Arctic Chess Challenge - Day four in pictures and text

 
susanpolgarsimen
Blue sky and temperatures at mid 20 Celsius. Guest of honor Susan Polgar and GM Simen Agdestein enjoyed the weather at the playing venue today. Susan is watching parts of the round and it must be inspiring for all the young talents in the tournament hall to have a former World Champion watching their game! Simen is part of the organization staff and his skills as a mini-bus driver is appreciated with so many young players around. Simen also does a lot of other stuff and his football tournament is going to be a huge success I think!

arctichall4
Round 4 has just started and you see the 9 LIVE-tables which are single tables with lot of space between them and the rest. Norway is a social democracy and its maybe the reason why everyone are treated pretty equal. This means that everybody plays classy with wooden chess boards and Staunton pieces.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going they say. It was the moment of truth today - who's hot and who's not? GM Sulskis (2559) is definitely hot! He won again a hard fought game and is the only player with a perfect score! Also GM Vadim Malakhatko (2570), GM Allan Stig Rasmussen (2536) and GM Julian Radulski (2536) is hot I would say. All these GMs won today and you can say that the GMs played far more convincing as a group today than in previous rounds. They are the tough ones and I predicted in the Chessbase preview of ACC that the winner would be one of the 2550+- I sent the stuff to Chessbase before I studied the players I didn't know to well and after working out profiles of all GMs I will add Radulski (2536) as someone with a clear potential to win such a strong Open as he has proved before. BTW, the 3 top seeded Super GMs Socko (2656), Khenkin (2634) and Drozdovskij (2620) won against much lower rated opponents as expected and positioned them self. Khenkin is in the race with 3.5/4 and both Bartosz Socko and Yuri Drozdovskij are not pleased so far with their 3/4. But we're just seen the start of the GM battles so it's far to early to make guesses for the outcome of ACC 2009. 

sulskisbruno
GM Sulskis (2559) played the white side of a sharp French Winawer against Italian IM Fabio Bruno (2455). The first 14 moves are all played many times before and first 15.Nf3 is a quite seldom move only played at amateur level. IM Bruno was prepared it looked like but Sulskis spent an hour on these theoretical moves and he only had 1 hour left on the next 25 moves then. The Lithuanian GM normally excels in complications and today he won a highly complicated game. His King march to h1 looks dubvius and black could have something like 22...h3 23.g3 Nb8! regrouping his worst piece with the plan Nc6-a5-c4! when black is much better. White have to find something substansial to stop this plan and black looked more than OK at this moment of the game. Brunos instead spent all his time creating an Alekhine's cannon in the g-file. That gave Sulskis the chance to counter in the center with 25.c4! and he grabed the initiative. I said it before and I'll say it again - this man is pure fire if you give him an attack to play for and when the easy 26.Rg1 stopped black's plans in the g-file it was time to launch and attack at the black King at the Queen-side. With attacks at opposite wings every move was crucial and the highly interesting 30...Rg3! seemed as a better chance for black than the game continuation with complications where white at least have a defence. As it went white got in 32.a5! and Sulskis had his attack and won in an attractive style! GM Salunas Sulskis got that good feeling you need to win a tournament and his stocks reached new hights today.

imluca
The young Italian IM Luca Shytaj is a serious guy and who came to Tromsø to get a GM-norm. He has done extremely well so far and is right on track. He has 3.5/4 and he have met 3 titled players so far. Today Luca played a draw with black versus IM Marijan Petrov (2479) from Bulgaria. It became a Sicilian Grand Prix attack (3.f4) where white played an early Bb5+ and traded Bishops. The game still became interesting, unbalanced and it was well played by both players. White had the few chances there was in the position but it ended with a relevant draw after the time control at move 40.

khenkinhansen
GM Igor Khenkin (2634) played the Samisch variation as white against IM Torbjørn R. Hansen's (2440) Kings Indian Defence. They both showed good preparation and the first new move of the game was 13.h4!? that's never played at GM-level before. Ringdal Hansen played interesting in the middle game when he kept the Pair of Bishops and let white get a Knight in at c5 only to play around it. Both players showed ambitions in this game and with 33.g4! Khenkin started his action at the K-side. After the time control he got his chance to play the spectacular 42.Ng5! and the game went into a tactical minefield of more or less forced moves. Ringdal Hansen defended superb and had quite some drawing chances with his strong Bishop Pair. After 50 moves the Norwegian Succumbed to the Super GM with 50...Rxa3?. The only chance for resistance was 50...Ke8! and after 51.Bxe6 Rxa3+ 52.Ng6! Rxa3+ the reduced material gives black a slight hope for survival even though it looks grim. An excellent game for the audience, check it out!

nataliazemanuelb
The goddess of chess, Caissa, is whimsical! One day she gives you a full point you don't deserve at all and the next she takes it back when you really deserve it! It felt like GM Emanuel Berg got a draw yesterday that wasn't meant to be, but that he today played a much better game and didn't get in a kill that he wanted so badly. But you know, Natalia played a lot of stong moves today and she fully deserved the draw she got versus the Super GM! The two highest rated female players, Monika and Natalia has then both drawed the Swedish Super GM - not bad! Natalia played white in a classical Najdorf Sicilian. Emanuel Berg went for a e5-setup and white for short castling. As so often in the Najdorf it became a lot of theory and the first 14 moves are well known by theory. 15.Qc2! is recommended and white can hope for a small edge. Instead Natalia played 15.Bxc5?! and gave away her asset in the position, the Pair of Bishops. Emanuel started then some action with a King-side attack but Natalia wasn't scared and with a 26.g4! she seeked counterplay by undermining pawn e4. The plan did function and she got the pawn with the tactical 31.Rxe4! which offers the Bishop at c2... Emanuel didn't fall for it since 31...Rxc2 32.Qa4! with a double threat at c2 and e8 would force black to take out a perpetual check with 32...Rxh2! GM Berg wanted more and played the tricky 31...b5! true to his style! He got a complicated game with it, but actually he was the first to err after this and with the strong 38.f5! before the time control Natalia could have tested the Swedes defensive skills. Instead the 22 years old Ukrainian chose an inferior continuation that turned out worse and worse. Emanuel Berg could have got excellent winning chances by the strong centralizing Queen-move 42...Qe5! with a threat of Rb2 among other things. When he didn't find this he didn't get more chances and it ended up in a hard fought draw on move 72. With some 200 moves in the last 2 games for GM Berg it will be interesting to see how much fighting spirit the Swedish Champion can show up with in the next rounds.

PS: The LIVE-stream of this game got corrupt after move 41. As broadcasted Emanuel Berg could have mated with a nice Qa1+, with a long forced mate-sequence as several observers saw. This position was never at the board so Berg did never have such a mating attack...

hammerleniart
The Norwegian hope GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2583) played a Catalan as white versus  FM Arkadiusz Leniart (2390) from Poland. The FM played the opening well but Hammer got a tactical chance at move 22 with the shot 22.Nd6!. The point is 22.Nd6! Rxc3 23.Rxc3 Rxc3 24.bxc3 Bc6 25.Nc8! and white wins a pawn with excellent chances in the ending. After overlooking this Hammer got a new favorable Knight-ending just as yesterday but it wasn't winning and the 19 years old Hammer had to settle for a draw after 59 moves. That means Hammer trailing with 3/4. 

malakhatkowelling
GM Vadim Malakhatko (2570) played white against IM Gerard Welling (2363) from . In a Kings Indian setup Welling opted for Bent Larsens old petline with 3...c5 4.d5 Bxc3 5.bxc3 f5!. GM Malakhatko went for the kill with the sharp 6.h4!?. IM Welling defended well and with 15...h4! he could have got the better chances versus his strong opponent. The next time he got the chance he took it with 16...h4! and with a move like 18...e5! he could have sized a nice positional edge. 18...Ne5?! gave instead a more unclear game where the GM slowly outmanuevred his opponent and then won on move 47. A typical GM win that gave Malakhatko 3.5/4 and third place.

burgarianheros
GM Radulski (2539) from Bulgaria licking sun with his national fellow IM Marijan Petrov (2479) infront of the plating venue, Scandic Hotell. IM Petrovs draw has been mentioned and GM Radulski on his side won an English battle as black versus IM Wohl from Australia. Radulski equalized early and got an edge and then suddenly Wohl paniced with 29.f4? and Radulski played it home with ease. The Bulgarian GM has 3.5/4 and is hot. 

rasmussenwesterinen
GM Allan Stig Rasmussen (2536) played the Ruy Lopez versus veteran GM Heikki Westerinen from Finland. It became a Chigorin and as always in this variation it became a lot of known theory. Westerinen went for the sharp, but not entirely theoretical sound, 16...f5!?. Rasmussen played among thematic lines and got his edge. With the aggressive trust 21.f6! he got hunch on the black position and played it home in fine fashion. Note that the tricky 27...Qh5!? is strongly met by the sober 28.Kh2! with a winning edge. Heikki tried the better 27...Qe6 but lost it in 41 moves.That brought the Dane up on 3.5/4 and he is in the race for first.

