4th Lost Boys Open, Antwerp 1996
The fourth Lost Boys Open A-group was played at the Zuiderpershuis in Antwerp from 2 to 11 August 1996. The opening report counted 118 players, including 17 grandmasters and 17 international masters; one further player, Vincent Valens, appears in the surviving later results. The tournament comprised nine Swiss-system rounds, with a rest day on 7 August.
Round 1 — Friday, 2 August
The favourites were generally careful on the opening afternoon, but the third board produced a major upset. Sixteen-year-old Dennis de Vreugt defeated Belgian grandmaster Mikhail Gurevich after the latter's flag fell on move forty in a position where he was already a pawn down. Ye Rongguang and Ljubomir Ljubojević won quickly, while defending champion Igor Novikov was held by Marc Lacrosse. Ivan Sokolov, Lembit Oll, Loek van Wely, Jeroen Piket and most of the other leading seeds began with victories.
Round 2 — Saturday, 3 August
Several grandmasters suffered. Stephen Giddins beat Rafael Vaganian, Taco Wirschell defeated Andrei Shchekachev, and Harmen Jonkman overcame Nikolai Legky. Van Wely, Ljubojević, Eric Lobron, Friso Nijboer and Peter Wells all conceded draws. Sokolov and Oll won again and joined a large group on two points; after two rounds seventeen players still had perfect scores.
Round 3 — Sunday, 4 August
The field began to separate. Sokolov defeated Richard Polaczek, Piket beat Jonkman, Suba ended De Vreugt's run, and Paul van der Sterren beat Yge Visser. Normunds Miezis also reached 3/3, while Artur Kogan held Oll and Erik van den Doel drew with Ye. At the end of the day Piket, Suba, Sokolov, Van der Sterren and Miezis shared the lead with three points.
Round 4 — Monday, 5 August
The first grandmaster pairings brought uncompromising chess. Sokolov beat Miezis, Piket defeated Van der Sterren, and Suba survived Oll's speculative piece sacrifice to record a fourth consecutive win. Van Wely beat Kogan in a long endgame and Novikov defeated Van den Doel. Sokolov, Piket and Suba led on 4/4, half a point ahead of Van Wely and Novikov.
Round 5 — Tuesday, 6 August
Sokolov beat Suba and Piket defeated Novikov, leaving the two winners as the only players on a perfect five points. Van Wely won with Black against Lobron and moved into sole third place on 4½. Miezis, Ye, Legky, Nijboer, Wells, Van der Sterren and Åkesson formed the next group on four points. Gurevich continued his recovery by beating Mark van Schaardenburg.
Round 6 — Thursday, 8 August
The leaders Piket and Sokolov drew, and Van Wely was held by Legky. Ye beat Åkesson, Miezis defeated Suba, Nijboer beat Wells, and Gurevich won a fluctuating time-pressure battle against Van der Sterren. Piket and Sokolov remained first on 5½, followed on five points by Van Wely, Nijboer, Miezis and Ye. Wim Maes remained an unexpectedly strong presence in the upper half.
Round 7 — Friday, 9 August
Van Wely caught the leaders by defeating Sokolov with Black in a sharp King's Indian. Sokolov dropped a pawn on move fifteen and resigned on move 69. Piket drew with Miezis, Nijboer drew with Ye, and Gurevich beat Mihhail Rõtšagov. Piket and Van Wely now shared first place with six points, with six pursuers only half a point behind.
Round 8 — Saturday, 10 August
The direct encounter between Van Wely and Piket was a hard-fought draw. Ye and Sokolov also drew, as did Miezis and Gurevich and Novikov and Nijboer. Oll beat Wells and Van der Sterren defeated Legky. Rafael Vaganian did not start the round and withdrew because of a family bereavement. Piket and Van Wely entered the final round on 6½, only half a point ahead of nine players.
Round 9 — Sunday, 11 August
Gurevich held Van Wely and Oll held Piket. Ye took his chance, defeating Shchekachev to join the two Dutch leaders on seven points. Sokolov drew with Van der Sterren, while Suba drew with Novikov and Nijboer drew with Miezis. Piket, Van Wely and Ye shared first prize; Piket was placed first on Buchholz. Sokolov, Miezis, Nijboer, Oll, Novikov, Suba, Van der Sterren, Gurevich, Lobron and Blees finished half a point behind.
Norm performances and closing notes
Wim Maes earned his first international-master norm, Harmen Jonkman achieved his second IM norm, and Normunds Miezis scored his second grandmaster norm. The surviving final table is incomplete below the leading group, so lower places in the accompanying player file are ordered by the points recoverable from the available game scores and reported result-only records.
Sources: contemporary Lost Boys daily reports supplied with the tournament file; The Week in Chess 95 (12 August 1996).
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