A win here may decide the tournament!
We're approaching the end of Norway Chess 2025, still nowhere close to deciding the victor! After a disappointing 2nd half to the tournament and with a clear loss of motivation, Magnus faces his biggest hurdle to secure the tournament victory in the current leader, Caruana.
With his final game using the white pieces approaching, the stakes couldn't be higher for Magnus. A classical victory in this match would give him the clear lead heading into the final round and would, in addition, set his main rival for the top spot back significantly. Magnus has expressed in several interviews over the past few days that he has lost his fighting spirit following his stunning loss against Gukesh in round 6. Despite his rocky results, Magnus still has remained among the top three players and now has the opportunity to potentially decide the tournament. If this tournament situation can't motivate Magnus for classical chess, nothing can!
While Caruana has the black pieces in this encounter, the tournament leader now has the opportunity to kick the Norwegian while he's down. A victory here would put Caruana clearly ahead going into the final round, and he will not waste any opportunities if they arise during this match.
The result of this match will heavily rely on which Magnus we'll see today!
Magnus decides to play for long-term strategical play, and this opening is very common at the top level. Magnus' light-squared bishop will become the strongest piece of the game, looking to put significant pressure against Caruana's queenside.
No safe approach from Magnus today! Magnus had to capture the pawn he had sacrificed immediately if he was to regain it, but instead he chose an ambitious approach!
This creates heavy dynamics in the position, as Caruana is a clear pawn up at the cost of creating clear weaknesses along the light squares on the queenside.
From the opening, it seems that Magnus is in a fighting mood today, and is in no way aiming towards a quiet draw in this game.
Caruana quickly safeguards his pawn, accepting Magnus' sacrifice.
Magnus gets his knight into the game, now opening up for his bishop with a threat against Caruana's rook.
Caruana blocks the vision of Caruana's knight, thereby defending his rook.
Magnus now offers a trade of pawns, and Caruana has ended up being a clear pawn down in the opening. This is still preparation, and Magnus has enough compensation in the form of dangerous pressure against Caruana's queenside with his pieces.
If Magnus fails to use his newfound initiative, Caruana can suddenly gain an advantage. The Norwegian has to prove that giving up the pawn gives him sufficient counterplay, and slipping up here can cost him dearly in this position.
Caruana quickly captures Magnus' pawn, keeping his pawn structure healthy.
Magnus recaptures with his pawn, now opening up for his rook on the queenside.
Caruana gets his light-squared bishop into play, breaking the pin against his rook.
Magnus fights for control over the dark squares
Magnus now offers the trade of dark-squared bishops.His intention is to gain clear control over the dark squares, which would be left heavily weakened should Caruana decide to capture it. Having weak dark squares on the queenside would leave Magnus with the option to reroute his knights, creating even more pressure against Caruana on that side of the board.
Magnus has played the opening at blazing speed, indicating that this is still a part of his preparation for this game. There's no telling how this game will go!
Caruana fights for dark square control
Rather than trading bishops on Magnus' terms, he instead decides to move his bishop one square forward. His intention is to be able to recapture with his pawn, giving some much-needed cover to a potential outpost for Magnus' knight.
Magnus voluntarily retreats his knight with a clear intention to reroute it to the queenside. All play now revolves around the dark squares on that side of the board, and it will be imperative for Caruana to keep Magnus' threats under control.
Caruana quickly brings his knight into play, providing extra protection to the dark square in question, and continues to contest control of the crucial square.
Play remains complex and dynamic, as Magnus remains a pawn down but has the clear initiative.
Magnus gives a kick to Caruana's knight, setting up threats of dangerous discovered attacks against Caruana's pieces. Only one move is good enough to maintain equality for Caruana now!
Caruana quickly realizes the danger in the position and trades bishops to avoid a potential fork if he were to move his knight.
Caruana remains under pressure but has handled the defensive task well so far and remains a pawn up.
Magnus quickly recaptures with his rook and will continue to fight for control over the dark squares moving forward.
Caruana retreats his knight to the most natural square.
Magnus quickly gets his final piece into the game. Play still revolves around the dark squares on the queenside, and for now Caruana hasn't been able to find a permanent solution to the problem.
If Magnus manages to get a knight solidified on that side of the board, he will stand much better due to being able to completely clamp down Caruana's position, meaning he will struggle to get any counterplay going and get his pieces pacified.
Magnus went to the confessional booth to share his thoughts on the game and said Caruana's approach isn't the most common. He remains positive about his position, believing that play will move on to strategic territory and that he will get his chances to outplay his opponent.
Caruana decides to move his pawn forward. He intends to make room for his pieces while preventing Magnus from gaining further control over the dark squares, and he is now prepared to give that pawn on the edge of the board up to dampen the pressure in the half-open file.
A strong plan by Caruana, and Magnus now has to decide whether he wants to target this pawn or stick to his original plan.
