THE WEEK IN CHESS 677 29th October 2007 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to David Llada, Alin Campeanu, Dario Mione, Valery Maes, George Mirijanian, Jeroen Noomen, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Lou Caruana, Goran Urosevic, Stefan Loeffler, Moshe Beinart, Zenón Franco Ocampos, Yochanan Afek, Tarjei J. Svensen and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Another busy week of chess headed by the European Team Championships with all the top European national teams competing and with that many of their best players. This will include Vassily Ivanchuk who was otherwise engaged in a rapid match against Peter Leko. Ivanchuk won a game a day for the first two days but blew it all with two losses on day three. He did however prevail in a blitz playoff. Hikaru Nakamura won the Barcelona international and he now moves on to XI Corsica Masters which features Anatoly Karpov. Karpov presumably is warming up for his strongest tournament in a long time in the Liga de Campeones (Jesus de la fuente memorial) which takes place 2nd-15th November 2007 in Vitoria Gasteiz. Players: Veselin Topalov, Anatoly Karpov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Judit Polgar. Karpov also finished 3rd in the European Blitz Championships behind Vladislav Tkachiev and  Laurent Fressinet.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) European Team Chess Championships

The European Team Chess Championships (ETCC) takes place 27th October - 7th November 2007 in the luxurious Creta Maris Conference Hotel in Crete, Greece.

39 countries confirmed their participation for the European National Team Championships in Crete, Greece 27 October - 7 November 2007, including all the chess power houses of the continent.

The participants will include 7 of the World Top-10 GMs: V. Ivanchuk (UKR 2787, No. 2 in the world), V. Topalov (BUL 2769, No. 4), A. Morozevich (RUS 2755, No. 5-6), S. Mamedyarov (AZE 2752, No. 7), T. Radjabov (AZE 2742, No. 8), L. Aronian (ARM 2741, No. 9), A. Shirov (ESP 2739, No. 10). The Women's event will also feature world stars such as GMs Alexandra Kosteniuk, Maia Chiburdanidze, Tatiana Kosintseva, Antoaneta Stefanova, Elisabeth Paehtz and Almira Skripchenko.

Official site: http://www.euroteams2007.org

3) Ivanchuk - Leko Rapid Match

A match between Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko, took place in Mukachevo, Ukraine 26th-28th October 2007. The 12 round rapid match ended 6-6 after Leko won twice on the final day but Ivanchuk won a second blitz game to take the match.

Official site: http://www.ivanchuk-leko2007.com/en/index.htm

4) Casino de Barcelona

The Casino de Barcelona tournament took place 18th-26th October 2007. Hikaru Nakamura won the event with 7/9 a point clear of Lenier Dominguez Perez.

[Note the correction to Vaganian - Nakamura rd 4 as given on Susan Polgar's blog, its makes a lot more sense than the version on the official site.]

Official site: http://www.escacs.cat/ciutat07/

5) IV Calvià Chess Festival

The IV Calvià Chess Festival took place in Calvià, Mallorca (Spain) 6th-24th October 2007. Victor Mikhalevski took clear first in the Open with 8/9 a point clear of Kevin Spraggett. Evgeny Sveshnikov won the Seniors on tie-break from Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez .

Details: http://www.calviafestival.com/

6) European Blitz Championship

The European Blitz Championship took place in Ajaccio FRA 25th-26th October 2007. Vladislav Tkachiev won the event with 25.5/32 (consisting of 16 double rounds in effect) a point clear of Laurent Fressinet who was in turn half a point further clear of Anatoly Karpov.

Further details: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ the event is part of the Corsican Circuit http://www.opencorsica.com/

7) XI Corsica Masters

The c. There is a strong field with Anatoly Karpov, Loek van Wely, Hikaru Nakamura amongst others. The coverage doesn't make it quite clear what format they're playing but it does seem to have entered a knockout phase today. I'll try and work it out for next week.

