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The Lost Boys tournament
A picture report
by Anna Dergatscheva-Daus
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The well-known Lost Boys chess tournament was held for the
tenth time from July 24 to August 4 in the Sportcentrum De Pijp in
Amsterdam. Rumor has it that this year will be the last time, and for this
reason I decided to visit it one more time before it became history. So I packed
up my digital camera and drove the 250 km in my old car, just to experience the
atmosphere and get a picture of the tournament activities. I was greatly
supported by my friend WGM Natalia Kiseleva.
WIM Isabel Werner and WGM Natalia
Kiseleva
The weather was not exactly
friendly, so we left out the normally beautiful walk through the streets along
the canals of the city. Instead we concentrated wholly on chess, and it was
certainly worth while!
Tournament director Peter Vorstermans with his girlfriend
While Natalia studied the
positions with the computer in the main hall, and discussed them with WIM Isabel
Werner, I made my way to the press center to get to know the organizers. The
directors of the tournament, Peter Vorstermans and press officer Jeroen van de
Berg confirmed what I had heard: the chances for a Lost Boys tournament in the
coming year are very doubtful. But they are going to work on other options that
will get chess players to Amsterdam in 2003.
Press officer Jeroen van de Berg
Why was the Lost Boys tournament so special?
First of all it always had a very good organization, pleasant conditions (ten
days, nine rounds – a free day in our hectic times where opens often have two
games per day) and also good prizes. Also there are a number of opens: A, B, C
and D. Amateurs can not only play their own games, they can also watch the
A-Open moves on the many TV monitors, not just in the playing hall but also in
the foyer or in the café. They can also listen to the analysis of the
grandmasters.
The top event is of course the A-Open in which
strong GMs and IMs traditionally take part. It is a fantastic opportunity for
young players to make norms. This year eight players succeeded: Bezemer,
Dambacher, Erwich, Odendahl, Pedersen, Peek, Smeets and Vidarsson each achieved
an IM norm.
New German GM: Florian Handke
One GM norm went to the
20-year-old German Florian Handke, who shared second place with F. Nijboer and
I. Sokolov. His 7/9 result brought him his third and final GM norm.
Tournament winner with 8.5/9: Loek van Wely
Loek van Wely won the tournament,
as in the last year. His result of 8.5 points from 9 games speaks for itself.
Loek was in superb form and has found his ideal playing style. He won the Dutch
championship a month ago and worked very successfully with Veselin Topalov at
the Dortmund classical chess qualifier. The next successes are bound to follow.
The proud parents of the winner
Games, results and reports are to
be found here.
More pictures
Lost in thought: Ivan Sokolov
Most colorful player: GM Dimitri Reinderman
Veteran GM Jan Timman
GMs Eric Lobron and John van der Wiel
GM Friso Nijboer with wife
