Altibox Norway 2019

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 6, 2019

Round Three

Round 3, June 6
Carlsen, Magnus – Grischuk, Alexander
D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 Qa5 9.Qd2 O-O 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.d5 b5 12.Be2 Nd7 13.O-O Bxf3 14.Bxf3 c4 15.Be2 Rfd8 16.f4 Nb6 17.Bf3 Qa3 18.h4 e6 19.h5 Na4 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.f5 exf5 22.exf5 Qd6 23.Bf4 Qb6+ 24.Kh1 gxf5 25.d6 Rab8 26.Bd5 Nc5 27.Bg3 Ne6 28.Rxf5 Rxd6 29.Bxd6 Qxd6 30.Qe3 Qb6 31.Qf3 Rf8 32.Rf1 Nd8 33.Rh5 Qc7 34.Qe4 1-0

Round 3, June 6
So, Wesley – Yu, Yangyi
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.Kb1 Bf6 11.h4 O-O-O 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Be5 14.Qe3 Qa4 15.b3 Qa5 16.Bxe5 dxe5 17.Be2 g6 18.c4 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Bd3 Qb6 21.Qxb6 axb6 22.Re1 f6 23.f4 Re8 24.fxe5 Bg8 25.h5 gxh5 26.Bf5+ Kb8 27.e6 c5 28.Re3 Kc7 29.Rg3 Bxe6 30.Rg7+ Kb8 31.Be4 Bc8 32.Bd5 Re2 33.Bf3 Rd2 34.Bxh5 Bf5 35.Bf3 Rd7 36.Rg8+ Ka7 37.Kc1 Re7 38.Rf8 Be4 39.Rxf6 Bxf3 40.gxf3 Re2 41.Rh6 Rf2 42.Rh3 h5 43.Kb2 Ka6 44.a4 h4 45.Kc3 Ka5 46.Kb2 Ka6 47.Kc1 Ka7 48.Kb1 Ka6 49.Kb2 Ka7 50.Kc3 Kb8 51.Kd3 Kc7 52.Ke4 Re2+ 53.Kd3 Rf2 54.Ke4 Re2+ 55.Kf5 Rxc2 56.f4 Rf2 57.Rxh4 Rf3 58.Kg5 Rxb3 59.f5 Rg3+ 60.Rg4 Ra3 61.f6 Rxa4 62.f7 Ra8 63.Kf6 b5 64.Rg8 Ra1 65.f8=Q Rf1+ 66.Ke5 1-0

Round 3, June 6
Ding, Liren – Caruana, Fabiano
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.O-O Qc7 6.Nxd4 a6 7.b3 d5 8.c4 dxc4 9.Bb2 cxb3 10.Qxb3 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Qc3 Bd7 14.Qxf6 Rg8 15.Nc3 Rg6 16.Qf3 Be7 17.Rac1 Kf8 18.Ne4 Be8 19.Nc5 Qa5 20.Qe3 Qxa2 21.Be4 Rg7 22.Rc2 Qa5 23.Rb1 Qc7 24.Qf3 Kg8 25.Rb7 Qd6 26.Bd3 Bd8 27.Ne4 Qe5 28.Rc5 Qd4 29.Rc4 Qe5 30.Rc5 Qd4 31.Qf4 a5 32.Rb8 Rxb8 33.Qxb8 Kf8 34.Nd6 Ke7 35.Nxe8 Qxc5 36.Nxg7 a4 37.g4 a3 38.Qb3 Bb6 39.e3 Qg5 40.Nh5 Qxg4+ 41.Ng3 Bc5 42.Kg2 h5 43.h3 Qg5 44.Kf1 Qd5 45.Qxd5 cxd5 46.Bb1 h4 47.Ne2 f5 48.Nf4 Kf7 49.Ba2 Be7 50.Ke2 Bf6 51.Kd3 Be5 52.Ng2 Bf6 53.Ne1 Be7 54.Kc2 Kf6 55.Nf3 f4 56.Nxh4 fxe3 57.fxe3 Kg5 58.Nf3+ Kf5 59.Kd3 Bc5 60.Nd4+ Ke5 61.Nf3+ Kf5 62.Ke2 Kf6 63.Bb1 e5 64.Ba2 e4 65.Nd4 Ke5 66.Nb5 Be7 67.Bb3 Bc5 68.h4 d4 69.exd4+ Bxd4 70.Nxa3 Kf5 71.h5 Kg5 72.Bf7 Kf4 73.Nc4 Bg7 74.Bg6 Bd4 75.Nd6 e3 76.Nf7 Bg7 77.Bd3 1-0

Final position



Round 3, June 6
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Aronian, Levon
A28 English, Four Knights, Romanishin variation

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.d4 Ne4 8.Qd3 exd4 9.Nxd4 O-O 10.Be2 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 b6 12.O-O Bb7 13.Rd1 d6 14.f3 Ng5 15.b4 Rae8 16.a4 f5 17.c5 dxc5 18.bxc5 Ne6 19.Bc4 Rd8 20.Bxe6+ Qxe6 21.Qxd8 Rxd8 22.Rxd8+ Kf7 23.Rd1 bxc5 24.Re1 c4 25.Bd2 g5 26.Bc3 g4 27.fxg4 Qe4 28.Ra2 Qd3 29.Ba1 c3 30.Rf2 Be4 31.Rc1 c2 0-1

Round 3, June 6
MVL – Anand, Vishy
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.a4 Bb7 10.axb5 axb5 11.Rxa8 Bxa8 12.Na3 Nxe4 13.Nxb5 O-O 14.Qe2 Nf6 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Qe8 17.Nd4 Qxe5 18.Qxe5 dxe5 19.Nf3 Re8 20.Ba4 c6 21.Nd2 Bb7 22.Nc4 Bc7 23.Rd1 Nd5 24.Ne3 Rd8 25.c4 Nf4 26.Rxd8+ Bxd8 27.Bd2 c5 28.b4 cxb4 29.Bxb4 Nd3 30.Bd6 Bb6 31.Kf1 Bc5 32.Bxc5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, June 6
Armageddon
MVL – Anand, Vishy
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 h6 10.Re1 O-O 11.axb5 axb5 12.Rxa8 Bxa8 13.Nh4 Na5 14.Nf5 Nxb3 15.Qxb3 Bc6 16.Na3 Bd7 17.Ne3 Qb8 18.Qd1 b4 19.Nac4 bxc3 20.bxc3 Qa7 21.Qf3 Rb8 22.Bd2 Qa2 23.h3 Rb1 24.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 25.Nf1 Bb5 26.Bxh6 Bxc4 27.dxc4 Qxe4 28.Bg5 Qxf3 29.gxf3 Nd7 30.Bd8 Nb6 31.Nd2 Na8 32.Nb3 f6 33.Nxc5 dxc5 34.Be7 Nb6 35.Bxc5 Nxc4 36.Kf1 Kf7 37.Ke2 Ke6 38.h4 g6 39.Kd3 Kd5 40.Be7 f5 1/2-1/2

Vishy wins because he draws as Black

Standings after Round Three

1 Carlsen 5
2-4 Ding, Aronian, So 4
5 Mamedyarov 3.5
6 Yu 3
7 Caruana 2.5
8 Anand 2
9-10 Grischuk, MVL 1

Tomorrow is a rest day

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 8, 2019

Round Four

Round 4, June 8
Carlsen, Magnus – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Nf3 Nd7 10.Be2 Qa5 11.O-O Qxa2 12.Nd2 Qa5 13.h4 b5 14.h5 Bb7 15.h6 Bh8 16.e5 Qc7 17.Bxb5 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qb7+ 19.Qf3 Qxb5 20.Rb1 Qa6 21.Ne4 cxd4 22.cxd4 f6 23.Ng5 e6 24.Ra1 Qb6 25.exf6 Bxf6 26.Qe4 Bxg5 27.Bxg5 Qd6 28.Rfe1 Qd5 29.Qxd5 exd5 30.Ra5 Rf5 31.f4 Nf6 32.Re7 Ne4 33.Rg7+ Kh8 34.Raxa7 Rxa7 35.Rxa7 Kg8 36.Rg7+ Kf8 37.Be7+ Ke8 38.Rxh7 Rf7 39.Rxf7 Kxf7 40.Kf3 Kg8 41.Kg4 Kh7 42.Bf8 Nf6+ 43.Kh4 Ne4 44.Bg7 Nd6 45.Kg5 Ne4+ 46.Kg4 Nd6 1/2-1/2

Position after 23….e6, 24.Qb7 is better



Round 4, June 8
Armageddon
Carlsen, Magnus – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Nf3 Qa5 10.Qd2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qxd2+ 12.Nxd2 Rd8 13.Nf3 Nc6 14.d5 Nb4 15.Bd2 Na6 16.Bg5 Kf8 17.Bxa6 bxa6 18.O-O Rb8 19.Rc7 Rd7 20.Rc6 Rdb7 21.Bf4 Ra8 22.Rfc1 Bd7 23.Rc7 Rxc7 24.Rxc7 Ke8 25.h3 h6 26.Ne5 Bxe5 27.Bxe5 f5 28.exf5 Bxf5 29.a3 Rd8 30.d6 exd6 31.Bf4 g5 32.Be3 Rd7 33.Rc6 Kf7 34.Rxa6 Bd3 35.Ra4 a6 36.h4 d5 37.hxg5 hxg5 38.Rd4 Bc4 39.Bxg5 Rb7 40.Rf4+ Ke6 41.g4 Rb3 42.Bh4 Rxa3 43.g5 Ra1+ 44.Kh2 d4 45.g6 Bd5 46.f3 d3 47.g7 Ke5 48.Bg3 Ra2+ 49.Kh3 d2 50.Rf7+ Kd4 51.g8=Q d1=Q 52.Qg7+ Kd3 53.Qg6+ Kd4 54.Qf6+ Kd3 55.Qf5+ Kc4 56.Rc7+ Kb5 57.Qd7+ Kb4 58.Qd6+ 1-0

