And on the Seventh Day, They Rested

Call it chance or call it kismet, but it is immensely useful to this writer that both the Altibox Norway Chess and Women’s Candidates Tournaments share a rest day today, June 7th. With the temporary cessation of hostilities comes a chance to check in with both events, and have a look at where things stand. Magnus Carlsen is leading in Stavanger after three rounds of play with 5 points out of a possible 6. He has won one game at classical time controls and two Armageddon blitz tie-breakers. Carlsen is followed by Liren Ding, Levon Aroninan, and Wesley So, each with 4 points out of 6. Fabiano Caruana is currently in seventh place with 2.5 points. Meanwhile, Aleksandra Goryachkina has taken a commanding lead in the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, defeating second place Nana Dzagnidze in round 6 to jump to a 1.5 point lead over the field at 5/6. Dzagnidze and Kateryna Lagno share second place with 3.5 points. The quality of play has been quite high in both tournaments, as we see in our round-by-round wrapup. Norway Chess Round 2 Levon Aronian            0.5-1.5             Magnus Carlsen Yangyi Yu                  1.5-0.5               Liren Ding Fabiano Caruana         2-0                   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Viswanathan Anand   0-2                   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Alexander Grischuk    0.5-1.5             Wesley So Caruana defeated blitz winner Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a well-fought matchup. Caruana introduced a new move in a topical variation of the Poisoned Pawn Najdorf, and while Vachier-Lagrave reacted poorly to the novelty, he still might have had chances to hold the draw had he found some very precise moves. Both players joined the livestream after the game, and their analysis was both cordial and instructive.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Chess 2019"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.05"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2819"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2
Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 Be7 11. fxe6 Bxe6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bc4 Nbd7 14. Bxe6
Nc5 15. Bc4 {New.} (15. Bf5 {was recently played at the highest levels:} g6 16.
Bh3 Nfxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Qd4 Qc3+ 19. Qxc3 Nxc3 20. Bxe7 Kxe7 21. Rb3 Ne4
22. Rxb7+ Kf6 23. O-O+ Kg5 {1/2-1/2 (70) Wei,Y (2736)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)
Moscow 2019}) (15. Bb3 {is also known.}) 15... Ncxe4 $6 {MVL admitted that
he'd been caught out here in the confessional booth. The idea is to grab a
piece, but he appears to have underestimated White's compensation.} (15... b5 {
and}) (15... Rc8 {are both preferred by Stockfish.}) 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bf7+ $1
