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The first winner of round nine was confirmed within half an hour of play, when Magnus Fäldt after thinking for 20
minutes accepted FM Helge A Nordahl's early draw offer, and at the same handshake congratulated the 27 year old
Norwegian with his first IM-norm. The second norm candidate was much less successful: Although looking just as
laid back and relaxed as he usually is, Hanley unexpectedly had his black out game of the tournament, and was more
or less ready for delivery after 19 moves against Rozentalis. Third seeded GM Normunds Miezis surprisingly played on
and won in impressing style against second seeded GM Alexei Lugovoi, hence Rozentalis still has to win in the last
round to confirm his first place. Chances for an exciting finish seems excellent as Rozentalis to win alone needs a
win as black against GM Sergei Ovsejewitch, while the Ukrainian hope following a draw against IM Mark Bluvshtein today
needs a victory against Rozentalis to share the first place/prize. Alone in the second seat Miezis needs a win against
Hanley to have chances for winning the tournament, while Hanley needs a win against Miezis to take his first GM-norm.
Shumiakina and Tallaksen not unexpectedly played on against each other until having only h-pawn against h-pawn in the
pawn endgame, but unable to overcome the opponents endgame strength, both now have lost this chance for an IM-norm.
Still in the fight for a norm however is FM Magnus Carlsen, who remarkably easy defeated FM Bjarte Leer-Salvesen as
black today - but the 12 year old still needs another win as black against Bluvshtein tomorrow. Terje Torgersen defeated
another 2200-player today, and hence an ELO even above 2200 might be within reach for the low speaking Norwegian
1700-player.
The first board unfortunately became the anti-climax of the ninth round - it was the second game of the round to finish,
and well before two hours it was clear to everyone that we would not get any GM-norm today. The start was a traditional
French Tarrasch variation, in which black's f-file and piece play nearly should compensate for his backward e6-pawn and
the white outpost at e5. Hanley slightly unusually placed his knight at h5 instead of at g4 in move 13, and following a
knight exchange weakened his kingside by h6 without being forced to. Mobilizing for an intervention at h7 by Bb1 and Qd3
white looked better after 18 moves, but firstly the queen intervention at h7 would not be decisive and secondly black
prevent it an offensive way by 18...g5!?. Instead he however much too carelessly made a blackout with the positionally
natural 18...Bd7??, which was losing tactically to the blow 19.Ne5!. Chess headmaster Rozentalis gave no mercy when
pointing out the mistake, hence a shocked Hanley stopped the clock after 23 moves, finally realizing that he was about
to lose about a rook. Rozentalis is in control of the first place before the last round; Hanley following this collapse
today needs a win tomorrow to reach his first GM-norm.
I might actually have affected this result, but if so it was very much accidently and indirectly.
As Miezis was very ironically surprised and much too thankful to get white against a GM (as he shockingly enough had
black in two of his three earlier games against GMs), I remarked that he should actually be happy every time he gets
black against a GM, as he then does not have to waste a white upon drawing them - after which Miezis of course had to
declare that he would make a win as white against Lugovoi.... Although the Latvian played for a win as white, odds for
him to succeed seemed modest during the first part of the game. Via 1.c4 Nf6 the players reached an isolani position
similar to a Queen's gambit Tarrasch, but during better conditions for black as white had used two tempos on playing
Qxd4-Qa4. Black nearly looked better when getting the pair of bishops at move 13, but as he later returned a bishop and
advanced his isolani pawn to d4, white probably was slightly better in the later part of the middle game. The ending with
two rooks on each side and different coloured bishops still looked very drawish, and Miezis toyed with a repetition around
move 26-27. Ahead on the clock and having the slightly better pieces he however gave his chess intelligence another try,
and got the necessary help to establish black pawn weaknesses at b6 and h6. Lugovoi tried to defend actively by exchanging
his isolani and then advance his b-pawn, but setting the b-pawn into motion became the beginning of the end for him:
As against Leer-Salvesen demonstrating the power of opposite coloured bishops as an attacking weapon Miezis immediately
switched to attacking black's vital f7-pawn, correctly realizing that the threats against the black king would decide
before the b-pawn made any difference. When having one minute left for move 40 Lugovoi could have reached b3, but
realizing that white's threats against f7 were decisive, he stopped the clock instead of starting the pawn. Miezis
can still win the first prize, while Lugovoi following his second loss needs a win in the last round to get any prize.
