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GM Magnus Carlsen was included in FIDE's full lineup for the Candidates tournament this week, but in an exclusive interview with Chess.com the former world champion says that he is formally turning down the invitation to play in Toronto.

This week FIDE unveiled the official lineup for the highly anticipated Candidates tournament, the event that determines the challenger for a world championship match against reigning champion GM Ding Liren at the end of 2024.

Included in the field is GM Alireza Firouzja, who wrapped up his spot last-minute by winning an open tournament in France with 7/7, and GM Gukesh Dommaraju who picked up the necessary points in the FIDE Circuit race to surpass GM Anish Giri through the Chennai Masters.

Also included is the former world champion, who earned his spot by winning his first FIDE World Cup. The announcement led to a cold shoulder by the Norwegian, citing American comedian and actor Groucho Marx.

In an exclusive interview with Chess.com's Kaja Snare in Oslo this week, the former world champion explicitly confirmed his decision to decline FIDE's invitation.

With a grin, he stated: "I am not playing the Candidates. Don't worry about that!"

When questioned about the reasons behind his decision for not playing more world championship matches, Carlsen candidly expressed: "I would say the main reason is that I don't enjoy it. It's as simple as that. "

Carlsen, who won five world championship matches against GM Viswanathan Anand (2013 and 2014), GM Sergey Karjakin (2016), GM Fabiano Caruana (2018), and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2021), says there need to be significant changes for him to return to the cycle.

"I think under the current format with the time control that is, it's extremely unlikely that I will compete in the classical world championship again."

Carlsen reflected on the last two years since he relinquished his world championship title.

"I really don't miss it. I really like the life that I have now. Both playing from home, but also travelling and playing tournaments. I simply don't need it," Carlsen said.

Addressing potential changes in the format that might entice him to return, Carlsen suggested: "I think if we reduce the time controls, made it more games, that would be a very good start."

Since abdicating his world championship title in 2021, Carlsen has repeatedly said he will not return to the cycle under the current format. After winning the World Cup this year, he told Chess.com: "Under the current format there is absolutely no chance. Everybody should just operate under the assumption that I will not play the Candidates, and that everybody else that is in the semifinal is qualified for the Candidates."

Carlsen has favored shorter time controls, which he has been dominating recently. He ended 2023 on a great note, first winning the Champions Chess Tour Final. Then he scored an incredible double, winning both the World Rapid Championship and the World Blitz Championship in Uzbekistan.

With a total of 17 world championship titles under his belt, the 33-year-old emphasized that the best player needs to excel at all formats: classical, rapid, and blitz.

"Obviously the rating system lags a bit behind, but if you look at that over time, that's a pretty good indication of who the best players are," he said, humorously adding:"Also, if you want to know who the best player is, you don't have to look at all the different formats; you can just look for my name!"

If you want to know who the best player is, you don't have to look at all the different formats; you can just look for my name!

Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen's decision to skip the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament marks the first time in a decade. His next scheduled event is the new $200,000 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge taking place in Germany February 9-16.

Meanwhile, GM Nijat Abasov, who finished fourth in the FIDE World Cup, will replace Carlsen in Toronto, completing the field for the event scheduled April 2-26.

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Exclusive: Carlsen Confirms He Will Formally Decline Candidates Invitation - Chess.com

The people have spoken! Over 16,000 voters chose the best games, moves, creators, and all things chess in 2023. Now, it's time for us to reveal the winners of the 2023 Chess.com Awards.

2023 was the greatest year for chess yet. We've witnessed the biggest wave of new players picking up the game, received mass media attention, and met our new world champion. But that's not all!

Chess was at one point the most popular free game on the iOS app store and topped three Amazon bestseller lists with IM Levy Rozman's book. Chess even spilled into the universe of other sports when tennis prodigy Carlos Alcaraz and world-renowned soccer coach Pepe Guardiola recorded videos sharing their love for the game.

Not everyone can give up the world champion title and still be crowned Player of the Year. But if anyone can do it, it's GM Magnus Carlsen! This is the third time in four years that Carlsen has won this award, and it's easy to understand why.

