Thee eight round more than any earlier one became a great victory for sensation man
Craig Hanley. By becoming the first one to defeat GM Kallio, Hanley definitely confirmed
his fourth IM-norm, and assured himself a double shot for his first GM-norm: A draw against
GM Rozentalis in the ninth round will be sufficient, and if losing then Hanley can still
make the norm by winning in the tenth round! Rozentalis did not try too hard to win against
Miezis, and so he is again only sharing the lead with Hanley - half a point ahead GMs Miezis,
Lugovoi and Ovsejewitch, following working day victories for the two latter stars today. The
opponent of Ovsejewitch was Nordahl, and following his second loss the Norwegian start rocket
now has his last chance to land on an IM-norm by getting at least half a point in the ninth
against Magnus Fäldt - who today surprisingly punished GM Westerinen for pushing a drawish
endgame too hard. 12 year old Magnus Carlsen did not manage to win a promising position
against WGM Shumiakina today, hence both of them now need 2/2 for a IM-norm. 2/2 also is
the final demand for Norway's deep south duo Bjarte Leer-Salvesen and Geir Sune Tallaksen,
who came back on the track with convincing victories today. On the lower boards new points
against ELO-rated opponents for Norwegian unrated duo Terje Torgersen and Jan Arne Bjørgvik,
and so both are guaranteed a FIDE-ELO well above all expectations.
He of course had do do it. Playing black against the top seeded on the first
board in the eight round with the first prize at stake, Normunds Miezis of Latvia of course had to play
2...Qa5?! against the c3-Sicilian. It actually was a misunderstanding: as Miezis played 2...Qa5?! because
he had seen Rozentalis writing about all other second moves black can play, but he was happily unaware
that chess perfectionist Rozentalis is writing an article about 2...Qa5?! at the moment..... Still it worked
out remarkably well: Following an early d5-break leading to a tricky piece exchange and an elimination
of all center pawns, black got a pair of bishops and a sound position, even when white kept a slight
initiative based upon the center files. Whether black was right first to play c4 and then to give up a
pawn at c4 to exchange queens is an open question. But at least it proved sufficient, as white's extra
pawn was the half of an isolated double pawn in the c-file, making no difference in the rooks and bishop
ending which was declared drawn after 24 moves.
Hanley true enough has been lucky to win several earlier games, but his
second win against a GM was a very well deserved victory of chess understanding. For some
reason unwilling to discuss theory with Kallio, Hanley when presented for a Caro-Kann
opted out with the "Fantasy-variation" of 3.f3(?!), but soon demonstrated ambitions by
castling long and establishing a massive space advantage in the center and on the kingside.
The price was to allow Kallio a queenside attack, but black's seemingly active bishops never
gave any really dangerous attack, in a heavyweight closed position with all 16 pawns left on
the board. Black's king at d7 hence turned out to be more in danger than the white one at b1.
When Kallio tried to open lines on the queenside by help of a Nc4-sacrifice and then to offer
a draw Hanley cooly left the creature hanging and the offer refused, and following a queen
exchange after 25 moves his position became more or less winning, as black had only symbolic
counterplay on the queenside. Instead of waiting for the train to come on the kingside black
sacrificed a pawn by c5, but it turned out just to lose a pawn and hasten the collapse of his
position. 1-0 after 34 moves, as black was forced to lose heavy material on his second rank.
Is IM-candidate Hanley really up to take a GM-norm? At least he played like a GM today, and
is sharing the lead with GM Rozentalis before round nine.
Possibly inspired by the teamtalkingchess of yesterday, Lugovoi today
entered his modernistic chess coat. The start was one of his strange Pirc systems, in
which black play b5-c6-d6-e6-e5, hence after 13 moves his only developed pieces where a
knight at b6 and a queen at e7. Having a sound position with the better development and
the center advantage, Molander after all should have been better at that stage. He however
overestimated his position by playing Nf3 and e5 in the next two moves, and so his position
immediately was revealed as overstretched: Having exchanged his white-squared problem with
Bg4-Bxf3 black simply took the pawn at e5, and demonstrated that white had no compensation
at all. Still smiling friendly but mysteriously Lugovoi gently offered to give back his
c-pawn, but within three moves demonstrated that his attack was the dangerous one. Molander
came close enough to sacrifice a bishop at g6 in move 31, but that close was definitely that
far away - as white immediately had to resign when black fulfilled his own attack instead of
taking the bishop.
Ovsejewitch armed with a modest Bogo-Indian opening actually might be a
nightmare opponent for a 2300-player playing for a norm: The Ukraine GM during such circumstances
may paddle around in a quiet sea for half an eternity, and getting him into hot water is nearly impossible.
Nordahl for the first time in this tournament failed in his search for complications against the titleholders,
and for the first time declared himself truly dissatisfied with his own play. The start seemed not that bad
seen from a Norwegian drawing point of view: Ovsejewitch true enough had no problems to equalize in
the opening, but the position still seemed about balanced when the third set of minor pieces left the scene
after 14 moves. For the next 14 moves black however gradually accelerated his pieces, while white gradually
fell apart. White's space advantage with f4, e4 and d4 still looked impressing after 20 moves, but black first
opened the f-file and then undermined the white center by e5 followed by c5. White proved unable to
safeguard all his weaknesses after 25 moves, and having lost two pawns he was helpful to exchange down
into a hopeless knight ending. The moment of ultimate truth is about to come for both players - Ovsejewitch
now fighting for a top prize, Nordahl "only" for an IM-norm.
Bisby probably was in danger of losing his first game today, but he still survived a six
hour tense struggle against Womacka too. Seemingly still playing for a good result more than for an IM-norm
the young English player made a slow and closed start, allowing Womacka's Sicilian to equalize without any
kind of pressure. Black on the other hand however got no advantage, even when he held a slight initiative
after realizing d5 at move 20. Bisby however later came under an unpleasant double pressure from a) the
clock and b) Womacka playing hard for a win on the kingside. Allowed to play g5 and g4, black suddenly
won an exchange for a pawn at f3 after 31 moves. As white had a sound
position and an unpleasant passed d-pawn, he still kept excellent drawing
chances in an endgame with two rooks against rook and knight after 40 moves.
The overall feeling was that an excellent endgame master as Womacka in "some way"
should be able to win this, but instead he mysteriously ended up sacrificing back the exchange
only five moves later. Playing with rook and four against rook and four, black when refusing a
draw had only the advantage of the slightly more active king, and Bisby had no great problems
keeping his position together. A final taste of excitement followed as Bisby after 60 moves was
about to run short of time for the game, but with only two queenside pawns left for black, white
proved able to exchange down to the chess Stoneage.
Surprise man Stig K optimistically went for a Dutch Leningrad set up,
but was given a lecture by a laid-back Bluvhstein. The 14 year old Canadian by sound means
established a positional pressure after exchanging black's fianchetto bishop. Having d5 against
d6 in the center and the overall better pieces, white increased the pressure both in the c-file
and on the kingside, while black spent much time without finding anything looking like counterplay.
At move 23 black felt forced to exchange an octopus knight at e6, hoping that white's pawn at e6
should later become weak, but white's dominating bishop at g2 and attacking chances on the kingside
doubted whether it at all was to become any "later" part of the game. Black actually was allowed to take
the e6-pawn at move 30, but his king then was in triple trouble. Having hunted the king to g5 Bluvshtein
elegantly decided by sacrificing his rook at h5, and hence Stig K was mate in the next move when formally
losing on time at move 40.
Magnus joined today's fashion of very tight Sicilian suits, and
playing an ambitious set-up with d6-e6-Nd4-f5, Shumiakina first seemed to equalize.
Following exchanges of the a- and b-pawns Shumiakina however lost touch with the
position in the early middlegame - allowing Magnus to establish a clear positional
grip as black was left with backward pawns at c6 and e6, while white controlled the
e5-square and played with a good knight against a bad bishop. Exchanging queens
probably was fine from a white point of view, but later he became to kind especially
when allowing black to free her position by realizing c5. The endgame with rook and
knight against rook and bishop offered possibilities for some interesting runs, as
white might be allowed to win the whole black kingside against letting her passed
c-pawn advance. But probably it was just drawn due to the rules about balance of
terror, and just after 40 moves white forced a drawn rook endgame with three against
three pawns. Black still had a passed c-pawn, but immediately accepted a draw as she
had to give white three connected passed pawns on the kingside if trying to advance
the c-pawn.
