Every chess player enjoys a blitz game, and there is nothing quite like watching the best of the best slug it out themselves between themselves. Chess fans got a major dose of it in the opening day of Norway, and many great shots were both made and missed. Can you find them?
Agdestein, Simen - Kramnik, Vladimir
The former Norwegian number one, once described by Kasparov as the
greatest amateur chess player on earth, just played Qd2, but missed a
trick. Black to play and win.
Agdestein, Simen - Topalov, Veselin
The Norwegian grandmaster showed he was not to be underestimated, and
beat Topalov with this continuation. White to play and win.
Topalov, Veselin - Aronian, Levon
The position was pure chaos, and White was attacking with great gusto,
but misses a deadly shot. Black to play and win.
Giri, Anish - Grischuk, Alexander
Young Giri was playing Grischuk, a player described as a 'blitzaholic', but
showed that his rise to world 15 was no coincidence. White to play and win.
Agdestein, Simen - Karjakin, Sergey
Sergey Karjakin, last year's winner of the blitz and the main event,
had a rough start, but here he was inspired. Black sacrificed a piece
to reach this position. There are several tempting continuations, but
which is best? Black to play and win.
Agdestein, Simen - Karjakin, Sergey
To conclude a great game, Black set up this amazing combination.
Black to play and win.
Aronian, Levon - Kramnik, Vladimir
The blitz skills of both players are renowned. This time Kramnik has
the last word. Black to play and win.
Caruana, Fabiano - Giri, Anish
This position comes from a line that might have occured. The great
Italian won the game all the same. White to play and win.
Aronian, Levon - Svidler, Peter
Levon Aronian had a great event, showing he was in excellent form.
Though he missed this shot against Svidler, he mounted a massive
attack and won nevertheless. Even if you find the first move, see if
you can work out the continuation or some of it. White to play and win.
Carlsen, Magnus - Caruana, Fabiano
Even world champions are entitled to cheapos... especially if they work!
White to play and win.
Solutions to the positions:
[Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Agdestein, Simen"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2783"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2rqr1k1/1p1bpp1p/p2p1bpB/2n5/P2NP3/1PP3P1/3Q1PBP/R4RK1 b - - 0 15"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 15... e5 $1 (15... Bxd4 {would be a fatal mistake since} 16. Qxd4 Nxb3 {runs into} 17. Qg7# {Oops!}) 16. Nc2 {The knight is dislodged and thus} Nxb3 {is game over} 17. Qxd6 Nxa1 18. Rxa1 Be6 0-1 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Agdestein, Simen"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E70"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2772"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1b1qrk1/1p5p/p2p1b2/2pN1P2/2Pnp3/3B3P/PP1QN1P1/R4RK1 w - - 0 19"] [PlyCount "11"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 19. Nxf6+ Rxf6 20. Qg5+ Kf7 21. Nxd4 cxd4 22. Qh5+ (22. Bxe4 {was also perfectly playable and possibly even stronger according to the engines, but the text move wins, so it is not a big deal.} Qxe4 23. Rae1 Qc6 24. Re6 $3 Bxe6 25. fxe6+ {Check!} Kxe6 26. Rxf6+ Ke7 27. Qg7+ Kd8 28. Rf8+) 22... Kf8 23. Qxe8+ Kxe8 24. Bxe4 1-0 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2815"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r3rk2/bpp2pp1/p4nnN/3qp1B1/2N5/2PP2PP/PP2Q2K/R4R2 b - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 21... e4 $1 {A discovered attack that the former world number one overlooked. Black is threatening both Qxg5 and exd3 winning the knight.