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OLD FRONT PAGE STORIES 2004 |
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| Pamplona
Tournament The Pamplona, Navarra tournament took place 20th - 29th December 2004. The Category 16 main GM event was won by Boris Gelfand. Games in PGN (correction to Naiditsch - Sutovsky rd6 50. ...Qc3+ instead of the give Qe3+) Final Round 7 Standings: 1. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2693 5.5; 2. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2576 4.5; 3. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2637 4.0; 4. De la Riva Aguado, Oscar m AND 2528 3.5; 5. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2660 3.0; 6. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2611 3.0; 7. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2697 3.0; 8. Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2640 1.5; Official site: http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/iosumena/ with further info at: http://www.jaque.tv/pamplona04.htm |
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| Drammen
Tournament The Drammen Chess Festival took place 27th December 2004 - 5th January 2005. The main event was the Smartfish Chess Masters Alexei Shirov and Peter Heine Nielsen finished on 6/9. Kjetil Lie made a GM norm. Games in PGN Round 9 (January 5, 2005) Shirov, Alexei - Macieja, Bartlomiej 1-0 33 B45 Sicilian Classical McShane, Luke J - Lie, Kjetil A 1/2 45 A45 Trompowsky Korchnoi, Viktor - Stefanova, Antoaneta 1-0 63 A29 English Four Knights Johannessen, Leif Erlend - Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 16 D12 Slav Defence Carlsen, Magnus - Khalifman, Alexander 1/2 27 B31 Sicilian Rossolimo Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 6.0; 2. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2663 6.0; 3. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2629 5.5; 4. Lie, Kjetil A m NOR 2474 4.5; 5. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2601 4.5; 6. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2613 4.5; 7. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2669 4.0; 8. Johannessen, Leif Erlend g NOR 2519 4.0; 9. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2581 3.0; 10. Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2523 3.0; Official site: http://www.buskerudsjakk.org |
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| 47th Reggio Emilia
Tournament The 47th Reggio Emilia Tournament took place December 29th 2004 - January 6th 2005 at the Mercure-Astoria Hotel. Aleksander Delchev won the event with 6.5/9 and indeed couldn't be caught going into the final round. Games in PGN (Correction to Komarov-Sciortino (Rd4) 13.Bxc4 not Qxc4) Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Delchev, Aleksander g BUL 2601 6.5; 2. Miladinovic, Igor g GRE 2611 5.0; 3. Komarov, Dimitri g UKR 2555 5.0; 4. Cebalo, Miso g CRO 2520 5.0; 5. Rombaldoni, Denis ITA 2251 5.0; 6. Sciortino, Massimo ITA 2222 4.5; 7. Naumkin, Igor g RUS 2479 4.0; 8. Di Caro, Calogero f ITA 2317 3.5; 9. Chatalbashev, Boris g BUL 2554 3.5; 10. Tirabassi, Maurizio f ITA 2330 3.0; Official site: http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it (or directly) |
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| Hastings Chess
Congress The Hastings Chess Congress took place 28th December 2004 - 9th January 2005 and has a new format. The Hastings Premier and Challengers were combined into one knockout tournament. The games will be played with White having 70 minutes and Black 90 in which to make the first 40 moves. Then each player received an extra 20 minutes for all the moves. There will be an addition of one minute per move cumulatively from the first. Where games were drawn, ties will be resolved first by blitz games. Vladimir Belov beat Bartosz Socko 1.5-0.5 to win the Premier. A few Round 1-10 Games in PGN Official site: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk |
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| Harmonie Chess tournament
2004 The Harmonie Chess tournament 2004 took place December 21st-30th 2004 in Groningen. There was a four way tie on 6/9. 14 year old Yuriy Kuzubov took first place on tie-break, a combination of the results of games played amongst the leaders and Sonnenborn-Berger points. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Kuzubov, Yuriy m UKR 2530 6.0; 2. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2567 6.0; 3. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2493 6.0; 4. Visser, Yge m NED 2451 6.0; 5. L'Ami, Erwin m NED 2516 5.5; 6. Gagunashvili, Merab g GEO 2567 5.0; 7. Zhigalko, Andrey m BLR 2515 3.5; 8. Jones, Gawain C f ENG 2447 2.5; 9. Ernst, Sipke m NED 2521 2.5; 10. Brandenburg, Daan NED 2340 2.0; http://www.so-on.org/kerst2004/ |
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| Rilton Cup The Rilton Cup took place 27th December 2004 – 5th January 2005. 22,000 in Euros worth of prizes. Official site: http://www.stockholmschack.nu/rilton/index.html or more generally: http://www.stockholmschack.nu/ |
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Tigran Petrosian Memorial
Internet Tournament Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Tournament - the Russian team is sitting in a hall of the Hotel “St. Petersburg” in St.Petersburg. Photo of the match Russia – Armenia. Photo © Sergei Soloviov The Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Tournament took place December 18th-23rd 2004 with games starting at 12:00 noon in Paris, 14:00 in St. Petersburg. 15:00 in Yerevan and 19:00 in Beijing. Each country faced each of the other three countries two times for a total of six rounds. Fischer time control will be used (1 hour 30 minutes plus 15 minutes added at move 40; 30 second increments are added after every move). The event took place on ICC. China won the Tigran Petrosian Memorial Internet Tournament. Their final round match against Russia came down to the wire. The Russians led 2-1 but Wang Yue beat Vadim Zvjaginsev to tie the match and win the event for the Chinese. Final Scores: China 14.0 - France 13.0 - Russia 13.0 - Armenia 8.0 Official site: http://www.petrosian2004.com/ Games in PGN Round 1 18th December 2004 Armenia-Russia 2-2; China-France 2-2 Round 2 19th December 2004 France-Armenia 3-1; China-Russia 2-2 Round 3 20th December 2004 Russia-France 3-1; China-Armenia 3.5-0.5 Round 4 21st December 2004 Russia-Armenia 2.5-1.5; France-China 2.0-2.0. Round 5 22nd December 2004 France-Russia 2.5-1.5; China-Armenia 2.5-1.5. Round 6 23rd December 2004 Russia-China 2.0-2.0; France-Armenia 2.5-1.5. Players: Armenia (average rating: 2626) GM Aronian 2675 GM Lputian 2634 GM Sargissian 2611 GM Art. Minasian 2581 Russia (average rating: 2688) GM Svidler 2735 GM Dreev 2698 GM Khalifman 2669 GM Zvjaginsev 2650 France (average rating:2627) GM Lautier 2682 GM Fressinet 2640 GM Bauer 2622 GM Nataf 2565 China (average rating: 2590) GM Bu Xiangzhi 2615 GM Ni Hua 2611 GM Zhang Zhong 2596 GM Wang Yue 2536 |
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| 4th AMPLICO AIG LIFE Rapid
Tournament The 4th AMPLICO AIG LIFE Rapid Tournament took place in Warsaw (Poland) played during the 23rd Memorial of Stanislaw Gawlikowski. The tournament was a part of the ACP Tour and took place on Saturday, December 18th, 2003 and Sunday, December 19th, 2004 in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. The prize fund was 15.000 USD. There were 8 rounds of a swiss on day 1 from which the leading players qualified for day 2 whilst the rest of the players continued on. On the second day there were group stages from which the top player went through to the semi-finals and the remaining players were assigned groups to establish their finishing positions. Sergei Movsesian defeated Bartosz Socko in the final. Small number of games in PGN (now 34)- hopefully the official site will make available all the games it broadcast during the event. Internet coverage: http://www.pzszach.org.pl/amplico/lista.html |
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| Carlos Torre
Memorial The XVII Memorial Carlos Torre Repetto took place 13th-21st Decemeber 2004. There was an open phase which qualified players for a knockout phase where they were joined by Vassily Ivanchuk. Vassily Ivanchuk defeated Alexander Graf 2-0 in the final. Games in PGN - Games from the first 6 rounds of the open and the complete KO phase are now available. Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/ |
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| 2nd Ashdod Chess Festival The 2nd Ashdod Chess Festival took place 9th-15th December 2004. The main event was a Category 16 tournament with Israelis Boris Gelfand, Emil Sutovsky, Ilya Smirin and Boris Avrukh. They were joined by Gregory Kaidanov of the USA and Eduardas Rozentalis from Lithuania. Four players finished on 3/5. Smirin took first place on Berger tie-break having been the only player to defeat someone over 50% (Gelfand who thus finished in 4th). Avrukh and Rozentalis finished in joint 2nd. Games in PGN Final Round 5 Standings: 1. Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2673 3.0; 2. Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2614 3.0; 3. Rozentalis, Eduardas g LTU 2595 3.0; 4. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2693 3.0; 5. Kaidanov, Gregory S g USA 2611 1.5; 6. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2697 1.5; Official site: http://www.chess.org.il/Ashdod2004/En/Main.htm |
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Grand Prix d'Echecs d'Aix en
Provence Karpov beats Istratescu in the final. Photo © Mathieu Samakh CHATURANGA SAS The Grand Prix d'Echecs in d'Aix en Provence tournament took place 8th-11th December. Anatoly Karpov won the event by defeating Andrei Istratescu in the final. Murtas Kazhgaleyev took 3rd place after beating Joel Lautier in a playoff. Games in PGN (Karpov 1/2 Flear may not be fully correct and Istratescu 1/2 Karpov now complete) Round 1 Day 1: Kosteniuk 0-2 Kazhgaleyev, Lautier 2-0 Gouliev. Round 1 Day 2 Karpov 1.5-0.5 Flear and Istratescu 2-0 Stefanova Round 2: Istratescu 1.5-0.5 Lautier and Karpov 1.5-0.5 Kazgaleyev 3rd-4th Place Kazhgaleyev 3-2 Lautier Final Karpov 1.5-0.5 Istratescu Official Coverage: http://www.grandprixdaix.com (English and French versions) |
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| Nakamura vs Karjakin
Match US Champion Hikaru Nakamura beat Ukrainian Sergey Karjakin 4.5-1.5 in a six-game match against in Mexico 9th-14th December 2004. Gm1 Nakamura, Hikaru - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 41 C45 Scotch Game Gm2 Karjakin, Sergey - Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 60 B01 Centre Counter Gm3 Nakamura, Hikaru - Karjakin, Sergey 0-1 39 B53 Sicilian Hungarian Gm4 Karjakin, Sergey - Nakamura, Hikaru 1/2 59 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm5 Nakamura, Hikaru - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 55 B23 Sicilian Closed Gm6 Karjakin, Sergey - Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 57 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Games in PGN Official site: http://www.uaem.mx |
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2005 Chessmaster US
Championships  16-year-old Hikaru Nakamura defeated Alex Stripunsky to take the US Championships on a playoff. Photo © http://www.uschesschampionship.com The 2005 Chessmaster US Championships took place November 23rd - December 5th 2004 in San Diego, California. Hikaru Nakamura defeated Alex Stripunsky 2-0 in playoffs consisting of two games at G/25 plus 10 seconds per move. Rusudan Goletiani defeated Tatev Abrahamyan to take the women's title. Gata Kamsky returned to rated chess for the first time in a number of years and was undefeated but struggled to win games. Games in PGN Leading Final Round 9 Standings: 1st after Playoff Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2620 7.0; 2nd after playoff Playoff Stripunsky, Alexander g USA 2533 7.0; 3. Kaidanov, Gregory S g USA 2611 6.0; 4. Kudrin, Sergey g USA 2528 6.0; 5. Shulman, Yuri g USA 2549 6.0; 6. Benjamin, Joel g USA 2554 6.0; 7. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2653 6.0; 8. Serper, Grigory g USA 2542 6.0; 9. Gulko, Boris F g USA 2600 5.5; 10. Becerra Rivero, Julio g USA 2537 5.5; 11. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 5.5; 12. Goldin, Alexander g USA 2620 5.5; 13. Akobian, Varuzhan g USA 2571 5.5; 14. Wojtkiewicz, Aleksander g USA 2539 5.5; 15. Ibragimov, Ildar g USA 2585 5.5; 16. Fishbein, Alexander g USA 2505 5.5; 17. Yermolinsky, Alex g USA 2568 5.5; Round 9 Saturday 4th December 1 GM Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 GM Ildar Ibragimov 2 GM Alexander Goldin 0-1 GM Alex Stripunsky 3 GM Sergey Kudrin ½ GM Gregory Serper 4 GM Yury Shulman ½ GM Gata Kamsky 5 GM Gregory Kaidanov 1-0 IM Renier Gonzalez 6 GM Boris Gulko ½ GM Julio Becerra 7 GM Alexander Onischuk 1-0 GM Dmitry Gurevich 8 GM Varuzhan Akobian ½ GM Aleks Wojtkiewicz 9 IM Eugene Perelshteyn 0-1 GM Joel Benjamin 10 GM Alex Yermolinsky 1-0 Salvijus Bercys 11 GM Larry Christiansen ½ IM Yury Lapshun 12 GM Alexander Fishbein 1-0 IM Dmitry Schneider 13 IM Levon Altounian ½ FM Lev Milman 14 IM Blas Lugo 0-1 GM Igor Novikov 15 GM Alexander Shabalov 1-0 IM Irina Krush (w) 16 FM Marcel Martinez 0-1 GM Alexander Ivanov 17 GM Nick DeFirmian 1-0 FM Joshua Friedel 18 FM Stephen Muhammad 0-1 IM Ben Finegold 19 FM Dmitry Zilberstein 0-1 IM Cyrus Lakdawala 20 IM Stanislav Kriventsov ½ IM Ron Burnett 21 GM Walter Browne 1-0 FM Matt Hoekstra 22 WGM Rusudan Goletiani (w) 1-0 WGM Anna Zatonskih (w) 23 FM Bruci Lopez 0-1 FM Michael Casella 24 FM Robby Adamson 0-1 WFM Tatev Abrahamyan (w) 25 IM Jesse Kraai ½ WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg (w) 26 FM Tegshuren Enkhbat 1-0 FM Fabio La Rota 27 GM Anatoly Lein 1-0 WIM Jennifer Shahade (w) 28 Jake Kleiman 0-1 Chouchanik Airapetian (w) 29 Tatiana Vayserberg (w) ½ WFM Laura Ross (w) 30 Iryna Zenyuk (w) 1-0 WIM Esther Epstein (w) 31 Vanessa West (w) 0-1 WFM Anna Levina (w) 32 WIM Anna Hahn (w) 1-0 WFM Olga Sagalchik (w) Official site: http://www.uschesschampionship.com/ |
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| Keres
Memorial The Keres Memorial rapid took place in Tallinn 26th-27th November 2004. Viswanathan Anand won with a perfect 5/5 score. Games in PGN (two round three games missing) Final Round 5 Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2781 5.0; 2. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2669 3.0; 3. Lobron, Eric g GER 2509 2.5; 4. Nyback, Tomi g FIN 2554 1.5; 5. Kulaots, Kaido g EST 2597 1.5; 6. Kanep, Meelis m EST 2475 1.5; Official site: http://www.maleliit.ee/arhiiv/2004/keres/ |
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Russian
Championship Garry Kasparov: The winner by 1.5 points. Photo © Eugeny Atarov http://www.chesspro.ru The Russian Championship took place November 14th - 27th 2004 in the hotel Russia. The prize fund was $125,000 with $50,000 to the winner (paid in rouble equivalent). The all-play-all event saw Garry Kasparov, Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev, Alexey Dreev, Vitaly Tseshkovsky, Alexander Motylev, Vladimir Epishin, Artem Timofeev and Alexey Korotylev compete. The event is the strongest championship since 1988. Vladimir Kramnik withdrew at the last moment and the regulations stated that the event would go down to 12 players with Khalifman missing out (a bit harsh). Russian Championship 2004 - Kramnik Press Release his withdrawal was followed by Karpov at the last moment. After a slow start Garry Kasparov dominated the event winning 5 and drawing 5 which will increase his rating. This is his first tournament victory for a couple of years and it was a fine one leaving him 1.5 point clear of Alexander Grischuk. Games in PGN: View the Games Round 11 pictures and closing ceremony by Eugeny Atarov Round 10 pictures by Eugeny Atarov Round 9 pictures by Eugeny Atarov Round 7 pictures and very light notes Round 6 pictures by Eugeny Atarov Round 5 pictures by Eugeny Atarov Round 4 Pictures and very light notes Round 3 pictures and very light notes Round 2 pictures and very light notes Round 1 pictures and very light notes Round 11 (November 27, 2004) Grischuk, Alexander - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 39 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Svidler, Peter - Dreev, Alexey 1-0 37 B61 Sicilian Rauzer Timofeev, Artyom - Epishin, Vladimir 1/2 29 B10 Caro Kann Morozevich, Alexander - Motylev, Alexander 1-0 42 E62 King's Indian 6...Nc6 Bareev, Evgeny - Korotylev, Alexey 1-0 58 E39 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Final Standings: 1. Kasparov, Garry g RUS 2813 7.5; 2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2704 6.0; 3. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2698 5.5; 4. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 5.0; 5. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2651 5.0; 6. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 5.0; 7. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2715 5.0; 8. Korotylev, Alexey g RUS 2596 4.5; 9. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2599 4.5; 10. Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2611 4.5; 11. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2577 2.5; Official site Russian Chess Federation: http://www.russiachess.ru and official live coveragehttp://www.russiachess.ru/57russia/ alternatives: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/online/index.htm and http://www.chesspro.ru/online2/index.htm Further coverage: http://www.chesspro.ru/events/rus-ch04.shtml - (Daily annotations and live commentary by GM Shipov) |
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| Corsica
