Norway Chess: Viswanathan Anand explains Magnus Carlsen's meltdown against D Gukesh; says 'Carlsen wanted to draw a line in the sand'

Five-time World chess champion V Anand has come up with three significant observations about the Magnus Carlsen meltdown at the ongoing Norway chess tournament. “Carlsen wanted to draw a line in the sand with 2-0 score against Gukesh,” Anand told TOI from Stavanger. “Chess players start to believe that some moves are beneath you, and then you are amazed to find out otherwise,” he added.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!This explained nicely what Carlsen went through during and after the sixth-round defeat against Gukesh on Sunday and his statement afterwards. The Norwegian, after suffering an out of character defeat, let his frustration known to the world. Besides banging the table while losing to Gukesh, the Norwegian also said he has no motivation to play Classical chess and is unsure of playing the format in near future, including the Norway event next year. Anand pointed out that Carlsen has expressed his reservations about Classical chess in the past too. “It’s natural” and doesn’t surprise him anymore. “But it remains to be seen if the last two rounds in Norway are indeed the last two Classical games of Carlsen’s career,” Anand said.Anand, 55, who also wears several hats —a mentor, deputy president of the world governing body FIDE and a webcast commentator — was asked if Carlsen’s reaction was a result of having fumbled his lines big time against Gukesh.“Everything goes into the pot, right? Certainly the game meant a lot to him, and he came close and slipped. But it could also be fatigue. It could be this new time control. But in this game (vs Gukesh), I think something he wanted to establish, he wanted to draw some line on the sand or tell all these kids, hang on a few years more, whatever. This meant a lot to him. I think with a 2-0 here (100% score against Gukesh), he would have been very, very happy.”Most importantly, Anand felt Carlsen would have hated losing such a good position against any op - ponent. “These moments matter because you begin to think something that some chess moves (simple moves to convert or draw) are beneath you and you are quite amazed to find out that they are not. You think after so much practice, I should be at least able to trust that I don’t do this (mistake)! That’s the feeling. And as far as the attention it is getting, I’m not complaining!” Anand recalled himself blowing away a winning position against Carlsen in the 2022 Norway meet. And though he didn’t lose that game, the subsequent victory in the Armageddon game didn’t help him feel less miserable anyway.Anand also hailed Carlsen as the “best Classical player in history”. “I understand there are other contenders, but I think he probably pulls ahead because of many details. And on top of that, he’s really put his stamp, especially very early. But keeping that quality all along, winning equal positions, snatching points out of the blue. He’s done so much,” said Anand. “I don’t think it’s our job or my job to particularly react to whether it’s a normal part of life that at some point people stop doing something. But I still have great admiration for what he has done for Classical chess.” Saying that Gukesh is a tenacious defender, Anand said, “And as they say, no one won a game by resigning. That’s the main thing. People often give up and Gukesh just keeps on playing these totally lost positions. “But not pointless ones. He plays the ones where he still has a little bit of counterplay and he finds re - sources to hang in there. And people get careless. In both games (vs Carslen and Arjun), Gukesh played extremely poorly. If that’s a conscious decision to provoke a struggle, I would be alarmed. They were really lousy positions. But then it also tells me that he is an amazing fighter. At the same time, I would not be happy if he depended (only) on that skill.”