Moments of brilliance and below-par efforts — it has been the story of the Indian players’ performances in the ongoing Norway Chess 2026 at Deichman Bjorvika here.

On Monday, Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa inflicted a second straight defeat on Alireza Firouzja in the classical game in the seventh round, coming up with an impressive show. Playing with white pieces, he worked his way to an advantageous position and with the Frenchman under time pressure, couldn’t withstand the attack and succumbed in 51 moves to hand his opponent three points.

So (12.5 points) continues to top the leaderboard despite the loss with the second-placed Firouzja 2.5 points behind.

World champion D. Gukesh, the other Indian in the fray, pulled off a win in the Armageddon against Wesley So after missing an opportunity to score in the classical.

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer played out a hard-fought classical draw in which neither player could break through. Carlsen later prevailed in the Armageddon game to secure the extra points and remain within striking distance of the leaders.

The women’s section saw Bibisara Assaubayeva extend her lead at the top to 2.5 points with a win in round seven. Facing Zhu Jiner with white pieces, Assaubayeva took control after a difficult middlegame and converted her advantage with confidence. The three points give the Kazakh grandmaster a significant boost as the tournament enters its final stretch.

Divya Deshmukh’s good run continued as she outwitted Koneru Humpy in the tie-break after missing a chance to win the classical match. In the Armageddon, the young Indian GM managed to score, leaving her experienced opponent languishing at the bottom of the table.

The results (seventh round)

Open: R. Praggnanandhaa (9) bt Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 10), Vincent Keymer (Ger, 9) lost to Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 9) in Armageddon, D. Gukesh (8) bt Wesley So (USA, 12.5) in Armageddon.

Women: Divya Deshmukh (10) bt Koneru Humpy (6.5) in Armageddon, Ju Wenjun (Chn, 9) lost to Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 9.5) in Armageddon, Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 12.5) bt Zhu Jiner (Chn, 7).

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

It wasn’t a good day for the Indian players as they lost their games in the Open and women’s events in the sixth round of Norway Chess at Deichman Bjorvika on Sunday (May 31, 2026).

All the three games in the Open section ended in victories in the classical format.

World champion D. Gukesh succumbed to Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the classical, handing his opponent a first win in the tournament while fellow R. Praggnanandhaa’s adventurous approach cost him against the experienced American Wesley So.

“It’s nice to finally win a game after so many failed chances,” said Keymer after beating Gukesh, adding, “I don’t think I was ever worse.”

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen exacted revenge on Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, winning the reverse fixture after having opened his campaign with a defeat to him.

After the win, the Norwegian ace said, “He kind of surprised me a little bit in the opening, and I thought, you know, I’ll just play something.

“I think the plan he went for is not very good and I thought I got a fairly pleasant position, and, most of all, it was relatively easy to play, so I didn’t have any reason to hemorrhage time on the clock as I have in other games,” he added.

In the women’s tournament, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Koneru Humpy played out a quick 15-move draw in the classical before the Kazakh raised her game in the Armageddon to win and return to the top of the leaderboard.

Divya Deshmukh, on the other hand, lost in a wild game to World champion Ju Wenjun.

The results (sixth round):

Open: Vincent Keymer (Ger, 8) bt D. Gukesh (6.5), Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 7.5) bt Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 10), Wesley So (USA, 11.5) bt R. Praggnanandhaa (6).

Women: Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 9.5) bt Koneru Humpy (5.5) in Armageddon, Divya Deshmukh (8.5) lost to Ju Wenjun (Chn, 8), Zhu Jiner (Chn, 7) bt Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 8) in Armageddon.

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

The rest day appears to have done a world of good for D. Gukesh as he prevailed over R. Praggnanandhaa in an all-Indian contest in the fifth round of Norway Chess at Deichman Bjorvika in Norway on Saturday (May 30, 2026) to jump to third place.

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen was at the receiving end again, as he went down to American Wesley So in the classical to slip back to the last spot on the leaderboard.

Vincent Keymer missed a chance to force a win in the classical game against Alireza Firouzja only to come up at the wrong end of the result in the Armgadeddon.

Gukesh said it was “just a very complex game” and added, “luckily, the tricks kind of worked out for me!”

“I felt a lot of pressure and was very tense from the start, but I’m lucky to have come through. I’m surely doing much, much better than I was a couple of months back.

“I feel much sharper. The results are improving, though they are still not where I want them to be. But I believe that if I continue playing good chess, success will come,” the World Champion said.

“When you’re happy, you feel good about yourself. You feel confident and sharp over the board, and you automatically trust yourself to make quick, good decisions. They may seem like minor things, but at the end of the day, they make a big difference,” he added.

So was over the moon after posting his second classical win over Carlsen and said, “It’s not a masterpiece, but I’m very pleased to beat Magnus, who’s the best player in the world by far and probably goes down as the best chess player who ever lived.”

In the women’s event, Indian GM Divya Deshmukh is on the top of the standings, after a win against Zhu Jiner in the classical to move to 8.5 points. Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva is half-a-point behind the leader after crashing to a defeat in the Armageddon against Anna Muzychuk.

Meanwhile, Koneru Humpy finally secured a win, handing a defeat to World champion Ju Wenjun of China in the Armageddon. It was Ju Wenjun’s fifth straight loss in the Armageddon.

The results (fifth round):

Open: Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 10) bt Vincent Keymer (Ger, 5) in Armageddon, Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 4.5) lost to Wesley So (USA, 8.5) R. Praggnanandhaa (6) lost to D. Gukesh (6.5) in Armageddon.

Women: Zhu Jiner (Chn, 5.5) lost to Divya Deshmukh (8.5), Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 7) bt Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 8) in Armageddon, Koneru Humpy (4.5) bt Ju Wenjun (Chn, 5) in Armageddon.

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