THE WEEK IN CHESS 716 28th July 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Jonathan Berry, Manfred Mussnig, Olivier Breisacher, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Marcelo Pagano, Gorka Bravo, Oscar de la Riva Aguado, David Pruess, Brent Kitson, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, Laszlo Nagy, George Mirijanian, Zenon Franco, Herman Van de Wynkele, Hans Groffen, Dinu-Ioan Nicula, Jan Kalensky, Gary Suffield, Tarjei J. Svensen, Anna Burtasova, Dave Clayton and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Up until today it looked like Magnus Carlsen would win the Biel tournament and add to his rating but first of all Leinier Dominguez Perez won to take the lead and then Evgeny Alekseev beat Carlsen to join him half a point off the lead. The conclusion of the event should be exciting. Elsewhere there is a huge amount of chess as shown by the 4493 games in the issue.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Biel Tournament

The 41st Biel International Chess Festival takes place 19th July - 1st August 2008.

Official site: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/

41st Festival GM Biel (SUI), 20-31 vii 2008										cat. XVIII (2687)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	2708	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	½	1	½	1	5	2822
2.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2708	½	.	*	*	½	1	1	0	½	.	1	.	4½	2799
3.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2775	½	.	½	0	*	*	1	.	½	.	1	1	4½	2762
4.	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2691	0	.	0	1	0	.	*	*	½	1	1	.	3½	2686
5.	Onischuk, Alexander	g	USA	2670	½	0	½	.	½	.	½	0	*	*	1	.	3	2642
6.	Pelletier, Yannick	g	SUI	2569	½	0	0	.	0	0	0	.	0	.	*	*	½	2297

Round 3 (July 22, 2008)
Dominguez Perez, Leinier	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	36	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Carlsen, Magnus	- Bacrot, Etienne	1-0	31	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Onischuk, Alexander	- Pelletier, Yannick	1-0	57	E15	Queens Indian
Round 4 (July 24, 2008)
Dominguez Perez, Leinier	- Bacrot, Etienne	1-0	49	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Onischuk, Alexander	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	39	D19	Slav Defence
Pelletier, Yannick	- Alekseev, Evgeny	0-1	35	D38	QGD Ragozin
Round 5 (July 25, 2008)
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Onischuk, Alexander	½-½	34	C50	Giuoco Piano
Carlsen, Magnus	- Dominguez Perez, Leinier	½-½	24	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Bacrot, Etienne	- Pelletier, Yannick	1-0	34	C41	Philidor's Defence
Round 6 (July 26, 2008)
Bacrot, Etienne	- Alekseev, Evgeny	1-0	43	E00	Catalan
Onischuk, Alexander	- Dominguez Perez, Leinier	0-1	91	D97	Gruenfeld Russian
Pelletier, Yannick	- Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	40	E15	Queens Indian
Round 7 (July 28, 2008)
Dominguez Perez, Leinier	- Pelletier, Yannick	1-0	56	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Carlsen, Magnus	- Alekseev, Evgeny	0-1	84	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Onischuk, Alexander	- Bacrot, Etienne	0-1	55	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4

3) VI Gyorgy Marx Memorial

The VI.Gyorgy Marx Memorial takes place in Paks, Hungary 24th July - 4th August, 2008.

Alongside is the XII.Paks Open 30th July - 3rd August, 2008, 7 rounds.

Official site: http://www.ase.hu/marxgy

VI Gyorgy Marx Mem Paks (HUN), 25 vii-4 viii 2008										cat. XV (2625)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Beliavsky, Alexander G	g	SLO	2606	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	1	.	.	.	3	2843
2.	Stellwagen, Daniël	g	NED	2616	½	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	1	.	2½	2708
3.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2681	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	2½	2708
4.	Berkes, Ferenc	g	HUN	2645	0	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	1	.	2	2611
5.	Sargissian, Gabriel	g	ARM	2660	0	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	1½	2524
6.	Acs, Peter	g	HUN	2544	.	.	0	.	0	.	0	.	½	.	*	*	½	2328

Round 1 (July 25, 2008)
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Sargissian, Gabriel	1-0	64	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Stellwagen, Daniël	- Acs, Peter	1-0	38	C97	Ruy Lopez
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Berkes, Ferenc	½-½	33	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Round 2 (July 26, 2008)
Beliavsky, Alexander G	- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	½-½	42	D86	Gruenfeld Simagin
Berkes, Ferenc	- Stellwagen, Daniël	½-½	82	D17	Slav Defence
Sargissian, Gabriel	- Acs, Peter	½-½	26	E10	Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Round 3 (July 27, 2008)
Stellwagen, Daniël	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	½-½	43	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Sargissian, Gabriel	½-½	57	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Acs, Peter	- Berkes, Ferenc	0-1	58	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Round 4 (July 28, 2008)
Stellwagen, Daniël	- Sargissian, Gabriel	½-½	55	C45	Scotch Game
Berkes, Ferenc	- Beliavsky, Alexander G	0-1	48	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Acs, Peter	- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	0-1	45	B22	Sicilian Alapin

4) North Urals Cup

The North Urals Cup takes place in Krasnoturinsk (Sverdlovsk region) July 26th - August 3rd 2008. This is the strongest women's tournament ever.

Official site: http://www.northuralscup.ru

5th North Urals Cup Krasnoturinsk (RUS), 27 vii-3 viii 2008											cat. XI (2522)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Stefanova, Antoaneta	g	BUL	2550	*	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	2
2.	Xu Yuhua	g	CHN	2483	.	*	½	.	.	1	.	.	1½	2730
3.	Sebag, Marie	m	FRA	2530	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2745
4.	Ushenina, Anna	m	UKR	2476	.	.	.	*	½	.	1	.	1½	2679
5.	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2469	0	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	½	2320
6.	Cramling, Pia	g	SWE	2544	.	0	.	.	.	*	½	.	½	2300
7.	Muzychuk, Anna	m	SLO	2504	.	.	.	0	.	½	*	.	½	2317
8.	Koneru, Humpy	g	IND	2622	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 1 (July 27, 2008)
Xu Yuhua	- Sebag, Marie	½-½	70	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Pogonina, Natalija	- Ushenina, Anna	½-½	33	B19	Caro Kann
Cramling, Pia	- Muzychuk, Anna	½-½	45	A80	Dutch
Koneru, Humpy	- Stefanova, Antoaneta	0-1	46	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Round 2 (July 28, 2008)
Stefanova, Antoaneta	- Pogonina, Natalija	1-0	61	A57	Volga Gambit
Sebag, Marie	- Koneru, Humpy	1-0	52	C99	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Cramling, Pia	- Xu Yuhua	0-1	57	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Muzychuk, Anna	- Ushenina, Anna	0-1	79	B12	Caro Kann Advanced

5) Politiken Cup

The Politiken Cup took place 20th-27th July 2008. Sergey Tiviakov won the event on tie-break from Vladimir Malakhov, Yurij Kuzbov, Peter Heine Nielsen, Boris Savchenko and Jonny Hector all of whom scored 8/10. I give all the games again as I made a few changes to the first three rounds.

Official site: http://www.politikencup.dk/

Politiken Cup Helsingor (DEN), 19-27 vii 2008. Leading Final Round 10 Standings
Pl.	Player	Ti	NAT	ELO	Po	MiBu	SoBer
1	Sergey Tiviakov	GM	NED	2645	8	56	52.75
2	Vladimir Malakhov	GM	RUS	2689	8	55.5	52.75
3	Yurij Kuzubov	GM	UKR	2578	8	55	52.5
4	Peter Heine Nielsen	GM	DEN	2652	8	54	51.5
5	Boris Savchenko	GM	RUS	2578	8	53.5	50
6	Jonny Hector	GM	SWE	2537	8	50	48.25
7	Michael Roiz	GM	ISR	2680	7½	55.5	50.25
8	Mikheil Mchedlishvili	GM	GEO	2604	7½	55	48.75
9	Pavel Eljanov	GM	UKR	2716	7½	53	46.75
10	Konstantin Landa	GM	RUS	2615	7½	52	46.75
11	Alexei Iljushin	GM	RUS	2546	7½	52	46
12	Emanuel Berg	GM	SWE	2592	7½	51.5	46.5
13	Oliver Kurmann	IM	SUI	2394	7½	51.5	44.5
14	Christian Jepson	IM	SWE	2358	7½	48	42.75
15	Lars Schandorff	GM	DEN	2537	7½	45.5	41.75
16	Vitali Golod	GM	ISR	2578	7	54	45.25
17	Jacob Aagaard	GM	SCO	2531	7	54	44.5
18	Bartosz Socko	GM	POL	2628	7	53.5	43.5
19	Alexander A. Evdokimov	GM	RUS	2555	7	52.5	41.25
20	Artur Kogan	GM	ISR	2569	7	51	41.75
21	Viktorija Cmilyte	IM	LIT	2508	7	50	41.25
22	Krzysztof Bulski	FM	POL	2388	7	48	39.5
23	Thomas Engqvist	IM	SWE	2363	7	48	39
24	Jens Kristiansen	IM	DEN	2441	7	45.5	34.5
25	Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen	IM	NOR	2423	7	41	34.5
26	Sune Berg Hansen	GM	DEN	2542	6½	55	40.5
27	Michal Krasenkow	GM	POL	2639	6½	53.5	41.25
28	Ashwin Jayaram	IM	IND	2436	6½	52	38.75
29	Djurre den Heeten		NED	2278	6½	51.5	37.25
30	Tania Sachdev	IM	IND	2432	6½	49.5	36.25
31	Peter Marusenko	IM	UKR	2327	6½	49	38
32	Tiger Hillarp-Persson	GM	SWE	2526	6½	49	35
33	Heini Olsen	FM	FAI	2368	6½	48.5	36.25
34	Monika Socko	IM	POL	2473	6½	48	36.25
35	Stellan Brynell	GM	SWE	2468	6½	47.5	37
36	Jacob Carstensen	FM	DEN	2309	6½	47.5	34.25
37	Mikkel Antonsen	IM	DEN	2455	6½	47	37.25
38	Bengt Lindberg	IM	SWE	2432	6½	47	36.5
39	Martin Matthiesen	FM	DEN	2345	6½	46.5	36.25
40	Jop Delemarre	IM	NED	2467	6½	46	36.25
41	Sabino Brunello	IM	ITA	2482	6½	46	34.25
42	Jesper Schultz-Pedersen		DEN	2165	6½	45.5	33
43	Bo Garner Christensen		DEN	2247	6½	45	35.75
44	Sjoerd Plukkel		NED	2215	6½	43	33.5
45	Jonathan Humprey	FM	AUS	2289	6½	40.5	30.75
46	Peter Olsen		DEN	2224	6½	40	32.75
47	Matthias Bach	FM	GER	2272	6½	39	33
48	Magnus Eriksson		SWE	2163	6½	38.5	26
49	Felix Klein		GER	2241	6	48.5	32
50	Linus Olsson	FM	SWE	2365	6	47.5	34.75
280 players

6) 19th Czech Open

The 19th Czech Open took place 10th-27th July 2008 in Pardubice, Czech Open. This is one of the very biggest festivals and there were many events, the strongest of which are below and in the games section. Eldar Gasanov won the A Open with 7.5/9. Dmitry Chuprov won the rapid on tie-break after scoring 7.5/9 and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov did so badly he didn't even finish the tournament.

Official site: http://www.czechopen.net

19th Czech Chladek & Tintera A Open Pardubice (CZE), 18-26 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	Av Op	BH
1	Gasanov Eldar	GM	UKR	2523	7,5	2461	51,0
2	Stocek Jiri	GM	CZE	2559	7,0	2467	48,5
3	Chuprov Dmitry	GM	RUS	2577	7,0	2463	53,5
4	Korobov Anton	GM	UKR	2590	7,0	2462	55,0
5	Vorobiov Evgeny E.	GM	RUS	2550	7,0	2455	51,0
6	Chernyshov Konstantin	GM	RUS	2565	7,0	2448	53,5
7	Gajewski Grzegorz	GM	POL	2575	7,0	2436	51,0
8	Dobrowolski Piotr	IM	POL	2426	7,0	2395	44,0
9	Brkic Ante	GM	CRO	2530	7,0	2394	45,5
10	Teske Henrik	GM	GER	2504	7,0	2389	46,0
11	Kononenko Dmitry	GM	UKR	2502	6,5	2471	54,0
12	Geller Jakov	IM	RUS	2510	6,5	2451	48,5
13	Babula Vlastimil	GM	CZE	2597	6,5	2449	53,0
14	Vokarev Sergey	GM	RUS	2517	6,5	2446	52,0
15	Gutman Gennadi	GM	UKR	2497	6,5	2417	49,5
16	Llaneza Marcos	IM	ESP	2468	6,5	2401	49,0
17	Wirig Anthony	IM	FRA	2456	6,5	2396	44,0
18	Schlosser Philipp	GM	GER	2567	6,5	2391	47,5
19	Javakhishvili Lela	IM	GEO	2461	6,5	2352	45,0
20	Paichadze Luka	FM	GEO	2426	6,0	2467	48,5
21	Pena Gomez Manuel	FM	ESP	2352	6,0	2462	47,5
22	Bogner Sebastian	IM	GER	2467	6,0	2458	51,0
23	Kanarek Marcel	FM	POL	2349	6,0	2442	48,0
24	Epishin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2574	6,0	2437	51,0
25	Pedersen Christian Kyndel	IM	DEN	2402	6,0	2418	46,5
26	Jasny Stanislav	FM	CZE	2359	6,0	2418	46,5
27	Galburd Yan		ISR	2209	6,0	2414	40,0
28	Volosin Leonid	GM	CZE	2449	6,0	2409	46,0
29	Akesson Ralf	GM	SWE	2481	6,0	2405	46,0
30	Simacek Pavel	IM	CZE	2470	6,0	2403	47,5
31	Zakhartsov Viacheslav	GM	RUS	2556	6,0	2401	50,0
32	Hasangatin Ramil	GM	RUS	2485	6,0	2396	48,5
33	Cvek Robert	GM	CZE	2532	6,0	2390	48,5
34	Arutinian David	GM	GEO	2586	6,0	2384	47,0
35	Huschenbeth Niclas		GER	2414	6,0	2382	44,5
36	Warakomski Tomasz	IM	POL	2502	6,0	2380	43,5
37	Nabaty Tamir		ISR	2431	6,0	2379	46,5
38	Erdogdu Mert	IM	TUR	2440	6,0	2379	43,0
39	Ismagambetov Anuar	IM	KAZ	2482	6,0	2374	46,0
40	Luch Michal	IM	POL	2412	6,0	2374	45,0
41	Haub Thorsten Michael	IM	GER	2460	6,0	2354	44,0
42	Petr Martin	IM	CZE	2451	6,0	2347	45,0
43	Turov Maxim	GM	RUS	2584	6,0	2334	46,5
44	Jansa Vlastimil	GM	CZE	2485	6,0	2334	43,5
45	Korotkjevich Stanislav		UKR	2349	6,0	2334	41,0
46	Tereick Benjamin	FM	GER	2382	6,0	2327	40,5
47	Kulakov Viatcheslav		RUS	2360	6,0	2312	38,0
48	Mikhalevski Alexander	IM	ISR	2448	6,0	2292	38,5
339 players

