Norway Chess: Carlsen and Gukesh collect 3 points, enter last round as frontrunners

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/6/2025 – Magnus Carlsen and Gukesh Dommaraju emerged as the key winners in round nine of the Norway Chess tournament, both scoring classical victories to take the top two spots in the standings ahead of the final round. Carlsen now leads on 15 points, half a point ahead of Gukesh, with Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana still with outside chances of emerging victorious in Stavanger. The decisive round will see both frontrunners playing with the black pieces. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Perfect timing

Two decisive results in classical games in round nine of the Norway Chess tournament have set the stage for a thrilling final day in Stavanger.

Magnus Carlsen and Gukesh Dommaraju both won their classical games with white to climb to the top of the standings ahead of the tenth and final round. Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana to take the sole lead on 15 points, half a point ahead of Gukesh, who overcame Wei Yi. Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura beat Arjun Erigaisi in Armageddon to reach 13 points and retain realistic chances of overall victory.

With 3 points still available per game on Friday, Carlsen, Gukesh, Nakamura and Caruana all remain in contention for first place. Both frontrunners, Carlsen and Gukesh, will play with the black pieces in the final round, adding further intrigue to an already closely contested event.

Standings after round 9

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Magnus Carlsen NOR 2837 15
2 Gukesh Dommaraju IND 2787 14½
3 Hikaru Nakamura USA 2804 13
4 Fabiano Caruana USA 2776 12½
5 Arjun Erigaisi IND 2782 11½
6 Wei Yi CHN 2758 8

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura defeated Arjun Erigaisi in Armageddon and remains in contention for first place | Photo: Michal Walusza

In a highly anticipated encounter, Carlsen faced Caruana with the white pieces and opted for an interesting pawn sacrifice in the Catalan Opening. The line had previously been employed by his former second Daniil Dubov, known for his inventive approach. Caruana responded confidently, improving on an earlier game by Alexander Grischuk with 16...a5 instead of 16...Qe7

Despite reaching a position close to equality, Caruana was visibly less comfortable on the clock. As GM Daniel King noted in his video analysis (find it below), Caruana missed the solid 21...Nb8 and chose 21...Rc8 - after the backward knight jump, White would have found it difficult to make progress.

Caruana would again place the rook on c8 eight moves later with 29...Rc8, when 29...Ra5, keeping the rook more active along the a-file, was the way to go.

By then, the position had simplified into a queen and rooks endgame, with Carlsen a pawn up. While still objectively close to equal, Carlsen's consistent pressure and considerable time edge began to tell. The turning point came on move 47, when Caruana played 47...Qxh5, a move which allowed 48.c6 - an immediate and powerful push of the passed pawn.

A more precise manoeuvre by Caruana, such as 47...Qe6, might have held the balance. After 48...Kh7 49.e6, the white pawns could no longer be stopped without heavy material concessions, and resignation followed on move 51.

Gukesh Dommaraju's clash against Wei Yi also featured early tension, with the Chinese grandmaster deploying the Petroff Defence and introducing the novelty 9...Nc5 instead of the more common 9...c6.

In the ensuing battle, Gukesh went for a quick kingside push with 15.g4 - in a position with opposite-side castling. After 15...f5, Gukesh overextended slightly with 16.g5, and Wei correctly seized the initiative with 16...f4

The momentum briefly shifted in Black's favour, but Wei then spent 22 minutes before choosing 18...Bf5, where 18...Ne4 would have maintained pressure and perhaps secured a lasting edge.

After 19.Nxf5 Qxf5 20.c4, Gukesh had regained his footing.

The world champion then took over the initiative, and Wei's 24...Nxd2 proved to be a serious miscalculation by the strong tactician. Gukesh responded energetically with the strong 25.Bxh7+

After 25...Kh8 26.Rxd2 Kxh7 27.Rxd5 Qe2 28.g6+, the game was effectively decided. White's activity, combined with superior king safety, gave him a decisive edge - despite "only" having two pawns for a bishop.

Gukesh converted the advantage with accuracy, eventually entering a dominant four-rook endgame, and sealed the win twelve moves later.

Gukesh Dommaraju, Wei Yi

A crucial victory by the reigning world champion | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.