Batavia: Ernst and Hebden share the lead after round 4

They have survived a number of tricky positions, but GMs Sipke Ernst and Mark Hebden are sharing the lead after four rounds at the Batavia Tournament in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Both grandmasters have scored 3/4. In sole third place we find Dutch talent Hugo ten Hertog, who only needs to double his score in the remaining five rounds to clinch an IM norm.

Everyone knows the Tata Steel Tournament, in January in Wijk aan Zee, and most of you know the Univé Tournament, in October in Hoogeveen. But of course The Netherlands is a chess-minded country, where many more tournaments are held. One of those is becoming a tradition as well: the Batavia Chess Tournament, named after its venue Cafe Batavia, in the heart of Amsterdam (in fact right across Central Station).

The venue, opposite of Central Station in Amsterdam

We've written about it before, and not just because the tournament takes place in our home town. Somehow every year the invited players produce very entertaining games, and at the same time a very relaxed and gezellig atmosphere. This is partly the result of the fact that the event is held in a cafe, so that ordering a beer during the post-mortem is as easy as moving a knight!

The first Batavia Chess Tournament was held in February 2009. It was a small dream of cafe owner Peter Tames to organize a chess tournament one time, and that month he succeeded. With the help of photographer Bas Beekhuizen and a bit of Corus (now Tata) tournament director Jeroen van den Berg as well, he got together a group of ten players in the Elo range 2214-2490, enough to make an IM norm possible.  And indeed, Dutch talent Robin van Kampen, now a GM, scored his first IM norm there and then!

A year later, the second edition was won by FM Christov Klein, who thereby passed the 2400 rating border to become an IM. Last year, the tournament "promoted" from an IM group to a GM group and it was won by Gerald Hertneck.

This year's participants list looks as follows:

1. GM Sipke Ernst (The Netherlands, 2606)
2. GM Robin van Kampen (The Netherlands, 2566)
3. GM Mark Hebden (England, 2516)
4. GM Keith Arkell (England, 2429)
5. IM Manuel Bosboom (The Netherlands, 2394)
6. FM David Klein (The Netherlands, 2391)
7. FM Achim Illner (Germany, 2375)
8. FM Thibaut Vandenbussche (Belgium, 2359)
9. FM Hugo ten Hertog (The Netherlands, 2356)
10. FM Richard Vedder (The Netherlands, 2293)

FMs David Klein, Achim Illner, Thibaut Vandenbussche, Hugo ten Hertog and Richard Vedder all need to score 5/9 for an IM norm. Illner, Vandenbussche, Ten Hertog and Vedder need 6.5 points to score a GM norm; Klein and Bosboom need 7/9 for that.

Like last year, the author of these lines is also the author of the round reports (and the photographer) for the tournament website. Therefore, I'll summarize what happened so far, but you'll find more there!

The 4th edition of the Batavia Chess Tournament was officially opened on Friday, February 24th, by tournament director and owner of Cafe Batavia, Peter Tames. Many friends, acquaintances and chess fans, and of course the players, had gathered in the cafe, and among the first day spectators there were famous names like Friso Nijboer, Hans Ree, Ian Rogers and Yasser Seirawan.

Peter Tames giving the opening speech...

...with sponsors, friends and players listening

On the same day the first round was played. Already then it became clear that we have to keep an eye on Hugo ten Hertog, who had top seed Sipke Ernst on the ropes (and later Ernst missed a win himself):

