Norwegian Chess Championship


The Norwegian Chess Championship is an annual tournament held in Norway during the month of July, in order to determine the national chess champion. The tournament is held at different venues each year as part of the Landsturnering. Clubs may bid for this tournament, which is awarded by the Norwegian Chess Federation.

Past events and champions

This table summarizes all past championship events. The tournament was not held in 1928 and 1939 due to the Nordic Championships being held in Oslo those years, nor was there any event between 1940 and 1944, when Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany. The 2020 tournament was scheduled to be in Stjørdal but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of participants is the number of players in the entire Landsturnering, not just the championship section. The champions are listed along with the club they represented when they won the championship. Titles decided by play-off matches due to equal scores in the main tournament are noted.
YearCityChampion and clubParticipants
1918Kristiania Josef Lilja, CS 30
1919Kristiania Jac. A. Brekke, CS30
1920Kristiania Jac. A. Brekke, CS32
1921BergenH. G. Hansen, CS 27
1922Kristiania A. M. Erichsen, CS30
1923Kristiania Jac. A. Brekke, CS30
1924Kristiania Leif F. D. Lund, CS49
1925OsloJac. A. Brekke, SK Centrum, Oslo66
1926BergenHans Christian Christoffersen, Drammens SK 50
1927TrondheimH. G. Hansen, OSS 40
1929DrammenHans Christian Christoffersen, Drammens SK33
1930OsloOlaf M. Olsen, SK Odin, Oslo 45
1931StavangerAndreas Gulbrandsen, Moss SK35
1932BergenEugen Johnsen, SK Odin58
1933FredrikstadTrygve Halvorsen, OSS 48
1934HamarTrygve Halvorsen, OSS42
1935SandefjordJørgen Saurén, OSS48
1936OsloHans Christian Christoffersen, Drammens SK60
1937TrondheimArne S.B. Krogdahl, OSS31
1938GrimstadOluf Kavlie-Jørgensen, Bergens SK53
1945OsloErnst Rojahn, Tønsberg SK 132
1946BergenErling Myhre, OSS 109
1947KristiansandOlaf Barda, OSS79
1948FredrikstadOlaf Barda, OSS 96
1949OsloAage Vestøl, OSS125
1950TrondheimErling Myhre, OSS96
1951StavangerHarry Kongshavn, OSS127
1952SkienOlaf Barda, OSS165
1953FredrikstadOlaf Barda, OSS160
1954DrammenEinar Haave, Stavanger SK120
1955StabekkErling Myhre, OSS113
1956SteinkjerOtto Birger Morcken, OSS94
1957LillehammerOlaf Barda, OSS148
1958ÅlesundErnst Rojahn, Tønsberg SK111
1959OsloSvein Johannessen, OSS131
1960FredrikstadDaan de Lange, Hamar SS108
1961SandefjordPer Ofstad, Bergens SK145
1962HamarSvein Johannessen, OSS174
1963MossRagnar Hoen, OSS156
1964OsloArne Zwaig, OSS143
1965MosjøenArne V. Gulbrandsen, OSS112
1966BodøPaul Svedenborg, Narvik SK160
1967BergenPaul Svedenborg, Narvik SK130
1968OsloArne V. Gulbrandsen, OSS202
1969HamarArne Zwaig, OSS178
1970KristiansundSvein Johannessen, OSS156
1971SkienTerje Wibe, OSS 214
1972RørosErling Kristiansen270
1973SandnesSvein Johannessen, SK Fischer326
1974SandefjordLeif Øgaard, OSS378
1975OsloLeif Øgaard, OSS327
1976HarstadKnut J. Helmers, SK Stjernen215
1977BergenKnut J. Helmers, SK Stjernen330
1978RisørRagnar Hoen, OSS375
1979MoldeLeif Øgaard, OSS419
1980OsloSverre Heim, Akademisk SK546
1981KirkenesRagnar Hoen, OSS226
1982LillehammerSimen Agdestein, Asker SK 417
1983TrondheimBjørn Tiller, OSS377
1984OsloBerge Østenstad, Asker SK427
1985GausdalLeif Øgaard, Brugata SK299
1986SteinkjerSimen Agdestein, OSS297
1987KristiansandJonathan Tisdall, Brugata SK 437
1988AskerSimen Agdestein, OSS564
1989RandabergSimen Agdestein, OSS446
1990BrønnøysundBerge Østenstad, Asker SK334
1991GjøvikJonathan Tisdall, Brugata SK587
1992KristiansundEinar Gausel, OSS463
1993OsloLeif Øgaard, OSS588
1994DrammenBerge Østenstad, Asker SK519
1995NamsosJonathan Tisdall, Nordstrand SK433
1996AltaEinar Gausel, OSS299
1997StavangerBerge Østenstad, Asker SK486
1998OsloRoy H. Fyllingen, Bergens SK537
1999GausdalBerge Østenstad, Asker SK 414
2000AskerSimen Agdestein, NTG 427
2001KristiansundEinar Gausel, OSS420
2002RørosSimen Agdestein, NTG549
2003FredrikstadBerge Østenstad, Asker SK623
2004MoldeBerge Østenstad, Asker SK 520
2005SandnesSimen Agdestein, NTG 583
2006Moss Magnus Carlsen, NTG 533
2007Hamar Espen Lie, Porsgrunn 501
2008Tønsberg Frode Elsness, Moss 471
2009Bergen Kjetil Aleksander Lie, Porsgrunn513
2010FredrikstadKjetil Aleksander Lie, Porsgrunn 485
2011OsloBerge Østenstad, Asker SK 496
2012SandefjordFrode Olav Olsen Urkedal, SK 1911 437
2013LillehammerJon Ludvig Hammer, OSS490
2014TrondheimFrode Olav Olsen Urkedal, SK 1911503
2015Oslo Aryan Tari, Vålerenga SK671
2016TromsøJohan Salomon, Nordstrand378
2017StavangerJon Ludvig Hammer, OSS606
2018SarpsborgJon Ludvig Hammer544
2019LarvikAryan Tari526
2021Bergen
2022Kongsvinger
2023Oslo

Rules for participation and other classes

The rules for participation are governed by the Norwegian Chess Federation.
The championship section is restricted to the top-rated players. In order to play for the most prestigious title of national chess champion, a player must meet at least one of the following criteria:
In general, an even number of participants is sought in the championship section to prevent byes from occurring.
However, the Landsturnering has several sections for lower-rated players, as well as sections for different age groups. In general, players must be members of the Norwegian Chess Federation, or a club affiliated with the federation, although exceptions may be made if the person is a member of another national chess federation. To be eligible for a championship title, a player must either be a Norwegian citizen or have been a resident of Norway for the past year.
The current regulations provide for the following age categories:
The Senior, Junior and Cadet categories are split into an "A" and "B" group by rating, but are combined if either of the groups has fewer than 10 participants. A separate section for Junior B has not been arranged in the last few tournaments, and in 2008 the number of entries for that section was zero.
The rating sections are open for players of all age groups, and are divided into the classes
A player cannot be required to play in a higher class than what the last rating list indicates; however, a player may elect to play up if a sufficiently high rating was obtained on any of the four official rating lists during the year. In addition, players may elect to play in a higher section if they scored at least 60% in that same class the previous year, if they were in the top 7% of the class below the previous year, or if they won the Norwegian Grand Prix tournament series for the rating class below in the previous year. In addition, winners of the individual circuit championships and the champion of Northern Norway are automatically qualified for play in the Master class, regardless of rating. The top two finishers of the Master class qualify for next year's championship section.

Arrangement

In the past ten years, the championship section has had approximately 20 players. If there are at least 16 players, it is arranged as a nine-round Monrad tournament, a system similar to the Swiss system tournament. The official Norwegian Chess Federation policies also allow the tournament to be arranged as a round-robin with 10 or 12 players. From 2013 the regular Swiss system will be used in the Championship section, and be an alternative to the Monrad in the other sections.
If two or more players are tied for points at the end of the tournament, the tiebreak rules depend on the system used. When the tournament is arranged as a Monrad, a modified Buchholz system is used, where the first tiebreak is the sum of a player's opponents' scores, except the two weakest. If still tied, the second weakest and then the weakest scores are added to the tiebreak points. If still tied, the Neustadtl score, that is the sum of defeated opponents' scores plus half of drawn opponents' scores, is used. In 2015, when the Swiss System was used in all sections, the tiebreaks, in order, were median Buchholz, Buchholz -1, regular Buchholz, and finally the average rating of opponents.
Prior to 2014 the Championship, Junior, Cadet and Senior sections, a tied score resulted in a play-off for the title within 60 days after the end of the main tournament. The rules of the play-off changed several times. A rule change in 2013 abolished the play-off entirely effective from the 2014 tournament.