Firouzja beat Gukesh in a Norway Chess 2026 encounter that stripped chess back to basics. Firouzja avoided the theoretical slugfests both players usually wade through, instead steering the game toward practical positions where intuition beat preparation. Gukesh couldn't find his rhythm in the simplified middlegame. Firouzja converted cleanly, proving that sometimes the simplest approach beats the deepest engine lines. A reminder that chess mastery still demands board sense alongside computer knowledge.