Match Gloucester - Utrecht

From the 17th of September 1996 to july 1997 a chess match between the English town of Gloucester and the Dutch town of Utrecht took place. Douglas R. Smith from Gloucester CC had already organized a Blackmar-Diemer Gambit thematic tournament, in which Alwin van Ee also participated. Later Doug invited Alwin to organize together a match between Gloucester and Utrecht.

It was a match by e-mail on ten boards, two of them being junior boards (the original idea was one under 19 years and one under 15 years). There was no time limit as such but we aimed for 10 moves in 30 days.


The Utrecht team consisted of players of 5 different Chess Clubs in Utrecht: Paul Keres (PK), SC Utrecht (Utrecht Chess Club, SCU), Oud Zuylen (OZ), De Rode Loper (DRL) and Kanaleneiland (KAN). The British players were all members of Gloucester Chess Club, but this club is the only chess club that counts in this town so it is indeed Gloucester town v. Utrecht town.
At first Gloucester took the lead with 2-0, but Utrecht managed to make up lost ground. The final result is 5-5 with 4 draws, despite of the fact that the Utrecht players' average ELO-rating was higher than Gloucester's.

Both towns were founded by the Romans in the first century after Christ. They were called Glevum and Traiectum. If you want to know which town is the older, you can find the answer on the historical page on Gloucester and Utrecht.

BoardGloucesterUtrechtResult
1Phil DodwellHans Sandbrink (PK)1/2-1/2
2Geoff Taylor Peter de Jong (SCU)1/2-1/2
3Doug Smith Karel Stokkermans (OZ)1-0
4Ian Ponter Feike Hacquebord (SCU)0-1
5George Barwood Alwin van Ee (ex SCU, ex OZ)1-0
6Pat BakerPaul van Jaarsveld (DRL) 1/2-1/2
7Ian Blencowe Marc Jongerius (KAN)1-0
8Simon Roderick PieterJan Mellegers (SCU)1/2-1/2
9Peter Stephens Joost Mellegers (SCU)0-1
10 Andrew Stephens Jelmer Jens (SCU)0-1
final result5-5

The games. Gloucester had black on the odd boards. The junior boards were 9 and 10 and the Stephens boys are brothers, at he time Peter was 15 and Andrew 14. Joost was 18 and Jelmer was 14.

Visit also:

