Frode Elsness

Frode Elsness (born 1973) is a Norwegian chess player who holds the title of International Master, as well as the 2008 Norwegian Chess Championship. Elsness plays for the chess club in Moss. He has represented Norway three times in the Chess Olympiad, 1996 (second reserve), 2000 (board two) and 2004 (second reserve) [ [http://www.olimpbase.org/players/9djjrp9e.html Frode Elsness record at OlimpBase] ] . Apart from chess, Elsness is a medical doctor.

Elsness was away from chess after dropping out of the Gausdal Classics tournament in 2001. The cause was an incident in the fifth round game against Kristian Trygstad [ [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1219542 Score of the game Elsness-Trygstad] Chessgames.com] , where Elsness was trying to win a rook and pawn versus rook endgame. Theoretically, the position should have been drawn, but Trygstad was in time trouble, and had asked the arbiter to declare the game drawn based on article 10.2 [ [http://www.fide.com/info/handbook?id=124&view=article FIDE's laws of chess] ] of the laws of chess, which allows the arbiter to end the game if the opponent is "making no effort to win the game by normal means". The arbiter postponed the decision and watched the game's progress before granting Trygstad's claim when his time expired. Elsness played round 6, but dropped out of the tournament in protest against the decision in the Trygstad game [ [http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~runed/nyheter.html] Chess page of Rune Djurhuus, see note 24.04.01. The incident is also mentioned in the Nettavisen article [http://www.nettavisen.no/sjakk/article862292.ece Elsness vant NM] about his win in the rapid championship, 2007. no icon] . Elsness' return to organized chess came in 2004, where he finished fourth in the Norwegian championship. In 2007, Elsness won the Open Norwegian Championship for rapid chess. [ [http://www.nettavisen.no/sjakk/article862292.ece Elsness vant NM] Nettavisen, January 12, 2007 no icon]

Elsness' first Norwegian Chess Championship came in 2008. Elsness and Jon Ludvig Hammer both finished with 6.5/9 points in the main event in Tønsberg in July [ [http://turneringsservice.sjakklubb.no/standings.aspx?TID=Landsturneringen2008-NorgesSjakkforbund Final results] ] . The play-off between the two players was arranged September 26-27 in Moss. Elsness won the first game with White, and held the draw with Black, securing a 1.5-0.5 victory, and his first championship trophy. [ [http://www.nettavisen.no/sjakk/article2251501.ece 35-åring vant sitt første sjakk-NM] Nettavisen, September 27, 2008 no icon]

References and external links

* [http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1501100 FIDE rating card for Frode Elsness]