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Magnus Carlsen drops verdict on D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa: ‘They are all very good, but they still…'
Magnus Carlsen finished on top of the standings with 16 points, Fabiano Caruana ended up in 2nd position, with 15.5 points. D Gukesh is 3rd with 14.5 points.
D Gukesh finished in third position at the recently-concluded Norway Chess 2025, and was almost close to winning the tournament. But a late dip in performances saw Gukesh miss out on the title by a whisker, as Magnus Carlsen ended up clinching the title.
Carlsen finished the campaign on top of the standings with 16 points and Fabiano Caruana ended up in second position, with 15.5 points. Meanwhile, Gukesh is third with 14.5 points.
Also Read: D Gukesh's ‘favourite moment’ from Norway Chess 2025 floors Magnus Carlsen: ‘That one definitely stands out’
Magnus Carlsen passes his verdict
Speaking after the win, Carlsen said, “I feel great. It is a relief to win the tournament. In the end, it was such a rollercoaster, but it is good.”
“They are all very good (Gukesh and Arjun), but they still need a little bit of time to prepare. We also have a tournament running simultaneously in Armenia, where Pragg (R Praggnanandhaa) and Aravindh Chithambaram showed very good chess... It is not a positive memory, but the game that will stick out is the game against Gukesh,” he added.
Meanwhile, Carlsen also was checkmated by Arjun Erigaisi in their armageddon game. After the game, Carlsen said, “I felt I generally played the best chess, but stumbling over the finish line, winning by half a point after a lot of results go my way.”
“I feel in parts of the game I'm a lot better than the kids... I generally feel I can outplay the kids, which feels good,” he added.
Gukesh’s approach in the tournament saw him apply pressure on opponents till the last moment and force them to make a blunder in time scramble moments. It also happened in his Round 6 clash with Carlsen, where the World No. 1 ended up making a huge mistake, slamming the tab in anger.
Speaking during an interaction, chess legend Viswanathan Anand said, “Both these games he played (against Carlsen and Erigaisi were played) extremely poorly. If that’s a conscious decision to provoke a struggle, I would be alarmed.”
“It tells me that he’s an amazing fighter (and) at the same time, I would not be happy if he defended in this way,” he added.
