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The Norwegian Championship was held in Moss, just south of Oslo, from July 8th to 15th 2006. The reigning champion GM Simen Agdestein faced a stiff challenge from his student and coaching partner GM Magnus Carlsen, with other GMs like Leif Johannessen, Kjetil Lie, Rune Djurhuus and Berge Østenstad also playing in the 22-player 9-round Swiss tournament.
A decisive game between the two top contenders for the title took place in round seven.
Carlsen,M (2673) - Agdestein,S (2575) [C18]
ch-NOR Moss NOR (7), 13.07.2006
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Qg4
g6 9.Qd1 b6 10.h4 h5 11.c4 Nc6 12.Nf3 Nge7 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Be2 dxc4 15.0-0
Nd5 16.Bg5 Ba6 17.Re1 c3 18.Bd3 Bxd3 19.Qxd3 Rb8 20.Re4 Qb5 21.Qd1 Qb6 22.a4
Qc7 23.Qe2 Kd7 24.Rd1 Kc8 25.Be3 Na5 26.Ng5
The teacher has been doing okay against his pupil, with his extra pawn on c3. But now he plays incautiously: 26...Rd8? 26...Rb6 was required to prevent White's next move: 27.Qa6+. Did Agdestein miss 27...Nb7 28.Bxc5 and after 28...Qxc5 29.Rc4 pins the queen. 27...Rb7 28.Nxf7 Qxf7 29.Bxc5 Kb8 30.Qxa5. Now White is a pawn up and has all the trumps in his hand. 30...Rc8 31.Rc4 Qe8 32.Qa6 Nb6 33.Rxc3 Ka8 34.Bxb6 and Black resigned because of 34...Rxc3 35.Rd8+. 1-0.
This result gave Magnus a half-point lead over Simen Agdestein, who drew a 2288 player with white in the eighth round, while his former student defeated his 2462 opponent with the black pieces. One round before the end the of the championship the situation was as follows:
| 1 |
Carlsen,M |
2673 |
7.0/8 |
| 2 |
Agdestein,S |
2575 |
6.0/8 |
| 3 |
Djurhuus,R |
2462 |
5.0/8 |
| 4 |
Sahl,Bj |
2364 |
5.0/8 |
| 5 |
Ostenstad,B |
2480 |
5.0/8 |
In the final round both Carlsen and Agdestein had black. The latter faced a 2346 opponent, whom he dutifully outplayed to take a full point. Meanwhile...
Ostenstad,B (2480) - Carlsen,M (2673) [A20]
ch-NOR Moss NOR (9), 15.07.2006
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qd1 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+
8.Qxd2 0-0 9.Nc3 d6 10.Nh3 Ne5 11.b3 c6 12.Rd1 Qa5 13.0-0 Kh8 14.Nf4 Bf5 15.e4
Bh7 16.Nfe2 Rad8 17.Qb2 Rfe8 18.Rd4 d5 19.cxd5 cxd5 20.b4 Qb6 21.exd5 Bd3 22.Rd1
Nfg4 23.Qd2
It is difficult to criticize the 15-year-old in this game. Leading by a full point he needs just a draw to clinch the championship. But facing an opponent who is almost 200 rating points below him, Magnus cannot resist a full-out attack with the black pieces. 23...Nxf2 24.Kxf2 Ng4+ 25.Kg1 Bxe2 26.Nxe2 Ne3 27.Nc3 Nxd1 28.Nxd1 We count the material and see that White has two minor pieces for a rook, without a compelling black attack in sight. 28...Re5 29.Nf2 Rc8 30.Bf3 f5 31.Kg2 Rd8 32.d6 Rd7 33.h4 Re6 34.Qf4 Rexd6 35.Rxd6 Qxd6 36.Qxf5 g6 37.Qc2 Kg7 38.a3 b6 39.Ne4 Qe5 40.Nf2 Rc7 41.Qd2 Qc3 42.Qe2 Qf6 43.h5 gxh5 44.Bxh5 Re7 45.Qd3 Qg5 46.Bf3 Qe3 47.Qd8 Re8 48.Qd1 Re7 49.Ng4 Qg5 50.Qd4+ Kf7 51.Qd6 Re6 52.Qd7+ Qe7 53.Qd4 Kg6 54.Bd5 Re2+ 55.Kf3 Re1 56.Be4+ 1-0.
