Norway Chess: Indian teenagers shine brightly in opening round

The 2026 edition of Norway Chess began with a thrilling opening round in Oslo on Tuesday as Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh secured crucial Armageddon victories after drawn classical encounters, while teenage Indian star Divya Deshmukh stunned women’s world champion Ju Wenjun in the women’s section.Praggnanandhaa defeated American Grandmaster Wesley So in the Armageddon tiebreak after the two players fought out a balanced draw in classical chess. The Indian youngster adopted an aggressive approach in the decider and converted his attacking chances efficiently to earn the bonus points.
World champion Gukesh also had to rely on Armageddon after surviving a difficult classical game against Germany’s Vincent Keymer. Keymer enjoyed a clear advantage in the endgame and appeared close to victory, but Gukesh defended stubbornly under pressure to force a draw.The momentum shifted dramatically in the tiebreak as Gukesh outplayed Keymer to seal the Armageddon win and begin his campaign on a positive note.The biggest surprise of the day came in the open section where French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja handed world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen a rare defeat in classical chess.Carlsen appeared in control for much of the contest but faltered badly under severe time pressure. Firouzja capitalised on the Norwegian’s mistake with precision to register the only classical victory in the open category.
In the women’s competition, Divya Deshmukh produced one of the standout performances of the round by defeating reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun in Armageddon after their classical game ended in a draw.Another major result in the women’s section saw Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva defeat Indian No. 1 Koneru Humpy in classical chess. Assaubayeva gradually built a positional advantage in the middlegame before converting it clinically in the endgame.Meanwhile, Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner played out a draw in their classical encounter, after which Zhu prevailed in Armageddon to secure the extra points.At the end of the opening round, Firouzja led the standings in the open section following his classical victory over Carlsen, while Assaubayeva topped the women’s leaderboard.