No signs of rustiness
Vishy Anand’s run of good form continues in Stavanger. The 52-year-old has not shown any signs of rustiness in his first classical tournament since the 2020 Tata Steel Masters (he only played a few Bundesliga games since January 2020). After three rounds at the Norway Chess event, he is the sole leader in the standings table with 7½ points. On Thursday, the Indian drew Wang Hao in the classical game, and then beat him in Armageddon.
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.
In sole second place stands Wesley So, who twice had the black pieces against Anish Giri on Thursday. Two draws granted him 1½ points, since a draw in the sudden-death decider favours the player who has the black pieces.
Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were the two players who scored classical wins in the third round. The world champion got the better of Teimour Radjabov in a 36-move game, while the Frenchman defeated Aryan Tari after the latter played a sharp novelty with white out of a Sicilian Defence.

In the sole lead — Vishy Anand
Besides using a unique scoring format, the Norway Chess tournament has once again included a confessional booth in this edition — if players want, they can talk about their games in front of a camera. Tari, who stepped in to replace Richard Rapport shortly before the event began, shared his thoughts after playing the novelty 8.Nh4 in his game against MVL.
The young Norwegian confessed that his second had found this move, which would likely lead to a sharp struggle. MVL was surprised by the novelty, as he spent almost a half hour in his next three moves. Things got even sharper after Tari’s 14.g4
Tari vs. Vachier-Lagrave - Classical
This is a tough position to defend with black, especially when you did not prepare to enter such a setup beforehand. However, White needs to be precise to make the most of his initiative, as he has irrevocably weakened his kingside.
As the game went on, MVL handled the complications more ably. After 14...Ne6 15.g5 Be7 16.fxe5 dxe5, White’s 17.Nxe7+ was not the most precise.
The Sicilian has been known for decades as the most reliable way for Black to obtain an unbalanced but good position. Among the most popular Sicilians at the top level the two that certainly stand out are the Najdorf and the Paulsen.
Instead of grabbing the bishop, Tari could have kept the tension with 17.h4 or 17.Qg3, getting better prospects than in the game. Instead, the text move saw Black untangling his position with an eventual 18...f6.
Once the structure opened up and the players entered a position with queens, rooks and opposite-coloured bishops, it was Black who broke through along the light squares. Tari resigned in the following position.
MVL is threatening 30...Qg2+, and after 31.Qxg2 fxg2+ the rook joins the attack via f1. In case of 30.Qg3, Black wins by force with 30...Qxg3 31.hxg3 f2.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.0-0 e5 7.d3 Be7 8.Nh4N 8.Ne1 0-0 9.f4 exf4 10.Bxf4 Ne5 11.Bxd7 Qxd7 12.Nc2 Rae8 13.Ne3 Bd8 14.h3 8...0-0 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Nf5! Ne8 11.f4 Bf6 12.Qf3 Rb8 13.Rb1! Nc7 14.g4 Ne6 15.g5 Be7 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Nxe7+ 17.Qg3= 17...Qxe7 18.Qg3 f6 19.gxf6 19.g6 19...Rxf6 20.Rxf6 20.Qxe5 Rxf1+ 21.Kxf1 Rf8+ 22.Kg1 Rf3 20...Qxf6 21.Ne2 21.Be3 21...Rf8!-+ 22.Bd2 22...Nf4! 23.Nxf4 exf4 24.Qf3 24.e5 24...Qg5+ 25.Qg2? 25.Kh1 25...Qh5 26.Bc3 g6 27.Qf2? 27.h4 Qxh4 28.Be1 27...Bh3 28.Kh1 f3 29.Be1 29.Rd1 29...Qg4 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
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Tari,A | 2654 | Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2750 | 0–1 | 2022 | | 10th Norway Chess 2022 | 3.1 |
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A Sicilian-Defence expert — Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Meanwhile, Carlsen saw Radjabov playing a theoretical line of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted in which Black gives up a pawn in the early middlegame. The world champion was excellently prepared, as his plan of simply defending his extra material worked wonders. As he put it:
It’s very rare that you follow a plan from move 1, and it just works perfectly. I took a pawn and defended it in a very ugly way, and that passed pawn won me the game, so I’m very happy with that.
Carlsen was in the driver’s seat, and correctly managed to avoid a trap on move 27, as was pointed out by Geir Sune Tallaksen on Twitter — yes, the same player who held the world champion to a draw five months ago.
Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.
Carlsen vs. Radjabov - Analysis diagram
White played 27.Ra4 instead of the tempting 27.Ra7, which remarkably fails to 27...Nd2+, when 28.Nxd2 does not work due to 28...Qh1#, so White is forced to give up material.
