Nils Axel Grandelius (born 3 June 1993) is a Swedish
chess grandmaster
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...
. He is the top ranked player of Sweden.
Chess career
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
awarded him the titles
FIDE Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
, in 2007,
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
, in 2008, and Grandmaster in 2010.
In 2008, Grandelius tied for second place, placing fourth on countback, in the Under 16 section of the
European Youth Chess Championship
The European Youth Chess Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU) in groups under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old. History
The first tournament was held in 1991, and the under 8 category was introduced in 2007.
Until 2002 t ...
s. In the same year, he took clear first place in the
Olomouc
Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region.
Located on the Morava (rive ...
Open in
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
with a score of 6½ points from 9 games; thanks to this result, he also achieved his first
norm
Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to:
In academic disciplines
* Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad
* Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock
* Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...
required for the title Grandmaster (GM). In the following year's edition, he placed tied for first place with the same score, placing second on tiebreak. He also achieved his second GM norm.
Grandelius achieved the GM title by earning his third and final norm in the 40th Bosna International Tournament in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
, in which he finished fifteenth, the first among juniors.
He took the bronze medal at the 2010
World Youth Chess Championship
The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History
Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...
s in the Under 18 category. The next year, Grandelius won the gold medal in the same age category at the European Youth Championships in
Albena
Albena () is a major Black Sea resort in northeastern Bulgaria, Balchik Municipality, situated from Balchik and from Varna. Albena is served by Varna Airport. Since 2005 is considered as a settlement by the National Statistical Institute.
Al ...
, Bulgaria.
In May 2012, he placed third in the 20th Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament in
Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
, behind the winner,
Fabiano Caruana
Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history.
Born in Mia ...
, and the runner-up,
Peter Leko
Peter Leko (; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was drawn 7–7 and s ...
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, placing fourth on tiebreak.
He has been trained by Evgenij Agrest since 2013.
In July 2015, he won the
Swedish Chess Championship The first Swedish Champion was Gustaf Nyholm, who won two matches against winners of national tournaments: Berndtsson in Göteborg and Löwenborg in Stockholm in 1917. Until 1931 Swedish Chess Championships were decided by match play. In the 1930s, ...
by defeating
Emanuel Berg
Emanuel Berg (born 28 December 1981) is a Swedish chess grandmaster. He is a two-time Swedish Chess Champion.
First moves and playing style
As a youngster, he made solid progress and was consequently selected to represent his country in the va ...
in a playoff match, after they both tied for first, scoring 6½/9 points. The following month, Grandelius won the 22nd
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
Masters tournament, edging out on tiebreak
Martyn Kravtsiv
Martyn Kravtsiv (; born 26 November 1990) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013.
Career
Kravtsiv was taught how to play chess on his sixth birthday by his father. Later, he trained at the Lviv Chess Club ...
,
Baadur Jobava
Baadur Jobava ( ka, ბაადურ ჯობავა; born 26 November 1983) is a Georgian chess grandmaster and three-time Georgian champion (2003, 2007, 2012). He competed in the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2004 and in the FIDE Wor ...
,
Alexander Areshchenko
Alexander Areshchenko (; born June 15, 1986) is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2002. He has competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2021.
Career
In 2000, Areshchenko won the Under 14 ...
and
Richárd Rapport
Richárd Rapport (born 25 March 1996) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days, making him Hungary's youngest ever grandmaster. He was the Hungarian Che ...
.
In March 2016, Grandelius won a four-player tournament for the last place in the Norway Chess 2016 field, against Norwegian grandmasters
Jon Ludvig Hammer
Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer (born 2 June 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and three-time Norwegian Chess Champion. He was the main second for Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2013.
Chess career
At the 38th Chess Olympiad in ...
Hou Yifan
Hou Yifan ( ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, three-time Women's World Chess Champion and professor at Peking University. She is the second highest Elo rating system, rated female player of all time.
. It was a double
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...
, with the first leg being standard
time control
A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed.
For turn-based games such as chess, shogi or go, time cont ...
and the second leg with
rapid
Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to:
Hydrological features
* Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow
* Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States
* Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City
Sport ...
time control (25 minutes+10 second-increment).
Grandelius was one of the
seconds
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...
of
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
Vladislav Artemiev
Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev (; born 5 March 1998) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former chess prodigy. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2014. Artemiev is the 2019 European Chess Champion. He won the individual board perform ...
in the
European Individual Championship
The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis.
Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's), ...
, held in
Skopje
Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
, scoring 8½/11 points. He took the silver medal on tiebreak.
Grandelius has been playing for the Swedish national team at the
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...
s since 2010 and at the
European Team Chess Championship
The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...
s since 2011. In 2019 he also took part in the
World Team Chess Championship
The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...
.
Grandelius was a second to
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraFIDE Candidates Tournament 2024.