Legendary Viswanathan Anand hailed R Praggnanandhaa's highly competitive style of play, and urged the struggling world champion D Gukesh to take a leaf out of the book of newly-crowned Norway Chess champion to script a turnaround.
D Gukesh's prolonged form slump might be a talking point in the chess world right now but his world championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov sees no obvious weakness in the Indian's game.
Indians struck back in style in Round 7 as D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa delivered crucial victories while Divya Deshmukh bounced back from her previous-round setback to beat compatriot Koneru Humpy.
Round six of Norway Chess produced another dramatic day of chess with all three games in the tournament ending decisively.
A day after turning 20, D Gukesh rediscovered both his spark and his smile, defeating compatriot R Praggnanandhaa in a gripping classical battle to pocket three full points and reignite his campaign in Norway Chess.
With a title defence looming, the Indian Grandmaster sees those expectations not merely as pressure but as an opportunity to test his limits
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen returned to winning ways with a crushing victory over reigning classical world champion D Gukesh, sending the young Indian to the bottom of the standings.
D Gukesh ran out of steam and surrendered to Wesley So in Armageddon after failing to convert his classical promise.
D Gukesh emerged victorious after a bruising, nerve-jangling marathon battle against Vincent Keymer, and R Praggnanandhaa outplayed Alireza Firouzja.
Reigning world champion D Gukesh is not ruffled by the barrage of criticism that has come his way in the past 18 months as the young Indian Grandmaster believes all of it is justified given his underwhelming form.