Magnus Carlsen's aura remains unblemished for R Praggnanandhaa despite recent loss to D Gukesh: 'No one should be compared to him'

Magnus Carlsen, the highest-rated chess player of all time, has begun to question his future in the classical format and the Norway Chess tournament after a last-gasp loss to world champion D Gukesh. The chess world is now wondering whether the world No. 1 since 2011 is losing his superpower, with questions also raised about who might succeed him.

Carlsen’s defeat to Gukesh came in a time scramble — a first-ever win for the 19-year-old Indian chess sensation. While it was bound to happen eventually, the result was still shocking, as five-time world champion Carlsen, rarely blunders — regardless of what’s at stake.

‘Magnus is strongest player on planet’

Yet it doesn’t change things for players who look up to him. For Indian chess star Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Carlsen continues to be the “strongest player” in the world, who still enjoys a huge lead over the young Indian chess prodigies.

“Magnus is certainly the strongest player on the planet, so you do need a lot of skill (to beat him), but you know, in terms of score, Magnus still has a huge score against all the Indians,” Praggnanandhaa told Firstpost in an exclusive conversation. “So it’s not really that we do great against him, but we have beaten him in some games.”

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Praggnanandhaa, the Tata Steel Masters 2025 winner from Chennai, added that sometimes Carlsen’s mere presence on the board is enough to beat his opponents.

“It’s possible to beat him when we play, but he is still the strongest player and there is certainly this Magnus effect, which everyone calls. Like, when you get this slightly worse position, you do start getting doubts about defending this or not because you are playing against Magnus,” he said.

“But for me personally, I don’t really pay attention. And also, I don’t know about others, but for me, whenever I play Magnus, I get extra, extra energy to fight. Like I’m excited to just fight it out and I think that is one of the reasons why my games against Magnus are always very exciting.”

‘No one should be compared to Magnus’

World No. 7 Praggnanandhaa also reacted to Carlsen’s recent comments, where the Norwegian hinted that the young crop of chess masterminds, including Gukesh, are still not ready to take away the chess crown from him . Praggnanandhaa feels the world’s top three players, including Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, are still very competitive. And while Gukesh and he are trying their best to overtake the legendary trio, the 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa felt that comparing anyone to Magnus will be wrong.

“You know, we all want to do well. In terms of like generations, Hikaru, Fabi, Magnus are clearly still doing very well whenever they play,” Praggnanandhaa said. “But I think we are equally competing in tournaments, like Gukesh won the Candidates and became the world champion. I, you know, last Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters) and Superbet (Superbet Chess Classic) I won.

“Others are also doing very well, like Arjun (Erigaisi) crossed 2,800. So I think this generation is also doing very well. I mean, I don’t really think we should compare anyone with anyone. Magnus is Magnus. He has done everything and I don’t think anyone should be compared with him. He’s clearly the best player in chess.”

D Gukesh called beating Magnus Carlsen his top moment from Norway Chess 2025. Watch how Carlsen reacted. pic.twitter.com/4DMGFJG9Dl

— Brut India (@BrutIndia) June 9, 2025

Reflecting on Gukesh’s first classical win over Carlsen, where the former world champion made an uncharacteristic blunder in the time scramble, Praggnanandhaa said that a draw looked like the most possible result, because mistakes from Carlsen are a rarity.

“It was not something that was expected because Magnus doesn’t usually blunder, but Gukesh also defended well. When I was watching the game, I thought it could end in a draw. These blunders do happen in time trouble. But it’s also shocking from Magnus because he is someone who usually doesn’t blunder these things,” he signed off.