
The island of Spitsbergen ("jagged peaks") is located in the Arctic
Ocean, 71°-81° north latitude, just over a thousand km south of the
North Pole. It is one of three islands in an archipelago, and the largest settlement
is the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen, originally built by American coal mining
companies. The Russians have similar coal mining cities, Barentsburg and Pyramiden,
and for some time now annual chess tournaments have been taking place between
the Russian and the Norwegian communities.
The
Chess Festival Spitsbergen 2006 took place from September 1st to 4th. It included
a two-game rapid chess match between Peter Svidler from St. Petersburg, Russia,
and 15-year-old Magnus Carlsen, Norway's top grandmaster.
Svidler defeated Carlsen 1.5-0.5 in their games, where were played on September
2nd in Longyearbyen. The next day GM Nick De Firmian of the US played Norwegian
GM Simen Agdestein in Barentsburg, which is after Spitsbergen the second largest
settlement on the island. The match ended 1:1, with each player winning his
white game. Agdestein was Carlsen's teacher and now is his main rival for the
Norwegian championship.
Here's the decisive game from the first match:
Svidler,P (2742) - Carlsen,M (2675) [B30]
Rapid Match Longyearbyen NOR (2), 02.09.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Qc7 5.0-0 Nd4 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Nd5 Nxd5
8.exd5 a6 9.Ba4 g6 10.d3 h6 11.Qf3 Bg7 12.Bf4 Qa5 13.Rfe1 Qxa4 14.Rxe7+ Kxe7
15.Re1+
15...Kd8? Black had to retreat the king to f8. 16.Bd6.
The threat is 17Qxf7 followed by mate. 16...Qa5. The only
move that doesn't lose immediately (it threatens ...Qxe1#). 17.b4 Qb6
18.Qf4 g5 19.Be7+ Ke8.
Here White should have continued 20.Qe4 (threatening 21.Bd6 with mate in two)
and if 20...Qe6 21.dxe6 wins. However Peter Svidler played 20.Bc5+?
and now after 20...Qe6 Black has some counterplay: 21.Qd2
d6 22.Bxd6 Kd7 23.dxe6+ Kxd6. But this is not enough to hold. 24.exf7
Rf8 25.Qe2 Bf6 26.Kf1 Kc7 27.Qh5 Bf5 28.Qf3 Rxf7 29.Qxf5 Raf8 30.f3 Bg7 31.Qc5+
1-0.
Picture Gallery

The city of Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen

Magnus Carlsen in the first game against Peter Svidler [Photo: Dan Celius]

Barentsburg, the location of the second match

Nick De Firmian, USA vs. Simen Agdestein, Norway

Peter Svidler (dark cap) on the boat from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg

A view of the ice fields from the ship

The banquette in Barentsburg

Magnus Carlsen dancing with Russian miners in Barentsburg

A tournament in the good old days in Barentsburg
All Photo, unless otherwise specified, by Bjoern Berg Johansen –
courtesy of the official web site.