Gausdal Bygger’n Masters 2005
THE LAHLUM ROUND REPORT (PART SEVEN)
Magnus Carlsen, still aged 14, seems about to make not only the best result of his amazing career so far, but also arguably the best result ever done by a Norwegian player: His 6,5/7 including five foreign GMs among the opponents gives an outstanding ELO performance of 2872 so far! Today’s victim was Dejan Antic, who kept a rough balance for four hours in a demanding hanging pawns' position, but who was still efficiently punished when he short of time failed to catch up. Magnus lead increased into a full point today, as second seeded GM Kaido Kulaots failed to win despite an extra pawn against GM Arnaud Hauchard. Kulaots following this has to share his second place with the accelerating Russian GM-duo Vladimir Dobrov and Vladimir Burmakin. Burmakin today produced another working day win against FM Jon Ludvig Hammer, while Dobrov defeated GM Ralf Åkesson thanks to a jackpot preparation. Today’s sensation on the top board was Norwegian FM Geir Sune Tallaksen winning long but very well deserved against Swedish GM Lars Karlsson. Good news from a Norwegian point of view following this is that Tallaksen probably needs only 1 out of 2 to make his first IM-norm – the bad news is he will have to play black against apparently unstoppable Magnus in round eight…. The start rocket Øyvind Bentsen on the other hand definitely is out as an IM-norm candidate after playing much too optimistic for a win against FM Simon Silseth today. FM Øystein Hole winning another patient win against Sjur Ferkingstad today is also in the IM-norm run, but will need at least 1,5/2 including GM Stellan Brynell as a tough round eight opponent… Brynell winning a worse endgame against Håkon Bentsen today might be the best Swedish bid for top three, as round seven became a hard one for the other Swedish GMs. It should be mentioned however than senior FM Felix Nordström following a long and turbulent draw against FM Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen today, still can make an IM-norm if winning both the final rounds.
GM Dejan ANTIC 2519 – GM Magnus CARLSEN 2570 0 – 1
Today’s first board was a double edged Queen’s Indian, in which black’s hanging pawns at c5 and d5 never really seemed exposed following three minor piece exchanges. The position still seemed dynamically balanced after 25 moves, but from then on Antic about to run seriously short of time lost touch with the position. Still using all his chances Magnus soon realized d4 followed by d3, and as it reached d2 move 39 white had to give up a piece. No way a spectacular game, but still a very convincing win as black against an experienced 2500-GM. Magnus was well satisfied with his play after the game, but remarked he still needed to more wins to reach 2600 J.
GM Kaido KULAOTS 2558 – GM Arnaud HAUCHARD 2483 ½ - ½
Kulaots was declared “winning again” as he in the early middlegame picked up a pawn at b7 and established a passed b-pawn in this Russian opening. It is however played by strong black players without too many ambitions to win the game earlier on, as white playing against active pieces still has a long way to realize the pawn. Hauchard succeeded to establish a disturbing passed d-pawn in this game, and although the end disguised as a repetition just before 40 moves came a little bit unexpected white obviously had to run large risks and be guaranteed a long evening to achieve winning chances. Although Hauchard of course could be satisfied to draw Kulaots as black, the winner of this game if anyone was Magnus Carlsen – as Kulaots a full point behind two rounds before the prizegiving declared his chances for the first prize gone.
GM Vladimir DOBROV 2515 – GM Ralf ÅKESSON 2486 1 – 0
Dobrov hit a jackpot with his opening preparation today as the tactical 17.e4 is a testing novelty, improving on an earlier game from Åkesson. Åkesson looked like if he had just met a purple four meters high alien skiing while wearing a bowlerhat. He thought for a very long time - and then still went desperate sacrificing his queen for one rook and one minor piece. Dobrov in short was far ahead on the clock and winning on the board before even leaving his home preparation. Later on he true enough nearly managed to make the game exciting by blundering the b-pawn, but Åkesson short of time blundered back instead of exploiting his chance to fight for a draw. Åkesson losing his first Gausdal game since 2001 is short of points to reach top three this time, while Dobrov sharing second place is a hot candidate.
