The Norway Chess 2025 tournament has begun in Stavanger, Norway, and India's Arjun Erigaisi has made a strong statement in the opening round. He defeated China's No. 1 player, Wei Yi, in an Armageddon game after their classical encounter ended in a draw. This victory marks a significant start for Erigaisi in this prestigious tournament, which features some of the world's top chess players.

In the classical game, Erigaisi, playing with black pieces, adopted an aggressive approach. This strategy led to a draw after 54 moves, setting the stage for a tense Armageddon showdown. In Armageddon, white gets 10 minutes on the clock, while black has only 7, but black has draw odds, meaning that a draw is considered a win for black. Despite the time disadvantage, Erigaisi managed to outplay Wei Yi and secure the win, showcasing his skill and composure under pressure.

With this victory, Erigaisi earned 1.5 points in the tournament standings. The Norway Chess tournament has a unique scoring system: a win in the classical game earns 3 points, a draw earns both players 1 point, and a win in Armageddon earns the winner an additional 0.5 points.

The Norway Chess 2025 tournament includes both an open and a women's tournament, each featuring a six-player double round-robin format. This means that each player will face every other player twice, once with white and once with black. The Armageddon format ensures that every match has a decisive result, adding excitement and unpredictability to the event. The time control for the classical games is 120 minutes for each player, with a 10-second increment starting from move 41. For the Armageddon games, white has 10 minutes and black has 7 minutes, with a 1-second increment for both players starting from move 41.

The other participants in the Norway Chess 2025 tournament are Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, and Gukesh Dommaraju. In the first round, Carlsen defeated Gukesh in a thrilling game, while Nakamura defeated Caruana. In the women's tournament, the participants are Ju Wenjun, Lei Tingjie, Koneru Humpy, Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali Rameshbabu, and Sara Khadem.

Arjun Erigaisi is currently ranked No. 4 in the world. He reached his peak rating of 2801 in December 2024, making him the second Indian player after Viswanathan Anand to cross the 2800 rating threshold.

The Norway Chess tournament is known for bringing together some of the strongest players in the world. The event is considered the "Wimbledon of Chess". The total prize money for the tournament is USD 1,62,681, which is equally divided between the open and women's tournaments.

The tournament takes place from May 26th to June 6th, 2025, with games starting daily at 5 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. IST). There are rest days scheduled for Friday, May 30th, and Wednesday, June 4th.