Following two losses in a row Kovalevskaya was in a more patient mood
today, and hence she made a slow start with a closed Old Indian opening. Probably Kovalevskaya
demonstrated her superb understanding in the middlegame, when allowing white to dominate the
queenside in exchange for a kingside initiative based upon the e4-pawn. True enough white came
fast in the c-file, but while white found nothing to bite black steadily advanced on the kingside. Black
was probably winning at the latest when allowed to win pawn at f4 just before 30 moves, as the white
king on h1 later was in deep trouble. Probably black could have won even faster by a direct attack in
the g-file, but with Harestad fighting a desperate two front war against the clock and Kovalevskaya,
black first picked up some more pawns and then decided by a direct attack in the g-file just in time
for 40 moves.
This was a closed Sicilian, which following some creative pawn exchanges
ended up with an isolani position offering black at least equal chances. Black probably came better
when later allowed to exchange his b7 pawn against the white isolani at d4, as white's double b-pawn
later became a permanent weakness. Black due to that permanent weakness looked permanently
better in the rooks and knight ending presented after 27 moves, as white lacked a counterattacking
target. As white had active pieces a long struggle still was expected, but very surprisinly it was all to
be over before 40 moves - due to mate! Gambäck creatively tried to pseudo-sacrifice an exchange
to reach a rook ending with better drawing chances, but his combination was refuted as Agopov due
to white's weak first rank could move his rook from a threatened square at b7 to a threatened square
at e7, with a killing counterthreat against Re1. Realizing that he had fooled no one but himself, Gambäck
still had humour to deliver a stiff smile while allowing the mate at e1 - while Agopov's smile was a truly
happy one, as he finally proved able to defeat a 2200-player.
No one doubts Fäldt's capacity on a sunny day, but his win as black
against a GM still was a small sensation at a Gausdal covered by snow today. The only
sensational part of the game however was the endgame, as the opening and the middlegame
hardly contained any dramatic moments at all. Heikki went for a modest 3.Bb5+-variation
against Fäldt's Sicilian, and having saluted off the opening by exchanging one pair of
knights and the queens at d4, the players reached a balanced position known from French
as well as Sicilian. Fäldt probably showed good understanding when accepting a small
disruption of his pawn structure to exchange white squared bishops at c6 - the "weakness"
of the queenside pawns was never demonstrated, while black kept a slight initiative
during the later part of the middlegame. The ending with knight and four against knight
and four looked very drawish, even when black was slightly better thanks to his more
active king and his pawn majority on the kingside. Heikki however still played for a
win, and he did so in a very strange way: While his knight went all the way around with
Ne3-Nf1-Nh2-Nf1-Ne3-Nc2-Na3-Nb5 for no obvious reason, black very understandably mobilized
his king and knight to escort the kingside majority, and with the white knight stuck on
b5 he succeeded to promote the f-pawn just after 40 moves. Congratulations to Fäldt;
I have no idea what happened in/with Heikki's mind during this endgame, but even when
feeling sorry for him I am happy to know that such blackout may hit GMs too...
Via 1.c4 Nf6 play transposed into a semi-Slav Meran, in which Stokke
unexpectedly was the one to leave the theory's main battlefields. Out on their own the players
found a positionally complex position in which black had an appearently strong pair of bishops,
but in which white still held the advantage as he got an octopus knight at e6 as well as play in the
c- and e-files. Having wasted much time without finding any good plan, black was anyway facing
an unpleasant attack when he decided to give up his queen for rook, bishop and pawn after 34
moves. Highly unfortunate seen from a Bergen point of view, white still had a decisive kingside
initiative. Leer-Salvesen just before 40 moves missed a couple of chances to take a pawn at e5
with decisive threats against the black king, but true to his pragmatic style he still found a one
way driven road to an easily winning ending with an exchange extra. Stokke is still ahead of his
schedule for a good result, but Leer-Salvesen still has a schedule for an IM-norm - even when
it is a strained one.
