L'Ami wins Dieren – impressions by Fred Lucas

by ChessBase
8/7/2009 – The Netherlands Championship, which took place from July 21st-30th, was finally won by GM Erwin L'Ami. 15-year-old Anish Giri, who had led with 5.0/5 points and a 3164 performance, ended in second place, together with Jan Timman and FM Roi Miedema. "There are now one billion photographers on the planet," sighs Dutch professional Fred Lucas. Here are his extraordinary visual impressions.
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The Open Netherlands Championship took place in Dieren from July 21st-30th 2009. The first prize was 3000 Euros, up by €750 from the previous year. The second prize was €2000, the third €1,200. GM Erwin L'Ami finished in first place with 7.5/9. Fifteen-year-old GM Anish Giri, who had been leading with a perfect score after five rounds, played two draws and then suffered a stunning defeat in round eight with the white pieces against FM Roi Miedema. However, Anish went on to win a heroic 117-move game in the final round – his play in the queen and pawn ending that led to victory is very interesting to follow. Giri took second place on tie-break, ahead of Jan Timman and Roi Miedema, half a point behind L'Ami.

Final top standings (5.5 points or higher)

Rank Name Score M/F Rating TPR W-We BH SB
# Player Pts Rtng Perf W-We BH SB
1 GM L'Ami, Erwin 7.5 2593 2732 +1.48 51.0 40.5
2 GM Giri, Anish 7.0 2518 2689 +1.97 56.5 42.75
3 GM Timman, Jan H 7.0 2569 2624 +0.72 54.5 41.5
4 FM Miedema, Roi 7.0 2432 2673 +2.83 50.5 38.5
5 IM Brandenburg, Daan 6.5 2463 2566 +1.30 51.5 34.75
6 GM Ernst, Sipke 6.5 2598 2547 -0.37 49.5 34.75
7 Ootes, Lars 6.5 2261 2596 +3.88 49.5 33.75
8 IM Lalith, Babu M.R. 6.0 2472 2496 +0.35 51.5 30.0
9 GM Visser, Yge 6.0 2464 2531 +0.86 50.0 30.75
10 GM Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav 6.0 2556 2497 -0.56 48.5 29.5
11 GM Vovk, Andrey 6.0 2506 2456 -0.46 46.5 27.75
12 IM Bitalzadeh, Ali 6.0 2434 2484 +0.66 46.0 28.75
13 FM Burg, Twan 6.0 2422 2530 +1.35 45.0 28.25
14 FM Bezemer, Arno 6.0 2332 2456 +1.52 42.5 24.25
15 GM Nijboer, Friso 5.5 2552 2447 -1.08 51.0 29.0
16 IM Adhiban, B. 5.5 2481 2446 -0.27 50.0 28.0
17 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 5.5 2565 2427 -1.39 49.5 27.75
18 GM Swinkels, Robin 5.5 2516 2433 -0.88 49.0 28.25
19 IM Wohl, Aleksandar H. 5.5 2387 2506 +1.47 46.5 26.0
20 IM Pruijssers, Roeland 5.5 2401 2372 -0.24 46.5 24.75
21 IM Van Delft, Merijn 5.5 2360 2483 +1.53 44.0 24.75
22 IM Hoeksema, Erik 5.5 2309 2397 +1.15 43.5 24.0
23 FM Tondivar, Babak 5.5 2372 2333 -0.35 43.0 24.5
24 IM Karthikeyan, P. 5.5 2478 2354 -1.27 41.0 23.75
25 WGM Motoc, Alina 5.5 2315 2297 -0.08 41.0 23.0
26 Haast, Anne 5.5 2158 2393 +2.67 41.0 22.0
27 Harini, S. 5.5 1986 2287 +3.48 35.5 21.5

Pictorial impressions by Fred Lucas


The winner GM Erwin L'Ami, 2593, 7.5/9, performance 2732


Second: GM Anish Giri, 2518, 7.0/9, performance 2689


Start of the game Giri vs Timman in round seven (drawn in 35 moves)


Third: GM Jan H. Timman, 2569, 7.0/9, performance 2624


Fourth: FM Roi Miedema, 2432, 7.0/9, performance 2673


Fifth: IM Daan Brandenburg, 2463, 6.5/9, performance 2566


Sixth: GM Sipke Ernst, 2598, 6.5/9, performance 2547


Eighth: IM M.R. Lalith Babu of India, 2472, 6.0/9, performance 2496


15th: GM Friso Nijboer, 2552, 5.5/9, performance 2447


16th: IM Baskaran Adhiban of India, 2481, 5.5/9, performance 2446


24th: IM Pandian Karthikeyan, India, 2478, 5.5/9, performance 2354


The main group in Dieren


An overview of the playing hall


Center of interest: Timman-Giri after 25...Rd8


Post mortem after round eight: Anish Giri, 15, and Jan Timman, 58


GM blitz outside the playing site: Friso Nijboer vs Yge Visser


Winner Erwin L'Ami with girlfriend Alina Motoc


L'Ami hamming for in the Fred Lucas studio


Anish Giri in action


... and posing with a model for Fred Lucas


Phenomenon Hans de Lange – an uncompromising and furious attacker


Colorful: a participant in the main group


Gritty and determined: an elderly player


Angelic: a female participant


A young chess player and fan in Dieren

"My relation with chess is simple," says Fred Lucas. "I'm a photographer who is very fond of the game, loves the atmosphere at tournaments – it's if you can really feel all the ideas coming up on all those boards – and I love to make pictures, especially with available light. What I like most when photographing chess players is to get their emotions that are otherwise hard to see, because life immediately proceeds to the next moment. Before the start of a game most players are busy with themselves, concentrating and some give you the impression that they really don't want to pay attention to anything else than the game to come."

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