Norway Chess 2024: Praggnanandhaa defeats World Champion Ding Liren in Round 7; Carlsen loses to Nakamura in Armegaddon

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Stavanger, (Norway), Jun 4: R Praggnanandhaa extended his streak of upsets by defeating world champion Ding Liren in the armageddon game at the Norway Chess 2024 tournament here on Monday (June 3).

This victory followed Praggnanandhaa's impressive wins in the tournament against higher-ranked players like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.

Despite managing to draw against Praggnanandhaa in the classical game, Ding Liren faltered in the crucial armageddon game, allowing the young Indian prodigy to claim another high-profile victory.

In another intense match, Hikaru Nakamura edged closer to the tournament leader Magnus Carlsen. Nakamura secured his win in an armageddon thriller on time, narrowing the gap to just half a point behind Carlsen.

Fabiano Caruana's match against Alireza Firouzja was a roller-coaster of emotions. Caruana's daring knight sacrifice nearly backfired, but he managed to escape with a draw in the classical game. However, Firouzja dominated the armageddon game, leaving Caruana with no chances for recovery.

2024 Norway Chess Standings

In the women's section, Anna Muzychuk emerged as the sole leader of Women's Norway Chess after achieving a significant milestone. She became the first player to win a mini-match against the Women's World Champion, Ju Wenjun, propelling her to the top of the leaderboard.

R Vaishali's aspirations for the title were dealt a significant blow as she suffered a defeat in classical chess to Koneru Humpy. Meanwhile, Lei Tingjie triumphed over Pia Cramling in the armageddon game, adding to the excitement of the tournament.

Earlier in this competition, Praggnanandhaa defeated World No.1 Magnus Carlsen in Classical for the first time in his career. The Chennai prodigy also got the better of World No.2 Fabiano Caruana of the USA later in round 5 to once again prove his rising supremacy in the game.