FM Jon Ludvig HAMMER 2278 – GM Vladimir BURMAKIN 2508 0 – 1
This made a slow start as a balanced and relatively quiet Caro-Kann with 3.--- dxe4 and short castling. Black could apparently have won a pawn by taking twice at e5 and checking once at c5 after 14 moves, but for some unknown reason preferred to castle short instead. Play for a while circled around white’s d4-pawn, but as it was to be exchanged at d5 the players seemed to be heading for a drawish endgame after 35 moves. Hammer however missed a tactical detail when about to exchange down, and hence ended up an a-pawn down in a probably lost queen endgame instead of in the dead drawn one he hoped for. The a-pawn probably was decisive anyway, and obviously frustrated Hammer made it easier for black by in desperation giving up pawns on the kingside. All hopes are gone for Hammer’s IM-norm, while Burmakin still using his chances very well is fully in the fight for top three.
FM Geir Sune TALLAKSEN 2350 – GM Lars KARLSSON 2501 1 – 0
Today’s sensation on the top boards true enough looked very much like a meeting between an experienced GM and a junior 2300-player, but that is until realizing that the GM handled the black pieces… Karlsson played inaccurate when realizing e5 and e4 in this Dutch Leningrad, and obviously well known with this type of position white exploited it to get a strong initiative, leading to a rook and minor piece endgame in which white had the active rooks and the better pawns. Karlsson under pressure gave up first one and then another pawn to get some counterplay. White’s passive bishop at g2 true enough gave him some headache, but Tallaksen solved the problem neatly by sacrifing the bishop to win the remaining black pawns. Karlsson having to sacrifice back his knight resigned a dead lost rook endgame with zero against two pawns after 50 moves, looked angry and left the playing local in a hurry, but soon found back his excellent mood with a beautiful woman and a bottle of wine in the hotel restaurant…. While Tallaksen understandably looked very well satisfied at another board in the restaurant without neither a beautiful women nor a bottle of wine, needing “only” 1 out of 2 for his first IM-norm. This although he as a born realist was not too optimistic about his chances as black against Magnus tomorrow.
GM Stellan BRYNELL 2496 – Håkon BENTSEN 2158 1 – 0
White in accordance with theory temporarily sacrificed a pawn at d5, but having regained it he much less planned blundered his b2-pawn instead. Having an extra pawn in a rooks and different coloured bishop endgame black after 20 moves seemed guaranteed not to lose, but then made the classical mistake of playing much too passive, leaving his bishop out of play at c7 behind a pawn at d6. Brynell speeded up and succeeded to create a troublesome attack against black’s f5-pawn. Black gave back the pawn too late, and within a few moves after 40 drifted into a mating attack on the kingside. Brynell has not been frightening regarding play, but efficiently using his chances he still candidates for top three.
Lars BREIVIK 2236 – GM Heikki WESTERINEN 2410 ½ - ½
Breivik tried to slow down his opponent with a careful Colle system, but realizing e5 black soon had the more active pieces. White following an early queen exchange found himself under pressure in the rooks and bishops endgame. Black for some move held an extra d-pawn, and although white in the end succeeded to win it back he still had an unpleasant position to defend with his king under fire from two machine gun bishops. Keeping up the pressure Westerinen after the first time control went on to win two of white’s kingside pawns. If the remaining endgame with one against three scattered kingside pawns was not winning for black, it became so as white was helpful to repair the black pawn structure by exchanging bishops at g4. Relaxing too early (meaning after five hours and 50 minutes) Westerinen at move 56 however played a fatal Kg6 instead of Ke6 – stalemating the white king and hence allowing white to save a miraculous draw by sacrificing his bishop. The end beyond doubt was a bitter one from a Finnish point of view, but Breivik fair enough once more was rewarded for his remarkable fighting talents.
FM Øystein HOLE 2336 – Sjur FERKINGSTAD 2239 1 – 0
Hole desperately needed a win today and got it in a fairly typical way, keeping a small advantage from the opening and finally realizing it in the endgame. The opening was an English fianchetto, and the advantage followed partly from white’s queenside majority and partly from his fianchetto bishop at g2. Black seemed to be in reasonable control in the middlegame, but for some not too mysterious reason again lost the touch the last 10 moves before move 40. Hole of course used his chance to establish and advance a passed b-pawn which became all the more problematic for black until he after 45 moves had to sacrifice a piece on it. Hole following this win still has chances for an IM-norm, but will need at least 1.5/2 to make it – and Brynell tomorrow of course will be a hard test.
