Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen opens up on viral table slam, how much losing hurts
Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen slammed a table after he lost to world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a classical game. (Credit: YouTube @Norway Chess)
Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen went viral last week when he slammed his fist in frustration after he lost a classical match against Gukesh Dommaraju in the Norway Chess 2025 tournament.
Carlsen shook Dommaraju’s hand and walked off in a huff.
Carlsen appeared on Barstool Sports’ "Pardon My Take" and lamented his actions, explaining how he feels when he loses.
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Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen participates at the Energy Denmark Champions Battle 2019 in Circus Building, Copenhagen, Denmark, May 22, 2019. (Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters )
"Part of me, honestly, when I had that loss, recently just felt it was so dumb and so unnecessary, and it made me feel so kind of washed and useless," he said on the podcast. "My thoughts for a few days were, ‘Ugh, I’m sure why I’m doing this.’ When I win, it’s good. It feels kind of normal. And when I lose, it just, you know, for a moment, the world just falls apart."
Carlsen said the losses feel a lot worse than the wins feel great.
"Unfortunately, the sad thing about chess, as in life, is that negative feelings are kind of enhanced a bit," he said. "Like a really painful loss, like people might have seen from my last tournament, it hits a lot harder than the wins.
Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen attends a news conference ahead of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Paris April 7, 2025. (Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes)
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"So, I'll have like, I’ll be very satisfied about the win often when I win. I may not