In the game, things went from bad to worse for Radjabov, who was also clearly down on the clock. It did not take long for the Azerbaijani to resign.
34...Nd7 leaves Black in a dire situation after 35.b5 (34...Nb7 is better). Radjabov threw in the towel after 35...Qd6 36.Qa6.
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 b5 8.a4 Bb7 9.axb5 a6 10.bxa6 Nxa6 11.Qxc4 Bd5 12.Qc3 c5 13.Bf4!N 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Rxa8 Qxa8 15.Be3 Nfe4 16.Qc2 Rc8 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Ne4 19.Bd4 Nxc3 20.Bxc3 13...Ne4 14.Qc1 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Nec5 16.Bxd5 Qxd5 17.Be3 Qb7 18.Nd2 Rac8 19.Qb1 Nb4 20.N4f3 Qb5 21.Re1 Rfd8 22.Kf1 h6 23.Rc1 Bf8 24.Ne4 Nb3 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Nc3! Qb7 27.Ra4 Nd5 27...Bc5= 28.Nxd5± Qxd5 29.Kg2 Qc6 29...Qb5 30.Qe4 Na5 30.Ra7 g5 31.Qd3 Nc5 32.Qc4 Qb6 33.Qa2 Qc6 33...Qb5! 34.b4 Nd7 34...Nb7± 35.b5!+- Qd6 36.Qa6 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
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Carlsen,M | 2864 | Radjabov,T | 2753 | 1–0 | 2022 | | 10th Norway Chess 2022 | 3.1 |
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Magnus Carlsen defended his extra pawn and won the game
After drawing the slow game with white, Anand showed his usual great understanding — and marvellous handling of a pair of knights — in the Armageddon decider.
Anand vs. Wang - Armageddon
21.b3, restricting the black knight while offering a queen sacrifice, is the kind of move we can expect to see played by an in-form multiple world champion. Capturing on a1 would simply leave Black too vulnerable to an attack along the dark squares.
Wang did not take the bait, but soon found himself on the defensive side of a position with rook and knight against queen.
On the day that saw Queen Elizabeth II missing her Platinum Jubilee, Anand magnificently used his queen to outplay Wang and get a win that left him 1½ points ahead of his closest chaser in the standings table.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 e5 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 exd4 8.Bf4 a6 9.Bc4 d6 10.Nbd2 10.Qb3 Qd7 11.Nbd2 10...h6N 10...Nf6= 10...Nf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Bb3 h6 13.h3 Re8 14.Rc1 d5 15.exd5 Rxe1+ 16.Qxe1 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 11.Bd5 11.Qb3± Qe7 12.Rfc1 11...Nge7= 12.Nc4 0-0 12...Ne5!? 13.Bxd6 Re8 14.Bg3 Rf8 15.h3 Nxd5 16.exd5 Ne7 16...Qxd5? 17.Nb6 Qh5 18.Nxa8+- 17.Nxd4 Nxd5 18.Nb3 b5 19.Nd6 Nb6 20.Nc5 Ra7 21.b3! Nd7 22.Nce4 Nf6 23.Rc1 Nxe4 23...Be6 24.Rxc8± Qxc8 25.Nxc8 Rxc8 26.Qg4 Re8 27.Bf4 Rae7 28.Be3 Re6 29.Rd1 29.g3± 29...b4? 29...h5!= 30.Qf4 Be5 30.Rd3 a5 31.Qd1 Nc3 32.Qd2 h5 33.Rd8 Bf6 34.Rxe8+ Rxe8 35.Qd7 Rd8 36.Qc7 Rd5 37.g4 hxg4 38.hxg4 Nxa2? 38...g5 39.Kg2 Kg7 39.Qc6+- Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Kg7 41.Bh6+! Kxh6 42.Qxf6 Nc3 43.f4 Rd2+ 44.Kh3 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
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- Drag the split bars between window panes.
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Anand,V | 2751 | Wang,H | 2744 | 1–0 | 2022 | | 10th Norway Chess 2022 | 3.2 |
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Standings after round 3
|
Name |
Points |
1 |
Viswanathan Anand |
7½ |
2 |
Wesley So |
6 |
3 |
Magnus Carlsen |
5½ |
4 |
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |
4½ |
5 |
Anish Giri |
4 |
6 |
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov |
4 |
7 |
Wang Hao |
3 |
8 |
Veselin Topalov |
2 |
9 |
Aryan Tari |
2 |
10 |
Teimour Radjabov |
1½ |
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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