GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu moved up to second place in Norway Chess 2026 after a rollercoaster win over GM Magnus Carlsen, who had fought his way back from the dead to a winning position only to collapse in time trouble. GM Alireza Firouzja leads by three points after defeating GM Gukesh Dommaraju in armageddon, while there was also a second armageddon win in a row for GM Wesley So, over GM Vincent Keymer.
GM Bibisara Assaubayeva continues to lead Norway Chess Women 2026, but an armageddon loss to GM Divya Deshmukh brought her lead down to one point over Divya. All the mini-matches went to armageddon, and Black won all three. GM Anna Muzychuk won against GM Koneru Humpy to land on four points (or a half-point behind Divya), and GM Zhu Jiner slipped out of a lost, pawn-down endgame to draw Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun and win their mini-match, also ending the day on four points.
Round four starts Thursday, May 28, at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.
Praggnanandhaa scored the day’s only three-point classical win, while Firouzja, So, Muzychuk, Divya, and Zhu all gained 1.5 points for winning in armageddon.
Norway Chess Round 3 Results
Firouzja leads Norway Chess by three points but the big twist is that it’s Praggnanandhaa, not Carlsen, who climbed from last to second with a classical win. Assaubayeva kept her lead in the Women’s event, with Divya closing the gap by half a point by winning their match in armageddon.
Norway Chess Standings After Round 3
Norway Chess Round 3: Pragg Beats Carlsen; Firouzja Keeps On Winning
Praggnanandhaa 1-0 Carlsen
Toward the end of this thrilling encounter it seemed Carlsen was going to win, climb to sole second place, and put his misfortunes in the first two rounds behind him. Instead, however, the world number-one once again lost control in a time scramble and it was Praggnanandhaa who climbed the table, leaving the Norwegian 1.5 points adrift in last place in his home super-tournament.
Praggnanandhaa summed up:
Honestly, this is not a game to celebrate too much about! In these time scrambles it’s basically like tossing a coin. It could have gone Magnus’ way or my way, so it’s not something to be extremely proud of or anything. I’m happy that I played well in the first half, I was playing with control, but in this time control it can go either way.
In these time scrambles it’s basically like tossing a coin.
—Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
Before the dramatic climax, however, there was a fascinating struggle. Carlsen played the Najdorf only to be hit by the 13th most popular sixth move, 6.h4. Carlsen himself pointed out that he’d also been surprised by 6.f4 recently in Malmo, when GM Jorden van Foreest went on to win.
Magnus counts in the confessional that there are at least 18 decent moves for White on move 6 of the Najdorf… “and yet I managed to be surprised, so here we go!”
Pragg surprised Magnus with 6.h4—he also notes Jorden van Foreest surprised him with 6.f4 in Malmo recently & won! pic.twitter.com/E8QFDu2q0s— chess24 (@chess24com) May 27, 2026
Carlsen later returned to the confessional to explain he’d thought 28 minutes over the normal 8…Nc6 because he’d been considering 8…Nxe4!? but, “I just wimped out a little bit at the end, which is a little bit sad!”
Praggnanandhaa commented, “I thought the opening went really well for me because it felt like he was uncomfortable and he was spending way too much time early on,” and the Indian also welcomed Carlsen’s decision to go for the famous Sicilian exchange sacrifice with 14…Rxc3!?.
Praggnanandhaa explained, “I thought this would be easier to play for White, because I couldn’t really see a way for him to attack,” and he did soon manage to take over, with Carlsen on the ropes and no longer with the time to visit the confessional to call out the NBA over spoilers in their app!
As time ran out, however, things shifted again, with 35…Ne5! equalizing and 36…g5! giving Carlsen the edge for the first time in the game.
The point is that if the pawn is captured the black h-pawn will run down the board. “Then it just starts to go wrong for me,” said Praggnanandhaa, who was objectively lost a couple of moves later, but he added “still you have to win it,” and, as on the previous day, Carlsen didn’t manage.
The first serious inaccuracy came when he went for a second exchange sacrifice with 39…Nxd6?!, giving up the rook on h8 to use the knight to support the passed pawn. “It’s such a Magnus move that I was actually expecting it,” said Praggnanandhaa, who pointed out that he saw nothing much he could do after the quiet 39…Bc6, preparing to move the black king and push the f-pawn.
