CM Vijay congratulates Praggnananda on winning Norway Chess!

R. Praggnananda made a spectacular comeback and created history by winning the Norway Chess Championship title on Friday. He became the first Indian player to win this championship. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay congratulated Praggnananda on this historic achievement.

Praising Praggnananda on the social media platform ‘X’, the Chief Minister wrote, “Hearty congratulations to Grandmaster R. Praggnananda for creating history by winning the famous Norway Chess 2026 tournament held in Oslo with his brilliant and intelligent display of chess.

He achieved a special feat by defeating defending champion Magnus Carlsen twice in the same tournament and achieving four consecutive wins. My best wishes to Grandmaster Praggnananda for creating many more records and bringing glory to Tamil Nadu and India.”

Praggnananda was at the bottom of the points table after the sixth round. However, after this the 20-year-old Indian player made a tremendous comeback. He captured the title by winning four consecutive classical matches.

Praggnananda performed brilliantly and defeated current champion Magnus Carlsen for the second time in the tournament. Along with this, he also registered a spectacular victory against D Gukesh. After the year 2021, Praggnananda has become only the second player after Magnus Carlsen to win four consecutive classical matches in the Norway Chess Championship.

Praggnananda performed brilliantly on Friday and registered a spectacular win against Vincent Keymer in the 10th and final round of the classical event. Praggnananda took full advantage of Keymer’s mistakes and won the match in the 45th move.

They ended the tournament with a total of 18 points with 5 wins, 2 losses and two draws. The 20-year-old Grandmaster’s two drawn matches were decided by the Armageddon game, where he managed to win on the basis of a strong performance.

Praggnananda gave the credit for his achievement to his mother. He told that mother had said that it is a new month and he will perform well in this and that is exactly what happened. According to Praggnananda, following his mother’s prediction, he won the next four matches and also performed well against Carlsen.