Hat trick

For the second year running, 24-year-old Sergei Karjakin has won the Norway International, on both occasions ahead of Magnus Carlsen. The final scores, out of 9, were as follows: Karjakin 6; Carlsen 5½; Grischuk 5; Caruana and Topalov 4½; Aronian, Svidler, Kramnik and Giri 4; Agdestein 3½. Of the world elite, only Anand and Nakamura were absent. The former world champion Kramnik, now 38, was the early leader but faded towards the end. Karjakin, in contrast, achieved the feat of winning his last three games, against Giri, Kramnik and Caruana.
 
Giri-Karjakin: Norway Chess 2014
(see diagram 1)
 
With bishop against White’s rook, Karjakin had been defending tenaciously for many hours in this 100+ move marathon. Now, however, he seized his chance for a counterattack. 121 … c4 122 Rxc4 If 122 bxc4 Qxa4+ is perpetual check while 122 dxc4 d3 123 Rc1 Bd2 leads to a black win. 122 … Qg2+ 123 Kb1 Qf1+ 124 Rc1 Qxd3+ 125 Ka2 Qe2+ 126 Kb1 Qe4+ 127 Ka2 Qg2+ Black’s queen has broken through into White’s hinterland and is generating sufficient counterplay to assure himself of at least a draw.