'Don’t think we should be normalizing tantrums like that': Carlsen blasted by fellow players after slamming table again

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has come under criticism from a fellow chess players after another angry outburst during a high-pressure game at the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship 2025 in Doha.

The incident took place during the ninth round when Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi defeated the defending champion in a tense blitz encounter on Monday. Carlsen lost the game in extreme time pressure and was clearly frustrated as his queen slipped off the board while he was rushing to press the clock.

Moments later, the Norwegian star slammed the table in anger, an action that quickly spread across social media.

This was not the first time Carlsen has reacted emotionally this year. Earlier in June, during the Norway Chess tournament, he suffered a shocking loss to India’s D Gukesh after blundering in a winning position due to time pressure. That defeat gave Gukesh his first-ever classical win over Carlsen and also saw the former world champion slam the table in anger.

More from Chess

In this game, Carlsen was playing almost entirely on instinct as the clock ticked down. While trying to move his queen and hit the clock in one motion, the piece slipped from his hand. Since a move is only completed after pressing the clock, time ran out and the game was over.

Carlsen slammed for angry reaction

Tournament arbiter Chris Bird later clarified the situation on social media, saying that no damage was done and that Carlsen immediately apologised to both his opponent and the officials after the incident.

However, the outburst did not go unnoticed. Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian openly criticised the behaviour, saying such tantrums should not be normalised. He pointed out that loud reactions can disturb players who are still competing and added that in many sports, such actions are penalised to set a good example.

German GM Elli Paehtz also criticised Carlsen for the incident. She said that no other layer would get away with such behaviour permanently, suggest Carlsen gets special treatment.