Round 4, June 8
Aronian, Levon – MVL
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.d3 e6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 g5 8.f4 Qc7 9.e4 Nge7 10.Nge2 gxf4 11.gxf4 d6 12.Be3 Bd7 13.Qd2 Nd4 14.Rc1 Rg8 15.b4 cxb4 16.Bxd4 Bxd4 17.Nxd4 bxc3 18.Rxc3 e5 19.Nb3 O-O-O 20.c5 Kb8 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.fxe5 Qxe5 23.d4 Qg5 24.Bf3 f5 25.Qxg5 Rxg5 26.e5 Bc6 27.Kf2 Bxf3 28.Rxf3 Rdg8 29.Rh2 b6 30.Nc1 Rc8 31.Ne2 Rc2 32.a3 Nd5 33.Ke1 Kc7 34.Rhf2 Rxh5 35.Ng3 Rxf2 36.Kxf2 Rh2+ 37.Kg1 Rd2 1/2-1/2

Round 4, June 8
Armageddon
Aronian, Levon – MVL
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Rb1 e6 7.a3 d5 8.Bg5 dxc4 9.dxc4 Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 Bd7 11.Nb5 Ke7 12.Nd6 h6 13.Bf4 g5 14.Be3 b6 15.h4 g4 16.b4 cxb4 17.axb4 Nxb4 18.Bxa8 Nc2+ 19.Kd2 Nxe3 20.Kxe3 Rxa8 21.f3 Bc6 22.Nb5 Nd7 23.Kf2 Ne5 24.Rc1 gxf3 25.Nxf3 Bxf3 26.exf3 Nd3+ 27.Ke3 Nxc1 28.Rxc1 a6 29.Nc3 Rc8 30.Ne4 f5 31.Nd2 Be5 32.Rb1 b5 33.cxb5 axb5 34.g4 Rc3+ 35.Ke2 Bf4 36.Nb3 fxg4 37.fxg4 e5 38.Na5 e4 39.Rb4 Rc2+ 40.Kd1 Rc1+ 41.Ke2 Rc2+ 42.Kd1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, June 8
Caruana, Fabiano – So, Wesley
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Be2 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 O-O 11.O-O f6 12.Bb5 Ne7 13.a3 Ba5 14.Bd3 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bb6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Rc1 fxe5 18.Nxe5 Ba6 19.Nxc6 Qf6 20.Nf3 Bb5 21.Nce5 Bxf1 22.Qxf1 Rad8 23.Qd3 Qf4 24.Rc2 Rde8 25.g3 Qe4 26.Rd2 c5 27.dxc5 Bxc5 28.Qxd5+ Qxd5 29.Rxd5 Bb6 30.Kg2 Rc8 31.Nd7 Rfe8 32.Nxb6 axb6 33.Rb5 Rc2 34.Nd4 Rd2 35.Nf3 Rc2 36.Nd4 Rd2 37.Nf3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, June 8
Armageddon
Caruana, Fabiano – So, Wesley
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.h4 h6 11.Nd4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Rg8 13.c4 c5 14.Bc3 O-O-O 15.Qe3 g5 16.hxg5 hxg5 17.Be2 Rge8 18.b3 d5 19.cxd5 Bxd5 20.Bf3 Bd6 21.Qxg5 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qe6 23.Kb1 Be7 24.Qf4 Bd6 25.Qa4 Bb8 26.Rdg1 Qd7 27.Qc4 Qd5 28.Qg4+ f5 29.Qh5 Rg8 30.Re1 Bf4 31.Bf6 Rd7 32.Kb2 b6 33.Re8+ Rxe8 34.Qxe8+ Kb7 35.Rh8 Ka6 36.Qe2+ Kb7 37.a4 Qd6 38.Bc3 Re7 39.Qc4 Be5 40.Rf8 Bxc3+ 41.Qxc3 Qd5 42.f4 Ka6 43.a5 bxa5 44.Rf6+ Kb5 45.Ka3 Re4 46.Qh3 Qd1 47.Qc3 a4 48.Rxf5 Qc1+ 49.Qb2 Qxb2+ 50.Kxb2 axb3 51.Kxb3 Rb4+ 52.Kc3 Rc4+ 53.Kd3 Rd4+ 54.Ke3 Rc4 55.Kd2 Rd4+ 56.Ke2 Re4+ 57.Kd2 Rd4+ 58.Kc1 a5 59.Rf8 Re4 60.f5 Re1+ 61.Kb2 Rf1 62.Rb8+ Kc6 63.Rf8 Rxf2 64.f6 a4 65.Ka3 Kb7 66.c4 Rf4 67.f7 Ka7 68.Kxa4 Rxc4+ 69.Kb5 Rf4 70.Kxc5 Kb7 71.Kd6 Rf1 1/2-1/2

Round 4, June 8
Anand, Vishy – Ding, Liren
C50 Giuoco Pianissimo

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O O-O 6.c3 d6 7.h3 a5 8.Re1 h6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Bb5 Qb8 11.Nf1 Qa7 12.d4 exd4 13.Bxc6 dxc3 14.Ba4 Bxf2+ 15.Kh2 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.Be3 c5 18.Bxf2 Nxf2 19.Qc2 cxb2 20.Rab1 c4 21.Qxb2 Nd3 22.Qc3 Nxe1 23.Rxe1 Qc5 24.Rb1 Bf5 25.Rb5 Qc7 26.Ne3 Be4 27.Nd2 Rae8 28.Nxe4 Qxe5+ 29.Qxe5 Rxe5 30.Bc2 f5 31.Nxc4 Re7 32.Rxd5 fxe4 33.Ne3 b6 34.Rb5 Rb8 35.Nf5 Rc7 36.Bxe4 Rc5 37.Rb3 Re5 38.Bd3 Rd8 39.Ng3 Rd4 40.Be2 Rb4 41.Rd3 b5 42.Bh5 Kh7 43.Rd6 Rg5 44.Be2 Kg8 45.Bd3 Kf8 46.Nf5 Rb2 47.Be4 g6 48.Rf6+ Ke8 49.Bc6+ Kd8 50.Nd4 Ke7 51.Re6+ Kf7 52.Rd6 Rxa2 53.Nxb5 Rb2 54.Rd7+ Kf6 55.Nc3 Ke6 56.Rd3 h5 57.Bd5+ Ke7 58.Bf3 Re5 59.Rd4 Kf8 60.Rd8+ Kg7 61.Ra8 Rf5 62.Be4 Rg5 63.Ra7+ Kh6 64.Ra6 Rd2 65.Bf3 Rf5 66.Be4 Rg5 67.h4 Rg4 68.Kh3 Rd4 69.Bf5 Rxh4+ 70.Kg3 Kg5 71.Bxg6 Rhg4+ 72.Kh2 a4 73.Bh7 h4 74.Rg6+ Kh5 75.Re6 a3 76.Bf5 Rg5 77.Be4 Ra5 78.Bf3+ Kg5 79.Re2 Rd3 80.Rc2 Rxc3 81.Rxc3 a2 82.Rc1 a1=Q 83.Rxa1 Rxa1 84.Bc6 Kf4 85.Bb7 Rc1 86.Bd5 Rc2 87.Be6 Rc3 88.Bd7 Rg3 89.Bh3 Ke3 90.Kg1 Ke2 91.Bc8 Ra3 92.Bg4+ Ke3 93.Kh2 Kf2 94.Bf3 Ra1 95.Bb7 Ra7 96.Bd5 Ke3 97.Bc6 Kf4 98.Bd5 Ra3 99.Be6 Rg3 100.Bh3 Ke3 101.Kg1 Rg7 102.Be6 Re7 103.Bh3 Rc7 104.Be6 Rc6 105.Bd7 Rd6 106.Bc8 Rd8 107.Be6 Rd6 1/2-1/2

Final position




Round 4, June 8
Armageddon
Anand, Vishy – Ding, Liren
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.c3 d6 7.Re1 a5 8.h3 h6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Bb5 Qb8 11.Nf1 Qa7 12.Qd2 Rad8 13.Ng3 Ne7 14.d4 Bb6 15.Qc2 Ng6 16.Be3 c6 17.Bd3 Rfe8 18.Qd2 d5 19.Bxh6 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Nxe4 21.Rxe4 Bd5 22.Rg4 e4 23.Nh4 exd3 24.Nf5 Be6 25.Bxg7 Bxf5 26.Qh6 Re6 27.Bh8 1-0

Round 4, June 8
Grischuk, Alexander – Yu, Yangyi
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bf5 7.O-O Be7 8.Ne5 Nd7 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxd3 11.cxd3 O-O 12.Qb3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qd7 14.f4 f5 15.a4 b6 16.Be3 Rfd8 17.Rfd1 c6 18.c4 Qe6 19.Rac1 Kf7 20.Bf2 dxc4 21.dxc4 Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 Rd8 23.Qh5+ Kg8 24.h3 g6 25.Qf3 c5 26.Qc3 Qc6 27.a5 Qe4 28.Qe3 Rd4 29.Qxe4 Rxe4 30.g3 g5 31.fxg5 Bxg5 32.Rb1 bxa5 33.Rb5 a4 34.Rxc5 Bd2 35.Rc8+ Kf7 36.Rc7+ Ke6 37.Rc6+ Kxe5 38.Bxa7 a3 39.Rc5+ Ke6 40.Rc6+ Kd7 41.Ra6 Bb4 42.c5 Re2 43.c6+ Kc7 44.Bd4 a2 45.Kf1 Rc2 46.g4 f4 47.g5 f3 48.h4 Bd6 49.h5 Bg3 50.Bb6+ Kd6 51.Be3 Rb2 0-1

Standings after Round Four

1 Carlsen 6.5
2 So 5.5
3 Yu Yangyi 5
4-5 Ding, Aronian 4.5
6 Mamedyarov 4
7 Anand 3.5
8 Caruana 3
9 MVL 2.5
10 Grischuk 1

Round Five Pairings

MVL-Carlsen
So-Anand
Yu-Caruana
Ding-Aronian
Mamedyarov-Grischuk

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 9, 2019

Round Five

This position from Caruana-So, Round 4, June 8 (Armageddon)



Caruana played 46.Qh3 but Judit Polgar posted that 46.Qe5!! would have been a spectacular move:

