Stavanger, Norway: In a spectacular turn of events where Magnus Carlsen snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Gukesh D earned his first win in classical chess over the world No.1 after a dramatic ending in Round 6 of Norway Chess on Sunday.
Playing white, the reigning world champion was up against it for most of the battle until a late blunder from the Norwegian, with both players under tremendous time pressure, flipped the script. Carlsen banged his fist on the table, with the remaining pieces shook and stirred, and resigned.
Gukesh, shocked and shaken at what had just transpired, walked out in a daze. In the reverse clash after losing to the Norwegian in the first round here, he was staring at a second defeat in a week against the man who many perceived to be the best player in the world. But Gukesh is the world champion, and the 19-year-old Indian made quite a statement of his mindset and grit against extreme adversity.
“Right now, what means the most to me is that I didn’t lose the game,” Gukesh told the official Norway Chess broadcast. “But yes, beating Magnus in any form is special.”
Gukesh went from fighting, losing, hanging on and, somehow, winning. The late Carlsen blunder was pivotal, but Gukesh simply refused to throw in the towel.
“Well, we could say it was lucky,” Grzegorz Gajewski, Gukesh’s coach, told reporters here. “But we have to give a lot of credit to Guki for his stubbornness and for his resourcefulness.”
This was the second straight year in which an Indian has beaten Carlsen in classical form at Norway Chess. Last year, R Praggnanandhaa defeated the world No.1, also for the first time ever in classical chess. Gukesh has followed suit, even though he could barely come to terms with it minutes later.
Gukesh has been battling indifferent form since he became world champion, and even in this tournament so far where he had just one classical win before this clash. “Hopefully, this win gives him a bump,” Gajewski said.