Gukesh beats Carlsen

Viswanathan Anand feels that Magnus Carlsen’s fiery reaction to his loss to D Gukesh stems from the fact that the World No.1’s authority in the game was challenged by someone younger to him. Anand said that Carlsen wanted to ‘draw a line in the sand’ by beating Gukesh and indicated that the FIDE could discuss about the incident soon. Carlsen was left visibly frustrated when he lost to Gukesh recently in the Norway Chess and the World No.1 reacted by slamming the table, which caused the pieces to get scattered before shouting ‘oh my god’ and exiting the arena in a hurry, as fans watched in shock. Speaking to PTI, Anand said that beating Gukesh mattered a lot to Carlsen as he wanted to establish that he was superior to the youngsters. “But it (beating Gukesh) mattered a lot to him. Even if all the other games he’s kind of going through emotions (here) But in this game (against Gukesh), I think something he wanted to establish. He wanted to draw some line in the sand and tell all these kids ‘hang on a few years’, whatever. But this meant a lot. I think a 2-0 (win against Gukesh) here, he would have been very, very happy,” said Anand. Anand said that losing the game from a dominant position further added fuel to Carlsen’s anger. “Against any opponent on earth, he would have hated losing such a good position. I mean to miss that the knight comes back. I felt exactly the same way when I blew my game against Magnus three years ago in 2022 in Norway,” said Anand. Anand also felt that factors like fatigue and the time control in Norway Chess could have been the reasons behind Carlsen’s outburst as well. “Certainly, the game meant a lot to him and he came close and he slipped, but it could also be fatigue. It could be this new time control (in Norway Chess). Here we have this thing where we have Classical chess and then we have a sudden-death Armageddon tie-break (after every game in the event of a draw)” he said. ‘A lot of stuff must have been going on in his head’ Anand said he had seen enough outbursts during his career to call the Carlsen incident an aberration. The former World Champion said that a lot of things may have gone on in Carlsen’s head at that time and would have lefd to the outburst. “Yes, (I’ve seen) enough anger. All this has been around for a while, people screaming and cursing. I think it was in Delhi (2000 World Championship), where after his game with (Estonia’s) Jaan Ehlvest, (Vassily) Ivanchuk threw a chair across. So, the only difference is the camera, not the incident. “And, the other thing I would say is that this (game between Gukesh and Carlsen) was very intense. I mean, maybe Magnus isn’t that excited about classical chess, but he’s certainly taken on Gukesh (in the format),” Anand said. “Or if not Gukesh personally the person who is now the world champion showing that he (Carlsen) can fight youngsters. I mean, a lot of stuff (was) probably going on in his head, and it came out. So, those two games (against Gukesh), he took very, very intensely and seriously. And that’s kind of partially what brought it (frustration) on.” Anand said that FIDE could look into the matter soon. “Laws means definitions. It gets tricky. I guess it will come up (in FIDE discussions), I think. But, you know, on the other hand, if you take someone like (American GM) Hikaru (Nakamura), he says, ‘let’s have more of it’ (Carlsen incident). It gets attention. So, we’ll have to balance these things out.” “But certainly, I think it will be discussed very soon,” added Anand. Published On: Jun 5, 2025 Tune In