Norway Chess 2025 : - Carlsen frustration and Gukesh super win !

 

Long ago, whenever legend  Kapil Dev took  a wicket, he would run gently  with a raised hand, whilst his teammates would gather around and applaud.  Gone are those days – nowadays, in IPL and in every Sports, we see wild unbridled expression of anger, happiness, frustration, and what not !! – sometimes celebrations and expressions go overboard and cross decent limits too. 

 

Miles away, after the loss, Carlsen, visibly frustrated and  devastated, slammed the table in frustration, sending pieces flying  and left the venue quickly. The winner on the otherhand sat calm, composed, giving an expression as though he is yet to recover from the win !!   He then rose up and  quietly celebrated his career-defining win with his coach, Grzegorz Gajewski  ! 

Stavanger  is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city  and the fourth most populous one  in Norway. Located on the Stavanger Peninsula in southwest Norway, Stavanger counts its official founding year as 1125, the year the Stavanger Cathedral was completed. Stavanger's core is to a large degree 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses that are protected and considered part of the city's cultural heritage. This has caused the town center and inner city to retain a small-town character with an unusually high ratio of detached houses. Ever since oil was discovered in the North Sea, Stavanger has been known as the Energy Capital of Norway, due to its thriving offshore energy sector. One of the region's greatest charms is how effortlessly you can immerse yourself in nature, with easy access via public buses and boats. 

In 2014, Garry Kasparov famously called Norway Chess “the Wimbledon of Chess,” reflecting its prestigious and unique status. Like Wimbledon in tennis, Norway Chess creates an atmosphere of excitement and excellence, captivating audiences through immersive online commentary and TV broadcasts.    The  annual closed chess tournament, typically takes place in the May to June time period every year.  The 2025 edition is now on. 

The Norway Chess journey began in 2012 with the ambition to create the world’s strongest chess tournament. Founder Kjell Madland envisioned an international elite event in Norway, the home of Magnus Carlsen—even before Carlsen became World Champion. The idea gained momentum when in October of 2011, Kjell hosted a simultaneous chess tournament with Magnus Carlsen in the town of Ålgård. 25 players aged 10 to 80, a mix of celebrities and locals played against each other and the chess elite.   It was planned even  before Carlsen’s rise to World Champion, marking a turning point in Norwegian chess. What once seemed unlikely—chess captivating half of Norway’s TV audience for hours—has now become a national phenomenon. Chess is now widely discussed, played, and celebrated across the country, inspiring similar developments worldwide. In 2017, Norway Chess set a historic benchmark by organizing the strongest 10-player tournament in chess history based on player ratings. Today, it has evolved beyond a tournament into a platform that has turned Stavanger into a global chess hub and redefined how chess is perceived in sports and society.

 

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen’s bid to extend his lead at Norway Chess 2025 took an unexpected turn on June 2, when reigning World Champion D Gukesh staged a remarkable comeback to claim his first classical win against the Norwegian legend. 

Gukesh found himself in a losing endgame position after a strong opening by Carlsen. But the 18-year-old Indian grandmaster capitalised on a rare blunder by Carlsen to snatch victory after 62 moves and more than four hours of tense play.

The match, played in Carlsen’s home country in Stavanger, saw the Norwegian pressing hard throughout, but Gukesh held firm under time pressure and ultimately turned the tables. This win marks Gukesh’s first classical victory over the Norwegian grandmaster. The 19-year-old also became the second Indian player to defeat Carlsen in the tournament’s history, following Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.

 

In round 6  Gukesh D defeated Magnus Carlsen, scoring his first-ever classical win against the World No. 1  Arjun Erigaisi beat Wei Yi in Armageddon, keeping his perfect Armageddon record  Fabiano Caruana edged out Hikaru Nakamura in Armageddon and joined the lead.  GM Koneru Humpy blundered a rook in one move against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, allowing GM Anna Muzychuk to catch her in the Women’s Norway Chess 2025 lead with an armageddon win over IM Sara Khadem.  

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
2.6.2025