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Photos by Fiona Steil-Antoni (FSA) and Joachim Steinbru (JS)
"Hi, Sagar! Thank you for your message. Busy in preparing things for Norway. Interviews after the event. Hope you understand." This was Hari's reply when I asked him for an interview prior to the Altibox Norway Chess 2016. One could literally sense the seriousness with which the Indian grandmaster was preparing for the tournament. Of course, I didn't disturb Hari with the questions but I made sure that I get to ask him loads of them after the event was finally done! And so, once the nine rounds were over, I contacted him and the soft-spoken grandmaster from Guntur, who now spends most of his time in Serbia, gladly answered all the questions.
The last time we saw Harikrishna in action in a super elite Round Robin event was in Biel in July 2014. It had been almost one year and nine months since the Indian participated in a tournament of this calibre. "I played two Bundesliga games in March after the Mind games in China. So I had time to prepare for Norway. I won't be able to give away the whole process, but general training and focusing on opponent’s openings were some of the areas I concentrated on."
Cool, calm and composed. Those three words describe him the best! (FSA)
The blitz tournament determined the number of whites or blacks that a player received. Harikrishna finished in the bottom half and hence received four whites. Did that fact, along with facing Magnus Carlsen in the first round disturb him? "I wasn't really bothered with the pairings. Some players prefer to have five whites, but for me, it did not matter much that I got four. I forgot my preparation against Magnus after which I spent a lot of time in order to find a way to continue. For me, I have nine opponents. For me, my playing strength and focus during a game is more important than whom I am playing."
Carlsen - Harikrishna, Round one
In a well known opening position were both 8...Bb7 and 8...cxd4 look fine, Hari played 8...0-0 and after 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.Bg2 Magnus had a pleasant edge
A loss in the first round can often unsettle you. But strong players know that such things are part and parcel of a chess professional's life. "I did not think much about the loss. I just prepared for my next round game and I think with each game my play got better!"
A super stylish Hari about to enter the playing hall (FSA)
After the loss to Magnus, Harikrishna consolidated himself in the tournament with two draws against Pavel Eljanov and Veselin Topalov. In the fourth round he faced the last seed of the event Nils Grandelius. Playing his favourite French Defence, the Indian got a very promising position out of the opening after his opponent went on a pawn grabbing journey with his queen. Slowly and steadily he increased the pressure and very soon had a completely winning position.
Grandelius - Harikrishna
Harikrishna played 25...Rg8 at this point which gave his opponent a chance to break free with 26.g4! Instead he could have continued 25...Qb6 followed by doubling on the d-file which would have given him a close to winning position.
"It was not my preparation to give up a pawn in the opening against Grandelius. I found this idea over the board. I felt that Black has excellent compensation for the pawn. I could have played better and put more pressure. But I didn't have much time to analyze these games in detail and in such events you are always thinking about your next encounter."
Hari has something to show Nils on his mobile phone! (JS)
The rest day after four rounds was filled with a lot of different sports activities. One of things that the players indulged in was the "Mindball Game." Mindball Game is contained in a table. On the table top, a ball is moving back and forth during the game. The players wear headbands with electrodes which are connected to the table. The electrodes are wired up to a biosensor system. The system that is used to measure the body's biological signals registers the electrical activity in the brain - so called EEG (Electroencephalogram is an electrical waveform that is recorded from the brain by using electrodes placed on the head).
The players and the audience can follow the players’ mental process during a game as the players’ brain activity is presented graphically if a monitor is attached to the game table. Mindball Game is an exciting and social game where the audience can follow the match by watching the ball on the table, the graphics and the players, thus giving biofeedback (neurofeedback) to the players.
The World Champion took part in this game but as you can see from the white ball, he is clearly going down (FSA)
Harikrishna turned out to be the strongest Mindball Game player amongst elite! (FSA)
The last few seconds of the video shows Hari winning the finals against MVL
"It was my first time that I played the Mindball Game. In fact, it was a long struggle and MVL fought back. The video which you saw was just the final part! So it appears that I won very easily!" It seemed that the rest day had quite a positive effect on Harikrishna and in the fifth and sixth rounds he scored two consecutive victories. The first was against the man who had postponed his wedding to play in the Norway Chess 2016: Li Chao. " Li Chao came up with an interesting idea by closing e5 and h5. At first, I thought White should be much better. After few minutes of thought, I understood that the position is quite unclear. I think h4 after Nh7 is the best move for White as I mentioned in press conference. What I played in the game is interesting too." This battle against Li Chao was his favourite game from the tournament.
Hari and Li Chao are good friends off the board, but on the board they played like mortal enemies! (FSA)
Next up was the Anish Giri challenge. The Dutch grandmaster had hardly lost a game in the past year or so as White prior to the Norway Chess 2016 - the Semi-final game against Svidler from World Cup 2015 is one of those lone occurences that comes to mind. But in Stavanger, Giri had come with an intention to play aggressive chess. Against Harikrishna, he erred in a very crucial position:
Anish Giri - Harikrishna, round six
"15.fxe6, I felt was a mistake. I don't think it is losing after this. However, White's counter chances on king side are stopped. 15.f6 is critical and unclear." Once White's attack on the kingside fizzled out, Harikrishna took over and won a fine game. From being one of the tailenders he had propelled himself to the joint second spot with 3.5/6. "Obviously, I was pleased with my play. However, I did not think it is so important to feel happy about the victories when three strong opponents (MVL, Kramnik and Aronian) are waiting for you in the next rounds."
Beating the super solid Anish Giri with the black pieces is never easy (JS)
As there were no activities, the second rest day was spent in quite a relaxed manner. The nice and sunny climate motivated Hari and his second Markus Ragger to go out on a long walk. How did Hari decide on Markus Ragger as his second in the event? "He is my team mate in Solingen which I joined for the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season. We interacted with each other during the Bundesliga and that's how Markus joined me in Norway. I must say that he did an excellent job."
Spot the two seconds! (FSA)
"My games against MVL are always interesting. In the seventh round I missed some chances and later on had to play accurately to make a draw." With 4.0/7, a strong finish was expected but his ambitions were cut short when he lost to Kramnik in the eighth round. "Against Vladimir, it seemed like Black's position is fine out of the opening. However, there are many points to be solved and I missed the Ng5 move. After which it went downhill. There were some suggestions by the computer with which I could have fought on. But during the game it is never possible to calculate as much as the computer does!"
Vladimir Kramnik - Harikrishna , Round 8
17.Ng5! is the move that threw Hari off balance
It's never easy to face the big Vlad! (JS)
A tame draw against Aronian ensued in the last round. Harikrishna ended the tournament with 4.5/9 and a 50% score. "There will always be ifs and buts! I am satisfied with my play. I am sure that I need to work and improve on some things. I will get a clearer idea after I analyze in detail, but I am not going to share them with you!"
Slowly and steadily Hari has been climbing the Elo ladder and now has a rating of 2764, just six Elo points away from Vishy Anand. Is this race against Anand something that motivates him to perform better? "I understand that chess lovers from India are excited about it. In a way, this race is good if it attracts more people to the game of chess in the country! As for me personally, this is not the most important thing."
Alone at the top for nearly three decades, Anand finally has some Indian company!
This was not the last super tournament that sees Hari in action. Next up he will be participating in Shamkir and will follow that up with Danzhou. And what about joining team India for the 2016 Olympiad in Baku? "It's too early to discuss", is Hari's non-committal reply!
ChessBase wishes Harikrishna the best for his future events and we hope that he soon surpasses the magical 2800 Elo figure.
Below are nine annotated games of Harikrishna from the Norway Chess 2016. Select the games from the dropdown menu:
