The 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from January 13 to 29, 2012 in the sports hall Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee. There are three grandmaster tournaments with fourteen players each playing thirteen rounds at 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and finally 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds/move increment starting with the first move of the game. Rest days are on January 18, 23, and 26.
It was the most exciting thing since Carlsen vs Giri: a 155 metre long Philippine ship, the Aztec Maiden, carrying 21 crew and no cargo, was stranded off the beach of Wijk aan Zee. Hundreds of local people gathered to watch the stranded vessel. There were no reports of injuries after the ship broke free and drifted, coming to rest on sand about 200 metres offshore. A local salvage firm will try to refloat the ship at high tide, the coastguard said.
The ship and a lone spectator on the beach
From the player's hotel the ship looks alarmingly close
The North Sea lashes at the stranded ship
Amateur video footage of the stranded ship – the noise is the famous
Wijk wind
And here professional night-time footage by NOS
Netherlands
Chess players and visitors stream down from the hotel (on the dune)...
... to watch and supervise the rescue operations on shore
The Dutch rescue operation begins
A Dutch naval helicopter inspects the scene, but finds no sign of fuel leaking
Everyone wants to help...
Fifteen-year-old GM Ilya Nyzhnik in group B, currently with 50% and a 2618
performance
IM Tania Sachdev from India is playing in the C Group...
... while her compatriot GM Harika Drona is struggling in the B Group...
... as is Dutch player Anne Haast in the C Group
Can't I simply take on d5? Just kidding: Elisabeth Pähtz discusses strategy
before
the start of her game with her father, GM Thomas Pähtz...
... and then stops for a quick chat with buddy Tania Sachdev
The 17-year-old GM on the left defeated the 37-year-old veteran on the right
The Hotel Het Hoge Duin, where the B and C groups are lodging
A typical Wijk aan Zee street, with the pub "De Liefhebbers",
where the journalist tournament is held
This chess poster is displayed in almost every shop
A bus stop in – well, just read the sign, if you will
This popular restaurant is called Little Switzerland
All pictures by Axel Eger and Joachim Schulze
Links
The 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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