Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 9

 

Picture #1 - The tournament hall

Picture #2 - From the blitz tournament

Picture #3 - A class 4 player, Sindre Brobakken (not my opponent)

Before this ninth game I was in thirteenth place. My last games have been a draw and two victories and I felt that I was on a roll. I also needed a last victory to get a little further up on the list. But so did my opponent. This game shows a classical chess attack. And I have to admit, this was my easiest victory during this tournament. What suprises me or shocks me, depending on how you look at it.. my opponent plays exactly how I have done during this last year and half of this tournament. Defensively and cramped. So goodbye to Inverted Philidor as white and a cramped position as black. Next year, it will be Class 3, and before that time, I really need to work on my chess.. including openings.

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1

1178 Alf Geir Thowsen, Follo, Black, 0

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 8

Picture #1 - One of the longest lasting games. And these little girls are serious
Picture #2 - My opponent Audun Hoem playing during this years 5 minute blitz

I am playing a little more aggressive and I feel that I am on a roll. Kind off lucky too. With one more victory I might just get out of the middle of class 4 and move upwards. My opponent is Audun Hoem from the chess club Kristiansund. He has a rating of 1095. Now, there are a few individuals that I did not really want to meet. Audun is one of them. One evening during the championships, there is a 5 minute blitz championship held. Last year I met Audun twice, and lost both games. So he does have a psychological advantage. At least from my perspective. That said, if there is someone that I would want to meet in a real game.. and win, Audun is one of those individuals.

He has great development, but I gain a pawn. It's something I do a lot in correspondance chess and sometimes it works out, other times not at all. But I am lucky, because I believe, it's not the recommended way to go about it. I hold on to the pawn during his attack, but I have my own plans.

1095 Audun Hoem, Kristiansund, White, 0
0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, Black, 1

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 7

Picture 1 - Fredrik Heggelund from Mo Chess Club. Rating 1191
Picture 2 - Another entrance to Gamlebyen

Game 7 - OOOPS and YESS!
I haven't really got off to a good start in the tournament, but I really don't have anything to complain about either. But if I want to climb up on the list toward the top, I need to start now. I am finally listening to International Master Torstein Bae and place my bishop outside my pawn chain. I also play a little more aggressive. I do not want to give up my bishop pair and while he chases them around with his knights, I am suddenly aware that he has more than one mating attack against me. After the first attack were he makes the game very unbalanced, he has miscalulated a little. And when I finally get my attack going, I never let go.

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1
1191 Fredrik Heggelund, Mo, Black, 0

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 6

Picture #1 - My opponent Tormod Thingstad with a 1061 rating

Picture #2 - One of the entrances to "Gamlebyen" Fredrikstad

Game 6 - My psychological advantage isn't helping !
In game 6 I am playing against Tormod Thingstad. He plays for the chess club Hønefoss and he has 1061 in rating. I played against him in last year's championship. I won. I got a great combination in during an attack he was making. Talking to him a few days later he was still not happy.

Now I had a psychological advantage. And rumer had it that he wasn't to keen on playing against me. But last year he had 966 in rating, so he had improved.. and also played 8 tournaments since last time. And I really needed a victory.

I must say, I really tried to drive home a victory. I pushed forward in the center and before I knew it, I am once again on the defensive. But I chance it and hope for a bishop endgame. But whatever I do, it still comes out to a draw.

1061 Tormod Thingstad, Hønefoss, White, 1/2
0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Black, 1/2

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 5

Picture 1 - My opponent Christian Koyama Poppe with a rating of 1168
Picture 2 - A scene from "Gamlebyen" Fredrikstad

Game 5 - My opponent asks for a draw, I decline... and loose.
Once again I have the white pieces, and once again I play to defensively. My opponent Christian Poppe starts a very early attack which puts my castled position into shambles. But just before the attack, he asks for a draw. And what can I say? I am used to playing in cramped positions, I have gained a pawn on him, and if I can only ride it out for a little while longer, I will be fine. I decline. But I never recover. In the end I am hoping for a draw by three-fold-repetition and possibly checking his king with my queen for 50 moves, but it never happens.

I never get my own attack started. Torstein Bae, International master with a FIDE rating over 2400 analizes my games. And once again he tells me that I got to stop blocking in my bishop with my pawns. When it comes to accepting or declining the proposed draw, he tells me that even though I am a pawn ahead, with a deadly attack hitting my casatled position from all sides, without any way to actually get out of the line of fire... I should have accepted the draw.

This is my second, and luckily my last defeat during this tournament. And if there isn't some very special circumstances telling me otherwise, this is the last time I will play this defensively with the white pieces. "Inverted Philidor" with white. Who does that, except me?

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 0
1168 Christian Koyama Poppe, 1911, Black, 1

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 4

Picture 1 - My opponent Stian Valle from the chess club Akademisk. Rating 1237

Picture 2 - From "Gamlebyen". Military barracks from the 1780's. (And my barracks in 1983).

Game 4. A very tricky opponent
Last year in Bergen, we played one game each day for 9 consecutive days. In Oslo, where the Norwegian Chess Championship is being held next year, we do the same thing. Unfortunately, here in Fredrikstad we only play for 8 days, and that off course means one day with a double round. This morning I had my first defeat. And I wasn't feeling very cheerful, before my second match.

My opponent was Stian Valle from the chess club Akademisk. He had a rating of 1237, and was the highest rated player in class 4. Not exactly who I wanted to meet. He could tell me that he had played in the last 10 championship tournaments. The downside is that he definately had routine on his side. The good thing, for me, is that he wasn't neccessarily up and coming.

I got a pawn very early in the game, and I was able to hold on to it. He had a tremendous attack on my castled position, but what sets him apart from others I have played, is the way he musters an attack and at the same time keeps setting up these traps for me. I had to thread carefully the whole game.

1237, Stian Valle, Akademisk, White, 0
0000, Gaute Michel Ferstad, Black, 1

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 3

Picture 1 - A great angle to see how young these chessplayers are.
Picture 2 - View from our house. "Gamlebyen" is a few hundred yards to the left.

Game 3.. I AM LEARNING MY LESSON THE HARD WAY... AS ALWAYS
My opponent is Allan Lilleøren from Lørenskog Chess Club. He has a rating of 1038, which is close to the bottom of the class rating. I looked on the internet yesterday to see if he played in last years tournament. He did. Same class. He came in close to last place. So I am reckoning that with fair play during the year, he must have improved over his rating.

He is playing the black pieces and opens with the Sicilian Defence. An opening I used myself in the 1980's, but long since fogotten. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable playing this opening today, had I learned it again, but one should always know the main lines, so one can counterattack. What I end up doing is playing my own game and looking at my castled position, I see that I have given away every advantage there is to having the white pieces. Today's lesson must be to stop opening the way I do with the white pieces. I googled it. It's called "The Inverted Philidor". A mirror image of how I play with the black pieces.

My opponent gets an attack going on the queen side before I can mount a credible attack on his kings side where he has castled. I soon find myself in trouble.

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 0
1038 Allan Lilleøren, Lørenskog, Black, 1

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010, Class 4, Game 2

Picture 1 - From the tournement, Kongstenhallen

Picture 2 - My opponent Lars Hope

I met an elderly man today. He told me that we have played together before. In the 1980's. I must say, everyone does their preperations. He had a rating of 1136, which is almost identical to my previous opponent. Rumor has it that he playes very defensively. Hm.. does that sound familiar? And he likes draws.

Well, in the beginning, that might be true. Because the action happened elsewhere. The player on my right side sat down with his newly bought coffee and spilled it all over the table. The player to my left side, thought he had put his cellphone on "silent". And in ticked a text message, bip-bip and game over. Cell phones equals loss. And my wife thinks I'm paranoid for leaving my cell phone in the car.

Then out of nowhere, my little sheltered world is crumbling around me. An enormous attack on my castled position. I come out of it damaged. I get a bishop. He gets a rook and a pawn. And the attack is barely beginning. But somehow he can't finish me off. I get my remaining pieces in action, and being under in material, I manage the impossible. A draw. (He ends up as number 31 out of 49).

1136 Lars Hope, Brønnøysund, White, 1/2

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Black, 1/2

Norwegian Chess Championship 2010 Class 4 Game 1

Picture 1 - Our rented house for the 9 days the tournament lasts. Thank you, Vidar.

Picture 2 - The view from the house. All these luxury boats pass us to our enjoyment.
Picture 3 - Yngve and Vidar trying to analyze a game, while the soccer semifinals are on.

Game 1 - I turned down a draw and won.

It was so strange and yet so wonderful to be back at tournament play and the Norwegian Championship. Having only played on the internet this last year, it was odd to not see a two-dimensional board. It was even more odd to have your opponent actually sitting right in front off you.

I opened more defensive than ever. Introverted Philodor I believe it is called. So I actually give away any advantage I have with having the white pieces. And after some moves, my pieces have barely budged, while my opponents pieces where baring down on me all over.

I use approximately 20 minutes on move 19. A move that causes unbalance, or so I believe in my mind. To everybody else it's just an ordinary move. Somehow, my opponent Arne Hallsjø trades off some of his active pieces. On move 22 he asks for a draw. I turn him down. A few moves later I still feel his position is better than mine, but I gradually get my pieces where I want them. He gets a few isolated pawns which I take advantage off. I am happy for the victory which eventually comes. (He ends up in 38th place overall.)

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1
1132 Arne Hallsjø, Sevland, Black, 0

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 9

Picture 1, Marianne, my wife
Picture 2, in the Analyzing Room with Vidar, going over our game

Picture 3, Vidar Gjære, my opponent in game 9

GAME 9, the most important game played
My opponent and I spent much time together during the tournament. We analyzed games and talked about chess in general. I knew he liked to play the English Opening as white. The opening that gave me my only defeat in game 3. I also knew that he liked to play the Center Counter Game, also called the Scandinavian Defense as black if white moves e4 on his first move, which I off course do. I also knew that he had a tendency to make one bad mistake during some of his games. Anyway, for me this is the most important game of the tournament. Before this game, Vidar has 2nd place. I have 3rd place. Between us, with a draw, he keeps second place. So I need a victory. We both have 6.0 points. But at the table next to us, table 3, there are the only others with the same amount of points. So, their outcome can very well reflect our standing. I open with e4 and Vidar plays the Scandinavian Defense. Not knowing to much about openings and definately not this one, I am outside the book theory in no time. He attacks my castled position, but one of his moves comes just to sudden, without proper preperation. I stop him and he has no way to penetrate my pawns. After some back and forth moves he gives it one more shot, and sorry to say, he makes a mistake, loosing a whole piece. After that I consolidate and then prepare for my own attack and eventually check mate him after a very good defense on his part. (He ends up in 5th place overall).

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1
0000 Vidar Gjære, (No club), Black, 0

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 8

Picture 1, Vågen - the docks, where a great naval battle happened in 1665
Picture 2, my wife, the photographer
Picture 3, Class 5 player during speed chess

GAME 8, the most unbalanced game
My opponent has won all his games. He wanted to play in Class 4, because I think he felt to good to play in Class 5. But the tournament organizers wanted it differently. He has beaten Niklas Savio which gave me my only defeat so far. And he beat Vidar Gjære in game 7. I have no expectation of winning this game. I have many games ago accepted the fact that this might very likely be a lost game. And I am thinking of everybody that might pass me, gaining a point in a win or a half point in a draw. But I am not going down without a fight. After some moves I am actually at a loss what to do. I do not want to go on the offensive, but I see no defensive developing moves either. He breaks the balance. He threatens my knight and walks away. Without moving my knight, I threaten his queen. He comes back, takes my knight and walks away again. I take his queen. Now, walking away like that could very well have been part of his strategy. Thinking he has left his queen for the taking. But it wasn`t. He told me during our analization that he wanted to make the game unbalanced, which he definately did. Afterwards he attacked relentlessly. I only had my queen while he had three pieces. And he was good. He never let me use my queen at all...until I finally got it into action in the end. That was all that was needed. We ended the game in a draw and I broke his winning streak. By making the game a draw, this half point was all he needed to actually win Class 5, no matter what the outcome of game 9 is. I felt good about my draw. (He ended up in 1st place).

