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Magnificent Carlsen does a hat-trick of Norway Chess triumphs

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/09/2021

Magnus Carlsen has won Norway Chess 2021 by defeating his challenger for the world championship, Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final round of the event. Carlsen made a hat-trick of Norway Chess triumphs and won this event fourth time since his first triumph in 2016. Firouzja for the second year in-a-row finished clear second. He also managed to climb to world no.9 in the live ratings list by winning against Richard Rapport, the other entrant to the world top 10. Firouzja won fourth consecutive Classical game and played only three Armageddon which means he also played the least number of games in the tournament and maximum decisive games. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Two four-match win streak

Magnus completed his second four-match winning streak as he beat Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon in the final round. This also brings his fourth tournament triumph (2016, 2019-21). Gukesh won the Open Masters section with an unbeaten 8.5/9. Iniyan finished second 7.5/9. It will be covered in another article.

Magnus Carlsen wins Norway Chess for the fourth time | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Firouzja - Rapport: 3-0

Firouzja decided to sacrifice an exchange early in the opening to gain an initiative. Rapport delayed moving his king and displaced it at the wrong time.

Position after 21...Kf7

22.Nd4 attacking the rook and also threatens to jump the knight at e6. 21...e5 was a better continuation for Black. Kf7 would have worked earlier when Black had a bishop at e6. 22...e5 only caused Black more trouble 23.Qd5+ Kg6 24.Bxe5 and it was all over.

Alireza Firouzja: "2nd place is kind of ok after the loss to Magnus!" | Video: chess24
Richard Rapport: "Finally it's over!" | Video: chess24

Firouzja scored four consecutive wins to finish the tournament at second place | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Nepomniachtchi - Carlsen: 1-1.5

The Classical game ended in a draw. Nepomniachtchi blundered an exchange early which Carlsen overlooked.

Arnageddon

Position after 45.Bd4

45.Bd4 allowed Black to unleash the power of double bishops via 45...Bg4. 46.Rd4 would have continued the fight a bit more. Black won the game in the next few moves and won the tournament for the third year in-a-row.

Magnus Carlsen: "Two streaks of four wins in the 2nd half is pretty sick!" | Video: chess24
Magnus Carlsen: "It's a really satisfying victory!" | Video: chess24
Ian Nepomniachtchi: "The result is disgusting, completely disgusting!" | Video: chess24

Carlsen beat Nepomniachtchi twice in Armageddon | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Karjakin - Tari: 1.5-1

Karjakin and Tari drew their Classical game. The former world championship challenger won the Armageddon after the Norway no.2 played inaccurately in the final moments of the game.

Sergey Karjakin: Magnus "strong, but he makes mistakes... Ian will be ready" | Video: chess24
Aryan Tari: "It was much better than last year!" | Video: chess24

Karjakin beat Tari in Armageddon again | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Photo Gallery

Fourth triumph, two four-match streaks... | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Two new World top 10 entrants - Firouzja and Rapport | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Nepomniachtchi is happy to see Carlsen | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Nope things did not go well this time, let's wait for November | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Vladimir Potkin (left) and Henrik Carlsen | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Vladimir Potkin and Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Richard Rapport had a great tournament | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Norway Chess

Replay Round 10 games

Pairings

Pairings for all rounds | Photo: chess24

Results

Firouzja avemged his loss | Photo: Norway Chess

Carlsen beat Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon again | Photo: Norway Chess

Karjakin won Armageddon against Tari for the second time in this event | Photo: Norway Chess

Final standings

Carlsen won the event for third year in-a-row | Photo: Norway Chess

Scoring

Players will get the following points per round:

Victory in main game: 3 points

Loss in main game: 0 points

Draw in main game & victory Armageddon: 1.5 points

Draw in main game & loss Armageddon: 1 point

Armageddon Rules

• If there is a draw in the classical game, then the players will move on to Armageddon.

• White pieces will continue with white in Armageddon. With this, there will be a winner in each game due to the fact that black pieces will win if the game ends in a draw.

Replay the Live Stream

Greatest female chess player of all time GM Judit Polgar and GM David Howell are the Official Commentators | Video: chess24

Links

Norway Chess official site