Tag: NorwayChess2016

The fourth edition of the Norway Chess Tournament was won by the local hero – World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen scored a total of 6 points from a possible 9 en route to his maiden Norway Chess title.

Going into the 9th and final round of the tournament, Carlsen and Aronian were tied for the first place with 5 points each. However, Carlsen succeeded in overcoming Eljanov in his final round game whilst Aronian could only manage a draw against Harikrishna. As such, Aronian had to settle for the runners-up spot.

Meanwhile, Harikrishna, the lone Indian in the fray, had a roller-coaster event and finished with a 50% score.

Round 9 Results

Carlsen	1-0	Eljanov
Harikrishna	½-½	Aronian
Grandelius	½-½	Vachier-Lagrave
Topalov	½-½	Kramnik
Li Chao	½-½	Giri

Final Standings

Rank	Name	Rating	Score
1	Carlsen	2851	6
2	Aronian	2784	5.5
3	Vachier-Lagrave	2788	5
4	Topalov	2754	5
5	Kramnik	2801	5
6	Li Chao	2755	4.5
7	Harikrishna	2763	4.5
8	Giri	2790	4
9	Eljanov	2765	3
10	Grandelius	2649	2.5

The 8th and penultimate round of the Norway Chess Tournament 2016 led to a major change at the top of the rankings table. World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who was a whole point ahead of his nearest rivals, crucially went down against Levon Aronian. Courtesy of this result, Aronian and Carlsen go into the final round of the tournament as joint leaders.

Aronian’s victory over Carlsen was nothing but emphatic. Almost immediately after the opening, Carlsen went astray with a string of small inaccuracies. While Aronian was already firmly in the driver’s seat, Carlsen made a huge mistake on move 26, helping Aronian round off the matters pretty quickly.

Indian ace Pentala Harikrishna also had a tough day at the office. Hari, playing black, was unable to pose any problems for Kramnik, with the latter going on to win the game in his trademark positional style.

Meanwhile, Li Chao beat Pavel Eljanov en route to his first victory of the tournament.

Results

Aronian	1-0	Carlsen
Kramnik	1-0	Harikrishna
Eljanov	0-1	Li Chao
Vachier-Lagrave	½-½	Topalov
Giri	½-½	Grandelius

World Champion Magnus Carlsen scored an emphatic victory over World No.2 Vladimir Kramnik in the 7th round of the Norway Chess Tournament 2016. With this crucial win, Carlsen has taken a commanding one point lead over his nearest rivals.

The Carlsen-Kramnik battle took off with the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Although the queens were swapped off pretty early, the game followed an interesting course, eventually leading to a complicated queenless middlegame. Around the 20 moves mark, Kramnik lost his way and made a couple of grave errors. Carlsen duly capitalized on these errors and went on to win a very convincing game.

In the only other decisive game of the day, Levon Aronian overcame Pavel Eljanov. This was Aronian’s first win of the tournament after having drawn his first six games.

Results

Carlsen	1-0	Kramnik
Aronian	1-0	Eljanov
Harikrishna	½-½	Vachier-Lagrave
Topalov	½-½	Giri
Grandelius	½-½	Li Chao

Pentala Harikrishna of India raced to his second consecutive win at the Norway Chess Tournament 2016 by outplaying the super-solid Anish Giri. Hari’s decision to opt for the French Defence in reply to Giri’s 1.e4 worked wonders as the Indian Grandmaster emerged with the more comfortable position out of the opening. The matters further worsened for Giri courtesy of his 26th move, which helped Hari secure the superior endgame. Sidestepping any possible tricks, Hari went on to convert his endgame advantage into a full point.

The other decisive game of the day was played between Pavel Eljanov and Nils Grandelius. The former scored his first victory of the tournament after Grandelius committed a huge blunder on move 35.

Meanwhile, World Champion Magnus Carlsen’s tough defence helped him escape with a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. While Carlsen is currently in sole lead with 4/6, as many as 4 players – Vachier-Lagrave, Topalov, Harikrishna and Kramnik – are only half a point behind him.

Results

Giri	0-1	Harikrishna
Vachier-Lagrave	½-½	Carlsen
Eljanov	1-0	Grandelius
Kramnik	½-½	Aronian
Li Chao	½-½	Topalov

Pentala Harikrishna and Veselin Topalov, who were having a quiet Norway Chess 2016 so far, scored their first wins by overcoming Li Chao and Nils Grandelius respectively. While Harikrishna’s win helped him get back to 50%, Topalov galloped to the joint-second spot on the leaderboard.

Harikrishna’s victory was an enterprising one. Just when it seemed Li Chao’s position was getting comfortable, Hari unleashed a couple of deadly blows on moves 24 and 25. After this, Li Chao found the going tough, with the game ending in a resounding victory for Hari on move 42.

Meanwhile, the central game of the day between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri ended in a draw. As such, Carlsen is still in sole lead with 3.5/5, half a point ahead of Vachier-Lagrave, Topalov and Kramnik.

Harikrishna	1-0	Li Chao
Topalov	1-0	Grandelius
Carlsen	½-½	Giri
Kramnik	½-½	Eljanov
Aronian	½-½	Vachier-Lagrave

The 4th edition of Altibox Norway Chess Tournament commenced on the 19th of April, 2016. A total of 10 players form the field of this elite event, which boasts of an average rating of 2770. Local star and World Champion Magnus Carlsen is the top seed.

Round 1

The tournament took off on an exciting note with 3 of the 5 encounters ending decisively. Magnus Carlsen registered a thumping win over Pentala Harikrishna while Kramnik and Giri also made a fine start to the event with victories over Grandelius and Eljanov respectively.

Round 2

The second round was a relatively subdued affair. The only decisive game of the day was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s victory over Anish Giri with the black pieces. MVL, playing his favourite Najdorf Sicilian, overcame Giri convincingly in a mere 28 moves. Meanwhile,the Topalov-Carlsen battle resulted in a draw.

Round 3

The third round once again saw four draws and a solitary victory. Grandelius’s bold opening play against the World Champion backfired as Magnus Carlsen went on to win the game with relative ease.

As such, Magnus Carlsen is currently in lead with 2.5/3, half a point ahead of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vladimir Kramnik. Indian hope Harikrishna has had a quiet tournament so far with a total score of 1/3.