THE WEEK IN CHESS 126 - 7th April 1997 by Mark Crowther

E-Mail          mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk
www             http://www.tcc.net/gmtchess.html
Tel or fax      01274 882143 [Bradford England]
Produced for Thoth Communications Corporation part 
of Grandmaster Technologies Incorporated.

1) Introduction
2) Dos Hermanas Tournament Spain
3) New York Open
4) The Rise or Fall of Chess by Silvio Danailov
5) The Staffordshire Centenary Chess Tournament
6) Leinster Chess Union Tournament
7) First Saturday Tournament April
8) Golden Cleopatra-Cairo-Egypt
9) Perenyi Bela Memorial Gyula
10) 70th Congress Baden/GER by Gerald Schendel
11) Passau 1997 by Philipp Schlosser
12) Nelson Navarro Memorial by Pablo Rodriguez
13) Danish Championships
14) Upcoming events
15) PCA WORLD CHESS RANKING April 1st
16) Theoretical Corner by Marco R. Martini (ITA)Games Section

Games Section

It, Dos Hermanas ESP 1997                  25
ch-DEN, Esbjerg 1997                        5
NY Open, New York USA 1997                 96
Bela mem, Gyula HUN 1997                   78
Navarro mem, Santiago CHI 1997             45
Staffordshire Centenary, Walsall ENG 1997  45
open, Passau GER 1997                      21
GM A, Cairo EGY 1997                       48
GM B, Cairo EGY 1997                       48
FS March IM A, Budapest HUN 1997           66
FS March IM B, Budapest HUN 1997           66

1) Introduction

My thanks to John Henderson, Lars Zwisler, Michael Atkins, Marco R. Martini, John Hurley, Sam Sloan, Eric Schiller, Gerald Schendel, Laszlo Lovass, Laszlo Nagy, Istvan Almasi, Angel Martin, Silvio Danailov, Philipp Schlosser, Pablo Rodriguez and all others who helped with this issue.

The top event this week was the Dos Hermanas. One of the characteristics modern events is their short duration. No sooner have the players got settled than they're off again to another event. Nine rounds is the standard but it hardly encourages bold chess. Kramnik took the headlines with his win against Karpov but even more impressive was his heavyweight endgame win against Illescas. Tomorrow with suitable belligerence there should be an exciting round 6 from the event.

This issue has an interesting article by Topalov's second Silvio Danailov. I don't necessarily agree but its very interesting.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) Dos Hermanas Tournament Spain

The Category 19 Dos Hermanas tournament in Spain got underway on Tuesday 1st April 1997. After five rounds the lead is shared by three players. Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand and Judit Polgar. Perhaps one of the key moments of the event occurred in the first round. Vladimir Kramnik was the exchange up for a pawn just out of the opening in his game against Viswanathan Anand. He failed to convert this advantage, and the game ended in a draw. Kramnik has played two of the most interesting games in the event. His demolition of Anatoly Karpov in the third round was aesthetically pleasing. Even more attractive was his complex win against Illescas in round 5. He was clearly better in the ending but the complex play required great skill. The game will be one that requires extensive analysis. Here are some early notes from IM Luis Santos.

Kramnik,V (2740) - Illescas Cordoba,M (2635) [A17]

It Dos Hermanas ESP (05), 1997

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 b6 7.g3 Bb7 8.Bg2 c5 9.b4 d6 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Bb2 Qe7 12.d3 Rfc8 13.b5 a6 14.a4 axb5 15.axb5 Qf8 16.e4 Rxa1 17.Rxa1 Ra8 18.Qc1 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Qa8 20.Qxa8+ Bxa8 21.Nd2 Ne8 22.Nb1 Bb7 23.f4 f6 24.Nc3 Kf7 25.Na4 Ke7 26.d4 Kd8 27.d5 exd5 28.exd5 Nc7 29.Bh3 Na8 30.Be6! Nf8 31.f5! Bc8 32.Kf2 Bd7 33.g4! Fixing f6 for later attack 33...Ke7 34.g5 Nxe6! 35.fxe6 Be8 36.gxf6+ gxf6 37.Ke3 Bg6 38.Kd2! Controlling d3 and protecting c4 freeing his pieces for manoevre. 38...Be4 39.Bc1 Bg2 40.Kc3 Bf1 41.Bh6 Bg2 42.Bf4 Bf1 43.Nb2! White has to move the knight to make progress. This frees black's knight too. 43...Nc7 44.Nd1 Bg2 45.Ne3 Be4 46.Bh6 Ne8 47.Kd2! Nc7 [47...f5? 48.Bg5+ Nf6 (48...Kf8 49.Bd8) 49.Ke2] 48.Ke2 Ne8 49.Kf2 Nc7 50.Kg3 Bd3 51.Kg4! Obliging black to move his bishop from d3. 51...Ne8 52.Kf4 Bb1! 53.Nf5+! Finally Kramnik makes his winning attempt 53...Kd8 [53...Bxf5 54.Kxf5 Kd8 (54...Nc7 55.Bg7 Ne8 56.Bh8) 55.Bf8] 54.Bf8 Bd3 55.Be7+! Further infiltrating Black's position. 55...Kc7 56.Ne3 Kc8 57.Kg4 Kc7 58.Kh5 Ng7+ 59.Kh6 Ne8 60.h4! Kc8 61.h5 Kc7 Another key position. How does white progress? 62.Ng2! Kc8! [62...Bxc4 63.Nf4 Bxb5 64.Kxh7 Ba4 65.h6 Bc2+ 66.Kg8 b5 (66...Kc8 67.Kf7 Nc7 68.Ng6 Nxd5 69.h7 Bxg6+ 70.Kxg6 Nxe7+ 71.Kf7) 67.Kf7 b4 68.Kxe8 c4 69.Bxf6] 63.Nf4 Bc2 Black is defending tenaciously. Again how does white make progress? 64.Bxf6! Nxf6! [64...Be4 65.Be7 Bf5 66.Kg5 winning: for example 66...Be4 67.h6 Bc2 68.Nh5 Bd3 69.Ng7! Nc7 (69...Bg6 70.Nxe8 Bxe8 71.Bxd6 Bg6 72.Be7 Bd3 73.d6) 70.Bxd6 Bxc4 71.Bxc7 Kxc7 72.e7 Bxb5 73.e8Q Bxe8 74.Nxe8+ Kd7 75.Nf6+ Ke7 (75...Kd6 76.Nxh7 c4 77.Nf6) 76.Ne4 c4 77.Kf5 b5 78.Ke5 b4 79.d6+ Kd8 80.Ke6 c3 81.Nc5 c2 82.Nb3 Ke8 83.d7+! Kd8 84.Kd6 c1Q 85.Nxc1 b3 86.Nd3 (86.Nxb3?? is stalemate) 86...b2 87.Nc5 b1Q 88.Ne6#] 65.Kg7 Ne8+ 66.Kf7 Nc7! [66...Kd8 67.e7+! Kd7 68.Ne6 Bd1 69.Nf8+ Kc8 70.h6 Bh5+ 71.Kg8 A) 71...Nf6+ 72.Kh8! With the idea of Nxh7 eg 72...Be2 (72...Be8 73.Nxh7 Ng4! 74.Kg7 Nxh6 75.Kxh6 Kd7 76.Nf6+ Kxe7 77.Nxe8 Kxe8 78.Kg6 Ke7 79.Kg7) 73.Nxh7 Ne8 74.Nf6!! Nxf6 75.Kg7 Ne8+ 76.Kf8+-; B) 71...Kc7 72.Nxh7 (72.Kxh7? Bf7=) 72...Kd7 73.Kf8+-] 67.e7 h6? [67...Kd7 68.Ne6 Bd1 69.Nf8+ Kc8 70.h6+-; 67...Bb3 68.Ne6 Bd1 69.h6 Bh5+ 70.Kf8+-; 67...Bd1!] 68.Ne6 Bd1 69.Kg6 Ne8 70.Nf8 Be2 71.Kxh6 Bxc4 72.Kg6 Bxd5 73.h6 c4 [73...Bg8 74.h7 Bxh7+ 75.Nxh7 c4 (75...Nc7 76.Nf6) 76.Nf6 Nc7 77.Nd5 Ne8 78.Kf7] 74.h7 Be4+ 75.Kf7 Bxh7 76.Kxe8 Bg8 77.Nd7 c3 3:20-3:30 White wins on time. But he is winning after 78. Kf8 1-0

