The Lahlum Round Report

THE LAHLUM ROUND REPORT

GM group

The GM group includes nine GMs, eleven IMs and two WGMs among 44 players, with only four players below 2100 and none below 2000, and offers remarkable chances for all kinds of title norms.

Fairly illustrating, the first game between two GMs came already in the first round, and an ELO of 2350 was needed to get a place on the top half of the seedings. Most of the players from the first half, including 2600-GMs Igors Rausis, Matthieu Cornette and Yuri Vovk, of course won (more or less convincingly) in the first round.

Three out of the six top seeded GMs still had to accept a draw, while the eight seeded GM lost the last game of round one after playing way too hard for a win. All taken together, the 22 outsiders got five draws and two wins out of this entertaining and hard-fought round one.

The first board meeting between Czech GM Igors Rausis (2635) and Swedish IM Ari Ziegler (2330) started like a Reti opening in which white’s stronghold on d5 gave him a positional edge. Black anyway was under pressure when giving up his light squared bishop for the knight after 22 moves, but white afterwards got a dominating pair of bishops and went on to win an exchange within a few moves. Ari Ziegler

Ziegler fought on well into the fifth hour, but Rausis with a sound exchange more appeared to be in reasonable control all the time.

The second board game between IM Justin Sarkar (2322) and GM Matthieu Cornette (2620) made a slow start as Sarkar arrived 40 minutes delayed. Our new American chess friend decided to play the tournament only two dags ago, had of course checked the local time after arriving Norway yesterday, but forgot to check it again today – and so understandably missed daylight saving time. When white finally arrived he bravely ran into a sharp Nimzo-Indian line with 4.a3, in which 9.g4? however was an overambitious attack - running into a strong counterblow with a tactical 9.--- Nxg4!. After 14 moves black was a sound pawn up with an extra hour on the clock. A passed pawn down in the rooks and minor piece endgame, white anyway was in deep trouble when blundering with 32.Bxc3? and resigning on the next move. Sarkar understandably played below his usual strength today, but the still young French GM Cornette definitely looked strong in his first Fagernes game.

GM Maxim Turov (2615) versus FM Erik Santarius (2317) was a tight battle in the border area between Reti and English, in which chances appeared balanced after 20 moves. As Turov accelerated with 21.e4!? Santarius went astray with 21.--- Nc3? and 21.--- Bh3?, allowing white to accelerate further with f4-f5 and win an exchange within five more moves. Turov became so thankful that he closed off Maxim Turov his own kingside attack, and as black’s knight became all the more disturbing he in the fourth hour balanced the chances with a queenside counterattack. White felt forced first to return the exchange and then to invite for a repetition of moves in a tense queen and rook position, in which both kings balanced around on the kingside. Santarius at move 40 bravely left a repetition of checks to play on for a win, but as Turov defended very well it dried up with another repetition a few moves later on.

WIM Mai Narva (2314) as white against GM Yuri Vovk (2600) Sicilian went for an Alapin set up, in which white after e5 got some space advantage. Black however had some counterplay against white’s c3-pawn, and white became too ambitious when she went for a kingside attack with Ng5 and Qh4. Narva still appeared to have a dangerous attack after sacrificing her bishop on h5 in move 24, but Vovk defended brilliantly and after 40 moves had won two bishops for some air. Vovk vs Narva

The first GM meeting, between 42 year old Kaido Kulaots (2579) and 73 year old Heikki Westerinen (2305), was a fascinating generation duel. It was in fact also a duel between two friends and teammates, as they play for the same club in the Finnish League. The game anyway was a French Advance duel in which black got a pair of bishop, but white’s strong e5 square and more active pieces still gave him an advantage. The position was loaded and both players after 28 moves had only four minutes left on the clock. Kulaots looked confident when sacrificing his bishop on g7 the next move, but then much less confident when he tried to find out what to do after black accepted the offer… Kaido somehow missed something very important, and Westerinen sure was winning in a still complex position after 35 moves - playing with queen, two bishops and three pawns against queen, knight and four pawns. Both players had less than one minute left for the next five moves, but found good moves and passed the time control with a winning advantage for black. White came up with some counterplay due to his passed pawn on d5, and after thinking for some 30 minutes on move 42 Westerinen sacrificed back one of the bishops to force a draw by repetition of checks.

