I was standing in the bathroom braiding my hair and thinking about the upcoming event. Nils had asked me to join him for the opening ceremony of the TePe Sigeman & Co chess tournament, and I had been so excited about getting a chance to wear a pretty dress that I had talked about it for days (more than a month of backpacking had limited the opportunities to dress up). Nils of course did not care at all about how we looked, but some female guidance never hurt anybody, and I was of course looking magnificent… I mean we were.

Wonder why I cut Nils out of my profile picture…
Photo: Calle Erlandsson

Toothbrushes and glamour
The opening ceremony was hosted at Malmø City Hall, a stunning old building with lots of detail and decorations. I especially enjoyed the huge paintings of Danish Kings hanging all over the walls. It was nice reminder that Swedish and Danish history is tied together. I would say that the Danes have always made the Swedes stronger! Furthermore the opening ceremony consisted of some nice speeches, a little live music from a string quartet (the guy playing the violin… not sure it is a violin… could probably have been a chess player. He was so committed to his breathing that I could hear it and his veins were pulsing – the music was lovely) and the drawing of starting numbers for the tournament.

It is the guy to the left. Is it a violin? 

I joked with Nils that he would probably get the worst number (three blacks against the top seeds) he did… and answered:

“There is no such thing as a bad pairing. No matter what pairing I get I will be happy, because I get to play chess”

I wish I could relate in any form of way, but we have not all been raised by Bob Marley’s spirit. Anyhow food was served and I definitely felt that I fitted in between the huge chandeliers, baroque carvings and white tablecloths even despite of the fact that Nigel Short was sitting to my right. I have to admit though; he is hiding his dubious opinions and questionable behaviour towards women pretty well behind that charming British facade. All in all I hope Nils gets to play more tournaments of that kind.

And dinner was served!

The little red riding hood
In the first round Nils was playing with the black pieces against the rather controversial Baadur Jobava. He is quite a lot of fun, which is probably the reason why he is always wearing those sunglasses. I have to say I like his down to earth way of greeting everybody before the round, it gives a really nice vibe and makes the spectators, sponsors, judges and so on feel like somebody actually care. You get a long way with being friendly and I think that a lot of the better players have a hard time finding the space for that, since their ego takes up most of the room. On the other hand it is hard to tell if Jobava is actually sober when doing this. In Reykjavik he was also playing Nils and the first sight that meet us when entering Harpa (the playing hall) 5 minutes before the round, was Jobava holding a big beer and an even bigger slice of cake. As Nils said: “it is hard to take serious”. But why does it always have to be that serious?
The game was finished and we were on our way out of the playing hall, when Jobava pointed at my hat:

Jobava: “I like your hat”
Me: “Thank you! I bought it in Kosovo”
Jobava: “It is red, so Nils must be a wolf”

Referring to the story about “The Little Red Riding Hood”. If anything I would claim that the roles should be reverted. Nevertheless I think Jobava is a nice kick to any tournament and he makes sure that something is going to happen, whether it is a spectacular game or bringing pizza trays into the club and getting kicked out is 50/50 chance. Also I have a hard time disliking him after he referred to me as “pretty lady”.

Baadur Jobava white against Nils Grandelius

Eat, sleep, play, and repeat!
I think that Nils would probably agree to the statement: “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, he would add that coffee is also necessary and I agree. Nothing is going to happen before coffee is served so Nils woke up every morning and placed a cup beside my bed. Then he wet to work and I went to the kitchen. Every morning this was my routine:

1. Make him a big omelette with some new filling
2. Pick his clothes
3. Iron the shirt I had picked
4. And polish his shoes

I felt like a real housewife but on the other hand, he would have done exactly the same for me, if I had been the one playing. At least I hope so; otherwise he will be in grave trouble.
They played 5 rounds and 4 out of 5 I was there almost all day to “support him”. I am not sure what to call it since I just become extremely nervous when I sit all day and follow his game. I do not trust his play enough to relax, unfortunately. I have commented one game from the tournament, so you can get a feel of how I think when Nils is playing: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2017/6/12/Game37312.html
To ease my nerves I made sure to sit right in front of Stellan Brynell while he was doing his commentary, just to make sure somebody would suggest the right moves. The annoyance in his voice when I pointed out something he had missed was completely worth it. I had even suggested that he needed a sidekick and I would be happy to help him out and elevate the commentating from Sahara sand to Sunny Beach. He thought it was the worst idea ever, but I think the audience would be happy to hear all the good stories/gossip I can tell from the chess world.

