THE WEEK IN CHESS 324 22nd January 2001 by Mark Crowther
TWIC Home |
The London Chess Center |
|
Shop
Sponsored by the London Chess Center
Games section
Corus Wijk aan Zee 2001 42 games
Corus Wijk aan Zee 2001 B 36 games
Korchnoi-Ponomariov Match 7 games
Bermuda GMA 6 games
Bermuda GMB 18 games
VIII "Anibal" Open 240 games
XXVI "Ciudad de Sevilla" Open 187 games
Foment Martinenc IM Closed 66 games
Gausdal Troll Masters 216 games
Czech Extra League 144 games
Cadaqués Computer Tournament 140 games
Belgian Interteams 280 games
Peter-Heine Nielsen vs Denmark/World 1 game
Hilton Open 212 games
1595 games
My thanks to John Henderson, Eirik Gullaksen, Mikhail Golubev, Nigel
Freeman, Linares Chess Club, Roberto Cifuentes, Marc Narciso, Jakub Fuksik,
Martin Pribyl, Enrique Irazoqui, Steve Laios, Søren Søgaard,
Johannes Fischer, Ignatius Leong and all those who helped with this issue.
The Corus tournament is warming up to a great finish with Shirov leading
a point clear of Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Shirov has been in
aggressive form unlike Anand who whilst not playing badly is not showing such
energy.
I have used the 2001 rating list on the events this week and have
repeated some games with the correct rating from last.
Hope you enjoy this issue
Mark
14 players compete in the Corus 2001 chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee,
Netherlands January 13th-28th 2001. The top nine players in the January 2001
rating list are taking part. Round 1 was on January 13th. Rest days are on
Monday (15th), Friday (19th) and Wednesday (24th). The B Tournament starts on
Tuesday 16th January 2001.
Alexei Shirov leads with 6.5 points after eight rounds of the Corus Wijk
aan Zee tournament a point clear of Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov. Shirov
has brought a sharp, purposeful, edge to his chess in Wijk aan Zee so far
typified by his ruthless grinding down of veteran Jan Timman. Shirov now starts
the final part of the event where he plays five of the next six players in the
standings starting with black against Garry Kasparov. A key point will be at
the start of that game with Kasparov still demanding an apology for comments
Shirov made prior to Kasparov's match against Kramnik otherwise he won't shake
hands with him. It should lend an edge to the contest but professionals ought
to be able to manage the formalities. Kasparov himself has yet to wreak the
havoc he promised after losing to Kramnik in their match. Here Kasparov has
pressed hard and perhaps missed chances against both Anand and Kramnik with
white but lacked the finishing touch. Kasparov has been very tough on the
tail-enders and has by reputation a strong finish. Vladimir Kramnik shares
second place with Kasparov he too has yet to hit top gear and was very lucky to
survive a tremendous time-scramble against Vassily Ivanchuk. The event very
much remains open but with Shirov in poll position.
TWIC has special coverage in association with the organisers which
includes John Henderson's picture reports from the venue.
Official coverage at:
http://www.corusgroup.com/coruschess/home.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-28 i 2001 cat. XIX (2710)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2718 * . . = . . . = 1 1 = 1 1 1 6.5 2918
2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772 . * = = 1 = . . = 1 = . . 1 5.5 2841
3. Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2849 . = * . = = = = . . 1 1 . 1 5.5 2848
4. Adams, Michael g ENG 2746 = = . * = = 1 = . . . = = . 4.5 2772
5. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2717 . 0 = = * = 1 . . = 1 . . = 4.5 2764
6. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2790 . = = = = * = . . . = = . 1 4.5 2757
7. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2745 . . = 0 0 = * . = 1 . . 1 1 4.5 2750
8. Leko, Peter g HUN 2745 = . = = . . . * = 0 = . = = 3.5 2637
9. Timman, Jan g NED 2629 0 = . . . . = = * = 0 1 = . 3.5 2657
10. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2700 0 0 . . = . 0 1 = * . = 1 . 3.5 2666
11. Fedorov, Alexei g BLR 2575 = = 0 . 0 = . = 1 . * . 0 . 3.0 2644
12. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2718 0 . 0 = . = . . 0 = . * 1 = 3.0 2620
13. Piket, Jeroen g NED 2632 0 . . = . . 0 = = 0 1 0 * . 2.5 2556
14. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2597 0 0 0 . = 0 0 = . . . = . * 1.5 2505
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 3 (January 16, 2001)
Shirov, Alexei - Fedorov, Alexei 1/2 44 B76 Sicilian Modern Dragon
Kasparov, Gary - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 37 C78 Ruy Lopez (Moeller Defence)
Adams, Michael - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 34 B33 Sicilian Defence (Lasker/Pelikan/Sveshnikov Variation)
Timman, Jan - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 38 A43 Old Benoni
Van Wely, Loek - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 21 D16 Slav Defence, Lasker/Smyslov Variation
Piket, Jeroen - Leko, Peter 1/2 23 D00 Queen's Pawn Game
Tiviakov, Sergei - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 24 C65 Ruy Lopez (Berlin Defence)
Round 4 (January 17, 2001)
Shirov, Alexei - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 43 C42 Petroff's Defence
Kramnik, Vladimir - Tiviakov, Sergei 1-0 38 E59 Nimzo Indian Defence (Normal Variation)
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Kasparov, Gary 1/2 28 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen Variation
Morozevich, Alexander - Adams, Michael 0-1 27 C52 Evans Gambit (Main Line)
Leko, Peter - Timman, Jan 1/2 52 B45 Sicilian Defence (Classical System)
Fedorov, Alexei - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 23 C39 King's Gambit (Allgaier Gambit, Kieseritzky Gambit)
Topalov, Veselin - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 49 D39 Queen's Gambit: Ragozin System
Round 5 (January 18, 2001)
Kasparov, Gary - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 46 C67 Ruy Lopez (Rio de Janeiro Variation)
Adams, Michael - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 23 B51 Sicilian Defence (Rossolimo Variation)
Anand, Viswanathan - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 19 B17 Caro Kann
Timman, Jan - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 65 D03 Queen's Pawn Game
Van Wely, Loek - Leko, Peter 1-0 32 D76 Gruenfeld Defence (3.g3)
Piket, Jeroen - Fedorov, Alexei 1-0 38 E70 King's Indian Defence (White plays early e2-e2, Deviations in the 5th move)
Tiviakov, Sergei - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 55 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation, Deviations
Round 6 (January 20, 2001)
Shirov, Alexei - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 28 C02 French Advance Variation
Kramnik, Vladimir - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 35 E55 Nimzo Indian Defence (Normal Variation)
Morozevich, Alexander - Kasparov, Gary 1/2 14 B52 Sicilian Defence (Rossolimo Variation)
Leko, Peter - Adams, Michael 1/2 27 C89 Ruy Lopez (Marshall Attack)
Fedorov, Alexei - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 34 C39 King's Gambit (Allgaier Gambit, Kieseritzky Gambit)
Topalov, Veselin - Tiviakov, Sergei 1/2 26 A17 English Opening
Piket, Jeroen - Timman, Jan 1/2 21 E01 Catalan System
Round 7 (January 21, 2001)
Kasparov, Gary - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 34 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Variation
Adams, Michael - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 37 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation, Deviations
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 38 C65 Ruy Lopez (Berlin Defence)
Anand, Viswanathan - Morozevich, Alexander 1/2 33 D07 Tchigorin Defence)
Timman, Jan - Fedorov, Alexei 0-1 25 B76 Sicilian Modern Dragon
Van Wely, Loek - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 80 E11 Bogo Indian Defence (Bogoljubov Variation)
Tiviakov, Sergei - Leko, Peter 1/2 18 C43 Petroff's Defence
Round 8 (January 22, 2001)
Shirov, Alexei - Tiviakov, Sergei 1-0 41 E20 Nimzo Indian Defence (Unusual Moves)
Morozevich, Alexander - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 69 C26 Vienna Game
Leko, Peter - Kasparov, Gary 1/2 28 A12 Reti Opening
Timman, Jan - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 54 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation, Deviations
Fedorov, Alexei - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 41 C24 Bishop's Opening
Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 34 C78 Ruy Lopez (Moeller Defence)
Piket, Jeroen - Adams, Michael 1/2 65 E46 Nimzo Indian Defence (Rubinstein Variation)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus B Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-28 i 2001 cat. X (2496)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Gurevich, Mikhail g BEL 2694 * = = 1 1 . . = = . . . 4.0 2627
2. Luther, Thomas g GER 2544 = * = . . 0 1 . . . 1 1 4.0 2622
3. Harikrishna, P m IND 2514 = = * . . . = . . = 1 1 4.0 2631
4. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2578 0 . . * . . = . = 1 1 1 4.0 2614
5. Radjabov, Teimour m AZE 2483 0 . . . * . 0 1 1 = . 1 3.5 2566
6. Bosboom, Manuel m NED 2439 . 1 . . . * . 0 0 = 1 1 3.5 2493
7. Gulko, Boris F g USA 2622 . 0 = = 1 . * 1 . . 0 . 3.0 2484
8. De Vreugt, Dennis g NED 2452 = . . . 0 1 0 * 1 = . . 3.0 2523
9. Visser, Yge f NED 2442 = . . = 0 1 . 0 * = . . 2.5 2461
10. Van der Weide, Karel m NED 2463 . . = 0 = = . = = * . . 2.5 2427
11. Vink, Nico NED 2335 . 0 0 0 . 0 1 . . . * 0 1.0 2240
12. Hoeksema, Erik m NED 2382 . 0 0 0 0 0 . . . . 1 * 1.0 2209
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
An intriguing eight game match between veteran Viktor Korchnoi and the
young Ukrainian star Ruslan Ponomariov is taking place 16th-23rd January 2001.
