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

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 The Benko Gambit, also known in some parts of the World as the Volga Gambit. For more information on this opening you can check out my ChessBase DVDs! 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 A variation that seems to be growing in popularity. 6...Bxa6 is more normal. 7.e4 0-0 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.Bd2 Bxa6 10.Bxa6 Qxa6 11.Qe2 e6 one of the points of this variation is that Black can quickly strike in the center with e6. It is not necessary at all to play d6. 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Qxa6 13.Be3!? 13...Nxa6 14.0-0 Nb4 Black has great play. His pawn center can start rolling, he has pressure on the queenside and White's coordination is not the best. 15.Rfd1 Nd3 16.Rab1 Ng4! Very active. White is consistently forced back. 17.Rf1 Bd4 18.Nxd4 cxd4 19.Nb5 Rxf2 20.Rxf2 Ngxf2 Black has recovered his pawn and holds a clear advantage. The pressure is not over yet! 21.e5 Ne4 22.Bh6 White is hoping that the dark square weaknesses around Black's king will cause some kind of problems, but he is in no position to make threats! Nxe5 23.Re1 d5 24.Nxd4 Ng4 25.Bc1 Kf7 The endgame is very difficult for White. Black's pawns are faster and are advancing instead of being static weaknesses. 26.a3 e5 27.Nf3 Ke6 28.b4 Ngf2 29.Ng5+ Nxg5 30.Kxf2 Ne4+ 31.Ke3 Rc8 32.Bb2 Nd6 33.Bc1 d4+ 34.Kd2 Kd5 White is absolutely helpless against the simple advance of the pawns! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Urkedal,F2517Lokander,M23650–12015A5844th Rilton Cup 2014-155.7
Luukkonen,T2334Sarandos,V22451–02015D1144th Rilton Cup 2014-156.24
Pettersson,A2280Habu,Y24151–02015D4344th Rilton Cup 2014-157.20
Habu,Y-Merkesvik,S-2015B76
Jare,D-Thingsbad,E-2015A11

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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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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 Nbd7 8.0-0-0 h6 9.Bf4 Nb6 10.Kb1 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 14.Bd3 Bxf3 15.gxf3 0-0-0 16.h4 g6 17.Ne2 Nh5 18.Rdg1 Qf6 19.f4 Kb8 20.Rg2 Rc8 21.Ng1 Qe7 22.Nf3 c5 23.dxc5 Rxc5 24.Qe2 Nf6 25.Rgg1 Rhc8 26.Rc1 Rxc1+ 27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kxc1 Ne4 29.Bxe4 dxe4 30.Ne5 Nd7 31.Nxd7+ Qxd7 32.Qd2 Qe7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hillarp Persson,T2544Roiz,M2592½–½2015D3644th Rilton Cup 2014-158.1
Hammer,J2640Grandelius,N25811–02015E5444th Rilton Cup 2014-158.2
Smirin,I2644Krasenkow,M26141–02015C6544th Rilton Cup 2014-158.3
Mikhalevski,V2571Romanov,E2638½–½2015A2044th Rilton Cup 2014-158.4
Turova,I2421Goganov,A26150–12015E3244th Rilton Cup 2014-158.5
Shimanov,A2591Blomqvist,E25250–12015B4044th Rilton Cup 2014-158.6
Bellia,F2420Turov,M25910–12015D7744th Rilton Cup 2014-158.7
Ivanov,S2559Westerberg,J24111–02015D2044th Rilton Cup 2014-158.8
Tikkanen,H2551Sagit,R2357½–½2015A1044th Rilton Cup 2014-158.9
Cramling,P2518Tari,A2485½–½2015D2544th Rilton Cup 2014-158.10
Semcesen,D2471Urkedal,F25170–12015E2644th Rilton Cup 2014-158.11
Lokander,M2365Hagen,A2430½–½2015D3544th Rilton Cup 2014-158.12
Goganov,A-Hammer,J-½–½2015C5344th Rilton Cup 2014-159.1
Blomqvist,E-Hillarp Persson,T-½–½2015B1144th Rilton Cup 2014-159.2
Roiz,M-Smirin,I-½–½2015A1544th Rilton Cup 2014-159.3
Romanov,E-Ivanov,S-½–½2015A2744th Rilton Cup 2014-159.4
Turov,M-Mikhalevski,V-1–02015D3544th Rilton Cup 2014-159.5
Urkedal,F-Grandelius,N-½–½2015E5244th Rilton Cup 2014-159.6
Krasenkow,M-Wallace,J-1–02015E9244th Rilton Cup 2014-159.7
Tikkanen,H-Turova,I-1–02015E2144th Rilton Cup 2014-159.8
Martynov,P-Cramling,P-0–12015B4044th Rilton Cup 2014-159.9
Tari,A-Lokander,M-1–02015C7444th Rilton Cup 2014-159.10
Sagit,R-Smith,A-0–12015B3044th Rilton Cup 2014-159.11
Hagen Skytte,A-Percivaldi,M-1–02015A2044th Rilton Cup 2014-159.12

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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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