Norwegian Chess Championship

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The Norwegian Chess Championship (NM i sjakk) is an annual tournament held in Norway during the month of July, in order to determine the national chess champion. The tournament is held at different venues each year as part of the Landsturnering (National tournament). Clubs may bid for this tournament, and is awarded by the Norwegian Chess Federation. The 2006 championship was held in the Mossehallen sports arena in Moss^[1] while the 2007 championship was arranged at the Scandic Hotel in Hamar^[2]. The 2008 championship is scheduled for the sports arena Slagenhallen in Tønsberg^[3]

Contents 1 Rules for participation 2 Arrangement 3 Past winners 4 References

[edit] Rules for participation

The rules for participation are governed by the Norwegian Chess Federation.^[4]

The championship ("Elite") section is closed to the top rated players. In order to play for the most prestigious title of national chess champion, the player must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Won the Norwegian Championship in one of the three preceding years.
• Finished third or better in last year's championship.
• Won the national championship in the Junior section the previous year.
• Finished second or better in the Master section (the second highest section, immediately below Elite) the previous year.
• Made a tournament result which grants or would grant (for players who already have an IM title) a norm for the title of International Master during the previous year.
• Have a sufficiently high Elo rating (as of 2007 this limit is at 2300^[5]).
• Been deemed otherwise eligible for participation by the Elite Committee of the Norwegian Chess Federation.

In general, an even number of participants is sought in the championship section to prevent byes from occurring.

However, the Landsturnering has several sections for lower-rated players, as well as sections for different age groups. In general, players must be members of the Norwegian Chess Federation, or a club affiliated with the federation, although exceptions may be made for participation. Non-members can under no circumstance be awarded a championship title. The age category sections produce national champions for that age group. These are Senior, Junior, Cadet, "Lilleputt" and "Miniputt".

The rating sections for people of any age group are divided into the classes Master (rating 2000 and above), class 1 (1750-1999), class 2 (1500-1749), class 3 (1250-1499), class 4 (1000-1249) and class 5 (for players not qualifying for any other class). Even if the rating is below the thresholds given, players may elect to play in a higher section if they scored at least 60% in that class the previous year, if they were in the top 7% of the class below the previous year, or if they won the Norwegian Grand Prix tournament series for the rating class below in the previous year. In addition, winners of the individual circuit championships are automatically qualified for play in the Master class, regardless of rating. The top two finishers of the Master class qualify for next year's championship section.

[edit] Arrangement

In the past ten years^[6], the championship section has had approximately 20 players. If there are at least 16 players, it is arranged as a nine-round Monrad tournament, a system similar to the Swiss system tournament. The official Norwegian Chess Federation policies also allow the tournament to be arranged as a round-robin with 10 or 12 players.^[4]

If two or more players are tied for points at the end of the tournament, the tiebreak rules depend on the section. In most sections of the Landsturnering, the regular rules of tiebreak points in Monrad are used. That is a modified Buchholz system, first the sum of a player's opponents' scores, except the two weakest, determines the player's tiebreak points. If still tied, the second weakest and then the weakest scores are added to the tiebreak points. If still tied, the Neustadtl score, that is the sum of defeated opponents' scores plus half of drawn opponents' scores is used. ^[7]

In the Championship, Junior, Cadet and Senior sections however, a tied score will bring about a play-off for the title within 60 days after the end of the main tournament. If there are two players in the play-off a match of two games with a full time-limit is played, if still tied two and two rapid games of 25 minutes for the game and 10 seconds extra per move are played until there is a winner. If there are three or more players in the play-off a small round-robin is arranged between them.^[4]

[edit] Past winners

Format is year, name, and the chess club the winner is a member of. The championships decided on play-offs are indicated as such^[8].