Viktor Korchnoi won game two but victories in games three and six for
Ponomariov mean that Korchnoi needs a win in the final game to tie the match.
My thanks to Mikhail Golubev.
Internet coverage: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/match01p.htm
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Korchnoi, Viktor 1/2 91 C83 Ruy Lopez (Open Defence/Main Line)
Korchnoi, Viktor - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1-0 117 A33 English Opening
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Korchnoi, Viktor 1-0 45 C80 Ruy Lopez (Open Defence)
Korchnoi, Viktor - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 12 D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Korchnoi, Viktor 1/2 63 B45 Sicilian Defence (Classical System)
Korchnoi, Viktor - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1 36 A07 Barcza System
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Korchnoi, Viktor 1/2 74 C10 French Rubinstein Variation
Match Donetsk UKR (UKR), 16-23 i 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2677 = 0 1 = = 1 = . 4.0 2689
Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2639 = 1 0 = = 0 = . 3.0 2627
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are two Invitational GM Tournaments in Bermuda, with the emphasis
on youth they will followed by an Open. The GM 'A' event is a six player
double-round event which started 20th January, the twelve player GM 'B' event
started the day before. My thanks to Nigel Freeman.
Internet coverage: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess
Mermaid Beach Club GMA Elbow Beach BER (BER), 20-29 i 2001cat. XIII (2566)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2519 ** .. .. .. 1. 1. 2.0
2 Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2578 .. ** .. =. .. 1. 1.5 2769
3 Shabalov, Alexander g USA 2609 .. .. ** =. 1. .. 1.5 2754
4 Lesiege, Alexandre g CAN 2582 .. =. =. ** .. .. 1.0 2593
5 Gershon, Alik g ISR 2540 0. .. 0. .. ** .. 0.0
6 Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2570 0. 0. .. .. .. ** 0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mermaid Beach Club GMB Elbow Beach BER (BER), 19-29 i 2001 cat. IX (2454)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shahade, Gregory f USA 2456 * . . = . . . . 1 . 1 . 2.5 2777
2. Doettling, Fabian m GER 2509 . * . . = 1 . . . = . . 2.0 2568
3. Teplitsky, Yan m CAN 2446 . . * . . = . . = . . 1 2.0 2519
4. Becerra Rivero, Julio g CUB 2538 = . . * . . = . . . . = 1.5 2384
5. Vuckovic, Bojan m YUG 2458 . = . . * . . = . . = . 1.5 2489
6. Alvarez, Johan VEN 2383 . 0 = . . * . . . 1 . . 1.5 2481
7. Charbonneau, Pascal CAN 2410 . . . = . . * = . . = . 1.5 2498
8. Tyomkin, Dimitri m ISR 2496 . . . . = . = * . = . . 1.5 2452
9. Blehm, Pawel m POL 2512 0 . = . . . . . * . . 1 1.5 2396
10. Kalod, Radek m CZE 2490 . = . . . 0 . = . * . . 1.0 2337
11. Thorhallsson, Throstur g ISL 2462 0 . . . = . = . . . * . 1.0 2316
12. Fierro Baquero, Martha L wg ECU 2287 . . 0 = . . . . 0 . . * 0.5 2225
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The VIII "Anibal" Open took place in Linares, January 8th-18th, 2001.
This 11 round Swiss system event saw Zurab Sturua and Etienne Bacrot score
8.5/11 with Sturua having the better Buchholz tie-break. They were ahead of a
group of five players (Zhang Zhong, Robert Kempinski, Vitali Golod, Lenier
Dominguez and Ildar Ibragimov) half a point behind on 8 points. I've given all
the games again as I now have the new rating list. My thanks to the Linares
Chess Club for the news.
The followup event the VI "Ciudad de Ubeda" Open which takes place in
Ubeda, January 21st-30th 2001 has already started with many of the same
players. This is a 10 Round Swiss System event.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anibal Open Linares ESP (ESP), 8-18 i 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Sturua, Zurab g GEO 2580 8.5 74.0 50.5 53.50
2. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2618 8.5 70.0 46.5 55.50
3. Zhang Zhong g CHN 2607 8 73.5 51.0 51.25
4. Kempinski, Robert g POL 2543 8 72.0 50.5 50.50
5. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2591 8 72.0 46.0 52.00
6. Dominguez, Lenier m CUB 2565 8 69.5 43.0 50.25
7. Ibragimov, Ildar g RUS 2571 8 68.0 47.5 49.25
8. Sulskis, Sarunas g LTU 2501 7.5 77.0 53.0 49.75
9. Kacheishvili, Giorgi g GEO 2556 7.5 74.0 51.0 48.00
10. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2570 7.5 73.5 50.0 47.75
11. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2631 7.5 70.0 45.5 47.00
12. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2616 7 78.0 52.0 48.75
13. Kobalija, Mihail g RUS 2581 7 76.5 49.0 46.50
14. Milov, Vadim g SUI 2604 7 76.5 46.5 47.25
15. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2639 7 74.0 45.0 45.75
16. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2578 7 72.0 48.5 44.25
17. Potkin, Vladimir m RUS 2470 7 72.0 48.5 44.00
18. Herrera, Irisberto m CUB 2404 7 72.0 47.5 42.00
19. Gershon, Alik g ISR 2540 7 71.5 44.5 41.75
20. Turov, Maxim g RUS 2546 7 70.5 45.5 42.25
21. Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2656 7 70.0 42.5 43.25
22. Burmakin, Vladimir g RUS 2493 7 69.0 43.0 43.50
23. Holmsten, Aleksei m FIN 2435 7 68.0 43.5 41.25
24. Mirzoev, Azer m AZE 2463 7 68.0 42.5 39.25
25. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2519 7 68.0 42.0 40.50
26. Galkin, Alexander g RUS 2590 7 68.0 41.0 43.25
27. Riazantsev, Alexander m RUS 2485 7 67.5 41.5 41.25
28. Anastasian, Ashot g ARM 2548 7 67.0 43.0 42.00
29. Odeev, Handszar m TKM 2472 7 65.0 43.0 39.75
30. Jobava, Baadur m GEO 2518 7 65.0 41.5 40.25
161 players
Roberto Cifuentes sends news of the XXVI "Ciudad de Sevilla" Open
tournament that took place 12th-20th January 2001 in Seville, Spain. The
tournament was a nine round Swiss system event with 12 GMs, 6 IMs, 4 FMs and a
total of 145 participants. Roberto Cifuentes himself took clear first place
with 7.5/9 half a point clear of five other players.
