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Nakamura Beats Gukesh; Caruana, Carlsen Blunder
Nakamura won a model game against the world champion. Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

Nakamura Beats Gukesh; Caruana, Carlsen Blunder

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NM AnthonyLevin
| 79 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Fabiano Caruana continues to lead Norway Chess 2025 after round eight, even after his classical loss to GM Arjun Erigaisi in a time scramble. It was a heartbreaker for the leader, as Caruana had been pressing for the entire game. GM Magnus Carlsen is a half-point behind, in second place, despite losing his armageddon game against GM Wei Yi with a one-move blunder. GM Hikaru Nakamura, now in shared third, won the Game of the Day against World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, converting an advantage from the opening all the way to the end.

Indian GM Koneru Humpy has regained the sole lead in Women’s Norway Chess 2025 with two rounds to go after beating IM Sara Khadem in the day's only classical win. Humpy is a point ahead of Women's World Champion GM Ju Wenjun, whose six-match winning streak was ended by GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, and GM Anna Muzychuk, who took down GM Lei Tingjie in armageddon.

Round nine starts Thursday, June 5, at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Norway Chess Round 8 Results

Arjun, Nakamura, and Humpy won the three classical games of the day. We saw three armageddons end in favor of Wei, Muzychuk, and Vaishali.

              Open: Nakamura Rises; Caruana, Carlsen Blunder

              Caruana continues to lead, but he was oh so close to extending his lead by another three points. Now every player except for Wei is within three points of the leader.

              Norway Chess Standings After Round 8


              The theme of the two decisive classical games was attacking chances with opposite-color bishops.

              Nakamura 3-0 Gukesh

              Nakamura expected a quick, boring draw in game one, but that is far from what we got. He felt the inklings of excitement on move 18, when Gukesh didn't immediately play 18...Bg6, the move Caruana played in the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament, as Nakamura shared in the confessional booth.

              After an almost 30-minute think, Gukesh played 18...Rab8 and after 19.Qe4 Bg6 (forced) 20.Nxg6 the world champion recaptured with the wrong pawn. Nakamura had a simple plan of attack, as he explained:

              What followed was an exquisite demonstration of the attacking power of opposite-color bishops with heavy pieces still on the board. Nakamura took over the light squares, which his opponent's bishop could not help defend. The truly model game ("smooth" was Nakamura's word) is our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below. 

              On the main broadcast, Nakamura had the sudden realization as the leader collapsed: "So if I had not messed up even one of those armageddons, I would be tied for the lead!" You can listen to Nakamura's thoughts in the video recap below.

              Caruana 0-3 Arjun

              Commentator GM David Howell put it this way: "Fabiano played a perfect game, it's got to be said, totally outplayed his opponent, but the win was difficult. Arjun put up amazing defenses there, he kept fighting, fighting."

              Arjun put up amazing defenses there, he kept fighting, fighting.

              —David Howell

              The start of Tuesday's most unpredictable game. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              Even if Arjun claimed some luck, he also attributed the win to some karma for his loss the previous day—where he himself lost a winning position against Gukesh.

              On the black side of a Queen's Gambit Declined Ragozin Variation, Caruana achieved the better chances in an opposite-color bishop endgame with queen and rooks—the same imbalance we saw in the Nakamura-Gukesh game. He was the side attacking, and attack he did until he started wavering around move 40. By move 42, he had one minute left against seven, and Arjun was fighting for his life.

              Arjun showed that Gukesh isn't the only player who belongs to the Indian school of survival. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              All credit goes to Arjun, who managed to create winning chances from what once looked like a one-sidedly losing position. 52.g4! may have been the start of the counterattack, but the pawn sacrifice 53.h5!? (he called this "a gamble"), opening the h-file, was the idea that even won him the game.

              After an errant check by Caruana, the self-pin 56.Rg3 was the nail in the coffin. The move is loosely reminiscent of GM Ding Liren's immortal "self-pin" to win the world championship in 2023, though this one was much easier to find.

              Wei 1.5-1 Carlsen

              Carlsen's nightmare continues, the one that started in round six with his loss to Gukesh. After a solid draw in game one, he made his second howler of the tournament and dropped a full piece in one move.

              Carlsen laughed to himself after his blunder, during the game. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              Game one ended in a 31-move draw, the first game to finish. The most interesting move was Carlsen's 4...Bd6, which he confessed he "didn't really know anything about."

              That was pretty much the end of the excitement. Chop, chop, chop, trade, trade, trade, and we were off to armageddon.

