THE WEEK IN CHESS 755 27th April 2009 by Mark Crowther

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Mark Crowther
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Contents

1) Introduction
2) 4th FIDE Grand Prix Tournament in Nalchik
3) Anand vs Morovic Rapid Match
4) 16th Asian Cities
5) Akobian vs Shulman Rapid Match
6) Algimantas Cesnauskas Memorial
7) K41 Scandinavian Open
8) Azerbaijan U20
9) XXII Benidorm Open
10) VI Magistral Hebraica
11) 4th Angers Open
12) Leonardo di Bona Memorial
13) Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Open
14) 8th Annual Heroes Day
15) China's 2010 World Cup Qualification
16) Dutch Juniors
17) New Hampshire Quick and g/60 Championships
18) 10th European Individual Budva Montenegro Correction
19) Jack Spiegel Memorial
20) XXVII Metz Open
21) 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup
22) Forthcoming Events and Links

Games Section
4th FIDE Grand Prix Tournament in Nalchik42 games
Anand vs Morovic Rapid Match2 games
16th Asian Cities360 games
Akobian vs Shulman Rapid Match14 games
Algimantas Cesnauskas Memorial45 games
K41 Scandinavian Open110 games
Azerbaijan U208 games
XXII Benidorm Open26 games
VI Magistral Hebraica35 games
4th Angers Open119 games
Leonardo di Bona Memorial108 games
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Open224 games
Dutch Juniors47 games
10th European Individual Correction2 games
Jack Spiegel Memorial3 games
XXVII Metz Open89 games
1234 games

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ChessBase Now Out

1) Introduction

My thanks to Adolivio Capece, Luis Blasco de la Cruz, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Etienne Cornil, Etienne Van Leeuwen, Gwenole Grall, John Emms, John Saunders, Ulvi Bajarani, George Mirijanian, Mathias Morin, Piet Boonen, Mikhail Golubev, Rohan Waithe and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik is near completion with just two rounds to go. Levon Aronian leads by half a point from Peter Leko. Evgeny Alekseev, Vladimir Akopian and Etienne Bacrot are half a point further back. The winner will come from amongst these players. Its been interesting stuff. Viswanathan Anand appeared in Chile and made very light work of Ivan Morovic in a two game rapid match.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) 4th FIDE Grand Prix Tournament in Nalchik

The FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament takes place in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia 14th-29th April 2009

Official website: http://www.nalchik2009.fide.com

Games will be played 15th-29th April 2009. Rest days: April 20th and 25th. The total prize-fund is 162,000 Euros.

4th FIDE GP Nalchik (RUS), 15-29 iv 2009 cat. XIX (2725)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
1. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2754 * . ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ . 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7 2822
2. Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 . * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ . 1 ½ ½ 6½ 2787
3. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2716 ½ ½ * ½ . 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 . 6 2759
4. Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2696 0 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ . . ½ 6 2766
5. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2728 ½ ½ . 0 * . ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 6 2759
6. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2748 ½ ½ 1 ½ . * . 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 5½ 2722
7. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2726 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ . * 0 . 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 2723
8. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2720 . ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 . 5 2685
9. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2721 1 ½ 0 0 0 ½ . 1 * ½ ½ . ½ ½ 5 2688
10. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2725 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ * . 0 . ½ 5 2694
11. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2695 ½ . ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ . * 0 ½ 1 5 2689
12. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 ½ 0 ½ . ½ 0 ½ ½ . 1 1 * 0 ½ 5 2691
13. Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2693 0 ½ 0 . ½ ½ 0 1 ½ . ½ 1 * ½ 5 2694
14. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2746 0 ½ . ½ ½ 1 0 . ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 4½ 2659

Round 6 (April 21, 2009)
Aronian, Levon - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 40 A31 English Symmetrical
Leko, Peter - Alekseev, Evgeny ½-½ 54 E10 Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Akopian, Vladimir - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 71 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Kamsky, Gata - Gelfand, Boris ½-½ 41 E04 Catalan
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 38 D10 Slav Defence
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Bacrot, Etienne ½-½ 20 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Eljanov, Pavel - Svidler, Peter 0-1 73 D91 Gruenfeld 5.Bg5
Round 7 (April 22, 2009)
Alekseev, Evgeny - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ 52 B07 Pirc Defence
Bacrot, Etienne - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 38 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall
Grischuk, Alexander - Akopian, Vladimir ½-½ 43 D17 Slav Defence
Svidler, Peter - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½ 22 C43 Petroff's Defence
Karjakin, Sergey - Kamsky, Gata 1-0 32 C19 French Winawer
Gelfand, Boris - Eljanov, Pavel 0-1 36 A13 Reti Opening
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Leko, Peter ½-½ 55 C77 Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Round 8 (April 23, 2009)
Aronian, Levon - Svidler, Peter ½-½ 30 D11 Slav Defence
Leko, Peter - Bacrot, Etienne ½-½ 23 E15 Queens Indian
Akopian, Vladimir - Alekseev, Evgeny ½-½ 50 D38 QGD Ragozin
Kamsky, Gata - Eljanov, Pavel 0-1 67 C91 Ruy Lopez
Karjakin, Sergey - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ 75 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ 37 D79 Gruenfeld 3.g3
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 28 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit
Round 9 (April 24, 2009)
Alekseev, Evgeny - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 47 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Bacrot, Etienne - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 1-0 31 B46 Sicilian Paulsen
Grischuk, Alexander - Kamsky, Gata 0-1 101 C95 Ruy Lopez Breyer
Svidler, Peter - Leko, Peter ½-½ 32 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed
Gelfand, Boris - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 33 D37 QGD 5.Bf4
Eljanov, Pavel - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½ 65 D37 QGD 5.Bf4
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Akopian, Vladimir ½-½ 45 A29 English Four Knights
Round 10 (April 26, 2009)
Aronian, Levon - Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 50 D37 QGD 5.Bf4
Leko, Peter - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 43 C42 Petroff's Defence
Akopian, Vladimir - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 57 B35 Sicilian Defence
Grischuk, Alexander - Alekseev, Evgeny 1-0 52 E58 Nimzo Indian
Kamsky, Gata - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½ 36 C42 Petroff's Defence
Karjakin, Sergey - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ 40 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Svidler, Peter 1-0 36 D45 Anti-Meran Variations
Round 11 (April 27, 2009)
Alekseev, Evgeny - Kamsky, Gata ½-½ 44 B42 Sicilian Paulsen
Bacrot, Etienne - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 38 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Svidler, Peter - Akopian, Vladimir ½-½ 22 C84 Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 67 D45 Anti-Meran Variations
Gelfand, Boris - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 1-0 56 E10 Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Eljanov, Pavel - Leko, Peter ½-½ 44 D47 Queens Gambit Meran
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 37 E97 King's Indian Classical

3) Anand vs Morovic Rapid Match

World Champion Viswanathan Anand played a two game rapid match against Ivan Morovic Fernandez in Santiago, Chile. The time rate was 25 minutes plus 30 seconds a more. Anand won the match extremely comfortably 2-0.

Official site: http://www.fundaciondeajedrez.cl/index.php

Anand vs Morovic Rapid Match 26th April 2009
Gm1 Morovic Fernandez, Ivan - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 49 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian
Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Morovic Fernandez, Ivan 1-0 33 C41 Philidor's Defence
Rapid Match Santiago (CHI), 26-26 iv 2009
12
1Anand, Viswanathan g IND2783 1 1 2
2Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI2551 0 0 0

4) 16th Asian Cities

The 16th Asian Cities Team Championship for the Dubai Cup sees 20 teams competing 15th-23rd April 2009 in Beirut, Lebanon. The powerhouse Tehran team, with three Grandmasters (Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, Elshan Moradiabadi and Morteza Mahjoob). won 8 and drew 1 match on the way to a comfortable win.

Coverage at: http://www.asia-chess.com also http://chess-results.com/Tnr21079.aspx?lan=1

16th Asian Cities (LIB), 15-23 iv 2009
Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.SNoTeamNATGms + = - TB1 TB2 TB3
11TehranIran981017273,085,0
24BangaloreIndia962114229,590,0
38DamascusSyria953113187,090,0
43Furn El Chebak ALebanon961213174,592,0
513KathmanduNepal951311123,566,0
67AmmanJordan942310182,090,0
75SanaaYemen942310170,083,0
810Abu DhabiUAE950410116,567,0
92BaghdadIraq94149181,089,0
106AleppoSyria93339153,589,0
119SharjahUAE94149146,079,0
1215SulaimaniyahIraq94149110,075,0
1314Chiahlebanon9414993,573,0
1412Bandar EmamIran94058143,097,0
1511BeirutLebanon9405885,568,0
1619HazmiehLebanon93066103,568,0
1716DubaiUAE9225682,061,0
1818Al QudsPalestine9306659,565,0
1917Furn El Chebak BLebanon9117357,565,0
2020GazaPalestine9009021,565,0

5) Akobian vs Shulman Rapid Match

Varuzhan Akobian took on Yuri Shulman in a four day rapid and blitz match in California USA April 22nd-25th 2009. There were 6 rapid games over three days followed by 10 blitz games on the final day. Games were broadcast live on ICC. Akobian won the rapid section 3.5-2.5 before smashing Shulman 6-2 in the blitz on the final day.

