Gukesh Beats Carlsen for the 1st Time in Classical Chess; Norwegian Bangs Table in Anger

India’s 19-year-old world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, registered his first-ever victory over Norwegian chess legend Magnus Carlsen in classical chess at the Norway Chess 2025.

It was a victory that sent shockwaves on both sides. Carlsen was in utter disbelief and banged the table in absolute frustration as he lost the tie from a position of strength.

© instagram/gukesh.official

Carlsen’s dramatic antics became a huge talking point on social media, with fans criticising his lack of sportsmanship as he walked out of the arena without talking to the media following the defeat.

At the same time, the Indian prodigy couldn’t believe his luck as he claimed a victory after trailing for a significant part of the game.

Gukesh, who was crowned the youngest-ever world champion in December last year, capitalised on the Norwegian’s two big mistakes, one of them stemming from overconfidence and the other a result of the mounting time pressure.

OH MY GOD 😳🤯😲 pic.twitter.com/QSbbrvQFkE

— Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) June 1, 2025

It was a momentous occasion for Gukesh as the 19-year-old had suffered a one-sided defeat in the opening round against Carlsen, but this time around, he took the game deep, forcing his opponent to make errors in crucial moments.

"99 out of 100 times I would lose.
Just a lucky day" - Gukesh after beating World No.1 player Magnus Carlsen!

If humility was a sport, Gukesh would be the youngest undisputed World Champion there too! pic.twitter.com/nvbdAQbq2N

— Alpaca Girl🇮🇳 (@Alpakanya) June 1, 2025

More than his historic victory, it was Gukesh’s humility that won fans over as he described it as a lucky win, saying he would have lost this tie 99 out of 100 times, but today the luck was in his favour.

“It was a completely lost game. 99 times out of 100, I would have lost this game, just a lucky day,” Gukesh said after the win.

Speaking after the match, Gukesh’s coach Grzegorz Gajewski, said this victory would be a massive boost to the Indian teenager’s confidence going forward in this tournament.

© instagram/gukesh.official/

“It (win) just gives a huge pump of confidence (to Gukesh) because once you've done it, you know you can do it again. And that's the plan,” he said.

“And for the tournament (Norway Chess) that's going ahead, it gives him (Gukesh) a bump. Hopefully we can break another unbreakable margin. Perfect,” he added.

With these three points, Gukesh bridged the gap between himself and the leaders, World No. 1 Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, who have 9.5 points each, while Gukesh climbed to the third spot with 8.5 points.