New Delhi: Indian chess stars D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa made strong starts at the prestigious Norway Chess tournament in Oslo, registering important victories in dramatic opening-round encounters.
World champion Gukesh emerged victorious after an intense and exhausting battle against German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer. Their classical game stretched to an incredible 144 moves over nearly five hours before ending in a draw. Keymer had a slight advantage late in the game, but Gukesh managed to hold on under immense pressure.
The contest then moved to the Armageddon tie-break, where Gukesh produced a sharp attacking performance. His decisive move, 15.Bh6, quickly turned the game in his favour and secured him the crucial extra half-point. With the victory, Gukesh earned 1.5 points while Keymer settled for one point.
Praggnanandhaa also impressed after drawing his classical game against American Grandmaster Wesley So. The Indian youngster displayed aggressive play in the Armageddon tie-break and successfully converted his attacking chances to claim 1.5 points.
However, the biggest surprise of the opening round came when world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen suffered a rare classical defeat to French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja. Despite appearing comfortable for much of the game, Carlsen ran into severe time trouble and committed a costly error that allowed Firouzja to seize control and secure all three points.
Firouzja now leads the standings with three points, while Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are jointly placed second with 1.5 points each.
In the women’s section, Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated India’s Koneru Humpy in classical chess to take the early lead. Indian player Divya Deshmukh also made an impressive start by winning her Armageddon tie-break against reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun.
