Rilton Winners' Cup

GM Mikhail Gurevich - GM Krishnan Sasikiran 1/2-1/2

The Soviet-born Belgian GM Mikhail Gurevich, the winner of the Rilton Cup in 1987/1988 drew his White game in the English Four Knights line with the less common 4.a3 against the Rilton Cup winner of 2016/2017, the Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran.

GM Mikhail Gurevich. Photo: en.wikipedia.org.

GM Krishnan Sasikirian. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

After the game, Sasikiran pointed out that on "move number 16 where I played f5.simpler was just Bf8 with an equal game. On move number 19 where my opponent played a4 instead he could go Qa4 stopping the exchange of Bishops and on Move number 25 where i played b5 eliminating my weakness on b6. Instead h5 intending to pursue a king side initiative might have been stronger."

IM Michael Wiedenkeller - GM Yuri Yakovich 1/2-1/2

The Swedish IM playing for Luxemburg, Michael Wiedenkeller, the winner of the Rilton Cup in 1985/1986 drew his opening game in his first ever encounter against the Russian GM Yuri Yakovich who used to be a regular at the Rilton Cup. After the game Yakovich mentioned that "I got an unpleasant position after opening. For example, 19.Rd7 gave White a significant advantage. But Michael hesitated and I managed to equalize the game.".

GM Michael Wiedenkeller. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Yuri Yakovich. Photo: en.wikipedia.org.

Asked about his memories of his win at the Rilton Cup in 2000/2001, Yakovich recalled: "I have always taken part in the Rilton Cup with great pleasure, several times I shared first place and was prizewinner. In 2001, I managed to win the tournament, despite the fact that on December 31 (!) I dropped the flag vs. McShane in an absolutely won position. I managed to win a lot of interesting games in that tournament (against Gleizerov, Hector, Skytte etc.) and it was very pleasant to win this tournament in the end."

After the game Wiedenkeller reported: "My preparation ended with Nge2, and I liked the position. I felt happy with the opening, but then he played strongly and I lost my initiative, maybe around move 19 as he suggested."

"Rilton 1986 in Medborgarhuset in south of Stockholm! I remember that event very well. I must say that I was fortunate in some different ways. I won against Caspar Carlesen on walk over and I won against Mats Sjoberg the same day as he lost another adjourned game with Rook against Rook and Bishop!" Wiedenkeller recalled his win at the Rilton Cup.

Asked why he plays for Luxemburg, he responded: "I am a swedish citizen who works for a Swedish bank in Luxembourg. Since Luxembourg allowed me to play for them I took that opportunity. It was thought to be temporary, but now it has been like this for many years. If I had the rating to play in the swedish national team I would do that, maybe I can do that as a Senior player after 60.'"

GM Sergey Volkov - GM Michal Krasenkow 1-0

The most crowned match is the one between two-time Rilton Cup winner GM Sergey Volkov from Russia (2004/2005 and 2010/2011) and the only three-time winner in the 49 years long history of the tournament, the Polish GM Michal Krasenkow who managed to win the Rilton Cup back-to-back in 1994/1995 and 1995/1996 as well as in 2012/2013 again.

GM Sergey_Volkov. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Michail_Krasenkow. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

In a complicated game without bishops, Volkov came out on top. Krasenkow will be in a must-win situation in his White game today.

GM Ralf Åkesson - GM Sergey Ivanov 1-0

In a topical line, the Swedish GM Ralf Åkesson, the winner of the Rilton Cups in 1982/1983 and 21 years later in 2003/2004) managed to beat the Russian GM and Rilton-regular Sergey Ivanov, winner of the Rilton Cup in 1999/2000.

GM Ralf Åkesson. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Sergey Ivanov. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

After the game, Åkesson commented: "Sergey Ivanov is a tough opponent. According to my database we have played 7 times, with a reasonably level score: 4-3 to Ivanov (+3, =2, -2). Four of those games have been in the Rilton Cup. The critical moments were in the early middlegame when it should have been completely ok for Black. Then I really liked my attack with Nf6!. The queen was perfectly placed on g3, x-raying Rb8 and creating threats along the g-file. Even the sacrifice Qxg7+ was in the air." Asked about his Rilton Cup experience he shared: "I have played the tournament 36 times! (I made an exact calculation earlier.) Considering the number of starts it's perhaps not too surprising that I have managed to win the tournament also. In 2003/2004 I got the same number of points as De Firmian (USA) and Nybäck (Fin) but I was the lucky tiebreak winner."

"It's a great traditional tournament with a solid financial foundation. The importance of the tournament for Swedish chess, and in particular for young Swedish players, cannot be underestimated." Åkesson said about the role of the Rilton Cup for Swedish chess. "It was a big pity that the 50th jubilee edition could not take place as normal. However, this Winners' Cup is a nice substitute."

GM Ivanov also answered some questions after his game:

You lost to GM Ralf Åkesson today. Where did it go wrong?

