Magnus Carlsen claims his 5th Norway Chess title
Reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen won the 10th edition of the Norway Chess 2022, therefore becoming a 5-time Winner of the Norway Chess elite tournament. Magnus defeated Veselin Topalov in a thrilling final round after playing the Armageddon, and won the tournament with 16.5 points. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was second with 15.5 points, but had a chance to triumph in the event if he had won the classical game against Teimour Radjabov. The last round took all the matches to Armageddon, which happened for the first time in the 2022 edition of Norway Chess.
The classical game between Magnus Carlsen and Veselin Topalov ended in an uneventful draw and even Carlsen described the game as “Boring”… That left chances to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to take the 3 points victory and overpass him on the final standings. Carlsen held a draw in the Armageddon game to score an overall victory in the match and improve his chances for the 4th Norway Chess title in a row. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a much better position against Teimour Radjabov, and even though engines mostly showed the equalized evaluation, it was clear that only Shakh can play for a win. Both players knew if Mamedyarov scores 3 points victory he gets the Norway Chess trophy, but it was not to be. After an exchange sacrifice, Shakhriyar developed a tremendous attack on Teimour’s King. Radjabov successfully defended with only few minutes on the clock and Shakh felt he is losing control, deciding to offer a draw. It was almost a relief for Radjabov to accept a draw offer as he suffered most of the time. It seems that Mamedyarov lost all of his energy to win the classical game and went for a weak 13.0-0-0? in Armageddon. Teimour used that to get the winning position but agreed on threefold repetition to win the match. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
Despite a loss in the last round, Shakhriyar secured second place, and Magnus was crowned the Norway Chess 2022 winner.
Viswanathan Anand and Aryan Tari finished the game with a quick draw. Anand had a tough position and needed to sacrifice a piece to force perpetual check. But Armageddon was different, as Vishy was all the time safe as Black. Tari gave his best to score positive but lost his chances after 41.Rxd7? After a great fight was seen in the drawish endgame, the draw was officially signed in the move 81. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
The classical game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri was pretty balanced. It looked that no player had better chances for a better score and after reaching the Rook + Bishop vs Rook + Knight endgame with the same number of pawns, the players agreed on a draw. It looked that Giri holds it well as Black but he made a mistake with 30…f4? when MVL got a clear advantage. With another mistake, Giri trapped his own Rook and needed to give up an exchange, when MVL successfully concluded the match in his favor. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
Wang Hao and Wesley So played a very drawish line which ended in a quick theoretical draw. Wang Hao opened an Armageddon with 1.d4 this time and the game went a little bit more dynamic. Wesley So faced huge trouble after an inaccurate sacrifice of exchange, but Wang Hao badly blundered a few moves later with 33.Re2? Wesley didn’t let go and played perfectly till the end to force Wang on resignation. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
Veselin Topalov – Magnus Carlsen 1.0-1.5
Hao Wang – Wesley So 1.0-1.5
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Anish Giri 1.5-1.0
Aryan Tari – Viswanathan Anand 1.0-1.5
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Teimour Radjabov 1.0-1.5
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