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D Gukesh scored his first classical win over Arjun Erigaisi to move to second place at Norway Chess, continuing his stunning run with back-to-back victories.
Reigning world champion D Gukesh turned adversity into opportunity once again as he overcame a seemingly lost position to defeat compatriot Arjun Erigaisi for the first time ever in a classical game in Stavanger. With this thrilling victory in round 7 of Norway Chess 2025, Gukesh climbed to sole second position in the standings of the elite six-player double round-robin tournament.
Playing with the white pieces, the 19-year-old displayed nerves of steel to notch up his second consecutive win—without needing an Armageddon tie-break—avenging his Round 2 loss to Erigaisi. The win comes right after his dramatic come-from-behind victory over world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on Sunday, marking a defining phase in his campaign.
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Climbs above Carlsen on points table
With 11.5 points after seven rounds, Gukesh has now leapfrogged Carlsen, who is third with 11 points, following an Armageddon win over world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura. American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana remains in the lead with 12.5 points after defeating China’s Wei Yi. Nakamura sits in fourth with 8.5 points, Erigaisi drops to fifth with 7.5, and Wei Yi rounds out the table at sixth with 6.5 points.
Monday’s result marked Gukesh’s first win in three classical meetings against Erigaisi, who had earlier dented Gukesh’s title hopes at Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee and then bested him again in Round 2 of this tournament.
The hard-fought game saw Gukesh on the back foot for nearly three-and-a-half hours. But as Erigaisi entered time trouble, Gukesh seized the opportunity, capitalising on a small error to force his opponent into resignation after intense play.
"Probably I was just losing it at some point. I was just slowly getting outplayed. From the opening nothing went my way but once I got to this position I just had to keep making moves which doesn't lose on the spot and in the time scrambles things happen," Gukesh told the broadcaster after the match.
Coach Gajewski: 'Not his best game, but a good second half'
Gukesh’s coach, Polish GM Grzegorz Gajewski, acknowledged the rocky start but praised the comeback. "Probably not his best game ever, at least not the first half of the game, but definitely a very good second half of the game, so happy with that."
Reflecting on Gukesh’s attitude after the Carlsen win, Gajewski noted a shift in belief: "When you're in such trouble (as in Sunday’s game) and you keep fighting and you get rewarded for it, you have even more faith that it makes sense to keep fighting.
"So, on the very next day (against Erigaisi), when you're again in trouble, you definitely know what to do, you just keep fighting," he added.
Gajewski attributed Gukesh's rising dominance to his pursuit of perfection and relentless pressure on opponents. "He's demanding the very highest level of accuracy and precision from you (opponent), and if you're not up to it, you might mess up the position even if you're number one in the world,” he said.
When asked whether the win over Erigaisi was bigger than the one against Carlsen, the coach added perspective: "Yes, definitely, Erigaisi is a very difficult opponent to beat, but I would not compare the two games.
“You really have to achieve a lot to be compared with Magnus in any regard. (For Monday’s game) Gukesh was just focused. It was nice, definitely very nice yesterday (to beat Carlsen), but today is a new challenge and after that there is another challenge.
"Gukesh was just making moves; he was completely in the zone from the first move to the last move… He has extraordinary calculation abilities, which combined with his fighting spirit help him defend so many positions,” added the Pole.
Carlsen outwits Nakamura in Armageddon
Meanwhile, in another key match, Carlsen and Nakamura agreed to a draw after just 21 moves in classical play, with both players conserving over 90 minutes on their clocks. In the subsequent Armageddon tie-break, Carlsen prevailed to collect 1.5 points.
In the women’s tournament, Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk triumphed over two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy in the Armageddon tie-break. GM R Vaishali, however, faltered in time trouble against China’s Lei Tingjie.
Ju Wenjun leads the women’s table with 11.5 points, followed by Muzychuk (11) and Humpy (10.5).
Norway Chess 2025: Results (Round 7)
Open: D Gukesh (Ind – 11.5 points) bt Arjun Erigaisi (Ind – 7.5); Fabiano Caruana (USA – 12.5) bt Wei Yi (Chn – 6.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor – 11) bt Hikaru Nakamura (USA – 8.5) in Armageddon tie-break.
Women: Lei Tingjie (Chn – 9) bt R Vaishali (Ind – 8); Ju Wenjun (Chn – 11.5 points) bt Sara Khadem (Esp - 6); Koneru Humpy (Ind - 10.5) lost to Anna Muzychuk (Ukr – 11) in Armageddon tie-break.
