Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, suffered a major defeat on Sunday to current world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. 

After Dommaraju made his final move, Carlsen, 34, was seen slamming his fist onto the table and standing up out of his seat in frustration before shaking hands with the 19-year-old grandmaster from India. The video of Carlsen’s loss in the classic chess match at round six of Norway Chess, an annual international chess tournament, quickly spread on social and sparked a debate about sportsmanship online.

It was a shocking loss for Carlsen and a “lucky day” for Dommaraju, the younger chess grandmaster told a reporter with Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

The match was live streamed on Twitch via Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website. Despite the defeat, Carlsen was still in the lead at the tournament.

Magnus Carlsen’s ranking

Carlsen became the world’s top-ranked player in 2010 at 19 and has won five World Championships. He achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882 in 2014 and has remained the undisputed world No. 1 for more than a decade, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier this year, Carlsen made history after more than 143,000 people worldwide played against him in a single, record-setting game. Billed as “Magnus Carlsen vs. The World,” the online match began April 4 on Chess.com and was the first-ever online freestyle game to feature a world champion.

Who is the current chess world champion?

Dommaraju became the youngest world champion last year at just 18 years old following a final win over China’s Ding Liren at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) 2024 World Championship.

He surpassed a record held by Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at age 22, after clinching a dramatic endgame in Singapore to be crowned champion. Dommaraju also became the second Indian, after five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, to hold the title.

Following his victory against Carlsen over the weekend, Dommaraju told TV2 that he was still shaking after the game. 

“I don’t know what happened,” he said.

Dommaraju is ranked No. 5 in the world, according to Chess.com

How chess player rankings work

There are two main systems for chess ranking: the Elo System and the Glicko System. According to Chess.com, which uses the latter method, the ranking “represents your strength of play” and is calculated using statistics.

In the Elo System used by FIDE, the chance of one player defeating another is calculated in a percentage. 

For example, player A has a 60% chance of defeating player B. If player B wins six out of 10 games, player B’s ranking would stay the same. If player B won seven or more games, player B’s ranking would go up. If player B wins 5 or fewer games, player B’s ranking would go down.

The Glicko System is more complicated and built on the Elo System, using a more complicated formula, Chess.com said.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

Berlin — Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen was forced into a draw Monday by more than 143,000 people worldwide playing against him in a single, record-setting game. Billed as “Magnus Carlsen vs. The World,” the online match began April 4 on Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website, and was the first-ever online freestyle game to feature a world champion.

The mega-match ended after Team World checked Carlsen’s king a third time, a stunning outcome after Chess.com had predicted Carlsen would win by a wide margin.

Team World voted on each move and each side had 24 hours to make their play. Carlsen played the white pieces.

The world won on move 32 after checking Carlsen’s king three times in the corner of the board where it could not escape. The rule is called “threefold repetition,” meaning all of the pieces on the board are in the exact same position three times to prompt a draw.

Carlsen, 34, became the world’s top-ranked player in 2010 aged 19 and has won five World Championships. He achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882 in 2014 and has remained the undisputed world number one for more than a decade.

“Overall, ‘the world’ has played very, very sound chess from the start. Maybe not going for most enterprising options, but kind of keeping it more in vein with normal chess — which isn’t always the best strategy, but it worked out well this time,” Carlsen said in a statement Friday as Monday’s draw seemed imminent.

Because it was a freestyle match, the bishops, knights, rooks, queen and king were randomly shuffled around the board while the pawns remained in their usual spots. Freestyle chess is popular because it allows players to be more creative and avoid memorization.

This was the third “vs. The World” record-setting online game. In 1999, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov played against more than 50,000 people on the Microsoft Network and won after four months.

Last year, Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand won his “vs. The World” match against nearly 70,000 players on Chess.com.

In the Chess.com virtual chat this week, players appeared split on whether to force the draw — and claim the glory — or to keep playing against Carlsen, even if it ultimately meant a loss.

“Don’t Draw! Let’s keep playing Magnus,” one user wrote. “This is an opportunity that won’t come along again. I’d rather play the Master all the way to the end and see if we can battle it out another 20 or 30 moves! Let’s have some FUN!!!”

Another added: “Thanks Magnus for such a great game. We made history.”