Gausdal Bygger’n Masters 2005
THE LAHLUM ROUND REPORT (PART FIVE)
The great drama of today was the first board, in which Micromonster-Magnus refused a draw and went on to win a really messy time trouble duel as black against GM Vladimir Dobrov. Magnus still untouched at an amazing 5/5 following three wins against other GMs still is only half a point ahead of second seeded Kaido Kulaots, who patiently dismantled surprise man Øyvind Bentsen today. Needless to say the game Carlsen-Kulaots in round six might be decisive for the final outcome and will be the most important game of the tournament so far. Burmakin-Åkesson and Brynell-Karlsson were sound draws, while GM Deian Antic won crushingly against WIM Heather Richards, meaning there is a tight battle going on among the GMs in the crowd behind Magnus and Kulaots. A safe draw between FM’s Øystein Hole and Geir Sune Tallaksen was not too good news for the IM-norm chances of either, but together with Bentsen both are still in the run. Definitely not in any run except possibly against some wall is Øystein Bøyum Fossum, being on the wrong side of today’s most surprising result as he lost to obviously underrated Sigmund Reppen.
GM Vladimir DOBROV 2516 – GM Magnus CARLSEN 2570 0 - 1
Dobrov suddenly accelerated this English with a hyper-aggressive 4.g4 and 5.g5. Much similar to a Nimzo-Indian white got the centre and a pair of bishops, but black with a sound position had sufficient counterchances and refused a draw offer at move 16, although white then played with a mountain pawn chain from c4 to f4. The game turned extraordinary complex as white sacrificed an exchange to get a couple of threatening passed pawns at d6 and c7, but still had his king exposed in the centre behind the advanced pawns. White’s 31.Bf3 reportedly was the decisive mistake, as taking back the exchange at f8 and then playing Qh3 with the threat of c8Q would have been extremely double-edged and possibly even better for white. As things went black playing very efficiently in a tactical battle despite time trouble, picked up a piece to land in a totally winning endgame after 40 moves. Meaning Magnus although keeping both feet on the ground outside the board still is flying high above the Norwegian chess mountains at the moment, while Dobrov suddenly has one and a half point to the top.
GM Kaido KULAOTS 2558 – Øyvind BENTSEN 2146 1 - 0
Big Brother Bentsen understandably gave his Ruy Lopez with 3.--- Nf6 another try, and getting a solid position and for some moves a pair of bishops he made a game out of it. White still had an initiative all of the time, and in the late middle game his g-file obviously gave better attacking chances than black’s d-file. Still black was in the game until he in the rooks and minor pieces endgame just before 40 moves went for non-working tactics, and ended up losing an exchange with a hopeless endgame. Back to work for Bentsen, while Kulaots having made an excellent start with 4.5/5 will get his chance against Magnus tomorrow.
GM Vladimir BURMAKIN 2508 – GM Ralf ÅKESSON 2486 ½ - ½
This was a Grünfeld in which white playing e4 and e5 achieved a centre advantage, but having a nice bishop at d5 in a Meran-like position black seemed perfectly fine. Draw agreed after 24 via a repetition of moves, true enough in a very balanced position difficult to win for anyone. Meaning they are still both waiting in the shadows behind shining Magnus.
GM Deian ANTIC 2519 – WIM Heather RICHARDS 2239 1 – 0
This was a Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch in which white clearly came better from the opening, having a pair of bishops and an extra c-pawn. Still of course black did not have to allow a bishop sacrifice at g6 deciding just after 20 moves. Antic at 4.0/5 seems having recovered completely from his third round collapse, while Richards although still doing well above expected hardly looked like a WGM-candidate today.
GM Stellan BRYNELL 2496 – GM Lars KARLSSON 2501 ½ - ½
Dutch, 14 moves. Black raised a solid Stonewall, and following two minor piece exchanges the final position indeed was symmetric and drawish. The organiser is self-critical he might have invited too many Swedish GMs for this tournament, but they are all friendly and none of the Norwegians except of course Magnus were interested….
FM Øystein HOLE 2336 – FM Geir Sune TALLAKSEN 2350 ½ - ½
Neither the result nor the sensible moves were much of a surprise: The organiser threatened not to transmit live this game in favour of something more commercial. Still it was an important game, and probably a well played one: Hole’s English double fianchetto gave him a slight initiative, but as Tallaksen exchanged down to an endgame well within the drawing area and as his endgame skills are much to well known, Hole offered after 22 moves without wasting energy.
