Carlsen lauds Gukesh, says won't challenge youngest champion's World title

Former World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has confirmed that he has no intention of challenging newly crowned champion Gukesh D in the future.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

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 capitalized 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."