👑 Crown vs. King: Gukesh Takes on Carlsen in First Classical Battle Since World Title Win♟️

 

• 🌤️ As the sun makes a rare appearance amid a gloomy weekend in Stavanger, Norway, the sleepy town brightens up with life – adults cycling 🚴‍♂️, kids skating 🛹, and marathon runners rewarded with a concert 🎶 at the finish line.

• 🧠 It's here that Viswanathan Anand, speaking last month in Mumbai, predicted a "perfect storm" – not of weather but of a "very exciting battle" in Norway Chess ♟️.

• 🇮🇳 India's world champion D Gukesh will face 🇳🇴 Norway's world No.1 Magnus Carlsen in classical chess for the first time since Gukesh won the world title in Singapore 🏆.

• 👑 Gukesh, at 18, is the youngest ever world champion but humbly admits that the "world's best player" tag still belongs to Carlsen, a five-time world champion.

• 🤝 The two haven’t met in classical chess since the 2023 World Cup, where Carlsen defeated Gukesh.

• 📸 This match draws major attention at Norway Chess, featuring some of the best talents in the world of chess 🌍.

• 😄 Gukesh calls it a "fun challenge" and says both players will try to be sharp and get into rhythm quickly 🔄.

• 🤔 The rare clash carries uncertainty: Gukesh is in a post-title lull, while Carlsen hasn’t played much classical chess recently.

• 🗣️ Carlsen admits he doesn’t quite know what to expect and says, “There's a little bit more in there for everybody” about playing Gukesh.

• 🇮🇳 Norway Chess has been a positive ground for Indians: Praggnanandhaa scored his first classical win over Carlsen here and finished third last year 🥉.

• 🎯 Gukesh, who didn’t play here last year, also finished third in 2023.

• 🤝 Joining Gukesh this year is Arjun Erigaisi, world No.4, who crossed 2800 in classical ratings last December.

• 🌎 The six-man field includes: Magnus Carlsen 🇳🇴, D Gukesh 🇮🇳, Arjun Erigaisi 🇮🇳, Hikaru Nakamura 🇺🇸 (world No.2), Fabiano Caruana 🇺🇸 (No.5), and Yi Wei 🇨🇳 (No.8).

• 👩‍🎓 The women’s tournament, offering equal prize money 💰, is led by women’s world champion Ju Wenjun 🇨🇳.

• 👭 Indian stars Koneru Humpy 🇮🇳 and Vaishali Rameshbabu 🇮🇳 face each other in Round 1, alongside Lei Tingjie 🇨🇳, Anna Muzychuk 🇺🇦, and Sara Khadem 🇪🇸.