THE WEEK IN CHESS 736 15th December 2008 by Mark Crowther

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Mark Crowther
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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Pearl Spring
3) FIDE Grand Prix Elista
4) Bundesliga
5) Russian Women's Championship
6) Slovenian Team Championship
7) 68th Italian Championship
8) VII Benidorm International Chess Festival
9) 77th Ukrainian Championships
10) Brazilian Championship
11) Figueira da Foz Open
12) Nea Filadelfia Autumn
13) III Open Palma de Mallorca
14) UTD Internationals
15) VII Pereyra Puebla Memorial
16) XVIII Magistral Elgoibar
17) Championship of Israel
18) Carlos Torre Memorial
19) Scaccomatto Open
20) Milan
21) Greek Championship
22) Gibtelecom Chess Festival ICC Qualifier
23) First Saturday
24) 5th Singapore Masters
25) Copa PDV Sur
26) WBX Team Tournament
27) Groningen Chess Festival
28) 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament
29) Ivanchuk - Leko Match
30) Manchester NH Swiss
31) A few events
32) 4NCL
33) 2nd Berkeley Masters
34) Forthcoming Events and Links

Games Section
Pearl Spring15 games
FIDE Grand Prix Elista14 games
Bundesliga144 games
Russian Women's Championship45 games
Slovenian Team Championship212 games
68th Italian Championship36 games
VII Benidorm International Chess Festival30 games
77th Ukrainian Championships26 games
Brazilian Championship48 games
Figueira da Foz Open108 games
Nea Filadelfia Autumn66 games
III Open Palma de Mallorca391 games
UTD Internationals90 games
VII Pereyra Puebla Memorial45 games
XVIII Magistral Elgoibar20 games
Championship of Israel21 games
Carlos Torre Memorial48 games
Scaccomatto Open39 games
Milan67 games
Greek Championship10 games
Gibtelecom Chess Festival ICC Qualifier43 games
First Saturday95 games
Copa PDV Sur54 games
WBX Team Tournament25 games
Chinese Teams Torch Real Estate150 games
Cap D'Agde Open125 games
Milton Keynes63 games
4NCL126 games
2156 games

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Big Mega

My 60 Memorable Games

ChessBase Now Out

1) Introduction

My thanks to Adolivio Capece, Ben Hummel, Frederic Delort, Gary Suffield, Georgious Souleidis, Doug Bake, Spiros Ilandzis, Javier Perez Llera, Jorge Fernandez, Luis Blasco de la Cruz, Luis Scalise, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Marcelo Petrolo, George Mirijanian, Miklos Orso, Vlad Rekhson and everyone else who helped with the issue.

A really good week for chess on the run up to Christmas. The Category XXI Pearl Spring tournament in Nanjing is at it's half way stage and little is settled with Bu Xiangzhi, Veselin Topalov and Levon Aronian on 3/5. If that's not enough the FIDE Grand Prix which was originally was supposed to be in Doha but that was cancelled at the last moment. The organisation of the Elista event is important to FIDE to keep the series (which is very nice for chess followers) going but its clear its in trouble. See the Ilyumzhinov Press Conference. In part because a number of the players, most notable of which is Magnus Carlsen, don't think its worth it anymore. It remains to be seen what happens. Still as I said its still a nice event and I look forward to the battle, although perhaps not so much on Christmas Day!

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Pearl Spring

The Pearl Spring Super GM Tournament takes place 10th - 22nd December 2008 in Nanjing, China. Six-player double round robin event.

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

Official site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/yindex.htm

In round 1 home player Bu Xiangzhi took the lead on his own after gradually outplaying Sergei Movsesian on the black side of a Bishop's opening. Peter Svidler should have joined him after obtaining a decisive advantage on the black side of a Ruy Lopez Chigorin's Defence. Just when it seemed he had a win, he failed to see it and agreed to a draw by perpetual check after a long thought. 34...Rh5!! winning a piece or queen for rook and probably 34...Rf6 would have won. Levon Aronian and Veselin Topalov gradually traded into a drawn bishops of opposite colour ending from a Slav Defence.

Levon Aronian beat Vassily Ivanchuk in round 2. The opening was a Sicilian Maroczy Bind of tremendous complexity. Black seemed to be doing fine but after 23.b4! black was pushed back and his position collapsed quite quickly. Sergei Movsesian beat Peter Svidler on the black side of a Sicilian Scheveningen. It's hard to be sure where Svidler went wrong but he was gradually pushed back after sacrificing rook for bishop and pawn in order to weaken the enemy king. White had more than enough compensation at first. Topalov vs Bu Xiangzhi was a well played Slav which ended in perpetual.

Round 3. Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov blasted out 22 moves of Caro Kann and finished with a drawn bishops of opposite colours endings. Sergei Movsesian and Levon Aronian also reached a drawn bishop of opposite colours ending from a bishops opening. Bu Xiangzhi and Peter Svidler also drew from an English Opening.

Round 4. Sergei Movsesian played the Bb5 Sicilian against Veselin Topalov and played for a slight space advantage. The game finished in a draw by repetition. Bu Xiangzhi against Vassily Ivanchuk was a very odd variation (Fiachetto Gruenfeld according to ChessBase but it ended up in a Benoni style structure briefly also before going very weird). The game then saw some dynamic exchanges that left a totally drawn rook and pawn ending. Peter Svidler tried the Worrall Attack of the Ruy Lopez against Levon Aronian but didn't obtain any advantage, in fact might have stood worse but eventually they found a position where repetition was pretty much forced.

Round 5. Veselin Topalov defeated Peter Svidler in the only decisive game of the round. Topalov offered the sacrifice of the exchange on move 20 which Svidler accepted. Possibly this wasn't wise as Svidler's position tumbled down hill almost straight away, 26... Bf6? meant that the game didn't reach move 30. Vassily Ivanchuk vs Sergei Movsesian was a dynamic draw in a Siciian Scheveningen. Ivanchuk sacrificed a pawn just out of the opening but the game never went from balanced equality and finished in perpetual check. Levon Aronian against Bu Xiangzhi was a dynamic Slav Defence where Aronian obtained something of an advantage but exploiting his extra kingside pawns and defending his king at the same time proved beyond him and the game finished with black giving perpetual check.

Pearl Spring Nanjing (CHN), 11-21 xii 2008 cat. XXI (2751)
1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2714 * * ½ . ½ . 1 . ½ . ½ . 3 2830
2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2757 ½ . * * ½ . ½ . 1 . ½ . 3 2822
3. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2791 ½ . ½ . * * ½ . ½ . 1 . 3 2815
4. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2732 0 . ½ . ½ . * * ½ . 1 . 2755
5. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2786 ½ . 0 . ½ . ½ . * * ½ . 2 2672
6. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2727 ½ . ½ . 0 . 0 . ½ . * * 2607

Round 1 (December 11, 2008)
Aronian, Levon - Topalov, Veselin ½-½ 39 D12 Slav Defence
Movsesian, Sergei - Bu Xiangzhi 0-1 58 C24 Bishop's Opening
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Svidler, Peter ½-½ 37 C99 Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Round 2 (December 12, 2008)
Aronian, Levon - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 33 B36 Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Topalov, Veselin - Bu Xiangzhi ½-½ 49 D19 Slav Defence
Svidler, Peter - Movsesian, Sergei 0-1 47 B83 Sicilian Scheveningen
Round 3 (December 13, 2008)
Bu Xiangzhi - Svidler, Peter ½-½ 26 A15 English counter King's Fianchetto
Movsesian, Sergei - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 32 C55 Two Knights Defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Topalov, Veselin ½-½ 22 B10 Caro Kann
Round 4 (December 14, 2008)
Bu Xiangzhi - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ 30 D73 Gruenfeld 3.g3
Movsesian, Sergei - Topalov, Veselin ½-½ 28 B52 Sicilian Rossolimo
Svidler, Peter - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 48 C86 Ruy Lopez Worrall Attack
Round 5 (December 15, 2008)
Aronian, Levon - Bu Xiangzhi ½-½ 46 D17 Slav Defence
Topalov, Veselin - Svidler, Peter 1-0 29 D86 Gruenfeld Simagin
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Movsesian, Sergei ½-½ 35 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen

3) FIDE Grand Prix Elista

The latest Grand Prix tournament takes place in Elista 13th-29th December 2008. There have been a number of withdrawals due to FIDE's change of regulations but the event is still a very reasonable category 19. There is play on Christmas day!

