Nakamura climbs to third place

Two classical victories and a single Armageddon decider made for a tense round eight at the Norway Chess super-tournament in Stavanger. The two frontrunners before the round, Fabiano Caruana and Gukesh Dommaraju, were both defeated in classical games - Caruana lost to Arjun Erigaisi while Gukesh fell to Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen was defeated in a tiebreaker for the second time by Wei Yi, who had also beaten the Norwegian in round three's Armageddon.

Despite the losses suffered by the frontrunners, Caruana remains in sole first place on 12½ points, now with only a half-point lead over Carlsen. Gukesh and Nakamura are one point further back, while Arjun, who is still in contention, stands one point behind them. With two rounds to go and five players still in the fight for overall victory, the event remains wide open.

Standings after round 8

Attack like a Super Grandmaster

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Despite having a bad couple of days, Magnus Carlsen remains only a half point behind the tournament leader | Photo: Michal Walusza

The classical game between Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi saw the US grandmaster getting a solid position with black, equalising out of the opening without much trouble. However, as early as move 13, Caruana began to fall behind on the clock due to long thinks, which continued throughout the middlegame.

Caruana's positional judgement allowed him to outplay Arjun in a complex position that featured queens, rooks, and bishops of opposite colours. Nonetheless, Caruana missed a major opportunity on move 38 - both 38...Qxc3 and 38...d4 would have maintained his advantage, while his 38...Qf5 was not as precise.

Complications and mutual time trouble crept in. Arjun sacrificed two pawns to activate his pieces and put pressure on Caruana's king, a strategy that proved successful.

The key moment came with 55...Qe5+, a decisive mistake by Caruana, after which 56.Rg3 left White completely winning.

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The bishop on g6 and the rook on e2 were both under attack, and the attempted counter with 56...Qh5+ fell short after 57.Rh3, leading to a lost position. Arjun converted the resulting queen-versus-rook imbalance with accuracy to collect his second classical win of the event.

Arjun Erigaisi defeated Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Michal Walusza

Hikaru Nakamura's victory over Gukesh Dommaraju followed a much cleaner trajectory. Coming from two consecutive classical wins in which he had turned inferior positions around, the reigning world champion this time found himself worse from the early middlegame. Gukesh thought for nearly 30 minutes on move 18, only to produce a novelty that had little impact on the position.

Soon after, on move 20, a more serious strategic error followed when Gukesh chose to recapture on g6 with the f-pawn rather than the h-pawn, granting Nakamura long-term pressure. The five-time US champion seized the opportunity and methodically converted his advantage in a 50-move game, showing characteristic technical precision.

Find below the game analysed by GM Karsten Müller.

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.

Hikaru Nakamura facing Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: Michal Walusza

The only matchup to reach Armageddon saw Wei Yi defeating Magnus Carlsen, marking the second time in the event that the Chinese grandmaster prevailed over the Norwegian in a tiebreaker. The classical game was a brief 23-move draw, and the sudden-death decider was marred by an uncharacteristic blunder by Carlsen.

On move 29, he played 29...Rc2, a move that simply dropped material to 30.Qxg5

The Endgame Academy Vol.1: Checkmate & pawn endgames

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The black queen cannot both capture on d4 and defend the rook on d8. Although Carlsen played on until move 47, Wei had no trouble converting the large material advantage into a second Armageddon win over the former world champion.

Wei Yi and Magnus Carlsen | 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)