Experience and Rising Stars Battle in Amsterdam

One of the more unique events held each year in chess, the NH Rising Stars vs. Experience Chess Tournament pits some of the best young players in the world against some wily veterans in a double round-robin team competition. Typically, the Rising Stars have the best of the action, as they tend to field a stronger team that is, if anything, underrated.

This year, big names are plentiful on both sides. The Rising Stars team is made up of Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Anish Giri, and David Howell, all of whom are veterans of major tournament play -- if not nearly as much so as their competition. For Team Experience, the organizers have brought in a very strong team, including Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler, Peter Heine Nielsen, Loek Van Wely and Ljubomir Ljubojevic. Overall, that's a ton of talent, with a lot of names that should bring exciting chess to the table.

As I said earlier, this tournament has traditionally been one that the youngsters have had the best off, and this year appears to be headed in the same direction, though their older competition is certainly putting up a good fight. The Rising Stars currently have a 11-9 lead after four rounds, with Nakamura, Fabiano and Giri leading the way with 2.5 points each. For Team Experience, Gelfand has been the star, picking up 2.5 points for his squad. With six rounds to go, the tournament could still go either way, and we'll have plenty of updates as this great event continues.