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First board today was another Hungarian title holder duel, this one starring IM Miklos Galyas (2421) playing white against GM Gabor Papp (2559). The start was a Classical Nimzo Indian duel,
in which black in order to get the more active pieces accepted first an isolani pawn on d5 and then a double isolani pawn on f7 and f6. With the queens exchanged at f6, it looked a little dubious.
As black could realized the d4-break within three moves, white however was only slightly better when a draw was agreed after 16 moves. Galyas should have played on if he played for a GM-norm,
but still heads for a solid plus result. Papp seems satisfied to draw with black as long as he can first win with white.
On second board, WGM Anita Gara (2322) again tested an isolani pawn position – this time playing with the isolated pawn as black against GM Jan Werle (2523).
As white played with weakened kingside pawns, the position after 30 moves probably was still in dynamic balance. 31.--- Ne4? however was a serious mistake,
allowing white to start his own kingside attack with a tactical 32.g6!. White immediately used this chance to hit in on f7. 35.--- Nd6? probably was the decisive mistake,
as white after exchanging that knight demonstrated a winning attack in the rook and bishop endgame. 1-0 after 54 moves means efficient Werle is still sharing the lead –
now at 3.5/4 and sharing with only one other player. 2.5/4 with three GMs among the opponents of course still qualifies as a very good start for Gara.
Playing white against the Danish GM-candidate Mads Andersen (2470), Norwegian IM-candidate Lars Oskar Hauge (2322) first played a slow London system – but then suddenly tried
to snatch a pawn with 10.dxc5. The strategy backfired in Hauge’s face as black within three moves realized his d4-break, opening the board against white’s king on e1.
Although white at move 20 finally succeeded castling, black’s machine gun pair of bishops continued to dominate the board. 22.Bf2? was a blunder in a difficult position,
as black could (and did) play 22.--- e3! 23.Bxe3 Qe4 with decisive threats against white’s pieces. A piece down in a very depressing endgame, Hauge stopped the clock
after 29 moves.
Andersen has started with a remarkably low average of opponents, but at 3.5/4 he is still well in the run for his third GM-norm.
Hauge is on schedule for his fourth IM-norm, but that is despite of this game.
Commanding the white pieces against the top rated GM Andrei Istratescu (2653), FM Joachim B. Nilsen (2363) tried to slow it down with a solid English fianchetto.
The strategy did not work out too well as Istratescu could equalize without any kind of pressure, and probably was slightly better after placing a disturbing knight
at the d4-outpost in move 10. Exchanging the knight on d4 still was a mistake from white, as the new pawn on d4 later gave black a space advantage.
Istratescu instructively increased the pressure by f5 and fxe4 afterwards, opening the f-file to start a direct kingside attack. Getting nowhere with
his counterplay on the queenside, white anyway was in trouble when he at move 34 blundered the rest of his position by overlooking a tactically crushing d5-break.
Nilsen’s first loss in the tournament in short was a honest one, but still of course a setback for his IM-norm plans. Istratescu so far in the tournament is a tractor of kind:
Not the fastest on the road, but still a heavyweight which is very demanding to stop...
At 3.0/4 following this win, player number 01 is of course fully in the fight for the first prize.
GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2615) and IM Fabrizio Bellia (2408) tested a Ruy Lopez exchange line in which the queens were exchanged at d8 before 10 moves.
After 22 moves the players already had reached an endgame with rook, knight and six pawns versus rook, bishop and six pawns. The following minor
piece endgame looked very drawish, and although Rozentalis played on until move 59, he again failed to invent any advantage. Rozentalis still rests at +1,
lacking his endgame magic so far this tournament. Bellia remains rock solid and can of course be very well satisfied with a performance close to 2600.
Curiously this was the only game out of the top fifteen boards today starting with 1.e4, as the tournament seems to be overpopulated with 1.d4 and 1.c4-players.
