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World Champion D Gukesh suffered a heavy defeat against United States’ (US) Hikaru Nakamura in Round 8 of Norway Chess 2025. Before this contest, Gukesh looked extraordinary against Magnus Carlsen and comptriot Arjun Erigaisi. Both Gukesh and Nakamura contested against each other in Round 3 as well and then, Gukesh held his nerves and got the better of his American counterpart. However, this time, tables turned as the 37-year-old utilised his experience and performed precisely to avenge his previous defeat to the 19-year-old. With this performance, Nakamura gained three full points and also shattered Gukesh’s classical winning streak.
Following this match, both Nakamura and Gukesh are holding the third spot together with 11.5 points respectively. For Nakamura, this triumph was crucial as he was facing criticism for his underwhelming performances in the tournament. After clinching victory against Gukesh, Nakamura spoke to T_ake Take Take_ and said, “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.”
Arjun Erigaisi wins against Fabiano Caruana
In another Round 8 game, Arjun Erigaisi looked superb against Fabiano Caruana as the former hunted down the American with a time scramble. Talking about the women’s competition, India’s Koneru Humpy regained the sole lead after hammering Spain’s International Master Sara Khadem.
Humpy was one point ahead of defending world champion China’s Ju Wenjun. However, Ju’s six-match streak concluded with her defeat against R Vaishali in Round 8. Vaishali is in the fifth spot with 9.5 points in the Armageddon tie-break.
