Norway Rd9: Topalov wins event, Carlsen loses

by Alejandro Ramirez
6/25/2015 – It comes as no big surprise that Topalov, with white, managed to neutralize Anand to take sole first, but there ended the expected. Nakamura and Giri both fought hard to win with black in their games, and while Giri missed a chance to beat Caruana and take second, the American outplayed Aronian for a great finale. Still, the surprise was Hammer-Carlsen, with Carlsen losing again! Round Nine report.
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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 9 - 25.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
½-½
 Grischuk Alexander 2781
Aronian Levon 2780
0-1
 Nakamura Hikaru 2802
Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
1-0
 Carlsen Magnus 2876
Topalov Veselin 2798
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2804
Caruana Fabiano 2805
½-½
 Giri Anish 2773

Daniel King shows the highlights of the last round

Certainly an anti-climatic end of the tournament, but we still have some interesting games:

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ Grischuk, Alexander
MVL perhaps entered a very slightly better rook endgame, but Grischuk defended well and the draw was agreed shortly before time control in a dead drawn situation.

Aronian, Levon 0-1 Nakamura, Hikaru
Nakamura won in fine style in what was certainly the best win of the round.

Nakamura worked hard in the last game for a victory, improving his final standing to third

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1.e41,185,00854%2421---
1.d4959,51055%2434---
1.Nf3286,50356%2441---
1.c4184,83456%2442---
1.g319,89256%2427---
1.b314,60054%2428---
1.f45,95448%2377---
1.Nc33,91150%2384---
1.b41,79148%2379---
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1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 d6 5.e3 a6 6.Nge2 Ba7 7.a3 h5!? Clear intentions that Nakamura came in a fighting spirit! 8.d4 h4 9.b4 Aronian is not one to shy away from a fight. Black starts attacking on the light-squares on the kingside, but Aronian sets up an aggressive pawn structure on the other side of the board. Nge7 10.c5 Bf5 11.Bb2 Qd7 12.Qb3 12.d5 Nd8 13.cxd6 cxd6 14.h3 is complex, but perhaps the best way to go. 12...h3 13.Bf3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Bg4 Black keeps weakening White's lightsquares. 15.Bxg4 Qxg4 16.Nxc6 Nxc6 17.Qd1 17.cxd6 0-0-0!? 17...Qg6 18.cxd6 0-0-0! 19.Rc1? This move has no point. Aronian had to be much more careful of his position. 19.Qb1 Qh5 20.Qd1 and perhaps all Black has here is to repeat moves. 19...Rxd6 20.Qc2 Qh5 21.Qe2 Ne5! Now this move is too strong. 22.Qxh5 Nd3+ 23.Ke2 23.Kf1 Rxh5 24.Rc2 Bxe3! leads to a decisive attack. 25.fxe3 Rf5+ 26.Kg1 Rdf6 23...Nxc1+ 24.Rxc1 Rxh5 Naka is just up an exchange here. The rest is easy for him. 25.g4 Re5 26.Rg1 Re8 27.Rg3 Bd4 28.Na4 Bxb2 29.Nxb2 Red8 30.Nc4 Rc6 31.Ne5 Rc2+ 32.Ke1 f6 33.Nf3 Rh8 34.g5 Ra2 35.Nd4 Rxa3 36.Ne6 Ra1+ 37.Ke2 Rh1 38.gxf6 gxf6 39.Nf4 b6 40.Nxh3 Rb1 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2780Nakamura,H28020–12015A253rd Norway Chess 20159

Hammer, Jon Ludvig 1-0 Carlsen, Magnus
It is almost incomprehensible that the World Champion played this way today. Everything was bad about his play: his opening, his strategical comprehension, his tactics. He even got mated in the simplest of ways today:

