Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa. File picture
| Photo Credit: Sportstar
Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa on Friday (June 5, 2026) defeated German Vincent Keymer in the 10th and final round at Deichman Bjorvika to win the Norway Chess 2026.
He topped the leaderboard with 18 points, one ahead of American Wesley So, with his convincing win in the final round.
He is the first Indian to emerge champion in the prestigious tournament.
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The 20-year-old player won four classical games on the trot to take the top spot after So’s chances of claiming the trophy ended after his game against Alireza Firouzja ended in a draw.
The stalemate between the overnight leader So and the Frenchman also meant Firouzja couldn’t triumph.
Praggnanandhaa had on Thursday outgunned the World champion and compatriot D. Gukesh to surge to the second spot behind So.
It was a rather remarkable turnaround by him after having slipped to the last place on the points table after a mid-tournament struggle.
“I didn’t think about this when I lost two games in a row—I just wanted to play chess,” Praggnanandhaa said after the memorable win.
Later, So beat Firouzja in the Armageddon to finish with 17 points.
World No.1 Magnus Carlsen ended a forgettable tournament, by beating Gukesh to avoid the wooden spoon, which was taken by the world champion.
In the women’s event, the final round saw all the classical games end decisively. Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubeyava, who had won the top prize with a round to spare on Thursday, went down to world champion Ju Wenjun. She ended up with 16.5 points while China’s Zhu Jiner outplayed the Indian ace Koneru Humpy to surge to 16 points and the second spot.
Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk claimed the third spot after beating Divya Deshmukh in the last round.
The results
10th round: Open: Alireza Firouza (Fra, 15.5) lost to Wesley So (USA, 17) in Armageddon, Vincent Keymer (Ger, 11) lost to R. Praggnanandhaa (18), Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 13) bt D. Gukesh (8).
Women: Zhu Jiner (Chn, 16) bt Koneru Humpy (9), Ju Wenjun (Chn, 13.5) bt Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 16.5), Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 15) bt Divya Deshmukh (10).
(The writer is in Oslo at the invitation of Norway Chess.)
Published – June 06, 2026 01:31 am IST
