The entertaining Press Conference of Norway Chess 2026

The Norway Chess 2026 Press conference

Transcript of the Press conference (with pictures by Michal Walusza)

Below is a transcript of the press conference with some of the answers being adjusted for grammatical correctness.

Format Priorities and World Rankings

Question (Leontxo García, El Pais): "To Magnus, please. Now we have classic, rapid, blitz, total chess, freestyle. Could you elaborate a little bit your priorities on all those formats? And in the same context, how important is for you beating Kasparov's record of being number one for 20 years in a row?"

Magnus Carlsen: Magnus Carlsen: "I think the one time I talked about getting a record, it was 2900, and that didn't go very well. I am kind of giving up that hope. As for other records, I don't know; I don't play a ton of classical chess, but it seems that ever since the Qatar Masters in 2023, all of my performances have been in the same range, kind of. So there is at least some data to suggest that the rating I have now is fairly reasonable. I don't think I'm particularly better or worse than that. I hope to maintain that level the times that I play classical. It is up to the others to make a run and go get that first place on the world rankings. As for my priorities, I generally prefer faster formats, or at least a steadier diet of those, but I enjoy everything in the right doses. I don't have any specific priorities for what I want to do, but it is nice to be able to play well when I compete."

The Norway Chess Format and Armageddon

Question (Times of India): "What are your general thoughts about this format and Armageddon and the excitement that it provides, but it has not been replicated by the other organizers?"

Magnus Carlsen: "As a Norwegian myself, being in the birthplace of this format, I can say that it is pretty exhausting for the players to do that every day. Because the time that you play, which I guess is a maximum of 17 minutes, it can be pretty tough on the nervous system and it is more intense than classical games for sure. Especially since the way we play classical here lends itself to some pretty wild time scrambles, and then you go on to do that [Armageddon] right after. But I also think that it is excellent entertainment and we are an entertainment product after all. It is also very exciting. I cannot speak for the others, but for myself, it is. I think it is just like a little preview of what a total chess format is going to show: that in order to win the tournament, it would be good to be good at different time controls."

Anna Muzychuk: "I would agree that it is more difficult to play a show again after a classical game and a draw, but many viewers like it. There is a good point about it. In general, I think that is one of the things that makes this tournament special because it is the only tournament where we have this kind of format."

Vincent Keymer: "I guess I'm yet to find out. It's definitely something new and something I will have to adapt to... I can just expect that it will be quite tough and challenging, but also something new and interesting to me to explore."

Chess as a Profession vs. Passion

Question (Tamara, Take Take Take): "For Divya . Around the time you won the FIDE World Cup, you had many interviews in which you stated that chess is still not your profession, but it's a passion, and you're also pursuing psychology. Has this changed at all after the Candidates' experience?"

Divya Deshmukh: "I personally think that you don't need to make it a profession to give it 100%. So for me, it really doesn't matter whether I call it a profession or I don't. I am just trying to do my best."

Time Controls and Calculation

Question: "Though you are a fan of faster time controls, finding time to calculate things on the board is a key element of tactics. Does that go out the window? There are many positions which need longer handling, and when there is no time left, you basically lose all that. Does the sort of chess sometimes get lost?"

Magnus Carlsen: "I understand your point of view very well. When increments were removed from chess, there was an outrage. When time was shortened from two and a half to two hours for 40 moves, there was outrage about that as well. But times are changing. I think we want to have a balance between trying to have the best possible play, but also to allow some room for making mistakes.

If you take it to the extreme, correspondence chess is not tremendously exciting to follow. For instance, my coach, Peter [Heine Nielsen], was playing a correspondence tournament in freestyle recently, and I think he won one game and won the tournament because of that, and it was because his opponent made a typo in his email. Obviously, as humans, we are pretty flawed regardless of the format. But there is this feeling that considering how advanced we are now in preparation, there needs to be an element of making it a little bit tougher than classical time controls. Two hours of thinking is a pretty long time. We are used to treating two hours as a base before getting more time, but here you have to treat it differently because you don't get more time. You get 10 seconds per move, but as we've seen, that's not enough. We are playing classical, but we're just challenging the players a little bit more, making it harder to defend difficult positions or convert winning advantages. It makes for more decisive games. In the end, if you defend well, you get an extra show with Armageddon, so it's all good."

