Italy makes a major upset defeating Norway in the R3 of the 2022 Chess Olympiad

With World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen playing the first board, the Norwegian team was one of the favorites to win the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022. Nonetheless, Italy today made a major upset defeating Norway with a convincing 3-1 score.

The heroes of the team were GM Lorenzo Lodici and GM Francesco Sonis who won their games on the third and fourth boards. GM Daniele Vocaturo had a pleasant position against GM Magnus Carlsen and the game eventually ended in a draw. GM Luca Moroni Jr had no trouble having Black pieces against GM Aryan Tari and the game converted into a drawish Queen’s endgame. Replay the games here

Round 3 board pairings (open section) / Round 3 Chess Olympiad LIVE – with GM Peter Svidler and GM Peter Leko

Reactions:

Italy defeated mighty Norway 3-1 in round 3 at #ChennaiChessOlympiad! Shocker! #ChennaiChess2022 #ChennaiChess pic.twitter.com/VuaSRgGMj2

— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) July 31, 2022

What a result! 👏

🇮🇹 Italy (#26) have defeated the third seed Norwegians 3-1 in the 2nd round! 🤯#ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/M1G361tsZE

— Chess.com (@chesscom) July 31, 2022

Magnus Carlsen makes a draw against Daniele Vocaturo, with 3rd seeds Norway losing 1:3 to 26th seeds Italy! https://t.co/hGOK2yR8Pn #c24live #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/omiBnjqZnL

— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 31, 2022