The veteran world championship contender, Victor Korchnoi, has accused the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of hypnotising his opponents. Plainly unimpressed by the overall quality of Carlsen’s play, the ever-controversial Korchnoi ascribes Carlsen’s successes to mental influence rather than superlative moves. In the past, similar accusations were levelled against Alekhine, when he beat Bogolyubov in 1934, and against Tal, when he won the Candidates tournament in 1959.
Winning streaks often come in sixes and sevens. Fischer defeated Taimanov and Larsen by six to zero in each case, in his celebrated run in 1971. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana reeled off seven consecutive wins in St Louis last year, while at the recently concluded Tata Steel Tournament in the Netherlands, Carlsen, whether by hypnosis or just good play, won six games in a row against world-class opposition.
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