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OLD FRONT PAGE STORIES 2003 |
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| Pamplona Tournament The Pamplona international tournament took place 20th-28th December 2003. My thanks to Jesús Mena for the games. Games in PGN Final Round 7 Standings: 1. Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2602 4.5; 2. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2649 4.5; 3. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2646 4.5; 4. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2673 3.5; 5. Romero Holmes, Alfonso g ESP 2544 3.0; 6. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2565 3.0; 7. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2562 2.5; 8. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2604 2.5; |
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| US Championships 2004 Next year's US Championships which take place in the first couple of weeks of December 2004 have found a new co-sponsor. The event is organised by America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) and they will be sponsoring the event with NTC Foundation. Read more in the America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) Press Release on US Championships 2004 |
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| Mystery Consultation Match II The NAO Consultation rematch started Monday 24 November 2004 and finished on 28th December 2004. Both games were drawn Teams: Igor Nataf had Teimour Radjabov and Milos Pavlovic in game 1, and replaced Pavlovic with Etienne Bacrot in game two. Mme Nahed Ojjeh had Laurent Fressinet, Joel Lautier and Peter Svidler in both games. Team N. OJJEH vs Team I. NATAF (2) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.d3 Bf5 14.Qf3 Re8 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16.Nd2 Qe1+ 17.Nf1 Bg6 18.g3 b4 19.Bxd5 cxd5 20.Qxd5 Rd8 21.Bg5 Qxa1 22.Bxd8 Bf8 23.Ba5 Qb1 24.Kg2 Bxd3 25.Nd2 Qc2 26.Qa8 Qxd2 27.Bxb4 h5 28.Qxf8+ Kh7 29.Qxf7 Qe2 30.Qf4 Qf1+ 31.Kf3 Qe2+ 32.Kg2 Qf1+ 33.Kf3 Qe2+ 34. Kg2 Qf1 1/2 Draw by repetition. (Finished 28th December 2003). Internet coverage: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html |
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| Association of Chess Professionals The elections to the board of the Association of Chess Professionals have concluded. Voting took place November 10th - December 15th 2003. See chessville.com interview with Joel Lautier (who received the largest number of votes) at: http://www.chessville.com/misc/Interviews/Lautier.htm Board members - 9 representatives (7 men and 2 women): J.Lautier (France) 94 votes P.Tregubov (Russia) 72 votes V.Kramnik (Russia) 59 votes B.Macieja (Poland) 57 votes V.Bologan (Moldova) 50 votes A.Baburin (Ireland) 42 votes I.Glek (Germany) 41 votes for the male representatives; A.Skripchenko (France) 104 votes S.Matveeva (Russia) 65 votes for the female representatives. The board will commence its official duties on January 1st 2004. They have also announced they will be campaigning on a number of priority issues including hotels in official events, sponsorship in chess and decisions of both FIDE and the ECU. Full details: http://www.chess-players.org |
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| 1st Bois-Colombes 1st Bois-Colombes (Paris, France) GM tournament took place 21st-30th December 2003. Manuel Apicella won the event with 6.5/9. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Apicella, Manuel g FRA 2542 6.5; 2. Janev, Evgeni g BUL 2423 6.0; 3. Todorov, Todor m BUL 2472 5.5; 4. Marcelin, Cyril g FRA 2473 5.5; 5. Okhotnik, Vladimir m UKR 2454 5.0; 6. Wirig, Anthony FRA 2424 4.0; 7. Rainfray, Arnaud f FRA 2409 4.0; 8. Afek, Yochanan m ISR 2376 3.5; 9. Shoker, Samy FRA 2273 3.5; 10. Bernard, Vincent FRA 2278 1.5; Internet coverage: http://www.bois-colombes-echecs.com/ |
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| Harmonie Chess
Tournament The Harmonie Chess Tournament, Groningen, took place 21st-30th December 2003. The formula of the invitationgroup was: young talent against established players. Friso Nijboer won the event with 7/9. Jan Smeets made a GM norm. My thanks to Cor Kamstra. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2577 7.0; 2. Kurnosov, Igor g RUS 2527 6.5; 3. Gagunashvili, Merab g GEO 2582 6.0; 4. Smeets, Jan m NED 2511 6.0; 5. L'Ami, Erwin NED 2470 5.0; 6. Ernst, Sipke m NED 2474 4.0; 7. Li Wenliang m CHN 2477 3.5; 8. Michiels, Bart f BEL 2390 3.0; 9. Werle, Jan m NED 2409 2.5; 10. Dambacher, Martijn NED 2419 1.5; Internet coverage: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2003/2003eng.html. Live coverage: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2003/2003.html |
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| Belfort GM 6th Masters and 2nd Women's Masters Comtois d'échecs was organised by Belfort Chess in the Grand Hôtel du Tonneau d'Or, 15th-24th December 2003. Mikhael Gurevich won the event with 7/10. Games in PGN Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Gurevich, Mikhail g BEL 2656 7.0; 2. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2654 6.0; 3. Bauer, Christian g FRA 2602 5.5; 4. Tregubov, Pavel V g RUS 2635 5.0; 5. Le Roux, Jean-Pierre f FRA 2480 3.5; 6. Hamdouchi, Hichem g MAR 2588 3.0; Internet coverage: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ |
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| NAO
Internationals The NAO Chess Club organised their 3rd GM and 4th IM Tournaments, 15th - 23rd December 2003. Andrei Shchekachev won the event with 7.5/9. Games in PGN (Shchekachev 1-0 Skripchenko [3] was not played and Skripchenko was replaced by Santo-Roman) GM Final Round 9 Standings (corrected): 1. Shchekachev, Andrei g RUS 2522 7.5/9; 2. Maze, Sebastien FRA 2464 5.5/9; 3. Murey, Jacob g ISR 2465 5.0/9; 4. Marzolo, Cyril m FRA 2462 4.5/9; 5. Gozzoli, Yannick FRA 2430 4.0/9; 6. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 2412 4.0/9; 7. Vandevoort, Pascal f BEL 2363 4.0/9; 8. Bagheri, Amir m IRI 2541 3.5/9; 9. Santo-Roman, Marc g FRA 2385 3.0/6; 10. Pira, Davoud m FRA 2403 3.0/9; 11. Skripchenko, Almira wg FRA 2460 1.0/3; Withdrew Skripchenko, Almira wg FRA 2460 1.0/3; Website: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html |
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| Indian National A
Championships Indian National Men A Chess Championship took place at the Chessindia Complex, Calicut 4th to 20th December 2003. SS Ganguly took first place on SB tie-break from Sandipan Chanda, both finished on 17.5/23 half a point clear of ELO favourite Pentala Harikrishna. Games in PGN Final Round 23 Standings: 1. Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2531 17.5; 2. Sandipan, Chanda m IND 2504 17.5; 3. Harikrishna, P g IND 2570 17.0; 4. Kunte, Abhijit g IND 2535 15.0; 5. Barua, Dibyendu g IND 2528 15.0; 6. Koneru, Humpy g IND 2485 15.0; 7. Bakre, Tejas m IND 2443 14.0; 8. Neelotpal, Das m IND 2443 13.5; 9. Sundararajan, Kidambi m IND 2446 13.5; 10. Ramesh, R.B m IND 2466 13.0; 11. Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi IND 2421 12.0; 12. Venkatesh, M.R IND 2401 11.5; 13. Thipsay, Praveen M g IND 2486 11.0; 14. Roktim, Bandyopadhyay m IND 2352 10.5; 15. Prathamesh, Sunil Mokal m IND 2379 10.5; 16. Satyapragyan, Swayangsu m IND 2415 9.5; 17. Sareen, Vishal IND 2367 9.0; 18. Singh, S. Vikramjit IND 2342 9.0; 19. Das, Arghyadip IND 2299 8.5; 20. Suvrajit, Saha IND 2387 8.5; 21. Ravi, Thandalam Shanmugam m IND 2380 8.0; 22. Sriram, Jha m IND 2458 8.0; 23. Hariharan, Venkatachalam IND 2245 4.5; 24. Srinivasa Rao, M IND 2329 4.5; Internet coverage: http://www.chessindia.org/nationala Live Coverage : http://www.live.chessindia.org/men.asp |
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| XVI Carlos Torre
Memorial The XVI Carlos Torre Memorial took place in Merida in the Yucatan region of Mexico 12th-20th December 2003. 6 Round Swiss followed by a knockout. The top 12 in the Swiss qualified and were joined by Alexei Dreev, Boris Gelfand, Valery Filippov and Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu. Surprisingly Yuniesky Quezada (who beat both Gelfand and Filippov) won the event.  Winner Yuniesky Quezada. Photo © David Llada Knockout has 2 90 minute games followed if needed by 2 15 minute games followed by sudden death 5 minute games. Games KO in PGN Knockout Section Final GM Valerij Filippov (Rus) 2630 0.5-1.5 IM Yuniesky Quezada (Cub) 2475 Semi-Final GM Valerij Filippov (Rus) 2630 1.5-0.5 GM Alonso Zapata (Col) 2472 GM Boris Gelfand (Isr) 2703 0.5-1.5 IM Yuniesky Quezada (Cub) 2475 Round 2 GM Alonso Zapata (COL) 2472 1.5-0.5 GM Rafael Espinosa (MEX) 2415 GM Valerij Filippov (RUS) 2630 1.5-0.5 GM Amon Simutowe (ZAM) 2424 GM Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2703 2-0 GM Dionisio Aldama (MEX) 2447 GM Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu (ROM) 2675 2-3 GM Yuniesky Quesada (CUB) 2475 Round 1 GM Alexei Dreev (RUS) 2705 0.5-1.5 IM Rafael Espinosa (MEX) 2415 FM Juan Carlos González (MEX) 2510 2.5-3.5 GM Alonso Zapata (COL) 2472 GM Valerij Filippov (RUS) 2630 2-0 MI Manuel Pérez (CUB) 2427 GM Vadim Milov (SUI) 2574 0-2 IM Amon Simutowe (ZAM) 2424 GM Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2703 1.5-0.5 GM Gilberto Hernandez (MEX) 2538 IM Alejandro Ramírez (CRC) 0.5-1.5 IM Dionisio Aldama (MEX) 2447 GM Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu (ROM) 2675 3-1 GM Román Hernández (CUB) 2415 GM Tomas Luther (GER) 2580 2-3 IM Yuniesky Quesada (CUB) 2475 Swiss Games in PGN Swiss Open Round 6 Standings (top 12 qualify): 1 Milov Vadim SUI GM 2574 5.5 2 Luther Thomas GER GM 2580 4.5 3 Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlo MEX FM 2510 4.5 4 Ramirez Alvarez Alejandro CRC IM 2483 4.5 5 Quesada Perez Yuniesky CUB IM 2475 4.5 6 Zapata Alonso COL GM 2472 4.5 7 Aldama Degournay Dionisio CUB IM 2447 4.5 8 Simutowe Amon ZAM IM 2424 4.5 9 Hernandez Guerrero Gilbert MEX GM 2538 4 10 Gonzalez Garcia Jose MEX IM 2449 4 11 Perez Rodriguez Luis Manue CUB IM 2427 4 12 Hernandez Roman CUB GM 2415 4 13 Espinosa Rafael MEX IM 2415 4 14 Martin Del Campo Roberto MEX IM 2407 4 15 Garmendez Gonzalez Florent MEX IM 2391 4 16 Russek Libni Guil MEX IM 2365 4 17 Garcia Silvino CUB GM 2350 4 18 Hernandez Andres Gustavo MEX 2311 4 19 Dominguez Aguilar Guillerm MEX FM 2289 4 Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx (additional info: http://fenamac.com) |
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| Kasparov vs.
Fritz Kasparov took on an X3D version of Fritz in a 4 game match in New York 11th-18th November 2003. Games on 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th November. Games 1-4 in PGN Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz in Macromedia Flash Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 4 Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 3 Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 2 Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 1 Game 4 X3D FRITZ - Kasparov New York City, USA (4), 18.11.2003 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Bb3 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.Bf4 Na5 12.d5 Nxb3 13.Qxb3 exd5 14.Rad1 Be6 15.Qxb7 Bd6 16.Bg5 Rb8 17.Qxa6 Rxb2 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxd6 Qxc3 20.Nd4 Rxa2 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23.Rf1 Qc5 24.Qxd5 Rfxf2 25.Rxf2 [25.Qd8+ Rf8+; 25.Qxc5?? Rxg2+ 26.Kh1 Rxh2+ 27.Kg1 Rag2#]25...Qxf2+ 26.Kh1 h6 27.Qd8+ Kh7 1/2 - 1/2 Game 4 was a relatively tame draw which left an exciting match drawn at 2 - 2 The site http://x3dchess.com/ again promoted the event. Kasparov has previously played high profile matches against Karpov and Junior for the company. |
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| Robert Huntington
Letter Robert Huntington has been a familiar face covering chess events for the AP for many years. His contract was terminated in September and this open letter is his analysis of the chess world. I would endorse many of his comments. Open letter to the chess world by Robert Huntington |
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| Cultural Village
Tournament The Cultural Village Tournament took place in Wijk aan Zee 24th November - 2nd December 2003. Games in PGN Complete and Corrected Final Standings: 1. Langheinrich 6½ 2. van Delft 6 3. Wohl 5½ 4. Bezemer, Tan 5 6. Afek 4½ 7. Ris, Armas 4 9. Schuurman 2½ 10. Bottema 2 Internet coverage: http://www.coruschess.com |
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| Santo Domingo International
Chess Open The Santo Domingo International Chess Open (Great Nazir Atallah Cup) took place 27th November - 5th December 2003. Vadim Milov took first place on tie-break from 8 others on 7.5/10. 9 players on 7.5/10: 1. Milov, Vadim 2. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 3. Moiseenko, Alexander 4. Kiriakov, Petr 5. Delgado, Neuris 6. Campora, Daniel H 7. Ramirez, Alejandro 8. De Vreugt, Dennis 9. Socko, Bartosz Internet coverage: http://www.copanaziratallah.com/ |
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Nail Muhamedzjanov
1944-2003 Nail Muhamedzjanov 1994-2003 Photo © Eugeny Atarov ("64") Nail Muhamedzjanov born 15th January 1944 - died 5th December 2003. The 59 year old was the main chess organizer from Kazan (Tatarstan). Under his managament "Kazan-Ladia-1000" became 3 time champion of Russia. Kasparov played for his team in the European Club Cup in Crete. Report Eugeny Atarov. |
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| Decameron Resort & Casino
Tournament The Caribbean Village Decameron Resort & Casino tournament took place in the Dominican Republic December 6th-10th 2003. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu won the event with 7.5/9 a point clear of Lazaro Bruzon and 15 year old Alejandro Ramirez. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2675 7.5; 2. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2603 6.5; 3. Ramirez, Alejandro m CRC 2483 6.5; 4. Campora, Daniel H g ARG 2503 5.5; 5. Zapata, Alonso g COL 2472 5.5; 6. De la Paz, Frank m CUB 2427 4.0; 7. Lugo, Blas m USA 2418 3.5; 8. Mateo, Ramon m DOM 2445 3.0; 9. Dominiguez, Jose M m DOM 2313 2.0; 10. Alvarado, Nelson f DOM 2318 1.0; Internet coverage: http://www.decameronopen.com and live on ICC |
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| 3rd Annual Little Sweden
Festival Lindsborg Open December 19th-23rd 9 round swiss Start with 120 minutes. After move 40 add 60 minutes. Players included: Agrest Atalik Baburin Blatny Charbonneau Krush Kudrin Perelshteyn Sharavdorj Shulman Yermolinsky. Further details: http://www.lindsborg.org/chess_tournament.html Live coverage ICC (http://www.chessclub.com). The 3rd Annual Little Sweden Festival had events 13th-14th and 19th-23rd December 2003 in Lindsborg, Kansas USA. December 13th-14th all play all - 25 mins + 10 seconds. My thanks to Frank Berry for the games. Games in PGN All play all rapid final standings: 1. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2693 3.5; 2. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2661 3.0; 3. Donaldson, John W m USA 2456 2.5; 4. Shulman, Yuri g USA 2564 2.5; 5. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2583 2.0; 6. Charbonneau, Pascal m CAN 2485 1.5; |
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| Bali International
Benidorm Bali international in Benidorm was a nine round swiss taking place 21st to 28th November 2003. Along side was an all-play-all stars event with 12 players 15 minutes + 10 seconds per player 27th-29th November 2003. Vesselin Topalov took clear first on 7/10. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 7.0; 2. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 6.5; 3. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2650 6.5; 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2662 6.0; 5. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2562 5.0; 6. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2512 4.5; 7. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2693 4.5; 8. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz g AZE 2595 4.5; 9. Graf, Alexander g GER 2646 4.0; 10. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2722 4.0; 11. Romero Holmes, Alfonso g ESP 2544 2.5; Anatoly Karpov withdrew (was disqualified) from the event. Here is a statement from the Bali International press office: Karpov withdraws in Benidorm The Russian GM Anatoli Karpov, former world champion, withdrew yesterday from the Tournament of Stars, which is being contested in the Hotel Bali in Benidorm. The reason was that he was declared losing by forfeit in the first round. His opponent was the 16 years old Teimour Radjabov, from Azerbaiyan, famous for having beaten Gary Kasparov in the last edition of the Linares tournament. Karpov, arriving directly from Brazil, argued that he had been deprived of sleep due to the late arrival of his plane, and asked that his game versus Radjabov should be played on Friday, in the morning. After some consideration, Radjabov declined the proposal. Of the other ten participants, a number proclaimed themselves annoyed because Karpov is notorious for such incidents. During a conversation with the press office of the tournament, Karpov concluded: "I don't understand these idiots. Postponing a game for reasons of force majeure is normal in our sport. My conclusion is that the current bad situation in the chess world is not surprising, because they deserve it?." Karpov equally failed to appear for the second game, against the Hungarian Judit Polgar, for which, according to the rules, he was disqualified from the tournament by the arbiter. Internet coverage:http://www.ajedrezbali.com |
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| World Computer Chess
Championships The 19th World Computer Chess Championship 2003 (WMCCC) took place in Graz November 22nd - 30th, 2003. Shredder beat Fritz in a playoff. Official coverage: http://www.chess003.at/ |
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| Korchnoi - Navara Match There was a two-game match between David Navara (the Czech No. 1 on FIDE list - 2607) and Viktor Korchnoi in Prague, in the Hotel Kampa-Stara Zbrojnice. The games were played on Friday and Saturday November 21st-22nd 2003. The time control was the FIDE standard 90+30. The sponsors of the event were the weekly newspaper EURO and ABN AMRO Asset Management. GM Vlastimil Hort provided a live commentary of the games. The first game on Friday ended in draw after Korchnoi missed a winning continuation (Ng4) on move 22 in Ruy Lopez Open. Narvara won the second to take the match 1.5-0.5. Games in PGN Live coverage at site http://www.promopro.cz. News from http://www.sachinfo.cz |
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Larsen vs Olafsson Olafsson vs. Larsen Photo © Ómar Óskarsson Bent Larsen and Fridrik Olafsson played an 8 game rapid match in Reykjavic 11th-14th November 2003. Olafsson beat Larsen 5-3. The match, sponsored by the Kaupthing Bank, continues with two rounds per evening commencing at 20.00 Icelandic time. The pair first played an historic 8 game match in Reykjavik in 1956 when both were 20 years old. In that match Larsen led 3.5-1.5 before Olafsson came back to level the match by winning games 6 and 7. Larsen won a final tense game to take the match 4.5-3.5. (Incidently ChessBase Megabase has this match as being in Oslo 1955 which was the date and venue of the Scandanavian Championships. The match was the playoff the following year in Reykjavic after the two players tied. There is an account of the match in Larsen's own book of selected games.) Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.icechess.com/kb-match2003 |
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| FIDE announcement on the World Chess
