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'D Gukesh saw some ghosts': Hikaru Nakamura takes dig at world champion after beating him at Norway Chess 2025
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh's winning run was ended by Hikaru Nakamura who pounced on a blunder by the world champion to win a match that looked like was heading towards a draw. read more
Hikaru Nakamura defeated D Gukesh from a position where it looked like the match was heading towards a draw. Image: Norway Chess
Chess world champion D Gukesh's winning streak was brought to a halt on Tuesday as he went down to world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura in round eight, while Fabiano Caruana lost to Arjun Erigaisi, but continues to lead the standings at Norway Chess 2025. Meanwhile, world No.1 Magnus Carlsen suffered his second consecutive Armageddon defeat to China's Wei Yi.
Nakamura did not hold back while analysing his win over Gukesh, who had defeated Carlsen and Arjun over the last two days , as the American Grandmaster said that he triumphed despite playing some 'boring' chess as the 19-year-old Indian chess star went chasing around 'ghosts'.
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'I played something that was very boring, but luckily Gukesh wasn't ready for it, and he sort of saw some ghosts and went for this whole position with bishop g6 move which I don't know if it's losing but for a human, very very tough to play, so it was a very smooth game, very happy,' Nakamura told T_ake Take Take_ after beating Gukesh.
How Nakamura defeated Gukesh
After a slow start to the game, things changed drastically on move 18, when Gukesh chose a different path than Fabiano Caruana had during the 2024 Candidates, skipping the more expected 18…Bg6. After a long pause — close to 30 minutes — Gukesh opted for 18…Rab8. Then came and with 19…Bg6 forced, followed. But Gukesh's recapture with the wrong pawn gave Nakamura the edge he needed.
From there, the American grandmaster put on a clinical display of how to wield opposite-coloured bishops in attacking positions with major pieces still on the board. With the light squares now under his command — and Gukesh's bishop unable to contest them — Nakamura built up pressure as the Indian lost in 50 moves.
'I'm not sure what happened, whether Gukesh just didn't know this bishop g6 move, or what exactly it was, but it was very clear to me that, based on the long think, he didn't like the pawn structure at all,' said Nakamura.
Nakamura also dropped a shocker when he said that the 'chances' of Carlsen and him playing at Norway Chess in Classical format next year are 'very very low.'
Meanwhile, despite his defeat to Wei Yi, Carlsen is second in the Open standings with 12 points, half a point behind the leader Caruana. Nakamura and Gukesh are joint third with 11.5 pints each, while Arjun is fourth (10.5).
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In the women's section, Koneru Humpy has regained the lead with two rounds to go after beating Sara Khadem. Reigning world champion China's Ju Wenjun lost to India's R Vaishali.
Results (Round 8):
(Open) Arjun Erigaisi (Ind – 10.5 points) bt Fabiano Caruana (USA – 12.5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA – 11.5) bt D Gukesh (Ind – 11.5); Wei Yi (Chn – 8) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor – 12) in Armageddon tie-break.
(Women) Sara Khadem (Esp – 6) lost to Koneru Humpy (Ind – 13.5); R. Vaishali (Ind – 9.5) bt Ju Wenjun (Chn – 12.5) in Armageddon tie-break; Anna Muzychuk (Ukr – 12.5) bt Lei Tingjie (Chn – 10) in Armageddon tie-break.
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