New Delhi, Jan. 2 -- The Soviets are history. Right? Wrong. Because part of the Soviet school of chess lives on through the genius of Magnus Carlsen, who won his ninth World Blitz title in Doha on Tuesday on the back of some endgame wizardry that even had contemporary GMs whistling in astonishment. Of course, they've all seen this happen before. We've all seen this happen before. But how does this all connect to the Soviets? Well, for starters, the Soviet school of chess famously emphasised endgames, and students would start off learning endgames (not openings) to develop fundamental understanding, strategic depth and precise calculation. Children would often start by learning endgame principles (like king activation, pawn structures) to build a strong foundation before moving to complex openings, ensuring players could convert advantages methodically. Now, who does that best in the modern game? Carlsen, of course. That isn't the only link. The former world champion Garry Kasparov famously coached Carlsen for a year in 2009-10. "Kasparov is a researcher," Carlsen once said about what those training sessions made him realise. "He looks at every position as a theorem which should be proved. And I am more pragmatic - I look for how best to use the opportunities of both sides. He also tries to bring everything to a final evaluation, while I'm not that meticulous and it's enough for me to find a path worth being followed. With some of his remarks I understood that my approach is associated, for him, with the way (Anatoly) Karpov took decisions..." Five-time world champion Mikhail Botvinnik is often described as the patriarch of the Soviet chess school and is revered for his analytical approach to the game. And his best student was Kasparov. Botvinnik, it is said, would often berate a young Kasparov for playing by instinct alone. He would insist on full analysis before moving a piece. And then there was detailed psychological evaluation of the opponents too. These are all things that Carlsen, with his own special twist, does without fail. In fact, GM Pravin Thipsay believes that it is the strong fundamentals that provide the base for his mind-numbing endgame expertise. He is textbook in an era where very few others are. "One important factor I would say is that compared to today's players, and even in his own generation players, he has had a very good study of classics," Thipsay, who coached Carlsen for the Alpine SG Pipers during the 2024 Global Chess League, told HT. "The strength of the Soviet system was the endgame and strategic middle games. And that is something you don't see in even the Russian players (Ian Nepomniatchchi, Sergy Karyakin) these days." This means Carlsen isn't relying on intuition alone. This is, instead, a studied excellence that comes from knowing exactly what exchanging pieces can lead to. But surely every other top GM studies endgames too. "No, they don't study the classical way. See, after World War II, a lot of the books that taught you endgames in a systematic manner - for instance one of the greatest books I would say is 'Basic Chess Endings' by Grandmaster Reuben Fine where the author would give a position from master game and give a plan, phase one, phase 2, and phase 3, and that was after consulting those champions - are not popular." But Carlsen was very wise and his path is different from almost everyone else around. "Carlsen belongs, in terms of strategic knowledge, to the generation of Anand, Kasparov, Bobby Fisher and Karpov. Whereas his tactical analysis is like this computer generation. The best of both worlds and that is why, in 2010, he became the highest-rated player and he's still there 15 years later." To Srinath Narayanan, one of India's leading chess coaches who has worked with Arjun Erigaisi and coached Indian teams at the Chess Olympiad, the big difference isn't study. Rather, he thinks, it comes down to instinct. "With Magnus, I think it has always been a natural gift... this instinct that even greats across generations don't have," Narayanan told HT. "I can tell you that training can only take you so far with certain things. That instinct or the feel he has and how quickly he is able to see things is special, and at the moment it's (what the others are doing) not enough to overcome that natural gift." It is getting more and more challenging though for the 35-year-old Carlsen and the champion called the 2025 World Blitz title his 'most hard-earned' one. "He's faster, and because he is faster, he is able to put more pressure on the opponent. Ultimately, everyone collapses. It starts playing with your head when Magnus does this. Somewhere in your mind, you also recognise the superiority in these situations and that has a psychological effect as well." Thipsay and Narayanan are in awe of Carlsen's sense of the game, the feel he has for it. It is intangible but something innate. "That's because he's a complete player," said Thipsay. "I can pinpoint a strategic shortcoming in every (active) player other than Magnus and Anand. And that is the outcome of his wisdom." And because of this mix of old-school tactics and new-age instinct, against Carlsen, the endgame for most opponents is often a defeat....