The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament will be one of the strongest super tournaments ever and will be held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in several different locations in the Stavanger-region of Norway:

• Quality Residence Hotel, Sandnes (5 rounds)
• Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger (1 round)
• Fabrikkhallen til Aarbakke AS, Bryne (1 round)
• Flor & Fjære, Sør-Hidle (1 round)

Click to explore on Google Maps

By using a variety of historical locations the organisers wish to get maximum attention for the Stavanger region, which has already expressed an interest in repeating the tournament in the district.

Blitz tournament

The elite Norway Chess tournament is the last event on the calendar which will bring together Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand before their title clash, and for this reason alone promises to be an event not to be missed. Still, to focus solely on the two would be remiss of the prestigious company they are in, including Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, Veselin Topalov, Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler (replacing Vladimir Kramnik), Teimour Radjabov, Wang Hao, and Jon Hammer.

With the world number one on his home turf, the media was in ecstasy

The pairings were decided by a round-robin blitz tournament, played at three minutes plus two seconds increment, with more than just prize money or prestige on the line. With nine rounds, it means that the number of whites and blacks will inevitably be uneven, and the top five players would be the beneficiaries of five whites instead of five blacks.

Although more a sporting question than a pressing one, the blitz tournament does permit the players to exercise some psychological warfare over their opponents the day before the real event starts.

For viewers, it was also a way to see what organizers had in store for them technologically, and it did not disappoint. The live games page not only includes the respective games, but live grandmaster commentary, on-the-fly engine analysis by Houdini 3, and no fewer than eight cameras to choose from. The eight cameras, chosen in a drop-down menu, allow the viewer to choose between specific boards, the commentators, and even a general overview.

The website is a model of how a top tournament can be presented online

Live streaming commentary for viewers

It is worth noting that Playchess will provide interactive commentary (i.e. ask the grandmasters questions) every day for Premium subscribers (a mere 17 Euros per year over the Basic subscription), not to mention the ability to watch all the boards at once, see the live book, and chat with others about the games in progress.

Playchess commentary schedule

The blitz tournament was a fun, albeit strange affair regarding the results. Teimour Radjabov seemed poised to run away with the event after an impeccable 4.0/4 start, but by round nine was on a meager 4.5/8, and sixth place. To break into the top five, he not only needed to win, but benefit from a slip from one of the higher-placed rivals. No such luck however.

Another surprising result was the absolute disaster by Veselin Topalov, fresh from his fantastic victory at Zug, who only managed to scrounge up 1.0/9 by the end. The top five were a photo finish with all the players taking the lead at different times. Anand’s fans will be glad to see that the world champion seemed to have eaten tiger today, Bengal tiger, and was in the lead several times and seemed to be in good form.

While Topalov seemed unable to get into gear for the blitz, Anand came in great form

The last round encounter between Magnus Carlsen and sole leader Peter Svidler was crucial, and once again the two met for a decisive final fight. With six at the top, there was a distinct risk the world number one might not break into that group, but it was a last-minute blunder by Svidler that ensured his spot. In the end, Sergey Karjakin pipped the others by half a point with 6.5/9.

A spectacular queen sac by Magnus Carlsen:

It was another last-round clash between Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler

Though many came close, Sergey Karjakin was the sole winner

Final standings

(Tiebreak for places 2-4: Carlsen on most games with black pieces, Anand with two victories with black, and Nakamura one victory with black)

Pairings of Norway Chess 2013

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.