Official site: http://elista2008.fide.com/

FIDE Grand Prix Elista (RUS), 14-28 xii 2008 cat. XIX (2713)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
1. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2703 * . . . ½ . . . . . . 1 . . 2910
2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2719 . * . . . . ½ . . . . . 1 . 2932
3. Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2737 . . * . . . . ½ . . . . . 1 2900
4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2751 . . . * . ½ . . . . 1 . . . 2893
5. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2715 ½ . . . * . . . ½ . . . . . 1 2686
6. Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2696 . . . ½ . * ½ . . . . . . . 1 2741
7. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2731 . ½ . . . ½ * . . . . . . . 1 2707
8. Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2679 . . ½ . . . . * . . . . ½ . 1 2742
9. Inarkiev, Ernesto g RUS 2669 . . . . ½ . . . * . . . . ½ 1 2725
10. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2672 . . . . . . . . . * ½ ½ . . 1 2712
11. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2705 . . . 0 . . . . . ½ * . . . ½ 2518
12. Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2720 0 . . . . . . . . ½ . * . . ½ 2494
13. Lékó, Peter g HUN 2747 . 0 . . . . . ½ . . . . * . ½ 2506
14. Wang Yue g CHN 2736 . . 0 . . . . . ½ . . . . * ½ 2510

Round 1 (December 14, 2008)
Gashimov, Vugar - Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 93 C65 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Wang Yue 1-0 54 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Radjabov, Teimour - Cheparinov, Ivan ½-½ 45 B12 Caro Kann Advanced
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ 28 D85 Gruenfeld Defence
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Alekseev, Evgeny ½-½ 49 C95 Ruy Lopez Breyer
Bacrot, Etienne - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½ 14 B70 Sicilian Dragon
Lékó, Peter - Akopian, Vladimir ½-½ 28 C99 Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Round 2 (December 15, 2008)
Grischuk, Alexander - Lékó, Peter 1-0 39 E15 Queens Indian
Alekseev, Evgeny - Gashimov, Vugar ½-½ 60 B52 Sicilian Rossolimo
Cheparinov, Ivan - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ 60 B38 Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Akopian, Vladimir - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ 25 D37 QGD 5.Bf4
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Eljanov, Pavel ½-½ 44 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Bacrot, Etienne - Radjabov, Teimour 0-1 73 A10 Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Wang Yue - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½ 64 D11 Slav Defence

4) Bundesliga

The 8th and 9th rounds the last two encounters of the seventh round took place over the weekend of 12th-14th December 2008. 144 games were covered live in the internet. Baden-Baden played in Eppingen and beat Kreuzberg (a district of Berlin) and Dresden. Tegernsee lost to Bremen at home. The closest competitor to Baden-Baden is Muelheim who beat Katernberg (a district of Essen), drew with Hamburg and beat Berlin. Muelheim has the most successful player in his squad so far was Russian grandmaster Konstantin Landa with 5,5 out of 6 and a performance of 2985, he added 2/3 with a win and two draws. The Schachbundesliga takes a winter break until the end of January 2009 now.

Official site: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx

Bundesliga 2008-9
(GER), 2 x 2008 - iii 2009
Bad Wiessee (Tegernsee):
Friday, 12th of December, 4 pm (7th round)
TV Tegernsee5.5-2.5Bayern Muenchen
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
TV Tegernsee2.5-5.5Werder Bremen
Bayern Muenchen4-4SK Turm Emsdetten
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
Werder Bremen5,5-2.5Bayern Muenchen
SK Turm Emsdetten4-4TV Tegernsee
Wattenscheid:
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
SV Wattenscheid5-3SC Remagen
Aljechin Solingen4.5-3.5SG Turm Trier
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
SC Remagen2.5-5.5Aljechin Solingen
SG Turm Trier3-5SV Wattenscheid
Katernberg:
Friday, 12th of December, 4 pm (7th round)
SF Katernberg3.5-4.5SV Muelheim Nord
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
SF Katernberg6.5-1.5SF Berlin
SV Muelheim Nord4-4Hamburger SK
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
SF Berlin2.5-5.5SV Muelheim Nord
Hamburger SK5.5-2.5SF Katernberg
Eppingen:
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
SC Eppingen6-2SC Kreuzberg
OSG Baden-Baden7.5-0.5USV TU Dresden
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
SC Kreuzberg3-5OSG Baden-Baden
USV TU Dresden2.5-5.5SC Eppingen

Bundesliga 2008-9
(GER), 2 x 2008 - iii 2009
Round 9 Standings:
1.OSG Baden-Baden91854,5
2.SV Muelheim-Nord91546,5
3.SC Eppingen91441,5
4.TV Tegernsee91341,0
5.Werder Bremen 91341,0
6.SG Aljechin Solingen91340,5
7.SV Wattenscheid91240,5
8.SC Kreuzberg91139,5
9.Hamburger SK9935,0
10.SF Katernberg9735,5
11.SK Turm Emsdetten9633,0
12.SC Remagen9533,5
13.SF Berlin9526,0
14.SG Trier9227,5
15.FC Bayern Muenchen9123,0
16.USV TU Dresden9017,5

5) Russian Women's Championship

The Russian Women's Championship took place in Moscow 5th-14th December 2008. Nadezhda Kosintseva took clear first place with 6½/9.

Official site: http://russiachess.org

ch-RUS w Superfinal Moscow RUS (RUS), 5-14 xii 2008 cat. VIII (2432)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Kosintseva, Nadezhda m RUS 2468 * ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 1 1 2593
2. Bodnaruk, Anastasia wf RUS 2381 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 2517
3. Kosintseva, Tatiana m RUS 2513 ½ ½ * 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 2502
4. Romanko, Marina wg RUS 2398 ½ ½ 0 * 0 1 ½ 1 1 0 2435
5. Shadrina, Tatiana wg RUS 2429 0 ½ 1 1 * 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 2432
6. Korbut, Ekaterina m RUS 2459 1 0 0 0 1 * 0 ½ ½ 1 4 2385
7. Gunina, Valentina wf RUS 2381 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ 4 2394
8. Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2474 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 * 1 0 4 2384
9. Ovod, Evgenija m RUS 2429 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 4 2389
10. Stepovaia, Tatiana wg RUS 2386 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 * 2270

6) Slovenian Team Championship

The Slovenian Team Championship took place in Murska Sobota 6th-14th December 2008. SD Tehcenter Ptuj (Andrei Volokitin Alexander Beliavsky) won with a perfect score.

Official site: http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0812/si08lgdm/

TCh-SLO Murska Sobota
(SLO), 6-14 xii 2008
No. Team MT T MTB
1 SD Tehcenter Ptuj 18 38.5 231.5
2 ZSK Maribor LANCom 15 36 234.0
3 SK ZM Branik Maribor 11 30 240.0
4 SK Nova Gorica 8 28.5 241.5
5 LSK Metalka Trgovina 10 28 242.0
6 SK Triglav Krsko 9 27.5 242.5
7 SD Radenska Pomgrad MS 7 26.5 243.5
8 SD dr. Milan Vidmar LJ 8 24.5 245.5
9 SD Krka Novo mesto 4 20.5 249.5
10 SK Milan Majcen Sevnica 0 10 260.0

7) 68th Italian Championship

The 68th Italian Championship took place 3rd December - 14th December 2008. Strong favourite Fabiano Caruana took clear first place with 8/11 but he almost did his best to blow it with two losses in a row in rounds 6 and 7.

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

68th ch-ITA Martina Franca (ITA), 3-11 xii 2008 cat. VIII (2448)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2640 * ½ 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 8 2606
2. Godena, Michele g ITA 2517 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 2575
3. Bruno, Fabio m ITA 2452 0 ½ * 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 2550
4. Brunello, Sabino m ITA 2455 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 6 2483
5. Piscopo, Pierluigi m ITA 2380 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 6 2490
6. Genocchio, Daniele f ITA 2452 1 0 1 0 ½ * 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 2448
7. Rombaldoni, Denis m ITA 2436 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * ½ 1 ½ 0 1 2449
8. Valsecchi, Alessio ITA 2342 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ * 1 0 ½ ½ 5 2422
9. Garcia Palermo, Carlos g ITA 2459 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 * 1 1 1 5 2411
10. Dvirnyy, Daniyyl f ITA 2458 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 * ½ 0 4 2345
11. Shytaj, Luca m ITA 2472 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * 1 4 2344
12. Contin, Daniel m ITA 2318 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 * 2249

8) VII Benidorm International Chess Festival

The VII Festival Internacional de Ajedrez takes place in Benidorm, Spain 28th November - 8th December 2008. Vassily Ivanchuk took first place by half a point from Alexei Shirov who beat him in one of their individual games. Games section now complete.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezbali.com/ - Videos: http://www.europe-echecs.com

VII Stars Benidorm (ESP), 5-8 xii 2008 cat. XIII (2564)
1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2786 * * ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 2760
2. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 ½ 1 * * 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 2725
3. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2686 0 ½ 0 0 * * 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 2576
4. Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2488 0 0 1 0 0 0 * * 1 0 1 1 4 2507
5. Vila Gazquez, Xavier m ESP 2422 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 * * ½ 0 3 2443
6. Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina wg ESP 2278 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 * * 2 2381

Round 1 (December 5, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Lahno, Kateryna 1-0 31 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Vila Gazquez, Xavier - Tiviakov, Sergei 0-1 80 B01 Centre Counter
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 34 B81 Sicilian Keres Attack
Round 2 (December 5, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 1-0 46 D23 QGA
Shirov, Alexei - Vila Gazquez, Xavier 1-0 30 B12 Caro Kann Advanced
Lahno, Kateryna - Tiviakov, Sergei 0-1 48 B01 Centre Counter
Round 3 (December 6, 2008)
Tiviakov, Sergei - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 24 C24 Bishop's Opening
Vila Gazquez, Xavier - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 35 B20 Sicilian Wing Gambit
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina - Lahno, Kateryna 0-1 33 B09 Pirc Defence
Round 4 (December 6, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Tiviakov, Sergei 1-0 27 B36 Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Lahno, Kateryna - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 48 C77 Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina - Vila Gazquez, Xavier ½-½ 119 B01 Centre Counter
Round 5 (December 6, 2008)
Shirov, Alexei - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ 45 D31 Semi-Slav Defence
Tiviakov, Sergei - Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina ½-½ 49 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen
Vila Gazquez, Xavier - Lahno, Kateryna 0-1 52 B20 Sicilian Wing Gambit
Round 6 (December 7, 2008)
Shirov, Alexei - Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 1-0 41 B46 Sicilian Paulsen
Tiviakov, Sergei - Vila Gazquez, Xavier ½-½ 55 B18 Caro Kann
Lahno, Kateryna - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 63 C90 Ruy Lopez
Round 7 (December 7, 2008)
Tiviakov, Sergei - Lahno, Kateryna 1-0 114 C24 Bishop's Opening
Vila Gazquez, Xavier - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 43 D05 Colle System
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 25 B70 Sicilian Dragon
Round 8 (December 7, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Vila Gazquez, Xavier 1-0 23 D20 QGA
Shirov, Alexei - Tiviakov, Sergei 1-0 40 B01 Centre Counter
Lahno, Kateryna - Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 1-0 30 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo
Round 9 (December 8, 2008)
Shirov, Alexei - Lahno, Kateryna 1-0 29 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall
Tiviakov, Sergei - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ 57 B52 Sicilian Rossolimo
Vila Gazquez, Xavier - Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 0-1 45 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen
Round 10 (December 8, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 68 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo
Lahno, Kateryna - Vila Gazquez, Xavier 0-1 23 B29 Sicilian Defence
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina - Tiviakov, Sergei 0-1 55 B01 Centre Counter

9) 77th Ukrainian Championships

The 77th Ukrainian Championships took place 1st-10th December 2008. Evgenij Miroshnichenko edged out Yuri Drozdovskij on tie-break after both players finished on 6½/9.