rayrobson
14 years old IM Ray Robson (2491) was out midnight-fishing with his parents last night til well over midnight but he was fit for fight today at 3 O'clock. Last night only his mother caught a fish, but today Ray caught his opponent with some neat tactics in a Najdorf Sicilian as white and that was even sweeter I think. Ray went for the sharp Keres-idea 7.g4 when his opponent tried to steer it into a Scheveningen with 6...e6. His opponent, 16 years old Frode Urkedal (2333) played well in the middle game but suddenly went into a tactical stroke after Robson had build up some pressure on the central files. A nice exchange sacrifices with 27.Rxf6! gave white a huge plus, and when Robson also played the instant killer 29.Bf5! he won in fine fashion. IM Ray Robson has 3.5 out of 4 and with a TPR around 2600 he is definately hot!

fmkjetilstokke
FM Kjetil Stokke (2347) played white against IM Kalle Kiik (2475) in the irregular opening 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4. Well, it's not that unusual and the 12 first moves of the game has been played quite a few times before. IM Kiik equalized it and with opposite colored Bishops in an ending it was not much to play on and they took an early draw at move 26.

thomassenmonikasocko
GM Monika Socko (2449) won with the white pieces against FM Joachim Thomassen (2300) in a Dragon Sicilian. She choose the classical variation with Be2 and short castling and in a known variation she went for the theoretically dubvious 12.Bxc4?! in a position where 12.f5! is accepted theory. When she neither played the aggressive 17.f5! she got into huge problems against the young IM-candidate. If Thomassen had snapped the pawn at e5 with 22...Bxe5! he would have sized a winning edge since 23.fxe5 Nxe5 24.Qxd5 e6! wins decisive material. Instead Thomassen did several weak moves and soon lost. Did I just tell you that Caissa was whimsical? Today Monika got more than she lost yesterday when she didn't collect a won ending. GM Monika Socko is the only female player with 3.5/4!  

hanssensocko
Monikas husband Bartosz won a Queens Gambit as white versus the local player Gunnar Berg Hanssen (2215). The top seeded Socko, that already gave away a full point, still don't look quite recoverd I think. His 14.Kd2?! looked suspect and with 14...a5! 15.b5 Nd8 16.Rc3 Ne6 17.Bg3 Rd8 Hanssen could have used his lead in developement to get a position you shouldn't lose even to a strong GM. Instead he played a premature d4 which was met by a strong Be4! and white gradually got better and then won a rook-ending a pawn up.

waagetofte
17 years old Sondre Waage Tofte (2119) played a draw with IM Harald Groetz as black in a game where he was much better, and had several strong continuations he missed. A thematic break was f.inc. 24...e4! and black seems to have a totally winning attack. Young Tofte has anyway played a very strong tournament so far with 1.5/3 versus 3 IMs and a win in the first round for a total of 2.5/4 and a TPR of 2382. 

lasselovik
Lasse Østbø Løvik (2296) won with white in a Queens Indian vs Even Thingstad (2058) in a time scramble where Thingstad had perpetual chech as late as move move 36 and instead tried to win and got a lost position that became drawish again at move exactly move 40 when Thingstad lost on time instead of position. Løvik has 3/4 but he only got one hard game so far, versus Emanuel Berg, so he still has something to prove.

wimsiljebjerke
WIM Silje Bjerke (2231) from Oslo is only a few Elo-points short of beeing Norways strongest female player, will she catch them in Tromsø? Today she beat Juan Carlos Fernandez (2099) in a convincing way with black in a Grunfeld and she has 3/4 with a TPR of 2325.

peterflermoen
Peter the great! The best Norwegian and Nordic 13 years old lives in Northern Norway and he has been coached by a Russian 2100-player for several years in his home town Harstad. Lately IM Emil Hermansson, yeah the coach of GM-elect Nils Grandelis, did give Flermoen lessons over Internet. They at least gave the young lad inspiration and he plays great chess in Tromsø! Today Peter grabbed a pawn in a greedy manner and got away with it. When he got the chance to force matters and go into a much better ending he did so. His opponent, 19 years old Johannes Kvisla (2222) didn't find the best defence when Peter played a bit careless in this ending, and our Man, Peter Flermoen, took home another fine win! I promiss to feed you with a new little story about Peter every time he wins, so watch out! Flermoen now has a sensational 3/4 with a TPR of 2400+!!!

getz
Nicolai Getz (2219) from Norway's most prominent chess club, OSS, won a French game against Magnus Eriksen (1875) which looks quite convincing at first glance. But a closer look shows that 21.Rd3? was a blunder that should have resulted in a draw from a won position. 21.Nxd7 Nxd7 and first now a rooklift with 22.Rd2 exploits the pin and wins for white. Anyway, young Getz has taken his 3/4 and it's extremly well done with a close to 2400-performance so far!

espenforsaa
FM Espen Forså (2311) played the white pieces against Gator Mosab (unrated) from Libya. In a sharp Alekhine the local hope Forså lost his opening advantage and called it a day quite early even though I would have adviced him to fight on in this drawn position. Forså has lost the chance to play for an IM-norm but it's still not to late to do a strong tournament. The unrated Gator Mosab has a 2288 performance in ACC so far.

