Siem Van Dael: Unorthodox openings lead to success

Unorthodox

With an Elo-rating of 2285 Van Dael was not among the top favourites at the Young Champions Tournament in Uppsala. He started with 2 out of 2 but then lost against IM Milton Pantzar.

But Van Dael recovered quickly and in round four he smashed his opponent out of the opening – despite playing 1.h4.

Van Dael also won in round five, but in this game fortune was very much on his side. Van Dael played with Black against the much higher rated Austrian Felix Blohberger, and was lucky to win a clearly lost position.

Inspired by this win Van Dael scored 2½/3 in rounds six to eight, and in the last round therefore needed only a draw against Jung Min Seo to win the tournament.

Throughout most of the game Seo had a clear advantage but he did not find a way to convert, and after 83 moves, when only the two kings remained on the board, he had to content himself with a draw.

This draw helped Van Dael to win the tournament with a score of 7.0/9. His opening experiments and his unorthodox and creative play had paid off.

The top three IM Milton Pantzar, Siem Van Dael and Jakub Kusa

Final standings

			NAMe		KLUBB		RANKING 1/10			SP		+		=		-		POÄNG		KV.P
	1		FM Siem Van Dael		Netherlands		2285			9		6		2		1		7.0		46.50
	2		IM Milton Pantzar		Västerås SK		2410			9		5		3		1		6.5		47.00
	3		Jakub Kusa		Czech Republic		2233			9		5		3		1		6.5		45.50
	4		FM Jung Min Seo		Stockholms SS		2455			9		4		5		0		6.5		42.50
	5		IM Felix Blohberger		Austria		2467			9		6		1		2		6.5		40.50
	6		FM Isak Storme		SS Manhem		2393			9		5		2		2		6.0		42.00
	7		FM Kaan Küçüksarı		Lunds ASK		2384			9		5		2		2		6.0		39.50
	8		FM Hampus Sörensen		Team Pelaro Alingsås SS		2393			9		4		3		2		5.5		46.00
	9		FM Marek Mica		Czech Republic		2294			9		4		3		2		5.5		36.00
	10		CM Adrian Söderström		Fagerviks SK		2168			9		4		2		3		5.0		44.50
	11		FM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson		Iceland		2313			9		4		2		3		5.0		42.50
	12		WIM Annmarie Muetsch		Germany		2226			9		3		4		2		5.0		41.50
	13		Axel Falkevall		Trojanska Hästen		2121			9		4		2		3		5.0		41.00
	14		Adam Frank		Czech Republic		2129			9		2		6		1		5.0		38.50
	15		WFM Ellen Fredericia Nilssen		Denmark		2209			9		2		6		1		5.0		38.00
	16		FM Richard Stalmach		Czech Republic		2296			9		4		2		3		5.0		36.50
	17		FM Hilmir Freyr Heimisson		Iceland		2352			9		4		2		3		5.0		35.50
	18		Jachym Nemec		Czech Republic		2246			9		3		3		3		4.5		42.50
	19		WIM Viktoria Radeva		Bulgaria		2263			9		3		3		3		4.5		42.50
	20		Daniel Johnson		SSK Hammarö		2100			9		4		1		4		4.5		40.50
	21		CM Ludvig Carlsson		Västerås SK		2281			9		3		3		3		4.5		38.00
	22		William Olsson		Örgryte SK		2192			9		3		3		3		4.5		36.50
	23		FM Joakim Nilsson		Uppsala SSS		2224			9		4		1		4		4.5		36.00
	24		WFM Monika Rozman		Slovenia		2129			9		2		5		2		4.5		34.50
	25		FM Arthur Kruckenhauser		Austria		2301			9		2		5		2		4.5		33.50
	26		CM Edvin Trost		SK Rockaden, Sthlm		2202			9		3		2		4		4.0		41.00
	27		CM Hugo Wernberg		Wasa SK		2211			9		3		2		4		4.0		40.00
	28		WIM Zala Urh		Slovenia		2195			9		3		2		4		4.0		39.50
	29		WIM Ivana Hrescak		Slovenia		2237			9		3		2		4		4.0		36.50
	30		CM Leo Crevatin		SK Rockaden, Sthlm		2181			9		1		6		2		4.0		36.00
	31		Pia Marie Ruzic		Slovenia		1929			9		3		2		4		4.0		29.50
	32		Vidar Grahn		Trojanska Hästen		1864			9		2		3		4		3.5		29.50
	33		Arvin Rasti		Team Pelaro Alingsås SS		2201			9		2		2		5		3.0		40.00
	34		Karel Brozka		Czech Republic		2216			9		2		2		5		3.0		35.50
	35		Jung Hyun Seo		Trojanska Hästen		1936			9		3		0		6		3.0		35.00
	36		Joar Östlund		Wasa SK		2106			9		3		0		6		3.0		34.00
	37		Victor Muntean		SSK Hammarö		1968			9		2		1		6		2.5		30.50
	38		Warg Skåhlberg Bjerknes-Lima de Fa		Uppsala SSS		1759			9		2		1		6		2.5		28.00
	39		Matthäus Buchert		Uppsala SSS		1427			9		2		0		7		2.0		27.50
	40		Julia Östensson		Uppsala SSS		1562			9		1		1		7		1.5		27.50

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