Magnus Carlsen's Secret Seconds?

Remember how people were complaining that Carlsen was so reticent about his seconds? It appears that he didn't have any! Your thoughts?

Shouldn't need seconds to beat up on someone 100 rating points lower...

@Scottrf - Anand's own opening knowledge was already more extensive than Carlsen's, and with the aid of able seconds, I see no reason for Carlsen not to need them.

Yeah, that's what people say. Maybe, maybe not. Tough to prove.

Clearly he didn't need them? Although he did have Hammer.

Well Vishys opening knowledge might be larger, but Carlsen has more endgame knowledge and I think maybe some better middle game play too. So having seconds for the opening wouldn't be bad, but isn't completely needed in my opinion

Agree. Carlsen is his own class.

I think he was preparing with Jon Ludvig Hammer SultanOfKings

I don't think he had any "official" seconds beyond Hammer, maybe just a few "guest stars" he asked for advice on certain openings.

Petty. By the same token, Kasparov obviously didn't need seconds against Kramnik.

As for the question itself, he may or may not have had seconds. If he did, he may want to be keeping quiet because he has to defend his title in just 12 months!

Maybe he did maybe he didn't/ does it really matter?

well, there are few things that really matter if we get phylosophical

Here:

"On whom he owes his win to... 

My family especially my father, team and seconds. They have attended to all my requests, no matter how unreasonable those might have been. My seconds have worked hard and have not slept well so that I would be well prepared. They actually worked harder than I asked them to!"

"On whether next year's title match is already on his mind... 

Yes, I'm already thinking about it. It is also a reason why I have not spoken much about my current seconds since they could be part of my team then as well. I have the lead in world rankings and the title as well now. I don't think it's my duty to think who will play against me, it should in fact be the other way round. My opponents will have to figure out how to deal with me. I think I will be the man to beat for quite some time now. "

Seconds? You mean like people who play in your place? Isn't that cheating or is it ok if they just follow your ideas?

Can I use my mommy as a second? She looks like a human female version of me but we still get mistaken fur each other!

Mommy's don't come second, WeisseSchachlade; they are first by definition.

Probably Nepomniachtchi is one of his seconds

Anything's possible, but that seems rather unlikely. The two have rather different openings and styles.

He's been a second for Carlsen before and didn't play in the European Team Championships. Hardly unlikely.

I suspect Kramnik is on Carlsen's team. The strategy employed by Carlsen has Kramnik's signature on it. Kramnik tends to stick to one method that works. He isn't interested in exploring new ways of doing things unless if the method he employs is no longer effective. In Kramnik - Kasparov, he stuck with the Berlin defense throughout. In Carlsen - Anand games, Carlsen also stuck to the same strategy which was to keep the game safe until the endgame and try to win the game in the endgame. The same strategy is repeated throughout.

Ah, I see I missed the news that Ian was denied a visa by the UK authorities last year.

Almost

Relevance?