The big guns included GMs Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Etienne Bacrot, Sergei Tiviakov and Alexander Beliavsky, but the tournament was won by the young Dutch, Jan Werle, who finished half a point ahead of Czech GM Viktor Laznicka, Adams and Short, who lost a point to a player rated 2448 because the Brit’s cellphone rang during a game, which is a no-no.
Werle, 24, finished with an 8-2 score and it was his victory against Laznicka that decided the title. The Dutch law student was actually a last minute entry to the tournament! “I went as a coach for my girlfriend but they convinced me that I should play,” he said.
So how does he manage to focus on law and chess at the same time?
“I find it pretty hard to combine, because chess is a burden on your mental condition,” he said. “Even tougher: chess is much more fun! A physical sport must be much easier to combine with your study.” He spends his spare time with friends, “going out.” He likes soccer, tennis and rowing. Sometimes, he jogs. “I also love to read, especially about history.” He defines his chess style as “positional, but I can be a killer, too, if I have to.”
Asked about the current situation in the chess world, Werle replied, “The future doesn’t give me a positive feeling. It’s more and more hard work on openings. I prefer the old ‘architects’ and gentlemen like Botvinnik and Petrosian, with their beautiful original styles. But I understand that we can’t change this new tendency since the computer interfered in the professional chess scene.”
His advise to aspiring players?
“The best learning method is hard to say. There should be different ones. But maybe a good one is to start…with tactical exercises. Later on endings and when you’re older focus on the positional side of the game. Why? Because you can in one move win with a trick even when you’re worse. And winning positional games takes like a ‘thousand’ moves.”
Game of the week. GM Lubosh Kavalek annotates.
White: V. Laznicka (2601)
Black: J. Werle (2591)
Catalan Opening
European Championship
Liverpool 20081.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Ne5!? Bd7 (After 7…Nxd4 8.e3! black loses material.) 8.Na3 cxd4 9.Naxc4 Bc5 10.Qb3 0-0 (Black could have prevented white’s next move by playing 10…Qc8 11.Bf4 0-0, but Werle has an improvement in mind.) 11.Qxb7 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Rb8 13.Qf3 (After 13.Qa6? Bb5 the white queen is trapped.) 13…Bd6 14.Nc6 (Kasparov’s choice against Deep Blue in 1976. White hopes to achieve a long-term advantage with a bishop pair.) 14…Bxc6 15.Qxc6 (The chances are roughly equal.) 15 …Qe7!? (With a new move, the Dutchman concentrates on limiting white’s dark bishop. In the game Kasparov-Deep Blue, Philadelphia 1996, black played 15…e5 and after 16.Rb1 Rb6 17.Qa4 Qb8 18.Bg5! Be7 19.b4! Bxb4? 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qd7! white had strong pressure on the light squares and later won.) 16.Qa4 e5 17.Rb1 h6 18.Bd2 Bb4! (The exchange of dark bishops allows black to set his central pawns into motion.) 19.Bxb4?! (Keeping the tension with 19.Rfd1!? Rfc8 20.a3 Bxd2 21.Rxd2 is better.) 19…Rxb4 20.Qa3 e4 (Shutting down white’s bishop.) 21.Rfc1 (After 21.Rfd1 Qc5 22.Rbc1 Qb5 23.Rd2 a5 black is better.) 21…Rd8 22.Rc2 Ng4! (The knight supports the advance of the black central pawns.) 23.Rbc1?! (White is finally showing some activity, but it is too late. Challenging the knight with 23.h3 leads to black’s advantage after 23…d3 24.exd3 exd3 25.Rd2 Ne5 26.Rdd1 d2 27.Qe3 Rd3 28.Qe2 Qd6. The d-pawn ties up white forces and black only needs to regroup for the final assault.) 23…d3! (Black finds a pretty way to break through.) 24.exd3 (After 24.Rc8 Rxc8 25.Rxc8+ Kh7 26.Rc1 d2 27.Rd1 Qc5 28.Bxe4+ f5 black wins.) 24…e3! (Sneaking in through the dark squares.) 25.Rc8? (Leaving his king without sufficient protection. White was forced to sacrifice the exchange 25.Rf1 Nxf2 26.Rcxf2 exf2+ 27.Rxf2 to avert the worst.) 25…Rxc8 (After 25…exf2+ black could win faster, for example 26.Kf1 [26.Kh1 Qe1+!] 26…Ne3+ 27.Ke2 Nd1+ 28.Be4 Qxe4+! 29.dxe4 Rxe4+ mating soon.) 26.Rxc8+ Kh7 27.Re8 exf2+ 28.Kf1 Qc5 (After 29.Qc3 Qxc3 30.bxc3 Rb2! 31.Re2 Rb1+ wins.) White resigned.
Puzzler.
White — pawns on b3, b4, h2; Qa8, Ke1, Be4, Ne7
Black — pawns on a5, b5, e5, g5; Na7, Bb6, Ke3
White to play and mate in three moves.
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