Final Standings (9 rounds)
1. Cifuentes Parada, Roberto g NED 2496 7.5 2648
2. Lalic, Bogdan g ENG 2531 7.0 2576
3. Vera, Reynaldo g CUB 2562 7.0 2592
4. Spraggett, Kevin g CAN 2526 7.0 2538
5. Pogorelov, Ruslan g UKR 2429 7.0 2421
6. Alonso, Salvador ARG 2429 7.0 2419
7. Strikovic, Aleksa g YUG 2508 6.5 2473
8. Korneev, Oleg g RUS 2600 6.5
9. Vega Holm, Fernando m ESP 2408 6.5 2420
10. Teran Alvarez, Ismael m ESP 2356 6.5
11. Matamoros Franco, Carlos S m ECU 2467 6.5 2431
12. Moreno Carnero, Javier m ESP 2483 6.5 2430
13. Campora, Daniel H g ARG 2513 6.5
14. Komljenovic, Davor g CRO 2512 6.5 2370
15. Biedma Martin, Enrique ESP 2288 6.5
16. Calvo, Jesus Maria ESP 2272 6.5
17. Garcia Luque, Agustin f ESP 2392 6.5 2333
18. Gofshtein, Leonid D g ISR 2531 6.0 2474
19. Ortega Valle,J ESP ---- 6.0
20. Nuevo Perez, Antonio ESP 2255 6.0 2173
145 players
There was an IM Closed which took place in Foment Martinenc (C/ Provenza
591 Barcelona) 8th-18th January 2001. Marc Narciso won the event with a score
of 9.5/11 half a point clear of Jorge Gonzalez Rodriguez. There were a number
of near misses for the IM norm with only the young player Joan Fluvia Poyatos
managing to reach it. My thanks to Marc Narciso for the games.
Internet coverage in Spanish and Catalan:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Falls/4480/OPEN01/FOMCER.htm
and http://www.internet.ad/feva/noticies2001/tancat_fom2001.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IM Closed Martinenc ESP (ESP), 8-18 i 2001 cat. V (2370)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Narciso Dublan, Marc m ESP 2529 * 1 = 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 9.5 2664
2. Gonzalez Rodriguez, Jorge A m COL 2376 0 * 1 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 9.0 2631
3. Fluvia Poyatos, Joan ESP 2421 = 0 * 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 7.5 2498
4. Buecker, Stefan f GER 2346 0 0 1 * 1 = 0 1 = 1 = 1 6.5 2436
5. Ferron Garcia, Carlos ESP 2286 0 = = 0 * 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 6.5 2442
6. Torrecillas Martinez, Antonio f ESP 2372 = 0 0 = 1 * = = 1 = = 1 6.0 2405
7. Granados Gomez, Manuel f ESP 2379 0 0 = 1 = = * 1 0 = 1 1 6.0 2404
8. Jose Abril, Ramon ESP 2397 = = 0 0 0 = 0 * = = = 1 4.0 2265
9. Welling, Gerard m NED 2385 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 = * = 1 = 4.0 2266
10. Gallego, Ruben AND 2298 0 0 0 0 0 = = = = * 1 0 3.0 2201
11. Jerez Perez, Alfonso ESP 2460 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 0 * = 2.0 2099
12. Serra Pages, Jordi ESP 2188 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 = * 2.0 2124
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eirik T. Gullaksen reports: The Gausdal Troll Masters took place at the
Gausdal Høifjellshotell in Norway 5-12th January 2001. The co-winner
Stellan Brynell made his third and final GM-norm. There were no IM-norms.
Official home page:
http://home.online.no/~bjarke-k/TrollMasters/Troll2001/Norsk/indeks.htm
Final Standings:
1. GM Ralf Åkesson 2467 SWE 7.0 2408
2. IM Stellan Brynell 2462 SWE 7.0 2379
3. GM Joe Gallagher 2519 SUI 6.5 2323
4. GM Einar Gausel 2481 NOR 6.5 2291
5. IM Bin-Sattar Reefat 2458 BAN 6.0 2303
6. GM Maris Krakops 2519 LAT 6.0 2296
7. IM Leif E. Johannessen 2416 NOR 6.0 2197
8. GM Heikki Westerinen 2405 FIN 5.5 2360
9. IM Frode Elsness 2411 NOR 5.5 2328
10. IM Bjarke Kristensen 2385 DEN 5.5 2321
11. GM Eduard Rozentalis 2630 LIT 5.5 2317
12. Kjetil A Lie 2347 NOR 5.5 2259
13. Terje Johansen 2210 NOR 5.5 2254
14. GM Rune Djurhuus 2491 NOR 5.5 2244
15. Torbjørn R. Hansen 2178 NOR 5.0 2335
16. Allan Stig Rasmussen 2253 DEN 5.0 2304
17. Gudmund Stenersen 2163 NOR 5.0 2300
18. Kristian D Trystad 2321 NOR 5.0 2277
19. Erik Parr 2229 NOR 5.0 2260
20. Martin Bækgaard 2207 DEN 5.0 2246
21. John Arni Nilssen 2371 FAI 5.0 2229
48 players
After the name of the player is given his ELO, federation, results round
1-9, sum of points and average of rating with unrated players counting for 2000
- the latter criteria being used for tiebreaks. ELOs are from the new January
list. The average of opponents ELO is based on the October-list, as this was
the only one available during the tournament.
Jakub Fuksik sends a corrected file of games from the Czech Extra
League.
Further info: http://www.proclient.cz/a64
Internet Chess Journal http://www.chessjournal.cz
Once a year the well-known computer chess expert, Prof. Enrique
Irazoqui of Spain, runs a giant tournament with the strongest programs in the
world.
Participants in the Cadaqués Tournament 2001 are Deep Fritz,
Gambit Tiger, Gandalf 4.32g, Junior 6a, Nimzo 7.32, Shredder 5.
This year the programs are playing on a dual Pentium-III 933 MHz with
768 MB of RAM. Time controls are 40 moves in 40 minutes. Each participant plays
20 game matches against all other participants, for a total of 300 games.
Experts consider it the "Linares tournament" of computer chess. The winner is
the strongest currently available chess program in the world.
The first 140 games have been played with Shredder holding the lead on
32/60 but with Deep Fritz on 26/40 having played 20 games less it looks like
the mid-point favourite. My thanks to Enrique Irazoqui for the games.
1 Shredder 5 32.0/60
2 Deep Fritz 26.0/40
3 Gandalf 4.32g
23.0/60
4 Gambit Tiger 1.0 23.0/40
5 Nimzo 8 19.5/40
6 Junior 6.0
16.5/40
Internet coverage:
http://www.computerschach.de/tourn/index.htm
Steve Laios sends news of the Belgian Interteams tournament which has
reached it's fifth round. The competition started on October 15th 2000. This
year there are 14 Teams and 13 rounds. Some games from the first five rounds
are available.
Standings after round 5
pts mp
1. Rochade Eupen 1 28 10
2. K Brugge SK 1 25.5 8
2. K Gent SRL 1 25.5 8
4. K Antwerp OSK 1 23.5 8
5. Anderlecht 1 21.5 7
...
14. Boitsfort 1 12 1
12) Peter-Heine Nielsen vs Denmark/World Drawn
Danish chess grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen took on the chess players
of the world in a game presented on the newspaper Politiken's web site. The
game started on Monday September 25th 2000 and finished at the start of January
in a draw. My thanks to Søren Søgaard for the news.
Further information: http://www.politiken.dk,
http://seagaard.dk/stormesterskak
or http://politiken.dk/skak
The game (Total votes / The chosen move): 1.e4 c5 (397/159) 2.Nf3 d6
(335/136) 3.d4 cxd4 (273/219) 4.Nxd4 Nf6 (353/235) 5.Nc3 a6 (434/166) 6.Bc4 e6
(293/183) 7.Bb3 Nbd7 (326/112) 8.f4 Nc5 (312/196) 9.e5 dxe5 (355/175) 10.fxe5
Nfd7 (334/238) 11.Bf4 b5 (286/198) 12.Qg4 h5 (281/183) 13.Qg3 h4 (292/213)
14.Qg4 Nf6 (330/126) 15.exf6 Qxd4 (300/269) 16.fxg7 Qxg7 (312/226) 17.Qe2 Be7
(318/238) 18.Be5 f6 (266/163) 19.Bd4 Nxb3 (320/263) 20.axb3 e5 (284/101) 21.Qf3
Rb8 (260/226) 22.Be3 Bb7 (321/197) 23.Nd5 Kf7 (336/153) 24.0-0-0 Rbd8 (268/88)
25.Rhf1 Qh7 (335/149) 26.c4 bxc4 (252/80) 27.bxc4 Rd6 (295/109) 28.b3 Rhd8
(302/127) 29.Kb2 Bxd5 (275/108) 30.cxd5 e4 (249/108) 31.Qe2 Rxd5 (303/117)
32.Rxd5 Rxd5 (342/280) 33.Qc4 Qh5 (285/258) 34.Bf4 Bc5 (302/164) 35.Qxe4 Bd4+
(239/106) 36.Kb1 Qf5 (237/142) 37.Re1 Kg6 (260/92) 38.Bd2 Be5 (240/136) 39.Kc1
Qxe4+ (274/97) 40.Rxe4 Bxh2 (251/128) 41.Rxh4 Be5 (241/155) Draw
Johannes Fischer reports on "The Emanuel Lasker Conference" which took
place in Potsdam, January 12-14 2001.
