The Week in Chess 278

THE WEEK IN CHESS 278 6th March 2000 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Antonio Bento, Eduard Piacun, Olivier Deville, ICC, Europe Echecs, Canal21, Ignatius Leong, Sinisa Joksic, SS Quah, Michael Atkins, Bill Townsend, Albert Silver, Peter Kemner, James Tan, Michael Adams, Cecil Rosner, John Fernandez, Michelangelo Bussacchini and all those who helped with this issue.

A big issue. The Linares tournament seems to be heading to an exciting finish with Kasparov and Kramnik fighting at the top. The first Canadian GM Daniel Abraham Yanofsky sadly died this week. Yanofsky represented Canada at the age of 14 in the Buenos Aires Olympiad of 1939, played in the Groningen tournament on 1946 and the Interzonal of 1948. He had the ability to be a top player but chose a legal career and to be a strong amateur player of grandmaster strength. The issue contains a lot of chess news including Michael Adams on his disputed match against Deep Junior.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) Linares 2000

The Linares 2000 runs February 28th-March 10th. After six of the ten rounds Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov share first place with four points. They are undefeated along with Peter Leko who is on 50%. Khalifman and Shirov are both on 2.5/6 (Khalifman has drawn all five games after losing his round one game, a crunch game comes tomorrow when he plays Kasparov with black). The disappointment of the tournament is Viswanathan Anand who lost to Shirov and Kasparov in successive rounds, both with the white pieces. The event is definitely hotting up with round six being especially hard fought. Detailed round by round coverage is available on TWIC's main pages. TWIC has John Henderson on the spot for reports and pictures. The games are available each day on the conclusion of play.

Live internet coverage is available at: http://www.ajedrez21.com.

Round 2 (February 29, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   20  D18  Slav defence
Khalifman, Alexander  -  Kasparov, Gary        1/2   29  D97  Gruenfeld indian
Shirov, Alexei        -  Leko, Peter           1/2   71  C42  Petroff defence

Round 3 (March 1, 2000)

Kasparov, Gary        -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   21  C42  Petroff defence
Leko, Peter           -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   38  C17  French; Winawer
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Shirov, Alexei        0-1   41  C42  Petroff defence

Round 4 (March 3, 2000)

Leko, Peter           -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   41  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Shirov, Alexei        -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   20  C02  French; Advance
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Kasparov, Gary        0-1   32  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf

Round 5 (March 4, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Shirov, Alexei        1-0   48  D17  Slav defence
Kasparov, Gary        -  Leko, Peter           1/2   38  D97  Gruenfeld indian
Khalifman, Alexander  -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   22  D18  Slav defence

Round 6 (March 5, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   49  D58  QGD;
Shirov, Alexei        -  Kasparov, Gary        1/2   36  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Leko, Peter           1/2   32  D85  Gruenfeld indian


SuperGM Linares ESP (ESP), 28 ii-10 iii 2000    cat. XXI (2752)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1  2  3  4  5  6 
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 ** =. =. 1= 1. =.  4.0  2859
2 Kasparov, Gary        g RUS 2851 =. ** =. =. 1= 1.  4.0  2860
3 Leko, Peter           g HUN 2725 =. =. ** =. =. ==  3.0  2759
4 Khalifman, Alexander  g RUS 2656 0= =. =. ** =. =.  2.5  2711
5 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 0. 0= =. =. ** 1.  2.5  2711
6 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 =. 0. == =. 0. **  2.0  2619
---------------------------------------------------------------

3) Daniel Abraham Yanofsky 1925-2000

Daniel Abraham Yanofsky the Polish born (he moved to Canada at the age of 8 months) Canadian Grandmaster has died aged 74 (3 weeks short of his 75th birthday. He was born March 26th 1925 died 5th March 2000). He first came to prominence at the age of 14 when he played in the 1939 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires scoring 85% on board 2 and attracting the attention of Alexander Alekhine in his reports from the event. He never really fulfilled his potential as a chess player instead turning his energies to the legal profession. He won the Canadian Championships 8 times. He played in the strong Groningen 1946 tournament finishing 14th/20 and defeated Botvinnik in that event. He played in the first FIDE Interzonal in Saltsjobaden in Sweden finishing in 14th= position from 20. He was 4th= at Dallas 1957. He became a GM in 1964. His main strength was technical play, especially in the endgame. In his book "How Chess Games are Won" Reshevsky described him thus "Dan Yanofsky is a tough opponent. His style is defensive but quite accurate. When given the slightest opportunity, he is strong enough to beat the best."

Cecil Rosner writes: Abe Yanofsky died this morning after a prolonged battle with cancer and congestive heart failure. He would have been 75 in three weeks.

Abe was Canada's first grandmaster and the most important Canadian chess personality of the 20th century. He was born in Brody, Poland in 1925, settling in Canada with his family when he was just eight months old. He learned chess at the age of eight, after he and his father saw a chess board and pieces on sale for $1 in the People s Book Store window on Main Street in Winnipeg.

Little Abie, as the local newspapers called him, was a child prodigy. At the age of 11 he was invited to the CNE in Toronto where he took on 22 players in a simultaneous exhibition. He won 17 and lost five. At 12, Abe became Manitoba champion and placed fourth in the Dominion championship. He eventually won eight Canadian championships.

At 14, Abe was picked to play second board for the Canadian team at the chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires. He was the youngest player in the event and he achieved an 85 per cent score, earning attention from all the great players around the world. In Graham Burgess recent book, Chess Highlights of the 20th Century, Yanofsky s spectacular win over Dulanto in the 1939 Olympiad is presented as a central highlight of the year.

Abe went on to many tournament successes over the years, including a memorable win over Mikhail Botvinnik at Groningen in 1946. During his studies in Oxford, he found time to win the British championship. In 1964, he became the first grandmaster in the British Commonwealth.

Outside of chess, Abe was active in his legal career and as a municipal politician. A former mayor of the Winnipeg suburb West Kildonan, he went on to serve as a councillor in Winnipeg, and for many years was chairman of the city s finance committee.

In recent years, Abe suffered from both cancer and heart disease. He entered hospital December 8 after suffering a broken hip, but his other health problems prolonged his stay. Despite a determined effort to return home, he lost his fight this morning. He was predeceased by his brother Harry, his legal partner and a notable chess player as well.

A month ago, after learning that the Winnipeg Chess Centre was in financial trouble, Abe wrote a letter offering support, and included a financial contribution to the cause. He said because of his hospitalization , "I cannot offer you much in the way of help, however, I would at a later date be willing to contact some of the people I know at city hall if you feel that it would be helpful."

In his professional career, Abe was a Queen s Counsel. And because of his contributions to the world of chess, the Canadian government presented him with the Order of Canada.

The memorial service for Abe Yanofsky will be held 2 p.m., Tuesday, March 7 at the Chesed Shel Emes Chapel, 1023 Main Street, in Winnipeg, not far from the original site of the People s Book Store.

Report first appeared: http://sitepowerup.com/mb/view.asp?Action=Reply&BoardID=109389&Reply=4348

4) Internet qualifier on ICC

John Fernandez reports: The OZ.COM prize qualifier on CHESSCLUB.COM on Sunday March 5 broke practically every record in the history of internet chess. 63 GMs, 51 IMs, 37 FMs, 1 WGM and 5 WIMs, took part in this massive tournament. GM Alex Wojtkiewicz and GM Robert Kempinski, both from Poland, scored 8/9 to tie for first in this massive 310 player field. In a tiebreak match held after the tournament, Wojtkiewicz won 3-1 against Kempinski to qualify him for the trip to the Top of the World tournament April 1-2 in Kopavogur. 2,615 people were logged into Chessclub.com to watch this event (an all time record.) In addition, 168 FIDE titled players were logged in, more than doubling the previous record of 68. GM Nigel Short had broken away from the pack to lead the tournament with 7.5/8 before being tripped up by GM Kempinski in the last round. FM Vinay Bhat had a wonderful tournament, scoring 6.5/8 against GMs! "If only this tournament was rated!", one observer remarked. The event was sponsored by OZ.COM (http://www.oz.com) and CHESSCLUB.COM (http://www.chessclub.com), the world's premier site for online chess play. The event was organized and directed by John Fernandez (jfernandez@chessclub.com). Games and full crosstable will be available next week in TWIC, and shortly will be available on the event's website: http://www.chessclub.com/oz.html

Final Standings:

1.     GM Alex Wojtkiewicz   2563    8.0   Trip to Iceland + $500
2.     GM Robert Kempinski   2528    8.0   $700
3-7    GM Nigel Short        2683    7.5   $240
       GM Alexandre Lesiege  2582    7.5   $240
       GM Igor Glek          2554    7.5   $240
       IM Diego Adla         2492    7.5   $240
       FM Vinay Bhat         2398    7.5   $240
8-12   GM Ilya Smirin        2666    7.0   $ 20
       GM Sergei Shipov      2640    7.0   $ 20
       GM Boris Avrukh       2620    7.0   $ 20
       GM Vitali Golod       2566    7.0   $ 20
       IM Stelios Halkias    2482    7.0   $ 20
13-27  GM Alexey Dreev       2680    6.5
       GM Peter Svidler      2672    6.5
       GM Loek van Wely      2646    6.5
       GM Boris Gulko        2644    6.5
       GM Gregory Kaidanov   2599    6.5
       GM Leonid Gofshtein   2580    6.5
       GM Gilberto Hernandez 2560    6.5
       GM Bartlomiej Macieja 2538    6.5
       GM Michael Rohde      2535    6.5
       IM Dmitry Tyomkin     2516    6.5
       GM Pablo Zarnicki     2498    6.5
       IM Jon Gunnarsson     2400    6.5
          Diego Flores       2373    6.5
          Julio Hernando     2364    6.5
          Gokhan Demir       2247    6.5

310 players total

Another internet event follows. The "II Abierto International Chess Tournament Ciudad de Dos Hermanas" Open takes place 7th-15th April 2000. This years Open will probably field around 30 GMs and there is a 500.000PTS first prize (the closed superGM event runs every two years next in 2001). This internet qualifier has four prizes which are participation in the event. The event is sponsored by the Municipal Sports Foundation of the City Hall of Dos Hermanas. The tournament is to be played on ICC (Internet Chess Club), with the technical co-ordination of EDAMI (Miguel Illescas Chess School).