Masters The Corsica Masters in Bastia, France took place 29th October - 4th November 2004. After a 9 round Swiss which took place 29th-31st October with three points for a win the top 16 players played off for places in the knockout part of the event. Anand won the final after dropping just a single draw in the 8 games he played to win the event. He beat Nenad Sulava 1.5-0.5 and then Mikhail Gurevich, Etienne Bacrot and finall Sergei Rublevsky 2-0 to take the KO event. Games in PGN (4 of the 8 matches in the 1/8th finals missing) Final 4th November 2004 Anand, Viswanathan 2-0 Rublevsky, Sergei 1/2 Finals 3rd November 2004 Bacrot, Etienne 0-2 Anand, Viswanathan Rublevsky, Sergei 1.5-0.5 Motylev, Alexander 1/4 Finals 2nd November 2004 Gurevich, Mikhail - Anand, Viswanathan 0-2 Greenfeld, Alon - Bacrot, Etienne 0.5.1.5 Motylev, Alexander - Shirov, Alexei 2.5-1.5 Rublevsky, Sergei - Topalov, Veselin 2-0 1/8th Finals 2nd November 2004 Anand, Viswanathan - Sulava, Nenad 1.5-0.5 Bauer, Christian - Gurevich, Mikhail 0-2 Milov, Vadim - Greenfeld, Alon 0.5-1.5 Balogh, Csaba - Bacrot, Etienne 0-2 Shirov, Alexei - Zhang Pengxiang 2.5-1.5 Jussupow, Artur - Motylev, Alexander 0.5-1.5 Rublevsky, Sergei - Naiditsch, Arkadij 2-0 Bagheri, Amir - Topalov, Vesselin 0-2 Internet coverage: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ and http://www.opencorsica.com/ |
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| Prague Exhibition
Matches There were exhibition matches between Alexei Shirov vs. David Navara and Jan Timman vs Kaido Kulaots in Prague 3rd-4th December 2004. Last year Victor Korchnoi played David Navara. Games in PGN Shirov 1.5-0.5 Navara and Timman 1-1 Kulaots Official site: http://www.promopro.cz/ |
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| World Junior
Championship The World Junior Championships took place in the Hotel Casino, Cochin, India 18th November - 1st December 2004. The 13 Round Swiss was won by Pentala Harikrishna, he drew his final round game. Tigran Petrosian finished 2nd whilst Zhao Jun who started the round level on points was defeated by Radoslaw Wojtaszek and finished 3rd. The girls event was won by Ekaterina Korbut of Russia. World Junior Games in PGN and Girls Games in PGN - new file 10th December 2004 with more games. Official site: http://www.worldjunior.chessindia.org/index.asp |
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| Olympiad 2004 The 36th Chess Olympiad took place in Calvià (Majorca), 14th-31st October 2004. The Ukraine took the gold medal ahead of Russia and Armenia. China won the women's event. Garry Kasparov has written a letter to the FIDE Congress expressing concern about the lack of guarantees and details about his match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov supposedly in the UAE at the start of 2005. He thinks things may be developing as they did for the abortive match against Ruslan Ponomariov. FIDE Olympiad Kasparov Letter to the FIDE Congress In Russian: http://www.dachess.ru/material_list.php?news_id=1099044154 or English Translation.  Vassily Ivanchuk, top board for the new Olympiad Champions Ukraine. Photo © Allan Beardsworth. Men's Games in PGN and Women's Games in PGN. FIDE Olympiad Round 14 Results and Final Standings along with board performances FIDE Olympiad Round 13 Results and Standings ACP General Assembly Report by Jonathan Berry FIDE Olympiad Round 12 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 11 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 10 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 9 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 8 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 7 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 6 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 5 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 4 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 3 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 2 Results and Standings FIDE Olympiad Round 1 Results and Standings Round 14 Leading Men's Standings: 1 2 Ukraine +10 =4 -0 39.5 459.0 2 1 Russia +11 =0 -3 36.5 460.0 3 4 Armenia +8 =4 -2 36.5 459.0 4 10 United States +7 =4 -3 35.0 454.0 5 3 Israel +7 =5 -2 34.5 465.0 6 5 India +10 =0 -4 34.0 461.5 7 18 Cuba +8 =2 -4 33.5 456.0 8 8 Netherlands +9 =1 -4 33.0 428.5 9 20 Bulgaria +9 =1 -4 32.5 453.0 10 7 Spain A +8 =3 -3 32.5 439.5 11 24 Greece +7 =1 -6 32.5 427.5 12 9 Poland +6 =4 -4 32.0 445.5 13 29 Switzerland +5 =6 -3 32.0 442.5 14 30 Uzbekistan +8 =2 -4 32.0 440.5 15 26 Serbia Montenegro +6 =2 -6 32.0 435.0 16 13 Germany +6 =4 -4 32.0 430.0 17 23 Slovenia +10 =1 -3 32.0 427.5 18 17 Belarus +7 =3 -4 32.0 424.0 19 40 Philippines +8 =1 -5 32.0 422.5 20 19 Romania +6 =5 -3 32.0 419.5 21 11 Georgia +8 =3 -3 31.5 462.0 22 14 Azerbaijan +7 =2 -5 31.5 450.5 23 12 France +8 =3 -3 31.5 449.0 24 16 China +8 =3 -3 31.5 438.5 25 37 Bosnia Herzegovina +6 =4 -4 31.5 428.0 26 48 Kazakhstan +9 =0 -5 31.5 425.0 27 35 Lithuania +6 =4 -4 31.5 420.0 28 27 Denmark +7 =1 -6 31.5 419.5 29 21 Czech Republic +6 =6 -2 31.0 445.0 30 6 England +7 =3 -4 31.0 427.0 31 15 Hungary +7 =4 -3 31.0 425.5 32 33 Estonia +8 =1 -5 31.0 423.5 33 36 Latvia +5 =5 -4 31.0 423.5 34 34 Argentina +7 =4 -3 31.0 419.5 35 45 Australia +8 =2 -4 31.0 418.5 36 22 Moldova +7 =2 -5 30.5 432.5 37 32 Slovakia +4 =4 -6 30.5 431.0 38 43 Canada +7 =1 -6 30.5 426.0 39 31 Norway +7 =1 -6 30.5 419.5 40 46 Chile +6 =4 -4 30.5 407.5 Official site: http://www.36chessolympiad.com. Live: http://www.ajedrez21.com (spanish) and http://www.chess21.com (english) |
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Kramnik - Leko World
Championship Match The Classical World Chess Championship took place at the Centro Dannemann in Brissago, Switzerland September 25th - October 18th, 2004. A total of 14 games were played under classical time controls. Vladimir Kramnik, the defending Champion retained his title by virtue of a 7-7 draw against Hungarian GM Peter Leko. Kramnik pressed for the final games breaking through in the 14th and last game.  Kramnik punches the air after Leko's resignation after the 14th and decisive game. Photo © Eugeny Aratov chesspro.ru Gm1 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 65 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm2 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 18 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gm3 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 23 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm4 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 43 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gm5 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 69 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Gm6 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 20 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gm7 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 21 D16 Slav Lasker/Smyslov Gm8 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 0-1 32 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall Gm 9 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 16 E15 Queens Indian Gm 10 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 35 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Gm 11 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 17 E15 Queens Indian Gm12 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 34 B19 Caro Kann Gm13 Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 65 A73 Benoni Gm 14 Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1-0 41 B12 Caro Kann Advanced Vladimir Kramnik vs Peter Leko TWIC Mini-Site. Kramnik vs Leko Mark Crowther Round 14 Report - including Leko interview and comments Games in PGN Unannotated all games Commented Games in PGN all games Official website for the event: http://www.worldchesschampionship.com Albert Vasse picture gallery of the match |
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| Azpaiparashvili Released The closing ceremony of the Olympiad saw amazing scenes when Zurab Azmaiparashvili got into a scuffle with Spanish Police and was arrested. Azmaiparashvili tried to get to the stage and was wrestled to the ground by five or six security personnel and taken off to jail where he was released on Monday. FIDE have a press release: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=584 and another after his release: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=585 and the there is also a Press Release by organisers on the Azmaiparashvilli arrest  Zurab Azmaiparashvili after his release. Photo © Albert Vasse http://www.sboschaak.net/.  The arrest. Photo © Monaco player Patrick Van Hoolandt who witnessed the whole thing from near the front and who says he is willing to testify as to what happened. Thanks also to Pascal Villalba http://www.notzai.info where you can see more pictures. More photos: http://www.ajedreznd.com/2004/serie.htm |
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Essent Tournament in
Hoogeveen Daniel Stellwagen Photo © Fred Lucas The Essent tournament in Hoogeveen took place 17th-23rd October 2004. The included an open tournament and a double Round Robin. Games in PGN Final Round 6 Standings: 1. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2663 4.5; 2. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2687 3.0; 3. Stellwagen, Daniel m NED 2512 2.5; 4. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2581 2.0; Judit Polgar is missing having played every year since 1997 after the birth of a son in August. The event takes place at the same time as the Olympiad so for the first time the World Junior Champion is also missing. This year the two juniors are Magnus Carlsen (13) and Daniel Stellwagen (17) facing the experienced Ivan Sokolov and Nigel Short (the latter two will go on to play the final rounds of the Olympiad after the event concludes). Daniel Stellwagen made his final GM-norm in August in Vlissingen (Holland), after previous norms in Corus 2004 (Wijk aan Zee) and the Dutch Championship 2004. Official site: http://www.essentchess.nl/ |
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| Kasparov - Kasimdzhanov in Dubai? FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has announced in Moscow that there will be a match between Garry Kasparov and FIDE Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the UAE in January 2005 according to a report by the Russian Interfax News Agency. The match will produce a FIDE Champion to meet the winner of the Kramnik - Leko match in Dortmund. The money is coming from Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum and the prize fund is estimated at $1.2 million. It should be noted that not all of Ilyumzhinov's announcements have come to pass and there has yet to be confirmation from UAE sources. However this match is extremely important for FIDE who risk losing any influence over the future of the World Championship to the ACP if they don't get a match together. Chess city for Dubai? |
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| European Club Cup The European Club Cup took place in Izmir 2nd-9th October 2004. Garry Kasparov, Michael Adams, Alexei Shirov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Etienne Bacrot, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Grischuk and Nigel Short were amongst the players. Sadly Alexander Morozevich although named to play in the event did not compete. The event was the 20th European Club Cup for Men and 9th European Club Cup for Women. Top seeds were NAO Chess Club (Adams, Grischuk, Bacrot etc) and with 5 wins and two draws took clear first place. The next three teams were all tied with 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss with Bosna Sarajevo (Shirov, Short, Ivan Sokolov etc) taking second on board points ahead of Ladya Kazan (Top board Rublevsky) and Max Ven Ekaterinburg (Top board Kasparov). Men's Games in PGN - Women's Games in PGN - Errors: Grischuk-Smirnov rd4 is clearly not right as is Bocharov-Radjabov - from move 39. Coverage: http://www.tsf.org.tr/ecup2004/ecupmain.htm |
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| October FIDE Rating List In the top 10. Kasparov loses 4 point from his 6 games played, Anand a point from 16 and Kramnik loses 10 ponits from 10 games, Morozevich closes to within a couple of points after gaining 15 points, Topalov gains 20 points, Leko and Adams 2 and Svidler 8. Polgar isn't playing after the birth of her child, Shirov gains a point. FIDE October 2004 Rating List: Top 100 Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there. |
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| Israeli
Championship The Israeli Championship took place in the Sissy and Sol Mark Chess Center in Ramat Aviv 19th-29th September 2004. 36 player 9 round Swiss. Sergey Erenburg and Vitali Golod tied for first. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Erenburg, Sergey g ISR 2533 6.5; 2. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2538 6.5; 3. Lerner, Konstantin Z g UKR 2494 6.0; 4. Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2600 6.0; 5. Roiz, Michael g ISR 2574 5.5; 6. Klenburg, Mikhail m UKR 2399 5.5; 7. Postny, Evgeny g ISR 2563 5.5; 8. Khmelniker, Ilya ISR 2444 5.5; 9. Gershon, Alik g ISR 2518 5.5; 10. Huzman, Alexander g ISR 2588 5.5; 11. Livshits, Gaby m ISR 2415 5.5; 12. Gofshtein, Zvulon g ISR 2540 5.5; 13. Sidorenko, Ilya ISR 2283 5.0; 14. Shevelev, Arkady m ISR 2340 5.0; 15. Gerzhoy, Leonid m ISR 2376 5.0; 16. Mikhalevski, Victor g ISR 2551 5.0; 17. Rinberg, Alexander ISR 2336 5.0; 18. Shachar, Ehud f ISR 2394 4.5; 19. Kantsler, Boris g ISR 2474 4.5; 20. Bykhovsky, Anatoly f ISR 2209 4.5; 21. Kataev, Simcho RUS 2286 4.5; 22. Kantarji, Pinchas f ISR 2414 4.0; 23. Kaplan, Sasha f ISR 2326 4.0; 24. Porat, Shi f ISR 2431 4.0; 25. Zoler, Dan m ISR 2518 4.0; 26. Deutsch, Eyal f ISR 2350 4.0; 27. Zilberman, Yaacov g ISR 2430 3.5; 28. Gruenfeld, Yehuda g ISR 2471 3.5; 29. Karasik, Evgeni ISR 2174 3.5; 30. Kudischewitsch, David m RUS 2405 3.5; 31. Zaltz, Dov ISR 2315 3.5; 32. Bitansky, Igor m ISR 2377 3.0; 33. Rodshtein, Maxim ISR 2372 3.0; 34. Birnboim, Nathan m ISR 2349 3.0; 35. Krayz, Alexander m ISR 2424 2.5; 36. Belenky,David ISR 0 1.0; Official site (Hebrew): http://www.chess.org.il/ISR2004/news.htm - Live coverage at 14:00 (GMT) on September 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 26th, 27th, 28th and at 7:30 (GMT) on September 29th: http://www.chess.org.il/ISR2004/Live/Live.htm |
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| Lausanne Young
Masters The Lausanne Young Masters took place September 15th - 20th 2004 - The event was a Knockout (although all players continue playing for minor places after elimination throughout the event to produce a 1-8 ranking). Luke McShane won the event beating the favourite Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the final. Players (ages): Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (19), Luke McShane (20), David Navara (19), Evgeny Alekseev (19), Magnus Carlsen (13), Alexandra Kosteniuk (20), Kateryna Lahno (15), Séverin Papa (19) Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2643 2. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2662 3. Navara, David g CZE 2616 4. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2606 5. Carlsen, Magnus m NOR 2567 6. Lahno, Kateryna m UKR 2472 7. Papa, Severin f SUI 2397 8. Kosteniuk, Alexandra m RUS 2511 Round 3 (September 19-20, 2004) 1st-2nd Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - McShane, Luke J 1/2 0-1 3rd-4th Navara, David - Alekseev, Evgeny 1/2 1/2 Playoff 2.5-1.5 5th-6th Carlsen, Magnus - Lahno, Kateryna 0-1 1-0 Playoff 3-1 7th-8th Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Papa, Severin 1/2 0-1 Round 2 (September 17-18, 2004) Places 1-4 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Alekseev, Evgeny 1-0 1/2 McShane, Luke J - Navara, David 0-1 1-0 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Places 5-8 Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Lahno, Kateryna 0-1 0-1 Carlsen, Magnus - Papa, Severin 1-0 1/2 Round 1 (September 15-16, 2004) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Papa, Severin 1-0 1-0 McShane, Luke J - Lahno, Kateryna 1-0 1/2 Navara, David - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 1-0 Alekseev, Evgeny - Carlsen, Magnus 1/2 1/2 1-0 1/2 Official site: http://www.lausanneyoungmasters.com/ |
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Pune GM Tournament
India Round 5. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu with black defeats Chanda Sandipan to take the sole lead. Photo © http://www.chessindia.org India’s first ever Super GM tournament with an average rating of 2630 Category 16 took place in Pune 2nd-12th September 2004. Dieter Nisipeanu led for much of the event but was finally caught in the final round by FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimzhanov both finishing on 6/9. Games in PGN Round 9 (September 12, 2004) Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter - Kunte, Abhijit 1/2 9 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Sutovsky, Emil 1-0 35 B50 Sicilian Defence Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Beliavsky, Alexander G 1/2 11 C45 Scotch Game Sandipan, Chanda - Sasikiran, Krishnan 0-1 45 C91 Ruy Lopez Ganguly, Surya Shekhar - Harikrishna, P 1/2 37 C51 Evans Gambit Final Standings: 1. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2686 6.0; 2. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2640 6.0; 3. Harikrishna, P g IND 2609 5.0; 4. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2679 4.5; 5. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2679 4.5; 6. Sandipan, Chanda g IND 2555 4.0; 7. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2666 4.0; 8. Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2574 4.0; 9. Kunte, Abhijit g IND 2532 3.5; 10. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2679 3.5; Internet coverage: http://www.chessindia.org |
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| Sao Paulo
