THE WEEK IN CHESS 768 27th July 2009 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Adam Raoof, Andre Lombard, Bent Kolvig, Jan Mazuch, Etienne Van Leeuwen, Fabiano Caruana, Oscar de la Riva Aguado, Hans Groffen, Harry Schaack, Hubert Beneteau, Lars Grahn, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Mark Adams, George Mirijanian, Pilar Molina, Sean Hewitt, Williner Theres, Sergey Tiviakov, Sandor Videki and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The chess keeps coming. There is a photo finish developing at Biel with a three way tie between Vassily Ivanchuk, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Morozevich share the lead with 4/7. The Villarrobledo International Rapid was won by Arkadij Naiditsch, the British Championships have started with defending champion Stuart Conquest being defeated and the Chess Classic Mainz starts tomorrow. Elsewhere the summer opens continue. Plenty to get your teeth into.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Biel Chess Festival

The 42nd Biel International Chess Festival takes place 18th-31st July 2009. There will be around 10 different Tournaments (Open, Rapid, Blitz, Youth and for the first time Chess 960). The main Category IXX tournament sees Morozevich, Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Alekseev, Vachier-Lagrave and Caruana compete.

Round 3 Ivanchuk beat Caruana. Round 4 Caruana bounced back by beating Morozevich in the only decisive game of the day. Ivanchuk joined Morozevich in the lead on 2.5/4. All the games were drawn in Round 5 leaving the leaders on 3/5. Round 6 Morozevich defeated again. Vassily Ivanchuk leads alone on 3.5/6. Round 7 Morozevich beat Gelfand and Vachier-Lagrave defeated Caruana and they both joined Ivanchuk in the lead.

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

GM Biel (SUI), 19-30 vii 2009											cat. XIX (2716)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2703	*	*	½	½	½	.	½	½	1	.	½	.	4	2765
2.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2703	½	½	*	*	½	.	½	.	½	1	½	.	4	2759
3.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2751	½	.	½	.	*	*	1	0	0	.	1	1	4	2766
4.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2714	½	½	½	.	0	1	*	*	½	.	½	.	3½	2719
5.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2670	0	.	½	0	1	.	½	.	*	*	½	½	3	2676
6.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2755	½	.	½	.	0	0	½	.	½	½	*	*	2½	2606

Round 3 (July 21, 2009)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Caruana, Fabiano	1-0	49	C48	Four Knights Rubinstein
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Morozevich, Alexander	½-½	41	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Gelfand, Boris	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	27	D38	QGD Ragozin
Round 4 (July 23, 2009)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	30	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	19	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Caruana, Fabiano	- Morozevich, Alexander	1-0	59	D87	Gruenfeld Botvinnik
Round 5 (July 24, 2009)
Morozevich, Alexander	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	12	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	52	B76	Sicilian Modern Dragon
Gelfand, Boris	- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	½-½	41	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Round 6 (July 25, 2009)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	½-½	41	A10	Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Morozevich, Alexander	1-0	55	B17	Caro Kann
Caruana, Fabiano	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	22	C42	Petroff's Defence
Round 7 (July 27, 2009)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	61	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Caruana, Fabiano	1-0	38	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Gelfand, Boris	- Morozevich, Alexander	0-1	48	E04	Catalan

MTO Biel (SUI), 20-31 vii 2009 Leading Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rank	Name	Title	ELO	NAT	Points	Buchh
1.	Grachev,Boris	GM	2669	RUS	6.5	29.5
2.	Belov,Vladimir	GM	2627	RUS	5.5	27.0
3.	Kritz,Leonid	GM	2589	GER	5.5	27.0
4.	Popov,Valerij	GM	2563	RUS	5.5	27.0
5.	Shomoev,Anton	GM	2580	RUS	5.5	25.0
6.	Roiz,Michael	GM	2658	ISR	5.0	30.5
7.	Novikov,Stanislav	GM	2540	RUS	5.0	28.0
8.	Rodshtein,Maxim	GM	2623	ISR	5.0	28.0
9.	Golod,Vitali	GM	2599	ISR	5.0	27.5
10.	Gallagher,Joseph	GM	2455	SUI	5.0	27.5
11.	Hausrath,Daniel	IM	2519	GER	5.0	27.5
12.	Pelletier,Yannick	GM	2574	SUI	5.0	27.0
13.	Fressinet,Laurent	GM	2667	FRA	5.0	27.0
14.	Kosintseva,Nadezhda	IM	2482	RUS	5.0	25.0
15.	Godena,Michele	GM	2540	ITA	5.0	25.0
16.	Lysyj,Igor	GM	2617	RUS	5.0	24.5
17.	Riazantsev,Alexander	GM	2647	RUS	4.5	28.5
18.	Zhu,Chen	GM	2473	QAT	4.5	28.5
19.	Hassan,Abdullah	IM	2354	UAE	4.5	27.5
20.	Gleizerov,Evgeny	GM	2538	RUS	4.5	27.5
112 players

3) XXIV Villarrobledo International Rapid

The XXIV Villarrobledo International Rapid Tournament took place 25th - 26th July 2009. Arkadij Naiditsch took clear first place with 7.5/9. He started with 6/6 and in spite of losing to Vadim Milov in round 8 he wrapped things up with a win against Ruslan Ponomariov in the final round to take first place alone.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezenvillarrobledo.es/ - Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr23929.aspx - Live coverage

XXIV Rapid Villarrobledo (ESP), 25-26 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Naiditsch Arkadij	GM	GER	2697	7.5	51	55.5	41.5
2	Grischuk Alexander	GM	RUS	2733	7	50	55	36.5
3	Moiseenko Alexander	GM	UKR	2682	7	48.5	53.5	36.5
4	Shirov Alexei	GM	ESP	2732	7	48.5	53	35.5
5	Ni Hua	GM	CHN	2701	7	48.5	52.5	38
6	Milov Vadim	GM	SUI	2659	7	48	51.5	37.5
7	Fridman Daniel	GM	GER	2665	7	45.5	49.5	34.5
8	Bacrot Etienne	GM	FRA	2721	6.5	51	54.5	36.5
9	Khenkin Igor	GM	GER	2634	6.5	47	51	33.5
10	Strikovic Aleksa	GM	SRB	2523	6.5	45.5	47	33.5
11	Ponomariov Ruslan	GM	UKR	2727	6	49.5	54.5	35.5
12	Larino Nieto David	IM	ESP	2455	6	48.5	53	33.5
13	Hou Yifan	GM	CHN	2584	6	48.5	52.5	34
14	Milchev Nikolay	IM	BUL	2351	6	48.5	52	33
15	Ljubojevic Ljubomir	GM	SRB	2553	6	48	52.5	33.5
16	Tkachiev Vladislav	GM	FRA	2650	6	48	51.5	36
17	Ibrahimov Rasul	GM	AZE	2543	6	46.5	50.5	34
18	Paunovic Dragan	GM	SRB	2533	6	46	49.5	32.5
19	Guliyev Namig	GM	AZE	2555	6	45.5	50	34
20	Rusev Krasimir	GM	BUL	2543	6	45.5	49.5	31
21	Lalic Bogdan	GM	CRO	2517	6	44	48	32.5
22	Pogorelov Ruslan	GM	UKR	2441	6	44	47	30.5
23	Potkin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2619	6	43.5	48	31.5
24	Torres Sanchez Jose		ESP	2322	6	43.5	46	29.5
25	Cifuentes Parada Roberto	GM	ESP	2539	6	43	45.5	31
26	Ubilava Elizbar	GM	ESP	2547	6	42	46	31.5
27	Ninov Nikolai	IM	BUL	2562	6	41	45	26
28	Granero Roca Antonio	IM	ESP	2433	6	41	44.5	29
29	San Segundo Carrillo Pablo	GM	ESP	2570	6	41	44	29.5
30	Ibarra Jerez Jose Carlos	IM	ESP	2517	5.5	44	46.5	31.5
31	Zhukova Natalia	WGM	UKR	2465	5.5	43.5	47.5	31
32	Mirzoev Azer	GM	AZE	2559	5.5	42.5	46.5	30.5
33	Pedersen Nicolai Vesterbaek	IM	DEN	2431	5.5	42	45	27.5
34	Vazquez Igarza Renier	GM	ESP	2570	5.5	41.5	45	27.5
35	Melnikova Yana	WGM	RUS	2285	5.5	41.5	44.5	28.5
36	Arnaudov G Petar	IM	BUL	2443	5.5	41	44.5	28
37	Abul Qasem		ESP	2022	5.5	40	43.5	24.5
38	Fernandez Barrera Victor	FM	ESP	2309	5.5	37.5	40.5	25.5
39	Djuric Stefan	GM	SRB	2437	5.5	36.5	39.5	27
40	Rivas Pastor Manuel	GM	ESP	2525	5	43.5	46.5	30.5
93 players

4) British Championships

The 96th British Chess Championships take place 26th July - 8th August 2009 in Torquay. Defending Champion Stuart Conquest was beaten by David Eggleston in the first round.

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

96th ch-GBR Torquay (ENG), 26 vii - 8 viii 2009 Round 1 Results 27th July 2009 2-15pm
Bd	White		Result	Black
1	Eggleston, David J	2341	1 - 0	Conquest, Stuart	2572
2	Howell, David W L	2614	1 - 0	Littlewood, Paul E	2358
3	Jones, Gawain C	2554	1 - 0	Sowray, Peter J	2335
4	Lalic, Susan	2334	0 - 1	Gordon, Stephen	2537
5	Williams, Simon K	2527	1 - 0	Rudd, Jack	2326
6	Hawkins, Jonathan	2325	1 - 0	Arkell, Keith C	2521
7	Wells, Peter	2498	1 - 0	Lewis, Andrew P	2281
8	Storey, Charles	2279	0 - 1	Gormally, Daniel	2490
9	Trent, Lawrence	2471	1 - 0	Hanley, James L	2277
10	Briscoe, Christopher	2268	0 - 1	Hebden, Mark	2468
11	Summerscale, Aaron	2454	1 - 0	Addison, Bret C	2266
12	Zhou, Yang-Fan	2265	0 - 1	Greet, Andrew N	2443
13	Cobb, James	2432	½ - ½	Constantinou, Peter	2264
14	White, Michael J R	2259	0 - 1	Palliser, Richard JD	2413
15	Buckley, Graeme	2398	½ - ½	Anderson, John	2248
16	McPhillips, Karl	2231	½ - ½	Houska, Jovanka	2392
17	Kolbus, Dietmar	2383	½ - ½	Sugden, John N	2217
18	Burrows, Martin	2209	0 - 1	Lane, Gary	2379
19	Rendle, Thomas	2377	1 - 0	Cumbers, Paul	2207
20	Bonafont, Philip	2124	0 - 1	Gavriel, Tryfon C	2138
21	Green, Andrew D	2203	0 - 1	Shaw, Peter	2123
22	Littlewood, John	2188	0 - 1	Salimbeni, George	2115
23	Gill, Neville	2111	0 - 1	Ynojosa, Felix Jose	2188
24	Birtwistle, Nigel	2186	1 - 0	Hegarty, Sarah N	2098
25	Sen, Subin	2093	1 - 0	Mackle, Dominic	2175*
26	Fitzsimons, David	2167	½ - ½	Reynolds, D Ian W	2092
27	Tunks, Dominic	2083	0 - 1	Varnam, Liam	2167
28	Khandelwal, Ankush	2160	1 - 0	Jones, Victor GL	2076
29	Garnett, John S	2059	0 - 1	Eden, Tomer	2157
30	Warman, Simon M	2156	0 - 1	Jones, William EG	2052
31	Galliano, Alexander	2050	1 - 0	Mueller, Jan	2149
32	Surtees, Mike	2149	½ - ½	Rocks, Daniel	2037
33	Mcdonnell, James J	2023	0 - 1	Raoof, Adam N	2144
34	Griffiths, Ryan-Rhys	2137	½ - ½	LeMoir, David A	2009
35	Taylor, Geoffrey P	2003	0 - 1	Yeo, Michael J	2136
36	De Coverly, Roger	2127	½ - ½	Dines, Sheila	1936
37	McClement, Andrew	1893	½ - ½	Adair, James	2124
38	Smith, Graham	2119	½ - ½	Ross, Chris N	2203

96th ch-GBR Torquay (ENG), 26 vii - 8 viii 2009 Entrants for the British Championship to date include:
JONES, Gawain	ENG	2550	g
GORDON, Stephen	ENG	2540	m
ARKELL, Keith	ENG	2517	g
WILLIAMS, Simon	ENG	2512	g
HEBDEN, Mark	ENG	2510	g
WELLS, Peter	ENG	2489	g
GORMALLY, Daniel	ENG	2487	g
TRENT, Lawrence	ENG	2466	m
SUMMERSCALE, Aaron	ENG	2453	g
HOUSKA, Jovanka	ENG	2402	m
KOLBUS, Dietmar	GER	2399	m
BUCKLEY, Graeme	ENG	2395	m
LANE, Gary	AUS	2371	m
EGGLESTON, David	ENG	2358	f
RUDD, Jack	ENG	2357	m
LALIC, Susan	ENG	2342	m

5) 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

6) Politiken Cup

The Politiken Cup took place in Helsingor (25 miles north of Copenhagen) 18th-26th July 2009. Parmerian Negi edged out Boris Avrukh on tie-break after both finished on 8.5/10.

