Hammer takes the Rilton Cup

by Alejandro Ramirez
1/6/2015 – It came down to the wire as the winner was defined by the Buchholz Tie-Break system, but at the end it was Jon Ludvig Hammer from Norway who narrowly bested Tiger Hillarp Persson to take first place. A big tie for third was also broken by Buchholz. We bring you the final games as well as the best game prizes, in which Shogi player Habu Yoshiharu was both a victim and an executor!

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The Rilton Cup is Sweden's biggest and most famous international chess tournament. It was originally initiated by a donation from a doctor, Tore Rilton, and since 1985 the tournament is financially secure. A special challenge prize, donated by SEB Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, is the Rilton-medal in genuine gold. The tournament has over the years been very helpful for talented Swedish juniors.

The 43rd Rilton Cup is being held from 27th of December, 2014 until January 5th, 2015. The event has several categories... the top section is only for players above 2200! There are certatin exceptions granted for talented youth, but very few are given. The first prize is of 20,000 SEK, or 2100 Euro.

First let's start with the best game prizes:

Replay Best Game Prizes 5-9

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

After drawing Michael Roiz from Israel, tournament leader after seven rounds Tiger Hillarp Persson was caught by Jon Ludvig Hammer; the Norwegian vanquished Nils Grandelius and assumed the lead of the event. Ilia Smirin and Aleksey Goganov trailed by only half a point as both were victors in the eigth round of play, defeating Michael Krasenkow and Irina Turova, respectively.

The last round had the leaders in the defensive role: Both of them were playing black against tough opposition. Hammer had no problems forcing a draw against Goganov; actually instead of taking the three-fold repetition Black might have claimed a small edge in the final position.

Hillarp Persson faced his countryman, Erik Blomqvist. It looked scary for Black for some time, but at the end a stubborn defense yielded a draw.

Thte tournament was then decided by the magic of numbers, with Bucholz being the deciding factor. Hammer was the winner by two break points!

The winner circle: GMs Jon Ludvig Hammer,
Tiger Hillarp Persson, Maxim Turov, Ilya Smirin and Michael Roiz

The winner of the Rilton Cup 2014/15 was Jon Ludvig Hammer on two tiebreak points

Magnus Eriksen was the winner of the Rilton ELO or "B group"

Carl Johan Arbeus took the C group (under 1600)

Final Standings

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts.
1 Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2640 7.0
2 Hillarp Persson Tiger SWE 2544 7.0
3 Roiz Michael ISR 2592 6.5
4 Turov Maxim RUS 2591 6.5
5 Smirin Ilia ISR 2644 6.5
6 Goganov Aleksey RUS 2615 6.5
7 Blomqvist Erik SWE 2525 6.5
8 Krasenkow Michal POL 2614 6.0
  Ivanov Sergey RUS 2559 6.0
10 Grandelius Nils SWE 2581 6.0
11 Urkedal Frode NOR 2517 6.0
12 Romanov Evgeny RUS 2638 6.0
13 Tari Aryan NOR 2485 6.0
14 Tikkanen Hans SWE 2551 6.0
15 Smith Axel SWE 2479 6.0
16 Cramling Pia SWE 2518 6.0
17 Hagen Andreas Skytte DEN 2430 6.0
18 Mikhalevski Victor ISR 2571 5.5
19 Shimanov Aleksandr RUS 2591 5.5
20 Lokander Martin SWE 2365 5.0

Photos by Lars OA Hedlund

Replay Rounds 8 & 9

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Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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