Rapid Sao Paulo Rapid took place 20th-24th August, 2004. Anand won the event conceding just three draws on the way to 8.5/10 three points clear of the field. Games in PGN Round 1 (August 20, 2004) Milos, Gilberto - Leitao, Rafael 1-0 41 D94 Gruenfeld Closed Morovic Fernandez, Ivan - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 24 A21 English Opening Vescovi, Giovanni - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 22 C10 French Rubinstein Round 2 (August 20, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Vescovi, Giovanni 1-0 48 C66 Ruy Lopez Berlin Milos, Gilberto - Morovic Fernandez, Ivan 1/2 20 A11 Reti Opening Leitao, Rafael - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 45 C42 Petroff's Defence Round 3 (August 21, 2004) Morovic Fernandez, Ivan - Leitao, Rafael 1-0 73 A28 English Four Knights Vescovi, Giovanni - Milos, Gilberto 1/2 49 C66 Ruy Lopez Berlin Karpov, Anatoly - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 23 E34 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Round 4 (August 21, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Milos, Gilberto 1-0 23 C66 Ruy Lopez Berlin Vescovi, Giovanni - Leitao, Rafael 1/2 68 B19 Caro Kann Karpov, Anatoly - Morovic Fernandez, Ivan 1/2 17 B52 Sicilian Rossolimo Round 5 (August 22, 2004) Morovic Fernandez, Ivan - Vescovi, Giovanni 1/2 26 A18 English Opening Leitao, Rafael - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 29 E15 Queens Indian Milos, Gilberto - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 42 E15 Queens Indian Round 6 (August 22, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Morovic Fernandez, Ivan 1-0 25 B46 Sicilian Paulsen Leitao, Rafael - Milos, Gilberto 1-0 30 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Karpov, Anatoly - Vescovi, Giovanni 1/2 42 E34 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Round 7 (August 23, 2004) Morovic Fernandez, Ivan - Milos, Gilberto 1-0 61 E90 King's Indian Classical Karpov, Anatoly - Leitao, Rafael 1/2 60 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit Vescovi, Giovanni - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 38 D17 Slav Defence Round 8 (August 23, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 39 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen Leitao, Rafael - Morovic Fernandez, Ivan 1/2 23 C96 Ruy Lopez Milos, Gilberto - Vescovi, Giovanni 1-0 44 B78 Sicilian Modern Dragon Round 9 (August 24, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Leitao, Rafael 1-0 59 B19 Caro Kann Karpov, Anatoly - Milos, Gilberto 1/2 47 A30 English Symmetrical Vescovi, Giovanni - Morovic Fernandez, Ivan 1/2 22 C00 French Defence Round 10 (August 24, 2004) Morovic Fernandez, Ivan - Karpov, Anatoly 1/2 18 A28 English Four Knights Leitao, Rafael - Vescovi, Giovanni 1/2 13 E15 Queens Indian Milos, Gilberto - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 51 A29 English Four Knights Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2782 8.5; 2. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2573 5.5; 3. Leitao, Rafael g BRA 2573 4.5; 4. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2682 4.0; 5. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2648 4.0; 6. Milos, Gilberto g BRA 2601 3.5; Official site: http://www.fpx.com.br/. English: http://www.fpx.com.br/2004/desafio/english.htm |
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| Bobby Fischer detained in Japan The 11th World Chess Champion Robert James Fischer has been detained in Japan where he has lived for a number of years. 61 year old Fischer was stopped at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Tuesday 13th July, he was trying to leave Japan for the Philippines. Officials were reported to be preparing to deport Fischer to the United States. 09.09.2004 - The Guardian - Bobby Fischer Wins Deportation Injunction 08.09.2004 - CBS News Reprieve For Bobby Fischer 25/08/2004 - Mainchi Daily News - Fischer comments from detention 25/08/2004 - abc.net.au - Fischer unlikely to be deported in the near future 24/08/2004 - Washington Times - Fischer won't be deported tonight 24/08/2004 - NY Times "Japan Orders Bobby Fischer Deported, His Supporters Say" 20/08/2004 - More Fischer News, he makes another broadcast and moves to deport him continue 16/08/2004 - Bobby Fischer plans to marry marry Miyoko Watai 06/08/2004 - Bobby Fischer has submitted to the U.S. embassy in Tokyo a letter of intent to renounce his U.S. citizenship Links: Fischer radio broadcasts and other documents (strong stomach required): http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/ (closest thing there comes to an official Bobby site) Bobby Fischer's pathetic endgame: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/12/chun.htm a good article from 2002 about his recent years. Fischer Watch Search Google News for further stories |
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| Yuriy Kuzubov final GM norm 14 years 7 months, 12
days Yuriy Kuzubov (born 26.01.1990) has made a final GM norm at the age of 14 years 7 months, 12 days the 8th youngest in history. Kuzubov played in the Ukrainian Championship and defeated the record holder Sergey Karjakin. He went on to the first Autumn Alushta Tournament where he finished 2nd= to earn his final norm. Bobby Fischer held the record for youngest Grandmaster at 15 years, 6 months, 1 day for 34 years until his record was broken by Judit Polgar. Fischer's record is still perhaps the most impressive as his GM title came when he became a World Championship Candidate and entered the elite of World Chess, the standards for the GM title have been watered down so much that it is now probably equivalent to the old IM title (not least because of rating inflation). Nevertheless almost every one of the young players to get the title has gone on to be successful at the top of the game. However it should also be observed that the top three for many years earned their GM titles later. Garry Kasparov was aged 17, Viswanathan Anand aged 18 and Vladimir Kramnik aged 17. The old Soviet system that Kasparov and to a certain extent Kramnik were trained under didn't make the early title a priority. In fact they made a policy of holding their best players back from top competition until they were really ready (Karpov was 19 before becoming a GM and then almost immediately a top player, the same with Boris Spassky who was 18). Records (Name, Date of Birth, Age of final norm, Year of Norm): Bobby Fischer (1943.03.09) 15 years, 6 months, 1 day - 1958 Judit Polgar (1976.07.23) 15 years, 4 months, 28 days - 1992 Koneru Humpy (1987.03.31) 15 years, 4 months, 27 days - 2002 Hikaru Nakamura (1987.12.09) 15 years, 1 month 27 days - 2003 Nguyen Ngoc Truongson (23rd January 1990) 14 years 10 months 21 days - 2004 Yuriy Kuzubov (1990.01.26) 14 years, 7 months, 12 days - 2004 Peter Leko (1979.09.08) 14 years, 4 months, 22 days - 1994 Etienne Bacrot (1983.01.22) 14 years, 2 months, 0 days - 1997 Ruslan Ponomariov (1983.10.11) 14 years, 0 months, 17 days - 1998 Teimour Radjabov (1987.03.12) 14 years, 0 months, 14 days - 2001 Bu Xiangzhi (1985.12.10) 13 years, 10 months, 13 days - 2000 Magnus Carlsen (1990.11.30) 13 years, 3 months, 27 days - 2004 Sergey Karjakin (1990.01.12) 12 years, 7 months, 0 days - 2003 Games in PGN Final Standings 1st Autumn Alushta: 1. Paragua, Mark m PHI 2529 11.5; 2. Ovetchkin, Roman m RUS 2475 10.5; 3. Kuzubov, Yuriy m UKR 2467 10.5; 4. Obukhov, Alexander m RUS 2475 9.0; 5. Neelotpal, Das m IND 2448 8.5; 6. Malaniuk, Vladimir P g UKR 2555 7.5; 7. Alexikov, Alexander m UKR 2386 7.5; 8. Vokarev, Sergey m RUS 2529 7.0; 9. Annageldyev, Orazly m TKM 2458 7.0; 10. Kalygin, Sergey V g RUS 2440 6.5; 11. Kobylkin, Evgeni f UKR 2444 6.5; 12. Danielian, Elina m ARM 2430 6.0; 13. Hasangatin, Ramil g RUS 2485 6.0; 14. Khurtsidze, Nino m GEO 2391 5.5; 15. Tishin, D m UKR 2372 5.5; 16. Paramonov, Dimitriy BLR 2362 5.0; Official site: http://sep04.kaissa.com.ua/tables.html |
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| Kamsky gets US Championship Wild Card The America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) has announced the 2005 US championship wild card selections. The event takes place November 25th - December 5th 2004 (see Mig's Daily Dirt from April to see the unbelievable reason why the event in 2004 is being called the 2005 championship). As last year to promote US chess juniors one wild card spot has been offered to 14 year old Salvijus Bercys who is the #1 US rated player under the age of 16. With so many other top juniors having earned qualifying places the AF4C was in a position to recognise the return of Gata Kamsky to active tournament chess, and offer him the second wild card spot. Gata Kamsky is America's highest rated USCF chess player, and one of the top rated players in the world. With the completion of his formal education, Kamsky has returned to chess, is a regular player at the New York Masters and is anxious to participate in the US Championship. As the only American to become the official challenger for the World Championship since Bobby Fischer, Gata is a most deserving contender for the US Championship. His omission at a time that he is actively playing chess would have been a serious oversight. The chairman of the selection committee was AF4C co-founder and board member, Dr. Jim Roberts, and committee members were GM Yasser Seirawan, AF4C president Erik Anderson and chess journalist John Henderson. This will be the fourth year that AF4C has hosted the annual tournament and its first year doing so in conjunction with the NTC Foundation. The title sponsors will be Chessmaster. Further details: http://www.af4c.org/events.asp |
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| Ukrainian Championship 73rd Ukrainian Chess Championship took place 23rd August - 2nd September 2004. 32 participants KO Ivanchuk, Moiseenko etc. 14 year old Yuriy Kuzubov beat Sergey Karjakin in round 1. Romanishin eliminated Ivanchuk in round 2. 18 year old Andrei Volokitin (2638) beat 19 year old Anton Korobov (2565) in the final 1.5-0.5 .24 year old Alexander Moiseenko (2640) won the 3rd-4th playoffs against 26 year old Alexander Goloshchapov (2577) . Games:All Games in PGN Official site: http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~chessfed/turnir/t027e.html - Chess Federation: http://www.ukrchess.org.ua |
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British Championship
2004 All Scottish Clash in round 9 - Rowson - Motwani The 91st Smith & Williamson British Championships took place 1st - 14th August in the Spa Complex, Scarborough,Yorkshire. Jonathan Rowson became the first Scots Champion probaby since just after the 2nd World War. Details: http://www.bcf.org.uk/events/bcf2004/index.html Games in PGN 1-11 Leading Final Round 11 Standings: 1 ROWSON,Jonathan W SCO g 2558 8½ 2 WELLS,Peter ENG g 2494 8 3 WILLIAMS,Simon K ENG m 2427 8 4 EMMS,John M ENG g 2508 7½ 5 GREET,Andrew N ENG f 2310 7½ 6 GWAZE,Robert m 2385 7½ 7 MOTWANI,Paul SCO g 2552 7½ 8 HEBDEN,Mark ENG g 2559 7 9 KNOTT,Simon J B ENG m 2359 7 10 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT,Ketevan GEO m 2446 6½ 11 HASLINGER,Stewart G ENG m 2408 6½ 12 JONES,Gawain C ENG f 2453 6½ 13 LEDGER,Andrew ENG m 2452 6½ 14 MANNION,Steve R SCO m 2333 6½ 15 PALLISER,Richard JD ENG m 2411 6½ 16 QUINN,Mark IRL m 2406 6½ 17 RADOVANOVIC,Jovica YUG 2205 6½ 18 SUMMERSCALE,Aaron ENG g 2493 6½ 19 WARD,Chris G ENG g 2490 6½ 62 players Round 11 Results 1 GREET,Andrew N ½ - ½ ROWSON,Jonathan W ; 2 MOTWANI,Paul ½ - ½ WELLS,Peter ; 3 WILLIAMS,Simon K ½ - ½ HEBDEN,Mark ; 4 EMMS,John M 1 - 0 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT,Ketev ; 5 GWAZE,Robert 1 - 0 LEDGER,Andrew ; 6 SUMMERSCALE,Aaron ½ - ½ JONES,Gawain C ; 7 HASLINGER,Stewart G ½ - ½ WARD,Chris G ; 8 PALLISER,Richard JD ½ - ½ MANNION,Steve R ; 9 HANLEY,Craig 0 - 1 KNOTT,Simon J B ; 10 SHERWIN,James ½ - ½ QUINN,Mark ; 11 RENDLE,Thomas ½ - ½ GORMALLY,Daniel ; 12 RADOVANOVIC,Jovica 1 - 0 HOUSKA,Jovanka ; 13 DEARING,Edward 1 - 0 SNAPE,Ian L ; 14 SOWRAY,Peter J 1 - 0 LEE,Graham ; 15 ASHTON,Adam ½ - ½ GORDON,Stephen ; 16 GREGORY,Stephen J 0 - 1 TAN,Desmond ; 17 HOWELL,David W 1 - 0 ADAMS,David M ; 18 TAYLOR,Martin R ½ - ½ SISASK,Jesper ; 19 LEDGER,Dave J ½ - ½ HUTCHINSON,Norman ; 20 BIGG,Andrew J ½ - ½ LYELL,Mark ; 21 RUDD,Jack 1 - 0 MUIR,Andrew J ; 22 STOREY,Charles 0 - 1 MYCROFT,Richard ; 23 SPENCE,David ½ - ½ NIXON,Thomas C M ; 24 HUTCHINSON,Paul A ½ - ½ BURROWS,Martin ; 25 CLARKE,Tom 0 - 1 BRISCOE,Christopher ; 26 MARTYN,Rafe ½ - ½ SURTEES,Mike ; 27 WESTWOOD,Richard 0 - 1 PYM,Thomas W ; 28 KAFKA,Graeme ½ - ½ WALTON,Alan J ; 29 LEDGER,Stephen ½ - ½ RAYNER,Francis ; 30 HEMPSON,Peter 1 - 0 SMITH,Graham ; 31 BRYANT,Richard 0 - 1 ALMOND,Philip |
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Mainz Anand receives a traditional jacket from Hans-Walter Schmitt for winning in Mainz in a US Masters style ceremony. Photo © Eric van Reem - Press Team Chess Classic Mainz Chess Classic Mainz took in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz 4th-8th August 2004. The main match this year was an eight game rapid clash between Vishy Anand and Alexei Shirov. Anand won the match 5-3. At the same time, Peter Svidler defended his WNCA Chess 960 world title in an eight games match against Levon Aronian, winner of the Chess960 Open last year. In an exciting match with only one draw Svidler took the match by winning the final game. The 3rd FiNet-Chess960 Open (Alexander Morozevich, Ruslan Ponomariov and Alexander Grischuk competde) took place 5th-6th August 2004. Zoltan Almasi took clear first undefeated on 9.5/11. (the Chess960 Games don't work in PGN) Anand - Shirov Games in PGN and Ordix Games in PGN Gm1 Shirov, Alexei - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 41 C10 French Rubinstein Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 59 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall Gm3 Anand, Viswanathan - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 45 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gm4 Shirov, Alexei - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 42 C80 Ruy Lopez Open Gm5 Shirov, Alexei - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 43 C80 Ruy Lopez Open Gm6 Anand, Viswanathan - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 30 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gm7 Anand, Viswanathan - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 27 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gm8 Shirov, Alexei - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 63 C25 Vienna Game Official site: http://www.chesstigers.de  The 11th Ordix Open took place August 7th-8th. Alexander Grischuk won with 9,5 points out of 11 games and repeated last year´s victory. He remains unbeaten in two Ordix Open tournaments: 16 wins, 6 draws. Now he is a hot candidate to play against Vishy Anand next year in a match in Mainz. Photo © Eric van Reem - Press Team Chess Classic Mainz |
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| Norwegian Championship Playoff Berge Østenstad became 2004 Norwegian Champion after drawing both games in his playoff with Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen needed to win the match to take the title as he had the inferior tie-break. Games in PGN Links: Match homepage: http://www.sjakk.no/stikkamp Games: http://home.no.net/bbcanary/1.htm |
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Dortmund Sparkassen
Chess-Meeting 2004 Prizegiving at Dortmund. Photo © http://www.chessgate.de The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2004 took place in the Dortmund Theatre 22nd July - 1st August 2004. This year the event was a mini all-play-all followed by a knockout to establish the places. Final standings: 1) Anand 2) Kramnik 3) Svidler 4) Leko 5) Naiditsch 6) Rublevsky 7) Bologan 8) Karjakin. Final Games in PGN Semi-Final Games in PGN [one game incomplete] Rapid playoffs games 15 mins + 5 seconds and blitz games 5 minutes + 3. Games in PGN (Playoff games complete and correct my thanks to the organisers - they were 10 minute games) James Coleman demonstrates a missed win from Kramnik against Karjakin Final 2 Game Match 31st July - 1st August 2004 Anand, Viswanathan - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 1/2 Rapid Playoff 1/2 1-0 Places Leko, Peter - Svidler, Peter 1/2 1/2 Rapid Playoff 1/2 0-1 Naiditsch, Arkadij - Rublevsky, Sergei 1-0 1/2 Bologan, Viktor - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 1-0 Semi-Final (July 29-30, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Leko, Peter 1/2 1/2 Rapid Playoff 1/2 1/2 Blitz Playoff 1-0 1-0 Kramnik, Vladimir - Svidler, Peter 1/2 1/2 Rapid Playoff 1/2 1/2 Blitz Playoff 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 Playoffs 5th-8th Naiditsch, Arkadij - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 1-0 Bologan, Viktor - Rublevsky, Sergei 1/2 1/2 0-1 0-1 GpA Round 6 (July 27, 2004) Svidler, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 19 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Rublevsky, Sergei - Naiditsch, Arkadij 0-1 39 C45 Scotch Game Final GpA Round 6 Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2782 4.0; 2. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2727 3.5; 3. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2574 2.5; 4. Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2686 2.0; Gp B Round 6 (July 27, 2004) Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 20 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Bologan, Viktor - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 25 D46 Semi-Slav Defence Final GpB Round 6 Standings (Playoff to follow): 1. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2770 3.0; 2. Leko, Peter g HUN 2741 3.0; 3. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2591 3.0; 4. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2663 3.0; Playoffs: 1. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2770 4.0; 2. Leko, Peter g HUN 2741 3.5; 3. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2663 2.5; 4. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2591 2.0; Official site: http://www.chessgate.de or more specifically http://www.chessgate.de/do2004/. The official site will be pay per view with commentary and moves included. Due to the massive interest in betting on Dortmund, Betsson have decided to run all the semi-final games LIVE in-running. This means you can actually bet on the semi-final games as they unfold. At the start of the semi-finals the odds for the overall winners market are:- Anand 2.25, Kramnik 4, Leko 5 and Svidler 6. To win the semi-final: Kramnik 1.66 v Svidler 2.25 To win the semi-final: Anand 1.4 v Leko 3 For the latest odds, please visit the betsson site. |
