- Chess WC Final: Carlsen Beats India’s R Praggnanandhaa in Thriller Tiebreak | Vantage Highlights Firstpost
- Magnus Carlsen defeats Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to become Chess World Cup champion CNN
- FIDE World Chess Cup (Final): Caruana Wins, Carlsen-Praggnanandhaa Draw: Both Matches Move To Tiebreaks Chess.com
- What is a good age to start playing chess? | Praggnanandha’s coach RB Ramesh interview part 2 TNIE Videos
- Chess World Cup 2023 Final Highlights, Praggnanandhaa vs Carlsen: Carlsen beats Praggnanandhaa in tie-breaks to win the title Times of India
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen defeats Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to become Chess World Cup champion – CNN
- Magnus Carlsen defeats Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to become Chess World Cup champion CNN
- Chess World Cup 2023 Final Highlights, Praggnanandhaa vs Carlsen: Carlsen beats Praggnanandhaa in tie-breaks to win the title Times of India
- What is a good age to start playing chess? | Praggnanandha’s coach RB Ramesh interview part 2 TNIE Videos
- Chess: Magnus Carlsen beats India’s Praggnanandhaa to win FIDE World Cup Al Jazeera English
- FIDE World Chess Cup (Final): Caruana Wins, Carlsen-Praggnanandhaa Draw: Both Matches Move To Tiebreaks Chess.com
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Hans Niemann Files $100 Million Lawsuit Against Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com Over Cheating Allegations
Hans Moke Niemann, the 19-year-old American grandmaster at the center of an alleged cheating scandal that has pulsed drama through the chess world, has made his next move: He sued world champion Magnus Carlsen and others seeking $100 million in damages.
The federal lawsuit, filed in the Eastern Missouri District Court, says that Carlsen, Chess.com and others, including grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, are “colluding to blacklist” Niemann from the chess world and have made defamatory statements accusing Niemann of cheating. Niemann is seeking damages of no less than $100 million in the suit, which said that tournament organizers have shunned him since the allegations emerged.
“This is not a game,” Niemann’s lawyers, Terrence Oved and Darren Oved, said in a statement. “Defendants have destroyed Niemann’s life simply because he had the talent, dedication and audacity to defeat the so-called ‘King of Chess.’ We will hold defendants fully accountable and expose the truth.”
Chess.com chief chess officer Danny Rensch didn’t have an immediate comment. Chess.com has previously said that it did not communicate with Carlsen about its decisions relating to Niemann. A spokesman for Carlsen didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nakamura, while streaming on Twitch, said he didn’t have a comment.
At the heart of Niemann’s suit are the financial relationships between Chess.com, Carlsen and other power players in the industry. The complaint alleged that Chess.com colluded with Carlsen because the company is buying Carlsen’s “Play Magnus” app for nearly $83 million in a merger that will “monopolize the chess world.” The planned acquisition was first announced in August.
Niemann accused the defendants, which also include Play Magnus and Rensch, of slander, libel, an unlawful boycott and tortious interference with Niemann’s business.
‘This is not a game,’ Niemann’s lawyers, Terrence Oved and Darren Oved, said in a statement.
Photo:
Oved & Oved LLP
Niemann’s legal action is his most aggressive maneuver since the controversy first erupted in early September at a prestigious tournament in St. Louis when Niemann stunningly upset Carlsen. After the game, Carlsen abruptly withdrew from the tournament—an action that was widely interpreted as a sign of protest. In another event a few weeks later, Carlsen resigned a game against Niemann after making just one move.
Shortly thereafter, the five-time world champion from Norway confirmed everyone’s suspicions. In a statement, Carlsen said that he believes “Niemann has cheated more—and more recently—than he has publicly admitted.”
As the scandal engulfed the Sinquefield Cup, the tournament in St. Louis, Niemann offered a defense. He admitted to cheating in limited circumstances online when he was 12 and 16 years old, and said they were the biggest mistakes of his life. He said the only instance he cheated when there was money on the line was when he was 12, and that he never cheated during in-person games.
