Magnus Carlsen punches table after stunning defeat to Gukesh (VIDEO)

In a dramatic twist at the Norway Chess tournament on Sunday, 19-year-old world champion Gukesh Dommaraju stunned top-ranked Magnus Carlsen in his first-ever classical victory over the former world champion.

Just as Carlsen seemed poised to widen his lead with a second win against the Indian prodigy, a rare endgame blunder turned the tide, and Gukesh seized the moment.

Carlsen had the upper hand over Gukesh for most of the game, but he lost control and Gukesh turned the tide. Playing with white, Gukesh made a bold queen sacrifice; later on, Carlsen blundered his knight on move 52. Gukesh took advantage, forcing Carlsen to resign on move 62. 

Carlsen punched the table in frustration after resigning. He then apologized and patted Gukesh on the back before storming out of the venue.

“Well, there wasn’t much I could do. It was just clearly lost. So I was just trying to make moves which were kind of tricky for him. I mean, 99 out of 100 times I would have lost. Yeah, just a lucky day,” Gukesh was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Earlier in the tournament, after his first-round victory over Gukesh, Carlsen posted on X: “When you come at the king, you best not miss.” Gukesh became the second Indian player to beat Carlsen in the history of the competition, after Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa did so in May 2024. 

This was Gukesh’s first classical victory over the Norwegian grandmaster. With the win, Gukesh moved into third place in the tournament with 8.5 points, one point behind Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. It was their first encounter at classical time controls since Gukesh won the world title, and it marked the 34-year-old Carlsen’s return to individual classical chess in nearly a year.