Dutch blitz chess marathon
16.02.2003
– Once a year there is a Blitz Chess Marathon in Dordrecht, Holland. There is place for 200 participants, but since many top grandmasters are present you have to be there in time to secure a place. Which means getting up at 6 a.m. and driving for two hours, especially if you are a lowly 1400 player, fulfilling a wager with your brother. Jeroen van den Belt reports.
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 Dutch
Blitz Chess Marathon
For many years my brother has asked me to participate in the Dutch Blitz Chess
Marathon. Two obstacles prevented to fullfill his request. First you have to
be very quick as soon as you can send in your request. Within a few hours all
200 seats have been taken. Secondly, a more physical obstacle is distance: the
marathon is held in Dordrecht, which means more than two hours drive from my
home.
Finally on Februar 15, 2003 I managed to wake up at six a.m., do the necessary
things you have to do in the morning, put myself into the car and head for the
Mercure Hotel in Dordrecht. Roads were almost empty, of course, since every
normal Dutch person is sleeping at this time. I was one of the first participants
to arrive.
This is how the emtpy playing hall looked, with 100 free tables.
One hour later, everybody arrived, waiting for the moment to press the clock
the first time.
Did I mention that there were quite a lot of well-known players going for the
first prize? That's Jan Timman on the left in this picture.
The tournament was held according to the Swiss system, and with my low rating
(I estimate myself about 1400) I had to play somebody with about 2000 in my
first game. With a high heartbeat, I managed to reach a draw. I was very optimistic
for the rest of the tournament.
My biggest challenge was to get more points then my brother (above)
The tournament was very well organized. At each table there was a referee who
immediately asked for the score after a game was finished.
When everybody was ready, the software calculated the next rounds.
Tension around board one, where Timman os playing Piket
While the other tables can play in peace
The tournament was held for 17 double rounds. Sometimes I managed to get a
higher board number then my brother, sometime we were sitting next to each other.
Then came the last round. Everybody felt exhausted and was waiting for the next
parings. And the computer decided I had to play against my brother. I lost 2-0
and will have to hear it for the rest of my life. Now I feel obliged to play
next year again. I wanted that anyway because this is a unique event.
Jeroen van den Belt
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