Magnus Carlsen has commented the situation with FIDE’s 6 months ban on Karjakin. The World Champion is unsure whether it was right to exclude Karjakin from all competitions under the auspices of FIDE. More on Sergey Karjakin’s case: Karjakin ban by FIDE announced / Karjakin posts comments on the ban, decides not to appeal, but Kremlin supports Karjakin / Top players comment on Karjakin ban / All stories on Sergey Karjakin here For the Norwegian newspaper VG, he commented,
It is difficult to assess [the ban] because this situation is completely new. There are not many parallels in history. Of course, I do not agree with Karjakin on anything that he says, but whether it is right to exclude people for opinions that we do not tolerate? I’m unsure. It is possible that it pays off in a difficult time, but you also set a precedent for what may come later.
Magnus Carlsen also adds that the ban makes Karjakin a “martyr” and let’s him achieve certain goals
He wants to be a martyr for the West’s “sanctions tyranny”. Now he is allowed to tell that story at home – and that works well there. We help him willingly with that. We let him have what he wants. I do not know if it’s good or not, I’m not sure.
More: While players criticize or defend Karjakin, Anish Giri is politically correct on the case, but criticizes FIDE procedures.
Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin played a World Championship match back in 2016 , which was one of the most difficult titles for Carlsen. The match opened with seven consecutive draws before Karjakin won the eighth game. Carlsen evened the score by winning the tenth game. All other games were drawn, leaving the match at a 6–6 tie, so tie breaks decided the match. After two draws to begin the rapid chess tie break, Carlsen won the remaining two games to win the match and retain his title. Karjakin was going to make another attempt to reach a match with Carlsen this year, but the ban from FIDE will prevent him from participating in Candidates Chess 2022 .
On the question whether Karjakin can return to international chess, Carlsen says, “I doubt it”. Possibly Karjakin has similar understanding of the situation, as yesterday he announced the creation of online chess platform to be based in Russia (read the full story here)
