Magnus not retiring anytime soon; Indians pose growing challenge: Henrik Carlsen
Stavanger, Henrik Carlsen does not believe his son Magnus, the world No. 1, will retire anytime soon though he is a bit concerned about how long the five-time world champion will be able to keep checkmating a rising group of mature young Indian players.
At 34, Magnus is not getting any younger, with young players, especially from India, excelling on the international stage. The prime example is D Gukesh, who became the youngest world champion at just 18 last year.
With R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and others rising from India, the world No. 1 is feeling the heat, and his father conceded it was time to be 'realistic'.
'You have to be realistic. You now have a generation of Indian players, which… let me say that one thing is the strength of the Indian players. That's a bit boring for the rest of us, but the real worry is that they are so mature.
'Their mental state is more mature than their playing level. That's really worrying because they are young, so they should still be lacking that , but they seem to . They seem to be psychologically prepared for becoming the top guys.
"As the father of a competitor, that worries me because that used to be an advantage that Magnus had against this up-and-coming player. Magnus maybe still has a little bit of that intimidation factor, but it's not enough thought more about it because Gukesh is here. But in terms of preparations, well I shouldn't be revealing too much… but Magnus' way of preparing for tournaments are quite different from what you guys might expect. You have a regimen in a certain way.
'For Magnus, it's more about 'he's thinking about upcoming tournaments'. He's trying to adjust his tournament schedule so that it kind of fits into a pattern. He talks to his trainer a little bit; he has some ideas. He knows all the top-level games going on in the world. Always more or less, because he's following chess, he's a fan.
'So, it's more about structuring that information in a way that he feels is adequate and relevant for this tournament. Generally, I think, his thoughts are reflecting his way of looking at preparation for the tournament, irrespective of who is playing... I think Magnus is still, with all respect to Gukesh, the world champion. Magnus is still looking a lot at world ranking. And also the recent results.'
Henrik, often present at Magnus' events, said his son playing Round 1 of Norway Chess was 'special'.
'I'm just trying to give my perception of what his thoughts are. And, of course, playing him in Round 1 was quite special,' said Henrik, of the thrilling match which Magnus won to earn three points.
No plans for Magnus to retire anytime soon
===============================
Henrik categorically said Magnus is not retiring anytime soon, despite some concerns that he might move away from Classical chess.
'He's not planning to retire yet. I shouldn't be making promises on his behalf. But I think, coming here this year was not a question,' said Henrik.
'He loves chess, playing, the history of chess, and the environment. He has his legacy in chess. He makes his money from chess, even though it's still kind of a hobby, which turned out to be lucrative and something he could live from. So chess is basically everything.
'To him it's an identity. He likes golf, he stays a lot . He follows football and NBA very closely. But chess is his life. I think he's quite grateful also to chess as a sport. That's his passion and hobby.'
Magnus not arrogant; he's confident
==========================
Henrik doesn't believe his son is arrogant. On the contrary, he says Magnus is confident and that trait has come because he has delivered.
'He's the same cocky young man. That's what I wanted to . He looks arrogant, but he's the sweetest person when you talk to him. That's why I can say a 'cocky young man'… well, I used to joke that, in our family, arrogant is not a negative word.
'If you have earned it, it's okay. He's not trying to put on a show. He has a certain level of confidence that can come across as arrogance. He's fairly confident because he has delivered…he's earned it.'
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