Each year during one of the rest days, Norway Chess hosts its beloved side event — the Norway Chess Games — where the world’s top players trade the board for something a little less predictable.

Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza 

This year, that meant sailing.

The players headed out on the Oslofjord aboard Dufour sailing boats provided by Norway Chess partner W-Yacht, split into two teams: Team Grey (Magnus Carlsen, Divya Deshmukh, Vincent Keymer, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu) versus Team Blue (Gukesh Dommaraju, Wesley So, Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner).

After a spirited battle on the water, Team Blue came out on top — and for Gukesh, who was celebrating his birthday, it must have felt like the perfect present. He wasn’t the only one making the most of the day either — Divya, Vincent, Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh himself also got to experience the fjord at full speed, with a speedboat ride rounding off the day on the sea.

It’s been quite the list over the years — gourmet cooking, cow milking, tractor driving, fencing, archery, bubble football — and this year’s sailing race sits comfortably among them.

Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza 

Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza 

Photo: Norway Chess / Signator

Photo: Norway Chess / Signator

Photo: Norway Chess / Dea Maioli Egeli

More photos from Norway Chess Games can be found on Flickr.