Norway Chess 2016

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 10th February, 2016, 02:34 PM

Re: Norway Chess 2016

Norway Chess 2016

February 10, 2016

To the six players already announced – Carlsen, Kramnik, Giri, Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave and Topalov, a seventh will be added by way of a qualifying, double round robin tournament:

The invitees are as follows

Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hou Yifan
Nils Grandelius
Aryan Tari

with the qualifier taking place in Norway March 23-26.

That leaves three more spots open and how they will be filled is still a mystery.

https://www.chess.com/news/norway-ch...ournament-8462
______

There is an interesting thread going on chess.com about this tournament and about the players getting appearance fees. Of course, these are not announced, but more than likely are given.

- The idea of announcing the participants in the qualifier event before finalizing the rest of the field is a bit odd IMO. Also, I wouldn't say that Hou Yifan "impressed" in Wijk aan Zee, given that she (again) had 1 win and 4 losses, and a performance of 2672 (slightly below her rating). OTOH, if she hadn't of screwed up a bunch of endgames, her result would have been better, but many players can make similar excuses.

While the USA commenters note the absence of Caruana, Nakamura, and So, the Chinese Championship is also in late April, which might explain the absence of Ding Liren (and could be a conflict for Hou Yifan also, if she does well in the qualifier, which incidentally is soon after her match against Muzychuk), with probably Wei Yi (and others) not going to be in the final field due to this. Even Grandelius could end up conflicted, as I thought he was playing the Hasselbacken Open (starting Apr 30, 150th jubilee year), though maybe the days will (just) work out.

- I still don't understand why name players get paid appearance money. They should apply that money to the prize money and if the name players want to come, good for them, if they don't, they can watch tv at home. It gives the name players an unfair financial advantage over those who would like to break into the ranks.

- The answer is easy..."name players" get paid appearance money because otherwise they would not appear...and they deserve it by having invested the effort, time and money to become "name players"...which in my definition roughly means holding out in the top 10 for a prolonged period...name players are just much more popular among fans and sponsors...because they have proven their exceptional class...every top tourney just needs to enroll a number of them...ageing name players like Anand, Kramnik and Topalov will experience increasing difficulties to see their financial expectations met...being challenged by younger (and cheaper?) stars...nothing unfair about it as they have had their time to reap the financial benefits...of course the current World Champion usually has the highest market value...especially when he is popular and plays attractive chess as Carlsen does

- If you increased the prize money and had more prizes you would both get the name players coming and also help those with talent who are struggling financially to break into the ranks. The name players would come to earn the prize money if it was enough without any appearance money. If they choose not to, then other players will take over their position as the name players. No tournament owes any name player anything to be giving money to them for nothing. I don't see how any name player has earned appearance money. Tournaments are not exhibition matches or a circus. If anything, the name player should be grateful that he or she is given the opportunity to come and earn some money in an invitation tournament.

The other problem is that you get what you have now with Kramnik and others who will not turn up unless the organisers meet their expectations as they see themselves equal to certain other players who are getting more appearance money. That is nonsense to my mind and not good for the game. Appearance money also tends to encourage complacency. A player is more likely to be determined and work hard if he or she is hungry for success. Unfortunately, in the day of corporate sponsorship, organisers are too nervous and take the easy route by offering appearance money so that the name players will come and keep the sponsors happy. They are reluctant to risk a name player not coming. I suggest that if the culture of giving appearance money were removed, the organisers would not have to worry about these issues.

- Appearance fees are paid whenever a tournament depends more on a particular player (or player type, e.g. top10 rated) than the player depends on this particular event. Events like the FIDE Grand Prix series or the European championship that, IMO correctly, don't offer advance benefits to anyone, end up having somewhat weaker fields.

Appearance fees are also paid by many Swiss events that can't possibly offer enough prize money: there is always the risk for anyone to get (almost) nothing. In that case, 2600ish or 2500ish GMs are also treated like "name players" - obviously receiving less than the world top. Here it can also be a deliberate strategy: Organizers of the Limburg Open told me "Unlike other weekend events in the Netherlands we offer appearance fees. Thus we can select our GMs, going for those who have an attractive playing style and are social and approachable" - i.e. not players who grind away wins against amateurs, refuse to analyze after the game, draw quickly against fellow GMs and collect prize money. But they also accept GMs who just show up without asking for conditions and are interested in prize money.

It is what it is. If there is an element of unfairness, then the fact that a few already rich players keep getting richer, the next group can earn a decent living from chess but not more than that, the next group is already struggling or, as Vallejo put it, "in limbo". And here just a few Elo points or differences in reputation (for vague rather than objective reasons) can make a lot of a difference. But it is what it is, and nobody is obliged to become a professional chess player.

- There have been a few attempts to move all the payouts to prizes. Linares 2009, and the 32-player Prague rapid KO (500000 euros in 2002) were two notable ones (and of course Kirsan's World Cup and its variations).

The payout method in tennis is somewhat top-heavy, as if you are in the top 100, you can likely make enough (given travel costs, future savings, etc.), but if you are on the second tier tour, you get maybe 10K for winning a 32-player KO and (much) less for an early exit, and to cover costs (including coaches) for more than a short while you need sponsorship. Anyone in the top 100 gets into the Grand Slam events, where a first round exit is worth as much as winning a second tier KO. Unsurprisingly, match-fixing is common, when you can get 50K (in the second tier!) for that. Whether 100 competition "pros" (making their living doing nothing but playing) is approximately the right number is a different question.

- Some tournaments like the Sinquefield Cup claim no appearance fees, but give $20,000 for finishing last, which is basically the same thing as an appearance fee if you can turn up, lose every game and take home that amount.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 6th March, 2016, 05:07 PM

Re: Norway Chess 2016

Norway Chess 2016

March 6, 2016

By Tarjei J. Svensen

http://mattogpatt.no/2016/03/06/felt...naer-komplett/

Altibox Norway Chess has today published the final three players in this year's tournament, which will be played in Stavanger from 19 to 29 April.

The elect are Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov (2765), Sergey Karjakin (2760) from Russia and Indian Pentaela Harikrishna (2758).

It means we get to see again Karjakin (No. 13 in the world), who won the tournament in 2013 and 2014. Eljanov (# 11 in the world). It is Harikrishna (# 14) in the world) who makes his debut in Norway Chess.

Thus, nine out of ten players ready for this year's tournament. Previously Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Veselin Topalov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave confirmed for the fourth edition of Norway Chess.

Anand was once again invited to Stavanger again, but said thanks, but this time no.

- He had no time. There was lonely a few days for his family if he accepted. He hopes to return in 2017.

Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So are all busy with games in the American championship, which takes place simultaneously with Norway Chess.

- We sent invitations to some of the United States. Unfortunately the date clashed with the American championship, but I understand their answers.

From before, it was decided that Jon Ludvig Hammer, Aryan Tari, Nils Grandelius and Yifan Hou would play a qualifier for the last place at Fagernes 23 - 26 March.

Official commentators will be Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler, considered two of the world's leading commentators.

The Field

1. Magnus Carlsen Norway 2851
2. Vladimir Kramnik Russia 2801
3. Anish Giri Netherlands 2793
4. M. Vachier-Lagrave France 2792
5. Levon Aronian Armenia 2786
6. Veselin Topalov Bulgaria 2780
7. Pavel Eljanov Ukraine 2773
8. Sergey Karjakin Russia 2760
9. Pentaela Harikrishna India 2758
10. Wild Card – one of:

Hammer, Tari, Yifan or Grandelius

Schedule

Round 1 April 19
Round 2 April 20
Round 3 April 21
Round 4 April 22
Rest Day April 23
Round 5 April 24
Round 6 April 25
Rest Day April 26
Round 7 April 27
Round 8 April 28
Round 9 April 29

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 6th April, 2016, 12:47 PM

Re: Norway Chess 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 6, 2016

The tournament is slated to start in less than two weeks. The final place has been allotted to the Swedish Grandmaster Nils Grandelius because he won the playoff with Hou Yifan, Jon Ludvig Hammer and Aryan Tari.

Jan Gustafsson will be one of the commentators and he has a rundown of all the participants at:

http://norwaychess.no/category/blog/

Then, this startling announcement this morning:

Sergey Karjakin withdraws from Altibox Norway Chess

Apr 6, 2016

The World Championship challenger Sergey Karjakin has canceled participation in the upcoming Altibox Norway Chess tournament, Chessdom.com confirmed.

Karjakin’s manager Kiryllos Zangalis stated that with a new status of Carlsen’s challenger Karjakin needs to focus on the preparation for the World Championship match. In addition, the Stavanger event comes only three weeks after the exhausting Candidates Tournament.

http://www.chessdom.com/sergey-karja...medium=twitter

Speculation as to the replacement names Anand, Svidler and Grischuk as possibilities.

My own thought would be Hammer or, possibly, Hou Yifan.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 8th April, 2016, 02:01 PM

Re: Norway Chess 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 8, 2016

This press release this morning:

Li Chao substitutes Sergey Karjakin in Altibox Norway Chess tournament 2016

Li Chao, born in 1989 takes on the challenge from Altibox Norway Chess. Li is the second highest rated player in China and at present no. 15 on the live rating list.

Among his earlier victories is the Graz Open with 8 points out of 9. He also won the European Club Cup together with Kramnik, Aronian and Grischuk.

After thorough discussions with his family, Li Chao is now postponing his wedding in order to participate in Altibox Norway Chess.

The Altibox Norway Chess board is very happy that Li Chao has accepted participation on such a short notice and look forward to a spectacular tournament.

http://norwaychess.no/en/2016/04/08/...-norway-chess/

___________

The organizers are getting a new and fresh player and we will still have Peter Svidler as a commentator!

Everybody seems to be happy, with the possible exception of the prospective Mrs. Li Chao.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 17th April, 2016, 10:46 AM

Re: Norway Chess 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 17, 2016

The tournament starts Tuesday, April 19 and one player does not have a rating. If you look at the FIDE web site you will see that Pavel Eljanov is unrated:

https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=14102951

This is undoubtedly because the Ukrainian Chess Federation is in arrears. From the official site:

http://www.fide.com/component/conten...suspended.html

Following the decision of the FIDE Presidential Board at its meeting in Moscow, 28-29 March 2016, the services for the Ukrainian Chess Federation are temporarily suspended, as the full amount in respect of the Women’s World Championship match in Lviv has not been paid within the set deadline.

The ratings will be withdrawn at the date of the next publication of the rating list, downloadable FRLs and the players will not be able to participate in the events organised under the aegis of:

a) the World Championship & Olympiad Commission or Events Commission,

b) Continental competitions that provide qualifiers to any of the aforesaid competitions.

The Federation will be published in the list of arrears - http://ratings.fide.com/arrears.phtml
________

Pavel’s last published rating was 2765. He is world-ranked No. 12

**Nigel Hanrahan** · Sunday, 17th April, 2016, 03:20 PM

Ukr Federation temporarily suspended - details

Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post

The tournament starts Tuesday, April 19 and one player does not have a rating. If you look at the FIDE web site you will see that Pavel Eljanov is unrated:

https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=14102951

This is undoubtedly because the Ukrainian Chess Federation is in arrears....

Following the decision of the FIDE Presidential Board at its meeting in Moscow, 28-29 March 2016, the services for the Ukrainian Chess Federation are temporarily suspended, as the full amount in respect of the Women’s World Championship match in Lviv has not been paid within the set deadline.

I posted about this in the Women's World Championship thread. According to a FIDE report, neither Yifan Hou nor Mariya Muzychuk have received their awards yet.

Facebook link

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 17th April, 2016, 04:32 PM

Re: Ukr Federation temporarily suspended - details

Norway Chess 2016

April 17, 2016

I did see your post, Nigel. I was just wondering if there were any consequences to the rating of the Norway Tournament by Eljanov not being rated.

And can Ukraine still participate in the Olympiad in Baku in September?

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 18th April, 2016, 01:16 PM

Re:Norway 2016

Norway 2016

April 18, 2016

Blitz

Today the competitors are playing in a 9-round blitz to determine their starting numbers in the classical tournament. The time is 3 min + 2 sec.

As I write, five rounds have been completed. Some of the games so far:

Norway 2016 Blitz
Round 1, April 18, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Kramnik, Vladimir
D35 QGD, Exchange Variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 c5 6.Bg2 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Nf3 f6 12.Nd4 Kc7 13.Nb3 e5 14.f4 Bd6 15.Be3 Re8 16.Kf2 Ba6 17.Rhe1 Bc4 18.Rab1 exf4 19.Bxf4 Bxf4 20.gxf4 Rab8 0-1

Round 1, April 18, 2016
MVL – Carlsen, Magnus
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.O-O Nd7 5.d3 h6 6.Re1 Ngf6 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.dxe4 Be6 11.Qe2 Bc5 12.a3 O-O 13.b4 Bb6 14.Bb2 Qf6 15.c4 Bc7 16.c5 a5 17.Nd2 axb4 18.axb4 b6 19.cxb6 Bxb6 20.Nf3 Qe7 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Qxb4 23.Rab1 Qc5 24.Rec1 Qxe5 25.Rxb6 c5 26.Rb5 Rfc8 27.h3 Ra1 28.Qe1 Rxc1 29.Qxc1 Qd4 30.Rb2 c4 31.Rd2 Qe5 32.f4 Qc5+ 33.Kh2 c3 34.Rd3 c2 35.f5 Ba2 36.Rd7 Qb5 37.Ra7 Qb1 0-1

Round 1, April 18, 2016
Giri, Anish – Eljanov, Pavel
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 O-O 7.Qe2 Nd7 8.Nc4 Re8 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bd2 Nf8 11.O-O-O Be6 12.Kb1 Qd7 13.Rhg1 a5 14.g4 Bxg4 15.Rg3 Ng6 16.Rdg1 Bh5 17.Qf1 Bf8 18.Ne3 Nf4 19.Nf5 g6 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.Rh3 Bxf3 22.Rxf3 Kh8 23.Qg2 Qf7 24.Nh4 Bd6 25.Rh3 g5 26.Nf5 a4 27.Rh6 Rg8 28.Qf3 Rg6 29.h4 Rxh6 30.Nxh6 Qg6 31.Nf5 a3 32.b3 Rg8 33.hxg5 fxg5 34.Qg4 c5 35.Rh1 Qf6 36.Rxh7+ 1-0

Round 2, April 18, 2016
MVL – Grandelius, Nils
B29 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein (Scheveningen)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.a4 e6 8.O-O Be7 9.d3 O-O 10.Re1 a6 11.Bxd7 N6xd7 12.Ne4 Nc6 13.c3 Rc8 14.Bf4 Nf6 15.Qc2 Nd5 16.Bd2 Qd7 17.a5 Rfd8 18.Qa4 Nf6 19.Be3 Qxd3 20.Nxc5 Bxc5 21.Bxc5 Rd5 22.Bb6 Qf5 23.Rad1 h6 24.h3 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Nd5 26.Nd4 Nxd4 27.Bxd4 e5 28.Bb6 Nxb6 29.axb6 Qe6 30.Qd7 Rc6 31.Qxb7 Rxb6 32.Rd8+ Kh7 33.Qe4+ f5 34.Qc2 e4 35.c4 Rd6 36.Rxd6 Qxd6 37.c5 Qc6 38.b4 Kg6 39.Qc3 Kf7 40.Qe5 g6 41.Kh2 h5 42.h4 Qb7 43.Qd6 e3 44.fxe3 Qxb4 45.Qd7+ Kg8 46.Qd8+ Kf7 47.c6 Qc5 48.Qc7+ Kf6 49.Qd8+ Kf7 50.Qd7+ Kf6 51.c7 Qe5+ 52.g3 Qb2+ 53.Kh3 Qe2 54.Qd6+ Kf7 55.Qd5+ Kf6 56.c8=Q 1-0

Wow! Topalov takes out MVL in a blitz game!

Round 3, April 18, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – MVL
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O a6 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.a4 b6 7.Na3 Bb7 8.Re1 e6 9.c3 Be7 10.Bc2 Qc7 11.d4 O-O 12.h3 Rac8 13.Bd3 Rfe8 14.Qe2 Ra8 15.Bf4 g6 16.Bh2 Bf8 17.Nc4 b5 18.Ncd2 c4 19.Bc2 e5 20.Qe3 Bg7 21.dxe5 Nxe5 22.Nxe5 dxe5 23.b3 cxb3 24.Bxb3 bxa4 25.Bxa4 Red8 26.Rab1 Rac8 27.Rb3 Ba8 28.Bg3 Qa5 29.Ra1 Qc5 30.Qxc5 Rxc5 31.Bh4 h6 32.Bxf6 Bxf6 33.Ra2 Bg5 34.Nf3 Bxe4 35.Nxg5 hxg5 36.Rb6 Rxc3 37.Rxa6 Kg7 38.Ra7 Bf5 39.Re2 Rc1+ 40.Kh2 g4 41.hxg4 Bxg4 42.Rxe5 Rc4 43.f3 Bf5 44.Bb3 Rh4+ 45.Kg3 Rb4 46.Rxf7+ Kh6 47.Re3 Rd2 48.Rc7 Kg5 49.Bg8 Rbb2 50.f4+ 1-0

Round 4, April 18, 2016
Li, Chao B – Giri, Anish
B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Qd3 Be6 10.Bd2 Nbd7 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 Ne8 13.c4 Bg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Na5 b6 16.Nc6 a5 17.b3 f5 18.f4 exf4 19.Qd4 Nef6 20.Qxf4 Qxf4 21.Rxf4 g6 22.Rff1 Rae8 23.Rae1 Ne4 24.Bf3 Nd2 25.Rxe8 Rxe8 26.Rd1 Nxf3+ 27.gxf3 Kf7 28.Kf2 Kf6 29.a3 g5 30.Nd4 Ne5 31.Nb5 Nf7 32.b4 axb4 33.axb4 Ra8 34.Re1 Ne5 35.Re2 Rd8 36.Kg2 Nxc4 37.Re6+ Kf7 38.Nd4 Re8 39.Rxe8 Kxe8 40.Nxf5 Kf7 41.Kf2 Kf6 42.Nh6 Kg6 43.Ng8 Kf7 44.Nh6+ Kg6 45.Ng8 b5 46.Ke2 Kf7 47.Nh6+ Kg6 48.Ng8 Nb6 49.Ne7+ Kf6 50.Nc6 Nxd5 51.Na7 Nxb4 52.Nxb5 Ke5 53.Ke3 Nd5+ 54.Kd3 Nf4+ 55.Ke3 Ne6 56.Na7 Nd4 57.Nc8 d5 58.Ne7 Nf5+ 0-1

Round 5, April 18, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Carlsen, Magnus
C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 g6 5.c3 d6 6.d4 Bd7 7.O-O Bg7 8.Re1 Nf6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 O-O 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nbd2 Qe7 13.Nf1 b5 14.Bc2 Rad8 15.Ne3 Be6 16.Qc1 Qc5 17.Re2 Rd7 18.Qe1 Nh5 19.b4 Qb6 20.Bb3 Nf4 21.Rd2 Rxd2 22.Qxd2 a5 23.Bxe6 fxe6 24.a3 g5 25.Bg3 Rd8 26.Qa2 Kf7 27.h4 Bf6 28.hxg5 hxg5 29.Ng4 Rd3 30.Qc2 Rxc3 31.Qb2 axb4 32.axb4 Rc4 33.Bxf4 gxf4 34.Rd1 Ke7 35.Nxf6 Kxf6 36.Rd7 Nd4 37.Nxd4 Rxd4 38.Rh7 Qc6 39.Qe2 Qc1+ 40.Kh2 Rd1 41.Rh6+ Ke7 42.Rh7+ Kd6 43.Kh3 Rh1+ 44.Kg4 Rxh7 0-1
_______

The dream team of Gustafsson and Svidler are commentating. The transmission was interrupted earlier but appears to be fine now.

The Standings After Round Five

1. Carlsen 4.5
2. Kramnik 4
3. Giri 3.5
4. Aronian 3
5. MVL 2.5
6. Li Chao 2.5
7. Grandelius 2
8. Topalov 1.5
9. Harikrishna 1
10. Eljanov 0.5

The top players will get the extra white. It looks like Carlsen is in good form and Eljanov is out of form. I shall be pulling for him seeing that he is unrated, so to speak.

http://live.norwaychess.com

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 18th April, 2016, 02:43 PM

Re: Norway 2016

Norway 2016

April 18, 2016

Blitz

The tournament is completed. Giri went against Carlsen in the last round and Giri won:

Norway 2016
Blitz
Round 9, April 18, 2016
Giri, Anish – Carlsen, Magnus
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.O-O Nd7 8.Nb3 Bb6 9.Ng5 Bxb3 10.axb3 Qe7 11.Bd2 O-O-O 12.b4 Kb8 13.c4 Bd4 14.Nf3 Nf8 15.Qa4 a6 16.b5 cxb5 17.cxb5 Qd7 18.bxa6 Qxa4 19.Rxa4 Ne6 20.axb7 Nc5 21.Ra3 Bxb2 22.Ra2 Nxd3 23.Rb1 c5 1-0

A convincing victory for Magnus, although he lost to Anish in the last round.

Final Standing

1. Carlsen 7.5
2. Giri 6.5
3. MVL 6
4. Kramnik 6
5. Aronian 4.5
6. Harikrishna 4
7. Topalov 3
8. Grandelius 2.5
9. Li Chao 2.5
10. Eljanov 2.5

First Round Pairings

1. Anish Giri – Pavel Eljanov
2. MVL – Chao Li
3. Vladimir Kramnik – Nils Grandelius
4. Levon Aronian – Veselin Topalov
5. Magnus Carlsen – Pentala Harikrishna

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th April, 2016, 12:26 AM

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 19, 2016

Pairings

Round 1, April 19, 2016

1. Giri, Anish – Eljanov, Pavel
2. MVL – Li, Chao
3. Kramnik, Vladimir – Grandelius, Nils
4. Aronian, Levon – Topalov, Veselin
5. Carlsen, Magnus – Harikrishna, Pentala

Round 2, April 20, 2016

1. Giri, Anish – MVL
2. Topalov, Veselin – Carlsen, Magnus
3. Grandelius, Nils – Aronian, Levon
4. Li, Chao – Kramnik, Vladimir
5. Eljanov, Pavel – Harikrishna, Pentala

Round 3, April 21, 2016

1. MVL – Eljanov, Pavel
2. Kramnik, Vladimir – Giri, Anish
3. Aronian, Levon – Li, Chao
4. Carlsen, Magnus – Grandelius, Nils
5. Harikrishna, Pentala – Topalov, Veselin

Round 4, April 22, 2016

1. Giri, Anish – Aronian, Levon
2. MVL – Kramnik, Vladimir
3. Grandelius, Nils – Harikrishna, Pentala
4. Li, Chao – Carlsen, Magnus
5. Eljanov, Pavel – Topalov, Veselin

REST DAY April 23, 2016

Round 5, April 24, 2016

1. Kramnik, Vladimir – Eljanov, Pavel
2. Aronian, Levon – MVL
3. Carlsen, Magnus – Giri, Anish
4. Harikrishna, Pentala – Li, Chao
5. Topalov, Veselin – Grandelius, Nils

Round 6, April 25, 2016

1. Giri, Anish – Harikrishna, Pentala
2. MVL – Carlsen, Magnus
3. Kramnik, Vladimir – Aronian, Levon
4. Li, Chao – Topalov, Veselin
5. Eljanov, Pavel – Grandelius, Nils

REST Day April 26, 2016

Round 7, April 27, 2016

1. Aronian, Levon – Eljanov, Pavel
2. Carlsen, Magnus – Kramnik, Vladimir
3. Harikrishna, Pentala – MVL
4. Topalov, Veselin – Giri, Anish
5. Grandelius, Nils – Li, Chao

Round 8, April 28, 2016

1. Giri, Anish – Grandelius, Nils
2. MVL – Topalov, Veselin
3. Kramnik, Vladimir – Harikrishna, Pentala
4. Aronian, Levon – Carlsen, Magnus
5. Eljanov, Pavel – Li, Chao

Round 9, April 29, 2016

1. Carlsen, Magnus – Eljanov, Pavel
2. Harikrishna, Pentala – Aronian, Levon
3. Topalov, Veselin – Kramnik, Vladimir
4. Grandelius, Nils – MVL
5. Li, Chao – Giri, Anish

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th April, 2016, 01:49 PM

Re: Norway 2016

Norway 2016

April 19, 2016

Round 1, Pt.1

Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler are in the commentators chairs. The games were supposed to start at 11 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time but seemed to start an hour earlier.

First rounds are notorious for their technical glitches and today there was a massive fail.

The transmission was just starting its second hour when, all over the world, this message appeared on our computer screens:

This content is not available in your location due to licensing restrictions

I thought that we were not going to see the broadcast here. Then, from the comments on-line, it was apparent that this was happening to all the viewers.

- Agon, is that you?

- The Spanish transmission is still available

- The stream is blocked in Slovenia

- They are trying to block it in Norway but they have issues

- Same here in Sweden

- Same here in Hong Kong

- Same in the USA

- Australia

- in France

- Blocked in Texas

- Us Canadians are irate! We might have a hockey fight.

Turkey, Poland, Austria, the UK and India came in with the same message. Vatican City (!) said they were still seeing it.

I believe that Norwegian TV was not allowing transmission over the Internet to their citizens and they inadvertently blocked out the world.

When we got the picture again, the sound was wonky

- why can’t these noobs fix the sound already? Aren’t there any professionals in the production crew?

