The playing hall, or should we say 'playing gymnasium'?
The Groningen chess festival took place from December 21st to 30th, and had a number of activities, including three Swiss opens and two matches. The main open was the 'A' event, which was won by Ukrainian GM Alexander Kovchan, who edged out American GM Robert Hess on tiebreak after both scored 7.0/9. In third and fourth were frequent contributor Sergei Tiviakov followed by Yaroslav Zerebukh, both with 6.5/9.
GM Robert Hess (middle) with Alexander Kovchan (on his right) and organizers
Yaroslav Zerebukh and Sergei Tiviakov
Future winners Hess and Kovchan face off. Their game ended in a draw.
Here is a cute little game from the main event, peppered with fireworks large and small.
A young player wetting his feet in competition
Sometimes the contrasts can be extreme
The Dragon? He can't be serious...
A stand with products of incomparable beauty and quality. Said without a trace of bias.
No siree...
| Rk | Name | Tit | Fed | Rtg | Pts | TPR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kovchan, Alexander | GM | UKR | 2573 | 7.0 | 2760 |
| 2 | Hess, Robert L | GM | USA | 2625 | 7.0 | 2702 |
| 3 | Tiviakov, Sergei | GM | NED | 2650 | 6.5 | 2675 |
| 4 | Zherebukh, Yaroslav | GM | UKR | 2594 | 6.5 | 2653 |
| 5 | Rapport, Richard | GM | HUN | 2534 | 6.0 | 2603 |
| 6 | Ruck, Robert | GM | HUN | 2579 | 6.0 | 2574 |
| 7 | Romanov, Evgeny | GM | RUS | 2627 | 6.0 | 2553 |
| 8 | Durarbeyli, Vasif | GM | AZE | 2539 | 6.0 | 2471 |
| 9 | Ernst, Sipke | GM | NED | 2593 | 5.5 | 2530 |
| 10 | Poetsch, Hagen | IM | GER | 2408 | 5.5 | 2505 |
| 11 | Michalik, Peter | GM | SVK | 2509 | 5.5 | 2453 |
| 12 | Michiels, Bart | IM | BEL | 2492 | 5.5 | 2503 |
| 13 | Klein, David | FM | NED | 2378 | 5.5 | 2443 |
| 14 | Naroditsky, Daniel | IM | USA | 2472 | 5.5 | 2468 |
| 15 | Plat, Vojtech | IM | CZE | 2425 | 5.5 | 2464 |
| 16 | Bok, Benjamin | IM | NED | 2513 | 5.5 | 2437 |
| 17 | Hoffmann, Michael | GM | GER | 2499 | 5.5 | 2428 |
| 18 | Brandenburg, Daan | GM | NED | 2519 | 5.5 | 2363 |
The two mini-matches involved 12-year-old Jorden Van Foreest against GM Hans Ree, and 11-year-old Anna Maja Kazarian against Martine Middelveld. The matches were both won by the stronger and more experienced players, and as Van Foreest put it: "I played a few good moves, but he played a few more."
The first move is played to set off the match between 12-year-old Van Foreest and
GM Hans Ree.
Hans had a significant Elo advantage on top of his experience
Martine Middelveld was the 'experience' in her match
11-year-old
Anna Maja Kazarian
The matches were visible to all via classic demonstration boards
Pictures by Galina Tiviakova
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. Or you can get our latest Fritz 13 program, which includes six months free premium membership to Playchess. |
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