Official site: http://www.ksu.dk/politiken_cup//default.aspx?la=en&aar=2009

Lars Grahn reports on the event at: http://larsgrahn.blogspot.com/ (he is also publishing some of the older photos from his large collection amassed during his time as editor of Schacknytt 1969-1990)

Politiken Cup (DEN), 18-26 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 10 Standings:
Pl.	Name	NAT	ELO	Po	MiBu	SoBer
1	Parmerian Negi	IND	2590	8.5	57	57
2	Boris Avruk	ISR	2641	8.5	53	54.5
3	Vladimir Malakhov	RUS	2707	8	57	54.75
4	Gabriel Sargissian	ARM	2667	8	57	54.75
5	Peter Heine Nielsen	DEN	2680	8	56.5	53.5
6	Evgeny Postny	ISR	2647	8	54	52.75
7	Sergei Tiviakov	NED	2674	8	53	51.75
8	Jonny Hector	SWE	2556	7.5	54.5	49.25
9	Emanuel Berg	SWE	2610	7.5	54.5	47.75
10	Jon Ludvig Hammer	NOR	2583	7.5	52.5	46.5
11	S.P.Sethuraman	IND	2455	7.5	52.5	45.75
12	Daniel Alsina Leal	ESP	2529	7.5	51.5	46.75
13	Viktorija Cmilyte	LIT	2470	7.5	51	44.75
14	Evgeny Agrest	SWE	2590	7	53	43
15	Sune Berg Hansen	DEN	2554	7	52.5	43.75
16	Alexey Dreev	RUS	2660	7	52.5	42.5
17	Tiger Hillarp-Persson	SWE	2596	7	52.5	42.25
18	Yuri Kuzubov	UKR	2635	7	52	42
19	Allan Stig Rasmussen	DEN	2536	7	51	42.75
20	Joachim Thomassen	NOR	2300	7	50	40.5
21	Lars Schandorff	DEN	2510	7	48.5	41
22	Klaus Berg	DEN	2432	7	48.5	40.75
23	Marcin Tazbir	POL	2500	7	48.5	40
24	Andreas Bruehl	GER	2360	7	48.5	39.25
25	Daniel Semcesen	SWE	2418	7	47	38.5
26	Krzysztof Bulski	POL	2392	7	46.5	39
27	Stellan Brynell	SWE	2471	7	46	37.5
28	Jens Kristiansen	DEN	2435	7	44	37.75
29	Mladen Gajic	SWE	2249	7	44	37
30	Mads Andersen	DEN	2336	7	44	36.5
31	Robert Aloma Vidal	ESP	2418	6.5	51	37.25
32	Marie Sebag	FRA	2531	6.5	50	39.75
33	Jens Ove Fries Nielsen	DEN	2439	6.5	50	38.25
34	Benjamin Arvola	NOR	2144	6.5	50	36.25
35	Jonathan Carlstedt	GER	2309	6.5	49	36.75
36	Esben Lund	DEN	2412	6.5	49	35.75
37	Mikkel Antonsen	DEN	2438	6.5	48.5	39
38	Kassa Korley	USA	2143	6.5	48	34.75
39	Mikael Rolvag	NOR	2196	6.5	47.5	36.25
40	Henrik Lindberg	SWE	2240	6.5	47.5	36.25
41	Steffen Pedersen	DEN	2435	6.5	47.5	36
42	Bo Jacobsen	DEN	2303	6.5	47.5	35
43	Tom Petri Petersen	DEN	2310	6.5	47.5	33
44	Arne Matthiesen	DEN	2324	6.5	47	37
45	Jacob Carstensen	DEN	2330	6.5	46	36.25
46	Joachim Solberg	NOR	2222	6.5	45.5	35.5
47	Yrjo A. Rantanen	FIN	2376	6.5	45.5	35
48	Peter Nicolai Skovgaard	DEN	2258	6.5	45	34
49	Jorgen Karlsson	SWE	2118	6.5	44.5	32.75
50	Martin Matthiesen	DEN	2305	6.5	43.5	34.25
51	Jakob Aabling-Thomsen	DEN	2344	6.5	41	32.5
52	Peter Flermoen	NOR	2027	6.5	41	25.75
53	Bjarni Jens Kristinsson	ISL	1985	6.5	40.5	29
54	Matthias Bach	GER	2307	6	51.5	34.75
307 players

7) XXVII Andorra International Chess Open

The XXVII Andorra International Chess Open took place 18th-26th July 2009. Edouard Romain took clear first place with 7.5/9.

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

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr23864.aspx?lan=1

XXVII Andorra International Open (AND), 18-26 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	Des 1	Des 2	Des 3
1	Edouard Romain	GM	FRA	2597	7.5	7.5	2728	456.5
2	Marin Mihail	GM	ROU	2583	7	7	2658	453
3	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	GM	ESP	2555	7	7	2652	449.5
4	Damljanovic Branko	GM	SRB	2551	7	7	2575	435
5	Balogh Csaba	GM	HUN	2595	6.5	6.5	2601	453.5
6	Wegerle Joerg	IM	GER	2430	6.5	6.5	2569	439.5
7	Peralta Fernando	GM	ARG	2574	6.5	6.5	2568	441.5
8	Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis	GM	ESP	2528	6.5	6.5	2527	438
9	Spraggett Kevin	GM	CAN	2606	6.5	6.5	2497	431
10	Kogan Artur	GM	ISR	2542	6.5	6.5	2486	437
11	Shytaj Luca	IM	ITA	2455	6.5	6.5	2474	427
12	Vehi Bach Victor Manuel	IM	ESP	2387	6.5	6.5	2466	420
13	De La Riva Aguado Oscar	GM	AND	2532	6.5	6.5	2453	417
14	Vega Gutierrez Sabrina	WGM	ESP	2352	6.5	6.5	2434	409
15	Dvirnyy Daniyyl	FM	ITA	2440	6.5	6.5	2396	405
16	Rodriguez Lopez Rafael	IM	ESP	2304	6.5	6.5	2328	400.5
17	Movsziszian Karen	GM	ARM	2570	6	6	2482	423
18	Vila Gazquez Xavier	IM	ESP	2457	6	6	2423	416.5
19	Raznikov Danny		ISR	2270	6	6	2399	388.5
20	Bok Benjamin	FM	NED	2360	6	6	2388	415.5
21	Narciso Dublan Marc	GM	ESP	2553	6	6	2324	402.5
22	Karavade Eesha	WIM	IND	2386	6	6	2311	401.5
23	Berkovich Mark A	IM	ISR	2419	6	6	2273	388.5
24	Demuth Adrien	FM	FRA	2339	5.5	5.5	2421	410
160 players

8) Najdorf Memorial in Warsaw

The Najdorf Memorial in Warsaw took place 18th-26th July 2009. Radoslaw Wojtaszek won the GMA event with 6/9 half a point clear of the field.

Official site: http://www.poloniachess.pl/najdorf2009/index.php - English

Najdorf Mem GMA Warsaw (POL), 18-26 vii 2009												cat. XV (2610)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2637	*	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	6	2732
2.	Rozentalis, Eduardas	g	LTU	2588	½	*	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	5½	2692
3.	Macieja, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2612	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	5	2652
4.	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	g	BLR	2616	½	½	½	*	0	½	½	1	½	½	4½	2609
5.	Krasenkow, Michal	g	POL	2631	½	0	½	1	*	½	1	½	0	½	4½	2607
6.	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2669	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	0	4½	2603
7.	Socko, Bartosz	g	POL	2656	0	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	½	1	4	2561
8.	Olszewski, Michal	g	POL	2559	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	*	1	1	4	2572
9.	Nyback, Tomi	g	FIN	2627	½	½	0	½	1	0	½	0	*	½	3½	2528
10.	Abasov, Nijat Azad	m	AZE	2505	0	½	½	½	½	1	0	0	½	*	3½	2541

Round 1 (July 18, 2009)
Rozentalis, Eduardas	- Macieja, Bartlomiej	½-½	29	B18	Caro Kann
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Krasenkow, Michal	½-½	31	D81	Gruenfeld Botvinnik
Olszewski, Michal	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	½-½	14	B80	Sicilian Scheveningen
Nyback, Tomi	- Socko, Bartosz	½-½	59	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Abasov, Nijat Azad	- Aleksandrov, Aleksej	½-½	28	C69	Ruy Lopez Exchange
Round 2 (July 19, 2009)
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	1-0	40	D78	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Rozentalis, Eduardas	- Olszewski, Michal	1-0	36	C48	Four Knights Rubinstein
Macieja, Bartlomiej	- Aleksandrov, Aleksej	½-½	60	C54	Giuoco Piano
Krasenkow, Michal	- Nyback, Tomi	0-1	50	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Socko, Bartosz	- Abasov, Nijat Azad	1-0	30	E17	Queens Indian
Round 3 (July 20, 2009)
Aleksandrov, Aleksej	- Socko, Bartosz	½-½	27	E46	Nimzo Indian Rubinstein
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Rozentalis, Eduardas	½-½	51	E17	Queens Indian
Olszewski, Michal	- Macieja, Bartlomiej	½-½	32	E36	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Nyback, Tomi	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	½-½	53	E15	Queens Indian
Abasov, Nijat Azad	- Krasenkow, Michal	½-½	47	B08	Pirc Defence
Round 4 (July 21, 2009)
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	- Abasov, Nijat Azad	1-0	42	E05	Catalan
Rozentalis, Eduardas	- Nyback, Tomi	½-½	19	C49	Four Knights Metger
Macieja, Bartlomiej	- Socko, Bartosz	½-½	34	C18	French Winawer
Krasenkow, Michal	- Aleksandrov, Aleksej	1-0	38	D38	QGD Ragozin
Olszewski, Michal	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	0-1	53	D82	Gruenfeld 4.Bf4
Round 5 (July 22, 2009)
Aleksandrov, Aleksej	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	½-½	29	E74	King's Indian Averbakh
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Macieja, Bartlomiej	½-½	23	E20	Nimzo Indian
Socko, Bartosz	- Krasenkow, Michal	0-1	34	A42	Modern Defence
Nyback, Tomi	- Olszewski, Michal	0-1	36	E04	Catalan
Abasov, Nijat Azad	- Rozentalis, Eduardas	½-½	43	E10	Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Round 6 (July 23, 2009)
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	- Socko, Bartosz	1-0	35	D20	QGA
Rozentalis, Eduardas	- Aleksandrov, Aleksej	½-½	104	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Macieja, Bartlomiej	- Krasenkow, Michal	½-½	40	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Nyback, Tomi	1-0	32	D46	Semi-Slav Defence
Olszewski, Michal	- Abasov, Nijat Azad	1-0	71	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Round 7 (July 24, 2009)
Aleksandrov, Aleksej	- Olszewski, Michal	1-0	36	D80	Gruenfeld 4.Bg5
Krasenkow, Michal	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	½-½	32	D00	Queen's Pawn Game
Socko, Bartosz	- Rozentalis, Eduardas	½-½	20	C10	French Rubinstein
Nyback, Tomi	- Macieja, Bartlomiej	0-1	34	E25	Nimzo Indian Saemisch
Abasov, Nijat Azad	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	1-0	36	A28	English Four Knights
Round 8 (July 25, 2009)
Rozentalis, Eduardas	- Krasenkow, Michal	1-0	40	B03	Alekhine's Defence
Macieja, Bartlomiej	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	½-½	78	D10	Slav Defence
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Aleksandrov, Aleksej	½-½	37	E55	Nimzo Indian
Olszewski, Michal	- Socko, Bartosz	½-½	54	D40	Semi-Tarrasch Defence
Nyback, Tomi	- Abasov, Nijat Azad	½-½	29	E17	Queens Indian
Round 9 (July 26, 2009)
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	- Rozentalis, Eduardas	½-½	10	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Aleksandrov, Aleksej	- Nyback, Tomi	½-½	72	D12	Slav Defence
Krasenkow, Michal	- Olszewski, Michal	½-½	37	D30	Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Socko, Bartosz	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	½-½	11	B55	Sicilian Rauzer
Abasov, Nijat Azad	- Macieja, Bartlomiej	½-½	7	A36	English Botvinnik

Najdorf Mem Open Warsaw (POL), 18-26 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
1	Matlakov, Maxim	IM	RUS	2550	7
2	Andriasian, Zaven	GM	ARM	2585	6.5
3	Vysochin, Spartak	GM	UKR	2554	6.5
4	Brodsky, Michail	GM	UKR	2522	6.5
5	Czarnota, Pawel	GM	POL	2530	6.5
6	Goganov, Aleksey	FM	RUS	2434	6.5
7	Romanishin, Oleg M	GM	UKR	2503	6.5
8	Dziuba, Marcin	GM	POL	2562	6
9	Melkumyan, Hrant	GM	ARM	2530	6
10	Cyborowski, Lukasz	GM	POL	2498	6
11	Malisauskas, Vidmantas	GM	LTU	2489	6
12	Petrov, Marijan	IM	BUL	2479	6
13	Krysztofiak, Marcin	IM	POL	2427	6
14	Radulski, Julian	GM	BUL	2539	6
15	Nedilko, Vasily		UKR	2414	6
16	Ivanov, Sergey	GM	RUS	2528	6
17	Socko, Monika	GM	POL	2449	6
18	Nebolsina, Vera	WGM	RUS	2302	6
19	Nurkiewicz, Maciej		POL	2397	5.5
20	Malec, Sebastian		POL	2041	5.5
21	Urban, Klaudiusz	IM	POL	2456	5.5
22	Matuszewski, Michal		POL	2301	5.5
23	Wojciechowski, Piotr		POL	2279	5.5
24	Stachowiak, Kamil		POL	2412	5.5
25	Warakomski, Tomasz	IM	POL	2491	5.5
26	Leniart, Arkadiusz	FM	POL	2390	5.5
27	Stoma, Pawel		POL	2298	5.5
28	Brzeski, Maciej		POL	2361	5.5
29	Nguyen, Piotr		POL	2368	5.5
30	Skawinski, Arkadiusz		POL	2153	5
31	Doluhanova, Evgeniya	WGM	UKR	2327	5
32	Staniszewski, Piotr	IM	POL	2383	5
33	Deszczynski, Adam		POL	2352	5
34	Strzemiecki, Zbigniew	FM	POL	2314	5
35	Graca, Robert		FRA	2183	5
36	Kosiorek, Marek		POL	2362	5
37	Plichta, Kamil		POL	2039	5
38	Warszawski, Bartosz		POL	2293	5
39	Galazewski, Tomasz		POL	2239	5
40	Adamski, Jan	IM	POL	2276	5
41	Bugajski, Robert	FM	POL	2193	5
42	Pazderski, Ziemowit		POL	2228	5
43	Leks, Hanna	WIM	POL	2145	4.5
160 players

9) Polish Women's Championship

The Polish Women's Championship takes place in Bogatynia 19th-29th July 2009.

