Altibox Norway Chess 2018: So wins blitz tournament

by Johannes Fischer
5/28/2018 – The Altibox Norway Chess Tournament started with a blitz tournament, and with 10 of the world’s best players competing it was probably one of the best blitz tournaments in the history of chess. It determined which five players will have one more game with White in the classic tournament which starts today on Monday, April 28, but was of course also about prestige and invites predictions of form. Magnus Carlsen was favourite but Wesley So won. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

My Secret Weapon: 1.b3 My Secret Weapon: 1.b3

Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today's world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!

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So wins with strong finish

With 2½ / 5 So started slowly but then suddenly everything went for him and he scored 3½ / 4 in the second half of the tournament to become sole first with 6.0/9 (+4, =4, -1). His good run began with the following win against Karjakin.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nc3 0-0 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Be3 Bd6 8.h3 c5 9.g4 Nd7 10.Ne2 Nb8 11.Ng3 Nc6 12.Nf5 Re8 13.h4 Bf8 14.h5 a5 15.c3 a4 16.Qc2 Be6 17.Ng5 c4 18.0-0-0 cxd3 19.Rxd3 Qc8 20.Nxe6 Qxe6 21.Kb1 Na5 22.Qxa4 b5 23.Qc2 Reb8 24.b3 Nc4 25.Bc1 Na3+ 26.Bxa3 Rxa3 27.Rhd1 g6 28.hxg6 fxg6 29.Ne3 c6 30.Rd8 Raa8 31.R8d7 Bc5 32.Qd2 Rf8 33.Nf5 Qf6? Karjakin does not dare to take the knight and plays a losing move instead. Howwever, it seems as if Black could take the knight, e.g. 33...gxf5 34.gxf5 Qf6 35.Rg1+ Kh8 and it is not clear how White can continue his attack. 34.Qh6! Now Black's lost. Rf7 35.g5! Qe6 36.Rd8+ Bf8 After 36...Rxd8 37.Rxd8+ Bf8 38.Rxf8+ Rxf8 39.Qg7# Black's mated. 37.Rxa8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2824Karjakin,S28381–02018C486th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz6.2

With solid performances Hikaru Nakamura (+2, =7, -0) and Vishy Anand (+3, =6, -1) shared second and third place, half a point ahead of Carlsen who finished fourth with 5,0/9 (+2, =6, -1).

Though Carlsen won only two games he was the only one to defeat the eventual tournament winner So and he also won against Fabiano Caruana, his challenger in the upcoming World Championship match in November.

In both of these games Carlsen won in the endgame. Against So he showed what you can do with a bishop, against Caruana he showed what you can do with a knight.

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d4 Be7 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.Ne5 Bh5 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Nxd7 Nxd7 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Rfd8 14.Rfe1 Nf6 15.Nc5 Qxb3 16.axb3 Bxc5 17.dxc5 a6 18.b4 Rac8 19.Be5 Bg6 20.Red1 Bd3 21.b3 Bc2 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.b5 Bxb3 24.bxa6 bxa6 25.Bxc6 Bxc4 26.Bb7 Bd5 27.c6 Rf8 28.Bxf6 gxf6 29.Rxa6 Kg7 30.f4 f5 31.Kf2 Kf6 32.Ke3 Ke7 33.Kd4 Kd6 34.c7+ Kxc7 35.Bxd5 Rd8 36.Ra5 Kb6 37.Rc5 f6 38.Rc6+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2965So,W28241–02018D116th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz3.1
 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nge2 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.a3 Ba5 9.0-0 cxd4 10.exd4 Nc6 11.Bc2 Nce7 12.Qd3 Ng6 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.Bd2 Bc7 15.Bf4 Re8 16.Bxc7 Qxc7 17.Rae1 Bd7 18.Nc3 Qd6 19.Qg3 Qxg3 20.hxg3 Bc6 21.Bxg6 hxg6 22.f3 f6 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Kf2 Kf7 25.Rc1 g5 26.g4 Rd8 27.Nd1 g6 28.Ne3 Rh8 29.a4 Ke6 30.a5 Kd6 31.Nc2 Bb5 32.Nb4 b6 33.axb6 axb6 34.Na2 Bd7 35.Nc3 Rc8 36.Ra1 Rc4 37.Ke3 Rb4 38.Rb1 f5? Overlooking a nasty tactical trick. After 38...Rb3 Black is absolutely fine. 39.b3! Suddenly, Black's rook is caught. fxg4 40.Na2 Rb5 41.b4 gxf3 42.Kxf3 Bf5 43.Rb2 Kd7 44.Nc3 Kc6 45.Ke3 Be6 46.Kd2 Bf5 47.Rb3 Be6 48.Kc1 Bf5 49.Kb2 Be4 50.g3 Bf5 51.Ka3 Bc2 52.Rb2 Bd3 53.Rf2 1–0
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Carlsen,M2965Caruana,F28141–02018E486th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz7.1

Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play

Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.

Final standings

Rg. Name Country ELO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts.
1 Wesley So
 
 2778   ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 6.0
2 Hikaru Nakamura
 
 2769 ½   ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5.5
3 Viswanathan Anand
 
 2760 ½ ½   ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 5.5
4 Magnus Carlsen
 
 2843 1 ½ ½   1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 5.0
5 Fabiano Caruana
 
 2822 0 ½ 1 0   0 0 1 1 1 4.5
6 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
 
 2808 0 ½ ½ ½ 1   1 0 1 0 4.5
7 Maxime Vachier Lagrave
 
 2789 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0   ½ ½ 1 4.5
8 Sergey Karjakin
 
 2782 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½   0 1 3.5
9 Liren Ding
 
 2791 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1   ½ 3.0
10 Levon Aronian
 
 2764 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 ½   3.0

Games

 
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1.e3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.b3 0-0 6.Bb2 b6 7.cxd5 A13: English Opening: 1...e6 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 LiveBook: 3 Games 9.Qc2 c5 10.a3N Predecessor: 10.d4 Nc6 11.Be2 Be6 12.0-0 Rc8 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Rac1 Qb6 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 1-0 (40) Karjakin,S (2763)-Kramnik,V (2800) Moscow 2018 10...Nc6 11.Bb5 Bb7 12.0-0 Rc8 13.Rac1 a6 14.Be2 d4 15.Qb1 Qd7 16.Rfe1 g6 17.Ba1 Rfd8 18.h3 18.b4!? 18...a5 19.Bb5 Bf6 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Qd6 22.bxc5 bxc5 23.Bc4 Rc7 23...Rb8 with more complications. 24.Qc2 Nb4 25.Qd1 Re8 26.Qb3 Bxf3 27.Bxf7+ Kf8 24.exd4 Nxd4 25.Bxd4 Bxd4 Black should try 25...cxd4 26.Be2 Re7 26.Nxd4= The position is equal. Qxd4 27.Qb6       White is more active. Qf4 28.Rcd1 Kg7 29.Bf1 Rd4 30.Re3 c4 Threatens to win with ...c3! 31.g3 Qd6 32.Qxd6 Rxd6 33.Rc3 Rcd7 34.Rxc4 Rxd2 35.Rxd2 Rxd2 36.Rc1 Precision: White = 48%, Black = 63%. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2965Karjakin,S2838½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz1.1
Ding,L2793So,W28240–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz1.2
Anand,V2784Mamedyarov,S2730½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz1.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2839Caruana,F28141–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz1.4
Aronian,L2843Nakamura,H28690–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz1.5
Mamedyarov,S2730Carlsen,M2965½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz2.1
Karjakin,S2838Aronian,L28431–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz2.2
So,W2824Anand,V2784½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz2.3
Caruana,F2814Nakamura,H2869½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz2.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2839Ding,L2793½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz2.5
Carlsen,M2965So,W28241–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz3.1
Anand,V2784Vachier-Lagrave,M28391–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz3.2
Aronian,L2843Mamedyarov,S27301–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz3.3
Ding,L2793Caruana,F28140–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz3.4
Nakamura,H2869Karjakin,S28381–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz3.5
Vachier-Lagrave,M2839Carlsen,M2965½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz4.1
Mamedyarov,S2730Nakamura,H2869½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz4.2
So,W2824Aronian,L2843½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz4.3
Caruana,F2814Karjakin,S28381–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz4.4
Ding,L2793Anand,V27840–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz4.5
Carlsen,M2965Ding,L2793½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz5.1
Aronian,L2843Vachier-Lagrave,M28390–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz5.2
Nakamura,H2869So,W2824½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz5.3
Anand,V2784Caruana,F28140–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz5.4
Karjakin,S2838Mamedyarov,S27301–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz5.5
Anand,V2784Carlsen,M2965½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz6.1
So,W2824Karjakin,S28381–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz6.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2839Nakamura,H2869½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz6.3
Caruana,F2814Mamedyarov,S27300–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz6.4
Ding,L2793Aronian,L2843½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz6.5
Carlsen,M2965Caruana,F28141–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz7.1
Nakamura,H2869Ding,L2793½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz7.2
Karjakin,S2838Vachier-Lagrave,M2839½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz7.3
Aronian,L2843Anand,V27840–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz7.4
Mamedyarov,S2730So,W28240–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz7.5
Carlsen,M2965Aronian,L28430–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz8.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2839Mamedyarov,S27300–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz8.2
Ding,L2793Karjakin,S28381–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz8.3
Caruana,F2814So,W28240–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz8.4
Anand,V2784Nakamura,H2869½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz8.5
Nakamura,H2869Carlsen,M2965½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz9.1
Karjakin,S2838Anand,V2784½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz9.2
Mamedyarov,S2730Ding,L27931–020186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz9.3
Aronian,L2843Caruana,F28140–120186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz9.4
So,W2824Vachier-Lagrave,M2839½–½20186th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Blitz9.5