The world number-one dominated speed chess by winning the 2023 Champions Chess Tour after coming in first in three CCT events, two Grand Chess Tour events, and the 2023 Speed Chess Championship. More impressively, though, Carlsen has finally won the only title missing from his resume, the 2023 FIDE World Cup, not to mention the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships.

Indian chess fans have a lot of reasons to be proud of their country. Among them, IM Vaishali Rameshbabu is sure one of the highlights! Vaishali had a stellar year, indeed; she earned her third GM norm in the 2023 Qatar Masters, went undefeated to win the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss, and then crossed the 2500 rating mark after winning the IV El Llobregat Openthe last requirement she needed to attain the GM title.

While Vaishali is surely celebrating her qualification for the Women's Candidates in 2024 she sure has time to commemorate another accolade after winning the Woman Player of the Year award.

If the third time is a charm, Rozman is definitely looking charming. For the third consecutive year, the man behind YouTube's biggest chess channel has won the Creator of the Year award. Spearheading chess content creation, Rozman has also found the time to write a book, commentate on major events, and make it to Forbes' 30 under 30 list.

What does it take to win against the world's number-one player? Two sacrifices, a 95 accuracy score, and the name GM Wesley So. The American player was not intimidated by Carlsen and launched a devastating sacrificial attack seemingly out of nowhere. It didn't matter that the engine didn't really like it. It didn't matter that So was up against the best player in history. When the game was over, So was the only one standing, with his victory elected as the Game of the Year. You can check out the full game below, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao:

Another one for Carlsen, this time against none other than GM Hikaru Nakamura. In one of the most thrilling Speed Chess Championship finals ever, Carsen found the brilliant 40.Rxc5+!! in the last game of the event. The first of two rook sacrifices, this move began a mating combination that secured the 2023 SCC title for the world number-one.

In September 2023, the young prodigy GM Gukesh Dommaraju reached his peak rating of 2758, becoming the eighth-strongest player in the world. This was the first time in 37 years that a player surpassed GM Viswanathan Anand as the top-rated player in India. Just a few months later, Gukesh won the strongest classical tournament held on Indian soil to make it to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Gukesh's impressive run gave him a chance to potentially become the youngest world champion ever in 2024 and made him the Rising Star of the Year in 2023!

By now, everyone knows the story of the Nigerian-born kid who became a chess prodigy. This year, FM Tani Adewumi kept pursuing his grandmaster title and also found the time to do so much more! The young ChessKid caught mass media attention yet again, this time by playing chess against tennis legend Roger Federer. All while winning a match against Harvard University students, helping with his Foundation, and playing tournaments!

Very few people will ever experience the feeling of becoming the world chess champion. But in 2023, GM Ding Liren got to know that feeling when he defeated GM Ian Nepomniachtchi to win the FIDE World Chess Championship. Getting there was not easy, with Ding having to win games to tie the score three times in the classical portion of the match before finally winning in the rapid tiebreaks. After 18 tense games, Ding finally won the match, and after the final handshake sat at the table with head in hands, overcome with emotion. And this was the Photo of the Year:

Maybe it's the way he understands the mind of chess fans like no other commentator, or perhaps it's just the way he screams, "The rooook!". Whatever it is, people love it, and that's why they chose Levy as the Commentator of the Year in 2023!

It was a busy year at the GothamChess household. This year, the renowned Youtuber and commentator also became a renowned Chessable course author, topping the charts with his GothamChess 1.e4 Repertoire (Short & Sweet version here, in case you want to take a look at the free sample) and winning the Chessable Course of the Year award.

At this point, it's getting harder and harder to come up with new ways to praise Rozman. 2023 was also the year when Levy published his first book, How To Win At Chess. The book was a massive success among learners and voters, who elected his work the Book of the Year.

We thank you for once again taking the time to celebrate chess and vote for the 2023 Chess.com Awards. We're excited to be a part of this journey with you, and we can't wait to enjoy another great year of chess in 2024! Happy New Year!

See the article here:
Announcing The 2023 Chess.com Awards Winners - Chess.com

Time sure flies when you're having having fun-damental endgame clashes! It's the end of 2023 already, and what a tremendous year it was for chess! There are numerous reasons to celebrate the last 12 monthsso many that choosing the best among them will be tough!

