Norway 02: Caruana 2.0/2

by Alejandro Ramirez
6/4/2014 – Caruana showed excellent preparation and confused Svidler who could not keep up with the extreme complications over the board, putting the Italian player in a perfect 2.0/2 start. Aronian vanquished Karjakin, the Russian's first loss in 24 games. Topalov and Grischuk was also wild, and time pressure this time did not favor the Bulgarian who committed a series of mistakes.
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The Unibet Norway Chess Tournament will take place in Stavanger, Norway from June 2nd to June 13th. The tournament features some of the best players in the world and has a massive rating average of 2774.

Round Two

Round 02 – June 04 2014, 15:30h
Simen Agdestein 2628
½-½
 Anish Giri 2752
Vladimir Kramnik 2783
½-½
 Magnus Carlsen 2881
Fabiano Caruana 2791
1-0
 Peter Svidler 2753
Veselin Topalov 2772
0-1
 Alexander Grischuk 2792
Levon Aronian 2815
1-0
 Sergey Karjakin 2771

Agdestein, Simen ½-½ Giri, Anish
The game had some strategical interesting points, but the most important part of the game was when Giri missed a nice tactic on move 16.

Instead of 16...g5 which left the game equal he could have played the fantastic 16...Rxh4! 17. Nxh4 Nfe4! 18. Nf3 Nxf2! which would sacrifice an exchange but given him tremendous compensation. The knight is taboo on f2 because of the discovered attack Ne4+, and the queen on a3 is hanging.

After Giri missing this chance Agdestein played well enough to hold on to the game, though he was always on the defending side.

An interesting game, Giri kicked himself a little during the
commentary when he was shown the tactic he missed

Kramnik, Vladimir ½-½ Carlsen, Magnus
Carlsen played a variation that gives White almost no chances to lose, but somehow Kramnik has lost twice! This time around the game was equal and Carlsen pushed for quite a while in a drawn queen and knight endgame, but it was eventually fruitless, although he did manage to win a pawn and put some pressure.

Kramnik: "It should have been shorter..."
Short: "Well, whose fault was that?"
Kramnik: "Mine!"

Caruana, Fabiano 1-0 Svidler, Peter

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1.e41,185,96054%2421---
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0-0-0 Be7 The Paulsen's popularity has certainly increased in the past few years. Expect a new ChessBase DVD on this opening coming up in the next few weeks! Bb4 is the other major alternative to the move played in the game. 9.f3 b5 9...0-0 is still more commong, but b5 is the fashionable thing to do. 10.Kb1 Ne5 The typical idea but still unusual in this position. 11.g4 b4 No one has played this game before, but Caruana was clearly well prepared. 12.Na4 h6 13.Rg1 d5 14.Bf4!? This begins a series of complications that are entirely unclear. dxe4 14...Bd6 15.exd5 Nxd5 16.Nf5! 0-0!?∞ is not something I can explain in the word limit of this game. 15.g5! This move crashes through the kingside, but Black retains chances. hxg5 16.Rxg5 Nfd7 16...e3 17.Qg2± does not help black. 17.Rxg7 exf3 17...Qa5 is also worth looking at. 18.Nxe6!? fxe6 19.Bd3 Clearly a position that Caruana had analyzed previously. This is not easy for a human to play. Black is up a piece but the threats are plentiful. Bf6 19...Rb8‼ leads to a draw. An impossible move to find for a human. The point is that Rb5 will solidify Black's position. 20.Qe3!? Rb5!= 21.c4 bxc3 22.Bg6+ Kd8 23.Nxc3 Qc5!= Although it is unclear who exactly will find all of this over the board. 20.Bg6+ Nxg6 20...Kf8 21.Rf7+ Kg8 22.Rg1 Nxg6 23.Rxf6! is devastating. 21.Bxc7 Bxg7 22.Qd3 Nge5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 The dust has somewhat settled. Black retains some material advantage but his pieces are not developed and his king is unsafe, he will lose at least a piece - but that is not the end of the world. 24.Qe4 Ra7! 24...Rb8 25.Nc5 Ke7 26.Nxd7 Bxd7 27.Qxe5 loses immediately as there is no good defense against Qg7+ 25.Nc5 Ke7 25...Rh6! was more resilient. 26.Qe3! Rg6 27.Qxf3! Black's position is still very dangerous, but White is also risking by not taking the piece immediately. 26.Rf1! Svidler missed this powerful move. Rf8 27.Nxd7 Rxd7 28.Qxe5 Rd5 29.Qe3 Rdf5 Black's only hope in this position is his passed pawn on f3. However his king is too weak to survive. Caruana comes with a good an interesting plan. 30.Qf2 30.Qa7+! Bd7 31.Rd1 Rd8 32.Qf2! Was a better version than what was played in the game; Caruana's continuation is good enough though. 30...a5 31.b3 Bd7 32.Rg1 Bc6 33.Kb2 Nigel Short mentioned in the commentary that White would simply play b3, Kb2, make his position safe and then figure out how to checkmate Black. R8f7 34.Rg8 Rf8 35.Rg4 R8f7 36.a3 bxa3+ 37.Kxa3 Kd6 38.Rc4 Bd5? A blunder in a lost position. 38...Bd7 39.h4! White can also advance the h-pawn and cause headaches that way. 39.Rc8 Black is now helpless against the threat of c4. A very well played game by Caruana. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2791Svidler,P27531–02014B482nd Norway Chess 20142.1

