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My draw against GM Loek van Wely in Classical Dutch

My draw against GM Loek van Wely in Classical Dutch

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Ekkamai
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Hi there!

Alright, since it's the first blog entry from me, I had to use a catchy title and an interesting story. And what could be more enticing than playing the Classical Dutch against the multiple times Dutch champion GM Loek van Wely? happy.png

It happened last year in April of 2016, during Thai New Year (they call it "Songkran") in Bangkok, Thailand. I had been living in Thailand for 7 months already, working remote and occasionally playing some chess.

Event was called 16th BCC Open (BCC stands for Bangkok Chess Club), but it's more widely known as annual "Thailand Open". Some of the regular visitors include GM Nigel Short (who won the event this year) and chess 24's GM Jan Gustafsson.

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Dusit Thani Hotel in central Bangkok, tournament venue

 I was playing in a couple of side events - namely Blitz and Challenger Tournament (u 2100).

The Blitz tournament format was an interesting one. There were 8 groups of 12 people made up in a mysterious way (but not random, as each group were similar in strength) and 2 best players would qualify for the final.

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Top board

I managed to win my group and several days later sat down to play the IMs and GMs in the TOP 16 final. Here is my game against GM Loek van Wely.

I wouldn't call it my best game, but it was my highest rated opponent over the board so far!
Eventually I finished somewhere at the bottom in the final 16, but I got some valuable experience. It was also nice to sit in those comfy leather chairs where only top players get to sit.
 
Oh and for those of you playing the Dutch with black I suggest study the games of Simon Williams. You might be tempted to switch to the Classical Dutch, he's quite inspiring.