1.Qe5 Qxe5 2.c4+ Rxc4 3.bxc4+ Kxc4 4.fxe5 Kd5 5.f4 c4 6.Ra6 c3 7.e6 c2 8.Kb2 a4 9.Kxc2 a3 10.e7 a2 11.e8=Q a1=Q 12.Rxa1 a5 13.Kd3 Kd6 14.Rc1 a4 15.Rc6+ Kd5 16.Qe6#

Round 5, June 9
MVL – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.a4 Be7 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Nd7 12.Kh1 a6 13.Na3 Nc5 14.Nc4 a5 15.f4 exf4 16.Bxf4 f5 17.Bd3 b6 18.Qe2 Ba6 19.Nxb6 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Qxb6 21.Qxe7 Bxd3 22.Qe6+ Kh8 23.Qxd6 Qxd6 24.Bxd6 Bxf1 25.Bxf8 Bc4 26.Be7 Bxd5 27.Rd1 Bb3 28.Rd8+ Rxd8 29.Bxd8 Bxa4 30.Bxa5 Kg8 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
Armageddon
MVL – Carlsen, Magnus
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.d3 h6 9.Bd2 Nf6 10.Na4 Bb6 11.Rc1 Re8 12.Bc3 e4 13.dxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxd8 Rxd8 15.Be5 Re8 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.Bxc7 Rxa2 18.Ne5 Bf5 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.f3 Nd2 21.Rf2 Rxb2 22.e4 Be6 23.Be5 Rb5 24.Rxd2 Rxe5 25.Rxc6 Rb5 26.f4 g6 27.e5 Kg7 28.Be4 Rb4 29.Bf3 Ra8 30.Kf2 Ra2 31.Rxa2 Bxa2 32.Bg4 h5 33.Bd7 Rb2+ 34.Ke3 Rxh2 35.Rc7 Kf8 36.Rc8+ Kg7 37.Rc7 Kf8 38.f5 gxf5 39.Bxf5 Be6 40.Bxe6 fxe6 41.Rb7 Rb2 42.Kf4 Rf2+ 43.Ke4 Re2+ 44.Kf4 Rf2+ 45.Ke4 Re2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
So, Wesley – Anand, Vishy
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 h6 10.Re1 O-O 11.Nbd2 Ne7 12.Nh4 Rb8 13.axb5 axb5 14.Nf1 Bc8 15.h3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Nf3 b4 18.Ng3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Ng6 20.d4 Bb6 21.Be3 Nd7 22.Nd2 exd4 23.cxd4 e5 24.Nf3 Qf6 25.Nf5 Ne7 26.Nxe7+ Qxe7 27.Rc1 Rf7 28.d5 Bxe3 29.Rxe3 Nc5 30.Qe2 Rff8 31.Rec3 Rb4 32.Rc4 Rfb8 33.g3 Rxc4 34.Rxc4 Qe8 35.Kg2 Rb7 36.Nh4 Qf7 37.Nf5 Kh7 38.h4 Nd7 39.Qc2 Nc5 40.Qe2 Nd7 41.Qc2 Nc5 42.Ne3 Nb3 43.Qd1 Nd4 44.Nc2 Rb2 45.Rc3 h5 46.Qd3 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
Armageddon
So, Wesley – Anand, Vishy
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 Bf5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Nh4 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.c5 Qa6 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.e4 b6 12.exd5 exd5 13.cxb6 axb6 14.Bf1 b5 15.Bd3 Bd6 16.O-O O-O 17.Qc2 Qa7 18.Ne2 Rfc8 19.Be3 c5 20.dxc5 Bxc5 21.Bxc5 Nxc5 22.Bxb5 Qb6 23.Bd3 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Qxb2 25.a4 Qc2 26.Nf4 g5 27.Qxc2 Rxc2 28.Nd3 Ne4 29.a5 Nc5 30.Nb4 Rb2 31.Nc6 Ra6 32.Nd4 Nb3 33.Nxb3 Rxb3 34.Ra2 Rb5 35.Rfa1 d4 36.Kf1 Re5 37.Ra4 d3 38.f4 gxf4 39.gxf4 Rd5 40.Ke1 d2+ 41.Kd1 g6 42.R1a2 Kg7 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
Yu, Yangyi – Caruana, Fabiano
E04 Catalan, open

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c6 6.Ne5 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Be7 8.e3 b5 9.a4 b4 10.Nxc4 Nbd7 11.b3 Ba6 12.Bc1 Rc8 13.Bb2 c5 14.Nbd2 O-O 15.O-O cxd4 16.Bxd4 Nc5 17.Rc1 Nd5 18.Ne4 Nc3 19.Qg4 Ne2+ 20.Qxe2 Nxb3 21.Bb2 Nxc1 22.Rxc1 e5 23.Bxe5 Qd7 24.Bd4 Rfd8 25.Bf1 Bb7 26.Bg2 Ba6 27.Bf1 Bb7 28.Bg2 Ba6 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
Armageddon
Yu, Yangyi – Caruana, Fabiano
B30 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.O-O a6 6.a3 e6 7.d3 Nge7 8.Ba2 d5 9.exd5 exd5 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 O-O 13.h3 Be6 14.Qd2 Ng6 15.Ne2 f5 16.Rae1 Qd7 17.b4 f4 18.Bh2 cxb4 19.axb4 Kh8 20.c3 Rad8 21.Kh1 Bf5 22.Ned4 Rfe8 23.Nxf5 Qxf5 24.d4 Qf7 25.Bb1 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Re8 27.Bg1 Rxe1 28.Nxe1 Nce7 29.Qd3 Qe6 30.Nf3 Bf6 31.Ne5 Bxe5 32.dxe5 Qxe5 33.f3 Qe1 34.Bc2 Kg7 35.c4 dxc4 36.Qxc4 Nh4 37.Qd4+ Kf7 38.Bb3+ Ke8 39.Qd6 Nhf5 40.Qb8+ Kd7 41.Qxb7+ Kd8 42.Bc4 Nc8 43.Bxa6 Ncd6 44.Qa8+ Ke7 45.Bd3 Ne3 46.Qa7+ Ke6 47.Qa2+ Kd7 48.b5 Qd1 49.Be2 Qe1 50.Bd3 Qd1 51.Qe2 Qc1 52.Kh2 h5 53.Bf2 Kc7 54.Qe1 Qc5 55.Kg1 Kb6 56.Qa1 Nxb5 57.Qb2 Kc6 58.Qxb5+ Qxb5 59.Bxb5+ Kxb5 60.Bxe3 fxe3 61.Kf1 Kc4 62.Ke2 Kd4 63.g3 Kd5 64.Kxe3 Ke5 65.f4+ Kf5 66.Kf3 1-0

Round 5, June 9
Ding, Liren – Aronian, Levon
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d4 O-O 6.Nbd2 b6 7.c4 Bb7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.b3 a5 10.Ne5 a4 11.bxa4 Qe8 12.Qc2 Nc6 13.Bb2 Bd6 14.Rfc1 Nd8 15.a5 Rxa5 16.a4 Ra7 17.e3 Ne6 18.h4 Qa8 19.Ndf3 Re8 20.Bf1 c5 21.Bb5 Re7 22.dxc5 bxc5 23.Qd1 h6 24.a5 Nd8 25.a6 Bxa6 26.Bxa6 Rxa6 27.Nc4 dxc4 28.Qxd6 Rxa1 29.Rxa1 Qxf3 30.Qxe7 Ne4 31.Qxd8+ Kh7 32.Rf1 Nxg3 33.fxg3 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
Armageddon
Ding, Liren – Aronian, Levon
A28 English, Four Knights, Romanishin variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.bxc3 O-O 7.d3 d6 8.Be2 e4 9.dxe4 Re8 10.Nd2 Ng4 11.h3 Qh4 12.g3 Qh6 13.Ba3 b6 14.f4 Nf6 15.Bf3 Bb7 16.O-O-O Na5 17.g4 Nd7 18.g5 Qe6 19.f5 Qe5 20.Rhg1 Nc5 21.Rg4 Bc6 22.Bxc5 Qxc5 23.Qd3 Qa3+ 24.Kb1 b5 25.Ka1 Rab8 26.Qc2 Nxc4 27.Nxc4 bxc4 28.Qc1 Qxc1+ 29.Rxc1 g6 30.f6 Re5 31.Rb1 Rxb1+ 32.Kxb1 h5 33.Rg2 Bxe4+ 34.Bxe4 Rxe4 35.Rb2 Kf8 36.Rb8+ Re8 37.Rb7 Rxe3 38.Rxa7 Ke8 39.Ra8+ Kd7 40.Rf8 Rxh3 41.Rxf7+ Ke6 42.Re7+ Kd5 43.a4 h4 44.a5 Kc6 45.Rg7 Rxc3 46.Rxg6 Rf3 47.Rh6 h3 48.Rxh3 Rxh3 49.f7 Rf3 50.g6 Kb5 51.g7 Rxf7 52.g8=Q Rf1+ 53.Kc2 Rf2+ 54.Kc3 Rf3+ 55.Kd4 Rd3+ 56.Ke4 d5+ 57.Ke5 Kxa5 58.Qb8 Ka4 59.Qxc7 Kb3 60.Qb6+ Kc2 61.Qf2+ Kb3 62.Qb6+ Kc2 63.Qf2+ Kd1 64.Qf5 Kd2 65.Qf4+ Kd1 66.Qg4+ Kd2 67.Qg2+ Kd1 68.Qg1+ Kd2 69.Qf2+ Kd1 70.Qg1+ Kd2 71.Qh2+ Kd1 72.Qh5+ Kd2 73.Qh6+ Kd1 74.Qa6 Kd2 75.Qa2+ Kd1 76.Qb1+ Kd2 77.Qb2+ Kd1 78.Qa1+ Kd2 79.Qb2+ Kd1 80.Qb1+ Kd2 81.Qb2+ Kd1 82.Kd6 c3 83.Qb3+ Kd2 84.Qb4 Kd1 85.Qg4+ Kd2 86.Qg2+ Kd1 87.Qf1+ Kd2 88.Qf2+ Kd1 89.Qf5 Kd2 90.Qf4+ Kd1 91.Qg4+ Kd2 92.Qb4 Kd1 93.Qb1+ Kd2 94.Qb4 Kd1 95.Qb5 Kd2 96.Qa5 Kd1 97.Qb5 Kd2 1/2-1/2

