Norway 2013 Rd6: Carlsen closes on Karjakin
5/14/2013 – Trying to sum up the incredible action of the day in a few lines is nearly impossible. The games were sharp, exciting, dramatic, and Playchess commentator GM Daniel King even said “My brain is hurting”. Aronian beat Hammer in an explosive game, and Carlsen ground down Radjabov in his vintage endgame play. Anand nearly beat Karjakin after a virtuoso performance. Report with GM commentary.
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Norway Chess 2013
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).
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Tourney structure: nine-round round robin |
Round six
| Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes | ||
| Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Teimour Radjabov |
| Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Wang Hao |
| Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Sergey Karjakin |
| Levon Aronian |
1-0 |
Jon Ludvig Hammer |
| Hikaru Nakamura |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
The spectators enjoy a very intimate view of the elite event
If the sixth round could be summed up in a word, it would be ‘intense’, but to try and define it with one word, would be a slight of no small proportions to the players who gave it their all. They took risks, poured their inspiration and perspiration on the board, and essentially held nothing back. The poor commentators usually have only a game or two to center their focus on, giving brief highlights of the others as they progress, had no such luck today. GM Daniel King trying to make sense of so many sharp positions quailed jokingly “My brain is hurting.”
The first game to end was not a draw as one might expect, but an explosive Gruenfeld between Levon Aronian and Jon Hammer in which the Norwegian entered a line considered dubious, and paid the price for his temerity. Usually the price in such situations is significant suffering, but the Armenian took it on himself to get an early rest as he brought his d-pawn to the seventh rank by move 23 forcing resignation the move after.
A representative of the sponsor Lyse makes the first move
[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Hammer, Jon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "47"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Nc6 { Theory considers this move a mistake.} ({Correct was} 13... Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 {and the position is about equal.}) 14. d5 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd4 16. Rxe7 {Now we have a fight between central pawn against a distant pawn. Here the central pawn is much more advanced and we can affirm that White is much better.} a5 17. d6 a4 18. e5 {White has to advance his central pawns because the a-pawn supported by the bishop on g7 is too strong.} Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Qb2 {Probably the decisive mistake.} ({Black should have played} 19... a3 20. Bc3 Qc4 21. Qd4 $14 {and White is clearly better but the win is far from clear. A possible continuation could be} Qxd4 22. Bxd4 a2 23. Ra1 Rfb8 24. Kg2) 20. Be3 $1 {Very strong! Hammer probably missed this move in his analyses.} a3 ({The point is that Black can not capture the e-pawn.} 20... Bxe5 21. Qd5 Bg7 22. Rxf7 Rxf7 23. Qxa8+ Bf8 24. Rd1 {with an easy win because the advance of the d-pawn is supported and the a-pawn is under control.}) 21. Qd5 {Now it's over.} Rae8 ( 21... Rab8 {was suggested by Levon in the post-mortem analysis as a better defense but White still wins after} 22. e6 fxe6 23. Qxe6+ Kh8 24. Ra7 {and again the black pawn is under control. A possible continution could be} Qf6 25. Qd5 Qxf3 26. Qxf3 Rxf3 27. d7 Kg8 28. Rd1 Bf6 29. Rxa3) 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. d7 Rd8 24. Bg5 1-0
Veselin Topalov and Wang Hao played the only game that did not require warnings to people with heart conditions and played a main line Queen’s Gambit Accepted that led to nothing for either side. This ended in a draw after they had exhausted their options.
The soft-spoken Veselin Topalov and Wang Hao
Although Hikaru Nakamura and Peter Svidler played a draw that lasted one move less than the aforementioned game, it was an entirely different story. The American sprang the very rare grandmaster guest: the Ponziani, which although he has played before in 2007, and was even essayed by Carlsen this year at Wijk, could not have been the prime focus of Svidler’s preparation.
Hikaru Nakamura shows his support of his football team
As it turned out, the Russian was quite familiar with it, but was alarmed at the way his opponent was blitzing out his moves and kept trying to find a way to break away from theory without actually doing anything suicidal. His choice was 9…Bg4, which looked decidedly odd, but the result was an extremely sharp game that had ‘anything can happen’ written all over it. With both kings highly exposed, it was no shock to see it end in a forced repetition after a sacrifice.
