A Carlsenesque approach?
Curiously, Magnus Carlsen finished the 2023 edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament without a single win in classical chess. However, the local hero won 7 out of the 8 Armageddon deciders he played in Stavanger. This year, in the inaugural edition of the parallel women’s event, Ju Wenjun has followed in the footsteps of Carlsen in the first four rounds, drawing all her classical games and prevailing in every single tiebreaker.
Given the tournament’s scoring system, this approach is not enough to top the standings — Carlsen finished the 2023 event in sixth place (out of 10). Now, Ju’s victories in the rapid tiebreakers left her in shared second place at a 2½-point distance from sole leader R Vaishali. The Indian rising star obtained classical wins in rounds 2 and 4.
In Thursday’s fourth round, Vaishali got the better of Pia Cramling with the black pieces. Cramling faltered decisively amid a balanced-yet-tricky rook endgame.
48.fxe6, as played in the game, loses to 48...Rxe6 49.Rg5 Re5 50.Rg6+ Kc5, and the king crucially approaches the a-file passer. Cramling resigned four moves later.
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.In the first diagrammed position, Cramling needed to play 48.Rg8 or 48.Rg7, and after 48...exf5 49.Kf4 White can keep the battle going.
Vaishali was not the only player to grab a classical win in round 4, as Anna Muzychuk defeated Humpy Koneru, also with the black pieces. Muzychuk is now tied for second place with Ju, who beat Lei Tingjie with black in the Armageddon tiebreaker.
R Vaishali playing black against living legend Pia Cramling | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Humpy 0 - 1 Muzychuk
Analysis by André Schulz
1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 4.Nf3 c6 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.h3 6.Bf4 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.e3 Nd7 9.Bd3 Ne7 10.0-0 0-0= 6...Bd6 7.Bg5 Ne7 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.e3 0-0 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nd7 12.Nd2 f5 13.0-0-0 a5 14.g4 Bb4 15.Ne2 15...Bxd2+ 16.Kxd2?! 16.Rxd2 Nb6 16...a4 17.Ng3= 17.Ng3 Nc4 18.Re2= 18.Nxf5 Rxf5 19.gxf5 Nxd2 20.Kxd2= 16...Nb6 17.gxf5 Nc4+ 18.Kc1 Ra6 19.Kc2 Qb4 19...Rb6 20.Rb1 20.Qc3 Rxf5 21.Nf4 Qf8 22.Rhg1 Rb6 22...a4!? 23.b3 Na3+ 24.Kd2 24.Kb2 Nb5 25.Qc5 Qxc5 26.dxc5 Ra6 27.Rg2= 24...Qb4 25.Nd3 Qxc3+ 26.Kxc3 Nb5+ 27.Kd2 Nd6 28.Ke2 a4 29.b4 Ra6 30.Rg4 Ra8 31.Rdg1 Rf7 32.Ne5 Re7 33.Kd3 Rf8 34.f3 Rf5 35.Rg5 Rxg5 36.Rxg5 Nf7 37.Nxf7 Rxf7 38.Ke2 Re7 39.a3 Kf7 40.Kd3 Kf6 41.h4 h6 42.Rg1 g5 43.hxg5+ hxg5 44.Rh1 Kg6 45.e4!? 45.Rh8= 45.Ke2= 45...dxe4+ 46.fxe4 g4 47.Ke3 47.Rg1 Kg5 48.e5 Rf7 49.Kc4 Rg7 49...Kh4? 50.e6 Re7 51.Re1 g3 52.Kc5 g2 53.Kd6+- 50.Kc5 50.e6? Kf6-+ 50...Kf5 51.Kd6 Rg6+= 47...Rf7 48.e5? 48.d5 Rf3+ 49.Kd4 cxd5 50.exd5 Rxa3 51.d6 Kf7 52.Re1 Ra2 53.Kc3 Ra3+ 54.Kc2 Rh3 55.d7 Rh8 56.Re4= 48...Rf3+ 49.Ke4 Rxa3 50.Rf1 50.e6 Kf6-+ 50.d5 cxd5+ 51.Kxd5 g3 52.e6 g2 53.Rg1 Ra2 54.Kd6 Re2 55.e7 Kf7-+ 50...Ra2 50...g3 51.Rg1 Rb3-+ 51.Ke3 51.Kf4 Re2 52.Ra1 Rf2+ 53.Kxg4 Rd2 54.Rxa4 Rxd4+ 55.Kf3 Kf5-+ 51...g3 52.e6 g2 53.Re1 Kf6 54.Kd3 Ke7 55.Kc3 Rf2 55...Rf2 56.Rg1 a3 57.Kb3 a2 58.d5 a1Q 59.Rxa1 Rf1-+ 0–1 
The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.
Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Standings after round 4
| Rk |
Name |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
| 1 |
R Vaishali |
IND |
2489 |
8.5 |
| 2 |
Ju Wenjun |
CHN |
2559 |
6 |
|
Anna Muzychuk |
UKR |
2505 |
6 |
| 4 |
Lei Tingjie |
CHN |
2548 |
5 |
| 5 |
Humpy Koneru |
IND |
2545 |
3 |
|
Pia Cramling |
SWE |
2449 |
3 |
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 Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.
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