Norway Chess, Round 6: One-move blunders

by Antonio Pereira
6/11/2019 – The sixth round of the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament saw all match-ups decided on Armageddon, as all the "slow" encounters finished drawn. Magnus Carlsen was close to lost in both his games against Ding Liren, but eventually managed to defeat the Chinese nonetheless. Meanwhile, Yu Yangyi and Levon Aronian also won their match-ups, thus staying in sole second and third places, respectively. Round recap by GM ERWIN L'AMI. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / norwaychess.no

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Draws in Classical

For a third time in Stavanger, all five classical encounters finished drawn, which meant sudden death games would decide the outcome of the mini-matches. Three slow games, coincidentally, lasted exactly thirty-one moves, with only Carlsen v Ding Liren and Grischuk v Caruana going the distance. 

Results of Round 6 - Classical 
NameRtg.Nt.Pts.Pts.NameRtgNt.
2875
3
½-½
3
2805
2752
3
½-½
3
2754
2774
½-½
2
2779
2767
2
½-½
2738
2775
½-½
2819

The world champion had the white pieces on Monday, but faced a well-prepared Ding Liren. Staying true to his '2019 style', Carlsen gave up a pawn in the opening, but this time could not make much of his initiative. When the position was simplified, Ding Liren found himself in a better rook endgame with material equality:

 
Carlsen vs. Ding Liren
Position after 36.fxe4

Not only does Black have the better pawn structure, but also will get his king active after 36...c5 37.bxc5+ xc5. Nonetheless, winning rook endgames is always a tough task, especially against someone like Magnus. Black's advantage slowly evaporated until the draw was signed on move 60, with one black pawn still alive but unable to promote.

Ding Liren

The third highest-rated player in the world, Ding Liren | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Meanwhile, Alexander Grischuk could not convert a rook and queen endgame with 4 v 3 on the same flank against Fabiano Caruana. The 43-move draw meant the Russian needed a win in Armageddon to get 1½ points.

Armageddon scrambles

Monday's round saw three players, perhaps already tired before the second rest day, making incredible mistakes in the blitz deciders.

Results of Round 6 - Armageddon
NameRtg.Nt.Pts.Pts.NameRtgNt.
2875
1-0
2805
2767
2
0-1
3
2738
2752
2
1-0
2754
2774
1
½-½
2779
2775
0-1
½
2819

