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In the GM-group, the first board game IM Mads Andersen (2470) - IM Miklas Galyas (2421) started as a very closed Dutch Stonewall duel.
White succeeded exchanging the queens and opening the c-file, but this gave him only a slight edge in the rook and bishop endgame.
Defending by sound means, black in time opened the a-file for his own rook, and was at least equal when a draw was agreed after 31 moves.
Both IMs are on schedule for a GM-norm at 2.5/3, but still waiting to play their first GM.
Draw between the two only players at 2/2 obviously means 0 out of
44 players managed to win all the three first games, which is highly unusual for a chess tournament at any level. Andersen and Galyas still share the lead, but now with four other players.
The second board meeting between GM Andrei Istratescu (2653) and IM Goran Djurovic (2408) was a Sicilian Scheveningen duel, in which white by playing 15.Qe2? apparently
overlooked a thematic pawn snatch with 15.--- h6 16.Bh4 Nxe4!. Black for some reason instead sacrificed a pawn himself with 16.--- g5?.
Although black got some activity, white later held an advantage all the way into the rook and minor pieces endgame. Realizing the extra pawn however proved very difficult
due to black’s active pieces. When Istratescu in frustration gave up a piece for black’s remaining pawns after 50 moves, he succeeded only in forcing a draw.
Djurovic with one win and two GM-draws are doing very well so far, while first seeded Istratescu is still in the sump at +1.
The third board meeting between IM Anita Gara (2322) and GM Evgeny Romanov (2647) made an unexpected start as a French Tarrasch with 4.--- exd5,
in which black’s active pieces compensated for a loose pawn on e4. White came under some pressure, but succeeded balancing the position by giving
up her b-pawn to win the black e-pawn. Having less than two minutes left on the clock for eleven moves Romanov however blundered with 30.--- Qb5??.
Black overlooked 31.Rd5! – trapping the black queen as 31.--- Qc6 32.Ng5+! hxg5 33.Qh5+ Kg8 34.Rd8+ mates. Which actually happened, in a hurry,
as Romanov was still short of time and Gara still on the spot. The seconded seeded GM is down at 50 % following this loss. Anita Gara denies having GM-norm
ambitions, but for sure plays better than most of the GMs so far. True enough black had his chances today, but for once the 2300-IM used her chances much better than the 2600-GM.
The fourth board was a Hungarian meeting between GM Peter Prohaszka (2588) and IM Benjamin Gledura (2414). The game became a small disappointment,
as it was drawn after 19 not too entertaining moves. Well-prepared Gledura came under no pressure in some kind of closed Catalan, with the black problem-child bishop from
c8 placed outside the pawn chain at g4. As black was not too interested in running any risk of losing, the game was drawn in an about balanced position.
Prohaszka is solid but nothing more so far, while Gledura drawing two GMs have made a promising start. Leave no doubt this 15 year old talent is running for a GM-norm this week.
Still playing solid and good, IM Fabrizio Bellia (2408) on board 5 had a c-file and a slight pressure upon GM Maxim Turov (2586) from this Bogo Indian opening.
As Turov exchanged the rooks and came up with some counterplay against white’s isolated a4-pawn, black in turn had an edge for some moves before the players
cooperated to reach a very drawish queen endgame. Allowing black to exchange queens on b5 after 43 moves however was a very risky decision from white.
As black for some reason did not test out the critical plan (with Kd6-Ke6 instead of 44.--- g5?), white got the chance needed to block the pawn endgame completely.
Bellia is another fast running IM and Turov another jogging GM so far.
Invited into a Sicilian Najdorf duel by FM Pier Luigi Basso (2322), GM Gabor Papp (2559) opted out with a rare 6.Qf3-line. It worked out fairly well from his point
of view, as white got a slight pressure without having to worry about another poisonous Basso preparation. White’s advantage looked obvious after he realized a thematic
e5-break at move 15, opening the kingside against black’s king. Exchanging queens afterwards however looked strange, and the remaining rook and minor piece endgame probably
should have been a draw. Having the better pawn structure Papp still played on for a win. He got a jackpot as Basso first was helpful establishing a passed a-pawn for white –
and then even more helpful blundering a piece by taking the a-pawn. Quiet and sound Papp following this win sneaks up to share the lead at 2.5/3, while young Basso with black
quickly came back to earth after his great white game against Solodovnichenko yesterday.
