Gukesh Demonstrates the Harmony of Queen and Knight: The Highlight of Norway Chess R3
Of all the tense matchups in the third round of Norway Chess 2025, the brightest spotlight fell on Gukesh-Nakamura, where the World Champion found himself in position to put away the world #2 and earn his first points of the tournament.
White has some pressure, with a more aggressive knight and queen. Hikaru spent 23 of his last 32 minutes pondering his 31st move, and was unable to discover the only good defence, 31. …Na4!. It is a rather odd move; the main point seems to be repositioning the knight to a more stable square on b6, and then also allowing for an attack on the b-pawn by …Nc3.
The game move 31. …Qd6? allows 32. Nxa7 safely, after which Gukesh slowly and relentlessly crept forward, culminating in the following position.
40. Ne7! sets up a pattern you would do well to remember. This is the perfect square to support the queen’s pursuit of the king, since it covers g6 and threatens Qg8#. Black defends for a moment with 40. …Qd8, then resigns after 41. Qxe6 Nxf2 42. Qf5+. The computer calculates a lengthy mate, but more simply White will win the knight on f2 following 42. …Kh8 43. Ng6+. The complementary skills of knight and queen are not to be underestimated.
You can view the full games on Lichess.
Photo via Michal Walusza / Norway Chess