The young FM Cagatay Burcu (2301) of Turkey also came up with a surprise draw against GM Dmitry Kryakvin (2567). The opening was a rather unorthodox London system transposing into a Queen’s Pawn, in which black first could be well satisfied with his position. Following a number of exchanging the outcome however was a rook endgame in which white was closer to winning chances, before a dead drawn rook endgame with two g-pawns versus one g-pawn came on board after the first time control.

The top rated Norwegian, GM Frode Urkedal (2563), on the other hand won in very convincing style within 22 moves as white against (all the more British) Polish WGM Katarzyna Toma (2280). Why white delayed castling in this mysterious King’s Indian attack suddenly became less mysterious as he went for a bayonet attack on the kingside with 15.h4 17.h5 – especially as black’s king died in the h-file within five more moves.

The Norwegian duel between FM Anders Hobber (2280) and GM Johan Salomon (2505) was a slow and about equal Colle system, in which black first qualized for free and then got a slight edge due to his pair of bishops. After 40 moves white sacrificed a pawn, to reach an endgame with queen, bishop and three kingside pawns against queen, bishop and four kingside pawns – very drawish due to the different coloured bishops. The better player with the better position, Salomon understandably played on for a win in the fifth and sixth hour. As the position otherwise remained very drawish, sacrificing the bishop for a pawn with 60.--- Bxg3!? qualifies as a creative winning try from black. Although a good practical try on the board it was not a good practical try on the clock, as black had only three minutes left against 20, and still many variations to calculate. Rather shockingly, it turned out that the GM had played 60 moves without noting there was no incremental time in this game. Black lost on time after 68 moves, but then the question was whether he due to his passed g-pawn could still save a draw with queen and three pawns versus queen, bishop and two pawns. Probably he still could.

Salomon was understandably disappointed to lose this game, but sportily congratulated the opponent and admitted it was all his own fault. Hobber fair enough used the chances he got to turn a long and demanding game against a GM, and so gave himself a brilliant start on his IM norm run.

Notkevich - Dahl

In another duel between two young Norwegians, IM Benjamin Arvola Notkevich (2451) and FM Trygve Dahl (2199) discussed a Sicilian Reti line which first appeared to be a standard double edge position. Black’s thematic center push with 20.--- d5? however came with a bad timing as the isolated pawn on d5 became a weakness, while white had a passed pawn on c5 and a strong knight square on d4. Giving up the dark squared bishop for the knight on d4 was understandable, but still gave white a dominating pair of bishops, and although black’s resignation after 28 moves came a little early he was in deep trouble then.

The Danish delegation this year consists of Morten Andersen (2186), who started with an honest loss as white against Norwegian IM Kristian Stuvik Holm (2450). The opening was a hyperaccelerated Sicilian Dragon in which black soon demonstrated the better understanding of a complex position. Although white after the queen exchanged had a pair of bishops, black had all the more active pieces. If the endgame with rooks and knight versus rooks and bishop was not just winning, black efficiently made it look like it was, and after cashing in two pawns he won safely in the fifth hour.

Creative IM Lars Oskar Hauge (2435) as white against WGM Olga Dolzhikova (2183) went for a Trompovsky, in which white’s center soon proved more important than black’s pair of bishops. Whether it was correct to sacrifice the e5- pawn remains a bit unclear, but anyway it worked out very well as black took the pawn in the wrong way and ran into tactical problems. 1-0 came very sudden after 25.Ne6, but Olga Dolzhikova true enough black in addition to other problems was about to lose at least an exchange.

The Norwegian-Indian duel between Tore Kolås (2159) and IM Himal Gusain (2422) was a Dutch fianchetto in which white too loosely sacrificed a pawn. Sacrificing an exchange on f5 later looked consistent, but resulted only in some tactical exchanges, after which black’s active pair of bishops became even stronger. Sacrificing another exchange on f6 at move 40 was just desperation from a crumbling cockpit, and white resigned three moves later as his own king turned out to be more exposed than blacks.

The game between IM Oskar von Bahr (2421) and Kjell Håkon Lien (2133) was a low profile game, and an English fianchetto line in which black for a long time appeared to be fairly healthy. White still kept a disturbing pressure into the endgame with queen, bishop, two knights and six pawns on each side. The endgame with queen, bishop and six pawns on each side looked close to winning as white had a passed pawn on c5 and both the better pieces, and the bishop endgame with an extra queenside pawn for white probably was just winning. Still hardly noted by anyone but his opponent, Oskar von Bahr early in the sixth hour completed his first Fagernes game with a sound win.

