150 Years of Ericsson ESIK Chess — And a Dramatic Finish!

Final scores and table form ESIK 150 years chess tournament

The 150th-anniversary celebration of the Ericsson ESIK chess tournament has a winner! The arrangements were fantastic — everything went smoothly, except for one tiny detail: after 18:00, the lights went out, right in the middle of the final round (Round 7), just as the games were reaching their critical moments. Apparently, even the electricity wanted to add some drama to the tournament!

After Round 6, three players were tied on points: Reza, Jan, and Omar, with two potential challengers, Bosse and Ehsan, still in the running.

In Round 7, Ehsan defeated Omar, while both Jan and Reza won their games.

Now, here comes the interesting part for those who enjoy the finer details of chess regulations: which pairing system did we use? Well, we chose the Nordic-Schweizer system instead of the FIDE Swiss system. And that little choice matters: direct encounters are not used as a tie-break criterion under the system we applied.

So, even though Jan had beaten Reza and Ehsan had beaten Omar, those head-to-head results did not determine the final standings. Instead, tie-break points decided the order among players finishing on the same score. In chess, as in life, winning the direct battle doesn't always mean winning the war!

Congratulations to Reza Moosavi for taking first place!

And congratulations to everyone who made the tournament a success — including, perhaps unintentionally, whoever arranged the dramatic lighting effects for the final round.

At the pen: Jan