The sixth round of the Norway Chess tournament saw a rematch between the world number one, Magnus Carlsen, and the world chess champion D. Gukesh, wherein he beat the Norwegian in a humbling defeat, leading to an explosive reaction from Carlsen.
Earlier in the same tournament, Carlsen beat Gukesh in the first round of Norway Chess 2025. Afterward, he took to X to announce himself as the king of chess by posting a quote from the hit show The Wire, which read, “You come at the king, you best not miss.” Gukesh, who was under relentless pressure from Carlsen, only saw himself win after a blunder by Magnus Carlsen that sealed his loss in 62 moves.
Carlsen’s Outburst After Blunder
Carlsen then had an outburst, slamming his hand on the table. In his rage, however, he showed respect by shaking his hand and walking away while Gukesh was seen standing in disbelief over what had just happened.
Gukesh Reflects, “I Don’t Know What Happened.”
“I don’t know, I’m still kind of shaken from that game,” Gukesh said in an interview. “I don’t know what happened. There wasn’t much I could do, it was lost. I was trying to make moves, which kind of was tricky for him, and luckily, he got into a time scramble. One thing I learned from this tournament was that time scrambles can go out of control.” This marks the first time the 19-year-old beat the veteran 5 time world champion.
“First Classical win over Magnus, not the way I expected (or) wanted it to be, but I will take it,” Gukesh said after his comeback victory in a game where he was only on the defensive.
Gukesh Receives Praise From Coach
Gukesh’s coach, GMr Vishnu Prasanna, commented saying, “We have to give a lot of credit to Gukesh for his stubbornness and his resourcefulness because I think he was aware that he was dead lost for so long, yet he kept kicking, he kept kicking, and the time went lower, the more chances he had to do something with the position. I do not think he intended to win that, but I am sure he is happy,”
Despite the loss against Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen still leads Norway Chess 2025 along with Fabiano Caruana at 9.5 points. Gukesh finds himself in second with one point less. In Norway chess, in the classical format, the player is awarded 3 points for a win and 1 point each in case of a draw.