Will Magnus Carlsen's refusal to defend world chess title devalue it?

There's only one instance where a reigning world champion relinquished his title without playing: Bobby Fischer in 1975

In a surprising development, Magnus Carlsen confirmed on Tuesday in a podcast that he was not going to defend the world title. The 31-year-old Norwegian Grandmaster, who has been the world champion since 2013 and continuously the world’s highest rated player since 2011, had hinted at this in the past few months.

Carlsen clarified that more than lack of motivation, he is plain tired of coping with the extra tension of a title match. He won the title in a match against Viswanathan Anand in Chennai in 2013. He defended the title, again against Anand, in 2014. He has