Magnus Carlsen

5-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen today ended months of speculation by announcing he will not defend his title. The 31-year-old Norwegian ...

I was satisfied with the job that I'd done, I was happy not to have lost the match, but that was it. 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 are seeded as number four there. I understand the whole thing about legacy and all of that, but to be honest, the last match, four championships or five championships, I understand for people who haven't been in that situation it sounds weird, and I understand that I’m very, very privileged to have been there when a lot of people spend their life trying to do the same thing, but four championships to five, it didn't mean anything to me. I simply feel that 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 and all of that, I don’t have any inclination to play and I will simply not play the match. I hope to be able to edge closer to one of my other big goals, which is to make a 2900 rating. I did have an Instagram post after the match in 2014, which was ‘two down, five to go’. I can reveal now that that was just to mess with people! It’s been, obviously, an interesting ride since the moment I decided to play the Candidates in 2013, which was, to be honest, on kind of a whim. The 31-year-old Norwegian is not retiring and vows “to be the best in the world, and not care about the World Championship!” That means Chinese world no. But the matches themselves have been at times interesting, at times a little bit of fun. As many know, I was in Madrid for the conclusion of the Candidates Tournament. After the conclusion I did agree to meet with Dvorkovich and Sutovsky from FIDE to talk a little bit. To be honest, in 2016 I was not very motivated. Ultimately the conclusion stands, one that I’m pretty comfortable with, one that I’ve thought a lot about for a long time now, I would say more than a year, probably a year and a half almost, since long before the last match.

Carlsen, a 31-year-old Norwegian native, was expected to have a rematch next year with Ian Nepomniachtchi, the Russian who he defeated in the 2021 world ...

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Norwegian 'not motivated to play another match' after more than a decade at the top.

Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is the highest-ranked chess player in the world, but says he's no longer motivated to compete.

It leaves a big void. "His decision not to defend his title is undoubtedly a disappointment for the fans, and bad news for the spectacle. The Norwegian grandmaster stressed he wasn't retiring from the sport and would remain an active player, but said he doesn't "have a lot to gain" and wasn't motivated to play another match.

GM Magnus Carlsen will not defend his world championship title against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi next year. Carlsen announced his decision on a podcast on ...

"It didn't come as a shock because surely it wasn't first the first time I heard about his intentions," he said. 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. We came to a new era." 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. 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." 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. I was happy I had not lost the match. 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. "I was satisfied with the job I had done. Talking about this meeting in Madrid, Carlsen said: "I did not have any demands or suggestions for that meeting. The matches themselves have been at times interesting, at times a little bit of fun." The conclusion is very simple: I’m not motivated to play another match," said Carlsen. "I don’t have a lot to gain.

Earlier today, the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen confirmed in a public statement his intentions to not defend his title in 2023.

But chess is now stronger than ever —in part, thanks to Magnus— and the World Championship Match, one of the longest and most respected traditions in the world of sports, will go on. He is still young and could possibly have added more classical titles to his already outstanding career, as he will surely try in the Rapid and Blitz modalities, which he favours. Alas, it did not change his mind.