The Week in Chess 280

THE WEEK IN CHESS 280 20th March 2000 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Lost Boys, Malcolm Pein, Kevin Doland, Michael Tischendorf, Michael Rahal, ICC's John Fernandez, Ignatius Leong and Wang Lei, Sinisa Joksic, Jovan Petronic, Elie Holishian and Hassan Khaled, Udo Gueldner, Gary Bekker, Henri Spijkerman, GMSchach, Laszlo Nagy, Gagik Khanamiryan, Xie Jun and all those who helped with this issue.

Over the board the big news is the Amber Rapidplay tournament with many of the World's best players. Announcements of World Championship matches occur very frequently, and often they don't end up happening, we'll have to see about Ray Keene's proposals. The launch of Kasparov's web site in New York took place this week. The site is a big money venture, can it catch the wave of enthusiasm over dot.com investments, that is the big question. The launch generally went smoothly but a match between Deep Junior and Xie Jun especially its reporting did not, read an open letter from the Women's World Champion.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) 9th Amber Tournament

The 9th Amber Tournament started on Thursday March 16th 2000. The blindfold and rapidplay tournament includes three players from Linares: Kramnik, Anand and Shirov. Below are the results and standings to round 4.

Official site: http://chess.lostcity.nl/amber/

Results to round 4

Rapidplay standings:

Round 1 (March 16, 2000)

Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Topalov, Veselin      1/2   23  E11  Bogo indian
Gelfand, Boris        -  Nikolic, Predrag      1-0   34  E32  Nimzo indian
Van Wely, Loek        -  Karpov, Anatoly       1/2   56  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Lautier, Joel         -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   32  D47  Semi-Slav
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   26  D75  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Piket, Jeroen         -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   41  D37  Queen's gambit

Round 2 (March 17, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   23  B46  Sicilian
Topalov, Veselin      -  Piket, Jeroen         1/2   62  C91  Ruy Lopez
Van Wely, Loek        -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   24  D43  Semi-Slav
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   40  D12  Slav defence
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Gelfand, Boris        1/2   60  A33  English; 1.c4 c5
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   33  D18  Slav defence

Round 3 (March 18, 2000)

Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1-0   52  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Gelfand, Boris        -  Piket, Jeroen         1/2   30  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Karpov, Anatoly       0-1   34  E15  Nimzo indian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Van Wely, Loek        1/2   43  D23  QGA;
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Topalov, Veselin      0-1   44  A62  Modern Benoni
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Shirov, Alexei        0-1   39  C11  French; Classical

Round 4 (March 19, 2000)

Gelfand, Boris        -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   54  D27  QGA;
Van Wely, Loek        -  Anand, Viswanathan    1-0  113  E12  Nimzo indian
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Shirov, Alexei        0-1   51  D30  Queen's gambit
Lautier, Joel         -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1/2   29  B80  Sicilian
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Topalov, Veselin      0-1   33  A43  Queen's pawn
Piket, Jeroen         -  Nikolic, Predrag      0-1   59  D58  QGD;


Amber Rapidplay Monaco MNC (MNC), 16-28 iii 2000     cat. XVIII (2684)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 * . . . . 1 = 1 . . . 1  3.5  3000
 2 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2702 . * = . . . . . 1 1 = .  3.0  2882
 3 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2709 . = * = . . . . 1 = . .  2.5  2797
 4 Gelfand, Boris        g ISR 2692 . . = * . . . . = 1 = .  2.5  2784
 5 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2646 . . . . * = = = . . . 1  2.5  2759
 6 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2696 0 . . . = * 1 . . . . =  2.0  2699
 7 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2632 = . . . = 0 * = . . . .  1.5  2576
 8 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2559 0 . . . = . = * . . . =  1.5  2612
 9 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 . 0 0 = . . . . * . 1 .  1.5  2597
10 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2659 . 0 = 0 . . . . . * 1 .  1.5  2597
11 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2633 . = . = . . . . 0 0 * .  1.0  2509
12 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 0 . . . 0 = . = . . . *  1.0  2470
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Blindfold Standings:

Round 1 (March 16, 2000)

Karpov, Anatoly       -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   52  E32  Nimzo indian
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   29  B80  Sicilian
Topalov, Veselin      -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1-0   33  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Piket, Jeroen         1-0   30  D18  Slav defence
Shirov, Alexei        -  Lautier, Joel         1-0   26  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Gelfand, Boris        1/2   25  D39  Queen's gambit

Round 2 (March 17, 2000)

Anand, Viswanathan    -  Karpov, Anatoly       1/2   45  B12  Caro-Kann
Piket, Jeroen         -  Topalov, Veselin      1/2   46  A70  Modern Benoni
Gelfand, Boris        -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1-0   60  A31  English; 1.c4 c5
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   25  D75  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   14  E32  Nimzo indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Van Wely, Loek        0-1   46  D19  Slav defence

Round 3 (March 18, 2000)

Karpov, Anatoly       -  Lautier, Joel         1-0   93  D32  Queen's gambit
Topalov, Veselin      -  Nikolic, Predrag      1-0   58  E15  Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1-0   23  E97  Kings indian; Main line
Shirov, Alexei        -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   50  B12  Caro-Kann
Piket, Jeroen         -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   41  D43  Semi-Slav
Van Wely, Loek        -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1/2   62  E32  Nimzo indian

Round 4 (March 19, 2000)

Anand, Viswanathan    -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   32  B80  Sicilian
Topalov, Veselin      -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   39  B63  Sicilian
Shirov, Alexei        -  Karpov, Anatoly       1/2   26  B12  Caro-Kann
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Lautier, Joel         0-1   30  D44  QGD; Botwinnik
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Piket, Jeroen         0-1   72  D02  Queen's pawn
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Gelfand, Boris        1/2   25  B70  Sicilian; Dragon


Amber Blindfold Monaco MNC (MNC), 16-28 iii 2000     cat. XVIII (2684)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2696 * = . . = . . 1 . . . 1  3.0  2892
 2 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 = * . . = . . 1 1 . . .  3.0  2856
 3 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2702 . . * = . = . . . 1 1 .  3.0  2882
 4 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 . . = * . 1 0 . . . 1 .  2.5  2779
 5 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 = = . . * . . . = . . 1  2.5  2759
 6 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2633 . . = 0 . * 1 . . 1 . .  2.5  2797
 7 Gelfand, Boris        g ISR 2692 . . . 1 . 0 * . . = = .  2.0  2689
 8 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2646 0 0 . . . . . * = . . 1  1.5  2577
 9 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2559 . 0 . . = . . = * . . 0  1.0  2506
10 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2659 . . 0 . . 0 = . . * = .  1.0  2491
11 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2709 . . 0 0 . . = . . = * .  1.0  2509
12 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2632 0 . . . 0 . . 0 1 . . *  1.0  2470
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Standings:

Amber Rapidplay Monaco MNC (MNC), 16-28 iii 2000                 cat. XVIII (2684)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 ** .. 1= .. 1= .. .. .. .. 1= .. =1  6.0  2857
 2 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2702 .. ** .. .. .. 1= .. == =1 .. 11 ..  6.0  2882
 3 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2696 0= .. ** .. == .. =1 .. .. .. .. 11  5.0  2794
 4 Gelfand, Boris        g ISR 2692 .. .. .. ** .. =1 .. =0 == .. 1= ..  4.5  2732
 5 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 0= .. == .. ** .. 01 .. .. =1 .. ..  4.0  2663
 6 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 .. 0= .. =0 .. ** .. 11 01 .. .. ..  4.0  2684
 7 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2646 .. .. =0 .. 10 .. ** .. .. == .. =1  4.0  2664
 8 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2633 .. == .. =1 .. 00 .. ** .. .. 01 ..  3.5  2659
 9 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2709 .. =0 .. == .. 10 .. .. ** .. == ..  3.5  2659
10 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2559 0= .. .. .. =0 .. == .. .. ** .. =0  2.5  2558
11 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2659 .. 00 .. 0= .. .. .. 10 == .. ** ..  2.5  2543
12 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2632 =0 .. 00 .. .. .. =0 .. .. =1 .. **  2.5  2522
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Kasparov match later this year?

According to various reports GM Ray Keene has put together a consortium which looks likely to bring a match between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand for the "World Chess Championship" as claimed by Kasparov. Kasparov is reported to have already agreed to the deal and Anand is likely to follow. The match will be over 16 games and according to GM Keene it will the first in a series of annual challenges for the world champion some of which may be against computers. All matches will be broadcast live on the internet. Due to take place in October the match venue is provisionally set for Bahrain. Cynic Warning. Its worth pointing out that in recent years many similar announcements have ended in nothing and my batting average of correct World Championship announcements is getting alarmingly low.

