There's an old saying: "Better late than never" and Viktor Kortchnoi proved that in Curaçao. After coming to the island forty years ago to compete in the Curaçao Candidate's Tournament, he was able to come back and win the 1962 2002 Curaçao Chess Tournament on Buchholz tiebreak over Israeli GM Yona Kosashvili. Trailing them by a half point were (on Buchholz), Polish GM Bartlomiej Macieja, Dutch GM Jan Timman, and Venezuelan IM Carlos Gallegos.
Another old saying is "A picture is worth a thousand words." Here are some pictures, ith a few words for you all.
Curaçao made a very fine vacation spot, and some families chose to take part.
Sofia Polgar with son Alon
Parents Yona Kosashvili and Sofia Polgar sincerely hope Alon doesn't turn into
a 1.f4 player
The Meijer family, organizer Ger Jan Meijer and wife Lily Meijer-Goumaz with
their two children
1962-2002 Curaçao Winner Viktor Kortchnoi with wife Petra
Local media gave a great deal of attention to the tournament, here interviewing
IM Hans Bohm
There are also some fabulous places to go on Curaçao, for example, to the beach!
Not much explanation needed here- a beautiful picture of a beautiful beach
GM Bartek Macieja combining fun in the sun with serious chess analysis
GM Bartek Macieja, indoors, with his trophy for 3rd place in the 1962-2002 Curaçao
Chess Tournament
GM Yona Kosashvili, 2nd place in the 1962-2002 Curaçao Chess Tournament,
and winerr of the 2002 Curaçao Blitz Tournament
The Champion, GM Viktor Kortchnoi.
The Players of the 1962-2002 Curaçao Chess Tournament
Name Fed Score Rating Buch. 1 Korchnoi, Viktor SUI g 7.0 2635 52.5 2 Kosashvili, Yona ISR g 7.0 2543 48.0 3 Macieja, Bartlomiej POL g 6.5 2615 53.5 4 Timman, Jan H NED g 6.5 2594 53.0 5 Gallegos, Carlos VEN m 6.5 2432 48.0 6 Ligterink, Gert NED m 6.0 2401 48.5 7 Polgar, Sofia HUN wg 5.5 2462 52.0 8 Zapata, Alonso COL g 5.5 2556 47.5 9 Sequera, Jose VEN m 5.5 2378 47.5 10 Molander, Riku FIN f 5.5 2301 47.0 11 Belakovskaia, Anjelina USA wg 5.5 2270 45.5 12 Grimm, Sascha GER f 5.5 2372 43.0 13 Hernandez, Alexander VEN m 5.5 2268 42.5 14 Gikas, Basilius GER 5.0 2254 40.5 15 Broehl, Stefan GER 5.0 2223 40.0 16 Neumann, Han AHO 5.0 2211 35.5 17 Salman, Joel USA f 4.5 2236 46.5 18 Duesterwald, Marc GER 4.5 2213 46.5 19 Fernandez, John C USA 4.5 2138 42.5 20 Mensing, Fabio AHO 4.5 2200 41.0 21 Malmdin, Nils-Ake SWE 4.5 2201 41.0 22 Loew, Gerald GER f 4.5 2260 40.0 23 Tol, Leo van NED 4.5 1883 39.0 24 Strijkers, Niek NED 4.5 2164 38.5 25 Vasquez, Rafael VEN 4.0 35.0 26 Hansch, Klaus Michael GER 4.0 34.5 27 Vlugt, Frans NED 4.0 2088 34.5 28 Popitz, Andreas GER 4.0 2164 34.0 29 Bet, Sjaak J.M. AHO 3.5 2131 38.0 30 Eckert, Heiko GER 3.5 34.0 31 Dekker, Marvin AHO 3.5 30.5 32 Sagredo, Claudio AHO 3.5 30.0 33 Dijk, Tijs van NED 3.5 27.5 34 Straschewski, Joerg GER 3.0 38.5 35 Tjong-a-Hung, Edwin AHO 3.0 36.5
