ICCF

The WebChess Gambit Match - now online!

Sunday, June 5, 2005: Follow the thematic match between World Champions Umansky and Timmerman!

The WebChess Gambit Match

 

From 10 until 13 May 2005 the Chess Events Maastricht Foundation organised a match between two young Dutch OTB players, Grandmasters Loek van Wely and Daniel Stellwagen, in the Centre Céramique in Maastricht. The first two games were Random Chess games, and the last two games Advanced Chess games (normal games but with the eventual help of a computer).

 

One of the driving forces behind the Chess Events Maastricht Foundation is Jan van Reek. He was born on 10 July 1945 in Oostvoorne, studied Chemistry in Leiden, was a medical researcher in Maastricht, and nowadays lives in Margraten as a chess author and especially as an endgame specialist.

 

On 10 July 2005 he will celebrate his 60th anniversary with the start of The WebChess Gambit Match. Jan has therefore sponsored the prize fund. The match will be played on the ICCF Webserver by two former Correspondence Chess World Champions: Mikhail Umansky and Gert Timmerman. ICCF is the International Correspondence Chess Federation, the FIDE recognized world-wide body of correspondence chess, played in the past by post, later by fax and email, and nowadays switching to webserver play. The essence of correspondence chess is that the reflection time is measured in days, and not in hours or minutes.

 

On May 13 we had the drawing of the lots of the WebChess Gambit Match between Gert Timmerman (NED) and Mikhail Umansky (RUS), sponsored by Jan van Reek (NED), in an Indonesian restaurant in Maastricht during the closing banquet of the Advanced (and partly Fischer Random) Chess Match between the two Dutch FIDE-GM's Loek van Wely and Daniel Stellwagen.

 

The six gambits have carefully been selected by Jan van Reek. Especially in this way that both players more or less do have the same chances, based on historical performances.

 

The outcome was that the following games will be started on the ICCF webserver (inclusive the given moves):

 

Game 1  Timmerman - Umansky: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4

Game 2  Umansky - Timmerman: 1.e4 e5 2.f4

 

Game 3  Umansky - Timmerman: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5

Game 4  Timmerman - Umansky: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4

 

Game 5  Umansky - Timmerman: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4

Game 6  Timmerman - Umansky: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4

 

The games will be recorded under the header “Tables and Results" on the ICCF webserver: www.iccf-webchess.com

 

The official starting date is the 10th of July 2005, but the games may be started as from June 5. However, players will most probably not play their first moves before official starting date. The games will be recorded live on the webserver with no delays. The first time control in all six games will be on the 10th move (60 days).

 

The Tournament Director is the Dutch International Arbiter Nol van 't Riet.

 

Mikhail Umansky (Russia) is living in Germany. He was the 13th World Champion (1998 – 2000). Gert Timmerman (Netherlands) was the 15th World Champion (2001 – 2003). Both players participated in the ICCF 50 Years Jubilee World Champions Tournament (2001 – 2004) together with all other seven still living World Champions. This tournament was won by Umansky with the marvellous score of 7 out 8 (TPR 2974). Timmerman shared the second place with 5 out 8, together with Fritz Baumbach (Germany) and Vytas Palciauskas (USA).


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