Having been untrue with a regular Tarrasch in his last try against a d4-opening (and getting beaten up),
Bluvshtein today returned to his Swedish love with 9...c4 today. Ovsejewitch did not know or did not want to test the
critical variations seeking to destroy black's pawn structure on the queenside, hence Bluvhstein was allowed to equalize
completely by realizing c5. The players later had downhill to a very drawish ending with two rooks and one bishop on each
side, and called it a day even before the endgame had started. Bluvshtein actually has been solid as black against the
GMs, but less lucky against the lower rated players he still needs a win in the last round to reach an acceptable result.
Ovsejewitch needed a win today to candidate for an unshared first prize, but getting his try as white against
Rozentalis in round ten he can still reach a shared first prize.
Needing a win to reach a prize, Kovalevskaya stubbornly played the King's Indian even when Kallio
insisted upon a Reti. The outcome of this culture clash became pleasant from a black point of view, as her space
advantage in the center and on the kingside looked more important than white's modest play on the queenside. Indeed
white found the b-file empty and his advanced pawn on c5 weaker than the black one at c6, and as the center remained
closed with a black advantage of e5-d4 against e4-d3, white's pair of bishops did not even give him equal chances.
Having exchanged all rooks and some pawns black actually won the pawn at c5 just after 30 moves. Black's extra c-pawn
however was difficult to realize with only four pawns against three, as white's barking pair of bishops was hard to come
across. Black was principally probably wrong to exchange queens just after 40 moves, as she earlier got nowhere and
afterwards absolutely nowhere. In the end white simply marched his king to c4 to win back the pawn still waiting at
c5 and force a draw at move 60.
Sicilian Dragon part I. Womacka castled long, but then went for a somewhat safer edge with Kb1 and
Nd5 instead of running his pawns on the kingside. White looked slightly better during the first three minor pieces
exchanges and clearly better following the fourth, as he was then allowed to exchange at f5, leaving black with one
g-pawn too little and one f-pawn too much. Molander however played consequently for activity with his heavy pieces on
the kingside. White still looked better after exchanging queen and intervening with his rook at e7, but having got back
the pawn at a3 black had a disturbing rook pressure against b2 and a threatening a-pawn waiting at a4. Realizing that
he had underestimated the black counterplay, Womacka reacted strongly by doubling his rooks on the seventh rank. His
threats probably made it necessary for black to take out a perpetual check, even when black then had won pawns at b2
and d5. At least that is what black did. Chess mountain Womacka unlike last year does not succeed realizing his small
advantages this year, while chess wind Molander like last year has managed to make a good tournament out of a difficult
start.
Sicilian Dragon part II including Yugoslav attack. Agopov castled long and invited for an all out
attacking run, but Bisby turned down the speed by a seldom seen b5-sacrifice at move 13. Black basically gives up a
pawn to exchange queens, claiming that the b- and c-file even without queens will give him attacking compensation.
Still being a chess dogmatic I am at least 75% sceptical, but probably unprepared Agopov failed to find anything
convincing. Unwilling to allow black to play a4 he ended up first to play a4 himself, then to play b3 to protect a4,
and then to give back the pawn at a4 and allow black to play a4 anyway. Later black had the more threatening pieces,
but lacking any clear attacking plan to achieve anything more, he settled for an exchange sacrifice forcing a perpetual
check just after 30 moves. Even a Sicilian obviously cannot help Bisby to win more games, but on the other hand even a
Dragon obviously cannot get him to lose any game....
First semi-final for an IM-norm. As both players needed a win and as both are patient
endgame experts, odds were about one for a long and tight game. Not interested in discussing Catalan theory
Shumiakina played 5.Qa4+?! and 6.Qxc4, allowing black to equalize by tricking his bishop problem around to
c6. Black was qualified to realize c5 just afterwards, but probably should have continued to exchange at d4.
Not willing to give up a tempo by capturing back on c5 after having played Be7, he instead spent the next five
moves upon getting the pawn back, and when black finally succeeded white still held a pressure. Shumiakina
however played inconsequently when first sacrificing a pawn at a4, and then not testing a Nb6-fork which would
have forced black to give up either an exchange or a queen for a rook and knight. Whether black later was forced
to return the pawn is still open to be analyzed, but as he did so a more or less balanced ending with rook and
two minor pieces for each player appeared. Black creatively sacrificed a pawn at f5 to get active pieces and to
start advancing his queenside majority, and following two tricky exchanges white was forced to sacrifice her bishop
on the black a-pawn. Black however had problems to get his knight into play again and/or to win with two against
four pawns on the kingside. Probably black never had any win, and having transported the knight from a1 to h3, he
sacrificed it back to reach a dead pawn ending. King and h-pawn against king and h-pawn became too much (or too
little) even for this couple of endgame marathon runners, hence they after 60 moves buried the game and the norm chances.
