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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnus Carlsen feels he’s still better than the young generation of chess players, but the Norwegian great is ruling out a comeback at the classical world championship.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world No 1 cited a lack of motivation when he announced in 2022 that he would not defend his title the following year and since then the 34-year-old has been</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-05-01-ding-liren-defies-odds-to-become-chinas-first-mens-world-chess-champion/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">succeeded by Chinese Ding Liren</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Five of the top 10 players were born in the 2000s, but Carlsen, who has embarked on a journey to spice chess up with the creation of the Freestyle Grand Slam and his involvement in the Esports World Cup, feels he has nothing to prove.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asked if he would aim for the title again, Carlsen told Reuters on Monday: “I don’t see that at the moment. I think it’s very, very unlikely.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2021, Carlsen said if Iranian-born prodigy Alireza Firouzja of France won the qualifying Candidates tournament, he would consider defending his title, but no active player would now entice him to return.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“At the moment no (other player would convince me to give it a go),” he added.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2638440\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/12541696.jpg\" alt=\"Magnus Carlsen chess\" width=\"1821\" height=\"1200\" /> <em>Magnus Carlsen prepares to play against Viswanathan Anand in the Global Chess League Season 2 in London on 3 October 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Tolga Akmen)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Mentor?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Five-time classical chess world champion Carlsen is hunting on other grounds to show he is still the player to beat before maybe one day turning to coaching – just like he was mentored by Garry Kasparov, the only player who can be mentioned with him in the greatest of all time debate.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I mainly enjoy playing, but I don’t rule that (mentoring) out for the future. I already enjoy it when younger players ask me for advice and so on,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“But I feel like for the moment I really enjoy playing and I’m really good at it still. So that may be something for the future, but at the moment I’m trying to certainly prove that I’m still better than the kids.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, Carlsen won the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship and shared the Blitz world championship title with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi amid a dispute with the International Federation (FIDE) following a dress code violation.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was one of several incidents involving Carlsen vs FIDE and the Norwegian called on the president, Arkady Dvorkovich, to resign over a row with the Freestyle Chess Players Association.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carlsen, however, appeared to have moved on from the controversies.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m not really very interested in what FIDE are doing. I’m sort of trying to do my things, being with the Esports World Cup, Chess.com, Freestyle,” he said, hinting that the dispute over the “world champion” tag between FIDE and the Freestyle Chess Players Club was settled for good.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2638437\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/12684838.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1752\" height=\"1181\" /> <em>Ding Liren of China competes in Game 14 against India’s Gukesh Dommaraju during the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore on 12 December 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / How Hwee Young)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“FIDE’s crown jewel is the classical world championship, right? That’s what gives FIDE legacy and legitimacy, and none of us are going after that,” Carlsen added.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“So I think we’ll sort of coexist, I’m happy not playing the classical world championship. I’m kind of done with that and now I’m following it as a fan.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carlsen will next play the Freestyle Grand Slam Paris leg next month and will be with Team Liquid at the Esports World Cup, where he will be eager to show in a rapid format that the old guard is still in charge, although he singled out Firouzja as one of the top three favourites with himself and Hikaru Nakamura of the US.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It takes a little bit more time (for the youngsters) to build strength in faster formats than it does in classical chess,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“So I think the old guys, like Maxime (Vachier-Lagrave of France) and I, will stick around for a bit still.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“When it comes to motivation, it’s very hard to say, but I find it hard to believe that my level is just going to drop off a cliff. I think there’s certainly going to be some steady decline, but I think I can keep going for at least a few years.” </span><b>Reuters/DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnus Carlsen feels he’s still better than the young generation of chess players, but the Norwegian great is ruling out a comeback at the classical world championship.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world No 1 cited a lack of motivation when he announced in 2022 that he would not defend his title the following year and since then the 34-year-old has been</span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-05-01-ding-liren-defies-odds-to-become-chinas-first-mens-world-chess-champion/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">succeeded by Chinese Ding Liren</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Five of the top 10 players were born in the 2000s, but Carlsen, who has embarked on a journey to spice chess up with the creation of the Freestyle Grand Slam and his involvement in the Esports World Cup, feels he has nothing to prove.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asked if he would aim for the title again, Carlsen told Reuters on Monday: “I don’t see that at the moment. I think it’s very, very unlikely.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2021, Carlsen said if Iranian-born prodigy Alireza Firouzja of France won the qualifying Candidates tournament, he would consider defending his title, but no active player would now entice him to return.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“At the moment no (other player would convince me to give it a go),” he added.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2638440\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1821\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2638440\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/12541696.jpg\" alt=\"Magnus Carlsen chess\" width=\"1821\" height=\"1200\" /> <em>Magnus Carlsen prepares to play against Viswanathan Anand in the Global Chess League Season 2 in London on 3 October 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Tolga Akmen)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Mentor?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Five-time classical chess world champion Carlsen is hunting on other grounds to show he is still the player to beat before maybe one day turning to coaching – just like he was mentored by Garry Kasparov, the only player who can be mentioned with him in the greatest of all time debate.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I mainly enjoy playing, but I don’t rule that (mentoring) out for the future. I already enjoy it when younger players ask me for advice and so on,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“But I feel like for the moment I really enjoy playing and I’m really good at it still. So that may be something for the future, but at the moment I’m trying to certainly prove that I’m still better than the kids.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, Carlsen won the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship and shared the Blitz world championship title with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi amid a dispute with the International Federation (FIDE) following a dress code violation.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was one of several incidents involving Carlsen vs FIDE and the Norwegian called on the president, Arkady Dvorkovich, to resign over a row with the Freestyle Chess Players Association.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carlsen, however, appeared to have moved on from the controversies.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m not really very interested in what FIDE are doing. I’m sort of trying to do my things, being with the Esports World Cup, Chess.com, Freestyle,” he said, hinting that the dispute over the “world champion” tag between FIDE and the Freestyle Chess Players Club was settled for good.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2638437\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1752\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2638437\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/12684838.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1752\" height=\"1181\" /> <em>Ding Liren of China competes in Game 14 against India’s Gukesh Dommaraju during the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore on 12 December 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / How Hwee Young)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“FIDE’s crown jewel is the classical world championship, right? 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I’m kind of done with that and now I’m following it as a fan.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carlsen will next play the Freestyle Grand Slam Paris leg next month and will be with Team Liquid at the Esports World Cup, where he will be eager to show in a rapid format that the old guard is still in charge, although he singled out Firouzja as one of the top three favourites with himself and Hikaru Nakamura of the US.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It takes a little bit more time (for the youngsters) to build strength in faster formats than it does in classical chess,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“So I think the old guys, like Maxime (Vachier-Lagrave of France) and I, will stick around for a bit still.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“When it comes to motivation, it’s very hard to say, but I find it hard to believe that my level is just going to drop off a cliff. 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Magnus Carlsen prepares to play against Viswanathan Anand in the Global Chess League Season 2 in London on 3 October 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Tolga Akmen)
Ding Liren of China competes in Game 14 against India’s Gukesh Dommaraju during the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore on 12 December 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / How Hwee Young)