FM Torbjørn RINGDAL HANSEN 2323 – FM Felix NORDSTRÖM 2184 ½ - ½
Both players castled long in this closed Sicilian, in which black having the better pawn structure first seemed fine. Allowed to snatch a pawn at h7 and start advancing his kingside majority, white however came to play for a win in the endgame with queen and bishop versus queen and knight. The game turned into an exciting race during mutual time trouble in the fourth hour, as black proved able to establish a passed b-pawn running against the h-pawn. Black’s flag survived the time control with a wafer margin and he had two queens on board then: White understandably preferred to exchange one of them instead of running mate with four queens on the board. This leaving a still complex endgame with queen, bishop and two pawns versus queen, knight and one pawn. White played on for a win until both players ran out of pieces at the end of the sixth hour, but had too few pawns and too open a king to succeed then. This meaning Ringdal Hansen is continuing his slow fall towards 2300, while 61 year old Nordström still can make a sensational IM-norm if able to jump again in both the final rounds…
Rune MYHRVOLD 2164 – WIM Heather RICHARDS 2239 1 – 0
This result came a bit surprising, although Myhrvold has clearly improved his play during the tournament. The start was a French Winawer with 6.--- Qa5, in which black soon snatched a pawn at c2. My feelings against playing g6 in a French however were strengthened as white in this game got a dangerous attack on the black kingside squares. White eventually won a piece by doubling his rooks in the h-file, and could later sacrifice back a piece on the black a-pawn to promote his own f-pawn. Myhrvold suddenly has a plus result within reach and will be transmitted live for the first time in round eight, while chronically unpredictable Heather might be about to collapse.
Øyvind BENTSEN 2146 – FM Simon SILSETH 2328 0 – 1
Bentsen quoted Magnus that he had “played like a child” today. White of course had a solid position from this Philidor transposing into a symmetric king’s pawn centre, but if his Nf3-Ng5-Nf3-Nh4 manoeuvre might have been justified, g4 afterwards still definitely was overambitious. Having to give up a pawn white still had some compensation as black in the middle game played with three isolated double pawns (!?), but white was helpful to repair all three of them to land in a lost rook and minor piece endgame. Silseth apparently made things more difficult than they actually were in this endgame, but his kingside attack and passed f-pawn probably was decisive all of the time. Bentsen finally is down at 50 %, but of course still will get a clear plus result - while Silseth looked better today but still has an average result at best.
IM Jean-Luc SERET 2391 – Tarjei J. SVENSEN 2112 1 – 0
Again hiding his true nature behind a slow and closed King’s Indian advance set up, Seret exchanging at d5 gave black a space advantage and hardly any problems from this openings. Svensen however played much too carelessly when moving his knight from e6 to d4 at move 20, missing a strong exchange sacrifice at e7. White later could win back the exchange with an extra pawn and the better pieces, but in an inspired mood he instead of taking back the exchange sacrificed a bishop at h6. Unable to take the bishop black could have kept the exchange for two pawns, but understandably feeling confused he instead forced himself to give up the queen. Seret is looking great when allowed to attack with white, but his overall result still is below expected. While Svensen is back around his average following the double puncture of rounds 6 and 7.
Stein Arild AARLAND 2278 – Thomas THOMASSEN 2077 ½ - ½
Still allergic to critical theory lines Aarland made a slow start with a closed Bb5-Sicilian. Black realizing e5 and d5 had no problems, and playing with a pair of bishops he had an initiative after the centre was blown away. Even the endgame with rook and bishop versus rook and knight appeared slightly better for black. Short of time he however stumbled into a tricky trap from Aarland, who sacrificed an exchange to win back a full rook with his passed c-pawn. Following this white became the only one having a knight in the knight endgame, but he still had problems to win as knights are badly equipped for stopping passed pawns escorted by kings. White might still have had a win hidden somewhere, but if so it was far from obvious – and the final pawn endgame arising as he did sacrifice the knight obviously was a draw by one tempo. Meaning Aarland (after playing on for a while in a queen endgame consisting of two queens) finally broke his Swiss waves today by drawing a lover rated opponent, while Thomassen keeping aside his collapse in the starting round has been playing for at least 2200.
