6/16/2015 – One could not ask for a better start to the Grand Chess Tour! In the first round in Norway we had it all: Giri demolished Grischuk with a fantastic attack using his opponent's time pressure, MVL's precision overcame Aronian's tenacious defense, Nakamura outplayed Hammer, Caruana held Anand to a draw with great preparation... while the reigning World Chess Champion lost on time!
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The third edition of the Norway Chess tournament runs from June 15th to June 26th, and will mostly be played in Stavanger, Norway. As in previous years, the drawing of lots was determined by the blitz tournament taking place the day before the official start. Not only one of the strongest tournaments in the World, Norway 2015 is also part of the 2015 Grand Chess Tour, which includes the Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic later this year.
Round 1 - 16.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Giri Anish
2773
1-0
Grischuk Alexander
2781
Anand Viswanathan
2804
½-½
Caruana Fabiano
2805
Carlsen Magnus
2876
0-1
Topalov Veselin
2798
Nakamura Hikaru
2802
1-0
Hammer Jon Ludvig
2677
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2723
1-0
Aronian Levon
2780
Daniel King shows the highlights of round 1
What an exciting start for the tournament, it simply had it all! Solid defenses, great attacks, time pressures, blunders... and even a World Champion losing on time!
Live broadcast for Norway 2015 on www.grandchesstour.com
Giri, Anish 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander
A nice start for Giri, and a disappointing time management from Grischuk:
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1.e4
1,186,706
54%
2421
---
1.d4
960,560
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,913
56%
2440
---
1.c4
185,115
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,902
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,609
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,959
48%
2376
---
1.Nc3
3,919
50%
2383
---
1.b4
1,791
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,252
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
93
66%
2506
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.Nf3c52.e4!?Not the most common of transposition - a normal Sicilian is on the board but definitely not on the normal move order!Nc63.Bb5g6 The Rossolimmo Sicilian is a popular way of preventing the Sveshnikov, a high chance that Grischuk would have played that against 3.d4.4.Bxc6bxc64...dxc6is the "safer" way but both captures on c6 are possible.5.0-0Bg76.Re1Rb8Putting the rook in the half-open file makes sense...7.h3!?Qc7 However I am not so fond of this move. I keep wondering why the queen is on c7, and later (and more importantly) we will see how the knight actually wanted to go to this square.8.c3Nf6A common idea in the structure, but the knight gets kicked around too much.8...e5!?9.e5Nd510.c4Nb410...Nf411.d4Ne612.d5seems to leave Black completely squashed.11.d4!cxd412.a3Na613.Qxd4At this point Giri has a very comfortable position. His extra space more than outweighs the pair of bishops, not to mention that Black is lagging on development and he has to be careful that his king does not get mated after 0-0 on the dark squares.0-014.c5!Gaining more space and making it difficult to find a move for Grischuk. So difficult, in fact, that Grischuk was already in time pressure by this point! With only 14 moves played he had about 25 minutes left, not the situation anyone would like to be in.d6?!Perhaps panic, perhaps a miscalculation. In either case this move simply gives Giri a great initiative.15.cxd6exd616.exd6Qb617.Qh4Nc5 Perhaps Grischuk was counting on some activity to compensat efor the pawn, but in excellent fashion the Dutch player gives back the pawn an obtains a strong attack.18.Be3!Qxb219.Nbd2Nd720.Rab1!Qxa321.Rxb8Nxb8The poor knight has moved 7 (!) times in the opening, and although Black is now up a pawn instead of down material, his kingside is difficult to defend. The onslaught continues22.Bh6Nd7!The best way of organizing a defense. The knight must hurry up and defend h7.23.Bxg7?!A little sloppy.23.Ng5Nf624.Nde4Qa5!25.Rd1!with a huge initiative for White.23...Kxg724.Qd4+Kg825.Ne4Re826.Kh2A cheeky move, and for practical reasons a good one, though the objective evaluation is that this is too slow. Giri was mostly putting pressure on Grischuk's clock that was ticking down.a5??The losing move.26...Qa5!Returning with the