Strong rapid chess tournament will take part from January 2nd to 5th in Gjøvik, Norway.
Challengers are: Magnus Carlsen (2776, Norway), Peter Svidler (2723. Russia), Hikaru Nakamura (2699, USA) and Kjetil A. Lie (2539. Norway).
Average ELO: 2684.
Time control: 25 min +5 sec/move.
Tournament format: A preliminary double-rounded tournament is followed by a bronze final and a final, in all eight rounds, plus if necessary sudden death blitz games.
Petr Svidler is the winner of the challenge.
ChessOK will thoroughly analyze each game with Rybka 3 Aquarium.
Analyzed games: All games [ PGN]

Final standings

[–table–]

Pairings and schedule are below:

2nd Jan – 1 Round

Peter Svidler – Hikaru Nakamura 1-0
Magnus Carlsen – Kjetil A. Lie 1-0

2nd Jan – 2 Round

Peter Svidler- Magnus Carlsen ½-½
Hikaru Nakamura – Kjetil A. Lie 1-0

3rd Jan – 3 Round

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura 0-1
Kjetil A. Lie – Petr Svidler 0-1

3rd Jan – 4 Round

Kjetil A. Lie – Magnus Carlsen 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Petr Svidler ½-½

4th Jan – 5 Round

Magnus Carlsen – Petr Svidler 1-0
Kjetil A. Lie – Hikaru Nakamura 0-1

4th Jan – 6 Round

Petr Svidler – Kjetil A. Lie 1-0
Hikaru Nakamura – Magnus Carlsen ½-½

4th Jan – Tie-Break

Magnus Carlsen – Petr Svidler 1-0
Hikaru Nakamura – Magnus Carlsen 0-1

5th Jan – Final

Magnus Carlsen – Petr Svidler

5th Jan – For 3rd place

Hikaru Nakamura – Kjetil A. Lie