The tournament takes place March 11th-19th. There are 12 qualifying stages and a KO Final on March 18th - 19th 2000. Entry is free and open to all players. Top prize is 1.000 Euros and in addition 4 invitations to participate, with expenses paid, in this year's open.

Further details: http://www.doshermanas.net

5) Tournoi de Maîtres de Monaco

Michelangelo Bussacchini reports: The Tournoi de Maîtres de Monaco took place 21st-27th February 2000 and was organised by the FME Fédération Monégasque des Echecs and the FFE Fédération Française des Echecs. The event saw Igor Efimov run away with the Category 3 event with a score of 8.5/9. In joint second place were Aurelien Dunis and Tony Kosten. Dunis scored an IM norm.

Monaco Masters MNC (MNC), 21-27 ii 2000                cat. III (2305)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Efimov, Igor              g ITA 2537 * 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2723
 2 Dunis, Aurelien             FRA 2254 0 * 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1  7.0  2530
 3 Kosten, Anthony C         g ENG 2511 = 0 * 1 1 = 1 1 1 1  7.0  2502
 4 Guidarelli, Laurent         FRA 2359 0 0 0 * 0 1 1 1 = 1  4.5  2299
 5 Olivier, Jean-Christophe    FRA 2356 0 0 0 1 * 1 0 = 1 1  4.5  2299
 6 Caposciutti, Maurizio     f ITA 2344 0 0 = 0 0 * 1 1 1 1  4.5  2300
 7 Mory, Eric                  FRA 2134 0 1 0 0 1 0 * 0 1 1  4.0  2281
 8 Govciyan, Pavel             FRA 2207 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 * 0 1  2.5  2149
 9 Flear, Christine         wm FRA 2264 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 * 0  1.5  2036
10 Bussachini, Michel          MNC 2084 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 *  1.0  1978
----------------------------------------------------------------------

6) Sufe Cup

The Sufe Cup takes place in Shanghai, China, 2nd-16th March 2000. The event is Category 13 with an average rating of 2569 (GM norm 7.5, IM norm 5.0). Perhaps unfairly given that the event has an interesting mix of players attention will probably focus on the performance of the Burmese players who are generally regarded as grossly over-rated. My thanks to Ignatius Leong for the results.

There is a website (in Chinese) http://www.linta.com/

Round 1 (March 3, 2000)

Filippov, Valerij  -  Krasenkow, Michal  1/2   53  A35  English; 1.c4 c5
Pigusov, Evgeny    -  Nay Oo Kyaw Tun    1-0   38  A11  English; 1.c4
Ye Jiangchuan      -  Bologan, Viktor    1/2   57  B93  Sicilian; Najdorf
Yin Hao            -  Xie Jun            1/2   40  C47  Four knights
Wang Pin           -  Zhang Zhong        0-1   40  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Wang Lei           -  Peng Xiaomin       0-1   36  E73  Kings indian
Aung Aung          -  Qin Kanying        1/2   49  D85  Gruenfeld indian

Round 2 (March 4, 2000)

Peng Xiaomin       -  Wang Pin           1-0   41  B52  Sicilian
Zhang Zhong        -  Yin Hao            1/2   21  C73  Ruy Lopez
Filippov, Valerij  -  Aung Aung          1-0   62  A88  Dutch defence
Krasenkow, Michal  -  Bologan, Viktor    1/2   37  A48  Queen's pawn
Qin Kanying        -  Pigusov, Evgeny    1/2   21  B31  Sicilian
Xie Jun            -  Ye Jiangchuan      1/2   33  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Nay Oo Kyaw Tun    -  Wang Lei           1/2   17  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)

Round 3 (March 5, 2000)

Pigusov, Evgeny    -  Filippov, Valerij  1/2   14  E05  Nimzo indian
Ye Jiangchuan      -  Zhang Zhong        1/2   36  C06  French; Tarrasch
Yin Hao            -  Peng Xiaomin       0-1   37  C58  Two knights
Bologan, Viktor    -  Xie Jun            1/2   49  C92  Ruy Lopez
Wang Pin           -  Nay Oo Kyaw Tun    1-0   39  C90  Ruy Lopez
Wang Lei           -  Qin Kanying        1/2   58  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Aung Aung          -  Krasenkow, Michal  0-1   55  A41  Queen's pawn

Round 4 (March 6, 2000)

Peng Xiaomin       -  Ye Jiangchuan      1/2   25  B45  Sicilian
Zhang Zhong        -  Bologan, Viktor    1-0   30  B06  Modern defence
Filippov, Valerij  -  Wang Lei           1-0   29  D44  QGD; Botwinnik
Krasenkow, Michal  -  Xie Jun            1-0   30  E90  Kings indian; Classical
Qin Kanying        -  Wang Pin           1/2    4  B52  Sicilian
Aung Aung          -  Pigusov, Evgeny    0-1   58  A75  Modern Benoni
Nay Oo Kyaw Tun    -  Yin Hao            0-1   33  B04  Alekhine defence


Sufe Cup Shanghai CHN (CHN), 3-15 iii 2000             cat. XIII (2569)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Peng Xiaomin       g CHN 2624 * . . . . = . 1 . . 1 1 . .  3.5  2855
 2 Zhang Zhong        g CHN 2611 . * . . . = . = 1 . 1 . . .  3.0  2735
 3 Filippov, Valerij  g RUS 2584 . . * = = . . . . . . 1 1 .  3.0  2783
 4 Krasenkow, Michal  g POL 2661 . . = * . . . . = 1 . . 1 .  3.0  2770
 5 Pigusov, Evgeny    g RUS 2610 . . = . * . = . . . . . 1 1  3.0  2755
 6 Ye Jiangchuan      g CHN 2616 = = . . . * . . = = . . . .  2.0  2591
 7 Qin Kanying       wg CHN 2475 . . . . = . * . . . = = = .  2.0  2542
 8 Yin Hao            m CHN 2496 0 = . . . . . * . = . . . 1  2.0  2593
 9 Bologan, Viktor    g MDA 2589 . 0 . = . = . . * = . . . .  1.5  2520
10 Xie Jun            g CHN 2542 . . . 0 . = . = = * . . . .  1.5  2503
11 Wang Pin          wg CHN 2469 0 0 . . . . = . . . * . . 1  1.5  2489
12 Wang Lei          wg CHN 2495 0 . 0 . . . = . . . . * . =  1.0  2376
13 Aung Aung          m MYA 2595 . . 0 0 0 . = . . . . . * .  0.5  2260
14 Nay Oo Kyaw Tun    m MYA 2595 . . . . 0 . . 0 . . 0 = . *  0.5  2195
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

7) Malaga Open

The III Malaga international Open took place February 25th - March 4th 2000. The event was won by Evgeny Gleizerov who scored 7.5/9. There was a six way tie for second place between Reynaldo Vera, Atanas Kolev, Fernando Braga, Eduardas Rozentalis, Viktor Moskalenko and Pia Cramling. The event was a bad one for top seed Vladimir Epishin who finished in 29th place on 5.5/9.

Internet coverage: http://caissa.ic.uma.es/fma/open/00open.htm

III Malaga Open ESP (ESP), 25 ii-4 iii 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Gleizerov, Evgeny                g RUS 2508  7.5 50.5 40.5 
 2 Vera, Reynaldo                   g CUB 2546  7.0 53.0 38.0
 3 Kolev, Atanas                    g BUL 2548  7.0 49.0 37.5
 4 Braga, Fernando                  m ITA 2449  7.0 48.0 36.0
 5 Rozentalis, Eduardas             g LTU 2553  7.0 47.5 35.5
 6 Moskalenko, Viktor               g UKR 2518  7.0 47.0 36.0
 7 Cramling, Pia                    g SWE 2493  7.0 46.5 35.5 
 8 Korneev, Oleg                    g RUS 2619  6.5 50.0 36.0 
 9 Hamdouchi, Hichem                g MAR 2513  6.5 48.0 34.5 
10 Stefanova, Antoaneta             m BUL 2495  6.5 47.5 36.0 
11 Mellado Trivino, Juan            m ESP 2493  6.5 46.0 34.5 
12 Moreno, Javier                     ESP 2506  6.5 45.0 34.5 
13 Garcia Martinez, Silvino         g CUB 2455  6.5 44.0 34.5 
14 Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel        g ESP 2446  6.5 43.5 31.5 
15 Teran Alvarez, Ismael            f ESP 2401  6.0 49.5 34.5 
16 Arencibia, Walter                g CUB 2529  6.0 46.5 34.5 
17 Rodriguez, Andres                g URU 2492  6.0 46.5 34.0 
18 Herrera, Irisberto               m CUB 2472  6.0 45.5 33.0 
19 Chatalbashev, Boris              g BUL 2522  6.0 45.0 33.5 
20 Gonzalez Rodriguez, Jorge A      m COL 2312  6.0 45.0 32.0 
21 Rivas Pastor, Manuel             g ESP 2453  6.0 45.0 32.0 
22 Hetey, Laszlo                    m GER 2343  6.0 43.0 31.5 
23 Diez Gonzalez, Pedro               ESP 2309  6.0 41.5 29.0 
24 Cardenas Valero, Joaquin           ESP 2234  6.0 35.5 28.0 
25 Lopez Sanchez, Miguel              ESP ----  6.0 35.5 26.0 
141 games

8) "8th March" Ladies Tournament

Sinisa Joksic reports: Belgrade hosts the 33rd "8th March" Lady's Tournament from March 3-14, 2000. This years tournament is category 15 women's event and a category 8 men's event (2411) There are 12 players, all with women's grandmaster titles. At one time it was the strongest Lady's Tournament. There are 6 prizes: 30.000 dinar (about 1.500 DM), 22.000, 18.000, 14.000, 10.000 and 6.000 and from 7-12 place 2.000 each player.

