THE WEEK IN CHESS 733 24th November 2008 by Mark Crowther

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Mark Crowther
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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Dresden Olympiad
3) 9th Liberec Open International
4) XXXII Tenkes Cup Harkany
5) US Chess League
6) Young stars of the world
7) 63rd Oklahoma Open State Championship
8) III Open Internacional Caceres
9) Austrian Team Championship
10) OIBM Bad Wiessee
11) World Seniors
12) Forthcoming Events and Links

Games Section
Dresden Olympiad2515 games
9th Liberec Open International104 games
XXXII Tenkes Cup Harkany40 games
US Chess League8 games
Young stars of the world42 games
63rd Oklahoma Open State Championship44 games
Austrian Team Championship108 games
OIBM Bad Wiessee313 games
World Seniors1 game
3175 games

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Deep Fritz 11

UK/World - US/CAN

My 60 Memorable Games

ChessBase Now Out

1) Introduction

My thanks to Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Jan Mazuch, Frank Berry, Harald Grafenhofer, Harold Corke, Ian Rogers, Juergen Wempe, Miklos Orso, Gabor Pali, Ulrich Dirr and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Just one round of the Olympiad to go and the battle is between Armenia, Ukraine, Israel and China for the main medals, Russia have a chance to medal but the gold has already gone for the favourites. The new match point scoring system is in place for this Olympiad rather than just adding the number of board points achieved. I like it as a system (I never liked the real weight an easy draw and a 4-0 result in the final round could really make a huge difference and also this system rewards real teamwork and team fighting spirit more) but clearly it also has its problems, especially when combined with a shorter Olympiad and a pairing system that could be changed. In addition there is a new rule that players not there at the start of the round will be defaulted, there was a variation in the way this was enforced (see Ian Rogers excellent report: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8922/497/). This rule may become general athough as Ian Rogers reports there isn't much enthusiasm for a strict starting time, 15 minutes seemed to have more support, Nigel Short suffered badly from an opponent being very late in an event last year and he certainly called for a more professional time limit for arrival, and I would agree with that. It was also nice to see all the players there at the start so perhaps a system that players should be there for the start with warnings and fines if there is not an excuse and an absolute default after 15 minutes would be the best compromise.

Whilst there have been some problems with the games, in general I've been very happy with the live coverage of the Olympiad and results (chessresults.com certainly deserves praise) considering the size of the event and I've certainly found it easier than in years past (although my computing skills are a little better too) I think if I have a complaint its that the problems they have had should have been solvable given that they'd solved most of the difficult technical problems. I still think there needs to be a bulletin editor to remove extranious moves at the end of games and generally to check things and there should have also been a way to automatically check the live results and compare them with chessresults.com.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Dresden Olympiad

The Olympiad takes place in Dresden 12th-25th November 2008. England's sponsorship by Liverpool Victoria also known as LV= has ensured the participation of their best players Adams and Short. Topalov, Morozevich, Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Aronian, Radjabov, Leko, Jakovenko, Wang Yue are amongst the leading players. Full coverage here.

Official site: http://dresden2008.de - Europe-Echecs Videos - ICC Weblog https://webcast.chessclub.com/blog/ - ChessVibes videos and reports: http://www.chessvibes.com - Olympiad Chess Results.com

38th Olympiad Dresden (GER), 13-25 xi 2008
Leading Round 10 of 11 Standings
Rg.SnrTeamTeamAnz+ = - Wtg1 Wtg2 Wtg3 Wtg4
19ArmeniaARM108111733912828.5
22UkraineUKR1073017309.513325
38IsraelISR1072116315.512325.5
43ChinaCHN1072116291.512225.5
51RussiaRUS107121530912725
620NetherlandsNED107121529211626
712SpainESP107121527011225.5
810United States of AmericaUSA107121526611425.5
94AzerbaijanAZE106221430512526.5
1037VietnamVIE106221429611926.5
115HungaryHUN1062214284.511525
1217GeorgiaGEO1070314277.511925.5
1314RomaniaROU107031426511324
1415EnglandENG1062214261.512024
1523BelarusBLR105411425711425
167FranceFRA106221425112123.5
1722SerbiaSRB107031425111723.5
1811Germany 1GER1105321329013024
196BulgariaBUL1061313276.511126.5
2021PolandPOL1061313256.511125.5
2125SlovakiaSVK1061313247.510826
2213IndiaIND106131324211623
2328SloveniaSLO106131322810923.5
2424CroatiaCRO1061313226.510422.5
2534KazakhstanKAZ1061313225.510524.5
2635LithuaniaLTU105321322310623
154 teams

