Is Magnus Carlsen Hinting At A Potential Retirement? Says 'I Don't Enjoy' Classical Chess
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Carlsen stated that he enjoys Blitz, Rapid, or Freestyle more and will decide his future after the tournament.
Chess may soon witness one of its greatest minds stepping back, as former World Champion Magnus Carlsen hinted at a possible retirement from Classical Chess during the Norway Chess tournament.
Currently, Carlsen is third in the standings with 11 points from 7 games at Norway Chess. USA's Fabiano Caruana leads with 12.5 points, and World Champion D Gukesh holds second place with 11.5 points.
A significant blow to Carlsen was his defeat on Monday to Gukesh, who took advantage of a late-game blunder from the 34-year-old Norwegian. This loss deeply frustrated Carlsen, leading to an outburst where he smacked the table in frustration.
'Losses are painful, no matter what. But at least if I lose doing something I really enjoy, then it's much easier," Carlsen told TakeTakeTake.
'Situations like yesterday, I'm just wondering, why am I doing this? What's the point?"– @MagnusCarlsen pic.twitter.com/DOWFaER3Gp — Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) June 2, 2025
Carlsen also revealed that he doesn't enjoy the classical format of the game as much as Blitz, Rapid, or Freestyle. He mentioned that he would consider his future in the classical game after the ongoing event in Norway concludes.
'I think I'll play the last three games in Norway Chess, and then I will have to make some decisions about next year or potential other tournaments later, because, yeah… I just don't enjoy Classical chess that much," the five-time World champion said.
'It's not that I cannot play. It's just that situations like yesterday make me wonder, 'Why am I doing this? What's the point?'
'But I will do my best in the last three games here, and then we'll see," the Norwegian concluded.
Despite his apparent frustration from the loss to Gukesh, the former World Champion credited Gukesh for his fighting spirit and determination, which ultimately led to his victory on Monday.
'I remember being that age myself. Sometimes your energy, fighting qualities, and optimism can be more significant than the quality of your moves," Carlsen said.
'For a long time, Gukesh was just pushing blindly. On a normal day, of course, I win that game, and things look quite different," the 34-year-old added.
'What Gukesh does well is he fights very well and was there to take his chance, so he deserves credit for that," Carlsen acknowledged.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Norway Chess: Title No.7 for Carlsen, Gukesh third
Bengaluru: Magnus Carlsen was down to his dying seconds. The position was still complex, and he hadn't spotted a clear path to convert his advantage. With the clock ticking down, he had a pertinent decision to make. He had already been undone in time scrambles (read: Round 6 loss to D Gukesh) in the tournament. The world No.1 craned his neck to glance at the screen overhead – it showed live positions of the other games. The only player who could spoil his title hopes – reigning world champion Gukesh, who trailed him by half a point – was in hot water against four-time US champion Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen knew right away that settling for a draw against India's Arjun Erigaisi was the pragmatic call. It was enough to assure him the Norway Chess title in Stavanger for the seventh time. Minutes later, Gukesh sat at the board, gutted, his face turned away from his opponent, spectators and cameras. After being worse through most of the game, the position seemed balanced, though on a knife's edge — before Gukesh slipped up and Caruana put the finishing touches on a fine win with a brilliant fork: the white knight attacking both the Black's rook and queen. Gukesh – realising he was dead lost – covered his mouth with his hands in agony before extending his hand in resignation. He finished third, behind Carlsen and Caruana. The 19-year-old had arrived in the Norwegian coastal city with questions over his worrying form. He dispelled them with his tenacious, if lucky, win over Carlsen and a fine 4.5/5 performance with White, entering the final round behind the Norwegian world No.1. Carlsen's primary emotion on winning was one of relief. 'I've got to say I quite enjoyed the day today. I understood that there was a very real chance I was going to lose the game, but I was kind of at peace with that, and I was just trying to fight.' The manner in which Carlsen turned a position from worse to equal to winning with the Black pieces is a testament to his strength and superior endgame play. But with little time left on his clock to untangle a complicated position, he chose the prudent path of a draw. He went on to lose the Armageddon against Arjun with White, but by then the result had been rendered inconsequential because of Gukesh's loss. 'I'm happy that I managed to create a lot of chances and I felt that I generally played the best chess. But stumbling over the finishing line and winning by half a point after a lot of results go my way doesn't feel like (a statement).' Carlsen's self-deprecation stems from the impossibly high standards he's set for himself over a decade-plus run of absolute dominance. He stepped away from the World Championship after winning it a fifth time and has cut down on his classical chess appearances significantly, citing lack of motivation and finding preparation tedious and uninspiring. His Norway Chess appearance was Carlsen's first classical tournament since last year's edition. He seemed out of sorts after blundering to a gut-wrenching loss against Gukesh from a winning position and wondered aloud why he was still playing classical chess. He didn't lose any more classical games but appeared to be going through the motions and spoke about not being particularly driven to win the title. Having won, Carlsen said he was looking forward to his honeymoon more than the tournaments lined up. The father-to-be wrapped his wife, Ella Victoria Malone, in a hug as autograph-hunting, selfie-seeking fans swarmed him. It's not without reason that Carlsen is considered one of the greatest players to have played the game. His ability to own the big moments remains unrivalled. Even when he's not at his absolute best, he's a cut above the rest. Anna Muzychuk wins; Humpy third Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk arrived for Friday's final round needing only a draw to guarantee her at least first place. She had to have an eye out on Koneru Humpy's game against reigning women's world champion Ju Wenjun. Humpy needed a win to catch up with Anna in the lead but in an opposite colour bishop endgame, a draw was all that was on offer. Anna, much like Carlsen, won the title but lost her Armageddon game to Vaishali. China's Lei Tingjie finished second with Humpy third.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Should Gukesh rue the missed chance to win title or take heart that he beat Carlsen and Arjun in classical chess in Norway?
