Key Points

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.

- IANS