Magnus Carlsen celebrated the win over world champion D Gukesh with a popular meme but has since suffered back-to-back defeats at Norway Chess 2025.
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Two days after beating world champion D Gukesh and
aggressive posturing on social media
, Magnus Carlsen was humbled by Wei Yi on Wednesday as the world No.1 chess player suffered his first defeat to the Chinese Grandmaster.
The match between Carlsen and Wei Yi at the Norway Chess 2025 initially ended in a draw before the five-time world champion was
stunned in the Armageddon
on his home turf. The match went on for 51 moves with Carlsen having the white pieces, but the Norwegian was unable to break world No.8 Wei Yi’s defence.
In the Armageddon tie-breaker, Carlsen blundered more than once, which is quite unusual in a quick format, but moves like 24.Rxf7 and 25.Rxf5 put him into a losing position and Wei Yi completed the task soon.
Carlsen ‘disappointed with himself’ after defeat
Carlsen blamed the lack of energy for his defeat in the Armageddon tie-breaker. “I’m disappointed in myself. I felt like I didn’t have enough energy for this Armageddon,” Carlsen said after losing to Wei Yi.
Interestingly, this is Carlsen’s second consecutive Armageddon defeat after losing in the same fashion to Hikaru Nakamura on Tuesday. At least against Nakamura, Carlsen had black pieces.
Wei Yi was extremely delighted after beating Carlsen for the first time in his career. “I am very happy not only because it’s my first win of the tournament but also the first one against Magnus Carlsen,” he told the Take Take Take app.
Wei Yi takes down Magnus with Black in a stylish Armageddon win!
What a performance by China’s No.1 and his first ever victory against Magnus 👏🔥 #NorwayChess #magnuscarlsen #weiyi pic.twitter.com/FAXLO0bNNt— Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) May 28, 2025
The Chinese No.1, however, added that he is in no mood to celebrate as he faces Nakamura on Thursday. “There’s not too much time to celebrate because tomorrow I will face Hikaru and that won’t be easy.”
Gukesh beats Nakamura to clinch first win
In other results, Gukesh defeated Nakamura to secure his first win at the Norway Chess 2025 on the eve of his 19th birthday, while Arjun Erigaisi lost to Fabiano Caruana.
“I feel quite good (about the win). I think my time management was much better today than before. He (Nakamura) had some drawing chances, but I guess, overall, it was good,” Gukesh said after beating Nakamura and breaking the losing streak.
“Obviously, the last two games were kind of tough. But today I just tried to play it as a fresh tournament. Glad I played (like that),” he added.