Official site: http://mpk2009.pl/

ch-POL w Bogatynia (POL), 19-29 vii 2009													cat. II (2298)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Rajlich, Iweta	m	POL	2448	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	.	1	.	7	2521
2.	Zawadzka, Jolanta	wg	POL	2387	½	*	½	½	1	.	1	.	0	1	1	1	6½	2454
3.	Szczepkowska-Horowska, Karina	wm	POL	2327	½	½	*	0	½	½	.	1	.	1	1	1	6	2431
4.	Majdan, Joanna	wg	POL	2382	0	½	1	*	.	1	½	1	1	½	0	.	5½	2378
5.	Kadziolka, Beata	wg	POL	2289	0	0	½	.	*	1	1	½	.	½	½	1	5	2336
6.	Jaracz, Barbara	wg	POL	2306	0	.	½	0	0	*	½	1	1	.	1	1	5	2341
7.	Krupa, Monika	wg	POL	2229	½	0	.	½	0	½	*	1	0	½	.	1	4	2264
8.	Przezdziecka, Marta	wg	POL	2285	½	.	0	0	½	0	0	*	1	1	.	1	4	2251
9.	Toma, Katarzyna	wm	POL	2261	0	1	.	0	.	0	1	0	*	½	0	1	3½	2219
10.	Warakomska, Anna	wf	POL	2193	.	0	0	½	½	.	½	0	½	*	1	0	3	2167
11.	Kulon, Klaudia	wf	POL	2251	0	0	0	1	½	0	.	.	1	0	*	0	2½	2146
12.	Jakubiec, Edyta	wm	POL	2217	.	0	0	.	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	*	2	2060

10) Dutch Open

The Dutch Open (Open Netherlands Championship) takes place in Dieren 21st-30th July 2009.

Official site; http://onk.schaakbond.nl/

Open Netherlands Championship Dieren (NED), 21-30 vii 2009 Leading Round 6 Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	Rating	Score	TPR	W-We
1	Giri, Anish	GM	2518	5.5	2858	2.08
2	L'Ami, Erwin	GM	2593	5	2695	0.72
3	Timman, Jan H	GM	2569	5	2650	0.62
4	Ernst, Sipke	GM	2598	4.5	2568	-0.1
5	Vovk, Yuri	GM	2567	4.5	2536	-0.17
6	Reinderman, Dimitri	GM	2565	4.5	2532	-0.13
7	Nijboer, Friso	GM	2552	4.5	2588	0.32
8	Visser, Yge	GM	2464	4.5	2561	0.8
9	Brandenburg, Daan	IM	2463	4.5	2528	0.53
10	Miedema, Roi	FM	2432	4.5	2616	1.49
11	Ootes, Lars		2261	4.5	2556	2.31
12	Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav	GM	2556	4	2482	-0.46
13	Swinkels, Robin	GM	2516	4	2471	-0.31
14	Adhiban, B.	IM	2481	4	2536	0.49
15	Lalith, Babu M.R.	IM	2472	4	2467	0.02
16	Bosch, Jeroen	IM	2456	4	2395	-0.34
17	Hendriks, Willy	IM	2444	4	2432	-0.03
18	Bitalzadeh, Ali	IM	2434	4	2437	0.08
19	Shyam, Sundar M.	IM	2415	4	2432	0.25
20	Van Delft, Merijn	IM	2360	4	2472	0.91
21	Van Eijk, Sander	FM	2338	4	2409	0.57
22	Bezemer, Arno	FM	2332	4	2368	0.35
23	Kuipers, Stefan	FM	2324	4	2407	0.67
24	Hoeksema, Erik	IM	2309	4	2355	0.44
25	Vovk, Andrey	GM	2506	3.5	2417	-0.59
93 players

11) Quebec Open Championship

The Quebec Open Championship took place 18th-25th July 2009. Vladimir Georgiev won with 6½/9. Hugh Brodie produced a nice PGN games section.

Official site: http://www.fqechecs.qc.ca/

Quebec Open Montreal (CAN), 18-25 vii 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1.	Georgiev, Vladimir	g	MKD	2530	+19	=9	+10	=4	+11	=3	=2	=5	+8	6½	2642
2.	Gagunashvili, Merab	g	GEO	2574	=14	-10	+18	+15	=3	+4	=1	+9	=5	6	2582
3.	Kovalyov, Anton	g	ARG	2557	=	=	=	+6	=2	=1	=4	+12	+10	6	2439
4.	Sambuev, Bator	g	RUS	2491	+15	+13	+9	=1	+7	-2	=3	=8	-6	5½	2540
5.	Malakhatko, Vadim	g	BEL	2570	=12	=11	=8	=10	+9	=7	+15	=1	=2	5½	2490
6.	Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	m	CAN	2487	=17	=12	=15	-3	=16	+19	+11	=7	+4	5½	2422
7.	Jancovic, Peter		SVK	2140	-11	+16	+17	+20	-4	=5	=12	=6	+19	5½	2492
8.	Kasparov, Sergey	g	BLR	2487	=16	=17	=5	=14	=10	+11	+13	=4	-1	5	2455
9.	Malaniuk, Vladimir P	g	UKR	2563	+	=1	-4	+16	-5	=13	+17	-2	+18	5	2435
10.	Thavandiran, Shiyam	f	CAN	2291	=20	+2	-1	=5	=8	-12	+14	+13	-3	4½	2522
11.	Arngrimsson, Dagur	m	ISL	2396	+7	=5	=20	+13	-1	-8	-6	+15	=12	4½	2443
12.	Castellanos Rodriguez, Renier	m	ESP	2453	=5	=6	-13	+18	=20	+10	=7	-3	=11	4½	2433
13.	Zherebukh, Yaroslav	g	UKR	2541	+18	-4	+12	-11	+14	=9	-8	-10	+17	4½	2420
14.	Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor	m	ISL	2462	=2	-20	+19	=8	-13	=18	-10	+17	=15	4	2366
15.	Leveille, Francois	f	CAN	2261	-4	+	=6	-2	+19	+20	-5	-11	=14	4	2386
16.	Ye, Ling Feng		CAN	2179	=8	-7	+	-9	=6	-17	-19	=18	+	3½	2217
17.	Jiang, Louie		CAN	2250	=6	=8	-7	=19	=18	+16	-9	-14	-13	3	2276
18.	Thorfinnsson, Bjorn	f	ISL	2395	-13	=19	-2	-12	=17	=14	+20	=16	-9	3	2308
19.	Barbeau, Sylvain	f	CAN	2357	-1	=18	-14	=17	-15	-6	+16	+	-7	3	2175
20.	Mitkov, Nikola	g	MKD	2526	=10	+14	=11	-7	=12	-15	-18	.	.	2½	2240

12) 4th Porto Carras Open

The 4th Porto Carras International Open Chess Tournament "Summer Cup 2009" took place 18th-25th July 2009. Antonios Hadzimanolis won the event with 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.greekchess.com/cup2009

4th Summer Cup Porto Carras (GRE), 18-25 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB2
1	Hadzimanolis Antonios	FM	GRE	2296	7.5	39
2	Pavlidis Anastasios	FM	GRE	2348	7	36.5
3	Pavlidou Ekaterini		GRE	2179	6.5	37
4	Andreou Andreas		GRE	2214	6.5	36
5	Nikolaidis Konstantinos	FM	GRE	2270	6.5	35.5
6	Karlovich Anastazia	WGM	UKR	2211	6.5	34.5
7	Soultatis Kostas		GRE	2080	6.5	32.5
8	Spiropoulos Panagiotis I		GRE	2114	6	33.5
9	Gamback Bjorn		SWE	2182	6	32.5
10	Xaxiris E		GRE	2035	6	31
11	Naslund Mikael	FM	SWE	2170	6	30.5
12	Rabinovich Anton		RUS	1974	6	30.5
13	Sideris Giorgos		GRE	1910	6	29.5
14	Jevtic Miroljub		SRB	2164	5.5	31.5
15	Csonka Balazs		HUN	2062	5.5	31
16	Hrisanthopoulos Dimitrios		GRE	2128	5.5	30.5
17	Koroteeva Ksenia		RUS	1970	5.5	30.5
18	Mattsson Michael		SWE	2116	5.5	30
19	Nikolaidis Georgios		GRE	1912	5.5	28
20	Radchenko Michail		RUS	1954	5.5	28
21	Liakos Georgios		GRE	1651	5.5	26
22	Mantikos Konstantinos		GRE	0	5.5	25
23	Kutirov Rolando	GM	FYM	2360	5	29
74 players

13) ZMD Open

The ZMD Open takes place 25th July 2009 - 2nd August 2009. 9 rounds Swiss - knock out system. The loser of the knock out continues playing in the Swiss tournament. Points reached in the knock out are taken over into the Swiss tournament. I'm not a big fan of these unusual systems, I don't think its good when you have to spend some time explaining why someone has won, it always seems a bit false and to tell the truth I'm not really clear how this is going to work in practice here. I'll wait to the end to give some standings. The top seeds are Vladimir Baklan, Robert Kempinski and Tomasz Markowski.

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

14) Austrian Championships

The Austrian Championships takes place 25th July - 2nd August 2009.

Official site: http://www.chess.at/specials/2009/0907_autch_jenbach.htm

Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr19739.aspx

ch-AUT Jenbach (AUT), 25 vii-2 viii 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1.	Knoll, Hermann	m	AUT	2393	+36	+47	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
2.	Lehner, Oliver	m	AUT	2421	+37	+32	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
3.	Neubauer, Martin	m	AUT	2443	+42	+33	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
4.	Neumeier, Klaus	f	AUT	2344	+43	+41	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
5.	Ragger, Markus	g	AUT	2563	+38	+40	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
6.	H("o)lzl,F	m	AUT	2358	+52	+31	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
7.	Froewis, Georg		AUT	2220	+62	+28	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
8.	Halvax, Georg		AUT	2260	+66	+27	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
9.	Kleiser, Gregor	f	AUT	2292	+59	+26	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	2
10.	Diermair, Andreas	m	AUT	2361	+34	=22	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2369
11.	Freitag, Manfred	m	AUT	2404	+39	=19	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2380
12.	Kranewitter, Norbert		AUT	2076	+35	=20	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2462
13.	Kleissl, Helmut	f	AUT	2271	+57	=16	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2239
14.	Kuthan, Andreas		AUT	2197	=15	+55	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2198
15.	Mikulic, Oliver		AUT	2004	=14	+56	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2391
16.	Schweitzer, Werner		AUT	2022	+54	=13	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2449
17.	Baumegger, Siegfried	m	AUT	2455	=24	+51	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2351
18.	Schachinger, Mario	f	AUT	2351	=25	+50	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2252
19.	Denk, Adolf	f	AUT	2254	+60	=11	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2423
20.	Natter, Siegfried		AUT	2262	+68	=12	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2264
21.	Platzgummer, Fabian		AUT	2308	=49	+48	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2279
22.	Schwarhofer, Christopher		AUT	2239	+63	=10	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2380
23.	Singer, Richard	f	AUT	2284	=48	+49	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2279
24.	Heinrich, Thomas AUT		AUT	2165	=17	=30	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2438
25.	Wagner, Stefan AUT		AUT	2096	=18	=29	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2300
26.	Hofer, Franz		AUT	2092	+46	-9	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2307
27.	Neubauer, Anton		AUT	2003	+44	-8	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2224
28.	Pilaj, Herwig	m	AUT	2357	+45	-7	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2163
29.	Hartl, Daniel		AUT	2249	=50	=25	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2059
30.	Kreisl, Robert	m	AUT	2422	=51	=24	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2158
31.	Albadri, Abd Al Sattar		IRQ	2174	+53	-6	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2170
32.	Ager, Josef		AUT	2214	+67	-2	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2214
33.	Bachler, Reinhard		AUT	2226	+58	-3	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2225
34.	Bozinovic, Boban		AUT	2114	-10	+63	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2187
35.	Dietmayer-Kraeutler, Marco	f	AUT	2276	-12	+68	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2071
36.	Ferrari, Josef		AUT	2119	-1	+61	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2199
37.	Hackbarth, Wolfgang		AUT	2123	-2	+67	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2214
38.	Jedinger, Andreas		AUT	2170	-5	+65	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2301
39.	Kroell, Hannes		AUT	2121	-11	+60	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2230
40.	Loidl, Florian		AUT	2251	+65	-5	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2301
41.	Mittermayr, Gerhard		AUT	2178	+64	-4	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2173
42.	Muehlbacher, Bernhard		AUT	2156	-3	+58	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2225
43.	Scheiblmaier, Robert		AUT	2095	-4	+64	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2173
44.	Schreiner, Peter		AUT	2188	-27	+66	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2031
45.	Spiesberger, Gerhard		AUT	2106	-28	+62	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2182
46.	Tabernig, Bernhard	f	AUT	2323	-26	+59	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2089
47.	Theuretzbacher, Klaus		AUT	2200	+61	-1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2199
48.	Fruehauf, Norbert		AUT	2080	=23	-21	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2103
49.	Schnegg, Daniel		AUT	2092	=21	-23	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2103
50.	Hofmann, Thomas		AUT	2022	=29	-18	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2107
51.	Wiedermann, Daniel		AUT	2151	=30	-17	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2245
52.	Allacher, Erwin		AUT	2111	-6	=53	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	1977
53.	Bauer, Manfred AUT		AUT	1983	-31	=52	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	1949
54.	Gerhold, Michael		AUT	2241	-16	=57	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	1853
55.	Kessler, Luca		AUT	2006	=56	-14	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2005
56.	Sandhoefner, Florian	f	AUT	2200	=55	-15	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	1812
57.	Wertjanz, David		AUT	2071	-13	=54	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2063
58.	Anfang, Max		AUT	2008	-33	-42	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
59.	Babinetz, Rainer		AUT	2087	-9	-46	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
60.	Berchtold, Clemens		AUT	2057	-19	-39	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
61.	Hoebarth, Guenter		AUT	2005	-47	-36	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
62.	Pirchner, Hans		AUT	2007	-7	-45	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
63.	Saxer, Bernhard		AUT	2014	-22	-34	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
64.	Sepetavc, Walter		AUT	2003	-41	-43	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
65.	Spindelberger, Paul		AUT	2039	-40	-38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
66.	Steinbacher, Thomas		AUT	2059	-8	-44	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
67.	Teuschler, Alois		AUT	2007	-32	-37	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0
68.	Wallnoefer, Hannes		AUT	2066	-20	-35	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0

15) 32nd Taminco Ghent Open

The 32nd Taminco Open International Chess Tournament Ghent (Belgium) took place 18th-22nd July 2009, 9 rounds Swiss, two hours KO chess, prize money 8400 euro for 400 participants. Alexander Kovchan won the event with 8/9. My thanks to Etienne Van Leeuwen for the games.

