World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen may be the greatest chess player of all time, but he isn’t winning anyone over with his charm anytime soon.
On Thursday during the early rounds of the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open in Karlsruhe, Germany, Carlsen faced off against Kazakhstan’s Alua Nurman. The 2024 Woman Grandmaster asked Carlsen for a selfie before their match, likely wanting to remember the exciting moment of playing against the world’s unrivaled No. 1. Carlsen happily obliged and appeared to smile in the selfie. Then, moments laters, Carlsen got up and brought an arbiter to their table, seemingly telling him to confiscate Nurman’s phone.
