R Praggnanandhaa passes verdict on Magnus Carlsen's classical retirement remark after defeat to D Gukesh: ‘He still…'
Magnus Carlsen won his seventh Norway Chess title, coming out on top in the 2025 edition, and also defended his title with ease. His Round 6 encounter vs D Gukesh was a minor blemish in his campaign, as he lost to the reigning world champion in Round 6. Carlsen had already secured an easy win vs Gukesh in Round 1, and was also in a winning position in their Round 6 showdown. But a massive blunder in the endgame saw Gukesh claim his maiden classical win against the World No. 1, who was left totally shellshocked and banged the table in frustration.
At the sidelines of the event, Carlsen also seemed disappointed after his defeat to Gukesh, and also stated that 'maybe he should totally stop playing classical chess'. Speaking to reporters, he said, 'I don't think that (the game against Gukesh, not the incident) was fun. I have to consider how to avoid it… maybe I should totally stop playing classical chess. It was not fun for me at all. In general I feel I have played well in the tournament but I don't feel it is fun playing. I am not worried about my level.'
Since then Carlsen has received support from Gukesh's countrman R Praggnanandhaa, who labelled the Norwegian as 'the strongest player on the planet'.
Speaking to Firstpost, he said, 'Magnus is certainly the strongest player on the planet, so you do need a lot of skill (to beat him), but you know, in terms of score, Magnus still has a huge score against all the Indians.'
'So it's not really that we do great against him, but we have beaten him in some games.'
Praggnanandhaa also feels that 'it is possible to beat Carlsen', but that it didn't take away the fact that he is still the strongest player.
'It's possible to beat him when we play, but he is still the strongest player and there is certainly this Magnus effect, which everyone calls. Like, when you get this slightly worse position, you do start getting doubts about defending this or not because you are playing against Magnus,' he said.
'But for me personally, I don't really pay attention. And also, I don't know about others, but for me, whenever I play Magnus, I get extra, extra energy to fight. Like I'm excited to just fight it out and I think that is one of the reasons why my games against Magnus are always very exciting.'
Looking back at Gukesh's win vs Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa feels that the World No. 1 made an unusual blunder. 'It was not something that was expected because Magnus doesn't usually blunder, but Gukesh also defended well. When I was watching the game, I thought it could end in a draw. These blunders do happen in time trouble. But it's also shocking from Magnus because he is someone who usually doesn't blunder these things,' he said.
Norway Chess 2025 saw Carlsen finish on top with 16 points, and Fabiano Caruana came second with 15.5. Meanwhile, Gukesh finished in third position with 14.5 points and Hikaru Nakamura (14) came fourth. Meanwhile, India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi came fifth with 13 points and Wei Yi claimed sixth position with 9.5.
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