How Magnus Carlsen's Table Slam Sparked A Viral Chess Explosion

How Magnus Carlsen's Table Slam Sparked A Viral Chess Explosion

GM Magnus Carlsen created a viral hit when he slammed the table in rage following his loss against GM Gukesh Dommaraju.

The 2025 Norway Chess captured the world's attention on and off the board at a scale unlike any of the 12 previous editions. According to the organizers, over 6,000 newspaper articles were published in India and the Middle East alone during the 12-day event.

That can likely be credited to Norway Chess with the viral clip of an angry Carlsen reacting with rage to his loss against Gukesh. The fist slam went viral and has been viewed by hundreds of millions across all social media platforms.

OH MY GOD 😳🤯😲 pic.twitter.com/QSbbrvQFkE — Norway Chess ( @NorwayChess ) June 1, 2025

It was covered by major media outlets from every corner of the world, including NBC, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Daily Beast in the U.S., as well as The Daily Mail and El País in Europe, and The Times of India in the world's champion's home country. Adding to its reach, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has over 100 million followers on X, shared the story, while French football giant Paris Saint-Germain (15 million) joined in on the online frenzy.

Compared to last year's Jeansgate incident during the 2024 World Rapid & Blitz Championship, which brought widespread attention to the game, the public interest in Carlsen's emotional moment has likely surpassed the controversy. According to Google Trends, searches for "Magnus Carlsen" spiked significantly after his loss in round six, marking one of the year’s peak moments in global chess interest.

The graphic shows the search interest in Magnus Carlsen in the last year: Graphic: Google Trends.

The drama also translated into high viewership numbers on Chess.com, with a peak of 225,000 concurrent viewers during the final round, making Norway Chess one of the most-watched classical events in the platform's history. On the same day, Chess.com hosted over 20 million live games, a milestone reached only a few times a year.

Carlsen appeared on the popular podcast Pardon My Take by Barstool Sports to speak about the incident for the first time since the tournament's conclusion.

"The loss just felt so dumb and unnecessary. It made me feel so washed and useless that my thought for a few days... I am not sure, why am I doing this? When I win, it feels good and normal. But when I lose, for a moment the world just falls apart."

Carlsen has previously stressed that he regretted his moves more than the gesture itself, a sentiment he reiterated on the podcast. Asked about the criticism, he said:

"I don't aspire to be a bad boy. Sometimes, I think I am in a position, compared to some of my peers, where I can afford not to take s***. That's when... honestly, those moments I've had where I am banging the table. I am generally not going to apologize for outbursts in the moment, as long as you realize afterwards that you show your opponent the proper respect."

I am generally not going to apologize for outbursts in the moment, as long as you realize afterwards that you show your opponent the proper respect. —Magnus Carlsen

"I wish I could've avoided that by winning the game, but I honestly think there should be room for that in chess as well," he said. "It's a little bit like smashing your racket in chess. It's such an uptight sport. If people stopped caring when I lose, that's not a good thing."

The man on the other side of the board, Gukesh, remained calm throughout. Speaking with ChessBase India, the reigning world champion said he barely noticed the outburst in the moment. "I did not pay much attention to Magnus banging the table. My heart rate was so high. I don't even know what I felt at that exact moment. I was just happy to win the game."

The 19-year-old acknowledged the immense impact of the moment online. "I'm so glad we memed chess. There was a cat meme, the cat falls from the table. My whole feed is blessed with this meme. I was laughing for like 10 minutes."

I'm so glad we memed chess. There was a cat meme, the cat falls from the table. My whole feed is blessed with this meme. I was laughing for like 10 minutes.

—Gukesh Dommaraju

It's not clear which cat meme Gukesh is referring to, but it could have been this one.

Best meme on Gukesh versus Carlsen pic.twitter.com/IV44FlU9YV — Jehangir Ali ( @Gaamuk ) June 6, 2025

The table-slam moment has been a goldmine for content creators online, spawning countless remixes and memes. Even former top-10 GM Pentala Harikrishna jokingly mimicked the gesture when asked, "Tell me you are a chess player without telling me you are a chess player."

🇮🇳🤯 OH MY GOD! Harikrishna slammed the table!#FIDERapidBlitzTeams pic.twitter.com/YwMZR0eZlT — International Chess Federation ( @FIDE_chess ) June 15, 2025

Bollywood star Aamir Khan also shared his humorous take on the moment.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Prakhar Gupta (@prakharkepravachan)

On TikTok, there are some hilarious recreations, such as this one by Nick Wilkins which has more than 2.7 million likes and 10,000 replies.

Another one recreated the table-slam with the Crocodile Denist game.

This one was also brilliant and received more than 19,000 replies.

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