Official site: http://www.kgsrl.be

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

32nd Taminco Open Ghent (BEL), 18-22 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
1.	Kovchan, Alexander	g	UKR	2554	8.0	2627
2.	Akesson, Ralf	g	SWE	2469	7.5	2499
3.	Baklan, Vladimir	g	UKR	2639	7.0	2524
4.	Miezis, Normunds	g	LAT	2572	7.0	2519
5.	Alienkin, Aleksander	m	RUS	2402	7.0	2448
6.	Sowray, Peter J	f	ENG	2335	7.0	2448
7.	Geirnaert, Steven	f	BEL	2364	7.0	2393
8.	Tonoli, Benjamin		BEL	2168	7.0	2382
9.	Docx, Stefan	f	BEL	2384	7.0	2381
10.	Ondersteijn, Niels	f	NED	2289	7.0	2312
11.	Dgebuadze, Alexandre	g	BEL	2516	6.5	2477
12.	Van der Stricht, Geert	m	BEL	2390	6.5	2339
13.	Maenhout, Thibaut	f	BEL	2312	6.5	2329
14.	Donovan, Linton		BEL	2200	6.5	2299
15.	Sadkowsky, Daniel	f	BEL	2277	6.5	2283
16.	Maes, Wim	f	BEL	2304	6.5	2268
17.	Oorebeek, Erwin		NED	2177	6.5	2265
18.	Briscoe, Chris		ENG	2268	6.5	2259
19.	Goormachtigh, Johan	f	BEL	2230	6.5	2219
20.	Van Hoeve, Ab		NED	2198	6.5	2201
21.	Willemsma, Abe		NED	2073	6.5	2158
22.	Verbeeren, Peter		BEL	----	6.5	2103
23.	Rijnaarts, Sjef	f	NED	2316	6.0	2312
281 players

16) XVIII Championship of Macedonia Open

The XVIII Championship of Macedonia Open took place in Struga 18th-26th July 2009. Vlatko Bogdanovski won with 7/9. No games available.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr23863.aspx

XVIII Macedonia Open Struga (MKD), 18-26 vii 2009 Leading Round 3 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	Bogdanovski Vlatko	GM	MKD	2399	7	38	48.5
2	Stanojoski Zvonko	GM	MKD	2483	6.5	40	52
3	Pancevski Filip	IM	MKD	2422	6.5	37	48
4	Stojanovski Dejan	IM	MKD	2432	6	40	51.5
5	Dinev Dejan	FM	MKD	2304	6	33	43
6	Veleski Robert		MKD	2257	6	32.5	41.5
7	Dancevski Orce	IM	MKD	2411	5.5	35.5	46.5
8	Mitkov Marjan	IM	MKD	2382	5.5	35	45.5
9	Volf Ziga		SLO	2195	5.5	34	42.5
10	Organdziev Oliver	FM	MKD	2277	5	40	50
11	Vasovski Nikola	IM	MKD	2358	5	39	49.5
12	Koskoska Gabriela	wIM	MKD	2188	5	29	37.5
13	Ilic Zoran	FM	MKD	2304	4.5	33	42.5
14	Ilic Ljubomir	FM	MKD	2296	4.5	32.5	41
15	Hristovski Srdzan		MKD	2150	4.5	32	40
16	Skrceski Gavril		MKD	2223	4.5	30	39.5
17	Kacakovski Dimitar	FM	MKD	2190	4.5	29	36.5
18	Jonoska Katerina		MKD	2028	4.5	26	33
19	Vladimirov Vladimir		MKD	2222	4	37	47.5
20	Gotovusa Goran		MKD	2197	4	30.5	38
21	Kukov Tode		MKD	2084	4	23.5	32
30 players

17) 11th Saint-Lo Festival

11th Chess Festival in Saint-Lo took place 7th-14th July 2009. Robert Bator won the event with 6.5/9. The game file is now complete.

Official site: http://echecsaglo.fr/

IM Saint-Lo (FRA), 8-14 vii 2009												cat. IV (2349)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Bator, Robert	m	SWE	2403	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	6½	2508
2.	Tripoteau, Nicolas	f	FRA	2398	½	*	½	0	1	½	1	1	1	½	6	2468
3.	Jolly, Jean-Francois	f	FRA	2366	½	½	*	½	½	1	0	½	1	1	5½	2426
4.	Kuipers, Stefan	f	NED	2324	½	1	½	*	0	0	1	½	½	1	5	2394
5.	Lagarde, Maxime	f	FRA	2352	0	0	½	1	*	1	½	½	1	½	5	2391
6.	Ornstein, Axel	m	SWE	2424	0	½	0	1	0	*	½	1	1	1	5	2383
7.	Poley, Vladimir	m	BLR	2312	½	0	1	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	4½	2352
8.	Song, Julien	f	FRA	2319	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	0	2½	2186
9.	Coursaget, Nicolas	f	FRA	2339	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	2½	2183
10.	Marchand, Francois	f	FRA	2251	0	½	0	0	½	0	0	1	½	*	2½	2193

18) Swiss Championships

The 109th Swiss Individual Chess Championships took place in Graechen 9th-17th July 2009. Simon Williams finished in clear first place with 7½/9. He was half a point clear of Viktor Korchnoi who took the Swiss title on tie-break. There were 300 players in four sections, 111 played in the top group.

Official site: http://swisschess.ch/turniere/sem.php?action=news&year=2009

ch-SUI Graechen (SUI), 9-17 vii 2009 Leading Final Round Standings:
Pl	Player	Ti	ELO	NWZ	NAT	Pts	Buchh
1.	Williams,Simon	GM	2527		ENG	7.5	46.5
2.	Korchnoi,Viktor	GM	2561	2576	SUI	7.0	51.5
3.	Benkovic,Petar	IM	2456	2426	SRB	7.0	49.5
4.	Ekstrom,Roland	IM	2482	2472	SUI	7.0	45.5
5.	Huss,Andreas	IM	2330	2329	SUI	7.0	44.0
6.	Filipovic,Branko	IM	2422	2417	CRO	6.5	46.0
7.	Klauser,Markus	IM	2386	2380	SUI	6.5	45.0
8.	Contin,Daniel	IM	2279		ITA	6.5	44.0
9.	Misiano,Franco		2281		ITA	6.5	42.5
10.	Kaenel,Hansjürg	IM	2306	2321	SUI	6.0	51.5
11.	Kelecevic,Nedeljko	IM	2320	2306	SUI	6.0	47.0
12.	Jenni,Florian	GM	2513	2492	SUI	6.0	46.5
13.	Muheim,Lukas	FM	2323	2333	SUI	6.0	45.0
14.	Bigg,Andrew	CM	2289	2254	ENG	6.0	45.0
15.	Carron,Julien	IM	2416	2411	SUI	6.0	44.5
16.	Domont,Alexandre	IM	2345	2345	SUI	6.0	44.0
17.	Hugentobler,Patrik	FM	2253	2225	SUI	6.0	43.0
18.	Gaehler,Marco		2247	2312	SUI	6.0	42.5
19.	Illijin,Neboisa	IM	2246		ROU	6.0	37.0
20.	Stoeri,Simon		1974	2149	SUI	6.0	36.5
21.	Lehmann,Andreas		2297	2291	SUI	5.5	48.5
111 players

19) Puerto Rico Championships

The Final of the Puerto Rico Chess Championship is being held at the Casa de Ajedrez in Caguas Puerto Rico takes place July 11th - 27th July 2009.

The Casa de Ajedrez in Caguas is a venue of 9,753 square feet is the only one dedicated exclusively to the chess in the Puerto Rico. The installation was built with a cost of $1,6 million, Casa del Ajedrez "the House of Chess" opened its doors in October of 2006 under the direction of IA Rafael Ortiz Bonilla with the purpose of promoting the education and practice of the sport science.

ch-PUR Caguas (PUR), 11-27 vii 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Berrios Echevarria, Gabriel	f	PUR	2161	*	1	½	.	0	.	.	1	1	.	1	1	5½	2358
2.	Santa Torres, Juan	m	PUR	2229	0	*	1	1	.	½	½	1	1	.	.	.	5	2274
3.	Rodriguez Santiago, Jaime		PUR	2105	½	0	*	.	1	.	.	½	.	1	½	1	4½	2259
4.	Ovalle, Ramon		PUR	2148	.	0	.	*	.	0	1	1	.	1	1	.	4	2284
5.	Santana-Alvarado, Miguel		PUR	2159	1	.	0	.	*	1	0	0	.	1	.	1	4	2179
6.	Montanez Nazario, Roberto		PUR	2081	.	½	.	1	0	*	½	.	1	0	1	.	4	2197
7.	Davila, Juan		PUR	2176	.	½	.	0	1	½	*	.	.	1	½	.	3½	2213
8.	Vazquez Reyes, Raul		PUR	2147	0	0	½	0	1	.	.	*	1	.	.	0	2½	2024
9.	Ayala Sanchez, Abnel		PUR	----	0	0	.	.	.	0	.	0	*	1	½	1	2½	2044
10.	Bermudez Adams, William		PUR	2149	.	.	0	0	0	1	0	.	0	*	1	.	2	1962
11.	Sotelo Kohama, Daniel		PUR	2173	0	.	½	0	.	0	½	.	½	0	*	.	1½	1887
12.	Guzman, Carlos		PUR	2084	0	.	0	.	0	.	.	1	0	.	.	*	1	1874

20) 13th Battle of Senta 1697

The 13th "Battle of Senta 1697" tournament took place 18th-25th July 2009. Miodrag R Savic took clear first place on 7.5/9. Games from the first three rounds only are available.

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

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr23861.aspx

13th "Battle of Senta 1697" OPEN A (SRB), 18-25 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	Rp
1	Savic Miodrag R	GM	SRB	2535	7.5	49	38	2631
2	Arsovic Goran	IM	SRB	2423	7	51.5	38.5	2568
3	Sarenac Ivan		SRB	2341	7	40.5	30.5	2448
4	Jovanovic Zoran Z	FM	SRB	2325	6.5	50	37	2470
5	Galunov Todor	FM	BUL	2341	6.5	50	35.5	2526
6	Arsovic Zoran	IM	SRB	2468	6.5	46	30	2475
7	Nadj Hedjesi Balind		SRB	2463	6.5	44	30.5	2479
8	Radovanovic Dusan		SRB	2312	6	50	32.5	2442
9	Kojovic Dragan	IM	SRB	2373	6	48	30.5	2502
10	Bodiroga Predrag	IM	SRB	2431	6	47	30	2424
11	Solomunovic Igor	IM	GER	2421	6	45	29.5	2423
12	Kulakov Viacheslav		RUS	2364	6	43.5	30	2431
13	Todorovic Goran M	GM	SRB	2458	5.5	45.5	29	2380
14	Farkas Tibor	IM	SRB	2303	5.5	44.5	27.5	2389
15	Gonda Laszlo	IM	HUN	2499	5.5	43	26	2353
16	Sorgic Dragan		SRB	2284	5.5	41.5	27.5	2369
17	Bojovic Dusan		SRB	2286	5.5	38.5	25.5	2340
18	Nestorovic Dejan	IM	SRB	2405	5	52.5	30.5	2385
19	Pantelic Sasa	FM	SRB	2303	5	51.5	30.5	2401
20	Ardeleanu Alin	IM	ROU	2405	5	51	31	2378
21	Nestorovic Nikola	IM	SRB	2410	5	49.5	29	2367
22	Stankovic Milos		SRB	2306	5	47.5	29.5	2373
23	Krstic Petar		SRB	2309	5	46	25.5	2321
24	Csirik Andras	FM	HUN	2281	5	42.5	28.5	2370
25	Dragovic Momcilo	FM	SRB	2383	5	42.5	28	2288
26	Strbac Mladen		SRB	2292	5	41.5	24.5	2297
27	Tancik Kristijan		SRB	2255	5	41.5	24.5	2272
28	Mikanovic Sandro		BIH	2280	5	40.5	25.5	2283
29	Sutorikhin Vladimir	IM	RUS	2341	5	40	25.5	2276
30	Damjanovic Dragan	FM	SRB	2230	5	39.5	22	2307
31	Jovanovic Miroslav O		SRB	2124	5	39	21.5	2277
32	Budimir Boris	FM	BIH	2352	5	38.5	23	2247
33	Zivkovic Sava	FM	SRB	2268	5	38	24.5	2238
34	Mijic Vladimir		SRB	2220	5	37	22	2283
35	Popovic Milos T	IM	SRB	2423	4.5	44	26.5	2316
77 players

21) 20th International Chess and Games Festival Czech Open

The 20th International Chess and Games Festival Czech Open 2009 takes place 16th July - 2nd 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.

Official site: http://www.czechopen.net/news/index.php.

The Rapid tournament was won by Konstantin Chernyshov with 8/9.

I couldn't find IM Alexey Choss nor Jahangir Agharahimov in the FIDE rating list in spite of both being reasonably highly rated according the http://chess-results.com. I'm a bit puzzled how you could be an active IM like Choss and not be in the rating list unless he changed his name.

The European youth team championship U18 for boys were won by Hungary, Poland won the women's event.

The main A-tournament has reached round 4. Rauf Mamedov is the top seed.

