Three Armageddons

Magnus Carlsen continues to top the standings at the Norway Chess super-tournament following round five in Stavanger. All three classical games on Saturday ended in draws, leading to Armageddon tiebreaks in each mini-match.

Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana with the black pieces in the decider, extending his lead to 1½ points over the US star, who remains in sole second place. The other two Armageddon games were won by Arjun Erigaisi and Wei Yi, both playing white, as they prevailed over Hikaru Nakamura and Gukesh Dommaraju, respectively.

Wei has now won three tiebreakers in a row, against Carlsen, Nakamura and Gukesh.

Standings after round 5

The playing hall during round five | Photo: Michal Walusza

In their classical encounter, Fabiano Caruana came close to handing Magnus Carlsen his first classical loss of the event. Caruana held a promising endgame featuring rooks and minor pieces and eventually converted his positional edge into an extra pawn.

The critical moment came on move 44, when Caruana played 44.Nd5

This allowed Carlsen counterplay after 44...Ke5 and led to the loss of White's central passer.

Instead, 44.Ke3 in the diagrammed position would have maintained winning chances: after 44...Bc6 45.Kd4 Bg2 46.Nd5 (diagram), there is no good follow-up for Black, since 46...Bxh3 is met with 47.Ne3, dominating the piece.

After the missed opportunity, Carlsen equalised without difficulty and secured the draw.

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

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.

In the Armageddon tiebreak, Caruana adopted an ambitious plan, giving up two pawns in pursuit of the initiative. However, his attempt to seize control backfired. Carlsen gradually consolidated and stabilised the position, ultimately neutralising all threats and converting his material advantage into a win. With the result, the Norwegian added 1½ points to his tally, maintaining his position at the top of the leaderboard.

Draw agreed with only kings left on the board | Photo: Michal Walusza

The mini-match between Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi was marked by missed chances in both games. In the classical portion, Nakamura had the better position but was unable to convert, with Arjun defending resourcefully to force a draw.

In the Armageddon decider, Nakamura obtained a major advantage once again and appeared poised to claim the win. However, the five-time US champion and famed streamer missed a tactical knockout blow on move 41.

41...Rxg2+ 42.Kxg2 Qg4+ (diagram) 43.Kh2 Qxc8 would have left him two minor pieces up for a rook in a completely winning position.

Instead, he played 41...Rf6, a serious misstep that not only gave up the advantage but allowed Arjun a decisive tactical blow.

Arjun immediately responded with 42.Qg8+ Kg6 43.g3 Qg4 44.Rc7, threatening mate on g7. After 44...Kh5 45.Rxg7 Rg6, the Indian grandmaster played 46.Qf7, pinning the rook and sealing Black's fate.

Following 47.Rxg6 Qxg6 48.g4+, Nakamura resigned.

Middlegame Secrets Vol.1 + Vol.2

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!

If 48...Kg5, then 49.f4+ wins the queen. A dramatic and resourceful finish by Arjun, who claimed 1½ points from the match.

Arjun Erigaisi finds the winning combination...

...and Hikaru Nakamura does not hide his frustration | Photos: Michal Walusza

Wei Yi's impressive form in Armageddon continued as he defeated Gukesh Dommaraju to score his third consecutive tiebreak victory. The classical game had seen both players miss minor opportunities in a balanced struggle, each failing to press positional advantages when available.

In the Armageddon, however, Wei once again displayed his flair for initiative and coordination. The game featured rooks and opposite-coloured bishops, a setting where the attacking side typically holds the edge. Wei's ability to seize and maintain the initiative proved decisive, as shown by GM Karsten Müller's analysis below

Endgame essentials you need to know Vol.1 & Vol 2

In this video course, GM Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares some uncommon endgame wisdom. The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals.

Wei Yi getting ready for the Armageddon | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

Links

• Official site
• Magnus Carlsen wins sixth Norway Chess title (2024)
• Ju Wenjun triumphant at inaugural Norway Chess Women event (2024)
• 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)