Round 9: Eljanov after all
Around 12:00 p.m.
People who think that inner-city traffic chaos only happens in Amsterdam or The Hague: come and have a look in Vlissingen sometime! Of all days, on the final day of the tournament the city center is closed off for the most convivial sing-along party in the Netherlands: Vlissingen Sings! (That “most convivial” label I just took from the municipal website — for very understandable reasons, I myself have never been allowed the pleasure of taking part in the event.)
Erwin in action during an earlier round
Anyway, Hans Groffen had to pick up tournament leader Erwin L’Ami from his hotel. While Hans — who knows every little backstreet in Vlissingen like the back of his hand — managed to sneak his way to Erwin’s hotel, Erwin himself had in the meantime decided it would be smart to walk part of the way to meet Hans. Naturally, they completely missed each other, couldn’t get through on the phone, and so on. Chess players, you know.. . As a result, the final round began at 11:30 with co-leader Thomas Beerdsen sitting alone at board one.
The whole story reminds me of an incident from my youth. Grandmaster Hein Donner was scheduled to give a simultaneous exhibition in Rotterdam’s Vroesenpark. Two board members were waiting for him by car at Rotterdam Central Station's main exit, as agreed, to drive him to the park. But no matter how long they waited — no Hein Donner. Eventually, they decided to head back without the grandmaster, discussing on the way who would break the bad news to the young chess players already seated on stage. As they walked toward the podium, slightly red-faced, from one side, Hein Donner appeared from the other side. “Well, the weather’s nice, so I thought I’d just take a walk,” he said, and went straight to the boards to make the opening moves. Indeed, from the back exit of the station, it’s only about a 20-minute walk to Vroesenpark.
A slightly late justification for our claim “Sunniest Tournament”
It’s lovely weather in Vlissingen today as well, but walking all the way to the playing hall was not exactly what Erwin had in mind when he left the hotel this morning. Fortunately, a combination of speed walking and a taxi got him to the playing hall with only about a 10-minute delay. Add another 10 minutes, and his game was already over. After just 9 moves, Thomas offered a draw, and Erwin was quite happy to accept a draw with Black. So Thomas and Erwin were already joint winners — congratulations! The prize money will be shared; whose name goes on the trophy will be decided at the end of the afternoon when all games are finished. After all, Eljanov, Schuricht, De Boer, and De Winter could also still reach 7.5 points.
Around 14:30
In the meantime, it looks like both Eelke de Boer and Pavel Eljanov are going to win their games as well. That would mean four players with 7.5 out of 9. As mentioned earlier, the prize money is shared, but for whose name goes on the trophy — and who gets a kiss from the organizer — the following criteria apply, in order:
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Head-to-head result
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Number of wins
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Buchholz score
Arbiters Angelique and Bart doing the maths
Around 15:00
Yep, Eelke and Pavel win as well. Eljanov’s game in particular was a true little masterpiece. By the way, did you know that you can replay the games from boards 1 through 40 at any time via the link at the bottom of the daily report? Tournament director Hans Groffen has taken on the monk-like labor of working his way through a stack of notation sheets — not always neatly or accurately written — every day. Can’t make sense of one? Then we simply move the goalposts a little and replace that game with one from board 41 or 42.
Who gets to hold the modest-eared Cup?
17:30
It is Pavel Eljanov who gets to hold the cup!
He and Eelke de Boer both had 7 wins, while Thomas Beerdsen and Erwin L’Ami had only 6 each. Eljanov had the highest Buchholz score, so his name goes on the trophy.
Two important announcements before we wrap up:
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In the coming days, many more photos will be uploaded! So feel free to check back on our website.
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Chess players are scatterbrains — we all know it. Missing a cap, a sweater, a backpack, or three pairs of socks (!): please send an email to the organizers. We have a box full of lost property.
Finally, here’s a list of all the prize winners of the HZ University of Applied Sciences Chess Tournament 2025:
1st–4th place:
Score: 7.5/9
GM Pavel Eljanov (winner on Buchholz points)
IM Eelke de Boer
GM Thomas Beerdsen
GM Erwin L’Ami
5th–7th place:
Score: 7/9
GM Koen Leenhouts
IM Stefan Beukema
GM Vyacheslav Ikonnikov
8th–20th place:
Score: 6.5/9
IM Arthur de Winter
FM Arkadi Syrov
FM Emil Frederick Schuricht
FM Marian Can Nothnagel
Abel Romkes
Eduard Coenen
GM Daniel Hausrath
GM Vuppala Prraneeth
IM Jasel Lopez
IM Sharma Dushyant
FM Joey Grochal
Daniel Zevenhuizen
Kees Nieuwelink
Rating prize up to 1599:
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Irina Muzyka
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Nickjan Glastra
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Ton van den Heuvel
Rating prize up to 1799:
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Justus Kempfer
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Brandon Haasbroek
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Marco Muilwijk
Rating prize up to 1999:
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Rolinde den Heijer
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Ward Wambecq
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Jelle Bauer
Youth Prizes:
Each round, there was a prize from Thinkers Publishing for the youngest winner.
Round 1: Fabian Lenting
Round 2: Thodge Aarav
Round 3: Arham Jain
Round 4: Singh Beniwal Agastya
Round 5: Yichen Tang
Round 6: Servaas Dhooge
Round 7: Hong Yuan Wong
Round 8: Noah Ritzerveld
Round 9: Sarah-Joy Koorevaar
David vs Goliath Prizes:
Each round, there was a prize from Thinkers Publishing for the player who overcame the largest rating difference.
Round 1: Lars Christian Vollmer
Round 2: Karel van Hattum
Round 3: Joel van der Werf
Round 4: Sebastian Bleecke
Round 5: Mika Kleibeuker
Round 6: Irina Muzyka
Round 7: Jip Dechamps
Round 8: Marco Muilwijk
Round 9: Jie Han Jason Tan