World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has said that Gukesh is under pressure because of unrealistic expectations placed upon him. While he backed the young world champion to grow stronger despite recent setbacks and a poor 2025 season, Carlsen suggested that players like himself and Hikaru Nakamura don’t come very often and that Gukesh’s career is more likely to end up with just one exceptional season and a world title.
World No. 1 ranked player Magnus Carlsen believes that Indian Grandmaster
Gukesh Dommaraju is carrying the weight of “unrealistic expectations”, especially after a difficult 2025 season where results did not always match the hype around him.
Gukesh went through a challenging year in 2025 as the reigning world champion. While he showed his class by winning the rapid title at the Grand Chess Tour event in Zagreb, his overall season was full of ups and down.
The 19-year-old finished third at Norway Chess 2025 and suffered an early exit at the FIDE Chess World Cup in India. The season-ender World Rapid & Blitz Championships in Doha also didn’t go well, with questions rising about whether the pressure of being world champion was starting to affect his game.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo, five-time world champion
Magnus Carlsen was asked if Gukesh’s title had become a burden for him. The Norwegian great shared an honest view, saying that the expectations placed on Gukesh were “unrealistic.” Carlsen also spoke about Gukesh’s World Championship match against Ding Liren, calling it “uneven” but still impressive.
“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,” Carlsen said.
“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,” he added.
Carlsen says Gukesh is not at his level
Carlsen once again reminded everyone how great a player he is, saying that a career like his does not come around very often. He also mentioned Hikaru Nakamura, stating that careers like theirs belong to “the best of all time”. According to Carlsen, Gukesh is “more likely” to end up with a career where he has one exceptional season and even wins a world title.
“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 has since made a shocking one-move blunder against Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026 in Wijk aan Zee. However, he showed maturity after the setback and bounced back with a crucial Round 8 win over Vladimir Fedoseev with the black pieces. He is currently ranked ninth in the standings with 4.0 points, while Abdusattorov is at the top with 5.5 points.
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