Anand is in the lead too. Apart from his vastly inferior ending in game one he hasn't looked in trouble. Judit Polgar started with three draws before beating Illescas and Short. She has yet to meet either Kramnik or Anand. Gelfand is just half a point off the pace. Those tied on 50% Salov, Karpov and Topalov will all entertain hopes of improvement. Karpov won rather easily against Shirov but still looks well short of his best. Topalov's loss to Salov was a surprise the game looked drawn, possibly both players wanted to win. Karpov-Anand and Polgar-Kramnik could answer a lot of questions about the eventual winner of the event.

Round 1 (1997.04.01)

Kramnik, Vladimir         -  Anand, Viswanathan        1/2   41  D39  Queen's gambit
Polgar, Judit             -  Salov, Valery             1/2   52  B65  Sicilian
Gelfand, Boris            -  Short, Nigel D            1-0   37  E41  Nimzo indian
Shirov, Alexei            -  Topalov, Veselin          1/2   41  C02  French; Advance
Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Karpov, Anatoly           1/2   49  B17  Caro-Kann

Round 2 (1997.04.02)

Anand, Viswanathan        -  Shirov, Alexei            1-0   35  D15  Slav defence
Gelfand, Boris            -  Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  1/2   32  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Salov, Valery             -  Kramnik, Vladimir         1/2   25  A07  Reti (1.Nf3)
Karpov, Anatoly           -  Polgar, Judit             1/2   60  E05  Nimzo indian
Short, Nigel D            -  Topalov, Veselin          0-1   65  B23  Sicilian; Closed

Round 3 (1997.04.04)

Kramnik, Vladimir         -  Karpov, Anatoly           1-0   35  A17  English; 1.c4
Polgar, Judit             -  Gelfand, Boris            1/2   29  B93  Sicilian; Najdorf
Topalov, Veselin          -  Anand, Viswanathan        1/2   26  D17  Slav defence
Shirov, Alexei            -  Salov, Valery             1/2   40  B81  Sicilian
Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Short, Nigel D            0-1   35  C66  Ruy Lopez

Round 4 (1997.04.05)

Gelfand, Boris            -  Kramnik, Vladimir         1/2   17  D46  Semi-Slav
Salov, Valery             -  Topalov, Veselin          1-0   91  B07  Pirc
Karpov, Anatoly           -  Shirov, Alexei            1-0   32  E63  Kings indian
Short, Nigel D            -  Anand, Viswanathan        1/2   48  B66  Sicilian
Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Polgar, Judit             0-1   32  B88  Sicilian

Round 5 (1997.04.06)

Kramnik, Vladimir         -  Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  1-0   77  A17  English; 1.c4
Anand, Viswanathan        -  Salov, Valery             1-0   42  B89  Sicilian
Polgar, Judit             -  Short, Nigel D            1-0   66  C18  French; Winawer
Topalov, Veselin          -  Karpov, Anatoly           1/2   35  B17  Caro-Kann
Shirov, Alexei            -  Gelfand, Boris            1/2   45  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf


Dos Hermanas ESP (ESP), IV 1997                         cat. XIX (2702)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kramnik, Vladimir         g RUS 2740  * = . = = . 1 . . 1  3.5  2854
 2 Anand, Viswanathan        g IND 2765  = * . . 1 = . 1 = .  3.5  2851
 3 Polgar, Judit             g HUN 2645  . . * = = . = . 1 1  3.5  2839
 4 Gelfand, Boris            g BLR 2700  = . = * . . . = 1 =  3.0  2752
 5 Salov, Valery             g RUS 2665  = 0 = . * 1 . = . .  2.5  2713
 6 Topalov, Veselin          g BUL 2725  . = . . 0 * = = 1 .  2.5  2714
 7 Karpov, Anatoly           g RUS 2760  0 . = . . = * 1 . =  2.5  2687
 8 Shirov, Alexei            g ESP 2690  . 0 . = = = 0 * . .  1.5  2574
 9 Short, Nigel D            g ENG 2690  . = 0 0 . 0 . . * 1  1.5  2545
10 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  g ESP 2635  0 . 0 = . . = . 0 *  1.0  2467
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

3) New York Open

The New York Open started on April 2nd-6th with 51 Grandmasters entered. The event was probably a useful reminder of how tough the average professional can find it to make a living. The field had a smattering of former World Championship candidates and well-known players, many going home with very little for their efforts. The winners scored an exceptional 8/9. Mikhail Krasenkow has had a number of impressive results over the years and has frequently impressed me as a player. He shared first with Victor Bologan another seasoned player of the open chess circuit.