[Event "Batavia Grolsch 2012"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2012.02.24"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "ten Hertog, Hugo"]
[Black "Ernst, Sipke"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C58"]
[WhiteElo "2356"]
[BlackElo "2606"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[TimeControl "6000+1930"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:18"]
[BlackClock "0:01:00"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8.
Bd3 {The latest rage in the Two Knights.} Nd5 9. h4 $5 {Den Hertog had
prepared this before the tournament.} (9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nf4 11. Re1 Nxd3 12.
cxd3 O-O 13. Nc3 Re8 14. h3 c5 15. b3 Ba6 {was played in one of the blitz
games between Nigel Short and Garry Kasparov, last year in Leuven, Belgium.})
9... Nf4 10. Bf1 {"And White continues with d2-d4. From here I was on my own,"
- Ten Hertog.} h6 11. Ne4 Ne6 $146 {This is the first new move, and a logical
one - Black avoids 12.d4.} 12. a3 {"I was sitting next to Bosboom so I thought:
I go h4 and b4!" - Ten Hertog.} Be7 13. b4 Nb7 14. Bb2 O-O 15. Bc4 f5 $6 16.
Bxe5 $1 {"It's not the first time I fall into this trap!" - Ernst.} Kh7 (16...
fxe4 17. Qg4 {wins back the piece.}) 17. Ng3 Bf6 (17... a5 {was another idea.})
18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Nc3 Nd4 $6 {Ernst didn't like this move at all after the
game - he had missed White's reply.} 20. Nge2 a5 21. Bd3 c5 22. Nxd4 cxd4 23.
Ne2 Nd6 24. c4 Bb7 25. f3 $6 Nf7 ({Houdini comes up with the amazing} 25... Be4
$1 26. Qc2 ({or} 26. fxe4 fxe4 27. Qb3 axb4) 26... Bxd3 27. Qxd3 axb4) 26. b5
Ne5 27. Qc2 Rae8 28. O-O ({White is brave in this game, but not brave enough!}
28. c5 {was very promising.}) 28... Qxh4 29. c5 $6 ({Here the prophylactic} 29.
Rf2 {was necessary.}) 29... Nxf3+ $1 30. Rxf3 (30. gxf3 $2 Rxe2 $1 31. Bxe2
Qg3+ 32. Kh1 Qh3+ 33. Kg1 Rf6 $19) 30... Bxf3 31. gxf3 Rxe2 $2 {Too brilliant!}
({Amazingly, Black had time for} 31... Re5 {or even}) (31... Kh8 {and
according to Houdini there is no defence for White!}) 32. Bxe2 Qg3+ 33. Kf1
Qh3+ 34. Kg1 Qg3+ 35. Kf1 Qh3+ ({The problem is that} 35... Rf6 {can be
answered by} 36. Qc4 $1) 36. Kg1 Qg3+ 1/2-1/2

Hugo ten Hertog

In this first round, the last players to finish were GM Keith Arkell and GM Robin van Kampen. In this game, the Dutch GM was better in an ending with a rook and knight for both sides. Even though his girlfriend had accompanied him during this first round and was waiting for him in the cafe, Van Kampen tried it for no less than 103 moves! That’s what you get when you start dating a chess player!

Robin van Kampen

In the second round another GM escaped. Van Kampen almost lost his white game:

[Event "Batavia Grolsch 2012"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2012.02.25"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "van Kampen, Robin"]
[Black "Vandenbussche, Thibaut"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "2566"]
[BlackElo "2359"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[TimeControl "6000+1540"]
[WhiteClock "0:06:14"]
[BlackClock "0:16:43"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 a6 8. Qe2
({A recent top encounter went} 8. a5 h6 9. Re1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Ne5 11. Bf1 c5 12.
Nb3 Be6 13. Bf4 Rc8 14. h3 {Caruana-Carlsen, Biel 2011 - a game that ended in
a draw after 44 moves.}) 8... exd4 9. Nxd4 Ne5 10. Ba2 c5 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5
Qd7 13. Nd5 $146 (13. f4 Nc6 14. g4 Nb4 15. g5 Nxa2 16. Rxa2 Ne8 17. f6 gxf6
18. Nd5 Bd8 19. Ra3 Kh8 20. Rg3 Qc6 21. c4 Nc7 22. Rh3 Qe8 23. Qd3 {1-0
Fedorchuk,S (2654)-Dumitrache,D (2445)/Mulhouse 2011}) 13... Rae8 14. Ne3 Bd8
15. Rd1 b5 16. Qd2 c4 $1 17. Qxd6 Qb7 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bb1 $2 (19. Qd4) 19...
Bc7 20. Qc5 (20. Qa6 Qe4 $1 21. c3 Nf3+ $1 22. gxf3 Qxf3) 20... Nf3+ $2 (20...
Bb6 $1 21. Qxb5 (21. Qd6 Rd8 22. Qxe5 Bxe3 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 {and the horrible
bishop on b1 decides the game in Black's favour.}) 21... Neg4 $1 22. Qxc4 (22.
Ra6 Qb8 23. g3 Bxe3) 22... Rxe3 $1 23. fxe3 Bxe3+ 24. Bxe3 Nxe3 25. Qe2 Nxd1
26. Qxd1 Qb6+ {followed by 27...Ne4 wins}) 21. gxf3 Bb6 22. Qxb5 Qxf3 23. Qxb6
Ng4 24. Rf1 Qf4 25. Nxg4 Qxg4+ 26. Kh1 Qf3+ 27. Kg1 Qg4+ 28. Kh1 Qf3+ 29. Kg1
1/2-1/2

Thibaut Vandenbussche

On Saturday night Mark Hebden was the only player on 2/2. In the third round, on Sunday, Sipke Ernst caught the Englishman in the standings thanks to the following smooth victory.

