Stockholm: Untitled Smirin Wins Rilton Outright

Ilja Smirin, who turns 21 on 12 January, was the outright winner of the 18th Rilton Cup, held for the third consecutive year at the Grand Hôtel Saltsjöbaden. In doing so, he earned a grandmaster norm—without even being an IM!

The best-performing Swedes were Lars Karlsson, who finished fourth, and Rikard Winsnes, who took a creditable fifth place and fell just half a point short of an IM norm.

The tournament featured four grandmasters, 13 IMs and seven FMs. The top seed was the Greek IM Vasilios Kotronias, rated 2550. He never found his form and finished 22nd. The four grandmasters were Lars Karlsson (2520), Manuel Rivas of Spain (2505), Nuchim Rasjkovskij of the Soviet Union (2500), and Lothar Vogt of East Germany (2485).

Other interesting highly ranked players included Rilton specialist Lars-Åke Schneider (five victories), Jonathan Tisdall of Norway, Ivan Hausner of Czechoslovakia, Dan Cramling, Norbert Sehner of West Germany, Michael Weidenkeller, Craig Pritchett of Scotland, and former World Cadet Champion Hannes Stefánsson of Iceland.

The first round produced several surprising results. Kotronias lost to England’s Chris Ward, and Stefánsson to Magnus Carlhammar. The following games ended in somewhat unexpected draws: Per Larsson–Manuel Rivas (16 moves), Lars Karlsson–Carl-Magnus Björk, Dan Cramling–Ari Ziegler, Felix Nordström–Lars-Åke Schneider, and Sigurdur Sigfusson–Jonathan Tisdall.

Kotronias also lost his second game, this time after a dramatic struggle against Robert Åström. It was a duel that produced some truly wild positions.

Elsewhere, Smirin won easily against Robert Bator, who never managed to coordinate his pieces in a Grünfeld Defence. Rasjkovskij recorded his second consecutive victory, against Jan Johansson.

The third round brought the first grandmaster draw, in Vogt–Rasjkovskij. Just ten moves were played before the point was shared. Rivas took another quick draw, this time against newcomer Göran Åström after 15 moves. Smirin defeated Sehner and thus took sole possession of the lead with a perfect three points. Kotronias scored his first half-point in an exciting game against Stefan Winge, which ended in a draw after 63 moves.

Nuchim Rasjkovskij, 42, who became an IM in 1976 and a GM in 1980, met his young compatriot, the 20-year-old Ilja Smirin, in the fourth round. Many had probably expected Rasjkovskij, playing White, to make an attempt to win, remembering the previous year’s all-Soviet encounter Gurevitj–Barejev (1–0 in the fifth round). But the choice of opening suggested otherwise. It was a Four Knights Game, and the point was shared after only 15 minutes.

This gave Lars Karlsson a chance to catch up, and he was very pleased with his victory as Black against Michael Weidenkeller.

Karlsson and Smirin then met on New Year’s Eve. Lasse played his usual quiet game in the English Opening, eventually advanced his central pawns, and gained a spatial advantage after some nice manoeuvres.

East Germany’s Lothar Vogt, who finished ninth in the A final of the 1969 World Junior Championship in Stockholm, faced Schneider in a theoretical battle in the Sicilian and emerged victorious.

Thomas Welin kept Rasjkovskij at bay, but the game ended in a draw by repetition.

Karlsson and Vogt now shared the lead with 4½ points out of five. They were followed by Smirin, Rasjkovskij, Tisdall, Weidenkeller, Welin and Winsnes, all on 3½.

There was an early exchange of queens in the sixth-round top-board encounter Vogt–Karlsson. The East German seemed programmed for a draw from the outset, but Lasse declined two offers before the point was eventually shared.

Smirin–Weidenkeller was a Ruy Lopez, and the Swede sacrificed a rook for a knight and two pawns in the middlegame. Smirin held firm and put his opponent under pressure until he finally succumbed. Winsnes fared equally badly as Black against Rasjkovskij. After 29 moves, both his time and his game were up.

“Russian players are frighteningly strong,” was Winsnes’s spontaneous comment after the game.

Tisdall inflicted Welin’s second defeat, and Tiger Hillarp Persson took the full point against Bator.

Before the seventh round, the Soviet players postponed both their games by half an hour so that they could visit their embassy.

“Typical of the Russians—it’s a tactic on their part,” explained a somewhat irritated Lars Karlsson as he waited for Rasjkovskij.

Once he got going, Lasse built up a promising position, and Rasjkovskij looked under pressure. Then the players ran short of time, and the tension in the hall mounted. When the Russian offered a draw for the third time, the Swede accepted, and the spectators could breathe again.

