Norway Chess 2022 commenced today in Stavanger with the main classical event after yesterday’s Norway Chess Blitz decided the schedule of the next 11 days’ encounters.
The 2022 Norway Chess brings not only interesting games but all decisive results in the matches of each round. According to the general rules, if the classical game concludes with a draw, the players move on to Armageddon within 20 minutes after the draw, meaning that each round announces five winners.
Players get the following points per round:
- Victory main game: 3 points
- Loss main game: 0 points
- Draw main game & victory Armageddon: 1.5 points
- Draw main game & loss Armageddon: 1 point
Since only Wesley So and Viswanathan Anand managed to score after the classical game, they took the early co-lead of the event scoring 3 points.
So defeated Teimour Radjabov with White pieces after a thrilling game with a constant advantage. Radjabov crashed in a very sharp position after playing 35…Re8? that Wesley used to force Teimour to resign after only three moves. Replay the game here
Read more: Wesley So: I felt like playing 1…h5 or 1…a5 against Carlsen in Blitz (VIDEO)
Vishy Anand scored in the classical game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The game started slowly, not looking promising for a decisive outcome. However, MVL was inaccurate with 21…Rb8?! that provided Anand a clear advantage. Vishy didn’t let go and with precise play improved the position to finally transpose to a winning endgame having a pawn up. Replay the game here
Magnus Carlsen and Wang Hao started with an interesting opening choice. Magnus surprised with a novelty played in the 5th move 5.Nh4!? that shortly after handed him a nice advantage. Reigning World Champion pushed further and according to engines finally got the real chance after Wang’s 17…cxd5. But that’s when Magnus let a big advantage slip and the position transformed into a deadly equal. Players agreed to a draw proceeding to Armageddon after five hours of play. The Armageddon game brought a different opening that looked better for Wang Hao at the start. At some point, the Chinese grandmaster took 54 seconds to decide how to proceed and the move cost him a lot more. It happened to be a bad choice that Carlsen used to pressure Black further, eventually gaining the material advantage and closing the game with perfect technique. Replay both classical and Armeggedon games here
Read more: Can Magnus reach the rating of 2900 at the 2022 Norway Chess?
Anish Giri and Veselin Topalov had a calm encounter without the turn of the tables. The position was around equal all the time and the draw was confirmed in an endgame with opposite-color bishops and the same number of pawns. The Armaggedon kicked off with the same opening, but Topalov made a mistake with 19…Re8?! immediately getting the worse position. The Dutch eventually got a pawn up advantage with the game ending in his favor after Topalov blundered the fork and instantly resigned. Replay both classical and Armaggedon games here
The match between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Aryan Tari was the first one to go to Armageddon. The players agreed for a draw after two hours as no chances opened for a decisive result. The engine label was showing 00.00 almost all the time. Mamedyarov chose a different line in Armageddon to surprise Tari and seemed it worked as he needed only 10 moves to get a better position. Aryan was fighting back but made a crucial mistake with 26…Qe6?!. It was hard for Shakhriyar to mistake afterwards and the game ended in favor of Azerbaijani. Replay both classical and Armageddon games here
The second round 2 starts tomorrow at 17:00 CEST and the games can be followed live on Chessdom.com.
Wesley So – Magnus Carlsen
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Hao Wang – Anish Giri
Veselin Topalov – Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov – Aryan Tari
