Norway Chess R3: Carlsen wins in style

by André Schulz
4/21/2016 – In round three of the Altibox Chess Tournament Magnus Carlsen played against Nils Grandelius. In the opening blitz tournament Carlsen drew against the Swedish grandmaster, but in classical chess Grandelius lost clearly. In an unusual opening Carlsen sacrificed a piece for which he had tremendous pressure that Grandelius could not shake off. The four other games were drawn. Carlsen now leads with 2.5/3.
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In the third round Magnus Carlsen played with White against Nils Grandelius, who tried the Nimzowitsch-Sicilian against the World Champion. This line is a rare guest in top tournaments but probably did not Carlsen by surprise because Grandelius had played it before.

After a couple of unusual moves (6…Qb6 7.Qc1) Grandelius decided to push his pawns on the kingside to put pressure on White's pawn on e5. This early pawn push on the kingside provoked a piece sacrifice by Carlsen. White obtained tremendous pressure while Black suffered from a serious lack of development. With powerful moves Carlsen won the game in fine style.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 The Nimzowitsch-Sicilian, which Grandelius plays occasionally. 3.e5 Different structures arise after 3.Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Bb5+ 3...Nd5 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 6.Bc4 is also played quite often. 6...Qb6!? The main line arises after 6...e6 7.Qd2 Qc7 8.0-0-0 7.Qc1 After nine minutes thought. More common is 7.b3 After Qc7 8.Qd2 e6 9.0-0-0 the position is almost similar to those arising in the main line. However, White played the extra-move b3 which weakens his king. 7...f6 This move is not a novelty but was played in only one previous game. 7...h6 8.h4 d5 9.exd6 exd6 10.Bc4 Be7 11.Qe3 Qxb2 12.0-0 0-0 13.Rfb1 Qa3 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Rb3 Qa4 16.Bb5 Qg4 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxe7 Be6 19.Qxd6 Bxb3 20.axb3 Qg6 21.Qxc5 Qxc2 22.Ra4 Qd1+ 23.Kh2 Qd5 24.Qe7 Qe6 25.Qxe6 fxe6 26.Ra6 Rfb8 27.b4 Rb6 28.Ra1 c5 29.bxc5 Rb5 30.Ra6 Rxc5 31.Nd4 Rxc3 1/2-1/2 (31) Rodshtein,M (2664)-Ipatov,A (2625) Germany 2014 8.Bc4 That's the new move - after eight moves. 8.Bg3 fxe5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Bxe5 Qe6 11.Qe3 d6 12.Bf4 Qxe3+ 13.Bxe3= 1/2-1/2 (65) Zude,A (2389)-Gheng,J (2314) Schwaebisch Gmuend 2003 8...g5 Black wants to take the e-pawn. 9.Bg3 g4
10.exf6‼ Carlsen sacrifices his knight on f3 to get an attack. 10.Nh4 Nxe5 11.Bxe5 fxe5 yields White nothing. 10...gxf3 11.Qf4 fxg2 12.Rg1 Na5 13.f7+ Kd8 14.Bd5
Black has an awkward position. The white pieces threaten Black left and right and Black has problems to bring his pieces into play. Maybe Black is already lost here. 14...Bh6 14...e6?? 15.Qf6+ Be7 16.Qxh8+ Bf8 17.Qxf8# 14...Qxb2?? 15.Qc7# 14...d6 15.0-0-0 Kc7 16.Rxg2 Bh3 17.Rgg1 h5 18.Bh4 -- followed by 19.Rg8 15.Qe5 Rf8 15...Qf6 16.Qc7# By now this mating motive should be familiar. 16.Bh4 Attacking e7. Rxf7 Giving a rook to stay in the game. 17.Bxf7 Nc6± 18.Qg3 Qxb2 19.Rd1 Qxc2 20.Bd5 Qf5 21.Rxg2
Black has two pawns for the exchange but is seriously behind with his development. Carlsen also plays the technical part convincingly. 21...Bf4 22.Qf3 Kc7 23.Rg5 Qf8 24.Bg3 e5 25.Rh5 a5 26.Rxh7 Ra6 27.Rf7 Qe8 28.Kf1 Bxg3 29.hxg3 Qh8 30.Kg2 Nd8 31.Rf8 Qg7 32.Rh1 Rh6 33.Rxh6 Qxh6 34.Qf6 Qxf6 35.Rxf6 d6 36.Kf3 b5 37.g4 Kd7 38.Rh6 The g-pawn decides. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2851Grandelius,N26491–02016B294th Norway Chess 20163

