Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa scored a memorable triumph at Norway Chess earlier this month, thanks to an astonishing late run. After six out of ten rounds, the Indian grandmaster was at the bottom of the table. The four consecutive victories which followed (against Firouzja, Carlsen, Gukesh and Keymer) propelled him into first place, narrowly overtaking Wesley So, who led the event for most of the second half.

Norway Chess has an unusual scoring system. Each round, there is a game of classical (slow) chess, but at the elite level many of those games are drawn. In case of a draw, there is a rapid ‘armageddon’ tiebreak game – that is, White gets a time advantage, but must win the game at all costs, because a draw counts as a win for Black. A win in classical scores 3 points, while the winner of a tiebreak scores 1.5 (against 1 for the loser). Praggnanandhaa’s finish of four classical victories was the only result that could see him rise to the top, but that’s exactly what he did.

The event was a rare catastrophe for Magnus Carlsen, who finished in the bottom half after losing four classical games (including two against Praggnanandhaa) and winning only three. Their first game ended in wild complications where either side might have won. The second might have been drawn, if not for an unusual late blunder from the Norwegian.

R. Praggnanandhaa–M. Carlsen

Norway Chess Round 3, May 2026

36… g5! A clever idea: 37 Rxg5 Nd7! wins material, since the Ne5 is freed from defending the Bf3. Instead 37 hxg5 was relatively best, but after 37…h4 the passed pawn is strong. 37 Nd6? g4! Rightly avoiding 37…gxh4? 38 Rxf3 Nxf3 39 Rb7+. 38 Nc8+ Kf6 39 Nd6 Nxd6 The cool 39…Bc6! leaves White with no follow-up. Meanwhile Ne5-f3xh4 is hard to meet. 40 Rxh8 Ne4 41 Rg1 Nc3+ 42 Kb2 Ne2 43 Rf1 g3 43…Nf4! 44 Rg8 Nfg6! still gives Black an advantage, despite the material deficit. 44 c6? 44 Rg8! puts a break on the g-pawn. Kg7? The final mistake. 44…g2! 45 Rxf3 Kg7!! was the key idea. After 46 c7 g1=Q 47 c8=Q Qc1+ 48 Kb3 Nxf3 the computer suggests that it’s a draw with best play. 45 c7 Bb7 46 Rb8 g2 Black resigns before 47 Rd1, since White will soon be a queen up.

M. Carlsen–R. Praggnanandhaa

Norway Chess Round 8, June 2026

48 Kf4?? The decisive mistake. 48 Ke2 is counterintuitive, because it invites 48…Bd3+, but 49 Kd1! leaves Black with nothing more than a draw. Alternatively, 48…Qd3 49 Ke1! Qe3+ 59 Kd1 is also a draw. Qd4+ 49 Kf3 Qd3+ 50 Kf2 Or 50 Kf4 Qe4 mate Qd2+ Now if 51 Kg1 Qe1+ 52 Kh2 Qf2+ and the bishop gives the following check so White resigns