Gausdal Bygger’n Masters 2005
THE LAHLUM ROUND REPORT (PART THREE)
Predictions for a wave of draws to hit the tournament when the GMs started to meet, was proven nonsense today as the first six boards all had a winner. The highlight from a Norwegian point of view was top seeded GM Magnus Carlsen winning a patient pressure game as black against Swedish GM Stellan Brynell. Second seeded GM Kaido Kulaots finished various pieces up in a sharp Dragon duel against GM Lars Karlsson. The failure however was still not total from a Swedish point of view, as GM Ralf Åkesson efficiently decided by nice attacking play during third seeded GM Deian Antic’s time trouble cramps. The dramatic highlight still came close to the end of the sixth hour as GM Vladimir Burmakin blundered his knight in one move - but still won the game as opponent FM Felix Nordström failed to realize it! GM Vladimir Dobrov patiently squeezed a small endgame advantage against FM Geir Sune Tallaksen, same did Norwegian surprise man Øyvind Bentsen against countryman Sjur Ferkingstad. This meaning there is no player at 2,5/3, but still six players at 100 % score with 3/3 – five GMs and one Bentsen…. Carlsen-Burmakin, Åkesson-Kulaots and Bentsen-Dobrov coming up on the top boards for round four – how many of those six will still be at 100 % before round five?
GM Stellan BRYNELL 2496 – GM Magnus CARLSEN 2570 0 - 1
Magnus was not too optimistic before this game, considering it “very difficult to win” – Brynell although hardly the most creative Nordic GM is considered extremely difficult to crack as white. Clearly having the better preparations black however came ahead on the clock and fine on the board from this Semi-Slav Meran, temporarily giving up a pawn at c5 to activate his pieces. The resulting endgame with queen, bishop and six pawns on each side appeared drawish, but black refused a draw to play on his initiative. And was rewarded as Brynell under pressure on the clock did not find a defending line and slipped backwards. White in the sixth hour hoped for a drawing fortress due to different coloured bishops, but having two extra pawns and one of them being a passed one at f2, black actually had two straightforward winning plans when Brynell after move 53 surprised many of the onlookers by resigning. “I have no problem whatsoever losing to Magnus, but all the more problems playing that bad”, according to always sporty Stellan.
GM Kaido KULAOTS 2558 – GM Lars KARLSSON 2501 1 – 0
Optimistic for his chances even against Kulaots, Karlsson introduced his odd pet Dragon line with h5 instead of short castling to the Gausdal crowd. It seemed promising if still very unclear for a while, as black had a pair of bishops and came clearly ahead on the clock. A deeply concentrated Kulaots however demonstrated he had an attack coming up against the king whether on e8 or g8, and was probably better anyway when black made a strategic error, placing his rook at offside in the a-file as black had no real chances to mate. Kulaots at one stage when he could hit in at e7 with his bishop had in mind a truly entertaining winning variation in which his king escapes via b4 to g5, but unfortunately his position then was too good to test if it actually worked out… Black suddenly running short of time gave up several pawns without getting any really dangerous counterattack, and with his opponent having less than one minute left for ten moves Kulaots coolly trapped the forgotten rook at a3 to reach an overwhelming endgame. When asked before the tournament I said I would be surprised if not Magnus or Kaido wins this tournament; I have had no reason yet to change my mind…
GM Dejan ANTIC 2519 – GM Ralf ÅKESSON 2486 0 – 1
Although the Gausdal edition of Åkesson of course still looks like a 2600-player... This was a positionally complex Queen’s Indian battle, first pitting white’s space advantage against black’s pair of bishops. Black’s a4 was a provocative pawn he later had some problems to defend, but although black at one stage had all remaining pieces on his first rank white spent much time without coming up with anything. He was believed to have found something when hitting in at c7 after 25 moves, but three moves later he had only one minute left for 12 moves in a still highly complex position. Åkesson within a few moves demonstrated a winning kingside attack, and unwilling to play a lost endgame an exchange down Antic instead resigned one a piece down.
GM Vladimir DOBROV 2515 – FM Geir Sune TALLAKSEN 2350 1 - 0
This was an English transposing into a Tarrasch in which the queens were exchanged just after the opening. Left was a very symmetric position appearing drawish even in the double minor piece endgame after 30 moves. Having a small initiative as well as the better understanding of the position white however went on manoeuvring, and black anyway was under pressure when he short of time for 40 moves overlooked a decisive bishop attack on his kingside pawns.