FM Simon SILSETH 2328 – GM Arnaud HAUCHARD 2483 0 - 1
Something went seriously wrong for white in this English, as he after castling long had to watch out for tactics against his e4-pawn and started to move his nervous king around between a1 and b1. Things went definitely wrong as he took back a piece at c1 with the king, allowing a nice tactical blow with Qg5+ (despite a white knight at f3!). White respectfully resigned before 30 moves when playing two pawns down in an endgame, and following this hard drop his IM-norm chances probably are gone for now. While Hauchard still looking efficient, still steams upward despite his slow start.
FM Felix NORDSTRÖM 2184 – GM Heikki WESTERINEN 2410 0 – 1
Via 1.d4 e6 2.e4 c5 this senior meeting transposed into a Sicilian Taimanov, which reached an approximately balanced rooks and minor pieces endgame following some early tactical exchanges. White if anyone still appeared slightly better after 20 moves, but that was before he overlooked a tactical stroke at c4 winning a pawn for black. The rook endgame appearing after 30 moves still looked hard to win for black, playing only with an extra queenside pawn. Westerinen however immediately saw his chance when allowed to transfer the rook around to a4, forcing white to keep his rook passive on the second rank. Following this black’s king went in with decisive force on the kingside, and finding his position about to collapse white resigned after 45 moves. Patient and instructive GM-technique by Westerinen who will now play the other GMs; Nordström although still playing well and scoring above expectations also seems out as an IM-norm candidate following this loss.
IM Jean-Luc SERET 2391 – Sjur FERKINGSTAD 2239 1 - 0
Black spent enormous amounts of time in this King’s Indian Advance a la French, but first appeared healthy with a queenside initiative on the board. If so black however declared his queenside much too early, as white was allowed to counterattack and eventually won an exchange with a knight fork at b8. Running short of time black tried to sacrifice a bishop for a kingside attack, but instead allowed a grande finale alone well worth the travel for Seret, who sacrificed his queen to finish off the game with 29.Bc6++ and mate – both Re1 and Bc6 is hanging, but black can only take one of them… Ferkingstad still too often become too light against opponents above 2300, while Seret looks much better when he can overcome his own slow openings….
FM Torbjørn RINGDAL HANSEN 2323 – Håkon STRAND 1986 1 – 0
Not unexpectedly white demonstrated superior knowledge of this Dutch Stonewall position, and established a space advantage the size of an airport by playing d5 and b5. As white had all the better pieces and an unpleasant line pressure against e7, black without counterplay found his cockpit crumbling in an all the more unpleasant way. That black wanted to free his position with e5 was very much understandable, but still it lost an exchange after which Ringdal Hansen had no problems to complete the win before 40 moves.
WFM Jessie GILBERT 2148 – FM Jon Ludvig HAMMER 2278 0 - 1
Chess smurf Jon Ludvig preparing for the teamtalkingchess (and in a hell of a mood as one of the foreign players reportedly called him “that annoying child”, a description considered very accurate by several other Norwegians J) was nasty enough to continue with his English defence. Although white got a space advantage by realizing d5 black having exchanged three set of minor pieces early reached equal chances, and ahead on the clock refused a draw offer at move 18. Gilbert kept the balance until an almost certainly drawn queen endgame, but the space advantage now voted against her as she had several weak pawns to watch out for short of time against a cunning opponent. White already having lost one pawn was about to lose at least one more when she instead lost on time move 39. Gilbert is short of time for her WIM-norm too following this loss, while Hammer playing on the winning team (“Treuenigheten”) in the teamtalkingchess later in the evening might be about to recover from his difficult start.
Johannes KVISLA 2123 – Stein Arild AARLAND 2278 0 - 1
This was a Queen’s Indian in which black much similar to a Slav snatched a pawn at c4 without running into any dangers. Aarland seemed totally winning after exchanging down to a rook endgame with an extra pawn, but his handling of the endgame first might have been inaccurate as his scattered a- and c-pawns were not easy to advance further. Kvisla having got some drawing chances however did not hesitate to waste them, missing a tactical rook pin allowing black to sacrifice his a-pawn and rook to promote the c-pawn. Lasting Swiss waves for chess surfer Aarland, who risks ending up undrawn at 5/9 if going on like this. While Kvisla no way scoring disasterous is qualified not to be satisfied with his play.
