All posts tagged: R Praggnanandhaa

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 …

The night R Praggnanandhaa won Norway Chess on Magnus Carlsen’s home turf

The night R Praggnanandhaa won Norway Chess on Magnus Carlsen’s home turf

Published by Webster

6 min readJun 6, 2026 12:02 PM IST The meticulously-maintained silence of Oslo’s Deichman Bjørvika, the biggest public library in Norway, was shattered late on Friday evening by spontaneous applause that rang out from the fourth floor and reverberated till the ground floor. For the past two weeks, the Deichman has been even quieter than you would expect a library to be. It’s hosting the Norway Chess tournament after all and silence is non-negotiable. So much so, that at various times, volunteers have had to rush to the children’s playing area in the library to request parents to quieten their boisterous kids. Late on Friday evening, no one was bothering to hush anyone. R Praggnanandhaa, newly-minted Norway Chess champion, had just walked into one of the three broadcast studios and the 50 or so people who were waiting for him to autograph their chess boards broke into a well-deserved applause. The Indian grandmaster had won one of the strongest invitational tournaments on the calendar after a remarkable run in the second half of the 10-round …

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 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 …

Magnus Carlsen pulls out ‘proper old guy move’ in win over Alireza Firouzja | Chess News

Magnus Carlsen pulls out ‘proper old guy move’ in win over Alireza Firouzja | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readOsloJun 1, 2026 07:04 AM IST It’s starting to happen again. That juggernaut called Magnus Carlsen is starting to gather momentum to chase another title at Norway Chess, however absurd it sounds this time around. After all, it was only yesterday that Carlsen was at the bottom of the standings. A notorious slow starter at tournaments these days, it would have felt like Carlsen had left it too late to power another title challenge. Despite experiencing an unprecedented three losses in five games — to Alireza Firouzja, R Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So — so far at the tournament in Oslo, Carlsen is just four points behind tournament leader Wesley So after he took down the French-Iranian Firouzja in a classical game by playing “old man chess”. Walking into the game on Sunday, Carlsen was asked to rate from 1 to 10 how much of a mood he was in to fight. “1.5,” Carlsen had shrugged before walking away. But on the board, he had opted for an old-school opening trick to try 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 …

Divya Deshmukh takes sole lead; Gukesh beats Praggnanandhaa

Divya Deshmukh takes sole lead; Gukesh beats Praggnanandhaa

Published by Webster

India’s Divya Deshmukh took the sole lead in the women’s section of the 2026 Norway Chess in Oslo on Saturday. Deshmukh, 20, took down China’s Jhu Ziner in the only classical victory of Round 5 in the women’s event. Playing with the black pieces, Deshmukh emerged victorious after a long drawn end-game battle against the world No 4 to overtake Bibisara Assaubayeva as the sole leader of the competition. Deshmukh currently has 8.5 points out of 5 matches in the tournament. Gukesh pips Praggnanandhaa Elsewhere in the open section, the reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju pipped fellow Indian Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in the fifth round. Praggnanandhaa held the initiative for much of the game before Gukesh seized his opportunity in the latter stages of the match. Under increasing pressure and time trouble, Praggnanandhaa was unable to hold the position, allowing Gukesh to convert his advantage and secure the victory. Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are placed third and fourth respectively in the standings. Meanwhile, Wesely So of the United States took down world No 1 Magnus Carlsen whereas …