The games

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Sandbrink, Hans"]
[Black "Dodwell, Phil"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Board "1"]
[Opening "Scotch Opening"]
[Variation "Mieses Attack"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Qb4+ 9.Nd2 Nf4 10.Qe3 Ne6 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.O-O Be7 13.Ne4 d6 14.Bd2 Qb6 15.c5 dxc5 16.f4 O-O-O 17.f5 Nd4 18.f6 gxf6 19.exf6 Bf8 20.Kh1 Kb8 21.Bc3 Bc8 22. Nd2 Be6 23. Nc4!? Qb7 {doesn't accept the interesting exchange sacrifice} 24. Na5 Qb6 {Draw proposed by black} 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Taylor, Geoff"]
[Black "Jong, Peter de"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Board "2"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defence"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 e6 7.f4 a6 8.Be3 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.Qe1 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.Bf3 Bb7 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.e5 dxe5 15.fxe5 Nd7 16.Bxb7 Qxb7 17.Ne4 Qc7 18.Qg3 Rad8 19.c3 f5 20.exf6ep Qxg3 21.f7+ Rxf7 22.Nxg3 Rxf1 23.Kxf1 Nf6 24. Ke2 Kf7 25. Rd3 Rd5 26. Bxf6 Rxd3 27. Kxd3 gxf6 28. c4 Bd6 29. cxb5 axb5 30. b3 Bxg3 31. hxg3 Ke7 32. a4 bxa4 33. bxa4 e5 34. g4 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Stokkermans, Karel"]
[Black "Smith, Doug"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Board "3"]
[Opening "Pirc-Ufimcev Defence"]
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 O-O 6.Be3 Na6
{"There is nothing wrong with this move" (John Nunn)}
7.Qd2 c5 8.Bh6?!
{8.d5?! was seen in Kristiansen-Hartston, Esjberg 1977}
8...Bxh6 9.Qxh6 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.Qe3 Qb6 12.O-O-O e5! 13.Ndb5 Ncxe4 14.Qf3 Bf5 15.Nxd6 Nxd6 16.g4 Nde4 17.gxf5 Qxf2 18.Qd3 Qf4+ 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Ponter, Ian"]
[Black "Hacquebord, Feike"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Board "4"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defence"]
[Variation "Alapin"]
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bd3 Nc6
8.h3 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.Qe2 e5 11.d5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Nb1 h6 14.Na3 Re8 15.Qc2 Bd7 16.f3 Nh5 17.Qf2 Qf6 18.f4 Qe7 19.Bd2 f5 20.Rae1 Qf8 21.Nc2 fxe4 22.Bxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxe4 Bf5 24.Re6 Bxc2 25.g4 Nf6 26.Bb4 Nxd5 27.Bxd6 Qf7 28.f5 gxf5 29.gxf5 Bd3 30.Rg6 Kh7 31.Re1 Qxf5 32. 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Ee, Alwin van"]
[Black "Barwood, George"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Board "5"]
[Opening "French Defence"]
[Variation "Winawer"]
[SubVariation "Nimzovitch"]
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 b6 5.a3 Bf8 6.f4?! Ne7 7.Nf3 h5 8.Be3 a5
{Also played: 8...Qd7}
9.Nh4!?
{A bit experimental}
(9.Be2 Ba6 10.O-O Nf5 11.Qd2 a4 12.Bxa6 Rxa6 13.Ne2 Nc6 14.Ng3
{Candela,J - Vaganian,R (Oviedo 1992)})
9...Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.g4 hxg4 12.Qxg4 g6 13.Nf3 Nf5 14.Bf2 b5 15.h4? Rh5 16.Ne2 c5 17.c3 c4 18.Ng3 Nxg3 19.Bxg3 Nb8 20.Ng5 Nc6 21.Qe2 Rb8 22.O-O Ne7 23.Kg2 Nf5 24.Qf2 Be7 25.Rh1 Rb6 26.Rae1 Ra6 27.Qc2 Kf8 28.Bf2 Qd7 29.Ra1 Qc6 30.Nf3 Kg7 31.Kh3 Ra8 32.Rag1 Rb8 33.Qd2 Rb6 34.Rg4 Qb7 35.Rh2 b4 36.axb4 axb4 37.Be1 bxc3 38.bxc3 Rh8 39.Rhg2 Ba3 40.Qf2 Rb3 41.Qg1 Kf8 42.Rc2 Rb1 43.Qf2 Qb3 44.Ra2 Kg7 45.Rg2 Rb8 46.Re2 Bb2 47.Rc2 Bc1 48.Kg4 Ne3+ 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Baker, Pat"]
[Black "Jaarsveld, Paul van"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Board "6"]
[Opening "Trompovsky"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 c5 4. d5 Qa5+?!
{Qb6}
5. c3 Qb6 6. Nd2 Nxd2 7. Qxd2 d6 8. e4 g6 9. Be2 Bg7 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nd7 13. O-O O-O 14. Be3 Qc7 15. Rac1
{'A Nimzovitchian mysterious rook move!' (PB)}
15...c4 16. Bd4 Rfc8 17. Bg4 b5 18. Bxd7 Qxd7 19. f4 Rab8 20. Rfe1
{'After 0-0 I should have left my rook on f1 and played f4 sooner. Rfe1 was not a strong move.' (PB)}
20...a5 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Qd4+ Kg8 23. e5 Qc7 24. Rcd1 b4 25. Re3 Qc5 26. Qxc5 Rxc5 27. exd6 exd6 28. Re7 Rbb5 29. Rd4 bxc3 30. bxc3 Rxd5 31. Rxc4
{Draw proposed by white} 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Jongerius, Marc"]
[Black "Blencowe, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Board "7"]
[Opening "French Defence"]
[Variation "Exchange Variation"]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bb5 Ne7 7.O-O O-O 8.Bf4 Bg4 9.Qd3 Re8 10.Bxc6 Nxc6 11.Rfe1 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Qd7 13.a3 Ba5 14.Qb5 Bxc3 15.bxc3 b6 16.Re3 Rxe3 17.fxe3 a6 18.Qd3 Na5 19.Kh1 Nc4 20.e4 c6 21.Qe2 Re8 22.Qg2 Re6 23.Qh3 Re7 24.Qxd7 Rxd7 25.Re1 Re7 26.Re2 f6 27.Bc1 h6 28.Kg2 Kf7 29.Kg3 g5 30.Kg4 Kg6 31.h4 h5+ 32.Kg3 gxh4+ 33.Kxh4 dxe4 34.fxe4 Nd6 35.Rg2+ Kf7 36.e5 fxe5 37.Kxh5 Ne4 38.Bh6 Ke6 39.Bg7 Nxc3 40. Bxe5 Kd5 41.Rg6 Re6 42.Rg5 Kc4 43.Bc7 b5 44.Re5 Rxe5 45.dxe5 Kd5 46.Kg5 Ke6 47.Kg4 Nd5 48.Bd6 Ne3+ 49.Kf4 Nxc2 50.Ke4 Na1 51.Bf8 Nb3 52.Bb4 c5 53.Bc3 a5 54. Kd3 Kd5 55.Ke3 b4 56.Bb2 c4 57.axb4 axb4 58.e6 Kxe6 59.Ke4 Kd6 0-1
{Douglas Smith: "White's troubles seemed to stem from allowing his pawn structure to be doubled after which the knight was superior in exploiting the weaknesses.}