Championship The FIDE Congress has decided that they will hold 2 KO qualifiers for a unified Men's World Championship, in April-May tentatively in Baku (Azerbaijan) and Tripoli (Lybia). The winners of the two sections will play and the winner of that will play Garry Kasparov for the unified title. It seems from my reading of the proposals they will ignore the claims of Vladimir Kramnik (who defeated Kasparov, yet Kasparov is in the unification process in spite of neither having nor claiming any world title) and Peter Leko (who is due to play him). [This is an observation not a comment, I really don't have an opinion anymore, except that something needs to happen and that ideal, or even good solutions no longer exist]. FIDE are back in financial problems and will move their headquarters to Greece. FIDE announcement at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=259 Further information in Russian at: http://www.worldchessrating.ru/ and http://www.chess-express.ru/main/index2.html |
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| Tragedy for Egyptian Chess Egypt's top player 38 year old Essam Ahmed Ali died on Monday 27th October and team boss Mohammed Labib, 60 the following day of cerebral malaria contracted at the African Games in Abuja, Nigeria. They were incorrectly diagnosed in Egypt after becoming ill. Two of the delegation of the African games travelled on to the World Youth Championships (player Ahmed Adly and his coach Hassan Khaled) in Halkidiki, Greece where they were diagnosed and sent to Special Diseases Hospital in Thessaloniki. They recovered and went back to Egpyt. Cerebral malaria is a disease of the brain that is accompanied by fever. The mortality ratio is between 25 and 50 percent, and if a sufferer is not treated, the disease is fatal in 24 to 72 hours. Sources: News 24.com or The Age from Australia and later Al Ahram (some of the info in these stories is incorrect). Also: http://www.sportmeeting.gr/WYCC2003/news.htm on the treatment in Greece. |
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| 2nd Selfoss Milk
Tournament The 2nd Selfoss Milk Tournament took place October 29 - November 7th 2003 in Icelandair's Hotel Selfoss. Games in PGN (a couple of games are incomplete) Final Standings: 1. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2695 7.0; 2. Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2647 7.0; 3. Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2696 6.5; 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2662 5.0; 5. Rowson, Jonathan g SCO 2541 4.5; 6. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2654 4.5; 7. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2673 4.0; 8. Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2567 2.5; 9. Thorhallsson, Throstur g ISL 2444 2.0; 10. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2553 2.0; Tomas Oral, Jan Votava, Henrik Danielsen, Regina Pokorna, Stefan Kristjansson, Luis Galego, Tomas Bjornsson, Ingvar Johannesson, Jon Arni Halldorsson and Robert Hardarson play in the Challengers. Official coverage: http://icechess.com/milk2003/. Live coverage of some games: Internet Chess Club |
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7th Corsica Open Anand - Topalov final. Photo © Europe-Echecs The 7th Corsica Open took place in Bastia 28th October - 3rd November 2003. 350 players from 40 countries compete including: Vishy Anand, Vesselin Topalov, Anatoly Karpov, Alexei Shirov, Teimour Radjabov, Boris Gelfand, Loek Van Wely etc. Timerates: 2 games 20mins+5secs then if necessary 2 games at 10m+5s and finally 2 games at 5m+5s until a winner was found. Games in PGN Finals 3rd November 2003 Anand, Viswanathan - Topalov, Veselin 4-2 (4 draws before Anand won both 5m+5s games) Semi-Finals 2nd November 2003 Topalov, Veselin - Shirov, Alexei 2.5-1.5 Anand, Viswanathan - Grischuk, Alexander 1.5-0.5 Quarter-Finals 2nd November 2003 Topalov, Veselin - Gurevich, Mikhail 1.5-0.5 Gelfand, Boris - Grischuk, Alexander 0.5-1.5 Lautier, Joel - Anand, Viswanathan 0.5-1.5 Shirov, Alexei - Karpov, Anatoly 3.5-2.5 1/8th Finals 1st November 2003 Grischuk, Alexander - Radjabov, Teimour 4.0-2.0 Van Wely, Loek - Karpov, Anatoly 0.5-1.5 Gurevich, Mikhail - Sasikiran, Krishnan 1.5-0.5 Topalov, Veselin - Motylev, Alexander 2.0-0.0 Aronian, Levon - Gelfand, Boris 1.5-2.5 Tkachiev, Vladislav - Shirov, Alexei 2.0-4.0 [Tkachiev lost by playing an illegal move in the final game] Lautier, Joel - Epishin, Vladimir 2.0-0.0 Cebalo, Miso - Anand, Viswanathan 0.5-1.5 Further details: http://www.opencorsica.com and games: http://ffe.ods.org |
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Cap d'agde World Rapid Chess
Championship Anand- Svidler semi-finals Photo © Europe-Echecs 6th National and International Chess Encounters World Rapid Chess Championship organised by CCAS took place in Cap d'agde 23rd-30th October 2003. CCAS is Caisse Centrale d'Activités Sociales des Electriciens et Gaziers de France (EDF-GDF), the national company for Gas and Electricity. 16 World Class GMs among them 11 of the 12 top rated players took part. Each player has 25 minutes + 10 seconds per played move. This means games that will last at most between 50 minutes to 1hr 20. Viswanathan Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik 1.5-0.5 in the final. Two groups played an all-play-all starting Friday 24th October, top 4 qualifiers from each play a knockout starting October 27th. (info ICC) Knockout Section Game in PGN Games in PGN for the group stage complete KO Final (October 30, 2003) Gm1 Kramnik, Vladimir - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 19 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 46 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov KO S/F (October 29, 2003) Gm1 Grischuk, Alexander - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 54 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo Gm2 Kramnik, Vladimir - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 40 E39 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Gm1 Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1/2 20 B82 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm2 Svidler, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 28 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Blitz 3 mins + 3 seconds playoff Gm3 Svidler, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 53 B46 Sicilian Paulsen Gm4 Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1-0 34 B42 Sicilian Paulsen KO Q/F Day 1 (October 27, 2003) Gm1 Kramnik, Vladimir - Polgar, Judit 1-0 38 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Gm2 Polgar, Judit - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 35 B21 Sicilian Morra Gambit Gm1 Anand, Viswanathan - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 60 C95 Ruy Lopez Breyer Gm2 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 52 E15 Queens Indian KO Q/F Day 2 (October 28, 2003) Gm1 Bacrot, Etienne - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 68 E20 Nimzo Indian Gm2 Grischuk, Alexander - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 30 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Blitz 3 mins + 3 seconds playoff Gm3 Grischuk, Alexander - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 48 C41 Philidor's Defence Gm4 Bacrot, Etienne - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1 62 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Gm1 Svidler, Peter - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 24 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Gm2 Topalov, Veselin - Svidler, Peter 0-1 46 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gp A Final (Round 7) Standings: 1. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 4.5; 2. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2718 4.5; 3. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2664 4.5; 4. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 3.5; (after beating Gelfand in a playoff) 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2703 3.5; 6. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2693 2.5; 7. Adams, Michael g ENG 2725 2.5; 8. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2739 2.5; GpB Final Rd7 Standings: 1. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2723 5.0; 2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2732 4.5; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 4.0; 4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2722 4.0; 5. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2737 3.5; 6. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 3.5; 7. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2666 2.0; 8. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2693 1.5; Official site: http://www.ccas.fr/ and also there is full coverage at: http://www.europe-echecs.com |
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Kasparov visit to the London
Chess Center Malcolm Pein greets people Queueing down the street waiting for Garry Photo © John Henderson Garry Kasparov visited the London Chess Centre on the 21st October 2003 to promote his highly successful book series 'Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors' for a book signing. Read John Henderson's report See more pictures at: http://www.chesscenter.com/gkvisit/ 5 Simul Games in PGN  Kasparov signing his new book. Photo © John Henderson Details of the book: http://www.chess.co.uk/kasparovgreats.html Further details: http://www.chess.co.uk/gkvisit2003.html |
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| Sample "Chess Magazine" Article
on the Gruenfeld Download a sample article in PDF format from "Chess Magazine". the article is called "The Exchange Gruenfeld: An old sacrifice revived" by Malcolm Pein Download file (1.3 Megabites): GruenfeldPein.pdf |
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1st Samba Cup Vassily Ivanchuk suffers his second consecutive defeat in rd7 inflicted by Darmen Sadvakasov. Photo © Leon Muijs from the Official site photo page The Category 16 1st Samba Cup took place Friday 10th October to Sunday 19th October 2003 (free day 15th Oct) in Skanderborg, Denmark. Games in PGN Round 9 (October 19, 2003) Nielsen, Peter Heine - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 1/2 19 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Ivanchuk, Vassily - Hansen, Curt 1/2 56 B64 Sicilian Rauzer Bologan, Viktor - Sasikiran, Krishnan 1-0 61 C91 Ruy Lopez Alekseev, Evgeny - Short, Nigel D 1/2 19 D58 Queens Gambit Tartakover Palo, Davor - Sadvakasov, Darmen 1/2 39 D26 QGA Final Standings: 1. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2626 5.5; 2. Sadvakasov, Darmen g KAZ 2595 5.5; 3. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2701 5.5; 4. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2616 5.5; 5. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2710 5.0; 6. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2673 5.0; 7. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2668 4.5; 8. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2613 3.5; 9. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2679 2.5; 10. Palo, Davor m DEN 2510 2.5; Official site http://www.skanderborgskakklub.dk/gm2003 - (including live coverage) |
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7th Essent Chess Tournament Karpov-Aronian Rd3. Photo © Fred Lucas The 7th Essent Chess Tournament took place in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands 11th-18th October 2003. The Crown Group saw Judit Polgar take first place ahead of Ivan Sokolov, Levon Aronian and Anatoly Karpov. The Open Group was won by Zviad Izoria ahead or Ernesto Inarkiev both made 7/9. All Games in PGN 7th Essent Chess Tournament Round 1 Polgar's Double Bishop Sacrifice Round 6 (October 18, 2003) Polgar, Judit - Aronian, Levon 1-0 35 C90 Ruy Lopez Karpov, Anatoly - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 32 D15 Slav Defence Final Rd6 Standings: 1. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2722 4.0; 2. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2695 3.0; 3. Aronian, Levon g GER 2649 3.0; 4. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2693 2.0; Official site: http://www.hoogeveen.nl/essent-chess/ Some pictures by Fred Lucas: http://www.momentoo.nl (miscellaneous-chesspics-Essent) |
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| European Team Championships Plovdiv in Bulgaria hosted the European team championship October 10th-21st 2003. 37 men's and 31 women's teams competed. The Russian team of Bareev, Svidler, Grischuk, Morozevich and Khalifman took first place edging out Israel, Georgia finished 3rd. Official site: http://www.etcc.chessbg.com/ (of particular interest is an interview with Ponomariov) Men's Games in PGN Women's Games in PGN European Team Championships Round 9 European Team Championships Round 8 European Team Championships Round 7 European Team Championships Round 6 European Team Championships Round 5 European Team Championships Round 4 European Team Championships Round 3 European Team Championships Round 2 European Team Championships Round 1 |
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Anand in Moscow Anand in play to his left Kobalia and the President Russian chess federation Zhukov. Photo © Marina Bessonova http://www.chess-express.ru Anand played in the Moscow regional blitz tournament on 17th October 2003 in Moscow in the "Sergiev Posad" team along with GM's Kobalia and Smagin. |
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| Arctic Cup Geurt Gijssen is in Salekhard (Far North) and reports. Salekhard is the only city in the world located on the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33 minutes latitude). The government of the region has organised a team competiton (4 players: 3 boys and 1 girl). The players must be born after 31st December 1985. 16 teams participate in this tournament: 14 teams from different regions and republics of Russia plus Germany and The Netherlands. All Games in PGN Final Standings (confirmed): 1. Sverdlovsk R 27.5 2. Netherlands 27.0 3. Arkhangelsk R 22.0 Saint-Petersburg 22.0 5. Vologodskaya R 20.5 6. Yamalo-Nenets AD 1 20.0 Khanty-Mansiysky AD 20.0 8. Tumen R 19.5 9. Yamalo-Nenets AD 2 19.0 10. Chelyabinsk R 18.5 11. Germany 18.0 12. Kurgan R 17.5 13. Salekhard 11.5 14. Komi R 10.0 15. Krasnoyarsk T 7.5 Nenets AD 7.5 |
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| FIDE October Rating List The new FIDE Rating list for October 2003 has been released. The Russian Championships didn't make the list which has been officially released 2 weeks before it becomes active for the first time. Garry Kasparov didn't play an games in the rating period and stays at 2830. Vladimir Kramnik lost 8 rating points so Kasparov's lead has extended. Viswanathan Anand also lost 8 points. Other headline changes include: Bareev up from 9 to 4. Shirov up from 7 to 5 Adams gains a few points, Leko down from 4 to 10, Morozevich up from 23 to 16, Sasikiran 40 to 24, Bologan 42 to 27, Luke McShane 74 to 46. FIDE October 2003 Rating List: Top 100 Further information including the full list: http://www.fide.com |
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| European Club Cup The European Club Cup Men & Women took place in the CRETA STAR HOTEL 27th September-5th October 2003. Rd1-7 Men's Games in PGN (Volkov-Morozevich rd5 is clearly wrong at the end) and Rd1-7 Women's Games in PGN Final Standings (corrected) 1 NAO Chess Club FRA 30 180½ 2 Polonia Plus GSM Warszawa POL 29 169 3 Kiseljak BIH 29 152 4 Norilsk Nikel RUS 26½ 173 5 Ladya-Kazan-1000 RUS 28½ 162½ 6 St. Petersburg Lentransgaz RUS 27½ 164 7 Beer-Sheva Chess Club ISR 25½ 175½ 8 Tbilisi GEO 22 182 9 Chess Club Alkaloid Skopje MKD 30½ 135 10 Zalaegerszeg-Hydrocomp HUN 27 137 11 Tomsk-400-Yukos RUS 25 166½ 12 Werder Bremen GER 25 162½ 13 GKSz Polfa Grodzisk Mazowiecki POL 24½ 146½ Results European Club Cup Round 7 Including Final Standings European Club Cup Round 6 European Club Cup Round 5 European Club Cup Round 4 European Club Cup Round 3 European Club Cup Round 2 European Club Cup Round 1 Official site: http://www.venizelia.gr/ecc2003/ Garry Kasparov played for Ladia-Kazan (other players include Sergei Rublevsky (2672), Ilia Smirin (2656), Viktor Bologan (2650) and Alisa Galliamova (2502). The French NAO Chess Club of Paris is also fielding an exceptionally strong team, comprising of Alexander Grischuk (2732), Peter Svidler (2723), Michael Adams (2719), Joel Lautler (2677), Vallejo Pons Francisco (2662), Etienne Bacrot (2645), Laurent Fressinet (2640) and Igor-Alexandre Nataf (2549). Bosna Sarajevo have Alexei Shirov, Evgeny Bareev and Ivan Sokolov, other players include Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Alexey Dreev, Vladimir Malakhov, Alexander Onischuk, Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Khalifman, Konstantin Sakaev and Viktor Korchnoi. |
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| Kramnik Letter Vladimir Kramnik has released a letter making clear that he is in charge of finding a sponsor for the Kramnik - Leko match not Einstein TV who he says are in breach of contract. Kramnik Letter September 8th 2003 |
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| Association of Chess Professionals The Association of Chess Professionals now has a chess site. Glek interview and a Kramnik note there already. Link to site: http://www.chess-players.org |
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| Kasparov vs. Azmaiparashvili Garry Kasparov took on Zurab Azmaiparashvili in a 2 rapid game (25mins+10 seconds Kasparov won 2-0) and four blitz game (5mins + 3 seconds games Kasparov won 3.5-0.5) match in Crete 23th September 2003. Rapid Games in PGN Blitz Games in PGN Rapid Games Gm1 Kasparov, Garry - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1-0 49 C41 Philidor's Defence Gm2 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Kasparov, Garry 0-1 25 D11 Slav Defence Blitz Games Gm1 Kasparov, Garry - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1-0 32 B07 Pirc Defence Gm2 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Kasparov, Garry 0-1 52 A07 Barcza System Gm3 Kasparov, Garry - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1/2 57 B07 Pirc Defence Gm4 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Kasparov, Garry 0-1 38 A04 Dutch System |
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| Beijing Chess Challenge The Beijing Chess Challenge Match took place September 22nd-23rd 2003, in China Resources Hotel, Beijing between Chinese teams and an International team. On day 1 the international team won 5-4 against a Chinese A team, on day 2 the international team was held 4.5-4.5 by the Chinese B team. Games in PGN Complete Live coverage: http://www.64.net.cn/view/kings02.htm International Team players: Evgeny Bareev g RUS 2721 Nigel Short g ENG 2701 Yasser Seirawan g USA 2626 Chinese Team A players: Ye Jiangchuan g 2683 Zhang Zhong g 2658 Xu Jun g 2626 Chinese Team B players: Bu Xiangzhi g 2588 Zhang Pengxiang g 2567 Ni Hua f 2533 There are three games a day, each Chinese player take a player of International Team, the game start from 14:00 to 18:00 Beijing time, the time controls are 25 minutes, each move with a 10 seconds increment, 30 minutes rest after each game. 22nd September International team - Chinese Team A 14:00 - 18:00 Beijing time Xu Jun - Nigel Short 0.5, Zhang Zhong - Engeny Bareev 0-1, Yasser Seirawan - Ye Jiangchuan 1-0 Chinese Team A - International Team 0.5-2.5 Round 2 Nigel Short - Zhang Zhong 1-0, Engeny Bareev - Ye Jiangchuan 0.5, Xu Jun - Yasser Seirawan 0.5 Chinese Team A - International Team 1-2 Round 3 Ye Jiangchuan - Nigel Short 0.5, Engeny Bareev - Xu Jun 0-1, Yasser Seirawan - Zhang Zhong 0-1 Chinese Team A - International Team 2.5-0.5 Final standings come soon¡¡ Chinese Team A - International Team 4-5 23rd september International Team - Chinese Team B 14:00 - 18:00 Beijing time Round 1 Nigel Short - Ni Hua 0-1, Evgeny Bareev - Bu Xiangzhi 0.5, Zhang Pengxiang - Yasser Seirawan 1-0. Chinese Team B - International Team 2.5-0.5 Round 2 Ni Hua - Evgeny 0.5, Bu Xiangzhi - Yasser Seirawan 0.5, Nigel Short - Zhangpeng 1-0 Chinese Team B - International Team 1-2 Round 3 Yasser Seirawan - Ni hua 1-0, Bu Xiangzhi - Nigel Short 1-0, Zhang Pengxiang - Evgeny Bareev 0-1, Chinese Team B - International Team 1-2. Day 2 total Chinese Team B - International Team 4.5 - 4.5 |
