Helmut Froeyman 31.03.2025
There were 65 Belgians participating in the 41st edition of Cappelle La Grande. Had it been in the spring break there would certainly have been many more. Cappelle La Grande is located less than 10km from the Belgian border so has been an important addition to the Belgian chess calendar for many years.
The first time I participated in 2005, I commuted between my parents’ home in Roeselare and the playing hall. Many West Flemish people do the same, avoiding hotel costs. A second time in 2020, I rented a small apartment in De Panne. That is only 25km from the playing hall. This year I chose the low-budget hotel Campanille in Cappelle La Grande. With the reduced waiting time to only half an hour, I found this both more pleasant and more sensible. Some participants who stayed further away did not get to the playing room in time for a game and were thus foisted a forfait. Cappelle La Grande is a small French village with 8000 inhabitants. If you want to combine chess with tourism, you are in the wrong place. There is nothing to do except play chess and nothing to see. The sea is nearby but only real storm chasers go for a walk at such times. It was even snowing for a while so I lost time clearing my car windows of ice. By the way, a car is a convenience but with some patience you can use the bus for free in the whole region.
Every tournament has its own special atmosphere and this certainly applies to this open as well. First of all, it is one of the last biggest opens in Europe where everyone plays in 1 group. It was not a record edition but 533 participants in 1 room is a spectacle in itself. That attracted a lot of visitors every day. Those 533 were further highlighted by the fact that each board not only had a name tag but also a flag of his/her nationality. This came in handy because I quickly found my board as one of the only Belgians camping on the higher boards.
The disadvantage of having everyone play in 1 group is the huge level difference between the players. From 16 grandmasters of which one is just under 2600 elo to a large group of players with no rating, all playing together. With accelerated pairings one tries to give opponents closer to your rating but I personally saw little or no difference. Already 3 editions (27 games) my opponents are either lower than 2100 or higher than 2400. Equivalent opponents I never get there.
The playing schedule is also quite unusual with a different starting hour each round. In addition, there are 2 days with double rounds. Games are played at the Belgian inter-club tempo, i.e. 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes for the rest and 30 seconds increment.
I was unlucky on the days of double rounds with long games each time. If you combine that with preparing as well, I even exceeded 14 hours of chess exclusively on one day. Moreover, in the last round I had to wait until 4 p.m. to start my midday meal. Good food in the neighborhood was difficult anyway. Fortunately, on several occasions the tournament hall sandwiches offered a fallback. That I was the only + 48 year old in the top 50 of the final standings is not surprising after such wear and tear.
Nevertheless, such a tournament is always fun if you can play with the right company. After the games we had dinner several times in a nearby hotel. During the car rides we chatted and laughed a lot. Richard Meulders turned out to be a great anecdote teller. One person at home was less fortunate because I had not thought about the fact that 3 basic players of the first team in the Belgian inter-club were missing for the 8th round.
Every player and every game in a tournament is a story in itself. To choose is to lose but the game below left a big impression on me. This is not so much because of the course of the game but mainly because of the incredible talent demonstrated by my 11-year-old opponent. I knew beforehand that Bassam El Zein was the reigning U12 French champion and I best not trusted his 1981 fide.
I had not made a blunder anywhere so he had simply played me away on his Magnus (a seemingly weak opening, fantastic positional sense). It was pure luck and also a bit of my endgame knowledge/technique that let me save the half point. However that at the end he had 1h 32 minutes left so more than at the beginning, totally perplexed me.
In the subsequent rapid tournament, Bassam held the winner of the open + 2500 fide Boyer Mahel to a draw, won over French grandmaster Gabriel Flom and also scored a draw against French IM Thomas Dionisi see Bassam results rapid CLG. Such opens often show glimpses of future great talents. Cappelle La Grande 2025 was another week of lots of chess fun on and off the board.
Helmut Froeyman