However, an investigation by Chess.com, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, contradicted Niemann and indicated the breadth of his fairplay violations was greater then he had let on. The report said Niemann had likely cheated in more than 100 games, including as a 17-year-old and in other events with money on the line, and that Niemann had privately admitted to violating the rules when he was banned from the site in 2020.
The report didn’t make any conclusions about whether Niemann has cheated in person, as the platform doesn’t police over-the-board events, but it flagged certain events where it said his play merited further investigation.
Niemann’s lawsuit takes aim at that report, which it said Chess.com “maliciously leaked to The Wall Street Journal to fuel the spectacle of Carlsen’s cheating allegations” before Niemann’s participation in the U.S. Chess Championship. The lawsuit denied that Niemann ever confessed to the cheating allegations and said that its findings about the extent of Niemann’s cheating is false.
After Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup, Chess.com removed Niemann from its Chess.com Global Championship, a tournament with $1 million in prize money.
Chess.com said in the report that while Carlsen’s actions at the Sinquefield Cup prompted it to reassess Niemann’s behavior, Carlsen “didn’t talk with, ask for, or directly influence Chess.com’s decisions at all.”
The lawsuit further alleged that the parties worked with powerful influencers to amplify the allegations against Niemann. In particular, it names Hikaru Nakamura, a top American grandmaster who has gained extraordinary popularity by streaming chess content. The suit calls Nakamura “Chess.com’s most influential streaming partner” and accused him of “acting in collusion with Carlsen and Chess.com, published hours of video content amplifying and attempting to bolster Carlsen’s false cheating allegations against Niemann.”
Because of the cheating allegations, the complaint said, one tournament that Niemann was making arrangements to play in ceased communications with him. It also said that another grandmaster canceled an upcoming match against him and that Niemann can’t obtain employment as a chess teacher at a reputable school.
Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com and Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Hans Niemann: American chess star accused of cheating by rival Magnus Carlsen has likely done so in more than 100 games, report claims
An American chess star who has been accused of cheating by world champion Magnus Carlsen has likely done so in more than 100 games, a report has claimed.
Hans Niemann, 19, has previously admitted cheating twice in games when he was aged 12 and 16, but an investigation by chess.com has allegedly found more occasions, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Mr Carlsen, the number one player in the world, branded his rival a cheat last month after he withdrew from a tournament after losing to him, then resigned from an online match against him after one move.
The newspaper states that the report by chess.com, a platform where many of the world’s top chess players compete in online matches, alleges “that Niemann likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games, as recently as 2020. Those matches included contests in which prize money was on the line.”
The platform reportedly used a string of tools to detect the alleged cheating, including an analytics programme that compares human moves to those recommended by chess engines, “which are capable of beating even the greatest human players every time.”
The report states that some of the alleged cheating took place as recently as 2020, when Mr Niemann was 17 years old.
The Journal says that Mr Niemann “privately confessed to the allegations” and that he was “subsequently banned from the site for a period of time.”
The report noted that Mr Niemann’s improvement had been “statistically extraordinary” but did not make any conclusion as to any irregularities in his in-person games.
But it said that some of Mr Niemann’s strongest events “merit further investigation based on the data.” An investigation into Mr Carlsen’s claims is also being carried out by the sport’s governing body, FIDE.
“Outside his online play, Hans is the fastest rising top player in Classical (over-the-board) chess in modern history,” the report states.
“Looking purely at rating, Hans should be classified as a member of this group of top young players. While we don’t doubt that Hans is a talented player, we note that his results are statistically extraordinary.”
Mr Carlsen won the Julius Baer Generation Cup despite resigning against Mr Niemann, after which he said that he understood that his “actions have frustrated many in the chess community.”
“I’m frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events,” he stated.
“I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over-the-board chess.”
Mr Carlsen stated that he had considered pulling out of the event when Niemann was invited to take part and was blunt in his allegations against his opponent.
“I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted.”
Mr Niemann has insisted that he has never cheated in a live-streaming game. “I would never, could even fathom doing it, in a real game,” he said.
The chess.com report states that of the more than 100 suspect games, 25 were live-streamed and that there were several prize-money events.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Niemann for comment.
