‘Magnus Carlsen will probably never be back… Just move on’: Dutch GM drops huge World Chess C'ship prediction

The participants for next year's Candidates tourney feature been confirmed. The victor of the 2026 Candidates testament dispute D Gukesh for the World Championship title. But much to the disappointment of fans, Magnus Carlsen once again won't be featuring in the Candidates tournament, missing the World C'ship cycle for the second consecutive edition.

A five-time World Champion, Carlsen won all his titles consecutively, starting from his win against chess legend Viswanathan Anand in Chennai in 2013. He decided not to defend his title in 2022, which led to Ding Liren beating Ian Nepomniachtchi to become World Champion. Then last year, Liren lost to Gukesh, who became the youngest-ever FIDE World Champion in history.

Dutch GM Anish Giri will be in action in the Candidates, having secured his qualification. In a recent conversation with Firstpost, he weighed in on Carlsen's absence, pointing out that fans will soon move on from the Norwegian.

"When I was growing up, I was following a little bit of tennis, and I was watching like Nadal play Federer. I guess I would be missing them, but there are other people there now," he said.

"And it’s the same across all the sports and in chess, too. I think there’s more longevity (in chess). You can stay around for much longer if you choose to. And if Carlsen chose to, he certainly could stick around for much longer too. Playing Classical, if he had motivation enough, maybe he would be able to probably maintain his title and active number one rank and all of that.

"But right now he’s moved on to faster-paced chess, which is also a decent thing to do. It’s very well paid, appreciated, fun part of chess as well. You could just play only Rapid and Blitz chess and still make a good, good living and have a happy life. So for me that that’s… for everybody is a different decision."

Giri also felt that it was possible to lose motivation after dominating Classical chess like Carlsen. "For me, of course, I want to play Classical because I have a lot to achieve. I would love to try and become a world champion at some point. But I can imagine if probably if you’ve been a world champion for five times or whatever it is, it’s like I think he himself lost count of how many times he was a world champion. After that, at some point, you can start questioning motivation," he said.

"He’s a great player. He’s been there for very long. But yeah, he chose not to play the World Championship cycle for already so long that he’ll probably never be back. And we have to accept that. I think for the rare fans also accepted that he’s retired. You know, it’s fine. Just move on," he added.

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