Magnus Carlsen on Gukesh: ‘Unrealistic expectations placed on him… in part he brought it upon himself’

Former world champion Magnus Carlsen believes that the now 19-year-old teenager has had “unrealistic expectations” placed upon his young shoulders.

When asked in an interview by Spain’s El Mundo if Gukesh’s world championship title was becoming a burden and had led to his recent results on the board, Carlsen said: “The expectations placed on him were unrealistic. In part, he brought it on himself by playing in such strong tournaments, but he played incredibly in the Candidates Tournament and delivered one of the best performances in history at the Olympiad, leading India to gold. His (world championship) match against Ding Liren was more uneven, but even so, it’s difficult to dispute his results. Let’s remember that he’s still young, and until recently, nothing suggested he would be so consistently good. I think he’s reached a period of stability and is learning. In certain aspects, he’s become stronger, but it’s not easy to demonstrate that in every game. Defending his title in every tournament isn’t easy, but he’ll do well. His trajectory is good. Another thing is that we have to be realistic about his generation because my career or Hikaru (Nakamura)’s doesn’t come around very often. Gukesh could become one of the best of all time, but more likely, he’ll end up being an elite player who had the best run of his life and became a champion. That in itself is already great.”

Gukesh was shell-shocked after realising his blunder. The world champion resigned immediately after Nodirbek Abdusattorov’s response. (Screengrab via ChessBase India livestream)

The interview was conducted earlier in the week, much before Gukesh’s one-move blunder against Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the Tata Steel Chess tournament. In his press conference in Barcelona during ICE, Carlsen admitted that he had almost agreed to play in the Wijk aan Zee event.

Carlsen was in Barcelona as part of the International Casinos and Entertainment Expo (ICE Barcelona 2026). He played a blindfold exhibition game with Nakamura.

In a response to another question about the differences between his generation and the current crop of prodigies, Carlsen also highlighted Gukesh.

“Children progress much faster now thanks to the internet, but I would say that one of its disadvantages is that they become very dependent on computer programs and their criteria. Gukesh, the current world champion, is very good in part because his coach wouldn’t let him use these programs until he was a very strong player. Many children become obsessed with computer engines, and this impairs critical thinking. Some of the younger grandmasters even lack some critical thinking skills, some logic.”