Czech Open A Pardubice (CZE). 24 vii-1 viii 2009 Leading Round 4 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	KJARTANSSON GUDMUNDUR	FM	ISL	2356	4	2397	8.5
2	ROMBALDONI DENIS	IM	ITA	2465	4	2317	8.5
3	SMITH AXEL	IM	SWE	2377	3.5	2445	10
4	BABULA VLASTIMIL	GM	CZE	2566	3.5	2386	10
5	STUPAK KIRILL	IM	BLR	2449	3.5	2380	8.5
6	MASLAK KONSTANTIN	GM	RUS	2545	3.5	2375	10
7	GOLICHENKO ILLYA	FM	UKR	2420	3.5	2371	9.5
8	MONROY CHARLES	FM	FRA	2412	3.5	2351	8.5
9	MAXIMOV DMITRY	GM	UKR	2485	3.5	2345	9
10	JURCIK MARIAN	IM	SVK	2479	3.5	2341	9.5
11	LAZNICKA VIKTOR	GM	CZE	2617	3.5	2338	6.5
12	D´COSTA LORIN	IM	ENG	2477	3.5	2337	8.5
13	ERDOGDU MERT	IM	TUR	2463	3.5	2309	9.5
14	POTAPOV ALEXANDER	GM	RUS	2461	3.5	2309	8
15	VOLOSHIN LEONID	GM	CZE	2437	3.5	2278	10
16	TIKKANEN HANS	IM	SWE	2434	3.5	2248	8.5
17	KRAPIVIN VLADISLAV	IM	RUS	2358	3	2437	9
18	IGLESIAS JOACHIM		FRA	2253	3	2423	9.5
19	BARYSHPOLETS ANDRIY	IM	UKR	2426	3	2412	9
20	BIOLEK-JUN. RICHARD	IM	CZE	2361	3	2407	9
295 players

Synthesia Rapid Open Pardubice (CZE), 22-23 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name			RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	CHERNYSHOV KONSTANTIN	GM	RUS	2555	8	8	51	40
2	NAVARA DAVID	GM	CZE	2687	7	7	56.5	44
3	BABULA VLASTIMIL	GM	CZE	2566	7	7	48	38.5
4	LAZNICKA VIKTOR	GM	CZE	2617	7	7	47.5	37
5	SCHLOSSER PHILIPP	GM	GER	2560	7	7	47	37.5
6	ZAKHARTSOV VIACHESLAV	GM	RUS	2541	7	7	44.5	34
7	ARUTINIAN DAVID	GM	GEO	2526	6.5	6.5	56.5	44.5
8	MOVSESIAN SERGEI	GM	SVK	2716	6.5	6.5	56.5	43
9	KLENBURG MIKHAIL	IM	UKR	2437	6.5	6.5	52	41
10	KOROBOV ANTON	GM	UKR	2623	6.5	6.5	48	38
11	KHAETSKY ROMAN	IM	UKR	2368	6.5	6.5	46	36
12	MAXIMOV DMITRY	GM	UKR	2485	6.5	6.5	43	33.5
13	JANSA VLASTIMIL	GM	CZE	2470	6	6	50.5	40
14	GOLICHENKO ILLYA	FM	UKR	2420	6	6	50	40
15	LINTCHEVSKI DANIIL	GM	RUS	2484	6	6	50	39
16	MASLAK KONSTANTIN	GM	RUS	2545	6	6	50	38.5
17	MICHIELS BART	IM	BEL	2451	6	6	49	38
18	STOCEK JIRI	GM	CZE	2584	6	6	48.5	37.5
19	BIOLEK RICHARD	IM	CZE	2433	6	6	46.5	36
20	TVARIJONAS POVILAS	FM	LTU	2304	6	6	45.5	36.5
21	VOKAC MAREK	GM	CZE	2466	6	6	44.5	35
22	ERDOGDU MERT	IM	TUR	2463	6	6	43.5	33
23	CVEK ROBERT	GM	CZE	2520	6	6	42.5	33
24	STUPAK KIRILL	IM	BLR	2449	6	6	41.5	32
25	GRANDELIUS NILS	IM	SWE	2515	6	6	41.5	31.5
26	KONOPKA MICHAL	IM	CZE	2448	6	6	41	32.5
27	SERGEEV VLADIMIR	GM	UKR	2447	6	6	38.5	29.5
28	NEIKSANS ARTURS	IM	LAT	2478	5.5	5.5	51	39.5
131 players

22) Zonal 3.3

Zonal 3.3 takes place in Phu Quoc, Vietnam 23rd-29th July 2009. Wesley So, Zhang Zhong, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Eugenio Torre are the top seeds.

Official site: http://vietnamchess.com.vn/

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr23592.aspx?lan=1

zt 3.3 Ho Chi Minh City (VIE), 23-29 vii 2009 Leading Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	Laylo Darwin	GM	PHI	2494	6	29.5	24.75
2	So Wesley	GM	PHI	2646	5	32	22.5
3	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	IM	VIE	2500	5	28.5	20
4	Paragua Mark	GM	PHI	2487	5	28	19.25
5	Duong The Anh	IM	VIE	2440	5	24.5	16.75
6	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	GM	VIE	2592	4.5	31	18.75
7	Zhang Zhong	GM	SIN	2613	4.5	29.5	18.25
8	Chan Wei-Xuan Timothy	FM	SIN	2344	4.5	28	16.75
9	Mas Hafizulhelmi	IM	MAS	2391	4.5	27.5	16.75
10	Megaranto Susanto	GM	INA	2534	4.5	27.5	15.5
11	Nguyen Thanh Son	IM	VIE	2444	4.5	25.5	15
12	Ton That Nhu Tung	FM	VIE	2227	4.5	25.5	14.5
13	Nguyen Hoang Nam	CM	VIE	2320	4.5	22.5	13.75
14	Batchuluun Tsegmed	FM	MGL	2384	4.5	22.5	13.5
15	Bao Khoa		VIE	2161	4	33	17.5
16	Dao Thien Hai	GM	VIE	2552	4	28.5	15.25
17	Tran Ngoc Lan		VIE	2176	4	28	13.5
18	Nolte Rolando	IM	PHI	2458	4	27.5	15.5
19	Vo Thanh Ninh		VIE	2340	4	27.5	13.25
20	Nguyen Van Huy	CM	VIE	2414	4	25.5	13
21	Nguyen Anh Dung	GM	VIE	2474	4	23	11.25
22	Chua Zheng Yuan Terry	FM	SIN	2226	4	22.5	11
23	Kojima Shinya	FM	JPN	2323	4	20	8.75
54 players

zt 3.3 w Ho Chi Minh City (VIE), 23-29 vii 2009 Leading Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	WGM	MGL	2412	5.5	29	23.25
2	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	WFM	VIE	2219	5	29.5	19.25
3	Pham Bich Ngoc	WFM	VIE	2105	5	27.5	17.5
4	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	WGM	INA	2311	5	26	17.25
5	Pham Le Thao Nguyen	WIM	VIE	2314	5	25.5	18.25
6	Nguyen Thi Thanh An	WGM	VIE	2330	4.5	28.5	17.75
7	Enkhtuul Altanulzii		MGL	2051	4.5	25.5	15.75
8	Le Thanh Tu	WGM	VIE	2310	4.5	23.5	15
9	Hoang Thi Bao Tram	WGM	VIE	2274	4.5	23	15.5
10	Nguyen Quynh Anh	WIM	VIE	2102	4	31.5	17
11	Le Thi Phuong Lien	WFM	VIE	2216	4	29.5	15.5
12	Luong Nhat Linh	WFM	VIE	1952	4	26.5	13
13	Perena Catherine	WFM	PHI	2092	4	26	12.25
14	Pham Thi Ngoc Tu		VIE	2089	3.5	30	14.5
15	Nguyen Thi Tuong Van	WIM	VIE	2246	3.5	26.5	10.75
16	Lkhamsuren Uuganbayar		MGL	2144	3.5	26	10.5
17	Sihite Chelsie Monica	WCM	INA	0	3.5	25.5	8.25
18	Le Kieu Thien Kim	WIM	VIE	2250	3.5	25	10.5
19	Cua Sherily	WFM	PHI	2174	3.5	20.5	9.5
31 players

23) Continental Absolute Chess Championship Americas

The Continental Absolute Chess Championship Americas 2009 takes place 25th July - 2nd August 2009. This is the first time the event has been held in Brazil.

The rate of play following FIDE orders will be 2 hours for 40 moves+ 30 minutes finish plus 30 sec every move since move 1 instead of the previous time control of 1:30 plus 30sec.

Organization: GM Darcy Lima - CBX Local: CXSP - Rua Araújo 154 Sao Paulo - SP Brazil Hotel: Confort Downtown - Rua Araujo 141

Official site; http://www.continental2009.com/cont09eng.htm

News: http://continentalamericas2009.blogspot.com/

Continental Absolute Championship Americas (BRA), 25 vii - 2 viii- 2009 Leading Entries:
1	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2647
2	Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	2631
3	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	g	CUB	2619
4	Ehlvest, Jaan	g	USA	2614
5	Leitao, Rafael	g	BRA	2610
6	Spraggett, Kevin	g	CAN	2606
7	Fier, Alexandr	g	BRA	2604
8	Corrales Jimenez, Fidel	g	CUB	2602
9	Milos, Gilberto	g	BRA	2589
10	Flores, Diego	g	ARG	2587
11	Quesada Perez, Yuniesky	g	CUB	2584
12	Shabalov, Alexander	g	USA	2580
13	Kudrin, Sergey	g	USA	2578
14	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	g	CUB	2574
15	Hernandez Carmenates, Holden	g	CUB	2573
267 players

24) I Vitoria-Gasteiz Open

I Open Internacional De Ajedrez Vitoria-Gasteiz Nazioarteko I. Xake Open takes place 26th July - 3rd August 2009. Pontus Carlsson is the top seed. Only a tiny number of games are currently available.

Official site: http://sites.google.com/site/openvitoria/

25) XXXV Sitges Open

The XXXV Open Internacional d'Escacs "Vila de Sitges" takes place 22nd-30th July 2009.

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

Details: http://chess-results.com/tnr20620.aspx?lan=2

XXXV Sitges Open (ESP), 22-30 vii 2009 Leading Round 6 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	FIDE	Pts.	Des 1	Des 2	Des 3
1	Karlsson Lars	GM	SWE	2468	6	22	15	22
2	Arun Prasad S	GM	IND	2556	5	24.5	16.5	20.5
3	Beltran Rueda Santiago	FM	ESP	2404	5	24	16	19.25
4	Panchanathan Magesh Chandran	GM	IND	2493	5	24	16	19
5	Oms Pallisse Josep	GM	ESP	2495	5	23.5	16.5	19
6	Gonzalez Garcia Jose	GM	MEX	2509	5	23.5	16	19
7	Cuartas Jaime Alexander	GM	COL	2521	5	23.5	15.5	18.75
8	Satyapragyan Swayangsu	IM	IND	2423	4.5	25	16.5	16.5
9	Cruz Cristhian	IM	PER	2525	4.5	25	15.5	16.75
10	Barsov Alexei	GM	UZB	2511	4.5	23.5	16.5	17.25
11	Burmakin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2627	4.5	23.5	15.5	16
12	Solodovnichenko Yuri	GM	UKR	2596	4.5	23.5	15.5	15.25
13	Bacallao Alonso Yusnel	FM	CUB	2467	4.5	22.5	16.5	15.75
14	Vidarte Morales Arturo	IM	ESP	2444	4.5	22.5	15.5	15.25
15	Cruz Filemon	FM	PER	2415	4.5	22.5	15.5	15
16	Lacasa Diaz Jose Antonio	IM	ESP	2392	4.5	22.5	14.5	16.25
17	Almeida Quintana Omar	GM	CUB	2524	4.5	22	15.5	16
18	Sundararajan Kidambi	GM	IND	2506	4.5	22	14.5	15.75
19	Alexandrova Olga	IM	ESP	2388	4.5	21.5	14.5	15.75
20	Moskalenko Viktor	GM	UKR	2558	4.5	21	14	15
21	Martinez Duany Lelys Stanley	FM	CUB	2507	4.5	21	13.5	14.5
22	Jerez Perez Alfonso	IM	ESP	2388	4.5	20.5	14	14.25
23	Barria Zuniga Daniel	IM	CHI	2426	4.5	20	13	14.25
24	Mestre Bellido Hector	FM	ESP	2292	4.5	20	13	12.75
25	Martin Grillo Ruben	MK	ESP	2218	4.5	19.5	12.5	13.25
26	Sarto Ramos Angel		ESP	2003	4.5	19	13	12.75
27	Fernandez Aguado Enrique	IM	ESP	2340	4	22.5	15	13
171 players

26) 2nd Open Paleohora

The 2nd Paleohora Open takes place 21st-28th July 2009.

