Amsterdam Chess Tournament 2006

by John Lee Shaw



The Amsterdam Chess Tournament, (with its 'I-Am-sterdam' slogan), took place between July 15th and 23rd. The tournament was 9-round swiss, and was played with time control of 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 1 hour per player (30 minutes for the lower groups) to complete the game. The event was held at the Student Sports Centrum, Amsterdam, a nice venue with easy access. As well as the open sections, there were also players who were invited to compete in the event, (commendably not just home-grown talent as you will notice) and these were: Erwin l’Ami (GM 2586), Friso Nijboer (GM 2598), Lubomir Ftacnik (GM 2579), Jan Timman (GM 2594), Vladimir Tukmakov (GM 2560), Stelios Halkias (GM 2551), Karel van der Weide (GM 2443), Li Shilong (GM 2540), Dennis de Vreugt (GM 2449), Sergey Tiviakov (GM 2668), Sergey Erenburg (GM 2585), Daniel Stellwagen (GM 2575). 

Round 1: Sergei Tiviakov, having won the Dutch National Championships a few weeks prior to this event, started well with a nice win over Adam Ashton of England. Other top contenders, Erwin l'Ami and Daniel Stellwagen, also took points. There was not such a good start by another tournament favourite, Friso Nijboer, who fell with white against IM Afek, (see picture, left):

Nijboer,F (2598) - Afek,Y (2316)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qxd5 d6 9.exd6 Qb6 10.Qe4+ Be6 11.Qh4 Bxd6 12.Be2 Bf5 13.Bd1 0-0 14.0-0 Rfe8 15.b3 Bg6 16.Bb2 Rad8 17.Qh3 Bc5 18.a3 a5 19.Bc3 Qc7 20.Nh4 b5 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Bf3 b4 23.Bxc6 Qxc6 24.axb4 axb4 25.Bb2 Rd2 26.Qf3 Qxf3 27.gxf3    Ree2 28.Ra8+ Kh7 29.Bc1 Rxc2 30.Bf4 Bxf2+ 31.Kh1 g5 32.Bd6 Be3 33.Ra5 Kg6 34.Bg3 f5 35.Ra6+ Kh7 36.Re1 0-1


Round 2: If there was ever needed a demonstration that rating means very little these days in chess, then German IM Merijn van Delft's holding of Sergei Tiviakov (rated 282 points higher) is certainly one. The game was an unusual sideline of the Ruy Lopez, in which Black allowed the opening of his king and doubling of f-pawns, in order for some counter expansion. Black was no inferior at this stage, and infact the position teetered on a knife-edge for both sides. Some later misplay by Black did give White the better chances, but in a clearly superior position, Tiviakov erred with 45.Nxd6? needlessly grabbing a pawn. From here, Black defended well and accurately, and earned the half point. Tiviakov will no doubt have been very disappointed,  and would probably have been better off being patient and staying relevant with 45.Rf7 (see diagram, left, with the arrows showing the different moves) preparing to mobilise his Q-side pawns, while keeping an eye on Black's K-side mischief.

At the end of the round there were 10 players on full points, those being: Wempe, Gullaksen, Blees, Halkias, Al Modiahki, Siebrecht, Tan, Ftacnik, l'Ami, J. Timman.


Round 3: At the end of round 3, three players were beginning to shine, all having maximum scores. They were, Erwin l'Ami, who emerged the victor playing the White side of an a6-slav. Also performing well was Lubomir Ftacnik of Slovakia, and GM Halkias of Greece. Top seed Tiviakov was soon on top in his game against Mark Ferguson, to closely follow the leading pack, just a half point behind.

Round 4: At the end of this round, there was a sole leader in the form of Erwin l'Ami, who won his game to be the only player on maximum points. Erwin is one of the most pleasent Grandmasters one could hope to bump in to at a chess tournament, always willing to talk and sign some autographs, but it also remains that he is a very serious competitor. Demonstrations of this are many, but the most recent was his defeat of Loek van Wely in the Dutch National Championships, a mere few weeks ago. Other high-profile winners of this round, were: Tiviakov who defeated Greece's Stelios Halkias, Jan Timman (pictured left), and Sergey Erenburg.






