From: DANERUD MARTIN <martin.danerud <at> comhem <dot> se>

Subject: Results from the Swedish Shogi Team Championship 2004

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Dear shogi friends,

This year, 28 shogi players were gathered at Horsalsparken in=20
Norrkoping (200 km south of Stockholm) to play the Swedish Shogi Team=20
Championship. Never before, so many Swedes have participated in a shogi=20
tournament. Six teams participated: Trollhattan and Vastervik with four=20
players each, and Goteborg 1, Goteborg 2, Stockholm, and Norrkoping,=20
which rotated five players in the teams. We played outdoors in all=20
rounds, except the fourth round on Sunday morning, when there was a=20
Christian music concert at the outdoor stage. Then we played in the=20
cafeteria. Before start, the local newspaper made interviews and took=20
photos.
Before round 1, G=F6teborg 1 was favourites. The team was ruling=20
champions and it had the highest average rating. Vastervik with the=20
second highest average rating and strengthened with Peter Kaneko,=20
seemed to be the strongest challenger.
=20
Round 1

Vastervik - Norrkoping                      3-1
  Peter Kaneko - Ulf Dahlqvist              1-0
  Niklas Alexandersson - Henrik Hellberg    1-0
  Mikael Hansson - Xerxes Ranby             1-0
  Thorbjorn Lund - Jonas Haden              0-1

Somewhat surprising, Ulf lost quickly to Peter. Ulf had gained a lot of=20
respect last year with several good games, but in this round there was=20
a quick loss. It was more expected that the winner of the younger group=20
at Beginner shogi tournament 2 at the Swedish Chess Championship=20
recently, Jonas Haden, would be able to win against Thorbjorn. The last=20
boards were expected to become and became the weakness of Vastervik.

Stockholm - Trollhattan                       3-1
  Farhad Rouhani - Robert Soderberg           1-0
  Jan Rabe - Daniel Wredenberg                1-0
  Tord Juntti - Bo Flood                      0-1
  Ronny Lindkvist - Daniel Ivarsson           1-0

Stockholm also started with three points. The team also had an expected=20
weakness on the last boards. Ronny made a fine come back in shogi,=20
winning against the Swedish Junior Champion Daniel.

Goteborg 1 - Goteborg 2                       4-0
  Carl Johan Nilsson - Mikael Jansson         1-0
  Martin Danerud - Rikard Skotnicki           1-0
  Jonas Ahlqvist - Robin Johansson            1-0
  Rikard Nordgren - Anders Dessmark           1-0

The two beginners, Robin and Anders, played well already in round 1.=20
However, the ruling champions showed strength from start. There have to=20
be very good games from the opponents, if any points are to be lost for=20
Goteborg 1. The concentration is good, and no points are wasted. The=20
team also shows determined faces and has great fun together between the=20
rounds. Jonas and Rikard are players who perform a little extra, when=20
they are part of a team.

Round 2

Vastervik - Stockholm                          2-2
  Peter Kaneko - Farhad Rouhani                1-0
  Niklas Alexandersson - Jan Rabe              1-0
  Mikael Hansson - Tord Juntti                 0-1
  Thorbjorn Lund - Magnus Benzein              0-1

This match showed clearly that none of these teams was a championship=20
candidate for 2004. The most spectacular event was Mikael Hansson=20
promoting on the fourth row against Tord. Magnus Benzein, who lost all=20
three games in the older group at the Beginner Shogi Tournament 2 at=20
the Swedish Chess Championship recently, but still showed talent and=20
passion for the game, won his first game in championship shogi.

Goteborg 2 - Trollhattan                        3-1
  Mikael Jansson - Robert Soderberg             0-1
  Rikard Skotnicki - Daniel Wredenberg          1-0
  Peder Gedda - Bo Flood                        1-0
  Robin Johansson - Daniel Ivarsson             1-0

In round 2, two teams met who had experienced adventures just before=20
the event. Peder had missed the gathering in Goteborg on the morning,=20
had taken a bus to Norrkoping, and had now come in time for round 2.=20
Trollhattan was a little bit late driving in their car, tried a speed=20
above 130 km per hour, was stopped by the police, had to pay their=20
fine, and were half an hour delayed for round 1. Maybe those events=20
affected the results in this match?
Robert started, as usual, the game against Mikael badly. An edge attack=20
was hardly stopped and it seemed to be a matter of time before Goteborg=20
2 would win the game. But Robert is good when his king escapes across=20
the board, when he is in byo-yomi, and sort of finds himself free from=20
rook and bishop. He works better with tokin. Wredenberg, who was=20
driving the car in too high speed, lost to Skotnicki, who played good=20
shogi in all rounds. Peder had a game of inspiration after his=20
adventurous journey, and Robin showed that he could win from a bad=20
position.

Goteborg 1 - Norrkoping                         4-0
  Martin Danerud - Charlie Akerblom             1-0
  Jan Palmgren - Xerxes Ranby                   1-0
  Jonas Ahlqvist - Henrik Hellberg              1-0
  Rikard Nordgren - Jonas Haden                 1-0

Goteborg 1 played its first match ever without Carl Johan Nilsson. The=20
victory was easy. Norrkoping had rotated out its best player did not=20
stand a chance.