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| ACP Press
Conference Joel Lautier, President of the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) gave a press conference on Saturday July 31st on the future activities of the ACP, for example the ACP World Tour 2005. They have published the regulations for their proposed tour: Joel Lautier Statement and ACP Tour 2004-5 Regulations (http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/acp310704.html)  Further details: http://www.chess-players.org/eng/index.html |
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| Gata Kamsky
Returns Gata Kamsky played his first chess in public since 1999 when he turned up to play in the New York Masters at the famous Marshall Chess Club in New York on 15th and 22nd June 2004. 30 year old Kamsky basically retired from chess in 1996 with a brief return for the FIDE Championships Knockout in Las Vegas in 1999. Since then there has been virtually no news although its reported he is now married and has graduated as a lawyer. At the time he was extremely bitter about his treatment by FIDE and the PCA so its nice to see he still has the wish to play. If this prefaces even a limited return to over the board chess Kamsky will certainly come straight in as US number one. His inactive FIDE rating is 2717 far above the current top US player on the list Alexander Onischuk who is rated 2649. Available 106th,107th, 110th 112th NY Masters Games in PGN [1 additional game from Sam Sloan] The regular rapid event (mostly weekly) organised by IM Greg Shahade and John Fernandez provides regular chances for keen players of 2200 and above to compete against GMs and IMs in New York. See: http://www.newyorkmasters.com/ On the 15th June even though Kamsky was obviously extremely rusty he still tied for first place with five others in the four round swiss rapid event, all the players won $160. On 22nd of June things went less well as he lost to Daniel Fridman one of the eventual winners and only took home $50 even though his score was the same as the first week. The winners, Daniel Fridman, Irina Krush and Salvijus Bercys all took home $315. He came back again on July 20th and finished joint second after losing one game. On July 3rd Kamsky tied for first with Nakamura. Final Standings: --------------------------------------------------- 106th New York Masters Action USA (USA), 15 vi 2004 --------------------------------------------------- 1. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 3.0 2. Yudasin, Leonid g ISR 2553 3.0 3. Scekic, Milos m SCG 2405 3.0 4. Bercys, Salvijus USA 2279 3.0 5. Maltese, Adam USA ---- 3.0 6. Blatny, Pavel g CZE 2451 2.5 7. Privman, Boris f USA 2268 2.5 22 players --------------------------------------------------- 107th New York Masters Action USA (USA),22 vi 2004 --------------------------------------------------- 1. Fridman, Daniel g LAT 2594 3.5 2. Krush, Irina m USA 2465 3.5 3. Bercys, Salvijus LTU 2279 3.5 4. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 3.0 5. Molner, Mackenzie USA ---- 3.0 6. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2552 2.5 7. De Firmian, Nick g USA 2542 2.5 8. Stripunsky, Alex g USA 2553 2.5 9. Scekic, Milos m SCG 2405 2.5 10. Ippolito, Dean m USA 2381 2.5 11. Sarkar, Justin m USA 2375 2.5 12. Hess, Robert USA 2169 2.5 13. Norowitz, Yaacov USA ---- 2.5 14. Barnett, Alex USA 2149 2.5 31 players --------------------------------------------------- 110th New York Masters Action USA (USA),20 vii 2004 --------------------------------------------------- 1. Wojtkiewicz, Aleks g USA 2551 3.5 2. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 3.0 3. Vovsha, Eli m ISR 2436 3.0 4. Yudasin, Leonid g ISR 2556 2.5 15 players ----------------------------------------------------- 112th New York Masters Action USA (USA), 3 viii 2004 ----------------------------------------------------- 1. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 3.5 ($310) 2. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2601 3.5 ($310) 3. Hoffmann, Asa f USA 2272 3.0 ($ 70) 4. Bercys, Salvijus LTU 2279 3.0 ($ 70) 5. Bonin, Jay m USA 2342 3.0 ($ 70) 6. Yudasin, Leonid g ISR 2556 2.5 7. Wojtkiewicz, Aleks g USA 2551 2.5 8. Miton, Kamil g POL 2597 2.5 9. Vovsha, Eli m ISR 2436 2.5 10. Ippolito, Dean m USA 2387 2.5 27 players |
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| Tai Yuan GM The Tai Yuan GM tournament took place in China 17th-26th July 2004.Prizes $20,000. Time control 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment from move 1. Play started 2pm local time (GMT+8) except the last round which is at 10am. Nigel Short won the event by a clear point from Ni Hua. Games in PGN [Lputian, Smbat G - Ni Hua (6) probably still incomplete] Round 9 (July 26, 2004) Ni Hua - Xu Jun 1/2 23 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2 Lautier, Joel - Bu Xiangzhi 1-0 40 A29 English Four Knights Xie Jun - Short, Nigel D 1/2 17 C08 French Tarrasch Ye Jiangchuan - Lputian, Smbat G 1/2 27 C09 French Tarrasch Zhang Zhong - Dreev, Alexey 1/2 64 A07 Barcza System Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2684 6.5; 2. Ni Hua g CHN 2583 5.5; 3. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2666 5.0; 4. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2690 5.0; 5. Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2620 4.5; 6. Xie Jun g CHN 2564 4.0; 7. Lputian, Smbat G g ARM 2634 4.0; 8. Ye Jiangchuan g CHN 2681 4.0; 9. Zhang Zhong g CHN 2603 3.5; 10. Xu Jun g CHN 2617 3.0; Official site (Chinese): http://sports.sina.com.cn/z/chess_2004/index.shtml |
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Biel Grandmaster Tournament Alexander Morozevich took first place alone with a fine 7.5/10 performance. Photo © http://www.bielchessfestival.ch The Biel Grandmaster Tournament took place July 19th-29th 2004. The field was extremely impressive with last year's stunning winner Alexander Morozevich being joined by FIDE Champion Ruslan Ponomariov. Alexander Morozevich took first place for the second year running he was 1.5 points clear of Krishnan Sasikrian. Former FIDE Champion Ruslan Ponomariov finished on 4.5/10 in joint 3rd. This was the 37th Biel / Bienne Festival and it has already been confirmed there will be a 38th. Final interview with the winner Alexander Morozevich: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/interview.htm Games in PGN (correction to McShane-Morozevich (6)) Round 10 (July 29, 2004) Morozevich, Alexander - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 41 C80 Ruy Lopez Open Bacrot, Etienne - Pelletier, Yannick 1/2 20 C10 French Rubinstein McShane, Luke J - Sasikiran, Krishnan 1/2 87 C96 Ruy Lopez Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2743 7.5; 2. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2666 6.0; 3. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2722 4.5; 4. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2597 4.5; 5. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2712 4.5; 6. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2643 3.0; Official site: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch |
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FIDE Championships in
Tripoli FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov defeated the top 4 seeds; Topalov, Adams, Grischuk and Ivanchuk; to take the title in Tripoli. Photo © Official site The FIDE Championships take place in Tripoli 18th June - 13th July 2004. The time control for the first 40 moves is 90 minutes followed by 15 minutes until the end of the game with a time increment of 30 seconds per move from move one. If playoffs are required then firstly there are a pair of rapid games (25 minutes + 10 secs a move), then if needed a pair of blitz games (5 minutes + 10 seconds per move) followed finally by a sudden death game (White has 6 minutes black Black 5 minutes, black has draw odds.). All games in PGN Final Games in PGN Rd7 Games in PGN Rd5-6 Games in PGN Rd3-4 Games in PGN Rd1-2 Finals 6th-13th July 2004 6 games + playoffs 1 Adams, Michael (ENG 2731) - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) 1/2 0-1 1-0 0-1 1-0 1/2 Playoff 0-1 1/2 Semi-Finals 1st-5th July 2004 4 games + playoffs 1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) - Topalov, Veselin (BUL 2737) 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1-0 1-0 2 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE 2670) - Adams, Michael (ENG 2731) 0-1 1/2 1/2 1/2 Round 5 28th-29th June 2004 Top Half 1 Topalov, Veselin (BUL 2737) - Kharlov, Andrei (RUS 2593) 1-0 1-0 4 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) - Grischuk, Alexander (RUS 2719) 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 Bottom Half 2 Dominguez, Lenier (CUB 2612) - Radjabov, Teimour (AZE 2670) 1-0 0-1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 (Radjabov as black goes through) 3 Adams, Michael (ENG 2731) - Akopian, Vladimir (ARM 2689) 1-0 1/2 FIDE World Championship in Tripoli Results Rounds 1-5 Official site: http://wcclibya2004.com/main.asp The event is severely weakened with many of the top players refusing to play for various reasons including unhappyness with the contract and the treatment of the Israeli players. The Israeli players are all missing from the event. At first they were supposed to compete seperately in Malta then there were assurances that they would be allowed to compete in Tripoli. However in May, Mohammed Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, described Israelis as "the Zionist enemy" and said they would not be invited to the championships. The Israel Chess Federation may sue FIDE (The Jerusalem Post - Friday, June 18, 2004) In addition there has been strong criticism of the event by Mrs Nahed Ojjeh President of the NAO Chess Club: http://www.chess-players.org/eng/news/viewarticle.html?id=162 There are no Israeli players competing in the championship. It was thought that Vadim Milov who now represents Switzerland would play but he makes it clear that he believes that as an Israeli passport holder FIDE made sure he could not compete. Read letter: http://www.chess-players.org/eng/news/viewarticle.html?id=169. FIDE put the blame firmly back in Milov's court with their reply: FIDE reply to the statement of Mr. Milov dated June 25, 2004 |
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| Amsterdam
Tournament The Amsterdam Chess Tournament ACT took place 17th-25th July 2004. Main event is a 9 round swiss with Ivan Sokolov, Van Wely, Jan Timman etc. Official coverage: http://home.hccnet.nl/w.haggenburg/act04/ or more directly http://194.109.162.96/act/ |
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| Viktor Korchnoi vs Francisco
Vallejo Match Francisco Vallejo Pons beat Víktor Korchnoi 3.5-2.5 in a six game match in Vera Spain. Initially Radjabov and Mamedyrov were supposed also to play. In the end it turned out to be a 6 game match between Vallejo and Korchnoi 9th-11th July 2004. Time rate 1 hour (+20 seconds per move) to finish. Games in PGN Official site: http://www.ajedrezenmadrid.com/torneos/torneo.asp?torneo=04070903 Further details: http://www.jaque.tv/noticia9204.htm |
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| FIDE July Rating
List FIDE July rating list now out sournce: http://www.fide.com the full list is available for download there. Only small movements in the top three players but with the Armenia vs the Rest of the World being too late to be rated the list is already out of date. Alexander Morozevich grabs the unstable 4th spot, no-one seems to have been able to consolodate this with Peter Svidler, Peter Leko and Michael Adams all being recent occupiers, Michael Adams gains 7 points to be 6 in the World, Peter Svidler lost another handful of rating points and is down to 9. Alexei Shirov gains 12 points to return to the top 10. FIDE July 2004 Rating List: Top 100 |
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| Dutch
Championship The Dutch Championships took place June 28th - July 10th 2004. Loek Van Wely retained his championship. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2651 7.5; 2. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2690 7.0; 3. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2593 6.0; 4. L'Ami, Erwin m NED 2478 5.0; 5. Stellwagen, Daniel m NED 2503 4.5; 6. Van den Doel, Erik g NED 2599 4.0; 7. Bosboom, Manuel m NED 2422 4.0; 8. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2526 3.5; 9. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2578 2.0; 10. Visser, Yge m NED 2445 1.5; 4Official site: http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/nk2004/ |
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| Hungary - Poland Women's
Match The International Women's Match Hungary - Poland took place July 5th-July 13th in Szeged. Official website: http://members.chello.hu/chesscup/ |
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| Jeff Sonas on FIDE Double
Elimination Jeff Sonas describes his proposals for a double elimination tournament for the FIDE Championships. - Jeff Sonas on the Double Elimination Format |
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| Garry Kasparov at the London
Chess Centre Garry Kasparov made a hugely successful return visit to the London Chess Centre on Saturday 3rd July 2004 10:30am-4:30pm. There was a Book signing - a chance to meet Garry Kasparov and take away your own bit of chess history with a signed copy of his latest books or DVD! Play Chess all day. Q & A - Put your burning chess questions to Garry Kasparov. Enter our Blitz tournament - Fantastic prizes to be won. Watch a lecture from Kasparov with material taken from his new book. Photos and now videos: http://www.chesscenter.com/gkvisit2004/. [High quality images will be available for purchase: 7 x 5 photo will cost £5 including postage 8 x 6 photo will cost £7.50 including postage 12 x 18 photo will cost £12 including postage] |
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| Armenia vs
ROW The 75th anniversary of the birth of the late Armenian world champion Tigran Petrosian was celebrated with an Armenia v Rest of the World match which took place in Moscow 10th-16th June 2004. Malcolm Pein on Background to match The Rest of the World just hung on to their lead to beat an Armenian representative team. They won 18.5-17.5 in the six round Scheveningen event. Boris Gelfand tried hard to win against Etienne Bacrot and square the match, in the final game to finish. The Rook and Bishop vs Rook ending finally was drawn. Games in PGN Official site: http://www.cigarclan.com/english_main.php with live coverage at: http://www.russiachess.ru/petrosian/online/ Round 6 (June 15, 2004) ROW 2.5 - ARM 3.5 Anand, Viswanathan ROW - ARM Kasparov, Garry 1/2 26 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Vaganian, Rafael A ARM - ROW Adams, Michael 1-0 38 D05 Colle System Vallejo Pons, Francisco ROW - ARM Leko, Peter 1/2 18 E15 Queens Indian Akopian, Vladimir ARM - ROW Svidler, Peter 1/2 16 B42 Sicilian Paulsen Van Wely, Loek ROW - ARM Lputian, Smbat G 1/2 31 D58 Queens Gambit Tartakover Gelfand, Boris ARM - ROW Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 70 D13 Slav Exchange Round 5 (June 14, 2004) ROW 2.0 - ARM 4.0 Svidler, Peter ROW - ARM Kasparov, Garry 1/2 58 B31 Sicilian Rossolimo Leko, Peter ARM - ROW Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 68 B48 Sicilian Paulsen Bacrot, Etienne ROW - ARM Akopian, Vladimir 1/2 20 E21 Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3 Lputian, Smbat G ARM - ROW Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 76 E14 Queens Indian Adams, Michael ROW - ARM Gelfand, Boris 1/2 20 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Vaganian, Rafael A ARM - ROW Van Wely, Loek 1/2 44 E10 Blumenfeld Counter Gambit Round 4 (June 13, 2004) ROW 3.0 - ARM 3.0 Kasparov, Garry ARM - ROW Adams, Michael 1/2 45 A30 English Symmetrical Anand, Viswanathan ROW - ARM Gelfand, Boris 1/2 30 C42 Petroff's Defence Leko, Peter ARM - ROW Svidler, Peter 1/2 20 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Vallejo Pons, Francisco ROW - ARM Vaganian, Rafael A 1/2 48 C17 French Winawer Lputian, Smbat G ARM - ROW Bacrot, Etienne 0-1 54 D15 Slav Defence Van Wely, Loek ROW - ARM Akopian, Vladimir 0-1 65 E15 Queens Indian Round 3 (June 12, 2004) ROW 3.5- ARM 2.5 Kasparov, Garry ARM - ROW Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 66 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Svidler, Peter ROW - ARM Vaganian, Rafael A 1/2 19 C17 French Winawer Akopian, Vladimir ARM - ROW Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 45 B48 Sicilian Paulsen Adams, Michael ROW - ARM Lputian, Smbat G 1/2 33 C09 French Tarrasch Gelfand, Boris ARM - ROW Vallejo Pons, Francisco 0-1 24 E13 Queens Indian 5.Bg5 Van Wely, Loek ROW - ARM Leko, Peter 0-1 22 E15 Queens Indian Round 2 (June 11, 2004) ROW 4-ARM 2 Vallejo Pons, Francisco ROW - ARM Kasparov, Garry 1/2 34 B97 Sicilian Najdorf Vaganian, Rafael A ARM - ROW Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 19 A32 English Symmetrical Adams, Michael ROW - ARM Akopian, Vladimir 1-0 25 C10 French Rubinstein Gelfand, Boris ARM - ROW Van Wely, Loek 1/2 26 A34 English Symmetrical Bacrot, Etienne ROW - ARM Leko, Peter 1/2 27 E20 Nimzo Indian Lputian, Smbat G ARM - ROW Svidler, Peter 0-1 41 D91 Gruenfeld 5.Bg5 Round 1 (June 10, 2004) ROW 3.5- ARM 2.5 Kasparov, Garry ARM - ROW Van Wely, Loek 1-0 33 A33 English Symmetrical Anand, Viswanathan ROW - ARM Lputian, Smbat G 1-0 61 C18 French Winawer Leko, Peter ARM - ROW Adams, Michael 1/2 24 C87 Ruy Lopez Svidler, Peter ROW - ARM Gelfand, Boris 1-0 52 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Akopian, Vladimir ARM - ROW Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1/2 32 C65 Ruy Lopez Berlin Bacrot, Etienne ROW - ARM Vaganian, Rafael A 1/2 34 C17 French Winawer Teams - Armenia: Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian and Rafael Vaganian plus Garry Kasparov whose mother is Armenian, Peter Leko whose wife is Armenian and Boris Gelfand who is most famous pupil to study under Tigran Petrosian. Rest of the World: Viswanathan Anand, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler, Loek Van Wely, Etienne Bacrot and Francisco Vallejo Pons. |