19th Czech Jihlavanka B Open Pardubice (CZE), 18-26 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	Pecha Tomas		CZE	2096	7,5	2205	52,5
2	Tolstikh Nikolay	IM	RUS	2381	7,5	2165	50,5
3	Nedochetov Mikhail	IM	RUS	2354	7,5	2149	52,0
4	Al-Sulaiti Ghanem	FM	QAT	2135	7,5	2121	51,5
5	Davydenko Andrey		RUS	2181	7,5	2103	53,0
6	Nikolaev Leonid		UKR	2297	7,5	2103	50,5
7	Orekhov Viktor		RUS	2275	7,5	2098	49,5
8	Coenen Michael		GER	2176	7,5	2098	44,5
9	Van Den Berg Hilke		NED	2195	7,0	2085	50,0
10	Dorst Johannes		GER	2198	7,0	2070	46,5
11	Kuzevanova Evgenia		RUS	2164	7,0	2039	45,0
12	Seifert Christopher		GER	2032	6,5	2186	47,5
13	Umanec Filip		CZE	2132	6,5	2149	47,5
14	Korsus Bernd		GER	2263	6,5	2144	55,5
15	Kiselev Aleksandr	FM	RUS	2267	6,5	2137	51,5
16	Boyarchenko Alex		LUX	1941	6,5	2134	48,5
17	Semenova Elena		RUS	2048	6,5	2122	43,5
18	Margrat Daniel		GER	2216	6,5	2119	52,5
19	Van Assendelft Floris		NED	2227	6,5	2113	51,0
20	Maslak Alexander		RUS	2201	6,5	2103	53,0
21	Ivanets Vladimir	FM	RUS	2241	6,5	2090	49,0
22	Naroditsky Alan		USA	2136	6,5	2073	47,5
23	Lammens Tim	FM	NED	2350	6,5	2072	52,0
24	Buzeti Jernej		SLO	2175	6,5	2065	44,5
25	Roeberg Frank		GER	2267	6,5	2064	48,5
26	Meskovs Nikita		LAT	2177	6,5	2050	43,5
27	Hendriks Victor		NED	2164	6,5	2048	42,0
28	Pasiev Rakhim		RUS	2178	6,5	2039	38,5
29	Cusnariov Nicolai		MDA	2141	6,5	2036	49,0
30	Lindborg Petter		SWE	2125	6,5	2027	43,5
385 players

19th Czech Open Synthesia Rapid Pardubice (CZE), 16-17 vii 2008. Final Round 9 Standings
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	RtgI	Pts.	BH 1	BH 2
1	Chuprov Dmitry	GM	RUS	2577	7,5	54,0	42,0
2	Korobov Anton	GM	UKR	2590	7,5	52,5	41,5
3	Buhmann Rainer	GM	GER	2561	7,5	45,0	35,0
4	Gajewski Grzegorz	GM	POL	2575	7,0	53,0	40,5
5	Zakhartsov Viacheslav	GM	RUS	2556	7,0	44,5	34,5
6	Stocek Jiri	GM	CZE	2559	6,5	52,0	40,5
7	Najer Evgeniy	GM	RUS	2670	6,5	51,0	39,5
8	Arutinian David	GM	GEO	2586	6,5	50,0	39,0
9	Epishin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2574	6,5	48,5	37,5
10	Navara David	GM	CZE	2646	6,5	47,5	37,5
11	Gasanov Eldar	GM	UKR	2523	6,5	46,0	35,5
12	Chernyshov Konstantin	GM	RUS	2565	6,5	45,0	35,5
13	Kabanov Nikolai	IM	RUS	2521	6,5	44,5	35,5
14	Schlosser Philipp	GM	GER	2567	6,5	42,0	33,0
15	Potkin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2629	6,0	52,0	40,5
16	Motylev Alexander	GM	RUS	2674	6,0	50,0	38,5
17	Maslak Konstantin	IM	RUS	2521	6,0	48,5	39,0
18	Babula Vlastimil	GM	CZE	2597	6,0	48,5	38,0
19	Genba Vladimir	IM	RUS	2429	6,0	46,0	36,0
20	Vokac Marek	GM	CZE	2451	6,0	46,0	35,5
21	Shcherbin Matvej		RUS	2222	6,0	43,5	34,5
22	Neelotpal Das	GM	IND	2462	6,0	42,5	33,5
23	Nabaty Tamir		ISR	2431	6,0	41,0	32,5
24	Somkin Eugen		RUS	2392	6,0	36,5	28,5
25	Paichadze Luka	FM	GEO	2426	5,5	52,5	42,5
26	Beinoras Mindaugas		LTU	2426	5,5	49,5	40,0
27	Ibrayev Nurlan	GM	KAZ	2518	5,5	49,5	38,0
28	Pozin Sergey	IM	RUS	2436	5,5	48,0	37,5
29	Shanava Konstantine	GM	GEO	2522	5,5	47,5	37,0
30	Kanovsky David	IM	CZE	2409	5,5	47,0	37,0
31	Ismagambetov Anaur	IM	KAZ	2482	5,5	46,5	36,0
32	Gutenev Alexander		RUS	2280	5,5	46,0	36,0
33	Sumaneev Dmitriy	IM	RUS	2465	5,5	45,0	35,0
34	Tjurin Alexander	FM	RUS	2340	5,5	44,5	34,5
35	Mudrak Josef	FM	CZE	2367	5,5	43,0	33,5
36	Velicka Petr	GM	CZE	2492	5,5	41,5	32,5
37	Panocki Adrian		POL	2338	5,5	40,5	30,5
38	Lang Torsten	FM	GER	2340	5,5	39,0	29,5
39	Ageichenko Gennady		RUS	2384	5,5	37,5	29,0
40	Prymula Roman	FM	CZE	2278	5,5	36,0	28,5
41	Laznicka Viktor	GM	CZE	2601	5,0	58,0	46,0
42	Dzhangirov Dmitry		UKR	2276	5,0	47,5	38,5
43	Walentukiewicz Michal	CM	POL	2200	5,0	47,0	37,0
44	De Verdier Michael		SWE	2222	5,0	47,0	37,0
45	Galburd Yan		ISR	2209	5,0	46,0	35,5
46	Gutman Gennadi	GM	UKR	2497	5,0	45,5	34,5
47	Tikkanen Hans	IM	SWE	2417	5,0	45,5	34,5
48	Klenburg Mikhail	IM	UKR	2445	5,0	45,0	35,0
49	Biriukov Oleg	IM	RUS	2391	5,0	44,0	33,0
50	Kratochvil Karel		CZE	2113	5,0	43,5	33,0
51	Nun Jiri	IM	CZE	2380	5,0	43,0	32,5
52	Morozov Dmitry	FM	RUS	2351	5,0	40,5	30,5
53	Gumula Daniel	FM	POL	2277	5,0	40,0	31,5
54	Priborsky Jan		CZE	2344	5,0	39,0	31,0
55	Alexikov Alexander	IM	UKR	2357	5,0	39,0	30,5
56	Luch Michal	IM	POL	2412	5,0	35,5	27,5
57	Priborsky Ivo		CZE	2302	5,0	35,5	27,5
58	Kulovana Eva	WIM	CZE	2302	5,0	35,0	26,5
59	Gurkin Anton		KAZ	2158	5,0	32,0	24,5
60	Cvek Robert	GM	CZE	2532	4,5	49,5	38,5
61	Smith Axel		SWE	2427	4,5	48,5	38,0
62	Molnar Peter	FM	SVK	2306	4,5	45,0	35,5
63	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	GM	AZE	2742	4,5	44,5	33,5
64	Kulakov Viatcheslav		RUS	2360	4,5	43,0	33,5
65	Buchenau Frank	FM	GER	2335	4,5	42,5	33,5
66	Bazeev German		RUS	2129	4,5	42,5	33,0
67	Konopka Michal	IM	CZE	2433	4,5	41,5	32,5
68	Nilsson Sebastian		SWE	2284	4,5	41,0	32,5
69	Vlasak Lukas		CZE	2136	4,5	40,5	32,5
70	Sorm Daniel	FM	CZE	2335	4,5	40,5	31,0
71	Grandelius Nils	FM	SWE	2366	4,5	40,0	31,5
72	Malinin Vasily	GM	RUS	2331	4,5	38,0	29,0
73	Shilov Sergey	FM	UKR	2255	4,5	36,5	28,5
74	Bystrov Sergej	IM	RUS	2310	4,5	35,5	28,5
75	Rehorek Martin		CZE	2324	4,5	35,0	27,5
76	Soural Jan		CZE	2285	4,5	34,0	25,0
77	Ivanets Vladimir	FM	RUS	2241	4,0	43,5	34,0
144 players

19th Czech Infinity Open Pardubice (CZE), 11-16 vii 2008 Final Round 7 Standings
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Gutman Gennadi	GM	UKR	2497	6,0	29,5	21,5	25,00
2	Klenburg Mikhail	IM	UKR	2445	5,5	33,5	24,0	26,00
3	Gurkin Anton		KAZ	2158	5,5	31,5	22,5	23,75
4	Al Sulaiti Ghanem	FM	QAT	2135	5,5	31,0	22,5	23,25
5	Klima Lukas	IM	CZE	2439	5,5	28,5	20,0	21,25
6	Saunina Ludmila	WGM	RUS	2303	5,0	31,5	22,5	21,25
7	Snorek Milan		CZE	2171	5,0	31,0	22,0	21,25
8	Gergel Vladimir	FM	UKR	2311	5,0	30,5	21,5	21,25
9	Paichadze Luka	FM	GEO	2426	5,0	30,0	21,5	20,25
10	Orlyanskaya Darya	WFM	UKR	2054	5,0	29,5	21,5	19,25
11	Piskun Alexei		RUS	2021	5,0	29,5	21,0	18,50
12	Bednar Marcel		CZE	1988	5,0	28,5	20,0	18,50
13	Shishkin Vladimir		RUS	2189	4,5	31,0	22,5	17,00
14	Kozlov Gennady		RUS	2258	4,5	30,5	22,5	18,25
15	Bartos Jan	FM	CZE	2176	4,5	29,5	22,0	19,50
16	Dietrich Maxmilian		GER	2035	4,5	28,0	20,5	14,75
17	Pukl Rostislav		CZE	1955	4,5	27,5	20,5	15,75
18	Ageichenko Gennady		RUS	2384	4,5	27,5	20,0	15,50
19	Shevchenko Tanya	WFM	UKR	2139	4,5	27,0	18,5	15,75
20	Gorin Alexander		RUS	2055	4,5	26,0	19,0	14,50
21	Lang Anders		SWE	1920	4,5	26,0	18,5	16,00
22	Kotva Milan		CZE	2074	4,5	25,5	18,0	13,50
23	Fadavian Marius		GER	2019	4,0	29,0	22,0	15,00
24	Drozdov Vladimir		RUS	2088	4,0	29,0	21,0	16,00
25	Frana Tomas		CZE	1822	4,0	27,0	19,5	14,00
26	Shafeev Farit		RUS	0	4,0	27,0	19,0	13,50
27	Michlian Stefan		CZE	1847	4,0	27,0	18,5	13,25
28	Pekar Vaclav		CZE	1964	4,0	26,5	20,0	12,75
29	Maslak Alexander		RUS	2201	4,0	26,0	19,0	13,00
30	Pesek Radomir		CZE	2097	4,0	25,5	18,0	11,75
31	Skokan Frantisek		CZE	1747	4,0	25,5	17,5	13,00
32	Janecek Vaclav		CZE	0	4,0	25,0	17,0	12,00
33	Minko Vladimir		RUS	1800	4,0	24,0	17,5	11,00
34	Tichy Vaclav		CZE	1541	4,0	23,5	17,0	10,00
35	Andersen Carsten		SWE	1992	4,0	23,0	16,0	11,00
81 players

19th Czech Oce Open Pardubice (CZE), 10-13 vii 2008 Final Round 7 Standings
Rk.	SNo		Team	Gms	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	UKR	DNEPR	7	6	1	0	22,0	126,5	92,5
2	1	RUS	UGRA	7	4	2	1	20,5	133,5	95,5
3	6	CZE	SK POLABINY A	7	5	1	1	20,5	117,5	85,0
4	3	RUS	KHIMKI	7	4	2	1	20,0	128,5	93,5
5	4	RUS	YAMAL - 1	7	4	3	0	20,0	123,5	87,5
6	5	RUS	SOUTH URAL	7	5	1	1	20,0	121,0	84,5
7	7	CZE	LIPA A	7	6	0	1	18,5	116,0	82,5
8	9	CZE	SK ZLIN	7	4	0	3	18,0	121,0	87,5
9	12	CZE	ZIKUDA TURNOV	7	5	0	2	18,0	114,0	81,0
10	21	LAT	RIGA CHESS SCHOOL A	7	5	0	2	18,0	108,0	78,0
96 Teams - 465 players

7) Canadian Open

The Canadian Open (Quebec Open Chess Tournament) took place in Montreal July 19th-27th 2008. Alexander Moiseenko, Eduardas Rozentalis, Victor Mikhalevski and Matthieu Cornette tied for first in the event with 6.5/9.

Further details: Fédération québécoise des échecs and live coverage at: http://monroi.com/the-2008-canadian-and-quebec-open-chess-tournament-home.html

Canadian Open Montreal (AND), 19-27 vii 2008. Final Round 9 Standings
#	Ti	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Tot
1	GM	Alexander Moiseenko	2632	+20	=12	+14	=16	+9	=3	+8	=2	=4	6.5
2	GM	Eduardas Rozentalis	2599	+21	=16	=17	=18	=25	+31	+14	=1	+7	6.5
3	GM	Victor Mikhalevski	2592	+26	+7	=10	=11	+12	=1	+13	-4	+9	6.5
4	IM	Matthieu Cornette	2521	+42	=27	+31	-9	+18	=5	+6	+3	=1	6.5
5	GM	Abhijit Kunte	2554	=31	+44	=12	+43	=7	=4	=16	+15	=8	6.0
6	GM	Anton Kovalyov	2548	+23	=17	=28	+21	=14	=16	-4	+18	+20	6.0
7	IM	M. R. Venkatesh	2462	+33	-3	+23	+39	=5	=9	+10	+20	-2	6.0
8	GM	Andrei Istratescu	2636	+24	+15	=9	=10	=11	=14	-1	+17	=5	5.5
9	GM	Alexander Huzman	2589	+22	+18	=8	+4	-1	=7	=15	+16	-3	5.5
10	GM	Mark Bluvshtein	2548	+36	+19	=3	=8	=16	=15	-7	+21	=11	5.5
11	GM	Walter Arencibia	2536	+38	=28	+27	=3	=8	=13	-20	+29	=10	5.5
12	IM	S. Arun Prasad	2492	+34	=1	=5	+28	-3	-23	+27	=13	+26	5.5
13	GM	Surya Skekhar Ganguly	2631	=29	+30	-16	+27	+17	=11	-3	=12	=22	5.0
14	GM	Dimitri Komarov	2536	+39	+43	-1	+20	=6	=8	-2	=22	=23	5.0
15	GM	Bator Sambuev	2496	+32	-8	=29	+30	+26	=10	=9	-5	=17	5.0
16	IM	Thomas Roussel-Roozmon	2486	+35	=2	+13	=1	=10	=6	=5	-9	=19	5.0
17	IM	K. Rathnakaran	2453	+40	=6	=2	=26	-13	+21	+23	-8	=15	5.0
18	IM	John Bartholomew	2440	+37	-9	+38	=2	-4	=28	+31	-6	+29	5.0
19	GM	Borislav Ivkov	2411	+41	-10	-39	+37	-31	=33	+36	+27	=16	5.0
20	IM	Nikolay Noritsyn	2361	-1	+42	+46	-14	+39	+25	+11	-7	-6	5.0
21	GM	Nisha Mohota	2354	-2	+22	+47	-6	+41	-17	+28	-10	+30	5.0
22	FM	Raja Panjwani	2310	-9	-21	+34	+46	=28	+24	=29	=14	=13	5.0
23	FM	Shiyam Thavandiran	2288	-6	+40	-7	+47	+43	+12	-17	=25	=14	5.0
24	FM	Sylvain Barbeau	2367	-8	=32	+35	=31	=38	-22	+41	-26	+33	4.5
25		Jack Yoos	2366	=44	-31	+32	+29	=2	-20	=37	=23	=28	4.5
26	GM	Ghate Swathi	2351	-3	+34	+45	=17	-15	-27	+38	+24	-12	4.5
27	GM	Eesha Karavade	2297	B---	=4	-11	-13	+30	+26	-12	-19	+36	4.5
28		Eric Hansen	2268	+45	=11	=6	-12	=22	=18	-21	+37	=25	4.5
29	FM	Bindi Cheng	2333	=13	=47	=15	-25	+45	+38	=22	-11	-18	4.0
30	FM	Nelson Castaneda	2314	=47	-13	+44	-15	-27	+40	=33	+39	-21	4.0
31	FM	Jonathan Tayar	2293	=5	+25	-4	=24	+19	-2	-18	-33	+37	4.0
32		Liam Henry	2211	-15	=24	-25	=35	-37	+46	-42	+44	+40	4.0
33		Marius Nicula	2209	-7	=35	H---	-45	+46	=19	=30	+31	-24	4.0
34		Hughes Masse	2196	-12	-26	-22	=40	+42	=41	+44	-36	+38	4.0
35	IM	Sai Meera	2179	-16	=33	-24	=32	+47	=36	-39	=38	+41	4.0
36		Nicolas Yap	2279	-10	-37	+40	-41	+44	=35	-19	+34	-27	3.5
37		Louie Jiang	2135	-18	+36	-43	-19	+32	+39	=25	-28	-31	3.5
38	GM	Manisha Mohanty Kiran	2246	-11	+41	-18	+48	=24	-29	-26	=35	-34	3.0
39		Roland Chabot	2235	-14	+48	+19	-7	-20	-37	+35	-30	U---	3.0
40		Yuanling Yuan	2146	-17	-23	-36	=34	+48	-30	B---	=41	-32	3.0
41		William G. Doubleday	2125	-19	-38	+42	+36	-21	=34	-24	=40	-35	3.0
42		Nicolas Arsenault	2213	-4	-20	-41	=44	-34	+48	+32	U---	U---	2.5
43	IM	Michael Mulyar	2382	+48	-14	+37	-5	-23	U---	U---	U---	U---	2.0
44		Stephane Drolet	2131	=25	-5	-30	=42	-36	+47	-34	-32	U---	2.0
45		Maurice Poulin	1989	-28	B---	-26	+33	-29	U---	U---	U---	U---	2.0
46		Nikola Anastasovski	2129	H---	H---	-20	-22	-33	-32	U---	U---	U---	1.0
47		Andrei Gulko	2102	=30	=29	-21	-23	-35	-44	U---	U---	U---	1.0
48		Jerome Lachaux	2075	-43	-39	B---	-38	-40	-42	U---	U---	U---	1.0

8) XXVI International Chess Open of Andorra

The XXVI International Chess Open of Andorra took place 19th-27th July 2008. David Howell won the event with 8/9.

