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Many hard-fought games, some surprises but no true sensations in the second round of the ELO-group.
As 32 out of 38 games got a winner, 12 players in this group still have a 100 % score after round two.
Top-seeded FM Daniel Jakobsen Kovachev (2289) is among them, but got a tough fight as black against 79 year old
Leif Kverndal (1838). Black in this King’s Indian soon got an initiative on the board. Kverndal however fought
on well and still rusty Kovachev ran seriously short of time. With black having about ten moves left for
one minute his passed c-pawn still gave him a clear advantage, and the pawn soon won a piece after Kverndal helpfully exchanged queens.
Second seeded Johannes Kvisla (2096) meanwhile looked confident as he went for a direct kingside attack as white in a Pirc duel,
and before 20 moves won a rook with an ongoing attack against 71 year old Svein Erik Ruud (1798).
Third seeded Tarjei Svensen (2082) got a much longer journey as black against Børge Svanholm (1835) in a rather balanced
Cambridge-Springs line of a Queen’s Gambit. This materially balanced endgame probably should have been a draw.
Having rook and bishop versus rook and knight plus a two versus one pawn majority on the queenside, Svensen however had all the chances – and used them well.
Today’ main surprise instead came on board four, as 13 year old Lucas Ranaldi (1831) defeated fifth seeded Fredrik Beer-Jacobsen (2046) in only 24 moves.
This in no way was a surprise following the game, as white after too hesitant play from black established a space advantage from the opening
and kept up the pressure in the middle game. As black tried to complicate by castling long, white demonstrated the better understanding
and won the attacking race. Beer-Jacobsen for sure can do better, but Ranaldi for sure is a talent to follow the upcoming rounds (and years).
Another surprise from an ELO point of view came on board seven, as our Swedish guest Ola Pettersson (1997) went down against
Sigurd Kjelsbøe Huse (1720). In reality it was not that much of a surprise, as 13 year old Huse is another strongly underrated
player on his way up. Age difference was 62 years in this game, illustrating well what an including sport chess can be.
The game by the way was a very exciting one as Pettersson sacrificed a pawn for a lasting kingside initiative, but Huse defended well
and exchanged down to win the double rook endgame.
Several female players have had a good start in the ELO-group. One of them is Norwegian Anastasia Edakina (1733), today drawing a long and
sound Meran duel as black against Ole Smeby (2042) on board five.
Best among the women so far is Italian Sonia Sirletti (1843), winning her second game in a nice fashion as black against Olav Hjortås (1680).
A tactical e4-sacrifice gave black a strong initiative just after the opening, and realizing he had blundered a piece for nothing Hjortås
threw in the scoresheets after 18 moves.
Also in the pole group at 2/2 is the virtually blind Kai-Roger Johansen (1995), not overlooking much as he today increased the
positional pressure to win the queen endgame (in the end with starring three queens!) as white against young Kazim Yilmaz (1686).
In short, this ELO-group is a fascinating and very mixed group of chess players. Although the quality is uneven, many good moves and a
lot of entertaining games can be guaranteed each round.
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