Norway Chess 2025: Gukesh wins thriller against Caruana; Erigaisi loses to Carlsen

Reigning world champion D Gukesh emerged the winner in a thrilling Armageddon tie-break against American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, but Arjun Erigaisi succumbed to Magnus Carlsen’s intuitive skills on a mixed day for the Indians in Norway Chess on Thursdsay.

World No. 3 Caruana enjoyed a pawn advantage for most part of the Round 4 game against his Indian opponent, who turned 19 on Thursday. But the American could not convert it into a significant advantage in over four hours of engrossing chess thanks to Gukesh’s superb defensive skills.

The Armageddon tie-break was applied to break the stalemate, where Gukesh overpowered Caruana on the clock to take 1.5 points from the game.

Both Gukesh and Erigaisi are now tied fourth in the six-player field with 4.5 points apiece, while Carlsen is the sole leader with 8.0 points, followed by Caruana on 7.0 and American GM Hikaru Nakamura on 5.5.

Gukesh later said that he doesn’t really enjoy playing on his birthday but would gladly take this crucial morale-boosting win.

“Most of my birthdays I end up losing the game, so glad it did not repeat in the classical. When I was playing, I felt fine, but when I was losing, I was like, ‘ok, not again’,” said Gukesh.

“The Classical game could have easily gone bad, but luckily, I managed to save it in the time scramble, and then Armageddon was very good,” he said later.

Erigaisi loses to Carlsen

World No. 1 Carlsen showed his tactical superiority in the endgame against Erigaisi, who played with black pieces, to earn three full points.

The Norwegian superstar, who had lost two Armageddon games in the last two rounds, made a strong statement with this win on home turf.

This was the second setback for Erigaisi in two days after he had lost to Caruana in Round 3.

Koneru Humpy in joint lead

In another action-packed day in the women’s section, India’s R. Vaishali earned a crucial half point by overcoming Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk in the Armageddon tie-break, while world champion Wenjun Ju beat Koneru Humpy in the time-controlled format after a stalemate in the Classical game.

Humpy, though, still shared the lead with Muzychuk on seven points each, while Vaishali was placed 6th with 3.5 points.