World number-one Magnus Carlsen tops the table in the Norway Chess 2024 with 12 points at the end of round 6. It was a bad day for India as siblings Pragnanandhaa and Vaishali lost their round 6 games.
Carlsen took over as the leader after World Champion Ding Liren blundered into mate-in-two and sank to a fourth loss in a row.
When the tournament began with Carlsen making an effortless draw with Black against Ding, there was no reason to believe that was anything other than a good result. By round six, however, the wounded world champion had a target on his back, with Carlsen commenting: "I had a job to do today. I needed to win the game, especially the way that he’s been playing, so I’m happy I managed to do that."
Elsewhere there was armageddon revenge for the first round results, with GM Fabiano Caruana getting the better of GM Hikaru Nakamura. Indian GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was defeated by GM Alireza Firouzja in a fiercely tactical matchup.
This match between two of the hottest young stars in chess was all you could hope for, with sacrifices in the air from the early middlegame, when Firouzja brought his bishop back to target the h7-pawn. A thrilling exchange of blow and counterblow would soon follow.
Norway Chess Men: Standings after round 6
Magnus Carlsen -12, Hikaru Nakamura -11, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu- 9.5, Alireza Firouzja -8, Fabiano Caruana - 6.5, Ding Liren 2.5
In the women's section, GM Ju Wenjun ground out a 102-move win over GM Vaishali Rameshbabu to pick up a first classical win of the tournament and join GM Anna Muzychuk in the lead of Women’s Norway Chess. The Ukrainian grandmaster beat GM Lei Tingjie in armageddon, while there was also an armageddon win for GM Pia Cramling, who collected her first match win of the event by defeating GM Humpy Koneru.
Norway Chess Women. Standings after round 6.
Ju Wenjun-10.5, Anna Muzychuk -10.5, Lei Tingjie - 7, Humpy Koneru-5, Pia Cramling -4.5