Jens Ingebretsen (2132) versus Gabriel Bick (2416) was another teenager duel and another complex Sicilian duel, this one a Kan line in which black due to his better bishops probably had taken over the advantage before 15 moves. Giving up two pawns to exchange one of the bishops hardly improved white’s chances, and black anyway was two pawns up with a winning position when white blundered a rook after 30 moves.

FM Benjamin Haldorsen (2408) as white against Abyl Kizatbay (2127) went for some kind of a Sicilian Grand Prix attack, working our very well as white got a big space advantage on the board and some 45 minutes more on the clock. 18.e5! followed by 19.e6 instructively increased the pressure by opening the position. As black failed to find the best defence, white first cashed in an exchange on e8 and then went back on the kingside to smash through with a bishop sacrifice on g6.

Kizatbay – Haldorsen and Wallace - Bentsen

Håkon Bentsen (2124) as white against IM John-Paul Wallace (2399) in a Sicilian went for his normal solid (read: slow) set up with 2.Nf3 and 3.b3, but then mixed it up with 4.d4?. Allowed to play an open Sicilian more or less with an extra tempo black soon came better, and due to his center pawn and pair of bishops, Wallace had a promising pressure in the middle game. Black eventually won a pawn and appeared close to winning around move 30-40. While Bentsen fought on well Wallace however cramped, giving back a key pawn on a6 to reach a double edged minor piece endgame. White’s running a-pawn combined with a knight sacrifice on f6 for some moves gave him an advantage around move 50-60, but Wallace woke up in time and probably had the draw within reach all of the time.

IM Jovanka Houska (2396) as white against veteran FM Richard Bjerke (2119) went for a Pseudo- King’s Indian fianchetto line, in which white’s d5 pawn gave her a space slight pressure after an early queen exchanged. Black however had thematic counterplay on the kingside, and came better in the double minor piece endgame after white somewhat mysteriously sacrificed her g-pawn. Probably black should have made something more out of this, but white still had active pieces and after all landed in a drawish bishop endgame after 60 moves.

Houska and Lund

The Norwegian teenager duel between Gunnar Lund (2114) and IM Sebastian Mihajlov (2386) was a Caro-Kann Exchange line, leading to an isolated pawn position which first appeared about balanced. While Lund failed to find any good plan Mihajlov however instructively activated his pieces, and definitely came better as white after 33 moves sold a pawn on d4 much too cheap. It remains a bit unclear whether white just before 40 moves blundered his queen for rook and bishop, or sacrificed it hoping for an endgame fortress. Anyway black soon demonstrated the winning plan with queen and five pawns versus rook, bishop and four pawns, and won this game very well deserved.

Ukrainian IM Timofey Galinsky (2365) as white against Norwegian Francisco Silva Gonzalez (2083) did not get much from the opening, which was some rather dry Indian relative of an Accepted Queen’s Gambit. It seems however that black just blundered a key pawn with 21.--- h6?, allowing 22.Rxc8 Qxc8 23. Nxa6!, as Qxa6 fails to 24.Qxd8+. Consequently white came a pawn up with Galinsky vs Silva Gonzalez a strong pair of bishops as well. Sacrificing back the pawn to play an endgame with queen, bishop and three pawns on each side later should not have been necessary, but white’s passed pawn on d6 still gave him a strong pressure, and following inaccurate defence from black won a piece after 60 moves. The game lasted 20 more moves, but then is was very easy for the IM.

Elham Abdrlauf (2077) as white against FM Deniz Arman (2364) went for a rather slow and positional London system, in which black after realizing the e5-break had no problems. White replied d5 and for some moves had a space advantage, but black creatively sacrificed his b5-pawn to open the position and came much better after winning back the pawn on d5. Having picked up an exchange on d1 with a winning position, black in an inspired mood finished off the game before 30 moves by sacrificing a knight on h3.

FM Tor Fredrik Kaasen (2354) and Andreas Skotheim (2072) meanwhile discussed a Catalan opening line in which black sacrificed an exchange on a8 to win white’s pawn on d4. For sure this idea can work out for black in some lines, but this was not one of them, as white without too many nervous moments consolidated his extra exchange. Black’s understandable search for counterplay later resulted only in a further loss of material, hence white after 40 moves was a sound minor piece up in the rook and minor piece endgame.

