Norway Chess 2023

Norway Chess will be especially interesting this year, with a very exciting field. Only two weeks left until it starts.

Carlsen has the chance to win his 44th (?) top tournament. He can also add to his sequence of 20 top tournaments in a row with a plus score. He may also reach his biggest lead ever on the rating list. His best this far was 74 Elo, and at the moment it’s 67. Or he may have a third disaster event in Norway Chess, after 2015 and 2017, when he finished shared 7th.

Firouzja will probably both win and lose in style just like in Bucharest, and may even stay #2 after the tournament is over.

Nakamura doesn’t play classical chess particularly often, last time was The American Cup that he won, before that the Candidates where he was 0.5 point from reaching the title match. A good result here and the #2 spot he had in 2015 is within reach again.

Caruana just scored an impressive tournament win in Bucharest, will he repeat here?

Giri has already won Tata and has the chance, just like Caruana, to win his second top tournament this far of 2023.

Mamedyarov hasn’t played many top events lately, but is always entertaining to follow.

So is sometimes criticized for drawish chess and lack of fighting spirit, but has won many strong events and is not going to be easy to beat.

Gukesh and Abdusattorov are already within 50 Elo from the World Champion while 12-14 years younger, and may both continue to impress. Abdusattorov came within an inch from winning Tata, while Gukesh was just as close to win Dusseldorf. 

Tari did ok last year when he finished ahead of Radjabov and Wang Hao.

Never easy to predict these events, but there will surely be some exciting games. My guess will be that Giri wins just ahead of Carlsen, as in Tata.