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| II György Marx Chess
Memorial The II György Marx Chess Memorial took place 5th-15th June 2004 in Paks Hungary. 73 year old Victor Korchnoi won the Category 14 event with 7.5/10 and a 2780 performance. Games in PGN Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2579 7.5; 2. Berkes, Ferenc g HUN 2613 6.5; 3. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2667 6.0; 4. Nevednichy, Vladislav g ROM 2544 4.0; 5. Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2573 3.0; 6. Acs, Peter g HUN 2548 3.0; Official site: http://marxgyorgychessmem.freeweb.hu/indexa.html |
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| FIDE Women's
Championship The FIDE Women's Championships took place in Elista Kalmykia, 21 May - 8 June 2004. Antoaneta Stefanova wins the title beating Ekaterina Kovalevskaya in the four game final 2.5-0.5. Games in PGN Games from Final in PGN Malcolm Pein Chess for Monday 31st May 2004 Open Letter from Ana Matnadze and Lela Javakhishvili Stefanova Antoaneta and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya reply Official site: http://wwcc2004.fide.com Final 3rd-7th June 2004 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Stefanova, Antoaneta 0-1 0-1 1/2 Round 5 31st May - 1st June 2004 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Koneru, Humpy 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1-0 1/2 Stefanova, Antoaneta - Chiburdanidze, Maia 1/2 1-0 Round 4 29th-30th May 2004 Koneru, Humpy - Xu, Yuhua 1-0 1-0 Stefanova, Antoaneta - Dzagnidze, Nana 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Chiburdanidze, Maia - Cmilyte, Viktorija 1-0 0-1 Playoff 0-1 1-0 1-0 1/2 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Kachiani-G., Ketino 0-1 1-0 Playoff 1-0 1/2 Round 3 26th-27th May 2004 Kosintseva, Tatiana - Koneru, Humpy 0-1 1-0 Playoff 0-1 0-1 Lomineishvili, Maia - Dzagnidze, Nana 0-1 0-1 Jackova, Jana - Chiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 1/2 Bojkovic, Natasa - Kachiani-G., Ketino 0-1 1/2 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Lahno, Kateryna 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Cramling, Pia - Cmilyte, Viktorija 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1/2 0-1 0-1 Zhukova, Natalia - Stefanova, Antoaneta 1/2 1/2 Playoff 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 Paehtz, Elisabeth - Xu, Yuhua 1/2 0-1 Round 2 24th-25th May 2004 Koneru, Humpy - Peng, Zhaoqin 1-0 1/2 Lomineishvili, Maia - Galliamova, Alisa 1-0 1-0 Chiburdanidze, Maia - Sebag, Marie 1-0 1-0 Bojkovic, Natasa - Matveeva, Svetlana 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Lahno, Kateryna - Polovnikova, Ekaterina 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1/2 1/2 1-0 Mkrtchian, Lilit - Cramling, Pia 1/2 0-1 Stefanova, Antoaneta - Vasilevich, Tatjana 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1/2 1/2 1-0 Paehtz, Elisabeth - Zhao, Xue 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Xu, Yuhua - Danielian, Elina 1-0 1/2 Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Zhukova, Natalia 0-1 1-0 Playoff 1/2 1/2 1/2 0-1 Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Cmilyte, Viktorija 0-1 1/2 Alexandrova, Olga - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1/2 0-1 Krush, Irina - Kachiani-G., Ketino 1/2 0-1 Peptan, Corina-Isabela - Jackova, Jana 0-1 1/2 Dzagnidze, Nana - Radziewicz, Iweta 1-0 1/2 Hoang, Thanh Trang - Kosintseva, Tatiana 1/2 0-1 Round 1 22nd-23rd May 2004 Van Der Merwe, Cecile H . - Koneru, Humpy 0-1 0-1 Galliamova, Alisa - Khaziyeva, Dinara 1-0 1-0 Arouche, Farida - Chiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 1/2 Matveeva, Svetlana - Houli, Asma 1-0 1-0 Morales, Mendoza Luciana - Lahno, Kateryna 0-1 1/2 Cramling, Pia - Hahn, Anna 1-0 1/2 Tan, Zhongyi - Stefanova, Antoaneta 0-1 0-1 Zhao, Xue - Paridar, Shadi 1-0 1-0 Tkeshelashvili, Sopio - Xu, Yuhua 1/2 1/2 Playoff 0-1 0-1 Zhukova, Natalia - Petrenko, Svetlana 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Sergeeva, Maria - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 0-1 0-1 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Lujan, Carolina 1-0 1-0 Arribas, Maritza - Krush, Irina 0-1 1/2 Skripchenko, Almira - Jackova, Jana 1/2 0-1 Shahade, Jennifer - Dzagnidze, Nana 0-1 1/2 Kosintseva, Tatiana - Huang, Qian 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Le, Kieu Thien Kim - Hoang Thanh, Trang 1/2 0-1 Radziewicz, Iweta - Meenakshi, S. 1/2 1-0 Goletiani, Rusudan - Peptan, Corina-Isabela 0-1 1/2 Kachiani-G., Ketino - Nguyen, Thi Thanh An 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 1/2 (Kachiani Black with draw odds) Matnadze, Ana - Alexandrova, Olga 1/2 0-1 Cmilyte, Viktorija - Harika, Dronavalli 1-0 1-0 Javakhishvili, Lela - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 1-0 0-1 Playoff 0-1 0-1 Danielian, Elina - Sedina, Elena 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1-0 Paehtz, Elisabeth - Wang, Pin 1-0 1-0 Xu, Yuanyuan - Vasilevich, Tatjana 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 Mkrtchian, Lilit - Socko, Monika 0-1 1-0 Playoff 1-0 0-1 1/2 1/2 1-0 Polovnikova, Ekaterina - Khurtsidze, Nino 1-0 1/2 Wang, Yu - Bojkovic, Natasa 1/2 0-1 Sebag, Marie - Pogonina, Natalija 1/2 1-0 Slavina, Irina - Lomineishvili, Maia 1/2 0-1 Peng, Zhaoqin - Dworakowska, Joanna 1-0 0-1 Playoff 0-1 1-0 1/2 1/2 1-0 |
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| Ponomariov
Letter FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos gave a long interview with Yuri Vasiliev of the "Sport Express" newspaper. You can read it in full in English at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=494 (excerpts appeared at http;//wwwchessbase.com). Or the original at: http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?87457 Ruslan Ponomariov answered the points in detail in a new open letter: Open Letter from Ruslan Ponomariov 16th June 2004 |
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17th Ciudad de
Leon Svidler - Shirov final and the pawn promoting the Calvia Olympiad. Photo © Official website The 17th Ciudad de Leon 2004 was again a knockout event taking place June 3rd-7th 2004 in Leon, Spain. On Friday Peter Svidler beat Paco Vallejo 3.5-0.5. In the other semi-final on Saturday Shirov squeezed past Radjabov after three blitz games. Alexei Shirov continued his good run of form by beating Peter Svidler 3.5-0.5 in the final. Games in PGN Official site: http://www.advancedchessleon.com and http://www.elajedrezdelfuturo.com |
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Sarajevo
Tournament Alexei Shirov played impressively throughout to win the event with 7.5/9. Photo © Official website The XXXIV “Bosna 2004” tournament took place in Sarajevo 18th-27th May 2004. Shirov scored 7.5/9 to win the Sarajevo tournament by a point and a half from Sergei Movsesian. Games in PGN Round 9 (May 27, 2004) Movsesian, Sergei - Atalik, Suat 1/2 16 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Kozul, Zdenko - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 40 D10 Slav Defence Short, Nigel D - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 35 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Predojevic, Borki - Bologan, Viktor 1/2 34 B46 Sicilian Paulsen Kurajica, Bojan - Dizdarevic, Emir 1/2 13 C10 French Rubinstein Final Standings: 1. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2713 7.5; 2. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2647 6.0; 3. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2690 5.5; 4. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2665 5.5; 5. Kozul, Zdenko g CRO 2627 5.0; 6. Dizdarevic, Emir g BIH 2520 4.0; 7. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2712 3.5; 8. Predojevic, Borki m BIH 2490 3.0; 9. Atalik, Suat g BIH 2554 2.5; 10. Kurajica, Bojan g BIH 2540 2.5; Internet coverage: http://www.skbosna.ba/bosna2004/en/stranice/info.htm |
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European Individual
Championships Top seed Vassily Ivanchuk won the title after a playoff against Nikolic. Photo © Ali Nihat Yazici The European Individual Championships took place in Antalya/Turkey 14 May (arrival) to 31 May 2004 (departure). Vassily Ivanchuk took first place after beating Predrag Nikolic in a playoff. Levon Aronian took the bronze. Games in PGN Rd1-13 Playoff Games Leading Final Round 13 standings: 1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 9 8.000 2 GM Nikolic Predrag 9 5.000 3 GM Aronian Levon 8½ 4.000 4 GM Istratescu Andrei 8½ 3.000 5 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2599 8½ 2.700 6 GM Navara David 8½ 2.500 7 GM Gurevich Mikhail 8½ 2.200 8 GM Kempinski Robert 8 1.111 9 GM Krasenkow Michal 8 1.111 10 GM Agrest Evgenij 8 1.111 11 GM Milov Vadim 8 1.111 12 GM Asrian Karen 8 1.111 13 GM Sargissian Gabriel 8 1.111 14 GM Macieja Bartlomiej 8 1.111 15 GM Gashimov Vugar 8 1.111 16 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 8 1.111 17 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 7½ 325 18 GM Radjabov Teimour 7½ 325 19 GM Guseinov Gadir 7½ 225 100 € deducted for ECU 20 GM Andersson Ulf 7½ 325 21 GM Parligras Mircea 7½ 325 22 GM Stefansson Hannes 7½ 325 23 GM Iljushin Alexei 7½ 325 24 GM Stocek Jiri 7½ 325 72 players Official site: http://www.eurochess.org/eurochamp2004/index.html |
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57th Russian Chess Championship
 Round 5. Photo © Sergei Soloviov There are qualifiers for the 57th Russian Chess Championship taking place 20th-31st May in St-Petersburg and Tomsk. Prize fund - $50,000. The top three in each event with play in a super final possibly in Moscow in September with Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Anatoly Karpov, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev, Alexander Grischuk and Alexander Morozevich with a prize fund $300,000. The organizer of the tournament is the Chess Federation of St. Petersburg and it’s new president Alexey Ustaev, who is at the same time President of Viking Bank. Viking Bank is the main sponsor. Games from St Petersburg in PGN St-Petersburg Final Rd9 Standings: 1. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2689 6.5; 2. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2610 6.0; 3. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2564 6.0; 4. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2668 5.5; 5. Ivanov, Sergey g RUS 2546 5.5; 6. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2654 5.5; 7. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2606 5.5; 8. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2665 5.5; 9. Popov, Valerij g RUS 2547 5.5; 10. Riazantsev, Alexander g RUS 2556 5.5; 11. Landa, Konstantin g RUS 2550 5.0; 12. Romanov, Evgeny f RUS 2392 5.0; 13. Tregubov, Pavel V g RUS 2636 5.0; 14. Andreikin, Dmitry m RUS 2418 5.0; 15. Yakovich, Yuri g RUS 2596 5.0; 16. Volkov, Sergey1 g RUS 2629 4.5; 17. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2616 4.5; 18. Belov, Vladimir g RUS 2543 4.5; 19. Ionov, Sergey g RUS 2538 4.5; 20. Shaposhnikov, Evgeny g RUS 2559 4.5; 21. Yevseev, Denis g RUS 2580 4.5; 22. Nikolenko, Oleg m RUS 2520 4.5; 23. Dolmatov, Sergey g RUS 2573 4.0; 24. Burmakin, Vladimir g RUS 2571 4.0; 25. Kuzmin, Alexey g RUS 2567 4.0; 26. Nepomniachtchi, Ian f RUS 2445 4.0; 27. Loginov, Valery A g RUS 2516 4.0; 28. Danin, Alexandre f RUS 2332 4.0; 29. Kurnosov, Igor g RUS 2543 4.0; 30. Dobrov, Vladimir m RUS 2477 3.5; 31. Solovjov, Sergey I m RUS 2458 3.5; 32. Gleizerov, Evgeny g RUS 2592 2.5; 33. Shapovalenko,Maksim RUS 0 1.0; 34. Silivanov, Sergej f RUS 2291 1.0; Internet coverage: http://www.ruschess.com/ Tomsk Games from Tomsk in PGN 1-9 Tomsk Final Rd9 Standings: 1. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2649 6.5; 2. Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2591 6.0; 3. Inarkiev, Ernesto g RUS 2595 6.0; 4. Korotylev, Alexey g RUS 2565 6.0; 5. Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2582 6.0; 6. Smirnov, Pavel g RUS 2601 6.0; 7. Rustemov, Alexander g RUS 2593 5.5; 8. Bocharov, Dmitry g RUS 2567 5.5; 9. Khismatullin, Denis RUS 2537 5.0; 10. Filippov, Valerij g RUS 2639 5.0; 11. Kosyrev, Vladimir g RUS 2529 5.0; 12. Sorokin, Maxim g RUS 2583 5.0; 13. Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2671 5.0; 14. Kharlov, Andrei g RUS 2593 5.0; 15. Belozerov, Andrei g RUS 2552 5.0; 16. Dvoirys, Semen I g RUS 2612 5.0; 17. Kobalia, Mikhail g RUS 2630 5.0; 18. Galkin, Alexander g RUS 2602 4.5; 19. Gajsin, Evgenij RUS 2404 4.5; 20. Shariyazdanov, Andrey g RUS 2575 4.5; 21. Lastin, Alexander g RUS 2622 4.5; 22. Maletin, Pavel f RUS 2423 4.5; 23. Ulibin, Mikhail g RUS 2579 4.0; 24. Kornev, Alexei RUS 2582 4.0; 25. Kiriakov, Petr g RUS 2568 4.0; 26. Sherbakov, Ruslan g RUS 2564 4.0; 27. Khairullin, Ildar f RUS 2481 4.0; 28. Yagupov, Igor g RUS 2441 4.0; 29. Yudin, Sergei f RUS 2425 4.0; 30. Vorobiov, Evgeny E g RUS 2552 3.5; 31. Yandemirov, Valeri g RUS 2494 3.5; 32. Iskusnyh, Sergei g RUS 2507 3.5; 33. Novikov, Maxim m RUS 2426 3.0; 34. Frolov, Denis m RUS 2401 2.5; 35. Loskutov, Oleg m RUS 2433 2.5; 36. Nazarov, Nikolay RUS 2256 0.5; Coverage in Russia at: http://www.tomskchess.net.ru games available in a viewer. |
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| ACP Letter The ACP http://www.chess-players.org have released an open letter addresses to FIDE about the arrangments for the World Championships in Libya. OPEN LETTER FROM THE ACP TO THE FIDE PRESIDENT, MR KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV 26th May 2004 |
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| Capablanca
Memorial The Capablanca Memorial took place 5th-19th May in Havana. There were four main events including a Category 13 elite tournament which was won by Lenier Dominguez. Games in PGN Round 11 Elite Final Standings: 1. Dominguez, Lenier g CUB 2612 9.0; 2. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2602 8.5; 3. Delgado, Neuris g CUB 2557 6.5; 4. Felgaer, Ruben g ARG 2592 6.5; 5. Arencibia, Walter g CUB 2505 6.5; 6. Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav g RUS 2556 5.5; 7. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2583 5.0; 8. Gonzalez, Yuri m CUB 2481 4.5; 9. Luther, Thomas g GER 2577 4.5; 10. Ramirez, Alejandro g CRC 2542 4.0; 11. Quezada, Yuniesky m CUB 2478 3.0; 12. Maiwald, Jens-Uwe g GER 2543 2.5; http://www.inder.co.cu/capablanca/ |
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| French Teams The final rounds of the French Team Championships took place May 5th-8th 2004. The NAO Chess Club was very strong with Vladimir Kramnik, Michael Adams and Peter Svidler and they took the title with a perfect 11/11 score. Games in PGN Rounds 8-10 (final round 11 unavailable) Official site: http://www.echecs.asso.fr. Other coverage: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html |
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| 4NCL The final two rounds of the British 4NCL over the weekend of 22nd-23rd May 2004. Guildford-ADC 1 won the Division 1 title in an exciting last round match against Wood Green 1. GUILDFORD-ADC 1 2507 4½-3½ WOOD GREEN 1 2584 1 w Sutovsky, Emil * 2661 1 - 0 Morozevich, Alexander 2732 2 b Rowson, Jonathan 2547 ½ - ½ Adams, Michael 2731 3 w Cherniaev, Alexander 2480 ½ - ½ McShane, Luke 2656 4 b Gallagher, Joseph G 2531 ½ - ½ Emms, John M 2508 5 w Plaskett, James 2483 ½ - ½ Lalic, Bogdan 2535 6 b King, Daniel J 2497 1 - 0 Baburin, Alexander 2548 7 w Conquest, Stuart C 2524 0 - 1 Speelman, Jonathan S 2569 8 b Collas, Silvia (F) 2331 ½ - ½ Hunt, Harriet (F) 2392 Rounds 10 and 11 in PGN Final table GUILDFORD-ADC 1 9 1 1 19 WOOD GREEN 1 8 2 1 18 BETSSON.COM 7 3 1 17 WOOD GREEN 2 6 1 4 13 BARBICAN 4NCL 1 4 3 4 11 NUMERICA 3CS 1 3 5 3 11 MICRO MARK. NWE 1 5 1 5 11 THE ADS 1 4 3 4 11 RICHMOND 3 1 7 7 BARBICAN 4NCL 2 2 3 6 7 SLOUGH 1 1 5 5 6 * WARWICKS. SELECT 0 0 11 0 Official site: http://www.4ncl.co.uk |
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| Sigeman Tournament
2004 The Sigeman Tournament 2004 organised by the Limhamn Chess Club and the Copenhagen Chess Federation took place in Malmo and Høje Taastrup (a suburb of Copenhagen) April 30th - May 9th 2004. Peter Heine Nielsen beat Curt Hansen to catch him in the final round both finished on 6/9. Half a point behind in 3rd was the World's youngest GM, Magnus Carlsen, who has been invited to play in the FIDE championships in Libya after becoming one of the FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov's nominees. (See http://www.fide.com) Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2628 6.0; 2. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2635 6.0; 3. Carlsen, Magnus m NOR 2552 5.5; 4. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2667 5.0; 5. Rozentalis, Eduardas g LTU 2619 4.5; 6. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2512 4.5; 7. Agrest, Evgenij g SWE 2601 4.0; 8. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2513 3.5; 9. Aagaard, Jacob m DEN 2400 3.0; 10. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2542 3.0; Official site: http://www.sigeman-chess.com |
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| Etienne Bacrot vs Ivan