Norwegian Grandmaster Simen Agdestein commented the blitz tournament live.

Carlsen’s performance cost him 25.8 points on the live-rating list for blitz, but despite this heavy loss he is still the clear number one in blitz.

 

The main tournament starts on Monday. All games begin rather late in the day at 16:30 CEST (10:30 EDT). There are two rest days on May 31st and June 4th. The regular final round will be held on June 7th, with a potential playoff (if necessary) on either the 7th or 8th (depending on the number of tied players). The first six rounds will take place at the Clarion Hotel Energy, and then the tournament moves and plays the rest of the tournament in the Stavanger Concert Hall.

The concert hall of  Stavanger | Image: Google

As luck – or the blitz results – would have it, Carlsen will play Caruana in the first round.

Pairings of round 1

SNo.   Name Rtg Res.   Name Rtg SNo.
1 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2769 – GM Ding Liren 2791 10
2 GM Anand Viswanathan 2760 – GM Aronian Levon 2764 9
3 GM So Wesley 2778 – GM Karjakin Sergey 2782 8
4 GM Carlsen Magnus 2843 – GM Caruana Fabiano 2822 7
5 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2808 – GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2789 6

For all chess fans outside Norway, the organizers are offering a live webcast in English with commentary by Simen Agdestein, Knut Skeie Solberg and Anna Rudolf. Norwegians can also follow the tournament on Norway's TV 2 Sport television channel.

The organizers Kjell Madland, Frode Sømme and Benedicte Westre Skog have all focussed on promoting scholastic chess, as they agree with many others that chess is an excellent tool for the development of the intellectual ability of young people. So, after the Altibox Norway Chess tournament, just outside Stavanger, in Bryne, a three-day school and children's chess festival takes place.

On the edge of the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament, the Norway Summit will also be held, a series of events on artificial intelligence.

Schedule

Day

Event

Place

Side event

27. May Blitz tournament Clarion Hotel Energy  
28. May 1st Round Clarion Hotel Energy  
29. May 2nd Round Clarion Hotel Energy  
30. May 3rd Round    
31. May Rest day Clarion Hotel Energy  
1. June 4th Round Clarion Hotel Energy  
2. June 5th Round Clarion Hotel Energy  
3. June 6th Round Clarion Hotel Energy  
4. June Rest day    
5. June 7th Round Stavanger Concert Hall Norway Summit (Clarion Hotel Energy)
6. June 8th Round Stavanger Concert Hall  
7. June 9th Round Stavanger Concert Hall  
8. June Playoff (if needed)   School tournament (Bryne)
9. June     Team tournament (Bryne)
10. June     Children's Grand Prix (Bryne)

Links

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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