Krasenkow emerged undefeated. He beat amongst others Tony Miles, Victor Bologan, Alexsei Aleksandrov and in the final round Alexander Morozevich. He drew with Loek Van Wely and Vadim Zvjaginsev.

Bologan won eight games losing just to Krasenkow. He beat Yermolinsky, Granda Zuniga, Vadim Milov and Vadim Zvjaginsev.

Quite a number of players went undefeated until the final rounds but too many draws was a problem when the winners were scoring so heavily. My thanks to Michael Atkins and the The New York Open website for information. Sam Sloan has added some interesting information.

NINE-YEAR-OLD WINS $8,000 in NEW YORK OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP by Sam Sloan

NEW YORK - April 7 - Adam Maltese, aged 9, has won the eight thousand dollars first prize for players rated under 1800 at the New York Open Chess Championship.

Adam lost his first round game, but then won his remaining 8 games in a row to take clear first. All of his opponents were adults.

In the first round, Adam lost to Gustavo Franco (1793). Adam then defeated Rockford Riviere (1747), Li Zhang (1625), Peter Maiwald (1654), Leonid Goltser (1788), Jeff Magid (1777), Haylin Svan Lim (1655), Frank Paciulli (1793) and Richard Knauss (1784).

Adam generally got a bad game out of the opening and early part of the game. However, he then battled back and won through extremely accurate play in the endgame.

Adam is coached by Taghian M. Taghian, the Manager of the Manhattan Chess Club.

The top boards in the Open Section featured previously unknown young men from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union battling for the big prize money. Almost all of the pre-tournament favorites and those expected to do well bombed out. In the final round, on board one, Krasenkow of Poland defeated Morozevic of Russia. On board two, Zvjaginsev of Russia lost to Bologan of Moldova. As a result, Krasenkow tied with Bologan for the top two prizes and each won nine thousand dollars.

Bologan lost to Krasenkow in round 4, but then won all of his remaining games, defeating Yermolinsky, Granda, Milov and Zvjaginsev in the final four rounds.

The most talked about game in the tournament was the hotly disputed last round game between Nati Ribshtein of Israel and Emory Tate of the USA. Tate had 18 seconds left on his clock and sudden death time controls applied. With no chance of making the time limit, Tate stopped the clock and invoked the "no winning chances" rule, a little known and little understood fairly new USCF rule. His opponent, who spoke no English, did not understand. The arbiters accepted Tate's claim. Under the rule, Tate was required to take half of his time off the clock, which would leave him with only 9 seconds for the remainder of the game, but he would get 5 seconds added for every move that he played. However, Tate became abusive about this and, after being warned three times by Chief Arbiter Carol Jarecki to stop his abusive behaviour, Tate was forfeited by Assistant Arbiter Vincent Moore.

This controversial ruling was still being debated late into the night and perhaps will be debated for years to come.

The New York Open this year had 57 grandmasters and was undoubtedly the strongest Swiss System chess event ever held in America. The main factor contributing to the great strength of the tournament was the generous offer by tournament organizer Jose Cuchi of free airline tickets and hotel rooms to any grandmaster rated over 2600, plus the total prize fund of $140,000.

Tonight, Monday, April 7, will be held the New York City Blitz Championship at the Marshall Chess Club. In the past, this has been the strongest blitz chess event in America. It will likely be tremendously strong this year as well, coming directly after the New York Open, with so many strong players from all over the world now in New York for the New York Open.

