The Value Of Gukesh's First Win Over Carlsen

The Norwegian world No.1 had the world champion on the ropes but the Indian stayed calm to seal a memorable triumph

- Rutvick Mehta

STAVANGER, NORWAY: Endings in chess are defined by handshakes. Here, the fists had taken over. Magnus Carlsen banged his right fist on the table holding the board. Such was the fury that it shook the remaining pieces to stumbling submission. Moments later, D Gukesh walked out of the playing area and delivered a double fist bump to his waiting coach. Such was the force that Grzegorz Gajewski felt an unprecedented blow. "Not that hard," Gajewski said when asked if Gukesh had ever given him a fist bump so hard. "I mean, he had his reason."

The reason was that Gukesh, the 19-year-old reigning world champion, had beaten Carlsen, the 34-year-old world No. 1, for the first time ever in classical chess in Round 6 of the Norway Chess here on Sunday. It featured a spectacular meltdown after a typical Magnus Masterclass. It featured every expert's prediction here of another Carlsen win over Gukesh during the course of the game being thrown out of the window in the end. It featured an eye-popping late blunder and a mind-boggling burst of emotion.