Talks to Watch

Magnus Carlsen's Mind-Blowing Memory! World Chess Champion tested

4.8M views · Apr 30, 2021 · 3:48 · 0 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2021–2022

Grandmaster David Howell tests Magnus Carlsen by showing him chess positions and asking which famous games they come from. Carlsen recognizes many almost instantly.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters cite it as an example of expert memory built on context, such as Carlsen identifying players, tournaments and moves from positions.

“They put a number of mid-game positions on the board, and Magnus was able to guess the players, tournament, game number, who won”HN comment, 2022

What Hacker News said 3

Cites itmatsemannOct 2021

“There are videos of Magnus Carlsen being shown various positions, and he can instantly tell which games they are from.”

Carlsen instantly recognizes positions and their games.

Full comment

There are videos of Magnus Carlsen being shown various positions, and he can instantly tell which games they are from. Like their brain has an index on postions or something. Not only that, but also can tell how the game continues. One example this video

in “How long does it take ordinary people to get good at chess?” · view on HN
Cites itlyspSep 2022

“They put a number of mid-game positions on the board, and Magnus was able to guess the players, tournament, game number, who won”

Carlsen identifies players, tournaments and next moves from positions.

Full comment

I saw a video a while ago. this video They put a number of mid-game positions on the board, and Magnus was able to guess the players, tournament, game number, who won, what the next few moves were. Who was playing on the table next to him. What their moves were.

Cites itninethirtyDec 2022

Example of expert memory built on care and context.

Full comment

Not enough context. Do you only watch football once every four years? Probably you don't care enough and have enough context of strategic moments to create memories. The more you care + context, the better the memory will be, see LeBron + Magnus. { link , this video }

in “Ask HN: Is your memory as bad as mine?” · view on HN