I agree in many instances. For example, it is well known that Beethoven's father would wake him up in the middle of the night and force him to practice playing the piano. Mozart's father similarly treated his kid as a "show monkey" to make his family money. But I assure you it is not the case with Carlsen. In fact, I would say it is the opposite. His parents want him to play soccer and get away from chess, to go with them on picnics, to go to museums, etc. And if he gets a GF, don't worry, his chess will suffer immensely
White to move and win. No computers. This is not a very hard puzzle, but unless you are an experienced chess player, you may have a hard time with it. Remember, in all these puzzles, whites pawns go up and blacks go down. So for example, in this position, black is threatening to queen (promote) his g-pawn.
I once played a guy that was rated 2250. I played alot of chess with people who were 1600 and under , but this guy would make moves that seemed so odd to me. Sometimes I would think we were in the middle of a good game and he would be ready to beat me in 3 moves. I learned Chess at about 5 years old, but it wasnt until i was about 25 that i played people that were actually rated. I used to play this guy rated 1300 and he used to whoop me all the time and i could never win one game. I went out and bought 3 chess books and about a month later I beat him. That was the sweetest victory i ever had. After that I slowly started winning more and more games against him and then i got to a point where he couldnt beat me anymore. I figure if i ever got rated I figure i would probably be around 1500-1600. My favorite defense is the Kings Indian. I also play agressively. If I even get 1 point ahead, i will start trading pieces. Unless of course I'm playing with someone who i know is way better than me like someone rated 1800 or higher. (but it doesnt matter,they usually beat me anyway.) I've only won once against an 1800 rated player out of playing him about 5 or 6 times.
If you want to see strange moves, computers take the cake in this category. For example, take a look at this game: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1441056 White's 19th move is bizarre and it would probably not occur to most if any human chess players. And yet, it is an interesting strategical idea. Nice. In today's world, you would probably pick up one of the chess engines and start practicing. One thing that is a great way to use a computer to get better is, start with a winning position, and let the computer play the losing side. Since computers don't get bored, and they are fantastically difficult defenders, it is a great way to sharpen your game. So if you are a beginner and want to learn how to win a K+R vs K endgame, set it up and give the computer the lone king and try to mate it. Do this for all the typical endgames. Then move on to middlegames this way, etc. Outstanding way to train. The KI is a difficult opening to play because it is a hypermodern opening http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermodernism_(chess) affording white a tremendous space advantage. So in the hands of an inexperienced player, you can get suffocated behind your own pawns. Carlsen and Nakamura both play this opening as black, as do I, but it takes tremendous courage to play it because often the position requires black to sacrifice material for an attack, something beginners find nearly impossible to do.
I was hoping not to post the result so that these puzzles are time invariant. Meaning that anyone that reads through this thread can enjoy it at any time trying to solve it. I will PM you the solution.
No. White to move and wins means a sequence of moves, if black puts up the stiffest resistance. If it was mate in one, it would be stated as white to move and mate in one. The very first puzzle I posted in this thread is white to mate in two, and exactly two moves. (Two moves means two moves for white.)
You can download for free a slightly older version of Deep Fritz: http://www.chessbase.com/products/deepfritz12/index.asp?nl=042010 Highly recommended for training, but remember, this program on a laptop is waaaay stronger than the human world chess champion, so it is best to use it as a trainer or to do research, unless you enjoy getting crushed all the time.