After two weeks of pulling rabbits out of the hat and grinding his way to wins even when he was in worse positions from the start of games, there were no more rabbits left to be found for Gukesh Dommaraju. The 19-year-old world champion had started the final round of the Norway Chess tournament with a realistic chance of winning the title, starting just 0.5 points behind leader Magnus Carlsen. But he ended the tournament in third spot, after losing the round 10 game to USA's Fabiano Caruana, who pipped him to second spot in the standings, behind title winner Magnus Carlsen. It was a gripping end to a tournament that had been billed as the first Carlsen vs Gukesh clash in classical chess since the Indian teenager's coronation as world champion. In what was one of the most dramatic days of chess this year, Gukesh's final game against Caruana was a perfect highlight reel of his whole tournament in Stavanger: he started off worse than his opponent, then through sheer tenacity found some incredible resources to gain an edge, and then found himself in the clutches of time trouble. While he ended third in the standings, the event saw Gukesh beat Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi for the first time in classical chess. The win over Carlsen was sweeter for more reasons than one: after defeating the world champion from India, Carlsen had posted 'You come for the king, you better not miss' — a line from HBO's popular series The Wire. Gukesh's second, Grzegorz Gajewski, had also told Indian media: 'As a world champion, he keeps facing these comments that, 'ok, you're the world champion only because Magnus didn't play. You know, you try not to hear those comments. But then you lose to him, and then you lose to him again, and that's not a bit pleasant.' Those first-ever wins over Carlsen and Arjun notwithstanding, Gukesh will be smarting. This is, after all, the second classical tournament since he became world champion in December last year — the first being the Tata Steel tournament at the start of the year in Wijk aan Zee — where he has been within touching distance of winning the title coming into the final round and then letting it slip. Gukesh's desperation to beat Caruana and win the title was apparent early on. He started to take risks in the game on Friday from as early as move 4 — playing 4.h6, to signal his intent to fight for the title. Caruana, who also had a chance to win the title, was not about to be left behind. Right after Gukesh castled long, the American's b pawn marched down the board (14…b4) towards the black king. By the 17th move, Gukesh had 30 minutes lesser on his clock compared to the American. Caruana also had an edge in the game as per the eval bar. At multiple times at this event Gukesh has been in trouble due to the time control used at this event — two hours with no increments and then 10 seconds added from move 41. By the 34th move from both players, the American had surged ahead as per the eval bar. At this stage, Gukesh had an additional pawn and a rook while the American had a knight and a bishop still on the battlefield. Carlsen, meanwhile, was struggling on the adjoining board against Arjun. A win for Arjun against the Norwegian would have meant that Gukesh could win the title with just a draw in the classical portion against Caruana. Gukesh was under massive time trouble by the 45th move, his time having trickled down to 15 seconds. That's when he got a lifeline as Caruana blundered with 47.f4. This left Gukesh's pawn on the d file to make a run to promote to a queen. When Gukesh played 48… d1=Q, it turned out to be one of the most significant moments of Norway Chess 2025. Because, that was a Championship-surrendering blunder as Caruana had a one-two knockout punch ready: he captured Gukesh's original queen on the next move with a bishop, giving a discovered check on Gukesh's king. When Gukesh moved the king out of safety, Caruana took all of seven seconds to hop his knight to c3 which forked the Indian's rook and recently-promoted queen. As soon as Gukesh saw that haymaker of a move, he plunged his face in his hands, unable to believe what he had just done. He resigned soon enough, and then covered his face with a hand for a long time. On the other board, Carlsen, realising that Caruana was going to win, played out a draw, which was enough for his seventh title in 13 years. Gukesh looked devastated as he walked out of the playing hall. Carlsen, meanwhile, went on to lose to Arjun in the Armageddon. He was on broadcast studios talking about the 'pain of chess' — a reference to his own fist-smashing meltdown after throwing away a winning position against Gukesh in round 6. But the Norwegian might as well have been talking about the teenage boy from India and what he was feeling at that moment. Carlsen did have kind things to say about the two Indians in the fray. 'I think the kids are on track. But they're not way ahead of schedule,' Carlsen said on the Norway Chess broadcast. The world no 1 then said that looking at Gukesh play at the event, he was reminded of himself back in 2008 or 2009 when he was just breaking through. 'It wasn't always so pretty,' Carlsen added before explaining how at Linares 2008, there was Viswanathan Anand who was cruising in first place while he was 'playing crazy games every which way'. Gukesh might not have been in the mood to look at his glass and think of it as half full, but Carlsen had a hint of positivity to offer for the Indian teenager. 'You can see in certain games or in parts of the game that Gukesh and Arjun are far behind myself, Fabiano and Hikaru Nakamura. But we're also the very best players in the world. They're not supposed to be our equals in every part of the game. The fact that Gukesh can actually fight for tournament victory despite having so many bad positions, like he will probably not be happy with himself. But it is encouraging. It's typical. That's what kids do.' (The writer is in Stavanger at the invitation of Norway Chess) Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
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