THE WEEK IN CHESS 65 07/01/96 Mark Crowther
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1) Introduction
2) Hastings Chess Congress 1995-6
3) Reggio Emilia 1995-6
4) GM tournament Gausdal Masters 1995/96
5) Excelsior Cup Asbjorn Nejman
6) Dos Hermanas Seville Spain. 20th May-2nd June
7) Zurich - (Nova Park Open)
8) 'Strumica 95' Macedonia June 1995
9) Pamplona Spain
10) Boeblinger Open by Martin Pribyl
11) The Year in Chess
Ratings
World Championship Cycles
MAJOR TOURNAMENTS OF THE YEAR
The Year in Chess Politics
Some positive proposals (World Chess Championships)
GAMES SECTION
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TWIC65.PGN Main section
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Hastings Premier 25 games
Reggio Emilia 25 games
Gausdal Masters 45 games
Pamplona 1995/6 3 games
Boeblingen GER 2 games
TWIC65BO.PGN
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Games from WIC BOOKS, BOOKS and more of them (5) by Bertrand Weegenaar
and WIC Correspondence Chess-news #3 by Bertrand Weegenaar in TWIC64.
TWIC65HA.PGN
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Games from rounds 3 and 5-8 from the Hastings Challengers.
1) Introduction
----------------
My thanks to Brian Stephenson, Marco R. Martini, Rune Djurhuus,
Ian Rogers, Asbjorn Nejman, Martin Pribyl, and Jonathan Tisdall
for their help with this issue.
Just a brief introduction. I hope that you enjoy the review of the
year as it did take a lot of effort. I hope that people will read
my proposals for changing the World Title cycle too.
I am off to watch the final round of the York Congress so this is
all you get this week!
Hope you enjoy it
Mark
2) Hastings Chess Congress 1995-6
---------------------------------
My thanks to Brian Stephenson for the games from the Challengers
and the main section of this event.
I will cover the Challengers in TWIC66 After 8 rounds:
Hebden, Mark g ENG 2570 6.5
Buckley, Graeme f ENG 2355 6.5
Bronstein, David I g RUS 2445 6.0
Flear, Glenn C g ENG 2495 6.0
Ledger, Andrew m ENG 2410 6.0
The Premier event saw Conquest, Lalic and Khalifman share
first place on 5.5. Tony Miles recovered from a dire start
to record an excellent result sharing 4th= with Yermolinsky.
The other English players Sadler and especially Speelman and
Hodgson will be very disappointed with their results. The
chess was uncompromising especially from Stuart Conquest
who took a great number of risks and only drew one game.
Round 5 (1995.12.01)
Conquest, Stuart - Atalik, Suat 1-0 39 E70 Kings indian
Khalifman, Alexander - Miles, Anthony J 1/2 92 D15 Slav defence
Sadler, Matthew - Luther, Thomas 1-0 22 A40 Queen's pawn
Speelman, Jonathan S - Lalic, Bogdan 1/2 43 A17 English; 1.c4
Hodgson, Julian M - Yermolinsky, Alexey 0-1 21 A45 Queen's pawn
Round 6 (1996.01.02)
Conquest, Stuart - Speelman, Jonathan S 0-1 39 B17 Caro-Kann
Lalic, Bogdan - Hodgson, Julian M 1/2 41 D15 Slav defence
Miles, Anthony J - Sadler, Matthew 1-0 49 D00 Queen's pawn
Yermolinsky, Alexey - Khalifman, Alexander 1/2 15 E94 Kings indian; Classical
Atalik, Suat - Luther, Thomas 1/2 32 A40 Queen's pawn
Round 7 (1996.01.03)
Khalifman, Alexander - Lalic, Bogdan 1/2 45 C95 Ruy Lopez
Sadler, Matthew - Yermolinsky, Alexey 1/2 15 E81 Kings indian; Saemisch
Speelman, Jonathan S - Atalik, Suat 0-1 47 A48 Queen's pawn
Hodgson, Julian M - Conquest, Stuart 0-1 50 A87 Dutch defence
Luther, Thomas - Miles, Anthony J 1/2 25 B00 1.e4
Round 8 (1996.01.04)
Conquest, Stuart - Khalifman, Alexander 0-1 41 A28 English; 1.c4 e5
Lalic, Bogdan - Sadler, Matthew 1/2 19 D17 Slav defence
Yermolinsky, Alexey - Luther, Thomas 1-0 28 D30 Queen's gambit
Speelman, Jonathan S - Hodgson, Julian M 1/2 41 D15 Slav defence
Atalik, Suat - Miles, Anthony J 1/2 52 D10 Slav defence
Round 9 (1996.01.05)
Khalifman, Alexander - Speelman, Jonathan S 1/2 31 B17 Caro-Kann
Miles, Anthony J - Yermolinsky, Alexey 1/2 22 A45 Queen's pawn
Sadler, Matthew - Conquest, Stuart 0-1 38 A40 Queen's pawn
Hodgson, Julian M - Atalik, Suat 1/2 17 D00 Queen's pawn
Luther, Thomas - Lalic, Bogdan 1/2 21 C92 Ruy Lopez
Hastings (ENG), XII 1995 - I 1996. cat. XIII (2571)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
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1 Conquest, Stuart g ENG 2455 * 0 0 1 = 1 0 1 1 1 5.5 2663
2 Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2655 1 * = = = 0 = 1 = 1 5.5 2641
3 Lalic, Bogdan g CRO 2590 1 = * 1 = = = = = = 5.5 2648
4 Miles, Anthony J g ENG 2600 0 = 0 * = 1 1 = 1 = 5.0 2610
5 Yermolinsky, Alexey g USA 2560 = = = = * = 0 = 1 1 5.0 2615
6 Sadler, Matthew g ENG 2565 0 1 = 0 = * = = = 1 4.5 2571
7 Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2620 1 = = 0 1 = * 0 = = 4.5 2565
8 Atalik, Suat g TUR 2525 0 0 = = = = 1 * = = 4.0 2533
9 Hodgson, Julian M g ENG 2590 0 = = 0 0 = = = * = 3.0 2443
10 Luther, Thomas g GER 2550 0 0 = = 0 0 = = = * 2.5 2407
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3) Reggio Emilia 1995-6
---------------------
My thanks to Marco R. Martini Editor of the Chess World Magazine
on Internet at www page: http://www.icom.it/user/scac for the
games throughout this event.
Round 5 (1995.12.31)
Dreev, Alexey - Vaganian, Rafael A 1/2 17 E11 Bogo indian
Razuvaev, Yuri S - Dautov, Rustem 1/2 37 E04 Nimzo indian
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Epishin, Vladimir 1/2 28 E12 Nimzo indian
Godena, Michele - Beliavsky, Alexander 1/2 72 C47 Four knights
Belotti, Bruno - Chernin, Alexander 1/2 59 B08 Pirc; Classical
Round 6 (1996.01.02)
Dreev, Alexey - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1/2 14 E81 Kings indian; Saemisch
Epishin, Vladimir - Godena, Michele 1-0 31 D20 Queen's gambit; Exchange
Beliavsky, Alexander - Razuvaev, Yuri S 1/2 35 E55 Nimzo indian
Vaganian, Rafael A - Chernin, Alexander 1/2 28 A07 Reti (1.Pf3)
Dautov, Rustem - Belotti, Bruno 1-0 41 D78 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Round 7 (1996.01.03)
Razuvaev, Yuri S - Epishin, Vladimir 1-0 67 E00 Nimzo indian
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Vaganian, Rafael A 1/2 16 D59 Queen's gambit
Chernin, Alexander - Dautov, Rustem 1-0 60 A17 English; 1.c4
Godena, Michele - Dreev, Alexey 1/2 60 C07 French; Tarrasch
Belotti, Bruno - Beliavsky, Alexander 1/2 64 C34 Kings gambit
Round 8 (1996.01.04)
Dreev, Alexey - Razuvaev, Yuri S 1/2 41 E12 Nimzo indian
Epishin, Vladimir - Belotti, Bruno 1-0 50 E08 Nimzo indian
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Godena, Michele 1/2 111 C45 Scottish
Beliavsky, Alexander - Chernin, Alexander 1/2 31 B07 Pirc
Vaganian, Rafael A - Dautov, Rustem 1-0 69 A17 English; 1.c4
Round 9 (1996.01.05)
Razuvaev, Yuri S - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1/2 11 D73 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Chernin, Alexander - Epishin, Vladimir 1/2 15 D36 Queen's gambit
Godena, Michele - Vaganian, Rafael A 1/2 62 C09 French; Tarrasch
Dautov, Rustem - Beliavsky, Alexander 1-0 72 D37 Queen's gambit
Belotti, Bruno - Dreev, Alexey 0-1 49 B58 Sicilian
Reggio Emilia (ITA), XII 1995 - I 1996. cat. XIV (2583)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2670 * = = = = = = = 1 1 5.5 2653
2 Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2640 = * 0 = = = 1 1 = 1 5.5 2656
3 Razuvaev, Yuri S g RUS 2585 = 1 * = = = = = = 1 5.5 2662
4 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g BIH 2620 = = = * 0 = = = 1 1 5.0 2621
5 Beliavsky, Alexander g UKR 2650 = = = 1 * = = 1 0 = 5.0 2618
6 Chernin, Alexander g HUN 2600 = = = = = * = = 1 = 5.0 2624
7 Godena, Michele m ITA 2420 = 0 = = = = * = = 1 4.5 2601
8 Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2645 = 0 = = 0 = = * 1 = 4.0 2533
9 Dautov, Rustem g GER 2620 0 = = 0 1 0 = 0 * 1 3.5 2498
10 Belotti, Bruno m ITA 2380 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = 0 * 1.5 2332
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4) GM tournament Gausdal Masters 1995/96
-------------------------------------
My thanks to Rune Djurhuus for the games from this event.
He comments:
After 3 wins in a row, Madsen needed to beat GM Westerinen in the last
round to get an IM-norm, but he finally lost, although having a nice
position in the middle game.
The game Sokolov-Ivanov from round 1 was played after round 2 because
of Sokolov's late arrival.
The tournament was as usual held at Gausdal Hoifjellshotell.
For the first time in 40 years, there was almost no snow in Gausdal this Christmas, but all weather is chess weather... (Gausdal is one of the big
ski centres in mountain Norway.)
On his homepage, he has added all the games in ChessBase-format, uncommented
and COMMENTED.
