Norway Chess R2: Nepomniachtchi Wins With The King's Gambit

GM Richard Rapport continues to lead the Norway Chess tournament after drawing both his classical and armageddon games with GM Sergey Karjakin, gaining 1.5 points. GM Magnus Carlsen is in second place after surviving a scare in the classical and then beating GM Aryan Tari in the armageddon.

After missing out on the first round, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi joined the tournament today and beat GM Alireza Firouzja in the armageddon as well, using the romantic King's Gambit opening.

Round 2 Standings

Making his debut at Norway Chess (hard to believe but true), Nepomniachtchi entered the stage belatedly but well dressed. He was sporting the new outfit that we'll also be seeing him wear during the upcoming world championship, with logos of sponsors SimaLand (a Russian wholesale company) and our very own Chess.com. The latter can be seen both on the arms of his jacket and the end of his shirt's sleeves.

After Firouzja surprised his opponent with the Moller Ruy Lopez and held his own as Black in the classical game, it was time for Nepomniachtchi to promote a bit more than his sponsors. He showcased his recently published online course on the King's Gambit by playing it in the armageddon game. (Regular readers will know that he also employed it recently at the Smyslov Memorial blitz.)

Firouzja was either unaware of his opponent's published analysis or mixed up something because he played a losing novelty on move 10. Nepo then didn't really need his extra time on the clock to finish things off in style.

"Despite my poor endgame performance in the classical game at least I had my small revenge playing the gambit and at least having a good mood!" said Nepomniachtchi afterward.

Rapport, the early leader of the tournament, had the better chances in his black game with Karjakin after bravely accepting White's pawn sacrifice in the trendy 7.g4 Taimanov. But even an exchange up, the position remained tricky and the time control (no increment before move 41) didn't help either, as Rapport said afterward, so at some point he had to accept a draw.

He then became the "winner" of the armageddon game, which was arguably the best of all six games of the day.

Avoiding an all-too-dry middlegame position, Karjakin went for a positional queen sacrifice and got good play for it. After a tense middlegame, Rapport eventually went for a liquidation into an endgame with opposite-colored bishops where White had two extra passed pawns on the queenside but Black could still hold.

The Hungarian GM knows his classics: he referenced the famous Walther-Fischer (Zurich 1959) game at the press conference, where the prodigy and later world champion held the draw beautifully. See that game in the notes and learn:

And what about the world champion? Well, from the first two rounds we might conclude that, although he just won the Aimchess U.S. Rapid convincingly, over-the-board chess is a different cookie and he is not in top shape just yet. After surviving a lost endgame vs. Firouzja in the armageddon the other day, Carlsen also survived a lost position in his classical game with Tari.

It was a completely different story, however, in the armageddon that followed. This time, Carlsen managed to confuse his opponent in the opening as he quickly won a pawn, then another one while easily dealing with Black's (lack of) counterplay:

The third round is on Thursday with the games Rapport-Carlsen, Tari-Nepomniachtchi, and Firouzja-Karjakin.

Norway Chess takes place September 7-18, 2021 in Stavanger, Norway. The format is a double round-robin among six players. The time control is 120 minutes for the whole game, with a 10-second increment starting from move 41. In case of a draw, the players play an armageddon game with the same colors. White has 10 minutes and Black has seven minutes with a one-second increment starting from move 41. A victory in the main game gives three points, a loss in the main game zero points, a draw in the main game & victory armageddon 1.5 points, a loss in the armageddon one point.

Earlier report:

• Norway Chess R1: Rapport Early Leader As Firouzja-Carlsen Goes To Armageddon