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Ladies’ Day
Today it was Ladies’ Day. Although they were placed high in the rankings, our female participants scored 2.5 points in the Open. Hungarian Anna Rudolf, who had won the day prize for the most beautiful game in round 4, got no more than a draw against grandmaster Malaniuk, but of…
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Volgas and exchanges
The sixth round started promising. Your correspondent counted no less than four, maybe five Volga Gambits, as well as two early exchange sacrifices. But the real fireworks failed to occur. Because the leaders Victor Mikhalevski and Andrey Vovk agreed a fairly quick draw, the winner of the duel on board…
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Beliavsky misses his chance
After a highly bizarre game, Victor Mikhalevski defeated Alexander Beliavsky on the top board this morning. The former elite player deserved more in this game, but after move 20 things got completely out of hand. The Israeli grandmaster thankfully accepted the present and now shares the lead with Andrey Vovk,…
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An uphill struggle
It’s starting to get a little frustrating for both Jan Timman and Alexey Shirov. To every problem they create, their opponents find a solution. Today both had White and both obtained an advantage, but it turned out to be not enough. Two endgames came on the board that had a…
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Grandmasterly violence
The grandmasters still rule in the Open. Almost all of them can be found in the top end of the list. It’s nice to see veteran grandmaster Beliavsky doing so well. Today he completely overplayed his young colleague Bartlomiej Heberla. We can recognize a pattern: he who wins the daily…
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Perfect preparation Giri, Timman blunders
Invite the right players and you’ll be amazed at what can happen in two games in one day. What happened today in the Univé matches defies all description. Let’s try anyway. With incredibly deep preparation Anish Giri laid the foundation for a second victory in an epic game. Jan Timman…
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Sharp play Vovk not rewarded
Every day the number one rated in the Open, Andrey Vovk, plays games that are well worth looking at. Today, in the third round, that didn’t yield him a point, however. The Canadian master Aman Hambleton, who performs surprisingly well so far, managed to scrape a half point after a…
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De Ruiter strikes again
In the second round of the Open, the six top grandmasters won according to plan. But on board 7 history repeated itself: class player Danny de Ruiter pulled off a stunt just like two years ago here. Also notable was that Sergey Kasparov wasn’t able to score more than a…
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First try for Giri
At two in the afternoon it started. Former chairman of the Dutch House of Commons, Dick Dolman, made the first move on both boards of the matches in the Glass Room of the town hall. And the four matadors immediately went for it. Timman and Jobava played a highly interesting…
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The horseman and the horses
Chairman Bert van der Haar of the Stichting Schaaktoernooi Noord-Oost Nederland (Foundation for Chess Tournament North-East Netherlands) was really chuffed. Jetta Klijnsma, Dutch State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment, had returned to his city to open the proud Univé Chess Tournament. ‘We were born in almost the same street’,…
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No Strange things
The first round of the Univé Open was quite hectic. Overall the tournament is quite strong, and the grandmasters didn’t exactly have an easy time. Especially a couple of talented German youngsters made their life miserable. The Czech Jiri Stocek didn’t get more than a draw against the tenacious defence…
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Mrs. Univé quits chess
The best female chess player of all time, Judit Polgar, won’t sit down at the Univé chess boards in Hoogeveen any more. Last August she announced that she would stop playing chess. The announcement was a bombshell, towards the end of the Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway, where Polgar had starred…
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Böhm and Maatman take on Hoogeveen
The 18th Univé Chess Tournament is rapidly approaching. The opening day of the tournament is already on Saturday, 11th October. On this day, every inhabitant of Hoogeveen can try his luck on the chessboard during two simultaneous displays. In the morning hours the traditional youth simul will be held at…
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Many grandmasters in the town hall
HOOGEVEEN – The 18th Univé Chess Tournament is approaching with great strides. The organization is in tiptop shape. Dutch State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment Jetta Klijnsma will open the event officially on Saturday 11th October, the afternoon Amateur group is fully booked, in the Open group a record…
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Beliavsky also joins Open Group
Another living chess legend will take part in the Open Group of the Univé tournament in Hoogeveen this year. Alexander Beliavsky, born in Ukraine and a citizen of Slovenia since 1996, is a famous player from the generation of Jan Timman. Already in 1975 he became a grandmaster, and he…
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Player profiles
Anish Giri 28 June 1994 The great hope of Dutch chess turned 20 this year. So now he is officially not a talent anymore, and he devotes himself completely to chess. His next goal is to join the world top ten. With resounding successes in, for example, Reggio Emilia 2011/12…
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Oleg Romanishin back in Hoogeveen
Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin will again play in the Open Group of the 18th Univé Chess tournament this year. The popular grandmaster from Ukraine already took part here in 2004, 2008 and 2009, scoring 6.5, 6 and 5.5 points respectively. The fighter from Lviv will doubtlessly try to reverse this trend…
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Timman and Giri in 18th Univé Chess Tournament
The 18th edition of the Univé Chess festival in Hoogeveen will take place from 11th through 18th October. The tournament organization, led by the new tournament director Loek van Wely, is glad to announce the Univé Matches: Anish Giri versus Alexey Shirov, and Jan Timman versus Baadur Jobava. Thus, the…
