Before you is the tournament book of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament
2021. The
event that has been won in sensational fashion by the young Dutch
grandmaster
Jorden van Foreest. In a tiebreak in the third blitz game, he was just a
bit faster of
his compatriot Anish Giri. The barrage was necessary because both
players very
surprisingly ended with the wonderful score of 81/2 out of 13 in joint
first place. With
this they had left behind, among others, World Champion Magnus Carlsen
(71/2) and
the number two in the world, Fabiano Caruana (8). An unprecedented
achievement, because the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is sometimes called
the "Wimbledon of chess" of the elite tournaments. After the last round,
in which Van Foreest in a formidable way had left the Swede Nils
Grandelius chanceless, it was waiting
for the game between the Spaniard David Antón Guijarra and Anish Giri.
Our
compatriot was in a bad position, lost perhaps, but he managed to free
himself from
the tangled position and gain an important half point. It was decided
beforehand
that a tiebreak would be held, consisting of at least two blitz games.
Should these
result in a 1-1 score, an Armageddon game would be played. This turned
out to be
a nervous and blood-curdling fight, with the pieces flying around. In
the end the
younger OF the two, Jorden van Foreest, emerged victorious and thus the
young
Groninger booked the greatest success of his still young career. Apart
from the
commotion in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee, where the
tournament was
held - under strict corona rules - the whole of the Netherlands rose to
its feet when
this great result became known. Hadn't we had to wait since 1985, when
Jan
Timman won the Hoogovens chess tournament, for a Dutch chess player to
stand
on the highest podium? And now it was even two players from this country
who
could dispute together who would take the highest honor