Carlsen was asked if now was the time to face Caruana (since they play each other tomorrow).
His answer: "It's time to stop him".

Daniel King shows the game Caruana vs Svidler

Topalov, Veselin 0-1 Grischuk, Alexander
Another crazy game! It followed an old masterpiece of Gelfand for a while, and as soon as they deviated the game turned into some interesting complications. Topalov sacrificed a pawn and had some definite compensation, quite possibly the preferable position. Grischuk defended accurately but the pressure was still there. In time pressure Topalov committed a series of mistakes and Grischuk punished him with incredible precision.

Topalov: "Every time I thought more than five minutes, I blundered"

Aronian, Levon 1-0 Karjakin, Sergey
Aronian exerted pressure from move one, and never let go. Karjakin was pushed back further and further and although the material was relatively simplified Aronian's grip on the position was not loosening. Eventually a double rook endgame emerged where White had an extra pawn. Karjakin had to find the accurate 41...g6! to hold the position together, but he didn't and he lost the rook endgame.

Aronian sits on solo second with 1.5/2

This game broke Karjakin's streak of 24 rated games without losing

Standings

Replay today's games

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,185,96054%2421---
1.d4960,10155%2434---
1.Nf3286,72856%2440---
1.c4184,98756%2443---
1.g319,89756%2427---
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0-0-0 Be7 9.f3 b5 10.Kb1 Ne5 11.g4 b4 12.Na4 h6 13.Rg1 d5 14.Bf4 dxe4 15.g5 hxg5 16.Rxg5 Nfd7 17.Rxg7 exf3 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Bd3 Bf6 20.Bg6+ Nxg6 21.Bxc7 Bxg7 22.Qd3 Nge5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Qe4 Ra7 25.Nc5 Ke7 26.Rf1 Rf8 27.Nxd7 Rxd7 28.Qxe5 Rd5 29.Qe3 Rdf5 30.Qf2 a5 31.b3 Bd7 32.Rg1 Bc6 33.Kb2 R8f7 34.Rg8 Rf8 35.Rg4 R8f7 36.a3 bxa3+ 37.Kxa3 Kd6 38.Rc4 Bd5 39.Rc8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2791Svidler,P27531–02014B482nd Norway Chess 20142.1
Kramnik,V2783Carlsen,M2881½–½2014E002nd Norway Chess 20142.2
Aronian,L2815Karjakin,S27711–02014E152nd Norway Chess 20142.3
Topalov,V2772Grischuk,A27920–12014B902nd Norway Chess 20142.4
Agdestein,S2628Giri,A2752½–½2014D382nd Norway Chess 20142.5

