Hoogeven Matches

[Hans Jung]

Interesting matches. Firoujza vs Cori and Jan Timman vs Abdumalik Firoujza is on fire and Im impressed at Timman's willingness to play a young aggressive talent. The old man has a few tricks left. Thanks to the organizers for putting on such entertaining matches.

[Henri Hughes]

I agree Hans, its an unpopular opinion but I have always highly enjoyed matches whether it be playing them myself or watching the world championships its always entertaining!!
routing for Abdumalik and Firoujza love to see the young guns killing it.

[Hans Jung]

Shocker in rd 3. Great drag em and knock him down fight between Firoujza and Cori but the shocker is Jan Timman's fine play. (not to say he isnt a great player but this game is exceptional) Good prep, followed by great pressure in the middlegame and then to outdo his previous play his king runs down the middle of the board and becomes the star player (I mean piece)! Great entertainment.

[Hans Jung]

Firoujza leads the match 3-0. Will they play all six games? Hope so, its great entertainment.

[Hans Jung]

With his last win Firoujza is 27th in the world amongst all the seasoned professionals. He is also the highest rated of only 5 teenagers in the top 100 in the world and the youngest by far (all the others are born in 2000).

[Hans Jung]

Jan Timman used his dynamic king again to win and leads the match. Jorge Cori also won to finally score in the match. King Power in chess is still a great read (by Edmar Mednis) and will add rating points if you havent already read it.

[Wayne Komer]

Hoogeveen Matches 2019

October 24, 2019

Game 1, Oct. 20
Firouzja, Alireza – Cori, Jorge
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 O-O 7.h3 d6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 a6 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nc3 Bb7 12.Bf4 Rc8 13.Qb3 Ba8 14.Rad1 c5 15.d5 Rb8 16.Qc2 Qa5 17.e5 dxe5 18.Nxe5 Rb4 19.Qc1 Rc8 20.Bh6 Rd4 21.Nxf7 Rxd1 22.Qxd1 Kxf7 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Rxe7+ Kg8 25.Qe2 Qb6 26.Qe5 Rf8 27.Ne4 c4 28.Kh2 a5 29.f4 Nh5 30.Nd6 Rf6 31.Re8+ Kg7 32.Qe7+ 1-0

Game 2, Oct. 21
Cori, Jorge – Firouzja, Alireza
D76 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Nc6 8.e3 O-O 9.Nc3 Re8 10.Nh4 e5 11.d5 Nb4 12.e4 c6 13.Qb3 Nd3 14.Be3 Nf4 15.Bf3 cxd5 16.exd5 g5 17.gxf4 exf4 18.Bxb6 axb6 19.Rfe1 Be5 20.Ng2 g4 21.Rxe5 Rxe5 22.Be4 f3 23.Ne3 Rh5 24.Qc4 Qh4 25.Qc7 g3 26.Nf1 gxf2+ 27.Kh1 Rg5 28.Ng3 Bh3 29.Bxf3 Re8 30.Nce4 Rxe4 0-1

Game 3, Oct. 22
Firouzja, Alireza – Cori, Jorge
B42 Sicilian, Kan

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Kh1 Nc6 9.Nb3 O-O 10.a4 b6 11.f4 Bb7 12.Qf3 Nb4 13.Qh3 Nxd3 14.cxd3 Rc8 15.Nd4 Re8 16.Be3 Bf8 17.Rad1 g6 18.f5 exf5 19.Bg5 Bg7 20.exf5 Qd7 21.Qh4 Nh5 22.f6 h6 23.Bd2 Nxf6 24.Rxf6 Rxc3 25.bxc3 Bxf6 26.Qxf6 Bxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Qg4+ 28.Kf2 Qxd1 29.Bxh6 Qe1+ 30.Kg2 Qe5 31.Qf3 b5 32.axb5 axb5 33.Bf4 Qc5 34.Qc6 Re2+ 35.Kg3 Re1 36.Qxd6 Qxc3 37.Nf3 Re8 38.Qd7 Qc8 39.Qxb5 f6 40.h4 Qe6 41.d4 Rd8 42.Qa5 Rd7 43.Qa8+ Kg7 44.Qb8 Qe7 45.Bc1 Kh7 46.Bd2 Qf7 47.Bb4 Kg7 48.Bd6 Qe6 49.Qf8+ Kh7 50.Be5 g5 51.h5 1-0

