Norway Chess Tournament 2015

Topalov is the new King of Norway!

In a day saddened by the news about the great Walter Browne passing away in the night, the tournament was decided in less than one hour. 17 moves. That is all it took to end the 3rd Norway Chess. Topalov and Anand drew uneventfully, and Topalov is now the new King of Norway. Nakamura beat convincingly Aronian, whose tournament was not the best he's ever played. The Norwegian derby saw the most unexpected outcome: Hammer outplayed Carlsen, to get his first win in the event. It's not entirely surprising, though. Jon Ludvig Hammer has probably been playing the most exciting chess in these 9 rounds, but he missed chances here and there. This is the worst result for Magnus Carlsen since... forever, and now people are wondering if it's crisis or just a disgraceful event, started horribly with the (in)famous time-control mess. Magnus said that it is an odd feeling not to have anything to play for in a tournament, and lack of motivation can well be a reason for not playing at one's best. We'll see. Congratulations to GM Veselin Topalov, who won a super-duper tournament after 5 years of fasting.

The first of the three elite tournaments which are part of the recently born "Grand Chess Tour" takes off on June the 15th, with a Blitz event that precedes the classic tournament.

In Norway, four players with a FIDE rating over 2800 will make the tournament one of the strongest ever, rating-wise.

The Classical Tournament starts June 16th, at 10AM EDT (New York) - 16:00 Berlin - 15:00 London - 17:00 Moscow - 19:30 New Delhi
The tournament is a 9 Rounds Round Robin; Rest day on June the 20th;
Time Control is: Start with 120 minutes - Add 60 minutes after move 40 - Add 15 minutes +30 sec. increment after move 60

Participants: Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2876); Fabiano Caruana (ITA, 2805); Viswanathan Anand (IND, 2804); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2802); Veselin Topalov (BUL, 2798); Alexander Grischuk (RUS, 2781); Levon Aronian (ARM, 2780); Anish Giri (NED, 2773); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2723); Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR, 2677).

The Grand Chess Tour was created with just one goal in mind: Demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world’s best players,” said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the CCSCSL.
There is $1,050,000 at stake, with each of the three events awarding individual prize funds of $300,000. Based on their results, the competitors will also tally points toward a tour prize fund of $150,000, with the Grand Chess Tour champion receiving an additional $75,000.

Eight of the top ten players who were invited accepted to participate in all the three events.

ICC will cover the event with LIVE commentary, Game Of the Day video for each round and the TRIVIA contests.

Round Reports

Round 1

Giri, Vachier-Lagrave and Nakamura won their games. Anand and Caruana drew. And Carlsen? Well, the World Champion played one of his "classic" pythonesque games, strangling slowly but steadly his opponent, namely the strong Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov. Magnus, after 6 hours of play, reached a very promising position, which the computer saw as winning. Only, the World Champion apparently didn't know that there is NO more time after move 60, and... lost on time! It was amazing to see how kibitzers reacted on ICC. Disbelief and shock are the first words that come to mind to describew the feelings of those who were watching the game. Four decisive games out of five is not bad for a first round, and the tournament promises to be a very exciting one, especially with Carlsen on the catch now, after the rather unusual loss today. Topalov, Giri, Nakamura and Vachier-Lagrave leads with 1 point, Anand and Caruana follow with 0.5, Carlsen, Hammer, Grischuk and Aronian close the standings with zero.

GM Jon Speelman video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is noug

The winner of the GUESS THE RESULTS contest is ECP

Here is the table

Round 2

Four draws and only one decisive game. Quite different from Round 1, but - unfortunately - not for the World Champion. Magnus Carlsen lost to Fabiano Caruana today. Looking at the standings gives a weird feeling: Carlsen at the bottom, alone, with zero points after 2 rounds. But all is not lost, obviously. There are 5 players on top - Caruana, Nakamura, Topalov, Giri and MVL, but it's only 1.5 points and we know Magnus can react to this situation and show his being the best player in the world. The other games were interesting draws, especially the long struggle between Hammer and MVL, who played their English down to the bare Kings. Pairings for Round 3: Anand vs. Grischuk - Carlsen vs. Giri - Nakamura vs. Caruana - Vachier-Lagrave vs. Topalov - Aronian vs. Hammer. It'll be another great day of chess!

GM Alex Yermolinsky video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is Speiretti

We have FOUR winners in the GUESS THE RESULTS contest for this round!
nikenwidiartto, Fork, Radja and ForkNPin -- Each of them get 1 free month.

