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🏆 Norway Chess (2016)

PARTICIPANTS (sorted by highest achieved rating; click on name to see player's games) Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Anish Giri, Pentala Harikrishna, Pavel Eljanov, Chao Li, Nils Grandelius

Norway Chess (2016) Background This was the fourth iteration of this event, which was first staged in 2013. It was part of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) in 2015, but withdrew from that series till further notice. Karjakin won the first two events in 2013 and 2014, but was unable to participate in 2015 due to not being in the GCT. Veselin Topalov won in 2015. Year 2016 had Altibox as new main sponsor. When Played from 19 April 2016 until 29 April 2016. The preliminary blitz tournament Norway Chess (Blitz) (2016) that determined starting colors was played on 18 April. That event was won by Carlsen with 7.5/9, his only loss being the last round game with Giri. Where The Category XXI (2770) tournament was played in the city of Stavanger in Norway. The first six rounds were staged in the Stavanger Forum, while the final three rounds were held in the Stavanger Concert Hall. Format The tournament was a round robin featuring ten players and therefore nine rounds. Sofia rules applied, with no draw offers allowed. Chief arbiter: Karl-Johan Rist. Time control The time control was 100 minutes for 40 moves plus 50 minutes for 20 moves plus 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move 61. Tiebreaks 1. Sonneborn-Berger 2. Most wins 3. Most wins with black 4. Drawing of lots A tie for first place would be determined by blitz playoff(s). Comments There was some uncertainty if Eljanov would have a rating for this tournament due to the suspension of Ukraine by FIDE because of monetary arrears. However, the Ukrainian ratings were to be nullified with effect from the next rating period starting 1 May 2016, after the tournament ended and so Eljanov's current (April 2016) rating stood for the duration of the event. Carlsen led for most of the event until round 8 when he lost to Aronian to allow the latter to draw level with 5/8. The last round saw Carlsen defeat Eljanov and Aronian draw with Harikrishna enabling Carlsen to win Norway Chess for the first time. Stavanger, Norway, 19-29 April 2016 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Carlsen 2851 * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 6 2 Aronian 2784 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 5½ 3 Vachier-Lagrave 2788 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5 4 Topalov 2754 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5 5 Kramnik 2801 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 5 6 Li Chao 2755 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 4½ 7 Harikrishna 2763 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * 1 ½ ½ 4½ 8 Giri 2790 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 4 9 Eljanov 2765 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 3 10 Grandelius 2649 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 2½ Official site: https://norwaychess.no/arkiv-2016/ Regulations: http://norwaychess.no/en/reglement/ Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/mag... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/carls... chess24: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... TWIC: http://theweekinchess.com/chessnews... FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament... Wikipedia article: Norway Chess#2016 Previous: Norway Chess (2015). Next: Norway Chess (2017). Opening Blitz tournament: Norway Chess (Blitz) (2016)  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Carlsen vs Harikrishna 1-0 41 2016 Norway Chess E15 Queen's Indian 2. Kramnik vs N Grandelius 1-0 39 2016 Norway Chess D02 Queen's Pawn Game 3. Vachier-Lagrave vs C Li ½-½ 37 2016 Norway Chess C42 Petrov Defense 4. Giri vs Eljanov 1-0 36 2016 Norway Chess C50 Giuoco Piano 5. Aronian vs Topalov ½-½ 46 2016 Norway Chess A29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto 6. Topalov vs Carlsen ½-½ 29 2016 Norway Chess D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 7. Giri vs Vachier-Lagrave 0-1 28 2016 Norway Chess B96 Sicilian, Najdorf 8. N Grandelius vs Aronian ½-½ 32 2016 Norway Chess C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 9. C Li vs Kramnik ½-½ 42 2016 Norway Chess C26 Vienna 10. Eljanov vs Harikrishna   ½-½ 45 2016 Norway Chess E20 Nimzo-Indian 11. Carlsen vs N Grandelius 1-0 38 2016 Norway Chess B29 Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rubinstein 12. Harikrishna vs Topalov   ½-½ 23 2016 Norway Chess E53 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 13. Aronian vs C Li   ½-½ 40 2016 Norway Chess D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 14. Kramnik vs Giri ½-½ 59 2016 Norway Chess D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6 15. Vachier-Lagrave vs Eljanov ½-½ 52 2016 Norway Chess C67 Ruy Lopez 16. C Li vs Carlsen ½-½ 37 2016 Norway Chess D14 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation 17. Eljanov vs Topalov ½-½ 39 2016 Norway Chess D59 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower 18. Giri vs Aronian ½-½ 49 2016 Norway Chess D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 19. N Grandelius vs Harikrishna ½-½ 45 2016 Norway Chess C11 French 20. Vachier-Lagrave vs Kramnik ½-½ 60 2016 Norway Chess C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 21. Carlsen vs Giri ½-½ 48 2016 Norway Chess C77 Ruy Lopez 22. Aronian vs Vachier-Lagrave   ½-½ 38 2016 Norway Chess D14 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation 23. Harikrishna vs C Li 1-0 42 2016 Norway Chess D70 Neo-Grunfeld Defense 24. Topalov vs N Grandelius 1-0 42 2016 Norway Chess C78 Ruy Lopez 25. Kramnik vs Eljanov   ½-½ 43 2016 Norway Chess C53 Giuoco Piano  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 17 OF 20 ·  Later Kibitzing> Apr-29-16    Keyser Soze: Does someone know if they (VK and VT) handshake before the game today? Apr-29-16    WannaBe: Snowball's chance in Hades that them two shook hands, or even acknowledged each other. Apr-29-16    chancho: So counting from last year, Carlsen has won 7 straight tournaments, right? Apr-29-16    Karposian: <Sokrates>' strange predictions about improving Topa-Kramnik relations seems to have some merit, after all. At the press conference they are speaking to each other! Really weird watching this. Apr-29-16    siamesedream: <WannaBe: Snowball's chance in Hades that them two shook hands, or even acknowledged each other.