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On the first board, Dutch GM Jan Werle (2523) again had the white pieces against a very solid opponent – and again played for a win. His opponent this time was fourth seeded GM Peter Prohaszka (2588).
The opening was a Slav with 7.--- c5, in which white kept a slight initiative after exchanging queens and regaining the pawn at c4. Symmetric pawns helped the defender, but white’s pieces kept a
disturbing initiative even after all the queenside pawns had left the board. Short of both minutes and moves, Prohaszka just before the time control used the emergency brake and gave up a pawn –
trying to defend with rook, knight and two kingside pawns versus rook, bishop and three kingside pawns. When Prohaszka with two seconds left made his move 40, Werle looked close to winning on
the board. If white had a plan to realize his advantage Werle never found it, and so Prohaszka more or less confidently walked around on the water into a drawn rook endgame.
First board became the last top board to finish today, since Werle stubbornly played on until move 69 – although the outcome was obvious at least for the last 15.
On the second board, Hungarian GM Gabor Papp (2559) again had the white pieces against a very solid opponent – and this time played for a win. His opponent this time was
first seeded GM Andrei Istratescu (2653). The opening was a Sicilian transposing into a French Advance line with 6.Be2, in which white playing with pawns at e5 and f4 kept
some chances for a kingside attack. As black failed to come up with any good plan, white gradually increased the pressure. 33.--- Rgf7?`probably was the decisive mistake,
as white after exchanging the white squared bishops with Be6 soon demonstrated a winning attack with his queen and rook. 1-0 after 45 moves – as white was about to force a
totally won pawn endgame.
Chess tractor Istratescu suddenly ran out of fuel today, and no longer this tournament. Papp, still looking very solid with black and frightening with white, has done a great
result with 6.0/8, and shares first place before the last round.
Papp however shares first place not only with Dutch GM Jan Werle, but also with Ukraine GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (2566). Hit man Solodovnichenko finally seems to have found his form in Oslo,
and today won as black in only 29 moves against IM Rasmus Svane (2506). Needing 1.5/2 for a GM-norm, young Rasmus Svane played for a win with the Marshall gambit 4.e4!? in a Semi-Slav opening.
Solodovnichenko seemed better prepared for this, and played a cold 9.--- f6!? – inviting white in for 10.Qd8+ Kf7. Svane played the more modest 10.Nf3, but still got reasonable compensation
for the pawn. 17.Nd6+?! Ke7 18.Nb5 although tricky probably was a dubious plan, as black coolly played 18.--- cxb5! with two pawns and an active position for the exchange after 19.Bxa8 bxc4.
Exchanging the dark squared bishop on b4 afterwards was another mistake from Svane, as white’s king on f1 soon turned out to be more exposed than the black king at e7.
Svane still has a plus result, but will not get any GM-norm in this tournament following his first loss. While Solodovnichenko following his fifth win might well win the tournament as well –
if able to defeat Werle with the white pieces tomorrow.
Hard-fought games with a very good score for white was the rule of the top boards today, and the fourth board meeting between GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2615) and IM Mads Andersen (2470)
was no exception. Rozentalis will certainly not repeat today’s handling of this Ruy Lopez line, as black after opening the f-file and parking a knight on e4 got a strong kingside attack.
Andersen however failed to find the critical attacking plans, and instead became too greedy when getting the chance to win an exchange after 30 moves. Getting two pawns for the exchange,
white had finally equalized the game around move 34. With both players having four minutes left for six moves in a double edged and demanding position, the experienced GM suddenly accelerated
while the young IM cramped. 37.--- R8d6? became a decisive turning point, allowing white to play 38.Qe7+ with a winning attack against black’s king on g7. Andersen still had one second
left on the clock after 40.--- Kh6-h5 – but soon was hit by another cold shower as Rozentalis played 41.Qh8+ Qh6 42.Rg5+! with a cute mate in three.
Pole out all the way for Andersen in the second half of this tournament, while Rozentalis following this successful U-turn after all might succeed to defend his start number 3.
Humble Russian GM Maxim Turov (2586) was critical about his own play today, but still won rather convincing as white against Hungarian IM Benjamin Gledura (2414).
