Norway Chess, Round 6: One win, four Armageddon games

by André Schulz
6/6/2023 – Monday was Armageddon day in Stavanger. Caruana won his classical game against Abdusattorov, and Nakamura, Carlsen, Gukesh and So improved their scores with Armageddon wins after draws. Fabiano Caruana remains in the lead. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/ Norway Chess

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Fabiano Caruana is the dominant player at the 11th Norwegian Chess Tournament in Stavanger. In the sixth round the US grandmaster and 2018 World Championship runner-up won another classical game, which at the Norway Chess Tournament is worth three points. His opponent was Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The game started with an Italian and was balanced for a long time, but then both sides took risks on the kingside, which Caruana handled better.

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek27310–1Caruana, Fabiano2764
11th Norway Chess 2023
Stavanger05.06.2023[Schulz,A]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Nbd2 Be6 8.Nb3 b6 9.Ng5 9.Bg5 Qd7 10.Bh4 c5 11.Nbd2 Nh5 12.Ng5 Nf4 13.Nxe6 Nxe6 14.Nc4 f6= 1-0 (93) Caruana,F (2766)-Aronian,L (2745) Saint Louis 2023 9...Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.Kh1 Nd7 12.Nh3 f6 13.Be3 Qe7 14.Nd2 Nc5 15.Nc4 Ne6 16.Ng1 g5 17.Ne2 Bf7 18.Qe1 h5 19.Nxd6+ cxd6 20.a4 h4 21.a5 b5 22.h3 a6 23.d4 c5 24.c3 Kf8 25.Rd1 Kg7 26.Qf2 Rac8 27.Rd2 Qc7 28.Ra1 Rhd8 29.b4 cxd4
The first pawn that is captured - on move 29! 30.cxd4 Qe7 31.Rad1 31.d5!? 31...Rh8 32.Qe1 Rc4 33.dxe5 dxe5 34.Rd6 Rd8 35.Rxd8 Nxd8 36.g3 White wants to open lines against Black's king, but also weakens his own kingside. However, the chances are still equal. hxg3 37.Nxg3 Be6 38.Qd2 Nf7 39.Bc5 Qe8 40.h4 White has to pay attention to the h-pawn who is under attack. 40.Kg2 Qc8 41.Rh1 f5 42.Qd3= 40...Qh8 41.h5 Qh7 42.Kg2 Qh6 43.Kf2 g4 44.Be3 44.Qxh6+ Kxh6 45.Be3+ Kh7= 44...Qh8 45.fxg4 Qc8 46.Bc5 Bxg4 Objectively (the engines) the chances are equal. However, as both kings are exposed mistakes are bound to happen. 47.Rf1 47.Rc1 Rxc1 48.Qxc1 Ng5 49.Be3= 47...Bh3 48.Rg1 Kh7
49.h6? 49.Rc1 49...Qg4 Threatening Ng5 and Nf3. 50.Nf5 50.Be3 Qh4-+ 50...Qxe4 51.Rg7+ Kh8 52.Ne3 Nxh6 53.Nxc4 Kxg7 54.Bf8+ Kxf8 55.Qxh6+ Kg8 56.Ne3? 56.Qxh3 bxc4 57.Qd7 offered White better counterchances. 56...Bf5 57.Qh5 57.Nxf5 Qxf5+ 58.Ke1 Qe4+-+ 57...Bg6 58.Qh3 f5 59.Qh6 Kf7 60.Qh8 Qd4 61.Ke2 f4 62.Ng4 f3+ 62...f3+ 63.Kxf3 e4+-+
0–1

The other games all ended in draws, leading to four Armageddon games. Magnus Carlsen played Black against his fellow countryman Aryan Tari, who was born in Stavanger. Tari responded to Carlsen's Sicilian Defence 2...d6 with 3.Bb5+ and later established a Maroczy bind. Carlsen was able to open up the position with 16...d5 and, after some exchanges, had the advantage in a heavy piece endgame. However, he did not make the most of his advantages and eventually the game ended in a perpetual. But Carlsen then won the ensuing Armageddon with an energetic kingside attack that led to mate.

Alireza Firouzja and Hikaru Nakamura practised a similar opening, the Rossolimo Variation, and caused astonishment when they both broke every traditional rule and developed their knights to the edge with 7.Na3 Na6. But of course the knights did not stay there. An interesting positional game developed, but there was no winner. In the Armageddon an interesting situation arose in the endgame when Nakamura had to play with two rooks against three white minor pieces. The rooks proved better and the half extra point went to Nakamura.

The classical game between Shakriyar Mamedyarov and Wesley So, which began with the Queen's Gambit, also ended in a draw. In the heavy piece endgame, So had a passed pawn but couldn't make use of it. In the Armageddon game, an English opening led to unusual positions and interesting endgame tactics. But Mamedyarov was unable to make any real headway and was eventually forced to accept a perpetual, giving So the match.

Wesley So published two new opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Get them in a package and save money!

The classical game between Gukesh and Anish Giri also ended without a winner.

The young Indian, who had White, decided to castle queenside in the Slav Queen's Gambit, but Giri's attempts to attack White's king failed and the Dutchman ended up in a minor piece endgame with a minus pawn. But this was not enough to win and the game ended in a draw.

In the ensuing Armageddon game, Gukesh quickly managed to get his a-pawn to a7, giving him a winning position. Giri tried to muddy the waters, but Gukesh defended carefully and won the game.

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.

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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