Despite leading at Norway Chess 2025, Carlsen yet to move on from Gukesh defeat: 'Not very inspired'

Magnus Carlsen returned to the top of the Norway Chess standings after defeating Fabiano Caruana in the Round 9 of the elite tournament on Thursday. However, instead of discussing his victory over the American Grandmaster, the 34-year-old Norwegian chose to bring up his sixth-round defeat at the hands of reigning world champion D Gukesh, making it clear that he is yet to move on from the setback.

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Carlsen had defeated Gukesh in 55 moves in the opening round of the 2025 Norway Chess, which was the first Classical meeting between the two since the latter was crowned world champion. Gukesh, however managed to force a resignation from Carlsen in their rematch on Sunday despite the latter finding himself in a dominant position at one point, resulting in a victory for the Indian in 62 moves.

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"Honestly, it could have meant a lot to me if I had finished off the game against Gukesh and then played a really good tournament. Now like regardless of what happens it would kind of be like a bit of stumbling into a win," Carlsen told Chess24 after his victory over world No 5 Caruana on Thursday.

"Like there is a very good chance that I don’t win the tournament, but it honestly wouldn’t make that big of a difference to me. The dream of playing a really good tournament burst with that game (against Gukesh). Of course I want to win, but it’s not that important," the five-time world champion added.

Tournament was a little bit over after Gukesh defeat

In a separate interview with Take Take Take, Carlsen made it clear that the loss against the 19-year-old Indian GM had affected him mentally by claiming that the tournament was "a little bit over" for him after the stunning loss.

"My tournament was a little bit over after the loss against Gukesh. It was nice to win, but not very inspired," Carlsen said after defeating Caruana in 52 moves while playing as white.

Carlsen currently leads the standings with 15 points and is followed by Gukesh, who moved to the second spot with 14.5 points ahead defeating Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi. Carlsen will be up against world No 4 Arjun Erigaisi, the other Indian in the 'Open' section, in the final round on Friday while Gukesh squares off against Caruana, with the title on the line.