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| Lausanne Young Masters The 4th Lausanne Young Masters took place 17th-22nd September 2003. Luke McShane won the knockout event by beating Etienne Bacrot in the final. Games in PGN Final Rounds September 21st-22nd 1st-2nd Bacrot, Etienne - McShane, Luke J 1/2 0-1 3rd-4th Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz - Naiditsch, Arkadij 1-0 1-0 5th-6th Karjakin, Sergey - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 1/2 7th-8th Paehtz, Elisabeth - Papa, Severin 1/2 0-1 Round 2 (September 19-20, 2003) Round 1 Winners McShane, Luke J - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz 1/2 1/2 Playoff 2-0 Bacrot, Etienne - Naiditsch, Arkadij 1-0 1/2 Minor Placings Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Paehtz, Elisabeth 1-0 1/2 Karjakin, Sergey - Papa, Severin 1-0 1-0 Round 1 (September 17-18, 2003) McShane, Luke J - Paehtz, Elisabeth 1/2 1-0 Naiditsch, Arkadij - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 1-0 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 1-0 Bacrot, Etienne - Papa, Severin 1-0 1/2 Players in bold won their matches. Internet coverage: http://www.lausanneyoungmasters.com |
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| 3 Arrows Cup The 3 Arrows (San Jian) Cup took place in Ji Nan 17th-20th September 2003. A team of Chinese women (Queens) took on a men's team (Kings). Final Score Kings 12.5 - Queens 3.5. Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.64.net.cn |
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Kings and Queens match in Yong Chuan, China Players in the Kings and Queens match. Photo Yin Hao All Games in PGN A double round robin match took place September 13th to 15th 2003 in China. The 4 "Kings" were GM Evgeny Bareev RUS 2721, GM Nigel Short ENG 2701, GM Ye Jiangchuan CHN 2683 and GM Yasser Seirawan USA 2626. The 4 "Queens" GM Xie Jun CHN 2569, GM Zhu Chen CHN 2495, WGM Xu Yuhua CHN 2485, WGM Zhao Xue CHN 2467. Alternating moves in the games the players drew a number to choose their partners. There were 3 games a day, time controls were 25 minutes, each move with a 10 seconds increment. Round 1 (September 13, 2003) Zhao Xue/Nigel Short - Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 1-0 39 A62 Benoni Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan - Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 1-0 51 B19 Caro Kann Round 2 (September 13, 2003) Zhao Xue/Nigel Short - Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 1/2 39 E05 Catalan Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan - Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 1-0 43 E70 King's Indian Fianchetto Round 3 (September 13, 2003) Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev - Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 0-1 73 A07 Barcza System Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan - Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 1/2 50 B40 Sicilian Classical Round 4 (September 15, 2003) Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan - Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 1/2 25 E34 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev - Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 1-0 35 A08 Barcza System Round 5 (September 15, 2003) Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev - Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 1/2 41 B24 Sicilian Closed Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan - Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 0-1 59 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen Round 6 (September 15, 2003) Zhao Xue/Nigel Short - Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 0-1 34 A04 Dutch System Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan - Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 1/2 49 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Final Standings: 1. Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 4.0 2. Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 3.0 3. Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 2.5 4. Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 2.5 |
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Russian Championships Prize Ceremony Photo © Eugeny Atarov ("64") The Russian Championships for men took place 3rd-12th September 2003 in Krasnoyarsk. Swiss system, 9 Rounds. 80 players are expected including 57 GMs 15 IMs and only 8 NM. FIDE-ELO from 2732 to 2606 - 22 players: Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Alexei Dreev, Vladimir Malakhov, Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Khalifman, Sergei Rublevsky etc. Chief Arbiter Vladimir Dvorkovich. Peter Svidler edged out Alexander Morozevich with a better better Bucholz tie-break after both finished on 7/9. All Games in PGN Correction to the result Bachin - Sveshnikov (3) Malcolm Pein on Russian Championships Rd 2 Morozevich vs. Dvoirys Leading Final (Rd 9) Standings: 1. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2723 51,5 2845 7.0 2. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2679 50,0 2832 7.0 3. Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2696 49,5 2719 6.0 4. Dvoirys, Semen I g RUS 2555 49,0 2752 6.0 5. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2653 48,0 2664 6.0 6. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2634 47,0 2732 6.0 7. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2732 46,0 2709 6.0 8. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2678 46,0 2693 6.0 9. Volkov, Sergey g RUS 2620 43,5 2683 6.0 10. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2608 43,0 2692 6.0 11. Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2564 51,5 2703 5.5 12. Yakovich, Yuri g RUS 2573 45,5 2659 5.5 13. Kharlov, Andrei g RUS 2591 43,0 2633 5.5 14. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2538 42,5 2703 5.5 15. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2613 41,0 2636 5.5 16. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2655 40,0 2622 5.5 17. Bocharov, Dmitry m RUS 2526 38,0 2647 5.5 18. Glek, Igor V g GER 2566 38,0 2618 5.5 19. Sorokin, Maxim g ARG 2560 38,0 2587 5.5 79 players Further details: http://www.kraschess.ru or http://www.russiachess.ru (Live coverage of the games available and PGN later each day) Both sites in Russian, although the results and games are perfectly fine. |
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| Simpsons Tournament To mark the 175th Anniversary of Simpsons in the Stand a tournament supported by the Staunton Society, the Savoy Hotel and organised by Ray Keene and Barry Martin took place August 24th - September 1st, 2003 4 Player-Double Round Robin. Jon Speelman won the event with 4.5/6. Games in PGN Round 5 (September 1, 2003) King, Daniel J - Emms, John M 1/2 75 A36 English Botvinnik Round 6 (August 31, 2003) Emms, John M - Speelman, Jonathan S 1/2 26 C07 French Tarrasch Howell, David WL - King, Daniel J 1/2 50 C09 French Tarrasch Final Standings: 1. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 4.5; 2. King, Daniel J g ENG 2503 3.5; 3. Emms, John M g ENG 2520 3.0; 4. Howell, David WL f ENG 2323 1.0; |
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Chess Classic Mainz Anand playing as black against Polgar in the final game 8 Photo © Franz Jittenmeier of chess-international.de Vishwanathan Anand beat Judit Polgar in an 8-game rapid chess match in Mainz August 14th-17th 2003. Alongside it will be the Ordix open. Mainz will also be hosting a Chess960 (a form of shuffle chess) match between Peter Leko and Peter Svidler. They are also holding an internet match Chess Tigers vs. "The Rest of the World" in Chess960 chess which started 15th July 2003. Every day one pair of moves is played. All internet users are eligible to take part, but players are entitled to cast only one vote per move. Every day a prize will be raffled among the correct e-mail contributors. The daily move is made through simple majority. All Games in PGN Final Score Anand 5 - Polgar 3 Gm1 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 49 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 41 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm3 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 0-1 57 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm4 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 52 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2 Gm5 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 27 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm6 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 60 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm7 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 55 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2 Gm8 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 47 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Internet site: http://www.chesstigers.de/ |
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Dortmund 2003 Bologan receives the trophy. Photo © David Llada The "Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2003" took place in the Dortmund Theatre 31st July - 10th August 2003. Viktor Bologan held Vladimir Kramnik in the final round to take clear first by a point from Anand and Kramnik for the best result of his career. Games in PGN Round 10 (August 10, 2003) Kramnik, Vladimir - Bologan, Viktor 1/2 38 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Radjabov, Teimour - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 13 E11 Bogo Indian Defence Naiditsch, Arkadij - Leko, Peter 1/2 24 B72 Sicilian Dragon Final (of 10) Standings: 1. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2650 6.5; 2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2785 5.5; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2774 5.5; 4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2648 5.0; 5. Leko, Peter g HUN 2739 4.0; 6. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2574 3.5; Official site: http://www.chessgate.de/dortmund2003/ or in English: http://www.chessgate.de/dortmund2003/e/index.html Malcolm Pein on Dortmund Dortmund Round 10 Dortmund Round 9 Dortmund Round 8 Dortmund Round 7 Dortmund Round 6 Dortmund Round 5 Dortmund Round 3-4 Round 11 British - Round 2 Dortmund Round 10 British - Round 1 Dortmund |
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Final FIDE deadline falls  Illjumzhinov press-conference announcing cancellation. Photos © Eugeny Atarov ("64") FIDE have cancelled the Kasparov vs. Ponomariov match. Instead it has been proposed there will be a knockout in December 2003. The winner will play Kasparov and the winner of that will play Leko - Kramnik. Further info:http://www.fide.com - FIDE Press Release: (Microsoft Word Document) and Ukrainian Chess Federation Reply: (Microsoft Word Document)- earlier press release announcing the deadline: FIDE on Ponomariov - Kasparov match |
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| 1st Malmo Masters The Category IX 1st Malmö Masters took place July 28th - August 6th 2003 in Malmö, Sweden. Luke McShane conceded just three draws on the way to winning the event with 7.5/9. Games in PGN Round 9 (August 6, 2003) Johannessen, Leif Erlend - Sebag, Marie 1/2 27 A29 English Four Knights Speelman, Jonathan S - Ahlander, Bjorn 1-0 72 E18 Queens Indian Berg, Emanuel - Tairi, Faruk 1-0 45 B20 Sicilian Wing Gambit Jakobsen, Ole - McShane, Luke J 0-1 67 D95 Gruenfeld Closed Brynell, Stellan - Hellsten, Johan 1/2 15 B22 Sicilian Alapin Final Standings: 1. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 7.5; 2. Johannessen, Leif Erlend g NOR 2525 6.0; 3. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 5.5; 4. Hellsten, Johan m SWE 2511 5.5; 5. Berg, Emanuel m SWE 2495 5.5; 6. Jakobsen, Ole m DEN 2381 4.0; 7. Brynell, Stellan g SWE 2511 4.0; 8. Ahlander, Bjorn m SWE 2393 3.0; 9. Sebag, Marie wm FRA 2432 2.0; 10. Tairi, Faruk SWE 2245 2.0; Internet site will be http://www.limhamnssk.m.se information there soon. |
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Biel International Chess Festival Biel 2003 Bacrot, Pelletier, Lutz, Korchnoi, Smirin and Morozevich Photo © Schachfestival Biel. The Biel International Chess Festival took place 19th July-1st August 2003 for the 36th consecutive summer, with 9 different tournaments. The main Category 16 GM event took place 21st-31st July and Alexander Morozevich scored a huge 8/10 performance to win by a point and a half from Bacrot and Smirin. Games in PGN Round 10 (July 31, 2003) Smirin, Ilia - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 15 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Lutz, Christopher - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 31 C11 French Defence Korchnoi, Viktor - Pelletier, Yannick 0-1 41 D12 Slav Defence Final (Round 10) Standings: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2679 8.0; 2. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2645 6.5; 3. Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2656 6.5; 4. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2602 4.0; 5. Lutz, Christopher g GER 2631 3.0; 6. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2628 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch - there is a great interview with the winner Alexander Morozevich on the official site |
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| Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships
The Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships took place Sunday 20th July - Saturday 2nd August at the George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. Abhijit Kunte won the event with a score of 8.5/11 half a point clear of compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, Cypriot Vassilios Kotronias and Paul Motwani. Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant was the leading women's player in 5th. Games in PGN Malcolm Pein on the British Championships Round 11 Round 10 Round 9 Round 8 Round 7 Round 7 Pairings Round 5-6 Round 4 Round 3 Round 2 Round 1 Round 1 Pairings Malcolm Pein Preview of the British Championships Leading Final (Rd11) Standings: 1 Kunte,Abhijit IND g 2515 8½ 2 Harikrishna,Pentala IND g 2558 8 3 Kotronias,Vassilios CYP g 2602 8 4 Motwani,Paul SCO g 2525 8 5 Arakhamia-Grant,Ketevan GEO wg 2408 7½ 6 Gallagher,Joseph G SUI g 2520 7½ 7 Pert,Nicholas ENG m 2483 7½ 8 Rowson,Jonathan SCO g 2536 7½ 9 Summerscale,Aaron ENG g 2492 7½ 10 Bakre,Tejas IND m 2433 7 11 Ganguly,Sura Sekhar IND g 2535 7 12 Ghasi,Ameet K ENG 2305 7 13 Gormally,Daniel ENG m 2478 7 14 Hossain,Enamul BAN m 2452 7 15 Howell,David W ENG f 2323 7 16 Rahman,Ziaur BAN g 2521 7 17 Sowray,Peter J ENG f 2346 7 96 players Official site: http://bcfservices.org.uk/ |
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| Kasparov Interview by Mig Greengard On July 14 Garry Kasparov gave a discussion and book signing for his new book "My Great Predecessors, Part I" at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York City. After the signing he took questions from the audience. A transcript is below, followed by further comments on his upcoming FIDE match with Ponomariov and his match with Fritz that was just announced. Kasparov Book Signing Interview by Mig Greengard |
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| Montreal International The 4th Montreal International took place 23rd July - 3rd August 2003. Category 11. Players: Alexei Barsov, Mark Bluvshtein, Pascal Charbonneau, Nicolay Legky, Alexandre Lesiège, Aleksei Lugovoi, Igor Nataf, Alexander Onischuk, Oleg Romanishin, Dave Ross, Eduardas Rozentalis and Reynaldo Vera. Internet coverage: http://www.timontreal.ca/ |
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| Politiken Cup The 25th Copenhagen Open Politiken Cup took place 14th-25th of July 2003. Krishnan Sasikiran won with 9/11. Games in PGN Leading Final Round 11 Standings: 1. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2654 9.0; 2. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2668 8.5; 3. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 8.5; 4. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2585 8.5; 5. Jussupow, Artur g GER 2583 8.5; 6. Nyback, Tomi m FIN 2483 8.5; 7. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2655 8.0; 8. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 8.0; 9. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2553 8.0; 10. Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2525 8.0; 11. Rasmussen, Karsten m DEN 2437 8.0; 12. Skytte, Rasmus m DEN 2404 8.0; 13. Michelakis, George m RSA 2405 8.0; 14. Nilssen, John Arni f FAI 2382 8.0; 15. Carlsen, Magnus f NOR 2385 8.0; 16. Christensen, Tobias m DEN 2371 8.0; 241 players Official site: http://www.politikencup.dk |
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| Open Dutch Championship The Open Dutch Championship took place 22nd-31st July 2003. Players included: Friso Nijboer, Dennis De Vreught, Sergei Tiviakov, Jeroen Bosch, Erwin L'Ami... Internet coverage (live for 8 boards): http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/dieren2003/ |
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| Ken Whyld 1926 - 2003 Kenneth Whyld 6th March 1926 - 11th July 2003 Ken Whyld, the chess researcher, bibliophile and author has died at the age of 77. His 1984 work "The Oxford Companion to Chess" written with David Hooper still is the standard single volume encyclopedia in English. He had a wide range of interests across chess history and was a particular expert on Emanuel Lasker, his "The Collected Games of Emanuel Lasker" is the outstanding work on the former World Champion's games. He was very generous with his knowledge aiding many chess authors with their research. Books include: The Oxford Companion to Chess David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld 1984 (2nd Edition 1993) Alekhine - Nazi Articles (3rd ed.) Ken Whyld 2002 Chess Columns - A List - Ken Whyld 2002 Guinness Chess The Records, London, Ken Whyld - Guinness Superlatives Ltd, 1986 First Chess Olympiad London,1927 Kenneth Whyld (Editor) 1993 Fake Automata in Chess Kenneth Whyld 1994 |
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| Polgar - Gelfand Match Judit Polgar and Boris Gelfand played a match in Pacs, Hungary July 10th-13th 2003. The event was called the George Marx match and saw 8 rapid 25 minutes per player games. Gelfand won by an impressive 6-2 margin. Games in PGN Gm1 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 0-1 56 B54 Sicilian Rauzer Gm2 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 48 B23 Sicilian Closed Gm3 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1-0 59 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm4 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 61 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Gm5 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1-0 46 E92 King's Indian Classical Gm6 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 69 B51 Sicilian Rossolimo Gm7 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1/2 37 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm8 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 44 B51 Sicilian Rossolimo Internet coverage: http://www.acsgroup.hu. My thanks to Andy McFarland of ICC. |
