4
After the second half of the double round, three players from three different nations are now
sharing the lead in the GM-group. Estonian GM Kaido Kulaots for the first time in this tournament
failed to win his game in the fourth round, but stayed at his very strong +3 following a sound
draw. He was immediately caught by the second seeded Ukraine GM Andrev Vovk, and some
hours later also by the first seeded Norwegian GM Jon Ludvig Hammer. About to pass midline,
Fagernes International still has many possible candidates to win first prize – and even more
candidates to make various kinds of title norms.
First board meeting between GM Kaido
Kulaots (2558) and IM Alexander
Donchenko (2569) started with a
Classical Nimzo Indian line, in which the
d- and e-pawns disappeared following
some tactical exchanges. After castling
long and exchanging the queens at d2,
white gave up his pair of bishops with
20.Bxf6 to keep a slight initiative with
two rooks, bishop, knight and six pawns
on each side. White however spent
much time without finding any way forward, and so draw was agreed in a very equal endgame after
30 moves. Kulaots rests upon his very strong +3, Donchenko upon his rock solid +2.
GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2651) and
GM Jan Werle (2514) started with 1.e4 and a
Sicilian Taimanov duel, in which the dark squared
bishops were exchanged at d6 and the queens at
g3. 14.--- g5? was weakening and might have
been a mistake, as white controlling the h6
square later held a pleasant h-file pressure. The
rook endgame with five pawns on each side
looked drawish, but white still had an initiative
and black felt forced to sacrifice his last queenside pawn to intervene on the kingside with his king.
Probably this creative plan was sufficient to save the game, but Hammer kept up the pressure until
Werle blundered with 39.--- Rb3?. Instead 39.--- Kg3! 40.Rg5+ Kf4 would have been the critical and
consequent rescue attempt, as black would have a much more active king in the endgame with rook
and one pawn versus rook and two pawns. In the game Hammer immediately used his chance, and
forced a well known and still won endgame with rook and e-pawn versus rook. The game, which
Hammer demonstrated for about 35 other participants during his evening lecture, was very
interesting and instructive. Werle following his promising start tonight suffered his first game loss in
Norway, while Hammer is sharing the lead following this pole in.
GM Vladimir Burmakin (2581) versus GM Evgeny Postny (2645) was an English fianchetto which
transposed into a Semi-Slav as white in move 12 played d4. Black immediately could free his
queenside with 12.--- c5, after which the position was in dynamic balance. Playing with some mutual
respect, the players cooperated in creating an airy and elegant perpetual check after 26 moves.
Postny had prepared only for the first eight moves and showed mental strength when playing Qh3
and Ng4 – threatening mate with Qxh2 and convincing himself that white had nothing more than a
perpetual check… He was right, meaning both players are still lurking in the shadows just around the
corner from the first board.
GM Andrey Vovk (2644) tried to slow down last round’s surprise man Erlend Mikalsen (2161) with
1.g3 and a King’s Indian advance. Black did fine with some tactical exchanges in the opening, leaving
a position in which white had the slightly better pawn structure and black the slightly more active
pieces. 20.--- Qxc4?! probably was a mistake, as white without queens had a pleasant queenside
initiative. Still black was well inside this game until he blundered with 22.--- Ba5?? – overlooking a
tactical 23.Nd4! winning two pieces for a rook. The rest was not too exciting: Andrey Vovk used his
chances efficiently, and before thirty moves he had returned two pieces for a rook to land in a totally
won endgame with rook, bishop and five pawns versus rook, knight and three pawns. Second
seeded Andrey Vovk seems to have acclimated fully for the Norwegian countryside, and has won
three games very convincingly after his shaky first round draw.
GM Evgeny Romanov (2613) as white against IM Matthias Dann (2475) went for some kind of
Queen’s Pawn Fianchetto with 1.g3 followed by 2.d4. Black’s set up with c5 followed by Na6 and Ng4
looked suspect and did not work out well: White took the pawn on c5, advanced in the center with
e4-e5, and kept a strong initiative after returning the pawn at c5. White increased the pressure with
a violent kingside attack, and black’s king at h6 anyway was in quicksand when Dann blundered at
move 22 and resigned at move 23. Romanov’s decision to rest with a walk over draw during the
morning part of the double round worked out very well in the evening.
FM Joachim B. Nilsen (2406) as white against
GM Yuri Vovk (2588) started up with 1.Nf3, but
then transposed into a positional King’s Indian
line. The middle game appeared balanced after
the dark squared bishops and one set of
knights were exchanged. Having some
pressure against black’s backward pawn at d6,
white could have been better if putting
pressure on the queenside with 23.Qa5! instead of helping black to repair his pawn structure with
23.Nxe6? fxe6. 24.c5?! was a further mistake at black after the simple reply dxc5 soon got a d-file
initiative. As black instructively established a passed pawn at c4 and doubled his heavy pieces in the
d-file, white anyway was in trouble when making the decisive mistake with 32.Rc3? – allowing 32.--Rd2 with total domination and black won in a few moves.