Position after 82.Kd6



Round 5, June 9
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Grischuk, Alexander
A28 English, Four Knights

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bb5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bd6 8.d4 Bd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Nd2 Qh4 11.g3 Qh6 12.Bd3 Rae8 13.Ne4 Be7 14.f4 f5 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.dxe5 Rd8 17.Nf2 Na5 18.Bd3 Bb5 19.Qc2 Bxd3 20.Nxd3 Qc6 21.Nb2 Nc4 22.Qe2 Na3 23.Nd1 Nc4 24.Nb2 Na3 25.Nd1 Nc4 26.Nb2 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 9
Armageddon
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Grischuk, Alexander
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Bg5 c5 6.Rc1 cxd4 7.Nxd4 h6 8.Bh4 d5 9.e3 e5 10.Nf3 d4 11.exd4 exd4 12.Qxd4 Re8+ 13.Be2 Qxd4 14.Nxd4 Nc6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nc2 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Ne5 18.Ne3 Be6 19.O-O Rac8 20.Rfd1 Rc5 21.Rd4 Rec8 22.h3 Nxc4 23.Bxc4 Bxc4 24.Rd7 R5c7 25.Rxc7 Rxc7 26.a3 Be6 27.f4 Rc5 28.g4 f5 29.Kf2 Kg7 30.Kf3 Kf6 31.a4 b6 32.c4 Ra5 33.Rd1 Rxa4 34.Rd8 Ra3 35.Ke2 Ra2+ 36.Kd3 Rh2 37.gxf5 Bxf5+ 0-1

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 9, 2019

Round Five (continued)

Standings after Round Five

1 Carlsen 8
2 Yu Yangyi 6.5
3-4 Aronian, So 6
5-6 Ding, Anand 5
7 Mamedyarov 4.5
8 Caruana 3.5
9 MVL 3
10 Grischuk 2.5

Has the play been exciting so far? Has the number of draws decreased with this format? I still find it confusing when I see Caruana, MVL and Grischuk at the bottom when the latter two are blitz champions.

__________

When reporting these tournaments, I usually have no trouble with even obscure Russian players. But there have been a few instances, when a trainer is mentioned and I don’t know him.

Today, Peter mentioned Chuchelov. Here is the dialogue between him and Jan Gustafsson:

Peter – Chuchelov is so universally famous now that when someone says that they don’t know about him, I look upon them with suspicion

Jan – In the early 1990s, he played in international master tournaments in Hamburg. I was in my early 20s then. He was trying to make it back then. He later became a GM and a trainer – training the likes of Giri, Caruana, Radjabov and Hou Yifan and many others.

Peter– I talked about training with him but we never did.

Jan – People show up at his house in Belgium and he trains them about chess theory and his methods.

Peter – Since Dvoretsky is sadly no longer with us, there is Chuchelov and Dorfman. They approach chess from a different point of view. They look for patterns, whereas the alternative is just to learn more and better theory – a purely computational exercise. Chuchelov has very definite ideas about approaching the game. That marks and sets him apart. He has a concept which helps you do things better, faster and stronger.

The Wikipedia entry on him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Chuchelov

Vladimir Chuchelov born 28 September 1969 in Moscow) is a Belgian chess grandmaster and professional trainer. He won the Belgian Chess Championship in 2000. He appeared four times in the FIDE top 100, with a maximum rating of 2608. Tournament victories include number of international tournaments, among them the Hamburg HSK (1991), Gifhorn international (1992), Cappelle-la-Grande Open (1994 and 2001). He made his 1st appearance as a Coach in famous Wijk aan Zee international tournament 2002, helping Dutch GM J.Piket . One year later he started his collaboration with another Dutch Grandmaster Loek Van Wely. From 2009 he worked for 4 years as Head Coach of Royal Dutch Federation. In 2010 he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. In 2013 received the Botvinnik Medal as best man's Trainer 2013. He is best known as the coach of 2 international stars: Fabiano Caruana 5 years (2011-2015) . and Anish Giri 4 years (2010-2013). Currently trainer of Woman World Champion GM Hou Yifan. Chuchelov was Hou Yifan's second in the Women's World Chess Championship 2016.

See this interview with Chuchelov:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/interv...aruana-s-coach

See also:

https://www.skaki64.gr/wp-content/up...-Beginners.pdf

http://whychess.com/en/node/11544

and a quote from V.C. in the whychess interview:

“As usual before you dive into a branch of activity (i.e. training) , you need to understand what already exists, to get an idea about the subject. At that time I studied a lot of different works, in particular Mark Dvoretsky. For me it was very interesting to see all that he was doing, it has played an important role in the construction of my work with students. Then there were the years of the creation of the course in "strategic balance". By the way, an interesting fact, it all began with one position out of the book and the ideas of Iosif Dorfman.”


And that is all that I know, as of today, about Vladimir Chuchelov!!

[Hans Jung]

I enjoyed old man Vishy beating Ding Liren.

[Hans Jung]

Judit's amazing tactical eye finds another beauty!

[Hans Jung]

The idea of strategical balance is well explained by Iosif Dorfman but he doesnt give you the variations, you have to do the work. At least I understand it but alas I never did the work needed.

[Hans Jung]

I like the way Yu Yangyi beat Caruana.

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 10, 2019

Round Six

Jan and Peter talk about everything when there is a pause in the action. A short discussion about cottage cheese and blueberries made me have cereal and blueberries for breakfast.

They discussed a bit about Dorfman and his method in chess.

And returned to which of the participants in the tournament they would like to have on a desert island if they were marooned there.

Comments on the chat:

MVL would bore you to death and then eat you very slowly and carefully

Grischuk would have to go through nicotine withdrawal first

Magnus would just sit around all day thinking about chess in peace. Take Sasha

Ding has glass hips, he would be a liability

All islands will be flooded in 50 years – no joke!

Round 6, June 10
Carlsen, Magnus – Ding, Liren
A20 English (reversed Sicilian)

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 e4 5.Qb3 d5 6.Nc3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 b5 8.Qb3 Qxd4 9.Be3 Qb4 10.Bd2 Qxb3 11.axb3 Bf5 12.g4 Bxg4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 g6 15.Bc3 Rg8 16.b4 a6 17.e3 Bg7 18.Ne2 Bxe2 19.Kxe2 Ra7 20.Bxg7 Rxg7 21.Rhc1 Rc7 22.h4 Kd8 23.h5 Kc8 24.hxg6 fxg6 25.Rd1 Rge7 26.f3 Re6 27.Rh1 Kb7 28.Rh6 Rf7 29.Rah1 Ree7 30.Rc1 Kb6 31.Rh2 Re6 32.Rch1 Nd7 33.Rxh7 Rxh7 34.Rxh7 Nf6 35.Rh4 Nxe4 36.fxe4 c5 37.bxc5+ Kxc5 38.Kd3 g5 39.Rg4 Rg6 40.Kc3 a5 41.b4+ axb4+ 42.Kc2 Kc4 43.e5+ Kd5 44.Rxb4 g4 45.Rxb5+ Ke4 46.Rb4+ Kxe3 47.e6 Kf3 48.Rb3+ Kf2 49.Rb4 Kf3 50.Rb3+ Kf4 51.Rb4+ Kf5 52.Rb5+ Kxe6 53.Kd3 g3 54.Rb6+ Kf5 55.Rxg6 Kxg6 56.Ke2 Kg5 57.Kf3 Kh4 58.Kg2 Kg4 59.Kg1 Kh3 60.Kh1 g2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 10
Armageddon
Carlsen, Magnus – Ding, Liren
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Bb6 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Bc2 Nh5 13.a4 Rb8 14.b4 Nxg3 15.hxg3 Nc6 16.Nf1 Qf6 17.Qe2 Ne7 18.Ne3 h5 19.Bb3 c6 20.axb5 axb5 21.d4 g4 22.dxe5 dxe5 23.Nh4 Qg5 24.O-O O-O 25.Rad1 Ra8 26.Kh2 Ra3 27.Qb2 Ra7 28.Rd6 Kg7 29.c4 Bc7 30.f4 gxf3 31.Rd3 fxg2 32.Kxg2 f6 33.c5 Rd8 34.Rxd8 Bxd8 35.Qe2 Ra3 36.Qd3 Bc7 37.Nef5+ Nxf5 38.Nxf5+ Kf8 39.Qc2 Qg4 40.Rf3 Bxf5 41.Rxf5 h4 42.Rxf6+ Kg7 43.Rf7+ Kg6 44.Qf2 Qxg3+ 45.Qxg3+ hxg3 46.Be6 Bd8 47.Kh3 Bg5 48.Rc7 Bf4 49.Rxc6 Kg5 50.Bf7 Bd2 51.Rg6+ Kf4 52.Rg4+ 1-0

Round 6, June 10
Anand, Vishy – Yu, Yangyi
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Mason variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Re1 Bf5 9.Nbd2 Nd6 10.Bxf5 Nxf5 11.Nf1 c6 12.Qd3 Nd6 13.Bf4 Na6 14.Ne3 Nc7 15.Re2 Ne6 16.Bxd6 Bxd6 17.g3 Qd7 18.Rae1 Rae8 19.b3 Nc7 20.c4 Bb4 21.Ra1 f6 22.a3 Be7 23.Rae1 Bd8 24.Kg2 Re6 25.cxd5 cxd5 26.Rc1 Rc6 27.Rec2 Rxc2 28.Qxc2 Re8 29.Qc5 a6 30.a4 Re6 31.Qb4 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 10
Armageddon
Anand, Vishy – Yu, Yangyi
C24 Bishop’s Opening, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a3 Bd6 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Bg4 10.Nbd2 Nd7 11.h3 Bh5 12.Ne4 Qc7 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.Nh4 Nc5 15.Ba2 Ne6 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.h4 Rae8 18.Ne4 f5 19.Ng5 Nxg5 20.Bxg5 Bc5 21.c3 Qf7 22.Qd2 a4 23.Qc2 e4 24.Qxa4 b5 25.Qc2 Kh8 26.b4 Ba7 27.c4 bxc4 28.dxc4 Nf6 29.c5 Qc7 30.g3 Bb8 31.Rad1 Qc8 32.Qd2 f4 33.Bxf4 Qh3 34.f3 exf3 35.Qh2 Qxh2+ 36.Kxh2 Ng4+ 37.Kh1 Nf2+ 38.Kg1 Nxd1 39.Rxd1 Bxf4 40.gxf4 Re2 41.Bc4 Rg2+ 42.Kf1 Rxf4 43.Rd8+ Kh7 44.Bg8+ Kh6 45.Bd5 g5 46.hxg5+ Kxg5 47.Bxc6 Rc2 48.Rd3 Kg4 0-1