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Schedule of Events

Date
Time
Event
Venue
Playchess commentary
02.06.2014 17.00 Blitz Flor & Fjære  
03.06.2014 15.30 Round 1 Scandic Stavanger Forus Daniel King
04.06.2014 15.30 Round 2 Scandic Stavanger Forus Simon Williams
05.06.2014 15.30 Round 3 Scandic Stavanger Forus Yasser Seirawan
07.06.2014 15.30 Round 4 Vågen VGS, Sandnes Yasser Seirawan
08.06.2014 15.30 Round 5 Scandic Stavanger Forus Yasser Seirawan
09.06.2014 15.30 Round 6 Aarbakke fabrikkhall, Bryne Chris Ward
10.06.2014 15.30 Round 7 Scandic Stavanger Forus Daniel King
12.06.2014 15.30 Round 8 Scandic Stavanger Forus Simon Williams
13.06.2014 14.30 Round 9 Scandic Stavanger Forus Daniel King

Pairings

Round 01 – June 03 2014, 15:30h
Levon Aronian 2815
½-½
 Simen Agdestein 2628
Sergey Karjakin 2771
½-½
 Veselin Topalov 2772
Alexander Grischuk 2792
0-1
 Fabiano Caruana 2791
Peter Svidler 2753
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik 2783
Magnus Carlsen 2881
½-½
 Anish Giri 2752
Round 02 – June 04 2014, 15:30h
Simen Agdestein 2628
½-½
 Anish Giri 2752
Vladimir Kramnik 2783
½-½
 Magnus Carlsen 2881
Fabiano Caruana 2791
1-0
 Peter Svidler 2753
Veselin Topalov 2772
0-1
 Alexander Grischuk 2792
Levon Aronian 2815
1-0
 Sergey Karjakin 2771
Round 03 – June 05 2014, 15:30h
Sergey Karjakin 2771   Simen Agdestein 2628
Alexander Grischuk 2792   Levon Aronian 2815
Peter Svidler 2753   Veselin Topalov 2772
Magnus Carlsen 2881   Fabiano Caruana 2791
Anish Giri 2752   Vladimir Kramnik 2783
Round 04 – June 07 2014, 15:30h
Simen Agdestein 2628   Vladimir Kramnik 2783
Fabiano Caruana 2791   Anish Giri 2752
Veselin Topalov 2772   Magnus Carlsen 2881
Levon Aronian 2815   Peter Svidler 2753
Sergey Karjakin 2771   Alexander Grischuk 2792
Round 05 – June 08 2014, 15:30h
Alexander Grischuk 2792   Simen Agdestein 2628
Peter Svidler 2753   Sergey Karjakin 2771
Magnus Carlsen 2881   Levon Aronian 2815
Anish Giri 2752   Veselin Topalov 2772
Vladimir Kramnik 2727   Fabiano Caruana 2791
Round 06 – June 09 2014, 15:30h
Simen Agdestein 2628   Fabiano Caruana 2791
Veselin Topalov 2772   Vladimir Kramnik 2783
Levon Aronian 2815   Anish Giri 2752
Sergey Karjakin 2771   Magnus Carlsen 2881
Alexander Grischuk 2792
 
 Peter Svidler 2753
Round 07 – June 10 2014, 15:30h
Peter Svidler 2753   Simen Agdestein 2628
Magnus Carlsen 2881   Alexander Grischuk 2792
Anish Giri 2752   Sergey Karjakin 2771
Vladimir Kramnik 2783   Levon Aronian 2815
Fabiano Caruana 2791   Veselin Topalov 2772
Round 08 – June 12 2014, 15:30h
Simen Agdestein 2628   Veselin Topalov 2772
Levon Aronian 2815   Fabiano Caruana 2791
Sergey Karjakin 2771   Vladimir Kramnik 2783
Alexander Grischuk 2792   Anish Giri 2752
Peter Svidler 2753   Magnus Carlsen 2881
Round 09 – June 13 2014, 14:30h
Magnus Carlsen 2881   Simen Agdestein 2628
Anish Giri 2752   Peter Svidler 2753
Vladimir Kramnik 2783   Alexander Grischuk 2792
Fabiano Caruana 2791   Sergey Karjakin 2771
Veselin Topalov 2772   Levon Aronian 2815

Links

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.
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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