The Arctic Circle city of Tromsø is an applicant to stage the 41st Chess Olympiad in 2014, for which the Norwegian government has guaranteed a $12 million budget. The meeting was held at the Rica Ishavshotel, where the Board of Tromsø 2014 usually convenes. On the first day, to kick things off, the world's number one and world blitz champion Magnus Carlsen played an exhibition game against Sigurd Rushfeldt.
We meet at last! The chess professional vs the football star
The football star plays for Tromsø I.L. in the top Norwegian football league, which is leading the league in front of Rosenborg. Rushfeldt has played for clubs like Austria Wien and Racing Santander. Besides being a footballer, he is also a keen chess player.
Magnus had white and two minutes, Sigurd black and five minutes for the
game
About 250 spectators watched the game in Tromso
In the blitz game between Magnus Carlsen and Sigurd Rushfeldt the chess professional had white and his opponent received a time handicap – five minutes for Rushfeldt and two minutes for Carlsen. Here is the game:
Carlsen,Magnus - Rushfeldt,Sigurd [B33]
Rica Hotel Tromsø, 28.05.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5. A Sicilian Sveshnikov, where one normally sees Magnus on the black side of the board. 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Be6 11.c3 Rc8 12.Nc2 Be7 13.Nce3. This position has occurred in a number of games before, but White won all of them. 13...0-0 14.Qh5 Kh8 15.Rd1 Rg8 16.g3
16...a5? Black gives up his b-pawn without compensation. 17.Bxb5 Qd7 18.Nb6. And now a deadly fork of the queen and rook. 18...Qd8 19.Nxc8 Qxc8 20.Nf5 Bxf5 21.Qxf5 Nd8??
22.Qxc8 Oops, the queen was hanging, the game is over. 1-0.
Jan S. Berglund was the commentator during the game, which was accompanied by laughter and encouraging words from the audience as Rushfeldt lost more and more material. The game was shown in Norwegian TV.
Click on the above image for the report (in Norwegian), which is the first
1:12 minutes.
Thanks to Gunnar Berg Hanssen from Tromsø, Norway, for the information.
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