“The plan is that Magnus will play. That’s the intention, but we have not discussed details yet. But he is very interested in playing,” Carlsen’s manager Espen Agdestein said for VG.no.

“We will talk about the schedule when he returns home. The deadline for signing up for the Championships is 25th November,” says Agdestein.

“As I know there is no sports boycott against Saudi Arabia. Chess is global sport and is played all over the world. There have been tournaments in other countries where there have also been various issues. For now, this has not been something Magnus and I have talked about,” he added.