{"id":9589,"date":"2019-06-25T10:11:17","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T08:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mvlchess.com\/?p=9589"},"modified":"2019-06-25T10:41:44","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T08:41:44","slug":"dull-norway-chess-but-world-blitz-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mvlchess.com\/en\/2019\/06\/25\/dull-norway-chess-but-world-blitz-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Dull Norway Chess, but World Blitz #1!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I always loved the Norway Chess atmosphere. So I was delighted to be once again invited to spend two weeks in Stavanger. As usual, the tournament itself was preceded by a blitz showdown, aimed at determining the number of whites and blacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, the challenge was double for me, as I knew that ending up ahead of Carlsen would mean I\u2019d rob him of the World #1 spot in the Blitz rankings! Though not an end in itself, it remains a pleasant feeling, doesn\u2019t it? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nat the end of the day, I played rather well and won the Blitz\ntournament, 1.5 point ahead of the duo Aronian \/ Carlsen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Blitz<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here are two nice positions from this Blitz tournament:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Grischuk,
Mvl-Grischuk, Blitz round 3.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here, I could play the normal 20.Rad1 with an edge because of the Bishop pair. But I opted for 20.Bxh6?!<\/strong>, which is not objectively best. I thought I was winning after 20\u2026gxh6 21.Qg6+ Kh8 22.Qxh6+ Kg8 23.Bc2. But Black had 23\u2026Re6! at his disposal, forcing me to take perpetual check. I don\u2019t know why, but Grischuk inserted 20\u2026Rxe1+?<\/strong> 21.Rxe1 gxh6 22.Qg6+ Kf8 23.Qxh6+ Kg8 <\/strong>and now 24.Bc2!<\/strong> is lethal. 1-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ding
Ding Liren-Mvl, Blitz round 8.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It had already been a long and complicated battle. Essential was 48.g5! to gain access to the long diagonal after both 48\u2026Bxh2 49.Bf6 and 48\u2026b2 49.Bf6!, with the show going on. But it\u2019s a tall order with only a few seconds left, and Ding chose the \u00ab human \u00bb 48.Ba3? b2 49.Bxb2 Bxb2 50.h4<\/strong>. Unfortunately, after 50\u2026Kc5 51.g5 Be5<\/strong>, black\u2019s bishops and King easily cope with the pawns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks\nto this very good performance, I actually took the leadership in the\nBlitz rankings, whose Top 10 nows looks like this\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"(www.2700chess.com).\"
(www.2700chess.com<\/a>).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This year, I was also very curious about the new format cooked by the organizers. First of all, a rather quick classical rhythm, 2 hours for the whole game, with only 10 seconds a move increment after move 40. And then, the main novelty in case of a draw, an Armageddon tiebreaker; 10 minutes for white, 7 for black, white must win. This format was chosen by Norwegian TV, as they wanted to control better the duration of play. This is the reason why the games began later. It\u2019s true that a start at 5pm is no big deal in itself, but the issue is that you don\u2019t have much time left to relax in the evening. Certainly, you have time in the morning, but it is not the ideal moment for decompression. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Armageddon itself, which has been commented a lot, it is true that we all had trouble adapting ourselves; for instance, I completely mismanaged my first Armageddon game against Yu Yangyi… But on the whole, I believe the format is quite balanced, and I don\u2019t think it is favourable to one colour or the other. However, the scoring system needs to be reassessed, because it gives too much weight to the Armageddon. Ding Liren ending up 6th with +2 in the classical games, this is not fair! I would advise a 4 – 2 – 1 – 0 instead of 2 – 1.5 – 0.5 – 0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before\nto deal with the games, let me briefly present my second important\nvictory, after the one in the Blitz tournament\u2026 The organizers had\nplanned a cooking challenge during the first rest day. Teamed up with\nAnand, I was relieved – the other pairs probably also were! – to be\nhelped by a Chef, and quite happy to win the contest in the end! This\nwas a nice experience, which enabled us to see from inside the making\nof a gastronomic meal\u2026 For the anecdote, we cooked a \u00ab salmon\nfilet with buttered fennel and its vegetables \u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The winning duo! (photo Altibox \/ Leenart Ootes).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the Classical tournament, I had 8 draws and 1 loss, and above all, I\u2019m not satisfied with the overall level of my play. I must confess that having to wait for Round 7 Armageddon before to actually win a game on the board, irked me a bit. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll\nhave a word on all 9 games of mine, beginning with the white ones (5\ndraws). One indisputable fact is that I didn\u2019t get much with white,\nexcept on round 1 with Yu Yangyi, where I was clearly better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against\nAnand, I chose a sub-variation to counter the M\u00f6ller Defense, and\nthe ex-World Champion reacted incorrectly with 12…Nxe4?<\/strong>\nin the following position (instead of 12…0-0):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Anand,
Mvl-Anand, round 3.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, I chose the line 13.Nxb5?! 0-0 14.Qe2 Nf6 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5<\/strong> because I hadn\u2019t foreseen 16…Qe8!<\/strong> and black has no problem at all. Instead, I should have played 13.Qe2! immediately. I didn\u2019t though, as I thought it might be dangerous for me after 13…0-0 14.Qxe4 Nxd4 15.Bd5 Bxd5 16.Qxd5 c6 17.Qe4 f5 18.Qe3 f4, but the truth is that black probably doesn\u2019t have enough for the piece. So had white played 13.Qe2!, black should have replied 13…Nf6 14.dxe5 or 13…d5 14.dxe5, but white keeps an edge anyway, eg. 14…b4 15.cxb4 0-0 16.Nc2 Re8 17.Ba4. A missed opportunity…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing Carlsen\u2019s Svechnikov, once again I couldn\u2019t recall all my analyses even though this time, I had looked at the whole variation that very morning! At the critical moment, I remembered a pattern which reminded me of one of the lines I had gone through; and it was \u00ab almost \u00bb it, but not quite \u00ab exactly \u00bb it! It must be said that in a variation like this one, there are really lots of stuff to analyze! Then you come back to your room in the evening, you go through your files, and when you see the good moves that are just there, you say to yourself: \u00ab Damn it, how come I didn\u2019t recall that detail? \u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against\nGrischuk, it was still worse, as I happened to be grossly misled in\nthe move order of the Rossolimo! With 5.h3<\/strong>\ninstead of 5.d3, I was just playing a harmless variation. Though\nunimpressive, I ended up slightly better after black suffered a\nblackout in the following position:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Grischuk,
Mvl-Grischuk, round 7.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After 16…b4?!<\/strong>, Grischuk had just forgotten that 17.Bxb4<\/strong> was possible! Off form, the Russian will do worse later on, putting a Bishop directly en prise<\/em> in the opening against Caruana\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nbeing said, he defended very precisely after his mistake, and I\nproved unable to increase the advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nalso misplayed the opening against Ding Liren, this time because it\nwas a line I hadn\u2019t seen for a while, and I couldn\u2019t remember all\nrelevant details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Usual
Usual suspects! (photo Altibox \/ Leenart Ootes).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now look at my 4 black games:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the one against Caruana, I suggest you watch the detailed analysis, which was recorded during a recent stream on my Twitch channel www.twitch.tv\/mvlchess<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n