Sigmund REPPEN 1916 – Øystein BØYUM FOSSUM 2247 1 - 0
Today’s most surprising result started as a Kan Sicilian, in which black’s pair of bishops seemed less important than white’s space advantage and c-file. With no available squares in the c-file and no black pawn weaknesses, white still would have had a hard time to win if black had played Bd8 to cover c7 move 20. As he instead played 20.--- Rfc8 white instead of exchanging rooks could intervene on c7 with crucial effect, within a few moves winning a pawn without losing the initiative. Still looking very relaxed while playing very well, Reppen went on into a minor piece endgame, in which his bishop soon put black’s knight in a decisive zugzwang. Reppen actually had a well working preparation today, and following this well deserved win has a sensational performance around 2250. Bøyum Fossum reportedly was asked for an ID-card from the arbiter after this round, but still took a positive approach as “Sigmund is the only NTG-pupil I can lose too without being reminded about it every day for the rest of this school year”. … Paradoxically Reppen despite his peaceful personality competes only with Urkedal about being the most feared opponent from the second half of this field.
Lars BREIVIK 2237 – Frode O.O. URKEDAL 2141 ½ - ½
White establishing a space advantage with chances for a queenside attack came better from this Queen’s Indian with 4.e3. He still had worry about black’s chances for a kingside attack, and probably worried a little bit too much in the early middle game. White still was better following a queen exchange, but lost the thread as he having hit back with g4 on the kingside failed to go on with the consequent gxf5. White still was slightly better when he offered a draw after 31 moves, but about to understand that he did not understand the position preferred to start preparing for next party instead of risking to lose against a 12 year old….
Ellen CARLSEN 1866 – Håkon BENTSEN 2158 0 – 1
White’s handling of this Ruy Lopez was inaccurate only because I am gentle… As white without any compensation first had to defend two e-pawns and then unnecessary gave up one of them just after the opening. The rest was not to exciting as the younger Bentsen brother (“smaller” still feels wrong) with a safe technique achieved the better pieces too, and intervened with his rooks in the d-file landed safely in a totally winning queen endgame with two extra pawns.
Tarjei SVENSEN 2112 – Bertil SVENDSEN 2205 0 – 1
White for a change came better from one of his Trompovskys: Playing with an open d-file and h-file, white could castle long while black’s king at e8 had too much air-condition. White gave up much of his advantage when exchanging the e5-pawn, as black then could transform his bishop at h8 from a lame duck into an eagle. White still looked better until he misplaced his bishop first at c4 and then at b3. As black was about to start a pawnstorm on the queenside he was finally better after 24 moves, but white still was helpful to blunder his queen at move 25….
Rune MYHRVOLD 2164 – Per JOHANSSON 2005 1 - 0
Black probably was wrong to weaken his queenside by an early in b5 in this Caro Kann Fantasy, as white playing a4 got a queenside initiative. White immediately increased the pressure when he was allowed to exchange queens and intervene on a6 with his rook. Having had to give up a pawn at e5 with an awkward position black tried to complicate with a pseudo-sacrifice of a piece, but as it turned out not be a pseudo-sacrifice but only a piece blunder, he threw in the scoresheets after 20 moves. Myhrvold continues to look like a star against lower rated opponents, while Johansson played his worst game of the tournament (so far) and still has a hard time against his rated opponents.
Askild BRYN 2019 – Odin BLIKRA VEA 2090 0 – 1
This meeting between two young teammates and (very) local heros from Lillehammer became a short but intense battle. White’s opening with 1.b3, 3.e3 and 4.Bb5 seemed dubious at best, allowing black free development and a pleasant space advantage. Odin following this of course did not hesitate when he got the chance to sacrifice a bishop at h2 move 13 - and then a knight at g4. The westcoast madman’s sacrifice this time actually was brilliant, but then he instead played wrong afterwards as he for some reason frenetically denied to win back both pieces with an ongoing attack… The result became a rooks and minor piece endgame in which white seemed to have fair drawing chances. With an open h-file and a dominating black bishop on f3 white however still had to watch out for various unpleasant things, and as he did not black before 30 moves had another decisive attack running. Bryn unfortunately still suffers from his Gausdal complex, while I have to admit Vea although somewhat shaky on his feet has a hard punch.
Nicolai GETZ 1913 – Christian HARSTAD 2078 0 - 1
Christian Harstad reportedly had GM-help for this Ruy Lopez preparation, while Getz as usually was helped by FM Jon Ludvig Hammer. At least it looked that way as white remained passive while black realizing d5 and d4 established a space advantage. Still it was a game until white suddenly became too offensive with Ng4 on the queenside, allowing black a very pleasant attacking target pawn at g4. As the pawn went lost within a few moves black had a dangerous attack coming up, and as white in collapse failed to find any defence he was losing heavy material when the clock was silenced after 31 moves.
