Praggnanandhaa outshines Carlsen as world No 1's poor run at Norway Chess continues; another setback for Gukesh

Magnus Carlsen's poor run in the 2026 Norway Chess continued with the world No 1 and defending champion suffering his second Classical defeat in three rounds, this time against Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa. The Norwegan GM had begun his campaign with a stunning loss against Iranian-French GM Alireza Firouzja which was followed by an Armageddon victory over Vincent Keymer after the two played out an 85-move stalemate.

Pragg recovers from tight position to conquer the world No 1

Carlsen, however, suffered another setback in Round 3 on Wednesday, losing to Praggnanandhaa in 46 moves while playing with black pieces. The game began with a Sicilian Defense opening and swung from one player to another until Carlsen appeared to have gained a decisive advantage following an error by Pragg in his 37th move (Nd6).

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Not only did Praggnanandhaa recover from the tight position, he seized control of the game after his celebrated opponent committed a grave mistake in the 44th move (Kg7), resigning just two moves later with both players having a little under a minute left on the clock.

It wasn't Praggnanandhaa's first victory over Carlsen; he had beaten the five-time world champion in a Classical game for the first time at the same event back in 2024, and has multiple victories over him in shorter formats.

Carlsen had also lost to reigning world champion D Gukesh at Norway Chess last year, leading to the infamous "table slam" moment, but managed to recover from the loss and win the tournament in the end. His hopes of winning a record-extending eighth Norway Chess title, however, appear bleak after the disastrous start.

Gukesh loses another Armageddon face-off

Gukesh, meanwhile, suffered a second Armageddon loss in as many rounds after holding current leader Firouzja to a draw while playing as white. Gukesh, who bids goodbye to his teens on Friday, had fought hard for his draws against Keymer and Wesley So in the first two rounds with both Classical games lasting more than a hundred moves, but shook hands with Firouzja after just 31 on Wednesday.

Their Armageddon face-off, however, lasted twice as many moves, with Firouzja ultimately prevailing under time pressure.

Firouzja continues to lead the 'Open' standings with 7.5 points – 3 points ahead of the second-placed Praggnanandhaa. So is at the third spot with 4 points while Gukesh (3.5) and Keymer (3) are fourth and fifth respectively.

As for the women's section, all three Classical games ended in a draw, with veteran Indian GM Koneru Humpy losing her Armageddon face-off against Anna Muzychuk. Divya Deshmukh, the other Indian in this section, collected the bonus half-point after her Armageddon match with Bibisara Assaubayeva, who leads the women's standings with 5.5 points, ended in a stalemate.

Divya occupies the second spot with 4.5 points while Humpy is at the bottom with just 2.