2025’s first Carlsen-Gukesh classical showdown today as Norway Chess begins

The much-awaited classical showdown between World Champion D Gukesh and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen is finally here. The two have been paired in the first round of the prestigious Norway Chess 2025 tournament at Stavanger starting Monday.

Gukesh has black pieces against Carlsen, who doesn't play classical chess regularly. Gukesh is the classical world champion, a title Carlsen won five times but has not fought for since 2023, claiming he lacks motivation.

Classical chess is the longest format, with Norway Chess played at a time control of 120 minutes and a 10-second increment starting move 41 per player.

Though Gukesh and Carlsen have met a few times this year, it's mostly in freestyle chess and the rapid format. Monday's classical tie will be Carlsen's first against Gukesh since the Indian was crowned the world champion in December.

"For sure, it's a special game to start the tournament with," Gukesh said in a media interaction. "But also, I mean, you play all the players with both colours, so it really doesn't make a difference.

"Since it's the start of the tournament, I guess we'll both try to be as sharp as possible and get into the tournament as quickly as possible as it's the first round."

Carlsen sounded modest, claiming he hadn't played much classical chess lately. "Classical chess that I have played, it's mostly been against somewhat lower-rated players. So, whether it's against Gukesh or somebody else, I'm not really quite sure what to expect," Carlsen said.

"I think, I certainly want to do well in those games and he (Gukesh) does as well. I mean, I cannot speak for him, but I wouldn't imagine otherwise," said the Norwegian Super GM.

Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wei Yi and Arjun Erigaisi are the other players in the men's category of Norway Chess. In the women's section, India's Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali will play in a strong field comprising World Champion Ju Wenjun, Anna Muzychuk, Lei Tingjie and Sara Khadem.