In the third round of the Norway Chess Tournament Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen, who have played countless rapid and blitz games in many online tournaments in the past, met.
The two top players played a classical game for the first time in four years and had time for a long game, but didn't use it.
Nakamura-Carlsen game started with the Ruy Lopez ⚔️ It’s expected to be a fascinating game ♟️#NorwayChess pic.twitter.com/rCGGLU1jeX
— Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) June 1, 2023
The two grandmasters followed the moves of a line of the Spanish Marshall Attack, which they had both played before. There was a small innovation on move 20, but on move 31, after ten minutes of play, it was over. A draw. In the ensuing Armageddon, Nakamura tried to surprise Carlsen with the King's Gambit. He did not succeed. Carlsen knew what to do and won a lively game in which he quickly gained the upper hand.
Carlsen on the classical game vs. Nakamura: "I thought there was considerably more than a 50% chance that he was just going to chop everything off"
— chess24.com (@chess24com) June 1, 2023
On Armageddon: "I don't think you ever expect the King's Gambit, but it was not an unpleasant surprise!"#NorwayChess #c24live pic.twitter.com/P2RIr9nNWw
Win or lose, Hikaru Nakamura comments his games at the Norway Chess Tournament on his stream GMHikaru. Here is what he had to say about his choice of the King's Gambit:
The game between Shakhriyar Mamedyarv and D. Gukeshalso also ended in a draw, but the two players needed a little more time to reach this result than Nakamura and Carlsen.
The Armageddon game was complicated and tense, with ups and downs, but in the end Gukesh forced Mamedyarov to give a perpetual, which was enough for Gukesh to win the game as he had Black.
The encounter between Wesley So and Anish Giri also ended without a winner, leading to an Armageddon game. Anish Giri won with the black pieces by holding So to a draw.
Fabiano Caruana celebrated a clear victory over Aryan Tari. Caruana had White and in a line of the Queen's Gambit Exchange Variation he soon put his Norwegian opponent under pressure, which he gradually increased to win with a nice combination.
In the duel of the youngsters, Alireza Firouzja won against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Firouzja, who was black, opted for the Queen's Indian and for a long time the position was even. But then Firouzja went on the attack and outplayed his opponent.