In the first game black against GM Ralf Åkesson, I prepared a new opening system for myself: the Vienna variation of the Queen's gambit with the move 5...b5, which is quite popular at the moment. I got a good position in the middlegame, but I made a very bad move 22...Qb5?, for some reason I thought that taking the c4 pawn by the rook was impossible... Instead, continue 22...Qa5 23.Nc3 (23.Rc4? Bd5-+) 23...c5! 24.dc5 Qc5 gave black the advantage of two bishops and excellent prospects. In the future, Ralf could immediately win by 24.d5! Bd5 25.Rg4±, but he did not miss the advantage and achieved a well-deserved victory with an energetic play.

You are a regular guest at the Rilton Cup. Have you played against Ralf before?

Yes, of course, I have calculated that we have met Akesson seven times: four times in the Rilton Cup, twice in the Elitserien and once in the robin tournament at the Hotel Hasselbacken. I've won three games, lost two games, and drawn two, so Ralf and I have a long history of chessboard meetings...))

You started this century by winning the 1999/2000 Rilton Cup edition. What do you remember about that tournament?

Of course, I remember that tournament very well, I played in the Rilton Cup for the first time and won it immediately! I remember two interesting games from that tournament: the enchanting victory over Heikki Westerinen from Finland - this was the last chess game in the outgoing century, and our battle with Ralf Akesson in the Anti-meran variation of the Slav defense, these games were published in the magazine "New in chess" later (see the attached file, unfortunately, I found my comments only in Russian).

How did it start that you came to play in Sweden so often?

I first came to Sweden in 1998 - my old friend (since our life in Russia) Evgenij Agrest invited me to play in the Swedish Club Championship. Since then we has become tenfold (!!!) Champions in Elitserien with the teams Sollentuna and Team Viking, I would like to express my gratitude to our managers Lennart Brorson and Peter Hlawatch for these wonderful years. I also started playing in the Rilton Cup all the time, I've only missed two tournaments since 1999. My wife, children and grandchildren already know that in the New year they can communicate with me exclusively on Skype...)) I have been playing chess in Russia and in many countries of the world for many years - but I like to play in Sweden, you play interesting, juicy, combat chess, tournaments are perfectly organized, so I will be happy to play again and share my experience when this whole story with the coronavirus pandemic is over...

You are a coach at the St. Petersburg Chess School. Tell us about the school and chess life in St. Petersburg.

Yes, that's right, I continue to work as a coach at the chess school of the St. Petersburg Palace of children's creativity, where such stars as Botvinnik, Spassky, Korchnoi, Taimanov, Khalifman and many others studied and worked. Among my pupils are grandmasters Nikita Vitiugov (in January of this year I helped him in a tournament in Wijk-an-Zee, where he played against Carlsen, Caruana, Anand...), Maxim Matlakov (2017 European men's champion, Russian national team player), Alexander Shimanov, Alexey Goganov and many other young and talented chess players. In this difficult year, we were able to hold the children's, men's and women's Championships of St. Petersburg, the individual and team Championships of Russia... And a few days ago I returned from Moscow, where the Team Botvinnik Cup was held in the Central house of chess: grandmasters gave simultaneous games to children, a few photos are attached. So chess life goes on, despite all the difficulties!

GM Evgenij Agrest - GM Tamir Nabaty 0-1

The winner of the Rilton Cup in 2001/2002, the Swedish GM Evgenij Agrest lost his White game against the winner of 2018/2019, the Israeli GM Tamir Nabaty and will have to strike back today as Black to stay in the match.

GM Evgenij Agrest. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Tamir Nabaty. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Harry Schüssler - GM Joel Benjamin 1/2-1/2

The participant who won a Rilton Cup the longest ago is the Swedish GM Harry Schüssler who won in 1978/1979. He drew his opening game against the winner of the Rilton Cup in 1996/1997, the American GM Joel Benjamin who answered some questions for our website after his game:

GM Harry_Schüssler. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Joel_Benjamin. Photo: uschesschamps.com.

How did your game against GM Harry Schüssler go today?

The game went back and forth. Harry was winning early and then I missed my chances. So it was a fair result, I suppose. An interesting fighting game.

Was it the first that you played against him or have you met before?

I played him in Reykjavik 1990 in a game that was a bit similar. He grabbed a pawn and I tried to attack him on the kingside. I managed to win in the end. I might have played him in the 70s. He visited the US when I was a teenager.

You won the Rilton Cup in 1996/1997. What do you remember about the tournament?

Maybe winning helps make the memories sweeter, but I enjoyed my time at the Rilton. I've always enjoyed visiting Sweden and I always get to reconnect with many good friends.

A couple of weeks ago you became the US Senior Champion 2020. Tell us about the event, please.

It was a well-run event, with a lot of rules for playing. At first I was afraid I would accidentally get myself forfeited, but I calmed down when I started winning games and it all worked out. It was kind of a dream to get such an important victory so late in my career.

