IMC Chicago welcomes Chess stars Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana
Two of the chess world’s greatest minds – Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana – recently brought their legendary skills to IMC’s Chicago office, where Magnus faced ten IMCers across the board in a nail-biting simultaneous exhibition.
The exhibition was a culmination of an action-packed visit, which also featured a tour around the trading floor and a meet-and-greet where IMCers got an opportunity to chat with five-time World Champion Magnus and four-time United States Chess Champion Fabiano.
Both players are figureheads of Team Liquid’s new chess team, launched earlier this year and sponsored by IMC.
Warming up and getting to know IMC
The day kicked off with Magnus and Fabiano enjoying a tour of our office, with the grandmasters stopping at trading desks to hear about the intricacies of the US markets.
After wrapping up the tour, it was time to get the chessboards out. We began with hand-and-brain matches – and an opportunity for our interns to take on the grandmasters. Four interns who triumphed in the previous week’s Chess.com qualifier tournament sat at the board while Magnus and Fabiano named which pieces were to be moved; the competitors had to figure out the rest for themselves.
Taking on the world’s best player
Then it was time for the headline event. Over 250 IMCers packed the office for Magnus’s much-anticipated exhibition match. With excitement building, the atmosphere was electric, complete with music, food, cocktails, and screens broadcasting every move.
All our players – who won their place at the board through internal qualifiers – brought their A-game as they faced the world’s number-one-rated player across the chess board. And after a tense showdown that lasted more than an hour, Magnus won nine games and drew one. IMC’s Jonne, who achieved the impressive feat of drawing his match, says: “I went in just hoping to survive the opening — drawing against Magnus still feels unreal. Playing him was an incredible experience.”
From his perspective, Magnus said that of all the corporate events he’s attended in his career so far, IMC Chicago offered “the most challenging chess opponents,” as our top chess players held their own.
After the action, over 170 employees had the chance to meet Magnus and Fabiano and have jerseys or other memorabilia signed. Many shared how personally meaningful the experience was, creating memories that will last far beyond any single trading day.