Not for the faint-hearted
Magnus Carlsen captured his seventh Norway Chess title in Stavanger after a nerve-wracking finish to the super-tournament. The final round on Friday was a showcase of drama, resilience and shifting fortunes, with the title decided by the narrowest of margins.
Carlsen, who led the standings going into the last day, for a while had a lost position against Arjun Erigaisi but managed to get a draw eventually by showing his usual resourcefulness in a game that swung wildly in the endgame.
Carlsen, in fact, even got chances to go for a win later on. Find below analysis of the ending by our in-house expert GM Karsten Müller.
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.
What prompted Carlsen to take the draw was the fact that, at that stage, Fabiano Caruana looked on track to beat Gukesh Dommaraju - Gukesh entered the final round in sole second place, a half point behind Carlsen, while Caruana stood two points further back.

It was a tension-packed encounter | Photo: Michal Walusza
However, Caruana erred while converting his advantage and gave Gukesh hopes to escape with a draw. Moreover, in a dramatic turnaround, it was Gukesh who was left devastated as he let the draw slip away in the final moments.
Here, after 48.Bxc7, Black can hold a draw either with 48...Rd4 49.Bxd8 Rxc4 50.Nxd2 Rxf4 or with the less straightforward 48...Qxc7 49.Qxd5 Qxf4 50.Ng3, when Black needs to tread lightly but should be able to keep the balance.
None of this appeared on the board, though, as Gukesh faltered with 48...d1Q, and resigned after 49.Bxd8+ Kxd8 50.Nc3
Note that after 50...Qc1, White's 51.Qxd5+ comes with a check.
Had Gukesh drawn and then beat Caruana in Armageddon, he could have reached a tiebreaker for first place with Carlsen if the Norwegian lost in the sudden-death decider against Arjun. Understandably, Gukesh looked devastated after missing this chance.
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning world champion, had more than a couple of dramatic moments during the tournament - most notably, his classical win over Magnus Carlsen, who slammed the table after losing the game | Photo: Michal Walusza
In the end, Carlsen's draw was enough to secure overall victory, while Caruana and Gukesh joined him on the podium. The most unlikely scenario before the round - Caruana emerging as champion from fourth place - very nearly came to pass!
Wei Yi, meanwhile, overcame Hikaru Nakamura in Armageddon to end the event on a high note. Arjun's victory over Carlsen in their matchup's tiebreaker did not impact the final standings, though the Indian star did get to checkmate the tournament winner.
Ultimately, the final round encapsulated a general trend seen at this edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament, as the event's format made for an entertaining showcase of talent and fighting spirit by six of the strongest chess players in the world.
Final standings
Rk |
Name |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
NOR |
2837 |
16 |
2 |
Fabiano Caruana |
USA |
2776 |
15½ |
3 |
Gukesh Dommaraju |
IND |
2787 |
14½ |
4 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
USA |
2804 |
14 |
5 |
Arjun Erigaisi |
IND |
2782 |
13 |
6 |
Wei Yi |
CHN |
2758 |
9½ |

US star Fabiano Caruana played enterprisingly throughout and finished in sole second place | Photo: Michal Walusza
This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Wei Yi ended the tournament on a high, as he beat Hikaru Nakamura in Armageddon for a second time in the event | Photo: Roza Czarnota

The ever-charismatic Hikaru Nakamura grabbed fourth place | Photo: Michal Walusza
Arjun ½-½ Carlsen
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller
All games - Classical
All games - Armageddon
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