In a thrilling penultimate round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa put up a valiant fight against Fabiano Caruana of the United States. Meanwhile, world number one Magnus Carlsen secured an Armageddon victory over France’s Firouzja Alireza.
With 16 points to his credit, Carlsen extended his lead to 1.5 points ahead of his closest competitor, Hikaru Nakamura. The World Champion, Ding Liren, managed to secure a win for a change, disrupting Nakamura’s momentum.
Despite his loss to Caruana, Praggnanandhaa remains in third place with 13 points, a full point ahead of Alireza. Caruana follows closely with 10.5 points, leading ahead of Liren with 6 points.
In the women’s section, R Vaishali suffered another defeat, this time against Tingjie Lei of China, slipping to fourth place. Koneru Humpy also faced defeat at the hands of tournament leader Wenju Ju of China.
Wenju Ju of China strengthened her position in the tournament by reaching 16 points. Following closely behind are Tingjie Lei and Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, trailing by 1.5 points. Vaishali is currently in fourth place with 11.5 points, ahead of Humpy who has accumulated nine points. Pia Cramling from Sweden is currently in last place with 6.5 points.
The round saw intense battles, with Armageddon matches following draws in the normal games. Tingjie Lei capitalized on a slight advantage in the opening with the English opening, securing a win against Vaishali in just 28 moves.
Humpy attempted to turn the tables against Wenjun Ju in the Armageddon match but fell short as Wenjun skillfully outmaneuvered her. In the men’s section, Carlsen managed to clinch victory in the Armageddon after a drawn Classical game, while Liren finally found success by defeating Nakamura.
Praggnanandhaa held his ground against Caruana in the Classical game, but the American player emerged victorious in the Armageddon match. The final round will see Praggnanandhaa facing Nakamura with the white pieces, hoping to capitalize on the advantage.
In a summary of the results:
Men:
– Fabiano Caruana (USA, 10.5) defeated 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 (IND, 11.5) 3-0
– Pia Cramling (SWE, 6.5) lost to Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 14.5) 1-1.5
The final round promises to bring more excitement and intense battles as the competitors vie for the top spots in the tournament.