Kxf7 18. Qd5+ Ke8 19. Qxe4 Qa5+ 20. Kd1 Qxg5 21. Rxb7 {White has excellent
compensation for his sacrificed piece.} Rf8 ({MVL had counted on} 21... d5 {
when he made his 15th move, but he realized that after} 22. Qe6 Qf6 23. Re1
Qd4+ 24. Kc1 Qa1+ 25. Rb1 Qf6 26. Qxf6 gxf6 27. Rb7 Kf7 28. Rexe7+ Kg6 29. Rbd7
{Black had a "disgusting endgame" (Caruana's words)}) 22. Re1 (22. Rxe7+ Qxe7
23. Qxa8+ Kd7 24. Qxa6 Qf6 25. Qb7+ Kd8 26. Qb6+ Kd7 27. Re1 {was another
strong option per MVL.}) 22... Rf7 23. Rxe7+ ({The players looked at} 23. Qc6+
Kf8 24. Rbxe7 Qg4+ 25. Kc1 Qg5+ 26. R7e3 Qd8 {after the game, thinking this
another path to a White advantage.} (26... Rd8)) 23... Rxe7 24. Qxa8+ Kf7 25.
Rf1+ Kg6 26. Qxa6 {Caruana gets his material back with interest. Now the only
question is whether his technique is up to snuff. (It is.)} Qe5 (26... Qd5+ {
doesn't work because after} 27. Qd3+ Qxd3+ 28. cxd3 Ra7 29. Rf2 {the Black
king is cut off. After the game the players showed an interesting line with}
Ra3 30. d4 Rd3+ (30... Ra4 31. Kc1 Rxd4 32. Kc2 {is similar}) 31. Kc2 Rxd4 {
when White wins the ending with his outside passed pawn.}) 27. Qd3+ Kh6 28. c3
{An interesting position has arisen, where Caruana and MVL disagreed on the
assessment. Caruana thought that White had decent winning chances with the
extra pawn, but MVL was less convinced.} Qxh2 (28... g6 29. h3 Ra7 30. Rf2 Ra3
31. Rc2) 29. Qd2+ (29. g4 {was Caruana's original idea, but after} g6 30. Qf3 {
he missed} Qe5 $1 {when White needs to head for a draw with} 31. g5+ Kxg5 32.
Rg1+ Kh6 33. Qf8+ $11) 29... Kg6 30. Rf4 Re6 {MVL lamented his poorly placed
rook after the game.} 31. Qc2+ Kh6 32. Qf2 Qh5+ 33. Kd2 Qd5+ 34. Kc1 g6 ({
MVL's post-game idea of} 34... Qg5 {fails to} 35. a4 Re4 36. g3) 35. a4 Qe5 36.
Kc2 (36. Rd4 Rf6) 36... g5 {Now the position is difficult for Black to hold.} (
{Perhaps an improvement is} 36... Qe2+ 37. Kb3 (37. Qxe2 Rxe2+ 38. Kb3 Rxg2 39.
a5 Re2 40. a6 Re8 41. Kb4 Kg5 42. Rd4 h5 43. Kb5 h4 44. a7 h3 45. Kc6 Kh5 $11)
37... Qd1+ 38. Kb4 Qb1+ {when Caruana "didn't feel like getting mated." MVL
said that if he'd seen this he would have gone for it, although it turns out
that the White king survives.}) 37. Rd4 Kg6 38. Qf3 h5 (38... Qe1 $5) 39. Rd5
Qe2+ (39... Qe1 40. Qd3+ Kg7 41. Rxg5+ Kh6) 40. Qxe2 Rxe2+ 41. Rd2 Re6 42. a5
h4 ({Caruana thought that bringing the king back to help defend might improve,
but} 42... Kf6 43. Kd3 $1 {throws cold water on his idea, i.e.} (43. Kb3 Ke7
44. Rd5 Re2 45. Rxg5 Kd7 46. a6 $11 {was his idea}) 43... d5 (43... Ke7 $4 44.
a6) 44. Ra2 Ra6 45. Kd4 Ke6 46. Kc5 $18) 43. Kb3 g4 44. Kb4 Re1 45. Ra2 Rb1+
46. Kc4 h3 47. gxh3 gxh3 48. a6 Rb8 49. Kd5 Ra8 50. Kxd6 h2 51. Rxh2 Rxa6+ 52.
Kd5 Kf7 53. Re2 {Cutting the king off.} Ra8 54. c4 Rd8+ 55. Kc6 Rc8+ 56. Kb5
Rb8+ 57. Ka6 Rc8 58. Re4 Kf6 59. Kb7 Kf5 60. Rd4 1-0