Emotions in Chess

Question (Nandini from India): "To Gukesh. Can we expect you to get the GOAT to bang this table again?"

Gukesh D: "My job is to play chess. But that moment, in general, speaks about how chess players generally don't show a lot of emotions, but when it did happen, a lot of people got attracted to chess. So I feel it's a great moment for chess. Also, I feel chess players generally expressing more is fun to watch."

World Championship Preparation and Schedule

Question (Abhyudaya Ram, ChessBase India): "To Gukesh. You recently took the decision of withdrawing from all the classical tournaments of the Grand Chess Tour. Will Norway Chess and the Olympiad be the only two classical tournaments you'll play before the World Championship?"

Gukesh D: "Norway Chess and the Olympiad are two tournaments I'm surely playing. There are more which I'm considering, but they are not official."

Follow-up Question: "Do you have any preference for the World Championship location?"

Gukesh D: "Anywhere would be nice. But in India, it's always a lot of fun because a World Championship will attract a lot of energy around it. If it's in India, it will be super cool. I'm very happy to play in India."

The Upcoming World Championship Match

Question: "To Magnus. What do you make of the upcoming World Championship between Sindarov and Gukesh? There is some noise that some may tempt you back into the cycle."

Magnus Carlsen: "It's not really about me, though, is it? It's about them, and I think it's going to be a fantastic match. Whatever happens is not going to affect me. I'll just follow it as a chess fan, and it's going to be awesome to see because they are so young and really exciting players as well."

Competing Against the one you worked with

Question: "For Vincent [Keymer]. Since you are paired against Gukesh tomorrow, what is it like going against him in a tournament like this?"

Vincent Keymer: "It is, of course, a bit different, but generally, we are both sportspersons. We are competitive, and we both want to win that game and the tournament, so I don't think it matters too much. I think it's important to keep things that are aside from the board, away from the board, so that it's a purely competitive game. That's also the way it's going to be, I think."

Form and Defending the Title

Question: "To Gukesh, what do you make of the comments former World Champions have made about your form in recent months?"

Gukesh: "Most of it, I don't see, first of all. But there are some that I've heard, and I think it's fair. I have not been performing well the last one and a half years, and I would even say my performance is way below expectations. They have the right to say what they feel, and I have the right to try and do my job best. That's what I'm interested in."

Question: "Gukesh, two years ago you won the title, now you have the job of defending it. It's a bit of a flip from wanting to win to not wanting to lose the title. How are you dealing with that challenge?"

Gukesh: "There are definitely different mindsets going into both matches. As many people have said, defending a title is more difficult than actually winning it. So for sure, there are a lot of expectations and pressure regarding not wanting to lose it. But I think at the end of the day, the basic thing is that you need to go there and play good chess. I'll try my best to do that."

Equal Prize Funds for Women

Question: "To all the women players. How important is it to you that the Norway Chess Women's tournament has a prize fund equal to the Open section?"

Ju Wenjun: "First, it's a very good platform for women's chess. You can also watch the best players, not just female players but also the men players at the same time, so it's a great honor and privilege."

Divya Deshmukh: "I think it's really important. I know there's a lot of movement in sports in general, but I think it's amazing that Norway Chess has actually implemented it. I'm very honored that I could be a part of it, and I would love if other tournaments also follow soon because I think all of us are working hard as much as we can."

Koneru Humpy: "It's a great thing that we are having both events with the same prize money because it also gives a lot of impact to women's chess and to the younger players to become professional. It has given a great platform to all professionals. As a player, I see more than the prize money; having a very strong field and the best players here is more precious than anything."

Anna Muzychuk: "I think we can all just be thankful to Norway Chess for this initiative, for doing it already for the third year, and let's hope they will continue. It gives female chess players in general a great motivation to play and to follow."

