Norway Chess: Carlsen grabs the lead

Norway Chess, Round 6

Magnus Carlsen was the only player to win his classical game in the sixth round. The remaining four encounters all ended in draws and were only decided in Armageddon.

Against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Carlsen won thanks to his good preparation, good technique and his ability to put his opponent under pressure.

Carlsen 3 - 0 Mamedyarov

Master Class Vol.8 - Magnus Carlsen 2nd Edition

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, Magnus2864

1–0

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar2759

10th Norway Chess 2022 Stavanger NOR06.06.2022[Johannes Fischer]

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.e4 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 e5 11.dxe5 Nfd7 12.e6 fxe6 13.Be3 Qe7 14.Bg2 Na6 15.Qe2 Nb4 16.Qxc4 Nc2 17.Nd5 cxd5 18.Qxc2 d4 19.Bd2 An attraction of the Norway Chess Tournament is the so-called "confession box", where players can reveal to the internet audience what is happening in their game in real time - how they stand and what should happen next. Magnus Carlsen revealed that the sharp variation in the game was part of his preparation. That gave him an advantage on the clock, as Mamedyarov had to solve complicated problems on the board. Rac8 20.Qb3 Nc5 21.Qa3 Qd7 22.Rac1 b6

23.e5! Carlsen found this interesting pawn sacrifice over the board. With the advance of the pawn, White frees his bishop on g2 and presents Black with a choice: if Black takes the pawn, the pawn on e6 becomes a target; if Black does not take the pawn on e5, the Black-squared bishop on g7 will be blocked after f4. Bxe5 24.Rfe1 Bg7 25.b4 Na4 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.Qb3 Nc3 If Black defends the pawn with 27...Re8 White has 28.Rxe6 Rxe6 29.Bd5 Kf7 30.Bxe6+ Qxe6 31.Qxa4 and due to his exposed king position and weak pawns, Black continues to have an unpleasant position. 28.Rxe6 Kh8 29.Kh2 Re8 30.Rxe8+ Qxe8 31.Qc4 A strategically interesting position has arisen. White has the bishop pair, Black the passed pawn on d4. The engines rate this position as balanced, but Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who was asked to assess the position during the live broadcast, made a completely different judgement. In his opinion this position is "technically won for White, or at least very difficult for Black". The black passed pawn on d4 didn't worry him because "after all, White has two bishops to stop the pawn". h6 32.a3 a5 33.bxa5 bxa5 34.Bf1 Qf8 35.Kg2 Ne4 36.Be1 Qxa3 37.Bd3

White has sacrificed another pawn in order to place his bishop on a good attacking square. 37...Nd6 38.Qa6 Nf5 39.h4 h5 40.Bxa5 Kh7 41.Qb5 Qf8 42.Qd5 White has won back the pawn and is clearly better. The course of the game has thus confirmed Vachier-Lagrave's assessment. Qd6 43.Qf3 Qe5 44.Bd8 Qe6 45.Qb7 Nd6 46.Qc6 Qb3? That costs a pawn and leads to a lost endgame. More stubborn was 46...Be5 but even then the black position is very difficult to defend. 47.Bxg6+! Kxg6 48.Qxd6+ Kh7 49.Qd7 Kg6 50.Qc6+ Kf7 51.Qc5 Qb7+ 52.f3 Ke8 53.Bc7 Qb2+ 54.Kh3 d3 55.Qxh5+ Kd7 56.Qf7+ Kc6 and Black gave up. After 57.Qc4 Kd7 58.Bf4 he is clearly lost. 1–0

Magnus Carlsen during the game and... | Photo: Lennart Ootes

...Magnus Carlsen after the game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Giri 1 - 1½ Anand

Vishy Anand is playing an excellent tournament in Stavanger so far, and in round 6 he showed all his class and experience against Anish Giri. In the classical game, he surprisingly gave up his bishop for a knight in the middlegame, but then had no problems neutralizing the white bishop pair to hold a draw.

 

Giri, Anish2761

½–½

Anand, Viswanathan2751

10th Norway Chess 2022 Stavanger NOR06.06.2022

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.h4 h6 8.0-0 Bg7 9.d3 Be6 10.Bd2 Rc8 11.Rc1 b6 12.a3 0-0 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.b4 cxb4 15.axb4 Bxf3

16.Bxf3 Nd4 17.Be4 Rxc1 18.Bxc1 Qd6 19.Bd2 Rc8 20.e3 Nb5 21.h5 g5 22.Qa4 Nc3 23.Bxc3 Bxc3 24.Qxa7 Bxb4 25.Rb1 Ba5 26.d4 Kg7 27.Qa6 Qe6 28.Bd3 Qc6 29.Bf5 Rc7 30.Qe2 Qd5 31.Bd3 Rc3 32.Rd1 Bb4 33.Qb2 Qb3 34.Qe2 Qd5 35.Qb2 Qb3 ½–½

In the following Armageddon game, he also parried all of White’s winning attempts and obtained a comfortable draw.

 

Giri, Anish2761

½–½

Anand, Viswanathan2751

10th Norway Armageddon Stavanger NOR06.06.2022

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 c5 3.e3 a6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.0-0 d4 7.Re1 g6 8.exd4 cxd4 9.c3 dxc3 10.dxc3 Qxd1 11.Rxd1 Bg7 12.c4 0-0 13.Nbd2 Bf5 14.Nf1 Rfd8 15.Ne3 Nd7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Nd4 Be4 18.f3 Nc5 19.Ndc2 Bxc2 20.Nxc2 a5 21.Kf2 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Nb4 23.Nxb4 axb4 24.Rd2 Kf6 25.Ke3 e6 26.f4 Ke7 27.Bf3 Rd8

28.Re2 b6 29.g3 f5 30.Bg2 h6 31.Bf3 g5 32.h4 Rd3+ 33.Kf2 g4 34.Bg2 Rc3 35.Rd2 Rd3 36.Rc2 Rd1 37.Re2 Nd3+ 38.Ke3 Nc5 39.Ba8 Rd8 40.Bc6 Rd6 41.Bh1 Rd1 42.Bg2 Rd3+ 43.Kf2 Rd1 44.Rc2 Rd3 45.Re2 Rd1 ½–½

Anish Giri and Vishy Anand after the Armageddon game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

So 1½ - 1 Tari

In the classical game, Wesley So put Aryan Tari under pressure from the start, but could never turn his advantages into anything tangible and had to settle for a draw in the end.