I think he could need some extra spice in his life. Maybe… a Co. commentator!

A little detour to Copenhagen Chess Challenge
Do you ever get tired of pretending to be housewife? Yes. I am not suited for that role and I already decided to do something else the day on the 3. round. In Ballerup outside of Copenhagen some of my friends were playing the Copenhagen Chess Challenge and I thought it would be a good idea to go and be a supporter somewhere else than at the Tepe Sigeman. Martin Lokander had played a quite dubious tournament and I had made myself ready to step in and show him the way. First I bought a chocolate gold medal with the text “you are the best” and forced him to wear it during the round, and then I brought him and his friend Deniz to a Bodega (a bar with cheaper beer) in the centre of Copenhagen. As Martin had said earlier that day:

“I played this tournament 5 years ago and concluded I was never going to visit Ballerup again. 5 years later I had forgot everything about it and indeed Ballerup is the most horribly boring city I have ever been to”

In the tournament they have also applied the rule that you cannot make a draw before move 30, which is completely outrageous when there is already 4 double-rounds. What are they trying to achieve… get people to hate chess? Martin is definitely completely right about the city and therefore our night out also contributed to lift his spirit. Actually he did not loose one game after he received my guidance. Never forget: You are the best, Martin!

At first Martin thought the medal was embarrassing… that opinion did not change

The tournament in general (OBS. serious text)
The playing venue was Malmø Statsteater (the theatre) and once again they really managed to make the surroundings enjoyable for the eyes. I personally believe that it is a big pleaser for the spectators that they experience this professional vibe, when there are 6 players in a nice looking room with cut of sections for the judge, spectators, players and a accessible room with a commentator. The tournament was well organized and except for the lack of posters and advertising in general, they did everything right. The rest of the entertaining is up to the players and despite of the fact that one victory and 4 draws was enough to win the tournament, there was enough drama on the board to keep the spectators attention. This also has something to do with the choice of players. I find the idea of having women (one or more) in the tournament very interesting; since it appeals to a broader audience (both commercial wise and chess wise), and it is not seen that often in closed tournaments. Rating average is not everything, interesting chess and players I am a bigger fan of (not to forget Nils). Maybe, they should also consider a co-commentator for next year. I got a suggestion 😉

The playing area

Something to celebrate
In the end Jobava Baadur and Nils Grandelius ended up sharing the victory with 3 points out of 5. As Nils said: “what he had learned from being a second for Magnus Carlsen, only +1 is needed”. Their shared victory was celebrated together with the rest of the participants (Harika, Eljanov, Erik and Nigel), the sponsors and people who had helped during the tournament. All in all it was a small party who enjoyed dinner at Sigeman & Co’s lawfirm. Jobava was very eager to go to the casino but nobody wanted to join him. Nils and I had planned to go and it was very hard to explain why we could not. You see, in Sweden you have to be 20 years old to go to the casino, and I am not. Once again Nils avoided having to stay up late and waste his money, maybe Nigel was right, when he called Nils a slippery bastard. Instead of the casino Nils, Erik, Finn (a tech guy) and I went to a bar and grabbed a beer before closing time. A nice finish to a strong tournament.

Some discussion after the last game.

Margaret I was the first female ruler of Denmark and the founder of the Kalmar Union. Her reign lasted from the 3^rd of August 1387 to 28^th of October 1412 and her dominion stretched across both Norway and Sweden. Already back then the Scandinavian countries needed a Danish woman as a leader who could guide them towards greater accomplishments. As we all know, history often repeats itself and indeed here we are with a Danish Nordic Champion.