Final Standings

 10 KRASENKOW, MICHAL          2000A 2615  OPEN                8.0   1
 26 BOLOGAN, VICTOR            2629  2575  OPEN                8.0   2
  7 OLL, LEMBIT                2758  2625  OPEN                7.0   3
 23 GUREVICH, DMITRY           2635  2580  OPEN                7.0   4
 25 ONISCHUK, ALEXANDER        2623  2580  OPEN                7.0   5
 35 IBRAGIMOV, ILDAR           2646  2555  OPEN                7.0   6
  2 ROZENTALIS, EDUARD         2676  2650  OPEN                6.5   7
  3 VAN WELY, LOEK             2699  2645  OPEN                6.5   8
  9 ALEKSANDROV, ALEKSEJ       2000A 2615  OPEN                6.5   9
 14 ZVJAGINSEV, VADIM                2610  OPEN                6.5  10
 17 ALTERMAN, BORIS                  2595  OPEN                6.5  11
 19 MOROZEVICH, ALEXANDER            2595  OPEN                6.5  12
 20 KAIDANOV, GRIGORY          2689  2590  OPEN                6.5  13
 21 HJARTARSON, JOHANN         2597  2585  OPEN                6.5  14
 22 VAGANIAN, RAFAEL           2705  2585  OPEN                6.5  15
 24 MOROVIC-FERNANDEZ, IVAN    2581  2580  OPEN                6.5  16
 28 SMIRIN, ILYA               2655  2575  OPEN                6.5  17
 32 CHRISTIANSEN, LARRY        2624  2560  OPEN                6.5  18
 33 ATALIK, SUAT               2598  2555  OPEN                6.5  19
 39 DIZDAR, GORAN                    2550  OPEN                6.5  20
 62 ASHLEY, MAURICE            2528  2465  OPEN                6.5  21
  1 AZMAIPARASHVILI, Z         2660  2650  OPEN                6.0  22
  4 CHERNIN, ALEXANDER         2648  2635  OPEN                6.0  23
 11 SOKOLOV, IVAN              2680  2615  OPEN                6.0  24
 12 MILOV, VADIM               2000A 2610  OPEN                6.0  25
 13 PSAKHIS, LEV               2607  2610  OPEN                6.0  26
 15 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR          2644  2600  OPEN                6.0  27
 16 IVANOV, ALEXANDER          2666  2600  OPEN                6.0  28
 18 GULKO, BORIS               2684  2595  OPEN                6.0  29
 29 WOLFF, PATRICK             2669  2575  OPEN                6.0  30
 30 LOBRON, ERIC               2659  2570  OPEN                6.0  31
 31 BABURIN, ALEXANDER               2560  OPEN                6.0  32
 34 BENJAMIN, JOEL             2638  2555  OPEN                6.0  33
 37 SHABALOV, ALEXANDER        2640  2555  OPEN                6.0  34
 40 MILES, ANTHONY             2669  2550  OPEN                6.0  35
 43 BLATNY, PAVEL              2604  2540  OPEN                6.0  36
 44 DLUGY, MAX                 2592  2530  OPEN                6.0  37
 45 FISHBEIN, ALEXANDER        2602  2525  OPEN                6.0  38
 51 KUDRIN, SERGEY             2612  2515  OPEN                6.0  39
 57 SEVILLANO, ENRICO          2580  2490  OPEN                6.0  40
 58 GARCIA, GILDARDO           2578  2485  OPEN                6.0  41
 73 LIMA, DARCY                2521  2420  OPEN                6.0  42
 78 SHLIPERMAN, IGOR           2481  2395  OPEN                6.0  43
 81 KALIKSHTEYN, ALEXANDER     2424  2395  OPEN                6.0  44
 90 DOROBANOV, SVETOSLAV       2302  2365  OPEN                6.0  45
 92 PALOS, OSMAN               2418  2365  OPEN                6.0  46
  5 EHLVEST, JAAN              2695  2635  OPEN                5.5  47
  8 GRANDA-ZUNIGA, JUL         2584  2620  OPEN                5.5  48
 27 DE FIRMIAN, NICK           2638  2575  OPEN                5.5  49
 38 STEFANSSON, HANNES         2560  2555  OPEN                5.5  50
 41 SAGALCHIK, GENNADY         2588  2550  OPEN                5.5  51
 47 PUSHKOV, NICOLAI                 2525  OPEN                5.5  52
 48 SOKOLIN, LEONID M.         2598  2520  OPEN                5.5  53
 50 KREIMAN, BORIS             2604  2515  OPEN                5.5  54
 53 VERA, REYNALDO                   2510  OPEN                5.5  55
 54 OLAFSSON, HELGI            2551  2500  OPEN                5.5  56
 55 THORHALLSSON, THROSTUR     2571  2500  OPEN                5.5  57
 56 VESCOVI, GIOVANNI          2487  2490  OPEN                5.5  58
 59 WEDBERG, TOM               2558  2480  OPEN                5.5  59
 64 DAVID, ALBERTO                   2455  OPEN                5.5  60
 65 SHAKED, TAL                2519  2445  OPEN                5.5  61
 66 HENLEY, RONALD W           2523  2440  OPEN                5.5  62
 68 BURNETT, RONALD WA.        2465  2435  OPEN                5.5  63
 82 SITURU, NATHANAEL          2469  2390  OPEN                5.5  64
 88 SUAREZ, DIEGO                    2375  OPEN                5.5  65
 94 PERELSHTEYN, EUGENE        2468  2360  OPEN                5.5  66
 95 RESENDE, ANTONIO C.              2360  OPEN                5.5  67
 96 ALZATE, DARIO              2461  2360  OPEN                5.5  68
 98 VULICEVIC, NENAD           2424  2350  OPEN                5.5  69
115 FILATOV, LEONID            2425  2320  OPEN                5.5  70
123 LARSEN, STEEN SKOV         2406  2305  OPEN                5.5  71
135 RIBSHTEIN, NATI                  2290  OPEN                5.5  72
136 PASCHALL, WILLIAM          2419  2285  OPEN                5.5  73
147 IPPOLITO, DEAN             2419  2280  OPEN                5.5  74
148 MORRIS, MATTHEW            2275  2280  OPEN                5.5  75
149 IBAR, MARCELO RODOLFO            2275  OPEN                5.5  76
191 FURDZIK, RAFAEL            2188  2220  OPEN                5.5  77
  6 YERMOLINSKY, ALEX          2698  2630  OPEN                5.0  78
 36 KHARLOV, ANDREI            2641  2555  OPEN                5.0  79
 60 MITKOV, NIKOLA                   2475  OPEN                5.0  80
 67 WAITZKIN, JOSH             2488  2440  OPEN                5.0  81
 76 KAUFMAN, LAWRENCE          2490  2405  OPEN                5.0  82
 83 KARPATCHEV, ALEXSANDR            2390  OPEN                5.0  83
 87 KELLEHER, WILLIAM          2433  2380  OPEN                5.0  84
 89 BONIN, JAY                 2447  2370  OPEN                5.0  85
 93 ZLOTNIKOV, MIKHAIL         2423  2360  OPEN                5.0  86
 97 MAC INTYRE, PAUL           2356        OPEN                5.0  87
101 KLINOVA, MASHA                   2340  OPEN                5.0  88
105 KARKLINS, ANDREW           2417  2335  OPEN                5.0  89
112 PERDOMO, CARLOS ANDRES           2330  OPEN                5.0  90
113 FRIEDMAN, AVIV             2445  2325  OPEN                5.0  91
116 LAPSHUN, YURIJ             2434  2320  OPEN                5.0  92
120 POPOVYCH, OREST            2316  2315  OPEN                5.0  93
130 NOGUEIRA, IVAN K.                2295  OPEN                5.0  94
132 ZAREMBA, ANDRIE            2292        OPEN                5.0  95
133 CHOW, ALBERT C.            2396  2290  OPEN                5.0  96
137 YOUNG, RONALD M.           2391  2285  OPEN                5.0  97
138 RODRIGUEZ, ROBERTO         2364  2285  OPEN                5.0  98
146 CASELLA, MICHAEL           2371  2280  OPEN                5.0  99
150 DOLGITSER, KONSTAN         2353  2270  OPEN                5.0 100
157 XANTHOS, CONSTANTIN        2202  2255  OPEN                5.0 101
176 SCHNEIDER, DMITRY          2106  2240  OPEN                5.0 102
180 SIEGEL, NOAH J             2278  2235  OPEN                5.0 103
197 GRECHIKHIN, VLADIM         2213        OPEN                5.0 104
202 COOKE, ERIC N.             2328  2205  OPEN                5.0 105
223 DE OLIVEIRA, PAULO         2157  2165  OPEN                5.0 106
 52 FEDOROWICZ, JOHN           2604  2510  OPEN                4.5 107

 61 ASHLEY, MAURICE            2528  2465  OPEN                2.5 223

 46 KAVALEK, LUBOMIR           2562  2525  OPEN                1.5 246
 77 BISGUIER, ARTHUR           2373  2395  OPEN                1.5 247
 85 SHAMKOVICH, LEONID         2404  2385  OPEN                1.5 248

4) The Rise or Fall of Chess by Silvio Danailov

An Article sent by Angel Martin from Topalov's second Silvio Danailov.