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| 13th Smith and Williamson Young Masters The 13th Smith & Williamson Young Masters took place at Millfield School, Somerset 9th-17th July. GM Evgeny Prokopchuk finished first equal with FM Craig Hanley both scoring 6.5/9, and Hanley making his 5th IM norm. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Prokopchuk, Evgeny g RUS 2504 6.5; 2. Hanley, Craig f ENG 2387 6.5; 3. Jones, Gawain C ENG 2347 5.5; 4. Mah, Karl m ENG 2418 5.5; 5. Trent, Lawrence ENG 2299 5.0; 6. Antal, Gergely m HUN 2475 5.0; 7. Dearing, Eddie SCO 2367 5.0; 8. Broomfield, Matthew ENG 2249 5.0; 9. Sinkevich, Petr f RUS 2313 5.0; 10. Dvorak, Tomas f CZE 2319 5.0; 11. Haslinger, Stewart f ENG 2414 4.5; 12. Gordon, Stephen J ENG 2216 4.5; 13. Buckley, Simon T ENG 2267 4.5; 14. Bigg, Andrew J ENG 2287 4.0; 15. Palliser, Richard m ENG 2438 4.0; 16. Pinter, Gabor m HUN 2376 3.5; 17. Addison, Bret ENG 2251 3.5; 18. Jasny, Stanislav f CZE 2319 3.0; 19. Buckley, Melanie ENG 2130 2.5; 20. Nixon, Thomas CM ENG 2226 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.swyoungmasters.co.uk/ |
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| 18th North Sea Cup Esbjerg Denmark The Category XV 18th North Sea Cup took place July 4th-12th 2003. Alexei Dreev, Luke McShane and Krishnan Sasikiran all made 6.5/9. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2698 6.5; 2. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 6.5; 3. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2654 6.5; 4. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2618 4.5; 5. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2636 4.0; 6. Dominguez, Lenier g CUB 2610 4.0; 7. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2585 4.0; 8. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2614 3.5; 9. Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2525 3.5; 10. Koneru, Humpy g IND 2468 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.northseacup.dk/nsc2003/index.htm |
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| Formation of an Association of Chess Players Various press releases and replies from the Turkish Chess Union are below. The latest is at the top below are various other letters. The latest letter states it's purpose as: For our part, we, members of the initiative group for the creation of an Association of Chess Players, also want to explain to the chess society our view on the problems and the current situation in the chess world. Ali Nihat Yazici has now replied to that letter. 7th July - Ali Nihat Yazici reply to Initiative Group Press Release: Initiative Group for the creation of an Association of Chess Players Previous Letters Igor Glek on a Chess Union: On the anniversary of the Prague agreements Reply to open letter by Ali Nihat Yazici President of Turkish Chess Federation Formation of Chess Union and Open Letter on Conditions for the European Championships Igor Glek on a Chess Union: On the anniversary of the Prague agreements (Russian version: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/glek2rus.htm) Earlier correspondence: Open Letter from Igor Glek - Letter from Turkish Chess Federation in Reply to Igor Glek and Igor Glek replies to the Letter from Turkish Chess Federation |
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| FIDE July 2003 Rating List The new FIDE Rating list for July 2003 has seen quite a lot of movement. Top 4 remain the same with Kasparov playing no games. Kramnik lost 4 points in the two games he played, Anand is up another 10 points in the 7 games he's played and Leko lost 7 points. Topalov up one place to 5th due to the loss of just 3 rating points by Shirov who drops two places. Grischuk is up 9 places to 6th a gain of 31 points. There are just 7 rating points separating 4th (Leko) and 7th (Shirov). 19 year old Luke McShane into the top 100 for the first time at 74 and 18 year old David Navara in at 95. 2600 was enough for a place in the top 100 in April, now the mark is 2606. FIDE July 2003 Rating List: Top 100 Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there. |
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| Swedish Championships The Swedish Championships took place June 29th - July 12th 2003 in Umea, Sweden. The event was a 13 round Category IX. Rylander and Von Bahr withdrew from the tournament due to illness I have now removed their results from the standings. Evgenij Agrest won with a score on 7.5/11. Games in PGN Final Round 13 Standings (players scores out of 11): 1. Agrest, Evgenij g SWE 2591 7.5; 2. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2474 7.0; 3. Olsson, Anders f SWE 2383 6.0; 4. Wedberg, Tom g SWE 2539 6.0; 5. Lindberg, Bengt f SWE 2392 5.5; 6. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2553 5.5; 7. Berg, Emanuel m SWE 2514 5.0; 8. Ernst, Thomas g SWE 2442 5.0; 9. Karlsson, Lars g SWE 2478 5.0; 10. Brynell, Stellan g SWE 2538 5.0; 11. Ahlander, Bjorn m SWE 2389 4.5; 12. Tikkanen, Hans SWE 2337 4.0; Coverage: http://www.rockaden.nu/sm/index_800.html and on ICC. |
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World Open Winner Jaan Ehlvest Photo © John Henderson The 31st World Open took place in Philadelphia June 28th - July 6th 2003. There are many different schedules before they combined for the final few rounds. $180,000 guaranteed prizes. 37GMs compted. 10 players shared first place the top two on tie-break Jaan Ehlvest and Ilya Smirin played a one game playoff (black draw odds in a 6 minutes for white 5 for black game) for the title and an extra $500 which Ehlvest. Official Site: http://www.worldopen.com |
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| World Junior Championships The World Junior Championships (under 20) took place June 21st - July 3rd 2003 in Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan. There were articipants from 29 countries. The boys title was taken by home player GM Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov ahead of GM Sergei Azarov and IM Alexander Zubov. The girls title was taken by Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Complete Boys Games in PGN Complete Girls Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.chess.az/eng/ Final Standings: 1. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz g AZE 2607 10.0; 2. Azarov, Sergei g BLR 2530 9.5; 3. Zubov, Alexander m UKR 2494 8.5; 4. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2579 8.5; 5. Guseinov, Kadir g AZE 2505 8.5; 6. Bachin, Vitaly m RUS 2443 8.5; 7. Erenburg, Sergey m ISR 2499 8.5; 8. Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2542 8.0; 9. Harikrishna, P g IND 2563 8.0; 10. Pantsulaia, Levan m GEO 2465 8.0; 11. Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios m GRE 2456 7.5; 12. Izoria, Zviad g GEO 2569 7.5; 13. Mamedov, Rauf AZE 2330 7.5; 14. Kritz, Leonid m GER 2468 7.5; 15. Schneider, Dmitry m USA 2424 7.5; 16. Rohit, G IND 2357 7.5; 17. Jirka, Jiri CZE 2394 7.5; 18. Mahesh Chandran, P m IND 2419 7.0; 19. Kanep, Meelis m EST 2446 7.0; 20. Deepan, Chakkravarthy J m IND 2379 7.0; 21. Kuparadze, Giga GEO 2227 6.5; 22. Kozak, Leonid UZB 2178 6.5; 23. Sadykov, Rustem KAZ 2416 6.5; 24. Murariu, Andrei m ROM 2347 6.5; 25. Jatautis, Donatas LTU 2149 6.5; 26. Esplana, Christian f PER 2367 6.5; 27. Dziuba, Marcin m POL 2450 6.5; 28. Safarli, Eltaj AZE 2201 6.5; 29. Wang, Hao Yuan CAN 2226 6.5; 30. Hanley, Craig f ENG 2375 6.0; 31. Geirnaert, Steven BEL 2289 6.0; 32. Mabusela,Johannes RSA 0 6.0; 33. Arun Prasad, S IND 2275 6.0; 34. Monroy, Charles FRA 2294 6.0; 50 players Final Standings Girls: 1. Dzagnidze, Nana wm GEO 2376 9.5; 2. Calotescu, Cristina wm ROM 2334 7.5; 3. Mamedjarova, Zeinab wg AZE 2298 7.5; 4. Ubiennykh, Ekaterina wf RUS 2293 7.0; 5. Harika, Dronavalli wf IND 2294 7.0; 6. Sergeeva, Maria wg KAZ 2340 6.5; 7. Karavade, Eesha IND 2199 6.5; 8. Sachdev, Tania wm IND 2245 6.5; 9. Shukurova, Meihriban wm AZE 2250 6.5; 10. Makka, Ioulia wm GRE 2234 6.5; 11. Mamedjarova, Turkan AZE 2222 6.0; 12. Khudaverdieva, Afag AZE 2063 5.5; 13. Saheli, Nath IND 2078 5.5; 14. Topel, Zehra wf TUR 2092 5.5; 15. Morales Mendoza, Luciana PER 2051 5.5; 28 players |
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| Dutch Championships The Essent Dutch Championships took place in Leeuwarden 24th June - 5th July 2003. The men's event was a 9 round category XI event. The women's is a 6 player double round robin. Loek Van Wely took the men's event. Daniel Stellwagon led for most of the event but two late losses relegated him to third place. Men's Games in PGN Women's Games in PGN Men's Final (Rd9) Standings: 1. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2675 6.5; 2. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2623 5.5; 3. Stellwagen, Daniel m NED 2467 5.5; 4. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2508 4.5; 5. Ernst, Sipke m NED 2475 4.0; 6. Van den Doel, Erik g NED 2588 4.0; 7. L'Ami, Erwin NED 2433 4.0; 8. Janssen, Ruud m NED 2483 4.0; 9. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2562 3.5; 10. Delemarre, Jop m NED 2418 3.5; Women's Final (Rd10) Standings: 1. Peng Zhaoqin m NED 2433 9.0; 2. Bosboom-Lanchava, Tea wg NED 2329 6.5; 3. Schuurman, Petra NED 2293 6.0; 4. Hamelink, Desiree wm NED 2187 3.5; 5. Van Weersel, Arlette NED 2096 3.0; 6. Bensdorp, Laura NED 2063 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/nk2003/ |
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Greenland Open Regina Pokorna and Luke McShane Photo © Omar Oskarsson The Greenland Open 2003 took place in the southern town of Qaqortoq from 28 June to 1 July. A line up of foreign stars, all of whom will visited Greenland for the first time, and local players contested the event for a total prize fund of US$10,000. Luke McShane with a tremendous 8.5/9 score took clear first a point clear of Jóhann Hjartarson. Games in PGN Leading Final Standings: 1 Luke McShane ENG 2592 8.5 2 Jóhann Hjartarson ISL 2634 7.5 3 Predrag Nikolic BIH 2643 7 4-11 Nick de Firmian USA 2536 6 Ivan Sokolov NED 2677 6 Flóvin Þór Næs FAI 2324 6 Tomas Oral CZE 2537 6 Regina Pokorna SVK 2418 6 Róbert Harðarson ISL 2278 6 Frank Wuts NED 2308 6 Sævar Bjarnason ISL 2264 6 Further details: http://www.icechess.com/ |
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| London Chess Set Exhibition Sergei Karjakin, the youngest Grandmaster in chess history, played an Exhibition Tournament with 12 year old David Howell from Eastbourne, on Saturday 28 June 2003 to celebrate the opening of The Art of Chess at the Gilbert Collection. The game ended in a draw. UK TV Programme: Chess in Pieces - 21st Century Art was on Monday 7th July at 8.30 pm on BBC4 (tv). Chess in Pieces - 21st Century Art. The program was timed to coincide with The Art of Chess exhibition at the Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, London. There was some nice chess footage and some completely barmy artists on the programme. Internet coverage: http://www.gilbert-collection.org.uk D Howell - S Karjakin Gilbert Collection Exhibition 30' Sicilian Rossolimo 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bxd7+ Qxd7 5 c4 Nc6 6 Nc3 Nf6 7 d4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 e6 9 0-0 Be7 10 Be3 0-0 11 b3 a6 12 Qe2 Rfd8 13 Rfd1 Qc7 14 Rac1 Qa5 15 f3 Rac8 16 Na4 Nd7 17 Qd2 Qh5 18 Nc3 Nxd4 19 Bxd4 Ne5 20 Ne2 Nc6 21 Nf4 Qh6 22 Be3 Bg5 23 g3 Ne5 24 Kg2 Qf6 25 h4 Bh6 26 Qe2 Qe7 27 Nd3 Bxe3 28 Qxe3 Nc6 29 Nf4 Rd7 30 Rd2 Rcd8 31 Rcd1 Ne5 32 Nd3 Nc6 33 Qb6 h6 34 b4 e5 35 Nc1 Qe6 36 b5 Nd4 37 bxa6 bxa6 38 Nb3 Qxc4 39 Nxd4 exd4 40 Qxd4 Qxd4 41 Rxd4 Rc7 42 Kf2 Kf8 43 Ke2 Ke7 44 Rb1 Rc5 45 Rb6 a5 46 Ra6 h5 47 Kd3 d5 48 Ra7+ Ke6 49 Ra6+ Ke7 50 Ra7+ Ke6 draw |
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| White Nights The White Nights-2003 tournament took place in St. Petersburg 29th June - 8th July 2003. Nurlan Ibraev won the event with 6.5/9. Official Results in Russianand Games in PGN zipped both on the St. Petersburg Chess Federation site. |
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| Enghien-les-Bains 2003 The 2003 Enghien-les-Bains category 17 tournament took place June 13th-22nd 2003. Time control is 2 hours + 1 hour.Evgeny Bareev won with 6.5/9 with a performance of over 2800 half a point clear of Michael Adams who also gained rating points. The bottom four players lost rating points especially Vladimir Akopian. Games in PGN Round 9 (June 22, 2003) Adams, Michael - Akopian, Vladimir 1/2 61 C07 French Tarrasch Gelfand, Boris - Bauer, Christian 1-0 42 E07 Catalan Fressinet, Laurent - Polgar, Judit 1/2 46 B52 Sicilian Rossolimo Radjabov, Teimour - Lautier, Joel 1/2 15 D47 Queens Gambit Meran Korchnoi, Viktor - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 29 D23 QGA Final Standings: 1. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2734 6.5; 2. Adams, Michael g ENG 2723 6.0; 3. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2700 5.5; 4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2715 5.5; 5. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2595 4.5; 6. Bauer, Christian g FRA 2582 4.0; 7. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2644 3.5; 8. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2666 3.5; 9. Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2703 3.0; 10. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2632 3.0; Website: http://enghien.free.fr |
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| European Championships The European Championships took place May 30th - June 14th 2003 in Silivri, Turkey. Zurab Azmaiparashvili won the men's event alone on 9.5/13. Round 1-13 Men's Games in PGN and PGN zipped (corrections Ljubomir Ftacnik) - Playoff Games in PGN Round 1-11 Women's Games in PGN and PGN zipped (some corrections) - Women's Playoff Games in PGN Round 13 (June 13, 2003) Bayram, Yakup - De Vreugt, Dennis 1/2 20 E15 Queens Indian Roiz, Michael - Karadeniz, Emre 1/2 31 A11 Reti Opening Grischuk, Alexander - Fedorov, Alexei 1/2 26 B32 Sicilian Labourdonnais Ivanchuk, Vassily - Alekseev, Evgeny 1-0 59 C66 Ruy Lopez Berlin Moiseenko, Alexander - Kharlov, Andrei 1/2 14 D56 Queens Gambit Lasker Galkin, Alexander - Kobalia, Mikhail 1/2 9 B42 Sicilian Paulsen Sulskis, Sarunas - Georgiev, Kiril 1/2 32 B50 Sicilian Defence Sutovsky, Emil - Aronian, Levon 1/2 50 B87 Sicilian Sozin Attack Sakaev, Konstantin - Malakhov, Vladimir 1/2 10 D14 Slav Exchange Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Graf, Alexander 1/2 18 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Final (Rd 13) Standings: 1 Azmaiparashvili Zurab 2678 GEO 9½ 2 Malakhov Vladimir 2672 RUS 9 3 Graf Alexander 2630 GER 9 4 Georgiev Kiril 2647 MKD 8½ 5 Kharlov Andrei 2581 RUS 8½ 6 Sakaev Konstantin 2664 RUS 8½ 7 Iordachescu Viorel 2550 MDA 8½ 8 Kobalia Mikhail 2639 RUS 8½ 9 Sulskis Sarunas 2578 LTU 8½ 10 Sutovsky Emil 2652 ISR 8½ 11 Aronian Levon 2606 ARM 8½ 12 Ivanchuk Vassily 2704 UKR 8½ 13 Galkin Alexander 2591 RUS 8½ 14 Moiseenko Alexander 2627 UKR 8½ 207 players Playoffs: Bronze-Silver Vladimir Malakhov 1.5-0.5 Alexander Graf (15m + 10s). WC Qualification playoffs were not played, they were supposed to be Alexei Fedorov vs. Ernesto Inarkiev and Sergei Tiviakov vs. Andrei Istratescu but the players felt that all 32 players tied on 8 points should be involved. Women's Final (Rd 11) Standings: 1 Cramling Pia 2470 SWE 8½ 2 Cmilyte Viktorija 2430 LTU 8½ 3 Kosintseva Tatiana 2457 RUS 8 4 Sebag Marie 2394 FRA 8 5 Socko Monika 2381 POL 8 6 Galliamova Alisa 2489 RUS 7½ 7 Stefanova Antoaneta 2550 BUL 7½ 8 Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2444 GER 7½ 9 Radziewicz Iweta 2428 POL 7½ 10 Peng Zhaoqin 2433 NED 7½ 11 Kosintseva Nadezhda 2417 RUS 7½ 115 players. Championship playoff Pia Cramling 1.5-0.5 Viktorija Cmilyte. Bronze Medal Rd1 Marie Sebag (to progress to rd2) 2-0 Monika Socko. Tatiana Kosintseva 1.5-0.5 Marie Sebag. Qualification places: Natalija Pogonina 2.5-1.5 Regina Pokorna. Natalija Pogonina 2-0 Inna Gaponenko. Joanna Dworakowska 3-1 Maria Velcheva. Sopio Tkeshelashvili 1.5-0.5 Alina Motoc. Svetlana Petrenko 1.5-0.5 Olga Alexandrova Internet coverage: http://www.tsf.org.tr/english/index.html |
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16th Ciudad de León Final Topalov - Ponomariov. Photo from press chief Zenón Franco Ocampos The 16th "Ciudad de León" chess tournament took place June 5th-9th 2003 in León, Spain. This year was a quadrangular knockout rapid tournament. Ruslan Ponomariov beat Vesselin Topalov in the final 2.5-1.5. The key game was game three where Topalov missed several winning opportunities in a very complex game and eventually lost on time in spite of a 10 second increment per move being available. Games in PGN Final 8th June 2003 Gm1 Topalov, Veselin - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 32 A29 English Four Knights Gm2 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 58 B67 Sicilian Rauzer Gm3 * (Topalov lost on time) Topalov, Veselin - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1 58 C18 French Winawer Gm4 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 41 E91 King's Indian Classical Semi-Final 2 7th June 2003 Gm1 Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 44 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Gm2 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 39 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Gm3 Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1 48 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm4 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 39 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Semi-Final 1 6th June 2003 Gm1 Karjakin, Sergey - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 51 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm2 Topalov, Veselin - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 72 A31 English Symmetrical Gm3 Karjakin, Sergey - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 85 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm4 Topalov, Veselin - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 112 A29 English Four Knights 2 semi-finals of 4 games - 20 minutes + 10 seconds per move. Schedule: Friday June 6th : First Semi final: Topalov - Karjakin Saturday June 7th Second Semi final : Ponomariov - Vallejo Sunday June 8th: Final. Play starts 4.30 pm. Official site: http://www.advancedchessleon.com and http://www.ajedrez.educaterra.com/ The 16th Ciudad de León started with the Karjakin vs. Topalov 4 game match. Karjakin lost game 1 after a truly terrible blunder, Topalov went 2-0 Karjakin won game 3 before Topalov drew the final game to win 2.5-1.5. Ponomariov vs Vallejo - game one drawn, Ponomariov won game 2 and 3 to go through he also won the final irrelevant game 4 to win 3.5-0.5. |
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Anand On-line Chat Photo © http://www.chathurangam.com On June 17 Vishwanathan Anand took part in an on-line chat on Chennaionline. Read transcript: http://www.chathurangam.com/news/anandchat.asp |
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| Svidler vs. Chernyshov The 7th Voronezh International Chess Festival (ALFA-ECO Cup Voronezh) takes place June 10th-21st 2003. Peter Svidler beat Konstantin Chernyshov 2.5-1.5 in a 4 game standard match and 3-1 in a rapid match. An open tournament with 110 players also takes place alongside. Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/ |
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| Dutch team championship 2003 The Playoffs for the Dutch team championship 2003 took place June 21st-22nd 2003. The Team of ZZICT from Breda was the favorite to win the event and duly did so with a crushing 8-2 in the final against HSG (Hilversum). Players in the event included: Dennis De Vreugt, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Friso Nijboer, Predrag Nikolic, Yasser Seirawan, Paul Van der Sterren, Mikhail Gurevich, Ivan Sokolov, Jan Timman, John Van der Wiel and Loek Van Wely. Live coverage: http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/plof2003/index.htm |
