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In the opening round of the Norway Chess 2025, played in Stavanger, local boy Magnus Carlsen displayed his brilliance and outplayed young India Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju. This was their first game against each other since Gukesh bagged his world title in 2014. The contest also marked Carlsen’s return to individual classic chess after almost a year. However, Carlsen’s absence didn’t impact his performance as he looked aggressive and in control throughout the match. In the first game of the competition, Carlsen possessed the white pieces advantage but he did the stunning move of choosing for a Jobava London (1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4).
With Carlsen opting one of the easiest openings, Gukesh D looked dominating with an advantage but as the match went ahead, Gukesh started losing the grip and by move 18, the Norwegian left the 18-year-old on the evaluation chart. However, he did make a comeback prior to the conclusion of the contest but he choked under pressure with his massive error on move 46. He chose to check with his queen (46…Qh6+) instead of the more accurate rook check (46…Rg2+). After move 51, Gukesh saw himself collapse as he had no place to hide. Using his king and rook, Carlsen launched a series of checks which ended Gukesh’s journey in the match.
Magnus Carlsen praises Gukesh Dommaraju
As per Chess.com, Carlsen looked satiated with his performance and also appreciated Gukesh following the match. "He's also an ambitious player. So I thought we're not necessarily going to get a totally flat game just because he's at least equalised from the opening. Not necessarily, but every win in this tournament is hard to come by, so I'm happy with that," said Carlsen as per Chess.com.
Talking about other matches in the tournament, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura held his nerves and got the better of Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in a fierce game. Nakamura took advantage of Caruana's recurring issues with time trouble to earn the full point.