Rune Djurhuus Phone: + 47 22 68 96 58
Trondheimsveien 107 Email: runed@ifi.uio.no
N-0565 Oslo, Norway URL: http://www.ifi.uio.no/~runed/
Round 1 (1995.12.28)
Sokolovs, Andrei - Ivanov, Mikhail M 1-0 42 A01 Larsen (1.b3)
Kraidman, Yair - Moberg, Karl Johan 1-0 31 D92 Gruenfeld indian
Madsen, Dag - Djurhuus, Rune 0-1 51 E65 Kings indian
Ostenstad, Berge - Elsness, Frode 1-0 41 D82 Gruenfeld indian
Borge, Nikolaj - Westerinen, Heikki M J 1-0 61 C67 Ruy Lopez
Round 2 (1995.12.29)
Djurhuus, Rune - Moberg, Karl Johan 1-0 64 D00 Queen's pawn
Westerinen, Heikki M J - Ostenstad, Berge 1-0 57 C01 French; Exchange
Madsen, Dag - Borge, Nikolaj 1/2 55 E67 Kings indian
Ivanov, Mikhail M - Kraidman, Yair 1/2 55 D85 Gruenfeld indian
Elsness, Frode - Sokolovs, Andrei 0-1 22 A42 Queen's pawn
Round 3 (1995.12.30)
Sokolovs, Andrei - Westerinen, Heikki M J 1/2 15 D02 Queen's pawn
Kraidman, Yair - Elsness, Frode 0-1 33 D92 Gruenfeld indian
Ostenstad, Berge - Madsen, Dag 1-0 18 A34 English; 1.c4 c5
Borge, Nikolaj - Djurhuus, Rune 0-1 39 B87 Sicilian
Moberg, Karl Johan - Ivanov, Mikhail M 1/2 63 B40 Sicilian
Round 4 (1995.12.31)
Djurhuus, Rune - Ivanov, Mikhail M 0-1 52 A58 Wolga gambit
Westerinen, Heikki M J - Kraidman, Yair 1-0 24 C34 Kings gambit
Madsen, Dag - Sokolovs, Andrei 1/2 26 D79 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Borge, Nikolaj - Ostenstad, Berge 1/2 48 B42 Sicilian
Elsness, Frode - Moberg, Karl Johan 1/2 35 D84 Gruenfeld indian
Round 5 (1995.01.01)
Sokolovs, Andrei - Borge, Nikolaj 1-0 29 A45 Queen's pawn
Kraidman, Yair - Madsen, Dag 1/2 42 D24 Queen's gambit; Exchange
Ostenstad, Berge - Djurhuus, Rune 0-1 40 E97 Kings indian; Main line
Ivanov, Mikhail M - Elsness, Frode 1-0 49 A31 English; 1.c4 c5
Moberg, Karl Johan - Westerinen, Heikki M J 1/2 82 B01 Scandinavian
Round 6 (1995.01.02)
Djurhuus, Rune - Elsness, Frode 1-0 32 B93 Sicilian; Najdorf
Westerinen, Heikki M J - Ivanov, Mikhail M 1/2 27 B15 Caro-Kann
Madsen, Dag - Moberg, Karl Johan 1-0 32 D79 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ostenstad, Berge - Sokolovs, Andrei 1/2 16 A42 Queen's pawn
Borge, Nikolaj - Kraidman, Yair 0-1 31 B35 Sicilian
Round 7 (1995.01.03)
Sokolovs, Andrei - Djurhuus, Rune 0-1 30 A31 English; 1.c4 c5
Kraidman, Yair - Ostenstad, Berge 1-0 70 D92 Gruenfeld indian
Ivanov, Mikhail M - Madsen, Dag 0-1 41 A31 English; 1.c4 c5
Moberg, Karl Johan - Borge, Nikolaj 1-0 59 B76 Sicilian; Dragon
Elsness, Frode - Westerinen, Heikki M J 1/2 44 E84 Kings indian; Saemisch
Round 8 (1995.01.04)
Djurhuus, Rune - Westerinen, Heikki M J 1/2 12 B01 Scandinavian
Sokolovs, Andrei - Kraidman, Yair 1-0 44 B27 Sicilian; Closed
Madsen, Dag - Elsness, Frode 1-0 50 D72 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ostenstad, Berge - Moberg, Karl Johan 1-0 43 D76 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Borge, Nikolaj - Ivanov, Mikhail M 1-0 46 B40 Sicilian
Round 9 (1995.01.05)
Westerinen, Heikki M J - Madsen, Dag 1-0 61 B02 Alekhine defence
Kraidman, Yair - Djurhuus, Rune 1/2 11 E83 Kings indian; Saemisch
Ivanov, Mikhail M - Ostenstad, Berge 1/2 35 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Moberg, Karl Johan - Sokolovs, Andrei 1/2 12 C46 Unknown
Elsness, Frode - Borge, Nikolaj 0-1 54 E87 Kings indian; Saemisch
Gausdal (NOR), XII 1995 - I 1996. cat. VII (2412)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Djurhuus, Rune m NOR 2515 * 1 = = 1 1 1 0 1 1 7.0 2620
2 Sokolovs, Andrei m LAT 2505 0 * = 1 = = 1 1 = 1 6.0 2526
3 Westerinen, Heikki M J g FIN 2375 = = * 1 1 1 0 = = = 5.5 2495
4 Kraidman, Yair g ISR 2365 = 0 0 * = 1 1 = 1 0 4.5 2416
5 Madsen, Dag NOR 2295 0 = 0 = * 0 = 1 1 1 4.5 2424
6 Ostenstad, Berge m NOR 2470 0 = 0 0 1 * = = 1 1 4.5 2405
7 Borge, Nikolaj m DEN 2425 0 0 1 0 = = * 1 0 1 4.0 2367
8 Ivanov, Mikhail M g RUS 2445 1 0 = = 0 = 0 * = 1 4.0 2364
9 Moberg, Karl Johan SWE 2420 0 = = 0 0 0 1 = * = 3.0 2285
10 Elsness, Frode NOR 2300 0 0 = 1 0 0 0 0 = * 2.0 2203
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5) Excelsior Cup by Asbjorn Nejman
----------------------------
This Swedish event was won by Stern from Germany.
Hultin scored an IM norm.
FINAL RESULTS
--------------
IM Stern (GER) 2435 6
IM Fries-Nielsen (DEN) 2415 6
Hultin (SWE) 2285 6 IM-norm
FM Ziegler (SWE) 2335 5.5
Svensson (SWE) 2390 5.5
IM Pedersen (DEN) 2405 5
Aberg (SWE) 2275 3.5
Jepson (SWE) 2335 3.5
Ronneland (SWE) 2155 2.5
IM Kochetkov (BLR) 2435 1.5
6) Dos Hermanas Seville Spain. 20th May-2nd June
---------------------------------------------
An exiting provisional list of participants for this event
has arrived. The FIDE World Championships may very well
rule out Karpov and Kamsky.
Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 23.05.51 M 2770 12
Kamsky, Gata g USA 02.06.74 M 2735 0
Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 18.03.69 M 2735 39
Anand, Viswanathan g IND 11.12.69 M 2725 0
Gelfand, Boris g BLR 24.06.68 M 2700 24
Topalov, Veselin g BUL 15.03.75 M 2700 40
Shirov, Alexei g ESP 04.07.72 M 2690 38
Polgar, Judit (GM) g HUN 23.07.76 F 2675 29
Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 23.03.31 M 2645 47
Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 03.12.65 M 2635 18
7) Zurich - (Nova Park Open)
-------------------------
Ian Rogers reports that Tukmakov drew only with Siegel in
round 4 and with Rogers himself (where Tukmakov was briefly
in danger for the only time in the event)
Finished December 30th 1995
----------------------------
Tukmakov, Vladimir B g UKR 2600 48 15.03.46 M 6/7
Cvitan, Ognjen g CRO 2510 63 10.10.61 M 5.5
Siegel, Georg m GER 2480 29 02.08.62 M 5.5
Rogers, Ian g AUS 2600 36 24.06.60 M 5.5
Glek, Igor V. g RUS 2580 37 07.11.61 M 5.5
Bhend, Edwin m SUI 2310 10 09.09.31 M 5.5
Domont, Alexandre f SUI 2340 0 13.11.62 M 5.5
Ekstroem, Roland m SUI 2435 38 22.05.56 M 5.5
Pytel, Krzysztof m FRA 2445 45 15.05.45 M 5.0
Paulsen, Dirk f GER 2325 9 27.01.59 M 5.0
Schmidt-Schaeffer, Sebastian GER 2340 24 25.09.70 M 4.5
Kelecevic, Nedeljko m BIH 2435 32 11.03.47 M 4.5
Kurz, Alexander f GER 2350 6 22.05.64 M 4.5
Sulava, Nenad m CRO 2390 34 25.12.62 M 4.5
Maeser, Fabian f SUI 2295 5 07.04.67 M 4.5
Nemet, Ivan g SUI 2395 18 14.04.43 M 4.5
Jenni 4.5
Pelletier, Yannick f SUI 2460 36 22.09.76 M 4.5
Di Paolo, Raffaele ITA 2260 6 . . M 4.5
Georges, Sacha f SUI 2340 0 31.10.69 M 4.5
Giertz, Niklaus SUI 2360 11 15.01.70 M 4.5
83 players.
the B group had 236 players
8) 'Strumica 95' Macedonia June 1995
---------------------------------
In carrying out my review of event of 1995 I realise that
I missed one of the most extrordinary tournaments during
my reporting this year.
Zurab Azmaiparashvili scored an overwhelming victory with
in this event with a score of 16/18 netting 40-50 ratings
points. The event was a 6 cycle 4 player all play all.
Zurab managed to beat Rashkovsky and Kurajica in all 6 games.
I certainly think such a performance deserves to be recorded
for posterity so if someone has all the games I and a number
of other chess historians would be very interested.
9) Pamplona Spain
--------------
After 8 rounds the open stands:
Strikovic, Aleksa m YUG 2445 15 12.05.61 M 7
Campos Moreno, Javier B. m CHI 2450 25 06.03.59 M 6.5
Ochoa De Echaguen, Francisco J m ESP 2455 17 04.09.54 M 6
Garcia Ilundain, David m ESP 2510 20 . . M 6
Gomez Esteban, Juan Mario m ESP 2425 26 05.02.58 M 6
Komljenovic, Davor m CRO 2485 36 01.07.44 M 6
Mellado, Juan m ESP 2460 15 . . M 6
Garbisu, Unai ESP 2395 4 15.07.75 M 6
Alvarez Ibarra, D Rafael m ESP 2445 18 19.09.61 M 6
Iruzubieta, Jesus Maria ESP 2385 9 . . M 6
96 players:
In the main event I did not see the results. Here are round
7 and 8 results and the standings with one round to go.
Round 7
Granda Zuniga, Julio E - San Segundo, Pablo 1/2
Magem Badals, Jorge - Illescas Cordoba, Miguel 0-1
Shulman, Yuri - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 0-1
Slobodjan, Roman - Zvjaginsev, Vadim 1/2
Izeta Txabarri, Felix - De La Villa Garcia,J 1/2
Round 8
Illescas Cordoba, Miguel - San Segundo, Pablo 1/2
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Slobodjan, Roman 1/2
Magem Badals, Jorge - Izeta Txabarri, Felix 1-0
De La Villa Garcia,J - Shulman, Yuri 0-1
Zvjaginsev, Vadim - Granda Zuniga, Julio E 0-1
It Pamplona Spain 1995-1996.
------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
1 Granda Zuniga, Julio E g PER 2605 5
2 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2620 5
3 Magem Badals, Jorge g ESP 2560 5
4 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2600 4
5 Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2600 4
5 San Segundo, Pablo m ESP 2520 4
6 De la Villa Garcia,J m ESP 2500 3.5
7 Slobodjan, Roman m GER 2500 3.5
9 Izeta Txabarri, Felix g ESP 2495 3
6 Shulman, Yuri m BLR 2540 3
-------------------------------------------
10) Boeblinger Open by Martin Pribyl
--------------------------------
Martin Pribyl sends me the results of the Boeblinger Open
held over Christmas. This 9 round Swiss was won with
8/9 by Valentin Arbakow. He sends us two games which
he had to type in himself as there was no bulletin.
He says:
"I typed only the game from round 6 (board 1) which was practically
decisive for Arbakov.
The games from the round 8 demonstrated only what is possible when you play 2
times a day (10 hours) 9 rounds... After the last move Bxg2?? the game
continued with the next about 20 moves and ended for Meduna very happy."
12. Internationales Boeblinger Open
des SC-HP Boeblingen
26.12 - 30.12.1995
1 GM Arbakow,Valentin 2455E RUS SC KITZINGEN 8
2 GM Piskow,Juri 2535E RUS SG BOCHUM 31 7.5
3 Zeller,Frank 2400E SV TUEBINGEN 1870 7.5
4 IM Zagorskis, Darius 2520E LTU WILNA 7.5
5 IM Ruzele, Darius 2505E LTU WILNA 7
6 GM Farago,Ivan 2520E HUN DJK-REGENSBURG 7
7 GM Bischoff,Klaus 2550E SOLINGER SG 1868 7
8 Hahnewald,Peter 2091 SABT TSV LANGENAU 7
9 IM Vidonyak,Roman 2405E UKR SK 1962 LADENBURG 7
10 FM Pribyl,Martin 2390E CZE SC 1868 BAMBERG 7
11 Zimmer,Ralph 2350 SC 1950 REMAGEN 7
12 GM Meduna,Eduard 2445E CZE MLADI PRAG 6.5
13 IM Ginsburg,Gennadi 2460E SV GRIESHEIM 6.5
14 IM Petrosian,Karen 2400E RUS SABT VFL SINDELFIN 6.5
15 Braun,Peter 2185E SK FRANKENTHAL 6.5
16 Kloepfer,Markus 2155E SC WINNENDEN E.V. 6.5
17 IM Hardicsay,Peter 2380E HUN SG TRAUNSTEIN/TRAU 6.5
18 FM Niermann,Michael 2285E SG BOCHUM 31 6.5
19 Tuncer,Ufuk 2100 SF 59 KORNWESTHEIM 6.5
20 Spiegel,Stefan,Dr. 2255E SFR.MAINZ 1928 6.5
21 IM Pribyl,Josef 2405E CZE SC 1868 BAMBERG 6.5
22 Schulz,Michael 2078 SC PASING MUENCHEN 6.5
23 Kiese,Matthias 2165E HSK-POST HANNOVER 6.5
24 Mooser,Stefan 2265E SCHACHKLUB ERDING 6.5
25 Kluss,Kai 2225E SF BAD MERGENTHEIM 6.5
26 Boehm,Martin 2265E SC-HP BOEBL.1975 6.5
326 players.
