World champion, Magnus Carlsen, fires a short remark that subtly shades the upcoming World Chess Championship.
The five-time world chess champion, Magnus Carlsen, is notorious for his short yet strong remarks. Recently, he posted an Instagram story that fired subtle shots at the World Chess Championship (WCC) which is to take place on April 7th. This has sparked mixed reactions from the community.
Norwegian poker championship>World Chess Championship
Carlsen upholds poker higher than chess
We are lesser than 2 weeks away from the 2023 World Chess Championship which will crown a new world champion since 2013. If you are not up to date, you might be wondering, 'Why isn't Carlsen defending his title?'
In July 2022, the world champion decided to not defend his title due to a loss of motivation. Carlsen made it clear that another win wouldn't make a difference to him. Due to his withdrawal, we'll see Chinese GM, Ding Liren, clash against, Russian GM, Ian Nepomniachtchi, for the king's crown.
Screencapped via YouTube broadcast
While the chess community gears up for the WCC, Carlsen lands himself in the Norwegian Poker Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia. The 31-year-old survived to the second day of the tournament and posted an image of the location on his Instagram story.
He captioned: "Norwegian poker championship>World Chess Championship". It is pretty clear that he means to rate poker higher than chess or that he prefers the former over the latter.
The community had mixed reactions toward the bold statement. While some people took it as a joke and brushed it off lightly, some people in the community felt that it was in bad taste. But Carlsen gave another statement during the poker championship which clarified the meaning- and it's not really for the laughs.
Carlsen shows his dislike toward the WCC
According to chess24, Carlsen spoke to the official broadcast at the Norwegian Poker Championship and "jokingly confirmed that he prefers poker over chess". He also said that it shows his dislike toward the World Chess Championship.
It does say something about me not liking the World Chess Championship.
It is not a surprise to see Carlsen criticize the WCC, or at least its format and system. Prior to dropping out from the WCC, it was reported that Carlsen wanted a drastic change in format. He no longer found the long 14 classical matches format inspiring and would rather drop his title than play the event. It should also be highlighted that Carlsen is still actively competing in the chess scene but solely refuse to defend his title, which further emphasizes the point.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more chess updates!