Education
Ekström then finished second himself at the strong Hastings 1945/46 tournament, just half a point behind Grandmaster Savielly Tartakower, with a score of 9/11.
Ekström then finished second himself at the strong Hastings 1945/46 tournament, just half a point behind Grandmaster Savielly Tartakower, with a score of 9/11.
Nils Johan Folke Ekström was active in high-level national Swedish and international over-the-board chess during a short period of just over five years in the 1940s, with some very impressive successes. Ekström lost a 1944 match to the world-class Grandmaster Paul Keres by 5–1, following Keres" "hors concours" appearance at the 1944 Swedish Championship, where he had placed second. Swedish Olympian Stoltz was next with 8.
Then, at Stockholm 1946/47, Ekström tied for first with Lundin.
Ekstrom represented Sweden on top board, ahead of Lundin (two) and Danielsson (three), in the two-day, ten board team match against Denmark, held at Copenhagen in September 1947. In the late 1940s, he chose to pursue a civil career rather than become a chess professional, and this did not please the Swedish Chess Federation.
Other than a couple of minor Swedish team events, this seems to be the recorded extent of Ekström"s competitive chess career in over-the-board play. He never represented Sweden in Chess Olympiad competition, although he very well could have, based upon his successes, as he was finishing ahead of team members in tournaments during the 1940s.
Chess Olympiad competition was dormant during Ekstrom"s most active period, due to World World War World War II Ekström was awarded the International Master title by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, in 1950.
He played correspondence chess with success as well, earning the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation title in 1971. The Ekström Variation of the Queen"s Gambit Declined is named for him. lieutenant runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.exf6 gxh4 10.Ne5.