Official site: http://www.ukrchess.org.ua/turnir/ukr08mf_Poltava/index.html

77th ch-UKR Poltava (UKR), 2-10 xii 2008
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2632 =11 +9 =8 +16 +12 +3 =2 =6 =4 2716
2. Drozdovskij, Yuri g UKR 2587 =14 +21 +22 +7 =3 =4 =1 =5 +6 2720
3. Korobov, Anton g UKR 2605 =15 +11 +20 +8 =2 -1 =6 +12 =5 6 2671
4. Zubov, Alexander m UKR 2564 =21 =14 +23 =6 +8 =2 =12 +11 =1 6 2642
5. Kuzubov, Yuriy g UKR 2622 =6 =10 +19 -12 +14 =15 +7 =2 =3 2622
6. Kononenko, Dmitry1 g UKR 2527 =5 =13 +17 =4 +20 +19 =3 =1 -2 2661
7. Baklan, Vladimir g UKR 2625 =9 +15 =16 -2 =11 +20 -5 +18 +12 2620
8. Borovikov, Vladislav g UKR 2580 +23 +19 =1 -3 -4 =10 =13 +15 =9 5 2602
9. Kovchan, Alexander g UKR 2545 =7 -1 +21 =18 =22 =17 =10 +14 =8 5 2593
10. Zubarev, Alexander1 g UKR 2546 =13 =5 =18 -20 +25 =8 =9 +24 =11 5 2551
11. Kravtsiv, Martyn m UKR 2549 =1 -3 =14 +17 =7 +16 =15 -4 =10 2565
12. Nyzhnyk, Illya f UKR 2444 +17 =16 =13 +5 -1 +22 =4 -3 -7 2594
13. Kryvoruchko, Yuriy g UKR 2627 =10 =6 =12 =14 -19 +23 =8 =16 =17 2526
14. Maximov, Dmitry g UKR 2497 =2 =4 =11 =13 -5 =18 +21 -9 +24 2526
15. Tukhaev, Adam g UKR 2498 =3 -7 +26 =22 +18 =5 =11 -8 =16 2559
16. Gasanov, Eldar g UKR 2550 +25 =12 =7 -1 =21 -11 +20 =13 =15 2502
17. Neverov, Valeriy g UKR 2571 -12 +25 -6 -11 +24 =9 =26 +19 =13 2466
18. Oleksienko, Mikhailo g UKR 2585 -20 +26 =10 =9 -15 =14 +19 -7 =22 4 2474
19. Vovk, Yuri g UKR 2549 +24 -8 -5 +23 +13 -6 -18 -17 +26 4 2472
20. Sitnikov, Anton m UKR 2480 +18 =22 -3 +10 -6 -7 -16 -23 +25 2449
21. Boroday, Sergey UKR 2370 =4 -2 -9 +24 =16 =25 -14 =26 =23 2383
22. Brodsky, Michail g UKR 2550 +26 =20 -2 =15 =9 -12 -24 =25 =18 2374
23. Zherebukh, Yaroslav m UKR 2473 -8 +24 -4 -19 +26 -13 -25 +20 =21 2378
24. Solovchuk, Alexey UKR 2285 -19 -23 +25 -21 -17 +26 +22 -10 -14 3 2344
25. Shtanko, Dmitro UKR 2301 -16 -17 -24 -26 -10 =21 +23 =22 -20 2 2245
26. Pavlov, Maxim m UKR 2367 -22 -18 -15 +25 -23 -24 =17 =21 -19 2 2244

10) 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 Leitao, Gilberto Milos and Alexandr Fier.

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

75th ch-BRA Porto Alegre (BRA), 7-16 xii 2008 cat. IX (2470)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2635 * ½ . . 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 2611
2. Leitao, Rafael g BRA 2590 ½ * ½ ½ ½ . ½ . 1 1 1 1 2615
3. Diamant, Andre m BRA 2412 . ½ * 1 . ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 2609
4. Fier, Alexandr g BRA 2581 . ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ . 1 1 6 2582
5. Milos, Gilberto g BRA 2593 0 ½ . ½ * . ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 2540
6. Lima, Darcy g BRA 2488 0 . ½ 0 . * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 2520
7. Bittencourt, Jorge m BRA 2455 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * . ½ ½ . 1 5 2506
8. Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag m BRA 2511 0 . 1 0 ½ 0 . * ½ ½ ½ 1 4 2410
9. Oliveira, Silvio Eduardo BRA 2345 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ . . 2427
10. Barreto Filho, Carlos Alberto BRA 2300 0 0 0 . 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ . 2 2283
11. Di Berardino, Diego Rafael m BRA 2502 0 0 0 0 0 0 . ½ . ½ * 1 2 2261
12. Gattas, Allan BRA 2223 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . . 0 * 1 2178

11) Figueira da Foz Open

The Figueira da Foz Open took place 30th November - 7th December 2008. Kevin Spraggett took first place on tie-break from Anton Kovalyov and Dragan Paunovic after all scored 7.5/9.

Figueira da Foz Open (POR), 30 ix - 7 xii 2008
Rk.NameFEDRtgPts.TB1 TB2 TB3
1Spraggett KevinGMCAN25977.5195753830
2Kovalyov AntonGMARG25717.51956239.529.5
3Paunovic DraganGMSRB25327.51902338.529
4Petkov VladimirGMBUL24846.5185603529
5Perez Garcia RodneyIMCUB243661882633.527
6Ravi LankaIMIND23716184323327
7Dias PauloFMPOR24066172062724
8Rotstein ArkadijGMGER24966165673129
9Galvao HenriquePOR220061489927.524
10Romanishin Oleg MGMUKR25325.5188783229
11Ferreira Jorge ViterboPOR21535.5179573024.5
12Leite CatarinaWIMPOR21535.5175712925
13Silva StephanePOR22105.51695126.523
14Nebolsina VeraWGMRUS23405178022824.5
15Cruz Jorge Filipe Egas DaPOR21395176842725
16Chemeris RomanFMUKR226551718727.523
17Santos Antonio PPOR22795166552621
18Redondo Arguelles GracielaWFMESP210251633123.521
19Ribeiro FernandoFMPOR226651563530.524
20Abella Vazquez CesarESP21325153312523.5
21Beltran EddaESP19065150462221.5
51 players

12) Nea Filadelfia Autumn

The Nea Filadelfia Autumn tournament took place 20th October - 27th Novebmer 2008. Marios Tassopoulos took clear first with 8.5/11.

Autumn Nea Filadelfia (GRE), 20 x-27 xi 2008
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Tassopoulos, Marios GRE 2280 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 2337
2. Kostopoulos, Evangellos GRE 2179 ½ * 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 8 2311
3. Ilandzis, Spyridon GRE 2147 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 2271
4. Delithanasis, Dimitrios GRE 2251 ½ 1 ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 7 2231
5. Klokas, Konstantinos GRE 2175 ½ ½ 0 0 * 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 7 2238
6. Poteas, Ioannis GRE 2164 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 2202
7. Skalkotas, Nikolaos m GRE 2276 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * ½ 0 1 1 1 2127
8. Konistis, Loukas GRE 2035 0 0 0 0 1 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 2084
9. Kaldis, Georgios GRE 2011 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ ½ 4 2049
10. Vazelakis, Dimitrios GRE 2089 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 3 1969
11. Geroukalis, Athanasios GRE 1996 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1941
12. Andronis, Vasilios GRE 2072 ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * 2 1883

13) III Open Palma de Mallorca

The III Open Palma de Mallorca took place 6th-14th December 2008. Stewart Haslinger finished with 7.5/9. Games from rounds 8-9 are not yet available.

