Norway Chess Finishes
Carlsen wins; Ju wins the women's event.
Magnus Carlsen’s winning another event isn’t a surprise, nor is it surprising that he won, given his lead coming into the last round. Still, it wasn’t automatic, and if Hikaru Nakamura had managed to win his classical game against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu there would have been a playoff between the world’s #1 and #2 players. So, happily, the event remained competitive all the way until the end.
Carlsen entered the round with a 1.5 point lead, which wasn’t decisive given the tournament’s distinctive scoring system. If a player wins the classical game, he gets 3 points and the loser gets one, but if the game ends in a draw both players get a point, with the winner of the subsequent Armageddon game (or Black, in case of a draw) getting a further half a point. Thus if Carlsen drew the classical game and won in Armageddon - which is what happened - he’d add another point and a half to his one and a half point lead, allowing Nakamura to catch him with a three-point result.
Carlsen had White against Fabiano Caruana, and went for a safety-first approach. Caruana, who was thoroughly out of contention after a disappointing event, seemed amenable to the short draw that was on offer, and they drew by repetition after just 25 moves. In the subsequent Armageddon game the assessment oscillated between equality and a slight edge for Carlsen, but as time grew shorter Caruana’s margin for error got smaller. In an “equal” queen ending that only Carlsen could win, Caruana lost a critical tempo with his mistaken 42nd move, and Carlsen converted without a hiccup.
It all came down to Praggnanandhaa vs. Nakamura, and Pragg, who wound up taking an impressive clear third in the tournament just behind Nakamura, more than held his own. The classical game had its complicated moments, with both players navigating the complications flawlessly on the way to a draw. Carlsen, who was being interviewed by the commentators, was surprised when Nakamura accepted the draw on move 31, but objectively there was little if anything to hope for. The Armageddon game was a mere formality in one sense: Nakamura could neither catch Carlsen nor fall behind Praggnanandhaa, who in turn couldn’t fall to fourth irrespective of the result. Nevertheless Pragg was his usual highly motivated self and thoroughly outplayed Nakamura, finishing with an overwhelming attack to win in just 31 moves.
Finally, Ding Liren and Alireza Firouzja drew their classical game in quick and boring fashion, but in the Armageddon Firouzja (with Black) obliterated Ding, whose recent run of good chess came to an abrupt end with a terrible game.
The final standings: Carlsen 17.5, Nakamura 15.5, Praggnanandhaa 14.5, Firouzja 13.5, Caruana 11.5, Ding 7.
In the women’s event, Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun entered the last round with a lead but could have been caught by Anna Muzychuk or her last round opponent, Lei Tingjie, given certain results. They didn’t happen, as Ju smoothly defeated Lei in an Exchange Slav. Lei - very surprisingly - was apparently unfamiliar with the line chosen by Ju, one that has been played many times, including game 1 of the Kramnik-Anand match. A couple of errors left Ju with a straightforwardly winning ending, and she handled the technical task confidently to guarantee tournament victory. Muzychuk couldn’t have caught her in any case, but fell a bit further behind by “only” defeating Humpy Koneru in their Armageddon game.
Final women’s standings: Ju 19, Muzychuk 16, Lei 14.5, Vaishali Rameshbabu 12.5, Humpy Koneru 10, Pia Cramling 8.
About Vaishali: she started the event strongly but collapsed at the end, losing her classical games in rounds 6, 7, and 9. As for Cramling, she had many chances in the event, especially in classical games (including her last round game with Vaishali), but didn’t win a single game in the event. (To be fair, she gave Vaishali a draw in the last round’s Armageddon game in a completely winning position, an act of charity perhaps based on a recognition that her opponent had to take extra risks given the nature of an Armageddon game.) She did win two matches by drawing the Armageddon game with Black, but she could have done much, much better. Hopefully she’ll get another opportunity to play in an event of this sort soon.
Today’s main event games, plus the Ju Wenjun vs. Lei Tingjie game, are here.