D Gukesh turns the table to defeat Magnus Carlsen in Norway Chess Touranment

Reigning world champion D Gukesh defeated Magnus Carlsen for the first time in a classical game as the Norwegian ace went down in the Round 6 of Norway Chess Tournament on Monday.

Gukesh has now jumped to 8.5 points and the third position, just one shy of Carlsen and his American counterpart Fabiano Caruana.

“There wasn’t much I could do. It was just clearly lost (his position)…luckily he (Carlsen) got into a time scramble,” the reticent Chennai-lad said after the eagerly-watched contest.

“First Classical win over Magnus, not the way I expected (or) wanted it to be but I will take it. I was just trying to make moves (today) which kind of were tricky for him,” he explained.

“…99 out of 100 times I would lose… just a lucky day,” Gukesh later told the tournament broadcasters.

Carlsen appeared to have the dominant hand throughout the game, but a mistake in the dying embers of the contest permitted Gukesh to pounce upon the same and notch a critical victory.

Carlsen was aware of the mistake, but it was too late to make any corrections, as he banged his fist on the table before shaking hands with Gukesh and exiting the arena.

Gukesh held his calm throughout the situation, as he closed his eyes for a moment following the rather tense handshake with Carlsen, who has often underplayed the Indian Grandmaster’s abilities over the years.

Gukesh had lost to Carlsen in the Round 1, which had naturally spiked doubts over whether he had it in him go past the latter in the following stages of the on-going tournament.