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

III Open Palma de Mallorca (ESP), 6-14 xii 2008
RankName TiFEDEloIntPtsvictBUCProg
1Haslinger, Stewart G GMENG 2506 7 42 38½
2Svetushkin, Dmitry GMMDA 2588 7 7 43 37
3Safarli, Eltaj GMAZE 2568 7 5 41½37½
4Cabrera, Alexis GMESP 2507 7 5 41 37
5Narciso Dublan, Marc GMESP 2511 5 39 33
6Arizmendi Martinez, Julen Luis GMESP 2497 5 36½ 34
7Kveinys, Aloyzas GMLTU 2533 4 40 34
8Rowson, Jonathan GMSCO 2596 4 39 31
9Libiszewski, Fabien IMFRA 2487 4 37 32½
10Mikkelsen, Nikolaj IMDEN 2441 6 6 34½ 29
11D`costa, Lorin A R IMENG 2411 6 5 41½35½
12Arutinian, David GMGEO 2584 6 5 39½31½
13Andres Gonzalez, Alberto IMESP 2465 6 5 39 32½
14Saravanan, V IMIND 2417 6 5 36 31
15Durarbeyli, Vasif IMAZE 2434 6 5 34 30
16Asis Gargatagli, Hipolit IMESP 2408 6 4 41½ 34
17Savchenko, Stanislav GMUKR 2565 6 4 40½35½
18Edouard, Romain IMFRA 2531 6 4 38 32½
19Alonso Rosell, Alvar FMESP 2416 6 4 38 32
20Djuric, Stefan GMSRB 2463 6 4 35 29
21Gonzales, Jayson GMPHI 2468 5 37½30½
22Venkatesh, M R IMIND 2468 5 37 30
23Bellia, Fabrizio IMITA 2403 5 35½28½
24Ibanez Aullana, Jose Ramon ESP 2308 5 34 26½
25Thinius, Marco IMGER 2421 5 33½ 29
26Aloma Vidal, Robert IMESP 2399 5 32 23½
27Garcia Roman, Daniel IMESP 2446 4 38½31½
28Garcia Del Rey, Senen ESP 2295 4 38½ 31
29Karim, Ismael IMMAR 2392 4 35 28
30Henrichs, Thomas IMGER 2485 4 32½ 26
31Pogorelov, Ruslan GMUKR 2441 3 37½30½
32Devereaux, Maxim L IMENG 2415 3 34½28½
33Belezky, Alexander IMUKR 2466 2 36½ 31
34Sundararajan, Kidambi IMIND 2501 2 36 31
126 players

14) UTD Internationals

The UTD Invitational ran from November 26-30 and had two sections, an IM-norm section and a GM-norm section 26th-30th November 2008 in Richardson USA. Julio Becerra Rivero won the GM event with 6½/9. My thanks to Gary Suffield for downloading the games.

Detailed report: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8961/422/

UTD Invitational GM Richardson (USA), 26-30 xi 2008 cat. X (2492)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Becerra Rivero, Julio g USA 2602 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 2645
2. Ramirez, Alejandro g CRC 2533 ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 6 2612
3. Kuljasevic, Davorin m CRO 2521 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5 2531
4. Stopa, Jacek m POL 2461 0 1 ½ * 1 0 0 1 ½ 1 5 2538
5. Kudrin, Sergey g USA 2553 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 5 2528
6. Wang Puchen m NZL 2450 0 0 ½ 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 2496
7. Zivanic, Marko m SRB 2465 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 * 1 1 ½ 4 2451
8. Bartholomew, John m USA 2453 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 2416
9. Bercys, Salvijus m USA 2428 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 3 2373
10. Boskovic, Drasko m SRB 2452 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 2330

UTD Invitational IM Richardson (USA), 26-30 xi 2008 cat. II (2298)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Kraai, Jesse g USA 2502 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 7 2495
2. Annakov, Babakuli g USA 2455 ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 6 2405
3. Schneider, Igor f USA 2397 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 0 2367
4. Vaidya, C.N IND 2170 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 2392
5. Bayaraa, Zorigt wf MGL 2203 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 1 1 5 2351
6. Kiewra, Keaton F f USA 2380 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 2288
7. Bantic, Mihail SRB 2195 0 0 1 0 0 1 * ½ 1 1 2309
8. Vedrickas, Tautvydas LTU 2268 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 1 2221
9. Lopez, Nelson M ii USA 2173 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 * 1 2 2091
10. Guadalupe, Francisco II USA 2237 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 * 2031

15) VII Pereyra Puebla Memorial

The VII Pereyra Puebla Memorial (ITT Sheraton) took place in Mendoza Argentina 5th-12th December 2008. Ernesto Real de Azua won the event with 7/9.

News: http://scalise.fortunecity.com which is Luis Scalise's new site with more bandwidth.

VII Pereyra Puebla Mem Mendoza (ARG), 5-12 xii 2008 cat. IV (2326)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Real de Azua, Ernesto m ARG 2413 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 7 2536
2. Salguero, Francisco f ARG 2336 ½ * 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 2490
3. Lopez Silva, Hugo CHI 2410 ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 5 2359
4. Perez Ponsa, Federico f ARG 2363 0 ½ 1 * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 5 2364
5. Van Riemsdijk, Herman C m BRA 2403 ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 2317
6. Luconi, Cristian ARG 2300 0 0 ½ 1 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 4 2285
7. Castro, Oscar H m COL 2395 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * 0 ½ 1 4 2275
8. Zuriel, Marisa wm ARG 2189 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 * ½ 1 4 2298
9. Granara Barreto, Sebastian A f URU 2260 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 3 2208
10. Herrera, Martin ARG 2191 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 * 2 2121

16) XVIII Magistral Elgoibar

The XVIII Magistral Elgoibar takes place 12th-19th December 2008. Azer Mirzoev leads with 3.5/4.

Official site

XVIII Magistral Elgoibar ESP (ESP), 12-19 xii 2008 cat. X (2486)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Mirzoev, Azer g AZE 2567 * ½ . 1 . . 1 . . 1 2816
2. Paunovic, Dragan g SRB 2532 ½ * . ½ 1 . . 1 . . 3 2680
3. Korneev, Oleg g RUS 2623 . . * . 1 . . 0 1 1 3 2604
4. Cruz, Cristhian f PER 2534 0 ½ . * . ½ 1 . . . 2 2514
5. Pena Gomez, Manuel f ESP 2467 . 0 0 . * 1 . 1 . . 2 2506
6. Franco Alonso, Alejandro m ESP 2490 . . . ½ 0 * . . ½ 1 2 2449
7. Larino Nieto, David m ESP 2469 0 . . 0 . . * . 1 1 2 2474
8. Gonzalez de la Torre, Santiago f ESP 2382 . 0 1 . 0 . . * ½ . 2421
9. Narayanan, Srinath f IND 2412 . . 0 . . ½ 0 ½ * . 1 2298
10. Argandona Riveiro, Inigo m ESP 2385 0 . 0 . . 0 0 . . * 0

17) Championship of Israel

34th Israel Chess Championship took place November 30th - December 12th, 2008 at the MadaTech chess club in Haifa, Israel. PlayE4 contributed the 1st prize 10,000 ILS (about $2,570). Boris Avrukh edged out Ilia Smirin, Victor Mikhalevski and Maxim Rodstein on tie-break, prior to the final round they were all tied on tie-break!

Website: http://www.playe4.com/

34th ch-ISR Haifa (ISR), 1-12 xii 2008
1-4 Avrukh, Boris 2657 2720 6.5 48.5
Smirin, Ilia 2649 2657 6.5 48.0
Mikhalevski, Victor 2602 2609 6.5 44.5
Rodshtein, Maxim 2609 2610 6.5 44.0
5-7 Huzman, Alexander 2590 2594 6 44.5
Bykhovsky, Anatoly 2447 2490 6 44.5
Lerner, Konstantin 2542 2573 6 42.5
8-11 Postny, Evgeny 2674 2682 5.5 48.5
Vydeslaver, Alik 2399 2421 5.5 47.0
Nabaty, Tamir 2456 2482 5.5 43.0
Klenburg, Mikhail 2403 2406 5.5 42.0
12-16 Golod, Vitaly 2584 2590 5 48.5
Baron, Tal 2299 2367 5 45.0
Greenfeld, Alon 2560 2561 5 42.0
Tseitlin, Mark 2437 2427 5 41.5
Raznikov, Danny 2251 2366 5 38.0
17-23 Roiz, Michael 2677 2675 4.5 46.5
Kantsler, Boris 2491 2491 4.5 45.5
Gofshtein, Leonid 2546 2548 4.5 44.5
Caspi, Israel 2408 2378 4.5 43.0
Pruzhanski, Genrich 2316 2389 4.5 41.5
Berkovich, Mark A 2409 2402 4.5 38.5
Porat, Ido 2363 2360 4.5 36.0
24-30 Gershkowich, David 2341 2350 4 45.5
Zilberman, Yaacov 2447 2433 4 45.0
Tarnopolsky, Anatoly 2301 2324 4 38.0
Popilski, Gil 2394 2407 4 36.0
Kaplivatski, Alexander 2286 2288 4 36.0
Gukhvat, Peter 2196 2245 4 35.5
Aharon, Ofir 2118 4 34.0
31-33 Kataev, Simho 2315 2360 3.5 43.0
Vasiliev, Olga 2235 2257 3.5 33.5
Vovinkina, Natalia 2147 2106 3.5 31.0
34-36 Porat, Maya 2167 2224 3 36.5
Zak, Uri 2205 2246 3 35.0
Miller, Evgeny 2291 2330 3 30.5
37-40 Chernomordik, Pavel 2302 2335 2.5 35.5
Igla, Bella 2254 2254 2.5 34.5
Atnilov, Bela 2119 2123 2.5 31.5
Efroimski, Marsel 2052 2079 2.5 31.5

18) Carlos Torre Memorial

The XXI Carlos Torre Memorial takes place in Merida, Yucutan, Mexico 13th-22nd December 2008. The event consists of a Swiss system event which then splits off to a knockout with those leading the swiss after 6 rounds going on to play the stars starting on December 17th. I couldn't find a list of the names of the leading players in the KO. Ivanchuk has won the event several times but clearly he's not playing this year. There have been three rounds so far.

Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/inicio2008.htm

19) Scaccomatto Open

Adolivio Capece reports: IM Daniele Vocaturo, 18 years old, from Roma, won the master group in the tournament "Scaccomatto 2008" in Turin with 7/9. Another great victory of the young italian IM. Unfortunately he had not the chance to met 3 GMs and so he cannot made his second GM norm. He got the first norm some weeks ago winning the strong Open "Rhode" in Sautron (France). Secon place for Milan Mrdja from Croatia, 6.5. Third place ex aequo for GM Alexander Dgebuadze (Belgio), GM Imre Hera (Hungary), the italian IM Giulio Borgo and the outsider wgm Cristina Foisor (Rumenia) 6 points. Games from rounds 1-8 now available.

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

Scaccomatto Open (ITA), 1-8 xii 2008
#NamecatELOptsBHSB
1Vocaturo DanieleIM2383750½
2Mrdja MilanIM240148½
3Dgebuadze AlexandreGM2544650
4Hera Imre Jr.GM2530648½
5Borgo GiulioIM242664831
6Foisor Cristina AdelaIM236564829½
7Benitah YohanIM242848½
8Vuelban VirgilioFM239048
9Foisor Ovidiu DoruIM24084727
10Mogranzini RobertoIM24144726½
11Giffard NicolasIM237644
12Sarno SpartacoIM233643½
13Vernay ClovisIM234141½
14Naumkin IgorGM2506547½
15Skembris SpyridonGM2422545
16Fierro Baquero Martha L.IM2361544½22¼
17Trabert BettinaWGM2289544½21¾
18Midoux Sebastien2346544
19Saccona SilvanoCM2172542½
20Vezzosi PaoloIM2337541½
21Tate Alan2144540½
22Finocchiaro GianlucaCM2026534½
23Gallucci AlessioCM21974018
44 players

20) Milan

The Crespi Memorial organized by Societa Scacchistica Milanese (founded in 1881) took place in Milano, Italy December 6th-13th 2008. Karen Movsziszian took clear first place with 7.5/9. Games from the first three rounds only are available.

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

Crespi Mem Milan (ITA), 6-13 xii 2008
Final Round 9 Standings:
Pos NAMEFed. Rtg Pts Buc1 BucT ARO Cmlt
1Movsziszian Karen ARM25587.545.5502399.1142
2Solodovnichenko Yuri UKR25916.54852.52379.8829
3Salvador Roland PHI24646.544472377.7833
4Trent Lawrence ENG24706.544472359.8933.5
5Barsov Alexei UZB251364650.52391.8933
6Sulashvili Malkhaz GEO2495636.5392195.5628
7Kasparov Sergey BLR24925.547.5512404.1132.5
8Drazic Sinisa SRB25285.545.5482356.8931
9Morchiashvili Bachan GEO24115.54447.52320.2229.5
10Stella Andrea ITA22345.541.5452307.4429.5
11Rettore Ludwig ITA21715.53335.52134.1124
12Bove Alessandro ITA2246545492344.5629.5
13Ljubicic Filip CRO2415540.544.52233.7826.5
14Profumo Alberto ITA2230539.543.5218524
15Bozzali Ermanno ITA2154538.540.52242.2522.5
16Brigati Alessandro ITA2090534.5372167.3815.5
48 players

21) Greek Championship

The Greek Championship took place 30th November - 12th December 2008. Hristos Banikas took clear first place with 8/11.

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

58th ch-GRE Rhodes (GRE), 30 xi-10 xii 2008 cat. VIII (2433)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
1. Banikas, Hristos g GRE 2572 * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 8 2659
2. Papaioannou, Ioannis g GRE 2597 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 7 2565
3. Kapnisis, Spyridon m GRE 2418 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7 2583
4. Kotronias, Vasilios g GRE 2587 0 ½ ½ * 1 0 1 1 1 ½ 1 2527
5. Nikolaidis, Ioannis g GRE 2529 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 6 2495
6. Mastrovasilis, Athanasios g GRE 2495 ½ 0 0 1 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 6 2498
7. Papadopoulos, Ioannis K m GRE 2452 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 1 1 2467
8. Gavrilakis, Nikolaos m GRE 2426 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 3 2284
9. Filippas, Sebastian GRE 2221 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 1 3 2305
10. Darmarakis, Mihail GRE 2194 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 0 * ½ 2263
11. Dagkakis, Panagiotis GRE 2272 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ * ½ 1979

22) Gibtelecom Chess Festival ICC Qualifier

Details: http://www.chessclub.com/activities/gibraltar_2009/

The 2nd Gibtelecom Qualifier took place on the ICC December 13th-14th 2008. Nearly 400 players started battling it out through two hotly-contested large swiss events for the coveted 8 spots for the finals on the Sunday. Time control 3,0 blitz.

And just like last year's inaugural event, again there was an all-titled line-up for the finals on the Suday with (in ICC rating order): 1. IM Anton Kovalyov (Argentina), 2. GM Alexey Dreev (Russia), 3. FM Federico Perez Ponsa (Argentina), 4. IM Levon Atounian (USA), 5. GM Yuri Vovk (Ukraine), 6. IM Gaby Livshitz (Israel), 7. GM Mark Hebden (England), 8. GM Sergei Azarov (Belarus).

It was the young turks who prevailed over the veterans as 19-year-old FM Federico Perez Ponsa (Argentina) and 20-year-old GM Yuri Vovk (Ukraine) fought it out for the top prize, with the Ukrainian winning the tussle 3.5-2.5.

Prizes:

  1. GM Yuri Vovk - Gibraltar package
  2. FM Federico Perez Ponsa - USD $400
  3. GM Mark Hebden - USD $150
  4. IM Anton Kovalyov - USD $150
¤ 1/4 FINAL 1/2 FINAL FINAL
1
8
IM Anton Kovalyov (ARGENTINA, 3419) 5.0
GM Sergei Azarov (BELARUS, 2764) 3.0
IM Kovalyov 3.0
GM Vovk 5.0
GM Vovk 3.5
FM Ponsa 2.5
4
5
IM Levon Altounian (USA, 2945) 3.0
GM Yuri Vovk (UKRAINE, 2944) 5.0
2
7
GM Alexey Dreev (RUSSIA, 3250) 0.5
GM Mark Hebden (ENGLAND, 2779) 2.5
GM Hebden 2.5
FM Ponsa 3.5
3
6
FM Federico Perez Ponsa (ARGENTINA, 3163) 3.0
IM Gaby Livshitz (ISRAEL, 2930) 1.0

23) First Saturday

The First Saturday tournaments take place in Hungary 6th-16th December 2008.

Official site: http://www.firstsaturday.hu/

FSGM December Budapest (HUN), 6-18 xii 2008 cat. VIII (2446)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
1. Varga, Zoltan g HUN 2494 * ½ ½ . 1 . . ½ ½ . ½ ½ 1 5 2528
2. Ilincic, Zlatko g SRB 2542 ½ * ½ . ½ . . . ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5 2523
3. Kosic, Dragan g MNE 2511 ½ ½ * ½ ½ . ½ . . 1 . . 1 2580
4. Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy m VIE 2452 . . ½ * . ½ ½ . ½ ½ 1 1 . 2523
5. Bromberger, Stefan m GER 2504 0 ½ ½ . * 1 . ½ . . 0 1 1 2477
6. Duong The Anh m VIE 2420 . . . ½ 0 * ½ . ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 2465
7. Prohaszka, Peter2 m HUN 2502 . . ½ ½ . ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ . . 4 2478
8. Matsenko, Sergei m RUS 2447 ½ . . . ½ . ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 4 2427
9. Skomorokhin, Roman m RUS 2400 ½ ½ . ½ . ½ 0 1 * 0 . . . 3 2423
10. Rohit, Gogineni m IND 2457 . ½ 0 ½ . 0 ½ ½ 1 * . . . 3 2417
11. Gara, Anita wg HUN 2312 ½ 0 . 0 1 0 ½ ½ . . * . . 2378
12. Paschall, William M m USA 2351 ½ ½ . 0 0 ½ . ½ . . . * ½ 2363
13. Toth, Ervin f HUN 2401 0 0 0 . 0 ½ . 0 . . . ½ * 1 2158

FSIM December Budapest (HUN), 6-18 xii 2008 cat. I (2256)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
1. Demir, Gokhan TUR 2239 * ½ ½ 1 . . . . ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 2395
2. Szalanczy, Emil m HUN 2343 ½ * . . ½ 1 1 0 . . 1 . ½ 2368
3. Yatzenko, Anton RUS 2267 ½ . * 0 . . . . ½ ½ 1 1 1 2340
4. Toth, Lili wm HUN 2194 0 . 1 * . 1 . 1 1 . . 0 . 4 2366
5. Kislik, Erik Andrew USA 2278 . ½ . . * 0 ½ 1 . 1 0 . 1 4 2320
6. Kahn, Evarth m HUN 2297 . 0 . 0 1 * ½ . ½ 1 ½ . ½ 4 2262
7. Stigar, Petter f NOR 2299 . 0 . . ½ ½ * . ½ 1 ½ . ½ 2272
8. Bacso, Gabor f HUN 2181 . 1 . 0 0 . . * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 2213
9. Juhasz, Kristof HUN 2214 ½ . ½ 0 . ½ ½ ½ * . . ½ . 3 2196
10. Adams, Nick A USA 2205 ½ . ½ . 0 0 0 1 . * . 1 . 3 2208
11. Bravetti, Antonio ITA 2205 0 0 0 . 1 ½ ½ ½ . . * . . 2170
12. Simonyi, Zoltan f SRB 2248 0 . 0 1 . . . ½ ½ 0 . * ½ 2135
13. Karolyi, Tibor jr m HUN 2363 ½ ½ 0 . 0 ½ ½ 0 . . . ½ * 2128

