‘Oh my god’: King of chess loses his cool after defeat to teen

Considered the greatest chess player in history, Magnus Carlsen slammed his fist on the table after losing to 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju.

At least Magnus Carlsen shook his victorious opponent’s hand.

The gesture would have possibly been a little more sporting, though, if the defeated Norwegian Grandmaster had looked the 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju in the eye - and if he hadn’t also just slammed his fist on the table then shouted “oh my god”.

It is always a big deal when a player beats Carlsen, by some estimates the greatest player who has ever lived.

It was all the more so for Dommaraju, who despite being the world champion had never outplayed Carlsen in a standard classical match, and is still considered the underdog when they meet.

But yesterday Dommaraju came from behind to win. The pair had been playing in round six of a Norwegian tournament. Carlsen, 34, had been ahead throughout but made a blunder when pushed for time, which the young Indian Grandmaster exploited.

Magnus Carlsen from Norway, left, and Gukesh Dommaraju from India during the first game of Norway Chess in Finansparken in Stavanger, Norway. Picture: Carina Johansen/NTB via AP

Dommaraju’s win came after a loss against Carlsen in the same tournament last week.

Carlsen had celebrated that victory by tweeting the message: “You come at the king, you’d best not miss.”

Yesterday it was the king who missed. When racing against the clock Carlsen gave away his knight, allowing Dommaraju to push his advantage and guarantee victory.

After a visibly furious Carlsen had stormed off, Dommaraju said it wasn’t the most satisfying victory - but a win was a win. “I mean, [it was] not the way I wanted it to be, but OK, I’ll take it,” he told Chess.com.

Although Carlsen is no longer world champion, having previously held the title five times, that is not because he lost it - it is because he stopped contesting it.

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen is considered the strongest chess player in history. Picture: Kamran Jebreili

Many consider him to be the strongest chess player in history. He has said he is largely tired of playing classical chess, though, which involves long games and increasingly requires weeks of preparation.

He has even promoted a different variant on the game called Fischer random chess, in which pieces are positioned semi-randomly at the start, to make it impossible to learn openings.

He told The Times this year that he expected to drop down the rankings in classical chess but still believed he was the best. “I don’t feel like any of the kids are close to being better than I am in classical,” he said. “They will get better and I will not get better. Somebody will surpass me.”

Yesterday’s outburst suggested that he is not yet ready for that moment to come. He still jointly leads the tournament and is one point ahead of Dommaraju but it is closer than Carlsen clearly believes it should be.

Dommaraju, who stayed on after the game to analyse the board, picking up some of the pieces that Carlsen had knocked over, said that he understood his opponent’s frustration. “I’ve also banged a lot of tables in my career,” he said.

This story was originally published in The Times UK.

Originally published as ‘Oh my god’: King of chess loses his cool after defeat to teen