24. elokuuta 2025

LauttSSK ja Shakkiseniorit Tallinnassa 21.8.2025

Suuntasimme kohti Tallinnaa viime torstaiaamusella. Oli peräti 27. kerta kun oteltiin perinteisestä kerhon Tallinnan 5 minuutin pikapelimestaruudesta. Luvassa oli vaihtelevaa kesäsäätä, sade ei kuitenkaan päässyt yllättämään. Pelasimme M/S Finlandian kabinetissa mennen tullen ja nautimme jälleen maukkaista buffeteista.

Menomatkan alkukarsinnan täysturnauksen tulokset:

1. Seppo Aakio 9/9, 2. Juhani Lehti 7½, 3. Kai Backman 5½, 4. Olavi Mattila 5½, 5. Jukka Tuovinen 5, 6. Mauno Kangas 4, 7. Timo Siikonen 3, 8. Eero Patola 3, 9. Jyrki Kivinen 2, 10. Reijo Rautio ½.

Tulokset olivat aika yllätyksettömiä, jollei nyt lasketa Sepon maksimitulosta ja Olavin voittoa Jukasta.

Karsinnan perusteella määräytyneet cup-ottelut pelattiin paluumatkalla "paras neljästä" -systeemillä. Otteluparien ja samalla koko kisan lopputulokset:

  1. kierros: Aakio–Patola 3–0, Lehti–Siikonen 3–0, Backman–Kangas 3–0, Mattila–Tuovinen 2½–1½
  2. kierros: Aakio–Mattila 3–0, Lehti–Backman 2½–½
  3. kierros:
    • Mestaruusottelu: Aakio–Lehti 2½–½
    • Pronssiottelu: Backman–Mattila 2½–½
    • Sijoista 5.–10. pelattiin tiukka täysturnaus: 5. Patola 4/5, 6. Tuovinen 4, 7. Kangas 3, 8. Siikonen 1½, 9. Kivinen 1½, 10. Rautio 1

Finaalissa Aakio ja Lehti olivat jälleen vastakkain, keskinäisten voittojen ollessa tasan 4–4! Sopuremin jälkeen mustilla pelannut Seppo toteutti kyseenalaisen systeemilaadunuhrauksen e5-ruudussa ja onnistui valkean virheen jälkeen vangitsemaan Juhanin daamin. Tilanteessa 1½–½ Juhanin oli yritettävä, mutta solidi skandinaavinen ei ehkä ollut siihen paras valinta. Mustan varomattomien siirtojen jälkeen valkea saavutti ylivoimaisen upseeripelin eikä mitään ollut tehtävissä. Näin Jussin kahden perättäisen mestaruuden putki katkesi ja keskinäiset mestaruudet ovat nyt 5–4 Sepolle.

Pronssiottelussa Kai otti voiton Olavista vahvalla 2½–½-suorituksellaan ja lisäsi pronssimitaliensa määrän jo kahteen kolmen viime vuoden ajalta. Onnittelut! Olavi puolestaan osoitti olevansa edelleen hurjassa vedossa voittaen Jukan cupin ekalla kierroksella 2½–½, peli ei kuitenkaan riittänyt enempään jatkossa, mutta kisan 4. sija on loistava suoritus 85-vuotiaalta!

Sijoituskisasta on pakko mainita Eeron "uudelleen syntyminen" ja kisan voitto 4 pisteellä 5 pelistä. Jukka sai saman tuloksen, mutta hävisi keskinäisen pelin. Tulostaulukko 1997–2025 on kerhon tulospalvelussa.

Timon meille valitseman erinomaisen ravintola Mix Reston "fine dining" kuhat, fileet ja risotto maistuivat hyvän viinin ja oluiden kera. Jälkiruoat nautittiin yllättäen Maiasmokk-kahvilassa.

Matkan kulttuuriantia edusti tällä kertaa tutustumisemme peräti kahteen valokuvausmuseoon: toinen ryhmä kävi Tallinnan valokuvausmuseossa, jossa lähinnä esiteltiin Viron valokuvauksen historiaa; sekä toinen Fotografiska-museossa, jossa nähtävillä oli useamman nykyvalokuvauksen mestarin teoksia, mm. Henriette Sabroe Ebbeseniä, Bruce Gildeniä ja Elliott Erwittiä.

Kiitos kaikille reissusta ja hienoista muistoista – ensi vuonna uudestaan!