Thoughtful: Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In the Armageddon game, So chose a different approach: in a sharp variation of the Tarrasch Defence he played a double-edged queen sacrifice, which after two inaccuracies by Tari led to a spectacular victory — albeit a lucky one.

Opening package: 1.b3 and Black Secrets in the Modern Italian

Wesley So published two new opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Get them in a package and save money!

 

So, Wesley2776

1–0

Tari, Aryan2654

10th Norway Armageddon Stavanger NOR06.06.2022[Johannes Fischer]

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Nb3 Bb6 10.Nxd5 Be6 11.e4 Bg4 12.Qd2 Nxd5 13.exd5 Qe7+ 14.Kf1 0-0-0 15.h3 Bf5?! Better was 15...Be6 according to the engines: 16.Qe2 Bxd5 17.Qxe7 Nxe7 18.Bf4 Rhe8 The position is equal, thus this is recommended as the best continuation. 16.dxc6 Rxd2?!

Too hasty. Better was 16...bxc6! and White cannot save the queen under attack, since there might follow 17.Qc3 Rd1+ In the game's continuation, White kept a pawn on b7 and in the end it cost Black the game. 17.cxb7+ Kb8 18.Bxd2 a6? And here one wonders why Black did not go for 18...Be4 to capture the dangerous pawn on b7. After e.g. 19.Re1 Bxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Qxb7+ Black has parried the greatest dangers and is clearly in a better position. 19.Re1

Now White is winning. 19...Qf6 20.Kg1 Be6 21.Kh2 The attack on f2 is not dangerous. Ka7 22.Bc3 Qxf2 23.Rhf1 Qc2 24.Nd4 Bxd4 25.Bxd4+ Kb8 26.Be5+ Ka7 27.Bd4+ Kb8 28.Rxe6! The decisive final combination. Before he finally gains a decisive material advantage, White repeats the moves a few more times. fxe6 29.Be5+ Ka7 30.Bd4+ Kb8 31.Bxg7 Re8 32.Be5+ Ka7 33.Bd4+ Kb8 34.Be5+ Ka7 35.Rf7 Kb6 36.b8Q+ Rxb8 37.Bxb8 a5 38.Be5 a4 39.Rb7+ Ka6 40.a3 Qe2 41.Bd4 e5 42.Re7 h5 43.Re6+ 1–0

Wang 1 - 1½ Vachier-Lagrave

After a quick draw in the classical game, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave came out on top in Armageddon: in the London System, Wang Hao gradually came under pressure with the white pieces and then missed a tactical blow.

 

Wang, Hao2744

0–1

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime2750

10th Norway Armageddon Stavanger NOR06.06.2022[Johannes Fischer]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 c5 6.c3 Qb6 7.Qc1 0-0 8.Be2 Bf5 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.exd4 Nd5 11.Bh2 Nc6 12.0-0 Rac8 13.Nc4 Qc7 14.Ne3 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Qb6 16.Nh4 Bd7 17.Qd2 e5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Nf3 Be6 20.Rfd1 Bc4 21.Nd4 Bxe2 22.Qxe2 Rfe8 23.Qb5 Qc7 24.Re1 a6 25.Qa4 Qc4 26.Qa3 Nd3 27.Rxe8+ Rxe8 28.Bg3 Be5 29.Rd1 Bxg3 30.fxg3 Nc5 31.g4 Qd5 32.Qb4?

White overlooks the black threat. After 32.Qa5 with the idea of Re2?? 33.Qd8+ Kg7 34.Nf5+ White is still under pressure, but is not lost. 32...Re2! White needs to give up material to prevent the mate. 0–1

Wang Hao | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Radjabov 1 - 1½ Topalov

In the classical encounter, Teimour Radjabov and Veselin Topalov quickly found a way to draw the game with a perpetual check. The Armageddon game also ended with a perpetual check. However, Topalov had a winning position, but since in Armageddon a draw with Black is enough to win, he happily “shared the point”.

 

Radjabov, Teimour2753

½–½

Topalov, Veselin2730

10th Norway Armageddon Stavanger NOR06.06.2022

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.e5 Nh5 11.a4 a6 12.Qc2 Nd7 13.Rd1 Qb6 14.0-0 Nxg3 15.hxg3 Be7 16.Rfe1 0-0-0 17.b3 cxb3 18.Qxb3 Kb8 19.axb5 cxb5 20.Bf1 g4 21.Nh4 Rc8 22.d5 Bxh4 23.gxh4 g3 24.Rd2 gxf2+ 25.Rxf2 Qd4 26.Ne2 Qxd5 27.Qb2 Qc5 28.Nd4 Nb6 29.Nb3 Qc3 30.Qb1 Rc7 31.Rc1 Qxe5 32.Rxc7 Qxc7 33.Rc2 Qe5 34.Nc5 Qd4+ 35.Kh2 Qxh4+ 36.Kg1 Qd4+

37.Kh2 Qh4+ ½–½

Veselin Topalov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 6

All games

Links

• Official site
• All reports on previous editions: 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018