D Gukesh grabbed his maiden classical win against Magnus Carlsen on Sunday, and it left the Norwegian totally shellshocked towards the end of their Norway Chess Round 6 face-off. The World No. 1 banged his table in frustration as he lost to the 18-year-old and then shook hands, accepting defeat.
Gukesh, on the other hand, could not believe the result, and looked totally dazed. While leaving, Carlsen also patted his back, and looked disappointed.
Also Read: Magnus Carlsen apologises to Gukesh, pats his back after table-banging outburst at Norway Chess
‘99 out of 100 times…’: D Gukesh
Despite the win, Gukesh remained humble. Speaking to Chess24, he said, “I was just trying to play moves that were tricky for him and luckily he got into time scramble. One thing I learnt from this tournament is that time scrambles can get too much out of control.”
“99 out of 100 times I would lose. Just a lucky day,” he added.
Gukesh’s words were praised by chess legend Susan Polgar, who hailed the Indian GM on X. She wrote, “The World Champion showed the true meaning of "Win with Grace"! He has the heart of a warrior! Knowing that he was in big trouble both on the board and on the clock, he fought as hard as he could to survive, and was rewarded with a big victory!”
{{/usCountry}}Gukesh’s words were praised by chess legend Susan Polgar, who hailed the Indian GM on X. She wrote, “The World Champion showed the true meaning of "Win with Grace"! He has the heart of a warrior! Knowing that he was in big trouble both on the board and on the clock, he fought as hard as he could to survive, and was rewarded with a big victory!”
{{/usCountry}}For Gukesh, the win also was huge, as he lost to Carlsen in the opening round. He has now climbed to third position, and is behind Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana by one point.
Meanwhile, Gukesh’s chief trainer Grzegorz Gajewski said, “It (win) just gives a huge pump of confidence (to Gukesh) because once you've done it, you know you can do it again. And that's the plan.”
“And for the tournament (Norway Chess) that's going ahead, it gives him (Gukesh) a bump. Hopefully we can break another unbreakable margin. Perfect,” he added.