Kavalek in Huffington: Chess Feast in Norway

Chess Feast in Norway

By GM Lubomir Kavalek

Ever since he became the world's top rated grandmaster, Carlsen has been responsible for the chess boom in his native country. Next year in August Norway will also organize the Chess Olympiad in Tromsø.

Some people may think that my connection to Norwegian chess is my having pronounced Magnus Carlsen "The Mozart of Chess" in January 2004 in my Washington Post column. But it goes way back. Let's meet some players from the pre-Magnus era.

Things started to look brighter in Norway with the appearance of Simen Agdestein. He almost won the Junior World Championship in Gausdal in 1986, played at nine olympiads, mostly on the top board. He also played soccer for the national team, until a knee injury forced him out. His brother Espen, also a member of the Olympiad team, is now Carlsen's manager. Simen was one of Carlsen's first coaches.

A half century ago, during my first international tournament, the 1963 Zonal in Halle, Germany, I played against two Norwegians. Svein Johannessen was Norway's top player in the period 1960-70. He was known for chasing the Spanish bishop to death (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5) and scoring many points. He even dared to spring it on Bobby Fischer in Havana in 1966.

Brilliancy and best game prize

The second player in Halle was Per Ofstad, a talented attacker with a plethora of wild ideas. I was able to use Ofstad's pawn sacrifice two years later against the Soviet master German Khodos at the 1965 Student Olympiad in Sinaia, Rumania. The game won the prize for the most beautiful/ best game. It was the second time I won this award at the Student Olympiads, both times against Soviet players. My game with Edward Gufeld became my signature game.

From all the sacrifices Khodos chose to accept only the Ofstad's pawn. He avoided other sacrifices – mostly deflections – of both knights, a bishop, a rook and a queen that were part of the game. When I finally forced him to take something, he resigned.

Ofstad's astonishing mate

If there ever was a chess troll, surprising players when they least expected it, it must have been Per Ofstad. The 1961 champion of Norway claimed many victims with his flamboyant style. He looked serious, sometimes sad, when there was nothing to sacrifice. But give him active pieces and his mood would change immediately. Correct or not, his attacks had flair. His ideas and combinations were stunning. Wolfgang Uhlmann would certainly remember the game against him from Halle. He could have claimed a draw, but got greedy and Ofstad finished the game with a beautiful pure mate.

Image of Tromsø by Bård Løken

Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post

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