THE WEEK IN CHESS 590 27th February 2006 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Morelia/Linares 2006
3) Cappelle la Grande
4) Polish Championship
5) Morelia Mexican Open
6) Hyderabad International Chess Tournament
7) Bruges Masters
8) 4th Nancy Chess Festival
9) Bermuda International Open
10) Portsmouth Premier
11) Ciudad de Sóller - Mallorca - Spain
12) OCF $15 Fide Open
13) Ilsan International
14) US Championship
15) Georgian Championship for Boys and Girls-under-18
16) 13th Metalis Open
17) Gary Abram (1930-2006)
18) Bessel Kok FIDE Ticket
19) Forthcoming Events and Links

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Games section

Morelia/Linares 2006          20 games
Cappelle la Grande           454 games
Polish Championship           21 games
Morelia Mexican Open          15 games
Hyderabad International       80 games
Bruges Masters                 7 games
4th Nancy Chess Festival      90 games
Portsmouth Premier            92 games
Ciudad de Sóller              30 games
OCF $15 Fide Open             10 games
Ilsan International           45 games
13th Metalis Open            213 games
1078 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Adam Raoof, Varlam Vepkhvishvili, Nigel Freeman, Geoffrey Borg, Jonathan Berry, Vishal Sareen, Dirk De Ridder, Lars Hansen, Laszlo Nagy, David Avron, Przemek Jahr, Pascal Villalba, Vladica Andrejic, Andy McFarland, Martin Smajzr, John E. Upham, Ali Nihat Yazici, Arthur Brameld, Mirjana Medic, Ben Finegold, Frank Berry, Bronislav Chmelícek, Istvan Brindza, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The half way point of the Morelia/Linares tournament has been reached. They leave Mexico and travel to Spain and restart on Friday. Peter Leko leads the event by half a point from Levon Aronian with Peter Svidler half a point further back. In contrast to some years at Linares recently there have been over 50% (15/28) of games finishing decisively. Of which 3 were Veselin Topalov losses. Topalov doesn't seem to be playing that differently than he has in the last year and a bit when he's dominated things but he plays so sharply that when things go wrong, and he's slightly off the pace, he loses.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Morelia/Linares 2006

Morelia in Mexico hosts the first half of the traditional Linares super tournament. Their half will take place February 18th-26th, 2006. The Linares half takes place 3rd-11th March 2006.

Official site:http://www.marca.es/ - live: http://linares.soloajedrez.com/. Morelia organisers: http://www.moreliachess.com/eng/

Round 3 (February 20, 2006)

Aronian, Levon           -  Topalov, Veselin         1/2  123  E55  Nimzo Indian
Svidler, Peter           -  Leko, Peter              1/2   21  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Radjabov, Teimour        -  Ivanchuk, Vassily        1/2   23  D84  Gruenfeld 4.Bf4
Bacrot, Etienne          -  Vallejo Pons, Francisco  1/2   18  E49  Nimzo Indian

Round 4 (February 22, 2006)

Leko, Peter              -  Ivanchuk, Vassily        1-0   39  C88  Ruy Lopez Closed
Svidler, Peter           -  Bacrot, Etienne          1-0   59  C42  Petroff's Defence
Vallejo Pons, Francisco  -  Aronian, Levon           1/2   20  A30  English Symmetrical
Topalov, Veselin         -  Radjabov, Teimour        0-1   37  E70  King's Indian Fianchetto

Round 5 (February 23, 2006)

Aronian, Levon           -  Svidler, Peter           1-0   38  D80  Gruenfeld 4.Bg5
Ivanchuk, Vassily        -  Topalov, Veselin         0-1   48  D15  Slav Defence
Radjabov, Teimour        -  Vallejo Pons, Francisco  1/2   51  D43  Anti-Meran Gambit
Bacrot, Etienne          -  Leko, Peter              1/2   28  E15  Queens Indian

Round 6 (February 25, 2006)

Aronian, Levon           -  Leko, Peter              1/2   45  E15  Queens Indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily        -  Svidler, Peter           1-0   25  D80  Gruenfeld 4.Bg5
Radjabov, Teimour        -  Bacrot, Etienne          1-0   55  D45  Anti-Meran Variations
Topalov, Veselin         -  Vallejo Pons, Francisco  0-1   56  D43  Anti-Meran Gambit

Round 7 (February 26, 2006)

Leko, Peter              -  Topalov, Veselin         1/2   41  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Svidler, Peter           -  Radjabov, Teimour        1/2   42  B30  Sicilian Rossolimo
Vallejo Pons, Francisco  -  Ivanchuk, Vassily        1/2   25  C42  Petroff's Defence
Bacrot, Etienne          -  Aronian, Levon           0-1   55  E21  Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3


XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (MEX/ESP), 18 ii-11 iii 2006cat. XX (2732)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Leko, Peter              g HUN 2740 ** =. =. 1. 1. 1. =. =.  5.0  2888
2 Aronian, Levon           g ARM 2752 =. ** 1. 0. 1. =. =. 1.  4.5  2830
3 Svidler, Peter           g RUS 2765 =. 0. ** 0. =. 1. 1. 1.  4.0  2777
4 Ivanchuk, Vassily        g UKR 2729 0. 1. 1. ** =. =. 0. =.  3.5  2732
5 Radjabov, Teimour        g AZE 2700 0. 0. =. =. ** =. 1. 1.  3.5  2736
6 Vallejo Pons, Francisco  g ESP 2650 0. =. 0. =. =. ** 1. =.  3.0  2693
7 Topalov, Veselin         g BUL 2801 =. =. 0. 1. 0. 0. ** =.  2.5  2619
8 Bacrot, Etienne          g FRA 2717 =. 0. 0. =. 0. =. =. **  2.0  2575
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Cappelle la Grande

The Cappelle la Grande tournament took place 18th-25th February 2006. 112 GMs (with 24 WGM) - 80 IMs (with 9 WMI)) - 48 FIDE masters (with 9 women) - 471 FIDE rated players (75%), with 55 women. 624 players (Only 45% french players) from 58 federations. Alexander Moiseenko won the event with 7.5/9. My thanks to David Avron and Pascal Villalba.

Official site: http://www.cappelle-chess.com/. Further coverage at: http://www.notzai.info - http://www.notzai.info/rubrique11.html

-------------------------------------------------------------
22nd Open Cappelle la Grande FRA (FRA), 18-25 ii 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Moiseenko, Alexander          g  UKR 2657   7.5	2801
  2. Gashimov, Vugar               g  AZE 2625   7.0	2737
  3. Goloshchapov, Alexander       g  UKR 2533   7.0	2732
  4. Azarov, Sergei                g  BLR 2581   7.0	2717
  5. Drozdovskij, Yuri             g  UKR 2509   7.0	2714
  6. Grigoriants, Sergey           g  RUS 2550   7.0	2712
  7. Sasikiran, Krishnan           g  IND 2670   7.0	2695
  8. Burmakin, Vladimir            g  RUS 2519   7.0	2670
  9. Szelag, Marcin                m  POL 2468   7.0	2582
 10. Firman, Nazar                 m  UKR 2468   6.5	2683
 11. Yevseev, Denis                g  RUS 2557   6.5	2654
 12. Guseinov, Gadir               g  AZE 2607   6.5	2647
 13. Baklan, Vladimir              g  UKR 2601   6.5	2641
 14. Yagupov, Igor                 g  RUS 2534   6.5	2636
 15. Riazantsev, Alexander         g  RUS 2594   6.5	2621
 16. Kulaots, Kaido                g  EST 2558   6.5	2606
 17. Ovetchkin, Roman              g  RUS 2539   6.5	2606
 18. Psakhis, Lev                  g  ISR 2534   6.5	2599
 19. Nijboer, Friso                g  NED 2571   6.5	2596
 20. Golod, Vitali                 g  ISR 2577   6.5	2594
 21. Andreev, Eduard               g  UKR 2470   6.5	2590
 22. Spraggett, Kevin              g  CAN 2581   6.5	2590
 23. Kveinys, Aloyzas              g  LTU 2517   6.5	2589
 24. Vazquez, Renier               m  ESP 2513   6.5	2587
 25. Chernyshov, Konstantin        g  RUS 2539   6.5	2585
 26. Ionov, Sergey                 g  RUS 2527   6.5	2576
 27. Kryvoruchko, Yuriy            m  UKR 2513   6.5	2575
 28. Hebden, Mark                  g  ENG 2514   6.5	2566
 29. Ciuksyte, Dagne               wg LTU 2370   6.5	2565
 30. Dembo, Yelena                 m  GRE 2461   6.5	2564
 31. Nalbandian, Tigran            g  ARM 2524   6.5	2541
 32. Rozentalis, Eduardas          g  LTU 2582   6.5	2530
 33. Kovchan, Alexander            g  UKR 2513   6.5	2529
 34. Danielian, Oganes             g  ARM 2518   6.5	2523
 35. Van der Weide, Karel          g  NED 2466   6.5	2470
 36. Vysochin, Spartak             g  UKR 2551   6.0	2627
 37. Sorokin, Maxim                g  RUS 2560   6.0	2610
 38. Luther, Thomas                g  GER 2569   6.0	2602
 39. Yandemirov, Valeri            g  RUS 2503   6.0	2598
 40. Vorobiov, Evgeny E            g  RUS 2543   6.0	2594
 41. Korneev, Oleg                 g  RUS 2649   6.0	2593
 42. Belikov, Vladimir             g  RUS 2528   6.0	2584
 43. Malakhatko, Vadim             g  UKR 2556   6.0	2575
 44. Roiz, Michael                 g  ISR 2599   6.0	2572
 45. Li Shilong                    g  CHN 2543   6.0	2567
 46. Tunik, Gennady                g  RUS 2469   6.0	2566
 47. Novikov, Maxim                g  RUS 2518   6.0	2559
 48. Neverov, Valeriy              g  UKR 2554   6.0	2556
 49. Zagrebelny, Sergey            g  UZB 2497   6.0	2554
 50. Zubarev, Alexander            g  UKR 2508   6.0	2552
 51. Oleksienko, Mikhailo          g  UKR 2509   6.0	2551
 52. Benitah, Yohan                m  FRA 2398   6.0	2549
 53. Delchev, Aleksander           g  BUL 2661   6.0	2549
 54. Rodshtein, Maxim              m  ISR 2467   6.0	2543
 55. Bykhovsky, Avigdor            g  RUS 2464   6.0	2539
 56. Epishin, Vladimir             g  RUS 2553   6.0	2539
 57. Shneider, Aleksandr           g  UKR 2529   6.0	2538
 58. Hasangatin, Ramil             g  RUS 2460   6.0	2532
 59. Degraeve, Jean-Marc           g  FRA 2553   6.0	2526
 60. Leon Hoyos, Manuel            m  MEX 2428   6.0	2522
 61. Gozzoli, Yannick              m  FRA 2464   6.0	2513
 62. Zakharevich, Igor             g  RUS 2500   6.0	2511
 63. Jaracz, Pawel                 g  POL 2486   6.0	2506
 64. Ovod, Evgenija                m  RUS 2366   6.0	2498
 65. Yemelin, Vasily               g  RUS 2523   6.0	2497
 66. Danielian, Elina              m  ARM 2423   6.0	2489
 67. Bagheri, Amir                 g  FRA 2521   6.0	2486
 68. Erenburg, Sergey              g  ISR 2573   6.0	2484
 69. Moroz, Alexander              g  UKR 2506   6.0	2483
 70. Sakelsek, Tadej               m  SLO 2418   6.0	2481
 71. Kurnosov, Igor                g  RUS 2517   6.0	2477
 72. Gutman, Gennadi               g  UKR 2517   6.0	2474
 73. Landenbergue, Claude          m  SUI 2419   6.0	2472
 74. Gharamian, Tigran             m  FRA 2425   6.0	2465
 75. Sumets, Andrey                m  UKR 2457   6.0	2465
 76. Escobar Forero, Alder         m  COL 2425   6.0	2456
 77. Kasparov, Sergey              m  BLR 2491   6.0	2447
 78. Krivonosov, Oleg              m  LAT 2431   6.0	2435
 79. Foisor, Ovidiu Doru           m  ROM 2392   6.0	2434
 80. Zaragatski, Ilja                 GER 2400   6.0	2430
 81. Kaplan, Sasha                 f  ISR 2331   6.0	2376
 82. Borges Mateos, Juan           g  CUB 2449   6.0	2333
 83. Dimitrov, Radoslav               BUL 2133   6.0	2312
 84. Sulskis, Sarunas              g  LTU 2504   5.5	2544
 85. Shaw, John                    m  SCO 2432   5.5	2541
 86. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij       g  UKR 2619   5.5	2539
 87. Sebag, Marie                  m  FRA 2415   5.5	2539
 88. Zhigalko, Andrey              m  BLR 2505   5.5	2538
 89. Zhigalko, Sergei              m  BLR 2496   5.5	2538
 90. Spoelman, Wouter                 NED 2376   5.5	2514
 91. Moser, Eva                    m  AUT 2374   5.5	2508
 92. Bitalzadeh, Ali                  NED 2270   5.5	2507
 93. Shengelia, Davit              g  GEO 2562   5.5	2501
 94. Senff, Martin                 m  GER 2471   5.5	2491
 95. Khmelniker, Ilya              m  ISR 2430   5.5	2483
 96. Zimmerman, Yuri               m  RUS 2379   5.5	2483
 97. Abergel, Thal                 m  FRA 2426   5.5	2481
 98. Narciso Dublan, Marc          g  ESP 2525   5.5	2476
 99. Zinchenko, Yaroslav           m  UKR 2501   5.5	2469
100. Gdanski, Jacek                g  POL 2540   5.5	2464
627 players

