Norway Chess 2025 R8: Arjun swerves Caruana, Wei beats Carlsen again
Arjun Erigaisi made a huge turnaround to beat the sole leader, Fabiano Caruana (USA) in Round 8 of 13th Norway Chess. The outcome did not affect the standings as Caruana is still at the top 12.5/24. Arjun made a few incorrect decisions in a difficult queen, rook and opposite color bishop endgame. He arrived at a losing position. However, Caruana could not capitalize and made huge mistakes himself to lose the game. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) lost another Armageddon and match against Wei Yi (CHN) after he blundered his knight by not seeing the entire tactic. Wei is the only player who defeated Carlsen twice at this event. The World Champion, D Gukesh made a huge positional mistake against Hikaru Nakamura (USA). He had to pay a huge price for it. Today is the last rest day. Round 9 starts tomorrow, Thursday 5th June from 5 p.m. local time, 8:30 p.m. IST. Apart from youtube, there is also a live broadcast on Sony Liv. Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
Caruana is still the sole leader
Despite suffering a loss, Fabiano Caruana is still the sole leader 12.5/24. A draw in the Classical brought Magnus Carlsen closer 12/24. Hikaru Nakamura tied the score with D Gukesh after defeating him 11.5/24. Arjun Erigaisi moved to 10.5/24 after his win over the sole leader. The top five players are in the range of two points. Anything can happen in the last two rounds.
Arjun - Caruana: 3-0
Arjun Erigaisi (2782) lost the first Classical battle against Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2777) at this event. This time, Arjun got him in the rematch and ensured the sole leader does not get to increase his lead.
White's position is extremely difficult to defend. He has light square weakness. The rook and bishop are tied down to the defense of the king. Arjun wanted to complicate things and went 45.b5. Computer recommends the counter-intuitive 45.g4 which no human will consider playing because it looks insane. 45...d4 46.bxa6 Be6 would have ended things in a hurry as the threat of Rxh4+ followed by Qh3# is difficult to stop unless White gives up the queen which does not affect the outcome. The game continued 45...Bxb5 46.Qxd5+ Kh7 47.Qd1? here also computer recommends 47.g4 once again. 47...Re2 48.Qb1+ Bd3 49.Qc1 Black starts misplaying Be4 50.Qf4 Qxc3 51.Be3 Bg6 52.g4 hxg4 53.h5 Bxh5 54.Qf5+ Bg6 55.Qxg4 Qe5+?? and the table started turning in White's favor.
56.Rg3+- Qh5+ 57.Rh3 Black lost the queen and the game eventually.
Wei - Carlsen: 1.5-1
The Classical battle between Wei Yi (CHN, 2758) and Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2837) was an uneventful draw. Once again Carlsen lost Armageddon against Wei who is the only player in this event, the World no.1 has not managed to beat.
Armageddon
The World no.1 made a simple blunder 29....Rc2?? 30.Qxg5 dropped his knight for free. He missed that 30...Qxd4 will be met by 31.Qxd8+ and it's a check, so White will have plenty of time to defend the f2-pawn. Black continued the game 30...Rxf2 31.Qxd8+ Qxd8 32.Kxf2 and White went on to win the game comfortably.
Nakamura - Gukesh: 3-0
Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2804) had lost his first Classical battle against the World Champion, D Gukesh (2776) at this event. In their rematch, Nakamura opted for his childhood favorite, Scotch Opening. They were following a game between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana in the Candidates 2024. Gukesh deviated 18...Rab8 19.Qe4 Bg6 and we reach the position below:
20.Nxg6+ fxg6?? is a big positional mistake as it caused back-rank issues and eventually Black lost the game. 19...hxg6 would have been fine for Black.
Replay live stream
Round 8 results
Standings after Round 8
Round 9 pairings
Hikaru Nakamura - Arjun Erigaisi
D Gukesh - Wei Yi
Magnus Carlsen - Fabiano Caruana
Format
6 players will take part in the Tournament.
The Tournament is a double-round event with Armageddon.
The Tournament consists of 10 rounds.
Berger tables will be used for the pairings.
Time Control
Each player will have 120 minutes on the clock with an increment of 10 seconds starting from move 41. The time control for the Armageddon game: white has 10 minutes and black has 7 minutes with an increment for both players of 1 second per move, starting from move 41.
Draw by Mutual Agreement
Players are not allowed to agree to a draw until at least 30 moves have been made by each player. This rule does not apply to Armageddon games.
Armageddon
If the classical game is drawn, an Armageddon game will be played. It shall start within 20 minutes of the conclusion of the classical game. The player with White pieces will continue with White in Armageddon. If the Armageddon game is drawn, black will win.
Points
Players will get the following points per round:
Win in the classical game: 3 points
Loss in the classical game: 0 points
Draw in the classical game & win Armageddon: 1½ points
Draw in the classical game & loss Armageddon: 1 point
Schedule
From 26th May to 6th June, every day game starts at 5 p.m. local time and 8:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are on Friday 30th May and Wednesday 4th June.
Prize money
Prize Money The total prize fund of the Tournament is 1690000 NOK. Distribution of Prize money occurs as followed:
1st - NOK 700000
2nd - NOK 350000
3rd - NOK 200000
4th - NOK 170000
5th - NOK 150000
6th - NOK 120000
Watch the tournaments live at the venue:
Venue: Finansparken. For ticket info, visit here.
Ticket prices per day:
Adults: 200 NOK
Children and youth (under 18): 100 NOK
Family: 400 NOK
Links
Norway Chess: Official site, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, linkedin
