
The city of Groningen in the northeast corner of the Netherlands is home to 200,000 residents, including around 30,000 students from the University of Groningen. Located a few kilometres from the German border it was once an independent city-state and a regional powerhouse still known as the "metropolis of the North". The chess festival was first held in 1963 so it, like the city, has a long tradition. This year, in addition to the main tournament, there were half a dozen other tournaments — a suitable event for every taste was on offer.
Once again in 2018, a significant number of titled players could be found on the starting list of the main tournament, including GMs Michal Krasenkow (2630), Sergey Tiviakov (2613) and Sipke Ernst (2539). Krasenkow was upset in the fourth round by IM Casper Schoppen, and suffered a further defeat in the eighth round at the hands of FM Nick Maatman, which knocked the Elo-favourite out of the running for first place.
Tiviakov made it to the top table in the final round but his ten-move draw against Schoppen left a clear opening for Estonian Grandmaster Ottomar Ladva.
Sergey Tiviakov (in red) was uninspired against Caspar Schoppen | Photo: Harry Gielen
The 21-year-old Ladva took down the Dutchman Maatman after a long endgame. Ladva had compensation for a pawn, but not more, until his opponent suddenly tried to get active and ended up giving up material, leaving Ladva with connected passed pawns and only the problem of activating his king.
Ladva liberated his monarch with 66.Rf5 Rb1 67.Ra5+ Kb6 68.Rb5+ Kc6 69.Kf3 and went on to win, thus securing tournament victory.
Ottomar Ladva (left) showed a great will to win in the last-round against Nick Maatman | Photo: Harry Gielen
He was joined by 16-year-old Dutch IM Liam Vrolijk who also had two pawns more in his endgame against GM Roeland Pruijssers, after Pruijssers jettisoned his h-pawn in hopes of winning the b-pawn:
Vrolijk was not deterred: 63.Ng7+ Ke7 64.Nxh5 Nh6+ 65.Ke4 Rb1 66.Rd4. It took 20 moves of manoeuvring before White could begin advancing his pawns, and until the 111th move before he finally overcame the resistance of his GM opponent.
Vrolijk (left) against Pruijssers | Photo: Harry Gielen
Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | IM Schoppen, Casper | 6.0 | 2431 | GM Tiviakov, Sergei | 6.0 | 2613 | ½-½ |
2 | GM Ladva, Ottomar | 6.0 | 2497 | FM Maatman, Nick | 6.0 | 2363 | 1-0 |
3 | IM Vrolijk, Liam | 6.0 | 2440 | GM Pruijssers, Roeland | 5.5 | 2520 | 1-0 |
4 | GM Plat, Vojtech | 5.5 | 2550 | IM De Jong, Migchiel | 5.5 | 2323 | ½-½ |
5 | GM Krasenkow, Michal | 5.0 | 2630 | IM Warmerdam, Max | 5.5 | 2433 | ½-½ |
6 | GM Ernst, Sipke | 5.0 | 2539 | IM Cerveny, Martin | 5.0 | 2347 | ½-½ |
7 | Lahaye, Rick | 5.0 | 2404 | FM Jedlicka, Ales | 5.0 | 2226 | 1-0 |
8 | FM Maris, Ivo | 5.0 | 2351 | WIM Krasenkova, Ilena | 5.0 | 2144 | 1-0 |
9 | GM Gleizerov, Evgeny | 4.5 | 2504 | Schippers, Maurice | 4.5 | 2270 | 1-0 |
10 | FM Simet, Martin | 4.5 | 2229 | GM Ulybin, Mikhail | 4.5 | 2482 | ½-½ |
Rank | Name | Score | Fed. | Rating | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GM Ladva, Ottomar | 7.0 | EST | 2497 | ||
2 | IM Vrolijk, Liam | 7.0 | NED | 2440 | ||
3 | IM Schoppen, Casper | 6.5 | NED | 2431 | ||
4 | GM Tiviakov, Sergei | 6.5 | NED | 2613 | ||
5 | IM Warmerdam, Max | 6.0 | NED | 2433 | ||
6 | GM Plat, Vojtech | 6.0 | CZE | 2550 | ||
7 | FM Maatman, Nick | 6.0 | NED | 2363 | ||
8 | IM De Jong, Migchiel | 6.0 | NED | 2323 | ||
9 | Lahaye, Rick | 6.0 | NED | 2404 | ||
10 | FM Maris, Ivo | 6.0 | NED | 2351 | ||
11 | GM Ernst, Sipke | 5.5 | NED | 2539 | ||
12 | GM Pruijssers, Roeland | 5.5 | NED | 2520 | ||
13 | GM Krasenkow, Michal | 5.5 | POL | 2630 | ||
14 | GM Kislinsky, Alexey | 5.5 | CZE | 2425 | ||
15 | IM Cerveny, Martin | 5.5 | CZE | 2347 | ||
16 | IM Beerdsen, Thomas | 5.5 | NED | 2477 | ||
17 | GM Gleizerov, Evgeny | 5.5 | RUS | 2504 |
... 59 players
Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson