Magnus Carlsen has opened up about the defeat to world champion Gukesh at the Norway Chess tournament which led to a strong emotional reaction from him — smashing his fist on the table. His reaction had made headlines even in corners that chess news doesn’t usually penetrate. Carlsen said that he had reacted so strongly after losing to the 19-year-old Gukesh because the defeat made him feel “washed and useless”.
Carlsen said that these days he does feel a satisfaction after winning but the negative feelings are “more enhanced”.
“That was a really painful loss. Those hit a lot harder,” Carlsen said in an interview on Pardon My Take, before adding: “Honestly, part of me, when I had that loss (to Gukesh) recently, just felt it was so dumb and so unnecessary. It just made me feel so kind of washed and useless that my thought for a few days was just ‘I’m not sure why am I doing this.’ When I win it’s good, but it feels kind of normal. Then when I lose, it’s just, you know, for a moment, the world just falls apart.”
READ MORE | Fabiano Caruana explains why Magnus Carlsen wanted to dominate Gukesh at Norway Chess
Besides the fist smash, world no 1 Carlsen has now been involved in a few confrontations with FIDE, most recently over the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and wearing jeans at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in December last year.
World chess champion Gukesh waits for world no 1 Magnus Carlsen to show up for the fateful game which saw the Indian teenager defeat the Norwegian, which led to the infamous fist smash on the table. (Express Photo by Amit Kamath)
Asked if he was the bad boy of chess, Carlsen said: “I don’t aspire to be a bad boy. Sometimes, I think I’m in a position, compared to some of my peers, where I can afford not to take shit. But honestly like those moments I had, like banging the table, like I’m generally not going to apologize for outbursts in the moment, as long as you realize afterwards and you show your opponent the proper respect.
“Obviously I wish I could have avoided that by winning the game itself, but I honestly think that there should be room for that in chess as well. It’s a little bit like smashing your racket in tennis. Chess is such an uptight sport to begin with, that (showing emotions) I think it’s okay.”
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