From: Carl Johan Nilsson TELIA COM> Date: 2 dec 2002 Subject: Report from Goteborg Open Dear shogi players, This weekend Goteborg Open was played in Goteborgs Schackcentrum. Twelve players from five different shogi clubs participated. Nils Carlsson from Stockholm who had played very well lately in Japan, and Richard Bjerke, eager to improve his three straight second places in this tournament, both made interesting starts. In the first round there were no surprises, since all players rated on the upper half managed to win their games. In the second round the game between Carlsson and me, later was shown to be an early final. Carlsson got some trouble with his climbing silver in the middle game, when he was forced to either misplace it or sacrifice it for a pawn. Carlsson bravely chose to sacrifice it. After the sacrifice Carlson's attack was relentless, never letting me into the game again. The Norwegian players, Terje Christoffersen and Richard Bjerke also won their second round games, therefore sharing the lead with Carlsson. In the break between second and third round, the players could enjoy the famous Swedish "glögg". It is a sort of sweet wine, served with raisins and almonds. A very popular event, which seemed to increase not only creativity, but also the general spirit. In the third and last round in day one of the tournament, the Norwegian players had to play each other. Bjerke managed to win this game. He thereby shared the lead with Carlsson who won his game against Soderberg. This duo was followed by five players on two points, Christoffersen, Nilsson, Ahlqvist, Wredenberg and Rabe. The leading duo played each other in round four. A fortress game where Bjerke tried to play a Spearing the sparrow which Carlsson countered with a climbing silver. Carlsson managed to force an early exchange of bishops which killed Bjerke's attack. After that Bjerke had no real chances in the game. This left Carlsson as a sole leader with a perfect score, chased by Bjerke, Cristoffersen and me, all with three points. In round five Christoffersen tried his luck against the uncompromising Carlsson, but without any success. Bjerke, who played me on the second board, won my rook for a gold and a knight in the middle game. A few moves later I blundered away a silver for nothing, leaving Bjerke with a big material advantage. But since you usually attack at the top of your capacity when you are lost and have nothing to lose, I managed to make my "final desperate all-out attack" work. This left Carlsson as a sole leader followed by me on second place. After the fifth round the players strengthened their courage with some more glögg before starting to play the last round. In this round Carlsson won to Ahlqvist securing the first place and thereby the biggest of the five cups made of pure tin. Christoffersen totally outplayed me in the middle game on the second board. In the end of the attack when there was several available tsumes, he blundered away his promoted rook and thereby both the game and the second place in the tournament to me. Bjerke, who won his last game against Soderberg, won the third price. Jonas Ahlqvist, who ended on fifth place, won the prize for best player graded between 6-10 kyu and Daniel Wredenberg won the prize for best player between 11-15 kyu. Regards, Carl Johan Nilsson Results: 1. Nils Carlsson 10+ 2+ 6+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6pts 2. Carl Johan Nilsson 7+ 1- 8+ 5+ 3+ 4+ 5pts 3. Richard Bjerke 9+ 5+ 4+ 1- 2- 6+ 4pts 4. Terje Christoffersen 8+ 6+ 3- 9+ 1- 2- 3pts 24 Sos 5. Jonas Ahlqvist 12+ 3- 7+ 2- 9+ 1- 3pts 22 Sos 6. Robert Söderberg 11+ 4- 1- 8+ 7+ 3- 3pts 20 Sos 7. Jan Rabe 2- 10+ 5- 11+ 6- 12+ 3pts 14 Sos 3 Sdos 9 Cum 8. Mikael Jansson 4- 11+ 2- 6- 12+ 10+ 3pts 14 Sos 3 Sdos 8 Cum 9. Daniel Wredenberg 3- 12+ 10+ 4- 5- 11+ 3pts 13 Sos 10. Daniel Ivarsson 1- 7- 9- 12- 11+ 8- 1pt 17 Sos 11. Björn Tjällberg 6- 8- 12+ 7- 10- 9- 1pt 14 Sos 1Sdos 4 Cum 12. Henrik Hellberg 5- 9- 11- 10+ 8- 7- 1pt 14 Sos 1Sdos 3 Cum