Curiously, Thomas Nyland (2034) and FM Kalle Niemi (2350) met also in the first round of this tournament last year, although then in the IM group. Niemi last year played 1.e4 and squeezed a win out of a slightly better endgame. Nyland tonight instead went for 1.f4 and both players spent much time from the opening. White probably did not get too much from the first ten moves, but advancing the f-pawn still gave him a jackpot. Black played too carelessly when allowing a tactical 19.f6!, as he afterwards ran into highly disturbing pins and had to give up two bishops for rook and pawn. Black’s search for counterplan on the seventh rank succeeded only traping his own rook on c2. Although the game lasted 76 moves, white with bishop for two kingside pawns appeared to have reasonable control in the endgame with bishop and two pawns versus four pawns.

IM group

The IM group is a ten player round robin, producing unexpectedly much fire from the five games in round one. Four out of the games in the end got a winner.

Today’s main sensation was eight rated Mads Vestby-Ellingsen crushing GM Aloyzas Kveinys with a kingside attack, but another close to sensational result was tenth seeded Frode Lillevold winning a drawish queen endgame as black against WIM Kateryna Dolzhykova.

First rated GM Eduardas Rozentalis on the other hand won a convincing white game against FM Alexander Betaneli, and IM Gerard Welling despite some inaccuracies won an interesting rook endgame against WIM Sheila Barth Sahl. The only draw was a rather tame but still tense 20 moves game between teammates FM Johannes Haug and Daniel Nordquelle – qualifying as a small surprise since Haug with white was an obvious game favourite. In short it was not the best start for most of the title norm candidates, but a very refreshing start for the tournament.

Today’s sensation in the group, and indeed the whole tournament, was 15 year old Tromsø junior Mads Vestby- Ellingsen (2194) winning with a stunning kingside attack against 55 year old and usually rock solid Lithuanian GM Aloyzas Kveinys (2511). The start was a Nimzo-Indian Sämisch line, leading to a tight positional struggle. White played d5 with some space advantage and probably was clearly Vestby-Ellingsen vs Kveinys better around move 20, but the position remained double edged as black had some counterplay on the queenside. 24.--- Kh7? and 25.--- Nf8? was way too careless from black, somehow missing that white in several lines could hit through with a knight sacrifice on h6. Vestby-Ellingsen used seven of his remaining nine minutes, but found a winning version of the sacrifice at move 26. Computer programs are critical to some of white’s remaining moves, but for no reason as white was totally winning all the time and played very well despite being short of time. White’s main challenge came from the clock as Vestby-Ellingsen several times had less than ten seconds left, but still he had reasonable control as the IM group is the incremental offer of this tournament. 35.Rxg6+! was an efficient way to finish the game, sacrificing an exchange to open up further around the black king. With his king under fire at e5 Kveinys gently resigned after 39 moves without trying 39.--- Kxe4, which would have been a neat mate in two after 40.Qe3+ Kxd5 41.Nb4.

Curiously the players met with a shorter time limit in the last round of the Kragerø tournament a few weeks ago, when Vestby-Ellingsen failed to fulfill a promising position and Kveinys efficiently won in the endgame. Mads definitely had his revenge today and made a dream start on his first closed IM-group. Staying calm during this time trouble situation was even more impressive as Mads’ plane from the North was much delayed, and he arrived Fagernes by car less than one hour before the game.

Lithuanian GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2512) and American FM Alexander Betaneli (2231) meanwhile discussed a rare Hungarian opening line, in which white after exchanging light squared bishops on e6 played d4 and got a slight space advantage. Black had reasonable counterplay in the f-file and probably was fine before the somewhat too optimistic 19.--- h4?. White white’s king remained safe the h4-pawn later became an attacking target, and losing the pawn after 30 moves black faced a difficult defence with only a few minutes left on the clock. 39.--- Rc6? might have been the decisive mistake in a difficult position, as 40.f6 within a few moves gave white a decisive kingside attack. 1-0 after 47 moves looked convincing, as black had a king on d4 and was about to lose his queen.

WIM Kateryna Dolzhykova (2288) and Frode Lillevold (2113) discussed a Scotch line of a Four Knights opening, which seemed fairly balanced on the board after both players made 14 moves on five minutes. While white came clearly ahead on the clock she lost control on the board with 19.Qd6?!, allowing black to snatch a pawn with a tactical Rxb2. Lillevold in turn gave back the pawn too easily. Dolzhykova appeared to have the better Kateryna Dolzhikova prospects as she after 24 moves was one hour ahead on the clock, in an mostly balanced position with queen, rook, knight and five pawns on each side. Normally at his best in endgame and not without experience from time pressure, Lillevold however proved able to speed up and find sound exchanges, leading to a queen endgame in which black was slightly better due to his passed a7-pawn. Still one hour ahead on the clock Dolzhykova played too fast and carelessly with 39.Qd4?, giving black the time needed to play a5 and a4 with disturbing pressure. This was not the day for Dolzhykova to find the best squarez for her queen. After 43.Qd6?, giving black a great square on f3, white for sure was lost. Although running short of time again Lillevold within ten more moves decided the game by advancing his passed pawn to a2. This of course was an amazing start for 46 year old Lillevold, accepting to join the IM-group on a one day notice when one of the foreign players was unable to play.

