Where chess and football meet

Chess, fish and chips in Spakenburg

It is a former Dutch fishing village of around twenty-thousand inhabitants located in the province of Utrecht (north of Amersfoort), a part of the municipality of Bunschoten. Dutch players are familiar with the famous chess club En Passant, situated in its own beautiful building shaped like a mighty rook in Bunschoten. The members of this dynamic club constantly seek special challenges. First, they wanted their own club; then, they wanted a national title and their first team made it all the way to the top Dutch Meesterklas; finally, they won the country's team championship three times.

The most recent challenge was to organize a new tournament in a football stadium. There are two rival strong local amateur teams that live side by side in the sports park De Westmaat in the village: SV Spakenburg, nicknamed De Blauwe (the blue), and SV Ijsselmeervogels, nicknamed De Rode (the red). As the locals recounted, if someone shoots a ball over the fence, they will not get the ball back — it is considered a lost item.  Last Saturday, the latest dream came true when black and white warriors invaded the club of the Reds, above the football field, for the first Fishpartners Open rapid tournament. 

Good spirits in Spakenburg: Hans Ree has just forked a pair of rooks | Photo: Frans Peeters

Master Class Vol.1: Bobby Fischer

No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.

Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.

The led boarding in the football field was decorated with famous chess quotations such as: "Chess is the struggle against error" (Zukertort); "I don't believe in psychology, I believe in good moves!" (Fischer); "Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy" (Tarrasch); and one from the former Dutch champion Hans Ree, who was among the participants: "Chess is beautiful enough to waste your life for." 

Exactly 64 (!) players took part in this first edition and enjoyed a fresh supply of delicious Kibbeling and Herring fish. Among the invited players, four legendary Dutch grandmasters made an appearance: Jan Timman, the famous contender for the world supreme title, former Dutch champions Hans Ree and John van der Wiel, local heroes GM Friso Nijboer and  IMs Hans Bohm, and Manuel Bosboom. The four grandmasters happened to meet in the fourth round for a nostalgic reunion: Timman beat van der Wiel and Nijboer beat Ree. 

Four Dutch chess legends met in round four | Photo: Frans Peeters

Three Dutch youth champions were among the favourites: IMs Lucas van Foreest, Thomas Beerdsen and Ting Hing Lai. Special guest stars were two chess computers: Pewatronic GM, rated 3200, and Tasc R30, a program created by one of the club members, rated 2380. Proving to be far too strong for the human mind, especially in rapid time controls, the participation of silicon monsters has gone out of fashion quite a while ago. No wonder some of the top players seemed not to be particularly happy with the attendance of such cyber-power — their presence had been explicitly announced in the invitation, however.

It was experience vs. youth in round five: Beerdsen-Timman, Nijboer-Lai and Bosboom-van Foreest | Photo: Frans Peeters

Fritz 15 - Versie nederlands

What does the modern chess player need? A sparring partner, a trainer, an up-to-date database and access to an online chess server!

It did not come as a surprise that Pewatronic scored 6½ points in the 7 Swiss rounds — drawing only against Hing Ting Lai — and declared the formal winner. The real surprise, however, was the clear human winner of the event. A 2100 player, 26-year-old Kevin van Brummelen was lucky enough to avoid the terrible cyber-enemies and scored 6 points. He lost only one game, against IM Ting Lai (him again!) in the second round, and beat three IMs in the last three rounds. His prize was a beautiful trophy and 800 Euros. Runners-up in the final rankings were young Van Foreest and Beerdsen, on 5½. The only female player in the field, young FM Anna Maja Kazarian, did well, as she scored 5 points to share fourth place with six other players. 

The winner gave a speech | Photo: Frans Peeters

It was a cheerful and colourful event, and hopefully the beginning of a new tradition — one that sees chess events organized frequently in sports venues.

All available games

The Dutch Stonewall - A fighting repertoire against 1.d4

In the Dutch Stonewall Black from the very first move fights for the initiative. Let Erwin l'Ami take you on a fascinating journey to the depth and attractions of this unique opening. At the end you will be rewarded with a new repertoire against 1.d4!

Final standings (top 15)

Links

• Chess club "En Passant"
• Full results