Aars Bank Chess Cup :: Aars 1995

Celebrating 75th anniversary of Aars SK

[ Crosstable || 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th || Information | Tournament Review ]


Crosstable

pos. name Elo flag 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 pts + = -
1. IM Gausel, Einar 2495 NOR ● ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 6½ 4 5 0
2.-3. GM Nielsen, Peter Heine 2500 DEN ½ ● ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 6 3 6 0
2.-3. GM Shneider, Alexander 2530 UKR ½ ½ ● ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 6 3 6 0
4.-5. IM Hansen, Sune Berg 2480 DEN ½ ½ ½ ● 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 5½ 3 5 1
4.-5. GM Larsen, Bent 2515 DEN 0 ½ ½ 0 ● ½ 1 1 1 1 5½ 4 3 2
6.-7. GM Hansen, Curt 2635 DEN ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ● ½ ½ 0 1 4½ 1 7 1
6.-7. GM Ivanov, Mikhail 2445 RUS ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ ● 0 1 1 4½ 3 3 3
8. IM Brynell, Stellan 2460 SWE 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ● 1 1 4 3 2 4
9. Kristensen, Jørgen Juul 2335 DEN 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ● ½ 1½ 1 1 7
10. Grabow, Pouelsten Holm 2270 DEN 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ● 1 0 2 7




Round by round results

1st round
IM Brynell, Stellan SWE 2460 0 - 1 2515 DEN GM Larsen, Bent
Grabow, Pouelsten Holm DEN 2270 0 - 1 2500 DEN GM Nielsen, Peter Heine
IM Hansen, Sune Berg DEN 2490 0 - 1 2445 RUS GM Ivanov, Mikhail
Kristensen, Jørgen Juul DEN 2335 1 - 0 2635 DEN GM Hansen, Curt
GM Shneider, Alexander UKR 2530 ½ - ½ 2495 NOR IM Gausel, Einar
1.-4. Nielsen, Larsen, Ivanov, Kristensen — 1; 5.-6. Gausel, Shneider — ½; 7.-10. S.Hansen, C.Hansen, Brynell, Grabow — 0;



2nd round
IM Gausel, Einar NOR 2495 1 - 0 2335 DEN Kristensen, Jørgen Juul
GM Hansen, Curt DEN 2635 1 - 0 2270 DEN Grabow, Pouelsten Holm
IM Hansen, Sune Berg DEN 2490 ½ - ½ 2530 UKR GM Shneider, Alexander
GM Ivanov, Mikhail RUS 2445 0 - 1 2515 DEN GM Larsen, Bent
GM Nielsen, Peter Heine DEN 2500 1 - 0 2460 SWE IM Brynell, Stellan
1.-2. Nielsen, Larsen — 2; 3. Gausel — 1½; 4.-7. Shneider, C.Hansen, Ivanov, Kristensen — 1; 8. S.Hansen — ½; 9.-10. Brynell, Grabow — 0;



3rd round
IM Brynell, Stellan SWE 2460 ½ - ½ 2635 DEN GM Hansen, Curt
Grabow, Pouelsten Holm DEN 2270 0 - 1 2495 NOR IM Gausel, Einar
Kristensen, Jørgen Juul DEN 2335 0 - 1 2490 DEN IM Hansen, Sune Berg
GM Larsen, Bent DEN 2515 ½ - ½ 2500 DEN GM Nielsen, Peter Heine
GM Shneider, Alexander UKR 2530 1 - 0 2445 RUS GM Ivanov, Mikhail
1.-3. Gausel, Nielsen, Larsen — 2½; 4. Shneider — 2; 5.-6. S.Hansen, C.Hansen — 1½; 7.-8. Ivanov, Kristensen — 1; 9. Brynell — ½; 10. Grabow — 0;



4th round
IM Gausel, Einar NOR 2495 1 - 0 2460 SWE IM Brynell, Stellan
GM Hansen, Curt DEN 2635 ½ - ½ 2515 DEN GM Larsen, Bent
IM Hansen, Sune Berg DEN 2490 1 - 0 2270 DEN Grabow, Pouelsten Holm
GM Ivanov, Mikhail RUS 2445 ½ - ½ 2500 DEN GM Nielsen, Peter Heine
GM Shneider, Alexander UKR 2530 1 - 0 2335 DEN Kristensen, Jørgen Juul
1. Gausel — 3½; 2.-4. Nielsen, Shneider, Larsen — 3; 5. S.Hansen — 2½; 6. C.Hansen — 2; 7. Ivanov — 1½; 8. Kristensen — 1; 9. Brynell — ½; 10. Grabow — 0;



