Kritika Gaur Catch all the action from Norway Chess as Praggnanandhaa faces off against Caruana. Read about their intense match and other highlights from the tournament.
In the penultimate round of the Norway Chess competition in Stavanger, Norway, world champion Magnus Carlsen handed France’s Firouzja Alireza an Armaggeddon defeat, while Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa lost a close match against American Fabiano Caruana.
With 16 points under his belt, Carlsen increased his advantage over closest competitor Hikaru Nakamura to 1.5 points. Nakamura was unprepared for the turn of events as World Champion Ding Liren, for once, did not squander his lead.
Even after losing to Caruana in Armageddon, Praggnanandhaa is still in third place with 13 points, one point ahead of Alireza. Caruana, with a score of 10.5, is ranked ahead of Liren (6), who spoiled Nakamura’s celebration.
The Women’s Division
In the women’s division, Koneru Humpy lost to the tournament leader Wenju Ju of China, and R Vaishali lost to Tingjie Lei of China once more, dropping her to fourth place.
China’s Wenjun Ju advances to 16 points, bolstering her candidature for the championship. She is followed by Tingjie Lei and Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine by 1.5 points, while Vaishali, with 11.5, is far ahead of Humpy, who is at nine points, in fourth place. With 6.5 points in her kitty, seasoned Swede Pia Cramling sits in last place.
The only player to lose in the actual Classical game was Vaishali; all other matches ended in Armageddon battles after draws in the regular games.
Despite Vaishali’s pawn structure being slightly dented, Tingjie was able to take advantage of the slightly beneficial colour early in the beginning with the English opening, which may not seem like a very dangerous move.
It Took Just 18 Moves
In just 28 moves, the Chinese eliminated the Indian pawn on the queen side by taking use of her rook’s superior placement to capture the seventh rank.
Humpy had one last chance, but as white versus Wenjun Ju, she was unable to take full use of it. As black in the Ragozine defence, the Chinese easily equalised in the early middle game and drew the rook and pawn endgame that followed.
Humpy made the disastrous decision to go all in during the Armageddon, while Wenjun used a strategic skirmish to win a rook in the middle game. 41 movements were made in the game.
The Men’s Division
In the men’s division, Liren finally had cause for celebration after he soundly trounced Nakamura, while Carlsen was not overjoyed that the Classical match ended in a tie but managed to keep his composure to win the Armageddon.
Caruana was easily held by Praggnanandhaa under Classical, but in the Armageddon, the American player underwent a metamorphosis as he exploited his white pieces.
In the final round match versus Nakamura, the Indian will want to take full advantage of the white pieces.
Results round 9, men: Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 10.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 13) 1.5-1; Firouzja Alireza (Fra, 12) lost to Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 16) 1-1.5; Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 14.5) lost to Ding Liren (Chn, 6.5) 1-1.5.
Women: Koneru Humpy (Ind, 9) lost to Wenjun Ju (Chn, 16) 1.5-1; Tingjie Lei (Chn, 14.5) beat R Vaishali (11.5) 3-0; Pia Crmaling (Swe, 6.5) lost to Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 14.5) 1-1.5.
