Magnus Carlsen’s criticism of Viswanathan Anand explained by Vidit Gujrathi: ‘He can get away with it… bigger than…’

Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi recently appeared on a show and was asked about Magnus Carlsen's criticism of Viswanathan Anand.

Magnus Carlsen’s tirade against FIDE has been well-documented, and the World No, 1 has broken all ties with the world chess federation after their failure to officially recognise a Freestyle Chess World Championship. The Norwegian revealed in an interview to Take Take Take application, co-owned by him, that he was given assurances of Freestyle World C’ship acceptance by none other than FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich.

Magnus Carlsen recently criticised Viswanathan Anand.

Then Carlsen participated at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship, which was riddled with controversies. First, it was the jeansgate controversy during the Rapid Tournament, where he was fined for wearing jeans and then expelled for the day. In response, Carlsen withdrew and then he returned for the Blitz Championship, which saw him court controversy once again as he ended up sharing the title with Nepomniachtchi, and a backstage video was also leaked which led to match-fixing accusations. Carlsen later broke his silence and denied those accusations, claiming that his words were misinterpreted and he wanted to share the title due to FIDE’s poor tie-breaker rule.

After pulling out of the Rapid C’ship, Carlsen also hit out at FIDE deputy president Viswanathan Anand, criticising him for not performing his role properly. He claimed, “He was not ready for this job. That’s what I feel.”

Meanwhile, Anand told ChessBase India that Carlsen refused to follow the rules and left FIDE with little choice.

‘He is a rebel’

Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi recently appeared on comedian Cyrus Broacha’s YouTube show, and was asked about sledging in chess, and in particular about Carlsen. “He recently said ** to the world chess federation and then he played the tournament also next day,” he said, in a statement which also included an expletive.

Then Broacha went on to ask him about Carlsen’s comments on Anand, to which Gujrathi clarified, “Vishy is now part of FIDE.”

“They are in very good terms.”

Gujrathi is also part of the Freestyle Chess Players Club, whose members participate at the Grand Slam Tour. The Grand Slam Tour is co-owned by Carlsen. He also said that he apparently didn’t know Carlsen’s exact comments as he was busy making plans for his upcoming marriage. On being pressed further, he remarked, “He is a rebel.”

But the host decided that he wasn’t going to stop there, and decided to press him further.

“The thing is he can afford to. He is world champion and he can get away with it. Now the thing has become that he is bigger than the sport right now,” he said.

Then he went on to make a comparison of Carlsen with none other than Shah Rukh Khan. “Sometimes, the artist becomes bigger than the art,” he said.

“SRK is SRK. He is a star.

“Now if SRK’s movie comes, you will go to watch it.

“But you agree that there are some stars,” he added.

The host then decided to stop pressing the Asian Games silver medallist regarding the matter. Carlsen is currently participating at the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, and lost to Vincent Keymer in the semi-finals.