3 min readMay 28, 2026 10:32 PM IST
Almost a year since the now-viral smash of the table by Magnus Carlsen after losing to world champion D Gukesh at the Norway Chess 2025, the Indian has said that it was a “nice thing” that the Carlsen moment got a “lot of attention.”
Gukesh’s comments came on a day he was facing Carlsen at Norway Chess 2026 in an interview he had done with the tournament organisers before the event started.
When asked about Carlsen’s table slam, Gukesh said: “In most sports, it’s the bare minimum the players would do. I mean players in other sports get into physical fights. But in chess, people are generally composed even though obviously there’s a lot of things going on inside. We are not taught generally not to (react). We play in these suits and it’s a gentleman’s game. So I guess I understand why the reaction was so viral. But I feel like everybody has this emotion inside when they are playing a game. And it’s nice to see them finally expressing it.”
Gukesh said that the table smash from Carlsen had actually brought a lot of newer audiences to the sport.
“Like many people get attracted to different sports or different sports personalities not just because of their skills but also the stories revolving around it. So it’s a nice thing that it got a lot of attention. A lot of people got their eyes on chess, but I wouldn’t make it a big deal,” added Gukesh.
When asked about the upcoming Total World Chess Championship, which is a new title introduced by FIDE and the organisers of Norway Chess, Gukesh said: “Especially for me, the classical world championship is clearly the most important. I haven’t thought much about it (Total World Chess Championship) but you know it’s a new format so I’ll be interested to see how it does.”
When Gukesh was asked about the discussion on social media from fans about his world championship battle with Javokhir Sindarov, he said: “In general, I don’t follow a lot of chess content that’s coming out. I mean some of them might be useful, but most of it is not really something that would help me in any way. So obviously I run into some things, like just because of some people telling me things or like me hearing something from others. But I don’t look for it myself.”
