Norway Chess Blitz: Abdusattorov wins, Carlsen finishes seventh

Magnus Carlsen came to the Norway Chess Tournament from the Superbet Rapid and Blitz in Warsaw. Traditionally, in Stavanger a blitz tournament is played before the classical tournament, and the result of this is used to determine the pairings.

In Warsaw Carlsen had played the world's elite to the ground in the blitz tournament. In Stavanger, however, the "local hero" had a real false start. A draw was followed by losses to D. Gukesh, who celebrated his 17th birthday that day, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

Against Gukesh Carlsen continued a theoretical debate in the Larsen Opening 1.b3, which he had started last year. However, after the opening Carlsen was worse and a little bit later, he was lost. But in the endgame things got exciting again.

Carlsen, Magnus2853

0–1

Gukesh D2732

11th Norway Chess-Blitz 2023 Stavanger29.05.2023[Schulz,A]

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 d5 4.cxd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qe6 6.Nf3 An online game between the two, played last year, continued with 6.g3 Bd7 7.Bg2 0-0-0 8.Nf3 f5 9.0-0 e4 10.Ne1 Nf6 11.d3 h5 12.h4 Bc5 13.e3 Rhg8 14.d4 Be8 15.Qe2 Bb6 16.Qc4 Qd7 17.b4 Bf7 18.Qb5 g5 19.d5 Nxd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5-+ 0-1 (49) Carlsen,M (2859)-Gukesh,D (2725) Chess.com INT 2022 6...Bd7 7.e3 0-0-0 8.Be2 f5 9.0-0 e4 10.Ng5 Qe8 11.f4?! 11.d4!? 11...h6

12.Nh3 Not a good square for the knight. Nf6 13.Rc1 Kb8 14.a3 Be6 15.b4 Qd7 16.Nb1 Not a move White wants to make, but it is necessary to defend the d-pawn. Ne7 17.Be5 Nfd5 18.Bc4 Ka8 More energetic was the immediate 18...Rg8!? 19.Qb3 Nc6 19...c6 19...b5!? 20.Bxd5+ Bxd5 21.Qb2 Nc6 20.Bb2 Rg8 21.Nc3 g5 22.Bxd5 Bxd5 23.Qxd5 Qxd5 24.Nxd5 Rxd5 25.Rc2 25.fxg5 hxg5 26.Bc3= 25...g4 26.Nf2 a5 27.bxa5 Rxa5 28.Ra1 Bg7 29.Bxg7 Rxg7 30.Nh1

White has problems to bring his knight back into the game, and as White did not move his d-pawn yet, his position is split in two. 30...Rd7 31.Ng3 Kb8 32.Raa2 Nd8 33.Kf2 Ne6 34.Ke2 c6 35.a4 Kc7 36.Rab2 With the idea to play Rb5 to attack Black's pawn on f5. Rdd5 37.Rb4 Nc5 38.Rcb2 Ra7 39.Ra2 Nd3 40.Rb1 b5 41.a5 b4 42.a6 Kb6 Black is clearly better: He has a space advantage, more active pieces and the more dangerous passed pawn. 43.Rba1 Rb5 43...b3 44.Rb1 won immediately. Nc1+ gewann sofort. 44.Kd1 b3 45.Ra3 b2 46.Rb1 Rxa6 47.Rxa6+ Kxa6 48.Ne2 Ka5 49.Nd4 Rb6 50.Kc2 50.Nxf5 Ka4 51.Nd6 Kb3 52.Nxe4 Ra6 followed by ...Ra1. 50...c5?

This move gives White a chance to escape. The right way was 50...Ka4 e.g. 51.Nxf5 Rb5 52.Nd4 Rc5+ 53.Kd1 Rc1+ and mate will follow soon. 51.Nxf5 Rb4 52.Nd6 Kb6?! Now White gets the advantage. 52...Ka4 53.Nxe4 Rxe4 54.Kxd3 Rb4 55.Kc2 Ka3 56.d3= 53.Nxe4 c4 53...Rxe4 54.Kxd3 Rb4 55.Kc2+- 54.Nc3?! 54.Kc3 Ra4 55.Kd4 Ra1 56.Nc3± 54...Kc5 55.f5 Kd6 56.f6 Ke6 57.Rf1 Rb7 58.Ne4 Ra7 59.f7 Rxf7 60.Rxf7 Kxf7 61.Nd6+ Ke6 62.Nxc4 Ne1+ 63.Kxb2 Nxg2 64.Kc3 White is a pawn up, but the game should end in a draw. Ne1 65.d4 Nf3 66.e4 h5 67.d5+ Ke7 68.Kd3 h4 69.Ke3 Nxh2 70.e5 70.Kf4 g3 71.Ne3= 70...g3

71.Nd2? The losing move. 71.d6+ Ke6 71...Kd7 72.Nb6+ Ke6 73.d7 Ke7 74.e6 Ng4+ 75.Kf4= 72.Nd2 h3 73.Ne4 g2 74.Ng5+ leads to a draw. 71...h3 72.Nf3 72.Ne4 Ng4+ 73.Kf3 g2 74.d6+ Ke8-+ 72...Ng4+ 73.Kf4 h2 74.Kxg3 h1Q 75.Kf4 Qf1 76.Kxg4 Qf2 77.Kf4 Qe2 78.d6+ Kd7 79.Kf5 Qf2 80.Kf4 Kc8 81.d7+ Kc7 0–1

Attack like a Super Grandmaster

In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Carlsen congratulates on birthday and victory

When Gukesh crossed the 2700 mark, he became the third youngest player in the history of chess to do so. Many people believe that he can become World Champion one day.

But there are a number of candidates seen as possible future champions.

Carlsen then went on a nice run with wins over Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, but then lost again, this time to Aryan Tari. The Norwegian finished the day with two draws against Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja.

Carlsen's 4.5 points meant seventh place. That's not usually where Carlsen feels comfortable in a table.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov had the best tournament, despite losing to Carlsen in the fourth round. The Uzbek had already lost to Hikaru Nakamura in round two after his opening draw with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. But in the end Abdusattorov also had five wins to his name, including wins against Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and D. Gukesh. Alireza Firouzja and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov fared only slightly worse. Both won four games and lost two to finish second and third with 5.5 points.

Though they both won against Carlsen, Gukesh and Aryan Tari both did not have a good tournament. They both suffered a total of six defeats and ended up sharing the last two places with 2.5 points each.

The result of the Blitz tournament has no influence on the overall result. Carlsen's seventh place means that he is seeded seventh and will have five games with Black and four games with White in the tournament. In the first round of the classical tournament he will play Fabiano Caruana, seeded fourth, with Black. The two know each other well. After all, they played each other in a World Championship match in 2018. Another top match in the first round will be the encounter between Alireza Firouzja and Gukesh - a meeting of two possible World Championship contenders.

Final standings

Games

Video of the live transmission - with commentary by Judit Polgar, David Howell and Jovanka Houska

Tournament page...