And the team from Norwegian TV was in the same room as Peter and Jan and they were making a lot of noise.

Then, there was a break and a young lady came on but nobody gave her name. One of the texters said it was Kaja Marie Snare, but it wasn’t.

In any case, she said that she would spend a few minutes every hour answering any tweets we send her. She also showed some of her photographs and one was of Harikrishna arriving at the tournament site. Each participant has their own car and driver to bring them to and from the hotel (about 10 or 15 minutes drive, depending on traffic) each day.
__________

A kibitzer on chessbomb answered a question that has been much on my mind the last year. Why is the Chinese player called Li Chao B?

- What does it means "b" of Chao b?

- there are many Li Chaos in the world

- So he is the second?

- b just to differentiate from others

-two chinese called Li Chao @fide

- ahhh, now it's all clear

- He was named Li Chao 2 for a while

- In the FIDE ratings

- so he's "b"

- there is a Li Chao a....

- When the country with the most people has short names, these things are certain to happen.
_______

Other viewers say that they switched over to YouTube to watch the commentary and to Chess Champs in the States but in the latter they had to listen to Maurice instead of Jan and Peter.

One techie wrote this:

- anyone who doesn't have the mental capabilities of a wooden plank knows how to bypass geoblocking

And others:

- Nils should have kept his dreadlocks, it would have made Kramnik uncomfortable

- komarov is the best commentator by far, no one comes close

- Literally every football commentator on US tv talks like Maurice

- The video is not good but Peter and Jan are good

_______

In summary, they are sorting out the technical glitches. As I write this, all games are finished after just three plus hours. It looks like Giri and Carlsen are in form and like this will be a very entertaining tournament to watch!

(to be concluded)

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th April, 2016, 02:56 PM

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 19, 2016

Round 1, Pt.2

The games all seem to end about the same time.

Norway 2016
Round 1, April 19, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Grandelius, Nils
A45 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.c3 c5 5.Nd2 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.f4 cxd4 9.cxd4 O-O 10.a3 Ne7 11.Ngf3 Qb6 12.Qb3 Qxb3 13.Nxb3 b6 14.Rc1 Bd7 15.Ke2 Nc8 16.Ne5 Ba4 17.Nd2 Nd6 18.b3 Bb5 19.Bxb5 Nxb5 20.a4 Nd6 21.Rc6 Rfd8 22.Ra1 Nfe8 23.a5 f6 24.axb6 axb6 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Nd7 b5 27.Nc5 Kf7 28.e4 dxe4 29.Ndxe4 Nxe4 30.Nxe4 Ra2+ 31.Kf3 Rb2 32.Nc5 g5 33.Rb6 gxf4 34.Rb7+ Kg6 35.Nxe6 Kf5 36.Nc5 Rc2 37.Ne4 Nc7 38.Rb6 Nd5 39.Rd6 1-0

Round 1, April 19, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Harikrishna, Pentala
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb4 6.Qa4 c5 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 O-O 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.Bg2 Qb6 11.O-O Nc6 12.Be3 Rfc8 13.Rfd1 d5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Bxc5 Qa5 16.Qc2 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Qxc5 18.Rac1 Qb6 19.b4 h6 20.Qe3 Qb7 21.Bh3 Re8 22.Qc3 Ne7 23.Nd4 Ne4 24.Qc7 Qa6 25.f3 Ng5 26.Bd7 Red8 27.h4 Nxf3+ 28.Nxf3 Qxa3 29.Kg2 Qb2+ 30.Rd2 Qxb4 31.Re1 a5 32.Rde2 Ng6 33.h5 Nh8 34.Bf5 a4 35.Ne5 Qd6 36.Qc2 Re8 37.Bh7+ Kf8 38.Qf5 Re7 39.Bg6 Kg8 40.Nxf7 Rxf7 41.Bxf7+ 1-0

Round 1, April 19, 2016
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Li Chao2
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Be6 9.O-O-O Qd7 10.b3 a6 11.h3 h5 12.Be2 O-O-O 13.Rhe1 Kb8 14.Kb2 d5 15.Nd4 Bf6 16.f4 g6 17.Bf3 Rhe8 18.Nxc6+ Qxc6 19.Bd4 Bh4 20.Bf2 Bf6 21.Bd4 Bh4 22.Bf2 Bf6 23.g4 hxg4 24.hxg4 d4 25.Bxc6 dxc3+ 26.Qxc3 Bxc3+ 27.Kxc3 bxc6 28.g5 Rxd1 29.Rxd1 Bf5 30.Bd4 Re2 31.Rd2 Rxd2 32.Kxd2 Kc8 33.c4 Bb1 34.Kc1 Be4 35.Kd2 Bb1 36.Kc1 Be4 37.Kd2 Bb1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, April 19, 2016
Giri, Anish – Eljanov, Pavel
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 O-O 7.Re1 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Ba7 11.Na3 Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.Nc2 Bg6 14.Bh2 Nh5 15.d4 Nf6 16.dxe5 Nxe4 17.Ne3 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 dxe5 19.Ng4 h5 20.Rxe4 Bxe4 21.Qxd8 Rfxd8 22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.Nxe4 f6 24.g4 h4 25.a4 c6 26.Kf1 Kg6 27.Ke2 Rab8 28.Be6 Kg7 29.f3 Re8 30.Bc4 Red8 31.Bd3 Kf7 32.Nd2 Ke7 33.Nc4 Rd5 34.Be4 Rc5 35.Nd2 b5 36.Bg1 1-0

