Norway Chess 2023: Post-Tournament Review and Insights

As the dust settles on the Norway Chess 2023 tournament, we finally get a clear picture of the performances that shaped this exciting event. The much-anticipated stats are out, revealing some fascinating insights.

Coming off a brilliant tournament, GM Hikaru Nakamura didn't just take home the trophy but also topped the chart with the highest Game Intelligence (GI) score. His win against Caruana in the final round played a crucial role in achieving this feat. Close in the GI rankings are GM Wesley So and GM Fabiano Caruana.

Meanwhile, GM Wesley So reaffirmed his reputation as a player of phenomenal accuracy. Like in Norway Chess 2022, So managed to conclude the 2023 tournament with the lowest Game Point Loss (GPL) score, marking him as the most accurate player according to engine evaluations. This achievement underlines his consistency and the remarkable precision of his play. Following So in the GPL rankings were Nakamura and Caruana, both of whom exhibited high levels of precision in their games.

Norway Chess 2023: Insights and Stats after Rounds 1-8

Before the last round of classical and Armageddon games, it is worth taking a moment to reflect upon and analyze the performances of the players in the Classical and Armageddon formats so far.

Classical Chess Performance

The competition has been fierce with each player striving to outperform the others. Here’s an analysis of the games based on Game Intelligence (GI) and Game Point Loss (GPL) scores to provide a deeper insight into the players' performance.

Fabiano Caruana, although having the 4th best GPL score (engine accuracy), leads the tournament with the highest GI score. This suggests that Caruana has been skillful at inducing his opponents to make mistakes by deviating from the engine's recommendations in a strategic manner. Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So follow closely behind in the GI score.

GM Wesley So has shown remarkable precision and has the lowest GPL score. This indicates his accuracy according to the engine evaluation, making him the most accurate player so far. This performance mirrors his exceptional accuracy in Norway Chess 2022, when he also came on top.

Alireza Firouzja’s Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) aligns closely with his current Elo rating, which suggests an almost consistent performance. However, his GI score is relatively low, which indicates that his risky plays often fail to yield the desired outcomes.

Armageddon Performance

The Armageddon format of the tournament has its unique challenges, mainly due to time pressure and asymmetry of the roles. Here's what the statistics reveal:

Despite the inherent challenges of the Armageddon format, Carlsen is the only player to maintain a positive GI score. This suggests that the risks he take have resulted in net gains, an impressive feat in such a high-pressure format.

Alireza Firouzja, despite a setback against Anish Giri in the last round, leads in terms of engine accuracy with the lowest GPL score in the Armageddon format. This showcases his ability to maintain precision under pressure. Anish Giri and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov follow closely behind in GPL scores.

As the tournament proceeds, it will be intriguing to see how these statistics evolve and whether they foretell the eventual outcome. Stay tuned for more updates and analysis.

For more details about the stats, read more here.

Follow Hikaru Nakamura - Fabiano Caruana stats below.