Magnus Carlsen, the World No.1, was locked in a clash of the titans when he was facing World Champion Gukesh in round 6 of the ongoing Norway Chess 2025. However, it was the Norwegian’s mid-match comments that sparked widespread discussion among the chess world, with some interpreting his remarks as a subtle critique or even mockery.

During the analysis of his game in the sixth round, Carlsen, while assessing his position against the 19-year-old, stated: “Well, I know that Gukesh is a very ambitious player, so I kind of figured he would go for something kind of optimistic here.

“I don't completely understand what his concept is here. It seems to me that I just have excellent play,” he was quoted as saying by chess24.

Carlsen elaborated on his own position and further added, “I can potentially open up play on the king side, and I'm doing all right on the queen side as well. Because of those pawn exchanges, I have counterplay down the b-file, and now you can come to f4, possibly knight to h7, and knight to g5 as well.

“So it seems to me that I'm not, I'm probably not better, but at least practically speaking, it feels a bit easier to play black. So yeah, we'll see what he comes up with,” he concluded his assessment of the position.

Meanwhile, Gukesh's second Grzegorz Gajewski offered a different perspective while sharing his thoughts on the World Champion facing the World No.1 and said, “Obviously, facing Magnus always brings the best, because he's the GOAT, right? You want to challenge him whenever possible and learn from every experience."