• 1918 Josef Lilja, CS (Christiania Schakselskab)
• 1919 Jac. A. Brekke, CS
• 1920 Jac. A. Brekke, CS
• 1921 H. G. Hansen, CS (after play-offs)
• 1922 A. M. Erichsen, CS
• 1923 Jac. A. Brekke, CS
• 1924 Leif F. D. Lund, CS
• 1925 Jac. A. Brekke, SK Centrum, Oslo
• 1926 H. C. Christoffersen, Drammens SK (after play-offs)
• 1927 H. G. Hansen, OSS (Oslo Schakselskap)
• 1929 H. C. Christoffersen, Drammens SK
• 1930 Olaf M. Olsen (later Olaf Barda), SK Odin, Oslo (after play-offs)
• 1931 Andreas Gulbrandsen, Moss SK
• 1932 Eugen Johnsen, SK Odin
• 1933 Trygve Halvorsen, OSS (after play-offs)
• 1934 Trygve Halvorsen, OSS
• 1935 Jørgen Saurén, OSS
• 1936 H. C. Christoffersen, Drammens SK
• 1937 Arne S.B. Krogdahl, OSS
• 1938 Oluf Kavlie-Jørgensen, Bergens SK
• 1945 Ernst Rojahn, Tønsberg SK (after play-offs)
• 1946 Erling Myhre, OSS (after play-offs)
• 1947 Olaf Barda, OSS
• 1948 Olaf Barda, OSS (after play-offs)
• 1949 Aage Vestøl, OSS
• 1950 Erling Myhre, OSS
• 1951 Harry Kongshavn, OSS
• 1952 Olaf Barda, OSS
• 1953 Olaf Barda, OSS
• 1954 Einar Haave, Stavanger SK
• 1955 Erling Myhre, OSS
• 1956 Otto B. Morcken, OSS
• 1957 Olaf Barda, OSS
• 1958 Ernst Rojahn, Tønsberg SK
• 1959 Svein Johannessen, OSS
• 1960 Daan de Lange, Hamar SS
• 1961 Per Ofstad, Bergens SK
• 1962 Svein Johannessen, OSS
• 1963 Ragnar Hoen, OSS
• 1964 Arne Zwaig, OSS
• 1965 Arne V. Gulbrandsen, OSS
• 1966 Paul Svedenborg, Narvik SK
• 1967 Paul Svedenborg, Narvik SK
• 1968 Arne V. Gulbrandsen, OSS
• 1969 Arne Zwaig, Torshov SK
• 1970 Svein Johannessen, Torshov SK
• 1971 Terje Wibe, OSS (after play-offs)
• 1972 Erling Kristiansen, OSS
• 1973 Svein Johannessen, SK Fischer
• 1974 Leif Øgaard, OSS
• 1975 Leif Øgaard, OSS
• 1976 Knut J. Helmers, SK Stjernen
• 1977 Knut J. Helmers, SK Stjernen
• 1978 Ragnar Hoen, OSS
• 1979 Leif Øgaard, OSS
• 1980 Sverre Heim, Akademisk SK
• 1981 Ragnar Hoen, OSS
• 1982 Simen Agdestein, Asker SK (after play-offs)
• 1983 Bjørn Tiller, OSS
• 1984 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK
• 1985 Leif Øgaard, Brugata SK
• 1986 Simen Agdestein, OSS
• 1987 Jonathan Tisdall, Brugata SK (after play-offs)
• 1988 Simen Agdestein, OSS
• 1989 Simen Agdestein, OSS
• 1990 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK
• 1991 Jonathan Tisdall, Brugata SK
• 1992 Einar Gausel, OSS
• 1993 Leif Øgaard, OSS
• 1994 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK
• 1995 Jonathan Tisdall, Nordstrand SK
• 1996 Einar Gausel, OSS
• 1997 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK
• 1998 Roy H. Fyllingen, Bergens SK
• 1999 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK (after play-offs)
• 2000 Simen Agdestein, NTG (after play-offs)
• 2001 Einar Gausel, OSS
• 2002 Simen Agdestein, NTG
• 2003 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK ^[9]
• 2004 Berge Østenstad, Asker SK ^[10] (after play-offs)
• 2005 Simen Agdestein, NTG ^[11] (after play-offs)
• 2006 Magnus Carlsen, NTG ^[12] (after play-offs)
• 2007 Espen Lie, Porsgrunn ^[13](after play-offs)

[edit] References

1. ^ Official page for the 2006 championship
2. ^ Venue information from the official page for the 2007 championship
3. ^ Tønsberg Chess Club's current page for the 2008 championship (Norwegian)
4. ^ ^{a b c} Landsturneringen Official policy page of Norges Sjakkforbund (Norwegian Chess Federation) for the "Landsturnering" (Norwegian)
5. ^ Class sectioning Used for the 2007 championship in Hamar
6. ^ Norsk Sjakkblad, issues no.5 1997, no.5 1998, no.5 1999, no.4 2000, no.4 2001, no.4 2002, no.4 2003, no.4 2004, no.4 2005, no.4 2006.
7. ^ Norwegian Chess Federation regulations for the Monrad system NSF's website (Norwegian)
8. ^ Akademisk Sjakklubbs list of winners of various tournaments Table over winners of the Norwegian championship is at the bottom (Norwegian)
9. ^ Winners of the Norwegian chess championship up to 2003
10. ^ NM-gullet røk for Magnus (Norwegian Championship gold slipped for Magnus), Nettavisen, September 5, 2004 (Norwegian)
11. ^ Deilig å vinne (Great to win) Nettavisen, September 11, 2005 (Norwegian)
12. ^ Magnus knuste Simen (Magnus crushed Simen), Nettavisen, September 21, 2006 (Norwegian)
13. ^ Ny norgesmester i sjakk ("New Norwegian chess champion") Nettavisen, September 23 2007. (Norwegian)