Game 4, Oct. 24
Cori, Jorge – Firouzja, Alireza
D76 Neo-Grunfeld

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d4 Nb6 9.e3 Re8 10.Re1 a5 11.Qe2 Be6 12.Nd2 a4 13.Rd1 Ra5 14.f4 Qc8 15.Bf3 Nb4 16.Nde4 Bc4 17.Qg2 Nd3 18.Be2 Nxc1 19.Raxc1 Qe6 20.Re1 Bxe2 21.Rxe2 Nd7 22.Ng5 Qc4 23.Qxb7 Rb8 24.Qe4 e6 25.Nf3 Nf6 26.Qc2 Nd5 27.Nxd5 Qxd5 28.Qxc7 Rab5 29.Kf2 Rxb2 30.Rcc2 Rb1 31.Qc6 Qf5 32.Nd2 Ra1 33.Qc7 Bf8 34.Rc1 Rxc1 35.Qxc1 Qd5 36.Nf3 a3 37.Ne5 Bd6 38.Nd7 Kg7 39.Nxb8 Bxb8 40.Qb1 Bd6 41.h4 Kh6 42.Qb6 f5 43.Qd8 Qc6 44.h5 Kg7 45.hxg6 hxg6 46.Qh4 Bb4 47.g4 Qc1 48.g5 Bf8 49.Qh6+ Kf7 50.Qh8 Bg7 51.Qa8 Qd1 52.Qb7+ Kg8 53.Qc6 Kh7 54.Qxe6 Qh1 55.Rd2 Bf8 56.Qf7+ Bg7 57.Qe7 Qh2+ 58.Ke1 Qg1+ 59.Ke2 Qg2+ 60.Kd3 Qf1+ 61.Kc3 Qa1+ 62.Kb3 Qb1+ 63.Ka4 Qb6 64.Rh2+ Kg8 65.Qe8+ 1-0

Position after White’s 37.Ne5



- Alireza plays too fast. He’s a great young player
- He thought for 7 mins about Bd6 and blundered
- we see that more often: long thinks followed by a mistake
- firouzja got crushed; good time to retire


Game 1, Oct. 20
Abdumalik, Zhansaya – Timman, Jan
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Bg2 Nxc3 10.bxc3 e5 11.Qe2 Bd6 12.Nf5 Bxf5 13.gxf5 Qc7 14.Rb1 Nc6 15.Qg4 Na5 16.O-O f6 17.Be3 Qc4 18.Qxg7 Rg8 19.Qxf6 Be7 20.Qe6 Qxe6 21.fxe6 b5 22.Kh2 Rc8 23.Bf3 Bf6 24.Rbd1 Nc4 25.Rd7 Be7 26.Bh5+ Rg6 27.Bxg6+ hxg6 28.Rg1 Nxe3 29.fxe3 Rxc3 30.Rxg6 Kf8 31.Ra7 Rxc2+ 32.Rg2 Rc8 33.Rxa6 e4 34.Rf2+ Ke8 35.Kg3 Bg5 36.Kg4 Bxe3 37.Re2 Rc3 38.h4 Ke7 39.h5 b4 40.h6 1-0

Game 2, Oct. 21
Timman, Jan – Abdumalik, Zhansaya
D91 Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.Bf4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.e3 cxd4 10.cxd4 O-O 11.Be2 Nc6 12.O-O Bf5 13.Qa4 Qa5 14.Qxa5 Nxa5 15.Ne5 Rac8 16.g4 Be6 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Bf3 f6 19.Nd3 Bc4 20.Nb4 Bf8 21.Rab1 b6 22.a3 g5 23.Bg3 e6 24.h4 h6 25.Kg2 Kg7 26.hxg5 hxg5 27.Rh1 Be7 28.Be4 Rh8 29.Rbc1 b5 30.f4 Nb3 31.Rcd1 gxf4 32.Rxh8 Rxh8 33.Bxf4 Be2 34.Rg1 Nd2 35.Bb7 Bxg4 36.Rc1 Nc4 37.Ba6 e5 38.dxe5 fxe5 39.Bxb5 Bh3+ 40.Kf3 Nd2+ 41.Ke2 exf4 42.Rc7 Bf1+ 43.Kxd2 Bxb5 44.Rxe7+ Kf8 45.Re5 fxe3+ 1/2-1/2

