Berelovich, Van den Doel and Khenkin win in Haarlem
29 June 2009, 12.25 CET | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags:
Igor Khenkin Sunday won the NOVA College Weekender in Haarlem on tiebreak, sharing first place and prize money with GMs Aleksandar Berelovich and Erik van den Doel. Berelovich caught the leaders Khenkin and Van den Doel who had drawn their last-round game in 8 moves, to the disappointment of the organizer and the fans.
The Weekender in Haarlem that took place June 26-28 in the city of Haarlem, the Netherlands was organized (by local chess club HWP Haarlem) for the 18th time already. The first 10 editions, from 1992 to 2001, were called “AKN Toernooi” and had winners such as Paul van der Sterren, Rafael Vaganian and Mikhail Gurevich.
In 2002 the NOVA College took over as main sponsor (and venue) where this year the tournament took place for the 8th time. A few foreign GMs had come to Haarlem: 2007 co-winner Aleksandar Berelovich, Sebastian Siebrecht and winner in 2000, Igor Khenkin.
A number of strong Dutch grandmasters had to make a choice: either go for the 9-rounder in Hilversum, or a weekend of chess in Haarlem. GMs Erik van den Doel and John van der Wiel, and IMs Manuel Bosboom, Jan-Willem de Jong, Chiel van Oosterom and Ruud Janssen opted for the latter.
This year the tournament was played in three rating groups: A >1950, B <2000 and C <1650. Due to the rate of play (first 40 moves in 105 minutes, then 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment to finish the game) the games were not FIDE rated.
In the first round, 2008 winner GM Erik van den Doel (2574) already dropped half a point against Danny de Ruiter (2075), who played a very solid White game and even in the ending didn’t make any mistakes. In round 2 it was GM Aleksandar Berelovich who had to be satisfied with a draw against Peter de Roode (2136), who kept the initiative throughout the game.
In the third round top seed Igor Khenkin (2606) already sacrificed his queen after twelve moves against Jan-Willem de Jong (2457), which turned out to be theory. De Jong didn’t take it, but lost anyway. Khenkin won his other White games in similar fashion, using preparation and little time on the clock.
About the 4th round we quote the tournament bulletin:
In the round with clearly the highest average age, the large number of young players who took a bye on this Saturday night didn’t witness why they might still be playing chess in twenty years from now. Training, eighty moves of theory, theoretical rook endgames: it can never beat the passionate way that Manuel Bosboom assaults his opponents and – unfortunately – falls in his sword. His game against Erik van den Doel was not exception. So throw that computer out of the window and enjoy!
(Game included in the game viewer below.)
In the penultimate round on Sunday morning, the professionals didn’t falter. GM Khenkin beat IM Janssen quickly while Van den Doel decided the Leiden derby against Van der Wiel in his favour. “Accurately like an accountant” (according to the bulletin) Berelovich defeated Siebrecht.
This meant a dream scenario for the last round, in which co-leaders Khenkin and Van den Doel would meet. However, as could be expected, the two drew quickly – very quickly. I was still taking pictures when suddenly I caught the two shaking hands for the second time within a couple of minutes.
The two GMs didn’t want to take any risk and secured themselves of a shared first place, hoping for a draw on board two. That game should have ended peacefully indeed, but in a RN-R ending De Jong at some point blundered his rook, allowing Berelovich to catch up with the leaders (game also included in the game viewer).
NOVA College Weekender 2009 | Group A Final Standings
| Rank | Name | Score | Fed. | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khenkin, Igor | 5.0 | GER | 2608 | 2698 | +0.68 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ |
| 2 | Van den Doel, Erik | 5.0 | NED | 2574 | 2671 | +0.75 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ |
| 3 | Berelovich, Aleksandar | 5.0 | GER | 2548 | 2575 | +0.27 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Van der Wiel, John | 4.5 | NED | 2487 | 2554 | +0.69 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Bosboom, Manuel | 4.5 | NED | 2424 | 2448 | +0.28 | 1 | = | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Janssen, Ruud | 4.0 | NED | 2514 | 2460 | -0.22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | De Jong, Jan-Willem | 4.0 | NED | 2457 | 2433 | +0.02 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | Siebrecht, Sebastian | 4.0 | GER | 2423 | 2367 | -0.16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Van Oosterom, Chiel | 4.0 | NED | 2393 | 2299 | -0.35 | = | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Wantola, Ivo | 4.0 | NED | 2338 | 2314 | +0.02 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Beeke, Bob | 3.5 | NED | 2195 | 2266 | +0.44 | 1 | 0 | 1 | = | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Brouwer, Dennis | 3.5 | NED | 2179 | 2178 | -0.01 | 0 | 1 | 1 | = | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | De Roode, Peter | 3.5 | NED | 2136 | 2250 | +0.83 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Wijnberg, Arjan | 3.5 | NED | 2107 | 2063 | -0.31 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Duch?™ne, Ren?© | 3.0 | NED | 2189 | 2126 | -0.48 | 1 | 0 | ½ | = | ½ | ½ |
