The Indian chess legend Vishy Anand continues with amazing play in the 2022 Norway Chess. After two straight-forward victories in the first two rounds, Anand today defeated Wang Hao in Armaggedon to maintain the sole leadership with 7.5 points. With a plus of 9.6 rating points, Vishy came back in the top 10 of the live world rating list.
After interesting but solid Sveshnikov Sicilian, Viswanathan Anand and Wang Hao entered the equal middlegame which transformed quickly into the deadly drawish rooks endgame. The draw was officially signed after move 39 and the players proceeded to the game of death. The Armageddon opened interestingly but the engine was evaluating the position as equal until the Chinese grandmaster blundered a piece after 23…Ne4?. Wang was forced to give up the Queen for a Rook and Knight which Anand used to score. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Aryan Tari in the classical game with Black pieces. Tari chose not to play the main line of the Najdorf Sicilian and came up into trouble after 17.Ne7?!. MVL was precise and kept improving his advantage to finally get 3 points in the 31st move. Replay the game here
Magnus Carlsen scored his first classical victory in the event after beating Teimour Radjabov. The reigning World Chess Champion chose to start with 1.d4 and the Catalan opening which went pretty solid. Radjabov eventually sacrificed a pawn for space and activity, but Magnus managed to neutralize the opponent’s initiative and used the material advantage to win the game. Replay the game here
The classical game between Anish Giri and Wesley So was the first to be finished in the third round. The game ended in a draw after only 31 moves of play as an attractive middlegame transposed to a clear draw rooks endgame. Giri chose 1.e4 in Armageddon but it seems that he did not get enough dynamics. He forced the opening of the position which happened to be a mistake as Wesley got the decisive advantage. The American maintained a better position and went into the endgame with the pawn up. Nonetheless, Wesley got satisfied with a draw since it brought him an overall match victory. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
The encounter between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Veselin Topalov kicked off intriguing as Mamedyarov decided to spice things up with 10. 0-0-0!?. Both players had their chances but the classical game eventually ended in a peaceful manner proceeding to Armageddon. The game of death opened in a calm fashion. Shakhriyar got the bishop pair but then blundered heading into a worse endgame. Faced with dreadful time trouble, Topalov did not manage to use the advantage and eventually lost on time. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
Round 3 results:
Magnus Carlsen – Teimour Radjabov 3-0
Anish Giri – Wesley So 1.0-1.5
Viswanathan Anand – Hao Wang 1.5-1.0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Veselin Topalov 1.5-1.0
Aryan Tari – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 0-3
The fourth round starts tomorrow at 17:00 CEST and the games can be followed live on Chessdom.com.
Magnus Carlsen – Anish Giri
Wesley So – Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Veselin Topalov – Aryan Tari
Hao Wang – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
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