What is the story about?
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa made history on Friday after defeating Vincent Keymer in the 10th and final round of the 2026 Norway Chess in Oslo. Praggnanandhaa registered a 45-move victory over the German Grandmaster in their Classical game to leapfrog past Wesley So and finish at the top spot at the end of the tournament.
In the process, the 20-year-old made history by becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious tournament. It was a feat that had even eluded even the legendary Viswanathan Anand, who had finished runner-up at the event in 2015. And Pragg happend to outshine reigning world champion D Gukesh, finished at the bottom of the six-player standings after losing to world No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the final round on Friday.
Winning the Norway Chess, a tournament where only a handful of players not named Magnus Carlsen have succeeded, certainly is the highlight of the 20-year-old Indian GM's career so far. But it's by no means the only major achievement of Pragg's career so far.
Here's a summary of Praggnanandhaa's other major achievements:
– Winning bronze at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai and gold at the same tournament in Budapest two years later.
– Becoming only the third Indian after Anand and Pentala Harikrishna to defeat Magnus Carlsen, achieving the feat at the age of 16 in 2022 during an online rapid tournament.
– Reaching the final of the 2023 Fide World Cup, where he lost to Carlsen in the final but secured qualification for the 2024 Candidates. Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian to reach the World Cup final in the existing format of the tournament that has been in place since 2005.
– Winning the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, becoming only the second Indian after Anand to win the prestigious tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Pragg defeated Gukesh in tie-breaks to achieve the feat after the two players finished level on points.
– Received the Arjuna Award in 2022.
In the process, the 20-year-old made history by becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious tournament. It was a feat that had even eluded even the legendary Viswanathan Anand, who had finished runner-up at the event in 2015. And Pragg happend to outshine reigning world champion D Gukesh, finished at the bottom of the six-player standings after losing to world No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the final round on Friday.
Winning the Norway Chess, a tournament where only a handful of players not named Magnus Carlsen have succeeded, certainly is the highlight of the 20-year-old Indian GM's career so far. But it's by no means the only major achievement of Pragg's career so far.
Revisiting Praggnanandhaa's other major achievements so far
Here's a summary of Praggnanandhaa's other major achievements:
– Winning bronze at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai and gold at the same tournament in Budapest two years later.
– Becoming only the third Indian after Anand and Pentala Harikrishna to defeat Magnus Carlsen, achieving the feat at the age of 16 in 2022 during an online rapid tournament.
– Reaching the final of the 2023 Fide World Cup, where he lost to Carlsen in the final but secured qualification for the 2024 Candidates. Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian to reach the World Cup final in the existing format of the tournament that has been in place since 2005.
– Winning the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, becoming only the second Indian after Anand to win the prestigious tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Pragg defeated Gukesh in tie-breaks to achieve the feat after the two players finished level on points.
– Received the Arjuna Award in 2022.