Black true enough was fine if not better from the opening, getting a very pleasant Semi-Slav as white wasted a tempo by playing 5.d3 followed by 10.d4. Still white
overcame his starting problems, established a space advantage, and took over the advantage as he at move 25 posted a strong knight on the d5 square.
26.--- Bc7? and 27.--- Bxf4?! still was a panic reaction from black - sacrificing a pawn with the loss of a tempo to give white a passed a-pawn. As the pawn soon
advanced, Turov before 40 moves could sacrifice his queen to force a totally won endgame with rook and three pawns versus bishop and three pawns.
Gledura at 4.5/8 will win some ELO but not make any GM-norm this tournament – while Turov at 5.5/9 shares fourth place with his GM-colleagues Prohaszka and Rozentalis.
Needing 1.5/2 for an IM-norm, FM Pier Luigi Basso (2322) understandably was not too happy about having to play second seeded GM Evgeny Romanov (2647) with black.
Although this Torre attack opening was no disaster for black, white established a dominating center pawn on e5 and soon started a direct kingside attack.
18.--- f5? was an understandable reaction, but still gave white a more or less winning position after opening the kingside with 19.exf6 e.p. gxf6 20.Bh6.
White probably had even stronger attacking continuations during the next moves, as his plan with 26.Rxf6 allowed black to survive with tactical exchanges after
26.--- Rxg2+. White still came a sound pawn up in the rook and pieces endgame, and following some more mistakes from black it was all over after 42 moves.
Basso following this loss is out as an IM norm candidate, while Romanov can still hope for a fifth or sixth prize.
IM Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen (2476) versus IM Alexandru Manea (2368) was an English fianchetto transposing into some kind of Semi-Slav, in which white after sacrificing
a pawn at c4 had a promising kingside initiative from the opening. 15.d5?! however looked like a misunderstood plan, as white exchanged away his chances for a kingside
attack without winning back the pawn at c4. As white finally had won back the pawn and equalized the position in the endgame with two rooks, knight and five pawns versus
two rooks, bishop and five pawns, a draw was agreed after 30 moves. Both players never recovered completely from their unexpected first round loss in this tournament,
but Manea obviously can be more satisfied than Hansen about the later development.
Although needing a win to have any chances for a GM-norm, IM Fabrizio Bellia (2408) still took a patient positional approach as white against IM Frode Elsness (2465).
The opening was a solid Grunfeld Indian Fianchetto line, and chances remained about balanced all the way into a symmetric and still rather closed position with queen,
two rooks and seven pawns on each side. The position finally opened as black after 25 moves realized his c5-break, and as white played too passive the next moves black
with his queen on c5 suddenly had the better pawn structure and a queenside initiative. As black first misplaced his king at h7 and then played too passive,
it all dried out to a very drawish rook endgame with five pawns on each side. Having a passed a-pawn Bellia refused a draw after 37 moves, but accepted after
42 as black was about to activate his pieces.
Having played only lower rated opponents Elsness at 4.5/8 is well below expected score, while Bellia whatever the result then will end up well above expected score but behind a GM-norm.
15 year old FM Lars Oskar Hauge (2322), still needing 1.5/2 to get his last IM-norm this week, challenged IM Aryan Tari (2456) as black in a French Winawer line. Tari obviously had made the
better preparation for this razor blade walk, as time spending after 12 moves was three minutes for white and 47 minutes for black. After white had hit in on g7 and h7 with his queen,
while black had hit in at g2 with his rook, the position still would have been double edged and very interesting after 15.--- Qg7 or 15.--- Qh8. Instead 15.--- Qf3?? was an overambitious blunder,
immediately punished as 16.Ng3! covered white’s rook on h1 and gave him a winning attack. Black following this anyway was completely lost when he went mate at h8 in move 20.
Tari before the last round has to leave Oslo to reach the first round of this year’s World Junior Championship in India, but won some more ELO points and hopefully had a good warm up this week.
While very talented but unpredictable Hauge still has a problem keeping his play up for nine rounds, and because of that will not make his final IM-norm this tournament either.
But do not worry, he wins some more ELO this week and will get that norm soon.
It came a bit unexpected when IM Miklos Galyas (2421) after 15 moves offered a draw against 14 year old Sondre Merkesvik (2179). But true enough black had enough counterplay against white’s
center pawn in this Grunfeld Indian Exchange line position, and white despite his promising start did not have much to play for at this stage. Merkesvik obviously is now respected as strongly
underrated by the titleholders, and well deserved added some more ELO-point to his FIDE-account. Having a junior coefficient of 40, Merkesvik unofficially passed 2250 for the first time following this draw.
Goran Djurovic (2408) versus Anita Gara (2322) on the other hand was a hard fought Classical King’s Indian game. White played aggressively from the opening with 11.Ng5!? followed by 12.Ne6,
to play with a pair of bishops and a pawn at e6. The attack however backfired as Gara instructively hit back against white’s king with Qb6 followed by e4-e3 and d6-d5.
23.--- d5! was an excellent move giving black a clear advantage, since white could not take the pawn on e5 with his queen. Which he still did. Gara’s plan turned out to be not
the winning 24.--- Ne4!, but instead 24.--- Ng4? – allowing white to protect f2 and continue the fight with 26.Qe2 or 26.Qf4. After black replied with 26.--- Bxa1, 27.Rf1xa1?? however
was another blunder, as black could now play 27.--- Nf2+ 28.Kg1 Ne4+ 29.Kh1 Rxe7 with one extra exchange and overwhelming threats of Ng3+ and Nf2+. Gara repeated with two checks, but then placed
the knight on e4 – after which Djurovic soon resigned.
Djurovic is playing very entertaining but too loose games this tournament. While Gara, now at 4.5/8 with a performance close to 2500, will win a lot of ELO-points whatever her result in the last round.
FM Joachim Nilsen (2363) desperately needed to defeat Gunnar Berg Hanssen (2204) as white to keep his IM norm chances alive. Although white established a space advantage on the queenside by playing
c5 in this Slav line, black however opened the a- and b-file with sufficient counterplay. The result became only a balanced endgame with one queen, two minor pieces and five pawns on each side.
White went around in circles until after the first time control, but then invited to a repetition of moves. No way a bad game and no way a bad tournament from Nilsen, but he will still have
to wait for his first IM-norm. Hanssen was never in the run for his second norm this time, but still seems to make a clear plus result out of a disappointing start.
Eivind X. Djurhuus (2105) and WIM Nagarjan Raghavi (2253) played a sound and positional (read: rather boring) closed Ruy Lopez game. Black first had a backward d6-pawn to worry about,
but as white worried about black’s knight on e5 the compromise became 21.Nxe5 dxe5 with a very symmetric structure. Draw agreed in a very symmetric and drawish position after 27 moves,
as the players were about to exchange both their queens and their last queenside pawns. Last round will decide whether Raghavi wins or loses a few ELO points this tournament, while Djurhuus
definitely will win a lot of them regardless.
FM Lars Hjelmås (2302) versus Vinay Pranav (2197) was another Grunfeld Indian duel, in which white had a positional pressure from the opening. Black however demonstrated the better
understanding of the position during the following exchanges, as the d-pawn white expected to be a weakness in fact was a strong passed pawn. White might have had some drawing chances
later on, but it was at best very demanding – and black in an inspired mood went on to win the rook and bishop endgame after giving up his d-pawn and get a new passed a-pawn.
This outcome very much strengthened the overall trend as Hjelmås this time could not fulfill the promises of a good start, while Pranav has steadily improved his play and will win a lot of ELO on his first tournament in Norway.
IM Petter Haugli (2277) versus Paul Wallace (2200) was a positional King’s Indian line in which something went seriously wrong for black just after the opening,
as white was allowed first to play 16.Nd6 and then 17.Nxe8 with a sound exchange up. Wallace despite his good game yesterday looked disillusioned from the start today,
and some exchanges later he respectfully resigned after only 23 moves. Haugli has repaired much of the damage by winning his last two games, while Wallace after this
new set back will end up with a minus result whatever the outcome in last round.
Johannes Haug (2194) and Svetoslav Mihajlov (2154) both looked more eager to win, and tested out a positionally complex Sicilian line with 3.Bb5. Black for a long time played
with his king on e8 behind a shaky center, but finally castling at move 17 he soon came better due to his passed and running d-pawn. As white was a pawn up, the position remained
double edged until he after 21 moves overlooked a tactical 21.--- Ng3!, winning an exchange and a pawn with a decisive advantage for black. 14 year old Haug following this loss
has had a disappointing tournament, while Mihajlov senior heads for a clear plus result.
