Belgium in Budapest – Chess Olympiads – Round 5

Today I searched in vain for the Café Wurm in Budapest, the cradle of organised Hungarian chess, where in the first quarter of the 19th century chess players regularly met and conceived the idea of forming a league. Yet it was not that Café, but rather the Café Velence, equally untraceable today, that became the main venue for chess players in 1873. Incidentally, the Pest Chess Circle had once been founded there, and The Budapest Chess Society, founded in 1889 under the leadership of Gyula Makovetz, also soon moved its headquarters there. Makovetz was not only an internationally renowned, strong chess player, but also the founder and editor of the first Hungarian chess magazine, the Budapesti Sakk-Szernie, which was published between 1889 and 1895.

When Geza Maroczy came to Budapest at the beginning of the 1890s, neo-classical architecture had already created a completely different cityscape. The National Museum building was finished in 1847 and the Széchenyi Bridge (better known as the Chain Bridge) opened in 1849. The reconstruction of the centuries-old neo-Gothic Matthias Church (1874-1896) and the construction of the neo-Romantic and eclectic Fisherman’s Bastion with its panoramic view were completed shortly afterwards (1895-1902).

Hungary’s largest building, the parliament building with features from the Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance was inaugurated in 1904, and the neo-Renaissance St Stephen’s Basilica and the Museum of Fine Arts followed a little later.

All these buildings are visited by millions of tourists every year, are part of the world heritage and are without doubt iconic symbols for Budapest.

For the Belgian women’s team, Hanne Goossens is without doubt an iconic symbol. Feel free to call her the Ann Wouters of chess, a trailblazer who has reached heights unprecedented for women in our country. Unfortunately, she is currently in a dip in form. Her face after Rxb3 betrayed that she did not expect the move, and also the fact that she seemed to resign herself to losing material with Qc2 instead of going for battle with Qa4 seems a bit symptomatic since the start of the tournament… The two days of rest (today she is not playing and tomorrow is rest day) will do her good.

Yesterday, the new generation, the Meessemans, Allemands and Vanloos of chess, sat next to her.

Daria bringing an incredible over-my-dead-body mentality to the board and displaying an exemplary growth mindset: for instance, after the congratulations on her fourth win, she immediately responded that she did come out of the opening very badly. Is perhaps true, but the way she calmly fought her way into the game… Worthy of admiration! And that calmness was illustrated even more: when her opponent had become an emotional heap of misery and had mentally given up, Daria, in time trouble, casually took out her balm to calmly moisten her lips some more.

What Daria can do, Tyani too can do. She too seems glued to her chair throughout the match (did the two ever get up during the match?) and she too is completely focused on the match until the opponent gives up. Only she doesn’t seem to have to make any effort to win. I hesitate to compare her style to Capablanca’s or Lasker’s. Chess that is as clear as a glass of water, but with a bit of poison in it. When you go to see her position a first time it is equal, a bit later she has a slight advantage, still later a big advantage, then she has won a pawn and then the opponent finally gives up. It also happened yesterday. With the lone exception against Germany, Tyani never lets an advantage melt away like snow in the sun. Quietly finish that lot off. Worthy of admiration!

Both girls currently have 4.5/5. And yet they have to give the thumbs up (percentage-wise) to Diana. Diana is different at the board. Well… ‘at the board’ may not be the right wording, as she often goes for a walk. Like her king yesterday, which walked to the centre after a piece sacrifice by her opponent, only to be allowed to finally stand on e5 – as a sign of victory – after a second piece win. Short and sweet. Did the presence of her parents play a role? Anyway, her tally stands at 3 wins in 3 games.

3-1 against South Africa. Elo-wise normal, but you still have to do it and the ladies are doing it. Today an opponent of a totally different calibre: Canada has only girls with ratings between 2119 and 2318.

The boys always have it a bit harder ‘Elo-wise’. Yesterday against Malaysia too, you would have expected a big win, but only Daniel seemed to play relaxed and pulverised his opponent. His allergy to dust mites did not bother him yesterday. With the others, it was push and pull and hope they would not overstretch. The latter is not likely to happen to Mher. Draw. With Lennert there was an advantage, but very difficult to concretise. Draw. Only Sim seemed to have overplayed his hand. Suddenly he was two pawns behind in a pure rook endgame. There are some positions there that are theoretically draw, but certainly not the one he started with. But again, ‘Houdsimi’ provided a great escape act. Draw, which immediately secured the team win.

With Ecuador a viable card awaits today, not immediately what Daniel wishes for, but if the boys come out heavy this afternoon, a much stronger opponent awaits them after the rest day. Let that be the motivator to make it a good round today.