Swedish Championship starts on saturday | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

I have been trying to save my superlatives for a tournament that really stands out as well arranged, smooth and professional, but as it turns out it is already time to pay up. Every tournament I have played in the last year has been well arranged, but The Visma Chess Tournament, last month, really stands out. It is nice to experience a tournament with such a relatively short history, which still manages to deliver… even that which you did not expect from the beginning. Although I didn’t score as well as I might have expected, I still played some exciting chess and now I am really (I mean really) looking forward to the Swedish Championship. I’m especially excited about the strong field, with 9 GM:s and 4/5 of the Sweden’s Olympic Team participating. So, who is the favourite? I have mentioned Emanuel Berg, Hans Tikkanen, Jonny Hector and myself before, but I have saved a game from the main favourite that was played a few weeks back:

   [Event "Golden Sands, Bulgaria"]  [Date "2014.06.18"]  [Round "9"]  [White "Popovic, Dusan"]  [Black "Grandelius, Nils"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "C91"]  [WhiteElo "2537"]  [BlackElo "2587"]  [Annotator "Tiger"]  [PlyCount "88"]  [EventDate "2014.04.10"]  [SourceDate "2011.03.24"]   1. e4 e5 {This game was played in the last round of the Golden Sands  Tournament in Bulgaria and Nils needed to win in order to get any significant  prize money. I usually strive for a position with a asymmetrical pawn  structure in such cases, but Nils has belief in his abilities to create  winning chances anyway.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5  7. Bb3 d6 ({After} 7... O-O {White has the option} 8. d4 {that leads to very  forced play. Nils is trying to keep the position as complex as possible.}) 8.  c3 ({Now} 8. d4 Bg4 {forces White to enter the same position that soon arises  in the game, with:} 9. c3) 8... O-O 9. d4 $5 {I have forgotten who this line  is named after.} ({The main line Ruy Lopez starts with} 9. h3) 9... Bg4 10. Be3  (10. d5 Na5 11. Bc2 c6 (11... Qc8 {has been doing well lately, intending} 12.  h3 Bd7 {, followed by c6.}) 12. h3 Bc8 13. dxc6 Qc7 {leads to a heavily  analyzed position, that even I have spent some time on (2009). And then, I  never came close to playing it, with neither White nor Black.})  10... exd4 11. cxd4 Na5 12. Bc2 Nc4 13. Bc1 c5 14. b3 Nb6 15. Nbd2 {Theory,  theory, theory...} Rc8 {This move scores well, but both} (15... Nfd7 {and}) (  15... cxd4 {are more common. The exchange on d4 generally leads to positions  where Black is slightly worse, but only so slightly that it can be handled.  Nils is again trying to avoid simplifications. Draw is not on the table. Nils  told me "it was just after 9 in the morning and the odds were 7:1 in favour of  taking a risk". This is the usual case when you are playing for prize money  and Nils continued to carry out this gamble in a truly risky manner.}) 16. h3 (  {Nils mentioned, Ganguly,S (2620)-Azarov,S (2600)/Cappelle-la-Grande Open 2014,  as a source of inspiration:} 16. Bb2 c4 17. bxc4 Nxc4 18. Qb1 $6 {I cannot  explain this...} Qa5 19. Nxc4 bxc4 20. e5 Bxf3 21. gxf3 dxe5 22. dxe5 Rb8 {and  Black had a strong initiative.}) 16... Bh5 17. Bb2 c4 $5 (17... Nfd7 18. Rc1 {  has been played twice by Magnus Carlsen in the mid 00's. White should have  some advantage here.}) ({A somewhat improved version of Nils idea was seen in  Grover,S (2460)-Kravtsiv,M (2565)/3rd Chennai Open 2011:} 17... Re8 18. a4 (18.  e5 $5 {looks better.}) 18... c4 19. bxc4 $6 {This is not bad for White, but  the inclusion of Re8 and a4, must clearly be to Black's benefit.} Nxc4 20.  Nxc4 bxc4 21. Bc3 d5 {This is the idea that Nils was aiming at in his  game.} 22. e5 Ne4 23. Rxe4 $5 dxe4 24. Bxe4 a5 $1 25. Bb7 {It's illogical to  move the bishop from its beautiful position.} (25. g4 Bg6 26. Bxg6 hxg6 27. d5  Bb4 28. Rc1 Rc5 29. d6 {is a better alternative for White.}) 25... Rb8 26. Bc6  Bb4 $1 {and Black took over the initiative.}) 18. bxc4 Nxc4 19. Nxc4 bxc4 20.  g4 (20. Bc3 d5 21. e5 Ne4 22. Rxe4 dxe4 23. Bxe4 {is similar to  Grover-Kravtsiv above.}) 20... Bg6 ({After} 20... c3 $5 21. Bc1 Bg6 22. d5 {  Black needs to get some counterplay before White plays Nf3-d4 and f3, turning  Bg6 into a big pawn.} Rc4 23. Nd4 Re8 24. Qd3 (24. f3 {, cutting the bishop on  g6 out of the game, looks better.}) 24... Qc8 25. Nf5 $6 Bxf5 $6 ({Black loses  his calm. Instead} 25... Bf8 26. f3 Bxf5 27. gxf5 g6 {is a bit better for  Black.}) 26. exf5 Rc5 27. Bb3 {and White was in control and eventually won, in  Kalod,R (2442)-Malinovsky,K (2202)/Czechia 2003.}) 21. d5 $1 Nd7 22. Nd4 {  According to Nils White's play here puts Black out of business (from a  theoretical point of view).} Ne5 $5 {Pressing the "chaos button". A rather  good choice as the alternatives are simply worse without the complexity.} 23. f4  $1 Bh4 $5 (23... Qa5 $5) 24. Re3 ({There is nothing wrong with White's move  here, but it looks safer to play} 24. Rf1 $5 h6 25. Rb1 c3 26. Ba1 Nc4 27. Nc6  Nb2 28. Qf3 $1 {with a big advantage.}) 24... Qf6 $5 {If you say "a", you have  to go "b".} 25. Ne2 h5 $5 ({Here} 25... Nxg4 26. Bxf6 Nxe3 27. Bxh4 Nxd1 28.  Rxd1 {is similar to what could have happened in the game later.}) 26. Bd4 hxg4  27. hxg4 Nxg4 ({Black can also consider to fish in murky waters with} 27... Qe7  $5 28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Bc3 Qa7 30. Qc1 Bg5 31. Kf2 f6 {, intending Kg8-f7,  followed by Rh8. White should be able to defend somehow, but the bind on the  rook is nasty.}) 28. Rh3 $2 {This is completely unnecessary. White should just  keep things simple. Usually you play such a move when the alternatives are bad,  but the only other alternative is good!} (28. Bxf6 $1 {Pretty  obvious, no?} Nxe3 29. Bxh4 Nxd1 30. Rxd1 Rb8 (30... Bh5 31. Kf2) 31. Nc3 Rb2  32. Ba4 {is one of many ways for White to get a huge advantage after 27...Nxg4.  }) 28... Qe7 29. Ng3 f5 $6 {Objectively speaking, this shouldn't work, but  there might have been some additional time trouble involved?!} ({The best move  is} 29... Bf6 {although} 30. Kg2 {, intending to double on the h-file, looks  very dangerous for Black. A possible continuation is} Bxd4 31. Qxd4 f5 $1 32.  Rah1 fxe4 33. f5 {with a balanced chaos. I have analyzed this position another  ten moves without being much the wiser. In the end it seems that one side or  the other will force a repetition of moves.}) 30. exf5 Ne3 31. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 32.  Kg2 $1 Qxf4 33. fxg6 Rce8 34. Bf5 $4 {A grave blunder that loses by force. The  only move was} (34. Nf5 $1 {when} Qf2+ 35. Kh1 Re2 36. Nxh4 (36. Qf1 $1 Rxc2  37. Qxf2 Rxf2 38. Nxh4 $18) 36... Rf3 $3 {wins beautifully for Black (as Nils  pointed out to me). The only problem is that 36.Qf1 wins for White.}) 34...  Bxg3 {The gamble has paid off and Black is on the road to victory.} 35. Be6+  Rxe6 36. dxe6 Qe4+ 37. Kg1 Bf2+ 38. Kh2 Bh4 39. Kg1 Qxg6+ 40. Kh1 Qe4+ 41. Kg1  Bf2+ 42. Kh2 Bd4 43. Qe1 Rf2+ 44. Qxf2 Bxf2 { 0-1 Maybe not the best game, but a  clear sign that Nils has become one of those players who are prepared to go  "all in" in the last round. In the long run this will surely be to his  advantage.}