All posts tagged: carlsen

Magnus Carlsen defeats World Champion Gukesh in Norway Chess 2026 clash

Magnus Carlsen defeats World Champion Gukesh in Norway Chess 2026 clash

Published by Webster

Magnus Carlsen emerged victorious in the marquee matchup of Round 4 at Norway Chess 2026, defeating reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a closely fought classical game in Oslo on Thursday. Playing with the black pieces, Carlsen gradually gained the upper hand in a position that remained balanced for much of the contest. The turning point came in the middlegame, where the world No. 1 capitalised on his opportunities and increased the pressure on Gukesh. Facing a difficult position and mounting time trouble, the Indian grandmaster was unable to recover as Carlsen converted his advantage into a valuable victory. The result boosted Carlsen’s standing in the tournament after a relatively slow start and kept him firmly in contention for the title. Praggnanandhaa wins Armageddon as Firouzja stays on top The other two games in the open section ended in draws before being decided through Armageddon tiebreaks. Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja shared the point in their classical encounter, but So prevailed in Armageddon to secure the bonus point. Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer drew …

‘You come at king…’: Magnus Carlsen gets revenge over Gukesh after year-long wait | Chess News

‘You come at king…’: Magnus Carlsen gets revenge over Gukesh after year-long wait | Chess News

Published by Webster

On his last day as a teenager, world champion D Gukesh was reminded that there is still some growing up for him to do to stake a claim to being the best in the business. A day before he turned 20, the world champion from India picked up a fight on the board against world no 1 Magnus Carlsen. And lost. “Gukesh sometimes plays a bit too ambitiously. He wanted to prove a serious advantage today, which I’m not sure there was,” Carlsen said about his quarry later. “Eventually, he played himself into some trouble. And I took over more and more.” Ever since the world no 1 from Norway smashed his fist on the table almost a year ago in reaction to losing at the same tournament to the Indian, the world had been eagerly awaiting another Carlsen-Gukesh battle. Thursday’s game — the first of two installments between the two at Norway Chess in Oslo this year — did not disappoint. Seats at the Deichman Bjørvika, the stunning public library in Oslo that acts …

Praggnanandhaa’s dramatic with over Carlsen

Praggnanandhaa’s dramatic with over Carlsen

Published by Webster

Round three of Norway Chess 2026 produced another dramatic day of fighting chess in Oslo, featuring a major upset and tense battles across the boards. The headline result came when Indian star Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in classical chess. Praggnanandhaa gradually outplayed Carlsen in a long game and appeared to be in control for much of the encounter. However, the momentum shifted in severe time trouble, where Carlsen managed to seize the advantage. Moments later, the Norwegian star made a decisive mistake of his own under pressure and resigned immediately, conceding the win. World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and tournament leader Alireza Firouzja played a hard-fought classical draw after a tense encounter. Firouzja later prevailed in the Armageddon game to secure the additional points and maintain his strong start to the tournament. The remaining classical game between Vincent Keymer and Wesley So also ended in a draw after a balanced struggle. Wesley So went on to win the Armageddon game, collecting the extra points. Following round three, Firouzja remains at the top …

Praggnanandhaa after defeating Magnus Carlsen (again!) at Norway Chess

Praggnanandhaa after defeating Magnus Carlsen (again!) at Norway Chess

Published by Webster

Another edition of Norway Chess saw another triumph for a member of India’s golden generation over the world’s greatest chess player of the current era. Wednesday saw R Praggnanandhaa hand one more defeat to Magnus Carlsen at what is the Norwegian’s home tournament. The third round victory came two years after Pragg had beaten the world no 1 at the same tournament in what was his first classical victory over Carlsen. At last year’s Norway Chess, world champion Gukesh had earned his first Carlsen scalp in classical chess. Carlsen does not dabble in too much classical chess these days. Norway Chess, in fact, is the one of those rare times in a year that he makes an exception to his aversion to playing the longest format of the sport. But even then, a victory in classical chess over Carlsen, who has been uninterrupted world no 1 since July 2011, is cause for celebration no matter how it arrives. Pragg disagreed. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s such a big win,” shrugged Praggnanandhaa in a conversation with …

‘Like a cow ashamed of its body’: Magnus Carlsen invents phrase to critique himself | Chess News

‘Like a cow ashamed of its body’: Magnus Carlsen invents phrase to critique himself | Chess News

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 27, 2026 07:55 AM IST In the middle of his second round clash at Norway Chess against Vincent Keymer, Magnus Carlsen walked in the confessional booth for what was his second pitstop of the day. Over the years, the confessional booth — an innovation seen only at this tournament — has delivered multiple moments of virality. Carlsen, looking thoroughly displeased with himself today, delivered one more moment of social media virality. So disappointed was Carlsen with himself that he invented a phrase on the spot to express what he was feeling. Carlsen thought his game against Keymer “felt like a cow that was ashamed of its body”. He then called it an “udder embarrassment”. The world no 1 felt like every move he was making felt like a “positional mistake”. A few hours later, the game ended in a draw, but not before it saw multiple mistakes from both players, none more glaring than Carlsen missing a checkmating opportunity. So dejected was Carlsen at not winning the classical game on Tuesday, that …