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 Nothing more than a surprise weapon, clearly, though it is hard to prepare against someone that usually prepares your openings! 4.Bg5 f6 5.Bd2 dxc4 hard to believe that playing like this can be good for black. 6.e3 Nc6?! 6...b5 7.b3 cxb3 8.Qxb3 7.Bxc4 Bd6 8.e4 Nge7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qb3 White is clearly better in this position. He has the central control that we teach beginners you must fight for! Black has no compensation for that. Kh8 tactically sound, but not good. 11.Bxe6 Bxh2+ 12.Kxh2 12.Nxh2 Nxd4 12...Qd6+ 13.Kh1 Bxe6 14.d5 Bg8 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.Nxa3 White is simply better in this position, with some pressure on the c-file and more space. Na7 17.Bb4 Rfe8 18.Rac1 Rac8 19.Nd4 f5 20.f3 fxe4 21.fxe4 Ng6 22.Nf5?! 22.Rfe1 22...Rxe4 23.Bc3 Bxd5? It's not clear what Carlsen missed. The World Champion usually would be precise enough to find: 23...h6 24.Bxg7+ Kh7 25.Bxh6 Bxd5 with counterplay. 24.Bxg7+ Kg8 25.Bd4 of course. Now the knight on a7 is under attack there is a mate threat on h6. Rxd4 26.Nxd4 Bxa2 27.b3 Rd8? 27...c5 28.Rf2 cxd4 29.Rxc8+ Nxc8 30.Rxa2 with a better endgame for White, but Black still has chances to draw. 28.Ne6 Rd2 28...Rd6!± 29.Rc3! Re2? 30.Nf4 30.Rf6! would finish the game off. The threat of Rcf3 and mate on f8 is not easy to parry, it would end up costing Black another exchange. 30...Rb2 31.Nxg6 31.Rxc7 was way more precise. 31...hxg6 32.Rxc7 Rxb3?? 32...Nc6 33.Rd1 Bxb3! 34.Rdd7 Rf2 is better for White, but far from over. 33.Rd1 Nc6 34.Rdd7 Black is simply getting mated after Rc8. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hammer,J2677Carlsen,M28761–02015D303rd Norway Chess 20159

An absolute disaster for the World Champion. Here he is realizing that he is about to get mated by Hammer's rooks. He lost 23 rating points in this tournament, lost four games, and this is easily the worst tournament ever played by Carlsen after obtaining his GM strength.

It's all over

An elated Hammer giving an interview to Yasser Seirawan

Topalov, Veselin ½-½ Anand, Viswanathan
The disappointment of the round. The players repeated the game between Ivanchuk-Carlsen from Wijk aan Zee. It was clear that Topalov just wanted to clinch with the draw while Anand was happy with a solid result with black in the final round. No fighting spirit here as the players split the point in less than half an hour.

A handshake less than half an hour after the start of the game

Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Giri, Anish
Giri missed a great opportunity to clinch second (!) on tie break. The prize money is split between the players with the same amount of points, but the Grand Chess Tour points are not!

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28...Rxa1 29.Rxa1 Caruana used up too much time to get to this position. With only minutes left on the clock (around seven or eight after Rxa1) it was Giri's duty to find the precise moves to put pressure on Caruana. Instead the Italian player escaped easily. Qxe5? Simply letting Caruana off the hook. 29...Be4! 30.Re1 Ba8 31.Qxd3 Qc6 32.f3 Nc5! 33.Qd1 Nxb3 34.Qxb3 Qh6 was a winning line. Giri had over an hour to figure this out. 34...g5! 30.Nxg6 hxg6 31.Bxe6 fxe6 32.Qxd3 b4 33.Rc1 Qf4 34.Rf1 34.Qe3 Qxe3 35.fxe3 Rc8 36.c4= 34...b3 35.Qxg6 Qc4 36.Re1 Rf6 37.Qe8+ Kh7 38.Qh5+ 38.Re5= 38...Rh6 39.Qe5 Rxh3 40.Qxe6 The endgame is a draw, and with this move Caruana completed the time control. Qxe6 41.Rxe6 Rxc3 42.Rb6 Rc4 43.Rxb3 Rxg4+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2805Giri,A2773½–½2015C803rd Norway Chess 20159

We will be bringing you a report on the closing ceremony, the prizes including the Grand Chess Tour standings, as well as what this means for the players and a recap of the event in the next couple of days.

