ChessBase is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
From July 9 to July 18, the 4th Leiden Chess Tournament was held in the Mind Sports Center in Leiden, Netherlands. The event was comprised of two tournaments, the A event, for players rated over 1850 Elo, and the B event, for players under 1900 Elo. Both tournaments were nine rounds played at 40 moves in 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes knockout, with a 30 second increment per move as of the first move.
The A event had 97 players, including five grandmasters, five international masters, and seven FIDE masters vying for the 1750 Euro first prize. GM Erik Van den Doel looked as if he were going to run away with the tournament, with an impressive 6.5/7 start, but two consecutive losses in the final rounds left him with a bittersweet fourth place. First through third were GM Pedrag Nikolic, GM Sergei Tiviakov, and IM Eelke Wiersma, all with 7.0/9.
| # | Player | Pts | Rtng | Perf. | WWe | BH | SB |
| 1 | GM Nikolic, Predrag | 7.0 | 2592 | 2618 | +0.49 | 53.5 | 40.25 |
| 2 | GM Tiviakov, Sergei | 7.0 | 2623 | 2608 | +0.08 | 52.5 | 39.5 |
| 3 | IM Wiersma, Eelke | 7.0 | 2405 | 2536 | +1.39 | 50.5 | 39.5 |
| 4 | GM Van Den Doel, Erik | 6.5 | 2591 | 2533 | -0.32 | 55.0 | 37.5 |
| 5 | IM Slingerland, Fred | 6.5 | 2397 | 2518 | +1.61 | 54.0 | 37.5 |
| 6 | IM Wohl, Aleksandar H. | 6.5 | 2375 | 2391 | +0.36 | 50.5 | 34.75 |
| 7 | GM Gofshtein, Leonid | 6.5 | 2521 | 2462 | -0.30 | 50.5 | 33.5 |
| 8 | GM Van Der Wiel, John | 6.5 | 2467 | 2410 | -0.32 | 48.5 | 33.75 |
| 9 | FM Bezemer, Arno | 6.5 | 2322 | 2347 | +0.46 | 48.0 | 33.0 |
| 10 | Michielsen, Joost | 6.5 | 2397 | 2308 | -0.75 | 42.0 | 30.0 |
| 11 | IM Lalith, Babu M.R. | 6.0 | 2502 | 2377 | -1.12 | 52.5 | 34.0 |
| 12 | IM Kaufman, Raymond | 6.0 | 2333 | 2411 | +1.06 | 49.5 | 30.0 |
| 13 | FM Erwich, Frank | 6.0 | 2333 | 2267 | -0.61 | 46.0 | 28.5 |
| 14 | Vistisen, Lars | 6.0 | 2143 | 2286 | +1.69 | 43.5 | 25.75 |
| 15 | FM Wantola, Ivo | 6.0 | 2309 | 2243 | -0.53 | 43.0 | 28.25 |
| 16 | Ducarmon, Quinten | 6.0 | 2225 | 2301 | +0.88 | 43.0 | 26.0 |
Anne Haast about to face Erik Van den Doel.
The B event had 49 players, and was won by Stef Van der Zon (1691) who took home 500 Euros for his effort.
| # | Player | Pts | Rtng | Perf. | WWe | BH | SB |
| 1 | Van Der Zon, Stef | 7.5 | 1691 | 1962 | +3.10 | 43.5 | 34.5 |
| 2 | Sanders, Catheleijne | 7.0 | 1751 | 1926 | +1.95 | 49.0 | 37.75 |
| 3 | Noordijk, Ed | 6.5 | 1675 | 1849 | +2.18 | 48.0 | 34.5 |
| 4 | Van der Lende, Nathalie | 6.5 | 1719 | 1835 | +1.39 | 46.0 | 31.5 |
| 5 | Kirana, Nancy | 6.0 | 1845 | 1802 | -0.46 | 49.0 | 31.25 |
| 6 | Polak, Alexander | 6.0 | 1737 | 1803 | +0.77 | 47.5 | 28.75 |
| 7 | Van den Bosse, Bart | 6.0 | 1737 | 1785 | +0.50 | 42.0 | 28.0 |
| 8 | Bekker, Michael | 5.5 | 1651 | 1820 | +2.08 | 52.5 | 28.5 |
| 9 | Leentvaar, Coen | 5.5 | 1686 | 1728 | +0.71 | 48.0 | 27.5 |
| 10 | Van den Berg, Jaap | 5.5 | 1719 | 1742 | +0.22 | 45.5 | 23.75 |
| 11 | Braggaar, Wessel | 5.5 | 1749 | 1733 | -0.15 | 43.0 | 23.25 |
| 12 | Gravemaker, Robin Anne | 5.5 | 1335 | 1674 | +3.57 | 37.5 | 19.75 |
| 13 | Matai, Rudi | 5.5 | 1798 | 1641 | -1.39 | 34.0 | 20.75 |
| 14 | Kerkvliet, Sebastiaan | 5.0 | 1749 | 1743 | -0.09 | 48.5 | 24.0 |
| 15 | Spierings, Ben | 5.0 | 1660 | 1797 | +1.32 | 46.0 | 23.5 |
| 16 | Van der Tol, Henk | 5.0 | 1608 | 1659 | +0.62 | 41.5 | 20.75 |
| 17 | Baak, Karl | 5.0 | 1770 | 1671 | -1.18 | 41.5 | 20.0 |
| 18 | Egberts, Kees | 5.0 | 1603 | 1752 | +1.65 | 41.0 | 20.25 |
| 19 | Rekelhof, Martin | 5.0 | 1749 | 1664 | -1.05 | 40.5 | 21.75 |
| 20 | Van Herpen, Max | 5.0 | 1557 | 1619 | +0.86 | 36.5 | 16.5 |
A couple of videos introducing the top players as well as the rest of the field were posted.
Overview of the top players at the 4th Leiden Chess Tournament.
Overview of other players at Leiden.
We chose a few tricky positions from the tournament to test your tactical vision. The answers are at the bottom.
1) White to play and win.
2) White is already better. How does he
cement his advantage?
3) White to play and win.
1) 1.Nxe6+! fxe6 2.Rg4+ Kh6 [2...Kh7?? 3.Rh1+ Rh5 4.Rxh5#] 1-0
2) 1.Nxd5! Nxd5 2.e4! Bxe4 3.Nxe4 Qd8 4.Nc5+-
3) 1.Rxb7!! Rxb7 2.Bxc6 Qe6 3.Rb4 Rdb8 4.Rb6! Threatening 5.Bxb7+ and 6.Rxe6. 4...Qa2 5.Rxb7 Rxb7 6.Qb4+-
LinksTo read, replay and analyse the PGN games we adivse you to download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light. This program also gives you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com. |
|
