‘I got soundly punished. D Gukesh found…’: Magnus Carlsen forced to eat his own words after Grand Chess Tour humbling

Ahead of their showdown, Magnus Carlsen questioned D Gukesh's abilities in rapid and blitz formats

After his brazen statement on D Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen was left shellshocked in Round 6 of the Grand Chess Tour, losing to the reigning world champion in the rapid format. The win also saw Gukesh take the sole lead, winning five games in a row.

D Gukesh defeated Magnus Carlsen in Round 6 of the ongoing Grand Chess Tour.(Norway Chess)

Ahead of their showdown, Carlsen questioned Gukesh's abilities in rapid and blitz formats, stating that he hadn’t done anything to show that he would do well in the tournament. But his words backfired as the Indian GM looked well-prepared for all possibilities. The game began with Carlsen starting on a strong note, as both players blitzed out at the start. The world No. 1 tried to catch Gukesh off gaurd with the English Opening, but then in the 23rd move, he decied to push his b pawn, which changed the tide of the match.

Speaking to Take Take Take after his defeat, Carlsen seemed like a broken man, left collecting the pieces of his shattered confidence.

“No, I've played kind of poorly the whole tournament and this time I got soundly punished. I think I had a very, very nice position. He took his chance to open up a position with c6. After that it was a little bit , like earlier, where I get short of time. I can't really handle it that well. And he found a lot of really, really good moves. And I think he did that part very well. I think I had one kind of last chance at some point to bail out to something that was very draw-ish. And I thought, well, let's continue playing. And then a couple of minutes later, I was pretty hopelessly lost. So, it was poor, but all credit to Gukesh. He's playing well and he's taking his chances too,” he said.

“Yeah, he's doing incredibly well. incredibly well now. So, you know, it's a long way to go in the tournament, but, you know, winning five games in a row is no mean feat.

“Honestly, I am not enjoying playing chess at all right now. I don't feel any flow at all when I'm playing. I'm constantly constantly hesitating and it's just really poor right now,” he further added.

Carlsen will face Gukesh again in two more matches, which will be played in the blitz format. The Norwegian will look to bounce back against his younger rival, and set the record straight in those two games.