(Time Control: Rapid - 25 minutes plus 5 sec. of inc. Blitz - 5 minutes) Prize Fund: 10,000 USD.

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

Day 1 Rapid 22nd April 2009
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 1-0 30 E61 King's Indian Defence
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan ½-½ 56 E11 Bogo Indian Defence
Day 2 Rapid 23rd April 2009
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 0-1 33 E61 King's Indian Defence
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan 0-1 43 D11 Slav Defence
Day 3 Rapid 24th April 2009
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 1-0 35 D35 QGD Exchange
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan 1-0 62 E04 Catalan

Day 4 Blitz 25th April 2009
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan 0-1 39 D12 Slav Defence
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 1-0 35 D35 QGD Exchange
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan 1-0 60 D12 Slav Defence
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 0-1 Missing
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan 0-1 50 A40 Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 1-0 33 D63 Queens Gambit Main Line with 7.Rc1
Shulman, Yuri - Akobian, Varuzhan 0-1 27 D34 Tarrasch Defence, Main Line
Akobian, Varuzhan - Shulman, Yuri 1-0 55 A80 Dutch

6) Algimantas Cesnauskas Memorial

Panevezys Chess Club organised the Algimantas Cesnauskas Memorial in Lithuania. It was a chess festival of three tournaments that take place 18th-26th April in Panevezys, Lithuania. The Rapid '09 took place 18th -19th April and was won by Sarunas Sulskis on tie-break from Ralf Akesson after both make 7.5/9. Arturs Neiksans won the main all-play-all with 7/9.

Further details: http://www.chesslyga.lt/

Algimantas Cesnauskas Mem Panevezys (LAT), 20-26 iv 2009 cat. VII (2422)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Neiksans, Arturs m LAT 2458 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 2637
2. Kovalev, Andrei g BLR 2515 ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 6½ 2577
3. Starostits, Ilmars m LAT 2464 0 ½ * ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 5½ 2497
4. Kveinys, Aloyzas g LTU 2534 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 5 2452
5. Labeckas, Kestutis LTU 2337 0 1 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5 2474
6. Hedman, Erik f SWE 2396 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 4½ 2424
7. Novikov, Vitalij LTU 2314 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 * 0 1 ½ 4 2390
8. Akesson, Ralf g SWE 2493 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ 1 4 2370
9. Berzina, Ilze wm LAT 2287 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 2 2216
10. Strebkovs, Andrejs m LAT 2420 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 * 1½ 2149

7) K41 Scandinavian Open

The K41 Scandinavian Open took place 18th-26th April 2009. Thorsten Michael Haub and Yuri Drozdovskij shared first place with 8.5/11.

Official site with live coverage: http://www.k41.dk/turnering/k412009/index.php?css=k41_2009

K41 Scandinavian Open Copenhagen (DEN), 18-26 iv 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. Drozdovskij, Yuri g UKR 2603 +9 =11 =2 +7 +6 =3 +5 =4 +12 =10 +13 8½ 2633
2. Haub, Thorsten Michael m GER 2448 +20 +15 =1 =12 +11 =5 =3 +6 +7 +4 =9 8½ 2649
3. Grabarczyk, Miroslaw g POL 2469 =18 +8 =5 =11 +12 =1 =2 -7 =10 =6 +14 6½ 2517
4. Hoi, Carsten g DEN 2387 =6 -7 +14 =9 +8 =10 +13 =1 +11 -2 =15 6½ 2501
5. Semcesen, Daniel f SWE 2387 +12 =10 =3 =8 +13 =2 -1 =11 -6 +7 =16 6 2472
6. Grandelius, Nils m SWE 2491 =4 +13 =11 +10 -1 =7 +12 -2 +5 =3 -8 6 2470
7. Tikkanen, Hans m SWE 2425 =8 +4 =10 -1 +20 =6 +9 +3 -2 -5 =18 6 2471
8. Zdebskaja, Natalia wg UKR 2438 =7 -3 +16 =5 -4 =17 =18 -14 +19 +15 +6 6 2427
9. Bekker-Jensen, Simon m DEN 2411 -1 +20 =13 =4 =10 +15 -7 -12 +17 +19 =2 6 2436
10. Brynell, Stellan g SWE 2463 +17 =5 =7 -6 =9 =4 -11 +16 =3 =1 =19 5½ 2410
11. Lund, Esben m DEN 2430 +16 =1 =6 =3 -2 =13 +10 =5 -4 +18 -17 5½ 2410
12. Danielsen, Henrik g ISL 2482 -5 +19 +18 =2 -3 +14 -6 +9 -1 =16 =20 5½ 2410
13. Pedersen, Daniel Vesterbaek f DEN 2251 +14 -6 =9 +15 -5 =11 -4 -19 +20 +17 -1 5 2371
14. Thorfinnsson, Bjorn f ISL 2422 -13 =18 -4 +17 +16 -12 =19 +8 -15 +20 -3 5 2333
15. Sachdev, Tania m IND 2423 +19 -2 =17 -13 +18 -9 =16 =20 +14 -8 =4 5 2324
16. Bejtovic, Jasmin f BIH 2306 -11 =17 -8 +19 -14 +20 =15 -10 +18 =12 =5 5 2359
17. Jacobsen, Bo DEN 2325 -10 =16 =15 -14 -19 =8 +20 =18 -9 -13 +11 4 2273
18. Smith, Axel m SWE 2383 =3 =14 -12 =20 -15 =19 =8 =17 -16 -11 =7 3½ 2259
19. Sisatto, Olli FIN 2286 -15 -12 -20 -16 +17 =18 =14 +13 -8 -9 =10 3½ 2250
20. Christensen, Stefan f DEN 2313 -2 -9 +19 =18 -7 -16 -17 =15 -13 -14 =12 2½ 2167

8) Azerbaijan U20

The Azerbaijan under-20 championship took place 14th-22nd April 2009. Ulvi Bajarani won with 6/8 half a point clear of the field.

Coverage: http://www.ulvichess.az/

ch-AZE U20 Baku (AZE), 14-22 iv 2009 cat. III (2301)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Bajarani, Ulvi f AZE 2331 * 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 6 2490
2. Rasulov, Vugar f AZE 2488 0 * 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 5½ 2418
3. Rahmanov, Shakhiyar AZE 2209 1 0 * 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 5½ 2453
4. Jafarli, Alizamin AZE 2231 0 0 1 * 1 1 1 1 0 5 2404
5. Agayev, Nidjat AZE 2286 1 0 0 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ 4 2303
6. Mammadov, Zaur Fazahir AZE 2180 0 1 0 0 0 * 1 0 1 3 2229
7. Rzayev, Bahruz AZE 2273 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 * 1 ½ 2½ 2163
8. Durarbeyli, Vasif m AZE 2458 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 * 1 2½ 2140
9. Hasanov, Shakhriyar AZE 2254 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 * 2 2114

9) XXII Benidorm Open

The 22nd Benidorm Open takes place 24th April - 3rd May 2009, 10 round swiss.

Alexis Cabrera, Julio E. Granda Zuniga, Emanuel Berg, Damian Lemos, Julen Luis Arizmendi Martinez, Tomasz Markowski, Vladimir Burmakin, Tamir Nabaty, Peter Vavrak, Robert Kempinski, Stelios Halkias, Vinay Bhat, Mihai Suba and Anatoly Bykhovsky have all started with 3/3.

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

10) VI Magistral Hebraica

The VI Magistral Hebraica takes place in Sao Paulo 20th-28th April 2009. Elo = 2464 - Cat IX - GM Norm 6,5/9

Official site: http://www.comunic.com.br/xadrez/

VI Magistral Hebraica Sao Paulo (BRA), 20-28 iv 2009 cat. IX (2459)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1. Milos, Gilberto g BRA 2585 * 1 . ½ . 1 ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 2652
2. Fier, Alexandr g BRA 2595 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 . . 1 1 5 2620
3. Greenfeld, Alon g ISR 2541 . ½ * . ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 4 2491
4. Van Riemsdijk, Herman C m BRA 2375 ½ ½ . * 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ . 3½ 2452
5. Diamant, Andre m BRA 2506 . 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ . ½ 3½ 2444
6. Duarte, Leonardo m ARG 2341 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 . 1 . 3½ 2478
7. Rodi, Luis Ernesto f ARG 2357 ½ . ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 . ½ 3 2414
8. Santos, Marcus Vinicius Moreira m BRA 2399 ½ . ½ ½ ½ . 0 * ½ ½ 3 2414
9. Perdomo, Leandro m ARG 2387 0 0 ½ ½ . 0 . ½ * ½ 2 2319
10. Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag m BRA 2503 0 0 0 . ½ . ½ ½ ½ * 2 2323

11) 4th Angers Open

The 4th Angers Open took place 17th-19th April 2009. Axel Delorme finished on 5.5/6 half a point clear of Alban Delorme, Bernard Ruch and Stanislas Loiret.