38th Olympiad Dresden Women (GER), 13-25 xi 2008
Leading Round 10 of 11 Standings
Rg.SnrTeamTeamAnz+ = - Wtg1 Wtg2 Wtg3 Wtg4
19PolandPOL108111730212526
22UkraineUKR106401634312227.5
34GeorgiaGEO1072116330.512128
410SerbiaSRB1072116277.511925.5
57United States of AmericaUSA107121532111928
61RussiaRUS106311529812127
73ChinaCHN106221432813325.5
86ArmeniaARM1070314288.512225.5
95FranceFRA106221427510828
1011IndiaIND1062214274.512023.5
1116RomaniaROU107031425111824.5
1217NetherlandsNED107031424611822.5
138HungaryHUN1061313268.512224.5
114 teams

3) 9th Liberec Open International

The 9th Liberec Open International Chess Festival took place 15th-22nd November 2008 in Liberec in the (the Czech Republic). Pavel Vavra won on tie-break from Sebastian Plischki after both scored 8/9. Games from rounds 6-9 are not yet available.

Official site: http://www.czechtour.net/liberec-open/results-and-games/ and games at http://www.czechtour.net/liberec-open/games/

9th Open Liberec (CZE), 15-23 xi 2008
Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.NameFEDRtgIPts.TB1
1Vavra PavelIMCZE2299854.5
2Plischki SebastianIMGER2409853
3Golcman EvgenyRUS22526.549
4Navratil sen. JiriCZE21286.548
5Snorek MilanCZE21576.546
6Kucera Petr 88CZE21436.542
7Benes PetrCZE2156654.5
8Meszaros Ludek Ing.CZE2223652.5
9Bartos JanFMCZE2203651.5
10Kaderabek JiriCZE2201648.5
11Kopasov EvgenyRUS2046647.5
12Broucek TomasCZE1990643.5
13Sisak RichardCZE2051643
14Jakovlev JuriEST05.550
15Kucera JaroslavCZE20125.548.5
16Cakl ZdenekCZE21105.548.5
17Mojzis Jan Ing.CZE21575.547.5
18Tesar Jan JUDr.CZE21235.547
19Braun MarekCZE20535.546.5
20Sielicki TomaszPOL20635.546
21Paldus PetrCZE20425.544.5
22Jina LubosCZE19535.543
23Hollmann ZdenekCZE20315.543
24Blahacek Evzen Ing.CZE20145.542
25Navratil jun. JiriCZE18445.538
92 players

4) XXXII Tenkes Cup Harkany

The XXXII Tenkes Cup took place in Harkany 14th-22nd November 2008. Fidel Corrales Jimenez won the event with 7.5/9. In addition this was the Open Hungarian Championship. The final standings were: 1. Erdos, Viktor 7,0 points 2. Rapport, Richard 6,5 (he is 12 years old and won the last two rounds against GM Czebe, Attila and IM Gonda, Laszlo) 3. Banusz, Tamas 6,0 4. Cao, Sang 6,0 5. Horvath, Adam 6,0 6. Pap, Gyula 6,0

