Magnus Carlsen has not lost his gift or his strong character. The Norwegian grandmaster conquered his sixth quick world title at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship. A … title with which he already accumulates nineteen world championships with the previous five in rapids, eight in the ‘blitz’ category and five in the classic category, and which came after a bad previous day which once again brought out his darker side.
The Norwegian chess player finished the tournament with 10.5 points out of a possible 13, remaining in front of the Russian Vladislav Artemievwho finished the competition just one point behind. “I’m not here full of emotion or relief. “I see it more as a job well done,” Carlsen summed up coldly on Norwegian radio. NRK after winning the title.
World champion between 2013 and 2023, the Norwegian managed to bounce back after a frustrating second day in Doha on Saturday morningin which he did not advance past a draw with French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and subsequently lost to Artemiev himself.
Another angry reaction to defeat
It was after this defeat, as always painful for Carlsen, that the Norwegian made an ugly image by withdrawing from the gaming tables. As he left, visibly irritated, barely putting on his jacket, a photographer decided to follow in his footsteps. A marking which did not please the chess player at all, who He shook the camera and its operator with a quick clap of his hand..
“When I look back on it now, I’m happy that I managed to turn things around,” Carlsen admitted. “Those two matches were very different from anything I’ve done in the tournament. They were so disconnected from reality that It was completely embarrassing.“, he lamented, making merciless self-criticism about his own way of playing.
The punch that scared Gukesh Dommaraju
This is not the first time that the Nordic genius has let himself be carried away by his capricious character, since that same year some images of him hitting the chess board with his fist went viral after losing to the world champion, the Indian Gukesh Dommaraju, during the Norwegian Chess 2025 tournament.
Also last year, Carlsen temporarily left the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in New York, angry when FIDE, the tournament’s governing body, banned him from participating in a round because he was wearing jeans.
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