This was not the case of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who got a clean draw with Black against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Armageddon. Yu Yangyi, also with the black pieces, even managed to defeat Vishy Anand, after the Indian did not make the most of his initiative in the middlegame:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a3 C24: Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6 Wrong is 6.Nxe5? a4-+ 6.a4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bd6 8.Bg5 dxe4 9.dxe4 h6 10.Bh4 0-0 11.0-0 Na6 12.Nbd2 Qe7 13.Nc4 Bc7 1/2-1/2 (30) Karjakin,S (2760)-Wei,Y (2739) Medias 2017 6...Bd6 6...a4!? 7.Ba2 Bd6= 7.exd5 Nxd5 7...a4= 8.Ba2 cxd5 8.0-0 White is slightly better. 0-0 9.Re1 Bg4N Predecessor: 9...Re8 10.Bg5 Qc7 11.Nbd2 Na6 12.Ne4 Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 1-0 (65) Delchev,A (2591) -Fressinet,L (2591) France 2002 10.Nbd2 Nd7 11.h3 Bh5 12.Ne4 Qc7 12...Bc7= 13.Ng3 White has some pressure. Bg6 14.Nh4 Nc5 15.Ba2 Ne6 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.h4 Rae8 18.Ne4 f5 19.Ng5 Black must now prevent Nxe6. Nxg5 20.Bxg5 20.hxg5 Bc5 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.Rxe3 20...Bc5= 21.c3 Qf7 21...Kh7= remains equal. 22.Qd2 22.Qa4± 22...a4 Black should play 22...Kh7= 23.Qc2 e4 24.Qxa4 b5 25.Qc2 Kh8 26.b4 Ba7 27.c4 bxc4 28.dxc4 Nf6 29.c5 Qc7 30.g3 30.Qb3 30...Bb8 31.Rad1 Qc8
Black wants to play ...f4. 32.Qd2 32.Bxf6!± Rxf6 33.Qd2 32...f4 32...Ng4!= 33.Bxf4?
33.Bxf6! was the only good move. Rxf6 34.Qd7 33...Qh3!-+ Threatens to win with ...Ng4. 34.f3? 34.Bxb8 Rxb8 35.f3 exf3 36.Qh2 Qxh2+ 37.Kxh2 Ng4+ 38.Kh3 Nf2+ Double Attack 39.Kh2 Ng4+ 40.Kh3 Nf2+ Double Attack 41.Kh2 Ng4+ 34...exf3 Strongly threatening . ..Ng4. 35.Qh2 Qxh2+ 36.Kxh2 Ng4+ 37.Kh1 With the idea Rxe8. Nf2+ 38.Kg1 Nxd1 39.Rxd1 Bxf4 40.gxf4 Endgame KRR-KRB Re2 41.Bc4 Rg2+ 42.Kf1 Rxf4 43.Rd8+
43...Kh7! 44.Bg8+ Kh6 45.Bd5 g5 46.hxg5+ 46.Rh8+ Kg6 47.h5+ Kf5 48.Bxf3 46...Kxg5 Black is clearly winning. 47.Bxc6 If White can now play Rd3 this consolidates a bit. Kh4 Played: Rg2-c2
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2767Yu,Y27380–120197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20196.2

Yu Yangyi is undefeated in Armageddon encounters so far, as he won all four match-ups that were decided in this phase against higher-rated opponents. The Chinese also defeated Grischuk in Classical, but lost against Wesley So in round three. Nonetheless, he is in clear second place with three rounds to go, and will have a chance to take down the leader in round eight, when he will have the black pieces against Magnus.

Yu Yangyi

In second place — Yu Yangyi | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The other three match-ups were decided after one of the players blundered in unexpected fashion. The first one to do it was Wesley So, who, playing Black, was struggling throughout the game against Levon Aronian's active play. The Armenian was a pawn down but had the black king cornered on h8. After having endured the pressure for around thirty moves, Wesley forgot White had a mate-in-one threat along the seventh rank:

 
Aronian vs. So
Position after 46.Ra7

46...f5? allowed White to go 47.h7# immediately deciding the game. Wesley So was so shocked he even forgot to shake his opponent's hand when he left the board.

Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian had the better position nevertheless | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The next player to give up the game in one move was Alexander Grischuk. Right out of the opening against Fabiano Caruana, he forgot his knight was sitting on d2 and simply hung his bishop on h6:

 
Grischuk vs. Caruana
Position after 16...d5

Sasha resigned after 17.h6? xh6. Incredible.

Fabiano Caruana

2018 World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In the last game of the day, Magnus Carlsen was trying to keep the game complicated against Ding Liren, as a draw would give the Chinese overall victory in their match-up. Once again, the world champion gave up a pawn and had the initiative on the kingside, but Ding defended accurately — much like in their classical encounter — and was in the driver's seat after some simplifications. While a pawn up, the Chinese grandmaster missed a chance to simplify into a clearly better endgame:

 
Carlsen vs. Ding Liren - Armageddon
Position after 40.Rf3

Black could have forced a series of exchanges with 40...♝e6, as the game would have followed 41.♖e3 (or 41.♖c3, which does not make much of a difference) ♝xb3 42.♖xb3 ♜xb3 43.♕xb3 ♛xe4+ 44.♕f3 ♛xf3 45.♔xf3 when Black is two pawns to the good in a bishop v knight endgame.