Round 5: Jan Timman seemed to be showing somewhat better form than he had in the Dutch National Championships, (in which he seemed to be finding things quite difficult), and weilded the Queen's Indian against leader l'Ami. It was a very interesting game, and the diagram to the left shows the position after black's 8...a5 (for the whole game, please see below, it is well worth a look). Queen's Indian players will know that this position is still in the realms of theory, and White has tried continuations of 9.a3, 9.0-0, and 9.Ne5. l'Ami went his own way, with 9.Bxb4!?, which does not seem to be the best choice for a novelty. After 9...axb4, 10.Qd2, Timman's best choice is probably the obvious 10...Qe7, and after 11.Qg5 d5, 12.Qxg7 Rg8, 13.Qh6, things are about equal. Timman, however, chose 10...Nd5, and after 11.e4 Nb6, 12.Qxb4 White possibly has a slight advantage, though the pawn is off-set by the inconvenience of the b5-bishop preventing White from castling. This obviously bothered l'Ami, as he very soon was playing the hard to swallow move of Bf1 (when you have fianchetto'd a bishop, you don't really want to be playing moves like this so soon and under such circumstances). Timman declined the exchange, electing to play ...Bb7 instead, and from here the players gained themselves a bit of time by repeating the position a couple of times. In my opinion, l'Ami will have been slightly irritated, here, as he then had to play 18.Bd3 in order to avoid the draw by repetition, and again, this is not a very easy to swallow move. After Timman's 18...0-0, the position was niether here nor there, but I think the veteran will have been the happier of the two players. Timman's decision to exchange knights on e5, however, was possibly an inaccuracy, (...Nf6 or ...Ndb4 were slightly better), and this led to the tiniest of plusses for White. Timman did not play as accurately as he perhaps could have, and White's advantage steadily increased. However, a few inaccuracies by l'Ami (especially 38.Kf2 when 38.Kh3 seems to be the only way to go for a win) allowed Timman to save the point, and a draw was agreed just after the time control, on move 41.

Elsewhere, this round saw wins for Nijboer, and Stellwagen. Tiviakov also won, and this point him in joint lead with l'Ami, on 4.5/5, and with the two set to play in round 6.

L'Ami,E (2586) - Timman,J (2594)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 b5 6.cxb5 Bxb5 7.Bg2 Bb4+ 8.Bd2 a5 9.Bxb4 axb4 10.Qd2 Nd5 11.e4 Nb6 12.Qxb4 Ba6 13.Nbd2 Nc6 14.Qc5 Ne7 15.Bf1 Bb7 16.Bg2 Ba6 17.Bf1 Bb7 18.Bd3 0-0 19.0-0 f5 20.Qc2 fxe4 21.Bxe4 Bxe4 22.Qxe4 Nbd5 23.a4 Nc6 24.Ne5 Nxe5 25.dxe5 Qe7 26.Rac1 Rab8 27.f4 Rb4 28.Rc4 Rxc4 29.Nxc4 h5 30.h4 Qb4 31.Rf3 Ne7 32.Rd3 Nf5 33.Kg2 Rb8 34.Qf3 Qc5 35.Qxh5 d5 36.Nd2 Qc2 37.Qe2 c5 38.Kf2 Nd4 39.Qe3 Nf5 40.Qe2 Nd4 41.Qe3 Nf5 ½-½

Round 6: Very much a round of draws really, especially at the top. The clash between leaders Tiviakov and l'Ami saw a quick draw after 12 moves of theory, which is hard to not find disappointing, but I suppose that one can understand the strategy behind it. They retained joint lead of the tournaments, but both will perhaps regret not trying for a little more in this game. Keeping the top seeds' end up, was Friso Nijboer, winning his game against Sebastian Siebrecht quite authoritively in 31 moves. The game was a caro-Kann and saw Nijboer soon dominating, with probably a strategically won position by move 20. Then, he confidently give up a rook for knight and 2 pawns. When we add this together with the displaced Black king, two passed Queenside pawns, and extremely active chances, it was devestating, and Black was soon resigning.

Nijboer,F (2598) - Siebrecht,S (2414)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 h6 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.Nb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be4 10.Rc1 Rc8 11.Ba5 Qb8 12.Be1 a6 13.Nfd2 Bh7 14.f4 c5 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Nxc5 Rxc5 17.Bf2 Rc8 18.c4 Rd8 19.Qa4+ Rd7 20.Nb3 Nc6 21.cxd5 Rxd5 22.Rxc6 bxc6 23.Qxc6+ Ke7 24.Qxa6 g5 25.Bc4 Rd7 26.Bc5+ Kd8 27.Qa5+ Kc8 28.Ba6+ Rb7 29.Bxf8 Rxf8 30.Qc5+ Kd7 31.Rd1+ 1-0

(Sigh) Some people find rook endgames so easy they resort to this ...

Round 7:  Tiviakov and l'Ami both won their games, Tiviakov defeating Cuijpers, and l'Ami getting the better of Karel van der Weide. They would, therefore, stay in joint lead of the tournament, on 6/7, with two rounds remaining. Elsewhere in the round, Friso Nijboer won his game with the Black pieces, against Jonathan Parker, and Sergey Erenburg defeated Jan Timman (see game, below). Both were hot on the heals of the leaders, on 5.5/7, and Nijboer would face Tiviakov in round 8.

