10.8.2008 Final Results
The last round saw GM Matthew J Turner (2493) drawing GM Igor Kurnosov (2617) as white after only 8 moves on Turners proposal. The stronger player Kurnosov secured tournament victory by the result and Turner a place in the sun. Also at the 2nd board GM Sergey Kasparov and GM Vitaly Kunin played a grandmaster draw. 11 moves in the Queens Gambit Accepted brought Kunin (2532) to an excellent score with 7/9 and a TPR at 2631. Then it was all up to the sportsman GM Simen Agdestein to split the players in the lead.
Agdestein played another Norwegian, IM Bjørn Tiller with the white pieces in a Modern Defence. They was out if book after less than 8 moves and Agdestein got the centre and Tiller pressure against it as in all hypermodern openings. It soon became an original positional struggle where Agdestein gradually got an edge. After a tactical sequence starting out with 18…Nxb3 Agdestein ended up with a strong pass pawn at e5 and the better structure. Then Tiller tried to get life in his light squared bishop by sacrificing a pawn, a plan that backfired and Simen won the game fast. GM Simen Agdestein finished a nice tournament performance with 7/9 and a TPR of 2621 – he became second in this years Arctic Chess Challenge on tiebreak ahead of Turner and Kunin. Agdesteins next tournament is Rising Stars vs Experience in Amsterdam the 20. till 30. of August. This is a team tournament where he will meet players like GM Ivan Cheparinov, GM Wang Yue and GM Fabiano Caruana.
GM Vadim Malakhatko (2612) faced FM Peter J Sowray (2327) as white in a Dutch Defence. They played the same variation with 2.Nc3 that Sowray lost with against Kunin but this time it ended up with castling to the same side. Malakhatko didn’t get much out of the opening, but suddenly he won a pawn in the middle game. It still was far from simple and they soon reached a Queens-ending with 5 vs 4 pawns. But then Sowray went wrong with 46…Kc8 and he lost it quickly. A more stubborn defence was 46…Ke8 47.Qg8+ Ke7 48.Qxd5 Qe2+ and whites win is not clear at all even though he has chances.
GM Tomas Likavsky (2485) beat the young Norwegian Daniel Jakobsen Kovachev in a Maroczy Bind as white. Likavsky got the thematic break 12.a5! steering up problems for black at the Queens side. Kovachev didn’t meet the threats well and Likavsky won a pawn and soon got the pair of bishops too. The grandmaster won it easily and the Slovakian GM ended up on 6.5/9. IM Amon Simutowe (2459) beat the local player Gunnar B. Hanssen in a slave defence as white. Simutowe played the opening rather original and black must have been more than fine during the early middle game. But when the game became sharp the IM was in his right element and won it clear cut. IM Simutowe ended up with 6.5/9.
Peter S Poobalasingam (2203) needed a win against IM Anna Zozulia (2346) to fulfil his dream of an IM-norm. The game was fought out full blooded and became very complex. Poobalasingam had an edge in the middle game but couldn’t get anything substantial from it. He then steered up an attack that looked more dangerous than it really was and at a moment IM Zozulia could have turned the table around with the stunning 34…Re8! winning the queen for not enough compensation! In her time trouble Zozulia also got a second chance with 36…Na5 getting real winning chances a piece up but played it “safe” instead and it ended up with a draw. It looked like IM Anna Zozulia was satisfied with her prize as the best female player of the tournament. Peter S Poobalasingam became the best class 1 player.
The local FM Espen Forså got the last money prize for his 10th place after winning an attacking game in the last round. Forså just performed a bit over his own rating, but drew Agdestein and got attention by the local press. Lasse Østebø Løvik (2143) turned around a double rook ending to win the last round getting 6/9 and a TPR of 2372. Young Even Thingstad (2019) also won the final round doing a fine 2295 TPR. Everything went smooth here in Tromsø and the participant expressed their happiness with the tournament. It wasn’t just another chess tournament, but a nice experience of the Arctic City of Tromsø with several social arrangements. We wish you all back here next year!
Final standings, 9 rounds:
1. GM Igor Kurnosov (2617) RUS 7.5
2. GM Simen Agdestein (2583) NOR 7.0
3. GM Matthew J Turner (2493) ENG 7.0
4. GM Vitaly Kunin (2532) GER 6.5
5. GM Vadim Malakhatko (2612) BEL 6.5
6. GM Tomas Likavsky (2485) SLO 6.5
7. IM Amon Simutowe (2459) ZAM 6.5
Source: http://arcticchess.org/
There is also a report at http://www.chessdom.com/, and probably imminent at http://www.chessbase.com/, since its editor Frederic Friedel paid a visit.
Special thanks to Øyvind Pedersen for providing us with the information.
Nice country. Do they organize RR events?