R Praggnanandhaa emulated Viswanathan Anand’s historic record when he defeated Magnus Carlsen for the second time in the Norway Chess 2026 on Tuesday, June 2. Praggnanandhaa had earlier defeated Carlsen with the white pieces and backed that up with a victory with the black pieces. He has become just the second player, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand, to defeat Carlsen twice in a single tournament.
The victory also makes the 20-year-old prodigy the only player to beat Carlsen twice in classical games this year. Meanwhile, Carlsen’s hopes of a title defence now hang in the balance as he has endured a rare struggle-filled campaign, losing four classical games. This included two defeats to the 20-year-old Praggnanandhaa, who has now strengthened his chances of winning the title.
Praggnanandhaa eyes historic Norway Chess title
Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa is eyeing a historic Norway Chess title as if he wins this, he would become the first Indian to bag the prestigious crown. The win has boosted his chances of doing it. He now sits in the third place behind the leader, American Grandmaster Wesley So and France’s Alireza Firouzja. The Indian GM has 12 points after eight rounds, while So has 14 and Firouzja 13 to rank second.
So defeated Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the Armageddon tie-break, while Firouzja outclassed the current world champion and India’s GM D.Gukesh in a classical clash.
Gukesh’s title hopes all but over
Whileย Praggnanandhaa has strengthened his chances of winning the Norway title, it’s all but over for the reigning champion Gukesh. The other 20-year-old Indian lost his latest round toย Firouzja. He now finds himself stuck in sixth place with eight points. Gukesh can take his tally to a maximum of 14 points if he churns out wins in his last two classical games. However, even then, his tally is set not to be enough for a title challenge.
The defeat to Firouzja is Gukesh’s third loss in the Classical format in the tournament. Gukesh, who became the world champion in December 2024 after his win over Ding Liren, is set to defend his crown later in the year when he goes up against Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov later in the year. He has focused on balancing the elite tournament commitments ahead of his title defence.
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