Arjun wins rollercoaster game

After two rounds of action-packed games in Stavanger, Arjun Erigaisi and Hikaru Nakamura are sharing the lead with 4½ points each.

Nakamura, who had defeated Fabiano Caruana in their round-one classical encounter, scored an equally remarkable achievement on the second day of action by defeating Magnus Carlsen in Armageddon. The world number one had held the initiative for most of their classical game but failed to make the most of his positional advantage.

Arjun, meanwhile, followed up his Armageddon win over Wei Yi with a classical victory against world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a wild encounter. The remaining game saw Caruana bouncing back with a classical win over Wei Yi. Carlsen stands in sole third place with 4 points, while Gukesh is at the bottom of the standings with zero.

Standings after round 2

Endgame essentials you need to know Vol.1 & Vol 2

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Fabiano Caruana defeated Wei Yi in their classical-chess encounter | Photo: Michal Walusza

Soon after Carlsen had defeated Nakamura in the Chess.com Classic, the American star got a chance for a rematch in Stavanger. The mini-match on Tuesday was decided in Armageddon, after a 34-move draw in the classical portion.

In the classical game, Nakamura got what he later called a "very tricky" middlegame. Carlsen held a positional edge, including a pair of bishops placed on a7 and b7 in a semi-open structure, but was unable to convert this long-term advantage into something more concrete.

The Armageddon tiebreak featured sharper play and a dramatic finish, as Carlsen correctly decided to give up a piece with 27...gxh4. Nakamura replied with 28.f3, which was not the best defensive try, with 28.Qd2 being more precise.

After 28...Qc5+ 29.Kh1, Carlsen had a good chance to get great winning chances with 29...Ra6, preventing his opponent from gaining an exchange the next move. Instead, he chose 29...Ba8, preserving the bishop on the long diagonal.

As the players entered severe time trouble, inaccuracies crept in. In an endgame with two rooks for Nakamura against a rook, knight and pawn for Carlsen, the engines still preferred Black. But the Norwegian played two inaccurate rook moves in a row - first with 37...Rb8, as 37...Kf6, activating the king, was stronger.

After 38.Rb1, Carlsen faltered again with 38...Rd8, which in fact turned the tables in Nakamura's favour - in this case, 38...Rc8 would have held the balance. Nakamura seized the opportunity with 39.c5, pushing the connected passers that soon became decisive.

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The US star kept his cool and converted the win, earning 1½ points.

The Armageddon decider between two chess superstars | Photo: Michal Walusza

The all-Indian clash between Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh Dommaraju was rich in complexity from the early moves. Out of a Nimzo-Indian Defence, Gukesh used over an hour of his clock by move 10, creating a major disparity on the clock.

Arjun gradually gained the upper hand, not only in time but also on the board. A mistake by Gukesh on move 26 amid a tense middlegame gave Arjun a clear advantage, and with far more time available, the win seemed within reach. However, Arjun later faltered, allowing Gukesh to find resources to stay in the game.

Even so, it was Gukesh who committed the final decisive error. In a bishop versus knight endgame, his 56...Bf1 handed the advantage back to Arjun. From there, Arjun was clinical in converting the win, securing 3 points under the Norway Chess scoring system and climbing to shared first place in the standings.

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This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

Links

• Official site
• Magnus Carlsen wins sixth Norway Chess title (2024)
• Ju Wenjun triumphant at inaugural Norway Chess Women event (2024)
• Nakamura beats Caruana to win Norway Chess (2023)
• Magnus Carlsen wins Norway Chess for a fourth straight time (2022)
• Carlsen wins Norway Chess, Firouzja shines (2021)