Round 6, June 10
Aronian, Levon – So, Wesley
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.d3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.a3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.e3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 O-O 9.Be2 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 a5 11.O-O a4 12.Rc1 Be6 13.Nd2 Na5 14.f4 Nb3 15.Nxb3 Bxb3 16.Qe1 Re8 17.Qg3 exf4 18.Qxf4 Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Qe7 20.Bd1 Bxd1 21.Rxc7 Qxe3+ 22.Qxe3 Rxe3 23.Rxd1 Rd8 24.Rxb7 Rexd3 25.Rxd3 Rxd3 26.Rb4 Rd2 27.h4 Kg7 28.Kh2 h5 29.Kg3 f6 30.Kf3 g5 31.hxg5 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 10
Armageddon
Aronian, Levon – So, Wesley
A22 English, Bremen, Smyslov System

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e4 O-O 5.Nge2 Nc6 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O d6 8.d3 Bg4 9.Kh1 Bxe2 10.Qxe2 Nd4 11.Qd1 c6 12.f4 h6 13.Na4 Bb4 14.a3 Ba5 15.Be3 b5 16.cxb5 cxb5 17.Nc3 Bb6 18.Rc1 a6 19.Bh3 Re8 20.g4 Ne6 21.Bxb6 Qxb6 22.g5 hxg5 23.Bxe6 fxe6 24.fxg5 Nh7 25.Qg4 Qe3 26.h4 Rf8 27.g6 Rxf1+ 28.Rxf1 Nf8 29.h5 Qxd3 30.Kg2 Qd2+ 31.Rf2 Qe3 32.Nd1 Qc1 33.Qf3 Qg5+ 34.Kf1 Qe7 35.Ke2 b4 36.a4 Nd7 37.Qf7+ Qxf7 38.Rxf7 Nc5 39.Nf2 Rf8 40.Rc7 b3 41.Ng4 Nxe4 42.h6 Ng3+ 43.Ke1 Nf5 44.hxg7 Nxg7 45.Nh6+ Kh8 46.Ra7 Nf5 47.Rh7# 1-0

Round 6, June 10
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – MVL
D71 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Rb1 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Qxd4 Bxd4 14.Bh6 Rd8 15.Bxb7 Rb8 16.Bxc8 Rbxc8 17.Rfc1 f6 18.Rxc8 Rxc8 19.Rc1 Rxc1+ 20.Bxc1 Kf7 21.e4 Ke6 22.Kf1 Kd6 23.Ke2 Kc6 24.f3 e6 25.Kd3 Bc5 26.Kc4 f5 27.g4 fxe4 28.fxe4 a6 29.h3 Bb6 30.Bf4 Bc5 31.Bc1 Bb6 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 10
Armageddon
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – MVL
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 b6 6.O-O Bb7 7.h3 e6 8.b3 d5 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.Ba3 Re8 11.Rc1 a6 12.Qc2 dxc4 13.bxc4 c5 14.Rfd1 cxd4 15.exd4 Rc8 16.Qb3 Qc7 17.Na4 Bc6 18.Nb2 Qb7 19.Bd6 b5 20.c5 Bd5 21.Qa3 Ne4 22.Bf4 Nb8 23.Ne5 Nc6 24.Nxc6 Bxc6 25.f3 b4 26.Qxa6 Nc3 27.Qxb7 Bxb7 28.Bc4 Nxd1 29.Rxd1 Red8 30.Bd6 Bf8 31.Be5 Bxc5 32.Bf6 Ba7 33.Bxd8 Rxd8 34.Kf1 Rxd4 35.Rxd4 Bxd4 36.Nd3 Bc3 37.Ke2 Kf8 38.Kd1 Bc6 39.Kc2 Ba4+ 40.Bb3 Bb5 41.a4 Ba6 42.a5 Ke7 43.Nc5 Bb5 44.Ba4 Bd4 45.Bxb5 Bxc5 46.Kb3 Kd6 47.Kc4 g5 48.Be8 f6 49.Bf7 e5 50.Kd3 f5 51.Bg8 h6 52.Bh7 e4+ 53.fxe4 fxe4+ 54.Kxe4 Kc6 55.Kf5 Kb5 56.Kg6 Kxa5 57.Kxh6 Be3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 10
Grischuk, Alexander – Caruana, Fabiano
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Rb8 12.Nc2 Bg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.Nxb4 Bd7 16.Bxa6 Qa5 17.Qxd6 Rb6 18.Qd3 Be6 19.O-O Be7 20.Bc4 Bxb4 21.Bxe6 Rxe6 22.cxb4 Qxb4 23.Qc2 O-O 24.Rxa4 Qb7 25.Qc3 Rb6 26.Qxe5 Rxb2 27.Rd4 h6 28.h4 Rb1 29.g4 Rxf1+ 30.Kxf1 Qc8 31.Qg3 Re8 32.Kg2 Qc6 33.Qd3 Qf6 34.h5 Qg5 35.Qf3 Qf6 36.Rd3 Qc6 37.Rd4 Qf6 38.Rb4 Qd6 39.Qb3 Qd7 40.Qg3 Qe7 41.Qb3 Qd7 42.Kf3 Qd6 43.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 10
Armageddon
Grischuk, Alexander – Caruana, Fabiano
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.Be3 O-O 9.Nbd2 b5 10.Bc2 Bb7 11.O-O Nd7 12.a3 Ne7 13.d4 c5 14.Re1 Qc7 15.b4 c4 16.Qc1 d5 17.Bh6 Bxh6 0-1

Grischuk blunders a whole piece away. Perhaps he thought he had moved his knight on d2

Standings after Round Six

1 Carlsen 9.5
2 Yu Yangyi 8
3 Aronian 7.5
4 So 6.5
5-6 Ding, Anand 5.5
7-8 Mamedyarov, Caruana 5
9 MVL 4.5
10 Grischuk 3

Tomorrow is a rest day. Probably very timely – this from Carlsen:

"A very, very tiring day. This has become like a hospital, people are coughing everywhere."

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 12, 2019

Round Seven

Round 7, June 12
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 O-O 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.h4 g6 14.g3 Bg7 15.h5 Ne7 16.Nce3 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Be6 18.Bh3 Bxd5 19.Qxd5 b4 20.c4 Qc7 21.O-O Rb6 22.b3 Rd8 23.a4 bxa3 24.hxg6 hxg6 25.Rxa3 Qc5 26.Rfa1 Qxd5 27.cxd5 Bh6 28.Rxa6 Rxb3 29.Ra8 Rxa8 30.Rxa8+ Bf8 31.Bd7 Rb4 32.Ra4 Rb2 33.Ra7 Be7 34.Bc6 Kf8 35.Rb7 Rxb7 36.Bxb7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 12
Armageddon
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
D70 Neo-Grunfeld Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O f5 10.e5 f4 11.Bf2 Nb4 12.a3 a5 13.h4 Be6 14.Nh3 Na2+ 15.Nxa2 Bxa2 16.d5 Qxd5 17.Qxd5+ Nxd5 18.Re1 Rf5 19.Bd3 Rxe5 20.Rxe5 Bxe5 21.h5 gxh5 22.Ng5 Nf6 23.Nxh7 Rd8 24.Bc2 Bf7 25.Ng5 Bd4 26.Be1 b6 27.Bh4 Be3+ 28.Kb1 Rd2 29.Nxf7 Kxf7 30.Bxf6 Kxf6 31.Rxh5 Rxg2 32.Rh6+ Ke5 33.Rh5+ Kd6 34.Rh6+ Ke5 35.Rh5+ Kd6 36.Rh6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 12
Yu, Yangyi – Aronian, Levon
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 O-O 9.O-O Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.dxc6 Qd4+ 12.Kh1 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qxc3 14.Bf4 Qxc6 15.Qd2 Bg6 16.Rac1 Rfd8 17.Rfe1 a5 18.Be5 Nd5 19.a3 Qa4 20.Bxg6 hxg6 21.Qd3 Rd7 22.h3 Rad8 23.Qb3 Qxb3 24.cxb3 Rb8 25.Rc5 Rxb3 26.Rxa5 f6 27.Bg3 Ne3 28.Bf4 Nc2 29.Rc1 Rxa3 30.Rxa3 Nxa3 31.Rxc7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 12
Armageddon
Yu, Yangyi – Aronian, Levon
E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bd3 c5 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nd7 10.Bf4 Qh4 11.g3 Qh5 12.cxd5 exd5 13.f3 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Nec5 15.g4 Qh4+ 16.Bg3 Qh6 17.Nf5 Qe6 18.O-O Nxe5 19.Nd4 Qh6 20.Bxh7+ Qxh7 21.Qxh7+ Kxh7 22.Bxe5 Re8 23.Bg3 Bd7 24.Rfe1 Na4 25.Rac1 Rac8 26.Rxe8 Bxe8 27.Be1 Bd7 28.h4 b6 29.Bd2 Nb2 30.Re1 Re8 31.Rxe8 Bxe8 32.Kf2 Bd7 33.h5 f6 34.Kg3 Nc4 35.Bc1 Kg8 36.f4 Nd6 37.Kh4 Nb5 38.Ne2 Be6 39.f5 Bf7 40.a3 Kf8 41.a4 Nc7 42.Nd4 Be8 43.Bf4 Na6 44.Ne6+ Kf7 45.g5 fxg5+ 46.Kxg5 Nc5 47.Nxc5 bxc5 48.a5 d4 49.cxd4 cxd4 50.Be5 d3 51.Bc3 a6 52.Kf4 Bd7 53.Kg5 Bc6 54.Kf4 Bd7 55.Bd2 Kf6 56.Bc3+ Kf7 57.Ke4 Bc8 58.Ke5 Bd7 59.Kf4 Bc8 60.Kg5 Bb7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 12
Ding, Liren – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D70 Neo-Grunfeld Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.O-O-O Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.d6 e4 17.fxe4 Ng4 18.Bg5 Qe8 19.Nf3 Rf7 20.Qe1 Rc5 21.Bd2 Be6 22.e5 Bxe5 23.Bd3 Na4 24.Nxe5 Rxe5 25.Qh4 Rh5 26.Qg3 Nxc3+ 27.Bxc3 Qa4 28.d7 Rd5 29.Bc2 Qxd7 30.Bb3 Rxd1+ 31.Rxd1 Qc8 32.Qh4 Nf6 33.Rd6 Bxb3 34.Rxf6 1-0