0000 Henning Lohne, Bergen, White, 1/2
0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Black, 1/2



On the bottom right hand side, switch the colors so that black is in front of you.

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 7

Picture 1, Class 5 player Halfdan Holmen. He ended up in 4th place.
Picture 2, Class 5 player
Picture 3, Class 5 player

GAME 7, my most irritating draw
I try for attack. Not that I believe it will get me anywhere, but just checking to see if my opponent makes a mistake. He doesn`t and sooner or later the game evens out. After what I might call a very short game, he asks for a draw. I accept, even though I regret it soon after. I accepted, because at this time I am starting to think strategically. The lead poncho has won all his games and at the table next to me, table 1, Vidar Gjære has just been beaten badly. To stay in the race, I can`t get a loss at this time. And I am certain I will be the next contender for the lead poncho, where I believe a loss is most likely to happen. I regret it, because of the following: My opponent has a bishop and a knight against my two knights. Now the pawns are all over the board and he might be able to move faster across the board with a bishop against my knights. But with my pawns on the opposite color of his bishop I have a great advantage. Also, with two knights it doesn`t really matter where he places his pawns. I am still uncertain if I made the correct decision about accepting the draw in this game. (He ended up in 3rd place overall).

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1/2
0973 Richard Madsen, Hønefoss, Black, 1/2

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 6

Picture 1, typical Bergen houses and streets
Picture 2, the chess cafeteria with great and cheap food, also used for...yes, chess
Picture 3, myself and as it seems...very concentrated

GAME 6, my best defensive play
At this point I am playing at the lead tables. Which means I am getting more of an audience looking over my shoulder. Not just the Class 5 players stretching their feet but others. Not that it bothers me. When I play, I am completely concentrated and I barely notice anything of what is happening at the boards around me. This is the game where I felt most attacked. Before I even knew what was happening, my opponent had an attack lined up. The game was a ongoing battle of one attack after the other coming from my opponent and playing a very accurate defense on my part and securing my position whenever I had a chance to. My opponent sacrifized first one pawn and then another. But for almost every defensive move I made, my position became increadably solid. In the end, there where no more attacks coming and he couldn`t get his pawns back. He asked for a draw, but I declined. I finally got an attack going and he resigned a few moves later. (He ended up on 15th place overall).

0000 Nelvin Farstad, Stjernen (Oslo), White, 0
0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, Black, 1



On the bottom right hand side, switch the colors so that black is in front of you.

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 5

Picture 1, Bryggen is on the Unesco World Heritage Sites list
Picture 2, the tournament chess store filled with books and videos
Picture 3, I came in nr 4 in the speed chess championship Class 5. Niklas Savio(middle) nr 3 and Vidar Gjære (to the left) nr 5. "The Gang".

Speed Chess
There is always a speed chess tournament one evening during the tournament week. It lasts for some hours and we are all quite tired from our regular game of the day. You have 5 minutes to play your game. You loose by either being check mated by your opponent or playing past your 5 minutes. Our Class 5 where divided into two groups. Everyone plays everyone in the group. Then the best half of both groups play each other. The teenager all the way to the right on picture came in second place. He was breathing so hard during our matches that I almost thought he was having a heart attack. After our games I had to tell him to relax... that it was only a game. It threw my concentration completety off. The person next to him won the Class 5 speed chess tournament. He had this fantastic way of moving the pieces where you just didn`t see him make the move, nor punch down on the clock. You were sitting there waiting for him to make his move... and hey...it was your own clock that was running out of time. I definately need to learn that technique. Speed chess is for fun even though some take it very serious. Having a lot of contact with Niklas Savio in the middle (nr 3) and Vidar Gjære all the way to my left (nr 5), it was great seing us all get a medal. (I ended up in 4th place.)