Not long ago, at a well-known elite tournament, when in the first hours of play a lot of the games had finished in draws, I was approached by a great chess fan, a doctor who had come from a distant part of Spain especially to enjoy a weekend of good chess, who asked me, somewhat disappointed, " How is it possible for some of the best chess players in the world to produce games which are so boring, with no brilliant combinations?" I answered that the games, from a technical point of view, were of good quality and that the players had simply played solid openings, with correct moves by both parties, but without risking themselves, which logically ended in draws.

However, this fan's question presupposed a degree of attention which led me to reflect upon the current state of chess. Hence I arrived at two basic conclusions:

1: Chess is a minority sport that can't afford to and mustn't lose its audiences, something which is already happening.

2: If this is happening - and whilst it may be what people think - it's not the fault of the players, who are really just victims of, on the one hand a scoring system that doesn't adequately reward their strife for victory, and on the other hand,obsolete tie-break systems.

Over the years there have been quite a few attempts to attack the " Famous GrandMasters draws", like the 30 move FIDE rule (no draws before 30 moves) or Luis Rentero's fines in the Linares tournament.

These initiatives, which haven't been very successful, have been the only attempts to introduce any modification to the most conservative of all sports.

It's evident that chess, in the same way that has been done in football, basketball, volleyball, and so on, needs a facelift with a view to selling itself better and to attract a wider audience.

With this aim, the PCA took the first step with its idea, in my opinion correct, of organizing semi-rapid tournaments. But I think it is also important to revitalise and give a new spirit to the classic old tournaments of our art-science (both closed and open) to make them more combative in nature, and therefore more spectacular and attractive.

My proposal consists of modifying the scoring system for the games, awarding more for, and therefore, encouraging the win.

The method for adjudicating the points would be as follows:

Win: 3 Points

Draw with White: 1 Point

Draw with Black: 1.5 Points

Defeat: 0 Points

My reasons are:

1: Two draws (one with white and one with black) logically don't amount to a win.

2: I give 1.5 points to a draw with black, because the statistics demonstrate clearly that in any tournament the white pieces win much more games than the black pieces, which proves that they have a considerable advantage.

I still remember Novgorod-96 (Cat.XIX) where the ratio of wins was favourable to white by 15 to 1!

3: When the player with the white pieces has an ELO much lower than his opponent's, in many cases, and quite logically, he plays for a draw because not only is he satisfied with the result, but because he wins 2 or 3 ELO points in one game. We have frequently heard some masters complain: " What can I do with black if white plays so solidly?".

Using my system, the white pieces wouldn't be able to play for a draw because not only would they not win ELO, but they would lose half a point with respect to their rival, whereas with a win they would get 3 points.

It's reasonable to assume therefore that the game would be more open and more interesting for the fans.

4: With this formula it is extremely difficult for two players to tie with the same points ( they would have to achieve practically the same results), which would render unnecessary going to the traditional tie-break methods, which are always conflictive, and prejudicial to some players.

I am going to give some examples:

In Linares 97, before the final round, Kasparov and Kramnik had the same points and had to play each other in the last game. In the case of a draw, Kramnik would have won the tournament because he had achieved a weaker result against the last player classified. I think it absurd that the victory should be decided like this in a tournament of such a category.

In Dos Hermanas 96 - the first Category XIX tournament - Kramnik and Topalov tied for first position with 6/9; the Berger system gave the victory to Kramnik but Topalov had played black in 5 games and white in 4, and Kramnik the other way round, which, at this level, is very important.

Again we saw a dubious tie-break system.

The basic principle of the new scoring system is that the player who has risked most, and so won more games, should always have an advantage over the rest, which will clearly encourage desire for victory, thus enhancing any tournament.

Let's suppose a tournament of 9 games in which between two of the players, one of them wins three games and draws six; the other player wins six games and loses three. With the current scoring system both players would tie on six points. With the new method, the first player would achieve 17,5 points in the best of the cases (playing black in 5 of the 6 draws), and the second player would win with 18 points because he had had to struggle more, had taken more risks, had secured more wins, and effectively had offered more entertainment.

          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  Total
Player A  1  1  1  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½   6
Player B  1  1  1  1  1  1  0  0  0   6

          1w 2w 3w 4w 5b 6b 7b 8b 9b Total
Player A  3  3  3  1  1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½  17½
Player B  3  3  3  3  3  3  0  0  0   18

So, I am convinced that the idea will satisfy players, better rewarded for their efforts for victory, and spectators, since the tournament will gain in tension and excitement.

For instance, even in cases where a player, with a round left, is leading with 2.5 points of advantage over the second classified, he might not win the tournament if he loses his last game and the second classified wins his.

I think that if the majority of we chess lovers want our sport to compete with other professional sports, we must be very clear about the need to improve player incentives, in order that they offer more entertainment, and so attract a wider audience.

It's clear that with this system it will be necessary to modify the method of calculating the ELO in tournaments, but I'll leave this to the mathematicians.

I am also conscious that this approach isn't perfect, and that it will invite both favourable and not so favourable opinions, but if it's able to generate an open debate I will be satisfied, because in my opinion that is the cornerstone of progress.

Signed: Silvio Danailov

Angel Martin amartin@filnet.es

5) The Staffordshire Centenary Chess Tournament

Information from John Henderson of Channel Four Teletext.

After five rounds the Grandmaster team "A", led by Croatian GM Bogdan Lalic has a two point led over the IM team "B" led by IM Ketevan Arakhamia from Georgia, now resident in Edinburgh.

Arakhamia, who is on 4/5 needs to score 7/9 for her second GM norm. Ireland's Mark Quinn needs to score 2/4 for an IM norm.

TEAM A: Bogdan Lalic 4/5, Keith Arkell 3, Paul Motwani 3.5, Brian Kelly 3,
Lawrence Cooper 1.5, John Richardson 0.5, Mark Quinn 4, Harriet Hunt 1, Lee
Grinsell 1. Total 23.5

TEAM B: Ketevan Arakhamia 4/5, Jonathan Rowson 3.5, Angus Dunnington 3.5,
Robert Bellin 2.5, Ervin Sandik 3.5, Graeme Buckley 2, Jonathan Grant 2,
David Anderton 0.5, Jana Bellin 2. Total 21.5.	

