Norway Chess 2024: Praggnanandhaa stuns World Champion Ding Liren, Vaishali loses to Humpy

India’s R Praggnanandhaa defeated reigning world champion Ding Liren in the armageddon game at the Norway Chess tournament on Monday night.

India’s R Praggnanandhaa in action. | Photo Credit: PTI

India’s R Praggnanandhaa defeated reigning world champion Ding Liren in the armageddon gamein round 7 at the Norway Chess tournament on Monday night.

This victory was after Praggnanandhaa created upsets against higher-ranked players like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.

Ding, who has been underperforming with four losses in a row, finally stopped the bleeding with a much-needed draw against Praggnanandhaa. However, he missed a trick and lost the Armageddon tie-breaker, with the Indian remaining on the third spot of the standings (11 points).

One of the highlights of the day was the match between Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali as Humpy scored the only classical victory of the day in both tournaments. With this loss, the former tournament leader Vaishali’s winning chances have significantly decreased.

In the highly anticipated game between Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, the classical game ended in a draw relatively quickly, as both sides avoided complicated positions. The Armageddon tiebreak was one of the most intense games so far in the tournament, as Nakamura won when Carlsen’s time ran out on the clock. This win brought Nakamura within half a point of Carlsen, who is leading the tournament with 13 points. 

Caruana sacrificing his knight against Alireza Firouzja almost backfired, but managed to play a draw in classical chess before the latter gave no chances in the decider. 

In the Norway Chess Women’s tournament, the classical game between co-leaders Anna Muzychuk and Ju Wenjun ended peacefully. However, it was Muzychuk who won the Armageddon tiebreak to lead the standings with just half a point ahead of the World Champion Wenjunn. In another closely-fought game of the day, Lei Tingjie defeated Pia Cramling in the Armageddon.

Round 8 Pairings

Norway Chess Main Event

Magnus Carlsen vs Praggnanandhaa R; Ding Liren vs Fabiano Caruana; Alireza Firouzja vs Hikaru Nakamura

Norway Chess Women’s Tournament

Vaishali R vs Anna Muzychuk; Ju Wenjun vs Pia Cramling; Lei Tingjie vs Koneru Humpy