Round 3

Vastervik - Goteborg 2                           3-1
  Peter Kaneko - Rikard Skotnicki                1-0
  Niklas Alexandersson - Peder Gedda             1-0
  Mikael Hansson - Robin Johansson               0-1
  Thorbjorn Lund - Anders Dessmark               1-0

Rikard played well against Peter, but it was not enough. Mikael could=20
not find his tsume against Robin, who instead counter attacked and won=20
an important game. Thorbjorn was awarded for his will to attack Anders,=20
but Anders should have both defended and attacked better than he did.

Stockholm - Norrkoping                           2-2
  Farhad Rouhani - Ulf Dahlqvist                 0-1
  Jan Rabe - Charlie Akerblom                    1-0
  Ronny Lindkvist - Xerxes Ranby                 1-0
  Magnus Benzein - Jonas Haden                   0-1

Ulf played stable and composed against Farhad. On board four, Jonas=20
showed that he is a real shogi talent, just as one could see at the=20
Swedish Chess Championship recently.

Goteborg 1 - Trollhattan                         4-0
  Carl Johan Nilsson - Robert Soderberg          1-0
  Jan Palmgren - Daniel Wredenberg               1-0
  Jonas Ahlqvist - Bo Flood                      1-0
  Rikard Nordgren - Daniel Ivarsson              1-0

For the first time ever outside the Goteborg 1 team, I could see my=20
team mates work almost clinically. Wredenberg had something going on=20
against Jan, who would not have won his position against a strong=20
player, but maybe Daniel was still afraid of the police.

Round 4

Vastervik - Trollhattan                           2-2
  Peter Kaneko - Robert Soderberg                 1-0
  Niklas Alexandersson - Daniel Wredenberg        0-1
  Mikael Hansson - Bo Flood                       1-0
  Thorbjorn Lund - Daniel Ivarsson                0-1

Daniel x 2 scored for Trollhattan. After a night at youth hostel and=20
now playing at the cafeteria, everything worked for them. Wredenberg=20
won against the Swedish Championship Challenger finalist Alexandersson,=20
who also had some problems with the surprises and strange moves of=20
Wredenberg at the Swedish Championship tournament at Stockholm in April.

Goteborg 2 - Norrkoping                           4-0
  Mikael Jansson - Ulf Dahlqvist                  1-0
  Peder Gedda - Xerxes Ranby                      1-0
  Anders Dessmark - Charlie Akerblom              1-0
  Robin Johansson - Henrik Hellberg               1-0

Mikael impressed by winning against Ulf, who has the potential to=20
become a good player. With this game, Robin had won against the=20
historically two best junior players in Swedish shogi. Both Robin and=20
Jonas will challenge Ivarsson and Hellberg for the Junior title in 2005.

Goteborg 1 - Stockholm                            4-0
  Carl Johan Nilsson - Farhad Rouhani             1-0
  Martin Danerud - Jan Rabe                       1-0
  Jan Palmgren - Tord Juntti                      1-0
  Rikard Nordgren - Magnus Benzein                1-0

Jan Rabe was the loser who showed the best resistance. The game was in=20
the balance for a while, but then Martin could make it 9 to 1 in mutual=20
games. With the results in this round it was already now a fact that=20
Goteborg 1 was to become the Swedish Team Champions 2004. Vastervik,=20
Stockholm, and Goteborg 2 had to fight for the silver and bronze medals.

Round 5

Trollhattan - Norrkoping                           2-2
  Robert Soderberg - Ulf Dahlqvist                 0-1
  Daniel Wredenberg - Henrik Hellberg              1-0
  Bo Flood - Charlie Akerblom                      1-0
  Daniel Ivarsson - Jonas Haden                    0-1

The match to decide fifth place was even. Norrkoping scored a new=20
record of points, and Ulf and Jonas are two real shogi talents. The=20
other players are also capable, but in this tournament their score was=20
zero.

Stockholm - Goteborg 2                              3-1
  Farhad Rouhani - Mikael Jansson                   1-0
  Jan Rabe - Rikard Skotnicki                       1-0
  Tord Juntti - Peder Gedda                         1-0
  Ronny Lindkvist - Anders Dessmark                 0-1

The bronze match was won by Stockholm. Anders showed his growing shogi=20
talent, which he can use successfully in the future. Thereby, Ronny was=20
kept at two victories in his successful come back.

Goteborg 1 - Vastervik                              3-1
  Carl Johan Nilsson - Peter Kaneko                 0-1
  Martin Danerud - Niklas Alexandersson             1-0
  Jan Palmgren - Mikael Hansson                     1-0
  Jonas Ahlqvist - Thorbjorn Lund                   1-0

The final board were easily won by Goteborg 1 in this supposed gold=20
match. The two top games were the best games in this Championship. Most=20
people thought that Carl Johan had won the game, when he disarmed two=20
bishops which on the same diagonal pointed towards his king. Two lances=20
also attacked on one file. But it is difficult to beat Peter. Now, he=20
succeeded to find a tsume after all in this game, where he seemingly=20
had lost the opening as well as the middle game. Martin played his best=20
game since the Challenger final against Christer Hartman in 2003. He=20
now has 13 straight victories in the Team Championship, and he is the=20
only players who has participated in all Team Championships and won all=20
his games.

