Gukesh topples Magnus, Fabi joins lead @ Norway Chess
Despite a blunder in a winning position, King Magnus jointly led the pack and remains the man to beat. The Norwegian had the world champion Gukesh on the ropes, but then let the win slip in time scramble, as he went down in their sixth round game at Norway Chess, Stavanger. Caruana caught up Carlsen at 9.5 points, with Gukesh right behind at 8.5 points. GMs Koneru Humpy and Anna Muzychuk led the table with 9.5 points in the Norway Chess Women section.
Carlsen’s defeat with four rounds to go has thrown the field wide open. A late push could land the podium to any of the participant, as the soccer style points system helps the winner to leap ahead.
Keeping oneself on top is always a difficult & a wobbly task as tournament leader Magnus Carlsen found out. In what appeared to be yet another Carlsen squeeze to victory, the Norwegian had the world champion in a tight spot for major part of the game. But the Indian hung on gamely, not giving up and Caissa smiled on him in the final moments of the game. The Ruy Lopez Berlin game looked set for another dull draw but Carlsen had other ideas. Weaving an amazing middle game web in a slow but steady fashion, Carlsen got himself into a completely winning position. It was then the disaster stuck, in the form of time.
Having marched the black king right across the board, now occupying the white monarch’s square, Carlsen was on the verge of finishing a famous conquest when fate intervened. His knight check 52…Ne2+ gave away five hour’s of labour leaving him fighting for life. The ensuing race between black’s middle pawn and white’s knight on the far-side, was loaded more in favor of Gukesh, who made precise moves to land his first classical win over the World No. 1, albeit a gift of time. The droplets of time, read time control, designed by the Norway Chess, had many causalities so far and today was no different.
Except for the top-draw Gukesh vs Carlsen, rest of the games in both the Open and Women section viz., Erigaisi – Wei Yi, Nakamura – Caruana, Sara – Muzychuk, Vaishali – Humpy, Ju – Lei ended in draws and were decided by Armageddon.
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.
Round 7 starts by Monday 2nd June at 11AM ET / 5PM CET / 8.30PM IST.
Gukesh Dommaraju (2776) – Carlsen Magnus (2837) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 a6 8. Ba4 h6 9. Re1 b5 10. Bc2 Bb6 11. Nbd2 Ne7 12. a4 Rb8 13. d4 Ng6 14. Nf1 c5 15. Ng3 cxd4 16. cxd4 bxa4 17. Bxa4 Bb7 18. d5 a5 19. Be3 Bc8 20. b3 Bxe3 21. Rxe3 Nf4 22. Bc6 Rb4 23. Qc2 g6 24. Kh1 Ba6 25. Qa2 Bd3 26. Nd2 h5 27. Qxa5 Qxa5 28. Rxa5 h4 29. Ra4 Rfb8 30. Ra2 Kg7 31. Ra7 Rd4 32. Nf3 hxg3 33. fxg3 Nxh3 34. gxh3 Bxe4 35. Kh2 Rd1 36. g4 Bxd5 37. Bxd5 Nxd5 38. Re2 Nf4 39. Rc2 Kf6 40. h4 Ke6 41. Ng5+ Kd5 42. Ra5+ Kd4 43. Ra4+ Kd3 44. Rf2 f6 45. Rf3+ Ke2 46. Ra2+ Rd2 47. Rxd2+ Kxd2 48. Ne4+ Ke2 49. Kg3 d5 50. Nxf6 Rf8 51. Rf2+ Ke1 52. Nd7 Ne2+? (52…Re8 is a saving move)
53. Rxe2+! Kxe2 54. Nxf8 d4 55. Ne6 d3 56. Nc5 Ke3 57. Na4 e4 58. h5 gxh5 59. gxh5 Kd2 60. Nb2 e3 61. Nc4+ Ke2 62. Kf4 1-0
Norway Chess (Round 6 Results): Gukesh Dommaraju (8.5) beat Carlsen Magnus (9.5), Erigaisi Arjun (7.5) drew with Wei Yi (6.5), Nakamura Hikaru (7.5) drew with Caruana Fabiano (9.5)
Norway Chess Women (Round 6 Results): Khademalsharieh Sarasadat (6.0) drew with Muzychuk Anna (9.5), Vaishali Rameshbabu (8.0) drew with Koneru Humpy (9.5), Ju Wenjun (8.5) drew with Lei Tingjie (6.0)
Photo Courtesy : Norway Chess / Michal Walusza.
Official Site: https://norwaychess.no/en/