4) Polish Championship

The Polish Championship takes place in Krakow, 25th February - 9th March 2006.

Official site: http://mzszach.l.pl/online/mpm2006/index.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LXIII ch-POL Krakow POL (POL), 25 ii-9 iii 2006               cat. XII (2527)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Wojtaszek, Radoslaw    g POL 2605  * . = . . . . . . 1 . . 1 .  2.5  2766
 2. Markowski, Tomasz      g POL 2565  . * . . . = . . . . . . 1 1  2.5  2738
 3. Bobras, Piotr          g POL 2531  = . * . . . . . . = 1 . . .  2.0  2644
 4. Czarnota, Pawel        m POL 2497  . . . * . = . = . . . . . 1  2.0  2631
 5. Heberla, Bartlomiej    m POL 2487  . . . . * . . . . = = 1 . .  2.0  2617
 6. Grabarczyk, Miroslaw   g POL 2479  . = . = . * = . . . . . . .  1.5  2560
 7. Kempinski, Robert      g POL 2619  . . . . . = * = = . . . . .  1.5  2558
 8. Socko, Bartosz         g POL 2610  . . . = . . = * . . . = . .  1.5  2546
 9. Macieja, Bartlomiej    g POL 2585  . . . . . . = . * . = = . .  1.5  2544
10. Urban, Klaudiusz       m POL 2462  0 . = . = . . . . * . . . .  1.0  2416
11. Dziuba, Marcin         m POL 2491  . . 0 . = . . . = . * . . .  1.0  2409
12. Bartel, Mateusz        g POL 2524  . . . . 0 . . = = . . * . .  1.0  2435
13. Gajewski, Grzegorz     m POL 2486  0 0 . . . . . . . . . . * =  0.5  2260
14. Warakomski, Tomasz     f POL 2430  . 0 . 0 . . . . . . . . = *  0.5  2243
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (February 25, 2006)

Markowski, Tomasz     -  Gajewski, Grzegorz    1-0   48  D02  Queen's Pawn Game
Bobras, Piotr         -  Wojtaszek, Radoslaw   1/2   27  B80  Sicilian Scheveningen
Czarnota, Pawel       -  Warakomski, Tomasz    1-0   61  C88  Ruy Lopez Closed
Kempinski, Robert     -  Grabarczyk, Miroslaw  1/2   18  B37  Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Urban, Klaudiusz      -  Heberla, Bartlomiej   1/2   26  A43  Old Benoni
Dziuba, Marcin        -  Macieja, Bartlomiej   1/2   50  E15  Queens Indian
Bartel, Mateusz       -  Socko, Bartosz        1/2   49  C17  French Winawer

Round 2 (February 26, 2006)

Wojtaszek, Radoslaw   -  Gajewski, Grzegorz    1-0   61  E55  Nimzo Indian
Bobras, Piotr         -  Urban, Klaudiusz      1/2   23  C02  French Advance
Heberla, Bartlomiej   -  Dziuba, Marcin        1/2   14  B12  Caro Kann Advanced
Grabarczyk, Miroslaw  -  Czarnota, Pawel       1/2   13  D14  Slav Exchange
Socko, Bartosz        -  Kempinski, Robert     1/2   12  A08  Barcza System
Macieja, Bartlomiej   -  Bartel, Mateusz       1/2   32  C97  Ruy Lopez
Warakomski, Tomasz    -  Markowski, Tomasz     0-1   46  C41  Philidor's Defence

Round 3 (February 27, 2006)

Markowski, Tomasz     -  Grabarczyk, Miroslaw  1/2   36  A09  Reti Opening
Czarnota, Pawel       -  Socko, Bartosz        1/2   20  C90  Ruy Lopez
Kempinski, Robert     -  Macieja, Bartlomiej   1/2   24  E39  Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Urban, Klaudiusz      -  Wojtaszek, Radoslaw   0-1   77  A30  English Symmetrical
Dziuba, Marcin        -  Bobras, Piotr         0-1   39  D85  Gruenfeld Defence
Bartel, Mateusz       -  Heberla, Bartlomiej   0-1   47  D27  QGA
Gajewski, Grzegorz    -  Warakomski, Tomasz    1/2   14  D21  QGA

5) Morelia Mexican Open

Jonathan Berry sends news of the Morelia Mexican Open which took place 16th-19th February 2006. Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon won the 125-player top section of the 744 player Morelia Gran Abierto Mexicano with 6.5 points out of 7. He won 40,000 pesos, about $US4,000 Alfonso Almeida, young Uriel Capo, and GM Timur Gareev tied for second place with 6 points. The other GM in the tournament, Mexican Juan Gonzalez, drew with Capo, but was unlucky to get Black against both of the other GMs and finished back in the pack. A small number of games are available.

Further Details: http://www.tinyurl.com/cymdf

Leading Final Round 7 Standings
  1.    1  Bruzon, Lazaro             6.5
  2.    8  Almeida Saenz Alfonso      6.0
       18  Capo Vidal Uriel           6.0
        3  Gareev Timur F             6.0
  5.    4  Abreu, Aryam               5.5
       13  Martinez Salomon Ibrahim   5.5
       10  Estrada Nieto Julian       5.5
       23  Lares Flores Manuel De Jes 5.5
  9.    2  Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlo 5.0
       11  Hernandez Guerrero Eduardo 5.0
        9  Espinosa Flores Rafael     5.0
        7  Blanco Fernandez Alvaro    5.0
       47  Ibarra Chami Luis Fernando 5.0
       12  Dominguez Aguilar, Guiller 5.0
       15  Huertas Soris Ramon        5.0
       34  Hernandez Guerrero Yadira  5.0
       35  Triana, Justo              5.0
       54  Ancheyta Tejas Alejandro   5.0
       25  Huertas Carballo Dayron    5.0
       31  Garmendez Gonzalez Carlos  5.0
       21  Vega Garcia Jorge Arturo   5.0
125 players

6) Hyderabad International Chess Tournament

The ONGC Cup International Grand Masters Open Chess Tournament takes place in Hyderabad, 25th February - 5th March 2006.

Further details: http://www.ongccuphyd.in/ or at the Chess Players of India site: http://www.cpai.in/

Leading Round 3 Standings:
----------------------------------------------------
1st ONGC Cup Hyderabad IND (IND), 25 ii-5 iii 2006
----------------------------------------------------
  1. Kotsur, Pavel              g  KAZ 2570    3.0
  2. Megaranto, Susanto         g  INA 2539    3.0
  3. Thipsay, Praveen M         g  IND 2488    3.0
  4. Arun Prasad, S             m  IND 2384    3.0
  5. Deepan, Chakkravarthy J    m  IND 2428    3.0
  6. Harika, Dronavalli         wg IND 2358    3.0
  7. Laxman, R.R                m  IND 2418    3.0
  8. Palit, Somak                  IND 2333    3.0
  9. Zhumabaev, Rinat           f  KAZ 2405    3.0
 10. Saptarshi, Roy                IND 2363    3.0
 11. Prakash, G B               m  IND 2428    3.0
 12. Gokhale, Chandrashekhar    m  IND 2368    3.0
 13. Gupta, Abhijeet            m  IND 2434    3.0
 14. Konguvel, Ponnuswamy       m  IND 2400    3.0
 15. Sengupta, Deep             m  IND 2393    3.0
 16. Kamble, Vikramaditya          IND 2403    3.0
246 players

7) Bruges Masters

The Bruges Masters takes place 28th February - 3rd March 2005.