> No handshake before and after game, but joined press conference. Apr-29-16    chancho: I saw Topalov and Kramnik discussing their game. For I moment I thought I was in an alternate universe. Apr-29-16    Sokrates: <Keyser Soze: <Sokrates> You are talking with a So-bot> I know, I know - hence the irony, which I couldn't help. <Karposian> LOL - yes, who would imagine that grown-ups could speak to each other? Apr-29-16    suenteus po 147: Body language with aspects of speaking told the whole story. Kramnik leaning over Topalov to see the display screen better and to talk directly with Svidler. Topalov leaned away from Kramnik's encroachment as much as he could without looking silly. Also, when talking about variations, they would often agree, but if you listened to the way they interrupted each other to say they agreed it sounded like anything but. So, yes, I think <Sokrates> is right, they are both adults and professionals, but the non-verbal and verbal cues show that both still dislike each other intensely. Apr-29-16    suenteus po 147: Also, it was amusing to see Gustaffson all the way on the far left side of the screen, wanting nothing to do with the two men sitting together in close proximity. Not that he was afraid, but that there was a toxic aura with the two of them in such close proximity. He was visibly uncomfortable several, and it wasn't because they were analyzing yet another Berlin. Apr-29-16    chancho: <suenteus po 147> Yep. that thing called body language is a good indicator. Apr-29-16    suenteus po 147: Svidler was by far the most cool and professional of the four. No obvious indicators (that I could see) of his feelings on the matter one way or the other. I expect he is a close compatriot of Kramnik's, yet doesn't show any obvious deference nor does he exclude Topalov or show any discomfort around or with him. He was all about the chess and understanding the position better. Top class gentleman from that example. Apr-29-16    KnightVBishop: Does anyone know Magnus next tournament if i remember right he declined the 2 classica events for the Grand Chess Tour but will still do the rapid/bitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand... so does anyone know his next classica tournament? Apr-29-16    thegoodanarchist: Long live the Champ! Apr-29-16    jphamlore: Also will either Carlsen or Karjakin play in the Olympiad? Apr-29-16    chancho: <Hikaru Nakamura ‏@GMHikaru Apr 23 Not the best result, but good company and good food are the most important things in life!> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgxUqoR... <Anish Giri ‏@anishgiri Apr 26 Not the best result, but good company and good food are the most important things in life!> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cg_XoOQ... Apr-29-16    Eyal: <So counting from last year, Carlsen has won 7 straight tournaments, right?> No - 4 (starting from London). Btw, if we start counting from Pearl Spring Chess Tournament (2009) (which may be considered a career landmark in the sense that that's when he really started dominating the tournament circuit), it's the 25th classical tournament Carlsen has won out of 37 in which he participated - about two thirds. That's nearly identical with Kasparov's record starting from the 90s - 26/36 (that is, after his 15 consecutive tournament wins during the 80s...). Apr-29-16    Keyser Soze: Thanks <eval>. That's ridiculously impressive. Thank god we have a dominant champ again. Apr-29-16    Richard Taylor: It's a bit boring seeing Carlsen win all the time. I wanted Aronian to win. But it looks as though he's cooked his goose... Apr-29-16    Hawkman: Giri is #7: 1 Carlsen 2855.1 +4.1 2878.0 2915.0 25 2 ↑1 Caruana 2803.6 +8.6 2829 i 2665.0 23 3 ↓1 Kramnik 2801.8 +0.8 2799.0 2830.4 40 4 ↑3 Aronian 2792.1 +8.1 2739.0 2797.6 33 5 Vachier-Lagrave 2790.5 +2.5 2784.0 2871.4 25 6 Nakamura 2786.7 −0.3 2846.0 2883.0 28 7 ↓3 Giri 2782.3 −7.7 2738.0 2822.0 21 Apr-29-16    Jambow: Ok Carlsen finally gets it done at home, great job Magnus. <Keyser Soze: Thanks <eval>. That's ridiculously impressive. Thank god we have a dominant champ again.> Yes I certainly feel better about the title when the player who is obviously superior has it. Nice stats and he has many more great players to contend with by my perspective. Kasparov was only ever challenged by Karpov and Kramnik and none else. Not that those players can dismissed lightly by any stretch nor am I implying such. Apr-29-16    KnightVBishop: What is the general consensus on the whole toiletgate thing between Kramnik and Topaolov Apr-29-16    chancho: That it stunk then, and it still stinks now. Apr-29-16    WannaBe: I remember some of the tournaments (Tata?) where Kramnik and Topalov would do the post-game separately... Not sure if this is the first time they sat down together, but not directly acknowledge the other. Apr-29-16    Atking: Congrats to Carlsen. Always impressive! Apr-29-16    ACMEKINGKRUSHER: WOW "TOILET-GATE LIVES" It was in fact really DUMB! Some may say STUPID! Totally without actual proof! "NO SMOKING SHOES OR SOCKS"! In reading the TOURNAMENT BOOK ...which I have! Topalov comes across like a real sore loser and in words from The Playground..."A CRY BABY"! Hey READ THE Topalov TOURNAMENT BOOK! Some would probably say a lot worse about "TOILETGATE TOPALOV" than I ever would here! Here are 2 places to read about it online.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World... and... Kramnik - Topalov World Championship Match (2006) In closing I look forward to seeing both KRAMNIK and Topalov play! I kinda now though think of Topalov as a "SNIDLEY WHIPLASH" sort of character! Wishing both of them GOOD GAMES in The FUTURE! Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 20) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 17 OF 20 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! 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