FM Felix NORDSTRÖM 2154 – GM Vladimir BURMAKIN 2508 0 - 1
Born a Modern, this developed into some relative of the very closed Benoni Wall. White’s g4-g5 just after the opening seemed overambitious, and indeed backfired as black won a pawn. (although no one except possibly Burmakin himself understood why he took the pawn at b2 instead of at h2) Playing a pawn up black was obviously better in the middle game, but the white position was hard to crack. Still having a long way to win with bishop, knight and four pawns against two knights and three, Burmakin refused a draw to play on with both players having only five minutes left for the game. A moment of true chess horror followed as Burmakin eager to get his knight around to e3, played Nd1 without seeing his opponent’s knight on b2! Obviously discovering it in a moment of chess horrors few seconds afterwards Burmakin seemed about to get a heart attack, while Nordström all the more unaffected some 30 seconds later lifted his knight from b2 – and let it down at c4… Burmakin during mutual time pressure amazingly went on to win another pawn and the game, although spending about half of his time to shake his head. (and although Nordström probably could still have saved the knight versus bishop endgame two pawns down if he had placed his king as a guard on b5 to prevent the black king from intervening behind his pawns.) Burmakin if he can overcome this shock before round four still hangs on the top group, while FM Nordström after all was not too dissatisfied with 1-1 against two GMs both being a full generation younger than him.
Øyvind BENTSEN 2156 – Sjur FERKINGSTAD 2239 1 – 0
Bentsen had a preparation for a French Tarrasch, but for some reason chickened out himself at move seven, although with his king at e2 still playing fast. He maybe played a little too fast, as Ferkingstad probably came better when he for some moves had two extra pawns in the middle game. White however always had some compensation due to his active pieces, and Ferkingstad on the other hand having spent too much time found nothing better than returning both pawns to reach an endgame with rook, bishop and two pawns against rook, knight and two pawns. Which appeared drawish, and probably was. Nevertheless white ahead on the clock playing with the more active pieces against the more exposed pawns suddenly had a pleasant task, and stopping Bentsen when he is accelerating is not easy: Ferkingstad having less than five minutes left for the game slipped down to lose both his remaining pawns. Meaning Bentsen is still ruling, now sharing the lead at 3/3 with five GMs. I doubt if he can stay in shared lead much longer, but IM-norm schemes obviously are relevant following this start.
Sigmund REPPEN 1916 – Frode O. O URKEDAL 2141 ½ - ½
No doubt who had the better preparation for this Sicilian Najdorf duel, as black came out some 45 minutes ahead on the clock with a pair of bishops and an initiative. Reppen, still competing only with Aandal about being the most laid back participant of this tournament, like yesterday however improved his play after the opening. Although black kept the pair of bishops and an initiative nothing important except exchanges happened for the next three hours. And what happened then was that white confidently gave up a pawn to escape into a dead drawn different coloured bishop endgame. After the game Urkedal looked a bit frustrated and Reppen about to fall asleep; nevertheless both of course are doing great as undefeated on 2,0/3.
IM Jean Luc SERET 2391 – GM Arnaud HAUCHARD 2483 ½ - ½
This was an all the way sensible Trompovsky game, exchanging down to a drawn knight endgame. “Probably the best game of today’s round”, according to an anonymous (but very young) present GM – it is reportedly all played earlier on. If I was you I would not trust the players will repeat it all the way against other opponents, as they used ten minutes in total for the game. Odds for a draw of course were low when the French travel companions had to play each other, especially with the IM white against the GM.
Bertil SVENDSEN 2205 – GM Heikki WESTERINEN 2410 ½ - ½
This result of course was a surprise, but that was the only exciting thing about the game. Black had no problems from this English fianchetto, allowed to exchange three sets of minor pieces including the fianchetto bishop early in the middlegame. Still white had some more space and an initiative all the way into a blocked knight endgame with six pawns each, offering no winning chances whatsoever for black and very few for white… Draw agreed in a dead drawn position after 36 moves (and not after 38 moves in a winning position for white, as the DGT-boards confused non-present onlookers to believe), meaning Svendsen still candidates for being an IM-norm candidate, while Westerinen looked much younger in April – so far.
FM Øystein HOLE 2336 – WFM Jessie GILBERT 2148 1 - 0
Black for a start played fast in this Classical King’s Indian, but when she stopped playing fast white playing slow already had a promising pressure against c7 and d6. A few exchanges later, with c7 and d6 gone, white had reached a double rook endgame in which white’s extra passed pawn gave him a decisive advantage. Hole instructively picked up black’s scattered pawns, and having defeated his first titleholder of this tournament is again en route for his third IM-norm.
