The European Team Chess Championship starts on October 21. Although the Norwegian women’s team is ranked second last, I think we can expect more from the team. The team consists of talented and improving players, and I suspect they will end up far better than their ranking. Here is a short presentation of the players:   

On board one you find Marianne Wold Haug. Being only 17 years old she is a definitely a coming star in Norway. She has no experience on such a high level and will certainly face many strong opponents. Nevertheless, I will not be surprised if she performs above her relatively modest rating.

Board one for Norway: Marianne Wold Haug

The most experienced player on the Norwegian team is second board WFM Sylvia Johnsen. She has played in many Olympiads, and her routine will be very important for the rest of the team. She has not been playing much lately, but with her aggressive and creative style she can be dangerous to everyone.

On board three you find Ellen Øen Carlsen. She is a very talented player and she could easily score many points in this event. For those of you recognise her surname – yes, she is Magnus Carlsen’s older sister.

Ellisiv Reppen is the fourth player in the Norwegian team. Despite being only 23 years old she is quite experienced. She has being working to improve her chess lately, and most likely she will make a positive result.    

You might be surprised by the fact that Norway chooses a relatively inexperienced player on board one. However, Marianne is a player who has improved a lot lately. She is a tactical player and enjoys thrilling complications. Additionally, Marianne has a sound positional foundation, and if you combine these two qualities, she can be really dangerous. Let’s have a look how she beat Torben Søraas in this years’ Arctic Chess Challenge.

Torben Søraas - Marianne Wold Haug
Arctic Chess Challenge 2009

 

Black has an overwhelming positional advantage thanks to white's bad bishop on g2. However, Haug has to be careful because white has a dangerous initiative on the kingside. Especially the threat of g4-g5 and f5-f6 might be a problem. With his last move 21.Nf2-d3 Søraas wants to challenge black's powerful knight on e5. 21...Ba6! Black wants to eliminate the knight on d3. When that knight is gone there will be no piece to challenge the knight on e5. 22.g5

With his last move white is definitely hoping for a mating attack. I guess most of us would have played 22...Kh8 to defend with 23...Rg8, but black is playing more accurately. 22...Rb6! Haug is a strong tactician and solves the problem with a concrete variation. 23.Rd1 A sad moment for white as he will be doomed to passivity. Black’s point was that 23.f6 would be met by 23...exf6 24.gxf6 Rxf6! 25.Rxf6 Bxd3 and black has tremendous compensation for the sacrificed exchange. The rook on d1 is threatened and black is ready to capture on c2 and march on with the passed d-pawn, and there is simply no way to run the blockade on e5. 23...Bxd3 24.Rxd3!? White is ready to give the exchange for removing the knight on e5. 24.cxd3 would have left black with a winning position after 24...Rc8 24...Nxd3 25.f6

White is trying to mess things up, but Haug is playing accurately to the very end.  25...Qe3+ 26.Kh1 Rxf6! Exploiting the fact that the g-pawn is pinned.  27.Rxf6 exf6 28.cxd3 Qxg5 After the exchange of queens white's position is left in ruins. 0–1

For more on the European Team Championship 2009, visit Chessdom and the ETC website.