KOLKATA: It will be the second successive World Chess Championship match that will not see Magnus Carlsen playing. In spite of opting out of the Championship cycle, Carlsen continues to hold on to his World No. 1 ranking since July 1, 2011. But with a bunch of youngsters coming up rapidly, questions are raised whether Carlsen’s days at the top are numbered. However, the Norwegian himself is not losing sleep over that.
“I think a lot of people have a chance to surpass me but you will see only when it happens,” he stated during the draw ceremony of the Tata Steel India Rapid and Blitz meet here on Tuesday. “After all, I don’t play a lot of classical chess nowadays. So whenever somebody is going to pass me I would not particularly mind,” he added.
Enjoying the game more than achieving new milestones, Carlsen said he is happy playing it his way. “These days it’s very easy. I try to play tournaments with formats that I like against strong and interesting oppositions,” he said. “I’m playing freestyle chess next week against Fabiano Caruna. Then I will play a bunch of freestyle tournaments next year. Apart from that I enjoy rapid and blitz – both online and over the board,” he stated.
Carlsen welcomes the new crop of players who have established themselves well. “It’s very interesting to see a little bit of a different brand of chess now. A lot of the older players of my generation are not going to surprise you in a major way anymore. But with the younger generation, I am trying to understand the way they play, the way they approach situations,” the 33-year-old said.
Talking about the Indian youngsters, Carlsen feels they “are great at calculating”. “Obviously these are different players, different styles. But what is certain is that all of them calculate really well which speaks of the work done by Indian chess schools in the last 15-20 years,” he remarked.
With players like Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin and SL Narayanan in fray, Carlsen is all geared up for the challenge. “I am looking forward to getting to test myself against the younger generation. I am always curious to see how much they have improved since last time,” the five-time World champions said.