All posts tagged: D Gukesh

At Chennai Grand Masters, another Gukesh vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov battle loading | Chess News

At Chennai Grand Masters, another Gukesh vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov battle loading | Chess News

Published by Webster

5 min readJul 15, 2026 10:28 PM IST Nodirbek Abdusattorov recently found himself searching for a hotel in Mahabalipuram. He was readying himself to travel to Chennai for the Chennai Grandmasters tournament that starts tomorrow. It wasn’t as if he did not have a hotel to stay in during the tournament. What Abdusattorov was searching for was a hit from nostalgia. Four years ago, Abdusattorov was at the vanguard of the young Uzbekistan chess team that travelled to India for the Chess Olympiad and upset the equally young and hungry Indian team on the way to winning the title. Abdusattorov’s own personal duel on the top board with India’s Gukesh had decided the India vs Uzbekistan contest which then led to them winning the Olympiad while India had settled for a bronze. “I have good memories with this city,” Abdusattorov told journalists after the draw ceremony for the Chennai Grandmasters on Wednesday evening. “I even checked how far away the hotel is where I stayed four years ago. I had the idea that maybe I …

Gukesh climbs to joint second at Grand Chess Tour Zagreb

Gukesh climbs to joint second at Grand Chess Tour Zagreb

Published by Webster

World champion D Gukesh recovered from an early setback to finish the second day of the Grand Chess Tour’s Zagreb leg in joint second place after six rounds of the rapid event on Friday. The Indian Grandmaster defeated Dutch player Anish Giri in the final game of the day, taking his tally to seven points. He now shares second place with Germany’s Vincent Keymer, France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Romania’s Bogdan-Daniel Deac. Alireza Firouzja continued to dominate the field, extending his lead to 10 points from a possible 12. The French Grandmaster holds a three-point advantage over the chasing pack heading into the final three rounds of the rapid section. Gukesh recovers after opening loss Gukesh’s day began with a defeat to Bogdan-Daniel Deac but the reigning world champion responded strongly by beating Jorden van Foreest before overcoming Giri in the final round. Facing Giri with the white pieces, Gukesh opted for the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation and gradually built a strong attack. The Indian capitalised on his opponent’s inaccuracies, won material and converted the advantage …

Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, missing as Magnus Carlsen returns

Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, missing as Magnus Carlsen returns

Published by Webster

2 min readJun 27, 2026 04:36 PM IST With this year’s Global Chess League ending just two days before the start of the Olympiad in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, top players like world champion Gukesh D and Praggnanandhaa R seem to have given the tournament a skip. The names of the star Indian duo was missing from the list of players that GCL announced on Saturday. The GCL will run from September 3 to 13 at Bengaluru while the Olympiad starts from September 15 and goes on till September 27. Despite the absences, the draft for the upcoming season will still feature some big names like reigning FIDE Women’s World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh, who will be making her debut in the league this season, and World Championship contender Javokhir Sindarov, who will likely lead Uzbekistan’s charge at the home Olympiad. The draft also features former world champions like Magnus Carlsen, returning after skipping last season, and Viswanathan Anand. Overall, the player pool for the draft this season will consist of 36 grandmasters. While the season will …

R Praggnanandhaa becomes first Indian to win Norway Chess Title

R Praggnanandhaa becomes first Indian to win Norway Chess Title

Published by Webster

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa created history by becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious Norway Chess 2026 title, sealing the championship with a crucial final-round victory over Germany’s Vincent Keymer in Oslo. The 20-year-old capped a remarkable turnaround after recovering from a difficult middle phase of the tournament to emerge victorious in one of the strongest fields in world chess. Praggnanandhaa finished ahead of a star-studded lineup that included world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, reigning world champion D Gukesh, Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So and Keymer. Stunning comeback powers Praggnanandhaa to title The Indian’s title challenge appeared under threat midway through the tournament, but a series of impressive victories brought him back into contention. He registered crucial classical wins over Firouzja, Carlsen and Gukesh, setting up a dramatic final-round battle for the championship. His victory over Gukesh in Round 9 proved particularly important, keeping him within striking distance of the leaders before he delivered the decisive win against Keymer. One of the standout achievements of Praggnanandhaa’s campaign was his dominance over Carlsen. He defeated the …

Praggnanandhaa wins Norway Chess 2026 title after stunning final round victory | Chess News

Praggnanandhaa wins Norway Chess 2026 title after stunning final round victory | Chess News

Published by Webster

2 min readOslo (norway)Jun 6, 2026 12:33 AM IST India’s R Praggnanandhaa won the Norway Chess 2026 title after a classical victory over German grandmaster Vincent Keymer in the final round on Saturday at Oslo’s Deichman Bjørvika. This is the 20-year-old prodigy’s first title of the year. Pragg had a remarkable final kick at the end of the 10-round tournament, winning four classical games in a row after losing two on the trot. The win over Keymer came on the heels of Praggnanandhaa’s victories over Alireza Firouzja, world no 1 Magnus Carlsen and world champion Gukesh over the last four days. The tournament also saw Praggnanandhaa complete a double over Carlsen. After his victory over Gukesh on Thursday, Praggnanandhaa had spoken about how he had clawed back from the bottom of the table to rise to a title fight. “I’m happy that I’m still in the race because three days back I was fighting for the last spot,” Praggnanandhaa had said. “And now I have a chance at fighting. So I’ll take it.” The Gukesh …

