The 2^nd Dutch Open Championship Superchess

Part of the Corus Chess Tournament 2005
Main sponsor Danieli Corus

Please apply for a registration card at mike@coruschess.com or at cco@xs4all.nl .

The championship will be played with ordinary chess pieces and the following four superchess pieces:

Amazon moving as Queen or Knight,
Empress moving as Rook or Knight,
Princess moving as Bishop or Knight and
Veteran moving as King or Knight (please note: the Veteran cannot be checked or mated).

At the Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee, Saturday 29 January 2005, many Superchess players will again compete for the magnificent superchess challenge trophy kindly offered by the Corus Chess Committee: an artistically designed, silver Amazon in the form of a Queen + Knight combination. In addition there are attractive prizes to be won. The interest in this new form of chess promises to be larger than at the 1^st Championship Superchess. Among others chess trainer and IM Jop Delemarre has already applied. The ladies are also prominently represented, by the strong chess player WIM Isabel Werner.The available space is restricted, so please apply a.s.a.p. for your entry card at mike@coruschess.com or at cco@xs4all.nl .
It is permissible to participate in the Superchess Championship as well as another Corus Tournament, if not overlapping.

Superchess is chess without opening theory, practically speaking. Every chess player can play Superchess right from the beginning. Preparation for opening variants is unnecessary as well as virtually impossible. Only a little exercise is advisable to get used to the superchess pieces; it should suffice to play only a few games. The Dutch Championship will be played on ordinary chessboards with ordinary chessmen and four different superchess pieces.

Any move with such a piece is an ordinary chess move! The reason is that all these pieces are combinations of two ordinary chessmen: the Amazon moves as Queen or Knight, the Empress moves as Rook or Knight, the Princess moves as Bishop or Knight and the Veteran moves as King or Knight (but cannot be checked or mated). Of course, such a combination is nothing new, as we all know that the Queen is the combination of Rook and Bishop.

How is a game of Superchess played? The four superchess pieces are deployed in the prelude which precedes the actual moves. In this prelude the players change the ordinary starting position of chess by replacing four chessmen by the four superchess pieces according to a simple procedure. After the prelude the game is continued virtually as an ordinary game of chess. For the procedure and the precise rules, please see the regulations.

At the 1^st Dutch Superchess Championship some players had a little experience but others were virtually untrained. Even 1^st prize winner Tom Bottema, press officer of the Corus Chess Committee, confessed that he had practised only very little beforehand; apparently his vast experience in ordinary chess proved to render sufficient compensation.

When asked about their opinion after the tournament many players, including the winner, replied something along the lines of: "Superchess is more interesting and less difficult than I had expected. Sure enough it really remains just chess." All participants considered it to be a pleasant and fascinating experience, certainly suitable for repeating.

In short, there appears to be no good reason why not every enthusiastic chess player should become an enthusiastic player of Superchess too! The Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee promises as always to be very enjoyable, for the players as well as the audience. On Saturday 29 January 2005 the Grandmaster groups A, B and C and the Nine-rounders will also play, so that it promises to be a very interesting day. So why not give it a try? This is your opportunity to play Superchess!

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