Magnus Carlsen has shifted his focus from the traditional format to faster time controls and freestyle chess. However, fans still want to see the World No. 1 back in classical chess.

Magnus Carlsen has made a big comment about his future in classical chess at a virtual appearance at the recent ChessParty event that took place in Stockholm, Sweden. The Norwegian superstar, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players ever, recently won the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship but fans want to also see him in the classical format.

Many fans still hope that they could see the
best in the world against the world champion in a world championship clash. However, the World No. 1 seems to have moved on from the format as he looks to experiment in other time controls.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADCarlsen makes his classical chess plans clear

The ChessParty 2026 festival, held April 17-18 at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena, features a world record attempt for the largest chess lesson, along with tournaments, celebrity, and influencer appearances including that of Carlsen.

During the interaction, Carlsen was directly asked about his interest in returning to the World Championship across various formats. The Norwegian had an answer as clear as his moves on the board: “In several formats, certainly. In classical chess, absolutely not.”

Q: Will Magnus ever compete for the World Championship?

Magnus: In several formats, certainly. In classical chess, absolutely not#chessparty pic.twitter.com/Bt4K8skOaa

— Kostya Kavutskiy (@hellokostya) April 18, 2026

The statement highlighted once again that the five-time world champion was done with the traditional format of the game and fans hoping for his return will only get disappointment. Carlsen has made no secrets of his preference for faster, more dynamic formats like rapid, blitz, and the emerging Freestyle chess and he once again repeated that those tournaments will see him participating.

Carlsen dominated the classical World Championship from 2013 until he abdicated the title in 2023, citing lack of motivation. He successfully defended it five times against elite challengers, including Viswanathan Anand, Sergey Karjakin, Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Speaking of
Carlsen’s classical return, he will make a rare appearance at the Sigeman Chess 2026 that takes place in May.

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Currently, the classical World Championship crown belongs to India’s D Gukesh, who became the youngest undisputed champion in history after defeating China’s Ding Liren in 2024. Gukesh is set to defend his title later in 2026 against
Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, the winner of the 2026 Candidates Tournament.

First Published:
April 19, 2026, 07:02 IST

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