Magnus Carlsen proves his class, defeats 'chess king' Gukesh at Norway tournament

On the evening of May 26, Magnus Carlsen demonstrated his extraordinary courage in the endgame and won a thrilling victory over 18-year-old "chess king" Gukesh Dommaraju in the first round of the Norwegian tournament.

Magnus Carlsen was the more courageous person to win the final victory against Gukesh - Photo: Noway chess

Holding the white pieces, Magnus Carlsen opened with the London transformed Jobava opening, intending to attack the opponent's kingside without castle. Meanwhile, Gukesh, with a tenacious defense, brought the game to an end by exchanging queens.

Although black had a clear pawn on the edge - a common endgame advantage - white also had a pair of strong pawns linked in the center, creating a balanced position according to the computer's assessment, but time was running out for both players.

The turning point came on move 43 when Gukesh suddenly gave up his knight, aiming to promote his queen one step ahead. The young Indian must have calculated carefully, hoping to find a series of consecutive checks to capture the white knight or force the game into a draw by checking with his queen and rook in succession.

He played without error until move 46. He needed only one check, Rg2, to draw, but Gukesh chose queen h6 and indirectly handed Carlsen the winning advantage.

Gukesh missed the only correct move, Rg2, and that mistake cost him a loss - Photo: Screenshot

Carlsen's face showed a look of surprise, as if he had immediately realized his opponent's mistake. Meanwhile, Gukesh remained calm. Perhaps he had no idea about the crucial Rg2 move.

Grandmaster Susan Polgar said that Gukesh needed an extremely difficult series of moves to save the game and that it was almost impossible, especially with time running out.

Despite Gukesh's mistake, Carlsen still faced a huge challenge to convert his advantage into victory. He needed to find the only squares where his king could move and still maintain his winning position, which he did with just a few minutes left on the clock.

"Carlsen found all the moves he needed," grandmaster David Howell exclaimed in amazement. "It was unbelievable. Carlsen was on another level!"

When Gukesh ran out of check and was forced to recapture the white knight, the initiative was completely in the 34-year-old's hands. But like Gukesh's situation earlier, Carlsen was also under time pressure to find the only check moves to preserve his winning position.

And this is when the difference in class between the two players was clearly shown. Carlsen, in a time-limited position, did not make any mistakes.

"If Carlsen had checked Qa8, he could have captured the black rook with a pike," Howell commented, then immediately corrected himself: "Wait a minute. Turns out that wasn't the best move. I was wrong. The e6 rook was the only winning move. Oh my God, he checked Re6! Carlsen's masterclass. He found every best move in this crazy formation."

The key move Re6 helped Carlsen win against young player Gukesh - Photo: Screenshot

It was only after Carlsen's calculated Re8 that Gukesh really faltered. A few seconds passed before the Indian player accepted the handshake and surrendered.

"This was the best game of the year. Carlsen was the real boss," Howell said.

Also in the first round, world number 2 Hikaru Nakamura defeated his compatriot Fabiano Caruana. Nakamura had offered a draw in the middle game, but Caruana did not accept. In the endgame, due to running out of time, the 32-year-old made a mistake and had to accept defeat.

In the remaining game, Wei Yi, China's number one player, lost to Erigaisi Arjun in an armageddon game after a standard draw. This result gave Carlsen and Nakamura a 3-point lead after the first round, while Erigaisi and Wei Yi had 1.5 and 1 point respectively.

The tournament in Norway is the strongest invitational of the year, with the average Elo rating of the six players being 2,789. They play a double round-robin, scoring points, competing for the championship worth $62,000. The game is played in standard chess format, with each side having 120 minutes to think, and an additional 10 seconds added after each move from move 40.

However, in the match between Magnus Carlsen and Gukesh Dommaraju, due to spending a lot of time in the middle game, both had to play like blitz chess in the endgame. And at the decisive moment, Carlsen showed his class and experience to defeat the young "chess king" Gukesh and won the first point of the tournament.

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/magnus-carlsen-khang-dinh-dang-cap-ha-vua-co-gukesh-tai-giai-na-uy-2025052709345496.htm