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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.

Chess

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?’

5-time Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen won’t defend his title, “I’m not motivated to play another match.”

The undisputed world number one, Magnus Carlsen will NOT defend his title in World Chess Championship 2023. Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura react to the confirmation.

Sarah “KZ” Zulkiflee

In July 2022, the world champion decided tonot 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.

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.

Magnus Carlsen shades the World Chess Championship cover image

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.

5-time Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen won’t defend his title, “I’m not motivated to play another match.” preview image

2023 World Chess Championship: Schedule, where to watch

The world will crown a new world champion after 10 years.

Carlsen shows his dislike toward the WCC

According tochess24, 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.

Esports

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 thatCarlsen 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.

Gaming

Magnus Carlsen joins the Norwegian Poker Championship.<!-- raw HTML omitted -->Screencapped via <!-- raw HTML omitted -->YouTube broadcast<!-- raw HTML omitted -->

2023 World Chess Championship: Schedule, where to watch preview image

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