Magnus Carlsen Banks May Return To Chess World Championships

Magnus Carlsen will not return to the Chess World Championships (Instagram/@magnus_carlsen).

JAKARTA Magnus Carlsen has dismissed the possibility of returning to play in the Classic Chess World Championships even though he feels he is still able to compete with a younger generation.

Carlsen decided not to defend his title after leaving as the fifth winner in the 2022 edition. Two titles after that were met by Deng Liren (China) and Gukesh Dommaraju (India).

"I don't think of that (back playing at the World Championships) right now. I think it's very, very unlikely," the Norwegian chess player was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The world number one chess player admitted he was less motivated when announcing he would not defend his title the following year after winning his final title.

In 2021, Carlsen had said that if Iranian-born chess player, Alireza Firouzja, wins a candidate tournament then he would also consider defending his title.

However, for now no active player can attract his attention to return to playing at the World Championships.

"Right now there is no (other players who will convince me to try to return to the World Championships)," he said.

Carlsen is currently hunting for an opportunity to show he is still a player to lose before one day turning to a coaching world like his mentor Garry Kasparov, one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Carlsen said that the possibility of becoming a coach in the future is already in his head, but he is currently still enjoying his career as a player.

"I feel like right now I really enjoy the game. I'm still really good at it."

"So, it (becoming a coach) may be something for the future, but right now I'm trying to prove that I'm still better than a younger generation," he said.

Last year Carlsen won the Fast Chess World Championships and shared the Blitz world title with Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia.