Arctic Securities Chess Stars
Norway is a chess hot-spot at the moment, including a multi-million dollar bid to host the 2014 Chess Olympiad, and that is largely down to one man - 19 year-old world #1 Magnus Carlsen (pictured).
From 28-30 August in Kristiansund, Carlsen will compete in a rapid double round-robin event with world champion Vishy Anand, top women's player Judit Polgar, and fellow young Norwegian talent Jon Ludvig Hammer.
| Magnus Carlsen | 2826 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 2800 |
| Judit Polgar | 2682 |
| Jon Ludvig Hammer | 2627 |
After the first two days, the top two in the round-robin will go head-to head on Monday in a final match of two rapid games (there will also be a playoff match for 3/4th place).
The time control is 20 minutes plus a 10 second increment, and the round-robin action each day kicks off at 14:30 local time, with the final match on Monday starting half an hour earlier.
Running alongside this showpiece event is the Kristiansund Grand Prix tournament, with around 100 participants, where the top seed is Emanuel Berg (Elo 2612) and women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is also taking part.
There is an official site and blog with more information.