24) 5th Singapore Masters

The 5th Singapore Masters took place 10th-14th December 2008. Richard Bitoon took clear first with 6.5/9.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr17292.aspx?art=1&rd=9&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&m=-1 I couldn't find any games at: http://www.singaporechess.org.sg/

5th Singapore Masters (SIN), 10-14 xii 2008
Rk.NameFEDRtgIPts.TB1 TB2
1Bitoon RichardPHI24396.54934.25
2Paragua MarkPHI252664931.5
3Megaranto SusantoINA2536646.528.5
4Nguyen Ngoc Truong SonVIE256764629.5
5Sadorra Julio CatalinoPHI2431645.530.25
6Bui VinhVIE250764529.75
7Dao Thien HaiVIE251064529
8Nguyen Thanh SonVIE243464527.5
9Panchanathan Magesh ChandranIND2493642.525.75
10Laxman R.R.IND24685.55129.75
11Nguyen Anh DungVIE24965.546.527
12Filippov AntonUZB25435.546.525.75
13Zhao JunCHN25685.54023.75
14TirtoINA2406544.523
15Yu RuiyuanCHN226154219.5
16Sukandar Irine KharismaINA230354218.75
17Dimakiling OliverPHI2448540.519
18Yap Kim StevenPHI23864.548.524.25
19Ballecer DinoPHI24104.54418.75
20Chiong LuisPHI23614.541.519.5
21Nadanian AshotARM24454.54119.5
22Chan Yi-Ren DanielSIN22604.538.517.75
23Shen SiyuanCHN23034.53814.5
24Chua Zheng Yuan TerrySIN21394.535.515
25Thejkumar M. S.IND24414.534.514.5
26Nguyen Van HuyVIE242244314.75
42 players

25) Copa PDV Sur

The Torneo Internacional Copa PDV Sur took place in Buenos Aires - Club Argentino de Ajedrez - 30th November - 11th December 2008. IM Sandro Mareco won with an impressive 8/9.

Official site: http://www.argentinodeajedrez.com.ar/index.htm

1st Copa PDV Sur Buenos Aires (ARG), 30 xi-11 xii 2008
Final Round 9 Standings:
1Mareco. Sandro IM ARG 24818554248
2Liascovich. Lucas IM ARG 24307563942.5
3Mayorga. Nicolas FM ARG 2274751.53638
4Rodriguez Vila. Andres GM URU 2508750.53637
5Bronstein. Luis Marcos IM ARG 237874935.536
6Perez Pietronave. Carlos FM ARG 2188746.53534
7Julia. Ernesto FM ARG 2367744.533.534.5
8Pierrot. Facundo IM ARG 24206.556.53636
9Garcia. Raimundo IM ARG 23406.551.532.535.25
10Tristan. Leonardo ARG 23936.55136.534
11Meza. Hugo ARG 23176.548.53333.25
12Wisniacki. Flavio ARG 22896.545.53030.75
13De Cara. Juan Antonio ARG 06.5442729.75
14Virgillito. Cristian ARG 21726.54232.530.25
15Alonso. Salvador IM ARG 2446654.53534.5
16Dos Santos. Ramiro FM ARG 2435652.53633
17Goldwaser. Christian ARG 2396649.53129.25
18Ocampos. Ian ARG 18986492930.5
19Bielicki. Carlos IM ARG 23656483132.25
20Lopez. Diego ARG 2154647.530.528.25
21Pichot. Alan FM ARG 192564728.527.5
22Cori T.. Deysi WIM PER 2279646.532.526
23Jimenez. Joaquin ARG 2249646.532.527.75
24Fernandez.Florencia ARG 2095646.53026
25Krysa. (R)Leandro ARG 210064630.531.25
26Arenas. Sergio ARG 21556453027.25
27Goiriz. Y Damian PAR 2072644.52721
28Paniagua Chnelik. Sebastia ARG 20946432920.75
29Zeta. Rodrigo ARG 20496422824
30Malbran. Guillermo IM ARG 22476393123.75
31Restuccia. Francisco ARG 2126638.52723.5
32Cori. Jorge FM PER 23805.555.536.531
157 players

26) WBX Team Tournament

A team tournament called WBX Team Tournament took place in Edmonton, Alberta Canada between Dec 13-14, 2008. Each team consisted of 3 participants and the average rating of teams did not exceed 1900 at the time of their registration. A Team called "E4 Effort" from the province of Saskatchewan won the event with 11.5/15 This team consisted of: Robert Sasata (2267), Jamin Gluckie (2080) and Josh Timm (1354). Second place went to: " Rybka Incarnate" which also had two players from Saskatchewan and an FM from Calgary, Alberta. They received 11/15 points and consisted of: FM Eric Hansen (2362), Chris Achtemichuk (1677) and Tyler Janzen (1586). Report: Vlad Rekhson.

27) Groningen Chess Festival

The annual Groningen Chess Festival takes place December 21st-30th 2008. It will be held in the renowned Harmoniegebouw, closely related to the 1946 Staunton tournament won by Botwinnik. In several groups players of all strengths will compete with some strong Dutch and international contenders playing in the top group. The 45th edition of the Groningen Chess Festival will also feature a match between two young Dutch grandmasters. Groningen based law student Jan Werle, who became EC champion in October, will face this year's Dutch champion Jan Smeets. Both players were members of the Dutch team that competed at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. Games will be played between 25th and 29th December. Rapid games will decide the outcome of the match on December 30th 2008 if required. Hans Boehm and former Dutch champion Gert Ligterink will provide live commentary during the match. The Groningen Chess Festival is organised by the Stichting Schaakstad Groningen.

Official site: http://www.schaakstadgroningen.nl/index.php/festival-2008

28) 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament takes place 27th December 2008 - 4th January 2009. Zoltan Almasi will defend the trophy won last year in a category 14 tournament. Two strong young italian IMs , Ronchetti and Shytaj will try their chances for a GM norm. This year also a B tournament , category 5, for the IM norm will take place:

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

51st Reggio Emilia Tournament (ITA), 27 xii 2008 - 4 i 2009
1. GMNi HuaCHN2710
2. GMZoltan AlmasiHUN2663
3. GMGadir GuseinovAZE2650
4. GMKonstantin LandaRUS2613
5. GMMihail MarinROM2556
6. GMManuel Leon HoyosMEX2535
7. GMAlexey DreevRUS2670
8. GMMiso CebaloCRO2493
9. IMLuca ShytajITA2472
10. IMNiccolò RonchettiITA2414

51st Reggio Emilia Tournament B (ITA), 27 xii 2008 - 4 i 2009
1. IMKovacevic BlazhimirCRO2472
2. IMGalyas MiklosHUN2454
3. IMGunnarsson Jon ViktorICE2430
4. FMThorfinsson BjornICE2399
5. FMCorvi MarcoITA2343
6. FMRombaldoni AxelITA2334
7. FMLucaroni MassimilianoITA2320
8. FMCocchi AndreaITA2305
9. MPomaro AlbertoITA2254
10. MBarillaro LucaITA2202

29) Ivanchuk - Leko Match

Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko will play a 6 game rapid match in Mukachevo , Ukraine 3rd-5th January 2009. Time control: (6 rounds, 25 min + 10 sec per move).

Schedule: * January 2 2009: o 18:00 - official open ceremony * January 3 2009: o 15:30 - 1-st round o 17:00 - 2-nd round * January 4 2009: o 15:30 - 3-d round o 17:00 - 4-th round * January 5 2009: o 15:30 - 5-d round o 17:00 - 6-th round o 19:00 - official close ceremony

According to google with the offical site: http://www.ivanchukleko2009.com and http://chess32x64.org/ (Ukrainian language) had problems with trojans, but this has been definitively fixed now.

30) Manchester NH Swiss

George Mirijanian reports: The Manchester December Swiss took place December 6th 2008 at the Best Western Executive Court Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. Sharing top honors with scores of 3.5-0.5 were GM Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts, and IM David Vigorito of Lowell, Mass. Both drew each other in the third round. Tying for third place with 2-2 tallies were national master Henry "Hal" Terrie of Manchester and U.S. Chess Federation Class A-rated contestants Roger Pedersen of New York state and John Phythyon Sr. of Maine. The tournament drew 17 players in two sections and was directed by FIDE arbiter F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by Nita Paterl, also of Bedford.

31) A few events

I thought I'd added some games from the Chinese League Torch Real Estate Cup in a previous issue but it seems I didn't. Also there are games from the Cap D'Agde main open won by Mladen Palac and games from the Milton Keynes Open won by Mark Hebden with a perfect 5/5 score.