6) Leinster Chess Union Tournament

The Leinster Chess Union ran the Leinster International Masters at the Teachers Club, Dublin March 25-31. John Hurley sends news of the final results. Games will follow.

TOURNAMENT REPORT

EVENT NAME: Leinster International Masters
CITY: Dublin	FEDERATION: Irish Chess Union (ICU)
START: 25th March 1997	FINISH: 31st March 1997

Leinster International Masters, (IRL), (Cat. IV) March 1997
---------------------------------------------------------------
Seed				     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
---------------------------------------------------------------
2 McDonald, Neil         g ENG 2495  1 * 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 0   7.5
1 Summerscale, Aaron     m ENG 2500  * 0 = 1 1 = = 1 1 1   6.5
3 Lehtivaara, Petri      f FIN 2365  = 0 * = = 1 = = 1 1   5.5
7 Etchegaray, Patrice    m FRA 2275  = 0 = = 1 1 * 1 0 1   5.5 
10 Gillen, Adrian          IRL 2230  0 1 0 1 1 = 0 0 1 *   4.5
4 Brady, Stephen         f IRL 2325  0 = = * 1 = = = 1 0   4.5
8 O'Cinneide, Mel          IRL 2255  0 0 = = 1 1 0 * 0 1    4
9 Ryan, Joe         	   IRL 2245  0 0 0 0 1 = 1 1 * 0   3.5 
6 Gillen, Stephen          IRL 2290  = 0 0 = 0 * 0 0 = =    2
5 Daly, Colm               IRL 2310  0 0 = 0 * 1 0 0 0 0   1.5

---------------------------------------------------------------

Time limit: 40 moves in 2 hours; then 20 moves in 1 hour 
followed by 30 minutes each for the remainder of the game. EXCEPT
rounds 4 through 7 where time limit was 40 moves in 2 hours followed by
one hour each for the remainder of the moves.

Average rating: 2329 category IV.
6/9 required for GM norm. 

7) First Saturday Tournament April

Laszlo Nagy sends news of the April First Saturday tournaments. He sends the games from the March First Saturday events.

FIRST SATURDAY 1997 April A Category 7. Average 2409, 
GM norm 8,5, IM-norm 6,5 points last day 16th of April

Ergebnisse zur Runde  1  am  5. 4.1997

  1  STOCEK, Jiri         - AGREST, Evgeny           1/2     
  2  OOI, Chern Ee        - KAHN, Evarth         postponed        
  3  ACS, Peter           - VADASZ, Laszlo           1:0 
  4  CSOM, Istvan         - LUKACS, Peter            1/2
  5  CAO, Sang            - LENGYEL, Bela            1:0 
  6  TRANG, Th.Hoang      - ALMASI, Istvan           1/2

FIRST SATURDAY 1997 April B-tournament Category 1. Average 2252
IM-norm 7 points, last day 14th of April

Round 1 4th April.

  1  FARAGO, Sandor       - GRABICS, Monika          1:0 
  2  CZEBE, Attila        - KISS, Gedeon         postponed              
  3  GUDAT, Alfons        - EPERJESI, Laszlo         0:1 
  4  MAS, Hafizulhelmi    - DE SANTIS, Alessio       1:0 
  5  PINSKI, Jan          - SZEBERENYI, Adam         1:0 

8) Golden Cleopatra-Cairo-Egypt

Khaled Hassan and Laszlo Nagy send news of this, the first in a series of events to be held in Egypt.

In the first series there were two GM events both 12 player round robins and a 10 round Swiss open which had 54 players , 26 rated , 14 foreign (GER-AUT-HUN-MAR-SYR-JOR-LIB-UKR-TUN-EGY-SVK) The scores after 9 rounds of the all-play-all events are:

1st GM Tournament

Cairo  (EGY), III-IV 1997                                 cat. VII (2402)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Novikov, Igor A        g UKR 2580  * 1 . = 1 1 = = . . 1 1  6.5  2654
 2 Horvath, Csaba         g HUN 2485  0 * = . = 1 . . 1 1 1 1  6.0  2581
 3 El Ghazali, Youssef M  m EGY 2275  . = * = 1 1 0 . 1 1 = .  5.5  2532
 4 Szekely, Peter         g HUN 2455  = . = * = . . = = 1 1 =  5.0  2496
 5 Krizsany, Laszlo       m HUN 2435  0 = 0 = * . . 1 1 0 . 1  4.0  2421
 6 Georg, Magdy             EGY 2345  0 0 0 . . * = 1 0 . 1 1  3.5  2356
 7 Repkova, Eva          wg SVK 2330  = . 1 . . = * 0 1 0 0 0  3.0  2303
 8 El Taher, Fouad        m EGY 2445  = . . = 0 0 1 * 0 = = .  3.0  2316
 9 Kaabi, Majdi           m TUN 2345  . 0 0 = 0 1 0 1 * = . .  3.0  2308
10 Ahmed, Esam Aly        m EGY 2395  . 0 0 0 1 . 1 = = * . 0  3.0  2308
11 Rahman, Yehya          m EGY 2345  0 0 = 0 . 0 1 = . . * 1  3.0  2326
12 Hassan, Sayed Barakat  m EGY 2390  0 0 . = 0 0 1 . . 1 0 *  2.5  2280
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd GM Tournament

Cairo (EGY), III-IV 1997                                      cat. VII (2402)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Timoshenko, Georgy         g UKR 2510  * = . . = 1 = 1 1 1 . 1  6.5  2644
 2 Horvath, Jozsef            g HUN 2535  = * = 1 = . = . = . = 1  5.0  2503
 3 Csom, Istvan               g HUN 2460  . = * 1 = = . = . = = 1  5.0  2481
 4 Mohamed, Esam Ahmed Nagib  m EGY 2340  . 0 0 * = 1 . = 1 . 1 1  5.0  2504
 5 Poldauf, Dirk              m GER 2470  = = = = * . . = 1 . 1 0  4.5  2456
 6 Himdan, Maher              m EGY 2350  0 . = 0 . * 0 . = 1 1 1  4.0  2391
 7 Yasseen, Aly               m EGY 2370  = = . . . 1 * 0 0 1 = 0  3.5  2355
 8 Afifi, Assem               m EGY 2340  0 . = = = . 1 * 0 = = .  3.5  2362
 9 Hakki, Imad                m SYR 2395  0 = . 0 0 = 1 1 * = . .  3.5  2362
10 Hamed, Ahmed               m EGY 2330  0 . = . . 0 0 = = * = 1  3.0  2306
11 Mohamed, Farag Amrou       f EGY 2365  . = = 0 0 0 = = . = * .  2.5  2258
12 Sarwat, Walaa              m EGY 2360  0 0 0 0 1 0 1 . . 0 . *  2.0  2227
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Perenyi Bela Memorial Gyula

The Category 8 Perenyi Bela Memorial took place in Gyula Hungary from 24th March-3rd April 1997. The event was jointly won by Evgenij Agrest and Gyula Sax.

