Magnus Carlsen, just 31, has made a courageous and somewhat understandable decision of not defending his world chess crown.
The five-time champion is NOT running away from the challenger. For, he had defeated the same challenger (Ian Nepomniachchtchi of Russia) 4-0 in their match. But the Norwegian is tired of the Matchplay process and feels even the successful campaign is not rewarding enough vis-à-vis the effort.
Carlsen is not hinting only at the prize fund. But he is also talking about the lack of enjoyment and kick that a champion is supposed to get from retaining and extending his reign.
The situation could be good for his fans, supporters and himself. But it’s not good for the neutral followers of chess as each sport needs an undisputed official champion. It’s like tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both retiring from the Grand Slams but continuing to play on the Tour.
If that happens, all the subsequent major wins by the lesser players, including at Wimbledon, will somewhat lose sheen. Ditto with next year’s World championship chess match between Nepo and China’s Ding Liren.
Devaluation of the world chess title – where the best player in the world is not the world champion – is not new to FIDE.
They had organised the 1993 World Championship match between ‘losers’ Jan Timman and Anatoly Karpov. And ‘winners’ Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short played the breakaway title match.
From 1993 to 2005, FIDE came up with their version of champions while Kasparov proved to be the undisputed, unofficial monarch till 2000. Vladimir Kramnik then held the parallel baton till the unification match in 2006. Karpov (1975) took the vacant seat of ‘retired’ Bobby Fischer. Kasparov (1985) dethroned Karpov. Vladimir Kramnik (2000) dethroned Kasparov. V Anand (2008) dethroned Kramnik and Carlsen (2013) dethroned Anand. But now, Nepo or Ding Liren will win without the traditional process (like in physical boxing) of unseating the champion.
Until 2006, elite chess players had not embraced the other formats of the game wholeheartedly besides classical and Matchplay . However, the situation is significantly different now. The changing dynamics have put great value even on the rapid, blitz, knockout, Fischer Random, bullet and online versions of the game. And Carlsen is a dominant force in all these variations.
If he was not a dominant force (or if he had not created a parallel financial model) in these formats, he would have continued to play the traditional World Championship match. Now, he simply doesn’t need it and can still show his domination. At least for the time being.
The five-time champion is NOT running away from the challenger. For, he had defeated the same challenger (Ian Nepomniachchtchi of Russia) 4-0 in their match. But the Norwegian is tired of the Matchplay process and feels even the successful campaign is not rewarding enough vis-à-vis the effort.
Carlsen is not hinting only at the prize fund. But he is also talking about the lack of enjoyment and kick that a champion is supposed to get from retaining and extending his reign.
The situation could be good for his fans, supporters and himself. But it’s not good for the neutral followers of chess as each sport needs an undisputed official champion. It’s like tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both retiring from the Grand Slams but continuing to play on the Tour.
If that happens, all the subsequent major wins by the lesser players, including at Wimbledon, will somewhat lose sheen. Ditto with next year’s World championship chess match between Nepo and China’s Ding Liren.
Devaluation of the world chess title – where the best player in the world is not the world champion – is not new to FIDE.
They had organised the 1993 World Championship match between ‘losers’ Jan Timman and Anatoly Karpov. And ‘winners’ Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short played the breakaway title match.
From 1993 to 2005, FIDE came up with their version of champions while Kasparov proved to be the undisputed, unofficial monarch till 2000. Vladimir Kramnik then held the parallel baton till the unification match in 2006. Karpov (1975) took the vacant seat of ‘retired’ Bobby Fischer. Kasparov (1985) dethroned Karpov. Vladimir Kramnik (2000) dethroned Kasparov. V Anand (2008) dethroned Kramnik and Carlsen (2013) dethroned Anand. But now, Nepo or Ding Liren will win without the traditional process (like in physical boxing) of unseating the champion.
Until 2006, elite chess players had not embraced the other formats of the game wholeheartedly besides classical and Matchplay . However, the situation is significantly different now. The changing dynamics have put great value even on the rapid, blitz, knockout, Fischer Random, bullet and online versions of the game. And Carlsen is a dominant force in all these variations.
If he was not a dominant force (or if he had not created a parallel financial model) in these formats, he would have continued to play the traditional World Championship match. Now, he simply doesn’t need it and can still show his domination. At least for the time being.
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