Magnus Carlsen on prospect of a showdown against D Gukesh: 'Not part of this circus anymore'

Reigning world No 1 Magnus Carlsen played down the prospect of a showdown against newly-crowned chess world champion D Gukesh, saying he wasn’t part of “this circus anymore” while congratulating the 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster on his phenomenal achievement.

Gukesh became the youngest world champion in chess history on Thursday after defeating Ding Liren in 58 moves in the final Classical game of the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore, winning the event that was played in the ‘Best of 14 Games’ series with a 7.5-6.5 scoreline.

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After his triumph in Singapore and the subsequent emotional celebrations, Gukesh had hinted at defending his title against the Norwegian chess icon in the future, adding that he would love to test himself “against the best player in the world”, describing it as the “toughest challenge there is in chess”.

Carlsen had decided against defending his title last year after reigning as chess world champion for a decade starting with his victory over Viswanathan Anand in 2013. And responding to Gukesh’s comments in the press conference after Game 14 of the World Championship on Thursday, the 34-year-old added that he was unlikely to return to the sport’s showpiece event anytime soon.

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“It’s not going to be me. I mean, let’s talk about Gukesh and the match and so on. I’m not part of this circus anymore," Carlsen said on the Take Take Take YouTube channel.

Carlsen, however, did hail Gukesh’s feat as an “incredible achievement”. Gukesh not only became the second Indian after Anand to be crowned world champion, he also ended up becoming the youngest player ever to win the prestigious title, breaking the record set by Garry Kasparov in 1985 .

“It’s an incredible achievement (by Gukesh), first he was down in the FIDE circuit, won the tournament in Chennai on demand, then he had an amazing performance in the Candidates tournament,” Carlsen added.

Gukesh was officially crowned the 18th chess world champion on Friday , a day after his dramatic victory over Ding, receiving the winner’s medal and trophy along with a prize money of US$1.3 million.