptual rather than pure calculation. Then there is playing a game, which has its own problems, partially calculation and partially how good you are at generating concepts and managing time for thinking and calculation on the fly. Idk how to quantify a single talent scale there, it seems a bit dubious to do so, if you are conservative, but you very quickly spot and calculate potential tricks, then you will be a lot safer than other players even if you Don't come up. with long term concepts as easily as say magnus with endgames. It is almost certainly impossible to come up with an objective assessment of what talent means there. Idk i'm okay at chess at times, i think it is pretty much as easy to beat a 2000 rated bot as a 1300 at times when i play. Because i'm lazy and unstructured and omit a lot of nonsense, i should stop very often, but can see concepts pretty well at times, and xan calculate pretty well if i force myself to do so, still a complete amature with regards ti opening knowledge and also discipline of mentak process, and with regard to familiarity with patterns and themes, if i don't see it quick the first time the opportunity is there, well then it is what it is. Never played as a kid, so it feels pretty new every time i play. I don't feel any serious difference in difficulty playing agains 1300s to 1800 hundreds online, its more so not keaning on bad habits honestly.

[@lammatt]

Dubov is just jealous he's 37 and fabi is 4

[@ritikhans372]

4?? he is wold no 2 i think

[@lammatt]

@@ritikhans372 no Oct ranking is Magnus hikaru arjun fabiano

[@ritikhans372]

@@lammatt ooh ok live rating he is no 2

[@МуродТанжихолов]

Why did I thought you were talking about their age?

[@k4v4x]

I am proud to anounce i will upload my personal reaction to this reaction of the reaction of that interview!

[@sofiahenriques3798]

i think hikaru is the one that has more work ethic

[@paleale5592]

It looks like there is never enough of drama in the chess world. I guess now we're just waiting for Levy to make content from Hikaru's video, which was based on C-Squared's video, which itself was based on a video from a channel with just 8.5K subscribers with, according to quite a few commenters here, an unsuccessful and jealous GM.

[@ysf-d9i]

it's pretty clear that dubov wasn't talking about blitz. He was talking about finding unintuitive moves

[@danielegarja]

Basically it is the old nature vs nurture discussion. Sure, chess is something you learn along the way and not something you're born with, but there are certain traits that are inherently present at birth. Then again chess requires a varied skillset so, as many pointed out, hard work tolerance (innate work ethic) may also be a natural talent. In the end it's all about which skills you refer to when you talk about natural talent. Dubov argument makes sense but perhaps it could have been phrased better, for example saying what Fabi lacks in terms of tactical intuition and speed of tought he compensates with preparation and strategical understanding coming from his hard work.

[@Levipaulsen]

Dubov didn't seem salty whatsoever

[@mitchumsport]

Fabi - 2024 9LX champion

[@unknown-unknown69]

And USA champion in classical chess 2024/2023/2022 and 2018 I'm guessing

[@Sebou8265]

Daniil Dubious

[@kibbit1373]

I always thought that the comparison between the Magnus-Hikaru Rivalry and the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry never really worked. Imo Fabi is the Ronaldo of chess, Magnus and you are more comparable to Messi. All three of you are immensly talented and do a lot of work though.

[@SpacexTitanic]

Hikaru and Fabi are not as talented as Magnus and this is universal fact.

[@SpacexTitanic]

Talent need more intuitive thinking which doesn't come with hardwork hence Fabi and Hikaru can never beat Magnus consistently.

[@tuttuka]

I feel like I can understand what Duvob is saying about talent, as well as he mentions winners mentality

[@nguyenthinh5594]

Even Fabi himself knows that Dubov has no bad intention saying those words and Dubov himself said it's rather a kind of a compliment to Fabi. It's funny a lot of people take Dubov's words out of context, interpret it the wrong way, and then cry about it.

[@SmartWatches-xu6ri]

Ikr

[@SpacexTitanic]

Fabi is good politicians talking in circles with irrelevant and illogical fallacies to justify he is talented 😂

[@Nino-bu9mj]

my idol dubov with that passive aggressive situation lol

[@jamesking-lx9xj]

has scooby doo ever won anything ,?

[@Nino-bu9mj]

@@jamesking-lx9xj nothing notable of late but i do enjoy his risk taking approach to chess. there's never a dull moment!

[@unknown-unknown69]

​@@jamesking-lx9xj He won the world rapid championship 🏆🥇 in 2018

[@Magictye]

Dubov has that Hollywood russian english accent

[@ckq]

Dubov is basically mad that he's better than Caruana at blitz but in classical Caruana is over 2800 while he's under 2700

[@sullystpatrick]

I mean this as a compliment: you’re probably the least good looking person I know. But your personality is just so chill & magnetic, people love to be around you

[@Chronicles-t9t]

Dubov said this as compliment

[@tj_enju]

my chess has climbed levels just from watching hikaru bullet and blitz

[@SpacexTitanic]

Fabi lost his sanity comparing Magnus with Hikaru and himself when rest 2 never won anything compare to Mangus 😂

[@ray54ization]

Waiting for Dubov reaction to this to complete the matrix, lol

[@pianoforte611]

I think there is an objective criteria but very difficult to measure. Strength vs amount of time spent playing chess. Plot each on a graph and see who is above or below the trendline.

[@jeffreyallen2382]

I think Dubov essentially means talent is the thing that gets measurable results when work put in is equal. For 10,000 hours of similar work, two players can both be great. But one may just consistently be better, spot more complex combos, find more brilliant moves from positions that seem unequal to most, and just generally win more.

[@AmanGuptaaa]

Now Hikaru plzz react to Danya reacting to you reacting to him reacting to Kramnik's accusations..😴

[@renishisrael9520]

Just my opinion. Working hard is a great talent (I'm a hardworker). But with respect to intuition in chess, Magnus and Hikaru are clearly better than Caruana.