1.Round I take Scania
I had just arrived in the airport and was pretty confused. I had been up at 3 in the morning to catch my flight from Reykjavik and was basically still half asleep. The first round of the Nordic Chess Championships for Girls u-20 was going to begin soon and I had no idea on how I would get there. Luckily for me I got the best friends and when I stepped out of the airport I was meet by Martin Lokander, a sign saying “Ellen Kakulidis” (I probably would not have noticed him otherwise) and a freshly brewed cup of coffee. The rest of the Danish team had already announced that they had left me on my own and I now completely relied on my Swedish helper.
We were walking through the old part of Stockholm, had just grabbed some food and were now on our way to “Stockholms Schacksalonger” the playing venue:

Ellen – “What opening should I play?”
Martin – “Who are you playing and what colour do you have?”
Ellen – “I know nothing”
Martin – “At night in this spot you can eat the spiciest hotdog in the world”
Ellen – “…What”
Martin – “What…”

The round started and I was pretty nervous as always. I used a great deal of time just focusing on staying awake. The clip from the movie Mr Bean’s vacation, where he is putting toothpicks under his eyelids to keep them open, played in my head. Already after the opening I was low on time and the move Bf4 (she moved her bishop to a square where I could just take it) was like sent from heaven. I went straight to bed.

2. Round I challenge my friends
15 minutes late Sara and Ingrid walked through the door. Apparently Ingrid had to do her makeup and it took longer than expected. At least she sat at the board looking better than the rest of us, when she slowly got a worse looking position. The stakes were high since both Ingrid and Sara were my classmates at NTG and Simen was probably going to analyse the game at their next lesson. Overall I was satisfied with the game except for the move g4? It does not improve much and just erases the possibility of playing f4 later on. Nils would have described the move as a “criminal move” and I am sure Ulf would not have been proud… but a victory is a victory and the show must go on… when you play double rounds.

To play 33.g4 is just… ugly

3. Round I conquer Norway
I have had a lot of fancy preparations since Martin started to tell me what to play, but I have to say, that this prep from Peter Grove blew the socks of Martin, my opponent Sara Næss and myself. It is very rare that we see talent in this pure form, but to play 3..h6 in the French should from this day on be called the Grove-variation regardless of who it truly origins from. When I decided what to play I almost felt sorry for Anton who tried to prepare Sara, but they loudly spoke about some master tactics like 1.h4 and 2.Rh3 when I tried to “spy” on them and therefore I had no mercy. Furthermore I did not even castle the whole game and it ended up being a masterpiece. Poor Sara was now on half a point out of three and as the good friends we are, we all laughed when Ingrid came up with the joke:

Ingrid: “What is the different between Sara and a joke?”
Ingrid: “The joke got a point”

I have commented the game in Danish on Aalborg Skakforenings webpage if you are interested: http://aalborgskakforening.dk/klubliv/kommentarer-og-parti-fra-nm-for-piger/. I also have to mention that I believe Sara will make a comeback next year! I personally have scored 0 of 4, 0 of 5 and 1 of 5 in the Nordic Championships and we have all forgotten that now… I hope.

Naturally we went out on the local chess bar “Krukan” to celebrate that I had scored 3 out of 3. We were probably going anyway but it is always good with extra excuses. Ingrid, Sara, Erik and Martin were some of the people joining the party. A couple of beers a little Bang! some lies about the Norwegian girls age and then we decided to go home. We did not exactly reach the hotel before midnight, but that had more to do with the fact that Ingrid had to jump out of the Metro and find the nearest bathroom. Sara and I enjoyed a couple of chilli-cheese-tops and had the chance to discuss how reasonable we were while waiting.

Haha I love the expression in Erik’s face and the fact that Lokander is completely read

4. Round I kill all resistance
I am a little disappointed that Erik Blomqvist did not come to support me during this important battle. He came Saturday, but seemed more interested in going to the bar than cheering for me. I would in particular have found it funny if I had the support of the three best chess players in Sweden Nils, Erik and Martin when I played the Swedes; I had to settle for 2 out of 3, but I think that is good enough. Nevertheless I was super nervous about this decisive match and the only thing calming me down was the encouraging words from Peter Grove: You are to bad for the game to matter. Thank you very much then I do not need to worry. I again used some time in the opening but only because I tried to avoid playing the whole game against Stellan Brynell (who were the team leader of Sweden and definitely prepared the players). Nils had (almost) for the first time tried to help me by sending a file!?!?! But I just concluded that I was too dumb to understand the point of the moves and I did not want to play it (if you do not understand the amount of question- and exclamation marks after file, I can explain. When I played in Runavik last year, Nils helped all the others to prepare and so on. I asked for help and his answer was “you are not good enough to understand it”… He was right). However the time in the opening was well spent because she definitely struggled when I deviated from her plan. I had some very nice tactics towards the end and you are welcome to play through the game and comments here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2017/5/31/Game199141421.html

I already knew that this victory meant that I had won the tournament and therefore Martin and I went out to celebrate with a round of sushi! The champagne we saved for later… much later! I also have to say that I am really sorry. I had promised Martin to play 1.g4 if I had already secured the victory before the last round, but I chickened out when the better part of my said it was bad sportsmanship. Of course he is absolutely right. 