Tarjei J. SVENSEN 2112 – FM Simon SILSETH 2328 ½ - ½
Black snatched a testimony pawn at b2 at move four (!?) in this Trompovsky, but white’s files and initiative reportedly gave him sufficient compensation. Having castled long black returned the pawn to reach balanced chances, but following misunderstood play by black, white had compensation for a pawn without having sacrificed one when he accepted a well timed draw offer at move 30. Svensen again is doing above expected at Gausdal, while Silseth must speed up to fight for an IM-norm.
FM Torbjørn Ringdal HANSEN 2323 – Odin Blikra VEA 2090 ½ - ½
This complex battle started as an English, in which white’s g-file and pair of bishops should give him an advantage after black exchanged at f3. Having defended actively with g5, black after exchanging queens was better with two rooks, knight and four pawns against two rooks, bishop and four pawns. Despite the more active pieces black however failed to come up with anything but some further exchanges in the endgame, hence it all dried out due to lack of pawns in the rooks endgame just after 40 moves. Ringdal Hansen following this mediocre start with 1,5/3 against an average below 2100 needs a medium miracle to fight for an IM-norm. While I was surprised to learn Odin can actually play a draw without a perpetual check.
Emil AGDESTEIN 2057 – FM Jon Ludvig HAMMER 2278 ½ - ½
Emil’s
Stein Arild AARLAND 2278 – Christian HARSTAD 2078 1 - 0
White came clearly better on the clock and slightly better on the board from this Italian opening, as he first had helpful knight squares at d5 and f5, and then the pair of bishops as well as the c-file and the better pawn structure. Black finally succeeded to complete his queenside development after 30 moves, but then white by instructive means was about to complete his attack against the weakened black kingside. Aarland is a Swiss yo-yo so far, but will have his second try against a GM tomorrow with white. While Harstad obviously still needs to practice being black against opponents above 2200.
Anders HOBBER 1915 – Øystein Bøyum FOSSUM 2247 0 - 1
Fossum tested out the reportedly dubious 5.--- cxd4 against Hobber’s French Winawer with 5.Bd2, and although he had to place his king a bit awkward at f8 reportedly came fine from the opening. With white spending much time and black even more, white tried to fire up with a piece sacrifice before fifteen moves. The sacrifice was dubious, but still brought some threats pushing black to an extreme stage of time trouble with 15 seconds left for about ten moves. Hobber short of time himself might have missed some critical possibilities around move 20-30, but then collapsed in time trouble cramp. When the smoke cleared and the reconstruction was completed, left on the playing board was a rook endgame in which only black had a rook. 11 year old Hobber still should be praised for his tough play against much higher rated opponents.
WIM Heather RICHARDS 2239 - Kevin WHITE 2069 1 - 0
White held the obligatory space advantage from this Aljechin opening without feeling too much (read: any) counterplay, and went on to pick up a pawn at c7 just after the opening. Black had first some pressure against white’s backward d4-pawn and then some pieces on the kingside, but as it was never really disturbing Richards coolly went on first to cash in another pawn at a7 and then to make a decisive intervention on f7. Richards so far continues her fine play from the last months, while White has not been convincing as black at Gausdal so far.
Lars BREIVIK 2236 – Håkon STRAND 1986 1 - 0
Breivik from the start tried to disguise as a sheep with a slow
Rune MYHRVOLD 2164 – Ellen CARLSEN 1866 1 - 0
White’s apparently ambitious set up with Qb3 and Bb5 actually was only misunderstood in this Alapin Sicilian. But as black weakened her position with a misunderstood d6 advance instead of punishing it with a thematic Na5-manoeuver, white still got a strong initiative based upon his better pawn structure and the more active pieces in the middle game. White went winning as he picked up black’s weak c5-pawn before 20 moves, and without looking backward went on to win the black e-pawn and to complete his kingside attack before 40 moves. Probably a nice game by Myhrvold from move eight on, while Ellen still needs to look over her black repertoire.
Terje LIE (1186) – Håkon BENTSEN 2158 0 - 1
White rated nearly one thousand points lower than his opponent did surprisingly well with his Queen’s Gambit Exchange line, and definitely came better following black’s misunderstood try for a kingside attack with Bh4. White’s passed d-pawn later came to dominate the board all the more after a queen exchange, and white could have won a piece to reach a winning endgame if he had advanced it to d7 at move 35 or 36. As the pawn later went lost instead black came a pawn up in the rook endgame, and went on to win it instructively by cutting off the white king from the defence. Having played much better than last time he visited Gausdal, Lie hopefully will not lose his optimism at 0,5/3.