Grand Prix CCAS Cap D'Agde (FRA), 25 x-1 xi 2008
Pl Name TiNAT Elo Pts Perf. Tr. Bu. FFE
1PALAC Mladen g CRO 25837.5269344.553.52694
2BAUER Christian g FRA 25927264346.5562640
3CORNETTE Matthieu m FRA 25487259644.5532593
4BENITAH Yohan m FRA 24287253141482531
5GORDON Stephen J m ENG 25216.525304149.52525
6KOSTEN Anthony C. g FRA 25106.5251843.551.52512
7TRENT Lawrence m ENG 24706.5251043532510
8IVANOV Jordan m BUL 24286.5249941.5502499
9PHILIPPE Christophe m FRA 24586.5249240492492
10GRISHCHENKO Sergey f RUS 24056.524684046.52475
11SAATDJIAN Thomas FRA 22846.524663944.52466
12LIBISZEWSKI Fabien m FRA 24876.5241137.5452379
13DEMUTH Adrien f FRA 2332624073944.52407
14DESLANDES Pascal FRA 22996239837.5432398
15COLLAS Didier m FRA 24516239539.5482395
16OLIVIER Jean-Christophe m FRA 23636239239.546.52392
17MULLON Jean-Baptiste f FRA 2354623834047.52383
18BERBATOV Kiprian f BUL 2346623613744.52361
19ABERGEL Thal m FRA 25096234435.542.52286
20MENSCH Etienne m FRA 2339623303743.52330
21MILLIET Sophie gf FRA 23666232337452323
22COLLAS Silvia m FRA 23526230935412309
23BARON Thierry FRA 2259622923440.52292
24SIMON Olivier m FRA 2376622903745.52290
25BROCHET Philippe m FRA 23776227231362272
26PRIE Eric g FRA 24915.5247041.550.52464
27ELISHEV Ivan RUS 21945.5238238.546.52382
28CALISTRI Tristan f FRA 23615.523734048.52373
29SANCHEZ Nicolas FRA 22325.5237140.547.52371
30GRANDADAM Nicolas SUI 21035.5236635.542.52366
31SONG Julien FRA 22495.523474046.52347
32CHOMET Pascal m FRA 23495.5233640.5492336
33ASHTON Adam G f ENG 23255.5233639.5472336
34HOURIEZ Clement FRA 22455.5231633412316
35SCHWEITZER Viktoriya mf FRA 22085.523043744.52304
36LYELL Mark f ENG 22485.5229537442295
37IGLESIAS Joachim FRA 21785.5226833402268
38WUNDERMAN Xavier FRA 21645.5226637.544.52266
39DELORT Frederic FRA 22175.5222733.540.52227
40FARGERE Francois f FRA 24445242642.5502426
146 players

32) 4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009. Rounds 3-4 took place 6th-7th December 2008 in the Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island. Next round 17th-18th January 2009. Games now available.

Official site: http://www.4ncl.co.uk

4NCL Hinckley Island (ENG), 4 x 2008 - 4 v 2009
Results Rounds 3-4
4CNL Division 1A
RD 3 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 12283½-7½GUILDFORD-A&DC 22440
1wWong, Zi Jing24140-1Kosten, Anthony C2510
2bDearing, Eddie23930-1Prie, Eric2491
3wPinter, Gabor23550-1Flear, Glenn C2473
4bMah, Karl C C24080-1Shaw, John K2469
5wAlfred, Nathan23230-1Cherniaev, Alexander2438
6bChurm, Rohan M22070-1Tissir, Mohamed2463
7wConlon, Joe2212½Buckley, Graeme2399
8bBroomfield, Lucy (F)19490-1Sandu, Mihaela (F)2273
RD 3 WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 124687-1WHITE ROSE 12315
1wBerczes, David25141-0Wells, Peter K2516
2bGordon, Stephen J25211-0Jones, Gawain C B2548
3wSzabo, Krisztian *2520½McNab, Colin2455
4bLalic, Bogdan2531½Palliser, Richard2407
5wArakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (F)24481-0Gayson, Peter M2254
6bGreet, Andrew N24401-0Barrett, Steve J2226
7wBerczes, Csaba23991-0Adams, David M2177
8bTiller, Bjorn23701-0Maroroa, Sue (F) *1938
RD 3 SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 122004½-3½RICHMOND2184
1wCobb, James E2451½Bates, Richard A2387
2bCooper, John G2362½Wall, Gavin2307
3wMorris, Charles F21950-1Bisby, Daniel L2287
4bZeidler, Sven P22240-1Muter, Donny2190
5wO'Neill, Paul22041-0Meyer, Gordon2161
6bJames, David J2137½Franklin, Michael J2232
7wRoberts, David L21441-0Mitchem, Nicholas D1971
8bBlackburn, Suzie (F)18831-0Sirisena, Chantal N (def) (F)1935
RD 3 BARBICAN 4NCL 12385SAMBUCA SHARKS2143
1wParker, Jonathan25381-0Rendle, Thomas E2385
2bTurner, Matthew J25051-0Krensing, Jan2287
3wFerguson, Mark23981-0Martyn, Rafe2293
4bCollinson, Adam2389½Williams, Samuel G2218
5wKnott, Simon23481-0Roberson, Peter T2236
6bCox, John J23811-0Purton, Ben J2106
7wBerry, Neil23231-0Makepeace, Philip J2027
8bRegan, Natasha (F)21971-0Sainbayar, Anuurai (F) *1590
RD 4 GUILDFORD-A&DC 224603½-4½WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 12468
1wPert, Nicholas2532½Lalic, Bogdan2531
2bHebden, Mark L2515½Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (F)2448
3wKing, Daniel J2518½Szabo, Krisztian *2520
4bKosten, Anthony C2510½Berczes, David2514
5wCherniaev, Alexander24380-1Gordon, Stephen J2521
6bPrie, Eric24910-1Greet, Andrew N2440
7wBuckley, Graeme23991-0Berczes, Csaba2399
8bSandu, Mihaela (F)2273½Tiller, Bjorn2370
RD 4 RICHMOND2219½-7½BARBICAN 4NCL 12382
1wBates, Richard A2387½Parker, Jonathan2538
2bWall, Gavin23070-1Turner, Matthew J2505
3wBisby, Daniel L22870-1Eggleston, David J2368
4bMuter, Donny21900-1Cox, John J2381
5wMeyer, Gordon21610-1Ferguson, Mark2398
6bFranklin, Michael J22320-1Knott, Simon2348
7wMitchem, Nicholas D19710-1Berry, Neil2323
8bdefault 0-1Regan, Natasha (F)2197
RD 4 WHITE ROSE 123156½-1½CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 12283
1wWells, Peter K2516½Pinter, Gabor2355
2bJones, Gawain C B2548½Dearing, Eddie2393
3wMcNab, Colin24551-0Mah, Karl C C2408
4bPalliser, Richard2407½Wong, Zi Jing2414
5wGayson, Peter M22541-0Alfred, Nathan2323
6bBarrett, Steve J22261-0Conlon, Joe2212
7wAdams, David M21771-0Churm, Rohan M2207
8bMaroroa, Sue (F) *19381-0Broomfield, Lucy (F)1949
RD 4 SAMBUCA SHARKS21083-5SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 12200
1wRendle, Thomas E23851-0Cobb, James E2451
2bKrensing, Jan22870-1Cooper, John G2362
3wMartyn, Rafe22931-0Morris, Charles F2195
4bWilliams, Samuel G2218½Zeidler, Sven P2224
5wPurton, Ben J21060-1O'Neill, Paul2204
6bCoddington, Oliver19750-1James, David J2137
7wMakepeace, Philip J2027½Roberts, David L2144
8bMilson, Amy (F) *15700-1Blackburn, Suzie (F)1883
4CNL Division 1B
RD 3 NORTH WEST EAGLES21692-6BETSSON.COM2284
1wMorrison, Graham2328½Hunt, Adam C2431
2bCoates, Kenneth G22410-1Ledger, Andrew J2429
3wHulmes, David I2203½Webb, Laurence E2347
4bRedmond, John21991-0Eames, Robert G2329
5wCharleshouse, Glenn L21940-1Ledger, David J2254
6bJaunooby, Ali21450-1Nelson, Jonathan2247
7wMulligan, Stephen21130-1Ledger, Stephen C2151
8bMorrison, Lynne (F)19260-1Chaumont, Adeline (F) *2083
RD 3 WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 223034-4PRIDE AND PREJUDICE2296
1wHouska, Jovanka (F)2399½Emms, John M2489
2bMartin, Andrew D2425½Ward, Chris G2431
3wMcDonald, Neil2398½Summerscale, Aaron2467
4bSowray, Peter J2316½Hunt, Harriet (F)2462
5wBroomfield, Matthew23440-1Sahl, Sheila (F)2219
6bLindner, Daniel2242½Zhou, Yang-Fan2276
7wFowler, Simon22141-0Summerscale, Claire E (F)2007
8bHegarty, Sarah (F)2088½Auckland, Elliott2017
RD 3 BRISTOL 122132½-5½THE GAMBIT ADS2332
1wCobb, Charles24070-1Speelman, Jonathan S2530
2bRudd, Jack23440-1Chandler, Murray G2515
3wBuckley, David E22440-1Davies, Nigel R2490
4bBeaumont, Chris23170-1Richardson, John R2308
5wDilleigh, Stephen P2147½Snape, Ian2219
6bPickering, Andrew *2160½Wheeler, Darren P2234
7wCurtis, John21221-0Cafferty, Bernard2179
8bSmith, Olivia (F)1961½Bellin, Jana (F)2183
RD 3 GUILDFORD-A&DC 125217-1BARBICAN 4NCL 22268
1wRowson, Jonathan25961-0Rogers, Jonathan W2347
2bHowell, David W L25931-0Eggleston, David J2368
3wCornette, Matthieu25481-0Lewis, Andrew P2277
4bPert, Nicholas2532½Pritchett, Craig W2308
5wConquest, Stuart C25261-0Dorrington, Christopher2259
6bKing, Daniel J2518½Taylor, Peter2254
7wHebden, Mark L25151-0Franklin, Samuel2156
8bLalic, Susan (F)23411-0Lauterbach, Ingrid (F)2178
RD 4 BETSSON.COM22843½-4½WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 22303
1wHunt, Adam C2431½Houska, Jovanka (F)2399
2bLedger, Andrew J2429½Martin, Andrew D2425
3wWebb, Laurence E2347½McDonald, Neil2398
4bEames, Robert G23291-0Sowray, Peter J2316
5wLedger, David J22540-1Broomfield, Matthew2344
6bNelson, Jonathan2247½Lindner, Daniel2242
7wLedger, Stephen C2151½Fowler, Simon2214
8bChaumont, Adeline (F) *20830-1Hegarty, Sarah (F)2088
RD 4 THE GAMBIT ADS23322-6GUILDFORD-A&DC 12501
1wSpeelman, Jonathan S2530½Rowson, Jonathan2596
2bChandler, Murray G25150-1Howell, David W L2593
3wDavies, Nigel R2490½Cornette, Matthieu2548
4bRichardson, John R23080-1Conquest, Stuart C2526
5wSnape, Ian22190-1Shaw, John K2469
6bWheeler, Darren P22340-1Flear, Glenn C2473
7wCafferty, Bernard2179½Tissir, Mohamed2463
8bBellin, Jana (F)2183½Lalic, Susan (F)2341
RD 4 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE22855-3NORTH WEST EAGLES2169
1wEmms, John M2489½Morrison, Graham2328
2bSummerscale, Aaron24671-0Coates, Kenneth G2241
3wHunt, Harriet (F)2462½Hulmes, David I2203
4bWard, Chris G24311-0Redmond, John2199
5wSahl, Sheila (F)22191-0Charleshouse, Glenn L2194
6bKilpatrick, Callum21840-1Jaunooby, Ali2145
7wAuckland, Elliott2017½Mulligan, Stephen2113
8bSummerscale, Claire E (F)2007½Morrison, Lynne (F)1926
RD 4 BARBICAN 4NCL 222423½-4½BRISTOL 12213
1wRogers, Jonathan W2347½Cobb, Charles2407
2bPritchett, Craig W23080-1Rudd, Jack2344
3wDorrington, Christopher2259½Beaumont, Chris2317
4bTaylor, Peter22540-1Buckley, David E2244
5wPiper, Matthew S *2290½Curtis, John2122
6bYnojosa, Felix J21451-0Pickering, Andrew *2160
7wFranklin, Samuel2156½Dilleigh, Stephen P2147
8bLauterbach, Ingrid (F)2178½Smith, Olivia (F)1961

