Sergey Karjakin wins Norway Chess 2013

by ChessBase
5/18/2013 – After the massive buildup to see Sergey Karjakin challenged for first, many expected Carlsen to catch up with him. Instead Aronian held Carlsen to a draw, Anand blundered and lost to Hao, letting Nakamura snatch third, while Karjakin played a very tough game against Topalov and drew a winning position to take a brilliant sole first. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

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Norway Chess 2013

The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament was one of the strongest super tournaments ever and was held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in several different locations in the Stavanger-region of Norway: Quality Residence Hotel, Sandnes (six rounds); Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger (one round); Fabrikkhallen til Aarbakke AS, Bryne (one round); Flor & Fjære, Sør-Hidle (one round).

 

Tourney structure: nine-round round robin
Time control: 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the first move
Game start: daily 15:00 (server time), last round 12:00
Rest day: 11th May and 16th May
Rules & Tiebreak Rules: The “Sofia rules” will apply. A tie for first place will be decided by a blitz match.

Round nine

Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao
1-0
Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov
½-½
Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin
½-½
Veselin Topalov

The fleet of chessmobiles reserved and painted especially for the tournament

The auditorium where the games were played

With the build up that had been accumulating over the last rounds, to report that Sergey Karjakin won the Norway Chess tournament seems almost the surprise, even though he led the tournament through and through. The reason is not a lack of confidence in Karjakin’s undeniable talent, which led him to not only become the youngest grandmaster in history, but probably also the youngest world championship second. No, the reason is that by the last round, no fewer than three other players could hope to steal first either straight out, or by taking it to the blitz playoffs in case of a tie: Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, and Hikaru Nakamura. At the very least, this all promised great fighting chess for the last round, and not an epidemic of short draws as is common in large swiss tournaments.

For those who prefer the more relaxed atmosphere of the live commentary...

... there was a large spacious area with a great view from all angles.

The technical crew responsible for the filming and the broadcasts

The first game to end was Radjabov-Svidler, who played a Gruenfeld Exchange, and very little took place as both seemed content to play it out and draw. The next was a curious one: Aronian-Carlsen. The two played a Queens Gambit Declined in which the pieces came off quite quickly, and ended up in an endgame with rooks and opposite-colored bishops. A draw was agreed by repetition. For Carlsen it meant having to wait and see whether Karjakin lost, in which case there would be a tiebreak, otherwise he would need to be content with second place.

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian comment on their game

That was the end of the quieter games. With Carlsen drawing, and Karjakin’s game undefined still, Vishy Anand had to believe he could pull out a surprise from behind by beating Wang Hao. Sadly for him, the day of surprises was not over, and an ugly blunder on move 14 due to an oversight sealed his fate on move 16. He tried to find some creative way to salvage the draw, but the Chinese player held fast and went on to win.

GM Daniel King analyzes Wang Hao-Anand 

This still left a chance for Hikaru Nakamura, though his was the most remote as he not only needed to win, but needed Karjakin to lose as well. Winning was the easier part of the equation as he played Jon Hammer, a player rated 150 Elo below him, but accidents can happen. The American made sure there were none, and he beat the Norwegian in a very high quality game, playing razor sharp from beginning to end.

Hikaru Nakamura came in third with 5.5/9

This left the last game still going, and the most important, Sergey Karjakin against Veselin Topalov. The two played a Sicilian Najdorf with Black’s kingside shattered, though not easily penetrated, and White’s advantage in space, also with little room to articulate anything. It seemed as if Karjakin was happy with the draw, which he made clear by shuffling his pieces as he waited for the Bulgarian to show something. Topalov should probably have not insisted as he began a dubious maneuver bringing his king to the queenside allowing White to start hoping for something. It was precisely when Sergey really had killer blows that he chose to repeat the position and accept the draw. One can perfectly well argue that he only needed a draw, and while true, the win was still there with little risk to him.

Sergey Karjakin drew Veselin Topalov for the biggest win of his career

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B96"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2385"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Qd2 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. Be2 h5 12. O-O-O Nd7 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. f5 e5 15. Nb3 Rc8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Bh6 18. Qd3 Nc4 19. Bf3 h4 20. Rhe1 Kf8 21. Re4 Bg5 22. c3 Qb6 23. Na1 Kg7 24. Nc2 a5 25. Ka2 Rc7 26. Rg4 Kf8 27. Qe2 Qc5 28. Be4 Nb6 29. Kb1 Rg8 30. Qe1 Ke7 31. Qe2 Kd7 32. Bd3 Nc4 33. Bxc4 bxc4 34. Ne3 Rb8 35. Nxc4 a4 36. Qc2 Rb3 37. Ka1 Qb5 38. Qe2 Rc5 39. Re4 Ke7 40. Qd3 Qb7 41. Rg4 Qb5 42. Re4 Kd7 43. Qe2 Kc7 44. Qd3 Qb7 45. Rg4 Rbb5 46. Qc2 Qa8 47. Nd2 Ra5 48. Nc4 {At this point White chooses to repeat the position, precisely when the path to win is open.} (48. c4 $1 {Threatening Ne4 and the rook on c5 is trapped.} Bxd2 (48... Qxd5 $6 {looks strong but is bad due to} 49. Qc3 $1 ({ Not} 49. cxd5 Rxc2) 49... Qa8 50. Ne4 {and suddenly the black king is looking very vulnerable.}) 49. Qxd2 Qh8 50. Qe1 {and not only is Black's h-pawn falling, but White's h-pawn may go forward like a rocket afterwards.}) 48... Rab5 49. Nd2 Ra5 50. Nc4 Rab5 1/2-1/2

Nevertheless, it concluded what was the greatest tournament result in Sergey Karjakin’s career, taking sole first ahead of the world number one, the world number two, and the world champion all at the same time. Fantastic.