Round 7, June 12
Caruana, Fabiano – Anand, Vishy
C80 Ruy Lopez, open

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Be7 10.c3 O-O 11.Nbd2 Bg4 12.Re1 Nxd2 13.Bxd2 Qd7 14.h3 Bh5 15.a4 b4 16.a5 bxc3 17.Bxc3 Rfd8 18.Rc1 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 Na7 20.Bc2 g6 21.Qg3 Qe6 22.Bd1 d4 23.Bd2 c5 24.Bg4 Qa2 25.e6 f6 26.Bf5 Qxb2 27.Rc2 Qb8 28.Bf4 Qb4 29.Bxg6 Qxe1+ 30.Kh2 Rd5 31.Rc1 Rg5 32.Qf3 Qxe6 33.Qxa8+ Kg7 34.Bd3 Qd5 35.Qxd5 Rxd5 36.Bxa6 c4 37.Bxc4 Rxa5 38.Bd3 Nb5 39.Rc6 Nc3 40.g4 Nd5 41.Bd6 Ra7 42.Be4 Rd7 43.Bg3 Nb4 44.Rc1 d3 45.Bf5 d2 46.Rd1 Rd4 47.f4 Na2 48.Bf2 Rd8 49.Be3 Bb4 50.Kg2 Nc1 51.Kf3 Nb3 52.Bc2 Nd4+ 53.Bxd4 Rxd4 54.Ke3 Rc4 55.Bd3 Rc1 56.Ke2 h5 57.gxh5 Kh6 58.Bg6 Ba5 59.Be8 Rc7 60.Bg6 Re7+ 61.Kd3 Re1 62.Kc2 Re3 63.h4 Re1 64.Bf7 Kg7 65.Bg6 Bb4 66.Bd3 Re3 67.Rb1 Re1 68.Rd1 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 12
Armageddon
Caruana, Fabiano – Anand, Vishy
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 a6 7.a4 Ba7 8.Nbd2 h6 9.Bh4 Qe7 10.b4 g5 11.Bg3 Nh5 12.b5 Nd8 13.bxa6 bxa6 14.Rb1 Qf6 15.d4 Nxg3 16.hxg3 g4 17.Nh4 exd4 18.cxd4 Bxd4 19.O-O O-O 20.Kh1 c6 21.f4 d5 22.Bd3 Qg7 23.e5 f5 24.Qc2 Qf7 25.Nb3 Be3 26.Rfe1 Ba7 27.a5 Be6 28.Nc5 Bxc5 29.Qxc5 Re8 30.Rb6 Qf8 31.Qc2 Ra7 32.Bxf5 Bxf5 33.Nxf5 h5 34.Nh4 Rg7 35.f5 Qa3 36.Kh2 Qxa5 37.Rbb1 Qc7 38.e6 Qe7 39.Qc3 Rf8 40.Rb8 c5 41.Qe5 d4 42.Qd5 Kh7 43.Re5 Qf6 44.Ng6 1-0

Round 7, June 12
MVL – Grischuk, Alexander
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.h3 e5 6.d3 f6 7.a3 Nh6 8.b4 Nf7 9.c3 a5 10.bxc5 Bxc5 11.d4 Bd6 12.a4 Qe7 13.O-O O-O 14.Re1 b5 15.axb5 cxb5 16.Ba3 b4 17.Bxb4 Bxb4 18.cxb4 Qxb4 19.Ra4 Qb6 20.Nc3 Bd7 21.Rc4 Be6 22.Na4 Qb5 23.Rc3 Qb4 24.dxe5 Nxe5 25.Nxe5 fxe5 26.Qc2 Rfc8 27.Ree3 Rxc3 28.Rxc3 Rb8 29.Nc5 Rc8 30.Qc1 Bf7 31.Kh2 Rc6 32.f3 Kg7 33.Rc2 Qd4 34.Nb7 Rxc2 35.Qxc2 Qb6 36.Nc5 Qb4 37.Nd7 Qd6 38.Nc5 Qd4 39.Nb7 Qb6 40.Nc5 Qb4 41.Nd7 Qd6 42.Nc5 Qd4 43.Nb7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 12
Armageddon
MVL – Grischuk, Alexander
A15 Reti, Bremen

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c6 5.d4 d5 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Ne5 Ne4 8.Nd2 Nf6 9.Qa4+ Bd7 10.Qb3 Nc6 11.Ndf3 Na5 12.Qa3 O-O 13.Bd2 Nc6 14.O-O Ne4 15.Bf4 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Bb5 17.Rfe1 Rc8 18.Rac1 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Bxe2 20.Qxa7 Ba6 21.b4 Qe8 22.Nc6 g5 23.Be3 Nd6 24.a4 bxc6 25.Qxa6 Nc4 26.Rxc4 dxc4 27.Bxc6 Qb8 28.Qxc4 Rc8 29.a5 Qc7 30.a6 e6 31.b5 Qa5 32.Kg2 h6 33.d5 exd5 34.Qxd5 Rd8 35.Qxd8+ 1-0

Standings after Round Seven

1 Carlsen 11
2 Aronian 9
3 Yu Yangyi 8.5
4 Ding 7.5
5 So 7
6 Caruana 6.5
7-8 MVL, Anand 6
9 Mamedyarov 5
10 Grischuk 3.5

_____________

I find the commentary with Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson very enjoyable. (See Great Chess Quotes today about Sasha karma).

This exchange near the end of the round today:

Jan - Justin Bieber has challenged Tom Cruise to a cage fight in the Octagon. Tom is 31 years Justin’s senior:

"I wanna challenge Tom Cruise to fight in the octagon," Bieber tweeted. "Tom if you dont take this fight your scared and you will never live it down. Who is willing to put on the fight? @danawhite?"

Dana White is the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is the world's largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization.

According to the UFC site, MMA is "a full-contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills from a mixture of other combat sports to be used in competition."

No one seems to know why Bieber, 25, wants to take on the 56-year-old actor, and reps for both men have not responded to request for comment.

Peter - – If I had to play a grandmaster 31 years my senior, the obvious opponent would be Ray Keene. He is nicknamed “The Penguin”.

Jan -– He could dress as a penguin and you, as Batman.

Peter– - That would certainly raise interest in the match.

Jan - – It has been suggested that I have a similar fight with Robert Hubner. But he would probably be dressed in a white suit giving ancient quotations. Maybe Ulf Andersson would be a better choice.

Peter -– Older Scandinavians are in great physical shape…

Deep Thoughts on Moderators from the Chat

- Hey, many of you guys should be mods!

- If many of us were moderators then we could moderate in moderation preponderantly

- A room with all moderators is a room with no moderators at all

- If I weren’t a moderator, people might say I was just wasting time watching televised chess, and I can’t have that.

Round Eight Pairings

Carlsen-Yu Yangyi
Aronian-Caruana
MVL-Ding
Mamedyarov-So
Grischuk-Anand

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 13, 2019

Round Eight

Round 8, June 13
Carlsen, Magnus – Yu, Yangyi
D15 QGD Slav, Slav Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.Be2 b4 7.e5 bxc3 8.exf6 exf6 9.bxc3 Bd6 10.O-O O-O 11.Nd2 Re8 12.Re1 Nd7 13.Nxc4 Bc7 14.Bf3 Ba6 15.Ne3 Nb6 16.Ba3 Nc4 17.Qd3 Rxe3 18.Rxe3 Nxe3 19.Qxa6 Nc2 20.Rd1 Nxa3 21.Qxa3 Qd6 22.Qxd6 Bxd6 23.c4 Rc8 24.c5 Be7 25.Kf1 f5 26.Ke2 g5 27.h3 Kg7 28.Kd3 Kg6 29.Rb1 h5 30.Rb7 Bf6 31.Rd7 g4 32.Bd1 Kg5 33.Ba4 f4 34.f3 Re8 35.fxg4 hxg4 36.hxg4 Re6 37.Bd1 Re3+ 38.Kc4 a5 39.Bf3 Ra3 40.Bxc6 Rxa2 41.Be4 a4 42.c6 Ra1 43.c7 a3 44.Kb3 1-0

- A somewhat sharp crisis in Yu’s affairs would appear to have been precipitated

- Another Magnus lesson in "how to go from 0.8 to 16.8 in 20 moves"...