11) The Year in Chess
-----------------
This year we said goodbye to a number of well known players:
Harry Golombek - March 1st 1911 - Jan 7th 1995
Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry 20 September 1906 - 25 March 1995.
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botwinnik 17th August 1911 - 5th May 1995 World
Chess Champion 1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky 20th November 1934 - 30th August 1995
IM Gilles Andruet 1958 - 22 August 1995 Murdered in France.
In addition to Mario Monticelli who played chess in the early 1930's
at a top level.
Ratings
-------
We started the year with:
Jan 1995
-------------------
1. Kasparov 2805
2. Karpov 2765
3. Salov 2715
4. Anand 2715
5. Kramnik 2715
6. Shirov 2710
7. Kamsky 2710
8. Gelfand 2700
9. Ivanchuk 2700
10. Bareev 2675
11. Piket 2675
12. Yusupov 2670
and ended with
Jan 1996
----------------------------
1. Kramnik, Vladimir 2775
2. Kasparov, Gary 2775
3. Karpov, Anatoly 2770
4. Ivanchuk, Vassily 2735
5. Kamsky, Gata 2735
6. Anand, Viswanathan 2725
7. Topalov, Veselin 2700
8. Gelfand, Boris 2700
9. Shirov, Alexei 2690
10. Polgar, Judit (GM) 2675
11. Dreev, Alexey 2670
12. Salov, Valery 2670
Here are the main results of the top players this year:
KRAMNIK
-------
The second half of the year saw the rise and rise of Vladimir Kramnik.
Only playing in the very top events he was 4th in Riga in April, 6th
in Novogorod in June, 1st in Dortmund in July, 1st= in Horgen in
October, 1st= in Belgrade in November. He had good results in the PCA
rapidplays also.
KASPAROV
---------
Kasparov's main result was to beat Anand in November in the PCA
World Championships, he also scored: 1st Riga in April, 2nd to Lautier
in Amsterdam May 1st Novgorod in June, 5th Horgen in October, he also
won the PCA rapidplay series.
KARPOV
-------
Karpov beat Gelfand 6-3 in Sanghi Nagar India in the FIDE cycle in
February. 2nd Linares March 1995, 1st= Dos Hermanas March, 2nd
Dortmund July, 1st Groningen December
IVANCHUK
--------
1st Linares March, 3rd Riga in April, 2nd= Novogorod June 3rd Dortmund
July, 1st= Horgen October, 5th= Belgrade November. 2nd in the INTEL
Grand Prix.
KAMSKY
-------
Beat Salov in February in the FIDE cycle, lost to Anand in March in
the PCA cycle. 1st= Dos Hermanas March, 2nd Groningen December
ANAND
------
Beat Kamsky in the PCA Cycle Candidates final in March, lost to
Kasparov in November in the Championship itself. 2nd Riga March.
I hope you enjoy this little collection of tables and results from
1995. The main events were:
The PCA Finals in November.
The FIDE Candidates finals in February.
The PCA Candidates finals in March.
Tournaments:
------------------------------------------------
Linares in March cat. XVII (2654)
Riga in April cat. XVII (2665)
Dos Hermanas in April cat. XVIII (2681)
Amsterdam in May cat. XVIII (2690)
Madrid cat. May cat. XVI (2629)
Novgorod in June cat. XVII (2665)
Dortmund in July cat. XVII (2665)
Amsterdam in August cat. XVI (2627)
Horgen in October November cat. XVII (2668)
Belgrade in November cat. XVI (2649)
Groningen in December cat. XVII (2653)
-------------------------------------------------
My favourite event of the year was Belgrade where the
chess just caught light.
World Championship Cycles
---------------------------
FIDE
----
5th - 24th Feb.
Sanghi Nagar India 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anatoly Karpov RUS 2765 (2) = = 0 1 = 1 1 = 1 6
Boris Gelfand BLR 2700 (8) = = 1 0 = 0 0 = 0 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gata Kamsky USA 2710 (6) 1 = 1 = 1 1 = 5.5
Valery Salov RUS 2715 (5) 0 = 0 = 0 0 = 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both matches ended with easy wins in the end for the victors. Gelfand
held Karpov for 5 games but once he lost in game six he rapidly
collapsed. Valery Salov seemed very out of sorts during the match, his
equlibrium seemed to have been badly affected by a dispute with
Ljubojevic in the Polugaevsky Sicilian Tournament. If seemd to prey on
his mind even months later. He was easily defeated by Kamsky.
All the stories of the match occured off the board. Firstly Shabalov
one of Kamsky's seconds left even before the start of the match. A
major arguement with Rustam Kamsky in which Shabalov was said to have
been physically attacked meant he left immediately. Rustam Kamsky
denied this version of events saying:
"No, There was no violence, only men's conversation."
Controversy stayed mostly beneath the surface, even during the final
press conferences involving all the players. However then things
exploded half an hour later when Rustam and Gata Kamsky returned for a
second unscheduled press conference.
Between the two press conferences it appears that the Kamsky's had a
major row with the sponsor Ravi Sanghi. This had been brewing
throughout the event. The Kamsky's were later to say that their
treatment had deteriorated very badly upon the arrival of Campomanes
some time into the match. The alleged that the lighting in their
accomodation was faulty and that they had to use candles. Also they
got into a protracted row about air fares for the Kamsky teams. After
the first press conference Ravi Sanghi and the Kamsky's had a shouting
match during which Ravi stated that there would not be a final in
India. At this point these and other allegations were made in public
by Rustam at the unscheduled press conference. Whether the decision
not to sponsor the final in India had been made before this press
conference or not isn't clear. However it is clear that the FIDE final
was not going to be in India after it. The Kamsky's expressed the
concern that not only would they not be paid their expenses but also
they wouldn't be paid at all for the match.
Later Rustam apologied in writing. They were fined 150 Swiss Francs
(78 UK pounds) for "uncalled for utterances" and this was deducted
from the 97,000 UK pounds that Gata won.
Here is an extract of the letter to him:
"By virtue of authority vested in me by FIDE statute, I am applying a
token fine in the amount of 150 Swiss Francs. Any reaccurrence of this
or similar behavior in the future wil be dealt severely. The amount
will be deducted from the prize fund of your player, unless you pay it
earlier directly to the Organizing Council which will transmit it to
FIDE."
(Signed: Campomanes)
Women Candidates Final - St. Petersburg, Russia:
------------------------------------------------
==============================================================
Zsuzsa Polgar (Hungary) 5.5 - 1.5 Maya Chiburdanidze (Georgia)
==============================================================
Zsuzsa Polgar has qualified to challenge Xie Jun for the Women's World
Chess Championship. The match will be held in Linares starting Jan
30th 1996.
5th FIDE World Senior Championships 1995
----------------------------------------
Vasiukov, Evgeni g RUS 2515 20 05.03.33 M 9.0 / 11
Katalymov, Boris N KAZ 2460 20 . . M 8.5
Baumgartner, Heinz f AUT 2295 12 02.09.32 M 8.5
Khasin, Abram m RUS 2400 0 15.02.23 M 8.0
Taimanov, Mark E g RUS 2510 31 07.02.26 M 8.0
Suetin, Alexey S g RUS 2445 14 16.11.26 M 8.0
Lein, Anatoly g USA 2470 0 28.03.31 M 8.0
Gurgenidze, Bukhuti g GEO 2375 0 13.11.33 M 8.0
Mukhin, Evgeny UZB M 8.0
PCA Cycle
---------
In February the PCA World Title Match was scheduled to be in Cologne
and to be sponsored by INTEL. It had until the last minute been
expected to be held in Dortmund. Contractual problems surrounding a
PCA clause saying that they had the right to withdraw and change site
up until a few weeks before the match date were the reasons cited by
many sources. Cologne did not have any money raised at the moment they
signed the contract and the above clause remained.
LAS PALMAS March 1995. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TOTAL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kamsky, Gata USA 2710 g 1 = 0 = = = = = 0 = 0 4.5
Anand, Viswanathan IND 2715 g 0 = 1 = = = = = 1 = 1 6.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On March 8th just two weeks after his match with Salov, Gata Kamsky
was in action again. This time in the PCA cycle. After the problems in
India both delegations were denied access to the playing hall by the
PCA during the match. In fact the Kamsky's threatened to withdraw
from the match altogether in protest at the unacceptable clauses
threatening fines, expulsion of team members and the possible
forfeiting of Gata Kamsky if there were any off the board incidents.
In fact there were none. This match brought to an end an incredible
run of victories for Kamsky which lasted all the way through the FIDE
cycle and to the final of the PCA Candidates. Gata Kamsky had proved
his point, he was a threat to anyone, but he fell at the final hurdle
here. As in the FIDE match Anand proved a major test for Kamsky. In
both matches Anand dominated the openings and only Kamsky's incredible
determination and concentration won him the FIDE match, here it was
not enough and Anand (who lost on time with a winning position in game
one) looked a very worthy winner. The lack of time between his match
against Salov and the PCA match certainly counted very heavily against
Gata. But he in fact persisted in playing very much the same opening
choices as he did in his victory in the FIDE cycle. These openings did
not look the right choice then and Anand was rarely in trouble at any
time in the match. Anand looked fluid and comfortable.
Kasparov wins the INTEL PCA World Championship
-------------------------------------------
New York (USA), IX 1995.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2795 = = = = = = = = 0 1 1 = 1 1 = = = = 10.5 2782
Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2725 = = = = = = = = 1 0 0 = 0 0 = = = = 7.5 2738
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kasparov retained his PCA title in New York. The match itself never
lived up to the expectations that we had beforehand. The first 8 games
were all drawn. They were generally well played games, Kasparov
offered all the draws in this section of the match. In game 9 Anand
won a fine technical game. Game 10 was the turning point of the match.
Anand repeated an earlier risky variation with Black. Kasparov simply
refuted it. Anand didn't seem to recover his poise for over a week.
Kasparov played the Dragon Defence for the first time in his career
and scored 2/2 with it in games 11 and 13 Anand came close to winning
in game 14 but in extremely noisy conditions and with excellent
defensive play from Kasparov, lost. The match was effectively over.
MAJOR TOURNAMENTS OF THE YEAR
----------------------------
JANUARY 1995
-------------
Wijk aan Zee
-------------
In January the Wijk aan Zee tournament was played. It was played as a
knockout with players who were eliminated joining a Swiss System
tournament held along side the main event.
The top seeds were
Evgeny Bareev 2675 (Rus,1)
Nigel Short 2655 (Eng,2)
Michael Adams 2655 (Eng,3)
Alexey Dreev 2650 (Rus,4)
Alexander Khalifman 2635(Rus,5)
Predrag Nikolic 2645 (Bos,6)
Ivan Sokolov 2645 (Bos,7)
Jeroen Piket 2670 (Ned,8)
Sergei Tiviakov 2625 (Rus,9)
Jan Timman 2635 (Ned,10)
Zoltan Almasi 2590 (Hun,11)
Yasser Seirawan 2600 (US, 12)
P Van Der Sterren 2560 (Ned,13)
Christopher Lutz 2560 (Ger,14)
Vadim Zvjaginsev 2585 (Rus,15)
Alexander Onischuk 2590 (Ukr,16)
Also playing were:
Peter Leko 2555 (Hun)
Vladislav Tkachiev 2575 (Kaz)
FINAL over four games. 25-28 Jan 1995.
--------------------------------------
PAIRINGS. WINNER
--------- --------
1 2 3 4
Evgeny Bareev 2675 (Rus,1) 0 = = =
........................................ Alexey Dreev
Alexey Dreev 2650 (Rus,4) 1 = = =
FINAL STANDINGS IN THE OPEN
---------------------------
1. Sergei Tiviakov 2625 (Rus,9) 9.5
2. Ivan Sokolov 2645 (Bos,7) 8
3. Michael Adams 2655 (Eng,3) 7.5
Zoltan Almasi 2590 (Hun,11)
Alexander Khalifman 2635 (Rus,5)
Krunoslav Hulak 2545 (Cro)
Christopher Lutz 2560 (Ger,14)
Yasser Seirawan 2600 (US,12)
Nigel Short 2655 (Eng,2)
10. Peter Leko 2555 (Hun) 7.0
Predrag Nikolic 2645 (Bos,6)
Alexander Onischuk 2590 (Ukr,16)
Gabriel Schwartzman 2495 (Rom)
14. Jeroen Piket (8) 2670 (Ned) 6.5
Jan Timman 2635 (Ned,10)
Vadim Zvjaginsev 2585 (Rus,15)
17. Michail Brodsky 2535 (Ukr) 6.0
Lars Bo Hansen 2565 (Den)
Vladislav Tkachiev 2575 (Kaz)
Pavel V. Tregubov 2515 (Rus)
Loek Van Wely 2575 (Ned)
John Van Der Wiel 2570 (Ned)
Alonso Zapata 2535 (Col)
etc....
