Carlsen Returns To Classical, Set For First Meeting With World Champion Gukesh

The 13th edition of Norway Chess will see the first classical meeting between World Champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju and world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen since the Indian claimed the title in Singapore.

Maintaining its hallmark traditions, both Norway Chess events will feature the same format, prize fund, and venue again, with eight of the twelve participants returning from last year.

The world’s top players will again come to Stavanger, Norway, from May 26 to June 7 and compete in a six-player double round-robin classical tournament. In addition to the traditional event, the Norway Chess Women event continues with six strong players.

Norway Chess: Carlsen In Rare Classical Appearance

The Norway Chess field remains extremely strong, with six of the world’s top eight ranked players. Three of them return from 2024: six-time champion Carlsen, 2023 winner GM Hikaru Nakamura, and 2018 champion GM Fabiano Caruana.

They will be joined by World Champion Gukesh, rising Indian star GM Arjun Erigaisi, and China’s GM Wei Yi, all three making their tournament debuts.

Norway Chess

The big star in the field, besides Carlsen, is, of course, world champion Gukesh, who will face off with world number one Carlsen in classical for the first time since being crowned. The two last met in the 2023 FIDE World Cup quarterfinal, when Carlsen knocked out his young rival 1.5-0.5.

“We are extremely satisfied with the field we have this year,” CEO of Norway Chess, Kjell Madland, told Chess.com. “It’s a mix of young and strong players and some more established ones. It was important for us that we also had a variety of nations, such as China, India, and the U.S.A. It’s going to be very exciting.”

We are extremely satisfied with the field we have this year.

—Kjell Madland, Norway Chess CEO

Norway Chess is a rare opportunity for fans to watch the world number one in action in a classical tournament. In 2024, Carlsen played just 18 classical games, his lowest amount since the start of his career. 

Carlsen has stated that he intends to cut down significantly on regular classical chess in the future, which means Norway Chess may be his only event of this format in 2025. Instead, the 34-year-old has shifted focus to events such as the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour (five events in 2025) and the Champions Chess Tour (two events), followed by the Esports World Cup in July.

Despite his decreasing involvement in classical chess, Norway Chess organizers remain optimistic about his continued participation. “We have no reason to believe Magnus won’t return in future editions. He has stated that he enjoys playing here, and we have a great relationship with him,” Madland confirmed.

Norway Chess said they have no plans to change the event format, which includes one armageddon game in case the classical game is drawn. “The feedback we get is that it’s extremely important that we remain a classical tournament. Players tell us that there are too few of them,” Norway Chess CEO noted.

Norway Chess Women: Khadem Replaces Cramling

In 2024, Norway Chess made history as the world’s first super-tournament with an equal prize fund for Women and in the Open section. It returns in 2025 with five of the six players from last year.

2024 champion and Women’s World Champion GM Ju Wenjun is again the top seed, ahead of her compatriot GM Lei Tingjie. Also among the world’s top ten women are GMs Koneru Humpy and Anna Muzychuk. The only new player to join is IM Sara Khadem, who replaced GM Pia Cramling.

“For us, it was vital to ensure this wasn’t a one-time event,” said Benedicte Westre Skog, General Manager of Norway Chess. “We didn’t want a women’s tournament making history with an equal prize fund only for it to disappear the next year. It’s been very important for us to continue this and show our commitment.”

Madland highlighted the importance of the Women’s tournament: “It means a lot for women in chess, but also for everyone who has an interest in chess.”

The 2025 Norway Chess runs from May 26 to June 7, with players facing each opponent twice at classical chess (120 minutes for 40 moves, with a 10-second increment from move 41). The winner of a classical game gets three points, the loser, zero; after a draw, the players get one point and fight for another half-point in armageddon (10 minutes for White, seven for Black, who has draw odds). 

The prize fund in each event is 1,690,000 NOK (~$150,000 as of February 3, 2025), with the winners cashing in 700,000 NOK ($61,000). There will also be an open Swiss tournament alongside the main event.