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THE WEEK IN CHESS 151 - 29th September 1997 by Mark Crowther

E-Mail          mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk
www             http://www.tcc.net/twic/twic.html
Tel or fax      01274 882143 [Bradford England]


1) Introduction
2) Fontys Tournament Tilburg
3) European Club Cup
4) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is away
5) Deep Blue Shelved?
6) Kasparov in Scotland
7) Kettler Cup
8) Spanish Team Championships
9) Russian Women's Championships
10) Ampuriabrava "Terres Catalanes"
11) World Junior Championships

Games section

Fontys Tilburg NED 1997             18
EuClub Cup qual Gp 1997            170
Kettler Cup Ceska Trebova CZE 1997  12
It Ampuriabrava ESP 1997            45
ch-ESP Team Ampuriabrava ESP 1997  180

1) Introduction

My thanks to John Saunders, Lothar Karrer, Gary Kenworthy, Lost Boys, Bretislav Modr, Egon Ditt, Angel Martin, Andrzej Filipowicz and all those who helped with this issue. To ICC who are TWIC's first advertisers for the next couple of weeks.

A strange week dominated for me by an overwhelming amount of evidence from various people about the controversy in the European Club Cup in Slough. Towards the end of the week I realised that it really isn't my job to find the correct ruling for this and I have tried to keep the coverage within bounds. Elsewhere the obvious highlight is the Fontys tournament in Tilburg which I look forward to following and covering in more detail next week and if I get chance to go for a few days all the better. The issue is a little more brief due to a lot of work away from twic but there are certainly some startling stories this week.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) Fontys Tournament Tilburg

The Fontys tournament in Tilburg is well under way. After three rounds World Number one Gary Kasparov leads with 3/3 followed by his most likely rival for first place Vladimir Kramnik. The event is a deliberate mix of younger players and the very best. World Junior Champion Tal Shaked is by far the lowest rated player in the event and has so far lost three pretty dreadful games. However at least out of those games he has played both Kasparov and Kramnik somewhat reducing the category of the rest of the event for him. Peter Leko won an odd game in round 3 against Joel Lautier. Rarely have I seen a top GM so badly tied up as Lautier was towards the end of the game. Kasparov is white against Kramnik in round 10 in what will be a highly anticipated clash. Kramnik is the only player this decade to defeat Kasparov with the black pieces in a tournament game. However I expect Kasparov to be highly motivated to win this game.

The event is covered on the internet by Lost Boys.http://www.lostcity.nl/chess/fontys/default.html

Round 1 (1997.09.27)

Svidler, Peter       -  Leko, Peter          1/2   39  B81  Sicilian
Adams, Michael       -  Onischuk, Alexander  1-0   31  C55  Two knights
Shirov, Alexei       -  Piket, Jeroen        1/2   33  C96  Ruy Lopez
Van Wely, Loek       -  Kasparov, Gary       0-1   51  A25  English; 1.c4 e5
Lautier, Joel        -  Polgar, Judit        1/2   17  A16  English; 1.c4
Shaked, Tal          -  Kramnik, Vladimir    0-1   35  E46  Nimzo indian

Round 2 (1997.09.28)

Kasparov, Gary       -  Polgar, Judit        1-0   32  E26  Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir    -  Shirov, Alexei       1-0   36  E97  Kings indian; Main line
Leko, Peter          -  Adams, Michael       1/2   33  C89  Ruy Lopez
Piket, Jeroen        -  Svidler, Peter       0-1   38  D27  QGA;
Onischuk, Alexander  -  Lautier, Joel        1-0   63  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf
Van Wely, Loek       -  Shaked, Tal          1-0   28  E97  Kings indian; Main line

Round 3 (1997.09.29)

Svidler, Peter       -  Kramnik, Vladimir    1/2   26  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Adams, Michael       -  Piket, Jeroen        1/2   42  C90  Ruy Lopez
Shirov, Alexei       -  Van Wely, Loek       1-0   35  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf
Polgar, Judit        -  Onischuk, Alexander  1-0  107  C90  Ruy Lopez
Lautier, Joel        -  Leko, Peter          0-1   37  D97  Gruenfeld indian
Shaked, Tal          -  Kasparov, Gary       0-1   20  D85  Gruenfeld indian


