Hasselbacken 07-09: Adhiban joint first
The Stockholm Chess Society is the third oldest continuously running chess club in the world, first founded in 1866. Celebrating its 150th anniversary, the Hasselbacken Open has been organized, bringing players from all over the world, and things looked very interesting from an Indian fan's point of view. Adhiban tied for the first place with Russian Andreikin and was second on the tiebreak. Read this illustrated report to know how this delightfully organized tournament ended.
Hasselbacken 07-09: Adhiban joint first
Photos by 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.
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 plus 30 seconds per move from move one. Added to this, Sofia rule is being used, not allowing draw offers before move 31.
The momentous celebration, as well as the beautiful location and conditions, have drawn in 305 players from 38 nations, including 34 grandmasters, 12 IMs, and 26 FMs.
150 years of the Stockholm Chess Society
The tournament commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Stockholm Chess Society, which is the oldest chess society in existence as well as the third oldest continuously running chess club in the world, running uninterrupted since 1866.
The club was first created on December 29, 1866, at Lagergren Café in the old opera house. The society's first chairman was the famous explorer, Professor Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.
Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiold (18 November 1832, Helsinki, Finland – 12 August 1901, Dalbyo, Sodermanland, Sweden) was a Finnish and Swedish baron, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the prominent Finland-Swedish Nordenskiold family of scientists. He is most remembered for the Vega expedition along the northern coast of Eurasia, which he led in 1878 and 1879. This was the first complete crossing of the Northeast Passage.
At the end of six rounds, three Indians — Sasikiran, Vidit, and Adhiban were in close pursuit of the leaders, while Sethuraman had just lost to Andreikin. It is very interesting to note that in the aftermath of the splendid Asian Nations Cup victory in Abu Dhabi a month back, the trio of Vidit, Adhiban and Sethu have played in Dubai and Stockholm at present. They are also scheduled to appear at the strong Zalakaros Open tournament at the end of May.
Coincidental or not, one would hope that a bit of bonding would only help India's cause at the upcoming Olympiad.
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.08"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Adhiban, B (IND)."]
[Black "Mikhalevski, Victor (ISR)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D70"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
e5 9. d5 c6 10. h4 cxd5 11. exd5 N8d7 12. h5 Nf6 13. hxg6 fxg6 14. O-O-O Bd7
15. Kb1 Rc8 16. Nh3 e4 17. d6 exf3 18. gxf3 Na4 19. Nxa4 Bxa4 20. Ng5 Bxd1 21.
Qxd1 Qa5 22. Qb3+ Kh8 (22... Qd5 23. Qxd5+ Nxd5 24. Bh3 Rce8 25. Be6+ Rxe6 26.
Nxe6 Nxe3 27. d7 Bf6 28. Nxf8 Kxf8 29. Rxh7 Kg8 30. Rh1 Ng2 31. Rc1 Kf7 32. Rc8
Nh4 33. d8=Q Bxd8 34. Rxd8 $18) 23. Bd3 Nh5 24. Nxh7 Rxf3 (24... Kxh7 25. Qe6
Rf6 26. Qg4 Bh6 27. Bxh6 Qd5 28. Be4 Qe6 29. d7 Rd8 30. Bg5 Qxg4 31. fxg4 Rff8
32. Bxd8 Rxd8 33. gxh5 $18) 25. Ng5 Rf5 26. Qe6 Qd5 27. Rxh5+ gxh5 28. Nf7+ Kg8
29. Qxc8+ Kxf7 30. Qxf5+ 1-0
Black, of course, played the deflection tactic beginning with 26... Bxh4 27. Bxh4 Rxh4 28. Rxh4 Rxh4 29. Nxh4, because Nd2+ 30. Kc2 Nxf1, winning a pawn. After some moves, the following ending arose:
If you chose to play 43... g2, then White would slap you hard with 44. Nxg2 Kxg2 45. Kd5 Nf5 46. Ke6, and it is actually a draw! How about 43... Ng6 then? Well, hard luck because 44. Nxg6 g2 45. Nh4! g1=Q 46. Nf3+ is a sad fork.
Honestly, there must be a couple of ways to win here, and Black chose the beautiful 43...Kh1!, with the idea to play 44...Ng6, and now, the fork that was functional in the previous variation, will not work — neat.