January other events.
-------------------
Vaganian won above Epishin in Reggio Emilia.
The 9th Bern Open was won by Julian Hodgson on tie break from
Tukmakov, Beliavsky, Suetin Kengis, Razuvaev, Bellon and Gallagher.
FEBRUARY 1995
---------------
Joop van Oosterom Challenge Match between Piket and Shirov
-----------------------------------------------------------
Aruba 1995 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------
Alexey Shirov LAT (2710) = = = 1 1 1 = = 5.5
Jeroen Piket NED (2670) = = = 0 0 0 = = 2.5
----------------------------------------------------------
Haifa Category 14 Feb 95 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 TOTAL
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Yona Kosashvili 2560 ISR # = 1 1 = 0 = 1 = = = 1 7
2 Sergey Dolmatov 2605 RUS = # = = = 1 = = = = 1 = 6.5
3 Leonid Yudasin 2615 ISR 0 = # = = = = = 1 = 1 1 6.5
4 Vladimir Akopian 2655 ARM 0 = = # = 1 = = = 1 = = 6
5 Ilia Smirin 2630 ISR = = = = # 0 1 0 1 = 1 = 6
6 Peter Svidler 2585 RUS 1 0 = 0 1 # 1 1 = = 0 = 6
7 Boris Alterman 2575 ISR = = = = 0 0 # = = 1 = 1 5.5
8 Lev Psakhis 2625 ISR 0 = = = 1 0 = # = = 1 = 5.5
9 Alon Greenfeld 2580 ISR = = 0 = 0 = = = # 1 = = 5
10 Yehuda Gruenfeld 2505 ISR = = = 0 = = 0 = 0 # = 1 4.5
11 Vadim Milov 2580 ISR = 0 0 = 0 1 = 0 = = # 1 4.5
12 Mikhail Gurevich 2605 BEL 0 = 0 = = = 0 = = 0 0 # 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
February other events
---------------------
The amazing Victor Korchnoi won the Pan-Pacific International (21 Feb
- 4 March 1995) with 8 points clear of Gulko and Nunn in second on
7.5. Nick E DeFirmian who had a very solid year was 4th.
Cappelle Le Grande - France saw the top thirteen pairings drawn in the
last round. Miles, Hebden and Sveshnikov were half a point in front of
a very large pack on 7.
MARCH 1995
----------
Linares (ESP), 1-17 March 1995. cat. XVII (2654)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 TOTAL TPR
1 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2700 * = = 1 = 1 1 = = 1 = 1 1 1 10.0 2861
2 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2765 = * = 1 1 = = = 1 = 1 = 1 = 9.0 2786
3 Shirov, Alexei g LAT 2710 = = * 1 = = = = 1 = = = = 1 8.0 2736
4 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2630 0 0 0 * = 1 = 1 1 1 1 = = 1 8.0 2742
5 Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2635 = 0 = = * 1 1 = = 0 = = 1 1 7.5 2712
6 Beliavsky, Alexander g UKR 2650 0 = = 0 0 * 1 = = = 1 = 1 1 7.0 2682
7 Tiviakov, Sergei g RUS 2625 0 = = = 0 0 * 1 = = 1 = = = 6.0 2626
8 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2595 = = = 0 = = 0 * 0 = 1 = 1 = 6.0 2629
9 Sokolov, Ivan g BIH 2645 = 0 0 0 = = = 1 * = = 1 0 = 5.5 2597
10 Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2650 0 = = 0 1 = = = = * 0 = 0 1 5.5 2596
11 Short, Nigel g ENG 2655 = 0 = 0 = 0 0 0 = 1 * 1 = = 5.0 2566
12 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2580 0 = = = = = = = 0 = 0 * = = 5.0 2572
13 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2655 0 0 = = 0 0 = 0 1 1 = = * 0 4.5 2543
14 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2655 0 = 0 0 0 0 = = = 0 = = 1 * 4.0 2512
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Klooster - Ter Apel 1 2 3 4 5 6 TOTAL TPR
-------------------------------------------------------
1 Sokolov, Ivan g BIH 2645 * = = 1 0 1 3.0 2698
2 Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2635 = * = = = = 2.5 2628
3 Adams, Michael g ENG 2655 = = * 0 1 = 2.5 2624
4 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2575 0 = 1 * = = 2.5 2640
5 Andersson, Ulf g SWE 2630 1 = 0 = * = 2.5 2629
6 Dautov, Rustem g GER 2635 0 = = = = * 2.0 2556
--------------------------------------------------------
March other events
---------------------
The 3rd San Martin International Tournament was won by Julio Becerra
Rivero and Hugo Spangenberg on 8.5 from Andres Rodriguez and Bent
Larsen on 8. Jesus Nogueiras and Maxim Sorokin were amongst those on
7.5.
The Category 11 Reykjavik Zonal tournament saw Curt Hansen dominate on
8.5 points. Margeir Petursson was on 7 clear from the pack of players
Rune Djurhuus, Johann Hjartarson, Lars Bo Hansen, Jonathan Tisdall,
Helgi Olafsson and Pia Cramling. The category 12 playoff was played in
April.
Bronshoj Chess Club, Copenhagen 4 - 17 March in which the GM group was
Category 12 was won by Peter Leko on 8 above Andrei Maksimenko on 7
and Viktor Moskalenko, Jozsef Pinter and Igor Glek on 6.5.
To Celebrate Wolfgang Uhlmann's 60th Birthday there was a French
Defence Theme Tournament held in Dresden - 21st - 23rd March 1995.
Hort and Uhlmann scored 2/3 above Portisch on 1.5 and Rainer Knaak on
a half.
Sao Paulo Zonal Tournament (BRA), 20-29 March 1995. cat. VIII (2426)
9 round Swiss. This continued Granda Zuniga's good form he won with
7/9 in this tournament above Gilberto Milos on 6 and including
Henrique Mecking and Jaime Sunye Neto on 5.
APRIL
-----
Reykjavik Iceland Zonal Playoff 1995. cat. XII (2527)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER INFORMATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 TOTAL TPR
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Hjartarson, Johann g ISL 2590 * = = 1 1 = 3.5 2663 *
2 Hansen, Lars Bo g DEN 2565 = * 1 = = 1 3.5 2668
3 Tisdall, Jonathan D m NOR 2470 = 0 * = 1 1 3.0 2610
4 Djurhuus, Rune m NOR 2495 0 = = * 0 1 2.0 2461
5 Olafsson, Helgi g ISL 2520 0 = 0 1 * = 2.0 2456
6 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2520 = 0 0 0 = * 1.0 2288
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Riga (LAT), 1995. cat. XVII (2665)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2805 * 1 = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 7.5 2843
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2715 0 * = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 7.0 2808
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2700 = = * = 1 = = 1 1 = = 6.5 2771
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2715 = = = * = = = 1 1 = = 6.0 2731
5 Short, Nigel g ENG 2655 = = 0 = * = = 1 = 1 1 6.0 2737
6 Gulko, Boris g USA 2595 = 0 = = = * = = = = 1 5.0 2671
7 Yusupov, Artur g GER 2660 0 = = = = = * = = = = 4.5 2629
8 Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2615 = 0 0 0 0 = = * = 1 = 3.5 2559
9 Kengis, Edvins g LAT 2575 0 0 0 0 = = = = * = = 3.0 2524
10 Timman, Jan g NED 2635 0 0 = = 0 = = 0 = * = 3.0 2518
11 Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2640 0 0 = = 0 0 = = = = * 3.0 2518
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Kropotkin (Krasnodar) (RUS) April 1995. cat. XIV (2579)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Giorgadze, Giorgi g GEO 2590 * = = = = 1 1 = 4.5 2679
2 Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2585 = * = = 1 = = = 4.0 2628
3 Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2610 = = * = 1 = 0 1 4.0 2625
4 Tiviakov, Sergei g RUS 2625 = = = * = = 1 = 4.0 2622
5 Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2530 = 0 0 = * 1 1 = 3.5 2586
6 Poluljahov, Aleksandr g RUS 2450 0 = = = 0 * 1 = 3.0 2547
7 Lputian, Smbat G g ARM 2630 0 = 1 0 0 0 * 1 2.5 2470
8 Malaniuk, Vladimir P g UKR 2615 = = 0 = = = 0 * 2.5 2472
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dos Hermanas (ESP), 1995. cat. XVIII (2681)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Adams, Michael g ENG 2655 * 0 = = = = = 1 1 1 5.5 2763
2 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2710 1 * 1 = = 0 = 1 = = 5.5 2757
3 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2765 = 0 * = = = 1 = 1 1 5.5 2751
4 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2700 = = = * = = 1 0 = 1 5 2721
5 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2630 = = = = * = = = = 1 5 2729
6 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2595 = 1 = = = * 1 0 0 = 4.5 2690
7 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2655 = = 0 0 = 0 * 1 1 1 4.5 2683
8 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2670 0 0 = 1 = 1 0 * = = 4 2638
9 Salov, Valery g RUS 2715 0 = 0 = = 1 0 = * = 3.5 2596
10 Shirov, Alexei g LAT 2710 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 = = * 2 2457
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APRIL other events
---------------------
-------
The New York was won clearly by Pavel Blatny with 8 points from a
group of 4 players : Benjamin, Hracek, Oll and Svidler on 7. Michael
Adams, Ivan Morovic Vladislav Tkachiev, Vladimir Epishin and Paul Van
der Sterren were amongst those on 6.5.
The Mar del Plata Open in Argentina April 8 to 16, 1995 was won by IM
Sergio Slipak on tie-break from Bent Larsen both finished on 7.5 from
9. Hugo Spangenberg and Miguel Quinteros were amongst those on 7.
The Ptuj Slovakian Zonal 1995 was a Category 10 event won by Stefan
Kindermann on 10.5/ 15. Korchnoi and Thomas Luther followed on 10
points above Eric Lobron and Christopher Lutz on 9.5.
The second Belgacom International Chess Championship was held in
Watermael-Boitsfort (Belgium) from April 15th to 23rd. The timing was
16 moves/1 hour and then 1 hour KO. Gurevich, Mikhail won with 8/9.
MAY
---
VSB Euwe Memorial Tournament 12th - 18th May 1995
-----------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam (NED), 1995. cat. XVIII (2690)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 TOTAL TPR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2655 * * = 1 = = 1 = 4 2826
2 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2805 = 0 * * 1 1 1 0 3.5 2708
3 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2630 = = 0 0 * * 1 = 2.5 2653
4 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2670 0 = 0 1 0 = * * 2 2571
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madrid (ESP), 1995. cat. XVI (2629)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
IV Torneo Magistral de la Comunidad de Madrid - 9th - 19th May 1995
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 TOTAL TPR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2635 * = = 1 0 1 1 1 1 = 6.5 2794
2 Salov, Valery g RUS 2715 = * = = 1 = 1 = 1 = 6.0 2744
3 Yusupov, Artur g GER 2660 = = * = = = = 1 = = 5.0 2668
4 Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2635 0 = = * = = = = = 1 4.5 2628
5 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2630 1 0 = = * 0 0 = 1 1 4.5 2628
6 San Segundo, Pablo m ESP 2480 0 = = = 1 * = = = = 4.5 2645
7 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2595 0 0 = = 1 = * 1 0 = 4.0 2589
8 Beliavsky, Alexander g UKR 2650 0 = 0 = = = 0 * = 1 3.5 2546
9 Short, Nigel g ENG 2655 0 0 = = 0 = 1 = * = 3.5 2546
10 Timman, Jan g NED 2635 = = = 0 0 = = 0 = * 3.0 2503
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
VIII Torneo Ciudad de Leon - 7th - 17 May 1995.
-------------------------------------------------
Leon (ESP), 1995. cat. XIV (2577)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2675 * = = 1 = = = 1 1 1 6.5 2731
2 Shirov, Alexei g LAT 2710 = * 1 = = = = 1 1 1 6.5 2727
3 Adams, Michael g ENG 2655 = 0 * = = 1 = 1 1 1 6.0 2692
4 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2655 0 = = * = 1 = 1 1 1 6.0 2692
5 Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2575 = = = = * = = 1 = 1 5.5 2656
6 De la Villa Garcia, Jesus M m ESP 2490 = = 0 0 = * = 1 = 1 4.5 2586
7 Sokolov, Ivan g BIH 2645 = = = = = = * 0 = = 4.0 2525
8 Rivas Pastor, Manuel g ESP 2515 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * = 1 2.5 2417
9 Romero Holmes, Alfonso m ESP 2455 0 0 0 0 = = = = * = 2.5 2424
10 Sion Castro, Marcelino m ESP 2390 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = * 1.0 2246
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAY other events
---------------------
---
The 30th Capablanca Memorial by Matanzas, Cuba, May 9 - 23, 1995 was
won by Tony Miles on 10.5 / 13. This Category 11 event saw Loek van
Wely on 9.5 in second and Rob Cifuentes in third on 7.
