Who Is Next GOAT Of Chess? Magnus Carlsen Gives Blunt Reply
Magnus Carlsen, who suffered a defeat against D Gukesh in Norway Chess, was asked about a player who can create a similar dominance as him in the game. He gave a straightforward reply.
- Magnus Carlsen believes D Gukesh is not yet ready for chess domination.
- Carlsen acknowledges Gukesh's talent but sees flaws in his game.
- Carlsen compares Gukesh's development to his own in 2008-2009.
Despite the rise of D Gukesh in the chess world, with the 19-year-old Indian Grandmaster even now being the reigning world champion, chess great Magnus Carlsen feels he is not yet ready for a period of domination. Carlsen, who lost to Gukesh recently in Round 6 of Norway Chess, pointed out that the younger generation of players still have plenty of flaws in their game. Stating that "once-in-a-generation talents are once in a generation for a reason", Carlsen explained why Gukesh may not be able to dominate chess like Carlsen did just yet.
In a conversation with India's female chess star Tania Sachdev, Carlsen was asked who he thinks could replicate his dominance.
"There is no one at the moment. That's the honest answer. I think Gukesh showed in this tournament that he's on track," Carlsen said.
Carlsen explained that Gukesh isn't as far ahead of the rest to dominate chess.
"Maybe he's not way ahead of track as we may have thought. I think he's a bit like where I was in 2008-2009. He can do extremely well. The great results come not only with the quality of the positional play, but with a lot of fighting qualities," Carlsen added.
For the uninitiated, Carlsen is widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time, and has held the No. 1 ranking in the FIDE world chess rankings for nearly 14 years, from July 1, 2011.
"That's how kids are supposed to be. You're not supposed to master everything at that age. As for the others, they're good but the likelihood of one of them becoming a clear number one, I don't see very clearly. At the moment I think the older guys are better," Carlsen stated.
"Every single one of them has very clear flaws and that's how it's supposed to be at their age. Once-in-a-generation talents are once-in-a-generation talents for a reason - it's not that easy," Carlsen said further.
Despite beating Carlsen in their head-to-head clash at Norway Chess, Gukesh ultimately ended up losing to the title to the Norwegian. American Fabiano Caruana defeated Gukesh in the final round, in a result that saw Carlsen clinch the tournament victory.
Defending champion Carlsen ended the tournament with 16 points after drawing with the other Indian in the tournament, Arjun Erigaisi, from an unfavourable position.