FM Johan Salomon (2401) versus IM Frode Urkedal (2524) was a very important meeting between
two young Norwegian GM norm candidates. It started with a Queen’s Indian fianchetto in which
black equalized without any problems, and due to his e-file possession had a slight initiative around
move 15-19. The game took a dramatic turn as white in move 21 sacrificed a knight on d5 to
intervene on c7 with his rook. Although white got two center pawns and the more active pieces,
black with an extra piece looked better. 30.--- Bc3? however was a mistake allowing a critical e6break, after which white won back the material. Urkedal for some reason decided to return an
exchange extra, and due to this Salomon probably was better when a draw was agreed during
mutual confusion after 35 moves. Although both players had some reason to be satisfied not to lose
this game, it was a feeling both should have won it really to be in the GM norm run.
GM Leif Erlend Johannessen (2527)
obviously had to get rid of some
frustrations following his disappointing
first half of this double round, and
entered the massive King’s Indian four
pawns attack when given the white
stones against IM John Paul Wallace
(2388). White had only a small
advantage from the opening, but 16.--Qh5?! was an overambitious try for a
kingside attack – giving white a clear
advantage after c5 followed by e5. Rolling on with 22.e6?! strictly speaking was to overdo. It still
worked out very well as black immediately blundered with 22.--- Nd6?, losing material after 23.Nd5!
with various unpleasant threats. The rest was entertaining but not very exciting, as white now had a
decisive material advantage AND a decisive attack against black’s all the more open kingside.
Svetoslav Mihajlov (2203) and IM Aryan
Tari (2509) from 1.Nf3 transposed into a
Queen’s Gambit with Bb4, in which black
soon came better as he was allowed to
take and keep an extra pawn at c4.
White’s center advantage did not help
much as black after stabilizing his
queenside soon switched to direct
kingside attack with f5-f4. Still enjoying
much more to attack himself than to
defend, daddy Mihajlov helpfully
weakened his kingside during the next moves, after which Tari smashed through within 35 moves.
The IM duel between German Felix Graf (2478) and Norwegian Nicolai Getz (2367) via 1.d4 2.Nc3
3.Bg5 and 4.e4 transposed into a Classical French, which white was much better prepared to discuss
today. After 6.Bxf6 gxf6, black’s pair of bishop soon became less important than his weakened pawn
structure and slow development. Having exchanged one of the bishops, Graf after castling long
efficiently sacrificed the other one at f5 in move 14. Although the alternative was a depressing
looking position a pawn down, accepting the bishop sacrifice proved the decisive mistake – as white
soon had four pawns and an ongoing attack for the piece. As the alternative was to throw heavy
material ahead of the steamroller without being able to stop it, Getz instead stopped the clock after
30 moves.
IM Timofey Galinsky (2411) and Sondre Merkesvik (2135) discussed a closed London line in which
white gets a nice looking knight on e5, but black playing c4-b5-b4 has a pawn roller on the
queenside. 29.Bf3? turned out to be a provocative mistake, as black was tempted to play 29.--- e4!
with a clear advantage. Merkesvik however spent much time without finding any way to use his big
space advantage, and although still much better he accepted a repetition of moves after the first
time control.
The game between FM Lars Oskar Hauge
(2380) and FM Sebastian Mihajlov (2308) was
a meeting between two young and ambitious
Norwegian IM-candidates knowing each other
very well from earlier tournaments; among
other they played together for the same team
during last year’s chess Olympics in Tromsø.
White left black’s preparations with 1.b3 –
with success, as the resulting position with an
isolated black pawn at d5 was much better for
white. Black helpfully exchanged queens, and before 25 moves was caught in an endgame with
rook, knight and six pawns versus rook, bishop and six pawns. The endgame from the start was
double trouble from a black point of view, as he had the worse pawn structure and the less active
pieces. As white for ten moves did nothing, black however succeeded in stabilizing his position with
reasonable drawing chances. Black’s invitation for a rook exchange party at c7 looked dubious, as
white had the more active king and the better minor piece. What drawing chances black had left
without rooks was spoiled by the careless 37.--- Ke7? – allowing white to open the queenside for his
king with the temporary pawn sacrifice 38.a5!. Hauge following his first game win is fully in the run
for an IM-norm, while Mihajlov following his second game loss now will need a much stronger
second half of this tournament.
The game between FM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2351) and WIM Oksana Vovk (2112) started
with an English fianchetto, in which black without success tried to hang on an extra pawn at c4.