Carlsen Makes Statement: ‘I Believe Niemann Has Cheated More’
“I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted,” GM Magnus Carlsen wrote in a much-anticipated statement about GM Hans Niemann’s alleged cheating. The world champion posted the statement on Twitter just moments ago.
Carlsen starts by saying that he is “frustrated” about the situation like the whole chess community is. He then uses the word “cheating,” finally becoming more concrete after the mysterious tweet that he sent on September 5, with a video in which José Mourinho can be seen saying: “I prefer really not to speak; if I speak I’m in big trouble.”
Carlsen then confirms what has been mentioned by GM Fabiano Caruana in a recent podcast: that the world champion already considered withdrawing from the Sinquefield Cup before the first round, when he heard that Niemann was the last-minute replacement for GM Richard Rapport.
The most important phrase in the statement reads: “I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than that he has publicly admitted.” Carlsen, however, doesn’t specify if he is referring to online chess or over-the-board chess.
Regarding online chess, Niemann has admitted to having cheated twice on Chess.com, when he was 12 and when he was 16 years old, and that he regrets that. In a statement posted on September 9, IM Danny Rensch wrote on behalf of Chess.com: “We have shared detailed evidence with him concerning our decision, including information that contradicts his statements regarding the amount and seriousness of his cheating on Chess.com.”
Carlsen, who lost his game to Niemann before leaving the Sinquefield Cup, reveals in his statement that he is suspicious about Niemann’s play in that game as well.
The big question, whether the world champion has hard evidence that shows Niemann has cheated, remains unclear from the statement. It seems Carlsen is restricted for legal reasons, as he writes: “Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly.”
My statement regarding the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/KY34DbcjLo
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 26, 2022
The statement in text:
Dear Chess World,
At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I made the unprecedented professional decision to withdraw from the tournament after my round three game against Hans Niemann. A week later during the Champions Chess Tour, I resigned against Hans Niemann after playing only one move.
I know that my actions have frustrated many in the chess community. I’m frustrated. I want to play chess. I want to continue to play chess at the highest level in the best events.
I believe that cheating in chess is a big deal and an existential threat to the game. I also believe that chess organizers and all those who care about the sanctity of the game we love should seriously consider increasing security measures and methods of cheat detection for over the board chess. When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play.
I believe that Niemann has cheated more — and more recently — than he has publicly admitted. His over the board progress has been unusual, and throughout our game in the Sinquefield Cup I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do. This game contributed to changing my perspective.
We must do something about cheating, and for my part going forward, I don’t want to play against people that have cheated repeatedly in the past, because I don’t know what they are capable of doing in the future.
There is more that I would like to say. Unfortunately, at this time I am limited in what I can say without explicit permission from Niemann to speak openly. So far I have only been able to speak with my actions, and those actions have stated clearly that I am not willing to play chess with Niemann. I hope that the truth on this matter comes out, whatever it may be.
Sincerely,
Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen quits match without explanation amid apparent feud with fellow grandmaster Hans Niemann
CNN
—
Shortly after making his first move, world champion Magnus Carlsen resigned from an online chess match against fellow grandmaster Hans Niemann on Monday.
The pair were playing in the Julius Baer Generation Cup when Carlsen turned off his screen and left the match without explanation – the latest twist in an apparent feud between the two players.
“We’re going to try and get an update on this,” commentator Tania Sachdev said in a live broadcast of the match on chess24. “Magnus Carlsen just resigned – got up and left, switched off his camera and that’s all we know right now.”
CNN contacted Carlsen’s representatives for comment but did not receive a response.
Earlier this month, the Norwegian withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis following his surprise defeat against American star Niemann – the first time he has withdrawn from a tournament in his career, according to chess24.
Carlsen confirmed his withdrawal on Twitter, posting: “I’ve withdrawn from the tournament. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future.” Carlsen’s tweet also included a well-known video of football manager Jose Mourinho saying: “If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
Another grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, said Carlsen is “suspicious” of Niemann’s conduct, and days after the Sinquefield Cup match, Niemann publicly responded to allegations that he had cheated earlier in his chess career.