4) Frankfurt Chess Classic 2000

The Frankfurt Chess Classic 2000 takes place June 16th-25th 2000. There will be six events: The Fujitsu Siemens Giants (6 players, double round robin, 4 days, June 22nd -25th) Participants: Anand, Kasparov, Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich, Shirov. Masters (8 players, double round robin, 4 days, June 22nd to June 25th) Participants: Adams, Bareev, Ivanchuk, Rabiega (winner of the German championships), Topalov, Van Wely (winner of last years open), Yussupov and the winner of this years open tournament. Computer exhibition matches (5 players, 2 games per match, June 17th to June 18th) Participants: Anand, Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich, Shirov · Ordix Open (15 rounds swiss, 3 days, June 16th to June 18th) The winner qualifies for the Master tournament, which starts afterwards! · two simuls (June 19th, June 20th) one by Kasparov and one by Ivanchuk · two Fischer Random Chess exhibition games In all events each player has 25 minutes per game. The opening ceremony will take place on the evening of June 21st, all players are obliged to participate. The closing ceremony including price giving takes place on June 25th following the last round of the Giants. Further details: http://www.frankfurt-west.de/ChessClassic2000

5) Dos Hermanas Internet qualifier

I Internet Chess Tournament "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas"

IM Michael Rahal of EDAMI-Miguel Illescas's Chess School reports: Israel's IM Dimitri Tyomkin wins the Tournament. Colombia's IM Jorge Gonzalez is the runner-up.

After 7 playing days, and 12 qualifying series, the 32 finalists of the I Internet Chess Tournament "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas" sat down in front of their computers on Saturday afternoon at 19.00 GMT, opened their ICC chess program, and prepared themselves for the Knockout which would decide who would win the 1.000 Euro first prize, and the four trips to Dos Hermanas.

Among the 32, I counted 10 GM's, 13 IM's and 6 FM's. The statistics of the tournament are really impressive: 1374 registered entries, and 783 players from 62 countries from all over the world, including 21GM, 36 IM, 26 FM, and a total of 202 Fide rated players. There were players from places like Nepal, Malta, Cyprus, and of course a big representation from Spain, USA, and the South American countries, especially Argentina.

The mini matches of two games (5 minutes each player with a five second increment after each move) would decide the winner between the 32. In the case of a 1-1 tie, a quick game would decide each match winner (4 minutes for Black and 5 for White obliged to win)

In the first round nearly all the favourites won. A few surprises occurred; Spanish IM's Marc Narciso and Javier Moreno lost clearly (0-2) against American FM's Greg Shadade and Vinay Bhat respectively. The other big surprise was the elimination of Poland's GM Bartolomiej Macieja by 2-0 against Colombian IM Jorge Gonzalez, although Jorge is one of the quickest players on the circuit. I would also stand out Hungarian's IM Istvan Almasi who beat Israel's GM Victor Mikhalevski by 2-0. No tiebreaks were needed in the first round. From 32 we are now down to 16.

Regrettably, two matches were won by forfeit. GM Aleksa Strikovic and IM Dejan Antic didn't turn up for the finals, although Strikovic informed us previously that he couldn't play. It was impossible to locate a substitute because of the short notice.

The surprises continued in the second round: IM Jorge Gonzalez thrashed Chile's IM Rodrigo Vasquez 2-0 and goes through to the quarterfinals. The rest of the favourites also carry on, although a tiebreak was needed to decide the match between GM Socko and GM Pavlovic: in the end the Polish GM went through.

The quarter finals pairings were

GM Shipov vs. IM Giaccio IM Adla vs. IM González GM Socko vs. IM Tyomkin IM Almasi vs. GM Golod

In the first match, Russian GM Shipov beat Argentina's IM Giaccio, while Jorge Gonzalez needed the tiebreak quick game to decide his match against Argentina's IM Diego Adla. The third and fourth match ended surprisingly, with Israel's IM Dimitri Tyomkin beating GM Socko easily by 2-0 and "Specialist" IM Almasi beating Israel's GM Vitali Golod by 1.5-0.5.

In the semi-finals it seemed that Shipov would end Gonzalez's lucky streak, but Jorge is in splendid form and went through to the final winning the first game, and holding Shipov to a draw in the second after 114 moves.

In the other semi-final, after two draws and an exciting tiebreak game, Tyomkin went through.

The first game of the final saw Tyomkin (as White) try to convert a small advantage in a queen and pawn ending, but Gonzalez's firm defence grounded him to a halt and a draw was agreed. In the second game, Gonzalez played a reversed Benoni and made a few mistakes in a complicated middle game. Tyomkin made the most of his opportunity and ended the tournament with an excellent win, becoming the Champion of the I Internet Chess Tournament "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas"

The first four win accommodation and free inscription to participate in the II International Open "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas" which will be held from the 7th to the 15th of April 2000. The winner also takes the first prize of 1.000 Euro.

Final scores:



1st       IM Dimitri Tyomkin (ISR-2516) 
2nd       IM Jorge Gonzalez (COL-2312) 

3th-4th   GM Sergei Shipov (RUS-2640), IM Istvan Almasi (HUN-2420) 

5th-8th   GM Vitali Golod (ISR-2566), GM Bartosz Socko (POL-2556),
          IM Alfredo Giaccio (ARG-2508), IM Diego Adla (ARG-2492),

9th-16th  GM Valerij Popov (RUS-2534), GM Pablo Zarnicki (ARG-2498), 
          GM Misa Pavlovic (YUG-2481), FM Greg Shahade (USA-2461), 
          GM Dimitrios Agnos (GRE-2459), IM Rodrigo Vasquez (CHI-2445),
          Vinay Bhat (USA-2398), FM Gustavo Mahia (ARG-2377)

...

I would like to thank in the first place the Municipal Foundation for Sport of the Dos Hermanas Council for the big effort put in to organise and sponsor the tournament, and to the ICC-Internet Chess Club technical team, with John Fernandez up front, for all there hard work controlling the event.

Dos Hermanas Qualifier results 2000

Final
-----

Tyomkin,D 1.5 - Gonzalez Rodriguez,JA 0.5

Semifinal
---------

Tyomkin,D 2.0 - Almasi,I 1.0
Shipov,S 0.5 - Gonzalez Rodriguez,JA 1.5

Quarterfinal
------------

Tyomkin,D 2.0 - Socko,B 0.0
Almasi,I 1.5 - Golod,V 0.5
Shipov,S 2.0 - Giaccio,A 0.0
Gonzalez Rodriguez,JA 2.0 - Adla,D 1.0

Round 2
-------

Zarnicki,P 0.0 - Tyomkin,D 2.0
Pavlovic,Milos 1.0 - Socko,B 2.0
Mahia,G 0.0 - Almasi,I 2.0
Agnos,Demetrios 0.0 - Golod,V 2.0
Shahade,G 0.0 - Shipov,S 2.0
Giaccio,A 1.5 - Bhat,V 0.5
Vasquez,R 0.0 - Gonzalez Rodriguez,JA 2.0
Popov,Val 0.5 - Adla,D 1.5

Round 1
-------

Zarnicki,P 2.0 - Soppe,G 0.0
Tyomkin,D 1.5 - Hernando Rodrigo,Ju 0.5
Vlassov,N 0.5 - Pavlovic,Milos 1.5
Montero Martinez,C 0.0 - Socko,B 2.0
Strikovic,A 0.0 - Mahia,G 2.0
Mikhalevski,V 0.0 - Almasi,I 2.0
Gershon,A 0.5 - Agnos,Demetrios 1.5
Sharma,Aru 0.0 - Golod,V 2.0
Shahade,G 2.0 - Narciso Dublan,M 0.0
Shipov,S 1.5 - Ferron Garcia,C 0.5
Giaccio,A 1.5 - Belov,V 0.5
Bhat,V 2.0 - Moreno,J 0.0
Antic,D 0.0 - Vasquez,R 2.0
Macieja,B 1.0 - Gonzalez Rodriguez,JA 2.0
Zimin,V 0.5 - Popov,Val 1.5
Glavina,P 0.5 - Adla,D 1.5

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

6) Kasparovchess.com launches in New York

Garry Kasparov was in New York for much of last week for the official media launch of his new website http://www.kasparovchess.com. There were a number of events starting on Tuesday 14th March with a 30 game internet simultaneous exhibition against children, he was held to a draw by Viktoria Zaks of Israel. The event took place in the ABC Studios in Times Square and there were ten children from the New York-New Jersey area aswell as 20 more Worldwide. The following day he appeared for an hour on CNN playing Boris Becker, he managed to keep the former Wimbledon Champion standing for almost the full hour before winning in a game that started 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 (Becker was white). In the launch Kasparov placed special emphasis on the kids competitions and development programs the site will be hosting as well as the on-line tuition. Of course Kasparov's name and involvement is the sites biggest advantage. There has been a huge investment in the venture and there is a plan to launch on the stockmarket later this year. Whether they can generate the level of visitors required for a successful launch has to be open to question and will surely depend strongly on the ability of the site to promote events directly involving Kasparov to the general public.

