Chess champion Magnus Carlsen slams table after defeat
Magnus Carlsen, the top-ranked chess player in the world, slammed his fist on the table after losing for the first time. Carlsen was beat by 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju at the Norway Chess 2025 tournament.
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Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Chess-Carlsen puts meltdown behind him to win Norway Chess tournament
June 6 (Reuters) - Chess great Magnus Carlsen recovered from his meltdown against world champion Gukesh Dommaraju last weekend to win the Norway Chess tournament on Friday. The Norwegian world number one drew his last game against India's Arjun Erigaisi but it proved enough for him to finish on 16 points, half a point ahead of American Fabiano Caruana. Indian Gukesh, who lost to Caruana in the final game, ended up third on 14.5 points. "It's a huge relief after a day like this, a tournament like this," Carlsen said. Last Sunday, Carlsen had Gukesh on the ropes for much of their game but his composure cracked under the pressure of a ticking clock and he committed a blunder that handed Gukesh a decisive advantage. Carlsen slammed his fist on the table after the defeat before exchanging a quick handshake with Gukesh, apologising for his outburst and storming off. "Obviously my struggles here have been well documented but at least I fought until the end," the five-time classical world champion, who did not defend his title in 2023 citing a lack of motivation, said. "I'm not going to say that this tournament was my last (in standard chess) for sure, but I enjoy other forms of chess a lot more."
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
Chess: Carlsen targets last classical hurrah at Stavanger after defeat against Gukesh
Magnus Carlsen's shock loss to Gukesh Dommaraju was the world No 1's first classical defeat by a classical world champion since he lost to Vishy Anand 15 years ago at the 2010 London Classic. It spoilt what should have been a winning position for him at Stavanger, where he was poised to break clear of the field. There are now suggestions that this will be Carlsen's farewell appearance in classical. He told Take Take Take: 'It's a long time since I enjoyed a classical tournament.' Meanwhile, though, Carlsen could go out on a high on Friday afternoon when he and Gukesh fight for first prize in the final round at Stavanger (4pm start), with Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana also still in contention. Scores are Carlsen (Norway) 15, Gukesh (India) 14.5, Nakamura (US) 13, Caruana (US) 12.5, Arjun Erigaisi (India) 11.5, Wei Yi (China) 8. Last round pairings are Erigaisi v Carlsen, Caruana v Gukesh, Wei v Nakamura. The cream of the world's chess players will come to the Novotel London West Hotel, Hammersmith next week, for the World Rapid and Blitz championships, with an opportunity for Londoners to watch them in action. Play is daily from 1.30pm to 8.30pm from Wednesday 11 June to Sunday 15 June. Tickets are limited, and priced accordingly. There are expected to be 55 teams, many of them English, with such well-known names as Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi, playing 12 rounds of rapid and a mixed format of blitz chess. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have entered strong national teams, but the strongest of them all are the top seeds, WR, which is short for Wadim Rosenstein, a German millionaire who has hired the elite including Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi to play for him, with himself as the captain. The WR squad also includes two of the best women players, Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk. Other familiar names are Alireza Firouzja, Nigel Short, Anand, and Erigaisi, but there will be no Carlsen, as the Norwegian has fallen out with Fide. England will have numerous teams, amounting to an impressive defence of national honour. Seeded 9th are Malcolm's Mates(ECF international director, Malcolm Pein) which is effectively the England team of Luke McShane, Gawain Jones, Michael Adams, Nikita Vitiugov, Elmira Mirzoeva on the women's board, and a 1900-rated amateur. Seeded 19th are e-therapeutics containing several GM blitz specialists plus England's 10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan who is strong in fast play. Seeded 24th are Wood Green, runners-up in the British 4NCL League. Seeded 26th are Sharks 4NCL, another strong 4NCL team, while 26th are Sassy Seniors, a 50+ England team led by two grandmasters. Several of the English teams will be composed predominantly of young players who will be looking eagerly for chances of giantkilling, so some sharp attacking games will be likely. A new name to look out for is Russia's Roman Shogdzhiev, who has become the youngest ever international master at age 10. Last week's strong Cambridge tournament was won jointly by the eight-time British champion Michael Adams and by the former Australian and New Zealand blitz champion Brandon Clarke, who both totalled 7.5/9. Clarke's final round win was achieved with the Hungarian Dragon Sicilian in only 21 moves. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The game is an offbeat line, which Black knew better than White. The engine assesses White's 16th as the decisive error and much prefers 16 0-0-0. Over three years of the Cambridge tournament Adams has now won first prize, alone or jointly, every time and has played 27 games without defeat. This was an impressive performance by a man in his 50s against predominantly younger rivals and testifies to the Cornishman's excellent judgment of the pace of a tournament, knowing when to press and when to take an occasional short draw. His closest rival throughout the three years has probably been Dan Fernandez, as the younger grandmaster continues his campaign for a place in the England team. The other England players seem to have tacitly accepted that Cambridge is Adams's personal kingdom. The major prizes at Cambridge are £1500-£750-£600, as against £6,000-£3,000-£2,000-£1500 for the British Championship at Liverpool in August, for which Vitiugov and Jones have already entered, while prizes for the English Championship at Warwick in July are £2,000-£1250-£750, so that is probably a factor. 3975: 1 Bxh6+! Kxh6 (if 1…Kg8 2 Bxf8 Bxf8 3 Nxg6 wins) 2 Nxf7+! Qxf7 3 Rxe7! and if Qxe7 4 Qxg6 mate.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Moment 'world's greatest' chess player loses his composure and slams his fist into the table after losing game
A seething Magnus Carlsen pounded his fist on the table after losing his first game of chess to an Indian world champion. The Norwegian grandmaster was unable to contain his anger during the classical game on Sunday June 1 in Stavanger. Startling footage shows the 34-year-old cause the entire table to shake as he unleashes a loud thud when faced with the victory of his opponent. A defeated Carlsen, dressed in blue jeans and a white shirt, then immediately apologises and shakes his rival Gukesh Donmaraju's hand. But a few seconds later he exclaims 'Oh my god!' while an emotional looking Donmaraju paces down the room with his hand covering his mouth. Carlsen pats the 19-year-old Indian chess grandmaster on the back before storming out. The tension comes as Carlsen had had his opponent on the ropes for much of the match in the Norway Chess 2025 tournament. But his composure cracked under the pressure of a ticking clock and he committed a blunder that handed Gukesh a decisive advantage. Startling footage shows the 34-year-old cause the entire table to shake as he unleashes a loud thud when faced with the victory of his opponent Speaking to Gukesh said: 'I mean, (the win was) not the way I wanted it to be, but okay, I'll take it. '... I've also banged a lot of tables in my career.' Carlsen remained top of the standings after the defeat. It is not the first time a chess tournament has caused him anger. In December 2024 Carlsen quit a major championship after being told he could not participate while wearing jeans. The Norwegian was defending his World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York when governing body FIDE made the request. He said he offered to change his trousers for the following day before being fined and told he needed to change straight away. Carlsen pulled out of the championships with the chess governing body issuing him a $200 fine after giving him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the rejected. However, after being told he would not be allowed to continue, he reportedly responded 'I'm out, f*** you'. Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. 'I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like I didn't even think about jeans, even changed my shoes,' Carlsen told Take Take Take, an app for following chess. 'I didn't even think about it. First of all, I got a fine which is fine, and then I got a warning that I would not be paired if I didn't go change my clothes. They said that I could do it after the third round today. 'I said "I'll change tomorrow if that's OK, I didn't even realise it today", but they said, "well you have to change now". At that point it became a bit of a matter of principle for me.' The 34-year-old added he would not appeal the decision, saying: 'Honestly, I am too old at this point to care too much. 'If this is what they want to do. I guess it goes both ways, right. 'Nobody wants to back down and this is where we are. It's fine by me. I'll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer than here.' The Norway Chess tournament began on May 26 and will conclude on June 6. It features an approximately £109,204 cash prize.