In most top-level chess tournaments, Carlsen would have got extra time at move 40, and a 30-second increment per move, and the only real question would be whether he would go on to convert what remained of his advantage. In Oslo, however, there’s no added time and only a 10-second increment, so that one miscalculation can prove fatal.
When Carlsen pushed his g-pawn he’d overlooked Praggnanandhaa’s reply (and a couple of moves that were even better!), and was unable to refocus on saving a draw. Instead the game ended swiftly with a win for Praggnanandhaa.
Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen after the world no. 1 completely self-destructed after fighting his way back into a winning position! https://t.co/58xuHPaabw#NorwayChess pic.twitter.com/dCeJ8fTCs2
— chess24 (@chess24com) May 27, 2026
That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes in full below.
Carlsen gave a brief comment: “I felt like it was pretty much a repeat of the game against Gukesh last year where I missed one thing and then I kind of panicked and lost within a few moves.”
I felt like it was pretty much a repeat of the game against Gukesh last year where I missed one thing and then I kind of panicked and lost within a few moves.
—Magnus Carlsen
That was of course the infamous table slam game, and it just so happens that next up for Carlsen is Black vs. Gukesh.
Gukesh 1-1.5 Firouzja
Gukesh also had a disappointing day, but it was vastly less dramatic. In fact, you could say that stopping Firouzja winning a game of classical chess was an achievement in Norway, especially as it was the world champion who had any winning chances. Gukesh said that when playing 22.Rc2!? he’d underestimated Firouzja’s clever response.
“I think a draw with Black was a decent result today in classical,” said Firouzja, for whom the cherry on the cake was a win in armageddon from what he admitted was a “very lost” position.
“I was completely winning throughout the game and it was so stupid to allow this …Bd1, but yeah, things happen!” said Gukesh who, perhaps unsurprisingly, couldn’t implement plan B of flagging Firouzja after the advantage on the board had gone.
Firouzja’s winning streak continues as he turns around a losing position vs. Gukesh and wins the Armageddon in a wild time scramble! https://t.co/EHLuwXvb8H#NorwayChess pic.twitter.com/hodyGPUQmY
— chess24 (@chess24com) May 27, 2026
That makes it three matches, three match wins for Firouzja, even if his lead was cut to “only” three points.
Keymer 1-1.5 So
Keymer lost a third armageddon game in a row, but his regrets were mainly over the classical game. “I’m pretty sure that I had a quite big advantage and somehow let that slip,” he said of a game in which on move 11 he deviated from a game Firouzja had played against So in Bucharest in 2025. Keymer kept playing fast until 19.Bf4 left So needing to find the very tough 19…f5! to equalize fully.
So didn’t, and White got an edge, but the U.S. star once again proved how tough he is to beat, ultimately sacrificing an exchange to simplify the position. The ploy worked, though Keymer still had chances after that.
The armageddon was completely one-way traffic, with Keymer needing a win but instead soon finding himself in a lost position. He tried to put up resistance, but So kept control and finished off crisply with 35…Re2!, hitting both the g2-pawn and the bishop on c2.
Keymer hasn’t yet adapted to the armageddon format in Norway, while So has now won two in a row. What had he changed after losing to Praggnanandhaa in round one?
After that bad game against Pragg in armageddon I played a few online games on Chess.com, I’m not even sure why, because it’s very different playing online and over-the-board, but I told myself if I go to armageddon, I’ll have a different strategy, and it worked much better, my time management was much better!
I played a few online games on Chess.com, I’m not even sure why, because it’s very different playing online and over-the-board, but I told myself, if I go to armageddon, I’ll have a different strategy, and it worked much better!
—Wesley So
There would be lots more armageddon action in Norway Chess Women.
Norway Chess Women Round 3: Assaubayeva Slips But Still Leads
Assaubayeva’s classical win in round one is still the only decisive classical game of the tournament. All three classical games in round three were drawn, limiting movement in the standings to a minimum.