XXXII Tenkes Cup Harkany (HUN), 14-22 xi 2008
Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank Name TiFed. Rating Score BH SB TPR
1Corrales Jimenez, Fidel IMCUB 25527.55343.52715
2Erdos, Viktor GMHUN 2577750382637
3Arngrimsson, Dagur GMISL 2392749.536.752628
4Malaniuk, Vladimir P GMUKR 2534748.537.252605
5Savchenko, Stanislav GMUKR 25656.550.5362618
6Jankovic, Alojzije GMCRO 25486.547.533.52599
7Saric, Ante GMCRO 25056.54533.252467
8Rapport, Richard GMHUN 23236.545312533
9Banusz, Tamas IMHUN 249865434.252518
10Cao, Sang GMHUN 2491652332561
11Nguyen, Huynh Minh Huy IMVIE 2452651312461
12Horvath, Adam GMHUN 251465030.752505
13Pap, Gyula IMHUN 246764931.252459
14Kjartansson, Gudmundur GMISL 2284648.529.52492
15Shishkin, Vadim GMUKR 2502648302438
16Berczes, David IMHUN 251464730.52504
17Csiszar, Csaba IMHUN 243764629.52463
18Meszaros, Tamas IMHUN 243264628.52435
19Trent, Lawrence IMENG 2470645.527.752449
20Gara, Anita WGMHUN 2312644.5272444
21Duong, The Anh IMVIE 2420644282455
22Gvetadze, Sopio IMGEO 2361643.525.52445
23Bradford, Joseph M IMUSA 2423641.526.252377
24Gonda, Laszlo IMHUN 25075.550.529.252476
25Abergel, Thal IMFRA 25095.55030.252518
26Gordon, Stephen J IMENG 25215.548.529.52529
27Melia, Salome IMGEO 24105.545.5252458
28Tatar Kis, Szabolcs IMHUN 23875.54423.752378
29Kovac, Boris GMSLO 23365.543.5242369
30Vrban, Mladen GMCRO 22955.54121.52331
31Balazs, Gabor HUN 22835.54119.752310
32Zakharchenko, Arnold IMUKR 22885.53720.52288
33Amrein, Roland GMHUN 22395.536.517.752149
34Bokros, Albert IMHUN 2477553.527.52453
35Okhotnik, Vladimir IMFRA 244555026.252399
36Mihok, Oliver GMHUN 234554824.52356
37Guivan, Vasily UKR 217454723.52384
38Szabo, Krisztian IMHUN 252054623.252391
39Koban, Balint HUN 221054318.52267
40Leviczky, Tibor GMHUN 2303542.520.252299
41Thorfinnsson, Bragi IMISL 238354221.752316
42Vegh, Endre IMHUN 229354221.52223
43Lazar, Ales ml. GMSLO 228954220.52342
44Csirik, Andras HUN 2324540202248
45Feher, Adam HUN 2229539.518.252260
46Toth, Sarolta WGMHUN 2154539.5202244
47Borsos, Bogdan IMUKR 236353820.752217
48Varga, Klara HUN 207253820.52228
49Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor IMISL 24304.549.521.752394
50Czebe, Attila GMHUN 24684.54921.252368
121 players

5) US Chess League

The 2008 season of the US Chess League started 25th August 2008. Semi finals took place on 19th November 2008.

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

US Chess League ICCINT, 27 viii-29 xi 2008
Semifinals:
19th November 2008
BostonvsCarolina
1GMEugene PerelshteynBOSvsIMLev MilmanCAR1/2
2FMOleg ZaikovCARvsSMJorge Sammour-HasbunBOS1/2
3SMMarc EssermanBOSvsFMRon SimpsonCAR1/2
4NMCraig JonesCARvsNMIlya KrasikBOS0-1
MiamivsDallas
1GMJulio BecerraMIAvsIMMarko ZivanicDAL1/2
2IMDavorin KuljasevicDALvsFMBruci LopezMIA1-0
3FMOsmany PereaMIAvsFMIgor SchneiderDAL1/2
4WFMBayaraa ZorigtDALvsMatan PrilleltenskyMIA1-0

6) Young stars of the world

The Young Stars of the World Somov Memorial takes place 15th-28th November 2008 in Kirishi city (Leningrad region) in their Culture Palace. Among participants there are twelve strongest chessplayers of the world and Russia.

Official site: http://www.somovs-memorial.ru/ Further information: http://www.bs-chess.com/russian.html (RUS) and http://www.bs-chess.com/latin/english.html

Young Stars of the World Kirishi RUS (RUS), 16-28 xi 2008 cat. V (2359)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Shimanov, Aleksandr m RUS 2476 * ½ 1 . . 1 1 . 1 1 1 1 2796
2. Zherebukh, Yaroslav m UKR 2473 ½ * 1 ½ 1 . 1 1 . . 1 1 7 2687
3. Swiercz, Dariusz m POL 2478 0 0 * ½ . 1 ½ . 1 1 1 . 5 2475
4. Giri, Anish f RUS 2466 . ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 . . 1 2409
5. Firat, Burak TUR 2237 . 0 . ½ * 1 . ½ ½ 0 1 1 2394
6. Lintchevski, Daniil m RUS 2502 0 . 0 ½ 0 * . 1 1 1 1 . 2391
7. Fedoseev, Vladimir3 f RUS 2312 0 0 ½ 0 . . * 1 1 1 ½ . 4 2378
8. Kovalev, Vladislav f BLR 2318 . 0 . ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ 1 . 1 2300
9. Bukavshin, Ivan f RUS 2376 0 . 0 1 ½ 0 0 ½ * . . 1 3 2291
10. Ganichev, Alexander RUS 2148 0 . 0 . 1 0 0 0 . * ½ ½ 2 2163
11. Paikidze, Nazi wf GEO 2292 0 0 0 . 0 0 ½ . . ½ * ½ 2106
12. Aghasaryan, Robert f ARM 2235 0 0 . 0 0 . . 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 2026

7) 63rd Oklahoma Open State Championship

The 63rd Oklahoma Open State Championship took place 8th-9th November 2008. Sergey Kudrin won with 4.5/5.

