BRITBASE - British Chess Game Archive
Event: England-Netherlands Match • 12 games of a possible 22 • last edited:
Tuesday September 2, 2025 9:15 AM
Venue: Vlissingen • Date: 30 November - 1 December 1968 • Download PGN
Netherlands v England Match, Vlissingen, 30 November - 1 December 1968
| Bd | British Chess Federation | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1w | Raymond D Keene | 1-0 | 0-1 | Jan Hein Donner |
| 2b | William R Hartston | ½-½ | ½-½ | Hans Ree |
| 3w | Peter H Clarke | 0-1 | 0-1 | Kick Langeweg |
| 4b | Michael J Haygarth | 0-1 | ½-½ | Hans Bouwmeester |
| 5w | Andrew J Whiteley | 0-1 | ½-½ | Frans Kuijpers |
| 6b | John E Littlewood | 1-0 | 1-0 | Lod Prins |
| 7w | Adrian S Hollis | ½-½ | ½-½ | Theo van Scheltinga |
| 8b | Daniel Wright | 0-1 | 0-1 | Johan Teunis Barendregt |
| 9w | Norman Littlewood | 0-1 | 1-0 | Dick van Geet |
| 10b | Michael J Franklin | 0-1 | 1-0 | Jan Timman |
| 3-7 | 5-5 | |||
| Overall score | 8-12 | |||
| Dinah M Dobson | 0-1 | 0-1 | Corrie Vreeken | |
BCM, January 1969, ppn 8-10 - report by Peter H Clarke
The Royal Netherlands Chess Federation has recaptured "The Seven Provinces," the challenge trophy which it lost to the B.C.F. at Harrogate in December, 1967. The eleventh annual match in the new series was held at Vlissingen on November 30th and December 1st, 1968, and resulted in a victory for the hosts by 12-8.
Round 1 [30 November 1968]
We had a legitimate excuse for defeat in the fact that we did not reach Vlissingen until a few hours before play began; owing to fog at Rotterdam we could not take off from Southend Airport on the Friday evening and had to make a hurried dash to Harwich for the night boat. There were also two good reasons: first, our team was weakened by the absence of the British Champion [Jonathan Penrose] and three other members of the Lugano side; second, our opponents were at full strength and played up to form.
Most of the losses were heavy. The best that can be said is that Wright had some chances in a tight finish, Whiteley survived into the end-game, and I, having escaped from a bad position, would have drawn in the second session but for an incomprehensible error. While Hartston and Hollis played soundly and John Littlewood did all that was needed after being handed a piece on the 10th move, it was left to Keene to give the team a real boost. He took excellent advantage of some over-ambitious play by Donner and steadily reduced Black to helplessness.
Round 2 [1 December 1968]
This was a much better day for us, though one must remember, of course, that the
Netherlanders were more intent on conserving their overall advantage than winning the round. They were well satisfied to draw on Boards 4 and 7, where the Englishmen gained slight advantages from the opening; on Board 2 play came to a halt quickly in a blocked position, but Whiteley and Kuijpers conducted a stirring struggle far into the end-game. John Littlewood again struck an early blow. The enterprise with which Prins normally plays was excessive in this match, as the following game neatly demonstrates. [score of J Littlewood-Prins]
There was some hard, interesting chess played on Boards 1 and 3. Keene made a strong start, exploiting a faulty Rook move by White to seize the initiative. However, a weakening pawn advance on the Queen's side turned the tables, and thereafter Donner's grandmaster technique took over. It was the end of a remarkable run by Keene: 57 consecutive games without defeat. My game flared up when I embarked on a combination to liquidate White's pressure on the King's side. Analysis afterwards suggested it should have worked, but in trying to win a tempo I missed a fatal threat. We just deserved the extra point on the bottom three boards. Each game had its fluctuations: Dr. Barendregt outwitted Wright in tactical complications, while Norman Littlewood and Franklin struck back from difficult positions and brought off attractive finishes.
