Norway Chess 2025 saw Magnus Carlsen claim that he didn’t think that D Gukesh was ahead of the pack, despite being the reigning world champion. Carlsen also felt that younger generation of GMs, consisting of the likes Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi still had plenty to learn. Now even Fabiano Caruana, who is the World No. 4 and the third-highest chess player in history, has joined the bandwagon, stating that India’s rising chess stars have a lot of work to do, before they start dominating the rankings.
Speaking on his C Squared Podcast, Caruana remarked that he didn’t find Indian GMs ‘scary’, but also felt that they were ‘very strong’.
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‘But I don't find them scary yet'
He said, “(These Indians players are) very strong. I think that we’ll be competing on more or less equal terms for a while. But I don’t find them scary yet. Whatsoever!”
“When I play for example Arjun or Gukesh, I do get this feeling — not just based on this Norway Chess tournament, but on many tournaments — that I can really outplay them very significantly and get a lot of winning chances. I don’t think they can outplay me in the same way.
“Although they will get winning chances and then it’s about some other factors. Really this is my honest opinion. It’s not me trying to play them down or anything. I’m not doing that. They can definitely outperform me in various ways. But my feeling is that if it’s a long match, they’re great fighters, but they also give a lot of chances and (for them) it can be very frustrating to play against someone who doesn’t give many chances,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Although they will get winning chances and then it’s about some other factors. Really this is my honest opinion. It’s not me trying to play them down or anything. I’m not doing that. They can definitely outperform me in various ways. But my feeling is that if it’s a long match, they’re great fighters, but they also give a lot of chances and (for them) it can be very frustrating to play against someone who doesn’t give many chances,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}According to the latest FIDE classical rankings, Magnus Carlsen still occupies pole position, with a 2837 rating, and is followed by Hikaru Nakamura (2804) in second place. Meanwhile, India’s Erigaisi (2782) is third, Caruana (2777) is fourth, with Gukesh (2776) in fifth position.