Full Day VODs – Day 7

Founded in 2013 with the ambition of creating the world’s strongest chess tournament in Magnus Carlsen’s home country, Norway Chess has established itself as one of the most prestigious, innovative, and action-packed events on the global super-tournament calendar. Famously dubbed “the Wimbledon of Chess” by Garry Kasparov, the tournament is celebrated for shifting elite classical chess into a highly commercialized, viewer-friendly sport.

Historically hosted in the Stavanger region, the 2026 edition marks a massive milestone as the tournament relocates to Norway’s capital city, Oslo, entering a bold new era.

The Core Format & Rules

Norway Chess is designed to ensure maximum drama, completely eliminating the anti-climactic, “boring” draws often seen in traditional chess.

• The Roster: The tournament features an elite six-player field competing in a grueling 10-round, double round-robin format.

• No Quick Draws: Players are strictly forbidden from agreeing to a mutual draw before at least 30 moves have been played.

• The Armageddon Twist: If a classical game ends in a draw, the players must instantly pivot to an Armageddon showdown within 20 minutes to guarantee a decisive daily winner. White receives 10 minutes on the clock but must win, while Black receives 7 minutes and holds “draw odds” (meaning a draw counts as a victory for Black).

High-Stakes Point System

To reward aggressive, risk-taking play, Norway Chess utilizes a unique leaderboard scoring system:

• Classical Win: 3 Points

• Classical Draw + Armageddon Win: 1½ Points

• Classical Draw + Armageddon Loss: 1 Point

• Classical Loss: 0 Points

Trailblazing Innovation & Equality

Norway Chess has consistently broken traditional boundaries to make chess highly accessible and engaging for the public.

• The Confessional Booth: Introduced in 2015, this fan-favorite feature allows grandmasters to step into a private room mid-game and deliver brief monologues directly to the broadcast camera, sharing their live emotions, calculations, and psychological states.

• Pioneering Gender Equality: In 2024, the tournament made history by launching Norway Chess Women. Operating concurrently in the same venue, it mirrors the exact double round-robin format, field size, and critically, offers the exact same prize pool as the open section, setting a revolutionary standard for gender equality in professional sports.

Explore our spoiler-free VOD library to watch every tense classical battle and chaotic Armageddon scramble from the heart of Oslo.