No motivation issues, says Magnus Carlsen ahead of title defence

Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi says he can’t wait for the contest to begin

It fit that Andrey Guryev would begin Wednesday’s official media conference in Dubai saying he hoped Ian Nepomniachtchi would bring the world chess championship trophy to Russia. Guryev, CEO of the main sponsors PhosAgro and vice-president of the Chess Federation of Russia, said it would help popularise the sport among schoolchildren.

File image of Magnus Carlsen (REUTERS)

Not that it would need much popularising. Not in a country which is the defending Olympiad champion, a title it has had either solo or as joint-winners for the past two years. Viswanathan Anand has said they are so powerful now that they look “like an image of the old Soviet Union almost.” Yet Anand, in an interview to this paper last week, also said Nepomniachtchi wouldn’t go into the title match as a favourite.

Few would, when it is Magnus Carlsen sat across the board.

Carlsen has been the world champion since 2013 when he wrested the title from Anand in Chennai. The Norwegian has since retained it three times— beating Anand (2104), Sergey Karjakin (2016) and Fabiano Caruana (2018) — and should he do it again in the three week 14-round contest beginning in Dubai on Friday, it would bring him on par with Anand. He would also win 60% of the $2 million on offer as prize money.

Nepomniachtchi has beaten Carlsen four times but two of them were in the European youth competitions, a third time in 2011 and again in the 2017 London Chess Classic. Both players are 30 now, Nepomniatchtchi is four months older, and though the Russian is 4-1 ahead in the classical format, Carlsen isn’t making much of that.

“The biggest advantage is that I am the better chess player,” said Carlsen in an interview to The Guardian. With an Elo rating of 2855 which is 50 points ahead of the second best, and being the reigning world champion in the rapid and the blitz formats too, there isn’t any doubting that. For Anand, Carlsen is the “absolute dominant player of the decade.”

What could go against Carlsen, Anand had said, is whether he is motivated enough to put himself through the ringer one more time. When this was put to Carlsen at press conference he said: “That's the first time I hear about it and it really makes me fired up, so thank you very much!”

In the interview to The Guardian, Carlsen had said his “base motivation is going to be a little bit lower than it was.” But he followed that up by saying that so far he has always managed to raise the level head of “important events.” Proof of that is Carlsen winning the last two world titles on tie-breakers.

Motivation wouldn’t be a problem for Nepomniachtchi who has had an extra year to get ready. The candidates contest—a double round robin involving the world’s top eight players to decide who will play the world champion— was stopped in March 2020 because of Covid-19 and resumed in April 2021. When the competition was stalled, Nepomniachtchi had lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the year that went by, he worked on his fitness and came back sharper. He breezed through the second half, winning with a round to spare.

The Russian, who had worked with Carlsen 10 years ago, said he is feeling “great” going into the contest. “That's why I really prepared for the whole cycle, the Grand Prix, the Candidates, and now the match, so I guess I can’t wait for it to be actually started.”

Asked what separated Nepomniachtchi from his earlier challengers, Carlsen said: “The main one, in terms of style, is that Ian is a bit more aggressive. He's somebody whose play is faster, and I think he has a keener understanding of the concepts of king safety than previous opponents.”

Following the draw of lots, Nepomniachtchi will start with white on Friday.

After the press conference, the players were asked to pose with the trophy. Both refused. “Very inappropriate,” said Carlsen. “When the time comes,” said Nepomniachtchi.