Game 3, Oct. 22
Abdumalik, Zhansaya – Timman, Jan
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 h6 8.Be3 b5 9.a3 Bb7 10.Bg2 Nbd7 11.Nde2 g5 12.Qd4 Ne5 13.O-O Bg7 14.b3 h5 15.Bxg5 hxg4 16.hxg4 Qc7 17.Qe3 Nfxg4 18.Qg3 f6 19.Bf4 O-O-O 20.Nd4 Qf7 21.Rfd1 f5 22.exf5 exf5 23.Bxb7+ Qxb7 24.Qg2 Nf3+ 25.Qxf3 Qxf3 26.Nxf3 Bxc3 27.Rab1 Rdg8 28.Kf1 Be5 29.Bd2 Rh3 30.Nxe5 dxe5 31.Ke2 f4 32.Rf1 Rd8 33.Ba5 f3+ 34.Ke1 Rd4 35.Rd1 Re4+ 36.Kd2 Re2+ 37.Kc1 Nxf2 38.Rd8+ Kb7 39.Rf8 e4 40.Rf7+ Kc6 41.Rf6+ Kd5 42.Bc7 e3 43.Rg1 Nd3+ 44.cxd3 Kd4 45.Rf4+ Kc3 46.Kb1 Rb2+ 47.Ka1 Rg2 48.Rc1+ Kd2 49.Kb1 Rg6 50.Ba5+ Ke2 51.Re1+ Kf2 52.Re4 e2 53.Rc1 Kg2 54.Re3 Rhh6 55.Re5 Rh1 56.d4 Rd1 57.d5 Kf1 58.Kc2 Rxc1+ 59.Kxc1 f2 60.Rf5 Kg2 0-1

Game 4, Oct. 24
Timman, Jan – Abdumalik, Zhansaya
D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3 Bg4 9.Rc1 O-O 10.Be2 Qa5 11.Qd2 Nd7 12.d5 c4 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.cxd4 Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 b5 16.a4 a6 17.Rb1 f5 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxe2 20.Kxe2 fxe4 21.Rhc1 Rf5 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxb5 e3 24.f4 Rxf4 25.Kxe3 Rf5 26.e6 Rd8 27.Ke4 Kg7 28.g4 Rg5 29.Rf1 Rxg4+ 30.Ke3 Ra8 31.Rf7+ Kh6 32.Rf4 Rxf4 33.Kxf4 Rc8 34.Rb2 g5+ 35.Ke4 Kg6 36.Kd4 c3 37.Rc2 Kf6 38.Rf2+ Kg6 39.Rc2 h5 40.d6 exd6 41.Kd5 g4 42.e7 Ra8 43.Ke6 d5 44.Rxc3 h4 45.Ra3 Rb8 46.Rb3 Ra8 47.Ra3 Rb8 48.Ra4 g3 49.Rg4+ Kh5 50.h3 Ra8 51.Kf7 1-0

Firouzja – Cori 3-1
Abdumalik – Timman 1.5 – 2.5

Bios

Jan Timman (b. 1951), GM Netherlands, Rating 2530
Zhansaya Abdumalik (b. 2000), WGM Kazakhstan, Rating 2469
Jorge Cori (b. 1995), GM Peru, Rating 2671
Alireza Firouzja (b. 2003), GM Iran, Rating 2702

[Hans Jung]

Jan Timman is a draw away from winning the match.

[Hans Jung]

Did Firoujza miss a win? Very interesting endgame in rd 5. A draw won him the match.

[Hans Jung]

Firoujza plays the Budapest! in the last round and the kingside attack works out for him as he handily wins the match 4.5 - 1.5

[Hans Jung]

Jan Timman shows his endgame strength again to draw in the last round and win the match.

[Henri Hughes]

Jan Timman shows his endgame strength again to draw in the last round and win the match.

I wonder if it would be a good idea to bring to light match play in canada. have two or three matches amongst canadas strongest while amateurs could go head to head in matches. just a small idea

[Wayne Komer]

Hoogeveen Matches 2019

October 24, 2019

Games Five and Six

Game 5, Oct. 25
Firouzja, Alireza – Cori, Jorge
B33 Sicilian, Sveshnikov, Novosibirsk variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.Bd3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.c4 f5 14.O-O O-O 15.Qh5 Rb8 16.exf5 e4 17.Rae1 Bb7 18.Qg4 Rfe8 19.f3 h5 20.Qg3 Qe5 21.fxe4 Qxg3 22.hxg3 Bxb2 23.Nb1 bxc4 24.Bxc4 Bxe4 25.Nd2 Bc2 26.Nf3 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 Rb4 28.Bxa6 d5 29.Re8+ Kg7 30.Rd8 Be4 31.Rd7 Kf6 32.Rb7 Rxb7 33.Bxb7 Bc1 34.Kf2 Ke7 35.a4 Kd6 36.a5 Ba3 37.Ng5 Bxf5 38.Nxf7+ Ke6 39.Ng5+ Kf6 40.Nf3 Bc5+ 41.Ke2 Be4 42.a6 Ke6 43.Ng5+ Kf5 44.Nxe4 dxe4 45.Bc8+ Kg5 1/2-1/2