Emanuel Lasker is one of the most interesting and fascinating
personalities in the history of Chess. Not only was he World Champion for 27
years - longer than any other chessplayer before or since - he was also a
mathematician, philosopher, playwright, political thinker and commentator, the
author of several books about chess and other games and the founder of a school
of intellectual games.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his death, a three-day
conference took place in Potsdam, near Berlin. Apart from analyzing the various
aspects of his enigmatic personality the main goal of the conference was to
draw attention to and to reconstruct the role of Jewish intellectuals in
Germany - a group among which Lasker was well-known and outspoken and which
contributed so much to Germany's cultural and intellectual life before its
brutal destruction by the Nazis.
The conference also centered around new findings recently published:
Emanuel Lasker: Schach, Philosophie und Wissenschaft, (Editors Michael Dreyer
and Ulrich Sieg), Berlin: Philo Verlag, 2001. The collection of essays focuses
on Lasker's cultural-historical background and highlights the various aspects
of his thinking.
Accordingly, a number of interesting presentations scrutinized the
diverse aspects of Lasker's intellectual heritage. While most earlier
biographies of Lasker content themselves with rather nonchalant statements
about the value and the significance of his non-chess activities this
conference offered a more balanced view: As philosopher Lasker seems to deserve
neither the praise sometimes uncritically lavished on him by his more
chess-minded biographers nor the near total ignorance of contemporary
philosophy and the history of this discipline.
As a mathematician Lasker held a Ph.D. and contributed to some
groundbreaking theories of modern algebra. His dissertation actually turned out
to be the starting point for some of the research conducted by the famous
mathematician Emmy Noether one of the first women who fought her way into the
conservative ranks of German academia.
His role as political commentator seems to be somewhat similar to his
attempts as philosopher: self-educated and remarkably self-confident, acute in
his observations but at times overly naive, the quality of his political
comments and thoughts seems to be neither much better nor much worse than those
of his fellow intellectuals such as Thomas Mann or other culturally minded
people whose main discipline were not politics.
However, as a playwright he justly seems to be forgotten. His one
attempt at drama "Vom Menschen die Geschichte" which was written together with
his brother Berthold, former husband of the well known poet Else
Lasker-Schüler, is overburdened with all-too-deep thoughts and appears to
be rather clumsy. Accordingly, it never made its way to the stage and has
remained obscure.
For chessplayers the greatest surprise of the conference might have
been the questioning of the widespread and popular belief of Lasker as the
founder of a psychological approach to Chess. In a number of lectures and in
the ensuing discussion it was widely agreed that this image of Lasker needs to
be corrected. Lasker's approach to chess appears to be deeply rooted in his
philosophy of struggle (his first published philosophical essay actually
appeared under just that title) and seems to have little, if anything, to do
with psychology.
This points to a telling paradox: while the conference stressed the
various aspects of Lasker's intellectual heritage it seems to be his approach
to Chess in particular that is in need of re-evaluation. Although a lot has
been written about Lasker as chessplayer and person, a serious and critical
analysis of his games and his approach to Chess still waits to see the light of
day.
A number of presentations focused on Lasker's biography and dealt with
topics such as his relationship with the Soviet Union and Holland, often in an
anecdotal fashion.
The conference was splendidly organized by Paul Werner Wagner and was
supported by the "Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung" and the "Moses
Mendelssohn Zentrum" in Berlin. It took place in a nice and friendly atmosphere
and drew a lot of public interest. It could also boast an impressive list of
prominent guests from the world of Chess such as GM Viktor Korchnoi, GM Robert
Hübner, GM Wolfgang Unzicker, GM Helmut Pfleger, GM Lothar Schmid, GM
Daniel King, GM Wolfgang Uhlmann, GM Andre Lilienthal and GM Juri Awerbach who
were either interested spectators, gave presentations themselves, or shared
their memories of Lasker and the role Lasker played in their life. Indicative
of the timeliness of the conference was also the attendance of a number of
prominent people from Germany's cultural and political life.
To continue the study of Lasker and the role he played in Jewish
intellectual life in Germany before 1933 the Internationale Emanuel Lasker
Gesellschaft (http://www.lasker-gesellschaft.de)
was founded. Its objectives are to restore and to keep Lasker's heritage and
its cultural and historic significance. Judging from this conference the work
promises to be both exciting and rewarding.
Sinisa Joksic reports: Basle (SUI) - Viktor Korchnoi won the 3rd Hilton
open, beating Csaba Horvath in semi-final and Zurab Sturua in final. The event
took place January 1st-7th 2001 in the Hotel "Hilton". This year the Hilton
Open was the start of the 70th Birthday Anniversary of Viktor Korchnoi. The
sponsors were ITAG (Internationale Treuhand AG -International Trust Ltd) and
the Hotel "Hilton". Korchnoi was seeded to the final stages and won both games,
in his special style, continuing the games and searching very every
possibility. He simply grabbed the points from his opponents. After the 5th
round Csaba Horvath (1), Vladimir Tukmakov (2) and Zurab Stura (3) qualified
for the knock-out event. Pairings were by drawing of lots. The top 12 players
got money prizes: 2.000, 1.500, 1.200, 1.000, 800, 600, 500, 400, 2x300, 2x200
SF.Special prizes 200 SF each: best Lady WG Gurieli Nino (GEO), senior (1941)
GM Suetin Alexei (RUS), junior (1981-84) Alleman Anton (SUI), schoolboy Riff
Jean-Noel (SUI), Basle player GM Nemet Ivan, under 2000 rating Zwicky Martin,
till 1800 rating Djuretanovic Ivan (SUI). The organization was excellent. In
addition Korchnoi gave a simul which appeared on TV.
Semi-finals:
Horvath Csaba vs. Korchnoi 0-1
Tukmakov vs. Sturua 1/2 1/2 0-1
Final
Korchnoi vs. Sturua 1-0
Horvath Csaba vs. Tukmakov 0-1
--------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Hilton Open Basle SUI (SUI), 1-7 i 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------
1. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2639
2. Sturua, Zurab g GEO 2580
3. Tukmakov, Vladimir B g UKR 2595
4. Horvath, Csaba g HUN 2508
5. Sokolov, Andrei g FRA 2566 5.5 30.0
6. Loeffler, Markus m GER 2379 5.5 27.0
7. Nemet, Ivan g SUI 2437 5.5 25.5
8. Cvitan, Ognjen g CRO 2542 5.0 29.0
9. Horvath, Jozsef g HUN 2551 5.0 28.5
10. Filipovic, Branko m YUG 2444 5.0 27.5 165.5
11. Pavlovic, Milos g YUG 2496 5.0 27.5 163.5
12. Marzolo, Cyril m FRA 2378 5.0 26.5 152.5
13. Gurieli, Nino m GEO 2366 5.0 26.5 150.5
14. Dudas, Janos m HUN 2386 5.0 26.0 159.5
15. Roschina, Tatiana wg RUS 2293 5.0 26.0 156.0
16. Hobuss, Udo GER 2402 5.0 24.5 155.0
17. Seres, Lajos m HUN 2445 5.0 24.5 151.0
18. Goldstern, Flip f NED 2386 5.0 23.5 157.0
19. Xheladini, Mahmut GER 2294 5.0 23.5 151.0
112 players
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.
Letter from Ignatius Leong
Ignatius Leong believes the new FIDE Championship format is a little too
complicated and he has a proposal for its modification.
Proposal of a new format for the World Championship 2001
Version 2 of 17/1/01
Principles
- Three steps up to the final
- One-year cycle.
- The total prize fund shall be USD 3million of which FIDE’s share
is 20% of the total prize fund distributed through the world championship. The
balance shall be distributed:
USD 400,000 for the Zonal Tournaments, USD 200,000 for the Continental
Tournaments; USD 600,000 for the World Cup Tournament and USD 1,500,000 for the
World Championship.
Zones or Continents, which do not organize their tournaments, will
forfeit the allocation, which shall then be channelled to the World Cup.