There were two events of more classical chess interest held this week during the launch. The first was a match between two of the most talented young players in the World. 14 year old Bu Xiangzhi won 6.5-1.5 against Teimour Radjabov (who turned 13 during the event) in the eight game Future World Champions Match. They played two games a day at a time control of one hour for all the moves. Radjabov had beaten Bu in the two game final of a Cadet's event held earlier in the year on the Kasparovchess site. This time they were together in New York for the match. The margin of victory was a little flattering to Bu Xiangzhi with Teimour Radjabov missing a number of good chances on the first day and then have a bit of a disaster on day two losing both games. Although these things are never certain (there have been plenty of children who have failed to live up to their potential) both players look reasonably certain to be top players in the next five years as their playing strength is already very formidable.

Bu Xiangzhi        -  Radjabov, Teimour  1/2   70  E81  Kings indian; Saemisch
Radjabov, Teimour  -  Bu Xiangzhi        1/2   69  A65  Modern Benoni
Bu Xiangzhi        -  Radjabov, Teimour  1-0   57  E94  Kings indian; Classical
Radjabov, Teimour  -  Bu Xiangzhi        0-1   50  A45  Queen's pawn
Bu Xiangzhi        -  Radjabov, Teimour  1-0   58  A90  Dutch defence
Radjabov, Teimour  -  Bu Xiangzhi        1/2   68  A12  English; 1.c4
Bu Xiangzhi        -  Radjabov, Teimour  1-0   41  A90  Dutch defence
Radjabov, Teimour  -  Bu Xiangzhi        0-1   56  D34  Queen's gambit


Future World Champions New York USA (USA), 13-19 iii 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bu Xiangzhi        m CHN 2565    =   =   1   1   1   =   1   1   6.5  2710
Radjabov, Teimour  m AZE 2459    =   =   0   0   0   =   0   0   1.5  2314
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second event was a bit of a farce. A six game challenge match between Xie Jun (playing from Shanghai, China) and Deep Junior (playing from the Kasparovchess offices in Israel) was plagued with communications and technical problems. Game one was cancelled after technical problems, game two started late and Xie Jun won, game three was won by the computer and game four saw further communications break down half way into the game and it was decided to cancel the match. However the reporting of the events surrounding the match on Club Kasparov has left Xie Jun very upset indeed, you can read her open letter further down in this issue.

7) Sufe Cup

The Sufe Cup took place in Shanghai, China, 2nd-16th March 2000. The event was Category 13 with an average rating of 2569 (GM norm 7.5, IM norm 5.0). Michal Krasenkow and Ye Jiangchuan scored 10.5/13 to take joint first place a full two points clear of an interesting field. Burmese players Aung Aung and Nay Oo Kyaw Tun occupied the last two places, donating much of their overinflated ratings to the rest of the field.

My thanks to Ignatius Leong and Wang Lei for the results and games.

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

Final standings:

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 Krasenkow, Michal  g POL 2661 * = = 1 1 = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  10.5  2812
 2 Ye Jiangchuan      g CHN 2616 = * = = = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1  10.5  2816
 3 Bologan, Viktor    g MDA 2589 = = * 1 0 1 = = = = 1 = 1 1   8.5  2677
 4 Peng Xiaomin       g CHN 2624 0 = 0 * 1 = = = 1 1 1 1 = 1   8.5  2674
 5 Zhang Zhong        g CHN 2611 0 = 1 0 * 1 1 1 = 1 = 0 = 1   8.0  2652
 6 Filippov, Valerij  g RUS 2584 = 0 0 = 0 * = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1   8.0  2654
 7 Pigusov, Evgeny    g RUS 2610 = 0 = = 0 = * = 1 0 = = 1 1   6.5  2565
 8 Xie Jun            g CHN 2542 0 = = = 0 0 = * = = = = 1 1   6.0  2541
 9 Wang Lei          wg CHN 2495 = 0 = 0 = 0 0 = * = = = 1 =   5.0  2487
10 Wang Pin          wg CHN 2469 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 = = * = = 0 1   5.0  2489
11 Yin Hao            m CHN 2496 0 0 0 0 = 0 = = = = * 1 = 1   5.0  2487
12 Qin Kanying       wg CHN 2475 0 0 = 0 1 0 = = = = 0 * = 0   4.0  2434
13 Aung Aung          m MYA 2595 0 0 0 = = 0 0 0 0 1 = = * =   3.5  2391
14 Nay Oo Kyaw Tun    m MYA 2595 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 = *   2.0  2270
------------------------------------------------------------------------

8) 55th Yugoslav Championships

Sinisa Joksic reports: The 55th Yugoslav Championships have started in Subotica. The event runs March 17th - April 2nd 2000. There are 16 participants. After 3 rounds GM Branko Damljanovic leads alone on 3/3. 39 year old Damljanovic is one of the favorites to win the event. His victories so far are against debutants Mijailovic and Sedlak and a "derby" in the second round against long time rival Velimirovic. Half a point behind is last years champion GM Miroslav Tosic (40). The Championships are Cat X (2478) but there are a number of strong players from Yugoslavia not competing. Norms gm=10, im=7 and national master =6.

Round 1 (March 16, 2000)

Damljanovic, Branko     -  Mijailovic, Zoran       1-0   48  A04  Reti (1.Nf3)
Antic, Dejan            -  Ivanisevic, Ivan        1/2   41  D18  Slav defence
Drasko, Milan           -  Markovic, Miroslav      1/2   13  A58  Benko gambit
Kosic, Dragan           -  Todorovic, Goran M      1/2   10  D35  Queen's gambit
Kalezic, Blazo          -  Ilincic, Zlatko         1-0   40  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Velimirovic, Dragoljub  -  Pavlovic, Milos         1/2   49  B41  Sicilian
Sedlak, Nikola          -  Perunovic, Milos        1/2   18  B32  Sicilian
Marjanovic, Slavoljub   -  Tosic, Miroslav         0-1   77  B42  Sicilian

Round 2 (March 17, 2000)

Damljanovic, Branko     -  Velimirovic, Dragoljub  1-0   50  E90  Kings indian; Classical
Tosic, Miroslav         -  Kalezic, Blazo          1-0   40  E08  Nimzo indian
Ivanisevic, Ivan        -  Kosic, Dragan           1/2    9  C10  French
Todorovic, Goran M      -  Marjanovic, Slavoljub   1-0   37  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Pavlovic, Milos         -  Sedlak, Nikola          1/2   37  A11  English; 1.c4
Ilincic, Zlatko         -  Drasko, Milan           1/2   42  E11  Bogo indian
Perunovic, Milos        -  Antic, Dejan            0-1   69  C11  French; Classical
Mijailovic, Zoran       -  Markovic, Miroslav      1/2   65  E92  Kings indian; Classical

Round 3 (March 18, 2000)

Antic, Dejan            -  Pavlovic, Milos         1/2   12  E11  Bogo indian
Drasko, Milan           -  Tosic, Miroslav         1/2   10  A37  English; 1.c4 c5
Kosic, Dragan           -  Perunovic, Milos        1/2   17  A37  English; 1.c4 c5
Kalezic, Blazo          -  Todorovic, Goran M      1/2   36  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Markovic, Miroslav      -  Ilincic, Zlatko         1/2   46  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Velimirovic, Dragoljub  -  Mijailovic, Zoran       1-0   49  B41  Sicilian
Sedlak, Nikola          -  Damljanovic, Branko     0-1   49  B67  Sicilian
Marjanovic, Slavoljub   -  Ivanisevic, Ivan        0-1   28  A10  English; 1.c4


55th ch-YUG Subotica YUG (YUG), 16 iii-2 iv 2000                   cat. X (2479)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Damljanovic, Branko     g YUG 2534 * . . . . . . . . . 1 . 1 . 1 .  3.0      
 2 Tosic, Miroslav         g YUG 2503 . * . . . = . . 1 . . . . . . 1  2.5  2755
 3 Antic, Dejan            m YUG 2491 . . * = . . . = . . . . . 1 . .  2.0  2566
 4 Ivanisevic, Ivan        m YUG 2460 . . = * . . = . . . . . . . . 1  2.0  2637
 5 Todorovic, Goran M      g YUG 2426 . . . . * . = . = . . . . . . 1  2.0  2607
 6 Drasko, Milan           g YUG 2520 . = . . . * . . . = . = . . . .  1.5  2547
 7 Kosic, Dragan           g YUG 2521 . . . = = . * . . . . . . = . .  1.5  2423
 8 Pavlovic, Milos         g YUG 2481 . . = . . . . * . . = . = . . .  1.5  2457
 9 Kalezic, Blazo            YUG 2403 . 0 . . = . . . * . . 1 . . . .  1.5  2494
10 Markovic, Miroslav      g YUG 2586 . . . . . = . . . * . = . . = .  1.5  2489
11 Velimirovic, Dragoljub  g YUG 2558 0 . . . . . . = . . * . . . 1 .  1.5  2469
12 Ilincic, Zlatko         g YUG 2554 . . . . . = . . 0 = . * . . . .  1.0  2378
13 Sedlak, Nikola          f YUG 2323 0 . . . . . . = . . . . * = . .  1.0  2341
14 Perunovic, Milos        f YUG 2384 . . 0 . . . = . . . . . = * . .  1.0  2320
15 Mijailovic, Zoran       m YUG 2394 0 . . . . . . . . = 0 . . . * .  0.5  2286
16 Marjanovic, Slavoljub   g YUG 2524 . 0 . 0 0 . . . . . . . . . . *  0.0      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) "8th March" Ladies Tournament

Belgrade hosted the 33rd "8th March" Lady's Tournament from March 3-14, 2000. This years tournament was category 15 women's event and a category 8 men's event (2411) There were 12 players, all with women's grandmaster titles.

Sinisa Joksic reports: Ekatarina Kovalevskaya won the 33rd International Ladies Tournament. The event, played in the honour of national women's day on March 8th saw the 26 year old Russian GM lead throughout and in the end win convincingly. Starting with 3 victories in a row and then fighting for win in the last round at a time when she knew she had already won the event but maximising her winning advantage +6 a point and a half clear of second place. She remained unbeaten, she made four quick and one fighting draw and she demonstrated hard and logical chess. Second placed Svetlana Matveeva lost two games to Alisa Maric and Bojkovic. Natasa Bojkovic (YUG), Svetlana Prudnikova (YUG) and Tatiana Stepovaia-Dianchenko all scored respectable results. Those less happy with their results and form too, were Alisa Maric (YUG), Irina Chelushkina (YUG) and Natalia Zhukova (UKR). The first two were out of form and Zhukova felt tired. The event was organised in a hurry and at the last minute, by which time it is impossible to invite the world champion and the other better players, who willingly play in Belgrade. Even Yugoslav players, heard about the tournament at the very last moment (even after the foreigner players!) and this was perhaps why all of them were out of the form. Incomprehensible was the ommision of an invitation for Ana Benderac, the 23 year old winner of the 1997 tournament and who only needs one norm for the grandmaster title and who played well in last Yugoslav championships. Overall the organisation wasn't good. My thanks too to Goran Dinic for corrections.

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 = 1 = 1 1  8.5  2619
 2 Matveeva, Svetlana            wg RUS 2414 = * 0 = = 1 0 1 = 1 1 1  7.0  2513
 3 Bojkovic, Natasa              wg YUG 2423 0 1 * = 1 0 = 1 = 1 = =  6.5  2475
 4 Prudnikova, Svetlana          wg YUG 2421 = = = * 0 1 = = 1 = = 1  6.5  2475
 5 Stepovaia-Dianchenko, Tatiana wg RUS 2420 = = 0 1 * 1 1 = 0 = = =  6.0  2447
 6 Manakova, Maria               wg YUG 2348 0 0 1 0 0 * = 1 1 = = 1  5.5  2417
 7 Maric, Alisa                   m YUG 2463 0 1 = = 0 = * 0 1 = = =  5.0  2371
 8 Skripchenko-Lautier, Almira    m MDA 2444 = 0 0 = = 0 1 * 1 0 1 =  5.0  2372
 9 Chelushkina, Irina            wg YUG 2398 0 = = 0 1 0 0 0 * 1 1 =  4.5  2348
10 Zhukova, Natalia              wg UKR 2471 = 0 0 = = = = 1 0 * 0 =  4.0  2304
11 Velcheva, Maria               wg BUL 2364 0 0 = = = = = 0 0 1 * =  4.0  2314
12 Maric, Mirjana                wg YUG 2324 0 0 = 0 = 0 = = = = = *  3.5  2286
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) Kragujevac Women's Tournament

IM Jovan Petronic reports: The individual senior women's championship of Serbia with three qualification places for the final Yugoslav women's championships 2000 took place in the Hotel "Kragujevac", Kragujevac (Yugoslavia), 19.02. - 27.02.2000. Timerate: 2h=40 moves + 1h=20 moves + 30 min. till end. Violeta Todorovic, Malina Boikovic and Marijana Savic qualified.

1-3. Todorovic, Violeta; Boikovic, Malina; Savic, Marijana 6,5

4-6. Stoisavljevic, Sava; Petronic, Sanja; Ivanovic, Jelena 6

7-8. Zivkovic, Vesna; Zarkovic, Danijela 5,5

9-13. Stankovic, Marija; Kostic, Maja; Paramentic, Mila; Ramic, Minka; Ðuric, Vesna 5

14-19. Medjedovic, Jadranka; Dimovski, Aleksandra; Stojanovic, Andjelija; Stajic, Snezana; Mladenovic, Jelena; Bojkovska, Suzana 4,5

20-25. Aleksov, Anita; Nikolic, Mila; Vraneievic, Danica; Petkovic, Violeta; Boškovic, Jelena; Zendilovski, Katarina 4

26-29. Boric, Tatjana; Uroievic, Marija; Matovic, Marija; Jovanovic, Zorica 3,5

30. Bajkovic, Miroslava 3

31. Misaljevic, Dobrila 1,5

11) 16th Asian Cities

Elie Holishian and Hassan Khaled report on the 16th Asian Cities Team Championship which started in Beirut - Lebanon and runs until Saturday 25 March. There are 22 teams from 15 countries and the event is a nine round swiss. The time rate all moves in 100 Minutes and 30 seconds added for every move. Monday sees the 2nd & 3rd rounds and Tuesday the 4th & 5th rounds Wednesday is a rest Day. The Winner gets the Dubai Cup for one year which is valued at $150,000. First prize is $3000, 2nd $2000, 3rd $1000, 4th $5000. The Chief Arbiter is Mr Casto Abundo - Deputy Arbiters are Dr. Hesham Elgendy & Mr. Mohamed Succar The leading teams are Pavlodar Pavel Kotsur (2587), Evgeny Vladimirov (2586), Ruslan Irzhanov (2503), Alibek Ibragimov (2441) and Evgeni Egorov (2417) and Namangan Alexander Nenashev (2600), Saidali Iuldchev (2509), Marat Dzumaev (2483) and Dmitry Kalumov (2475). Mohamad Al-Modiahki (2538) plays for Doha.

Round 2  Standings:

Rank Team       Con. Pts  Buchh
1   Pavlodar    KAZ  7.5   6.5
2   Namangan    UZB  7.0   8.5
3   Ashgabat    TKM  6.5   9.0
4   Baghdad     IRQ  6.5   6.5
5   Gorgan      IRI  5.5   9.0
6   Doha        QAT  5.0   8.5
7   Tehran      IRI  5.0   6.5
8   Damascus    SYR  4.5   9.0
9   Nagpur      IND  4.5   7.5
10  Amman       JOR  4.0  10.0
11  Dubai       UAE  4.0   7.5
12  Sanaa       YEM  4.0   6.5
13  Ulaanbator  MGL  4.0   0.0
14  Beirut      LIB  3.5   8.0
15  Jezzin      LIB  3.5   4.0
16  Alleppo     SYR  2.5  10.0
17  Sharjah     UAE  2.5   8.0
18  Manama      BRN  2.5   7.0
19  Saida       LIB  1.5   7.5
20  Zahle       LIB  1.0   9.5
21  Gaza        PLE  1.0   7.5
22  Jerusalem   PLE  0.0   8.0

12) German Team Cup

The German Cup for teams and players took place March 17th-19th 2000 in Forchheim (Bavaria). Three teams from the Bundesliga, SF Neukoelln, Godesberger SK, SG Porz and the host SC Forchheim from the 2nd Bundesliga played. My thanks to Udo Gueldner of SC Forchheim.

The German Team Cup was won by the heavyweight side of SG Porz. They beat Godesberger SK 1929 in the final. In third place were the host club Schachclub Forchheim e.V. and they beat SF Neukölln 03 in the playoff for third place. The German Individual Cup was won by Hamburger SK 1830 player GM Karsten Müller. There were blitz playoffs in all but two round 1 ties in this knockout event.

Full coverage of the event at: http://www.schachclub-forchheim.de (Forchheim Chess Club).