[/pgn]

It looked like Levon Aronian might join Caruana and Mamedyarov in the winner’s column, but Magnus Carlsen wiggled and wormed his way to save the half-point.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Chess 2019"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.05"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2875"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Qc7 6. O-O e5 7. Be3 Nf6 8.
Qe1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. a3 Be7 11. Qb1 Nf4 12. b4 Ne2+ 13. Kh1 Nd4 14. Ng1 g5
15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Bxg5 Rg8 17. Bh4 Be7 18. Bg3 O-O-O 19. Nc4 f6 20. a4 Ne6 21.
f3 Bh5 22. Bf2 Bc5 23. Bxc5 Nxc5 24. Ne2 Bf7 25. Ne3 Qa5 26. Qe1 Qxe1 27. Rfxe1
a5 28. Kg1 h5 29. h4 Kc7 30. Kf2 Be6 31. Rg1 Rh8 32. Rh1 Rd7 33. Rhd1 Bf7 34.
d4 exd4 35. Rxd4 Rxd4 36. Nxd4 Rd8 37. Ne2 Rd2 38. Ke1 Rd8 39. Nf5 Ra8 40. Nc3
Be6 41. Ne3 Kd6 42. Rd1+ Ke7 43. Rd4 Ra6 44. Kd2 Rb6 45. Nf5+ Bxf5 46. exf5 Rb2
47. Rc4 Kd6 48. Ne4+ Nxe4+ 49. Rxe4 Ra2 50. g4 hxg4 51. fxg4 Kd5 52. Kd3 Ra3+
53. c3 b5 54. h5 b4 55. Rd4+ Ke5 56. Rc4 Rxa4 57. h6 Ra1 58. cxb4 axb4 59. Rxc6
Ra3+ 60. Kc4 Rc3+ 61. Kb5 Rh3 62. Kxb4 Rxh6 63. Kc5 Rh1 64. Re6+ Kf4 65. Rxf6
Kxg4 66. Kd6 Kg5 67. Ke7 Ra1 68. Rf8 Ra7+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Carlsen went on to win the Armageddon game despite the time handicap enforced through his having Black. Round 3 Magnus Carlsen                      2-0                   Alexander Grischuk Shakhriyar Mamedyarov        0-2                   Levon Aronian Liren Ding                              2-0                   Fabiano Caruana Maxime Vachier-Lagrave      0.5-1.5             Viswanathan Anand Wesley So                               2-0                   Yangyi Yu It is far too early to see the effect of the Armageddon add-on on the level of fighting chess in Norway, but something seems to have nudged the players into battle mode. Four of the five classical games in this round featured decisive results. After forcing an insipid draw in round two, in part due to the mental anguish caused by his Armageddon loss to Aronian in round one (where pieces flew in extreme time trouble), Alexander Grischuk was rewarded by Caïssa with this punishing loss to Carlsen.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Chess 2019"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.06"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2875"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Be3 c5 8.
Rc1 Qa5 9. Qd2 O-O 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. d5 b5 12. Be2 Nd7 13. O-O Bxf3 14. Bxf3 c4
15. Be2 Rfd8 16. f4 Nb6 17. Bf3 Qa3 18. h4 e6 19. h5 Na4 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. f5
exf5 22. exf5 Qd6 23. Bf4 Qb6+ 24. Kh1 gxf5 25. d6 Rab8 26. Bd5 Nc5 27. Bg3 Ne6
28. Rxf5 Rxd6 29. Bxd6 Qxd6 30. Qe3 Qb6 31. Qf3 Rf8 32. Rf1 Nd8 33. Rh5 Qc7 34.
Qe4 1-0

[/pgn]

Caruana lost to Ding Liren in a game where he was already significantly worse by move thirteen, and Ding displayed fantastic technique in winning a fascinating game. Well-known chess historian Olimpiu G. Urcan went so far as to call it one of the best games of the year thus far. https://twitter.com/olimpiuurcan/status/1136772462073372673

