Days 5-9 of the U20 Swedish Championship

Day 5

In round 5, I faced Alexander Ström-Engdahl. I chose a d6 Sicilian, and Alex responded with the Moscow variation. Although I had prepared for this and achieved a great position, Alex managed to equalize. In the time pressure, I made a critical mistake, leading to a losing endgame.

Jung Hyun Seo, fresh off his victory against Adrian Söderström, prepared a long and dull line in the Scotch against Axel Falkevall, resulting in a draw.

Adrian, meanwhile, faced Oliver Nilsson. Their game turned into an Anti-Marshall where Adrian sacrificed two pawns for a winning attack.

Day 6

This round, I played against Axel. We both had prepared over 20 moves in advance, and I had 1 hour and 40 minutes left on the clock. However, Axel prevailed with some novel ideas that hadn't been seen before.

Oliver played the Taimanov against Jung and initially gained a pawn advantage. However, he made a crucial mistake by taking Jung’s bishop and sacrificing a pawn, leading to his defeat.

The game between Anton Frank and Alexander Ström-Engdahl was a rollercoaster. Anton, playing the Rossolimo, out-prepared Alexander. It seemed like Anton would win, but after a risky piece sacrifice, both players blundered winning positions, and ultimately, Alexander secured the decisive advantage.

Day 7

On day 7, I managed to salvage a draw from a completely losing position against Anton. It wasn't the prettiest game, but playing under time pressure is never easy.

A more interesting game was between Oliver and Axel. Starting with an Exchange French that Oliver had studied, they ended up in an objectively equal double rook endgame. However, Axel once again prevailed.

Day 8

Axel, now in the lead, faced Anton. Although Anton was prepared... it wasn't enough. Axel had checked the Chessable course Anton used and found a weakness. He then prepared up to a decisive advantage and followed up by executing a beautiful queen sacrifice, almost securing the tournament victory.

I played against Hugo Wernberg, the only player who could challenge Axel. I ventured into an unfamiliar line in the English and ended up a pawn down. Luckily, I managed to turn it around and secure a threefold repetition with my active play.

Meanwhile, Oliver, coming off a four-game losing streak, used my favorite line against the Caro-Kann and won.

The Final Day

Axel only needed a draw to win the tournament and was playing against the lowest seed, Lavinia Valcu. However, Lavinia had by no means had an average tournament, having gained 70 elo points thus far. The game began with a Jobava london and Axel offered a draw early on, which Lavinia understandably accepted.

I’d like to congratulate Axel for the victory and he has now qualified for the strongest group in the swedish championship for next year.