Magnus Carlsen recently bagged his 20th World Championship title across formats, once again justifying his World No. 1 status. Carlsen was at his ultimate best in Doha, winning the World Rapid and Blitz titles. During the final press conference in Doha, Carlsen was asked whether his latest titles had changed his perspective on comparisons with Garry Kasparov. The Norwegian came up with a humble response, stating that he would rather enjoy the moment after his win.
“Just let me enjoy the title. I think other people can take that debate rather than me. But Gary has had an absolutely amazing career. I’m mostly concerned with what is happening right now and that’s it,” he said.
Carlsen and Kasparov faced each other for the first time in 16 years in 2020, and the game ended in a 55-move draw. The Norwegian had once come close to beating the chess legend in a rapid game when only 13 years old. Kasparov retired from professional chess soon after that. Post-retirement, he also served as Carlsen’s trainer.
Meanwhile, Kasparov recently claimed that Carlsen is the strongest in the current generation of chess players. Comparing him to Gukesh’s World C’ship title, he said, “Gukesh won fair and square but you can hardly call him the strongest player in the world. I don’t want to sound offensive but I think Magnus ended the era of classical world champions. Gukesh’s world championship title is very different. It’s still clear that Magnus is the strongest and Gukesh is yet to prove his superiority over others. Even players of his age category. The round 1 game against Praggnanandhaa at the Sinquefield Cup was very unimpressive. The rules are the rules and the games are the games.”
“I’m sure there will be more excitement in the Candidates and the next world championship match. But I apologise. I have to apologise time and again. This is not exactly the title that I had or Karpov had or Fischer had or Magnus had,” he added.
