Sadler to play again, in Oslo

Is it safe to speak of a comeback by now? Apparently his victories in two Haarlem weekenders and a real Swiss in August in Barcelona tasted sweet, and Matthew Sadler can now be found on the list of participants of another open tournament. The English grandmaster entered the Oslo Open, which starts today in the Norwegian capital. Rated 2625, Sadler is second seed, behind another Dutch resident: GM Sergei Tiviakov (2647).

The tournament in Oslo can be seen as a sequel to the legendary Gausdal tournaments, which ceased to exist in 2010. Organizer Hans Olav Lahlum is now cooperating with Akademisk SK (the chess club from the University in Oslo), and with the former Gausdal hotel manager Lars Petter Mathisen (now manager of the new conference hotel Thon Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo).

According to its website, this new international tournament

will try to bring back the combination of serious title tournament and friendly atmosphere which was the hallmark of the Gausdal tournaments, but now also offering participants the many tourist possibilities of Norway’s great capital city Oslo. Whether this will be the start of a new chess tradition in Oslo continuing towards the historical year of 2014, when the Chess Olympiad is to be played in Norway, will be decided by the organizer and the hotel after the 2011 tournament.

The Oslo International includes two groups: a strong open aimed at players who seek IM or GM norms, and a weaker Elo group for other amateurs. Both play a 9-round Swiss, from October 2nd till 9th. The venue is the Thon Hotel Ullevaal Stadion, a large hotel and conference centre, right next to Norway’s national football stadium in Oslo.

Participants top group