Round 3 standings:
33rd "8th March" Women's Tournament Belgrade YUG (YUG), 3-14 iii 2000cat. VII (2412)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina       wg RUS 2451 * . . . . . . . 1 1 . 1  3.0      
 2 Matveeva, Svetlana            wg RUS 2414 . * = . . 1 . . . . 1 .  2.5  2682
 3 Prudnikova, Svetlana          wg YUG 2421 . = * . 1 . . = . . . .  2.0  2520
 4 Stepovaia-Dianchenko, Tatiana wg RUS 2420 . . . * . . = . = 1 . .  2.0  2544
 5 Manakova, Maria               wg YUG 2348 . . 0 . * . . 1 . . . 1  2.0  2539
 6 Velcheva, Maria               wg BUL 2364 . 0 . . . * 1 = . . . .  1.5  2436
 7 Zhukova, Natalia              wg UKR 2471 . . . = . 0 * . . . 1 .  1.5  2409
 8 Bojkovic, Natasa              wg YUG 2423 . . = . 0 = . * . . . .  1.0  2252
 9 Maric, Mirjana                wg YUG 2324 0 . . = . . . . * . = .  1.0  2313
10 Maric, Alisa                   m YUG 2463 0 . . 0 . . . . . * . 1  1.0  2298
11 Skripchenko-Lautier, Almira    m MDA 2444 . 0 . . . . 0 . = . * .  0.5  2130
12 Chelushkina, Irina            wg YUG 2398 0 . . . 0 . . . . 0 . *  0.0      
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Croatian Championships

There was a playoff match for Croatian championships between GM Krunoslav Hulak (2495) and IM Ivan Zaja (2452) in Zagreb 2nd-5th March 2000. The favourite Hulak was beaten 2.5-1.5 by Zaja.

Coverage: http://sah.posluh.hr

Hulak, Krunoslav  -  Zaja, Ivan        0-1   46  D44  QGD; Botwinnik
Zaja, Ivan        -  Hulak, Krunoslav  1-0   53  E39  Nimzo indian
Hulak, Krunoslav  -  Zaja, Ivan        1-0   52  A08  Reti (1.Nf3)
Zaja, Ivan        -  Hulak, Krunoslav  1/2   62  E45  Nimzo indian


Croatian Ch Playoffs Zagreb CRO (CRO), 2-5 iii 2000
---------------------------------------------------------
                               1   2   3   4 
---------------------------------------------------------
Zaja, Ivan        m CRO 2452    1   1   0   =   2.5  2590
Hulak, Krunoslav  g CRO 2495    0   0   1   =   1.5  2365
---------------------------------------------------------

10) Varsity Match 2000

The annual Oxford-Cambridge Varsity match took place on Saturday 4th March 2000. The final score was Cambridge 4.5 - Oxford 3.5 in a closely contested struggle. The teams were Cambridge (Harriet Hunt, Karl Mah, Brian Kelly, James Vigus, David Moskovic, Joseph Conlon, Nathan Alfred and Rohan Churm) and Oxford (Ruth Sheldon, Aleksandar Trifunovic, Benjanmin Savage, Zhidas Daskalovski, Joel Eklund, Timothy Chesters, Shashi Jayakumar and Kieran Smallbone). The board one struggle was the one reserved for the women's players with the top rated player in the entire event Harriet Hunt taking on Ruth Sheldon. Hunt missed a win with 73. h7 and the game finished in a draw. On board two Karl Mah outclassed Aleksandar Trifunovic on the black side of a semi-slav. Brian Kelly against Ben Savage was an odd game where white was completely winning by move 22 however by the end of the game black was better however with only 7 seconds to make 17 moves it seems white should probably have played on! The board five game David Moskovic - Joel Eklund was a tremendous struggle with both players playing magnificantly combative chess. 31. Nf7 made the position almost random the game ended with white losing on time after missing the winning 39. Bb4+.

Varsity Match London ENG (ENG), 4 iii 2000

Hunt, Harriet           -  Sheldon, Ruth           1/2   80  B47  Sicilian
Trifunovic, Aleksandar  -  Mah, Karl               0-1   35  D46  Semi-Slav
Kelly, Brian            -  Savage, Ben D           1/2   23  E90  Kings indian; Classical
Daskalovski,Z           -  Vigus, James            1/2   41  A87  Dutch defence
Moskovic, David M       -  Eklund, Joel            0-1   40  B42  Sicilian
Chesters,T              -  Conlon, Joseph P        1/2   62  A20  English; 1.c4 e5
Alfred, Nathan          -  Jayakumar, Shashi       1-0   38  B30  Sicilian
Smallbone, Kieran       -  Churm, Rohan            1/2   28  C17  French; Winawer

Internet coverage: http://www.msoworld.com

11) Wah Seong Penang IM

The Wah Seong IM tournament 2000 took place in Penang, Malaysia February 26th- March 5th 2000. In the final round Mas Hafizul beat Myo Naing to take first place. Both Mok Tze-Meng and Wynn Zaw Htun made IM results.

My thanks to SS Quah for the information.

There is a website: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/WahSeong2000/index.html

Wah Seong IM Penang MAS (MAS), 26 ii-5 iii 2000       cat. V (2362)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Mas, Hafizulhelmi      m MAS 2413 * = = 1 1 1 = 1 = 1  7.0  2576
 2 Mok Tze-Meng             MAS 2270 = * = = 0 1 1 = 1 1  6.0  2497
 3 Wynn Zaw Htun            MYA 2524 = = * 0 1 = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2469
 4 Ardiansyah, Haji       g INA 2396 0 = 1 * = = = 1 1 0  5.0  2401
 5 Liu Wenzhe             m CHN 2451 0 1 0 = * = = 1 0 1  4.5  2352
 6 Ng Tze-Han               MAS 2216 0 0 = = = * = 1 = =  4.0  2335
 7 Lim Chuing Hoong         MAS 2214 = 0 0 = = = * 0 1 =  3.5  2298
 8 Myo Naing              m MYA 2545 0 = = 0 0 0 1 * = 1  3.5  2262
 9 Wong Zi Jing           f MAS 2324 = 0 0 0 1 = 0 = * =  3.0  2241
10 Chuah Jin, Hai Jonath    MAS 2271 0 0 0 1 0 = = 0 = *  2.5  2206
-------------------------------------------------------------------

12) Cannes

As well as the Karpov-Bacrot match there were other events in Cannes. Continuing his good form in France Vladislav Tkachiev won the masters knockout event that took place February 19th-22nd. He beat Stanislav Savchenko 4-2 in the final. In addition there was an open with Kamil Miton, Angus Dunnington, Philippe Brochet, Sinisa Drazic, Christophe Claveriem Andrew Kinsman and Yvan Masserey all scoring 7/9. Unfortunately only the games from rounds 1-6 are available from the official website.

Link: http://www.cannes-echecs.org/

Round 1 (February 19, 2000)

Tkachiev, Vladislav        -  Delabaca, Romuald          1.5-0.5 Tkachiev
Lepelletier, Benoit        -  Lupu, Mircea-Sergiu        1.0-1.0 Lupu   
Fressinet, Laurent         -  Vaisman, Volodia           1.5-0.5 Fressinet
Touzane, Olivier           -  David, Alberto             1.0-1.0 David
Vaisser, Anatoli           -  Wohlers-Armas, Friederike  2.0-0.0 Vaisser
Belkhodja, Slim            -  Garbarino, Xavier          2.0-0.0 Belkhodja
Miralles, Gilles           -  Santo Roman, Marc          0.5-1,5 Santo-Roman
Rouchouse, Stevens         -  Palac, Mladen              0.0-2.0 Palac
Savchenko, Stanislav       -  Kerbrat, Julien            2.0-0.0 Savchenko
Chabanon, Jean-Luc         -  Relange, Eloi              2.0-0.0 Chabanon
Anic, Darko                -  Haik, Aldo                 0.0-2.0 Haik
Boudre, Jean-Pierre        -  Markowski, Tomasz          0.0-2.0 Markowski
Marciano, David            -  Giffard, Nicolas           0.5-1.5 Giffard
Mednis, Edmar J            -  Prie, Eric                 0.5-1.5 Prie
Kogan, Artur               -  Pira, Davoud               2.0-0.0 Kogan
Marino, Olivier            -  Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter    0.0-2.0 Nisipeanu

Round 2 (February 20, 2000)

Tkachiev, Vladislav        -  Lupu, Mircea-Sergiu        1.5-0.5 Tkachiev
Fressinet, Laurent         -  David, Alberto             1.0-1.0 David
Vaisser, Anatoli           -  Belkhodja, Slim            2.0-0.0 Vaisser
Santo Roman, Marc          -  Palac, Mladen              1.0-1.0 Palac
Savchenko, Stanislav       -  Chabanon, Jean-Luc         2.0-0.0 Savchenko
Haik, Aldo                 -  Markowski, Tomasz          0.0-2.0 Markowski
Giffard, Nicolas           -  Prie, Eric                 1.0-1.0 Giffard
Kogan, Artur               -  Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter    2.0-0.0 Kogan