One of the biggest storylines of Swedish chess in 2020 was the return of GM Ferdinand Hellers to (online) chess. Ferdinand told me that you are friends which is probably a little known fact. How did you two become friends?

I met Ferd in the late 80s, perhaps at the NY Open. He stayed at my place for the tournament in 1990 and we've been good friends ever since. He attended my wedding in 2004, but maybe that was the last time I saw him until we Zoomed a few weeks ago. It's great to see him playing again."

GM Elshan Moradiabadi - GM Aleksandr Shimanov 1-0

The most recent winner of the Rilton Cup is the American GM Elshan Moradiabadi who won the 49th edition in 2019/2020. In a wild game he beat the Russian GM Aleksandr Shimanov, the winner of the 2011/2012 event.

GM Elshan Moradiabadi. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Aleksandr Shimanov. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

Elshan answered some questions after his game.

In the post-mortem you said that you knew that 16.Rb1 was a bad move- but you played it anyway. Why?

I did not want to play a forced draw line where things peter out relatively fast. Once he blitzed Rg6 I realized that he knew the forced draw line, so I decided to play an incorrect line, and hoped that he had not analyzed it with the engine. I knew French is not his mainline.

You were full of praise for 23.Nxc3. Why is this move so strong?

He cannot take back due to Rxb7 and it removes the bind black's central pawns had made. Furthemore, White's power was all of a sudden unleashed!

What kind of game do you expect tomorrow given that your opponent is in a must-win situation?

I think he will go all-in and it will be another topsy-turvy game.

You are the most recent Rilton Cup winner. Why did you and your fiance Sabina Foisor decide to come to Stockholm to play at the Rilton Cup?

It was part of a preparation for the 2020 US championship, which was scheduled for March 2020, before pandemic had hit the States.

How was your path to victory and your experience in the tournament?

I had four wins then three draws and then a win and a fast draw in last round ensured the victory on tiebreak, You can read about the details here: https://en.chessbase.com/post/rilton-cup-moradiabadi-2019-2020

Originally, the tournament was part of your preparation for the US Championship - the biggest round-robin tournament you were supposed to play. It was later held online. How was it?

It didn't go well as online chess is not really my forte. I started with five solid draws and then I had a winning position against Xiong, but then I blundered and collapsed on day three. Finishing last like this wasn't really what I was looking for, but again, I am not good at online rapid.

GM Juan Bellon Lopez - GM Margeir Petursson 1/2-1/2

One of the most regular players at the Rilton Cup is the Spanish chess legend GM Juan Bellon Lopez who has been living and playing for Sweden for some years already. He won the Rilton Cup in 1986/1987. He drew a wild time scramble game against the Icelandic GM Mageir Petursson - the winner of the Rilton Cup in 1991/1992 - where both players even overlooked a mate in one. This game certainly was a crowd pleaser.

GM Juan Bellon Lopéz. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund.

GM Margeir_Petursson. Photo: ukrainianweek.com.

Margeir answered some questions after the game.

How was your game against GM Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez today?

He played with White a recently popular opening that I am not used to. Still I solved my problems got an easy winning position which I still managed to blunder away in time pressure. At some point I just froze and almost lost on time

You have played against once before and it was a memorable event for you. Can you tell us more?

I played Juan in the Hastings tournament in 1985/86 I managed to win that tournament and become a grandmaster at the same time, so it was pleasant to recall.

You won the Rilton Cup in 1991/1992. What are some of the memories that you have of the event?

Not really, I think I just played quite solidly, in one game I had to trick my opponent in time pressure after taking too much risk after the opening.

A question you probably hear quite regularly but - how did an Icelandic GM become a CEO of a Bank in Ukraine?

It's a long story of course, I have actually been working in banking since 1985, first in an Icelandic state bank. Then I founded my own financial services company in 1999 and expanded out of Iceland. From my experience in Iceland I became kind of an expert in emerging markets. First I was in the Baltics, but when they joined the EU I sold out there and focused on Ukraine where I purchased a small bank. I have been developing it ever since and now I have strong institutional partners from Switzerland and Germany. So Ia have bit easier life and more time to play chess. I am the principal individual shareholder and sit on the Supervisory Board.

How much chess do you still play nowadays?

Chess is my favourite pastime, I like to play in team tournaments, I feel more responsiblity that way, while in individual tournaments I tend to be a bit careless. Specially this year I follow tournaments quite closely and it is interesting for me to see how chess is developing.

Lviv is known to be a vibrant chess city with a high per capita GM rate. Can you tell us about the pre-corona chess scene or don't have time to be involved in it?

I am very involved with chess there, I have many grandmaster friends and have my own chess club called the Lviv Grandmaster Chess Club together with Adrian Mikhailchishin, the honorary chief trainer of FIDE. We play blitz every month or two, also my bank Bank Lviv is the sponsor of an annual tournament that I hope will grow stronger every year. My older GM friends like Adrian, Beliavsky, Romanishin often tell me very interesting stories about chess in the Soviet Union.