ViKing of Norway: Pragg wins crown that eluded even Vishy

R Praggnanandhaa has achieved a historic victory at Norway Chess, a feat even Vishy Anand couldn’t accomplish. The young Indian Grandmaster secured the title by defeating Vincent Keymer in the final round, overcoming fatigue from prior tournaments. (photo/PTI)

OSLO: Vishy Anand has been there and done that. The first Indian chessman to build an incredible résumé with his global achievements, he saw D Gukesh (Candidates and World title), Arjun Erigaisi (breaking into the Elo 2800 club) and K Humpy (World Rapid crown) follow in his footsteps.But late on Friday in Oslo, R Praggnanandhaa scaled a peak that even Anand could not conquer in his several forays at Norway Chess. The 20-year-old Chennai GM won the Norway Chess title in emphatic fashion, in the presence of world No. 1 and home boy, Magnus Carlsen, after outplaying Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the final 10th round.Pragg had been drained coming into the prestigious Oslo event. He and some of his rivals on the circuit had played the GCT Bucharest classical event and flown to Norway immediately after.

Exceptional Pragg shines in elite field

I was tired but I think these wins suddenly gave me a lot of energy,” said Pragg after the title. He is now world No. 11 on the live ratings list (Elo rating 2750 now, still 40 behind his peak). Pragg indeed played energetically in the last few rounds to be eventually decisive in an elite field. Yet, there is little time to take a breather. In about 10 days’ time he will be dutiful too, representing his Chennai-based team Chess Gurukul — a project of his coach and mentor R Ramesh — in the World Team Rapid and Blitz Championship in Hong Kong.In all this rush then, what is it that makes the Norway title so significant? Ever since the innovative classical-cumarmageddon format was introduced in 2019, Carlsen had won six of the seven editions before this year. The year 2023 was the only exception, when Hikaru Nakamura triumphed. Now, by joining that club, Pragg has proved that he is truly exceptional.ALSO READ: Praggnanandhaa Exclusive Interview: ‘Winning ahead of Carlsen is something I’ve always wanted’ Four wins in a rowIn Oslo, Pragg was 5.5 points behind the leader after six rounds in the six-player field. But then he scored an unprecedented four classical wins in a row. Chess history is replete with great winning sequences: Bobby Fischer’s 18-0 tornado in the early 1970s, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov at Linares in 1994 and 2001, respectively, Carlsen at Pearl Spring in 2009, Veselin Topalov at the 2005 World Championship tournament, and Javokhir Sindarov at the 2026 Candidates.But none of the above was a come-from-behind effort quite like Pragg’s. Apart from treating Carlsen like any other elite player, Pragg said he made a conscious effort to play faster.