Round 8, June 13
MVL – Ding, Liren
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 a6 8.a4 Ba7 9.h3 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.b4 Nh5 12.Ra2 Qf6 13.Na3 Ne7 14.Bg5 Qf7 15.Be3 Nf4 16.Kh2 Qg6 17.Nh4 Qh6 18.Nf3 Qg6 19.Nh4 Qh6 20.Nf3 Qg6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, June 13
Armageddon
MVL - Ding, Liren
A22 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e3 Bb4 4.Nge2 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Nxc3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2 c5 9.Bd3 h6 10.b3 Nc6 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.Be4 Qd6 13.Bb2 Be6 14.O-O Rac8 15.f4 Bd5 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Bf5 Rcd8 18.Rad1 b6 19.Qc3 f6 20.b4 cxb4 21.axb4 Qxb4 22.Qxb4 Nxb4 23.fxe5 fxe5 24.Bxe5 Bc4 25.d3 Nxd3 26.Rxd3 Bxd3 27.Bxd3 Rxf1+ 28.Bxf1 a5 29.Bc7 Rd2 30.Bxb6 a4 31.Bc5 Rc2 32.Bb4 Rb2 33.Bd6 Rd2 34.Be7 Ra2 35.Bc4 Ra1+ 36.Kf2 a3 37.Kf3 a2 38.Ke4 Rg1 39.Bxa2 Rxg2 40.Bd5 Rxh2 41.Kf5 Kh7 42.e4 Rf2+ 43.Ke6 g5 44.e5 g4 45.Bh4 Rh2 46.Bg3 Rh3 47.Bf4 Kg7 48.Kd6 Rd3 49.e6 Kf8 50.Bxh6+ Ke8 51.Bf4 g3 52.Bxg3 Rd1 53.Ke5 Rc1 54.Bf4 Re1+ 55.Kf6 Kd8 56.Kf7 Re2 57.Bg5+ Kc7 58.e7 Rf2+ 59.Bf6 1-0

Round 8, June 13
Grischuk, Alexander – Anand, Vishy
C80 Ruy Lopez, open, Bernstein variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Bxe6 Nxe6 12.cxd4 Ncxd4 13.a4 Bb4 14.axb5 Nxf3+ 15.Nxf3 axb5 16.Rxa8 Qxa8 17.Ng5 Nxg5 18.Bxg5 h6 19.e6 fxe6 20.Qh5+ Kf8 21.Bf4 Qd5 22.Qe2 Bd6 23.Rd1 Qc4 24.Qxc4 bxc4 25.Bxd6+ cxd6 26.Rxd6 Ke7 27.Rc6 Rb8 28.Rxc4 Rxb2 29.g3 h5 30.h4 g6 31.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 8, June 13
Armageddon
Grischuk, Alexander – Anand, Vishy
A08 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.O-O Nc6 5.d3 g6 6.c4 Bg7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Bf4 d4 9.Na4 Nd7 10.a3 e5 11.Bg5 Qc7 12.b4 cxb4 13.axb4 Nxb4 14.Be7 a5 15.c5 Re8 16.Bd6 Qd8 17.Nd2 Bf8 18.Nc4 Bxd6 19.Nxd6 Re6 20.f4 Nxc5 21.Nxf7 Kxf7 22.Nxc5 Re7 23.fxe5+ Kg7 24.Qb3 Qc7 25.Rac1 Qxe5 26.Qb2 Bf5 27.Nxb7 Rb8 28.Rc5 Qe3+ 29.Kh1 Bxd3 30.exd3 Nxd3 31.Qc2 Nxc5 32.Qxc5 d3 33.Qd6 Qe5 34.Qa3 d2 35.Nxa5 Ra7 36.Nc6 Rxa3 37.Nxe5 Rd8 38.Rd1 Rc3 39.Ng4 Rc1 40.Nf2 Rf8 0-1

Round 8, June 13
Aronian, Levon – Caruana, Fabiano
A22 English, Bremen, Smyslov System

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e4 Bxc3 5.dxc3 d6 6.Qc2 O-O 7.Nf3 Be6 8.Ng5 Bd7 9.f3 a5 10.Nh3 a4 11.Nf2 Nc6 12.Be2 Na5 13.b4 axb3 14.axb3 Nc6 15.Rb1 Be6 16.Nd1 Ne7 17.O-O c6 18.Bg5 Nd7 19.Qd2 h6 20.Be3 Nf6 21.Nf2 d5 22.Rfd1 Qc7 23.Bc5 b6 24.Bxe7 Qxe7 25.cxd5 cxd5 26.exd5 Bxd5 27.c4 Bc6 28.Qe3 Ra2 29.Ra1 Rxa1 30.Rxa1 Nd7 31.Bd3 f5 32.Bc2 e4 33.fxe4 Ne5 34.Bd1 fxe4 35.Be2 Nf3+ 36.Bxf3 Rxf3 37.Qxb6 Qf6 38.Rd1 e3 39.Ng4 Qe6 40.Qb8+ Kh7 41.Ne5 Qh3 0-1

Round 8, June 13
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – So, Wesley
A45 Trompovsky Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.dxc5 Nc6 6.Bb5 e6 7.c4 dxc4 8.Nd2 Bd7 9.Ngf3 c3 10.bxc3 Bxc5 11.O-O O-O 12.Rb1 Qc7 13.Nd4 Be7 14.Qh5 f5 15.e4 Qf4 16.Rfd1 Qg4 17.Qxg4+ fxg4 18.Nc4 Rfd8 19.Bxc6 bxc6 20.Ne5 c5 21.Ndc6 Bxc6 22.Nxc6 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Bf6 24.e5 Bg5 25.g3 a5 26.h4 Bh6 27.Kf1 Kf8 28.Rd7 Ke8 29.Re7+ Kf8 30.Rc7 Bd2 31.c4 h5 32.Ke2 Bc3 33.Kd3 Be1 34.Ke2 Bc3 35.f3 gxf3+ 36.Kxf3 a4 37.g4 Kg7 38.gxh5 Rh8 39.Kg4 Rg8 40.Rd7 Kh6+ 41.Kf3 Rg1 42.Nd8 Kxh5 43.Rxf7 Bxe5 44.Ra7 Rf1+ 45.Ke2 Rf4 46.Rxa4 Bd4 1/2-1/2

Round 8, June 13
Armageddon
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – So, Wesley

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Nd2 O-O 6.Qf3 c6 7.Bd3 Re8 8.Ne2 Be6 9.g4 Qb6 10.O-O-O Nd7 11.Nf4 Qc7 12.h4 a5 13.Rdg1 a4 14.a3 c5 15.g5 Bxf4 16.exf4 f5 17.Qe3 Rac8 18.c3 cxd4 19.Qxd4 Nb8 20.Kb1 Nc6 21.Qxa4 d4 22.Rc1 Qxf4 23.Rhd1 Qxh4 24.Nf3 Qxf2 25.Nxd4 Nxd4 26.cxd4 Qe3 27.Rxc8 Rxc8 28.d5 Bxd5 29.Bxf5 Be6 30.Qg4 g6 31.Bxe6 Qxe6 32.Qxe6 fxe6 33.Rd7 b5 34.b4 Rf8 35.Rb7 Rf5 36.a4 bxa4 37.b5 Rxg5 38.Ka2 Rg3 1/2-1/2

__________

Nature vs Nurture

Peter – There is a whole discussion in Chat about this. For great players, there is a lot of nature. For just good players, then work trumps natural talent.

Once-in-a-generation players like Vishy, Magnus and Garry, who dominate in competition – then nature trumps nurture.

Jan – I once read the book “Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else” by Geoff Colvin. It didn’t explain everything in chess – it is not always nurture and hard work.

There is Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours rule to get very good at something. I think that has been disproved in some cases.

Chessbomb comments

- In a Magnus interview, he said that he works harder than everyone else

- Didn’t the Polgar sisters’ father prove once and for all that nurture is more important than nature?

- Gladwell argues that opportunity (circumstance) is the largest factor.

Standings after Round Eight

1 Carlsen 13
2 Aronian 9
3-5 Yu, So, Caruana 8.5
6 Ding 8
7-8 MVL, Anand 7.5
9 Mamedyarov 5.5
10 Grischuk 4

Round Nine Pairings

Caruana-Carlsen
Yu-Mamedyarov
Anand-Aronian
Ding-Grischuk
So-MVL

Carlsen has already won the tournament. That makes seven straight:

Norway Chess
Lindores Abbey
Abdijan GCT
Grenke Chess Classic
Shamkir Chess
Wijk aan Zee
World Blitz Ch.

Carlsen ties So’s 67 game streak (2015-2017) by beating Yu.

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 14, 2019

Round Nine

Round 9, June 14
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 e5 7.O-O Qc7 8.a3 Nf6 9.Be3 c4 10.Nc3 cxd3 11.Qxd3 O-O 12.Rfd1 Re8 13.Bc5 Bf8 14.Bxf8 Kxf8 15.Rd2 Be6 16.Rad1 Rad8 17.Qxd8 Rxd8 18.Rxd8+ Kg7 19.R8d3 h6 20.b4 a5 21.Re3 Nd7 22.Na4 b5 23.Nb2 c5 24.c3 c4 25.Rd2 axb4 26.axb4 Nf6 27.Nd1 Bd7 28.Nh2 Qa7 29.h4 Bc6 30.f3 Bd7 31.Nf1 Be6 32.Kh2 Nh5 33.g3 g5 34.hxg5 hxg5 35.Nf2 g4 36.Nxg4 Bxg4 37.fxg4 Nf6 38.Kg2 Nxg4 39.Rf3 Qa8 40.Re2 Kg6 41.Rf5 f6 42.Nh2 Nh6 43.Rf1 Kg7 44.Rd1 Qa3 45.Rd7+ Kg6 46.Nf3 Qxc3 47.Nh4+ Kh5 48.Rh7 Qd3 49.Re1 c3 50.Nf3 Qc2+ 51.Kh3 Kg6 52.Rc7 Nf7 53.Nh4+ Kg7 54.Nf5+ Kg6 55.Nh4+ Kg7 56.Nf5+ 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 14
Armageddon
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
B30 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nd4 5.e5 Nxb5 6.Nxb5 Nd5 7.Ng5 f6 8.Ne4 f5 9.Nbc3 Nxc3 10.Nxc3 d6 11.O-O dxe5 12.Qe2 e6 13.Qxe5 Qd6 14.Qe2 Be7 15.b3 O-O 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Rae1 Rae8 18.Nd1 Bf6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Nb2 Rh6 21.Qe5 Qxe5 22.Rxe5 b6 23.a4 Bc6 24.a5 Rd8 25.axb6 axb6 26.d3 Rd5 27.Nc4 Bb5 28.Rxd5 exd5 29.Ne3 d4 30.Nxf5 Re6 31.Ra1 Kf7 32.f3 Kf6 33.Ng3 Re7 34.Ne4+ Ke6 35.Ra8 Bc6 36.Ra6 Bxe4 37.Rxb6+ Bc6 38.Rxc6+ Kd5 39.Ra6 Re2 40.Ra2 Kc6 41.h4 h5 42.Kh2 Kb6 43.Kg3 Rd2 44.f4 g6 45.Kf3 Kb7 46.b4 c4 47.dxc4 d3 48.Ke3 Rxg2 49.Kxd3 Rg4 50.Ra5 Rxf4 51.Rg5 Rxh4 52.Rxg6 Rh1 1-0

