Magnus Carlsen spoke about his stepping from the World Championship Cycle in an interview with Total Chess. Carlsen says he considered not playing before every match except the first one. Magnus notes that he felt he was doing it for others.

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen

World's No. 1

“[Interviewer: There were issues that you raised about the Classical World Championship cycle and you would have loved to see changes…]

I kind of wanted changes from an early point. But later on, I wasn’t really advocating for changes. I had my opinions, but I wasn’t trying to change anything from 2014 or so after that.

And honestly, it might sound a little bit disrespectful to others, but for me that was just a little bit of a toxic relationship that I’m glad that I got mysеlf out of.

Because I felt that I was doing it mainly for others. I wasn’t enjoying it. And to some extent I’m glad I had the experience, but I just like generally didn’t like it.

And then you kind of end up wondering: ‘Why are you doing this?’. And for every single match that I played, except for the first one, I was kind of seriously considering just not even playing.

I was very happy playing chess before I became Classical World Champion and before I got into that whole thing. And I’ve been happy afterwards as well. And the further away that I get, I’m more and more sure that I made the right decision about that.

I understand that’s different from most others. But even before I entered the World Championship cycle, it wasn’t the same for me as it was for a lot of other people.”

Magnus Carlsen publicly announced in 2022 that he would not defend his Classical World Championship title. Carlsen held the title from 2013 to 2023. He won the FIDE World Championship 5 times in a row. Magnus has been World’s No. 1 in the FIDE Classical rating for more than 15 years.

Credit: Michal Walusza / Norway Chess