Indian Grandmasters Koneru Humpy, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to Compete in Norway Chess 2024

Indian Grandmasters Koneru Humpy, Vaishali Rameshbabu, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu are all set to showcase their skills at the prestigious 12th edition of the Norway Chess tournament. The event, scheduled to take place from May 27 to June 7 at SR-Bank’s main building in Stavanger, Norway, will see these talented Indian players compete against some of the best in the world.

Among the star-studded lineup are World No.1 Magnus Carlsen from Norway, World No.3 Hikaru Nakamura from the USA, current World Champion Ding Liren from China, Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun from China, and Lei Tingjie from China, among others. This year, the tournament has introduced the world’s first-ever equal female tournament to promote gender equality in chess.

The Norway Chess Women’s Tournament will run concurrently with the men’s event, featuring the same number of players, format, and prize fund. This initiative aims to provide equal opportunities for female players to showcase their talent on the international stage.

The brother-sister duo of Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali will be making their debut in the Norway Chess and the Norway Chess Women’s Tournament respectively. Praggnanandhaa, who recently reached the final of the FIDE Chess World Cup, and Vaishali, who achieved the Grandmaster title, are the first brother-sister duo from India to earn this distinction.

Koneru Humpy, the current World No.2 in the women’s category and India’s top woman chess player, will also be competing in the women’s tournament. Known for her impressive track record, including winning the FIDE Women’s rapid chess championship in 2019, Humpy will be vying for the top honors at the event.

With an exciting lineup of top Grandmasters from around the world, the Norway Chess tournament promises to be a thrilling and competitive event. The format of the tournament includes a double round-robin format with a time control of 120 minutes and scoring system that rewards classical wins, Armageddon games, and losses accordingly. It will be interesting to see how the Indian players fare against their formidable opponents in this prestigious competition.