6/10/2023 – A final-round win over long-time leader Fabiano Caruana gave Hikaru Nakamura outright victory at the 11th edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament. Nakamura scored three wins and no losses in his nine classical games, which allowed him to climb to the second spot in the live ratings list. Caruana finished second, while 17-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh impressed by grabbing third place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess
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World number two!
In February 2022, Hikaru Nakamura shocked the chess world by winning the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin. His winning a tournament was not that surprising given his illustrious career, but the fact that he did it two and a half years after playing his last classical, rated game was nothing short of impressive. Moreover, he had knocked out a number of active, elite grandmasters in the process.
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
A year and four months later, Nakamura, who continues to stream constantly on his incredibly successful channels, has accumulated more triumphs in all time-control formats, including classical. Only this year, the 5-time US champion has won the American Cup, the Chessable Masters and now the Norway Chess super-tournament. Last year, he fell just short of finishing the Candidates in second place (which would have granted him a spot in this year’s World Championship match) and won the Fischer Random World Championship in Reykjavík.
Nakamura’s victory in Stavanger came after a remarkable showing in the final round. Fabiano Caruana, who grabbed the lead right from the get go by beating Magnus Carlsen in their first-round classical encounter, had a 2½-point advantage over his compatriot. Only a win in classical would allow Naka to get tournament victory. And that is precisely what he did, showcasing his brand of impassive chess to grab a couple of pawns in a technical position before converting his material advantage into a 55-move win.
The tournament winner’s classical-chess performance was remarkable, as he collected three wins and six draws to gain 12.2 Elo points and climb to second place in the live ratings list. Out of the six Armageddon deciders played by Nakamura, he won three and lost three, including his encounter against Magnus Carlsen. The well-known rapid-play specialist later noted:
For whatever reason, I think I’m playing better in classical than I am in blitz or rapid in probably the last six months.
Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess
Despite losing the all-important final classical game, Caruana’s showing in Stavanger was extraordinary. The former World Championship challenger grabbed four wins and lost twice in classical games, which means he only played three Armageddon tiebreakers (he won 2 out of 3). Caruana gained 8.7 Elo points and climbed to third place in the live ratings list, leapfrogging — much like Nakamura — Ian Nepomniachtchi and world champion Ding Liren.
The final round saw an all-American showdown for first place, while Indian prodigy Dommaraju Gukesh beat Wesley So in Armageddon (the youngster drew with black in the tiebreaker) to secure a remarkable third place in the elite tournament.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
At 17, Gukesh has cemented his standing as the second highest-rated junior player in the world, only behind wunderkind Alireza Firouzja. The boy from Chennai collected two wins, six draws and one loss in his classical games in Stavanger, including a first-round win over Firouzja. His remarkable performance gained him 8.1 points in the live ratings list, as he climbed to world number 13, leapfrogging Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave!
Gukesh stands now at a 33-point distance from Firouzja — at the start of the year, the difference amounted to 60 points (2725 to 2785).
Dommaraju Gukesh | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess
Winless Carlsen
According to Tarjei J. Svensen’s unofficial count, this is the first time in 16 years that Magnus Carlsen went through a classical round-robin tournament without a single win. The Norwegian’s underwhelming performance in Stavanger comes after his amazing run of four consecutive tournament victories — albeit he also famously underperformed (according to his superhuman standards) in his home tournament back in 2015 and 2017.
In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.
Curiously, Carlsen was also the only player not to score at least a classical win in this year’s edition. The clear underdog, Aryan Tari, who finished in last place, scored his first win of the event in the final round, as he defeated Firouzja with the white pieces.
Carlsen did win all but one of his Armageddon tiebreakers, except the last one, against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The Norwegian lost 18.4 Elo points in Stavanger, but he remains way ahead in the live ratings list as the only player with a 2800+ rating, a whole 48 points ahead of second-placed Nakamura.
Magnus Carlsen and Peter Heine Nielsen| Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess
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1.e42e572.Nf36Nc663.Bc443Bc584.d38Nf6155.0-023d6186.c315h631 Recently 6...a5 got a lot of attention.7.Nbd22:127.b4!?Bb68.a4=7...a58 C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3.8.Re11:260-0109.Nf12:41a41:09 The position is equal.10.Bb55:18a31:2311.b49Bb6812.Bc411:29Ne74:1413.Ng35:25Ng65:1414.h31:11c64:0515.Bb33:25d514:41
16.exd5N14:18Predecessor:16.Qc2Re817.Bd2Be618.Rad1Qd719.Be3Bc720.Bc1Nf421.Bxf4exf422.Nf1Bxh323.gxh3Qxh30-1 Asgarizadeh,A (2452)-Chigaev,M (2589) Titled Tuesday intern op 3rd March blitz 2020 (4)16...Nxd51417.Bd210Be61:5918.Nh54:00Bc716:0518...Qd6=19.d4!5:50exd41:42
Black should try19...Nb620.Nxd426Only move:20.Bxh6!±Ndf421.Bxf421.Nxg7Bxb322.Qxb3Nh4=21.Bxg7Nxh522.Bxf8Bxb3=21...Bxb322.Qxb322.Qxd4Qxd423.Nxd4Nxf4=22...Nxf423.Nxf4Bxf424.Re424.Nxd4Re8±24.cxd4Qd5±20...Qd64:47 And now ...Qh2+ would win.20...Qh4with more complications.21.Nxe6fxe622.Qe2Rae821.Ng31:1521.g3!?Rae822.Rxe6fxe623.Qg421...Rad83:4122.Nxe615:52fxe6723.Qg41:46Ne57:2024.Qe21:10Nxb412:19 Discovered Attack25.Bg5!12:48hxg53:0726.cxb41:19g62:14 Prevents Qh527.Rad13:3127.Qe3!?27...Qxb43:09 White must now prevent ...Rxd1.28.Bxe6+2628.Ne4=remains equal.28...Kh859 Strongly threatening ...Rde8.29.Rb120:2829.Rxd8Rxd830.Bb329...Qf42:52 Threatens to win with ...Rde8. Black has more active pieces.30.Rxb71:25Nd32:1131.Rd13
This costs White the game.31.Rf1is the only way for White.Nc532.Rxc732.Ra7?Rd2-+ Skewer32...Qxc733.Qe3Nxe634.Qxe631...Nc1!-+5:03Weaker is31...Qxf2+32.Qxf2Nxf233.Rxd833.Rxc7?Rxd1+34.Kh2Rd2-+33...Bxd834.Bd7=31...Nxf232.Rxd8Bxd833.Bf5Nxh3+34.Kh232.Rxc113Qxc1+733.Kh2?133.Nf1Qf434.g333...Rd21:04 Skewer, Deflection. Black is clearly winning.34.Qe42
34...Rfxf2!18:23 ( -> ...Qf1!)35.Rxc7Rxg2+036.Qxg22Rxg2+037.Kxg21Qd2+0 Artfully played by Gukesh D. Weighted Error Value: White=0.65/Black=0.08 (flawless)0–1
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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Videos by Nico Zwirs: Nimzo-Indian with 4.e3 b6 and Robert Ris: French Advance Variation with 6.Na3. Alexander Donchenko analyses his winning game against Fabiano Caruana from the Saint Louis Masters 2024. “Lucky bag" with another 43 analyses by Edouard,
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