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33rd Bosnian Tournament Sarajevo Ivan Sokolov beats Teimour Radjabov in round 5. Photo © Official Website The 33rd Bosnia Tournament took place May 17th-27th in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ivan Sokolov won his home town tournament with 6.5/9 and a near 2800 performance. Games in PGN Round 9 (May 27, 2003) Movsesian, Sergei - Kurajica, Bojan 1-0 40 B01 Centre Counter Shirov, Alexei - Damljanovic, Branko 1-0 43 C41 Philidor's Defence Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 57 C94 Ruy Lopez Breyer Bareev, Evgeny - Radjabov, Teimour 1/2 32 E97 King's Indian Classical Dizdarevic, Emir - Kozul, Zdenko 1/2 50 E94 King's Indian Classical Final Standings: 1. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2677 6.5; 2. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2659 6.0; 3. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2735 6.0; 4. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2680 6.0; 5. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2644 5.0; 6. Kurajica, Bojan g BIH 2551 4.5; 7. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2734 4.5; 8. Kozul, Zdenko g CRO 2601 3.0; 9. Damljanovic, Branko g YUG 2587 2.0; 10. Dizdarevic, Emir g BIH 2491 1.5 Internet coverage: http://www.skbosna.ba/ |
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| St-Petersburg vs. the NAO Chess Club There was a distance chess match between St-Petersburg vs. the NAO Chess Club in Paris May 28th 2003, on the day of the 300th anniversary of Saint-Petersburg. St. Petersburg beat NAO Chess Club 2.5-1.5, Viktor Korchnoi won the only decisive game against Laurent Fressinet. Games in PGN Results Sergey Karyakin 1/2 Konstantin Sakaev Viktor Kortchnoi 1-0 Laurent Fressinet Teimour Radjabov 1/2 Peter Svidler Alexander Khalifman 1/2 Vladimir Kramnik The playing rate was 15 minutes plus an increment of ten seconds per move for the whole game. The arbiters Geurt Gijssen in Saint Petersburg and Yakov Damsky in Paris will supervise the event. There was a revolutionary clock system which transmitted the moves between the boards. The players were supposed to be responsible for making their opponents transmitted moves aswell as their own but arbiters eventually did it. Internet coverage: http://www.ruschess.com (in Russian and English) and http://www.nao-cc.com (in French). |
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| Einstein TV Admit Defeat Over Kramnik - Leko Einstein TV have admitted they have failed to find a sponsor for the Kramnik - Leko match, this in addition to the delays to the Kasparov - Ponomariov match means that the unification of the titles has hit the buffers. My suggestion. Take the 4 players put them in a 6 cycle (18 game) tournament winner takes all. Unification needs to happen, this would surely be an event with interest. Malcolm Pein comments and the Einstein TV Press Release |
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| Capablanca Memorial The XXXVIII Capablanca Memorial takes place May 6th-19th 2003 in Havana, Cuba. The Elite tournament is Category 13. There are also two premier and a mixto tournament. Elite Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Granda Zuniga, Julio E g PER 2628 8.0; 2. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2610 7.5; 3. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2551 6.5; 4. Dominguez, Lenier g CUB 2603 6.5; 5. Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav g RUS 2546 6.5; 6. Arencibia, Walter g CUB 2520 5.5; 7. Leitao, Rafael g BRA 2533 5.5; 8. Andersson, Ulf g SWE 2594 5.5; 9. Nogueiras, Jesus g CUB 2532 4.5; 10. Gonzalez, Yuri m CUB 2473 3.5; 11. Vera, Reynaldo g CUB 2546 3.5; 12. Zapata, Alonso g COL 2543 3.0; Internet coverage: http://www.inder.co.cu/capablanca/ |
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| 53rd Hungarian Chess Championships The 53rd Hungarian Chess Championships took place in Heviz City, May 12th-20th 2003. The event was Category XIII and saw Zoltan Almasi win with 7/9. My thanks to Laszlo Juhasz. Games in PGN Final Standings:1. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2676 7.0; 2. Ruck, Robert g HUN 2569 5.5; 3. Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2583 5.5; 4. Sax, Gyula g HUN 2511 5.0; 5. Berkes, Ferenc g HUN 2578 4.5; 6. Acs, Peter g HUN 2600 4.5; 7. Gyimesi, Zoltan g HUN 2567 3.5; 8. Cao, Sang m HUN 2531 3.5; 9. Varga, Zoltan g HUN 2533 3.5; 10. Horvath, Adam g HUN 2503 2.5; Internet coverage: http://sakk.terasz.hu |
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| Open Letter from Igor Glek and Reply from the Turkish Chess
Federation An Open Letter from Igor Glek over the arrangements for the European Individual Championship - Silivri - Istanbul, 29th May – 14th June 2003 has questioned the organisation and expenses of the hotels for the event. The Turkish organisers have replied. Open Letter from Igor Glek - Letter from Turkish Chess Federation in Reply to Igor Glek and Igor Glek replies to the Letter from Turkish Chess Federation |
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| Oscar-2002 The Oscar-2002 organised by "64" magazine results have been announced. Garry Kasparov won the poll for the 5th time in 8 years. Further details: http://www.chess-express64.ru Top 15 Garry KASPAROV RUS 3802 Peter LEKO HUN 2668 Vishy ANAND IND 2453 Ruslan PONOMARIOV UKR 2145 Vladimir KRAMNIK RUS 1471 Eugeny BAREEV RUS 1132 Veselin TOPALOV BUL 964 Judit POLGAR HUN 771 Anatoly KARPOV RUS 741 Alexander GRISCHUK RUS 706 Alexei SHIROV ESP 568 Vassily IVANCHUK UKR 483 Tejmur RADJABOV AZE 276 Michael ADAMS ENG 250 Boris GELFAND ISR 188 |
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| 67th Bulgarian Championships The 67th Bulgarian Championships took place in Sofia May 7th-17th 2003. 11 players - category 8. Vasil Spasov took clear first on 7/10 undefeated. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Spasov, Vasil g BUL 2555 7.0; 2. Georgiev, Krum g BUL 2516 6.5; 3. Genov, Petar g BUL 2490 6.0; 4. Dragiev, Veselin BUL 2450 6.0; 5. Radulski, Julian m BUL 2493 5.5; 6. Petrov, Marijan m BUL 2490 5.0; 7. Simeonov, Stefan BUL 2345 5.0; 8. Cheparinov, Ivan m BUL 2508 5.0; 9. Karakehajov, Kalin BUL 2273 4.5; 10. Panbukchian, Valentin m BUL 2325 3.5; 11. Iotov, Valentine BUL 2255 1.0; Internet coverage: http://www.chessbg.com |
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| Russian Team Championships The Russian Team Championships took place in Tolghiatti May 16th-25th 2003. Players included: Svidler, Khalifman, Grischuk, Morozevich, Malakhov, Vaganian etc. The team of Kazan-1000 (Rublevsky, Bologan, Smirin, Kharlov etc) won the event ahead of Nornickel (Dreev, Malakhov, Zvjaginsev, and Onischuk etc), Tomsk-400 (Morozevich, Khalifman, Filippov, Landa etc) and St Petersburg (Svidler, Sakaev, Volkov, Korchnoi etc) Games in PGN (my thanks to one of the players for sending them to me). Boris Schipkov of Chess Siberia http://www.chessib.com/ has sent a number of corrections. In addition there are problems with the games Kolotilin,Y-Filippov,Va (3), Pimonenko,B-Galliamova,A (6) Meister,Y-Smirin,I (5) and Korchnoi,V-Rodchenkov,V (7) for which I'm not 100% sure of the solution. Standings Final A: 1 Kazan-1000 17 2 Nornickel 15.5 3 Tomsk-400 16 4 S.-Petersburg 17 5 Max Ven 14 5 6 Polytechnic 10.5 Official site: http://www.chess-express64.ru |
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| Spanish Team Championships The Spanish Team Championships took place 6th-14th May 2003 in Lanzarote on the Canary Islands. Players include: Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Khalifman, Nigel Short, Ivan Sokolov, Loek Van Wely, Joel Lautier, Igor Khenkin, Mikhail Gurevich, Francisco Vallejo Pons and Alexander Graf. C.A. Marcote (Alexander Graf, Zenon Franco OCampos, Giorgi Giorgadze etc) won the event from Tiendas UPI (Khalifman, Short etc) and CA Valencia (Karpov, Arizmendi Martinez). Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.ajedrezcanario.net Final Standings: 1 C.A. Marcote 25 15 2 C.A. Tiendas UPI 22½ 13 3 C.A. Valencia - Grupo Bali 21 14 4 C. A. CajaCanarias 2 18½ 7 5 C.A. Ibercaja 18 8 6 C.A. La Caja de Canarias 17½ 10 7 C.E.Foment Martinenc 16 7 8 C.A Alzira Hilaturas - Presencia 15 7 9 R.E Labradores - Pub Magia 13½ 4 |
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| 4NCL Final Weekend The Final Weekend of the 4NCL took place 3rd-5th May 2003. Wood Green won the title for the first time. They were clear favourites this year but rather surprisingly hadn't won before. Michael Adams and Nigel Short augmented the team on the final three days of the competition. Wood Green dropped their only points of the whole campaign in the 11th and final round when they drew against Guildford ADC1 after they'd already secured the title. Perceptron Youth (who lost 8-0 to Wood Green in round 9) South Wales Dragons 1 and Bristol 1 were all relegated. Division 1 Final Weekend Games Malcolm Pein on the Final 4NCL Weekend: Report 1, Report 2, Report 3 and Report 4 Internet coverage: http://www.4ncl.co.uk/ |
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| 11th Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament The 11th Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament took place April 29th - May 8th 2003. Vassily Ivanchuk gained rating points on the way to a 7/9 score. He was a point clear of Peter Heine Nielsen. In third place was Luke McShane who lost his final round game to Curt Hansen who sacrificed a whole rook in the game. Games in PGN Round 9 (May 8, 2003) Ivanchuk, Vassily - Hillarp Persson, Tiger 1/2 18 B08 Pirc Defence Hansen, Curt - McShane, Luke J 1-0 43 D89 Gruenfeld Alekhine Hansen, Sune Berg - Sutovsky, Emil 1/2 42 D00 Queen's Pawn Game Hector, Jonny - Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 61 C26 Vienna Game Timman, Jan H - Lindberg, Bengt 1-0 54 A30 English Symmetrical Final Standings: 1. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2704 7.0; 2. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2625 6.0; 3. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2592 5.5; 4. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2610 4.5; 5. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2474 4.5; 6. Hansen, Sune Berg g DEN 2537 4.5; 7. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2652 4.5; 8. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2553 4.0; 9. Timman, Jan H g NED 2579 4.0; 10. Lindberg, Bengt f SWE 2392 0.5; Internet site: http://www.sigeman-chess.com/ |
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4th Karpov Tournament Opening ceremony Photo © Official site of the Nefteyugansky Region The 4th Karpov Tournament took place April 20th-29th 2003 in Poikovsky, Russia. Peter Svidler took first place from Joel Lautier both finishing on 6/9. Sergei Rublevsky finished 3rd, and Vadim Zvjaginsev 4th. Sergei Rublevsky got the best game prize for his game against Smbat Lputian in round 6. Games in PGN Final correction to Pelletier - Obudchuk (6) now available. Round 9 (April 29, 2003) Lautier, Joel - Svidler, Peter 1/2 28 D85 Gruenfeld Defence Zvjaginsev, Vadim - Onischuk, Alexander 1/2 22 D56 Queens Gambit Lasker Vescovi, Giovanni - Bologan, Viktor 1/2 16 D56 Queens Gambit Lasker Lputian, Smbat G - Pelletier, Yannick 1/2 38 E14 Queens Indian Obodchuk, Andrei - Rublevsky, Sergei 0-1 59 B42 Sicilian Paulsen Final Standings: 1. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2713 6.0; 2. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2666 6.0; 3. Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2670 5.5; 4. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2664 5.5; 5. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2647 5.0; 6. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2615 4.5; 7. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2663 4.0; 8. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2623 3.5; 9. Lputian, Smbat G g ARM 2638 3.0; 10. Obodchuk, Andrei m RUS 2417 2.0; Info: http://www.chess-express.ru My thanks to Eugeny Atarov ("64") for the games. |
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| St Petersburg - Moscow The annual St Petersburg - Moscow match took place in St Petersburg on 3rd-5th May 2003. This was a 2 round match over 40 boards. The players included Peter Svidler and Alexander. Moscow won 43.5-36.5. Games in PGN Further details: http://www.chess-express.ru and http://www.ruschess.com/. |
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| Generation Chess International The Generation Chess International Tournament took place in the Marshall Chess Club, New York City USA April 23rd - May 2nd 2003. The event had in place a rule where draw offers couldn't be made before move 50 (The penalty for taking premature draws was 10% of the GMs' appearance fee and 10% of prizes won. This was donated to America's Foundation for Chess. In addition, the organisers reserved the right to no longer invite the offending player to future events.). Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Perelshteyn, Eugene m USA 2461 6.5; 2. Krush, Irina m USA 2431 5.5; 3. Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2587 5.5; 4. Christiansen, Larry M g USA 2544 5.5; 5. Yudasin, Leonid g ISR 2558 5.0; 6. Simutowe, Amon m ZAM 2411 4.5; 7. Akobian, Varuzhan m USA 2547 4.5; 8. Bluvshtein, Mark m CAN 2451 3.5; 9. Muhammad, Stephen A f USA 2397 2.5; 10. Paschall, William M m USA 2429 2.0; Official site: http://www.generationchess.com, Live coverage on ICC: http://chessclub.com and chess.fm http://www.chess.fm |
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| Hunguest Hotels Super Chess Tournament The Hunguest Hotels Super Chess Tournament took place in Budapest 11th-20th April 2003. Nigel Short took first place with 6.5/9 a point clear of Judit Polgar who he beat in round 8. This is Short's best result since winning the category 15 Pamplona tournament in 1999. Daily Telegraph Chess Correspondent Malcolm Pein on the Budapest Opening Ceremony Games in PGN Round 9 (April 20, 2003) Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 29 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Lutz, Christopher - Berkes, Ferenc 1-0 25 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Leko, Peter - Movsesian, Sergei 1-0 45 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Korchnoi, Viktor - Acs, Peter 1/2 61 D11 Slav Defence Almasi, Zoltan - Short, Nigel D 1/2 9 C49 Four Knights Metger Final Standings: 1. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2686 6.5; 2. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2715 5.5; 3. Leko, Peter g HUN 2746 5.0; 4. Acs, Peter g HUN 2600 4.5; 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2700 4.5; 6. Lutz, Christopher g GER 2640 4.5; 7. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2632 4.0; 8. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2659 4.0; 9. Berkes, Ferenc g HUN 2578 3.5; 10. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2676 3.0; Official page: http://topchess.hu/verseny.html |
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| Basque team vs. Anand, Polgar and Karpov Santurtzi, a small Basque town near Bilbao (Spain) was the venue (May 1st-3rd.) of a very original match. The Basque team (GM Felix Izeta, GM JL Fernandez and IM Mario Gomez) will play a total of nine games (three blindfold, three advanced chess and three rapid [50 min. + 5 sec/move], three games each day) against Viswanathan Anand, Judit Polgar and Anatoli Karpov. According to the Town Council, the main sponsor, "the idea is a combination of the sporting, cultural and spectacular sides of chess". Pablo Sierra reports: According to Spanish newspaper "Marca", Anatoly Karpov has talked during the Basque Team vs. Polgar, Anand & Karpov that this year another Russia vs. Rest of the World match will take place in September in Monaco with the best Russian players vs. the best of the Rest of the World. Games in PGN Day 1 1st May: BLIND CHESS Izeta - Polgar (0-1) Polgar - Izeta (1-0) ADVANCED CHESS Fernandez - Karpov (draw) Karpov - Fernandez (draw) ACTIVE CHESS Gomez - Anand (0-1) Anand - Gomez (1-0) Day 2 2nd May: BLIND CHESS: 1ª José Luis Fernández - Vishy Anand (0-1) 2ª Vishy Anand - José Luis Fernández (1-0) ADVANCED CHESS: 1ª Mario Gómez - Judit Polgar (0-1) 2ª Judit Polgar - Mario Gómez (1-0) ACTIVE CHESS: 1ª Félix Izeta - Anatoli Karpov (0-1) 2ª Anatoli Karpov - Félix Izeta (1-0) Day 3 3rd May: BLIND CHESS 1ª Gomez - Karpov (draw) 2ª Karpov - Gomez (draw) ADVANCED CHESS 1ª Izeta - Anand (draw) 2ª Anand - Izeta (draw) ACTIVE CHESS 1ª Fernandez - Polgar (draw) 2ª Polgar - Fernandez (1-0) Internet site: http://www.ayto-santurtzi.com |
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| Moscow Championships The Moscow Championships were a 32 player KO which take place 16th-30th April 2003. 15 GMs and 15 IMs compete. Evgeny Najer beat Vladimir Malakhov 2.5-1.5 in the 4 game final. Games in PGN - Complete Results: http://www.chess-express.ru Round 1 Results: (1/16): Malakhov - Glotov 1-0 1-0 Potkin - Balashov 1-0, 0-1 (0:2) Nikolenko - Smagin 1/2, 1-0 Riazantsev - Ivanov 1/2, 1/2 (1.5:0.5) Shipov - Agejchenko 1-0, 1/2 Kosyrev - Gavrilov 1/2, 1/2 (2:1) Kholmov - Korotylev 1/2, 1-0 Rychagov - Shorokhov 1-0, 1-0 Kobalia - Maksimov 1-0, 1-0 Sambuev - Devjatkin 1-0, 0-1 (2:1) Yakovenko - Kozlov 1-0, 1-0 Vorobiov - Ulko 0-1, 1-0 (2:1) Najer - Granovsky 1-0, 1-0 Vasiukov - Dragomaretsky 1/2, 1-0 Amonatov - Mitenkov 1-0, 1-0 Yuferov - Belov V. 1/2, 1/2 (2:0) Round 2 Results 1/8 Vladimir Malakhov g 2672 - Yuri Balashov g 2494 1/2 1/2 (2:0) Oleg Nikolenko m 2521 - Alexander Riazantsev g 2534 1/2 1-0 Sergey Shipov g 2604 - Vladimir Kosyrev g 2530 1-0 0-1 (2:1) Andrey Rychagov m 2556 - Ratmir Kholmov g 2439 1/2 1/2 (2:1) Mikhail Kobalia g 2639 - Bator Sambuev m 2484 1/2 1/2 (0.5:1.5) Dmitry Yakovenko g 2562 - Evgeny Vorobiov g 2534 1/2 0-1 Evgeny Najer g 2606 - Evgeny Vasiukov g 2529 0-1 1/2 Farrukh Amonatov g 2562 - Sergei Yuferov m 2441 1-0 0-1 (2:1) Round 3 Results 1/4 Vladimir Malakhov g 2672 - Oleg Nikolenko m 2521 1-0 1-0 Sergey Shipov g 2604 - Andrey Rychagov m 2556 1/2 1/2 (1.5:0.5) Evgeny Vorobiov g 2534 - Bator Sambuev m 2484 1/2 1-0 Evgeny Najer g 2606 - Farrukh Amonatov g 2562 1-0 Semifinals: 1/2 Vladimir Malakhov g 2672 - Sergey Shipov g 2604 1-0 1-0 Evgeny Najer g 2606 - Evgeny Vorobiov g 2534 1/2 1/2 (2:0) Final Moscow-ch (4 games): Vladimir Malakhov g 2672 - Evgeny Najer g 2606 1/2 0-1 1/2 1/2 |
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| St. Petersburg Championships The St. Petersburg Championships took place 16th-28th April 2003. Denis Yevseev won the event with 8/13. Men's Games in PGN and Women's Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Yevseev, Denis m RUS 2580 8.0; 2. Ionov, Sergey g RUS 2541 7.5; 3. Lugovoi, Aleksei g RUS 2563 7.5; 4. Popov, Valerij g RUS 2570 7.5; 5. Ivanov, Sergey g RUS 2557 7.0; 6. Klimov, Sergey m RUS 2507 7.0; 7. Solozhenkin, Evgeniy g RUS 2514 6.5; 8. Shaposhnikov, Evgeny m RUS 2564 6.0; 9. Loginov, Valery A g RUS 2540 5.5; 10. Aseev, Konstantin N g RUS 2539 5.0; 11. Novikov, Mikhail V RUS 2401 4.5; 12. Sergeev, Veniamin RUS 2426 4.0; 13. Praslov, Andrey f RUS 2417 2.0; Official site: (in Russian): http://www.totalchess.spb.ru/Kalend/2003/76chspb.html, Games http://www.totalchess.spb.ru/Kalend/2003/spb76.zip, additional coverage: http://www.ruschess.com/ |
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| III International Mario Covas The III International Mario Covas takes place in Santos (Brazil) April 22nd-30th 2003. The 6 player Cat XII double round robin has Milos (BRA), Morovic (CHI), Zapata (COL), Leitao (BRA), Hoffman (ARG) and Andrés (URU). Internet coverage: http://www.fpx.com.br and live on ICC. |
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| 60th Polish Championships The 60th Polish Championships took place in Warsaw April 22nd - May 4th 2003. The Category XII event was the strongest ever Polish championships. Tomasz Markowski was clear winner with 10.5/13. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Markowski, Tomasz g POL 2587 10.5; 2. Socko, Bartosz g POL 2577 8.0; 3. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2609 8.0; 4. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2634 8.0; 5. Cyborowski, Lukasz m POL 2543 7.5; 6. Miton, Kamil g POL 2545 7.0; 7. Jaracz, Pawel g POL 2549 6.5; 8. Grabarczyk, Miroslaw g POL 2508 5.5; 9. Bartel, Mateusz m POL 2443 5.5; 10. Kempinski, Robert g POL 2553 5.5; 11. Urban, Klaudiusz m POL 2451 5.5; 12. Staniszewski, Piotr m POL 2446 4.5; 13. Murdzia, Piotr m POL 2452 4.5; 14. Jakubowski, Krzysztof f POL 2483 4.5; Internet coverage: http://www.pzszach.org.pl (http://www.pzszach.org.pl/glowna.htm) |