Mmmm, sushi was a great way to celebrate

5. Round and the time to surrender
The nerves had definitely gone away but it is hard to say that was a good thing. She played directly into my favourite opening, the exchange slav, and I could have gotten an advantage at once… but missed it! The game was the least pretty of the tournament and it took some time before I woke up and finished the job. A pretty 5 out of 5 and probably the biggest win streak I have ever had.
Peter Grove tried to lead the rest of the Danish forces into battle, but the resistance was though. We have to remember that it was not only the Danes who were Vikings. Nevertheless I am also pretty sure that the rest of the team were saving their full strength for next year when they have to defend our title.

The time had come and Stellan could no longer postpone the award of my victory. I got a firm handshake and maybe (just maybe) a little smile. It could have been the light or his Swedish politeness, because I have a hard time imagining Stellan giving any kind of recognition. What can you expect from a man whose favourite show is the Antiques Roadshow. The prize giver even tried to take some of my credit by saying I was “half Swedish” and give some to Norway “because I had lived and trained there”, but no no, if you do not want me at my worst, you do not deserve me at my best!
The prize giving was followed by a fun night with Ingrid, Sara, Martin and Anton. First we went to the cinema and saw Beauty and the Beast and then we strolled through Stockholm. Ingrid of course with her second place trophy in hand. She even convinced an old couple she had won a step tournament. I also came up with some funny stories when I took the train home. But it is actually kind of nice that people congratulate you.

Last but not least I threw a party at my place last Saturday and I finally got the chance to drink champagne from the trophy. On that note I think it is time to move on and play a new tournament, I cannot live on this victory forever. Next goal is the double, when I play the Nordic Women Championship. The Kalmar union is great but Denmark is best!

Probably the last time I try that, but it was kind of fun

I was sitting at the local burger joint with Aman Hambleton and Dagur Ragnarsson, who had just picked me up at the airport. This was my 4^th time in Iceland, and once again I had the chance to enjoy the view of the beautiful landscape. Not even the fact that Hambleton was pouring his ketchup all over his fries, like a true Canadian, could ruin the mood. After 3 weeks in Eastern Europe, the only thing on my mind was Nils and the chess tournament, Reykjavik Open.

The tournament also featured some modern legends like Anish Giri, Baadur Jobava and Ellen Kakulidis!

Back in business
Reykjavik Open was once again played at concert hall, Harpa, with a stunning view and a little bit of live music during the weekend. The tournament had visitors from chess enthusiast, musicians, mayors and one day around 1.000.000 kids (at least it felt like this amount) who had an event in the same building. A little schoolgirl even performed the 1^st move on board 1, where Nils was playing. She was a little nervous, probably because she realised what a great honour it was to stand that close to Nils, when I gave her the killer eyes down from board 79… I am just kidding, she was actually very cute and I am sure that Jobava was a little jealous. I enjoyed the different twist before the opening of every round and as last year the only thing I can criticise about the whole event is my lack in abilities regarding chess.

“One ticket for the elevator please. Yes I would like to stay for 9 days”

The sentence above describes my whole tournament. Not once did I manage to make a surprising result – in a good or bad way. Instead I kept on losing to the higher rated opponents and winning against the lower rated (in a very solid and confident way!). I knew that the solution probably was to take a bye and step out of the uncomfortable situation, but I was too stubborn. Luckily for me Nils was doing pretty well, and I could just focus on other things like the good company and beer.

