Will Gukesh get his revenge?
The second half of Norway Chess 2025 is underway, and Gukesh will now get his chance to correct his mistakes against Magnus in the first round. It's do or die for the world champion, as stopping Magnus' tournament rampage is necessary for him to even be in contention for the podium.
Gukesh's main issue in their first encounter was his time management rather than his play overall. If he can manage to adjust properly in this encounter, having the white pieces may just be enough for the young Indian to turn the tournament around.
Magnus, conversely, is likely to rely on his strategy of pushing the game into uncharted territory, which has proven to be highly effective for him thus far in the tournament. The Norwegian has had outstanding success in the first half of the tournament but is now facing the challenge of playing three games with black in the last five rounds. While he remains in the sole lead, there's no time for Magnus to slow down, as Caruana is trailing not far behind. A loss in today's match will significantly harm his overall chances of winning the tournament.
Will Gukesh rectify his errors, or will Magnus maintain his lead? Let's find out!
Gukesh decides to go for the same approach as Caruana in the prior round! This is a deeply theoretical opening with tons of games played at the top level.
Magnus goes another route
Magnus avoids repeating yesterday's position, and goes for the Berlin variation this time around. If Gukesh so chooses, we may get into an endgame straight away!
Rather than heading straight into an endgame, Gukesh keeps his options flexible by defending his pawn immediately.
Magnus gets his bishop into action in the most active way, taking control over the dark squares in the center.
Gukesh keeps control over the dark squares, preparing an expansion in the center, getting ready to go for a pawn break later down the line.
Magnus immediately gets his king to safety.
Gukesh responds in the same fashion.
Magnus could've decided to go for a pawn break along the light squares immediately but decides to maintain the pawns on the board for now. We're still in a well known theoretical line, meaning players are well familiar with the position.
Gukesh avoids any pin against his knight by pushing his pawn on the kingside, now gaining control over the most natural square for Magnus' bishop.
Magnus now poses a question to Gukesh's bishop, forcing it backwards.
the bishop retreats to a safe square while maintaining pressure against Magnus' knight.
Magnus' move is uncommon, as the main move in the position intends to prepare the development of the rook on the kingside by retreating the dark-squared bishop voluntarily, but Magnus has other plans in mind!
His move focuses on preparing an expansion on the kingside at a later stage, delaying making any committal decisions with his pieces. The main drawback by doing this is that Magnus has weakened the light squares in front of his king, potentially allowing Gukesh to get activity going on that side of the board at later stage.
Gukesh rather quickly decides to get his rook into the game, following the usual plans in the position.
Magnus finally decides to block out Gukesh's bishop, preventing any tactical shots with a pawn expansion in the center.
Magnus' novel approach has left some minor differences compared to what we usually see in this setup. This goes hand in hand with Magnus' strategy of trying to avoid theoretical positions, and he should be decently happy about the development of this game.
Gukesh has retained his small initiative from the opening, and play from here will get slow and strategic.
Gukesh bishop retreats to a safe square behind his pawns, preventing Magnus' from attacking it any further.
Magnus now retreats his bishop, preparing to expand his pawns along the queenside at a later stage.
Gukesh burns significant time
Gukesh spends some time trying to get a grip on the nuances of the position but eventually decides on going for the standard plan in the position. His intention is now to reroute his knight to the kingside, putting pressure on the weak points in Magnus' position.
While the position remains thematic, the subtle differences in piece placements compared to the main variations are forcing Gukesh to spend more time than usual. We're still very far away from time trouble for both players, but we've already seen how these decisions can greatly affect the outcome of the game later down the line.
As expected, Magnus reroutes his knight to prepare a pawn expansion on the queenside. This is a big moment for Gukesh, as he needs to make a decision as to whether he wants to prevent Magnus from advancing or to continue with his own plans.
Similar to Gukesh, Magnus has spent a significant time out of the opening, and we're still far away from a release of tension in the position.
Gukesh challenges Magnus' control
Gukesh opts to seize the moment to contest Magnus' control over the queenside. His move momentarily prevents Magnus from going forward with his plan, as he is currently threatening to win a pawn due to the pin against his undefended rook.
Magnus sidesteps with his rook to defend against Gukesh's threat.
