on the weekend 5th and 6th May, liberation day in the Netherlands,  sister city Dordrecht will visit Hastings and play a chess match against the Hastings & St.Leonards club. They will also enjoy the festival ‘Jack-in-the-Green’.

A chess match takes place Saturday 5th May start 13 hrs.

History goes back more then 60 years between Chessclub Dordrecht and Hastings & St. Leonards chess club. The champion of Dordrecht was invited yearly to play in the world famous tournament.

One of them is Leo Jansen, now at the age of almost 90. He has been one of the leading chess players from Dordrecht amongst his fellowplayers Pank Hoogendoorn and Henk van Donk. Mr. Jansen invented the now world famous chessopening called ‘The Black Lion’.

Later many chess players from Dordrecht came to Hastings, for instance mr. Jan Willem Versloot, secretary from Dordrecht and now also part of the team of Dordrecht, which consists of 21 members.

The last contacts were already from 22 years ago. The English chess friends from Dordrecht invited Dordrecht over to celebrate the  100th tournament in Hastings, held around the New Years Eve.

This year Dordrecht became 130 years old (founded in 1888) and decided to retain the contacts with Hastings again. This was gladly accepted by Hastings, resulting in the match to be played on 5th May in the beautiful building from chessclub Hastings & St.Lenonard.

Strongest player on Dordrecht’s side is International Master Mark Timmermans. He was also leader of the delegation from Dordrecht which visited their other sistercity Recklinghausen in 2014.

Chairman of Chessclub Dordrecht Arend van Grootheest is proud that the tradition is again re-established: “It’s a good thing that 21 players are willing to leave their home and sacrificy their weekend for the chessclub’’ meanwhile smiling with a wink to organisator Ton Slagboom from SCD.

In the fifties chess visits from Dordrecht to Hasting were mayor news, even on the frontpages in both countries!