On 31 August, KSK Rochade Eupen organised a 9-round rapid tournament which also counted as Belgian Championship in rapid chess. Four Europchess members took the occasion to warm up for the season.
József Barta got well into the tournament, using in particular the White pieces to his advantage against weaker rated opponents. Also later, he proved hard to beat and finished with a good 6/9, as best Europchess player on rank 13. Martin Müller also played solidly and his 5.5 points meant second place in the under 2100 rating group. Frank Hoffmeister played as usually good chess against strong opponents, but lost his last two games in an unfortunate way, ending with only 5 points. Johannes Bertram had a good start, when he got a lucky win against a FIDE Master, but when he faced lower ranked players completely lost his concentration. With two defeats in the final rounds, his tally stalled at a disappointing 4 points.
1. |
Orlov, Andrey | GM | 2499 | FONTAINE L’EVEQUE | 7.5 |
2. | Dgebuadze, Alexandre | GM | 2512 | ROCHADE EUPEN | 7.5 |
3. | Zaitsev, Mikhail | IM | 2492 | T.A.L | 7.0 |
4. | Hautot, Stephane | IM | 2409 | WIRTZFELD | 6.5 |
5. | Cools, Gorik | FM | 2310 | HOBOKEN | 6.5 |
6. | Kalka, Arkadius Georg | FM | 2362 | ROCHADE EUPEN | 6.5 |
7. | Marechal, Andy | FM | 2358 | FONTAINE L’EVEQUE | 6.5 |
8. | Hopman,Pieter | FM | 2389 | 6.5 | |
9. | Braun, Christian | IM | 2354 | EYNATTEN | 6.5 |
10. | Ahn, Martin | FM | 2278 | ROCHADE EUPEN | 6.5 |
13. | Barta, Jozsef | 2149 | EUROPCHESS | 6.0 | |
17. | Müller, Martin | 2093 | EUROPCHESS | 5.5 | |
25. | Hoffmeister, Frank | 2225 | EUROPCHESS | 5.0 | |
47. | Bertram, Johannes | 2004 | EUROPCHESS | 4.0 | |
82 players |