Rodshtein Wins Univé Open in Hoogeveen
By the skin of his teeth (surviving a mate in two!), Maxim Rodshtein held his black game against Stewart Haslinger to a draw in the final round of the Univé Open. This way the grandmaster from Israel maintained his half point lead to clinch the € 3000 first prize in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands. In the Crown Group both games of the last round ended in draws.
Photos © Lennart Ootes courtesy of the tournament website
With the tournament victory already in the pocket, Wesley So's main goal must have been to leave Hoogeveen unbeaten. The Pinoy GM drew his game with Adams, a Nimzo-Indian, rather quickly, repeating moves as soon as it was clear that the Englishman had equalized.
Loek van Wely couldn't manage to win a game in Hoogeveen this year. In a Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation Robin van Kampen was fine out of the opening and confidently exchanged queens. Putting all the pawns on white squares was a good strategy and if anyone was better it was Black. Van Wely tried one more pawn break but on move 42 the players repeated moves.
Univé 2013 | Crown Group | Final standings
| # | Name | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | So,Wesley | 2706 |  |
½½ | 1½ | 11 | 4.5/6 | |
| 2 | Adams,Michael | 2753 | ½½ | |
0½ | ½1 | 3.0/6 | 8.25 |
| 3 | Van Kampen,Robin | 2607 | 0½ | 1½ | |
½½ | 3.0/6 | 8.25 |
| 4 | Van Wely,Loek | 2693 | 0 | ½0 | ½½ | |
1.5/6 |
In the open group Maxim Rodshtein of Israel was defending a half point lead over Viktor Moskalenko. The latter drew quickly with FM Etienne Goudriaan, who scored his third IM-norm and will be awarded the title at the next FIDE Congress.
On board one, Rodshtein got under huge pressure in a line that Haslinger might have copied from one of Michael Adams' games - at 20 the English GM beat Alexei Suetin with it in Hastings! Around the time control, Rodshtein made a big mistake and even allowed a mate in two, but Haslinger didn't see and and then, instead of going for a queen ending, the English GM chose a rook ending with two extra pawns, but it wasn't winning.
Erwin l'Ami joined Moskalenko in second place with a good last-round victory against his compatriot Sipke Ernst, whose Trompowsky completely backfired.
Univé 2013 | Open Group | Final standings (top 30)
| Rank | Name | Score | Fed. | Rating | TPR | W-We | BH | SB |
| 1 | GM Rodshtein, Maxim | 7.5 | ISR | 2664 | 2740 | +0.92 | 52.5 | 42.25 |
| 2 | GM Moskalenko, Viktor | 7.0 | ESP | 2520 | 2673 | +1.80 | 51.0 | 38.0 |
| 3 | GM L'Ami, Erwin | 7.0 | NED | 2645 | 2657 | +0.33 | 49.5 | 37.5 |
| 4 | GM Haslinger, Stewart | 6.5 | ENG | 2543 | 2562 | +0.50 | 52.0 | 35.75 |
| 5 | FM Goudriaan, Etienne | 6.5 | NED | 2410 | 2528 | +1.51 | 48.5 | 31.75 |
| 6 | FM Van Kooten, Luuk | 6.5 | NED | 2375 | 2451 | +0.98 | 41.5 | 28.25 |
| 7 | GM Levin, Felix | 6.0 | GER | 2480 | 2524 | +0.69 | 54.0 | 34.25 |
| 8 | GM Krasenkow, Michal | 6.0 | POL | 2640 | 2554 | -0.70 | 49.5 | 28.5 |
| 9 | CM Lopez, Jasel | 6.0 | ARU | 2130 | 2415 | +3.27 | 41.5 | 26.0 |
| 10 | FM Van Wessel, Rudy | 6.0 | NED | 2388 | 2345 | -0.36 | 38.0 | 24.5 |
| 11 | GM Ernst, Sipke | 5.5 | NED | 2573 | 2465 | -0.97 | 49.5 | 27.75 |
| 12 | FM Pel, Bonno | 5.5 | NED | 2291 | 2445 | +1.84 | 49.0 | 26.25 |
| 13 | IM Tania, Sachdev | 5.5 | IND | 2438 | 2428 | -0.04 | 47.5 | 26.25 |
| 14 | FM Schroeder, Jan-Christian | 5.5 | GER | 2370 | 2353 | -0.12 | 45.0 | 24.75 |
| 15 | Brookes, Christopher | 5.5 | NED | 2136 | 2392 | +2.85 | 44.5 | 25.25 |
| 16 | IM Pancevski, Filip | 5.5 | MKD | 2493 | 2335 | -1.51 | 44.0 | 25.0 |
| 17 | Van Foreest, Jorden | 5.5 | NED | 2310 | 2312 | +0.06 | 44.0 | 24.5 |
| 18 | IM Donchenko, Alexander | 5.5 | GER | 2479 | 2346 | -1.25 | 44.0 | 24.25 |
| 19 | FM Hopman, Pieter | 5.5 | NED | 2338 | 2432 | +1.12 | 44.0 | 21.75 |
| 20 | WIM Zepeda, Lorena | 5.5 | ESA | 2156 | 2374 | +2.54 | 43.5 | 25.5 |
| 21 | IM Wagner, Dennis | 5.5 | GER | 2481 | 2350 | -1.33 | 43.0 | 25.0 |
| 22 | FM Okkes, Menno | 5.5 | NED | 2351 | 2372 | +0.40 | 42.5 | 23.5 |
| 23 | IM Hendriks, Willy | 5.5 | NED | 2407 | 2276 | -1.36 | 40.0 | 22.5 |
| 24 | IM Berkovich, Mark | 5.5 | ISR | 2372 | 2224 | -1.50 | 37.5 | 20.75 |
| 25 | Kerigan, Demre | 5.0 | TUR | 2288 | 2403 | +1.32 | 50.0 | 25.25 |
| 26 | IM Piasetski, Leon | 5.0 | CAN | 2295 | 2233 | -0.71 | 46.0 | 24.0 |
| 27 | Beerdsen, Thomas | 5.0 | NED | 2106 | 2297 | +2.17 | 42.0 | 21.5 |
| 28 | FM Rooze, Jan | 5.0 | BEL | 2355 | 2257 | -1.14 | 41.5 | 20.25 |
| 29 | Vereggen, Lars | 5.0 | NED | 2121 | 2240 | +1.24 | 39.0 | 21.25 |
| 30 | FM Clemens, Adrian | 5.0 | NED | 2206 | 2122 | -1.01 | 33.5 | 17.25 |
Maxim Rodshtein receives the first prize form chief arbiter Koos Stolk
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