Ahead in a development, white just after the opening started a kingside pawn storm to attack the
black bishop on g6. Black in desperation tried to sacrifice a bishop for two pawns on h5, but it did
not work out very well as black’s king on c8 soon looked more exposed than the white king on g1.
Black anyway was lost when blundering another piece at move 28. Christiansen, who made his
second IM-norm in Reykjavik two weeks ago, might have saved some chances to make a third one
this week by this convincing game win. PS: An anonymous Danish woman has made repeated tries to
get this game out of the webpage, but this organizer for principal reasons of course resists all kind of
bribes…
WFM Hanne Goossens (2168) and FM Johannes Haug (2339) meanwhile discussed a French
exchange line with a symmetric pawn structure. In between the exchanges white played a little
passive, hence black for some moves had an initiative playing with rook, bishop, two knights and
seven pawns on each side. White however was half an hour ahead on the clock, and black’s initiative
vanished as he had nothing to attack. The game finally became a little more interesting as black in
move 29 realized the c5 break, after which white accepted to break up the pawn symmetry by taking
on c5. But then black offered a draw six moves later on, as the new position also was balanced and
with a long road to any winning chances. Haug although playing a sound game lags behind his
schedule for an IM-norm, while Goossens is on schedule for a WIM-norm.
The Tromsø duel and generation duel between 40 year old Pål Røyset (2251) and 12 year old Tor
Fredrik Kaasen (2099) started as a King’s Indian Advance a la French. It turned into a very closed
position, in which all 32 pieces still were on board after 23 moves. Having played e5 and h6 white
had chances for a kingside attack, while black playing d4, b4 and a4 went for counterplay on the
queenside. The dark squared bishops became the first to leave at move 24-25. Without them it soon
turned out white had made the better evaluation of the position, as black afterwards had a big black
hole at f6. Playing 31.Nf6+ followed by 32.Nd7! white won an exchange, and the remaining 18
moves became a long transport leg as white still had a can opener for the kingside. Kaasen although
playing many good moves still struggles to get a score in his first GM-group. Modest Røyset is out of
the norm run (following his skiing during the third round), but still in the run for another plus result.
Eivind Risting (2100) versus IM Petter Haugli (2247) was a rather balanced and tense Sicilian Kan
opening duel, in which both players spent a lot of time. 20.f4!? opened up the position, but although
white had a space advantage and the f-file, black due to his active pair of bishops had more than
enough counterplay. As white was about to run seriously short of time, Haugli and his bishops
started a counterattack on the kingside. In a crumbling position Risting tried to complicate by
sacrificing a piece on f5, but Haugli cashed in the piece and used his extra bishop to complete the
attack before 40 moves. Elegant tactical calculations with a rook sacrifice on h3 finished off a good
black game from the oldest IM in the tournament. Young Risting, like young Kaasen, is struggling to
get points out of this very interesting tournament experience.
Vegar Gandrud (2211) and Victor
Havik (2160) discussed a Queen’s
Indian Fianchetto line in which white
sacrifices a pawn in the air at d5 to
open the diagonal h1-a8 and the dfile. White spent 80 minutes for the
first 13 moves, but got a lot of
compensation in a very double-edged
position. Tactical complications
started around move 17, and ended
ten moves later with an endgame in which white had two bishops and six pawns versus bishop,
knight and four pawns. White’s headache was that the pawn at g7 went lost within two more moves,
while his other bonus pawn was very difficult to realize due to black’s disturbing counterplay on the
queenside. Instead of giving up all his queenside pawns, white exchanged one bishop for the black
knight and hoped for winning chances in a different colored bishop endgame with one extra pawn
and a three versus one majority on the kingside. Black’s king and bishop however were well placed
for a blockade, and in the bitter end white despite two pawns versus zero had to accept black’s
fortress (and a draw).
Anita Grønnestad (1987) today played some kind of Reti with white, while opponent WGM Iozefina
Paulet (2205) played some kind of hedgehog set up with black. The result became a tense position in
which white had more space and some pressure against d6, while black had a sound position with
some counterplay against c4. The struggle intensified as white weakened her e3-pawn with 20.f4,
after which black immediately hit back with the d5-break. Something was wrong or went wrong for
white during the following complications, as the conclusion became a rook endgame with five pawns
for black and four pawns for white. Two of the black pawns were f-pawns, but white probably still
could have saved a draw if using the chance to undermine black’s passed pawns on c5 and d4 with a
b4-break. Missing that bus and inviting black’s king to join the party, white in the fourth and fifth
hour drifted all the way into a lost pawn endgame.
