World champion D. Gukesh appeared flustered yet showed remarkable defensive skills to deny Vincent Keymer before turning the tables on his opponent in the Armageddon after securing a draw in the Classical game to open his campaign in Norway Chess 2026 with a victory, here in Oslo on Monday (May 25, 2026).

Gukesh’s compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, attacked with intent to prevail over American Wesley So to start on a winning note.

It was French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja, who pulled off a surprise victory over World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the classical game. Carlsen appeared comfortable for a large part of the game, but made an error under severe time, allowing his opponent to grab the initiative.

Firouzja, who suffered an ankle injury at the recent Grand Chess Tour event in Bucharest and playing while resting his right leg on a chair, played accurately to register his first win against the Norwegian in a classical game.

The highly-rated Frenchman is in the lead with three points after a rare defeat in the classical format for the world’s top player.

In the Gukesh-Keymer match, the former worked his way to winning position but couldn’t find a way to pick up full points. The Indian made a wrong 50-move draw claim, handing Keymer two extra minutes in a time scramble. Yet, Keymer could not manage to find the win. Gukesh made a second 50-move claim, and the game ended in a draw.

In the Armageddon, however, it was a decisive move on the 15th turn that dashed the hopes of the German GM.

In the Women’s event, Indian GM Divya Deshmukh came up with an impressive performance to surprise World champion Ju Wenjun in the Armageddon after the classical match ended in a draw. Koneru Humpy, the other Indian in the fray, however, fell to a defeat against

Bibisara Assaubayeva, who capitalised on the opportunities in the middlegame before converting her advantage with precision to take the lead with three full points for victory in the classical.

First round results

Open: D. Gukesh bt Vincent Keymer (Ger), R. Praggnanandhaa bt Wesley So (USA), Alireza Firouzja (Fra) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor).

Women: Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz) bt Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh bt Ju Wenjun (China), Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) lost to Zhu Jiner (China).

(The writer is in Oslo at the invitation of Norway Chess.)

He is the World champion alright, but has copped a lot of criticism in the recent past over his performances after ascending the throne. Yet, D. Gukesh is calm personified as he handles the flak he faces over his patchy form.

Here in the Norwegian capital to play the Norway Chess tournament, the Indian, who will turn 20 on May 29, handled questions about the dip in his form over the past 18 months or so with quiet assurance.

Keep performing

“I have not been performing well in the last one-and-a-half years and I think I would say that my performances have been way below expectations. They (critics) have the right to say what they feel and I have the right to do my best,” Gukesh said ahead of the prestigious event.

He said he would be happy to play the World Championship match anywhere, but admitted that it would be special if it was to be held in India, even though the pressure of defending the title at home would be immense.

“Anywhere would be nice… In India there’s always a lot of pressure. The World Championships will attract a lot of attention. If it’s in India it will be supercool and I will be very happy,” he added.

Asked if he would like to see a repeat of the incident where Magnus Carlsen banged the table after a loss to him in the tournament last year, Gukesh said chess players generally don’t show a lot of emotions but when it did happen, a lot of people got attracted to chess.”

(The writer is in Oslo at the invitation of Norway Chess).