Official Site: http://www.escacsandorra.com

XXVI Andorra Open La Massana (AND), 19-27 vii 2008. Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
1	Howell, David W L	ENG	g	8.0
2	Edouard, Romain	FRA	m	7.5
3	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	PER	g	7.0
4	Comas Fabrego, Lluis	ESP	g	7.0
5	Marin, Mihail	ROU	g	7.0
6	Rodshtein, Maxim	ISR	g	6.5
7	Damljanovic, Branko	SRB	g	6.5
8	Zambrana, Oswaldo	BOL	g	6.5
9	Narciso Dublan, Marc	ESP	g	6.5
10	Strikovic, Aleksa	SRB	g	6.5
11	Huerga Leache, Mikel	ESP	m	6.5
12	De La Riva Aguado, Oscar	AND	g	6.5
13	Magem Badals, Jordi	ESP	g	6.5
14	Ibarra Jerez, Jose Carlos	ESP	m	6.5
15	Aloma Vidal, Robert	ESP	f	6.5
16	Bae, Torstein	NOR	m	6.0
17	Perez Candelario, Manuel	ESP	m	6.0
18	Lopez Martinez, Josep Manuel	ESP	g	6.0
19	Panelo, Marcelo	ARG	m	6.0
20	Lafuente, Pablo	ARG	g	6.0
21	Garcia Roman, Daniel	ESP	m	6.0
22	Berkovich, Mark A	ISR	m	6.0
23	Caspi, Israel	ISR		6.0
24	Llobel Cortell, Enrique	ESP	m	6.0
25	Mellado Trivino, Juan	AND	m	6.0
26	Arizmendi Martinez, Julen Luis	ESP	g	6.0
27	Raznikov, Danny	ISR		6.0
28	Ringoir, Tanguy	BEL		6.0
29	Burg, Twan	NED	f	6.0
30	Vega Gutierrez, Belinda	ESP		6.0
31	Vehi Bach, Victor Manuel	ESP	m	6.0
32	Camarena Gimenez, Rufino	ESP	m	6.0
33	De La Villa Garcia, Jesus Maria	ESP	g	6.0
34	Molinero Martin, Joan	ESP		6.0
35	Popilski, Gil	ISR	c	5.5
179 players

9) 31st Taminco Open Ghent

The 31st Taminco Open Ghent took place 19th-23rd July 2008. Geert Van der Stricht took clear first with 8/9. My thanks to Herman Van de Wynkele for the games.

Official site: http://www.kgsrl.be/. Additional report: http://schaakfabriek.be/2008/07/23/van-der-stricht-wint-open-van-gent/#more-569

31st Taminco Open Ghent (BEL), 19-23 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
1	Van der Stricht, Geert	m	BEL	2426	8.0	9	2619
2	Sumets, Andrey	g	UKR	2534	7.5	9	2541
3	Schebler, Gerhard	g	GER	2453	7.5	9	2506
4	Dgebuadze, Alexandre	g	BEL	2562	7.5	9	2464
5	Muhren, Bianca	wg	NED	2278	7.5	9	2431
6	Klundt, Klaus	m	GER	2361	7.0	9	2387
7	Sadkowsky, Daniel	f	BEL	2313	7.0	9	2339
8	Renette, Hans		BEL	2281	7.0	9	2303
9	Docx, Stefan	f	BEL	2331	7.0	9	2300
10	Van den Berg, Bram		NED	2204	7.0	9	2298
11	Ward, Chris G	g	ENG	2431	6.5	9	2393
12	Michiels, Bart	m	BEL	2442	6.5	9	2389
13	Sowray, Peter J	f	ENG	2327	6.5	9	2380
14	Cools, Gorik	f	BEL	2327	6.5	9	2350
15	Van Wessel, Rudy	f	NED	2307	6.5	9	2343
16	Lee, Graham D	f	ENG	2269	6.5	9	2334
17	Noiroux, Kevin		BEL	2140	6.5	9	2315
18	Skatchkov, Pavel	g	RUS	2491	6.5	9	2304
19	Tiller, Bjorn	m	NOR	2374	6.5	9	2263
20	Smit, Erik		NED	2266	6.5	9	2238
21	Donovan, Linton		BEL	2159	6.5	9	2228
22	Van Mechelen, Jan	f	BEL	2269	6.5	9	2211
23	Goormachtigh, Johan	f	BEL	2242	6.5	9	2196
24	Lacrosse, Marc	f	BEL	2202	6.5	9	2185
25	Farrand, Tom		JCI	2266	6.5	9	2164
26	De Jong, Jan-Willem	m	NED	2479	6.5	9	2156
27	Pietersma, Menno		NED	2211	6.5	9	2136
28	Roos, Adrian		BEL	2076	6.5	9	2117
29	Vangeldorp, Marc		BEL	----	6.5	9	2093
30	Wiley, Tom E	f	ENG	2299	6.0	9	2259
315 players

10) Bent Larsen vs Ivan Morovic Match

There is a four game match between chess legend Bent Larsen and Ivan Morovic Fernandez in Buenos Aires 18th-21st July 2008.

Official site: http://scalise.maddsites.com/larsenmorovic.htm

Match Buenos Aires (ARG), 18-21 vii 2008
Gm1	Larsen, Bent	- Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	½-½	33	E91	King's Indian Classical
Gm2	Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	- Larsen, Bent	½-½	51	B38	Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Gm3	Larsen, Bent	- Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	½-½	22	A49	King's Indian Defence /c2-c4
Gm4	Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	- Larsen, Bent	1-0	37	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto

Match Buenos Aires (ARG), 18-21 vii 2008
				1	2	3	4
Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	g	CHI	2551	½	½	½	1	2½	2556
Larsen, Bent	g	DEN	2461	½	½	½	0	1½	2464

11) Austrian Championship

Austrian individual championship took place in Leoben (near Graz) 19th-27th July 2008. Markus Ragger took clear first place with 7/9. The games were live on the Austrian Chess Federation website: http://www.chess.at

Official site: http://www.chess.at and results at: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr12144.aspx?lan=0

ch-AUT Leoben (AUT), 19-27 vii 2008 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rg.	Name		FED	Elo	Pkt.	Wtg1	Wtg2	Wtg3	Rp
1	Ragger Markus	GM	AUT	2527	7,0	46,5	36,0	36,50	2585
2	Baumegger Siegfried	IM	AUT	2433	6,5	44,5	34,0	31,00	2535
3	Schachinger Mario	FM	AUT	2314	6,0	47,5	36,5	31,75	2493
4	Pilaj Herwig Mag.	IM	AUT	2389	5,5	47,5	37,0	23,75	2407
5	Dietmayer-Kraeutler Marco	FM	AUT	2305	5,5	47,5	36,5	24,00	2422
6	Freitag Manfred	IM	AUT	2408	5,5	44,5	34,0	26,00	2390
7	Neubauer Martin Mag.	IM	AUT	2457	5,0	45,0	34,5	23,50	2364
8	Kreisl Robert	FM	AUT	2337	5,0	41,0	30,5	21,25	2332
9	Schwarhofer Christopher	MK	AUT	2227	5,0	39,5	30,5	20,25	2384
10	Neumeier Klaus Mag.	FM	AUT	2294	4,5	43,5	33,5	20,75	2363
11	Kleiser Gregor	FM	AUT	2329	4,5	43,0	34,0	20,00	2311
12	Diermair Andreas	IM	AUT	2388	4,5	40,5	32,0	18,50	2324
13	Binder Michael		AUT	2127	4,5	36,5	28,5	12,75	2215
14	Bachler Reinhard	MK	AUT	2248	4,5	34,5	27,0	12,75	2206
15	Genser Harald	FM	AUT	2342	4,5	33,0	26,0	12,25	2170
16	Hoelzl Franz	IM	AUT	2374	4,0	40,5	30,5	16,50	2225
17	Wiedermann Daniel	NM	AUT	2156	4,0	39,5	30,5	14,00	2258
18	Pachta Paul	FM	AUT	2312	4,0	38,5	28,0	15,50	2224
19	Fröwis Georg		AUT	2269	4,0	37,5	29,0	11,00	2214
20	Krebs Johann	FM	AUT	2245	4,0	35,0	28,0	11,25	2187
21	Pfaffel Thomas DI.		AUT	2144	3,5	38,5	30,0	15,50	2220
22	Aschenbrenner Robert	FM	AUT	2278	3,5	36,5	28,0	13,50	2189
23	Scheiblmaier Robert Mag.		AUT	2133	2,5	37,0	29,0	5,25	2047
24	Schroll Gerhard Dr. MMag.	IM	AUT	2436	1,5	36,5	29,5	5,50	2213
25	Loidl Florian	MK	AUT	2201	1,0	40,5	31,5	4,00	0

12) Macedonia Championships

The 17th Championship of Macedonia took place in Struga 14th-22nd July 2008. Riste Menkinoski took first place from Dejan Stojanovski on tie-break after both finished on 6½/9. My thanks to Ivan Kocovski for the games.

Official site: http://www.maksah.org/
Results:http://chess-results.com/tnr14543.aspx?lan=2

17th ch-MKD Struga (MKD), 14-22 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	T/B1	T/B2	TB/3
1	Menkinoski Riste	FM	MKD	2288	6,5	37,5	40,0	49,5
2	Stojanovski Dejan	IM	MKD	2419	6,5	35,0	38,5	49,5
3	Bogdanovski Vlatko	GM	MKD	2388	6,0	32,0	39,0	49,0
4	Pancevski Filip		MKD	2407	6,0	31,0	38,0	49,0
5	Vasovski Nikola	IM	MKD	2325	6,0	30,5	39,5	49,5
6	Jacimovic Dragoljub	GM	MKD	2417	6,0	29,0	36,5	46,5
7	Dinev Dejan	FM	MKD	2312	6,0	29,0	36,0	46,5
8	Dancevski Orce	IM	MKD	2441	5,5	31,5	38,5	49,0
9	Stanojoski Zvonko	GM	MKD	2514	5,5	29,5	37,0	47,0
10	Andonovski Ljubisa	FM	MKD	2300	5,5	28,5	35,5	45,0
11	Organdziev Oliver	FM	MKD	2274	5,5	28,5	35,5	43,0
12	Ilic Ljubomir	FM	MKD	2299	5,0	25,0	30,0	38,0
13	Petrovski Igor		MKD	1836	5,0	24,0	31,5	41,0
14	Nikoloski Kire		MKD	2118	5,0	23,0	32,5	41,5
15	Ilic Zoran	FM	MKD	2306	5,0	23,0	30,0	40,0
16	Popov Venci	FM	MKD	2389	4,5	27,5	36,0	46,0
17	Veleski Robert		MKD	2248	4,5	26,5	35,5	45,0
18	Sekulovska Vesna	WFM	MKD	2125	4,5	22,5	32,5	41,5
19	Petrov Saravco		MKD	2123	4,5	19,0	31,5	39,5
20	Petkovski Vlatko	FM	MKD	2185	4,0	21,5	31,5	41,0
21	Damceski Marjan		MKD	2045	4,0	21,0	32,5	39,5
22	Kacakovski Dimitar	FM	MKD	2227	4,0	18,5	28,0	35,5
23	Vukelic Zvonimir		MKD	2001	4,0	16,5	25,5	32,5
24	Tausanov Mihail		MKD	1919	3,5	15,5	27,0	33,0
25	Stojkovska Monika		MKD	1869	3,5	15,0	27,0	34,5
26	Nikolovska Dragana		MKD	1732	3,5	10,0	24,5	32,0
27	Markovski Velo		MKD	2057	3,0	19,5	32,5	41,5
28	Temkov Blagoja		MKD	2014	3,0	14,5	27,0	35,0
29	Konstantinov Aleksandar		MKD	0	3,0	14,0	25,0	31,5
30	Popagjoski Ljupco		MKD	0	2,5	10,5	22,5	28,0
31	Kuzmanovic Jordan		MKD	0	1,5	7,0	22,0	28,5
32	Masinov Pance		MKD	0	0,5	3,0	22,0	27,5

13) 13th Balaguer Open

The 13th Balaguer Open took place 14th-23rd July 2008. Vladimir Baklan won the event with 8/10 half a point clear of Fidel Corrales Jimenez and Lazaro Bruzon. The final round 10 games are not yet available.