5th round
IM Brynell, Stellan SWE 2460 ½ - ½ 2490 DEN IM Hansen, Sune Berg
Grabow, Pouelsten Holm DEN 2270 ½ - ½ 2530 UKR GM Shneider, Alexander
Kristensen, Jørgen Juul DEN 2335 0 - 1 2445 RUS GM Ivanov, Mikhail
GM Larsen, Bent DEN 2515 0 - 1 2495 NOR IM Gausel, Einar
GM Nielsen, Peter Heine DEN 2500 ½ - ½ 2635 DEN GM Hansen, Curt
1. Gausel — 4½; 2.-3. Nielsen, Shneider — 3½; 4.-5. S.Hansen, Larsen — 3; 6.-7. C.Hansen, Ivanov — 2½; 8.-9. Brynell, Kristensen — 1; 10. Grabow — ½;



6th round
IM Gausel, Einar NOR 2495 ½ - ½ 2500 DEN GM Nielsen, Peter Heine
IM Hansen, Sune Berg DEN 2490 1 - 0 2515 DEN GM Larsen, Bent
GM Ivanov, Mikhail RUS 2445 ½ - ½ 2635 DEN GM Hansen, Curt
Kristensen, Jørgen Juul DEN 2335 ½ - ½ 2270 DEN Grabow, Pouelsten Holm
GM Shneider, Alexander UKR 2530 1 - 0 2460 SWE IM Brynell, Stellan
1. Gausel — 5; 2. Shneider — 4½; 3.-4. Nielsen, S.Hansen — 4; 5.-7. Larsen, C.Hansen, Ivanov — 3; 8. Kristensen — 1½; 9.-10. Brynell, Grabow — 1;



7th round
IM Brynell, Stellan SWE 2460 1 - 0 2335 DEN Kristensen, Jørgen Juul
Grabow, Pouelsten Holm DEN 2270 0 - 1 2445 RUS GM Ivanov, Mikhail
GM Hansen, Curt DEN 2635 ½ - ½ 2495 NOR IM Gausel, Einar
GM Larsen, Bent DEN 2515 ½ - ½ 2530 UKR GM Shneider, Alexander
GM Nielsen, Peter Heine DEN 2500 ½ - ½ 2490 DEN IM Hansen, Sune Berg
1. Gausel — 5½; 2. Shneider — 5; 3.-4. Nielsen, S.Hansen — 4½; 5. Ivanov — 4; 6.-7. Larsen, C.Hansen — 3½; 8. Brynell — 2; 9. Kristensen — 1½; 10. Grabow — 1;



8th round
Grabow, Pouelsten Holm DEN 2270 0 - 1 2460 SWE IM Brynell, Stellan
IM Hansen, Sune Berg DEN 2490 ½ - ½ 2635 DEN GM Hansen, Curt
GM Ivanov, Mikhail RUS 2445 ½ - ½ 2495 NOR IM Gausel, Einar
Kristensen, Jørgen Juul DEN 2335 0 - 1 2515 DEN GM Larsen, Bent
GM Shneider, Alexander UKR 2530 ½ - ½ 2500 DEN GM Nielsen, Peter Heine
1. Gausel — 6; 2. Shneider — 5½; 3.-4. Nielsen, S.Hansen — 5; 5.-6. Larsen, Ivanov — 4½; 7. C.Hansen — 4; 8. Brynell — 3; 9. Kristensen — 1½; 10. Grabow — 1;



9th round
IM Brynell, Stellan SWE 2460 1 - 0 2445 RUS GM Ivanov, Mikhail
IM Gausel, Einar NOR 2495 ½ - ½ 2490 DEN IM Hansen, Sune Berg
GM Hansen, Curt DEN 2635 ½ - ½ 2530 UKR GM Shneider, Alexander
GM Larsen, Bent DEN 2515 1 - 0 2270 DEN Grabow, Pouelsten Holm
GM Nielsen, Peter Heine DEN 2500 1 - 0 2335 DEN Kristensen, Jørgen Juul
1. Gausel — 6½; 2.-3. Nielsen, Shneider — 6; 4.-5. S.Hansen, Larsen — 5½; 6.-7. C.Hansen, Ivanov — 4½; 8. Brynell — 4; 9. Kristensen — 1½; 10. Grabow — 1;







