All posts tagged: Norway

Praggnanandhaa after beating Magnus Carlsen 2nd time in a week at Norway Chess: ‘Magnus still the best’

Praggnanandhaa after beating Magnus Carlsen 2nd time in a week at Norway Chess: ‘Magnus still the best’

Published by Webster

Magnus Carlsen jumped in his chair before leaning so far ahead towards the board that he could have whispered in the ears of his king. Trouble was brewing in the air for the crownless king of chess and his wooden king on the board. In a tense endgame, Carlsen had one move that could have ensured survival: king to e2. The clock had run down to 14 seconds when Carlsen made the 48th move — king to f4 — which lost him the game instead. Because once he had made the move, all his opponent, R Praggnanandhaa, had to do was march Carlsen’s king to its death in seven moves. For the first time since Viswanathan Anand at Linares 2007, a player — of any nationality — defeated Magnus Carlsen twice in the same classical tournament. Praggnanandhaa defeated the world no 1 from Norway for the second time in a week at the Norway Chess tournament being held at Oslo’s Deichman Bjørvika. He had also defeated the world no 1 at the 2024 Norway Chess, …

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 …

The lightness of Divya Deshmukh, leader of Norway Chess Women tournament | Chess News

The lightness of Divya Deshmukh, leader of Norway Chess Women tournament | Chess News

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 31, 2026 02:53 PM IST A day before the start of the Norway Chess tournament, at the pre-tournament press conference, Divya Deshmukh found herself answering the familiar old question again. Did she still not consider chess her full-time profession? Flanked by 11 players who definitely consider themselves as full-time chess professionals, Deshmukh answered with nuance that is refreshing for a 20-year-old. “You don’t need to make something a profession to give it a 100 per cent. For me it doesn’t matter if I call it a profession or not,” answered Deshmukh, who has spoken about pursuing psychology as a profession. “Just trying to do my best.” After five rounds of the Norway Chess Women tournament, Deshmukh’s best had taken her to the top of the standings, with her latest win in the classical format over Chinese star Zhu Jiner being her best performance of the tournament yet. In her previous four rounds, she had four draws and then won three of her Armageddon games. Against Zhu, who’s being touted as a future …

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 …

At Norway Chess, the Armageddon exhausts the players and thrills the crowd | Chess News

At Norway Chess, the Armageddon exhausts the players and thrills the crowd | Chess News

Published by Webster

4 min readOsloMay 30, 2026 11:42 PM IST After Divya Deshmukh prevailed in a nerve-wracking Armageddon game against compatriot Koneru Humpy, she turned up for media interactions with tiny droplets of tears in her eyes. Not emotion. Not happiness.“I’m just exhausted,” she said. In her first appearance at Norway Chess, one of the strongest invitational tournaments she has been part of, Deshmukh had gone through the Armageddon four times in four days — prevailing three times before her luck ran out in the fourth. The tears were not dramatic. They were simply what four consecutive days of maximum pressure looked like on a human face. The Armageddon has been Norway Chess’ defining innovation since 2019. When a classical game ends in a draw, players have a few minutes to compose themselves and draw up battle plans before returning for a sudden-death tiebreaker. White gets 10 minutes on the clock. Black gets seven. But black only needs a draw to win the Armageddon. White must win outright. It has all the harakiri of a penalty shootout …

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 …

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 …

Norway Chess’ confessional booth has a new star: Divya Deshmukh | Chess News

Norway Chess’ confessional booth has a new star: Divya Deshmukh | Chess News

Published by Webster

5 min readOsloMay 26, 2026 11:26 AM IST After she’s waited a long while for her opponent, reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, to make a move, Divya Deshmukh drifts off to the confessional booth. It’s her first-ever appearance at the Norway Chess Women’s tournament. And Deshmukh has some unfiltered thoughts she wants to share. “I saw that there are some people sleeping while sitting in the first row,” she quips with a cheeky grin. “Honestly, I don’t blame them. It’s what I would have done too.” She proceeds to drops another nugget. “I’m actually getting a bit hungry,” she says wistfully. “There’s a packet of dried mango kept on the table (in the player’s lounge). But I am unsure if we can eat it. It might be kept there for promotional causes.” An innovation of the Norway Chess tournament, the confessional booth is a special, sound-proof room near the playing hall that players are encouraged to walk into in the middle of their game, and without being asked by anyone, bare their unfiltered thoughts …

The world champion with 9 lives: Gukesh saves dead lost position at Norway Chess | Chess News

The world champion with 9 lives: Gukesh saves dead lost position at Norway Chess | Chess News

Published by Webster

Vincent Keymer’s pawn sat haplessly on the g3 square, stranded there like a beached whale. All around it on the board, Keymer’s king and queen shuffled from one square to another desperately trying to provide the pawn with the breathing space for it to move just two squares ahead. Two forward pushes of the pawn, and Keymer would win his first round encounter at Norway Chess. Standing in the way of the pawn’s promotion and Keymer’s victory was world champion D Gukesh’s queen. With the game poised on a knife’s edge and with time trouble making the contest treacherous, Gukesh’s queen ran a marathon around the chess board for over 50 moves, delivering check after check. Like hitting a snooze button on what felt inevitable. Eventually, after four hours and 38 minutes, the 144-move game between Gukesh and Keymer ended in a draw. It was a result that felt psychologically as important as a win for the teenager who will be called upon to defend his world champion’s crown in six months’ time. After 18 …

Alireza Firouzja will play at Norway Chess, five days after Romania event pull-out with injury

Alireza Firouzja will play at Norway Chess, five days after Romania event pull-out with injury

Published by Webster

4 min readOsloUpdated: May 24, 2026 09:39 PM IST After on-the-bed chess last week in Romania, Alireza Firouzja will be offered the option of playing chess while being seated on a wheelchair this week in Norway. There was some uncertainty about Alireza’s participation at this year’s Norway Chess — due to his ankle injury which forced him to pull out of the Super Chess Classic Romania. But on Sunday, the tournament’s organisers confirmed to The Indian Express that the 22-year-old will play at the two-week-long event starting on Monday at Oslo. Norway Chess’ social media handle posted a video of Alireza, R Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer, Javokhir Sindarov and Wesley So flying together from Bucharest to Oslo on Sunday where the Frenchman can be seen being wheeled into his hotel by Norway Chess staff. The organisers are yet to work out the finer details of what tweaks they might have to make to provide Alireza a comfortable experience. For now, they have kept a wheelchair at hand in case the player needs to use it. One …