| # | Player | Elo | Individual results | Pts | Tieb. | Perf |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 2675 | +19 =05 +06 =09 +08 +04 +02 +07 -03 | 7,0 | 39,5 | 2668 ( -6) |
| 2 | Simen Agdestein | 2594 | +08 =15 +07 +03 +04 +09 -01 =10 +11 | 7,0 | 38,0 | 2641 (+12) |
| 3 | Berge Østenstad | 2480 | +16 =06 +12 -02 =11 =13 =05 +15 +01 | 6,0 | 38,5 | 2575 (+21) |
| 4 | Bjarke Sahl | 2364 | =10 =12 +16 +07 -02 -01 +17 +09 =08 | 5,5 | 38,0 | 2490 (+27) |
| 5 | Leif E Johannessen | 2555 | =12 =01 -11 +20 =10 +06 =03 =08 +07 | 5,5 | 37,5 | 2487 (-12) |
| 6 | Kjetil A. Lie | 2523 | +17 =03 -01 +18 -09 -05 +12 +13 +10 | 5,5 | 37,0 | 2480 (-18) |
| 7 | Rune Djurhuus | 2462 | +14 +11 -02 -04 +16 +08 +09 -01 -05 | 5,0 | 39,5 | 2473 ( +1) |
| 8 | Torstein Bae | 2284 | -02 +14 +10 +11 -01 -07 +13 =05 =04 | 5,0 | 39,0 | 2468 (+37) |
| 9 | Geir S. Tallaksen | 2356 | =13 +21 +15 =01 +06 -02 -07 -04 +16 | 5,0 | 38,5 | 2483 (+26) |
| 10 | Stig Gabrielsen | 2288 | =04 =13 -08 +19 =05 +20 =15 =02 -06 | 4,5 | 37,0 | 2391 (+49) |
| 11 | Øystein Hole | 2346 | +20 -07 +05 -08 =03 -15 +16 +18 -02 | 4,5 | 36,5 | 2407 (+16) |
| 12 | Jon Ludvig Hammer | 2306 | =05 =04 -03 +15 -13 =18 -06 +21 +20 | 4,5 | 35,0 | 2379 (+14) |
| 13 | Trond Gabrielsen | 2258 | =09 =10 =18 =17 +12 =03 -08 -06 +22 | 4,5 | 34,5 | 2364 (+57) |
| 14 | Torbjørn R Hansen | 2319 | -07 -08 +21 -16 =18 +22 =19 =17 +15 | 4,5 | 29,0 | 2341 ( +9) |
| 15 | Frode Elsness | 2428 | +22 =02 -09 -12 +17 +11 =10 -03 -14 | 4,0 | 36,0 | 2324 (-28) |
| 16 | Magne Sagafos | 2301 | -03 +19 -04 +14 -07 +21 -11 +22 -09 | 4,0 | 33,5 | 2318 ( +4) |
| 17 | Øystein Dannevig | 2355 | -06 +22 =20 =13 -15 +19 -04 =14 =21 | 4,0 | 30,0 | 2285 ( -8) |
| 18 | Espen Lie | 2357 | =21 =20 =13 -06 =14 =12 +22 -11 =19 | 4,0 | 29,5 | 2270 (-17) |
| 19 | Kjetil Stokke | 2302 | -01 -16 +22 -10 =21 -17 =14 =20 =18 | 3,0 | 31,0 | 2208 (-25) |
| 20 | Ørnulf Stubberud | 2202 | -11 =18 =17 -05 +22 -10 =21 =19 -12 | 3,0 | 30,0 | 2210 (+26) |
| 21 | Dag Madsen | 2290 | =18 -09 -14 -22 =19 -16 =20 -12 =17 | 2,0 | 29,0 | 2086 (-67) |
| 22 | Jøran Jansson | 2300 | -15 -17 -19 +21 -20 -14 -18 -16 -13 | 1,0 | 28,0 | 1950 (-94) |
In the final table Magnus has the better tiebreak, but according to the rules there will once again, as in 2005, be a playoff between the two top scorers. The match should take place within the next two months.
The winners of the 2006 Norwegian Championship, with Carlsen and Agdestein
on the step.
Only one is smiling: Magnus Carlsen and Simen Agdestein