JUNE
----
Novgorod (RUS), 1995. cat. XVII (2665)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2805 * = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 6.5 2815
2 Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2615 = * = = = 1 = = = 1 5.5 2750
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2700 = = * 1 0 = = = 1 1 5.5 2741
4 Short, Nigel g ENG 2655 = = 0 * = 1 = 1 1 = 5.5 2746
5 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2630 0 = 1 = * = = = 1 1 5.5 2748
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2715 = 0 = 0 = * 1 1 = 1 5.0 2702
7 Timman, Jan g NED 2635 = = = = = 0 * = = = 4.0 2625
8 Gulko, Boris g USA 2595 0 = = 0 = 0 = * = = 3.0 2547
9 Yusupov, Artur g GER 2660 0 = 0 0 0 = = = * = 2.5 2499
10 Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2640 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = = * 2.0 2447
-----------------------------------------------------------------
JUNE other events
---------------------
----
The Novgorod Open alongside the main international tournament was won
by Viktor Bologan on 7 /9. Dvoirys and Vyzmanavin scored 6.5 and
Iskusnyh, Korneev, Malaniuk, Nenashev and Svidler finished on 6.
The Sigeman Wernbro & Co Grandmaster Tournament in Malmo (SWE) was won
by Ivan Sokolov with 6.5/9 above Ulf Andersson, Mikhail Krasenkov and
Matthew Sadler on 6.
The VI MIGUEL NAJDORF Tournament in Buenos Aires (ARG) was category 11
and won jointly by Pablo San Segundo and Loek van Wely on 7.5/11. Nick
De Firmian and Hugo Spangenberg scored 7 and Matthew Sadler 6.5.
The III Torneo Magistral V de Benasque was won by Tony Miles with 6.5
points /9 above players such as Ulf Andersson, Bogdan Lalic, Giorgi
Giorgadze and Lev Psakhis in this all play all event.
JULY
----
FINAL STANDINGS
----------------
Polka Chess Tournament. Info from Tasc Tournament Systems
--------------------------
Prague (CZE), VII 1995. cat. XIII (2566)
-----------------------------------------------------
KOR SMY SPA HOR POR TOTAL TPR
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2510 1= =1 == 0= 11 6.5 2696
Polgar, Judit g HUN 2635 == 1= =1 01 =1 6.5 2696
3 Xie Jun g CHN 2540 =0 10 =1 =1 =0 5.0 2586
4 Polgar, Zsuzsa g HUN 2565 == =0 =0 =1 == 4.5 2550
5 Ioseliani, Nana m GEO 2475 0= =0 0= 10 =1 4.0 2514
---------------------------------------------------------------
26.5
----------------------------------------------------------------
CRA JPO XIE ZPO IOS TOTAL TPR
1 Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2635 0= == =1 == 1= 5.5 2581
2 Smyslov, Vassily g RUS 2565 =0 0= 01 =1 =1 5.0 2545
Spassky, Boris V g FRA 2555 == =0 =0 =1 1= 5.0 2545
4 Hort, Vlastimil g GER 2560 1= 10 =0 =0 01 4.5 2509
5 Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2615 00 =0 =1 == =0 3.5 2435
----------------------------------------------------------------
23.5
14-23 July 1995
------------------
Dortmund (GER), VII 1995. cat. XVII (2665)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2730 * = 1 = = 1 1 = 1 1 7.0 2877
2 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2775 = * = = 1 = = 1 1 1 6.5 2818
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2740 0 = * = = = = 1 1 = 5.0 2699
4 Leko, Peter g HUN 2605 = = = * = = = 1 0 1 5.0 2714
5 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2635 = 0 = = * 1 = = 1 0 4.5 2668
6 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2625 0 = = = 0 * = = = 1 4.0 2626
7 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2645 0 = = = = = * 0 1 = 4.0 2624
8 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2650 = 0 0 0 = = 1 * 0 1 3.5 2586
9 Beliavsky, Alexander g UKR 2650 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 1 * 1 3.5 2586
10 Lobron, Eric g GER 2595 0 0 = 0 1 0 = 0 0 * 2.0 2452
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AUGUST 1995
-----------
28th Chess Festival Biel 1995
=============================
Biel (SUI), VII 1995. cat. XV (2604)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2670 * 1 = = = = 1 = 1 = 1 1 = = 9.0 2739
2 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2695 0 * = = = 1 1 = = = = = 1 1 8.0 2683
3 Adianto, Utut g INA 2590 = = * 1 = = 0 1 = = = 0 1 1 7.5 2661
4 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2685 = = 0 * = 1 = = = 1 = = = 1 7.5 2654
5 Tkachiev, Vladislav g KAZ 2605 = = = = * = = = = = = 1 = = 7.0 2632
6 Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2600 = 0 = 0 = * = = 1 1 = 1 = = 7.0 2632
7 De Firmian, Nick g USA 2605 0 0 1 = = = * = 0 = 1 = = 1 6.5 2603
8 Kindermann, Stefan g GER 2565 = = 0 = = = = * 0 = 1 0 1 1 6.5 2606
9 Milov, Vadim g ISR 2570 0 = = = = 0 1 1 * = = = = = 6.5 2606
10 Gavrikov, Viktor g SUI 2605 = = = 0 = 0 = = = * = = = 1 6.0 2574
11 Campora, Daniel H g ARG 2550 0 = = = = = 0 0 = = * = 1 = 5.5 2550
12 Hodgson, Julian M g ENG 2590 0 = 1 = 0 0 = 1 = = = * = 0 5.5 2547
13 Timman, Jan H g NED 2590 = 0 0 = = = = 0 = = 0 = * 1 5.0 2517
14 Brunner, Lucas g SUI 2530 = 0 0 0 = = 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 * 3.5 2434
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam NED (NED), VIII 1995. cat. XVI (2627)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Granda Zuniga, Julio E g PER 2605 * 0 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 = = 1 7.5 2762
2 Timman, Jan H g NED 2590 1 * = = = = 1 1 1 = 0 1 7.5 2763
3 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2635 1 = * = 0 1 = 0 = 1 1 1 7.0 2728
4 Huzman, Alexander g UKR 2580 = = = * 0 = = 0 = 1 1 1 6.0 2667
5 Seirawan, Yasser g USA 2625 0 = 1 1 * = 0 1 = 0 1 = 6.0 2663
6 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2695 0 = 0 = = * 1 = 0 1 1 1 6.0 2656
7 Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2655 0 0 = = 1 0 * = = = 1 = 5.0 2588
8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2630 0 0 1 1 0 = = * 1 0 0 1 5.0 2590
9 Nunn, John D M g ENG 2615 0 0 = = = 1 = 0 * = 1 = 5.0 2592
10 Salov, Valery g RUS 2685 = = 0 0 1 0 = 1 = * 1 0 5.0 2585
11 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2625 = 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 * = 3.0 2452
12 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2585 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 = 1 = * 3.0 2455
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUGUST other events
---------------------
------
The Altensteig Category XII event saw Zbynek Hracek score 7/11 and
finish above Kiril Georgiev on 6 and Rustem Dautov, Joerg Hickl and
Alexander Wojtkiewicz on 5.5.
The "Lost Boys" Tournament in Antwerp saw first shared by Ivan Sokolov
and Igor Novikov on 7/9. Viktor Korchnoi was in the chasing group.
The US Open was won by Alex Yermolinsky with 10.5/12 Ronald Burnett,
David Gliksman, Walter Shipman and Eugen Perelshteyn followed on 9.5.
The Hastings Centenary Chess Festival. 19th -29th August 1995 Was won
by Suat Atalik on 7/9. A large tie for second was seen. Malaniuk,
Onischuk, Parker, Rashkovsky, Summerscale, Matthew Turner and Chris
Ward were all on 6.5.
SEPTEMBER
--------
THE BEST IN THE NETHERLANDS MATCH
---------------------------------
Amsterdam (NED), IX-X 1995.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timman, Jan H g NED 2590 = 1 = 1 0 1 = = = = 6.0 2697
Piket, Jeroen g NED 2625 = 0 = 0 1 0 = = = = 4.0 2518
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
September other events
---------------------
----------
Reykjavik (Iceland). Fridrik Olafsson celebrated his 60th birthday by
playing in this Category 11 tournament in his honour. Hannes
Stefansson won with 8/11 from Mageir Petursson on 7.5. Smyslov,
Gligoric and Larsen all played.
October
--------
Horgen (SUI), X-XI 1995. cat. XVII (2668)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2740 * = = 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 = 7.0 2809
2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2730 = * = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 = 7.0 2810
3 Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2630 = = * = = 1 1 = = = = 6.0 2743
4 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2645 1 0 = * = 1 0 = = 1 1 6.0 2742
5 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2795 0 = = = * = 1 = = = = 5.0 2655
6 Gulko, Boris F g USA 2620 = 0 0 0 = * 1 = = 1 = 4.5 2636
7 Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2635 0 = 0 1 0 0 * = 1 = 1 4.5 2635
8 Yusupov, Artur g GER 2680 0 = = = = = = * = = = 4.5 2630
9 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2635 0 0 = = = = 0 = * = 1 4.0 2599
10 Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2645 0 0 = 0 = 0 = = = * 1 3.5 2560
11 Timman, Jan H g NED 2590 = = = 0 = = 0 = 0 0 * 3.0 2526
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Aruba (NED ANT), X-XI 1995.
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TOTAL TPR
-----------------------------------------------------------
Polgar, Judit g HUN 2635 1 = 0 1 = 1 1 1 6.0 2818
Piket, Jeroen g NED 2625 0 = 1 0 = 0 0 0 2.0 2442
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bourgas Bulgaria
-----------------
1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2640 40 15.03.75 M 6 /9
Georgiev, Kiril g BUL 2605 39 28.11.65 M 6
3. Short, Nigel D. g ENG 2645 58 01.06.65 M 5
Dolmatov, Sergey g RUS 2615 11 20.02.59 M 5
5. Gulko, Boris F g USA 2620 50 09.02.47 M 4.5
Miladinovic, Igor g GRE 2555 45 25.01.74 M 4.5
7. Tukmakov, Vladimir B. g UKR 2600 48 15.03.46 M 4
Azmaiparshvili, Zurab g BIH 2620 33 16.03.60 M 4
9. Alterman, Boris g ISR 2595 52 04.05.70 M 3.5
10. Kolev, Atanas g BUL 2500 8 15.07.67 M 2.5
October other events
---------------------
--------
A strong Russian Championships was held in Elista Russia. There was a
five way tie for first with Peter Svidler winning the titel on tie
break from Bareev, Glek, Khalifman and Andrei Sokolov in this 11 round
Swiss.
November
--------
Belgrade (YUG), XI 1995. cat. XVI (2649)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2685 * = 1 = 1 1 = 1 = = 1 = 8.0 2820
2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2730 = * = 1 1 = 1 0 1 1 1 = 8.0 2816
3 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2695 0 = * = 0 = 1 1 = 1 = 1 6.5 2709
4 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2640 = 0 = * = 1 = 0 1 1 0 1 6.0 2685
5 Adams, Michael g ENG 2660 0 0 1 = * = 0 = = 1 = 1 5.5 2647
6 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2740 0 = = 0 = * = 1 = 1 = = 5.5 2640
7 Timman, Jan H g NED 2590 = 0 0 = 1 = * = = 0 1 1 5.5 2654
8 Leko, Peter g HUN 2605 0 1 0 1 = 0 = * = = = = 5.0 2616
9 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2600 = 0 = 0 = = = = * = = = 4.5 2588
10 Beliavsky, Alexander g UKR 2650 = 0 0 0 0 0 1 = = * = 1 4.0 2546
11 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2635 0 0 = 1 = = 0 = = = * 0 4.0 2548
12 Miladinovic, Igor g YUG 2555 = = 0 0 0 = 0 = = 0 1 * 3.5 2524
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Korchnoi vs Greenfeld Israel.
----------------------------
Final Result:
Victor Korchnoi 3.5 - 2.5 Alon Greenfeld
Hjartarsson and Hannes Steffanson shared first place in the Icelandic
Championships in Reykjavik. In the playoff in December Hjartarsson won
an exciting playoff after extra games.