The sixth board meeting between FM Benjamin Arvola (2318) and GM Peter Prohaszka (2588) started as a slow positional Slav duel,
in which black got the time to put his problem bishop outside the pawn chain at f5. Play for some moves circled around white’s passed but isolated pawn at d6,
and black probably was better as he picked up the pawn after 20 moves. Although all the minor pieces were exchanged, black’s double f-pawn made both Prohaszka
and his king on g8 look a little nervous. Black safeguarded his king by accepting a queen exchange, but at the same time removed most of his advantage as black
later had to play with three f-pawns. During mutual time pressure, black before 40 moves returned the pawn on f4 to disrupt white’s pawn structure.
As the players now had equally disrupted kingside pawns the rook endgame was very drawish, and although Prohaszka played on until 59 moves he was never
again close to winning chances.
+1=3 after four rounds is a solid but not very ambitious start from the young Hungarian GM, while Arvola without his walk over draw in round three
would have been en route for an IM-norm.
The seventh board meeting between GM Maxim Turov (2586) and IM Alexandru Manea (2368) was a Slav, in which black did not hesitate to snatch a pawn
at c4 in move three. The idea turned out to be returning the pawn on c3, to reach a balanced position with two rooks, two knights and six pawns on each side.
It worked out well after black’s intentions, as a draw was agreed upon white’s suggestion after 28 moves. Fully understandable as this was the second game of
the day for both players, and as a very symmetric endgame with rook, knight and five pawns was on board. GM Turov still at +1 is a resting elephant so far,
while IM Manea seems to have recovered completely after his first round loss.
While several other games today slowed down following a promising start, the IM-duel between Croatian Goran Djurovic (2408) and German Rasmus Svane (2506)
made a slow start but then suddenly accelerated. After 1.c4 white played some kind of hedgehog in advance (!), offering black first a free development and
then a free space advantage. After white had played g3 and h3, black several times turned down the possibility to sacrifice a knight at g3,
but finally played it when he was about to run short of time after 26 moves. Svane’s time shortage gave the game some excitement,
but his position whatever the time was overwhelming. Black was about two rooks up and still attacking when white threw in the scoresheets after 35 moves.
This strange collapse of a white game definitely was the end of the GM norm chances for Djurovic; it remains to test out whether it came in time or too late for Svane.
IM Benjamin Gledura (2414) was lucky/unlucky to get the lowest rated player he could possibly get in the second half of the double round. Chances for a Hungarian
GM-norm looked shaky as his underrated opponent Jens Hjort Kjølberg (2058) was very well alive as black from this English fianchetto opening.
White’s start advantage however increased as he succeeded first to exchange black’s fianchetto bishop at g7, and then set his queenside pawns into motion.
A tactical 28.c5! culminated the pressure, and after hitting in with his knight on d6 white soon had a winning attack. Ups and downs, but still a very promising
start with 2.0/4 for Kjølberg – while Gledura at 3.0/4 keeps his GM-norm schedule.
The game between IM Aryan Tari (2435) and WIM Nagarjan Raghavi (2253) started as an open Catalan, in which white was allowed to win back the pawn at c4 with a pleasant
pressure. As black continued to play too passive, white by a straightforward pawn storm raised a decisive kingside attack. Then suddenly white stopped his attack on
the kingside and instead invited black to rejoin the game, as 27.Nab6? 28.Nxc4 29.d5? was a derail plan giving black a lot of unnecessary counterplay.
After Raghavi in too optimistic a mood sacrificed an exchange on c7, 32.Qe5! could have give white a clear advantage – but Tari instead played 32.Qc8? with an
unclear advantage for black. The tide turned again as black after 35 moves became too eager to win the white pawn at d5 – a misunderstood plan it turned out,
as black’s advantage disappeared when the queens were exchanged. The following endgame with rook, bishop, knight and three pawns versus two bishops, knight and five pawns
might have been a draw, but white was better and won following some more mistakes from black. A game of many mistakes, but still a very interesting and entertaining one.
Raghavi is so far following the Swiss waves, while 15 year old Tari having drawn one GM and defeated two lower rated opponents is surfing towards 2500.