Official site: http://www.chaniachess.gr/International%20Tournament/Paleogora%20tournament/index_en.html - Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr23946.aspx?lan=1

2nd Open Paleohora (GRE), 21-28 vii 2009 Leading Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB3
1	Rychagov Andrey	GM	RUS	2534	6	26	32
2	Glek Igor	GM	GER	2528	6	26	33.5
3	Najer Evgeniy	GM	RUS	2663	6	25.5	35
4	Turov Maxim	GM	RUS	2561	6	25.5	32
5	Kryvoruchko Yuriy	GM	UKR	2611	6	25	34.5
6	Vorobiov Evgeny E	GM	RUS	2598	6	23.5	31
7	Banikas Hristos	GM	GRE	2598	5.5	24.5	35.5
8	Gelashvili Tamaz	GM	GEO	2605	5.5	24.5	32.5
9	Parligras Mircea	GM	ROU	2557	5.5	24	30
10	Haznedaroglu Kivanc	IM	TUR	2468	5.5	23.5	32
11	David Alberto	GM	LUX	2565	5.5	23	31
12	Antic Dejan	GM	SRB	2523	5.5	23	33.5
13	Tukhaev Adam	GM	UKR	2534	5.5	22.5	31
14	Fontaine Robert	GM	FRA	2540	5.5	21.5	28.5
15	Bellia Fabrizio	IM	ITA	2414	5.5	21.5	30
16	Konguvel Ponnuswamy	IM	IND	2419	5.5	21.5	29
17	Meijers Viesturs	GM	LAT	2483	5.5	21	28
18	Lipka Juraj	IM	SVK	2419	5.5	21	27.5
19	Drazic Sinisa	GM	SRB	2538	5	24.5	34
20	Neverov Valeriy	GM	UKR	2561	5	23	33.5
21	Das Arghyadip	IM	IND	2392	5	22.5	31.5
22	Timoshenko Georgy	GM	UKR	2556	5	22	29.5
23	Venkatesh M R	IM	IND	2426	5	21	30
24	Lahno Kateryna	GM	UKR	2481	5	21	26
25	Svetushkin Dmitry	GM	MDA	2607	5	21	31
230 players

27) 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/

ch-Euro Senior Rogaska Slatina (SLO), 22-30 vii 2009 Leading Round 6 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Tseshkovsky Vitaly	GM	RUS	2573	5.5	15.5	23.5	5
2	Shvedchikov Anatoly	IM	RUS	2396	5	16	24.5	4
3	Butnorius Algimantas	GM	LTU	2443	4.5	15.5	22	3
4	Zakharov Alexander	IM	RUS	2422	4.5	14.5	23	4
5	Onoprienko Vladimir	IM	RUS	2318	4.5	14.5	22.5	4
6	Chernikov Oleg L	GM	RUS	2395	4.5	14	21	3
7	Srebrnic Vojko		SLO	2212	4.5	12.5	19.5	4
8	Bogdanov Valentin	IM	UKR	2395	4.5	12	19	4
9	Plachetka Jan	GM	SVK	2370	4.5	12	18.5	4
10	Rooze Jan	FM	BEL	2238	4.5	12	18	4
11	Sorokin Valentin	FM	RUS	2319	4	12.5	19.5	4
12	Gruzmann Boris	FM	RUS	2236	4	12.5	18.5	4
13	Novak Ivan	FM	SVK	2242	4	12.5	18	4
14	Pushkov Nikolai	GM	RUS	2496	3.5	16.5	24.5	3
64 players

ch-Euro Senior w Rogaska Slatina (SLO), 22-30 vii 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1.	Khropova, Larisa	wf	RUS	2060	*	.	.	.	1	1	.	1	1	4
2.	Saunina, Ludmila	wg	RUS	2293	.	*	½	1	1	.	1	.	.	3½	2389
3.	Sorokina, Tamara	wm	RUS	2143	.	½	*	.	.	.	1	1	1	3½	2391
4.	Blagonadezhnaya, Ideya		RUS	1964	.	0	.	*	.	1	1	½	1	3½	2202
5.	Beliaeva, Natalia	wf	RUS	1991	0	0	.	.	*	½	.	1	1	2½	2042
6.	Kabanova, Irina		RUS	2047	0	.	.	0	½	*	.	.	1	1½	1916
7.	Komysheva, Margarita	wf	RUS	2114	.	0	0	0	.	.	*	1	.	1	1860
8.	Shmyreva, Tatiana		RUS	1814	0	.	0	½	0	.	0	*	.	½	1688
9.	Shelomovskaya, Valentina		RUS	----	0	.	0	0	0	0	.	.	*	0

28) 6th South Wales International

The 6th South Wales International Open Chess Tournament took place in Treforest, Pontypridd 11th-16th July 2009. Julian Radulski took the £1000 first prize with 8/9.

Official site; http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI/

6th South Wales Int Treforest (WLS), 11-16 vii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Pos	Player	Nat	Ti	Rtng	Pts	D
1	Radulski, Julian	BUL	g	2539	8	2345
2	Arkell, Keith	ENG	g	2521	7	2318
3	Marusenko, Petr	UKR	m	2323	6½	2275
4	Miezis, Normunds	LAT	g	2572	6½	2319
5	Petrov, Marijan	BUL	m	2479	6½	2348
6	Rudd, Jack	ENG	m	2326	6	2170
7	Goodger, Martyn	ENG		2158	5½	1985
8	Josse, Mark	ENG		2045	5½	2092
9	Nyland, Thonas	NOR		2156	5½	2124
10	Zhou, Yang-Fan	ENG		2265	5½	2207
11	Brown, Martin	ENG		2074	5	2175
12	Brown, Thomas	WAL		2033	5	1951
13	Byron, Alan	WAL		2173	5	2075
14	Fletcher, John	WAL		2027	5	2048
15	Harley-Yeo, Gareth	WAL		2043	5	2099
16	Jackson, Oliver	ENG		2157	5	2172
17	Menadue, Jeremy	ENG		2174	5	2022
18	Richmond, Peter	WAL		2242	5	2197
19	Salimbeni, George	ENG		2115	5	2025
20	Turner, Joseph	WAL		2007	5	1989
48 players

29) Leicester International

The Leicester International took place 19th-21st June 2009 and 25th-26th July 2009 in Lutterworth. Karl Potter, Pablo Padilla Cabero and Alan Byron finished on 5.5/7.

Details: http://www.e2e4.org.uk/international/2009/Leicester/home.htm

Leicester Int Lutterworth ENG (ENG), 19 vi-26 vii 2009
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Potter, Karl H	ENG	1894	*	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	5½	2180
2.	Padilla Cabero, Pablo	ESP	2168	½	*	1	0	1	1	1	1	5½	2141
3.	Byron, Alan M	ENG	2168	½	0	*	1	1	1	1	1	5½	2141
4.	Farrall, David J	ENG	1803	0	1	0	*	0	1	1	1	4	2013
5.	Webb, Matthew	ENG	----	0	0	0	1	*	0	½	1	2½	1833
6.	Harrison, Peter K	ENG	1680	½	0	0	0	1	*	0	½	2	1823
7.	Ali, Golam S	ENG	1835	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	0	1½	1729
8.	Bingham, James T	ENG	----	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	1½	1705

30) Stara Pazova Open

The Stara Pazova Open tournament takes place 25th July - 2nd August 2009. Goran Cabrilo, Dragan Kosic, Zlatko Ilincic and Krum Georgiev play. No games available.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr23942.aspx

Stara Pazova Open (SRB), 25 vii - ii viii 2009 Leading Round 3 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	Michalik Peter	IM	SVK	2428	2.5	3	1.5
2	Ilincic Zlatko	GM	SRB	2479	2.5	2.5	1
3	Kostic Vladimir G	GM	SRB	2436	2	5	1.5
4	Kosic Dragan	GM	MNE	2488	2	4.5	1.5
5	Cabrilo Goran	GM	SRB	2494	2	4.5	1.5
6	Klasan Vladimir		SRB	2293	2	4	1.5
7	Kosanovic Goran A	GM	SRB	2351	1.5	6	2.5
8	Georgiev Krum	GM	BUL	2430	1.5	5.5	2
9	Nestorovic Nikola	IM	SRB	2410	1.5	4.5	1.5
	Sertic Rudolf	IM	CRO	2381	1.5	4.5	1.5
11	Avdic Mirza		BIH	2270	1.5	4	1.5
12	Popov Luben	IM	BUL	2317	1.5	3.5	1.5
13	Vujacic Borivoje	FM	SRB	2315	1.5	3.5	1
14	Zobenica Ivan		SRB	2066	1	5.5	1.5
15	Martic Zlatko	FM	CRO	2359	1	5	2
16	Todorovic Goran N	IM	SRB	2384	1	4	1.5
17	Skoko Milan		SRB	2230	0.5	5	1.5
18	Majeric Zoran	IM	CRO	2257	0	6.5	2.5
48 players

31) International Open Championship of Paris

The International Open Championship of Paris took place 4th-12th July 2009. Murtas Kazhgaleyev edged out Sergey Fedorchuk on tie-break after both finished on 7/9. Games from round 9 now available.

Official site: http://www.idf-echecs.com/competitions/ChamParis2009/ChamParis2009.htm

32) 8th Condom Chess Festival

The 8th Condom Chess Festival took place 11th-18th July 2009. Colomban Vitoux took first place on tie-break in the IM tournament from Axel Delorme (these two had identical results in the event I'm guessing Vitou took first as he was the lower rated of the two so his performance was better) and Said Brih in the IM tournament. Marius Manolache took clear first place in the open with 7.5/9. Games from the final round of the open A are still not available.

Official site: http://www.chess32.tonsite.biz/projet_open/

33) 1st Artemis Cup

The "1st Artemis Cup" on Leros island took place 11th-19th July 2009. Evgenij Miroshnichenko took first place on tie-break from Mikheil Mchedlishvili after both finished on 7/9. Games from the final round not yet available.

Official Homepage of the Organizer: http://leroschess.gr/home.aspx?lan=el-gr

34) Buenos Aires Champions League

The Argentine Chess Club in Buenos Aires has a team event (Champions League) that started on May 2nd 2009. Take part several International Masters, FIDE Masters and strong players not titled yet compete. News: Marcelo Pagano.

Players include: IM Ginzburg M. 2455, IM Diaz N. 2443, IM Dos Santos R. 2441, IM Liascovich L. 2439, IM Bronstein LM 2401, IM Della Morte G 2382, IM Mela B 2373, FM Goldwaser C 2361, IM Filgueira H 2354, IM Schweber 2349, IM Garcia R 2342, FM Barrionuevo P 2320, IM Quiroga F 2329, FM Varela G 2323, FM Villanueva M 2311, Gibson T 2272, Airando M 2250 and FM Cuevas A 2244 Nine teams played every Saturday, Round Robin.

Official site: http://www.cargentinodeajedrez.com.ar/2009/torneos/ChampionsLeague/Champions_League.htm

35) 14th Bradley Open

George Mirijanian reports: The 14th annual Bradley Open took place 24th-26th July 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA. GM Ildar Ibragimov, 41, of New Haven, Connecticut captured first place with a score of 4.5--0.5, including a half-point bye in the final round! Tying for 2nd-4th place with 4-1 tallies were IMs Alex Lenderman, 19, of Brooklyn, New York, and Robert Hungaski, 21, of Connecticut, as well as national master Michael Thaler, 17, of New York. Lenderman lost in the third round to Hungaski, who in turn lost to Ibragimov in the fourth round. The FIDE-rated tournament was held in four sections and drew 167 players. Steve Immitt of New York, assisted by Harold Stenzel of Sayville, New York, directed for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association.

36) Grand Slam Masters Final Bilbao

The 2nd edition of the Grand Slam Masters Final takes place in Bilbao, September 5-12th 2009. The winners of the Nanching Pearl Spring, Corus-Wijk aan Zee, Ciudad de Linares and Mtel Masters-Sofia tournaments will play in the final.

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

Grand Slam Masters Final Bilbao (ESP), 5-12 ix 2009. Cat XX (2749) Players list (July ratings)
No	Name	Ti	NAT	July Elo	DoB
1	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2813	1975
2	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2733	1983
3	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2732	1972
4	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2717	1990

Grand Slam Masters Final Bilbao. 5th-12th September 2009
5th September 2009	Drawing of lots	Time
6th September 2009	1st Round	17:00 CET
7th September 2009	2nd Round	17:00 CET
8th September 2009	3rd Round	17:00 CET
9th September 2009	Rest day
10th September 2009	4th Round	17:00 CET
11th September 2009	5th Round	17:00 CET
12th September 2009	6th Round	16:00 CET
12th September 2009	closing ceremony

37) 116th Scottish Chess Championships (International Open)

The strongest ever Scottish Championship was the International Open 116th Scottish Chess Championships ( International Open) - 11th to 19th July 2009 Prestigious central venue, Edinburgh City Chambers, hosted the strongest ever Scottish Chess Championships 2009 from 11th to 19th July.

S Arun Prasad defeated Magesh Chandran Panchanathan in the final round (in one of the last games to finish) to take clear first place on 7.5/9. Joint leader Mark Hebden drew, held by early leader Gudmundur Kjartansson. Iain Gourlay was the top finishing Scotsman so he took the national title.

Geoff Chandler with the help of Liam Hughes, Jim Webster and William Hulme have compiled a much more comprehensive set of games, I give them all again.

Official tournament site: http://www.scottishchesschampionship.com

Reports: http://www.scottishchesschampionship.com/Reports.html

Live games: http://www.chessscotland.com/live2009/index.html

GM Paul Motwani has provided his thoughts on the tournament which Geoff Chandler has reproduced in full at http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandlerarticle.php?ChandID=350

Macauley Peterson video reports

Macauley Peterson of ICC/Chess.FM reports: There's daggers in men's smiles. -- Donalbain, Macbeth, Act II, scene iii

A small detour off the beaten path took Chess.FM to Edinburgh for the Scottish Championship last week, for which we've just completed a trio of posts on the blog (http://www.Chess.fm/blog).

The latest is a video interview with the winner, GM Arun Prasad, of Salem, India, who knocked off his friend and compatriot, GM Magesh Chandra Panchanathan in the final round to earn the GBP £1,200.00 first prize.

Next, the highest scoring Scot was an unlikely fellow, FM Iain Gourlay, the fourteenth seed, who nevertheless finished ahead of five Scottish GMs to earn the national title.

And a bonus audio interview with the young Islandic FM Gudmundur Kjartansson, who earned his first GM norm in Edinburgh during a fantastic run that included wins over GMs Prasad, Panchanathan and Colin McNab, and an exciting last round draw with GM Mark Hebden. Kudos to Kjartansson for turning down a Hebden draw offer in the middlegame and playing on, even though a draw would have sealed his norm.

All three were smiling, with no daggers spared.

