OSLO: When Magnus Carlsen headed to the confessional booth early on during his game against R Praggnanandhaa at Norway Chess on Wednesday, he had an axe to grind. His broadside was aimed towards the developer responsible for the NBA App. "Do better," the Norwegian said, looking into the camera.
"This has nothing to do with the game. But I thought I might as well say it. Whoever is responsible for the NBA App... we have one of the best Western Conference finals (going on) and when people have 'no spoilers on' in the App, they expect no spoilers."
In isolation, this was the latest in a series of quotable Carlsen quips from inside the confession box. But what made it arresting on Wednesday was that it came during a very tricky opening. Playing with the black pieces, the World No. 1 had already been forced into a couple of deep-thinks by this point and Carlsen had already made a few trips to think aloud the problems he was facing in front of him.
After claiming that there were at least 16 decent moves for white on move 6 of the Najdorf, Carlsen said: "... yet, I managed to be surprised, so here we go."
And they went. Over the next 200 minutes or so, this game oscillated like an out-of-control pendulum. The Indian was in charge and also had the advantage. Then Carlsen took control, gained an advantage and was winning. But in a truly wild endgame where both players were making moves with a minute on the clock, Praggnanandhaa prevailed to claim his second Classical win over the five-time world champion in Norway. Not many players can say that.
There is an old saying in this country. Norway Chess is a tournament where the world's best play to see who earns the right to finish second to Carlsen. It's also true because in 13 previous editions of this tournament, the 35-year-old has won seven. In 2026? He has lost two of his opening three Classical games and is walking the tightest of tightropes. Put it this way. The last time he lost two games in this tournament was in 2020. Irrespective of what happens the next week, it promises to be glorious.
But Wednesday's story mainly belongs to Pragg, one of the very few Indians to have beaten Carlsen twice in the Classical format. While the 20-year-old downplayed the win — "honestly not that big a win," he said in the mixed zone — his coach, Vaibhav Suri, was fist-pumping his way through the escalator when Pragg was being taken to the TV studios to dissect the win.
Both of them used the word 'roller-coaster' and that seems to be the perfect place to start. After the first 10 moves, Pragg had the slight advantage he wanted as well as being 30 minutes up on the clock. When the middlegame began, the World No. 16 had slightly increased his advantage but had taken his time through the maze of options he had at his disposal. So Carlsen knew he had a window of opportunity to start putting pressure on his younger opponent. That's exactly what he did after Pragg initiated the exchange of queens in the 30th move. Suddenly, it was carnage as pieces of both players were involved in a knife-fight all over the board.
The engines, too, reflected this. Pragg had an advantage of 0.8 (almost one pawn) in the middlegame. A few moves later, the engines were favouring Carlsen by over 1.5 pawns, especially after his pivotal 37. g4.
However, Carlsen, in the 43rd move, handed back all of the initiative with 43. g3. He only had two moves (Ng3 or Nf4) but instead went for the pawn push. Pragg didn't take that opportunity but that blunder (44. c6) was met with a miss (44 Kg7). The Indian spotted the winning line and Carlsen knew he was finally cooked.
The messy nature of the win was why Pragg wasn't too enthused. "At some point, I thought I was busted after he played g4," he said. "Somehow things turned around quickly.
When the Indian beat the 2827 rated player in 2024, it was a result of Carlsen wanting a fight and Pragg obliging. It was something similar this time as well. "We both wanted to fight," he said. "That's why there was some crazy fights. I don't know what was happening, at some point I kind of lost control. I was also playing a little slow because there were so many options, so many tactics that was requiring a lot of time. In this time control when you are down to seconds, it's just a gamble."
On Wednesday, the gamble paid off for the Indian.
2024 win was cleaner: Suri
Suri, who has travelled with Pragg, couldn't watch the last few moments as the tension on the board was unbearable. Post the emotional celebrations, he said the main difference between the two wins was that the one in 2024 was cleaner as his ward had 'dominated from start to finish'. "This game was very topsy-turvy, roller-coaster, but a win is a win.
"The position was extremely complicated for both. The engine was showing a big advantage for Pragg but practically, I didn't think it was that easy to play for both sides. There was a time advantage that we were hoping for but Magnus is Magnus."
When it was put to him that they managed to surprise Carlsen, the GM said: "I didn't see the confessional but if he did say that, I will take it as a compliment. My ego is slightly higher now (smiles). It's not easy to surprise him."
While the win will act as a booster shot, his ward is coming off the disappointment of not finishing first at the Candidates last month. The way the calendar is structured, the next six months will be dominated by the build up to the World Championship match so it may not be easy to forget about it. However, Suri said that motivation is never a problem with Pragg.
Recently, though, they have been working on a few 'experiments', including spending a few more hours at the gym. "Acceptance that it didn't go the way we wanted," Suri said. "If you don't win (the Candidates), you are going to be disappointed. Post tournament analysis, we figured out things we can work on. Some results weren't good but the positions he was getting were promising, so figuring out ways to convert those positions into full points and that obviously has a lot of unknowns in this process. Small experiments in this process."
Wins like this will help quicken that process towards another qualification shot via the Candidates.
