18-year-old Uzbekistani grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the warm-up Norway Chess Blitz 2023 which was played yesterday in Stavanger. The event is traditionally taking place before the main show – the classical tournament, and the Winner of the Blitz get to choose his starting number in the main event.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the tournament scoring 6/9 points despite his slow start. Abdusattorov drew his first game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and lost to Hikaru Nakamura with black pieces. In the third round, he defeated Fabiano Caruana, but then again suffered a loss against Magnus Carlsen. Abdusattorov then woke up, scoring 4.5/5 points in the last five rounds, clinching the first place in the Blitz!
Choosing his starting number for the main event, Nodirbek Abdusattorov decided to take the 3rd seed. It is interesting that Abdusattorov didn’t want the starting No. 1 which would give him 3 Whites in 4 games. Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen (ranked 6th and 7th in the blitz) will start the event having three Blacks in the first four games! The Norway Chess 2023 starts today at 17:00 CEST and live broadcast can be followed here.
Final results – Norway Chess Blitz 2023:
| 1 | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 6/9 | 2683 |
| 2 | Firouzja, Alireza | 5½/9 | 2904 |
| 3 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 5½/9 | 2704 |
| 4 | Caruana, Fabiano | 5/9 | 2837 |
| 5 | So, Wesley | 5/9 | 2749 |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | 5/9 | 2885 |
| 7 | Carlsen, Magnus | 4½/9 | 2852 |
| 8 | Giri, Anish | 3½/9 | 2807 |
| 9 | Tari, Aryan | 2½/9 | 2571 |
| 10 | Gukesh D | 2½/9 | 2629 |