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Chess 2019"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.06"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2819"]
[PlyCount "153"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. O-O Qc7 6. Nxd4 a6 7. b3 d5 8. c4
dxc4 9. Bb2 cxb3 10. Qxb3 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Qc3 Bd7 14. Qxf6
Rg8 15. Nc3 Rg6 16. Qf3 Be7 17. Rac1 Kf8 18. Ne4 Be8 19. Nc5 Qa5 20. Qe3 Qxa2
21. Be4 Rg7 22. Rc2 Qa5 23. Rb1 Qc7 24. Qf3 Kg8 25. Rb7 Qd6 26. Bd3 Bd8 27. Ne4
Qe5 28. Rc5 Qd4 29. Rc4 Qe5 30. Rc5 Qd4 31. Qf4 a5 32. Rb8 Rxb8 33. Qxb8 Kf8
34. Nd6 Ke7 35. Nxe8 Qxc5 36. Nxg7 a4 37. g4 a3 38. Qb3 Bb6 39. e3 Qg5 40. Nh5
Qxg4+ 41. Ng3 Bc5 42. Kg2 h5 43. h3 Qg5 44. Kf1 Qd5 45. Qxd5 cxd5 46. Bb1 h4
47. Ne2 f5 48. Nf4 Kf7 49. Ba2 Be7 50. Ke2 Bf6 51. Kd3 Be5 52. Ng2 Bf6 53. Ne1
Be7 54. Kc2 Kf6 55. Nf3 f4 56. Nxh4 fxe3 57. fxe3 Kg5 58. Nf3+ Kf5 59. Kd3 Bc5
60. Nd4+ Ke5 61. Nf3+ Kf5 62. Ke2 Kf6 63. Bb1 e5 64. Ba2 e4 65. Nd4 Ke5 66. Nb5
Be7 67. Bb3 Bc5 68. h4 d4 69. exd4+ Bxd4 70. Nxa3 Kf5 71. h5 Kg5 72. Bf7 Kf4
73. Nc4 Bg7 74. Bg6 Bd4 75. Nd6 e3 76. Nf7 Bg7 77. Bd3 1-0

[/pgn]

Wesley So also broke his classical duck, grinding out a long win over Yangyi Yu.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Chess 2019"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.06"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2754"]
[BlackElo "2738"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6
8. Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 10. Kb1 Bf6 11. h4 O-O-O 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Be5 14.
Qe3 Qa4 15. b3 Qa5 16. Bxe5 dxe5 17. Be2 g6 18. c4 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Rd8 20. Bd3
Qb6 21. Qxb6 axb6 22. Re1 f6 23. f4 Re8 24. fxe5 Bg8 25. h5 gxh5 26. Bf5+ Kb8
27. e6 c5 28. Re3 Kc7 29. Rg3 Bxe6 30. Rg7+ Kb8 31. Be4 Bc8 32. Bd5 Re2 33. Bf3
Rd2 34. Bxh5 Bf5 35. Bf3 Rd7 36. Rg8+ Ka7 37. Kc1 Re7 38. Rf8 Be4 39. Rxf6 Bxf3
40. gxf3 Re2 41. Rh6 Rf2 42. Rh3 h5 43. Kb2 Ka6 44. a4 h4 45. Kc3 Ka5 46. Kb2
Ka6 47. Kc1 Ka7 48. Kb1 Ka6 49. Kb2 Ka7 50. Kc3 Kb8 51. Kd3 Kc7 52. Ke4 Re2+
53. Kd3 Rf2 54. Ke4 Re2+ 55. Kf5 Rxc2 56. f4 Rf2 57. Rxh4 Rf3 58. Kg5 Rxb3 59.
f5 Rg3+ 60. Rg4 Ra3 61. f6 Rxa4 62. f7 Ra8 63. Kf6 b5 64. Rg8 Ra1 65. f8=Q Rf1+
66. Ke5 1-0

[/pgn]

