The open chess tournament in Hoogeveen became a prey for Robert Hovhannisyan. The Armenian grandmaster was also the tournament favorite based on rating, but his victory did not come without a fight.
In the final of the play-offs he met the surprising Nico Zwirs, who did not let himself be walked over. Zwirs sacrificed a pawn with black, but received little compensation in return. On the 26th move, Hovhannisyan started complications, overlooking a stunning series of horse forks from Zwirs.
Zwirs eventually had a lot more left and a big surprise was in the air. With the win up for grabs, Zwirs missed on move 65, giving Hovhannisyan the opportunity to ‘eat’ the last black pawns and escape with a draw.
jump-off
Blast chess games then had to make the decision. Zwirs also had chances in the first jump-off match, but this one also ended in a draw after 106 moves. In the second jump-off match Hovhannisyan took the initiative and that led to the win of the match and thus of the tournament. In the ‘consolation final’ for third place, Bharath Subramaniyam came out on top by beating Evgeny Romanov 2-0 in the jump-off after a draw.
In the battle for the ‘best of the rest’, Sipke Ernst and Nick Maatman played an important role, albeit not in the way they had hoped. Ernst played with black against Thomas Beerdsen. For a long time it didn’t seem to be much, until Ernst opened the door to his king wide. Beerdsen did not miss this opportunity.
Bizarre Party
Nick Maatman played a bizarre match against Daniel Fernandez with white. Black gained two pawns and had a threatening position against the white king. The price was that his own king stood alone and almost unprotected in the middle of the back row. Instead of defending his position with a horse move forward, Maatman opted for a retreat. That gave Fernandez the opportunity to clear two advanced white center pawns and decide the game. Beerdsen and Fernandez thus finished in fifth and sixth place.
The Italian Luca Moroni could not recover and was happy to escape with a draw against the Belgian Tamer Ismail. Also worth noting are a good tournament for Leandro Slagboom and a first master standard for the young German Jakob Weihrauch with 6 out of 9.
Machteld van Forest three times in the prizes
Also Machteld van Foreest from Groningen finished with 6 out of 9 after a solid draw against Arthur de Koning. She was awarded no less than three times. Not only was she the best woman in the tournament, but she also took home a prize in third under 18 and third in the 1800-2200 rating category.
Main results:
Hovhannisyan – Zwirs 0.5-0.5 (1.5-0.5); Bharath – Romanov 0.5-0.5 (2-0); Moroni – Ismail 0.5-0.5; Beerdsen – Ernst 1-0; Maatman – Fernandez 0-1; De Winter – Mr. van Forest 0.5-0.5; Melema – Ashwath 0-1; Weihrauch – barrier 0.5-0.5;
Final standings: Playoffs Final Four: 1. Hovhannisyan; 2. Zwirs; 3. Bharath; 4. Romanov; 5. Beerdsen, Fernandez 7; 7. Moroni, Ashwath, Ismail 6,5; 10. ao. Ernst, Maatman, M. van Foreest, De Winter, Slagboom, Weihrauch.