After 20 years at the top of chess, Magnus Carlsen is making his next move

STAVANGER, Norway -- Few chess players bask Magnus Carlsen's personage status.

A expansive maestro astatine 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into nan world of online chess gaming each made Norway's Carlsen a family name.

Few chess players person produced nan magical commodity that separates Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from immoderate of his peers: celebrity.

Only legends for illustration Russia’s Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer tin lucifer his sanction nickname and Carlsen is arguably an moreover much ascendant player. Last month, he hit some men to beryllium named nan International Chess Federation’s top ever.

But his information to rack up master titles is connected nan wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to thief move nan crippled he loves into a spectator sport.

“I americium successful a different shape successful my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I americium not arsenic eager erstwhile it comes to master chess. I still want to play, but I don’t needfully person that hunger. I play for nan emotion of nan game.”

Offering a caller measurement to interact pinch nan game, Carlsen connected Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will travel unrecorded games and players, explaining matches successful an accessible measurement that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms for illustration YouTube and Twitch. “It will beryllium a chiller vibe,” he says.

Carlsen intends to usage his acquisition to supply recaps and study connected his caller app, starting pinch November’s World Chess Championship tourney betwixt China’s Ding Liren and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju. He won't beryllium competing himself because he voluntarily ceded nan title successful 2023.

Carlsen is nary novice erstwhile it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started successful 2014, gave online users nan chance to play against a chess motor modeled against his ain gameplay. The institution ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for astir $80 cardinal successful 2022 by Chess.com, nan world’s largest chess website.

Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, nan main executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess crippled wherever users tin travel individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and ray touch study will scoop up causal viewers put disconnected by chess’s sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched successful a bid to build nan personification guidelines up of trying to monetizing it. “That will travel later, possibly pinch advertisements aliases deeper analysis,” says Kristiansen.

While Take Take Take offers a different imaginable pinch its streaming services, it is still being launched into a crowded marketplace pinch Chess.com, which has much than 100 cardinal users, YouTube, Twitch, and nan website of FIDE nan International Chess Federation. World Chess was worthy astir $54 cardinal erstwhile it sewage listed connected nan London Stock Exchange.

The accessibility of chess engines that tin hit immoderate quality intends cheating has ne'er been easier. However, they tin still beryllium utilized to shortcut thousands of hours of book-bound research, and hone skills that would beryllium intolerable against quality opponents.

“I deliberation nan games coming are of higher value because mentation is becoming deeper and deeper and artificial intelligence is helping america play. It is reshaping nan measurement we measure nan games,” particularly for nan caller procreation of players, says Carlsen.

At nan aforesaid time, he admits that 2 decades aft becoming a expansive master, his mind doesn’t rather compute astatine nan tornado velocity it erstwhile did. “Most group person little power erstwhile they get older. The encephalon gets slower. I person already felt that for a fewer years. The younger players’ processing powerfulness is conscionable faster.”

Even so, he intends to beryllium nan world’s champion for galore years to come.

“My mind is simply a spot slower, and I possibly don’t person arsenic overmuch energy. But chess is astir nan coming together of energy, computing powerfulness and experience. I americium still person to my highest than decline,” he said.

Chess has been cresting a fame activity begun by Carlsen himself.

He became nan world’s top-ranked subordinate successful 2011. In 2013, he won nan first of his 5 World Championships. In 2014, he achieved nan highest-ever chess standing of 2882, and he has remained nan undisputed world number 1 for nan past 13 years.

Off nan table, chess influencers, for illustration nan world No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura, are utilizing societal media to bring nan crippled to a wider audience. The Netflix bid “The Queen’s Gambit” burnished chess’ improbable cerebral activity entreaty erstwhile it became 1 of nan streamer’s biggest hits successful 2020.

And successful 2022 Carlsen’s refusal to play against Hans Niemann, an American expansive master, who admitted to utilizing exertion to cheat successful online games successful nan past, created a uncommon separator successful nan usually sedate world of chess. There is nary grounds Niemann ever cheated successful unrecorded games but nan feud betwixt nan brace propelled nan crippled moreover further into nationalist consciousness.

Whether chess tin proceed to turn without nan afloat master information of its biggest personage remains to beryllium seen.