Magnus Carlsen reacts after beating world champion Gukesh: ‘He was attempting to do some bit an excessive amount of’

On Saturday, 18-year-old Indian grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh confronted off in opposition to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus, Germany. This was their first assembly since Gukesh’s historic triumph in opposition to China’s Ding Liren on the World Chess Championship final yr. Nonetheless, the extremely anticipated conflict in opposition to Carlsen led to disappointment for the younger Indian because the Norwegian grandmaster emerged victorious.

Gukesh, the one Indian competing within the event, had a tough run within the round-robin stage. Regardless of an underwhelming begin, he certified for the quarterfinals after ending eighth within the standings with 3.5 factors. Solely Vladimir Fedoseev (2.5/9) and Levon Aronian (1.5/9) completed under Gukesh. T
he encounter with Carlsen, nevertheless, uncovered the teen’s struggles within the endgame.

Carlsen believes Gukesh’s inexperience performed a job in his win

Reflecting on the match, Carlsen said, “I feel the sport was very first rate for a very long time. I used to be very glad to get on this counter strike within the centre with e4, e5. I believed, I don’t know, I believed like my queen is controlling the diagonal, I at all times have these methods with going rook e8 after which lengthy castling and it felt like his place was a bit shaky”

“One way or the other I’d seen that he might play d4 however I used to be like one, hoping possibly he wouldn’t play it, two, hoping that I’d discover one thing and I checked it briefly afterwards, really there’s something with queen e8 and ip5, I imply that’s actually tough to seek out.

The previous world champion additional added that Gukesh’s inexperience performed a job within the end result. “So after that I used to be a bit disillusioned as a result of then the place was simply equal and truthfully after that I feel it was simply lack of expertise on his half as a result of he simply took too many probabilities after which when it was time to be a bit bit, he was actually courageous after which when it was time to be courageous once more he retreated however by the point he retreated it was very tough to carry this place in practise and at that time I believed my profitable probabilities had been nice.”

The sport noticed Gukesh below strain within the endgame, regardless of initially seeming able to forcing a draw. His ambition to push for victory, nevertheless, proved pricey. Carlsen, when reminded that he had beforehand famous endgames as Gukesh’s weak spot, responded, “No, no, I feel the endgame itself was utterly wonderful, in fact I’ve this protected cross bonds however his items are so nicely positioned that he ought to by no means actually get in bother.”

“I feel it was later, he might have for example exchanged rooks in some unspecified time in the future which is only a lifeless draw at a few factors and it’s a factor we talked about earlier as nicely, he wasn’t actually enjoying by hand, he was attempting to do some bit an excessive amount of.”

Carlsen was requested about Gukesh’s aggressive method in opposition to him, to which he responded, “I feel truthfully there was not a single level within the sport the place it was practical that he might play for a win, that hasn’t stopped him from enjoying for a win prior to now however I feel the sensible probabilities had been at all times with me, particularly with the time and what usually occurs there may be that when issues begin going downhill they simply collapse as a result of as quickly as I get my items going this pawn, if not situated, is simply unstoppable.”

Gukesh will now face Fabiano Caruana within the quarterfinals, whereas Carlsen is ready to battle Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Different quarterfinal clashes embody Alireza Firouzja vs. Vincent Keymer and Javokhir Sindarov vs. Hikaru Nakamura. Because the knockout stage unfolds, Gukesh will likely be eager to make amends and show his mettle in opposition to the world’s finest.