Ding Liren chose 40...♝xf5 instead and went into a balanced endgame with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops. Ten moves later, however, he failed to see one of White's threats and lost the game:

 
Position after 50.Bf7

Black needed to play 50...♝e3 instead of 50...♝d2. The point is that after the bishop went to d2 White had 51.g6+ f4 52.g4+ (here Ding Liren resigned) ♚f3 53.♖xg3+ winning the rook. Had the bishop been on e3, the rook would not have been skewered in this line.

Tuesday is a rest day in Stavanger. 

Magnus Carlsen

World champion Magnus Carlsen is having a great year | Photo: Lennart Ootes


Round 6 round-up show

GM Erwin l'Ami recaps the action from round five


Standings after Round 6

# Name Country Rating Points
1 Magnus Carlsen Norway 2875
2 Yu Yangyi China 2738 8
3 Levon Aronian Armenia 2752
4 Wesley So USA 2754
5 Ding Liren China 2805
6 Viswanathan Anand India 2767
7 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2774 5
8 Fabiano Caruana USA 2819 5
9 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France 2779
10 Alexander Grischuk Russia 2775 3

All games - Classical

 
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1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d3 d6 6.Qd2 A36: Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4 Bg2 Bg7 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nge2 Bd7 8.b3 Qc8 9.h3 0-0 10.Bb2 a6 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.Rd1 b5 13.Nf4 Re8 14.Ncd5 e5 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Nd5 Bg7 17.Ba1 Ne7 18.Nxe7+ Rxe7 19.h4 h5 20.0-0 ½-½ (20) Rakhmanov,A (2653)-Mamedov,R (2709) Riadh 2017 6...Qd7 7.b3 b6 8.Bb2 Bb7 9.Nd5 e5 10.f4N Predecessor: 10.e3 Nge7 11.Ne2 Nxd5 12.Bxd5 Ne7 13.Bxb7 Qxb7 0-1 (31) Hansen,S (2583)-Hillarp Persson,T (2546) Malmo 2018 10...Nge7 11.e4 Nxd5 12.cxd5 Nd4 13.Nf3 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Qe7 15.h4 15.0-0 15...f5 16.h5 0-0-0 17.0-0-0 exf4 18.gxf4 Bxb2+ 19.Qxb2
Black must now prevent hxg6. 19...Rhf8 20.Rde1 Qf7 21.Rh4 Qe7 Black should play 21...fxe4 22.hxg6 22.dxe4 Qe7 22...Qxg6 23.Bxe4 Qg3 22.Rhh1= The position is equal. Qf7 23.Ref1 Kb8 24.Rhg1 fxe4 25.Bxe4 Bxd5 26.hxg6 hxg6 27.Bxg6 Qf6 27...Qe6 seems wilder. 28.f5 Qe3+ 29.Qd2 Qd4 30.Kc2 Qf6 28.f5 Rd7 29.Qxf6 Rxf6 30.Bh5 Kc7 31.Rg6 Rdf7 32.Rxf6 Rxf6 33.Bg6 Kd7 34.Kd2 Rf8 35.d4 Accuracy: White = 57%, Black = 54%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2752Grischuk,A2775½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess 20191.1
Carlsen,M2875Anand,V2767½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess 20191.2
Mamedyarov,S2774Caruana,F2819½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess 20191.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Yu,Y2738½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess 20191.4
Ding,L2805So,W2754½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess 20191.5
