Magnus praised Pragg’s defense following Armageddon’s victory: Following an exciting first game at Norway Chess, Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen’s second encounter ended in a draw on Tuesday. The Norwegian grandmaster took the Armageddon battle to earn the extra half point.
Five-time world champion Carlsen will lead Hikaru Nakamura by a whole point heading into the tournament’s second rest day. Nakamura lost against Alireza Firouzja in the classical game and had to concede in their Armageddon struggle.
At one point, Firouzja appeared to be losing, but as GM David Howell noted during the live broadcast on Chess.com, he discovered 20 straight top moves—moves that the engine recommends are the best moves—including a few “only” moves—shortly after crossing the time control, where his time had decreased to just one minute with 10 seconds added to each move. Firouzja managed to hold on for a tie in the classical game because of his unwavering defense.
It appeared that Nakamura, who has been chasing the five-time world champion in the standings, would prevail in the classical game at some point, and Carlsen on the adjacent board appeared under pressure to press Pragg for a victory.
“I gained nothing from the traditional game. I believe I was marginally superior. Pragg did a good job defending. It was not to be, though, as I had hoped to at least smell something. After winning his Armageddon match, Carlsen said, “The Armageddon game was pretty mediocre, but I managed to grind it out and that half point could be absolutely important.”
“I was consistently punctual and maintained a positive attitude despite the position’s fairness.” Even though I still have two tough games left, I lead. Thus, things don’t seem too horrible. The other two games that were played today were quite fascinating. Would have rather for Ding to triumph, but I believe that right now every draw counts for him.
Nakamura, who went to the confessional booth up to five times in his match against Firouzja, crumbled, but he gave Carlsen credit for his perseverance.
“Like I’ve stated before, great athletes—not just chess players—have a knack for finishing the job when it matters most! I recall Carlsen’s World Championship match versus Fabiano Caruana, when he was just one victory away from losing the title, and his match against Fabi at Norway Chess, which served as the catalyst for his comeback. He just has a knack for finishing tasks.
After eight rounds, Praggnanandhaa currently has 12 points. On Friday, he will face Caruana, and on Saturday, he will face Nakamura in the final round.
Vaishali continues to pursue
After overcoming the 61-year-old Swedish veteran Pia Cramling, world champion Ju Wenjun is now leading the women’s Norway Chess standings.
On Tuesday, Lei Tingjie, Wenjun’s countryman, also won the classical round handily.
Three full points behind Wenjun in the standings is Vaishali, who made her debut in the confessional booth at coaxing from her brother. But the 22-year-old Indian might still surpass that goal in the final two games because under the traditional structure, victories by default get three points.
At one point during the event, she was top of the standings, but she ultimately lost two straight classical matches.
