Oslo, May 29 (H.S.):

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen made a strong comeback in the fourth round of Norway Chess 2026 by defeating reigning world champion D. Gukesh, while India’s R. Praggnanandhaa secured an impressive victory over Vincent Keymer.

However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for Indian players in the women’s category, as Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh suffered defeats against Zhu Jiner and Anna Muzychuk respectively.

The most talked-about encounter of the round was undoubtedly the clash between Carlsen and Gukesh. Their rivalry had already attracted attention after last season’s dramatic moment when Carlsen slammed the table following his defeat to Gukesh. This time as well, the contest proved highly intense and competitive.

Carlsen had come into the round under pressure after a difficult start to the tournament, having lost two of his first three matches, including a classical defeat against Praggnanandhaa. In the fourth round, however, the Norwegian star displayed his vast experience and capitalized fully on Gukesh’s late mistakes to secure victory. With this win, Carlsen returned strongly to the title race with 4.5 points.

On the other hand, Praggnanandhaa missed a winning position in the classical game but produced an aggressive performance in the Armageddon tie-break to defeat Vincent Keymer. Following this victory, the Indian grandmaster moved to second place in the standings behind Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja, meanwhile, was defeated in this round by Wesley So.

In the women’s section, all three classical games ended in draws. Later, in the Armageddon tie-breaks, Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva caused a major upset by defeating reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun.

Koneru Humpy’s disappointing run continued as she lost to Zhu Jiner in the tie-break after drawing the classical game. Similarly, Divya Deshmukh suffered defeat against Anna Muzychuk.

The tournament will now observe a rest day on Friday, with play scheduled to resume on Saturday.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar