World Champion D Gukesh is scheduled to compete against Magnus Carlsen in an uncommon classical encounter in 2025. The current champion is scheduled to compete against the 5-time champion in Norway Chess, beginning on May 26.
Gukesh, who triumphed over Ding Liren in the 2024 Chess World Championship, will be looking for a strong performance against the legendary player. Carlsen presently has the highest ranking in the FIDE ratings with 2833 points.
This will mark the first occasion since 2023 when these players will compete against each another. Gukesh faced Carlsen in the FIDE World Cup 2023, where he was defeated in the quarterfinals.
So far, Norway Chess has announced 6 players in the men’s tournament. In addition to Gukesh and Carlsen, the lineup features Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Arjun Erigaisi, and Wei Yi.
Kjell Madland, the CEO of Norway Chess, expressed his excitement in revealing the players and shared with Chess.com that he was highly pleased with the lineup to date.
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“We are extremely satisfied with the field we have this year. It’s a mix of young and strong players and some more established ones. It was important for us that we also had a variety of nations, such as China, India, and the USA. It’s going to be very exciting,” Kjell Madland said.
Magnus Carlsen has openly expressed his discontent with the classical format off late. He chose not to defend his Chess World Championship title and didn’t participate in the Candidates for the 2023-24 season. Recently, he was furious with FIDE during the World Rapid and Blitz Championship and even left the tournament halfway.
The Norwegian chess legend was stopped from taking part in Round 9 of the Rapid section for breaching FIDE’s strict dress code by donning jeans. Carlsen received a $200 fine for the violation and was then disqualified from the match for not adhering to the dress code.
