Gausdal Bygger’n Masters 2005
THE LAHLUM ROUND REPORT (PART SIX)
Magnus the Magnum had to give up his 100 % score as he in round six drew
a highly turbulent five hour game against second seeded GM Kaido Kulaots, after
playing with four pawns for one rook (!?) in the endgame following a wild west
middle game. Magnus’ performance however is only a little less astonishing at
5.5/6, and having done away with the Estonian chess giant he actually
strengthened his grip around the first prize. This as the second board meeting
Karlsson-Antic was a short draw and the third board meeting Åkesson-Brynell a
long one. Moving all closer to a moneyprize however is the Russian GM-duo
Vladimir Dobrov and Vladimir Burmakin, winning intense four hour battles
against GM Heikki Westerinen and FM Øystein Hole today. The big sharks above
2475 are all in the pool now, as GM Arnaud Hauchard of
GM Magnus CARLSEN 2570 – GM Kaido KULAOTS 2558 ½ - ½
This much expected meeting between the two highest rated players of the tournament fulfilled all expectations, offering present onlookers as well as internet chessfans all over the world high quality excitement for five intense hours. It all started as a Kan Sicilian, in which Magnus having declared his ambition to play for a win first established a centre advantage with e5 and then exchanged the pawn to open the e-file. Having castled long Kulaots armed with a pair of bishops and the centre considered his position winning after realizing b5-b4 with an unpleasant threat against the white knight at c3. Magnus however did not hesitate to play Rxe6, sacrificing the knight for pawns and counterthreats. And without breathing he went on to sacrifice an exchange at c6, to play with about four pawns for a rook. Probably it was somehow somewhere winning for black, but if so he had a truly hard task to escape from the many checks without going mate or losing material. After the first time control the game went on with queen, d-, f-, g- and h-pawn against queen and rook, but it was suddenly drawn with a repetition of checks ten moves later – as the players agreed it would be too dangerous for white ever to take the d4-pawn with his king. Today’s first board in short had everything but a winner J. Meaning Magnus losing his first half point still heads on at 5.5/6, while Kulaots hangs on as unshared second only half a point behind.
GM Lars KARLSSON 2501 – GM Dejan ANTIC 2519 ½ - ½
15 moves, English. It did not feel much of a surprise: Karlsson played an everything but ambitious double fianchetto as white, and Antic as black against another GM seemed satisfied to exchange first some pieces and then the point. Compared to the fireworks on first board, the second board today unfortunately had nothing - including no winner L.
GM Ralf ÅKESSON 2486 – GM Stellan BRYNELL 2496 ½ - ½
Odds for a short draw between two Swedish GMs of about the same age and
ELO were not reduced by a quiet Queen’s Indian Opening, but Åkesson patiently
went on playing for a win to make this the second last game of the round to
finish. Not much except reasonable exchanges took place before 30 moves,
leaving an apparently drawish endgame with bishop and five pawns versus knight
and five pawns. Whether white actually had an advantage or not Åkesson however
succeeded to prove one, and as white threatened to intervene on the queenside
with his king black just after 40 moves felt forced to sacrifice a pawn.
Black’s position for the next ten moves remained critical, but helped by
Åkesson’s clock Brynell succeeded to close the board with c5, establishing a
fortress line along the fourth rank white could never cross with his king while
his bishop and pawns got nowhere on their own… Draw agreed after 72 moves
meaning Åkesson will not be round seven guest star on the first board, while
GM Heikki WESTERINEN 2410 – GM Vladimir DOBROV 2515 0 - 1
Starting slowly with 3.Bb5+, this game became extraordinary messy even for being a Sicilian. The firing Finn at move eight sacrificed his e4-pawn, reportedly often considered vital in a Sicilian. He first did not seem to have sufficient compensation as black after exchanging three sets of minor pieces could castle long and defend a large centre, but white suddenly got counterplay as black let his rook in at g7. Later playing a pawn up for some moves white might even have been better. Young Dobrov still playing hard for a win outplayed his opponent during mutual time trouble, advancing his passed d-pawn until winning material and then finishing off the game in an elegant fashion by sacrificing his queen at g1 move 38. Having won this hard-fought GM-battle Dobrov shares third place, while Westerinen again is lagging behind in the fight for the moneyprizes.
GM Vladimir BURMAKIN 2508 – FM Øystein HOLE 2336 1 - 0
This for both players extremely important game also became an extremely messy one, starting as a Slav in which white had a pair of bishops but an inferior pawn structure including two h-pawns. Although white had chances for a g-file attack black with some counterpressure against d4 felt satisfied most of the middlegame. He however became too eager when snatching one of the white h-pawns with his queen after 28 moves, after which Burmakin during mutual time trouble turned himself on “fast forward”, within a few moves mobilizing a killing attack culminating with a decisive bishop sacrifice at h6 move 36. Burmakin following this is fully in the run for the glory (and the money), while Hole is in trouble needing 3/3 for his third IM-norm.