Macauley Peterson

116th Scottish Chess Championships (International Open) Edinburgh (SCO), 11-19 vii 2009. Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	Fed.	Score	Rating	TPR	W-We
1	S. Arun Prasad	GM	IND	7.5	2556	2656	1.11
2	Jan Markos	GM	SLO	7	2555	2638	0.96
3	Mark Hebden	GM	ENG	7	2468	2615	1.8
4	Magesh Chandran Panchanath	GM	IND	6.5	2493	2537	0.7
5	Aaron Summerscale	GM	ENG	6.5	2454	2395	-0.39
6	Andrew Greet	IM	ENG	6.5	2443	2395	-0.19
7	Gudmundur Kjartansson	FM	ICE	6.5	2356	2586	2.81
8	Iain Gourlay	FM	SCO	6.5	2349	2435	1.21
9	Jonathan Rowson	GM	SCO	6	2591	2467	-1.14
10	Paul Motwani	GM	SCO	6	2503	2435	-0.59
11	Colin McNab	GM	SCO	6	2474	2430	-0.3
12	David Eggleston	FM	ENG	6	2341	2309	-0.16
13	Manfred Herbold		GER	6	2159	2323	1.63
14	Keti Arakhamia-Grant	GM	SCO	5.5	2506	2364	-1.32
15	John Shaw	GM	SCO	5.5	2462	2288	-1.59
16	Craig Thomson	FM	SCO	5.5	2320	2325	0.26
17	Neil Berry	FM	SCO	5.5	2313	2219	-0.77
18	Mark Lyell	FM	ENG	5.5	2288	2164	-1.2
19	Jonathan Grant		SCO	5.5	2254	2216	-0.31
20	Neil Farrell		SCO	5.5	2191	2215	0.32
21	Paul Roberts	CM	SCO	5.5	2176	2295	0.96
22	Mike Surtees		ENG	5.5	2149	2123	-0.21
23	Martin Mitchell		SCO	5.5	2147	2338	1.86
24	Walter Buchanan		SCO	5.5	2128	2125	-0.12
25	Dominic Foord		ENG	5.5	2069	2234	1.43
26	Graham Morrison	FM	SCO	5	2366	2282	-0.87
27	Michael White	FM	ENG	5	2259	2276	0.3
28	Ravshan Khamroev		UZB	5	2225	1944	-1.83
29	Peter Poobalasingam		ENG	5	2224	2197	-0.21
30	Andrew D Green		SCO	5	2203	2087	-1.12
31	Daniel McGowan		SCO	5	2098	2156	0.25
32	George Neave		SCO	5	2090	2188	0.8
33	Graeme Kafka		SCO	5	2077	2096	0.04
34	Walter Burnett		SCO	5	2018	2164	1.24
35	James Doyle		SCO	5	1909 *	1990	0.5
36	Alan Tate		SCO	4.5	2195	2049	-0.97
37	Fan Zhang		GER	4.5	2058	2049	-0.17
89 players

38) Forthcoming Events and Links

VII Marx Gyorgy Memorial

The VII Marx Gyorgy Memorial takes place 24th September-5th October 2009 Paks, Hungary.

Participants: GM Almasi Zoltan 2684 HUN, GM Meier Georg 2658 GER, GM Berkes Ferenc 2647 HUN, GM Ganguly Surya 2637 IND, GM Safarli Eltaj 2597 AZE, GM Acs Peter 2550 HUN Average rating: 2629 Category: 16

I Teller Ede Memorial Participants: WGM Majdan Joanna 2382 POL, IM Vajda Szidónia 2375 HUN, WGM Gara Tícia 2354 HUN, WGM Doluhanova Evgeniya 2327 UKR, WGM Kochetkova Julia 2310 RUS, WIM Toth Lili 2172 HUN Average rating: 2320 Category: 3

Blitz-tournament 2nd October, 2009

Rapid-tournament 29th September, 2009

Children-tournament 27th September, 2009,

XIII Paks open 30th September- 04th October, 2009 7 rounds, A and B group

Information: Videki Sandor email: videkis2001@yahoo.com

Details: http://www.ase.hu/marxgy/2009

Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament

The Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament in Vlissingen takes place August 1st-13th 2009. They have the strongest line up in their history.

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

Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament Vlissingen (NED), 1-13 viii 2009 Leading Entries:
1	Alexander Beliavsky	SLO	GM	2662
2	Michal Krasenkow	POL	GM	2631
3	Ildar Khairullin	RUS	GM	2602
4	Sipke Ernst	NED	GM	2598
5	Erik van den Doel	NED	GM	2590
6	Yuri Vovk	UKR	GM	2567
7	Vyacheslav Ikonnikov	RUS	GM	2556
8	Friso Nijboer	NED	GM	2552
9	Ahmed Adly	EGY	GM	2548
10	Wouter Spoelman	NED	GM	2546
11	Arthur Kogan	ISR	GM	2542
12	Andrey Vovk	UKR	GM	2506
13	Michael Hoffmann	GER	GM	2502
14	B. Adhiban	IND	IM	2481
15	P. Karthikeyan	IND	IM	2478
16	Babu M.R. Lalith	IND	IM	2472
17	Ilja Zaragatski	GER	IM	2472
18	Thomas Henrichs	GER	IM	2463
19	Jeroen Bosch	NED	IM	2456
20	Manuel Bosboom	NED	IM	2444
21	Matthias Roeder	GER	IM	2438
22	Ali Bitalzadeh	NED	IM	2434
23	Bernd Kohlweyer	GER	IM	2418
24	Sundar M. Shyam	IND	IM	2415
25	Koen Leenhouts	NED	IM	2413
26	Edwin van Haastert	NED	IM	2411
27	Luis Ignacio Rubio Mejia	ESP	FM	2371
28	Thomas Michalczak	GER	FM	2352
29	Patrick Zelbel	GER	FM	2348
30	Martin Roobol	NED	FM	2342

Ptuj Open

The Ptuj Open takes place 2nd-9th August 2009 in Ptuj. System of play: Swiss, 9 round. Time control: 100 minutes/40 moves + 20 minutes + 30 seconds for each move. Players are required to bring their own digital clock! Tournament info: http://www.sah-drustvo-ptuj.si/Open09/open.htm

Golders Green Rapid August

The next monthly Golders Green Rapid takes place Saturday 1st August 2009 (half an hour per player for the game) at Golders Green.

The event is six rounds, starting promptly at 10.30am, finishing at 5.45pm at the latest You can enter online: http://www.goldersgreenchess.blogspot.com you can also find complete crosstables from their events going back four years.

2nd Nanjing Pearl Spring

The 2nd Nanjing Pearl Spring Chess Tournament will takes place 27th Sept - 9th October 2009 in Nanjing, China.

The field seems to be Veselin Topalov, Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov, Peter Leko, Dmitry Jakovenko, Wang Yue.

The event is a 6-player in a double round robin. The total prize fund is 250,000 Euros.

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

Official site (In English): http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/yindex.htm (under construction)

Official site (In Chinese): http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/index.htm

2nd Nanjing Pearl Spring (CHN), 27 ix -9 x 2009					cat. XXI (2766)
No	Name	Ti	NAT	April Elo	DoB
1	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2813	1975
2	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2772	1990
3	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2760	1983
4	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2756	1987
5	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2756	1979
6	Wang, Yue	g	CHN	2736	1987

Official site (In English): http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/yindex.htm

Official site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/index.htm (more information and pictures)

Gujuan Tzu blog http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

NH Chess Tournament

The NH Chess Tournament Rising Stars vs. Experience takes place August 20th-31st 2009 NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Dam 9, Amsterdam. The NH Chess Tournament, organized by NH Hoteles in close cooperation with Association Max Euwe, Monaco, is a ‘Scheveningen’ team tournament between an ‘Experience’ team and a ‘Rising Stars’ team.

NH Chess Tournament Amsterdam (NED), 20-31 viii 2009
Name	Country	DoB	ApElo
Peter Svidler	Russia	June 17, 1976	2726
Peter Heine Nielsen	Denmark	May 24, 1973	2668
Alexander Beliavsky	Slovenia	December 17, 1953	2640
Loek van Wely	The Netherlands	October 7, 1972	2622
Ljubomir Ljubojevic	Serbia	November 2, 1950	2553
Hikaru Nakamura	United States	December 9, 1987	2701
Fabiano Caruana	Italy	July 30, 1992	2649
Jan Smeets	The Netherlands	April 5, 1985	2626
Daniel Stellwagen	The Netherlands	March 1, 1987	2619
Hou Yifan	China	February 27, 1994	2590

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

World Chess Tour GM Moscow

Two players made norms in the first GM round-robin tournament of "World Chess Tour" Series which took place in Moscow 4th-12th July 2009. The playing venue is the sport-leisure center "Alexeevsky" (Moscow, Prospect Mira, 120) Middle Elo is 2442.

It was the first event of new World Series 'World Chess Tour', the main idea of that is: any chess player and chess fan regardless of the level, age etc. can take part in the World Series as well as any chess event can be part of World Series - like the ACP Tour, but not only for top-GMs, but just for everyone. We present here also the WCT points which every participant of this event will get - in all possible categories. The next GM and IM events are planned for 8th-18th of August 2009.

Contact: GM Igor Glek. Phone mobile: (7)903-5593052, (49)179-7030605

Phone / Fax: (7)495-4336634 E-mail: wlct06@gmail.com, acpsecretary@gmail.com

Official site: http://www.chess-events.org with details of the tour.

Mecking - Fier Match

There is a Match between Henrique Mecking and Alexandr Fier in Sao Paulo 23rd-27th September 2009 in the amphitheater of Santa Cruz High School in Sao Paulo.

Match of 4 classical games with time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds/move. 1st game 23rd September 2009. 2nd game 24th September 2009. free day 25th September 2009. 3rd game 26th September 2009. 4th game 27th September 2009.

Details: http://www.ligadexadrez.com.br/conteudo/ver.asp?id=19&conteudoId=422

5th Heraklion-Gazi International Chess Tournament

The 5th Heraklion-Gazi (Greece) International Chess Tournament takes place 22nd-29th August 2009.

9 Round Swiss. 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment for every move starting from move 1.

Further information :
Tel.: (+30) 6972262486, Mr Charalampos Stefanatos
Fax: (+30) 2810821029

E-mail: stefanatos@gazichess.gr, babstef@otenet.gr

Details: http://www.gazichess.gr/en

2nd Arad Open Romania

2nd International Chess Open in Arad, Romania, 8th-14th august 2009 9 rounds swiss open, prize fund 3500 euro, 1st prize - 1000 euro More details: http://www.vados.ro/turnee/ro/8/16

Contact: Alin Campeanu sahclubvados@yahoo.com. Arad City is in the western Romania - 270 km from Budapest, 510 km from Vienna, 530 km from Bucharest.

16th Vienna International Open

16th Vienna International Open Chess Championship takes place 15th-23rd August 2009. Sergei Tiviakov is the top seed.

Official site: http://www.vienna-chess-open.at/

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr19376.aspx

22nd Panevezys Chess Festival

22nd Panevezys Chess Festival takes place in the city of Panevezys in Lithuania 17th-23rd August 2009. Two Fide rated Open (Open A and Open B) Blitz tournament and maybe closed WGM woman tournament are planned this year.

Details: http://www.chesslyga.lt/panevezys/open2009

Mundial Chess Internet Tournament

The organising Committee Mundial Chess invites all the players (from the amateurs to Grandmasters) to take part in the 1st Internet tournament with the prize fund of more than 130.000 EUR in cash and many special prizes. The 1st prize in the main tournament will be not less than 10.000 EUR.

Registration (and information in English) in the tournament is possible following the link - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/en/zvfdxt6 Registration and information in Spanish - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/es/zvfdxt6 Registration and information in Russian - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/ru/zvfdxt6

Kasparov vs Karpov Match in September

Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov will play a 12 game (4 Rapid and 8 blitz) match in Valencia 21st-24th September 2009. The match is on the 25th Anniversary of the start of their infamous first aborted match in Moscow in 1984-5, this was followed by an epic series of close World title matches which ended in Lyon 1990.

Report in Marca (in Spanish) - http://www.marca.com/2009/07/07/mas_deportes/ajedrez/1246987804.html

Mig confirms the reports: http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2009/07/kasparov-obama-karpov.htm

II Olalachess Academy

The II Olalachess Academy takes place 14th-16th August 2009 in (Salou) Spain. Training for all chess levels.

Official site: http://www.masters.olalachess.com

Zuerich Chess Club 200th Anniversary

Visit the official website look at a quiz with information contained in Richard Forster's recently published book "Schachgesellschaft Zuerich: 1809 bis 2009" the prize of playing in a Simul against a chess legend.

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

Alexander Morozevich along with Hou Yifan, Alexey Dreev, Artur Yusupov and Lajos Portisch appear in the Alois Nagler Memorial. This open can be entered here: http://www.sgzurich2009.ch/index.php?lang=en

The London Chess Classic in December

Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament. [Press release 25th June 2009]

The London Chess Centre is pleased to announce that the line up for the London Chess Classic 2009 is complete after GM David Howell of England accepted his invitation. This creates a balance to the event, an eight player all play all, with four world class players pitched against England's four highest rated Grandmasters. Using the latest available ratings and information supplied by the players on their recent successes, the tournament rating average is currently well above 2690 and may reach 2700 by December.

Nigel Short and Hikaru Nakamura are both in great shape. Nigel recently dominated the Sigeman tournament at Malmo and Hikaru won the US Championship held at St Louis. Vladimir Kramnik was top scorer at the Azerbaijan v Rest of the World match with 6.5/8.

Play begins Tuesday December 8th and runs until Tuesday December 15th 2009.

The venue for what will be the most prestigious chess tournament in the capital for 25 years will be announced shortly.

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

1st London Chess Classic (ENG), 8-16 xii 2009. Cat XVIII (2692) Players list (April ratings)
No	Name	Ti	NAT	April Elo	DoB
1	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2770	1990
2	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2759	1975
3	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	2724	1983
4	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2703	1971
5	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2701	1987
6	Short, Nigel D	g	ENG	2674	1965
7	Howell, David W L	g	ENG	2613	1990
8	McShane, Luke J	g	ENG	2596	1984

Dates of the London Chess Classic. 7th-16th December 2009
Monday	7th December 2009	Press Conference and drawing of lots
Tuesday	8th December 2009	Round 1
Wednesday	9th December 2009	Round 2
Thursday	10th December 2009	Round 3
Friday	11th December 2009	Rest day
Saturday	12th December 2009	Round 4
Sunday	13th December 2009	Round 5
Monday	14th December 2009	Round 6
Tuesday	15th December 2009	Round 7 + Closing ceremony, charity simultaneous

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 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.

Alexei Shirov received his invitation this week after winning in Sofia. Shirov will come up against Veselin Topalov - winner of the Pearl Spring Tournament, in Nanking, China. Sergey Karjakin - winner of Corus 2009, Wijk ann Zee in the Netherlands. Alexander Grischuk, winner of "Ciudad de Linares", Spain, who have already received their invitations to the Final in Bilbao.

Grand Slam Chess Association (GSCA)

Dresden, 23 November 2008

Commonwealth Chess Championships

The Masterskill Commonwealth Chess Championships take place 9th-15th December 2009 in conjunction with the 6th Singapore International Chess Festival.

It has been moved from 14th-21st July 2009 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

Details of the change: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/3991-commonwealth-chess-championship-2009

2nd Fide Women Grand Prix

The 2nd Fide Women Grand Prix is also take place in Nanjing in 27th Sept - 9th October 2009 with the top 12 players in the world.

