Nakamura - Karjakin 1-0
          Karjakin - Nakamura 0-1
          Nakamura - Karjakin 0-1
          Karjakin - Nakamura ½-½
          Nakamura - Karjakin 1-0
          Karjakin - Nakamura 0-1

Game Replay: www.ruschess.com
Official site: www.uaem.mx
Chessville coverage

The overall prize fund is $55,000 with the following breakdown: 1st place $20,000, 2nd place $15,000, 3rd place $12,000, 4th place $8,000.  The games will not be counted toward players' official ratings.

Teams: Armenia, China, France and Russia.
Players: Armenia (av. ELO: 2626) Aronian 2675, Lputian 2634, Sargissian 2611, Art. Minasian 2581, Russia (av. ELO: 2688) Svidler 2735, Dreev 2698, Khalifman 2669, Zvjaginsev 2650, France (av. ELO:2627) Lautier 2682, Fressinet 2640, Bauer 2622, Nataf 2565, China (av. ELO: 2590) Xiangzhi 2615, Hua 2611, Zhong 2596 GM Yue 2536.

Official site: www.petrosian2004.com
Chessville coverage

“Dr Dewprakash Gajadin from Surinam who was there as a medical representative.  What he didn't tell the other panel members was that we had played in the 3rd round and he had lost to me.  Of course with the punishment handed down, that game is considered to no longer exist.”

TheParrot wants to know why Dr Gajadin failed to recuse himself from the panel in the light of this obvious conflict of interest.

US Chess Champions!
Official site     Chessville coverage

The big news is of Nakamura’s win, breaking several records since the time of Fischer.  Here he is receiving a substantial check together with his co-winner Goletiani.

1er Grand Prix d'Aix en Provence will take place 8-11 December.  Participants: Anatoly Karpov, Joel Lautier, Antoneta Stevanova, Alexandra Kosteniuk and also 4 qualifiers - Murtas Kazgaleyev, Andrei Istratescu, Namig Gouliev and Glenn Flear.
Game replays at: www.ruschess.com
Internet site: www.grandprixdaix.com

USCF’s intended move to Crossville TN has been blocked by a suit brought by Sam Sloan in Orange County Supreme Court in Goshen New York in Sloan vs. Marinello, 2004-7739. With the result that Judge Horowitz ordered that half a million dollars of USCF funds cannot be moved from the Newburgh NY bank.

A Memorial for Grandmaster Konstantin Aseev will take place on the 5^th of December in the Saint-Petersburg Chigorin Chess club.
Internet site: www.totalchess.spb.ru

22 августа 2004 года в Санкт-Петербурге после тяжелой и продолжительной болезни на 44-ом году жизни скончался международный гроссмейстер Константин Николаевич Асеев.

The Keres Memorial took place in Tallinn, Estonia 26th-27th November.  Final standings:
     1 Anand IND 2781 5.0
     2 Khalifman RUS 2669 3.0
     3 Lobron GER 2509 2.5
     4 Nyback FIN 2554 1.5
     5 Kulaots EST 2597 1.5
     6 Kanep EST 2475 1.5
Game Replays engine [and pgn downloads]     Official site

2005 US Championship

Nov 23 to Dec 5, San Diego California

[Sponsor, Chessmaster]

Official site     Chessville coverage

Initial reports indicate a sedate start with only one major upset, Anna Zatonskih with the black pieces defeated defending US Champion Shabalov in the first round in a wide open game with both kings being chased around the board.

Gata Kamsky, playing his first game at traditional tournament speed since 1994, and gave perhaps a premature draw to Jesse Kraai. The other pre-tournament favorite, Hikaru Nakamura, won when his opponent, Stephen Mohammad, dropped a piece.

A Special Report to TheParrot by Matt Nemmers: Who to watch in the US Services:

“The majority of the military chessplayers I've met are enlisted, but it's a slim majority. As for the best players, I can only speak from my experience at the 2003 and 2004 Interservice Chess Championships where enlisted people came out on top. The winner in 2003 was TSgt Leroy Hill (USAF) and this year's winner was PN1(SW) Narcisso Victoria (USN).  Sgt Rudy Tia (USA) won
in 2001 and 2002, I think, and he's still widely considered the "man to beat" when it comes to military tournaments. Other top enlisted players include HM1(FMF) Froilan Magpantay (USN), MGySgt Dwaine Roberts (USMC), AM1 Jorge Balares (USN), SSgt Dan Ranario (USAF), SSgt Robert Keough (USAF), MSgt James Adkins (USMC), and Sgt Michael Bruns (USAF).

