Wesley So subdues No. 1 Carlsen twice, bags P2.3 million in Norway Chess

MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So trounced world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen twice and subdued French No. 1 Alireza Firouzja in the last round on Friday, June 5 (Saturday, June 6, Philippine time), but settled for second place in the Norway Chess 2026 held in the capital Oslo.

The Bacoor, Cavite-born So finished with 17 points, behind Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa’s 18, in the elite all-Super Grandmaster double-round tournament and bagged $37,823 (P2.34 million).

So, a three-time Philippine and United States champion, also bested Praggnanandhaa in Round 6. Still, the 20-year-old from Chennai rebounded with classical victories over Firouzja, Carlsen, world champion Gukesh D, and world No. 6 Vince Keymer of Germany to snatch the title.

Under the event’s novel scoring system, rewarding 3.0 points for a classical win, 1.5 for an Armageddon victory, 1.0 for an Armageddon defeat, and 0 for a classical loss, Praggnanandhaa amassed 12.0 in the last four rounds and overtook So, who was held to a draw by Firouzja in their 10th round classical encounter before prevailing in the Armageddon decider.

The 32-year-old So lost to Praggnanandhaa in the first round (1.5-1.0), then strung up victories over Gukesh (1.5-1.0), Keymer (1.5-1,0), Firouzja, Carlsen (3-0) and Praggnandhaa (3-0).

So lost to Gukesh (1.0-1.5) in the seventh round before subduing Keymer (1.5-1.0), and Carlsen (1.5-1.0), respectively.

Following his double victories over Carlsen, Gukesh, Keymer and Firouzja, So climbed to world No. 7 with an Elo 2764.6.

Firouzja placed third with 15.5 points, while Carlsen salvaged fourth with 13 following a closing win over Gukesh, who wound up last with 8 points, trailing Keymer with 11 points.

It was the second time So humbled Carlsen on his turf, having demolished the classical, rapid, and blitz topnotcher for the first World Fischer Random Chess title, 13.5-2.5, also in Oslo in 2019.

Praggnanandhaa became the first person to beat Carlsen twice in classical play in the same tournament and jumped to No. 11 in the world rankings. – Rappler.com