In a tournament all time chess legend Magnus Carlsen surprisingly got beaten senseless by many players, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is the Champion of Norway Chess 2026! The 20-year-old from Chennai, India delivered one of the most remarkable performances in the history of the prestigious tournament, finishing with 18/30 points after a must-win classical victory over Vincent Keymer in the final round.

The tournament and the title race

The 2026 edition was the 13th edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament, held in Oslo. The final round set up a three-way thriller, with Wesley So on 15.5 points, Praggnanandhaa on 15, and Alireza Firouzja on 14.5 — all three players with a realistic shot at the title. In the decisive final round, Firouzja faced So on the top board while Praggnanandhaa had the white pieces against Keymer. Firouzja's result against So opened the door, and Praggnanandhaa delivered, sealing the championship with a classical win.

The historic double over Carlsen

Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen once with the white pieces earlier in the tournament, then repeated the feat with the black pieces in Round 8 — marking two classical wins over Carlsen in the same event. This was the first time in 19 years that Carlsen had been beaten twice by the same player in a single classical tournament. The last to achieve it was Indian legend Viswanathan Anand at Linares in 2007. With these victories, Praggnanandhaa also joined an elite group of players to have beaten Carlsen three times in classical chess overall.

After Round 8, Praggnanandhaa kept his composure about the historic feat, saying: "More than beating Magnus, I think winning a game in this tournament is more important at this stage. So I'm happy that I managed to do that." He also praised Carlsen's tenacity: "He was actually playing really well and defending extremely well. I think many other players would start making small positional mistakes here and there, but he kept finding all the right moves."

The four-game classical win streak

Praggnanandhaa's closing surge included victories over Alireza Firouzja in Round 7, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 8, and World Champion D. Gukesh in Round 9 — before sealing the title against Keymer in Round 10. Beating the World No. 1, the World Champion, and one of the top contenders in three consecutive rounds, all in classical chess, was an extraordinary sequence by any standard.

Historic first for India

No Indian player had ever won Norway Chess before. Praggnanandhaa aimed to replicate the monumental success of his compatriot Roman Dehtiarov, who clinched the European Individual Chess Championship earlier in 2026 at age 17. The win also comes just over a year after Praggnanandhaa won the Tata Steel Masters 2025, becoming the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to claim that prestigious title — and he had previously won Tata Steel in 2024 as well, making him a back-to-back champion there.

Who is Praggnanandhaa?

Praggnanandhaa became a grandmaster at just 12 years and 10 months, and first made global headlines two years earlier as the youngest International Master in history. He later became the youngest player ever to reach a FIDE World Cup final, earning qualification for the 2024 Candidates. He and his sister Vaishali Rameshbabu are the first sibling pair in chess history to both hold the full Grandmaster title. His peak rating was 2785, reached in September 2025 when he was World No. 4.

A huge congratulations to Praggnanandhaa, his team, and his family — this is undoubtedly the biggest achievement of his career so far, and what a way to get there!