As for officers, there are also several highly rated players:  LtCol Doug Taffinder (USAF), LT Paul Choate (USN), LCDR Baldomero Garcia (USN), Maj Michael Cerezo (USA), CAPT John Perciballi (USN), and CAPT Tom Belke (USNR).”

The Russian Super-Final contains the big matches of the week:

Final standings

     1.- Kasparov     7.5 / 10
     2.- Grischuk     6
     3.-  Dreev     5.5
     4-7  Morozevich, Motylev, Svidler, Bareev     5
     8-10 Korotylev, Epishin, Timofeev     4.5
     11.- Tseshkovsky     2.5

Game replay engine     Official site     Chessville coverage

A new Distance Chess match St.-Petersburg State University vs. Russian State Social University took place 23th November 2004.

Match results - 2:2

     Vitiugov - Kharitonov ½
     Kuzin - Smirnov ½
     Maidel - Kostin 1-0
     Vasilevich - Lupik 1-0

The Parrot understands that both Russian teams want to play more matches, and even regular matches with other Universities around the world. University Team organizers please contact The Parrot!

An Asian Youth tournament is taking place in Singapore 10^th to 18^th December, with 324 players from 21 countries registered. Alexander Kasyan of Uzbekistan seems to be the strongest player entered into the under 14 section, with a rating of 2293.  Official site.

Sam Sloan strikes back. In a lawsuit filed to halt USCF’s move to Crossville TN, Mr. Sam Sloan writes that he has received word from Judge Horowitz's chambers that the Order to Show Cause has been signed in Sloan vs. Marinello, Index No. 2004-7739, and in particular “In effect, the judge ruled that I have set forth sufficient grounds in my petition as to require the respondents to appear for a hearing in this matter.”

Anatoly Karpov withdrew at the eve of the tournament, stressing un-preparedness, and commercial concerns in an interview with www.chessbase.com.  Appearing with his wife [photo]  Karpov comments on the non-appearance of V. Kramnik and the realistic situation of how much energy is expended in big matches, and the consequent exhaustion, citing Kramnik’s recent match against Peter Leko, and that he never expected Kramnik to take part.  Meanwhile G. Kasparov seems to have miffed a win and not be in his usual form either.  Leaders of the tournament are Timofeev, Dreev and Grishuk.  Chessville coverage

1. SC Baden-Oos 2. SG Porz 3. SC Kreuzberg 4. Mulheim Nord 5. SV Werder Bremen

Game replays     Official site

2 interesting matches take place 3rd & 4th December, Hotel Kampa, Stare Mesto in Prague, Czech Republic:

     Alexey Shirov (ESP) vs David Navara (CZE) and
     Jan Timman (NED) vs Kaido Kulaots (EST)

Chief arbiter: IM Pavel Votruba (CZE); Annotator: GM Lubomir Kavalek (USA)     Official site

World Youth Chess Championships 2004

After six rounds, in the U14 category, Daniel is alone in first place with 5.5 points. Among his five wins is his victory today against a Russian IM rated 2514.   Official site

In the picture from left to right are Anna Zatonskih, Jennifer Shahade, Irina Krush, Susan Polgar, Paul Truong, Alexander Chernin and Michael Khodarkovsky.

Qualifiers from the 57th Ch Russia in St. Petersburg, 21.05 - 30.05.2004:  Alexey Dreev, Vitaly Tseshkovsky, Vladimir Epishin.

Qualifiers from the 57th Ch Russia in Tomsk (RUS), 23.05 - 31.05.2004:  Alexander Motylev, Artyom Timofeev, Alexey Korotylev.

Breaking news is that Kramnik won’t participate. The classical chess world champion sent the organisers a letter (in French) by his doctor saying that Kramnik had been under too much stress and would not be able to play in a tournament for two months. The letter is dated November 3, 2004. Due to the illness Vladimir Kramnik, he withdrew at the last moment. The Parrot’s Russian contact explains that according to the regulations of the Championship the number of the participants must be 12, so Alexander Khalifman who did not go through the qualification will not play in the Championship too.

