In the contest for the Dutch chess championship, Langeweg and Ree finished jointly in first place. Since Hans Ree was the title holder, he will retain the title without a play-off match, and under the current regulations this is entirely in order. On the other hand, Langeweg was seriously handicapped by "circumstances" at the end of this tournament.

Usually there is a free day before the final round is played. On Friday, however, Langeweg had to play Scholl, who had reported sick for Thursday. The game lasted until late in the evening and ended in a draw, after Langeweg had had a winning position.

On Saturday it was an early start, and from the course of the decisive game Ree-Langeweg one may conclude that the latter's strength failed him in this encounter. At a certain moment Langeweg overlooked a simple continuation and had to suffer his first and only defeat.

Encouraging is the third place of the coming man Jan Timman, seventeen years old. He scored five and a half points from the last six games. The text continues beyond the visible part of the clipping.

That Donner will once again reach such heights seems, little by little, extremely doubtful. The grandmaster lost three games convincingly: to Ree, Langeweg and Van Baarle.

The first five in the standings are assured of a place in the next championship tournament. They are: Ree, Langeweg, Timman, Kuijpers and Donner. There is a possibility that from now on the title competition will be held every year. What is certain is that some changes will be made to the "competition formula", by which the level will probably be raised.

In Leeuwarden, incidentally, the chess was lively and enterprising. The mutual atmosphere was excellent, to which the tournament management and organisation contributed greatly.