R Pragnanananda, Magnus Carlsen and Divya Deshmukh (Photo by Michal Valusza/Norwegian Chess Club)
New Delhi: Remember Norwegian Chess 2024? In the third round of that edition, 18-year-old Rameshbabu Pragnananda claimed his first ever Classic victory over Magnus Carlsen. Since then, a lot has changed. Prague has grown up by two years, Carlsen is now a father, and the Norwegian chess base has moved to the capital, Oslo.
But when the two chess giants clashed again on Wednesday, the Deichmann Bjørvika library saw no change in the text.
Before the start of the third round on Wednesday, Indian grandmaster R Prajanananda found himself at the bottom of the standings by just one point. By his lofty standards, world number one and five-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen has not had an ideal start to his home campaign either, having fallen to Alireza Firouzja in the opening round before defeating Vincent Kemmer at Armageddon in the following round.
However, for Carlsen to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Pragnananda in classical chess was something very few could have predicted, making this achievement incredibly special for the 20-year-old Chennai player.
The struggles of the young Indian since mid-2025 have been clearly visible. However, it was a brave and absolutely unrecognizable version of Pragnanananda who came up against one of the greatest players ever to grace the 64-square game.
By playing with the white pieces, Praggnanandhaa triggered very aggressive ideas on the part of the king in the Najdorf version, using early pushes h4 and f4 to apply immediate pressure. Carlsen accepted the material gains on offer but severely underestimated the importance of coordinating White’s pieces and passing the dangerous pawn. The active Prague Crows and the Knights’ tactical maneuvers gradually overwhelmed the home favorite.
Black’s exposed king and G’s advancing pawn ultimately proved useless in the face of careful shifting and constant positional control in the tense endgame, resulting in a memorable 62-move victory for the young Indian.Carlsen’s disappointment was clearly visible after he retired from the match; He spent a few seconds looking up and panting awkwardly to show his immense frustration. Fortunately for the organizers, there was no noise at the table at the end this time.
R Pragnanananda vs. Magnus Carlsen (Photo by Michal Valusza/Norway Chess)
With this landslide win, Praggnanandhaa catapulted himself to second place in the Open Division standings with 4.5 out of 9 points.
The debut of Divya’s Dream: Armageddon Scalp continues for the third time in a row
The day brought more joy to Indian chess fans with Divya Deshmukh’s third consecutive win in the Armageddon tournament at the Norwegian Women’s Chess Championship.
In her debut in the elite field, the 20-year-old from Nagpur remains completely unbeaten. The list of world-class opponents she’s knocked out is staggering: women’s world champion Gu Wenjun in the first round, India’s women’s No. 1 Koneru Hampi in the second round, and now three-time women’s world blitz champion, Bibisara Asaobayeva.
Bibisara Asabayeva vs. Divya Deshmukh (Photo by Michal Valusha/Chess Norway)
Playing with black pieces, Divia twice absorbed Bebesara’s attacks on Wednesday, first in the classic clash and then in the tie-break.
After earning a strong draw in the classic match, Divya had the psychological advantage to draw the odds in the deciding match at Armageddon, and only required a draw with Black to secure the match win.In the tie-break, Bibisara adopted a flexible English setup, but Divya comfortably equalized before seizing the initiative with a sharp center break on the move 25…b4. She then executed a flawless tactical sequence starting on 26…
Bxe4.
Black’s active rook penetration and knight’s superior coordination completely dominated the ensuing endgame, repeatedly rendering White’s king passive. Although Bibisara defended stubbornly, Divya’s relentlessly active cutting and precise control ensured there was no way to get through under pressure, handing the Indian teenager another decisive win in the match.
Elsewhere: Jokish and Hampi suffer Armageddon defeats
Aside from the headline between Magnus and Prague, the global chess community has been watching the battle between Alireza Firouzja and World Championship contender De Gokis.
The world champion contender was facing the rampant tournament leader who had a perfect score of 6/6 while playing due to a foot injury.
De Gokish vs. Alireza Firouzja (Photo by Michal Valusha/Chess Norway)
Jokés managed to stop the Firouzja juggernaut from claiming a third successive Classic win, earning an equalizer for the Frenchman. However, the Indian was unable to replicate that stability in the tie-break, faltering with the white pieces as Firouzja claimed victory in Armageddon.
On Thursday, Jokis will face Magnus, who now finds himself at the bottom of the table.In another open tiebreak, German No. 1 Vincent Kemmer, who was playing with White, fell to American grandmaster Wesley So.
In the women’s category, Indian veteran Koneru Hampi suffered another heartbreaking defeat at Armageddon, this time losing to defending women’s chess champion Anna Muzychuk of Norway. With this result, Hamby remains firmly at the bottom of the table with 2 points out of a possible 9. Meanwhile, in the All-Chinese Armageddon encounter, Zhou Jenner defeated the current world champion Gu Wenjun.Read also: Losing Father at Three, Mother’s Faith Remains: Aravind Chitambaram’s Rise to Become First Indian at E-Sports Chess World Cup 2026