Here you can se a commented game by Martin Lokander. The only game I am proud of. First round against Tania Sachdev: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2017/5/19/Game314906.html

Sue is missing in this picture, where we are investigating an interesting sculpture

We are getting late!
One thing that I definitely noticed is the difference in routines when I compare Nils and me; I have come up with the 10 holy rules of Grandmaster preparation before the game:

1.                       It does matter for how long you sleep (at least 10 hours!?)
2.                       You should always complain in the morning, about not sleeping enough
3.                       You should never arrive at breakfast more than 10 minutes before closing time
4.                       Any clothing is acceptable to wear to breakfast
5.                       You cannot prep without prepping what to prep (making a list)
6.                       One hour before the meal you walk – it does not matter where
7.                       It does matter when and what you eat before the round. Burger is a NO-go
8.                       Before the round you should brush your teeth and take a shower to feel fresh
9.                       No matter result, always complain, that you did not play well enough
10.                       When dinner is done, your anger must be gone

Usually we always met with some friends for both the daily walk and the two meals. Our most common company were Gawain, Sue and Erik and we were often joined by others. The selection of restaurants was great and we tried every restaurant where our food coupons were a legit payment. Some restaurants were more surprised with the coupons than others, apparently the other chess players did not want to walk to far, and since some of the restaurants could reach the great distance of a whole kilometre, they where not used to being paid in pieces of paper with “Reykjavik Open” written on them.

A very nice view from one of the many “Grandelius-walking-tours”

I am to young for that stuff
As usual my main focus was on the side events and during Reykjavik Open they gave me plenty of chances to get my mind of chess… or at least the chess in the main tournament. It all started with Erik Blomqvist having a rather unlucky start of his Reykjavik adventure, when he lost to two lower rated opponents in a row. Since we are a very experienced group of people, we all suggested the blitz-tournament as the cure for this illness. Gawain could even assure Erik that the blitz in Dubai had been the turning point for him, when he went ahead to win it all. After I promised to buy the first beer, there was nothing more to talk about; it was also very hard to make it any worse. Additionally it has to be said, that Erik would do anything it takes to be on top of the game… but more about that later! Anyhow the blitz tournament was played and as expected Erik went on to win and I had to get another beer to forget everything about it. I had great support the first couple of rounds before the serious players had to go to bed (I need to mention that they all placed below Erik in the main tournament. Wonder why), but I need to figure out how to win on my own, when I do not have the possibility to bribe three strong players into staring at my opponent and make him uncomfortable.
A small party at a hotel room naturally followed the Harpa Blitz, but it was a short pleasure with some hand-and-brain (Hand-and brain is a chess game where you have two teams of two players: one who says a piece and one who makes a move. And I really need to mention that I won all of my games on the board in hand-and-brain… but lost all of them on time) and unknown bottled liquids imported from Japan. When the party was on its way to town, possibly the casino, Erik came up with the second brilliant idea of the night (first one was choosing me as his hand-and-brain partner):

“Maybe I should go to sleep”

Always quit, while you are ahead, and the others still had not reached the lobby.

A very intense first game. I won, not the game but the trash-talking!

My favourite happening during this tournament was the pub quiz. In general I really enjoy quizzes and games like Trivial Pursuit or Bezzerwizzer and to combine it with chess, some friends and some beers is just brilliant. I did not expect much of myself and that was the right thing to do since I had very limited knowledge. My partner however was a good supplement and we went on to get the highest score with 25/30 questions. They did not believe us at first, we are a very suspicious couple, so they had to tipple check our answers. Obviously we were just better and their only choice was to hand us our prize! All in all I am very happy about the fact, that I at least won something in Reykjavik. Here is one of the questions from the quiz:

“What did the 28 games Sämisch played in Busum and Linköping in 1969 have in common?”

How far are you willing to go?

Now more about what I meant, when I said Erik would do anything it takes. I had one very interesting question that I asked about 10 different players the last day of the tournament:

“How many fingers would you cut of, if you got an additional 100 elo point in strength per. finger?”

I got a lot of different answers that I find very curious. All of the Indian players and Nils answered “none” they did not think it was worth it. Gawain and Erik were instead discussing if they would settle for two or also go for the third and thereby make sure they would be the best players in the world. On the other hand (pun intended), they had also been discussing if they should go pro in the board game Bang! And skip chess, so maybe their confidence were not on top. I do not now if this says anything about willingness to sacrifice to become a better player or the faith in your ability to become better on your own, but I know that Mikhail Tall only had three fingers on one hand and was an excellent player!

The Hallgrímskirkja. Is that right?

As we say in Danish “The road to hell is paved with bad excuses”
The tournament got wrapped up with a nice party with free meatballs! We played some Bang! And enyoing the braindead fun of spinning a lucky wheel 20 times for the prize of 20 euro a spin. And NO we did not win anything big, maybe 4 beers if we combine the prizes… However it was a great night and my only regret was booking a flight that left 6:30 in the morning. Great job, Ellen.

I know this blog might be a little late, since the tournament was played almost a month ago, but I have been busy… I promise. There will soon follow a blog about my performance in the Nordic Championship for girls U-20. I hope you have not given up on me 😉

For the fifth year in a row, a group of Danish chess players invaded a small village named Bad Zwicshenahn in Northwest Germany, to play the annual NordWest-Cup. The Danish invasion consisted of a number of young players and was firmly led by the Danish youth coach Mads Boe.

Foto: Cara O´Driscoll

Secret Santa
According to tradition, I drove to Bad Zwicshenahn with the Vangsgaard family (Claus, Bjarke and Freja). As always, Freja and I were soundly asleep in the backseat, and Claus was at the wheel going 180 km/h on the German autobahn (which, by the way, is one of the only German words I know beside Krankenwagen and Apfelstrudel). Luckily, we skipped the queue this time, and actually arrived more than five minutes before the first round. I know that you probably wonder why we do not leave with a bit more time to spare. That is basically impossible with the Vangsgaard family. They are always late, no matter what. That is also the only reason why my nickname “the fifth Vangsgaard” is a little misleading, since I prefer to stand outside the tournament hall a couple of hours before they even open. Nevertheless, I have always joined the Vangsgaard family on trips to tournaments, and I consider myself an unofficial part of their family, and Freja my “sister”. She also confirmed this when she spontaneously joined Christmas the 22nd of December with a bunch of my relatives and acted as Santa.

“Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they’re always there”.

Freja Vangsgaard you are a star!🌟

Ein Gulaschsuppe mit Brot, danke
Each year, we all check in at the same hotel, Hotel Copenhagen (quite natural that we should feel at home there), with the lovely owner, an elderly lady named Ellen (great name!), who served us goulash soup and schnitzel mit pommes throughout our stay. I told her that I was moving to Copenhagen later this year, and she eagerly explained that she too had lived in Copenhagen, in 1952, right next to the Tivoli Gardens, and that she loved the city. I simply nodded, and wondered what part of that story might have changed the most during the last 65 years. The restaurant is the centre of attention. This is where we eat, analyse, and, last but not least, where we have Internet. Between every round, and in the evening, you get the chance to analyse your games with help from Mads, and if you are feeling really daring, you can socialise with the rest of the delegation. Otherwise the Internet connection is strongest in the corner (which is my favourite spot). Here you can also save yourself the embarrassment of not being able to recall any of the young players’ names.

The one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind
The tournament is separated into three groups: A, B and C, with A being the strongest – an open Swiss for players above 1800 ELO. Even though I strongly considered playing the B group, which allowed players up to a rating of 1900 WLO, Freja eventually convinced me it would be quite embarrassing, even if I won, since I have played the A group the last 3 years. In my defence, I have only made bad results in this tournament, and this was not an exception. Why do I keep coming back then? Well, sometimes the results matter less than the company… thus spoke the happy loser.

Not all mornings are equally good…

I have a tendency in life to make it harder for myself than necessary. One of the big discussions during this trip was the question of a license. I am not talking about a driver’s license, but a license to play an opening. Chess openings also require knowledge about the theory. Some openings more so than others, and the conclusion was that you do not have a license to play the sharpest line in the Two Knights Defence, where you sacrifice a pawn, if you only know the first 8 moves. My argument was “learning by doing” but it felt more like “get destroyed without playing and realise it is bullshit”. I was not happy with Martin Lokander and his decision that I should play sharp lines, especially when Mads Boe gave me a look if as I were stupid. Luckily, I turn 20 this year, and cannot get picked for the youth events even if he wanted to select me, and I took revenge by forcing Martin to play the delayed exchange KID 🙂

Lokander has annotated his game, and you can see it if you click the link. It is in Swedish though… I hope that is because he was annoyed and/or frustrated: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2017/2/21/Game2105656.html

He even wrote a lovely poem in Swedish about playing in a solid style. I think he should consider a career swap

“Taktik, angrepp, är jag i tid?