Halkias,S (2551) - Timman,J (2594)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 Nc6 10.d5 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Qd2 e6 13.f4 Bg7 14.c4 Re8 15.e5 b6 16.0-0 f6 17.Bb2 fxe5 18.fxe5 Bb7 19.d6 Qd7 20.Bg4 Rf8 21.Qe3 Rxf1+ 22.Rxf1 Rf8 23.Rxf8+ Bxf8 24.h4 Bc8 25.h5 gxh5 26.Bxh5 Qg7 27.Qf4 Bd7 28.Bc1 Bc6 29.g3 h6 30.Kh2 Bd7 31.Be3 Kh8 32.Qe4 Kg8 33.Bf4 Qh7 34.Bg6 Qg7 35.Qd3 Bc6 36.Be4 Be8 37.Qf3 h5 38.Bd3 Qf7 39.Qe4 Qg7 40.Bc2 Qf7 41.a3 Qg7 42.Qd3 Qf7 43.Bg5 Qf2+ 44.Kh3 Qf7 45.Bf6 Bh6 46.Qe4 Qd7 47.Be7 1-0

Round 8: No quick draw for Sergei Tiviakov in this round, his game against Friso Nijboer went 70 moves before peace was declared. To be honest, I am not quite sure how to evaluate the game, without taking a thorough look at it, which unfortunately does not fit in with how quickly I would like to get this report online. From initial glances, it does not appear to me that White tried for very much, and things seemed to be quite drawy most of the way if not all. However, it is not really a type of position which I am very familiar with, and so possibly I am bein ignorant or hasty in saying this. Thus, as I don't like to rely solely on a computer in my analysis of games, I hope that you will forgive me if I just include the game, below, and let you form your own opinion of it. In the other games, disaster struck for the other joint leader, Erwin l'Ami, who came a cropper against Stelios Halkias. The Greek GM took his place alongside Tiviakov, leading the tournament on 6.5/8. l'Ami had to join Erenburg, Ftacnik, and Nijboer, on 6.0/8 with one round remaining.

Tiviakov,S (2668) - Nijboer,F (2598)

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.f3 b5 6.Qd2 Nbd7 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.Nge2 a6 9.a4 Bb7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Nd1 e5 12.axb5 axb5 13.Nf2 Qc7 14.c3 Nb6 15.b3 Rxa1 16.Rxa1 Rb8 17.dxe5 dxe5 18.c4 bxc4 19.bxc4 Bc8 20.Qa5 Ra8 21.Qc3 Rxa1+ 22.Qxa1 Bf8 23.Nc1 Be6 24.Qa5 Nfd7 25.Nb3 Qb7 26.Nd2 Na8 27.Bf1 Nc7 28.Nd3 f6 29.Qc3 Qa6 30.f4 exf4 31.Bxf4 Qa7+ 32.Kh1 Ne8 33.Nf3 Qa3 34.Qxa3 Bxa3 35.Nde1 Bd6 36.Be3 Bc5 37.Bxc5 Nxc5 38.e5 Kf7 39.Nc2 Bd7 40.exf6 Kxf6 41.Kg1 Ne4 42.Bd3 N8d6 43.Ne3 Ng5 44.Nxg5 Kxg5 45.Kf2 Kf4 46.Nc2 Ne4+ 47.Ke1 c5 48.Ke2 Bg4+ 49.Ke1 Bd7 50.Ke2 Bc6 51.g3+ Ke5 52.Ke3 Nf6 53.Be2 g5 54.Ne1 Be4 55.g4 h6 56.h3 Kd6 57.Bf3 Bg6 58.Be2 Be8 59.Nf3 Bc6 60.Nd2 Bg2 61.Bf1 Bb7 62.Be2 Bc8 63.Bf3 Be6 64.Bg2 Bf7 65.Bf1 Nd7 66.Bg2 Ke5 67.Nf3+ Kd6 68.Nd2 Nf6 69.Bf1 Be8 70.Be2 Bd7 ½-½

Round 9: Sergei Tiviakov took out his c3-Sicilian against Lubomir Ftacnik, but did not seem to get anything too ambitious out of the opening. Early exchanges took place, including queens, and a draw seemed the only outcome possible. Sure enough, on move 45, they shook hands. All eyes then turned to the remaining top boards, and I was totally shocked to observe Erwin l'Ami lose his second game in as many rounds. In saying this I mean no dis-respect to his victorious opponent, Erenburg, but l'Ami impressed me with his play at the Dutch Championships, and had also started this tournament extremely well. I just wonder if his qick draw against Tiviakov worked against him, and allowed just that easing up enough to take ones eye off the ball. Elsewhere, saw victory for Jan Timman in his final round game, and Friso Nijboer got the better of joint leader Stelios Halkias, bumping him down a place. This saw the tournament being won jointly by Tiviakov, Erenburg, and Nijboer, each on 7/9.

from left to right: Sergey Erenburg, Friso Nijboer, and Sergei Tiviakov
joint winners of the Amsterdam Chess Tournament 2006

Final Top Standings: Tiviakov, Erenburg, Nijboer -- 7.0; Halkias, Ftacnik, Vazquez -- 6.5/9; l'Ami, J. Timman, Spoelman, Al Modiahki, Parker, Cuijpers -- 6.0/9.

Chess Gateway congratulates the winners, participants, and organisers alike, for a very high quality tournament!