Surprise man Frode Lillevold (2199), playing his third GM in a row, today tried to discuss a very complex Meran Semi-Slav line with Russian GM Evgeny Romanov (2647) –
from the black side of the board. It was obviously a very brave and risky decision, and for a while it worked out well. Although black’s position was difficult to play,
everything would have been very unclear if black at move 20 had played the natural and critical 20.--- Ne4-d2!. Instead 20.--- f5? was a very serious misunderstanding,
allowing white to exchange the knight at e4 with a more or less winning position. The remaining 13 moves were less interesting than they appeared to be,
as white won all the more pawns and in reality had the safer king too. This game result obviously was an expected and normalizing one. Second seeded Romanov having 2.5/4
without playing anyone above 2350 still has had a disappointing start, while Lillevold having 1.5/4 without playing anyone below 2450 still is on schedule for an IM-norm!
Today’s most exciting game in the playing venue was played between FM Lars Hjelmås (2302) and GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (2566) on board twelve – that is,
unfortunately just outside the live transmitted games… Solodovnichenko in a nationalist mood tried to play a rare Modern opening line sometimes nicknamed “Ukraine Indian”.
It might be a good reason why this version of it is very rare, as white after castling long soon had a very powerful attack running against black’s airy kingside.
Always enjoying tactical attacking positions, Hjelmås creatively sacrificed his rook at h1 to open the kingside for his queen and bishops.
Taking back a knight at h1 at move 24 was a mistake, as Rd6 instead would have won. Rd6 had been Hjelmås’ plan, but unable to work out all the
complex variations he suddenly decided to play something “more safe”. Probably white, still an exchange down, was clearly better after this mistake as well.
As Solodovnichenko succeeded to make things very difficult for white, while Hjelmås was about to run short of time, the wind direction however gradually
changed during the next moves. While Hjelmås later concluded 27.Qxc5? probably was the decisive mistake, Solodovnichenko considered the position unclear a
ll until 29.Rf1?. Getting the necessary time to play 29.--- Rh3! and 30.--- Rf3!, exchanging off the remaining white rook, black definitely came over the crisis.
Suddenly it was all over when a disillusioned white player accepted a queen exchange two moves later on.
Hjelmås, although keeping his mask very well, was understandably frustrated losing this position – while Solodovnichenko gently admitted his position had been “totally lost”.
The Ukraine GM for some reason is still struggling to play anything close to his usual strength here in Oslo, but at 2.5/4 he is after all in the run for this year’s prizes.
Hjelmås deserves a medal of courage, but might have missed a golden norm chance tonight.
Unpredictable Italian FM Pier Luigi Basso (2322) today tried to defeat Norwegian IM Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen (2476) with his own means – that is,
with a slow English fianchetto opening. Hansen for obvious reasons knew what set up he would like to play with black. A complex middle game struggle
followed as white went for a b-file pressure on the queenside, while black had his counterplay in the e-file and on the kingside.
After 23 moves Hansen got the chance to test out an exchange sacrifice at e3, and of course did not hesitate to do so. Although black had nothing
forced afterwards the sacrifice probably was correct, as black got one bishop, one pawn, an initiative and the much safer king. Basso, shaken by the
exchange sacrifice and still frustrated by his collapse in the earlier round of the day, again fell apart within a few moves.
Hansen has hit back by winning his first two games after the opening disaster, while Basso so far seems to be a very entertaining and unpredictable player.
The game between IM Frode Elsness (2465) and Svetoslav Mihajlov (2154) started as a King’s Indian Sämisch – with a Panno line, in which Elsness disappointedly
went for a positional plus instead of an all-out kingside attack. Following some inaccuracies in the middle game white first came better, and around move 40 the
combination of two passed queenside pawns and an active pair of bishops still looked promising for him. Mihajlov however always had active counterplay,
and the position turned even more messy after he sacrificed an exchange on b5 to get rid of one bishop and one passed pawn. Early in the sixth hour Elsness,
still playing with an exchange for a pawn, refused a draw offer. Within a few more moves it however turned out that black now had the safer king and the
easier position to play. As black in an inspired mood played on for a win, white anyway was in deep trouble when he after 70 moves blundered into a mate.
