Carlsen says no opponent can tempt him to compete in classical World Chess Championship: ‘Greatest strikes are discarded’

Magnus Carlsen has said that no opponent or problem can tempt him to compete within the classical World Chess Championship once more. 5-time world champion and world No.1 chess participant Carlsen
vacated the World Championship title in 2022, citing an absence of motivation. “ I’m not motivated to play one other match. I really feel that I don’t have so much to realize, and I’ll merely not play,” he had stated.

Through the years, Carlsen has maintained that he’s not taken with returning to FIDE’s World Chess Championship cycle as he feels the classical format doesn’t incentivise creativity and that the strikes have turn out to be very predictable with the rise of laptop engines.

Carlsen had additionally hit out on the classical format after India’s D Gukesh grew to become the youngest world chess champion in December 2024. The 34-year-old Norwegian had again then stated that classical chess was
“the worst means” to resolve a world champion because it was “too forgiving”.

Carlsen reiterates he gained’t return to World Chess Championship

The chess legend is now concerned in selling the
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, which kicked off this yr with the primary leg in Germany. Carlsen is a co-owner within the organising workforce and has advocated Freestyle Chess over Classical Chess attributable to its randomised beginning positions.

Nonetheless, is there any participant or problem that may lure Carlsen again to the World Chess Championship? He was requested about it just lately whereas showing on the BotezLive Podcast. He replied: “No. I don’t suppose so. I’m not gonna rule out something, however in the intervening time, it feels very not possible. I like enjoying classical time management and for that, I’ve Freestyle, which I take pleasure in and I additionally take pleasure in Fast and Blitz so much, so going again to classical world championship feels not possible.”

Explaining why he doesn’t like enjoying classical chess anymore, Carlsen stated the overanalysis of the opening strikes within the classical format has left little or no area for creativity.

“We’ve got come to a degree the place you possibly can nonetheless discover playable positions, however you must attain up to now out of what’s even near what was thought-about optimum tries. All the most effective strikes have been just about discarded at this level. It’s clear from what is occurring that classical continues to be playable, however it’s turning into tougher and tougher to search out these tries,” he stated.

Carlsen explains why he prefers Freestyle over Classical chess

Carlsen additionally stated the room for creativity is why he’s selling Freestyle Chess, which is
also called Fischer Random Chess. “Like this truly permits that gamers to be inventive however primarily you might be coming into the center sport type transfer 1 and for followers as effectively I believe, numerous informal followers they don’t care if it’s a Sicilian or a Spanish, they barely know something. My spouse is about 1100 speedy on chess.com. She performs the Sicilian as black, which I taught her, however individuals don’t go for the open Sicilian. Like they barely know two strikes of idea.”

“From my expertise, individuals discover it very thrilling that we’re as clueless because the others in relation to beginning positions.”

He added that Freestyle Chess just isn’t competing with Classical Chess in the intervening time, however he hopes it turns into a preferred variant sooner or later.

“It’s not a objective for us to compete with Classical Chess. I do hope over time it turns into extra standard and that it will likely be a variant that folks will play at decrease ranges as effectively.”