Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has admitted he's struggling to find joy in the game after suffering a second consecutive defeat to reigning world champion D Gukesh — this time in the rapid format at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz chess tournament.
“Honestly, I am not enjoying playing chess at all right now. I just, I don't feel any flow at all when I'm playing. I'm constantly hesitating and it's just really poor right now,” Carlsen told Take Take Take after Thursday’s loss.
The defeat marked Gukesh’s fifth consecutive win in the tournament, taking his tally to 10 points out of a possible 12 and placing him firmly in the lead after six rounds. The 19-year-old Indian Grandmaster had also stunned Carlsen last month in classical chess at the Norway Chess tournament, a match remembered for Carlsen’s table-banging frustration.
“He's doing incredibly well now (in the format). It's a long way to go in the tournament but winning five games in a row is no mean feat,” Carlsen acknowledged.
The victory was especially sweet for Gukesh, who played with the black pieces and once again outwitted the former world champion. Carlsen, known for being critical of Gukesh’s prowess in the faster formats, was visibly rattled and later conceded: “I have played kind of poorly the whole tournament and this time I got soundly punished.”
Carlsen credited Gukesh for making the most of his opportunities. “I had a very, very nice position. He took his chance to open out his position with C6. After that it was a little bit like earlier where I got short of time and I couldn't really handle it that well and he found a lot of really good moves,” he said.
“I had one last chance at some point to bail out to something that was very, very drawish but I thought let's continue playing and then a couple of moves later I was pretty hopelessly lost. It was poor but all credit to Gukesh. He's playing well and is taking his chances too.”
Carlsen did enjoy some optical advantage after his king pawn opening, but Gukesh found the perfect counterplay. The Norwegian eventually had to part with two minor pieces for a rook and a couple of pawns, but Gukesh calmly exploited the poor exchange and sealed victory after 49 moves.
With three rounds remaining in the rapid section, Gukesh now holds a two-point lead over nearest rival Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland. Wesley So of the United States is in sole third with seven points, one ahead of Carlsen, Anish Giri (Netherlands), and Ivan Saric (Croatia).
Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa is tied in seventh place with Fabiano Caruana on five points. France’s Alireza Firouzja and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov are ninth and tenth respectively.
Earlier in the day, Gukesh also defeated Abdusattorov and Caruana with impressive performances. Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa’s search for a tournament victory continued, with draws against Caruana, Carlsen, and Giri. He will need a strong showing on the final day to mount a comeback.
Standings after round 6: 1. D Gukesh (Ind, 10); 2. Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 8); 3. Wesley So (Usa, 7); 4-6: Ivan Saric (Cro); Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Anish Giri (Ned) 6 each; 7-8; Fabiano Caruana (Usa); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) 2 each. 9. Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 4); 10. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3).
With inputs from PTI.