After his thunderous victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi in the recent championship match, World Champion Magnus Carlsen said he had lost his passion for this form of competition over the years and may not play another World Championship match.
As reported by Chessbase, Carlsen explained, “Passion must be the main driver. I have always liked to compete, but chess for me [is] mainly driven by passion for the game.”
Carlsen noted that he had already played the previous generation (in Viswanathan Anand twice) and three leading players of his generation (Sergey Karjakin, Fabiano Caruana and Nepomniachtchi) . “It is unlikely I will play another match unless maybe if the next challenger represents the next generation,” he added.
Carlsen did mention the name of 18-year-old Alireza Firouzja as a representative of the next generation. Firouzja is currently ranked No 2 in the world in classical chess, according to the December 2021 FIDE world chess ranking. He has qualified for the next Candidates Tournament, which is a round -robin featuring eight of the strongest contenders worldwide. The winner of the Candidates opposes the current world champion for the title.
A former child prodigy, Firouzja was born in Iran and is now a French national. He won the Iranian National Championship at 12 years of age and became a Grandmaster at 14. He started playing chess at the age of eight. Can he win the Candidates?
Chess game
Alireza Firouzja has been recommended as a likely candidate for World Chess Champion Magnus Carsen. This week’s game is one in which he defeated Carlsen.
White: Alireza Firouzja
Black: Magnus Carlsen
Event: Aimchess US Online Rapid, August 28, 2021
Type of Game: Scandinavian Defence, Classical Variation
1. e4d5 2. exd5Qxd5 3. Nc3Qa5 4. d4Nf6 5. Nf3Bf5 6. Ne5c6
7. Bc4e6 8. g4Bg6 9. h4Nbd7 10. Nxd7Nxd7 11. h5Be4
12. O-OBd5 13. Nxd5cxd5 14. Bd3Bd6 15. Qf3O-O-O
16. Be3g6 17. h6Rhf8 18. a3f5 19. c4e5 20. b4Qc7 21. c5Be7 22. Bb5e4 23. Qh3f4 24. Bd2Bg5 25. c6Nf6 26. cxb7+Qxb7
27. Rac1+Kb8 28. Bc6Qe7 29. Rc5e3 30. fxe3fxe3 31. Be1Ne4 32. Qh2+Kc8 33. Bd7+Kxd7 34. Rc7+Ke6 35. Qe5#. 1-0. Black resigns.
