Kobalia wins 5th Arctic Chess Challenge
![Kobalia wins 5th Arctic Chess Challenge](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/290b/http/ea072528d5.jpg)
Rounds 5-9
We left the tournament after four rounds, when Ivan Ivanisevic, Bartosz Socko, Loek van Wely, Chanda Sandipan, Emanuel Berg and Levon Babujian were sharing the lead with 100% score. Berg indeed went for 1.e4 against Van Wely in round 5, but unfortunately a Sveshnikov ended in a draw rather soon. Socko grabbed sole lead by beating Babujian in a Two Knights Defence, Steinitz Variation- you know, the one with Ng5-h3 which was also played by Fischer.In round 6 Socko drew with Black against Van Wely, allowing Berg and Sandipan to catch him, but he won again in round 7:![Socko-Sandipan](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/dia1/http/e83eeb4b5c.jpg)
A very important moment for the tournament was the following.
![Kobalia-Socko](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/dia2/http/9d8c062e37.jpg)
The tournament was decided in the last round on board 1, where Kobalia defeated Van Wely in a stormy kingside attack that was over as quickly as it had come. One small pointe (a hanging bishop and so one lost tempo) was decisive.
![Kobalia-Van Wely](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/dia3/http/5aa09897cc.jpg)
![Kobalia-Van Wely](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/dia4/http/27e14c5f33.jpg)
21-year-old Manuel Leon Hoyos played an excellent tournament a well. He almost won the tournament outright but in the end he couldn't beat Chanda Sandipan in the last round. The Mexican shared the 1st-2nd money prize with Kobalia, who won because of a better tiebreak. Leon Hoyos, who entered the tournament as only the sixteenth seed, noted that serving as Vassily Ivanchuk's second has helped him to improve considerably, giving him a new outlook on chess and how to study the game. "I am very fortunate that I can work with him," he said Sunday.
![Arctic Chess Challange 2010 | Round 9 Standings](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/tabellen/arctic10_r9/http/562ba34e90.jpg)
Macauley Peterson was in the arctic wrangling polar bears, and providing video snapshots from the Arctic Chess Challenge. These videos were running on the tournament website's Videos page, but also appeared on www.ChessClub.com and are available for cross-posting under the Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND).
Selection of games rounds 5-9
Game viewer by ChessTempo![tromso1](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/tromso1/http/79dfcc6343.jpg)
The population of Tromsø municipality is about 65,000 and the urban area, Norway's ninth most populous, is home to about 55,000 people
![tromso](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/tromso/http/6184cf930a.jpg)
The island is connected to the mainland by the Tromsø Bridge and the Tromsøysund Tunnel, and to the island of Kvaløya by the Sandnessund Bridge
![tromso2](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/tromso2/http/d39f9762ee.jpg)
Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the small island of Tromsøya in the county of Troms, 350 kilometres inside the arctic circle.
![tromso3](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/tromso3/http/fd60762898.jpg)
The area is especially good for boat trips...
![tromso4](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/tromso4/http/576a949731.jpg)
...on which you'll meet sceneries like this these
![kobalia-vanwely](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/kobalia-vanwely/http/87ce8a16ae.jpg)
The decisive game on board 1 of the last round: Kobalia-Van Wely, 1-0
![winners](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/winners/http/daba49e18d.jpg)
3-1-2: Chanda Sandipan, Mikhail Kobalia and Manuel Leon Hoyos
![Night falls in Tromsø](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/proxy/www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/arctic10/onemore/http/6ef7620ae0.jpg)
Night falls on Tromsø - suitable to end this report, isn't it