Norway Chess 2014

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 8, Thursday, June 12

Sergey Karjakin (4) – Vladimir Kramnik (4)
Peter Svidler (3) – Magnus Carlsen (4)
Levon Aronian (3) – Fabiano Caruana (4)
Alexander Grischuk (3.5) – Anish Giri (3)
Simen Agdestein (3.5) – Veselin Topalov (3)

Round 9, Friday, June 13

Fabiano Caruana – Sergey Karjakin
Magnus Carlsen – Simen Agdestein
Vladimir Kramnik – Alexander Grischuk
Anish Giri – Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov – Levon Aronian

[Jonathan Rogers]

You forgot Grischuk...

Yes, unfairly I suppose since he has been involved in more than his share of the action. Oh all right, he will beat Giri then

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Thanks, Loz.

I suppose one way to look at it is whether one person wants to try and score 2/2 and likely put themselves in contention. I suppose you can't really do that at this level, though. Even though the gap between first and last is a single point, with only two rounds to go that is a relatively large gap. I think Grischuk and Agdestein should go for it, in the hope that the other three games are drawn (looks quite likely). That would leave 6 people tied on 4.5/8 going into the last round, with all those six playing each other in that last round (the first three pairings in round 9 as listed above). That could make things interesting.

[Paolo Casaschi]

For the prediction game of round 8: I think the players are getting tired; the ranking being so close, nobody has the luxury option of coasting to victory, so I predict a lot of decisive results today. In fact, I think (and hope) all the games from the leading players will be decisive:

Aronian-Caruana 0-1
Karjakin-Kramnik 1-0
Svidler-Carlsen 1-0
Other games do not really matter for the final ranking...

The last game is the least obvious, you might as well predict a 0-1, however with Carlsen having the easiest last round opponent, a loss for him would make the final round a lot more interesting. A win for Carlsen today would probably means he'll win the tournament.

[Paolo Casaschi]

I also suggest there is little point in staying up on Saturday night to watch Italy v England

It might depend on which team you support...

[Jonathan Rogers]

I also suggest there is little point in staying up on Saturday night to watch Italy v England

It might depend on which team you support...

Oh, I quite imagine us making a draw. But the match itself will be hard to watch, as is clear from the pronouncements on the pitch.

[Roger de Coverly]

A reverse Grand Prix Attack in Svidler - Carlsen. Svidler has used a lot more time. Does his knowledge of British culture include study of the Rumens, Hodgson, Plaskett and Hebden games of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s?

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 f5 4. d3 Nf6 5. g3 Bb4 6. Bg2 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. Rb1 Qe8 10. Qb3 b6 11. Nh4 Na5 12. Qa3 Rb8 13. Be3

White's last move provokes f4 which I would have thought unwise. Chessbomb's Stockfish agrees as it proposes the typical pawn sacrifice 13. .. f4 14. gxf4 Ng4

I think all today's games started with 1. c4 .

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I think all today's games started with 1. c4 .

In Aronian-Caruana, it was 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4, but yeah, all the others started 1.c4. They all diverged pretty quickly, though.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Oh dear, Carlsen played a move (24...Rfxf4) that changed the computer assessment from -3.37 to -0.63. It was a fairly simple combination as well. Did he miss 27.Kf1 or something like that? Apparently, he should have played 23...Rfxf4 (same move, but a move earlier).

[Paolo Casaschi]

For the prediction game of round 8: I think the players are getting tired; the ranking being so close, nobody has the luxury option of coasting to victory, so I predict a lot of decisive results today. In fact, I think (and hope) all the games from the leading players will be decisive:

Aronian-Caruana 0-1
Karjakin-Kramnik 1-0
Svidler-Carlsen 1-0
Other games do not really matter for the final ranking...

The last game is the least obvious, you might as well predict a 0-1, however with Carlsen having the easiest last round opponent, a loss for him would make the final round a lot more interesting. A win for Carlsen today would probably means he'll win the tournament.

I got it all wrong; I guess that at top GM level tiredness and more mistakes do not necessarily mean decisive games; the outcome has been instead some wasted win opportunities and a string of draws; Karjakin still on time to take the lead...

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 9, Friday, June 13

Fabiano Caruana (4.5) – Sergey Karjakin (5)
Magnus Carlsen (4.5) – Simen Agdestein (3.5)
Vladimir Kramnik (4) – Alexander Grischuk (4)
Veselin Topalov (4) – Levon Aronian (3.5)
Anish Giri (3.5) – Peter Svidler (3.5)

[AustinElliott]

Round 9, Friday, June 13

Fabiano Caruana (4.5) – Sergey Karjakin (5)
Magnus Carlsen (4.5) – Simen Agdestein (3.5)
Vladimir Kramnik (4) – Alexander Grischuk (4)
Veselin Topalov (4) – Levon Aronian (3.5)
Anish Giri (3.5) – Peter Svidler (3.5)

Interesting last round in prospect. Caruana obviously has a big incentive to try and beat Karjakin.... who would have been long odds against winning the tournament after move 130 in round 8.

Plus something slightly chess-Oedipal with Carlsen facing Agdestein... and presumably wanting to win to try and share 1st if Caruana can beat Karjakin.

[Graham Borrowdale]

Round 9, Friday, June 13

Fabiano Caruana (4.5) – Sergey Karjakin (5)
Magnus Carlsen (4.5) – Simen Agdestein (3.5)
Vladimir Kramnik (4) – Alexander Grischuk (4)
Veselin Topalov (4) – Levon Aronian (3.5)
Anish Giri (3.5) – Peter Svidler (3.5)

Interesting last round in prospect. Caruana obviously has a big incentive to try and beat Karjakin.... who would have been long odds against winning the tournament after move 130 in round 8.

Plus something slightly chess-Oedipal with Carlsen facing Agdestein... and presumably wanting to win to try and share 1st if Caruana can beat Karjakin.

I really can't see Carlsen doing anything but winning, and that would share first unless Karjakin beats Caruana with black; I think Caruana will try hard to beat Karjakin and quite possibly succeed. The other games could well be last round draws.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Bizarre analysis line provided by the computer engine on the Norway Chess site:

11...Qc7 12.f4 Be7 13.Qa4 Bb7 14.Bc1 Rd8 15.Rd1 Nd7 16.Qc2 h6 17.Rb1 Ba6 18.Qa4 Nxe5 19.fxe5 Bb7 20.Qc2 Qc2 21.Rf1

On move 20, the White queen on c2 turns into a Black queen!

Is this some weird glitch in the Houdini 3 Pro algorithms, or some previously undiscovered rule in chess??

See below for a screen capture.

[MartinCarpenter]

With a +.43 evaluation for white too Comforting to know that these things do still sometimes crop up.....