[Event "Batavia Grolsch 2012"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2012.02.26"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Klein, David"]
[Black "Ernst, Sipke"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C97"]
[WhiteElo "2391"]
[BlackElo "2606"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Be6 13. d5 Bd7 14. Nf1 Nc4 15.
N3h2 Rfc8 16. Ng3 Ne8 17. Ng4 Qd8 18. Nf5 ({Perhaps} 18. b3 Nb6 19. Qf3 Bg5 20.
Ne3 {was better but after} g6 {Black is also fine.}) 18... Bg5 $1 {
Exchanging the dark-squared bishops is quite useful in this position.} 19. b3
Nb6 20. Bxg5 Qxg5 21. h4 Qd8 22. g3 $6 ({White should have said 'B' with} 22.
h5 {
followed by 23.h6 although even there it's not easy to keep the attack going.})
22... h5 $1 {"Don't move pawns on the side where you're weaker" is a
well-known rule of thumb, but chess is also a game of exceptions!} 23. Nh2 (23.
Nge3 g6) 23... Bxf5 24. exf5 Nf6 25. Be4 c4 {Now both White's bishop and
knight are very bad, his attack is gone and his queenside vulnerable.} 26. b4
a5 $1 {White is lost already.} 27. bxa5 (27. a3 axb4 28. cxb4 (28. axb4 Rxa1
29. Qxa1 Nxe4 30. Rxe4 Nxd5) 28... Rc7 29. Nf3 Rca7 {
and another pawn bites the dust!}) 27... Na4 28. Qd2 Qxa5 29. Bf3 Qxc3 30. Qg5
Nc5 31. Bxh5 Nce4 32. Qe3 Qxe3 33. Rxe3 Nc5 34. Bf3 Nb3 35. Rb1 Rxa2 36. g4 Nd4
0-1

Sipke Ernst

We feel that Hebden could have won his ending in that round:

[Event "Batavia Grolsch 2012"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2012.02.26"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Hebden, Mark"]
[Black "ten Hertog, Hugo"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2516"]
[BlackElo "2356"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/pp6/4kn1B/1K5P/6P1/1P6/8 w - - 0 49"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

49. Bg4 $2 (49. Bg6 $1 Nxg3 50. Bd3 {and for the moment the bishop is
dominating the knight.} Kf4 (50... b5 51. Ka5) (50... a5+ 51. Kb5 Kd4 52. Bg6
$1) 51. Bxa6 Nf5 52. h5 Kg5 53. Bd3 $1 Nd6 54. Bg6 {and the author of these
lines thinks White is winning, e.g.} Kf6 55. Kc3 Nb5+ (55... Ke5 56. h6) 56.
Kd3 Nd6 57. Kd4) 49... Nxg3 50. Bc8 a5+ $1 51. Kb5 Nf1 $1 {Well played by Ten
Hertog - now it's a draw. Don't forget that all Black has to do is give up his
knight for White's b-pawn!} 52. Bg4 (52. Kxb6 Ne3 $1 53. Kb5 a4 $1 54. Kxa4 Nc4
$11) 52... Ne3 53. Be2 Nf5 54. Kxb6 Nxh4 55. Kxa5 Kd6 56. Kb6 Nf5 57. Bf3 Nd4
58. Be4 Ke5 59. Bc6 Kd6 60. Ba4 Ne6 61. b4 Nf4 62. Ka7 Nd5 63. b5 1/2-1/2

Mark Hebden

In the fourth round both Ernst and Hebden were facing lost positions at some point, but both managed to draw the game.

[Event "Batavia Grolsch 2012"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2012.02.27"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Ernst, Sipke"]
[Black "van Kampen, Robin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2606"]
[BlackElo "2566"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2rk1/p4pp1/1pb1pnnp/7q/1R1PP3/P1pB1NP1/2Q2PKP/2BR4 b - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

