Magnus Carlsen’s latest tableau slam goes viral on social media platforms (Screengrab) World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen is once again in the spotlight, not for his chess moves, but for his angry reaction to the board. The incident happened on Monday during the World Blitz Championship in Doha after Carlsen lost to India’s Arjun Erigaisi.Carlsen, a five-time world champion, was playing under a lot of time pressure when he eventually lost the match in time. A moment later he slammed the table, pushed the chair back and left. A video of the incident quickly went viral on social media, drawing mixed reactions from fans and players alike.
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Chris Bird, the umpire who was on duty during the game, later explained what happened. He posted on X to calm speculation surrounding the incident.“No pieces, boards or tables were damaged during the making of this video and for those wondering, Magnus immediately apologized to his opponent and myself,” wrote Chris Bird on X.However, the incident did not sit well with several in the chess community. Grandmaster Levon Aronian responded forcefully, saying that such behavior should not be taken lightly.“Chris, I don’t think we should normalize such tantrums. It affects players who are in the middle of a game and hear loud noises. In many sports, such actions are penalized as unsportsmanlike conduct to send a message to younger athletes,” Aronian wrote.Bird responded once more, clarifying his position and stating that he did not support Carlsen’s response.“I certainly don’t mean to make it appear that I was okay with this behaviour. I think you can see on the video that I had a brief conversation with Magnus who, as I said, apologised. The issue was then brought up to my superiors to deal with as they saw fit,” he added.The loss itself was the highlight of the tournament. Arjun knocked out the defending champion in a ninth-round blitz in what was one of the biggest shocks of the event. Before the match, six players, including Arjun and Carlsen, were leading the way with 6.5 points. With the win, Arjun moved to 7.5 points and shared the lead with Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov.Arjuna’s victory was even more impressive because he was playing with black pieces, which are usually considered slightly disadvantageous. He remained calm throughout, gaining pawns and slowly building pressure. Although Carlsen fought back, time ran out.This was not Carlsen’s first emotional outburst at the event. Earlier, after losing to Vladislav Artemijev, he left angrily and pushed the camera aside. Earlier this year, he also punched a table after losing to India’s D Gukesh, a moment that went viral online.
