Altibox Norway Rd6: Aronian beats Kramnik and ties for lead

Round six

All photos by Lennart Ootes

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Chess fans were blessed today with another round of exciting chess, and though not quite the standard of round four, there was nothing to complain about. The news of the day was without a doubt Levon Aronian’s very quick win over Vladimir Kramnik, who was dead lost after a mere 22 moves.

This was not the sort of position Kramnik had imagined in his preparation

Daniel King analyzes Levon Aronian vs Vladimir Kramnik

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The result of this monumental win is that Levon Aronian not only ties Nakamura for first in the Norway Chess tournament, but he also finally renews his membership of the 2800 club where he firmly belongs. There are no two ways about it: Aronian is on fire, and it bears reminding the readers that he had great chances in a couple of the draws he played too.

After six rounds, Magnus Carlsen is still struggling, and while he was never in trouble, nor did it seem like he was going to make any.

Magnus Carlsen has yet to score a win in the tournament, and his loss against Levon Aronian has still left a shadow of discomfort that was visible in his game today. His opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, is certainly always game for a bloody fight as can be seen in his predilection for the Sicilian Najdorf, and while the world champion didn’t necessarily need to go for such a sharp struggle, one would have hoped for something more ambitious with white than a London system. Though the two left on the kings on the board at the end of the 44 moves, that didn’t make it an eventful game.

Hikaru Nakamura and Sergey Karjakin chose the Nimzo-Indian as their battlefield, and although it left a completely symmetrical queenless middlegame with no real  breaks to strive for, white had an infinitesimal edge thanks to his bishop pair. Nakamura had shown how much he had developed in technical play in his first round win over Giri in the famous Fischer endgame (RB vs RN), and here he tried to do a tribute to Steinitz as he transitioned into an endgame pitting his bishop pair against Karjakin’s knight and bishop. It wasn’t enough as the position didn’t allow him to harry the knight quite as Steinitz taught, and eventually they drew.

Hikaru Nakamura tried his best to make something out of the endgame in round six, but the position just didn't have enough in it

Anish Giri is going to spend another sleepless night, in spite of his good-natured humor, as he aches at the golden opportunity missed. He had Wesley So in his grasp, the win just a few precise moves away, but somehow a series of imprecisions as the time control approached robbed him of this window of opportunity and a draw was concluded.

Anish Giri vs Wesley So

Anish Giri shares his post-game impressions with Dirk Jan Geuzendam and Nigel Short (photo by Tone Marie Haubrick)

Fabiano Caruana is another player, much like Carlsen, who has been having trouble getting his engine into second gear. Perhaps as a means to ‘shake things up’ he eschewed his usual 1. e4 against Vishy Anand, and played 1. c4 instead. This was not the immediate cause for his downfall, but his lack of familiarity with the English with white did him no favors. He tried to set up an almost primitively aggressive pawn roller on the queenside (Black was castled on the kingside for the record), and when things didn’t work out, he closed shop there with a big 23. a5 padlock. Anand did not hesitate and went on the offensive himself, and the situation turned around swiftly and badly. A great win for the Indian. Enjoy the great detailed notes by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson.

Fabiano Caruana vs Vishy Anand (annotated by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson)

Win or lose, you can count on 5-time world champion Vishy Anand to bring the fight to his opponent when needed. His win over Caruana now leaves him tied with Caruana and Carlsen.

Standings after six rounds

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Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2017

Links

• Official tournament site
• All Blitz games in PGN or Replay them directly here (many analyzed)
• All Standard games in PGN or Replay them directly here (many analyzed)

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