Open Dutch Championship 2006: Friso Nijboer Wins!

by John Lee Shaw



The Dutch Open Championship 2006, held in Dieren, north Holland, has been won by Grandmaster Friso Nijboer with a staggering 7.5 points from 9 games! In what was a top quality and highly competitive tournament, Nijboer did not drop a single point, winning his first six games, and drawing the final three to win the championship by a half point over nearest rival Alon Greenfeld of England, who himself put in an oustanding performance.

On the way to his victory, Nijboer defeated strong players such as Hamelink, Delft, Erenburg, Li, Saptarshi, and in round 6, Sergei Tiviakov, in extraordinary circumstances. In what was already a tense and slightly scrappy game, the players entered time pressure, with Nijboer having about 30 seconds left to complete the game, and Tiviakov approximately two minutes more. They reached the position below, with Black having played 97...Qa4+.

Here, inexplicably, Tiviakov (white) played Qf4+, despite being in check himself. Of course, this is an illegal move. Arbiter Guust Homs intervened, reset the position, and penalised Tiviakov by two minutes. Tiviakov then played Kd8. Nijboer protested, and told Tiviakov 'you touched the queen, Sergei, you must move it', (quite rightly in my opinion). This would mean that the queen would have to go to b5 (the only way to block check) and be lost. In desperation Tiviakov asked to see the rule book. This is what I find more extraordinary than anything, a Grandmaster resorting to this type of measure in order to try and save a game! Eventually, Tiviakov left the board without signing the score sheet, which technically was a loss by forfeit I believe. Not the best show of sportsmanship one will ever see at a chess tournament, for sure. Tiviakov, in the end, finished in joint 16th position, on 5.5/9.

Nijboer (pictured below) can be extremely proud of his achievement, finishing ahead of a field of 96 players, which included 10 Grandmasters, 10 International Masters, and 14 other titled players. By no means a picnic. Chess Gateway congratulates Friso on his win, and competitors and organisers alike, for a fine tournament!

Grandmaster Friso Nijboer
Dutch Open Champion, 2006

Top Final Standings:

1. Friso Nijboer -- 7.5/9 | 2. Alon Greenfeld -- 7.0/9 | 3-6. Mikheil Mchedlishvili, Sipke Ernst, Willy Hendriks, Erik van den Doel -- 6.5/9 | 7-15. Sergey Erenburg, Vyacheslav Ikonnikov, Shilong Li, Herman Grooten, Merijn van Delft, Martin Senff, Mark van der Werf -- 6.0/9 | 16-22. Sergei Tiviakov, David Baramidze, Daan Brandenburg, Fred Slingerland, Roy Saptarshi, Wim Heemskerk, Floris van Assendelft -- 5.5/9.