His highness: Carlsen wins at home

Stavanger, June 8

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Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa ended his campaign on a positive note by defeating American Hikaru Nakamura in the final round as world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen won the Norway Chess here.

Carlsen walked away with prize money of around $65,000 for ending with 17.5 points in the unique tournament that ensured that each round had a winner either through the classical time control or Armageddon if the game ended in a draw.

Nakamura finished second on 15.5 points despite losing to Praggnanandhaa, who ended third on 14.5 points.

Praggnanandhaa can be happy with the fact that he defeated the top-three players in the world in one of the strongest ever tournaments.

He had beaten Carlsen and Caruana under the classical time control earlier in the competition and his win against Nakamura ensured that he became the first player ever to beat the top three.

The fourth place went to Alireza Firouzja (13.5 points), who accounted for reigning world champion Ding Liren of China.

In the women’s section, Wenjun Ju had no trouble securing the top spot at the expense of compatriot Tingjie Lei. The Chinese won with 19 points, coming from three wins under the classical time control. Anna Muzychuk finished second on 16 points, 1.5 points ahead of Lei who was two points clear of R Vaishali. Koneru Humpy on 10 points ended fifth.