
The 13th Univé Tournament 2009 is taking place from October 16th to
24th in the town hall in the center of the Dutch town of Hoogeveen. It is played
in a number of sections: the Crown Group with four players, the strong international
Univé Open, two tournaments for amateurs and a youth event. The insurance
company Univé is the new sponsor of the event, which was previously
known as the Essent Tournament. The prize fund for the for the Crown Group is
€10,000, the time control 40 moves in 1½ hours + 30 minutes to finish
the game, with a 30 seconds increment from the start.
Participants of the Crown Group
Player |
Country |
Rating |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Ukraine |
2746 |
Sergei Tiviakov |
Netherlands |
2697 |
Judit Polgar |
Hungary |
2693 |
Anish Giri |
Netherlands |
2517 |
Average rating 2663 – Category: 17

Anish Giri, 14, grandmaster and Dutch Champion
All four games of the first two rounds in the Crown Group were drawn, which
was mainly a success for 15-year-old GM Anish Giri, who was playing 161 points
above his nominal 2552 rating. The second round had the more exciting games:
a hard-fought 52-move draw between Giri and Sergei Tiviakov, and an exciting
effort by Judit Polgar, who missed a good chance (46..Qd4!) with the black pieces
against Vassily Ivanchuk, and then tried to eke out a win in a rook and minor
piece ending. The game was drawn in 75 moves.

Hoogeveen: cascade in the Main Street [photo Willem Jan Kleppe]

The town hall, decorated with flags of the participant during the tournament

Top GM in the Crown Group: Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine

Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of the game

Sergei Tiviakov, who won the Dutch Championship in 2006 and 2007

Anish Giri, of Russian-Nepalese descent, is the reigning Dutch Champion
Photos by Harry Gielen
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 the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009! |
|