R Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy headlines India's contingent for Norway Chess tournament

Young grandmaster faces Alireza Firouzja, Humpy takes on Pia Cramling on opening Day.

India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu will be in focus as the prestigious 12th edition Norway Chess get underway today in Stavanger, Norway. The event features some of the world’s top players in both Norway Chess and the first-ever Norway Chess Women’s Tournament introduced to ensure equal participation.

Host nation’s World No.1 and five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen will lead the men’s field along with reigning World Champion Ding Liren of China and World No.2 and 3 Fabiana Caruna and Hikaru Nakamura – both representing USA will also be in the fray.

Ranked 14th in the world, India’s young ace Praggnandhaa will be the lone Indian participant at the prestigious event. He will take on Alireza Firouzja of France in the opening match today while his while his elder sister Vaishali Rameshbabu will take on reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun of China on the opening day of the Norway Chess Women’s Tournament. 

World No.2 Koneru Humpy from India will also be in the fray, and she begins her campaign against Pia Cramling of Sweden today. 

Both the Norway Chess as well as Norway Chess Women’s Tournament carries equal prize money.

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Pairings on 27th May:

Norway Chess:

Magnus Carlsen (Nor) v Ding Liren (Chn); R Praggnanandhaa v Alireza Firouzja (Fra); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) v Caruana Fabiano (USA)

Norway Chess Women’s Tournament:

Ju Wenjun (Chn) v Vaishali Rameshbabu; Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) v Lei Tingjie; Koneru Humpy v Pia Cramling (Swe)

Format and scoring information

Format: Double Round Robin

Time control: 120 minutes with an increment of 10 seconds after move 40. In Armageddon, White gets 10 minutes, Black 7. After move 41, there is a 1-second increment.

Scoring: 3 points for a classical win, 1.5 for an Armageddon, 1 for an Armageddon loss

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