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

Associated Press Stavanger (Norway): Few chess players enjoy Magnus Carlsen's celebrity status. A grand master at 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into the world of online chess gaming all made Norway's Carlsen a household name. Few chess players have produced the magical commodity that separates Norway's Magnus Carlsen from any of his peers: celebrity. Only legends like Russia's Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer can match his name recognition and Carlsen is arguably an even more dominant player.

Last month, he beat both men to be named the International Chess Federation's greatest ever. But his motivation to rack up professional titles is on the wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to help turn the game he loves into a spectator sport. “I am in a different stage in my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I am not as ambitious when it comes to professional chess. I still want to play, but I don't necessarily have that hunger. I play for the love of the game.” Offering a new way to interact with the game, Carlsen on Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will follow live games and players, explaining matches in an accessible way that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. “It will be a chiller vibe,” he says. Carlsen intends to use his experience to provide recaps and analysis on his new app, starting with November's World Chess Championship tournament between China's Ding Liren and India's Gukesh Dommaraju.

He won't be competing himself because he voluntarily ceded the title in 2023. Carlsen is no novice when it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started in 2014, gave online users the chance to play against a chess engine modeled against his own gameplay. The company ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for around $80 million in 2022 by Chess.com, the world's largest chess website. Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, the chief executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess game where users can follow individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and light touch analysis will scoop up causal viewers put off by chess's sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched in a bid to build the user base ahead of trying to monetizing it.