In a dramatic coup d'état, Dutchman Jorden van Foreest won the prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament held at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. The 21 year old GM became the first ever Dutch player to win the grand tournament in 36 years. Van Foreest overthrew his mighty opponent and compatriot GM Anish Giri in a miraculous playoff following an 8.5/13 finish for both.
The “Wimbledon of chess” was an over-the-board tournament that had 14 players in a single round robin. The games had a time control of 40 moves in the first 100 minutes, followed by 20 moves within 50 minutes and another 15 minutes to bring the game to an end with an add-on of 30 seconds for every move.
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Van Foreest v/s Anish Giri: The return of the natives
Van Foreest qualified for the finals following his brilliant victory in round 13 over Nils Grandelius while Anish Giri caught up after drawing with David Anton.
Over the 16 days of the international tournament that commenced on the 15th and ended by the 31st of Jan 2021, Van Foreest had stood his ground against formidable opponents. Through the 13 classical rounds of the tournament, the young Dutch remained untouched with a score of plus four. He called his shots in the blitz playoff in the armageddon game and won a rating of 30 points, breaking 2700 for the first time.
Van Foreest’s spectacular victory at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament came as a huge disappointment to Anish Giri-fans as the elder Dutchman and 7th ranking GM was the sole lead in the previous days. Giri had the World Champion and Twitter-teasing rival GM Magnus Carlsen in a draw in round 11 as well as holding GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Alireza Firouzja on toes in the earlier games. It had looked as though the popular player and Dutch No.1 would finally have his last laugh over Carlsen and win a tournament title against him. He also failed to increase his lead as he lost to GM Alireza Firouzja.
What paved the stepping stone for Van Foreest's victory was his final face-off with GM Nils Grandelius, in the final round. His upper hand in the match rested on his highly impressive opening preparation.
Anish Giri strongly stood up to his credits throughout the tournament faltering only in his game with GM Alireza Firouzja. With Van Foreest, he scored well in game two winning a pawn but Foreest went on to hold him in a draw in a very precise defense.
For the avid Dutch fans it was a grueling session as the two natives fought for the title in their soil.
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Giri almost won needing only a draw in the final match to snatch the prestigious tournament title. But history went on to make its own moves!
Better chess versus the fastest: moves that mattered
In the final Armageddon game, Van Foreest won the toss. He chose to play black. Anish Giri seemed to have the upper hand once again and almost reached a winning point but lost his grip in a blundered move. In a fateful move, Giri missed an intermediate check. Soon van Foreest followed in a blunderous move, with a pawn and later a full piece. Giri seemed to be winning again.
The final phase that held the spectators in nail-biting moods saw lightning moves that were rendered so quickly that after move 58, the digital chessboard failed to register anymore. Though for the viewers Giri seemed like losing on time in a winning position, four moves were made before he made another (and the last) blunder. In the final position, as Van Foreest queened a pawn, Giri looked helpless, without any defense.
As Foreest later quipped, Giri played “the better chess” but he “played the faster chess in the end.”
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The event at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, was unique not only in the final coup d'état but also in the circumstances that surrounded it. The tournament was the first on-board event after a spell of online competitions in the pandemic season of 2020. The boom of online chess has added fodder to the viewership with over 80, 000 viewers online watching the final Armageddon game on YouTube and other international channels.
Such incredible viewership for an over-the-board match is often attributed to world championships. Also, for the lucky spectators, it was a historic moment for Dutch chess as Van Foreest became the first ever player from the country to win the tournament after his predecessor GM Jan Timman bagged the title in 1985.
Conclusion
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