Alireza Firouzja, the 22-year-old French grandmaster, stunned the chess world on Monday by defeating world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the opening round of Norway Chess, despite playing with a heavily protected sprained ankle. The injury, sustained from a fall off a stage in Bucharest the previous week, had curtailed his performance in Romania, where he finished last in the Grand Chess Tour event won by Germany's Vincent Keymer.
Firouzja's Historic Victory
This victory marked Firouzja's first classical win over Carlsen, who has dominated Norway Chess for the past seven years, winning six titles. The win was reminiscent of Tony Miles' famous 1985 Tilburg triumph, where the English grandmaster played prone on a massage table due to a back injury and shared first prize.
Carlsen, known for his pragmatic time management, fell into time pressure during critical moves leading up to the move 40 time control. Analysis shows that 31... Qb7 and 32... Qb5 were superior to Carlsen's choices, but the decisive error came at move 33 with 33...Kg8?, allowing Firouzja's central pawns to advance decisively. The move 33...Nxe3! would have held the position.
Norway Chess Moves to Oslo
After 13 years in Stavanger, Norway Chess has relocated to the Deichman Bjørvika library in central Oslo. This shift is significant for Carlsen, who has often expressed a preference to avoid playing in the capital due to hometown pressures. Notably, one of his worst career results occurred in 2019 when he lost the Fischer Random world championship final to Wesley So by a disastrous 13.5-2.5 margin in the Oslo area.
Unique Scoring System
Norway Chess employs a distinctive scoring system: a classical win earns three points, a loss zero, and draws are replayed as Armageddon games where White has 10 minutes, Black seven, and a draw counts as a win for Black. The Armageddon winner receives 1.5 points, the loser 1. Carlsen was the only classical loser in round one, putting him under immediate pressure.
Subsequent Rounds
In round two, Firouzja again emerged as the only classical winner, defeating India's Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and regaining his place in the world top 10 in live ratings. Carlsen lost again in round three to Praggnanandhaa, describing the chaotic defeat as "like tossing a coin." Carlsen spent too long on White's surprise novelty 6 h4!? in the Najdorf Sicilian, responding weakly with 6...h6?! and was under pressure throughout.
Round four featured Carlsen versus world champion Gukesh, a rematch of last year's infamous table punch incident. This time, Carlsen showed his best form, winning powerfully and advancing in the standings. After four rounds, scores were: Firouzja 8.5, Praggnanandhaa 6, So 5.5, Carlsen 4.5, Keymer 4, Gukesh 3.5.
Women's Event
Norway Chess also aims to raise the profile of women's chess, with Norway Chess Women offering equal prize money to the men's event for the first time. Women's world champion Ju Wenjun is the top seed. Current scores: Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) 7, Divya Deshmukh (India), Zhu Jiner (China), and Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) 5.5, Ju 4, Koneru Humpy (India) 3.
Other Notable Events
Hans Niemann and Ian Nepomniachtchi are set to meet in Belgrade for an eight-game classical match, a rare East-West encounter since the 1996 Karpov-Kamsky world title series or even the 1972 Spassky-Fischer match. Both grandmasters aim to reach the world top 10.
Meanwhile, 12-year-old Supratit Banerjee narrowly missed his second international master norm in Stockholm, needing a final round draw but losing to an opponent seeking a grandmaster norm.
Puzzle 4026: 1...f5! and White resigned. If 2 Qxg6 Ne2+! 3 Nxe2 Qxb2 mate.