Bibisara Assaubayeva: "I'm just very happy to play in a very strong women's tournament, and I'm very grateful to Norway Chess for inviting me. I hope we will have an amazing and very interesting tournament."

The Hardest Thing About Being World Champion

Question: "For Gukesh, Magnus, and Ju [Wenjun]. What is the hardest thing about being a World Champion?"

Magnus Carlsen: "I kind of disagree with the sentiment that defending a title is harder than winning it. If you're going to try to win the World Championship, you have to go through all the qualifiers. If you're the reigning champion, you just have to win one match. Personally, for me, the hardest thing was that there were a lot of expectations for me to find the World Championship as important as others did. I never really felt that way. I felt like I was doing it for others rather than for myself. The motivation didn't come from within a lot of the time. There were a lot of things I didn't like about it, but generally having so much of my identity in other people's eyes, and to some extent my own, connected with that one thing that I didn't even particularly like was not great. That's one of the reasons why I'm here and not part of that cycle at all."

Gukesh D: "I think everybody understands the kind of spotlight and expectations that come along with the title. It's something I've had to deal with and sometimes struggle with. But I also feel that pressure is a privilege; it's a chance for me to grow through the challenge. This last one and a half years, as challenging as it has been, has also helped me build character and become a better person. For me, I just love the process of preparing for a World Championship. It's just been a bit hard for me to deal with expectations, which I hope to handle better in the next six months."

Ju Wenjun: "A championship match is a long period of time and there is much pressure and expectation. For me, maybe it's hard to maintain the same good performance or to maintain a high level of chess."

Mental Rest and Hobbies

Question : "Magnus comes here after some golf sessions. Do the other players have something like that to keep your mind off the game?"

Vincent Keymer: "Not particularly. Usually, my preparation for the game involves chess and mostly chess. To me, it's important to find at least a few hours a day where you're not thinking about chess, mostly for mental rest. If you're stressing about the game and results the whole day, you're not going to be actually playing well. But personally, I don't feel I have the time to spend many hours on something else."

Praggnanandhaa R: "I think at this point we all want to rest more than anything else after Bucharest. In general, as Vincent said, we mostly prepare before the game and try to rest as much as possible to balance both."

Wesley So: "Once the tournament gets going, I'm getting into a sort of free fall. I try to sleep well at night. During game days, I try not to look at electronics too much because it makes my eyes tired. You should prepare the night before and then try to get a good rest, listen to some music before the game, and try to get a nice walk. This is a very good place for that."

Ivan Cheparinov (for Alireza Firouzja): "I think in general it's the same as the other guys. You need to be focused on chess but also do other things; otherwise, it's very difficult to maintain the same level."

Bibisara Assaubayeva: "I think most of the time I'm listening to coaches, preparing, and thinking about the game. For me, sleeping a lot is the trick for rest and not thinking about the game. By the way, 'rise' was the secret word I had to say for a game we are playing, but I couldn't make up a sentence for it."

Alternative Chess Formats

Question: "To Vincent and Bibisara. What are your thoughts on total world championship and freestyle chess formats?"

Vincent Keymer: "I haven't played the total championship yet, so I'm not sure. The format itself seems promising. As for freestyle, I enjoy it a lot. It takes off quite a lot of pressure from opening preparation. However, I still mainly focus my training on classical chess. I don't think we really need to always rank different formats. I personally have no tournament format that I hate or dislike, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I've got in these different formats."

Bibisara Assaubayeva: "I don't know about the total chess format yet as I haven't checked it, but I really like freestyle and I always enjoy playing it, especially with the chance to play alongside the best in the world. Between classical and freestyle, I probably prefer freestyle, but the classical format remains my main goal for improvement."

Hunger for the 8th Title

Question: "Quick question for Magnus. You've won Norway Chess seven times so far. How hungry are you for the eighth?"

Magnus Carlsen: "Honestly, I haven't thought too much about it. I played in Sweden, then I was in Spain for a bit on holiday with friends and family, and now I'm here. It's always interesting to play, but as for hunger, I think that will come when I see the meal that's in front of me."