World champion D Gukesh and compatriot R Praggnanandhaa started their campaigns with hard-fought wins at the Norway Chess, while world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen suffered an opening round defeat to Alireza Firozha in Stavanger.

Gukesh emerged victorious after being injuredThe thrilling marathon fight against Vincent Keymer lasted 144 moves and lasted almost five hours. The classical competition ultimately ended in a draw, with Keimer playing hard in the final game despite having only the pawn. The Indian world champion looked visibly upset in the closing stages and even sought clarification from the arbiter regarding the move count as the game headed towards an inevitable stalemate.

However, Gukesh regrouped impressively for the Armageddon tie-break and made quick work of it. The decisive 15.Bh6 proved too strong for Keymer, sealing the Indian teen’s victory and giving him 1.5 points, while the German had to settle for one point.

Praggnanandhaa also had to rely on tie-breaks to ensure victory. The Indian No. 2 played a balanced classical draw against Wesley So, before putting in a sharp attacking performance in the Armageddon to grab an extra half point and tie with Gukesh for second place.

Carlsen suffered a rare defeat

However, the biggest talking point of the early rounds was Carlsen’s defeat on home soil. The defending champions looked to be in control for large parts of their game against Turquoise, but serious timing trouble led to a costly mistake that decisively changed the momentum. Turquoise won all three points with clinical precision and handed Carlsen one of his rare defeats in classical chess.

Firouzja’s victory was made more remarkable by the fact that he played with his injured ankle strapped into a protective “moon shoe” after injuring himself during the Superbet Chess Classic Romania. The French Grandmaster showed composure throughout and moved to the top of the standings with three points.

Divya shined, Hampi faltered

In the women’s category, Bibisara Asoubaeva took an early lead with a stunning classical win over Indian No. 1 Koneru Humpy. Defending champion Anna Muzychuk drew her classical game with Zhu Jiner before winning in Armageddon. Reigning women’s world champion Xu Wenjun and Divya Deshmukh also divided the classical point, Divya won the tie-break.

After the preliminary round, Firoza led the open standings with three points, while Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa had 1.5 points each. Asoubaeva topped the women’s event, with Divya and Zhu joint second.

– ends