Official site: http://echiquierangevin.fr/openangers.php?pagebbcode=openangers

4th Open Angers (FRA), 17-19 iv 2009
Pl Nom Fede Elo Pts Tr. Bu. SBh FFE
1DELORME Axel m FRA 23945.522.525137.5
2DELORME Alban f FRA 224452225127.52360
3RUCH Bernard FRA 2006521241242490
4LOIRET Stanislas FRA 2266520.522.51392345
5BAILET Pierre f FRA 23434.52327132.5
6EGRETEAU Eric FRA 20314.51821133.52155
7MAHE Romain FRA 199342023.5115.52024
8PAILHE Lionel FRA 199041922127.52076
9SOYER Jean-Yves FRA 209241922121.52072
10LETERTRE Arnaud FRA 1911419211162052
11MURIE Eric FRA 2067418211272030
12PEREZ Alexandre FRA 1916418211262042
13ROBVEILLE Laurent FRA 191541820119.51982
14NICOLLEAU Mathias FRA 1800417.519.5121.51894
15GREGO Pierre FRA 1893417.519.5115.51991
16DELAITRE Frederic FRA 1860417.519.51101860
17FOLLEREAU Xavier FRA 186041719.5119.51872
18PATRON Pascal FRA 2005415.517.51251923
19ANICETTE Hugues FRA 1621415.517115.51864
20NEMETY Laszlo FRA 2150414.516.5122.51861
21BOUGET Alexandre FRA 20453.521.523.5125.52034
22DAVY Bruno FRA 19583.517.5201201941
23RENOUARD Ludovic FRA 18973.517.519.5111.51841
24GAUTHIER Laurent FRA 18083.516.518.51221813
25BOUDEAU Julien FRA 16943.513.515.51111716
70 players

12) Leonardo di Bona Memorial

The Leonardo di Bona Memorial took place in Cutro 18th-26th April 2009. Krasimir Rusev won the event with 6½/9.

Cutro is the town where Leonardo di Bona was born. In the XVI century Leonardo played against Ruy Lopez at the court of King Philip II.

Official site: http://www.comune.cutro.kr.it/

XV Leonardo di Bona Magistrale Cutro (ITA), 18-26 iv 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Rusev, Krasimir g BUL 2498 =10 =13 +23 +12 +6 =2 =3 =5 +9 6½ 2605
2. Georgiev, Vladimir g MKD 2539 +17 =4 =14 +7 +8 =1 =5 =9 =3 6 2589
3. Malaniuk, Vladimir P g UKR 2523 +18 =8 +4 =6 =5 =7 =1 +11 =2 6 2593
4. Inkiov, Ventzislav g BUL 2471 +21 =2 -3 =18 +20 +6 =11 =8 +14 6 2483
5. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2591 +19 =12 =6 +14 =3 =9 =2 =1 =7 5½ 2586
6. Svetushkin, Dmitry g MDA 2615 +15 +7 =5 =3 -1 -4 +16 +13 =8 5½ 2506
7. Tratar, Marko g SLO 2488 +22 -6 +13 -2 +11 =3 =12 +15 =5 5½ 2542
8. Arnaudov, Petar BUL 2199 +23 =3 =11 +20 -2 =12 +14 =4 =6 5½ 2481
9. Drasko, Milan g MNE 2527 =13 +10 =12 =11 =14 =5 +19 =2 -1 5 2507
10. Nikolova, Adriana wm BUL 2304 =1 -9 +17 =15 =18 -14 +24 =12 +22 5 2405
11. Naumkin, Igor g RUS 2488 +16 =14 =8 =9 -7 +18 =4 -3 =17 4½ 2404
12. Koziak, Vitali m UKR 2475 +20 =5 =9 -1 =15 =8 =7 =10 =13 4½ 2389
13. Marholev, Dimitar m BUL 2396 =9 =1 -7 =19 +16 =17 +20 -6 =12 4½ 2415
14. Meijers, Viesturs g LAT 2458 +24 =11 =2 -5 =9 +10 -8 +19 -4 4½ 2396
15. Genocchio, Daniele f ITA 2445 -6 +17 =18 =10 =12 -19 +22 -7 +21 4½ 2352
16. Van Hoolandt, Patrick f MNC 2224 -11 -23 +21 +22 -13 +24 -6 +18 =19 4½ 2263
17. Vuelban, Virgilio f PHI 2422 -2 -15 -10 +21 +23 =13 =18 +24 =11 4½ 2280
18. Bentivegna, Francesco f ITA 2326 -3 +21 =15 =4 =10 -11 =17 -16 +23 4 2277
19. Mrdja, Milan m CRO 2431 -5 +24 -20 =13 +22 +15 -9 -14 =16 4 2268
20. Cordi, Domenico ITA 2056 -12 +22 +19 -8 -4 +23 -13 -21 -24 3 2107
21. Neubauer, Kai ITA 2020 -4 -18 -16 -17 +24 -22 =23 +20 -15 2½ 2060
22. Parrella, Alfredo ITA 2093 -7 -20 +24 -16 -19 +21 -15 =23 -10 2½ 2053
23. Blasco, Domenico ITA 1989 -8 +16 -1 -24 -17 -20 =21 =22 -18 2 1986
24. Piccoli, Vincenzo ITA 2016 -14 -19 -22 +23 -21 -16 -10 -17 +20 2 2001

13) Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Open

The 11th Open International de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines took place 18th-25th April 2009 in Elancourt near Paris. GM Joseph Sanchez won the tournament after drawing with white against Namig Guliyev (he was actually winning at one stage). Thanks to M. Cyril Jean.

Official site: http://www.yvelines-echecs.fr/

XV Leonardo di Bona Magistrale Cutro (ITA), 18-26 iv 2009
Final Round 9 Standings:
PlName TNATElo PtsPerf Bu.FFE
1SANCHEZ Joseph mPHI24836,5267533,02684
2SALVADOR Roland mPHI24455,5249232,52487
3OKHOTNIK Vladimir mFRA24515,5248934,02482
4JOLLY Jean-Francois fFRA23925,5244432,02439
5VAN DONGEN Patrick fFRA23295,5238028,52381
6GULIYEV Namig gAZE25345,0237330,0
7LEBRUN Xavier FRA22105,0225730,52257
8GOULENOK Eric FRA21335,0223230,52278
9VALLOBRA Pierre FRA20095,0216326,02212
10PICART Laurent FRA21484,5231233,52312
11VALLEPIN Cedric FRA21304,0221325,02214
12LEGRAND Stephane FRA21654,0218831,52188
13CHEYMOL Eric FRA21884,0212828,52128
14RIAZUELO Gilles FRA21294,0211427,52102
15BARON Daniel FRA21024,0207128,52066
16FORISSIER Nicolas FRA19674,0205728,02136
17DE LAGONTRIE Jean FRA18894,0196124,51989
18CRITON Roland FRA19914,0195625,51940
19BOUSSAHA Bilal FRA19574,0192124,01914
20DUVAL Sylvain FRA19554,0190023,51886
21FROMENTIN Sebastien FRA19074,0189425,51891
22GEY Marc-Emile FRA19533,5197526,51992
23LAURENT Dominique FRA20123,5192425,01907
24GALAZKA Pierre FRA18963,5191924,51922
25OGER Claude FRA19963,5189726,01878
26DJORDJEVIC Vladimir FRA19503,5186723,51845
27BACHES Frederic FRA18553,5184221,51837
28DUVAL Dominique FRA18463,5183424,51822
29FAYOLLE Guy FRA18543,5182320,01802
30ABDUL Sonny FRA15603,5181424,01938
53 players

14) 8th Annual Heroes Day

The 8th Annual Heroes Day International Chess Tournament takes place in Bridgetown, Barbados on April 27th - May 3rd, 2009. There are 2 sections, a masters group of 14 players playing a 9 round swiss with GM norm opportunities. This is the 1st GM norm tournament ever in Barbados and only the 2nd one in the English speaking Caribbean(the first was in Trinidad in 1999).

Websites: http://www.barbados.org/chess/ - http://www.fideamerica.com/index.php and http://chessdrum.net/

15) China's 2010 World Cup Qualification

China's 2010 World Cup Qualification events for Men and Women takes place 17th - 28th April 2009 in Beijing. 12 men compete for 2 places and 12 women play for 4 places. Wang Yue, Ni Hua, Bu Xiangzhi, Hou Yifan, Zhao Xue and Xu Yuhua already qualified by rating. (Info: China Chess Association)

I've picked up the results from http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews which is missing a number of results from round 7 in the women's event so that table isn't complete. Also in the men's event they've swapped round 11 and played it instead of round 5 for no apparent reason (actually the women's event is a non-standard pairing also). I have a small number of games only, I will leave them this week, and hope the Chinese Federation comes up with them. Also even with google translate I struggle with the official chinese site.