Live coverage at: http://www.echecs.asso.fr

8) 29th Arco di Trento

The 29th Arco di Trento international festival took place October 20th-28th, 2007. British champion and Elo favorite GM Jacob Aagaard took first place on tie break over Bulgarian master Tervel Serafimov, Australian IM Aleksandar Wohl and Russian GM Igor Naumkin, after they all scored 7 points out of 9. 150 players from 17 nations took part in the event (3 GMs, 4 IMs and 8 FMs among them). News: Dario Mione.

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

9) Belgian Team Championships

The Belgian Team Championships takes place 30th September 2007 - 16th March 2008. During the start of the Belgian competition the topteams suffered because their leading players were involved in the European Championship for teams and in the leagues of Germany, France and Luxemburg. This attributed to the relatively poor start of heavily sponsored topfavorit Bredene. The next rounds should better show the true strenghts of the teams. News Valery Maes.

Official site: http://users.pandora.be/vmaes/interclub/

10) US Chess League

The new US Chess League takes place August 27th - October 31st 2007 with playoffs on 7th, 14th and 28th November 2007. Games are played on ICC. My thanks to Greg Shahade.

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

11) Dutch Open Computer Chess Championship

The Dutch Open computer chess championship, was held 26th-28th October 2007 in Leiden, the Netherlands. Rybka won it with 8/9, ahead of Hiarcs, Diep (both 6,5/9) and Junior (6/9). My thanks to Jeroen Noomen.

Details: http://www.csvn.nl/

12) Casar de Cáceres

The I Magistral de Casar de Cáceres took place 22nd-28th October 2007. Jose Gonzalez Garcia and Miguel Llanes Hurtado finished on 6/10, everyone else on 4.5/10.

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

13) Beer Sheva Rapids

Yochanan Afek reports on two strong rapid events in Beersheva. The Israeli Olympic team and the leading players of Beersheva club took Saturday 20th October 2007 in a rapid tournament dedicated to the memory of Oded and Guy Harpaz, Nadav Bikel and Oded Talmon. The surprise winner was GM Maxim Rodshtein (18) with 6.5 / 7 (!) ahead of GM Boris Gelfand, GM Mikhael Roiz 4, GM Boris Avrukh 3.5, IM Ilia Khmelniker 3, GM Ilya Smirin 2.5, GM Alex Khuzman, GM Alon Greenfeld 0.5.

Another strong rapid held in Beer Sheva saw ever-green GM Viktor Korchnoi (76) sharing first with GM Alex Khuzman 6.5/9 ahead of IM Mikhael Klenburg 6, GM Mikhael Roiz 5, GM Alon Greenfeld 4.5, GM Mark Tseitlin 4, IM Ilya Khmelniker 3.5, Tamir Nabaty, Ilya Sidorenko and IM Alik Videslaver 3 each.

14) Copa Puma

The Argentinian Chess League, so called "Copa Puma", finished Saturday 6th October 2007 with the participation of several GMs and IMs and many strong players, representing 26 teams. "Art/Chess" (García Palermo, Lemos, Giardelli, Tempone, Dolezal y J. Szmetan took clear first place. Games from the first 7 rounds only are available. I give them this week.

Official site: http://www.lna.org.ar/

15) 74th Greater Boston Open

George Mirijanian reports: The 74th Greater Boston Open took place on October 27-28, 2007 at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. WIM Esther Epstein of Newton, Mass., posted a perfect score of 4-0 to win the event a full point ahead of national master Christopher Williams of Brighton, MA, and U.S. Chess Federation-rated expert Derek Slater of Medfield, Mass., both of whom she defeated in the final two rounds. Class A contestant Kevin Ma of New Hampshire tallied 2.5-1.5 to capture the top prize for those players rated expert and below. The tournament drew 48 players in three sections and was directed by Ken Ballou of Framingham, Mass. for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association (MACA). He was assisted by fellow USCF-certified senior TD Bob Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire.

Complete crosstables are available at http://masschess.org

16) Guernsey Chess Festival Open

33rd Fortis Guernsey International Chess Festival GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson wins with 6 out of 7 having taken a half point bye in round 1. GM Vladimir Epishin was equal second. Hopefully games and a table will emerge.