German Team Cup

Semi-Finals March 18th 2000


Godesberger SK                 - Schachclub Forchheim                3-1 
GM Rustem Dautov (2602)        - IM Mikhail Prusikhin (2429)         1/2 
GM Mikhail Gurevich (BEL 2694) - GM Vlastimil Jansa (CZE 2458)       1/2 
GM Edwin Kengis (LAT 2574)     - FM Manfred Heidrich (2396)          1-0
GM Aloyzas Kveninys (LIT 2496) - FM Berthold Bartsch (2351)          1-0

 
SF Neukölln 03                 - SG Porz                           0.5-3.5 
IM Rainer Polzin (2464)        - GM Christopher Lutz (2587)          0-1
IM Dirk Poldauf (2453)         - GM Jan Timman (NED 2646)            0-1
FM Hendrik Rudolf (2308)       - GM Rafael Vaganian (ARM 2618)       0-1
IM Ralf Schöne (2385)          - GM Curt Hansen (DEN 2618)           1/2

Third place playoff March 19th 2000

Schachclub Forchheim e. V.     - SF Neukölln 03                      2-2 BLITZ 
IM Mikhail Prusikhin (2429)    - IM Rainer Polzin (2464)             0-1 1-0
GM Vlastimil Jansa (CZE 2458)  - IM Dirk Poldauf (2453)              1-0 1/2 
FM Manfred Heidrich (2396)     - IM Ralf Schöne (2385)               1-0 1-0 
Johannes Zwanzger (2275)       - FM Lars Thiede (2390)               0-1 0-1

Schachclub Forchheim e.V. took 3rd place after a blitz playoff

Final March 19th 2000

SG Porz                        - Godesberger SK                    2.5-1.5 
GM Christopher Lutz (2587)     - GM Mikhail Gurevich (BEL 2694)      0-1 
GM Jan Timman (NED 2646)       - GM Rustem Dautov (2602)             1-0
GM Rafael Vaganian (ARM 2618)  - GM Aloyzas Kveninys (LIT 2496)      1-0
GM Curt Hansen (DEN 2618)      - GM Edwin Kengis (LAT 2574)          1/2

German Individual Cup

Quarter Finals March 17th 2000
                                                           BLITZ 
Florian Grafl (2258)      - Norbert Bruchmann (2093)  1/2   2:0 
FM Christian Meier (2366) - Roland Voigt (2189)       0-1   
Lutz Mattik (2239)        - Stephan Becking (2248)    1/2   0:2 
GM Karsten Müller (2515)  - Ernst Abel (2029)         1-0

Semi-Finals March 18th 2000
                                                           BLITZ 
Florian Grafl (2258)      - Roland Voigt (2189)       1/2   1:2 
GM Karsten Müller (2515)  - Stephan Becking (2248)    1/2   2:0 


Finals March 19th 2000
                                                           BLITZ
Roland Voigt (2189)       - GM Karsten Müller (2515)  1/2 1.5:2.5

13) Begonia Open

Gary Bekker reports: The Begonia Open was held in Ballarat, Australia March 11th-13th. The event was won by Mirko Rujevic with 6.5/7 points. Equal second were GM Darryl Johansen, who lost to Rujevic in round 5, and Mark Chapman who drew with IM Leonid Sandler and agreed to a quick draw with Rujevic in the final round. Chapman did not have to play against Johansen, while Sandler finished outside of the prize list after losing to Rujevic and then to Johansen in the final round. Leading final scores were: M.Rujevic 6.5; GM D.Johansen, M.Chapman 6.0; S.Booth, S.Low, J.Pratsch 5.5; G.Szuveges, J.Nemeth, G.Gill, M.Baron, M.Lojanica, O.Bergmanis, D.Partsi, A.Nissen, A.Guthrie 5.0. Selected games from amongst the top players in the event are included in the PGN game file. The next major Australian chess event will be Canberra's Doeberl Cup Open, held over the Easter long weekend in April. This will be followed by a series of major international events being held throughout June, July and August. Further details are available at the Australian Chess Federation site http://www.auschess.org.au/ and the Oceania Chess site http://www.eagles.bbs.net.au/~gbekker/index.htm.

14) Zwolle Weekender

Henri Spijkerman reports: The 9th weekend tournament took place in Zwolle, March 10th-12th 2000. The event was sponsored for the first time by the international accountants and consultancy group KPMG and was won by GM Sergey Tiviakov. He dominated the event, being by far the highest rated. An ultra short draw (one move) in the last round sufficed for an unshared first prize. Dutch talents Jan Smeets and Migchiel de Jong shared second place with German IM Daniel Hausrath and Gerd Schebler.

Final Results 9th KPMG Weekendtournament
Zwolle (The Netherlands), 10-12 maart 2000


No.  PNo.  Name                       Score WP    SB     PS    rat.  TPR  W-We
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   1.  Tiviakov, Sergey            5.5  23.0  20.75  20.5  2654 2553  -0.26
   2.  Hausrath, Daniel            4.5  23.0  15.25  16.0  2335 2433  +0.55
       Smeets, Jan                 4.5  22.5  16.75  16.5  2208 2391  +1.44
       Schebler, Gerd              4.5  21.5  15.25  15.0  2442 2324  -0.50
       Jong, Migchiel de           4.5  19.0  13.00  15.0  2262 2275  +0.06
   6.  Blitterswijk, Stefan van    4.0  24.0  15.25  17.0  2321 2345  +0.16
       Bloemhard, Rudy             4.0  21.5  13.25  15.5  2072 2262  +1.30
       Vegt, L van de              4.0  19.5  10.25  15.0  1987 2254  +2.14
       Bottema, M                  4.0  19.0  12.25  13.5  2156 2197  +0.25
       Jonkman, Harmen             4.0  19.0  10.75  13.5  2380 2207  -1.10
  11.  Erwich, Frank               3.5  22.0  12.25  15.5  2209 2151  -0.46
       Berkvens, Joost             3.5  21.0  10.25  14.0  2300 2182  -0.88
       Cako, Laszlo                3.5  20.0  11.00  12.5  2104 2140  +0.32
       Heimsoth, Holger            3.5  20.0  10.00  11.5  2006 2145  +0.95
       Remmel, Tim                 3.5  20.0   9.00  14.5  2135 2241  +0.92
       Hendriks, Richard           3.5  19.5   8.75  12.5  2129 2094  -0.28
       Otten, Gerard van           3.5  18.0   9.25  13.0  1961 2134  +1.46
       Homs, Guust                 3.5  18.0   8.75  10.5  2203 2093  -0.70
       Pel, Bonno                  3.5  17.5   7.25  12.5  2168 2103  -0.52
       Himbergen, Har van          3.5  17.5   6.50   8.5  1950 2087  +0.72
43 participants

15) Bundesliga

The 7th Bundesliga weekend took place over March 11th and 12th. These were rounds 12 and 13. The leaders SG Köln Porz stayed one win clear of Solinger SG as they both won their matches this weekend. Alexei Shirov was the only Linares player who made it to the event and he drew his Saturday and then lost on Sunday to Raj Tischbierek.

The official Bundesliga site is: http://www.gmschach.de/. There are almost all the games (round 13 from Magdeburg is missing).

Venue: Dresden

Round 12 Saturday 11th March 2000

Dresden       Hamburg         4.0:4.0
Plauen        Lübeck          4.0:4.0

Round 13 Sunday 12th March 2000

Hamburg       Plauen          6.0:2.0
Lübeck        Dresden         4.5:3.5

Venue: Magdeburg

Round 12 Saturday 11th March 2000

Magdeburg     Porz            3.5:4.5
Neukölln      Duisburg        7.0:1.0

Round 13 Sunday 12th March 2000

Porz          Neukölln        5.5:2.5
Duisburg      Magdeburg       3.0:5.0

Venue: Godesberg

Round 12 Saturday 11th March 2000

Godesberg      Passau         2.5:5.5
Castrop-Rauxel Tegernsee      5.5:2.5

Round 13 Sunday 12th March 2000

Passau         Castrop-Rauxel 3.0:5.0
Tegernsee      Godesberg      3.5:4.5

Venue: Wattenscheid

Round 12 Saturday 11th March 2000

Wattenscheid  Delmenhorst     3.5:4.5
Solingen      Bremen          4.5:3.5

Round 13 Sunday 12th March 2000

Delmenhorst   Solingen        3.0:5.0
Bremen        Wattenscheid    5.5:2.5

Round 13 standings:

 1. SG Köln Porz      13 70½:33½  25- 1
 2. Solinger SG       13 66 :38   23- 3
 3. SK Delmenhorst    13 55 :49   17- 9
 4. Godesberger SK    13 53½:50½  16-10
 5. Castrop Rauxel    13 53½:50½  16-10
 6. SK Passau         13 55 :49   14-12
 7. Hamburger SK      13 54 :50   13-13
 8. Lübecker SV       13 53½:50½  13-13
 9. SV Werder Bremen  13 50 :54   13-13
10. SFR Neukölln      13 51½:52½  12-14
11. USC Magdeburg     13 50½:53½  10-16
12. Dresdner SC       13 48½:55½  10-16
13. SK König Plauen   13 45 :59    9-17
14. SV Wattenscheid   13 41 :63    8-18
15. SV Tegernsee      13 46½:57½   6-20
16. PSV Duisburg      13 38 :66    3-23

16) First Saturday March

Laszlo Nagy reports: In March there were three IM events. FM Leszek Weglarz won the IM A event with 6.5/9. IMs Sandor Farago and Miklos Orso finished on 7/9 in the IM B event. FM Peter Froehlich won the IM C event with 7/9.