November other events
---------------------
--------
The Las Palmas Open (November 15-23) was a 9 round Swiss. First place
was shared by Ivan Morovic(CHL),Igors Rausis(LAT)and PiaCramling(SWE)
with 7/9
Zonal LINARES
-------------
Final results:
Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2620 45 03.12.65 M 8.0 /11
Van Wely, Loek g NED 2585 59 07.10.72 M 7.0
Apicella, Manuel m FRA 2555 57 19.04.70 M 7.0
Miles, Anthony J g ENG 2600 58 23.04.55 M 7.0
Renet, Olivier g FRA 2520 57 21.12.64 M 7.0
Van Der Sterren, Paul g NED 2545 40 17.03.56 M 7.0
Wells, Peter K g ENG 2545 62 17.04.65 M 7.0
Van Der Wiel, John T.H. g NED 2545 35 09.08.59 M 7.0
Tony Miles and Jeroen Piket were amongst those who didn't qualify.
DECEMBER
-----------
Modesto (USA), XI-XII 1995. cat. XII (2542)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 De Firmian, Nick g USA 2605 * 1 = = = = = = = 1 1 = = 1 8.5 2647
2 Ivanov, Alexander V g USA 2530 0 * = = 1 1 = = 1 = 0 1 1 1 8.5 2653
3 Wolff, Patrick G g USA 2565 = = * 0 = 1 = 1 1 = = 1 1 = 8.5 2650
4 Yermolinsky, Alexey g USA 2560 = = 1 * = = = = = = 1 1 = = 8.0 2627
5 Gulko, Boris F g USA 2620 = 0 = = * = 1 = = = = 1 = 1 7.5 2593
6 Browne, Walter S g USA 2560 = 0 0 = = * 1 = = = 1 = 0 1 6.5 2540
7 Benjamin, Joel g USA 2575 = = = = 0 0 * = 0 = 1 = = 1 6.0 2510
8 Dzindzichashvili, Roman g USA 2545 = = 0 = = = = * 0 1 0 = 1 = 6.0 2512
9 Gurevich, Dmitry g USA 2525 = 0 0 = = = 1 1 * 0 = 0 1 = 6.0 2514
10 Kaidanov, Grigory S g USA 2585 0 = = = = = = 0 1 * 0 = 0 1 5.5 2481
11 Orlov, Georgy m RUS 2465 0 1 = 0 = 0 0 1 = 1 * = = 0 5.5 2491
12 Khmelnitsky, Igor N m RUS 2490 = 0 0 0 0 = = = 1 = = * 1 0 5.0 2459
13 Waitzkin, Joshua m USA 2440 = 0 0 = = 1 = 0 0 1 = 0 * = 5.0 2463
14 Kudrin, Sergey g USA 2525 0 0 = = 0 0 0 = = 0 1 1 = * 4.5 2433
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groningen (NED), XII 1995. cat. XVII (2653)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2775 * = = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 = 7.5 2774
2 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2735 = * = = 0 = = = 1 1 1 1 7.0 2747
3 Sokolov, Ivan g BIH 2630 = = * = = = = 1 1 = = 1 7.0 2756
4 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2635 = = = * 1 = 0 = = 1 = 1 6.5 2719
5 Adams, Michael g ENG 2660 = 1 = 0 * = 0 = 0 1 1 1 6.0 2687
6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2605 = = = = = * 1 = = = 0 = 5.5 2656
7 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2585 0 = = 1 1 0 * 0 1 1 = 0 5.5 2658
8 Tiviakov, Sergei g RUS 2655 = = 0 = = = 1 * = 0 = = 5.0 2616
9 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2645 0 0 0 = 1 = 0 = * = 1 = 4.5 2588
10 Hansen, Curt g DEN 2635 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 1 = * = 1 4.0 2552
11 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2625 0 0 = = 0 1 = = 0 = * = 4.0 2553
12 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2645 = 0 0 0 0 = 1 = = 0 = * 3.5 2520
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SPEED CHESS
-----------
The PCA again organised their INTEL Rapidplay tournament throughout
the year.
NEW YORK INTEL
--------------
The New York Intel rapidplay saw Ivanchuk beat Morozevich in one
semi-final and Kasparov beat Kramnik. Kasparov won the final 2-0.
INTEL WORLD CHESS GRAND PRIX LONDON
-----------------------------------
Kasparov gave this event a miss as Anand warmed up for the PCA match
in New York. Tony Miles beat Kramnik in a thrilling first round tie.
Michael Adams beat Tony Miles in one semi-final and Alexei Dreev road
his luck to beat Anand. Adams beat Dreev 2-0 in the final.
INTEL PARIS
--------------
Kramnik beat Lautier in one semifinal whilst Kasparov beat Anand in
the other. A mixup over the start times meant that Anand defaulted
against Kasparov in the first game of the semi-final. A thrilling
final where Kasparov (who needed to win to take the Grand Prix from
Kramnik) lost the first game with white but eventually won the final
after four games.
The final standings in the 1995 Grand Prix were:
------------------------------------------------
Kasparov 19 points
Ivanchuk 14 points
Kramnik 12 points
Anand 11 points
Adams 6 points
Morozevich 5 points
etc
In addition the Association Max Euwe organised the
Melody Amber event.
Monaco Rapidplay, 28 March - 10 April 1995. cat. XVIII (2677)
---------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER INFORMATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 TOTAL TPR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2765 * 1 = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 10.0 3052
2 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2700 0 * 1 0 1 = = 1 1 = 1 1 7.5 2808
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2715 = 0 * = = 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 7.5 2806
4 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2630 0 1 = * = = 0 1 0 1 1 = 6.0 2717
5 Shirov, Alexei g SPA 2710 0 0 = = * = 1 = = = 1 1 6.0 2710
6 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2710 0 = 0 = = * 1 1 = 0 = 1 5.5 2674
7 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2715 0 = 0 1 0 0 * 1 0 = 1 1 5.0 2637
8 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2670 = 0 = 0 = 0 0 * = 1 = 1 4.5 2612
9 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2655 0 0 0 1 = = 1 = * 0 = = 4.5 2614
10 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2645 0 = 0 0 = 1 = 0 1 * 0 = 4.0 2578
11 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2580 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = = 1 * 1 3.5 2552
12 Nunn, John D M g ENG 2630 0 0 = = 0 0 0 0 = = 0 * 2.0 2419
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monaco Blindfold, 28 March - 10 April 1995. cat. XVIII (2677)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER INFORMATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 TOTAL TPR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2715 * = = = = 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 8.0 2848
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2715 = * = 0 = = 1 1 = 1 = 1 7.0 2775
3 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2670 = = * 1 = 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 6.5 2742
4 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2710 = 1 0 * = 0 1 = 0 1 1 1 6.5 2739
5 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2700 = = = = * 1 = = 1 = = = 6.5 2740
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2765 0 = 0 1 0 * = = = 1 1 1 6.0 2705
7 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2645 0 0 1 0 = = * 0 1 = 1 1 5.5 2680
8 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2630 0 0 1 = = = 1 * 0 0 = 1 5.0 2645
9 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2655 0 = 0 1 0 = 0 1 * 1 0 1 5.0 2643
10 Shirov, Alexei g SPA 2710 1 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 * = 1 4.5 2609
11 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2580 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 = * = 3.5 2552
12 Nunn, John D M g ENG 2630 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = * 2.0 2419
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Monaco Combined, 28 March - 10 April 1995. cat. XVIII (2677)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER INFORMATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 TOTAL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2765 ## == 01 01 11 =1 0= 11 =1 =1 11 11 16.0
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2715 == ## =0 =1 01 1= == 1= =1 11 =1 1= 14.5
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2700 10 =1 ## == == =0 =1 =1 11 == =1 =1 14.0
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2715 10 =0 == ## =0 11 =1 00 10 1= 11 11 13.0
5 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2710 00 10 == =1 ## == 01 1= 0= 10 1= 11 12.0
6 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2630 =0 0= =1 00 == ## 11 0= 00 11 =1 1= 11.0
7 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2670 1= == =0 =0 10 00 ## 1= 1= 01 1= 01 11.0
8 Shirov, Alexei g SPA 2710 00 0= =0 11 0= 1= 0= ## 0= == =1 11 10.5
9 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2655 =0 =0 00 01 1= 11 0= 1= ## 00 0= 1= 9.5
10 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2645 =0 00 == 0= 01 00 10 == 11 ## 10 1= 9.5
11 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2580 00 =0 =0 00 0= =0 0= =0 1= 01 ## =1 7.0
12 Nunn, John D M g ENG 2630 00 0= =0 00 00 0= 10 00 0= 0= =0 ## 4.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Year in Chess Politics
--------------------------
Much of the raw material from this report comes from New Jersey State
Chess Federation Page:
http://w3.gti.net/njscf/njfide.html
The year started in a very depressing mood. FIDE who desperately
needed a change of direction after at least four years of
directionless failure re-elected Campomanes in contraversial style
during the last weeks of 1994.
At Moscow it was decided to move towards an agreement with the PCA. In
essence the Campomanes ticket suggested that they alone could re-unify
the World Championships. Karpov beat Gelfand and Kamsky beat Salov to
reach the finals of the FIDE version of the World Chess Championships.
Because of the unprecidented political schemeing seen in Moscow many
nations (eventually 61 in all) began the process of trying to reverse
some of the decisions taken in Moscow. In particular (even though this
should have been obvious in Moscow) they now had no confidence in FIDE
President Florencio Campomanes.
Phil Haley puts it this way in his report:
"Since the last meeting in Moscow considerable dissatisfaction had
built up relative to the performance of the FIDE executive and
business office. Communications had been few and far between, no
progress had been made on a PCA-FIDE agreement, no bids had been found
for the Karpov-Kamsky world championship match, the meeting initially
scheduled for Brno in the Czech Republic was rescheduled for Qatar
even though France had been given the second option at the 1993 FIDE
meeting. Over sixty federations asked for an extraordinary general
assembly. Almost at the last minute an agreement was reached whereby
Qatar withdrew their invitation and France withdrew their proposal for
an extraordinary meeting and the "regular" 1995 FIDE meeting was
finally scheduled for Paris."
The prime movers behind this renewed attempt to unseat the President
were Egon Ditt of Germany in his report he states that the others
were: "Bachar Kouatly with Jean-Claude Loubatiere and Veronique Revoy
from France, Dr. Morten Sand from Norway, the European Continental
President Kurt Jungwirth from Austria, Gunther Loewenthal from The
Netherlands and World Champion Anatoly Karpov for Europe, Fan Adams
and Steve Doyle from the United States, Phil Haley from Canada and Dr.
Pedro Barrera from El Salvador for the Americas, Rupert Jones from
Botswana for Africa and Ignatius Leong from Singapore for Asia."
FIDE was not just faced with problems connected with the PCA split in
1992 and the administration of their own cycle. They in addition were
experiencing a deepening financial crisis. There had been an enforced
move back to Switzerland at the end of 1994 and as we were to learn in
Paris, the financial problems were increased by Campomanes himself.
The FIDE Congress 18th - 25th November 1995
--------------------------------------------
Central Committee Meeting 18th November.
----------------------------------------
The first and most important matter discussed was the draft PCA-FIDE
agreement. It was rejected as unacceptable because Kasparov wanted to
be treated as defending Champion with the old rights in the case of a
tied match, and because FIDE did not want to surrender control over
the World Championships.
This turned out to be Campomanes' last stand as President. It is known
that Campomanes and Arturo Borjal, the President of the Philippine
Chess Federation had been in dispute since the Manilla Olympiad of
1992. Borjal gave statements to those present in France certifying
both that Florencio Campomanes wasn't nominated as required by the
Philippine Chess Federation to stand in the elections in Moscow in
1994 and that furthermore he was not a delegate and that he was not
entitled to vote either the Philippine or any other proxy.
Borjal also alleged major financial impropriety during the Manilla
Olympiad of 1992. Campomanes as I now write appears to have refuted
these allegations whilst recently in the Philippeans. At the meeting
Campomanes point blank refused to address the issue.
There was then a chaotic vote of the Central Committee in which a vote
of no confidence in Campomanes and his team was taken. The first was
disputed. Phil Haley and his wife believe that it was 13 in favour 12
against and two abstentions yet it was announced that the motion had
failed. The vote was held again this time the result was 14-13 in
favour, but that Fan Adams vote could not be counted as he did not
vote the first time. This was not correct as he both seconded the
original motion and clearly voted in favour. However to this day the
official minutes state that it tied 13-13.
