
Following a nervy final round, Magnus Carlsen claimed his fifth Norway Chess title in Stavanger. For spectators, it was an entertaining event to follow, but it was also a great chance to learn from the very best in the world.
In the round-8 Armageddon game between Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the latter had three pawns for a rook in the ending. MVL could have held a draw, to win the tiebreaker, had he found the correct king road on move 53.
Where to go with the king? The Frenchman faltered by playing 53...Kg5, when 53...Kf5 was forced, to invade via e4 or g4. The devil is in the details!
Also in round 8, but in the classical game, Aryan Tari could have saved a draw with black against Anish Giri.
White’s passer on the g-file is extremely dangerous, but Black could defend by preventing the opposite king from escaping the checks with the rook and knight tandem. Tari decided to play 57...Nd2+, but it was 57...Re1+ what was called for in this position!
Find the aforementioned positions and two more instructive analyses in the replayer below.
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