From
June 24 to July 2 the eyes of the chess world were focussed
on a Norwegian hamlet called Tromsø. One of the world’s
northernmost towns, Tromsø is, in fact, located inside
of the Artic Circle, thus the sun never sets during the
summer. That’s precisely why the organizers–the town hall
and the Tromsø chess club–decided to call the event “The
Midnight Sun Chess Challenge.”
Since
Tromsø is in Norway, there is one player who simply could
not miss the tournament: The wonder boy, Magnus Carlsen
, a genuine hero in his homeland. Before starting the
tournament, chess observers thought that the victory match
would be between Carlsen and Michael Krasenkow, the Polish
grandmaster who arrived at the event with an impressive
ELO of 2650.
Yet,
per usual in the chess world, neither of the favorites
won. Although Carlsen held first place for the majority
of the tournament, it was nearby Russia’s very own Sergey
Shipov who made the surprise move at the end. In round
seven, he met Carlsen and despite some difficulties at
the beginning of the game, Shipov pulled off the upset
with an astounding 34th move.
Carlsen,
Magnus (ELO: 2646) ‑ Shipov, Sergey (2576) [C08‑
French Opening; Tarrasch variation]
Midnight
Sun Chess Challenge, Tromsø, Norway (7th round), June
30, 2006
