Hasselbacken 01-03: Indians in Sweden

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 03/05/2016

The Hasselbacken Open 2016 began in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 30, 2016, with Dimitry Andreikin and the legendary Alexei Shirov as star attractions. While Shirov enthralled one and all with his fireworks in the third round, Indians haven't disappointed either. Adhiban, Sethuraman, and Sasikiran are amongst the large pack of leaders with perfect scores. And they aren't the only Indians in the fray. Check out this report after the first three rounds, with LIVE grandmaster commentary of the fourth round in progress. Simultaneously, you can also check out the games of the Indian stars on our interface.

Hasselbacken 01-03: Indians in Sweden

Photos: Lars OA Hedlund

You may have never been to Stockholm, but when you read that the capital of Sweden is an archipelago of fourteen islands connected by fifty-seven bridges, and when you see the pictures of the lovable city, you can only long to be present in this Scandivanian beauty. To be precise geographically, the main Stockholm city is not really an archipelago but a fashionable and trend-setting society. A part of it is inside a time capsule, with historic structures and razor-thin cobblestone streets, while the main city is surrounded by the vast archipelago.

A group of Indians successfully made it to the Swedish capital to play in the Hasselbacken Open 2016 tournament, which began on April 30, 2016. The nine-round tournament commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Stockholm Chess Society, certainly making it one of the oldest chess clubs in the world. The time control for the tournament — 40 moves/100 minutes, then 20 moves/50 min and then for the rest of the game, 10 minutes + 30 sec per move from move one — is purely classical, aptly paying homage to the rich tradition of chess that this beautiful Scandivanian city represents. Add to this, the modern Sofia rule has been enforced, disallowing draw offers before move 31.

The tournament is being held in the prestigious Scandic Hasselbacken Hotel, who is also the primary sponsor of this tournament.

The hotel had humble beginnings in the form of a tavern called Dunderhyttan that emerged in the mid-1700s!

It was an establishment that housed five tables and twenty chairs. It was only in the 1760s as the name “Hasselbacken” was established and became a household word in the Stockholm restaurant industry.

The playing venue is the stately Hazeliussalen (the Hazelius ballroom), which is found on the upper floor in the hotel.

Players also have access to the large terrace with a view over the amusement park Gröna Lund, the ABBA Museum, and the beautiful Stockholm waters.

Former World Cup finalist Russian GM Dimitry Andreikin (2732) is the top seed, but already in the third round, he was held to a draw by GM Axel Smith.

However, the star attraction to the tournament is, of course, the legendary Alexei Shirov — Wizard of Latvia, Jr. — and already in the third round, he delivered a classic Shirovsque mauling to his hapless opponent.

Black has just captured the white rook on f3 with his own rook. If you were Shirov, who was white here, what would you play? No, he is not winning, not yet at least.

Shirov found the razor sharp 28. Rxe5! that maintains equality because of 23... Rxd3! 29. Qxd3 Rg6. Black, however, went wrong with 23... Rf4? 29. Rxe6 Bc6.

Shirov was glad to give an autograph.

Watch this beautiful game, to find out how Shirov devoured his opponent:

[Event "Hasselbacken Chess Open"]
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.03"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei (LAT)"]
[Black "Åkesson, Ralf (SWE)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. O-O Ng6 8. g3
Be7 9. h4 cxd4 10. cxd4 O-O 11. h5 Nh8 12. h6 g6 13. Nc3 f6 14. exf6 Bxf6 15.
Bf4 Nf7 16. Qd2 g5 17. Be3 Kh8 18. Kg2 Rg8 19. Rh1 Qe7 20. g4 Raf8 21. Rh3 Nd6
22. Bd3 Be8 23. Re1 Qd8 24. Ne5 Qc7 25. Rf3 Nxe5 26. dxe5 Bxe5 27. Bxa7 Rxf3
28. Rxe5 Rf4 (28... Rxd3 29. Qxd3 Rg6 $11) 29. Rxe6 Bc6 30. Qxf4 d4+ 31. Kg1
gxf4 32. Bxd4+ Rg7 33. hxg7+ Kg8 34. Rxd6 1-0

The Indian challenge is spearheaded by GM B. Adhiban (2663), who played an exemplary game in the third round to beat Estonian FM Juri Krupenski (2395). Adhiban has moved to 3.0/3.

[Event "Hasselbacken Chess Open"]
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.03"]
[Round "3.6"]
[White "Adhiban, B (IND)."]
[Black "Krupenski, Juri (EST)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. Bc4 Qd8 8.
Nxd4 Nh6 9. O-O O-O 10. N2f3 Qc7 11. Bb3 a6 12. Re1 Nf5 13. Bg5 e5 14. Nxf5
Bxf5 15. Nh4 Bc8 16. Qd3 Kh8 17. Rad1 Nc6 18. Qd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 h6 20. Be3 e4
21. f4 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Nxd8 23. Bb6 Bf5 24. Rd1 Ne6 25. Nxf5 gxf5 26. g3 Bf8 27.
Rd5 1-0

GM S.P. Sethuraman (2658) has also moved to 3.0/3. His second round win was of note aesthetically:

There should be more than one ways to win here, but Sethu found the cutest move.

[Event "Hasselbacken Chess Open"]
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.01"]
[Round "2.8"]
[White "Poulopoulos, Ioannis (GRE)"]
[Black "Sethuraman, S.P. (IND)."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Qc2 Bd6 5. g3 f5 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Nbd2
Qe7 9. Ne1 b6 10. Nd3 Ne4 11. Nf3 Bb7 12. b3 a5 13. Bb2 Na6 14. a3 Rac8 15.
Rfc1 c5 16. dxc5 Naxc5 17. a4 f4 18. gxf4 Nxd3 19. exd3 Bxf4 20. dxe4 dxe4 21.
Ne1 Qh4 22. h3 e3 23. f3 Rcd8 24. Rd1 Rd2 25. Rxd2 exd2 26. Qc3 Qg3 27. Nc2 e5
28. Rd1 Rd8 29. Kf1 Be4 0-1

Joining his younger colleagues at the top is the experienced warhorse GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2643) who is also on 3.0/3.

