In a stunning upset, R Praggnanandhaa defeated world champion Ding Liren in the Armageddon game at the Norway Chess tournament on Monday. This victory added to Praggnanandhaa’s impressive streak of upsets against top-ranked players such as Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. Despite Liren drawing against Praggnanandhaa in the classical game, he faltered in the Armageddon, allowing the young Indian prodigy to claim another high-profile win.
In another thrilling match, Hikaru Nakamura moved closer to tournament leader Magnus Carlsen after securing a win in a nail-biting Armageddon game on time. Nakamura’s victory brought him just half a point behind Carlsen. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana’s match against Alireza Firouzja was full of twists and turns, with Caruana’s bold knight sacrifice nearly backfiring. Despite managing to escape with a draw in the classical game, Firouzja dominated the Armageddon game, leaving Caruana with little chance of recovery.
The women’s section saw Anna Muzychuk become the sole leader of Women’s Norway Chess after achieving a significant milestone by being the first player to win a mini-match against Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun. This victory propelled Muzychuk to the top of the leaderboard. R Vaishali’s hopes for the title took a hit with a defeat in classical chess to Koneru Humpy. However, Lei Tingjie’s triumph over Pia Cramling in an exciting Armageddon game added to the excitement of the tournament.
