Carlsen wanted to draw some line in the sand by beating Gukesh in Norway Chess: Viswanathan Anand
The fact that he lost from a winning position perhaps exacerbated the frustration, opined Anand, who is international chess federation's (FIDE) deputy president and is here for broadcasting commitments as well.
"Against any opponent on earth, he would have hated losing such a good position. I mean to miss that the knight comes back. I felt exactly the same way when I blew my game against Magnus three years ago in 2022 in Norway," added Anand.
Anand averred that several factors could have been responsible for the meltdown.
"Certainly, the game meant a lot to him and he came close and he slipped, but it could also be fatigue.
It could be this new time control (in Norway Chess).
Here we have this thing where we have Classical chess and then we have a sudden-death Armageddon tie-break (after every game in the event of a draw)" he said.
The chess legend added that he had seen "enough anger" on the table during his playing career to call it an aberration.
"Yes, (I've seen) enough anger. All this has been around for a while, people screaming and cursing.
I think it was in Delhi (2000 World Championship), where after his game with (Estonia's) Jaan Ehlvest, (Vassily) Ivanchuk threw a chair across.
So, the only difference is the camera, not the incident."
"And, the other thing I would say is that this (game between Gukesh and Carlsen) was very intense.
I mean, maybe Magnus isn't that excited about classical chess, but he's certainly taken on Gukesh (in the format)," Anand said.
"Or if not Gukesh personally, the person who is now the world champion showing that he (Carlsen) can fight youngsters.
I mean, a lot of stuff (was) probably going on in his head, and it came out.
So, those two games (against Gukesh), he took very, very intensely and seriously.
And that's kind of partially what brought it (frustration) on."
Anand said such incidents are not so common but once in a while they do trickle in and are mostly precipitated by a player losing from a position of strength.
"I mean, it's not that common. Well, you kind of see fragments every day.
There was somebody who could barely bear to look at (the chessboard), because he blundered, mostly angry with himself" you're so suicidal, briefly" that you spoiled something that you had done so well."
Anand hinted that the issue will be discussed by FIDE, when asked if soft warnings might be necessary in the future for such actions.
"Laws means definitions. It gets tricky. I guess it will come up (in FIDE discussions), I think.
But, you know, on the other hand, if you take someone like (American GM) Hikaru (Nakamura), he says, 'let's have more of it' (Carlsen incident). It gets attention. So, we'll have to balance these things out."
"But certainly, I think it will be discussed very soon," added Anand.
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