Dutch Championships: Giri, Smeets lead, Peng with 6.0/6

In the fourth round of the 2010 Dutch Championship, the top boards began to establish who the most likely contenders are, with both the 2008 and 2009 champions, Smeets and Giri respectively, taking the lead.

Six-time champion, Loek Van Wely, fresh from a strong victory at the Chicago Open a few weeks earlier, seems out of sorts, and is actually below the 50% mark halfway through. We must mention that Loek is taking part in a medical experiment to measure the stress levels a chess player has to undergo during a tournament.

... with the Dutch media fascinated by the experiment that is being conducted

Sensor on his chest and hand detect skin resistance

Like us, the press cannot get enough of the experiment

Wired: Loek before the start of a medicinally monitored game, which took a strange course

Bok,B (2430) - Van Wely,L (2653) [B43]
ch-NED Eindhoven NED (4), 15.06.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Qxe5 12.Bf4 Qh5

13.Be2 Qg6 14.Bd3 Qh5 15.Be2 Qg6 16.Bd3 Qh5 17.Be2 Qg6 18.Bd3 Qh5 19.Be2 Qg6 20.Bd3 Qh5 21.Be2 Qg6 22.Bd3 Qh5 23.Be2 Qg6 24.Bd3 Qh5 25.Be2 Qg6 26.Bd3 Qh5 27.Be2 Qg6 28.Bd3 Qh5 29.Be2 Qg6 30.Bd3 Qh5 31.Be2 Qg6 32.Bd3 Qh5 33.Be2 Qg6 34.Bd3 Qh5 35.Be2 Qg6 36.Bd3 Qh5 37.Be2 Qg6 ½-½. That, if we count correctly, is a thirteen-fold reptition. What happened? Apparently van Wely was annoyed with his young opponent, who had received a wildcard from the organisers. Instead of going 13.h4 and playing for a win, Bok started to repeat. "It made me very angry," said Loek – and the medical technicians were able to measure this directly – "because I understood that he had gone for a draw from the start. As a wildcard he should play sharp and gain experience; instead he goes straight for the draw like an idiot." The many-times Dutch champion kept repeating and his opponent did the same. Afterwards Bok said that he offered van Wely the draw twice, but his opponent simply didn't accept it.

Erwin L'Ami with his fiancée Romanian WGM Anila Motoc

In round five, Jan Smeets slowly overpowered the early-round leader, Friso Nijboer, while 15-year-old Anish Giri found himself with four passed pawns for the piece after the middlegame tussle. This turned out to be a few too many to handle for his opponent.

In round five, Smeets was held to a draw by Loek Van Wely, while Giri chalked up a third consecutive win, steamrolling Bok, to join him at the top of the leaderboard.

Current standings

Women's Championship

In the women’s championship, one might have expected a tighter race between Peng Zhaoqin, top seed at 2397, and second seed Tia Lanchava, rated 2364, but such is not the case, with Peng Zhaoqin cruising with 100% after six rounds, followed next by Anne Haast, 2220, on 3.5/6.

Here is the shot Peng played to end her rival’s resistence in the fourth round:

Dutch Championship 2010

Peng Zhaoqin (2397) - Lanchava,T (2364) [A91]
2010 Dutch Championship - Women Eindhoven NED (4), 14.06.2010
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 Ne4 6.0-0 b6 7.d5 Bb7 8.Nd4 Qc8 9.Bxe4 fxe4 10.Nc3 0-0 11.Be3 c5 12.Nc2 d6 13.Qd2 Rf5 14.g4 Rf7 15.h3 Na6 16.Bg5 exd5 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.Nxd5 Re5 19.Nce3 Nc7 20.Nxc7 Qxc7 21.Rad1 Rd8 22.a4 Qf7 23.Qc3 Rg5 24.h4 Rg6 25.Qe5 Qd7 26.Qg3 Qxa4 27.Ra1 Qb3 28.Rxa7 Bc8 29.h5 Rf6

30.Rxg7+! Kh8. Taking the rook with 30...Kxg7? would lose the queen to 31.Nf5+! Bxf5 32.Qxb3. 31.g5 Re6 32.h6 Qxb2 33.Qf4 Rg8 34.Rxg8+ Kxg8 35.Ng4 Qxe2 36.Ra1 Bb7 37.Nf6+ Kf7 38.Ra7 Re7 39.Nd5+ Ke8 40.Nxe7 1-0.

Photos by Frans Peeters

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