Vachier-Lagrave wins Norway Chess opening Blitz

by Antonio Pereira
6/4/2019 – The 2019 Altibox Norway Chess Tournament officially kicked off Monday in Stavanger. The traditional Blitz Tournament, which takes place in lieu of the drawing of lots, was won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman overpowered Magnus Carlsen in their final round deciding match-up and became the highest-rated player in the blitz ratings list. Levon Aronian and Carlsen shared second place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / norwaychess.no

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Three (blitz) wins in a row

Breaking news: It is 2019 and Magnus Carlsen did not finish first in a tournament — he won all five events he played in this year. His nemesis in the opening blitz tournament of Stavanger was none other than Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the same player that had defeated him twice in the blitz section of the Abidjan Grand Chess Tour event. The Frenchman not only won the nine-round single round robin, but did it by defeating Carlsen in the final round, thus getting a third straight victory over the Norwegian.

Final standings - Blitz tournament

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Besides losing to MVL, Carlsen had finished undefeated in the blitz phase of the Abidjan GCT. In Stavanger, on the contrary, he lost his first encounter, against Levon Aronian. Magnus overplayed his hand with the black pieces and was left a pawn down in the middlegame. The Armenian star lost a portion of his advantage later on, but — most importantly — kept the initiative, an all-important factor in blitz play. In the end, Levon infiltrated Black's camp to get a morale-boosting victory in round one.

 
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1.d4 0 g6 1 2.e4 9 d6 0 3.Nf3 2 Nf6 2 4.Bd3 2 Bg7 10 5.0-0 2 0-0 0 6.c3 2 Nc6 8 7.Re1 0 e5 9 8.h3 1 Re8 21 9.d5 12 Nb8 11 10.c4 11 a5 2 11.Nc3 0 Na6 0 12.a3 9 Bd7 2 13.Rb1 2 Nc5 25 14.Bc2 2 a4 0 15.Be3 2 Nb3 1 16.Bxb3 37 axb3 1 17.c5 1 c6 4 18.Qxb3 13 cxd5 5 19.exd5 6 dxc5 0 20.Bxc5 4 Bf5 2 21.Rbd1 8 Nd7 2 22.Be3 15 e4 1 23.Nd4 34 Nc5 1 24.Qc2 23 Nd3 0 25.Rf1 0 Rc8 4 26.Qd2 5 h5 6 27.f3 11 Ne5 13 28.Nxf5 7 Nc4 3 29.Qf2 6 gxf5 0 30.fxe4 1 Nxb2 0 31.Qxb2 4 Bxc3 0 32.Qf2 5 Rxe4 0 33.Qxf5 4 Rxe3 0 34.Qxf7+ 0 Kh8 0 35.Qxh5+ 2 Kg8 1 36.Qf7+ 0 Kh8 1 37.Rf5 2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2827Carlsen,M29231–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Blitz 20191.1

Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian won the 2017 edition | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Aronian continued strong, taking down Wesley So with Black in round two, but in the third game of the day he only got a half point against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Meanwhile, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had won all three of his games — particularly exciting was his round two victory over Mamedyarov, who let a big advantage go to waste and ended up getting almost mated on the board.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.0-0 0-0 6.c3 Bf5 7.Qb3 D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4 Qc8 8.c4 dxc4 9.Qxc4 The position is equal. Nbd7 10.Nc3 c5N 10...Nb6!? 11.Qc5 Re8= Predecessor: 10...Nb6 11.Qc5 Re8 12.Ne5 Nfd7 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Qb4 Nb6 1/2-1/2 (74) Mamedyarov,S (2750) -Xu,X (2447) China 2016 11.d5 Bg4 12.e4 e6 Black should play 12...Ne8= 13.e5 13.dxe6! Bxe6 14.Qe2 13...exd5 13...Bxf3!= 14.exf6 Bxd5 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Qxd5 Nxf6 14.Qf4!± Bxf3 15.exf6 But not 15.Bxf3?! Ne8= 15...Bxg2 16.fxg7 Re8 17.Kxg2 d4 18.Nd5 Qd6 is the strong threat. Qc6 19.Qf3 Re5 20.Nf4 Re4 White must now prevent ...Ne5. 21.Nd3 Rae8 22.b3 b5?
22...Kxg7± 23.h4 h6 23.Bf4? 23.a4!+- is the precise move to win. 23...c4 24.Rac1 c3 24...g5 25.Bxg5 Qd5 25.Rfe1 f5 26.h4 Nf6 26...a5± 27.Bg5 27.Be5+- has better winning chances. Strongly threatening Bxd4! Re6 28.Nb4 27...Ng4 28.Re2 Qe6? 28...Qa8 29.Ree1 Kxg7 29.Ree1? White has to play 29.Nc5+- Rxe2 30.Nxe6 Rxf2+ 31.Qxf2 Nxf2 32.Nxd4 32.Kxf2 Rxe6 33.Bh6 b4= 29...Qd5 29...Qc6= 30.h5 Better is 30.Bf4± 30...gxh5?
30...h6!= and Black is okay. 31.Bxh6 Nxh6 32.hxg6 Qc6 31.Nf4? 31.Rh1!+- 31...Qf7= 32.Nd3 Kxg7 32...Qd5!= 33.Nc5? 33.Bf4± 33...Rxe1-+ 34.Rxe1 Rxe1 35.Qc6 c2 35...h6 36.Nd3 Re6 36.Nd7 36.Nd3-+ Re8 37.Qxc2 36...Qe6 37.Qc8 Qe4+
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedyarov,S2757Vachier Lagrave,M29210–120197th Altibox Norway Chess Blitz 20192.5

