Beaten by 19-year-old Gukesh, Carlsen hints at quitting Classical Chess

Stavanger (Norway): A day after his stunning defeat to D Gukesh in Norway Chess, Magnus Carlsen said the reigning world champion’s “energy” and “fighting qualities” earned him the triumph and that on a “normal day” he would have won the contest.

Carlsen, 34, lost to 19-year-old Gukesh in Round 6, vented his frustration by banging his fist on the table which threw the pieces in disarray.

Disbelief and frustration writ large on his face as he shook hands with Gukesh before placing the pieces back on the board and walked away patting the winner.

“I think, like, I remember being that age myself, and sometimes kind of your energy, like fighting qualities, and just the optimism is sometimes, you know, bigger than the quality of your moves,” said Carlsen here on Monday.

But the Norwegian was far more composed after winning the Armageddon tie-break against American World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura but the effects of Sunday night were still clearly visible on his face.

“So, I think, for a long time he (Gukesh) was just more or less blindly pushing. And then, yeah, on a normal day, of course, I win that game, and things look quite differently,” the five-time world champion added.

Carlsen, however, praised Gukesh’s fighting qualities, saying the Indian was always game for grabbing his chances, which he did despite being in a disadvantageous situation for most part of the Round 6 game.

“What he (Gukesh) does well, as I alluded to, is he really fights very, very well, and he was there to take his chance, so he deserves credit for that.

“But that's the kind of chance that I really, really have to put away. Otherwise, I have no chance,” the Norwegian world No.1 opined.

Carlsen also indicated that he just might be having a re-think on playing the Norway Chess next season.

“I think I'll play the last three games (in Norway Chess), and then I will have to make some decisions about next year here or potential other tournaments later, because, yeah... I just don't enjoy (Classical chess) that much,” said Carlsen.

He also hinted that Classical chess for him might be on its way out.

“It's possible, yeah. I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm not going to play Classical events ever again, but right now it doesn't,” said Carlsen, when asked if he was thinking about the possibility of concentrating on Freestyle or blitz chess in future.

“The thing is that, you know, losses are painful no matter what, but at least if I can lose doing something that I really enjoy (Blitz, Rapid or Freestyle), then that's much easier.

“It's not that I cannot play (Classical chess), it's just situations like yesterday (loss to Gukesh)… I'm just wondering, like, why am I doing this? What's the point? “But I will do my best in the last three games here, then we'll see, I suppose. I guess there's a lot of pain being a top sportsman,” he added.

“I would have loved for the situation in the tournament to be different, but I had no desire whatsoever to play classical today,” he noted.

Carlsen and Nakamura agreed to a quick 21-move draw in Round 7 to play Armageddon tie-break, where the Norwegian won hands down.

“So, winning the Armageddon was kind of the best scenario for me, and I managed to do that, so I'm happy.

“There were many tempting options (in Armageddon), but then all of a sudden I discovered that move. It may have been played before, but I didn't know for sure,” added Carlsen.

On paying more attention to golf, his second passion, Carlsen said, “Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's good to do something to get my mind off of the games, and when the games start at 5pm (in Norway Chess), then I have some time to both do that and get some lunch with my wife and everything. So, that's nice,” Carlsen signed off.