Stavanger (Norway), May 31: Indian participants day of mixed fortunes at Norway Chess 2024. Rameshbabu Vaishali was the lone Indian to register a win. Her brother Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Koneru Humpy both lost their respective games.
Just a day after registering his first classical win over the five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen, India's prodigy Praggnanandhaa went down against America's Hikaru Nakamura in Round 4 of the Norway Chess 2024, here on Thursday.
Nakamura displayed masterful preparation against Praggnanandhaa, who sacrificed a knight in a desperate bid to save the game. Nakamura, having anticipated this very sacrifice, played flawlessly and secured a convincing victory to climb to the top spot of the overall standings.
Pragg's sister Vaishali, on the other hand, continued her dominant performance by defeating the legendary Pia Cramling, extending her lead to a total of 8.5 points.
Indian women's chess Grandmaster Koneru Humpy suffered a loss in the classical game against Anna Muzychuk in Round 4. In another exciting game of the women's tournament, Ju Wenjun triumphed over her compatriot Lie Tengjie in the fourth Armageddon tiebreak of the tournament.
The local hero Carlsen registered a narrow victory over Fabiano Caruana in the main event to bag three points. Caruana had a golden opportunity to close the rating gap with Carlsen to just four points, but the game, initially calm, took a dramatic turn in the endgame. Carlsen capitalised on a small advantage, ultimately clinching the win when Caruana blundered with only seconds left on his clock.
Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja stunned the reigning World Champion Ding Liren to earn three crucial points ahead of the rest day.
After a rest day, Round 5 of the Norway Chess 2024 will take place on Saturday.
Round 5 Pairings
Norway Chess main event
Magnus Carlsen vs Alireza Firouzja; Ding Liren vs Hikaru Nakamura; Praggnanandhaa R vs Fabiano Caruana
Norway Chess Women's Tournament
Vaishali R vs Lei Tingjie; Ju Wenjun vs Koneru Humpy; Anna Muzychuk vs Pia Cramling.
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)
