Carlsen, Gukesh close in @ Norway Chess
As thrilling as it could get. Well that’s the scenario at Stavanger with Carlsen and Gukesh closing in at Norway Chess after the 9th round. Six time champion Magnus (15.0), holds a narrow half a point lead over Gukesh (14.5), with Hikaru (13.0) not too far. GM Anna Muzychuk (15.5) increased her title chances moving two points ahead of Koneru Humpy (13.5) in the Norway Chess Women section. With just a single draw, the penultimate round threw in it’s usual set of exciting games with the title, a handsome prize money and FIDE Circuit points in stake.
Weaving a Catalan magic Magnus brought down Fabi in a drawish position which the American unusually let go. The win propels the Norwegian to the top, a good half a point ahead of world champion Gukesh who made the best of his chances against Wei Yi. The standard Catalan choice saw Magnus give up a pawn for initiative and Fabi ceding it back later to restore parity. Post middle game liquidation the queen and rook ending looked nagging for black, thanks to two passed pawns in the middle. But precise play coupled with activity might have kept Carlsen at bay. In fact, Caruana as white went through the same line holding Abdusattorov with comfort in GCT Superbet Romania last month. It looked going no differently, until a momentary lapse by black put white on a winning track. Grabbing the white rook pawn with 47…Qxh5?? spelt the doom, as either of the centre pawns couldn’t be caught any more.
One champion watching the other !!
Starting with two defeats, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju has come a long way, working his way to the second spot with just one round to go. His battles with the Wei Yi always promises excitement and today was no different. But the choice of Petroff showed the Chinese Grandmaster was more for peace than war. Walking on to a normal looking middle-game Wei Yi changed his mind pulling up a shock 24…Nxd2!? taking black into a losing rook ending. A more stable 24…Re6 would have kept the Chinese going than the flashy choice that brought up his 3rd loss of the tournament.
When three draws appeared imminent, the course of weather changed. Moments apart Norway Chess saw two decisive results, with Carlsen & Gukesh winning and moving ahead of the rest. The final round pits Erigaisi with Carlsen, Wei Yi against Nakamura and Caruana across Gukesh. The final round pairings of Norway Chess Women are: Muzychuk – Vaishali, Humpy – Ju, Sara – Lei. A combination of different board results can also lead to a multi-player title play off.
It helps to know the unique, rather soccer style points system at Norway Chess to read the leader board right. Players receive the following points per round: (a) Win in the classical game: 3 points, (b) Loss in the classical game: 0 points, (c) Draw in the classical game & win Armageddon: 1.5 points, (d) Draw in the classical game & loss Armageddon: 1 point.
The 10th & final round starts by Friday 6th June at 11AM ET / 5PM CET / 8.30PM IST.
Carlsen Magnus (2837) – Caruana Fabiano (2777) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Rd1 b5 9. Ne5 Nd5 10. b3 cxb3 11. axb3 Bb7 12. Ba3 Bd6 13. Nd3 Nd7 14. e4 Bxa3 15. Rxa3 N5f6 16. Nd2 a5 17. Rda1 c5 18. dxc5 Qc7 19. b4 axb4 20. Rxa8 Rxa8 21. Rc1 Rc8 22. Qb2 h6 23. Qxb4 Bc6 24. Qb2 Ra8 25. Nb4 Ne5 26. f4 Nc4 27. Nxc4 bxc4 28. Nxc6 Qxc6 29. Rxc4 Rc8 30. e5 Nd5 31. f5 Qa6 32. Rc1 Qa7 33. fxe6 fxe6 34. Bxd5 exd5 35. Qd4 Qd7 36. Kg2 Qc6 37. h4 Kh8 38. Rc2 Kg8 39. h5 Kh8 40. Kh3 Kg8 41. Kh2 Qe6 42. Rd2 Rd8 43. Kg2 Qc6 44. Rd1 Qa6 45. Re1 Qe6 46. Rb1 Qf5 47. Rb2 Qxh5?? (A losing move. With 47…Qe6 black stays in the game)
48. c6 Kh7 49. e6 Qg6 50. Re2 Ra8 51. Qxd5 Ra3 52. Qe4 1-0
Gukesh Dommaraju (2776) – Wei Yi (2758) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd3 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. Qc4 Be6 11. Qf4 d5 12. Nd4 Bd6 13. Qf3 Qd7 14. h3 c6 15. g4 f5 16. g5 f4 17. Bd2 Rae8 18. Rg1 Bf5 19. Nxf5 Qxf5 20. c4 Ne4 21. Bd3 Qe5 22. Rde1 Bc5 23. cxd5 cxd5 24. Re2 Nxd2? (24…Re6 maintains the tension. Wei Yi’s decision turns the game in favor of white)
25. Bxh7+ Kh8 26. Rxd2 Kxh7 27. Rxd5 Qe2 28. g6+ Kg8 29. Qb3 Be3+ 30. Kb1 Kh8 31. fxe3 Rxe3 32. Qb4 Rc8 33. Rc1 Re4 34. Qa5 Kg8 35. b3 Ree8 36. Qxa7 Qe6 37. Qd4 f3 38. Rg5 Qe4 39. Qxe4 Rxe4 40. Rf5 1-0
Norway Chess (Round 9 Results): Nakamura Hikaru (13.0) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (11.5), Gukesh Dommaraju (14.5) beat (8.0), Carlsen Magnus (15.0) beat Caruana Fabiano (12.5)
Norway Chess Women (Round 9 Results): Vaishali Rameshbabu (9.5) lost to Khademalsharieh Sarasadat (9.0), Ju Wenjun (12.5) lost to Muzychuk Anna (15.5), Lei Tingjie (13.0) beat Koneru Humpy (13.5)
Photo Courtesy : Norway Chess / Michal Walusza / Roza Czarnota
Official Site: https://norwaychess.no/en/
