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Last year the Rising Stars won 33.5-16.5 so a major effort was made to beef up the Experience team. Probably key to the margin of victory was the under-performance of Hikaru Nakamura, who has been on fire recently but here he was ill (cold/flu like symptoms), for most of the tournament. He has taken advantage of a lot of invitations recently but it is probably time for a rest for him.

Peter Heine Nielsen was the top scorer for the Experience side with 6.5/10. Peter Svidler scored 6/10. The only plus score for the Rising Stars was Jan Smeets, and with this he has earned a place in the 2010 Amber Tournament.

Ljubomir Ljubojevic was a surprise plus scorer for the Experience team. He rarely plays these days, and recent results for veterans who don't prepare, haven't been encouraging. 5.5/10 was a very fine score for him and he will gain a large number of rating points. Loek van Wely was the only Experience player below 50%.

Final Score: Experience 27.5 - Rising Stars 22.5

The NH Chess Tournament Rising Stars vs. Experience took place August 20th-31st 2009 in the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Dam 9, Amsterdam. The NH Chess Tournament, organised by NH Hoteles in close cooperation with Association Max Euwe, Monaco, is a 'Scheveningen' team tournament between an 'Experience' team and a 'Rising Stars' team.

The special prize for the best Rising Stars was an invitation to the 2010 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in Nice.

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Round 1 (August 20, 2009) Experience 3 Rising Stars 2
Svidler, Peter	- Hou Yifan	1-0	64	C11	French Defence
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	- Nakamura, Hikaru	½-½	60	A81	Dutch Leningrad
Nielsen, Peter Heine	- Stellwagen, Daniel	1-0	26	E60	King's Indian without Nc3
Van Wely, Loek	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	22	A29	English Four Knights
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Smeets, Jan	0-1	68	A11	Reti Opening
Round 2 (August 21, 2009) Experience 3 Rising Stars 2
Smeets, Jan	- Nielsen, Peter Heine	½-½	21	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Caruana, Fabiano	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	½-½	42	C91	Ruy Lopez
Hou Yifan	- Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	0-1	87	B45	Sicilian Classical
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	79	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Stellwagen, Daniel	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	27	B43	Sicilian Paulsen
Round 3 (August 22, 2009) Experience 2.5 Rising Stars 2.5
Nielsen, Peter Heine	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	25	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Svidler, Peter	- Smeets, Jan	½-½	22	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	- Stellwagen, Daniel	1-0	46	D19	Slav Defence
Van Wely, Loek	- Hou Yifan	½-½	31	E15	Queens Indian
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Nakamura, Hikaru	0-1	34	E97	King's Indian Classical
Round 4 (August 23, 2009) Experience 1.5 Rising Stars 3.5
Smeets, Jan	- Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	1-0	30	B45	Sicilian Classical
Caruana, Fabiano	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	31	D11	Slav Defence
Hou Yifan	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	1-0	39	C41	Philidor's Defence
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Nielsen, Peter Heine	½-½	41	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Stellwagen, Daniel	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	36	B81	Sicilian Keres Attack
Round 5 (August 24, 2009) Experience 3.5 Rising Stars 1.5
Nielsen, Peter Heine	- Hou Yifan	½-½	37	E06	Catalan
Svidler, Peter	- Nakamura, Hikaru	1-0	61	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	73	A32	English Symmetrical
Van Wely, Loek	- Smeets, Jan	½-½	38	D19	Slav Defence
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Stellwagen, Daniel	1-0	62	E71	King's Indian 5.h3
Round 6 (August 26, 2009) Experience 2.5 Rising Stars 2.5
Smeets, Jan	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	1-0	40	B07	Pirc Defence
Caruana, Fabiano	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	38	B84	Sicilian Scheveningen
Hou Yifan	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	18	B06	Modern Defence
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	0-1	48	B35	Sicilian Defence
Stellwagen, Daniel	- Nielsen, Peter Heine	½-½	27	C64	Ruy Lopez Classical
Round 7 (August 28, 2009) Experience 3.5 Rising Stars 1.5
Nielsen, Peter Heine	- Smeets, Jan	1-0	36	D19	Slav Defence
Svidler, Peter	- Stellwagen, Daniel	½-½	41	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	- Hou Yifan	½-½	62	D38	QGD Ragozin
Van Wely, Loek	- Nakamura, Hikaru	½-½	59	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Caruana, Fabiano	1-0	25	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Round 8 (August 29, 2009) Experience 2.5 Rising Stars 2.5
Smeets, Jan	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	29	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Caruana, Fabiano	- Nielsen, Peter Heine	½-½	60	C64	Ruy Lopez Classical
Hou Yifan	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	47	B84	Sicilian Scheveningen
Stellwagen, Daniel	- Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	1-0	110	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	0-1	71	C50	Giuoco Piano
Round 9 (August 30, 2009) Experience 2 Rising Stars 3
Nielsen, Peter Heine	- Nakamura, Hikaru	½-½	89	A88	Dutch Leningrad
Svidler, Peter	- Caruana, Fabiano	0-1	43	C80	Ruy Lopez Open
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	- Smeets, Jan	½-½	17	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Hou Yifan	1-0	53	E06	Catalan
Van Wely, Loek	- Stellwagen, Daniel	0-1	47	E97	King's Indian Classical
Round 10 (August 31, 2009) Experience 3.5 Rising Stars 1.5
Smeets, Jan	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	18	B84	Sicilian Scheveningen
Caruana, Fabiano	- Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	½-½	34	C11	French Defence
Stellwagen, Daniel	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	½-½	45	C41	Philidor's Defence
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Svidler, Peter	0-1	32	E60	King's Indian without Nc3
Hou Yifan	- Nielsen, Peter Heine	0-1	50	C53	Giuoco Piano

NH Chess Tournament Amsterdam (NED), 20-31 viii 2009 Final Round 10 Standings
Experience								27.5
1	Nielsen,PH	2680	|					6.5/10
2	Svidler,P	2739	|	|				6.0/10
3	Ljubojevic,L	2553	|	|	|			5.5/10
4	Beliavsky,A	2662	|	|	|	|		5.0/10
5	Van Wely,L	2655	|	|	|	|	|	4.5/10
Rising Stars								22.5
1	Smeets,J	2632	½0	½½	1½	11	½½	6.0/10
2	Caruana,F	2670	½½	½1	½½	½0	½½	5.0/10
3	Stellwagen,D	2630	0½	½½	01	0½	½1	4.5/10
4	Hou Yifan	2584	½0	0½	0½	10	½½	3.5/10
5	Nakamura,Hi	2710	½½	00	½0	10	½½	3.5/10

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