Carlsen will not defend his crown

It’s official. Magnus Carlsen and the world chess championship will be like opposite-coloured bishops now. The greatest player in the world said he has other goals to pursue in chess. Such as being the first human to break the 2900 ratings barrier.

The five-time world champion had hinted at not playing the long-drawn, best-of-14-game world championship earlier but it was during a podcast on Tuesday that Carlsen said he wouldn’t defend his title in 2023. This would be the first time since 1975 when Bobby Fischer forfeited the contest against Anatoly Karpov that a world champion won’t defend the title.

1993 was different because defending champion Garry Kasparov had broken away from FIDE to form a rival organisation. In 1946, Alexander Alekhine died when he was champion; Mikhail Botvinnik became the new champion two years later.

As per FIDE rules, Ian Nepomniachtchi will now play world

No 2 Ding Liren to decide the new world champion. “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 in the first episode of The Magnus Effect hosted by his friend Magnus Barstad. “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 inclination to play and I will simply not play the match.”

He did not rule out a comeback but said, “I also wouldn’t count on it either.”

Carlsen, 31, had doubted whether he would defend the crown soon after beating Nepomniachtchi last December. In the podcast he said he had been thinking about it for “probably a year and a half.”

At the Candidates, which ended on July 5, Carlsen said he had informed FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich and directorgeneral Emil Sutovsky of his decision. “It’s been an interesting ride since I decided to play the Candidates, which was on kind of a whim,” he said.