GM Arnaud HAUCHARD 2483 – Øyvind BENTSEN 2146 1 – 0
The e-pawns were exchanged early in this seldom seen King’s Indian line, leaving a position in which white had a space advantage on the queenside and black the e-file, while both tried to start an attack against the opponent’s king on the kingside. White later overtook the e-file and intervened on e8 to win a piece, but playing with queen, rook and knight against queen and rook he short of time still had a hard time to watch out for black’s counterplay on the kingside. Following white’s 36.h3? black actually could have forced a repetition of moves by an instructive Qd4. Making the well known mistake of playing too fast himself to exploit his opponent’s time trouble, Bentsen instead lost touch and slipped down to a minor piece endgame in which only white had a piece. Bentsen having played four GMs is still in the IM-norm run at 3.5/6, while Hauchard winning three games in a row suddenly can be found in between his GM-colleagues on the top boards. All available honour to the chess world famous Gausdal Hotel kitchen, as even the French representative claimed having gained some weight if losing some ELO during his stay so far J.
Håkon BENTSEN 2158 – IM Jean-Luc SERET 2391 1 - 0
For a promising start white castled long and black short in this Austrian Pirc duel, but a number of early exchanges left before 20 moves only a rooks and minor pieces’ endgame in which black’s pair of bishops approximately compensated his disrupted kingside pawns. Although white managed to exchange one of the bishops the struggle on the board remained tight, as black had some counterplay on the queenside. The struggle however was everything but tight on the clock, as white had more than one hour left when black ran desperately short for 40 moves. White’s exchange sacrifice at e7 actually was played to force a draw, but gave a jackpot as black too short of time to calculate it refused the sacrifice, to end up in a double rook endgame in which white within 40 moves picked up two pawns and before 60 advanced his queenside pawns “forward to Richmond…”. Today’s surprise true enough was a little bit lucky, but the clock still is a very important piece – even for IMs. The younger Bentsen brother using his chance efficiently suddenly has a clear plus result, while Seret disappointedly is playing the final rounds to save his ELO instead of for a GM-norm.
FM Geir Sune TALLAKSEN 2350 – Stein Arild AARLAND 2278 1 – 0
Needing a win to keep his IM-norm hopes alive Tallaksen played hard for it in his patient way, starting up with a modest edge from a classical Capablanca exchange manoeuvre in a Queen’s Gambit. White kept some play on the queenside after exchanging three sets of minor pieces, while black had few resources left for a kingside counterattack. Aarland still made a creative try by sacrificing his remaining knight at f3. The knight probably was immune, but Tallaksen during mutual time pressure coolly left it at f3 to exchange queens and hit in with the thematic d5-breakthrough in the centre. The remaining rooks and knight endgame with an extra pawn was obviously better for white, but how to win it still was far from obvious. It all seemed clear as white won another pawn when entering the knight endgame, but never resigning Aarland came up with counterplay based upon his a-pawn. Endgame mastermind Tallaksen felt white should have something somewhere winning with more than one tempo, but one tempo still is what needed, and the finish in which black after six hours and nearly 70 moves got one new queen on the queenside and black two on the kingside was entertaining for those onlookers still not having left for the restaurant…. Tallaksen is fully in the norm run again and might be the best candidate available at the moment, but before entering the white corner of the ring against GM Karlsson in round seven he still needs two points more at the very least to make it…. While Aarland still undrawn still has 100 % against the lower rated opponents - and 0 % against the higher rated.
WIM Heather RICHARDS 2239 – FM Torbjørn R. HANSEN 2323 ½ - ½
The players know each other much too well since earlier on, and opted out of theory well before 10 moves with a Caro-Kann Fantasy line. Obviously having the better fantasy Torbjørn following an early queen exchange got a pleasant advantage as black, getting the pair of bishop as well as the better pawn structure. Black went on increasing the pressure in the middle game, and white anyway was in trouble when she at move 37 blundered a pawn while trying to counterattack the black king. Torbjørn of course could not be less generous, hence he gave away an exchange at c4 two moves later on. Although completely unnecessary (and “I do not even like to sacrifice” quote T. R. Hansen 2005!) the sacrifice still seemed promising. Heather demonstrating her talent as a defender however walked confidentially around on the water into an elegant piece endgame in which black’s bishop and h-pawn could make no further progress, but on the other hand white could never attack any of the remaining black pawns. Myself I could never have played hard to defeat a former darling, even in chess, but in some way I admire nice people who have the mental strength to do so… I fear there is a reason why they both have got a chess title (and a new darling!) while I have neither L.
FM Jon Ludvig HAMMER 2278 – Sigmund REPPEN 1916 1 - 0
White in this Preussian duell sacrificed a pawn, and although three sets of minor pieces were exchanged had sufficient compensation due to his more active pieces and black’s awkward king. Black escaped the immediate dangers by returning the pawn, and having exchanged queens seemed to have fair drawing chances in the rook and different coloured bishops endgame. Ahead on the clock and the board white however refused a draw to play for a kingside attack, and as black missed the critical and creative attacking plan until the h-pawn was much too close, white could advance his h-pawn all the way to g7 with decisive threats. The stubborn Hammer gets one very last shot for IM-norm chances against Burmakin tomorrow, while Reppen despite this honest loss still is well above expected score.
Frode O. O. URKEDAL 2141 – FM Simon SILSETH 2328 ½ - ½
After 1.Nf3 f5 Urkedal tried to reach a favourable pseudo-Dutch with 2.d3 followed by e4, but black following early exchanges had no problems and even held a slight initiative in the middlegame. Black for some moves played with a passed a-pawn in the rook and minor piece endgame, but against active white pieces he found nothing better than exchanging it to reach a very drawish rook endgame buried before 50 moves. Urkedal still aged 12 is still doing great, and even the Swedes now admit this is a remarkable new Norwegian talent coming up in the shadow of Magnus J While Silseth being a solid Swede but not much more at the moment, definitely is out as an IM-norm candidate for now.
Sjur FERKINGSTAD 2239 – Espen HAUGSTAD (1607) 1 - 0
As white got both the centre pawns and the better development, while black still had a struggle ahead to get out Bc8, white obviously could be satisfied with this Sicilian Alapin. Still black did not have to blunder a pawn at move 15, moving his queen to h5 hoping for an attack and forgetting the queen would lack squares after a direct Rb5. And if losing a pawn with a much inferior position following last sentence, black still did not have to resign at move 16! But black against a well established 2200-player was hardly the game 15 year old Haugstad expected points from, and his 2.5/6 should still be celebrated in Sandnes….
Odin Blikra VEA 2090 – Lars BREIVIK 2236 0 - 1
White avoided the critical main lines in this Botvinnik Semi-Slav, and once more too loose on material let black play on with an extra c4 pawn without complaints. Having got the necessary help to preserve the queenside including the pawn, Breivik turned his attention to the kingside, exploiting the lines white had tried opening for an attack to exchange down into a different coloured bishop endgame in which white could not stop both white’s passed pawn in the c- and f-file. Another down following another up for jumpy Vea, while Breivik still works amazingly well as a tough chess fighter daytime.
Bertil SVENDSEN 2205 – Rune MYHRVOLD 2164 0 – 1
Both players spent much time from the start of this English Botvinnik set up, but white came out with a pleasant advantage following his pressure against even another backward d6-pawn.(And this was not a Sicilian, meaning this one might actually fall!) While black actively searched for counterplay by realizing e5 and e4 in the centre white however hesitated way too much, and as he did not want to take at d6 or e4 before it was definitely good instead came definitely worse… During mutual time trouble black’s pieces all the more came to dominate the board, until white just before 40 moves lost a piece. Svendsen suddenly has a mediocre result following this loss, while Myhrvold for an hour or so was the gifted chess fighter who played in the Championship class of the Norwegian championship at Gausdal back in 1999.
Christian HARSTAD 2078 – FM Felix NORDSTRÖM 2184 0 – 1
Harstad probably should have spent some more time on “study walks” to follow Tallaksen-Aarland, as his version of the same opening allowed black to exchange three sets of minor pieces and establish a promising pressure against white’s backward e3-pawn. Feeling his position crumbling as black intervened with his queen at d2, white during mutual time trouble sacrificed his only remaining minor piece at f7, and then an exchange at c6, to get a counterattack against the black king. Although white got a number of pawns and a number of checks black still should be winning, and if not he definitely should so after succeeding to double his rooks on the seventh rank with awful threats against the white king. With both players having only seconds left for 40 moves black overlooked a mate in one instead to force a queen exchange, which turned out to win the queen as white would not accept that he had to exchange it…. Harstad commenting another game of today remarked he was unable to understand how anyone could blunder the queen in a full time game – it caused some laughter as he himself ended his very last game by doing so J. Nordström might have lost the IM-norm out of sight but it seems he will soon be back above 2200, while Harstad must speed up to reach back 2100.
Øystein Bøyum FOSSUM 2247 – Emil AGDESTEIN 2057 ½ - ½
16 moves, Modern. White being clearly the higher rated player this came a bit unexpected,
but although white controlled the important e4-square, black allowed to place his knight at d4 had no problems in the final position.
