 "Gukesh doesn't miss while coming at 'King' Carlsen, justifies the 'world champion' tag with a performance of a lifetime")
“Obviously, becoming the world champion doesn’t mean that I am the best player in the world. Obviously, there’s Magnus”.
Despite fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming the youngest world champion in chess history at the tender age of 18, breaking the record that had previously been set by the legendary Garry Kasparov, there was a part of Gukesh Dommaraju that wasn’t satisfied yet.
And though Gukesh was overcome with emotion after his hard-fought victory over China’s Ding Liren in the best-of-14 series in December, he couldn’t help but announce his next objective – to challenge and defeat Magnus Carlsen in Classical chess, the Norwegian Grandmaster who has been the world No 1 since 2011 and is considered one of the greatest of all time.
That opportunity finally came knocking six months after his epic triumph over Ding, with Carlsen and Gukesh headlining the 13th edition of the Norway Chess in Stavanger.
Gukesh had been having a largely underwhelming run in 2025; he began the year on a high with a runner-up finish at Tata Steel Chess but struggled to make an impact in the two Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour events that have taken place so far in Weissenhaus and Paris.
Gukesh finally shows Carlsen what he’s capable of
His poor run in the Freestyle format appeared to have shaken his confidence in the Classical format as well, with the reigning world champion finishing second-from-bottom at the Superbet Classic in Romania, an event that was played in the Standard format. As for the ongoing tournament, Gukesh began his campaign with back-to-back defeats against Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, at which point Gukesh’s critics were beginning to wonder if his World Championship triumph was something of a fluke or not.
Gukesh, however, proved that even though he might still be a work in progress in Freestyle Chess as well as the faster Rapid and Blitz formats, he cannot be held down for too long in the Classical format. And soon enough, he bounced back with a victory over world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura in Round 3, followed by an Armageddon win against Fabiano Caruana after holding the American Grandmaster to a stalemate.
And on Sunday, following a draw against Wei Yi, Gukesh found himself coming face to face with Carlsen for the second time in the ongoing event. The first time he had come face to face with the world No 1 in the Classical format since his victory over Ding, Gukesh did put up a spirited fight only to end up losing a thriller.
What made his victory in his second meeting with the defending champion and home favourite even sweeter was the fact that Carlsen was actually bossing the game at one point despite playing with black pieces, and was staring at the prospect of completing a double against the Chennai lad, especially after a queen exchange that was initiated in the 27th move.
After a series of exchanges that left both players with their rooks and a knight at the end of the 40th move, Gukesh began chasing his opponent’s king, which began to put Carlsen under pressure and slowly started turning the tide in his favour. And repeated checks from Gukesh eventually led to a blunder by Carlsen – in the 52nd move in which he chose to give the white king a check with his knight (Ne2+).
Carlsen throws a fit after being made to eat his words
And in the end, Carlsen had all of two pawns left on the board when Gukesh boxed him into a corner with his knight and king, eliciting a frustrated reaction from the former in the form of a bang on the table that resulted in the pieces getting knocked around, which was quickly followed by an apology and a pat on Gukesh’s back.
Much like his win in December, Gukesh refused to give up despite finding himself cornered, and it was his doggedness that helped him emerge triumphant.
That moment when World Champion @DGukesh won his game against World no.1 Magnus Carlsen!
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) June 1, 2025
Video: @adityasurroy21/ ChessBase India#chess #chessbaseindia #norwaychess #gukesh pic.twitter.com/9YQhHYlia0
It wasn’t too long ago that Carlsen had put out a pompous statement after beating Gukesh. “You come at the king, you best not miss,” is the line from the popular HBO series The Wire that the 34-year-old had said after his victory in Round 1.
Gukesh, however, remained his humble self after pulling off what arguably is the biggest victory of his career so far. “99 out of 100 times I would lose. Just a lucky day,” Gukesh, who had a look of disbelief on his face after beating Carlsen, said on Sunday.
The victory took Gukesh, who turned 19 just last week, to the third spot on the standings after six rounds, and he could very well be in the running for the top spot should he collect another Classical victory or two, including against compatriot Arjun later on Monday.
The significance of Gukesh’s latest performance, however, goes beyond the 2025 Norway Chess; for once, Carlsen and the rest of the chess world will finally acknowledge that the teenager does belong among chess’ elite and that he is deserving of the tag of ‘world champion’.
And this might just make the rivalry between Gukesh and Carlsen, which was largely one-sided in the latter’s favour until now, a lot spicier considering the Indian still has several years ahead of him.
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