Norway Chess 2024: Vaishali Defeats Koneru in Classical Game; Praggnanandhaa Falls to World Champion Ding Liren in Armageddon; Round 3 Pairings

Stavanger (Norway), May 29: Round 2 of the prestigious Norway Chess Tournament 2024 witnessed all three classical games concluding in draws once again at the Spare Bank 1 SR-Bank on Tuesday (May 28).

Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja, and Ding Liren secured 1.5 points each by winning their subsequent Armageddon games with the white pieces.

Norway Chess 2024 Vaishali Defeats Koneru in Classical Game Praggnanandhaa Falls to World Champion Ding Liren in Armageddon Round 3 Pairings — Image: Norway Chess

Ding Liren Defeats Praggnanandhaa

India's prodigy Praggnanandhaa R, who had a 2-0 head-to-head lead against World Champion Ding Liren, drew his first classical game of the Norway Chess 2024 main event. However, the Chinese Grandmaster triumphed in the Armageddon tiebreaker.

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

Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana also drew their classical game after a complex struggle. Firouzja's prowess in speed chess shone through in the Armageddon game, earning him 1.5 points.

Vaishali Defeats Koneru to Take Lead in Women's Tournament

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, marking her first-ever win against India's number one female player and elevating her to India's number two female player on the live rating list.

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