5/13/2013 – It was a must win situation for Magnus Carlsen to still dream of first, and it started badly as Sergey Karjakin took the initiative. With his vintage luck of the champions, Karjakin miscalculated and Carlsen went on the attack to score an impressive win. Karjakin leads with 4.0/5, followed by Carlsen and Nakamura with 3.0/5. Jon Hammer scored his first win against Wang Hao. Report with GM commentary.
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The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament is one of the strongest super tournaments ever and is held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in several different locations in the Stavanger-region of Norway: Quality Residence Hotel, Sandnes (six rounds); Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger (one round); Fabrikkhallen til Aarbakke AS, Bryne (one round); Flor & Fjære, Sør-Hidle (one round).
Tourney structure: nine-round round robin Time control: 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the first move Game start: daily 15:00 (server time), last round 12:00 Rest day: 11th May and 16th May Rules & Tiebreak Rules: The “Sofia rules” will apply. A tie for first place will be decided by a blitz match.
Round five
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer
1-0
Wang Hao
Peter Svidler
½-½
Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov
½-½
Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin
0-1
Magnus Carlsen
It is hard to imagine a more dire situation for someone still dreaming of an ever more elusive first, than trailing the leader by a full two pointswith a mere five rounds to go. This is the situation Magnus Carlsen was in, with Sergey Karjakin speeding away with a sumptuous 4.0/4 while he was only on 50%. The fifth round game between the two was crucial, since anything less than a win and he knew he would have to readjust his sights for second. His fans are legion as he started with difficult times and a genuine disadvantage he described as “suffering”.
With the luck of the champions, Magnus Carlsen came out on top against Karjakin
Sergey Karjakin had to be growing in increased excitement as the possibility of crowning his run with a win over the world number one became a real prospect, and it was precisely this that gave Carlsen his lifeline. He himself admitted in the press conference that had Sergey played with no ambitions and stuck to containing him he would not have been able to do anything. Magnus agreed the Russian was not wrong to feel his ambitions might be rewarded, but this willingness to fight gave him hope that he might get his chance as well. Whether due to excitement or just some mental lapse during his calculations, something went wrong in Karjakin’s play and a magnificent 33…Nxf4! had to have been a nasty shock. It all went downhill, and with such a show of fireworks, perhaps he will be hired for the New Year’s display.
[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2868"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2835"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. a4 Bf8 14. Bd3 c6 15. Qc2 Rc8 (15... Qc7 {seems more natural.}) 16. axb5 axb5 17. b4 Qc7 18. Bb2 Ra8 19. Rad1 Nb6 20. c4 $1 {That is the correct way to attack this structure. White is already better.} bxc4 21. Nxc4 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 h6 23. dxe5 dxe5 24. Bc3 {The pawn on c6 is weaker than b4 and Black has a bad bishop on b7.} Ba6 25. Bb3 c5 26. Qb2 c4 27. Ba4 Re6 28. Nxe5 Bb7 29. Bc2 {White is clearly better after} (29. Bb5 $1 {the point is that Black cannot retake the pawn.} Bxe4 30. Bxc4 Rxe5 31. Bxe5 Qxc4 32. Rd4 Qc2 (32... Qc6 33. b5 Qb7 34. Bxf6 {winning material.} Bxg2 35. Rg4) 33. Qxc2 Bxc2 34. b5 {The b-pawn will cost Black a piece.}) 29... Rae8 30. f4 Bd6 {now Black has counterplay and the position is about even.} 31. Kh2 {A very strange move considering the position of Black's queen and bishop.} (31. Re3) 31... Nh5 $1 32. g3 f6 33. Ng6 {Magnus said that Karjakin played this both quickly and with quite a bit of confidence, and added he was not really sure what Sergey saw, but clearly something had gone horribly wrong in his calculations.} Nxf4 $1 {Carlsen finds the best way and Karjakin is forced to play} 34. Rxd6 (34. gxf4 Bxf4+ {black has a winning attack.} 35. Kh1 (35. Nxf4 Qxf4+ 36. Kh1 Qg3 37. Re2 Rxe4) 35... Rxe4 36. Bxe4 Rxe4 37. Kg1 Bd2 {and the queen enters g3}) 34... Nxg6 35. Rxe6 Rxe6 36. Bd4 { Another mistake. White should bring his queen to defend the king.} (36. Bb1 h5 37. Qf2 {was correct and Black is only a little better.} h4 38. Re3) 36... f5 $1 {another good move to open his bishop.} 37. e5 Nxe5 $1 38. Bxe5 Qc6 39. Rg1 (39. Be4 fxe4 40. Re3 {was the only defense and Carlsen should win in the long run.}) 39... Qd5 {Now it's over. Black has attack and a passed distant pawn to disturb White's pieces.} 40. Bxf5 Rxe5 41. Bg4 h5 42. Bd1 ({Though it would not change anything in the result, Carlsen said he had hoped Karjakin might play} 42. Rd1 {when he would finish in beauty with} Qxd1 $3 43. Bxd1 Re1 { threatening mate with Rh1.} 44. g4 h4 {and White can only defend by giving back the queen with} 45. Qg2 Bxg2 46. Kxg2 Rxd1) 42... c3 43. Qf2 Rf5 44. Qe3 Qf7 45. g4 Re5 46. Qd4 Qc7 0-1
GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Karjakin vs Carlsen
Although crucial to keep the interest of the top spot alive, it must be pointed out that Karjakin still leads with 4.0/5 and a full point ahead of Carlsen and Nakamura, both on 3.0/5. With only four rounds left, the Russian is still a significant favorite.
Magnus Carlsen analyzes his game against Sergey Karjakin
When told that several players, such as Nakamura, were rooting for a win by Carlsen so as to keep their chances alive as well, Magnus chuckled, “I am glad to be of service.”
Hikaru Nakamura also played a fine game against Veselin Topalov, and seemed to be steering for a very favorable endgame when he stumbled with 19.a3 and the equilibrium was restored. The American shares second with Carlsen at 3.0/5.
Hikaru Nakamura tried hard to break Veseiln Topalov, but to no avail
It is considered common knowledge that last minute cramming for an exam is the worst possible approach and to be avoided at all cost, yet it is a lesson Peter Svidler has apparently never fully digested as he admitted to doing much of his preparation right before the games of the day. Today it turned out to save him as he refuted his preparation after checking a gut feeling he had. The downside is that he had nothing strong to face Anand and the latter equalized quickly with great ease, and they drew. Aronian and Radjabov played a Slav Exchange, but very little took place and the draw was never in doubt.
The second surprise result, to the delight of the Norweigians, was Jon Hammer’s win over Wang Hao after a topsy-turvy game where the edge swung all over the place. The time control was decisive as the Chinese player committed a fatal oversight on move 40, after which Hammer never gave him a chance. This turn came about as Carlsen was analyzing his own win, and he generously commented that it was a pleasure to see both Norwegians win their games after they had both failed to win a game in the first four rounds. Hammer had sworn he was going to play his game in the tournament and planned to chalk up at least one win before the tournament’s end. His wish has been fulfilled.
Jon Hammer fulfilled his promise to not leave the tournament with his sword unblooded
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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