A photo finish decided the European Rapid Championship in Beilen, with vice-world champion Jan Groenendijk as the glorious winner. The revelation of the tournament, however, was the second-placed former Juice player Jos Stokkel, while the winner of the open tournament Aleksej Domchev from Lithuania came third.
Defending champion Wouter Sipma had to settle for eighth place and will get a second chance on Sunday at the spectacular European Championship Blitz.
Complete film crew
RTV-Drenthe was deployed with a complete film crew to closely follow the drafts players in the arena at the Volta school community in Beilen. Three-time world champion Roel Boomstra was hired to provide live commentary for the games on the top boards. “In the beginning it was nice and quiet and the players occasionally made a move, but in the decisive phase it was hard to keep up with the spectacle.”
The TeamNL quartet had traveled to Beilen and were favorites for the podium places. But that was quite disappointing. Only winner Jan Groenendijk and to a slightly lesser extent Jitse Slump, who finished fifth, did what could be expected of them. Defending champion Wouter Sipma could not find his rhythm for a moment and finished disappointingly eighth. “This wasn’t my day. But on Sunday at the European Blitz Championships there will be a new chance!”
Great result
The big surprise in Beilen, however, was Jos Stokkel. The 63-year-old grandmaster from Huissen, who was born and raised in Sappemeer, irresistibly rose to the top of the rankings after a quiet start at the expense of 14th. the finished global number 3 Martijn van IJzendoorn. “That was my best match. in return for. I’m well versed in the Keller variant that came up on the board, so I could play nice and fast and eventually overrun him. ”
But Stokkel was realistic enough not to want to go all out in the final round against Groenendijk. With a small advantage and only a minute left on his clock, he could even afford to take a look at the other competitors. When he saw that he no longer had anything to fear from anyone, he suggested to Stokkel to call it a draw, which he gladly accepted. “One point was enough for Jan and he is simply better than me. Second place ahead of all other favorites is a great result for me.”
The declared champion among the women was the Ukrainian Darya Tkachenko, who left the Polish Natalia Sadowska and Vira Popruha from Ukraine behind her.
Sunday is the European Championship Blitz here can be followed live from 11:00 am.