Norway Chess Championship: D Gukesh beats Magnus Carlsen from a losing position

New Delhi (India) June 2: World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh turned the tide of the ongoing Norway Chess 2025 competition on Sunday by defeating former World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 6.

In the sixth round, Gukesh defeated Carlsen in classical time control for the first time in his career. The 34-year-old Norwegian Grandmaster made a rare mistake in the endgame, which the Indian player took advantage of to turn it into a remarkable win.

Gukesh’s coach Grzegorz Gajewski said, “It just gives a huge pump of confidence because once you've done it, you know you can do it again. And that's the plan.”

“And for the tournament that's going ahead, it gives him a bump. Hopefully we can break another unbreakable margin. Perfect.”

Carlsen had the advantage over Gukesh for the majority of the match, but Gukesh overcame his nervousness and won the match.

Carlsen is still leading in the Norway Chess tournament, but he now has to share the leading position with Caruana, who also has 9.5 points and Gukesh is in second position with 8.5 points.

Gukesh's win was a comeback after he had lost to Carlsen in the first round of the invitational six-player round-robin competition.

Legendary chess player Susan Polgar also posted, “Carlsen rarely loses in classical chess, and he rarely commits big blunders. He was playing so well with the black pieces in round 6 in Norway against Gukesh. He had a winning position with more time on the clock. But Gukesh did not give up. He continued to fight and Carlsen's advantage slowly disappeared. Then when both were in time pressure, he made a huge blunder which cost him the game. This has to be one of the most painful losses in his spectacular career. I am sure he is very angry with himself."

Gukesh's victory shocked Carlsen, who smashed the table in anger. The video went viral on the internet which shocked both the fans and commentators. Gukesh also got up as Carlsen slapped the table and then shook hands with him. He was equally surprised that he had finally won his first classical match against Carlsen. Carlsen then gave Gukesh a back pat and left.

At Norway Chess, it is the second time an Indian player has won their first match in the classical format defeating Magnus Carlsen.It was Praggnanandhaa last year and this year it's Gukesh.

Aadrika Tayal