Last day, last show at Norway Chess: Gukesh vs Magnus Carlsen to avoid last place | Chess News

Last day, last show at Norway Chess: Gukesh vs Magnus Carlsen to avoid last place | Chess News

Published by Webster

2 min readJun 5, 2026 07:51 AM IST A year after India’s D Gukesh and Magnus Carlsen found themselves in a final-day race to win Norway Chess 2025, the world champion and the world no 1 are again in a final round scramble for position. Only this time, when Gukesh faces Carlsen on Friday at Oslo’s Deichman Bjørvika, they will be looking to avoid last spot in the standings while R Praggnanandhaa, Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja jockey for the top spot. It has been one of the most bruising tournaments for both Gukesh and Carlsen, with the former winning just one of his nine classical games while the Norwegian has won twice. Both players have lost four classical games each in Norway Chess. They both suffered defeats on Thursday in the penultimate round (albeit Carlsen lost in the Armageddon portion). The Indian, who turned 20 on the first rest day of the tournament, lost in the classical portion to compatriot Praggnanandhaa in just 34 moves. In the first all-Indian encounter in the first half …

Praggnanandhaa stuns Magnus Carlsen to script history

Praggnanandhaa stuns Magnus Carlsen to script history

Published by Webster

Round eight of Norway Chess 2026 delivered a pivotal day in Oslo, with two decisive classical games and one Armageddon battle adding fresh tension to the race for first place. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu produced another landmark result, defeating Magnus Carlsen once again at Norway Chess 2026 to tighten the title race. The 20-year-old, who had earlier beaten Carlsen with the white pieces last week, repeated the feat with the black pieces in Round 8, marking two classical wins over Carlsen in the same tournament. With this, Praggnanandhaa becomes only the second player after India’s legend Viswanathan Anand to defeat Carlsen twice in the same tournament, and also joins an elite group of players to have beaten the five-time World Champion three times in classical chess. R. Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus Carlsen in Round 8 of #NorwayChess ♟️🇮🇳 Pragg becomes the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand to defeat Magnus in Classical Chess twice in the same tournament, having beaten him in the 3rd round as well 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VccDbW4DFF — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) June 3, 2026 Alireza Firouzja scored …

Norway Chess: Gukesh drops to last spot; Divya Deshmukh chasing title | Chess News

Norway Chess: Gukesh drops to last spot; Divya Deshmukh chasing title | Chess News

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Jun 2, 2026 11:47 AM IST World champion D Gukesh slipped down to the last place in the open standings at Norway Chess after being unable to convert his hefty advantage against American grandmaster Wesley So in their round 7 game on Monday. But the mystery of the Wesley So vs Gukesh game was why the American agreed to a draw on the 40th move when the Indian was down to barely a minute on his clock which meant he would have had to survive for the rest of the game on 10-second increments per move. The good news for the Indian who just turned 20 is that even though he is last in the six-player standings, he’s just 4.5 points off the top of the table, which is currently occupied by So with 12.5 points. Just above Gukesh in fifth spot is compatriot R Praggnananddha, with nine points along with Vincent Keymer and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. Praggnananddha defeated Alireza Firouzja in their classical battle. After defeating Magnus Carlsen and …

Gukesh after beating Pragg: ‘Been feeling much sharper, happier these days’ | Chess News

Gukesh after beating Pragg: ‘Been feeling much sharper, happier these days’ | Chess News

Published by Webster

4 min readOsloMay 31, 2026 10:50 AM IST On Friday, the day Gukesh had turned 20, the world champion and most of the other participants at this year’s Norway Chess tournament had found themselves out on the Oslofjord in a faux boat race as part of the annual Norway Chess games. The air had been light, the weather crisp, the sky a soothing azure. None of the tension that seeps into the air when you put so many grandmasters in vicinity of each other was there. Pragg had spent plenty of the trip out on the sea lounging on the hull of their ship in Vincent Keymer’s company, soaking up the Nordic sun. Gukesh, on another boat, had been serenaded by the birthday song more than once. Both Indian prodigies had walked from their hotel to the harbour together for the Norway Chess Games, laughing with each other in a rare moment of both of them letting their guards down in the middle of a tournament. One day later, both Gukesh and Pragg were at …

Norway Chess: Gukesh downs Praggnanandhaa to revive title hopes; Divya storms into lead

Norway Chess: Gukesh downs Praggnanandhaa to revive title hopes; Divya storms into lead

Published by Parlour News

Oslo, A day after turning 20, D Gukesh rediscovered both his spark and his smile, defeating compatriot R Praggnanandhaa in a gripping classical battle to pocket three full points and reignite his campaign in Norway Chess here. Norway Chess: Gukesh downs Praggnanandhaa to revive title hopes; Divya storms into lead Reigning champion Magnus Carlsen’s woes deepened as he lost to American Grandmaster Wesley So, leaving the world No. 1 at the bottom of the six-player standings after five rounds. The victory lifted So to second place on 8.5 points, behind tournament leader Alireza Firouzja, who maintained his grip on the top spot with 10 points and has so far dominated the field. For Gukesh, now on 6.5 points and in sole third place, the victory seemed to breathe life back into the venue. Fans, who had packed the arena, flocked around the world champion for autographs, selfies and photographs, while Gukesh himself appeared far more relaxed after a difficult few days in which he had often slipped quietly out of the playing hall following disappointing …