- The World Championship Committee (WCC) shall include the
representatives of the Presidential Board and one additional nominee of each
Continental President. The WCC will propose the rules, selection of principals,
selection of venues and other matters related to the World Championship. The
WCC shall not include active players. The present World Championship Cycle
Committee is dissolved.
- FIDE President will announce the final calendar by the 15th December
of each year.
Step 1 – Zonal & Continental Tournaments
1. The existing number of Zonal Tournaments should remain and played
between the period January to May 2001.
2. The number of qualifiers from each Zone should be re-calculated
according to the prescribed regulations. There should be no reduction on the
total number of qualifiers from the Zonal Tournaments.
3. The Prize Fund of USD 400,000 will be distributed among the Zonal
Tournaments. The one-federation Zones (5) shall each receive USD 8,000 while
the other Zones (24) shall each receive USD 15,000. Alternately, zones with
lesser number of federations receive less than those zones with more
federations.
4. The number of players from a host federation of a Zonal or
Continental tournament shall not exceed 12 or 35% of the participants whichever
is the smaller number.
Step 2 – World Cup
1. The World Cup Tournament shall comprise 128 players qualified from:
- Zonal Tournaments
- Continental Tournaments
- the 4 semi-finalists of the previous World Championship
d) the World Junior Champion
- the 2 nominees of the FIDE President
- the 1 nominee from the Administrator
- the 12 best rated players calculated by average weighted ratings of
January 2001 and April 2001. In this manner, more players are encouraged to
play in the Zonal and Continental Tournaments.
2. The Continental President shall decide the allocation of the
qualifiers for 2001:
Africa – 8 players
Americas – 24 players
Asia – 24 players
Europe – 52 players
3. The World Cup Tournament shall be played in 5 Rounds:
Round 1 – 128 players shall be divided into 16 groups of 8 players
each. The players will be seeded into the 16 groups similar to regulations of
the 2000 World Cup but using the ratings of July 2001. Each player will have to
play 7 games in Round 1 (round-robin). The 16 winners qualify for the 2-games
Knock-Out Matches from Rounds 2 to 5.
4. Any vacancy will be replaced by the best-rated players as calculated
in 1(f).
5. The Prize Fund of USD 600,000 net shall be distributed:
Round 1 Group Standings – 2nd USD 5,000; 3rd
USD 4,500; 4th USD 4,000;
5th USD 3,500; 6th USD 3,000; 7th USD
2,500 and 8th USD 2,500 = USD 400,000
Round 2 losers x 8 USD 7,000 x 8 = USD 56,000
Round 3 (quarter-final) losers USD 10,000 x 4 = USD 40,000
Round 4 (semi-final) losers USD 16,000 x 2 = USD 32,000
Round 5 (final) loser USD 24,000 x 1 = USD 24,000
Round 5 (final) winner USD 48,000 x 1 = USD 48,000
6. Period of tournament is August - September 2001.
Step 3 – World Championship
1. The Championship will be played in 3 Rounds - the quarter-final, the
semi-final and the final.
2. The eight qualified players from the World Cup (Round 3) will be
seeded according to the rating list of October 2001.
3. Any vacancy will be replaced by the best-rated players among those in
Round 2 of the World Cup. In such case, the October 2001 rating shall be used.
This means that no player is favoured until the rating is published.
4. A match of 4 games will be organized for the quarter-final and the
semi-final. In case of tie two rapid games of 25 min each will be played. If
the score is still equal then 2 blitz of 5 minutes each will be organized. If
the score is still equal then a sudden dead blitz game will be organized and
its result will be final.
5. After a break of two days eight games will be organized for the final
of the world championship. In case of tie, then extra games like in No 4 will
be organized. The winner will be the World Champion.
6. The World Champion will receive $ 600,000 the final loser 300,000.
The semi-final losers will receive $ 150,000 each and the quarter-final losers
will each receive $75,000.
7. Period of final stage is November –December 2001.
Letter from Valery Salov
I thought long and hard about publishing this letter. Personally I found
it's tone patronising in the extreme towards me so why should I publish it?
Secondly Salov followed it up with an E-Mail "you will not be able to stop
completely the circulation of my letter to you. Whether it will be accompanied
by the words "censored by TWIC", - it's up to you to decide." Adding later that
he never previously considered me one of the "Nazi hawks" (not a nice way to
speak about people covering a chess event or indeed anyone) until my coverage
of the Braingames Championships. Not a guaranteed approach to getting things
published I'm afraid. I've tried to maintain friendly relations with Salov over
the years but I'm afraid I now simply can't stand the man anymore, from my
point of view (and probably his) its impossible for us to have a sensible
discussion.
The letter stemmed from some private correspondence I had with Salov
where I tried to explain that in TWIC I did try to get a balance in coverage
and recognition for the FIDE and Braingames World Titles but I do feel that
both have become tarnished, especially in relation to the historic world chess
title which in restrospect saw it's last undisputed match in 1990. There is a
debate to be had on the status of the championships and Viswanathan Anand,
Alexei Shirov and Alexander Khalifman have all recently expressed strong
support for the annual FIDE World Chess Championships. Their opinions and those
of the other leading players will decide. There is another debate about why the
championships lacks the publicity of old. I believe it is the format not the
role of journalists that needs to be examined there.
This whole correspondence started after Salov received the London Chess
Center E-Mail newsletter "Chess Express". He had a problem with the "anonymous"
nature of the letter whose editorial line on this is slightly different to
mine. Malcolm Pein's name is prominant on the London Chess Center site and he
is happy to make clear it is a full reflection of his opinions.
The World Players' Council has a website at:
http://w.p.c.tripod.com. Salov has
complained that "you, journalists, have imposed a totalitarian informational
and economical blockade over our Council, never publish our materials, gag us,
suppress our freedom of expression, deny us our democratic right to dissent
from your one-dimensional primitive thinking, blacklist the rebels and at the
same time complain that you have too little information about us." Personally I
don't think its clear who has a say in the WPC (apart from Salov himself that
is), check the website yourself and try and work it out. Apart from Shirov I've
never seen a major name even connected with the organisation. It does seem
fairly clear to me that FIDE look at the WPC as the place for players to
express their views and therefore its important players do look at the site to
see how they are being represented. I've published letters from Salov before,
I've linked to the WPC site for many weeks now in this very publication. I
plead absolutely not guilty to the charge of gagging Salov's and the WPC's
view.
In the end I did decide to publish the letter. Below is Salov's letter
where the problems of the moment are explained as being created by chess
journalists. Personally I strongly feel the problems lie elsewhere.
To sum up I respect freedom of speech, I do not respect freedom for
abuse.
Open Letter to Mark Crowther, London Chess Center, TWIC by Valery
Salov
Dear Mark,
In respect to your letter from January 14, by which you complain about
the current status of the World Championship title, let me remind you of the
fact that the journalists themselves are definitely the only ones to be blamed
for it. The problems the chess world is now confronted with, were created,
cultivated and fostered by the journalists for a number of years to come. Those
problems had not struck us from the blue of the sky, but were deliberately
exaggerated and disproportionately blown up by the individuals with destructive
and anti-democratic mentality that, unfortunately, enjoyed a full support from
the mainstream western media.
The only more or less rational argument maintained by them against the
new format of the World Championship was a higher importance of luck inherent
to the knockout events. This only consideration had blinded them completely to
all positive changes that the new format brought about with it. But, please,
look at the facts: the World Championship in Delhi - Tehran, organized in a
truly democratic way, without privileges of any kind to anyone, open to all
those who wished and gained the right to compete, supported by the overwhelming
majority of players but ridiculed by some journalists as a "lottery", "show"
and "FIDE Championship", has proven to be very objective in its results. Both
in men's and women's sections the pre-tournament favorites and top-seeded
players, Vishwanathan Anand and Xie Jun, had convincingly won the corresponding
World Championship titles. At the same time, in the parallel "BGN World
Championship", organized in a highly irregular way but in full accordance with
the journalists' ideas of what "objective" format should be, the highly
publicized "undisputed number one player" lost his title (or whatever it was)
to a number 3 from the rating list. Well, where is the objectivity?
Now you feel "uncomfortable, unhappy and annoyed" at calling anyone
'World Champion' at all. Who is the World Champion - Anand or Kramnik? - it is
really an exasperating dilemma for most of you. On the one side we have a
player (currently number 2 in the rating list) who won the World title in a
fair and square struggle against the world's best 100 professional players who
had themselves passed through a tough and rigorously objective qualification
system; on the other side a number 3 player who was selected by the virtue of
having lost a qualification match and after having robbed his
fellow-grandmaster of both his money and legitimate rights to dispute a match
against the PCA-WCC-BGN champion.
Let me avow that I understand all too well your difficulties in making
up your mind on the subject. In fact, some colleagues of yours have already
made up theirs. It's not the first time that the journalists place their
corporate interests above the principles of fair play, common sense, legality
and professional rights of the chess players. During the match in London I
followed attentively the persistently anonymous reports by the major press
agencies (Reuters, AP, AFP), which had unambiguously endorsed it as a World
Championship and in this way deliberately undermined the status of the true
World Championship in Delhi - Tehran. Exactly the same effect was achieved by
the circular letter from the London Chess Center, which, as you claim, was
drafted in a very precipitate manner, and whose author again preferred to
remain anonymous.
You write that "you also expect those [FIDE] championships to run into
some difficulties shortly" because you "simply don't see where the money is
going to come from in the future if Kirsan doesn't provide it".
I'm ready to accept it as a rationale behind the seemingly desperate,
berserk and irrational insistence with which the press continues to deny and
ignore the obvious. By obstinately denigrating the democratic format of the
World Championship the journalists expect to reduce to minimum the FIDE's
chances of finding sponsorship for its events and, FIDE President got tired of
supporting it financially, destroy the whole harmonious structure upon which
the chess professionalism is based. This would offer unlimited possibilities
for manipulation of the competition, Gag Rules and practice of blacklisting any
player who dare to oppose it, - a fertile soil on which so many a journalist
seem to thrive.
On behalf of the World Players' Council I suggest the journalists
desist from their destructive policy of belying FIDE, its President and new
democratic format of the World Championship and make steps in bridging up the
gap of unilateral misunderstanding of the members of our Council and present
FIDE leadership. Dear Mark, the corrupt journalistic practices of taking hasty
irresponsible decisions and presenting them in an anonymous way are long
overdue. The times of unaccountability and despotism of the chess press are
over. We have just entered new millennium, new era, it's high time you all
change the tack.
GM Valery Salov World Players' Council, President Madrid, January 16,
2001
Aberto do Brasil BCX 2001
The "Aberto do Brasil BCX 2001" takes place January 25th - 28th 2001, in
a 7 rounds swiss tournament. Top Players: Lima, g Darcy 2544, g
Hoffman,Alejandro 2473, g Zapata,Alonso 2485, etc ... Venue: Torre Palace Hotel
(http://www.torrepalace.com.br/)
in Brasilia, DF, Brazil.
Internet coverage at http://www.persocom.com.br/bcx
"Governador Mário Covas Júnior" Tournament
The Federação Paulista de Xadrez is to hold a tournament
called the "Governador Mário Covas Júnior" January 29th -
February 8th 2001. The event is category VIII.
Players: 1 Izeta M ,Felix 2448 g, 2 Milos,Gilberto 2608 g, 3 Sega,Carlos
Alberto 2286, 4 Limp,Eduardo 2462 m, 5 Benares Cruz,Ricardo 2276, 6
Rodriguez,Andres 2493 g, 7 De Toledo,James Mann 2384 m, 8 Lima,Darcy 2544 g, 9
Hoffman,Alejandro 2473 g, 10 Pelikian,Jefferson 2387 m, 11 Zapata,Alonso 2485
g, 12 Matsuura,Everaldo 2452 m.
Internet coverage: http://www.fpx.com.br/tmcj2001/tmcj2001.htm
Eger Hungary IM
There is an International Round Robin Tournament in Eger, Hungary for
acquiring rating and IM norms. It takes place 16th-24th of February 2001.
Category: II to IV. Number of participants: 10 to 12 Time limit: closed
tournament with 10-12 rounds, 2 h/40 moves + 1 h /20 moves + 30 min for all
remaining moves
Entry fee: depending on rating, to be stipulated by the organizer.
Information: Europe Chess, IM Ali Habibi * Postfach 1148 D-35436 Linden *
email: EuropeChess@web.de
The Europe Chess Round Robin Tournaments will be held in different
European Countries. Combine quality chess with your vacation! If you register
at least 5 participants ahead of time, we can organize a tournament at a date
you pick. Soon more information in different chess magazines and on the
internet.
WPC Site
Valery Salov heads the WPC (World Players Council) and they have their
own website. The site is at: http://w.p.c.tripod.com with a mixture of
material in Spanish and English. Includes a new interview with the Vice
President of Iran Mr.Hashemi Taba.
Czech Open
The XII. International Chess Festival CZECH OPEN 2001 which will be held
from 12 July to 29 July 2001 in Pardubice. Contact Jan Mazuch for more info
j.mazuch@avekont.cz
First Saturday February
There will be GM and IM First Saturday events 3rd-16th February.
Registered players so far GM event: IGM Sherzer, Alex (USA), IGM Lukacs, Peter
(HUN), IGM Csom, Istvan (HUN), IM Almasi, Istvan (HUN), FM Szieberth, Adam
(HUN), Berkes, Ferenc (HUN), IM Estrada, Julian (MEX), IM Horvath, Adam (HUN),
IM Medvegy, Zoltan (HUN), IM Vajda, Albert (HUN), IM Kallio, Heikki (FIN),
Rajlich, Vasik (USA), WGM Hoang, Thanh Trang (VIE). Reserves: IM Markus,Robert
(YUG), IM Szeberenyi, Adam (HUN), FM Resika, Nathan (USA), WGM Vajda, Szidonia
(HUN). Registered players so far IM events: IM Nemeth, Zolton (HUN), IM
Eperjesi, Laszlo (HUN), IM Farago, Sandor (HUN), IM Seres, Lajos (HUN), IGM
Vadasz, Laszlo (HUN), IM Boguszlavszkij, Evgenij (HUN), Thorfinson, Bragi
(ISL), Galindo, Ricardo (ARG), Erdelyi, Zombor (HUN), FM Bognor, Csaba (HUN),
WGM Vajda, Szid¢Nia (HUN), Bordas, Gyula (HUN), Xu, Hanbing (CHN), Tian,
Tian (ChN), FM Magyar, Otto (HUN), Marxen, Peter (GER), FM Resika, Nathan
(USA), Meszaros, Tam s (HUN), FM Jakab, Attila (HUN), WIM Dembo, Yelena
(HUN), Jurkovic, Ante (CRO). Reserves: IM Petran, Pal (HUN), IM Kaposztas,
Miklos, (HUN), IM Kahn, Evarth (HUN).
Budapest Spring Festival
17th Budapest Spring Festival 9 round Swiss system open chess tournament
16th-24th of March 2001 Organizer: Nagy, László Postal address:
H-1101 Budapest, Hungária krt. 5-7. XI. ép. I. em. 7. Phone/fax:
(061)-263-2859, mobile: 06-30-230-1914 E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu
Venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Budapest, 5th district.Falk Miksa
Str.10.2nd floor, close to the red metro station KOSSUTH square. Rate of play:
40 moves in 2 hours, then 1 hour till the end, guillotine rules. Schedule:
registration until 16th March 9 p.m. by phone at the organizer, then personally
in the tournament hall until 14:30 on the 16th of March /here already 500,-Ft
extra registration fee must be paid/. Besides of the entry fees 1200,-Ft annual
ELO-registration fee must be paid to the Hungarian Chess Federation. Opening
ceremony at 15:00. 1st-8th rounds : 15:30-21:30, last round 10:00-16:00 on the
24th of March. In case of equal points prizes will be decided by Buchholz,
Berger-Sonneborn, then by progressive scores. Prizegiving ceremony at 16:00 on
the 24th of March. Prizes: net 40-25-15-10-5-4-2x3-2x2.5-2x2 thousand Ft.
Special prizes: 3 thousand Ft for the best U-20, U-14, above 60, woman and
non-FIDE rated., if there are minimally 5 players in each group. The prizes are
valid if there are minimum 70 players. If there are less players, prizes will
be reduced proportionally . One player can get only one prize.
Entry fee system: from FIDE rating To FIDE-rating Entry fee /Ft/ Unrated
6000,- 2001 2100 5000,- 2101 2200 4000,- 2201 2250 3500,- 2251 2300 3000,- 2301
2350 2500,- 2351 2400 2000,- IGM, WGM , IM , WIM and above 2401 no entry fee.
