Round 1 games were packed with thrilling moments and surprises. One of the highlights of the event was the performance of young talent Gukesh, D.

In the game between Firouzja and Gukesh, Firouzja overlooked a winning opportunity with a Bishop sacrifice at h6. However, he stunned everyone with his 25. Bg5, a move that caught observers off guard due to its brilliance. Despite his creative play, Firouzja found himself running short on time, and ultimately, Gukesh clinched the win and secured 3 crucial points for the tournament.

A major highlight of the tournament was the encounter between Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen. Caruana achieved his first classical win against Carlsen since 2015, gaining him 3 crucial points. During a pivotal moment in the game, Carlsen made the only move, 22... Ba3, that could prevent Caruana from gaining a major advantage. Despite this, Caruana played exceptionally well, and was able to claim a win.

Next, we had a tense match between Mamedyarov and Tari. After an intense battle, the game ended in a draw, leading to an Armageddon showdown. Both players showcased excellent skills and focus, with zero blunders and minimal inaccuracies in their classical game.

Abdusattorov and Giri also delivered a captivating game. Anish Giri had a slight advantage in the middle game, which continued into the endgame. Despite this, Abdusattorov managed to hold his ground, and the game ended in a draw, setting the stage for an Armageddon round, which Giri won.

In the evenly matched game between Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura, both players exhibited a strong performance, keeping the game balanced all the way through to a draw. This was followed by an Armageddon round won by So, which added a new level of excitement.

The games also brought attention to the Game Intelligence (GI) score, a measure that combines human decision-making performance with engine evaluations. This score offers insight into the players' strategic choices and their ability to take calculated risks. Caruana led the GI score chart with a GI score of 1.74, followed closely by Gukesh (1.46). Theoretically, with perfect engine play on both sides, a player's GI score would hover around 1, given most engine vs. engine games result in a draw. But when a player takes a calculated risk leading to a win, their GI score can increase above 1.0. If one player plays perfectly while their opponent makes a mistake, the GI score can increase up to a maximum of 3.0, which is the score the winner of a game receives at Norway Chess.

The combination of young talent and experienced grandmasters promises exciting games in the upcoming rounds. We look forward to the next rounds of games!

To stay informed about the current standings and games, feel free to visit our 'Game Theory Corner' at https://stats.norwaychess.no/2023/games.

Watch the event live at Finansparken in Stavanger or online via Chess.com or TV 2 sport.

Information for the stats.

Stockfish provides Win, Draw, and Loss probabilities for each player based on engine vs. engine data.

Game Point Loss (GPL) represents the number of points lost by a player by making “sub-optimal” moves compared to the engine. A point loss of a move is the difference between expected value of a player’s move and the best move according to engine Win-Draw-Loss probabilities. The lower the GPL, the better the player played according to Stockfish.

Note that in Norway Chess, a win earns 3 points, while in a draw, the Armageddon winner gets 1.5 points, and the loser gets 1 point.

The Game Intelligence (GI) Score is calculated by subtracting the player's GPL from the game result. This score combines human decision-making and engine evaluations in a single measure. If the game isn’t finished, then expected GI score is provided.

If both players play perfect engine moves, their GI would likely be 1, given that the majority of engine vs engine games end in a draw. However, when a player takes a calculated risk that results in a win, their GI could rise above 1. Moreover, if one player plays perfectly while their opponent blunders, then the GI has the potential to reach as high as 3.