The Norway Cookoff Rest days at elite tournaments often include some kind of activity for the players to “enjoy,” and this year marked the second annual Norway Chess cooking competition. Anand was last year’s surprise winner – his wife, Aruna Anand, has described his lack of culinary panache – and against all odds, today he managed to repeat his victory with new teammate Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. https://twitter.com/photochess/status/1137037849889558528 Women’s Candidates Round 6 Anna Muzychuk                     1-0       Valentina Gunina Mariya Muzychuk                  1-0       Alexandra Kosteniuk Nana Dzagnidze                     0-1       Aleksandra Goryachkina Tan Zhongyi                           0-1       Kateryna Lagno The Women’s Candidates has been an amazing display of fighting chess thus far, with 14  decisive games out of 24, and all four games in yesterday’s Round 6 featured decisive results. The key matchup of the round was the meeting between Dzagnidze and Goryachkina. It looked for many moves like Dzagnidze might take the full point and leap into first place, but things went horribly wrong for Dzagnidze in the endgame. She overpressed, and Goryachinka took control of the position and the game.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.06"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2510"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/pq4nn/2pQ4/2Pp1pp1/3Pp1B1/4P1P1/P2N1PK1/8 w - - 0 41"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

{Let's pick things up here. White has a definite advantage - Black's c6
pawn is weak, and her central wedge might be broken up with a timely g3-g4
break.} 41. Bd1 Qb5 42. a4 (42. Bb3 {is interesting in conjunction with the
Nb1-c3 idea to hit the queen, secure a4 for the bishop, and potentially sac on
d5 in some lines.}) 42... Qa6 43. Bb3 Qc8 44. a5 Ne8 45. Qg6+ Kh8 46. g4 Ng7
47. Ba4 f4 $5 {Hoping for sufficient counterplay.} 48. Kh3 $2 {Dzagnidze
understandably secures the g4 pawn, but this lets Black back into the game.} (
48. Qxc6 {gives Black the g-pawn, but White's king is safe enough after} Qxg4+
49. Kf1 Qf5 (49... Nh5 {allows a queen trade:} 50. Qe8+ $1 Kg7 51. Qd7+ $18)
50. Qa8+ Nf8 51. Ke1 {and that c-pawn looks fast!}) 48... Ne6 49. Nxe4 $5 {
Perhaps sensing that her advantage is slipping, Dzagnidze chooses a very
concrete line that should at least be equal. Still, as IM Paehtz said during
the livestream, it feels risky to sacrifice a piece in a position like this
unless you have calculated absolutely everything to a winning position.} fxe3
50. fxe3 dxe4 51. Qxe4 Nf6 52. Qe5 ({If} 52. Qxc6 Nf4+ $1 53. exf4 Qxg4+ 54.
Kh2 Qxf4+ $11) 52... Kg7 53. Bd1 $2 {Such a natural move, overprotecting the
g-pawn. But it turns out that this is the fatal mistake.} (53. Bb3 {and now
Black should head for a perpetual with} Qa6 (53... Nf4+ 54. exf4 Qxg4+ 55. Kh2
Qh4+ 56. Kg2 gxf4 {is a more complicated way to halve the point.}) 54. Bxe6
Qf1+ 55. Kg3 Qg1+ 56. Kf3 Qf1+) 53... Qa6 $1 {with the crude but effective
idea of ...Qf1+} 54. Bf3 Qf1+ 55. Bg2 Qf2 (55... Qe1 {may be more precise} 56.
Bxc6 Kf7 57. Qg3 Qxa5 $1) 56. Bxc6 Qh4+ ({Now if} 56... Kf7 {White can try} 57.
Qg3 {and there's no ...Qxa5. Black should not trade queens if she wants to
keep her winning chances.}) 57. Kg2 Qxg4+ 58. Kf2 Kf7 59. Bf3 $6 (59. Bd5 Nxd5
60. Qxd5 {and perhaps White can draw this, but human intuition might want to
avoid tradin such a good bishop.}) 59... Qh4+ 60. Ke2 g4 61. Bb7 g3 62. Bg2
Qg4+ 63. Kd2 Ng5 {threatening ...Nf3+ (and the following exchange of minor
pieces clears the way for the g-pawn to run) or ...Nge4+} 64. c6 Nge4+ 65. Bxe4
Nxe4+ 66. Kd3 Nf6 67. c7 g2 68. d5 g1=Q 69. Qe6+ Qxe6 70. dxe6+ Kg7 (70... Kg7
71. c8=Q Qd1+ 72. Kc3 Qc1+) 0-1

[/pgn]

Kateryna Lagno continued her recovery, winning against Tan Zhongyi to climb into shared second place. Lagno nicely converted a long-term advantage to earn her victory, but Tan missed a miracle line in the final moves that would have stolen a draw from the jaws of defeat!

