World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen praised Indian grandmasters Dommaraju Gukesh, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi on the sidelines of the Norway Chess 2025. At the tournament, Carlsen started with a win against Gukesh and followed it up with another triumph against Erigaisi. Carlsen currently leads the standings with 8 points, with Gukesh and Erigaisi sharing the fourth position with 4.5 points each.In Round 4 of Norway Chess 2025, Carlsen demonstrated his expertise by defeating Indian No. 2 Erigaisi in an endgame victory. This win came after Carlsen had lost two Armageddon games in the previous rounds.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The tournament’s opening round on May 27 featured a notable clash between Carlsen and reigning World Champion D Gukesh. Carlsen emerged victorious in their first classical match since Gukesh’s world title win, marking Carlsen’s return to individual classical chess after nearly a year’s absence.When discussing the competition from Indian chess players, Carlsen told news agency ANI: “Honestly, it’s not only Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa. There’s obviously Arjun as well, Aravindh, who’s now progressing and a ton of others who will be competing in many years to come. So the future is certainly very bright for Indian chess. Right now I’m just trying to stay ahead while I can.”
Addressing the impact of Artificial Intelligence on chess, Carlsen shared with ANI: “AI certainly has affected the game a lot since it was introduced about, I would say, six years ago. It’s enhanced our understanding of the game a lot, but it’s also been a great equaliser in the sense that it’s now easier to obtain knowledge at an earlier point in your career.”
