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 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 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.