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 in Round 5 of Norway Chess. 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.

The two decisive classical games in Round 5 were huge for the tournament standings, with Fabiano Caruana stopped just when he was threatening to run away with the tournament.

Here's the day's live commentary from Judit Polgar, Jovanka Houska and David Howell.

Replay all the Norway Chess games with computer analysis

Caruana 0:3 Mamedyarov

Fabiano Caruana was absolutely flying going into Round 5 of Norway Chess and the white pieces against the unpredictable Shakhriyar Mamedyarov felt like a chance for him to stake an even greater claim for tournament victory. Fabiano was trying to keep things calm.

Shakhriyar wasn’t going to allow a quiet game, however, and, in a topical English position that featured in Game 10 of Ding Liren-Nepomniachtchi and the Rapport-Caruana final round of the Superbet Classic, he played not 8…Nxc3 but 8…d5!?

It wasn’t a novelty, but the highest-rated player to have tried it was Tatiana Kosintseva back in 2010. Shakh explained:

Up to a point everything was forced, with Caruana finding all the right moves, and Shakhriyar’s pause after 16.Rfe1 looked like a positive for Fabiano.

Magnus Carlsen at this point asked viewers of his confessional if they could guess the best move for Mamedyarov, and it was the one Shakh himself went on to play: 16…a5! The idea was Ra6 and then either grabbing the pawn on e6 or, as happened in the game, bringing the rook to d6.

Fabiano immediately exchanged it off, but after 20…Bxd6 he began to lose the thread of the game.

The computer suggests that White should simply defend the a3-pawn with 21.Qc1, but Fabiano chose to rely on a more tactical defence with 21.Qh4!?, when 21…Bxa3? 22.Bxa3 Qxa3 loses to 23.e7!, and Qxf6 if the rook moves to e8.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has blown the battle for first place wide open | photo: Lennart Ootes, Norway Chess

Mamedyarov, however, played the strong improving move 21…c6, denying White the d5-square and protecting the b7-pawn, and here Fabiano made the first real blunder of the game, 22.Bd3?. Now Shakh could take the a3-pawn, and he didn’t need to be asked twice.

The bishop on d3 is now hanging in crucial lines such as 24.e7 Re8 25.Qxf6? — this would be winning for White if the bishop was on b1, but as it is, 25…Qxd3 would win for Black.

By this stage Fabiano must have realised how tough his position was, so he dug deep with a 17-minute think to go for 24.Qg3, and after 24…Re8 the only move to stay in the game, 25.Bxg6!

Black can’t capture without getting checkmated, but 25…Qxg3 26.Bf7+ Kg7 27.hxg3 Re7 would likely have led to a draw. This is where Shakh uncorked a move that essentially won him the game, 25…Rxe6!, relying on the fact that White can’t take the queen on a3 without allowing back-rank checkmate.

A tense period of play followed, with Caruana low on time and needing to keep active enough pieces to negate Mamedyarov’s extra passed pawn. Ultimately everything turned on move 35, when Fabiano blitzed out a losing move.

It turns out White can hold here, but only by giving up the f1-bishop with 35.Kh2!! Rxf1 36.Rxg8+! Kxg8 37.Qd8+ and now, though it’s not obvious from a distance, there’s no way for the black king to escape from checks.

Instead Fabiano instantly played 35.Qd3?, which was met by the killer 35…Qb1!

Exchanging queens is equivalent to defeat, since the black a-pawn runs too fast. The queen also can’t move, since the bishop will drop with check and the black queen can get back to defend the kingside.

Fabiano used up almost all his time before going for the last chance, 36.Rxg8+ Kxg8 37.Qd8+, but in this position it doesn’t work. He resigned when the checks had finally run out.

That result suddenly brought Fabiano Caruana back down to earth. He remained the tournament leader, but his stay at number 2 on the live rating list had been brief, with Alireza Firouzja taking over even more briefly. Then all eyes turned to Hikaru Nakamura.

Hikaru Nakamura 3:0 Aryan Tari

Got you! | photo: Lennart Ootes, Norway Chess

There are easier ways of celebrating your 24th birthday than facing Hikaru Nakamura, but those were the cards Aryan Tari was dealt. Initially, at least, things didn’t go badly, with Hikaru not sure what to make of the opening, though he predicted a long game.

In the end, everything turned on just one moment.

After e.g. 26…Rbd8 Black has a healthy position, while after 26…c5? it was essentially game over. Nakamura pounced with 27.Bxb3! axb3 28.c4! Red8 29.Rd1 Rd7 30.Kf2! and White had a huge advantage.

The king is in time to defend from e2 if Tari doubles rooks on the d-file, the bishop on a7 is completely locked out of play, and White has a dream knight on e4. Hikaru felt sympathy for his opponent, who he hadn’t realised was celebrating a birthday!

There was indeed no way back, with 42.cxb6! a nice final twist of the knife.

After 42…Rxc1 43.b7! the b-pawn queens.