Gyula (HUN), III-IV 1997                                   cat. VIII (2427)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Agrest, Evgenij        m RUS 2460  * = = = 0 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1  8.5  2582
 2 Sax, Gyula             g HUN 2545  = * = = 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1  8.5  2575
 3 Bezold, Michael        m GER 2500  = = * = 1 = 1 = = = = 1 1  8.0  2545
 4 Lukacs, Peter          g HUN 2470  = = = * = 1 = = = 1 1 = =  7.5  2518
 5 Almasi, Istvan         m HUN 2415  1 1 0 = * = 0 = = = = = =  6.0  2427
 6 Ruck, Robert           m HUN 2450  0 = = 0 = * = = = 1 1 1 0  6.0  2425
 7 Anka, Emil             m HUN 2450  0 0 0 = 1 = * 0 = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2425
 8 Estrada Nieto, Julian  m MEX 2340  = 0 = = = = 1 * = = = 0 =  5.5  2405
 9 Gonzalez Garcia, Jose  m MEX 2475  0 = = = = = = = * 0 = = =  5.0  2365
10 Lauber, Arnd             GER 2360  = 0 = 0 = 0 0 = 1 * = = =  4.5  2345
11 Vadasz, Laszlo         g HUN 2365  0 0 = 0 = 0 = = = = * = 1  4.5  2345
12 Grund, Holger            GER 2360  0 0 0 = = 0 0 1 = = = * 1  4.5  2345
13 Dittmar, Peter         f GER 2360  0 0 0 = = 1 0 = = = 0 0 *  3.5  2274
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) 70th Congress Baden/GER by Gerald Schendel

The 70th Congress of the German chess association "Badischer Schachverband" since 1911 was held in Tauberbischofsheim where the chess club "Schachclub Tauberbischofsheim" celebrated the 50th anniversary this year. The organizers in Tauberbischofsheim, a town situated at the periphery of Baden/Germany, nevertheless had 318 participants in several groups of the Congress (28th March - 5th April), and 67 participants in an international rapid chess open (5-6 April).

It was a congress for young players - the commander of the artillery regiment 12, Colonel Hans-Juergen Reusch, had offered bed and breakfast in his barracks ("Kurmainz-Kaserne"), and about 100 young chess players accepted this offer. The event took place under the patronage of the mayor in Tauberbischofsheim, Wolfgang Vockel.

The champion of Baden 1997 is (as in 1996) IM Roland Schmaltz, 2430 (SF Anderssen Bad Mergentheim). IM Schmaltz and FM Arndt Miltner, 2375 (SC Eppingen) are qualified for the next German championship.

Championship of Baden / 11 rounds

IM Schmaltz Roland	2430	x  =  1  1  =  1  1  1  1  =  0  +  8.5
FM Miltner Arndt	2375    =  x  =  =  1  =  1  1  0  1  1  +  8.0  
   Rudolph Johannes	2250    0  =  x  =  1  1  =  0  =  1  1  +  7.0
FM Doettling Fabian	2310    0  =  =  x  1  =  =  1  =  =  1  +  7.0
FM Maier Christian	2360    =  0  0  0  x  1  =  1  1  1  =  +  6.5
FM Mueller Matthias	2360    0  =  0  =  0  x  1  1  =  =  1  +  6.0
   Schmidt-Schaeffer S.	2395    0  0  =  =  =  0  x  1  1  =  1  +  6.0
   Scherer Max		2250    0  0  1  0  0  0  0  x  +  1  1  +  5.0
FM Herbrechtsmeier Ch.	2290    0  1  =  =  0  =  0  -  x  -  1  +  4.5
   Doll Stefan		2265    =  0  0  =  0  =  =  0  +  x  =  +  4.5
   Kluss Kai		2240    1  0  0  0  =  0  0  0  0  =  x  +  3.0
IM Sokolov Andrei  LAT	2480    -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  x  0.0 *

* IM Sokolov (SC Viernheim/Baden/Germany) was invited, accepted the invitation but did not play. The organizers didn't know the reason.

International Rapid Chess Open / 11 rounds Swiss

1. GM Gavrikov Viktor	2590	SUI					9.0
2. IM Bezold Michael	2500	GER	SV Wuerzburg 1865		8.5
3. GM Golubev Mihail	2530	UKR					8.5
4. GM Dautov Rustem	2590	GER	SC Anderssen St. Ingbert	8.0
5. GM Martinovic Slob.	2495	YUG					8.0
6. GM Bischoff Klaus	2550	GER	SG Solingen			8.0
7.    Beresovski Igor	2385	RUS					8.0
8. IM Klundt Klaus	2370	GER	TV Tegernsee			7.5
9. IM Solonar Stephan	2300	MDA					7.0
10.   Scherer Max	2250	GER	SGem Dreisamtal			7.0
11.   Gheng Josef	2295	GER	SC Freiburg			7.0
12.FM Gastgofer Viktor	2380	RUS					7.0
13.   Kistner Klaus	2230	GER	SF Anderssen Bad Mergentheim	7.0
14.   Schaefer Michael	2210	GER	SC Freiburg			7.0
15.FM Bach Edwin	2320	GER	Karlsruher SF 1853		7.0
16.FM Vatter Hajo	2265	GER	SK Zaehringen 1921		6.5
17.FM Solomunovic Igor	2350	BIH					6.5
18.   Kekelidze Mikheil	2325	GEO
6.5
19.FM Maier Christian	2360	GER	SK Zaehringen 1921		6.5
...

Gerald Schendel Press Officer "Badischer Schachverband"

11) Passau 1997 by Philipp Schlosser

Philipp Schlosser sent the results of the 5th Internationales Dreifluesse-Schachopen Passau'. 28th-31st March 1997 last week. He sent a number of games this week.


