Round six in short confirmed the impressions regarding the norm candidates: FM Helge A Nordahl defeated countryman
(countrychild?) Magnus Carlsen as black and still shares the first place, and is more than one point ahead of the schedule
for an IM-norm - only a disasterous 0/3 in the next rounds can prevent it, and 2.0/3 (at worst) will be sufficient for
a shocking GM-norm. Getting less attention and being more lucky, FM Craig Hanley of England also is clearly ahead the
norm schedule, after saving another difficult endgame - this time as black against IM Mathias Womacka. The "possible"
candidates however had a hard day, as FM Magnus Carlsen lost to Nordahl and FM Bjarte Leer-Salvesen to GM Normunds Miezis.
Second seeded GM Alexei Lugovoi was unlucky to get black against IM Bluvshtein this round, and lost a further half point
to the first board - which first seeded GM Rozentalis defended in an excellent way by giving Kovalevskaya her first loss
of the tournament. First place is shared between Rozentalis, Nordahl and Miezis, but a tight crowd still follow their steps.
This was a very important game for Rozentalis' fight for the first place
as well as for Kovalevskaya's fight for a GM-norm. White made a careful start with a patient
closed Sicilian, but got a slight positional edge as black was left with hanging pawns at c6
and d6. White still looked better after playing e5 to exchange his e-pawn against the black
d-pawn, as black inherited an isolated c-pawn and white the slightly better pieces. With
Kovalevskaya defending well white's advantage however still looked too small to be counted
in the rook and knight endgame, in which white had only the slightly better queenside pawns.
Black however was probably wrong to enter a tricky rook and pawn exchange just before 40 moves,
even when she by doing so managed to exchange her c6-pawn. The final knight endgame first
looked drawish, but again it turned out that Rozentalis had made the deeper evaluation of
an endgame: Black at least had a very hard time to keep the white king out of the queenside,
and as she failed to do so Rozentalis accurately fulfilled the win after picking up the black
a-pawn.
Extremely predictable, the "Miezis-English" via 1.c4 e6 2.e4 again transposed
into a well known isolani position from the French exchange. It should not give white anything
worth to be mentioned, and did not against a well-prepared Leer-Salvesen. Following later
exchanges into a symmetrical pawn structure, black even looked slightly better thanks to his
pair of bishops. But: Getting a drawn position against a GM is far from the same as drawing
against a GM, and Miezis' great chess intelligence and optimism starts to work where the
opening preparations of his opponent ends. Leer-Salvesen made the typical mistake of
becoming to keen to secure a draw, and so exchanged one of the bishops to reach a different
coloured bishop ending which looked drawn. Probably it was, but the "ending" still included a
queen, a rook and a bishop for each player, and with his time running away Leer-Salvesen's play
decayed until Miezis just after 40 moves was allowed to make a decisive intervention on the
kingside. Having got more time black avoided a direct mate by exchanging queens, but in the
following rook and bishop ending the different coloured bishops favoured white, and black's
position collapsed when he lost the pawn at f7. Smiling Latvian chess shark still steems
against the first board, while Leer-Salvesen as an IM-candidate again has his head below
the water line.
This in short was a dreadfully correct, balanced and boring draw, based
upon mutual respect within the GM-club - and of course upon a mutual playing strength. White
probably had a slight edge after the two first minor piece exchanges of the Queen's Gambit,
but left with only heavy pieces before 20 moves white had nothing. Controlling the c-file and
having a queenside majority black even looked slightly better, but white had no problems to
protect his possible weaknesses at a4 and d4. The excitment highlight was Ovsejewitch's draw
offer at move 36, but unfortunately it lasted only a few seconds....
This started as a standard French Tarrasch position, in which white thanks
to his grip on the e5 square was left with a positional edge after some tricky exchanges on
the queenside. Hanley later gave up a pawn to get rid of white's knight at e5. The following
rook and knight endgame with an extra pawn for white seemed promising from a Womacka point of
view, but playing consequently upon activity Hanley managed to get disturbing counterplay.
Becoming too eager to advance his passed d-pawn just before 40 moves, Womacka just afterwards
had to accept a perpetual check. Having given away his third draw without yet meeting a GM,
Womacka is in trouble regarding that norm - while Hanley might start to think about the GM-norm
instead of the IM-norm.
