Interview with the Winners!
While the Lewis Chess Legends is now over for this year, nearly a dozen players from the Master’s Category gave interviews this year.
We will gradually be releasing these, beginning with the clean sweep from Sweden — the Nordic legend, GM Pia Cramling from Wasa SK and IM Jung Min Seo from SK Rockaden.
The tournament took place in the picturesque settings of the Archbishop’s Palace — just moments away from the iconic mediaeval Nidaros Cathedral, with the iconic Gothic stonework and spire visible from the Palace’s courtyard. While the Masters’ tournament took place in the throne room of the Archbishop Palace, the interviews were held in the King of Norway’s robing room (Parsbegrommet).
Nidaros Cathedral was historically the location where the monarchs of Norway were crowned by the Archbishop of Norway, with this prestigious location for the Lewis Chess Legends oozing with history and character.
IM Irene Sukandar
Two-time Asian Champion, IM Irene Sukandar commentated the entire tournament from the historic Parsbergrommet, with full replays of the commentary available. She also had the opportunity to interview and go through in-depth analysis with nearly a dozen players taking part in the Master’s Category, including GM Pia Cramling and IM Jung Min Seo, winners of the Women’s and Open section.
Further interviews include those with top Norwegian player and TV personality, GM Jon Ludvig Hammer, one of the most promising young Norwegian talents, 16 year old IM Aksel Bu Kvaloy, and the well-known American, IM Eric Rosen.
The live stream was viewed by over 50,000 unique viewers across the world, accounting for tens of thousands of hours of footage watched, with hundreds of thousands of people visiting this website, the Lichess broadcasts page, and tournament-service. The chess influencer, Phoebe Witte, provided over a hundred thousand impressions of the tournament across her YouTube and Instagram pages. Norwegian regional and national media also covered the event.
Nordic Champion and Best Woman, GM Pia Cramling
The Nordic chess queen, GM Pia Cramling, was crowned Nordic Champion and Best Woman with 5.5 points. Over the course of 9 rounds, there were 4 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses. However, she faced strong competition from Iceland’s WIM Olga Prudnykova, who finished with the same score, just 1.5 tiebreak points behind. In the first of two interviews, Cramling discusses her victory against FM Trygve Dahl in round 4.
Nordic Champion and Tournament winner, IM Jung Min Seo
With 7 out of 9 points, Jung Min Seo claimed victory with a 0.5-point lead over GM Jon Ludvig Hammer, who finished in second place. Jung Min Seo, suffered his only loss of the tournament to Hammer in the third round. Despite achieving a performance rating of 2614, which nearly met the requirements for a GM norm, he unfortunately only faced 2 GMs in the 9 rounds. Nonetheless, winning the tournament, earning the title of Nordic Champion, and gaining 15 rating points was an exceptional achievement, especially considering he was initially ranked 10th in the field.
Photo: Anniken Vestby
Our partner, Lichess, which provided live broadcasts featuring WGM/IM Irene Sukandar throughout the 9-round tournament, has released the documentary "The Story of Lichess.
