Helsinki GP 1998

June 27-28, 1998

Report by Vesa Laatikainen

Tourists and Helsinki people were relaxing in the Esplanade Park while the twentynine Helsinki Grand Prix players were sitting in the canteen of the Ministry of Justice pondering their moves and hiding the sun. The top four tables were even deeper down in the cellar cabinet (some called it a Dungeon). Only during the breaks there was some Go in the park too.

The 29 players included visitors from Russia, Germany and Japan plus players from around Finland. Victor Bogdanov 6 dan was victorious in every game and won the first prize promptly improving his GP score. The last round game between the Finns Vesa Laatikainen and Matti Siivola decided the second place that went to Vesa. Sergei Ouspenski took the third place as the best three-pointer. Four wins brought promotions to Markus Savo 3 kyu, Mikko Saarinen 9 kyu and Juuso Backman 12 kyu.

The tournament proceeded smoothly and some rounds started even earlier than scheduled. The pairing and the results were displayed in style by projecting the computer screen on the wall. On Saturday there was the traditional sauna evening in Teekkarisauna by the sea. Sauna, swimming, sausages - no singing this time. Tournament closing party was held at Matti's and Sinikka's where there was the last chance for a revenge match.

After the tournament our Japanese guests Harumi Takechi and Masaki Sato continued their Go around the world tour to Petrozavodsk go camp, St.Petersburg GP and forward.

Pl. Name               Str Co. MM   1    2    3    4    5  Pt  SOS SODOS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Bogdanov, Viktor    6d RUS 13   7+   4+   5+   2+   3+  5   55   55
  2 Laatikainen, Vesa   5d FIN 12   3+   8+   9+   1-   4+  4   55   42
  3 Ouspenski, Sergei   3d RUS 11   2-  11+   8+   5+   1-  3   56   31
  4 Siivola, Matti      5d FIN 11   9+   1-  12+   7+   2-  3   55   30
  5 Zaizev, Nikolai     4d RUS 11  11+  10+   1-   3-   7+  3   54   30
  6 Reijola, Timo       1k FIN 11   8-   9-  15+  14+  10+  3   46   26
  7 Paatero, Lauri      3d FIN 10   1-  13+  10+   4-   5-  2   54   19
  8 Sato, Masaki        4d JPN 10   6+   2-   3-  13+  11-  2   53   20
    Jantunen, Markku    1d FIN 10   4-   6+   2-  10-  13+  2   53   20
 10 Alanko, Otso        1k FIN 10  13+   5-   7-   9+   6-  2   51   19
 11 Lounela, Olli       4d FIN 10   5-   3-  --   --    8+  1   48   10
 12 Savo, Markus        4k FIN 10  17+  15+   4-  16+  14+  4   42   31
 13 Takechi, Harumi     3d JPN  9  10-   7-  14+   8-   9-  1   48    8
 14 Rovio, Teemu        4k FIN  8  15+  17+  13-   6-  12-  2   45   15
 15 Heino, Jarmo        3k FIN  8  14-  12-   6-  17+  16-  1   44    7
 16 Bahr, Matthias      6k GER  8  18+  19+  17+  12-  15+  4   36   26
 17 Kohonen, Sari       4k FIN  7  12-  14-  16-  15-  19+  1   39    5
 18 Huima, Antti        7k FIN  6  16-  20-  21+  19+  23+  3   26   13
 19 Karjalainen, Pekka  7k FIN  5  21+  16-  20+  18-  17-  2   30    9
 20 Nevala, Jarkko      8k FIN  5  22+  18+  19-  21+  24-  3   23   14
 21 Patommel, Jens      8k GER  4  19-  22+  18-  20-  26+  2   22    6
 22 Hirsimäki, Teemu    9k FIN  4  20-  21-  29+  27+  25+  3   14    5
 23 Backman, Juuso     13k FIN  4  29+  25+  28+  26+  18-  4   13    7
 24 Saarinen, Mikko    10k FIN  4  25-  29+  27+  28+  20+  4   12   10
 25 Kristiansen, Lasse 12k FIN  2  24+  23-  26-  29+  22-  2   15    5
 26 Keskitalo, Tuomo   16k FIN  2  27+  28-  25+  23-  21-  2   14    4
 27 Kristiansen, Jens  17k FIN  2  26- free  24-  22-  28+  2   13    3
    Simola, Pentti     17k FIN  2 free  26+  23-  24-  27-  2   13    3
 29 Siivola, Sinikka   11k FIN  1  23-  24-  22-  25- free  1   14    0
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