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.