Pentala Harikrishna had White against Veselin Topalov, who opted for a Nimzo-Indian. An early exchange on d5 led to an unusual position, in which Black was settled with an isolated pawn on d5. However, after 19 moves both players indicated peaceful tendencies by finding a repetition of moves.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Pavel Eljanov discussed the pros and cons of the Berlin Defense, which is much more popular with the players than with the public. In the main line Eljanov chose a line with an early Be7 followed by Nh4 to swap the white knight on f3. In the further course of the game more and more pieces vanished from the board until a drawn endgame with opposite-colored bishops was reached.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 The starting position of the Berlin Defense. Black has the two bishops, White has a mobile pawn majority on the kingside. 9.h3 Currently the main move is 9.Nc3 and literally thousands of game have been played with this line. 9...Be7 9...Ke8 10.Nc3 transposes to the main line. 10.Nc3 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Be3 12.Ne2 Bf5 13.Nd4 Bd7 14.f4 Be7 15.f5 Bc5 16.Be3 Re8 17.e6 fxe6 18.Nxe6+ Bxe6 19.Bxc5 Bd5 20.Rad1 b5 21.b3 Kc8 22.Rde1 Kd7 23.Bd4 g6 24.f6 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Rxe8 Kxe8 27.Bxa7 Kf7 28.a4 bxa4 29.bxa4 Kxf6 30.a5 Ke6 31.Kf2 h5 32.Be3 Kd7 33.a6 Kc8 34.Bc5 Be4 35.c3 Bd3 36.a7 Kb7 37.Kf3 Bf1 38.Kf2 Bd3 39.Kf3 Bf1 40.Kf2 Bd3 1/2-1/2 (40) Grischuk,A (2750)-Eljanov,P (2753) Reykjavik 2015 12...h5 13.Rad1+ Ke8 14.Ne2 Be7 15.Rfe1 a6 16.Bf4 g5 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Nd4 Bg6 19.e6 Rd8 20.exf7+ Kxf7 21.Nf3 Bxc2 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Nxg5+ Kf6 24.Ne6 Rd1 24...Kxe6 25.Bg5+ Kf5 26.Bxe7 Rd4= 25.Bg5+ Kf7 26.Rxd1 Bxd1 27.Bxe7 Kxe6 White's pawn majority on the kingside became even more pronounced but the opposite-colored bishops prevent White from making serious winning attempts. 28.Bd8 Kd6 29.f3 c5 30.Kf2 b5 31.Ke3 b4 32.g4 hxg4 33.fxg4 a5 34.Kf4 c4 35.Bf6 c5 36.h4 Ke6 37.Bh8 Kf7 38.h5 a4 White cannot make progress on the kingside. 39.a3 Be2 40.Be5 Black might have dreamt of 40.axb4? cxb4 41.Bd4? c3 42.bxc3?? b3 43.c4 a3-+ 40...c3 41.bxc3 bxa3 42.c4 White must control the diagonal. Bxc4 43.g5 But now Black must be careful. Bd3 43...Be2?? 44.g6+ Kg8 45.h6+- 44.g6+ Bxg6 45.hxg6+ Kxg6
With a draw. 46.Ke4 c4 47.Ba1 c3 48.Kd3 a2 49.Kxc3 a3 50.Kb3 Kh7 51.Kxa2 Kg8 52.Kxa3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier Lagrave,M2788Eljanov,P2765½–½2016C674th Norway Chess 20163

Playing with Black against Levon Aronian Li Chao chose the Schlechter Variation of the Slav, which is rather popular among some Chinese top players. After an exchange on d5 Aronian obtained a slight space advantage on the queenside and later managed to settle Black with a pawn weakness on c6. However, Black's pieces were active enough to compensate this weak pawn and the game soon ended in a draw.

Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri discussed the intricacies of the Grünfeld Fianchetto line. After 7.b3 by Kramnik Giri took on c4 and continued with ...c5, which led to a balanced position. After an early exchange of queens Kramnik tried for a long time to get an advantage but could not make any progress against Giri's precise defense.

Results of round 3

Br. Tit Name Coun ELO Ergebnis Titel Name Coun ELO
1 GM Penteala Harikrishna
 
 2753 ½ - ½ GM Veselin Topalov
 
 2780
2 GM Levon Aronian
 
 2786 ½ - ½ GM Chao B Li
 
 2751
3 GM Magnus Carlsen
 
 2844 1 - 0 GM Nils Grandelius
 
 2637
4 GM Vladimir Kramnik
 
 2801 ½ - ½ GM Anish Giri
 
 2793
5 GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave
 
 2785 ½ - ½ GM Pavel Eljanov
 
 2760

 

Games of rounds 1 to 3

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.c3 c5 5.Nd2 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.f4 cxd4 9.cxd4 0-0 10.a3 Ne7 11.Ngf3 Qb6 12.Qb3 Qxb3 13.Nxb3 b6 14.Rc1 Bd7 15.Ke2 Nc8 16.Ne5 Ba4 17.Nd2 Nd6 18.b3 Bb5 19.Bxb5 Nxb5 20.a4 Nd6 21.Rc6 Rfd8 22.Ra1 Nfe8 23.a5 f6 24.axb6 axb6 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Nd7 b5 27.Nc5 Kf7 28.e4 dxe4 29.Ndxe4 Nxe4 30.Nxe4 Ra2+ 31.Kf3 Rb2 32.Nc5 g5 33.Rb6 gxf4 34.Rb7+ Kg6 35.Nxe6 Kf5 36.Nc5 Rc2 37.Ne4 Nc7 38.Rb6 Nd5 39.Rd6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2801Grandelius,N26491–02016A454th Norway Chess 20161
Carlsen,M2851Harikrishna,P27631–02016E154th Norway Chess 20161
Vachier Lagrave,M2788Li,C2755½–½2016C424th Norway Chess 20161
Giri,A2790Eljanov,P27651–02016C504th Norway Chess 20161
Aronian,L2784Topalov,V2754½–½2016A294th Norway Chess 20161
Grandelius,N2649Aronian,L2784½–½2016C654th Norway Chess 20162
Li,C2755Kramnik,V2801½–½2016C264th Norway Chess 20162
Giri,A2790Vachier Lagrave,M27880–12016B964th Norway Chess 20162
Topalov,V2754Carlsen,M2851½–½2016D374th Norway Chess 20162
Eljanov,P2765Harikrishna,P2763½–½2016E204th Norway Chess 20162
Harikrishna,P2763Topalov,V2754½–½2016E534th Norway Chess 20163
Aronian,L2784Li,C2755½–½2016D154th Norway Chess 20163
Carlsen,M2851Grandelius,N26491–02016B294th Norway Chess 20163
Kramnik,V2801Giri,A2790½–½2016D784th Norway Chess 20163
Vachier Lagrave,M2788Eljanov,P2765½–½2016C674th Norway Chess 20163

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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