Tilburg NED (NED), IX-X 1997                          cat. XVII (2667)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kasparov, Gary       g RUS 2820  * . . . . . 1 . . 1 . 1  3.0      
 2 Kramnik, Vladimir    g RUS 2770  . * = . . 1 . . . . . 1  2.5  2893
 3 Svidler, Peter       g RUS 2660  . = * . = . . 1 . . . .  2.0  2803
 4 Adams, Michael       g ENG 2680  . . . * = . . = 1 . . .  2.0  2755
 5 Leko, Peter          g HUN 2635  . . = = * . . . . . 1 .  2.0  2791
 6 Shirov, Alexei       g ESP 2700  . 0 . . . * . = . 1 . .  1.5  2685
 7 Polgar, Judit        g HUN 2670  0 . . . . . * . 1 . = .  1.5  2701
 8 Piket, Jeroen        g NED 2630  . . 0 = . = . * . . . .  1.0  2555
 9 Onischuk, Alexander  g UKR 2625  . . . 0 . . 0 . * . 1 .  1.0  2545
10 Van Wely, Loek       g NED 2655  0 . . . . 0 . . . * . 1  1.0  2548
11 Lautier, Joel        g FRA 2660  . . . . 0 . = . 0 . * .  0.5  2370
12 Shaked, Tal          m USA 2500  0 0 . . . . . . . 0 . *  0.0      
----------------------------------------------------------------------

3) European Club Cup

Controversy in Slough

As reported last week there was a dispute in the final round of the European Club Cup qualifier last week.

Never can so much energy and emotion have been expended over so trivial a game of chess. The European Club Cup qualifiers are not exactly the most high profile of events, and I certainly can't recall many of the previous winners.

The European Club Cup qualifier hosted by Slough chess club does not seem to have been an especially enjoyable weekend. There were questions about the draw and the order in which the weakest team played its bottom boards during a 5-1 loss to Graz. All these claims came out in the wake of an event which seems to have been blown up out of all proportion to its importance.

Sports have different attitudes to verbal and physical abuse. Golf starts from the expectation of perfect behaviour and sportsmanship from all the players. Football is more tolerent of verbal abuse but it gets tougher on physical confrontations amongst the players. Chess expects perfect behaviour from its players which is generally observed, but emotions and adrenalin are present in a way which is not recognised by the general public. Indeed there is the requirement to keep them bottled up. However this is just an expectation, the rules for such blowups in temper are not prescriptive and the situations which follow these tend to be messy.

The final match of the European Club Cup qualifier was between Slough and Merkur Graz to see who will go to the final in Kazan, Russia (November 30 till December 2, 1997 ). The venue might change to St Petersburg or Moscow but certainly there were a number of players who do not fancy making the trip to Kazan.

The situation so far as I understand in the game between Summerscale and Felsberger was this:

Summerscale had around 2 minutes to make 16 moves whilst his opponent had around 8 left. His board was being monitored by Andrew Smith asked to do so by Chief Arbiter Bob Wade (His actions seem to have been restricted to recording the moves of the time scramble. One report suggests that he attempted to get Felsberger to keep his scoresheet up to date, which is open to question as the Austrian's don't seem to have noticed he was there). At this point his Austrian opponent Felsberger started to tick his moves instead of recording, something which he was only allowed to do when he has less than 5 minutes on his clock. After several moves (there were reported to be five moves unrecorded) Summerscale challenged his opponent to make up his scoresheet (he denies screaming at his opponent) whilst it was his turn to move. His opponent appeared not understand what he was saying and the Austrian captain Peter Detter arrived at the board to translate. Summerscale then stopped the clocks to summon the chief arbiter. Summerscale at this point had lost a piece and the position was certainly lost. He had around one minute to Felsberger's six and a half. The Austrian view is that he only made an issue of this because he was lost and should have really resigned and that the English team only thought of a protest when they realised this was the only way they were going to win the match.

Peter Detter twice started to clocks with the clock running on Summerscale's side. On the arrival of the arbiter Bob Wade who had been seeing to another board where time trouble occurring, he asked Detter to stop interfering with the situation and leave the area. According to numerous third party witnesses Detter swore at Summerscale and poked him in the back before leaving. These were the actions which upon which the game was awarded to Summerscale.

The game then continued with no time adjustments to either clock. Tony Miles started to compile an appeal based on Detter's actions (the timing of this is disputed by some who say the appeal was only started later). After making time control at move 40 (possibly playing 43 moves) Summerscale did not play any more moves but he did not resign. Later when Bob Wade presented the Slough protest to Detter for comments he tore it up (refused to accept it according to the Austrians).

