A very bold decision indeed! And just the sort of no-nonsense, take the bull by the horns revolutionary approach to the game and to FIDE's awfully outdated agenda by the top player in the world.
Kasparov tried to make changes for players and for chess with many battles with FIDE in his prime. I am happy to see young Magnus striving in his youth for the same.
Viva la Revolucion!
Having to prepare against only 2 or 3 is a big advantage.
I agree it would be a big advantage, but I'm almost sure no WC would prepare against the 2 or 3 opponents. The end of candidates tournament leaves almost a year till the actual WC match (The cycle is repeated in every 2 years), and Anand surely won't start training against Kramnik, Aronian, Topalov and whatever. He would just keep preparing normally (as he does all the time), and when the opponent is determined, only then he would spend some serious time to narrow than an approach, come up with a repetoire, a style etc.
Anand played very aggressively against Kramnik, and he played almost the same as Kramnik against Topalov. We could guess he had prepared the berlin defense against Topalov if he had ever played e4. You just can't prepare like this for more than 1 player, not in any different way than you normally prepare for tournaments anyway.
A WC match preparation is very specified work.
what a fruit cake
News item now up...
Thanks, SonofPearl. I was very surprised to see the "average opinion" in the news comments is very different than the average in this forum. A lot of die hard Carlsen fans out there! I wasn't a chess enthusiast then, but now I could see how the general chess public reacted to Kasparov's odd decisions.
Looks like Kramnik moved the wrong rook today, philidor_position!
While it may be true that the current cycle is too long and that there's been too many rule changes overall I disagree wih Carlsen. A tournament for the WC is not special, it's just another high rated tournament. Winning that would give less prestige than winning a 12 or 24 game match against the existing champion. I also prefer to see the existing champion beaten one on one. Like boxing and unlike most sports chess is a individual competition. Being forced to beat the best only makes sense. It's also funny that ge brings up the footbalol world cup since the champions did qualify automatically until 2006.
Sounds like the kid's scared of Anand. First with the fruity jeans, now a yellow streak, a mile wide.
Oh well, he can always fall back on his good looks.
The comparison with football is misleading since football is a team sport. The teams that will go to the next championship will be very different from the teams that played in the last championship. But Anand will still be the same Anand who won the last WC. Granted that playing strength can change over time, but it is very unlikely that Anand's playing strength will have dropped by so much over a couple of years that he will not even be one of the strongest players.
Karlsen should be glad that the current system does not give the reigning champion the privilege of rematch in the event of defeat that Bottvinik had. (And Karpov I think ?)
I'd like to compare World chess champs to the Mr Olympia bodybuilding champs which I believe is appropriate because this is a sport that the current reigning Mr Olympia will still have to go thru the qualifying stages just like everyone else. Arnold Swarzennegger won his first Mr Olympia title in 1970 and successfully defended it a further 5 times. Arnold in the world of bodybulding is a legend and its greatest champion, hands down!! Carlsen not vying for the WC, I believe has been influenced by Kasparov. Why? Only Kasparov can really say, but an interview with Kasparov does seem to show that Kasparov doesnt believe Carlsen has what it takes at the moment to successfully win WC and maybe he is afraid that competing maybe immature. I believe that whether you hold the title or not, you must still go thru the qualifying stages just like everyone else.
The champion doesn't have to prove his worthiness to play for the title, because he has already done so. In the end he has no unfair advantage over the man sitting across the board from him.
Many people have looked for reference in team sports, which are a whole different issue. Teams are much more fluid than individuals: they can be dominant one year and dormant the next. Individuals, especially in chess, are not so susceptible to the passing seasons.
To recognize the best through open tournament play rather than a ritualized traditional cycle, we have FIDE rankings. This is a more fluid gauge of talent, but of course it is prone to manipulation, precisely because it is based in open tournaments.
I think the title is made more prestigious because it is guarded so, the champion is an enthroned figure who must be usurped, and the challenger must truly be a better player to overcome him.
There are players who perhaps should have been champions, but we can say there is no one who has not deserved to be the champion.
Nor have we forgotten the players like Chigorin, Fine, and Korchnoi who were never ennobled; greatness is its own title, outside the control of FIDE.
Has Korchnoi died?
I thought he had but I am glad to see that he is still pushing wood instead of daisies.
Has Korchnoi died?
Define, "died"
It's a career move as a way to stay on top with a rating rather than have the possibility of being knocked out of championship cycle. I wonder how much it has to do with his G-Star ad campaign...although Anand is currently ranked 2 points higher which is fitting for a world champion. Anand does have more than 20 years of experience over Carlsen.
The fact that you/we are all talking about the letter helps to demonstrate the point that Carlsen is immensely popular, he's certainly holding the attention of the folks on this forum and elsewhere.
If his boycott of the FIDE WC championship cycle sparks a debate that gains some legs, which he and his laywers and PR professionals want, and continues on for more than a few months, then it is likely to promote change of some sort.
Keep feeding the fire.
The proper form of the World Championship can be debated endlessly. Some favor a regular event (like the current U.S Championship, which FIDE tried a couple of times), some favor the current model which is more like a boxing championship; i.e. the champion is champion untill a challenger defeats him in a chapionship match.
FIDE for most of it's history has favored the latter rather than the former. No mater what one thinks about the details of the cycle to chose the challenger, there is really only one option, either choose to participate, or choose not to. FIDE didn't back down when Kasparov, who was at that time the current champion, and who had "proven" himself far more than Carlson has, walked out on them, and they aren't going to back down now. If Carlson has an IQ higher than a houseplant he knows this.
I can see two possibilities.
1) Carlson doesn't feel prepared to make a serious challenge for the WC yet. He is only 19, and while we live in the age of child chess stars he is still growing and developing as a player and a person. Maybe he thinks his chances are better the next time around. Many of the top players right now are pushing the end of their competitive years (Kasparov once said 40 is old for a chess player). Maybe a 24 year old, well seasoned Carlson agaist a 45 year old Anand or a 40 year old Topalov looks like a better match to him.
2) Carlson did the math and feels he can make more money by playing in other events and being involved in other projects.
Either way, FIDE will likely not budge a single inch over this, and Carlson will not play for the World Championship untill he chooses to do so on FIDE's terms.
The fact that you/we are all talking about the letter helps to demonstrate the point that Carlsen is immensely popular, he's certainly holding the attention of the folks on this forum and elsewhere.
If his boycott of the FIDE WC championship cycle sparks a debate that gains some legs, which he and his laywers and PR professionals want, and continues on for more than a few months, then it is likely to promote change of some sort.
Keep feeding the fire.
Most of us are talking about what a bad idea it would be. Eventually we'll just have the fanboys fawning over him while everyone else goes about their business. At any rate, I'm not sure when FIDE started giving a flier about us commoners...
Hm... What's next, Carlsen starting a own wc cycle? (Like Kasparov did when he was no 1.)
A bold decision. Perhaps Magnus is right that a model of a super tournament might be better long term for promoting chess. Personally the old candidate cycle was the most exciting (albeit biased heavily in favor of the reigning champ)- but currently we dont even get good length championship matches.