Players: Wang Hao g 2696, Li Chao b g 2643, Zhou Jianchaov g 2635, Zhou Weiqi g 2563, Zhao Jun g 2560, Li Shilong g 2557, Wen Yang g 2532, Gao Rui 2500, Xu Jun g 2498, Ding Liren 2458, Yu?Yangyi m 2433, Xiu Deshun 2422. Women Players: Ruan Lufei wg 2486, Ju Wenjun wg 2454, Tan Zhongyi 2436, Shen Yang wg 2420, Huang Qian wg 2410, Wang Yu A. m 2364, Zhang, Xiaowen wg 2340, Gu Xiaobing wg 2336, Zhang Jilin wg 2335, Ding Yixin wf 2281, Wang Xiaohui 2265, Wang Yu 2162.

News: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

Official site: http://chess.sport.org.cn/

Qualifier Beijing (CHN), 17-28 iv 2009 cat. XII (2541)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Li Chao b g CHN 2643 * ½ ½ 1 ½ . . 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 5½ 2624
2. Zhou Jianchao g CHN 2635 ½ * ½ ½ . ½ 1 ½ ½ . ½ 1 5½ 2613
3. Wang Hao g CHN 2696 ½ ½ * ½ . ½ ½ . ½ 1 1 ½ 5½ 2611
4. Gao Rui CHN 2500 0 ½ ½ * 1 0 0 1 1 1 . . 5 2599
5. Zhou Weiqi g CHN 2563 ½ . . 0 * 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5 2554
6. Xiu Deshun CHN 2422 . ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 0 0 ½ 1 . 4½ 2555
7. Wen Yang g CHN 2532 . 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 * 1 ½ . ½ ½ 4½ 2536
8. Ding Liren CHN 2458 0 ½ . 0 1 1 0 * . 1 ½ ½ 4½ 2531
9. Zhao Jun g CHN 2560 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ . * ½ . 0 4 2503
10. Xu Jun g CHN 2498 1 . 0 0 ½ ½ . 0 ½ * ½ 1 4 2493
11. Li Shilong g CHN 2557 ½ ½ 0 . 0 0 ½ ½ . ½ * ½ 3 2417
12. Yu Yangyi CHN 2433 0 0 ½ . 0 . ½ ½ 1 0 ½ * 3 2446

Round 1 (April 17, 2009)
Li Chao2 - Zhou Weiqi ½-½
Wang Hao - Xiu Deshun ½-½
Gao Rui - Zhao Jun 1-0
Wen Yang - Ding Liren 1-0
Xu Jun - Yu Yangyi 1-0
Li Shilong - Zhou Jianchao ½-½
Round 2 (April 18, 2009)
Li Chao2 - Li Shilong ½-½
Zhou Jianchao - Wang Hao ½-½
Zhou Weiqi - Yu Yangyi 1-0
Xiu Deshun - Gao Rui 1-0
Ding Liren - Xu Jun 1-0
Zhao Jun - Wen Yang ½-½
Round 3 (April 19, 2009)
Wang Hao - Li Chao2 ½-½
Gao Rui - Zhou Jianchao ½-½
Wen Yang - Xiu Deshun 0-1
Xu Jun - Zhao Jun ½-½
Li Shilong - Zhou Weiqi 0-1
Yu Yangyi - Ding Liren ½-½
Round 4 (April 20, 2009)
Li Chao2 - Gao Rui 1-0
Zhou Jianchao - Wen Yang 1-0
Zhou Weiqi - Ding Liren 0-1
Xiu Deshun - Xu Jun ½-½
Zhao Jun - Yu Yangyi 0-1
Li Shilong - Wang Hao 0-1
Round 5 (April 21, 2009)
Zhou Jianchao - Li Chao2 ½-½
Xiu Deshun - Li Shilong 1-0
Ding Liren - Gao Rui 0-1 69 A61 Benoni
Zhao Jun - Wang Hao ½-½
Xu Jun - Zhou Weiqi ½-½ 31 E02 Catalan
Yu Yangyi - Wen Yang ½-½ 40 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Round 6 (April 22, 2009)
Li Chao2 - Xu Jun 0-1
Zhou Jianchao - Yu Yangyi 1-0 45 D44 Anti-Meran Gambit
Wang Hao - Gao Rui ½-½
Zhou Weiqi - Zhao Jun ½-½ 41 D15 Slav Defence
Xiu Deshun - Ding Liren 0-1 38 E86 King's Indian Saemisch
Li Shilong - Wen Yang ½-½
Round 7 (April 24, 2009)
Gao Rui - Zhou Weiqi 1-0
Wen Yang - Wang Hao ½-½
Ding Liren - Zhou Jianchao ½-½
Zhao Jun - Xiu Deshun 1-0
Xu Jun - Li Shilong ½-½
Yu Yangyi - Li Chao2 0-1
Round 8 (April 25, 2009)
Li Chao2 - Ding Liren 1-0
Zhou Jianchao - Zhao Jun ½-½
Wang Hao - Xu Jun 1-0
Gao Rui - Wen Yang 0-1
Zhou Weiqi - Xiu Deshun 1-0
Li Shilong - Yu Yangyi ½-½
Round 9 (April 26, 2009)
Xiu Deshun - Zhou Jianchao ½-½
Wen Yang - Zhou Weiqi ½-½ 31 B19 Caro Kann
Ding Liren - Li Shilong ½-½
Zhao Jun - Li Chao2 ½-½
Xu Jun - Gao Rui 0-1
Yu Yangyi - Wang Hao ½-½

Qualifier w Beijing (CHN), 17-28 iv 2009 cat. V (2353)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Ju Wenjun CHN 2454 * ½ ½ ½ . 1 . ½ ½ 1 1 1 6½ 2514
2. Shen Yang wg CHN 2420 ½ * . ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 . 1 6 2491
3. Huang Qian wg CHN 2410 ½ . * 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ? 1 0 . 5½ 2469
4. Ruan Lufei wg CHN 2486 ½ ½ 0 * ½ . 1 1 ½ . ? 1 5 2475
5. Wang Yu A m CHN 2364 . ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 . 0 ½ 1 ? 4½ 2385
6. Wang Xiaohui CHN 2265 0 0 0 . ½ * 1 . 1 ? ½ 1 4 2351
7. Ding Yixin wf CHN 2281 . ½ ½ 0 0 0 * 1 1 0 1 . 4 2308
8. Gu Xiaobing wg CHN 2336 ½ ½ 0 0 . . 0 * ½ 0 1 1 3½ 2283
9. Tan Zhongyi CHN 2436 ½ ½ ? ½ 1 0 0 ½ * . . 0 3 2281
10. Zhang Jilin wg CHN 2335 0 0 0 . ½ ? 1 1 . * ½ 0 3 2252
11. Wang Yu CHN 2109 0 . 1 ? 0 ½ 0 0 . ½ * 1 3 2261
12. Zhang Xiaowen wm CHN 2340 0 0 . 0 ? 0 . 0 1 1 0 * 2 2162

Round 1 (April 17, 2009)
Ju Wenjun - Wang Xiaohui 1-0
Shen Yang - Tan Zhongyi ½-½
Huang Qian - Gu Xiaobing 1-0
Ruan Lufei - Zhang Xiaowen 1-0
Wang Yu A - Zhang Jilin ½-½
Ding Yixin - Wang Yu 1-0
Round 2 (April 18, 2009)
Huang Qian - Ding Yixin ½-½
Ruan Lufei - Shen Yang ½-½
Wang Xiaohui - Zhang Xiaowen 1-0
Gu Xiaobing - Tan Zhongyi ½-½
Zhang Jilin - Ju Wenjun 0-1
Wang Yu - Wang Yu A 0-1
Round 3 (April 19, 2009)
Ju Wenjun - Wang Yu 1-0
Shen Yang - Wang Xiaohui 1-0
Wang Yu A - Huang Qian ½-½
Ding Yixin - Gu Xiaobing 1-0
Tan Zhongyi - Ruan Lufei ½-½
Zhang Xiaowen - Zhang Jilin 1-0
Round 4 (April 20, 2009)
Huang Qian - Ju Wenjun ½-½
Wang Xiaohui - Tan Zhongyi 1-0
Ding Yixin - Wang Yu A 0-1
Gu Xiaobing - Ruan Lufei 0-1
Zhang Jilin - Shen Yang 0-1
Wang Yu - Zhang Xiaowen 1-0
Round 5 (April 21, 2009)
Shen Yang - Gu Xiaobing ½-½ 30 E94 King's Indian Classical
Ruan Lufei - Ju Wenjun ½-½ 46 B93 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.f4
Wang Xiaohui - Wang Yu A ½-½ 84 D17 Slav Defence
Tan Zhongyi - Zhang Xiaowen 0-1 67 E76 King's Indian Four Pawns
Zhang Jilin - Ding Yixin 1-0
Wang Yu - Huang Qian 1-0
Round 6 (April 22, 2009)
Ju Wenjun - Tan Zhongyi ½-½
Huang Qian - Zhang Jilin 1-0 68 D61 Queens Gambit Main Line with 7.Qc2
Wang Yu A - Ruan Lufei ½-½ 33 C28 Vienna Game
Ding Yixin - Wang Xiaohui 0-1 48 B84 Sicilian Scheveningen
Gu Xiaobing - Wang Yu 1-0 36 B20 Sicilian Wing Gambit
Zhang Xiaowen - Shen Yang 0-1
Round 7 (April 24, 2009)
Ju Wenjun - Gu Xiaobing ½-½
Shen Yang - Ding Yixin ½-½
Ruan Lufei - Wang Yu *
Wang Xiaohui - Zhang Jilin *
Tan Zhongyi - Huang Qian *
Zhang Xiaowen - Wang Yu A *
Round 8 (April 25, 2009)
Ju Wenjun - Zhang Xiaowen 1-0
Huang Qian - Ruan Lufei 1-0
Wang Yu A - Shen Yang ½-½
Ding Yixin - Tan Zhongyi 1-0
Zhang Jilin - Gu Xiaobing 1-0
Wang Yu - Wang Xiaohui ½-½
Round 9 (April 26, 2009)
Shen Yang - Ju Wenjun ½-½
Ruan Lufei - Ding Yixin 1-0
Wang Xiaohui - Huang Qian 0-1
Tan Zhongyi - Wang Yu A 1-0
Zhang Jilin - Wang Yu ½-½
Zhang Xiaowen - Gu Xiaobing 0-1

