8/13/2009 – The Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø ended last Sunday, with four players sharing the top score of 7.0/9 points. One of them, a 14-year-old lad, stood to make a GM norm. But to do so Ray Robson had to hold the Swedish Champion GM Emanuel Berg to a draw in the final round, with the black pieces. To compound matters Berg was desperate to win. Pictorial report by Misha Savinov.
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Tromsø – Arctic Chess Challenge 2009
Report and pictures by Misha Savinov
In Tromsø Ray stood to complete a GM norm, but he faced a daunting task.
In the final round he needed to at least draw, with the black pieces, against
the strongest Swedish grandmaster, who desperately wanted to win this game and
the Arctic Chess Challenge 2009. All Emanuel Berg required to emerge as the
sole winner of the event was to defeat the American wonderboy. No charitable
draw to be expected here.
Berg didn’t get much of an opening advantage, and the game quickly proceeded
to a heavy pieces ending that was objectively even. However, as the player approached
a rook ending, Robson began to err. Instead of creating a simple positional
draw, he advanced his passed pawn to a2, and ended up in a difficult situation.
Grandmasters outside the tournament hall relentlessly analyzed the subtleties
of the ending, finding winning lines for White and brilliant, study-like draws
for Black. However, the game ended without much firework – Berg proceeded
to a textbook drawn position with an extra pawn, Robson defended easily, and
they both joined Socko and Petrov on the shared first place.
The start of the critical game in the Arctic Challenge (position after 9...Bd7)
The game is over, Berg signs the scoresheet and Ray Robson has his first
GM norm
Mother Yee-Chen is delighted by her prodigy son's achievement
Afterwards the two sit down for a session of post mortem analysis
Soon he will have a GM in front of his name and will be an international
superstar
Background
Family Robson: Ray, Gary (a professor for applied linguistics) and Yee-Chen
Ray Robson was born on October 25, 1994 in Guam to Gary Robson, a professor
of applied linguistics at St. Petersburg College, and Yee-chen, a kindergarten
teacher at Country Day School. The family later moved to Largo, Florida where
they live today. An only child he learnt chess from his father at age three.
He attended public school for kindergarten, then a public school for the gifted
in first grade, then from grades 2-5 he was at a private Montessori school.
He started homeschooling in grade 6, and is now in 7th grade. Robson wants to
become a professional chess player, and his parents hoped for him to gain a
chess scholarship to college. [Source: Wikipedia]
Videos
Impressions of round nine (Berg vs Robson can be seen 1 min 55 sec into
the video)
Ray playing a simultaneous exhibition in which he beat 25 players at the
University
of Florida Chess Club, maintaining an undefeated record in his third simul.
To read, replay and analyse the PGN games we adivse you to download the
free PGN
reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access to the chess
server Playchess.com.
New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!
Previous ChessBase reports on Tromsø
Socko, Robson, Petrov and Berg win Arctic Challenge
11.08.2009 – This was the greatest performance
of her career: Polish GM Monika Socko shared first place with 14-year-old
IM Ray Robson of the US, Bulgarian IM Marijan Petrov and Sweden's top
GM Emanuel Berg. But she took the title on tiebreak points and with
a performance of 2639. We bring you a final report by IM Torstein Bae
with a beautiful Robson game and pictures
and videos from Tromsø.
Tromsø 2009 – Socko, Petrov and Robson lead 08.08.2009 – Make no mistake, it is GM Monika
Socko, not her top-rated husband Bartosz, who is leading the Arctic
Challenge with 6.0/7 and a 2703 performance. No less sensational is
that 14-year-old IM Ray Robson is sharing first with a 2679 performance.
The action is exciting ("hammer time") and the landscape lovely in the
land of the midnight sun. Big
illustrated report by Misha Savinov.
Tromsø 2009 – four lead in Arctic Chess Challenge
06.08.2009 – At the Arctic Chess Challenge
in Tromsø 120 players are competing in the year’s most prestigious Norwegian
event. After five of nine rounds there are four players in the lead.
Three are GMs, one a female, but the fourth is of particular interest:
14-year-old US American IM Ray Robson, whom some people are calling
the new Bobby Fischer. Pictorial
report by IM Torstein Bae.