queen to the defense was paramount. Here it is impossible for Giri to organize something decisive! There are insufficient pieces to create threats once the queen returns.27.Nfg5!Very strong. Now there is no way of avoiding the move Nf6+.Rf827...h628.Nf6+Nxf629.Qxf6is decisive, with threats on e8 and f7Rf830.Nxf7+-28.Nf6+Nxf629.Qxf6Re8 is now a threat.Qa230.Re730.Nxh7!Kxh731.Re4was also lights out.30...Bf531.Nxf7?!good enough, but the easier variation was31.d7Qxf232.d8Qand Black runs out of checks soon32.Ne6!is a fancy way of winning.31...Qxf732.Rxf7Rxf733.Qd8+Kg734.Qxa5Bd735.Qc5Rf536.Qa7Rf737.g4 Unfortunately for Grischuk he doesn't have any real hope of setting up a fortress. His darksquare are too weak.Kf638.f4Kg739.Kg3Kg840.Qe3Kg741.h4Kg842.Qe5White's next moves are h5-h6 and Black will be zugzwanged. A nice game from Giri, even though the finish might have not been the most precise.1–0
Anand, Viswanathan ½-½ Caruana Fabiano
A very successful opening preparation from Caruana. As he had mentioned in the confession box, it was clear that he had prepared the entire variation. Anand had a chance to go for the following perpetual:
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10.h3Bh511.Qe211.e5!?seems like the test of fire, but Black has a clever resource.Rxe512.g4Nxg4otherwise e5 is hanging.13.Nxe5Qh4! And White can do nothing to prevent the perpetual check on g3 and h3 since the f2 pawn is pinned by the c5 bishop.11...dxe412.Nxe4h613.Be3Nxe414.dxe4Rxe415.Qd3Bxf316.Qxd8+Rxd817.Bxc5Be218.Rfc1a5With eveerything traded off and the opposite colored bishops on the board it is clear that this will be a draw, which it was on move 37.½–½
A solid draw that Caruana can be happy about. He pointed out that he might be the only player with Black to hold the draw, but we can only guess he did not expect what happened in the Carlsen game!
Carlsen, Magnus 0-1 Topalov, Veselin
The news of the day! Carlsen was doing his Carlsen thing: he played a relatively solid opening, tried to put on some pressure, created an advantage out of nothing, tortured his opponent in the endgame... and Topalov cracked. The final position is lost for Black:
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60.Qg5+After a long defence, Topalov can resist no more. The combined threats of the queen and bishop are decisive.Kf7And White lost! He believed to have an extra 15 minutes given to him on move 60, but they simply did not exist.60...Kf761.Bc4+Ke862.Bb5+Kf763.Qf5+Ke764.Qd7+Kf665.Qd8+Kg766.Qe7+Kh667.Qf6+Kh768.Bd3+Kg869.Bc4+Kh770.Qf7+Kh671.Qf8+Kg572.Qg7+Kf573.g4+Ke474.Qg6+Ke575.Qe6+Kd476.Qb6+And Black loses. It might seem like a long sequence, but White should somehow stumble upon it when he sees that other moves are not winning.0–1
However, the unthinkable happened... Carlsen flagged! Thinking that he had an extra 15 minutes on move 60 cost him the game, as there was no time addition. Instead he simply lost when he overstepped the time limit. Heartbreaking, as he is completely winning.
The arbiter informing Carlsen that the game is over!
The arbiter announced the time control just before the start of the game... but Carlsen arrived late! He did not hear the announcement, mistook the time control and simply lost.
Nakamura, Hikaru 1-0 Hammer, Jan Ludvig
Nakamura played a strange opening, obtained a position that was perhaps not too comfortable, but soundly outplayed his opponent. Hammer seemed at a loss on where to put his pieces, and they kept jumping positions while his queen felt uncomfortable. Nakamura upped the pressure and waited for the Norwegian player to make a blunder, which he did. The final important stroke of the game was:
Nakamura won in Nakamura style: complications, confused opponent, and a strike when the iron is hot
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38.Rf1Ne4?38...Bb3!39.Nxe4!Qxe440.Qxe4Bxe441.Be3!This is the key move. When Nakamura saw this he felt confident in a victory. The point is that the threat of Bc5 is too strong, simply destroying the blockade of the e6 pawn.axb441...Rc842.Bc5Rc743.Bb6costs Black a pawn, and it doesn't improve his position much, but it was his best bet.42.Bc5Rd2?!simply hastening his defeat.43.Rfe1!Bxc5+44.Rxc5Rg2+45.Kf1Black runs out of threats and White wins easily with his powerful passed pawn.b346.Rxe4b247.Re1Rxh248.Rce5Rh1+49.Kg2b1Q50.Rxb1Rxb151.e7Ra852.e8R+Rxe853.Rxe8#1–0
With this win Nakamura jumps slightly over Anand and Caruana to claim the #2 spot in the live rating list!
