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News & Notes
By ICCF GM Yoav Dothan

Today (15 July 2006) was the last round of the Norwegian Championship : Carlsen leads by one point and a draw is enough to get the title. He plays with Ostenstad that is rated (by the Norwegian rating) 227 points below him, so the mission should not be too complicated. Chess would not be so interesting if only the expected happens, and so we see a game dominated by Ostenstad almost from the first move. He steers safely to a justified win. Simen Agdestein wins in the final round which should set up a playoff between the two players.

Berge Ostenstad 2489 - Magnus Carlsen 2716
Landsturneringen 2006 Moss (9), 2006

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6 The usual is d5. 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qd1 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 0–0 9.Nc3 d6 10.Nh3 Ne5 11.b3 c6 12.Rd1 Qa5 13.0–0 Kh8

The opening is over : White has an advantage. 14.Nf4 Bf5 15.e4 Bh7 16.Nfe2 Rad8 17.Qb2 Rfe8 18.Rd4 d5 19.cxd5 cxd5 20.b4 [20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.exd5 could be better] 20...Qb6 21.exd5 Bd3 22.Rd1 Nfg4 [22...Nc4 23.Qb3 Bxe2 24.Nxe2 Nd6 also is good for White] 23.Qd2 Nxf2 I think that the idea is wrong. Black is already in a complicated situation, but this hastens the end. Playing a move like Rc8 indicates that Black knows that the whole setup is not correct. 24.Kxf2 Ng4+ 25.Kg1 Bxe2 26.Nxe2 Ne3 27.Nc3 Nxd1 28.Nxd1

28...Re5 [28...Re2 should be considered. 29.Qxe2 Qxd4+ 30.Nf2 Qxb4 31.Bf3 is certainly better than the actual game] 29.Nf2 Rc8 30.Bf3 f5 31.Kg2 Rd8 32.d6 Rd7 33.h4 [33.Qf4!] 33...Re6 34.Qf4 Rexd6 35.Rxd6 Qxd6 36.Qxf5 g6 37.Qc2 Kg7 38.a3 b6 39.Ne4 Qe5 40.Nf2 Is this a draw offer? Black could play Qd6 wishing for a repetition... 40...Rc7 41.Qd2 Qc3 42.Qe2 Qf6 43.h5 gxh5 44.Bxh5 Re7 45.Qd3 Qg5 46.Bf3 Qe3 47.Qd8 Re8 48.Qd1 Re7 49.Ng4 Qg5 50.Qd4+ Kf7 51.Qd6 Re6 52.Qd7+ Qe7 [52...Re7] 53.Qd4 Kg6 54.Bd5 Re2+ 55.Kf3 Re1 56.Be4+ Black resigns

Correspondence chess news:

Entries close on 15.08.06 for the newest Thematic Tournament, the Sokolsky Opening (1. b4) – hosted on ICCF Webserver. If you ever wanted to try out different openings against international opponents without risking valuable rating points, then this might be the solution for you. Best of all, you can enter the tournament using the Direct Entry solution – all online at http://www.iccf-webchess.com/ under the “New Events” section. Just click “Enter” to get started today.

If you wish a regular tournament (where you can choose your own first move..) you can find the Open Class tournament in the same site. This is the 1st level of ICCF Promotion tournaments. These are regularly started tournament sections where entries are continuously accepted. Open Class tournaments are offered via postal, e-mail, and web-server playing methods. The Open Class tournament falls under the responsibility of the Non-Title Tournaments Commissioner. If you win your section, you are eligible for entry into the next section (Higher Class).

The $16,000 open-to-all chess tournament where you are encouraged to use computers, friends and all the books in your house.

Would you like to play in a grandmaster tournament? From your home and for a substantial prize fund? With a guarantee that you will not disgrace yourself? Then think about joining the PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament, where anything goes. Where computer assistance is not forbidden, but is positively encouraged. Full details about the event that took place in 7.2006 you can find in http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3232.