Round 3 (February 21, 2000)

Tkachiev, Vladislav        -  David, Alberto             2.0-0.0 Tkachiev
Vaisser, Anatoli           -  Palac, Mladen              2.0-0.0 Vaisser
Savchenko, Stanislav       -  Markowski, Tomasz          2.0-0.0 Savchenko
Giffard, Nicolas           -  Kogan, Artur               0.0-2.0 Kogan

Round 4 (February 22, 2000)

Tkachiev, Vladislav        -  Vaisser, Anatoli           2.0-0.0 Tkachiev
Savchenko, Stanislav       -  Kogan, Artur               1.0-1.0 Savchenko

Round 5 (February 22, 2000)

Tkachiev, Vladislav        -  Savchenko, Stanislav       4.0-2.0 Tkachiev

Cannes Open FRA (FRA), 20-28 ii 2000
----------------------------------------------------
  1 Miton, Kamil                    m POL 2425  7.0
  2 Dunnington, Angus J             m ENG 2372  7.0
  3 Brochet, Philippe                 FRA 2335  7.0
  4 Drazic, Sinisa                  m YUG 2483  7.0
  5 Claverie, Christophe              FRA 2375  7.0
  6 Kinsman, Andrew P.H             m ENG 2399  7.0
  7 Masserey, Yvan                  f SUI 2303  7.0
  8 Liardet, Fabrice                f SUI 2319  6.5
  9 Doghri, Nabil                     TUN 2327  6.5
 10 Manolov, Ivan                   m BUL 2327  6.5
 11 Djingarova, Emilia                BUL 2168  6.5
 12 Richardson, John R              f ENG 2331  6.5
 13 Bujisho, Benjamin                 FRA 2299  6.5
 14 Lukasiewicz, Grzegorz           m POL 2348  6.5
 15 Boudre, Jean-Pierre             m FRA 2334  6.0
 16 Philippe, Christophe              FRA 2293  6.0
 17 Pira, Davoud                    m FRA 2450  6.0
 18 Sarthou, Gaetan                   FRA 2345  6.0
 19 Lecuyer, Christian              f FRA 2270  6.0
 20 Lamorelle, Julien                 FRA 2192  6.0
 21 Cooper, Lawrence                f ENG 2338  6.0
 22 Bonnet, Edouard1                  FRA 2108  6.0
 23 Calistri, Tristan                 FRA 2243  6.0
 24 Loeffler, Markus                m GER 2411  6.0
 25 Machin, Giovillavne               FRA 2099  6.0
 26 Lagunes, Jean Renaud              FRA 2157  6.0
 27 Vaisman, Volodia                m FRA 2385  6.0
149 players

13) Millennium Chess Festival

The Millennium Chess Festival took place in Portsmouth, Virginia USA March 4th-5th 2000.

Michael Atkins reports: 100 players came to compete in two sections of the Millennium Chess Festival in Portsmouth Virginia this weekend. Overlooking the scenic Elizabeth River, player were trated to Virginia hospitality by sponsors Tom Braunlich and Rodney Flores and it was a nice, smooth tournament. Eight players tied for first at 4-1 in the Open section. GMs Jaan Ehlvest, Igor Novikov, Alex Wojtkiewicz, Alex Shabalov, Pavel Blatney, Alex Striounsky, IM Enrico Sevillano and NM Floyd Boudreaux took top honors in the Open. Gary Cummings and Ted Udelson took top honors in the Reserve with 4.5/5 scores. This was the first year of hopefully an annual tradition of a well run, nicely organized event in Portsmouth!

http://www.members.tropid.com/hrca/updates.htm

14) US Amateur Teams

Bill Townsend reports: The U.S. Amateur Team Championships took place over the weekend of Feb. 18 to 21 at four locations in the USA. The Team Midwest was held in Oakbrook, Illinois; the Team West in Los Angeles, California; the Team South in Gainesville, Florida; and the Team East in Parsippany, New Jersey. The Amateur Teams started in New Jersey 30 years ago, and the East is traditionally the largest of the three events, usually dwarfing the other three put together.

This year 222 teams consisting of over 920 players competed for the title of top Amateur Team in the East. The battle for first place was keenly fought and when the smoke cleared, three teams were tied for first with 5 1/2 out of six. First on tiebreaks for the trophy was the top rated team, "Total Brutality!" with an average rating of 2198.5. The team members were Igor Shliperman, Saudin Robovic, Mark Kurtzman and Philip Sorge.

Also with 5 1/2 was "CK Fischers," a team of former students of chess teacher John Collins. The team members were FM Ron Burnett, Brian McCarthy, Thomas Bartell and Jonathan Cohen. The average team rating was 2190. The final team with 5 1/2 was "CIS 2K" consisting of IM Ben Finegold, FM Yurij Lapshun, Chris William and Craig Berger. The average team rating was 2190.25. The last round battles were especially fierce with "Total Brutality!" edging out a team led by former U.S. Champion Joel Benjamin, "The World Championship Is Not Enough." The final score of 2.5-1.5 included Shliperman's tense draw with Benjamin. The latter's flag fell on move 49 of the 50-move time control but since Shliperman's scoresheet was incomplete the game continued and was drawn a few moves later.

The battle at the second table was even more intense as the "CK Fischers" faced a strong team from Massachusetts, the "Cambridge Springers." A tight 2.5- 1.5 victory brought the "CK Fischers" into the winners' circle. The battles here were so strenuously fought that three of these games were the last to finish in the entire tournament. The key battle here was the first board struggle where FM Ron Burnett managed to beat FM William Kelleher in an opposite colored bishop ending that seemed impossibly drawish. It should be stressed that while this was an amateur team event, there was no limit on the rating of individual players so long as the average team rating is under 2200 USCF. In fact, there were over 85 players attending who had U.S. ratings of 2200 or over. Among the stars at this event was former U.S. Champion Joel Benjamin playing first board for "The World Championship Is Not Enough" and famed author and trainer IM Mark Dvoretzky who was playing board one for the "Teaneck Chess School."

15) First Saturday March

In March the top event is an IM event. The events take place 4th-17th March 2000. IM Yuri Zimmerman, IM Peter Sinkovics, IM Miklos Orso, WIM Anita Gara, Ticia Gara, Dan Rat, IM Miklos Kaposztas, Werner Ackermann, IM Oleg Gladyszev, IM Sandor Farago, FM Peter Froehlich, Peter Muehlbach, GM Lenar Murzin, Martin Appleberry, Murugan Thiruchelvam, Naes Flovin, Jerzy Struk, WIM Nikoletta Lakos, Attila Jakab, FM Attila Parkanyi, Igor Kragelj, IM Laszlo Eperjesi, IM Evarth Kahn, Joost Berkvers, Stefan Van Blittersvijk, IM Zoltan Nemeth, Yu Mingyuan, Tibor Reiss, Vasik Rajlich and Dmitri Dremin (30 players) there are three IM groups.

Further report next week.

Info: Nagy, Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@elender.hu http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59 Mobile: (36)-30-230-1914 ICQ # 44805877.

16) II Vince Toth Memorial

The II Vince Toth Memorial, a FIDE cat. VII (2401) event, took place February 25th - March 3rd in the Guanabara Chess Club, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eduardo Limp won the event with 7/9 half a point clear of Darcy Lima. There seems to have been some controversy over his win on time against Nikola Mitkov with the game having to be decided by the appeals committee. [ The original says: "Aqui ao completar o quadragesimo lance, Limp aponta para a seta caida do adversario, que apos a reconstituicao, recorreu ao comite de apelacao que ira decidir amanha (02/03/2000)"] .

Albert Silver reports: The II Memorial Vince Toth took place February 25th - March 3rd in Clube de Xadrez Guanabara (Guanabara Chess Club) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event, made possible thanks to the generous patronage of Peter Toth, Vince Toth's son, is designed to allow Brazilian players a rare opportunity to acquire the much sought international norms. This year's event was a category 7 whose 10 players had an average rating of 2406 FIDE. The GM norm was set at 7 points in 9 and the IM norm at 5.5. Once more, Eduardo Limp came shining through by scoring his second GM norm, beating FM Sadi Dumont in the last round in a long squeezed endgame. He has been having excellent runs of late having also won the São Paulo state championship once more and coming second in the Brazilian championship. It is all the same very curious that he continues to appear untitiled in the rating lists even though has had all of the qualifications for well over a year. Although within Brazil this is well-known and thus does not affect him, it does deprive him of certain possibilities and priviledges abroad. GM Darcy Lima came in second, having had a solid run, and possibly only failed to win the tournament when a personal tragedy occurred on the day of the last round which undoubtedly affected his game. To be fair though, his opponent 3rd place runner IM Christian Toth had had an excellent event and had seemed poised on scoring a GM norm before stumbling on the Macedonian GM Nikola Mitkov in the 7th round. Credit must be given to the organization for the smooth conditions and to International Arbiter Friedrich Salomão.

