Norway Chess: D Gukesh wins thriller against Caruana, Erigai
Norway Chess: D Gukesh wins thriller against Caruana, Erigaisi loses to Carlsen
Reigning world champion D Gukesh emerged winner in a thrilling Armageddon tie-break against American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana but Arjun Erigaisi succumbed to Magnus Carlsen
In this image via Norway Chess, World Chess Champion D
Gukesh in Stavanger, Norway, ahead of the Norway Chess 2025 tournament. (Norway
Chess via PTI Photo)
STAVANGER
(NORWAY) — Reigning world champion D Gukesh emerged the
winner in a thrilling Armageddon tie-break against American Grandmaster Fabiano
Caruana but Arjun Erigaisi succumbed to Magnus Carlsen's intuitive skills on a
mixed day for the Indians in the 'Open' category of Norway Chess here.
World No. 3 Caruana enjoyed a pawn advantage for most
part of the Round 4 game against his Indian opponent, who turned 19 on
Thursday, but the American could not convert it into a significant advantage in
over four hours of engrossing chess thanks to Gukesh's superb defensive skills.
The Armageddon tie-break was applied to break the stalemate.
Both Gukesh and Erigaisi are now tied fourth in the six-payer field with 4.5
points apiece, while Carlsen is the sole leader with 8 points, followed by
Caruana on 7 and American GM Hikaru Nakamura on 5.5.
With Gukesh, playing with white pieces and having a huge
three-minute advantage in Armageddon – white gets 10 minutes and black seven –
after coming out of a tricky situation during the Classical slugfest less than
15 minutes earlier, the Indian overpowered Caruana on the clock to take 1.5
points from the game.
A win in the Classical format earns the players in this
double-round robin format tournament three points, while a draw fetches them
one point each. However, the players have to immediately play the Armageddon
tie-break to break the deadlock.
Gukesh, following his magnificent Classical win in the
third round against world No.2 Nakamura and a thrilling come-from behind
victory against Caruana, is on 4.5 points in a six-player field led by
five-time world champion Carlsen, who is in sloe lead with eight points.
Gukesh later said that he doesn't really enjoy playing on
his birthday but would gladly take this crucial morale-boosting win.
"Most of my birthdays I end up losing the game, so
glad it did not repeat in the classical. When I was playing, I felt fine, but
when I was losing, I was like, 'ok, not again'," said Gukesh.
The youngest world champion found himself down a pawn in
a very tricky position early in the contest.
With the unforgiving time control in place, where only a
10-second increment per move is given instead of 30 seconds after the 40th
move, the situation can quickly get out of control, but Gukesh kept his balance
to emerge from the tough situation and take the match in the Armageddon
tie-break – something which is not his forte.
"The Classical game could have easily gone bad, but
luckily, I managed to save it in the time scramble, and then Armageddon was
very good," he said later.
Erigaisi loses to
Carlsen
World No. 1 Carlsen showed his tactical superiority in
the endgame against India No. 2 Erigaisi, who played with black pieces, to earn
three full points.
The Norwegian superstar, who had lost two Armageddon
games in the last two rounds, made a strong statement with this win on home
turf.
This was the second setback for Erigaisi in two days
after he had lost to Caruana in Round 3.
Carlsen played the English Opening against Erigaisi and
was content with the outcome, but less with the speed at which he was playing.
The Norwegian ace explained his hesitation to go for
quick moves later, saying it was down to the number of choices he faced in an
unfamiliar position.
"You get presented with more and more difficult
choices and eventually you go wrong," said Carlsen, the defending
champion.
Koneru Humpy in
joint lead
In another action-packed day in the women's section,
India's R. Vaishali earned a crucial half point by overcoming Ukraine's Anna
Muzychuk in the Armageddon tie-break, while world champion Wenjun Ju beat
Koneru Humpy in the time-controlled format after a stalemate in the Classical
game.
Humpy, though, still shared the lead with Muzychuk on
seven points each, while Vaishali was placed 6th with 3.5 points.
Results:
(Open) Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 8 points) bt Arjun Erigaisi
(Ind, 4.5 points); D Gukesh (Ind, 4.5 points) bt Fabiano Caruana (USA, 7
points) in Armageddon tie-break; Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5.5) lost to Wei Yi
(Chn, 4).
(Women) Sara Khadem (Esp, 5) bt Li Tingjie (Chn, 4); Ju
Wenjun (Chn, 5.5) bt Koneru Humpy (Ind, 7) in Armageddon tie-break; R. Vaishali
(Ind, 3,5) bt Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 7) in Armageddon tie-break.