Inside the Oslo chess pub where Magnus Carlsen can hide in plain sight

Inside the Oslo chess pub where Magnus Carlsen can hide in plain sight

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Occasionally on a Thursday, when he feels up for it, Magnus Carlsen waltzes into The Good Knight pub in Oslo for their fortnightly contests. He walks past the bar at the entrance, where a beer tap shaped like a knight and another one shaped like a rook welcome visitors. He walks past the stacks of chess books lined up on corners of the pub, and past the many black and white portraits of chess players deep in thought mounted on the walls. He takes his place on any of the 37 tables, each of which has a chessboard inscribed on it. Those Thursday evenings usually end with the world no 1 player winning the fortnightly competitions. Ordinarily, the world’s greatest chess player of the current era winning a game night at his local chess pub would not be news. But Carlsen’s Thursday jaunts are not to play chess. It’s the weekly trivia nights he’s made a habit of winning. “Magnus is a pretty clever guy, not just in chess. There are in fact no chess …

Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh and the press conference that chess didn’t know it needed

Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh and the press conference that chess didn’t know it needed

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3 min readOsloMay 25, 2026 11:27 PM IST Magnus Carlsen heard the question — would Gukesh make him slam the table in anger again by beating him — and burst out laughing. On his right, the teenager who now holds the world champion’s title tried to hold a straight face for a few seconds, exchanged a glance with Praggnanandhaa beside him, and gave up. The room at the Thon Opera Hotel in Oslo had been waiting for a press conference like this for a long time. Chess, it turns out, had been waiting longer. A year ago, at the same pre-tournament press conference before Norway Chess 2025, a reporter had asked the 12 grandmasters on the dais how boring they found press conferences. Nobody wanted to answer. They exchanged glances. Eventually Hikaru Nakamura, the most outspoken of them, admitted the truth: very boring. This year was different. The mood shifted with every question. One minute the grandmasters were giggling about challenges set by the Norway Chess social media team. The next, Carlsen, Gukesh and Ju …

A year after infamous fist-smash, Gukesh vs Magnus Carlsen battles brewing… in a library

A year after infamous fist-smash, Gukesh vs Magnus Carlsen battles brewing… in a library

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5 min readOslo (norway)Updated: May 24, 2026 11:35 PM IST A year after Magnus Carlsen made global headlines by smashing his fist on the table after losing to Gukesh Dommaraju at Norway Chess, both players will square off again… in a library. The Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo’s main public library that is said to house about half a million books in a sprawling six-storey facility, will play host to this year’s edition. The playing hall for this year’s event has been set up on the third floor with tall rows of books from the music section flanking the tables and about a hundred seats set up for ticket-buying fans. All through the day on Sunday, locals trickled in in small batches to click pictures of the unique playing arena where the nation’s favourite chess-playing son will take on some of the world’s best players in classical chess. A playing board for this year’s Norway Chess tournament with the library shelves in the background at the Deichman Bjørvika, a public library at Oslo. (Express photo by Amit …

Magnus Carlsen denies Arjun Erigaisi TePe Sigeman title with sudden-death win

Magnus Carlsen denies Arjun Erigaisi TePe Sigeman title with sudden-death win

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3 min readUpdated: May 8, 2026 12:01 AM IST The near-miss streak and the jinx of missing out on titles by a whisker continue to haunt India’s No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi, as he fell short of winning the 2026 TePe Sigeman Tournament after losing to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in a sudden-death tie-break, despite tying for first place. The overnight sole leader, Arjun suffered a major scare before American teenager Andy Woodward messed up a completely winning position in the final round on Thursday. Woodward blundered in a tricky knight-versus-bishop endgame while holding an extra pawn, allowing Arjun to shut the door and salvage a draw from a hopeless position. The result took Arjun to five points, while the nearest chasing pack of Carlsen and 14-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus faced each other. A draw in their game would have handed the title to the Indian. But as fate would have it – and as Carlsen has done in so many events – a comeback from behind saw him beat Erdogmus to draw …

Arjun Erigaisi defeats Jorden van Foreest, moves to joint lead of TePe Sigeman; Magnus Carlsen bounces back after loss

Arjun Erigaisi defeats Jorden van Foreest, moves to joint lead of TePe Sigeman; Magnus Carlsen bounces back after loss

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: May 6, 2026 06:49 PM IST The highest-ranked Indian male chess player, Arjun Erigaisi, moved into the joint lead of the TePe Sigeman chess tournament after beating Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest in the fifth round on Tuesday. Arjun caught up with the overnight leader and the youngest player in the lineup, Yaagiz Kaan Erdogmus, with both sitting on 3.5 points each with two rounds to go. The Indian pounced on a blunder by the Dutchman. Playing with the white pieces in the Slav game against van Foreest, Arjun won the game in just 30 moves after the latter made two decisive errors in the middlegame. First, he allowed Arjun to win a pawn, and then he blundered his entire rook and resigned in a completely losing position, handing Arjun his second win of the tournament. Arjun had previously beaten Swedish GM and local player Nils Grandelius in the third round. Erdogmus could have taken the sole lead in the event with a win but avoided a big scare against American Andy …