Altibox Norway Chess, the chess super tournament, has managed to gather the world’s top 10 best players for the 2017 edition.
The tournament aims to be amongst the top 3 strongest chess tournaments in the world. The 2017 tournament takes place from June 5 to 17 at the Clarion Energy Hotel and at the Stavanger Concert Hall.
Participants:
1. World chess champion, Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
2. Wesley So (USA)
3. Fabiano Caruana (USA)
4. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)
5. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
6. Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
7. Viswanathan Anand (India)
8. Levon Aronian (Armenia)
9. Sergey Karjakin (Russia)
10. Anish Giri (The Netherlands)
“We are very pleased that we have managed to gather the world’s 10 best players in our tournament this year. It’s a special year to us being our 5th anniversary. The fact that we are the first ones ever to bring together the top 10 players in the world in one tournament shows that Altibox Norway Chess has established itself as the strongest and one of the most important tournaments in the chess world. We have, since the tournament’s inception in 2013, wanted to create a unique chess tournament. This shows that we have succeeded.” – Kjell Madland, Founder
Several of the players have participated in Altibox Norway Chess earlier, including former World Champion, Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand and Magnus Carlsen’s challenger in last year’s World Chess Championship, Sergey Karjakin, who won Norway Chess in 2013 and 2014.
New to the tournament this year is Philippine-born, Wesley So, who is number two in the world. So has previously commented:
“I’m glad that I can finally join Altibox Norway Chess. Norway is so beautiful, I love that country! Great people, good food and hopefully good chess. What more could one ask for?”
The tournament that has made Stavanger an international chess city
Chess has in recent years gained new popularity and has almost become a national sport in Norway. When Norway Chess first started in 2013, it was unthinkable for many to watch chess on TV. This is something Norway Chess has worked hard to change.
With the right commentators, good graphics and good a connection from the chessboards to the TV screen, the potential for chess on TV is tremendously high. Thousands of people who follow the chess broadcast do not know the rules of chess, but are still highly engaged watching it on TV. Chess has become more popular and families all over the country are gathering to watch chess together!
Stavanger interested in hosting FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships