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Roderick, Simon"]
[Black "Mellegers, PieterJan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Board "8"]
[Opening "King's Fianchetto"]
1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.f4 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qa5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bc4 Nf6 8.O-O O-O 9.Ne5 c5 10.Be3 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Ne2 Ng4 13.Qd2 Qxd2 14.Bxd2 cxd4 15.Rad1 Rb8 16.h3 Nh6 17.b3 Nf5 18.Nc1 h5 19. Rfe1 h4 20. Nd3 Bf6 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Mellegers, Joost"]
[Black "Stephens, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Board "9"]
[Opening "Owen's Defence"]
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Ne2 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.a3 d5 7.e5 g6 8.O-O Bg7 9.b4 c4 10.Bc2 Nge7 11.f4 Qc7 12.a4 a6 13.Nd2 b5 14.Nf3 h5 15. Qe1 Kd7 16. h3 Bh6 17. f5 Nxf5 18. Bxf5 exf5 19. Bxh6 Rxh6 20. Nf4 Nd8 21. axb5 axb5 22. Rxa8 Bxa8 23. Ng5 Kc8 24. e6 fxe6 25. Ngxe6 Qf7 26. Nxd8 Kxd8 27. Qe5 Bc6 28. Qb8+ Ke7 29. Re1+ Kf6 30. Qe5+ Kg5 31. h4+ 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "cr Gloucester-Utrecht Town Match"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[White "Stephens, Andrew"]
[Black "Jens, Jelmer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Board "10"]
[ECO "A48"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. c3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. e4 Nbd7 7. Bb5 c6 8. Bd3 e5 9. O-O Re8 10. Qe2 Nf8 11. Bh4 Ne6 12. Bc2 Qc7 13. Rad1 Nf4 14. Qe3 Be6 15. Nb3 Bh6 16. Qe1 g5 17. dxe5 dxe5 18. Bg3 Bc4 19. Bxf4 exf4 20. Bd3 Bxd3 21. Rxd3 Rxe4 22. Qd1 g4 23. Nfd4 Re5 24. f3 Nd5 25. Re1 g3 26. Rxe5 gxh2+ 27. Kxh2 Qxe5 28. Nd2 Kh8 29. Nc4 Qh5+ 30. Kg1 Rg8 31. a4 Ne3 32. Nxe3 fxe3 33. Qe2 Bf4 34. Kf1 Qh1# 0-1

Last update 5-7-97 13:11:03