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.06"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Tan, Zhongyi"]
[Black "Lagno, Kateryna"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "2513"]
[BlackElo "2554"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "144"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nc6 4. d5 Ne5 5. Nf3 Nxf3+ 6. Qxf3 e6 7. Bxc4 exd5 8.
exd5 Bd6 9. O-O Qh4 10. Qe2+ Ne7 11. g3 Qh3 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Ne4 Ng6 14. f4 Bg4
15. Qf2 Rfe8 16. Re1 h6 17. Bd2 Bf8 18. Re3 Bd7 19. Rae1 Qf5 20. Qf3 Kh8 21. b4
b6 22. Bc3 a5 23. Nf2 Qc2 24. R3e2 Rxe2 25. Rxe2 Qc1+ 26. Re1 Qc2 27. Bb3 Qf5
28. Re4 axb4 29. g4 Nh4 30. Qg3 Qg6 31. Bd4 Bxg4 32. f5 Nf3+ 33. Qxf3 Bxf5+ 34.
Rg4 Bxg4 35. Qxg4 Qxg4+ 36. Nxg4 f6 37. Kg2 Re8 38. Kf3 Bd6 39. h3 Re1 40. Nf2
Re7 41. Ne4 Be5 42. Be3 f5 43. Nf2 g5 44. Nd3 Bc3 45. h4 g4+ 46. Kf2 Bf6 47.
Bxh6 Bxh4+ 48. Kf1 Bg3 49. Bd2 Bd6 50. Nf4 Re4 51. Ne6 g3 52. Bd1 Rh4 53. Bf3
Rc4 54. Bd1 Rh4 55. Bf3 Rc4 56. Bd1 Kh7 57. Ng5+ Kg6 58. Nf3 Re4 59. Bc2 Re8
60. Bd3 Ra8 61. Bc4 f4 62. Kg2 Kf5 63. Bb3 Ke4 64. Bc1 Kd3 65. Ne1+ Kc3 $6 (
65... Ke4) (65... Ke2) 66. Kf3 b5 67. Ng2 Rxa2 $2 68. Bxa2 Kc2 69. Bxf4 Kb2 70.
Bc1+ ({White could have saved the game with the paradoxical} 70. Bxd6 cxd6 71.
Ne3 Kxa2 72. Nf5 $1 g2 (72... b3 {will transpose}) 73. Kxg2 b3 74. Nxd6 b2 75.
Ne4 Kb3 (75... b1=Q $4 76. Nc3+) 76. d6 Kc2 77. d7 b1=Q 78. d8=Q Qe1 $11) 70...
Kxa2 71. Nf4 Bxf4 72. Bxf4 b3 0-1

[/pgn]

Back to work... Both Norway Chess and the Women’s Candidates Tournament resume on Saturday, and both offer live coverage via the Internet. Norway Chess: Live coverage is available each day at the Norway Chess website, and their livestream with GM Judit Polgar and IM Anna Rudolf is available free of charge. Newly crowned U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura is also covering some rounds on his Twitch channel. Women’s Candidates: GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko and IM Elisabeth Paehtz offer live commentary via the FIDE YouTube Channel. Rounds will be played daily through June 17th, with rest days on June 11th, and June 15th. Tie-breaks, if needed, will be contested on June 18th along with a Closing Ceremony. A complete set of games is available at Chess24 (with embedded YouTube coverage) and at The Week in Chess. Popular Twitch streamer Alexandra Botez is also offering a livestream of each round’s games.