Second semi-final for an IM-norm. Both players declared themselves moderate optimists, but black
got the relaxing price for writing "White: Bompi. Black: Who do you expect?" on his scoresheet. Via 1.c4 Nf6 play
transposed into a Catalan, in which a hot Magnus temporary sacrificed a pawn at c5 to establish advanced pawns at
d4 and e5 before ten moves. White on the other hand played too carefully especially with 12.h3?!, and after 14 moves
found himself forced to join a carousel of tactics giving black an exchange for a pawn after a queen exchange. As white's
extra pawn was a passed pawn at c6 and as he had active pieces, black's advantage was not obvious even when white at move
24 had to give up the pair of bishops by exchanging at f6. Black succeded to transfer one of his rooks around to e1 to keep
pressure on the key pawn at e2, but as white's bishop at f3 without losing the balance defended e2 and supported c6, matters
still were far from clear after 28 moves. About to run seriously short of time in a still sensitive position, Leer-Salvesen
however bankrupted himself completely beetween move 28 and 33 - first misplacing his rook on b3, then leaving the defence
of e2 to advance his c-pawn, and then blundering the c-pawn at c7 by missing Bd6+. Magnus efficiently cashed in everything
he could possibly get out of the chess bank, and after 33 moves had turned the first of the two final stones. He will not
get it that easy against Bluvshtein, but it is the best result ever done by a 12 year old Norwegian anyway.
Nordahl needing a draw as black to make his IM-norm was extremely happy to avoid Russian endgame
entusiasts and could hardly have been more lucky with the playing system, as surprising man Fäldt would give Nordahl
a performance of 2451 in case of a draw. Still having no intentions to slow down his play Nordahl went for his King's
Indian. Fäldt entered a Classical, but declared himself uninterested in sharp theoretical discussions by playing the
modest 6.h3. Nordahl then threw out two more theory moves and one draw offer. Having no norm chances and a good result
anyway Fäldt replied that he would like to think about it, but having done so with a maximum of attention from other
players for nearly 20 minutes, he finally stopped the clock to congratulate Nordahl with his first IM-norm! No complaints
and a final congratulation from the organiser for this short draw, as Nordahl having drawn one GM and IM and defeated one
GM clearly deserves the norm.
Paul Johansen's black openings are as exciting every time: This one was a normal Old Indian for four
moves, but then black went experimental by playing g6 to take back at f5 with the g-pawn. Having the pair of bishops and
the better pawn structure white looked clearly better afterwards. His e4-break at move 9 however might have been
overambitious, at least when he afterwards allowed black to complicate by an exchange sacrifice at g5. As black had two
pawns and a sound position for the exchange, it was not clear that white had any advantage at all after his move 19.
Black's move then however was a blunder, allowing white to win a pawn by a nice tactical stroke at f5 - or just to get a
strong attack by Qf3, which was probably even better. Martinsen stroke at f5 and following a queen exchange got two rooks,
one bishop and five pawns against rook, bishop, knight and six pawns. He however still had a long winning road to walk,
as his kingside pawn majority was difficult to advance. While white spent much time without finding any good plan black
started up counterplay in the center to activate his pieces, hence even the advantage again was in doubt after 40 moves.
Just afterwards Johansen for mysterious reasons however first gave up his b5-pawn in the air, and then allowed white to
intervene in the f-file to pick up his vital h6-pawn. Playing with an exchange and a pawn more and having two connected
passed pawns on the kingside white later had no problems realizing the win, even when black fought on until blundering
a piece too at move 60. Johansen claimed to have had chances until his third blunder today, but did not deny the basic
problem..... Stig K did not deny being very satisfied with this result even in case of a last round loss.
