5/10/2013 – Defying expectations, round three was once again defined by three decisive games, and incisive chess throughout. Carlsen played a sharp gambit against Nakamura, which drew after a good fight, and Radjabov broke his fast by beating Hammer. Karjakin beat Wang Hao for a third win, but the game of the day was Anand’s brilliant win over Topalov. Report, videos, and GM analysis.
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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 three
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand
1-0
Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler
½-½
Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov
1-0
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin
1-0
Wang Hao
For the third straight round, three of the games in the Norway Chess tournament ended in decisive results, continuing its remarkable bloodthirstiness. Though more than one game stood out, not to mention the results, there was one that turned heads just a bit more than the others: the brilliant win by World Champion Vishy Anand over Veselin Topalov.
Peter Svidler and Levon Aronian
This first game to end was the relatively uneventful draw between Peter Svidler and Levon Aronian. The two players went for the Four Knights variation of the English, which both are not only experienced in but have played from both sides of the board many times. Neither seemed particularly inspired this day, and it pettered into a draw after 31 moves.
The second draw of the day was quite another story. Hikaru Nakamura decided to face Magnus Carlsen with the Vienna, which has become an irregular, though not unheard of guest in elite play. Karjakin, Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov, and Morozevich are but a few of the names who have employed it in the last years. Still, it soon deviated from the usual grandmaster choices, and by move nine only one game from 1975 was to be found in the databases.
Nakamura and Carlsen played a Vienna in which the Norwegian gave a pawn for activity
After 10.f5 Carlsen recognized that energetic measures needed to be taken, and he showed himself up to the task with the pawn sacrifice 10…b5. When asked about it in the press conference after the game, he pshawed it as just being the move that fit the position’s needs. The engines claimed Black could have gotten an advantage after 27…Qe5, but neither player could see any concrete reason for it and shrugged it off. As the position simplified, the draw became increasingly clear and they shook hands before the time control.
The press conference with Nakamura and Carlsen after their fascinating game
The game that had everyone both on the edge of their seat and trying to figure out what was going on (unless resorting to an engine) was Anand-Topalov. The two played a Najdorf, an opening that suits both their styles, and this seemed to inspire the World Champion as he played an inspired game punctuated by several lovely moves such as 32.Qh1! and the flashy 35.Be6!
It was a great game that has Anand's fans clamouring for more
GM Gilberto Milos annotates Anand-Topalov:
[Event "Norway Chess 2013"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.05.10"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"]
[PlyCount "81"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 {Just in the
round before Anand defended this very same pawn structure with black against
Magnus. Now it's time to show how it is done with the white pieces.} 7. Nb3 Be6
8. f3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. Rg1 Nb6 13. Na5 Rc8 (13...
Qc7 {is an alternative.}) 14. g5 Nh5 15. Kb1 Nf4 ({Against} 15... g6 {Anand
already played the following idea:} 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Qxa5
19. c4 $44 {with good compensation thanks to the control of the d5 square and
the pair of bishops.}) 16. a3 g6 (16... Qc7 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. Nd5 {is similar
to the game.}) 17. h4 Qc7 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. Nd5 $1 ({The game move was much
better than} 19. Ne2 {allowing} d5 $1 20. Nxf4 (20. exd5 Bxd5) 20... Rcd8 21.
Nxe6 fxe6 22. Bh3 Kh8 $132 {With excellent counterplay.}) 19... Bxd5 20. exd5
Nxd5 21. Qxd5 Qxa5 22. Rg4 {White is clearly better thanks to his better pawn
structure and much better bishop.} Rc5 23. Qb3 d5 24. Rxf4 Qc7 25. Rfd4 Qh2 26.
c3 Rd8 27. Qc2 Qg3 {Topalov plays very actively and avoids trying his luck in
a worse endgame.} 28. f4 $1 {A critical moment because the queen is in danger.}
Bd6 $2 (28... Qxh4 {was correct and white has only a small advantage as the
variations bellow shows.} 29. Qe2 (29. Bg2 Rc4 30. Bxd5 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 $14) (29.
Qg2 {was Anand's intention as he pointed in the postmortem analyses.} Bd6 $1
30. Bxb5 Bxf4 31. Bxa6 Qxg5) 29... Rc7 (29... Bf8 30. Bg2) 30. Qf3 (30. Bg2 Bc5
31. Rh1 Re7 $1 $11) 30... Bc5 31. Rxd5 Rxd5 32. Rxd5 Qe1+ 33. Ka2 Bf8) 29. Bg2
Bxf4 30. Bxd5 {An amazing position. Black's pieces are misplaced, especially
the queen and bishop. The immediate threat is the discovered attack Bxf7+
which would win the pawn and exchange. From now on, Anand will never allow
Black to coordinate again.} Kg7 (30... Rf8 31. Rf1 Be3 (31... Be5 32. Bxf7+ Kh8
(32... Rxf7 33. Rd8+ Kg7 34. Rxf7+ Kxf7 35. Qb3+ Rc4 (35... Ke7 36. Qg8) 36.
