Gukesh was still in shock after his win and the way he pulled it off from behind, saying, “99 out of 100 times I would lose, but it was just a lucky day.”

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.

Reacting to the upset victory, Gukesh’s coach, Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, praised the teenager’s resilience and fighting spirit.

“We have to give a lot of credit to Gukesh for his stubbornness and his resourcefulness because I think he was aware that he was dead lost for so long, yet he kept kicking, he kept kicking, and the time went lower, the more chances he had to actually do something with the position. I do not think he intended to win that, but I am sure he is happy,” Vishnu Prasanna said.