World Champion D. Gukesh dedicated a pricey blunder against American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana within the last spherical to complete third, as five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen clinched a record-extending seventh Norway Chess title.
Gukesh, after being in a disadvantageous place against 2018 Norway Chess champion Fabiano Caruana, tried to stage a late comeback however ran out of time and dedicated a blunder, immediately realising his probabilities had slipped away.
Gukesh provided a handshake, grimaced, closed his eyes, and buried his face in each fingers in frustration.
It was a golden alternative for the younger Indian world champion to win his maiden Norway Chess title in solely his second look, after a roller-coaster event that noticed him begin on a poor observe earlier than turning issues round with spectacular Classical wins over Magnus Carlsen, compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, and China’s Wei Yi.
Defending champion Carlsen, who was the in a single day chief with 15 factors after spherical 9, ended the event with 16 factors after fashioning the good escape against GM Erigaisi and steering the sport to a draw within the tenth spherical on Friday.
Gukesh completed third — the identical as within the 2023 version — with 14.5 factors, whereas Caruana was second with 15.5 factors. Erigaisi completed fifth with 13 factors.
Erigaisi received the Armageddon tie-break against Carsen following the miraculous draw by the Norwegian, nevertheless it didn’t matter ultimately as the five-time world champion had already secured some extent with the stalemate to win the title.
While Gukesh quietly walked out of the world after dropping to Caruana, Carlsen stated he needed to “literally fight for his life” to remain within the match against Arjun Erigaisi.
A defeat for the Norwegian would have been catastrophic, as the Gukesh-Caruana sport was nonetheless in progress, and a Classical win for both would have dashed his hopes of a seventh Norway Chess title and the accompanying prize purse of roughly USD 69,500.
In truth, had Gukesh managed to attract his sport against the American Grandmaster, he would have secured the title—offered Carlsen had misplaced his Classical encounter against Erigaisi.
Under the Norway Chess format, a Classical win earns three factors, whereas a draw provides every participant one level. A drawn sport is adopted by an Armageddon tie-break to resolve the winner, who’s awarded a further half level.
“I don’t know what to say, like I kind of provoked him (Erigaisi) into concrete action and then I obviously missed something pretty big. But I thought I was doing well when he completely out-calculated me and I just had to yeah fight for my life,” stated Carlsen.
“It’s just trying to find practical chances that keep the game alive, and it seemed that he (Erigaisi) got a bit nervous at some point… gave me very good chances.”
Carlsen admitted that a part of his consideration was on the Gukesh-Caruana sport, given the numerous influence it might have had on his title-winning probabilities.
”I used to be simply not adequate to search out the win however wanting on the different sport (between Gukesh and Caruana), I form of discovered sooner or later that I most likely would not must win and that helped me,” stated Carlsen.
“Yeah, of course it’s (the win) a huge relief after a day like this in the tournament. Obviously, you know, my struggles have been well documented here but at least I fought till the end so I’m happy with that. It’s been a roller-coaster ride and we’re talking about classical chess.” Carlsen stated he wouldn’t be enjoying quite a lot of classical chess in instances to return.
“Not a lot (of classical chess) for sure. I’m not going to say that this tournament was my last for sure but I enjoy other forms of chess a lot more.” On whether or not the title felt like an announcement amid talks of the subsequent technology rising, Carlsen stated: “Had I actually won the tournament convincingly, we might have been having these talks. But honestly, there were at least three people who could have won this tournament easily, and I kind of stumbled into it. I don’t think that’s much of a statement.
“It’s good to see that I feel like, at least in parts of the game, I am a lot better than the kids who are trying to take over. It’s rare to see so many twists and turns… the quality wasn’t perfect, but there was a lot of good chess as well.”
Anna Muzychuk wins girls’s title
In the ladies’s part, in a single day chief and two-time world blitz champion, Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk received the title with 16.5 factors regardless of an Armageddon tie-break loss to India’s R. Vaishali within the last spherical.
Muzychuk’s draw within the classical sport against the Indian earned each gamers some extent every, whereas Vaishali secured one other half some extent by beating the Ukrainian within the Armageddon sudden dying to complete on 11 factors.
Had Vaishali defeated Muzychuk — who was on 15.5 factors in a single day — within the Classical sport, she would have disadvantaged the Ukrainian Grandmaster of three factors, which might have propelled Koneru Humpy to the title had the two-time world fast champion too obtained the higher of Chinese world champion Ju Wenjun within the Classical sport.
Unfortunately, Humpy, who was on 13.5 factors in a single day after spherical 9, might solely handle a draw with white items to earn one level. She obtained one other half level by overcoming Wenjun within the Armageddon tie-break to earn 1.5 factors, and end with 15 factors and a third-place end.
Published – June 07, 2025 10:47 am IST
