Belgian Championship: Daniel Dardha wins fourth title

by ChessBase
7/17/2024 – Daniel Dardha grabbed his fourth national title at the 2024 Belgian Chess Championship, which took place on 6-13 July at the Sint-Gummarus College in Lier. A final-round victory granted the 18-year-old overall victory, as he outscored Stefan Beukema by a mere half point. Mher Hovhannisyan and Sim Maerevoet tied for third place, with Hovhannisyan completing the podium on tiebreak criteria. | Photos: Belgian Chess Federation
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Two unbeaten players

Press release by FIDE

GM Daniel Dardha emerged victorious in the 2024 Belgian Championship, capturing his fourth national title.

The 2024 Belgian Championship, which included an invitational 10-player round-robin (expert tournament) and an open tournament, took place in the large refectory of the Sint-Gummarus College in Lier from July 6-13.

The 18-year-old Dardha confirmed his status as the pre-tournament favourite to win the expert event, though it was a very close race with IM Stefan Beukema, one that came down to the wire.

Going into the final round, Dardha and Beukema shared the lead with 6½/8 points each. Stefan made a quick draw with IM Steven Geirnaert, while Daniel jumped on this opportunity and defeated IM Alexander Alienkin with black pieces to clinch the title (see analysis of the game below). The champion and the runner-up were the only unbeaten players in the event.

Mher Hovhannisyan and Sim Maerevoet scored 5½/9 and tied for third place, with the former completing the podium thanks to his better tiebreak score.

Belgian Chess Championship 2024

The playing hall in Lier

Alienkin 0 - 1 Dardha

Analysis by Carlos Colodro

Alienkin, Aleksander23310–1Dardha, Daniel2629
Round 9: Alienkin, Aleksander - Dardha,
Liege14.07.2024[CC]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.c4 Bb7 4.Nc3 e6 5.a3 g6 6.d5 A very direct approach, employed in the past by the likes of Andreikin, Mamedyarov or Van Wely. exd5 7.cxd5 Bg7 8.e4 Qe7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 The novelty in this game, which turns out to be too optimistic, as White is likely to castle long (due to the development of the queen to e2) and the dark-squared bishop will be very dangerous on the long diagonal. 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 and Black gets to play actively either with Ba6 Or 12...Re8 11...Bxf6 12.e5
Doubling down with the opening approach - again an overly optimistic idea, which soon backfires. Better is to continue the development with 12.Qe3 Re8 13.Bd3 12...Bg7 13.0-0-0 d6 Exploiting White's over-extended centre. 14.exd6 Qxd6 15.Nb5 White was already in trouble, but this forward jump only makes matter worse. The safer alternative 15.Qc2 Nd7 16.Kb1 is better. 15...Qf6 The battery is ready. 16.Qc2 c6 Forcing more lines to be opened on the queenside. 17.dxc6 Nxc6 18.Nc3 The knight returns - two tempi have been lost. Ne7 19.Be2 Rac8 20.Kb1 Nf5 21.Rd7
Trying to desperately get counterplay, but Black now finds a remarkable knight two-move manouevre to first defend the bishop on b7 and then go for the kill on the queenside. 21.Rhe1 b5 22.Rd7 Bc6 is only slightly better. 21...Nd6 22.Rd1 Ne4 23.Rxb7 The losing mistake, allowing Black to break through. 23.R1d4 only delays the inevitable. 23...Nxc3+ 24.bxc3 Rxc3
25.Qb2 Black now has mate-in-5. Rc1+ 26.Qxc1 Qa1+ 27.Kc2 Qc3+ 0–1