Info about accommodation and the event:
http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat
Khalifman Transcript
A transcript of Khalifman's ICC question and answer session is
available. He talks at length on how he believes the FIDE Championships are the
only one but isn't a craven FIDE loyalist. For instance he is not a supporter
of the new FIDE time rate. He talks of the current big three (Kasparov, Kramnik
and Anand) and how he feels he probably belongs in the next grouping of around
10 players (I agree). His objection to FIDE ratings. Why he isn't disappointed
at being ignored by Corus (Why doesn't Khalifman get more invites? It puzzles
me even in broken English he's a better ambassador for the game than many and
he's playing well.) and how he believes Anand will not have sufficient recovery
time to put in his best performance in Wijk aan Zee.
Internet coverage:
http://www.chessclub.com/event/khalifman.html
Bermuda Tournaments
There will be two Invitational GM Tournaments in Bermuda, with the
emphasis on youth they will followed by an Open.
The GM 'A' event will be a six player double-round event starting 20th
January with GMs Gershon, Lesiege, Macieja, Shabalov, Stefansson and Vescovi
(average rating, expected to be about 2575).
The GM 'B' event will be a twelve player event starting 19th January
and confirmed participants so far are GMs Becerra & Thorhallsson, IMs
Blehm, Doettling, Teplitsky & Bojan Vuckovic, WIM Fierro and Johann
Alvarez, Charbonneau & Marcel Martinez, with a GM and another still to
confirm.
The usual five round Open will start 1st February and will include most
of those in the invitationals and GMs Van Wely, Rogers, Benjamin, Ilya
Gurevich, Soltis & Bisguier have indicated attendance - not to forget
Rupert Jones defending his Under 1800 prize!
Internet coverage: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess
Korchnoi-Ponomariov Match
There will be an 8 game Korchnoi-Ponomariov match will start on 16th
January 2001 in Donetsk. The main sponsor is joint-stock company DANKO.
Details:
http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/match01p.htm
Helsinki IM and ELO
Helsinki Chess Circuit IM / ELO February 12th-22nd, 2001
Events: 12 player all-play-all IM-group (estimated FIDE category IV) 12
player all-play-all ELO-group (estimated rating average 2100)
Schedule Confirmation of participation Feb 12th at 10.00-11.00 (all
times are local) Drawing of lots Feb 12th at 11.00 1st round Feb 12th at 14.00
2nd round Feb 13th at 14.00 3rd round Feb 14th at 11.00 4th round Feb 15th at
11.00 5th round Feb 16th at 14.00 6th round Feb 17th at 14.00 7th round Feb
18th at 14.00 8th round Feb 19th at 14.00 9th round Feb 20th at 14.00 10th
round Feb 21st at 11.00 11th round Feb 22nd at 11.00 Prize giving ceremony
immediately after 11th round Time rate 2 h / 40 moves + 1 h / 20 moves + 30 min
to finish
Entry Fees IM group: FIM 600 (IMs and GMs conditions negotiable) ELO
group: FIM 300 Prizes IM group: FIM 2000, 1500, 1000, 500 ELO group: FIM 1000,
750, 500, 250
Registration: Players interested to participate in IM- or ELO-group,
please contact Mr. Sami Hämäläinen, tel. +358-9-5419091, email
Sami.Hamalainen@icon.fi
26th Aubervilliers Speed Tournament
26th speed tournament of Aubervilliers (5 minutes travel from Paris)
with £9000 in cash prizes takes place Saturday and Sunday 27th-28th
January 2001.
Entry and further details:
http://organisechecs.multimania.com/
Korchnoi-Ponomariov Match
There will be an 8 game Korchnoi-Ponomariov match will start on 16th
January 2001 in Donetsk. The main sponsor is joint-stock company DANKO.
Details:
http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/match01p.htm
6th Stuttgart Open
The 6th International Stuttgart Open takes place in Ditzingen (Germany)
from 24th-27th May 2001, 7ch.
Further information: http://www.tsv-zuffenhausen.de/schach/
2nd Yateley Manor International
The 2nd Yateley Manor International Open takes place 19th-21st January
and 3rd-4th February 2001 (ie play is over 2 weekends). It takes place in
Yateley Manor School, Reading Road, Yateley, nr Camberley, Hampshire.
For further details contact: Ray Clark High Cedars, Oak End Way,
Gerrards Cross, Bucks. SL9 8DA e-mail ray.clark@kpmg.co.uk tel: 01753 883300
Deep Fritz vs. Germany
There is a Deep Fritz vs. Germany match taking place. Internet
coverage: http://www.computerschach.de/dfritz/ with an English introduction at:
http://www.computerschach.de/dfritz/dfritz1e.htm
VI FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships
The VI FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships take place in Pamplona
(Spain). 27th December 2001 - 6 January 2002. Swiss 10 rounds Conditions:
Players without Elo FIDE Entry: 50$ Information: Federación
Española de Ajedrez Tfn: 34 (Spain)-91-3556009 Fax: 34-917256963 email:
jaque@lite.eunet.es
Andorra Open 2001
The website for the Andorra open June 24th - July 2nd 2001. You can also
win a digital camera or entry to the event by visiting their website.
Internet site: http://www.internet.ad/feva
Australian Junior Championships
2001 Australian Junior Championships 11-23 January Hellenic Club,
Matilda St, Phillip, ACT The early-entry date is fast approaching and is next
Wednesday 20 DECEMBER 2000. Late entries will be taken by the organisers up to
08 January and a late fee of $25 will apply, so get your entries in now. Print
out the entry form from: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/junentryform.html
and return to: 2001 Australian Junior Chess Championships PO Box 1403 Belconnen
ACT 2616
New Chess Site
Emil Sutovsky has started contributing to the Chessy site.
http://www.chesslove.h1.ru/eng/index.html
Sinisa Joksic www site
Yugoslav journalist Sinisa Joksic has a new internet site. He will cover
Yugoslav chess in Serbo-Croatian and English and also the swiss chess tour.
Internet addresses: http://yubc.net/~yuchess or
http://www.yuchess.bizland.com.
Two tournaments in Prague
There are two closed tournaments in Prague at the end of the year, the
Wilhelm Steinitz Memorial and one open tournament - Karel Prucha Memorial.
Contact: FM Martin Pribyl Prague, Czech Republic E-mail:
orbis64@login.cz
December 26, 2000 - January 5, 2001 Prague - Wihelm Steinitz Memorial -
closed GM tournament, 12 participants, category 8 - 10. Entry fee for players
with ELO > 2400 300 DEM. Closed IM tournament, 10-12 players, cat. 3. Info:
Ruzena Pribylova, Kukelska 904/113, Praha 9, CZ-198 00, Czech Republic. E-mail:
orbis64@login.cz
December 26, 2000 - December 30, 2000 Prague - Memorial Karel Prucha -
international open tournament, 7 rounds. Info: Ruzena Pribylova, Kukelska
904/113, Praha 9, CZ-198 00, Czech Republic. E-mail: orbis64@login.cz
Two Swiss Chess Tour events 2000-1
The "Swiss Chess Tour 2000" will finish in Bern with the 7th
"Ambassador Open" December 26th-30th 2000. Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games
will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the
end). Prize are: 2.000 SF, 1.500, 1.000, 800, 600, 500, 400, 300, 250 and 200
SF. From 11.- 20. places natural prizes. Special prizes for best Lady, senior
(1940), junior(1980-83), schoolboy (1984) and best local player. Entty fee 130
SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free. Venue:
Hotel "Ambassador"
New event - Blitz tournament, Swiss system, 9 double rounds.
Time table for "Ambassador Open": December 26.: The last registration
11.00-12.15 Open ceremony 12.15-12.30 Round 1st 12.30-17.30 December 27.: Round
2nd 9.30-14.30 Round 3rd 15.30-20.30 December 28.: Round 4th 12.30 Blitz
18.30-22.30 December 29.: Round 5th 9.30-14.30 The first four play knock-out
and the other continue tournament. Round 6th 15.30-20.30 + semi-final December
30.: Round 7th 9.30-14.30 + final Closing ceremony 16.00
Registered: GM Sturua (GEO), WGM Gurieli(GEO), GM Suetin (RUS), GM
C.Horvath (HUN), GM J.Horvath (RUS), IM Berzinsh (LAT), IM Velicka (CZE), IM
Joksic(YUG), IM Seres (HUN), IM A.Meszaros (HUN), IM Pal (HUN).