Official site: http://www.guernseychessclub.org.gg/

17) World Chess Cup Khanty-Mansiysk

The World Chess Cup takes place in Khanty-Mansiysk (Arrival 22nd, Opening Ceremony 23rd and Round 1 24th November). If all goes to plan the winner has the right to play Veselin Topalov in a match the winner of which will play the winner of Anand against Kramnik.

The Pairings (and tree to the final) have been published at http://www.fide.com. The winner of Ivanchuk-Aderito plays the winner of Bartel-Galkin and the winner of Mamedyarov-Abdel Razik plays the winner of Kozul-Bruzon and so on in.

Official site: http://www.ugra-chess.ru/eng/main.html and http://www.fide.com

18) Forthcoming Events and Links

Glitnir Blitz

The Glitnir Blitz took place in Oslo last Saturday, Grischuk beat Carlsen 3-1 in the final and Agdestein beat Nielsen 3-0 in the semi-final. Would really like to find some games.

Official site: http://www.sjakk.no/glitnirblitz/resultater.html

Liga de Campeones

The Liga de Campeones (Jesus de la fuente memorial) takes place 1st-15th November 2007 in Vitoria Gasteiz. Alongside is a tournament of champions with: Veselin Topalov, Anatoli Karpov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Judit Polgar.  

Website http://www.ajedrez-hotelakua.com/ - David Llada's Blog    

67th Italian Championship

The 67th Italian Championship takes place 23rd November - 4th December 2007. The tournament will consist of 12 players in a round robin at the 4 star Park Hotel San Michele in Martina Franca. Games will be played on DGT boards, and viewable live at the Italian Chess Federation´s web site. The players are: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Michele Godena, GM Carlo Garcia-Palermo, IM Sabino Brunello, IM Fabio Bruno, IM Giulio Borgo, IM Roberto Mogranzini, IM Federico Manca, IM Daniel Contin, FM Daniele Genocchio, FM Denis Rombaldoni, and Alessandro Bonafede.

Official federation site: http://www.federscacchi.it/

Vados Cup

The Vados Cup, international rapid chess open takes place 17th-18th November 2007 in Arad (Romania). Prize fund: over 2000 euro. 1st prize: 1800 RON (~535 euro).

More info: http://www.vados.ro

Campeanu, Alin - tel. +40-722-613128, email:sahclubvados@yahoo.com

I Avanzado International

The I Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Avanzado (Tecnológico) takes place 1st-9th December 2007

Further details: http://www.ajedrezbali.com and http://www.eventosdeajedrez.com

Bundesliga

The German Bundesliga for 2007-8 takes place 19th October 2007 - 20th April 2008. The first games were on Friday 19th October as part of the special round 7 - fixtures from this round are played before various weekend programs. Rounds 3 and 4 take place 24th-25th November 2007.

Official site: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/ further coverage: http://www.schach.com and also at the national Federation site at: http://www.schachbund.de/SchachBL/index.php and statistics also at: http://www.godesbergersk.de/bundesliga-statistik/

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008

The field for the 2008 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee has been announced at http://www.coruschess.com Five of the top 6 in the world are playing including the new World Champion Anand and new World number 2 Ivanchuk. Also Kramnik and Gelfand who finished 2nd in Mexico City.

The Corus Chess Tournament 2008 will be held from 11-27 January 2008 in Wijk aan Zee. The tournament venue is the De Moriaan Community Centre

28th Bethune Open

The Bethune chess club is preparing his 28th International Open, Hall Olof Palme, Commercial centre La Rotonde, Bethune, France (Pas-de-Calais) from December 26 to 30. 9 rounds The tournament is divided in 2 tournaments: - Tournament A for players whose Elo rating is above or equal to 1600, 1st price : 1500 euros - Tournament B for players strictly below 1900, 1st price : 400 euros, Fischer pace 1h30+30s KO for each game in both tournaments. At least 6000 euros of prices, prices for Elo categories in both tournaments. Inscription fee : 40 euros (adults), 20 euros (youngsters under 20), free for IM, GM and FIDE Masters. Conditions for IM and GM and special conditions for GM>2600, contact us at open@bethunechess.com

For more information visit: http://www.bethunechess.com

Harmonie Chess Tournament

The Harmonie Chess Tournament takes place 21st-30th December 2007.