} 22. Bxf6 (22. d4 Qxg5) 22... exd3 23. Qf3 Re2+ 24. Kh1 Qxc4 0-1 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2752"] [BlackElo "2792"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4q1k1/1b4p1/p2p2N1/1p6/2n1np2/P1NQ4/1PP5/R1B1K3 w Q - 0 27"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 27. Nd5 $1 {The immediate threat is Nge7+ cutting off the queen and Qxe4.} Nf6+ ({Now the discovered check} 27... Nc5+ {is refuted with} 28. Nde7+ Kf7 (28... Kh7 29. Qh3#) 29. Qf5#) 28. Nde7+ Kf7 29. Bxf4 Be4 30. Qg3 {and White has a winning material advantage.} 1-0 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Agdestein, Simen"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E58"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2771"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r1rk1/ppq2ppp/2n5/2p1p3/3PP1b1/P1P2N2/BB2QP2/2R2RK1 b - - 0 18"] [PlyCount "13"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] {Although there are many tempting continuations, the most efficient is to quite simply exploit the wide open position of the king.} 18... Rd6 $1 19. Qe3 exd4 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. cxd4 Rg6 $1 22. f4 {White's king has nowhere to run to.} ({Trying to run away with} 22. Kh1 $2 {just gets mated with} Bf3+ $1 23. Qxf3 Rh6+) 22... Bh3+ 23. Kh2 Bxf1 24. Rxf1 Qb6 {and Black is up a pawn and the exchange, and can harry White's king.} 0-1 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Agdestein, Simen"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E58"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2771"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5rk1/pp3ppp/1qn5/8/3PPPr1/P4Q2/BB3R1K/8 b - - 0 26"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 26... Ne5 $3 {A fantastic move that frees the way for Black's queen.} 27. Qh3 { Black now has the amazing continutation} Nf3+ $3 {Yes, the move is very hard to find, but it is such a spectacular continuation that it had to be shown. If} 28. Rxf3 (28. Qxf3 Qh6+ 29. Qh3 Rh4) 28... Qxb2+ 29. Kh1 Rg6 {and there are simply too many threats for White to defend, such as Rh6, Qxa2, and various mates if the white queen moves away.} 0-1 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2815"] [BlackElo "2783"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r5k1/N4pp1/2r2n2/1Qp3p1/8/PP4qP/6P1/2R1R2K b - - 0 34"] [PlyCount "9"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 34... Ng4 $1 {The threat of Qh2 mate is obvious, so taking is forced.} 35. hxg4 (35. Kg1 {just loses faster with} Qh2+ 36. Kf1 Rf6+ 37. Ke2 Rf2+ 38. Kd3 Qd6+ 39. Kc4 (39. Ke4 Qd4#) 39... Qd4#) 35... Rh6+ 36. Kg1 Qh2+ 37. Kf2 Rf6+ 38. Ke3 Rd8 $1 {and the king has nowhere to run to.} 1-0 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2752"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1q2bQ2/5p1p/5Np1/4p1k1/3pP3/3P1RP1/P1r2PK1/4bB2 w - - 0 44"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 44. Rf5+ gxf5 45. Qg7# 1-0 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2815"] [BlackElo "2753"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2rqr1k1/pp2bbpp/n4p2/2pn3N/4N3/PP2P1P1/1B1PQ1BP/2R2RK1 w - - 0 20"] [PlyCount "11"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 20. Nxg7 $3 Kxg7 21. Ng5 $1 {The knight is untouchable since the f6 pawn is pinned.} Rc6 22. Nxf7 Kxf7 23. Qh5+ Ke6 ({If} 23... Kg7 {White brings in the rook with} 24. Rc4 $1 $18) 24. Bxd5+ $1 {wins the piece since} Qxd5 25. Qxe8 1-0 [Event "2nd Norway Blitz 2014"] [Site "Flor & Fjaere NOR"] [Date "2014.06.02"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C07"] [WhiteElo "2881"] [BlackElo "2791"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1bq1rk1/pp2bppp/n3pn2/8/8/P1N2Q2/1PPN1PPP/R1B1KB1R w KQ - 0 11"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2014.06.02"] 11. Bxa6 $1 {What more is there to say? If} bxa6 12. Qxa8 1-0
You can watch Fabiano playing his blunder and reacting to Carlsen's 11.Bxa6 shot on this VG video
