Magnus Carlsen won Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025 with two games to spare. The World no.1 started the final day with two wins against the World Champion, D Gukesh. Then he defeated Fabiano Caruana in consecutive games to win the event. The last two games against Hikaru Nakamura was immaterial, so he just drew them. Carlsen scored 25.5/36. Caruana secured second place scoring 16.5/36. Nakamura third 14/36 and Gukesh fourth 10/36. Carlsen once again asserted his dominance once he got himself enough rest and showed the world why he is considered as the undisputed 'greatest of all time'. Photo: Lennart Ootes
"Yeah I was a lot happier today. There are still things here and there that I am not super happy about. There was more flow and I felt that I was kind of more on top of things and not missing as many tricks. Today was a lot better and that feels really really good to end on a high note and to actually be able to win convicingly in the end." - Magnus Carlsen on how he felt with his play on the final day. When GM Maurice Ashley mentioned that Carlsen blew up his format, Carlsen shared with a big smile, "That's of course unfortunate in terms of the excitement but I think when you win ten out of your first 16 games, it's not a shock."
Magnus Carlsen won Clutch Chess Champions Showdown 2025 with two rounds to go | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Interview with Magnus Carlsen | Video: ChessBase India
Round 7 Game 1: Carlsen - Gukesh: 2-0
World Champion, GM D Gukesh (2693) started the day with a loss against the World no.1, GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2808). He made a tiny positional inaccuracy and it cost him the game.
D Gukesh - Magnus Carlsen, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India
In the second game, Gukesh made an unforced error which allowed his opponent to invade his rook and later with the remaining pieces.
Magnus Carlsen - D Gukesh, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India
Dr. GM Karsten Mueller (GER) analyzed Gukesh's final game of the event against Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2767) which was an exciting encounter.
Caruana doesn't even understand how he got second | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
Interview with Hikaru Nakamura | Video: ChessBase India
Hikaru: Decent performance, not what I was hoping for | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
What Did Gukesh Think of the Clutch Format? | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club
IM Sagar Shah, Aditya Sur Roy and Amruta Mokal with the winner of the tournament - Magnus Carlsen | Photo: IM Sagar Shah
Spectators following the action live at Saint Louis Chess Club in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
The winner's trophy | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