Hikaru Nakamura has become the most comfortable player in front of the cameras | photo: Maria Emelianova, Chess.com

Hikaru’s second classical win in Norway Chess 2023 took him to within just one point of Fabiano Caruana, but also lifted him to the top of the incredibly close battle to be the world no. 2 on the live rating list!

However that battle ends, it’s a landmark for Hikaru Nakamura, whose career peak came in October 2015, when he was rated 2816 and world no. 2 for the first time on an official rating list.

A month later he’d dropped to fifth and in the run-up to the pandemic he’d fallen as low as 22nd. When he switched his focus to streaming online blitz few could have suspected such a comeback in classical chess — but it’s turned out that the “I literally don’t care” attitude of having a lucrative day job has worked perfectly. That, of course, and sheer talent.

Caruana’s fall was also a chance for the rest of the field, with Armageddon wins bringing three players 1.5 points closer to the leader.

Magnus Carlsen 1.5:1 Anish Giri

Carlsen-Giri is always intense! | photo: Lennart Ootes, Norway Chess

Few match-ups in world chess are more eagerly anticipated than Carlsen-Giri, and there was added spice this time round after Anish defeated Magnus in the Tata Steel Masters.

A repeat certainly couldn’t be ruled out when Magnus jettisoned a pawn early on in the Catalan and then was in no hurry to win it back. 13.e5!? was a move that would lead only to pain and suffering against our silicon overlords.

Against the human representative Anish Giri, it worked out ok, however, and Magnus confessed he thought he was winning at one point, until 20…Qd6! appeared on the board.

You might reject putting your queen in a line with the white bishop just on general grounds, but there was no punishment in sight, and Magnus needed to be alert in what followed to make a draw without stumbling into any tactical tricks.

Magnus has been the Armageddon king in this year’s Norway Chess, however, and made it 4/4 when Anish made an uncharacteristic opening blunder on move 12.

His disgust at what he’d done was obvious, and Magnus soon drove all the black pieces back with an overwhelming positional advantage. Anish resigned on move 29.

Alireza Firouzja 1.5:1 Wesley So

Firouzja: "If Caruana loses everything I won’t catch him if I don’t play good. First I have to focus on myself!" | photo: Lennart Ootes, Norway Chess

Alireza won in Armageddon to get within striking distance (i.e. a 3-point classical win) of the leader, though it could have been better after he took over in the classical game. 25.f4?! Nc6! and, rather than preparing a pawn storm, Wesley was losing his e4-pawn.

The edge fizzled out, however, with the decision to exchange queens appearing to be a mistake. Firouzja commented:

The Armageddon was very smooth sailing for Firouzja, however. Wesley could only win a pawn at the cost of allowing a pin, and when he untangled he’d lost the extra pawn and had no way to avoid the draw with the black pieces that gave Alireza an extra half point.

Gukesh 1.5:1 Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Gukesh won the battle of the teenage stars | photo: Lennart Ootes, Norway Chess

18-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov hasn’t quite been his world-beating self so far in Norway Chess. He defeated Aryan Tari in classical chess, but lost to Alireza Firouzja, and went into this clash having also lost two Armageddon games.

The opening looked promising, however, with 10.h3!? something likely cooked up by Nodirbek’s coach Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

17-year-old Gukesh is now working with another seconding superstar, Polish GM Grzegorz Gajewski, who for a long time seconded Vishy Anand.

This idea of not taking immediately on g7 wasn’t one they’d looked at, but it didn’t prove fatal.

Gukesh elaborated on the live commentary that he’d chosen a solid response which he suspected wasn’t the best, but had the virtue of getting Nodirbek out of his opening preparation.

The initial threat subsided and by the end it was Gukesh who was playing for more, rejecting a draw by repetition that could have happened if the players had kept playing Qf1+ Rd1 Qc4 Rd4 (the trick is that if the queen takes the rook, Nb5+ wins it). Gukesh went for 25…Qc5!?

Later he said he should have tried 25…Qc7, but in both cases it was objectively equal and the outcome would likely have been a draw.

The Armageddon, however, couldn’t have gone much better for Gukesh. Needing only a draw with the black pieces he was better by move 10, winning by move 20, and then settled for a draw that meant winning the match.

Magnus has a lot to do if he's going to make it five Norway Chess titles in a row | photo: Lennart Ootes, Norway Chess

That result left Abdusattorov in 2nd last place, but he has good company: Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Anish Giri! In fact it’s only Aryan Tari who looks out of contention for first place now that Caruana has stumbled.

In Round 6 Firouzja-Nakamura is another potentially huge battle, with Caruana playing Black against the player who beat him twice in matches in the recent ChessKid Cup. Carlsen will be out for blood despite having Black vs. Tari, while we’ve also got Gukesh-Giri and Mamedyarov-So.

Follow Norway Chess with live commentary from Judit Polgar, Jovanka Houska and David Howell from 17:00 CEST (11am ET, 8:30pm IST).

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