Anniversary of Viktor Korchnoi Swiss Chess Tour 2001 The 3rd Hilton
Open in Basle
Next year Viktor Korchnoi celebrates his 70th birthday. The Swiss Chess
Federation, his club "Zurich", organizers from Switzerland and other countries
want to take part and organize some chess event in honor of great champion.
Swiss Chess Tour 2001 starts the first and address gala Hilton Open in honor of
Viktor.
The "Swiss Chess Tour 2001" start in Basle with the 3rd Hilton Open
January 1st 7th 2000. Swiss system 7 rounds and Swiss system, 7 rounds and the
games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till
the end). After 5 rounds a first three + Korchnoi play knock-out system, the
others continue with Swiss system. Prizes: 1. 2000 SF (Swiss Francs), 2. 1.500,
3. 1.200, 4. 1.000, 5. 800, 6. 600, 7. 500, 8. 400, 9.-10.2x300 i 11.-12. 2x200
SF (min 100 players). Special prizes 200 SF each: best Lady, senior (1941),
junior (1981-84), schoolboy (1985), Basle player, player till 2000 rating
points and a best player till 1800 points. Entry fee: 130 SF (FMs + juniors 60;
GMs + IMs free). At the doors +10 SF. Venue Hotel "Hilton"
The others celebration events: January, 2nd "Juniors Chess King" four
category U-20, U-17, U-14, U-12. January, 3rd Viktor Korchnoi, Simul &
show-blitz with juniors and VIP persons January, 6th Blitz Open (5', Swiss
system, 9 double round)
Time table for "Hilton Open": January 1.: The last registration
14.00-16.45 Open ceremony 16.45-17.00 Round 1st 17.00-23.00 January 2.: Juniors
Tournament 10.00-17.00 Round 2nd 17.00-23.00 January 3.: Round 3rd 17.00-23.00
Korchnoi, Simul & show-blitz 14.00-17.00 January 4.: Round 4th 17.00-23.00
January 5.: Round 5th 17.00-23.00 The first four play knock-out and the other
continue Tournament. January 6. : Round 6th 11.00-17.00 (The semi-final
10.00-16.00) Blitz Tournament 18.00-22.00 January 7. : Round 7th 11.00-17.00
(The final 10.00-16.00) The closing ceremony 18.00
Registered: GM Korchnoi (SUI), GM A. Sokolov (RUS), GM Tukmakov (UKR),
GM Sturua (GEO), WGM Gurieli (GEO), GM Cvitan (CRO), GM Suetin (RUS), GM
C.Horvath (HUN), GM J.Horvath (RUS), IM Joksic (YUG), IM Pikula (YUG), IM Seres
(HUN), IM A.Meszaros (HUN), IM Pal (HUN).
More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+34+424-01-06
faf +41+34+424-01-07 E-mail info@beochess.ch
Further information: http://www.beochess.ch
10th Aurec Rapidplay
The 10th Aurec (France) Rapidplay takes place 10th-11th February
2001.
Two rapid tournaments 7 rounds/20mn. 2 sections : - section A for every
player (total prizes FF 35,000) - section B for under 1700 (total prizes FF
5,000 + prizes in kind) Board and lodging from Friday to Sunday for all titled
players. No appearance fees. Contact : Olivier Deville - Coteviere - 43110
Aurec, France, tel. : (+33) 4 77 35 41 21 - Fax : (+33) 4 77 35 23 76 - E-mail
: odeville@netcourrier.com
Gausdal Troll Masters
The Gausdal Troll Masters are played at the Gausdal
Høifjellshotel in Norway 5-12th January 2001. Open 9-round GM-tournament
with good norm chances. 14-18 titled players expected out of 60-70
participants. Maximum 10-12 unrated players. Confirmed GMs: Rozentalis (2593),
Rausis (2551), Krakops (2522), Gausel (2492), Djurhuus (2484) and Westerinen
(2370). Last date of entry: 1st Januay 2001 Start fee: NOK 300-900, depending
on rating. Prizes: NOK 6000 - 4000 - 2500 - 1500 - 1000
More information on the home page:
http://home.online.no/~bjarke-k/TrollMasters/Troll2001/Engelsk/index.htm
Participation in the tournament may be combined with the Open Norwegian
Rapid Chess Championships, played in Fredrikstad (south-east of Oslo) 12-13th
January 2001. Home page: http://www.sjakk.net/nm_2001.html
Cappelle la Grande
The XVII Cappelle la Grande open takes place 24th February-3rd March
2001.
Internet site: http://cappelle.free.fr
GM Alexander Baburin chess sites
GM Alexander Baburin has been a familiar presence on the internet with
his Coffee Break magazine. He is now involved in two new websites.
http://www.gmsquare.com The idea is to
provide a place on the Web to those GMs who would like to have some presence on
the Internet and currently there are sites of three GMs there - Alexander
Baburin himself, Alexander Morozevich and Lev Psakhis. Secondly at:
http://www.chesstoday.net there will be
a commercial chess service, providing daily news, interviews and instruction to
a wide range of players. Each issue will feature one annotated game and news
from around the world, while weekend issues will have some instructional
materials, particularly useful for club players. Chess Today costs about $15
for 4 months.
Tel Aviv Open 2001
Open Swiss International Tournament in Tel-Aviv Dates: 9th-17th April
2001. 9 rounds. Possibilities for GM and IM norms. Prizes: 4000 3000 2000 1200
800....20 prizes in total (10 last are 250$); special U-2400, U-2000, U-18 y.o:
500 300 200 + women prizes; Special Conditions for GMs and IMs (apply to Dima
Tyomkin dimatyomkin@hotmail.com).
Info: The Israeli Chess Federation through Mr. Igal Lotan 03-6437627,
03-6437630;
Bobby Fischer contribution to the Ambassador Report
Bobby Fischer was associated with Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide
Church of God for some time. The Ambassador report was compiled by opponents of
the organisation. You can read it at:
http://homepage.altavista.com/AmbassadorReport/files/Fischer.html
4NCL Fantasy Chess
Fantasy Chess is now running a competition based on the 4NCL. People
have to predict the results of the matches rather than the individual games.
One for the Bundesliga will follow.
http://play.at/fantasychess
Three Hungarian Tournaments
Szekszard HUN IM closed tournament 04-10 12 2000 9 rounds, 2 double
rounds, cat. 3-4, entry fee: 200 DEM information: Videki Sandor Tel/fax:
00-36-75421225 email: videkisn@matavnet.hu
Szekszard HUN 9 rounds open, children, blitz tournaments 05-10 12 2000
prizefound: 400000 HUF Information: Papp Csaba, Decs Oreg str.53 Hungary email:
rlaszlo@freemail.hu
There will be the TAPOLCA Open chess tournament in Budapest January
5th-13th 2001. Prizes: 40-25-15-10-6-4-2x3-2x2.5-2x2 thousand HUF /1 USD = 300
HUF now/. About 4-6 IM-s, 50-70 % FIDE rated usually. The organizer: PAREJ,
Jozsef, phone: 00-36-87-321-950, home 19:00-21:00 hours Central European Time
More info and accommodation in Budapest: Nagy, Laszlo International Chess
Organizer E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu
IECG Cup
The IECG Cup VI preliminary stage. IECG Cup is an open tournament:
players of any rating are merged together. So this is a nice opportunity to
play a wide range of opponents. Subscriptions are open until September 15.
Entries received after this date are used for a replacement list, which will be
closed on October 1st. The tournament will be launched on October 1st, for a
duration of 11 months. All the unfinished games will be adjudicated. During the
preliminary phase, all participants take part in a 7 men, single round
tournament (so 6 games to play). The 2 winners of each section will be entitled
to play in the next stage, starting in October 2001. All games count for IECG
rating, of course.
The entry form for Cup VI is at:
http://www.iecg.org/cupentry.htm
The web entry form is the best method to be enlisted in the Cup, as the process
behind is easier for us.
New Russian Website
There is a new Russian Website (English content to follow) at:
http://kvkchess.euro.ru/. Material
includes chess history and statistics and a collection of the chess links.
New Greek Site
The OAA Heraklio Chess Club a new website:
http://www.oaachess.bizland.com
the site has chess news from Greece, chess features, etc. Includes a Greek
chess calendar.
16th Maccabiah Chess Tournaments
As part of the 16th Maccabiah there will be a number of chess
tournaments (GM/IM and open tournaments) The 16th Maccabiah (Jewish Olympiad)
takes place in Tel-Aviv 16th-26th June 2001.
http://www.slavchess.co.il/academy/maccabi.html
