Norway Chess 2013

The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament is one of the strongest super tournaments ever and is held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in several different locations in the Stavanger-region of Norway: Quality Residence Hotel, Sandnes (six rounds); Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger (one round); Fabrikkhallen til Aarbakke AS, Bryne (one round); Flor & Fjære, Sør-Hidle (one round).

Tourney structure: nine-round round robin Time control: 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the first move Game start: daily 15:00 (server time), last round 12:00 Rest day: 11th May and 16th May Rules & Tiebreak Rules: The “Sofia rules” will apply. A tie for first place will be decided by a blitz match.

Round five

It is hard to imagine a more dire situation for someone still dreaming of an ever more elusive first, than trailing the leader by a full two pointswith a mere five rounds to go. This is the situation Magnus Carlsen was in, with Sergey Karjakin speeding away with a sumptuous 4.0/4 while he was only on 50%. The fifth round game between the two was crucial, since anything less than a win and he knew he would have to readjust his sights for second. His fans are legion as he started with difficult times and a genuine disadvantage he described as “suffering”.

With the luck of the champions, Magnus Carlsen came out on top against Karjakin

Sergey Karjakin had to be growing in increased excitement as the possibility of crowning his run with a win over the world number one became a real prospect, and it was precisely this that gave Carlsen his lifeline. He himself admitted in the press conference that had Sergey played with no ambitions and stuck to containing him he would not have been able to do anything. Magnus agreed the Russian was not wrong to feel his ambitions might be rewarded, but this willingness to fight gave him hope that he might get his chance as well. Whether due to excitement or just some mental lapse during his calculations, something went wrong in Karjakin’s play and a magnificent 33…Nxf4! had to have been a nasty shock. It all went downhill, and with such a show of fireworks, perhaps he will be hired for the New Year’s display.

Magnus Carlsen played 33...Nxf4 with the unspoken words, "You can't touch this."

GM Gilberto Milos annotates Karjakin-Carlsen:

GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Karjakin vs Carlsen 

Although crucial to keep the interest of the top spot alive, it must be pointed out that Karjakin still leads with 4.0/5 and a full point ahead of Carlsen and Nakamura, both on 3.0/5. With only four rounds left, the Russian is still a significant favorite.

Magnus Carlsen analyzes his game against Sergey Karjakin

When told that several players, such as Nakamura, were rooting for a win by Carlsen so as to keep their chances alive as well, Magnus chuckled, “I am glad to be of service.”

Hikaru Nakamura also played a fine game against Veselin Topalov, and seemed to be steering for a very favorable endgame when he stumbled with 19.a3 and the equilibrium was restored. The American shares second with Carlsen at 3.0/5.

Hikaru Nakamura tried hard to break Veseiln Topalov, but to no avail

It is considered common knowledge that last minute cramming for an exam is the worst possible approach and to be avoided at all cost, yet it is a lesson Peter Svidler has apparently never fully digested as he admitted to doing much of his preparation right before the games of the day. Today it turned out to save him as he refuted his preparation after checking a gut feeling he had. The downside is that he had nothing strong to face Anand and the latter equalized quickly with great ease, and they drew. Aronian and Radjabov played a Slav Exchange, but very little took place and the draw was never in doubt.

The second surprise result, to the delight of the Norweigians, was Jon Hammer’s win over Wang Hao after a topsy-turvy game where the edge swung all over the place. The time control was decisive as the Chinese player committed a fatal oversight on move 40, after which Hammer never gave him a chance. This turn came about as Carlsen was analyzing his own win, and he generously commented that it was a pleasure to see both Norwegians win their games after they had both failed to win a game in the first four rounds. Hammer had sworn he was going to play his game in the tournament and planned to chalk up at least one win before the tournament’s end. His wish has been fulfilled.

Jon Hammer fulfilled his promise to not leave the tournament
with his sword unblooded

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Pictures by the official site

Standings after five rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Pairings and results 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.