Getz is scoring fine but still playing a bit too kind, while Harstad definitely is the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of this tournament so far.
Joachim THOMASSEN 1963 – Kevin WHITE 2069 ½ - ½
This was a Grünfeld in which black had no sorrows for a start, while white had to worry about his king left at e1. A sequence of tactical exchanges left black with the better pieces in a queen, rook and minor piece endgame, and white finally to evacuate his king had to give up a pawn. Black however still had a long way to go to win the queen endgame, and did not make it shorter by leaving the kingside shelter to trim his king in open air. Having consequently sacrificed his h-pawn with the idea of not winning white’s backbone a-pawn, black admitted the failure by accepting a draw early in the middle of the fifth hour – by the way the last game to finish in today’s short but intense round.
Emil AGDESTEIN 2053 – Håkon ASTRUP 1943 ½ - ½
I have seen 2.Nf3 in a Caro Kann earlier, but never with the idea of 4.Ne5 – reportedly it is still a new playable idea to avoid Bg4-pins. Anyway it following two minor piece exchanges left only a sound and balanced (reach: boring) Caro Kann position. Black having a minority attack running on the queenside seemed better if anyone at move 19, but as white’s position still looked solid the draw three moves later on was not that much of a surprise. White however had meantime misunderstood his position completely, first weakening his c3-pawn by b3 and then blundering it outright by f3. Meaning black could have crashed it at c3 with a decisive advantage instead of what he obviously did, meaning to stop the clock and sign the scoresheets while smiling the smile of the happily unknowing….
Espen HAUGSTAD (1607) – Joar PETTERSEN 2050 1 – 0
Not too much to tell about this derby between two young and upcoming Westcoast players. Black went for a line of the Scandinavian in which he sacrifices a pawn to exchange queens, and having a space advantage and the more active pieces as well white without hearing any protests went on to increase the advantage until a totally winning rook endgame. Haugstad defeating his second rated opponent is doing excellent so far, and the questions seems only to be a) if he can meet nine rated opponents to get an ELO on this tournament alone and b) if he can keep the performance above 2000.
Jan Arne BJØRGVIK 2119 – Henrik SJØL (1656) ½ - ½
17 moves, Caro-Kann. Only one set of bishops exchanged in a heavyweight closed position, in which white’s chances for kingside play based upon his e5 pawn probably still was more important than black’s counterplay on the queenside based upon his c4-pawn.
Thomas THOMASSEN 2077 – Anders HOBBER 1915 1 - 0
This was a classical Capablance Queen’s gambit which suddenly accelerated as white probably dubiously but still creative blew up a bishop at f7 move 18. Although black objectively should be winning, white’s passed pawn e6 was all the more disturbing as black had not yet developed his Bc8. Black at one stage could have claimed a threefold repetition as white short of time checked between f5 and h6, but having missed that chance he soon ran into decisive threats from white’s active heavy pieces. Thomassen as usually short of time this round fulfilled with violent chain saw chess, mating black after 37 moves. Hobber is playing well but struggles to complete his games against higher rated opponents, while daddy Thomassen seems to be back on the track to 2100 following a troublesome start.
Terje LIE (1178) – Kristian AANDAL 1941 0 - 1
Aandal in a bizarre mood at 0.5 out of 4 started up with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 Ne4?!, but following too fast and inaccurate play by white was not allowed to realize his macabre plan of giving up the queen with 4.Nf3 Qa5+ 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.Bd2 Qxa2?!. Instead of worse by tactical means black came better by positional means, as he was allowed to exchange white’s dark squared bishop and keep a superb fianchetto bishop at g7. The result seen from a white point of view became some Benkö-gambit bastard relative in which black’s pressure in the b-file and the diagonal g7-b2 gave him full compensation for a pawn he had not sacrificed. White definitely went lost as he having exchanged queens had to give up a pawn at c4, and before 35 moves black’s rooks made a decisive intervention on the second rank.
Jarle NILSEN (1632) – Maria PITZ JACOBSEN (1362) 1 – 0
Nilsen made a slow start with a London-system, but still got chances for a kingside attack as black was helpful to exchange at e5. White realizing f5 and e6 was about to get a dangerous attack before 20 moves, but still black overreacted when sacrificing a knight on the pawns. The rest was not too exciting, as white kept the better pieces and was allowed to exchange queens a few moves afterwards.