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Magnus Carlsen retains the lead in the Norway Chess tournament going into the second and final rest day following a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. MVL chose 17.f3 in the Berlin which detailed theory suggests is a draw but requires both sides to remember a lot of concrete theory. Carlsen had more or less equalised when he played the careless 25…Re8?! which he called "a childish trap" and had to find a sacrifice after 31.Ba5 but 31...Bxg4 led to a drawish position which he held comfortably.

Anish Giri lost his second game of the event and is clearly not in good shape following the Candidates tournament. Pentala Harikrishna played the French Defence, a rare visitor at this level these days and seemed much more at home in the resulting position, 26.Nd1? was an error after which 26..Qb5! forced a very favourable endgame that Harikrishna converted comfortably.

Vladimir Kramnik's Giuoco Piano experiments continued against Levon Aronian but he didn't get very much to work with and the game finished in a dynamic draw. Li Chao drew a lively Moscow semi-Slav against Veselin Topalov finishing in a draw by repetition.

Pavel Eljanov beat Nil Grandelius in a g3 Gruenfeld eventually powering through the centre.

Round 6 standings: Carlsen 4pts, MVL, Topalov, Harikrishna, Kramnik 3.5pts, Aronian, Eljanov 3pts, Li Chao, Giri 2.5pts, Grandelius 1pt

Rest day Tuesday.

Round 7 pairings 27th April 2016: Grandelius-Li Chao, Harikrishna-MVL, Carlsen-Kramnik, Aronian-Eljanov, Topalov-Giri.

4th Norway Chess 2016 Stavanger NOR (NOR), 18-30 iv 2016															cat. XXI (2770)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2851	*	½	½	1	.	.	.	½	½	1	4	2874
2.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2788	½	*	.	.	½	½	½	½	1	.	3½	2848
3.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2754	½	.	*	½	.	½	½	½	.	1	3½	2818
4.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2763	0	.	½	*	.	.	½	1	1	½	3½	2817
5.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2801	.	½	.	.	*	½	½	½	½	1	3½	2812
6.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2784	.	½	½	.	½	*	.	½	½	½	3	2756
7.	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2765	.	½	½	½	½	.	*	.	0	1	3	2757
8.	Li, Chao b	g	CHN	2755	½	½	½	0	½	½	.	*	.	.	2½	2733
9.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2790	½	0	.	0	½	½	1	.	*	.	2½	2735
10.	Grandelius, Nils	g	SWE	2649	0	.	0	½	0	½	0	.	.	*	1	2513

Round 6 (April 25, 2016)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	65	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	37	C53	Giuoco Piano
Eljanov, Pavel	- Grandelius, Nils	1-0	40	D73	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Li, Chao b	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	54	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Giri, Anish	- Harikrishna, Pentala	0-1	36	C11	French Defence

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