Official site: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2007/2007eng.html

XVII Pampona International

The XVII Pampona International takes place 21st-29th December 2007.

Details: http://www.chesspamplona.com/

Chess.fm John Watson Book Show

The Chess.fm John Watson Book Show featured Jan Timman 9th October 2007. http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/

Chigorin Memorial 2007

The Chigorin Memorial takes place in St Petersburg 29th November 9th December 2007.

Details: http://www.totalchess.spb.ru/kalend/2007/chigorin.html

VI Bali International Chess Festival

The VI Bali International Chess Festival takes place 30th November 9th December 2007. Many events including the tournament of stars 6th-9th December 2007 which has the participation of the new world champion Viswanathan Anand.

Further details: http://www.ajedrezbali.com/

Czech Chess Christmas 2007

The Czech Chess Christmas 2007 tournament takes place in Litomysl (CZE) 26th December 2007 - 1st January 2008

9th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK = 700 EUR), special conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme. Contact: Proclient s.r.o., Jaroslav Fuksik, Svedska 3, 772 00 Olomouc, mobile: +420 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz,

Further details: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2007/

8th Liberec Open

The 8th Liberec Open takes place 10th-17th November 2007. Open FIDE, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival.

More detailed information should be found in English, German, Russian and Polish at http://www.czechtour.net/liberec-open/

Hungarian Chess Tournaments October 2007 - March 2008

1. 6th-19th of October 2007 FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM-IM-FM, GM-IM-FM round robins (BERGER), 9 -13 games, GM-IM norm possibilities in Budapest, venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Falk Miksa Str.10. 2nd floor. Organisation: Nagy Laszlo, FIDE International Chess Organizer /NL/, E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net Website: http://www.firstsaturday.hu Other website: http://home.hu.inter.net/~firstsat Phone-fax: +(361)-2632859, cellphone: +(36)-30-230-1914 /From 12:00 a.m. until midnight - Central European Time = GMT+1/

2. 24th-31st of October, HÉVÍZ Open - 200 km West from Budapest, 9 rounds Swiss, org: IM Rigo, http://www.lellechess.tar.hu

3. 22nd-30th of October KECSKEMET, IM Berger tmt, org: Dr.Erdelyi, Tamas, e-mail: postmaster@caissa.t-online.hu

Website: http://www.caissachessbooks.hu Usually also in the second half of the month IM tmt-s in Kecskemet. 100 km South-East from Budapest.

4. 3rd-15th of November, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest, org.:NL

5. 15th-23rd of November, XXXI. TENKES CUP, 9 round Swiss Open, Harkany, 300 km South-West from Budapest, org: Mr.FULOP, Csaba, e-mail: fulopcsa@invitel.hu

Website:http://www.baranyasakk.hu/index.php?cat=naptar&id=3&age=0&vid=15⟨=hu&det=12

6. 1st-13th of December, FS GM-IM-FM, Budapest, org.NL

7. 15th-21st of Dec, Kecskemet, IM tmt

8. 27th Dec- 5th Jan Kecskemet IM tmt,

9. 11th-19th of January 2008 Open in Budapest, Season opening, org: IA FAZEKAS, György, e-mail: srcolonel@freemail.hu

10. 19th-28th of January - IM tmt, Kecskemet

11. 2nd-15th of February - First Saturday Budapest,

12. 16th-25th of February - IM tmt Kecskemet,

13. 1st-13rd of March - First Saturday Budapest,

14. 21st-29th of March - Budapest Spring Festival Open, org.: Nagy Laszlo

Halkidiki Chess Festival 2008

The Halkidiki Chess Festival takes place in Kallithea, 28th April - 5 May 2008.

The Organizing Committee of the Halkdiki Chess Festival 2008. Tel/fax: +30 2310 865778 - e-mail: teotsorb@otenet.gr V.Olgas 285, Thessaloniki, Greece.

