Carlsen Withdraws From Grand Prix

The first major fallout from FIDE's ever-changing World Championship cycles came today, as Magnus Carlsen has dropped out of the FIDE Grand Prix series. Originally, the Grand Prix champion was to play the World Cup winner in a Candidates Match for the right to play for the World Chess Championship. The new regulations would qualify multiple players (among with other qualifiers) from each into an 8-player Candidates Tournament instead.

As I mentioned in my last post on the subject, it's not so much that the new system is bad; it seems about as reasonable as any other. The real problem is the unpredictability and instability that comes with constant changes. If even the players can't be confident in knowing how they can qualify for the World Championship, how will they ensure they don't get left out? Not to mention the effect it has on sponsorship and public interest; it's impossible to give much prestige or hype to a qualifying event when the number of qualifiers (or the event these players are qualifying into) can change at a moment's notice.