              Carlsen, who told Take Take Take "It's been a long time since I enjoyed playing a classical game," also told GM Simon Williams that armageddon was more fun anyway.

              But it was Wei who had most of the fun, winning his second of two armageddons against Carlsen in this event. The Norwegian defended well in the Bishop's Opening, but, in an equal position, made a one-move blunder that lost a knight. Commentator IM Tania Sachdev called it "an uncharacteristic, one-move piece blunder... I haven't seen anything like that by him in a very long time." With the exception of two days ago, you'd be hard-pressed to find one like this at a high-stakes tournament.

              Carlsen told Norwegian TV 2: "It's pathetic, seriously, what more can I say? I fell for the only trap he has. It's not possible to do worse than that!"

              Responding to that game, Nakamura said, "I think Magnus is getting used to joining the club of being human." 

              Who wouldn't be happy with the second win ever against Carlsen? But Wei acknowledged Carlsen was solid and that the loss was self-inflicted. He even said in one interview that he was sorry!

              The Chinese number-one GM is number 10 on the live rankings, and he repeated that he is interested in qualifying for the 2026 Candidates Tournament to play for the world title. As for this tournament, he still hopes to win his first classical game in the last two rounds.

              Women: Humpy Snatches Lead, Vaishali Beats World Champion 

              Humpy is back as the sole leader of Women's Norway Chess with two rounds to go after scoring a three-point classical win over Khadem, but Ju and Muzychuk are only one point behind. 

              Norway Chess Women's Standings After Round 8

              Khadem 0-3 Humpy

              Sara Khadem briefly got a chance to escape in the endgame, but Humpy took the classical win. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              Humpy is up to Women's world number-three on the live rating list after grinding out a 58-move classical win with the black pieces over last-placed Khadem. The victory was richly deserved, although Humpy admitted she "kind of messed up in the time scramble," where she missed some clean wins and briefly allowed her opponent a chance to escape. 

              Humpy's win left her a point ahead of two players, after the remaining match-ups in round eight went to armageddon.

              Humpy had a lot to smile about. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              Muzychuk 1.5-1 Lei

              Muzychuk said she was surprised by Lei's decision to go for the Open Defense to the Ruy Lopez, since she hadn't played it before, and "I chose a safe line, but I didn’t have any chances."

              Anna Muzychuk went on to win in armageddon. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              A 31-move draw followed, but the armageddon would prove a lot more fun. Muzychuk varied on move eight, but didn't look as though she was getting any chances for the win she needed—until Lei went for a rash exchange sacrifice.

              The game turned on its head, and Muzychuk confidently went on to win and take the sole lead, at least briefly.

              Ju then joined Muzychuk on 12.5 points with a draw in her classical game against Vaishali, but the Chinese star couldn't pull clear. 

              Vaishali 1.5-1 Ju

              Ju's classical win in round seven was the only time she hadn't taken a match to armageddon in the 2025 edition of Norway Chess, and normal service was resumed in round eight as she played the Berlin and made a rock-solid 37-move draw by repetition.

              Vaishali bounced back from a tough loss to beat the women's world champion. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              After an armageddon loss in round one, Ju had won six mini-matches in a row, and she'd also never lost in any format to her 23-year-old Indian opponent Vaishali. Those two streaks were about to end, however, as Ju's variation on move 13 only landed her in a difficult position. One serious mistake, and 33.f5! was winning for Vaishali.

              She went on to finish the game off in style.

              So it was a memorable win for Vaishali, but Ju still has everything in her own hands. She's level with Muzychuk only a point behind Humpy, and she'll now face—you guessed it—Muzychuk and Humpy in the final two rounds! 

              A tough day at the office, but Ju still has every chance of defending her title. Photo: Michal Walusza/Norway Chess.

              Colin McGourty contributed to this report.

              Round 9 Pairings

              The marquee matchup will be Carlsen vs. Caruana in the open, second place versus first place. Humpy will defend with the black pieces against Lei, while the two players a point behind her—Ju and Muzychuk—will have a direct encounter. 

               

              How to watch?
              You can watch Norway Chess 2025 on the Chess24 YouTube and Twitch channels. It will also be streamed on Nakamura's Kick channel. The games can also be followed from our events page: Open | Women.

              The live broadcast was hosted by IMs Tania Sachdev and Jovanka Houska, and GM David Howell.

              Norway Chess 2025 features Open and Women's six-player tournaments for equal prize funds of 1,690,000 NOK (~$167,000). It runs May 26 to June 6 in Stavanger, with players facing their opponents twice at classical chess (120 minutes/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). 

              Previous coverage:

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