Carlsen still sole leader
With three rounds to go at the Norway Chess event, 5-time tournament winner Magnus Carlsen stands in sole first place with 13 points to his name. Placed second and third, Hikaru Nakamura and R Praggnanandhaa, still have very realistic chances of catching up with the local hero — especially after Nakamura got the better of Carlsen in their round-7 Armageddon tiebreaker.
After a 20-move draw in their classical confrontation, Nakamura defeated Carlsen with white in a thrilling encounter (see full analysis below). Notably, the US star found a nice tactical shot in the early middlegame, then saw Carlsen defending resourcefully to restore the balance, and then flagged the Norwegian amid a tricky endgame with rook, knight and pawn against rook and four pawns.
The two remaining mini-matches were also enthralling contests. Fabiano Caruana defended a tough position in the classical game against Alireza Firouzja, but was then defeated by his younger colleague in the rapid tiebreaker. Meanwhile, Ding Liren missed winning chances both in the classical and the rapid game against Praggnanandhaa.
In Armageddon, Ding played a natural-looking move which saw the evaluation of the position going from around -4 to around +5 (the world champion was playing black).
21...Rdg8 loses to 22.Ndf3, which Pragg played after thinking for only 10 seconds. The backward knight move both defends the knight on g5 and discovers an attack against the bishop on d6 — if the bishop moves anywhere, White counts with Rd2-d7, both attacking the queen and creating deadly threats connected to Ng5-f7+.
Ding played 22...h6 and resigned after 23.Rxd6
Instead of 21...Rdg8, Ding could have played 21...Bb4 (diagram below), keeping a large advantage for Black.
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.Playing Nd4-f3 no longer works tactically, while after 22.Rc2 e5 23.Rxc4 exd4 24.Rxb4 Rdg8, doubling the rooks at the right time, Black is winning — and only needs a draw in the tiebreaker.
It was a rather unfortunate loss for Ding, but it was nice to see the world champion stopping the losing streak (he came from losing four classical games in a row) and even getting promising positions in his two encounters against Pragg.
Praggnanandhaa and Ding Liren | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Nakamura 1 - 0 Carlsen (Armageddon)
Analysis by André Schulz
In this Video-Course we deal with different dynamic decisions involving pawns. The aim of this Course is to arm club/tournament players with fresh ideas which they can use in their own practice.
Standings after round 7
| Rk |
Name |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
| 1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
NOR |
2830 |
13 |
| 2 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
USA |
2794 |
12.5 |
| 3 |
R Praggnanandhaa |
IND |
2747 |
11 |
| 4 |
Alireza Firouzja |
FRA |
2737 |
9.5 |
| 5 |
Fabiano Caruana |
USA |
2805 |
7.5 |
| 6 |
Ding Liren |
CHN |
2762 |
3.5 |
All games - Classical
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All games - Armageddon
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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.
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