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 organization has managed to snare the two greatest names of Dutch chess.
Anish Giri, a future World Championship candidate and the hope of Dutch chess, and Jan Timman, the chess icon of the Netherlands who was known as ‘the best of the West’ for a long time, will cross swords with respectively Alexey ‘fire on board’ Shirov, who has many fans all over the world thanks to his daring sacrifices, and Baadur Jobava, the number 1 player of Georgia, a relatively unknown player who is, however, greatly appreciated by connoisseurs because of his unconventional playing style. Spectacle guaranteed!
Also, the organization will attempt to introduce a novelty at the highest level: besides the usual live transmittance of the games on the Internet, including computer evaluations, the human body will also be charted during the game by means of heartbeat measurement. 'We are quite curious what the result will be when the tension reaches fever pitch’, says tournament director Loek van Wely.
The registration for the Univé Open and the amateur groups starts on Saturday 21 June.
