Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa made history after winning the prestigious Norway Chess 2026 title on Monday with a final-round victory over Germany’s Vincent Keymer. Entering the final round, Praggnanandhaa was
trailing the tournament leader Wesley So by half a point. Wesley So drew his classical game against Alireza Firouzja. This allowed the 20-year-old to edge out Wesley by a single point in the final standings. This was an incredible comeback as he finally won four consecutive classical wins in the final rounds, after trailing in the first six rounds with three losses.
Praggnanandhaa creating history and making his way against chess stalwarts is nothing new; Indian chess fans have witnessed enough! Amongst the several great victories in his bag, the 20-year-old chess prodigy emphasised that this might be the biggest win of his career, and it became more special as he won in the presence of legend and rival Magnus Carlsen.
STORY | I think this is the biggest win of my career: Praggnanandhaa after Norway Chess triumph R Praggnanandhaa described his Norway Chess triumph as the biggest achievement of his career, emphasising that defeating some of the world's strongest players — including the great… pic.twitter.com/Nr3NnjMcBb
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 6, 2026
“I think this is the biggest win of my career. Winning this is more special, and Magnus was there. Also, winning four in a row. I don’t think there is anything particular I changed. But this conscious effort of playing faster certainly helped in my games. I had more time than my opponent in most of the games,” said Pragg after his win.
Praggnanandhaa finished in first place with 18 points, followed by Wesley So in second with 17 points, and Alireza Firouzja in third with 15.5 points.
World no. 1 and rival Magnus Carlsen praised Praggnanandhaa as ‘Fighter’ after his historical win
It was World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen’s home turf, but Pragg swept it away in Norway like a legend. The legendary Norwegian praised the 20-year-old Indian Grandmaster's incredible resilience, particularly highlighting his achievement of winning four consecutive classical games in a row.
“He won the last four classical games. That’s as clutch as it gets. Pragg is an incredible fighter, and it is fun to see him get rewarded for that,” said Carlsen, praising his rival.
The rivalry between Carlsen and Pragg dates back to the 2022 Champions Chess tour, when 16-year-old Pragg defeated Carlsen for the first time, to the very recent dramatic FIDE Chess World Cup victory of Carlsen over Pragg. Pragg dominated Norway Chess 2026 as he defeated Carlsen twice over the course of the event, which is rare for the five-time world champion.
This double win over Carlsen was the first time in 19 years it had been achieved in a classical tournament, matching a 2007 record by Viswanathan Anand.
