Swedish Championship part 1. | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

The Swedish Championship took place in the beginning of July, and I was one of ten participants in the top group. I started out badly, squandering good positions in the early rounds and only getting back on track by taking some ridiculous risks (or, by pure luck, perhaps). My game from round was symptomatic:

   [Event "SM"]  [Site "Uppsala"]  [Date "2022.07.06"]  [Round "5"]  [White "Jogstad, Martin"]  [Black "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]  [Result "0-1"]   1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 {Martin Jogstad played in the highest  group in the SwCh, for the second time. He tried to get complex positions with  lots of chances for both players, in every round, and I do not think his  result reflects his abilities, but rather some bad luck in the beginning in  combination with a principled attitude. Those games he would not win, he would  learn a lot from. An attitude I applaud.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 (5... d6 $5) 6. f3  Nc6 7. e4 e5 $2 {I am just trying to mess things up, and I thought for far too  short a time before playing this move.} (7... d6 $1 {is the right move.}) 8. d5  $6 (8. dxc5 $1 {is just very strong here, transposing to a Saemisch-line where  Black has played e6-e5 too early.} Qa5 9. Be3 O-O 10. Ne2 Rd8 $14) 8... Na5 $5  {In a few moves I will start regretting that I did not have this knight on the  kingside.} 9. Bd3 d6 10. Ne2 b6 11. Ng3 {Now, I did not like to play a move  like h6, nor did I like the prospect of castling (since a had a feeling that  my opponent had studied such positions), so in the end I came up with the only  alternative that did not loose outright:} Kd7 $5 (11... h6 $1 {is just much  better. I failed to grasp how good a job it does at keeping White from  developing an initiative:} 12. Ra2 $5 ({I missed that} 12. f4 {can be met with}  Bg4 13. Qc2 Nh5 $1) 12... Qe7 13. h4 $5 (13. O-O $2 g5 {is quite nice for  Black.}) 13... g6 {and Black is ready to evacuate the king to the queenside.})  12. O-O Ne8 {This is just terribly ugly. The knight will keep an eye on my  weakest point (g7), but it is completely out of play as long as White does not  play f2-f4xe5(?), and kindly allows me access to the d6-square.} 13. f4 f6 14.  Nf5 Kc7 15. Ne3 $1 {This is, generally speaking, the best square for the  knight, and although the engine will tell you that there are better moves,  there is no reason for White to risk that the position that will arise after ..  .Bxf5 is a draw.} (15. Ra2) 15... Rb8 16. g4 $5 {Strategically speaking, this  is a good move, but it allows Black an option which could have equalized the  game.} (16. Ra2 $1 Rb7 17. h4 Kb8 18. Raf2 {and I am under a lot of pressure,  while it is quite unclear if I can do anything active.}) 16... exf4 17. Rxf4  Rb7 18. Ra2 Kb8 19. Rg2 Re7 $2 ({Both players missed that} 19... g5 $1 20. Rff2  (20. Rf1 h5 $1) 20... Ng7 $1 {, followed by h5, leads to a balanced game.}) 20.  h4 (20. Nf5) 20... Re5 21. Nf5 h6 {I am hoping that I will get to remove most  of the kingside pawns and then get counterplay against the c4-pawn.} 22. Rf1 $1  g5 {Necessary, in order to keep the bishop from landing on f4, but it is only  a temporary respite.} 23. Ne3 Rh7 (23... Qe7 24. Bd2 h5 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. gxf5  g4 {I find it slightly hilarious that the engine at first likes White here.  However, eventually, it comes to its senses. Equal. White can win an exchange,  but will not be able to open up the position for the rooks.}) 24. Bd2 Rhe7 25.  Qf3 Qd7 26. Nf5 {White has systematically carried out his plan, and the only  thing in my favour, is that I have some more time on the clock.} Ba6 27. Nxh6  Bxc4 $2 28. Nf5 $6 (28. hxg5 $1 fxg5 29. Nf5 Bxd3 30. Qxd3 Rxe4 31. Nxe7 Rxe7  32. Bxg5 {is completely winning for White.}) 28... gxh4 29. Nxe7 Qxe7 30. Re1 (  30. Rff2) 30... Qd7 (30... Bxd5 {was possible, but I did not like to open  things up just yet.}) 31. Bf4 Re7 32. Kh2 Bxd3 $2 (32... Bxd5 33. g5 fxg5 34.  Bxg5 Rf7 35. Qe2 Bc6 {is only slightly better for White, but I was looking for  a way to win it... and decided on a trickier line; one which was worse than I  realized.}) 33. Qxd3 Qa4 34. g5 fxg5 35. Bxg5 Rg7 36. e5 $4 (36. Rf1 {with f8  in sight, would have made me face insurmountable problems.}) 36... Rxg5 {  And that is game over.} 37. Re4 Rxg2+ 38. Kxg2 c4 39. Qd4 Qc2+ 40. Kh3 Nb3 41.  Qxc4 Nd2 42. Qa4 Qd3+ 43. Kh2 Qg3+ 44. Kh1 Qf3+ 45. Kh2 Qf2+ 46. Kh1 Qf1+ 47.  Kh2 Nf3# {A very lucky game for me, exemplifying my two wins with Black  in the middle of the tournament. I would not have won them without significant  help from my opponents.} 0-1

In the end I scrambled to a third place, behind Jonny Hector and Jonathan Westerberg. Next I will comment one of Jonny’s games.