Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.THE DUTCH Championship is currently under way in Rotterdam with all their top players except Jan Timman and also, as in the last few years, the two Dutch Bosnians who moved to Holland during the war in Bosnia Herzegovina: Predrag Nikolic and Ivan Sokolov.
The big shock this time has been that while Nikolic, as always, has performed excellently, Sokolov, the defending champion, has bombed out totally. Last year, Ivan scored a massive 9/11 but, perhaps still shell-shocked by his bad showing at Sarajevo where he won just a single game and lost five, he has continued in Rotterdam with two further losses and as yet no wins.
After five of the 11 rounds the scores were Nikolic and Van Wely 4/5, Piket 3.5, Van den Doel and Reinderman 3, Van der Wiel and Cifuentes 2.5, Van der Sterren and Nijboer 2, Sokolov and Peng Zhaoquin (the formerly Chinese women's grandmaster and "male" international master - who is married to a Dutchman and lives in Holland) 1.5; and Janssen 0.5.
Here is how the usually reliable Sokolov lost to Loek Van Wely in just 24 moves. White's move order is one way of avoiding the Grunfeld Defence (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5). 5 ...Nb4 is more critical - and more combative; but the ending, although better for White, should be reasonably playable for a player as strong as Sokolov. Ivan, however, with his 14th-16th moves prepared himself a pit which opened out before him after 17 Bb5!. The rest was just mopping up.
White: Loek Van Wely
Black: Ivan Sokolov
Dutch Championship 1999 (Round 4)
English Opening
It can't have been much consolation to Ivan, but at least, there had already been an even shorter decisive game:
White: Friso Nijboer
Black: John Van der Wiel
Pirc Defence
1 Nf3 c5
2 c4 Nf6
3 Nc3 d5
4 cxd5 Nxd5
5 e4 Nxc3
6 dxc3 Qxd1+
7 Kxd1 Nc6
8 Kc2 Bd7
9 a4 e6
10 Bf4 Be7
11 Be2 h6
12 h4 Rc8
13 Rhd1 a6
14 h5 Na5
15 Ne5 Bc6
16 Nxc6 Rxc6? (see diagram)
17 Bb5! axb5
18 axb5 Rc8
19 Rxa5 c4
20 Ra7 Bc5
21 Rxb7 Bxf2
22 Bd6 Bh4
23 Rf1 Rd8
24 e5
1-0
1 e4 g6
2 d4 Bg7
3 Nc3 c6
4 Nf3 d6
5 h3 Nf6
6 Bf4 Qa5
7 Bd3 e5
8 Bh2 Nbd7
9 0-0 0-0
10 Re1 Nh5
11 Bf1 Qb6
12 Na4 Qa5
13 c4 Rd8
14 Rb1 exd4 15 b4 Qc7
16 g4 Nhf6
17 c5 Ne8
18 cxd6 Qb8
19 e5 f6
20 exf6 Bxf6
21 Nc5 Nxd6
22 Qb3+ Kh8
23 Qe6
1-0
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