Gukesh breaks in the center
Gukesh goes for the break, once again fighting against Magnus' control over the queenside. The result of Gukesh's approach has left him with a space advantage in the center, maintaining his slight objective edge in the position.
Magnus reroutes his knight to the kingside, once again getting ready to expand on the queenside by defending a pressured pawn with his knight.
Gukesh finally continues with plan of rerouting his knight, opening up for his bishop while preparing to get more influence over the kingside of the board.
Tension is rising
Magnus takes the opportunity, finally being able to expand on the queenside while at the same time being able to respond to Gukesh's threats.
The maneuvering continues, and both players have played a strategically perfect game so far. Play could potentially heat up, as the tension in the center allows both players to drastically change the pawn structure at any moment.
Gukesh has now successfully redeployed his knight to the kingside, not making any committal decisions in the center just yet.
Gukesh has a slightly favorable pawn structure, but play remains complex and dynamic.
We finally see a trade of pawns in the center, drastically changing the pawn structure.
Gukesh quickly recaptures in the logical way.
Another big decision by Magnus!
Magnus has decided to open up play on the queenside, leaving weaknesses for both sides. The resulting position is double-edged, as both players now have weak squares to deal with on that side of the board.
Magnus' approach leaves him with an objectively equal position, yet some positional dynamics persist. It seems that Gukesh has failed to gain any clear initiative in the position after the exchanges, and Magnus should be satisfied with achieving equality while avoiding the position turning into a dead draw.
Gukesh spends some time, but eventually recaptures the pawn with his bishop. The tension has been resolved, and we're now entering a phase of slow maneuvering.
Magnus gets his bishop into play, putting pressure on Gukesh's center while keeping his pawn on the queenside defended.
Gukesh finally decides to close down the center, giving him a permanent space advantage in the middle of the board. This was a big decision, causing the world champion to spend more than 20 minutes on this move alone.
His decision has caused the right half of the board to become static, leaving permanent weak points for both sides. Neither player should be in any trouble in this position, and remaneuvering towards each other's weaknesses will commence from here.
Magnus is quick in his response, moving his pawn further up the board to allow his bishop to be moved to a more active square.
Gukesh decides to offer the trade of bishop, relieving some pressure against his kingside while getting his final piece into play.
Magnus prepares his pressure
Rather than moving his bishop forward, Magnus decides to move it back! The main point is being able to recapture Gukesh's dark-squared bishop with its rook if it should be taken, allowing him to get pressure going against Gukesh's weak pawn on the queenside.
Gukesh defends his pawn by moving it up one square, now being covered by his light-squared bishop.
Magnus is starting to become optimistic about his chances to apply some pressure against Gukesh. He comments that he doesn't understand Gukesh's strategical concept and believes the position that has occured should allow him to pose some questions to his position moving forward.
One of Gukesh's main issues lies within the fact that the dark-squared bishops will be traded, meaning Magnus will be able to take control over the dark squares on the kingside with his knights. Gukesh does not have the same opportunity due Magnus' light-squared bishop which is now covering the light squares on the same side of the board.
There's no doubt that the trend keeps moving in Magnus' favor, who may be able to give Gukesh difficulties in the position. A quite surprising turn of events, especially considering the fact that neither player has made any clear mistakes!
Magnus quickly continues his plan of gaining control over the dark squares on the kingside by trading bishops.
Gukesh recaptures the bishop.
Magnus gets his knight into a dangerous position in front of Gukesh's king.
Gukesh moves his bishop to an active square on the queenside, but this allows a spectacular bishop sacrifice for Magnus!!
The move is a difficult find, but there are also other moves in the position that will give Magnus a slight advantage. This is starting to look incredibly promising for the Norwegian, as his initiative is clear at this point.
There's no immediate follow-up for Magnus sacrificing his bishop. The point is purely that Gukesh's kingside position will end up being dominated by Magnus' knights, and he will struggle to get any counterplay going due to the threats against his king.
We're not expecting Magnus to play this spectacular move, but the other options are also incredibly tempting. Magnus is first to apply pressure against Gukesh's weak points, and the world champion is forced on the defensive.
Gukesh on the back foot
Instead of giving up material with no clear way forward, Magnus instead increases his pressure against Gukesh's weak pawn. Gukesh has been too slow to get his own attack going, and he now has to spend his time defending Magnus' threats instead of creating his own.
