Chess on Friday 30th May 2025 -

Magnus Carlsen leads the Norway Chess tournament with 8/12 after a win against Arjun Erigaisi in Round 4. Carlsen had an extra pawn in a major piece endgame but the engines stubbornly evaluated the position as more or less equal. Carlsen said he predicted Erigaisi's mistake, 30...Re6?, which quickly allowed Carlsen to obtain a winning endgame. Instead Carlsen's suggestion of 30...Qe7 or the computer's 30...h5 would have likely led to a draw.

Even Carlsen's win would not have been enough to lead had Fabiano Caruana converted his long term big advantage against World Champion Gukesh. The moment was 48.Qf4? from Gukesh which was losing, Caruana's 48...Qxf4? was inaccurate (48...Qd4!) 49.Bxf4 Nb4? (throwing away the win which could have been had with 49...Nd7!) and the game ended in a draw. Gukesh then had a convincing win in the Armageddon.

Hikaru Nakamura and Wei Yi drew their classical game and Wei Yi won his second Armageddon in a row.

Lei Tingjie will have nightmares about how she converted a crushing advantage into a loss against Sarasadat Khademalsharieh. Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru both drew their classical games and lost their Armageddon games but still lead on 7/12.

There is a rest day in Norway on 30th May. Pairings Saturday 31st May: Erigaisi-Nakamura, Wei Yi-Gukesh, Caruana-Carlsen. Women's: Khadem-Vaishali, Muzychuk-Ju Wenjun, Koneru Lei Tingjie.