Norway Chess, Round 10: Carlsen First, Firouzja Second, Aronian Third
The last round was a bit of an anti-climax, and a major source of "What if?" for Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja convincingly defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the last round, while Magnus Carlsen played poorly and lost against Levon Aronian. As a result, Carlsen finished just one point ahead of Firouzja - a very slim margin. Had Firouzja held the "dead" drawn pawn ending to Carlsen in round 9 he would have won the event (assuming the same last round results, which is not a given), or even avoided the wholly unnecessary Armageddon loss to Carlsen in their "match" from the first cycle, they'd have finished in a tie for first. Even so, it was a fantastic event for the youngster, and not a bad result for Carlsen either, coming in first despite playing less than his best chess - though he also played some excellent chess.
It was a pretty good event for Aronian as well, who finished just a point behind Firouzja. In fourth, there was Fabiano Caruana, who only drew the classical game with Aryan Tari before defeating him in impressive style in the Armageddon game. Duda came in fifth, and Tari wound up in last, getting a good deal of experience from this very challenging event. ("Experience" has been defined as what one gets when not getting what one wants.)
It was an enjoyable event, and hopefully there will be another in-person event soon. Wrapping things up on this one, here is Carlsen-Aronian, with my notes.
Final Standings:
1. Carlsen 19.5 (out of 30)
2. Firouzja 18.5
3. Aronian 17.5
4. Caruana 15.5
5. Duda 9.5
6. Tari 3.5