Gukesh lends additional support to the weakest point in his position while getting his queen to a more active square.
Gukesh is essentially playing a piece down on the kingside, as his light-squared bishop is currently aiming at thin air on the other side of the board.
Being forced on the defensive makes Magnus initiative incredibly dangerous, as he doesn't have to worry about his weak pawn on the queenside being targeted.
Magnus finds one of the best moves in the position but spends a lot of time in doing so. His intention is to grab additional control over the light squares on the kingside, not allowing Gukesh's knight forward.
While Magnus has a clearly better position, he will eventually need to sacrifice material on the kingside to get an attack going. Time is of the essence, as his initiative will crumble if Gukesh manages to successfully regroup and put pressure on his pawn on the queenside.
We're quickly approaching the critical moment of this game, but with the last move, it seems Magnus has the powerful bishop sacrifice in mind!
Gukesh senses the danger
Gukesh clearly has sensed the danger and meets Magnus' threat of sacrificing by moving his king to the side. This allows him to meet a potential sacrifice by not letting Magnus capture the pawn in front of his king with check.
The sacrifice is still potent, but even better now for Magnus is to completely change up his plan. Both players are running low on time, and the players will soon have to speed up significantly!
Magnus immediately realizes that he needs to switch up plans to get the most out of the position! He now instead opts to regroup his bishop to the queenside and is looking to put even more pressure on Gukesh's weak point in the center. If this pawn falls, it's game over!
Gukesh moves his queen to target Magnus' weakness, but this allows Magnus to get his final piece in play! This is looking very rough for Gukesh now, as the heart of his position is about to collapse.
He immediately finds the correct move! Magnus Carlsen has played a flawless game so far, quickly realizing what he needs to do to realize his advantage.
Gukesh attempts to defend his weak point, as he realizes that losing this pawn is not an option.
Another best response for Magnus, looking to dislodge Gukesh's knight that's defending the pawn.
Magnus executes his plan, and Gukesh's position is crumbling. Not only is his pawn falling, but Gukesh's knights are also completely stuck on the kingside.
This has been a masterclass from Magnus, making this position look easy and not making a single mistake for the duration of the game.
Magnus defends his bishop in preparation for the long-awaited capture of Gukesh's knight. The streak of perfect moves continues, and there's no doubt that Magnus will convert his winning advantage.
Magnus finally gets a hold of the heart of Gukesh's position, and Gukesh is left with weak pawns that will fall one by one.
While still dead lost, Gukesh has managed to get some counterplay going against Magnus' king. Magnus' solution is unbelievable: pushing the king up the board!
Amazingly, this will do the trick, and Magnus is now planning an attack of his own. Rather than grinding it down in an endgame, Magnus is looking to checkmate Gukesh's king!
Magnus goes wrong and loses most of his advantage! Gukesh may now be able to salvage the game if he finds the correct moves, but it's not at all an easy find with such little time.
The problem lies in Magnus' king getting quite short on squares, which may allow Gukesh to harass it and save the draw that way. Both players are incredibly low on time, and this is far from over now!
Gukesh manages to win back a pawn!! A draw is by no means secured, as all of Magnus' pieces are still aggressively placed, but Gukesh now has received an unbelievable opportunity now.
Gukesh fights back in spectacular fashion, and this can now go either way!
Gukesh went from completely losing to completely winning!!
An unbelievable turnaround by Gukesh, who manages to take the FULL THREE POINTS against Magnus Carlsen!! A disaster for Magnus, who went from completely winning to completely losing in the blink of an eye.
What looked to be a chess masterclass quickly turned into a nightmare for Magnus after he completely gave away his dominant advantage. Not only did the Norwegian fail to convert the endgame, but instead made several blunders that ended in Magnus being a piece down. A miscalculation made Magnus believe that he would manage to promote his pawn before Gukesh could get back with his knight, but Gukesh found all the right moves with only seconds on his clock.
Not only does Gukesh get his first classical victory against the former world champion, but he also manages to completely shake up the standings. Magnus seemed to be going into a lead of 3 full points but instead ends up tied with Fabiano Caruana in the final standings.
This has to have been one of the biggest throws at the top level in years and just goes to show how anything can happen during a time scramble! Magnus will have to reset ahead of tomorrow's round, as he is still in clear contention for first place despite today's disaster.