After some thought Bob Wade made the decision to award the game to Summerscale. His grounds were Detter twice starting Summerscale's clock and his verbal and physical abuse of Summerscale. No account was taken of the board position. According to him there was a problem convening an appeals committee because teams were leaving as their matches finished a common problem in the final round of the competition. He felt that Detter's had been such a serious breech of the rules that this penalty was the only one strong enough available to him under the rules. There are some who contend that such a rule does not exist, or has only been used for extreme interference such as fights before.

Players grasp of the rules in chess are often not as good as they should be. Incorrect draw offers or claims for three fold repitition are often made. The correct actions following such an incident are not clear to me. Several have pointed out that by playing on Summerscale was in effect having it both ways. What was he playing on for?

Whilst it is clear that Peter Detter's interference with the clocks and his actions towards Summerscale should never happen, the correct penalty is not easy to decide. The fact he was not a player (but was team captain) opens up a whole series of questions. It is clear that the ruling should clarify the penalties for such interference otherwise it would be possible to get a third party to put off a player for the benefit of the opposition. One could say that it was extremely unfair on the Austrian player to default but then again Peter Detter's behaviour seems to have been pretty outrageous too. I am a little cautious about the episode as I haven't seen a rational explanation from either side as to why he reacted in the way he did. The Austrian appeal simply does not address this issue at all, neither denying nor accepting the version of Peter Detter's actions (they only say he was there to translate into English). There is widespread bafflement from others over his behaviour.

The rules of chess are not that proscriptive about this as far as I can see. Players are expected to behave well and mostly they do. There is the general belief that if you are in a lost position then you don't have much of a say in disputes like this. (it seems to be a very widely held opinion by professionals) One IM I talked to about this felt that blitzing an opponent was not harshly punished enough under the current international rules.

Bob Wade's ruling was as harsh as it could be, I believe because he has strong views about behaviour of players. Other arbiters might have taken a less serious view of the incident. I don't believe that there is an absolutely correct ruling in this case.

At the start I found it interesting to try and find out what was going on. I contacted a number of people for their views. They differed wildly. I don't believe there was an absolutely correct ruling, I do not envy those dealing with the appeal. The Dutch player John Van der Wiel in a submission to Mr Stubenvoll on behalf of his team Panfox Breda supported the Austrian view and saying that the ruling was overkill. He broadened the accusation by questioning the competence and impartiality of the arbiting although he did not offer any evidence. The Norwegian player Einar Gausel after consulting his team mates broadly confirmed the actions of Peter Detter above and in his chess column expressed the belief that the ruling would not be overturned. Having attempted to find out what happened I must have been on the phone around 6 hours this week talking about the decision to various people. In the end I became heartily sick of it all.

The sooner Mr. Stubenvoll returns from holiday to deal with this the better. He has a wide range of options, there doesn't seem to me to be an absolutely correct ruling here. I have made it clear to both sides that I'm absolutely indifferent to the result of the match or the outcome of the appeal. Also I was not there so I have had to go by the evidence of those who were. The publicity which has appeared in the English press has been large, for a game of chess at least, front page of the Times, large article on the main sports pages of the Guardian, radio interviews even a tabloid newspaper called "The Sun" all suggest that this is an unusual dispute for chess. We should all work to keep it that way.

Summerscale,A (2420) - Felsberger,A (2375) [A30] ECC 97 (Slough Chess Club - Merkur Graz)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 e6 6.0-0 a6 7.Re1 d6 8.e4 Be7 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc7 11.Be3 0-0 12.Rc1 Nbd7 13.f4 Rac8 14.b3 Rfe8 15.Bf2 Bf8 16.h3 g6 17.Nde2 Qb8 18.g4 b5 19.Ng3 h6 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Nxb5 Rxc1 22.Qxc1 Rc8 23.Qd1 Ba6 24.Nd4 e5 25.Nde2 d5 26.g5?! exf4 27.gxf6 Here is where white loses a piece. fxg3 28.Bxg3 Bxe2 29.Bxb8 Bxd1 30.Rxd1 Rxb8 31.exd5 Nxf6 32.Bf1 Ne4 33.Kg2 Rc8 34.Bc4 Kg7 35.a4 Bb4 36.Rd4 f5 37.Bb5 Bc5 38.Rd3 Kf6 39.a5 Ke5 40.Bc4 g5 41.a6 h5 42.Rd1 g4 43.Rb1 f4 At this point Summerscale allowed his clock to run for an hour without moving.

