Carlsen vs Carlsen – Magnus beats his dad 10.08.2007– That is hardly a surprise, since the 16-year-old is over six hundred points stronger than his first teacher. But then again Henrik Carlsen has grounding powers... After seven rounds of the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø it is Norwegian GM Kjetil A. Lie who is in the lead, with 5.5 points, followed by four players with 5.0 points each. Report with pictures and videos.
The Arctic Chess Challenge is taking place in Tromsø from August 4th-12th,
2007. It is organised by the Tromsø Sjakklubb as a nine-round Swiss,
with time controls of 2 hours for 40 moves + 1 hour for 20 + 30 minutes to finish
the game – a total of seven hours. Games start at 4 p.m. local time (round
nine at 11 a.m.). There are 98 players from 16 countries, with 11 GM's above
2580, including top seed Magnus Carlsen. The total prize fund is 11,050 Euros.
The last black move was played with the aggressive abandon of optimistic youth,
but the vast experience of the black player is displayed in his calculated counter:
22.h3 Rd2 23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24.Rf2 Rxg3 25.Rxd2 Bxf5 and Black is
a rook down for bishop and pawn. 26.Re1 Kf7 27.Rf1 Kg6 28.Rd6+ Be6 29.Re1
Kf7 30.Ne4 Rg6 31.Nc5 b6 32.Rxc6 bxc5 33.Rxc7+ Kg8 34.Rc6
One final trick to try to fluster the kid: 34...Rxg2+ 35.Kxg2 Bd5+
36.Kg3 Bxc6 37.Rc1. It is hopeless: 1-0.
Some day, my son, I will be as strong as you... Magnus and Henrik Carlsen
The normal place of the father: Henrik looks on respectfully as Magnus analyses
with Anand (here in Morelia 2007)
Current standings (after seven rounds)
Pl.
Name
Rtng
Nat.
Pts
Perf
1
GM Kjetil A. Lie
2536
NOR
5.5
2749
2
GM Alexander Moiseenko
2641
UKR
5.0
2635
3
GM Vladimir Epishin
2587
RUS
5.0
2572
4
IM Jon Ludvig Hammer
2412
NOR
5.0
2467
5
GM Victor Mikhalevski
2598
ISR
5.0
2496
6
GM Bartlomiej Macieja
2596
POL
4.5
2599
7
GM Vugar Gashimov
2655
AZE
4.5
2619
8
GM Simen Agdestein
2582
NOR
4.5
2602
9
GM Vladimir Burmakin
2581
RUS
4.5
2531
10
GM Bartosz Socko
2660
POL
4.5
2584
11
GM Mikhail Gurevich
2633
TUR
4.5
2544
12
GM Michail Brodsky
2595
UKR
4.5
2502
13
GM Magnus Carlsen
2710
NOR
4.5
2493
14
Frode Bull Jæger
2096
NOR
4.5
2375
15
Tobias Pettersson
2122
SWE
4.5
2364
16
Hans Olav Lahlum
2214
NOR
4.5
2177
17
Joachim Thomassen
2075
NOR
4.0
2450
18
Gunnar Berg Hanssen
2242
NOR
4.0
2386
19
GM Antoaneta Stefanova
2481
BUL
4.0
2353
20
FM Karsten Larsen
2325
DEN
4.0
2252
21
IM Venkatachalam Saravanan
2355
IND
4.0
2292
22
IM Joanna Dworakowska
2320
POL
4.0
2281
23
Jon Kr. Røyset
2223
NOR
4.0
2340
24
WIM Zivile Sarakauskiene
2176
LTU
4.0
2283
25
Brede Hagen
2034
NOR
4.0
2296
Picture Gallery
So many tournaments, sooo tired... Magnus Carlsen vs Ørnulf Stubberud
in round four
Behemoths Mikhail Gurevich, Turkey, vs Simen Agdestein, Norway (draw).
GM Vladimir Burmakin Russia, vs GM Heikki Westerinen, Finland. 1-0
A bottle of Coke and the white pieces: former women's world champion Antoaneta
Stefanova, Bulgaria
A tough battle between Vladimir Epishin, Russia, and Vugar Gashimov, Azerbaijan
(draw in 19 moves)
Didn't he used to be my student? GM Simen Agdestein vs Magnus Carlsen (draw)
How can anyone be so good? Peter Flermoen, 1508, vs Gunnar Berg Hanssen, 2242,
both from Norway
Ingrid Øen Carlsen, 1059, vs Alf Gøran Jakobsen, 1020, fortified
by a bag of Polly Turmiks
Videos from Tromsø
Impressions from the playing hall (18 sec)
Lie vs Maceija, and Epishin vs Gashimov in round five (19 sec)
A full trailer in which you can hear Magnus and his former trainer Simen
Agdestein speaking in their incredible Nordic tongue. After spending time with
Magnus in Morelia or Dortmund one tends to forget that this is what he does
back home. (1 min 38 sec)
Addendum: Per Manne of Bergen, Norway has provided us with
a transcription and, more importantly, a translation of the parts in which Magnus
and Simen speak:
Magnus Carlsen comments on his strategy for his game with
Simen Agdestein: "Så gjelder det å ha bedre åpningsforberedelser
enn ham, og så gjelder det å utspille ham i midtspillet, og senere
realisere fordelene i sluttspillet, hvis ikke han har kollapset før."
"First one must have better opening preparations than him, and then
one must outplay him in the middle game, and later realize the advantages
in the end game, if he hasn't collapsed before that."
Simen Agdestein has a more defensive attitude: "Første
fasen er jo åpningsfasen, der må man overleve, for å si
det sånn, og få en brukbar stilling som man er fornøyd
med. Får man det så er mye gjort. Og så gjelder det å
ikke gjøre noe dumt, for å si det enkelt. Jeg gjør ofte
noe dumt."
"The first phase is the opening phase, where one has to survive, to
put it that way, and to get an acceptable position which one is satisfied
with. If one gets that, then much is done. And then one mustn't do anything
silly, to put it simply. I often do something silly."