Joachim THOMASSEN 1963 – Frode O. O. URKEDAL 2141 ½ - ½
Urkedal following a less successful preparation found himself under pressure as black in this Bogo-Indian, as white was allowed to build up a notable space advantage. The pressure decreased a little as black by a tactical Ne5 proved able to exchange the remaining minor pieces, but still white having a pawn wall from c4 to f4 looked clearly better. Advancing the f pawn to f5 might have been correct, but going on to f6 probably was to overdo. Black when getting the chance anyway hit in with tactical Rxe5, sacrificing a rook to force a perpetual check. Urkedal is about to normalize following his excellent start, while Thomassen junior going the other way around now is in for a clear plus result.
Sigmund REPPEN 1916 – Odin Blikra VEA 2090 0 – 1
This was a Scotch Gambit in which black returned the pawn - and then the players put on the vacuum cleaners to eliminate all pieces except one set of bishops before 20 moves. Reportedly it is all theory leading to an “unclear” endgame, although the only unclear thing for me seems to be whether white can save a draw. I guess he can, at least if I play black - but Odin having a space advantage kept up the pressure, and as white several times weakened his queenside he was driven back to the first rank well before 40 moves. The world really has changed if Odin has started to win materially balanced endgames, but it looked like Sigmund never really came into the game following a dubious opening choice as white.
Kevin WHITE 2069 – Øystein Bøyum FOSSUM 2247 ½ - ½
A 22 moves draw in a Reti might not sound too exciting, but within those frames this actually was an interesting game. As white came slightly better from the opening and was about to start a kingside attack with h3-g4-Nh4-Nf5, black instead of becoming passive sacrificed a knight for two pawns at g4. Black hardly had enough material to compensate, but as white did not want to look greedy he immediately played Re4 to return an exchange at g4. White following this considered the position unclear if not better for black (which he should have thought about before sacrificing the exchange!), while black had a strange feeling he would lose if playing on this position (which he should have thought about before sacrificing the piece!)…. Meaning in short that a draw was abruptly agreed after 22 moves. Both players are still doing below expected, but White at least repaired some of his loss today.
Emil AGDESTEIN 2057 – Bertil SVENDSEN 2205 0 – 1
Following an odd start with 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 this transposed into a Caro-Kann, in which white had the better pawn structure and apparently the slightly better pieces after an exchange at f6. White’s h-pawn bayonet attack however succeeded only to repair black’s kingside pawn structure, and black meantime came clearly better as he was given the e-file as well as the pair of bishops. All the more inspired black intensified the pressure by intervening with his queen at g2 and f3, forcing a still more desperate Agdestein to give up first an exchange and the various other pieces. Solid and efficient by Svendsen doing a result slightly above expectations - much too loose from Agdestein who can hardly be satisfied with this game or with the tournament so far.
Johannes KVISLA 2123 – Ellen CARLSEN 1866 1 – 0
Kvisla was expected to be the least friendly part of this friendship game, and following a modest start with Nc3 and Bb5 played for a win in a Sicilian isolani position. As two minor pieces were exchanged and black had no chances for a kingside attack, the d5-pawn looked exposed, but white still had only a slight edge before black too eager to exchange more pieces ran straight into a bishop sacrifice at g6 marked with a neonsign crossbone. Winning a pawn with an ongoing attack, Kvisla went on to win another pawn and to fulfil the attack before 40 moves. Ellen is still doing above expected and Johannes below, but the difference was much reduced following this result.
Espen HAUGSTAD (1607) – Christian HARSTAD 2078 1 - 0
This was a real King’s Gambit with 3.--- g5 and 4.--- g4, which however left white with the less insecure king on an airy kingside. Although white having exchanged his e-pawn against black’s g-pawn held a promising pressure, it was still a position until black having some 20 minutes left for five moves blundered a knight in one move, and white had no problems to clean up the rest. Harstad having had a very good chess year in 2004 so far in 2005 is spending too much time blundering way too many pieces to turn the tide. While Haugstad is among the winners of the tournament: At 3.5/7 he will definitely get the nine rated opponents needed for a FIDE-ELO, and if playing as good for the remaining two rounds he can even get it above 2100.
Henrik SJØL (1656) – WFM Jessie GILBERT 2148 0 – 1
Jessie finally hit with an opening preparation, coming clearly ahead on the board as well as on the clock in this Classical King’s Indian race. While white never really came up with anything disturbing on the queenside black before 20 moves was within shot of the white king, and six moves later on white felt forced to give up a piece to exchange queens. Without the queens white did not have to fear an immediate mate, but insufficient from the start his compensation during time pressure soon vanished, until after 40 moves black had two sound pieces extra in a rook and minor piece endgame including more pieces than pawns… Too little too late to save Gilbert’s tournament, but still a nice win as black helps a lot with two rounds to go.