European Club Cup Group 2

If there was an antidote for the problems in Slough it was probably the experience of the Barbican in their trip to Eupen in Belgium. With practically no chance of qualifying the team still seems to have had a fantastic time. Gary Kenworthy (ex-Bradford Chess Club our local rivals!) sent a couple of excited reports from the front. No doubt others had a different view from the event but here is what he has to say about the event.

Group 2 results - Eupen,Belgium.

Round 1 Kasparov's team - Bosnia ( headed 'only' by P.Nikolic, I Sokolov, Kozul etc) and the Latvians ( Khalifman, J Ehlvest, E Kengis) got beaten by the Israelis ( L Psakhis- a lad on three, Zifroni (2500) got 3/3 including two 2600.s). Barbican did very well, virtually everyone gaining ELO points. Had a close match against Clichy Wilson giving the team a good start against J-M Koch 2495- eventually we got ground down.

Background:- Rd 1. the Latvians ( favourites with a 2595 reserve on paper- the young Krakops takes precedent in nomination and board order. He will obviously soon be a GM, and was leading the world junior, but fell ill.) lose to the Israelis, after leading 3-1. The distraught Latvians go on an in-form as newt expedition. Since in that part of the Ardennes, German is spoken in preference to other languages they got 'Rathaus'd. Rd 2.

Round 2. We beat the Belgiums headed, by three ex Soviet GMs 31/2-21/2 (M. Gurevich held by Colin Crouch, Chuchelov held by Lewis- Kenworthy and Sands doing the business). David Sands was completely lost but won after 61/2 hours, (he lost in 7 hours to Relange in round 1.The Latvians massacre the Welsh, some Latvians were late to their boards, Kengis never made it!!.

Round 3 - a flighing start Kenworthy wins in 19 moves and 46 minutes against the Latvian captain in a razor sharp Sicilian.- Wilson cheaps Krakops. Final score , as per round 1, - 1 1/2- 4 1/2. Petri and Andrew played 3 GMs each. Strongest European I have seen. Good arbiting, excellent conditions.

The Welsh got thrashed- quickly. But, James Cobb usually playing on longer than others... but, in order, Nikolic, Khalifman, Gurevich was a bit much for him.

Rd 3. Kengis looks like he still has a hangover, but cruises through Petri Lehtivaara of the Barbican. Rausis drops himself as he is not satisfied with his play, and gives their organiser, about ELO 2225 a game. During the opening moves my opponent was taking several photographs, and was not really paying attention. His TN in move orders is a disaster.

White G.Kenworthy Black. Aris Ozolinsh

1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cd4 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nc6 bc6 7. e5 Ng8 ( If 7.. Nd5 8. Nd5 cd5 9.Qd5 Rb8 10. e6! Bg7 11. ef7+ Kf8 12. Bh6 e6 13.Qe5.+ -) 8. Bc4 Nh6? ( An alternative is 8...Bg7 9. Qf3 f5 10. Bf4 e6 11. 0-0-0 Qc7 12.Rhe1 with either Rb8-b4x f4, or Nh6-f7 =+, or Leonid Shtein's and correspondence players favourite 8... Qa5 9. Bf4 [ 9. Qe2? Bg7 10. f4 d5! -+] Bg7 10. 0-0 Be5 11. Be5 Qe5 12. Re1 Qf4! 13 Re4 Qf6 14. Qd2 Kf8! =+). 9.Qf3 f5? ( I thought 9...Nf5 10. g4 d5 11. Nd5 Nd4 to be the only try) 10. ef6! +- (Oops, only now Black realised, and its too late to bail out e.g. - if 10..d5 11. Nd5 +-) 10...ef6 11. 0-0 Nf7 (Everthing else also loses e.g. A. 11...Bg7 12.Re1+ Kf8 13. Bh6 Bh6 14. Nd5. B. 11..Nf5 12. Re1+ Be7 13. Ne4 ( delta Qf5- for J. Manley and Kingpin, there has to be a queen sac!)13.. d5 [13. Kf8 14.Qf5 gf5? 15. Bh6+ Ke8 16. Nf6#] 14.Nf6+ Kf8 15. Nd5 +-) 12.Re1+ Ne5 ( If 12...Be7 13.Qf6 Rf8 [ 13...d5 14. Nd5 cd5 15.Bd5 0-0 16. Re7 Qd5 17.Bh6 Nh6 18. Qg7#] 14. Bf7+ Rf7 15. Qh8+ Rf8 16. Qh7+-) 13. Re5+ Be7 14. Qf6 Rf8 15.Qd6 Rf5 16. Bh6 Re5 (16...Bb7 17. Rf5 Bd6 18.Re1+ Be7 [ 18...Qe7 19. Rf8#] 19. Bf7#) 17.Qe5 d6 18. Qh8+ Kd7 19. Qh7 1-0. Hope theres no big mistake here, I,ve done it all in my head.

