Magnus Carlsen says Gukesh has ‘generally not impressed’ him at World Chess Championship

“Gukesh has generally not impressed me so far. Ding has probably done a little bit better than we had thought. Well, we didn’t expect much (before the start of the world chess championship). But Gukesh has probably been a little bit worse,” said Magnus Carlsen in a recap video on the Take Take Take app.

After five games, the score in the best-of-14 World Chess Championship match stands level with both players having 2.5 points each after winning one game apiece and drawing the remaining three. Gukesh, though, has had the chance to play in three games so far with the white pieces.

READ MORE: In contrast to inscrutable Gukesh, Ding Liren allows the world to see how he feels

Game 5 ended in a draw despite Gukesh blundering on move 25, which saw Ding Liren have the chance to attack. But Ding made an error of judgement on the 25th move that was criticised by Magnus Carlsen.

“Playing knight c4 (25.Nc4) instead of knight to a4… I’m not shocked. But it was soft. Really really soft,” said Magnus Carlsen before adding: “In today’s game, even though we should criticise Ding for not going knight to a4 instead of knight to c4, it was a win for Ding. No doubt about it. It increased his chances of him winning the match and it probably increased his confidence in what he’s doing as well.”

READ MORE: How Gukesh hit the snooze button on a ticking bomb and eventually claimed a draw after a blunder

Magnus Carlsen said that he didn’t think Gukesh would be happy after the Game 5 draw.

“A game like today would have been frustrating for Gukesh a little bit, because he cannot really outplay Ding or get chances with the white pieces,” Carlsen said.