Magnus joins Anand in the lead of Norway Chess 2022

Reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen started slowly at the 2022 Norway Chess, but made a full comeback with two consecutive classical victories. Vishy today lost in Armageddon game against Wesley So to reach 7.5 points and go to the resting day sharing the leadership with Magnus Carlsen.

Standings after 4 rounds:

1	Anand, Viswanathan	8½	2751
2	Carlsen, Magnus	8½	2864
3	So, Wesley	7½	2766
4	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	7	2770
5	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	5½	2750
6	Giri, Anish	4	2761
7	Topalov, Veselin	3½	2730
8	Radjabov, Teimour	3	2753
9	Wang, Hao	3	2744
10	Tari, Aryan	3	2654

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All the eyes were on the Round 4 encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri. Giri fell into Carlsen’s trap to take two Rooks for the Queen and immediately faced a worse position. Nothing but the perfect technique was excepted by Magnus who scored his second consecutive classical game and headed to the free day as the co-leader of the event. Replay the game here

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Wang Hao with Black pieces taking his first classical triumph in the tournament. Mamedyarov and Hao played an intense Ruy Lopez Open, Bernstein Variation. The evaluation was around equal when the Chinese grandmaster played a suspicious 26.Nd2?! losing control over the game. Shakhriyar got the decisive advantage which he transformed into an exchange up, winning the endgame after trades. Replay the game here

Wesley So and Viswanathan Anand entered an extremely unbalanced position in the early part of the game. Wesley So sacrificed two pawns for the initiative but it wasn’t clear whether he managed to get enough compensation. Engines favored Anand in the end but the players agreed on a draw by repeating the moves. So explained after the game that he wasn’t prepared for 14…dxe4, adding that he was nervous to have a pawn-down as White: “It’s a bit nerve-wracking of course to simply be down a pawn with White against such a powerful player as Vishy“. Wesley changed the line in Armageddon but Anand did well and got a nice advantage. Indian chess legend missed a winning 31…Bxe2! move and blundered a piece, which So used to close the game with an Armageddon victory. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here

Teimour Radjabov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave opened with Grunfeld defense promising a tense battle. Both players were well prepared for the match and it didn’t take long before they agreed for a draw as the engine bar was showing 00.00. Radjabov then chose 1.Nf3 avoiding the Grunfeld in the Armageddon game and it paid off! He got the decisive advantage after MVL’s suspicious 21…Ng5?! and eventually scored the victory in the 42nd move. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here

Veselin Topalov missed his chances to get the first classical win against Aryan Tari. After mistakes on both sides, the game ended in a draw with the perpetual check. This time, Topalov controlled the time in Armageddon much better than in previous rounds and made his first match victory shortly after Tari’s huge mistake 21…Qf6?. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here

Round 4 results:
Magnus Carlsen – Anish Giri 3-0
Wesley So – Viswanathan Anand 1.5-1.0
Teimour Radjabov – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-1.0
Veselin Topalov – Aryan Tari 1.5-1.0
Hao Wang – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 0-3

Tomorrow is the resting day and the event continues on Sunday, June 5th, with Round 5 starting from 17:00 CEST. All the games can be followed live on Chessdom.com.

Round 5 pairings and live games:

Viswanathan Anand – Magnus Carlsen
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Wesley So
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Veselin Topalov
Aryan Tari – Hao Wang
Anish Giri – Teimour Radjabov

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Photos by: Lennart Ootes