14 November 2006
Swedish Open 2006: A Story to Be Told
The 26th Swedish Open ended late on Sunday after a demanding weekend. The tournament opened on Friday with a social evening, followed by a Consultation Doubles event with 39 pairs, and featured a national team match between Norway and Sweden.
Norway v Sweden
Two of the invited national teams did not take part, so Norway and Sweden went straight to their final, played as a round robin between three members of each team. After two rounds on the first day Norway led 4-2. The last three matches were played at the end of the tournament. Per-Ola Valfridsson beat Hans Liby and Lars Degerman beat Atle Von Der Fehr, levelling the score. The deciding match between Thomas Rönn and Sondre Rikke went to double match point; Thomas was the favourite, but Sondre hit a shot and Norway won.
Main events
The main events began on Saturday with 101 players in three classes, a figure that, according to the organisers, at least stopped the decline in numbers seen in recent years. A free Youth Class for players under 18 drew 10 entrants; the final was won by the oldest player in the class, aged 17.
In the Champion class quarter-finals, Atle Von Der Fehr (Norway) beat Rikard Åberg, a former chairman of the Swedish federation. Manoucher Parchami beat Michael Löfblad, the form player of the Swedish autumn, against expectations. Hans Liby (Norway) defeated the Finnish hope Timo Väätainen, and Henrik Hartman beat his league teammate Per-Ola Valfridsson, the highest-rated Swede.
With the Norwegians favoured, the home players feared a final without a Swede. Atle Von Der Fehr beat Manoucher Parchami comfortably in one semi-final, while Henrik Hartman became the Swedish hero by beating Hans Liby in the other. The final was broadcast with commentary by Lars Degerman, chairman of the Swedish Backgammon Federation, assisted by Norwegians Tore Fredriksen and Sondre Rikke. Atle lived up to expectations and won his second Swedish Open.
Other results
- Intermediate class: Loui Westin, who had started playing in the league that year.
- Advanced class: Tomas Walter, a Swedish player who travelled from Berlin.
- Consultation Doubles: Muhammad "Omit" Badiei and Jamshid Arani beat Shahin Azami and Ingrid Söderstjärna in the final.
A blitz event on Sunday ran long, as players refused to give up.