Carlsen lauds Gukesh, says he won’t challenge the youngest champion's world title

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) Former World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has confirmed that he has no intention of challenging newly crowned champion Gukesh D in the future.

Carlsen, who stepped away from the world championship cycle in 2022, citing a lack of motivation, made it clear he was no longer part of what he described as the 'circus' of the world title battles.

“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 Take Take Take YouTube channel.

Gukesh made history on Thursday by becoming the youngest-ever World Champion in chess, beating Ding Liren of China in the 14-game match in Singapore. The 18-year-old from Chennai capitalised on a blunder by Ding in the winner-takes-all 14th game to dethrone the reigning champion, winning the match 7.5 to 6.5 to become only the second Indian to win the World Chess Championship.

Reflecting on the game, Carlsen said, "Gukesh was clearly fighting for the win. He did an excellent job keeping the game alive. But it all happened very suddenly. Ding seemed to be on autopilot, expecting the tiebreaks, and then it was all over.”

"You can say all you will about Ding and the way that he played, but he actually did raise his level during this match,” he added.

In April 2024, Gukesh stunned the chess world by winning the prestigious Candidates Tournament in Toronto, becoming the youngest-ever challenger for the title.

"He was down in the feeder circuit, won the tournament in Chennai on demand to get here, and then had an amazing performance in the Candidates. Even outside the cycle, like during the Olympiad, he was exceptional. His total body of work is extremely impressive,” Carlsen said.

"For all we’ve said about expecting even more from Gukesh, he’s had very good moments and some weaker ones, but overall, he deserves this," he concluded.

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