WFM Jessie GILBERT 2148 – Joachim THOMASSEN 1963 0 – 1
White came better from this Classical Nimzo Indian opening as black felt forced to play e5, leaving a nice outpost at d5 and backward pawn at d6. White however spent enormous amounts of time without coming up with anything concrete to increase her advantage. As white having played f5 and b5 was beginning to look overstretched black started a gifted counterplay in the a-file, and white having some twelve moves left for two minutes anyway was in trouble as her key pawn at c4 went lost. Still blundering the queen to a straightforward knight fork at e2 was a bit unnecessary. Gilbert still suffers from strained relations with the clock, while Thomassen junior is about to demonstrate himself dangerously underrated.
Kevin WHITE 2069 – Johannes KVISLA 2123 ½ - ½
8 moves, English fianchetto. Kvisla arrived late and that was the most exciting moment.
Håkon STRAND 1986 – Tarjei J. SVENSEN 2112 0 – 1
It felt this one started before it even began: Obviously not yet well known with this line in the demanding French advance white gave up a testimony pawn at b2, and then consequently went on to lose his a- and c-pawn too. Realizing black’s double h-pawn hardly compensated any of the running black pawns on the kingside, white stopped the clock after 18 moves. Even in chess, if handling a loaded gun you better know which way to point….
Håkon ASTRUP 1943 – Thomas THOMASSEN 2077 0 – 1
Three minor pieces were exchanged early on in this Queen’s Gambit Moscow line, leaving an about balanced position in which white controlled the d-file while black’s bishop at g7 was the better minor piece. The d-file lost value as black was able to exchange one pair of rooks, but the remaining queen, rook and minor piece position still was generally recognized as drawish. Black however succeeded to pin white’s knight at d4 while sneaking around for a kingside attack, and at move 36 could exchange at d4 to let his queen, rook and h-pawn fulfil the attack by mating white’s king at g3. Astrup so far has been less successful than in October last year, while daddy Thomassen really has started to show his muscles….
Ellen CARLSEN 1866 – Jan Arne BJØRGVIK 2119 ½ - ½
Black’s Sicilian with d6-e6-e5 and b6-Bb7 looked a bit too self-composed, and white had a pleasant start playing against a backward pawn at d6 and a strong outpost at d5. Although exchanging the e4-pawn against the d6-wreck probably was dubious, but controlling the d-file in general and the d5-square in particular, white still had pleasant pressure in the queen, rook and minor piece position when a draw was agreed after 35 moves. Ellen in her current form only needs to become a little bit tougher in positions like this to pass 2000. But anyway her advances continues with another convincing game score against a much higher rated opponent. While Bjørgvik is losing the struggle against his own FIDE-ELO, but doing fine compared to his national rating.
Askild BRYN 2019 – Jarle NILSEN (1632) ½ - ½
White suddenly accelerated following a slow English Botvinnik set up in this game, and realizing f4 followed by f5 and e5-e6 got some attack. Black’s pieces however meantime became disturbingly active, and failing to find the critical attacking continuations white entered a tactical carousel stopping in a drawish endgame with two knights, one bishop and fours pawns on each side. As this endgame was “piecefully” buried after 35 moves, Nilsen has succeeded to turn his tide while Bryn is still losing weight every round…
Per JOHANSSON 2005 – Henrik SJØL (1656) ½ - ½
Johansson made a try to play for a win with his patient Queen’s Indian fianchetto, but although white realizing d5 got a space advantage black having free development and a nice bishop at f6 seemed healthy. Drawn agreed on white’s suggestion after 20 moves, probably in a position of balanced chances. Fair enough, except of course if white had ambitions to reach 50 % or black to win any game…
Nicolai GETZ 1913 – Kristian AANDAL 1941 ½ - ½
This was a Hedgehog a la Kan Sicilian, “waiting balanced” for 20 moves. Then black insisted to realize a premature d5 although it obviously lost a pawn. And then white offered a draw although he obviously was a pawn up, true enough still with a long and thorny road to realize it. I remember very well when my generation were juniors - and unfortunately doubt if everything (not to say anything) was much better then….
Joar G. PETTERSEN 2050 – Anders HOBBER 1915 ½ - ½
This on the other hand was a short but intense Russian theory duel: Having exchanged the e-pawns white went for a primitive Qh5-attack on the kingside, and as black played g6 sacrificed two minor pieces to reach a perpetual check at move 12. Both players following some hard losses looked understandably relieved to get on the score board again.
Maria PITZ JACOBSEN (1362) – Terje LIE (1178) 0 - 1
Allowed to establish promising attacking targets at b5 and e6, white after 10 moves had got clearly the better half of this Pirc. White could cash in the pawn at b5 directly if she wanted, but then she had to take with the bishop first to avoid losing a piece to another queen check at a5 L. Black overdid when offering back the piece at e5, but true enough black with threats coming up in the e-file would have been clearly better even if white had taken the piece. Lie having wasted several won positions in earlier episodes of “Gausdal Bygger’n Masters 2005” well deserved to win a game at round six, but Maria still was unlucky to lose this one following her successful opening.