Magnus Carlsen left totally perplexed as Arjun Erigaisi beats him in 119-move marathon: Watch

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen looked completely flummoxed as he tasted another defeat at the hands of Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in the blitz section of FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships 2026.

Arjun had earlier defeated Carlsen in the rapid section of the event and the loss had kickstarted a series of defeats for the Norwegian grandmaster. Carlsen shocking lost three more games in a row after the defeat to Arjun, making it the first time after more than two decades that he suffered such a fate.

Carlsen runs into Arjun again

After a disappointing campaign in the rapid section, Carlsen bounced back strongly in the blitz format. He stormed to eight straight victories to start his blitz campaign on a high. He seemed on course to make it 9/9 but Grandmaster Xu Xiangyu came in the way to snatch a victory.

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With Carlsen back at his best, his team WR Chess, qualified for the next round with ease.

On the second day of the tournament, WR Chess were knocked out of the race to semifinals with Carlsen also losing to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Team Uzbekistan.

Carlsen then went up against Arjun's Team MGD1 in the fight to take the fifth place in the tournament. It was here that Arjun and Carlsen played a marathon game which ultimately brought out some unique reactions from the Norwegian superstar.

The two battled it out in an 119-move marathon match which ultimately resulted in Arjun coming out on top. Towards the end of the match, Carlsen was seen giving perplexed looks as Arjun moved towards victory.

In the second round that Arjun and Carlsen played, it was a draw but in the third round, the World No.1 bounced back to earn a victory over the Indian.

WR Chess also earned a victory in this clash and secured the fifth place.

Meanwhile, the All-Chinese Team Dragon Chilling followed their win in the rapid section with a triumph in the blitz section as well to earn a double in Hong Kong. They defeated Team Endgame AI in the final of the blitz to complete their double.