Olympiad performance graph, Women:-  Susan Polgar, board 1, USA, has played in four Olympiads over a span of 16 years.  She always played board one, and never left out a game.  In the four Olympiads she captured a total of 10 medals: 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze.  She played 56 games without a single loss – which is comparable to Joe DiMaggio’s incredible 56-game hitting streak in baseball.  In fact Susan has never lost a single game at any Olympiad.

"Their behavior does not conform to the country's chess norm," regretted the official, adding it is an unprecedented move even at international events.  "I am duty-bound to ban the quartet from all domestic and overseas tournaments except club competitions until the disciplinary committee meets in the presence of the Physical Education Organization's representative," Assadzadeh added.

The Parrot has been unable to interview the players or obtain their reasons for not attending the Olympiad.

Technical News:  Auto-sensory chess boards, also known as e-boards, will be used in the world-champion Draughts event, as supplied by the Shahcom company of St. Petersburg, Russia. A live broadcast to the internet is in prospect.

Board 1: GM Susan Polgar (Queens, NY)
Board 2: IM Irina Krush (Brooklyn, NY)
Board 3: IM Anna Zatonskih (Bowling Green, OH)
Reserve: WIM Jennifer Shahade (Brooklyn, NY)
Captain/Manager: FM Paul Truong (Queens, NY)
Head Coach: IM Michael Khodarkovsky (Montville, NJ)
Theoretical Consultant: GM Alexander Chernin (Budapest, Hungary)

And on and on again…?  The Kasparov v Kasimdzhanov match will be delayed by one week to January 14 to February 1, now that the Fide President has apparently secured the necessary loan, and he and Kasparov will soon fly to a joint press conference in Dubai.

“In summary, those of us pushing for reform had an erratic start, but are now in the game.  We have a relatively strong base of support for whatever direction we decide upon.  During our discussion it became clear that one of FIDE leadership's most vulnerable areas is the inappropriate payments to members of their Presidential Board.  Some very good people have allowed themselves, out of apparent blindness, to become party to this abuse.  Elected FIDE officials VP Morten Sand, FIDE Treasurer David Jarrett, my Verification Committee Chairman, FIDE Auditor Lakhdar Mazouz, FIDE VP and leading Asian organizer Ignatius Leong, and Israel Gelfer fall into this category.  Aside from the substantial Troika salary and expenses Sand, Gelfer and Jarrett receive, members of this group receive payments for contributions to the directory, handbook, participation on appeals committees and running tournaments.”

The Super-Strong 57th Russian Championship (Super-Final) will take place 14 November - 1 December in the hotel "Rossija" in Moscow.  Participants:
          1 Garry Kasparov 2813
          2 Vladimir Kramnik 2760
          3 Alexander Morozevich 2758
          4 Peter Svidler 2735
          5 Evgeny Bareev 2715
          6 Alexander Grischuk 2704
          7 Alexey Dreev 2698
          8 Anatoly Karpov 2682
          9 Alexander Khalifman 2669
        10 Alexander Motylev 2651
        11 Artyom Timofeev 2611
        12 Vladimir Epishin 2599
        13 Alexey Korotylev 2596
        14 Vitaly Tseshkovsky 2577
Official site: www.russiachess.ru

1/2 Finals 3rd November:
          Bacrot - Anand 0-2
          Rublevsky - Motylev 1.5-0.5

Final 4th November
          Anand - Rublevsky 2-0

Game replays          Official site

The Parrot’s Olympiad Diary

26^th October: Tuesday’s news, the US Women’s team defeats the leader China 2-1, and men’s team hold leader Ukraine 2-2. The Women are equal 3rd, and the men are 5^th.

STOP THE PRESS!!

29th October: Friday’s news; The US Women´s Team defeated Vietnam 2.5 - .5 and has captured the Silver medal!  This is the first ever medal for the US Women´s Team!

GM Polgar scored 5.5 points in the last 6 games to win the best overall performance of the entire Women´s Olympiad!

Meanwhile, The US teams do battle at the Olympiad.

Kramnik keeps title!  The commentator (GM Knaak said): My congratulations to Kramnik, who defended his World Championship title.  Only Lasker and Kasparov managed to maintain the title in a must win situation in the last round. Kramnik can be proud doing the same.

