Norway Chess: R Vaishali triumphs over Cramling
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Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali continued her impressive streak by defeating seasoned Swedish GM Pia Cramling, while her brother R Praggnanandhaa succumbed to a challenging match against the USA's Hikaru Nakamura in the fourth round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger.
Vaishali's stellar performance extended her lead to 2.5 points after her second victory under classical time control, bringing her total to 8.5 points. She is now ahead of women's world champion Wenjun Ju of China and Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine.
Muzychuk secured her first win of the tournament by defeating Koneru Humpy, while Wenjun triumphed over her compatriot Tingjie Lei in the Armageddon round. With six rounds remaining in this six-player double round-robin tournament, Lei is fourth with five points, two points ahead of both Humpy and Cramling.
In the men's section, world number one Magnus Carlsen outmaneuvered his long-time rival, Fabiano Caruana of the United States, in a day filled with decisive classical time control games. Another significant match saw Firouzja Alireza of France defeating reigning world champion Ding Liren of China.
With a prize pool of $161,000, the tournament promises more thrilling encounters. After the fourth round, Nakamura has edged ahead with seven points, holding a half-point lead over Alireza. Carlsen follows closely with six points, while Praggnanandhaa has slipped to fourth with 5.5 points. Caruana is in fifth with five points, and Liren trails with just 2.5 points.
Vaishali's victory was a testament to her perseverance in a seemingly drawn rook and pawns endgame. Playing black in a Grunfeld defense, she equalized effortlessly, leading to a heavy piece endgame. Cramling struggled with her pawn structure, giving Vaishali an opening. The game, still potentially drawable, turned in Vaishali's favor when Cramling blundered, resulting in a lost rook and pawns endgame after 54 moves.
Similarly, Humpy's loss to Muzychuk followed a familiar pattern. Despite reaching a drawable rook and pawns endgame, a late blunder by Humpy handed the game to Muzychuk, marking her first classical chess victory in nearly seven months.
On the men's side, Nakamura capitalized on unforced errors by Praggnanandhaa. Playing the Nimzo Indian defense, Praggnanandhaa maintained a dynamic balance until he overextended in the middle game and sacrificed a knight. Lacking sufficient compensation, Nakamura converted his material advantage into a win after 86 moves.
Carlsen's victory over Caruana came from a queen and pawns endgame. Demonstrating his trademark skill of outplaying opponents from balanced positions, Carlsen exploited a late blunder by Caruana to secure the win.