So, put your thinking cap on because it's time to vote for the 2023 Chess.com Awards. Commemorate another year of the best players, games, creators, and everything related to the game we all love!

Cast Your Vote

2023 started with a bang when Mittens materialized on the first day of the year and made it into the pages of major media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.

Shortly after, we experienced the biggest chess craze yet, with hundreds of thousands of new players picking up the game every single day. Think about it: we lived to see chess getting banned from schools.

Then, the world met its new champion, GM Ding Liren. IM Levy Rozman published his first book and made it to Forbes' 30 under 30 list. PogChamps returned, and players like GMs Fabiano Caruana and Cristian Chirila, WGM Dina Belenkaya, and others cemented themselves into the chess content creation space.

Now, YOU get to pick the best things that happened to the chess world throughout the year. You can vote for any of the categories below:

Fill out the official form below to cast your vote. By voting for all categories, you will be eligible to win one of 10 diamond memberships awarded randomly. The prizes include one one-year Diamond membership, four six-month memberships, and five three-month memberships. Please note that voting closes on December 31, so make sure to cast your vote today!

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Vote For The 2023 Chess.com Awards - Chess.com

In 2023, GM Magnus Carlsen became the first chess player to eclipse $10,000,000 in lifetime winnings just from major tournaments alonenever mind from sponsorships or royalties or helping to run a business. After winning more than $700,000 in 2023, he is the all-time leader, passing GM Viswanathan Anand.

But Carlsen wasn't the biggest money winner of 2023. That honor belonged to GM Ding Liren, victor in the 2,000,000 ($2,200,000) World Championship. Despite falling ill and not playing for most of the rest of the year, he retained his cash lead on runner-up GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, although it was a virtual tie with less than $2,000 separating them. Nepomniachtchi was also a 2023 tournament millionaire even though, unlike Ding, he had more work to do after the championship match to reach that milestone.

Note: Prizes tracked for major tournaments (generally meaning a first-place prize of $10,000 or more), except national and team events. The figures also do not include streaming revenue, coaching income, appearances fees, sponsorships, royalties, or government grants.

In addition to the world championship contenders, several usual suspects had another great year. Earning at least $250,000 were Carlsen, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Wesley So, GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. And that's just from prizes in major tournaments, except national championships and team events. It also does not include streaming revenue, coaching income, appearances fees, sponsorships, or government grants. (Nor does it take out for travel expenses, which became an issue for the World Rapid and Blitz in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.)

After only one woman, GM Tan Zhongyi, earned six figures last year, two reached that mark this year thanks to the 500,000 ($553,000) World Championship in July, where GM Ju Wenjun defeated GM Lei Tingjie. Both of them also ended up over a quarter-million on the year.

Rounding out the top 10 after Ding, Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen, Caruana, So, Ju, Nakamura, Vachier-Lagrave, and Lei was GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov just ahead of GM Alireza Firouzja.

Here is the complete list of players who won $100,000 in major tournaments throughout the year, from the WR Masters in February to the FIDE World Blitz Championship that ended on December 30:

Two players reached $90,000 but couldn't quite get to six figures. They were GMs Aleksandra Goryachkina ($94,569) and Daniil Dubov ($93,739).

The United States had the most players on the six-figure winners list of any country, with five (Caruana, So, Nakamura, Aronian, and Dominguez), followed by India with four (Gukesh, Vidit, Arjun, and Praggnanandhaa).

Carlsen hitting $10,000,000 in winnings and passing Anand wasn't the only major development on the all-time list in 2023. Nepomniachtchi and Caruana hit the $3,000,000 mark, the eighth and ninth players to do so, while Ding and So became the 15th and 16th players to reach $2,000,000. Nepomniachtchi jumped into the top 10, all the way up to sixth.

Here is the complete list of all-time major event millionaires through December 31, 2023. Note: This list is not adjusted for inflation.

The number of players at $1,000,000 or more remains at 27, where it was at the time of our first article on all-time winnings from the summer of 2022. Next year might see three new members, however, with Firouzja, Duda, and Ju Wenjun all needing less than $150,000 to get there. Ju would become the first woman to reach the million-dollar mark, thanks in part to a significant increase in the prize fund for the FIDE Women's World Championship in recent years.