In this underdogs' meeting black invited for a Najdorf duel, but white opted out for a small
advantage by playing 6.a4. Following a later Nd5-exchange white was left with a protected passed pawn at d5 and the
pair of bishops, but having the better coordination and a sound position black had about equal chances. White made an
important mistake when allowing an e4-break at move 21, because even when white got a center pawn for his h-pawn, his
king later turned out to be in lasting heat, and black's knight on e4 proved clearly superb to the remaining white bishop.
Still working overtime to save his king, white nevertheless was alive until missing a decisive h-file attack after 35
moves. Berg at move 36 missed a knight sacrifice forcing mate in three, but instead found a mate in six at move 37 -
and is still ahead of Stig K as the underrated nighmare opponent of the middle boards.
As black played h6 to force an exchange at f6 white was allowed to establish a center advantage.
Black however still made the better understanding, as the following French-alike position was even more pleasant for
black than an ordinary French, as white had no black-squared bishops and black an active pair of bishops. Having realized
both f6 and c5 just after the opening black got promising play in both the f- and c-file, and a sudden funeral was
predicted when white felt forced to give up the pawn at e5 just after 20 moves. Maybe Heikki could have kept the queens
to play for a direct attack, and maybe he played inaccuratly in the ending just afterwards. But having an extra pawn and
two passed pawns in the center black should be winning in the ending with one rook and differenct coloured bishops on each
side, and via the a-file he still managed to break the white blockade just after 40 moves. Heikki however still needs
three more wins against Tarjei to have the better relative result.
Hole tried to sneak in the Semi Slav queue by smuggling his bishop to f5 before playing e6, and having the h-file and the better pawn structure he looked fine even when Bjørn-Erik with Nh4-Nxg6
in accordance with the theory achieved monopol upon the pair of bishops. A few moves later black went for a pseudo-rook-sacrifice at h2 giving him three pawns for a piece. As white had difficult to open up the position for his bishops black's pair of knights probably was stronger, but still a dogmatian like me consider white to be better. Following some exchanges the position probably was about balanced after 24 moves. At move 25, usually conservative Bjørn-Erik tried to make a revolution by sacrifice a piece for two pawns at e6, but nearly ended up in jail himself: Further uprisings failed to materalize around the black king, while black's extra h-pawn turned out to be both a passed pawn and an attacking threat against the white king. Black might have missed some winning chances between move 28 and 36, when he exchanged queens to get knight and three against knight and two. With all pawns on the queenside the knight endgame was not too inspiring from a white point of view, but on the other hand he had a straightforward defence and a drawn position with reduced material. Not having made any progress when having five minutes left for the game, Hole in the end tried to make up a new wheel by sacrificing his c-pawn to get nack the white a-pawn, but having plenty of time and a steady defending hand, Bjørn-Erik just sacrificed his knight to get rid of the remaining black pawns.
Today's Stokke was the 1.d4 one, but for some reason he was not interested in discussing sharp
Benkö-variations with an unpredictable Faroe Island player. Refusing the gambit by 4.Nf3, white having the center
advantage, the pair of bishops and the better pawn structure, still looked slightly better in the first part of the
middle game - even taking into consideration that such details usually do not matter in the Benkö. In a complex position
both players spent much time trying to get to know, white was probably overambitious to speed up by e5-e6, as his
compensation looked dubious when the d-pawn went lost just afterwards. Seriously short of time for 40 moves black
at move 27 picked up another pawn by tactical means at g4, and unaffected by a raised flag as well as a desperate
white queen sacrifice, black went on to deliver mate at move 36. I had the feeling that the better fighter defeated
the better chess theoretician today, but that of course is a part of the game.
Of course among the surprises of the day, this result in round nine still was not the sensation
it would have been in round one. Via 1.Nf3 played transposed into a Kan Sicilian, which white immediately tried to get
out of by playing 3.c4. Out on their own both players castled short to play on the queenside. Black probably made too
many natural moves, but having active bishops and a half-open c-file, he according to the Sicilian laws should be at
least "not worse", and refused a draw offer at move 14. When black two moves later realized b5, white however hit back
by b4 followed by a tactical a4, and black spent 45 minutes without finding the critical answer to the pawn sacrifice.
As he allowed white to take on b5 the white b-pawn became the only one left on the queenside, and the board soon came to
turn around this isolani/passed pawn. The moment of truth seemed close after 30 moves, as the pawn reaching b6 seemed
about either to promote or to disappear. Black surprisingly was the one to break apart, as he when taking the pawn missed
a double attack based upon his weak first rank. Torgersen looked nervous but cashed in a piece, and later had less than
no problems to decide in a queen and bishops ending with an extra bishop. Torgersen sensationally will get a FIDE-ELO
close to 2200 even if losing in the last round, while the best thing to report from Berning today was that he did not
lose any more FIDE-ELO.
