Wesley So Wrests Lead From Firouzja, Assaubayeva Regains Women's Lead
GM Wesley So leads Norway Chess 2026 after a bloody round six that ended in three decisive results. So inflicted a second consecutive loss for GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while GM Magnus Carlsen exacted revenge against GM Alireza Firouzja, who had led the tournament since beating Carlsen in the first round. Lastly, GM Vincent Keymer defeated World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in his first win of the event—including both classical and armageddon—to land in third place.
Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun had lost five matches in a row in armageddon, but in round six of Norway Chess Women 2026 she took down leader GM Divya Deshmukh in a classical chess thriller. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva took advantage to regain the sole lead by beating GM Koneru Humpy in armageddon, while GM Anna Muzychuk is half a point behind Divya in third place after a second armageddon loss to GM Zhu Jiner.
This is a flash report. Come back later to read the full article on this page!
Round seven starts Monday, June 1, at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.
- Norway Chess Round 6: So Takes Over Lead, Carlsen Helps
- Norway Chess Women Round 6: Ju Beats Divya As Assaubayeva Regains Lead
As IM Tania Sachdev said on the broadcast, it was a sad day for Indian chess. Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, and Divya all lost their classical encounters, while Humpy lost in armageddon. We saw four classical wins scored by So, Carlsen, Keymer, and Ju.
Norway Chess Round 6: Results
Despite losing their classical encounters, Firouzja and Divya remain in striking distance of the new leaders.
Norway Chess Round 6: Standings
Norway Chess Round 6: So Takes Over Lead, Carlsen Helps
GM Dejan Bojkov analyzes it all in the annotations below. (It will be added.)
Norway Chess Women Round 6: Ju Beats Divya As Assaubayeva Regains Lead
Colin McGourty contributed to this report.
The live broadcast was hosted by IMs Tania Sachdev and Jovanka Houska, and GM David Howell.
Norway Chess 2026 features Open and Women's six-player tournaments for equal prize funds of 1,690,000 NOK (~$182k). It runs May 25 to June 5 in Oslo, with players facing their opponents twice at classical chess (120 minutes/40 moves, with a 10-second increment from move 41). The winner of a classical game gets three points, the loser, zero; after a draw, the players get one point and fight for another half-point in armageddon (10 minutes for White, seven for Black, who has draw odds).
Previous coverage:
- Round 5: Wesley So Beats Carlsen, Gukesh Scores 1st Classical Win, Divya Overtakes Assaubayeva
- Round 4: Carlsen Back In Business After Beating Gukesh; Assaubayeva Defeats Ju Wenjun
- Round 3: Praggnanandhaa Beats Carlsen In Rollercoaster Norway Chess Clash
- Round 2: Firouzja Strikes Again To Reenter Top 10; Carlsen, Gukesh Miss Wins
- Round 1: Firouzja Stuns Carlsen, Gukesh Escapes As Norway Chess Begins
- Carlsen, Gukesh Set For Oslo Showdown As Norway Chess Enters New Era