The meeting broke up before discussion of some highly contentious
payments to Campomanes could take place.
General Assembly.
-----------------
At the start of the general assembly Campomanes indicated that he
would step down as President on condition that Kirsan Iljumzhinov be
elected acting President. After two days of political haggling a new
Presidential Board was constructed.
President: Kirsan Iljumzhinov NEW
Chairman: Florencio Campomanes NEW *
Deputy president: Andrei Makarov REMAINS
Deputy president: Bachar Kouatly NEW
Deputy president: Mohammed Ghobash REMAINS
General secretary: Georgios Makropoulos REMAINS
Treasurer: Willy Iclicki REMAINS
Board Member: Morten Sand NEW
Board Member: Joaquim Durao NEW
Both Durao and Kouatly were board members at large after Moscow 1994
but had no vote on the board.
* Later Willy Icklicki stated that Campomanes had in fact become
Honorary President with no right to vote.
According to Phil Haley this board was not supported by the Russian
Chess Federation (but in a letter to the Assembly it was supported by
Boris Yeltsin, it will be interesting to see the fate of Andrei
Makarov now as there appears to be a rift there.)
Karpov made a very strong speech in favour of the new Board. One
comment on this speech. Karpov appeared to make a "thankyou and
goodbye" speech about Campomanes. Subsequently (and predictably) this
was interpreted as a vote of confidence in Campomanes although it
certainly wasn't presented as such to the delegates and I think that
most were glad to see Campomanes go.
I have been told that prior to the FIDE Congress in Moscow Campomanes
was angling for the creation of the post of Chairman. I have seen no
details of his duties but presumably they include the chairing of
meetings. This kind of political control should not be renewed after
the Presidential elections of 1996. It is also stated by Willi
Icklicki that although there will be FIDE Presidential elections in
1996 these elections do not apply to those other board members elected
during the Moscow Olympiad. However I was told that if Ignatious Leong
took over from Casto Abundo as Executive Director this would be a sign
he was ready to leave. This has now come to pass.
The general assembly then proceeded to discuss other matters.
Florencio Campomanes said that he had had many meetings with the PCA
and that they had almost reached agreement. The General Assembly also
rejected the draft proposal of agreement but voted for further
discussion with the PCA.
There was a verification committee report on payments made to
Florencio Campomanes and Georgios Makropoulos. Payments of SF 150.000
(Mr. Campomanes) and SF 30.000 (Mr. Makropoulos) were made after the
Moscow FIDE Congress of 1994. These payments are shocking for several
reasons. At the FIDE Congress Campomanes made great play of the fact
that he (and in fact all FIDE elected officials) were giving up their
stipends. The budget was reduced in accordance with this. At the time
these payments were made the added up to more than half the remaining
money in FIDE accounts. Both the FIDE Treasurer Willi Icklicki and the
verification report on these payments regard them as questionable. In
particular Florencio Campomanes' payments seem to include expenses.
Egon Ditt alleges (and although I haven't seen this Willi Icklicki may
have confirmed) that these payments were made without the knowlege of
the treasurer before they were made. ie that Campomanes himself
sanctioned them. The nature of the payments are slightly unclear. They
are to do with pension payments at the end of service. However I am
unsure why these payments were triggered as certainly Campomanes was
re-elected President in Moscow. If they were triggered because FIDE
stopped paying their officials, a suggestion of Campomanes himself,
then I'll leave you to work out how disingenuous that was. (Please can
someone clarify this point, why were the payments triggered?) In
addition I would like to see just what kind of expenses Campomanes was
claiming. A number of people have mentioned that they feel they were
totally out of control, especially at a time of financial crisis in
FIDE.
There was acceptance of the only proposal on the table by Montreal to
host the Karpov - Kamsky match in 1996. The funding for this match has
not been established, at Groningen Karpov said that there were many
minor sponsors lined up but that a major one had yet to be achieved.
Egon Ditt summarieses the other decisions:
Start of quote "
* Written monthly information to all member federations has been
promised.
* The proposals for better control of FIDE finances were accepted.
* The proposals for fees were softened. In all cases the limits
have been kept, but they were raised a little. The rating fees
have been lowered. The first 100 players are free and the fees are as
proposed by the German Chess Federation 5,00 SF and if data are sent
by email or diskette 2,50 SF. 20 0f the entry fees will go to the
organising federation, in case of continental events another 20 will
go to the continental president to cover his expenses.
* The electoral regulations have been changed. In future the nominations
have to be three months before the congress at the FIDE office
(instead of six months) and only the president and his deputy
president have to be nominated, the other officers will be
nominated by the newly elected president for the agreement of the
congress.
* Gunther Lowenthal (The Netherlands) was elected for the Executive
Council.
* Lothar Schmid (Germany) was given the chair of the Chess and Arts
Committee.
* The proposal to have the future Congress in even years only
together with the Chess Olympiad and in the uneven years the
Central Committee and the Commissions was postponed to a later
Congress.
* Ukraine got status as a zone (like Russia, China, USA and Canada).
* Next Executive Council early May 1996 in Erewan; next
FIDE-Congress 24.9. to 2.10.1996 in Erewan. FIDE Congress 1997
23. to 30.8.1997 in Oslo.
* A European Cup for women's club teams will be started in 1996.
" end of quote.
As many have said FIDE cannot afford the events of Moscow and Paris to
be repeated in Armenia in 1996. USCF President Denis Barry summarieses
the problem.
"FIDE has no rules in its structure mandating the orderly and
democratic conduct of its meetings. The chair has complete control and
can pick the order in which he recognizes any Delegate who wishes to
speak; he can choose which motion or amendment on the floor the
assembly addresses first or at all, he picks all committees, he
decides who counts the votes and if a vote is needed. This total power
leads to abuse. To make any progress at all, an order for these
meetings is desperately needed."
The PCA
--------
The PCA completed their cycle this year. Viswanathan Anand beat Gata
Kamsky in the PCA final. There was a long running dispute between the
PCA and Kamsky both over the level of prizemoney for the Candidates
final $100,000 down from the widely expected $200,000 and the timing
which was only a matter of less than two weeks after the FIDE
semi-final that Gata Kamsky played in.
Elsewhere the PCA, and in particular Kasparov was accused of trying to
sabotage the FIDE final match between Karpov and Kamsky. The evidence
for this is circumstancial but many remain convinced.
Their World final in New York vastly over achieved the targets
expected of it in terms of publicity in the United States according to
one PCA supporter I spoke to. My impression was different and that
throughout the cycle they had not put enough money and effort into
promoting it properly. The PCA budget for publicity, public relations
and press room facilities in New York was amazingly small according to
some sources.
At the last moment 10% of the prizefund was "donated" by the players
to allow the PCA themselves to film the match. I gather that the BBC
coverage hinged upon this. The prizefund for the final was not special
by recent history of FIDE matches (even the aborted Manchester match)
although the payments for the Interzonal and the early Candidates were
far in excess of anything ever offered by FIDE.
All of this could have been made up for with incredible chess, but in
this they were unlucky. Although the match remained tense it consisted
of well played draws followed by a week where Anand played very poorly
followed by draws until the end of the match.
I do hope that INTEL have got the level and kind of publicity they
wanted from chess. My frustration with the INTEL Rapidplay is the
level of TV coverage obtained for essentially a TV event. I am told it
was on Eurosport although I never saw any comments about this
anywhere. The PCA World Championships themselves had coverage on both
the BBC and Eurosport although every match going back to
Fischer-Spassky 1972 has been covered on UK Television. There may have
been greater success in the States than might have been expected, but
surely there is a limit to which chess can gain exposure, certainly
without a US player in the final. If soccer was perceived as being not
as successful as expected during its finals in the States, its hard to
see what changes chess can make.
There can of course be no objection to the PCA continuing to organise
both the PCA Classics and the PCA Rapidplay however the question as to
whether they ought to be running the World Chess Championships is
quite another one. Kasparov is along with Bob Rice the prime mover in
the PCA. Kasparov is the PCA Champion and cannot be said to be either
unbiased in relation to the setting of conditions for the match or
trusted by most of the top players. Anand I gather had no contract nor
any real indication of conditions in New York until around a week
before he started. Kasparov has well known bitter disputes with rivals
Salov, Karpov and Kamsky. Yet also Kasparov appears unwilling to play
in events with Judit Polgar someone who does not make enemies very
easily and is one of the best Professional (in an all round sense)
chess players around.
Although with subsequent suggestions from FIDE making this less
outrageous in comparison. The PCA has decided that in the next match
because there were so many draws in New York there will be a
seperation of the prizefund so that draws are in effect penalised.
This is totally contrary to the spirit of matchplay. It can only
favour those for whom money has less significance, for instance Gary
Kasparov himself. It is also the case according to the arbiter of the
New York match that Kasparov offered all the draws during the match.
A New Era in Chess?
-------------------
I really haven't a clue how a new FIDE President should act to tidy up
the appalling mess left by Campomanes. In TWIC 64 I published FIDE
Treasurer Willy Iclicki's welcome attempt at telling us what is
happening in FIDE. It is based on the occurences at FIDE President
Kirsan Iljumzhinov's First Presidential Board, Singapore 20-22
December 1995.
I reproduce it again in part this time with comments:
Opening speech.
The President summarised his activities of the last three weeks.
1-Creating a image.
'To get investments we have to show stability and existence'. The
President set up in Moscow a marketing team to find the best way to
promote FIDE and chess around the world. Their first production is a
video clip of 15 seconds to be show at the prime time on CNN and on
Russian TV. Contacts with BBC and CBS have also be made. Our
President's personal investment will reach US$ 400,000.
[COMMENT: This is a welcome start]
2-Recreate the family - Gens Una Sumus.
On Friday 15th December the President spend a night to Budapest
meeting R J Fischer; he promises to pay to Fisher the US$ 100,000
claimed as due from the former USSR Chess Federation. After twelve
hours of talks Bobby promises to reconsider his position with FIDE and
accepted from the President a gift of land to build a house in
Kalmykia. However Fischer was insisting that the Fischer's chess rules
should be adopted by FIDE. The President also had some conversations
with G.Kasparov. Nothing concrete was decided, but more meetings are
to come.
[COMMENT: This I believe refers to Fischer's insistance on first to
10 wins in a World Championship match with the Champion retaining the
title at 9-9. ie about as far away from Kirsan's conception (below) as
it is possible to have. It is welcome that he has at least made the
effort to talk to Fischer however. My only hope is that Fischer
returns to active chess in some way.]
3- Popularisation of Chess.
The President aims to raise the number of FIDE members countries to
198 (today-153). He plans to visit in the next four months 50
countries around the world and meet their leading officials.Already on
his agenda are meeting with Presidents or Prime Ministers of
Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya, France, Canada, Russia and USA.
[COMMENT: Again no-one could disagree]
4-World Championship.
'FIDE is there to promote chess and should be above all other chess
organisation'. With these words the President clearly replies to the
PCA concerning the World Championship matches. He wants G.Kasparov to
return to the FIDE's cycle for the sake of unity and as best for
chess. The President proposes to create, starting at the end of 1996,
an annual 21 days Knock-out Championship tournament. Two to four games
to decide each pairing.Some players will qualify directly into round
two and some to round three. ( The schedule and list of players is
already fixed) Kasparov and the winner of Kamsky - Karpov will go
directly to the semi finals though they will be paired together only
if they reach the final. For the first event the prize fund will
amount US$ 5,000,000!! This new idea accepted unanimously by the P.B,
will have the direct effect that the Interzonal scheduled for Yerevan,
Armenia in April-May 1996 is cancelled.
[COMMENT: This proposal is unacceptable. I know of virtually no-one
who will speak for it. Questions such as: Does Kirsan Ilyumzhinov have
the power to cancel the Yerevan Interzonal? Was the Interzonal
unlikely to take place for some reason? Firstly come to mind. As to
the annual 21 days Knock-out Championship tournament this event is
imaginative and potentially exciting but ... this is not a system
capable of producing a meaningful World Champion. I'm sure many would
welcome it as an annual event (scheduling problems against other
events apart) but it cannot reunite the titles and just no-one would
recognise the winner as World Champion. I have for some time thought
reform is necessary but this is not a solution. It has been shown when
used as a format to produce random results not fully based on ability.
Below this section I have proposed such a solution.]
5-Chess and Politics : elections at FIDE Congress, Armenia 1996.