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

4th Singapore International Chess Convention

4th Singapore International Chess Convention, 16 - 22 December 2007: - Singapore Masters 2007 - Seminar for Coaches - Seminar for Arbiters The offical website of the organiser is the website of the Singapore Chess Federation:

Official site: http://www.singaporechess.org.sg

Computer Chess Events

On Saturday 29th September will take place the 1st AICA Man-Machine Match, Accademia Due Torri, Bologna, Italy. Delfi, current italian computer champion, will play FM Nicolò Ronchetti, who has just scored his third IM norm. Time control: Ronchetti 2 hours, Delfi 10 seconds per move. The game will be relayed on PlayChess, from 10:00 (CET). Site: http://e4e6.com/g6. On the same place, on 29 and 30 September will take place the 2nd Chess Computer Cup, also valid as 7th italian computer chess championship (CIPS 2007). 7 rounds, around 20 players. First two boards will be relayed on PlayChess, from 13:00 (CET).

John Watson's Book Show

Regular TWIC contributer John Watson has a book radio show on chess.fm on Tuesdays. This week Nigel Short appears. You can catch the show by signing up for ICC trial membership. Link: http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/

Moscow Open 2008

The 4th International Chess Festival Moscow Open 2008 takes place 2nd-10th February 2008. Venue - the Russian State Social University. Minimal gartanted prize fund of full festival is RUR 5 000 000 (nearly EUR 150 000 or USD 200 000, two times more than in 2007!) There are Open “A” (for all, 1st prize RUR 500 000 - also possible to play 6- or 7 days like last two years), Open “B” (<2300, 1st RUR 150 000), Women Open (new! 1st prize RUR 150 000), open tournaments for school chidrens (qualify for World School Ch). Conditions for GMs 2600+ and best rated women GMs will be given probably, for GMs 2550+ it’s still unclear. More details in the middle of September. Some days later (13-22.2) “Aeroflot Open 2008” will start. As preparation to the World Mind Games in China – 2008 there are probably "Moscow Open Mind Games 2008" - Chess 960, Bridge, Go, Shogi, Damen tournaments etc. Some days later (13-22.2) “Aeroflot Open 2008” will start.

Contact: wlct06@gmail.com

Further details: http://www.chess-events.org

Etienne Bacrot's Website

Etienne Bacrot has a website at: http://www.chess22.fr/ giving news about himself, some comments on recent events including the World Championships in Mexico City etc. Worth check out.

1st South Bohemia Open

1st SOUTH BOHEMIA OPEN 2007 International Chess Festival which takes place in one of the most beautiful Czech towns – Cesky Krumlov on 13.-20.10. 2007. Open FIDE, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival.

Details: http://www.czechtour.net/south-bohemia-open/

32nd Kings Head Rapidplay

The 32nd Kings Head Rapidplay takes place Saturday 5 April 2008 start time 11:00, details below: 6-round Swiss rapidplay (30 minutes), prize fund £700

The Porchester Hall Porchester Road Bayswater London W2 5HS

Contact: Colin Mackenzie 9 Allan Way Acton London W3 0PW 020 8992 1849 colin.mackenzie@atosorigin.com

Further details; http://www.khcc.org.uk

Baltic Sea Cup

The Baltic Sea Cup (Bornholm, Denmark) took place July 30th - August 5th 2007. Reynaldo Vera and Allan Stig Rasmussen finished on 7.5/9. A games file is on its way from the organisers.

