Mvl, it’s the others who talk about him best…
Taking advantage of the lacklustre news at the start of the year, we asked five of his compatriots, leading figures on the French chess scene, to give us a slightly personal insight into Maxime.
Here are 5 themes, presented by :
Eric BIRMINGHAM (FM, Maxime’s first coach)
Eloi RELANGE (GM, President of the French Chess Federation)
Pauline GUICHARD (GMF, Maxime’s club and French team-mate – gynecologist)
Marc LLARI (CM, U8 world champion in 2022)
Manuel AESCHLIEMANN (Mayor of Asnières, Maxime’s club town)
Your very first personal memory of Maxime:
Eric BIRMINGHAM
A little guy is taking my group course for youngsters in Créteil for the first time. He raises his finger, suggests a move and a variation. He’s got it! « Damn » I say to myself, he can barely see over his table! The kid’s only five. I ask him his first name: « Je m’appelle Maxime »…
Eloi RELANGE
When Maxime was very young, I didn’t play in the same competitions as he did, so I didn’t get the chance to meet him then. But of course, I’d heard about this little kid with a growing reputation, whom urban legend presented as a potential world champion. When you don’t see it with your own eyes, this kind of prediction always makes you smile a little, but it turned out to be absolutely right!
As for the first time I saw Maxime, it was much later…
Pauline GUICHARD
The first time we competed in the same French Youth Championship was, I think, in 1999. But my first real memory of him was in 2002 at the French Youth Championship in Hyères. He was 11 years old and playing in the U16 section; he was vastly outclassed and still won that year.
What I remember most is that he was so small, it was quite funny compared to the 16-year-old boys… And that’s when I said to myself: “That’s impressive, he’s really, really good!
Marc LLARI
At the French Youth Championship in April 2023, as I was heading towards the stage to play, Maxime was in the middle of an autograph photo session just in front of the stairs, so we took a photo together before the round.
Manuel AESCHLIMANN
When we asked Maxime to play for the Asnières Chess Club. For such a young club, it seemed a little pretentious to ask a player of his level. On the contrary, Maxime responded with kindness and humility. I knew it was going to work out well.
A personal anecdote with Maxime:
Eric BIRMINGHAM
At a trophy ceremony in Cannes, in the south of France, Maxime and I are strolling through the town; Maxime is seven or eight years old. We find ourselves in a rather chic shopping street. I stop in front of a window displaying luxury watches. The little boy and I look at the prices, and burst out laughing. Despite his very young age, Maxime has his feet firmly on the ground; he’s perfectly aware of the value of everyday things. For a good hour, we looked at jewelry, watches, dresses, etc., which cost more than his father’s car! (and Patrick, his daddy, had a good car!). During that hour, despite our huge age difference, we were in symbiosis in the face of these oddities of consumer society, and we laughed a lot.
Eloi RELANGE
I’ve had the opportunity to play blitz against Maxime several times in recent years, and each time I was winning in the first game, though of course I lost them all! I remember he was in real trouble in the opening, particularly against the Philidor. But systematically, he came back from these frankly desperate positions. Okay, one time it was in a bar, another time at the home of an elected member of the FFE, and a third time elsewhere. And then I have to admit that, as always when there’s a big difference in level, you give it your all in the first game, he’s not so hot, so you hold out pretty well, but the following games, it’s not the same story at all!
As for the one time I played against Maxime in a classical game, I was white and had prepared against the Grünfeld, since at the time, that was all he played (French Team Championship 2012). So I looked for particularly solid variations and in the end, he played a Queen’s Indian! I was very happy, because I thought he wouldn’t have known this kind of position so well, and what’s more, I had good results in this variation. But as it turned out, he gradually ground the advantage and I couldn’t do anything about it. As a result, the solid, innocuous white opening gave me a completely hopeless position at move 36, in which I lost on time.
The game :
Pauline GUICHARD
In fact, the few times I played against Maxime were at parties! But I remember beating him in the first, or one of the very first games, even though I must admit he always played with 30 seconds and I with 3 minutes! But I prefer to keep the simple memory of having beaten Maxime once…
Marc LLARI
On the last day of the Rapid World Team championship in Düsseldorf (August 2023), we went to a restaurant with the whole team.
I was opposite Maxime and he proposed a riddle about a rabbit hidden in a box containing 6 cages. I had to suggest the cage where the rabbit was hiding and find it in as few moves as possible. It kept me thinking all through the meal!
Manuel AESCHLIMANN
Whenever Maxime takes part in an event in Asnières and there’s press, the media always ask me to play a few moves against him on a chessboard, just so they can film the exchange. It’s frustrating to stop once the catch has been made, after ten or so moves. This must be the sixth or seventh unfinished game we’ve played like this. That said, I’ve got an idea of how it would end if we went all the way…
A game or a moment in his career that stood out for you:
Eric BIRMINGHAM
In 2009, Maxime played a Najdorf in Biel against Alexander Morozevitch. This game is crazy. I didn’t understand it at the time (which didn’t stop me from showing it to my students in class… My God, I’m a fraud!). I went through it again before writing these lines. I still don’t understand anything (this game is really too difficult). I never asked Maxime: “If there had been a doping test after this game, would it have been positive?“.