Final position




Round 9, June 14
Anand, Vishy – Aronian, Levon
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 12.Qc2 Nxc3 13.bxc3 f6 14.exf6 Qxf6 15.Be2 Na5 16.O-O Bxf3 17.Bxf3 c6 18.Rae1 Nc4 19.Bc1 Rae8 20.Be2 Re6 21.Bd3 g6 22.Re2 Rxe2 23.Qxe2 Nd6 24.Re1 Re8 25.Qd1 Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 c5 27.dxc5 Bxc5 28.Bd2 b6 29.Qe2 Kf7 30.Be1 Qf4 31.Kf1 Ne4 32.Qg4 Qxg4 33.hxg4 Be7 34.Ke2 Nc5 35.Bc2 Bf6 36.Bd2 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 14
Armageddon
Anand, Vishy – Aronian, Levon
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.O-O a6 7.a4 d6 8.Nbd2 Ba7 9.h3 Kh8 10.b4 Ng8 11.Bb3 f5 12.b5 axb5 13.axb5 Bxf2+ 14.Rxf2 Rxa1 15.bxc6 bxc6 16.Qc2 Qe7 17.Ba2 Be6 18.Nb3 Bxb3 19.Bxb3 f4 20.Kh2 Nf6 21.Bb2 Raa8 22.d4 exd4 23.Re2 d3 24.Qxd3 Nd7 25.c4 Rab8 26.Qc3 Qf6 27.Qc1 Qe6 28.Ba4 Nc5 29.Bxc6 Rb6 30.Bd5 Qg6 31.Bd4 c6 32.Bxc5 dxc5 33.Qe1 cxd5 34.cxd5 h6 35.e5 Rb3 36.e6 Rd3 37.Ne5 Qg3+ 38.Kg1 Rxd5 39.Qxg3 fxg3 40.Ng6+ Kh7 41.Nxf8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 14
So, Wesley – MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qc7 7.e4 e6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Nd2 O-O 10.Qf3 Rd8 11.Qg3 Bd6 12.f4 b6 13.Qf2 Bf8 14.Be2 Ba6 15.O-O Bxe2 16.Qxe2 Nc6 17.f5 exf5 18.exf5 Re8 19.Rae1 Rad8 20.Nf3 f6 21.Qc4+ Qf7 22.Qxf7+ Kxf7 23.Bf4 Ne7 24.g4 Nd5 25.Bd2 c4 26.Rxe8 Bc5+ 27.Kg2 Rxe8 28.Re1 Be3 29.a4 a6 30.Bxe3 Nxe3+ 31.Kg3 h5 32.gxh5 Re7 33.Kf2 Nxf5 34.Rd1 Rb7 35.Rd5 Ke6 36.Rd8 b5 37.Ra8 bxa4 38.Rxa6+ Kf7 39.Rxa4 Rxb2+ 40.Ke1 Ne3 41.Nd2 Rc2 42.Nxc4 Nf5 43.Ra5 Rxc3 44.Rxf5 Rxc4 45.Kf2 Rc3 46.Ra5 Rh3 47.Kg2 Re3 48.Ra8 Re5 49.Rh8 Re8 50.Rxe8 Kxe8 51.Kf3 Kf7 52.Ke4 Kg8 53.Kf5 Kh7 54.Kf4 Kh6 55.Kg4 f5+ 56.Kxf5 Kxh5 57.h4 Kxh4 58.Kg6 Kg4 59.Kxg7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 14
Armageddon
So, Wesley – MVL
E61 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 d6 6.Nc3 Bf5 7.O-O a5 8.Nd2 e5 9.d5 Na6 10.e4 Bd7 11.a3 Nc5 12.b3 c6 13.Rb1 cxd5 14.cxd5 Qc7 15.Re1 Rfc8 16.f3 Bh6 17.Kh1 a4 18.b4 Bxd2 19.Bxd2 Nb3 20.Bg5 Nh5 21.Na2 Qc2 22.Qxc2 Rxc2 23.Nc1 f6 24.Nxb3 fxg5 25.Na5 Nf4 26.Bf1 Rac8 27.Nxb7 R8c3 28.Nxd6 Rxa3 29.b5 Rb3 30.b6 Rcb2 31.Rxb2 Rxb2 32.b7 Rb6 33.g3 Nh3 34.Rc1 Kf8 35.Rc8+ Ke7 36.b8=Q Rxb8 37.Rxb8 Kxd6 38.Rd8 Kc7 39.Rxd7+ Kxd7 40.Bxh3+ g4 41.Bf1 a3 42.Bc4 gxf3 43.Kg1 g5 44.g4 Kd6 45.Kf2 1-0

Round 9, June 14
Yu, Yangyi – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 O-O 9.O-O Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.Bg5 Qd6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Ne4 Qxb2 14.dxc6 Bg6 15.Kh1 Qd4 16.Qe2 Rfe8 17.Rad1 Qe5 18.Bc4 Rad8 19.Rd7 Rxd7 20.cxd7 Rd8 21.Rd1 Kf8 22.c3 Ba3 23.Rd5 Qe7 24.Bb5 Bd6 25.c4 a6 26.Ba4 Bxe4 27.Qxe4 Qxe4 28.fxe4 f6 29.Ra5 Rb8 30.g3 1-0

Could White promote to a knight?

(30...Be7 31.Rxa6 Rb1+ 32.Kg2 Rb2+ 33.Kf3 Rxa2 34.Ra8+ Kf7 35.d8=N+ Bxd8 36.Be8+ Kxe8 37.Rxa2 Be7 38.Ra8+ Kf7 39.Kg4 Kg6 40.Ra5 Bd6 41.Rd5 Be5 42.c5 h5+ 43.Kh4 Kh6 44.c6 g6 45.Rd7 g5+ 46.Kh3)

Round 9, June 14
Ding, Liren – Grischuk, Alexander
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nd2 Bg7 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.Ngf3 a5 9.O-O a4 10.bxa4 Qa5 11.Qb3 Qxa4 12.Qxb7 Nbd7 13.Qb3 Rfb8 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Qxa4 Rxa4 16.Bc3 e6 17.h3 h5 18.Nh4 Rba8 19.Nxf5 gxf5 20.Rfb1 Rxa2 21.Rxa2 Rxa2 22.Rb2 Rxb2 23.Bxb2 Ne4 24.Nxe4 fxe4 25.e3 Kh7 26.Bf1 Bf8 27.Bc3 Kg6 28.Ba5 Be7 29.Bc7 Nf6 30.Bb5 Nh7 31.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 14
Armageddon
Ding, Liren – Grischuk, Alexander
D78 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 dxc4 8.bxc4 c5 9.Na3 Bf5 10.Bb2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Be4 12.f3 Bc6 13.e4 Qb6 14.Qb3 Nxe4 15.Rad1 Nc5 16.Qxb6 axb6 17.Nab5 Rxa2 18.Bc3 Nbd7 19.Rf2 Rxf2 20.Kxf2 Ra8 21.Rd2 Bxb5 22.cxb5 Nf6 23.Ne2 e6 24.Bd4 Nd5 25.f4 Bxd4+ 26.Rxd4 Ra2 27.Bxd5 exd5 28.Rxd5 Rb2 29.Kf3 Rxb5 30.f5 Rb3+ 31.Kg4 Rd3 32.Re5 Kg7 33.Nf4 Rd6 34.Re7 Kf6 35.Rc7 gxf5+ 36.Kh5 Ne6 37.Rxb7 Nxf4+ 38.gxf4 Kg7 39.Kg5 Rg6+ 40.Kxf5 Rh6 41.Kg5 Rxh2 42.Rxb6 Rg2+ 43.Kf5 Rg6 1/2-1/2

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Altibox Norway 2019

June 14, 2019

Round Nine (continued)

Standings after Round 9

1 Carlsen 13.5
2-3 Aronian, Yu Yangyi 105
4-5 Caruana, So 10
6 Ding 8.5
7-8 MVL, Anand 8
9-10 Mamedyarov, Grischuk 5.5

How accurately did the new format reflect that accomplishments of the players?

Well, Peter Svidler actually put together an Excel program where the weightings instead of win, draw, Armageddon of 2/0.5/1 are 4/2.5/1.5

It can be seen on his twitter page:

https://twitter.com/polborta?ref_src...Ctwgr%5Eauthor

By the way, his twitter page is quite entertaining. Where else could you find a line-for-line perfect anagram of Hamlet’s soliloquy, preserving the original’s metre, a head and shoulders shot of Radio Jan and a clip of a fox dancing around a bug in the sand?

The guys kidded Lawrence Trent who spent the day travelling to Berlin and, presumably, Jan was going to meet him or avoid him – it was hard to know which.

Jan said he was going to talk about the NBA Final yesterday and then reneged on it, so I asked him in the Chat to talk about his favorite sport. He said congratulations to the Raptors because they were the better team. He had bet on the Warriors, who were doing well until the injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, injuries which might keep them from playing for a year while they are in rehab.

The Raptors didn’t pick up the option on Dwane Casey and traded DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poelti to the San Antonio Spurs for Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard – a bold move.

___________

Chat Comments

- Kudos to Fabi for beating Magnus!

- I for one welcome our new chess overlord, Fabiano Caruana

- Thanks for more great commentary, Jan and Peter!

- I can finally study for my last exam

- Not much harm done for Magnus – losing 2.5 Elo and winning the 7^thin a row

- Great tourney, Jan and Peter made it extraordinary. Thank you guys

- I count that there were 34 Armageddon games

- Yeah, Jan and Peter are the modern Waldorf and Stadler

(I didn’t know who these were but a quick google to find that they are a pair of Muppet characters known for their cantankerous opinions and a shared penchant for heckling)

- Jan is going to Berlin to hunt down Lawrence

- One more anecdote about Chuchelov – I couldn’t find any publications by him. Are there some and I just couldn’t find them?

- Peter, how about a short video of your 1999 Dos Hermanas game against Vishy? The spoiled endgame study is a treat.

- Jan saw the movie MIB last night, and he might have watched the NBA Final. I’d be tired too.

- He didn’t watch it live; he saw it on demand

- hopefully the organizers ditch this time control next year