Yesterday’s sensation man Frode Lillevold (2199) as white challenged GM Jan Werle (2523) in a Dutch Leningrad duel. Although black was not put under any heavy pressure,
white still looked slightly better after 19 moves. Lillevold’s decision to sacrifice an exchange at e6 the next move was creative and tough, but probably not objectively correct.
Werle thought for a long while, but then cashed in the exchange for a pawn without running into any killing threats. As Lillevold ran all the more short of time,
he all the more helpfully exchanged down to an endgame in which Werle’s rook and passed a-pawn easily decided. Werle steams up and now shares the lead at 2.5/3,
while 1.5/3 against two GMs and one IM of course still is a great start for Lillevold.
17 year old IM Rasmus Svane (2506) as white against FM Joachim B. Nilsen (2363) started up with an English opening, but did not get much advantage against a Maroczy set up.
Fairly typical for this kind of positions, after queens were exchanged white got a space advantage, but probably no real advantage as black had sufficient long term counterplay.
In the final position after 46 moves black could have taken white’s pawn on d5 and played on for a win with 46.--- Nf6!?, but unwilling to give up his own e7-pawn he instead put
the king on f6 and offered a draw. Nilsen following this draw is ahead of schedule for an IM-norm, while Svane lags behind his schedule for a GM-norm.
In a very important game for the Norwegian title norm chances, FM Lars Oskar Hauge (2322) from the start tried to slow down always aggressive IM Frode Elsness (2465)
with an English fianchetto. It worked out as Elsness lagged behind on the clock, while a passed d-pawn gave white promising pressure on the board. Sacrificing the
d-pawn at move 19 was unnecessary, but still worked out well as white within a few moves got a decisive kingside attack. After 26.Bxa8 white came an exchange as well as a pawn up,
and although Elsness fought on for 20 more moves Hauge was in control. Elsness following this loss is more or less out as a GM norm candidate, while Hauge at 2.5/3 is well en route for another IM-norm.
Gunnar Berg Hanssen (2204) and GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2615) made a highly unusual start with 1.Nf3 b5 2.e4 Bb7 3.Bxb5 Bxe4. Exchanging a center pawn for a flank pawn in this way
looked dubious for white, and black indeed had no problems equalizing. Hanssen without showing any kind of respect however started a kingside attack, and looked slightly better
around move 25-35. 41.g4? followed by 42.g5? however turned out to be the wrong plan, as white’s king became more airy than black’s king afterwards.
Using his chance with a grandmaster’s efficiency, Rozentalis took the pawn and turned the attacking canons against white’s king. Pole out despite a hard shot from Hanssen,
while Rozentalis despite a delayed AND shaky start is in the run at 2.0/3.
IM Alexandru Manea (2368) and Ludy Sousa (2228) played a positionally messy King’s Indian, in which white demonstrated the better understanding and got the better pieces in
the middle game. Black’s position collapsed during time pressure, as white won the important pawn on h5. Although the game lasted into the sixth hour, and although Manea
missed some shorter cuts later on, he landed safely in a won endgame. Still progress for Manea – still ups and down for Sousa.
Although many games somehow ends up with a draw, this GM-group still has very few short draws. This was the first half of a double round, but still a 15 moves draw between
Johannes Haug (2194) and Sondre Merkesvik (2179) was the only really short draw on the lower boards.
Although both players are unpredictable, Jens Hjort Kjølberg (2058) winning against FM Sebastian Mihajlov (2257) in another Norwegian junior meeting qualifies as a surprise.
Kjølberg kept up pressure from the opening into a slightly better rook and minor piece endgame, and immediately used his chance when Mihajlov blundered two pawns by
overlooking 26.Re3! with a very disturbing mate threat on e8. Mihajlov junior following this loss needs a medium miracle to fight for an IM-norm, while Kjølberg at
2.0/3 qualifies as a sensation man so far.
While seeded number 43 Kjølberg is doing great so far, seeded number 44 Christian Harstad (2002) still has a hard time acclimatising from ELO-group to GM-group.
