Norway Chess 2026 brought together the world’s elite chess players for a super-tournament held from May 25 to June 5 in Oslo, Norway. The event proudly featured two elite tournaments running in parallel: the renowned Norway Chess and Norway Chess Women. Both competitions followed a 6-player double round-robin format with equal prize funds, highlighting a strong commitment to gender equality in chess.
A signature of Norway Chess is its distinctive scoring format. When a classical game ends in a draw, an Armageddon game determines the winner, ensuring decisive results in every round.
Praggnanandhaa wins Norway Chess 2026 after final-round classical victory
Norway Chess 2026 concluded in Oslo on Friday with a dramatic final round, as Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu scored a decisive classical victory to claim the title.
Entering the round half a point behind Wesley So, Praggnanandhaa knew that a victory would put him in a strong position to overtake the leader, Wesley So. Facing Vincent Keymer with the white pieces, the Indian grandmaster made the most of his opportunity and scored a crucial win. The full 3 points lifted Praggnanandhaa to 18 points and secured first place.
Wesley So, who had led the tournament heading into the final day, drew his classical game against Alireza Firouzja in a balanced encounter before prevailing in the Armageddon tiebreak to claim 1.5 points and finish second. Firouzja completed the podium following a strong tournament.
In the remaining game, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in classical time control. The Norwegian star, who had lost four classical games during the event, kept pushing in a long battle to finish on a winning note.
Norway Chess 2026 final standings
Assaubayeva claims Norway Chess Women title
Bibisara Assaubayeva delivered a stellar performance and securing the Norway Chess Women 2026 title with a round to spare.
In the penultimate round, sole leader Assaubayeva drew her classical game against Anna Muzychuk. Muzychuk then drew the Armageddon game with the Black pieces, winning the decider under Armageddon rules to claim 1.5 points. Despite dropping the tiebreak, Assaubayeva’s lead at the top became mathematically insurmountable.
The final round produced three decisive results in classical games, with no Armageddon deciders needed. Reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun defeated Assaubayeva with the white pieces, ending the champion’s unbeaten classical run.
Zhu Jiner capped off her tournament with an important classical victory over Humpy Koneru, a result that secured second place for Zhu, just half a point behind Assaubayeva.
The last-year champion Anna Muzychuk also finished strongly, defeating Divya Deshmukh and placing third.
Norway Chess Women 2026 final standings
Text: Norway Chess
Photos: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
Official website: https://norwaychess.no/