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Divya Deshmukh impressed on her Norway Chess debut with an Armageddon win over Ju Wenjun, while Magnus Carlsen suffered a shock defeat to Alireza Firouzja.
(Credit: Norway Chess/X)
Divya Deshmukh could not have asked for a more memorable start to her Norway Chess journey.
Making her debut at one of the world’s most prestigious chess tournaments, the 20-year-old from Nagpur held reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun to a draw in the Classical game before defeating her in Armageddon on Monday.
And somewhere in between, Divya became the first player of the tournament to step into the now-famous confessional booth — one of Norway Chess’ most unique features.
It was a statement performance from the young Indian, who showed composure after finding herself under pressure with the black pieces during the Classical encounter. Much like D Gukesh later in the day, Divya escaped a difficult position before taking control in the quicker format.
The opening day in Oslo also produced a major shock in the Open section as Magnus Carlsen suffered a rare defeat to Alireza Firouzja.
Playing with the white pieces, Firouzja capitalised on an error from the five-time world champion in a Queen’s Gambit setup and went on to secure his first-ever win over Carlsen.
The result left the Norwegian chess icon at the bottom of the standings after round one.
Firouzja’s victory was especially impressive considering the Iranian-French Grandmaster had withdrawn from the Superbet Chess Classic earlier this month due to a foot injury.
For India, though, it was largely a positive day.
World champion Gukesh drew his Classical game against Germany’s Vincent Keymer before producing a ruthless display in Armageddon. After escaping trouble earlier, Gukesh punished a mistake from Keymer and wrapped up victory in just 22 moves.
R Praggnanandhaa also began strongly, drawing with American Grandmaster Wesley So before winning their Armageddon clash to collect the extra half-point.
There was disappointment, however, for veteran Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy, who lost her opening-round game to Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva while playing with the black pieces.
Still, the spotlight firmly belonged to Divya, whose fearless debut instantly announced her arrival on one of chess’ biggest stages.
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