Official site: http://www.brugsemeesters.be/

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Masters Bruges BEL (BEL), 26 ii-3 iii 2006           cat. IV (2331)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Maenhout, Thibaut     BEL 2303  * . . . . 1 . = . .  1.5  2531
 2. Geirnaert, Steven   f BEL 2357  . * . . = . . . 1 .  1.5  2478
 3. Malakhatko, Vadim   g UKR 2556  . . * . = . . 1 . .  1.5  2548
 4. Leenhouts, Koen     m NED 2398  . . . * . . = . . 1  1.5  2415
 5. Piceu, Tom          f BEL 2345  . = = . * . . . . .  1.0  2456
 6. Froeyman, Helmut    f BEL 2311  0 . . . . * 1 . . .  1.0  2283
 7. Michiels, Rob         BEL 2263  . . . = . 0 * . . .  0.5  2161
 8. Zozulia, Anna       m UKR 2366  = . 0 . . . . * . .  0.5  2236
 9. Goczo, Melinda     wm HUN 2225  . 0 . . . . . . * =  0.5  2076
10. Hamelink, Desiree  wm NED 2181  . . . 0 . . . . = *  0.5  2118
-------------------------------------------------------------------

8) 4th Nancy Chess Festival

4th international chess festival in Nancy (east of France - 300 kms from Paris) from 20th-26th February 2006. Games from the top two rounds complete. Vaszilij Sikula won the A event.

Christophe Philippe reports: The 4th Nancy chess festival is over. The sponsor is "Conseil Général de Meurthe et Moselle" (our department). 110 players were competing in 11 differents round robins tournaments of 10 players each. Group A was a master tournament for im norms (average 2352-category 5). Ukrainian IM Vasily Sikula won convincingly with 7,5/9. French Pavel Govciyan and young German Martin Becker achieved im norms finishing 2nd and 3rd with 6/9. Roumanian IM Cioara finished 4th. Group B was average 2231 and was won on tie break by Forthofer (who wins an invitation for im tournament of next year) ahead of Delorme and Heinz with 6/9. Belgium fm Luc Henris is 4th with 5,5/9.

Further details: http://philippechess.free.fr/4festivalEngGer.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Festival de Meurthe-et-Moselle A Nancy FRA (FRA), 20-26 ii 2006cat. V (2352)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Sikula, Vaszilij        m UKR 2490  * 1 1 = = = 1 1 1 1  7.5  2609
 2. Govciyan, Pavel           FRA 2368  0 * = 1 = = 1 1 1 =  6.0  2474
 3. Becker, Martin            GER 2353  0 = * 1 = = = 1 1 1  6.0  2476
 4. Cioara, Andrei Nestor   m ROM 2440  = 0 0 * 0 1 1 1 1 1  5.5  2421
 5. Nezar, Mustapha         f FRA 2394  = = = 1 * = = 0 1 =  5.0  2389
 6. Brunner, Nicolas        f FRA 2395  = = = 0 = * 1 = = 1  5.0  2389
 7. Adrian, Claude          m FRA 2278  0 0 = 0 = 0 * 1 1 1  4.0  2316
 8. Helstroffer, Arnaud       FRA 2296  0 0 0 0 1 = 0 * 1 1  3.5  2277
 9. Pucher, Olivier           FRA 2279  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 * 1  1.5  2086
10. Bolzoni, Victor Angel   f BEL 2222  0 = 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 *  1.0  2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Festival de Meurthe-et-Moselle B Nancy FRA (FRA), 20-26 ii 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Forthofer, Robert      FRA 2208  * = = 1 0 1 0 1 1 1  6.0  2348
 2. Delorme, Alban         FRA 2276  = * = = = = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2340
 3. Heinz, Timothee        FRA 2261  = = * = = = = 1 1 1  6.0  2342
 4. Henris, Luc          f BEL 2283  0 = = * 1 = 0 1 1 1  5.5  2294
 5. Koch, Hans Juergen     GER 2235  1 = = 0 * 1 1 0 = =  5.0  2263
 6. Hisler, Thomas         FRA 2216  0 = = = 0 * 1 1 = 1  5.0  2265
 7. Julian, Stephane       FRA 2178  1 0 = 1 0 0 * = 0 1  4.0  2183
 8. Colson, Arnaud         FRA 2212  0 = 0 0 1 0 = * = 1  3.5  2142
 9. Carrillo, Jesus        FRA 2175  0 0 0 0 = = 1 = * 1  3.5  2146
10. Schartz, Alain         LUX 2173  0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 *  0.5  1783
-------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Bermuda International Open

The Bermuda International Open took place February 10th-12th 2006. Sadly the invitational was cancelled due to venue problems and this meant the open also was weaker than normal. My thanks to Nigel Freeman with the news who remarked that 21 out of 25 players got prizes...

Official site:: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess/

Leading Final Standings
 1. GM Nick DeFirmian (USA) 2547  5.0/5
 2. William Wright    (USA) 2224  4.0/5
    Conrad Ho         (CAN) 1987  4.0/5
 4. Zuzana Kovacova   (BER) 2100  3.5/5
      Brian Floyd     (CAN) ----  3.5/5
25 players

10) Portsmouth Premier

The Portsmouth Premier took place 17th-19th February 2006.

In the Hollington Premier, things went generally with the seedings. Of the 7 players graded over 200, 5 were in the prize list. Grandmaster Danny Gormally started off with 4 straight wins, but then lost the crunch game against Grandmaster Peter Wells and could manage only a draw against International Master Watu Kobese of South Africa. He thus shared 2nd place with Kobese, Webb and Lappage, while Peter took the £500 first prize on his own. Third seed International Master Roland Berzinsh from Latvia started off with a promising 3 wins, but then encountered Gormally, Kobese and Rose and had to settle for a modest 4 points at the end, not enough for a prize. Top local player, Tony Corkett, a former winner of this tournament, was never in the running this year

Official site: http://www.hampshirechess.co.uk/ - with the report at: http://www.hampshirechess.co.uk/Portsmouth%20Congress/Portsmouth%20Congress%202006%20Report.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Premier Portsmouth ENG (ENG), 17-19 ii 2006
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Wells, Peter K      g  ENG 2501  +15 +10 = 3 +26 + 2 = 4  5.0  2520
 2. Gormally, Daniel    g  ENG 2573  +19 + 7 + 4 + 6 - 1 = 3  4.5  2519
 3. Kobese, Watu        m  RSA 2397  +26 +23 = 1 +12 = 6 = 2  4.5  2505
 4. Webb, Richard M     f  ENG 2302  +17 +20 - 2 +23 +11 = 1  4.5  2385
 5. Lappage, Jonathan      ENG 2141  +27 =29 - 6 +14 + 9 +12  4.5  2356
 6. Berzinsh, Roland    m  LAT 2447  +21 +11 + 5 - 2 = 3 = 8  4.0  2346
 7. Coates, Kenneth        ENG 2197  +25 - 2 =24 =31 +26 +13  4.0  2250
 8. Rose, Matthew          ENG 2219  +41 =30 -12 +24 +17 = 6  4.0  2287
 9. Lock, Gavin R          ENG 2190  -23 +27 +21 =33 - 5 +22  3.5  2066
10. Rayner, Francis        WLS 2212  +22 - 1 =32 -17 +27 +20  3.5  2140
11. Tunks, Dominic             ----  +28 - 6 +13 =34 - 4 +17  3.5  2210
12. Corkett, Anthony    f  ENG 2354  =13 +14 + 8 - 3 =37 - 5  3.0  2153
13. Compton, Alistair      NZL 2088  =12 =16 -11 +18 +23 - 7  3.0  2136
14. Fysh-Foskett, Adam     ENG 2075  =18 -12 +19 - 5 =15 +24  3.0  2157
15. Kitson,Peter R             ----  - 1 +22 -23 =36 =14 +25  3.0  2096
16. Cutmore, Martin J      ENG 2026  =35 =13 =17 -20 =25 +23  3.0  2028
17. Duggan, Michael        ENG 2082  - 4 +18 =16 +10 - 8 -11  2.5  2109
18. Jain, Akshay Kumar     IND 2242  =14 -17 =25 -13 =19 +27  2.5  1988
19. Mansson, James         ENG 2114  - 2 =24 -14 =38 =18 +26  2.5  2106
20. Cordner,David A            ----  +42 - 4 -26 +16 =22 -10  2.5  2033
21. Ashdown,MJ                 ----  - 6 +25 - 9 -22 =24 +28  2.5  2064
22. Mellor,S                   ----  -10 -15 +43 +21 =20 - 9  2.5  2010
23. Atako,Chino                ----  + 9 - 3 +15 - 4 -13 -16  2.0  2042
24. Cutmore, David A       ENG 2093  =39 =19 = 7 - 8 =21 -14  2.0  1975
25. McGovern,DP                ----  - 7 -21 =18 +28 =16 -15  2.0  1952
26. Lwambula,Humprey           ----  - 3 +28 +20 - 1 - 7 -19  2.0  2076
27. Ilett, Raymond         ENG 1916  - 5 - 9 +28 =40 -10 -18  1.5  1937
28. Aniecko,Colin              ----  -11 -26 -27 -25 +44 -21  1.0  1713
29. 1/2BYE3                    ----   .  = 5  .   .   .   .   0.5  2141
30. 1/2BYE4                    ----   .  = 8  .   .   .   .   0.5  2219
31. 1/2BYE6                    ----   .   .   .  = 7  .   .   0.5  2197
32. 1/2BYE5                    ----   .   .  =10  .   .   .   0.5  2212
33. 1/2BYE7                    ----   .   .   .  = 9  .   .   0.5  2190
34. 1/2BYE8                    ----   .   .   .  =11  .   .   0.5  2000
35. 1/2BYE2                    ----  =16  .   .   .   .   .   0.5  2026
36. 1/2BYE10                   ----   .   .   .  =15  .   .   0.5  2000
37. 1/2BYE12                   ----   .   .   .   .  =12  .   0.5  2354
38. 1/2BYE9                    ----   .   .   .  =19  .   .   0.5  2114
39. 1/2BYE1                    ----  =24  .   .   .   .   .   0.5  2093
40. 1/2BYE11                   ----   .   .   .  =27  .   .   0.5  1916
41. Tuddenham,David            ----  - 8  .   .   .   .   .   0.0
42. BYE1                       ----  -20  .   .   .   .   .   0.0
43. BYE2                       ----   .   .  -22  .   .   .   0.0
44. BYE3                       ----   .   .   .   .  -28  .   0.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

11) Ciudad de Sóller - Mallorca - Spain

The Ciudad de Sóller international took place in Mallorca - Spain 20th-26th February 2006 in the Gran Hotel Sóller.

