Kasparov wins BDO Tournament in Haarlem

 The BDO Chess Tournament

26th August – 3rd September 2006 Haarlem, Holland

Report by GM Peng Zhaoqin

For the second time the chess club HWP Haarlem has successfully organized the BDO Chess Tournament. The main sponsor was André Hendriks of BDO CampsObers Accountants & Adviseurs in Haarlem. The City of Haarlem was co-sponsor.

Haarlem is the provincial capital of north Holland. The above picture, by Frits Agterdenbos, shows the Grote Markt (Grand Market Square), which is the city centre of history, events and social gatherings.

...in the Gravenzaal, the Hall of the Counts, of the Haarlem Stadhuis (City Hall)

A chess grandmaster and Heineken, both made in Holland!

Sergey Kasparov receiving his first prize from the sponsor André Hendriks

Results: BDO Chess Tournament 2006, Premier Group

No. country  Name             Score WP   SB     PS    rat.  TPR   W-We
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1.  BLR  Sergey Kasparov      6.5  38.5  26.50  33.5  2491  2554 +0.75
2.  BEL  Geert v.d. Stricht   5.5  39.5  24.75  27.0  2406  2478 +0.90
    NED  Michiel Abeln        5.5  39.5  22.50  23.0  2380  2481 +1.26
    NED  John van der Wiel    5.5  39.5  22.25  26.5  2508  2467 -0.45
    AUS  David Smerdon        5.5  39.5  19.25  29.0  2472  2471 +0.01
    NED  Roeland Pruijssers   4.5  40.5  17.25  21.0  2355  2404 +0.58
7.  NED  Chiel van Oosterom   4.0  41.0  17.25  22.5  2343  2362 +0.25
8.  BEL  Stefan Docx          3.0  42.0  15.50  11.0  2348  2279 -0.82
    NED  Taco Vrenegoor       3.0  42.0  11.75  17.0  2360  2278 -0.98
10. NED  Raoul van Ketel      2.0  43.0   6.50  14.5  2324  2187 -1.50

The fiscal advisors and accountants of BDO forecast that David Smerdon or John van der Wiel would win the event. But they were all wrong. Sergey Kasparov played a solid tournament. He led from the 4th round until the end and won safely. The highest rated player of the tournament, Dutch GM John van der Wiel, played many draws. He tried the best in his game against Kasparov, but it still ended in a draw. Then there was the moment that the passionate Australian David Smerdon could make some trouble. But Kasparov kept cool and just took whatever the opponent gave him. The young Dutch talents Roeland Pruijssers and Chiel van Oosterom had plus scores. Not bad!

Results: BDO Chess Tournament 2006, Challenger Group

No. country  Name              Score WP    SB    PS    rat. TPR   W-We
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.  Isr  Yochanan Afek        6.5  38.5  27.75  30.0  2321 2371 +0.61
 2.  NED  Martijn Monteban     6.5  38.5  25.25  32.0  2273 2376 +1.25
 3.  NED  Peter de Roode       5.5  39.5  22.00  23.5  2265 2291 +0.35
     NED  Joram op den Kelder  5.5  39.5  20.00  31.0  2217 2296 +0.99
 5.  NED  Daan in 't Veld      5.0  40.0  19.75  28.5  2176 2264 +1.02
 6.  NED  Fred Slingerland     4.5  40.5  16.75  21.0  2338 2203 -1.57
     NED  Pauline van Nies     4.5  40.5  16.50  19.5  2113 2228 +1.35
 8.  NED  René in 't Veld      3.0  42.0  12.75  17.0  2105 2104 -0.05
 9.  NED  Bart Gijswijt        2.5  42.5  12.00  16.0  2232 2048 -2.21
10.  NED  Mark Grondsma        1.5  43.5   4.25   6.5  2122 1954 -1.74

Joram op den Kelder from Delft was the hope for the Dutch supporters, but he couldn’t make it to the end. However, he still gained rating points and experience. Israeli IM Yochanan Afek and Martijn Monteban shared first place, but only Afek is sure to play in the Premier Group next year. He will take part in the BDO Chess Tournament for the third time then. The only lady in this tournament was 17-year-old Pauline van Nies. She’s the best girl under 20 in Holland. We hope she becomes a strong master in the future.

Michiel Abeln, IM David Smerdon, GM John van der Wiel and IM Geert van der Stricht shared the second place. Only club trainer of HWP Haarlem Michiel Abeln (left) looked happy with that. Of course, he scored an IM norm.

Dutch FM Michiel Abeln from Haarlem scored his first IM norm. He’s a brave player, never afraid of fighting. His game against David Smerdon was very exciting. Without Fritz nobody would know what happened. Abeln won this game eventually and gained confidence to fight for the norm. Congratulations!

IM Yochanan Afek (left) from Israel took the first place in the Challenger Group and is promoted to the Premier Group for the next year. The Israel master has been living in Amsterdam for six years. He’s very active as a player, a trainer and a writer. He plays for chess club Wageningen in Holland and chess club Betzdorf in Germany. Martin Monteban (right) has done a good job as well.

22-year-old David Smerdon (left) from Australia is a very passionate player. He received the IM title already at the age of 14. Why hasn’t he become GM yet after all these years? Studies! He’s at the moment studying at the University in Amsterdam. 18-year-old Chiel van Oosterom (right) is the Dutch junior champion. He played a reasonable tournament until the last two rounds. He lost both games and missed the chance for an IM norm.

The 18-year-old Dutchman Joram op den Kelden was the leader in the Challenger Group in the first 6six rounds. We were expecting that he would win this group. Then he directly lost to his two main competitors and later winners Yochanan Afek and Martin Monteban.

The young Dutch talent Pauline van Nies, 17

Following the games in the restaurant area

There were other activities during the BDO Chess Tournament...

IM Hans Böhm gave a simultaneous exhibition, in which ten-year-old Mia Rosa Hupkens from Schagen took part. Will she be the future star? [Photo by Gerard Brookhuis]

The author GM Zhaoqin Peng won 19 games and drew six in her simul [Photo Gerard Brookhuis]

The organizers: Paul Tuijp and Frits Welling from chess club HWP Haarlem, and of course the sponsor: André Hendriks from BDO (right). André has promissed to sponsor the Third BDO Chess Tournament in 2007. Good news! And see you next year!

The Author

Chinese-born Peng Zhaoqin, 38, won the Dutch women's championship last year, a full two points ahead of her nearest rival. She has won the Dutch title seven times, six in a row. Peng has a FIDE rating of 2420 and was awarded the full (male) grandmaster title in October 2004.

Grandmaster Peng Zhaoqin, six-time Dutch women's chamion [Photo Kohlmeyer]

• The games in zipped PGN
• The official web site