Giri sheds light on Carlsen's bias against FIDE World Championship: 'He has to undermine it, even if he doesn’t want to'

Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri has accused world No 1 Magnus Carlsen of having a “big bias”, especially when it comes to the Classical world championship cycle that is organised by FIDE. Carlsen is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, having five consecutive Classical world titles besides numerous other accolades and reigned as the top-ranked player continuously since 2011.

The Norwegian Grandmaster, however, had decided against defending his title against Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023, allowing Chinese GM Ding Liren to take his place and go on to register a historic win. And since then, Carlsen has remained largely critical of the Classical format as well as FIDE, having had heated exchanges with the Lausanne-based governing body for the sport more often than not.

‘Pity when there’s some extra baggage’

According to Giri, currently ranked sixth in the world in the Standard format, Carlsen’s frequent criticism of the world championship cycle might not even be intentional – his brain might be subconsciously instructing him to be critical of FIDE and their events due to his decision to walk away from the most prestigious tournament in particular and from Standard time controls in general.

Also Read | 'Magnus Carlsen will probably never return to World Championship, and we have to accept that': Anish Giri

“It’s always a pity when there’s some extra baggage. When he gives his opinion on topics like the Candidates and there’s the extra things – he has this whole fight with (FIDE) where he’s trying to undermine the importance of the Classical Championship cycle. The title that he has given up,” Giri said on the ‘Chess with Mustreader’ podcast.

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“Of course he has to undermine it. Even if he doesn’t want to, he has to do it. Even if he doesn’t do it consciously, his brain must do it subconsciously. His brain must tell him subconsciously ‘that title we both gave up, me and you – your brain and you – that one is not important. It’s okay, let’s move on, let’s do other things.

“So whenever he talks about these things, there’s always this bias that’s going to be inevitable and that slightly colours it,” he added.

Magnus has a BIG BIAS: Anish Giri

The podcast with @anishgiri drops tomorrow (Jan 19) on the Chess with Mustreader YouTube channel — don’t miss it!#Chess @MagnusCarlsen pic.twitter.com/YbxOoAZPk8

— Greg Mustreader (@mustreader) January 19, 2026

Carlsen’s exit from World Championship cycle has led to ‘good chess content’

Giri, however, looked at the positive side of the 35-year-old not participating in the world championship cycle and in Classical events in general, adding that it has led to some “good chess content”.

“But still, I find it fascinating. I was watching clips after the World Championship games between Ding and Gukesh. So much insight, and he’s trying his best to be objective. He’s trying his best to give us good chess content, a lot of knowledge, a lot of honest opinions.

“Also the fact that he’s withdrawn himself from the cycle has some upside now that he’s no longer as attached to his opening secrets and he’s more comfortable about sharing the knowledge because he feels he doesn’t have to compete anymore in the championship cycle.

“So he can give a bit more opinion here or there, something he would maybe hide otherwise. So I find his all content really interesting to watch,” added Giri, who is currently taking part in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, the prestigious home event that takes place in Netherlands’ Wijk aan Zee annually.

Carlsen has been semi-retired in the Classical format since opting out of the 2023 World Championship, having participated in a handful of tournaments. He has, however, been a regular participant in Norway Chess, his home event that is set to move to Oslo from Stavanger this year.