Caruana,F2819Vachier-Lagrave,M27791–02019B977th Altibox Norway Chess 20192
Grischuk,A2775So,W2754½–½2019C677th Altibox Norway Chess 20192
Anand,V2767Mamedyarov,S27740–12019B317th Altibox Norway Chess 20192
Aronian,L2752Carlsen,M2875½–½2019B317th Altibox Norway Chess 20192
Yu,Y2738Ding,L2805½–½2019E007th Altibox Norway Chess 20192
Carlsen,M2875Grischuk,A27751–02019D857th Altibox Norway Chess 20193.1
So,W2754Yu,Y27381–02019C427th Altibox Norway Chess 20193.2
Ding,L2805Caruana,F28191–02019A467th Altibox Norway Chess 20193.3
Mamedyarov,S2774Aronian,L27520–12019A287th Altibox Norway Chess 20193.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Anand,V2767½–½2019C787th Altibox Norway Chess 20193.5
Carlsen,M2875Mamedyarov,S2774½–½2019D857th Altibox Norway Chess 20194.1
Aronian,L2752Vachier-Lagrave,M2779½–½2019A367th Altibox Norway Chess 20194.2
Caruana,F2819So,W2754½–½2019C547th Altibox Norway Chess 20194.3
Anand,V2767Ding,L2805½–½2019C547th Altibox Norway Chess 20194.4
Grischuk,A2775Yu,Y27380–12019C427th Altibox Norway Chess 20194.5
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Carlsen,M2875½–½2019B337th Altibox Norway Chess 20195.1
So,W2754Anand,V2767½–½2019C787th Altibox Norway Chess 20195.2
Yu,Y2738Caruana,F2819½–½2019E047th Altibox Norway Chess 20195.3
Ding,L2805Aronian,L2752½–½2019D027th Altibox Norway Chess 20195.4
Mamedyarov,S2774Grischuk,A2775½–½2019A287th Altibox Norway Chess 20195.5
Carlsen,M2875Ding,L2805½–½2019A207th Altibox Norway Chess 20196.1
Anand,V2767Yu,Y2738½–½2019C427th Altibox Norway Chess 20196.2
Aronian,L2752So,W2754½–½2019A207th Altibox Norway Chess 20196.3
Mamedyarov,S2774Vachier-Lagrave,M2779½–½2019D757th Altibox Norway Chess 20196.4
Grischuk,A2775Caruana,F2819½–½2019B337th Altibox Norway Chess 20196.5
So,W2754Carlsen,M2875½–½2019B337th Altibox Norway Chess 20197.1
Yu,Y2738Aronian,L2752½–½2019C477th Altibox Norway Chess 20197.2
Ding,L2805Mamedyarov,S27741–02019D707th Altibox Norway Chess 20197.3
Caruana,F2819Anand,V2767½–½2019C837th Altibox Norway Chess 20197.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Grischuk,A2775½–½2019B317th Altibox Norway Chess 20197.5
Carlsen,M2875Yu,Y27381–02019D157th Altibox Norway Chess 20198.1
Aronian,L2752Caruana,F28190–12019A227th Altibox Norway Chess 20198.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Ding,L2805½–½2019C547th Altibox Norway Chess 20198.3
Mamedyarov,S2774So,W2754½–½2019D007th Altibox Norway Chess 20198.4
Grischuk,A2775Anand,V2767½–½2019C807th Altibox Norway Chess 20198.5
Caruana,F2819Carlsen,M2875½–½2019B317th Altibox Norway Chess 20199.1
Anand,V2767Aronian,L2752½–½2019C547th Altibox Norway Chess 20199.2
So,W2754Vachier-Lagrave,M2779½–½2019A347th Altibox Norway Chess 20199.3
Yu,Y2738Mamedyarov,S27741–02019C477th Altibox Norway Chess 20199.4
Ding,L2805Grischuk,A2775½–½2019D787th Altibox Norway Chess 20199.5

