The Norway Chess Open took place parallel to the Norway Chess super-tournament. It was a 10-round Swiss open which ran from September 10 to September 17. The masters’ section was played at the Clarion Hotel in Stavanger.
Gukesh scored an unbeaten 8½/10 and finished a full point ahead of the competition to win the tournament. Iniyan secured sole second position with 7½/10 points, finishing a half point ahead of top seed Dmitrij Kollars (Germany) and Valentin Dragnev (Austria).
Iniyan also secured second place in the blitz tournament played on September 11, as he scored 8/9 to finish a half point behind David Howell, the winner of the event.
The tournament hall | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Gukesh scored a very nice victory against IM Tor Fredrik Kaasen (NOR) in the eighth round.
21...Ba4 allowed Gukesh to make a very beautiful sacrifice, 22.Bxh6. Calculate all variations and find out how it works.
Iniyan scored his best win against GM Vitaly Kunin, also in the eighth round.
Iniyan made a very nice move 16.d5. Of course, 16...Nxd5 is a blunder because of 17.Bxd5 Rxd5 18.e4 and Black loses material. However, the not-so-obvious 16...Rxd5 is the best way for Black to continue here — 17.Bxd5 Nxd5 and now White does not have 18.e4 because of Nxc3.
Thus, Black is doing fine compared to the text 16...Ne7 17.c4, when White got a firm grip in the centre. White eventually won the game after launching a strong attack on the kingside.
Iniyan with World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi
| Pl | Name | i-Rtg | Score | Med.Buchh | i-Performance |
| 1 | GM D Gukesh | 2599 | 8,5 | 50,0 | 2743 (+17,50) |
| 2 | GM P Iniyan | 2522 | 7,5 | 43,5 | 2550 (+6,70) |
| 3 | GM Dmitrij Kollars | 2621 | 7,0 | 51,0 | 2606 (-0,00) |
| 4 | GM Valentin Dragnev | 2551 | 7,0 | 48,5 | 2543 (+2,50) |
| 5 | GM Titas Stremavicius | 2478 | 6,5 | 47,0 | 2525 (+8,60) |
| 6 | GM Evgeny Romanov | 2594 | 6,5 | 46,0 | 2520 (-5,20) |
| 7 | IM Tor Fredrik Kaasen | 2405 | 6,5 | 44,5 | 2486 (+11,90) |
| 8 | GM Vitaly Kunin | 2562 | 6,0 | 46,5 | 2381 (-16,80) |
| 9 | GM Erik Blomqvist | 2536 | 6,0 | 43,0 | 2366 (-17,80) |
| 10 | IM Erlend Mikalsen | 2380 | 6,0 | 39,5 | 2318 (-7,00) |
| 11 | CM Ludvig Carlsson | 2369 | 5,5 | 46,0 | 2428 (+16,00) |
| 12 | CM Tobias Lang Nilsen | 2169 | 5,5 | 45,0 | 2381 (+101,60) |
| 13 | FM Jens Hirneise | 2289 | 5,5 | 44,0 | 2356 (+14,20) |
| 14 | Jacob Templen Grave | 2035 | 5,5 | 34,5 | 2243 (+98,00) |
| 15 | Aksel Bu Kvaloy | 2247 | 5,0 | 42,5 | 2309 (+27,60) |
| 16 | CM Thomas Bauer | 2230 | 5,0 | 41,5 | 2340 (+24,60) |
| 17 | Shazil Shehzad | 2126 | 5,0 | 40,5 | 2282 (+71,60) |
| 18 | FM Johanna Paasikangas | 2163 | 5,0 | 40,0 | 2293 (+26,00) |
| 19 | FM Mathias Unneland | 2206 | 4,5 | 39,5 | 2210 (-3,00) |
| 20 | Alexandr Kostiukov | 2281 | 4,5 | 39,5 | 2248 (-10,20) |