Official site: http://www.chessmallorca.com/

It Soller ESP (ESP), 20-26 ii 2006                  cat. IX (2456)
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1  2  3  4  5  6
------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Berg, Emanuel            g SWE 2540 ** 0= 1= 11 == 11  7.0  2587
2 Mirzoev, Azer            g AZE 2498 1= ** == == 1= ==  6.0  2519
3 Carlsson, Pontus         m SWE 2430 0= == ** 1= 11 ==  6.0  2532
4 Campos Moreno, Javier B  g CHI 2473 00 == 0= ** 1= =1  4.5  2416
5 Souleidis, Georgios      m GRE 2433 == 0= 00 0= ** 1=  3.5  2350
6 Mascaro March, Pedro     f ESP 2359 00 == == =0 0= **  3.0  2325
------------------------------------------------------------------

12) OCF $15 Fide Open

In spite of icy highways 22 players turned out from 4 states to play in the 5 rd SS event held in Stillwater, Oklahoma February 18-19. Dan Huff from Missouri finished ahead of David Zelnick of Tulsa to win the OCF $15 Fide Open. This was only Zelnick?s 10th rated tournament. There was a good turnout from the Wichita and Kansas City area. Frank Berry directed this event and reported it to TWIC.

Official site: http://www.OKChess.org

-------------------------------
OCF $15 FIDE Open Stillwater, Oklahoma USA (USA), 18-19 ii 2006
------------------------------
OCF $15 FIDE OPEN - HOLIDAY INN - STILLWATER, OK
18-19, FEB 2006    TD:  FRANK BERRY    SPONSOR:   OK CHESS FOUNDATION
EF: $15: G - 120 +10sec: --F indicates FIDE     Pre    Post     1     2     3     4     5    Tot
 1    Dan Huff           Salem, MO     2022    2042    =4    W19   W9    W7      W3    4.5
 2    David Zelnick      Tulsa         1725    1764    W21   W14   L3    W10     W6    4.0
 3    Tom Braunlich - F  Tulsa         2162    2154    W15   W16   W2    =6      L1    3.5
 4    Judit Simo - F     Stillwater    1885    1889    =1    L5    W15   W14     W9    3.5
 5    Jaime Fernandez    Wichita, KS   1793    1832    =19   W4    W8    W11           3.5
 6    Zeb Fortman III    K C, MO       2075    2065    W7    =8    X 5   =3      L2    3.0
 7    Chris Claassen - F Potwin, KS    1889    1888    L6    W15   W18   L1     W14    3.0
 8    Jim Berry - F      Stillwater    1968    1961    W18   =6    H--   L5     W10    3.0
 9    Tim Walker         Lenexa, KS    1542    1585    W20   =13   L1    W16     L4    2.5
10    Roger Baxter       O K C         1539    1545    W12   W20   H--   L2      L8    2.5
11    Greg Anderson      Wichita, KS   1484    1503    L14   W21   W16   H--     L5    2.5
12    Dexter Solomon     Wichita, KS   1175    1193    L10   L18   Bye   W21    =17    2.5
13    Alex Relyea        Norman        1800    1800    W17   =9    H--   H--           2.5
14    J Wawrzaszek       Wichita, KS   1695    1681    W11   L2    W17   L4      L7    2.0
15    Marvin Lee         Norman        1623    1624    L3    L7    L4    W22    W20    2.0
16    Robert Stepp       L R, Ark      1847    1813    W22   L3    L11   L9     W18    2.0
17    Webb Miller        K C, MO       1318    1331    L13   W22   L14   =20    =12    2.0
18    Jason Winters      Norman        1585    1574    L8    W12   L7    H--    L16    1.5
19    Carl Latino - F    Stillwater    1904    1896    =5    L1    H--   H--           1.5
20    Mike Harvey        O K C         1489    1442    L9    L10   =22   =17    L15    1.0
21    Frank Smentowski   Tulsa         1130    1119    L2    L11   H--   L12    =22    1.0
22    Dwight Wilkins     Stillwater    1381    1344    L16   L17   =20   L15    =21    1.0

13) Ilsan International

Adam Raoof reports on the 1st first FIDE rated event to be held in Korea. The tournament was a 10-player all-play-all, with Adam Raoof (ENG 2150 inactive), Jessie Gilbert (ENG wf 2098), Ben Giles (NZ 2030) Jinwoo Song (ENG 1944, the organiser of the event) and six unrated Koreans taking part. Ilsan Chess Club, just outside Seoul, hosted the event.

Official site: http://www.geocities.com/adamraoof/

-----------------------------------------------------------------
1st Korea International Ilsan KOR (KOR), 15-19 ii 2006
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Gilbert, Jessie  wf ENG 2098  * = = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2286
 2. Raoof, Adam         ENG 2150  = * = = = 1 1 = 1 1  6.5  2174
 3. Lee Sang Hoon       KOR ----  = = * = = 0 1 1 1 1  6.0  2149
 4. Song, Jinwoo        ENG 1944  = = = * 1 1 0 1 = =  5.5  2110
 5. Giles, Benjamin     NZL 2030  0 = = 0 * 1 1 = 1 1  5.5  2101
 6. Lee Ki Youl         KOR ----  0 0 1 0 0 * 0 1 1 1  4.0  1981
 7. Choi Junil          KOR ----  0 0 0 1 0 1 * 0 1 =  3.5  1944
 8. Kim Hyunwoo         KOR ----  0 = 0 0 = 0 1 * 0 1  3.0  1899
 9. Kim Yong Tae        KOR ----  0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 * 1  2.5  1858
10. Oh Jung Yub         KOR ----  0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 *  1.0  1673
-----------------------------------------------------------------

14) US Championship

The U.S. Chess Championship takes place in San Diego March 1st-12th, 2006 and will be held at its new permanent home at NTC Promenade.

The tournament will feature a 64-player field, composed of 19 seeded players (as determined by the October 2005 U.S.C.F Rating List), 43 tournament qualifiers (two of which being online) and 2 wild cards selected by the AF4C. The top seeded players are: 1 Gregory Kaidanov; 2 Gata Kamsky; 3 Alexander Onischuk; 4 Boris Gulko 5 Ildar Ibraigimov; 6 Alexander Shabalov; 7 Varuzhan Akobian; and 8 Igor Novikov. In the women's: 1 Susan Polgar; 2 Anna Zatonskih; 3 Irina Krush; 4 Camilla Baginskaite; 5 Tatev Abrahamyan; and 6 Jennifer Shahade.

February 20, 2006 - Below are the complete player groups. As described in detail on the regulations page of the official website, each group represents the field of a separate nine-round swiss-system tournament. The winner of each group will play in the final championship match of two games at noon on Sunday, March 12. (Full schedule)

Full details:http://www.uschesschampionship.com

GROUP A                                   GROUP B
   TITLE RTG    LAST         FIRST           TITLE RTG    LAST         FIRST
1  GM    2774   NAKAMURA     HIKARU       1  GM    2729   KAMSKY       GATA
2  GM    2707   IBRAGIMOV    ILDAR        2  GM    2722   KAIDANOV     GREGORY
3  GM    2686   ONISCHUK     ALEXANDER    3  GM    2678   GULKO        BORIS
4  GM    2662   AKOBIAN      VARUZHAN     4  GM    2665   SHABALOV     ALEXANDER
5  IM    2662   FINEGOLD     BENJAMIN     5  GM    2657   IVANOV       ALEXANDER
6  GM    2642   GOLDIN       ALEXANDER    6  GM    2643   NOVIKOV      IGOR
7  GM    2642   STRIPUNSKY   ALEXANDER    7  GM    2633   CHRISTIANSEN LARRY
8  GM    2627   KUDRIN       SERGEY       8  GM    2629   BECERRA      JULIO
9  GM    2624   BENJAMIN     JOEL         9  GM    2623   SHULMAN      YURY
10 GM    2604   DLUGY        MAX          10 IM    2614   PERELSHTEYN  EUGENE
11 GM    2600   DE FIRMIAN   NICK         11 GM    2593   FISHBEIN     ALEXANDER
12 GM    2577   SERPER       GREGORY      12 GM    2590   YERMOLINSKY  ALEX
13 GM    2562   GUREVICH     DMITRY       13 GM    2558   FEDOROWICZ   JOHN
14 IM    2548   GONZALEZ     RENIER       14 GM    2555   WOJTKIEWICZ  ALEKS
15 IM    2540   KRAAI        JESSE        15 GM    2535   KREIMAN      BORIS
16 IM    2525   SCHNEIDER    DMITRY       16 IM    2528   MILMAN       LEV
17 IM    2513   FRIEDEL      JOSHUA       17 GM    2507   BROWNE       WALTER
18 IM    2486   STEIN        ALAN         18 IM    2491   KRIVENTSOV   STANISLAV
19 IM    2479   FLOREAN      ANDREI       19 IM    2469   ZATONSKIH    ANNA
20 FM    2441   TATE, JR     EMORY        20 IM    2464   IPPOLITO     DEAN
21 IM    2440   BERCYS       SALVIJUS     21 FM    2458   MUHAMMAD     STEPHEN
22 IM    2427   LENDERMAN    ALEX         22 IM    2440   LUGO         BLAS
23 IM    2424   FERNANDEZ    DANIEL       23 IM    2425   GINSBURG     MARK
24 FM    2420   SCHNEIDER    IGOR         24 IM    2422   VIGORITO     DAVID
25 WGM   2393   GOLETIANI    RUSUDAN      25 IM    2399   SARKAR       JUSTIN
26 WGM   2331   BAGINSKAITE  CAMILLA      26 WFM   2325   ABRAHAMYAN   TATEV
27       2318   KLEIMAN      JAKE         27 WIM   2271   TUVSHINTUGS  BATCHIMEG
28 WFM   2238   ROSS         LAURA        28       2266   LIU          ELLIOTT
29 WIM   2172   EPSTEIN      ESTHER       29 WFM   2162   AIRAPETIAN   CHOUCHANIK
30 WFM   2118   VICARY       ELIZABETH    30 WFM   2149   ITKIS        HANA
31       2101   ZENYUK       IRYNA        31       2034   WEST         VANESSA
32       1663   COTTRELL     KELLY        32 WCM   1872   CHRISTIANSEN NATASHA

         78946  Total rating points in section     79106
         2467.1 Average of section                 2472.1

                             2663   Average of top 10                  2659.3

15) Georgian Championship for Boys and Girls-under-18

The Georgian Championship for Boys-under-18 and Girlsunder-18 takes place in Tbilisi 20th-28th February 2006 9 round Swiss. -Chief Arbiter IA Evgeni Meliksetbegi and Deputy Chief Arbiter IA Varlam Vepkhvishvili time rate: 90-f+30sec.