63rd Oklahoma Open State Championship (USA), 8-9 xi 2008
Final Round 5 Standings:
1Sergey KudrinGM25534.5
2Sergey Galant21764
3Mike LangerFM22693.5
4M MovsisyanFM22153.5
5Tom Braunlich21673.5
6Conrad Holt22593.5
7Chuck Johnson16533
8Jim Berry20453
9Terry Wright2.5
10Bill Orton21672.5
11Bran Whitcomb20142.5
12Devin Hughes20182
13Judson Temple19482
14Richard Burchett2
15Kenny Lin19211.5
16E. Maldonado SR1.5
17Steve Wharry20941.5
18Daniel Gollub1
19Les Kline19461
20Frank Berry19811
21Shaun Graham20890.5

8) III Open Internacional Caceres

The III Open Internacional Caceres took place 22nd-23rd November 2008. Julio Granda Zuniga won the two day rapid with 7.5/9. Zuniga is down as being from Chile which he certainly wasn't in the last rating list, I don't know if he has moved.

III Open Internacional Caceres 2016 (ESP), 22-23 xi 2008
Final Round 9 Standings:
1 Granda Zuniga, Julio CHI 2628 7.5 7 55.0 50.5
2 Fedorchuk, Sergey UKR 2603 7 5 52.5 48.5
3-7 Strikovic, Alexa SRB 2533 6.5 6 51.0 48.5
Del Río de Angelis, Gabriel ESP 2531 6.5 6 50.0 46.0
Barria Zuniga, Daniel CHI 2422 6.5 6 45.5 41.5
Vitoux, Colomban FRA 2449 6.5 6 38.5 36.0
Korneev, Oleg RUS 2623 6.5 5 54.5 49.5
8-12 Guerra Bastida, Diego ESP 2420 6 6 46.0 42.0
Cifuentes Parada, Roberto ESP 2526 6 5 51.5 47.5
Dolezal, Cristian ARG 2423 6 5 50.0 46.0
Guerra Tulcan, Lenin ECU 2304 6 5 46.5 44.0
Mirzoev, Azer AZE 2567 6 4 51.5 46.5
13-16 Kovacevic, Slobodan SRB 2404 5.5 5 47.0 43.0
Kurajica, Bojan CRO 2540 5.5 5 44.5 40.5
Perez Candelario, Manuel ESP 2520 5.5 4 50.0 46.5
Paunovic, Dragan SRB 2532 5.5 4 48.5 44.5
74 players

9) Austrian Team Championship

The Austrian team championship started in St Veit 7th-9th November 2008, the 11 round competition has further rounds 22nd-25th January and 19th-22nd March 2009. Players in the first three rounds included: Sergei Movsesian, Hikaru Nakamura, Emil Sutovsky, Jan Gustafsson and Alexander Beliavsky.

Official site: http://www.chess.at/ and results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr12353.aspx?art=2&lan=1&m=-1

TCh-AUT 1st Bundesliga 2008-9 St Veit (AUT), 7 xi 2008 - 22 iii 2009
Round 3 of 11 results:
Round 1 on 2008/11/07 at 16.00
No.TeamTeamRes.:Res.
1Holz DohrSK Kl.Ztg.MPO Maria Saal3:3
2Husek WienUnion Ansfelden5:1
3SK Advisory Invest BadenASVO Pamhagen2:4
4SK ASVO Raika St.Veit/Gl.SK Hohenems2:4
5Styria GrazASVO Wulkaprodersdorf:
6SK AbsamSparkasse Jenbach:
Round 2 on 2008/11/08 at 14.00
No.TeamTeamRes.:Res.
1SK Kl.Ztg.MPO Maria SaalSparkasse Jenbach4:2
2ASVO WulkaprodersdorfSK Absam:
3SK HohenemsStyria Graz3:3
4ASVO PamhagenSK ASVO Raika St.Veit/Gl.3:3
5Union AnsfeldenSK Advisory Invest Baden½:
6Holz DohrHusek Wien2:4
Round 3 on 2008/11/09 at 10.00
No.TeamTeamRes.:Res.
1Husek WienSK Kl.Ztg.MPO Maria Saal2:4
2SK Advisory Invest BadenHolz Dohr:
3SK ASVO Raika St.Veit/Gl.Union Ansfelden4:2
4Styria GrazASVO Pamhagen:
5SK AbsamSK Hohenems:
6Sparkasse JenbachASVO Wulkaprodersdorf3:3

