Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who stepped down from his title in 2022 due to a lack of motivation, has stated that he will not be competing against Gukesh D in the future. “It won’t be me,” Carlsen remarked during an appearance on the YouTube channel Take Take Take.
He added, “Let’s discuss Gukesh and the match. I’m not involved in this anymore.” Carlsen praised Gukesh for his outstanding performance, asserting that he deserves to be the World Chess champion. “This was somewhat unexpected,” he noted.
“Many believed Gukesh was the favorite to win the match, but it was a game that didn’t really take off. Gukesh was clearly striving for victory and did an excellent job to keep the game alive. However, everything changed very quickly.
As he later explained, he was a bit on autopilot, anticipating it to go into tiebreaks, but then the opportunity arose, and it was all over.” He also recognized Ding Liren for his resilient play, stating, “You can critique Ding’s style, but he truly raised his game during this match.”
Earlier this year, in April, Gukesh amazed everyone by winning the eight-player Candidates tournament in Toronto, making him the youngest challenger for the world championship.
He topped a competitive field that included Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana. “Despite the expectations we had for Gukesh, I feel he has truly earned his place,” Carlsen stated.
“He has had his share of excellent moments as well as some setbacks, but overall, he deserves it. Especially considering how he got to this point—starting from the feeder circuit, he won the tournament in Chennai on demand to qualify.
Then he had an exceptional performance in the Candidates’ tournament, arguably one of the best we’ve seen in recent years, and he excelled in the Olympiad, even though that wasn’t part of the championship cycle. The cumulative achievement is highly impressive, even if the match itself and its conclusion might not have been as convincing as many anticipated.”