Ranking Round 7                                                             .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rank   N Fed Tit Rating Name                          Total   Tie-Break Colors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1)   2 GEO  IM 2430 F  Sanikidze, Tornike            6.5    26.5  bwbwbwb
  2)  12 GEO     2171 F  Paichadze, Luka               5.5    23.5  bwbwwbb
  3)   3 GEO  FM 2375 F  Jojua, Davit                  5.5    23    wbwbwbw
  4)   9 GEO     2197 F  Nigalidze, Gaioz              5.5    22.5  wbwbwbw
  5)   5 GEO  FM 2263 F  Benidze, Davit                5      21.5  wbwbwwb
  6)  10 GEO     2188 F  Urushadze, Davit              5      19.5  bwbbwwb
  7)   1 GEO  IM 2434 F  Margvelashvili, Giorgi        4.5    21.5  wbwbwbw
  8)   6 GEO     2249 F  Bregadze, Levan               4.5    20    bwbwbwb
  9)  11 GEO     2183 F  Chitadze, Romeo               4.5    20    wbwbwbw
 10)   8 GEO     2219 F  Lomsadze, Davit               4.5    19.5  bwbwbwb
 11)  13 GEO     2167 F  Maisuradze, Gega              4.5    19    wbwbwbb
 12)  14 GEO     2161 F  Patsia, Zviad                 4.5    18.5  bwbwbbw
 13)  21 GEO     2046 F  Lortkipanidze, Nodar          4.5    16.5  wbwbwbw
 14)  18 GEO     2066 F  Amirkhanashvili, Archil       4      18    bwbwbwb
 15)   7 GEO     2236 F  Tevdorashvili, Vakhtang       4      17    wbwbwbw
 16)  16 GEO     2129 F  Javakhadze, Zurab             4      17    bwbwbwb
 17)  22 GEO     2037 F  Davarashvili, Nodar           4      17    bwbwbww
 18)  25 GEO     2014 F  Beraia, Levan                 4      16    bwbwbwb
 19)  39 GEO     1956eF  Nemsadze, Beka                4      15.5  bwbwbwb
 20)  15 GEO     2137 F  Khizanashvili, Vakhtang       4      15    wbwbwbw
 21)  27 GEO     2001 F  Lagiashvili, Elguja           4      14    bwwbbwb
 22)   4 GEO     2363 F  Azaladze, Shota               3.5    19.5  bwbwbwb
 23)  36 GEO     2143eF  Beradze, Irakli               3.5    15    wbwbwbw
 24)  23 GEO     2020 F  Khazhalia, Simon              3.5    15    wbwwbbw
 25)  34 GEO     1888 F  Pantsulaia, Tornike           3.5    13.5  wbwbbwb
 26)  26 GEO     2008 F  Volkov, Nika                  3.5    12    wbwbwbw
 27)  32 GEO     1970 F  Merabishvili, Alexandre       3.5    12    wbwbbww
 28)  48 GEO             Nozadze, Giorgi               3.5    11.5  wb wbwb
 29)  20 GEO     2052 F  Kvaratskhelia, Dimitri        3      14    bwwbwbw
 30)  19 GEO     2057 F  Shinjiashvili, Vladimer       3      13    wbwbwbw
 31)  17 GEO     2079 F  Gugulashvili, Tamaz           3      12.5  wbwbwbw
 32)  33 GEO     1955 F  Ervandian, Andro              3      12    bwbwbwb
 33)  35 GEO     1868 F  Samniashvili, Davit           3      11.5  bwbwbwb
 34)  49 GEO             Tedoshvili, Dimitri           3      11.5   wbwwbb
 35)  44 GEO             Gorduladze, Giorgi            3      10.5  wbwbwbw
 36)  28 GEO     1997 F  Janiashvili, Irakli           3      10.5  wbwbwbw
 37)  42 GEO     1770eF  Khurtsidze, Tornike           3       9    wbbww b
 38)  43 GEO             Baramashvili, Zurab           3       8    bwbwbwb
 39)  30 GEO     1974 F  Gojiashvili, Giorgi           2.5    10    wbwbwbw
 40)  31 GEO     1974 F  Morchiladze, Vakhtang         2.5    10    bwbwbwb
 41)  24 GEO     2015 F  Tsereteli, Kakhaber           2.5     9.5  bwbwbwb
 42)  29 GEO     1990 F  Nikolashvili, Giorgi N        2.5     9    bwbwbwb
 43)  38 GEO     1999eF  Gabunia, Tornike              2.5     8    wbwwbw
 44)  41 GEO     1814eF  Kosashvili, Otar              2.5     7.5  bwbwb w
 45)  37 GEO     2094eF  Benidze, Gigla                2.5     6    bwbbwwb
 46)  47 GEO             Maridashvili, Giorgi          2      10    b wbwbw
 47)  40 GEO     1886eF  Ebralidze, Alexandre          1.5     6    wbwwbbw
 48)  46 GEO             Kardenakhishvili, Mikheil     1       4    wbb wbw
 49)  45 GEO             Jinchveladze, Teimuraz        1       3    bwbb  w
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Women's Ranking Round 7
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rank   N Fed Tit Rating Name                          Total   Tie-Break Colors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1)   8 GEO     2071 F  Bokuchava, Madona             5.5    23    bwwbwbw
  2)   1 GEO     2316 F  Khotenashvili, Bela           5.5    20    wbwbwbw
  3)   2 GEO WFM 2222 F  Mikadze, Miranda              5      24    bwbwbwb
  4)  12 GEO     2026 F  Khazhomia, Salome             5      21.5  bwbbwwb
  5)   7 GEO     2101 F  Meskhi, Teona                 5      21    wbwbwbw
  6)   4 GEO WFM 2121 F  Paikidze, Nazi                5      20.5  bwbwbwb
  7)  13 GEO     2002 F  Khutsidze, Sopo               5      20    wbwbwwb
  8)  10 GEO     2037 F  Zhorzholiani, Meri            4.5    17.5  bwbwbwb
  9)  18 GEO     1978 F  Danelia, Mariam               4      19.5  bwbbwwb
 10)   6 GEO WFM 2103 F  Arabidze, Meri                4      18.5  bwbwwbw
 11)  14 GEO     1996 F  Ugulava, Lela                 4      17.5  bwbwbwb
 12)   5 GEO     2108 F  Tsatsalashvili, Keti          4      17    wbwbwbw
 13)  11 GEO     2033 F  Gurchumalidze, Teona          4      17    wbwbwbw
 14)  21 GEO     1954 F  Siradze, Salome               4      17    bbwwbwb
 15)  33 GEO             Kekelidze, Nino               4      13.5  bwbwbww
 16)  16 GEO     1986 F  Mzhavia, Kristine             4      13    bwbwbwb
 17)  34 GEO             Rizhamadze, Patman            3.5    16.5  wbbwbww
 18)   3 GEO WFM 2142 F  Guramishvili, Sopiko          3.5    13.5  wbwbbwb
 19)  15 GEO     1992 F  Kalandadze, Nino              3.5    13.5  wbwbwbw
 20)  17 GEO     1985 F  Beridze, Tinatin              3      15.5  wbwwbbw
 21)  19 GEO     1966 F  Butskhrikidze, Ana            3      13.5  bwbwbww
 22)   9 GEO     2046 F  Gabaidze, Marika              3      12.5  wbwbwbw
 23)  23 GEO     1948 F  Baiadze, Mariam               3      12    bwbwbwb
 24)  26 GEO     1919 F  Jalabadze, Natia              3      12    wbwbwbb
 25)  27 GEO     1914 F  Samniashvili, Tamar           3      11    bwbwbbw
 26)  22 GEO     1949 F  Merabishvili, Neli            3      10.5  wbwbwbb
 27)  24 GEO     1944 F  Anakidze, Nino                3      10    wbwbwbw
 28)  29 GEO     1865 F  Makhatadze, Nazi              3      10    bwbwbwb
 29)  30 GEO     1775eF  Unapkoshvili, Nani            2.5     8    wbwbwwb
 30)  35 GEO             Samurkasovi, Mariam           2.5     7    bwbwbwb
 31)  20 GEO     1960 F  Zarkua, Elisabed              2.5     7    wbwbwbb
 32)  32 GEO             Goglidze, Eka                 2.5     7    wbwbwwb
 33)  28 GEO     1891 F  Khazhomia, Anuki              2       9    wbwwbbw
 34)  25 GEO WFM 1943 F  Topuridze, Ana                2       8    bwbwbbw
 35)  36 GEO             Sulamanidze, Mariam           1.5     5    wwbbwbw
 36)  31 GEO             Geldiashvili, Irma            0.5     2    bwbwbbw
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16) 13th Metalis Open

The 13th Metalis Open took place in Bizovac, Croatia, 23rd-26th February 2006. Borki Predojevic won the event with 6/7. News: Mirjana Medic.

Details: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/bizovac/06/index.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
13th Open Metalis Bizovac CRO (CRO), 23-26 ii 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Predojevic, Borki       g  BIH 2553  6,0   23,5   32,0   2650   24,0   5
 2. Nevednichy, Vladislav   g  ROM 2581  5,5   25,5   33,5   2616   24,0   4
 3. Grunberg, Mihai-Lucian  m  ROM 2416  5,5   24,5   34,0   2599   23,5   4
 4. Cebalo, Miso            g  CRO 2501  5,5   24,0   33,0   2552   24,0   4
 5. Palac, Mladen           g  CRO 2561  5,5   24,0   32,0   2602   24,5   4
 6. Rogic, Davor            m  CRO 2533  5,5   24,0   31,5   2593   24,5   4
 7. Kozul, Zdenko           g  CRO 2600  5,5   23,0   32,5   2556   22,5   5
 8. Jovanovic, Zoran CRO    m  CRO 2531  5,5   23,0   31,0   2508   23,0   5
 9. Stevic, Hrvoje          g  CRO 2512  5,5   23,0   29,5   2551   24,0   4
10. Vukic, Milan            g  SCG 2490  5,5   22,5   31,0   2549   23,5   4
11. Fercec, Nenad           m  CRO 2508  5,5   22,0   29,5   2537   23,0   5
12. Brkic, Ante             m  CRO 2506  5,5   21,5   30,0   2493   22,0   5
13. Leventic, Ivan          g  CRO 2481  5,5   21,0   29,5   2493   22,5   5
14. Zelcic, Robert          g  CRO 2514  5,5   21,0   29,0   2473   21,5   5
15. Jurkovic, Hrvoje        m  CRO 2426  5,5   20,5   29,0   2471   21,5   5
16. Drazic, Sinisa          g  SCG 2488  5,0   24,0   33,5   2508   24,5   4
17. Pavasovic, Dusko        g  SLO 2535  5,0   23,5   32,5   2497   23,0   3
18. Berescu, Alin           m  ROM 2433  5,0   23,5   32,0   2490   24,0   4
19. Kosic, Dragan           g  SCG 2489  5,0   23,0   31,5   2500   22,5   4
20. Rogulj, Branko          m  CRO 2388  5,0   22,5   31,0   2446   21,5   3
21. Jurkovic, Ante             CRO 2352  5,0   21,0   30,0   2408   21,0   5
22. Saric, Ibro             m  BIH 2461  5,0   20,0   28,5   2395   21,0   4
23. Majeric, Zoran          m  CRO 2301  5,0   20,0   27,5   2310   20,0   4
24. Armanda, Ivica          m  CRO 2337  5,0   19,5   28,0   2341   20,0   5
25. Bender, Ivan               CRO 2307  5,0   19,0   24,5   2254   19,0   5
26. Kalajzic, Ivan             CRO 2171  5,0   18,5   26,5   2264   18,0   5
85 players

17) Gary Abram (1930-2006)

Ben Finegold reports at: http://www.gmbenfinegold.blogspot.com/

Former Michigan chess player and World Class Correspondence Player Gary Abram died, Thursday, February 23, 2006. Gary was a member of the Wayne State University Chess Team over 40 years ago, along with Michigan Masters Wes Burgar and Ron Finegold. OTB, Gary was 1900-2100 strength, but his ICCF rating was 2558, and he was clearly one of the world's strongest correspondence players. Although he did not play the last few years of his life, he was ranked =317th in the World on the ICCF rating list, but, clearly, he was one of the top 100 players in the World. Gary became an ICCF IM in 1991 and was the 1963 Golden Knights Champion. Gary became ill a few years ago with Parkinson's disease, and as a result no longer played chess. Gary moved to the NYC area and lived the last few years of his life in Kearny, NJ.