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 1-0 Aronian, Levon
An excellent game from the French player. He went into a strategically sharp Ragozin where his structure was shattered but piece placements were active and strong. The following combination left Black with too many weaknesses:
18...Nd719.e4!Excellent, opening up the position.Nxe520.exd5! The point. Black has no good way of responding to this move.0-0-020...Bxd521.Rae1Be622.Rxe5should cost at least a pawn, but might have been the lesser evil.21.dxe6fxe622.Rae1!exf523.Rxe5Qa324.Rfxf5! White's rooks are dominant, and he has an extra pawn. Black was unable to create counterplay and after many moves MVL converted his two extra pawns (after taking on h5).1–0
With two extra pawns and excellent technique MVL won a great game. An important result as he comes as the lowest rated player of the Grand Chess Tour (remember that Hammer is only in this event as a wildcard).
Jennifer Shahade and yours truly live from www.grandchesstour.com,
the official commentary for the Grand Chess Tour events.
Standings
Round One Games
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Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,186,706
54%
2421
---
1.d4
960,560
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,913
56%
2440
---
1.c4
185,115
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,902
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,609
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,959
48%
2376
---
1.Nc3
3,919
50%
2383
---
1.b4
1,791
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,252
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
93
66%
2506
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.Nf3c52.e4!?Not the most common of transposition - a normal Sicilian
is on the board but definitely not on the normal move order!Nc63.Bb5g6
The Rossolimmo Sicilian is a popular way of preventing the Sveshnikov, a high
chance that Grischuk would have played that against 3.d4.4.Bxc6bxc64...dxc6is the "safer" way but both captures on c6 are possible.5.0-0Bg76.Re1Rb8Putting the rook in the half-open file makes sense...7.h3!?Qc7
However I am not so fond of this move. I keep wondering why the queen is on c7,
and later (and more importantly) we will see how the knight actually wanted to
go to this square.8.c3Nf6A common idea in the structure, but the knight
gets kicked around too much.8...e5!?9.e5Nd510.c4Nb410...Nf411.d4Ne612.d5seems to leave Black completely squashed.11.d4!cxd412.a3Na613.Qxd4At this point Giri has a very comfortable position. His extra
space more than outweighs the pair of bishops, not to mention that Black is
lagging on development and he has to be careful that his king does not get
mated after 0-0 on the dark squares.0-014.c5!Gaining more space and
making it difficult to find a move for Grischuk. So difficult, in fact, that
Grischuk was already in time pressure by this point! With only 14 moves
played he had about 25 minutes left, not the situation anyone would like to be
in.d6?!Perhaps panic, perhaps a miscalculation. In either case this move
simply gives Giri a great initiative.15.cxd6exd616.exd6Qb617.Qh4Nc5
Perhaps Grischuk was counting on some activity to compensat efor the pawn, but
in excellent fashion the Dutch player gives back the pawn an obtains a strong
attack.18.Be3!Qxb219.Nbd2Nd720.Rab1!Qxa321.Rxb8Nxb8The poor
knight has moved 7 (!) times in the opening, and although Black is now up a
pawn instead of down material, his kingside is difficult to defend. The
onslaught continues22.Bh6Nd7!The best way of organizing a defense. The
knight must hurry up and defend h7.23.Bxg7?!A little sloppy.23.Ng5Nf624.Nde4Qa5!25.Rd1!with a huge initiative for White.23...Kxg724.Qd4+Kg825.Ne4Re826.Kh2A cheeky move, and for practical reasons a
good one, though the objective evaluation is that this is too slow. Giri was
mostly putting pressure on Grischuk's clock that was ticking down.a5??The
losing move.26...Qa5!Returning with the queen to the defense was
paramount. Here it is impossible for Giri to organize something decisive!
There are insufficient pieces to create threats once the queen returns.27.Nfg5!Very strong. Now there is no way of avoiding the move Nf6+.Rf827...h628.Nf6+Nxf629.Qxf6is decisive, with threats on e8 and f7Rf830.Nxf7+-28.Nf6+Nxf629.Qxf6Re8 is now a threat.Qa230.Re730.Nxh7!Kxh731.Re4was also lights out.30...Bf531.Nxf7?!good
enough, but the easier variation was31.d7Qxf232.d8Qand Black runs
out of checks soon32.Ne6!is a fancy way of winning.31...Qxf732.Rxf7Rxf733.Qd8+Kg734.Qxa5Bd735.Qc5Rf536.Qa7Rf737.g4
Unfortunately for Grischuk he doesn't have any real hope of setting up a
fortress. His darksquare are too weak.Kf638.f4Kg739.Kg3Kg840.Qe3Kg741.h4Kg842.Qe5White's next moves are h5-h6 and Black will be zugzwanged.
A nice game from Giri, even though the finish might have not been the most
precise.1–0
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Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.
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