Sokolov Etienne Bacrot beat Ivan Sokolov 3.5-2.5 in a match in Albert, France 27th April - 2nd May 2004. Games in PGN Gm1 Bacrot, Etienne - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 27 D18 Slav Defence Gm2 Sokolov, Ivan - Bacrot, Etienne 0-1 52 D15 Slav Defence Gm3 Bacrot, Etienne - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 21 C65 Ruy Lopez Berlin Gm4 Sokolov, Ivan - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 71 D15 Slav Defence Gm5 Bacrot, Etienne - Sokolov, Ivan 1-0 42 C65 Ruy Lopez Berlin Gm6 Sokolov, Ivan - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 39 D15 Slav Defence Official site: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ |
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| Polish Championships The Polish Men's Championship took place April 24th-May 7th in Warsaw. The event was a 14 player round-robin. Bartlomiej Macieja won the event with 9/13 half a point clear of Krasenkow, Kempinski and Gdanski. The Women's Championship place alongside April 26th-May 7th and was won by Monika Socko after a sudden death playoff game against Iweta Radziewicz. Games in PGN Final Round 13 Standings: 1. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2633 9.0; 2. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2609 8.5; 3. Kempinski, Robert g POL 2586 8.5; 4. Gdanski, Jacek g POL 2529 8.5; 5. Miton, Kamil g POL 2563 8.0; 6. Jakubiec, Artur g POL 2532 8.0; 7. Cyborowski, Lukasz g POL 2565 8.0; 8. Markowski, Tomasz g POL 2605 6.5; 9. Jaracz, Pawel g POL 2539 6.0; 10. Socko, Bartosz g POL 2579 5.5; 11. Jakubowski, Krzysztof f POL 2492 5.5; 12. Murdzia, Piotr m POL 2455 4.5; 13. Lagowski, Patryk m POL 2425 3.0; 14. Mista, Aleksander g POL 2517 1.5; Internet coverage: http://www.zagraj.pl/chess/mp2004/index.jsp |
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| ACP, FIDE and Ruslan Ponomariov Ruslan Ponomariov held press conference in Kiev on April 29th 2004. He proposed to organize a tournament with six players: Kramnik, Leko, Kasparov, Anand, Ponomariov and the winner of Libya event, to define the unified world champion. Info from press conference in Russian is at: http://mignews.com.ua/sport/ukraine/118014.html http://www.from-ua.com/news/40910e791e6bd/ Press release in Ukrainian is at: http://www.chesspage.kiev.ua Press releases continue almost daily from the ACP as they start to create policy and address pressing issues about the FIDE Championships, European Championships and Women's World Championships. FIDE say 114 qualified players out of 128 have signed the World Championship contract for Lybia. There will be a new champion as Karpov, Khalifman, Anand and Ponomariov haven't signed. There are 12 places for the reserves who have to confirm their participation by May 5th. There will be no special event in Malta as Lybia says all players are welcome to play Details on FIDE's website: http://www.fide.com/. Ruslan Ponomariov has given a pretty disturbing interview with Yuri Vasiliev of the Russian paper Sport Express (in Russian)http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?84597 |
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Bulgarian Championship 3rd placed Julian Radulski, Winner Ivan Cheparinov and 2nd placed Boris Chatalbashev. Photo © Rumen Angelov The Bulgarian Championship took place 24th April - 4th May May in Sofia. The 68th Men's Championships was a category VIII (2446) round robin. 6 GMs and 4 IMs competed. IM Ivan Cheparinov won the event with 9.5/13 a point clear of Boris Chatalbashev. Games in PGN Final Round 13 Standings: 1. Cheparinov, Ivan m BUL 2555 9.5; 2. Chatalbashev, Boris g BUL 2543 8.5; 3. Radulski, Julian m BUL 2497 7.5; 4. Bratanov, Zsivko m BUL 2427 7.0; 5. Genov, Petar g BUL 2483 7.0; 6. Rusev, Krasimir BUL 2395 7.0; 7. Spasov, Vasil g BUL 2542 6.5; 8. Dimitrov, Vladimir g BUL 2459 6.5; 9. Nikolov, Momchil BUL 2364 6.5; 10. Georgiev, Krum g BUL 2461 5.5; 11. Kolev, Atanas g BUL 2540 5.5; 12. Grigorov, Grigor BUL 2275 5.0; 13. Iotov, Valentin BUL 2342 5.0; 14. Dochev, Dimitar m BUL 2359 4.0; Official site: http://www.bul68.chessmix.com/ |
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| Russian Team Championship The Russian Chess League finals took place in the hotel Dagomys in Sochi 20th-28th April 2004. Alexander Morozevich finished with 6.5/8 and a 2900 ELO performance. His team Tomsk 400 Yukos won the event with 15/18 match points conceding three draws including one in the last round. Games in PGN - File complete Malcolm Pein annotates Morozevich - Bologan from the Russian Team Championships Official site: http://www.rcl.aeroflotchess.com/eng/index.htm including live coverage. Final Standings 1 Tomsk400 Yukos 15/18 2 Noril'skij Nikel 14/18 34.5 3 Maks Ven 14/18 34 4 Ladya Kazan 1000 11/18 30.5 5 Politehnik 11/18 30 6 Termosteps 11/18 29 7= Sankt Petersburg LTG 5/18 7= Debyut DVGTU 5/18 9 Neftehim Lada 4/18 10 Sibirskie Afiny 0/18 Results Round 9 - 28th April 2004 Debyut-DVGTU Sankt-Petersburg-LTG 3,5-2,5 Lad'ya-Kazan 1000 MaksVen 3-3 Tomsk-400-YuKOS Politehnik 3-3 Termosteps Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim 4-2 Lada Noril'skij Nikel 1-5 Round 8 - 27th April 2004 Sankt-Petersburg-LTG Lad'ya-Kazan 1000 1,5-4,5 MaksVen Tomsk-400-YuKOS 3-3 Politehnik Termosteps 3-3 Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim Lada 2,5-3,5 Noril'skij Nikel Debyut-DVGTU 5-1 Round 7 - 26th April 2004 Noril'skij Nikel Sankt-Petersburg-LTG 4-2 Tomsk-400-YuKOS Lad'ya-Kazan 1000 4-2 Termosteps MaksVen 2-4 Lada Politehnik 2,5-3,5 Debyut-DVGTU Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim 4-2 Round 6 - 25th April 2004 Sankt-Petersburg-LTG Tomsk-400-YuKOS 1,5-4,5 Lad'ya-Kazan 1000 Termosteps 3-3 MaksVen Lada 4,5-1,5 Politehnik Debyut-DVGTU 4-2 Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim Noril'skij Nikel 1-5 Round 5 - 24th April 2004 Syberian Athens - Saint-Petersburg 1:5 Lada - Ladja 2.5:3.5 Termosteps - Tomsk 400 Yukos 3:3 Debut DVGTU - Maxven 2:4 Norilsk Nickel - Politekhnik 2:4 Round 4 - 23rd April 2004 Sankt-Petersburg-LTG Termosteps 2,5-3,5 Lad'ya-Kazan 1000 Debyut-DVGTU 3-3 Tomsk-400-YuKOS Lada 5-1 MaksVen Noril'skij Nikel 2,5-3,5 Politehnik Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim 5,5-0,5 Round 3 - 22nd April 2004 Politehnik Sankt-Petersburg-LTG 3-3 Noril'skij Nikel Lad'ya-Kazan 1000 4-2 Debyut-DVGTU Tomsk-400-YuKOS 1-5 Lada Termosteps 1,5-4,5 Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim MaksVen 1-5 Round 2 - 21st April 2004 Saint-Petersburg - Lada 3.5:2.5 Maxven - Politekhnik 4:2 Ladja - Syberian Athens 5.5:0.5 Tomsk 400 Yukos - Norilsk Nickel 3.5:2.5 Termosteps - Debut DVGTU 3.5:2.5 Round 1 - 20th April 2004 Maxven - Saint-Petersburg 4:2 Politekhnik - Ladja 2:4 Syberian Athens - Tomsk 400 Yukos 1.5:4.5 Norilsk Nickel - Termosteps 3.5:2.5 Debut DVGTU - Lada 2.5:3.5 Teams: 1) Lad'ya-Kazan' 1000" (ave 2618 - Bareev, Rublevsky, Filippov etc) 2) Noril'skij Nikel (ave 2660 - Bologan, Dreev, Malakhov, Zvjaginsev, Onischuk, Galkin, Kobalia, Najer) 3 Tomsk-400-YuKOS (ave 2645 Morozevich, Akopian, Khalifman etc) 4 Sankt-Petersburg-LTG (Ave 2534 Yemelin etc) 5 MaksVen - Ekaterinburg - (ave 2659 Grischuk, Aleksandrov, Sakaev, Beliavsky, Vaganian etc 6 Politehnik Nizhnij Tagil (ave 2554 Lastin, Volokitin etc. 7 Sibirskie Afiny - Neftehim (Tomsk) (Ave 2384) 8 Lada Tol'yatti - (Ave 2524 Alekseev etc) 9 Debyut-DVGTU (Vladivostok) (Ave 2502 Fominyh etc) 10 Termosteps (Samara) - (Ave 2593 Gelfand etc) |
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| FIDE Women's Championships The Women`s World Chess Championship has been moved to Elista, Kalmykia, Russia and will take place 21st May - 8th June 2004. The event seems still to be bankrolled by the Adjara region but the continuing and escalating crisis there made this move inevitable. News: http://www.fide.com |
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| FIDE April Rating List The main story is Anand's return to number two in the rating list above Vladimir Kramnik. He gained 8 rating points whilst Kramnik lost 13. Kasparov also lost 14 points. Anand's truimph and Kramnik failure at Wijk aan Zee are reasons for this as is Kasparov's poor performance at Linares. Kramnik won Linares but didn't gain enough points to make a difference. In fourth again is Peter Leko up from tenth. He's almost back to the rating he had a year ago. Topalov is up one place and only two rating points to 5th. This reflects lost rating point by other around him. Peter Svidler has dropped a couple of places after reaching a career high of 4th in the last rating list. Michael Adams rises from 11th to 8th. Alexei Shirov ends a stable period in the top 10 by dropping from 5th to 14th and losing 23 points. FIDE April 2004 Rating List: Top 100 Source: http://www.fide.com which also has the list of qualifiers for the FIDE World Championships. |
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Beer Sheva Rapid  Korchnoi against Erenburg and Huzman. Photos © Dima Tyomkin Beer Sheva chess club in Israel hosted a rapid tournament 18th-21st April 2004. Time rate 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move. News: Michael Klenburg Available Games in PGN Live games: http://www.worldchessnetwork.com Final Round 11 Standings: 1. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2579 8.0; 2. Dvoirys, Semen I g RUS 2612 7.0; 3. Erenburg, Sergey g ISR 2513 7.0; 4. Roiz, Michael g ISR 2563 6.5; 5. Greenfeld, Alon g ISR 2551 6.0; 6. Huzman, Alexander g ISR 2589 5.5; 7. Vydeslaver, Alik m ISR 2448 5.0; 8. Tyomkin, Dimitri g CAN 2503 4.5; 9. Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2620 4.5; 10. Golod, Vitali g ISR 2552 4.0; 11. Khmelniker, Ilya ISR 2458 4.0; 12. Tseitlin, Mark D g ISR 2455 4.0; ; * Leader after day 2 Avrukh lost all remaining games by default on days 3 and 4 after withdrawing from the event after the birth of his child. |
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| The 6th Dubai open The 6th Dubai open took place 18th-28th April 2004 in Dubai Chess Club. 160 players, including 43 GMs, 28 IMs competed for more than $40,000 in prizes. Games in PGN Magnus Carlsen made a final GM norm and becomes the 2nd youngest ever to make the title. Rising star Shakriyar Mamedyarov won the event with 7/9. Final (round 9) standings: 1.Mamedyarov, Shakriyar 7.0 2.Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 6.5 Sasikiran, Krishnan 6.5 Iordachesvu, Viorel 6.5 Vladimirov, Evgeny 6.5 Harikrishna, P. 6.5 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij 6.5 Eljanov, Pavel 6.5 Minasian, Artashes 6.5 Al-Modiahki, Mohamad 6.5 Goloshchapov, Alexander 6.5 Carlsen, Magnus 6.5 Mamedov, Rauf 6.5 14.Fedorov, Alexei 6.0 Jobava, Baadur 6.0 Izoria, Zviad 6.0 Efimenko, Zahar 6.0 Gashimov, Vugar 6.0 Gagunashvili, Merab 6.0 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 6.0 Gelashvili, Tamaz 6.0 Iuldachev, Saidali 6.0 Kruppa, Yuri 6.0 Dizdar, Goran 6.0 Al Sayed, Mohamad N. 6.0 26.Gleizerov, Evgeny 5.5 Anastasian, Ashot 5.5 Ulibin, Mikhail 5.5 Korobov, Anton 5.5 Kuzmin, Alexey 5.5 Sturua, Zurab 5.5 Dzhumaev, Marat 5.5 Mamedov, Nidjat 5.5 Megaranto, Susanto 5.5 Hakki, Imad 5.5 Mariano, Nelson 5.5 Abedi, Ali 5.5 138 players Official site is http://www.arabfide.com/dubaiopen2004 |
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13th Amber Blindfold and Rapid
Chess Tournament  Both Kramnik and Morozevich won their final round games against Topalov and Svidler to finish joint top in the combined standings. Photo © Association Max Euwe 13th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament took place in the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel in Monaco March 20th - April 1st 2004. It was sponsored by creator of the event Mr. J.J. van Oosterom. Prize-fund was Euro 193,250. Morozevich won the blindfold event part of the event after both he and close rival Kramnik both drew. Anand took clear first in the rapid section. Morozevich and Kramnik shared 1st in the overall standings after both won their rapid games. Games in PGN Round 11 (April 1, 2004) Blindfold Bareev, Evgeny - Leko, Peter 1/2 23 B25 Sicilian Closed Van Wely, Loek - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 39 D44 Anti-Meran Gambit Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 42 C77 Ruy Lopez Anderssen Anand, Viswanathan - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 55 C42 Petroff's Defence Svidler, Peter - Morozevich, Alexander 1/2 25 C10 French Rubinstein Topalov, Veselin - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 41 E15 Queens Indian Final Round 11 Blindfold Standings: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2732 8.5; 2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 8.0; 3. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2716 7.0; 4. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 6.5; 5. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 6.0; 6. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2736 6.0; 7. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2747 5.5; 8. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2714 5.5; 9. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 4.5; 10. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2617 3.5; 11. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2709 3.0; 12. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2663 2.0; Round 11 (April 1, 2004) Rapid Ivanchuk, Vassily - Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 96 C11 French Defence Leko, Peter - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 18 C10 French Rubinstein Shirov, Alexei - Van Wely, Loek 0-1 49 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Morozevich, Alexander - Svidler, Peter 1-0 44 B31 Sicilian Rossolimo Kramnik, Vladimir - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 30 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Gelfand, Boris - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 29 E05 Catalan Final Round 11 Rapid Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 7.5; 2. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2714 7.0; 3. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 6.5; 4. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2747 6.0; 5. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2732 6.0; 6. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 6.0; 7. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2716 6.0; 8. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 5.5; 9. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2709 5.5; 10. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2736 4.5; 11. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2617 4.0; 12. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2663 1.5; Final Round 11 Combined Standings: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2732 14.5; 2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 14.5; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 13.5; 4. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2716 13.0; 5. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 12.5; 6. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2714 12.5; 7. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2747 11.5; 8. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2736 10.5; 9. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 10.0; 10. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2709 8.5; 11. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2617 7.5; 12. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2663 3.5; Every day the grandmasters played one Rapid game and one Blindfold game, of around one hour per game. The Blindfold games were played on a computer. The players see only an empty chess board. The play moves with the mouse or keyboard which then appears on the screens of both players. After they have confirmed seeing the move, the the move disappears and the clock of the opponent starts running. Various monitors in the playing room show the course of the game, which is perfectly visible for the arbiter and the audience. Official site : http://www.alldata.nl/amber |
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| Cogas Match The Cogas Energy Match took place 8th-10th April 2004. The 4 game match was between Jan Timman and Loek Van Wely. Alongside the match was a 6 round Swiss Grandmaster tournament with a prizefund of several 1000 Euros. The first two games were rapid games which they tied 1-1. Van Wely beat Timman 2-0 in the standard time rate games. Games in PGN Coverage: http://www.cogas.nl and http://www.anjo.demon.nl/cogas2004/index.htm |
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| French Teams Top
16 The final four rounds of the group stage of the French Top 16 Team Championships concluded in Evry and Montpellier 1st-4th April 2004. The event will conclude with additional rounds with the top half and bottom half of each group meeting. Players competing included Luke McShane (a perfect 4/4 score including a win with black against Ivan Sokolov), Sergey Rublevsky, Alexei Shirov (just one game a draw), Peter Svidler (2 games a win and a draw), Ivan Sokolov (2 losses), Michael Adams (3.5/4), Alexander Grischuk (3 draws) Rounds 4-7 in PGN(correction to the game Pelletier-Abergel Rd4 GpA) GpA 1. Nao : 21 pts 2. Mulhouse : 16 3. Nice : 16 4. Gonfreville : 16 5. Evry : 13 6. Bischwiller : 13 7. Nancy : 9 8. Strasbourg : 8 GpB 1. Monaco : 19 pts 2. Cannes : 19 3. Clichy : 18 4. Montpellier : 16 5. Orange : 11 6. Vandoeuvre : 10 7. Lille : 10 8. Drancy : 9 News: http://echecs.asso.fr and http://www.europe-echecs.com |
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5th Karpov Tournament in