Here is the table:

Round 3

Another incredible day in Norway. The first of the three Grand Chess Tour tournaments is proving to be a rollercoaster, with the strongest guys in the world offering some pretty thrilling games. Today Magnus tried hard to win, and was really so close, but missed a - not easy to see - amazing bishop sac and had to keep trying and trying, in a totally drawn endgame, with a particularly careful ad precise Giri, until only the Kings survived on the board. Nakamura won his second game today, outplaying a rather disappointing Caruana. They went into an apparently drawn endgame, but Fabiano blundered allowing Hikaru to invade the enemy's field with his rook, which resulted to be fatal for Caruana. Topalov scored a neat win against MVL, who found himself without a real plan after the opening, to succumb to the super-strong Bulgarian GM. Anand and Grischuk drew, and so did Aronian and Hammer. After three rounds, Nakamura and Topalov lead with 2.5 points, followed by Giri with 2. At 50% with 1.5 points Caruana, Anand and MVL. 1 point for Grischuk, Aronian and Hammer. Carlsen closes the list with 0.5.

GM Joel Benjamin video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is DaSilva

We have THREE winners in the GUESS THE RESULTS contest for this round!
joesixpack, Tchitcherine and Schack - Each of them gets a FREE month.

Here is the table:

Round 4

It's probably the first time we happen to see Carlsen with a -3 score after 4 rounds, since he became Numero Uno. And it's rather shoking, in all honesty. Today Anand played a very good game, even missing an earlier win, and we know how strong the Indian chess hero is, but it looked like Carlsen was not able to oppose any serious resistance. The World Champion admitted his difficult moment when interviewed: "Horrible play. I misjudged the position completely, then I continued to play badly." Magnus needs the rest day, probably more than anyone else in the field. We all hope he will be able to bounce back in the second part of the event, and offer us great games, as usual. Meanwhile former World Champion Veselin Topalov won convincingly against Aronian, to take the sole lead. Grischuk won against the other Norwegian, Caruana drew with MVL, and Nakamura drew Giri. After 4 rounds, Topalov leads with 3.5 points, followed by Nakamura with 3. Anand and Giri share 3rd-4th with 2.5 and then Caruana, Grischuk and MVL with 2. Aronian and Hammer at 1 point and Carlsen 0.5. Play resumes Sunday June 21st at 10:00AM EDT - 16:00 Central European Time.

GM Lars Bo Hansen video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is Doondoon

We have SEVEN winners in the GUESS THE RESULTS contest for this round!
ECP, Tchitcherine, ForkNPin, Preparer, DizzKneeLand33, Radja and oldtimer - Each of them gets 2 FREE weeks of membership.

Here is the table:

Round 5

What's this, a Norwegian winning a game in the Norway Chess Tournament? Yes, after 5 rounds, World Champion Magnus Carlsen won, in his fashion, by playing a precise endgame against Sasha Grischuk, who found himself fighting again his chronic being short on time, playing rather badly and making the decisive mistake on last move before time control. Nakamura pushed in his game against the great Anand, but didn't find a way to win, and the game ended in a draw. Vachier-Lagrave and Giri drew a theoretical game, not really thrilling. Topalov won a totally drawn endgame against Hammer, who blundered inexplicabily and was forced to resign on the spot after the mistake. It looks like everything is going Topa's way in this tournament! Aronian beat Caruana, in a quite strange game. Aronian said "True joy comes from undeserved wins!" Caruana, in time pressure, lost his proverbial lucidity, and played imprecise moves, which allowed Aronian to take the full point. Tomorrow Carlsen plays Nakamura. The Big Clash that somehow everyone is waiting for. Nakamura's record vs. Carlsen is disastrous, but the American #1 sounds determinate and fearless; he said, when asked about tomorrow's game, "If you want to be the best, you've got to play against the best!". And Carlsen, in a rather sibylline way, said: "It is always fun to play against Nakamura!". It'll be fun to watch. Tomorrow, 10AM EDT - 16:00 Berlin - 15:00 London.

IM John Watson video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is Frankygolucky

We have FIVE winners in the GUESS THE RESULTS contest for this round!
TiredDad, ECP, Io-Annou, nitishdas and Radja -- each of them gest 3 FREE weeks of membership!

