Carlsen rules out world championship return, still 'better than the kids'

World number one Carlsen cited lack of motivation when he announced in 2022 he would not defend his title the following year and since then the 34-year-old was succeeded by Chinese Ding Liren and Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju.

Five of the Top 10 players were born in the 2000s, but Carlsen, who has embarked on a journey to spice chess up with the creation of the Freestyle Grand Slam and his involvement in the Esports World Cup, feels he has nothing to prove.

Asked if he would aim for the title again, Carlsen told Reuters on Monday: "I don't see that at the moment. I think it's very, very unlikely."

In 2021, Carlsen said if Iranian-born prodigy Alireza Firouzja of France would win the qualifying Candidates tournament, he would consider defending his title, but no active player would now entice him to return.

"At the moment, no (other player would convince me to give it a go)," he added.

Five-time classical chess world champion Carlsen is hunting on other grounds to show he is still the player to beat before maybe one day turning to coaching - just like he was mentored by Garry Kasparov, the only player who can be mentioned with him in the greatest of all time debate.

"I mainly enjoy playing, but I don't rule that (mentoring) out for the future. I already enjoy it when younger players ask me for advice and so on," he said.

"But I feel like for the moment I really enjoy playing and I'm really good at it still. So that may be something for the future, but at the moment I'm trying to certainly prove that I'm still better than the kids."

Last year, Carlsen won the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship and shared the Blitz world championship title with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi amid a dispute with the International Federation (FIDE) following a dress code violation.

It was one of several incidents involving Carlsen v FIDE and the Norwegian called on the president, Arkady Dvorkovich, to resign over a row with the Freestyle Chess Players Association.

OLD GUARD

Carlsen, however, appeared to have moved on from the controversies.

"I'm not really very interested in what FIDE are doing. I'm sort of trying to do my things, being with the Esports World Cup, Chess.com, Freestyle," he said, hinting the dispute over the 'world champion' tag between FIDE and the Freestyle Chess Players Club was settled for good.

"FIDE's crown jewel is the classical world championship, right? That's what gives FIDE legacy and legitimacy, and none of us are going after that," Carlsen added.

"So I think we'll sort of coexist, I'm happy not playing the classical world championship. I'm kind of done with that and now I'm following it as a fan."

Carlsen will next play the Freestyle Grand Slam Paris leg next month and will be with Team Liquid at the Esports World Cup, where he will be eager to show in a rapid format that the old guard is still in charge, although he singled out Firouzja as one of the top three favourites with himself and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States.

"It takes a little bit more time (for the youngsters) to build strength in faster formats than it does in classical chess," he said.

"So I think the old guys, like Maxime (Vachier-Lagrave of France) and I, will stick around for a bit still.

"When it comes to motivation, it's very hard to say, but I find it hard to believe that my level is just going to drop off a cliff. I think there's certainly going to be some steady decline, but I think I can keep going for at least a few years."