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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 18 OF 20 ·  Later Kibitzing> Apr-29-16    Chessinfinite: Congrats to Carlsen for Norway win. Nice win against Kramnik earlier. Apr-29-16    Keyser Soze: <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.> I personally think If Karpov was nowadays on his 20`s (or early 30`s), would be just him and Carlsen fighting alone for the title on the next decade. Apr-29-16    Clemens Scheitz: "Pampered goldfish" man,... where have you gone? Apr-29-16    activechess55: Magnus's been reigning WC for two cycles running. He's also the no 1 rated player for a very long time. He wins the most tournaments, he participates in. He is one of the greatest player ever in the game of chess. Congrats Magnus ! Well done ! Apr-30-16    Sokrates: Joining the choir of congratulators. Carlsen's achievements over the past seven years (thanks, <Eyal>) are very impressive, not only by results but evidently also by fantastic play. With the double number of wins compared to the other best contestants, he demonstrates his supremacy - and fortunate for us that we have a world champion who doesn't want to settle with numerous draws and just enough wins. A game like the defeat vs. Aronian is good for the champ - letting him know that even the greatest virtuoso has to sharpen his skills every day. A gamle like the win over Kramnik leaves a deep impression of how far he has come. He beat the former WC in his own style, thereby following in the footsteps of the greatest of his predecessors. But it should be noted that Carlsen has created his owm style. He can play wild combinative games like Tal, dynamic cold positionals like Karpov/Botvinnik, endgames like Smyslov/Capa and psychologically like Lasker - all in the same player. And the wonderful thing is, he doesn't seem to have ended his development yet. He gets better and better, and it will be exiting to see, what Karjakin can do about it later this year. But for now I congratulate Magnus Carlsen for finally winning the super tournament in his own country. What a relief it must be! Apr-30-16    ozmikey: Congratulations to Carlsen on finally winning on his home patch, and a pat on the back for Li Chao as well for gaining a solid result in his first super-GM event. He showed some real character in holding on from an awful position against Grandelius and then getting the better of Eljanov in that hair-raising game. Apr-30-16    Richard Taylor: 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.> Kasparov was beaten convincingly by Kramnik in their World Championship match. Apr-30-16    Richard Taylor: Topalov was irritated by Kramnik's incessant gong off the to toilet. I think he had a valid complaint. Although it was a disappointment it came out the way it did as Topalov at the time was playing great chess. Kramnik is also a great player but I feel that Topalov, while he rightly protested Kramnik's antics: it meant he put pressure on himself psychologically. He got a free point but I think both he and Kramnik needed to mend walls and shake hands. But who is to blame isn't sure. I think it meant Topalov then lost from positions he was probably winning. From then on he slowly declined, Kramnik also of course as they both age. Apr-30-16    Richard Taylor: Another win from, you guessed it, Carlsen. Boring. Apr-30-16    perfidious: <Richard Taylor: Another win from, you guessed it, Carlsen. Boring.> The flip side of this view is that, had he not won, we should see interminable posts with the usual idiotic jibber-jabber such as 'Oh, Carlsen <never> wins in Norway anyway' and 'what a failure he is for not winning'. Same dog, only washed. Apr-30-16    Eyal: <Kasparov was only ever challenged by Karpov and Kramnik and none else> Since I was talking about "tournament career" rather than matches (or h2h results), I'd definitely add Anand, Ivanchuk, and Topalov to this list. "Challenged" doesn't necessarily mean that they beat him, but overall the rise of this generation made Kasparov face tougher competition than he had during the 80s, when his dominance in tournaments was just insane (15 consecutive wins, as mentioned – from the USSR Championship 81 to Linares 90). In his adult career (I start counting from that USSR Championship of 81, when he was 18), Kasparov won 41 out of 51 classical tournaments in which he participated. The winners of the 10 he didn't win were: Linares 91 (the one that broke his streak) – Ivanchuk; Euwe Memorial 91 – Short & Salov; Reggio Emilia 91/92 – Anand; (the famous) Linares 94 – Karpov; Euwe Memorial 95 – Lautier; Horgen 95 – Ivanchuk & Kramnik; Dos Hermanas 96 – Kramnik & Topalov; Linares 98 – Anand; Linares 03 – Kramnik & Leko; Linares 04 – Kramnik. Also, 6 of his 26 wins during this period were shared – twice with Kramnik, twice with Ivanchuk, twice with Topalov. Apr-30-16    Conrad93: <<Conrad93> <Carlsen played his game against Kramnik like a computer. Almost not a single flaw.> Of course he did - because he memorized all the lines at home. This game was all computer analysis from start to finish.> No matter how good a player is, it's impossible to memorize every subvariation of an opening to the endgame. Apr-30-16    chancho: Even though he won the event, Magnus was not happy with his play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7K... Apr-30-16    Creg: Congratulations to the World Champion Magnus Carlsen for winning Norway 2016. As a side, is anyone aware of a website that tracks tournament victories throughout history similar to how 2700chess.com tracks ratings? Apr-30-16    chancho: <Creg> Maybe this one can be of use to you: http://www.chessfocus.com/ Apr-30-16    starry2013: ozmikey: <and a pat on the back for Li Chao as well for gaining a solid result in his first super-GM event. He showed some real character in holding on from an awful position against Grandelius and then getting the better of Eljanov in that hair-raising game.> Not having so much time to prepare I think he had some worse positions out of the opening. Looking at the Topalov Kramnik after game analysis the best moment for me was when Kramnik said something like 'I think I was winning', which was met by a quick retort from Topalov 'No, I think I was winning'. :D Apr-30-16    suenteus po 147: <chancho> Thank you for that link. Very informative! Apr-30-16    HumSundwuch: Cungruts Mugnus! Apr-30-16    Sokrates: Well said, <perfidious> - fully agree. Apr-30-16    Everett: <Also, 6 of his 26 wins during this period were shared – twice with Kramnik, twice with Ivanchuk, twice with Topalov.> <Eyal> Thanks for all that work! Curious, he shared first with Karpov for the 1988 USSR championships. Does that not qualify? Apr-30-16    Bobwhoosta: <chancho> Usually when people make big things about toilets, it tends to stink. Apr-30-16    perfidious: It should be mentioned also that, in the very first event cited by <Eyal>, Kasparov finished first ex aequo, with Lev Psakhis. Apr-30-16    Keyser Soze: < Bobwhoosta: <chancho> Usually when people make big things about toilets, it tends to stink.> hehehe Apr-30-16    Bobwhoosta: <chancho> Great website!!! Fun fact, since 2010 Carlsen has won more than half of the tournaments he's played in, and come in 2nd or 3rd in every other tournament save 1: Norway 2015. He has more 2nd place finishes than 3rd by a 3 to 1 ratio, and if you include the 7th place finish it drops to a 2 to 1 ratio of 2nd place to all other non-1st finishes. I think it can be cautiously and conservatively stated that we have no idea how good this guy is at chess. He hasn't really been challenged in at least 5 years, by anyone other than himself. Apr-30-16    Bobwhoosta: Wow, just checked out Kasparov's tournament record. His streak in the 80's and the late 90's- early 2000's was amazing. Karpov's record didn't look nearly as impressive as Carlsen's or Kasparov's, however it seems that is simply by comparison. It was obviously impressive. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 20) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 18 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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