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Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players in history, argued that the “era of classical world champions” ended when Magnus Carlsen, the world’s top-rated player, abdicated his title in 2023. Speaking on the St. Louis Chess Club’s broadcast, Kasparov acknowledged D Gukesh’s achievement, stating, “Gukesh won fair and square, but you can hardly call him the strongest player in the world. Gukesh’s world championship title is very different.” Kasparov’s comments were made while Gukesh played out a draw against Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
Garry Kasparov then apologised for his remarks, but doubled down on them nonetheless. “I have to apologise time and again. It’s not exactly the title that I had or Karpov had or Fischer or Magnus,” he said. He contrasted Gukesh’s title with those of past champions like himself, Anatoly Karpov, Bobby Fischer, and Carlsen, emphasising that their titles were won against the world’s undisputed best players. It is understood that the controversial statement by Kasparov stems from Carlsen’s absence from the world championship cycle.
Gukesh is a deserving World Classical Champion, period: Susan Polgar on Garry Kasparov’s comment
Garry Kasparov’s comments, though softened with an apology, reportedly drew sharp criticism from former women’s world champion Susan Polgar, who took to X (Twitter) to defend Gukesh’s credentials. “Gukesh is a DESERVING World Classical Champion, period!” Polgar wrote. “He went through the FIDE Candidates as an 18-year-old, the youngest in the tournament, and came out ahead of big stars Caruana, Nakamura, Nepo, Firouzja, and Pragg. It was not his fault that Magnus Carlsen walked away from his title,” she wrote.
After dominating the title from 2013 to 2023, including a victory over Viswanathan Anand in 2013, Carlsen chose not to defend his crown, citing a lack of motivation. This led to Ding Liren’s victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023, followed by Gukesh’s triumph over Ding in 2024. Kasparov reportedly argued that the absence of Carlsen, who continues to dominate tournaments and holds a peak Elo rating of 2882, diminishes the championship’s status.
Reports claim that he pointed to D Gukesh’s uneven performance at the Sinquefield Cup, particularly his loss to R Praggnanandhaa in round one, as evidence that the teenager has yet to prove his superiority, even among peers like Praggnanandhaa and Alireza Firouzja.