Round 1, April 19, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Topalov, Veselin
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.Be3 Be6 10.Rc1 Nd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.Qa4 Re8 13.Rfd1 a6 14.a3 Bf6 15.Nd2 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Nd4 17.Bxd4 exd4 18.Ne4 c6 19.b4 Be7 20.Qb3 Qb6 21.Rc4 Rad8 22.Rb1 Rd5 23.a4 Qd8 24.Qb2 f5 25.Nd2 Bf6 26.Nf3 g5 27.Rc5 g4 28.Ne1 Be7 29.Rxd5 Qxd5+ 30.Kg1 Bg5 31.Ng2 Re5 32.Nf4 Qd6 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 cxb5 35.Qa2+ Kg7 36.Nh5+ Kh6 37.Nf4 Bxf4 38.gxf4 Qe6 39.Qxe6+ Rxe6 40.Rxb5 Rxe2 41.Rb6+ Kh5 42.Rxb7 Rd2 43.Rxh7+ Kg6 44.Rd7 Rxd3 45.Kf1 Rh3 46.Rxd4 Rxh2 1/2-1/2
_______

Since all the big dogs of the tournament got white against the lowest ranked players, it was expected that they would win. Harikrishna, Grandelius, Eljanov and Li Chao2 are all in a supertournament for the first time.

The first game to finish was MVL-Li Chao2. The “2” or “b” after the name of the Chinese player was explained in the last post.
Then all the other games seemed to finish. When Giri came in for the post mortem, he had so much to say that he could talk for twenty minutes. Jan Gustafsson vacated his chair and let Peter handle everything. He said this was because he told so many jokes when Anish was having the long string of draws, that he was afraid that Anish was offended.

Svidler pulled Giri at the end because Vladimir Kramnik was there and when big Vlad speaks, everyone listens. Today he sounded a bit like Dracula, with the booming voice. He started analyzing and Grandelius could hardly put in a word or two nor Peter. Two comments from the kibitzers on-line:

- So far, Peter has not been able to complete a sentence and Kramnik hasn’t taken a breath.

- Doesn't Kramnik ever shut up?

Still, it was all good stuff. The problem was that Carlsen was evidently waiting to get on and could not. You don’t keep the World Champion waiting and they missed him by a few minutes and he was driven back to his hotel and Harikrishna was left holding the bag. Hari said that at one point he had equalized and Tarjei Svensen tweeted this:

Carlsen completely disagrees with Harikrishna's claim that he had equalized. "He wasn't even close to equalize"

Because it was 2 o’clock Toronto/Montreal time, some viewers thought they should turn over to the U.S. Championships from St. Louis but they have a rest day there today.

Tomorrow should be interesting, perhaps trying to watch both tournies at the same time.

A Few On-Line Comments

Daniel Gormally – Can anyone in world chess stop the runaway winning machine that is Magnus Carlsen?

- Why did Harikrishna NOT capture Carlsen’s seemingly free pawn on b2?

Tarjei J. Svensen – Carlsen wins an opening game of a tournament for the first time since April 20th, 2014, 730 days ago!

Daniel Gormally – Anish Giri finally won a game today, as he was playing an unrated guy

- Amused that Svidler has gained 2 places in the world rankings by commentating instead of playing today

Nigel Short - Excellent game by Magnus Carlsen . But were one to quibble, it should be pointed out he missed both a mate in 7 and a mate in 3 :)

**Hans Jung** · Tuesday, 19th April, 2016, 04:19 PM

Re: Norway 2016

Magnus finsih today was eyepopping. Creme de la creme.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 20th April, 2016, 03:08 PM

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 20, 2016

Round Two

Peter Svidler’s first tweet of the day:

Round Two of Norway Chess (starts) in 2 hours. Hopefully today the players will show some common decency and won’t finish their games all at once.

There is always a lot of noise from the Norwegians around and about and also from Peter Heine Nielsen, the Dane, who is Magnus Carlsen’s coach and trainer.

The big news is that Anish Giri goes down to MVL. Anish seemed to have the better game from the opening until MVL played 15….Rg8 to get Giri out of his preparation. Instead of answering with g5, Anish played 18.Rdg1. Undoubtedly Anish will face more Sicilians now in the tournament.

(Peter Doggers) - "Anish spent 47 minutes on his next move: 16.Rdg1. In many lines he had to compare positions with a white rook on d1 or h1 — the famous “which rook” problem.

Magnus Carlsen, who finished early today and made some comments about the other games, felt that 15...Rg8 “has to be bad” but admitted that it was perhaps a good practical choice, especially together with MVL's brilliant follow-up: 16...d5!!"