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

XIII Open Balaguer (ESP), 14-22 vii 2008 Final Round 10 Standings:
Rank	Nombre		FED	Elo	Pts	BUC	BUC
1	Baklan, Vladimir	GM	UKR	2630	8	61	50
2	Corrales Jimenez, Fidel	IM	CUB	2504	7½	65½	52½
3	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	GM	CUB	2592	7½	63	52
4	Burmakin, Vladimir	GM	RUS	2625	7	66	53
5	Bhat, Vinay S	IM	USA	2483	7	65	52
6	Delchev, Aleksander	GM	BUL	2618	7	64½	53½
7	Kasparov, Sergey	GM	BLR	2486	7	61	49½
8	Aroshidze, Levan	GM	GEO	2547	7	61	49½
9	Lalith, Babu M R		IND	2328	7	60½	49
10	Mirzoev, Azer	GM	AZE	2565	7	60½	48½
11	Babaev, Rashad	GM	AZE	2484	7	59½	48½
12	Gupta, Abhijeet	GM	IND	2551	7	57½	46
13	Swapnil, S Dhopade		IND	2389	7	56½	46
14	Colovic, Aleksandar	IM	MKD	2470	6½	61½	49½
15	Roeder, Matthias	IM	GER	2451	6½	61½	49½
16	Ipatov, Alexander		UKR	2433	6½	60½	48
17	Vilela De Acuna, Jose Luis	IM	CUB	2347	6½	59	48
18	Guliev, Logman	IM	AZE	2436	6½	59	47½
19	Nadig, Kruttika	WIM	IND	2241	6½	56½	45½
20	Douriet, Alexis		CUB	2302	6½	55½	46
21	Abhay, T		IND	2263	6½	52	42½
22	Bruned, Boris		ESP	2224	6½	51	40½
23	Bruned, Yvain	FM	ESP	2383	6	61	50
24	Van Riemsdijk, Herman C	IM	BRA	2398	6	60	47½
25	Pogorelov, Ruslan	GM	UKR	2459	6	58½	46
26	Colas Longares, Rafael P	FM	ESP	2258	6	58	46½
27	Rubio Mejia, Luis Ignacio	FM	ESP	2386	6	56½	45½
28	Adel Lahchaichi, Oussama	FM	ESP	2304	6	56	45
29	Djingarova, Emilia	WGM	BUL	2305	6	56	44
30	Levin, Felix	GM	GER	2564	6	55	44½
31	Tsatsalashvili, Keti	WFM	GEO	2271	6	54½	43
32	Lorenzo De La Riva, Lazaro	FM	ESP	2367	6	52½	42½
33	Trepat Herranz, Joan	CM	ESP	2220	6	52	41½
34	Sengupta, Deep	IM	IND	2454	5½	61	49
35	Guramishvili, Sopiko	WIM	GEO	2302	5½	54	43½
36	Soumya, Swaminathan	WIM	IND	2293	5½	54	43½
37	Gomes, Mary Ann	WIM	IND	2316	5½	54	42½
38	Sai, Krishna G.V.	FM	IND	2139	5½	53	45
39	Ramon Perez, Jose Luis	FM	ESP	2311	5½	52½	42½
40	Ortiz, Nadya Karolina	WIM	COL	2249	5½	50½	39½
41	Danelia, Mariam	WFM	GEO	2185	5½	50	40½
42	Codina Garcia, Jose	CM	ESP	2141	5½	48½	40
43	Prasanna, Vishnu		IND	2341	5½	48½	38½
44	Kovacevic, Slobodan	IM	SRB	2417	5	59½	48½
45	Sanchez, Joseph	IM	PHI	2486	5	59½	48
46	Martinez Lopez, Ivan	CM	ESP	2251	5	55	45½
47	Aatirah, C P		IND	1946	5	53½	42½
48	Garcia Vicente, Nieves	WIM	ESP	2214	5	53	43½
49	Kasparova, Tatiana	WIM	BLR	2176	5	53	43
50	Aranzana Areste, Alberto		ESP	2033	5	53	42½
107 players

14) Armenian Team Championships

The Armenian Team Championships took place in Yerevan 16th-21st June 2008. The website below adds that " GM Sargissian, GM Jobava, GM T. L. Petrosian, GM Pashikian, GM Ara Minasian, WGM Lahno, WGM Mkrtchian, IM Karatorossian played in the composition of "Mika". Top GMs Carlsen, Aronian, Gelfand will also represent "Mika" at the European Club Cup to be held in October 2008 in Kallithea, Greece. The silver medal went to FIMA (GM Z. Andriasian, GM Grigoryan, IM Melkumyan, FM Ter-Sahakyan, IM Hayrapetian, IM Hambardzumian, Khojayan, Akopian). The bronze medal winner was "Bank King" (GM Vaganian, GM Lputian, GM Arutinian, GM Art. Minasian, GM Kotanjian, GM Anastasian, IM Chibukhchian, Avetisyan). " Some games now available.

Official site: http://www.armchess.am/ - Results: http://ratings.fide.com/treport.phtml?event16=14513

15) 69th Armenian Championship 1st League

The 69th Armenian Championship 1st League took place in Yerevan, 12th-22nd July 2008. Levon Babujian won with 8.5/9. No games available

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr14475.aspx?lan=2

69th Armenian Championship Yerevan (ARM), 12-22 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Ti	Nombre	FED	Elo	Pts.	Des 1	Des 2
1	IM	Babujian Levon	ARM	2435	8,5	2783	2339
2	IM	Chibukhchian Artur	ARM	2428	7,0	2529	2309
3		Hovhannisyan Robert	ARM	2337	7,0	2525	2305
4	IM	Petrosian Davit G.	ARM	2446	6,5	2500	2334
5		Gasparian Tigran	ARM	2243	6,0	2420	2295
6		Baghdasaryan Vahe	ARM	2215	6,0	2408	2283
7	WIM	Andriasian Siranush	ARM	2266	6,0	2381	2256
8		Harutjunyan Gevorg	ARM	2434	5,5	2376	2296
9		Pogosian Tigran	ARM	2310	5,5	2371	2291
10		Danielian Vardan	ARM	2320	5,5	2346	2266
11		Movsisian Vardan	ARM	2276	5,0	2398	2355
12	IM	Hayrapetian Arman	ARM	2414	5,0	2358	2315
13	IM	Kalashian David	ARM	2416	5,0	2320	2277
14	IM	Hambardzumian Yuri	ARM	2372	5,0	2315	2272
15	IM	Karatorossian David	ARM	2335	5,0	2312	2269
16		Shegunts Vachagan	ARM	2264	5,0	2311	2268
17	IM	Mnatsakanian Eduard A.	ARM	2283	5,0	2290	2247
18		Manukyan Armen	ARM	2151	4,5	2332	2332
19		Mkrtchian Simon	ARM	2316	4,5	2288	2288
44 players

16) 2nd Mangalore All India Open

The 2nd Mangalore All India Open Chess Tournament took place 19th-26th July 2008. Krishnan Murali won on tie-break from Dibyendu Barua after both finished on 8.5/10. No games available.

Results at: http://chess-results.com/tnr14595.aspx

2nd Mangalore All India Open (IND), 19-26 vii 2008 Final Round 10 Standings:
Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1
1		Murali Krishnan B T	IND	2412	TN	8,5	48,0
2	GM	Barua Dibyendu	IND	2497	WB	8,5	47,0
3	GM	Thipsay Praveen M	IND	2444	MAH	8,0	46,5
4		Praveen Kumar C	IND	2302	TN	8,0	44,0
5	IM	Prakash G B	IND	2387	TN	8,0	42,5
6		Nirmal E P	IND	2211	KER	8,0	41,5
7	IM	Himanshu Sharma	IND	2423	HAR	7,5	49,5
8	IM	Sharma Dinesh K	IND	2354	DEL	7,5	46,5
9		Amrutha Mokal	IND	2091	MAH	7,5	46,0
10	IM	Ramnathan Balasubramaniam	IND	2271	TN	7,5	45,0
11		Praveen Prasad P	IND	2264	AP	7,5	45,0
12		Stany G A	IND	2279	KAR	7,5	42,5
13		Sagar Shah	IND	2218	MAH	7,5	42,5
14	IM	Hegde Ravi Gopal	IND	2218	KAR	7,5	41,5
285 players

17) Asian Youth Championships

The Asian Youth Chess Championship took place in Tehran 15th-22nd July 2008. I give the games and detailed results from the top three boys sections and the full list of medal winners.

Official site: http://asia-chess.com/main/index.php

Ch-AY Boys U18 Tehran (IRI), 16-21 vii 2008 Final Round 7 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Salem A.R. Saleh	FM	UAE	2443	7,5	49,0	38,5	45,0
2	Adhiban B.	IM	IND	2422	6,5	48,5	37,0	44,5
3	Ilhomzade Ikrom		TJK	0	6,5	48,0	37,0	44,5
4	Shyam Sundar M.	IM	IND	2312	6,0	50,5	39,0	46,5
5	Sethuraman S.P.	IM	IND	2425	6,0	48,0	36,5	44,0
6	Nguyen Van Thanh		VIE	2194	5,5	42,0	32,5	40,0
7	Nitin S.	FM	IND	2303	5,0	50,0	38,5	46,0
8	Rahimov Rahmatjon		UZB	2218	5,0	46,5	37,0	44,5
9	Dalir Alireza		IRI	2089	4,5	36,0	27,5	34,0
10	Azemati Amir		IRI	2088	4,5	35,5	27,0	33,5
11	Pourramezanali Amirreza		IRI	2098	4,5	35,5	26,0	33,5
12	Amanbaev Islomjon		KGZ	2083	4,5	35,0	27,0	33,0
13	Karayev Assylkhan		KAZ	2261	4,0	46,0	35,5	42,0
14	Salehian Sina		IRI	2079	4,0	42,0	33,5	40,0
15	Priyadharshan K.	FM	IND	2297	4,0	40,0	29,5	37,0
16	Kottahachchy K.O.V.		SRI	1967	4,0	38,5	30,5	36,5
17	Saeed Ishaq	FM	UAE	2219	4,0	36,0	27,5	34,0
18	Antonio Viani D'cunha		IND	2114	3,5	33,0	24,5	31,0
19	Kavinda Akhila		SRI	2029	3,0	31,5	25,0	29,5
20	Amarasena Kaveesha		SRI	1900	2,5	32,5	26,0	30,5
21	Al-Kaabi Abdulla		UAE	1790	2,0	34,0	27,0	32,0
22	Al-Hasnawi Haider		IRQ	0	2,0	33,0	25,5	31,0

Ch-AY Boys U16 Tehran (IRI), 16-21 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Prasanna Rao	FM	IND	2233	7,5	49,0	38,0	45,5
2	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	FM	IND	2356	7,5	48,5	37,5	45,0
3	Ankit R. Rajpara		IND	2194	6,5	44,5	34,0	41,5
4	Golubev Roman		UZB	0	6,0	46,5	37,0	44,5
5	Ismailov Mukhit		KAZ	1915	5,5	46,5	36,5	44,0
6	Idani Pouya		IRI	1937	5,5	45,0	35,0	42,5
7	Fenil Shah		IND	2129	5,0	42,5	33,0	40,5
8	Vakhidov Jahongir		UZB	2165	5,0	42,0	32,5	40,0
9	Igambergenov Alibek		KAZ	2001	5,0	36,5	27,0	34,5
10	Hosseinipour Mehdi		IRI	2067	4,5	45,5	35,5	43,0
11	Oliazadeh Pouya		IRI	0	4,0	42,0	32,0	39,5
12	Pourhassannedjad Arash		IRI	2007	4,0	41,0	31,5	39,0
13	Perera W C C		SRI	1941	4,0	39,5	30,5	37,0
14	Pranav Shetty		IND	2138	4,0	37,5	29,0	35,5
15	Valerio Axel John		PHI	1851	3,5	35,5	26,5	33,0
16	Saleh Naif		UAE	0	3,5	30,5	23,5	28,5
17	Mirzozoda Shodmon		TJK	0	3,5	30,5	22,5	28,0
18	Yagmurov Sultan		TKM	0	3,0	30,5	23,0	28,5
19	Amanbaev Kaium		KGZ	0	2,5	36,0	28,0	34,0
20	Chohrour Hassan		LEB	0	0,0	40,5	31,5	36,0

Ch-AY Boys U14 Tehran (IRI), 16-21 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Toufighi Homayoon	FM	IRI	2425	6,0	25,0	19,0	23,5
2	Tologontegin Semetey	FM	KGZ	2374	4,5	29,0	20,0	26,0
3	Debashis Das		IND	2294	4,5	27,0	19,5	25,5
4	Darini Pouria		IRI	2262	4,5	22,5	16,5	21,0
5	Djuraev Sokhib	FM	TJK	2324	4,0	28,0	20,0	26,0
6	Saravana Krishnan P.		IND	2256	4,0	27,0	19,5	25,5
7	Otchiyev Arslan		TKM	2225	4,0	22,0	16,0	20,5
8	Sadeh Shahin		IRI	2247	3,5	27,0	19,5	25,5
9	Khoroshev Nikita		UZB	2136	3,5	26,0	19,5	24,0
10	Golizadeh Asghar		IRI	2271	3,0	24,0	16,5	22,5
11	Ali Akar		IRQ	2025	2,5	19,5	14,0	18,0
12	Maleki Amir		IRI	2086	2,0	20,0	14,5	18,5
13	Pradeep Kumar.R.A.		IND	2250	1,5	24,0	16,5	22,5
14	Marwan Abdulwahab	FM	UAE	2078	1,5	22,0	16,0	20,5

Ch-AY Tehran (IRI), 16-21 vii 2008 All Medal Winners
Rank	Title	Name	Rating	FED	Pts	BH.	Medal	Age Group	games
1		Omidi Arya		I.R.Iran	6	27	GOLD	Boys Under 8	7
2		Nigmatov Ortik		Uzbekistan	5½	28½	SILVER	Boys Under 8	7
3		Grahesh Y.		India	5	31	BRONZE	Boys Under 8	7
1		Ghosh Diptayan	2028	India	7½	50	GOLD	Boys Under 10	9
2		Mousavi Seyed Khalil	2065	I.R.Iran	7½	49	SILVER	Boys Under 10	9
3		Mahapatra Sidhant	1995	India	7½	47	BRONZE	Boys Under 10	9
1	FM	Girish A. Koushik	2108	India	7½	50½	GOLD	Boys Under 12	9
2		Javanbakht Nima	1942	I.R.Iran	6	50½	SILVER	Boys Under 12	9
3		Gagare Shardul	2070	India	6	47	BRONZE	Boys Under 12	9
1	FM	Prasanna Rao	2233	India	7½	49	GOLD	Boys Under 14	9
2	FM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2356	India	7½	48½	SILVER	Boys Under 14	9
3		Ankit R. Rajpara	2194	India	6½	44½	BRONZE	Boys Under 14	9
1	FM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2443	UAE	7½	49	GOLD	Boys Under 16	9
2	IM	Adhiban B.	2422	India	6½	48½	SILVER	Boys Under 16	9
3		Ilhomzade Ikrom	0	Tajikistan	6½	48	BRONZE	Boys Under 16	9
1	FM	Toufighi Homayoon	2425	I.R.Iran	6	25	GOLD	Boys Under 18	7
2	FM	Tologontegin Semetey	2374	Kyrgyzstan	4½	29	SILVER	Boys Under 18	7
3		Debashis Das	2294	India	4½	27	BRONZE	Boys Under 18	7
1		Abdumalik Zhansaya	0	KAZ	6½	29½	GOLD	Girls Under 8	7
2		Sagar Tejaswini	0	India	6	30	SILVER	Girls Under 8	7
3		Vu Thi Dieu Uyen	0	Vietnam	5	28	BRONZE	Girls Under 8	7
1		Mahalakshmi M.	1682	India	8	47½	GOLD	Girls Under 10	9
2		Ivana Maria Furtado	1836	India	6½	45	SILVER	Girls Under 10	9
3		Monnisha G K.	1741	India	6	47	BRONZE	Girls Under 10	9
1		Khademalsharieh Sarasadat	1769	I.R.Iran	8	45½	GOLD	Girls Under 12	9
2		Rathore Sonakshi	1838	India	7	50	SILVER	Girls Under 12	9
3		Pratyusha Bodda	1933	India	7	46½	BRONZE	Girls Under 12	9
1	WIM	Padmini Rout	2257	India	5½	27	GOLD	Girls Under 14	7
2		Qurbonboyeva Sarvinoz	1963	Uzbekistan	5	25½	SILVER	Girls Under 14	7
3		Priyanka Kumari	1925	India	4½	30	BRONZE	Girls Under 14	7
1	WFM	Hoang Thi Nhu Y	2103	Vietnam	7½	45	GOLD	Girls Under 16	9
2	WFM	Hejazipour Mitra	2137	I.R.Iran	6½	46	SILVER	Girls Under 16	9
3	WFM	Bhakti Kulkarni	2166	India	6	46½	BRONZE	Girls Under 16	9
1		Uthra P.	2067	India	5½	26½	GOLD	Girls Under 18	7
2		Muminova Nafisa	2242	Uzbekistan	5	28½	SILVER	Girls Under 18	7
3		Preethi R.	2183	India	5	27½	BRONZE	Girls Under 18	7

18) Merlo Tournament

The Italian Society of Merlo Chessclub took place 13th June - 23rd July 2008 in Buenos Aires. Pablo Lalanne took clear first with 7.5/9. My thanks to Marcelo Pagano for the games.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezfaogba.com.ar

4th IRT Soc. Italiana Merlo (ARG), 13 vi-23 vii 2008
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Lalanne, Pablo	ARG	2193	*	1	1	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	7½	2357
2.	Menon, Daniel	ARG	2174	0	*	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	7	2306
3.	De Picciotto, Marcelo	ARG	2035	0	0	*	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	5½	2181
4.	Tomeo, Ivan	ARG	2076	0	1	½	*	1	0	½	1	0	1	5	2140
5.	Sapienza, Julian	ARG	2169	1	0	0	0	*	½	½	1	1	1	5	2130
6.	Medina, Sergio	ARG	2099	½	0	0	1	½	*	½	0	1	½	4	2051
7.	Koch, Juan	ARG	2039	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	3½	2021
8.	Pagano, Marcelo	ARG	2056	0	0	½	0	0	1	½	*	½	1	3½	2019
9.	Lugo, Sergio	ARG	1997	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	½	*	½	2½	1940
10.	Herrera, Pablo	ARG	2114	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	*	1½	1820

19) 83rd Argentine Championship Semi-finals

The 83rd Argentine Championship Semi-finals take place 21st-28th July 2008. Guillermo Di Benedetto leads with 6.5/8 with a round to go.

