The action may be taking place on the board but there’s a lot going on inside a chess player’s mind. After four days of competition at Norway Chess that had its share of thrills and spills, the players enjoyed a rest day, during which they got to take time off the 64 squares and be their own self.

Ten of the 12 participants were split into two teams and took part in a friendly sailing contest on the Oslofjord on Friday, the first of the two rest days.

It was also an occasion to celebrate the birthday of D. Gukesh, who turned 20 on Friday. The usually reticent World champion appeared to soak in the cheerful mood as he was actively involved in the competition around the fjord (a long, narrow channel or wide bodies of open water and lakes in Norway) with enthusiasm. He also tried his hand at navigating the speed boat.

Incidentally, after watching Gukesh handle the speed boat with aplomb, fellow Indian Grandmasters R. Praggnanandhaa and Divya Deshmukh hopped on to it to see how they would do.

Gukesh, who hasn’t had the best of time at Norway Chess — having won only once in the four rounds — seemed to be in a fairly relaxed frame of mind, accepting birthday wishes from the other players. The 20-year-old, bracing for tougher challenges ahead, had admitted that his performances had dipped since winning the World title but said that he was ready to defend the crown against Javokhir Sindarov.

(The writer is in Oslo at the invitation of Norway Chess).