Magnus missing in Goa: Why world No 1 Carlsen is not participating in FIDE Chess World Cup in India

One of the biggest chess tournaments – FIDE World Cup 2025 – is taking place in Goa, India, but the defending champion, Magnus Carlsen, is missing. The world No 1 won the tournament back in 2023, beating India’s R Praggnanandhaa, but the Norwegian chess sensation is not a part of the 2025 206-player, single-elimination chess tournament, which is being played from 31 October to 27 November.

The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the chess calendar, offering three spots in the Candidates tournament. Some of the brightest chess minds have descended upon Goa for the high-octane tournament, including world champion D Gukesh, Levon Aronian, Hans Niemann, Ian Nepomniachtchi, among others.

Why has Carlsen skipped Chess World Cup 2025?

But a world chess event without five-time world champion Carlsen doesn’t have the same feel. So why is it that the 34-year-old Carlsen is not playing in the FIDE World Cup 2025?

There are myriad reasons why the highest-rated player of all time doesn’t wish to take part in the FIDE World Cup, but all of them are connected with one major dislike that Carlsen has been harbouring for a while.

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In recent years, Carlsen has not shied away from criticising the classical format, which is used at the World Cup and in the World Chess Championship. He has often underlined that all possible openings and strategies in classical chess have been overexploited and there’s nothing new to explore.

Carlsen’s disdain for the format became clear first in 2022 when he rescinded the world title, refusing to defend it in 2023. “I am not motivated to play another match. I feel that I don’t have a lot to gain, and I will simply not play,” Carlsen said at that time.

In March this year, Carlsen reiterated that no opponent can l ure him back to the classical World Chess Championship.

Thus, it becomes amply clear that due to a dislike for the classical format and unwillingness to fight for the world title, Carlsen doesn’t have any motivation to take part in the FIDE World Cup. The top three players at the FIDE World Cup would directly qualify for the Candidates 2026 tournament, which will decide the world title challenger. But as Carlsen doesn’t wish to be world champion once again, it makes no sense for him to participate in the chess World Cup.

Here’s a counterargument, though. Gukesh also doesn’t need to qualify for the  Candidates by virtue of being the world champion, but he is still playing in the World Cup. Similarly, Carlsen could have played in the World Cup if he were seeking some tough games. So why didn’t he do that?

Carlsen’s poor relationship with FIDE keeping him away from Goa?

Well, that could be due to a few other reasons.

Carlsen’s relation with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has been “pretty destroyed” in his own words after jeansgate scandal and the global body’s resistance against Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a tournament co-founded by the world No 1.

Carlsen also recently became a father, which could be keeping him busy, forcing him to miss the FIDE event.

For the unversed, while Carlsen has stayed away from major classical events, he has been quite active in tournaments having faster formats like the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown, which was played in the rapid format and the Freestyle Tour, which is played with classical time control but in the Chess960 format, where the back positions are randomised.

He is also set to take part in the ‘Total Chess World Championship Tour’, which will take place in Norway. It would be organised by Norway Chess operators and would be formally launched in 2027 after a pilot test in 2026.

The Total Chess World Championship Tour would include fast classic, rapid, and blitz formats, and could pave the way for Carlsen to become the world champion once again. FIDE has already approved the use of the world championship in the tournament’s name, while critics have argued that the event is just a back-door plan to make Carlsen the world champion once again.