Erigaisi beats Gukesh, Caruana downs Wei Yi @ Norway Chess
World No. 4 Erigaisi Arjun handed world champion Gukesh Dommaraju his second defeat in a row, while Caruana redeemed bringing down Chinese GM Wei Yi in the 2nd round of the Altibox Norway Chess at Stavanger. Hikaru Nakamura (4.5) beat Magnus Carlsen in armageddon, moving into shared lead with Erigaisi Arjun. GM Anna Muzychuk (4.5) defeated women world rapid champion Koneru Humpy taking an early lead in the Norway Chess Women.
“When it rains, it pours” goes the saying and nothing could be more true for the world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. Coming straight from the GCT Superbet Romania where things haven’t gone well, Gukesh found himself facing the music for the second successive round in Norway Chess. Today he got punished by fellow Indian Grandmaster Erigaisi Arjun for making the final, rather fatal mistake 56…Bf1 ? after which there was no recovery.
The Nimzo-Indian game between Erigaisi and Gukesh was quite bumpy with both white & black failing to make their best moves time and again. But Arjun’s stock on hand together with his grabbing the noose at the very end had the final say. Gukesh resigned on the 62nd move and will have a lot to answer in the next eight rounds.
Wei Yi was completely out of sorts holding white against Fabiano Caruana. Employing the Nyezhmetdinov – Rossolimo Attack against the Sicilian the Chinese found himself on the backfoot soon. His 25. Rxh5? was the final straw that Caruana comfortably latched on. An immediate blunder 26. Ra1? and it was curtains for the Grandmaster from Yancheng, China. A miniature defeat with white will be a bitter pill to swallow, but Wei Yi is known long for his comebacks and resilience.
The addiction to time increment and the lack of it here in the Norway Chess prior to move 41 could spell downfall for many a Grandmaster. From the time the increment on clock got introduced, the human mind tends to take it for granted and forgets when increment is not around. “If you’re well-prepared, this time control is great—if you’re not, it’s going to be…” said World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura after the first round in Stavanger. The road is slippery and one would do well to remember this reality check.
It helps to know the soccer style points system at Norway Chess to read the leader board right. Players receive the following points per round:
Win in the classical game: 3 points,
Loss in the classical game: 0 points,
Draw in the classical game & win Armageddon: 1.5 points,
Draw in the classical game & loss Armageddon: 1 point.
Round 3 starts by Wednesday 28th May at 11AM ET / 5PM CET / 8.30PM IST.
Erigaisi Arjun (2782) – Gukesh Dommaraju (2787) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. a4 c5 9. Ba3 Qa5 10. Qc2 Rd8 11. Bxc5 Na6 12. Be7 Rxd4 13. Nf3 Rd7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nd2 Qc7 16. a5 Rb8 17. O-O b5 18. axb6 axb6 19. Ne4 Kg7 20. g4 Nc5 21. Ng3 Qe5 22. Rad1 b5 23. f4 Qe3+ 24. Kh1 Rxd1 25. Qxd1 Nd7 26. Bc6 Rb6 27. Nh5+ Kh8 28. Rf3 Qc5 29. Bxd7 Rd6 30. Qe1 Bb7 31. e4 Rxd7 32. Nxf6 Rd3 33. Qh4 Kg7 34. Rxd3 cxd3 35. Nh5+ Kg8 36. Qd8+ Qf8 37. Qxd3 f5 38. Qd7 Bxe4+ 39. Kg1 Bd5 40. gxf5 Qc5+ 41. Kf1 Bc4+ 42. Kg2 Qd5+ 43. Qxd5 exd5 44. Kf3 d4 45. cxd4 b4 46. Ke3 Kf7 47. Ng3 Ke7 48. Kd2 Kd6 49. Ne4+ Kd5 50. Ke3 b3 51. f6 Ke6 52. f5+ Kd7 53. Kd2 b2 54. Nc5+ Ke8 55. Kc2 Kf7 56. Kxb2 Bf1 ? (56…Bd5 might still hold for black)
57. Ne4 Bg2 58. Ng3 Kxf6 59. h4 Bd5 60. Kc3 Ke7 61. Kd3 Kd6 62. Ne4+ 1-0
Wei Yi (2758) – Caruana Fabiano (2776) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. c3 d5 5. d3 Bd7 6. Qe2 Nge7 7. h4 h5 8. O-O d4 9. b4 a6 10. Ba4 Ng6 11. bxc5 Bxc5 12. Bxc6 Bxc6 13. cxd4 Bxd4 14. Nxd4 Qxd4 15. Bb2 Qd7 16. Na3 e5 17. Nc4 Qe6 18. g3 Rd8 19. Ne3 Ne7 20. f4 Bb5 21. Rad1 exf4 22. Rxf4 f6 23. Nf5 Nxf5 24. Rxf5 Qxa2 25. Rxh5? O-O 26. Ra1? Qf7 27. Rf5 Rxd3 28. Rxb5 Qc4 0-1
Norway Chess (Round 2 Results): Erigaisi Arjun (4.5) beat Gukesh Dommaraju, Nakamura Hikaru (4.5) drew with Carlsen Magnus (4.0), Caruana Fabiano (3.0) beat Wei Yi (1.0).
Norway Chess Women (Round 2 Results): Khademalsharieh Sarasadat (2.0) drew with Ju Wenjun (2.5), Vaishali Rameshbabu (1.0) drew with Lei Tingjie (3.0), Muzychuk Anna (4.5) beat Koneru Humpy (3.0).
Photo Courtesy : Norway Chess / Michal Walusza.
Official Site: https://norwaychess.no/en/
