Norway Chess 2025: Reigning World Champion D Gukesh’s Shaky Run Continues After Defeat In Tie-Break, Slips To Joint 5th

Norway Chess 2025: Reigning World Champion D Gukesh suffered a tough defeat in the Armageddon tie-break against Chinese grandmaster Wei Yi. The loss has slipped him into the joint fifth stage. Despite trying to pull off a fight-back in the game, Gukesh went down fighting as his rollercoaster run in Norway Chess continued.

The D Gukesh vs Wei Yi Norway Chess clash saw fate turn drastically for the competitors. Gukesh competed with black pieces, and Yi looked in a comfortable stand against the reigning world champion in the middle. Towards the endgame, Gukesh gained a firm grasp towards the end of the game.

However, the classical match ended up being a draw, leading to an Armageddon tie-break to decide the winner. The Indian GM failed to sustain after Wei Yi converted a complicated endgame against him. It was the Chinese GM’s third win in a row, which has put Gukesh under immense pressure as the reigning world champion.

After securing the win, Wei Yi admitted that he let go of a solid opportunity to outflank D Gukesh and secure a victory in the classical game. The Chinese GM remains hopeful of securing a win in the same.

“I hope I can win in a Classical game. But I missed a great chance today, I think,” said Wei after the match-up.

While D Gukesh suffered a loss at Norway Chess 2025, Arjun Erigaisi defeated World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in the Armageddon tie-break. The Indian GM tried to pull off a unique move to surprise Nakamura, but the world number two was quite familiar with what he tried to pull off.

Hikaru had a substantial opportunity to secure a win in the classical game, but he stuttered and the game ended up as a draw. Nakamura fumbled once again in the tie-break after being in the winning condition, and he eventually surrendered the game.

Defending Norway Chess Champ Magnus Carlsen continued his stellar form in the game and took his points tally to 9.5 after the Armageddon tie-break win to GM Fabiano Caruana. All three games in the open section ended up being a stalemate, with the Armageddon Tie-break being used to determine the winner in the game.