Crosstable

Belgian Chess Championship 2024

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1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5 3.exf5 d5 4.Bb5 Bxf5 5.Ne5 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d4 Nf6 8.g4 Bg6 9.h4 e6 10.h5 Bf7 11.Qf3 Bg8 12.Nc3 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.h6 gxh6 15.Bxh6 Nd7 16.Nc6 Qc8 17.0-0-0 Qb7 18.Nxd5 Bf7 19.Nf6+ Nxf6 20.Qxf6 Rg8 21.Qd8+ Rxd8 22.Rxd8# 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Beukema,S2411Dreelinck,J23101–0 B00Round 1: Beukema, Stefan - Dreelinck, Jacob1.1
Dardha,D2629Geirnaert,S24381–0 A15Round 1: Dardha, Daniel - Geirnaert, Steven1.2
Ruzhansky,E2242Alienkin,A23310–1 B11Round 1: Ruzhansky, Elias - Alienkin, Aleksander1.3
Dgebuadze,A2442Hovhannisyan,M2405½–½ C16Round 1: Dgebuadze, Alexandre - Hovhannisyan, Mher1.4
De Waele,W2365Maerevoet,S2436½–½ B22Round 1: De Waele, Warre - Maerevoet, Sim1.5
Dreelinck,J2310Maerevoet,S24360–1 B20Round 2: Dreelinck, Jacob - Maerevoet, Sim2.1
Hovhannisyan,M2405De Waele,W2365½–½ C47Round 2: Hovhannisyan, Mher - De Waele, Warre2.2
Alienkin,A2331Dgebuadze,A2442½–½ A31Round 2: Alienkin, Aleksander - Dgebuadze, Alexandre2.3
Geirnaert,S2438Ruzhansky,E22421–0 D35Round 2: Geirnaert, Steven - Ruzhansky, Elias2.4
Beukema,S2411Dardha,D2629½–½ A20Round 2: Beukema, Stefan - Dardha, Daniel2.5
Dardha,D2629Dreelinck,J23101–0 E90Round 3: Dardha, Daniel - Dreelinck, Jacob3.1
Ruzhansky,E2242Beukema,S24110–1 C60Round 3: Ruzhansky, Elias - Beukema, Stefan3.2
Dgebuadze,A2442Geirnaert,S24380–1 C80Round 3: Dgebuadze, Alexandre - Geirnaert, Steven3.3
De Waele,W2365Alienkin,A2331½–½ C10Round 3: De Waele, Warre - Alienkin, Aleksander3.4
Maerevoet,S2436Hovhannisyan,M24050–1 C11Round 3: Maerevoet, Sim - Hovhannisyan, Mher3.5
Dreelinck,J2310Hovhannisyan,M24051–0 C11Round 4: Dreelinck, Jacob - Hovhannisyan, Mher4.1
Alienkin,A2331Maerevoet,S2436½–½ A35Round 4: Alienkin, Aleksander - Maerevoet, Sim4.2
Geirnaert,S2438De Waele,W23651–0 D35Round 4: Geirnaert, Steven - De Waele, Warre4.3
Beukema,S2411Dgebuadze,A24421–0 C19Round 4: Beukema, Stefan - Dgebuadze, Alexandre4.4
Dardha,D2629Ruzhansky,E22421–0 C42Round 4: Dardha, Daniel - Ruzhansky, Elias4.5
Ruzhansky,E2242Dreelinck,J23101–0 B90Round 5: Ruzhansky, Elias - Dreelinck, Jacob5.1
Dgebuadze,A2442Dardha,D2629½–½ B30Round 5: Dgebuadze, Alexandre - Dardha, Daniel5.2
De Waele,W2365Beukema,S24110–1 A80Round 5: De Waele, Warre - Beukema, Stefan5.3
Maerevoet,S2436Geirnaert,S24381–0 A45Round 5: Maerevoet, Sim - Geirnaert, Steven5.4
Hovhannisyan,M2405Alienkin,A23311–0 C02Round 5: Hovhannisyan, Mher - Alienkin, Aleksander5.5
Dreelinck,J2310Alienkin,A23310–1 B15Round 6: Dreelinck, Jacob - Alienkin, Aleksander6.1
Geirnaert,S2438Hovhannisyan,M24050–1 D35Round 6: Geirnaert, Steven - Hovhannisyan, Mher6.2
Beukema,S2411Maerevoet,S24361–0 B61Round 6: Beukema, Stefan - Maerevoet, Sim6.3
Dardha,D2629De Waele,W23651–0 A50Round 6: Dardha, Daniel - De Waele, Warre6.4
Ruzhansky,E2242Dgebuadze,A24420–1 B11Round 6: Ruzhansky, Elias - Dgebuadze, Alexandre6.5
Dgebuadze,A2442Dreelinck,J23101–0 B27Round 7: Dgebuadze, Alexandre - Dreelinck, Jacob7.1
De Waele,W2365Ruzhansky,E22420–1 A13Round 7: De Waele, Warre - Ruzhansky, Elias7.2
Maerevoet,S2436Dardha,D2629½–½ B57Round 7: Maerevoet, Sim - Dardha, Daniel7.3
Hovhannisyan,M2405Beukema,S2411½–½ C54Round 7: Hovhannisyan, Mher - Beukema, Stefan7.4
Alienkin,A2331Geirnaert,S24381–0 E15Round 7: Alienkin, Aleksander - Geirnaert, Steven7.5
Dreelinck,J2310Geirnaert,S2438½–½ C36Round 8: Dreelinck, Jacob - Geirnaert, Steven8.1
Beukema,S2411Alienkin,A2331½–½ A14Round 8: Beukema, Stefan - Alienkin, Aleksander8.2
Dardha,D2629Hovhannisyan,M24051–0 D32Round 8: Dardha, Daniel - Hovhannisyan, Mher8.3
Ruzhansky,E2242Maerevoet,S24360–1 A46Round 8: Ruzhansky, Elias - Maerevoet, Sim8.4
Dgebuadze,A2442De Waele,W2365½–½ B10Round 8: Dgebuadze, Alexandre - De Waele, Warre8.5
De Waele,W2365Dreelinck,J23101–0 A49Round 9: De Waele, Warre - Dreelinck, Jacob9.1
Maerevoet,S2436Dgebuadze,A24421–0 E11Round 9: Maerevoet, Sim - Dgebuadze, Alexandre9.2
Hovhannisyan,M2405Ruzhansky,E22421–0 A07Round 9: Hovhannisyan, Mher - Ruzhansky, Elias9.3
Alienkin,A2331Dardha,D26290–1 E12Round 9: Alienkin, Aleksander - Dardha, Daniel9.4
Geirnaert,S2438Beukema,S2411½–½ D10Round 9: Geirnaert, Steven - Beukema, Stefan9.5

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