TCh-AUT 1st Bundesliga 2008-9 St Veit (AUT), 7 xi 2008 - 22 iii 2009
Round 3 of 11 Standings:
Rk.Team123456789101112TB1 TB2
1SK Kl.Ztg.MPO Maria Saal* 443117
2Husek Wien2* 451106
3ASVO Pamhagen* 4310.57
4SK Advisory Invest Baden2* 103
5SK Absam* 9.56
6SK Hohenems* 349.54
7Styria Graz3* 94
8SK ASVO Raika St.Veit/Gl.32* 494
9Sparkasse Jenbach2* 38.54
10Holz Dohr32* 8.54
11ASVO Wulkaprodersdorf3* 81
12Union Ansfelden1½2* 3.50

10) OIBM Bad Wiessee

The 12th Offene Internationale bayerische Meisterschaft 2008 took place in Bad Wiessee 1st-9th November 2008. Eduard Romain took clear first with 7.5/9. Games now available.

Official site: http://www.ti-bad-wiessee.de/Schach_cms/

12th OIBM Bad Wiessee (GER), 1-9 xi 2008
Final Round 9 Standings:
PlPlayerTiNatEloPtsBuchhGegWrt
1Edouard,RomainIMFRA25317.5572405
2Burmakin,VladimirGMRUS26257552395
3Eingorn,VereslavGMUKR25577552328
4Prusikin,MichaelGM25387542277
5Schneider,Ilja2486753.52322
6Naumann,AlexanderGM25187532375
7Zude,ArnoIM24517532334
8Teske,HenrikGM25137532279
9Khmelniker,IlyaIMISR2443752.52384
10Meins,GerlefIM2460752.52308
11Yemelin,VasilyGMRUS25737522346
12Hossain,EnamulGMBAN24947522310
13Jaracz,PawelGMPOL2513750.52312
14Devereaux,MaximIMENG2415750.52288
15Hoffmann,MichaelIM2469748.52228
16Bachmann,AxelGMPAR25556.5552354
17Meister,PeterIM23886.551.52291
18Farago,IvanGMHUN24896.551.52281
19Handke,FlorianGM24986.551.52279
20Llaneza Vega,MarcIMESP24856.549.52274
21Weber,UlrichFM24116.549.52245
22Raykhman,Alexande22626.5492250
23Nagel,Bernhard22346.5492237
24Jugelt,Tobias23946.548.52186
25Koepke,ChristianFM23566.5482244
26Jussupow,Ekaterin21406.5482242
27Graf,Felix22876.5482176
28Forchert,MartinFM23856.547.52212
29Lupor,AndreFM23216.5472204
30Morawietz,Dieter24496.546.52213
31Schrems,Hermann21266.5462138
32Pena Gomez,ManuelFMESP24676.5452213
33Andersson,UlfGMSWE25626.5402257
34Henrichs,ThomasIM2485655.52366
35Kaplan,SashaIMISR2425652.52205
36Mainka,RomualdGM24826502290
37Korsus,Bernd22726502180
38Pirrot,DieterIM24466492239
38Skembris,SpyridonGMGRE24226492239
40Boehle,Lars22456492185
41Reefschlaeger,HelmIM23216482203
42Haub,Thorsten MicIM2454647.52201
43Salvermoser,BerndFM23046472227
44Krüger,Rainer,Dr.2216646.52129
45Loew,GeraldFM23076462203
46Arnaudov,Petar G.FMBUL23446462200
47KrAEmer,Stefan2264645.52213
48Koenig,DietrichFM23536452113
49Wichmann,Daniel,D21976432097
50Wegerer,FredFMAUT2227642.52107
51Markl,Martin21986422040
52Hajenius,WillemBEL2045640.52057
353 players

11) World Seniors

The 18th World Seniors takes place in Bad Zwischenahn 28th October - 9th November 2008. Mihai Suba was the top seed but was edged out on tie-break by Karry Kaufman after both scored 9/11. One corrected result.

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

12) Forthcoming Events and Links

Brazilian Championship

75th Brazilian Championship takes place in Porto Alegre, capital of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul 7th-16th December, 2008. 12 players (round robin tournament) with top seed GMs Giovanni Vescovi, Rafael Leitão, Gilberto Milos and Alexandr Fier.

http://www.fgx.org.br/

Championship of Israel

34th Israel Chess Championship takes place November 30th - December 12th, 2008 at the MadaTech chess club in Haifa, Israel. PlayE4 a new online site sponsors and is contributing the 1st prize 10,000 ILS (about $2,570). PlayE4 is also providing a broadcast platform for the most highlights of the chess championship, allowing chess fans to watch the games live, online, and for free. Website: http://www.playe4.com/

Mecking vs Flores Match

There is a match between Henrique Mecking and Diego Flores in Brasilia, Brazil (4th-6th, December 2008) 4th Dec - 4 blitz games with 5 minutes per player 5th Dec - 1st classic game - 90 minutes + 30 seconds/moves 6th Dec - 2nd classic game - 90 minutes + 30 seconds/moves

Nanjing Super GM

There is a Super GM Tournament in Nanjing, China taking place place 10th - 22nd December 2008. Six-player double round robin event.

Players: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2791; Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2786; Levon Aronian g ARM 2757; Movsesian Sergei g 2732 SVK; Peter Svidler g 2727; Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2714.

It will be the strongest tournament ever held in China (at least by Elo average, 2751.6, making it a category 21 tournament)

The Nanjing tournament will become super one like Wijk aan Zee, Sofia, and Linares.

Further info: http://www.64ge.net/ and Gujuan Tzu's Chessnews Blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

Hastings Chess Congress

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

Currently leading entries for the HASTINGS MASTERS BERG Emanuel, SWE, gm 2623, HOWELL David, ENG, gm 2593, NEVEROV Valeriy, UKR, gm (current Hastings Masters Champion) 2571, JONES Gawain, ENG, gm 2548, CONQUEST Stuart, ENG, gm (current British Champion) 2526, PAVLOVIC Milos, UKR, gm 2524, GORDON Stephen, ENG, im 2521, HEBDEN Mark, ENG, gm 2515, GORMALLY Daniel, ENG, gm 2514, HASLINGER Stewart, ENG, gm 2506, WILLIAMS Simon, ENG, 2494, BERNAL MORO Luis Javier, ESP, im 2451, GREET Andrew, ENG, im 2440, HUNT Adam, ENG, im 2431, HOUSKA Jovanka, ENG, wgm 2399, BATES Richard, ENG, im 2387

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

Chess Study

Dr Robert Howard is making a study of rated chess players.

The full article: http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/results

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

Corus A-Group 2009

The 71st Corus Chess tournament takes place Friday, January 16th to Sunday, February 1st, 2009 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov are the favourites for the event in the absence of world champion Viswanathan Anand, challenger Vladimir Kramnik and World Number one Veselin Topalov. This shake up of the field with these three regular missing has really freshened things up and should make for exciting chess, in the usual way they do things they'll probably be all back next year.

Five players will make their debut in the A-group: the young Dutch grandmasters Jan Smeets and Daniel Stellwagen, the sensational Wang Yue from China, who climbed up to the 11th place on the latest world ranking list, the winner of Grandmastergroup B in 2008, Sergei Movsesian, and Leinier Dominguez from Cuba (ranked 21st on the FIDE October rating list).

The official participants lists of Grandmaster groups B and C will be published later this year. Together with all amateur players and participants in the special groups, approximately 2,000 chess players are expected to come to Wijk aan Zee for the traditional chess festival in the small beach village at the west coast of The Netherlands, approximately 25 kilometers from Amsterdam.

As from January 2009, the rate of play in Grandmaster groups A, B and C will change. The rate of play will be: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, followed by 15 minutes with 30 seconds per move increment to finish the game.

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

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee A-Group
(NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009
Alexander MorozevichRUS227871977
Vassily IvanchukUKR327861969
Magnus CarlsenNOR427861990
Levon AronianARM727571982
Teimour RadjabovAZE827511987
Wang YueCHN1127361987
Michael AdamsENG1227341971
Sergei MovsesianSLW1327321978
Sergei KarjakinUKR1527301990
Gata KamskyUSA1627291974
Leinier DominguezCUB2127191983
Loek van WelyNED26181972
Daniel StellwagenNED26051987
Jan SmeetsNED26041985

British Rapidplay

British Rapidplay Chess Championships 2008 Venue: North Bridge Leisure Centre, Halifax HX3 6TE Dates: Saturday 29th / Sunday 30th November 2008 All entries postmarked on or after Monday 24th November are subject to a £6 surcharge. Entries on the day are subject to a £12 surcharge. Late entries close at 10.30 am.

