Norway Chess: Three draws, three Armageddon deciders

“Noodles, salad and a big peperoni pizza”

Besides an innovative scoring format, the Norway Chess super-tournament gives players the possibility to share their thoughts in a ‘confessional booth’. In the first round of this year’s edition, defending champion Hikaru Nakamura quickly made use of the booth to let the spectators know that Magnus Carlsen was having (a hefty) dinner in the back room:

It’s pretty funny to see Magnus — in the back room, eating. He spent like 13 minutes eating noodles, salad and a big peperoni pizza.

Carlsen was eating after the round had started, and he had the black pieces against world champion Ding Liren. Once he had finished dinner, the local hero went on to quickly get a draw with black, in a game lasting only 14 moves.

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In the remaining two games, R Praggnanandhaa had the white pieces against Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana was playing white against Nakamura. Both encounters ended drawn, with Caruana finding a nice tactical idea but then failing to play the perplexing follow-up.

As per the rules of the event, all three games were followed by Armageddon deciders. While wins in classical chess are worth 3 points, prevailing in Armageddon grants players 1½ points (the players who lose in the tiebreaker get 1 point).

In round 1, Carlsen, Nakamura and Pragg got the extra half points in the tiebreakers. Carlsen was never in trouble playing black against Ding and held the draw he needed; Nakamura put pressure on Caruana until provoking a losing blunder; and Pragg was quicker than Firouzja in a frantic time scramble.

Carlsen v. Nakamura, Firouzja v. Caruana and Pragg v. Ding are the pairings for round 2.

Caruana 0 - 1 Nakamura

Caruana, Fabiano2805

0–1

Nakamura, Hikaru2795

Norway Chess Armageddon 2024 Stavanger27.05.2024[CC]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Bb5+ Nbd7 7.Nf5 a6 8.Be2 Nc5 9.Ng3 b5 10.a3 Be7 11.0-0 0-0 12.Be3 A novelty, followed by Be2-f3, leaving the f-pawn on the second rank. 12.f4 Bb7 13.Bf3 Ne6 had been played previously. 12...Bb7 13.Bf3 g6 14.Qd2 h5 15.Bh6 Re8 16.Rfe1 Ne6 17.Rad1 Engines favour Black here, though he should be careful with White's attacking chances on the kingside. Nd4 Better is 17...Nh7 protecting the g5-square and thus preventing the line seen in the game. 18.Nf5

18...Nxf5 Not 18...gxf5 due to 19.Qg5+ Kh8 20.Qg7# 19.exf5 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qc8 21.fxg6 fxg6 22.Bg5 Qf5 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 There are plenty of imbalances in the position, but Black seems to have survived the most dangerous fragment of the middlegame and only needs a draw to come out on top in Armageddon. 24.Nd5 Qxf3 25.Re3 Qf7 26.Rg3 White has given up the f-pawn in order to activate his knight and one of his rooks. Engines now give Black a slight edge. Bh4 27.Rg2 Better is 27.Rh3 though after Bd8 it is difficult to find an active plan for White. 27...Kh7 28.Nc3 e4

Black has neutralised White's active plans, and immediately grabs the initiative. An excellent decision by Nakamura, who rejects playing passively despite only needing a draw. 29.Qe2 Qf3 30.Rxd6 Rad8 Black has given up his d-pawn to activate his queenside rook. He has a clear advantage now. 31.Rxd8 Rxd8 32.Kf1 Qf4 Not the most precise continuation. Both players are down to a bit over a minute, and Black is still better - and he only needs a draw. The straightforward 32...a5 is very strong - White is completely paralysed defending the d1-square. 33.Qe3 Qf3 34.h3 Rd6 35.Rg1 a5 36.b4 axb4 37.axb4 Bf6 A mistake, in fact, allowing White to escape with a draw. 38.Qxe4

The losing blunder, leaving the queen undefended. 38.Rg3 Qxe3 Nakamura would have probably opted for 38...Qh1+ 39.Rg1 Not 39.Ke2 Bxc3 40.Qxc3 Qd1+ 41.Ke3 h4 and White cannot save the rook and prevent mate on f3 at the same time. 39...Qf3 40.Rg3 and White is forced to repeat the position, as any other move makes major concessions. 39.Rxe3 Bxc3 40.Rxc3 Rd1+ 41.Ke2 Rb1 is a drawn rook endgame. 38...Rd1+ 38...Rd1+ 39.Nxd1 Qxe4 0–1

Standings after round 1

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

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.

Links

• Official site
• 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)