‘Both D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi will…’: Magnus Carlsen receives Norway Chess 2025 warning from Viswanathan Anand

Chess fans around the world are gearing up for D Gukesh’s classical chess showdown against Magnus Carlsen. The reigning World Champion will face Carlsen at the upcoming Norway Chess 2025, which is scheduled to take place from May 26-June 6. Ahead of the tournament, Viswanathan Anand expressed his excitement about Gukesh’s upcoming showdown vs Carlsen.

Speaking during a chat organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai, Anand said, “I expect a very exciting battle.”

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‘Both Gukesh and Arjun will…’: Viswanathan Anand

“Both Gukesh and Arjun will not lack motivation or the determination to go after Magnus. But Magnus is highly motivated by our youngsters if I can still call them that.

“He is highly motivated by the challenge. I mean I've seen him in multiple tournaments whether it's Kolkata or the World Rapid Blitz. He eagerly looks forward to these confrontations and so we have the perfect storm.”

Four Indians GM will participate in Norway; Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Koneru Humpy. Commenting on them, Anand said, “Certainly on the men's side, Indian chess is as strong as it's ever been, even more so obviously due to the depth we have. But it's great that Humpy is still competing so successfully and that she'll be joined by Vaishali as well.”

Other than Gukesh, Arjun and Carlsen, the men’s Norway Chess lineup consists of Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wei Yi. Meanwhile, the women’s lineup has Ju Wenjun, Lei Tingjie, Humpy, Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.

The tournament format will have the Armageddon tiebreak system. If a classical game ends in a draw, players will battle an Armageddon game to decide the winner. There will also be a confessional booth.

Speaking on the innovations, Anand said, “If you have too many in one tournament, it gets distracting also and there's kind of overload. Armageddon is good because it gives a little something to look forward to at the end of a game in case the game is ending to a draw.”

“I don't know that we have found the perfect value of an armageddon game. It used to be what, 2-1 and then it's a bit more, we're still tweaking the number. There might be some formula which will give the armageddon a bit more importance towards the overall score,” he added.