The $2.2 million World Championship match between Ding and Nepomniachtchi was the most lucrative of the year, while the $553,000 match between Ju and Lei ranked fourth. In between was the World Cup, in which the open field had $1,834,000 available and the women's field another $676,250. Rounding out the top five was the $460,000 Grand Swiss.

Below are all the year's major open events along with the first place prize winner and amount.

In 2024 there is both a Candidates Tournament and World Championship, giving ample opportunity for big cash money with the Champions Chess Tour, Grand Chess Tour, and World Rapid & Blitz all back on the docket as well. Who will claim the largest slice of the prize pie? Stay tuned throughout the year to find out!

Which 2023 prize winner's amount surprised you the most? The least? Who will win the most prize money in 2024? Let us know in the comments!

See more here:
The Biggest Chess Prizewinners In 2023 - Chess.com

Victory in the first Titled Tuesday tournaments of 2024, held January 2, went to two familiar faces. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the early event with 9.5 points and slightly better tiebreakers than GM Magnus Carlsen. Then, GM Hikaru Nakamura scored 10 points to win the late event, but he also needed tiebreaks to win out over GM Alexey Sarana.

With 660 participants, it was the busiest single Titled Tuesday tournament of the double-tournament era, which began in February of 2022. The $100,000 Titled Cup is already bringing out the best players for what was already a strong Tuesday tradition for many top players. Soon, fans will also be able to participate by means of the Chess Prophet fantasy gamethat was recently announced.

Jumping out to the lead was GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who won his first eight games of the new year, the last of them coming out of an odd-looking opening in a game against GM Raunak Sadhwani that ended suddenly.

Mamedyarov only scored one point in the final three rounds, however, and ended up in third place. After two draws, he was surpassed by Carlsen in the final round when Carlsen won their game.

That should probably have been enough for Carlsen to win the entire tournament, but an earlier hiccup in round five caused him to miss a game. And so when Vachier-Lagrave defeated Raunak in the final round, it was the Frenchman who ended up in first place by one tiebreak point over the Norwegian.

January 2 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Because of the server issues that led not only to Carlsen missing his fifth round game but several other players losing rounds, the early tournament did not count toward the Titled Cup, although other prizes were awarded as normal. Next week's early tournament will have doubled prizes.

Ultimately, Vachier-Lagrave won $1,000 for first, Carlsen $750 for second, and Mamedyarov $350 for third. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda came in fourth for $200, Nakamura fifth for $100, and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the $100 women's prize.

The late tournament consistently has smaller fields, and that held true this week, but the 552 late players still far exceed normal participation. That didn't stop Nakamura from winning yet another Titled Tuesday.

Nakamura and GM Fabiano Caruana were the last players on a perfect score, reaching 7/7 before making a draw with each other in round eight. Both won again in round nine before they were finally separated in round 10 after Sarana defeated Caruana.

The resulting scenario with one round to go was Nakamura and Sarana tied for first on nine points, with Caruana, GM Matthias Bluebaum, GM Grigoriy Oparin, and GM David Paravyan just behind on 8.5 points.

Nakamura and Sarana did not play each other, however, as they had already faced off in round sixwhich is where Sarana had lost his only point of the tournament.

And so Nakamura instead played Paravyan, Sarana faced Oparin, and Caruana took on Bluebaum. Caruana won his game and had the best tiebreaks of anyone in the tournament, but he needed help from both Paravyan and Oparin to win the tournament.

It didn't happen. In one game, Oparin fell into a brutal discovered check trying to activate his king.

In the other, Paravyan fell behind on the clock and was also losing on the board when he ran out of time. Nakamura's tiebreak advantage earned him the tournament victory over Sarana.

January 2 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura won $1,000 and jumped out to the early Titled Cup lead. His total for the day was $1,100. Sarana earned $750 in second place and Caruana $350 in outright third. GMs Vahap Sanal and Teimour Radjabov rounded out the top five for $200 and $100, respectively. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina won the $100 women's prize.

Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).

Read more:
Nakamura Begins 2024 With Another Win, Leads Titled Cup - Chess.com