4NCL Hinckley Island (ENG), 4 x 2008 - 4 v 2009
Standings After Round 4
Team Won Drawn Lost Points
WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1 4 0 0 8
WHITE ROSE 1 3 0 1 6
SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 1 2 2 0 6
BARBICAN 4NCL 1 2 1 1 5
GUILDFORD-A&DC 2 2 0 2 4
RICHMOND 1 0 3 1 *
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1 0 1 3 1
SAMBUCA SHARKS 0 0 4 0
Team Won Drawn Lost Points
GUILDFORD-A&DC 1 4 0 0 8
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 3 1 0 7
WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 2 2 1 1 5
THE GAMBIT ADS 2 0 2 4
BETSSON.COM 1 0 3 2
BARBICAN 4NCL 2 1 0 3 2
BRISTOL 1 1 0 3 2
NORTH WEST EAGLES 1 0 3 0 *

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

33) 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. Couldn't find any games or results so far.

34) Forthcoming Events and Links

Luis Scalise

Luis Scalise's chess pages have moved to: http://scalise.fortunecity.com/

Corus Fields all settled 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).

Grandmastergroup B is stronger than ever, with an average rating of 2631. Remarkable names in this group include former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) former world championship challenger Nigel Short and former World Championship Candidate Henrique Mecking (Brazil).

In Grandmastergroup C former top player Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine) is one of the 14 participants. Romanishin won the recently held Cultural Village Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Young GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (Venezuela) qualified early November by winning the ICC Online Qualifier, while Manuel Bosboom (The Netherlands) and Frank Holzke (Germany) gained their places in the C-group by winning the two highest amateur events (nine-rounds-all-play-all) in January 2008. Besides, two more names are remarkable: the two Junior World Champions Abhijeet Gupta (boys under 20) and Dronavalli Harika (girls under 20) will participate. Harika and Gupta both represent India.

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
No.NameCountryWRankRatingBorn
1Alexander MorozevichRUS227871977
2Vassily IvanchukUKR327861969
3Magnus CarlsenNOR427861990
4Levon AronianARM727571982
5Teimour RadjabovAZE827511987
6Wang YueCHN1127361987
7Michael AdamsENG1227341971
8Sergei MovsesianSLW1327321978
9Sergei KarjakinUKR1527301990
10Gata KamskyUSA1627291974
11Leinier DominguezCUB2127191983
12Loek van WelyNED26181972
13Daniel StellwagenNED26051987
14Jan SmeetsNED26041985
71st Corus Wijk aan Zee B-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009
Average rating: 2631 Category: 16
No.TiNameCountryRatingBorn
1GMKrishnan SasikiranIND26941981
2GMZahar EfimenkoUKR26801985
3GMRustam KasimdzhanovUZB26721979
4GMAlexander MotylevRUS26721979
5GMFrancisco Vallejo PonsESP26641982
6GMAndrei VolokitinUKR26591986
7GMNigel ShortENG26421965
8GMFabiano CaruanaITA26401992
9GMDavid NavaraCZE26331985
10GMErwin L'AmiNED 26101985
11GMJan WerleNED25821984
12WGMHou YifanCHN25781994
13GMHenrique MeckingBRA25671952
14GMDimitri ReindermanNED25431972
71st Corus Wijk aan Zee C-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009
Average rating: 2512 Category: 11
No.TiNameCountryRatingBorn
1GMWesley SoPHI26101993
2GMDavid HowellENG25931990
3GMAbhijeet GuptaIND25801989
4GMTiger Hillarp PerssonSWE25431970
5GMFriso NijboerNED25401965
6GMEduardo IturrizagaVEN25381989
7IMManuel Leon HoyosMEX25351989
8GMOleg RomanishinUKR25321952
9GMFrank HolzkeGER25241971
10FMAnish GiriRUS24661994
11WGMDronavalli HarikaIND24621991
12IMRoeland PruijssersNED24581989
13IMManuel BosboomNED24161963
14FMAli BitalzadehNED23701989

7th Nancy Chess Festival

The 7th International Chess Festival takes place in Nancy (France) 16th-22nd February 2009. It will be a category 13 with average elo over 2550 (with january-elo). With the indian number 3 Pentala Harikrishna, the french number 5 Christian Bauer, the young hope of Germany Georg Meier, and the numbers 2 and 3 under-20 in France : Edouard and Feller (born in 1990 and 1991)...

Players: GM Harikrishna, P 2659 India GM Tregubov, Pavel 2646 Russia GM Krasenkow, Michal 2624 Poland GM Bauer, Christian 2592 France GM Meier, Georg 2558 Germany IM Edouard, Romain 2531 France GM Feller, Sebastien 2526 France IM Gozzoli, Yannick 2503 France IM Brunner, Nicolas 2415 France IM Nezar, Mustapha 2399 France

The all Festival includes 14 closed tournaments (10 players each) for all levels of players. Web (in french and english) : http://echecs54.free.fr/

11th Hotel Hilton Basle

The 11th Hotel Hilton Basle chess meeting The Swiss Chess Tour 2009 traditional start in the Hilton Basle from January 1-4. Three tournaments, main tournament will be 1st Memorial Ivan Nemet. GM Ivan Nemet pass away December 16, 2007. Prizes: 1.500/1.200/800/600/500/400/2x300/2x250 CHF. Special prizes, 200 CHF for best Lady, junior (89-92) and schoolboy (1993). Enter fee 140 CHF; FM and juniors 70 CHF; GM & IM free. At the door 20 CHF. The other tournaments Amateur Open and Senior Open. Amateur Open (under 2000 rating) Prizes: 700/500/400/3x300/4x200 CHF. Enter fee: 120 CHF (junior 60). Senior Open 5 rounds: Prizes: 500/400/300/2x200 CHF. Enter fee: 100 CHF. Application at the door for all groups 20 CHF. Time-control for all tournaments 7 rounds, 2 hours for 40 moves + 30 minutes each. Closing dinner 70 CHF.

Open desk for registration at January 1st at 12; Round 1 start at 5 p.m. in all groups.

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+62+9654-650, fax +41+62+9654-651 E-mail event@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

Grand Slam Masters Final

The 2nd edition of the Grand Slam Masters Final will be played in Bilbao, September 2-15th 2009. The winners of Corus-Wijk aan Zee, Ciudad de Linares and Mtel Masters-Sofia tournaments will qualify directly for the Masters Final in Bilbao, where the first edition (played at a central square, inside a glass cube) was a very big success last September.

More details on the 2009 tournament (number of players, system of play, etc) will be announced at the end of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The Grand Slam is in negotiations to include one more high level tournament in the 2009 circuit.

Grand Slam Chess Association (GSCA)

Dresden, 23 November 2008

The 7th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival takes place from Tuesday 27 January to Thursday 5 February 2009 at the Caleta Hotel. Details: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2009/index.html

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

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

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/

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 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

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

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

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.

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

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

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, Elista, Russia (Doha, Qatar withdrew)
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