New Delhi: Ramesh Babu Praganananda, what have you done?Just this Thursday, Norway’s national soccer team held an avant-garde Viking-themed photo shoot with their squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. With superstars like Erling Holland and Martin Odegaard donning traditional Viking costumes and looking like they’re gearing up for another raid, the piece looks stunning to the naked eye.And given the amount of praise it’s received on the internet, it goes without saying that regardless of the outcome of Norway’s upcoming match, the photo will be etched in many people’s memories for years to come. But change it from soccer to chess, and Norway has only one king: Magnus CarlsenWorld No. 1, five-time World Champion, and seven-time Norwegian Chess Champion.Norway Chess is a tournament where elites of the 64-square game travel from all over the world to the land where Carlson reigns. The 2026 edition marked the tournament’s 14th year, with Oslo hosting the tournament for the first time since its inception in the city of Stavanger.The venue was even so close to Carlsen’s family home that his father, Henrik Albert Carlsen, was once heard to say, “I traveled 10 kilometers from my home, and I got a puncture on my bicycle and had to take a bus and a tube to get here in time.”A tough tournament, with several classic losses, meant local hero Magnus, however, was mathematically out of the title race going into the final round on Friday. So who was the quarrel? After the final round of 9, American Grandmaster Wesley Soo was on top with 15.5 points, India’s Praganandha was second with 15 points and France’s Alireza Ferozja was third with 14.5 points, with just one point separating the top three players, as can be seen.
Alireza Ferozja vs. Wesley Sue (photo courtesy of Mikkel Waluza for Norway Chess)
Of the three, the 20-year-old was the form from Prague. Before the final round, Su even acknowledged it, adding, “Prague won three games in a row and has nine points in the last three games, which is really crazy. If Prague wins the classical game tomorrow, he deserves to win the tournament because he beat Magnus twice and won three games in a row, which is really unheard of, so unbelievable for Prague!”But for Prague to win the title and become the first Indian to do so, some arrangements and combinations had to be adopted. The easiest path for him was to win his classical game against Germany’s No. 1 Vincent Kemmer while hoping to gain points by drawing or losing the classical game against Sue Alireza.
So, how did the Norwegian chess crown find a new home in India?
Prague’s opponent, Kaymer, had not lost a single classical game in the tournament prior to this round, making the prospect of the Indian beating him in the longest format a daunting task. But as soon as the game began, with Prague having made his opening move 1.d4 with White, optimism began to rise in the Indian camp.In this Queen’s Gambit Declined, Praganandha moves the game to a dynamic middle game where piece activity outweighs structural concerns. After 16.Ne5, the position became tactically charged, and the sequence starting with 16…Bxa3 led to great simplifications. White emerged with pressure against dynamic knights and some of Black’s loose pawn formations.Kaymer’s 24…Bf5 and 25…Qxc5 recovered the material, but the transition to the rook end favored White due to superior piece coordination. The turning point for the 20-year-old came when he played 33.f5 and launched a kingside move.After 37.fxg6+ and the powerful 38.Ne6+, Black’s king is exposed and forced into a passive defense. An exchange sacrifice sequence ending in 39.Rxf1 ended Black’s contest.By 45.Re7, White’s king, rook and knight dominated the board, while Black’s pieces, tied to defensive duties, found no way to escape, giving Prague three points.
R Pragnananandhaa (Photo by Michal Walusza for Norwegian Chess)
The Armageddon tie-break between Sue and Alireza didn’t need to be seen, as a classical draw in their matchup was enough to crown Norway’s new king of chess, Praganandha.In other matches involving Indians, reigning world champion De Gokesh clashed with Magnus Carlsen, who had recently lost his Norwegian chess crown. Divya Deshmukh was defeated by Anna Muzichak, and Zoe Jenner defeated Konero Hampi.Still, all those final-round classic defeats are too minor to overshadow the sheer excitement of an Indian who had never done anything before and hoisted the tricolor on foreign soil, in Norway, in Magnus Carlsen’s backyard.