Magnus decides to put immediate pressure on the pawn that has become vulnerable. Play is heating up, and both players have very difficult decisions to make from here.
Expect Caruana to spend some time here trying to figure out how to handle this situation.
None of the top moves suggest that Caruana goes on to defend the pawn that is under attack, which is surprising! The point is that Magnus taking the pawn immediately would allow Caruana to get a big initiative due to the misplacement of Magnus' rook in the end of the variation, allowing Caruana to break out of his clamp by going for a pawn break on the queenside.
The pawn is therefore immune against any capture for now, and Caruana can instead improve his position by other means. This concept is by no means obvious, causing Caruana to spend significant time in this position.
Caruana decides to break in the center immediately, denying Magnus complete control over the dark squares while lending additional support to his pawn on the queenside with his queen.
While Caruana solves the problem regarding his weak dark squares, this comes at the cost of a pawn, meaning that Magnus will regain the material that he lost in the opening. Play remains objectively equal, but the situation remains complicated for both players.
Magnus quickly grabs the pawn that was left without sufficient support.
Caruana now gets his queen to a more active square, connecting his rooks while preventing Magnus from delivering a fork against his knight and bishop.
Tension remains
Magnus moves his pawn up the board, looking to open up the position. This decision enables the trade of many pieces, and it is highly likely that we will soon enter an endgame within the next few moves; however, this game is far from over.
While Magnus doesn't have much in terms of an objective advantage, dynamics clearly remain in the position. Caruana is at risk of a pin along one of the half-open files and must decide how to deal with Magnus' pressure on the queenside.
Caruana plays the critical move!
Opening up the position was necessary for Caruana to avoid ending up in a very passive situation. Magnus will regain the pawn lost at a later stage, but first has to attend to the threat against his rook.
Magnus is forced to trade a set of rooks along the open file.
Caruana quickly recaptures with his rook.
Magnus quickly decides against trading a set of rooks, instead moving it back behind his pawn.
With best play, Caruana should have this situation under control, but his heavy time usage indicates that he still hasn't completely figured out how to approach Magnus' play. Magnus' main advantage in the position is his far-advanced pawn on the queenside, providing him with some pressure against Caruana's setup.
Caruana puts additional pressure against the most important pawn in Magnus' position. If Caruana can manage to keep this pawn under control, Magnus will lose all his pressure.
Magnus' queen sidesteps, now looking to regain the pawn that he lost earlier while maintaining sufficient defense to his far-advanced pawn.
Caruana moves his pawn on the kingside, providing space for his king.
We're still in a situation where Caruana should have everything under control, but Magnus does have some plans of getting an initiative going. Play still revolves around the queenside, and Magnus may manage to get some pressure against Caruana's pawns with his light-squared bishop that has not yet had any strong influence in this endgame.
Magnus now regains the material that he lost earlier, now threatening another pawn with his queen.
Caruana promptly defends his only weakness with his bishop.
It's now up to Magnus to find a way to make progress, as Caruana has made his intentions clear by creating a wall on the queenside. The practical edge is with the Norwegian in this position, but making further progress will be difficult.
Magnus is known for playing these types of positions brilliantly, but for now it remains hard to envision a way where Magnus can break through with Caruana only having a single weakness on the board.
The maneuvering war begins
Magnus moves his queen aside and is now preparing to advance one of his knights to the square in front of Caruana's pawn, increasing the pressure on Caruana's defensive setup. One of his main intentions is to get rid of Caruana's dark-squared bishop which is the piece that's gluing Caruana's position together.
Caruana decides to move his rook back to the open file. He currently lacks a clear plan, and his passive position remains.
Caruana's time is ticking down, with the trend clearly favoring Magnus. While there is still no crisis on the board, this position could quickly take a turn for the worse.
Magnus maintains the pressure
Magnus continues his plan of getting his knight into the position in front of Caruana's pawn. Magnus is now clearly threatening to break down Caruana's defensive wall, and there's a real risk that he will end up being a pawn down in this endgame!
The main threat of the position is for Magnus to capture Caruana's bishop, which is the key defender of his pawn on the queenside.
Caruana decides to approach the position actively, and this was the best way forward! Magnus now can force the win of a pawn, but Caruana will finally be able to get out of passivity with this approach.
Magnus will end up with an extra pawn, but making further progress will prove difficult from here, as Caruana will be able to immediately put on counterpressure against Magnus' pawn on the queenside.
Magnus quickly plays the critical move, looking to kick away Caruana's knight before capturing his bishop.
Caruana reveals his intentions!
Caruana now sacrifices his pawn but in return gets to trade a pair of knights in the process. While his pawn falls, Magnus will be left with some weaknesses to his back rank, and his extra pawn remains stuck on the dark squares for now.
Magnus quickly captures Caruana's knight which was more or less forced.
