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Carlsen Gets Revenge Vs. Praggnanandhaa As Ju Wenjun Takes Women's Lead
Carlsen got some revenge against Praggnanandhaa to increase his lead. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Carlsen Gets Revenge Vs. Praggnanandhaa As Ju Wenjun Takes Women's Lead

Colin_McGourty
Colin_McGourty
Staff
| 29 | Chess Event Coverage

World number-one Magnus Carlsen extended his Norway Chess 2024 lead to a full point after beating GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in armageddon. For most of the day it had looked as though GM Hikaru Nakamura would defeat GM Alireza Firouzja in classical chess, but instead the youngster defended brilliantly and won the blitz showdown. World Champion Ding Liren squandered two winning positions as he lost in armageddon to GM Fabiano Caruana. 

Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun now leads Women’s Norway Chess after winning a wild classical game against GM Pia Cramling, while GM Lei Tingjie picked up her first classical win, against GM Koneru Humpy. Previous leader GM Anna Muzychuk lost on time in armageddon to GM Vaishali Rameshbabu.

Round nine starts Thursday, June 6, at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Norway Chess Round 8 Results

Open: Carlsen Beats Praggnanandhaa As Nakamura Is Thwarted By Firouzja

Carlsen edged further ahead of Nakamura after winning in armageddon while his main rival lost, but with two rounds to go the top three, and perhaps four, are all very much still in contention.

Standings After Round 8 | Open


Carlsen 1.5-1 Praggnanandhaa

Praggnanandhaa wasn't sure what had hit him in armageddon. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The one player to have beaten Carlsen in classical chess in Norway this year is Praggnanandhaa, so the world number-one was out for revenge with the white pieces. He didn't get it in the first game, however, since the Indian star correctly judged that he could hold a difficult endgame. 

The game was drawn in 75 moves, though earlier on Carlsen had revealed in the confessional that we almost got to see some razor-sharp lines in an Open Ruy Lopez. 

That still left armageddon, however, and here Carlsen went on to score an incredible 14th win in 15 armageddons with the white pieces in Stavanger. It was a game where Praggnanandhaa found some good moves and came very close to equalizing, only for the former world champion to go on to win what Nakamura called "a beautiful masterpiece" in a good knight vs. bad bishop endgame.

Nakamura also noted, "He finds a way to get it done!" about Carlsen's play in the critical moments of tournaments or matches. 

That win enabled Carlsen to increase his lead to a point going into the final two rounds, since Nakamura would go on to lose in armageddon. 

Firouzja 1.5-1 Nakamura

Nakamura had already been crushing the field in confessional visits before round eight...


...and during the round he visiting an impressive five times. That tells you just how intriguing and at times mind-boggling his classical game against Firouzja was, starting with some misremembered preparation, then a pawn sacrifice, then a kingside attack, then a Firouzja fightback, and, with some help from his opponent, a brilliant save. Throughout the rollercoaster we got to see Nakamura do Nakamura things.

It was quite a game.

Nakamura's frustration was visible for all to see. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Nakamura described himself as "very, very upset" at the outcome of that game, that could have seen him leapfrog Carlsen into the sole lead. Instead there was armageddon, where Firouzja gained a big edge early on but misplayed his advantage. Nakamura was no longer sharp enough to capitalize, however, and fell to defeat. 

He analyzed all the twists and turns of the two clashes in his aptly-named daily recap.

Ding 1-1.5 Caruana

The remaining clash of the day in the open section was between two players who have struggled in this year's event. Caruana was at least still within touching distance of the leaders if he could win on demand in classical chess, but his 1.d4 d6!? Modern/Pirc Defense against the world champion was asking for trouble. The trouble arrived, with Caruana breathing a sigh of relief when he entered the confessional to express his surprise at Ding's 15.b3?!.

Caruana perhaps let his guard down after that, however, since he went on to lose a pawn for no compensation. The position remained complex, however, and once again it was clear that Ding was in no mood to apply the precision and determination necessary to defeat a top chess player. The game reached a puzzling conclusion as Ding's 36.Bf1? gave up all his advantage and a couple of moves later a draw was agreed—with Ding not even asking his opponent to show the only drawing line.

Both games between Ding and Caruana left questions. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

A similar pattern followed in the armageddon, where after 20...cxb3 Ding was completely winning. However, with over five minutes on the clock he spent just three seconds on a move that swapped down into an equal endgame, giving Caruana the draw he needed to win the match.

Ding and Caruana are out of the race for the title, but will still have a big say in how things develop. Ding plays Nakamura and Firouzja in his last two matches, while Caruana takes on Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen.

Women: Ju Wenjun Moves Into Lead After Beating Pia Cramling

The women's standings were shaken up by three-point classical wins for the Chinese duo of Ju and Lei. 

Standings After Round 8 | Women

Ju 3-0 Cramling

Ju's second classical win put her in pole position. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

When Cramling went to the confessional early in her game she mentioned wanting a long, attacking game, and that's largely what we got, with the Swedish legend getting to play what was arguably the move of the day, 21...Nc5!. The women's world champion sidestepped with 22.Bc2!?, however, and ultimately brought home a winning attack of her own. 

That's our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.

That three-point win saw Ju leapfrog Muzychuk to take a 1.5-point lead.

Vaishali 1.5-1 Muzychuk

After two classical losses in a row, Vaishali may have felt the need to change something, and she did by appearing in the confessional for the first time. 

That was during a classical game that never heated up until it ended in a 47-move draw.

Praggnanandhaa's role wasn't only encouraging his sister to enter the confessional! Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Another draw in armageddon and Muzychuk would have won the match, but instead she flagged after having done the hard work of escaping a lost position earlier in the game.  

Lei 3-0 Humpy

Lei's first classical win came just in time to give her chances. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

After seven classical draws in Stavanger, Lei finally picked up a classical win to move within striking distance of the leader. The outcome of the game was deserved, but Humpy came close to surviving in a wild finish.

The players now have a final rest day before the last two days of Norway Chess 2024.

Round 9 Pairings

Nakamura hasn't hidden the fact that he sees White against an out-of-sorts Ding as a great chance to pick up three points, and Carlsen may also be motivated to improve his 5-0 classical wins score against Firouzja. Anything can still happen, though one marathon that is over is the world record attempt! 

How to watch? You can watch Norway Chess 2024 on the Chess24 YouTube and Twitch channels. It will also be streamed on Nakamura's Kick channel. The games can also be followed from our events page: Open | Women.

The live broadcast was hosted by GM David Howell and IMs Anna Rudolf and Danny Rensch.

Norway Chess 2024 features Open and Women's six-player tournaments for equal prize funds of 1,690,000 NOK (~$160,000). It runs May 27 to June 7 in Stavanger, with players facing their opponents twice at classical chess (120 minutes/40 moves, with a 10-second increment from move 41). The winner of a classical game gets three points, the loser, zero; after a draw, the players get one point and fight for another half-point in armageddon (10 minutes for White, seven for Black, who has draw odds). 

Previous coverage:

    Colin_McGourty
    Colin McGourty

    Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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