Information

Aars Bank Chess Cup
Dates: September - October 1995
City: Aars (Denmark)
Venue: Erhvervsskolerne headquarters
Organizers: Mr. Poul Erik Niebuhr (DEN)
Tournament Director: Mr. Henning Larsen (DEN)
Chief Arbiter:
Players participating: 10 (incl. 5 GMs, 3 IMs)
Games played: 45
Competition format: Round Robin
Tie-breaks: none
Time control:
PGN game file: it-aars1995.pgn





Tournament Review

A major media success — a new Norwegian grandmaster and many entertaining, hard-fought games

By Jørgen Juul Kristensen

Preparations for the 75th anniversary of Aars Chess Club had been under way for twelve (!) years. Originally, the plan was to hold an IM tournament, but along the way both the ambitions and the bank balance grew. It should be added here that Aars Chess Club is fortunate—or far-sighted—enough to enjoy exemplary cooperation with local sponsors. It was therefore decided to arrange a GM tournament during the autumn school holiday in 1995.

The participants…

A couple of months before the tournament began, the following field had been assembled: from Ukraine, GM A. Shneider, whose scalps include world champion Kasparov; from Russia, GM M. M. Ivanov; from Sweden and Norway, the two IMs Brynell and Gausel; and from Denmark, tournament favourite GM Curt Hansen, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, IM Sune Berg Hansen and IM Kaj Bjerring. Steen Grabow and the author of this article represented the organising club.

Word then came that Bent Larsen was interested in playing in Aars. After several weeks of intensive preliminary work by the organisers, including securing additional sponsorship, the coup that Bent’s participation always represents became a reality. Kaj Bjerring agreed to act as commentator instead.

The organisation…

The tournament, held in excellent surroundings at the vocational schools in Aars, proceeded without tournament director Henning Larsen having to intervene at any point. Chairman Poul Erik Niebuhr and his hard-working team provided good catering for the players and good facilities for spectators, including demonstration boards for every game. Appropriately enough, attendance was very good throughout the tournament, both in the playing hall itself and in the analysis room, where Kaj Bjerring held court.

The media…

Happily, it was not “only” spectator interest in the Aars Bank Skak Cup that was at a high level. Media interest was considerable before, during and after the tournament. Local newspapers promoted the event for months, and the tournament itself received extensive coverage from regional and national newspapers, radio and television stations. The television channel DK4, available to viewers connected to the hybrid cable network, recorded the entire game between Bent Larsen and the present writer. After the tournament, DK4 showed the game in a three-hour programme.

The play…

From the organisers’ point of view, the tournament got off to the best possible start when I rather unexpectedly defeated Curt Hansen in the first round. As can be seen in the games section, I secured a decisive grip on the c-file.

After that start, Curt never really got into the tournament. He did beat Grabow in round two, but then finished with seven draws. For my own part, as the tournament progressed I had to acknowledge that my opening preparation, especially with the black pieces, was not good enough. My defeat against Brynell, however, was entirely unnecessary. Sten Grabow showed his fighting spirit right from the start, and only time trouble prevented him from scoring half-points against Heine Nielsen in round one and Gausel in round three. Sten got off the mark in round five with a draw in an exciting, hard-fought game against Schneider.

Stellan Brynell began the tournament with 1 out of 6, but wins in rounds 7–9, including against the two local players, made his final score respectable. M. M. Ivanov’s result would have been better had he not lost a winning position against Brynell in the last round. Sune Berg Hansen beat the local players and won a good game against Larsen, but never seriously came close to a GM norm—this time.

Bent Larsen started and finished the tournament strongly, but five winless rounds in the middle cost him a place right at the top. Peter Heine Nielsen was, as always, well prepared theoretically and remained unbeaten. A. Schneider was in “frantic” time trouble in all his games, yet, surprisingly, the colourful Ukrainian also avoided defeat.

Einar Gausel was a deserving winner of the tournament, and at the same time secured the final grandmaster norm and the rating he needed. The foundations of his triumph were laid with four wins in rounds 2–5. From then on, Gausel steered the tournament safely home. He now becomes Norway’s third grandmaster, after Agdestein and Djurhuus.