Magnus Carlsen once again came into spotlight for wrong reasons after the Norwegian chess grandmaster slammed the table after losing to Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi in the ongoing FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025 in Doha. This was the second incident in 2025 when Carlsen was caught on camera, banging the table in frustration following a loss.

The incident took place after Erigaisi put his strong endgame and quick calculation on display to record the biggest upset of the ongoing World Blitz Championship so far. Carlsen lost on time.

During the game, Carlsen opened with a French Variation of the Sicilian Defence. Following his bishop. The Norwegian went into backfoot after his knight developed into d2 and bishop retreated to c2. It allowed Erigaisi to snap up the b2 pawn.

Despite Carlsen regaining the material, the damage was already done. He eventually lost the game under mounting pressure, this banging the table in frustration. However, Carlsen’s table-bang act didn’t go well with the fans, who took to social media to express their displeasure.

Meanwhile, the arbiter on duty for the game, Chris Bird clarified the incident and also informed that Carlsen had apologised for his behaviour. “No pieces, chessboards or tables were harmed during the filming of this video and for those wondering, Magnus immediately apologised to his opponent and me,” Bird wrote on X.

Levon Aronian reacts against Magnus Carlsen

Meanwhile, American GM Levon Aronian reacted strongly against Carlsen’s behaviour, and insisted that such outburst impacts other players. “Chris, I don’t think we should be normalising tantrums like that. It does affect players who are in the middle of a game who hear loud noises,” Aronian replied on Bird’s X post.

“In many sports such acts are penalized as unsportsmanlike behavior in order to send a message to younger athletes,” Aronian added.