Details: http://www.bornholms-skakklub.dk/balticseacup07/

 
Baltic Sea Cup July 30th - August 5th 2007
Standing
--------

No        Name                              Fed ELO  Nat  # Points
  1 - 2   GM Reynaldo Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo     2479          7.5
  1 - 2   FM Allan Stig Rasmussen               2450 2451     7.5
  3 - 5   GM Igor Khenkin                       2602          7
  3 - 5   GM Eduardas Rozentalis                2551          7
  3 - 5   GM Jonny Hector                       2550 2550     7
  6 - 9   GM Vadim Malakhatko                   2596          6.5
  6 - 9   GM Sune Berg Hansen                   2574 2580     6.5
  6 - 9   GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson              2568 2568     6.5
  6 - 9   IM Thorbjørn Bromann                  2413 2414     6.5
 10 - 20  GM Boris Savchenko                    2577          6
 10 - 20  GM Sergey Kasparov                    2500          6
 10 - 20  IM Kim Pilgaard                       2448 2453     6
 10 - 20  IM Jens Kristiansen                   2436 2439     6
 10 - 20  IM Jacob Vang Glud                    2435 2434     6
 10 - 20  GM Carsten Høi                        2422 2427     6
 10 - 20  Esben Lund                            2396 2408     6
 10 - 20  Ashwin Jayaram                        2399          6
 10 - 20  FM Jorge Cabrera Trujillo             2324          6
 10 - 20  FM Jake Kleiman                       2312          6
 10 - 20  Andreas Skytte Hagen                  2256 2278     6
 21 - 32  GM Alexander Stripunsky               2589          5.5
 21 - 32  Martin Matthiesen                     2363 2353     5.5
 21 - 32  WGM Anna Zozulia                      2332          5.5
 21 - 32  IM Bjørn Brinck-Claussen              2324 2300     5.5
 21 - 32  FM Jacob Carstensen                   2304 2293     5.5
 21 - 32  FM Tobias Hirneise                    2293          5.5
 21 - 32  FM Teddy Coleman                      2239          5.5
 21 - 32  FM Ove Weiss Hartvig                  2232 2210     5.5
 21 - 32  Andreas Wiwe                          2187 2152     5.5  
 21 - 32  Parker Zhao                           2180          5.5  
 21 - 32  Morten Kock Møller                    2178 2141     5.5  
 21 - 32  CM Andreas Arnold Schmitz             2081          5.5  
118 players

10th European Senior Team-Championship

10th European Senior Team-Championship take place 11th-19th February 2008 in RAMADA-Hotel in Dresden.

Further info contact: ZMD Schachfestival Dresden e.V., Oskar-Mai-Straße 6, D-01159 Dresden, Fon +49 (0)351 416 16 29, Fax: +49 (0)351 416 16 39 Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, Hepkestraße 131, D-01277 Dresden, Fon +49 (0)351 251 34 20, E-Mail: gerhard.schmidt@schachfestival.de

83rd Hastings International Congress

The Celebration 83rd Hastings International Congress takes place 28 December 2007 to 6 January 2008. This includes a 10 round Master Swiss, and an open FIDE Rated tournament 5-6 January. Celebrating what? The lives of the many people who have died within the past four years, who have so enriched the chess scene with their work. Full details http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/ Contact: Con Power conpowr@aol.com

Entries so far include:  
Vugar Gashimov    GM  AZE 2655
Vadim Malakhatko  GM  BEL 2596
Nidjat Mamedov    GM  AZE 2548
Stuart Conquest   GM  ENG 2546
Mark Hebden       GM  ENG 2540
Nicholas Pert     GM  ENG 2536
Gawain Jones      GM  ENG 2526
David Howell      GM  ENG 2519
Glenn Flear       GM  ENG 2479
Stewart Haslinger GME ENG 2468
Anna Zozulia   IM/WGM BEL 2332 

Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2008

The 6th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival will be held from 22nd-31st January 2008 at the Caleta Hotel, one of Gibraltar's best hotels. In previous years players of the quality of Alexei Shirov, Michael Adams and Nigel Short have played in the Masters section. Usually the Masters field includes at least 30 grandmasters. In 2008 the first prize in the Masters has gone up to £12,000 and the tournament is so strong at the top that it even offers a £2,000 prize for the best score by a player rated under 2600 (we think that might be unique worldwide) as well as the same amount for other rating categories down to sub-2200. There is also big money to be won in the Under 2250 (£1,500 first prize) and Under 1850 (£1,000 first prize) events. Even the relatively light-hearted evening events (which cost nothing to enter) have a combined prize fund of £1,200.

