World Champion Gukesh arrives in Stavanger; pegs the face-off against Magnus Carlsenas a ‘fun challenge’

Stavanger (Norway), May 25, 2025: The youngest world chess champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, arrived at Stavanger on Saturday for the most anticipated contest of the year at the Norway Chesss 2025 scheduled to start from May 26 here at the headquarters of Sepebank 1 Sør-Norge.

For the first time since he was crowned as the world chess champion, after Beaft Ding Liren in a match of the best 14 games in Singapore last year, the 18 -year -old will face against No. 1 of the Magnus Carlsen world in the classic format.

Speaking about facing the Norwegian icon Carlsen in his backyard, Gukesh said: “I feel great to be here (in Stavanger). I have had good memories of Norway. I am sure that he is playing Magnus here in a classic game, it is for the Ware, it is for the Ware, for tea. Versus player No.1 in the world.

The last time Gukesh participated in Norway’s chess was in 2023, where he finished third, ensuring the crucial points of the FIDE circuit necessary to qualify for the 2024 candidate tournament. This achievement made him the third youngest player in the story to qualify for a candidate tournament, following the steps of Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen.

By August 2023, Gukesh shattered another record, becoming the youngest player to achieve a 2750 qualification. A month later, in September 2023, he surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the best classified player in India, marking the first time in 37 years that someone who is not Anand maintained this distinction. He was in a song in 2024 from the year with the first place in Tata Steel Masters in January, he dominated the candidate tournament, ensuring his place in the World Chess Championship match. In the Olympiad, the team led India to gold while winning an individual gold medal aboard an outstanding performance.

Elaborating to keep up with the expectations participulate after his recent success, Gukesh said: “It is a new level. But when I see it as a challenge for myself, I can handle this. Although the expectations are high.

Among the challenges in a classic game, Gukesh feels that one of the things to vary is to combat his own thoughts. “In a classic game, you end up playing five hours and those are the moments when you cannot be thinking completely about the game. I think there are random thoughts that come to mind, but the important thing is to stay in the game and come to those headdresses later.

The Norway 2025 chess and Norway Chess Women 2025 will take place later in the day.

Arjun Eyigaisi of India will also be presented in the chess of Norway, which will have one of the strongest alignments, including Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (US (Ukraine), Vaishali R (India) and Sarimalemalsadat. (Spain) will fight for the greatest honors.

About Norway’s chess

Norway’s chess is one of the main chess tournaments in the world, which brings together the best male and female players in a distinctive format of 6 double round-robin players. The introduction of Norwegian chess women in 2024, with funds of the same award for men and women, underlines the commitment of the event to gender equality and innovation in sports. Norway Chess 2025 will take place from May 26 to June 6. Norway Summit, an annual multidisciplinary conference on new technologies, innovation and the economy, takes place together with the chess of Norway every year and is scheduled for June 4 in 2025.