After Victory Over Magnus Carlsen, India’s D Gukesh Suffers Heavy Defeat to Hikaru Nakamura in Norway Chess

American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura broke world champion D Gukesh’s run of classical wins by comprehensively beating the Indian to earn three full points

New Delhi: In a dramatic turn at the prestigious Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger, American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura ended Indian prodigy D Gukesh’s impressive streak of classical wins by delivering a commanding performance to claim full points. Meanwhile, another Indian, Arjun Erigaisi, surged back into contention with a thrilling victory over Fabiano Caruana.

Nakamura, the world No. 2 and former Norway Chess champion, leveraged the white pieces to dominate the 19-year-old Gukesh in a nearly four-hour battle. This victory served as sweet revenge for Nakamura’s earlier Round 3 loss to the young Indian. Gukesh, who had regained momentum by defeating world No.1 Magnus Carlsen and Erigaisi in Rounds 6 and 7, was outplayed as Nakamura maintained relentless pressure throughout the game.

With two rounds remaining, Gukesh and Nakamura are tied for third place with 11.5 points each. Leading the pack is American GM Caruana, despite his loss to Erigaisi, with 12.5 points. Magnus Carlsen, after losing the Armageddon tie-break to China’s Wei Yi, stands second on 12 points. Erigaisi sits fifth with 10.5 points.

Nakamura described the win as “a very smooth game,” praising his strategy and pointing out that Gukesh appeared uncomfortable with the pawn structure, which likely contributed to time pressure and errors. Reflecting on his earlier loss to Gukesh, Nakamura admitted to “slackening” and losing focus briefly.

On Gukesh’s overall tournament form, Nakamura was candid: “His results are good, but objectively, he has played horribly. He should have lost to Magnus and was nearly lost against Arjun and Fabiano too.” However, Nakamura credited Gukesh’s mental strength and defensive skills as key assets, noting that the young grandmaster remained composed under pressure.

Highlighting India’s growing dominance in chess, Nakamura stated, “India is basically the new Soviet Union as far as chess goes,” praising players like Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa, and Aravindh Chithambaram. He predicted that Indian players will dominate the chess world in the next decade.

In other action, India’s two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy reclaimed sole lead with a classical win over Spanish IM Sara Khadem. Humpy now leads with 13.5 points, one ahead of reigning world champion Ju Wenjun, whose winning streak was halted by India’s R Vaishali in an Armageddon tie-break.

With just two rounds to go, the competition remains intense as the top players battle for the coveted Norway Chess title.