Swedish Blitz Championship 2025 My Journey

From Coaching to Competing

I’m not an active player these days.
For the past few years, my focus has been on chess coaching, helping others improve. That’s been my way of keeping in touch with the game — engaged, but far from the frontlines.
But this weekend, I couldn’t resist signing up for the Swedish Blitz Championship in Norrköping.
My expectations weren’t high. Being a rusty veteran is never ideal, especially in blitz, where making split-second decisions under pressure is a skill that demands regular upkeep.

Getting There in Style

Me and my wife Alicha had just received our freshly printed Pawnstructures.com hoodies a few days before the tournament.
It was an early morning departure from Filipstad, but we decided to treat it as a weekend getaway.
Since the tournament started at 19:00 and ran until 22:00, we checked in at Elite Hotel to make the most of the trip and avoid the late-night travel , which would have been impossible anyway.

Round 5

A Test Against the Reigning Champ

I started with 3/4 against moderately rated opponents, and then the temperature suddenly started to rise.
I was paired against FM Vidar Grahn, 19 years old, the reigning Swedish Blitz Champion (2024), and Sweden’s representative at the World Blitz Championship in New York last year.
I played with confidence but out of respect for my young, well-prepared opponent, I decided to avoid theory by choosing a quiet sideline vs the Sicilian:
1.e4 c5 2.Be2
After a tense middlegame, pieces got exchanged and I found myself in a comfortable pawn endgame. His position soon collapsed.

Round 6

A Queen Sacrifice

I had advanced through the field to table 4. I had the white pieces against Kim Nygren (CM). His name was already familiar; he frequently finishes on top in Swedish rapid and blitz events.
It was a duel between two Candidate Masters, and again I played against the Sicilian. This time I played the regular Open Sicilian, with Kim choosing the Najdorf.
The game soon got complex. I sacrificed my queen in the late opening stage but got serious compensation, and he couldn’t hold the position.

Round 7

Next Generation Terminator

Another dangerous opponent awaited on board 3: Lucas Sandberg.
He’s only 16 years old, but already rated 2321 and seeded 4th in this 78-player field.
Lucas has been dominating the blitz scene in Göteborg lately, so this was another serious test.
It was an opposite-side castling game with both players going all-in on the kingside.
It was very sharp, and somewhere in a heated time scramble, he made a mistake and soon lost on time.
I kept my cool and walked away quietly with the full point, pushing my score to 6/7.

Round 8

Final Stretch

Playing on table 1 for the first time in the tournament, I faced IM Jung Min Seo (2451), the newly crowned 2025 Swedish Classical Champion.
He secured an edge early, maintained control throughout, and I was never close to getting back into the game.
He kept scoring and went on to win the tournament with a dominant 10/11.
After that, I couldn’t quite recover the momentum and lost my remaining rounds.

Final Thoughts

Jumping back into competitive play for an evening was a lot of fun, testing my game against some of the best blitz players of today. It was absolutely worth it.
Thanks to everyone following the journey.

CM Richard Persson
Pawnstructures.com