Full details and entry form: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

XXXVII Rilton Cup

XXXVII Rilton Cup takes place 27th December 2007 – 5th January 2008 in Mälarsalen. Münchenbryggeriet, Torkel Knutssonsgatan 2, Stockholm, SWEDEN Stockholm Chess Federation welcomes all chess players to the 37th Rilton Cup. This year’s tournament, with a prize fund of more than SEK 200 000 (about 22 000 euro) will be played in three groups: Rilton Cup, Rilton Elo and Rilton Open (Rilton Open is only open for Nordic players with a rating lower than national 1800). Rilton Cup and Rilton ELO is Elo registrated Rilton Cup and Rilton Elo plays 9 rounds Fide Swiss. The first round starts at 13:00 on the 27th of December and the following rounds start at 11:00 every day until the 5th of January. The 1st of January (New Year’s Day) is free. Send your entry by mail, fax or e-mail, not later than the 17th of December to Stockholm Chess Federation, attention “Rilton Cup”. Mobile telephones or computers are not allowed in the playing hall. Rilton Cup Open for players with an Elo rating or national rating >= 2200. Reflection time: 40 moves in two hours, 20 moves in one hour and 30 minutes for the rest of the game.

Entry fees: 800 SEK, 400 for FM, 300 for players born 1987 or later. IGM and IM free. Prizes (SEK): 1st 20 000 2nd 16 000 3rd 12 000 4th 10 000 5th 8 000 6th 6 000 7:th 5 000 8th 4 000 9th 3 000 10th 3 000 10th 3 000 Rating prizes: 3 000, 2 000 and 1000 (not for GMs and IMs). Prizemoney is not divided. Rilton Elo Open for all players with a n Elo rating or national rating up to 2199. Reflection time: 40 moves in two hours, then one hour for the rest of the game. Entry fees: 600 SEK, 400 for FM, 300 for players born 1987 or later. Prizes (SEK): 1st 8 000 2nd 5000 3rd 3 000 4th 2 000 5th 1 000 6th 500 Rating prizes: 3 000, 2 000 and 1000 Prizemoney is not divided.

Stockholms Schackförbund Hornsgatan 82 118 21 Stockholm Tel: 08-669 36 54 Mobil: 073-613 19 73 Fax: 08-669 64 44 Spellokal: 08-668 21 35 (under turneringen) E-mail:stockholms.schackfrbund@telia.com

Further details: http://www.stockholmschack.nu

Benidorm Chess Festival

The VI Festival Internacional de Ajedrez de Benidorm 2007 takes place 30th November - 9th December 2007.

Further details: http://www.ajedrezbali.com and http://www.eventosdeajedrez.com

Alexandra Kosteniuk Killer Chess Tips

Alexandra Kosteniuk has a free video podcast Killer Chess Tips which is available at the link below on RSS feed or Itunes.

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

Alex Brunetti's TotoScacco Site

Alex Brunetti's TotoScacco Site allows predictions for current chess tournaments. http://e4e6.com/toto

olimpbase

Its always worth mentioning Wojciech Bartelski's excellent http://www.olimpbase.org which covers not only Olympiads but all team chess.

New events: European U18 Team Championship has recently finished in Subotica, Serbia. http://www.olimpbase.org/2007eb/2007in.html (boys' results) and http://www.olimpbase.org/2007eg/2007in.html (girls' results)

The 9th All-Africa Games took place in Algiers, Algeria 11th-23rd July There were 13 men's team in a four board round robin (rate of play was Active Chess 25+10). No games available. See details: http://www.olimpbase.org/2007f/2007in.html

Al Jazeera meets Kirzan Ilyumzhinov

There is a two Part Documentary on YouTube Al Jazeera meets Kirzan Ilyumzhinov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqrsmLxkt3Y and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCmHi50Mve0

Three GM events in Hungary and Serbia

THREE GM-IM norm tournaments in a row in Eastern Europe in Sept-Oct...(Hungary and Serbia)

1. 1st-13th of September GM-IM-FM closed tournaments, First Saturday - Budapest, Hungary, org: Nagy Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

