Naiditsch wins Dutch Rapid Open

by ChessBase
10/4/2005 – When Arkadij Naiditsch won the Dortmund Super-GM, ahead of Topalov, Kramnik, Leko, Svidler, Adams and Bacrot, some thought it was a fluke. Now the young German GM has taken the Dutch Open Rapid Championship in Vlaardingen with 8/9 points and a sterling 2866 performance. No way around it – we are going to have to accept Arkadij as a world-class GM. Illustrated report by Fred Lucas.
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The winner of the Dutch Open, with a 2866 performance: German star Arkadij Naiditsch
 

Naiditsch wins Dutch Open
Rapid Championship convincingly

By Fred Lucas

German hopeful Arkadij Naiditsch was the clear winner of the Dutch Open Rapid Championship, which was held in the Sport Complex of Polderpoort in Vlaardingen. In the first four rounds Arkadij, who recently won the Dortmund tournament, played flawlessly and took all four points. His closest rival, Loek van Wely, was successful too, with 3.5 points. The crucial match between these two was in round five. Naiditsch continued his series of wins, and Van Wely suffered a temporary setback.

In the next two rounds Arkadij added two more points to his already impressive score. He entered round seven 1.5 points ahead of his pursuers. Two comfortable draws brought him the title and first prize of Euro 1,500. Loek van Wely fought back in good style and reached second prize in the end.

The event, sponsored by Adviesbureau Schrijvers, attracted 400 chessplayers. The main group consisted of 50 players, most of them titleholders. 15 Grandmasters (averaging Elo 2552) and 26 masters made their appearance. There were nine rounds of play. Here are the final results (the last two columns give the current ratings of the players and their performance in this tournament):

Rnk  Player                 Pts  Rtn  Perf
  1. Naiditsch, Arkadij     8.0  2612 2866
  2. Wely, Loek van         6.5  2655 2690
     Glek, Igor V.          6.5  2575 2674
     Seirawan, Yasser       6.5  2635 2669
     Doel, Erik van den     6.5  2587 2640
  6. Chuchelov, Vladimir    6.0  2562 2602
     Timman, Jan H          6.0  2625 2581
     Welling, Gerard        6.0  2399 2564
     Berelovich, Alexander  6.0  2571 2519
 10. Carlier, Bruno         5.5  2464 2540
     Gutman, Lev            5.5  2465 2522
     Michiels, Bart         5.5  2457 2483
     Smeets, Jan            5.5  2537 2453
 14. Vreugt, Dennis de      5.0  2448 2514
     Visser, Yge            5.0  2480 2500
     Dgebuadze, Alexandre   5.0  2521 2429
     Andersson, Ulf         5.0  2584 2474
     Haastert, Edwin van    5.0  2398 2481
     Cekro, Ekrem           5.0  2410 2456
     Afek, Yochanan         5.0  2389 2435
     Jager, Jaap de         5.0  2358 2398
     Jong, Jan Willem de    5.0  2334 2422
     Eijk, Sander van       5.0  2154 2324
 24. Beers, Eddy van        4.5  2370 2437
     Wessel, Rudy van       4.5  2327 2414
     Lahaye, Rick           4.5  2321 2315
     Baarle, John van       4.5  2273 2325
     Moll, Arne             4.5  2261 2293
 29. Peng, Zhao Qin         4.0  2405 2396
     Polaczek, Richard      4.0  2431 2288
     Dijk, Timon van        4.0  2277 2260
     Ooms, Andy             4.0  2286 2293
     Tate, Emory            4.0  2335 2263
     Kooten, Luuk van       4.0  2275 2233
     Leent, Dimitri van     4.0  2262 2226
     Vogel, Jaap            4.0  2291 2226
 37. Pietersma, Menno       3.5  2154 2204
     Wilschut, Peter        3.5  2141 2213
     Helvensteijn, Dennis   3.5  2250 2260
     Putten, Henk van       3.5  2270 2210
     Liem, Raymond          3.5  2084 2217
 42. Kerkmeester, Heico     3.0  2216 2174
     Meijer, Dolf           3.0  2226 2210
     Fischdick, Gisela      3.0  2230 2155
     Perez Garcia, Hebert   3.0  2250 2134
     Roobol, Martin         3.0  2302 2137
 47. Vosselman, Jan         2.5  2223 2115
 48. Schoorl, Rob           2.0  2239 2043
     Huizer, Mark           2.0  2222 2024
 50. Cornelisse, Johnny     1.5  2166 2024

Click here to download the games in PGN

Picture Gallery


The playing hall of the Dutch Rapid Open in Vlaardingen


Shared second: Dutch champion Loek van Wely


Dutch chess legend Jan Timman scored 6/9


Peng Zhao Qin shooting ("Peng, Peng" is the gunshot noise
little boys in Holland make when they play cowboys and Indians)


Gm Erik van der Doel, who shared second place


The brightest eyes in chess: Bianca Muhren


Dennis de Vreugt


The people working hard behind the scenes (the tournament was very well organized)


Vladimit Chuchelov wondering what went wrong


In the lower groups there were a lot of children playing (and winning!)


GM Lev Gutman


Veteran Swedish GM Ulf Andersen, who scored 5 out of 9


Preparing to collect autographs


This is how close you could get to watch the grandmasters play


Arkadij Naiditsch studying the face of his opponent


After the games Jan Timman shows a recent study to Yochanan Afek


Jan Smeets


GM Yasser Seirawan, who shared second place


Loek van Wely with his wife Marion between the games


Sponsor Kees Schrijvers with the winner Arkadij Naiditsch

All pictures by Fred Lucas, the professional amongst the camera-wielding chess fans. Fred is well known to our readers from past galleries (see links below). He was the official photographer for the Dutch Open Rapid Championship and has published many more pictures on the official web site.

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