Carlsen proposes to change classical chess

The chess of a lifetime has no future in the elite because there will be more and more draws, due to the influence of training with very powerful computers.

This is how the 29-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen thinks, in favor of promoting the 960 modality (the position of the pieces is drawn immediately before each game, which renders the thousands of books written on opening theory useless) and promoting the new circuit of fast online tournaments, which started today (Chess24.com).

“If something fundamental is not changed, classical chess is not going to change.

I know it is a bit sad, but I am afraid that it is very difficult to find another solution to prevent the best from making a lot of draws ”, explains the multi-time world champion in a long interview with Jonathan Tisdall for

magazine

from the Norwegian Chess Federation .

Although Carlsen is not against trying also the idea of ​​eliminating castling, proposed by former world champion Vladimir Krámnik, his bet is on 960 chess: “I think it would be very interesting [to organize tournaments of this modality] because it is very suitable for slow games.

We need a lot of time to play openings well.

It is enough to look at the fast tournaments that have been played so far in this modality to realize it ”.

At the same time, the Scandinavian is convinced that fast games (between 20 and 25 minutes for each player) on the internet are very attractive to spread chess: “Since it is not realistic to expect slow games to be successful on the internet, I think that the quick format is excellent, because it retains the flavor of the high quality and does not last long.

You can see more games on each day and therefore the excitement increases ”.

enlarge photo Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen last January, during the Tata Festival in Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands) Alina L'Ami / Tata Chess Festival

But while these changes are occurring or not so much, the fact is that Carlsen has to defend his classical chess title at the end of 2021 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), during the World Expo.

Who do you prefer as a rival?

“Of the top three finishers in the Candidates Tournament when it was suspended [on March 28 in Yekaterinburg, due to the pandemic, after half the rounds] the best by far is [American] Fabiano Caruana.

But [the French] Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and [the Russian] Ian Niepomniachi have more points at the moment.

So I prefer not to think about it for now. "

The International Federation (FIDE) plans to resume the Candidates in the second half of April.

At another point in the interview, Carlsen implicitly admits the positive influence that the irruption of the

program

with a revolutionary style

had on his game

at the end of 2017. After twelve draws with Caruana, whom he defeated in the tiebreaker, at the World Cup from London a year later, the champion felt free to emulate the ideas of the best inhuman chess player: “I honestly believe that the chess I played in the first half of 2019 is the best I have ever played.

Afterwards I didn't do so well anymore;

Let's just say that, at best, I was mediocre for the rest of that year and so far in 2020 ”.

The Norwegian also talks about his new role as the main shareholder of the Play Magnus group of companies, whose best known company is Chess24: “We try to spread chess, promoting various companies.

My position in the group is that of investor and promoter.

Obviously, I don't take care of the day to day because my main function is to play well, because if I start to play badly my value for the company will go down a lot ”.

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