Shirov wasn't the only one had sacrificed his queen in the third round. Sasi too chose to unbalance the position with 20... Qxc4! 21. Rc1 Qxe4.

After a few moves, the following position was in play when Sasi's young opponent, the talented Dutchman Lucas van Foreest (2368), already in a losing position blundered with 28.Qc2?? Do you see the way you can crown Black's domination?

[Event "Hasselbacken Chess Open"]
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.03"]
[Round "3.11"]
[White "van Foreest, Lucas (NED)"]
[Black "Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B06"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 g6 2. c3 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nbd2 e5 8. Re1
Re8 9. Bc2 b6 10. a4 a5 11. Nb1 Bb7 12. d5 Qc8 13. Na3 Bf8 14. Nb5 h6 15. b4 c6
16. dxc6 Qxc6 17. Ba3 d5 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Be4 N7f6 20. c4 Qxc4 21. Rc1 Qxe4
22. Rxe4 Nxe4 23. bxa5 Bxa3 24. Nxa3 bxa5 25. Nb5 Rad8 26. Qb3 Nf4 27. Rd1 Nc5
28. Qc2 (28. Qb1 Be4 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Qe1 Nh3+ 31. gxh3 Bxf3 32. Nc3 Nxa4 $1
33. Ne2 Rd3 $19) 28... Be4 $1 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 {And the Queen has no square to go!
} 0-1

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2648) was held by the local competitor Stefan Schneider (2359) and is stuck on 2.5/3.

The playing arena

IM Anurag Mhamal (2421) is on 2.0/3, after he was outplayed in the second round by Israeli GM Evgeny Postny (2673).

[Event "Hasselbacken Chess Open"]
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.03"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Postny, Evgeny (ISR)"]
[Black "Mhamal, Anurag (IND)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. g3 d5 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2
b6 9. Bf4 a5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bxb8 Rxb8 12. Qxc6 Ba6 13. Qc2 Rc8 14. Qd1 Qc7
15. Ne5 Rfd8 16. Bxd5 Rxd5 17. Nc3 Rdd8 18. Re1 Ba3 19. Nb5 Bxb5 20. bxa3 Qc3
21. Qb1 Qxd4 22. Qxb5 Rc5 23. Qxb6 Rxe5 24. Qxd4 Rxd4 25. e3 Rd2 26. Red1 Rxd1+
27. Rxd1 g5 28. Rc1 g4 29. Rc4 f5 30. Kf1 Kf7 31. Ke2 Rb5 32. e4 Kf6 33. Ke3
Kg5 34. exf5 exf5 35. f4+ gxf3 36. Kxf3 Rb2 37. h4+ Kf6 38. Rc6+ Ke5 39. Rc5+
Kf6 40. Rxa5 Rxa2 41. Ra6+ Ke5 42. g4 fxg4+ 43. Kxg4 Rg2+ 44. Kh5 Rg7 45. Kh6
Rc7 46. h5 Kf5 47. Ra5+ Kf6 48. a4 Rb7 49. Rb5 Ra7 50. a5 Ke6 51. Kg5 Kf7 52.
Rf5+ Ke7 53. Re5+ Kf7 54. Kf5 Ra6 55. Ke4 Rd6 56. Rd5 Rc6 57. Kd4 Ke7 58. Rc5
Ra6 59. Kc4 Kd6 60. Kb4 Ra7 61. Rc1 Rb7+ 62. Ka4 h6 63. a6 Rb2 64. Ka5 Ra2+ 65.
Kb6 Rb2+ 66. Ka7 Rb5 67. Rc8 Rxh5 68. Kb6 Rh3 69. Rd8+ Ke7 70. a7 Rb3+ 71. Kc5
Kxd8 72. a8=Q+ Kc7 73. Qc6+ 1-0

WIM Bodda Pratyusha (2318) is on 2.5/3

Missed chances meant that 11-year-old FM Nihal Sarin is stranded on 2.0/3, after losing to Argentine GM Mareco Sandro (2625).

Round 04 LIVE Commentary:

Pairings for Round 04:

Bord	Nr.		Namn	Rtg	Poäng	Resultat	Poäng		Namn	Rtg	Nr.
1	17	GM	Bok Benjamin	2605	3		3	GM	Shirov Alexei	2686	2
2	3	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2682	3		3	GM	Goganov Aleksey	2591	18
3	19	GM	Sevian Samuel	2589	3		3	GM	Postny Evgeny	2673	4
4	5	GM	Smirin Ilia	2665	3		3	GM	Burmakin Vladimir	2554	24
5	21	GM	Stefansson Hannes	2581	3		3	GM	Adhiban B.	2663	6
6	23	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E.	2572	3		3	GM	S.P Sethuraman GM	2658	8
7	11	GM	Krishnan Sasikiran	2643	3		3	GM	Urkedal Frode	2549	27
8	25	GM	van Foreest Jorden	2551	3		3	GM	Mareco Sandro	2625	12
9	13	GM	Bachmann Axel	2621	3		3	GM	Libiszewski Fabien	2520	29
10	15	GM	Landa Konstantin	2618	3		3	GM	Blomqvist Erik	2515	3

View the complete pairings here.

Watch the top Indian players LIVE:

Standings after Round 03