Gujuan Tzu blog http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

French Championships

The French Championships take place in Nimes, 10th-22nd August 2009.

Details: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Default.aspx?Cat=15

Canadian Closed and Zonal Championship

The Canadian Closed and Zonal Championship: takes place August 7th-16th 2009 in the Guelph University Centre. Eligibility: Provincial Champions, Titled players (FM, IM, GM), players rated 2200 or above. Winner qualifies to 2009 World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, 2nd and 3rd place finishers qualify to 2011 Continental Chamnpionship. Time Control: 40/90, G/30 plus 30 second Fischer increment from first move.

PDF download

Likely official site: http://www.chess.ca

Unive Tournament Hoogeveen

The Unive Tournament in Hoogeveen takes place 16th-24th October 2009 with a new sponsor.

The main four player tournament has: Vassily Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar, Sergei Tiviakov and Anish Giri. There is an open alongside.

Details: http://www.univechess.nl/

Unive Tournament Hoogeveen (NED), 16-24 x 2009			cat. XVII (2663)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2746
Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2693
Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2697
Giri, Anish	f	NED	2517

Yoel Geva's Young Talents GM tournament

Yoel Geva's Young Talents GM tournament: The first Yoel Geva's Young Talents GM tournament takes place in Tel Aviv on 9th-18th August. There will be 10 players in a 9 round all-play-all. Four the best students from the project for young chess talents: T.Nabaty (2504), T.Baron (2410), G.Popilski (2392),D.Raznikov (2270) will compete with experienced players: GM S.Erenburg (2564), GM K.Lerner (2549 - Ukraine), GM Av.Bykhovsky (2396 - Russia), IM An.Bykhovsky (2487 - he is also young player), IM J.Jirka (2440 - Czech Rep.), IM M.Nedobora (2391 - Ukraine).This project was founded by Mr.Yoel Geva (well known with his mathematic and psychometric courses ) and ICF.

Ajedrez 21 English site

Ajedrez 21 now has an English site: http://www.ajedrez21.com/en/

Ravana Challenge International Sri Lanka

The Blue and Gold Chess Club organises the inaugural "The Ravana Challenge International Chess Tournament2 under the auspices of the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka, September 12th (arrival) - September 20th, 2009 (departure) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The tournament will be held in a 5 star hotel in Colombo.

Details: http://www.blueandgoldchessclub.com/Ravana/index.html

World Youth Championship

The World Youth Chess Championship 2009 (under 8, under 10, under 12, under 14, under 16 and under 18 years old - open and girls) which will take place in Kemer-Antalya, Turkey, between November the 11th, 2009 (arrival) and November the 23th, 2009 (departure).

Official site: http://wycc2009.tsf.org.tr/

FIDE World Cup Nov-Dec 2009

FIDE have announced some of the qualifiers for the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, 20 November to 15 December 2009. In a few days the list with qualifiers from the Continental and Zonal Championships 2008-09 will also be published.

FIDE announcement: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4037-list-of-qualifiers-for-world-cup

Khanty-Mansiysk (RUS), 20 xi - 15 xii 2009 Qualifiers:
a) From World Championship Match 2008:
1.	V. Anand	IND	World Champion
b) From World Cup 2007:
2.	G. Kamsky	USA
3.	A. Shirov	ESP
4.	M. Carlsen	NOR
5.	S. Karjakin	UKR
c) Women's World Champion 2008:
6.	A. Kosteniuk	RUS
d) Junior World Champions 2007 & 2008:
7.	A. Adly	EGY
8.	A. Gupta	IND
d) From FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009:
09.	V. Topalov	BUL	2786,50
10.	V. Ivanchuk	UKR	2780,00
11.	A. Morozevich	RUS	2779,50
12.	V. Kramnik	RUS	2773,50
13.	T. Radjabov	AZE	2752,50
14.	P. Leko	HUN	2746,00
15.	L. Aronian	ARM	2743,50
16.	S. Movsesian	SVK	2737,00
17.	D. Jakovenko	RUS	2734,50
18.	S. Mamedyarov	AZE	2733,00
19.	P. Svidler	RUS	2730,50
20.	A. Grischuk	RUS	2730,50
21.	B. Gelfand	ISR	2726,50
22.	M. Adams	ENG	2723,50
23.	R. Ponomariov	UKR	2722,00
24.	Wang Yue	CHN	2721,50
25.	V. Gashimov	AZE	2720,00
26.	E. Alekseev	RUS	2713,00
27.	L. Dominguez Perez	CUB	2712,50
28.	Ni Hua	CHN	2707,00
e) 90 players from the Continental & Zonal Championships 2008 & 2009:
(to be published soon)...
Reserve players who may qualify by rating, average 7/2008 & 1/2009:
1.	E. Bacrot	FRA	2706,50
2.	Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	2706,00
3.	P. Eljanov	UKR	2704,50
4.	J. Polgar	HUN	2702,00
5.	S. Rublevsky	RUS	2700,50
6.	H. Nakamura	USA	2698,00
7.	K. Sasikiran	IND	2697,50
8.	Wang Hao	CHN	2691,00
9.	V. Malakhov	RUS	2690,50
10.	M. Vachier-Lagrave	FRA	2688,50
11.	V. Milov	SUI	2687,00
12.	V. Bologan	MDA	2686,50
13.	V. Akopian	ARM	2686,50
14.	L. Nisipeanu	ROU	2683,50
15.	R. Kasimdzhanov	UZB	2683,00
16.	I. Cheparinov	BUL	2683,00
17.	Z. Efimenko	UKR	2679,00
18.	A. Naiditsch	GER	2679,00
19.	F. Vallejo Pons	ESP	2676,00
20.	A. Motylev	RUS	2675,00

Kingpin Magazine

The humourous and satirical chess magazine Kingpin has a new website.

New website address: http://www.kingpinchess.net

Efimenko vs. Short Match

There is a six-game match between GMs Zahar Efimenko (Ukraine) and Nigel Short (England) in Mukachevo, Ukraine 20th-26th (rest day 23rd) September 2009.

Info at: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/ (Universal Event Promotion) and the Mukachevo club website http://www.chess32x64.org

Arvier (Aosta valley) Open

The Festival des Echecs Francophone takes place in Arvier (Aosta valley) September 26th - October 3rd 2009. The final round has been moved back a day as the 4th is the start of the European Club Team Championship. More information will appear at: http://www.scacchivda.com.

If you require further details contact by email (in French) to a.scalfi@scacchivda.com

IX Szombathely Chess Festival

The IX Szombathely Chess Festival takes place 15th-23rd August 2009. GM, IM Round Robins and Open Tournament.

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

12th Olomouc Chess Summer International Festival

The 12th Olomouc Chess Summer International Chess Festival 2009, takes place in the city of Olomouc on 5th-13th August 2009. Closed GM and IM tournaments, FIDE open, seniors tournament, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival.

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

6th Highlands Open International Chess Festival

6th Highlands Open International Chess Festival 2009, takes place in the town of Zdar nad Sazavou 26th September - 4th October 2009. IM tournament, FIDE open, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival.

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

XI Hostafrancs Open

The XI Open Internacional D'escacs de Sants, Hostafrancs I La Bordeta takes place 21st-30th August 2009.

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

Lithuanian University of Agriculture CUP

Lithuanian University of Agriculture CUP August 22nd - 28th 2009.

Organizers. Kaunas Chess Federation, Lithuanian University of Agriculture (http://www.lzuu.lt), Youth chess club "Three zeros" (http://www.0-0-0.lt).

XIII Magistral de la Republica

The XIII Magistral de la Republica takes place in Villa Martelli 4th-14th August 2009.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezmartelli.org.ar/magistrales/2009/cronograma09.htm

7th Mediterranean Chess Championship

The 7th Mediterranean Chess Championship takes place 11th-19th September 2009. Open to everyone.

Official site: http://www.medchess.com/ although I can't see details of the new tournament.

VIII Benidorm International Chess Festival

VIII Benidorm International Chess Festival 2009 takes place 27th November - 8th December 2009.

Website: http://www.ajedrezbali.com

7th Howard Staunton Memorial 2009 fields announced

The 7th Howard Staunton Memorial takes place 7th (opening ceremony) - 17th August 2009. This year there will be a UK vs The Netherlands double round Scheveningen match and an interesting Category IX all-play-all. The UK has a small Elo rating advantage in the Scheveningen match but the teams are well matched. The tournament is taking place in its usual venue - Simpson's In The Strand. The opening ceremony will take place on the evening of Friday 7th August. The final rounds and the closing ceremony will take place on Monday 17th August.

The organisers are hoping that the tournament will be a big media event with the Chinese and the Dutch Ambassadors hoping to attend the opening ceremony and surprise guest visits from other chess loving celebrities throughout. They thank their generous benefactor.

There will be live coverage of the games this year.

Official site: http://howardstaunton.com/index.shtm.

7th Staunton Memorial Scheveningen London (ENG), 8-17 viii 2009
UK			NETHERLANDS
GM	Michael Adams	2703	GM	Ivan Sokolov	2669
GM	Nigel Short	2674	GM	Jan Smeets	2626
GM	David Howell	2613	GM	Loek Van Wely	2622
GM	Jonathan Rowson	2589	GM	Erwin L'ami	2598
GM	Gawain Jones	2550	GM	Jan Werle	2583
UK	Elo Ave.	2626	NED	Elo Ave.	2620

7th Staunton Memorial International Challenge London (ENG), 8-17 viii 2009 - cat. IX (2453)
GM	Jonathan Speelman	ENG	2534
GM	Jan Timman	NED	2566
GM	Peter Wells	ENG	2489
GM	Victor Korchnoi	SUI	2552
GM	Nigel Davies	ENG	2487
IM	Willy Hendriks	NED	2447
	Terence Chapman	ENG	2232
IM	Eelke Wiersma	NED	2406
IM	Malcolm Pein	ENG	2391
GM	Alex Cherniaev	RUS	2423

Torch Real Estate Cup

The Chinese team competition the Torch Real Estate Cup started in Chengdu China on 4th May 2009. I'm hoping for a full game file.

Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess/tfd.htm

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

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr21650.aspx

Acropolis Open

The Acropolis Open takes place 10th-18th August 2009 in Chalkida, Greece. Organizers: Greek Chess Federation (GCF), Ministry of Tourism in Attiki, Chalkida Chess Academy.

Regulations: Swiss System 9 rounds, invitational FIDE rated tournament, 70-80 players, minimum required FIDE rating 2200 (women 2000), GM & IM title norms possible, FIDE time-control (90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes until the end of the game plus increment of 30 seconds per move from move 1).

Contact info: Sotiris Logothetis (Tournament Coordinator) Tel: (+30) 6947324933, Email: middlewave74@gmail.com Greek Chess Federation (GCF) Tel.: (+30) 2109221465, Fax: (+30) 2109221620, Email: info@chessfed.gr

Official site: http://www.chessfed.gr/acropolis2009

Historical Elo Ratings

http://www.shakki.net/history/elotop.htm has a list of historical top ten FIDE lists. The text is in Finnish but is understandable anyhow.

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

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.

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

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
20 June	CIUTAT DE REUS	REUS	9 Rd Swiss	a	a sup	Joan Pinol 649341056
21 June	MOLLET DEL VALLES	MOLLET DEL VALLES	9 Rd Swiss	b	a	Francesc Fernandez 647625832
24 June-2 July	VILA DE SORT	SORT	9 Rd Swiss	B	C	Joan A. Conesa 609825066
25 June-3 July	VILA DE MONTCADA	MONTCADA	9 Rd Swiss	A	A	Reyes Cantero 938152902
4-12 July	BARBERÀ DEL VALLES	BARBERA DEL VALLES	9 Rd Swiss	A	A sup	Victor Pont 629386528
4-12 July	TORREDEMBARRA	TORREDEMBARRA	9 Rd Swiss	C	B	Jordi Salvat 649061984
13-22 July	CIUTAT DE BALAGUER	BALAGUER	10 Rd Swiss	A sup	A	Antoni Montoliu 679082837
18-26 July	ANDORRA	LES ESCALDES	9 Rd Swiss	A sup	A sup	Oscar la Riva 00376-347085
22-30 July	VILA DE SITGES	SITGES	9 Rd Swiss	A	A	Francesc González 600923277
25 July	CERVELLO	CERVELLO	8 Rd Swiss	b	b	Juan Mª Santiago 936840402
26 July	OLOT	OLOT	8 Rd Swiss	b	b	Josep Ma Mir 606119678
1-8 August	FIGUERES "MIQUEL MAS"	FIGUERES	9 Rd Swiss	C	A	Jordi Serra 699848479
1-9 August	CIUTAT DE BADALONA	BADALONA	9 Rd Swiss	A	A sup	Manel Triquell 609683157
2-10 August	LA POBLA DE LILLET	LA POBLA DE LILLET	9 Rd Swiss	C	C	Josep Salvador 630625152
15-16 August	VILA DE POBLENOU	BARCELONA	10 Rd Swiss	a sup	a	Joan Lorda 659529581
21-30 August	SANTS	BARCELONA	10 Rd Swiss	A sup	A sup	Cotxeres 932918701
22-23 August	AJEDREZND	BARCELONA	9 Rd Swiss	a sup	a	Jordi Morcillo 620341266
1-10 September	FESTIVAL DE SABADELL	SABADELL	9 Rd Swiss	B	B	Ivan Aguilar 666346958
6 September	VILA DE SANTPEDOR	SANTPEDOR	9 Rd Swiss	b	b	Josep Mascaro 616477533
11 September	DIADA DE L'11 DE SETEMBRE	SABADELL	9 Rd Swiss	a	a sup	Ivan Aguilar 666346958
12 September	RIBERA D'EBRE	MORA D'EBRE	8 Rd Swiss	a	a	Josep Terrones 696204203
13 September	CIUTAT DE TORTOSA	TORTOSA	8 Rd Swiss	b	b	Abraham Pla 680532570
19-20 September	VALLFOGONA DE BALAGUER	VALLFOGONA DE BALAGUER	Suis 11 rondes	a sup	a	Jaume Parramon 649960831
Potential
13-21 July	SANT MARTI	BARCELONA	9 Rd Swiss			Ricard Llerins 933082425

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 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

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.

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