Welcome to a new Hivechess lecture, and we will be looking at a new lesson that talks about Forcing Moves. This lecture is a product of you having only one good move, which is called forcing moves, and the game that we will be using in this lecture is a game from the 2026 Norway Chess tournament between Magnus Carlsen and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. This is yet another loss for the Norwegian chess grandmaster in his country, as it becomes the second game he has lost to Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in the same tournament.
It is highly expected that when you watch a game between two grandmasters, you will be expecting some fireworks or something spectacular since it is two grandmasters and not just any grandmaster, one of the best in the world. Well, this game was exactly something like that. Right from the get-go, Pragg was fighting for the win when he grabbed an early gambit pawn and still kept pressing, which is what made it more exciting for me to watch.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Nh6
The opening played was the French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack, and it was exciting to see Pragg play Nh6. I thought white would go for Bxh6 to give black a doubled crossed pawn structure along the h-file, but White went for his own knight to the edge of the board, Na3.
At this point, it was proof that this game was in for a ride with the way both sides were playing.
6. Na3 cxd4 7. cxd4 f6 8. exf6 Qxf6 9. Bd3 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Bxa3 11. bxa3 Nxd4
This is the point in the game where the lesson for this lecture comes into play. The position is at a point where black has one move to stay in the game, and that move is Nxd4. Super grandmasters tend to find moves in positions where there is only one good move, therefore forcing moves. These moves are the only way to continue in the game. In this case, Pragg found it.
The position stayed drawn despite white being down a pawn, and that is because of the activity white had for a long time until the endgame, when Magnus played an inaccurate move with Kh3.
The edge was not enough to convert for a couple of moves, and Magnus was forced into a forcing move situation. To find the only surviving move in the position to keep the game drawn, as every other move was losing, but he could not find it, instead of Ke2, which was the only forcing move to continue the game, Magnus blundered with Kf4, which led to a mate in 7 moves.
It can be tough to find the only move that keeps you from losing, and it is also hard to find the only move that is winning sometimes when playing chess.
Here is the game link:
And the PGN game
[Event "2026 Norway Chess Open"]
[Site "Oslo, NO"]
[Date "2026.05.24"]
[Round "15"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Praggnanandhaa R"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2841"]
[BlackElo "2735"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteFideId "1503014"]
[BlackFideId "25059530"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:0+10"]
[Board "2"]
[ECO "C02"]
[Opening "French Defense: Advance Variation, Paulsen Attack"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Nh6 6. Na3 cxd4
7. cxd4 f6 8. exf6 Qxf6 9. Bd3 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Bxa3 11. bxa3
Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Bxh6 Qc3+ 14. Kf1 gxh6 15. Rc1 Qe5
16. g3 Bd7 17. Kg2 O-O 18. Re1 Qg7 19. Rc7 Rf7 20. f4 Raf8
21. Kh1 Be8 22. Rxf7 Bxf7 23. Qc2 Bh5 24. Kg2 Rxf4 25. Qc8+
Rf8 26. Qxe6+ Kh8 27. Rf1 Rxf1 28. Bxf1 Bf7 29. Qc8+ Bg8
30. Qb8 Qb2+ 31. Kh3 Kg7 32. Qc7+ Bf7 33. Bd3 Qb6 34. Qe5+
Qf6 35. Qc7 b6 36. a4 h5 37. a5 Qe6+ 38. Kg2 Qe3 39. axb6
axb6 40. Bc2 h6 41. h4 b5 42. Bb3 Qe4+ 43. Kf2 b4 44. Qd6
Qd4+ 45. Ke2 Qb2+ 46. Kd3 Bg6+ 47. Ke3 Qc3+ 48. Kf4 Qd4+
49. Kf3 Qd3+ 50. Kf2 Qd2+ 0-1
I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.
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Thanks For Reading!