Magnus Carlsen Criticises Gukesh's Lack of Bravery After Defeating Him
Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen heaped praise on newly-crowned world champion Gukesh Domaraju after his freestyle chess clash but also criticised the 18-year-old for not looking brave at the most crucial time. Gukesh lost to Carlsen in the last game of the round robin stage.
After the victory, Carlsen said,
"I think the game has been great for a long time. I was very happy to join this counter strike in the center with E4, E5. I thought, I don't know, I thought my queen was controlling the diagonal, I always had these tricks with the Rook E8 and then the long castling and it felt like her position was a bit unstable. "
Carlson went on to say,
"After that I was a little bit disappointed because then the situation was level playing out and to be honest I think it was a lack of experience on his part because he took too many risks and then when it came time to take a little bit of risk he was really brave and then when it came time to show courage again he backed off but when he backed down he did this in practice. It was very difficult to maintain the position and at that time I felt that my chances of winning were very good. "
Even during the World Chess Championship, when Gukesh faced Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren, Magnus Carlsen said that he was not impressed with the Indian Grandmaster. Carlsen had criticised Gukesh's handling of the watch and the way he went into the endgame unnecessarily.