Norway Chess: Vaishali Beats Koneru; Praggnanandhaa Loses To Ding Liren In Armageddon

Indian Koneru Humpy: The Second round of the Norway Chess saw all three classical games ending up in a draw once again as Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja and Ding Liren won with white in the subsequent Armageddon games to grab 1.5 points each.

India's prodigy Praggnanandhaa R, who went with a 2-0 head-to-head lead against world champion Ding Liren, played out his first classical draw in the round of the Norway Chess 2024 main event as the Chinese GM then emerged victorious in the Armageddon tie-breaker.

In the highly anticipated pairing of the day, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura played out closely contested classical game that ended in a draw. Carlsen, demonstrating his exceptional skill under pressure, managed to secure a crucial victory, adding to his impressive Armageddon record and taking the lead of 3 points in tournament standings.

Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana also drew their classical game after a complex struggle. Firouzja's abilities in speed chess shone through in the Armageddon game as he bagged crucial 1.5 points.

In the women’s event, Vaishali R defeated fellow Indian Koneru Humpy to register her first classical win in the Norway Chess women's tournament. Despite Humpy's slight advantage in the opening, a critical blunder under time pressure allowed Vaishali to claim victory and claimed her first-ever win against India’s number one female player and became India’s number two female player on the live rating list.

The other two classical matches between Lei Tingjie and Pia Cramling along with Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk ended up in hard-fought draws. The Chinese duo of Wenjun and Tingjie emerged victorious in their respective Armageddon games.