5 November 2006

British Fiesta in Rotterdam

The 10th Rotterdam Open in 2006 was hosted by Ed Baars at the Spiegel Grand Cafe in the centre of Rotterdam. A group of five British players made the trip: Mike Heard, Paul Gilbertson, Myke Wignall, Paul Barwick and Andy Bell. The British visitors described the Dutch players as some of the friendliest they had met, serious about the game but relaxed at the board.

Friday warm-up

The weekend opened on Friday evening with an informal warm-up side event. Andy Bell reached the final, where he met Rogier van Gemert, the 2004 runner-up at Enghien-les-Bains, and won at double match point in the early hours of the morning.

Masters

The Masters and Intermediate tournaments started on Saturday. The Masters field included 15 Dutch players, 2 Belgians, 1 German, 1 Egyptian and the 5 British players. The reigning Monte Carlo champion, Philip Vischjager, went out in the first round. Matches were played to 15 points in the first three rounds, 17 points in the semi-finals and 19 points in the final.

In the quarter-finals two British players met: Paul Barwick led Mike Heard 13-3 in a 15-point match, but Heard levelled at 13-13 and won the deciding doubled game. On Sunday, Hassan beat Rogier van Gemert in one semi-final. In the other, Heard led Arthur Braacx 13-3 in the 17-point match before Braacx came back to 15-15. The last game came down to a race in which Heard needed doubles, and he rolled double fours on the final roll of the match. Heard then won the final against Hassan comfortably.

Myke Wignall reached the consolation final but lost to Hans Willem Capel.

Results