Barcelona, Sants, part 1.

Yesterday the fourth round of XV International Chess Open de Sants, Hostafrancs & la Bordeta, was played and I was paired against the top rated player, Lázaro Bruzón. It is not every day that I get to play someone of this caliber and – as usual in these circumstances – I decided to enjoy myself:

The adventure continues.

The World Cup and upcoming tournament.

It so happens that none of the football teams that I root for win anything, ever. I know there is a reason for this, that it might have something to do with the fact, that I prefer to root for the underdog. So, no surprise when Julio Granda Zuniga, my “favorite” in the ongoing World Cup, got knocked out yesterday. Now, just like the average football hooligan, I am a bit upset, thinking; “Julio, couldn’t you have done better?”. No, I don’t, not really. But, I will share my thoughts on one of his last games in the Cup:

Now I am leaving for Barcelona and  XV INTERNATIONAL OPEN CHESS OF SANTS, HOSTAFRANCS &  BORDETA, where I will play until next Sunday. Maybe there will be more posts during that time, maybe not. It is undecided.

Manhem Chess Week, part 2.

With all the fish sliding downstream towards Tromsö, it seems a bit out of place to struggle on upstream. But, that is what we salmons do… So, yesterday, Manhem Chess Week (at Manhem Chess Club) finished. It was won by Eduardas Rozentalis and yours truly, with Emanuel Berg in third spot. There were quite a few interesting games played, but the double rounds were so tiring that I did not have the time, nor the energy, to post anything during the tournament. Now it is time for amends. The first game I would like to call your attention to was played in the third round:

I will publish more games from this tournament later. For those of you who are interested in a more personal take on the tournament I recommend Jasmin Bejtovic’s blog.

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting

When I was younger I was pretty much like everybody else, in that I focused my effort and admiration on the the attacking aspect of chess. Then, with time, I have come to appreciate a cool defence. The “Sparkassen Chess Meeting” that finished earlier this week was won by a really cool defender, Michael Adams. His 6:th round encounter with Arkady Naiditsch ended abruptly, but featured a very ambitious defence from Adams:

In this game Adams acted as the chess equivalent of a master of Aikido; using the opponents momentum against him.