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| Dubai Open 5th Dubai Open Chess Championships for the Sheikh Rashed bin Hamdan Cup takes place 20th-29th April 2003 in Dubai, UAE. 100 players from 26 countries including 46 GMs play in the 9 round Swiss. Konstantin Sakaev is the top seed in a field that includes Evgeny Pigusov, Aleksej Alexandrov and Alexander Motylev. Internet coverage: http://www.arabfide.com/dubaiopen2003/ including live games. |
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| Commonwealth Championships The Commonwealth Chess Championships for Men & Women And Boys & Girls (incorporating an International Open Chess Tournament) took place 19th-28th April 2003 in the Hotel Tulip Star, Mumbai, India. Nguyen Anh Dung finished first with a massive 8.5/10 score. The Commonwealth Championships were won by 4th placed Dibyendu Barua and the 5th place Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi won the women's event. Krishnan Sasikiran and Abhijit Kunte took Silver and Bronze in the men's, Anupama Gokhale and Nisha Mohota the remaining women's medals. Coverage: http://www.venuschessacademy.com/index.html |
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| Danish Championships The Danish Chess Championships took place in Horsens 12th-20th April 2003. The favourite Peter Heine Nielsen took first place half a point clear of Davor Palo. Games in PGN Round 9 (April 20, 2003) Palo, Davor - Schandorff, Lars 1/2 33 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Pedersen, Nicolai Vesterbaek - Hansen, Sune Berg 1/2 95 B22 Sicilian Alapin Fries-Nielsen, Jens Ove - Mortensen, Erling 1-0 45 B40 Sicilian Classical Pedersen, Steffen - Nielsen, Peter Heine 0-1 37 D18 Slav Defence Hoi, Carsten - Rasmussen, Karsten 1/2 47 D47 Queens Gambit Meran Final Standings: 1. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2625 7.0; 2. Palo, Davor m DEN 2483 6.5; 3. Pedersen, Nicolai Vesterbaek m DEN 2508 5.5; 4. Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2563 5.0; 5. Hansen, Sune Berg g DEN 2537 5.0; 6. Fries-Nielsen, Jens Ove m DEN 2448 4.5; 7. Rasmussen, Karsten m DEN 2423 4.0; 8. Mortensen, Erling m DEN 2453 3.5; 9. Pedersen, Steffen m DEN 2443 3.0; 10. Hoi, Carsten g DEN 2406 1.0; Website: http://www.skak-dm.dk/ |
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| Asian Teams The Asian Team Chess Championships took place in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) India April 7th-17th 2003. Teams: China, India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Iran, Kazhakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Macau and Bangladesh. China took first place in both the men's and women's competitions. Top 3: Men's: 1 CHINA 25.0 2 INDIA ‘A’ 23.5 3 INDIA ’C’ 23.0 Women's 1 CHINA 20.0 2 VIETNAM 19.0 3 INDIA ‘A’ 18.5 Selection of Men's Games in PGN and Selection of Women's Games in PGN Further details: http://www.asianteamchess2003.com |
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| 110th Scottish Championships The Scottish Chess Championships took place at George Heriot's School in Lauriston Place Edinburgh April 5th-13th 2003. The event was an 18 player Swiss. Paul Motwani, and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant finished on 7/9 and shared the title. Games in PGN Further information at: http://www.chessscotland.com/ |
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| Karpov vs. Macieja Rapid Match The 8 game Anatoly Karpov vs. Bartlomiej Macieja takes place in Warsaw, Poland 7th-10th April 2003. Play starts at 5pm each day. Timerate: 25 minutes + 5 seconds per move. Games in PGN Gm1 Karpov, Anatoly - Macieja, Bartlomiej 1-0 47 E39 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Gm2 Macieja, Bartlomiej - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 34 C45 Scotch Game Gm3 Karpov, Anatoly - Macieja, Bartlomiej 0-1 44 E39 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Gm4 Macieja, Bartlomiej - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 67 A28 English Four Knights Gm5 Karpov, Anatoly - Macieja, Bartlomiej 1/2 26 E15 Queens Indian Gm6 Macieja, Bartlomiej - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 53 C36 Kings Gambit Modern Variation Gm7 Karpov, Anatoly - Macieja, Bartlomiej 1/2 21 E39 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Gm8 Macieja, Bartlomiej - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 42 C33 Kings Bishops Gambit) Website: http://www.zagraj.pl |
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| XII Dos Hermanas The XII Dos Hermanas over the board tournament took place March 28th - April 5th 2003. Alexander Rustemov and Alexey Dreev finished on 6/9. Further details: http://www.doshermanas.net and http://www.jaque.tv/doshermanas03.htm. Live coverage: http://doshermanas.soloajedrez.com/ Games in PGN Round 9 (April 5, 2003) Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 34 D48 Queens Gambit Meran Epishin, Vladimir - Rustemov, Alexander 1/2 59 A35 English Symmetrical Karjakin, Sergey - Tiviakov, Sergei 1-0 113 B37 Sicilian Maroczy Bind Illescas Cordoba, Miguel - Khalifman, Alexander 1/2 25 A30 English Symmetrical Campora, Daniel H - Dreev, Alexey 0-1 97 B18 Caro Kann Final Standings: 1. Rustemov, Alexander g RUS 2604 6.0; 2. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2690 6.0; 3. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2702 5.5; 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2629 5.5; 5. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2626 5.0; 6. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 5.0; 7. Karjakin, Sergey m UKR 2547 3.5; 8. Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2595 3.0; 9. Campora, Daniel H g ARG 2505 3.0; 10. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2635 2.5 |
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| April Rating List The April Rating list is out now. FIDE April 2003 Rating List: Top 100 The FIDE April 2003 list is out. A quick look at the top 100 shows the top three the same but with significant changes in rating with Kasparov down 17 points to drop to 2830, Kramnik down 18 points to 2789 whilst Anand gains 11 to 2764. Risers in the top 10 sees Leko 5 to 4. Shirov 9 to 5. Polgar back in the top 10. Further details and the full list at: http://www.fide.com |
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| SIS-MH Masters, Denmark The SIS-MH Masters took place in Middelfart, Denmark, April 5th-6th 2003. Viswanathan Anand took first place drawing just one game and winning the rest. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2753 5.5; 2. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2620 3.0; 3. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2610 3.0; 4. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2570 0.5; Website: http://www.sis-mh-masters.dk |
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| 12th Amber Tournament The 12th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament took place 15th-27th March 2003 (rest days 19th and 24th March play takes place 13:30-20:00 each day). The event was sponsored by J.J. van Oosterom and will take place in the Vista Palace Hôtel in Roquebrune Cap-Martin Monaco. Prizes worth $193,250 are at stake. Viswanathan Anand took clear first in the combined standings with 14.5/22 a point clear of Leko and Morozevich. Games in PGN Amber 2003 Results and Crosstables Website: http://chess.lostcity.nl/amber/ Round 11 March 27th 2003 Blindfold Ivanchuk 1/2 Bareev, van Wely 1/2 Shirov, Ljubojevic 1/2 Kramnik, Morozevich 1/2 Almasi, Anand 1-0 Topalov, Gelfand 1/2 Leko, Rapid Bareev 1/2 Ivanchuk, Shirov 1-0 van Wely, Kramnik 1-0 Ljubojevic, Almasi 0-1 Morozevich, Topalov 1/2 Anand, Leko 1/2 Gelfand. Final Blindfold Rd11 Standings: 1. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2807 8.0; 2. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2678 7.0; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2753 7.0; 4. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2700 6.5; 5. Leko, Peter g HUN 2736 6.0; 6. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2743 6.0; 7. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 5.5; 8. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2699 5.0; 9. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2676 5.0; 10. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2668 5.0; 11. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2729 3.0; 12. Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2570 2.0; Final Rapid Rd11 Standings: 1. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2729 8.0; 2. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2753 7.5; 3. Leko, Peter g HUN 2736 7.5; 4. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2743 7.0; 5. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2678 6.5; 6. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 6.0; 7. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2700 5.5; 8. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2807 5.0; 9. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2676 4.5; 10. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2699 4.0; 11. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2668 3.0; 12. Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2570 1.5 Final Combined Rd11 Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2753 14.5; 2. Leko, Peter g HUN 2736 13.5; 3. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2678 13.5; 4. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2807 13.0; 5. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2743 13.0; 6. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2700 12.0; 7. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 11.5; 8. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2729 11.0; 9. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2676 9.5; 10. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2699 9.0; 11. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2668 8.0; 12. Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2570 3.5 |
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6th United Insurance - Dhaka Marat Dzhumaev. Photo © Haroon or Rashid The 6th United Insurance & United Leasing GM Chess Tournament-2003 took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh 8th-20th March 2003. Games in PGN Correction to games and standings with a correction to the results of the Rd1 game Abdullah Al Rakib vs. Vakhidov Tahir and Ahmed - Magem Badals Rd13. Final Standings: 1. Dzhumaev, Marat g UZB 2507 9.0; 2. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2635 9.0; 3. Rahman, Ziaur g BAN 2542 9.0; 4. Barsov, Alexei g UZB 2525 8.0; 5. Goloshchapov, Alexander g UKR 2523 8.0; 6. Vakhidov, Tahir m UZB 2546 7.0; 7. Murshed, Niaz g BAN 2435 7.0; 8. Hossain, Enamul m BAN 2451 6.5; 9. Magem Badals, Jordi g ESP 2493 6.5; 10. Reefat, Bin-Sattar m BAN 2451 6.0; 11. Neelotpal, Das m IND 2406 5.5; 12. Ahmed, Sk. Nasir f BAN 2309 3.5; 13. Rahman, Taibur f BAN 2300 3.0; 14. Abdulla, Al-Rakib m BAN 2405 3.0; Internet coverage: http://www.bcs-online.org/ |
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| Maurice Ashley on Draws GM Maurice Ashley comments on the long discussed issue of early draws. Maurice Ashley on draws |
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| Dos Hermanas Internet The IV Internet Chess Tournament Ciudad de Dos Hermanas took place on the Internet Chess Club (ICC), the final stages of which were on 21st (starts 3pm EST) and 22nd March 2003 (starts 12pm EST). Vladimir Potkin was the winner of the event. Internet coverage: http://www.chessclub.com/event/doshermanas2003/ and http://www.doshermanas.net |
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Linares Peter Leko first on tie-break (number of wins) from Kramnik. Photo © Simón Hernández - Jaque Magazine The traditional Linares Supertournament (XX "Ciudad de Linares") was a 7 player double round robin with Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Peter Leko, Ruslan Ponomariov, Francisco Vallejo Pons and Teimour Radjabov. Peter Leko took first on tie-break from Vladimir Kramnik. They were half a point clear of Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov. The final chapter of the event was the prize-giving. The tournament marked the end of a four year, 10 tournament winning streak for Kasparov (Wijk aan Zee 1999 - Linares 2002). It might have been Leko who won the tournament but it seems Kasparov was determined to win the prize-giving. See report by David Llada http://www.jaque.tv/kasparov_colera03.htm. I also have some eyewitness accounts. Kasparov created a terrible scene at the closing ceremony of the event over the awarding of the beauty prize by journalists to Teimour Radjabov for his win over Kasparov in round 2. The award was a difficult one to make. There were 20 journalists who voted and the lack of a clearly great game meant that the game Kasparov vs. Radjabov from round 2 won with only 6 votes. Leontxo Garcia justified his choice of the game by saying "beauty is a subjective concept for me and Nxe5 (Radjabov's piece sacrifice) was really a beautiful move and it is beautiful to see a 15 year old boy play with such imagination". Both players were called to the stage and a clearly angry Kasparov took the microphone and complained ""It is not correct to award a prize to a game where a piece was blundered. I take it as a public insult and a humiliation." At the end there was supposed to be group photos but Kasparov wanted to leave. Kasparov was still complaining about the verdict and asked Ian Rogers who he voted for. When he answered the Radjabov game he launched into a further tirade. "You (and journalists like you) are responsible for the bad state of the chess world. Rogers, what is your Elo? You must hate chess. Don't you understand what a best game is? Quality. Where is the quality in a piece blunder? By voting for this game you show that you would vote for any game where Kasparov loses. Any game would be better than this for the prize." This went on for about ten minutes in a similar vein. Interestingly I didn't realise that Kasparov also behaved pretty badly at the conclusion of the actual game. He deliberately lost on time and left the board without shaking hands with Radjabov (although a short time later I understand he did compose himself and shake hands). Kasparov is no longer a young man when such behaviour is more understandable. Why he couldn't have been more classy and said something like "I was disappointed to lose this game which I think was ruined by blunders from me but this was a good debut from a fine young player who I'm sure I'll play many times again", I'm not sure unless he wanted to try and intimidate Radjabov in some way. Keres many years ago said that he always took great care to beat young players when he first met them as it proved useful psychologically for later games when they became stronger. I wonder if this partially is at the heart of this, Radjabov no longer has to cross the barrier of beating Kasparov which many players have never crossed and Kasparov is angry with himself for allowing it to happen. You can read Kasparov's comments on the game at the sadly suspended site worldchessrating.com. At the end of the day Kasparov made a huge fuss about a prize of minuscule importance whose fate would have gone unreported. For instance I bet you didn't know there was another prize, most fighting player, which went to Peter Leko. Schedule: The Opening ceremony and drawing - 21st February 2003. Round 1 22nd February - Last round and closing ceremony 9th March 2003 - Rest days 26th February and 4th March 2003. Linares Super Tournament - Crosstable and Results Linares Super Tournament - Pairings Games in PGN  Malcolm Pein writes for the Daily Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk) you can read his chess columns along with those of Nigel Short and David Norwood at their new Chess Club (to read the columns you need to register which is free). Win Prizes by solving the Daily Telegraph Chess Challenge [left hand side of the Chess Club] Linares Comments by Malcolm Pein: Round 1 - Round 2 - Round 3 - Round 4 - Round 5 - Round 6 - Round 7 (correction Anand should draw)- Round 8 - Round 9 - Round 10 - Round 11 - Round 12 - Round 13 - Round 14 - Prizegiving Round 14 (March 9, 2003) Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 35 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo Anand, Viswanathan - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 32 B72 Sicilian Dragon Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1 53 E18 Queens Indian Final Standings: 1. Leko, Peter g HUN 2736 7.0; 2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2807 7.0; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2753 6.5; 4. Kasparov, Garry g RUS 2847 6.5; 5. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2734 5.5; 6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2629 5.0; 7. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2624 4.5; Viswanathan Anand will follow the Amber event by playing in the SIS-MH Masters, Denmark, April 4-6 2003 in Middelfart and an event on the Danish island of Funen April 5-6. Danish GMs Peter Heine Nielsen, Curt Hansen and GM Jonny Hector, Sweden will take part in a double round robin event with rapid games. Further details: http://www.sis-mh-masters.dk Official websites: http://www.elmundo.es - Live Coverage Page and http://www.todoajedrez.tv the latter site has coverage of the Anibal Open which started on Feb 28th. Anibal Open Games in PGN Final Standings: 1 Korobov, Anton UKR 2509 7.5 2 Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS 2566 7.5 3 Kharlov, Andrei RUS 2597 7.5 4 Del Rio Angelis, Salvador G. ESP 2487 7.5 5 Delchev, Aleksander BUL 2583 7.5 6 Beliavsky, Alexander G SLO 2649 7 7 Vasquez, Rodrigo CHI 2481 7 8 Kotronias, Vasilios CYP 2573 7 9 Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2585 7 10 Gleizerov, Evgeny RUS 2579 7 11 Halkias, Stelios GRE 2521 6.5 12 Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2538 6.5 13 Grigoriants, Sergey RUS 2524 6.5 14 Sorokin, Maxim ARG 2560 6.5 15 Pavlovic, Milos YUG 2560 6.5 16 El Gindy, Essam EGY 2467 6.5 17 Potkin, Vladimir RUS 2516 6.5 18 Porper, Eduard ISR 2429 6.5 19 Cheparinov, Ivan BUL 2478 6.5 20 Adly, Ahmed EGY 2315 6.5 21 Alonso, Salvador ARG 2443 6.5 22 Campora, Daniel H. ARG 2505 6.5 23 Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2520 6 24 Hoffman, Alejandro ARG 2506 6 25 Labib, Ibrahim Hasan EGY 2439 6 26 Kempinski, Robert POL 2545 6 27 Socko, Bartosz POL 2577 6 28 Blehm, Pawel POL 2526 6 29 Arizmendi Martinez, Julen L. ESP 2520 6 30 Rodriguez Guerrero, Enrique ESP 2450 6 31 Ivanov, Jordan BUL 2446 6 32 Fernandez Romero, Ernesto ESP 2396 6 33 Rizouk, Aimen ALG 2519 6 34 Perez Candelario, Manuel ESP 2404 6 35 Shetty, Rahul IND 2372 6 126 players. |
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| Edda
Rapid Tournament The Edda Rapid Tournament took place in the Reykjavik City Theatre March 3rd-5th 2003. Time control 25 minutes. 9 round Swiss. Mikhail Gurevich took first place alone. Games in PGN Rounds 1-9 (there are a number of errors in the games) Final Standings: 1 Gurevich, Michail BEL 2634 8 2-3 Sokolov, Ivan NED 2688 7 Sutovsky, Emil ISR 2651 7 4-12 Lautier, Joel FRA 2670 6.5 Shirov, Alexei ESP 2723 6.5 Adams, Michael ENG 2734 6.5 Van Wely, Loek NED 2668 6.5 Nikolic, Predrag BIH 2638 6.5 Ehlvest, Jaan EST 2600 6.5 Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2671 6.5 Bologan, Victor MDA 2630 6.5 Votava, Jan CZE 2518 6.5 13-21 Macieja, Bartlomiej POL 2629 6 Topalov, Veselin BUL 2743 6 McShane, Luke ENG 2568 6 Stefansson, Hannes ISL 2569 6 Olafsson, Helgi ISL 2475 6 Krasenkow, Michal POL 2633 6 De Firmian, Nick USA 2537 6 Björnsson, Sigurbjörn ISL 2267 6 Oral, Tomas CZE 2550 6 102 players. Internet site: http://www.icechess.com/Edda2003 |
