 "Explained: Magnus Carlsen’s growing grip on the chess world and why the Norwegian GM is so influential")
Magnus Carlsen hasn’t been having a great time over the last couple of weeks. His participation at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York City did lead to an eighth world title in the blitz format. But the manner in which he won the title raised several eyebrows across the chess world, with the five-time world champion sharing the title with Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi after a viral clip showed the two having a private conversation backstage where Carlsen was encouraging his opponent to play out a series of draws.
And this was just days after Carlsen was unceremoniously ejected from the tournament at the iconic Cipriani Wall Street in the ‘Big Apple’ for violating the tournament’s dress code – by showing up at the venue in jeans instead of a more formal pair of trousers .
Where things get a lot more controversial, however, is the leniency world governing body FIDE has shown towards the Norwegian Grandmaster. Not only was Carlsen allowed to return to the tournament, with FIDE relaxing the dress rule to allow him to compete, FIDE even caved in to his request for a shared title in the blitz final, something that had never happened in the history of the tournament.
Why is Magnus Carlsen so powerful within the chess world?
Carlsen isn’t too different from someone like Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli or football’s Cristiano Ronaldo, in that you don’t get away with so many things and get the sport to revolve around you unless you are someone who isn’t just a generational talent or a modern-day great, but among the greatest of all time.
And while the likes of Kohli and Ronaldo still have competition, some consider Carlsen to be at par with Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer, if not greater. What makes Carlsen even more remarkable is the fact that he had attained this status even before turning 30!
Impact Shorts
More ShortsLooking back at his glittering career, one can safely say few have dominated a sport the way Carlsen has bossed chess. Carlsen, after all, held Kasparov to a draw and defeated Anatoly Karpov before even attaining his Grandmaster’s title. He would later become the youngest player in 2009 to achieve the 2800-rating (and currently the second-youngest), go on to achieve the highest ever peak FIDE rating of 2882.
Carlsen first attained the No 1 ranking in 2010 and has continuously held that spot since 2011. What’s more, he defeated Viswanathan Anand to become the world champion in 2013 and would go on to defend it four more times until doing a Fischer and voluntarily opting out in 2023, allowing China’s Ding Liren to take his spot and defeat Nepomniachtchi.
Carlsen’s decision to not defend his world title in 2023, however, appears to indicate a declining interest in the Classical format. The Norwegian GM is a regular in rapid and blitz competitions, with the Rapid and Blitz Worlds in New York being his most recent appearance.
Carlsen’s growing grip on chess
The 34-year-old’s attention, however, appears to be fixed on Freestyle Chess – a unique format of the sport that also goes by the name Chess960 and Fischer Random Chess (named after the legendary American Grandmaster who introduced it in 1996).
It is a format in which which pieces are randomly arranged at the start of the game instead of the usual pattern that is followed in the officially-recognised formats, and it is this unpredictability that throws the the set strategies for the best of players out of the window and makes it interesting.
In partnership with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, Carlsen helped found the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour as well as the Freestyle Chess Players Club – an elite group of players for which the minimum ELO rating is set at 2725, who then get to compete in the aforementioned tour.
While private chess tours aren’t entirely new in the sport of chess, it’s the manner in which Carlsen reportedly has been gathering support and recognition for the tour that gets underway in Weissenhaus, Germany next month that makes it controversial.
Also Read | Explained: What is the controversy regarding Magnus Carlsen, Freestyle Chess and FIDE?
Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has accused Carlsen of resorting to “blackmail” to ensure FIDE not only recognises the tour, but also its right to award a World Championship of its own. Carlsen tried to accuse FIDE of threatening players against signing up for the tour, which CEO Emil Sutovsky labelled a “lie”.
Israeli GM Sutovsky would later accuse Carlsen of running a “PR Strategy” to try and discredit the Lausanne-based world governing body, and also slammed popular chess streamers of either turning a blind eye towards Carlsen’s antics or supporting him.
Also Read | Carlsen slams FIDE deputy president Anand amid jeans row: 'Not ready for this job'
Last, but not the least, American GM Hans Niemann – who had filed a US$ 100 million lawsuit against Carlsen among others after being accused of cheating in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup – has accused the Norwegian of "power play" and for making “ridiculous demands”.
It remains to be seen the impact that the maiden Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour has on the sport, with five events set to take place in five different cities across the world all the way till December. The way things are playing out at the moment, it appears to be a repeat of the Professional Chess Association (PCA) that was started by Kasparov and Nigel Short in 1993 and the Classical World Championship that it ran until 2006.
Whether Carlsen and Freestyle Chess goes on to surpass the PCA or go bust in a few years, only time will tell.
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