First Indian to win Norway Chess: PM Modi congratulates Praggnanandhaa for 'incredible milestone'

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Indian chess player R Praggnanandhaa for becoming the first Indian to win the Norway Chess tournament, calling it an important achievement in his career.Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian to win Norway Chess since the tournament began in 2013. During the event, he defeated world No. 1 and seven-time Norway Chess champion Magnus Carlsen twice, a rare achievement in top-level chess. "Congratulations to Praggnanandhaa for this remarkable feat! This is indeed an incredible milestone that highlights his continued excellence. My best wishes to him for his future endeavours," Modi said in a post on X.Praggnanandhaa won the title in a field where all six players in the Open section were rated above 2700. Carlsen entered the tournament as the highest-rated player with a rating of 2840.The 20-year-old from Chennai started the final day in third place with 15 points. He secured a classical victory in the last round, earning three points to finish on 18 points and win the title.With the victory, Praggnanandhaa achieved something that Indian chess great Viswanathan Anand and reigning world champion D Gukesh had not managed since the tournament began in 2013.Playing in Norway Chess for only the second time, Praggnanandhaa recovered from a slow start and won four consecutive games in the second half of the tournament.A major highlight of his campaign was defeating Carlsen twice in classical games. The performance came after a disappointing outing at the Candidates Tournament in Paphos earlier this year.As Gukesh dropped out of the title race in the closing stages, Praggnanandhaa kept India's hopes alive and eventually won the tournament.The title race remained open until the final round. American grandmaster Wesley So entered the day as leader with 15.5 points but was held to a draw in his classical game against Alireza Firouzja, forcing an Armageddon tie-break.That result gave Praggnanandhaa the opportunity to move to the top of the standings with a classical win over Vincent Keymer.Although Wesley So won the Armageddon tie-break, he received only 1.5 points and finished on 17 points, one behind Praggnanandhaa's winning total of 18.Firouzja finished third with 15.5 points.