DAT CHESS CENTRE

October 21, 2009

The 13th Univé Tournament 2009 is taking place from October 16th to 24th in the town hall in the center of the Dutch town of Hoogeveen. It is played in a number of sections: the Crown Group with four players, the strong international Univé Open, two tournaments for amateurs and a youth event. The insurance company Univé is the new sponsor of the event, which was previously known as the Essent Tournament. The prize fund for the for the Crown Group is €10,000, the time control 40 moves in 1½ hours + 30 minutes to finish the game, with a 30 seconds increment from the start.

Participants of the Crown Group

Player
Country

Rating

Vassily Ivanchuk
Ukraine

2746

Sergei Tiviakov
Netherlands

2697

Judit Polgar
Hungary

2693

Anish Giri
Netherlands

2517

Average rating 2663 – Category: 17

Anish Giri, 15, grandmaster and Dutch Champion

All four games of the first two rounds in the Crown Group were drawn, which was mainly a success for 15-year-old GM Anish Giri, who was playing 161 points above his nominal 2552 rating. The second round had the more exciting games: a hard-fought 52-move draw between Giri and Sergei Tiviakov, and an exciting effort by Judit Polgar, who missed a good chance (46..Qd4!) with the black pieces against Vassily Ivanchuk, and then tried to eke out a win in a rook and minor piece ending. The game was drawn in 75 moves.