Magnus Carlsen’s king goes for walks
Where the king moves to, castling left out: a third of Magnus Carlsen’s king moves land in the middle of the board, against about a quarter for strong online players.
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Data: Carlsen, PGN Mentor archive (7,818 games 2001-2026); everyone else, the Lichess open database for January 2025, games where both players are rated 1800+ (CC0). Castling is left out of both. Part of the difference is length: Carlsen’s games more often reach endgames, where kings walk. Square-root colour scale. Played as puzzles in Daily Shade.