Official site: http://201.216.215.172/torneos/SEMI_83_ARG_08/index_semi_83_arg.htm

83rd ch-ARG s/f Buenos Aires (ARG), 21-28 vii 2008 Round 8 (of 9) Standings:
Rank	Name	Title	NAT	Rating	Score	Buchholz	PS	SB
1	Di Benedetto, Guillermo	FM	ARG	2300	6,5	39	29,5	30,25
2	Pierrot, Facundo	IM	ARG	2421	6	43	30	32
3	Tristan, Leonardo		ARG	2366	6	39,5	28	28,75
4	Spata, German		ARG	2250	6	32	25	23,5
5	Quiroga, Facundo	IM	ARG	2339	5,5	39,5	26	26,25
6	Alonso, Salvador	IM	ARG	2437	5,5	38	26	25,25
7	Claverie, Raul		ARG	2378	5,5	37,5	25,5	24
8	Meza, Hugo		ARG	2273	5,5	36,5	28	22,25
9	Fulgenzi, Ernesto	FM	ARG	2358	5,5	36,5	24	23,5
10	Malbran, Guillermo	IM	ARG	2241	5,5	36,5	23	23,75
11	Needleman, Alejandro	IM	ARG	2352	5,5	36	25,5	24,25
12	Perelman, Hernan		ARG	2360	5,5	35,5	25	23
13	Duarte, Leonardo	IM	ARG	2341	5	42	27,5	24,25
14	Calderon Fernandez, Gervas		ARG	2303	5	38,5	26,5	20,25
15	Lohidoy, Bernardo		ARG		5	37,5	22	21
16	Gallego, Gonzalo		ARG	2070	5	35	20	20,75
17	Catelli, Hernan		ARG	2176	5	32	21,5	18,25
18	Scarzello, Alejandro		ARG	2050	5	31	20	15,5
19	Virgillito, Cristian		ARG	2140	4,5	39,5	24,5	20,5
20	Barrionuevo, Pablo	FM	ARG	2363	4,5	38,5	22,5	20,25
21	Mahia, Gustavo	FM	ARG	2441	4,5	36,5	23,5	18,5
22	Sampaoli, Cristian		ARG	2201	4,5	35,5	20,5	16,75
23	De Luca, Christian		ARG	2125	4,5	34,5	22	17,75
24	Tobares, Leandro		ARG	2210	4,5	33,5	21,5	15,75
25	Restuccia, Francisco		ARG	2148	4,5	32,5	21	16
26	Palmero, Pablo		ARG	2144	4,5	32,5	20,5	14,75
27	Negri, Santiago		ARG	2133	4,5	28,5	18	13,25
28	Pastor, Juan Martin		ARG	1964	4,5	27,5	14	13,5
29	Hobaica, Juan Pablo	IM	ARG	2417	4	38,5	22,5	18,25
30	Giampa, Alejandro		ARG	2237	4	35,5	22,5	15,5
31	Torres, Sergio		ARG	2202	4	34	21	13
32	Pereyra, Horacio		ARG	2001	4	33,5	18	14,75
33	Amed, Stephanie	WFM	ARG	2099	4	33	17	14,75
34	Tenti, Joaquin		ARG	2145	4	32,5	19,5	11,5
35	Torres, Maximiliano		ARG		4	30,5	15	10,75
36	Vaquero, Diego Javier		ARG		4	29,5	15	13,25
37	Pacheco, Juan Jose		ARG	2091	4	28	15,5	10,75
38	Sandrone, Mauricio		ARG	2062	3,5	35	17	12
39	Palmiotto, Marcos Ivan		ARG		3,5	33	19	11,75
40	Cirulli, Diego		ARG		3,5	33	16	13
41	Mavrich, Leandro		ARG	2192	3,5	32	18	11,75
42	Bibiloni, Jorge		ARG	2153	3,5	30,5	16,5	11,5
43	Tokatlian, Gabriel		ARG		3,5	30,5	15	11
44	Lanza, Luciano		ARG	2188	3,5	29	16,5	10,5
45	Sanchez, Christian		ARG	2065	3,5	29	13	10,25
46	Fernandez, Carlos		ARG		3,5	28	12	11,75
47	Rojo Lynch, Enrique		ARG	1898	3,5	27,5	13	9.5
48	Duran, Juan		ARG		3	31	15	11
49	Alcobedo, Damian		ARG	2123	3	29	16,5	7
50	Araoz, Claudio Alberto		ARG	1903	3	29	10	9.75
51	Ferraris, Francisco		ARG		3	26,5	12,5	7.5
52	Barbarito, Damian		ARG		3	26,5	11,5	9
53	Latrecchiana, Christian		ARG	1771	3	26,5	10	8
54	Lo Presti, Roberto		ARG	2122	3	25	12	6.25
55	Gomez, Ruben A.		ARG		3	25	8,5	8.25
56	Muniz, Roberto Anibal		ARG		3	24,5	9	4.5
57	Ruiz, Francisco		ARG	1921	2,5	29,5	9,5	5
58	Lottgering, Enrique		ARG		2,5	29	12	8
59	Battan, Adrian		ARG		2,5	29	11	6.25
60	Roque, Fernando		ARG	1964	2,5	25,5	9	6.5
61	Coronel, Nestor		ARG		2,5	24,5	7	4.25
62	Epelboin, Matias		ARG	2038	2,5	23,5	11,5	5.5
63	Moscato, Nestor Eduardo		ARG		2	23,5	9,5	7.5
64	Volpe, Leonel		ARG	0	2	22	8	1.75
65	Volpe, Miguel		ARG		1,5	23,5	10,5	1.75

20) Villa Martelli

There are tournaments in Villa Martelli 8th July - 19th August 2008.

A second set of ITT and IRT events took place 17th-24th July 2008. I will round up the events next week when all the games are complete.

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

21) The Battle of Senta 1697 Chess Festival

12th International Chess Festival "The Battle of Senta 1697" took place 18th-25th. July 2008. in Senta (the Vojvodina /Serbia). Miodrag R Savic won the A tournament with 7/9. Only the round one games are available, hopefully the rest will follow.

Official site: http://www.chess-senta.org.yu

Battle of Senta 1697 Open A (SRB), 18-25 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	BK.	FIDE	BK.	Rtg+/-
1	Savic Miodrag R	GM	SRB	2519	7,0	50,0	35,0	40,5	5
2	Martinovic Slobodan	GM	SRB	2453	6,5	52,5	35,5	41,5	9
3	Nestorovic Dejan	IM	SRB	2427	6,5	50,0	35,0	39,0	13
4	Arsovic Zoran	IM	SRB	2475	6,5	49,5	33,5	38,5	1
5	Maksimovic Branimir	IM	SRB	2397	6,5	47,5	33,5	37,5	15
6	Solomunovic Igor	FM	GER	2397	6,5	47,5	33,0	37,0	11
7	Lajthajm Borko	GM	SRB	2513	6,5	47,5	32,5	37,0	0
8	Ristic Nebojsa B	FM	SRB	2275	6,0	54,0	34,0	42,0	43
9	Arsovic Goran	IM	SRB	2469	6,0	52,5	33,5	41,0	2
10	Tomic Bosko	FM	BIH	2379	6,0	50,0	34,5	40,5	24
11	Popovic Milos T	IM	SRB	2391	6,0	46,5	31,0	36,5	4
12	Budimir Boris	FM	BIH	2311	6,0	45,5	30,0	35,5	17
13	Popovic Aleksandar M		SRB	2283	6,0	45,0	29,0	35,0	28
14	Kojovic Dragan	IM	SRB	2414	6,0	44,5	29,5	35,5	-2
15	Ardeleanu Alin	IM	ROU	2407	6,0	44,5	29,0	34,5	-4
16	Radovanovic Dusan		SRB	2350	6,0	42,0	31,0	33,0	6
17	Dragovic Momcilo	FM	SRB	2382	5,5	47,0	30,5	37,0	1
18	Andrijevic Milan	IM	SRB	2364	5,5	45,5	30,5	35,5	5
19	Farkas Tibor	IM	SRB	2298	5,5	44,5	29,0	35,0	8
20	Pletl Akos		SRB	2227	5,5	44,0	26,0	34,0	3
21	Mijic Vladimir		SRB	2190	5,5	42,0	26,0	32,5	30
22	Galunov Todor	FM	BUL	2278	5,5	37,5	27,0	29,5	9
23	Simonyi Zoltan	FM	SRB	2247	5,5	37,5	24,5	30,0	1
24	Perunovic Miodrag	IM	SRB	2419	5,0	50,0	30,5	39,0	-7
90 players

Battle of Senta 1697 Open B (SRB), 18-25 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	BK.	FIDE	BK.	Rtg+/-
1	Radivojevic Miladin		SRB	2166	7,5	50,5	41,5	40,0	9
2	Djuretanovic Ivan		SRB	2140	7,0	53,0	38,0	40,5	11
3	Vrban Rok		SLO	1953	7,0	49,5	35,5	38,5	48
4	Pardic Oliver	FM	SRB	2163	7,0	46,5	31,5	36,0	-2
5	Grabez Vojko		SRB	1700	6,5	53,0	35,0	41,0
6	Hajdu Istvan		HUN	2073	6,5	50,5	35,0	39,0	4
7	Haragos Kalman		HUN	2074	6,5	48,0	30,5	37,5	-5
8	Majstorac Zoran		SRB	1800	6,5	45,5	32,5	36,0
9	Ruzicic Sinisa		SRB	2045	6,5	45,0	30,5	34,5	0
10	Dragojevic Leon		SRB	1931	6,5	41,5	29,5	32,5	20
11	Zivkovic Momcilo		SRB	2147	6,0	48,5	35,5	38,5	-12
12	Veceri Julius		SRB	2049	6,0	45,5	31,0	35,5	-6
13	Trajkovic Velibor		SRB	2009	6,0	44,0	29,0	35,5	-8
14	Lorinczy Janos		HUN	2003	6,0	44,0	27,0	34,5	17
15	Balatoni Gyorgy		HUN	1948	6,0	43,5	30,5	33,5	21
16	Luksic Vladimir		MNE	2171	6,0	43,5	28,5	34,0	-40
17	Osvath Zoltan		ROU	1945	6,0	42,5	30,0	32,5	4
18	Sakic Lorand		SRB	1986	6,0	42,5	27,5	32,5	-1
19	Ilic Slavisa		BIH	2081	6,0	41,5	24,0	32,0	-32
20	Agoston Aron		SRB	1918	6,0	41,0	27,5	31,5	-4
116 players

22) Curacao Open

The Curacao Open takes place 26th July - 4th August 2008. Swiss 9 Rounds. No games available.

Official site: http://www.curacaochess.net/

8th Curacao Chess Festival (CUR), 26 vii -4 viii 2008 Leading Round 2 (of 9) Standings:
Place	Name	NAT	Rtg	Loc Score	Progr.	M-Buch.	Buch.
1-10	Christiansen, Larry	USA	2577	2	3.0	2.0	2.0
	Zatonskih, Anna	USA	2446	2	3.0	2.0	2.0
	Bernal Moro, Luis Javier	ESP	2424	2	3.0	2.0	2.0
	Willemze, Thomas	NED	2398	2	3.0	2.0	2.0
	Werle, Jan	NED	2591	2	3.0	1.5	1.5
	Benjamin, Joel	USA	2577	2	3.0	1.5	1.5
	Swinkels, Robin	NED	2459	2	3.0	1.5	1.5
	Fridman, Daniel	GER	2637	2	3.0	1.0	1.0
	Carlsson, Pontus	SWE	2514	2	3.0	1.0	1.0
	Bohm, Hans	NED	2323	2	3.0	0.5	0.5
11	Mensing, Fabio	AHO	2112	1.5	2.0	1.0	1.0
12-29	Roose, Alex	AHO	2131	1	2.0	3.0	3.0
	Maduro, Sherman	AHO	2045	1	2.0	3.0	3.0
	Winklaar, Tito	AHO		1	2.0	3.0	3.0
	Ramos, Cesar	VEN	2158	1	2.0	2.5	2.5
	Betancourt, Pedro	VEN	2123	1	2.0	2.5	2.5
	Paricharak, Shardul	AHO	2011	1	2.0	2.5	2.5
	Gabaldon Gomez, Miguel Angel	ESP	2204	1	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Swinkels, Jos	NED	2074	1	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Fernandez Fernandez, Juan	ESP	2065	1	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Van Beek, Ard	NED	2049	1	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Olsen, Steffan	SWE		1	1.5	2.0	2.0
	Lopez, Juste	ARU	1941	1	1.0	2.0	2.0
	Zalm, Norman	AHO	1875	1	1.0	2.0	2.0
	Richardson, Quirino	AHO	1831	1	1.0	2.0	2.0
	Salim-Moussa, Seydi	AHO		1	1.0	2.0	2.0
	Arends, Andre	ARU		1	1.0	2.0	2.0
	Mahmood, Georgio	AHO		1	1.0	1.0	1.0
	Ruiz, Gregory	AHO		1	1.0	1.0	1.0
30-34	Salloum, Justin	TRI	1951	0.5	0.5	3.0	3.0
	Swinkels, Maurice	NED	1949	0.5	0.5	2.5	2.5
	Raphael, Christopher	TRI	1910	0.5	0.5	2.5	2.5
	Lopez, Jasel	ARU		0.5	0.5	1.5	1.5
	Matheu, Edwald	ARU		0.5	0.5	1.5	1.5
35-41	Christiansen, Natasha	USA	1963	0	0.0	3.5	3.5
	Sagredo, Claudio	AHO	1926	0	0.0	3.0	3.0
	Hodgson, Norman	AHO		0	0.0	3.0	3.0
	Izijk, Jimmy	AHO		0	0.0	2.0	2.0
	Paricharak, Nakul	AHO		0	0.0	2.0	2.0
	Picus, Marlon	AHO		0	0.0	2.0	2.0
	Pop, Serapio	AHO		0	0.0	2.0	2.0

23) Paleochora International Open

The Paleochora (southern Crete) International Open took place 21st-28th July 2008. Aleksandr Rakhmanov took first on tie-break from 8 others after they all finished on 7/9. Games from rounds 7 and 9 are missing.

Official site: http://www.chaniachess.gr

1st Open Paleochora (GRE), 21-28 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts	Fide
1	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	GM	RUS	2489	7	39
2	Postny Evgeny	GM	ISR	2661	7	38½
3	Kryvoruchko Yuriy	GM	UKR	2628	7	38
4	Milanovic Danilo	IM	SRB	2529	7	37½
5	Halkias Stelios	GM	GRE	2579	7	37
6	David Alberto	GM	LUX	2568	7	36
7	Perunovic Milos	GM	SRB	2589	7	35½
8	Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi	IM	IND	2411	7	35½
9	Parligras Mircea	GM	ROU	2588	7	34½
10	Gaponenko Inna	IM	UKR	2468	6½	37½
11	Holzke Frank	GM	GER	2516	6½	37
12	Dembo Yelena	IM	GRE	2431	6½	36
13	Oleksienko Mikhailo	GM	UKR	2588	6½	35
14	Shkapenko Pavel	IM	RUS	2404	6½	34½
15	Souleidis Georgios	IM	GRE	2431	6½	34½
16	Matsenko Sergei	IM	RUS	2440	6½	34½
17	Satyapragyan Swayangsu	IM	IND	2414	6½	34½
18	Prathamesh Sunil Mokal	IM	IND	2358	6½	34
19	Banikas Hristos	GM	GRE	2572	6½	33½
20	Kapnisis Spyridon	IM	GRE	2405	6½	31½
21	Govciyan Pavel	IM	FRA	2411	6½	31½
22	Henrichs Thomas	IM	GER	2491	6½	31
23	Livner Anders	FM	SWE	2311	6½	30
24	Klimov Anton	FM	RUS	2423	6	36½
226 players

24) Dutch Open Dieren

The Dutch Open takes place in Dieren 22nd-31st July 2008.

