Norway Chess 2024, Round 5: Praggnanandhaa outplays World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana, propels to No.10 in rankings

Indian teenage Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa continued his good run in the ongoing Norway Chess competition, earning a hard-fought victory over World No.2 Fabiano Caruana from the United States in the fifth round of the campaign to make it to the top 10 of the world rankings.

Hikaru Nakamura from the United States secured a dominating win over world champion Ding Liren from China to take a one-point lead over Magnus Carlsen from Norway in the current standings.

At the halfway stage of the Norway Chess 2024, Nakmura has 10 points under his belt, just ahead of the local favorite Carlsen.

Carlsen outplayed Alireza Firouzja from France. With five rounds still to come, Praggnanandhaa is placed third with 8.5 points, while Alireza finds himself in the fourth position with 6.5 points following his defeat. Caruana is at the fifth spot in the standings, while Ding Liren is holding the wooden spoon with only 2.5 points to his tally.

Shifting our focus to the women’s event, R Vaishali continued her dominating run and handed a defeat to Tingkie Lei from China to lead the tally with 10 points. Anna Muzychuk is the closest to Vaishali and is a full point behind after defeating Pia Cramling from Sweden in the Classical game.

Women’s world champion Wenjun Ju is occupying the third position on 7.5 after scoring her fifth successive victory in the Armageddon against Koneru Humpy.

Lei is at the fourth spot on six points, while Humpy is struggling at the fifth rank. Cramling with three points is at the bottom of the standings.

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Norway Chess 2024: Round 5 Results

Magnus Carlsen - Alireza Firouzja: 3-0

Ding Liren - Hikaru Nakamura: 0-3

Praggnanandhaa - Fabiano Caruana: 3-0

Vaishali R - Lei Tingjie 1.5-1

Ju Wenjun - Koneru Humpy 1.5-1

Anna Muzychuk - Pia Cramling 3-0

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Norway Chess 2024: Standings after Round 5

Main:

Hikaru Nakamura - 10/15

Magnus Carlsen - 9/15

Praggnanandhaa - 8.5/15

Alireza Firouzja - 6.5/15

Fabiano Caruana - 5/15

Ding Liren - 2.5/15

Women’s:

Vaishali R - 10/15

Anna Muzychuk - 9/15

Ju Wenjun - 7.5/15

Lei Tingjie - 6/15

Koneru Humpy - 4/15

Pia Cramling - 3/15

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Norway Chess 2024: Round 6 Pairings (From 8:30 PM IST, June 2)

Magnus Carlsen vs Ding Liren

Alireza Firouzja vs Praggnanandhaa R

Hikaru Nakamura vs Fabiano Caruana

Vaishali R vs Ju Wenjun

Lei Tingjie vs Anna Muzycuk

Koneru Humpy vs Pia Cramling