Magnus Carlsen keeps option of playing classical chess open: ‘Not saying never playing again’

Carlsen said over and over that winning the title this year was more of a “relief than joy”. But asked on the Chess24 broadcast if he had sent a message to the young stars hoping to take his place by winning, he said he hadn’t, since he had “stumbled over the finish line”.

“I generally feel that I can outplay the kids (like Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi) which feels good,” he said with a shrug. “It’s good to see that at least in parts of the game I am a lot better than kids who are trying to take over.”

Barring a few games a year in European leagues, Carlsen only plays the classical format at Norway Chess, whose rise to a super-elite tournament in 13 years has been inextricably linked with his own rise as the world’s greatest player of this generation. When the first tournament was held, Carlsen was yet to win his first world championship title. Now, he’s lost the appetite for the format after winning five. His father Henrik had told Indian media recently that his son does enjoy the classical format at Norway Chess — two hours for each player with players getting just 10-second increments from the 41st move — as it was spicy. He’s frequently warmed up for games at Norway Chess with a round of golf, rather than hours of prep that others indulge in.

The two games Carlsen, the world no 1, played against the world champion Gukesh at the tournament were significant and were extra spicy too. After beating Gukesh in round 1, Carlsen had tweeted a quote from The Wire, “If you come for the king you better not miss.” After losing to Gukesh in round 6, Carlsen had slammed the table in a moment that was memed, spoofed and recreated around the world. After that defeat, Carlsen had said that the loss had made him question why he was playing in the format.

Carlsen has spoken a couple of times about losing interest in the tournament after that ego-bruising defeat to Gukesh. But it was only after winning the title on Friday that he showed how deep the gash from the loss was. “My reaction didn’t really stop there (with slamming his fist). I was so out of it that I had to jump out of the car on the way back and just take several minutes just to compose myself,” he said.

He said that the pain he felt after the defeat to Gukesh was the strongest emotion he had experienced in the tournament.

“There were some encouraging signs. But I also feel very old.”

He was then asked to pick one player from the young lot who could dominate the sport like he did.

“There’s no one at the moment,” he told Chess24 with a light slap on his chair’s armrest. “There could be, but at the moment it’s not likely. Gukesh showed that he’s on track at this tournament. But he’s not way ahead of track as we may have thought. They’re not ready to take over. Every single one of them has very clear flaws in their games, which you’re supposed to do. Once-in-a-generation talent are once-in-a-generation for a reason.”

(The writer is in Stavanger at the invitation of Norway Chess)