World Champ Gukesh reaches Norway; calls face-off with Magnus Carlsen as ‘fun challenge'
The youngest world chess champion-ever Gukesh Dommaraju arrived in Stavanger on Saturday for the most-awaited contest of the year at the Norway Chess 2025, scheduled to begin on Monday here at the Sparebank 1 Sor-Norge headquarters.
For the first time since he was crowned the world chess champion, after beating Ding Liren in a best-of-14-game match in Singapore last year, the 18-year-old will face off against World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in the classical format.
Speaking about taking on the Norwegian icon Carlsen in his backyard, Gukesh said, 'I feel great being here (in Stavanger). I've had good memories of Norway. I am sure playing Magnus here in a classical game will be a fun challenge. Also, for the spectators, it is about the world champion versus the No.1 player in the world. It surely sounds very exciting, so it's surely something I am very happy to give to myself and the chess fans. And I hope it will be a treat.'
The last time Gukesh participated in Norway Chess was in 2023, where he finished third, securing the crucial FIDE Circuit points needed to qualify for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. This achievement made him the third-youngest player in history to qualify for a Candidates tournament, following in the footsteps of Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen.
By August 2023, Gukesh shattered another record, becoming the youngest player ever to achieve a rating of 2750. A month later, in September 2023, he surpassed Viswanathan Anand as India's top-ranked player, marking the first time in 37 years that someone other than Anand held this distinction.
He was on song in 2024, starting the year with a first-place finish at the Tata Steel Masters in January, and dominated the Candidates Tournament, securing his spot in the World Chess Championship match. At the Olympiad, he led Team India to gold while earning an individual gold medal on board one with an outstanding performance.
Elaborating on keeping up with the expectations, particularly after his recent success, Gukesh said, 'It is a new level. But when I see it as a challenge to prove to myself that I can handle this. Even though the expectations are high, I can meet them if I keep working hard and doing my best.'
Among the challenges in a classical game, Gukesh feels one of the things to be wary of is fighting his own thoughts. 'In a classical game, you end up playing for five hours, and those are the times you cannot be fully thinking about the game. I think there are random thoughts that come into our minds, but the important thing is to stay in the game and come back to those thoughts later. This is the purpose of the note that you're making. And you can't afford to allow weak moments,' he explained.
The draw for the Norway Chess 2025 and Norway Chess Women 2025 will be held later in the day.
India's Arjun Erigaisi will also feature in the Norway Chess which will have one of the strongest line-up including Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Wei Yi (China) and in Norway Chess Women 2025, Ju Wenjun (China), Lei Tingjie (China), Koneru Humpy (India), Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), Vaishali R. (India) and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Spain) will fight for top honours.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
9 minutes ago
- Indian Express
In a first, four Indian chess players in the top 10 rankings
For the first time in history, four Indians are in the top 10 chess rankings. Alongside D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa — now regulars among the world's elite — Aravindh Chithambaram has climbed to ninth place with a live rating of 2757.8. The milestone followed Aravindh's victory at the 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Armenia, on Friday, where he edged out his close friend and training partner under coach RB Ramesh, Praggnanandhaa. Both players tied for first place with 6.5 points each after nine rounds, but Aravindh claimed the title due to a superior Sonneborn-Berger score (tiebreak points), due to his stronger performance against higher-ranked opponents. The tournament began with a draw between Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh, and the two remained evenly matched until the final round. Entering the last game, both Indians were tied at 5.5 points after eight rounds, needing a win to secure the title. Praggnanandhaa struck first, defeating Armenia's Robert Hovhannisyan, forcing Aravindh to win his game to clinch the event. Aravindh obliged, overcoming Armenia's Aram Hakobyan with the black pieces to claim the championship. Both players remained undefeated, scoring four wins and five draws each. However, Praggnanandhaa later reflected on a missed opportunity in the second round against Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre, where he had a winning position. 'It was a good tournament for me, but I still missed this one chance in the second round. I could have probably won the tournament had that result gone my way, now it'll probably be tied for the first spot.' Praggnanandhaa told Chessbase India, accompanied by his trainer, Vaibhav Suri. 'Overall happy with my performance, I was mostly well prepared for almost all the rounds, just rue that game against Jonas otherwise I would have been on plus five,' he added. Aravindh's win in Armenia mirrored his earlier title win at the Prague Masters, where he outperformed Praggnanandhaa in a star-studded field featuring Wei Yi, Anish Giri, and Vincent Keymer. While Aravindh took the title, Praggnanandhaa's performance was equally impressive. The 19-year-old now sits sixth in the live ratings (2774.2) and leads the FIDE Circuit standings. With 83.59 points from five events — including wins at the Tata Steel Masters and Grand Chess Tour Romania Classic, a joint-second finish in Prague, third place in GCT Poland Rapid & Blitz, and now second in Armenia — Praggnanandhaa is the frontrunner to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament via the FIDE Circuit. He holds a commanding 42.27-point lead over second-placed Aravindh (41.32 points), who has competed in three events. Both players will next compete at the Uzchess Cup in Uzbekistan, starting June 18, alongside strong players like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Arjun Erigaisi.