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.

Final standings:

FSIMA March Budapest HUN (HUN), 5-17 iii 2000   cat. IV (2327)
--------------------------------------------------------------
                                1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Weglarz, Leszek   f POL 2387 * 1 = 1 = = = = 1 1  6.5  2486
 2 Eperjesi, Laszlo  m HUN 2365 0 * = 1 = = = = 1 1  5.5  2402
 3 Zimmerman, Yuri   m RUS 2397 = = * = = 0 1 1 1 0  5.0  2361
 4 Nemeth, Zoltan    m HUN 2379 0 0 = * = 1 1 1 0 1  5.0  2363
 5 Lakos, Nikoletta wm HUN 2316 = = = = * = 1 0 = =  4.5  2327
 6 Reiss, Tibor        HUN 2255 = = 1 0 = * 0 = = =  4.0  2291
 7 Yu Mingyuan         CHN 2419 = = 0 0 0 1 * 1 = =  4.0  2273
 8 Jakab, Attila     f HUN 2354 = = 0 0 1 = 0 * = 1  4.0  2280
 9 Struk, Jerzy        POL 2268 0 0 0 1 = = = = * =  3.5  2253
10 Bozinovic, Boban    YUG 2127 0 0 1 0 = = = 0 = *  3.0  2223
--------------------------------------------------------------

FSIMB March Budapest HUN (HUN), 5-17 iii 2000      cat. II (2292)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Farago, Sandor     m HUN 2271 * = 1 = = = = = 1 1 1  7.0  2443
 2 Orso, Miklos       m HUN 2341 = * 0 = 1 = = 1 1 1 1  7.0  2436
 3 Parkanyi, Attila   f HUN 2362 0 1 * 0 = = = 1 1 1 1  6.5  2395
 4 Gara, Ticia          HUN 2299 = = 1 * 0 0 1 = 0 = 1  5.0  2291
 5 Rat, Dan Ovidiu    f ROM 2366 = 0 = 1 * = = 0 1 = =  5.0  2284
 6 Sulskis, Giedrius    LTU 2223 = = = 1 = * = 0 0 1 0  4.5  2263
 7 Gladyszev, Oleg    m RUS 2349 = = = 0 = = * 1 0 0 1  4.5  2250
 8 Gara, Anita       wm HUN 2257 = 0 0 = 1 1 0 * 1 0 =  4.5  2259
 9 Rajlich, Vasik G     USA 2309 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 * = 1  4.5  2254
10 Cooke, Eric          USA 2266 0 0 0 = = 0 1 1 = * 1  4.5  2258
11 Muehlbach, Peter     GER 2172 0 0 0 0 = 1 0 = 0 0 *  2.0  2064
-----------------------------------------------------------------

FSIMC March Budapest HUN (HUN), 5-17 iii 2000             cat. II (2295)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Froehlich, Peter            f GER 2375 * = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1  7.0  2505
 2 Appleberry, Martin            FRA 2262 = * 1 = = 1 = = = =  5.5  2378
 3 Balogh, Csaba                 HUN 2356 = 0 * = = = 1 = 1 1  5.5  2367
 4 Naes, Flovin Tor              FAI 2257 = = = * 0 = = = = 1  4.5  2298
 5 Kragelj, Igor               f SLO 2214 0 = = 1 * 0 = 1 = =  4.5  2303
 6 Kahn, Evarth                m HUN 2301 0 0 = = 1 * = 1 = =  4.5  2294
 7 Sinkovics, Peter            m HUN 2331 0 = 0 = = = * 1 = =  4.0  2247
 8 Ackermann, Hans-Werner        GER 2314 = = = = 0 0 0 * = 1  3.5  2212
 9 Kaposztas, Miklos           m HUN 2302 0 = 0 = = = = = * 0  3.0  2168
10 Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan    ENG 2235 0 = 0 0 = = = 0 1 *  3.0  2176
------------------------------------------------------------------------

17) Lugano Open

Sinisa Joksic reports on the "La Perla Open" which was the 2nd Lugano International Tournament on the Swiss Chess Tour. The winner of the event was Stefan Djuric, the 45 year old Yugoslav grandmaster, who now lives in Montecatini Terme (Italia). Djuric won the final against IM Renzo Mantovani (37). In the match for third place GM Csaba Horvath (32) won his second game against Germany's Dennis Drollingen. The event was slightly unusual in that the four highest placed players after 5 rounds played a knock-out system event and the others continued with the Swiss systemevet . There were a lot of unexpected results. (GM's Farago and Horvath etc) There were 74 players. First 10 players got money prizes, another 10 nature prizes and special prizes were distributed to WG Elena Sedina (UKR, 7th-5.0)the first Lady, Gianpiero Rossi (ITA, 17th-4.5) best senior, IM Hansjuerg Kaenel (SUI, 5th-5.5) best Swiss, Claudio Boschetti (SUI, 22nd-4.0) the best Ticino player, Giorgi Berni (ITA, 30th-4.0) best junior and Lara Stock (GER, 63rd-2.5) best pupil.

Results of the knock-out games:
Semi-final:   Djuric, Stefan       - Horvath, Csaba      1/2  1:0
              Mantovani, Renzo     - Drollingen, Dennis  1:0
Final:        Djuric, Stefan       - Mantovani, Renzo    1:0
              Drollingen, Dennis   - Horvath, Csaba      1/2  0:1

   Final standing:

 1. Djuric Stefan     GM   2491    YUG      
 2. Mantovani Renzo   IM   2415    ITA         
 3. Horvath Csaba     GM   2519    HUN       
 4. Drollinger Dennis      2226    GER 
     
 5. Kaenel Hansjuerg  IM   2434    SUI    5.5    26.5
 6. Jurkovic Ante     FM   2326    CRO    5.5    25.5
 7. Sedina Elena     WGM   2419    UKR    5.0    28.0  153.5 
 8. Farago Ivan       GM   2467    HUN    5.0    28.0  152.0
 9. Trescher Manfred       2210    GER    5.0    26.5
10. Horvath Joszef    GM   2557    HUN    5.5    25.5
11. Raupp Thomas      FM   2330    GER    5.5    25.0 
12. Wenner Tobias          2160    GER    5.0    19.0
      ....  74 players

18) Armenian Rapidplay

Gagik Khanamiryan reports that Levon Aronian won the first Armenian Rapidplay Championships in Yerevan March 15th-18th 2000.

First Armenian Rapid Chess Championships
Yerevan (ARM),  15-18.III.2000
Final,  49 participans, 9 round Swiss
Pls                     Tit  Pts  Buchholz
 1. Aronian, Levon        m  7.5  38.0  48.5
 2. Minasian, Artashes    g  7.0  38.0  50.0
 3. Matikozian, Andranik  m  6.5  38.0  49.0
 4. Sargissian, Gabriel   m  6.5  36.5  47.5
 5. Anastasian, Ashot     g  6.5  31.0  40.5
 6. Asrian, Karen         g  6.0  44.0  56.5
 7. Petrosian, Tigran  L.    6.0  38.5  47.5 
 8. Egiazarian, Arsen     m  6.0  34.5  44.5
 9. Hayrapetian, Arman       6.0  32.5  41.5
10. Ordian, Vrej             6.0  32.5  41.5
11. Khachatrian, Vahagn   f  6.0  29.5  36.5
12. Harutiunian, Gevork      5.5  42.0  53.5
13. Melkonian, Vardan        5.5  31.5  39.5
14. Petrosian David  G.   f  5.5  31.0  39.5
15. Hakopov, Roman           5.5  28.5  37.5
16. Kotanjian, Tigran        5.5  28.5  36.0
17. Poghosian, Tigran        5.0  41.5  53.5
18. Avetisian, Manvel        5.0  35.0  45.0
19. Minasian, Ara         m  5.0  33.5  42.5
20. Petrosian, Tigran An.    5.0  28.0  36.0  etc.