Further information at http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk

Benidorm Stars

The VII Benidorm International Chess Festival takes place 28th November - 8th December 2008. The stars section sees Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov, Sergey Tiviakov, Katherine Lahno, Xavi Vila, Sabrina Vega etc compete.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezbali.com and http://www.eventosdeajedrez.com

18th Pamplona International

18th Pamplona International consists of a invitational Grandmaster tournament, and an open 9 round tournament. Both tournaments take place from 22nd December - 29th December 2008.

The invitational Grandmaster tournament is an eight-player round robin. Players are: GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2694, IND), GM Roiz, Michael (2677,ISR), GM Malakhov, Vladimir (2675, RUS), GM Vallejo, Pons Francisco (2664,ESP), GM Caruana, Fabiano (2640,ITA), GM Delchev, Aleksander (2632,BUL), GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2616,RUS), and GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan (2556,ESP).

Official website: http://www.chesspamplona.com/

21st Belgrade Trophy 2008

The 21st Belgrade Trophy 2008 takes place in Obrenovac (near Belgrade). The Belgrade Open, Belgrade Trophy, or International Belgrade Open Chess Championship takes place November 27th - December 5th, 2008. Prize fund is 6000 EUR (1st Place - 1200 EUR) consists of 15 best place and 8 special prizes. The Championship will be played in 9 rounds according to the FIDE Swiss System (computer pairing). The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves plus 30 minutes till the end of the game. The organizer has provided participation of minimum 20 foreign players, to make possible achievemnet of international norms for FIDE titles. Tournament protector is Parliament of Belgrade City. Organizers: Belgrade Chess Federation and Obrenovac City.

All informations you can get on the phone +381 11 2656 846 or E-mail: beochess@EUnet.yu (Belgrade Chess Federation)

Official site: http://www.beochess.org.yu/2008/trofej_beograda2008/english_bgopen2008.html

Jose Marca Memorial

The III Open Internacional ITT Jose Marca Memorial takes place in 10th-18th Lima January 2009. Grandmasters Sergey Tiviakov, Julio Granda, Bartolomiej Macieja and Emilo Cordova compete.

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

Bundesliga

The second Bundesliga weekend took place 25th-26th October 2008.

The Schachbundesliga season 2008/09 runs 3rd-5th October and runs until March 2009. 16 Teams compete with team rosters of 16-18 players but only eight play each weekend. There will be live coverage of all the games.

Dates: 4th-5th October 2008 25th-26th October 2008 29th-30th November 2008 12th-14th December 2008 (Here the official seventh round will be played. Although some will be played at other times) 31st January 2008 - 1st February 2009. 28th February - 1st March 2009. 28th-29th March 2009.

Official site of the Schachbundesliga (http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx) Further information (in German) and the entrance site for the live coverage: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx

European Youth U-16 winners Texas Scholarships

The University of Texas at Dallas (USA) has offered scholarships to the winners of the U-16 European Youth Chess Championships since 2007. The agreement with the European Chess Union has been extended for another three years. The total value of the scholarships during this five-year period will be approximately 1 million USD, said James A. Stallings, Director of the UTD chess program.

Interview on the ECU website: http://www.europechess.org/home518.aspx?art=ft

Gjovik International Festival 2008-9

The Gjovik International Chess Festival 2008-9 takes place 29th December - 7th January 2009.

Magnus Carlsen, Peter Svidler, Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Simen Agdestein play in a Super rapid tournament January 2nd-5th 2009.

The tournament has a similar format to the Mainz Classic, with a double round tournament followed by final and bronze final games. The Norwegian audience will be eager to see Magnus Carlsen on home-gound again, as he hasn't played in Norway during 2008.

The rapid contest is part of a chess festival with a big and varied program, held on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Gjovik chess club. The festival starts on December 29th, and the main tournament is a 9 round GM-Swiss open to players with a rating abov 2100. Reigning European champion Sergei Tiviakov (NL) 2686 is the highest rated player of the preliminary list of participants. There is also a parallell group open for all players rated below 2100.

Official site: http://www.gjovikfestival.sjakkweb.no

4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009.

Fixtures 2008-9

Rounds 1 and 2: 4th/5th October 2008 De Vere Venues, Sunningdale Divisions 1-2

Rounds 3-4: 6th/7th December 2008 Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island Divisions 1-3

Rounds 5-6: 17th/18th January 2009 De Vere Venues, Sunningdale Divisions 1-2

Rounds 7-8: 21st/22nd March 2009 Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island Divisions 1-3

Rounds 9-11: 2nd-4th May 2009 De Vere Venues, Staverton Park Divisions 1-2

68th Italian Championship

The 68th Italian Championship takes place 3rd December - 14th December 2008. The tournament will consist of 12 players in a round robin at the 4 star Park Hotel San Michele in Martina Franca. Games will be played on DGT boards, and viewable live at the Italian Chess Federation´s web site. The players are: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Michele Godena, GM Carlos Garcia Palermo, IM Luca Shytaj, IM Sabino Brunello, IM Fabio Bruno, IM Denis Rombaldoni, IM Pierluigi Piscopo, IM Daniel Contin, FM Daniyyl Dvirnyy, FM Daniele Genocchio, and Alessio Valsecchi.