Fortunately we still have some foreigners coming to Norway on a chess
visa, not knowing and not getting to know that they must never play a Semi-Slav against
the "Meran trio" from Porsgrunn.... It of course accelerated the problems that Poulsen
seemingly mixed up at least two variations to end up with the problems from both: Having
allowed white to open the c-file by exchanging knights at d5 and then to force the black
queen to a7 by a well timed a5, black was more or less positionally lost after 14 moves.
An inspired Geir Sune later left nothing to the fantasy of the onlookers, first intervening
via the c-file and then pseudo-sacrificing a knight at g5, and before 30 moves reached a
rook and minor piece ending in which the best thing to say about the black position was
that he was two pawns down: While white had a rook on the seventh rank and a dominating
bishop, black was left with lame ducks disguised as a knight at b8 and a rook at h8. It
all lasted 48 moves only because black insisted on playing out a totally lost endgame.
While Poulsen still looked too shocked to say anything at all when leaving the venue,
Geir Sune willingly stayed to discuss his IM-norm chances.
Via 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 this transposed into a Queen's gambit Chigorin. As an
unprepared Hole refused to discuss the sharp variations he probably did not know how to enter,
he first got approximately nothing in a slow variation. Berg however became too careless when
playing 11...Qf7?, allowing white to get the pair of bishops and a pleasant pressure by a tactical
12.Ng5!. Following a piece exchange at c6 two moves later white looked clearly better, due to
black's smelling queenside pawns. White's plan for an infiltration on the kingside however turned
out to be the wrong way around, as he in the end could do nothing better with his knight at f7 than
to repair the black pawn structure by exchanging at d6. Playing with two rooks and bishop against
two rooks and knight Hole still looked slightly better, but having lost most of his inspiration as well
as most of his structural advantage he offered a draw at move 28. I had been wondering how it
should be possible to draw Berg, but for him like for Shumiakina, a worse ending of course helps a lot....
The beginning was a standard French Tarrasch position in which black
should have no problems as he was allowed to transport his bad bishop all the way around
from c8 via g6 to e4, but white still stayed slightly better due to black's backward
e6-pawn. In the later part of the middlegame, black however should have enough play
in the f-file to compensate for the e6 weakness. The queen exchange after 35 moves became
the beginning not of the end, but of complicated endgames which were to follow the players
for 40 moves more. After exchanging the white squared bishops the players when getting
one hour more for the game had a probably about balanced ending, with two rooks and one
knight on each side. Although the initiative seemed promising black was probably wrong
to give the pawn at e6, but if so white was wrong to give the pawn back at d4 a few moves
later. The next stage was a new ending with rook and knight on each side, materially
balanced but positionally unbalanced as white had a three against one majority on the
kingside, while black held a running d-pawn and a blocked queenside majority. White first
seemed better, but consequently underestimated the d-pawn until he suddenly had to sacrifice
the knight upon it. Later both players had less than five minutes left for the game, but
ICC-veteran Svensen helped by his extra knight had no problems to pick up the remaining
white pawns. This was a game Charleshouse at his best would have won, but as nothing works
for him at the moment he instead lost - while overworked bulletin slave Svensen actually
has a 2200-performance, a 2100-ELO and a score above 50 % within reach two rounds before
the end.
Six moves. Berning was suspected to be planning to defeat Bøyum
Fossum by help of his own means, as he surprisingly started the day with a slow and patient
English system. The plan however turned out to be just to get a day off after the marathon
game of round seven, and this of course fell in excellent with Bøyum Fossum's plans about
a skiing afternoon.
My expectations were for a game more entertaining than accurate,
but I still felt that this was to overdo. Johansen's decision to exchange his fianchetto
bishop at g7 for a simple knight at c3 might have been correct, as white then got truly
bad-looking queenside pawns. Black's later plan about playing Ng4 just to exchange that
knight against the white knight at d4, however was dubious in every possible perspective.
