Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Move 66
Every year in Stavanger (Norway) takes place the tournament Norway Chess. In 2024, the tournament brought together six top players in a double round-robin. Among them, Carlsen, who had won that competition five times. Together with the open section, the tournament in 2024 added a new feature including a women section with a same prize fund ($160,000)
To encourage competitiveness and reduce the rate of draws, the organizers of Norway Chess have implemented a mixed format of games. They combine classical and blitz. The system is a double round-robin of classical games with an additional armageddon in case of a draw.
Time control for classical games is 120 minutes with a 10-second increment after move 40. In the armageddon game, White gets 10 minutes and Black 7 minutes. Increment of one second applies only after move 41.
The method of scoring is also particular. Winners in the standard game receive 3 points. However, if the game is drawn and competitors play the armageddon, the winner gets an overall score of 1.5 points and the loser 1 point. This method of scoring can lead to dramatic changes in the standings.
In round 3, Carlsen (playing the black pieces) suffered a defeat against Praggnanandhaa due to taking excessive risks. And in the next round, he had to play against Caruana who had won a pretty game against Ding Liren in the previous round.
During the game, Henrik Carlsen (Carlsen’s father) remarked that his son uses to perform quite well the day after suffering a loss in tournaments. Besides that, knowing that Caruana had played well in the previous round, Henrik Carlsen said: “I think he is realistic enough to consider a draw a good result“.
That was indeed what commentators expected. But Caruana started playing a couple of slight inaccuracies. Although equal, the play was more pleasant for Black. And that was enough for Carlsen’s style of “squeezing water from a stone“. Caruana played accurately to keep the balance, but short on time, he made a mistake in move 66 and had to resign.
It’s really painful to lose a game when the position is level. But it’s worth considering that queen endgames are the most complex.
Ironically, Caruana made a mistake again in move 66 in the next round against Praggnanandhaa. The position was level but Caruana again found himself in time trouble. The time control in that tournament includes an increment of only 10 seconds after move 40. Because that increment is smaller than the usual 30 seconds in other tournaments, some players feel stressed and are more prone to make mistakes. As Nakamura noted: “Fabiano makes more of these blunders when he gets low on time than other top players.”
In round 4, Caruana couldn’t find the right line in a queen endgame. And in round 5 it was a tragedy of a single square.
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