Tournament director Koen Lambrechts ‘quits’

It could be called a miracle, that Koen accepted the miserable conditions for almost 3 years now. Only pretending of course, because he was pulling the wires to give the Chesfestival the status, which he thinks it deserves.

The sports hall in Zernike has no appearance at all, zero nada niente, a tournament, which respects itself is a big event and should take place in the Martiniplaza and for the length of the tournament you offer the director a suite in the nearby Mercure hotel, like in the old days.

Like his big example offer some WIM’s from the former Eastern bloc some nice conditions, but expecting them to give act de presence in the suite and they will certainly have ears to that, if only it was to rob the minibar. According to the chairman of the foundation board Jan van Os there is no budget for all that, which means that Koen is obliged to accept a refurbished bathromm as boardroom, where everyone walks in and out.

Then he told Jan van Os, that he knew of the training of the woman’s US chess champion Nazi Pikadze is having by Nigel Short, a very nice opponent for a match with Machteld van Foreest, but Nigel did not react on any email, so why not popover to England, flying is cheap these days. Jan Colly brought Anatoly Karpov to Groningen, did he not??? Suddenly the budget was no problem, young talents are favoured all the time, only a very smart move by Koen, as recently turned out.

The only thing he did was visit some football games, but in short time no successor could be found, so he was allowed to finish his term.

Jacques Jambon will produce an image column on a daily basis during the Chess Festival, where text and pictures will give you a surprising vision of the chess world, in his own words and through the eyes of a person who has seen it all (and may make you feel the same). He does not sit on the fence, run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. He manages to combine a romantic style with an eye for the painful truth about that twilight world, where grandmasters and patzers meet. Jambon is not only a chessplayer but also erstwhile reporter for the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (a northern newspaper), anarchistic enemy of the state, goal- and, barkeeper, poet,-fashion icon, (the list goes on).

Important to know: the reflections of Ham are not automatically shared by the tournament organization. The organizers tried their very best to contact the photographers and ask permission for using their pictures. If necessary, please contact us.