16) Dutch Juniors

The Junior Championships of the Netherlands take place in Venlo, in the southeast of the Netherlands. There are separate groups for the ages U21, U17 and U15, and per age-group there is a general group and a group for girls only. There is live coverage every day, and PGN-files are updated daily.

Official site: http://www.lisb.nl/nkjeugd/ [in Dutch]

NK Jeugd A Venlo (NED), 24 iv-2 v 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Burg, Twan f NED 2362 +14 =13 +7 +11 . . . . . 3½ 2531
2. Van Kampen, Robin f NED 2348 +21 +16 +5 =3 . . . . . 3½ 2539
3. Bok, Benjamin f NED 2346 +17 +10 =4 =2 . . . . . 3 2390
4. Kleijn, Christov f NED 2320 +19 =6 =3 +9 . . . . . 3 2408
5. Swinkels, Robin m NED 2499 +11 +8 -2 +16 . . . . . 3 2422
6. Kuipers, Stefan f NED 2343 +20 =4 =8 +13 . . . . . 3 2378
7. Pruijssers, Roeland m NED 2442 =9 +15 -1 +22 . . . . . 2½ 2346
8. Ootes, Lars NED 2219 +18 -5 =6 =12 . . . . . 2 2299
9. De Groote, Ewoud NED 2191 =7 +22 =13 -4 . . . . . 2 2322
10. Blom, Vincent NED 2123 +12 -3 -16 +19 . . . . . 2 2210
11. Kuling, Lody NED 2205 -5 +21 +15 -1 . . . . . 2 2197
12. Miedema, Roi f NED 2370 -10 +20 =17 =8 . . . . . 2 2092
13. Meurs, Tom NED 2178 +24 =1 =9 -6 . . . . . 2 2224
14. Smith, Thijmen NED 1955 -1 =18 +21 =17 . . . . . 2 2042
15. Goudriaan, Etienne NED 2104 +22 -7 -11 +20 . . . . . 2 2255
16. Haast, Anne NED 2144 +23 -2 +10 -5 . . . . . 2 2242
17. Lombaers, Peter NED ---- -3 +24 =12 =14 . . . . . 2 2167
18. Van Zetten, Maarten NED 1984 -8 =14 . +24 . . . . . 1½ 2058
19. Van der Knijff, Reint NED 1981 -4 +23 . -10 . . . . . 1 2022
20. Boulahfa, Hicham NED 2026 -6 -12 +24 -15 . . . . . 1 2011
21. Nicolai, Amir NED 1825 -2 -11 -14 +23 . . . . . 1 1934
22. Otte, Marijn f NED 2349 -15 -9 +23 -7 . . . . . 1 1991
23. Sharshov,Wadim NED ---- -16 -19 -22 -21 . . . . . 0
24. Engberink,Thijs NED ---- -13 -17 -20 -18 . . . . . 0

17) New Hampshire Quick and g/60 Championships

George Mirijanian reports: The New Hampshire Quick Chess (Game/25) Championship took place 25th April 2009 at the Comfort Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. IM David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville, Massachusetts captured first place with a score of 7.5-0.5. Taking second place with a 6.5-1.5 tally was FM Braden Bournival, 25, of Manchester, who nicked Vigorito for his only draw in the fourth round. The tournament drew 25 players and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire.

George Mirijanian reports: The 19th Massachusetts Game/60 Championship took place 26th April 2009 at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick, Mass., USA. IM Igor Foygel, 61, of Brookline, Mass. and FM Charles Riordan, 29, of Somerville, Mass. tallied 3.5-0.5 to tie for first place. Tied for the runner-up position with scores of 2.5-1.5 were GM Arthur Bisguier, 79, of Wellesley, Mass. and U.S. Chess Federation-rated expert Ilya Krasik, 29, of Acton, Mass. The tournament drew 66 players in four sections and was directed by F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, with assistance from Kenneth Ballou of Framingham, Mass. for the sponsoring Massachusetts Chess Association. Complete crosstables are available at http://www.masschess.org

18) 10th European Individual Budva Montenegro Correction

The 10th European Individual Budva took place in Montenegro 6th-17th March 2009. Evgeny Tomashevsky took the title after a day of playoffs, he beat Vladimir Malakhov 2-1 in the final. The official site had some problems naming the players in the final playoff above. I made a guess as to what was wrong. John Saunders after seeing pictorial evidence has worked out that I guessed wrong.

Official site: http://www.eurobudva2009.com

19) Jack Spiegel Memorial

The Jack Spiegel Memorial took place in Southend 10th-13th April 2009. GM Simon Williams and John Emms finished with 4½/7. The event took place alongside the congress. There were two games (Emms-Flear and Wells-Ward games from round 7) that were confused in the original bulletin plus a small correction to a round 3 game.

Official site: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/southendchess/club/Congress.html

Jack Speigel Mem Southend (ENG), 10-13 iv 2009 cat. X (2478)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. Williams, Simon K g ENG 2512 * 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 4½ 2575
2. Emms, John M g ENG 2487 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 4½ 2579
3. Arkell, Keith C g ENG 2517 ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 4 2522
4. Flear, Glenn C g ENG 2485 1 0 1 * ½ 0 ½ 1 4 2527
5. Wells, Peter K g ENG 2489 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 4 2526
6. Ward, Chris G g ENG 2422 ½ ½ 0 1 0 * ½ ½ 3 2436
7. McDonald, Neil g ENG 2405 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 3 2438
8. Hebden, Mark L g ENG 2510 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 2164

20) XXVII Metz Open

The XXVII Metz Open took place 11th-17th April 2009. Namig Guliyev edged out Kevin Spraggett, Friso Nijboer and Adam Horvath on tie-break after all scored 6.5/9. You can read Kevin Spraggett's photo report on the ChessBase site at: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5374

Official site: http://www.metzalekhine57.fr

XXVII Open Metz (FRA), 11-17 iv 2009
Pl Nom Fede Elo Pts Tr. Bu. Perf. FFE
1GULIYEV Namig g AZE 25346.54250.526172630
2SPRAGGETT Kevin g CAN 26016.540.550.526422641
3NIJBOER Friso g NED 25626.540.54926292632
4HORVATH Adam g HUN 25196.540.548.526152649
5BAUER Christian g FRA 2605642.55226262627
6DAVID Alberto g LUX 2587642.55125842581
7BOROVIKOV Vladislav g UKR 2584641.551.526112612
8IORDACHESCU Viorel g MDA 2608641.55126052603
9GHARAMIAN Tigran m FRA 2600641.550.525712565
10SAVCHENKO Stanislav g UKR 2529641.54925822587
11EINGORN Vereslav S g UKR 256064149.525382528
12SPIRIN Oleg m RUS 24376404925892628
13ZUBAREV Alexander g UKR 25666404925362523
14AGREST Evgenij g SWE 2588639.54925442536
15ABBASOV Farid g AZE 2577639.54825022476
16EPISHIN Vladimir g RUS 2591639.547.525202483
17VERNAY Clovis m FRA 2440639.545.525602590
18CHATALBASHEV Boris g BUL 257163846.525142505
19DRENCHEV Petar m BUL 245063845.524952523
20SVETUSHKIN Dmitry g MDA 2615636.544.524932426
21CZEBE Attila g HUN 24725.541.54825132531
22SHCHEKACHEV Andrei g FRA 25325.54049.525252522
23WIRIG Anthony m FRA 24725.54048.525612586
24FARGERE Francois m FRA 24595.54047.525192535
25LALIC Bogdan g CRO 25085.539.54925272532
26BARSOV Alexei g UZB 25055.5394824422394
27MILCHEV Nikolay m BUL 23465.53947.523662371
28GRIGOROV Grigor m BUL 24885.53846.524652458
29ZINCHENKO Yaroslav g UKR 25315.537.54624612441
30LE QUANG Kim f BEL 23335.5364322992291
31BAUDUIN Etienne f BEL 22725.53541.523002303
32RUSSO Julien BEL 20885.534.54022452344
33BALOGH Csaba g HUN 2609540.54924762436
103 players