In round four, Aronian became the sole leader after beating Alexander Grischuk while MVL lost against Fabiano Caruana. Round five saw four games finished drawn (Mamedyarov defeated Yu Yangyi), with the big clash between Maxime and Levon set for the next round. Vachier-Lagrave won that game and overthrew Aronian atop the standings table.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.Nc3 d6 9.a4 b4 C84: Closed Ruy Lopez: Unusual White 6th moves 9...Bg4 10.Be3 Nd4 11.Bxd4 exd4 12.Nd5 c6 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Qxf3 Rc8 16.axb5 axb5 17.Ra6 1/2-1/2 (71) Inarkiev,E (2682)-Ragger,M (2632) Dubai 2014 10.Nd5 Na5 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 The position is equal. 12.Bd5 c6 13.Ba2 c5N Predecessor: 13...Rb8 14.Bd2 Be6 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.c3 bxc3 17.bxc3 c5 18.c4 Qc7 19.Qc2 Nc6 20.Rab1 Rxb1 21.Rxb1 1/2-1/2 (21) Predke,A (2537) -Mindlin,A (2310) Pardubice 2015 14.Nd2 Be6 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Qg4 Qe8 17.b3 Nc6 18.Bb2 a5 19.g3 Kh8 20.Rae1 Qd7 21.Nc4 Threatens to win with Nb6. Rae8 22.h4 Qc7 23.h5 Nd4 24.Ne3 Qd8 25.Kg2 Bg5 26.Bxd4 cxd4 27.Nc4 Bh6 28.f4 exf4 29.gxf4 Re7 30.Rf2 Ref7 31.Ref1 White has some pressure. Rf6?
31...d5!= and Black is okay. 32.Ne5 Rf6 32.e5!+- dxe5 33.fxe5 Rxf2+ 34.Rxf2 Rxf2+ 35.Kxf2 Qe8? 35...Be3+± 36.Ke2 36.Nxe3 Qf8+ 37.Ke2 dxe3 36...Qf8 36.Nxa5 Qf8+ 37.Qf3 Qd8
38.Nc6! Qh4+ 39.Kf1 Kg8 40.a5 Bd2 41.a6 h6 42.a7 Accuracy: White = 66%, Black = 47%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier Lagrave,M2921Aronian,L28271–020197th Altibox Norway Chess Blitz 20196.4

Magnus Carlsen

World Champion Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Lennart Ootes

By then, Carlsen had caught up with the contenders for first place — MVL was on 4½/6; Aronian and Carlsen on 4/6. Both Magnus and Maxime won in round seven, while Levon only got a half point against Vishy Anand. The same results were seen in the penultimate (eight) round, so everything was to be decided in the final round encounter between Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave (with Magnus a half point behind).