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| GM
Ludek Pachman 1924-2003 The Czech Grandmaster Ludek Pachman born 11th May 1924 is reported to have died in Passau, Germany at the age of 78 on Thursday 6th March 2003. Pachman was seven times champion of Czechoslovakia, won six international tournaments and played in six Interzonals. He was a supporter of the reformist Czech Prime-minister Alexander Dubcek and was jailed a number of times after the Soviet occupation of Czecheslovakia in 1968 to reverse the reforms. He was allowed to leave for Germany in 1972. He was a prolific journalist and the writer of over 80 books. Pachman had a +2 -2 =4 record against Bobby Fischer. Report of his death at: http://www.edicom.ch/news/international/030310150042.mo.shtml Here are his two wins: Pachman,L - Fischer,R [D07] Santiago Santiago (6), 1959 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 0-0 7.a3 Bxc3 8.Bxc3 Ne4 9.Qc2 a5 10.b3 b6 11.Bb2 Ba6 12.Bd3 f5 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.0-0 Rf6 15.Rfd1 Rh6 16.Bf1 g5 17.cxd5 g4 18.Bxa6 gxf3 19.gxf3 Qg5+ 20.Kf1 Rxh2 21.fxe4 Rf8 22.e5 f4 23.e4 f3 24.Ke1 Qg1+ 25.Kd2 Qxf2+ 26.Kc3 Qg3 27.Qd3 exd5 28.Rg1 Rg2 29.Rxg2 Qxg2 30.Qf1 dxe4 31.Qxg2+ fxg2 32.Rg1 Rf2 33.Bc4+ Kf8 34.Bd5 Rf3+ 35.Kc4 b5+ 36.Kc5 Ne7 37.Rxg2 Nxd5 38.Kxd5 Rxb3 39.Kxe4 b4 40.axb4 axb4 1-0 Fischer,R - Pachman,L [C75] Mar del Plata Mar del Plata (3), 25.03.1959 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 Bd7 6.d4 Nge7 7.Bb3 h6 8.0-0 Ng6 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.Nc4 Bg5 11.Ne3 Bxe3 12.Bxe3 0-0 13.h3 Re8 14.Nh2 Qe7 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Qh5 Na5 17.Bc2 Nc4 18.Bc1 Nf4 19.Qf3 Rad8 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.Qxf4 Bc6 22.Ng4 h5 23.Ne3 Nxb2 24.Nf5 Qf6 25.Qxc7 Qxc3 26.Rac1 Qf6 27.Rfe1 Nd3 28.Bxd3 Rxd3 29.Qf4 g6 30.Rc5 Re6 31.Qb8+ Rd8 32.Qf4 gxf5 33.Rxf5 Qg7 34.Rxh5 Rde8 35.f3 Re5 36.Rh4 Rg5 37.Rg4 Rxg4 38.hxg4 Qd4+ 39.Re3 Qe5 40.Qf5 Qxf5 41.gxf5 Rd8 42.Kf2 Bb5 43.Ke1 Kg7 44.e5 Rd4 45.g4 Kh6 46.e6 f6 47.Kf2 Rd2+ 48.Kg3 Kg7 49.Rc3 Bc6 50.a3 Re2 51.Kf4 a5 52.Rd3 a4 53.Rd8 Rf2 54.Rd3 b5 55.Rc3 Rxf3+ 56.Rxf3 Bxf3 0-1 |
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Dr Lim
Kok Ann 1920-2003 Dr Lim Kok Ann. Photo © Lim family Former secretary-general of FIDE Dr Lim Kok Ann has died at the age of 83. Born 27th January 1920 he died 8th March 2003. Dr Lim Kok Ann was a medical doctor gained worldwide fame in 1957 when he isolated the flu virus at the height of the Asian influenza epidemic. He was dean of the medical faculty at the University of Singapore and headed what became the Microbiology Department there until he retired in 1980. He was Singapore's first chess champion when the national championships were inaugurated in 1949. He established the Singapore Chess Federation, which he headed for 18 years. He went on to be secretary-general of the international chess federation FIDE 1982-1988. Info Junior Tay. Further details: Straits Times |
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Kasparov vs. Junior Match Kasparov vs Deep Junior Prizegiving. Photo © John Henderson The Kasparov vs. Deep Junior took place January 26th-February 7th 2003. The match was drawn 3-3. Games in PGN See Game 6 DEEP JUNIOR - Kasparov,G (2847) [B92] FIDE Man-Machine WC New York USA (6), 07.02.2003 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Kh1 Bd7 10.Be3 Bc6 11.Bf3 Nbd7 12.a4 b6 13.Qd3 Bb7 14.h3 Rc8 15.Rad1 h6 16.Rfe1 Qc7 17.g3 Rfd8 18.Kh2 Re8 19.Re2 Qc4 20.Qxc4 Rxc4 21.Nd2 Rc7 22.Bg2 Rec8 23.Nb3 Rxc3 24.bxc3 Bxe4 25.Bc1 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Rxc3 27.Ba3 Ne8 28.f4 ½-½ IM Malcolm Pein analyses Game 5 (also in PGN) and rounds up the match after Game 6 Malcolm Pein
writes for the Daily Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk) you can read his chess columns
along with those of Nigel Short and David Norwood at their new
Chess
Club (to read the columns you need to register which is free).Results Gm1 Kasparov, Garry - DEEP JUNIOR 1-0 27 D45 Anti-Meran Variations Gm2 DEEP JUNIOR - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 30 B42 Sicilian Paulsen Gm3 Kasparov, Garry - DEEP JUNIOR 0-1 36 D45 Anti-Meran Variations Gm4 DEEP JUNIOR - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 61 B44 Sicilian Paulsen Gm5 Kasparov, Garry - DEEP JUNIOR 1/2 19 E48 Nimzo Indian Gm6 DEEP JUNIOR - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 28 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2 The event is called the "The FIDE Man Vs Machine World Chess Championship" and is sponsored by FIDE and presented by X3D Technologies Corporation which covered the recent Kasparov - Karpov match. The time control is 40 moves in 2 hours followed by 20 moves in one hour then 30 minutes for the rest of the game. The Prize Fund is $1m with a $500,000 fee for Garry Kasparov, the other half being divided: Winner gets $300,000 to the winner and the loser $200,000, in the case of a tie, $250,000 each. Official Live coverage: http://www.x3dworld.com |
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Category XV in Reykjavik Winner Alexei Shirov - Photo © Ingvar Johannesson Iceland's Hrokurinn Chess Club organised a category XV tournament which took place at the Reykjavik Art Museum, February 18th-27th 2003. Alexei Shirov took clear first with 7/9. Games in PGN Round 9 (February 27, 2003) Shirov, Alexei - Sokolov, Ivan 1-0 70 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Korchnoi, Viktor - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 44 D23 QGA Adams, Michael - Stefansson, Hannes 1-0 39 B66 Sicilian Rauzer Gretarsson, Helgi Ass - Macieja, Bartlomiej 1/2 56 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Kristjansson, Stefan - McShane, Luke J 0-1 44 B22 Sicilian Alapin Final Standings: 1. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 7.0; 2. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2629 6.0; 3. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2642 6.0; 4. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2688 5.5; 5. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2568 5.5; 6. Adams, Michael g ENG 2734 5.0; 7. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2671 3.5; 8. Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2569 3.0; 9. Gretarsson, Helgi Ass g ISL 2516 2.5; 10. Kristjansson, Stefan m ISL 2432 1.0; Reports by Rod McShane: Rd1- Rd2 - Rd3 - Rd4 - Rd5 - Rd6 - Rd7 - Rd8 Games were broadcast live on ICC and the Club's website http://www.hrokurinn.is (Icelandic) and http://icechess.com/Hrokur2003/index.php (English) |
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Aeroflot Open 2003 Aeroflot Open winner Viktor Bologan celebrates. Photos © Eugeny Atarov ("64") The Aeroflot Open 2003 took place in Moscow 10th-20th February 2003. Aleksej Aleksandrov, Alexei Fedorov, Peter Svidler and Viktor Bologan finished on 7/9. Viktor Bologan finished first on tie-break and will be invited to play in Dortmund. Leading Final Standings (Source http://www.WorldChessRating.com) 1 Bologan, Viktor MDA 2630 7.0 2 Aleksandrov, Aleksej BLR 2633 7.0 3 Fedorov, Alexei BLR 2579 7.0 4 Svidler, Peter RUS 2693 7.0 5 Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2585 6.5 6 Galkin, Alexander RUS 2568 6.5 7 Rublevsky, Sergei RUS 2644 6.5 8 Sakaev, Konstantin RUS 2645 6.5 9 Dreev, Alexey RUS 2690 6.5 10 Smirnov, Pavel RUS 2572 6.5 11 Ulibin, Mikhail RUS 2581 6.0 12 Dolmatov, Sergey RUS 2591 6.0 13 Moiseenko, Alexander UKR 2597 6.0 14 Bu, Xiangzhi CHN 2569 6.0 15 Savchenko, Stanislav UKR 2539 6.0 16 Gagunashvili, Merab GEO 2563 6.0 17 Sutovsky, Emil ISR 2651 6.0 18 Kaidanov, Gregory S USA 2629 6.0 19 Lugovoi, Aleksei RUS 2540 6.0 20 Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2678 6.0 21 Popov, Valerij RUS 2579 6.0 22 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz AZE 2596 6.0 23 Kobalia, Mikhail RUS 2635 6.0 24 Shomoev, Anton RUS 2541 6.0 25 Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA 2642 6.0 26 Khenkin, Igor GER 2624 6.0 27 Granda Zuniga, Julio E PER 2623 6.0 28 Timoshenko, Georgy UKR 2539 6.0 201 playersSmall number of games from rounds 1-9 My thanks to ICC for their help with the games. Official site: http://www.aeroflotchess.com |
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| Cappelle la Grande The Cappelle la Grande Open took place 22nd February - 1st March 2003. Players included: Alexander Moiseenko, Karen Asrian, Artyom Timofeev, Zahar Efimenko, Eduardas Rozentalis, Suat Atalik, Edvins Kengis and Thomas Luther in the field of 600 players which had more than 80 GMs and more than 50 IMs. The famous Shogi player Toshiyuki Moriuchi also competed. Games in PGN Leading Final Standings: 1 Burmakin V. 2575 7 2 Rozentalis E. 2585 7 3 Schlosser P. 2534 7 4 Areshchenko A. 2566 7 5 Geller J. 2448 7 6 Bocharov D. 2524 7 7 Miroshniche E. 2538 7 8 Nalbandian T. 2465 6,5 9 Chernyshov K. 2561 6,5 10 Vysochin S. 2554 6,5 11 Zontakh A. 2508 6,5 12 Kengis E. 2578 6,5 13 Shneider A. 2511 6,5 14 Vorobiov E. 2541 6,5 15 Gajewski G. 2436 6,5 16 Klovans J. 2427 6,5 17 Atalik S. 2581 6,5 18 Jaracz P. 2546 6,5 19 Delaunay S. 2315 6,5 20 Luther T. 2575 6,5 21 Kuzmin G. 2495 6,5 22 Ionov S. 2531 6,5 23 Minasian A. 2557 6,5 24 Bobras P. 2441 6,5 25 Kovchan A. 2536 6,5 26 Iljushin A. 2537 6,5 27 Heberla B. 2389 6,5 28 Totsky L. 2511 6,5 29 Nogueiras J. 2528 6,5 30 Kveinys A. 2541 6,5 31 Guliev S. 2513 6,5 32 Makarov M. 2512 6,5 33 Potapov A. 2500 6,5 34 Iskusnyh S. 2496 6,5 35 Shirazi K. 2438 6,5 36 Sprenger J. 2431 6,5 37 Legky N. 2507 6,5 38 Skripchenko A. 2501 6,5 39 Eljanov P. 2571 6,5 608 players Website: http://www.cappelle-chess.com/home.php, live coverage: http://www.echecs21.com, http://www.chess21.com and http://www.ajedrez21.com |
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| 11th Aosta Open The 11th Aosta Open took place in Saint Vincent, Aosta, Italy, February 8th-16th 2003. Selection of Games in PGN. My thanks to Zenon Franco. Leading Final Standings: 1. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2592 7.5 2. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2635 7.0 3. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2678 7.0 4. Nevednichy, Vladislav g ROM 2567 7.0 5. Gurevich, Mikhail g BEL 2634 6.5 6. Rotstein, Arkadij g GER 2544 6.5 7. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2532 6.5 8. Palac, Mladen g CRO 2591 6.5 9. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2642 6.5 10. Atalik, Suat g BIH 2581 6.5 11. Ibrahimov, Rasul m AZE 2462 6.5 12. Georgiev, Vladimir g MKD 2549 6.5 13. Bauer, Christian g FRA 2579 6.5 14. Baklan, Vladimir g UKR 2605 6.5 15. Kveinys, Aloyzas g LTU 2541 6.5 etc http://www.scacchivda.com/ |
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| Hannes Stefansson vs. Sergei Movsesjan The Hellir Chess Club in association with the main sponsor OLIS and Guðmundur Arason organised a 6 game match between GM Hannes Stefansson (2569) and Sergei Movsesian (2663) in Reykjavík, Iceland, 10th-15th Movsesian ran out easy winner 4.5-1.5 Games in PGN Gm1 Movsesian, Sergei - Stefansson, Hannes 1-0 41 B57 Sicilian Sozin Attack Gm2 Stefansson, Hannes - Movsesian, Sergei 0-1 34 B84 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm3 Movsesian, Sergei - Stefansson, Hannes 1/2 52 B88 Sicilian Gm4 Stefansson, Hannes - Movsesian, Sergei 0-1 35 B84 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm5 Movsesian, Sergei - Stefansson, Hannes 1/2 30 C45 Scotch Game Gm6 Stefansson, Hannes - Movsesian, Sergei 1/2 19 B84 Sicilian Scheveningen Internet coverage: http://www.hellir.is/ games will be live on ICC. Sponsor http://www.olis.is/ |
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Nigel Short vs. Ehsan Ghaem Maghami Match All Iranian TV channels are covering this match and more than 20 newspapers have written big articles. Here is a pre-match photo to help publicise the match. Photo © Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh The Nigel Short and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami match took place in Tehran, Iran 12th-17th February 2002. Nigel Short won 4-2. Games in PGN Gm1 Short, Nigel D - Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1/2 33 B93 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.f4 Gm2 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan - Short, Nigel D 0-1 57 A25 English Sicilian Attack Gm3 Short, Nigel D - Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1/2 23 B70 Sicilian Dragon Gm4 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan - Short, Nigel D 0-1 49 A09 Reti Opening Gm5 Short, Nigel D - Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1/2 61 B92 Sicilian Najdorf Gm6 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan - Short, Nigel D 1/2 16 D35 QGD Exchange Internet coverage: http://www.iranchess.com/indexen.htm |
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Ponomariov in agreement with FIDE Ruslan Ponomariov at Wijk aan Zee. Photo © Pascal Villalba Notzai Yuri Vasiliev of Sport-Express has interviewed FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov at: http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?63354 Highlights (translation Mikhail Langer): Ilyumzhinov: "Ponomariov agreed to all the conditions, worked out by the FIDE commission in charge of organizing world championships. He agreed to play with a 7-hour time control and dropped his claims for any privileges. Even before, Ponomariov never raised the question of whether to play or not to play against Kasparov. He was more concerned with the fate of the unification process as a whole." "As a matter of fact, it will be officially announced this Saturday in Bucharest on the FIDE Presidential Board meeting...However, Sport-Express can be the first in the world to announce it. Here are the principal dates of the match: 19 June - 7 July 2003. It will take place in Buenos Aires. Prize fund: no less than 1 million dollars. Match will take place under the patronage of the Argentinean President, Eduardo Dualde, who is a big fan of chess and quite a strong player himself." Ilyumzhinov adds that the final reunification match will probably be in Buenos Aires or New York in November and he has offers on the table. He would be prepared to take Peter Leko if he can't come to an agreement with Kramnik. He very much wants to hear that their match is going ahead. On the FIDE Grand Prix "FIDE Grand Prix - that was the undertaking of the former director of FIDE Commerce, Artyom Tarasov. You remember how I had to save the tournament in Dubai..." "Grand Prix was thought about completely as a commercial project. So far, there are no interested sponsors. And FIDE cannot constantly pay money from its own pocket. I hope, chess players also understand this." Yasser Seirawan also gave a lengthy interview to Mikhail Golubev about the situations discussed above for "Chess Today #836" you can read it at: http://www.gmsquare.com/interviews/seirawan2.html |
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| Bermuda 2003 The Bermuda GMA and GMB 2003 tournaments took place 25th January - 5th February 2003. Giovanni Vescovi of Brazil won the Category XV GMA event with 8/11 half a point clear of Peter Svidler who in turn was half a point ahead of Tomasz Markowski. All three players performed to above 2700. Daniel Fridman won the Category X GMB event with 8/11 half a point clear of Hikaru Nakamura of the USA. He scores his 3rd and final GM norm and subject to FIDE confirmation has broken Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest US GM. Hikaru Nakamura (b. Dec 9, 1987) GM at the age of 15 years and 58 days. Robert Fischer -15 years and 185 days. My thanks to Paul Hodges. GMA Group Games in PGN and GMB Group Games in PGN GMA Final Standings: 1. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2592 8.0; 2. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2693 7.5; 3. Markowski, Tomasz g POL 2574 7.0; 4. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2640 6.0; 5. Miton, Kamil g POL 2544 5.5; 6. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2629 5.0; 7. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2663 5.0; 8. Volokitin, Andrei g UKR 2565 5.0; 9. Gershon, Alik g ISR 2571 4.5; 10. Shabalov, Alexander g USA 2613 4.5; 11. Christiansen, Larry M g USA 2562 4.0; 12. Al-Modiahki, Mohamad g QAT 2571 4.0; GMB Final Standings: 1. Fridman, Daniel g LAT 2572 8.0; 2. Nakamura, Hikaru m USA 2520 7.5; 3. Perelshteyn, Eugene m USA 2442 7.0; 4. Schmaltz, Roland g GER 2529 6.5; 5. Moreno Carnero, Javier m ESP 2508 5.5; 6. Berg, Emanuel m SWE 2527 5.5; 7. Seul, Georg m GER 2437 5.0; 8. Kallio, Heikki g FIN 2474 5.0; 9. Paschall, William M m USA 2444 5.0; 10. Dinstuhl, Volkmar m GER 2416 4.5; 11. Blatny, Pavel g CZE 2475 3.5; 12. Mulyar, Michael A m USA 2446 3.0; The official web site is: http://www.Bermuda.bm/chess |
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| Gibraltar Chess
Congress The Gibraltar Chess Congress took place 28th January 6th February 2003. Two 10 round Swisses. Vasilios Kotronias and Nigel Short shared first on 7.5/10. John Shaw got his first GM norm after Jim Plaskett lost on time after forgetting the time limit didn't include extra time at move 40. Games in PGN Round 10 Standings: 1st= Short, Nigel D g ENG 2690 7.5/10; 1st=. Kotronias, Vasilios g CYP 2573 7.5/10; 3. Palac, Mladen g CRO 2591 7.0/10; 4. Shaw, John m SCO 2470 7.0/10; 5. Johansen, Darryl K g AUS 2487 6.5/10; 6. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2635 6.5/10; 7. Sulskis, Sarunas g LTU 2567 6.5/10; 8. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2626 6.5/10; 9. Ledger, Andrew m ENG 2397 6.5/10; 10. Cherniaev, Alexander1 m RUS 2504 6.0/10; 11. Plaskett, Jim g ENG 2467 6.0/10; 12. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2583 6.0/10; 13. Luther, Thomas g GER 2575 6.0/10; 14. Pavlovic, Milos g YUG 2560 6.0/10; 15. Lalic, Bogdan g ENG 2547 6.0/10; 16. Reinderman, Dimitri g NED 2506 6.0/10; 17. Barsov, Alexei g UZB 2525 6.0/10; 18. Ledger, David f ENG 2267 6.0/10 58 players. Website: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/ |
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| Alexandra Kosteniuk vs. Sergej Karjakin Match
The Dannemann Classico match between 18 year old Alexandra Kosteniuk the 13 year old Sergey Karjakin took place in Brissago, Switzerland February 1st-6th, 2003. Games in PGN Gm1 Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 41 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Gm2 Karjakin, Sergey - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1/2 26 B32 Sicilian Labourdonnais Gm3 Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Karjakin, Sergey 0-1 73 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Gm4 Karjakin, Sergey - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 34 B32 Sicilian Labourdonnais Gm5 Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 30 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Gm6 Karjakin, Sergey - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1/2 33 B32 Sicilian Labourdonnais Live coverage: http://www.chessbase.ch and http://www.chessbase.de |
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| Leonid Stein - E-Bay
Item An item describing itself as - Chess gold medal - USSR champion L. Shtain was for sold on E-Bay for $305. I've no idea it is real or not. If it is one of his winners medals I find it sad that it is for sale. Leonid Stein died of a heart attack in 1973 when still at the height of his powers. |
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| GM Open Letter to Kirsan