A total of approximately 500 players will be participating in 7 groups in this event. The main group has a First Prize of 2250 euros, and the best Dutch player will qualify for next year’s Dutch Championship.

Among the participants are: GMs Viacheslav Ikonnikov , Chanda Sandipan, Milos Pavlovic, Nikolai Shalnev, Dutch GMs Sipke Ernst , Erik van den Doel and Friso Nijboer , as well as a longer list of international masters and FIDE masters.

Details: http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/dieren2008

Dutch Open Dieren (NED), 22-31 vii 2008 Round 5 (of 9) Standings:
Nr	Name	Ti	Rating	Score	TPR
1	Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav	GM	2592	4.5	2652
2	Hendriks, Willy	IM	2425	4.5	2748
3	Bitalzadeh, Ali	FM	2310	4.5	2795
4	Van den Doel, Erik	GM	2567	4	2600
5	Pavlovic, Milos	GM	2515	4	2579
6	Sriram, Jha	IM	2429	4	2551
7	Sandipan, Chanda	GM	2588	3.5	2423
8	Nijboer, Friso	GM	2564	3.5	2410
9	Simutowe, Amon	IM	2459	3.5	2451
10	Brandenburg, Daan	IM	2431	3.5	2522
11	Van Delft, Merijn	IM	2399	3.5	2333
12	Wohl, Aleksandar H.	IM	2384	3.5	2386
13	Goldstern, Filip	FM	2370	3.5	2297
14	Rothuis, Vincent		2357	3.5	2518
15	Van Eijk, Sander	FM	2315	3.5	2451
16	Otte, Marijn		2267	3.5	2466
17	Goudriaan, Etienne		2098	3.5	2436
18	Ernst, Sipke	GM	2581	3	2376
19	Odendahl, Reiner	FM	2434	3	2331
20	Wiersma, Eelke	IM	2419	3	2354
21	De Jong, Migchiel	FM	2324	3	2424
22	Diepeveen, Vincent	FM	2262	3	2317
23	Wilgenhof, Otto		2218	3	2273
24	Struik, Tjapko		2203	3	2350
25	Kuling, Lody		2196	3	2286
26	Van den Berg, Harmen		2195	3	2344
27	Bosch, Jeroen	IM	2444	2.5	2228
28	Kuipers, Stefan	FM	2321	2.5	2193
29	Miedema, Roi	FM	2303	2.5	2287
30	Michalczak, Thomas	FM	2297	2.5	2373
31	Zelbel, Patrick		2286	2.5	2349
32	De Groote, Ewoud		2251	2.5	2213
33	Hartoch, Rob	IM	2224	2.5	2073
34	Ootes, Lars		2223	2.5	2139
35	Laarhoven, Thijs		2219	2.5	2174
36	Van den Bersselaar, Jeroen		2186	2.5	2228
37	Boel, Marcel		2184	2.5	2280
38	Van Opheusden, Bas		2172	2.5	2292
39	Lommers, Frank		2171	2.5	2345
40	Rietveld, Renze		2168	2.5	2166
41	CM Theulings, Paul-Peter		2148	2.5	2174
42	Kabanof, Nikolai		2132	2.5	2143
43	Mellema, Andries		2067	2.5	2248
44	Boulahfa, Hicham		1985	2.5	2123
45	Monteban, Martijn	FM	2280	2	2071
46	Vogel, Jaap	FM	2253	2	2094
73 players

25) Mlada Boleslav Open

The Mlada Boleslav Chess Festival (Czech Republic) sees GM, IM and Open events and takes place 27th July - 3rd August 2008.

Official site: http://caissa.klain.cz/

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr14270.aspx

26) British Chess Championships

The 95th Championships of The British Isles organised by the English Chess Federation takes place Sunday 27th July - Saturday 9th August 2008 in St. George's Hall, Liverpool.

Official site: http://www.britishchess08.com

95th ch-GBR Liverpool (ENG), 28 vii - 9 viii 2008 Round 1 Results
Bd	White		Result	Black
1	Buckley, Graeme	2401	0-1	Jones, Gawain C	2549
2	Pert, Nicholas	2547	1/2	Kolbus, Dietmar	2393
3	Horner, Jeff	2372	1/2	Conquest, Stuart	2536
4	Lalic, Bogdan	2533	1-0	Eggleston, David J	2372
5	Knott, Simon J B	2365	1/2	Hebden, Mark	2520
6	Haslinger, Stewart G	2511	0-1	Rendle, Thomas	2363
7	Berry, Stephen H	2363	0-1	Gordon, Stephen	2508
8	Arkell, Keith C	2506	1/2	Rudd, Jack	2345
9	Lalic, Susan	2344	0-1	Gormally, Daniel	2504
10	Williams, Simon K	2496	1/2	Quillan, Gary	2339
11	Mason, Don	2268	1/2	Flear, Glenn C	2493
12	Davies, Nigel R	2478	1-0	Storey, Charles	2268
13	Ledger, Dave	2260	0-1	Trent, Lawrence	2470
14	Pert, Richard	2468	0-1	Zhou, Yang-Fan	2259
15	Barrett, Stephen J	2251	0-1	Greet, Andrew N	2453
16	Ledger, Andrew	2423	1-0	Kett, Tim	2247
17	Tiruchirapalli, Venkatar	2247	0-1	Houska, Jovanka	2405
18	Addison, Bret C	2244	1/2	Dilleigh, Stephen P	2131
19	Shaw, Peter	2127	0-1	Hanley, James L	2243
20	Lyell, Mark	2232	1-0	Yeo, Michael J	2110
21	Coathup, Roger H	2105	1/2	Briscoe, Christopher	2232
22	Hawkins, Jonathan	2232	1-0	Ynojosa, Felix Jose	2101
23	Waters, Clive L	2096	0-1	James, Russell	2225
24	Jackson, Oliver	2221	1-0	Davis, Lee	2071
25	Grigoryan-Lyell, Meri	2053	0-1	Rayner, Francis	2207
26	Townsend, Paul	2204	1-0	Sen, Subin	2050
27	Coates, David H	2037	0-1	Goodger, Martyn	2187
28	Surtees, Mike	2182	1/2	Russell, Christopher	2036
29	Garnett, John S	2030	1-0	Gavriel, Tryfon C	2180
30	James, David J	2177	1/2	Elwin, Adrian	2022
31	Gibson, Christopher A	2003	0-1	Gregory, Stephen J	2177
32	Williamson, Roger G	2169	0-1	Auckland, Elliott	1990
33	Woods, Connor	1934	1-0	Cox, Tristan	2144
34	Ledger, Stephen	2138	1-0	McCullough, Simon L	1910

27) Arad Open (Romania)

The Arad International Chess Open (Romania) takes place 25th-31st July 2008.

Official site: http://www.vados.ro/next_turneu_en.php

28) Baltic Sea Cup

The Baltic Sea Cup 2008 (Bornholm Summer Chess) takes place in Denmark 29th July - 6th August 2008. 10 round swiss. Top players already signed up include: GM Michael Roiz 2659, GM Sergei Tiviakov 2635, GM Igor Khenkin 2609, itali Golod 2606, GM Yuriy Kuzubov and GM Zoltan Gyimesi 2600.

Official site: http://www.balticseacup.dk

29) Chess Classic Mainz

The Chess Classic Mainz takes place 28th July - 3rd August 2008. In the main event the players are Viswanathan Anand, Alexander Morozevich, Magnus Carlsen and Judit Polgar. The event will be a combine rapid and chess960 chess.

Official site: http://www.chesstigers.de

30) Ikaros Chess Festival

The main event of the Ikaros Chess Festival, the International Aegean Open Championship took place 12th-20th July 2008 in Aghios Kirykos on Ikaria Island. Hristos Banikas took first place from Robert Markus on tie-break after both finished on 7½/9. Final round games now available.

Official site: http://www.chess.gr/ikaros .

Aegean Open Aghios Kirykos (GRE), 12-20 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name		FED	IRtg	Pts	BH.	Rtg+/-
1	Banikas Hristos	GM	GRE	2572	7½	56	10
2	Markus Robert	GM	SRB	2572	7½	54½	8
3	Postny Evgeny	GM	ISR	2661	7	59½	2
4	Henrichs Thomas	IM	GER	2491	7	55	10
5	Lekic Dusan	IM	MNE	2377	7	53	6
6	Siebrecht Sebastian	IM	GER	2453	7	52½	5
7	Shneider Aleksandr	GM	UKR	2537	6½	56½	2
8	Lubczynski Rafal	IM	POL	2414	6½	55	14
9	Nikolov Momchil	IM	BUL	2500	6½	53	-5
10	Kostiukova Liubov	IM	UKR	2224	6½	51½	8
11	Melnikova Yana	WGM	RUS	2256	6½	50½	3
12	Zakurdjaeva Irina	WGM	RUS	2308	6½	50	-3
13	Srebrnic Ana	WGM	SLO	2268	6½	48	0
14	Dounis Alexandros		GRE	2162	6½	47½	-9
15	Barbagiannis Panayotis		GRE	1875	6½	45	44
16	Raeva Elitsa	WFM	BUL	2307	6	51½	8
17	Koukoufikis Alexandros		GRE	2252	6	51½	-11
18	Brinck-Claussen Bjorn	IM	DEN	2296	6	50½	-11
19	Hahabis Nikolaos		GRE	2031	6	50	44
20	Dolzhikova Olga	WGM	UKR	2256	6	50	-13
21	Lagopatis Nikolaos		GRE	2232	6	49½	-9
22	Kostas Panagiotis		GRE	1895	6	45½
23	Lazaridis Stavros		GRE	2160	6	45½	-3
24	Suslin Alexander		RUS	2157	6	45½	5
25	Masouros Panagiotis		GRE	1932	6	44½	2
26	Stamatopoulos Ioannis		GRE	2149	6	43	-18
153 players

31) Paraguayan Championship

The Paraguayan Championship took place in Asuncion 31st May - 20th July 2008. Eduardo Peralta, Luis Patriarca, Enrique Butti and Angel Hernandez will play off for the title after all finished on 8.5/11. My thanks to Zenon Franco for the games.

Official site: http://www.winner.com.py/feparaj/

ch-PAR Asuncion (PAR), 31 v-20 vii 2008 Final Round 11 Standings:
1	Peralta, Eduardo	8.5	68.0	55.50
2	Patriarca, Luis	8.5	65.0	53.50
3	Butti, Enrique	8.5	64.5	52.50
4	Hernandez, Angel	8.5	63.0	53.50
5	Ferreira, Oscar	7.0	68.0	56.00
6	Kropff, Ricardo	5.5	66.5	58.00
7	Galeano, Mario	5.5	57.5	46.00
8	Recalde, Ariel	5.5	53.5	42.00
9	Del Puerto, Rodrigo	5.0	67.0	54.50
10	Sartori, Sergio	5.0	62.5	50.50
11	Piris, Eduardo	5.0	61.0	49.00
12	Almiron, Antonio	5.0	60.0	48.00
13	Recalde, Augusto	5.0	54.0	42.00
14	Barrientos, Edgar	5.0	52.5	43.00
15	Zarza, Ronald	5.0	34.5	29.00
16	Gutierrez, Santiago	4.0	55.5	44.00
17	Gamarra, Ramon	4.0	45.0	39.50
18	Jodorcovsky, Paulo	4.0	44.0	35.50
19	Perez Ferloni ,Jose	3.5	51.5	40.00
20	Forte, Fernando	3.5	47.5	39.00
21	Britez, Jorge	3.5	41.0	35.50
22	Lipiniks, Leonardo	3.0	48.0	39.50
23	Ibanez, Juan	1.0	17.0	8.50

32) III Oviedo Open

The III Oviedo Open takes place 23rd-31st July 2008.

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

III Oviedo Open (ESP), 23-31 vii 2008 Leading Round 6 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	Rp
1	Almeida Quintana Omar	GM	CUB	2525	CUB	5,5	20,5	2708
2	Alvarez Pedraza Aramis	IM	CUB	2453	CUB	5,5	19,0	2672
3	Filip Lucian		RUM	2461	RUM	4,5	17,5	2516
4	Olea Perez Mario		ESP	2217	ESP	4,5	16,5	2320
5	Manolache Marius	GM	RUM	2521	RUM	4,0	21,5	2503
6	Starostits Ilmars	IM	LAT	2497	LAT	4,0	20,5	2448
7	Guerrero Olmos Sergio	FM	ESP	2325	ESP	4,0	18,5	2354
8	Guliyev Namig	GM	AZE	2510	AZE	4,0	18,0	2432
9	Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G	GM	ESP	2526	ESP	4,0	17,0	2328
10	Pozo Vera Sandro	FM	CUB	2454	CUB	4,0	17,0	2395
	Vigil Alvarez Luis Javier	FM	ESP	2291	ESP	4,0	17,0	2290
12	Vega Viejo Marcelino		ESP	2180	ESP	4,0	17,0	2195
13	Andres Gonzalez Ivan	FM	ESP	2314	ESP	4,0	17,0	2334
14	Agüera Naredo Javier	FM	ESP	2381	ESP	4,0	16,0	2367
15	Cascudo Pueyo Ignacio		ESP	2123	ESP	4,0	14,0	2236
16	Fernandez Palacio Eduardo		ESP	2033	ESP	4,0	14,0	2136
17	Lopez Colon Francisco		ESP	2230	ESP	4,0	13,5	2034
18	Garcia Alvarez Javier		ESP	1883	ESP	4,0	13,0	1842
19	Gonzalez Vidal Yuri	IM	CUB	2464	CUB	3,5	19,0	2322
20	Arruebarrena Rafael		VEN	2266	VEN	3,5	18,5	2292
21	Diaz Fernandez Ivan		ESP	2179	ESP	3,5	17,0	2078
22	Suarez Garcia Carlos		ESP	1932	ESP	3,5	16,5	2053
23	Fernandez Cueto Ruben		ESP	1964	ESP	3,5	16,0	0
24	Prieto Busto Luis		ESP	2060	ESP	3,5	15,0	1979
25	Alvarez Fernandez Enrique	FM	ESP	2358	ESP	3,0	18,0	2248
101 players

33) Dresden ZMD Open

The ZMD Open took place in Dresden 19th-27th July 2008. Ehsan Ghaem Maghami won the event somehow that I can't really work out but which maybe involved playing drawn games again as blitz games or maybe a knockout at the end. The final table is below.