hagensimutowe
Anders Hagen (2132 & to the left) is one of Magnus Carlsens best friends. Today Hagen played a strong draw against GM Amon Simutowe in a game I do hope are corrupt in the pgn-file. Else it would be a bit embarassing for Simutowe - blundering with 17...g5??. Well, take my word for it - the file is corrupt. Update: My words wasn't worth much. Simutowe actually did blunder with 17...g5? and they did in fact took a draw here... GM Amon Simutowe later told me that he really didn't feel like playing this day and thats part of the reason why I guess. Anyway his position was positionally rotten at move 17 anyway and so his tactical drawoffer against a 350 points lower rated opponent is easy to understand even without this last huge mistake gave more force to the b4! trust as 18.fxg5 Qxg5 19.b4! would be a total killer since black has no counterplay and b5 is coming.

benjaminarvola
Benjamin Arvola showed up late today and with FIDEs new ruling implied he would have forfeited the game... Well, he knew they wasn't to hard on it, using the old rule... Benjamin came, he played and he then won against a 1700-player. Arvola (2144) has 2.5 out of 4 and tomorrow he meets one of his young rivals in future Norwegian top chess - FM Joachim Thomassen (2300). Benjamin's club mate in Tromsø Chess Club Pål Røyset (2239) is best of the Tromsø players so far with 3/4.

gregortaube
The talented Gregor Taube lost this round with the black pieces. But since his coach IM Torstein Bae has made a most interesting Interview with him, Peter Flermoen and Torgeir Kjøita - all born in 1996 - which he called Norway's coming Stars. A must read!

mariannewold
NTG student  Marianne Wold Haug (1987) won today and got up on 2/4 but still underperforming so far. She is Norway's second best female under 20.

dericka
This is Dericka Figaro from the Seychelles. She is one of many young Africans from countries like South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and the Seychelles in this tournament. Let Caissa rule Africa too!

arlene
This is Arlene Zelthea Roelfse - one of the South African players that GM Simen Agdestein and Tromsø 2014 has invited to Arctic Chess Challenge.


boatripwiev
Todays excursion was a Boat tour with "Caroline Mathilde" of Tromsø. Here you see the Island of Tromsø to the left and the famous church "Ishavskatedralen" is the white building at the right side of the bridge.
Photo provided with permission from one of the female participants.

gmsonboat
Here you see several strong chess player's, among them IM Matthew Turner (right side) and IM Petrov (to the left).
Photo: Jan S. Berglund

chessaholicsinthecity
Here is a picture from the City Walk on Monday which ended up in the lovely Polaria with Seals, a good stuff. All these are related to Arctic Chess Challenge 2009 and I see quite a few GMs, do you?
Photo provided by Jan S. Berglund

seal
I have to bring you a picture of a Seal in the Arctic aquarium Polaria too then. It's cute isn't it? Polaria also has a panorama cinema with a nie movie from the spectacular Svalbard. It also has an Arctic aquarium and some other stuff so it's well worth a visit.
Photo provided by Hanne Cecilie Hvam

The official homepage of Arctic Chess Challenge with results, table and games.

The entire text, and all photos that not are credited others, by Sven Wisløff-Nilssen (C) 2009.
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6 kommentarer

Dag Sødtholt

05.aug.2009 kl.20:23

Hei,Jeg lurte på om du kunne gitt meg mail-adressen din da jeg kunne tenkt å sende deg en privat mail! Håper du har tid til å lese slike under bloggeperioden...?Dag

05.aug.2009 kl.20:35

Hei Dag,Leser og svarer selvfølgelig på mail. Du finner den alltid i profilen min til høyre ( sjakkfantomet[a]gmail.com. Husk å ta bort [a] og sett inn en alfakrøll i stedet, det er skrevet slik så ikke roboter fanger opp mailadressa automatisk.

Vivian Yuen

06.aug.2009 kl.14:32

Kul blogg :D

The Wiz

06.aug.2009 kl.17:27

Takk for det :-)

Kjersti

02.okt.2009 kl.22:35

Hei

Har dere fastsatt datoer for ARctic Chess Challenge 2010?

Sven

03.okt.2009 kl.20:01

Ikke fastsatt enda så vidt jeg vet.

Skriv en ny kommentar

The Wiz

The Wiz

42, Tromsø

Sven Wisløff Nilssen- Visejuniornorgesmester i brettsjakk 1989.- Norgesmester i postsjakk 1995.- To ganger deltaker i eliteklassen både i brettsjakk og postsjakk.I dag, avdanket sjakkspiller med fortsatt lidenskap for spillet.Kontaktadresse: sjakkfantomet[a]gmail.com

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