This year’s Norway Chess will take place between September 7th -18th in Stavanger
The chess super tournament that was supposed to take place in May was postponed due to entry restrictions to Norway as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The organizer quickly decided to do its very best to find new dates for the tournament.
The over the board tournament is now scheduled for September 7th to 18th and will be played at Clarion Hotel Stavanger. The tournament format this year, as the previous year, will be somewhat different, with 6 players instead of 10. The 6 players will meet each other twice for classical chess, with reverse colors from the first match. The time control in the classical game is set to the minimal, and if a match ends in a draw, the players will move on to an Armageddon game. Armageddon was introduced by Norway Chess as the first super tournament to do so back in 2019. Restricted time control and Armageddon has increased the TV and online audience, reaching record viewer ratings.
Magnus Carlsen to meet his championship match opponent at Norway Chess
In November this year, Magnus Carlsen will play the world championship match in Dubai after it was postponed by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. His opponent, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, is one of the participants in Norway Chess and it will therefore most likely be the last time they meet over the board before the world championship match. It will be Nepomniachtchi’s first time to play Norway Chess. This also goes for Hungarian Richard Rapport, who also will play Norway Chess for the first time. It is an exciting field this year and viewers around the world have a lot to look forward to!
The players are:
World number 1 and world champion: Magnus Carlsen – Norway
World number 4: Ian Nepomniachtchi – Russia
World number 11: Richard Rapport – Hungary
World number 13: Alireza Firouzja – FIDE
World number 15: Sergey Karjakin – Russia
World number 119: Aryan Tari – Norway
Growing interest in chess amongst corporate companies
“We are pleased that we have managed to keep calm and work hard in a period of global challenges as well as challenges we have directly faced during the pandemic. We managed to organize a physical tournament last year, and we have signed several new, large partners contracts. Among them is a new main partner that has signed for a duration of 3 years. The contract also includes a partnership to the business conference, Norway Summit, which is part of the Norway Chess festival. The names of the new partners will be announced at a later date. “ – Kjell Madland and Benedicte Westre Skog, Norway Chess
Norway Chess thus ends its 8-year collaboration with Lyse and Altibox, which has been the main partner for the past 5 years. This means that Altibox will no longer be part of the tournament name and will now be named “Norway Chess”.
«The Lyse Group has been a great partner since the start and we are very grateful for their investment and contribution to the development of Norway Chess. They are one of the first companies in the world to use the sport of chess as part of their marketing strategy and they have always shown great enthusiasm for big events such as Norway Chess to thrive in the region where both companies are based.” – Kjell Madland, Norway Chess
Press contact:
Benedicte Westre Skog
+47 913 52 085
[email protected]