Jordan Ray
25 May 2025
When to watch Norway Chess 26 May to 6 June 2025.
The prestigious 13th Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger features a six-player, double round-robin classical contest—spanning 26 May to 6 June 2025—with world-class prize pools in both open and women’s fields.
In the open section, the lineup is impressive: Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2837) returns to defend his title, joined by challengers Gukesh Dommaraju (IND, 2787)—now reigning world champion—along with Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2804), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2776), Arjun Erigaisi (IND, 2782), and Wei Yi (CHN, 2758).
Each classical game runs 120 minutes plus a 10-second increment from move 41; draws trigger an Armageddon shootout. Expected cornerstones include head-to-heads like Carlsen vs Gukesh—their first classical showdown since Gukesh claimed the world crown.
On the women’s side, top-tier players such as Anna Muzychuk, Lei Tingjie, Humpy Koneru, and Ju Wenjun compete in tandem, competing for one of the strongest women's tournament prizes of the year.
The first classical round begins Monday, 26 May 2025 at 17:00 CEST (Stavanger local time). In major time zones, that maps to:
London / BST: 16:00
New York / EDT: 11:00
Los Angeles / PDT: 08:00
New Delhi / IST: 20:30
Beijing / CST: 23:00
Sydney / AEST: 02:00 (+1 day, May 27)
Subsequent rounds follow the same daily timing, with rest days on May 29 and June 4.