I very much believe in Bøyum boy, but he would be even more promising if not giving away all his
white advantages by playing the English Botvinnik. Obviously much more eager to win Hans Krogh went for an ambitious
King's Indian set-up, and got an active position for free within ten moves. Just afterwards white suddenly tried to
speed up, but unfortunately he then speeded up too much - first giving black a nice outpost by playing f4, and then
running into a nice Nxg4+!-sacrifice when playing g4. Following a slow track on the clock but a fast one on the board
black did not hesitate to use the chance, and getting back the piece within five moves he got as rent a pawn and a
lasting initiative. Obviously feeling inspired black went on to create a new attack based upon the d-file and his
active pair of bishops, winning material just after 30 moves and delivering a mate at move 36.
Although Andersen slightly improved his opening by playing Modern instead of Pirc, Nolsøe obviously
having seen the game Poulsen-Andersen (probably several times) tried to transpose into some kind of King's Indian Sämisch.
But obviously able to learn from his mistakes Andersen gave no white jackpot this time - allowed to play c5 and cxd4 before
Nc6, he was probably healthy from the opening. Black however played ambivalent and without any plan in the early middle
game, hence white was allowed to get a space advantage on the kingside without allowing any counterplay on the queenside
or in the center. Finding his cockpit crumbling on the kingside, black creatively gave up a pawn by tricking his knight
around to f4. White was probably still better after giving up his bishop at f4, but he still should have prohibited the
Nh5-Nf4 maneuver, as black having realized b5 just afterwards suddenly had the easier position to play. Still queue on
the board after 40 moves, as only three knights, one bishop and five pawns had left the board. In a complex position
both players spent more time than ever before on the next moves, hence both had less time left than ever before after
50 moves. Black having intervened on the eight rank with his heavy pieces except for a rook left in the e-file, and having
two dangerous diagonals directed against the white king, definitely was in command then. His use of tactics still impressed
the onlookers, as black with a hanging flag first got back the pawn and strenghtened his attack by pseudo-sacrificing one
of his rooks at e4, and then gave up the other one at the same square, to let his queen and bishop deliver a mate at move
60. Many ups and downs for both players, but still more ups than expected for Andersen and more downs for Nolsøe.
This Swedish prestige duel started in a nationalist mood, as the players entered the seldom
played Swedish variation of the Queen's Gambit Tarrasch. The excitement however soon dried up: White
had a pair of bishop and a slight queenside initiative when refusing a draw at move 16, but none of those factors made
much of a difference in a closed and heavyweight position. White made an honest try to open up by sacrificing a pawn at
a5, but black just gave it back to refind the game track of exchanging pieces and blocking pawns. White formally had
the better pawn structure in the ending with bishop, knight and five pawns on each side reached after 30 moves, but
as he could hardly threaten the isolanis at b5 and d5 with one piece, the practical importance still was very limited.
The bishop ending appearing after 40 moves was dead enough to be padded right away, but for unknown reasons the players
without noting still more shocked looks from the onlookers, went on playing until one of them at move 71 remarked that
the position actually had appeared six times... The trend against a modest plus result for Lönngren and a modest minus
result for Gambäck survived round nine too.
Starting as a Kan Sicilian this later transposed into a Scheveningen which seemed interesting, as
white castled long and black short. As white was allowed to establish a space advantage on the kingside while his
queenside still had no weaknesses he looked better. Finding a breakthrough however proved difficult, hence white when
offered the chance picked up a pawn at b4 with his queen - even when black then got real attacking chances. White got one
chance to delay the black attack by exchanging bishops at b5, but as black instead was allowed to exchange at d3 he could
force a perpetual check by sacrificing his knight at b3 in move 24. Hörbing however became too violent when sacrificing his
rook at b3 first, giving white the chance to evacuate his king and keep an extra piece. Charleshouse later had no problems
to secure the win, and black's exchange sacrifice just before 40 moves turned out to be nothing but cramp. Hörbing after
all seems about to settle for an average result, while Charleshouse still needs at least two more wins to get one....
