Magnus Carlsen, ranked world number 1, had a rare moment of praise for opponent Gukesh D. Facing defeat in the SuperUnited Rapid in Croatia, Carlsen was forced tor resign in just 49 moves. Former world champion, Garry Kasparov, who was on commentary for the official stream said, “Now we can question Magnus’ domination,” after his second loss to Gukesh.
Exiting from the game, Carlsen said, “I’ve played kind of poorly the whole tournament, but this time I got soundly punished.”
The Indian Grandmaster was quick to humble Carlsen just a day after he called Gukesh “one of the weaker players” in the tournament. In the first 20 moves of the game, Carlsen’s upper hand did not seem to shake Gukesh’s calm. Flipping the castle with a resign, the teen chess prodigy forced Carlsen to resign.
‘All credit to Gukesh’: Carlsen
Shortly after his Rapid defeat, Magnus speculated a chance of a comeback and reversal of damage during towards the end of the game. However, after a few moves he was “completely lost”.
Praising Gukesh he said, “He’s playing well…he’s doing incredibly well now.” However, pointing out that there is a long way to go for the tournament, he acknowledged that, “winning five fames in a row is no mean feat”.
"All credit to Gukesh; he's playing well and he's taking his chances too. – He's doing incredibly well now. It's a long way to go in the tournament, but winning five games in a row is no mean feat."@MagnusCarlsen after losing to @DGukesh. pic.twitter.com/gUz3FTAJxd
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) July 3, 2025
This is Gukesh’s second time defeating Carlsen after the Norway Chess “table-banging” game, clips of which went viral. Commenting how the Indian chess players “had a long way to go”, Carlsen was exuding with confidence even after the brief moment of disappointment.
Just days before facing the teenage grandmaster again on Thursday, Carlsen explained, ” Gukesh hasn’t done anything to indicate that he’s going to do well (in rapid and blitz). It remains to be proven that he’s one of the best players in such a format. This is a very, very strong field that we have here. Players like Gukesh have a lot to prove. In the course of 27 rounds, things usually show. I hope for Gukesh’s sake that he can play better.”
‘Not enjoying the game…’
When asked whether he is looking forward to the Blitz, Carlsen responded disheartened and said, “Honestly, I’m not enjoying playing chess at all right now. I just… I don’t feel any flow at all. When I am playing, I’m constantly hesitating. It’s just really poor right now.”
The standings after Rapid Round 6, Gukesh D has topped the leaderboard with Praggnanandhaa at Rank 7. Norway’s Carlsen and World Number 1 is at rank four, 4 points behind Gukesh.