| 16 | Helder, Marc | 3.0 | NED | 2142 | 2160 | +0.00 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Ter Schegget, Bram | 3.0 | NED | 2108 | 2119 | -0.02 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | Langedijk, Ardjan | 3.0 | NED | 2078 | 2078 | -0.08 | 0 | 1 | ½ | = | ½ | ½ |
| 19 | De Ruiter, Danny | 3.0 | NED | 2075 | 2206 | +0.91 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 20 | De Jager, Pieter | 3.0 | NED | 2073 | 2088 | +0.01 | 0 | 0 | ½ | = | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | Ren?© in 't Veld | 3.0 | NED | 2065 | 2091 | +0.12 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ |
| 22 | Van Duijn, Roel | 3.0 | NED | 2053 | 2080 | +0.10 | 0 | ½ | 1 | = | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Friesen, Boris | 3.0 | NED | 2044 | 2184 | +1.04 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 24 | Schouwerwou, Xander | 3.0 | NED | 2032 | 2125 | +0.45 | 0 | 0 | + | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | De Roode, Martijn | 3.0 | NED | 2019 | 2160 | +0.97 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Brookes, Christopher | 3.0 | NED | 1978 | 2140 | +1.06 | 0 | 1 | ½ | = | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Lie, Michael | 3.0 | NED | 1958 | 2171 | +1.27 | 1 | 0 | ½ | = | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Oosterman, Maarten-Jan | 3.0 | NED | 1946 | 2056 | +0.87 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 |
| 29 | Secelle, Hans | 2.5 | BEL | 2097 | 1918 | -1.21 | ½ | ½ | ½ | = | 0 | ½ |
| 30 | Leinwand, Eduard | 2.5 | NED | 2086 | 1902 | -1.26 | 0 | 0 | = | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 | Kamps, Jacques | 2.5 | NED | 2010 | 1954 | -0.39 | 0 | 0 | ½ | = | ½ | 1 |
| 32 | Van de Wynkele, Eric | 2.5 | BEL | 2001 | 2204 | +1.19 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | - |
| 33 | Kerkvliet, Max | 2.5 | NED | 1960 | 2100 | +0.82 | 1 | ½ | ½ | = | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Sparreboom, Wil | 2.5 | NED | 1927 | 2029 | +0.64 | = | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 |
| 35 | Vroombout, Enrico | 2.0 | NED | 2209 | 1870 | -2.23 | ½ | = | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 |
| 36 | Perez Garcia, Hebert | 2.0 | NED | 2016 | 1991 | -0.26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Nieland, Wim | 2.0 | NED | 1999 | 1964 | -0.33 | ½ | 0 | ½ | = | ½ | 0 |
| 38 | Smith, Thijmen | 2.0 | NED | 1999 | 1896 | -0.82 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 |
| 39 | De Bruijn, Aad | 2.0 | NED | 1939 | 1958 | +0.05 | 1 | 0 | 0 | = | ½ | 0 |
| 40 | Leeuwenburgh, Evert | 1.5 | NED | 2056 | 1713 | -1.94 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | + | 0 |
| 41 | Boulahfa, Hicham | 1.5 | NED | 2006 | 2099 | +0.30 | 1 | = | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| 42 | Van der Meiden, Dirk | 1.5 | NED | 1992 | 1900 | -0.70 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 |
| 43 | Burggraaf, Jan-Theodoor | 1.5 | NED | 1988 | 1803 | -1.11 | ½ | 0 | ½ | = | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Ramer, Milan | 0.5 | NED | 1992 | 1348 | -1.90 | 0 | = | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
It will take a while before a PGN file with game will be available at the tournament website. The games below have been collected from the live broadcast and the bulletins.
Game viewer
Click on the pairings at the top of the board to reveal a drop down list of all the games. Click on the arrow under the board just once, then the arrow keys of your keyboard also work. Silverlight works on all browsers and platforms except for Linux, but this should be fixed soon. Contact us for questions, not in the comments section, please.
The spacious playing hall: the auditorium of the NOVA College
Analysing in between rounds...
...with or without a theoretical manual at hand
Always handy to have a bookstore available (this time Schaak & Go Winkel Het Paard from Amsterdam) - Uruguay/Dutch Hebert Perez Garcia reading
Some prefer to take a rest in the sun
"What move will he play? O no, that one I missed!"
A young and pretty Barcelona fan among the participants...
...though Chelsea had its support as well
Chess organizer Karel van Delft plays quite regularly himself
The situation at the top board already after five minutes...
...and so tournament director Harry Wierda has a small talk with GM Khenkin, expressing both disappointmant and understanding (in that order)
Marc Helder faces a top opponent in the last round, and so reaches for his usual weapons...
...but IM Ruud Janssen is not intimidated by Black's extra rooks!
GM Sebastian Siebrecht fell victim to his fighting spirit, losing two crucial games from promising positions
IM Manuel Bosboom, also in this tournament a guarantee for interesting games
GM John van der Wiel couldn't play a significant role this time
IM Jan-Willem de Jong sadly finished with a blunder...
...and so GM Aleksandar Berelovich managed to win their drawn ending and sharing first prize
After drawing in round 1, GM Erik van den Doel fought himself back to a shared first place
GM Igor Khenkin won the cup on tiebreak...
...winning three White games easily on (laptop) preparation
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Wow ! very nice pics thanks a lot
hi pieter,
great job!
wow, i’m really impressed about your pics! not about myself only, you made really good pics of the impressions! haarlem is very nice. hospitally people and great downtown. ok, a weekender is always busy for the players, but i enjoyed
continue the fantastic pics please, you are on the right route
Draw in 8 moves!
That suck!