WFM Hanne Goossens (2187) and Jens Hjort Kjølberg (2058) also looked eager to win, and their game made a fresh start with a double edged Sicilian Sveshnikov position – in which
white had 1-2 extra pawns and black active pieces. Complications continued as black by a tactical 22.--- Rxa3 ended up with two minor pieces for rook and pawn.
The game probably was unclear and in some kind of dynamic balance most of the time. Playing with queen, bishop, knight and three pawns versus queen, rook and four pawns,
black with the safer king looked better when he at move 39 sacrificed his knight on g4 to force a perpetual check. Kjølberg however worried about white’s a-pawn in the endgame,
and bottom line he after losing two games in a row was satisfied to draw as black against a higher rated opponents.
3.0/8 is somewhat below hoped for Goossens, while Kjølberg as the second lowest rated player in this field can be very well satisfied with his first GM group start.
FM Richard Bjerke (2172) versus FM Johnny Wieweg (2140) was a veteran car race, but still a very entertaining one. Wieweg gave his rare Ruy Lopez line with 3.--- g6 another try,
this time leading to a double edged isolated pawn position. Although black’s pawn structure was disrupted, exchanging the white bishop for a knight at c6 looked dubious –
as black could realize c5 and soon got a dominant pair of bishops. Bjerke however succeeded getting counterplay with his queen, and after another hit at c6 had a passed c-pawn
running just before 40 moves. Draw by repetition after 48 moves felt like a fair result, as both players had contributed to an interesting game and wasted some chances along the road.
Both players are about on schedule before the last round.
Alf Roger Andersen (2170) versus Ludy Sousa (2228) not unexpectedly became a short and entertaining attacking battle. Following an original opening with 1.e4 c5 2.f4 e5,
black first took the pawn at f4 and then played g5 to protect the pawn. Weakening the kingside in this way looked very risky at best, and backfired heavily in black’s face
as white opened the f-file and hit back with a tactical 11.Bxd6!. Having lost an exchange without securing the king, black anyway was in deep trouble when blundering
more material and resigning after 20 moves.
Nice game by Andersen, now having scored an impressive 3.5/4 in round 5-8 after his depressing 0/4 in round 1-4. But Sousa after losing his last black game in this painful way,
really should look over his black openings before his next GM-tournament.
Despite five lost games in a row, the stubborn optimist Frode Lillevold (2199) still played for a win as black against his Strømmen clubmate Francisco Gonzalez (2130) today.
After a sound Lasker line in a Queen’s Gambit, black showed the better understanding during the middle game exchanges, and after 25 moves had a pleasant advantage due to his
d-file control and queenside pawn majority. Gonzalez fought on well, and with some help from Lillevold’s clock succeeded reaching an apparently drawish endgame with queen,
knight and four pawns versus queen, bishop and four pawns. Black’s passed pawn at c2 still gave him an advantage in the fifth hour. As white again failed to find the best
defending plan black in the sixth hour could exchange queens and sacrifice the c2-pawn – to reach a won endgame with bishop and two kingside pawns against knight.
Finally, the game between Christian Harstad (2002) and Kenneth Einarsen (2106) started like a Benoni duel, in which white first had a pressure. Black finally equalized as he
after 21 moves bolted his position by placing a knight on the e5-square, and the queen and bishop endgame a few moves later was in tense balance. Exchanging queens after 36 moves
in effect was a draw offer from white, as the different colored bishop endgame afterwards was a dead end for both players. Both players have had some fun and learned some lessons,
but will lose some ELO at the end of this week.
FM Benjamin Arvola (2318) shortly before the round unfortunately had to withdraw due to unexpected working obligations, hence Svetoslav Mihajlov (2257) today won by walk over.
In short – the title norm candidates had a terrible round, and following this no player can make any title norm this year. That part of the story of course is a disappointment
in a field with so many capable title candidates. Still of course we look forward to a very exciting fight about the top prizes, with top board pairings Solodovnichenko – Werle,
Turov – Papp and Prohaszka – Rozentalis.
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