Groningen Chess Festival
The 49th Groningen Chess Festival ran from 21-30 December 2011. The main event was a 9-round Swiss competition which was won by Ukrainian Alexander Kovchan on tie-break from Robert Hess of the USA after both finished on a score of 7/9.
Robert Hess (middle left) and Alexander Kovchan (middle right)
The time control was 90 minutes for 30 moves, with a 30 second increment. The top finishers:
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts | |
| 1 | Kovchan, Alexander | UKR | 2573 | 7.0 |
| 2 | Hess, Robert L | USA | 2625 | 7.0 |
| 3 | Tiviakov, Sergei | NED | 2650 | 6.5 |
| 4 | Zherebukh, Yaroslav | UKR | 2594 | 6.5 |
| 5 | Rapport, Richard | HUN | 2534 | 6.0 |
| 6 | Ruck, Robert | HUN | 2579 | 6.0 |
| 7 | Romanov, Evgeny | RUS | 2627 | 6.0 |
| 8 | Durarbeyli, Vasif | AZE | 2539 | 6.0 |
| 9 | Ernst, Sipke | NED | 2593 | 5.5 |
| 10 | Poetsch, Hagen | GER | 2408 | 5.5 |
| 11 | Michalik, Peter | SVK | 2509 | 5.5 |
| 12 | Michiels, Bart | BEL | 2492 | 5.5 |
| 13 | Klein, David | NED | 2378 | 5.5 |
| 14 | Naroditsky, Daniel | USA | 2472 | 5.5 |
| 15 | Plat, Vojtech | CZE | 2425 | 5.5 |
| 16 | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2513 | 5.5 |
| 17 | Hoffmann, Michael | GER | 2499 | 5.5 |
| 18 | Brandenburg, Daan | NED | 2519 | 5.5 |
| 19 | Pijpers, Arthur | NED | 2332 | 5.0 |
| 20 | Thesing, Matthias | GER | 2409 | 5.0 |
| 21 | Georgiadis, Nico | SUI | 2316 | 5.0 |
| 22 | Assendelft van, Floris | NED | 2357 | 5.0 |
Photo from the official website.
