Oslo, 2 June

India’s chess prodigies struck back in style during Round 7 of Norway Chess, reigniting the country’s challenge as the prestigious tournament enters its decisive phase.

In the open section, world champion D Gukesh salvaged 1.5 points against American Grandmaster Wesley So. Playing with White, Gukesh engineered a winning classical position by activating his king. However, severe time trouble, having just 18 minutes to So’s hour, forced a draw.

Gukesh made amends in the Armageddon tie-break, utilising sharp calculation and a courageous queenside pawn grab to seal victory. Despite the win, he remains sixth with eight points.

Compatriot R Praggnanandhaa climbed to nine points after handing France’s Alireza Firouzja a second successive classical defeat. Praggnanandhaa seized an extra pawn by move 26 and launched a full-blooded attack.

With Alireza reduced to two minutes, the Indian converted his command into a maximum three-point haul, placing him joint-third alongside world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Germany’s Vincent Keymer. Carlsen maintained his late-surge reputation by defeating Keymer in their Armageddon tie-break.

Wesley So continues to lead the open standings with 12.5 points, followed by Alireza on 10. However, with three rounds remaining, both Indians stay within touching distance of the leaders.

In the women’s tournament, Divya Deshmukh bounced back spectacularly to defeat veteran compatriot Koneru Humpy. After a drawn classical encounter where Divya admitted to "seeing ghosts" and hallucinating away a winning position, the World Cup winner fearlessly struck in the Armageddon tie-break.

The victory takes Divya to 10 points, keeping her firmly in the title hunt. She remains 2.5 points behind Kazakh leader Bibisara Assaubayeva, who maintained her blazing form by defeating China’s Zhu Jiner in classical chess to reach 12.5 points.

Divya now faces a critical Round 8 clash against Assaubayeva, where a classical victory could see the Indian overtake the tournament leader.