Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen slams fist on table after defeat

Fox News

04-06-2025

Magnus Carlsen is one of the most recognizable players in the sport of chess, but he suffered a major upset in a classical matchup against Gukesh Dommaraju on Sunday.
Video from the match showed Dommaraju closing in on Carlsen in the Norway Chess 2025 tournament. Dommaraju was finally able to pin down Carlsen, who in turn slammed his first on the table before shaking his opponent's hand and walking away.
Dommaraju was equally in shock.
Carlsen came into the tournament as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, according to Chess.com. Dommaraju was fourth. Despite turning his attention to freestyle chess, Carlsen still has a rating of 2837 compared to Dommaraju's 2776.
Dommaraju told Chess.com he felt like he was just having a "lucky day" by keeping the match going long enough to find a way to win. He added, "99 out of 100 times I would lose."
"I mean, [it was] not the way I wanted it to be, but OK, I'll take it," Dommaraju said.
He also shook off the Carlsen outburst.
"I've also banged a lot of tables in my career."
On Monday, Carlsen drew with Hikaru Nakamura and contrasted freestyle chess with classical chess.
"Losses are painful no matter what, but at least if you can lose doing something you really enjoy it's easier," he said, via Reuters.
"(In Freestyle chess) I don't have situations like yesterday where I'm just wondering why am I doing this, what's the point? I will do my best in the last three games (here) and then we'll see, I suppose."
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