OLYMPIAD NEWS

GM Larry Evans tells The Parrot “There was a real classic further down as the United States met Georgia.  Two great Women's World Champions met on board one, where Susan Polgar defeated Maia Chiburdanidze.  That allowed the US women’s team to score an important win and move up the table.”

TheParrot has obtained the game score from Mr. Paul Truong:

GM Polgar, Susan - GM Chiburdanidze, Maia
[A17] Olympiad, 20.10.2004 - Round 6

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 c5 7.b4 b6 8.Bb2 d6 9.g4! (A psychologically devastating move!  This was home prepared move against Maia!) Bb7 10.g5 Nh5 11.Rg1 e5 12.Bh3 Nf4 13.Bf5 g6 14.Nxe5!! (The key move that took an incredible amount of calculation) Nxe2 15.Nxf7!! (Another brilliant move) Nxc3 16.Nh6+ Kg7 17.Bxc3+ Rf6 18.Bxf6+ Qxf6 19.gxf6+ Kxh6 20.Be6? (20. Rb1! then Rb3 then Rh3#  This would be a much nicer ending of the game.  The game could have ended here.) Nc6 21.Bd5 Rf8 22.f7 Nd8 23.Bxb7 Nxb7 24.Rg3 Rxf7 25.Re3 Nd8 26.b5 Rf4 27.d3 d5 28.Re7 dxc4 29.dxc4 Nf7 30.Rd1 Ng5 31.Rxa7 Rxc4 32.Ra6 Rc2 33.Rxb6 c4 34.a4 Ra2 35.Ra6 Nf3+ 36.Kf1 Nd2+ 37.Rxd2 Rxd2 38.Rc6 Rc2 39.b6 1-0

Replay Olympiad Games at: www.ruchess.com ;  Official site;  Chessville Coverage

Standings After Round 7

Final Standings
1  Sokolov     4.5
2  Short          3.0
3  Stellwagen  2.5
4  Carlsen       2.0

* Chessville coverage    * Official site

Chigorin Memorial the stage of the Russian Cup, the tournament of the ACP Tour will take place 15-24 October 2004 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

20 main prizes:
1st - $2000, 2nd - $1500, 3rd - $1000 etc.  Official site

US Women’s team heads for the Calvia Olympiad and the Medals: Susan Polgar.  Susan is also a world-renowned chess trainer and award-winning, best-selling chess author.  Susan is joined by International Master Irina Krush, a two-time Olympian.  Part of her remarkable resume includes the titles of US women’s champion, Pan-Am youth champion and Mayor’s Cup champion.  Irina also has one Grandmaster norm under her belt.  On board three is International Master-Elect Anna Zatonskih.  Anna is also a two-time Olympian.  She impressively won the Ukrainian women’s Championship two years in a row prior to coming to America.  She will be competing in her first US championship in November 2004.  The team reserve player is WIM Jennifer Shahade , the reigning U.S. Women’s Champion.

The US Women will face strong international opposition and the chart shows other international board #1 players, the ELOs and national federations of their principal challengers:
 

See more in the Chessville report: Going for the Gold

Everyone is off to Calvia and the Olympiad! As well as the games there is a Fide meeting, and this week’s news was that USCF’s Motion of No Confidence has been removed from the agenda by Fide and not by USCF!  Is the Russian Men’s Olympiad team the strongest?

     1 Alexander Morozevich 2758
     2 Peter Svidler 2735
     3 Alexander Grischuk 2704
     4 Alexey Dreev 2698
     5 Alexander Khalifman 2669
     6 Vadim Zvjaginsev 2650
     Captain: Sergey Dolmatov

Official Olympiad site

     1 Nikolai Chadaev (16 y.o.) 2443 8.0
     2 Roman Nechepurenko (16) 2353 7.5
     3 Anton Kuzin 2385 (17) 6.0
     4 Victor Njubin (17) 2348 6.0
     5 Mikhail Mozharov (13) 2235 6.0
     6 Valentina Gunina (15) 2354 6.0

20th European Club Cup 2004 Final results:

In the Men’s competition The NAO club / Paris finished first with 31 points, followed by Bosna Sarajevo with 30.

In the Women’s competition Finec St. Petersburg were first with 21 points, followed by NTN Tbilisi with 19.5.     Official site