Why Magnus Carlsen Didn’t Defend His World Chess Championship Title

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Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen announced he would not, on the 8th of December 2021 after defending his title for only the fourth consecutive time. One of the reasons he gave was the needlessness of the competition to him.

In his recent podcast, the Manchester United fan said, ‘The conclusion is very simple that I am not motivated to play another match.’ Going further, the prodigy confessed he did not think he had anything to prove anymore.

Magnus has reigned as the king of chess for more than a decade since he unseated the then monarch, Viswanathan Anand from India during a match at Chennai, India,  Anand’s birth place. This was in 2013, and Carlsen was just 22 years old. By this victory he broke a world record and became the youngest World Chess Champion. He had never had to reclaim his title like Viswanathan Anand who won the title in 2000 and had to claim it back in the year 2007.

The World Chess Championship holds every two years, and Magnus Carlsen announced he would not compete in the next one beforehand because a lot preparations go into getting ready for a Chess Championship, and as in other sports, a lot of tension.

As the World Champion, there are always expectations to meet and coups to crush. Sometimes this put strains in champions’ personal lives and families. Magnus revealed that the physical and metal toll put into the two-year preparation was too daunting for him to continue in it for the moment.

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Chinese Ding Liren were the two Grand Masters most expected to win the throne if Magnus were to resign. In fact, the tow have been found to possess the attributes needed to attain the checkered throne, and their exploits in games including the best experts from around the world seem prophetic.

Now the contest has reached the quarter finals at the FIDE World Cup, a different tournament. Magnus would be there playing for the money and prestige.

Among the titans that would compete are up to three Indians; included is 18 years old Remeshbabu Praggnanandhaa who became a Grand Master at 10.

The teenager, in this same tournament, recently knocked out Japanese heavyweight player Hikaru Nakamura to the awe of Chess fans, drawing with him twice and beating him twice. One could say it is possible Praggnanandhaa would reach the finals, after studying his games so far.

Remeshbabu Praggnanandhaa

Many lesser players would be oblivious as to why a good player like Magnus Carlsen decided to put a pause to his career tour, because they have not like him played more than 4000 official and grueling games that took hours of strenuous preparation and mentally wearying calculations. Magnus Carlsen, however, has not dumped Chess his number one passion.

All he said was, ‘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 inclinations to play and I will simply not play the match.’