White repaired his pawn structure and achieved an overwhelming center by walking
straightforward to take what was hanging in front of him, and could have had an
even more pleasant advantage if he had remembered not to open the h-file for black's
heavy pieces. Despite the h-file, white kept a clear initiative all the way into an
ending with two rooks and one different coloured bishop on each side. Having hauled
the h-file on the kingside and established a passed a-pawn on the queenside, white
still looked better in the rook and bishop ending after 30 moves. Even when he had
minimized the advantage then, white having a passed pawn at a5 still refused a draw at
move 36. Then the counterattacking devil within Paul Johansen however stepped forward:
He achieved counterplay against white's king and pawns on the kingside, and at move 40
refused a draw even though he had absolutely no winning plan. Feeling depressed and/or
desperate Nygren instead of inviting for a repetition of moves afterwards gave up his
g-pawn, allowing black not only to win a pawn, but also to establish the more dangerous
passed pawn of the position. Even with an extra passed pawn at g2, Johansen however had
great difficulties to win because of the different coloured bishops and the disturbing
white a-pawn. Probably it was a draw before white just blundered his f-pawn at move 54;
and probably Nygren afterwards still had drawing chances, after all - but then he felt
too depressed and/or confused to continue.
Lönngren gave his Catalan a second try, and as Nolsøe played first slightly
inaccurate when placing the bishop at d6 instead of e7, and then played slow by inserting h6,
white came better after realizing e4. His advantage however proved lasting more than killing,
and as black defended solidly white held only a slight intiative all the way during a
middlegame having the exchanges as the highlights. White still had enough to play on with
rook and the fianchetto bishop against rook and a knight, even when his queenside majority
was difficult to realize. Black during time pressure at move 37 made a mistake which allowed
white to intervene on the queenside and to win a pawn, but having missed that chance Lönngren
had less than ever before after 40 moves. Allowed to activate his pieces on the kingside and
to close off the white bishop diagonal by e4 black even came better just after 50 moves, but
the overall conclusion still was drawish. The end seemed close after 60 moves, when black
having sacrificed his e-pawn got back the g-pawn and settled for a drawn rook ending with
only two pawns for each player. For unknown reason both players however played on, and when
both came short of time for the game they finally managed to make it exciting: Lönngren in
particular should be mentioned for making several risky decisions in a totally dead rook
ending with e-pawn against h-pawn, and indeed nearly managed to lose it. Having run away
from the control on the black h-pawn, he in the end held a draw by a one tempo margin
after having to sacrifice his rook - with both flags raised, just before move 100.
The result was a surprise as Valenti has been solid and good so far,
but by far no sensation as an inspired Ask is playing well above his ELO. White refused the
Sveshnikov challenge to go for an unambitious 3.Bb5-variation, but following a Bxc6-exchange
chances first seemed balanced, as white's better pawn structure and black's weakened kingside
should compensate the pair of bishops. Valenti however made a truly strange decision when
playing d4, allowing black to exchange one of his c-pawns against a center pawn and to open
up the position for his bishops. Later black held the initative, and increased it as the position
became all the more open. Both played for a kingside attack, but black's g-file soon turned
out to be more important than white's curiously placed knights at h4 and h5 (!?). Black's
decision to give up an exchange to hit in at g2 almost certainly was a good one, as a powerful
e5-break later increased the pressure upon white. Ask elegantly decided by pseudo-sacrificing
his queen, to end up with two pieces for a rook in a totally won endgame, in which his powerful
bishops still dominated the board.
This probably was among the lower middle strata interesting games of the day.
Bjørn-Erik's Caro-Kann fianchetto was not well trimmed today, as an early Nxf6+ exf6 left white with
the better pawn structure AND the better pieces. Hörbing however at the important crossroads was
unwilling to run hard for a win, hence his advantage remained on a modest level through a steem of
exchanges. After exchanging queens black finally got the chance to introduce his bishop at g7 to the
board by playing f5, and suddenly having the best pawn structure too, he finally had an advantage
within reach when accepting a draw after 27 moves.
Even another strange way of playing Sicilian. It all started as a Scheveningen
in which white castled long and established a space advantage having the size of North America on the
kingside, but according to the usual Sicilian laws that did not matter too much, as black had a half-open
c-file on the queenside. A complex tension arose as black played d5 to answer e5 with Ne4, leaving the
center heavily overpopulated. I can very much understand that black worried about his king, but he should
have thought about that before playing 1...c5 - kings are born to be wild in this opening! Castling long by
black looked mad and/or genius to say the least - as white had not weakened his queenside pawns at all,
while black had done nothing except trying to open up lines on the queenside. Having evacuated the king
to a8 black still got some attacking chances in the b-file, and so it all seemed open before the expected
time trouble duel. Then black however collapsed, and made too much wrong even for a Sicilian.
Sacrificing a knight at a2 was creative but dubious, following up by a5 afterwards just dubious -
and so black's king just after 30 moves finally died in the lines black himself had opened up.
White played f4 but hesitated to advance further on the kingside in this Sicilian
Scheveningen, and rewarded with the slightly better pieces and a center advantage he refused a draw at
move 10. Playing consequently upon activity Bjørgvik however realized e5 and was probably correct to
sacrifice that pawn just afterwards, as his counterpressure on the queenside regained the pawn within a
few moves. White later held only a slight edge as he had slightly the better pieces in the middlegame and
the better pawn structure in the rook and bishop endgame. Unwilling to stand a long defending game
Bjørgvik however sacrificed his g-pawn to exchange white's passed d-pawn, and made a secure landing
into a rook ending in which white's two pawns against one on the kingside gave him no winning chances.
This result was of course a small sensation, even when Torgersen has been well above his rating
and Simonsen well below his so far. The start was a modest one with a standard French Tarrasch position, in which
black's f-file and attacking chances on the kingside probably compensated fully for his backward pawn at e6. White
played by far too carelessly when allowing Ng4 followed by Bh2+, probably overlooking and/or underestimating
Nxf2+ as the critical third stage of black's attacking plan. With the knight present at f2, white soon concluded it
forced to return the piece. Having two more pawns and still the better king Torgersen should be winning anyway,
but he continued his dynamic and respectless play by a thematic e5-break - sacrificing a pawn at d5 with check
to hot the water around the white king even more with a bishop sacrifice at h3. The ultimate exclamation mark
was the third sacrifice delivered at f3 at move 28, mating the white king at e4 in move 30. If warned about this
game in advance Simonsen had probably never left the Faroe Islands, but Torgersen used his chances in a
brilliant and instructive way, and is well en route for a FIDE-ELO around 2200 (!?).
The closed and slow Hammer system of today was a King's Indian Advance.
Black reacted all the more ambitiously by playing c5, e5 and f5 within the first four moves. As white
became too careful black probably came even better from the opening, but he definitely made the
chess sin of becoming too ambitious when playing Ng4 to pseudo-sacrifice his knight at f2 just after
10 moves. True enough black came a pawn up after regaining the piece in the f-file, but as his own
king became the more exposed one white got at least sufficient compensation. Black in the end returned
the pawn to exchange down into a double rook ending which probably was drawn, but in which both
players could play for a win. Black offered to give his queenside pawns to advance his passed e-pawn,
but short of time white preferred to keep his rooks active. Unander might have played on the time but
gently played what he considered the best moves, allowing white to take out a perpetual check after
30 moves. 12 year old Hammer has demonstrated a great mental strength by making himself an
excellent tournament despite the difficult start, while Unander still is struggling hard to make an
acceptable result out of this skiing tour.
Karlsen invited to make this apartment meeting a Notebom party, but
instead landed in a working day Dutch Stonewall as white played 4.Qc2. White was
allowed to bolster e5 and establish a queenside advantage with c5 without risking any
earthquakes on the kingside. Failing to find counterplay on the kingside black
instead made a desperate try for counterplay on the queenside with a5, but ended up
just opening the b-file for white. True enough white's bishop at h2 later did not
make much of a difference, but on the other hand black had two mummified bishops at
d8 and c8. If having winning ambitions white very well could have played on instead
of accepting a draw after 27 moves, as his main problem still was to chose whether
to playing out his clear advantage on the queenside or kingside. But fair enough:
Karlsen deserves some small discount following his unlucky games earlier in the
tournament, and Larsen did not complain to draw a 2100-player.
No odds for a draw in this game, but still it was a game. The start
was a Scandinavian with 2...Qxd5. Black got a solid position, but having d4 against e6 in the
center and the pair of bishop, white still held a pleasant initiative. Instead of sitting on his positional
edge white however first started a pawnstorm on the kingside by g4 and f3, and then castled short,
and following a c5-break black having the more sound position looked slightly better when a draw
was agreed just before 20 moves.
Korhonen is still in a "desperate-to-win" stage of his tournament, and so
went for a Benkö-gambit. White took on a6, hence black got standard compensation based on
the a- and b-file and the bishops at a6 and g7. Black got more than enough compensation when
allowed to park a knight at e5, and then to intervene with a bishop on d3. Bue definitely was
wrong to exchange queens afterwards, as black's advantage was beyond dispute when he got
back the pawn at b2. White's resignation after 22 moves came surprisingly early, but as white's
a-pawn was dying too black had an overwhelming position at that stage.
Via 1.c4 g6 play transposed into a Ukraine-indian defence,
in which white's pair of bishops and kingside initiative first gave him the
advantage, as black failed to get any attack against the white c-pawns. Although
black's king remained airy at f7, black by mobilizing his heavy pieces in the g-file
disputed who was attacking on the kingside - while white's consequent plan was not
to find any plan. As white obviously having lost the touch with his pieces first
evacuated all the boys except his majesty from the kingside and then failed to
find any plan on the queenside too, black got all the time necessary to get a
decisive intervention in the g- and h-file just before 40 moves. Johansen reportedly
was asked to show up an identity card outside the playing venue after losing his fourth
game in a row, while Nilsen defeated his first rated opponent today can still reach a
sensible ELO-norm.
Johansson as usually played a Slav against 1.d4, and as usually made no
try to keep the pawn at c4. White's center later gave her at best a slight plus, and her ambitious
d5-break only helped to give black counterplay in the d-file and the diagonal g1-a7. Having
survived the immediate dangers white kept the position roughly balanced until 25 moves, but
then she refused to realize tactical dangers in the b-file until losing a piece upon them. Johansson
later demonstrated good technique, and had no problems to demonstrate the win before 40 moves.
Another draw fully in accordance with the bookmaker's predictions.
This one came without too many exciting moments, as both the gentlemen are sensible players
seemingly having lost their hopes of winning a game. Knudsen's King's Indian Advance was a
pancake one, and allowed to save a tempo by playing e5 in one move, black had no problems
equalizing. The horizon was confirmed when black gave up his center advantage to reach a
symmetrical and truly drawish king's pawn center, even when he at the same move refused
a draw offer. White held a potential advantage in the form of two bishops for some moves,
but having exchanged one of the bishops he at best had a tiny edge because of the d-file in
the "final" position after 21 moves.
This non-draw was not at all in accordance with the bookmaker's
predicitions, but reportedly was a result of strange communication problems within the family:
Although both were satisfied with a draw, the father and the son mysteriously both thought
their opponent was playing for a win, and so would not insult him by offering a draw(?!).
Black Bryn was probably fine from a locally produced Pirc opening, as white Bryn wasted
time playing Nf3-Ng5-Nf3 without having achieved anything more than a slight h6-weakening
of the black kingside. Junior however became too ambitious when playing both g5 and f5 later,
as black's king on g7 turned out to be more exposed than the white colleague at g1. White
Bryn also had a strong outpost at e5, but exchanging two pieces at e5 probably was a mistake
by Black Bryn, as white's e5-pawn and pair of bishops later preserved his attacking chances.
Most of white's advantage however disappeared in one move when he exchanged queens,
as black's king could relax much better afterwards. Unfortunately for junior his king relaxed
too much, overlooking a tactical e6-break winning a piece for white. Daddy was kind enough
to only take an exchange, but on the other hand evil enough to take home the endgame
without offering any child discount.
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