Smirin’s tactics worked better against Vogt, and energetic play in the Sicilian secured him the full point. Peder Berkell took his fourth straight victory with a somewhat surprising win over Schneider.

Tisdall–Rivas had a spectacular finish. After Black’s 23rd move, White appeared to have taken control, but the ensuing turn of events forced Tisdall to resign.

After seven rounds, Karlsson and Smirin led with 5½, ahead of Vogt, Rasjkovskij, Rivas and Pritchett on five.

In the penultimate round, Ilja Smirin gave an entertaining lesson to the Scottish teacher Craig Pritchett. The latter ran into time trouble and eventually could no longer solve all the equations.

Lars Karlsson showed considerable respect for his fellow grandmaster Rivas, and the point was shared after 14 moves. Winsnes put a stop to Berkell’s winning run.

The standings before the final round were: Smirin 6½; Karlsson and Vogt 6; Rivas, Rasjkovskij, Winsnes and Thorsteinsson 5½.

Smirin, Winsnes and Thorsteinsson all had chances of earning FIDE title norms as the final round began. Smirin had the easiest task: he needed only a draw for a GM norm. The other two had to win to obtain an IM norm.

Smirin naturally took no risks against Spain’s number one, Rivas. After eleven perfunctory moves in the French Defence, they signed the peace treaty. Things were considerably harder for Winsnes and Thorsteinsson, both playing Black, against Vogt and Karlsson respectively.

Winsnes, the West Goth, introduced a small theoretical novelty, but it brought only a draw in a French Defence. Thorsteinsson had good chances for a long time against Karlsson, who was himself fighting for a share of first prize. Lasse got into terrible time trouble while trying to outwit his opponent, with the spectators crowding around, of course. Suddenly, with the tension at its height, the grandmaster shook his head and offered a draw. Thorsteinsson thought for a long time, but eventually held out his hand. And Smirin looked happy.

Elsewhere, Rasjkovskij quickly built up a winning position against Kotronias, while Göran Åström and Robert Åström were the last pair still playing in the 1988/89 Rilton Cup. After nine hours of play, they had to change rooms, and after 105 moves a tired bulletin editor could record a win for Robert.

Overall, it was a fine tournament in the magnificent setting of the Bellevue Room at the historic Grand Hôtel Saltsjöbaden, overlooking Baggensfjärden. The foreign players were very pleased, all 48 players in the elite section behaved impeccably, and the two arbiters, Gunnar Wahlberg and Hans Svedbark, had an easy task.

Among the Swedish performances, it is worth highlighting that 20-year-old Rikard Winsnes had another good Rilton tournament: last year he was sixth, and this year fifth!

Tiger Hillarp Persson and Göran Åström earned their first Elo ratings. So did Joakim Engsner and Jesper Hall, although their ratings had, in fact, already appeared on 1 January.

The general section, with 80 participants, was won by Leo Liljeståhl of KH-Alliansen with eight points out of nine, ahead of Nils Carlsson, Farsta SK, 7½; Gotthard Bäcklund, Schack-27, Hägersten, 7; and Mårten Aronsson, Wasa SK, Niclas Hjelm, SK Rockaden, Stockholm, and Mathias Eklund, Kallhälls SK, all on 6½.

The Rilton Cadet tournament attracted 24 players, with the eight highest-rated forming an elite group. This was won by Olle Tidblad, Täby SK, with six points out of seven, ahead of Mattias Johansson, Arboga SK, and Michael Wiander, Nacka SK, both on five. The lower group was won by Rasmus Holving, SK Rockaden, Stockholm, with 6½ out of seven, ahead of clubmate Johan Nebrin on 5½ and Fredrik Lindh, Nacka SK, on five.

The so-called ECU Cadet Championship was won by Arnaud Payen of France and Krystyna Dabrowska of Poland respectively, with the following results:

Boys: 1) Arnaud Payen, France, 6 out of 7; 2) Christian Gabriel, West Germany, 4½; 3) Oliver Worsfold, England, 4½; 4) Artur Jakubiec, Poland, 4½; 5) Traice Necov, Yugoslavia, 4½; 8) Christian Jepson, Sweden, 3½; 11) Henri Majanmaa, Sweden, 3. There were 18 participants.

Girls: 1) Krystyna Dąbrowska, Poland, 6½ out of 7; 2) Johanna Paasikangas, Finland, 6; 3) Claudia Hagendorfer, Austria, 4; 4) Vesma Sekulovska, Yugoslavia, 4; 5) Heike Vogel, West Germany, 3½; 6) Victoria Johansson, Sweden, 3½; 8) Christin Andersson, Sweden, 3½. There were 11 participants.

Hans Svedbark