BRITBASE - British Chess Game Archive
Event: Netherlands-Great Britain Match • 9 games, 1 part-game plus 12 stubs
Venue: Vlissingen • Date: 17-18 December 1966 • Download PGN • last edited:
Thursday October 2, 2025 6:59 PM
1966 Netherlands vs Great Britain, Vlissingen, 17-18 December
| Bd | Netherlands | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1b | Jan Hein Donner | 1-0 | ½-½ | Jonathan Penrose |
| 2w | Lodewijk Prins | 0-1 | 1-0 | Cenek Kottnauer |
| 3b | Christiaan Gerrit (Kick) Langeweg | 0-1 | 1-0 | William Roland Hartston |
| 4w | Frans Antonius Kuijpers | 1-0 | 1-0 | Norman Littlewood |
| 5b | Theo van Scheltinga |
½-½ | ½-½ | Michael John Haygarth |
| 6w | Johan Teunis Barendregt | ½-½ | 1-0 | Owen M Hindle |
| 7b | Hans Ree | ½-½ | ½-½ | Raymond Dennis Keene |
| 8w | Hendrik Jan (Henk) Bredewout | 0-1 | ½-½ | Adrian Swayne Hollis |
| 9b | Cornelis Mels (Cor) Jansen | 1-0 | 0-1 | Michael John Basman |
| 10w | Leo Kerkhoff | ½-½ | 0-1 | Andrew Jonathan Whiteley |
| 16-17 October 1965 | 5-5 | 6-4 | Round scores | |
| Vlissingen | 11-9 | Match score | ||
| Corry Vreeken | 1-0 | 1-0 | Elaine Pritchard | |
BCM, March 1967, ppn 67-69
The Anglo-Dutch Match
By R. D. KEENE
The 1966 annual match between England and Holland took place on December 17th to 18th, in the buildings of the De Schelde Shipping Company, in the small North Sea town of Vlissingen, under the auspices of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation, and the able personal direction of the experienced Netherlands controller H. G. Slavekoorde.
The English team was slightly weakened at the start by the absence of P. H. Clarke and P. N. Lee, but this was balanced out by the non-participation of the Dutch international masters Bouwmeester and Zuidema. In addition, at the beginning of the first round's play, Dutch officials were temporarily dismayed by the sudden defection of their ninth board, Scholl. With praiseworthy presence of mind they interrogated the small audience present, to discover whether there was a competent chess player amongst the spectators. Consequently, the local Club Champion, Jansen, was drafted into the Dutch team to do battle with Basman, who, incidentally, was rather fortunate to be there himself, since he had omitted the elementary precaution of bringing a passport with him when he left England.
England were unlucky not to have achieved more in the first round, since the eventual score was not totally justified by the run of the play. Penrose won a pawn at an early stage against Donner, but drifted into time-trouble and allowed his position to become weakened. The denouement came in the diagrammed position (after 29 . .Q—Q 1). Play continued: 30 R—B1,B—Kt4!; 31 P—B 4, B—B3; 32 R—B 3, Q—R 4; 33 Q-QB2, B—B 4; 34 Q—Kt 3, B—K 5; 35 B—Kt 2, R—Kt 3; 36 Q—R 3, and now the Dutch grandmaster concluded with a sharp combination: 36 RxKt!; 37 PxR, QxPI; 38 Bx B and White lost on time. His position is hopeless after 38 .... BxP ch; 39 K—Kt 2, Q—K7 ch.
To make matters worse Basman spiritedly declined a draw in a level position only to lose on time after a further two seconds play. While Whiteley, making his international debut for the English team, achieved an apparently overwhelming position with his favourite Dragon Sicilian, only to lose a piece in his opponent's time-trouble and be reduced to realizing a draw after 90 moves.
Littlewood resigned a hopeless ending after he had shed the exchange to a neat combination, but Kottnauer, Hartston, and Hollis all won incisively.
My game with Ree burst into flame after Black's 15th move— Q—Kt 1 (see diagram). Play went: 16 Q-R 3, QxP; 17 KtxQP!, BxKt; 18 B—B 3, but now Ree succeeded in extinguishing the conflagration with 18 ..., Q—Kt 2; 19 BxKt, B—K 5!; 20 Q—Kt 4, B—Kt 3 ; 21 B—R1, Q—B1 and the game ended in a draw after a further 20 moves.
In the ladies' match, Mrs. Pritchard invested a piece in the interests of promoting a King's-side attack, but in the end the extra material proved to be more significant than her pressure.
Round 2
A disastrous reversal of fortune for England. Our defeat was due to a certain listlessness which was characterized by the fact that of our four lost games three were with the white pieces!
Penrose did well to hold Donner, who played one of his own special variations, but failed to make any real impression. Kottnauer blundered early in the game and thereafter was never in with a chance. Hindle and Littlewood both obtained excellent positions but failed to play sufficiently actively. Haygarth, Hollis, and I were all satisfied with draws. The only ones to win for England were our last two boards, but whereas Whiteley played with tremendous energy and rapidly demolished the wretched Kerkhof, the other game was "distinguished" only by the criminal incompetence of both participants. Jansen rapidly established a completely overwhelming position and could have won a Rook, but chose instead to administer a check, which merely allowed Basman to recover lost ground and launch a devastating counter-attack. The latter, in compensation for his opponent's previous generosity then disdained a forced mate in three moves, but finally won by capturing all of White's pawns.
Mrs. Pritchard rapidly lost the exchange but offered stiff resistance before finally capitulating.
Here is the most interesting game of the round— [Langeweg - Hartston]
Although the English team lost by 11 points to 9 the result represented an improvement on last year, despite the fact that this time we were not playing on home ground. This comparative success was in no small measure due to Kottnauer's firm and efficient captaincy which rapidly clinched all of the traditional problems involved in competing abroad.
At the concluding banquet Dr. Penrose, on behalf of the English team, stressed the value of such matches in furthering the interests of international friendship and thanked the firm of De Schelde for their invaluable financial support.
It is unfortunate that such generous (and permanent) sponsors for chess cannot be found to the same extent in England.
File Updated
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| 13 July 2024 | First uploaded as a PGN file. |
| 2 October 2025 | Added a file with results and report. Also added the Keene ½-½ Ree game. 9 games, 1 part-game plus 12 stubs. |