The Stockholm Chess Federation organized the 43rd Rilton Cup from 27th December 2013 to 5th January 2014.

The tournament was played in three groups: Rilton Cup, Rilton Elo and Rilton Open (the Open was only for Nordic players with a national rating lower than 1800).

Rilton Cup and Rilton Elo are rated with FIDE and played over 9 rounds of Swiss system. The playing venue was the Clarion Hotel Stockholm, Ringvägen 98, 111 20 Stockholm.

Norwegian Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer crowned his excellent form with a clear first place after concluding the Rilton Cup with 7,5/9 points. Only few weeks ago Hammer won the London Chess Classic FIDE Open.

GM Sergey Volkov, winner of the 40th Rilton Cup in 2011, was in position to overtake Hammer in the direct last-round encounter, but he decided to be on the safe side with a quick 8-move draw.

Volkov is clear second with 7,0 points, while six players shared the third place with 6,5 points each, among them being the last year Rilton Cup winner Michal Krasenkow.

Final standings for all three groups are below

Here is the statement by Jon Ludvig Hammer:

“Winning a tournament is never an ordinary thing – especially when it’s as strong and with as great traditions as the Rilton Cup. I was seeded as number five, but a website poll had me as the massive favorite. That may very well be a sign that the site has mostly a Scandinavian audience, but it was certainly a good omen.

Sometimes everything goes right. This was one of those moments. I was well prepared. I was ready to fight. But there’s that unknown x-factor you need on your side. In Norwegian we call it ‘flyt’. I’m not sure what the English equalivient should be.

In numbers, this means I made 15/18 in the last two tournaments, and won both tournaments alone on 7,5/9. I’ve raised my rating all the way to 2645 and am very close to being back on the World Top 100 list. And I’ve taken back my Norway #2 spot.

I’m not sure what my next tournament is, but it will be in March. Either Reykjavik or the European Championship in Yerevan. Before that I’ll take a well-deserved vacation after some extremely fun, successful and tiresome few months.”

Tournament website www.rilton.se

Rilton Cup final standings:

1. GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2612 – 7.5
2. GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2623 – 7
3. GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2576 – 6.5
4. GM Krasenkow Michal POL 2633 – 6.5
5. GM Smirin Ilya ISR 2642 – 6.5
6. GM Socko Bartosz POL 2657 – 6.5
7. GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2581 – 6.5
8. GM Hillarp-Persson Tiger SWE 2551 – 6.5
9. GM Piorun Kacper POL 2560 – 6
10. GM Lintchevski Daniil RUS 2541 – 6
11. IM Urkedal Frode NOR 2492 – 6
12. IM Semcesen Daniel SWE 2488 – 5.5
13. IM Smirnov Artem RUS 2418 – 5.5
14. GM Socko Monika POL 2440 – 5.5
15. GM Yagupov Igor RUS 2427 – 5.5
16. IM Tsyhanchuk Stanislav BLR 2398 – 5.5
17. IM Sjödahl Pontus SWE 2420 – 5.5
18. GM Tikkanen Hans SWE 2548 – 5.5
19. IM Hansen Torbjørn Ringdal NOR 2473 – 5.5
20. FM Luukkonen Tommi FIN 2285 – 5.5
21. GM Blomqvist Erik SWE 2519 – 5.5
22. FM von Bahr Oskar SWE 2298 – 5.5
23. GM Cramling Pia SWE 2525 – 5
24. IM Furhoff Johan SWE 2318 – 5
25. FM Henriksson Johan SWE 2266 – 5

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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