21) 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup

The 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup will be organised by the Pivdenny Bank in Odessa, Ukraine on 22nd-24th May 2009. As usual, it will be a KO tournament with 16 participants. In accordance with the ACP rules, 13 of 16 spots are given to the players who qualified from the ACP Tour 2007/08. The total prize fund will be USD $57,000. The winner receives USD $10,000. Viktor Korchnoi has been invited as a commentator for the spectators. According to the tournament director, WGM Masha Klinova, as of 27th April the following 13 Grandmasters have confirmed their participation: Jakovenko (2753), Grischuk (2748), Movsesian (2747), Gashimov (2730), Bacrot (2728), Svidler (2726), Naiditsch (2700), Eljanov (2693), Efimenko (2682), Najer (2669), Karpov (2644), Tregubov (2628) and Drozdovskij (2603).

The official tournament website (in Russian) is the chess site of the Pivdenny Bank, http://worldcup.pivdenny.com.

22) Forthcoming Events and Links

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

Reno Far West Open

The Far West Open Chess Tournament took place April 10th-12th 2009 in Reno Nevada. Sergey Kudrin edged out Enrico Sevillano and Gergerly Antal who finished on 5/6. Games should follow.

Official site: http://www.renochess.org/fwo/index.html

7th Brussel International Rapid

The 7th Brussel International Rapid Chess tournament takes place 2nd-3rd May 2009 in Brussels. 11 rounds, 25 minutes. 6 GMs participate : - Ulf Andersson - Predrag Nikolic (winner 2008) - Ivan Sokolov (winner 2007) - Ralf Akesson - Alexandre Dgebuadze - Alexei Barsov (winner 2006)

Details: http://www.creb.be

32nd Taminco Gent Open

The 32nd Taminco Open International Chess Tournament Gent (Belgium) takes place 18th-22nd July 2009, 9 rounds Swiss, two hours KO chess, prize money 8400 euro for 400 participants. This traditional open tournament takes place near the center of the medieval town of Gent in the week of the famous annual Gent festivities. Email: open2009@kgsrl.be

Information and registration: http://www.kgsrl.be

Info Gent annual festivities: http://www.gentsefeesten.be/

Lluis Muratet Memorial

The Lluis Muratet Memorial Primavera 2009 takes place 1st-3rd May 2009 in Banyoles - (Girona - Spain)

Official site: http://escacsbanyoles.cat/

First Saturday May

The First Saturday tournaments (GM, IM and FM) take place 2nd-15th May in Budapest.

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

Dutch Teams

The Dutch Team Championship takes place 27th September 2008 - 10th May 2009. Round 8 was on 18th April 2009. The final round 9 is on 10th May 2009. HSG (Van Wely, Nikolic, Stellwagen, Seirawan, L'Ami etc ) are already champions.

Great coverage at: http://www.schakers.info/ and also the http://www.schaakbond.nl/wedstrijdschaak/knsb-competitie/

Dutch Teams (NED), 27 ix 2008 - 10 iv 2009
Round 8 (18th April 2009) results
Homburg Apeldoorn - BSG 5½ - 4½
LSG - Schrijvers Rotterdam 5 - 5
HSG - Hotels.nl 5½ - 4½
Voerendaal - HMC Calder 4½ - 5½
ESGOO - Utrecht 4 - 6

Dutch Teams (NED), 27 ix 2008 - 10 iv 2009
Round 7 Standings:
Meesterklasse Mp Bp 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. HSG 16 55½ x 5.5 . 5.5 8.5 8.5 6.5 5.5 7.5 8
2. Hotels.nl 11 49 4.5 x 6.5 6 8.5 4.5 6 5 . 8
3. Schrijvers Rotterdam 11 44 . 3.5 x 6 4.5 5.5 5.5 5 6 8
4. HMC Calder 10 45 4.5 4 4 x 5.5 . 5.5 7.5 5.5 8.5
5. Utrecht 10 37 1.5 1.5 5.5 4.5 x 6 5.5 6.5 6 .
6. ESGOO 7 35 1.5 5.5 4.5 . 4 x 2.5 5 5.5 6.5
7. Homburg Apeldoorn 6 39½ 3.5 4 4.5 4.5 4.5 7.5 x . 5.5 5.5
8. LSG 5 37 4.5 5 5 2.5 3.5 5 . x 3.5 8
9. Voerendaal 4 37½ 2.5 . 4 4.5 4 4.5 4.5 6.5 x 7
10. BSG 0 20½ 2 2 2 1.5 . 3.5 4.5 2 3 x

Voronezh-2009

The 13th "Voronezh-2009" traditional chess festival takes place 10th-21st June 2009.

Details: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open

13th Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament 2009

The 13th Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament takes place August 1st-8th 2009 in Vlissingen, Netherlands.

Official site: http://www.hztoernooi.nl and contact e-mail: hgroffen@zeelandnet.nl.

Canadian Open

The Canadian Open takes place in Edmonton, Alberta Canada July 11th-19th 2009. Alexei Shirov adn Michael Adams are among the early entrants.

Details: http://monroi.com/2009-canadian-open-chess-championship-home.html

San Sebastian GM

There is a tournament in San Sebastian July 6th-16th 2009.

GMA San Sebastian (ESP), 6-16 vii 2009
cat. XVIII (average elo: 2687)
Sergei Movsesian2747SVK
Peter Svidler2726RUS
Rustam Ponomariov2726UKR
Hikaru Nakamura2701USA
Rustam Kasimzhanov2695UZB
Francisco Vallejo2688SPA
Maxime Vachier-Lagraeve2684FRA
Anatoly Karpov2644RUS
Julio Granda2610PER
Pablo San Segundo2560SPA

Prizes in Euros: 1.- 9.000 2.- 6.000 3.- 4.000 4.- 3.500 5.- 3.000 6.- 2.500 7.- 2.000 8.- 1.500 9.- 1.000 10.- 500

There will be also a B tournament (cat. XI), C tournament (cat. VIII), and D tournament (female players). The games will be played in the same hall that held the historic tournament in 1911 won by Capablanca and the organisers are hoping for a special event to commemorate the centenary. News David Llada. Website to be announced.

Dortmund

The Dortmund Chess Meeting takes place 2nd-12th July 2009. Players: Kramnik, Leko, Carlsen, Jakovenko, Bacrot, and Naiditsch play.

Details: http://www.chess-international.de/?p=429

Brno Chess Festival

The Duras Chess Club organises the Brno Chess Festival in the Czech Republic. The GM Brno, IM Tespo Engineering and IM Dopravni stavby tournaments take place 26th June - 5th July 2009. Open tournaments start on the 27th June 2009.

Applications and details contact Rudolf Moulis: e-mail: moulis@kroknet.cz , phone +420 548 522 186, mobile phone: +420 607 900 656

Further info at: http://www.skduras.cz/cz/propozice.html and http://www.skduras.cz/cz/brnensky-sachovy-festival-2009.html

World Open

The World Open Chess Tournament takes place June 29th - July 5th 2009 in Philadelphia.

Details: http://www.chesstour.com/wo09.htm and http://monroi.com/2009-world-open-chess-tournament-home.html

US Championships

The 2009 US Chess Championship takes place in St Louis, United States, May 7th-17th 2009. 24 players compete including: Varuzhan Akobiana, Julio Becerra Rivero, Joel Benjamin, Michael Brooks, Larry Christiansen, Jaan Ehlvest, Josh Friedel, Boris Gulko, Robert Hess, Tyler Hughes, Ildar Ibragimov, Gregory Kaidanov, Gata Kamsky, Melik Khachiyan, Irina Krush, Charles Lawton, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Onischuk, Ray Robson, Enrico Sevillano, Alexander Shabalov, Yury Shulman and Anna Zatonskih.

The women's championship takes place 2nd-12th October 2009 at the same venue.

Live coverage at the St Louis Chess Club website, TWIC, ICC and ChessBase.

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

British Championships

The 96th British Chess Championships take place 26th July - 8th August 2009 in Torquay.

Official site: http://www.britishchess09.com/

Zone 2.3 Guayaquil Ecuador

Zone 2.3 takes place in Guayaquil Ecuador 10th-21st May 2009.