Kirjoitti Seppo Aakio

10. elokuuta 2025

JSM 2025–2026: 3rd division

Three Lauttasaari Chess Club teams will play at Finnish Team Championship (JSM) 2025–2026, 3rd division. Here are the program and team lineups.

Group 6

  • Sun 7.9.2025: LauttSSK 2 – KäpSK 3
  • Sat 27.9.2025: MatSK 8 – LauttSSK 2 (Espoo)
  • Sun 16.11.2025: MeRa 2 – LauttSSK 2 (Helsinki)
  • Sun 11.1.2026: LauttSSK 2 – HSC 4
  • Sun 8.2.2026: LauttSSK 2 – EtVaS 4

LauttSSK 2:

  1. Lehtinen Tero
  2. Nyrhinen Harri
  3. Modanese Augusto
  4. Luosto Kerkko (1833)

Group 4

  • Sat 6.9.2025: Gambiitti 5 – LauttSSK 3 (Vantaa)
  • Sun 28.9.2025: HSK 2 – LauttSSK 3
  • Sun 16.11.2025: LauttSSK 3 – MatSK 9
  • Sun 11.1.2026: LauttSSK 3 – I-HSK 3

LauttSSK 3:

  1. Joutsivuo Timo
  2. Mitiushin Mikhail
  3. Dahal Sameep
  4. Männistö Kari (1745)

Group 2

  • Sun 7.9.2025: ESK – LauttSSK 4
  • Sun 16.11.2025: LauttSSK 4 – MatSK 6
  • Sun 11.1.2026: LauttSSK 4 – Aatos 3
  • Sun 8.2.2026: HSC 6 – LauttSSK 4

LauttSSK 4:

  1. Piippo Mikko
  2. Henttonen Tero
  3. Horttanainen Emil
  4. Peitsalo Olli-Pekka (1707)

All the matches will be played at Shakkiareena by default.

Anobdy whose rating is below the 4th player can play as a reserve player in a team.

Register for the matches of fall 2025 at Nimenhuuto:

  • Register for only 1 match on the same day.
  • Team contacts (1–2 Jyrki Heikkinen, 3–4 Janne Kauppinen) will move registrants to other teams when needed.
  • Select "OUT" if you are not going to attend.

Rule of thumb: if your rating is

  • over 1850, register for LauttSSK 1 matches;
  • over 1650, register for LauttSSK 2 matches;
  • over 1500, register for LauttSSK 3 matches;
  • others, register for LauttSSK 4 matches.

6. elokuuta 2025

Player of August: Daniel Clarke

How and when did you get interested in chess?

My parents introduced me to the game when I was around 4 years old. I don't have a huge amount of memories about what attracted me to the game back then, but it remained one of my biggest hobbies throughout my whole childhood.

I stopped playing around 18, and only recently started playing again a couple of years ago.

What in chess does attract you most?

I'm a competitive person by nature, so the competitive one on one, non random aspect of the game has always been a big draw for me.

I'd say what I enjoy about chess has changed over time. Nowadays, I appreciate beautiful, creative chess ideas and chaos on the board. My younger self would've hated the unclear nature of such positions.

How often do you play chess?

Pretty much every day in some shape or form. Sometimes it's just a quick blitz game online during a commute. Over the board rapid games are my favourite way to play.

How do you train chess?

I try to review every game I play – even if briefly. Rapid or longer games I'll look at without an engine first. I also follow some educational creators online. In some ways, I'm completely relearning the game, as I never had access to proper coaching when younger. I just played a lot.

I recently explored coaching to try to identify and remove some of the bad habits in my game that have stuck around from childhood.

Do you have a favorite opening or variation?

Not really. What opening I play depends a lot on the parts of my game I'm trying to improve.

I tend to stay away from openings that have been proven to be fundamentally unsound. Other than that, I'll happily play anything that can lead to an interesting and imbalanced position.

Your chess goals, or do you play mainly for fun?

A big part of chess these days is fun, as I don't have unlimited time for the game, but I'm still playing to improve and trying out new things (especially online) – even if that leads to some less than perfect results in the short-medium term.

Experiences from chess competitions

I played in many competitions as a child from around the age of 8 onwards: school tournaments and leagues, local chess leagues and tournaments, cross-county tournaments and so on. Nowadays, I play in the JSM and some local tournaments.

Your most memorable or instructive chess game?

Probably most memorable win was against a WFM in a rapid otb game.

