Former World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has stated that he will not be competing against Gukesh D in future tournaments. Carlsen relinquished his title in 2022, citing a lack of motivation.

“I’ve spoken to people in my team, I’ve spoken to FIDE, I spoke to Ian (Nepomniachtchi, winner of the Candidates tournament then) as well. The conclusion is very simple: I’m not motivated to play another match,” Carlsen explained in 2022.

“I don’t have a lot to gain. I don’t particularly like it, and although I’m sure a match would be interesting for historical reasons, I don’t have any inclinations to play and I will simply not play the match,” he had added.

Two years on, little has changed. In a recent interview on the Take Take Take YouTube channel, Carlsen once again reiterated that he would not compete in the Championship again.

“… Let’s talk about Gukesh and the match and so on. I’m not part of this circus anymore,” he stressed.

Carlsen praised Gukesh for his outstanding performance, stating that he truly deserves to be the World Chess Champion.

“Of course, this was something that was a bit unexpected,” he said.

“A lot of us thought that Gukesh was the favourite to win the match, but this was a game that never really took off. Gukesh was clearly fighting for the win. I think he was doing an excellent job to keep the game alive. But it all happened very, very suddenly. And that, I think, is what he explained later as well, that he was a little bit on autopilot, expecting it to go to tie breaks, and all of a sudden you get this chance, and it’s all over,” Carlsen added, in his review of the decisive Game 14.