Game 6, Oct. 26
Cori, Jorge – Firouzja, Alireza
B52 Budapest, Adler variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Be2 Re8 8.O-O Ngxe5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.b3 a5 11.Bb2 Ra6 12.Qd5 Ba7 13.Ne4 Rh6 14.Qxa5 Bb6 15.Qa8 d6 16.c5 Qh4 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.f3 Qxh2+ 19.Kf2 Rg6 20.Rg1 Bd7 21.Qa3 Bh3 22.Bf1 f5 23.Qa4 Rd8 24.Rd1 Rf8 25.Qc4+ Kh8 26.Qf7 Rg8 27.Ng5 Rxg5 28.cxb6 cxb6 29.Qc7 h6 30.Rd8 Qg3+ 31.Ke2 Rxd8 32.Qxd8+ Kh7 0-1



- The last game was unrated as Firouzja had already won the match. It's a silly rule.

Game 5, Oct. 25
Abdumalik, Zhansaya – Timman, Jan
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Nde2 Bb4 10.Bg2 O-O 11.O-O Bxc3 12.Nxc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.Qf3 Nc6 15.Rb1 e5 16.Qe3 Be6 17.Qb6 Qxb6 18.Rxb6 Na5 19.a4 Rac8 20.Re1 Rfd8 21.Rb1 f6 22.Be3 Rd7 23.f4 Rxc3 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.Bg5 Nc6 26.Bxc6 Rxc6 27.Rxe5 h6 28.Be3 Bf7 1/2-1/2

Game 6, Oct. 26
Timman, Jan – Abdumalik, Zhansaya
E94 King’s Indian, Orthodox

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.d5 a5 9.Qc2 h6 10.Bd2 Nc5 11.Be3 Nfd7 12.g3 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Nh4 f4 15.Bd2 Nf6 16.Kh1 Nh7 17.f3 Bd7 18.Ne4 Nxe4 19.fxe4 Bh3 20.Ng2 fxg3 21.hxg3 Qd7 22.c5 dxc5 23.Qxc5 Nf6 24.Qc4 b5 25.Qd3 c6 26.Rad1 cxd5 27.exd5 b4 28.d6 Rad8 29.Qg6 Qe8 30.Qxe8 Nxe8 31.Rxf8+ Bxf8 32.Ne3 Nxd6 33.g4 Ne4 34.Be1 Rxd1 35.Nxd1 h5 36.gxh5 Be6 37.b3 a4 38.bxa4 Bxa2 39.Nb2 Kg7 40.Bc4 Bxc4 41.Nxc4 b3 42.a5 Bc5 43.a6 Nd6 44.Nd2 b2 45.Nb1 Nc4 46.Kg2 e4 47.Bc3+ Kh6 48.Bxb2 Nxb2 49.Nc3 e3 50.Kf3 Nc4 51.Nb5 Ne5+ 52.Ke2 Nc6 53.a7 Nxa7 54.Nc3 Nc6 55.Nd5 Kxh5 56.Nxe3 1/2-1/2

Final Position



Firouzja – Cori 4.5 – 1.5

Abdumalik – Timman 2.5 – 3.5

[Hans Jung]

I wonder if it would be a good idea to bring to light match play in canada. have two or three matches amongst canadas strongest while amateurs could go head to head in matches. just a small idea

Its a good idea. I was always fond of matches. I remember in my early tournament days looking forward with great excitement and really enjoying matches against London's strongest players and they were key to my learning and improving. Its great opening practice and especially learning new openings and a lot of other things including intense tournament training, endgame training, competitiveness, psychology, bragging rights etc. I must have played a dozen matches in my first 4 years.Of course in those years matches were quite common. Later when I first came to Kitchener matches were of great interest to showcase the styles of different masters and were supported and sponsored by the club. I think my last match came about by the organization and support of John Brown who is a great enthusiast and efficient organizer. I play Keith Wight and was experimenting with GM Suttles openings. I think I lost that match. That was about ten years ago.
Matches are occurring less often now but it doesnt mean they cant be popular again. I think there could be interest. The matches would require good organizers. I could see a match between two of Canadas top players drawing quite a bit of interest with the right promotion, right venue and a good reason for it. Likewise two top youth stars or even a senior legend like Frank Pushkedra against the current Canadian Senior Champion. On the other hand I do know of matches currently being held in London and two of Kitchener's players playing hundreds of games in matches over the last couple of years.

[Vlad Drkulec]

I wonder if it would be a good idea to bring to light match play in canada. have two or three matches amongst canadas strongest while amateurs could go head to head in matches. just a small idea

Matches are not rare. If you find a willing opponent you can start tonight.