Exclusive: Carlsen confirms formal decline of candidate invitation

GM Magnus Carlsen was included in the full lineup for this week’s FIDE Candidates Tournament, but the former world champion said in an exclusive interview with Chess.com that he is officially turning down the invitation to play in Toronto. Ta.

This week FIDE announced the official lineup for the highly anticipated Tournament of Candidates, an event that will determine the challenger to the world championship match against reigning champion GM Ding Liren at the end of 2024.

The candidates include GM Alireza Firouzha, who earned a last-minute spot with a 7/7 result in the French Open tournament, and gained the points needed to surpass GM Anish Giri in the race on the FIDE circuit. GM Gukesh Donmaraju is included. Chennai Masters.

This includes a former world champion who qualified by winning his first FIDE World Cup. The announcement led to snubs from Norwegians, who cited American comedian and actor Groucho Marx.

Thank you for inviting me, but now I don’t want to belong to a club that accepts me as a member https://t.co/F0w05xdWP9

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) January 3, 2024

Carlsen: “It’s not fun.”

In an exclusive interview with Chess.com’s Kaja Snare in Oslo this week, the former world champion clearly confirmed her decision to decline the FIDE invitation.

he said with a laugh. “I’m not playing as a candidate. Don’t worry about that!”

When asked about the reasons behind his decision not to participate in any more World Championship matches, Carlsen frankly stated: “I think the main reason is because I don’t enjoy it. It’s as simple as that.”

Carlsen won five matches in the World Championship against GM Viswanathan Anand (2013 and 2014), GM Sergey Karyakin (2016), GM Fabiano Caruana (2018) and GM Ian Nepomniachy (2021). says that big changes are necessary for him. Return to cycle.

“With the current format with time management, I think it is very unlikely that I will compete in the Classic World Championship again.”

Carlsen won’t miss the world championship

Carlsen reflected on the past two years since relinquishing the world championship title.

“I don’t really miss it. I really like my life now. I can play at home, travel and play in tournaments. I just don’t need it,” Carlsen said.

Carlsen mentioned the possibility of a format change that could prompt a return, suggesting: “I think less time management and more games would be a very good start.”

Since relinquishing his world championship title in 2021, Carlsen has repeatedly stated that he will not return to the cycle in the current format. After winning this year’s World Cup, he told Chess.com: “With the current format, there’s no chance at all. Everyone should act on the assumption that I won’t play a contender and all the other players in the semi-finals will play.” I am qualified. ”

Carlsen wants format change

Carlsen prefers shorter periods of control and has been dominating it lately. He ended his 2023 year in great shape by winning his first Chess Tour Finals of Champions. He then scored an incredible double and won both the World Rapid Championship and the World Blitz Championship in Uzbekistan.

The 33-year-old, who has won a total of 17 world championship titles, stressed that the best players need to excel in all formats: classic, rapid and blitz.

“Obviously, the rating system is a little bit behind, but if you take the time to look at it, it gives a pretty good indication of who the best players are,” he added humorously. This means you don’t have to look at all the different formats, just look for my name. ”

If you want to know who the best players are, you don’t need to look at all the different formats. Try searching for my name!

—Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen’s decision to skip the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament is the first in a decade. His next scheduled event is the new $200,000 Freestyle His Chess GOAT Challenge, which will be held in Germany from February 9th until the 16th.

Meanwhile, GM Niyat Abbasov, who finished fourth at the FIDE World Cup, will replace Carlsen in Toronto, completing his participation in the tournament scheduled for April 2-26.