19) Open letter from Xie Jun

TWIC always welcomes letters. No publication is guaranteed but the magazine can act as a forum for chess issues of the moment. The views expressed in these letters are those of the authors not of TWIC or Chess & Bridge Ltd.

The following letter is Xie Jun's response to an article on Club Kasparov about the abortive match. According to Club Kasparov Xie Jun was paid for the match (a point not made explicitly clear in the letter below).

Open letter from Xie Jun Shanghai, 17th March 2000

When I read Michael Adams' open letter in The Week in Chess, some weeks ago, it was hard for me to envisage that I myself would be the next person with a bad experience in a match against Deep Junior. The ClubKasparov (CK) report is most unfair and I am quite shocked about the many ugly words. I can barely believe that this report reflects the same match as the one I played. Never before has my behaviour been criticised like this. As the reigning Women's World Champion, and also for myself as an honest person, I very much like to give my version of the story.

Let us start at the beginning. The match report mentions that it was unclear whether the match would go ahead, until the last minute, and the blame is put on 'money transfer disagreements'. This is simply not true and it should read that CK did not pay me as agreed, more commonly known as 'breach of contract'. Some time before the match I sent a signed contract to CK. On it, I wrote that I would agree to all, provided that I would receive part of the starting fee in my bank account, thirty days prior to the start. One week before the starting date, however, I had still not received anything. I made it clear to CK that I would not play unless I would be paid as agreed. Several days before the first match game I arrived in Shanghai and Mr. Ignatius Leong - appointed by CK to act as the official observer - handed over a fax from CK. This fax had the signatures of both Eyal Gutman and Torn Walker, in the role of CEO of Kasparovchess online Inc. So this was the supposed prove of money transfer. Yet, I had asked specifically for some sort of bank statement and now all I got was an internal CK document on office paper. Later I was given more assurances but I had already lost my interest in listening. From that moment onwards, all communication went via Mr. Leong. On the day of the first game I had still not received any money and I had to make a serious choice. In the end, I decided to play only when I saw the announcement on CK's web site and I realised that I would disappoint many people by not playing. In addition, the match was already announced in many places in the Chinese media. So let it be clear that I agreed to play in the situation where the contract was already breached by CK.

Now we move to the games. For game one, I arrived at 13:15 GMT (21:15 local time) in the playing room. The game did not start on time and during the game, there were many problems with the connection. It is difficult for me to understand why immediately the blame was put on me. In the contract it was stated explicitly that CK would organise the match and that I "will be located in China and will receive technical support from CK (hard- and software) if needed, a CK web site reporter will be present where Xie Jun actually plays Deep Junior". In my view, this meant that I needed to be present and only concentrate on playing the game, and that I was not in charge of possible technical problems, caused in China or Israel. Because of these connection problems, the game could not continue and a proposal was made to reschedule the game. I did not agree. Firstly, it is not my responsibility when the technique is not in place. Moreover, I had agreed to a match of six games (and one play-off game, if needed) and not seven. I am sure that I would have co-operated (and agreed to a seventh game) had it not been for the fact that both Mr. Leong (the independent observer) and myself felt repeatedly insulted by the aggressive tone of CK's communication, implying that we were the originators of the technical problems. This attitude, together with the aforementioned financial 'disagreement' made me refuse to add a seventh game to the match at this stage.

For the second game I arrived, like the first time, 15 minutes prior to the start of the game in the playing hall (21:15 local time). Unfortunately, the problems had not been solved. It took more than an hour before the game got going and both sides agreed to shorten the total playing time from 6 to 5 hours. This had been at my request because I did not want to last the game over night. It is also obvious that I could not agree to play by telephone: the contract stated very clearly that "all games will be played through the Internet". Moreover, if I do not see the moves on the screen, how could I tell whom I am playing? It might well be another grandmaster. Finally, the game got started at about 23:00 local time, still with numerous problems, and after some time I ended up in a position with bishop and five pawns against knight and two pawns. Having played for about ten moves in this elementary position, I asked via Mr. Leong if Deep Junior knew how to resign. This question seemed perfectly legitimate to me. It was the first time that I played this computer program and it does not take a grandmaster to win a basic endgame position three pawns up. I was simply wondering whether the programmers would step in - and show a little respect for their opponent - or whether we would go on until mate. The game finished at 1:30 AM local time.

Similar problems occurred in game three. I had to wait for more than two and half-hours before we could start and only a few minutes before midnight the CK/Deep Junior team fixed the problem. After all this waiting, I did what everybody else would do in the situation, i.e. ask for time compensation. However, the Deep Junior team refused and during the time of fixing the technical problems, there had been a row on the phone between Mr. Leong and our contacts on the other side. I gathered that Mr. Leong was talking to Shay and Aviv Bushinsky, but I was left out of the discussion as Mr. Leong did not want me to get more annoyed than I was. I sat in the middle of the room and waited. Finally, the game was changed to a four-hours time control. I lost the game in the middle of the night. The next day was the first time that I read a report about the match on CK web site and I felt deeply insulted. The report was one-sided, incorrect and there was no trace of Mr. Leong's report - the independent observer in Shanghai.

Game four started on the same day as the closing ceremony of the SUFE cup (the Shanghai tournament) and there was a party next to the playing hall. I arrived on time and, luckily enough, the game started on time. After making my first move (21:42 local time) I saw that there were problems on the other side. Deep Junior disconnected at 21:44, at 21:49, at 21:54, at 21:59 and at 22:12. Then I noticed something strange on the screen: Deep Junior's time rolled backwards (!) while I was losing time. Of course, I refused to continue in this chaos. After some telephone discussion it was agreed by the Deep Junior team to reset my time to 2 hours and Deep Junior's time to 1:40. I was quite happy for the game to continue when, all of the sudden, the next thing happened. In a standard Sicilian position, Deep Junior made the original move ...Kd8 (and not ...Qd8, as in the CK report). Naturally, I realised that the person in charge with the mouse had made the error of letting the king slip while castling. I replied a4 without any thought and waited for an explanation or a request for take-back from the Deep Junior team. The reason I made my move fast is that I did not want any of the discussions to take place in my own thinking time. To my surprise, nothing happened for 25 minutes and then Deep Junior (or someone else?) played ...Ke8. I felt quite embarrassed by it all. There I sat, trying to play a serious game against an opponent who had played ...Kd8, Ke8, Kf8, h5 and Rh7 - even though this may have been the best defence under the circumstances. In the meantime, more and more chess players arrived from the party to watch the game and there was a television crew from CCTV, the largest TV station in China, zooming in ... on this remarkable position - probably to the amusement of millions of chess connoisseurs in China. I cannot remember exactly at what time I played 16.Qe2, but Mr. Leong's phone rang and he brought the news that the Deep Junior team thought that the Shanghai connection was lost. All spectators and myself were surprised because on the screen we could still see that Deep Junior's clock was ticking - not the picture you expect to see when logged out. Mr. Leong explained on the phone what we saw and told the CK contact that there was a television crew present. He asked the crew to zoom in on the position. Next, the well-known French organiser Jean-Paul Touze arrived on the scene (from the next-door disco) and he explained once more what we witnessed on the screen. Yet, the Bushinsky brothers were not convinced and asked me to leave the Internet and log-in again. I agreed to do this, but under the condition that the time for technical problems would be deduced from the Deep Junior clock, because the technical problem had been with the Deep Junior connection, as far as we could judge. It had already happened a few times and the game could last forever, if no time were deduced at all. The Deep Junior team refused.

In the end, I heard from Mr. Leong that the Deep Junior team called off the match and that they cancelled the remaining games. I asked Mr. Leong to phone back to have this message in writing, because I did not want to be accused some days later or forfeiting games five and six. However, nobody answered the phone and Mr. Leong listened to an answering machine. Consequently, Mr. Leong let me wait until 00:05 local time when Deep Junior ran out of time. I was then declared by Mr. Leong (CK's official independent observer) as the winner of game four.

Allow me to make a few additional remarks. Nobody forces CK or the Deep Junior team to organise matches through the Internet. When the technique is not ready, these matches should simply not take place. If CK or the Deep Junior team decides to embark on these matches anyway, there has to be somebody from CK present with full responsibility for the technical aspect. Without any form of regulation, the above mentioned problems will remain. It would also be an improvement to have a real independent arbiter.

Lastly, never in my life have I been accused of bad sportsmanship and I cannot remember that Michael Adams ever had problems. In any normal situation, I expect organisers to treat chess players like Michael Adams and myself, reigning Women's World Champion, with at least some basic form of respect. In an experimental Internet situation, where many things still need sorting out, all parties involved need to be flexible. This was apparently not the case here. I leave it up to the reader to draw conclusions. If needed, I have no problem whatsoever in handing over documents, game sheets (complete or incomplete) or other material to prove my story - to an independent person, that is.

