Carlsen wins Arctic Securities Chess Rapid by beating Anand 1.5-0.5

Magnus Carlsen: Nice win against Vishy Anand

Hello Everyone,

The young grandmaster and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated World Champion Viswanathan Anand to win the Arctic Securities Rapid Chess Tournament being held in Kristiansund, Norway.

The final saw Carlsen win the first game and draw the second to take the top prize. In the semifinal, Jon Ludvig Hammer also beat Judith Polgar (1.5-0.5) to win the third place.

The Arctic Securities Rapid was a four player event with Carlsen, Anand, Polgar and Hammer playing blitz games in a round robin format from August 28-30.

Here is the nice first game that Carlsen won against Anand. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below. You can check the official website here.

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. Nbd2 Bf5 8. b3 Ne4 9. Bb2 Na6 10. Nh4 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Be6 12. Rac1 Qd7 13. Nf3 Rfd8 14. Rfd1 Nc7 15. Qa5 Ne8 16. e3 Bg4 17. Rd2 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 e6 19. Rdc2 Nd6 20. a4 f5 21. Qe1 a5 22. Bc3 dxc4 23. Bxa5 cxb3 24. Rb2 Rdc8 25. Rxb3 Bf8 26. Rcb1 Ra7 27. Kg2 Nc4 28. Bb4 Bxb4 29. Rxb4 Nd6 30. Qc3 Rca8 31. Qc2 Ra6 32. h4 h5 33. e4 R8a7 34. exf5 Nxf5 35. Re1 Ra5 36. Qb3 Kf7 37. Re4 Ne7 38. Qc2 Nd5 39. Rc4 Ra8 40. Re5 Ne7 41. Bxh5 Rxe5 42. dxe5 Qd5+ 43. Bf3 Qxe5 44. Re4 Qd6 45. h5 Rf8 46. Qb2 b5 47. axb5 cxb5 48. Qxb5 Nf5 49. Qb7+ Kf6 50. Qh7 gxh5 51. Bxh5 Qd5 52. Bf3 Qd2 53. g4 Ng7 54. g5+ 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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Arctic Securities Rapid Chess: Hammer beats Carlsen

Magnus with fans in Kristiansund, Norway

Hello Everyone,

The Arctic Securities Rapid Chess Tournament in Kristiansund, Norway, between four top grandmasters has been quite exciting so far.

In Sunday's games Jon Ludvig Hammer beat Magnus Carlsen! After Saturday's 'missed' victory Hammer would surely be happy with himself. In the other games, Carlsen and Anand drew easily. Polgar nearly beat Carlsen but the youngster survived with a draw with some fantastic defense. Anand beat Hammer and Polgar. Polgar and Hammer drew their game.

The final takes place on Monday between Anand and Carlsen while Hammer and Polgar will fight it out for the bronze place. You can check the official website here.

Standings after Second Section

1. Anand V. 5.0/6.0

2. Carlsen M. 3.5/6.0

3. Hammer J. 2.0/6.0

4. Polgar J. 1.5/6.0

Here is the nice Hammer-Carlsen game. You can run the moves in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. f3 e6 7. e4 d6 8. Be2 a6 9. O-O Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. Rfc1 Rc8 13. Bf2 Nbd7 14. a4 Rab8 15. Qd1 Qd8 16. Kh1 Bf8 17. Bf1 g6 18. Rab1 Ne5 19. b3 Bg7 20. Bg3 h5 21. Qd2 h4 22. Bf4 Rc5 23. Re1 Nh5 24. Be3 Ng3+ 25. Kg1 Nxf1 26. Rxf1 h3 27. Nde2 hxg2 28. Kxg2 Rc6 29. Rbd1 Ba8 30. Bg5 Qf8 31. h4 Re8 32. Ng3 f6 33. Be3 Qf7 34. Bh6 Bh8 35. Be3 f5 36. Bg5 Qh7 37. Rf2 Nf7 38. Rh1 Rcc8 39. Nce2 Be5 40. Bf4 fxe4 41. Nxe4 Bxe4 42. fxe4 g5 43. hxg5 Qxe4+ 44. Kg1 Rf8 45. Ng3 Qd4 46. Qc2 Nxg5 47. Qg6+ Bg7 48. Qxg5 Rf7 49. Qg6 Rcc7 50. Kg2 Rxf4 51. Qh7+ Kf7 52. Rxf4+ Qxf4 53. Rf1 Qxf1+ 54. Kxf1 Rc5 55. Ne4 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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Also see her personal blog at

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Arctic Securities Rapid Chess: Hammer lets Carlsen escape!

Jon Ludvig Hammer: Cruel Caissa

Hello Everyone,

The Arctic Securities Rapid Chess began on Saturday in the Norwegian city of Kristiansund. It features World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, World's No. 1 rated woman player Judith Polgar and Norway's No. 2 player Jon Ludvig Hammer.

Here is the schedule with times in CET.

Saturday

Opening (13.30)

Round 1 (14.30): Polgar-Carlsen, Anand-Hammer

Round 2 (16.00): Polgar-Anand, Carlsen-Hammer

Round 3 (17.30): Anand-Carlsen, Hammer-Polgar

Sunday

Round 4 (14.30): Carlsen-Polgar, Hammer-Anand

Round 5 (16.00): Anand-Polgar, Hammer-Carlsen

Round 6 (17.30): Carlsen-Anand, Polgar-Hammer

Monday

Finals & bronze finals (14.00)

Standings after first section of the tournament.

1. Carlsen M. 2.5/3.0

2. Anand V. 2.5/3.0

3.Polgar J. 0.5/3.0

4. Hammer J. 0.5

Anand beat Polgar and Hammer but drew with Carlsen. Carlsen also beat Polgar and Hammer but drew with Anand. Polgar and Hammer drew their games.

Here is the website for more details and here is the link for live broadcast of the games.

Meanwhile, Hammer is going to hate himself for quite some time for this blunder against Carlsen. Here is the nice game. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below. Don't miss the 39th move by Hammer where he went Rhd2!

PGN: 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 c5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be4 Nf6 10. Bxc6 cxd4 11. Nxd4 bxc6 12. Nxc6 Qc7 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. e4 Ba6 15. e5 Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Re1 Rfd8 18. Qd4 Rab8 19. Bd2 Qb7 20. Bc3 Qb6 21. e6 Qxd4 22. Bxd4 Rb7 23. Rac1 fxe6 24. Rxe6 Bd3 25. f3 a5 26. Re3 Bg6 27. Ra3 Rb4 28. Bc3 Rc4 29. Rxa5 d4 30. Rd1 Rd7 31. Rb5 h6 32. Ba5 Rc2 33. h4 d3 34. a4 Re7 35. h5 Be8 36. Rb8 Ree2 37. Rxd3 Rxg2+ 38. Kf1 Rh2 39. Rd2 Rhxd2 40. Bxd2 Kf7 41. Bc3 Bxa4 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rxg7 Bb5+ 44. Kg1 Be8 45. Rh7 Kf5 46. Rxh6 Kg5 47. Re6 Bxh5 48. Re5+ Kh6 49. f4 Kg6 50. f5+ Kf7 51. f6 Bg6 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Rc7 Ke8 54. b4 Kd8 55. Rc5 Kd7 56. b5 Kd6 57. Bb4 Rb2 58. Ba3 Ra2 59. Rc3+ Ke6 60. b6 Ra1+ 61. Kf2 Be4 62. Be7 Bh1 63. Re3+ Kf7 64. Rb3 Bb7 65. Ke3 Ra5 66. Rc3 Rb5 67. Rc7 Bh1 68. Bd8+ Ke8 69. f7+ Kf8 70. Bf6 Bd5 71. Bd4 Bxf7 72. b7 Be8 73. Ba7 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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Also see her personal blog at

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Arctic Securities Rapid Chess from Saturday: Watch Carlsen, Anand, Polgar and Hammer in action

See you this Saturday: World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen

For great photos of top chess players check www.chesspics.com.

Hello Everyone,

Everyone's looking forward to the Arctic Securities Chess Stars tournament beginning on Saturday. The tournament includes six games played on a double round-robin format of rapid chess. Each player will have 20 minutes each and get an increment of 10 seconds per move. The tournament will run from August 28-30.

You can track the proceedings of this top chess clash at the official website here. Who do you think is likely to win and why.

Analysis and commentary will be by International Master Torstein Bae.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com