In the opening ceremony of the Global Chess League Season 4 in India, host Sagar Shah and Tania Sachdev interview two of the most decorated chess champions—Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand—about the future of chess. The conversation centers on how shorter time controls (rapid, blitz, and especially ultra‑short 20‑second reels) can make chess more spectator‑friendly in an era of competing entertainment. Anand reflects on the rise of rapid play since the late 1980s, noting its convenience for busy fans. Carlsen observes a trend among younger players to deviate from main‑line theory early, which he believes extends the lifespan of classical chess while also acknowledging the need for faster, more intuitive, imagination‑driven play. He emphasizes that the ultimate measure of a game’s relevance is whether it can be consumed as a short reel. The panel also explores borrowing presentation ideas from other sports—such as halftime breaks or strategic pauses—to enhance viewer experience, with Anand suggesting a football‑style “stop‑and‑discuss” format. Finally, the hosts ask both legends what World Championship format they would choose, prompting Anand to speak about ongoing experimentation and Carlsen to note his lack of influence now that he no longer competes for the title. The discussion wraps with a nod to upcoming World Championship contender Javokir and a light‑hearted comment about “trash‑talking.”
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Thank you, Gaurav. And hello everyone. Every year GCL keeps getting bigger, and what a beautiful place to have this opening ceremony, right, Tanya?
It's absolutely stunning. And my mic isn't working, or maybe it is.
It's working.
Beautiful venue here. We are very excited. This is season 4, the second time it's going to be held in India. And Sagar, I think the hype from the fans, from the viewers, it's, it's a vibe.
It's amazing. And as Gaurav said, we wanted to discuss a bit about the future of chess, where chess is heading. So Tanya, I wanted to get your thoughts on this subject. Uh, should we discuss a bit on it?
You know, I'm honored, Sagar, that you'd like to hear my thoughts on this subject. Uh, I mean, have you had a look at the company that we've got right now? So why hear it from me when we can hear it from some of you? And I'm going to point out 2 players who are of course playing this season. Between the 2 of them, they have 10 classical world championships. They have shaped the past, they continue to define the present of chess, and will for many, many years to come influence the future of the game.
I agree.
So ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome on stage Vishwanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. At this conversation about future of chess, one thing that was missing from the equation was viewers and spectators. Today, every single sport is fighting for attention, and chess is no different. I'll turn to you for this one. Do you believe, and do you feel, that shorter time formats have a huge influence on making the sport more spectator-friendly looking ahead?
Definitely, they're part of the mix. I remember when the rapid format was introduced about 30 years ago, and so '88 is when it kind of started. And since then, you know, you've seen that that has become more and more popular. It also speaks to our time. People have less time, they're busier. And this— these formats address that, make it more convenient for fans to follow. And so I think, yes, that journey will continue.
Magnus, I'm going to turn to you with the same one, but before you give us your thoughts on that, I have to ask you the hardball question that we have a golf course right next to our hotel right now. How are you going to balance between—
Oh, then, um, no, uh, focus on helping my team win when I play, and then we'll see about the other hours of the day.
All right, coming to you on the question of future of chess, you know, you have spoken a lot about shorter time formats and of course, uh, continue to dominate the game in those different time formats. How do you look at it with the balance of classical and quick play?
Um, no, I think there has certainly been, uh, been an interesting trend over the last few years that you see A lot of the, the young players, they kind of, um, yeah, they're kind of going a little bit of a different way when it comes to especially classical chess, but also to some extent shorter formats, and that a lot of them are, um, yeah, deviating from mainline theory pretty, um, early on. And that kind of makes the game a little bit different than, um, than it was, was a couple years ago. It's certainly, you know, increased the lifespan of classical chess. Ultimately though, I do believe, as Vishy said, in this age that things do need to be a little bit faster, and we should kind of make the game a little bit more about what it was supposed to be originally, which was about—
Thinking.
Intuition and imagination, fighting and, uh, fighting and so on. And I will also say, in terms of time control, maybe it doesn't really, doesn't really matter that much, because regardless of whether, uh, you play a school game or, or a blitz game or a rapid game, uh, what matters is whether people will view it on a 20-second reel.
On ChessBase India, of course.
Of course.
But, uh, Magnus, to just follow up on this question, uh, you know, chess has had this amazing history and heritage and, uh, the long time formats, the world championships flowing, and now chess is getting shorter. In this tournament itself, the time control is 20 minutes and then 2 seconds increment after 41st move. Do you think somewhere we are losing out on this sort of tradition of chess, the history of chess?
I think we kind of would regardless. So I think chess as we know it is going to be pretty solved eventually. So you kind of have to move towards something that's not as easy. Like, part of the beauty of chess is that it is a very difficult game, but it's also in many ways not that difficult. And I think when you lower the time controls, you make it more difficult for, for people because it's, it's harder to, uh, harder to defend with, with little time. So I think that's, um, that's definitely part of it. But I mean, others might disagree, but I like— I'm not a sentimental person, um, at all. So I do kind of long for the times when You could sort of just to a bigger extent, um, play anything. Not everybody knew everybody likes— some people, um, even at top events didn't know the openings and so on. But yeah, most of all, I think, um, I mean, yeah, we might be losing something, but I mean, that's certainly not the top of my mind.
Thank you. And Vishy, your thoughts on this, that we are— are we losing something, or you also feel the same?
I think a lot of these formats will coexist, and in a sense, it has to be decided by the market. You know, people watching and all that, and the way we enjoy it. But a lot has changed in chess, and so inevitably, it will look new to each generation.
Thank you.
And Sagar, you know what is fascinating is that the idea of Global Chess League actually began with a classical tournament being played. It was the Olympiad, which was being watched by by Anand sir, and that is where the journey of Global Chess League began. Again, talking about spectator experience when it comes to chess, I'm going to, um, put both of you on the spot. I'll start with Magnus on this one to get a little creative. Magnus, I want to ask you to borrow something from another sport, you know, where we see really interesting ideas, whether it's halftime, it's stoppage, it's water breaks, uh, for broadcast. It makes— it just brings in a viewer experience. It could even be something completely unexpected like player changing. Is there anything that you think chess could borrow from another sport to make it more fun for the fans?
Yeah, you really are putting me on the spot. And we, to be fair, a lot of things have been done, and I think we're doing a good job too, because we are entertainment after all, and we are competing against many, many other forms of entertainment as well. So I think we are doing Good job of kind of exploring that. What is possible? I think I'm not going to give you any general idea, uh, great ideas because I don't have them right now, but I will say generally I think the players have a little bit of a responsibility, um, to kind of acknowledge that we are indeed, um, entertainers and, um, We don't need to necessarily, you know, sacrifice any sporting integrity, but in general, I think the more willingness there is to, yeah, to accept that fact, the better.
Vishy, your thoughts on this?
I'd love to follow American football because you make a move and then you stop and you have a meeting and start again. I think, uh, that's something I'd like to see.
Okay, so one final question, and, uh, it's, uh, slightly tricky, but I think you both are the best people to answer this as you've won 10 World Championship titles. If you had to decide, and it was in your hands to decide the World Championship format going forward, what would it be? I mean, time control format.
I don't have it that well worked out, mapped out in my head. But we are living in a period where chess is innovating and experimenting. I mean, almost peak experimentation. It could easily be in a decade or so, some of these experiments drop and some are more established. I don't know what the future will bring, but I don't have a huge roadmap for Magnus, your thoughts?
Well, it's it's the beautiful part about not playing the World Championship anymore that I have no say in the matter, and I'm very very happy.
Okay, thank you, Magnus. Thank you, Vishy, for that answer. We have someone who's going to play the World Championship here, Javokir, and well, we wish you good luck for the match, and thank you so much for joining us and Magnus for this. Great thoughts that you shared here, especially Magnus encouraging trash talking.
