Magnus Carlsen: The best chess player in the world creates his own chess world

Magnus Carlsen seemed a little mischievous when he and Jan Nepomnjaschtschi received the trophy for the winner at the World Blitz Chess Championship on New Year’s Eve. The two grandmasters had recently ended the final of the tournament in a very unusual way. When the score was 3.5 to 3.5 after seven games, they no longer wanted to determine a winner at will, but rather shared the title. The world association Fide agreed, and since then the sport of chess has not only had two blitz world champions at once – but also a heated debate about the honesty of these processes.

The question now is whether it is okay to spontaneously adapt rules to the wishes of top executives. On top of that, a video has also emerged in which Carlsen tells his opponent that you can simply play short draws “until they (obviously meaning the fide) give up”. The Norwegian immediately rejected allegations of fraud and influence, saying the post was obviously just a “bad joke”. Fide President Arkady Dvorkovich said this explanatory note was very important. The association will discuss the case, but it has already stated that it is “not a fan of sanctions”.

This is the second time in just a few days that there is a lot of excitement surrounding Carlsen. Shortly before, the undisputed best chess player in the world had withdrawn from the World Rapid Chess Championship because Fide did not allow him to play in jeans; Only after the regulations were relaxed did he enter the blitz tournament. Carlsen often exudes a self-important attitude. But the current events involve much more than a debate about how many exceptions a model player can take. In fact, they illustrate the power struggle that is currently underway: the attempt by Carlsen and his colleagues to establish themselves alongside or above the world association as the actual decisive force in chess.

Carlsen has achieved virtually everything a player can achieve in chess. The 34-year-old has been number one in the world rankings since 2011 and is no longer world champion in classical chess with a long deliberation time only because the World Cup format is boring to him. For some time now, Carlsen has been fighting not just for victories on the board, but also for completely reorganizing the chess world – whereby he is no longer just seen as an athlete, but also as a businessman.

The effort by top athletes to gain more influence is an ongoing issue, especially in individual sports. They generally have little say in the core Olympic disciplines because everything is under the dictates of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the affiliated international federations. But even in the more lucrative industries it is often difficult. In cycling, for example, the influence of athletes is manageable; in tennis, even the greatest of the guild like Roger Federer quickly reached their limits when they wanted to enforce the interests of the players against the interests of the tournament organizers.

The sport of chess has already experienced a split into two associations

Things aren’t looking bad for Carlsen at the moment. He has several other prominent grandmasters at his side, and Fide is only too aware of Carlsen’s importance for the sport of chess; She can’t really mess with him. And above all, Carlsen has a few financially strong allies. A year ago he teamed up with the Hamburg entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner; They want to promote the “Freestyle” chess variant, in which the pieces on the home row do not come onto the board in the classic arrangement at the beginning, but in a drawn formation. Carlsen is also an ambassador for the E-Sports World Cup in Riyadh, which will include chess in its program in 2025.

This is all a bit reminiscent of Formula 1, which Bernie Ecclestone once set up with some drivers outside of the world motorsport association. Or golf, where the immense investments from Saudi Arabia are permanently challenging the established US tour. At the same time, it is also reminiscent of an earlier phase of chess. In the mid-1990s there was a big clash between the top players of the time and Fide – and the chess world split into two associations. Until 2006 there were even two world champions next to each other.

It’s not that far at the moment. But it no longer seems all that unlikely that Magnus Carlsen will become world champion again – in a world in which he himself could have a significant say.