Chess Trap: Norway uses Houdini to Force Magnus Carlsen to a Draw!
Hello everyone, chess is happening big time in Norway thanks to World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen's appeal. As always, The Week in Chess was right on top of the live action!
Mark Crowther's report: Magnus Carlsen took on the rest of Norway in a match on the VG website on Thursday 8th May 2014 . The presenter was Mads Andersen. A team of three wise men Simen Agdestein, Jon Ludvig Hammer and Leif Erlend Johannessen suggested moves and Hans Olav Lahlum enforced the rules and was on the sofa. Members of the Norwegian public voted on the moves on the VG website. The event took place in the Oslo City shopping center.
A "Mystiske Nordmannen" dressed in red made the moves at the board. The audience had to guess who it is. He is "Not good at chess" and had to be prompted some times to play the right moves. It turned out to be skier Oddvar Bra who is extremely famous in Norway. Carlsen was well on top at one stage but each of the helpers could ask for help from Houdini three times during the game by ringing a bell and a counter-attack eventually forced Carlsen to take a draw.
Stormester and Stormester Facebook Page has lots of more photos. You can expect more updates later on World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen's Facebook Page as well. Check out the hash tag #vgsjakk for all the fun.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: jon ludvig hammer, leif erlend johannessen, Magnus Carlsen, simen agdestein, world chess champion
Carlsen vs Anand World Chess Championship 2013: What are Carlsen's Chances?
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hello everyone,
Continuing with our updates from the Indian media on the World Chess Championship 2013 Carlsen vs Anand, here's a nice feature in DNA India:
Can Magnus Carlsen do a Viswanathan Anand?If the Norwegian wizard wins in Chennai next month, he will inspire a generation of chess players in his country.
Apart from being gifted chess players, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen have something else in common. The game may have been invented in India some 1,500 years ago, but the country got its first Grandmaster only in 1988. Similarly Norway had a strong chess culture, but did not have players who could pose a challenge to world champions.
Prior to Carlsen, Simen Agdestein was Norway’s most famous chess player. In fact the 46-year-old, who won seven national championships and even made eight appearances for the Norway football team, competed with Anand during the latter’s world junior title run in 1987.
Agdestein did not make it all that big in chess. For the record, his brother Espen happens to be
Carlsen’s manager.
In a way, Bobby Fischer, Anand and Carlsen did what their countrymen couldn’t. When Fischer won the world title in 1972, he had brought an end to the Soviet hegemony in chess. Almost 30 years later, Anand did the same by putting Asia on the chess map. And if Carlsen succeeds in dethroning Anand, the Norwegian will become western Europe’s first world chess champion in 75 years. Dutchman Machgielis “Max” Euwe was the world champion from 1935 to 1937.
In that sense Euwe, Fischer and Anand took on Russia. But it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Carlsen is up against India. Nay, an Indian, who has been the undisputed world champion since 2007.
Like Anand and Fischer, Carlsen is not quite a superstar in Norway. Each of these gentleman has, of course, greatly influenced the younger generation. Football is the top game in Norway, the equivalent of cricket in India. And for geographic reasons, skiing is a more popular sport in the Scandinavian country.
This year, Carlsen was awarded the title of the sportsman of the year by Norway’s leading newspapers. “Everybody recognises him (in Norway). He is not mobbed because the people are normally very polite. So they don’t run up to him. He can walk around (in peace). But definitely, everybody knows who he is,” Carlsen’s manager says.
That is more like Anand commenting on his public appearances since he shot to fame in the 1990s. Norway is also doing an India: they are trying to capitalise on Carlsen’s rise by organising a series of world chess events. Norway Chess 2013, held earlier this year, was one of the best tournaments of all time. The country will also host the Chess World Cup and the Chess Olympiad soon.
When Carlsen came to Chennai in August, a couple of mediapersons accompanied him. They were from Verdens Gang (VG), an internet firm which sponsors Carlsen. Their tabloid reported on his visit to Chennai. They also covered his showing in the simultaneous display at a school where he played 20 games, lost four and drew six.
The report mentioned that some of the participants who were lined up against the jet-lagged Carlsen were rated 2,300 and above. It also pointed out that Garry Kasparov insisted that “none of his opponents be rated above 2,000 if he is to meet them in simultaneous play”.
Interestingly, the paper picked out Ram Aravind of Trichy, the youngest player who beat the World No.1 Carlsen, and six-year old Savitha Sri who extended the Norwegian to 40 moves before losing.
Ever since Anand became a popular tournament player in the 1990s, India started producing many age-group world champions. The Carlsen effect in Norway is almost similar, though it will take them a few years to produce another world-class player. Grandmaster Ludvig Hammer is turning heads and is reportedly part of Carlsen’s team of seconds. But it will take him a while to join the big league.
The fundamental similarities apart, Anand and Carlsen have different personalities. While Anand is choosy about his sponsors, the Norwegian does fashion shoots with Liv Tyler, the American actress and model. He enjoys football-style sponsorship deals and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people earlier this year.
Unlike Anand, who became World No. 1 at 37, Carlsen reached the top when he was just 20. And he scaled the Mount Everest of chess by going past Garry Kasparov’s ELO rating of 2851. Carlsen wouldn’t want to follow Anand on one front. A very good tournament player, it took the Indian almost a decade to win the first of his five world titles. Carlsen looks hungry. He wants that title soon.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Labels: Magnus Carlsen, simen agdestein, Viswanathan Anand, word chess championship 2013
GM Simen Agdestein wins 3rd Oslo Chess International GM-Group
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Norwegian Grandmaster Simen Agdestein won the 3rd Oslo International GM-Group after defeating his compatriot GM Leif E Johannessen in the last round to conclude the event with 7,0/9 points. Agdestein is in excellent shape this summer, having dominated in Sant Martí Open and Telenor World Cup Blitz, and narrowly missing the title in Dieppe Open. Evgeny Postny (Israel) and Andrei Istratescu (France) shared the second place with 6,5 points each. IM Benjamin Bok of the Netherlands made a GM-norm, while WFM Raghavi Nagarajan of India fullfilled her WIM-title by passing 2200 in Elo. Replay the games with analysis via Chessdom. (Photo via Stormester & Stormester)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: leif e johannessen, oslo chess, simen agdestein
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