12th Norway Chess R1: Praggnanandhaa scores in a must-win Armageddon against Firouzja
The first round of 12th Norway Chess 2024 witnessed three Armageddons. The Classical battle between the World champion - Ding Liren (CHN) and World no.1 - Magnus Carlsen (NOR) ended in a 14-move draw. The Armageddon also ended in a draw. However, Magnus having the black pieces, Armageddon rules worked in his favor. Thus, he won the match. R Praggnanandhaa won the must-win Armageddon against Alireza Firouzja (FRA) after their Classical game ended in a draw. This was the first time Praggnanandhaa defeated Firouzja in an over-the-board tournament game. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) defeated his compatriot Fabiano Caruana (USA) in Armageddon with the black pieces. Round 2 pairings: Magnus vs Hikaru, Firouzja vs Caruana and Liren vs Praggnanandhaa. Round 2 starts today from 5 p.m. CET, 8:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Norway Chess/Stev Bonhage
Armageddon decides all games
Liren - Carlsen: 1-1.5
The classical game between Ding Liren (CHN, 2762) and Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2830) ended in a 14-move draw. Their previous Armageddon occurred in 2019 at the same event. Magnus won that game with the white pieces. This time the world no.1 had the black pieces. It ended in a draw which resulted in Magnus winning the match.
Armageddon
White maneuvered his king all the way from h2 to b3 after Black shuffled his king from f8 to a6. In another nine moves, White went for the only break available in the position g5. However, a draw is the maximum result one could get out of the position. As per Armageddon rules, Black has draw odds, so he won the match.
Praggnanandhaa - Firouzja: 1.5-1
R Praggnanandhaa (2747) has never defeated Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2737) in an over-the-board tournament game. That changed yesterday. After their Classical game ended in a draw, Praggnanandhaa won the must-win Armageddon with the white pieces.
26...Re8? allowed White to gain the upper hand 27.Bg6 Ref8 28.Rxh8 Rxh8 29.e4 Rd8 30.Rd3 Kc7 31.Rf3 d4 32.Rxf6 and White won the game in the next few moves.
Caruana - Nakamura: 1-1.5
The Classical game between Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2805) and Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2794) ended in a well-contested draw.
Armageddon
In a volatile position, Caruana retreated his rook back to g2. That made things turn towards Black's favor 27...Kh7 28.Nc3 e4 29.Qe2 Qf3 and Black won the game in another nine moves.
Replay live stream
Replay Round 1 games
Round 1 results
Round 2 pairings
Format
6 players will take part in the Tournament.
The Tournament is a double-round event with Armageddon.
The Tournament consists of 10 rounds.
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 27th May to 7th June, every day game starts at 5 p.m. local time and 8:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are on Friday 31st May and Wednesday 5th 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:
SR-Bank in Stavanger City.
Address: Christen Tranes Gate 35, 4007 Stavanger
All tickets are purchased directly at the venue. No pre-sale.
It is possible to reserve tickets, however, this is normally not necessary due to good capacity at the venue. Reserve your ticket by e-mailing the desired dates and names to: bjorn@norwaychess.com.
Ticket prices per day:
Adults: 200 NOK
Children: 100 NOK
Family: 400 NOK
Links
Norway Chess: Official site, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, linkedin
