Breaking News: Magnus Carlsen won't defend his title!

[Elvis P]

Breaking News: Magnus Carlsen won't defend his title!

Ending months of speculation, Magnus Carlsen has officially announced he will not be defending his title in a rematch against Ian Nepomniachtchi come the end of 2022. As a result, the second-place winner of the 2022 Candidates Tournament, Ding Liren, will face the Russian to determine the new...

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[Non Player Canadiens]

chess still exists?

 

[Elvis P]

chess still exists?

Books do also. Try reading one.

 

[Hammettf2b]

He stuck to his guns. He has nothing left to prove. He's already considered the GOAT by many. The next championship matches won't be as nearly compelling without him though.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Oh.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I like how while graceful and elegant Carlson comes off in his statement, it still exudes big dick energy.

He's essentially bored of defending his spot as the best player in earth because he sees no challenge in it. That's hilarious and also stupidly impressive.

 

[Panteras]

I see this as a culmination of decades of the computer age. Many GMs have complained about the status of chess for a long time now. Fischer complained about it that’s why he invented his own format. The truth is all these guys have memorized every line and variation to every opening etc and while they prepare for like 6 months they almost never come up with a radical novelty in a WC game, it’s book moves for like the first 20 moves…. So the breath of fresh air is the other time formats instead of purely classical.

So yeah, it’s not just big dick energy as much as Magnus is just truly tired of going through the prep for a taxing boring -not fun tournament.
He probably knew Firouja wasn’t gonna win the candidates but at least he knew if he did the kid would play some exciting/daring stuff. Magnus is just pushing for a more diverse WC to include the other time formas as well. I agree with him there. Chess has involved and most people and players are into these other time formats. I mean that Caruana final was insufferably boring.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Classical multi hour chess marathons are definitely a bore compared to faster time controls. A lot of safe draws game after game.

 

[Spawn]

I like how while graceful and elegant Carlson comes off in his statement, it still exudes big dick energy.

He's essentially bored of defending his spot as the best player in earth because he sees no challenge in it. That's hilarious and also stupidly impressive.

I think its as much bored of the format and the insane prep that has to go into it. He's not retiring from chess right? He's just not going to defend his title as World Champ.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

He's just so damn good. I'm not surprised he's bored of it.