History of the IBIS Tournament

The Beginning

The tournament saw its first light in 1973 when a two-day competition was organised. Each individual played three matches of which at least one was against a visually impaired player. Whereas the first two tournaments had participants from The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, thereafter players from the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries and even some from Ireland joined the ranks.

Tournament Set Up

The general set up of the tournament hasn’t changed much over the years. On Friday evening there is a social event whereby players, their assistants and host families have an opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. On Saturday morning the tournament starts and players still will play three matches on Saturday morning and afternoon with a final match on Sunday morning.

During the 10th Tournament in 1983 an exhibition was held on the Saturday evening and as a result thereof the traditional Saturday evening social event was born. This party offers music and dance, which has been offered by Pro Musica, the music school from Haaksbergen, Ben Steneker and ‘All Music’, the latter two world famous local bands.

During the forth and fifth lustrum celebration gala dinners were held with over 100 participants.

Competition

Although individuals compete for the number one spot within their owner player pools since the fifth tournament there also is a cup for the most successful nation.

To put more emphasis on the friendship rather than the rivalry between nations the ‘Friendship Plaque’ was introduced in 1995 whereby 10 players were put together irrespective of their nationality and at random and together competed for this prize. Unfortunately, this prize had to be abandoned in 2006 as due to the pragmatic issue of participants not being able to play the full three matches score keeping became impossible.

IBIS Board & Organisation

The IBIS Board is made up of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and a Public Relations Officer. There are sub-teams that focus on the organisation of the actual chess competition and the management of the host families. After so many years there is a standard operating manual, which is being reviewed after each year’s tournament. Whenever a Board member is planned to retire from the board his or her successor will have a positive handover by ‘doubling up’ the year prior to retirement, this is to ensure continuity.

High & Lowlights

During the early eighties the subsidies the IBIS Tournament received from the Dutch national and provincial governments were withdrawn, which lead to serious financial distress.

Also, some of those supporting the IBIS Tournament organisation have passed away from us over the years; co-founder and ex-Chairman of the Board Herman Assink and Board members Herman Landman, Ilse van Heest-Fradrich, Jan Lippinkhof, Kees ten Bruggencate en Berti Steenkamp. Their contributions to the IBIS Tournaments have been invaluable.

Some of the highlights over the past decades are:
•    The opening of the first IBIS Tournament Lustrum in 1979 by mister Pieter van Vollenhoven (married to the Dutch Royal Family)
•    Mister Campomanis, Chairman of the International Chess Federation FIDE visiting the tournament
•    Foundation of the ‘Stichting IBIS’ and the ‘Stichting Vrienden van het IBIS’, two trusts that gave the IBIS Tournament a legal and financial basis in 1983, done by then Chairman Kees ten Bruggencate
•    Financial support of the Haaksbergen local government and some local sponsors to enable continuation of the events
•    Almost 30 years of support from the ‘Scholengemeenschap Het Assink’ by providing the venue of the tournament at no cost (as of 2007 the tournament takes place in ‘Theater De Kappen’, initial experiences have been very good, especially since the events now takes place on one floor)
•    Continuing support from the host families throughout the years
•    Mister Gerard Lap receiving a Royal Award out of the hands of mayor Van Agt
•    The 25 year celebration in 1999 with an exhibition, a special CD and VHS covering of the IBIS Tournament’s past.
•    Reception of a FIDE award in 2004