Despite Nordahl's extreme results so far, Magnus the Magnum as white was
still considered the favourite in this Norwegian prestige duel. Being black and more than half
a point ahead the schedule for IM-norm Nordahl offered a draw after some initial Kan
Sicilian moves, but did not look too dissatisfied when Magnus being white and ahead of his
schedule for IM-norm, immediately refused. White true enough had a slight initiative
and probably did not destroy anything by pseudo-sacrificing a knight at d5, but he became
too optimistic when allowing black to keep the knight. Whether Magnus blundered or just
underestimated black's defending possibilities is still somewhat unclear, but the result
was clear enough: Nordahl got an extra piece for some shadow threats, and had no real problems
to shave off the remaining attacking chances, as white had only heavy pieces left. Magnus
following this loss has a long way to go for an IM-norm, while Helge A in the tournament of
his life has an extremely promising position before round 7: Needing only 0.5/3 to assure the
norm, he has formally switched to a GM-norm-scheme, demanding 1.5/3 or possibly 2.0/3.
Not unexepectedly this became a sharp theoretical duel, the battlefield
being a strange variation in the 4.f3 Nimzo, in which white does not develop the kingside
and black does not develop the queenside. White kept an extra pawn at c5 for some moves, but
in positionally messy position where both players had a wrenched pawn structure. Just before
20 moves white preferred a repetition of moves instead of giving back the c5-pawn, while black
preferred a repetition of moves instead of playing on without getting back the pawn.
Hole's new white opening speciality seems to be transpositions; via 1.Nf3
this double fianchetto ended up somewhere in the neighbourhood of a King's Indian Fianchetto.
Following an exchange of the white squared bishops black had no problems, and he even looked
slightly better when a tactical Nd3 gave him monopoly on the black squares. Playing for a win
black realized e6 and d5, but white stroke back by establishing a passed but isolated c5-pawn.
During somewhat unclear circumstances, black suddenly allowed white to win a pawn by playing
Rb1-Rb6-Rxa6. White around that time might have been objectively better for some moves, but
if black did not already have enough compensation, he within a few moves got it thanks to his
rook on the seventh rank and his grip on the dark squares. Black just before 40 moves chose to
exchange both the rook and the bishop to regain the pawn at c5, leaving only a drawish queen
endgame to be buried at move 50. Hole looked satisfied to get on the record against a
titleholder, even when he needed a win to have realistic chances for a norm. Agopov does
not have chances for a norm anyway, and looked everything but satisfied to get only half
of the record against another untitled Norwegian player.
For the first ten moves or so Heikki looked to be in a very peaceful mood,
chosing a very patient closed Sicilian, in which white plays h3 and Bd3 before d4. Having played
Bc2 and d4 the GM however refound his inspiration in the middle game, while Nolsøe tried the
very risky Sicilian strategy of making natural developing moves. Having transferred his white
squared bishop to b3 and the black one to h6, and having mobilized heavy canons in the d-file,
white had attacking chances anyway when exchanging at e5 in move 18. Smelling young blood, the
veteran however stunned the crowd (and chess columnist Einar Gausel) by giving up his queen for
two minor pieces and unpleasant mating threats against f7. Having failed the only possible
chance to prolong the game (21...Rc7!), a shocked Nolsøe was forced to give material en masse
before 25 moves, and went mate at move 28. Heikki will not win this tournament either, but he
is definitely still producing attacking games worth remembering the tournament for - while
Nolsøe still suffers from his black traumas against titleholders.
Lasting 104 moves and 5.58 hours, this tense struggle became the longest
game of Troll Masters so far. Black seemed fine as she after playing dxc4 and b5, was allowed
to realize the freeing c5-break in this Semi-Slav opening. White first seemed to have some
play in the a-file after exchanging his d-pawn against the black b5-pawn, but as black managed
to castle and to stabilize her queenside, the center advantage even gave her a slight initiative
in the middle game. During mutual time trouble black played confident centralizing chess until
winning the white pawn at b3. Unnecessary giving up her own b-pawn when exchanging queens a
few moves later, she after 40 moves however landed in a seemingly dead ending with rook, knight
and four kingside pawns on each side. An unaffected Shumiakina just played on and on, and got
unexpected help as Gambäck instead of staying calm rushed forward with his pawns. Following a
weakning f4 and e5, white had to enter an unpleasant ending with rook and two against rook and
three. Probably it was still within the drawing border, but not surprisingly introducing herself
as the better endgame player in the second time trouble, Shumiakina picked up another pawn and
went on to get a new queen just before move 100. Gambäck following this depressing loss is hardly
a candidate for an IM-norm, while hard-playing Shumiakina has still got the chance.
Black started risky with an invitation for a Sicilian Scheveningen, but
white much too helpful allowed him to escape into a French. (Not among the best French
variations, true enough, but of course still very much of an improvement.) Black came better
as white refused to test a Ne4-pawn sacrifice. Having opened the f-file and transported his
queen around to h5, black had promising attacking chances even before white half asleep missed
a second critical Ne4-stroke at move 17. White felt forced to give up an exchange at e4 this
time, but returning the exchange at f3, black still hit at h2 with a decisive attack. Still
smelling chances for an IM-norm Molander later fulfilled on an inspired mood, by sacrificing
a knight at b4 to arrest the white king and queen on the diagonal f1-a6.
In this Queen's gambit Exchange black was allowed to free himself with an
early Ne4, and then to delay white's queenside play by a5 and a4. Via a5 transferring his
queenside rook to h5 black got some attack on the kingside despite the reduced material, but
then white again was rolling on with counterplay on the queenside. His intervention with
queen and rook forced black to exchange down into a queen ending in which black had loose
pawns and an open king, but in which his passed a-pawn forced white to take out a perpetual
just after 30 moves.
Ask either was a little bit too inspired or had a little bit too much
breakfast today - he sacrificed first a pawn for dubious compensation at d4 in move 2 (it
is called "Morra gambit", and still is a usual overreaction against Sicilian) and then a
knight at d5 without having anything concrete afterwards. Bisby took the pawn and the piece,
and although spending some time to get out his pieces on the kingside, he never gave white
real compensation. In the late middle game black gave up some pawns to get a kingside attack
himself, but suddenly changing strategy he then exchanged queens to reach a winning ending.
Bisby kept control of his pieces even when running short of time, and his passed d-pawn was
decisive anyway when Ask just after 40 moves blundered his remaining rook and resigned. Ask
burned himself today and is out if he ever was in as an IM-candidate, while Bisby still being
undefeated still might be a candidate.
White went for an optimistic test of Stig K's Leningrad, mobilizing pawns
on a4, b4, c4 and d4 on the queenside. Later the pieces however slowed down, and after white
realized d5 it remained an open question whether the white d5 pawn was strong or weak. White
having the c-file looked slightly better for some moves, but following some more exchanges he
agreed to a draw at move 23. Much play was still left, but Fäldt seems to have no great norm
ambitions, and Stig K. within a few days has become a respected opponent among the
2200-players.
Bjørn-Erik in some bizarre way might have got what he wanted from this
opening: For some reason eager to avoid discussing Caro Kann theory Charleshouse played 2.c4,
but play then transposed into an Old Indian position Bjørn-Erik has earlier played against
1.d4. Searching actively for a kingside attack by playing e5 and f5 black managed to get
much life out of it, and he even looked slightly better as white just before 20 moves
surprisingly gave black the pair of bishops. Following an exchange of the black squared
bishops black's Bd5 clearly was superb to white's Nd1. As black had the more open king,
and as the queens and one set of rooks still were left on the board, black still accepted
a repetition of moves after 30 moves. So far results clearly below expectations for
Charleshouse, while Glenne is to be found in the average area.
Simonsen obviously was in mood for a Budapest-gambit with 3...Ne4?! (even
when I have difficulties understanding what mood that is). Harestad did not test the most
critical variations, but black's compensation for the pawn still petered out during several
piece exchanges between move 13 and 18. White's rook on a2 for some moves looked awkward
squeezed in between pawns on a3 and b2, but black never had any chance to exploit it before
the rook redeveloped via a1. White still had a long technical road waiting for him when being
a pawn up in the "ending" with rooks and queen on each side, but he ran creatively across it
by giving back a pawn to open lines against the black king. Just before and/or just after
40 moves white had faster attacking roads (if not earlier when missing a mate in two just
before the end), but he still had a decisive attack before move 40 and a massive material
win before move 50. Many ups and downs for Harestad so far, while Simonsen is hardly satisified
with anything except the apartment.
The players cooperated to create a new French Tarrasch variation today.
Getting a center advantage and the pair of bishops black looked to be the more successfull
innovator. He probably became too little ambitious in the later part of the middlegame, but
having exchanged one of the bishops he because of his passed d-pawn still came better in the
bishop and rooks ending. It seemed practically promising, especially as Poulsen was about to
run seriously short of time. Øystein B however was helpful to solve all white's problems, by
exchanging down to a dead ending with different coloured bishops well before 40 moves. The
late registered 15 year old again impressed by his play, but again was too kind and/or too
lazy to get the full salary.
This was a Sicilian with 2.Nc3 a6?!, in which white first seemed to have
the better chances thanks to his attacking prospects on the kingside. In a very typical
Sicilian way white however failed to demonstrate any breakthrough on the kingside, while
black demonstrated all the more counterplay based upon the c-file and the diagonal a7-g1.
