Report Belgian championship Lier

The Belgian championship in Lier is already more than a month behind us but still looking back especially with the renewed candidacy of Chesslooks for next year seems interesting. For me it was one of the best multi-day tournaments ever (maybe the best) that I have participated in and that means something after more than 60 such opens in my chess career over a span of more than 3 decades.

In the picture above you can see how spacious and comfortable the playing was for everyone. In most tournaments as a non-top player you are crammed together like sardines so that is really a relief. We should be able to have that kind of table/board setup everywhere. Also, the room was cool enough (maybe thanks to the Belgian bad weather this summer) and well lit which is not a given.

After the games a separate analysis room was provided which was eagerly used by the players. I noticed that there was no cell phone coverage anywhere, even in the analysis room. Was this an anti-cheating measure because I suspect the organization used jammers? I am in favor because I heard of 2 cases of cheating this summer (Open Gent and Open Vlissingen).

The cafeteria had a team ready to serve drinks and snacks for many hours every day. I ate delicious pancakes there several times. I suspect the organization made a nice turnover because a lot of players but also visitors gratefully used the service. Together with the analysis room, I think those facilities are a must in an open tournament because they are certainly not present everywhere.

However, the bk organization had much more in store that just chess. For the participants in the tournament it was very difficult (overlapping with the games, among other things) to participate in the side activities (see Chess Festival) but after the 2nd round I could not resist going to the big market in Lier to watch the boxing chess. I was able to catch the above match between 2 mayors. A shot in the arm in terms of publicity. Maybe this unknown sport will become more popular after the punishing punch of the open winner Bjarne Van Dijck, see my blog article Hakuna-matata.

A book stand is, of course, also an asset at the tournament and Philippe Vukojevic with Chessconsult as regular association supplier took care of that.

Some may disagree with me but I am a fan of trophies in addition to a cash prize. A trophy is a timeless keepsake while pennies are spent and forgotten very quickly. I got 4th place in the open tournament on separation points and thus missed a trophy by a hair (only first three got one so next year another chance?).

That the organization had pulled out all the stops was also reflected in the little details that put a smile on many faces. For example, there was free parking 10 minutes walking distance from the tournament venue (along the beautiful Lierse vests). A goodie-bag I had never received in a tournament before and every participant also received a coupon for a free Lierse flan (the supply was limited though so you had to be quick). Or how about that each round was started by knocking on a gong (see photo above). For me, that adds that extra touch to the overall experience.

Anyway, I wanted the tournament not to stop and in the last round I theatrically demonstrated this by delaying the closing ceremony by an hour and playing 128 moves. Remarkably, I didn’t even realize in the photo above that so many people were watching my plodding.

So it was a super successful Belgian championship. So I only have 1 point of criticism. I was hungry after that marathon match and had hoped that at the closing reception “serious” food would still be served and not just drinks a volonte. A closing reception is always the time to hear gossip and trivia (no I won’t tell those here) so it was with some reluctance that I went home (slightly) early to eat.

I close with my shortest and perhaps craziest game of the tournament against none other than the driving force of this new website: Steven Bellens. I was asked afterwards by some what happened in our mutual game so below you can read my analyses once.

Helmut Froeyman