World champ D Gukesh pounced on a Magnus Carlsen blunder in the sixth round of Norway Chess Sunday evening to beat him for the first time ever in a classical game, causing a mini-tantrum from Carlsen. Gukesh sprang up from his chair and walked in the other direction, almost in disbelief at what he’d just pulled off. He had done what Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik and V Anand couldn’t do — defeat the reigning World No.1 (in their case, Garry Kasparov) in the classical format — while holding the world crown.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!A moment later, Carlsen (34) realised his bang-the-table mistake and offered a handshake to Gukesh. Later, he even patted the teenager — an apology-cum-appreciation for his great escape act.
Poll
Which aspect of Gukesh’s play impressed you the most?
Does great work never go unrewarded? If you ask this question to world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and world champion D Gukesh after Sunday’s epic in the sixth round of Norway chess, you are likely to get interesting yet very different answers.
Carlsen outplayed Gukesh for the large part of the game and the experts, includ – ing Indians, kept on telling how it was just a matter of time before Carlsen should convert this position into a victory. But he lost in time pressure after blundering a knight (52…Ne2+) in rook, knight and three pawns each endgame; and miscalcu – lating further. Hence he would conclude that great play needs to be matched by equally precise play at the end too. Engines giving decisive advantage (like +4 to Carls – en after 33 moves) do not matter.Also See: RCB vs PBKS IPL Final Live ScoreMore so in the 64-square sport as you don’t get ‘undeductible’ points for the middle-game domination. It’s unlike cricket’s middle overs where a batsman hits five boundaries in an over and even if gets out on the last ball of the over, his earlier runs in the over still carry value. Chess is more cruel. And Gukesh would say that you have to find dynamic moves to deny a decisive winning path to the opponent and hope that a series of good moves will induce an error. In fact, Gukesh conceded that he was lucky not only to survive this game but also to win it, “but I will take it any way”.Gukesh was so confident about his calculation at the end and queening his a-file pawn (and denying Carlsen’s ‘d’ and ‘e’ pawns), that he took his queen in his left hand in anticipation in front of the undisputed king. Carlsen realised his folly after Gukesh made the perfect knight manoeuvre in a bid to stop the Norwegian’s pawn. Carlsen banged the table in anger, made the pieces on the board fall before resigning. He then tried to calm himself down, giving a pat on Gukesh’s back before storming out of the playing hall.The Indian wanted to prove himself against Carlsen badly. The 19-year-old confessed immediately after winning the World crown that he was aware that he was not the best player in the world and he aimed to keep on improving. He has now got this maiden Classical win over Carlsen in his sixth attempt, a tremendous morale-booster.
Poll
What do you think contributed most to Gukesh’s victory over Carlsen?
Gukesh became only the fourth Indian to beat Carlsen as world No. 1 in classical format, joining Anand (5 times), Murali Karthikeyan (Qatar 2023) and R Pragg – nanandhaa (Norway 2024). Anand had defeated Carlsen three more times, but that time the Norwegian was not world No. 1. When P Harikrishna defeated Carlsen in 2005, the latter was not at the top. Most importantly, Carlsen achieved what V Anand, Vlaidmir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov (see box), could not. The trio, as reigning world champions, had failed to beat the then “world No. 1 and former multiple world champion” Garry Kasparov in classical chess.Carlsen, playing with black pieces, was playing like a predator and used his own king also as an active piece, taking it all the way to the first rank. But Gukesh refused to budge and displayed his tenacity, tactics and superior calculation to win with white pieces after 62 moves of Ruy Lopez Berlin defense game. Gukesh had won the world title after Ding Liren blundered a bishop exchange in the 14th and last game in Singapore. And now, Carlsen too could not hold his nerve against the Indian star. In both cases, Gukesh did not give up.
The Top Fight: Reigning world champion vs ‘former multiple world champion & reigning world No. 1’ in Classical chess in recent years
- Anand never defeated Kasparov inClassical chess after winning the FIDEknockout title in 2000 till the Russian’sretirement in 2005. They played sevengames in this phase, Kasparov winningone and six ending in draws.
- Kramnik dethroned Kasparov in 2000.But in the subsequent 11 Classicalgames against the world No.1, hecould not score a single win losingone and drawing 10 games
- Karpov, official world championfrom 1993 to 1998, played Kasparovthrice in this phase, winning noneand drawing two.
The Norway Time Control
Gukesh had lost to Carlsen in the first round of the ongoing Norway tournament. On that occasion too, lack of time to make the strongest move (to draw) may have played a part. Carlsen suffered from the time suffocation in trying to win. The tournament’s time control is unique: 120 minutes for the entire game with only 10 secs increment and that too from the 41st move. Most elite players are used to a 30-sec increment per move for the large part of the games.
