The fourth edition of the Djerba Chess Festival is taking place from 17 to 25 February 2024 on the island of Djerba in Tunisia.
Situated on the south-east coast of Tunisia, Djerba is a small, flat island at only 54 metres above sea level. There are direct flights to the island from most European cities. Otherwise, it can be reached by an international flight from Tunis, or by road, which from Tunis takes about seven hours.
Diana Mihjalova and IM Njili Kamel, the strongest Tunisian chess player, at the Tunis airport before boarding an internal flight to Djerba
Placed on a strategic maritime crossroads, during its rich history on the Djerba's soil have marched Spanish, Ottoman and various African tribes invaders. Pirates' historic activities are indelibly connected to the island. The famous, most feared pirate, Barbarossa, who became the Ottoman navy's admiral during the Suleiman Magnificent's reign, operated in the Djerba's seas and had a home on the island.
Pirate boats replicas are moored in the island's harbour and are a tourist attraction
The island is known as 'the island of dreams'. After an in-depth excursion, I now understand the meaning of the phrase. It is not referred to an exotic, luxurious image of a fancy island but to its serene calm and tranquillity. The local government keeps the century's old traditional architecture of flat, white-washed, single store buildings and resolutely chases off investors whose intention is to break the image with modern style, huge hotels — even at the price of economic struggle.
Palm trees reflect in the water collected in an irrigation pool
The international chess festival is a welcome winter's revival of the island's sleepy atmosphere, which is a stark contrast to the summer season's bustle. The winter is pleasant, with warm, sunny days and somewhat colder evenings.
The Festival's poster in front of the playing venue
The chess festival participants and guests were greeted with the customary horses and camels performances on the beach, and folk music and dances typical of the island.
Djerba folk dancers
Camels patiently await guests for a camel ride on the beach
Horse riders performed some daring riding stunts on galloping horses
The organiser/sponsor Chokri Saidi, an excellent horse rider himself, gave an interview to the Tunisian TV show 'On the Ground'
The 'On the Ground' team led by Moez Zarai (seated) is present throughout the duration of the Festival as he reports daily for the Tunisian TV
Fiesta Beach Djerba Hotel provides the accommodation as well as the playing venue. It is a large complex of many small, white, flat, roofless bungalows with gently rounded walls and surfaces, reflecting the traditional island's architecture. Several outdoor swimming pools, a heated indoor pool and thermal baths, as well as football and tennis playgrounds are available for the Festival's participants and guests.
A hotel's bungalow
Fiesta Beach Djerba Hotel's corner
The hotel's grounds are covered with luxurious vegetation of flowers, palm and olive trees and pink pepper trees.
With just a hand stretch from my balcony, I can pick up the pink peppercorn tree's tiny berries that have a sweet peppery taste
The stage is ready for the masters
Groups A, B and C play in the master's area just underneath the stage
An amateur section has their own separate venue closer to the beach.
In the Master section, eight players compete in a single round-robin: GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2623, Ukraine), GM Hans Niemann (2675, USA), GM Aryan Tari (2635, Norway), GM Jules Moussard (2630, France), GM Daniel Dardha (2621, Belgium), GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi (2597, France), GM Bilel Bellahcene (2516, Algeria), and IM Divya Deshmukh (2427, India)
After the fifth round, Hans Niemann and Daniel Dardha are sharing the lead with 3½/5 points, followed by Ivanchuk (3/5), Maurizzi, Bellahcene and Tari (2½/5), Moussard (2/5) and Deshmukh (½/5).
Vasyl Ivanchuk
Hans Niemann
Aryan Tari
Jules Moussard
Daniel Dardha
Marc'Andria Maurizzi
Bilel Bellahcene
Divya Deshmukh
Hans Niemann is invisible apart from his appearances on the stage, after having requested a room in another hotel. But his carefully analysed games from the festival are available on his YouTube channel.
In the first round, Aryan Tari was inconsolable after his blunder in the game against Niemann. Having missed 9.e4, he lost the thread and gave a great advantage to Niemann who converted it into his first win of the festival.
Niemann v. Tari position after 9.e4
Niemann has meticulously explained the blunder:
In the second round, Jules Moussard, the winner of the last edition, had a clearly winning position against Niemann. However, with only 22 seconds left on his clock at the 51st move, he opted for a threefold repetition. What would have been an important win for Moussard turned into a lucky escape for Niemann.
Mussard v. Niemann position, 2nd round, move 51
Moussard probably lost momentum after the missed chance, struggled against Divya Deshmoukh in the third round and barely escaped with a draw. This is the only draw for Divya up to the fifth round.
The Group A competition (for players under 2500) is played as a 9-round Swiss tournament, with two days of double rounds. After the 5th round, Polish WIM Rudzinska Michalina leads with an impressive 4½/5 score.
Rudzinska Michalina
The fourth day of the festival was a free day. In a full-day excursion around the island, participants and guests visited a well-preserved synagogue dating back to the 6th century BC, the island's ethnic and art museum 'Guellala', a pottery making site, an old Jewish quarter transformed into an open air art gallery of murals, and a crocodile farm.
In the evening, at 9 pm, a blitz tournament attracted 83 participants, including 20 titled players. By the sixth round, Ivanchuk had a perfect 6/6. In the seventh round, he lost to Aryan Tari who was the eventual winner with 8½/9 points, followed by Ivanchuk and Maurizzi, both of whom collected 7½/9 points.
Ivanchuk v. Tari in the seventh round of the blitz tournament
The entrance to the Synagogue
It is the hibernation period when crocodiles sleep immobile like stone sculptures
Vasyl Ivanchuk in front of the mural of a 'Biomechanical Butterfly'.
To be continued...