{Black is already a pawn up, and the following combination simplifies the
position:} 23... Nxe4 24. Bxe4 Nh4+ 25. Nxh4 Bxe4+ 26. Qxe4 Qxd1 27. Qf4 c2 28.
Nf3 Rc3 29. Ne5 f6 30. Ng6 Re8 31. g4 Qd3 (31... e5 $1 {was winning instantly
thanks to a double attack:} 32. dxe5 fxe5 33. Nxe5 {and now} Qd5+ 34. Nf3 Rf8 {
is curtains.}) 32. Qe3 Qxe3 33. fxe3 e5 34. Kf2 Rd8 35. Ne7+ Kf7 36. Nf5 g6 37.
Ng3 exd4 38. exd4 Rd7 $6 (38... Re8 39. a4 Re7 $1 {and White is running out of
moves, e.g.} 40. d5 Rc5 41. d6 Rd7) 39. Ne2 Rc8 40. Ke3 {Now it's not clear
whether Black can still win the game. At move 66 a draw was agreed.} Re7+ 41.
Kd3 g5 42. h3 Rce8 43. Nc3 Re1 44. Kxc2 Rh1 45. d5 Rxh3 46. Rc4 Re7 47. Ne4 Rd7
48. Bb2 Rxd5 49. Bxf6 Rd7 50. Bc3 Re3 51. Nd2 Ree7 52. Rc6 Re6 53. Rc8 Re8 54.
Rc6 Re6 55. Rc8 Re8 56. Rc4 Ree7 57. Bb4 Re2 58. Rc6 Re6 59. Rc8 Re8 60. Rc3
Rd4 61. Rc7+ Kg6 62. Rc6+ Kh7 63. Rc7+ Kg6 64. Rc6+ Kh7 65. Rc7+ Kg6 66. Rc6+
1/2-1/2

David Klein missed several wins. In the following position it seemed that the young Dutchman was still winning, but the English grandmaster found an amazing defence:

[Event "Batavia Grolsch 2012"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2012.02.27"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Klein, David"]
[Black "Hebden, Mark"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2391"]
[BlackElo "2516"]
[Annotator ",PD"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/3k4/5RK1/1p4BP/2p2p2/P1Pn4/1r6/8 b - - 0 57"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

57... Rh2 $1 58. h6 (58. Bxf4 Nxf4+ 59. Rxf4 Rg2+ $1 60. Kf6 Rg3 61. h6 Rxc3
62. h7 Rh3 63. Kg7 Rg3+ 64. Kf7 Rh3 {and it's not clear whether White can win
this, e.g.} 65. Kg6 Rh1 $1 (65... c3 $2 66. Rf3 $1) 66. Rf1 Rh2) 58... f3 59.
h7 f2 60. Kg7 (60. Bh6 Ne5+ 61. Kg7 Rg2+ 62. Kf8 Ng6+ {is a draw}) 60... Nc5 $1
61. Rxf2 $6 (61. Rf7+ $1 Kc6 $1 62. Be3 $1 (62. Rxf2 Ne6+ 63. Kg6 Rxh7 64. Kxh7
Nxg5+ 65. Kg6 Ne4 66. Rc2 Kb6 67. Kf5 Nc5 68. Ke5 Ka5 69. Kd4 Nd3 {is a draw})
62... Ne6+ 63. Kg8 Rg2+ 64. Kh8 Rg3 65. Bxf2 Rxc3 66. Rf6 Kd5 67. Kg8 Rxa3 68.
Rf5+ Kc6 69. Rf8 $1 Rh3 70. Rb8 $1 c3 71. h8=Q Rxh8+ 72. Kxh8 Kd5 73. Rxb5+ Kc4
74. Re5 $1 {and White gives mate in 45 according to the tablebase!}) 61... Ne6+
62. Kg6 ({One idea was} 62. Kg8 $4 Rxf2 $1 {and now it's Black who wins!})
62... Rxf2 63. h8=Q Nf8+ 64. Kg7 ({Another idea was} 64. Kh5 $2 Rh2+ 65. Bh4
Rxh4+ $1 {and wins!}) 64... Ne6+ 65. Kh7 Nxg5+ 66. Kg6 {This is White's best
try, but the resulting ending is a draw.} Ne6 67. Qb8 Rg2+ 68. Kf6 Rf2+ 69. Ke5
Re2+ 70. Kf5 Rf2+ 71. Ke4 Nc7 72. Qa7 Re2+ 73. Kf3 Re6 74. Qc5 Ra6 75. Kg4 Ra8
76. Kf5 Ra6 77. Qf8 Ra8 78. Qb4 Kc6 79. Qe7 1/2-1/2

Peter Tames and Hans Ree watching the games on a TV screen in the bar section of the cafe

4th Batavia GM tournament 2012 | Round 4 standings

Tournament leaders Ernst and Hebden play each other in round 5, on Tuesday. You can follow the games online here, each day from 14:00 CET. Wednesday is a rest day, but Robin van Kampen and Achim Illner will play their round 3 game. Last Sunday this was postponed because both had to play somewhere else.