The 19-year-old admitted to cheating at the ages of 12 and 16 but said in an interview with the St. Louis Chess Club he had never cheated in over-the-board games.
Magnus Carlsen is now mastering the world of Fantasy Premier League
“I’m saying my truth because I do not want any misrepresentation,” said Niemann. “I am proud of myself that I have learned from that mistake, and now I have given everything to chess. I have sacrificed everything for chess.”
The tension between Niemann and Carlsen has rocked the chess community. Niemann said he had been removed from popular website Chess.com following Carlsen’s tweet and that “the entire social media and chess world is completely attacking me and undermining me.”
“To see my absolute hero (Carlsen) try to target, try to ruin my reputation, ruin my chess career and to do it in such a frivolous way is really, really disappointing,” he added.
Neither Niemann nor Chess.com responded to CNN’s request for comment.
In a statement on September 8, Chess.com’s Chief Chess Officer Danny Rensch said the site had “shared detailed evidence with [Niemann] concerning our decision, including information that contradicts his statements regarding the amount and seriousness of his cheating.”
Rensch continued: “We have invited Hans to provide an explanation and response with the hope of finding a resolution where Hans can again participate on Chess.com.”
Carlsen and Niemann played two further games against other opponents following the former’s sudden resignation on Monday. Carlsen is two points behind leader Arjun Erigaisi in the tournament standings after eight rounds, while Niemann is four points back.
“It looks like he (Carlsen) is clearly insinuating something, but until you catch someone, you cannot do anything,” Anish Giri, who is also competing at the Julius Baer Generation Cup, told chess24.
“It just looks very odd now. Clearly, it all makes sense if, supposedly, Hans is cheating and he doesn’t want to play him, but if he isn’t (cheating), then it is really very wrong.
“So I don’t know, we have to see. Again, everybody is expecting some kind of big rabbit from the hat with Magnus, but he just doesn’t want to play Hans, it seems.”
Levon Aronian, who is also competing in the tournament, said Niemann “has been not the cleanest person when it comes to online chess,” but added that “this is a problem that requires a solution.”
Magnus Carlsen resigns from chess match against Hans Niemann
The two were playing an online match Monday in the Julius Baer Generation Cup, using the Chess24 platform via Microsoft Teams, when Carlsen’s webcam suddenly switched off while he was on the clock for his second move.
“What happened? That’s it?” exclaimed Peter Leko, a grandmaster who was providing analysis on the feed.
“We’re going to try to get an update on this,” said fellow analyst and international master Tania Sachdev. “Magnus Carlsen just resigned. Got up and left. Switched off his camera, and that’s all we know right now.”
“Wow — speechless, yeah?” Leko said.
Carlsen, 31, was leading the tournament in the early going at the time. The Julius Baer Generation Cup is the seventh event on the nine-tournament Champions Chess Tour, which runs from February until November. Carlsen is in first place in the series, while Niemann ranks 16th.
Carlsen and Niemann were competing this month in the Sinquefield Cup, a St. Louis-based, in-person event on the Grand Chess Tour, when Niemann defeated the five-time world champion. Adding to the massive level of upset was that Carlsen was on a 53-match unbeaten streak in over-the-board tournaments and held a significant rating advantage over Niemann.
The next day, Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup, saying in a tweet that he always enjoyed competing there and hoped to be back in the future.
What sent the chess world into a tizzy, however, was that Carlsen appended to his tweet a video clip of famed soccer manager José Mourinho saying in 2021: “I prefer really not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble.”
The tweet gave the impression that Carlsen was hinting at some nefarious behavior on the part of Niemann, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the sport. Speculation that Niemann was cheating only increased after Hikaru Nakamura, a 34-year-old American grandmaster who has a massive following for his Twitch streams, offered his take shortly after Carlsen’s withdrawal.
“This is probably something I should not say, but I will say this anyway, which is: There was a period of over six months where Hans did not play any prize-money tournaments on Chess.com,” Nakamura said. “That is the one thing that I’m going to say, and that is the only thing that I’m going to say on this topic.”
Nakamura added on his Twitch stream: “I think that Magnus believes that Hans probably is cheating. … He’s withdrawing to make the point without publicly making the point.”
Niemann, who was subjected to a thorough scan for devices that could help him cheat when he arrived for another match at the St. Louis tournament, subsequently admitted to having cheated several years before on Chess.com.
In a Sept. 5 interview with grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez that was shared online by the Saint Louis Chess Club, which hosted the Sinquefield Cup, Niemann said his cheating on Chess.com occurred when he was 12 — “I was just a child” — and 16. Of the latter episode, he said he wanted to gain higher ratings so he could “play stronger players” and was eager at the time to “do anything to grow my stream.”
Describing his unethical behavior as “an absolutely ridiculous mistake,” Niemann asserted that since then, he has “never in my life” cheated.
“I am proud of myself,” he said, “that I learned from that mistake and now have given everything to chess. … I was confronted, I confessed, and this is the single biggest mistake of my life and I’m completely ashamed.”
“I am not going to let Chess.com, I’m not going to let Magnus Carlsen, I’m not going to let Hikaru Nakamura — the three arguably biggest entities in chess — simply slander my reputation,” Niemann added, “because the question is: Why are they going to remove me from Chess.com right after I beat Magnus? What’s with the timing?”
Chess.com, which bills itself as “the #1 platform for online chess,” released a statement a few days later in which it explained its de-platforming of Niemann.
“We have shared detailed evidence with him concerning our decision, including information that contradicts his statements regarding the amount and seriousness of his cheating on Chess.com,” the website stated. “We have invited Hans to provide an explanation and response with the hope of finding a resolution where Hans can again participate on Chess.com. We want nothing more than to see the best chess players in the world succeed in the greatest events. We will always try to protect the integrity of the game that we all love.”
The “tumultuous” situation in the chess community, as Chess.com put it, ratcheted up further when Niemann offered to “strip fully naked” if it would help prove he wasn’t using any contraptions to help him cheat.
Then came Monday’s much-anticipated Carlsen-Niemann rematch. It was over quickly, but Carlsen’s speedy, statement-making resignation ensured this controversy is far from done.
Magnus Carlsen Withdraws From Sinquefield Cup
On Monday, GM Magnus Carlsen surprised the chess world by announcing that he was withdrawing from the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, tweeting his decision at the beginning of round four.
I’ve withdrawn from the tournament. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the @STLChessClub, and hope to be back in the future https://t.co/YFSpl8er3u
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 5, 2022
At the start of the round, Carlsen’s clock was started against GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, but Carlsen never showed up to the board and was forfeited after the 10-minute arrival window expired.
The start of the round 4 of #SinquefieldCup #grandchesstour #chess #stlchessclub pic.twitter.com/HfSsNulsn8
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) September 5, 2022
Carlsen was on 1.5/3 after losing in the previous round with White against GM Hans Niemann. According to the tournament regulations, because he didn’t complete 50 percent of his games, Carlsen’s previous results will be annulled from the tournament standings; however, the FIDE rating adjustments from these three games stand.
This is first time that Carlsen has withdrawn from a major event, and many commented that such a withdrawal from a tournament in progress for anything other than health reasons is virtually unprecedented in top-level chess. To find a precedent, one may look as far back as the 1967 Sousse Interzonal where Bobby Fischer withdrew after 10 rounds due to arguments with the organizers.
Online chess fans and commenters were quick to speculate. GM Hikaru Nakamura theorized that Carlsen withdrew because he suspected Niemann of cheating in their game the previous day, saying: “I think that Magnus believes that Hans probably is cheating.”
In his post-game interview, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi shared his thoughts on the Carlsen-Niemann game, calling it “more than impressive.”
Ian Nepomniachtchi on his game today against Wesley So, as well as his reaction to the news of Carlsen’s withdrawal: #Sinquefield pic.twitter.com/a3Sp75Df6g
— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) September 5, 2022
After the round began, the Grand Chess Tour announced that they are taking additional anti-cheating precautions, including a 15-minute broadcast delay and increased radio-frequency identification (RFID) checks.
As requested by anti-cheating arbiter David Sedgwick, a 15-min broadcast delay was implemented for today’s round, as well as increased RFID checks. #SinquefieldCup
— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) September 5, 2022
Asked for comment, Chess.com Chief Chess Officer Daniel Rensch stated: “Chess.com does not discuss Fair Play matters publicly, and as such, we decline to comment on the happenings at Sinquefield Cup and/or any speculations made by the community.”
Team Carlsen declined to comment.
Update: An earlier version of this article stated that Chess.com had not been able to locate any other modern game by Carlsen in the g3-line of the Nimzo-Indian. However, by transposition there was a Carlsen-So rapid game played in Kolkata, 2019.
Coverage of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup
Magnus Carlsen to give up world chess title because he’s not motivated
Carlsen has held the title since 2013, when, at 22, he wrested it from Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. Carlsen has won every World Chess Championship since then but had already expressed frustration with the format of the competition.
Carlsen, now 31, said on Wednesday that winning the championship for the fourth and fifth time “meant nothing” to him. “I was satisfied with the job I had done. I was happy I had not lost the match. But that was it,” he said.
While fans and chess officials have lamented Carlsen’s decision, it is not unprecedented. Carlsen joins several other chess champions who quit the competition at the top of their game, including Garry Kasparov.
Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), said that staying motivated can be difficult for those at the very top.
“Many other great champions, in other sports, have experienced something similar: with the passing of the years, it is more difficult to find the motivation to train and compete at the highest level, while the reward for the victory never feels as intense as the first day,” he said in a statement.
Psychologists have argued it can be difficult for people to stay motivated after a major achievement if they do not have an ongoing sense of growth, or if they experience burnout.
Chess officials said they offered to tweak the championship format in discussions with Carlsen in Madrid last month. But the player couldn’t be swayed — leaving two other chess grandmasters, Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Ding Liren of China, to battle for the title in 2023.
Carlsen may also have been affected by a lack of enthusiasm for his opponents. He had previously said he was not interested in the next world championship match unless his opponent was Alireza Firouzja, the current world No. 3, because the 19-year-old’s fast rise impressed him. However, Firouzja was knocked out by Nepomniachtchi, whom Carlsen had previously defeated, at the Candidates Tournament in Madrid in June.
Every dominant Champion quit at some stage: Morphy, Lasker (he resigned the title in 1920 and insisted on playing 1921 Match as a challenger), Fischer, Kasparov. No FIDE, weak FIDE, strong FIDE. Does not matter. As sad as it is, Carlsen is in line with his great predecessors.
— Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) July 21, 2022
FIDE said in a statement that Carlsen had not officially withdrawn yet, since preparations for the championship match — including deadlines and Carlsen’s contract — had not been finalized. Still, the world chess body said it knew that the player’s decision was final.
Dvorkovich said Carlsen’s departure would leave a “big void” and be “a disappointment for the fans, and bad news for the spectacle,” although he emphasized that the sport remained “stronger than ever” and that the championship would go on.
Fans however may be glad to know that Carlsen is not retiring from the sport — in fact, he said Wednesday he was headed to Croatia to compete in the Grand Chess Tour and that he enjoyed playing chess tournaments “a lot more” than championships.
He also left open the possibility that he might one day return to World Chess Championship — although he did not sound particularly enthusiastic. “I don’t rule out a return in the future, but I wouldn’t particularly count on it,” he said on the podcast.
BREAKING: Magnus Carlsen Will Not Defend World Championship Title
GM Magnus Carlsen will not defend his world championship title against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi next year. Carlsen announced his decision on a podcast on Tuesday. According to current regulations, FIDE Candidates tournament winner Nepomniachtchi will now play the world championship against Candidates runner-up GM Ding Liren.
“I’ve spoken to people in my team, I’ve spoken to FIDE, I spoke to Ian as well. The conclusion is very simple: I’m not motivated to play another match,” said Carlsen. “I don’t have a lot to gain. I don’t particularly like it, and although I’m sure a match would be interesting for historical reasons, I don’t have any inclinations to play and I will simply not play the match.”