The games:

Norway Chess 2016
Round 2, April 20, 2016
Grandelius, Nils – Aronian, Levon
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.Nxe5 Re8 8.Nef3 d5 9.O-O Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Qe2 h6 12.Re1 a5 13.Qf1 a4 14.e5 Nd7 15.d4 Bb6 16.c4 Nf8 17.c5 Ba5 18.Re3 Ne6 19.g4 Bg6 20.a3 f5 21.b4 axb3 22.Nxb3 fxg4 23.hxg4 Rf8 24.Nh2 Be4 25.Rg3 Qe7 26.Ra2 g5 27.Rb2 Qh7 28.Qd1 Qf7 29.Qe2 Qg6 30.Qd1 Qf7 31.Qe2 Qg6 32.Qd1 1/2-1/2

Round 2, April 20, 2016
Li Chao2 – Kramnik, Vladimir
C26 Vienna, Paulsen-Mieses Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 c6 5.Nge2 d5 6.exd5 cxd5 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 O-O 9.O-O Bg4 10.Qd3 Bxd4 11.Qxd4 Nc6 12.Qc5 d4 13.h3 Bxh3 14.Bxh3 dxc3 15.bxc3 Re8 16.Qb5 Qa5 17.a4 Qxc3 18.Bb2 Qxc2 19.Rac1 Qe2 20.Bg2 Qe7 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Qxb7 Nd4 23.Rfe1 h5 24.Qxa8 Rxa8 25.Bxa8 h4 26.Rc8+ Kh7 27.Be4+ g6 28.gxh4 Qe6 29.Re8 Qg4+ 30.Kf1 Qxh4 31.Re7 Qh3+ 32.Kg1 Qg4+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+ 34.Kg1 Kg7 35.Bd5 Qg4+ 36.Kf1 Qh3+ 37.Kg1 Nf3+ 38.Bxf3 Qxf3 39.Rxa7 Qg4+ 40.Kf1 Qh3+ 41.Kg1 Qg4+ 42.Kf1 Qh3+ 1/2-1/2

Round 2, April 20, 2016
Giri, Anish – MVL
B96 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nbd7 12.O-O-O b5 13.g4 g5 14.h4 gxf4 15.Be2 Rg8 16.Rdg1 d5 17.exd5 Ne5 18.Qh3 exd5 19.Re1 Kf8 20.Nf5 Bxf5 21.gxf5 Bc5 22.Qf1 d4 23.Nb1 Ne4 24.Bf3 Nxf2 25.Bxa8 Ned3+ 26.Kd2 Nxe1 27.Qxf2 d3 28.Qxe1 Be3+ 0-1

Round 2, April 20, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Carlsen, Magnus
E10 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Qc2 c6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bf4 Nh5 8.g3 Nxf4 9.gxf4 Nb6 10.e3 g6 11.h4 Bb4 12.Bd3 Bg4 13.Ne5 Bh5 14.Be2 Bxe2 15.Kxe2 f6 16.Nd3 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Qe7 18.Qc5 Nc4 19.Qxe7+ Kxe7 20.h5 Rag8 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.a4 a5 23.b3 Nd6 24.Rag1 Kf7 25.Rc1 Rh5 26.Rhg1 Rh2 27.Rh1 Rh5 28.Rhg1 Rh2 29.Rh1 Rh5 1/2-1/2

Round 2, April 20, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Harikrishna, Pentala
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 b5 6.e4 O-O 7.Nh3 d6 8.Nf4 e5 9.Ne2 Nh5 10.g4 Qh4+ 11.Kd2 Nf4 12.Nxf4 exf4 13.Kc2 bxc4 14.Bxf4 Qf6 15.Qd2 Nd7 16.Be2 Qe7 17.Bxc4 Rb8 18.b3 Nb6 19.Qd3 Bd7 20.Bd2 Nxc4 21.bxc4 Rb6 22.Rhb1 Rfb8 23.a3 Bxc3 24.Bxc3 Ba4+ 25.Kc1 h5 26.Rxb6 Rxb6 27.Rb1 hxg4 28.f4 Rxb1+ 29.Kxb1 Qb7+ 30.Bb2 Qb3 31.Qxb3 Bxb3 32.e5 dxe5 33.d6 Kf8 34.Bxe5 g6 35.d7 Ke7 36.Kb2 Bxc4 37.Kc3 Bb5 38.Bd6+ Kxd7 39.Bxc5 Ke6 40.Kd4 a6 41.Ke3 Bc6 42.Bb4 Bb5 43.Bc5 Bc6 44.Bb4 Bb5 45.Bc5 1/2-1/2

Giri and Kramnik both took over their postmortems as usual. Magnus Carlsen commented on his games. Eljanov and Harikrishna are both very soft spoken and they were a pleasant change from the other two. Peter pointed out that when Pentala made a move that his second, Markus Ragger, didn’t like, Markus gave an angry look.

Fiona Steil-Antoni discussed a few tweets from viewers and showed a picture of Magnus with his two managers. Evidently, he is so busy that two managers are de rigueur.

Tweets

Nigel Short – Norway Chess is great! One can follow the games live without threats of law-suits from grasping, shady organisations.‬

- really enjoyed today’s games and what is even better is that next up are the US Championships. We are spoiled with all the great chess going on.

- Nils Grandelius creates chess TV fever in Sweden. Aftonbladet TV will broadcast his fight vs Magnus Carlsen tomorrow

Standing After Round Two

Carlsen 1.5
MVL 1.5
Kramnik 1.5
Giri 1
Topalov 1
Aronian 1
Li Chao2 1
Grandelius 0.5
Eljanov 0.5
Harikrishna 0.5