Viswanathan Anand would have ‘chop sueyed’ Magnus Carlsen if he was...: Hikaru Nakamura

World No 1 Magnus Carlsen may have beaten Viswanathan Anand at the FIDE World Blitz Team Championship 2026 on Sunday, but American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura believes the Indian chess legend would ‘chop-sueyed’ five-time world champion Carlsen if he were any younger.

Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen share a long history. Carlsen had beaten Anand in Chennai to win his first world title in 2013. Anand lost the reverse match in 2014.

'Anand should have beaten Magnus'

The latest chapter of the rivalry between 56-year-old Anand and 35-year-old Carlsen took place on Sunday in Hong Kong, where Magnus beat the Indian chess player in 48 moves despite playing with black pieces.

Carlsen, who had been struggling with a streak of defeats recently and lost to Arjun Erigaisi on Sunday, helped his team, WR Chess, qualify for the FIDE World Team Blitz Chess Championship quarterfinals by beating Anand, who played for Chess United. However, they were eventually knocked out of the competition as Dragon Chilling clinched the title.

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World No 2 Nakamura was super impressed with how Anand played against Carlsen. He said that Anand remains an 'incredibly strong player' despite not being an active participant anymore.

“Even if Vishy is not someone who’s studying chess all the time, he still remains an incredibly strong player. And if he gets his position, he knows the ideas," Nakamura was quoted as saying by Rook Review.

Nakamura added that Vishy Anand belongs to the same level as Carlsen and Garry Kasparov and would have dismantled Magnus on the duty if he were 20 years old.

"I would also add that this is one of the things that is really underestimated about Vishy — how strong he is. He gets overlooked because of players like Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. But he is in that elite level.

"Vishy should have won this game. Again, this is Vishy Anand. He’s not super young anymore. If Vishy were 20 years old, I think that Magnus would be ‘chop suey’ here," Nakamura added.