Magnus Carlsen lost his Round 14 game by forfeit at the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025 after knocking over multiple pieces under time pressure. This is the second dramatic incident involving Carlsen in Doha.
World No. 1
Magnus Carlsen’s emotional outbursts continued at the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship 2025 in Doha as the former world champion lost his 14th round game to Armenian grandmaster Haik Martirosyan by forfeit.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when Carlsen, under extreme time pressure, knocked over four pieces at once and pressed his clock before placing them back on the board. Martirosyan immediately stopped the clock and called over arbiter Chris Bird. After a long discussion with the officials, Carlsen eventually accepted defeat.
At that moment, Carlsen had only two seconds left on his clock, while Martirosyan had ten. “What on earth is happening. Magnus has no control over pieces. Every single piece just tumbled. Even trying to set them back up, he knocked more pieces down,” a Chess.com commentator was heard saying as the incident unfolded.
Chaos again as Magnus knocks over multiple pieces! https://t.co/ViJ1nWZ3Tf pic.twitter.com/P9j2RdiW5R
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 30, 2025
The dramatic moment drew the attention of many top grandmasters, including Fabiano Caruana, Arjun Erigaisi, Alexander Grischuk, and Wesley So, who stood by and watched as Carlsen struggled under pressure. While So was seen smiling in the background, Erigaisi stopped to look at what was happening.
Carlsen struggles in World Blitz
Carlsen needed a win to stay in contention, having nine points after 13 games and trailing the leaders Erigaisi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Caruana by a full point. After winning his record sixth World Rapid title last week, Carlsen is struggling to keep pace in the Blitz event in Doha and is currently in 5th place with 12 points.
This was the second incident involving Carlsen in the tournament. A day earlier, he had lost to Erigaisi in Round 9 after fumbling his queen while racing against the clock and subsequently
slamming the table in frustration. The incident went viral online and sparked widespread debate.
Meanwhile, Erigaisi is currently leading the standings in the Blitz event, with 13.5 points after 17 rounds. Caruana and Maxime are close behind with 12.5 points each. Erigaisi had won the bronze medal in the Rapid Championship last week.
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