Agony Column #8
This week's pair of games are by Tomas Yttling (pictured) who is from Boden, a small town in the north of Sweden.

Tomas, who is in his late thirties, was taught chess at about the age of five by his grandfather and soon joined the local chess club which will celebrate its centenary in November. He moved away from Boden and took a break from chess from his late teens onwards but returned to Boden in 2007 and rediscovered his love of chess. He has two sons Erik (b.2008) and Nils (b. 2010), whom ” I've both taught chess - they love the "Play Magnus" app!“.
A good club player - his current rating is 1922 and he has been about 2000, Tomas says that: “ My playing style was always quite wild - I loved the game of the old masters of the romantic era - but it seems that age has mellowed my taste and I find myself playing more positional games.”
Indeed, he has a good feel for pawn structure and both games feature black square binds. In the "Agony", he established a winning position against a higher rated player but then bottled it (*), offering a draw. In the "Ecstasy" he carried out his positional plan to its logical conclusion in an endgame with a terrific knight against a terrible bishop.
(* I realise that bottled it is highly colloquial for an international forum. in English - rather than American English - it's slang for to lose your nerve at the last moment. I had to look up the etymology myself and it's a bit inconclusive)
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 d6 5...d5 6.f4 Nf6 7.Nf3 Ba6 8.e5 Nd7 9.0-0 Be7 10.b3 0-0 11.Re1 c4 12.dxc4 dxc4 13.Ne4 Qc7 14.Qe2 c5 15.Qf2 Rfd8 16.Bb2 Bb7 17.Nfd2 cxb3 18.axb3 Nb6 19.c4 Rd3 20.Re3 Rxe3 21.Qxe3 a5 22.Ba3 Nd7 23.Nc3 Qc6 24.Qf2 f6 25.Nf3 fxe5 26.fxe5 Rf8 27.Nb5 Rf5 28.Bb2 Nf8 29.Nd6 Bxd6 30.exd6 Qxd6 31.Rxa5 Ng6 32.Qd2 Qxd2 33.Nxd2 Nf4 34.Nf3 Nd3 35.Bc3 e5 36.Ne1 Nc1 6.f4 Rb8?! 6...Ne7 7.Nf3 Ng6 8.0-0 Be7 7.b3 g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.e5! 9...Ne7 9...dxe5 10.fxe5 f5 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Bd2 12.Bb2?! Nd5 13.Na4 Bxb2 14.Nxb2 Qf6 15.Nc4 Qc3+ 16.Kf2 12...Nd5 13.Ne4 0-0 14.0-0 10.Ne4 Nf5 11.g4 11.Qd2 d5 11...c4 12.Ba3 12.Nxc5 Bf8 13.d4! 13.Ba3 Rb5 14.d4 Qa5 15.Qxa5 Rxa5 16.Bb4 Rb5 17.c3 Ne3 18.a4 Rb8 13...Bxc5 14.dxc5 11...d5 12.gxf5 dxe4 13.f6 Bxf6 14.dxe4 Be7 15.Qxd8+ Kxd8 16.c4 16...a5 17.Bd2 17.Kd2 Kc7 18.Kc3 a4 19.Be3 Rf8 20.Ne1 17...a4 18.Ba5+ 18.Rb1 18...Ke8 19.Rb1 h6 20.h4 Kf8 20...Ra8 21.Bc7 axb3 22.axb3 Ra2 23.0-0 g5 21.Bc7 Rb7 22.Bd6 Rd7 23.Bxe7+ Kxe7 24.Ke2 Ba6 25.Rhd1 Rb7 26.Kd2 Rhb8 27.Kc3 Rb4 28.Nd2! 28.Ne1? axb3 29.axb3 Bxc4 28.Kc2 Ra8 29.Ne1 axb3+ 30.axb3 Bxc4 31.bxc4 Rxc4+ 28...Rf8?! 28...axb3 29.axb3 28...Ra8 29.a3 Rb7 30.bxa4 Rxb1 31.Rxb1 Bc8 32.Rc1 Rxa4 33.Kb2 Ba6 34.Nb3 Rxc4 35.Rxc4 Bxc4 36.Nxc5 29.a3 Rb7 30.bxa4 f5 31.Rxb7+ Bxb7 32.Rg1 32.Rg1 fxe4 33.Nxe4 Rxf4 34.Nxc5 34.Nd6 Ba6 35.Rxg6 Rf3+ 36.Kd2 Rxa3 37.Rxh6 Rxa4 38.Rh7+ Kf8 39.Ra7 Ra2+ 40.Kc3 Bxc4 41.Rf7+ Kg8 42.Kxc4 Re2 43.Kxc5 Rxe5+ 44.Kxc6 34...Bc8 35.Rxg6 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Yttling,B | 1774 | Anders Öhman,S | 1974 | ½–½ | 2012 | B23 | Boden GP | |
Please, wait...
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 5...Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 6.Bb3 Nxe4 7.Re1 7.d4 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 7...Nc5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Rxe5+ Ne6 10.Qf3 Rb8 11.d4 Be7 12.c3 Bf6 13.Re1 0-0 14.Bc2 g6 14...Re8 15.Nd2 d5 15.Bh6 Bg7 16.Bxg7 Nxg7 17.b4 d5? 18.Nd2 Rb6 19.a4 Rf6 20.Qg3 20...Nf5? 20...Bf5 21.Bxf5! Bxf5 22.a5! Re6 23.Rxe6 Bxe6 24.Nb3 Bc8 25.Re1 Re8 26.Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.Qe5 Qxe5 28.dxe5 f6 28...g5 29.f3 Kg7 30.Kf2 f6 31.exf6+ Kxf6 32.Ke3 Ke5 33.Nc5 29.f4 Kf7 30.Nc5 fxe5 31.fxe5 g5 32.Kf2 Kg6 33.Ke3 h5 34.g3 Kf5 35.e6! Kf6 36.Kd4 c6 37.h4 g4 38.Kd3 Ke7 39.Ke3 Kd6 40.Kd4 Bxe6 41.Nxa6 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Tomas Yttling,B | 1843 | Stig Asplund,B | 1802 | 1–0 | 2015 | C78 | BSK KM 2015 | 1 |
Please, wait...
Many thanks for all of your games and comments and please keep them coming. However, I'm away this week at the World Senior Team Championship in Dresden and have only limited access to my email account so may not reply until the middle of next week.
About the author
Jon was born in 1956 and became a professional player in 1977 after graduating from Worcester College Oxford where he read mathematics. He became an IM in 1977 a GM in 1980 and was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980-2006. Three times British Champion he played twice in the Candidates reaching the semi-final (of what was then a knockout series of matches) in 1989 when he lost 4.5 - 3.5 to Jan Timman. He's twice been a second at the world championship for Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995. He's written for the Observer (weekly) since 1993 and The Independent since 1998. With its closure (going online, but without Jon on board) he's expanding online activity and is also now offering online tuition. He likes puzzles especially (cryptic) crosswords and killer sudokus. If you'd like to contact Jon, then please write to jonathan@speelman.demon.co.uk |

|