HZ 2025: the final chords

The final round of the HZ Tournament had all the suspense you could wish for. After the quick draw between Thomas Beerdsen and Erwin L’Ami, the calculators came out and the speculation began: whose name would be etched on the trophy? Depending on which of the chasers managed to catch up, the title could have gone in several different directions.

In Vlissingen, the prize money is split evenly in the event of a tie, but as Erwin L’Ami admitted with a smile, “seeing your name on that trophy is pretty special.” And with past winners including the likes of Van Wely, Kamsky, Caruana, and Kasimdzhanov, it’s easy to see why.

The four players ending on 7.5 out of 9. From left to right
Eelke de Boer, Erwin L'Ami, Pavel Eljanov, Thomas Beerdsen

Amid all the number-crunching and guesswork, it almost escaped notice that the eventual winner, Pavel Eljanov, secured his place at the top with a sparkling game. Facing the in-form German FM Emil Frederick Schuricht — who had been having an excellent tournament — Eljanov repeatedly forced his opponent into tricky decisions. The result was a game well worth revisiting.

For those eager to dive into the action, almost every game from boards 1 to 40 across rounds 1 to 9 is available for download from the tournament website. But the game that decided the title? You can replay that one instantly by continuing this report on Schaaksite. (Analysis in Dutch, sorry. And yes, a top-notch game viewer is definitely on our wish list for next year.)

To everyone who enjoyed following the tournament: our pleasure! And to those who enjoyed it less — also our pleasure! We’ll do our best to make next year’s event every bit as good. As soon as we have the dates, we’ll announce them, so even those who spent this year wondering from the comfort of their sofa why they weren’t in Vlissingen can start booking their trip.