I Made Magnus Carlsen Play the Cow Opening

Magnus, I have had a dream my whole life and I wanted to ask you if that dream was possible. Yes, what is the dream? I have always dreamt of having the best chess player in the world try to play the cow opening against me for one game. Of course. Is that okay? Yeah, it's sure. Did you watch Pug Champs? Did you see how Tyler1 was doing with the cow? Yes, he lost with the cow this time, but he's done very well in the past. But he got to almost 2000 with the cow. Fair enough. What do you think about the cow? I don't know. You just place your pieces on bad squares and you don't fight for the center. That's the bad part. The good part is that you don't have that many weaknesses. And your opponent is not expecting it to happen. That is true. Can I just ask? You put your knights here, you put your pawns here, bishops here. That is not necessary. It's just pawns and knights. Yeah, exactly. It feels weird to play against the cow, because I don't even know what the best way of playing against it is. No, apparently it's difficult. It is. Okay, all right, let's do it like this. Let's do this. Is this your first time playing it? Yeah. I don't think I've ever played it in any casual game or anything. Do you think it might be your last time too? We'll see. Okay. Maybe this is the moment you really like it. Okay, I'll go here. Just normal stuff. Is there a specific move order you should play? Whatever you feel like, whatever you desire. Okay, I will go here. And now, okay, now we do this. Now, yeah. Why on earth is my knight here? That's what I'm wondering. That is what I'm wondering. Okay. Okay, I guess I have to push. But you know, the thing is, not everyone knows about this move. No, that's true. I mean, it's not that terrible. I mean, it is terrible, but it's terrible at a certain level. At most levels, this is perfectly fine. Yeah, okay. Okay, let's go here. Now, what do we do? This is a move I've never seen anyone play. I don't know. G6 just looked really passive. Because you want to put your knight there. Yeah. Okay, so what if I attack? The cow wants to come back. You know why it's called the cow? I mean, it looks, it's just a hippopotamus that's misplaced or something. Misplaced? That's such a negative word. Yeah, it's a different hippo. It's because it's like the face of the cow and these are the ears. Oh, okay. You see what I mean? That actually makes sense. Okay, thank you. I just thought it was like a play on hippopotamus. No, no. I haven't really played the hippo in my life, so I'm not a hippo player. Okay, let's go there, maybe. Knight E4 is coming. B5 looks powerful. Let's try and play prophylactic chess. Okay, so you want to go G4. So for me, to play prophylactic chess, I should stop you from doing this. What if I go here? That's very good. Okay, let's go for some development. Okay. Finally. I really want to start doing the same thing here, but I don't think I can anymore. This opening reminds me a little bit of The Stonewall when I used to play that. So the good thing about playing The Stonewall is that you create weaknesses immediately. And so you're not worried about those creating weaknesses because you already have weaknesses. And here it's like the position is already like measurable, so we can only get better. That's what I'm thinking. What I think is that typically with white, you overextend because you get so excited. Yeah, of course, that would be the idea of openings like that and maybe even more the hedgehog and the hippo. Okay, now this is the best position. No, don't say this. This is the best position. I don't like when your tone shifts. This could be a dangerous cow. Okay, is it really? Okay. Okay, that's fine. You're gonna go long. No, can you even go long castles? I think I'm allowed. Allowed, yes. But is it? Oh, and this one is hanging too. Okay, it's okay. Let's go there. It's not as if this is winning for black. I do realize that. Okay. I need to not get nervous when you say you have a good position. I've made this mistake several times in the past. I will not make it this time. Check. Okay. That is what I was hoping for. Because now I get some extra time for this. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I see, I see. Because now I don't have... Still not super clear. This, this. I think King e2, we're probably still doing really well. King e2? Yeah, instead of c3. I thought you were telling me now what I should do. No, no. Now, I would not recommend King e2. No, no. Me neither. Okay, I cannot really calculate if I can take there. That's probably wise. Well, there are a few ways to win, but... To win? Yeah, yeah. Well, that's the level we're at now. You know, I've started... No! Even a docile cow can be dangerous sometimes, you know? No, wait, stop. How do I stop this? Maybe I have to go here? Yeah, I realized the problem. No, there's another... No. There was another one. No, this went so badly. Okay, yeah. No, I will resign here. Okay. Thank you. Well, honestly, as you said, it worked out perfectly. You got overextended, the cow struck back. And that was quite enjoyable. Thank you very much. You know, maybe this is all a master plan, losing in a horrible way, so that you would get inspired to try it out at some point. Okay, I will promise that I will play it in Title Tuesday at some point. But, I mean, probably when I'm really down and tilted. Yes? Deal? Sure. Yes. Okay. Thank you so much, Magnus. Then, you know, you can make another video about that. I will cherish this moment for a very long time. You know, when you come up with an idea for an opening. Your dream is to get the best player in the world to play it. So, thank you. Fair enough.