Coverage at http://www.cbx.org.br/iivincetoth/vince2000.htm and http://www.xadreznet.com/cxg/IIVinceToth/vincerod.htm, photos: http://www.xadreznet.com/cxg/IIVincetoth/gfoto.htm

II Vince Toth Mem Rio de Janeiro BRA (BRA), 25 ii-3 iii 2000cat. VII (2407)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Limp, Eduardo                 BRA 2420 * = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1  7.0  2625
 2 Lima, Darcy                 m BRA 2514 = * = = 1 = 1 = 1 1  6.5  2561
 3 Toth, Christian Endre       m BRA 2355 = = * 1 0 1 = = 1 1  6.0  2537
 4 Vescovi, Giovanni           g BRA 2511 = = 0 * = 1 1 = 1 1  6.0  2520
 5 Mitkov, Nikola              g FRM 2547 0 0 1 = * = = 1 1 1  5.5  2471
 6 Galego, Luis                m POR 2451 = = 0 0 = * 0 = 1 1  4.0  2359
 7 Matsuura, Everaldo          m BRA 2441 0 0 = 0 = 1 * = = 1  4.0  2360
 8 Dumont, Sadi Glasser        f BRA 2297 0 = = = 0 = = * 0 1  3.5  2339
 9 Teixeira, Ricardo da Silva  f BRA 2353 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 * =  2.0  2192
10 Sant'Ana, Ricardo             BRA 2180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = *  0.5  1988
------------------------------------------------------------------------

17) Swiss Chess Tour

Sinisa Joksic reports:

The 6th Ambassador Open - Bern

The Ambassador Open one of the main events in the "Swiss Chess Tour", was faced by collapse due to the weather. The Classic Christmas open (December 26.-30) was faced with a terrible hurricane, rare for Europe, so strong that it stopped players getting to the tournament! Instead of more than 200 players, in normal conditions, only 96 chessplayers arrived and more than 30 were late. Some of them came during the night when the first round was already finished. The organiser included all the late chessplayers in the tournament. The clear winner was grandmaster Igors Rausis (39) from Latvia, half a point ahead of a group of 5 players. IM Kaenel (48-SUI) took second and third was IM Petr Velicka (33-CZE) (Bucholz tie-break) Special prizes: Kaenel for the best Swiss player, Ciric (66-YUG) senior, Ralph Buss, from Allschwil (SUI), junior and the Lady's prize went to Isabell Keysener from Fribourg (SUI). 8 players finished tournament unbeaten: Rausis, Kaenel, Velicka, Sokolov, Ciric, Liardet, Mueller and Baerenfaller.

   Final standings: 

 1. Rausis Igors             g  2496   LAT   6.0  28.5
 2. Kaenel Hansjuerg         m  2408   SUI   5.5  30.5
 3. Velicka Peter            m  2440   CZE   5.5  29.5
 4. Sokolov Andrej           g  2543   RUS   5.5  28.5
 5. Ciric Dragoljub          g  2359   YUG   5.5  26.5
 6. Kolly Jacques               2177   SUI   5.5  26.0
 7. Berzinsh Roland          m  2446   LAT   5.0  30.0
 8. Liardet Fabrice          f  2327   SUI   5.0  28.5
 9. Herbrechtsmeier Christof f  2297   GER   5.0  27.0
10. Mueller Dieter              2190   GER   5.0  26.5
11. Montavon Gerard             2071   SUI   5.0  25.0
12. Maurer Fritz                2190   SUI   5.0  25.0
13. Bex Pierre-Alain            2253   SUI   5.0  24.5
13. Riff Vincent                2061   FRA   5.0  24.5
15. Baerenfaller Beat           2024   SUI   5.0  22.0
...  96 players

2nd Hilton Open - Basel

Andrei Sokolov (37), Russian grandmaster, who has lived for many years in Belfort, France, won Basel's Hilton Open for the second time. This time, with a lot of luck, he won final against Ognjen Cvitan. The Hilton Open used a new formula. The first five rounds were a classic Swiss system. After this the top four played a knock-out system and all the others continued two more rounds of the Swiss. The qualified quartet were, by order of standing after the 5th round: Cvitan (CRO), m Attila Czebe (HUN), Sokolov and m Petr Velicka (CZE). If the first game, played over 5 hours, finished in a draw, a second game was played at a faster timerate, half an hour for all the game. If that game ended without a winner the match continued with 5 minutes games until someone won. In the semi-final, Cvitan saved himself in a lost position and won the second a time scramble. The final took five games to decide. In the 4th game (blitz) Cvitan didn't see that his opponent's flag had fallen and when his flag fell the game finished in a draw. The position was completely winning for Cvitan, with a rook more... Perhaps the FIDE rules for lighting chess should change! (In tournament chess the arbiter has to intervene if a flag falls). Special prizes divided: Ivan Nemet best Swiss, Cvitan Basel's player, m Charles Partos (SUI) senior, Vesna Rozic (SLO) got Lady's prize and best school-pupil.

   Semi final:
Cvitan - Velicka      0.5  1:0
Czebe  - Sokolov      0:1

   Final
Cvitan - Sokolov      0.5  0.5  0.5  0.5  0:1
Czebe  - Velicka      0.5  0:1

Final:
1. Sokolov Andrei              g   2543   RUS 
2. Cvitan Ognjen               g   2511   CRO 
3. Velicka Peter               m   2440   CZE 
4. Czebe Attila                m   2414   HUN 

Open: 
 5. Nemet Ivan                 g   2435   SUI   5.5   27.5  
 6. Tukmakov Vladimir          g   2557   UKR   5.5   26.5  163.0
 7. Horvath Joszef             g   2526   HUN   5.5   26.5  158.5
 8. Milosevic Goran            m   2329   YUG   5.0   26.5  
 9. Rausis Igors               g   2496   LAT   5.0   26.0  159.5
10. Giertz Niklaus             f   2293   SUI   5.0   26.0  148.0
11. Vulevic Vjekoslav          f   2262   SUI   5.0   24.0  
12. Berzinsh Roland            m   2446   LAT   4.5   29.0  159.5
13. Xheladini Mahmut               2276   GER   4.5   29.0  155.5
14. Farago Ivan                g   2512   HUN   4.5   28.0  
15. Nueesch Gerard                 2191   SUI   4.5   26.0  
16. Partos Charles             m   2378   SUI   4.5   25.5  
17. Lurje Pavel                    2174   SUI   4.5   22.5  
... 65 players

18) Dutch Championships 2000

Peter Kemner reports: As a preliminary to the Broekhuis Dutch Championships 2000, a Knock-Out tournament was played in Rotterdam over a period of two weekends: 4-5 December 1999 (1st round, see TWIC 265) and 12-15 February 2000 (2nd and 3rd rounds). Amongst the starting line-up of 32 players were Friso Nijboer (GM 2559), Roberto Cifuentes Parada (GM 2505), Manuel Bosboom (IM 2476), European Youth Champion Dennis de Vreugt (2398) and former Dutch Champion Rini Kuijf (IM 2455).

On Saturday February 12 and Sunday February 13, the sixteen remaining contestants started their bid for a total of four tickets to the main event, to be held in Rotterdam May 6-19 2000. Each round consisting of two games followed by a 2-game rapid-play-off in case of a tie, and sudden-death blitzgames in case of a tie in the rapid-games. Nijboer, who had a tough ride in the first round, comfortably beat Joost Hoogendoorn (2281) 2-0. The upsets of the 2nd round were the defeat of Roberto Cifuentes Parada, who was outplayed by Mark van der Werf (2432), and the unlikely advance of Martijn Dambacher (2197), who showed incredible stamina by beating Karel van der Weide (2434), needing 2 games, 2 rapid-games and three (!) sudden-death blitzgames to pull this one off. Youngster Dennis de Vreugt had a hard time against almost-veteran Bruno Carlier (2420), winning game one on time (Carlier missing a win earlier in that game as well) and coming back from a lost position in game two. Many of Carliers fans are still contemplating why Bruno didn't go for 9.g4!, winning a piece. Both Herman Grooten (against Frank Kroeze) and Oscar Lemmers (against Johan van Mil) needed a tie-break to reach the next round.

In the 3rd round (Monday 14 and Tuesday 15) Nijboer again proved himself te be more than worthy of the finales, beating Ruud Jansen (2448) 2-0. Manuel Bosboom put an end to Martijn Dambachers dreamride in mid-air, without even lifting an eyebrow: 1,5-0,5. The other two games went to a tie-break. Dennis de Vreugt, who won a spectaculair first game against Oscar Lemmers, but clumsely lost the second, made good in the rapid-games and outplayed his opponent 2-0. He will debut in the Dutch Championships at the age of 19 and many are expecting him to do well. And finally, after 19 years of absence, Herman Grooten (2412) reached the finals again, beating Mark van der Werf 1,5-0,5 in the tie-break quite convincingly. So Dennis de Vreugt, Friso Nijboer, Herman Grooten and Manuel Bosboom go to the finals in May in Rotterdam.

Internet coverage: http://www.schaakbond.nl/NK2000/

Round 2 results

1. Joost Hoogendoorn - Friso Nijboer            0-1  0-1
2. Edwin van Haastert - Ruud Janssen            ½-½  0-1
3. Harmen Jonkman - Manuel Bosboom              0-1  ½-½
4. Martijn Dambacher - Karel van der Weide      0-1  1-0  3-2
5. Roberto Cifuentes Parada - Mark van der Werf ½-½  0-1
6. Frank Kroeze - Herman Grooten                0-1  1-0  0-2
7. Dennis de Vreugt - Bruno Carlier             1-0  ½-½
8. Johan van Mil - Oscar Lemmers                ½-½  ½-½  ½-1½

Round 3 results

1. Ruud Janssen - Friso Nijboer                 0-1 0-1
2. Mark van der Werf - Herman Grooten           1-0 0-1  ½-1½
3. Martijn Dambacher - Manuel Bosboom           0-1 ½-½
4. Dennis de Vreugt - Oscar Lemmers             1-0 0-1  1½-½

19) 12 Hour Brussels Blitz

The 12 Hour Brussels Blitz took place Feb 26th 2000. There were 117 entries in spite of a clash with Cappelle La Grande.