Poikovsky Winner Alexander Grischuk. Photo © Eugeny Atarov The 5th Karpov Tournament took place in Poikovsky 17th-26th of March 2004. Poikovsky is a village Poikovsky in the Nefteyugansky region, the west of Siberia. This year the average rating of the participants was 2676 (category XVIII), and the organisers promise that next year the event will be stronger. Alexander Grischuk took first on tie-break from Sergei Rublevsky after beating Zhang Zhong. Grischuk started fast with three wins in the first four rounds. He then drew the next four including what looked like a missed chance against Joel Lautier in round 7. Games in PGN All games now available. Round 9 (March 26, 2004) Grischuk, Alexander - Zhang Zhong 1-0 78 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Zvjaginsev, Vadim - Rublevsky, Sergei 1/2 14 D21 QGA Onischuk, Alexander - Bologan, Viktor 0-1 31 E92 King's Indian Classical Lautier, Joel - Malakhov, Vladimir 1-0 20 D15 Slav Defence Round 9 (March 21, 2004) Aleksandrov, Aleksej - Sokolov, Ivan 0-1 32 D11 Slav Defence Final Standings: 1. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2719 6.0; 2. Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2655 6.0; 3. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2679 5.5; 4. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2706 5.5; 5. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2654 5.0; 6. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2652 4.5; 7. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2676 4.0; 8. Aleksandrov, Aleksej g BLR 2679 3.5; 9. Zhang Zhong g CHN 2639 3.5; 10. Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2700 1.5; News Eugeny Atarov. The official site of the tournament: http://www.admoil.ru/chess2004/index_chess.htm |
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Reykjavik Rapid
2004 Garry Kasparov in action in games one and two of the final against Nigel Short. Photos © Omar Oskarsson The Reykjavik Rapid 2004 took place 17th-21st March 2004. Time rate 25mins + 5 seconds. Rapid playoff games 5 mins + 3 seconds per move. Malcolm Pein on Reykjavik: Round 1 - Round 2 - Round 3 - Round 4 - Photos mostly by Omar Oskarsson (one of the final by Rikhardur Sveinsson) Games in PGN Round 4 Final 14.45 GMT. 21st March 2004: Nigel Short - Garry Kasparov 0-1 1/2 Round 3 results. 20th March 2004: Nigel Short - Alexei Dreev 1/2 1-0 Garry Kasparov - Peter Heine Nielsen 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1-0 Round 2 Results. 19th March 2004: Short, Nigel D - Aronian, Levon 1/2 1-0 Karpov, Anatoly - Dreev, Alexey 0-1 1/2 Timman, Jan H - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 0-1 Nielsen, Peter Heine - Sutovsky, Emil 1-0 1/2 Round 1 Results 18th March 2004: Draw: Top Half Olafsson, Helgi - Aronian, Levon 0-1 0-1 Short, Nigel D - Kristjansson, Stefan 1/2 1-0 Petursson, Margeir - Dreev, Alexey 0-1 1/2 Stefansson, Hannes - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 0-1 Playoff 0-1 Draw: Bottom Half Carlsen, Magnus - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 0-1 Hjartarson, Johann - Timman, Jan H 0-1 1/2 Nataf, Igor-Alexandre - Sutovsky, Emil 0-1 0-1 Epishin, Vladimir - Nielsen, Peter Heine 0-1 0-1 Info: http://www.chess.is/reykjavikrapid/english.html and http://www.ruv.is/skak Day 1 Blitz Standings (significant numbers of games don't appear to be available): 1 Levon Aronian, 2648 13 94.25 11 2 Garry Kasparov, 2831 12 79.25 10 3 Emil Sutovsky, 2666 10 69.25 8 4 Alexey Dreev, 2682 9.5 63.00 6 5 Anatoly Karpov, 2682 9.5 61.25 7 6 Peter Heine Nielsen, 2638 9 52.00 7 7 Jan H. Timman, 2578 8 55.00 4 8 Nigel Short, 2702 7.5 44.25 6 9 Stefan Kristjansson, 2404 7 39.50 6 10 Johann Hjartarson, 2640 6 41.25 5 11 Vladimir Epishin, 2633 6 36.25 4 12 Hannes H. Stefansson, 2572 5.5 33.25 4 13 Margeir Petursson, 2540 5.5 28.50 5 14 Igor-Alaxander Nataf, 2569 4 32.50 2 15 Magnus Carlsen, 2484 4 29.25 3 16 Helgi Olafsson, 2504 3.5 20.75 2 |
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Linares 2004 Vladimir Kramnik wins Linares. Pictured with the trophy. Photo © Jesús J. Boyero Gabarre The 21st Linares tournament took place February 19th - March 5th 2004. The event was a 7 player double round robin category 20 event (ave 2731). Garry Kasparov (No. 1 2830) Vladimir Kramnik (No. 2 2777) Alexei Shirov (No. 5 2736) Veselin Topalov (No.6 2735). Peter Leko (No. 10 2722), Paco Vallejo (No. 33 2663) and Teimour Radjabov (No. 35 2656). Vladimir Kramnik finished clear first with two wins and 10 draws ahead of Kasparov one win 11 draws and Peter Leko two wins one loss nine draws. There were just nine decisive games. Kasparov missed converting three winning positions including chances in both his games against Radjabov. Dates were as follows: February 18th (draw of lots) Rd1 Feb. 19th Round 14 (Final) March 5th - Rest days Feb. 24th and March 1st. Games in PGN Final Round 14 (March 5, 2004) Topalov, Veselin - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 20 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo Shirov, Alexei - Leko, Peter 1/2 25 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Kasparov, Garry 1/2 54 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Final Round 14 Standings: 1. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 7.0; 2. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 6.5; 3. Kasparov, Garry g RUS 2831 6.5; 4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2656 6.0; 5. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 6.0; 6. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2736 5.0; 7. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2663 5.0; Malcolm Pein on Round 14 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 13 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 12 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 11 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 10 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 8-9 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 7 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 6 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 5 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 4 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 3 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 2 of Linares Malcolm Pein on Round 1 of Linares Linares 2004 Preview Official coverage by the Spanish paper Diario Marca: http://www.marca.com/linares/ The London Chess Center commentated live on the games on chessfm. Team was GM Jonathan Levitt, IM Malcolm Pein, FM Chris Duncan, James Coleman and other personalities who walked into the LCC. In conjuction with ClassicalGames.com |
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| European Women's Championship The European Women's Championship took place 21st March - 2nd April 2004. The event was a 12 round Swiss. Alexandra Kosteniuk beat Peng Zhaoqin 1.5-0.5 to take the title in a playoff after they tied on 9.5/12. Antoaneta Stefanova won a playoff final against Natalia Zhukova after they beat Nana Dzagnidze and Irina Slavina in a first round to take the bronze medal. Tatiana Kosintseva and Jovanka Houska won playoffs to qualify for the women's world championships. Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.eurochess-dresden.org |
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| III Pinamar
International The 3rd Pinamar International took place in Argentina 24th March -1st April. Johan Hellsten and Pablo Lafuente finished on 8.5/11. Games in PGN Final Round 11 Standings: 1. Hellsten, Johan m SWE 2548 8.5; 2. Lafuente, Pablo f ARG 2424 8.5; 3. Ricardi, Pablo g ARG 2540 7.0; 4. Giardelli, Sergio C m ARG 2445 6.0; 5. Tempone, Marcelo m ARG 2438 5.5; 6. Larsen, Bent g DEN 2470 5.5; 7. Lopez Silva, Hugo CHI 2353 5.0; 8. Soppe, Guillermo m ARG 2435 5.0; 9. Szmetan, Ricardo f BAR 2311 4.5; 10. Marques, Vinicius m BRA 2403 4.0; 11. Garcia Palermo, Carlos g ARG 2443 4.0; 12. Rodi, Luis Ernesto ARG 2243 2.5; Website: http://www.utopiasdepinamar.com.ar/magistral/index_en.htm |
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| Copa ENTEL 2004 The Copa ENTEL 2004 took place 21st-28th March 2004 in Santiago, Chile. Julio Granda Zuniga took first by a point and a half with an undefeated TPR of 2750. Games in PGN Final Round 11 Standings: 1. Granda Zuniga, Julio E g PER 2581 9.5; 2. Leitao, Rafael g BRA 2566 8.0; 3. Vasquez, Rodrigo g CHI 2523 7.5; 4. Rodriguez, Andres g URU 2485 7.5; 5. Zambrana, Oswaldo f BOL 2404 6.5; 6. Cubas, Jose Fernando m PAR 2394 5.5; 7. Panno, Oscar g ARG 2485 5.0; 8. Valenzuela Fuentealba, Luis m CHI 2418 4.5; 9. Rojas, Luis m CHI 2408 4.5; 10. Llorens, Marcelo f CHI 2384 3.0; 11. Arancibia, Eduardo CHI 2405 2.5; 12. Velasquez, Cesar f CHI 2359 2.0; Official site: http://partidas.123.cl/index.php |
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| New US Championship
Dates The 2004 US Championships will take place November 25th - December 5th at the Hilton Torrey Pines, La Jolla San Diego, California. America’s Foundation for Chess (AF4C) and their co-sponsor the NTC Foundation expect to maintain its $250,000 prize fund along with corporate sponsor Chessmaster®. Already half of the 64-player field has been seeded directly into the championship as the nation’s top players on the February 2004 United States Chess Federation Rating List, or have won through by qualifying from the 2003 cycle of major U.S. tournaments. Next month sees the start of the 2004 qualifying cycle with a further 32-players looking to do battle over the chessboard in the coming months for the honor of completing the line-up. Further details of who has qualified so far and which events make-up the 2004 cycle can be found at http://www.af4c.org/events.asp. The event Offers Something for Chess Fans and Non-Chess Players alike. During this year’s Kids Simul event, more than 400 children will be given an opportunity to play against America’s finest chess players, with one grand master playing against 25 children at one time. Other events will range from chess demonstrations, opportunities to meet the masters and a fund-raising party. Further details: http://www.af4c.org |
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| Miskolc GM Miskolc the biggest city in Northern Hungary hosted a Category XII GM tournament Tha Miskolc 2004 "Talent and Courage" GM tournament took place in Miskolc City Hall March 10th - March 19th 2004. Zoltan Varga won the event with 6/9. Prusikin made a third GM norm, he is a new german grandmaster. My thanks to Zsuzsa Veroci. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Varga, Zoltan g HUN 2564 6.0; 2. Prusikin, Michael m GER 2519 5.5; 3. Goloshchapov, Alexander g UKR 2572 5.5; 4. Gyimesi, Zoltan g HUN 2553 5.0; 5. Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2573 4.5; 6. Balogh, Csaba m HUN 2456 4.0; 7. Erdos, Viktor m HUN 2468 4.0; 8. Antal, Gergely m HUN 2498 4.0; 9. Nevednichy, Vladislav g ROM 2548 3.5; 10. Firman, Nazar m UKR 2526 3.0; Official site of the tournament: http://www.borsodchess.hu/ additional news: http://origo.hu/sport/sakk/20040312varga.html |
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| Reykjavik Open The 21st Reykjavik Open took place in The Reykjavik City Hall March 7th - March 16th 2004. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1 Dreev, Alexey RUS 2682 gm 6.5 2 Epishin, Vladimir RUS 2633 gm 6.5 3 Sutovsky, Emil ISR 2666 gm 6.5 4 Timman, Jan H NED 2578 gm 6.5 5 Aronian, Levon GER 2648 gm 6.5 6 Nataf, Igor-Alexandre FRA 2569 gm 6.5 7 Ehlvest, Jaan EST 2599 gm 6.5 8 Markus, Robert SCG 2527 im 6.5 9 Korneev, Oleg RUS 2566 gm 6 10 Erenburg, Sergey ISR 2523 gm 6 11 Hillarp Persson, Tiger SWE 2530 gm 6 12 Bu, Xiangzhi CHN 2600 gm 5.5 Luther, Thomas GER 2572 gm 5.5 14 Krasenkow, Michal POL 2609 gm 5.5 Rogers, Ian AUS 2582 gm 5.5 16 Atalik, Suat BIH 2554 gm 5.5 Votava, Jan CZE 2505 gm 5.5 18 Romanishin, Oleg M UKR 2537 gm 5.5 19 Zatonskih, Anna USA 2436 wgm 5.5 20 Olafsson, Helgi ISL 2504 gm 5.5 21 Miezis, Normunds LAT 2521 gm 5.5 22 Stefansson, Hannes ISL 2572 gm 5.5 76 players Official site: http://www.chess.is/reykjavikopen/english.html |
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| Petrosian
Memorial Tigran Petrosian Memorial Tournament 2004 took place in Stepanakert, Karabakh March 8th-18th 2004. Total prize fund was US$12,100, with a first prize $4000. The event celebrated what would have been Petrosian 75th birthday. The winner was Karen Asrian. The event was very diplomatically controversial. Karabakh's status is under dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Armenian Chess Federation has isolated itself from the event but did send a congratulatory letter to the players according to reports. The Georgian Federation don't wish their flag to be hung at the event: The had briefly a message on the official FIDE site which now seems to have gone. FIDE now have stated it will have no international status according to a Report from Azertag the Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency. - according to the Armenian site http://www.armenpress.am/eng/news/sports.htm "a welcoming letter from the FIDE president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, was read out in which he said he was convinced that the holding of the international tournament in Stepanakert will contribute to the development of the unique Armenian chess culture." Games in PGN Ghaem Maghami - Asrian (8 was 0-1 default) Final (Round 9) Standings: 1. Asrian, Karen g ARM 2599 6.0; 2. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2653 5.5; 3. Sargissian, Gabriel g ARM 2618 5.0; 4. Anastasian, Ashot g ARM 2587 5.0; 5. Kobalia, Mikhail g RUS 2643 5.0; 6. Petrosian, Tigran L m ARM 2477 4.5; 7. Sveshnikov, Evgeny g LAT 2557 4.5; 8. Pashikian, Arman ARM 2451 3.5; 9. Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan g IRI 2549 3.0; 10. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2587 3.0; Official site: http://www.karabakh2004.com. Live coverage and commentary by Boris Spassky and others. |
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| Hrokurinn Rapid
2004 The Hrokurinn Rapid 2004 took place in Reykjavik March 1st-3rd 2004. Total prize fund is US$13000, with a first prize of US$3000 Moldova´s Viktor Bologan, Iceland 's national champion Hannes Hlífar Stefánsson and Denmark´s Henrik Danielsen were joint winners with 7 ½/9 points. Joel Lautier, Ivan Sokolov, Faruk Tairi og Stefán Kristjánsson were joint fourth with 7 points each. Official coverage: http://www.skakhatid.is |
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| Cappelle-la-Grande
2004 The Cappelle-le-Grande open took place 28th February - 6th March 2004. Games in PGN [My thanks to David Avron and Europe-Echecs] Leading Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2602 7,0 2. Kulaots, Kaido g EST 2530 7,0 3. Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2578 7,0 4. Gyimesi, Zoltan g HUN 2553 7,0 5. Grigoriants, Sergey g RUS 2532 7,0 6. Korneev, Oleg g RUS 2566 7,0 7. Delchev, Aleksander g BUL 2624 6,5 8. Vysochin, Spartak g UKR 2584 6,5 9. Chernyshov, Konstantin g RUS 2557 6,5 10. Postny, Evgeny g ISR 2537 6,5 11. Brodsky, Michail g UKR 2528 6,5 12. Areshchenko, Alexander g UKR 2564 6,5 13. Yevseev, Denis g RUS 2580 6,5 14. Jakubowski, Krzysztof f POL 2488 6,5 15. Grachev, Boris m RUS 2506 6,5 16. Svetushkin, Dmitry g MDA 2553 6,5 17. Skatchkov, Pavel m RUS 2493 6,5 18. Dzhumaev, Marat g UZB 2498 6,5 19. Burmakin, Vladimir g RUS 2596 6,5 20. Danielian, Elina m ARM 2428 6,5 21. Ivanisevic, Ivan g SCG 2542 6,5 22. Jaracz, Pawel g POL 2540 6,5 23. Sulava, Nenad g CRO 2477 6,5 24. Tunik, Gennady g RUS 2491 6,5 25. Arencibia, Walter g CUB 2508 6,5 26. Vorobiov, Evgeny E g RUS 2544 6,5 27. Bagheri, Amir g IRI 2534 6,5 28. Janev, Evgeni g BUL 2403 6,5 576 players Official site: http://www.cappelle-chess.com. Live coverage: http://www.echecs21.com. Further information http://www.notzai.info |
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| FIDE Championships in
Libya FIDE have now confirmed the FIDE Championships will be in Tripoli, the capital of Lybia, from June 18 till July 13, 2004 under the patronage of the Leader of the Libyan Jamahirya, H.E. Moammar Al Gathafi, who also provides the prize fund for the Championship. http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=398 According to a Novosti report in Moscow the FIDE world chess championship will be held in Tripoli Libya in June 2004 with $1.5 million prizefund. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said on Wednesday that the Libyan National Olympic Committee will transfer to the FIDE account $2.2 million for holding the championship. 128 chess players will play for $1,5 million prize money. The FIDE president also addressed the issue of three visas to Israeli grandmasters. "This month I will visit Tripoli and pass to its leader Muammar al-Gaddafi the request of the FIDE presidential council to issue entry visas to three chess players nationals of Israel, the Libyan side will have to go to additional expenses: holding part of the championship in the neighbour country, Malta." In addition there is additional money to make a Gold Cup, "worth several hundred thousand dollars" which will go to the grandmaster who can win three world championships in a row. In addition Vietnam looks favourite to hold the match between the winner of the FIDE Championships and Garry Kasparov. Although other countries are still in the running. Link to Novosti article and Pravda . Official confirmation at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=392 |
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| 2nd Fraenkische
Grossmeistertage The 2nd Fraenkische Grossmeistertage tournament took place in the Hotel Pulvermuehle near Bayreuth.GM Jan Gustafsson took first place on tie-break from Michael Bezold both finishing on 7/10. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Gustafsson, Jan g GER 2572 7.0; 2. Bezold, Michael g GER 2456 7.0; 3. Doettling, Fabian g GER 2532 5.5; 4. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2518 5.0; 5. Conquest, Stuart g ENG 2543 4.5; 6. Bischoff, Klaus g GER 2561 4.5; 7. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2576 4.5; 8. Prusikin, Michael m GER 2519 4.5; 9. Baramidze, David m GER 2456 4.5; 10. Stellwagen, Daniel m NED 2489 4.0; 11. Skripchenko, Almira wg FRA 2456 4.0; Official site: http://www.pulvermuehle2004.steffans-schachseiten.de/ |
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| 3rd Aeroflot