2. 15th-23rd of September GM-IM tmt, Third Saturday - Novi Sad, Serbia, org: IGM drazic, e-mail: sdrazic@eunet.yu (the Serbian city Novi is for 6 hours by train South from Budapest),

3. 6th-19th of October, GM-IM-FM, First Saturday - Budapest, org.: Nagy Laszlo

Sydney International Open 2008

The 2008 Sydney International Open takes place at Parramatta Town Hall 25th-29th March 2008. Free accommodation and modest conditions are offered to GMs. All enquiries to the Tournament Organiser, FM Brian Jones, at info@chessaustralia.com.au

Details: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/

XX Belgrade International Open

The XX International Open Championship of Belgrade "OBRENOVAC 2007" takes place 22nd-30th November 2007.

Prizes : EUR 5,600.00 The championship will be played in 9 rounds according to the FIDE Swiss System (computer pairing). Rate of play is 40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes til the end of game.

Contact information: BELGRADE CHESS INFORMATION 11000 Belgrade, Deligradska 27/III, Serbia Tel/Fax; +381-11 -2656 846 E-mail: beochess@eunet.yu

Further details: http://www.beochess.org.yu

GM Amir Bagheri's Website and Match

GM Amir Bagheri's Website: http://amirbagheri.freehostia.com/

Amir Bagheri (Iran, rating 2481) will play a 2-game match vs. members of the ICCF Forum. The games (one with White and one with Black pieces) will be played on the ICCF Webserver and are intended to start on June 20th 2007, with the reflection time rule "10 moves/100 days". http://www.iccf-webchess.com

World Youth Chess Championships

The World Youth Chess Championships take place 17th-29th November 2007 in Antalya.

Official site: http://wycc2007.tsf.org.tr/

Maxim Dlugy

Former World Junior Champion GM Maxim Dlugy now has a website. http://www.dlugy.com/

MyChess correspondence Chess Server

There is a correspondence chess server designed by Matthias Karkowski at: http://www.mychess.de/

Details: http://www.ajedrezbali.com/

British Chess Problem Society

Brian Stephenson of the British Chess Problem Society has a new website: http://www.bstephen.me.uk/. The site has much info on the Winton Capital British Chess Solving Championship.

Endgame Studies

Alexander Rueb Vereniging voor SchaakEindspelStudie. Endgame studies: http://www.arves.org/

Lugano tournament November

There is a Lugano tournament at the end of November 2007. Details: http://www.chessevent.ch/

Mediterranean 2013" Open Rijeka Croatia

The "Mediterranean 2013" Open chess tournament takes place in Rijeka Croatia, 25 November - 2 December 2007

System of play: Swiss / 9 rounds. Tempo of play: 90 minutes per player + 30 extra seconds for each move played starting with the first. The tournament will be registered with FIDE in order to assign the rating and title norms.

Prizes Awards fund: about 10 000 Euros. 1st award - 12 000,00 kunas 2nd award - 8 000,00 kunas 3rd award - 6 000,00 kunas

WEB: http://www.mediteran2013.com/en/default.asp

e-mail: club@sah-rijeka.hr

ICC and FICS client for mobile phones

Mats Luthman has written a program that connects to ICC and FICS, compatable with many modern mobile phones. I've been looking for something like this for a while for watching live tournaments if I'm out and about. Its a nice free solution, you can also play but I haven't tried that.

Website: http://www.luthman.nu/Mobi/Mobi.html

Alushta Diary 2007

GM Norm events: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, IM Norm: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, Rating tournament: 4.06 - 12.06, 22.06 - 27.06, Open tournament (under 16 years) First prize - 200$ 3.06 - 11.06, 13.06 - 21.06, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament First prize - 1000$ First prize (woman) - 500$ 28.06 - 6.07, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Blitz tournament 7.07, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament (rapid chess) 8.07 - 9.07, Alushta Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 21.06 - 27.06

Individual and group studying Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32, +380505828911 (for Russian speaking) + 44 7717890632 (for English speaking, call after 18.00) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

Pierre Barthélémy Chess Blog

Pierre Barthélémy Chess Blog in French: http://echecs-info.blogspot.com

Russia vs ROW Correspondence

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

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