“Nothing Good to Say”: Magnus Carlsen Expresses Discontent on World Chess Championship Format

Published 12/03/2021, 7:20 AM EST

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The recent Chess World Championships are turning out to be an incredible contest. Significantly, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia are fighting it out against each other. With both players matching each other, move for move, it has the looks of an unpredictable ending. As game five ended in a draw, reporters asked questions on the format of the championship and it looks like Carlsen didn’t seem impressed.

Significantly, he questioned the rules of the competition amidst all the tension; both the competitors are facing. Hence, both the players addressed the issue.

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Magnus Carlsen hates the World Championship format

As the fifth game ended in a draw, Carlsen responded to the reporters in the perfect way possible. When the reporters questioned about the format of the recent World Championships, Carlsen talked about the problems related to it.

“You have nothing good to say, it’s better not to say anything at all,” said Carlsen.

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Both players did not want to comment on the formats because of their recent draws. However, Carlsen spoke about the system is favorable for the defending champion while the opponents going through a tough process. In the meantime, he turned back the clock to the 90s when knockout tournaments share similarities with the FIDE World Cup. The only drawback to the rule became when normal players became World Champions while not producing consistent performances. Hence, no strong contenders became champions which forced the rule-makers to change the tournament.

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Nepomniachtchi comments on the matter

The current World Chess Championship system has different qualification tournaments like Grand Swiss, the Grand Prix Series, and the Candidates. On the positive side, it brings revenue to the FIDE  as it supports Carlsen’s position in chess and his business.

But losing the match would mean otherwise for Carlsen as his path to success would be difficult. An annual knockout World Championship may not work out because of the ranking systems in place. To sum up, rankings won’t mean a lot as different contenders can win the tournament. This would cause a significant disadvantage to Carlsen, even though, he is ranked number one.

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His challenger, Nepomniachtchi also spoke about the matter and the problems related to the current format as well.

“Of course it has some obvious drawbacks because it’s like not played yearly and so on yeah. But I mean, we can discuss it like the whole night,” said Nepomniachtchi.

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The path looks tough for both challengers as the game reaches its anti-climax. Who do you think will win the World Championship?

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Jacob Gijy

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Jacob Gijy is a US Sports and NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Gijy finished his Masters in Counselling Psychology and worked in a hospital for 2 years before his passion for sports compelled him to find his way to sports journalism. A fan of the great Tim Duncan, he is always ready to pick up a debate with anyone who does not offer the center the respect he deserves.
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