Elsness’ disappointing results from the last four months so far continues in this tournament. Mihajlov senior following his walk over draw in the third round
has no chances for a norm this tournament. Highly unfortunate that is, as he by defeating two IMs has had the start of his life so far.
The generation duel between 14 year old Sondre Merkesvik (2179) and IM Petter Haugli (2277) was some kind of “Queen’s Pawn Fianchetto”, in which white
due to his d5-pawn had a space advantage. Haugli probably still was satisfied, as his only remaining minor piece was a strong dark squared bishop at f6.
Black after this was closer to something in the queen and bishop endgame. As the bishops were different colored and white had no weak pawns, it all dried up with a draw after 35 moves.
Among the remaining games, Ludy Sousa (2228) versus Christian Harstad (2002) became an instructive opening disaster, as black in a closed Ruy Lopez played a much too careless
8.--- b4?? – overlooking 9.Qc4! with a highly unpleasant double attack on f7 and Nc6. Black removed the knight to sacrifice the f7-pawn and let the king run out via d7 until c6,
but the rest was just cramps as he was a rook down and still under attack.
Still improving young Vijay Pranav (2197) for a long time played a good game as white against Kenneth Einarsen (2106), and kept a strong initiative after regaining the
extra black queenside pawn in a Catalan. Finding himself in a crumbling cockpit, Einarsen creatively tried to sacrifice his queen for one rook and one knight.
As white got a passed a-pawn as bonus, his position under mutual time pressure looked promising. Black's last try was a queenside blockade, but realizing it was about to collapse he resigned at move 40.
Francisco Gonzalez (2130) versus Alf Roger Andersen (2170) not unexpectedly became first a Dutch opening and then a messy attacking middle game (true enough
only because white refused a draw offer at move three). A strategically complex position turned tactically messy too as black during mutual time pressure sacrificed
a knight on f3. For some moves afterwards black had four pawns and an apparently promising initiative for the pawn. About to run short of time again Andersen however
lost his plan, after which white efficiently decided by a kingside attack.
FM Sebastian Mihajlov (2257) versus Johannes Haug (2194) was a 14 moves Bogo Indian draw and FM Richard Bjerke (2172) versus Gunnar Berg Hanssen (2204) a 10 moves Caro Kann draw…
Not much more to comment about that. I’ll instead say that the veteran meeting between Paul Wallace (2200) and FM Johnny Wieweg (2140) on the other hand was an
interesting King’s gambit, in which white had the better structure and the pair of bishops. Black playing with a strong knight outpost on e4 and a mobile kingside
pawn majority still looked better most of the time. As black got nothing concrete out of his initiative, the endgame after some second thoughts was drawn by a
repetition of checks after 35 moves.
Finally no way to forget – the drawn game between Eivind X. Djurhuus (2105) and WFM Hanne Gossens (2187) lasted 85 moves and became the longest game tonight.
Young Djurhuus established a pressure from the opening and won an exchange for a pawn before 20 moves, but still had a hard time winning the endgame with rook and
bishop versus two rooks. Breaking up the queenside pawns with 31.a4! actually was a winning move played with a wrong plan – as both players overlooked that white
after 31.--- bxa4? could have won a piece by 32.f3! Rd4 33.Rxa4 and 34.Rxc4. Instead white played 32.Rxa4? Rd5 33.Rxe4 Lxe4 – and too late realized the remaining
position with rook and three pawns versus bishop and three kingside pawns was a draw fortress...
Djurhuus jogged the board around with his extra exchange for two hours and 50 moves more, but succeeded only in reaching a drawn pawn endgame.
For sure a bitter pole out for Djurhuus, although Goossen following her stubborn endgame defence well deserved her first half point.
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