Norway Chess 2025: Gukesh stuns Erigaisi for the first time in classical chess

High on confidence after defeating world no 1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion D Gukesh continued his winning streak in the seventh round at the Norway Chess tournament on Monday.

The 19-year-old Indian prodigy came back from behind to register his first classical win over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi.

Erigaisi seized the initial advantage of the opening launching what appeared to be a powerful and potentially decisive attack. However, Gukesh demonstrated exceptional defensive resilience, steering the game into a complex endgame. In a dramatic time scramble, Gukesh held his nerve and ultimately secured a hard-fought victory.

Two back-to-back wins have placed Gukesh second in the leaderboard with 11.5 points behind Fabiano Caruana.

Caruana got the better of Wei Yi to lead with 12.5 points.

In the remaining classical game, Magnus Carlsen bounced back by defeating Hikaru Nakamura in armageddon to be placed third with 11 points.

Erigaisi is placed fifth with 7.5 points.

Humpy, Vaishali have tough outing

The women’s tournament saw an intense day for the Indians as Koneru Humpy and Vaishali Rameshbabu lost their respective matches.

While Vaishali lost to Lei, the Humpy-Muzychuk match entered Armageddon. The latter emerged a clear winner.

Armageddon, in chess, is a tiebreaker format used after a match has ended in a draw, ensuring a clear winner.

Also, Ju beat Khademlsharieh.

After the eighth round, Ju Wenjun (11.5) is leading followed by Anna Muzychuk (11) and Koneru Humpy (10.5) in third. Vaishali Rameshbabu is fifth with 8 points.

Round 8

Men: Arjun Erigaisi vs Fabiano Caruana

Magnus Carlsen vs Wei Yi

D Gukesh vs Hikaru Nakamura

Women: Koneru Humpy vs Khademalsharieh

Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Ju Wenjun

Lei Tingjie vs Anna Muzychuk