‘Not really’: Carlsen on comparison between his rivalry with Nakamura to Messi-Ronaldo

The rivalry between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura has been intense since the pandemic struck and made chess a serious online sport.
On Sunday, Hikaru Nakamura finally defeated the one player to have defeated him in the format — Magnus Carlsen. He has now regered 5 chess Speed Titles under his name. Hikaru started off on a stunning start 6.5:2.5in the 5-minute section in a match that right down to the wire.
“I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the match,” said Magnus despite losing the game.
Lately, people have been comparing the Carlsen-Nakamura rivalry to the legendary footballer’s Lionel Messi and Criano Ronaldo after luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s launched a campaign which features both Messi and Ronaldo playing chess which is inspired from the game between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura which happened at the Norway Chess tournament back in 2017.
When asked if the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry is comparable to the Carlsen-Nakamura rivalry, Carlsen said: “Not really, but he’s good at a lot of the stuff that I’m good at, for sure. It’s not the worst comparison in the world.”

Second greatest rivalry of our time mimicking the greatest https://t.co/9ncVVgUnzs
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) November 19, 2022
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Earlier, Carlsen also reacted to the LV campaign and wrote on Twitter, “Second greatest rivalry of our time mimicking the greatest.”

“To be honest I was rooting for France, but having Messi get his World Cup title is also not a bad outcome, so the final was very enjoyable to watch. As a football fan it was a good warm-up,” said chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, when asked about which team he was rooting for in the FIFA world cup final.