Caruana makes the obvious recapture.
Magnus now takes Caruana's bishop, removing the key defender of his pawn on the queenside.
Caruana once again captures in the only way possible.
Magnus captures Caruana's pawn, ending up with extra material after the exchanges!
Caruana puts pressure against Magnus' pawn, but he went about it the wrong way! Had he pressured from the side instead, he would have had the opportunity to harass Magnus' king, making progress much more difficult.
The advantage has become substantial for Magnus, who will press hard in here to go for the full three points. The game remains far from over, but this is not a situation you want to have against the world's best endgame player!
Magnus pushes his pawn forward, putting a threat against both Caruana's knight and queen.
Caruana defends the threats in the only way possible.
Magnus puts further pressure on Caruana's position, now on the kingside! His intention is to create weaknesses against Caruana's pawn structure on that side of the board, preparing to make additional threats.
This is looking very rough for Caruana now, who needs to be incredibly precise to avoid losing!
Caruana finds the only move to keep his position afloat! The danger isn't over, but getting counterplay with his queen was incredibly important.
If Caruana is forced into passivity, Magnus will be able to get his winning situation. Therefore, he needs to abuse the fact that Magnus' king is weakened to try to stir up trouble on the kingside.
If this pressure fails, Magnus will be able to win this game!!
Magnus' rook is forced to temporarily retreat.
Caruana retreats his queen, putting Magnus' pawn in a pin. Magnus now only has one move to keep up the pressure, as he needs to try to weaken Caruana's kingside while he still has the opportunity.
Magnus finds the best move! He manages to weaken Caruana's structure, who is now left with another weakness in the position.
Caruana is forced to recapture with his own pawn, as any other move would lose material.
Magnus with a stable advantage
Magnus decides to trade another set of pieces, and prepares to get his queen into the center.
Magnus remains a clear pawn up, but Caruana has some hopes of saving a draw due to the amount of pieces being traded. Will Magnus be able to convert his advantage to victory?
We've now reached a situation where Magnus will be able to poke and prod for a long while without having to worry about losing, and Caruana will have to defend impeccably to keep his position intact.
The only remaining issue for Magnus is his king safety, making progress more difficult. One of the main chances of Caruana drawing is a perpetual check if Magnus overpresses on the queenside.
Magnus grabs space on the kingside
Magnus pushes his pawn up the board, allowing him to potentially infiltrate with his queen at a later stage.
Caruana keeps shuffling his pieces, patiently awaiting Magnus to make attempts to progress.
We're still no closer to Magnus making progress against Caruana's defensive constellation, but it's very likely that we'll see Magnus playing a bunch of "nothing-moves" before making any committal decision.
This strategy is intended to run down Caruana's clock before putting him to the final test, making his decisions more difficult in the final phase.
Magnus now threatens to get his rook into the position, finally giving Caruana some changes in structure to think about.
Caruana stops shuffling and goes for active plans now, putting pressure on Magnus' rook as well as his pawn on the kingside.
It seems like Caruana will win a pawn, but taking it would actually lead to a losing position due to Magnus' dangerous pawn on the queenside! If he goes for it, he is suddenly in a clearly losing position.
Magnus moves his rook away from danger, and it's now up to Caruana to decide whether to take the pawn or not.
If Caruana takes it, he is in a losing position, but going back also poses some problems due to Magnus' rook, which has suddenly gained some activity. He's also now down to less than 7 minutes on the clock!!
Massive mistake by Caruana, and Magnus is now objectively winning with best play!!
Magnus only has ONE MOVE that will win him the game. Will he find it?!
Magnus finds it!! Moving the other pawn would let Caruana's queen back into the defense, but Magnus now has two dangerous threats!
Magnus needs to keep playing precisely, but it looks like he will be able to convert his advantage now.
Caruana attempts to pressure Magnus' pawn, but this pressure can be defended.
Caruana's defensive setup has collapsed, and we're approaching a position where it will be impossible for Caruana to hold on.
Magnus does it again, defeating Caruana and taking the top spot in the tournament! Magnus played a well-executed game, obtaining a small advantage that he ultimately converted into the full three points. A surprising final blunder by Caruana in the endgame turned his advantage into a completely winning position, which Magnus easily capitalized on!
Magnus was ready for a fight today, sacrificing a pawn in the opening to try to create dynamics in the position. Caruana managed to sacrifice the pawn back at the correct time, however, and he seemingly managed to keep things under control.
In the middlegame, Magnus got some immediate pressure that forced Caruana to sacrifice a pawn and go for a fortress. While he managed to hold on for a long time, a final misstep with little time on the clock made Magnus' conversion advantage trivial, as he was finally able to make use of his extra pawn pushing up the board and created an undefendable position.
The fight for the tournament victory is now between Gukesh and Magnus, who are the only players left with a clear chance to win overall.