"His aim is to become number one....": Gukesh's grandfather after grandson's win over Carlsen at Norway Chess

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 2 (ANI): Following D Gukesh's stunning win over Magnus Carlsen in round six of the ongoing Norway Chess, his grandfather Shankar Rajesh expressed pride at his win and spoke on former world number one's post-match outburst which saw him bang the table aggressively after the loss.

Advertisement

Gukesh pulled off a stunning victory against the former world number one in Round 6 of the ongoing Norway Chess 2025 tournament, turning the game around from a losing position on Sunday. This marked Gukesh's first-ever classical win over the Norwegian grandmaster. The 19-year-old also became the second Indian player to beat Carlsen in the competition's history after Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.

Speaking after the game to ANI, Gukesh's grandfather, Shankar Rajesh, said, "We are very proud of him. He is improving day by day. His aim is to become number 1. This is one of the proudest moments, beating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen."

On Carlsen's post-match outburst, which saw him bang the table out of frustration and send some pieces falling down, Shankar said that it is natural.

He added further on Gukesh's win: "One of Gukesh's major achievements is that he has now beaten Magnus Carlsen as well. There is no pressure on him now. He will be relaxed and he will be practising..."

Gukesh's former coach, Vishnu Prasanna, the 33rd grandmaster from India, told ANI, "I have been coaching for many years now... About yesterday's game, things did not look good for Gukesh in the beginning, but under pressure, he turned out better than Magnus. There were too many twists and turns. It was a very exciting match, and I am happy he won..."

On Carlsen's outburst, he said, "That has happened a few times before. The game was tense and had ups and downs. Probably Carlsen was lamenting his mischances. It was just a lot of passion there..."

Carlsen had an upper hand over Gukesh for most of the time in the match, but in the end, he couldn't control his nerves, and the teenager turned the tables around and went on to win the match. With this win, D Gukesh jumped to third spot in the Norway Chess 2025 points table with 8.5 points, and now he is just one point behind Carlsen and American Fabiano Caruana.

Earlier on May 27, the marquee clash of Round One at Norway Chess 2025 lived up to expectations as Carlsen launched a classic king hunt to defeat reigning World Champion D Gukesh in a thrilling encounter. This was their first classical match since Gukesh won the world title, and it also marked Carlsen's return to individual classical chess after nearly a year. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)