Round nine games

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1.d4 (6s) Nf6 (6s) 2.c4 (7s) e6 (5s) 3.Nf3 (7s) d5 (6s) 4.Nc3 (30s) Bb4 (12s) 5.Bg5 (34s) h6 (10s) 6.Bxf6 (12s) Qxf6 (8s) 7.e3 (434s) 0-0 (52s) 8.Rc1 (72s) dxc4 ( 18s) 9.Bxc4 (30s) c5 (11s) 10.0-0 (329s) cxd4 (53s) 11.Nxd4 (96s) Bd7 (43s) 12.Qb3 (85s) Nc6 (83s) 13.Nxc6 (11s) Bxc3 (8s) 14.Rxc3 (10s) Bxc6 (5s) 15.Bb5 (9s) Bd5 (12 s) 16.Bc4 (6s) Bc6 (5s) 17.Bb5 (8s) Bd5 (7s) 18.Bc4 (7s) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Topalov,V2798Anand,V2804½–½2015D38Norway Chess 20159

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Final standings

Tournament schedule

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
Round 2 - 17.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk Alexander 2781
½-½
 Aronian Levon 2780
Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
Topalov Veselin 2798
½-½
 Nakamura Hikaru 2802
Caruana Fabiano 2805
1-0
 Carlsen Magnus 2876
Giri Anish 2773
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2804
Round 3 - 18.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Anand Viswanathan 2804
½-½
 Grischuk Alexander 2781
Carlsen Magnus 2876
½-½
 Giri Anish 2773
Nakamura Hikaru 2802
1-0
 Caruana Fabiano 2805
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
0-1
 Topalov Veselin 2798
Aronian Levon 2780
½-½
 Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
Round 4 - 19.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk Alexander 2781
1-0
 Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
Topalov Veselin 2798
1-0
 Aronian Levon 2780
Caruana Fabiano 2805
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
Giri Anish 2773
½-½
 Nakamura Hikaru 2802
Anand Viswanathan 2804
1-0
 Carlsen Magnus 2876
Round 5 - 21.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Carlsen Magnus 2876
1-0
 Grischuk Alexander 2781
Nakamura Hikaru 2802
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2804
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
½-½
 Giri Anish 2773
Aronian Levon 2780
1-0
 Caruana Fabiano 2805
Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
0-1
 Topalov Veselin 2798
Round 6 - 22.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk Alexander 2781
0-1
 Topalov Veselin 2798
Caruana Fabiano 2805
½-½
 Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
Giri Anish 2773
½-½
 Aronian Levon 2780
Anand Viswanathan 2804
1-0
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
Carlsen Magnus 2876
½-½
 Nakamura Hikaru 2802
Round 7 - 23.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Nakamura Hikaru 2802
½-½
 Grischuk Alexander 2781
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
½-½
 Carlsen Magnus 2876
Aronian Levon 2780
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2804
Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
½-½
 Giri Anish 2773
Topalov Veselin 2798
½-½
 Caruana Fabiano 2805
Round 8 - 24.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Grischuk Alexander 2781
½-½
 Caruana Fabiano 2805
Giri Anish 2773
1-0
 Topalov Veselin 2798
Anand Viswanathan 2804
1-0
 Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
Carlsen Magnus 2876
1-0
 Aronian Levon 2780
Nakamura Hikaru 2802
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
Round 9 - 25.06.2015
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2723
½-½
 Grischuk Alexander 2781
Aronian Levon 2780
0-1
 Nakamura Hikaru 2802
Hammer Jon Ludvig 2677
1-0
 Carlsen Magnus 2876
Topalov Veselin 2798
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2804
Caruana Fabiano 2805
½-½
 Giri Anish 2773

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Grandmaster 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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