From: Carl Johan Nilsson <carl_johan.nilsson <at> TELIA <dot> COM>
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