Here are two of his better efforts from "Postal Chess" as he knew it.

Hesse,Guenter - Abram,Gary [C84]W-ch14 sf corr, 1987 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 a6 6.Ba4 Be7 7.Qe2 f5 8.dxe5 0-0 9.Be3 d5 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Qf6 13.Rfe1 Bd7 14.Ng5 Qg6 15.f4 h6 16.Nf3 Rae8 17.Qf2 Re4 18.Bb3+ Be6 19.Nh4 Qf7 20.Bxe6 Qxe6 21.c3 b6 22.Kh1 Bc5 23.Qg3 Rd8 24.Nf3 a5 25.h3 a4 26.Qh4 Rd3 27.b4 Be7 28.Qf2 Bf6 29.Rac1 Qxa2 30.Ra1 Qd5 31.Rxa4 Bxc3 32.Bxc3 Rxc3 33.Nd2 Rxe1+ 34.Qxe1 Rxh3+ 35.Kg1 Qd4+ 0-1

Abram,Gary - Peli,Giora [B93]olm11 corr8796, 1987 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 Qc7 7.Bd3 e5 8.Nf3 b5 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.Kh1 Bb7 11.a4 bxa4 12.Rxa4 Be7 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Bg5 0-0 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nc5 17.Rc4 e4 18.Bxf6 exd3 19.Bd4 Qa5 20.Bxc5 Bxc5 21.Qxd3 Be7 22.Ne5 Qb5 23.b3 Bd6 24.Nxf7 Rxf7 25.Rxf7 Kxf7 26.Qf5+ Kg8 27.Qe6+ Kh8 28.Qxd6 Qe8 29.h3 h6 30.Qg3 Qf8 31.Rc7 Rd8 32.c4 Qf6 33.Kh2 h5 34.Rc6 Qd4 35.Qg5 Rf8 36.Qxh5+ Kg8 37.Qg5 a5 38.Rc7 Rf1 39.Rc8+ Kf7 40.Qh5+ 1-0

18) Bessel Kok FIDE Ticket

Bessel Kok's ticket for the FIDE Election was submitted and accepted on 21st February 2006 well in time for the 2nd March 2006 deadline.

Ticket
Bessel KOK (Holland)                        - PRESIDENT
Ali Nihat YAZICI (Turkey)                   - DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Julio INGOLOTTI (Paraguay)                  - VICE PRESIDENT
Panupand VIJJUPRABHA (Thailand)             - GENERAL SECRETARY
Geoffrey BORG (Malta)                       - TREASURER

Morton Sand http://www.rightmove06.org/upload/files/CMSEditor/ms_letter_240206.pdf confirms that the forms are all in order. Obviously its fairly important that the ticket doesn't get excluded on spurious technical grounds.

Official site: http://www.rightmove06.org/ includes further info.

19) Forthcoming Events and Links

Bulgarian Championships

The Bulgarian Championships take place 28th February - 10th March 2006.

Players: 1. Julian Radulski GM 2515 2. Nikolai Ninov IM 2513 3. Vladimir Petkov IM 2512 4. Evgeni Janev GM 2499 5. Dejan Bojkov IM 2475 6. Milen Vasilev IM 2451 7. Vladimir Dimitrov GM 2449 8. Momchil Nikolov 2446 9. Kalin Karakehajov 2394 10. Valentin Iotov IM 2433 11. Krasimir Rusev 2427 12. Grigor Grigorov 2361 13. Valentin Panbukchian IM 2340 14. Todor Galunov 2338.

Official site: http://www.chessmix.com/bulchamp06/

Politiken Cup

The Copenhagen Chess Festival, including the Politiken Cup will take place 22nd-30th July 2006. Nigel Short has already agreed to participate.

Further details: http://www.politikencup.dk/

3rd South Wales International

The 3rd South Wales International Chess Tournament takes place 8-13 July 2006.

Official site: http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI/

First Saturday March

1. 4th-16th of March, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM tournaments, Budapest, org: Nagy L. 2. 23rd-31st of March. Budapest Spring Festival, Open, 9 rounds Swiss, org.NL., 3. 1st-14th of April, Budapest, FS. GM-IM-FM /the GM groups cat.VII and cat.IX/, org.NL, 4. 14th-22nd of April, Budapest Open, org.IM Rigo: e-mail: me-ri@t-online.hu 5. 6th-18th of May, Budapest, FS GM-IM-FM org.NL. 6. 20th-30th of May, Elekes memorial, GM-IM, Budapest, org: IM Zsinka, e-mail: zsinkala@axelero.hu

RC Sport Open 2006

The 1st RC Sport Open takes place 29th April - 6th May 2006 in Ústí nad Orlicí (Czech republic).

Further details: http://sachy.rcsport.info

Brno Chess Festival

The Brno Chess Festival takes place in the Czech Republic, 30th June - 9th July 2006.

Events: A. Grandmasters close tournament 30.6.-9.7.2006 SKANSKA BRNO 2006 B. 2 masters close tournament 30.6.-9.7.2006 DS BRNO 2006 and ZS BRNO 2006 C. Open tournament FIDE 1.7.-9.7.2006 OPEN DURAS BVK FIDE D. Open tournament national 1.7.-9.7.2006 OPEN DURAS BVK national E. Open blitz tournament 8.7.2006 Memorial Vaclav Felix F. Simultaneous games 5.7.2006

Further details: http://www.skduras.wz.cz/indexe.htm

Memorialul Pius Brinzeu

The Memorial Pius Brinzeu Open takes place in Timisoara, 18th-26th February 2006.

Official site: http://ajsahtimis.ro/

Listed players:
 1.  Nevednichy Vladislav   GM   ROM  2581 1969
 2.  Malaniuk Vladimyr      GM   UKR  2532 1957
 3.  Chatalbashev Boris     GM   BUL  2494 1974
 4.  Bogdan Dan             IM   ROM  2441 1972
 5.  Berescu Alin           IM   ROM  2433 1980
 6.  Grunberg Mihai         IM   ROM  2416 1976
 7.  Grecescu Gabriel       CM   ROM  2386 1986
 8.  Colin Vincent          IM   FRA  2374 1980
 9.  Bylino Oleg            FM   UKR  2316 1939
10.  Bach Adrian            FM   ROM  2287 1961
11.  Dragomirescu Calin     FM   ROM  2259 1963
12.  Dragomirescu Angela   WIM   ROM  2255 1973
13.  Petrisor Adrian             ROM  2078 1992
14.  Dragomirescu Robin          ROM  2066 1993
15.  Craciun Paula               ROM  2014 1989
16.  Chirita Marius              ROM  1987 1982
17.  Miu Paul Vlad               ROM  1986 1993
18.  Clitan Zaharia              ROM  1973 1987
19.  Lolici Iselin               ROM  1945 1993 

World Youth Under 16 Chess Olympiad

The World Youth Under 16 Chess Olympiad takes place in 5th-13th August 2006 in Dogubeyazit, Agri Turkey.

Official site: http://www.tsf.org.tr

Andrew Martin Chess Academy

The Official web site for the Andrew Martin Chess Academy goes live on Wednesday, March 1st featuring A Game Annotation Service A personal on-line tuition and coaching service A regular newsletter A Series of (real OTB) tournaments for Children under 14 years.

Official site: http://www.andrewmartinchessacademy.com/ (http://www.andrewmartinchessacademy.com/main.php)

Aarhus GM

There is a GM-tournament cat. X-XI in Aarhus, Denmark, August 5th-13th 2006 with a special event on August 4. The players will consist of 5 women vs. 5 men and women with ELO > 2460 are welcome to contact Soren Sogaard (soren@seagaard.dk) for further information. There will also be an IM-tournament, cat. V (5 women vs. 5 men).

XIX edition of the Ciudad de León

The XIX edition of the Ciudad de León chess tournament takes place 8th-12th June 2006 at the Junta de Castilla y León building in León, Spain.

Players: Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Paco Vallejo and Lázaro Bruzón.

There will be 2 semi finals (June 9th and June 10th) and a final (June 11th)

Official sites: http://www.advancedchessleon.com and/or http://www.elajedrezdelfuturo.com

Spanish Championship

The Spanish closed and open Championships will be held in León November 22nd-30th 2006. The Hotel Conde Luna from León will be the venue and the official hotel of the organization.

2nd San Marino Open

The 2nd San Marino International Chess Open takes place in the Republic of San Marino June 5th-11th 2006, at the end of the Turin World Chess Olympiad. Prize fund € 40.000, 1st prize € 10.000. For any related information visit the internet website http://www.sanmarinoscacchi.sm

For further info: info@sanmarinoscacchi.sm

Las Vegas Masters

Las Vegas Masters Chess Tournament June 10th-14th, 2006

School House Chess Center, Las Vegas, USA FIDE rated, 9 round Swiss, open to players rated FIDE 2200 and higher. $3,800 prize fund, free entry to GMs and non-US IMs.

Website: http://www.clarkcountychessclub.com/masters/. Info: Chris Bird, (702)575-0635, chris@clarkcountychessclub.com.

National Open

National Open Chess Tournament June 16th-18th, 2006

Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, USA 6 round Swiss, 8 sections: Open, U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400, U1200 and Unrated. Estimated $100,000 total prize fund! Free entry to GMs. Side events include Susan Polgar World Championship for Girls and National Open Blitz Championship.

Website: http://www.lvchessfestival.com

Alushta Tournaments

01.02.06 Tournaments in Alushta:

GM Norm: 29.04-9.05, 11.05-21.05, 23.05-1.06, 2.06-12.06, 16.06-26.06, 2.09-12.09, 14.09-24.09, 26.09–6.10,

IM Norm: 29.04-9.05, 11.05-21.05, 23.05-1.06, 2.06-12.06, 16.06-26.06, 2.09-12.09, 14.09-24.09, 26.09–6.10,

Rating tournament: 5.06-13.06, 23.06–27.06

Open tournament (under 16 years) First prize - 200$ 14.06-22.06, Swiss 9 rounds.