In my opinion, the CK news Team and the Deep Junior team owe me an apology for breach of contract, insulting behaviour and leaving out crucial data in the final match report.

Let us hope for better days indeed.

20) Forthcoming Events and Links

Xie Jun vs The World

A new Chinese Website is organising a match against Xie Jun. http://chess.lotof.com is in Chinese and English reports Yin Hao.

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.

New York Open website http://w-w-w.com/nyopen/

An International Chess Tournament - Our 17th Year - Nine Round Swiss - May 5th to May 11th At the New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eight Avenue at 34th St., New York, NY 10001 - USA Hotel rates: $119 for Single, Double; $139 Triple, Quad. Reservations: (800) 764-4680, (212) 971-0101, Fax (212) 563-6136, http://www.hotelny.com Reserve hotel rooms early. Call New York Open if you have any trouble making reservations.

International Prize Fund US$50,000 Guaranteed Cash Prizes Sponsors: Heraldica Imports, Makers of fine hand engraved heraldic jewelry; Air Europa, Official Airline of the New York Open; Lladro USA, Makers of fine artistic porcelain products; Chess.net, Premier Internet Chess Site Limited number of free hotel rooms and travel allowance available to grandmasters in the top 100 FIDE list.

OPEN SECTION - Open to all US$14,000 - $7,000 - $4,000 - $2,000 - $1,000 - $750 - $750 - $750 - $750 10th thru 19th $500 each - 20th thru 29th $400 each Winner also gets an exquisite porcelain chess set by Lladro Under 2400: US$4,000 - $2,500 - $1,500 Under 2300: US$2,000 This is an International Tournament, and FIDE ratings will be used both for pairing purposes and prize distributions. Players without FIDE ratings may use their USCF, CFC, or FQE ratings. All others will be considered unrated, but are eligible for all prizes. GM, IM norms and FIDE rated results possible. Schedule: Rounds 1: Friday, May 5, 6pm; Rounds 2 through 5: Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7, 10am and 5pm each day; Rounds 6 through 9: Monday, May 8 through Thursday, May 11, 6pm each day. Time limit for all games is 40/2, SD/1

Entry Fees: Free entry to Grandmasters, but an entry fee of $200 will be deducted from any winnings, GM's must agree to play all rounds. All others, all sections: US$235 if paid by April 1, 2000, $265 after April 1st,Open Section Only: Door entry of $275 Friday, May 5th, 2pm to 5pm at site. All: Credit cards - VISA, Mastercard, American Express - accepted by mail and fax. No personal checks accepted after April 21. All checks must be in US funds drawn on a US bank. Amateur Tournament: May 12th through May 14th New Format! This year the New York Open introduces a new formula for class players rated below 2200. Instead of a Swiss Tournament in different sections every 200 rating points, we shall have Round Robin Tournaments in groups of ten players, in order of rating, starting at 2199 and going down to the lowest rated player. Players must agree to play all rounds. There will be a single prize of $2,000 for each 10 player section. FIDE, USCF, CFC and FQE ratings accepted on an equal basis. If rated under more than one system, highest rating will be used, except American experts with FIDE ratings under 2230 will be permitted to play with their USCF rating. Provisionally rated foreign players and all unrated players must play in the Open Section. American provisional ratings accepted for all Amateur Sections.. Tournament Organizer reserves the right to assign ratings or expel improperly rated players during the tournament. Playing schedule: Rounds are at 10am, 2:30pm, and 7pm each day. Advance entries accepted until May 8. NO DOOR ENTRIES. Time Limit for all games is Game/2.

Send checks, money orders, or credit card information to New York Open, 21W. 46th St., Room 1004, New York, NY 10036. Tel. (212) 719-4204 Fax (212) 719-4369 e-mail: nyopen@w-w-w.com

Lausanne Young Masters

The second edition of the Olympic Capital Young Masters Tournament will take place in Lausanne between 31st May - 4th June 2000. 3 events will take place in the Casino de Montbenon. Young Masters: GMs Ponomariov, Bacrot and Grischuk take part. Masters Open for players above 2000 ELO 15 year old WGM A.Kostaniuk and other titled players compete. Also an Open for other amateur players. Information and registration on our home-page www.lausanneyoungmasters.com more information : +41.21.729.63.85 fax +41.21.729.63.31

World Seniors

The 10th World Senior Championships will be held September 10th-24th, 2000 in the small village of Rowy in Poland. The event is open to men born in 1939 or earlier and women in 1949 or earlier).

Further information: Polish and Russian language: Mr. Alfred Obszanski - Postomino, Poland, tel/fax: + 48 (59) 810-85-77 or German language: Mr. Jerzy Konikowski - Dortmund (Germany), tel/fax: +49 (231) 17-15-67 e-mail: konikowski@vobis.net

APPLICATIONS, REGISTRATION AND ENTRANCE FEE UNTIL AUGUST 20, 2000 All participants are obliged and kindly requested to send or fax the Application Forms (enclosed) to address: TS 'Jantar', 76-113 Postomino, tel/fax +48 (59) 810-85-77 as soon as possible but not later than August 20, 2000. The amount 170 CHF- Swiss Francs (includes also the FIDE entrance fee) or the equivalent in DM or USD should be paid to the account of 931510562-09878-11 in the Bank BS Ustka (owner TS 'Jantar' Slupsk) before August 20, 2000. Remark:

PRIZES Money prizes and trophies. Prize fund for Gentlemen at least 20.000 DM and for Ladies at least 8.000 DM.

RECEPTION The reception will be arranged in the Sport Hall near to the "Kormoran" boarding house. Open from 8.00 to 22.00 in the arrival day. All participants should register his participation and take part in the Technical Meeting on September 10 at 20.00 o'clock.

Rowy (near the city of Slupsk - the distance about 25 km from Gdansk) is a beautiful tourist village and a health resort with a legendary tradition. The village is situated at the Baltic seaside, lies on the Lupawa river near by the Gardno Lake and the Rowokol Mountain that was the venue of a pagan cult. Participants can arrive to Rowy before the Championship, but should announce the date of arrival to the Organizers. Accompanying persons are also kindly requested. The Organizers will prepare for them a tourist programme

Official site: http://www.powiat.Slupsk.pl or http://www.powiat.Slupsk.pl/chess

Veszprem Summer Tournament

VI.Veszprem Summer - HEMO Coup, International Chess Tournament from 22nd-30th July.2000. Venue: HEMO Building (Presidial Culture House) Zalka Mate square 1, Veszprem city, Hungary Organizer: HEMO Chess Society, Veszprém.

Events: "A" group - IM tournament , 10 players "B" group - Swiss type open tournament in 9 rounds according to the FIDE rules.

Entry fees: "A" group: 10.000 HUF (about 70 DM) "B" group: below FIDE 2200 3.500 HUF (25 DM) 2200 - 2299 3.000 HUF (20 DM) 2300 - 2399 2.000 HUF (13 DM) 2400 - ------ HUF Prizes: "B" group: 60.000 HUF; 40.000 HUF; 20.000 HUF; 15.000 HUF; 10.000 HUF; 5.000 HUF.

Information: Norbert Szelényi Phone number: 88-401-400 Place of work: 88-426-233 /358 (am. 8.00 - pm. 16.00) Fax number: 88-426-233 /364 (am. 8.00 - pm. 16.00) For more information E-mail to: vpinfo@veszpremtej.hu

Web pages: http://www.infornax.hu/hotelves and http://testver.sednet.hu/veszpm/e_alap.html

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

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

Olomouc Opens

June 25-29, 2000 - Olomouc (CZE) "MLADI OPEN 2000" swiss system, 7 rounds 1) FIDE OPEN - for young players up to 20 years of age, 1st prize - FREE START in round-robin tournament 4th category FIDE in August in Olomouc 2) national open A - players born in 1984 and younger 3) national open B - players born in 1988 and younger Contact: Agentura 64, 783 73 Grygov 337, Czech Republic, tel./fax: ++420-68-5393327, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, WWW: http://www.proclient.cz/a64

August 2-10, 2000 - Olomouc (CZE) "OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER 2000" 1) round-robin GM tournament 10th category FIDE (10-12 players) 2) 2 round-robin IM tournaments 4th category FIDE (10-12 players) 3) FIDE open - swiss, 9 rounds, 2/40+1, 1st prize 10000 CZK We are looking for players without title for both round robin tournaments! Contact: Agentura 64, 783 73 Grygov 337, Czech Republic, tel./fax: ++420-68-5393327, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, WWW: http://www.proclient.cz/a64

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