Mr.Makropoulos asked the President to clarify details of the 96 FIDE
election(s). Two offices to be elected or five? Also Mr. Makropoulos
and Mr. Iclicki were willing t resign as General Secretary and
Treasurer if the President wished to replace them. The President
answered : ' I want to work with Mr. Makropoulos and Mr. Iclicki. We
have to much to do and we need unity... For next year's election I
will analyse the work done by each one in this team and then I will
nominate. Now FIDE need to be run by professionals and we should
consider paying people to work and also encourage them to achieve. We
should not lose time speaking about politics but only think about
producing'.
[COMMENT: That FIDE needs to be run more as the Civil Service of chess
than as a quasi-political organisation is obvious. Depending on how it
is done it is welcome.]
6. Campomanes' final speech.
'I solve my problem in Manila.But at the request of the President I
shall not put this on the table. I have full confidence in the
President. Let's follow his lead and let's put our problems aside.
Let's move to peace and move forward.'
[COMMENT: Art Borjal published some items about alleged Campomanes'
financial irrelgularities during the FIDE Olympiad. These were
repeated during the FIDE Congress and refuted by Campomanes on his
return to the Philipeans. There is complex legal action in the air
there.]
7.Other business.
Next PB meeting will be organised by Willy Iclicki and is scheduled on
March 16,17 in Brussels The President nominates Mr. I.Leong member of
the administration staff. He shall move soon to Lausanne. All who will
play in FIDE events should be asked to agree to respect a FIDE Code of
Conduct. This one will be published very soon. The Treasurer proposes
new implementations of Financial Statutes. Those include approval of
all transactions over Sfr. 1,000. ChessPlanet, the company who will
create FIDENET (an Interenet WWW services), has received four business
proposals . The deadline for final decision will be the end of January
1996.
[COMMENT: I'm certainly curious about FIDENET. The financial anarchy of
a President who spends apparently uncontrollably other people's money
must stop. The, I believe Norweigen "FIDE Code of Conduct" will have
to be watched very carefully. Codes of conduct can mean anything.]
[FINAL COMMENT
-------------
The worry amongst many is that being used to running the Kalmyk
Republic, of which he is President, more or less in a dictatorial
style (if you believe the limited reports we have on this place) is
that he will do the same with FIDE and that FIDE will, as it
threatened to do earlier this year, will fall apart. But delegates ie
the electorate, need to start behaving in a responsible and
constructive manner if FIDE is to re-establish respect. His belief
that he can raise substantial amounts for both FIDE administration
and for the World Championships will be very much tested. The proposed
World Championships are unacceptable, and I believe that most would
tell you that.]
Some positive proposals
-----------------------
When talking to someone about writing this review he said try to be
positive. Its actually taken 5 drafts over several weeks to get to
this point. Some drafts contained the word Campomanes in virtually
every sentence and I cannot be positive in any way in connection with
this man.
It is actually clear that many FIDE delegates realised the seriousness
of FIDE's position and how far it has become removed from the tasks it
is supposed to be performing. The International Olympic Committee and
FIFA the soccer Federation also have their political intrigues and
violent disagreements. They also make suggestions and decisions that
the ordinary sports fan finds wrong, but they do operate in a way that
their Championships take place and that they are promoted correctly.
They also encourage the development of their games Worldwide. Of
course it is easier for these sports, but they do it. FIDE under
Campomanes in the last 4 years has simply stopped operating in any way
at all. One may not like Kirsan Iljumzhinov (I don't think anyone
knows very much about him as yet) I do not like the IOC and FIFA heads
either but this is not now the point at issue. The above suggestions
are the first that give any indications that FIDE is starting to move
again and reverse the damage that has occured, he will have to be
elected in Armenia in 1996 to continue so one would hope this will
spur everyone towards a better year.
Amongst FIDE's priorities are:
The administration of the World Championship cycle in such a way that
the top players can commit themselves to the cycle with the reasonable
expectation that it be finished. That a reasonable prizefund be
obtained for all stages of the competition and that dates be stuck to.
That FIDE ratings be administered with a view to producing an accurate
representation of results. No political factors should take any part
in such an exercise as it distorts a system which plays a very
important part in International chess.
That FIDE titles be awarded to achievements that merit them and again
be administered in a non-political way.
That the FIDE Olympiad, FIDE's Women's World Championship, FIDE Junior
Championships and various other representative team tournaments be
organised on the appropriate dates so that other recognised and long
standings events can plan their line-ups in advance.
Promotion of chess throughout the World.
Operate FIDE in a financially responsible, open and stable way.
To operate in an open and democratic way. Only by having an open
discussion on what FIDE does can delegates be instructed by those who
elect them if the facts are not widely know.
World Chess Championships
-------------------------
The current World Championship system has it origins in the history of
chess and the money matches that were played in the 18th and 19th
Century. Its prestege is still quite great as it is one of the most
difficult titles to win, there have only been 13 Champions since the
officially recognised title won by Steinitz. Before FIDE the Champion
simply accepted challenges which were financially lucrative, not
necessarily from the best player.
FIDE invited the top 6 players in the World in 1946 to a World
Championship tournament when the title fell vacant with the death of
Alexander Alekhine. Reuben Fine decided due to the political delays
that caused the event to be put back to 1948 not to play. The Soviets
fiercely objected to any other players being added to the 5 left and
that event then took place being won by Botvinnik. He was the first
FIDE Champion. FIDE then put in place a system of Zonals, Interzonals,
Candidates Tournament and World Championship Match of best of 24 games
the cycle to be completed over 3 years.
The Candidates events of 1950, 1953 and 1959 were amongst the greatest
events ever played. (1956 got bogged down with draws, the 1962 event
was marred by Tal's illness and withdrawal, impossibly hot conditions
and a draw agreement amongst the eventual top three finishers in the
event.)
Because it was seen that the Soviets had the capability of ordering
their players to play as a team, even to the extent that they could be
told to lose (Keres' play in the 1948 tournament could be seen in this
way as he needed rehabilitation in the Soviet eyes due to
collaboration with the Nazi's by playing in their tournaments).
Because of the rise of Western Challengers such as Larsen and
especially Bobby Fischer it was seen that the Candidates tournament
system might make the road impossible for an outsider.
There was a move to the current system of Candidates matches instead
of tournaments. The issue of draws was consistently brought up by
Bobby Fischer, in his opinion the matches were not attractive enough
because of overcaution. He suggested even in the late 1960's that a
match of first to ten wins would encourage players to get on with
playing for a win in every game. After winning the title in 1972 he
insisted that this be the way that the title be contested in 1975. He
also wanted the match to be declared drawn at 9-9 and the Champion to
retain his title. Although this advantage was much less likely to come
into operation than the 12-12 rule for the Champion it became a major
sticking point with the Soviets and FIDE agreed, Fischer was defaulted
in 1975 causing the first real break in the logic of the World Title
since its inception by Steinitz. FIDE brought in a first to 6 wins
rule but with 5-5 being played to the first win.
In 1984-5 Kasparov played Karpov in Moscow and after falling 4-0
behind Kasparov put up the shutters and even though many games later
he went 5-0 behind the match dragged on. Towards the end of the match
with both sides tiring Kasparov pulled back to 5-3 at this point in
very contraversial circumstances the match was cancelled. This was
another big break in the logic of the Championships. (It is now clear
that Kasparov and Karpov were both in negotiations over this premature
finish to the match. Beyond that it is not clear who agreed to what
before Campomanes brought the match to an end. The correct decision in
my opinion then and still is that no-matter how wrong the match
conditions were at the start of the match, it had to be finished and
then the conditions changed. In Fischer's logic first to ten wins
would have encouraged both players to play far more actively for the
win then they did in this match as the target was higher.)
There was a return to the old best of 24 games matches. But due to
various clauses there were matches in 1985, 1986 and 1987 making 4
matches in 4 years. This I believe was very lucrative for FIDE but did
leave the World title somewhat overexposed.
The final break in logic of the title matches took place in 1992 when
Short and Kasparov took their match outside FIDE. FIDE had to
organised their own match in return. Although Kasparov is regarded as
having the greatest claim to the title World Champion it has not
improved the standing of the title at all. Everyone is sure that the
right solution is reunification, but under what conditions? this is
the large problem.
Into this equation also comes a question that is widely debated in
almost every sport these days. How to maximise the exposure for the
game?
Actually chess does very well when it comes to World Championships. It
is, I think, not really regarded as a sport, but more as news.
Something that appears in the schedulers calendar as an event that has
to be covered. It is much to do with exclusivity, to do with the fact
that to become World Chess Champion is a very major achievement, and
to do with the fact that most Championships seem to be in one way or
another a good story. Any trivialising of the event will eat into this
very badly I believe.
There is no doubt that the game has changed. The advent of computers
which allow people to have databases of almost every important game
played in history has meant that opening play has become at the
highest level much more accurate. Computer endgames databases and
chess playing computers have meant that certain adjourned positions
can be assessed as won and lost without human intervention. This last
point has meant regretfully (for me anyhow as I think it was an
important skill that led players to have a greater understanding of
the game) that adjournments are probably never going to return in
title matches.
Those who want to change the system point to a surfeit of draws in the
Anand - Kasparov match as being bad for the image of the game. In fact
the big problem with the match is that it never really caught light
and after losing four games without replying with wins Anand's match
was over. This is in fact the problem with all matches. One side
underperforms and the whole match becomes a procession. In the cycles
as a whole we a number of excellent matches but for instance, one good
player was bound to go out when Kamsky and Kramnik met in New York in
the first round of the PCA cycle whereas other good players had easier
pairings.
Probably the largest change has been political. The old Soviet school
of chess has gone, in fact many Russian players now probably never see
a representative of their Federation. At the last Interzonal Anand
drew early in the last round, there were a number of Russians playing
games where a decisive result would have eliminated Anand. They all
played for themselves. At the top level there is a great rivalry
between the players, a draw agreement as in 1962 could never come
about except for money. I think that the very top players have too
much professional pride for that.
The Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for a knock-out World Championship I believe
are wrong. An analogy with Wimbledon is not really correct. For a
start there are four Grand Slam events in Tennis and no-one is
expected to win them all. But I do agree with Kirsan that there should
be a change. In fact I have thought this for a long time and was
discussing it with various people over the internet long before the
proposals started.
To my mind the problem with matches are that they rely too much on
both players playing well. It has also been commented to me that the
World Championship cycle is too long and exhausting and gives the
waiting World Champion quite some advantage in waiting for it to
finish. Also the PCA seemed quite unable to get publicity for its
Candidates stage of the Championships and FIDE have had a might of
difficulty getting sponsors for the individual stages of their
Candidates series. One of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's reasons for changing
the format of the title was to find a way of treating both Karpov and
Kasparov equally.
I think that the World Chess Championships can be changed in such a
way as to actually increase its attractiveness to sponsors, reduce the
amount of time that players are tied up in the cycle (often finding it
difficult to commit themselves to other events because the cycles
timing is not fixed) and yet retain all the elements that mean that
the winner will be the best player so far as possible, and that the
World would recognise the winner as being World Champion.
The new cycle should be the same in the Zonal and Interzonal stage as
it has been in the last cycle. But at the Candidates stage it should
return to the old Candidates Tournament. This should be at least 10
players and with double rounds. (or in the case where there may be 4
or 5 qualifiers perhaps 18 players single round robin) I think that
this sort of event has a much greater chance of being exciting than
the series of matches now. It would be focused at one point in the
calendar thus freeing up time. But most of all tournament chess is
what the best of international chess is all about. This is where most
player's reputations are made and broken and for the World
Championships not to reflect this is incredible. It also means that a
player (and prize money could re-enforce this) has more to play for
than winning and losing a match (they can be effectively over in three
games).
For the World Championships itself I also believe that this solution
could be effective. Particularly at a time where we might have to
accomadate two World Champions. A format of 4 players playing each
other either 6 times each (18 games) or 8 times each (for the old 24
games total) would be one solution. Or 6 players playing each other 4
times each (24 games) would produce sufficient test as to produce a
World Champion of real merit. In addition a failure in form of one
player would not reduce many of the games to being meaningless, there
would be no doubt in the sponsors mind that he would get his full and
scheduled total of games. There is of course a greater likelyhood of
producing at least one decisive game per day reducing the risk to
those covering the event. A suitable method of resolving any tie for
the title would have to be found, but is the Champions retention of
the title under the current system much worse than a four game playoff
at the end of an event?
In my opinion a great tournament is superior to a great match and a
bad tournament always better than a bad match. It could be tried at
this exceptional time in chess history but I would hope would be
adopted subsequently.
I have taken quite a long time explaining my reasoning here as a large
body of objections have built up over the years against such a scheme.
In my opinion at this time its benefits far outweigh its demerits. I
hope that those with the power to impliment such a solution would read
this and give it their support.