    1 Ekrem  Cekro         2420  47,5/55     27.5 2403
    2 Erik  Knoppert       2377  45/55       27.0 2364
    3 Aleksander Alienkin  2393  44/55       26.5 2323
    4 Cemil  Gulbas        2274  41/55       24.5 2284
    5 Stéphane  Hautot     2278  40,5/55     23.5 2148
    6 Folco  Ferretti      2286  40/55       24.5 2198
    7 Richard  Polaczek    2436  40/55       23.5 2273
    8 Gorik  Cools         2360  39/55       22.0 2247
    9 Nimrod  Faybish      2229  38/55       22.5 2167
   10 Ferenc  Peredy       2376  38/55       22.0 2231
   11 Stefan  Docx         2290  38/55       22.0 2222
   12 Yves  Duhayon        2245  37,5/55     23.5 2136
   13 Mike Van den Abbeele 2109  37,5/55     22.5 2192
   14 Laszlo  Kubacsny     2382  37/55       22.5 2184
   15 Christophe  Gregoir  2042  36,5/55     19.5 2240
   16 Ioan  Macai          1919  36/55       22.0 2057
   17 Lubo  Blagojevic     1870  36/55       22.0 2008
   18 Ghoerghe  Judele     1968  36/55       21.0 1974
   19 Eric  Praet          2000  36/55       20.5 2136
   20 Arben  Dardha        2271  35,5/55     19.5 2152
   21 Alex  Johannes       2206  35/55       21.0 2132
   22 Danny  Haberkorn     2222  35/55       20.5 2045
   23 Taki  Apostolakis    1926  35/55       19.5 2035
   24 Jorge  Goncalves     2192  35/55       19.0 2009
   25 Philippe  Lorand     2188  35/55       18.5 2049
   26 Sophie  Brion        1737  34,5/55     22.5 1992
   27 Aziz  Aït-Messaoud   2146  34,5/55     20.5 2119
   28 Pim  Ydo             2078  34/55       21.5 2081
   29 Andy  Baert          2267  34/55       19.5 2091
   30 Ahmed  Draïdi        2108  33,5/55     20.5 2098
   31 Oleg  Iolis          2050  33,5/44     17.0 2082
   32 Frederik  Roels      1884  33/55       20.0 1934
   33 Diederik  Lot        1831  33/55       19.0 1986
   34 Ruben  Akhayan             32,5/55     18.0 1960
117 players

20) Goodricke International

As reported in TWIC 276: The Goodricke International takes place in Calcutta February 6th-17th 2000. Gregory Kaidanov led throughout drawing out his last few games to finish half a point clear of Vladimir Akopian and Mathias Roeder (who defeated Victor Korchnoi with black in the final round). Now all the games are available (thanks to James Tan).

Internet coverage: http://www.goodrickechess.freeservers.com/

Final standings:

Goodricke Open Calcutta IND (IND), 5-16 ii 2000
------------------------------------------------
 1 Kaidanov, Gregory S         g USA 2599  8.5 
 2 Akopian, Vladimir           g ARM 2660  8.0 
 3 Roeder, Mathias             m GER 2413  8.0
 4 Vladimirov, Evgeny          g KAZ 2586  7.5
 5 Kunte, Abhijit              m IND 2487  7.5
 6 Sasikiran, Krishnan         m IND 2514  7.5
 7 Peng Xiaomin                g CHN 2624  7.5
 8 Yurtaev, Leonid             g KGZ 2536  7.5
 9 Korchnoi, Viktor            g SUI 2659  7.0
10 Prakash, G B                m IND 2435  7.0
11 Horvath, Jozsef             g HUN 2557  7.0
12 Iordachescu, Viorel         g MDA 2560  7.0
13 Lalic, Bogdan               g ENG 2548  7.0
14 Ravi, Thandalam Shanmugam   f IND 2373  7.0
15 Dao Thien Hai               g VIE 2550  7.0
16 Vakhidov, Tahir             m UZB 2505  6.5 
17 Rahman, Ziaur               m BAN 2465  6.5
18 Prasad, Devaki V            m IND 2421  6.5
19 Saravanan, V                m IND 2412  6.5
20 Sorokin, Maxim              g ARG 2572  6.0
21 Goloshchapov, Alexander     g UKR 2561  6.0
22 Blatny, Pavel               g CZE 2512  6.0
23 Qin Kanying                wg CHN 2475  6.0
24 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar        IND 2440  6.0
25 Sandipan, Chanda              IND 2424  6.0
26 Reefat, Bin-Sattar          m BAN 2379  6.0
27 Gokhale, Jayant Suresh        IND 2305  6.0
28 Harikrishna, P              f IND 2354  6.0
29 Bakre, Tejas                m IND 2352  6.0
30 Koshy, Varugeese            m IND 2346  6.0
31 Babu, N Sudhakar            m IND 2336  6.0
32 Shetty, Rahul                 IND 2307  6.0
33 Ibragimov, Ildar            g RUS 2611  5.5
34 Thipsay, Praveen M          g IND 2475  5.5
35 Webster, Andrew             m ENG 2401  5.5
36 Vijayalakshimi, Subbaraman wm IND 2383  5.5
37 Collas, Didier              m FRA 2365  5.5
38 Konguvel, Ponnuswamy        m IND 2356  5.5
39 Shankar, Roy                m IND 2338  5.5
40 Joshi, G B                    IND 2306  5.5
41 Aarthie, Ramaswamy            IND 2219  5.5
72 players

21) Jersey Open correction

The games of unrated Thomas Nixon were misattributed to Rodney Nixon last week.

22) Open Letter from Michael Adams

Dear Mark,

I had not at first intended to prolong the discussions about the Deep Junior match as I felt it rather detracted from what I still I still believe was an interesting and innovative event but given some of the extremely inaccurate things that have been written both on the internet and in print, I feel I should state the facts from the Bermuda side.

In general I agree with the comments by Michael Greengard (Mig) on the Club Kasparov site and on the computer chess club newsgroup. I was however quite shocked to read the unwarranted accusations by Shay Bushinsky and Amir Ban. It is clear that in a situation where the two opponents are in two different countries that it is not possible to fully understand exactly what is happening at the other side. In view of this it is especially surprising that they have made such serious accusations without making any attempt to find out the facts.

For some reason on the newsgroup Shay Bushinsky has directly stated that I exhibited "very poor sportsmanship". Amir Ban also accuses me totally without foundation of having demanded that the computer be defaulted in the first game, in fact I did not demand that the computer be defaulted at all - it was the decision made by Mig and obviously only applied to the second game. Amir goes on to conclude - "Adams may have missed here a golden opportunity to demand being declared winner of the entire Grand Prix". Indeed whilst this match did nothing to change my high opinion of Deep Junior, unfortunately I am unable to say the same about its programmers and operators.

Here are the facts as I am aware of them:

The start time of the match was not changed at my request: whilst he was in Bermuda Mig offered that - as I was playing the computer - I could play at a time of my choosing and offered to bring the match forward one day (i.e. to the 15th). Had Mig not made this offer I would of course have played my game at the original time as I did all my other rounds. I accepted this offer as it was much more convenient for my match with Yasser and the Bermuda organisers but it turned out that Mig had not consulted with my opponents who refused to make the switch. As some kind of compromise Club Kasparov put the match time back to 13.00 (all times Bermudian) as this was nearer to the start time of my match games with Yasser.

It was of course unfortunate that Mig was unable to remain in Bermuda for the full extent of my participation in the Grand Prix as I had understood would be the case. Everyone in Bermuda expressed concern that it would be difficult to resolve technical problems if they arose but Mig assured us that all would go smoothly. When I reminded him of this conversation after the Deep Junior incident he stated that his presence in Bermuda would not have helped to solve the problems as they were all caused by the internet provider in Israel.

Equipment was a bit of a problem anyway as Mig had taken his laptop with him and my laptop is too old to be used (obviously if the tournament had been on its original dates it would have been very easy for me to play at home on my PC or possibly at the Chess and Bridge Centre). We had also borrowed Jill Faulks' mobile phone, as there was only one phone line in the playing hall which was connected to the internet. I was playing using Nigel Freeman's internet account as the account Mig had opened did not work in Bermuda. Yasser and I were very grateful to everyone in Bermuda for their help not least that of Nick Faulks, the sponsor of the Adams-Seirawan match, who agreed for the schedule to be altered and also, reluctantly, for the match be reduced to 8 games from 10. Nick was especially understanding as the Seirawan-Adams match had been scheduled for over a year and Club Kasparov were only able to contact him with details of the Grand Prix less than a month before the start of the match when due to other commitments and the fact that plane tickets had been booked it was impossible to schedule extra days to complete the match. It seems a poor reward for their considerable efforts to be accused of having technical problems when all delays were the responsibility of either the internet provider in Israel or Club Kasparov.

On the day of my game with Deep Junior, Carol Jarecki was already working on the software, which had been successfully tested the day before, from 09.00 although we were only able to acquire Jill Faulks mobile phone at 11.30 more than an hour and a half before the official start time of the match. As it had taken Mig only twenty minutes to get everything running for my match against Gulko this would seem to be ample for a prompt start (the delay to the start of my match against Gulko was actually due to Mig arriving late to the playing hall).

It was suggested by Aviv Bushinsky (Shay's brother) that maybe there was a problem with Carol's computer and that using Yvette's might solve the problem but it seems unlikely to me that this was the problem as Carol's computer had been tested the previous day and was also used throughout my match with Kasparov without any problems and I hence believe that the switch was unnecessary. Naturally due to the switch of the computer it was also necessary to switch my mouse.