Jan Arne BJØRGVIK 2119 – Per JOHANSSON 2005 ½ - ½
This truly was a Caro-Kann exchange line, as all pieces except the rooks were exchanged before 25 moves. (some of them true enough via an entertaining tactical exchange combination) The draw still came a little bit surprising as black was about to fulfil his minority attack with the thematic b4 on the queenside, while white had done nothing to create counterplay on the kingside, meaning black could have played on for a win without much of a risk to lose.
Kristian AANDAL 1941 – Askild BRYN 2019 1 – 0
No one was too surprised that this game between two disillusioned juniors was over within one hour, but questions soon came of why white’s king was the only one left on the board…. The answer was that black being worse but no means in any kind of crisis from a Dutch Leningrad, delivered a strong application for the chess blackout prize of 2005 as he opened the e-file with exd5 with a white rook an e1 and a black queen at e8, meaning white could immediately cash in the queen with Nxf6+. Bryn “still had difficult to talk about it” some hours afterwards, understandably as his tournament following a very difficult start has seen new set backs for almost every round… While Aandal suddenly having earned FIDE-ELO despite his “long castle” in round 1-3 remained as laid back as ever, although his pulse reportedly climbed to nearly 90 when Bryn lifted the e-pawn J.
Håkon STRAND 1986 – Nicolai GETZ 1913 0 – 1
Having repaired his French Advance since yesterday, Strand now came about balanced as white with 6.Bd3 as black did not want to test the gambit. Trying for a pawnstorm in the middlegame white succeeded only to lose the h-pawn, but his ongoing attack against an airy black king gave sufficient compensation. After 40 moves white had a really dangerous attack coming up, and black felt forced to sacrifice an exchange. The position with queen, two rooks and four pawns versus queen, rook, bishop and five however still was complex, same was the following endgame with two rooks and two pawns versus rook, bishop and four pawns. To make a long and complicated story short Strand about to run seriously short of time for the game lost his vital a-pawn, after which Getz in the rest of the sixth hour demonstrated nice marching technique with his queenside pawns. Black following this was totally lost anyway when even the flag turned against him after 85 moves. Getz finally getting his win against a rated opponent is doing well above expected, while Strand following a promising start has a hard time to save his ELO.
Jarle NILSEN (1632) – Håkon ASTRUP 1943 ½ - ½
Nilsen continues first to play the very slow London-system and then suddenly to start attacking with a pawnstorm in the middlegame. Unfortunately attacking despite a good will is more difficult when you have already exchanged three sets of minor pieces, and although white for some moves had an f-file initiative he succeeded only to exchange down into a very drawish knight endgame. Meaning Nilsen further strengthened his FIDE-ELO norm, while Astrup still has a hard time to win games.
Anders HOBBER 1915 – Terje LIE (1178) 0 - 1
Playing the ambitious Austrian attack of course is fine against a Pirc, but feeling too much pressure to defeat his first lower rated opponent, Anders’ probably went overambitious with f5 and g5, as white’s own king became more open than the black one, while black got a nice knight square at e5. As white consequently ended up trapping his own queen at h6, black playing fast but still efficient went on to win a forest of material before 35 moves. Hobber suffered his first serious set-back as he became too hot today, while Lie having 2.5/7 and playing better and better has an ELO-norm within reach following this laid-back win against a rated opponent.
Maria Pitz JACOBSEN (1332) – Joar G. PETTERSEN 2050 0 - 1
This was a short but intense Scandinavian battle in which white having pawns at c5 and d5 as well as a promising diagonal pressure against f7, again looked more or less winning from the opening. Again spending way too much time Maria however missed a crushing Bxf7+-sacrifice at move 18, and instead winning the pawn at f7 one move later she ended up to overstretch her pieces and lose one of them. Due to her active rooks and passed pawn white still had some chances in the endgame, but very short of time she missed them to end up just a piece down in the endgame. All honour of course to Joar for making efficient use of his chances following a troublesome start of the game, but Maria really deserves better than she has got this tournament – so far.