Details: http://www.ajedrezenecuador.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=443

Argentine Championships

The Championships of Argentina 2009 take place in April and May. Semifinals: 30th April - 6th May, 2009 in La Plata. Final: 9th-20th May, 2009 in La Plata. Place: Club Espanol de la Plata.

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

Asian Individual Open

The Asian Individual Open and Women’s Chess Championship in Subic Bay, Philippines from May 12th-24th 2009. No official site.

14th Pannonia - Nitrokemia Cup

The 14th Pannonia - Nitrokemia Cup takes place in Balatonalmadi, 29th July - 2nd August, 2009.

Group A: International Open Tournament for FIDE ratings. Group B: International Open Tournament for FIDE ratings, for players under 2000 ELO System used: 7 Rounds Swiss without age limit for both Groups Venue: The air-conditioned Conference Hall of Pannonia Cultural Centre & Library Address: Balatonalmadi, Városház Square 6. Organiser: Recreation Association of Vorosbereny Time Limit: Group A: 90-90 minutes + 30sec after each move Group B: 120-120 minutes for all moves

Details: http://fancsyimi.fw.hu. Entries and further information IM Fancsy Imre E-mail: almadikupa@freemail.hu

4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009. Rounds 7-8 took place 21st-22nd March 2009 in the Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island. The 8 team Groups 1A and 1B concluded with round 7 and the top 4 teams from each group went on to the Championship Pool and the bottom four to the Relegation Pool. The teams have already played the three other teams from their preliminary groups and these results will stand. The first of the four remaining rounds was round 8 played on March 22nd. This system is used in the French TOP 16.

Official site: http://www.4ncl.co.uk - Live coverage: http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/4ncl/0809/index.htm

M-Tel Masters

The 5th M-Tel Masters takes place in Sofia 12th-23rd May 2009 (rest day 18th May).

The Category XXI event sees Veselin Topalov, Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Alexei Shirov play in a double round robin format. The games will be played in a glass pavilion on the square in front of the National Theatre Ivan Vazov.

The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves per player and 60 minutes per player till the end of the game. The maximum period for a single game is 5 hours. "Sofia rules" will again be used. They are that: Opponents cannot communicate during the games and cannot offer a draw. Proposals for a draw can be made only through the Chief Arbiter in three cases: triple repetition, eternal chess and theoretical draw position. When making the decisions the Chief Arbiter will be consulted by Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Vice President of FIDE.

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

French League Top 16

The French Team Championship (TOP 16) took place in 4 towns (Clichy, Cannes, Metz, Mulhouse) 20th-22nd March 2009. The next rounds take place 30th April - 3rd May 2009.

Official site: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Equipes.aspx

14th International Stuttgart Championship

The 14th "International Stuttgart Championship" in Germany takes place 21th-24th May 2009. Contact Michael Meier e-mail: info@stuttgarter-stadtmeisterschaft.de

For further information on the event: http://www.stuttgarter-stadtmeisterschaft.de

20th International Chess and Games Festival Czech Open

The 20th International Chess and Games Festival Czech Open 2009 takes place 16th July - 2 August 2009 in Pardubice (the Czech Republic). There are more than 100 tournaments in chess and other games, eg. European Youth Chess Teams Championship, ISCU Children Clubs Chess Championship and European Amateurs Championship in Chess.

More detailed information: http://www.czechopen.net/news/index.php. the festival website will be ready at the end of April.

6th Summer Catalan Chess Circuit

The 6th Summer Catalan Chess Circuit takes place May - September every year as part of the Catalan Chess Circuit, which is composed of 28 International Tournaments, and held in Spain, extended beyond Catalonia.

In 2009 there will be 14 Opens with traditional time control to be played over 9-10 days, as well as 14 Opens in Rapid Chess, played over 1-2 days (see Tournament Calendar).

During 120 days of tournaments, around 22.000 chess games will be played with selected ones broadcast.

Approximately 3,000 players from more than 30 different countries. The prize fund will reach 175.000 euros.

Apart from the traditional tournament prizes, the Catalan Chess Federation establishes a special classification composed of player´s results in each Circuit tournament, based on which players will be able to claim such special Circuit Prizes as General Final Standings, Prizes by Categories, Specific Prizes for best Catalan Players.

Prizegiving Ceremony will be held at Fiesta Catalana (Catalan Chess Party), on September, 27th, 2009

For more information please contact the Catalonia Chess Federation on federacio@escacs.cat or visit the official website: http://escacs.cat/circuit2009/torneigs.html

6th Summer Catalan Chess Circuit (ESP), 5 v - 20 ix 2009
5-13 May VILA DE SALOU SALOU 9 Rd Swiss B CFrancesc Linan 616094289
17 May VILA DE CANOVELLES CANOVELLES 9 Rd Swiss b bDaniel Flores 938493564
24 May VILA DE L'AMPOLLA L'AMPOLLA 9 Rd Swiss a bEnric Gallimo 666187061
31 May VILA DE STA COLOMA DE QUERALT SANTA COLOMA DE QUERALT 8 Rd Swiss a a supSalvador Barrot 654095338
20 June CIUTAT DE REUS REUS 9 Rd Swiss a a supJoan Pinol 649341056
21 June MOLLET DEL VALLES MOLLET DEL VALLES 9 Rd Swiss b aFrancesc Fernandez 647625832
24 June-2 July VILA DE SORT SORT 9 Rd Swiss B CJoan A. Conesa 609825066
25 June-3 July VILA DE MONTCADA MONTCADA 9 Rd Swiss A AReyes Cantero 938152902
4-12 July BARBERÀ DEL VALLES BARBERA DEL VALLES 9 Rd Swiss A A supVíctor Pont 629386528
4-12 July TORREDEMBARRA TORREDEMBARRA 9 Rd Swiss C BJordi Salvat 649061984
13-22 July CIUTAT DE BALAGUER BALAGUER 10 Rd Swiss A sup AAntoni Montoliu 679082837
18-26 July ANDORRA LES ESCALDES 9 Rd Swiss A sup A supOscar la Riva 00376-347085
22-30 July VILA DE SITGES SITGES 9 Rd Swiss A AFrancesc González 600923277
25 July CERVELLO CERVELLO 8 Rd Swiss b bJuan Mª Santiago 936840402
26 July OLOT OLOT 8 Rd Swiss b bJosep Ma Mir 606119678
1-8 August FIGUERES "MIQUEL MAS" FIGUERES 9 Rd Swiss C AJordi Serra 699848479
1-9 August CIUTAT DE BADALONA BADALONA 9 Rd Swiss A A supManel Triquell 609683157
2-10 August LA POBLA DE LILLET LA POBLA DE LILLET 9 Rd Swiss C CJosep Salvador 630625152
15-16 August VILA DE POBLENOU BARCELONA 10 Rd Swiss a sup aJoan Lorda 659529581
21-30 August SANTS BARCELONA 10 Rd Swiss A sup A supCotxeres 932918701
22-23 August AJEDREZND BARCELONA 9 Rd Swiss a sup aJordi Morcillo 620341266
1-10 September FESTIVAL DE SABADELL SABADELL 9 Rd Swiss B BIvan Aguilar 666346958
6 September VILA DE SANTPEDOR SANTPEDOR 9 Rd Swiss b bJosep Mascaro 616477533
11 September DIADA DE L'11 DE SETEMBRE SABADELL 9 Rd Swiss a a supIvan Aguilar 666346958
12 September RIBERA D'EBRE MORA D'EBRE 8 Rd Swiss a aJosep Terrones 696204203
13 September CIUTAT DE TORTOSA TORTOSA 8 Rd Swiss b bAbraham Pla 680532570
19-20 September VALLFOGONA DE BALAGUER VALLFOGONA DE BALAGUER Suís 11 rondes a sup aJaume Parramon 649960831
Potential
13-21 July SANT MARTI BARCELONA 9 Rd Swiss Ricard Llerins 933082425

9th Znojmo Open

The 9th International Chess Festival Znojmo Open 2009, takes place 30th April - 3rd May 2009 in the town of Znojmo (the Czech Republic). Events include FIDE open with 7 rounds, the Znojmo Queen - Open Women’s Czech Championship in Active Chess, the Znojmo Princess-active chess for girls up to 14 years of age and Ing. Turek’s Memorial Competition. Open Local Championship of South Moravian Chess Federation in Active Chess for individuals. More detailed information at http://www.czechtour.net/znojmo-open/

Czech Tour 2009/2010 http://www.czechtour.net/news/

5th Thessaloniki Games Festival

The 5th Thessaloniki Games Festival takes place 26th April - 4th May 2009.

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

Chess Classic Mainz

The Chess Classic Mainz takes place 27th July - 2nd August 2009 in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz.

The world championships in rapid chess and Chess960 will be staged in a tried and trusted double round robin format with four players, after which the players battle it out in mini-matches to determine the top spot. The players for the main events have already been contracted.

