The performance of the world champion, the Chinese Liren Ding, has been more than acceptable in the 2nd round of Norway Chess after almost a year with serious sleeping problems. It is one of the most important tournaments of the year, with six stars in a double round league in Stavanger (Norway) and sudden deathsthat force there to be a winner in each duel. The other winners in the quick jump-off were Magnus Carlsen, very conservative, and Alireza Firouzja, risking a lot. Indian Rameshbabu Vaishali stands out in the women’s competition.
Ding, 31 years old, almost inactive since he achieved the throne (on April 30, 2023) until January, is 7th in the world after his weak performances in recent months. He says that he is now cured of the illness that caused him sustained insomnia, and that he is content to avoid last place in Norway Chess. However, today he came close to knocking down the Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (Vaishali’s brother), 14th in the world at the age of 18, in the slow game, with the white pieces, after subjecting him to suffocating positional pressure from the opening to almost the final, when he lacked precision to convert his advantage into victory.
But then he played impeccably sudden deatheither Armageddon(ten minutes for white and seven for black, forced to win), hunting his rival in the opening and not letting go this time until the surrender of the Indian prodigy. Ding drew without a fight yesterday with Carlsen in the slow game, and also tied the fast game after a boring fight, in which the Norwegian was extremely pragmatic.
Probably because he doesn’t usually start tournaments in the best way, Carlsen adopted the same attitude today against the American Hikaru Nakamura. East, with black, has even achieved a small advantage, but insufficient in the face of the strong defense of the Scandinavian, who has then clearly won the Armageddonwhich makes him the sole leader after two rounds.
Firouzja is, once again, the antithesis of Carlsen. His slow game with Fabiano Caruana has been a beautiful exchange of very creative swords, with the Italian-American also playing at a very high level. The Frenchman has only failed by being overly creative when the most natural continuation would have given him a clear advantage, although it is also true that the American has shown his greatest virtuosity precisely at that moment, until forcing a draw.
Then, the prodigy of Iranian origin has been in a losing position for much of the tiebreaker, but his persistence has ended up entangling Caruana, finally defeated. While all this was happening, Firouzja’s coach, Iván Cheparínov, a Georgian of Bulgarian origin and resident in Spain, revealed to Morning Express that his pupil is once again focused on chess: “I know that Alireza started studying art design before for me to start working with him. But I can assure you that his total priority now is once again chess.” If this is confirmed, the logical trend should be for Firouzja, now 16th in the world at the age of 20, to return to close to the 2nd place he once held when he was still a teenager.
Although Vaishali’s victory, after nearly losing almost the entire game against her compatriot Humpy Koneru, is the main news of the women’s tournament, the player with the greatest merit is once again Pía Cramling, although she lost the tiebreaker again (yesterday against Koneru, 6th in the world; today, against the Chinese Tingjie Lei, 3rd). The Swede remains in the elite in an astonishing way at 61 years old: after the ties yesterday and today she rises to 26th place.
On an almost non-sports level, it has been clarified why Carlsen had a very strange behavior yesterday: he left the stage after his third move and did not return until twelve minutes later. It was not because of an intestinal emergency nor because he chose to think from the dressing room, where he can follow the games live through monitors. He simply hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast; so he spent that time eating a salad, a soup and a pizza. He then returned to Ding and signed a draw after only fourteen moves.
Results (2nd round).-
In Norway Chess, every game that ends in a draw is immediately followed (less than 20 minutes) by a Armageddon,with 10 minutes for the white pieces and 7 for the black pieces; In the event of a new tie, the black player wins. Victory in the slow game gives 3 points (zero for the loser); in Armageddon,1.5 (1 for the loser).
Carlsen – Nakamura, draw, 1-0; Ding – Praggnanandhaa, draw, 1-0; Firouzja – Caruana, draw, 1-0.
Women’s tournament:Vaishali – Koneru, 1-0; Lei – Cramling, draw, 1-0; Ju – A. Muzychuk, draw, 1-0.
Classifications.-
1st Carlsen 3 points; 2nd-5th Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa, Ding and Firouzja 2.5; 6º Caruana 2.
Women’s tournament:1st Vaishali 4; 2nd-3rd Ju and Lei 3; 4th-5th A. Muzychuk and Cramling 2; 6th Koneru 1.5.
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