Bjørgvik wasted his first move with 1.a3?!, but Valenti gently offered him to transpose into a
mainstream Queen's Indian. Bjørgvik however insisted upon not playing d4, hence black got a space advantage on the
queenside for free. White still was only slightly worse after 10 moves, but just afterwards he first misparked a knight
at b5, and then refused to save it until Valenti's a-pawn arrived as a police car. White true enough got two pawns for
the piece, but they were too weak to make any difference. The rest was never too exciting: Valenti with a clean
technique exchanged down into an easily won ending with queen and bishop against queen, and happily gave Bjørgvik two
connected passed pawn to exchange queens.
White castled long in this Najdorf Sicilian, but apart from that nothing exciting took place in
the opening. The game finally seemed about to accelerate when white at move 14 gave up his pair of bishops to realize
e5. Afterwards however he just exchanged the remaining bishop instead of playing for an attack based upon the e5-pawn.
White still seemed slightly better as his Ne4 looked better than black's e7, but as it was a Sicilian black probably was
fine at least. And anyway two players not having too much to fight for agreed a draw at move 18.
Karlsen despite his traumatic memories from earlier tries went optimistically for a win with a
Benoni, and for ten moves the players followed a solid main variation from the Fianchetto. White was probably wrong
trying to fix the black queenside by a5, as black got active pieces after b5 axb6 Nxb6. Just before 20 moves black
creatively went for an exchange sacrifice at e4, intended to give him a pawn at b2 and two active bishops for the
exchange. Instead of testing the sacrifice Johansson returned the exchange at a1 to play a pawn down, but the
compensation offered by his center advantage and pair of bishops petered out during later exchanges. When having
reached an ending with queen and two minor pieces on each side Karlsen however suffered from his usual time trouble
cramps, hence he suddenly blundered back a pawn at c5 - and refused a draw even when he was short of time at the clock
and worse on the board. Confused suddenly to find himself clearly better due to his passed pawn at d6 and the exposed
black king Johansson produced sensible moves, but failing to catch up tactically he missed more or less decisive
strokes at move 35 and 40. Black still seemed to be in serious problems after 40 moves, but white was wrong to
exchange queens to win a pawn afterwards, as his d6 pawn was doomed in the bishop ending. Having regained the pawn
Karlsen went on playing for nearly 20 moves, but that must have been for principal or religious reasons - the ending
with bishop and two pawns on each side gave no chances for anyone.
Ohlzon invited to a King's Gambit duel, but instead landed in a slow and self-composed Vienna
system after 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bb4. Hammer was open-minded enough to play 6....d5 even when he had played 4...d6,
and equalized completely following a later steem of exchanges. Black even looked slighly better following the exchanges
of three sets of minor pieces, as white had weakened his pawn structure on the queenside. As Ohlzon gave up a pawn for an
attack without really getting one, Hammer for some moves had an extra pawn, and he probably could have made a winning try
out of it. The last chance would have been to avoid the queen exchange at move 26, because even when black could never
lose afterwards, he hardly had any winning chances with rook, bishop and three against rook, bishop and two pawns.
Realizing that and still being satisfied to draw players around 2200, Hammer having less than three minutes left for
eight moves offered a draw only five moves later.
Facing something as provocative as a an unrated opponent playing Caro-Kann, Korhonen tested an in
fact relatively sound variation with Ng5, but placing his bishop at c4 instead of the regular d3 he did not get much
from the opening as black failed to blunder anything on f7. Black's plan with a5-a4-a3 appeared primitive at best, but
apart from the pawn at a3 he had a sound position after realizing c5 just afterwards. Careless play by black during the
next moves however left white with a clear initiative, based partly on the d-file and partly on his pair of bishops.
As far as the scoresheets can be trusted black simply blundered a piece by playing 31...Nh5??, but white failed to
punish him by 32.Be4!. Winning a pawn and playing with a pair of bishops superb to black's knight and bishop white
still should have excellent winning chances around move 40, but just a few moves afterwards he much too naive entered
a bishop ending with one extra pawn but no winning chances, as black helped by the different coloured bishops could
easily block white's two connected passed pawns on the queenside.
This started as a Four Knights, and never became much more interesting. When white had played 4.d4
and exchanged a knight at c6 black defended actively by realizing d5, and white at best had a very small plus thanks
to his better bishops when refusing a draw at move 13. Having an advantage in the center and well placed rooks on e8
and b8, black after exchanged the dark squared bishops managed to equalize completely before white offered at move 18.