Here is the table:

Round 6

The clou game today was undoubtedly Carlsen vs. Nakamura. The two titans played a tough game, which took 95 moves to end in a draw. Carlsen, in the post-game interviews, said that he think he outplayed Nakamura a bit, but then he spent too much time. Such a media event as Magnus-Naka's game overshadowed a bit the rest of the games, which actually were quite interesting. Anand played a masterpiece against France #1 Vachier-Lagrave; piece sac, devastating attack and brilliant moves led the great Indian player to a sparkling victory. But the real news is that Topalov is on steroids! The strong Bulgarian GM won again today, beating Alexander Grischuk. Now Veselin leads with the amazing score of 5.5/6, well ahead of the pursuing duo Nakamura-Anand (4/6). Giri drew with Aronian and Caruana drew with Hammer, the only player without a win in the tournament so far. Tomorrow Nakamura-Grischuk, Vachier-Lagrave-Carlsen, Aronian-Anand, Hammer-Giri and Topalov-Caruana. Will Fabiano be able to stop the Bulgarian, before Topalov completes a "Caruana"? We'll see, tomorrow at 10AM EDT - 16:00 Paris - 15:00 London.

GM Larry Christiansen video recap

The winner of the GOTD TRIVIA is Miatall

The winners of the GUESS THE RESULTS contest are ForkNPin and Corocotta - They gets 1.5 FREE months each!

Here is the table:

Round 7

Quite a soporiferous round in Norway, with Magnus and MVL taking an extra day off, followed shortly by Anand and Aronian. Draw in 17 moves is not the best thing to write about, despite all the efforts of the experts on Twitter. Standings-wise, the most interesting game was Topalov vs. Caruana. Veselin and Fabiano played a good 44-move game, which ended in a draw. Nakamura played very solid chess against Grischuk, who - guess what? - had to fight again with the clock. Hammer and Giri tried to add some spice to this boring round, but none of them found a way to get ahead in the ending, and the game ended in a draw by repetition. Everything goes Topalov's way, obviously. With two rounds to go, the Bulgarian leads by 1.5 points, and it's very unlikely that anyone will catch him on top. Tomorrow Grischuk-Caruana, Giri-Topalov, Anand-Hammer, Carlsen-Aronian and Nakamura MVL.

GM John Fedorowicz video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is Schachpatzer

The winners of the GUESS THE RESULTS contest are CaseMoney, oldtimer and Radja - Each of them gets a FREE month.

Here is the table:

Round 8

After yesterday's calm round, today the players in Stavanger unleashed hell, to make round 8 the most exciting one so far. Topalov felt the pressure of needing just a draw to win the tournament with a round to spare, and played unusually passively against young Giri, who punished Veselin winning the game. Anand, on the other hand, crushed Jon Ludvig Hammer in 36 moves, showing that he's not ready at all for retirement. Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian threw pieces at each other, losing opportunities and playing dubious moves, only to show that even the greatest players in the world can make mistakes, and giving all of us some hope about our game. Aronian blundered, and you don't blunder and get away with it against the Norwegian genius, even when he's not having a great tournament. Carslen won, climbing to -1 now, and tomorrow he plays his friend and fellow countryman Hammer. It'd be strange to think that Magnus won't win the last game, mitigating with a final 50% performance the disastrous start of the tournament. Nakamura drew MVL and Grischuk drew Caruana. With a round to go, Topalov is still up there alone with 6 points, but Anand now is only half a point behind, and tomorrow they will face each other, in a sort of Zinnemann's High Noon drama. Nakamura and Giri follow with 5 points, unfortunately out of any chance to win the event. Tomorrow last round, 10AM EDT - 16:00 Central Europe, 15:00 London.

GM Max Dlugy video recap

The winner of GOTD TRIVIA is toktok

The winner of the GUESS THE RESULTS contest is oldtimer - He gets 3 FREE months!

Here is the table:

Round 9

IM John Watson video recap

The winner of the GOTD TRIVIA is Andiamo

The winner of the GUESS THE RESULT contest is Schack - He gets 3 FREE months!

Here is the table:

And here is the lineup of our commentators:

Date	Day	Round	Host	Analyst

06/16	Tuesday	1	IM John Watson	GM Jon Speelman

06/17	Wednesday	2	GM Ron Henley	GM Alex Yermolinsky

06/18	Thursday	3	GM Joel Benjamin	GM Ronen Har-Zvi

06/19	Friday	4	GM Lars Bo Hansen	GM Larry Christiansen

06/21	Sunday	5	Mark Crowther	IM John Watson

06/22	Monday	6	GM Varuzhan Akobian	GM Larry Christiansen

06/23	Tuesday	7	GM Ronen Har-Zvi	Gm John Fedorowicz

06/24	Wednesday	8	Mark Crowther	GM Max Dlugy

06/25	Thursday	9	IM John Watson	GM Gata Kamsky