•Alireza Firouzja will compete at Norway Chess 2026 in Oslo despite an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw from the Super Chess Classic Romania.
•The 22-year-old French GM will play seated in a wheelchair instead of from a hotel bed, as he did in two online games in Romania.
•Norway Chess organisers confirmed his participation after direct communication; no replacement was arranged due to the elite nature of the event.
•The tournament takes place on the third floor of Deichman Bjørvika in Oslo, a fully accessible venue.
•Norway Chess does not use standby players, making Firouzja’s participation crucial to maintaining the event’s star-studded field.
•The open section includes world champion D Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa, Wesley So, and Vincent Keymer.
•Organisers stated that elite players’ schedules and preparation make last-minute replacements nearly impossible.
Norway Chess 2026 has confirmed that French grandmaster Alireza Firouzja will participate in the prestigious tournament starting Monday in Oslo, despite a recent ankle injury that forced him to withdraw from the Super Chess Classic in Romania last week. The 22-year-old will not be playing from a hotel bed as he did in two online games during the Romania event—images of him lying on a bed with his injured leg elevated during those games went viral—but will instead be offered the option to play seated in a wheelchair during the two-week-long tournament.
Organisers of Norway Chess shared a video on social media showing Firouzja, along with fellow participants R Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer, Javokhir Sindarov, and Wesley So, flying from Bucharest to Oslo on Sunday. In the clip, Firouzja is seen being assisted into his hotel by Norway Chess staff. While the organisers are still finalising the specific arrangements to ensure Firouzja’s comfort and maintain fairness for all players, a wheelchair has been made available as a precaution.
Kjell Madland, CEO and founder of Norway Chess, told *The Indian Express* that the decision to accommodate Firouzja was made after direct communication with the player, who assured the organisers of his intent to compete. “The day after this picture came out, I contacted him to ask, ‘are you okay?’ He replied almost immediately and assured me he would compete,” Madland said. “So we didn’t need to discuss any names for his replacement. We wouldn’t have chosen this way [to have a player play from a bed]. So once he arrives here, we’ll see what we can do best so that the arrangements are good for him and the other players as well.”
The tournament, relocated this year from Stavanger to Oslo, will take place on the third floor of Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo’s main library, which is fully accessible by elevator. Firouzja’s participation is particularly significant as Norway Chess does not maintain a standby player system due to the elite level of participants. “We can’t have standby players for a tournament like Norway Chess because the level of players we usually invite is the cream of the sport,” Madland explained. “So at that level we cannot have players waiting on a bench waiting to be called up. So it would not be nice to ask them either. So we have never had standby players.”
The open section of Norway Chess 2026 features a star-studded lineup including world champion D Gukesh, Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa, world number one Magnus Carlsen, American grandmaster Wesley So, and German player Vincent Keymer. Firouzja’s last-minute withdrawal from the Romania event left organisers with little time to secure a replacement, highlighting the logistical challenges of bringing in top-tier players on short notice.
Madland emphasised that elite players maintain tightly scheduled calendars and undergo extensive preparation for major tournaments, making it impractical to arrange last-minute replacements. “Had Alireza pulled out, it would not have been easy to bring a replacement because elite players have tightly-calibrated calendars besides undergoing rigorous prep for tournaments like Norway Chess,” he said.
The tournament begins Monday, with organisers and players expressing optimism about the event despite the unique circumstances surrounding Firouzja’s participation.
