To celebrate its 150th anniversary, the Dutch Chess Federation held its national championship from 2 to 9 July in the VIP area of the Galgenvaard stadium in Utrecht. The stadium is the home ground of the football club FC Utrecht.
The open championship, in which this year only men participated, and the women's national championship were played in different formats. Thirteen men took part in the open championship, which is a knockout tournament. The women's championship, on the other hand, was played as a round-robin tournament with four participants playing two games against each other.
The women's championship ended on 6 June. The big favourite, super talent Eline Roebers (16), currently no. 40 in the women's world rankings, won the tournament comfortably with 5 out of 6, four wins and two draws. Anna Maja Kazarian took silver, while Robin Duson and Anette van Weersel finished third and fourth respectively.
Just like the Netherlands, the Dutch Championships experienced an extremely stormy day on 5 July. A hurricane swept across Western Europe, hitting the coastal areas of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark in particular. The Dutch Chess Federation postponed the starting times for the rounds on that day by two hours in view of the storm, but Anette van Weersel, who had to travel from Alkmaar, still saw no way of getting to the venue in Utrecht in time. Her game was considered lost by default, a decision against which van Weersel appealed. After her appeal was rejected, van Weersel withdrew from the tournament. The incident was widely discussed.
In the open knockout championship, top Dutch grandmasters Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest and defending champion Erwin L'Ami were seeded for the second round. They met the first round winners Benjamin Bok, Sipke Ernst and Roeland Prujssers and all three won.
In the fourth quarterfinal match Max Warmerdam won against Sergei Tiviakov.
The knockout rounds of the open championship are played as mini-matches with two games. In the event of a tie, a play-off follows.
In the semi-finals Anish Giri and Max Warmerdam drew the first game. Jorden van Foreest took the lead against Erwin L'Ami.
Anish Giri and Max Warmerdam
Erwin L'Ami and Jorden Van Foreest
