Five-time World Champion and World No. 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen has never been one to sugarcoat his opinions, and this time his comments were directed at long-time rival Hikaru Nakamura. Speaking to Take Take Take, the Norwegian was blunt about Nakamura’s current push to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament through a run of smaller open events.“I kind of admire the way he’s going about it because it’s so shameless… it’s the pragmatic and probably the right thing to do,” Carlsen admitted. Yet he also didn’t hold back his criticism of the system itself, adding: “It looks like it’s a system that could do with some fixing, but I’m not part of that s*** anymore.”The remarks came just after Nakamura stormed through the 70th Iowa Open, where he finished with a perfect 5/5 score. The victory pushed him closer to the 40 classical games he must complete before December 31 in order to secure eligibility for the Candidates by rating. Currently at 2816, he has matched his career-high rating first achieved a decade ago.In Iowa, Nakamura dominated comfortably. His toughest challenge came in round four against 2147-rated CM Anjaneya Rao, but after a misstep with 29.Qd1?, Nakamura pounced and converted cleanly. Against the rest of the field, whose average rating was just over 2000, he cruised without any serious danger.Criticism has swirled around his decision to play in what he himself once described as “Mickey Mouse tournaments”. Detractors argue it undermines the competitive spirit of Candidates qualification, while others, like GM Susan Polgar, emphasise that Nakamura has been fully transparent: “He openly tweeted and streamed about the event. There was no rule broken.”For his part, Nakamura has defended the run as more than just self-serving. In his latest recap, he highlighted the value for local players: “It is an opportunity to give back… I’m sure [my opponent] will go on to become at least an international master down the road. It’s an experience I think he will cherish for a very long time.”With 11 games still to play, all eyes are on Nakamura’s next move and on how much longer Carlsen will keep throwing darts from the sidelines.
