Noesis

Noesis on Tour(nament)

Of course, the epicenter of Noesis activities are the club nights on Wednesday, but this does not mean this is the only moment Noesis members visit the 64 squares. In the past months Noesis members participated in several tournaments all throughout the Netherlands. In this retrospect, we will cover some highlights of these events in Eindhoven, Utrecht and Vlissingen. If you’re reading this, and are interested in joining a tournament in which other Noesians participate, be sure to let the board know and keep an eye out for announcements.

WLC Tournament - Home games in Eindhoven

Our colleagues at WLC, one of the other chess associations in Eindhoven organized their yearly weekend tournament in May of this year. With 15 participants, Noesis was well represented and the most prevalent chess association at the venue. For many members it was the first experience with over the board chess. It turned out that the practice people got at the club nights paid dividends, as all of the Noesians scored at least one win. Even more impressive, Nino Messaoudi managed to win the second prize in the B-group, only conceding two draws and winning all his other games. It was a great weekend, and hopefully next year we can again attend with a large group from our association. All the details, photos, and standings can be found on the tournament website.

Jitze deep in thought on which next animal-named opening to play. Photo: Hub van de Laar.
Max considering the most efficient way to draw against his young opponent. Photo: Hub van de Laar.
Noni (right) managed to finish second in the B-group! Photo: Hub van de Laar.

Utrecht Open - Team Fred Tiffo on the job

If you thought that the WLC tournament could satiate all member’s hankering for chess, you are wrong. Only two weeks after the WLC tournament, seven Noesians visited the Utrecht Open. And one of the key characteristics of the tournament is that you could participate as a team and add together your individual scores to win the team ranking. Since our members scored very well in the first few rounds, team “tis je niffo Fred Tiffo” (inspired by this video, leading to a lot of laughs, like in the figure on the right), took the first place for a while. Unfortunately, the consequence of the good results was that the opposition in the last few rounds was tough, and a second place was all that was left. Nonetheless, there were some great results, two highlights of which were the rating prize of Nino, and the brilliancy prize for a game Krijn played in group C. Below you find some analysis of this game. All in all, it was a tournament full of good vibes and a lot of laughs, make sure to join next year!

Great fun among the Noesis members during the prize ceremony.


HZ Vlissingen Open - Chess at the sea

Chess on the beach: In sunny Vlissingen, the Hogeschool Zeeland chess tournament was organized. With over 200 participants, it is one of the strongest tournaments in the Netherlands. After all, why relax in the summer, when you can exhaust yourself at an 8-day chess tournament? Well, Max Quintus and Thomas Kools were crazy enough to expose themselves to this simultaneously fun and tiring process of playing 9 classical games in 8 days time. Although, truth be told, with only one game per day there was ample time to enjoy the gorgeous weather in Vlissingen.  Seeded as number 180 and 50, respectively, meant that both of them would face a tough tournament. We will provide a brief summary below, but all details and photos can be retrieved on the tournament website.

Noesis represented on the Ferry.




Max managed to score 3 points out of his 9 games. Looking at the rating, this corresponds to a performance of about 1600, which was slightly higher than what was expected in advance. Nice results were his wins and draws against some strong 1700s. On the left, a highlight from one of his games can be found, where he early on picked up a pawn in the Smith-Morra gambit. At the end of the game, his opponent thinks he can collect the important passed pawn of Max, but blunders mate in 1 in the process. A nice reward for a strong game where he continuously put his opponent under pressure.

The tournament of Thomas did not go as well as Max’s. Even though he scored 5 points out of his 9 games, he still bled around 40 rating points. Partially due to a combination of underrated youth opposition throughout the tournament, as well as the absence of the finesse needed to finish off games against stronger opposition. A nice scoop was that he managed to play his shortest classical game ever, which is given on the right. Another example of the power of the closed sicilian. In the end the tournament provided a great time to the participants, and was a great way to have some sort of chess-holiday.




With 200 participants, the HZ tournament is one of the larger tournaments organized within the Netherlands.
Not only is Thomas suffering on the board in this image. He also has the piercing stare of former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in his back.