The game by Viswanathan Anand and Sergey Karjakin was one of both beauty and tragedy. After his loss yesterday, a big question mark was how the Russian would respond to the setback. In a sense this seemed to presume he was calling the shots, and ignored his illustrious opponent, but the world champion quickly stamped his authority and who was who. Karjakin played the Ruy Lopez Berlin, usually synonymous of exchanged queens and a lot of maneuvering, but Anand was having none of it, and 4.d3 said the queens were invited to stay at the party.
It was an inspired game by Vishy Anand, who came 'oh so close' to
drubbing Sergey Karjakin
The position was nevertheless quite controlled for the first twenty moves, and Vishy was the first to show his hand with a none-too-subtle 22.g4 followed by 23.Rg1, and the Russian responded well with Kf7 and g5 taking his king out of the line of fire, trying to blockade the belligerent intentions of the Indian. It was an inspired performance by Anand as he worked the position with great verve, and seemed headed towards a small masterpiece. Many of the threatened lines, as well as those supporting the moves played, were of great beauty, but a tragic oversight with 48.Rh1 allowed the one tempo Sergey needed to get his balance and after 48…Qb5 threatening …Qb3, the win was no more. A bittersweet moment for Anand who has been showing his brilliance but was unable to close the deal, and a huge relief for Karjakin who had been staring at a second defeat in a row, which he might not have recovered from.
Magnus Carlsen played a game against Teimour Radjabov that can easily be recognized as Classic Carlsen. He played an opening, a Tarrasch, and middlegame that garnered him little to nothing, and entered an endgame where he had a microscopic pull to work with and from there began to brew his potion. It took him no fewer than 40 moves to squeeze blood from a stone, but in the end he moved forward within just a half-point behind Sergey Karjakin and three rounds to go.
Magnus Carlsen has nearly caught up with Sergey Karjakin
GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Carlsen vs Radjabov
Replay all games
[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2608"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Nc6 14. d5 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd4 16. Rxe7 a5 17. d6 a4 18. e5 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Qb2 20. Be3 a3 21. Qd5 Rae8 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. d7 Rd8 24. Bg5 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. e3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 a6 7. O-O b5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. dxc5 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Bxc5 11. Nd2 Nbd7 12. Nb3 Bb4 13. Bd2 O-O 14. a4 bxa4 15. Nxa4 a5 16. Bxb4 axb4 17. Nac5 Bd5 18. f3 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Rc8 20. Rc1 Bxb3 21. Nxb3 Rxc1+ 22. Nxc1 Nc5 23. Kf2 Nd5 24. e4 Nb6 25. Ke3 e5 26. b3 Kf8 27. Bd1 Ke7 28. Na2 Na6 29. Be2 Nc5 30. Bd1 Na6 31. Be2 Nc5 32. Bd1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2769"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Nf6 5. Nxe5 Bd6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. d3 O-O 8. Be2 Re8 9. Nd2 Bg4 10. Qd1 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 dxe4 12. dxe4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Qh4 14. g4 f5 15. Be3 Rxe4 16. gxf5 Qh3 17. f6 Qe6 18. fxg7 Rb8 19. b3 a5 20. Rd1 a4 21. Qf3 axb3 22. axb3 Re8 23. Rd4 Rxd4 24. cxd4 Qxb3 25. Qxc6 Rxe3+ 26. fxe3 Qxe3+ 27. Kf1 Qd3+ 28. Kf2 Qd2+ 29. Kf1 Qd3+ 30. Kf2 Qd2+ 31. Kf1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2865"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Nc4 Nd7 8. Bd2 Re8 9. a4 f6 10. O-O Nf8 11. Be3 Ne6 12. Bxc5 Nxc5 13. Ne3 Ne6 14. Nh4 a5 15. b3 Qd4 16. Nhf5 Qc5 17. Qd2 Nd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Qe2 Be6 20. Kh1 Rad8 21. Qe1 b6 22. g4 Kf7 23. Rg1 g5 24. h4 Rg8 25. Qe2 Ke7 26. Raf1 h6 27. Rg2 b5 28. Rh2 Rg7 29. hxg5 hxg5 30. Rb1 bxa4 31. bxa4 Qxa4 32. Qe1 Ra8 33. Qc3 Kd7 34. Nc4 c5 35. Rh6 Rf7 36. Ne3 Qc6 37. Qa3 a4 38. c4 Qd6 39. Kg2 Qf8 40. Rbh1 Qd6 41. Rh8 Rff8 42. R8h7+ Kc8 43. Nd5 Bxd5 44. cxd5 Rd8 45. Rc1 Rd7 46. Rh3 Ra5 47. Rc4 Qa6 48. Rh1 Qb5 49. Qc3 a3 50. Ra1 