On the four top boards of the Open, it was a real India-Netherlands match today. India won 2½-1½, but we might argue that the Netherlands hadn’t brought the strongest line-up – which, by the way, also goes for India.
Only Jan Werle and Liam Vrolijk held their own against our attack-loving guests. Vrolijk, who received the brilliancy prize before the round for his victory against Debashis Das in yesterday’s round, now made an admirable draw against Sundar Shyam. He was even clearly better when he went for the move repetition. Werle played a good pressing game against Bharathakoti, who suddenly blundered a piece. But Abhijeet Gupta, Babu Lalith and International Master K.Rathnakaran ended up on 3 points just like the Frisian grandmaster.
On board 1, Gupta disposed of one of our most talented youth players.
Beerdsen - Gupta
White has just jumped out of the fork from e3 – out of the frying pan into the fire:
27...Qxf3!
For the queen Black eventually gets a rook and two pieces.
28.Qxf3 dxc3 29.Ba3
Materially speaking, 29.Bxc3 would come down to the same, but with the extra rook White might have had some more practical counterchances.
29...c2 30.Re1 Nb3 31.Qb7 c1Q 32.Bxc1 Rxc1 33.Rxc1 Nxc1 34.Qb1 Ne2+ 35.Kf1 Nf4 36.g3?
36...Ra8
Winning the queen, and now it’s really over. Beerdsen resigned.
Thomas Beerdsen. Photo: Lennart Ootes
Babu Lalith gained an exchange in a complicated game with Lars Vereggen, and the latter couldn’t compensate that loss. Rathnakaran beat the German Denis Mager in attractive style.
Rathnakaran - Mager
The black king on f7, the vulnerable e7-point, and the bundle of pieces in front of them – this spells trouble. Of course the Indian master found the violent solution to the problem of this position:
24.Ne5+! dxe5 25.fxe5 Ke6
A nice fork, though.
26.Qxd4 Qxd5 27.Qb6+ Kf7 28.Rxf5+ Kg8 29.Qg6 Rf8 30.Rcf1 Rxf5 31.Rxf5 Rf8 32.Rxf8+ Kxf8
Now White won another pawn with
33.Bxe7+ Kxe7 34.Qxg7+
… and after
34...Kd8 35.Qf6+ Ke8 36.Qg6+
… the German had had enough.
Harmen Jonkman. Photo: Lennart Ootes
Harmen Jonkman, who suffered a surprising loss yesterday, trapped one of the most experienced players in the circuit with a ghastly trick.
Jonkman - Heemskerk
31...Rb5?
I think this is one of the worst disasters that can happen to you on the chessboard, because the refutation is always an ice-cold shower.
32.R1d2
He doesn’t see it! With 32.b4! followed by 33.a4 White could have caught the rook.
32...Ne4 33.Re2 Nf6
Didn’t Heemskerk see it yet, or did he hope that Jonkman wouldn’t see it a second time?
34.b4! Rc4
35.Nc2!?
Now he doesn’t even content himself with the win of an exchange by 35.Nxc4 dxc4 36.Rxc4. Now it will be a rook against a few pawns. Heemskerk resigned.
The 13-jarige Dushyant Sharma wasn’t overwhelmed in a super-sharp game with the 17-year-old Rustam Bunyatov.
Sharma - Bunyatov
Both sides have their trump cards, but at first sight it looks as if Black has more:
33...Ng3+!? 34.hxg3 hxg3 35.Kg1 Qh5 36.e7!
Keeping the rook from f8, and the bishop on d4 is worth its weight in gold.
36...Re8 37.Qe4
37...Nf3+
He had already said 'A'...
38.gxf3 Qh2+ 39.Kf1 g2+ 40.Ke1 Bxd4 41.Qxd4+ Kh7 42.Qe4+ Kh8
Does White have more than perpetual check? Yes, but he will have to swallow a thing or to.
43.Ne2! gxf3 44.Qxf3 g1Q+ 45.Nxg1 Qxg1+ 46.Kd2 Qg5+ 47.Kd3 Qxc5
All’s well that ends well for Black?
48.Qf6+ Kg8 49.Qg6+ 1-0
Alas... sometimes chess is unjust.
Rustam Bunyatov tijdens ronde 2. Foto: Lennart Ootes
That ‘Mr. En Passant’ (the Dutch chess club champion) Dick de Graaf can play a nice game himself, was proved today by the following fragment, which brought him his second point.
Kouwenhoven - De Graaf
With everything but the kitchen sink aimed at f6, it seems as if White will come first here. But just like in today’s Van Foreest-Sokolov game there is a curious symmetry here: it’s not about f6, but about c3!
25...Nxe4! 26.Bxg7 f6! 27.Bxf8 Nc3+ 28.Kc1 a3 29.Qd2 Qxf8
The white attack has vanished into thin air, while his king is helpless in a vise grip of the black pieces. Not bad for just an exchange.
30.Rde1 f5 31.Nf2 Nc5 32.Qc2 Qf6 33.Bd1 a2 34.Kb2
De Graaf resists the urge of giving mate with a discovered check: he wants that pawn on a1.
34...Ra8 35.Bf3 Nd1+ 0–1
The pond behind the cty hall. Photo: Lennart Ootes
Jan Roebers. Photos: Lennart Ootes
Jaap Vogel. Photo: Lennart Ootes
