Hikaru Nakamura must beat Fabiano Caruana in classical chess on Friday to win Norway Chess 2023, with any other result handing Fabiano the title. Both drew in Round 8, with Caruana then beating Wesley So in Armageddon, while Nakamura lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Gukesh can’t win the tournament, but beat Aryan Tari to move into sole 3rd and 13th on the live rating list. Magnus Carlsen is in danger of finishing winless in a classical round-robin for the 1st time since 2007. 

Wesley So and Anish Giri scored their first classical wins of Norway Chess 2023 after beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Aryan Tari in Round 7. Magnus Carlsen is still winless, however, after failing to convert a huge advantage against Alireza Firouzja. In fact he almost lost, before storming back to win a 6th Armageddon in a row. 2nd placed Hikaru Nakamura edged half a point closer to Fabiano Caruana after some wild Armageddon action.

Fabiano Caruana has extended his Norway Chess lead and returned to the world no. 2 spot after scoring the only classical win in Round 6. He got revenge on Nodirbek Abdusattorov for the ChessKid Cup in a game he admitted was “fully out of control”. Magnus Carlsen came close to a first classical win but also skirted disaster against Aryan Tari before making it five Armageddon wins in five games. 2nd place Hikaru Nakamura is 2.5 points behind Caruana after defeating Alireza Firouzja in blitz.

Hikaru Nakamura took over as world no. 2 on the live rating list for the first time since 2015 after spoiling Aryan Tari’s birthday while Fabiano Caruana was put to the sword by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Alireza Firouzja briefly regained the no. 2 spot himself and is within striking distance after an Armageddon win over Wesley So, with Magnus Carlsen and Gukesh also winning in Armageddon, against Anish Giri and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Fabiano Caruana is now world no. 2 on the live rating list after beating Alireza Firouzja in Round 4 of Norway Chess. Fabiano’s 3rd win in four classical games has given him a 4-point lead over second-placed Hikaru Nakamura after the day’s other games all went to Armageddon. Hikaru was joined by Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in picking up 1.5 points for a win in the blitz playoff.

Hikaru Nakamura made up for a 10-minute draw against Magnus Carlsen by playing the King’s Gambit in Armageddon in Round 3 of Norway Chess. Magnus called it “not an unpleasant surprise” as he went on to win, but the day’s big results were classical wins, for leader Fabiano Caruana over Aryan Tari, and for Alireza Firouzja over Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Alireza found a couple of beautiful sacrifices to seal the win.

Fabiano Caruana’s Armageddon win over Anish Giri was enough to give him the sole lead in Norway Chess after co-leader Gukesh lost to Hikaru Nakamura in Round 2. It was a day of wild games, with Aryan Tari missing a win before losing to Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also had great chances against Alireza Firouzja but lost in classical chess, while Magnus Carlsen said “getting to attack him was fun” as he put Wesley So to the sword in Armageddon.

Fabiano Caruana won a classical game against Magnus Carlsen for the first time in eight years as the 11th Norway Chess got off to a spectacular start. Alireza Firouzja, the world no. 2 on the live rating list, also went down in flames as Gukesh gifted himself a belated 17th birthday present. The remaining match-ups went to Armageddon, won by Wesley So (against Hikaru Nakamura), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (vs. Aryan Tari) and Anish Giri (vs. Nodirbek Abdusattorov).

Nodirbek Abdusattorov never led the Norway Chess blitz opener until a final-round win over birthday boy Gukesh saw him clinch first place ahead of Alireza Firouzja and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So also achieved the goal of getting five Whites in the main event, while Hikaru Nakamura just missed out. Magnus Carlsen recovered from a bad start but ultimately finished in 7th place, his worst ever Norway Chess Blitz result.

18-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov has won the $30,000 top prize after beating Fabiano Caruana 2.5:1.5 for the second time in the ChessKid Cup. Caruana was winning the opening battles, but Nodirbek kept finding amazing resources and went on to win two games with the black pieces. The Uzbek prodigy has joined Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura in qualifying directly for the Champions Chess Tour Playoffs in December.