Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who held the title from 1985 to 2000, said the upcoming World Championship match between Ian Neopmniachtchi and Ding Liren "is kind of an amputate event” as it doesn’t include the "strongest player on the planet.”
Kasparov was referring to the Norwegian five-time World Champions Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal from the match.
Kasparov said it’s a pity that Carlsen will not be playing the match since he is the best player on the planet.
The championship matches are held every two years and the next is scheduled for April 2023.
"It’s a great show but not a World Championship match,” Kasparov said while talking on the Saint Louis Chess Club broadcast during the first games of the American Cup.
World no. 2, Nepomniachtchi, is set to play the first of the 14-game World Championship match against World No. 3, Liren, in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, on April 9. The winner of the match will become the 17th undisputed World Champion in chess history.
Nepomniachtchi won the Candidates Tournament – an event held every two years to see who will play against the defending champion for the world title – which concluded July 5, 2022, in Madrid, Spain.
"I can hardly call it a World Championship match. For me, the World Championship match should include the strongest player on the planet, and this match doesn’t. I’m not here to comment on Magnus’ decision, but it’s kind of an amputated event,” Kasparov said.
"I have my own history with FIDE, so that’s why I’m not going to change my view about the FIDE Championships. It’s a pity Magnus is not there and naturally, the match between Nepo and Ding is a great show anyway, but it’s not a World Championship match.”
Kasparov also compared it to the 1975 World Championship match when Anatoly Karpov became world champion after Bobby Fischer refused to play.
In 1975, Fischer refused to play the then-standard best of 24 games match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead and Karpov was named World Champion by default.
Carlsen not motivated to play
In July 2022, five-time world chess champion Carlsen, ranked the No. 1 chess player in the world since 2011, announced he will not defend his world championship title.
"The conclusion is very simple that I am not motivated to play another match," the five-time world champion said on his podcast, The Magnus Effect.
"I simply feel that I don't have a lot to gain," Carlsen added.
"I don't particularly like it, and although I'm sure a match would be interesting for historical reasons and all of that, I don't have any inclinations to play and I will simply not play the match."
He was expected to have a 2023 rematch with Nepomniachtchi, who he defeated in the 2021 world championship.