Official site: http://www.schachfestival.de/

ZMD Open Dresden (GER), 19-27 vii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Player	Ti	NAT	TWZ	+	=	-	Punkte	Buch	SoBerg
1	Ghaem Maghami,Ehsan	GM	IRI	2597	3	6	0	9	52	393.5
2	Ovsejevitsch,Sergei	GM	UKR	2582	4	5	0	8	54	381.5
3	Kovalev,Andrei	GM	BLR	2576	6	3	0	7.5	54	379.5
4	Savchenko,Stanislav	GM	UKR	2557	5	4	0	7.5	53	373
5	Bobras,Piotr	GM	POL	2563	4	5	0	7.5	52.5	376.5
6	Graf,Alexander	GM	GER	2629	5	3	1	7.5	52	384
7	Heberla,Bartlomiej	GM	POL	2510	7	2	0	7.5	47.5	370.5
8	Kempinski,Robert	GM	POL	2614	6	3	0	7	53	380.5
9	Mamedov,Nidjat	GM	AZE	2564	6	2	1	7	51	364
10	Maiwald,Jens-Uwe	GM	GER	2500	5	4	0	7	50	377.5
11	Naumann,Alexander	GM	GER	2502	5	4	0	7	50	371.5
12	Markowski,Tomasz	GM	POL	2606	3	6	0	7	48.5	371.5
13	Lobzhanidze,Davit	IM	GEO	2488	6	2	1	7	48.5	364
14	Farago,Ivan	GM	HUN	2482	6	2	1	7	48	360.5
15	Svetushkin,Dmitry	GM	MDA	2587	6	2	1	7	48	350.5
16	Malakhatko,Vadim	GM	BEL	2612	6	2	1	7	46.5	373.5
17	Zozulia,Anna	IM	BEL	2346	7	0	2	7	46	367
18	Jaracz,Pawel	GM	POL	2501	6	2	1	7	45.5	368.5
19	Fedorchuk,Sergey	GM	UKR	2624	5	3	1	6.5	52	363
20	Hertneck,Gerald	GM	GER	2519	6	2	1	6.5	51	362.5
21	Miezis,Normunds	GM	LAT	2540	5	3	1	6.5	50	362
22	Lauridsen,Jesper Morch	FM	DEN	2262	5	2	2	6.5	48.5	368.5
23	Hoffmann,Michael	IM	GER	2469	5	4	0	6.5	48.5	351
24	Zeberski,Jakub	IM	POL	2396	5	3	1	6.5	47	366
25	Wigger,Jochen		GER	2291	6	1	2	6.5	47	355.5
26	Voigt,Roland	FM	GER	2381	6	1	2	6.5	47	354.5
27	Braun,Vitali	FM	GER	2334	5	3	1	6.5	46.5	372
28	Roesemann,Rainer		GER	2226	5	3	1	6.5	46.5	346.5
29	Heck,Norbert	FM	GER	2312	5	2	2	6.5	46	355.5
30	Pitschka,Claus	FM	GER	2301	6	1	2	6.5	46	349
31	Figura,Atila Gajo	FM	GER	2407	5	2	2	6.5	45.5	354.5
32	Nuber,Korbinian		GER	2140	4	5	0	6.5	45	359.5
33	Bente,Bjoern		GER	2259	6	1	2	6.5	45	350.5
34	Schoene,Maria		GER	2186	5	2	2	6.5	44.5	356
35	Hirneise,Jens		GER	2251	6	2	1	6.5	44.5	349
36	Kotainy,Jens		GER	2127	4	4	1	6.5	44.5	342
37	Neumann,Michael		GER	2150	6	1	2	6.5	44	344
38	Jeske,Mark		GER	2135	5	3	1	6.5	43.5	335
39	Kunz,Konstantin		GER	2231	4	4	1	6.5	42.5	350
40	Paehtz,Elisabeth	IM	GER	2481	5	3	1	6	51	347.5
41	Yemelin,Vasily	GM	RUS	2579	4	4	1	6	49.5	360
42	Bracker,Frank		GER	2264	6	1	2	6	46.5	353
43	Heinig,Wolfram,Dr.	FM	GER	2332	5	1	3	6	46.5	350
44	Brühl,Andreas	FM	GER	2378	4	3	2	6	45	339
45	Horvath,Peter	GM	HUN	2490	4	4	1	6	44.5	363
46	Donchenko,Anatoly	IM	GER	2399	2	7	0	6	44.5	348
47	Moeller,Hendrik		GER	2164	6	0	3	6	44.5	332
48	Guenther,Thomas		GER	2141	5	1	3	6	44	342
49	Ballon, Günther Jan	FM	NED	2190	5	2	2	6	44	333
50	Bracker,Arne		GER	2173	6	1	2	6	43.5	340.5
300 players

34) 38th Continental Open

George Mirijanian reports: The 38th Continental Open took place July 24-27, 2008 at the Host Hotel at Cedar Lake in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, USA. GM Alexander Stripunsky of New York captured first place with a score of 5-1. Tying for 2nd-5th place with tallies of 4.5-1.5 were GMs Jaan Ehlvest of New York, Alexander Ivanov of Massachusetts and Sergey Erenburg of Maryland, as well as national master Marc Esserman of Florida. The tournament drew 230 players in seven sections was directed by William Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. He was assisted by U.S. Chess Federation senior TD Robert Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire. Complete crosstables are available at: http://masschess.org

35) X Sants Hostafrancs Open and ICC Internet Qualifier

The X Sants Hostafrancs Open takes place 22nd-31st August 2008. There is a qualifier on ICC 31st July - 3rd August 2008.

Official site: http://www.cotxeres-casinet.org/open/ and further info on the ICC qualifier at: http://www.chessclub.com

36) Forthcoming Events and Links

Dresden Olympiad

The Olympiad takes place in Dresden 12th-25th November 2008.

Official site: http://dresden2008.de

Grand Slam in Bilbao

The Chess Grand Slam Final takes place in Bilbao 1st-13th September 2008. There are 6 players. The first three are the winners of Corus 2008, Morelia - Linares 2008, and Mtel Masters 2008 - GM Levon Aronian, GM Viswanathan Anand, and GM Vassily Ivanchuk. Invitations have been sent also to the second place players - GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Veselin Topalov. The sixth player will be known after the next meeting of the board of the Chess Grand Slam. This news

Source: http://grandslam.chessdom.com/chess-grand-slam-bilbao

Official site for the event: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com

3rd Edmonton International

The 3rd Edmonton International takes place July 31st-August 4th, 2008 and is the main event of the 3rd Edmonton chess festival which will also include many events for all levels of players.

It is a masters only Swiss with GM/IM norm opportunities. The top participants so far are: GMs Alexander Moiseenko (2632, Ukraine), Surya She Ganguly (2631, India), Alexander Shabalov (2611, USA), Mark Bluvshtein (2548, Canada), GM elect Josh Friedel (2524, USA), GM Jesse Kraai (2513, USA) and more strong players. Besides the main event, sectional tournaments and other chess related events will be happening at the same time as part of the Edmonton Chess Festival.

Official site: http://www.ecf2008.com

Copa Mercosur

The Copa Mercosur takes place 19th July - 7th August 2008.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezmartelli.org.ar/magistrales/2008/mercosur08/mercosur2008.htm

17th Martigny Open

The 17th Martigny Open takes place 1st-4th August 2008.

Official site: http://www.uve-wsb.ch/openmartigny

12th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament

The 12th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament takes place in Vlissingen, August 2nd-9th, 2008.

The 12th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament in Vlissingen will be the strongest Dutch Summer Open of 2008. 250 players, among them more than 30 titleholders, will compete in the Hogeschool Zeeland, Edisonweg 4 in Vlissingen, in a 9 rounds Swiss. Three months before the first move will be made all places available for amateurs were sold out. Players include: GM Farrukh Amonatov (Tadzjikistan, 2650), GM Konstantin Landa (Russia, 2615), GM Lazaro Bruzon (Cuba, 2592), GM Vyacheslav Ikonnikov (Russia, 2592), GM Chanda Sandipan (India, 2588), GM Sipke Ernst (Holland, 2581), GM Friso Nijboer (Holland, 2564), GM Alexandr Fier (Brazil, 2558), IM Krikor Mekhitarian (Brazil, 2504) and GM Ralf Akesson (Sweden, 2480).

Official site: http://www.hztoernooi.nl

2nd Berkeley Masters

The 2008 Berkeley Masters takes place December 14th-23rd 2008 in Berkeley, California, finishing two days before the start of the North American Open in Las Vegas. It is a 10 round swiss, open to players rated fide 2200+. Space in the tournament and conditions for some Grandmasters are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Prize fund $5000 US. Info at http://dotq.org/chess

British Rapidplay

The British Rapidplay takes place 29th-30th November 2008.

Details: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/

Hungarian Chess Tournaments July 2008 - March 2009

1. 19th-28th of July 2008 KECSKEMET, IM-FM 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.

2. 2nd-14th of August, 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 Phone-fax: +(361)-2632859, cellphone: +(36)-30-230-1914. From 12:00 a.m. until midnight - Central European Time = GMT+1.

3.16th-25th of August, IM-FM tmt, Kecskemet, org: Erdelyi

4.6th-18th of September GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L,

5.20th -29th September IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org Erdelyi

6.4th-16th of October, GM-IM-FM tmt, First Saturday Budapest, org.Nagy L.

7.18th-30th of October, SAKKAKADEMIA, GM-IM closed, org: WGM Csonkics, Tunde, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

8.18th-27th of October IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org Erdelyi.

9.1st-13th of November GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L.

10. 15th-23rd of November, Kecskemet, IM dr.Erdelyi.

11.14th-22nd of November Tenkes Kupa Open, Harkany, 300 km South-West from Budapest, 9 round Swiss, org: Ambrus Lajos, mobile: 36-30-851-4224 e-mail: info@baranyasakk.hu www.baranyasakk.hu

12.6th-18th of December GM-IM-FM tmt, First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L.

13.27th of Dec - 5th of January IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org: Erdelyi.

14.9th-17th of January, EVADNYITO Open 9 rounds Swiss, Budapest, org: IA FAZEKAS, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

15.23rd of January - 2nd of February, BALASSAGYARMAT WINTER, GM-IM closed, 100 km North from Budapest, Org: Nagy Laszlo, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

16.7th-19th of February, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM Budapest - org: Nagy Laszlo, www.firstsaturday.hu - info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

17.7th-19th of March, First Saturday, Budapest, GM-IM-FM, org Nagy L.

18.20th-28th of March, 25th BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy L. - e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

IX Miguel Mas Open

The IX Miguel Mas Open takes place in Castell de Sant Ferran de Figueres 2nd-9th August 2008.

Official site: http://www.escacsfigueres.com/IXobert/index.html

Sitges Open

The Sitges Open takes place 22nd-30th July 2008.

Official site: http://www.casinoprado.cat/

XXXIV Badalona Open

The XXXIV Badalona Open takes place 1st-9th August 2008.

Official site: http://cesantjosep.com/open/

XVIII La Pobla de Lillet Open

The XVIII La Pobla de Lillet Open takes place 2nd-10th August 2008.

Official site: http://www.celillet.net/

XI Bancpost Open

XI Bancpost Open takes place in Miercurea Ciuc (Romania) 18th-24th August 2008, with a prize fund of 1000 Euro. Organizers: IM Biro Sandor & Caissa Miercurea Ciuc.

Official site: http://www.caissa.nextra.ro

Contact: caissa@topnet.ro, birosandor64@yahoo.com

38) IV Alajuela International

The IV Alajuela International Chess Tournament (Costa Rica) took place 8th-13th July 2008. Rodolfo Arias reports that 17 year old Peruvian talent Emilio Cordova, (considered to be Julio Granda´s succesor) scored 8 wins (including a last round brilliant defensive game against g.m. Victor Mikhalevski) and one loss, to Nº 1 seeded, european champion Sergei Tiviakov of Holland.

Games from the first three rounds only currently available but more should become available.

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

Antwerp Tournament

The Antwerp tournament takes place 23rd-31st August 2008.

Official site: http://www.inventichess.com the website http://www.schaakfabriek.be will be on the spot.

Antwerp International (BEL), 23-31 viii 2008
Name	Age	Title	Country	Ranking	Elo
Xiangzhi Bu	22	GM	China	1	2710
Rafael Vaganian	57	GM	Armenia	5	2594
Evgenij Miroshnichenko	29	GM	Ukraine	13	2593
Jan Werle	24	GM	Netherlands	7	2591
Zoltan Gyimesi	31	GM	Hungary	5	2586
Jan Timman	56	GM	Netherlands	11	2562
Kateryna Lahno	18	GM	Ukraine	53	2507
Gerhard Schebler	39	GM	Germany	84	2453
Bart Michiels	21	IM	Belgium	5	2442
Geert Van der Stricht	36	IM	Belgium	7	2426

Tournoi international de Montreal

The Tournoi international de Montreal takes place 24th August - 2nd September 2008. This year it will be a closed Category XIII tournament (not as strong as last year but there are plans for a much stronger event next year). The main sponsor is the EMPRESA Group. [News: Igor-Alexandre Nataf]

Players: Hikaru Nakamura, Yuri Shulman, Varuzhan Akobian, Anton Kovalyov, Sebastien Maze, Igor-Alexandre Nataf, Mark Bluvshtein, Pascal Charbonneau, Thomas Roussel Roozmon and Igor Zugic.

I couldn't find a website at the moment most probably there will be a link from http://fqechecs.qc.ca/

Bratto Open

The 28th Bratto Open takes place August 22th-30th 2008. Many GMs and IMs. Very good prizes Moreover Italian women championship and Italian Under 20 Championship. Bratto is a little town in the beautiful mountains near Bergamo.

Details: http://www.scaccobratto.com

Norwegian Championship

The Norwegian Championship took place 5th-13th July 2008. Jon Ludvig Hammer and Frode Elsness both finished on 6.5/9 and will play off for the title at a date to be announced.

Official site: http://nm2008.sjakkweb.no/

SPICE Cup

The SPICE Cup takes place September 19th-28th 2008 at the Texas Tech Student Union Building. Eugene Perelshteyn is the defending champion.

Official website: http://www.SPICE.ttu.edu

SPICE Cup (RUS), 19-28 ix 2008. Category 15 (2605)
Name	NAT	USCF	FIDE
Alexander Onischuk	USA	2734	2670
Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2724	2668
Leonid Kritz	GER	2667	2610
Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2660	2610
Gregory Kaidanov	USA	2664	2605
Julio Becerra Rivero	USA	2640	2598
Victor Mikhalevski	ISR	2679	2592
Kamil Miton	POL	2703	2580
Hannes Stefansson	ISL	2597	2566
Eugene Perelshteyn	USA	2619	2555

Commonwealth Chess Championship

The Commonwealth Chess Championship takes place 28th September - 6th October 2008 in Nagpur, India. Good conditions for GM/WGMs. Contact: Praful Zaveri (prafulzaveri@hotmail.com) for further information.

Further details: http://www.indianchessfed.org/tournamentreports08/ccwealth-at-Nagpur.asp

Romgaz Open

The 2nd edition of the "Open Romgaz" takes place 11th-19th September 2008 at the Polytechnical Institute of Bucharest, with a prize fund of 20000 Euro (a record for Romania!). Organizers: Romgaz & ACS "Elisabeta Polihroniade". - Free accomodation for all GM &WGM and full board for GM over 2500 & for WGM. The tournament will be preceded by "Open Romgaz Junior", 5th-11th September 2008 at the same venue, with a prize fund of 3000 Euro.

Official site: http://www.frsah.ro

Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2009

The organizers of the 71st Corus Chess Tournament have invited the young Dutch Grandmasters Daniel Stellwagen (1987) and reigning Dutch Champion Jan Smeets (1985) for the Grandmaster group A in 2009. For both players it means a debut on the highest level. Together with Loek van Wely, they will represent the Netherlands in the traditional chess festival, that will be held from Friday January 16th to Sunday 1st of February 2009.

Besides the participation of the above mentioned three Dutch players, the following World Class players have confirmed their participation: Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Gata Kamsky (United States) and Teymour Radjabov (Azerbaijan). Carlsen, Ivanchuk and Morozevich will be in the Top-6 of the new World Ranking list, that will be published on July 1st 2008.

The young Ukrainian Grandmaster Sergei Karjakin, as well as the winner of last year’s Grandmaster group B, Sergei Movsesian (Slovakia), have also confirmed their participation. The complete field with 14 participants will be presented in October 2008, as well as the names of the participants in the Grandmaster groups B and C.

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

Torino, Italy

The Torino tournament in (Italy) takes place 30th November 2008 - 8th December 2008. 9 Round swiss top group (B Group 7 rounds). Contact for entries and info tornei@scacchisticatorinese.it

Official site: http://www.scacchisticatorinese.it

Tal Memorial

The Tal Memorial in Moscow should take place in August; Magnus Carlsen will take part only in the blitz competition (August 29th-30th, according to http://Magnuschess.com).

Ideal Max Euwe

The Ideal Max Euwe International Tournament takes place 22nd-31st August 2008. The 10 player round robin, time control 2 hours/40 moves + 1 hour/20 moves + 30 minutes KO (+ 30 seconds/move) features 3 players from BRAZIL + 7 players from another countries Cat. VII, VIII or IX. at the Clube de Xadrez Sao Paulo

Details: http://www.cxsp.com.br/

Staunton Memorial

The Staunton Memorial takes place Simpsons in the Strand August 7th-18th 2008 (one rest day August 13th).

Players: Ivan Sokolov, Jan Timman, Jan Smeets , Jan Werle, Erwin L'Ami ,Loek Van Wely, Jonathan Speelman, Peter Wells, Michael Adams, Bob Wade, Alex Cherniaev and Nigel Short.