Very interesting point here, some "Bright Spark" has considered a National Club rule that anyone over 2320 ( 215 BCF) ought to be banned from club chess, the National Club Championships. It was therefore overwhelmingly agreed , on the Eurostar journey back, that players like James Cobb (2335) ought to be banned because he is too strong for the qualifier. Good rules - Eh!??- My view is that the amateur style of our British sporting organisations, means if we were a track and field club, and the federation in charge obtained sponsorship from an anvil manufacturer, that they would insist that we have these strapped to our legs for the 100 metres. The Barbican no longer wishes to associate itself with the national club and its rules and are refusing to play in it this year. We will be concentrating on the 4NCL - another GM and IM to register today.

European Club Cup Group 7

The Group 7 Club Cup qualifiers were held in Krynica, Poland, September 15-17, 1997. My thanks to IA & IM Andrzej Filipowicz who was the Chief Arbiter and sent me the games and results. The Croatian team did not manage to qualify. The very strong team Polonia PKO BP Warszawa won through in the final only after having a speed playoff against the much weaker team on paper the Moldovan team Rezina Graz. The second strongest team was the Israeli team Elitzur Petach Tikva they were eliminated by the team from Warsaw in the first round.

QUARTERFINALS – round 1
September 15, 1997

DUM ARMADY PRAHA - BOROVO VUKOVAR 6:0
CZECH REPUBLIC               	        CROATIA
1. GM Jansa Vlastimil      2480	–	
2. IM Babula Vlastimil     2545	–	
3. IM Jirovsky Milos       2480	–	
4. IM Polak Tomas          2470	–	
5. IM Sergeev Vladimir     2455	–	
6. IM Orsag Milan          2350	–	


ELITZUR PETACH TIKVA –	POLONIA PKO BP WARSZAWA   2½:3½     
ISRAEL - POLAND
1. GM Yermolinsky Alex     2650 - GM Rozentalis Eduardas 2645  ½-½
2. GM Alterman Boris       2615 - GM Oll Lembit          2645  0-1
3. GM Yudasin Leonid       2610 - GM Wojtkiewicz Aleks.  2575  ½-½
4. GM Smirin Ilia          2600 - GM Gdanski  Jacek      2505  ½-½
5. GM Goldin Alexander     2595 - IM Macieja Bartlomiej  2470  1-0
6. IM Kogan Arthur         2500 - IM Pedzich Dominik     2465  0-1


GOSA SMEDEREVSKA PALANKA - CHESS TEAM REZINA-GAZ 2½:3½
YUGOSLAVIA            MOLDOVA     
1. GM Sakaev Konstantin    2590 - IM Chernov Vadim          2450  ½-½
2. GM Djuriæ Stefan        2545 - IM Slovineanu Viacheslav  2420  0-1
3. GM Martinoviæ Sloboda   2470 - IM Kushch Nikolai         2400  ½-½
4. GM Ristiæ Nenad         2420 - IM Svetushkin Dmitry      2400  ½-½
5. IM Ristiæ Nebojsa       2440 -    Ljukin Sergei          2395  0-1
6. IM Kostiæ Vladimir      2425 - IM Nevednichy Boris       2360  1-0

JURIDICAL ACADEMY KHARKIV - REVAL SPORT TALLINN  2½:3½
UKRAINE - UKRAINA            ESTONIA - ESTONIA  
1. GM Savon Vladimir       2465 -    Raud Rainer     2395    0-1  
2.    Zubarev Alexander    2435 -    Leito Priit     2355    1-0
3.    Moiseenko Alexander  2435 -    Tänäv Tiit      -----   1-0
4.    Iljin Stanislav      2325 -    Kangur Alvar    2240    0-1
5.    Eljanov Pavel        2190 -    Rauk Tönu      -----    ½-½
6.   -----------------      –---     Narva Regina    2075    –:+


