Featured Image Credit: Norway Chess
Topics: Other, Fan Reactions
Ben McCrum
Chess star Magnus Carlsen's reaction to his shock loss at a Norway chess tournament has gone viral online, and fans are not impressed.
Since claiming his spot as chess world number one for the first time in January 2010, Norwegian player Carlsen has become undoubtedly the most popular star in chess.
Although he briefly lost his top ranking to India's Vishy Anand both in 2010 and 2011, Carlsen later regained it in July 2011 and has held the number one ranking continuously since then.
Alongside his successful chess career, Carlsen boasts 1.46million subscribers on his YouTube channel and regularly appears on various podcasts, including a recent episode of the popular Joe Rogan Experience.
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However, some fans were shocked to see that the 34-year-old lost his most recent match as a chess tournament in Norway, and some of them were not happy to see how he dealt with the result.
On Sunday, Carlsen faced World champion Gukesh Dommaraju in round six of the Norway Chess tournament, beating the long-standing world number one for the first time in his career.
“Right now, what means the most to me is that I didn’t lose the game,” Dommaraju said afterwards. “But yes, beating Magnus in any form is special.”
However, Carlsen's immediate reaction wasn't quite as gracious, as he was seen furiously punching the desk, knocking over most of the pieces, as he realised that he had lost.
Once he had settled his emotions, Carlsen shock hands with his opponent, before shouting in frustration and leaving the room.
Despite Carlsen congratulating his opponent immediately after his outburst, the emotional reaction disappointed some fans, who took to social media to voice their opinions.
Reacting to the clip, one fan wrote: "I thought he was about to give him the two-piece combo with a side for a second lol."
While one added: "Why does he act like a WWE wrestler in Chess?"
However, not all fans felt this way as one noted: "He was angry at himself. It’s ok to have some display to emotion in sports."
And another agreed, writing: "This is purely emotional outburst that he lost after so much of hardwork, it's completely normal. He doesn't mean any hate to Gukesh."