Svidler wins Aker Chess Challenge
Peter Svidler won the Aker Chess Challenge yesterday by beating Magnus Carlsen 1.5-0.5 in the final. He won the second game with the Black pieces. Nakamura came 3rd; he beat Lie, also with 1.5-0.5.The Aker Chess Challenge took place 2nd-5th January and was part of the International Chess Festival in Gjovik (Norway). Magnus Carlsen, Peter Svidler, Hikaru Nakamura and Kjetil Lie played a rapid double round-robin with 25 minutes per game plus 5 seconds increment on the clock. It was followed by final and bronze final games, but a blitz play-off (4 minutes + 2 seconds) was needed to determine the finalists.
Finals
Yesterday the finals were played. Svidler-Carlsen was a quick draw in a Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence (no Wall this time) and this was a psychological success for Carlsen, who had beaten Svidler with the white pieces twice in the tournament. But not a third time, no, in the final it was the Russian with the strongest nerves. In an ending that was at least slightly better for White but probably a draw, Carlsen blundered on move 35 after which it was suddenly very difficult, and soon after winning for Black.The bronze final started with a convincing victory for Nakamura with the white pieces against Lie, but in the second game the American was on the verge of losing. He then found a clever trap and Lie fell for it, after which Black had a draw by perpetual.Games of the finals
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Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler in the final
The players showing their cheques - in Norwegian crowns it feels better to come second and fourth ;-)
Photos courtesy of the official website.
Note that Macauley Peterson is in Gjovik, reporting for the Chess.FM blog, and has posted some excellent videos!
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Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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