Sander is relatively solid but lacks every ambition to win games, while Unander today (like earlier in this tournanent)
never really found the starting point.
This was a modest 3.Bb5+-Sicilian in which black probably played too toothless, as white got a
space advantage and better squares for his pieces without risking anything. White came clearly better at the latest
after 12...Ne8?, as the following piece exchanges left black (for once) in problems about the backward d6-pawn and
the weak d5-square. White later kept the pressure, placed his knight at d5 and refused a draw, but still failed to
develop his advantage for 15 moves. With black about to run short of time white however tried to open up around the
black king with a critical e5-break, followed by a rook sacrifice at e5. Matters would not have been clear if black
had accepted to give his queen for two rooks, but as he refused to do so white immediately intervened on the seventh
rank, and had a decisive attack anyway when black blundered and lost material en masse just before 40 moves. Pedersen's
result following this loss is clearly below the zero mark, while Nilsen having defeated two players from "Sjakkameratene"
within two days, can concentrate upon the size of his ELO norm.
This was a long game, but never really an exciting one. Knudsen today played for a draw with a quiet
Capablanca Reti system (I agree, it does not sound too exciting. Neither is it), and although Simonsen obviously wanted
to win, he never came up with any creative ideas to realize that plan. Having exchanged his white squared and "bad" bishop
for a knight black of course had no fears to enter a Stonewall-like position by playing f5, but having exchanged all the
minor pieces before 20 moves he had only a slight queenside initiative based upon the half-open c-file. Following a queen
exchange black stayed slightly better in the rook ending, but as white could easily overprotect his weaknesses at b2 and
e3, the game stayed well within the drawing border. Black finally won a pawn when transposing into the single rook ending,
but as he had two d-pawns against one d-pawn, the extra pawn only made a symbolic difference. Knudsen is back at the solid
track he started on, while Simonsen still is a sleeping bear.
A strong example of the fighting spirit on the lower boards, this was a tight game finishing
after 76 moves only because the players ran out of pieces. The start was a Kan Sicilian, in which white was allowed to
establish a space advantage by f4 and e5 and came slightly better. While white was running around with his queen without
finding any attack on the kingside, black however hit back with a well timed d4-break in the center. Later having the
slightly better pieces and the better file, black refused a repetition of moves after 30 moves. Following a later queen
exchange white however tried to clean up the c-file by a tactical b4-break, and succeeded as black just before 40 moves
failed to find the critcal answer. Getting back the pawn and controlling the c-file white suddenly came much better
in the double rook ending, as black had a vulnerable second rank to care about. White's position was nonpolitically
recognized as winning, when he kept the better rooks even after winning the black a-pawn. White however still had a
difficult task as he had nothing more to attack and no clear way forward for his passed a-pawn. In the single rook
endgame black managed to create counterplay on the kingside by his king, hence it probably was a draw anyway when
white gave up his a-pawn without having anything on the kingside. Still a reasonable result without sensations for
both players, but white despite his problems to realize the positions definitely hangs on in the tournament better than
expected from his difficult starting point.
Probably this was the most surprising result of the day, but while Lahlum has done clearly better
than expected, Johansen has gone from terrible to even worse during the last rounds. His Queen's Gambit today was a
Cambridge Springs one, in which black got the pair of bishops and white about everything else. As white controlled
c5 and left the white squared bishop of black as a lame duck at b7 it looked clearly better anyway, but she lost
her last sorrow when black gave up the black squared bishop at c5. Again playing too fast Johansen afterwards did
not check the variations well enough before acting out a tactical c5-break, and unwilling to give white a strong
passed c-pawn he instead ended up to give her an extra pawn at b7 in the rook endgame. Even when white sensationally
enough could not promote the pawn by force, she was easily winning as her king could go about everywhere and the black
pieces about nowhere. Hence Johansen was in his right when he self-ironically left the rook threatened at c8, allowing
white to mate at move 26.
Probably affected by bad friends Bryn junior too gawe away the opening advantage by help of a
Botvinnik English. Saulnier first equalized by a safe symmetrical set-up, but then made a try to speed up by playing
f5 at move 9. As Bryn answered actively with 10.f4 the conclusion became just exchanges of the e- and f-pawns. Having
an outpost at d4 and the f-file black probably was slightly better afterwards, but as none of the players had obvious
weaknesses, the position was still about balanced when it was buried at move 20.
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