Magnus Carlsen Is a Chess Master, but that Doesn't Mean That He Never Loses

After a loss to world champion Gukesh Dommaraju for the first time, chess genius Magnus Carlsen appeared to be frustrated. He smacked the table, making it clear that the world number one was upset over his performance in the match. Carlsen then quickly apologized and gave Gukesh a pat on the back.

Following the incident, many wanted to know more about whether Magnus had lost much over the course of his career. Here's what we know about the number of times he's lost in his time playing chess.

Although he's regarded as one of chess's great players, Magnus has lost hundreds of times. According to 365chess.com, Magnus has lost 552 times in competitive play over the course of the last quarter century. That's stacked up against 1,630 wins and 1,559 draws, meaning that he loses a little less than 15 percent of the time. Of course, Magnus is usually playing against the greatest chess players in the world, so when he loses, he's losing to someone else who is great.

It's also worth noting that Magnus began competing in competitive chess tournaments when he was still quite young, and many of the losses in his record occurred before he achieved the status that he has today. He has been the world's No. 1-ranked player since 2011, and once won 125 straight high-level competitive chess matches in a row. Even with his losses, he has achieved heights that few other chess players have managed.

Gukesh is the world's youngest world champion, and hails originally from Chennai, India. He won the world championship during a tournament where Magnus was absent because he wasn't motivated to participate.

Because of Gukesh's status as a rising phenom, matches between the two are highly anticipated. Gukesh's victory adds to his overall credibility in the chess world, even as it doesn't change Magnus's position as the world's best player.

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Magnus gave Gukesh some tepid praise.

“Is he (Dommaraju) the best player in the world? Well, I don’t necessarily think so, but he’s kind of done everything that you could expect from him and so much more as well," he explained. “I know I’m the one who kind of brings it on in a sense by withdrawing from the world championship, but I think generally it’s a bit unfair to him. I think he’s doing fantastic, and he’s very worthy as a world champion.”

Now that Gukesh has logged a victory (albeit in a match where Magnus was leading most of the way), their next meeting will be even more hotly anticipated. Magnus has been the world's number one player for almost 15 years straight, and many are wondering whether Gukesh could be the one to challenge his supremacy. For now, though, Gukesh's victory will be seen more as an anomaly than as a sign of things to come.