With white running short of time everything suddenly worked for black, as he got a direct
attack against the white pawn at d3 AND active play in the center with f6 followed by d5.
To sum up: white when he started to throw away pieces just before 30 moves was a pawn down
and lost on both wings anyway. Nygren efficiently cashed in what he was offered, and ended
rook and bishop up in the ending after having clashed his queen at g2.
Johansen did not look happy to be black against the mobile opening
encyclopedia named Kjetil Stokke, and the game soon demonstrated why he should not be.
Placing his bishop on d6 instead of e7, black ended up with some smelling mixture of a
Semi-Slav, a regular Queen's Gambit and a Cambridge Springs Queen's Gambit. Stokke first
turned on his "positional" gear to get an overwhelming position, and then switched on
"tactics" to win two pawns with a decisive attack on the kingside. Johansen as always
fought on, but without getting any reason to do so: White kept his extra pawns while
hunting the black queen around on the board, and black was ready for delivery anyway
when he blundered a rook just after 30 moves. Stokke overall looks convincing so far,
while Johansen only is looking more Janus-faced than ever before.
This was a Caro-Kann in which both players suddenly became much too
fascinated by their own eccentric plans to worry about the opponent: White did something
without knowing what on the kingside with Nd2-Nxe4-Ng5-N5f3-Ne5, while black "hit" back on
the queenside by advancing his pawn from a7 to a3. It followed a relatively balanced
middlegame, in which black had some pressure in the diagonal a8-h1. But while black failed
to achieve anything concrete on the kingside white simply picked up the forgotten pawn at
a3, and as Lönngren was helpful to exchange pieces just before 40 moves, he afterwards found
himself just a pawn down in the endgame. Having isolated pawns in the a-file and in the c-file
white still had a long way to go before promoting, but black solved most of the remaining
problems for his opponent by exchanging the last pair of rooks. With only minor pieces left
white did not have to worry about the open files against his pawns, and had few problems to
let them decide. Following the eccentric opening this probably was a solid and patient
performance by Astengo, while the usually practical Lönngren had surprisingly difficult
to communicate with his pieces today - hopefully he was only ironical when giving up a
knight in an absurd way before resigning at move 56.
I did not expect too much fun from this sensible duo, but their game still
was below my expectations from an entertainment point of view. Black by natural means equalized
in a positional Queen's Indian, and following some exchanges it all looked balanced after 20
moves. Black was probably wrong then to allow 22.e5(!), as black's pawn at e6 later became
slightly weaker than white's pawn at e5, and white's d-file slightly more important than
black's f-file. In short white had the better position when a draw was agreed after 30 moves,
but as black is the better player both could defend their decision about the draw.
White realeased on the board a Kings Indian Advance I suspect him to have
stolen from his girlfriend, especially as he seemed not to have read the user's instructions.
At move 16 white played d4 to create symmetry, but as black controlled the open c-file he even
looked slightly better. Black's decision first to place both his rooks in the c-file and then
to close it by exchanging a knight at c5 later looked strange, but as white's passed pawn at
c5 was blocked while black had a mobil center majority, he still kept an initiative. With both
players running short of time black seemed close to getting a kingside attack around move 30,
but then the position went lost in time trouble fog. Black still seemed in control when
allowing white to take a pawn at d5 in move 32, as he had available g4 with unpleasant
pressure on the kingside. White became scared enough to blunder a knight at g5, but instead
of taking the knight black counter-sacrificed one himself at d4. Black got a queen and a knight
for two rooks, but still was in trouble as the white c-pawn now was running with fast steps
against c8. White finally won on time as black believed he was thinking about move 41, but
then the white pawn at c6 was decisive anyway.
This was a somewhat home-made reversed Sicilian, in which black having the
pair of bishops and a sound position even looked better from the opening. Black however was
wrong later to enter a steem of exchanges, because even when he picked up a pawn at e4 in the
end, white could simply win back the pawn at d5 to enter the endgame a positional advantage up.
Instead exchanging queens to enter the ending a pawn down, white still seemed to have drawing
chances with two rooks and bishop against two rooks and knight. As white was helpful to exchange
rooks the minor piece ending looked close to winning for black, especially as he just after 40
moves was able to establish and start running a passed a-pawn. Having allowed too many pawn
exchanges on the queenside black in the end however ended up with just knight and pawn against
bishop, and so the position reportedly was drawn when Johansen at move 60 resigned! In (very)
short not a game of impressive quality, but still a very exciting fighting battle. While
Bjørgvik running for a FIDE-ELO above 2100 so far makes the tournament of his life, nothing
works out as intended for Johansen.
11 moves, Queen's Gambit and/or Semi Slav. To tell the truth black seemed
to be unaware of the important differences between a Queen's gambit and a Semi Slav when
placing his bishop on d6 after Bg5, and so white should have every reason to play on. But
both players seemed satisfied, and then I do not want to give any of them any kind of bad
conscience.
Hammer made a slow and safe start with a symmetrical Russian opening today.
Black however wasted much time playing Nc6-Nb4-Nc6-Na5, and so white without risiking anything
got a sound intiative based upon the b- and e-file. Black probably could still have made it a
long afternoon by castling to complete his development, but instead he much too ambitiously
opened up the position for the white pieces by c5. An inspired Hörbing put himself on the
attacking track by dynamic play, as his 20.d5! followed by 21.Qh5 and 22.Bxg6 gave a decisive
attack. Black resigned at move 27, as he having his king running around in the middle of the
board had to lose more material within a few moves. Hörbing seems about to identify himself
after the difficult start, while Hammer is a yo-yo so far.
Another Sicilian of today's Gausdal fashion with 2...a6?!. This one
much more logically resulted in headache for black, as Ohlzon reacted more pointed than
Berning on the kingside. The position still was playable for black before he weakened
his kingside by 13...g6?; but when he did so white immediately revaled the misunderstanding
by 14.f5!, and later the black king was living in a danger zone. Nilsen defended well for some
moves when he had to, placing his king relatively secure at h7. The outcome following this was
far from clear, even when white tried to blow up the kingside by sacrificing a bishop first at
h5 and then at g6. 27...Rh8? to pin in the h-file however turned out to be a defence having
both feets safely placed in the air, as white elegantly decided the game by sacrificing his
queen at h2. Having got a new queen at f8 instead, he mated the black king at e5 (!?) in move
34. Nice tactical shot by Ohlzon, but it remains too find out whether that was the start of a
new tournament for him.
Knudsen might very well be a clever opening improviser, but still 1.b4?!
is to overdo at this level. Black by natural means got a center advantage being much more
important than white's space advantage on the queenside, and having control of the center
he went on to attack in the a-file as well as on the kingside. White later found no better
square for the king than e2, and with an open d-file and a weakened kingside in the
neighbourhood, that turned out to be everything but safe. What white got on the queenside
was a passed pawn at c6, but the pawn was still blocked when white's position fell apart
around his king before 30 moves. Karlsen looked much better today, being a sound attacker
on the board without even running short of time - while Knudsen following three solid draws
from the start has "castled long" during the last three rounds.
Another Sicilian which transposed into a French, this time a more regular Advance
variation. As black refused to take the Milner Barry pawn, white got a classical initiative by exchanging at
c5 and playing b4. Black however succeded keeping the position closed, and so a tight battle followed.
Black later sacrificed a pawn temporarily to achieve exchanges, but was inaccurate when taking it back,
as white for one move had a promising tactical knock at d5. Instead exchanging queens white however
came worse in the rooks and bishop ending due to his pawn weakness at c3, and in the final position after
29 moves black could have played for a pawn win instead of accepting the draw.
Both players seemed motivated not to lose following the set backs of the last rounds,
and so the game became a respectful and solid one. White played an English double fianchetto, but black had
no problems to face it with his sound Slav set up. The symmetrical king's pawn center which arose before
15 moves was indeed drawish, and so the players cooperated to repeat the moves after 20.
Black tested a "Finn fianchetto" with 3.Nc3 b6, and came fine from the opening as
white chose a modest set up with 5.a3 and 6.Bf4. White probably should have played h3 to save h2 for the
bishop, as black even looked better when having the possibility to exchange it by Nh5. White made a try to
get a kingside attack by playing h4 and castling long, but without getting any real attack. Instead black hit
back with a thematical f4-break, but even when he was rewarded with getting back a more important pawn at
d4, white had a playable position until allowing black to disrupt the pawns around her king with 16...Bxc3.
Later black had the clearly better attacking chances, and having sacrificed a piece in desperation, white
resigned in a snowslide position after 25 moves.
Playing 4.Qf3 Bryn sr made no try to pressure the Frenchman daring to play
Scandinavian against us, and so white consequently got nothing from the opening. Following exchanges
of one pair of knights and one pair of pawns it instead arose a closed and balanced position, in which
none of the players showed any will to risk losing. Drawn agreed after 14 moves, and so happily all 60
Troll Masters participants has at least one point after six rounds.
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