The Most Magnus Carlsen Thing Ever: Chess World #1 Smiles For Photo With Alua Nurman 18, Then Reports Her To Judges
by Andrew Berson
Alua Nurman took photo with world #1 Magnus Carlsen (Image: Instagram)
The greatest chess player of all time smiled for the camera and then went straight to the judges to report his opponent. The chess community is divided over this awkward moment at a major tournament.
At the 2026 Grenke Chess Festival in Germany this month, 18-year-old Kazakh grandmaster Alua Nurman took a photo with world number one Magnus Carlsen before their chess match. Carlsen, 35, smiling broadly, leaned over the chessboard to take the photo. What appeared at first glance as a friendly and memorable moment for an emerging young talent and arguably the greatest player of all time turned out to be as brief as a camera shutter.
As soon as the photo was taken, Carlsen left the table, located a judge and lodged a complaint against Nurman for violating the strict rule prohibiting players from using mobile devices during competition.
According to FIDE regulations and the rules of the Grenke festival, all electronic devices are strictly prohibited from the playing area to prevent any cheating. Many major tournaments now use detection wands to scan players before matches. With chess doing everything it can to avoid cheating, anti-phone enforcement is taken very seriously, especially at the elite level.
Nurman is no ordinary amateur. She is ranked first among women under 20 in the FIDE world rankings and was an Asian Blitz champion.
Nurman later posted the selfie on Instagram and got some laughs in the comment section. She also said she was inspired by French grandmaster Etienne Bacrot, who did the same thing to Carlsen last year. “I thought, why not? I’m very grateful that Magnus agreed to this,” Nurman said.
This incident sparked controversy online, with some people calling Carlsen’s actions “snobby” while others rushed to his defense, saying that all players should be held responsible for following the rules. Carlsen went on to win the match anyway.
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