Iljumzhinov Mr Kirsan Illjumzinov Dear Mr President, We, a group of leading grandmasters participating in the international tournament in Wijk aan Zee, turn to you in this critical moment for the fate of world chess. We are deeply worried about the fact that the three stages of the FIDE Grand Prix have not been played. The first stage took place in Dubai in April 2002, the second in Moscow in June of the same year. As it is known, during the FIDE congress 2000 in Istanbul it was decided to return to the 2- year cycle of staging the world championship. The prize fund remained the same as for the 1-year cycle, i.e. three million US $ instead of the 5 million US $ for the 2-year cycle in 1997-1998. The explanation for reducing the prize fund was that the money saved this way would be used for the FIDE Grand Prix.Without stating reasons, the FIDE Grand Prix 2002 was stopped after two stages instead of the scheduled five. Furthermore, its official results have not been published. As this is one of the most important tournaments in the official FIDE calender, we find these situation unacceptable. Also, we are worried about the lack of reliable information concerning the world championship 2003 which the FIDE congress scheduled for November/December of this year. For professional players like us, it is absolutely necessary to plan far ahead so that we can prepare ourselves for the confirmed date and the rules of this tournament. In this letter, Mr President, we have expressed but a small part of the problems which have recently been worrying the grandmasters and the whole chess world. Sincerely yours, L. van Wely, E. Bareev, A. Karpov, R. Ponomariov, A. Grischuk and A. Shirov. Wijk aan Zee, Holland, 26.01.03 Additional signatures: V. Kramnik, V. Topalov, J. Polgar, M. Krasenkov, T. Radjabov, J Timman. Link to this document (in Russian) and faximile of signatures at: http://www.chess-express.ru/article/letter.html |
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Corus Wijk aan
Zee Winner Viswanathan Anand with second placed Judit Polgar just behind at Wijk aan Zee. Photo © Pascal Villalba Notzai The 65th Corus Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee took place January 10th-26th 2003. Viswanathan Anand took clear first place half a point clear of Judit Polgar. In third place was defending champion Evgeny Bareev. A Tournament All Games in PGN and B Tournament All Games in PGN Anand Corus Interview Round 13 (January 26, 2003) Anand, Viswanathan - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 14 C11 French Defence Van Wely, Loek - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 40 D27 QGA Ivanchuk, Vassily - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1-0 29 D28 QGA Radjabov, Teimour - Polgar, Judit 1/2 19 E15 Queens Indian Topalov, Veselin - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 66 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Karpov, Anatoly - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 15 E34 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Timman, Jan H - Krasenkow, Michal 1/2 70 B50 Sicilian Defence Final Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2753 8.5; 2. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2700 8.0; 3. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2729 7.5; 4. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 7.0; 5. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2668 7.0; 6. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2712 7.0; 7. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2699 7.0; 8. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2807 7.0; 9. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2624 6.5; 10. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2743 6.5; 11. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2688 6.0; 12. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2734 6.0; 13. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2633 4.5; 14. Timman, Jan H g NED 2594 2.5; B Tournament: Round 13 (January 26, 2003) Zhang Zhong - Van der Wiel, John 1-0 61 C69 Ruy Lopez Exchange Stellwagen, Daniel - Hector, Jonny 1-0 34 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Naiditsch, Arkadij - Nijboer, Friso 1-0 41 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Acs, Peter - De Vreugt, Dennis 1/2 34 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Koneru, Humpy - Rogers, Ian 1-0 70 E10 Blumenfeld Counter Gambit Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 40 B96 Sicilian Najdorf Jonkman, Harmen - Cmilyte, Viktorija 1-0 41 B22 Sicilian Alapin Final Standings: 1. Zhang Zhong g CHN 2624 11.0; 2. Stellwagen, Daniel f NED 2427 8.0; 3. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2585 8.0; 4. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2553 7.5; 5. Karjakin, Sergey m UKR 2547 7.0; 6. De Vreugt, Dennis g NED 2504 6.5; 7. Acs, Peter g HUN 2623 6.0; 8. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2509 6.0; 9. Koneru, Humpy g IND 2496 6.0; 10. Rogers, Ian g AUS 2569 5.5; 11. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2570 5.5; 12. Kosteniuk, Alexandra m RUS 2456 5.0; 13. Jonkman, Harmen g NED 2436 5.0; 14. Cmilyte, Viktorija m LTU 2452 4.0; Website http://www.coruschess.com reports in Russian at the new site: http://www.chess-express.ru |
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US
Championships
Winners Alexander Shabalov and Anna Hahn. Photo © AF4C The 2003 US Chess Championships took place in Seattle January 9th-19th 2003. The event was organised by the America’s Foundation for Chess (AF4C).Alexander Shabalov won the event with a final round win over Varuzhan Akobian. Anna Hahn won the women's championships after a playoff. Mig Reports from the US Championships: Mig at the US Championships Report 1 Mig at the US Championships Report 2 Games in PGN and Women's Playoff Games in PGN Round 9 (January 18, 2003) 1 GM Alexander Ivanov draw GM Gregory Kaidanov; 2 GM Alexander Stripunsky draw GM Boris Gulko; 3 GM John Fedorowicz draw GM Joel Benjamin; 4 GM Alexander Shabalov 1-0 IM Varuzhan Akobian; 5 IM Ben Finegold 1-0 WIM Jennifer Shahade; 6 GM Alexander Goldin 1-0 GM Alex Fishbein; 7 IM Ron Burnett draw GM Larry Christiansen; 8 GM Alex Yermolinsky draw IM Justin Sarkar; 9 GM Dmitry Gurevich 0-1 GM Yasser Seirawan; 10 IM Jesse Kraai 0-1 GM Nick De Firmian; 11 WGM Elena Donaldson draw GM Maurice Ashley; 12 IM Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 IM Greg Shahade; 13 FM Igor Foygel draw GM Gregory Serper; 14 IM John Donaldson 0-1 GM Gennadi Zaitshik; 15 FM Stephen Muhammad draw IM Boris Kreiman; 16 IM Eugene Perelshteyn draw WGM Irina Krush; 17 GM Anatoly Lein draw GM Walter Browne; 18 IM Larry Kaufman 1-0 WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg; 19 WIM Esther Epstein draw WIM Cindy Tsai; 20 IM Michael Mulyar draw GM Sergey Kudrin; 21 IM William Paschall 1-0 WGM Kamile Baginskaite; 22 David Pruess 0-1 IM Yury Lapshun; 23 IM Dean Ippolito draw IM John Watson; 24 FM Tegshsuren Enhbat 1-0 FM Gregory Markzon; 25 WIM Elina Groberman 0-1 WIM Anna Hahn; 26 FM Aaron Pixton 1-0 IM Stanislav Kriventsov; 27 Julia Shiber 1-0 WIM Olga Sagalchik; 28 Marc Esserman 1-0 FM Allan Bennett; 29 Anna Levina 0-1 WFM Laura Ross. Leading Final Standings: 1 Alexander Shabalov 6.5/9; 2-8 Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Goldin, Boris Gulko, Joel Benjamin, Alexander Ivanov, Alexander Stripunsky, John Fedorowicz 6/9. Women's Playoff Round 1 (January 19, 2003) Hahn, Anna - Krush, Irina 1-0 64 D48 Queens Gambit Meran Round 2 (January 19, 2003) Shahade, Jennifer - Hahn, Anna 0-1 42 B63 Sicilian Rauzer Round 3 (January 19, 2003) Krush, Irina - Shahade, Jennifer 1-0 33 A65 Benoni Final Standings: 1. Hahn, Anna wm USA 2219 2.0; 2. Krush, Irina m USA 2433 1.0; 3. Shahade, Jennifer wm USA 2330 0.0;  Official site: http://www.af4c.org Press releases from af4c by John Henderson. Pictures and text af4c. US Championships Seattle 2003. Opening Ceremony US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 1 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 2 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 3 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 4 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 5 US Championships Seattle 2003. Rest Day US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 6 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 7 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 8 US Championships Seattle 2003. Round 9 US Championships Seattle 2003. Women's Playoff |
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Bareev vs. HiarcsX Final Game. Evgeny Bareev (left) across the board from Mark Uniacke (Hiarcs programmer) Photo Eric van Reem. The Chess Events Maastricht (CEM) Foundation organised its 3rd Man-Machine Match in Maastrict January 28th-31st 2002. Evgeny Bareev drew with the computer program HiarcsX in a four game match all games were drawn. The event was sponsored by Duwell. Games in PGN Gm1 HIARCSX - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 42 C01 French Exchange Gm2 Bareev, Evgeny - HIARCSX 1/2 50 A25 English Sicilian Attack Gm3 HIARCSX - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 36 C11 French Defence Gm4 Bareev, Evgeny - HIARCSX 1/2 45 A20 English Opening Official site: http://www.chessevents.nl/ |
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| Indian Championships The 40th National A Championships of India took place 18th-31st January 2003 in Mumbai, India. The 21 round championships were a category VIII event. Krishnan Sasikiran won the event with 16/20. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2664 16.0; 2. Harikrishna, P g IND 2539 14.0; 3. Kunte, Abhijit g IND 2507 12.5; 4. Barua, Dibyendu g IND 2541 12.5; 5. Ganguly, Surya Shekhar m IND 2556 12.0; 6. Neelotpal, Das m IND 2406 11.5; 7. Sundararajan, Kidambi m IND 2416 11.5; 8. Thipsay, Praveen M g IND 2465 11.0; 9. Bakre, Tejas m IND 2464 11.0; 10. Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi IND 2395 10.0; 11. Ravi, Lanka m IND 2419 10.0; 12. Venkatesh, M.R IND 2399 10.0; 13. Prakash, G B m IND 2439 9.0; 14. Satyapragyan, Swayangsu m IND 2438 8.5; 15. Suvrajit, Saha IND 2390 8.5; 16. Ramesh, R.B m IND 2472 8.5; 17. Arvind, Shastry IND 2330 8.0; 18. Sriram, Jha m IND 2448 7.5; 19. Prathamesh, S. Mokal IND 2366 6.0; 20. Soman, Satchidanand IND 2364 6.0; 21. Saravanan, V m IND 2357 6.0; Official coverage (including live games): http://www.venuschessacademy.com/index.html |
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Korchnoi - Sadvakasov Match Photo © A.W.D. Group taken by Evgeny Tur - Chess in Kazakhstan Darmen Sadvakasov beat Viktor Korchnoi 5-3 in their match in Astana city (Kazakhstan) January 10th-20th 2003. Games in PGN Gm 1 Korchnoi, Viktor - Sadvakasov, Darmen 1/2 54 E43 Nimzo Indian Rubinstein Gm 2 Sadvakasov, Darmen - Korchnoi, Viktor 1/2 44 C83 Ruy Lopez Open Gm 3 Korchnoi, Viktor - Sadvakasov, Darmen 0-1 41 E41 Nimzo Indian Rubinstein Gm 4 Sadvakasov, Darmen - Korchnoi, Viktor 1-0 38 B18 Caro Kann Gm 5 Korchnoi, Viktor - Sadvakasov, Darmen 1/2 44 A06 Zukertort Opening Gm 6 Sadvakasov, Darmen - Korchnoi, Viktor 1/2 63 C70 Ruy Lopez Gm 7 Korchnoi, Viktor - Sadvakasov, Darmen 1/2 50 B95 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Bg5 Gm 8 Sadvakasov, Darmen - Korchnoi, Viktor 1/2 53 B35 Sicilian Defence Website: http://www.kazchess.com/turnirs/. News from Sergey Bystrov http://www.bs-chess.com/latin/news/kor_sad.html |
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| FIDE
final chance for Ponomariov? Ruslan Ponomariov at Wijk aan Zee. Photo © Pascal Villalba Notzai According a press release from FIDE they have tired of waiting for Ruslan Ponomariov to sign a contract to play Garry Kasparov and will now decide what alternative arrangements they will make. There is a lengthy press release explaining their decision. FIDE Press Release on Ponomariov Jan 16th 2002. I understand here was supposed to be a FIDE meeting during the Kasparov vs. Deep Junior match but there is an unconfirmed story that this has been postponed until the end of Wijk aan Zee to allow Ponomariov to attend. Mikhail Golubev has a page of material on the lead up to this at: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/crisis.htm and his comments on the situation: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_e.htm and an improved version at: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/unity_us.htm in Russian is a story http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/factfide.htm where Ponomariov has said he is absolutely ready to take legal action. According to the Ukrainian press the FIDE ultimatum has been prolonged until the end of Corus tournament. |
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| XIII
Paul Keres Memorial Rapid The XIII Rapid Chess Tournament Paul Keres Memorial took place January 11th-12th 2003 in Tallinn, Estonia. There were two stages, a preliminary event 25 + 25 mins, 7 round Swiss system. Then the main Men's Main tournament (25 + 25 min) played by 4 best players from group A, 3 players invited directly to Main Tournament and the best Estonian player. Alexander Morozevich won the event with 5.5/7. My thanks to Ülar Lauk. Games in PGN Further details http://www.maleliit.ee Final Standings: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2678 5.5; 2. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2690 5.0; 3. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2538 5.0; 4. Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2600 4.0; 5. Gavrikov, Viktor g LTU 2570 3.5; 6. Zontakh, Andrey g UKR 2508 2.5; 7. Veingold, Aleksandr m EST 2480 1.5; 8. Kanep, Meelis m EST 2445 1.0; |
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| Gausdal
Troll Masters The Gausdal Troll Masters Open GM-tournament takes place in Gausdal in Norway 7th -15th January 2003. The 10 rounds modified Swiss has a time rate of 2 hours / 40 moves and 1 hour / rest. Coverage: http://eirikgu.home.online.no/troll2003/ |
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| Mrs.
Nahed Ojjeh parts from Einstein Group Einstein Group Crisis as their sponsor Mrs. Nahed Ojjeh over Candidates tournament payments. Press release below. NAO CHESS CLUB Press release Paris, 14th January 2003 Mrs. Nahed OJJEH, President of NAO Chess Club, has decided to break all relations with the Einstein group. Since its creation, NAO Chess Club and its president Mrs. Nahed OJJEH have been seeking the development as well as the reunification of the world of chess. In that spirit, in July 2002, to guarantee the success of the "Candidates Tournament", first phase of the reunification process, Mrs. OJJEH put up a prize-fund of 300,000 Euros. The Einstein Group, in charge of the event, did not respect its engagement. It did not pay out the whole sum allocated to the players for the tournament. Some participants, among them Evgeny BAREEV and Boris GELFAND, were not paid. For the past four months, NAO's inquiries have remained unanswered by the Einstein Group. The Einstein Group claims it is not responsible, giving false excuses. This is both scandalous and unacceptable. These carry prejudices to the players and discredit the world of chess. The NAO Chess Club and its President cannot be responsible for such behavior and in consequence have decided to break all relations with the Einstein Group. NAO CHESS CLUB |
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| January
2003 FIDE Corrected Rating List The FIDE January corrected 2003 list is out. There were huge problems with the inital list released (http://www.chessscotland.com/grading/fidemess.htm) but it has now been recalculated. The top 100 shows only one change with Granda Zuniga gaining two points and rising one place. A quick look at the top 100 shows big changes throughout the list because of the Olympiad. Kasparov gains 9 points, Adams drops 11, Shirov back in the top 10, Akopian and Khalifman gain, Judit Polgar at 13 in the World is the highest she's been in years, Ivanchuk drops down to 15th and below 2700, Karpov down to 20th in the world, Morozevich's decline continues down from 10th to 23rd in the World, Smirin drops 19 points, Landa gains, Rublevsky loses 20, Korchnoi back in the top 50, Khenkin gains 24 points, Pelletier gains 37 points and jumps into the top 100 for the first time as does Peter Acs (gains 33). Granda Zuniga returns to the top 100 with a gain of points after a number of years inactivity, Hichem Hamdouchi gains 22 points to become possibly the first African player in the top 100, 17 year old Evgeny Alekseev gain 21 points to enter the list for the first time Oleg Korneev gains 61 points to reenter the top 100, Pavel Tregubov returns to the top 100, Levon Aronian gains 29 points to enter the top 100, out of the top 100 are Artur Jussupow, Vadim Milov, Laurent Fressinet, Andrei Istratescu, Giovanni Vescovi, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Joel Benjamin, Evgenij Agrest, Joerg Hickl, Peng Xiaomin, Valeriy Neverov and Bu Xiangzhi. FIDE January 2003 Rating List: Top 100 Source: http://www.fide.com. The full new list is available for download there. |
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| Hastings 2002 The 78th Hastings International Chess Congress took place at the Horntye Park Sport Complex Saturday 28th December 2002 to Sunday 5th January 2003. The Premier Tournament was a 9-round all-play-all event for ten invited players which was won by Peter Heine Nielsen. The Challengers finished 1 Daniel Gormally (ENG) 7.5/9; 2 Alexander Cherniaev (RUS) 7; 3-5 Mark Hebden, Nick Pert, Vladislav Borovikov (UKR) 6.5. Games in PGN Round 9 (January 5, 2003) Arkell, Keith C - Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 16 D35 QGD Exchange Harikrishna, Pentala - Flear, Glenn C 1-0 32 C42 Petroff's Defence Karjakin, Sergey - Barsov, Alexei 1/2 22 C18 French Winawer Sasikiran, Krishnan - Tseshkovsky, Vitaly 1/2 104 D85 Gruenfeld Defence Kosteniuk, Alexandra - McShane, Luke J 1-0 38 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Final Standings: 1. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2620 6.0; 2. Arkell, Keith C g ENG 2521 5.5; 3. Harikrishna, Pentala g IND 2551 5.5; 4. Barsov, Alexei g UZB 2525 5.0; 5. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2527 5.0; 6. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2546 4.5; 7. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2670 4.5; 8. Flear, Glenn C g ENG 2527 4.0; 9. Kosteniuk, Alexandra m RUS 2455 3.0; 10. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2545 2.0; Official coverage: http://hastingschess.org.uk/ |
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| 45th Reggio Emilia International The 45th Reggio Emilia International Chess Tournament took place December 29th 2002 - January 6th 2003. Jean-Luc Chabanon took first place from Mladen Palac on Sonnen-Berger tie-break both finished on 7/9. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Chabanon, Jean-Luc g FRA 2481 7.0; 2. Palac, Mladen g CRO 2568 7.0; 3. Tomescu, Vlad m ROM 2432 6.5; 4. Cebalo, Miso g CRO 2544 6.0; 5. Romanishin, Oleg M g UKR 2562 5.5; 6. Mrdja, Milan m CRO 2368 3.5; 7. Vezzosi, Paolo m ITA 2394 3.5; 8. Castaldo, Folco f ITA 2338 3.0; 9. Scalcione, Michelangelo f ITA 2366 1.5; 10. Iotti, Pierluigi f ITA 2314 1.5; Website |
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| 32nd Rilton Cup The 32nd Rilton Cup took place 27th December 2002 - 5th January 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. The 9 Round Swiss was won by Jonas Barkhagen with 7.5/9 half a point clear of Artur Jussupow, Tom Weberg and Tomi Nyback. Games in PGN Leading Final Standings: 1 Barkhagen, Jonas SWE 2458 7.5 2-4 Jussupow, Artur GER 2622 Wedberg, Tom SWE 2530 Nybäck, Tomi FIN 2445 7 5-10 Bellon, Juan ESP 2428 Brynell, Stellan SWE 2524 Berg, Emanuel SWE 2535 Gleizerov, Evgenij RUS 2581 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina RUS 2466 Hunt, Harriet ENG 2406 6.5 11-18 Vasquez, Rodrigo CHI 2481 Stefansson, Hannes ISL 2566 Fries-Nielsen, Jens-Ove DEN 2444 Handke, Florian GER 2504 Djurhuus, Rune NOR 2479 Ivanov, Sergey RUS 2561 Ornstein, Axel SWE 2426 Brendel, Oliver GER 2378 6 121 players Internet coverage: http://www.stockholmschack.nu/rilton.asp |
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| All material © Mark Crowther |
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 Kasparov Books |
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