Carlsen had White and surprised his opponent by going 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.b4!?. MVL took the pawn and kept his cool afterwards, provoking Magnus to over-push, which resulted in him giving up a rook without getting to mate the black king. The Frenchman won the game, and the tournament, after 35 moves.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.b4 cxb4 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bd3 e5 5...g6 6.a3 bxa3 7.0-0 Bg7 8.c3 0-0 9.Bg5 Nc6 10.Nbd2 b6 11.Rxa3 Bb7 12.Re1 Qc7 13.Nf1 Na5 0-1 (46) Gareyev,T (2584)-Alekseev,E (2620) St Petersburg 2018 6.a3 B50: Sicilian: 2...d6, Miscellaneous exd4 7.Nxd4 bxa3 8.0-0 The position is equal. Be7 9.Bxa3 0-0 10.Nc3 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.f4 d5N Hoping for ...Bxa3. Predecessor: 12...Re8 13.Qf3 1-0 (29) Krzyzanowski,A (2359) -Eschert,U (2275) ICCF email 2014 13.e5 Bxa3 14.Rxa3 Qb6+ 15.Kh1 Ng4 And now ...Nf2+ would win. 16.Qe1 Qc5 17.Rb3 17.Ra1 keeps more tension. a5 18.Na4 Qa7 19.Rf3 Re8 20.c4 17...f5 17...f6= 18.h3 White has compensation. Nh6 18...Ne3 19.Na4!± Qe7 20.Qc3 White is in control. Qc7 21.Nc5 White should play 21.Ra1± 21...Nf7! 22.e6 Better is 22.Kh2 22...Nd6= 23.Qe5 Qe7 24.Rfb1 Ne4 24...Re8= keeps the balance. 25.Bxe4± fxe4 26.Rb8? 26.Rg3+- 26...Rxb8= 27.Rxb8 Re8?
Wrong is 27...Qxc5? 28.e7+- 27...h5= and Black has nothing to worry. 28.f5?? 28.Nd7!+- 28...Qxc5-+ 29.Qc7? 29.e7 was called for. Qxe7 30.Qxe7 Rxe7 31.Rxc8+ Kf7 32.Kg1 29...Qf8 Black is clearly winning. 30.Qxc6
30...Bd7! 31.Qxd7 Rxb8 32.e7 Qe8 Not 32...Rb1+
33.Kh2!=
33.Qxd5+ Kh8 34.Qe5 Rb6 35.Qxe4 Rf6 Accuracy: White = 38%, Black = 54%.
0–1
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Carlsen,M2923Vachier-Lagrave,M29210–120197th Altibox Norway Chess Blitz 20199.1

The main purpose of the blitz tournament is to give the players a chance to pick their seeding numbers in the main event. In the past, those on top naturally decided to get five games with White...but with the new format — in case of a draw, an Armageddon game decides the faith of the match-up (more on that below) — getting Black might be considered an advantage.

Perhaps more noteworthy, however, was the fact that Vachier-Lagrave has now taken over Carlsen in the Blitz live ratings list. Before these nine rounds, Carlsen was only two points above Vachier-Lagrave, while now MVL (2947.8) is twenty-eight points ahead of the World Champion (2919.6).

Alexander Grischuk, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Alexander Grischuk and tournament winner Maxime Vachier-Lagrave relaxing while checking out a good-looking chess set | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Radical changes in the main event

The organizers of the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament decided to deal with the problem of excessive draws in the elite (there is some disagreement in the chess world regarding this topic) by proposing a radical solution: every single game will have a winner. If a game is drawn, a sudden-death encounter will follow immediately (they will not wait for all the classical games to finish). Also, a faster time control will be used in the classical games, with each player getting two hours for the whole game — without increment! 

From the Norway Chess press release:

Each player will have 2 hours on the clock per game, without any increments.

2 points will be given for victory, ½ point for draw and 0 points for loss.

The players that have games that end with a draw will continue in an Armageddon play-off only a few minutes after their game. The player with the white pieces will continue with white in the Armageddon game. With this, there will be a winner in each game due to the fact that black pieces will win if the game ends in a draw. The winner in the Armageddon play-off gets 1 point.

The Armageddon games will not add to the rating of the players, only contributing to the results list in the tournament, which is FIDE rated.

Players will get following points per round:

  • Victory main game: 2 points
  • Loss main game: 0 points
  • Draw main game & loss Armageddon: ½ point
  • Draw main game & victory Armageddon: 1½ points

Fabiano Caruana, Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Rustam Kasimdzhanov (here sitting next to Fabiano Caruana) proposed a system similar to this one in the past | Photo: Lennart Ootes

A lively discussion was staged in the comments section of our webpage when the new rules were announced. The experiment starts Tuesday...and ten players from the world's top-20 will be the ones doing the testing:

1. Magnus Carlsen (Norway). Ranked number 1 in the world.
2. Fabiano Caruana (USA). Ranked number 2 in the world.
3. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbajian). Ranked number 3 in the world.
4. Ding Liren (China). Ranked number 4 in the world.
5. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France). Ranked number 5 in the world.
6. Viswanathan Anand (India). Ranked number 8 in the world.
7. Alexander Grischuk (Russia). Ranked number 9 in the world.
8. Levon Aronian (Armenia). Ranked number 11 in the world.
9. Wesley So (USA). Ranked number 12 in the world.
10. Yangyi Yu (China). Ranked number 13 in the world.

Altibox Norway Chess 2019

To no one's surprise, Alexander Grischuk stole the show during the press conference | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Antonio is a freelance writer and a philologist. He is mainly interested in the links between chess and culture, primarily literature. In chess games, he skews towards endgames and positional play.

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