Qd1 Qg4 37. Qd5+ Ke7 38. Qg8) 33. Rdd1 $16) 32. Qd3 Kg7 33. Ka1 Qe5 34. Be4 Bf4
35. Bb7 Bg3 36. Bxa6 $18) 31. Qe4 {This centralization move is decisive.} Qe3 (
{Black had a number of choices such as} 31... Qxh4 32. Bxf7 Bxg5 (32... Rxd4 {
loses to} 33. Qxd4+ Re5 34. Be6 $1 Qxg5 35. Qd7+ Kh6 36. Rh1+ {and the queen
is lost.}) 33. Qb7 Rxd4 34. cxd4 $18) (31... Be5 32. Rf1 Rd7 33. Ka2 $18) 32.
Qh1 {A laser precise move that keeps the back rank protected and the bishop on
d5.} (32. Qg2 {was also strong;} Bg3 33. R1d3 Qf2 34. Qe4 $18) 32... Rd7 {
There is no solution to save Black, and White can exploit many tactical themes.
} ({For example,} 32... Be5 33. R4d3 $1 Qe2 34. R1d2 {The back rank protection
of Qh1 is clear in this line.} Qg4 35. Qe1 Re8 36. Rf2 {attacking f7.} Rc7 37.
Rdf3 Qc8 38. Re3 Rce7 {and the rook on e7 is overloaded. White wins with the
spectacular} 39. Rxe5 $1 Rxe5 40. Rxf7+ Kh8 41. Rf8+ $3 {A fantastic shot to
end a brilliant attack.} Kg7 (41... Rxf8 42. Qxe5+ Rf6 43. Qxf6#) 42. Rg8+ $3 {
Black must take the rook now.} Rxg8 43. Qxe5+ Kf8 44. Qf6+ Ke8 45. Bc6+ {and
it is over.}) (32... Rc7 {allows the following nice variation} 33. Qf1 $1 Be5
34. Re4 Qg3 35. Rd3 Qh2 36. Re2 $18) 33. R1d3 (33. Qf1 $1 $18 {was more precise
} Be5 (33... Bd6 34. Re4 Qg3 (34... Qh3 35. Qf6+ Kg8 36. Re8+ Bf8 37. Rxf8+
Kxf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Re1+) 35. Qf6+ Kg8 36. h5 $1 gxh5 37. Re8+ Bf8 38. Qh6
Qd6 39. Bxf7+) 34. R4d3 Qf4 35. Rf3 Rcxd5 36. Rxd5 Qe4+ 37. Rdd3) 33... Qe5 (
33... Qf2 34. Qe4) (33... Qe2 {is the best defense and White should bring back
his rook, mantaining a decisive advantage anyway.} 34. Rd1 (34. Bf3 $2 Qxd3+))
34. Qf3 Bh2 (34... Qc7 35. b4 {Different ideas appears all the time and always
favour White!}) 35. Be6 $1 (35. Bb3 {also wins}) 35... Re7 (35... Qxe6 36. Rxd7
) 36. Re4 Rxe6 37. Rxe5 Rcxe5 38. Rd8 Re4 39. Ka2 Bf4 40. Rd7 Kg8 41. Ra7 {
Black resigned because the a6 pawn is lost. He cannot defend against Rxa6 Rxa6
and Qxe4.} (41. Ra7 {For example} Rc4 42. Qb7 {attacking f7 and if} Rc7 43.
Qb8+ Kg7 44. Rxc7) 1-0
Vishy Anand analyzes his win over Veselin Topalov. There has been strange talk about Anand leaving after being offended. Judge for yourself.
If yesterday, Vishy Anand was described as the moral victor, today he was the material one. Veselin Topalov cannot be happy with his loss, but he can take comfort that at least he participated in a memorable game. An excellent start for the World Champion, and one that will allow him to sleep well during the rest day on Saturday.
GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Anand vs Topalov
Sergey Karjakin continued his incredible opening as he won his third straight game, this time against Wang Hao. Hao has been a tough opponent for Karjakin, leading their classical games by one point, so it was far from clear what would happen. The opening was a Sicilian Richter Rauzer, following a game played by Karjakin in 2007. Wang Hao responded badly and oddly against White’s novelty, the normal looking 20.Kb1, and soon found himself worse. The question of the win seemed a nebulous affair until the Chinese player finally slipped for good with 36…f5? and capitulated a few moves later.
Sergey Karjakin said that if anyone had told him he would start the super tournament
with 3.0/3 he would have thought they were joking.
Teimour Radjabov was the last to win, at the expense of Jon Hammer, who has been struggling to compete with the cream of the crop. It was a Gruenfeld in which d4 took its own sweet time appearing on the board, but by the time it did, the Norwegian was already worse. He never quite recovered his balance and the Azeri scored his first win.
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Throughout the video course, Sasikran shows various examples from his career to explain sacrifices for initiative, an attack, a better pawn structure and much more.
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