Norway Chess 2016

[Hans Jung]

Re: Norway 2016

Is everybody watching? Look what Magnus is doing? Enjoy the show! (Rd 3)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 21, 2016

Round Three

The game of this round is still only at 14 moves. It is between Magnus Carlsen and Nils Grandelius.

Nils’ play has been criticized and his immediate doom forecast.

It is being broadcast live in both Norway and in Sweden. It is also being watched by a higher power – the sesse computer, which prints out all the possible lines. See:

http://analysis.sesse.net

The game so far:

Norway Chess 2016
Round 3, April 21, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Grandelius, Nils
B29 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Qb6 7.Qc1 f6 8.Bc4 g5 9.Bg3 g4 10.exf6 gxf3 11.Qf4 fxg2 12.Rg1 Na5 13.f7+ Kd8 14.Bd5 (game still in progress, film at eleven)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 21, 2016

Round Three (concluded)

At the postmortem Magnus said that he was warned that Nils might play this opening, but he didn’t take it seriously and didn’t prepare for it.

As the game went toward its exciting finish, there was a commercial break. Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam came on to interview one of the sponsors about Norwegian oil and gas. Dirk is a very cultured and knowledgeable interviewer but these comments came from the kibitzers:

- we want to see the epic final of magnus game instead of this, this is not the time

- watching paint dry is preferable to listening to Dirk

- Dirk Jan is on par with Yasser; he is good.
_______

Giri and Kramnik are both talking at the same time during their postmortem. It is actually very funny to have four of the best speakers and analyzers in the chess world at one table and Anish and big Vlad so focused on their game and talking to the exclusion of all else.

The principle in good postmortems is to let the two opponents do all the sparring – even if it is late and you really would like to go off to supper. Peter and Jan are like bookends with the other two between them.

Anish says to Vlad, “Since our first game together I have become a grown man and I can make a draw now as black!”

Vlad: One day the kid is going to beat me.

- Kramnik can't finish one single sentence because of Giri interrupting

- Unwise to try to out-talk or out-drink a Russian.

- It's like two chess engines talking

- Big Vlad and Anish should commentate on the World Championship in NYC, it would be awesome

- Both are winning the post mortem after drawing OTB

- Best post mortem ever

- That was fun

There is a lot of banter and Jan Gustafsson asks both players if they were on a desert island, what participant would they take to maximize their chances of survival? Giri said Li Chao because he has a supply of tiger balm. Jan says that previously Loek Van Wely replied that he would take Anish with him, only to leave him behind when he was rescued so that he would be Dutch No. 1.

Vlad thinks he would take Carlsen, so they could play lots of interesting games together. Giri says that in that case Magnus would finally learn how to play the Berlin Defence!

Really a very funny and interesting press conference.
_______

The games:

Round 3, April 21, 2016
Harikrishna, Pentala – Topalov, Veselin
E53 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.dxc5 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Nxc5 10.Be2 Ne6 11.a3 Be7 12.O-O a6 13.Rc1 b6 14.Na2 Bb7 15.Bc3 Ne4 16.Be5 Bf6 17.Nb4 N4c5 18.Nd3 Bxe5 19.Ndxe5 Qd6 20.Nc4 Qd8 21.Nce5 Qd6 22.Nc4 Qd8 23.Nce5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, April 21, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Li Chao2
D90 Grunfeld, Schlechter Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 g6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.e3 Nc6 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Ne5 Ne4 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.Bxc6 Nxc3 13.Qd3 bxc6 14.Qxc3 Rc8 15.b4 Re8 16.Rac1 f6 17.Rc2 e5 18.Bg3 exd4 19.Qxd4 Re4 20.Qd2 d4 21.Rd1 f5 22.Qc1 Qb6 23.exd4 Rce8 24.h3 Qxb4 25.Kh2 Rxd4 26.Rxd4 Qxd4 27.Rxc6 Qa4 28.Rc7 Qxa2 29.Rb7 Qe6 30.Qc7 Qf6 31.Qd7 Rd8 32.Qa4 Qd4 33.Qa2+ Qd5 34.Qxa7 Bd4 35.Qa6 Rf8 36.Qb5 Qxb5 37.Rxb5 Kg7 38.Be5+ Bxe5+ 39.Rxe5 Rf7 40.Ra5 Rd7 1/2-1/2

Round 3, April 21, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Grandelius, Nils
B29 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Qb6 7.Qc1 f6 8.Bc4 g5 9.Bg3 g4 10.exf6 gxf3 11.Qf4 fxg2 12.Rg1 Na5 13.f7+ Kd8 14.Bd5 Bh6 15.Qe5 Rf8 16.Bh4 Rxf7 17.Bxf7 Nc6 18.Qg3 Qxb2 19.Rd1 Qxc2 20.Bd5 Qf5 21.Rxg2 Bf4 22.Qf3 Kc7 23.Rg5 Qf8 24.Bg3 e5 25.Rh5 a5 26.Rxh7 Ra6 27.Rf7 Qe8 28.Kf1 Bxg3 29.hxg3 Qh8 30.Kg2 Nd8 31.Rf8 Qg7 32.Rh1 Rh6 33.Rxh6 Qxh6 34.Qf6 Qxf6 35.Rxf6 d6 36.Kf3 b5 37.g4 Kd7 38.Rh6 1-0

Round 3, April 21, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Giri, Anish
D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 c6 7.b3 dxc4 8.bxc4 c5 9.Bb2 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nd2 Qc7 13.Qa4 Rb8 14.Nb3 c5 15.Ba3 Bd7 16.Qa5 Qxa5 17.Nxa5 Rfc8 18.Nb3 Bg4 19.Bxc5 Rc7 20.Bd4 Nd7 21.e3 e5 22.Bb2 Rxc4 23.Rfc1 Be6 24.Rxc4 Bxc4 25.Na5 Bd3 26.Nb3 Bc4 27.Rd1 Nb6 28.Na5 Bxa2 29.Nc6 Re8 30.Ra1 Bd5 31.Bxd5 Nxd5 32.Rxa7 e4 33.Rd7 Bxb2 34.Rxd5 h5 35.h3 Kg7 36.g4 hxg4 37.hxg4 Rc8 38.Na7 Rc1+ 39.Kg2 Kf6 40.Rb5 Be5 41.Rb4 Rc7 42.Rb6+ Kg5 43.Nc6 Rxc6 44.Rxc6 Kxg4 45.Rc4 Kf5 46.f3 exf3+ 47.Kxf3 g5 48.e4+ Ke6 49.Rc6+ Bd6 50.Ra6 f6 51.Rb6 Kd7 52.Kg4 Ke6 53.Rb5 Bc7 54.Kh5 Bd6 55.Rf5 Be5 56.Kg4 Bf4 57.Rxf4 gxf4 58.Kxf4 Ke7 59.e5 fxe5+ 60.Ke4 1/2-1/2

As in introduction to the following Jan says: Peter you are one of the only top players in the world who does not play the Berlin.

Peter: I’ll wear that as a badge of honour. Are you sure that is correct?

Jan: I’ve checked.

Peter: People have started checking out the Guioco Piano, which shows you how well the Berlin has been doing lately (in Wijk and Moscow). The two prime advocates as White in the Berlin are MVL and Alexander Grischuk. These are the two who consistently get somewhere against the Berlin endgame.

Round 3, April 21, 2016
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Eljanov, Pavel
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Be7 10.Nc3 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Be3 h5 13.Rad1+ Ke8 14.Ne2 Be7 15.Rfe1 a6 16.Bf4 g5 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Nd4 Bg6 19.e6 Rd8 20.exf7+ Kxf7 21.Nf3 Bxc2 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Nxg5+ Kf6 24.Ne6 Rd1 25.Bg5+ Kf7 26.Rxd1 Bxd1 27.Bxe7 Kxe6 28.Bd8 Kd6 29.f3 c5 30.Kf2 b5 31.Ke3 b4 32.g4 hxg4 33.fxg4 a5 34.Kf4 c4 35.Bf6 c5 36.h4 Ke6 37.Bh8 Kf7 38.h5 a4 39.a3 Be2 40.Be5 c3 41.bxc3 bxa3 42.c4 Bxc4 43.g5 Bd3 44.g6+ Bxg6 45.hxg6+ Kxg6 46.Ke4 c4 47.Ba1 c3 48.Kd3 a2 49.Kxc3 a3 50.Kb3 Kh7 51.Kxa2 Kg8 52.Kxa3 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Three

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

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 24, 2016

Round Four

Mark Crowther’s summary of this round was:

Five draws prior to the first rest day in Norway Chess Round 4.

What else is there to say? Nothing to see here people, just move on.

Norway Chess 2016
Round 4, April 22, 2106
Eljanov, Pavel – Topalov, Veselin
D59 QGD Tartakower Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.e3 b6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Rc1 Be6 12.b3 c5 13.Bb5 a6 14.Bd3 Nd7 15.O-O a5 16.h3 Rfc8 17.a4 Nf6 18.Qe2 Bd7 19.Ne5 cxd4 20.exd4 Qd6 21.Qe3 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rc8 23.Rxc8+ Bxc8 24.Qc1 Be6 25.Qc6 Qxc6 26.Nxc6 Kf8 27.Kf1 Ne8 28.Ne5 Nd6 29.Ke2 g5 30.Ng4 Bxg4+ 31.hxg4 Ke7 32.f3 Ke6 33.Ke3 f5 34.Bxf5+ Nxf5+ 35.gxf5+ Kxf5 36.g4+ Ke6 37.Ke2 Ke7 38.Ke3 Ke6 39.Ke2 Ke7 1/2-1/2

Round 4, April 22, 2016
Li Chao2 – Carlsen, Magnus
D14 QGD Slav, Exchange, Wuss Attack

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Bf5 7.e3 e6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.O-O O-O 12.Rac1 Rfc8 13.h3 h6 14.Nd2 Nd7 15.a3 Nb6 16.Qb5 Qd8 17.Na4 Nxa4 18.Qxa4 Qa5 19.Qd1 Ne7 20.Qe2 Qa4 21.Qd3 Nf5 22.Qb3 Qa6 23.Qb4 Nd6 24.a4 Qb6 25.Qa3 a5 26.Rc5 Qb4 27.Qxb4 axb4 28.Rfc1 Rxc5 29.dxc5 Rc8 30.Kf1 Nc4 31.Nxc4 Rxc5 32.b3 dxc4 33.bxc4 Ra5 34.Ra1 Rc5 35.Rc1 Ra5 36.Ra1 Rc5 37.Rc1 1/2-1/2

Round 4, April 22, 2016
Giri, Anish – Aronian, Levon
D37 QGD, Hastings Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 c6 8.h3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 h6 11.Bd3 Ba6 12.O-O Qc8 13.Rb1 axb4 14.axb4 Qb7 15.b5 cxb5 16.Nxb5 Rfc8 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Rc6 19.Qe2 Nd7 20.Bg3 Qc8 21.e4 Nf6 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Qe4 Nf6 24.Qf3 Bb7 25.cxb6 Rxb6 26.Qe2 Qc6 27.f3 Nd5 28.Rbc1 Qd7 29.Nc7 Rc8 30.Nxd5 Bxd5 31.Kh2 Bd6 32.Rxc8+ Qxc8 33.Bxd6 Rxd6 34.Rb1 Qd8 35.Qe5 Rb6 36.Rxb6 Qxb6 37.Be4 f6 38.Qf4 Bxe4 39.Qxe4 Kf7 40.Qf4 h5 41.h4 Ke7 42.Qe4 Qc7+ 43.Kh3 Kf7 44.d5 Qd7 45.dxe6+ Qxe6+ 46.Kg3 Qxe4 47.fxe4 g5 48.hxg5 fxg5 49.Kf3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, April 22, 2016
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime - Kramnik, Vladimir
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Bd3 Ng6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Qc2 c6 12.Na3 Bc7 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Be2 h6 16.Nc4 Nh7 17.Rd1 Qf6 18.Ne3 Qg6 19.Bg4 Bxg4 20.Nxg4 Bb6 21.a4 h5 22.Nh2 Nf6 23.a5 Bc5 24.b4 Bf8 25.Re1 a6 26.Nf3 Nd5 27.Qb3 Nf4 28.Bxf4 exf4 29.Rad1 Rad8 30.e5 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Qf5 32.Re1 g5 33.Nd4 Qg6 34.e6 Kh8 35.Qd1 fxe6 36.Nf3 g4 37.Ne5 Qf5 38.hxg4 hxg4 39.Nxg4 Bg7 40.Qd7 Rf8 41.f3 c5 42.Qxe6 Qxe6 43.Rxe6 Bxc3 44.bxc5 Bxa5 45.Re7 Bb4 46.Rc7 Rf5 47.Rxb7 Bxc5+ 48.Kf1 a5 49.Rb5 a4 50.Nf2 Rh5 51.Ra5 a3 52.Nd3 Rh1+ 53.Ke2 Bd6 54.Ra6 Rh6 55.Kd1 Kg7 56.Kc2 Rg6 57.Kb3 Kf7 58.Nxf4 Bxf4 59.Rxg6 Kxg6 60.Kxa3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, April 22, 2016
Grandelius, Nils – Harikrishna, Pentala
C11 French, Burn Variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.Qd2 b6 8.O-O-O Bb7 9.Nc3 c6 10.Nf3 Nd7 11.Qh6 Qc7 12.Qg7 Rf8 13.Qxh7 f5 14.Bc4 Nf6 15.Qh6 Ng4 16.Qd2 O-O-O 17.h3 Nf6 18.Ne5 Kb8 19.Rhe1 b5 20.Bb3 b4 21.Ne2 c5 22.Qe3 Ne4 23.f4 cxd4 24.Nxd4 Bc5 25.Nef3 Rg8 26.g4 fxg4 27.hxg4 Rxg4 28.Ne5 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rg3 30.Qxe4 Bxe4 31.Rdxe4 Rg1 32.Rxg1 Bxg1 33.Rxb4+ Bb6 34.a4 Ka8 35.Kb1 Qe7 36.Rc4 Bc7 37.Nd3 Bd6 38.a5 Kb8 39.Ba4 Qb7 40.Rc6 Bxf4 41.Nc5 Qe7 42.Na6+ Kb7 43.Nc5+ Kb8 44.Na6+ Kb7 45.Nc5+ 1/2-1/2

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 24, 2016

Round Five

From the official site:


On the free day, the players were taken through a series of sporting activities. There was mind bog, where you empty your mind and use its waves to project a small ball towards your opponent. There were also bubble football, archery and fencing.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, defending with the black pieces against Levon Aronian, had to prove he could remember the lessons and keep his guard up.

Aronian tried to catch MVL off guard with an exchange-Slav, as he isn’t known as a Slav-player. But MVL called the bluff, proving that he knew the opening after looking at the white side of it previously. The players exchanged queens & knights and after the rooks came off, the game soon ended in a draw.


Reaching the halfway point of Altibox Norway Chess, Pentala Harikrishna took on Li Chao, aiming to get away from the lower half of the field. Li Chao early on locked down the center, getting a very solid position opening up for a prolonged positional battle.

Clearly remembering his archery lessons from the rest day, Hari proved the better marksman and seized his opportunity when Li Chao slow-played the position a bit too much. Hari came out a piece up and shortly after the time control, Li Chao resigned.


Have famously never beaten Anish Giri in classical chess, Magnus Carlsen had it all to do on his Norwegian home court with the white pieces.

Magnus Carlsen tried with the Ruy Lopez, the players avoiding the Berlin, but neither really got an advantage. Anish Giri stated in the post-game analysis, “I think, it was a miserable game from both of us”. Just before time control Carlsen played 40.Nb5 when he should have played 40.Nc2. It is said that wins a pawn but the final result should still be a draw.

While his Swedish compatriots suffered defeat in the 2-day match against Norway, it was up to Nils Grandelius to defend the Swedish chess-honours against Veselin Topalov.

To do such a thing on command against defending champion Veselin Topalov is however a tall order and it proved difficult for Grandelius to deliver. 
Topalov got a better position and Grandelius conceded, that he didn’t really a plan going forward.

Eljanov took a solid 6 minutes to respond to 1. e4 coming up with e5 after which Vladimir Kramnik took us into a Giuoco Piano-opening.

Those minutes could have come in handy at the end, especially as 4 games finished at the same time and the pair ended up last in the line for the post-game press conference.

Kramnik had the initiative most of the game, without never really getting an advantage as Eljanov found the right defending moves. Kramnik ultimately came out a pawn up in a drawn rook endgame. The players had to get in line and were the last to analyze with Peter at the press conference.

Round 5, April 24, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Eljanov, Pavel
C54 Giuoco Piano, d3 Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.Re1 h6 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Nf1 Ba7 10.Bb3 Re8 11.Ng3 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.d4 Re8 14.h3 d5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.Qg4 Rxe5 19.Bxh6 g5 20.Kh1 Qf6 21.f4 Qxf4 22.Qxf4 gxf4 23.Bxf4 Re7 24.g4 Kg7 25.Rad1 f5 26.Rd5 fxg4 27.hxg4 Rf8 28.Re5 Rxe5 29.Bxe5+ Kg6 30.Rxe4 Rf1+ 31.Kg2 Rf2+ 32.Kg3 Rxb2 33.Rf4 Re2 34.Rf6+ Kg5 35.Rf5+ Kg6 36.a4 c6 37.a5 b5 38.axb6 Bxb6 39.Rf6+ Kg7 40.Rxc6+ Rxe5 41.Rxb6 Re3+ 42.Kf4 Rxc3 43.Rxa6 1/2-1/2

Round 5, April 24, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
D14 QGD Slav, Exchange, Trifunovic Variation

1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 d5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Bf5 7.e3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Ne5 Qb6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Be2 Ne4 12.f3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Be7 14.O-O O-O 15.c4 c5 16.cxd5 Qxb3 17.axb3 exd5 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Rfd1 Be6 20.Kf2 a5 21.Be5 Rfc8 22.Rdc1 Bb4 23.Bd1 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Rc8 25.Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.g4 f6 27.Bd4 Kf7 28.f4 f5 29.h3 g6 30.Bf3 Ke6 31.gxf5+ gxf5 32.Be2 Bd7 33.Bd1 Be8 34.h4 h5 35.Be2 Be7 36.Kg3 Bb4 37.Kf2 Be7 38.Kg3 Bb4 1/2-1/2

Round 5, April 24, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Grandelius, Nils
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed (6.d3)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 O-O 8.Re1 Re8 9.Nbd2 Bf8 10.h3 b5 11.Bc2 Ne7 12.d4 Ng6 13.Nf1 exd4 14.cxd4 c5 15.d5 Nd7 16.Ng3 a5 17.Be3 a4 18.Bd3 Rb8 19.Bf1 Nde5 20.Nd2 Be7 21.b3 axb3 22.axb3 Bg5 23.Nh5 Bxe3 24.Rxe3 Nd7 25.Ra7 Re5 26.Be2 Ndf8 27.Qa1 Qh4 28.Ng3 Qd8 29.Bg4 Re7 30.Rxe7 Nxe7 31.Bxc8 Rxc8 32.Nh5 f6 33.Rg3 Neg6 34.Qa6 Qd7 35.f4 c4 36.bxc4 bxc4 37.Nxc4 f5 38.Nxd6 Rc1+ 39.Kh2 fxe4 40.f5 e3 41.fxg6 hxg6 42.Nf4 1-0

Round 5, April 24, 2016
Harikrishna, Pentala – Li Chao2
E60 King’s Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 e5 8.g4 h5 9.h3 Nh7 10.Be3 h4 11.Qd2 Bf6 12.Rg1 Bg5 13.Bxg5 Qxg5 14.Nb5 Qe7 15.g5 a6 16.N5c3 Nd7 17.Qg2 Kg7 18.Nd2 f6 19.gxf6+ Qxf6 20.Nd1 Rf7 21.Nf2 Ndf8 22.Nd3 b5 23.O-O-O g5 24.f4 exf4 25.e5 Qf5 26.e6 f3 27.Qh2 Bxe6 28.dxe6 Qxe6 29.Nf2 Qe3 30.Ng4 Qf4 31.Qxf4 Rxf4 32.Nxf3 bxc4 33.Ngh2 Ne6 34.Rxd6 Nd4 35.Rd7+ Kh8 36.Ne5 Nf8 37.Rf7 Re4 38.Rxg5 Rd8 39.Rxf8+ Rxf8 40.Ng6+ Kg7 41.Nxf8+ Kxf8 42.Rxc5 1-0

Round 5, April 24, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Giri, Anish
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5 h6 9.c3 O-O 10.O-O Rb8 11.Re1 Ba7 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Rxe3 Na5 14.Bc2 c5 15.b4 cxb4 16.Nxb4 Qc7 17.Qd2 Nc6 18.Nxc6 Qxc6 19.h3 Be6 20.d4 Qc7 21.Bb3 Rfe8 22.Bxe6 Rxe6 23.a4 exd4 24.Qxd4 bxa4 25.Qxa4 Rbe8 26.Qxa6 Rxe4 27.Rxe4 Rxe4 28.Qd3 Re8 29.Nd4 d5 30.Nf5 Qf4 31.g3 Qe4 32.Rd1 Qxd3 33.Rxd3 Kf8 34.f3 Ra8 35.g4 Ra3 36.Kf2 h5 37.Ke3 g6 38.Nd4 hxg4 39.hxg4 Nd7 40.Nb5 Rb3 41.Rxd5 Nb6 42.Rc5 Na4 43.Rc8+ Kg7 44.Rc4 Nb6 45.Rc5 Na4 46.Rc4 Nb6 47.Rc5 Na4 48.Rc4 1/2-1/2

Before this game, Peter Svidler tweeted:

The big one is almost upon us! Will Carlsen v Giri live up to the hype? I am referring to the post-game press conference, of course.

Giri made it to the press conference but Carlsen did not. At the end Giri asked Jan and Peter, “Are press conferences obligatory here?” They both answered, rather sheepishly, that they did’t know. The implication is that if they are, then Carlsen should be there.

Standing After Round Five

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

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 25, 2016

Round Six

Jan and Peter provide a running commentary – sometimes checking with the computer. I can’t think of any better way to improve your play than to watch the evaluation of positions and lines throughout six grandmaster games.

The confessional booth is in use. So far we have heard MVL’s voice but it was hard to hear what he was saying. Levon Aronian spoke so softly we couldn’t hear him at all. Yesterday Magnus confessed that he spilled chocolate milk on his shirt. My suspicion is that the confessional is mainly for the benefit of Norwegian Television.

Analyzing Giri-Harikrishna, the guys are wondering where Giri could have picked up an extensive knowledge of the French. Since Giri is losing, the answer is that he hasn’t. Peter says in the old days, when you played White against Alexander Morozevich, you had to have good experience with the French. The so-called Golden Age of Morozevich.

We don’t see him much anymore. This from chess24 recently:

The mystery man of modern chess. Morozevich is an immense talent, but utterly unpredictable both on and off the board. Although he’s been ranked as high as world no. 2 (and even no. 1 on the “live” rating list) his form can suddenly plummet to see him drop 100 points and 50 places. At time he pulls out of tournaments with no notice, at the 2011 World Cup he offered a draw on move 12 in a must-win game (his opponent Alexander Grischuk said he’d never been more surprised by anything in his chess career) and he’s had periods when he’s almost retired from active play, most recently in 2010/11 when he went to work as a coach for Qatar’s female chess player Zhu Chen.

Norway Chess 2016
Round Six, April 25, 2016
Giri, Anish – Harikrishna, Pentala
C11 French, Steinitz Variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 b6 9.Nd1 a5 10.c3 a4 11.Bd3 Ba6 12.O-O Nc6 13.Bxa6 Rxa6 14.f5 b5 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Qe2 Qb6 17.Nf2 a3 18.b3 b4 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 Nxc5 21.c4 Ne4 22.cxd5 exd5 23.e6 Ne7 24.Kh1 Nc3 25.Qd3 h6 26.Nd1 Qb5 27.Qxb5 Nxb5 28.Nf2 Rxe6 29.Nd3 Nc6 30.Rfc1 Nc3 31.Nxb4 Nxb4 32.Rxc3 Re2 33.Rc7 Ra8 34.Nd4 Rxa2 35.Rf1 Rd2 36.h3 a2 0-1

- I'm still trying to figure out why Giri preferred fxe6 rather than f6 back on move 15. That is where his problems started

- french defence is gonna come back with a bang

- For the French, study Korchnoi and Morozevich

- If you rearrange the 5 last names of harikrishna you get anish

- did Giri commit harakiri?

At the postmortem Anish says that he played quickly and badly. He is uncharacteristically quiet. It seems that Hari has an answer for everything. There is a gloomy air and then the guys find that they can get Carlsen’s game on the screen in front of them and their eyes light up and they start to calculate if MVL has winning chances.
_______

The next postmortem is Kramnik and Aronian that ended in a draw. Peter says that he can hand Vladimir the mouse and sit back for fifteen minutes. Vlad never had the advantage and he says that his Italian experience has not been good. They talk about the rest day tomorrow. Aronian says chess players are basically lazy and they would not mind a rest day after a rest day. Kramnik says that he would rather play tomorrow than rest. You can see that big Vlad is not happy with his play.

Round 6, April 25, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Aronian, Levon
C53 Guioco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 a6 6.O-O d6 7.a4 Ba7 8.Re1 Ne7 9.d4 O-O 10.h3 Ng6 11.Bd3 Re8 12.Qc2 Bd7 13.Be3 d5 14.Nbd2 exd4 15.cxd4 dxe4 16.Nxe4 Bc6 17.Bg5 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 c6 19.Qb3 Qb6 20.Qxb6 Bxb6 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.a5 Ba7 23.d5 Rab8 24.Rad1 Bc5 25.Bxg6 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 hxg6 27.Rc1 Bb4 28.dxc6 Bxa5 29.Ra1 Bc7 30.cxb7 Rxb7 31.Rxa6 Rxb2 32.Ne1 Bb6 33.Nd3 Rb1+ 34.Kh2 Rb3 35.Nc1 Rb2 36.Nd3 Rb3 37.Nc1 Rb2 1/2-1/2
________

The next two players in are Eljanov and Grandelius. Because we were watching the press conferences, we weren’t able to follow the game. One has the idea that Nils blundered.

Round 6, April 25, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Grandelius, Nils
D73 Neo-Grunfeld, 5.Nf3 dxc4

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.c4 dxc4 6.Na3 c3 7.bxc3 O-O 8.O-O c5 9.e3 Nc6 10.Bb2 Bf5 11.Nd2 Qc8 12.e4 Bg4 13.f3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Bh3 15.Rc1 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Qd8 17.Nb3 Nb4 18.Nc2 Nxc2 19.Rxc2 Rc8 20.Qe2 Rxc2 21.Qxc2 Qd7 22.Rc1 Bh6 23.f4 Qa4 24.Rd1 Qd7 25.Qe2 Rc8 26.d5 Bg7 27.Rd2 Qa4 28.Nd4 Qxa2 29.Nf5 gxf5 30.Bxf6 Qa3 31.Bxg7 Kxg7 32.e5 Rd8 33.d6 Qb4 34.Kh3 exd6 35.Qh5 Rd7 36.Qg5+ Kf8 37.Rc2 Re7 38.Qf6 Re8 39.exd6 Kg8 40.d7 1-0

chessbomb says that 35….Rd7 was bad and h6 was to be preferred.

The two remaining games are drawn:

Round 6, April 25, 2016
Li Chao B – Topalov, Veselin
D43 QGD Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.g3 Nd7 8.Bg2 dxc4 9.O-O Be7 10.Ne4 Qf5 11.Ned2 e5 12.e4 Qe6 13.Rc1 b5 14.b3 c3 15.Rxc3 Bb7 16.d5 cxd5 17.Rc7 Rb8 18.exd5 Bxd5 19.Re1 Rd8 20.Nd4 Qb6 21.Bxd5 Qxc7 22.Ne6 Qb6 23.Nxd8 Qxd8 24.Nf3 O-O 25.Bc6 Nf6 26.Qxd8 Bxd8 27.Nxe5 Ba5 28.Re2 Rb8 29.Kg2 Kf8 30.f4 Bc3 31.g4 Rb6 32.Bf3 Rd6 33.Nc6 a6 34.Nb8 Rb6 35.Nc6 Nxg4 36.Bxg4 Rxc6 37.Bd7 Rg6+ 38.Kf3 f5 39.Re8+ Kf7 40.Re3 Rd6 41.Be8+ Kf8 42.Bh5 g6 43.Bxg6 Rxg6 44.Rxc3 Rd6 45.Ke3 Kf7 46.a4 Re6+ 47.Kf3 bxa4 48.bxa4 Rb6 49.Ke3 Rb4 50.a5 Rb5 51.Rc7+ Kg8 52.Rc8+ Kg7 53.Rc7+ Kg8 54.Rc8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

Round 6, April 25, 2016
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Carlsen, Magnus
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Rfe1 Bb4 15.g4 hxg4 16.hxg4 Ne7 17.f3 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Bxa2 19.Ne4 Rh8 20.e6 Bxe6 21.Bxc7 Nd5 22.Be5 Kf8 23.Nc5 b5 24.c4 bxc4 25.Rd4 Re8 26.Rxc4 Rh6 27.Ra4 Kg8 28.Rxa7 Bc8 29.Bg3 Rxe1+ 30.Bxe1 Rd6 31.Ba5 Bxg4 32.fxg4 Rg6 33.Kf2 Rxg4 34.Bd2 Rc4 35.Ra8+ Kh7 36.Nd7 Rxc2 37.Ke2 f6 38.Kd3 Rb2 39.Nf8+ Kg8 40.Ne6+ Kh7 41.Ra7 Rb3+ 42.Kd4 Rg3 43.Kc5 Rg2 44.Ba5 Ne3 45.Kxc6 Nf5 46.Bb4 Re2 47.Kd7 Re4 48.Bc5 Kg6 49.Ra1 Re5 50.Bd6 Nxd6 51.Kxd6 Rb5 52.Rg1+ Kh6 53.Nf4 Kh7 54.Nd5 g5 55.Ke6 Kg7 56.Rf1 Ra5 57.Nxf6 Kg6 58.Nd5 Ra6+ 59.Ke5 Ra8 60.Ne7+ Kh5 61.Rh1+ Kg4 62.Rg1+ Kh5 63.Rh1+ Kg4 64.Rg1+ Kh5 65.Rh1+ 1/2-1/2

The last press conference was with MVL and Carlsen. Magnus says that he was seeing problems all over in the game. He felt he was in for a long day. MVL wished he had remembered part of his pre-game analysis better but in general both were happy with the outcome.

Magnus said he was impressed with the way Hari played the French. That telegraphs to me that Giri really is going to have the French played against him in the future.

Tomorrow is a rest day and Wednesday Magnus plays big Vlad and MVL plays Harikrishna. Looks like a good day.

Standings after Round Six

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

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 27, 2016

Round Seven

Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler in the commentators chairs. There is an easy flow of conversation. This while analyzing move White’s thirteenth move in Topalov – Giri.

White has to move his queen here. There is no other good move than Qb1.

Peter: When I was a reasonably young child, I went to a Kasparov School session. By that time, Kasparov wasn’t in attendance because he was defending the world title.

One of the guest lecturers was Mark Dvoretsky.

Jan – He taught you to move instantly?

Peter: One thing I carried away from his series of lectures was that if you have only one move to make – think of it and make it on your opponent’s time. The two minutes or five minutes you save might be needed later on in the game.

Mark Dvoretsky (b. 1947) had excellent results early in his career, however, for personal reasons he opted not to remain an active player and instead followed his urge to become a chess trainer.

Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Evgeny Bareev, Joël Lautier and Loek van Wely are among the players who benefited from his coaching.

Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Evgeny Bareev, Joël Lautier and Loek van Wely are among the players who benefited from his coaching.

He has published a whole raft of books, many of them with Artur Yusupov.
______

There is a possibility of b4 in the Topalov game.

Peter says that reminds him that Nigel Short is now in a band called The Knight Before (Nb4). When Nigel starts invading a territory, we shall all be trampled underfoot. I think he is probably watching because he has nothing better to do.

An online search says that The Night Before is a lively three-piece folk dance band out of Coventry, U.K. They enjoy playing tunes from an eclectic mix of backgrounds for ceilidh and contra dancing.

It seems that Nigel’s band is an imitation of that one because he tweets:

Not sure whether I am more nervous about this or about the concert with my hastily assembled band "The Knight b4".

He evidently is watching Carlsen-Kramnik because of these tweets:

- I fear that Kramnik's gonads may be slowly roasted over an open fire

- I have played Kramnik's line several times, with reasonable results but this has gone completely wrong

- There are such things as bad positions with counter-chances, but this is not one of them
______

The games:

Norway Chess 2016
Round 7, April 27, 2016
Grandelius, Nils - Li Chao2
B16 Caro-Kann, Bronstein-Larsen Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.c3 Bf5 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.g3 Qc7 9.Bg2 e6 10.Nh4 Bg6 11.Bf4 Bd6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.O-O f5 14.b4 Nf6 15.a4 a6 16.Re1 O-O 17.a5 Rad8 18.Qc1 Kg7 19.Nf3 Nd7 20.Nd2 Qc7 21.Nc4 Rfe8 22.Ra2 h6 23.Rae2 Bh5 24.Re3 Nf6 25.Ne5 Ng4 26.Nxg4 Bxg4 27.Re5 Bh5 28.Bf1 Rd5 29.R5e3 Qe7 30.Bc4 Rdd8 31.Re5 Qg5 32.R1e3 Bg6 33.Bb3 Rd6 34.h4 Qf6 35.Re1 Red8 36.Qf4 Bh5 37.Kh2 Bg6 38.R1e3 h5 39.Re1 Bh7 40.Kg2 Qh6 41.Qg5+ Bg6 42.R5e3 R8d7 43.Kf1 Rd8 44.Ke2 R6d7 45.Kd2 Rd6 46.Kc1 R6d7 47.Kb2 Rd6 48.Bc4 Re8 49.Kb3 Rd7 50.Bf1 Qxg5 51.hxg5 Rh8 52.Bg2 Rdd8 53.Rh1 f6 54.gxf6+ Kxf6 55.Kc4 Ke7 56.Kc5 Bf7 57.Rh4 Kd7 58.Kb6 Kc8 59.Bf3 Kb8 60.Re1 Rh6 61.Re5 Rd6 62.Kc5 Kc7 63.Re1 Rd8 64.c4 Rh7 65.Reh1 Rdh8 66.Rb1 Be8 67.Re1 Bd7 68.Re5 Rh6 69.d5 exd5 70.cxd5 cxd5 71.Bxd5 b6+ 72.Kd4 bxa5 73.bxa5 Rb8 74.Bc4 Rb2 75.Rc5+ Kd6 76.Rd5+ Kc7 77.Rf4 Rc6 78.Rc5 Rd2+ 79.Kc3 Rxc5 80.Kxd2 Rxa5 81.Bf7 Kd6 82.Rd4+ Ke7 83.Bxh5 Re5 84.g4 fxg4 85.Bxg4 Bxg4 86.Rxg4 a5 87.Kc3 Rf5 88.Ra4 Rxf2 89.Rxa5 Rf3+ 90.Kb4 Rf4+ 91.Kb5 Rf5+ 92.Ka4 Rxa5+ 93.Kxa5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, April 27, 2016
Harikrishna, Pentala – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
E60 King’s Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 e6 6.Ne2 Bg7 7.Nec3 Nh5 8.Qe2 Be5 9.Be3 f5 10.exf5 exf5 11.f4 Bg7 12.Bf2+ Kf7 13.Qd2 Nf6 14.h3 a6 15.a4 a5 16.Be2 Na6 17.O-O Bd7 18.Bf3 Re8 19.Na3 Qb6 20.Nab5 Nb4 21.Rae1 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Re8 23.Re2 Bc8 24.Bh4 Rxe2 25.Qxe2 Qd8 26.g4 Qe7 27.Qd2 Bd7 28.gxf5 Bxf5 29.Bg4 Ke8 30.Bxf5 gxf5 31.Kf1 Kd7 32.Qg2 Qf7 33.Bxf6 Bxf6 34.Qe2 Qg8 35.Nd1 Bd4 36.Nf2 Qg6 37.Nxd4 cxd4 38.c5 dxc5 39.Qb5+ Kd6 40.Qxb7 Qe8 41.Qxh7 Nxd5 42.Qh6+ Kc7 43.b3 Ne3+ 44.Kg1 Qg8+ 45.Qg5 Qxb3 46.Qe7+ Kc6 47.Qe8+ Kc7 48.Qe7+ Kc6 49.Qe8+ Kc7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, April 27, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Kramnik, Vladimir
D35 QGD, Exchange

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 10.Nf3 Nd7 11.Nh4 Be7 12.Ne2 Nb6 13.Ng3 Bb4+ 14.Kd1 Na4 15.Ngf5 Kd7 16.Rb1 Ke6 17.Bd3 Rhc8 18.Ke2 Bf8 19.g4 c5 20.Ng2 cxd4 21.exd4 Bd6 22.h4 h5 23.Ng7+ Ke7 24.gxh5 Bxd3+ 25.Kxd3 Kd7 26.Ne3 Nb6 27.Ng4 Rh8 28.Rhe1 Be7 29.Nf5 Bd8 30.h6 Rc8 31.b3 Rc6 32.Nge3 Bc7 33.Rbc1 Rxc1 34.Rxc1 Bf4 35.Rc5 Ke6 36.Ng7+ Kd6 37.Ng4 Nd7 38.Rc2 f5 39.Nxf5+ Ke6 40.Ng7+ Kd6 41.Re2 Kc6 42.Re8 Rxe8 43.Nxe8 Nf8 44.Ne5+ Bxe5 45.dxe5 Kd7 46.Nf6+ Ke6 47.h5 Kxe5 48.Nd7+ Nxd7 49.h7 Nc5+ 50.Ke2 1-0

Round 7, April 27, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Eljanov, Pavel
A13 English Opening

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 dxc4 4.Qa4+ Nd7 5.Qxc4 c5 6.Nc3 Ngf6 7.d3 Be7 8.Nf3 b6 9.Ng5 Rb8 10.O-O Bb7 11.Bf4 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Rb7 13.Nf3 O-O 14.e4 Qa8 15.a4 Rd8 16.Nb5 Qc8 17.Rac1 Nf8 18.d4 Ng6 19.Bg5 a6 20.Nc3 b5 21.axb5 axb5 22.Qe2 c4 23.Rfd1 h6 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.h4 Qb8 26.Ra1 Be7 27.h5 Nf8 28.Ne5 Rc8 29.Ra6 Rb6 30.Rxb6 Qxb6 31.Qf3 f6 32.Ng6 Nxg6 33.hxg6 b4 34.Ne2 Qd6 35.d5 e5 36.g4 Bf8 37.Qf5 Ra8 38.Rc1 Qa6 39.Ng3 Kh8 40.Qe6 Qa2 41.Nf5 c3 42.Rh1 Qa7 43.d6 Qb7 44.d7 Qxe4+ 45.f3 1-0

Round 7, April 27, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Giri, Anish
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.b3 O-O 9.Bb2 f6 10.Rc1 Be6 11.Ne4 Bd5 12.Qc2 Nb4 13.Qb1 Nxa2 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Qxa2 e4 16.Nd4 Qd7 17.Qb1 Rae8 18.e3 c6 19.Ne2 Bxb2 20.Qxb2 Bf7 21.Nc3 Bg6 22.Qa3 Qxd2 23.Nb1 Qd7 24.Qxa7 Nd5 25.Qc5 Rf6 26.Nc3 Nxc3 27.Qxc3 Rd6 28.b4 h6 29.Rfe1 Kh8 30.Qc2 Rd3 31.Bf1 Bh5 32.f4 Rd2 33.Qc3 Bd1 34.b5 c5 35.Qxc5 Ra8 36.Qb4 Bf3 37.Rc7 Rxh2 38.Rxd7 Rh1+ 39.Kf2 Rh2+ 40.Bg2 Rxg2+ 41.Kf1 Rh2 42.Rd2 Rh1+ 43.Kf2 Rh2+ 44.Kf1 Rh1+ 45.Kf2 1/2-1/2
_______

The first game to end is the Carlsen game and Vlad Kramnik comes in. Jan says, “A bad day at the office?” and Vlad says, “A bad half hour. I missed 15.Ngf5”. One bad decision in a quiet game and it was lost. “Magnus played and I didn’t.”

The idea came from Jon Ludvig Hammer. Carlsen said that after 16 moves, his position played itself.

Giri says during his interview, “How could Hammer come up with a move like Ne2, then Ngf5?” He runs away at the mouth again but still I find him amusing.

Magnus came in after Vlad left. When they stopped analyzing the game, Jan asked him all sorts of questions about the NBA finals and also that question about who you would want on a desert island if you were marooned there. The answer was ‘Vladimir Kramnik’ because you would always have interesting conversations.

Veselin says that the best person to have with you is a vegetarian (like Levon Aronian?):

- Pick an herbivore so you're in no danger of being cannibalized -- now that's grandmaster level strategy right there.

Veselin originally said that he would take Giri to the desert island with him because he would listen to him but after trying to get a word in edgewise during the postmortem, he dropped Anish and went for the vegetarian!

A funny tweet by a kibitzer: - I bet half the top ten want to send Giri to fight club but tell him it's a chess club.

Standings After Round Seven

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

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 28, 2016

Round Eight

The games:

Norway Chess 2016
Round 8, April 28, 2016
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Topalov, Veselin
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Bd7 10.Rd1 Be7 11.g4 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.Nd2 Kc8 14.Nf3 Be7 15.Rd3 h6 16.Kg2 c5 17.Kg3 Re8 18.c4 a5 19.a4 f6 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Ra2 Re2 22.Bd2 Ra6 23.b3 Rae6 24.Ng1 Bd4 25.Nxe2 Rxe2 26.Ra3 Bc6 27.Rxd4 cxd4 28.Bxa5 Rb2 29.c5 d3 30.Ra1 g5 31.b4 Bd5 32.Rd1 Rb3 33.b5 Ra3 34.f3 d2 35.Rxd2 Rxf3+ 36.Kh2 c6 37.Re2 Kd7 38.Be1 Ra3 39.bxc6+ Kxc6 40.a5 Kxc5 41.Bf2+ Kc4 42.Bb6 Kb5 43.Rb2+ Rb3 44.Rxb3+ Bxb3 45.Bd4 Bf7 46.Bg7 h5 47.gxh5 Bxh5 48.Bf6 g4 49.Bd8 gxh3 50.Kxh3 1/2-1/2

Round 8, April 28, 2016
Giri, Anish – Grandelius, Nils
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav, Stoltz Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Be2 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 dxc4 9.a4 e5 10.Bxc4 exd4 11.exd4 Nb6 12.Bb3 Nbd5 13.Bg5 Be6 14.a5 h6 15.Bh4 Qc8 16.Rfe1 Re8 17.a6 Rb8 18.Bxd5 Nxd5 19.Ne4 Bc7 20.Nc5 Nb4 21.Qd2 Nxa6 22.Ne4 Bd5 23.Nf6+ gxf6 24.Bxf6 Qf5 25.Qxh6 Qh7 26.Qg5+ Qg6 27.Qh4 Qh7 28.Qg5+ Qg6 29.Qh4 Qh7 1/2-1/2

Round 8, April 28, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Li Chao2
D02 Queen’s Bishop Game

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Ne4 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bxe4 dxe4 8.Ne5 f6 9.g4 fxe5 10.dxe5 Be7 11.gxf5 exf5 12.Rg1 g6 13.Qe2 Qd5 14.O-O-O Nc6 15.Nb3 Qe6 16.Qb5 O-O 17.Kb1 a5 18.Nd4 Nxd4 19.exd4 c6 20.Qb6 Rfd8 21.a4 Rd7 22.d5 Rxd5 23.Rxd5 Qxd5 24.Qxb7 Re8 25.b3 Ba3 26.h4 Qd4 27.Bc1 Bxc1 28.Rxc1 f4 29.h5 g5 30.h6 Qxe5 31.Rd1 Re7 32.Qxc6 e3 33.fxe3 fxe3 34.Rd5 e2 35.Rxe5 Rxe5 36.Qa8+ Kf7 37.Qa7+ Re7 38.Qf2+ Ke8 39.Qe1 g4 40.Kc1 g3 41.Kd2 g2 42.c3 Re6 43.b4 Kd7 44.b5 Rd6+ 45.Kc2 Rg6 46.Qd2+ Kc8 47.Qxe2 g1=Q 48.Qe8+ Kb7 49.Qe7+ Kb6 50.Qd8+ Kc5 51.Qf8+ Kd5 52.Qf5+ Kd6 53.Qf4+ Ke7 54.Qe4+ Re6 55.Qxh7+ Ke8 56.Qh8+ Kd7 57.Qh7+ Kc8 0-1

Actually, the last game to finish. It is basically Li Chao with R+Q vs Q with pawns.

Round 8, April 28, 2016
Aronian, Levon – Carlsen, Magnus
A11 English, Caro Kann Defensive System

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 g6 5.b3 Bg7 6.Bb2 O-O 7.O-O dxc4 8.bxc4 c5 9.d3 Nc6 10.Ne5 Na5 11.Qc1 Qc7 12.Nd2 Ne8 13.f4 Nd6 14.Bc3 Rb8 15.Qa3 b6 16.Bxa5 bxa5 17.Nb3 Nb7 18.Bxb7 Qxb7 19.Nxc5 Qc7 20.d4 Rd8 21.Rfd1 f6 22.Nf3 e5 23.fxe5 fxe5 24.Nxe5 Bxe5 25.dxe5 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 Qxe5 27.Rd8+ Kf7 28.Qf3+ Bf5 29.Rxb8 Qxb8 30.g4 Qb4 31.Nd3 1-0

26..Qxe5? better is Bg4. Magnus said he just misjudged some positions and near the end, he was not thinking of a win but of just making the time control. He appears to have great respect for Levon and the postmortem was very friendly. Kramnik says it was a strange game, Magnus got a bad position very quickly.

Round 8, April 28, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Harikrishna, Pentala
A04 Reti (KIA, English, Dutch)

1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 b5 3.e3 a6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.O-O Nf6 6.b3 c5 7.c4 Be7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.d4 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Qe2 Nd7 14.Rd1 Qe7 15.Bb2 Rac8 16.Rac1 Bb7 17.Ng5 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 f5 19.e4 h6 20.Nf3 Nf6 21.exf5 exf5 22.Qxe7 Bxe7 23.Nd4 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Nd5 25.Ne6 Rf7 26.Rc8+ Kh7 27.Ra8 f4 28.Rxa6 fxg3 29.hxg3 Bf6 30.Bc1 Re7 31.Rd6 Nc3 32.a3 Kg8 33.Bb2 Ra7 34.Rc6 Nd5 35.Bxf6 Nxf6 36.Rc7 Rxa3 37.Rxg7+ Kh8 38.Rg6 Ne4 39.Rxh6+ Kg8 40.Rh4 Nd2 41.b4 Nc4 42.Nc7 Ra2 43.Re4 Nd6 44.Rd4 Nf5 45.Rd8+ Kf7 46.Nxb5 Rb2 47.Rd3 1-0

After Carlsen loses, a lot of the spectators leave and the noise in the background of Peter and Jan is immense. It gets even louder and Peter says that there is a popular phrase in present day Russia, “Just when you think you have reached rock bottom, someone knocks from below!”

The guys have been joking about Jon Ludvig Hammer through the week and he happens to walk by and waves and grins maniacally at their noise discomfort.

You’ll remember that Carlsen thanked Hammer for the knight moves that won the game.

Hearing that comment, Anish Giri said, “Come on. How can jlh come up with a move like Ne2?”

Last night Hammer tweeted: Hey Anish, I’m available at 1K euros/day, quantity discount available.

Standing After Round Eight

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

The last round is tomorrow. The old rivalry is on with Topalov-Kramnik. Carlsen is white against Eljanov and Levon is black against Harikrishna.

Tweets

(Nigel Short) - The early middlegame play of the World Champion leaves a very odd impression

(Jonathan Tisdall) - The curse of Stavanger strikes at last. Total disaster for the champ and Aronian vaults into shared first.

(Daniel King) – From chess God to chess plod. Magnus, where did it all go wrong?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Norway 2016

Norway Chess 2016

April 29, 2016

Round Nine

The last round of the tournament. Chances for Carlsen, Aronian, MVL and Topalov. And Topalov is against old rival Vladimir Kramnik – so, lots of interesting stuff.

We have all got quite used to the Gustafsson-Svidler team. Too bad this is the last day. I enjoyed one tweet on the official site:

- Nice tie Peter. Jan, you could do better.

As the day progresses, they have to battle against the noise of the diners in the same hall. Jan says, “We are unable to deal with any kind of adversity!”
______

Markus Ragger is the first guest of Fiona Steil-Antoni. You’ll recall Markus did quite well at the Gibraltar Tournament in February of this year. He is also the second of Pentala Harikrishna and when Hari played something questionable in the opening earlier, it was said that Markus scowled. He doesn’t look like a scowler, so that was probably misreporting.

Markus is Austrian (b. 1988) and recently passed the 2700 rating level. Markus says the first goal is to pass that level and the next is to keep it. He hopes to do well in the European Individual Championship in May, which will get him into the World Cup.

He and Hari played on the same team in the Bundesliga and Hari was looking for a second, and it was a good fit, so Markus joined him.
His daily routine begins in the evening, deciding what opening to play in the next day’s round. Then he works on it until 2 or 3 in the morning and goes through the work with Hari. It isn’t until the afternoon that he gets some sleep.

He enjoys the work because you are motivated when you are helping someone. He had to leave last weekend to play for his team, Solingen, in the Bundesliga. That team ended the ten-year ascendancy of Baden-Baden. But he had to miss the final, which both he and Hari followed from Norway.

For those who care – the first four places in the league were: 1. Solingen, 2. Baden-Baden, 3. Werder Bremen and 4. Schwabisch Hall.
______

The next guest with the guys is Silvio Danailov (b.1961), the current president of the Bulgarian Chess Federation and long-time manager of Veselin Topalov.

Jan asks him a lot of questions because Silvio has strong opinions and always seems to be at the centre of controversies. He is a good on-screen interviewee.

About the Kramnik-Topalov rivalry – he plays that down but says that when they get together, there is rarely a draw – the last in classical chess being in 2007. They don’t often appear in tournaments together but that is not because they won’t play with the other but perhaps because organizers prefer just one of the two at a time.

He wants to coexist with FIDE but they seem intent on pushing him. Jan says it is just like Michael Corleone, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Silvio agrees. He says they have trumped up charges against Garry Kasparov and he cannot participate in FIDE official events for two years. How do you ban a chess legend?

If Kirsan is kept out of the FIDE presidency because of U.S. trade sanctions, it is possible that he might run in 2018. But the situation is difficult now and the General Assembly may take up the problem at Baku instead of waiting for the meeting at the Batumi, Georgia Olympiad.

He says that the executive of FIDE just want power and don’t want change. They don’t develop sponsors but just leave it to the Russians to supply the money for staging events.

He believes that Bulgaria has suffered by not winning the World Championship. The government has found other uses for the money and Bulgarian chess has suffered.

He thinks that Karjakin has a 50-50 chance of winning the WCC. He also does not think it will be held in New York City – it will probably be moved to Russia. After all, it doesn’t make sense, the Championship will be financed by Russian money – why would they stage it in New York City?

He said that he has put forth two proposals to FIDE which have been turned down. One was by a German firm which would put two million dollars into a betting system, in which players could bet on the game after every move. The company would be stationed in Gibraltar. FIDE turned it down and said it would be bad for the image of chess.

Peter Svidler breaks in to say that is his feeling too and cites cricket as a game that would suffer from betting.

Silvio also says that he has suggested a club competition not run on a Swiss system but on round robins. That was turned down too.

I know there are many who think Danailov is bat s**t crazy, but I find his views refreshing!
_______

Any way, Magnus wins the tournament clear, the way a World Champion should.

The games:

Norway Chess 2016
Round 9, April 29, 2016
Grandelius, Nils – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
E60 King’s Indian

[1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.e3 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.O-O Re8 8.Nd2 Bf5 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.Qb3 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nd4 Qd7 14.Qb5 Rac8 15.Qxd7 Bxd7 16.N2f3 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 Ne4 18.Rd1 h5 19.Bg2 Rc7 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 21.f3 Re8 22.b3 Rc3 23.Ne2 Rc2 24.Nd4 Rc3 25.Ne2 Rcxe3 26.Bxe3 Bxa1 27.Kf2 Bf6 28.Rxd5 Bc6 29.Rd2 a6 30.h4 Rd8 31.Rxd8+ Bxd8 32.Nf4 a5 33.Bd4 b5 34.Ke3 a4 35.bxa4 bxa4 36.Bc5 Kg7 37.a3 Kh6 38.Bf8+ Kh7 39.Bc5 g5 40.hxg5 Bxg5 41.Kf2 h4 42.Bd6 Bd7 43.gxh4 Bxh4+ 44.Ke2 Bg5 45.Kf2 Kg7 46.Be5+ Kf8 47.Bd6+ Ke8 48.Nd3 Bb5 49.f4 Bh4+ 50.Ke3 Kd7 51.Bb4 Ke6 52.Ne5 Ba6 53.Nf3 Bd8 54.Ng5+ Bxg5 55.fxg5 Kf5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, April 29, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Eljanov, Pavel
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.a4 a5 10.Rc1 Ne4 11.Be1 f5 12.Nbd2 Bd6 13.e3 Ra7 14.Qd1 b6 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.Nb1 Ba6 17.Na3 Qa8 18.Nb5 Bxb5 19.axb5 Rc8 20.Bf1 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc7 22.Rxc7 Bxc7 23.Qa4 Qb8 24.b4 axb4 25.Bxb4 h6 26.Qc2 Bd6 27.Qc6 Ndf6 28.Bxd6 Qxd6 29.Qc8+ Kh7 30.Ne5 Qe7 31.Qc6 Ng4 32.Nxg4 fxg4 33.Bd3 g6 34.Bxe4 dxe4 35.Qxb6 1-0

Round 9, April 29, 2016
Topalov, Veselin – Kramnik, Vladimir
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Re1 Ng6 10.Nbd2 c6 11.Bf1 exd4 12.cxd4 d5 13.e5 Nh5 14.b4 f6 15.a4 Nhf4 16.a5 Bc7 17.Nb3 a6 18.Nc5 Ne6 19.Nxe6 Bxe6 20.Bd3 Qd7 21.exf6 gxf6 22.Bxg6 hxg6 23.Ra3 Rfe8 24.Rae3 Bd6 25.Bd2 Bf7 26.Nh2 Kg7 27.Qf3 Rxe3 28.Rxe3 g5 29.Ng4 Be7 30.h4 gxh4 31.Re1 Re8 32.Bh6+ Kg6 33.Re5 Bd8 34.Qd3+ f5 35.Bf4 Kg7 36.Rxe8 Bxe8 37.Ne5 Qe6 38.Qd2 Qe7 39.Bh6+ Kh7 40.Nf3 Qe4 41.Ng5+ Bxg5 42.Bxg5 h3 43.gxh3 Bh5 44.Kh2 Be2 45.Qf4 Qxf4+ 46.Bxf4 Kg6 47.Kg3 Bf1 48.h4 Kh5 49.Bg5 Be2 50.Kf4 Bd3 51.Ke5 Kg4 52.Kd6 f4 53.Kc7 f3 54.Kxb7 Bb5 55.Kc7 Kh5 56.Kd6 Kg4 57.Kc5 Kh5 58.Kd6 Kg4 59.Kc5 Kh5 60.Kd6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, April 29, 2016
Harikrishna, Pentala – Aronian, Levon
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.e3 Bb7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.Na4 cxd4 9.a3 Bd6 10.exd4 Nc6 11.Nc3 Rc8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Be7 14.Re1 d5 15.cxd5 Nxd5 16.Nxd5 Bxh4 17.Ne3 Bf6 18.Be4 g6 19.Qa4 a6 20.Rad1 b5 21.Qb3 Qb6 22.Ng4 Bg7 23.Qe3 Kh7 24.h4 f5 25.Bxc6 Rxc6 26.Nge5 Rd6 27.Qf4 Bxf3 28.Nxf3 Rfd8 29.Rc1 Bxd4 30.Nxd4 Qxd4 31.Qxd4 Rxd4 32.Rxe6 Rd1+ 33.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 34.Kh2 Rd2 35.Rxa6 Rxb2 36.Ra7+ Kg8 37.f3 b4 38.axb4 Rxb4 39.Kg3 1/2-1/2

Round 9, April 29, 2016
Li Chao B – Giri, Anish
D84 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit Accepted

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.Bxc7 Na6 9.Bxa6 Qxg2 10.Qf3 Qxf3 11.Nxf3 bxa6 12.Rc1 f6 13.Rg1 Rf7 14.b3 Bb7 15.Ke2 Bf8 16.Ba5 e6 17.Nd2 Re8 18.h4 e5 19.h5 exd4 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Rxg6+ Kh7 22.Rg3 Bh6 23.Nc4 Re6 24.Rd1 dxe3 25.Rd6 Re4 26.fxe3 Rh4 27.Rd8 Bf8 28.Nd2 Bc6 29.Kd3 Rh5 30.Bc3 Be7 31.Rc8 Bb5+ 32.Kc2 Bf8 33.a4 Bd7 34.Rd8 Bf5+ 35.Kb2 Rh2 36.Rf3 Be7 37.Rd4 Bg6 38.Rdf4 Bc5 39.b4 Rb7 40.Ka3 Be7 41.Nb3 Rc7 42.Bxf6 Rcc2 43.Rh4+ Rxh4 44.Bxh4 Bxh4 45.Rh3 Bf7 46.Rxh4+ Kg7 47.Rh1 Rc3 48.Rb1 Rxe3 49.a5 Bc4 50.b5 axb5 51.a6 Kf6 52.Kb4 Bd3 53.Rc1 Re4+ 54.Kc3 Be2 55.Kb2 Rb4 56.Rc6+ Ke5 57.Kc3 Rh4 58.Rc7 b4+ 59.Kb2 Bxa6 60.Na5 Kd5 61.Rxa7 Bb5 62.Rg7 Ba4 63.Rg2 Rh3 64.Rg5+ Ke6 65.Rg6+ Kf5 66.Rb6 Rh2+ 67.Ka1 Rh4 68.Nc6 b3 69.Na5 Rh1+ 70.Kb2 Rh2+ 71.Kb1 Rh1+ 72.Kb2 Rh2+ 73.Kb1 1/2-1/2

Final Standings

1. Carlsen 6/9
2. Aronian 5.5/9
3. MVL 5/9
4. Topalov 5/9
5. Kramnik 5/9
6. Li Chao 4.5
7. Harikrishna 4.5
8. Giri 4/9
9. Eljanov 3/9
10. Grandelius 2.5/9