Norway Chess 2026: R Praggnanandhaa secured a vital half-point against Vincent Keymer, elevating him to second place. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen handed D Gukesh a crushing loss.
R Praggnanandhaa continued his strong run at the Norway Chess tournament in Oslo. After defeating Magnus Carlsen in a monumental win in Round 3, he secured a crucial bonus half-point in Round 4 against Vincent Keymer to climb to second place in the overall standings. With the top-placed Alireza Firouzja losing his first game of the tournament, Praggnanandhaa has closed the gap with him with this win.
Following a 46-move stalemate in their Classical encounter, the Indian Grandmaster defeated Keymer in their Armageddon face-off while playing with the black pieces. This victory boosts Praggnanandhaa’s tally to 6 points, placing him squarely behind the tournament leader.
Magnus Carlsen Avenges Loss Against D Gukesh
While R Praggnanandhaa advanced, his compatriot and reigning world champion D Gukesh suffered a setback. Playing with the white pieces, Gukesh fell to world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in 42 moves, marking his first Classical defeat of the ongoing tournament. Carlsen thus bounced back after a crushing defeat in Round 3 against Praggnanandhaa.
The highly anticipated clash began with a Queen’s Gambit Opening. The evaluation bar gradually tilted in Carlsen’s favour during the middlegame, but the Norwegian did not gain a decisive advantage until Gukesh found himself in severe time trouble. With less than a minute remaining on his clock compared to Carlsen’s eight, Gukesh ultimately succumbed to the pressure and resigned.
The result provided much-needed redemption for Carlsen, who avenged his loss to the young Indian Grandmaster at the same event in 2025 in a 62-move defeat that famously led to Carlsen angrily banging his fist on the table. Carlsen, chasing a record-extending eighth Norway Chess title, desperately needed this win after a difficult start to his title defense that included defeats to Praggnanandhaa and Alireza Firouzja.
For Gukesh, who previously pulled off grueling 100-plus move draws against Keymer and Wesley So, the defeat comes just ahead of his 20th birthday on the tournament’s first rest day. D Gukesh now drops to the bottom of the six-man standings with 3.5 points
