Oslo Esports Cup, Round 6: Carlsen wins, Praggnanandhaa loses

In the tournaments of the Meltwater Champions Chess Series Carlsen is usually the favourite and in the focus of interest but in Oslo the 16-year Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa, the youngest player in the field, took the limelight. Early in the tournament the World Champion, who suffered from a severe cold, lost his match against Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Quang Liem, while the Indian youngster rushed from victory to victory.

But in round 4 Carlsen won the direct duel against Praggnanandhaa 3:0, only to lose one round later against his second Jorden van Foreest. In this match the World Champion also suffered from a rare case of chess blindness and blundered a whole rook in one move.

After five rounds and with two rounds to go Praggnanandhaa was three points ahead of Carlsen and had good chances to win the tournament. But in the penultimate round Carlsen had to play Eric Hansen, who has the lowest rating of all the eight players in Oslo, while Praggnanandhaa had to deal with Jan-Krzystof Duda.

The match between Carlsen and Hansen was rather one-sided, and Carlsen defeated the Canadian chess streamer, who seems to be off-form, 2.5-0.5.

 

Carlsen, Magnus2864

1–0

Hansen, Eric2606

MCCT Oslo Esports Cup 2022 20.04.2022[Schulz,A]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Qa4+ That's what Praggnanandhaa tried with success in his round five match against Hansen. c6 8.Nf3 Nd7 8...0-0 9.Be2 b5 10.Qa3 Nd7 11.0-0 Re8 12.Bg5 Nb6 1-0 (36) Praggnanandhaa R (2624)-Hansen,E (2606) Oslo 2022 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 b5 11.Qc2 Nb6 12.Bf4 Bg4 13.Ne5 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Bxe5 Black gives his bishop to strengthen his knight but weakens the black squares on the kingside. 14...Rc8!? 15.Bxe5 Nc4 16.Bf4 Qa5 17.Rac1 f6 With the idea to play ...e5. 18.h4 Weiß setzt auf Königsangriff. Rad8 19.Rfd1 e5 20.Bh6 Rfe8 21.Qg4 Qc7 22.Rd3 Qd7 23.Qg3 Qe6 The position is roughly equal. 24.Re1 Rd7 25.f4

25...Kh8? A grave error. Black cannot allow the opening of the f-file. Correct was 25...exf4 26.Bxf4 26.Qxf4 Ne5 27.Rde3 Ng4 28.Rg3 f5= 26...f5= 26.fxe5 fxe5 27.Rf1 With the simple threat to double on the f-file. Rf7 28.Rxf7 Qxf7 29.Rf3 Qe7 30.h5 30.Bg5+- 30...Qd6 31.Qf2 gxh5 32.Bg5 The threat of 33.Bf6 decides. 1–0

Things were more difficult for Praggnanandhaa. In the first game, in which the Indian had Black, an unusual setup in the English Opening led to a major piece endgame which Praggnanandhaa could not hold.

In the second game the two Grandmasters had a long theoretical duel in the Grünfeld Defence.

 

Praggnanandhaa R2624

0–1

Duda, Jan-Krzysztof2750

MCCT Oslo Esports Cup 2022 20.04.2022[Schulz,A]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 0-0 9.Be3 Nc6 10.0-0 e6 11.dxc5 Qa5 12.f4 Rd8 13.Qe1 Qa4 13...Bd7 14.Bb3 Qc7 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.cxd4 Bb5 17.Qf2 Bxf1 18.Rxf1 Qc6 19.Qf3 Bxd4 0-1 (19) Gelfand,B (2676)-Carlsen,M (2863) chess24.com INT 2020 14.Bb3 Qxe4 15.Ng3 Qd3 The opening led to a lively position with chances for both sides. 16.Rc1 A previous game with this position continued 16.Rd1 Qxc3 17.Rxd8+ Nxd8 18.Qxc3 Bxc3 19.Ne4 Bg7 20.Rd1 Nc6 21.Ba4 Kf8 22.Bf2 Ke7 23.Rd6 Rb8 24.Bh4+ f6 25.g4 h6 26.g5 hxg5 27.fxg5 f5 28.Nf6 Ne5 29.Ng8+ Kf7 30.Nh6+ Ke7 31.Ng8+ Kf7 32.Nh6+ Ke7 33.Ng8+ 1/2-1/2 (33) Laznicka,V (2681)-Navara, D (2722) Novy Bor 2011 16...Bd7 17.Qf2 Na5 18.Bc2 Qa6 19.Bd4 Bxd4 20.cxd4 Bb5 21.Rfd1 White wants to play Ne4. f5 22.h4 Rd7 23.Re1 White attacks Black's weak pawn on e6 but neglects the defense of his own weak pawn on d4. 23.h5!? Rad8 24.h6 with the idea Nc6? 25.Bb3 23...Rad8 24.c6 Nxc6 24...Qxc6? 25.Bxf5 25.Rxe6 Qxa2 26.Qe3 Nxd4?! After 26...Bc4 27.Re8+ Kf7 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Kh2 Re8 30.Qc3 Bd5 Black is a pawn up and has things under control. 27.Re8+ Kf7

28.Rxd8? This loses. Correct was 28.Re1 Nxc2 with the idea 28...Qxc2? 29.Rxd8 Rxd8 30.Qe7+ and White mates. 29.Re7+ Kg8 30.Re8+ Kf7 with a perpetual. 28...Rxd8 29.Bb1 29.Re1 Re8-+ 29...Qd5 30.Qa3 Qd6 31.Ba2+ After 31.Qxd6 Rxd6 Black is two pawns up. 31...Kg7 32.Qe3 Re8 33.Rc7+ Kh6 34.Qc1 Bc6 35.Rf7 Re2 White is lost. 36.Kh2 Rxg2+ 37.Kh3 Rxg3+ 0–1

The third game then ended in a draw which gave Duda a clear 2.5-0.5 victory.

The match between Le Quang Liem and Anish Giri was won by the Vietnamese. Le won the first and the second game, and then a draw in game three game was enough to decide the match. In an interview Giri reflected on the difficulties he had with the mouse, wondering whether it's better to "drag" or to "click" but was sure that mixing both is not a good idea.
 

Jorden van Foreest and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played the longest match of the round. After a draw in game 1, van Foreest went ahead by winning game two. After another draw in game three, Mamedyarov was in a must-win situation but showed good nerves and equalised the match by winning the fourth game, and then also decided the tiebreak in his favour.

In the seventh and final round Carlsen plays against the unpredictable Mamedyarov while Praggnanandhaa has to face Giri. Asked if he can win the tournament tomorrow, Praggnanandhaa said: "I just want to play better chess tomorrow and then we'll see."

Duda also has theoretical chances to win the tournament as he is only one point behind the two leaders. He would have to win against Hansen and hope for defeats from Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa.

Karsten Müller's endgame analysis:

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