First among equals

In recent years, the battle for the number two spot in the world rankings has resembled the gentle undulation of a lava lamp. Players rise and fall, and others take their place. I counted 11 different players who have occupied that spot over the past decade, all while Magnus Carlsen sits at the apex.

The world championship match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, in light of Carlsen’s abdication, had the convenient narrative of being a contest between the world numbers two and three. But neither Nepo nor Ding participated at the elite Norway Chess tournament, which concluded last week, and both were narrowly overtaken in the rating list, thanks to a return to form for two players from the US: Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana.

Norway Chess had the unusual but attractive format of seeing regular classical (slow) games, but in case of a draw, the players played a blitz tie-break in the ‘Armageddon’ format, wherein Black suffers a time handicap but gets draw odds. Caruana began the tournament by defeating Carlsen in the classical game, and picked up three more classical wins, including a spectacular victory against Alireza Firouzja (see below).

Caruana led the tournament going into the last round, but committed an uncharacteristic error in the opening against Nakamura, who seized his chance and never let Caruana back into the game. Tournament victory went to Nakamura, who now looks set to take the second spot in the world rankings for the first time since October 2015. Curiously, Nakamura credits his comeback to the success of his career as a chess streamer, since he has been able to adopt a more relaxed approach to his over-the-board performances.

Alireza Firouzja – Fabiano Caruana

Norway Chess, Stavanger, June 2023

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