In a recent interview with Take Take Take, chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen delivered a blunt assessment of his rival, Hikaru Nakamura’s, strategy to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Carlsen called Nakamura’s decision to play in lower-rated tournaments “shameless” but also conceded that it was the “pragmatic” and “right thing to do.” He also did not hold back in his criticism of FIDE, the world’s chess governing body.
Nakamura, the current World No. 2, has been on a campaign to secure his spot at the Candidates, a tournament that determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship. He recently won the Iowa Open and the Louisiana State Championship, victories that have raised his live rating to a peak of 2816. Nakamura’s participation in these smaller tournaments is a direct response to FIDE’s qualification rules. To earn a spot based on a six-month average rating, a player must have played at least 40 classical games between August 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026. Prior to August, Nakamura had only played 18 classical games this year, leaving him with a significant deficit to make up.
In the interview, Carlsen expressed a mix of admiration and contempt for Nakamura’s method. “I kind of admire the way he is going about it because it is so shameless,” Carlsen stated. “The thing is a lot of players, they probably would have picked tournaments where there was maybe like a couple of IMs or something like that. But Hikaru just wants to make sure that he’s getting his games, which is the pragmatic thing to do. It’s absolutely shameless, but it’s probably the right thing to do.”
Carlsen’s comments quickly shifted to a broader critique of the system itself, a frustration he has voiced before. “It looks like the system could do with some fixing,” he said, before adding a profanity directed at FIDE and noting his relief that he is no longer part of the official world championship cycle.
When asked if he would “farm points” to protect his World No. 1 ranking, Carlsen admitted to having done so earlier in the year in the Norwegian League but claimed it was a less calculated approach. “I was still playing two GMs and one IM, which is an incredibly dumb way to do it. But I am learning (from Hikaru) now,” he remarked, further fanning the flames of the chess world’s most high-profile rivalry.