Miss Dinah Dobson could make no impression on her opponent. Perhaps that was not surprising; Mevr. Vreeken is a seasoned campaigner and has a consistently fine record against our senior women internationals in these matches. It was valuable experience for our Champion.
Conditions of play and the hospitality offered by the de Schelde Shipping Company were again of high quality. The English contingent, swelled to thirteen by the presence of non-playing captain P. S. Milner-Barry and "manager" G. H. Simmons, was housed, along with the Netherlanders, at the comfortable Strand Hotel. Drinks were free at all times, and in addition each player received the generous sum of 20 florins as pocket-money. When it comes to sponsorship and the financing of chess events and players we have a lot to learn from the Netherlands.
CHESS, Christmas 1968, Vol.34/569-70, ppn 86-87 - report by Andrew J Whiteley
This year's Anglo-Dutch match was played at Flushing, South Holland, 30th November and 1st December, once again generously sponsored by the Schelde Shipping Company. The Dutch convincingly regained the trophy they had lost at Harrogate last year.
At one time it looked doubtful whether the match would be played at all, as fog caused our flight to Rotterdam to be cancelled, and we were thinking of challenging Southend Chess Club to a match. However, our captain, P. S. Milner-Barry, managed to conjure up a coach to take us the 60 miles from Southend Airport to Harwich and we just caught the night boat thence to the Hook of Holland.
In round one first blood went to the English when Prins blundered away a piece to John Littlewood. Thereafter little went right. Norman Littlewood and Franklin fell victim to sharp attacks, while Clarke, Haygarth and I were ground down by superior technique. Wright was doing well at one stage but when the smoke cleared after a hectic time scramble he was a piece down. Our major consolation was that Keene demonstrated that he knows what to do with weak squares, even if defended by a grandmaster.
We thus started the second round trailing 7-3 Though we never looked like making up this deficit, we did manage to tie the round. Keene was unable to extend his run of 57 games without defeat, though he had the better of it at one stage. As in the
first round Hastston drew an unexciting game. Clarke always seemed in trouble against Langeweg. Haygarth drew quietly. After missing a promising continuation Kuypers had to defend accurately against me. John Littlewood chalked up his second point by skilful exploitation of Prins's rather dubious opening. Van Scheltinga again wriggled out of an inferior position against Hollis. This time Wright turned the tables on Barendregt in the time scramble, only to blunder shortly afterwards. Norman made it a double for the Littlewood clan. Franklin, with two minor pieces for rook and two pawns, managed to engineer mating threats in an ending in the last game of the match to finish.
Our Ladies' champion, Dinah Dobson, was unable to contain Mrs. Vreeken, who has a very fine record in these matches.
The English team lacked Penrose, Kottnauer, Lee and Basman. The latter has returned to his fatherland, Armenia, whence he threatens to emerge, bilingual, in about a year's time. The Dutch were almost at full strength; their team contained one grandmaster and eight international masters, the youthful Timman being the odd man out.
Openings played in 'stub' games:
| Round | Pairing | Opening |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2 | Ree ½-½ Hartston | Grünfeld |
| 1.3 | Clarke 0-1 Langeweg | Sicilian |
| 1.6 | Prins 0-1 J Littlewood | Vienna |
| 1.7 | Hollis ½-½ van Scheltinga | Nimzo-Indian |
| 2.2 | Hartston ½-½ Ree | Ruy Lopez |
| 2.4 | Haygarth ½-½ Bouwmeester | Queen's Indian |
| 2.5 | Kuijpers ½-½ Whiteley | Sicilian |
| 2.7 | van Scheltinga ½-½ Hollis | Grünfeld |
| 2.10 | Franklin 1-0 Timman | English |
| 2.11 | Vreeken 1-0 Dobson | French |
File Updated
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| 2 September 2025 | First uploaded to BritBase. 12 complete games and 10 stubs, plus crosstable, reports. |