Global chess matches – on Playchess

Aruba vs Curaçao

By Ger Jan Meijer

Aruba and Curaçao are both part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, and the islands are neighbors of each other. The chess players on both islands share a warm friendship, but matches between their national teams have been almost never played. Probably that will change from now on.

These Internet exhibition matches are an initiative to liberate many countries and regions from the sporting isolation. Several other countries have already indicated that they also want to try this new form of competition. The plan is to play many more of these matches in 2006, and to start with an official competition in 2007. Geographical distances do not count anymore!

The program for Aruba vs Curaçao on Saturday April 29 is as follows (times are GST):

Aruba will play their matches from the IT training room from the company “Edutainment Center”. The chess players of Curaçao will be hosted in the Van der Valk Plaza Hotel in the downtown of Willemstad. International arbiter Alex Roose will monitor the games.

Aruba

Since 1986 the Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of three territories: The Netherlands, The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Before 1986 Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles. A long cherished Aruban wish was realized on January 1, 1986 when Aruba became a separate entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As a separate country Aruba has a Governor who is appointed by the Queen of the Kingdom, its own Parliament and Council of Ministers. Every four years free elections are held.

Evening beach scene in Aruba

In 1929 a refinery was put into operation, which developed into one of the larger refineries in the world. Worth mentioning is e.g. the fact that during the last World War the greater part of the fuel for the Allied Powers came from Aruba. The existence of such big company on the island resulted into an enormous growth of the population. In a short time the number of inhabitants grew from 9,000 to 60,000 in 1986. In 1985, however, the refinery had to stop producing owing to great international competition. The cancellation of the principal source of income meant heavy losses to the local economy. A large part of refinery was dismantled, but after a couple of years an oil refinery on a more modest scale was restarted. However, because of these developments, the tourist industry became suddenly extremely important. Aruba has been very successful with developing this industry and nowadays Aruba is one of the major tourist destinations in the Caribbean. In the last two decades the number of inhabitants has grown to 90,000.

Curaçao

Curaçao is the largest island of the Netherlands Antilles. The other four islands are Bonaire, Saint Martin, Saint Eustatia and Saba. The capital of Curaçao is Willemstad.

Willemstad, Curaçao [Photo: Ghetto Cash, full size here]

Curacao has about 150,000 inhabitants. The population is a broad mix of all kind of nationalities who live in good harmony together. Papiamento is, as it also in Aruba, the native language, but the vast majority of the people are also fluent in Dutch, English and Spanish.

The island is part of the Caribbean and is an attractive location for business, because it is also close to the main land of South America. The large natural harbor of Willemstad, the daily airline connections with Europe, the United States and neighboring countries make Curacao an important International Gateway. This Gateway function is supported by the strong presence of the financial industry and other professional companies.

See also:

• Exhibition match Curaçao – Malta
• Curacao Chess Festival 2006

Slovenia vs Turkey

The second event hosted by Playchess is the match between Slovenia and Turkey. It will start on April 29th at 16:00h CET (17.00h CEST). The Match will be played on 12 boards (6 men, 4 women, 2 juniors under 20). Rate of play is 90 min, with 30 seconds increment for each move.

Men		Score
Board 1	GM Duško Pavasovič - 2534	-	GM Mikhael Gurevich - 2643
Board 2	GM Adrian Mihalcishin - 2534	-	IM Kıvanc Haznedaroglu - 2459
Board 3	IM Jure Borišek - 2508	-	IM Umut Atakisi - 2419
Board 4	IM Marko Tratar - 2499	-	IM Baris ESEN - 2429
Board 5	IM Luka Lenic - 2428	-	IM Mert Erdogdu - 2375
Board 6	IM Matej Sebenik - 2407	-	FM Yakup Erturan - 2353

Women		Score
Board 1	WIM Jana Krivec - 2323	-	WGM Ekaterina Atalik - 2393
Board 2	WIM Ana Srebrnič - 2302	-	WFM Zehra Topel - 2132
Board 3	Petra Grošelj - 2166	-	Kubra Ozturk - 2034
Board 4	Lea Števanec - 2108	-	Seray Tulay – not rated

Juniors		Score
Board 1	Tadej Sakelšek - 2428	-	FM Y. Emrah Yagiz
Board 2	Jure Zorko - 2325	-	Emre Can - 2285

Regulations of the Internet Match Slovenia vs. Turkey

1. The Internet Match Slovenia vs. Turkey will be held on 29 April 2006 at 16:00 (CET) on Playchess.com

2. The Match will be played on 12 boards (6 players, 4 women players, 2 juniors U20). Playing time is 90 min with additional 30 seconds for each move.

3. Players are obligated to record moves, so it would be possible to continue the game in case of lost connection.

4. Players will player under their nicknames. Arbiters will check the identity before commencement of the games.

5. Colours will be decided by drawing of lots by captains for the first board. The colour on the other boards will alternate.

6. The player can claim correction of the move in case of a mouse sleep or to early drop of piece on undesired field. Move will be corrected in present of arbiters.

7. The team who scores more points will win the match. In case of tie, the match will be drawn.

8. Smoking is not permitted in the playing venue.

9. The match will be live video transmitted in Internet.

10. Arbiters of the match are Ales Drinovec, IA in Slovenia and Ismail Cem YILDIRIM, NA in Turkey.

11. Disputes will be resolved by arbiters' unanimous decision according to FIDE rules and regulations.

Live cam on both federations website:

• Slovenia www.sah-zveza.si/
• Turkey www.tsf.org.tr

Playchess.com

There are some new rooms for these two matches. The match Slovenia vs Turkey will take place in the Emanuel Lasker Arena, a new tournament room. The Curacao vs Aruba event will take place in Steinitz Stadion, another new tournament room.