Now that the thrilling 2016 Candidates Chess Tournament has concluded, the next huge compelling chess competition of magisterial quality is the Carlsen-Karjakin title match. Following the 2016 Chess Olympiad in September, all eyes would be focused exclusively on the title match. Can Carlsen, the Norwegian chess grandmaster, prevail? However 
chess aficionados look at the pros and cons of the impending title match, one certainty seems to exist: Karjakin is already signalling his intention to be thoroughly prepared.
Karjakin withdrew his participation from the Altibox Norway Chess 2016, to be held in Stavanger, Norway, this month, a tournament of prestige which includes the world champion and half of the other top ten players. Carlsen and Karjakin would have clashed, presenting an engaging dress rehearsal for the key title match. Karjakin’s manager explained his withdrawal twelve days from the commencement of the tournament as follows: “Karjakin won’t play in the prestigious tournament in Stavanger. It is with great pleasure that Sergey accepted the invitation from the organizers of Norway Chess after being the winner in 2013 and 2014. But the explanation for the withdrawal put quite simply is: no one in advance could have guaranteed Karkakin’s victory at the Candidates Tournament. Now Sergey has a different status and has decided to concentrate fully on preparing for the match for the world crown. Also, the Candidates Tournament cost him almost all his energy.” Karjakin won the Altibox Tournament in 2013 and 2014 ahead of Carlsen, who was second on both occasions.
The organizers of the Altibox Tournament responded with a press release stating in part, “Karjakin has signed a contract with us and it does not state he can withdraw from the tournament if he qualifies for the World Championship in November. This action feels disrespectful to us as organizers of the event as well as the other players in the tournament not to mention the entire chess world…”
Participants of the Altibox Tournament comprises Carlsen, Kramnik, Giri, La Grave, Aronian, Eljanov, Harikrishna, Topalov and Nils Grandelius.
Chess games
The games listed hereunder were played at the Reykjavik Open in Iceland last month. The tournament was won by Indian grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta.
White: Michael Raddatz
Black: Abhijeet Gupta
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 b5 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. e5 dxe5 12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13. Rxd8+ Kxd8 14. fxe5 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Bf2 Nd7 17. h4 g4 18. Be2 Rg8 19. Rd1 g3 20. Be3 Ke8 21. Bf3 Bxf3 22. gxf3 Nxe5 23. Ne4 Be7 24. f4 Nf3 25. Nd2 Nxh4 26. Bb6 Rg4 27. Rg1 g2 28. Be3 Nf5 29. Bf2 h5 30. Nf3 Rxf4 0-1.
White: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Black: Jon Trausti Hardarson
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nbd2 dxc4 5. Nxc4 Bf5 6. Qb3 b5 7. Nce5 Qd5 8. g3 e6 9. Bg2 Be4 10. O-O Qxb3 11. axb3 Nd5 12. Ng5 Bg6 13. Bd2 Be7 14. Rfc1 Bxg5 15. Bxg5 f6 16. Nxg6 hxg6 17. e4 Ne7 18. Bf4 Kd7 19. h4 a5 20. Bd2 Na6 21. Rxa5 Nc7 22. b4 Rxa5 23. bxa5 Na6 24. Kf1 b4 25. Ke1 f5 26. f3 fxe4 27. fxe4 Rh5 28. Ra1 Kc7 29. Bf3 Rh8 30. Be2 1-0.
White: Manfred Harringer
Black: Simen Agdestein
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Nf1 h6 13. h3 Bf8 14. a4 b4 15. Ne3 Be6 16. cxb4 cxb4 17. b3 d5 18. exd5 Bxd5 19. Bb2 Nc6 20. Nd2 Bc5 21. Ndc4 Bd4 22. Bxd4 Nxd4 23. Rc1 a5 24. Qd2 Bb7 25. Bd1 Ra6 26. Rb1 Qa8 27. Qb2 Rae6 28. Bg4 Nxg4 29. hxg4 Rd8 30. Rbd1 f6 31. Nd2 Rc6 32. Ne4 Qc8 33. f3 Nc2 34. Nxc2 Rxc2 35. Qb1 Bxe4 36. Rxe4 Qc5+ 37. d4 Rxd4 0-1.
White: Moulthun Ly
Black: Lars-Henrik Bech Hansen
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Qa5 8. h3 Be6 9. Nd2 Qb6 10. e3 d5 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Na4 Qd8 13. Nb3 Na6 14. Nac5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Bc8 16. Nd3 h5 17. h4 Nb6 18. b3 Bg4 19. Qc2 Re8 20. Bb2 Qd6 21. a4 Rad8 22. Nc5 Qb8 23. a5 Nd5 24. a6 b6 25. Nd3 Rc8 26. Rfc1 Bh6 27. Re1 Bg7 28. e4 Nc7 29. Nb4 Bd7 30. Qd2 Ne6 31. d5 cxd5 32. exd5 Nc5 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34. Qb2+ Kg8 35. Re3 e6 36. Nc6 Rc7 37. Nxb8 1-0.
