In my book, definitely Gukesh is a youngster: Carlsen

‘I think I was like a top-50 player at the very least in the world when he was born.’

IMAGE: Magnus Carlsen had earlier taken a dig at D Gukesh, calling him one of the “presumably weaker players.” Photograph: Michal Walusza/FIDE

Magnus Carlsen didn’t hide behind the veneer of niceties and asserted that he was here to win the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship, and that fatherhood or the emergence of youngsters hadn’t diminished his hunger for success.

Carlsen has continued to remain the undisputed king of chess for another year and will be firm favourite in the season-ending global showpiece, having won five Rapid and eight Blitz titles — the last one coming in 2024 in New York where he raised quite a storm by coming to the venue wearing jeans, a violation of FIDE’s dress code which resulted in him being banned for Rapid competition.

Had he not been banned, the Norwegian could well have won both the Rapid and Blitz titles.

Sharing the stage with India’s world champion in classical format D. Gukesh on the eve of the Worlds, Carlsen said on Thursday: “I love being a husband, and a father. It’s been a fantastic experience this year. Neither my son or my wife are too much of a help, unfortunately in terms of chess advice yet. So, it (fatherhood) really hasn’t changed much and I’m here to win as always, doesn’t change.”

With Gukesh emerging as a potential future rival for the Norwegian — he beat the latter in Norway Chess this year creating quite a flutter — Carlsen, when asked if he still considers the India a youngster, replied in the affirmative.

“I think I was like a top-50 player at the very least in the world when he was born, so in my book definitely ‘yes’,” said the five-time world champion in classical format.

“It’s always very interesting to play against youngsters because playing against a lot of established top players is very interesting but it’s also a little bit of a known entity. So when I haven’t played some of the youngsters in a few months, I don’t quite know how good they are going to be…,” he said in response to whether youngsters posed a threat to his supremacy.

He continued: “…because they (youngsters) are continuously developing and it’s not only the generation that is now in between 22 and 16 years old, even younger players that have developed tremendously within a short time.

“And, I see every time in the world rapid and blitz (championships) that there is somebody emerging whom you don’t quite expect.”

With artificial intelligence making deep inroads into the sport, Carslen said it was making chess boring.

“To give an honest answer, I think all of these (AI) tools are incredible for learning, and and they were very exciting for top chess players at the start. Overtime, it’s made the game egalitarian and also harder, and honestly more and more boring. Kind of made it too easy to prep up. So, there’s always give and take with technology,” he averred.

Gukesh, though, differed, saying he “enjoys learning new ideas”.

“For me, it’s mostly been positive and more. Something that (AI) helps me learn a lot of things quickly but also there are disadvantages. Like it’s made preparations more easier and in classical games it’s harder and harder to win games against well-prepared opponents.

“But, also I feel it’s become more sportive… so sportive qualities like physical fitness, you mentality… like people with better sporting qualities generally have been performing better, I feel. But yeah, I enjoy working with computers, enjoy learning new ideas,” said the Indian ace.