What a roller coaster ride it was for India’s R Praggnanandhaa at the Norway Chess 2026 tournament. The 20-year-old found himself at the bottom after the sixth round, but he bounced back in style, winning four classical games in a row to become the first Indian ever to register a victory at the prestigious tournament. In the final round, Praggnanandhaa outclassed Germany’s Vincent Keymer at Oslo’s Deichman Bjørvika. In the final four games, the Indian grandmaster defeated Alireza Firouzja, world no.1 Magnus Carlsen, D Gukesh, and Keymer.
The Norway Chess 2026 also saw Praggnanandhaa completing a double over Carlsen. In his final match, the youngster was seen pacing around just a few moments before clinching the victory. There was palpable tension on his face as he walked around the playing area to gather his thoughts.
He then quickly returned to his seat, and his opponent eventually resigned, marking yet another historic chapter in Indian chess.
After the win, Praggnanandhaa revealed that once he realised he was in a winning position, he started feeling tense, which was why he needed a few seconds to himself.
“I still don’t feel like I just won. When I started feeling I was winning, I felt a lot of tension. I still am in the same zone,” said Praggnanandhaa immediately after his win.
Gukesh victory standout
After registering a victory over Gukesh in the competition earlier this week, Praggnanandhaa had opened up on clawing 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. And now I have a chance at fighting. So I’ll take it,” he said.
“Quite proud about this game (versus Gukesh), honestly, because this is how I usually lose to him. He does some weird, creative stuff. I end up overthinking, doing something myself, and losing. I thought I managed my time well and did the calculations well. So I thought it was a good game overall,” he added while speaking during a post-game interview on Norway Chess’ official broadcast.
Speaking of Norway Chess, Praggnanandhaa topped the leaderboard with 18 points, one ahead of the USA’s Wesley So. “I didn’t think about this when I lost two games in a row—I just wanted to play chess,” said Praggnanandhaa.