Så slipper man tänka, när man är solid.

Har jag rätt pjäser kvar,

är ställningen ej oklar.

För som Ulf vill jag spela,

och poängen min dela”.

If I lose, you’d better take the trophy!
In the top rows, as far away from the hall of shame (the last three boards are put in a separate area, we called it “the hall of shame”) as you can come, there sits a cheerful redhead among the players who did not fail miserably again this year. The girl is of course Freja Vangsgaard, who once again shone, with an ELO performance of 2238, and a victory against the youth coach’s son. Actually, the whole family did well (except me, I am apparently the black sheep) and they were sitting as far away from me as possible. At least I got to walk a lot, and I had an excuse to leave my miserable positions for an extended period of time. After further consideration, I have concluded that Freja performed even better than usual this time, because we shared a single bed in a 3-square-meter room during the whole tournament. Being so close to me all the time must have inspired her.

Freja looking very happy in the single bad we shared

Better luck next time!
One again it was a nice trip to Bad Zwicshenahn, and I really enjoyed being back on the road with the Vangsgaard family. Sometimes you need a reminder as to why you think chess is fun, and there is no better way than to play a tournament with good friends.

Last but not least, I want to say congratulations to my good friend Jesper Thybo, who made his first IM-norm this weekend. He did not make it with any ladies though… but the party was great and I hope he soon will make another one!

In a place far, far away, in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands, lies a small town called Wijk aan Zee. This is where the 73rd Tata Steel Chess tournament is taking place, and I took the chance and visited the event for a couple of days. If you have never heard of Wijk aan Zee, or the tournament played here, I will try to summarize it briefly. This is a tournament where strong grandmasters each year compete to qualify for or win the main event. It is played in closed groups with 14 players in a round robin (you meet all players in your group). The tournament that has been known as Tata Steel Chess and the Corus Chess Tournament has been won by many great names, like Bent Larsen, Mikhail Tal, Ulf Andersson!, Garry Kasparov and many others. This year, players like Levon Aronian, Anish Giri and even the world champion (who has already won the tournament 5 times) Magnus Carlsen are fighting for the 2017 spot on the Chess Wall of Fame.

Just a small part of the wall

Personally, I was more interested in the challenger groups, since my intention in visiting was to be moral support for my boyfriend, Nils Grandelius. When I boarded the plane heading for Amsterdam, I did not expect much. However, it turned out to be something of an experience, with plenty of good company and a nice start to my own chess year in 2017.

“Just smile and nod”
I had been studying the entrance before I walked up to the receptionist, with a slightly insecure expression on my face. “I need one of those card things.” The receptionist was staring at me as if I were stupid. “We only give those cards to the masters, challengers and press.” I scratched my arm. “Well, my name should be on one of those card things. You see, I am the girlfriend of one of the players.” She looked at the cards on her desk and then back at me. “I am sorry, but your name is not here.” I looked across the desk and pointed at my card. “It is right there, my name is Ellen”. She mumbled something and handed me the card. I went to get my entrance number for the amateur group, and smiled at the thought that she did not even check if my name really was Ellen, and that she might basically have given a random stranger access to the press and conference rooms.

“I need one of those card things” – Ellen Kakulidis

I will not say that I got full value for this card…

It was neither my first nor my last experience where I felt a little awkward, and where I made some of the dramatis personae a little suspicious. The first one was in the hotel lobby the day I arrived, when I asked for the key to a room whose number I did not know. One day, I also tried to get into the press room with my fancy card, but did not know how to use it. I just stood there for 2 minutes and waited for someone to open. A man finally opened the door from the inside, and (again) gave me a look as if I were stupid (which might be fair enough…). I had to show him my card twice before he believed I actually had access, and I only stayed for 20 seconds because I saw some of the players from the masters group, got scared, and quickly disappeared before any harm was done. I thought it was better to wait for Nils outside. I promised not to embarrass him by asking anyone for their autograph.
Usually, I am not this horrible when talking to other people, but it is difficult not to get affected by all the greatness at such a big event. I am simply not used to potentially meeting the people I have read about in my chess books. I also remember the first time I saw Arthur Yusupov. I had just started reading his series of chess books, and I was so impressed that I hid under the dining table when he walked into the restaurant at the European Youth Chess Championships in Georgia 2014. Most people would point out that heroes are just people as well. I will just quote:

“Never meet your heroes”

With this method, you actively prevent yourself from doing something stupid/embarrassing. Like trying to hook you best friend up with half of the top boards at the Olympiad. (I am so sorry Freja. I will be a better wingwoman this weekend 😉 )

Apparently I have achieved everything in life
Bent Larsen once said:

“Normal people have to see Naples before they die, but a chess grandmaster has to win Wijk aan Zee first.”

