Asked if he was going to keep playing classical chess, Carlsen said: “Not a lot for sure. I’m not going to say this tournament was my last. I enjoy other forms of chess more.”
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Carlsen pointed out in an interview with the Norway Chess broadcast how he was at some point in “pure survival mode” against Arjun. “But even if I had lost today, it would have sucked. But it wouldn’t have been as big as blow as the game against Gukesh,” said Carlsen.
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Carlsen then walked out with his long-time trainer Peter Heine Nielsen to prepare for an Armageddon game against Arjun. Gukesh, despite his heartbreak, stopped by to sign copious autographs of young fans at the venue.
Coming into the final game against Arjun Erigaisi, world no 1 Carlsen had 15 points while Gukesh was just half a point behind on 14.5. Gukesh was facing Caruana, who with 12.5 points was also in contention for the title. The fourth player with a shot at the title, Hikaru Nakamura (who had 13 points), had ended his chances to win the title after being held to a draw by China’s Wei Yi.
Gukesh had a chance to win the title when the Carlsen versus Arjun game was in the 30th move. The Norwegian had sac-ed his queen in the 25th move, and the eval bar had indicated a significant advantage for the Indian. By move 30, Carlsen was sans a queen while Arjun was a knight and a rook short compared to his opponent. But over the course of his next five moves, Arjun gave away all his advantage as Carlsen then suddenly found himself gaining an edge.
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Eventually, he opted to play for a draw looking at the situation on the other board where Gukesh was losing to Caruana.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk had won the Norway Chess Women’s title despite losing to India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu in the Armageddon after their classical game ended in a draw. But Humpy, who needed to win to beat women’s world champion Ju Wenjun in the classical portion, was held to a draw which sealed Muzychuk’s title.