Most memorable and perhaps also instructive loss was as a child – where I had a clearly winning position up a minor piece against one of my main "rivals" towards the end of a local chess tournament. I got so excited and crumbled under the pressure as he slowly but surely equalised, and converted the endgame. It was a good lesson in how a game is never won if you don't have the skill to convert it. He's a GM now though... so maybe I can be excused for losing!

Do you admire some chess player?

I admire the subtle positional play from players like Karpov and Capablanca. I wouldn't say my style is similar to theirs at all, but that's why I admire their play so much – it's a part of chess where I still have a lot to learn.

Have chess skills helped your everyday life?

Most probably! My work requires a lot of logical thinking, so I'm sure that chess skills translate to the day to day in some way.

Activities you expect from a chess club?

Active players and opportunities to play competitively, internal tournaments, coaching.

4. elokuuta 2025

SM Blitz: LauttSSK youngsters make an impact

This was a tournament unlike many others for our club. Most of the legends like Seppo, Jyrki, Pekka, Kalle, Arto, Jarmo, and even Tero were missing this year. But despite that, the youngsters rose to the occasion and showed that the LauttSSK team will always be a force to reckon with. Hats off to Sameep, Oskari, and Pranav for a good showing!

Pranav, playing in his first ever blitz tournament, showed a mature level of skill, nerves, and time management on board 4. 

Oskari ensured that all the players were on time, clear on the rules, well hydrated, and in good spirits despite enduring some tough games on board 3.

Sameep was exceptional on board 2, beating many strong players, and quickly learning how to manage his time and his game under blitz pressure. 

On board 1 for the first time in this tournament, I knew I was going to face some stiff opposition. But I am pleased with how I handled the pressure, and satisfied to see my hard work in the 3+2 format pay off.

Day 1

Lots of ups and downs on Day 1. Eventually a fair outcome. Rank 8th in the group with qualification to Division 2.

Team results

  1. RaahLi  74,5
  2. MatSK 2   73
  3. TuSKa    64
  4. ESK    64
  5. VammSK 2   62,5
  6. Aatos 3   61,5
  7. TuTs 4   54,5
  8. LauttSSK 1  49,5
  9. HSK 3   48 
  10. I-HSK    48

Player results

  1. Ashwin (12/21) – 8th best on board 1; a decent result, though I'm capable of better.
  2. Sameep (12) – 12th best on board 2; a solid effort! The ranking is misleading. With just 2 more wins, he would have been 4th best.
  3. Oskari (11,5) – 9th best on board 3; winning some crucial points in the post lunch segment.
  4. Pranav (14) – 6th best on board 4; an excellent showing. He consistently won the games he ought to, and often secured many draws against 2000+ opponents. 

 Day 2

Division 2 brought more stability to the day. The swings of ups and downs were a bit less emphatic since the level was consistently in that 1800-2200 range. 

Team results

1. PSY 2 (61)

2. EtVas 2 (56,5) – the team of youngsters did really well!

3. KymS (54)

...

15. MatSK 3 (44,5) 

16. LauttSSK 1 (44)

17. TammerSh 4 (43)

Player results

  1. Ashwin (15,5/23) performance: 2192
  2. Sameep (13,5) performance: 2062
  3. Oskari (5,5) performance: 1715
  4. Pranav (9,5) performance: 1807



 Highlights

  • Ashwin won against M Heinola Kari (2176), M Lehtosaari Mauri (2324), M Heino Hannu (2037), M Nieminen Kari (2043), M Saastamoinen Aarne (2070), FM Vinke Dietmar (2151), FM Salimäki Janne (1912), and a draw against FM Koskinen Henri (2203).
  • Sameep won against M Lehtilä Taneli (2101), M Viljava Tapani (1959), Sjöman Tapani (2005), Ulvila Ismo (2013), and Salonen Mikko (2094).  
  • Oskari had commendable draws against players like Nordlund Jukka (2110), Lehtonen Simo (2024), and Koskinen Matti (1945).
  • Pranav won against Sinervuo Veli-Pekka (1956) and Lauhala Antti (1902), and noteworthy draws against Levomäki Rikumatti (2042) and Nurmi Timo (1942).
 Memorable Moments for Me
  • Tampere good times with Kari, Pasi, Janne, Oskari at Napolitan Pizzeria
  • Dinner with Sameep and Pranav at Sher e Punjab after the tournament
  • Catching up with the chess fraternity at the Tampere messukeskus

Thank you all for reading. Until next time.