Rounds 5-6: Max Warmerdam winner of 4th Amsterdam Chess Open
Max Warmerdam has won the fourth edition of the Amsterdam Chess Open. After winning his first four rounds, he managed to secure a victory in the fifth round despite being in a losing position. A quick draw in the final round against Rishi Sardana then sealed his tournament win. The Australian player finished in a tie for second place alongside the Dutchmen Loek van Wely and Nico Zwirs, and the German player Vitaly Braun. And—which I imagine is quite convenient for the organizers—there are prizes for the top five places, meaning there’s no need to split a small sum among several players who all finished with 4.5 points :)
Round 5
The fifth round featured the tournament’s only duel between grandmasters: Lodici versus Warmerdam. Trailing by half a point, the Italian had every reason to play for a win. He avoided a repetition on move 37—a decision that initially seemed to pay off, as he reached a winning position. For instance, on move 42 (by which point Warmerdam was already playing on time increment), he could have moved his knight to h5, followed by a sacrifice on f6—a line that simply wins. In my view, however, it is not entirely obvious, even though the computer evaluates the position at +5. The other opportunity he missed is, to me, less understandable.
In a position where your opponent can do almost nothing, it is always useful to ask yourself: what is their next move, actually? If you apply this to the position in the diagram, you will see that it is quite difficult for Black to come up with a move. 44.Bb5 allows 44...Rc7; the same applies to 44.Ka7 or 44.Kb5. After 44.Bc8, White plays 44.d6, followed again by 44.Rc7. After 44.Rg8, White has the breakthrough 44.g5—without Black having any annoying checks like 44...Rh4+ or 44...Rh3—while 44.Rh7 (or 44...Nf8) leads to a won rook endgame for White, thanks to the 44.g5 breakthrough. Thus, the waiting move 44.Rc2! is the key, and the rest is straightforward. In the actual game, 44.Rg1 was played; however, the rook served a specific purpose on the c-file: keeping the Black king at bay (and potentially penetrating to c7). The game continued 44...Bb5 45.Nc5 Kc7 46.Rc1 Rg8 47.g5 hxg5 48.hxg5 b6 49.Ne6+ Kd6, leading us to the next diagram.
Had the king been on b6, capturing on f6 would have been a good move here. As it stands, however, it is not: 50.gxf6?? Tg3, leaving White unable to defend against both checkmate threats. Consequently, he resigned (either before or after playing 51.Tc6+).
In the clash between the chasers, Sardana defeated Labruyere, though the Australian IM had found himself in a poor position following the opening. Fortunately for him, his opponent opted for an unfavorable simplification.
After 21.bxc5, White has a strong position: the bishop pair, the b-file, and an outpost on d6. Instead, he opted for 21.cxd5 Nxb4 22.Bxg6 hxg6 33.Nc7 exd5 34.Nxa8 Rxa8, leaving Black with two pawns for the exchange. And what pawns they were! Two protected passed pawns in the center. Shortly thereafter, White allowed a knight fork and resigned.
The game between Nico Zwirs (with Black) and Rogier van Arkel was also instructive. In a position featuring queen and rook versus queen and rook—whether considered an endgame or a middlegame—king safety is of paramount importance. In the diagrammed position, White appears more active, yet he must be particularly careful due to his vulnerable king.
Black played the cunning 35...Rc8, after which White responded with the consolidating 36.Kg3 (36.e6, among other moves, would also have maintained equality). White was caught off guard by 36...c3!, and the game was effectively over. Following 37.bxc3 Rc4 38.Qd1 Rxc3 39.Rd3, Black sealed the win with an elegant cross-pin: 39...Qd8! 0-1
Round 6
This is a scenario that frequently arises in the final round: one player needs only a draw to secure first place in the tournament, while the other must win to achieve the same. However, if the latter is playing with the black pieces and has a lower rating, they are often unlikely to push too hard. Could one, in such a situation, play for a win "risk-free" knowing the opponent is content with a draw? Not necessarily—rating points are also at stake. In any case, it was to be expected that the game between Warmerdam and Sardana would end in a quick draw. It wasn't entirely dull, though: by move eight, the player with the white pieces had already introduced a novelty (according to my database), and the spectacular 13.Nxe5xf7 served as the final move. White might have held a slight advantage had the game continued, but it didn't, and thus Max Warmerdam emerged as the tournament winner.
For Sardana, the question then became how many other players would also finish on 5 points. There were nine players entering the final round with 4 points out of 5—one of whom, the German player Anton Belin, did not play in the final round. Loek van Wely capped off his comeback by defeating Tommy Grooten, the son of one of his early coaches. Meanwhile, the German player Vitali Braun secured a win against the Dutch U16 champion, Ethan Chua. Two players had only begun the tournament on Saturday (having received two byes) and had won all the games they had played up to that point; however, neither the Belgian Jacob Dreelinck (who drew against Anna Warakomska) nor the Spaniard Yevgeni Sprenger de la Iglesia (who lost to Nico Zwirs—who, in turn, made a strong recovery following his disastrous first round) managed to maintain that 100% record. Consequently, four players are now tied for second place.
The situation that unfolded in the game between Keetman and Van Arkel was unfortunate.
The 2024 Dutch women’s champion was performing well at the board, holding a +7 advantage for about twelve moves. However, she was struggling with the clock and had to rely on the time increment. This can lead to mishaps—and that is exactly what happened. In the position shown in the diagram, both 37.Rxc6 and 37.d8=Q+ lead to a forced mate in eight. After 37.Qd5 Qxe5, there were still eight winning moves available (or six, if you don’t count underpromotions)—but, of course, she had to make a decision within half a minute. With only one second left on the clock, she played 37.Rxc6??; following 37...Qxd5 38.Nc7+ Kb7 39.Nxd5 Kxc6 40.Nxe7+ Kxd7, she lost her extra piece, and Black went on to win the endgame. All that hard work discarded in a single moment—chess can be cruel.
Finally, here is a puzzle: Black to move and win.
You can find the solution here: Spit - Schippers.
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