Open tournament First prize - 1000$ First prize (woman)- 500$: 28.06-6.07, Swiss 9 rounds. Open tournament (rapid chess) 7.07–8.07, Swiss 9 rounds. Blitz tournament 9.07. Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 23.06–27.06. Individual and group studying.

Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32, +380505828911 (for Russian speaking) + 38 050 669-26-04 (for English speaking) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

Battle of Senta 1697 Chess Festival

The 10th Anniversary Chess Festival "The Battle of Senta 1697" takes place 21st30th July 2006. Events: A Main tournament, B tournament, rapid-transit ( ,, Blitz ,, ) tournament, rapid-transit tournament, children’s rapid-transit tournament, women’s rapid-transit tournament

Information, registration for tournaments and private accommodation bookings at Seles Ambrus, 27 Fruskogorska street, 24400 Senta Serbia-Montenegro . Telephone number : +381-24-813-251 or mob. +381-63-8-754-713, E-mail : kajari@sksyu.net , szelescs@sabotronic.co.yu, novaklaslo@ptt.yu, brindzai@stcable.co.yu .

MTel Cup Sofia

The field for the Mtel Cup in Sofia 9th (opening ceremony) - 21st (closing) May 2006 has almost been finalised. Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Peter Svidler, Etienne Bacrot, Gata Kamsky are confirmed and Levon Aronian is a possible for the final place. Website to be announced later.

XXII Reykjavik Open

XXII Reykjavik Open takes place 6th-14th March 2006.

Further details: http://www.skaksamband.com/reykjavikopen2006/

Lenk International Chess Festival

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2006" will continue in Lenk with the 18th "Kreuz-Open" April 13th-17th 2006.

The venue is the Hotel Kreuz, Grande Open, 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: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. From 11.- 20. places natural prizes. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1945), junior(1986-89), schoolboy (1990) and best local player. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free. New: teams competition, with 4 members; 3 prizes: 4x100/4x75/4x50 SF; entry fee 10 SF. Venue: Hotel "Kreuz". Time table: Round 1st 18.00-23.00 April 13,; Rounds 2/3 09.30-14.30 and 15.30-20.30 April 14,; Round 4 13.30-18.30 April 15,; Rounds 5/6 09.30-14.30 and 15.30-20.30 April 16,; Round 7 9.30-14.30 April 17. Closing ceremony April 17 at 16.00.

Info: Beochess +41+62+965-46-50 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch or site http://www.beochess.ch for more details.

VIII Rector Cup

The VIII Rector Cup takes place 27th March - 7th April 2006. There are GM events for men and women. The events take place in the National law academy of Ukraine & Chess club in Kharkov 12 participants in each tournament, round robin, 11 rounds, 90 minutes for each player to finish the game with extra 30 seconds for each move from the start (Fischer system)

Further info:
+38(057) 704-38-12 Chess club - Law academy
+38(067) 562-00-07 mobile Karlovich Anastasiya
+38(050) 353-37-22 mobile Kovchan Alexander
e-mail: nlau@mail.ru

20th Pula Open 2006

The 20th Pula Open (Croatia) takes place 18th-25th June 2006.

Further details and entry: http://www.skpula.hr/

GM against the World - Olympiads of Chess, Turin 2006

The second GM against the World game on the Olympiad site will be GM Misho Cebalo (Croatia) and he it start on Monday, January 9th. Just Register on the Olympiad website and wait to receive your password by email. Then Enter the game in PlayArea/play on line

Further details: http://www.chessolympiad-torino2006.org

Lodi International Chess Festival

The 2nd Festival Scacchistico Internazionale "Città di Lodi" takes place in Lodi, Italy, 5th-11th June 2006. Prize fund Euros20.000,00.

Further details: http://www.lenuvole.org/ or scacchi@lenuvole.org

14th Donau Open

The 14th Donau Open took place 26th-31st December 2005. I couldn't get the official site: http://www.aschach.info/schach/english.htm to work correctly.

Asian Youth Championships

The Asian Youth Championships took place in New Delhi December 7th-14th 2005.

Games, Results, photos are available at http://www.delhichess.com.

Free ICCF Server Offer

ICCF has announced an end-of-year gift to everyone around the World: a free 2-game match on their dedicated ICCF WebChess server.

The offer is open to anyone Just fill a form with your personal information (name and surname, nationality, e-mail address), and they will pair you in a free 2-game match with someone else from around the World.

You can find the form on the ICCF WebChess server. Just go to http://www.iccf-webchess.com/ . In the main page, you click on "New Events". Then click on "Enter" in the line with the offer to participate in a Friendly 2-game match. Fill with your personal information and click "OK" when you're done.

The time rate will be 10 moves in 40 days, and the games will be unrated, so your ELO (if you have one) will not change with the result.

The deadline for entries is December 31, 2005. We will be starting matches throughout December and the last batch will be online in early January.

Davos Festival 2006

Swiss Chess Tour Davos Festival 2006 with Viktor Korchnoi playing the first time in individual senior championship

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2006" will continue in Davos with Chess Summer Festival from August 5-13, 2006. Main event will be the 6th European Individual Senior Championship. The second tournament will be 5. Davos Open. The first time Davos host an official event. Just to remind, Davos is one of the most popular tourist places in Europe (summer and winter), with specific micro clime, unique in the world.

6th European Individual Senior Championship, August 7th to 13th 2006. "Sunstar Park Hotel" (4 stars) will be host festival in the new, comfortable Congress Center. Swiss system, 9 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till the end). Valid for FIDE titles and rating: FIDE, Swiss (SSB) and German (DWZ). Seniors: men born 1945 and earlier; women born 1955 and earlier. Prize (men): 2.500/1.700/1.000/700/600/500/2x400/2x300 SF. 3 group rating prize (200/150/100 SF). Women: 400/300/3x200 SF; Entry fee 70 SF; at the door 10 SF more. Time table: Rounds 1 15.00-21.00 August 5th; Round 2/8 9.30-15.30 August 6th-12th; Round 9 9.30-15.30 August 13th.

5th Davos Open, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till the end). Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. Natural prizes for 4 and more points. Special prizes for best Lady, best local player. Entry fee 140 SF, FMs and juniors 70 SF, GMs and IMs free; juniors lodging at Sunstar Park Hotel free; at the door 10 SF more. Time table: Rounds 1 15.00-21.00 August 6th; Round 2/7 16.00-22.00 August 7th-12th. Venue: "Sunstar Park Hotel" Congress Center. Closing ceremony August 13th, 4 p.m. Unbelievable chess-rates. Info Beochess: +41+62+9654-650 (Robert Spoerri) beochess@bluewin.ch or http://www.beochess.ch or http://yubc.net/~yuchess

Wellington College International

FIDE rated, qualifying event for British Champs and part of the BCF Grand Prix. The event takes place over 2 weekends

Friday 27th January to Sunday 29th January 2006 and Saturday 11th to Sunday 12th February 2006

£1,000+ prize fund including a paid place in 2006 British Championships

Venue: Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire RG45 7PU (35 miles south west of London)

Tournament Director: IM Andrew Martin. Chief Controller: Neville Belinfante (BCF Arbiter)

Entries, requests for accommodation lists, travel details, detailed map and other enquiries should be addressed to :

Ray Clark High Cedars, 17 Oak End Way, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, SL9 8DA England

Tel. (44) (0)7802 306210 (Mon.-Fri. daytime) or Tel. (44) (0)1753 883300 (other times)

E-mail rayclark.mc@tiscali.co.uk or rclark@thehackettgroup.com

Hungarian Events November 2005 - August 2006

1. 5th-18th of November 2005 FIRST SATURDAY /FS/ GM-IM-FM round robins, 9-13 games, norm possibilities, in Budapest, Hungarian Chess Federation, Falk Miksa Str.10. 2nd floor. Organisation: Nagy Laszlo, FIDE International Chess Organizer /NL/, E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

Website: http://www.firstsaturday.hu Other website: http://home.hu.inter.net/~firstsat Phone-fax: (361)-2632859, cellphone: (36)-30-230-1914 From 12:00 a.m. until midnight - Central European Time - GMT+1 hour/

2. 17th-25th of November, Harkány Tenkes cup Open, 250 km South West from Budapest, org:Fulop Csaba, mobile: +(36)-30-9276900

3. 19th-29th of November, IM-FM, KECSKEMET,

4. 3rd-16th of December, FS GM-IM-FM, Budapest, (Two GM groups - a cat.VI.-VII and a cat.IX - X.!!!) Org: NL.

5. 27th of December 2005 - 4th of January 2006 IM-FM, Kecskemet,

6. 6th-14th of January 2006, Budapest, TAPOLCA Open, Org. Paréj József, info: Nagy László, firstsat@hu.inter.net

7 4th-17th of February, FIRST SATURDAY GM (cat.VII and cat.IX/) -IM-FM Budapest

8. 4th-17th of March FS GM-IM-FM, Org.NL.

9. 23rd- 31st of March SPRING FESTIVAL 9 rounds Swiss Open Budapest, org.: NL.

10. 1st-14rth of April, FS cat.VII, IX, XII GM events, IM and FM closed tournaments, Budapest, org.NL.

11. 14th-22nd of April, BUDAPEST Open, 9 rounds Swiss, organizer: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@t-online.hu

12. 6th-18th of May, Budapest, FS GM-IM-FM, org.NL.

13. 20th-30th of May, Budapest, ELEKES memorial GM-IM closed tmt, org.IM Zsinka, e-mail: zsinkala@axelero.hu

14. 3rd-16th of June, FIRST SATURDAY GM /cat.VII and cat IX together/ - IM-FM closed tournaments, Budapest, Org.NL.

15. 17th-25th of June, BALATONLELLE Open, GM-IM closed, org. IM RIGO, e-mail: me-ri@t-online-hu

16. 1st-13th of July, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM closed, Bp. Org.NL,

17. 15th-23rd of July, AGRIA Open 9 rounds Swiss, Eger, 100 km North from Budapest, Org. RAUCH Ferenc, e-mail: rauch@freemail.hu

18. 24th-30th of July, SZOMBATHELY SUMMER Open 9 rounds Swiss, 300 km West from Budapest, Org: FM KORPICS, Zsolt, e-mail: korpicschess@axelero.hu

19. 5th-17th of August, FIRST SATURDAY, Bp, GM /cat.XII-IX-VII/ - IM-FM closed, Org: NL.

Iranian Super League

The second Season of the Iranian Super League starts from 3rd October 2005. News: Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh.

