Glitnir Blitz Norway: World Class Players and Amateurs

On Saturday October 20, the stage is set for one of the great chess spectacles in Norway of all time. Glitnir Blitz Norway will truly show the range of chess players. Among the contestants one will find eager children and experienced pensioners, active club players and those who just play a few games at home. Also among the participants are two of the greatest stars of the chess world: World Champion Alexander Grischuk (22) and grandmaster Magnus Carlsen (16). Magnus Carlsen and Simen Agdestein

GM Magnus Carlsen (left) and GM Simen Agdestein are two of the participants

Glitnir Blitz Norway consists of seven tournaments: Six qualifiers on Saturday October 20 and the big final in Oslo a week later. All seven tournaments are blitz tournaments, which means that players only have five minutes to make all their moves. If a player’s runs out of time the game is inexorably lost, irrespective of the position on the board.

The six qualifiers are played in the cities of Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø. The tournaments are part of the Norwegian Grand Prix-series, and are proper tournaments in their own right. The first prize in the six tournaments is something out of the ordinary, however. The six winners get a spot in the final, where they will compete with the big guns.

To play in one of the qualifiers you do not have to be a member of a chess club, and the tournaments are open to players of all ages and levels. But please remember that space is limited. If you want to be certain of a place in the tournament, you should register right away.

In the left column you can find more information about the qualifiers on Saturday October 20.

The two greatest stars in the final are Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk (22) and Norway’s own Magnus Carlsen (16). The Russian grandmaster is the current world blitz champion, and is the favourite. But Magnus Carlsen is also one of the world’s strongest players, and he is still improving rapidly.

It is by no means certain that the winner will be either Grischuk or Carlsen, however. Among the challengers are the great dane Peter Heine Nielsen, Sweden’s Pia Cramling and Norwegian grandmasters Simen Agdestein, Kjetil A Lie and Leif Erlend Johannessen. And of course the six winners of the qualifiers, who no doubt will try to go all the way in Glitnir Blitz Norway.

In the left column you can find more information about the final on Saturday October 27.

Om Glitnir

GlitnirGlitnir er et internasjonalt finanskonsern med Norge og Island som hjemmemarkeder. Konsernet har meglervirksomhet og finansselskaper i de nordiske landene, samt England, Luxembourg, Russland, Kina, Canada og USA. Glitnir har internasjonal spisskompetanse i finansieringsløsninger og rådgiving for tre nisjesegmenter: fiskeri og sjømat, fornybar energi og offshore servicefartøyer.

I det norske markedet står konsernet også sterkt innenfor eiendomsfinansiering. I Norge driver Glitnir bank- og meglervirksomhet og finansiell rådgiving for privatpersoner og bedrifter. Glitnir har ca. 300 ansatt og ca. 100 000 privat- og bedriftskunder over hele Norge. Totalt har Glitnir 2200 ansatte i 11 land. For mer informasjon, se: www.glitnir.no og www.glitnirbank.com.

Om Norges Sjakkforbund

Norges Sjakkforbund Norges Sjakkforbund (NSF) står for det organiserte sjakktilbudet for voksne i Norge. Forbundet har omtrent 2500 medlemmer i 100 klubber over hele landet. NSF er stiftet i 1914, og er tilsluttet Nordisk Sjakkforbund, European Chess Union og det internasjonale sjakkforbundet FIDE. Ungdommens Sjakkforbund organiserer sjakkaktivitet for barn og ungdom, og har omtrent 4500 medlemmer i 80 klubber. For mer informasjon, se www.sjakk.no.