Magnus Carlsen’s table slam after long to world champion D Gukesh became the most viral moment of the Norway Chess 2025, which concluded recently. Despite the loss, Carlsen went on to win his seventh Norway Chess title after a thrilling last round where the Norwegian settled for a draw against Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi.
The incident took place during a sixth round clash between Carlsen and Gukesh. At a time it looked like Carlsen would walk away with three points, a mistake by the world no.1 proved too costly for Carlsen. It was also Gukesh’s maiden classical win over Carlsen.
The loss left Carlsen visibly frustrated as he slammed the table in anger, the video of which went viral in no time. The video also inspired several hilarious memes on social media. Although Gukesh maintained his calm and composure against Carlsen at the table, he was left in splits upon seeing the memes.
Reacting to the memes, Gukesh revealed they left him laughing. “The memes are actually funny. There was a meme with a cat on the table and the cat jumps. I was laughing for like 10 minutes,” Gukesh told Chessbase India. Carlsen was also left shocked at the defeat.
“I generally feel good in this tournament, I just don’t think it’s fun to play anymore, and that’s the problem. I’m sitting there in the middle of the game, thinking that I have the same position as I had so many times. I don’t find it exciting, and I know I can play really well.
“It is satisfying to play well, but then I collapsed towards the end, and showed great weaknesses; Gukesh fights really well,” Carlsen had said.
Where did Gukesh finish at Norway Chess 2025?
While Carlsen successfully defended the title with 16 points, American Fabiano Caruana (15.5 points) finished second, followed by Gukesh (14.5 points) and Hikaru Nakamura (14 points). India no. 1 Arjun Erigaisi finished fifth with 13 points while Chinese GM Wei Yi (9.5) was left at the bottom of the standings.
