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Hoogovens (1980) "Since it's so unusual to see decisive results among the top players in an international tourney, you can be sure that the event was particularly hard-fought when a majority of the games end in a win or loss. This was certainly the case at Wijk aan Zee 1980. The competition was fierce from the very start. Round Two was a sensation when U.S. Junior Champion Yasser Seirawan beat Viktor Korchnoi brilliantly, while I sacrificed the Exchange against Jan Timman to win my best game of the tourney. Seirawan took off like a rocket, scoring 4½ points in the first five rounds, while I followed with a solid 3-2. Korchnoi scored only 1½ points in his first four games, and Timman had only 1½ of his first six! Though I basically played solidly throughout and never had a losing position in a single game, in Round Six I did make a mistake in the opening against Lev Alburt and had to play very well to equalize. Lev offered a draw at the end of the first session, which nine of ten GMs might have accepted. But I felt Lev didn't fully appreciate the dangers of the position and, when he made a few weak moves after we resumed play, I finally won! Seirawan held his lead and I followed closely behind, while Korchnoi and Timman started to show their strength only in the later rounds. After 11 rounds, Seirawan had 9 points, I had 8½, Korchnoi 7½, and Timman 6½. In Round 12, Seirawan and I finally met. Seirawan, playing quickly and solidly, built up a small edge in a position where my counterchances were miniscule. I accepted his offer of a draw, even though I knew he would play for a draw in the next and final round. This meant I had to beat "Viktor the Terrible" to tie for first. Viktor won in Round 12 and, if he beat me in the last round, he would be clear third; a loss would not affect his standing. Viktor, as Black, played an inferior opening against me. I've had great success with this line and played for a quick kill." (Browne) De Moriaan, Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, 15-31 January 1980 Age Elo* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 Pts ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— =1 GM Browne 31 2540 • ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 10 =1 IM Seirawan 19 2510 ½ • 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 10 3 GM Korchnoi 48 2695 0 0 • 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 8½ =4 GM Biyiasas 29 2485 ½ ½ 0 • 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 7½ =4 GM Timman 28 2600 0 0 ½ 0 • ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 7½ =4 GM Alburt 34 2515 0 0 ½ 1 ½ • ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 7½ =7 IM Ree 35 2520 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 6½ =7 GM Byrne 51 2530 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ • ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6½ 9 Sunye Neto 22 2415 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ • ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 6 10 GM Kovacevic 37 2510 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ • ½ ½ 1 ½ 5½ 11 IM Van der Wiel 20 2465 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ • 1 ½ 1 4½ =12 GM Sigurjónsson 32 2475 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 • 0 1 4 =12 IM Böhm 30 2430 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 • 0 4 14 IM Ligterink 30 2455 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 • 3 ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Thirteen rounds in 17 days, starting on Tuesday 15 January (91 games). Rest days 18, 21, 25 & 30 January. Browne beat Korchnoi in the last round so that he and Seirawan shared the victory with 10/13. Photo (Browne vs Korchnoi): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe... Photo (Böhm vs Seirawan): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe... Sources Tata Steel website (https://history.tatasteelchess.com/...) Perpetual Check website (https://www.perpetualcheck.com/show...) *FIDE rating list January 1980 (https://web.archive.org/web/2022112...) Chess Life, 3/1980, p. 8 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...) Chess Life, 8/1980, pp. 12-14 (https://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/C...) Tidskrift för Schack, 3/1980, pp. 87, 97 (https://tfsarkiv.schack.se/pdf/1980...) El Ajedrez 4, April 1980, pp. 169-172 (http://www.historiadelajedrezespano...) Jaque 99, March 1980, pp. 2-3 (https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/...) Jaque 100, April 1980, pp. 6-8 (https://www.olimpbase.org/leagueES/...) Dutch newspapers (available at https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten) Previous: Hoogovens (1979). Next: Hoogovens (1981)  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 41  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Korchnoi vs J Sunye Neto   ½-½ 69 1980 Hoogovens A30 English, Symmetrical 2. H Ree vs V Kovacevic   ½-½ 19 1980 Hoogovens D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 3. P Biyiasas vs Browne   ½-½ 24 1980 Hoogovens A30 English, Symmetrical 4. Timman vs G Ligterink   ½-½ 57 1980 Hoogovens E56 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 7...Nc6 5. J Sunye Neto vs P Biyiasas   ½-½ 55 1980 Hoogovens E91 King's Indian 6. G Sigurjonsson vs H Ree   ½-½ 25 1980 Hoogovens A49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4 7. Alburt vs V Kovacevic   ½-½ 28 1980 Hoogovens A10 English 8. R Byrne vs G Sigurjonsson   ½-½ 28 1980 Hoogovens B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 9. H Bohm vs Browne   ½-½ 60 1980 Hoogovens E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation 10. P Biyiasas vs Seirawan   ½-½ 38 1980 Hoogovens C00 French Defense 11. Timman vs J Sunye Neto   ½-½ 69 1980 Hoogovens B97 Sicilian, Najdorf 12. Korchnoi vs Van der Wiel   ½-½ 60 1980 Hoogovens A07 King's Indian Attack 13. Van der Wiel vs V Kovacevic   ½-½ 40 1980 Hoogovens B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 14. Browne vs H Ree   ½-½ 34 1980 Hoogovens D67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line 15. Timman vs Korchnoi   ½-½ 39 1980 Hoogovens E12 Queen's Indian 16. H Ree vs J Sunye Neto   ½-½ 21 1980 Hoogovens E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation 17. V Kovacevic vs G Sigurjonsson   ½-½ 61 1980 Hoogovens A48 King's Indian 18. R Byrne vs Browne   ½-½ 22 1980 Hoogovens B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 19. J Sunye Neto vs R Byrne   ½-½ 40 1980 Hoogovens E18 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 7.Nc3 20. Seirawan vs H Ree   ½-½ 26 1980 Hoogovens A13 English 21. G Ligterink vs V Kovacevic   ½-½ 38 1980 Hoogovens E08 Catalan, Closed 22. Alburt vs J Sunye Neto   ½-½ 36 1980 Hoogovens A19 English, Mikenas-Carls, Sicilian Variation 23. R Byrne vs Seirawan   ½-½ 22 1980 Hoogovens B18 Caro-Kann, Classical 24. H Ree vs Korchnoi   ½-½ 20 1980 Hoogovens A57 Benko Gambit 25. Browne vs G Sigurjonsson   ½-½ 17 1980 Hoogovens D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 41    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)     There is no kibitzing for this page, yet.   NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. 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