Sunday marked a historic moment in chess for more than one reason, as GM D Gukesh finally defeated GM Magnus Carlsen in a classical game. It was the current world champion's first win in this format against his predecessor, and it caused the World No 1 to react in a manner not usually seen in the sport.
Carlsen made a blunder under time pressure when almost everyone knew he had this sixth-round match-up at the Norway Chess 2025 under wraps. However, he could not close out what until that point had been a great game from his side. The miscalculation left Gukesh in disbelief (timestamp 4:33 to 4:43) at what he had done: beating the Norwegian in a classical game, something not even legends like GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Vladimir Kramnik, and GM Viswanathan Anand had achieved.
When the Norwegian realized his mistake, he pounded on the table with his fist in front of over 300,000 live viewers on the official Chess24 YouTube channel, something rarely seen in a sport as closely governed by conservative rules and behaviors as chess. Carlsen then composed himself enough to apologize to and congratulate his Indian peer, signed his score sheet, and power walked his way out of the venue.
A clip of this moment was shared by the official Norway Chess 2025 handle on Twitter and accrued over 92,000 likes and 13,000 retweets at the time of writing. On the event's official YouTube channel, the closing stretch of this game has garnered 96,000 views, reiterating just how seismic not only the result but the moment was within the game's community. Safe to say, Carlsen's meltdown and Gukesh's ensuing reaction have gone viral on social media and could well become an iconic moment in the budding rivalry between the two.
Speaking of Gukesh's response, he had a kind of dazed reaction similar to when he realized GM Ding Liren had blundered and literally handed him the crown of youngest world champion ever last December. The 19-year-old got up from the table and walked away from Carlsen with his palm covering his mouth, even as the cameras caught the disbelief on his face.
Gukesh was magnanimous enough to understand Carlsen's reaction, saying he himself had broken a few tables in his still-fledgling career.
"It was heartbreaking how he lost. I completely understand. I have also banged many tables in my career. A couple of them on camera, a few off camera. But I wasn’t paying too much attention to what he did, I was trying to calm myself down. 99 out of 100 times, I would lose, just a lucky day. First classical win against Magnus, I mean, not the way I wanted it to be, but okay, I'll take it. One thing I learned from the tournament is that time scrambles can get too much out of control."
- D Gukesh
The Norway Chess 2025, one of the top events in the game with participation from six of the world's top eight ranked players, will run until June 6. The calendar remains busy after, including top-tier tournaments like the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships 2025, SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2025, and the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025.
As long as Carlsen, who mulled "totally stopping playing classical chess" after the loss, continues playing the classical format, fans are bound to see more encounters between him and Gukesh at these chess events. Hence, he will have plenty of opportunities to look for revenge and ensure the world knows this loss was a one-off.