Jan Arne BJØRGVIK 2119 – Nicolai GETZ 1913 ½ - ½
This was a French exchange line in which black following several exchanges was left with the better bishop, which however did not make much of a difference in such a symmetric position. White having got some illusions about a kingside attack refused a draw offer at move 22, but offered himself as he two moves later had to exchange queens.
Joachim THOMASSEN 1963 – Joar Gullestad PETTERSEN 2050 ½ - ½
This was a Tango transposing into a Classical Nimzo Indian with Nc6. None of the players seemed too familiar with this kind of position, but although the position with two white bishops vs two black knights still offered chances for both players, chances probably were about balanced when a draw was suddenly agreed at move 15.
Johannes KVISLA 2123 – Håkon ASTRUP 1943 1 - 0
This game witnessed a true Catalan collapse, as black first gave white a pair of bishops and then opened up the position against his own king. When black finally escaped the centre dangers by castling long he ran into threats winning an exchange, and as his counterattack was demonstrated a study in desperation, white played two exchanges up with the better attack when black stopped the clock after 27 moves. Finally Kvisla looked like a 2100-player, but Astrup is much too promising ever to repeat this opening line.
Thomas THOMASSEN 2077 – Maria Pitz JACOBSEN (1362) ½ - ½
This was a Queen’s Gambit exchange in which white came better with an ambitious Pillsbury set up, although black had a pair of bishops making things a bit difficult. Following some tactical exchanges white in the later middlegame played with a bad structure, but with some f-file pressure on the kingside. With both players short of time for 40 moves white exchanged queens to play on his passed f-pawn, but finally having reached f7 he missed an elegant win at move 40. As the pawn later went lost black instead came a pawn up in the rook endgame. White’s decision to enter an interesting but still lost pawn endgame with two passed pawns (a- and h-) against three passed pawns (c-, d- and g-) was dubious, but still succeeded as black short of time for the game advanced the wrong pawn and ended up in a dead drawn queen endgame. Although black in the end escaped with the fear Maria played much better today, and Thomassen following his experiences from the last two rounds has asked the arbiter not to meet any more young female opponents during this Gausdal stay.
Henrik SJØL (1656) – Askild BRYN 2019 ½ - ½
This was a Leningrad Dutch appearing promising for white, as he got one pawn and a strong initiative for his sacrificed exchange. Black however succeeded to give up another pawn to exchange queens, after which a draw suddenly was agreed in a probably about balanced rooks and minor piece endgame after 23 moves.
Jarle NILSEN (1632) – Per JOHANSSON 2005 0 - 1
This was a Slav Exchange in which white played an unusual set up with f3 followed by f4 and f5, but getting his knight to d5 still had some initiative. Black’s position seemed critical as he overlooked a knight fork and had to give an exchange at a8 just after 20 moves. Johansson however succeeded to demonstrate that his knight offered some compensation, and was overpaid as Nilsen unwilling to accept a repetition of moves blundered back an exchange. The remaining queen and rook position like the final rook endgame appeared dynamically balanced and probably drawish. As Johansson demonstrated a fine understanding of the rook endgame while Nilsen in the fifth hour lost the thread completely, black successfully having blocked white’s passed pawn at d5 went around to win all remaining white pawns and the game. Nilsen having played three jumpy games definitely was unlucky too lose this one too, but on the other hand Johansson deserved very well to win it following his pole outs in the earlier two rounds.
Espen HAUGSTAD (1609) – Kristian AANDAL 1941 1 - 0
Both players spent much time in this somewhat self-composed and entertaining King’s Gambit line. Having the better development and the centre white probably was better most of this unbalanced middlegame. His king at one stage was observed taking back a piece at f4, but returned safely to h1 before black managed to exploit it. Later on black had some play in the g-file, but white proved able to defend all relevant g-file squares while advancing his passed d-pawn. Black definitely was wrong exchanging down to a rook and minor piece endgame as the d-pawn then was decisive. Having had a troublesome start of this tournament, Aandal resigned after 55 moves as he had to give up his bishop on the pawn. Although turbulent this was probably a nice game from Haugstad, having won it he is well en route for a FIDE-ELO.