Further details: http://schach.wienerzeitung.at/asp/turniere.asp?tnr=2350&lan=1 and http://www.iranchess.com/indexen.htm

Czech Chess Christmas 2005

Czech Chess Christmas 2005 Litomysl (CZE) 26.12.2005-1.1.2006 7th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 75.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK = 680 EUR), special conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme. Contact: Agentura 64, Jaroslav Fuksik, 783 73 Grygov 337, mobil: 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, web: http://www.a64.cz

Seagaard ChessReviews

Soren Sogaard has announced that his site Seagaard ChessReviews will be updated after receiving a lot of positive e-mails, "I decided to try to keep running the site. I also got two new reviewers, and the well known danish IM Steffen Pedersen reviews his first book." He'll see if he can keep it going another 6 months.

Website: http://seagaard.dk/review

World Amateur Open Championship Cancelled

Due to the Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita that recently hit the Gulf Coast area, the World Amateur Open Chess Tournament that was to be held Oct. 7-9, 2005, in Kissimmee, Florida, has been cancelled.

Cajun Chess Web Site will be back soon: http://www.cajunchess.com/

Mezezers International Open 2006

The Mezezers International Open 2006 (110 km from Riga Latvia) takes place 1st-6th July 2005.

Details; http://www.mezezers.viss.lv

Jovan Petronic Website

Jovan Petronic has a new website with some news on it.

http://www.jovanpetronic.com/chessnews.htm

World Inter-Varsity Chess Championship

The Rakan Muda Gacc World Inter-Varsity Chess Championship takes place at the Second Residential College University Of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. i. All teams are expected to arrive in Malaysia not later than 6 Dec 2005 and expected to depart earliest on 14 Dec 2005.Participation in GACC World Inter-Varsity Chess Championship is open to all BONA FIDE representatives from universities and colleges. GACC will be conducted as an individual Swiss event. The accumulated results of the best 4(four) individuals from the same university (which is inclusive of at least one female player) will be accumulated for the team results. This format is to encourage more female players to participate. Each University or Institute can send two teams if they wish to.

Contact details: TEL: 03-7957 1706 . FAX: 03-7957 1608 E-MAIL: gacc_10@yahoo.com

Official site: http://tcn.sourceforge.net

New RSS Chess Website

Chess Samizdat is a new portal which offers free syndicated chess content to the world via JS and RSS feed.

http://www.correspondencechess.com/samizdat/

Moscow Open 2006

The International Chess Festival "Moscow Open 2006" takes place in Moscow, Russia, 29.01 (31.01, 01.02) - 06.02. 2006. A stage of the Moscow Grand Prix 2006 (http://www.chessmoscow.ru), Russia Cup 2006 (http://www.russiachess.ru) and the ACP Tour 2005-2006 (http://www.chess-players.org)

Contacts: e-mail: mcf06@bk.ru Mr. Igor Glek (IGM, ACP Board Member): igorglek@hotmail.com, phone/fax: +49-2013162843, +7-0953883328. Mr. Alexander Zlochevsky (IGM, Coach of the Moscow Chess Team): zloch@rambler.ru, phone/fax: +7-095-3650757

Further details: http://www.chessmoscow.ru

European Team Championship

In addition to Olympiad history there is now European Team Championship history (1957-2005) available at: http://www.olimpbase.org

Winton Capital British Chess Solving Championship

Winton Capital British Chess Solving Championship, 2005-2006 The starter round of this competition has now finished and the solution to the starter problem, and other details, is available at the website: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/0506/bcsc.html

Peter Leko Official Site

Peter Leko now has a web site. http://www.lekochess.com/

CC-Calendar

CC-Calendar. Now 8.092 official computer chess tournaments since 1990. 726 games from older official computer chess tournaments up to 1990. Arena Chess GUI http://www.playwitharena.com Selection: CC-Calendar New are two computer chess tournaments. CIPS (Italy), chess program Delfi won 5th International CSVN tournament (Netherland), chess program Shredder won. AnMon won the 7th French programmers tourney in Massy.

FIDE Trainers Committee

IM Jovan Petronic. Chairman, FIDE Computer & Internet Chess Committee has written about the FIDE Trainers Committee. Link to his article below. In 1998 FIDE formed a powerful Committee comprising of leading chess trainers around the chess globe. Accordingly, it was named the FIDE Trainers Committee, and below, I will try to summarize the immense useful information for the readers, current major chess training activities and appeals of the Committee, etc. The number of certified FIDE Trainers has grown and they are now (in alphabetical order) - none other than: Alburt Lev (USA), Asanov Bolat (Kazahstan), Azmaiparashvili Zurab (Georgia), Boensch Uwe (Germany), Beliavsky Alexandr (Slovenia), Chernin Alexandr (Hungary), Dorfman Iossif (France), Dvoretsky Mark (Russia), Gelfer Israel (Israel), Georgadze Tamaz (Georgia), Gulko Boris (USA), Illescas Miguel (Spain), Kuzmin Alexey (Katar), Khodarkovsky Michael (USA), Leong Ignatius (Singapore), Mikhalcishin Adrian (Slovenia), Marjanovic Slavoljub (Serbia & Montenegro), Mohr Georg (Slovenia), Nikitin Alexandr (Russia), Petrosjan Arshak (Armenia), Polgar Zsuzsa (USA), Postovsky Boris (USA), Psakhis Lev (Israel), Razuvaev Yuri (Russia), Seirawan Yasser (USA), Sosonko Genna (Netherlands), Schmidt Wlodzimerz (Poland), Tukmakov Vladimir (Ukraine), Ubilava Elizbar (Georgia), Vladimirov Evgeny (Kazahstan), Zapata Alonso (Columbia) and Xie Yun (China).

Read the article: http://www.jovanpetronic.com/fidetrainerscommittee.htm and an update: http://www.jovanpetronic.com/fidetrainerscommittee2.htm

Instructional Tactics

There is an instructional tactical site at: http://www.chesstactics.org compiled by Ward Farnsworth.

Kasparov on his retirement

Kasparov's website: http://www.chesschamps.com gives a diary entry on the reasons for his retirement: http://www.chesschamps.com/diary07.html

Correspondence Chess - Romanian Chess Federation - 80 Years

Therer will be a CC tournament "Romanian Chess Federation - 80 Years"? which will be one of the strongest CC events of the year 2005 with 4 ICCF-GMs and 4 ICCF-SIMs among the 13 participants.

Every 2-3 months there will be reports on the tournament wrote by GM Dorian Rogozenko, IM Mihai Ghinda, IM Mircea Pavlov, IM Constantin Lupulescu and FM Marius Ceteras including comments around the games in progress (this is something new in CC).

A promo pdf booklet of the event is available in Romanian chess pages www.romanianchess.org , in the section dedicated to this event http://www.romanianchess.org/rcf80 The booklet contains the introduction of the players, their best games and a short history of the Romanian correspondence chess. Short link for download the promo booklet (archived pdf file) http://www.romanianchess.org/rcf80/rcf80.zip

The tournament will be played at ICCF webserver ( http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=278 ) .

Computer Chess News

There have been recent computer events. See the Computer Chess Calendar at: http://www.playwitharena.com

Ratings Article

Jean-Claude Templeur on ratings manipulation: http://www.chessmile.com/articles.php?id=30

Harald Malmgren 100 years Correspondence

31st Dec 2004 saw the start of the first Grandmaster tournament on the ICCF Webserver. The tournament is the "Harald Malmgren 100 years". The occasion is to commemorate the 100:d birthday of Harald Malmgren, Tierp in Sweden. Malmgren was runner up after Cecil Purdy in ICCF's first World Championship and earned his GM title in the event. Malmgren passed away in 1957. In his career he was also second in IFSB Championship 1939 and won the Swedish CC Championship in 1942. Malmgren was a true chess enthusiast and issued a book in 1953 "Mina bästa partier" (My best games) with only CC games he had played.

There are 13 participants and you will be able to follow the results on http://www.schack.se/SSKK/palview/res/malmgren.htm and as soon as about 10 moves are made in every game, SSKK will open a page for "live" games. That is games according to the ICCF CoC regulations for live games. The Category of the event is 10 which means that all norms are available.The tournament has two sponsors, Schackakademin and Svenska Schackbutiken AB.

The players are: IM Jan Bennborn, Sweden, IM Sture Olsson, Sweden, IM Rune Bergquist, Norway, IM Ervin Liebert, Estonia, IM Taisto Koskela, Finland, IM Leif Åhman, Sweden, SIM Jón A Pálsson, Iceland, SIM Josef Mrkvicka, Czech Rep, GM Matthias Rüfenacht; Switzerland, IM Gary S Benson, Australia, SIM John Pugh, England, Phillippe Chopin, France and Mads Smith Hansen, Denmark. The withdrawing ICCF President keeps playing CC and starts this event on his very last day in office.

Tomas Carnstam, Jonas Dahlgren, Robert Ericsson, Sebastian Nilsson and Per Söderberg wedish Correspondence Chess Federation (SSKK) Board members.

Hamarat Challenge Match

The ICCF World Champion Tunc Hamarat (AUT) who has never lost a single game with White, has challenged the "Rest of the World" to a friendly 2-game match. He will have White in both games. The games (one will start with 1.e4 and one with 1.d4) will be played on the ICCF Webserver and started on 10th February 2005 with the rule "10 moves/70 days".

The players on the "Rest of the World" team will vote on each move. The move receiving the most votes will be selected. Should 2 or more moves receive the same number of votes, the "Rest of the World" will be given 2 more voting days to decide between the tied moves. Participation in this event is open to all players who pay an entry fee of 5 EUR or $7.00 US dollars via their National CC Federation or the ICCF Direct Entry (DE) option. All fees collected will be transferred to the ICCF Development Fund. The money will be used primarily for development and system support of the ICCF WebChess Server. It will be possible to join the "Rest of the World" team at any stage of the game.

The games may be seen "live" by all players and other observers at http://www.iccf-webchess.com

Each player who voted for the selected move will receive 1 point per move. The player(s) with the most points at the end of the games will receive an ICCF Gold Book. The list of all entrants will be published on the ICCF webpage.

1st ICCF Webchess Open Tournament

The ICCF have announced the 1st WebChess Open Tournament and invites every player worldwide to participate in the event. The event is to be played on the ICCF dedicated Webserver http://www.iccf-webchess.com. This tournament is open to all correspondence chess players worldwide, also for those without any previous ICCF experience. Multiple entries are allowed. The tournament will be played in three stages - preliminaries, semifinal and final.

Details: http://www.iccf-webchess.com/Message.aspx?message=19

Russia vs ROW Correspondence

The Russian Chess Federation is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is using this occasion to challenge the rest of the world to a match over 64 boards with 2 games for each and the start is 15.02 2004. Players include Joop van Oosterom

http://www.mychessweb.com/Tables/Internationale/Play/russia-world.htm

TWIC Messageboard

You need to register to post and vote. Address: http://www.chesscenter.com/messageboard