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Arjun Erigaisi, world number four, recorded success against China’s Grandmaster Wei Yi in the Armageddon game to record victory in the match in Round 1 of 13th Norway Chess 2025. Both concluded their contest in a stalemate following 54 moves in the first round. Playing black, Arjun looked fierce to force the stalemate and get the better of the Chinese in Armageddon. As per the format, white gets 10 minutes while black only gets seven minutes. Despite the fact, Erigaisi showcased courage and bagged the round. With his black pieces, he looked swift and by move 19, he saw himself running ahead on the clock. With this win, Erigaisi is the first player to win a mini-match in this tournament.
The 1.5 points put Arjun in third spot behind the two co-leaders Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. In the next round, Arjun will clash against his compatriot Gukesh Dommaraju, who lost his game to Norway’s veteran Grandmaster Carlsen.
Koneru Humpy defeats Vaishali Rameshbabu
India’s Koneru Humpy and Vaishali Rameshbabu clashed against each other in six Classic-rated matches. Humpy went on to win two and Rameshbabu won one while the other three games ended in a stalemate. Koneru outplayed her compatriot Rameshbabu in the opening round of the second Norway Chess Women 2025.
The queen and bishop vs queen and knight endgame would have concluded in a stalemate if there was an increment from the first move, however, Vaishali made a massive error into a checkmate combination in time trouble and recorded the defeat eventually. Earlier, things went according to Vaishali in the initial stage of the game. Talking about the start, Humpy remarked, "It was a very comfortable position for Black once she got in 6...Ne4 and 8...f5."