GAME 5, my best combination
My opponent has one of the highest ratings in Class 5. Our game is not only very even, but almost identical in position. Then he goes for an attack with his queen. I use almost half an hour on my next move. There is no real threat against my position, but I am looking at all angles of play. Then, I finally see a good combination. I counter attack and in the short battle that pursued, he looses a piece. I consolidate and bring home the victory. A few days later I ended up talking to him while we were playing speed chess, and he was still very irritated for having lost this game. (He ended up in 12th place overall).

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1
0966 Thormod Thingstad, Hønefoss, Black, 0

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 4

Picture 1, Bryggen, the German Wharf was established by the Hanseatic League in the 1360`s.
Picture 2, here are the youngest players in this tournament.
Picture 3, my opponent in game 4, Dag Einar Sommervoll

GAME 4, my hardest victory
I didn`t really move that many places down on the rankings after my defeat in game 3, but to keep myself high on the list and maybe have a shot at being amongst the three best players, I can`t have one more defeat. My opponent has no rating, so I have no clear indication of how good he is. The game is quite even. I know that as of now, my strength lies in endgame play. So I try to reduce some pieces by exchanges, but my opponent is reluctant to do so, and only when he is forces into it. He barely runs out of time and my time is not that good either. 40 moves in the first two hours, then we get more. After I make my 40th move, I discreetly asks him if he wants a draw. I walk away, letting him look over the board in peace and quite. When I come back he has made his move, and I guess has an idea of how to win the game. After a few more moves I place him in check mate. (He ends up in 23rd place overall).

0000 Dag Einar Sommervoll, 1911 (Oslo), Black, 0
0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1



On the bottom right hand side, switch the colors so that black is in front of you.

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 3

Picture 1, Bergenshus Castle, with Rosenkrantz Tower in the background, completed 1560`s.

Picture 2, one of the senior groups playing

Picture 3, my opponent in game 3, Niklas Savio

GAME 3, my only defeat

Niklas Savio was both the youngest player in my class and the highest rated player. After our game we kept in touch through the tournament and kept somewhat tabs on the different players we had met and might meet. I believe he really wanted to win the whole tournament and after his victory against me, he had 3 straight victories. He opens with English Opening and puts enough pressure on my position to leave me quite defenseless. Then, he sacrifizes his rook against my bishop and I see the mate coming. But he makes a terrible mistake. Later he told me he wanted to give up right there and then, but continues. I try to consolidate my position, but my time is running out. After a few hurried moves by me, an optomistic win and a very likely draw is not possible anymore and I resign. His tutor, Kjetil Lie, wins the Class Elite and becomes the new Norwegian Champion. (My opponent ends up in 10th place overall).

0978 Niklas Savio, Porsgrunn, White, 1

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, Black, 0

On the bottom right hand side, switch the colors so that black is in front of you.

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 2

Picture 1, Bergenhus Castle, here with Håkon`s Hall contructed around the year 1250

Picture 2, the playing area for Class Master and Class 1

Picture 3, my opponent in game 2, Paul Ivar Johansen

GAME 2, my easiest victory

To play in the Norwegian Chess Championship you have to be a member of a chess club. Having been a member of Trondheim Chess Club for years through the 1980`s, this is were I joined. My opponent comes from the same chess club, making this game interesting in more than one way. This game was my easiest victory. I attack his castled position gaining a pawn. Then, I am able to fork his king and queen with my knight. After that, the game was over. (He ends up in 35th place overall).

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1

0753 Paul Ivar Johansen, Trondheim, Black, 0

Norwegian Chess Championship 2009, Class 5, Game 1

Picture 1, Haukeland Hospital Hotel where I stayed
Picture 2, My view from the hotel towards the Bergen suburbs
Picture 3, Hans Olav Lahlum, the tournament organizer

GAME 1, getting off to a good start
My first game of the tournament and my first OTB tournament in years. My opponent makes a mistake very early in the game giving me a pawn. I kept the pressure up continuously. I lay a trap for him, hoping he is greedy and goes pawngrabbing. He does, and looses his rook. After that he never recovers. (He ends up in 13th place overall).

0000 Gaute Michel Ferstad, Trondheim, White, 1
0877 Vegard Andre Roen, Aurskog-Høland, Black, 0