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

27th Elba Island Festival

The 27th International Chess Festival of Elba Island "Luigi Amalfi", takes place at the Hotel Lacona 10th-17th May 2009.

Details: http://www.tuscanhotels.it/en/cmsx.asp?IDPg=23

Milan

Milano, Italy, organized by Società Scacchistica Milanese (founded in 1881) Master group: December 6th-13th 2008, 9 rounds, global prizes 3.000 euro - with GMs and IMs Good conventions with hotels Address - via S.Uguzzone 8 = closed to the underground (MM1 - Villa SG). The Mediterranean Championship will start in Courmayeur (Aosta valley) The dates are December 13th-21st 2008. It is possible to travel and play both.

Web site: http://www.scacchisticamilanese.it

25th Bermuda Open

The 25th Bermuda Open takes place 30th January - 1st February 2008 at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton Resort on the South Shore with private tennis courts, golf course, beach, walking trails,  ferry into Hamilton for duty-free shopping 5 round Swiss. Register & pay on site.  For info contact Nigel Freeman at cadilly@northrock.bm or Carol Jarecki at carolj10280@yahoo.com  

Icelandic Team Championship

Icelandic Team Champ 1st div first half took place 3rd-5th October 2008. The 2nd set of games are March 21st-22nd March 2009 if I understand the website correctly. A small number of games are available.

Official site: http://www.skaksamband.is/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5982&Itemid=499# and results: http://chess-results.com/tnr16443.aspx?tnr=16443&art=16&lan=2&flag=30&m=-1

Doeberl Cup and Sydney International 2009

The 2009 Doeberl Cup is in Canberra 9th-13th April 2009. See http://www.doeberlcup.com.au/

The 2009 Sydney International Open takes place 15th-19th April 2009. See http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?site=open

Free entry to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs.

Free accommodation for selected GMs and WGMs.

For further information, please contact Brian Jones info@chessaustralia.com.au

Czech Litomysl Chess Christmas

Czech Chess Christmas 2008 Litomysl (CZE) 26.12.2008-2.1.2009

10th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK = 750 EUR), 10 financial prizes redeemable by drawings, special conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme.

Contact: Proclient s.r.o., Jaroslav Fuksik, Svedska 3, 772 00 Olomouc, mobile: +420 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, web: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2008/

Leon Open

The city of Leon open takes place 26th-28th December 2008.

Details: http://www.openmundialdeleon.com

North American FIDE Invitationals

North American FIDE Invitationals. Are you on the hunt for your GM or IM norms? Visit http:/www.nachess.org/fide for the tournament schedule or contact Sevan A. Muradian at info@nachess.org for more information.

So - Torre Match 2009

14-year-old Wesley So and 56-year-old Eugene Torre play a 12 game match starting February 10, 2009 at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City. Two games each will be played in Quezon City, Davao and Iloilo, and if the match remains undecided, the protagonists will return to Quezon City and finish the match. A knockout game will be played if the duel ends up 6-6. The winner will take home P600,000 while the loser will earn P400,000.Another P100,000 goes to the winner of each provincial leg while the loser will get P50,000.

VII Benidorm International Festival

The VII Benidorm International Festival of Chess takes place 29th November - 8th December 2008.

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

For information contact: E-Mail: eventosdeajedrez@yahoo.es festivaldebenidorm@gmail.com News: Patricia Claros Aguilar.

VI Transcarpathian Rapidtournament Chess Decyk

VI Transcarpathian Rapidtournament "Chess Decyk" Ukraine, Uzhgorod, 28-29.08.2008

Organizers of tournament: Chess Federation of Uzhgorod Organizational committee: B. Borshosh, A. Samoylenko, V. Prokopishin Place: Ukraine, Uzhgorod, Pub-museum "Deca u notaria", Gagarin street, 98 Also Traditional Beer blitz-tournament will take place in Pub-museum "Deca u notaria"! Phone: +380503723900, +380503179153, (+3803122) 2-25-87 E-mail: chessfeduzh@rambler.ru Details: http://www.chessfeduzh.narod.ru

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

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

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

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/

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

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