The dauntingly named Faaborg-Midtfyn Cup took place from February 2nd to 4th, 2007, on the Danish island of Funen. It was a four-player double round robin rapid blindfold event, i.e. with fast time controls of 25 mins + 20 secs and with the players not looking at a board. They had to enter their moves on a computer screen which only showed an empty chessboard.
Hvedholm Castle in Faaborg, where the event was held
The island of Funen, which the Danes call Fyn, is the second largest in Denmark, with a population of 450,000 permanent residents and untold numbers of tourists that flock to it during the summer months. Funen is the Hans Christian Andersen, the inventor of modern fairy tales.
The setup, here with Carlsen and Nielsen – the players enter their moves
on a notebook computer that only displays an empty board. The opponent receives
the move in algebraic notation.
Emanuel Berg vs Steffen Pedersen
Nielsen vs Berg in the preliminaries
In the preliminaries the favourites Magnus Carlsen and Peter Heine Nielsen both finished on 4/6. The two faced off in a final, which Carlsen won 2-0. GM Emanuel Berg finished third, ahead of Steffen Pedersen.
Analysing after the game (with board and pieces!)
The four protagonists: Berg, Carlsen, Nielsen and Pedersen
The winner got – a book.
But it is a copy of "Bent Larsen: 50 selected games”, which organizer Svend Novrup has handed him. Magnus appears even more pleased than with the 10.000 Kroner (€1340 or $1,730) first prize.