Tromsø 2009 – the Arctic Chess Challenge 02.08.2009 – The Arctic Chess
Challenge in Tromsø is this year’s most prestigious event in Norway.
More than 35 titled players are taking part, including 13 GMs. Top seed
is Polish GM Bartosz Socko, rated 2656, with three more super-GMs just
below him. The tournament is truly an international open: the 118 participants
hail from 26 countries, and from all parts of the world. Pictorial
report.
Tromsø 2009 – the Arctic Chess Challenge 22.07.2009 – The city of Tromsø, located within
the Arctic Circle in Norway, has become a hot-bed of chess. Not only is
Tromsø bidding for the Chess Olympiad 2014 – every year they stage a very
attractive chess tournament in this beautiful location. This year the
Arctic Challenge will be staged from August 1st to 9th, with 132 entries
and lots of title holders – an ideal opportunity
to make norms.
Tromsø – a Chess Olympiad in the midnight sun? 18.11.2008 – It lies well within the Arctic
Circle and has a history of chess activity. Now the city of Tromsø is
bidding to host the 2014 Chess Olympiad in one of the most attractive
regions of Europe. A full presentation is being made at the Olympiad in
Dresden. We visited the city this summer and support their bid with some
WYSIWYG evidence of why it is ideally suited for an Olympiad. Photo
report.
Chess in the Arctic Circle – GM Igor Kurnosov triumphs 18.08.2008 – For the third time the Tromsø
Chess Club staged an International Open in the Arctic Circle. It ran from
August 2nd to 10th 2008, with sky high prizes, by Norwegian standards
(total prize fund 11,000 Euros). The venue is spectacular, the atmosphere
warm and generous. And the place is full of Carlsens: Magnus, Henrik,
Sigrun, Ellen, Ingrid and Signe. Part one of our big
pictorial report.
Moiseenko wins the Arctic Chess Challenge 12.08.2007 – In the end it was a super-GM who
took the unshared first place in the Tromsø Midnight Sun tournament: Alexander
Moiseenko of the Ukraine scored 7.5/9 to overtake the long-time leader,
"Mr Sunshine" Kjetil Lie, who had beaten him in round four. Top seed Magnus
Carlsen recovered from a poor start to share 2-4. Like his parents we
expect Magnus to scale the Store
Blåmannen.
Carlsen vs Carlsen – Magnus beats his dad 10.08.2007 – That is hardly a surprise, since
the 16-year-old is over six hundred points stronger than his first teacher.
But then again Henrik Carlsen has grounding powers... After seven rounds
of the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø it is Norwegian GM Kjetil A. Lie
who is in the lead, with 5.5 points, followed by four players with 5.0
points each. Report
with pictures and videos.
Second Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø 07.08.2007 – The Norwegian island town of Tromsø
lies well within the Arctic Circle, which means that this time of the
year the sun never sets. Tromsø is playing host to a strong GM tournament
from August 4th-12th, 2007. Top seed is Magnus Carlsen, who rushed in
from his victory in Biel and did not have a great start here (3.0/4, place
ten). Two other GMs, Macieja and Lie, lead with 4.0/4. Round
four report.
Shipov wins Midnight Sun, Carlsen second 03.07.2006 – The Midnight Sun Chess Challenge
in Tromsø, Norway, was won by Russian GM Sergei Shipov, who scored 7.5
points in nine rounds. Second was fifteen-year-old Magnus Carlsen with
7.0, who beat Leif Erland Johannessen on tiebreak points. We bring you
a final report with pictures from Whale's
Island.
Carlsen leads the Midnight Sun Challenge 28.06.2006 – A fifteen-year-old super-grandmaster,
blessed with an Elo of 2646, is leading the Midnight Sun Chess Challenge
in Tromsø. Magnus Carlsen of Norway looks set to break a few new records
with the form that he is showing these days. The event is being held well
within the Arctic Circle, where at this time of year the nights are bright
as day. Misha
Savinov reports.
Midnight Sun Chess Challenge in Tromsø 26.06.2006 – There are parts in the world where,
during a certain period of the year, the sun never sets. The northern
Norwegian town of Tromsø, which lies well within the Arctic Circle, is
one such place. From June 24th to July 2nd, in the middle of the midnight
sun period, it is holding chess festival with GMs like Krasenkow and Magnus
Carlsen. Big
illustrated report.
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