Scoring 8 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses enabled Erwin to tie second place with Coenen (from Utrecht) with identical 9/12. The tournament was won by Y.H. de Rover 2185. Erwin won f 50 and a box of chocolate, and also had the satisfaction of avenging his loss to Robert de Klerk (in the second round of the Collectief Open Rapid Tournament in September 2000.)
June 14, 2001: Haagse Toren Zomer Competitie Round 1:
Erwin withered the Kingside attack of Henny from a King's Indian defense, put his king in the center, and contained the Q and B of Henny in the endgame to win the game.
June 12, 2001: Vogelwijk Internie round 30: "One down, two to go"
Erwin chose the 3.Nc3 continuation against the Petroff Defense of Frans vd Griendt and had to decline a draw offer to build a potential kingside attack. vd Griendt sacrificed a pawn but made the weak move f5, allowing Erwin to mass his heavy pieces along the f-file to force the win.
Henny defeated Karel Stolte to keep pace with me but Maarten's position did not look good against Eduard when i left the playing area.
June 11, 2001: Haags Open Rapid
Erwin lost a pivotal 4th round game to Theo Hartmann when he missed Qg6!, leading to a mating attack. Erwin did not lose hope even after a draw with Vorselen in round 5. He went on to win his game against Noordkamp (the second placer in the Vogelwijk Open Rapid) even after losing a panw in the opening. With 4.5/6, he is currently tied with P. de Bas for third place.
June 9, 2001: Erwin did not play in Haagse Toren due to Independence Day celebrations in Spaarnwoude.
June 7, 2001: Haagse Toren Snelschaak
Erwin Casareno 2026 won the Blitz tournament of Haagse Toren for the second consecutive time. He successfully defended his title by scoring 6/7, his only loss coming from Ton Visser in the first round. Erwin appeared relaxed during the 7 rounds Swiss tournament, even after losing the first game.
Theo Hartmann was leading the field with 5.5/6 before his encounter with Erwin (5/6). The winner of the game wins the title. Theo needed a draw while Erwin went all out for the win. Rik Pronk 4.5/6 and Hans Segers 4.5/6 fought for third place.
June 5, 12,19,26, 2001 Vogelwijk Internie Round 29: "One down - three to go !"
A second Pirc Defense game with Erwin handling the Black pieces. Erwin Casareno adopted the set-up of a Pirc Defense against Karel Stolte's van Heet Opening. The game became interesting in the middlegame when Karel sacrificed a bishop for two pawns and forced Erwin to walk through a tightrope. Erwin found the only moves and simplified the position to win in 42 moves.
It looks like Karel and i will be playing a lot of Pirc positions in the future. Anyway, thanks to Karel. After the first game, I reviewed the theory and used it in the Optiver Snelschaak 6 times against d4 players, the most memorable of which was the game against Raschid Schrik 2141 DSC.
June 2, 2001: Optiver Snelschaaktoernooi Schaakhuis En Passant 10:00 - 18:00 Eliminations 20:00 finals
This tournament is not only a test of chess knowledge but also a test of physical endurance. I started to play in group 1 at 10:00 and ended at 23:30, almost midnight for a total of 45 hard blitz games. These 45 games are the most games I have ever played in a tournament in one day. I caught the last bus for the finals on my fourth attempt which was almost 19:30.
I went to Schaakhuis very early, to qualify early. But the big guns arrived just minutes later. So instead of qualifying, I decided to watch them play their favorite variations and made notes for future reference. In group 1, I had 3 defeats (Joost Ruitenberg, Jan Eberle,Quirinius van Dorp) but had the consolation of scoring 4 wins ( Lars Vistissen, Jerone Blokhuis, Ron,Farad Ibrahimi). In group 6, I started very well by beating Jan Eberle, lost Arne Moll,beat Mittertreiner, lost to Rogier van Arkel, beat Raschid and Patrick de Bas.Arne Moll qualified for the finals. Played a tie breaker with Rogier which I lost. In group 10, I defeated Timon van Dijk, Patrick de Bas but lost to Quirinius van Dorp and another player who only scored 3 points. In the tie-breaker, I lost to Patrick de Bas, but defeated Quirinius van Dorp, allowing de Bas to move to the finals. In group 11, I lost to Ik Oei in the first game but finished tied for the two remainng slots. In the play-off, I defeated Ik Oei.
My head was spinning from the non-stop games played from 14:00 to 19:30.
Then at 20:00, the finals began with a loss to Marc Erwich (Scotch Opening), draw with Frank Erwich, lost to JW de Jong, win over Joost Ruitenberg lost against Liem and a draw with Patrick de Bas. 2/6 ! In the next rounds, i defeated Timon van Dijk, lost to Meryn van Delft, lost to Arne Moll, lost to Rogier van Arkel,. 3/11 ! I gathered enough strength to draw with Pieter Hopman,, lost to Bas vd Berg, win over Oei, win over Pim Ydo and win over Farad Ibrahimi. 6.5/15! 4 wins 3 draws 8 losses.
See the cross table for the details.
The next day, I just rested in my bed, trying to remember the critical games which i played against the masters. I was satisfied with my results.