By this stage the delay was approximately one hour, now everything was more or less ready to go but I noticed that the verify button was not on the screen and asked Aviv where it was, Aviv said that it was not available although Mig had already offered me the use of it in my first round match against Gulko. Mig had also assured us by email that it would be available for this match and that it would take only five minutes to install. After about 25 minutes had passed I had become quite frustrated with the delay and said that I just wanted to play as soon as possible with or without the verify button, we were actually ready to start at about 14.40 Bermuda time.

At this stage Aviv said that the verify button might be working but they hadn't tested it yet and suggested that instead, as I was playing the computer, if I made a mouse slip Carol Jarecki who was acting as my operator, should ring up Aviv and the move would be retracted. I wasn't very happy with this solution and was very thankful that it did not occur during the game as I felt that this would leave me open to all kinds of accusations which some of the people involved have seemed all too happy to throw around.

Finally the game started. Obviously the game was a bit of a disaster from my point of view and shortly after move 20 I had very little hope but as I tried to resist in a lost position the computer started to consume large amounts of time - at one stage I believe it took over a quarter of an hour on one move and in the final position the times on my monitor were approximately 00:08:20 for myself and 00:01:40 for Deep Junior. After Deep Junior's last move the message "game adjourned" immediately flashed up on the screen. Shortly thereafter the mobile phone rang and Aviv said that there was a problem and the game would continue shortly. As the computer was taking so much time the idea of lag had already occurred to me and I asked Carol to confirm with Aviv that the times on my computer were correct. Aviv said that he could not see the times on his computer as his screen was blank but assured me that the times at our end would be accurate. I had earlier been told that any lag would be corrected on a move by move basis so I can only assume that the times we had were correct. The times that the ICC had for the game seem to be quite similar to the ones we had.

Given the speed that Deep Junior was moving it is impossible to say if it would have forfeited on time had the game continued but obviously we were denied the possibility of finding this out due to technical difficulties I believe with the internet connection at the Israeli end. It is also surprising to me that as much has been made of the importance of the match to Deep Junior that it's operators did not ensure that the venue at which it played had either a very reliable internet connection and or backup connections and other facilities available.

Next Mig rang from New York to suggest some solutions to the problem. His first solution was that the match be restarted from scratch the next day. I explained this was completely impossible as there were no longer any free days built in to the schedule of my match against Yasser ( I actually played 13 games over a period of 12 days during this time, obviously had the tournament taken place in December when my schedule was completely free then this would not have been a problem). Mig rang off to consult with Aviv.

He rang back again at about 17.00 Bermudian time, already over half an hour after the adjournment of the game, he said that he did not consider it fair to continue the first game after such a long break so I said that I was happy to abandon it to a draw, which he seemed quite happy with. Mig then said that if the Deep Junior was not ready to start the second game by 17.15 it would be forfeited - this was in no way my suggestion - I only indicated that I wanted to proceed with the second game as quickly as possible.

I notice that several people have commented that Mig was not qualified to make this offer - indeed in TWIC you stated "I pretty much only have the Deep Junior team's view on this matter which can be summed up as they accuse Adams of being too quick to take a default from someone he knew had no official role in the match". I find this most unfair. I understood, and still believe, that Mig was more than qualified for several reasons: on my Club Kasparov contract under the space organisers signature Mig has signed, (there is no mention of Aviv on the official contract although I later received emails and letters from him where he is listed as Event Co-ordinator), also Mig is a vice president of Club Kasparov and he was also the operator for my previous round match against Gulko. Furthermore if Mig had no authority I have no idea why he was speaking on the phone to both me and Aviv or as to why his decision was eventually upheld.

As regarding this particular situation the contract simply states that problems should be dealt with on a case by case basis. So to me in this case the ruling was pretty clear - the first game was a draw and if Deep Junior was not ready to start by 17.15 Bermudian time it would be forfeited. Mig phoned again at about 17.20 and I pointed out the deadline had passed, he said he would ring Aviv and ring me back in five minutes. The next person we heard from was Aviv who rang at 17.42 ( 27 minutes after the deadline) to say that the decision was that the first game was a draw and that they were ready to start the second game which should begin immediately. I imagine by this stage Aviv knew about the forfeit as he did not even offer me five minutes warning after a delay of an hour and a quarter. We asked for a delay until 18.00.

Having thought about the situation I felt that there should be some clarification as to why Deep Junior had not been forfeited as was stated and asked for an explanation prior to the second game. Aviv then had a lengthy conversation with Carol Jarecki who fully supported my position. Of course Carol is an extremely experienced arbiter who officiated at both Kasparov- Deep Blue matches so she also has some experience of man-computer matches. This conversation went on for quite some time but no progress was made.

At this stage Aviv decided to turn to the arbiter. This introduced a rather comic side to the proceedings as Aviv said that he had to wake him up to do so. This was apparently not an easy task but Aviv succeeded after more than one attempt to reach him by phone. I find it hard to see how someone who is asleep while the games are going on can make any kind of considered decision and obviously he had not been party to any of the phone conversations throughout the day. Aviv explained the situation to him briefly in Russian and translated his decision which was in total agreement with Aviv's opinion. I said that I did not feel that the arbiter could make a reasonable judgement and asked why Mig's earlier statement was being disregarded. At this stage (it was shortly after 19.00) Aviv said that he would ring Mig and someone would call me back within five minutes. Finally at about 20.10 Mig rang me back to say that his decision had been upheld and to apologise for all the problems and confusion.

I feel after the problem Mig behaved very decently by accepting much of the blame and also attempting to defend me against the unwarranted accusations that have been thrown at me. Obviously I think that this kind of event is interesting for Chess players and fans everywhere and hope that Club Kasparov will continue to be able to put on events of this nature as the future of Chess seems to be heading in this direction. Clearly however in the early stages it will be necessary for all sides to be understanding to deal with any teething troubles and I find it a great shame that the Deep Junior team has been unable to do this.

Sincerely,

Michael Adams

23) Professional Chess Rankings: March

The Professional World Chess Rankings for players rated 2500 and higher. Produced by Ken Thomson , New Jersey and calculated by Vladimir Dvorkovich, Moscow. Results up to March 1, 2000

1.  Kasparov,Garry              RUS 2837 133
2.  Kramnik,Vladimir            RUS 2737 108
3.  Anand,Viswanathan           IND 2724 111
4.  Shirov,Alexei               ESP 2723 179
5.  Leko,Peter                  HUN 2722 126
6.  Morozevich,Alexander        RUS 2707 174
7.  Kamsky,Gata                 USA 2696 184
8.  Bareev,Evgeny               RUS 2685 151
9.  Adams,Michael               ENG 2670 175
10. Short,Nigel D               ENG 2668 151
11. Topalov,Veselin             BUL 2668 168
12. Ivanchuk,Vassily            UKR 2663 154
13. Gelfand,Boris               ISR 2656 154
14. Azmaiparashvili,Zurab       GEO 2651 131
15. Dreev,Alexey                RUS 2648 170
16. Georgiev,Kiril              BUL 2643 156
17. Karpov,Anatoli              RUS 2641 131
18. Almasi,Zoltan               HUN 2639 157
19. Akopian,Vladimir            ARM 2638 168
20. Krasenkov,Mikhail           POL 2629 191
21. Svidler,Peter               RUS 2628 160
22. Nikolic,Predrag             BIH 2626 145
23. Movsesian,Sergei            CZE 2625 170
24. Fedorov,Alexey              BLR 2625 187
25. Korchnoi,Viktor             SUI 2624 159
26. Seirawan,Yasser             USA 2621 170
27. Hansen,Curt                 DEN 2616 157
28. Rublevsky,Sergei            RUS 2616 141
29. Sadler,Matthew              ENG 2616 185
30. Salov,Valery                RUS 2612 199
31. Piket,Jeroen                NED 2612 161
32. Timman,Jan H                NED 2611 199
33. Beliavsky,Alexander G       SLO 2611 169
34. Vladimirov,Evgeny           KAZ 2611 163
35. Gulko,Boris F               USA 2610 163
36. Kobalija,Mikhael            RUS 2608 166
37. Lautier,Joel                FRA 2607 155
38. Hjartarson,Johann           ISD 2604 175
39. Gurevich,Mikhail            BEL 2604 142
40. Granda Zuniga,Julio E       PER 2602 202
41. Wolff,Patrick G             USA 2602 186
42. Yusupov,Artur               GER 2602 141
43. Bologan,Viorel              MDA 2601 201
44. Tkachev,Vladislav           FRA 2600 145
45. Smirin,Ilia                 ISR 2599 182
46. Khalifman,Alexander         RUS 2599 161
47. Kharlov,Andrei              RUS 2596 170
48. Magerramov,Elmar            AZE 2595 187
49. Onischuk,Alexander          UKR 2592 177
50. Aleksandrov,Aleksej         BLR 2592 181
51. Kasimdzhanov,Rustam         UZB 2592 162
52. Polgar,Judit (GM)           HUN 2592 173
53. Psakhis,Lev                 ISR 2591 134
54. Avrukh,Boris                ISR 2590 210
55. Rohde,Michael A             USA 2589 190

24) Forthcoming Events and Links

British Problem Solving Championships

Brian Stephenson reports: The 1999-2000 British Chess Solving Championship is now complete. Full details can be found at: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/9900/bcsc.html and supporting pages. If you are a journalist and wish to quote some or any of the problems you may only quote those not classified as 'original'. It would be respectful to the composers of the problems and the publications that first published their compositions (the sources) if you were to quote composer and source along with the diagram.