Final standings:

1. Goteborg 1         19
2. Vastervik          11
3. Stockholm          10
4. Goteborg 2          9
5. Trollhattan         6
6. Norrkoping          5

After the third consecutive gold medals at the Team Championship,=20
Goteborg has won 52 out of 56 games. There is a winning culture in the=20
team with big concentration during the games and a relaxed spirit=20
between the rounds. The Goteborg Shogi Society is also a well organized=20
club, which uses sponsor money for their participation in the Team=20
Championship.
As expected, Vastervik had problems on the last boards. There were=20
several mistakes, which is not sufficient for the Team Champioship=20
gold. But the team deserved to win the silver medals, and the team has=20
some talent to build a future champion team. Stockholm used its players=20
well and won the bronze medals. The team has won medals at all Team=20
Championshis.

Individual results (No is not a position, since this was not an=20
individual tournament. The players only have numbers in order to give a=20
readable table and to calculate ELO changes. 0- means that the player=20
has not played that round because of team rotation. ELO rating with a *=20
to follow means that the new players have a provisional ELO rating):

No Name                    Grade    ELO    1   2   3   4   5   P  +/-
1. Peter Kaneko            3-dan    1738   16+ 11+ 20+ 21+ 8+  5  +20
2. Rikard Nordgren         7-kyu    1103   18+ 9+  22+ 25+ 0-  4   +9
3. Martin Danerud          2-dan    1542   20+ 27+ 0-  7+  6+  4  +12
4. Jonas Ahlqvist          3-kyu    1406   10+ 26+ 15+ 0-  23+ 4   +5
5. Jan Palmgren            2-kyu    1417   0-  28+ 12+ 14+ 13+ 4   +5
6. Niklas Alexandersson    4-kyu    1386   26+ 7+  17+ 12- 3-  3  -26
7. Jan Rabe                5-kyu    1251   12+ 6-  27+ 3-  20+ 3   -9
8. Carl Johan Nilsson      2-dan    1836   24+ 0-  21+ 11+ 1-  3  -13
9. Jonas Haden                       921*  23+ 2-  25+ 0-  22+ 3=20=20
10.Robin Johansson                  1245*  4-  22+ 13+ 26+ 0-  3=20=20
11.Farhad Rouhani          5-kyu    1321   21+ 1-  16- 8-  24+ 2   +8
12.Daniel Wredenberg      11-kyu     832   7-  20- 5-  6+  26+ 2  +21
13.Mikael Hansson          8-kyu    1088   28+ 14- 10- 15+ 5-  2  -36
14.Tord Juntti            11-kyu     756   15- 13+ 0-  5-  17+ 2  +10
15.Bo Flood               13-kyu     605   14+ 17- 4-  13- 27+ 2   +6
16.Ulf Dahlqvist                    1271*  1-  0-  11+ 24- 21+ 2=20=20
17.Peder Gedda            15-kyu     446   0-  15+ 6-  28+ 14- 2  +42
18.Anders Dessmark                   688*  2-  0-  23- 27+ 19+ 2=20=20
19.Ronny Lindkvist        12-kyu     787   22+ 0-  28+ 0-  18- 2   -3
20.Rikard Skotnicki        9-kyu     916   3-  12+ 1-  0-  7-  1   +9
21.Robert Soderberg        2-kyu    1375   11- 24+ 8-  1-  16- 1  -28
22.Daniel Ivarsson        14-kyu     579   19- 10- 2-  23+ 9-  1   -7
23.Thorbjorn Lund                    400*  9-  25- 18+ 22- 4-  1=20=20
24.Mikael Jansson          6-kyu    1170   8-  21- 0-  16+ 11- 1   -3
25.Magnus Benzein                    635*  0-  23+ 9-  2-  0-  1=20=20=20
26.Henrik Hellberg        15-kyu     451   6-  4-  0-  10- 12- 0   -4
27.Charlie Akerblom                  400*  0-  3-  7-  18- 15- 0=20=20
28.Xerxes Ranby                      400*  13- 5-  19- 17- 0-  0=20=20
=20
Promotions:=20
Farhad Rouhani to 4-kyu
Daniel Wredenberg to 10-kyu
Mikael Hansson to 7-kyu

There were several good performances. But I especially want to point=20
out the young beginners, who are important to me. Jonas Haden, Robin=20
Johansson, Anders Dessmark, Magnus Benzein, and Charlie Akerblom played=20
their first ever rating tournaments. All players tried their best and=20
learnt a lot from each game they played.
The Swedish Shogi Team Championship 2005 will be played in Vasteras.=20
There we will also have the possibility to play outdoors, covered by a=20
roof. We are looking forward to new and old players and teams as well=20
as new records then.

Best regards,=20

Martin Danerud,

President of the Swedish Shogi Federation

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