Magnus Carlsen: Classical chess is just too frustrating

“The number-one spot on the world rankings has been important for me for quite a few years, but now I feel like I just don’t play much classical chess, so its significance changes. I know that when I decide to play classical in the first place, I usually perform on a decent level, but I play so rarely that I’ve become a bit rusty,” he said.

Carlsen says that he has already started putting less priority on classical, saying he’s quite fed up with all the preparation.

“I feel like it’s (classical chess) interesting on a purely intellectual level. It’s nice to have time to think for a while and figure things out, but I am quite fed up with all the preparation. It’s frustrating to come up with new ideas every time in order to get a game at all. If it hadn’t been for that, classical might have been my favorite out of all tournament chess. As it is now, it’s just too frustrating.”

The 14 games at this World Championships were quite intriguing with Ding showing a new dimension of chess. He kept attacking even in difficult positions and didn’t stick to specific systems of schools of chess. Carlsen said that classical chess has become difficult because Grandmasters have found forced lines in most openings.

“It used to be much easier, but now it has become much more difficult because people have found more or less forced lines in most openings. Even in the London System, you need a lot of preparation to play now. It used to be a line I played in classical if I didn’t want to prepare or if nothing else worked—I thought I always had the London as a backup. Now you can’t do that anymore.”

When the Norwegian grandmaster announced the abdication of his title, he expressed his displeasure with the format of the world championship cycle, a never-ending debate in the chess world. Carlsen was asked whether a different format would’ve changed his decision.

“It’s clear that the motivation depends on what you think is interesting or not. I have never favored the current format with matches in classical chess, especially such a short match. I was positive when they increased the number from 12 to 14 games; it makes it less random, and also that they reduced the number of rest days. Now they have increased it again, no idea why they did that. I guess to give them more rest, but that also gives teams more time to work and to fill gaps, so that makes it even harder to prove that you are any better.”

Carlsen had a few ideas on which formats would increase the chances of him returning to the cycle.

“The most obvious is one FIDE also suggested, to have two games per day with a shorter time control. You’ll get more games and shorter time control, which means the importance of preparation is reduced and you’ll get more decisive games.”

He suggests a time control of 60 minutes, or 45 minutes with 15 seconds increment added per move. He also likes the format used in the Champions Chess Tour with four-game matches.

When asked whether we could be seeing him playing in the Candidates again, Carlsen said:

“With the current format, the chances are very slim. If the format changes, maybe. But the chance of me playing in the next Candidates tournament is less than one percent.”