While Magnus Carlsen earned the highest title in chess at the age of 13 years and 148 days in April 26, 2004. Robert "Bobby" Fischer became a grandmaster at the age of 15 and 1/2 years old.
But unknown to many, Carlsen and Fischer are said to be having the characteristics of a person with Asperger Syndrome.
If you'll ask me, I don't see this as a negative element in their lives. In fact I've been working for more than a decade now in the area of special education and I totally understand why there's this buzz about Carlsen and Fischer.
Persons with Asperger Syndrome have changed the the course of the world and you can check the list here.
The New York Times even run an article Dealing in Chess, Bet on This Norwegian and in it it said:
Henrick Carlsen said his son’s progress in chess was typical for him. “Sometimes, he’s been thought to be slow,” he said. But when he gets interested in something, “then he accelerates.” He added, “I don’t think he is conscious of this approach. It is innate.” He said that his son, from a young age, exhibited an ability to focus single-mindedly. One day, the father recalled, when Magnus was 4, he spent six hours building a train out of Legos. A half-hour after he went to bed, Mr. Carlsen found him in the dark “wide awake and staring into space, and I thought, ‘O.K., this is too much.’ ”
Magnus’s parents have not had their son tested for developmental disorders because he is well-enough adjusted socially. “Magnus seems to be fortunate enough to have the right characteristics to be considered normal despite the fact that he has some traits that might lead others to call him abnormal,” his father said. “Most people like him.”
But Carlsen clarified this over at Chessbase' Magnus Carlsen on Golden Goal.
Anyways, let's watch the video from CBS News:
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