All posts tagged: Wesley so

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Super Classic Chess: Praggnanandhaa draws with Wesley So, stays joint second

Super Classic Chess: Praggnanandhaa draws with Wesley So, stays joint second

Published by Parlour News

Bucharest , Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out his fourth draw, signing peace with American Wesley So in the fifth round of the Super Chess Classic, a part of the Grand Chess Tour. Super Classic Chess: Praggnanandhaa draws with Wesley So, stays joint second On a day without any decisive games, Germany’s Vincent Keymer maintained his half-point lead, moving up to 3.5 points. Praggnanandhaa shares the second spot with Dutch duo of Anish Giri and Jorden Van Foreest. France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So share fifth place on 2.5 points each, while Fabiano Caruana of the United States and World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan trail closely on two points, with the latter having one game in hand. Romanian Bogdan-Daniel Deac is ninth spot on 1.5 points, a half point ahead of Alireza Firouzja of France. In the other games of the day, Keymer drew with the black pieces against Giri, Vachier-Lagrave shared the point with van Foreest, Sindarov drew with Firouzja, and Deac held Caruana to a draw. Praggnanandhaa chose the Berlin defense against …

D Gukesh is official champion, ‘political’ FIDE has organised too many world titles, says Wesley So | Chess News

D Gukesh is official champion, ‘political’ FIDE has organised too many world titles, says Wesley So | Chess News

Published by Webster

The chess calendar of 2026 is stacked with championships – five separate players may be crowned ‘world champion’. But American Wesley So, who won the blitz segment of the recently concluded Tata Steel Chess, believes only D Gukesh, who will defend his world title at the end of this year, has an official claim to the title. Recently, following months of public dispute, the organisers of Freestyle Chess and FIDE have joined forces to announce the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, to be held in Germany in February 2026. This is in addition to the classical title, the World Rapid Championship and the World Blitz Championship (which are held together at the end of each year) and the newly-announced Total Chess World Championship, which will go live from 2027 after a pilot event this year. In criticising the sport’s ‘very political’ governing body, FIDE, So believes they have devalued their own most prestigious title – the classical World Chess Championship held every two years and won by Gukesh in 2024 – by introducing these events. …

Nihal Sarin, Vantika Agrawal finish as runners-up

Nihal Sarin, Vantika Agrawal finish as runners-up

Published by Webster

The closing rounds of the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz delivered relentless tension, late twists, and fitting champions in both sections. In the Open event, Wesley So showed remarkable consistency to clinch the title with a round to spare, while the Women’s section ended with a thrilling playoff that saw Carissa Yip hold her nerve to lift the trophy. Meanwhile, India’s Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi clinched the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the open section, whereas Vantika finished as runner-up in the women’s. The decisive stretch saw Wesley capitalise when Vidit Gujrathi blundered an entire rook in a double rook endgame. Wei Yi outplayed Viswanathan Anand by calmly consolidating an extra exchange, while R Praggnanandhaa opened lines for his rook and established a powerful knight outpost to defeat Hans Niemann. Nihal Sarin also struck with a key win over Anand, while Wesley held Wei Yi to maintain control of the standings. As the finish line approached, Arjun Erigaisi scored a notable win by preventing Anand from castling. Still, Wesley stayed just ahead despite …

Wesley So and Carissa Yip clinch Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2026 titles

Wesley So and Carissa Yip clinch Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2026 titles

Published by Webster

Tata Steel Chess India Blitz concluded in Kolkata on Sunday with Wesley So and Carissa Yip emerging as champions in the Open and Women’s sections respectively, following a dramatic final day filled with decisive moments and late twists. In the Open category, Wesley So delivered a model of consistency to secure the title with a round to spare. His campaign was marked by calm decision-making in complex positions, allowing him to stay ahead of a tightly packed field. Key results in the closing rounds included victories by Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa against top opposition, while Wesley held critical draws to protect his lead. A safe result in the penultimate round mathematically confirmed his title, even though he suffered a loss in the final round. Nihal Sarin finished runners-up, with Arjun Erigaisi taking third place, both players ending on 11 points. Women’s title decided in dramatic playoff The Women’s Blitz section produced an equally compelling finish. Strong late surges from several contenders, including Aleksandra Goryachkina and Vaishali Rameshbabu, kept the standings fluid until the final …