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "2016.05.08"]
[Round "9.17"]
[White "Rozentalis, Eduardas (LTU)"]
[Black "Sarin, Nihal (IND)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B53"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
Nc3 Bg7 9. Nd5 Kf8 10. O-O-O Nf6 11. Nxf6 Bxf6 12. h3 Be6 13. a3 Kg7 14. g4 h6
15. Kb1 Rhc8 16. Be3 b5 17. g5 hxg5 18. Nxg5 Bc4 19. h4 Bxf1 20. Rdxf1 Rh8 21.
f4 Rh5 22. Nf3 Rah8 23. Bf2 e5 24. fxe5 Nxe5 25. Bg3 Nc4 26. c3 Bxh4 27. Bxh4
Rxh4 28. Rxh4 Rxh4 29. Nxh4 Nd2+ 30. Kc2 Nxf1 31. Kd3 Kf6 32. Nf3 g5 33. Ke2 g4
34. Nd4 Ng3+ 35. Ke3 Kg5 36. Nc6 f5 37. exf5 Nxf5+ 38. Kf2 g3+ 39. Kf3 Kh4 40.
Nb4 Kh3 41. Nd3 Nh4+ 42. Ke4 Kh2 43. Nf4 Kh1 (43... g2 44. Nxg2 Kxg2 45. Kd5
Nf5 46. Ke6 Ne3 47. Kxd6 Kf3 48. Kc5 Nd1 49. Kb6 Nxb2 50. Kxa6 Nc4 51. Kxb5
Nxa3+ $11) (43... Ng6 44. Nxg6 g2 45. Nh4 $1 g1=Q 46. Nf3+ $18) 44. b3 Ng6 45.
Ne2 (45. Nxg6 g2 46. Nh4 g1=Q $19) 45... g2 46. c4 bxc4 47. bxc4 a5 48. a4 Ne7
49. Kd4 Kh2 50. Ke4 Nc8 51. Kd5 Nb6+ 52. Kxd6 Nxc4+ 53. Kc5 Nb2 54. Kb5 Nd3 55.
Kxa5 Nc1 56. Nxc1 g1=Q 57. Nb3 Qa7+ 58. Kb5 Qb7+ 59. Kc4 Qa6+ 60. Kb4 Kg3 61.
a5 Kf4 62. Nc5 Qc6 63. a6 Ke5 0-1
Some general impressions from the tournament arena:
The creativity and diligence of the official tournament photographer Lars OA Hedlund deserves utmost praise. His work with the camera produced some delightful pictures which were the chief reason why this tournament was so well celebrated and covered by the press across the globe. Quality photographers are important for chess tournaments.
Final Standings:
Rk. | SNo | Name | Gr | FED | Rtg | RtgN | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
1 | 1 | GM | Andreikin Dmitry | RUS | 2736 | 0 | 7,5 | 43,5 | 5 | 6,0 | ||
2 | 6 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2663 | 0 | 7,5 | 42,5 | 4 | 6,0 | ||
3 | 5 | GM | Smirin Ilia | ISR | 2665 | 0 | 7,0 | 45,5 | 5 | 5,0 | ||
4 | 3 | GM | Almasi Zoltan | HUN | 2682 | 0 | 7,0 | 44,5 | 5 | 6,0 | ||
5 | 16 | GM | Maze Sebastien | G1 | FRA | 2617 | 0 | 7,0 | 44,5 | 4 | 6,0 | |
6 | 7 | GM | Tkachiev Vladislav | FRA | 2660 | 0 | 7,0 | 42,5 | 5 | 5,0 | ||
7 | 8 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | IND | 2658 | 0 | 7,0 | 42,5 | 4 | 6,0 | ||
8 | 10 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2648 | 0 | 7,0 | 42,0 | 4 | 5,0 | ||
9 | 25 | GM | van Foreest Jorden | G1 | NED | 2551 | 0 | 7,0 | 41,5 | 4 | 6,0 | |
10 | 2 | GM | Shirov Alexei | LAT | 2686 | 0 | 7,0 | 40,5 | 4 | 6,0 |
View the complete standings here.
Links:
Official Website with all games in PGN in Games section.