Carlsen Beats Nakamura In Armageddon To Take Sole Lead, Vaishali Wins 1st Classical Game

GM Magnus Carlsen captured the sole lead of Norway Chess 2024 after defeating GM Hikaru Nakamura in armageddon in round two. White won the other two armageddons as well, after GM Ding Liren outplayed GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and GM Alireza Firouzja, who had been losing for most of the game, swindled GM Fabiano Caruana with a one-move tactic.

GM Vaishali Rameshbabu defeated GM Humpy Koneru in the classical portion of Women’s Norway Chess to take the sole lead, scoring the first classical win in Stavanger this year. She's trailed by the two Chinese players a point behind, GMs Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie, who won their armageddon games against GMs Anna Muzychuk and Pia Cramling, respectively.

Round three starts Wednesday, May 29, at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Norway Chess Round 2 Results

• Open: Carlsen Is King Of Armageddon So Far
• Women: Vaishali Comes Out On Top Of Wild Game
• Round 3 Pairings

Open: Carlsen Is King Of Armageddon So Far

After two rounds, all of the classical games have ended in draws. Carlsen is the only player to score two wins in armageddon, but he's followed closely by four players who are a half-point behind.

Standings After Round 2 | Open

Carlsen 1.5-1 Nakamura

While Carlsen enjoys a 14-1 lead in his lifetime score against Nakamura in classical chess, most of those wins occurred a long time ago. Since 2015, Carlsen is +3 -1 =10, and their last decisive encounter in classical was back in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour 2019—Carlsen won that game and the tournament. 

They made their 27th classical draw on Tuesday, but it was Nakamura who had some slight chances out of the opening in his second consecutive black game. Carlsen shared in the confessional that it was "more than a little embarrassing" that he didn't at all consider Nakamura's move 10...exd4!, but Nakamura was never more than slightly better and the world number-one held the draw.

"What's happened in the last few moves is more than a little embarrassing... I was so caught out by his move [9...]Qf6... Before he took on d4, that move hadn't even occurred to me... I guess I'll just try to survive for now!" says Carlsen from the confessional.#NorwayChess pic.twitter.com/OvIWG7IUoJ

— chess24 (@chess24com) May 28, 2024

Carlsen has won 26/31 armageddon games since 2019 in Norway Chess, and he's shown in the last two rounds that he can surpass the world's best players with both colors in the ultimate tiebreaker. In round one, he "won" the armageddon with Black against Ding because he held the draw, while in this round he won on demand with the white pieces.

Nakamura's critical mistake, in his opinion, was 24.h6?: "This move effectively throws away any chance of saving the game for a couple of reasons. First of all, I'm giving up the pawn on d6. Secondly, I'm way down on the clock. And third, I'm playing Magnus Carlsen in an endgame where I'm worse." Carlsen converted the extra pawn with technique that made it look easy:

"After drawing such a long classical game, I'm really not super disappointed as I got the job done in the important one," concluded Nakamura in his recap, which you can listen to below. He's still a half-point behind, and he also managed to finish second in Titled Tuesday right after recording it.

Now in the sole lead, Carlsen will have the black pieces against Praggnanandhaa in the next round.

Ding 1.5-1 Praggnanandhaa

In classical chess, the Indian prodigy led their head-to-head score 2-0, but he and Ding made their first classical draw on Tuesday. After that, Ding won the armageddon game to squeeze into the four-player group behind Carlsen.

Not much happened in the first game, where an English Opening turned into a sort of Fianchetto Benoni. But our Game of the Day is the world champion's win in armageddon, where he said he was "lucky to find the tactical chance [21.]Nxb5?! and after that the game was crazy." While the engines disapprove of the move, it initiated incredible complications, which GM Rafael Leitao describes below:

Asked how he felt about his solid classical performance in round two, Ding said: "After the game, my mother told me I played a decent game. Although not so perfect, but okay, I'm not worse, and it gave me much more confidence." Is King Ding back? He'll have Black against Caruana in round three, which will certainly be a test.