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Norway Chess 2025 LIVE Updates: Gukesh plays Italian opening against Caruana
Norway Chess 2025 Round 10 Live Updates, Arjun Erigaisi vs Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana vs D Gukesh, Wei Yi vs Hikaru Nakamura: Reigning World Champion D. Gukesh will take on Fabiano Caruana in the final round of the Norway Chess in the hope to surpass tournament leader Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen, who leads the standings with 15 points from nine rounds, is 0.5 points ahead of Gukesh and will take on another exciting talent, Arjun Erigaisi. Arjun has 11.5 points from nine rounds and is out of the title race alongside Wei Yi of China, who sits last in the standings. USA's Hikaru Nakamura, who has a good chance of winning the event, will be up against Wei. Magnus Carlsen: 'Maybe I should totally stop playing classical chess' Magnus Carlsen at Norway Chess 2025 in Stavanger. (PHOTO: Michal Walusza via Norway Chess) Is the world seeing the last of Magnus Carlsen playing in the classical format at the ongoing Norway Chess? The world no 1, who won five world chess championships before walking away from the world champion's throne in 2023, told Norway's TV2 in an interview at Stavanger before his round 7 clash with Hikaru Nakamura that classical chess was not 'fun at all' for him and then mentioned that he should 'maybe totally stop playing classical chess.' Carlsen had cut a frustrated figure after losing for the first time in classical chess against Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning world champion, on Sunday. He had banged his fist on the board and let out an exasperated sigh of: 'Oh my God.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
3 hours ago
- First Post
Norway Chess 2025: Can D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi beat Magnus Carlsen to the top spot? Scenarios explained
The 10th and final round of the 2025 Norway Chess gets underway on Friday with defending champion and world No 1 Magnus Carlsen, reigning world champion D Gukesh and No 2 Hikaru Nakamura among the chess stars fighting for the title. read more While D Gukesh is in the fray to finish top of the 2025 Norway Chess standings, Arjun Erigaisi can finish second at best. Image credit: Michal Waluzstan, Norway Chess One round is all that remains in the 13th edition of the Norway Chess, and the final day of the event is expected to witness a high-voltage showdown between defending champion Magnus Carlsen, D Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura. It's been quite the topsy-turvy ride for everyone involved, including reigning world champion Gukesh who began his campaign with back-to-back defeats against Carlsen and fellow Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi but was back on track with a victory over Nakamura in Round 3. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD World champion Gukesh, who had turned 19 a day after his victory over Nakamura, would go on to defeat Carlsen in the sixth round, beating the world No 1 for the first time in his career. The game made headlines not just for Gukesh's superb turnaround from a losing position but also for Carlsen's reaction to the loss – angrily slamming his fist on the table that toppled the pieces on the board, taking his opponent and everyone else at the hall by surprise. And despite admitting to being mentally affected by the loss to the point where he claims defending his title at the event will not matter to him any more, Carlsen continues to occupy the top spot on the standings, leading Gukesh by the barest of margins. Gukesh has had a mixed run since being crowned the youngest world champion in chess history with his victory over Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren in December; he had finished runner-up at the Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands at the start of the year after losing to compatriot R Praggnanandhaa in the tie-breaks, but would flop at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour events in Weissenhaus and Paris that took place in February and April respectively. Gukesh's struggle in the Freestyle format appeared to have shaken his confidence in the Classical format as well, with the Chennai lad struggling to make an impact at the Superbet Classic in Bucharest Romania. Gukesh, however, appears to have regained his touch in Norway and has silenced his critics, who were beginning to doubt if he truly deserved the tag of 'world champion' and belonged among the sport's elite, with his victories over Carlsen, Nakamura and others. Can Gukesh, or Arjun for that matter finish top of the standings after the conclusion of the final round on Friday? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD How Gukesh and Arjun can finish top of the 2025 Norway Chess standings Gukesh currently has 14.5 points to his name after his victory over Chinese No 1 Wei Yi in the ninth round on Thursday, and is half-a-point behind Carlsen, who regained the top spot from Fabiano Caruana after defeating the American GM on the same day. The only way Gukesh gets to win Norway Chess is if Carlsen fails to win his final game – either by losing or being held to a draw. Should Carlsen lose to Arjun in the final round, a draw will suffice for Gukesh even if he goes on to lose the Armageddon playoff against Caruana. American GM Nakamura, however, isn't far behind on 13 points, and should he defeat Wei in Round 10, Gukesh will have no option but to win his last game. The only other player with a distant chance of finishing at the top is Caruana, who is fourth in the standings with 12.5 points. Not only will he have to defeat Gukesh, he will also be hoping Carlsen loses his final game against Arjun and Hikaru doesn't collect more than 1.5 points out of the possible 3 against Wei. Such a scenario will have Caruana finishing at the top with 15.5 points, half-a-point ahead of the second-placed Carlsen. There could also be a two-way tie between Gukesh and Arjun on 14.5 points for the third spot, which could even be a three-way tie if Hikaru pulls off an Armageddon victory. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Wei, the lowest-ranked among all the players (No 8), is set to finish at the bottom of the standings regardless of his performance in the final round.