All games - Armageddon

 
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1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Be7 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 6.Nxe7 A21: English Opening: 1...e5 2 Nc3 Qxe7 7.Bg5 Nc6 8.Qc3 The position is equal. Ne5 9.Nf3N Predecessor: 9.g3 d6 10.Bg2 h6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nh3 Bxh3 13.Bxh3 1-0 (65) Dubov,D (2703)-Erdos,V (2612) Skopje 2019 9...d6 10.e3 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Nxe5
Bg3 is the strong threat. 12...dxe5 12...Ne4= 13.Ng6 Nxc3 14.Nxe7 Kxe7 13.Bg3 Nd7 13...0-0 14.h4 g4 15.c5 h5 16.Rc1 c6 17.Bd3 0-0 18.0-0 Re8 19.Rfd1 Nf6 20.Bb1 Nd5 21.Qc2 Qh7+ would kill now. 21.Qb3 is interesting. a5 22.Qa4 e4 23.Bd6 Qe6 24.a3 21...e4! 22.Rd4 f5! 23.a3 Be6 24.Rcd1 Rad8 25.Ba2 Rd7 26.b4 a6 27.a4 Red8 28.b5 axb5 29.axb5 Nf6?       Better is 29...Ra8 30.Rd6 Bxa2 31.Qxa2+ 31.bxc6 Rxd6 32.Qxa2+ 32.cxd6 Qe6± 32.Bxd6 Qf7 32...Rd5+- 31...Qf7 32.Qa5 Rxd6 33.cxd6 Less strong is 33.Rxd6 Rxd6 34.cxd6 cxb5+- 33...Qd7 34.bxc6 bxc6 35.Rb1 Hoping for Rb7! Rf8 36.Qc7 Rf7? 36...Rc8 37.Qa5 Rf8 37.Rb8++- Kh7 38.Be5 Nd5 39.Rh8+ White mates. Kg6 40.Qb8 Nf6 41.Bxf6      
Overworked Piece 41...Kxf6 42.Rh6+ Ke5 43.Qh8+ Accuracy: White = 74%, Black = 45%. 43.Qb2+ Kd5 44.Qd4#
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2875Anand,V27671–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20191.1
Mamedyarov,S2774Caruana,F28191–02019A457th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20191.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Yu,Y27380–120197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20191.4
Ding,L2805So,W27541–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20191.5
Aronian,L2752Grischuk,A27751–02019A227th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20191.5
Grischuk,A2775So,W2754½–½2019A087th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20192
Yu,Y2738Ding,L28051–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20192
Aronian,L2752Carlsen,M28750–120197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20192.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Anand,V2767½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20193.5
Carlsen,M2875Mamedyarov,S27741–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20194.1
Aronian,L2752Vachier-Lagrave,M2779½–½2019A367th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20194.2
Caruana,F2819So,W2754½–½2019C427th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20194.3
Anand,V2767Ding,L28051–02019C547th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20194.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Carlsen,M2875½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20195.1
So,W2754Anand,V2767½–½2019D117th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20195.2
Yu,Y2738Caruana,F28191–02019B307th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20195.3
Ding,L2805Aronian,L2752½–½2019A287th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20195.4
Mamedyarov,S2774Grischuk,A27750–120197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20195.5
Carlsen,M2875Ding,L28051–02019C777th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20196.1
Anand,V2767Yu,Y27380–12019C247th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20196.2
Aronian,L2752So,W27541–02019A257th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20196.3
Mamedyarov,S2774Vachier-Lagrave,M2779½–½2019E607th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20196.4
Grischuk,A2775Caruana,F28190–12019C777th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20196.5
So,W2754Carlsen,M2875½–½2019D707th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20197.1
Yu,Y2738Aronian,L2752½–½2019E327th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20197.2
Caruana,F2819Anand,V27671–02019C547th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20197.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Grischuk,A27751–02019D737th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20197.5
Vachier-Lagrave,M2779Ding,L28051–02019A227th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20198.3
Mamedyarov,S2774So,W2754½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20198.4
Grischuk,A2775Anand,V27670–12019A387th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20198.5
Caruana,F2819Carlsen,M28751–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20199.1
Anand,V2767Aronian,L2752½–½2019C547th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20199.2
So,W2754Vachier-Lagrave,M27791–02019E617th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20199.3
Ding,L2805Grischuk,A2775½–½20197th Altibox Norway Chess Armageddon 20199.5

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Antonio is a freelance writer and a philologist. He is mainly interested in the links between chess and culture, primarily literature. In chess games, he skews towards endgames and positional play.

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