A move and a bang: Magnus Carlsen drops his first match against India's chess champion

NBC News

4 days ago

It was the fist slam heard 'round the chess world.
Two of the titans of chess — one, the up-and-coming champion versus arguably the greatest player of all time — squared off over the weekend in a game that has drawn attention not just for its result but for the post-game reaction.
Magnus Carlsen, the top-ranked chess player in the world, lost for the first time in the classical (think long, complex games) format to Gukesh Dommaraju, the current world champion who at 19 years old is seen as among the game's brightest young stars.
The game, which came as part of the Norway Chess 2025 tournament, swung after Carlsen lost a knight, leading to a frantic endgame in which each player had only seconds left on their clocks.
With Gukesh in a clearly winning position, Carlsen expressed his frustration in a manner relatable to most anyone who has ever played chess: With a fist to the table.
Carlsen then offered a handshake of resignation before standing up and offering another relatable exasperation: "Oh my god," along with an apology.
While the game probably wouldn't have made the same waves without Carlsen's reaction, the loss does offer a growing sense of Gukesh's rise. But it also offers some sense of just how dominant Carlsen remains at the age of 34.
In an interview immediately after the match, Gukesh detailed his shock at winning the game, which at one point looked hopeless for him.
"There wasn't much I could do," he said. "It was just clearly lost, so I was just trying to make moves which were tricky for him, and luckly he got into time scramble."
"99 out of 100 times I would lose," Gukesh added.
Others in the chess community offered a bit more support for Gukesh's performance.
Gukesh also reportedly told Chess.com that he could relate to Carlsen's reaction: 'I've also banged a lot of tables in my career!'
Carlsen retains his title as the top-ranked player by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), which calculates ratings based on performances across sanctioned tournaments. Carlsen is also a five-time world chess champion, a title awarded for winning the game's most presitigious tournament (The Candidates Tournament) and besting the current world champion (or with the current champion beating the winner of the Candidates).
Carlsen declined to defend the title in 2022, with China's Ding Liren taking the top spot only to be defeated by Gukesh in 2024. Then only 18, Gukesh became the youngest world champion in history.
That has meant something of a natural rivarly between the two.
Carlsen has previously praised the Indian phenom, noting recently in an appearance on the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience that Gukesh "works his a-- off all time time" but also is not as strong as some of the shorter time formats that have gained in popularity and prestige in recent years.
Along with the embrace of shorter time formats, chess has boomed online, with a boom in coverage and content creators who analyze games in real time and provide plenty of commentary.
And with Carlsen still by far the game's top star, a blunder and loss — and reaction — like the one to Gukesh has sparked its own compilations of reactions.