MAGNUS Carlsen slammed the table after being defeated by world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a classic chess match at the 2025 Norway Chess tournament held in Stavanger, Norway, on Monday, June 2, 2025.
This marked Carlsen’s first-ever defeat to Gukesh in a classical format and triggered a rare emotional reaction. Carlsen struck the table with his hand, sending the chess pieces flying.
Despite the outburst, Carlsen quickly shook hands with Gukesh and exited the playing hall with a frustrated look, briefly patting the back of the Indian teenager who had just beaten him. Gukesh was caught off guard by his opponent's reaction.
"I mean, [it was] not the way I wanted it to be, but okay, I'll take it," he said, as quoted by Chess.com.
"I've also banged a lot of tables in my career!" added the 19-year-old chess star.
Who is Gukesh Dommaraju?
Citing Chess, Gukesh Dommaraju was born in Chennai, India, on May 29, 2006. He started learning chess at the age of seven, and he progressed at a rapid pace. He was introduced to chess at school, which was part of the Velammal group of schools in Chennai.
Thanks to guidance from coaches like Bhaskar and Vijayanand, Gukesh began to show his prowess at the Asian level at the age of nine. In 2015, he won the Asian School Chess Championships and earned the title of Candidate Master (CM). In 2018, he clinched five gold medals in the Asian Youth Chess Championships, including individual and team categories for classical, rapid, and blitz chess. That same year, he became the World Junior U-12 Champion.
His journey to become a Grandmaster began in 2017 and bore fruit in January 2019. At the age of 12 years, seven months, and 17 days, Gukesh became the second youngest Grandmaster in history, just 17 days behind Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin's record.
Gukesh's achievements continued to soar in the following years. He made an impressive showing in various international tournaments, including a second-place finish in the 2019 HD Bank Open and a victory at the Cannes Chess Festival 2020. His performance at the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022 was also outstanding, leading to a bronze medal and an individual gold medal with a performance rating over 2800.
In 2024, he won the FIDE Candidates Tournament with a score of 9 out of 14, making him the youngest winner in the competition's history. This victory led him to face Ding Liren in the FIDE World Chess Championship at the end of 2024.
In the 14-round match, Gukesh Dommaraju secured the world champion title after capitalizing on Ding's mistake in the final round. With this victory, he became the youngest World Champion in the history of classic chess, surpassing Garry Kasparov's record.