Norway Chess: Gukesh capitalises on late errors, beats Carlsen

Caruana catches Carlsen in the lead

Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju scored a major milestone victory in round six of the Norway Chess tournament by defeating Magnus Carlsen in a classical game for the first time in his career. The dramatic game saw Carlsen outplay his younger opponent for much of the contest, only to lose control in time trouble and ultimately blunder in a balanced position.

The result was clearly frustrating for Carlsen, who showed his displeasure at the board by hitting the table after resigning.

The loss cost Carlsen the sole lead, as Fabiano Caruana beat Hikaru Nakamura in Armageddon to catch up on points. Arjun Erigaisi also won his mini-match, defeating Wei Yi in the tiebreaker. With one round to go, Carlsen and Caruana share the lead, with Gukesh now just one point behind in sole third.

Standings after round 6

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Time to celebrate! | Photo: Michal Walusza

Gukesh Dommaraju registered a career-defining win by defeating Magnus Carlsen in classical chess, turning the tables in a game the Norwegian had dominated for most of its duration. Carlsen played nearly flawlessly through the middlegame and built up a clearly winning position, only to falter in the final phase of the game.

With time running low, Carlsen began to lose control, while Gukesh, although worse, continued to find resourceful moves to stay in the game. The world champion prolonged the position just enough for Carlsen to slip. After squandering his advantage, the game became balanced, and a final misstep by the former world champion allowed Gukesh to seize the initiative and get the win.

Expert analysis by GM Daniel King

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Gukesh could not believe what had just happened | Photo: Michal Walusza

The all-American encounter between Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, the two strongest players from the United States, began with a 31-move draw in the classical game. Both contesters played solidly, and the position never veered far from equilibrium.

In the Armageddon tiebreak, Nakamura had the white pieces and created some dynamic chances, but Caruana defended with precision.

As the game progressed into a rook and bishop versus rook and bishop endgame, Caruana managed to simplify by giving up his bishop in a theoretically drawn position. His move 58...Rxc5 prepared to surrender the bishop on e3, leaving only a dark-squared bishop and an a-pawn that promotes on a light square - known to be a theoretical draw.

The draw was agreed on move 64, handing Caruana 1½ points and allowing him to catch Carlsen in the lead with 9½ points.

Hikaru Nakamura agrees to a draw in the Armageddon decider against Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Michal Walusza

The third mini-match of the day also went to Armageddon. After a balanced 31-move draw in the classical game between Arjun Erigaisi and Wei Yi, the Indian grandmaster showed strong preparation and accuracy to win the decider.

Wei's decision to play 17...Ke7 in the Armageddon game proved mistaken. Arjun responded with the accurate 18.Qc1, creating concrete threats that made 18...Kxd6 unplayable due to 19.Ra3, which traps the black queen.

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From that point, Arjun maintained his advantage with a near-flawless sequence of moves. Wei could not recover, and resignation followed on move 35. Arjun's win lifted him to 7½ points, within reach of a strong final standing.

Arjun Erigaisi | 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)