It gave me much more confidence.

—Ding Liren

Firouzja 1.5-1 Caruana

Tuesday was heartbreak for Caruana, who was winning for most of the armageddon game but collapsed with a one-move blunder. 

The classical game was an exciting London Opening where Firouzja expanded on the kingside with g4, won a pawn, but ultimately let Caruana slip away. Thus, a third draw led to a third armageddon.

Caruana was better out of the opening after his opponent's 6.Nh4?!N, and by move 27 the U.S. champion was a pawn up—winning by material and by position. But with under two minutes on the clock, he lost control, first allowing equality, and then, with 39.Bb4??, missing a one-move double-attack.

"It seems I have to play bad to play in armageddon. If I play good, I do not win!" quipped the fortunate Firouzja after the game. He continued: "Yesterday I played such a good game but I lost on time. It has ups and downs."

If I play good, I do not win!

—Alireza Firouzja

Firouzja will have the black pieces against Nakamura on Wednesday; both players are on 2.5 points. Caruana is in last place by himself with two points, but with the added weight to a classical game, a single victory can still shake up the standings.

Women: Vaishali Comes Out On Top Of Wild Game

After losing in armageddon against Ju on the previous day, Vaishali jumped right into the tournament lead with a classical win, highlighting the appeal of Norway Chess' unique format: players are incentivized to win in classical chess.

Just behind her are the two Chinese grandmasters in the field, who both won their two armageddon games in the tournament so far.

Standings After Round 2 | Women

Vaishali 3-0 Humpy

It wasn't a clean game by any means, but Vaishali gained the three points by fighting with her back against the wall. She said: "I was in serious time trouble, and then my opponent got into real time trouble, and I don't know what was going on.... I just kept playing moves."

 I just kept playing moves.

—Vaishali Rameshbabu

She went for a caveman-like h4-g4 attack out of the opening, but one that shouldn't have worked if Black had found 15...f5!. "I was in the wrong direction with this h4-h5 thing, but it was messy... once she took this Ne3 and Be3, I was already thinking I was slightly better." In mutual time trouble, Vaishali won a pawn, and then she trapped her opponent's queen in the middle of the board on the last move:

Although her brother had a less palatable fate in round two, Vaishali continues to shine. She won her last five games at the Women's Candidates in Toronto, and with a draw yesterday, she's won six out of her last seven classical games. She will have Black against Muzychuk in the next round.

Ju 1.5-1 Muzychuk

The classical game, which started as a Bishop's Opening, was the first game to finish as the players traded pieces quickly. The armageddon game, however, was full of life. Ju won a nice attacking game with the white pieces.

"I did better than I expected in armageddon because in general [the game] felt very exciting and both sides could possibly win," said the women's world champion. "For today's game, after her king was under attack, it was not easy to play." White capped off a powerful attack with the incisive 32.Bxh6! to destroy the enemy king.

Ju, who's trailing Vaishali by a point, plays Black against the potentially injured Cramling in the next round.

Lei 1.5-1 Cramling

The classical encounter is one that either player could have won. Cramling was better out of the opening with the black pieces, but then Lei fought back and was winning later in the game. Perhaps a draw in that game was justice served, but it was Lei who got the upper hand in armageddon.

In a Kalashnikov Sicilian, Cramling played a logical pawn break with 20...b5?!, but missed a key tactical point that occurred on the next move. After 21.cxb5 Qxb5?? 22.Rxc8!, Black surprisingly lost the exchange for nothing.

Lei will have the black pieces against Humpy in the next round. The big question, of course, is whether Vaishali will extend her lead or whether the Chinese players will catch her.

Round 3 Pairings

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:

• Round 1: Carlsen, Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa Lead After Armageddon Wins
• Norway Chess 2024: 7 Talking Points
• Norway Chess Returns With Women's Tournament Leveling Up Intrigue