For the organizers and home fans, it was a small disappointment to not have their star holding the trophy, but by all means the tournament was a great success and was well used to develop chess and visibility for the country.  

The venue made sure visitors had the opportunity to indulge in some chess

On the first rest day, the players visited a school to help promote the game
among the children.

Magnus Carlsen dressed the role

Replay all games

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 15. Bb4 Nc6 16. Bxe7 Rfe8 17. Bg5 Bb6 18. h4 Nd4 19. Bf6 Qc4 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 21. Qxd4 Bxd4 22. Rd1 Rad8 23. g3 Kf8 24. Kf1 Bb6 25. h5 Rxd1+ 26. Bxd1 Rxe4 27. hxg6 hxg6 28. Bb3 f5 29. Bf7 Re7 30. Rxe7 Kxe7 31. Bxg6 Kf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D63"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 a6 8. Qc2 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. Be2 b5 11. a4 b4 12. Ne4 cxd4 13. Nxf6+ Nxf6 14. Nxd4 Bb7 15. Nc6 Bxc6 16. Qxc6 Rc8 17. Qxc8 Qxc8 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 19. O-O a5 20. b3 Kf8 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Rd1 Rc3 23. Bc4 h5 24. Kf1 Ke7 25. Ke2 Be5 26. h3 h4 27. Rd3 Rc2+ 28. Rd2 Rc3 29. Rd3 Rc2+ 30. Rd2 Rc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2631"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 b5 6. a4 Bb4 7. Bd2 a5 8. axb5 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 cxb5 10. b3 Bb7 11. bxc4 b4 12. Bb2 Nf6 13. Bd3 O-O 14. O-O Nbd7 15. Nd2 Qc7 16. f4 a4 17. Rb1 Rfd8 18. Qe2 b3 19. Ba1 Qd6 20. e4 Nc5 21. e5 Qc6 22. exf6 Nxd3 23. Qg4 g6 24. Rf3 b2 25. Qg5 bxa1=Q 26. Rxa1 Qb6 27. Rxd3 Rxd4 28. Rb1 Qd8 29. Rxb7 Rxd3 30. Nf3 a3 31. Rxf7 Qb6+ 32. c5 Qb1+ 33. Kf2 Rxf3+ 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+50"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. e3 Nf6 7. Be2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Na4 O-O 11. O-O Bf5 12. g4 Be6 13. e4 Nb4 14. Nc5 Bxa2 15. Qa4 Qd4 16. Qa5 Rfd8 17. Kg2 Bc4 18. Rd1 Bxe2 19. Rxd4 Rxd4 20. Be3 Rc4 21. Re1 Bxg4 22. b3 Rxc5 23. Bxc5 Nd3 24. Re3 Nxc5 25. Qxc5 e5 26. Rd3 Rc8 27. Qxa7 Bf8 28. Qb7 c5 29. Rd5 f6 30. Rd2 Re8 31. Ra2 Re7 32. Qb6 Rf7 33. f3 Bh5 34. Ra8 Kg7 35. Rxf8 Rxf8 36. Qxc5 g5 37. b4 Ra8 38. b5 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B96"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2385"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Qd2 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. Be2 h5 12. O-O-O Nd7 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. f5 e5 15. Nb3 Rc8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Bh6 18. Qd3 Nc4 19. Bf3 h4 20. Rhe1 Kf8 21. Re4 Bg5 22. c3 Qb6 23. Na1 Kg7 24. Nc2 a5 25. Ka2 Rc7 26. Rg4 Kf8 27. Qe2 Qc5 28. Be4 Nb6 29. Kb1 Rg8 30. Qe1 Ke7 31. Qe2 Kd7 32. Bd3 Nc4 33. Bxc4 bxc4 34. Ne3 Rb8 35. Nxc4 a4 36. Qc2 Rb3 37. Ka1 Qb5 38. Qe2 Rc5 39. Re4 Ke7 40. Qd3 Qb7 41. Rg4 Qb5 42. Re4 Kd7 43. Qe2 Kc7 44. Qd3 Qb7 45. Rg4 Rbb5 46. Qc2 Qa8 47. Nd2 Ra5 48. Nc4 Rab5 49. Nd2 Ra5 50. Nc4 Rab5 1/2-1/2

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Pictures by the official site

Final standings

Statistics

Of the 45 games played in the nine rounds of the Norwegian Super-GM 2013

  • 16 games = 35.6% were won by White
  • 21 games = 46.6% were drawn
  • 8 games = 17.8% were won by Black

Number of decisive games:

  • eight: by Hammer (+1 –7 =1)
  • seven: by Karjakin (+5 –2 =2)
  • six: by Nakamura (+4 –2 =3); Wang Hao (+ 3 – 3 =3)
  • five: by Anand (+3 –2 =4); Radjabov (+1 – 4 =4)
  • four: by Carlsen (+3 –1 =5)
  • three: by Svidler (+2 –1 =6); Aronian (+2 –1 =6)
  • one: by Topalov (–1 =8)

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand
½-½
Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura
1-0
Wang Hao
Peter Svidler
1-0
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin
1-0
Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao
1-0
Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer
0-1
Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand
1-0
Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler
½-½
Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov
1-0
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin
1-0
Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov
½-½
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian
0-1
Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer
1-0
Wang Hao
Peter Svidler
½-½
Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov
½-½
Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin
0-1
Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen
1-0
Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov
½-½
Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand
½-½
Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian
1-0
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao
½-½
Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer
0-1
Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler
½-½
Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov
0-1
Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen
0-1
Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov
½-½
Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand
1-0
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura
1-0
Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler
1-0
Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao
1-0
Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov
½-½
Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin
½-½
Veselin Topalov

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


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