Carlsen thus confirmed the earlier doubts he had expressed on December 14, 2021 and later repeated: after playing five world championship matches, he is not enjoying them anymore.
“It’s been an interesting ride since I decided to play the Candidates in 2013, which was to be honest on kind of a whim. I just decided it could be interesting, and ever since the World Championship title has given me a lot and opened a lot of doors, and I’m happy about that. The matches themselves have been at times interesting, at times a little bit of fun.”
The Norwegian star leaves the door open to return for a match one day, but it’s not likely: “I don’t rule out participation in the future, but I also wouldn’t count on it.”
Carlsen made his statements in the first episode of the new podcast “The Magnus Effect.”
During the FIDE Candidates tournament, Carlsen had a meeting with FIDE’s President Arkady Dvorkovich and Director-General Emil Sutovsky, which apparently didn’t have enough effect to convince Carlsen to defend his title a fifth time.
Talking about this meeting in Madrid, Carlsen said: “I did not have any demands or suggestions for that meeting. They did have a couple of suggestions, but the gist of it was that I was there to tell them that I would not defend my title in the next WCC match.”
Dvorkovich told Chess.com that he respects the world champion’s decision and confirmed that according to the rules, there will now be a Ding-Nepomniachtchi match.
As it turned out, Carlsen never really changed his mind on a feeling he has had for a while. “Ultimately, the conclusion stands, one that I’m pretty comfortable with, one that I thought a lot about for a long time now,” he said. “I would say more than a year, probably a year and a half. Long before the last match.”
It didn’t help that Nepomniachtchi qualified for a second match with Carlsen, who had stated earlier that he preferred an opponent of the new generation, in particular GM Alireza Firouzja. “Four championships to five—it didn’t mean anything to me. It was nothing,” said Carlsen in yesterday’s podcast. “I was satisfied with the job I had done. I was happy I had not lost the match. But that was it.”
Carlsen also repeated once again that he intends to continue playing, just not matches: “Just so there is no ambiguity here: I’m not retiring from chess. I’m going to be an active player. I’m leaving later today to go to Croatia to play the Grand Chess Tour. From there on I’m going to go to Chennai to play the Olympiad, which is going to be a lot of fun, and the Norwegian team is seeded as number four there. And to Miami which is going to be one of the real highlights of the year—the FTX Crypto Cup which is going to be awesome. And right after that the Sinquefield Cup.”
“There are a lot of feelings around mind right now that I have to deal with, said Ding in a first reaction to Chess.com. “But I am very excited about playing a world championship match to fight for the crown next year.”
Calling from Barcelona, where Ding is staying at a friend’s apartment, he revealed that he got Covid right after the Candidates tournament and, therefore, hasn’t been able to fly back to China yet. Now fully recovered, he will travel back about two weeks from now. The Chinese player is surprised about Carlsen’s decision:
“I knew he had doubts, but I expected him to play. But I understand it also. Being world champion means a lot of responsibilities; there are a lot of things to handle.”
Ding pointed out the similarities with Yuzuru Hanyu, the Japanese figure skater who, also yesterday, announced retirement from competition but promised to pursue his goal in exhibitions instead.
The chess world has seen previous moments in history when the world champion did not defend his title. In 1946, GM Alexander Alekhine died as the reigning champion. A world championship tournament, organized two years later, was won by GM Mikhail Botvinnik. In 1975, GM Bobby Fischer could not agree with FIDE on the match format and lost his title to Candidates winner GM Anatoly Karpov.
In 1993, GM Garry Kasparov left FIDE and played a world championship under the Professional Chess Association instead. This led to a schism in the chess world that lasted until 2006, when GM Vladimir Kramnik won a reunification match with FIDE champion GM Veselin Topalov.
“It’s not an ideal situation that the best player is not defending his title, and creating your own organization is also not great,” said Ding, adding: “It’s better for the fans if the best players fight for the world championship, and Magnus has, of course, been the best player throughout the years. We came to a new era.”
Ding did say that he hopes Carlsen will “return one day” and felt that reaching the highest possible competition also gives himself a new responsibility: “I have to improve my English now!”