Norway Chess: Duda ends Carlsen’s streak, Aronian leads



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The streak is over

For a time it seemed that the world champion’s undefeated would last forever, but finally on Saturday Jan-Krzysztof Duda became the first player to defeat Magnus Carlsen since Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated him at the Biel Chess Festival in July. of 2018. Interestingly, Duda came from having a disastrous first four rounds, when he lost two classic games, two Armageddons, and only managed a draw against Aryan Tari. Carlsen, for his part, led the event after winning back-to-back victories over Tari and Fabiano Caruana.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki used Twitter to congratulate Duda on his victory. On a good day for sports in Poland, 19-year-old Iga Świątek surprised the world by winning the women’s section at Roland Garros.

Duda told Fiona Steil-Antoni, referring to the fact that she changed her focus compared to her match against Levon Aronian:

I’m very happy, obviously, I didn’t expect to win this game at all. […] Against Levon, I really wanted to play Armageddon, but I couldn’t have foreseen that I wouldn’t be able to get out of this position, this ending, so after that I thought it was silly to play for the white draw, so I won. I don’t play like that anymore, at least in this tournament.

Given how the matchmaking system works, Duda will play Carlsen for the second time in a row on Sunday, this time with the black pieces. We can expect the world champion to come to the playing hall eager to get revenge on his Polish colleague.

In a highly entertaining round, neither game went to Armageddon, with Aronian and Alireza Firouzja also winning their classic encounters. Aronian defeated Caruana with black to obtain the sole lead of the event and climb to sixth place on the live ranking list. Meanwhile, Firouzja overtook Tari with white and is now second in the standings, one point behind the leader.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Magnus Carlsen

Uncommon: Magnus Carlsen gives up a classic game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Doubt 3: 0 Carlsen

Carlsen surprised his opponent in the opening, looking for an unusual variation on Caro-Kann. A critical point was reached on move 12:

Duda spent almost 20 minutes deciding 12.d5, and later confessed that he had not sufficiently analyzed this position. At the time, commentators Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler, who replaced Judit Polgar on Saturday, were praising the world champion, comparing him to Garry Kasparov in his prime to the extent that he was not only the best player but also the player with the best preparation on the circuit.

The Russian duo thought that it was highly likely that Carlsen would continue with the heavy exchange sacrifice 12 … Rxe3, but the Norwegian decided to give up a pawn with 12 … c5. Carlsen was on the attack, and he gave up on a trade when he got a second chance seven moves later:

Black opened file B with 19 … Rxa4, and then 20.bxa4 Bf5 21.Kde1 the world champion hesitated after thinking for almost half an hour:

21 … Ng4 was called at this point, attacking f2 and leaving e5 free for the dark squared bishop, which would create deadly threats against the white king. From Carlsen 21 … h4 it was too slow and ended up allowing Duda to consolidate his position in the next ten moves.

Once the Polish grandmaster had a stable lead, he landed a killing blow on move 33:

Then 33.Re8 +, Black cannot capture with 33 … Rxe8 due to the spectacular 34.Rxe8 + Kh7 35.Rh8 + Kxh8 36.Bxg7 + Kxg7 and White is left with a queen against a pair of minor pieces. Carlsen had nothing better than 33 … Kh7, agreeing to play the remainder of the game with a rook and a downshift.

The world champion kept trying to create threats against the somewhat vulnerable white king until move 63, when he finally gave up on a classic game for the first time in 2 years, 2 months and 10 days.

Magnus carlsen

Magnus Carlsen will have a chance for revenge on Sunday | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Caruana 0: 3 Aronian

Besides Carlsen, Aronian is the only player to have participated in all eight editions of the Norwegian Chess Tournament, and now he has a good chance of winning the event for the first time. The Armenian came from winning the activity of the rest day, when he cooked the best cake among the participants. Of a nimzoindian with 4.f3, Aronian showed his creative talent when he played 21 … c4:

Black’s pawn push was the only chance he had to fight for an advantage. Then 22.Qxa5 Rxa5 23.Rd4 Rc8 the black pawns on the queenside are protected and threaten to move further down the board. Caruana considered it necessary to play 24.b3 and gave up on a trade after 24 … Nc6:

White’s best chance here is 25.Kxc4 Bxc4 26.Bxc4 + and gets a pawn for the exchange. A technical fight followed, in which Aronian maneuvered his horses with precision and ended up scoring a 52-move victory.

Levon Aronian

Sole Leader Levon Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Firouzja 3: 0 Tari

In an Italian Opening, Black (Tari) seemed fine in the early midgame. However, the Norwegian made a mistake on move 24:

Tari got into trouble unnecessarily with 21 … Rxe4, since White had a strong initiative with 22.Qc6 d5 23.N1d2 Re6 24.Qxd5 Nf6 25.Qb7.

Firouzja explained:

Taking the pawn was a bit strange for me because I think his position was fine anyway. There was no need to go through these complicated things. After he took the pawn, I think my position is very comfortable with the bishop on a7.

The 19-year-old quickly took advantage of his advantage and is now in only second place in the standings.

Alireza Firouzja

A force to be reckoned with – Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes


Ranking after round 5

one. Aronian 11
two. Firouzja 10
3. Carlsen 9
Four. Caruana 7
5. Doubt 4
6. Tari 1.5

Pairings of round 6

Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Magnus Carlsen
Alireza Firouzja – Aryan Tari
Fabiano Caruana – Levon Aronian


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