Festival The 3rd Aeroflot Festival took place in Hotel Rossija in Moscow, 17th-26th February 2004. Sergei Rublevsky won the event on tie-break from Rafael Vaganian and Valerij Filippov. The tie-break was first of all number of blacks compared to whites (Rublevsky played 4 games with white and 5 with black as did Vaganian) followed by average rating of opponents. Sergey Karjakin performed to around or over 2700. Leading final standings: 1 10 Rublevsky, Sergei 7.0 2582.3 2 26 Vaganian, Rafael A 7.0 2539.4 3 32 Filippov, Valerij 7.0 2603.0 4 28 Van Wely, Loek 6.5 2600.3 5 2 Dreev, Alexey 6.5 2582.1 6 22 Tregubov, Pavel V. 6.5 2567.6 7 30 Sadvakasov, Darmen 6.5 2563.7 8 37 Markowski, Tomasz 6.5 2558.9 9 13 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz 6.5 2579.1 10 38 Berkes, Ferenc 6.5 2578.6 11 11 Sasikiran, Krishnan 6.5 2575.7 12 21 Graf, Alexander 6.5 2575.6 13 9 Sakaev, Konstantin 6.5 2570.9 14 17 Motylev, Alexander 6.5 2559.0 15 40 Fedorov, Alexei 6.5 2550.1 16 72 Kotsur, Pavel 6.5 2545.3 203 players Some games in PGN Rds 1-9 My thanks to Aydin Saray, Europe-Echecs and Gary Suffield. There will undoubtably be errors in the file. Internet coverage: http://www.aeroflotchess.com |
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| Jakarta GM The Jakarta tournament in Indonesia took place February 16th-25th 2004. Prize money $12,500 sponsored by Santoso Wirya boss of Makita and Lakoni products. Antoaneta Stefanova and Denny Juswanto finished on 6.5/10. Games in PGN Final (Round 10) Standings: 1. Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2478 6.5; 2. Juswanto, Denny m INA 2505 6.5; 3. Adianto, Utut g INA 2591 6.0; 4. Zhu Chen g CHN 2495 5.0; 5. Hoang Thanh Trang m VIE 2447 4.0; 6. Megaranto, Susanto m INA 2458 2.0; Official site: http://www.sekolahcatur.com/makita and additional coverage: http://www.ruddylantangchess.com |
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| 2nd Breizh
Masters The 2nd Breizh Masters took place in Guingamp, France 12th-21st February 2004. The 6 player double round robin was won by Vladimir Baklan with 7.5/10. Games in PGN Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Baklan, Vladimir g UKR 2606 7.5; 2. Istratescu, Andrei g ROM 2590 5.5; 3. Bagheri, Amir g IRI 2534 5.0; 4. Wirig, Anthony m FRA 2418 4.5; 5. Le Roux, Jean-Pierre f FRA 2480 4.5; 6. Gozzoli, Yannick m FRA 2430 3.0; http://echiquierguingampais.free.fr/ |
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| ACP Press Release The Association of Chess Professionals Board has sent a press release to Boris Kutin, President of the European Union. Issues raised include hotel prices at official and compulsary hotels during events, qualification places for the World Championships from the European Individual Championships and issues surrounding the European Club Cup. Read OPEN LETTER FROM THE ACP TO THE ECU BOARD 11th Feb 2004 Official site: http://www.chess-players.org |
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| AF4C Video America's Foundation for Chess the sponsors of the US Championships have a video promoting chess in schools which you can now see on the internet. Go to the internet site: http://www.af4c.org/ |
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| GibTelecom Chess
Festival The GibTelecom Chess Festival took place January 26th to February 5th, 2004 at the 4 star Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. Nigel Short won the event with 8/10. A final round win against Ernesto Inarkiev took Nigel Short to clear first. Games in PGN Leading Final (Round 10) Standings 1 Short,Nigel ENG g 2702 8 2 Ganguly,Surya g 2541 7½ 3 Dreev,Alexei RUS g 2682 7 4 Harikrishna,Pentala g 2582 7 5 Wells,Peter g 2493 7 6 Bakre,Tejas m 2446 6½ 7 Chandler,Murray g 2508 5½ 8 Del Rio Angelis,Gabriel g 2504 6½ 9 Emms,John g 2501 6½ 10 Epishin,Vladimir RUS g 2633 6½ 11 Kunte,Abhijit g 2512 5½ 12 Kuzmin,Alexey g 2570 6½ 13 Motwani,Paul g 2537 5½ 14 Sandipan,Chanda g 2522 6½ 15 Vuckovic,Bojan g 2511 6½ 16 Cramling,Pia g 2488 6 17 Davies,Nigel g 2502 5 18 Gallagher,Joe g 2524 6 19 Inarkiev,Ernesto g 2606 6 20 Lalic,Bogdan g 2518 6 21 Mcnab,Colin g 2388 6 22 Speelman,Jon g 2578 6 23 Sulskis,Sarunas g 2582 6 87 players Official coverage: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com |
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| German
Championships The 75th German Championships took place in Höckendorf 29th January - 7th February 2004. 46 players competed in this 9 round Swiss. Alexander Graf won with event with a score of 7.5/9 a point clear of Jan Gustafsson. Games in PGN Leading Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Graf, Alexander g GER 2629 7.5; 2. Gustafsson, Jan g GER 2572 6.5; 3. Heinemann, Thies m GER 2426 6.0; 4. Kalinitschew, Sergey g GER 2519 6.0; 5. Bischoff, Klaus g GER 2561 6.0; 6. Rabiega, Robert g GER 2527 6.0; 7. Luther, Thomas g GER 2572 6.0; 8. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2576 6.0; 9. Espig, Lutz g GER 2429 5.5; 10. Braun, Arik m GER 2429 5.5; 11. Kritz, Leonid g GER 2534 5.5; 12. Mainka, Romuald g GER 2456 5.5; 13. Gutman, Lev g GER 2497 5.5; 14. Meister, Yakov m RUS 2488 5.0; 15. Mueller, Karsten g GER 2517 5.0; 16. Schebler, Gerhard m GER 2480 5.0; 17. Bastian, Herbert f GER 2384 5.0; 18. Breutigam, Martin m GER 2409 5.0; 19. Stern, Rene m GER 2489 5.0; 20. Muse, Mladen g GER 2452 5.0; 46 players Internet coverage: http://www.dem2004.schach.com/ |
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| Anand vs Topalov
Match Viswanathan Anand and Vesselin Topalov played a TV blitz exhibition match in Sofia Bulgaria, 1st February 2004. Two 15 minute games without increment started 16-00 hours local time. Game 1 16:20, game 2 16:45. No tiebreak required and Anand won 1.5-0.5. Games in PGN Gm1 Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 42 B48 Sicilian Paulsen Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 31 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Official site: http://www.mtel.bg - Regulations |
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| Kramnik - Leko World
Championship set to take place in September. Germany vs. Kramnik
simul. chessgate.de reports that the Leko - Kramnik match will take place in Brissago Switzerland 25th September - 18th October 2004. The 14 game match will be for the title that Kramnik claimed from Kasparov in their match in 2000. The sponsors are Dannemann. This will additionally put pressure on FIDE to finalise the organisation of their championship series. News in German: http://www.chessgate.de/news/januar2004/wm_ankuendigung.html Kramnik won his simul against a 4 player German team, he beat Huebner and drew the rest. The sponsors were the same as those for the Leko - Kramnik World Championship Match. Official coverage: http://www.dannemann.com. Games in PGN Brissago Thursday 29th January 2004 Lutz, Christopher - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 37 C90 Ruy Lopez Kramnik, Vladimir - Dautov, Rustem 1/2 30 C42 Petroff's Defence Huebner, Robert - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 52 A46 Queen's Pawn Opening Kramnik, Vladimir - Bischoff, Klaus 1/2 26 C11 French Defence |
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| Corus Wijk aan
Zee The Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee took place 9th-25th January 2004. There was yet again a tremendous field for the Category 19 A Group. Viswanathan Anand won the event with 8.5/13 half a point clear of Peter Leko and Michael Adams. Leko was the only undefeated player. The Corus Chess Tournament is guaranteed until 2010. The business units Corus Strip Products IJmuiden en Corus Packaging Plus have decided to support the strongest chess tournament in the world for at least five more years. John Henderson Reports from Wijk aan Zee John Henderson Round 13 Report John Henderson Round 12 Report John Henderson Round 11 Report John Henderson Round 10 Report John Henderson Round 9 Report John Henderson Round 8 Report John Henderson Round 7 Report John Henderson Round 6 Report John Henderson Round 5 Report John Henderson Round 4 Report John Henderson Round 3 Report John Henderson Round 2 Report John Henderson Round 1 Report Games in PGN Group A Games in PGN Complete Group B Games in PGN Complete Group C Games in PGN Complete Round 13 (January 25, 2004) Anand, Viswanathan - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 14 C96 Ruy Lopez Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 65 E15 Queens Indian Bareev, Evgeny - Akopian, Vladimir 1-0 55 E38 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Svidler, Peter - Adams, Michael 1/2 26 C96 Ruy Lopez Shirov, Alexei - Bologan, Viktor 0-1 40 C42 Petroff's Defence Zhang Zhong - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 49 B31 Sicilian Rossolimo Timman, Jan H - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 57 A40 Unusual Replies to 1.d4 Group A Final Round 13 Standings: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 8.5; 2. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 8.0; 3. Adams, Michael g ENG 2720 8.0; 4. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 7.5; 5. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2679 7.5; 6. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 6.5; 7. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2617 6.5; 8. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2714 6.5; 9. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2747 6.0; 10. Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2693 6.0; 11. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2736 6.0; 12. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2706 5.0; 13. Zhang Zhong g CHN 2639 5.0; 14. Timman, Jan H g NED 2578 4.0; Group B Final Round 13 Standings: 1. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2603 9.0; 2. Dominguez, Lenier g CUB 2605 8.5; 3. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2636 8.0; 4. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2571 7.5; 5. Granda Zuniga, Julio E g PER 2581 7.5; 6. Stellwagen, Daniel m NED 2489 6.5; 7. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2576 6.5; 8. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2600 6.5; 9. Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2478 6.0; 10. Zhu Chen g CHN 2495 5.5; 11. Hamdouchi, Hichem g MAR 2588 5.0; 12. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2586 5.0; 13. Lobron, Eric g GER 2497 5.0; 14. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2542 4.5; Group C Final Round 13 Standings: 1. Carlsen, Magnus m NOR 2484 10.5; 2. Ernst, Sipke m NED 2474 10.0; 3. Smeets, Jan m NED 2505 9.0; 4. Pavlovic, Milos g SCG 2548 8.0; 5. Werle, Jan m NED 2407 8.0; 6. Gagunashvili, Merab g GEO 2583 7.5; 7. Bosboom-Lanchava, Tea wg NED 2323 7.5; 8. Pavasovic, Dusko g SLO 2615 7.0; 9. Lahno, Kateryna m UKR 2493 6.5; 10. Janssen, Ruud m NED 2489 6.0; 11. Popov, Valerij g RUS 2580 6.0; 12. Peng Zhaoqin m NED 2419 3.5; 13. Etmans, Maarten D f NED 2225 1.0; 14. Barendse, Ted NED 2206 0.5; Further details: http://www.coruschess.com/ |
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| Bermuda GM A six player double round GM Tournament took place in the Fourways Inn in Bermuda, 15th-25th January 2004. Defending Champion Giovanni Vescovi defeated Boris Gelfand in the final round to retain his title and pushing his rating above 2650! Games in PGN Round 10 (January 25, 2004) Vescovi, Giovanni - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 93 D17 Slav Defence Movsesian, Sergei - Iordachescu, Viorel 1/2 20 C42 Petroff's Defence Macieja, Bartlomiej - Shabalov, Alexander 1-0 26 B75 Sicilian Modern Dragon Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2633 7.0; 2. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2709 6.5; 3. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2639 6.0; 4. Iordachescu, Viorel g MDA 2634 4.0; 5. Shabalov, Alexander g USA 2623 3.5; 6. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2653 3.0; Internet coverage: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess/ |
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| 1st Chennai International
Open 1st International Open Chess Tournament organised by the Saranya Chess Centre and WIN TV, takes place in Chennai (Madras), India, January 21st to February 1st, 2004. Tahir Vakhidov and Humpy Koneru both finished on 10/13. Further details: at http://www.tamilchess.com |
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| Commonwealth Chess
Championships The Commonwealth Chess Championships incorporating an International Open took place in the Hotel Mirador, New Link Road, Chakala, Andheri (E), in Mumbai 10th-18th January 2004. Nigel Short took the title of Commonwealth Champion with a score of 7.5/9. He was level with Pavel Smirnov who was ineligible for the Commonwealth title but did take the International Open Trophy with a better tie break than Nigel Short.. Games in PGN There will probably be more final round games made available. Internet coverage: http://www.venuschessacademy.org. Alternate addresses: http://www.chessindia.org/cwc or Live Coverage : http://www.live.chessindia.org |
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| January 2004 FIDE Rating
List The new FIDE Rating list for January 2004 is out. Garry Kasparov gained 1 point from the 6 games he played in the European Club Cup. Kramnik and Anand had no rated games. Peter Svidler's progress continues, he's up from 9 to 4 in the World gaining 24 points, Morozevich up from 16 to 7 in the World gaining 30 points, Polgar is at her highest ever, at number 8 in the world, up from 11 after gaining 6 points. Ponomariov back in the top 10, Michael Adams down to 11, Grischuk down to 12 from 7 after losing ELO 13 points. Bareev down 10 places from 4 to 14 after losing 25 ELO points FIDE January 2004 Rating List: Top 100 Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there. |
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| ChessBrain Match vs Peter Heine Nielsen The distributed computing foundation and the ChessBrain project took part in an official Guinness world record attempts on Friday January 30th, 2004. Computers from all over the world joined forces to take on Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen in an online chess game which ended in a draw. In spite of serious technical difficulties early in the game ChessBrain's set a new official record of 2070 machines from over 50 different countries. The game finished in a draw. Game in PGN All details at: http://www.chessbrain.net. |
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| Hastings Premier The Hastings Premier took place 28th December 2003 to 5th January 2004 in the Horntye Sports Centre in Hastings. Jonathan Rowson and Vasilios Kotronias finished on 6/9. Games in PGN The Daily Telegraph's Malcolm Pein on Hastings Round 9 Round 8 Rounds 6-7 Round 5 Round 4 Round 3 Round 2 Round 1 Round 9 (January 5, 2004) Rowson, Jonathan - Epishin, Vladimir 1-0 57 E36 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Kotronias, Vasilios - Kunte, Abhijit 1/2 13 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Hebden, Mark - Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 36 C03 French Tarrasch Cherniaev, Alexander1 - Conquest, Stuart 1-0 88 B22 Sicilian Alapin Gormally, Daniel - Lahno, Kateryna 1/2 30 E18 Queens Indian Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Rowson, Jonathan g SCO 2541 6.0; 2. Kotronias, Vasilios g CYP 2626 6.0; 3. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2658 5.5; 4. Kunte, Abhijit g IND 2535 5.0; 5. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2626 4.5; 6. Hebden, Mark g ENG 2560 4.0; 7. Lahno, Kateryna m UKR 2486 4.0; 8. Conquest, Stuart g ENG 2545 3.5; 9. Cherniaev, Alexander1 m RUS 2476 3.5; 10. Gormally, Daniel m ENG 2471 3.0; Official site: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/ Alongside the event is the Challengers running the same dates, players include Joanna Dworakowska, Petr Marusenko, Bartosz and Monika Socko (Poland); Zahar Efimenko, Gennadi Kuzmin (Ukraine); Bogdan Lalic, Peter Wells (England); Steve Mannion, Colin McNab, John Shaw (Scotland). |
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| Reggio Emilia The 46th Reggio Emilia International Chess Tournament took place December 27th 2003 - January 4th 2004. The Tournament was Category 8 event (2439 points) and was played at the Hotel Mercure-Astoria in Reggio Emilia (9 rounds without rest-day). Igor Miladinovic won the event with 7/9 a point clear of Dimitri Komarov. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Miladinovic, Igor g GRE 2599 7.0; 2. Komarov, Dimitri g UKR 2566 6.0; 3. Bellini, Fabio m ITA 2503 5.5; 4. Georgiev, Vladimir g MKD 2596 5.0; 5. Zimina, Olga wm RUS 2387 5.0; 6. Tomescu, Vlad m ROM 2447 4.5; 7. Piscopo, Pierluigi f ITA 2321 4.5; 8. Collutiis, Duilio f ITA 2417 3.5; 9. Vezzosi, Paolo m ITA 2371 3.5; 10. Ronchetti, Niccolo' ITA 2201 0.5; The Arbiter was 96 years old Enrico Paoli, (the oldest player in the world at Master level - he will play Saint-Vincent 2004, where he will be honoured with an international award by the ECU). Official site: http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it/ |
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| 33rd Rilton Cup The 33rd Rilton Cup takes place in Stockholm, Sweden 27th December - 5th January 2003. Games in PGN Rds 1-9 (corrected) Final Round 9 Standings: 1 Åkesson, Ralf SWE 2431 gm 7 2 de Firmian, Nick USA 2553 gm 7 3 Nybäck, Tomi FIN 2497 gm 7 4 Ringdal-Hansen, Torbjörn NOR 2335 fm 6.5 5 Schlosser, Philipp GER 2560 gm 6.5 6 Aagard, Jacob DEN 2373 im 6.5 7 Kortchnoi, Victor SUI 2580 gm 6.5 8 Fontaine, Robert FRA 2526 gm 6.5 9 Braun, Arik GER 2440 im 6.5 10 Ernst, Thomas SWE 2447 gm 6.5 11 Külaots, Kaido EST 2530 gm 6.5 12 Berkes, Ferenc HUN 2616 gm 6.5 13 Lobron, Eric GER 2497 gm 6.5 143 players Internet coverage: http://www.stockholmschack.nu/rilton/rilton2003.asp |
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| All material © Mark Crowther |
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 Kasparov Books |
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 Giant Chess Sets |
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 Chess Computers |
