If Magnus doesn't defend his title, should he be stripped of 2003-2021 titles?

@WendelWetzel69 said in #39:
> If he refuses to play he should be banished to Antarctica in his undies. All record of him should be erased from history and his family be sent to a North Korean prison work camp.
That's a light punishment. Carlsen is used to Cold Winter of Norway. He should be exiled to Sahara Desert with a GPS implanted. If he attempts to leave the Sahara Desert, he will be sent to prison camp clean shaven including armpits and , sprayed with the best perfume.

If Magnus doesn't play final then some action should be taken against him for not abiding by rules.
And a winner never leaves and a leaver never wins.

@Akbar2thegreat said in #42:
> If Magnus doesn't play final then some action should be taken against him for not abiding by rules.
> And a winner never leaves and a leaver never wins.

He can choose not to play according to FIDE rules so I don't know why you think he's not abiding by them. He can choose whether or not he wants to play by signing the official contract or not signing it. There is no punishment involved in this.

@IndianDefense said in #43:
> He can choose not to play according to FIDE rules so I don't know why you think he's not abiding by them. He can choose whether or not he wants to play by signing the official contract or not signing it. There is no punishment involved in this.

Then we should get rid of handshake rules too then. That is less important than the integrity of the sport, defending the title or running away into a corner like a wimp.

@WorldRenownPatzer said in #44:
> Then we should get rid of handshake rules too then. That is less important than the integrity of the sport, defending the title or running away into a corner like a wimp.

Come on. The handshake rules are about respect and fair play. Not playing isn't showing disrespect to anyone. After his 2018 match against Caruana he complained about stress and not enjoying the game. If he doesn't want to get into an extremely stressful situation, who are you to say that he has to?

@IndianDefense said in #45:
> If he doesn't want to get into an extremely stressful situation, who are you to say that he has to?

We have been loyal fans for almost a decade. We bought his chessable courses. We played online against him at times. We made Youtube videos about him. We got into chess because of him.

Does that mean we have to quit too?

Oh? In case you, a 'loyal fan,' hasn't noticed, Magnus specifically stated he is not quitting chess. He still has his goal of becoming the first 2900 rated player, and you and the rest of his fans can support him in that. Nobody ever said anything about you quitting.

@IndianDefense said in #43:
> He can choose not to play according to FIDE rules so I don't know why you think he's not abiding by them. He can choose whether or not he wants to play by signing the official contract or not signing it. There is no punishment involved in this.
That's wrong.
Carlsen is already finalist by previous means of tournaments.
So he has to play final. And this is proper system not one where one can choose opponent.
Backing out is against the spirit of any game.
And Carlsen is set to play for ultimate match so he cannot have any excuse. He has to play it unless he's not well.

Go read the rules and then link where it says that. It doesn't.