The game :
Eloi RELANGE
There are two moments that stand out in my mind. The first was when he beat Naiditsch in a French Team Championship match between Evry and Clichy in 2009. I wasn’t playing that match, so was able to witness this fantastic Najdorf won against a Naiditsch in top form at the time (2700, #31 in the world in 2009). The game would have been hard to play as white and yet Maxime even beat him as black as if he were a tourist!
The game :
Like many others, I also remember the 2021 World Blitz championship final against Duda, which I watched with my family at home!
The game :
With my three children jumping up and down shouting “Maxime, Maxime!”; so, apart from the exceptional performance of this first world champion title for a Frenchman, it was also an extremely enjoyable family moment for me!
Pauline GUICHARD
Without hesitation for me, it’s his 2021 World Blitz championship title in Warsaw. I wasn’t in Poland that year because I was too busy at the office at the time. But I remember very clearly that I couldn’t follow the end of the tournament because I was at the cinema with friends; there were 5 or 6 rounds left and I had to turn my phone off. When I turned it back on at the end of the film, I saw that he’d just beaten Carlsen
The game :
, and was about to start the tie-break blitz against Duda! So I followed these games with my friends, who weren’t chess players at all and didn’t really understand my excitement at the time! I don’t remember the film I saw at all, but I do remember feeling very emotional when Maxime won; I was really happy for him…
Marc LLARI
His Blitz victory over Magnus Carlsen at the 2023 World Blitz Championship, when Maxime sent 5 pawns against 2 on the Queenside in the endgame!
The game :
Manuel AESCHLIMANN
I’m not being very original, but I’d say it was his title of Blitz World Champion. Beyond the chess analysis relating to his remarkable career, it was above all the recognition and media coverage he received from the general public that impressed me. The game of chess has suddenly become popular again in our country. A well-deserved consecration.
Imagine what Maxime will do after his career:
Eric BIRMINGHAM
MVL is an immense champion, perhaps the most fabulous calculator on the planet. But Maxime is also a nice guy, very sociable and kind-hearted. I can imagine him running a great restaurant (he loves good food), going from table to table with a kind word for everyone. Every now and then, a customer would tell him about Carlsen or Nakamura. And our 64-square Tartarin would tell a story or two. But, unlike Daudet’s hero, everything the old champion would say would be true!
Eloi RELANGE
Already, I imagine he won’t be doing what Kramnik is doing, namely focusing on chess cheating with questionable statistics!
I don’t see him as president of the federation either, because that doesn’t seem to me to be very promising for him; even though I think he’d make a very good president because he’s got a good grasp of things, as well as a very strong embodiment. And I find it hard to imagine him outside chess… Maybe in strategy consulting for some firms, but I’m not convinced he’d like it.
Pauline GUICHARD
Maxime is a big fan of games and sports, so I could see him as a sports commentator, rather specialized in NBA basketball. Or maybe, in the soccer world, he’d be the announcer for Olympique Lyonnais at Groupama Stadium 😊.
Marc LLARI
Wild boar hunter – Stone cutter – Ladybird breeder?
Or an Artificial Intelligence programmer for chess analysis engines!
Manuel AESCHLIMANN
First of all, I imagine and hope that the “after-career” is not on the agenda any time soon. Maxime still has plenty of victories to achieve, and great challenges await him for many years to come.
However, one day, I can see him as a web influencer on new technologies, with his phlegm and cold humor. He’d do wonders.
Bonus :
Reveals a little-known facet of Maxime’s personality or Find a joke to make him laugh
Eric BIRMINGHAM
People forget: as a teenager, Maxime was painfully shy. He managed to overcome this shortcoming relatively quickly. Beneath his somewhat debonair exterior, this gentle boy possesses a will of steel.
Eloi RELANGE
An interesting facet of Maxime’s personality is the fact that he’s extremely smiley, friendly and approachable, but in reality, in discussions, he always pauses to deliver an in-depth response. In fact, he really goes beyond the obvious little retort, and that’s what contrasts with his super warm side that everyone who approaches him sees and feels. I find this paradox quite amusing.
Pauline GUICHARD
I don’t know if this is a little-known aspect of his personality, and maybe people suspect it?
Chess is perceived more as an individual sport, but in reality, there are many team competitions. And what I find impressive about Maxime is his team spirit. Of all the top players I know, especially the French, he’s the only one with such a spirit. He’s always going all out, whether it’s with the French team or with Asnières. He’s really a leader and a driving force. And what I like about him is that despite often being under a lot of pressure because people expect results from him, as far as I can remember, he almost always performs heavily!
Marc LLARI
I don’t have a joke, but I do have a riddle to get back at him for the riddle he gave me in Düsseldorf!
Why do rabbits only play with 39 cards, not 52?
Because they eat the clovers!
Maxime’s riddle:
A rabbit moves along a corridor of 6 rooms, each with its own door. Each turn, you have the right to open a door to discover the rabbit. If you haven’t discovered the rabbit, once you’ve closed the door, the rabbit moves one room to the right or left (of course, if it’s at the end of the corridor, it can only move in one direction next turn). How many turns do you need to find the rabbit?
Manuel AESCHLIMANN
Lame joke:
I gave my daughter a fridge for her birthday. I can’t wait to see her face light up when she opens it.