The GRENKELEASING Rapid World Championship sees the World Chess Champion and Chess Classic serial winner Vishy Anand will try to defend his title for the 11th time in a row. He faces Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Arkadij Naiditsch.

Other events include the gigantic ORDIX rapid chess Open, the FiNet Ches960 Open, the open tournaments for U14 talents, the 40 board simultaneous exhibition with Levon Aronian, the Livingston Chess960 Computer World Championship, etc., etc.

Full details: http://www.chesstigers.de

XXVII Andorra International Chess Open

The XXVII Andorra International Chess Open takes place 18th-26th July 2009. Contact: open@escacsandorra.com

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

27th Elba Chess Festival

The 27th Elba Chess Festival takes place 10th-17th May 2009.

Official site: http://www.tuscanhotels.it/cmsx.asp?IDPg=10

Calgary International

Calgary, Alberta (Canada) stages a small 9 round international norm event May 14th-18th, 2009. A host of GM's and IM's will be in attendance, IM norms will be available.

Official site:http://www.albertachess.org/Calgary_International.html

For more info, email the tournament organiser Tony Ficzere at tficzere@telus.net

London super-tournament in December 2009

Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament. [Press release 9th March 2009]

London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.

Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England's leading players could lock horns with the world's best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.

The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.

The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.

The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.

The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 10 and will include a blindfold chess display and charity simultaneous. Play will take place daily from Friday, December 11 to Thursday, December 17 inclusive.

The list of players and venue will be announced in April.

Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre

Notes for editors: All communications to Malcolm Pein IM at London Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404. E-Mail: info@chess.co.uk. Website: www.chess.co.uk

Masterskill Commonwealth Chess Championships

The Masterskill Commonwealth Chess Championships takes place 14th-21st July 2009 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

Details: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/3827-commonwealth-chess-championship-2009-in-malaysia

Maia Chiburdanidze Cup

The "Maia Chiburdanidze Cup" (International Open Women's Chess Tournament) takes place in the Chess Palace, Tbilisi (Georgia) 4th-13th June 2009. The Tournament is open to all women players. Each player must herself (or her federation) cover all her expenses: entry fee, transportation, accommodation and board. 9 round Swiss. Rate of play: 90 min for all moves, increment 30 seconds per move. Details available from the addresses below.

Contact IA, FM Varlam Vepkhvishvili E-mail: chessgeorgia@hotmail.com or chessvarlam@hotmail.com.

Phone:
(995)32-997736 - Federation
(995)32-960199 - Home
(995)99-771974 - Mobile

Official site: http://www.gcf.org.ge

1st International Open Tbilisi

The 1st International Open Tbilisi Chess Tournament takes place 14th-24th June 2009.

Official site: http://www.chess.tbilisi.ge (not yet up and running)

9 round Swiss. Rate of play: 90 min for all moves, increment 30 seconds per move. Details available from the addresses below.

e-mail: chessvarlam@hotmail.com - Varlam Vepkhvishvili
e-mail: ggrs92@hotmail.com - Giorgi Khomeriki

Varna Chess Festival

The 1st International Chess Festival Varna, takes place at the Grand Hotel Varna 11th-20th June 2009. Contact: seahorse@abv.bg for more details.

Website: http://euroschoolchess.org/ (although I couldn't find the event myself)

European Youth Championships

The European Youth Championships (U10 - U18) takes place in Fermo/Italy 30th August - 10th September 2009.

Details: http://www.euroyouth2009.com

European Senior Championships

The European Individual Senior Championship takes place in Rogaska Slatina/Slovenia 22nd - 31st July 2009. For the first time just before the event a European Senior Rapid Championship will be organised. The dates are 19th - 21st July.

Further details are published under http://www.sahohlacnik.com/eu-sen/

European Union Website

The European Chess Union Website ECU website has changed address to http://www.europechess.org

Alushta Diary 2009

Alushta Diary 2009:

GM Norm events: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, IM Norm: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, Rating tournament: 4.06 - 12.06, 22.06 - 27.06, 5.09 - 13.09, Open tournament (under 16 years) 3.06 - 11.06, 13.06 - 21.06, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament First prize - 1000$ First prize (woman) - 500$ 28.06 - 6.07, 10.07 - 18.07, 20.07 - 28.07, 22.08 - 30.08, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Blitz tournament 7.07, 19.07, 29.07, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament (rapid chess) 8.07 - 9.07, 30.07 - 31.07, Alushta Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 21.06 - 27.06, 15.07 - 24.07. Individual and group studying Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32, +380505828911 (for Russian speaking), + 380506692604 (for English speaking) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

Zuerich Chess Club 200th Anniversary

Dr. Christian Rohrer reports: The world's oldest chess club celebrates its 200th year with spectacular jubilee events, including World Champions Spassky, Kasparov and Anand.

The Schachgesellschaft Zuerich celebrates 200th anniversary with spectacular jubilee events

The Schachgesellschaft Zuerich, the world's oldest chess club, celebrates its 200th year in 2009 with spectacular jubilee events. To mark the anniversary, some of the greatest masters of the last five decades, including World Champions Spassky, Kasparov and Anand, will play at the event. Highlights will be a simultaneous exhibition and a rapid chess tournament on the 22nd and 23rd of August, held in Zurich Main Railway Station. With generous sponsor support from Credit Suisse the Schachgesellschaft Zuerich continues its long standing tradition of world class chess tournaments.

On Saturday the 22nd of August, in simultaneous games 200 amateurs will be honoured to face eight word-class chess players, who have made historical contributions to world chess over the last 50 years: Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov. On Sunday the 23rd of August, these champions will compete against each other in an exciting rapid chess format. Judit Polgar, the strongest female chess player ever, and Werner Hug of Schachgesellschaft Zuerich, former world junior chess champion, will replace Kasparov and Spassky, who have retired from competitive chess.

A huge number of spectators, from enthusiasts to the generally curious, is expected for the events at Zurich Railway Main Station. And no one need miss it: All commemorative events will be streamed live via Internet.

The jubilee commences with an open tournament; certain to be one of the most exciting open chess tournaments of 2009. Players of every skill level, from beginners to the elite world class, are expected and will be welcomed at the Zurich Kongresshaus from August 9th to the 15th, 2009. They will compete in two tournaments, 9 rounds each, for CHF 100.000 guaranteed prize money and many attractive prizes.

To further honour the occasion, Richard Forster, reputable chess historian, will release his comprehensive book, researched in great detail, on the unique history of the Schachgesellschaft Zuerich. Entitled "Schachgesellschaft Zuerich: 1809 bis 2009", Forster's work will analyze the development of the Schachgesellschaft Zuerich from the times of Napoleon to the present day.

Details: http://www.sgzurich2009.ch

32nd Ikaros Chess Festival 2009

The traditional 32nd Ikaros Chess Festival 2009 takes place on Ikaria island.

The main event of the festival, the International Aegean Open Championship takes place 11th-19th July 2009. It is a 9 round swiss event with prize fund 3600 Euros in total (1st prize 1000 Euros, special money prizes for ladies and veterans). Special conditions for GMs/IMs and WGMs/WIMs are provided, special discounts for families and club teams are also offered (more information will be available in the official announcement of the festival that will be out soon on the official webpage.

Contact info: ikaros@chess.gr while to contact us on the phone one can try: +30 6932 478386 or +30 210 5010871 (Mr. Savas Kyriakou). For general information about the island of Ikaria one can also check at: http://www.island-ikaria.com

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

Pula Open 2009

The 23rd International Chess Tournament "Pula Open 2009" takes place 27th June - 4th July 2009 in Pula, Croatia. Official site: http://www.skpula.hr and contact e-mail: pulaopen@globalnet.hr.

Hungarian Chess Tournaments March-October 2009

1. 7th-19th of February, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM Budapest FIRST SATURDAY Budapest, 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/

2.20th-28th of February IM-Rating Caissa, Kecskemet, org: Dr.Erdelyi, Tamas, cellphone: +36-30-271-33-38, Landline phone-fax: +36-76-481-685 e-mail: postmaster@caissa.t-online.hu Website: http://www.caissachessbooks.hu Usually also in the second half of the month IM and rating tournaments in Kecskemet, a city 80 km South-East from Budapest.

3.7th-19th of March, First Saturday, Budapest, GM-IM-FM, org Nagy L.

4.20th-28th of March, 25th BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy L. - e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

5.4th-16th of April First Saturday Budapest, org.Nagy L.

6.18th-26th of April Caissa, IM + rating Kecskemet, Org.Erdelyi,

7.2nd-14th of May, First Saturday GM-IM-FM Budapest, org Nagy L.

Kecskemet Caissa IM + rating tournaments more: 16th-25th of May, 20th-28th of June, 18th-27th of July, 15th-24th of August, 19th-28th of September. FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM-IM-FM tournaments more: 6th-18th of June, 4th-16th of July, 1st-13th of August, 5th-17th of September.

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

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