New York Open

Michael Atkins reports: The New York Open is back!! Long, the strongest Open tournament in the U.S., the NY Open is scheduled over the period of May 6-14, 2000. The Two Weekend schedule will start May 6-7, and the main Open section will play May 8-14. The class sections will play May 10-14. Playing at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, the same site as the last two NYO's, the Open section will feature $50,000 in prizes which is about $10,000 more than in the open section in 1998. All other details will be announced in late January. For more details contact tournament organizer Mr. Jose Cuchi later in the month Stay tuned for upcoming announcements and full details in late January on the New York Open website http://w-w-w.com/nyopen/

Oxbridge Match

The Oxford-Cambrige match will be broadcast live from the MSO Worldwide. Web site at http://www.msoworld.com on March 4th, starting at 12:30 pm UK time, 7:30 am EST, and running for approximately 6 hours.

GM Ariel Sorin vs World

GM Ariel Sorin will play against the World from January 31st 2000. The game will start at 17:00 (-03:00GMT). To play it is free. IM Guillermo Llanos will suggest some moves, and the people will choose one of them. GM Ariel Sorin will play: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. World will play: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Sunday will be a rest day. However, there will be an analysis of the position and the moves of the week.

Website: http://chessok.virtualave.net

Malahide Millennium Tournament

The Malahide Chess Club in Dublin, Ireland are holding a weekend tournament in in association with the National Millennium Council present the Malahide Millennium Tournament on the weekend of April 8th & 9th, 2000. The venue is St. Sylvester's GAA Club, Church Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin and there are three events - an Open, an Under 1600 ELO and a Top Team event. To enter contact Vincent Bissett on 353 1 8453609 and further detailed information is available on our website at http://members.tripod.co.uk/MalahideCC.

Chess@Iceland

Chess@Iceland is a World Class rapid tournament (25 min player/game) which takes place April 1st-2nd 2000, in Kopavogur, Iceland. There will be twelve players. These include: Kasparov, Anand, Korchnoi, Timman, Ivan Sokolov and winner of a qualifying tournament on ICC on March 5th (Svidler and Shirov are amongst the players in this strong field). The event will consist of two parts. Day one will see two 6 player round-robins. Day two sees the top two from each group play in final. Website: http://www.chess.is

Lugano Open

The 15 years ago Lugano was one of the most popular open in the world. Last year the "Swiss Chess Tour" successfully restored the tradition and the winnering trio were GMs Joe Gallagher (SUI), Vladimir Tukmakov (UKR) and Ian Rogers (AUS). This year the venue is the four star Hotel "La Perla", in the part of Lugano called Agno, not so far from Lugano Airport. Tournament is open to all and is a 7 round event in one section. Time control 40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end. After Round 5, the first four players will play a knock-out for the winner and the others continue in a Swiss system tournament.

Schedule: April 8th 16.00 - 17.15 Last registration 17.15 - 17.30 Open ceremony 17.30 - 22.30 Round 1 April 9th 10.00 - 15.00 Round 2 16.00 - 21.00 Round 3 April 10th 17.30 - 22.30 Round 4 April 11th 10.00 - 15.00 Round 5 16.00 - 21.00 Round 6 April 12th 10.00 - 15.00 Round 7 15.30 Closing ceremony Enter fee 130 SF, juniors and FIDE masters 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free.

Prizes in SF: 2.000/1.500/1.000/800/600/500/400/300/250/200, 10 natural prizes, Special prizes for the best Lady, Senior (1940), Junior (1980-83), Schoolboy (1984), Ticino's players etc.

More information: http://www.beochess.ch
R. Spoerri, Breite 85, Ch-3306 Etzelkofen, tel: 0041-31-768-01-60; fax 0041-31-768-01-61
E-mail: info@beochess.ch

Foxwoods Chess Open

The 2nd annual FOXWOODS CHESS OPEN April 20-23 or 21-23 7-round Swiss at the world's largest casino $100,000 prize fund. For details about entry fees etc see the website below.

Website: http://www.foxwoods.com/frm_chess.htm

Miguel Najdorf Blitz

The Club Argentino de Ajedrez in Buenos Aires is holding a blitz event on Saturday April 8th. $5.600 in prizes, starts at 18-00. 150 jugadores. Entry: $ 20 Club Members $10. 7 minutes per game. Further info: (011) 4811-9412. Arbiter, Adrián Roldán with Blas Pingas and Leandro Plotinsky. Contact: Adrian@Roldan.com. Website: http://Adrian.Roldan.com

Garry Koshnitsky Memorial

The Garry Koshnitsky Memorial Australian Chess Festival is being held this year from 7 June to 13 August in memory of arguably the most important figure in Australian chess history who died last year at the age of 91. The festival commences with the Surfers Paradise Parkroyal International which is being held at a five star venue on Queensland's Gold Coast in order to give Australian players the opportunity to play top class overseas opposition. The nine round Swiss event features GMs Nikolic, Ftacnik, Rogers and Johansen and runs from 7-17 June. Whilst the Prize Fund is a modest $5,000 the playing conditions are superb and the hotel is situated in one of the world's great holiday destinations. Entry fees are IMs and GMs FOC, players rated 2300+ $150, 2200+ $250, 2100+ $350, 2000+ $450. Overseas players are half price and there are discounts for payment by 15/3/00 ($50) and 15/4/00 ($25). There are very special room rates at the Parkroyal only available to competitors ($75 single, $37.50 twin share).

The Garry Koshnitsky Festival features the following events: 7 to 17 June Parkroyal Surfers Paradise International 18 June Parkroyal Surfers Paradise Corporate challenge 19 to 23 June GM coaching in local schools 24 to 25 June Gold Coast Open 26 to 30 June GM coaching of elite Australian juniors 1 to 2 July Noosa Open 8 to 9 July Queen Victoria Building event, Sydney 15 to 16 July Australian National University Open, Canberra 24 July to 4 August Australian Masters, Reserve Bank Building, Melbourne 12 to 13 August Adelaide Weekender (Festival Finale)

Contact details: Graeme Gardiner, President Australian Chess Federation, C/O Somerset College, Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland 4213 Phone: (+61 7 international) or (07) 5530 3777 (w); (07) 5530 5794 (h); (07) 5525 2676 (fax) Email: ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au

Bergen NOR

Tournament name : Bergen Chess International Site: Bergen, Norway. Date: 21-29th July 2000 Prize Fund : NOK 10000/6000/4000/2000/1000 + rating prizes The prize fund is garanteed. Entry fee : No entry fee for foreigners with FIDE-ELO Conditions : May be offered to a limited number of IMs/GMs. Number of rounds : 9 System : Modifed Swiss Rate of play : 2 hours/40 moves, 1 hour/20 moves, 0.5 hour/rest Side events : Rapid tournaments, GM-simuls, blitz etc

Home page : http://home.sol.no/~eirikgu/bi2000.htm

40-50 participants are expected of which there will be 5-6 GMs and 6-8 IMs. Only 6 unrated players will take part. Confirmed titled players: GM Yakovich (2580), GM Volzhin (2548), GM Gausel (2492), GM Djurhuus (2484), IM L. Johannessen (2431), IM Fyllingen (2408), IM Bern (2379) and IM Gullaksen (2353).

Oakham GM

The Oakham GM takes place 11th-19th April 2000, Oakham School, Rutland, Leicestershire. Chris Ward, Danny Gormally, Neil McDonald, Colin McNab, Irina Krush, Jacob Aagaard, Nick Pert, Yochanan Afek, Patrick Hummel and Alan Norris play.

Further details: http://www.circuit.demon.co.uk/oakham.htm

Politiken Cup 2000

The Politiken Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark takes place 17th-28th July 2000. There is a new venue at the Nørrebrohallen with room for 500-700 players.

Further information: http://www.kbhsu.dk

13th Ciudad de León Tournament

The 13th Ciudad de León Tournament will again use the "advanced chess" format (players will be allowed to use a computer for databases and a playing program). The competitors will be Anand, Shirov, Judith Polgar and Illescas. The event will run June 1st-5th 2000 (playing days: June 2nd Shirov-Illescas 2 game match, June 3rd Anand-Polgar 2 game match, June 3rd, final. The venue is the Junta de León” building, with the opening ceremony in the Conde Luna Hotel and the closing ceremony and Judit Polgar simul at the University.

19th Reykjavik International Open

The 19th Reykjavik International Chess Tournament takes place in the Reykjavík City Hall 5th-13th April 2000.

Minimum Prize fund: USD 15.000 1. prize USD 5.000 2. prize USD 3.000 3. prize USD 2.000 4. prize USD 1.500 5. prize USD 1.000 Under 2450 .USD 1.500 Under 2300 .USD 1.000.

9 rounds, Swiss System, Time Limit: 40 moves in 2 hours, 20 moves in 1 hour, and 30 minutes for the rest of the game.

Registration: Please contact the ICELANDIC CHESS FEDERATION, P.O. Box 8354, 128 Reykjavík, Iceland, entry still open. Tel.: 354 568 9141 Fax: 354 568 9116 Email: siks@itn.is Eligible: All players rated 2000 or more (FIDE rating list). No entrance fee for foreign players.

Coverage at:http://www.simnet.is/hellir/Reykopen00.htm

Budapest Spring Festival

The 16th Budapest Spring Festival is a 9 round Swiss Open chess tournament, the event runs 17th-25th of March 2000, Budapest. The planned maximum is 100 participants, 1-3 GM-s, 6-8 IM-s, more, than 50 % ELO-rated, min. 20 % foreigners. Info: Nagy, Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@elender.hu www.elender.hu/~firstsat Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59 Mobile: (36)-30-230-1914 ICQ # 44805877.