Stavanger, May 29: It was a day of mixed fortunes for Indians in the second round of the Norway Chess.
While Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu lost to Ding Liren, his elder sister Vaishali Rameshbabu defeated her Indian senior Koneru Humpy.
In the women’s event, Vaishali defeated Humpy to register her first classical win in the Norway Chess women's tournament.
Despite Humpy's slight advantage in the opening, a critical blunder under time pressure allowed Vaishali to claim victory and claimed her first-ever win against India’s number one female player and became India’s number two female player on the live rating list.
India's prodigy Praggnanandhaa, who went with a 2-0 head-to-head lead against world champion Ding Liren, played out his first classical draw in the round of the Norway Chess 2024 main event as the Chinese GM then emerged victorious in the Armageddon tie-breaker.
The second round of Norway Chess Tournament saw all three classical games ending up in a draw once again as Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja and Ding Liren won with white in the subsequent Armageddon games to grab 1.5 points each.
In the highly anticipated pairing of the day, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura played out closely contested classical game that ended in a draw. Carlsen, demonstrating his exceptional skill under pressure, managed to secure a crucial victory, adding to his impressive Armageddon record and taking the lead of 3 points in tournament standings.
Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana also drew their classical game after a complex struggle. Firouzja's abilities in speed chess shone through in the Armageddon game as he bagged crucial 1.5 points.
In the women’s event, the other two classical matches between Lei Tingjie and Pia Cramling along with Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk ended up in hard-fought draws. The Chinese duo of Wenjun and Tingjie emerged victorious in their respective Armageddon games.
This year, the competition features not only the renowned Norway Chess tournament but also introduces Norway Chess Women, an all-female tournament showcasing the best female players globally.
Both tournaments follow a 6-player double round-robin format with equal prize funds, underscoring a commitment to gender equality in chess.
Full list of participants at Norway Chess 2024:
Men's category:
1. Magnus Carlsen (Norway), 2830, World No. 1
2. Fabiano Caruana (USA), 2804, World No. 2
3. Hikaru Nakamura (USA), 2788, World No. 3
4. World Champion Ding Liren (China), 2776, World No. 4
5. Alireza Firouzja (France), 2765, World No. 6
6. Praggnanandhaa R. (India), 2748, World No. 11
Women's Category: (ranking mentioned is in women's section):
1. Koneru Humpy (India), 2554, World No. 2
2. Lei Tingjie (China), 2550, World No. 4
3. Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun (China), 2547, World No. 5
4. Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), 2525, World No. 7
5. Vaishali Rameshbabu (India), 2481, World No. 14
6. Pia Cramling (Sweden), 2437, World No. 31
Among the 12 participants, Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy and Pragg's sister Vaishali Rameshbabu are the three Indians in the fray. (With IANS support)