WIM Sheila Barth Sahl (2186) as white against Dutch IM Gerard Welling (2332) went for a somewhat unusual King’s Indian Attack line, leading to a symmetric and fairly balanced position after an early queen exchange. As white’s d-file turned out to be more or less worthless, black gradually came better due to his queenside attack, and the position was close to winning as he after 30 moves picked up white’s all the more weak pawn at c3. Welling played a bit inaccurately during the next ten moves, giving white the chance to win back a pawn on the kingside and reach an apparently drawish rook endgame with four pawns on each side. Black’s pawn majority on the queenside still made life difficult for white, and after white forced herself to sacrifice the rook on the a-pawn, he had a safe margin to win the endgame with rook and king versus rook and two scattered pawns.

Haug and Welling

The game between 17 year old FM Johannes Haug (2360) and 15 year old Daniel Nordquelle (2200) was a game between two very talented young Norwegians, and at the same time also a prestige duel between two teammates from the prosperous Nordstrand club in Oslo. Rated 160 points over his opponent and having made his first IM norm last year, Haug by far was considered the hottest norm candidate in this group before round one. Although spending 80 minutes for the first 14 moves he however got nothing whatsoever as white from some rare Accepted Queen’s Gambit relative, and black due to his better pawn structure was closer to an edge when a draw was agreed after 20 moves.

Elo group

The Elo group despite a few cancellations includes 78 players - with an amazing age difference of 78 years! Playing strength varies with something like 1400 ELO points, compared to less than 600 in the GM group, hence there was a big ELO difference in all games and an overwhelming score for the players from the first half of the rating list.

Mihajlov – Mjaaland

Top rated Norwegian Svetoslav Mihajlov (2197) won in convincing style before 30 moves, and although second rated Swedish Mikael Aroven (2121) had to work a bit longer he was a piece up in the endgame well before 40 moves. Fourth rated Jo Kristian Løberg (2060) got a talented opponent in ten year old Amalie Nordquelle (1683), but instructively equalized in a Semi-Slav Meran opening and went on to get an initiative developing into a decisive c-file attack before 30 moves.

Third board meeting between Henrik Øie Løbersli (2081) and underrated Hallvard Haug Flatebø (1684) on the other hand was a tight four hours battle, in which the favourite succeeded to transform a probably drawish endgame with rook, knight and five pawns against rook, bishop and four pawns into a won rook endgame.

Sixth rated Arne Hagesæther (2002) had to work six hours to win a complex attacking battle as black against Vebjørn Maanum Leonhardsen (1650), but after sacrificing a knight black finally got a mating attack with queen and knight in the endgame.

The top rated woman player in this group, Bergen player Alena Ayzenberg (1950), also had to play into the sixth hour, but still Hagesæther succeeded winning a double rook endgame with an extra pawn against Jonas August Bernstein (1637).

In short, the top rated players all won their games in the first round. The first surprise came on the eleventh board, as our Swedish chess friend Gustztav Lang succeeded defending a drawish endgame as black against Øyvind Ukkelberg (1939).

Another surprise was close on the thirteenth board, but 17 year old Håkon Abeland Myrheim in the end succeeded winning with knight and pawn versus knight against the 13 year old talent Alisha Shehzad (1598). An even younger and also very talented Norwegian chessgirl, 11 year old Linnea Larre (1347), on the other hand got a well deserved draw against 16 year old Jonathan K. Ski (1841). Veteran Terje Lie (1503) also defended well in the endgame, and even was a pawn up for some moves before a draw was agreed as black against Snore Skrede (1870).

That was it for the first round in the ELO group, somewhat reduced with 34 games as eight players started up with a walk over draw. The favourites won 31 games while three ended with a draw, giving a draw rate and a surprise rate just below 10 %… Both are expected to increase notably when players from the first half (and second half) of the ELO list will start to play each other in the second round.

All photos by Tom Eriksen