Assaubayeva 1-1.5 Divya
The matchup of first and second place was clearly the most important, though the classical game was the first to end in a rather uneventful draw. Divya adopted a Semi-Slav setup against the Catalan Opening, and by achieving the 12…e5 pawn break she equalized. White couldn’t prove an advantage.
After winning her third tiebreak in a row, Divya proved again to be what the commentators called “the queen of armageddon.” While the result was important, the game itself didn’t feature a single major jump in evaluation (97 accuracy by both sides). After trading two minor pieces for a rook and pawn, Divya in the end found an unusual way of perpetually checking the white king to force the draw.
Assaubayeva, who was “a bit upset that yesterday I didn’t win my classical game,” called losing in armageddon “not a big deal,” even if it is unpleasant. She’s still in the lead, but the margin has slid down to just one point ahead of Divya.
The armageddon queen, on the other hand, was “mostly relieved because playing armageddon is very heavy on the brain and also on the body, so it’s a relief to just be done with it.” Even though she’s won every encounter so far, she said, “I don’t want to play any more armageddons!”
I don’t want to play any more armageddons!
—Divya Deshmukh
In the other two games, Muzychuk and Zhu moved up slightly in the standings. Lady fortune smiled on both of them in the armageddon encounters.
Humpy 1-1.5 Muzychuk
Muzychuk sprang a surprise with the black pieces on move two in the classical game, essaying the Austrian Defense (GM Jan Gustafsson has a course on this opening on Chessable). Of course one could have prepared for it; Muzychuk said in a confession during the game that it’s the first time she’s employed the opening.
“Today I surprised her with the opening choice,” says Anna Muzychuk, who plays the Austrian Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined for the first time!https://t.co/Mqblv7hhHX#NorwayChess pic.twitter.com/lz2JUNgwuy
— chess24 (@chess24com) May 27, 2026
Humpy curtly summarized the game, which ended in an accurate draw: “She surprised me and I couldn’t get any advantage out of the opening. It was more or less an equal game.”
The armageddon was, in stark contrast, a slugfest with both kings feeling the heat. Humpy said she was “just trying to play some unusual tries,” especially by starting with 1.b3, “but it didn’t work out.” White had her chances, and the clearest miss, in the time scramble, was a brilliant rook sacrifice 33.Rxh6!!, which would have most likely forced resignation or mate. There was one more clear-cut chance a few moves later with 41.b6, but once that was missed, Muzychuk came out on top—the final two moves were a pretty conclusion.
Zhu’s escape in the final game of the round was nothing short of miraculous.
Ju 1-1.5 Zhu
If anyone missed a serious chance in the classical portion, it was Zhu. We saw a complicated yet even struggle in the Queen’s Gambit Declined that went off the rails in the run-up to the time control on move 40. Ju traded her queen for a rook and knight, and it would have been equal if she had first included the in-between move 37.h3!. The way it went, Zhu got her chances—with a winning endgame at several points—but it proved too hard to win with little time.
She knew she missed an opportunity, saying, “In time trouble I made a lot of mistakes.”
As some consolation, Zhu survived a dead-lost position in the armageddon tiebreaker. Ju played a tremendous game all the way from move 19 until past move 50, first winning a pawn with a tactical line that started with 19.b4!. Her technique was more or less flawless, but when she dropped to about 30 seconds, she was unable to put away a pawn-up position with the better minor piece. She sent her king in the wrong direction, and Black broke free.
Round four sees perhaps the most anticipated clash of the tournament, Gukesh-Carlsen, while the leading duo of Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa are Black, against So and Keymer. Women’s leader Assaubayeva, meanwhile, faces off against the women’s world champion, with Ju looking to hit back after a slow start—a classical win would see her leap-frog Assaubayeva.
Round 4 Pairings
NM Anthony Levin contributed to this report.
How to watch?
Norway Chess 2026 features Open and Women’s six-player tournaments for equal prize funds of 1,690,000 NOK (~$182k). It runs May 25 to June 5 in Oslo, with players facing their opponents twice at classical chess (120 minutes/40 moves, with a 10-second increment from move 41). The winner of a classical game gets three points, the loser, zero; after a draw, the players get one point and fight for another half-point in armageddon (10 minutes for White, seven for Black, who has draw odds).
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