a2 51. Qd2 Rh7 52. Rcc1 Rh8 53. f3 Kd7 54. Rxa2 Rxa2 55. Qxa2 Qxd3 56. Rxc5 Qd1 57. Rxc7+ Kxc7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2868"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2960"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. b3 Bg4 11. Bb2 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Rc1 Ba7 14. Ne2 Qd6 15. Be5 Qe7 16. Ned4 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 Rfc8 18. Qd3 a5 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Rc2 Rd8 21. Rfc1 c5 22. e4 Qg6 23. Re1 dxe4 24. Qxe4 Qxe4 25. Rxe4 Rd1+ 26. Re1 Rxe1+ 27. Nxe1 Rd8 28. Kf1 a4 29. bxa4 Rd4 30. a5 Ra4 31. Rd2 Kf8 32. Nd3 f6 33. Nb2 Rxa5 34. Nc4 Ra4 35. Rc2 Ke7 36. Ke2 Ke6 37. Kd3 Kd5 38. a3 h5 39. h3 h4 40. Rc1 g6 41. Rc2 g5 42. Rc1 Ra6 43. Re1 Bb8 44. Re7 Bf4 45. Kc3 f5 46. Kb3 g4 47. a4 gxh3 48. gxh3 Rg6 49. a5 Rg1 50. a6 Rb1+ 51. Kc3 Rc1+ 52. Kd3 Rd1+ 53. Ke2 Ra1 54. Nb6+ Kd6 55. Rg7 Kc6 56. Rg6+ Kb5 57. Nd5 Be5 58. Rb6+ Kc4 59. Ne3+ Kc3 60. f4 Bd4 61. Nxf5 c4 62. Rc6 Rh1 63. Nd6 Rh2+ 64. Kf3 Kd3 65. Rxc4 Rxh3+ 66. Kg4 Rh1 67. Ra4 Bf2 68. Ra3+ 1-0
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Pictures by the official site
Standings after six rounds
Playchess commentary schedule
| Date | Round | English | German |
| May 15 | Round 7 | Daniel King | Klaus Bischoff |
| May 16 | Free | ||
| May 17 | Round 8 | Daniel King | Oliver Reeh |
| May 18 | Round 9 | Maurice Ashley | Klaus Bischoff |
Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013
| Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes | ||
| Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
| Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
| Hikaru Nakamura |
1-0 |
Wang Hao |
| Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Jon Ludvig Hammer |
| Sergey Karjakin |
1-0 |
Teimour Radjabov |
| Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes | ||
| Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
| Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Teimour Radjabov |
| Levon Aronian |
1-0 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
| Wang Hao |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
| Jon Ludvig Hammer |
0-1 |
Sergey Karjakin |
| 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 |
| Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne | ||
| Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
| Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Jon Ludvig Hammer |
| Viswanathan Anand |
0-1 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
| Levon Aronian |
0-1 |
Sergey Karjakin |
| Wang Hao |
½-½ |
Teimour Radjabov |
| Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes | ||
| Hikaru Nakamura |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
| Jon Ludvig Hammer |
1-0 |
Wang Hao |
| Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
| Teimour Radjabov |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
| Sergey Karjakin |
0-1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
| Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes | ||
| Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Teimour Radjabov |
| Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Wang Hao |
| Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Sergey Karjakin |
| Levon Aronian |
1-0 |
Jon Ludvig Hammer |
| Hikaru Nakamura |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
| Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle | ||
| Wang Hao | Levon Aronian | |
| Jon Ludvig Hammer | Magnus Carlsen | |
| Peter Svidler | Veselin Topalov | |
| Teimour Radjabov | Viswanathan Anand | |
| Sergey Karjakin | Hikaru Nakamura | |
| Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes | ||
| Magnus Carlsen | Wang Hao | |
| Veselin Topalov | Levon Aronian | |
| Viswanathan Anand | Jon Ludvig Hammer | |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Teimour Radjabov | |
| Peter Svidler | Sergey Karjakin | |
| Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger | ||
| Levon Aronian | Magnus Carlsen | |
| Wang Hao | Viswanathan Anand | |
| Jon Ludvig Hammer | Hikaru Nakamura | |
| Teimour Radjabov | Peter Svidler | |
| Sergey Karjakin | Veselin Topalov | |
LinksThe 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. |
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