The world of chess watched as 19-year-old Indian prodigy D. Gukesh challenged reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen in a momentous encounter.

On Sunday, at the Norway Chess 2025 tournament, Gukesh achieved a historic victory, defeating Carlsen in a classical format for the first time in his career.

Playing white, Carlsen dominated for much of the game, exerting relentless pressure. However, Gukesh defended with remarkable resilience and precision. Under the tournament’s increment-based time control, a late blunder by Carlsen proved decisive, and Gukesh capitalised instantly.

“I was making moves that were tricky for him, and luckily he got into time trouble. One thing I’ve learned from this tournament is that time scrambles can get out of control.”