Details: http://www.bcf.org.uk/national/2008/staunton-mem_apr08.htm

Hastings Chess Congress

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place 28th December 2008 - 5th January 2009. Contact: Con Power at: conpowr@ol.com

Further details: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk

European Club Cup

The European Club Cup 2008 (24th European Club Cup for Men, 13th European Club Cup for Women) takes place in Kallithea, Greece 16th-24th October 2008.

Official site: http://ecc2008.chessdom.com/

Amizade International

The Amizade International at the Clube de Xadrez Sso Paulo takes place 23rd-31st August

Official site: http://www.cxsp.com.br

European Senior Championship

The European Senior Championship takes place 9th-17th August 2008 in the Parkhotel Sunstar in Davos, Switzerland (the is also a normal open alongside 10th-16th August 2008). Contact e-mail beochess@bluewin.ch

Details: http://www.beochess.ch

Chess Study

Do you have an FIDE rating?

Dr. Robert Howard of the University of New South Wales in Australia is carrying out a study of chess skill in internationally rated players. The study looks at effects of amount of practice, coaching and age of starting chess on chess skill and at chess players' views about chess skill. The study involves a short online survey. The survey is for anyone who has, or who ever has had, an FIDE rating.

The survey takes only about 5-10 minutes to complete. All responses are completely confidential. The survey is available in English, Spanish, Russian, and German.

To take part, you must know your exact FIDE ID number, which will be something like "14200887". ID numbers are posted on the FIDE website at http://www.fide.com

A summary and analysis of the study findings will be posted here when it is complete and will be emailed to any participant who requests it.

If you would like to participate, please go to this website: http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/

For any queries, please contact Dr Robert Howard, University of New South Wales, on rwh@unsw.edu.au

Latvian Chess Tour - Riga Open

The VIII World chess championship Mikhail Tal Cup (Riga OPEN 2008) takes place 19th-24th August 2008.

Contact details: Riga Chess Federation, Braslas street 7, Riga, LV-1035. Ph.(+371) 28804664 Alberts Cimins or +371 25939234 Vadims Daskevics Fax +371 67718960, e-mail: acimins@yahoo.com or vadik.dashkevich@gmail.com

Details of this and other events on the Latvian Chess Tour: http://www.chess.lv/lv/vesture/

17th Martigny Open

The 17th Martigny Open takes placed 1st-4th August 2008 in the à l'Hôtel du Parc. 7 round swiss - 36 moves /1h30 + 30 minutes ko. 1st Prize: 1500 francs, 5650 francs total prize fund.

Details: http://www.uve-wsb.ch/openmartigny

Olomouc Chess Summer

The 11th International Chess Festival Olomouc Chess Summer 2008 takes place 30th July - 7th August 2008. Closed GM and IM tournaments, FIDE open, seniors tournament, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival.

Details: http://www.czechtour.net/olomouc-chess-summer/regulations/

5th Highlands Open

The 5th International Chess Festival Highlands Open 2008, takes place in the town of Zdar nad Sazavou 20th-28th September 2008.

Details: http://www.czechtour.net/highlands-open/regulations/

World Championship Match Anand vs Kramnik in Bonn

The World Championship match where Viswanathan Anand will defends his World title against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany will now take place October 14th-2nd November, 2008. The main reason for the slight change in dates is to fit in with the sponsors and politicians ability to attend the opening. The main sponsor is Evonik Industries AG and the prizemoney 1,5 Million Euro. The contract was signed by both players 18th December 2007.

Dates for the match: Gm1: Oct 14th, Gm2: Oct 15th, Gm3: Oct 17th, Gm4: Oct 18th, Gm5: Oct 20th, Gm6: Oct 21st, Gm7: Oct 23rd, Gm8: Oct 24th, Gm9: Oct 26th, Gm10: Oct 27th, Gm11: Oct 29th, Gm12: Oct 31st, Tiebreak Nov 2nd.

Advanced booking for the World Chess Championship 2008 between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) has started. The tickets are available at the price of 35 Euro per day. The following benefits are included: - entrance to the playing hall - entrance to the commentary room with analysis by prominent grandmasters. The tickets are available at all ticket agencies in Germany. You can also buy tickets for the match in advance via BONNTICKET: http://www.bonnticket.de tickets@bonnticket.de. Tel. +49-(0)-180/5001812. Tickets for a possible tiebreak on November 02, 2008, will be available after the 12th game. Exclusive VIP tickets are also available. Details at the website below along with features on the leadup to the championships.

Website: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

Panevezys Open

The 21st International Panevezys Open 2008 takes place in Panevezys, Lithuania 12th-18th August 2008. Two Open A and Open B and two closed norm tournaments second woman WGM and GM takes place in chess Festival program this year.

More details: http://www.chesslyga.lt/panevezys2008

For information e-mail: chessfanas@gmail.com

Open "Mediterranean 2017" Rijeka

The Open "Mediterranean 2017" Rijeka (CRO) takes place 29th November - 6th December 2008.

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

Blackstone Chess Festival

Blackstone Chess Festival incorporating the New England Masters - 11th-17th August 2008.

The New England Masters will take place at the Blackstone Chess Academy, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA, from August 11-15, 2008. The event will be a 9 round Swiss with GM/IM norm opportunities and a prize fund of $3,300. The Masters is open to a maximum of 50 players rated FIDE 2100 or higher. Please visit http://www.NewEnglandMasters.com for more info.

The Masters event will be followed by the Blackstone Open on August 16-17, 2008, at the same location. This event will be a 4 round Swiss, split into two sections, an Open (minimum rating USCF 1600) and an Under 1900 Section. The total prize fund is $4,000. Please visit http://www.blackstonechess.com/event88g.htm for more info.

I Masters of Olalachess Academy Training Camp

The I Masters of Olalachess Academy Training Camp takes place in Salou, Spain 1st-7th September 2008.

Details: http://www.masters.olalachess.com

13th Pannonia Cup

The 13th Pannonia Cup takes place in Balatonalmádi (Hungary) 30th July - 3rd August 2008 International Open for FIDE ratings (without age limit)

Contact details: Fáncsy Imre: 8222. Balatonalmádi, Gábor Áron u. 15.; HUNGARY E-mail: almadikupa@freemail.hu

Details: http://fancsyimi.fw.hu

2nd Queenstown Chess Classic 2009

Queenstown Chess Classic takes place in Queenstown, South Island of New Zealand 15th-24th January 2009.

This will be the second such event, the first was held in Jan 2006.

The Tournament promoter is GM Murray Chandler. Over $50,000 (NZ) is being offered in prizes with additional prizes in the Rapid and Blitz events being held on January 25th-26th 2009.

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

GM Boris Alterman's Chess Lessons

GM Boris Alterman has a blog with free chess lessons on it.

Website: http://chesslessons.wordpress.com/

8th Savaria Summer

The 8th Savaria Summer International Chess Tournament takes place 14th-22nd August 2008, Szombathely, Hungary

Details: http://sakk.savaria.hu/main.php?Lang=EN

Arctic Chess Challenge

The Arctic Chess Challenge 2008 takes place August 2nd - 10th in Tromsø, Norway. Contact address: simsim64@gmail.com

Details: http://www.arcticchess.org

Last year's event had 99 participants and was won by Alexander Moiseenko ahead of Kjetil Lie, Vugar Gashimov and Magnus Carlsen.

European Union Championships, Liverpool 2008

This years European Union Championships takes place in Liverpool, England 9th - 18th September 2008. The prize fund is 30,000 pounds with 6000 pounds first prize. Already 29 Grandmasters have entered including Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Alexander Beliavsky, Sergei Tiviakov and Maxim Vachier-Lagrave.

Details: http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk

VII Benidorm International Chess Festival 2008

The VII Benidorm International Chess Festival takes place 28th November - 8th December 2008. For information contact: E-Mail: eventosdeajedrez@yahoo.es festivaldebenidorm@gmail.com News: Patricia Claros Aguilar.

FIDE Grand Prix Events

The line ups for the FIDE Grand Prix events have been announced. The top four players in the world, along with players such as Morozevich and Shirov are missing. It seems that in the case of Kramnik and Topalov that they believe that the event doesn't have big enough prize money (according to quotes in Chess Today). All this was more or less known beforehand. However the players who have signed up make this a very attractive and interesting series of events. The grand prix is organised by Global Chess which is headed by Bessel Kok.

Details: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1607

FIDE Grand Prix 2008-9
Surname	First Name	NAT	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	Ck	08	Criteria	WRk
Svidler	Peter	RUS	2763	2763	2763		2763		2763	4	2	Pres Nom	5
Mamedyarov	Shakhriyar	AZE	2760	2760		2760	2760		2760	4	2	Rating	6
Leko	Peter	HUN	2753			2753	2753	2753	2753	4	1	Rating	8
Ivanchuk	Vassily	UKR	2751		2751		2751	2751	2751	4	1	Rating	9
Aronian	Levon	ARM	2739		2739		2739	2739	2739	4	1	Rating	10
Gelfand	Boris	ISR	2737		2737		2737	2737	2737	4	1	Rating	11
Radjabov	Teimour	AZE	2735	2735	2735	2735	2735			4	3	Rating	12
Carlsen	Magnus	NOR	2733	2733		2733	2733		2733	4	2	Wcup	13
Karjakin	Sergey	UKR	2732	2732	2732		2732	2732		4	2	Wcup	14
Adams	Michael	ENG	2726	2726		2726		2726	2726	4	2	Reserve	16
Kamsky	Gata	USA	2726	2726	2726		2726	2726		4	2	Matches	15
Jakovenko	Dmitry	RUS	2720		2720	2720		2720	2720	4	2	Hcity	17
Cheparinov	Ivan	BUL	2713	2713	2713	2713			2713	4	3	Pres Nom	19
Grischuk	Alexander	RUS	2711	2711	2711	2711	2711			4	3	Reserve	21
Bacrot	Etienne	FRA	2700	2700		2700	2700	2700		4	2	Pres Nom	22
Wang	Yue	CHN	2698	2698	2698	2698		2698		4	3	Pres Nom	25
Inarkiev	Ernesto	RUS	2681	2681		2681		2681	2681	4	2	Hcity	34
Navara	David	CZE	2680	2680	2680			2680	2680	4	2	Hcity	37
Gashimov	Vugar	AZE	2665	2665	2665	2665		2665		4	3	Hcity	48
Pelletier	Yannick	SWZ	2600			2600	2600	2600	2600	4	1	Hcity	165
Al Modiahki	Mohamad	QTR	2569		2569	2569	2569		2569	4	2	Hcity	274
AVERAGE RATING				2715.9	2709.9	2697.4	2714.9	2707.7	2708.9
Player Count	21		2709.1	14	14	14	14	14	14	84	42

Event 1 April 20th - May 6th 2008, Baku, Azerbaijan
Event 2 July 30th - August 15th 2008, Sochi, Russia
Event 3 December 13th - 29th, 2008, Doha, Qatar
Event 4 April 14th - 28th, 2009, Montreux, Switzerland
Event 5 August 8th - 24th, 2009, Elista, Russia
Event 6 December 7th - 23rd, 2009, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes Each Event
Place	EUR	Points
1	30,000	140 + 40 bonus
2	22,500	130 + 20
3	20,000	120 + 10
4	15,000	110
5	12,500	100
6	11,000	90
7	10,000	80
8	8,500	70
9	7,500	60
10	6,000	50
11	5,500	40
12	5,000	30
13	4,500	20
14	4,000	10

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes for Final Standings (Best three events)
Pl	Prize (Euros)
1st	75,000
2nd	50,000
3rd	40,000
4th	30,000
5th	25,000
6th	20,000
7th	18,000
8th	16,000
9th	14,000
10th	12,000

X Sants Open

The X International Open of Sants, Hostafrancs and la Bordeta (Barcelona - Spain) takes place 22nd-31st August 2008. 10 round swiss system tournament with + 12.000 euros in prizes.

Other activities include a blitz tournament and rapid chess tournament with 1500 euros in prizes. Last year: 500 players from 40 countries including 70 titled players competed. There were 2 GM and 5 IM norms.

Details: http://http://www.cotxeres.org/open

The 8th European Senior Championship

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2008" will present the 7th Chess Summer Festival in Davos from August 9th to 17th, 2008. The main event will be the 8th European Individual Senior Championship. The second tournament will be traditional, 7th Davos Open.

8th European Individual Senior Championship, August 9th to 17th 2008. "Sunstar Park Hotel" (4 stars) will be host festival in Congress Center. Swiss system, 9 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till the end). Valid for FIDE titles and rating: FIDE, Swiss (SSB) and German (DWZ). Seniors: men born 1947 and earlier; women born 1957 and earlier. Prize (men): 2.500/1.700/1.000/700/600/500/2x400/2x300 CHF. 3-4 group rating prize (200/150/100 CHF). Women: 400/300/3x200 CHF; Entry fee 80 CHF; at the door 20 CHF more. Time table: Rounds 1 15.00-21.00 August 9th; Round 2/8 9.30-15.30 August 10th-16th; Round 9 9.30-15.30 August 17th.

7th Davos Open, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Prize are: 1.000 SF, 800, 600, 400, 300, 200, 2x150 CHF. Natural prizes for 4 and more points. Entry fee 130 CHF, FMs and juniors 60 CHF, GMs and IMs free; juniors lodging at Sunstar Park Hotel free; at the door 20 CHF more. Time table: Rounds 1 15.00-21.00 August 10th; Round 2/7 16.00-22.00 August 10th-16th. Venue: "Sunstar Park Hotel" Congress Center. Closing ceremony August 17th, 4 p.m. Info Beochess: +41+62+9654-650 (Robert Spoerri) Email beochess@bluewin.ch or read the website: http://www.beochess.ch

Alushta Diary 2008

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. phone +38 (06560)5-05-32,

Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua

Anand - Kramnik World Championship Match

A Press release from UEP Promotions announces that Viswanathan Anand will defend his World title against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany October 11th-30th October, 2008. Main sponsor Evonik Industries AG and prizemoney 1,5 Million Euro. The match will be 12 games followed by playoffs if required. The contract was signed by both players 18th December 2007.

Website: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

Mindsports

The World Mindsports games takes place in Beijing, China after the Olympics 3rd -18th October 2008.

Details: http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/Calendar/files/WorldMindSportsGames2007.pdf.

Etienne Bacrot's Website

Etienne Bacrot has a website at: http://www.chess22.fr/ with his analysis and news. Very worth while, especially when he's playing.

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

THE WEEK IN CHESS 716 28th July 2008 by Mark Crowther

Sponsored by the London Chess Centre

Dresden Olympiad

Grand Slam in Bilbao

3rd Edmonton International

Copa Mercosur

17th Martigny Open

12th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament

2nd Berkeley Masters

British Rapidplay

Hungarian Chess Tournaments July 2008 - March 2009

IX Miguel Mas Open

Sitges Open

XXXIV Badalona Open

XVIII La Pobla de Lillet Open

XI Bancpost Open

Antwerp Tournament

Tournoi international de Montreal

Bratto Open

Norwegian Championship

SPICE Cup

Commonwealth Chess Championship

Romgaz Open

Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2009

Torino, Italy

Tal Memorial

Ideal Max Euwe

Staunton Memorial

Hastings Chess Congress

European Club Cup

Amizade International

European Senior Championship

Chess Study

Latvian Chess Tour - Riga Open

17th Martigny Open

Olomouc Chess Summer

5th Highlands Open

World Championship Match Anand vs Kramnik in Bonn

Panevezys Open

Open "Mediterranean 2017" Rijeka

Blackstone Chess Festival

I Masters of Olalachess Academy Training Camp

13th Pannonia Cup

2nd Queenstown Chess Classic 2009

GM Boris Alterman's Chess Lessons

8th Savaria Summer

Arctic Chess Challenge

European Union Championships, Liverpool 2008

VII Benidorm International Chess Festival 2008

FIDE Grand Prix Events

X Sants Open

The 8th European Senior Championship

Alushta Diary 2008

Anand - Kramnik World Championship Match

Mindsports

Etienne Bacrot's Website

ICC and FICS client for mobile phones