The opening round of the Norway Chess Tournament saw Magnus Carlsen beat the world champion D Gukesh in a thrilling round of chess, proving again why he is considered the best in the world. They had last played against each other last year for the world title, where the Indian teen emerged victorious and claimed the title of world champion.
The Norway chess tournament features the top six players of the world in both the Open and the Women’s categories.
Rare Opening, Relentless Pressure
Magnus tried to throw Gukesh off by playing the Jobava London, an extremely rare opening move, however, Gukesh did not fall for the trap and regained position by the 11th move. The Norwegian was relentless and saw himself to 3 points after a match that lasted for over four hours and 56 moves. In Norway chess, in the classical format, the player is awarded 3 points for a win and 1 point each in case of a draw.
“I tried to surprise him. I responded the way you often do, especially in the first round, in the absolute wussiest way possible,” said the 5 time world champion
Erigaisi Triumphs in Armageddon
Arjun Erigaisi, another Indian representing the nation on the world stage, comfortably won over China’s number 1 player Wei Yi in Armageddon after the two agreed on a draw in 54 moves. Armageddon chess is a tiebreaker format that has the same rules as a regular game of chess, except for two very important distinctions: Black has draw odds, meaning that if Black draws the game, then they win, and Black starts with less time on the clock than White.
With a win over the Wei, the world number 4 ranked player has 1.5 points after the opening round of Norway Chess, as a win in Armageddon earns a player 0.5 points.
Koneru Humpy defeated R. Vaishal capitalising on her opponent’s endgame error.