Jens Hjort Kjølberg (1963) versus FM Richard Bjerke (2180) was a Slav opening in which black won a
pawn at f4, but had to struggle with his king a little awkward at f8. Having evacuated his king to d8,
black in turn sacrificed two pawns to open the position against white’s king, which was a little
awkward at c1. Having spent too much time early in the game, Kjølberg overlooked a tactical stroke
with 26.--- Rxc3+! 27.bxc3 Qxc3+ - crosspinning white’s bishop on d2. Black following this played on
with two knights for one rook, but still had a hard time to win a complex position in which both
players had to take care of their kings and their two remaining pawns. As Bjerke during mutual time
pressure succeeded exchanging the queens, the endgame with two knights, bishop and two pawns
versus rook, bishop and one pawn for sure was a technical win. Black took his time on the clock and
the board, but finally overcame the stalemate traps to complete the game with a mate after 88
moves.
Sigve Hølleland (1963) versus Eivind X. Djurhuus (2077) was another Norwegian teenager meeting –
and another English fianchetto duel. The queens and the center pawns were exchanged in the
opening, leaving white with all the more active pieces. Djurhuus however succeeded in exchanging
most of the pieces and to activate the few remaining ones by sacrificing a pawn on the queenside.
Although white had an extra a-pawn in the rook and bishop endgame, black’s very disturbing pieces
scraped him a draw after 57 moves.
And in case anyone now wonder about GM Simen Agdestein (2620), GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2549)
or WGM Olga Dolzhikova (2159), they had all “taken a Romanov” and requested a walk over draw to
rest during the second half of this long day. Stig K. Martinsen (2157) following this had to accept a
full point walk over.
The so far very entertaining Open Norwegian Championship true enough slowed down a bit in
the second half of the double round, when four out of the top five boards ended without a winner.
First board meeting between David Maloberti (2140) and Endre Machlik (2036) started as an
Accepted Queen’s Gambit, with a double edged isolated pawn position. It suddenly became a very
drawish endgame with rook, bishop and five pawns on each side, after white in move 15 realized his
d5-break and exchanged the remaining center pawns as well as most of the remaining pieces.
Second board was a junior meeting between Monika Machlik (1967) and Henrik Øie Løbersli (2078).
It lasted one hour longer, but never became very interesting for anyone except (possibly) the two
involved players. White from a Classical Nimzo-Indian opening had first a pair of bishops and then
(after exchanging a bishop for a knight on f6) the slightly better pawn structure. She however found
nothing better than exchanging down to a nearly symmetric rook endgame, which soundly-playing
Løbersli had no problems defending.
Third board today became much more entertaining, and after four hours got a winner. Johannes
Melkevik (2014) in his second French Tarrasch duel played on for a win against Kjell Magne Johnsen
(2099). Having some pressure against black’s backward pawn on e6, white looked better in the first
half of the middle game. Johnsen however hit back by snatching a pawn at b2 with his queen, and
the tension intensified as he during mutual time pressure realized a tactical e5-break at move 28.
White hit back with a tactical exchange sacrifice on e5 a few moves later on, and the last moves
before the time control was played in a loaded position with queen, bishop and four pawns versus
two rooks, bishop and five pawns. Following a blunder in move 39, white was anyway about to win
material on the board when black lost on time next move.
Fourth board was a fascinating German-Norwegian generation duel and gender duel between 54
year old Irina Donchenko (2058) and 14 year old Lucas Ranaldi (2014). White did not get much out of
her Botvinnik set up in this heavyweight English opening, as black playing b5-b4 and e5 got a space
advantage. Three sets of minor pieces left the board early in the middle game, leaving a complex
different colored bishop position in which white dominated the white squares and black the dark
squares. Although the position looked blocked and drawish, black with an active bishop on d4 had an
initiative most of the time. Just before 40 moves Donchenko however activated her pieces and hit in
at f7, winning queen and pawn for rook and bishop. Strangely this did not change the outcome, as
white was afterwards unable to find a way through black’s fortress defense.
Fifth board meeting between Robin Olsen (2030) and Håkon Bentsen (2050) was a Queen’s Gambit
exchange duel, in which white went for a traditional minority attack on the queenside and looked
slightly better most of the time. Well known with these kind of positions, Bentsen still activated and
exchanged this one down to a draw well before 40 moves without looking too worried.
The next group of boards had many more decided games, with seven players having 2 out of 3
before this round winning their game. This means David Maloberti, Henrik Øie Løbersli, Endre
Machlik, Monika Machlik and Johannes Melkevik are now sharing the lead at 3.5/4, half a point
ahead 12 more players. It remains to test out whether anyone will be able to spurt away from the
rest of field during the next three or four rounds. My prediction (read: guess) for now is that the
answer is no, and that all the four money prizes will be decided only in the last round.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Pictures by Tom Eriksen.