Round 10
Wells vs. Speelman
Sokolov vs. Adams
Van Wely vs. Cherniaev
Smeets vs. Short
Werle vs. Wade
L'Ami vs. Timman

An exciting day with 4 decisive games! Adams crushed Speelman to lead with 7/9, but Sokolov, who mplays Adams today, kept on the pressure by blowing up Cherniaev's dubious opening. Timman won nicely against Werle's Petroff and Smeets had no difficulty dispatching Wade. Wells had the advantage against L'Ami as Black but was running out of time so he accepted the draw offer. Short-Van Wely looked good for White until Van Wely got queens off.

Werle,J (2591) - Wells,P (2526) [D39]

Round 10
Wells 1/2 Speelman
Sokolov 1/2 Adams
Van Wely 1-0 Cherniaev
Smeets 1-0 Short
Werle 1-0 Wade
L'Ami 1/2Timman

Final Round
Adams (7.5) vs. Van Wely (7)
Timman (6) vs. Wells (4.5)
Cherniaev (3.5) vs. Smeets (6)
Speelman (5) vs. Sokolov (5.5)
Short (5) vs. Werle (5)
Wade (0) vs. L'Ami (5)

The Dutch side almost obliterated the British fleet today. After a hectic but on-time start after a UK memory contest forgot to finish by noon, there were tree bloody defeats. Chernaiev tried a Dutch Defense against Van Wely to no avail, Werle took out Wade's Cambridge Springs, and Smeets destroyed Short in spectacular fashion. Adams almost fell to Sokolov despite Sokolov's refusal to move his king's bishop or rook for the entire game, but he managed a draw. Timman played adventurously in the opening against his fellow countryman L'Ami but split the point, as did Wells and Speelman.

This is nonsense. Adams conceded a trivial number of rating points, but succeeded in supporting a British tournament. Good for him - and Short!

The HSM may be a second-rate tournament by Wijk-aan-Zee standards, but it's one of very few international events in Britain these days. I've been critical of specific aspects of this year's HSM, mainly because I think the event has been diminished by them.

But I'm highly supportive of the event in principle. It's based on a nice idea (Anglo-Dutch competition); and it's been developing on the right lines until this year's false steps. Long may the HSM prosper; long may Adams & Short be invited.

Congratulations all round on a fascinating event. Personally I'd much rather see this kind of varied line-up than the same old unstoppable forces hitting immovable objects.

As for Bob Wade, obviously age is a huge factor. He was effectively GM strength in the late 60s, and was still rated near 2400 in the 70s. It's a sobering thought that here is a player who reached his peak before the introduction of the rating system.