I consider myself pretty normal, I am not a grandmaster, and I did not win the main event, but I think it was close enough, and that that should count. Besides, I have already been to Naples, so I should be covered.
My stellar achievement consists of winning a 3 round tournament with 2,5 points out of 3. I played very well throughout, or at least very solidly, which in my head are two sides of the same coin. At one point, Nils even said the following about one of my moves: “too much talent”. Apparently it is a famous saying by Stellan Brynell, when the move is not the best one in the position, but clearly the prettiest. I gladly ignored the sarcastic tone.

Here I played 19.d5! The point is that you can not really defend the e4 pawn because of the pin on the queen, other than the move Rc4, but after b3, it is trapped! And yes, the position arose from an exchange Slav, and yes, the move 19.Ne2 is correct.

I owe a big thank you to my splendid second Martin Lokander, who in many ways ensured my very solid result. Before the tournament started, I gave him full authority to pick my openings. The deal included:
1) I would play anything he told me (no matter what) for the whole tournament 2) I could blame him, if I lost the game 3) The roles would be reversed for his next tournament! Every evening, I just had to tell him what colour I was set to play in the upcoming game, and he would then bring me a fresh file the next morning, with the 3 first moves I had to play. If I was extra lucky the file would even contain something like “e4, e5 for dummies” (probably something used for 8 year old kids,) and a very sincere “good luck” wish. Martin is presumably also very satisfied with the result, since I now consider sparing him the pain of being forced to play the exchange French, Slav or any of my other solid openings, of which he explicitly disapproves.
He also agreed to comment one of my games, which can be seen if you click the link (I recommend that you do so, especially if you are curious to what kind of openings he made me play): http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2017/1/20/Game95414640.html

I ended my personal victory by singing “I Am The Champion” all the way down the stairs at the hotel. When we met Eric Hansen in the reception, I ended on the note: “I got no time for losers…” and a big smile for the guys.

The whole world at one table
The population of Wijk aan Zee is around 2,500 people, and that number is perhaps doubled during January, when all the chess players eagerly arrive. Why is this important? First of all, most of the town gets redecorated into the biggest dream of every colour-blind person; black and white. You cannot find a place that has not got a chessboard in the window or chess pieces hanging from the ceiling. Some restaurants even change their names to chess related stuff. It seems as if the restaurants think that it is like stealing candy from children. “Hey guys, they have a chess master menu, we should eat at that place!” Second of all, you actually need to make a reservation to get a table, which is sort of obscure. We were five people eating together, when I was on my visit: GM Nils Grandelius (Sweden), GM Eric Hansen (Canada), GM Gawain Jones (UK), WIM Sue Maroroa Jones (New Zealand) and WCM Ellen Sofia Kakulidis (Denmark). It was much less scary than it sounds, and if we had been joined by a Chinese kid, who did not play chess or speak any English, there would be some kind of balance.

Gawain was going for a dry January, so me and Eric had to double our amount of beer just to support him. What are friends for 🙂

The atmosphere was great, even when the main part of the table had lost. We solved this issue by letting the winners pay. Suddenly, all results were pleasant in some way, and dinner took on much the same spirit as Robin Hood (taking from the rich (winners) and giving to the poor (losers).
The partying was kept to a minimum, even the night I won my tournament. We had the chance to crash some event with free bar, but as the responsible grownups we are, “we” decided not to do so. I think we will get another chance at some point. At least Eric owes me some tequila, because he only remembered one thing about me from the Olympics. It was not my name, where I came from, or who I was in any way – but the fact that I liked Tequila. We can make a party of that at some point in the future.

Last, but not least, I want to finish off with a big good luck wish for Nils, Gawain, Eric, Sue and Aryan.

“I’ll be back!”