Fabiano Caruana explains why Magnus Carlsen wanted to dominate Gukesh at Norway Chess

Indian Express

5 hours ago

It's been a few weeks since Magnus Carlsen's famous fist smash on the table at Norway Chess after losing to world champion Gukesh. It was a fist smash heard around the world — the former world champion's uncharacteristic display of frustration at himself made global news and inspired countless spoof reels, and not just from the chess world itself.
In interviews after the incident, Carlsen had spoken about how he needed to get out of his car to blow off steam and compose himself while on the way to his hotel after that defeat. Even in the Norway Chess closing ceremony, both Gukesh and Carlsen had said that the game against each other (not the fist smash incident) was the one enduring memory they would have of the tournament. But for the rest of the world, it's likely that the fist smash, rather than the game itself, would linger in collective memory.
Fabiano Caruana, whose victory over Gukesh in the final round at Norway Chess helped Carlsen win the event, says he understands the way the rest of the world reacted. But he was a little taken aback at how the world of chess responded to the incident.
Caruana also spoke about why world no 1 Carlsen, who abdicated the world champion's throne wilfully two years back, was so desperate to defeat reigning world champion Gukesh over two games at Norway Chess, which were their first two encounters in classical chess since the Indian teenager became world champion last year.
'Magnus definitely wanted to win (against Gukesh) to prove a point: the point being that not only is he (Gukesh) not nearly as strong as Magnus but also that he's not as strong as other players. I think that would be his point, that's what he was trying to go for. So I think Magnus wanted to dominate. And I don't think he cared as much if he were to dominate Arjun (Erigaisi) for example,' Caruana said on the C Squared Podcast recently while talking about the recently-concluded Norway Chess tournament where he ended second behind Carlsen and ahead of Gukesh.
It must be noted that the Norway Chess tournament is the only tournament in the year that Carlsen plays classical format in.
He added: 'Gukesh is a world champion. So that carries a bit more weight. There was also Wei Yi, who's a great player. But it doesn't feel like Magnus has anything that he has possibly to prove against Wei Yi or against me. Maybe against Hikaru (Nakamura) and me he would feel like this is a really nice game to win.'
Caruana said he expected to compete on 'more or less equal terms for a while' with the Indian prodigies like Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa. But, he said, he did not 'find them scary yet, whatsoever'. He also elaborated on why he felt the Indian trio were not ready to take over from him, Carlsen and Nakamura anytime soon. Caruana also observed that Gukesh is far from his best presently.
'I don't think for the last two events (Superbet Chess Classic and Norway Chess) you can say that Gukesh is not playing close to his best classical chess. That would be a big stretch, not even a stretch I think that would just be dishonest,' Caruana said before adding: 'But overall if you look at the last year and a half, then BUdapest Chess Olympiad and FIDE Candidates and then Wijk aan Zee twice… Gukesh has had good performances. Obviously he's been one of the players who is ambitiously fighting for first place in many events.'