Playing black against WGM Nagarjan Raghavi (2253), Harstad played way too passive as black. White’s position was probably advantageous before she at move 15 was
allowed to play d4-d5 with a large space advantage. Afterward white’s position was more or less winning from a positional point of view.
Having closed off the center Raghavi instructively switched to a kingside attack, and efficiently crashed through before 30 moves.
Colorful Raghavi is playing entertaining games every round and looks like a WGM-candidate after three rounds.
GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (2566) today went for an unbalanced 4.a3-line against French Winawer, but first did not get much advantage out of this old Fischer weapon
against FM Richard Bjerke (2172). After all rooks and two set of minor pieces were exchanged, white’s pair of c-pawns however proved much less important
than his dominating pair of bishops. After the queens and one of the c-pawns were exchanged, the minor piece endgame was at best too difficult
for Bjerke to defend. It all ended in a safely won pawn endgame after 47 moves. Solodovnichenko at 1.5/3 has had a slow start but is on the road again following this working day win.
The game between Kenneth Einarsen (2106) and FM Lars Hjelmås (2302) was a Dutch Leningrad duel in which black spent far less time than white, but still found as
good positions for his pieces. In a loaded position white after 22 moves went for a creative 22.Ng5?!. The outcome became only tactical exchanges –
leading to a rook and minor pieces endgame in which black had a powerful pair of bishops and 2-3 extra pawns. 0-1 after 32 moves means Hjelmås is still in his IM-norm run,
while Einarsen got a second fall after his inspiring first round draw.
Another slow-starting title holder, IM Petter Haugli (2277), also hit back with his first win in the third round. His game against Francisco Gonzalez (2130)
was a Queen’s Gambit Exchange line transposing into some kind of Classical Nimzo Indian, in which black had weakened his kingside with h6 and g5.
Black’s king on e7 after 17 moves looked far more exposed than white’s king on e2. Ten moves later black resigned as his king on e7 was mate in about three moves
while white’s king, now on f3, still was perfectly safe...
Nice game by Haugli, while Gonzalez like Harstad is struggling to acclimate for the thin air of the GM group.
Always entertaining Alf Roger Andersen (2170) today challenged an Irishman to a Scotch duel. Opponent Paul Wallace (2200) happily accepted the challenge,
although he had to park his king a little awkward at d8. A tense and time-consuming middle game struggle followed, as white had the safer king but the looser pawns.
During mutual time pressure black got the upper hand, as white gave up a pawn to improve black’s kingside shelter. Although still loaded, the queen and rook
position after the first time control obviously was much better for black, and Wallace went on to reach a won rook endgame before 60 moves.
The Catalan duel between 15 year old Vijan Pranav (2197) and 14 year old Eivind X. Djurhuus (2105) gave white the better pawn structure, but black still was
fine due to his active pieces in the rooks and minor piece endgame. Play for some moves circled around white’s passed a-pawn, reaching a7 during mutual time
pressure after 29 moves. Djurhuus five moves later succeeded winning the a7-pawn, but still not to win the game – as Pranav soon demonstrated his knight to be
more useful than Djurhuus’ bishop in the minor piece endgame. Fair enough both the young lions got their first score this round.
Finally the generation duel and gender duel between 66 year old FM Johnny Wieweg (2140) and 21 year old WFM Hanne Goossens (2187) started as an about balanced
3.Bb5-Sicilian. Black’s position still seemed healthy after realizing a natural e4-break at move 24, but some inaccuracies later white was allowed to exchange
queens and win black’s backward pawn at d6. The rook endgame with five versus four pawns probably still was a draw, but white in an inspired mood went on to win
by advancing his kingside pawn majority. Still pole out despite many good moves for Goossens – while Wieweg finally was rewarded today and is above expected score at 1.0/3.
Only twenty games were played in the GM-group this round, as IM Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen (2476), IM Aryan Tari (2456), FM Benjamin Arvola (2318) and Svetoslav Mihajlov (2154)
all requested a walk over draw in the first half of double round. Unfortunately, all four of them at the same lost all title norm chances for this tournament – as they can now only play eight games.
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