Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa achieved a significant milestone by defeating world number one Magnus Carlsen for the first time in a classical chess match, emerging as the sole leader in the Norway Chess tournament.
Having previously defeated Carlsen in online and faster versions of the game, and after losing to him in the final of the last World Cup, Praggnanandhaa secured a clear classical victory against the home favorite.
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Following his third-round win, the 18-year-old Indian now leads the men’s section with 5.5 points, half a point ahead of the USA’s Fabiano Caruana, who scored his first classical victory against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China.
Carlsen, currently with three points, is in a distant third place. However, with each classical win worth three points, the standings could change quickly.
Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, Alireza Firouzja of France, and Ding Liren are all tied for fourth place with 2.5 points in the six-player double round-robin contest.
“I wish Magnus would take similar risks against us old folks,” Nakamura commented on Carlsen’s decision to play a risky game against Praggnanandhaa.
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Classical chess, also known as slow chess, allows players a significant amount of time to make their moves, usually at least one hour. Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their previous three encounters in this format.
In the women’s event, Praggnanandhaa’s elder sister, R. Vaishali, maintained her sole lead after defeating Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine in the Armageddon game following a draw in the classical format. Vaishali now has 5.5 points and holds a full-point lead over women’s world champion Wenjun Ju of China, who is in second place by a half-point margin over her compatriot, Tingjie Lei.
Muzychuk, Pia Cramling of Sweden, and Koneru Humpy of India share the fourth spot with three points each.
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Praggnanandhaa’s game against Carlsen featured a Sicilian Kan, an opening not often favored in elite chess circles. Praggnanandhaa gained an advantage through better space control from the beginning.
In the middle game, Carlsen’s king was stuck in the center, and Praggnanandhaa capitalized with deft maneuvers after the minor pieces were off the board. Eventually, the vulnerability of Carlsen’s king became evident as Praggnanandhaa posed dangerous checkmate threats, concluding the game in just 37 moves.
In another match, Caruana outclassed Ding Liren in an Italian opening game. Launching an offensive on the kingside, the American, who had lost the first two rounds under Armageddon, sacrificed two minor pieces for a rook to dismantle Black’s kingside. Another exchange sacrifice soon sealed the game in his favor.
Meanwhile, Nakamura demonstrated his superiority as White against Alireza in the $160,000 prize money event. In the women’s section, Vaishali ensured her lead remained intact with a draw in Armageddon as Black against Muzychuk. Seven rounds still remain in both sections of the event.