12) Nelson Navarro Memorial by Pablo Rodriguez


Ten of the best Chilean players joined the I Nelson Navarro Memorial, held in Santiago, Chile, March 11-19, in memory of Nelson Navarro who tragically died last February. He was 25 years old and recently had achieved the International Master title.

IM Rodrigo Vasquez got clear first place winning 6 games and drawing 3, getting an excellent 7.5/9 score. Daniel Barria was second at 6.5.

Santiago      (CHI), III 1997                              cat. III (2319)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Vasquez, Rodrigo            m CHI 2505  * 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 1 1  7.5  2570
 2 Barria, Daniel                CHI 2355  0 * 1 1 1 = = 1 1 =  6.5  2480
 3 Godoy, David A                CHI 2295  = 0 * 1 = 1 1 0 1 1  6.0  2446
 4 Cortes Moyano, Julio        f CHI 2295  0 0 0 * 1 0 1 1 1 1  5.0  2364
 5 Toloza, Pablo               m CHI 2385  = 0 = 0 * 1 = 1 = =  4.5  2311
 6 Arancibia, Eduardo            CHI 2250  0 = 0 1 0 * = 1 0 1  4.0  2283
 7 Velasquez, Cesar              CHI 2365  = = 0 0 = = * = 0 =  3.0  2188
 8 Montero Martinez, Cristian  f CHI 2235  0 0 1 0 0 0 = * 1 =  3.0  2202
 9 Llorens, Marcelo              CHI 2235  0 0 0 0 = 1 1 0 * =  3.0  2202
10 Zapata, Marco                 CHI 2265  0 = 0 0 = 0 = = = *  2.5  2158
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

13) Danish Championships

The final round games from this event are available in the games section. The report and final scores were in twic125.

Information from Lars Zwisler. He had a web page at:

http://www.dsu.dk/n058.htm

There was in additional coverage in Danish


14) Upcoming events

Outrigger Hawaii International

Eric Schiller reports that the Outrigger Hawaii International begins on the 15th April 1997.

GMs include Yermolinsky, Psakhis, Atalik, Baburin, Blatny, Miles. Coverage will be at http://www.chessworks.com/hawaii97.htm Altogether there will be 17 countries and about 50 players.

The sponsors are Outrigger a hotel and restaurant chain in Hawaii. Saitek, First Hawaiian Bank and Chessworks are minor sponsors.


15) PCA WORLD CHESS RANKING April 1st

Produced by Ken Thomson with ChessBase
Calculated by Vladimir Dvorkovich, Chess Union Int.

          1. Kasparov,Garry                 RUS    2828   154
          2. Anand,Viswanathan              IND    2758   152
          3. Kramnik,Vladimir               RUS    2754   156
          4. Topalov,Veselin                BUL    2735   192
          5. Karpov,Anatoli                 RUS    2710   147
          6. Ivanchuk,Vassily               UKR    2710   182
          7. Kamsky,Gata                    USA    2701   181
          8. Gelfand,Boris                  BLR    2689   135
          9. Adams,Michael                  ENG    2685   158
         10. Short,Nigel D                  ENG    2669   182
         11. Beliavsky,Alexander G          SLO    2666   133
         12. Shirov,Alexei                  ESP    2663   201
         13. Salov,Valery                   RUS    2661   183
         14. Bareev,Evgeny                  RUS    2657   167
         15. Andersson,Ulf                  SWE    2652   138
         16. Khalifman,Alexander            RUS    2639   152
         17. Yermolinsky,Alexey             USA    2638   154
         18. Polgar,Judit (GM)              HUN    2637   194
         19. Piket,Jeroen                   NED    2631   168
         20. Georgiev,Kiril                 BUL    2629   166
         21. Seirawan,Yasser                USA    2628   182
         22. Lautier,Joel                   FRA    2628   200
         23. Leko,Peter                     HUN    2626   155
         24. Granda Zuniga,Julio E          PER    2626   211
         25. Dreev,Alexey                   RUS    2625   162
         26. Svidler,Peter                  RUS    2624   135
         27. Ehlvest,Jaan                   EST    2623   149
         28. Timman,Jan H                   NED    2621   186
         29. Yakovich,Yuri                  RUS    2621   159
         30. Azmaiparashvili,Zurab          GEO    2621   156
         31. Rublevsky,Sergei               RUS    2621   172
         32. Nikolic,Predrag                BIH    2620   171
         33. Sadler,Matthew                 ENG    2614   180
         34. Nunn,John D M                  ENG    2614   173
         35. Sokolov,Ivan                   BIH    2614   171
         36. Speelman,Jonathan S            ENG    2613   149
         37. Vladimirov,Evgeny              KAZ    2611   163
         38. Yusupov,Artur                  GER    2609   139
         39. Van Wely,Loek                  NED    2608   205
         40. Onischuk,Alexander             UKR    2608   177
         41. Kosashvili,Yona                ISR    2606   197
         42. Akopian,Vladimir               ARM    2606   149
         43. Magerramov,Elmar               AZE    2604   188
         44. Georgadze,George               GEO    2601   135
         45. Almasi,Zoltan                  HUN    2600   190
         46. Tiviakov,Sergei                RUS    2599   163
         47. Illescas Cordoba,Miguel        ESP    2599   168
         48. Wolff,Patrick G                USA    2599   179
         49. Milov,Vadim                    SUI    2598   176
         50. Aleksandrov,Aleksej            BLR    2598   172


                 Tournaments processed for this list

    ARG Villa Gesell Clarin GP Cat.11
    BRA Rio de Janeiro Championship playoff
    ENG Rotherham J.Hodgson-J.Rowson match
    FRA Cappella la Grande open
    FRA Cannes Cat.10
    FRA Cannes open
    GER Bundesliga Rounds 10/11
    GER German Team's Cup quater-final
    GER Bad Woerishofen open
    GER Bad Zwesten open
    IND Calcutta open
    NED Ter Apel Cat.17
    RUS Ekaterinburg Russian Cup open
    RUS St.Peterburg 70th Championship swiss
    YUG Niksic 52th Championship Cat.10

16) Theoretical Corner by Marco R. Martini (ITA)

Special section in the games section
Email: avvmartini@mailbox.icom.it
WWW  : http://www.icom.it./user/scac