ROUND 2 – RUNDA 2
SEMIFINALS
September 16, 1997

CHESS TEAM REZINA-GAZ      -   REVAL SPORT TALLINN  4:2
MOLDOVA            ESTONIA - ESTONIA  
1. IM Chernov Vadim          2450 -   Raud Rainer   2395  ½-½
2. IM Slovineanu Viacheslav  2435 -   Leito Priit   2355  ½-½
3. IM Kushch Nikolai         2400 -   Tänäv Tiit   -----  ½-½
4. IM Svetushkin Dmitry      2400 -   Kangur Alvar  2240  1-0
5.   Ljukin Sergei           2395 -   Rauk Tönu    -----  ½-½
6. IM Nevednichy Boris       2360 -   Narva Regina  2075  1-0


POLONIA PKO BP WARSZAWA   -   DUM ARMADY PRAHA  4½:1½
POLAND               CZECH REPUBLIC
1. GM Rozentalis Eduardas  2645 - GM Jansa Vlastimil   2480  ½-½
2. GM Oll Lembit           2645 - IM Babula Vlastimil  2545  1-0
3. GM Wojtkiewicz Aleks.   2575 - IM Jirovsky Milos    2480  1-0
4. GM Gdanski  Jacek       2505 – IM Polak Tomas       2470  ½-½
5. IM Macieja Bartlomiej   2470 - IM Sergeev Vladimir  2455  1-0
6. IM Pedzich Dominik      2465 - IM Orsag Milan       2350  ½-½

MATCHES FOR PLACES 5-8  –   MECZE O MIEJSCA 5-8
BOROVO VUKOVAR   - GOSA SMEDEREVSKA PALANKA  0:6
YUGOSLAVIA
1. GM Sakaev Konstantin    2590  
2. GM Djuriæ Stefan        2545 
3. GM Martinoviæ Slobodan  2470 
4. GM Ristiæ Nenad         2420 
5. IM Ristiæ Nebojsa       2440 
6. IM Kostiæ Vladimir      2425 

ELITZUR PETACH TIKVA - JURIDICAL ACADEMY KHARKIV  6:0
ISRAEL               UKRAINE – UKRAINA
1. GM Yermolinsky Alex     2650 - GM  Savon Vladimir      2465    1-0
2. GM Alterman Boris       2615 -     Zubarev Alexander   2435    1-0
3. GM Yudasin Leonid       2610 -     Moiseenko Alexander 2435    1-0
4. GM Smirin Ilia          2600 -     Iljin Stanislav     2325    1-0
5. GM Goldin Alexander     2595 - WIM Zozulia Anna        2275    +:–
6. IM Kogan Arthur         2500 -     Eljanov Pavel       2190    1-0

ROUND 3 – RUNDA 3
FINAL
September 17, 1997

CHESS TEAM REZINA-GAZ      - POLONIA PKO BP WARSZAWA  3:3
MOLDOVA          POLAND  
1. IM Chernov Vadim          2450 - GM Rozentalis Eduardas  2645  ½-½
2. IM Slovineanu Viacheslav  2435 - GM Oll Lembit           2645  ½-½
3. IM Kushch Nikolai         2400 - GM Gdanski Jacek        2505  ½-½
4. IM Svetushkin Dmitry      2400 - IM Macieja Bartlomiej   2470  ½-½
5.    Ljukin Sergei          2395 - IM Pedzich Dominik      2465  ½-½
6. IM Nevednichy Boris       2360 - IM Socko Bartosz        2435  ½-½

PLAY OFF – RAPID CHESS GAME  (30 MINUTES)

POLONIA PKO BP WARSZAWA   - CHESS TEAM REZINA-GAZ  4:2
POLAND            MOLDOVA            
1. GM Rozentalis Eduardas  2645 – IM Chernov Vadim          2450  ½-½
2. GM Oll Lembit           2645 - IM Slovineanu Viacheslav  2435  1-0
3. GM Gdanski Jacek        2505 - IM Kushch Nikolai         2400  ½-½
4. IM Macieja Bartlomiej   2470 - IM Svetushkin Dmitry      2400  0-1
5. IM Pedzich Dominik      2465 -     Ljukin Sergei         2395  1-0
6. IM Socko Bartosz        2435 - IM Nevednichy Boris       2360  1-0

MATCH FOR 3rd PLACE

REVAL SPORT TALLINN      -   DUM ARMADY PRAHA   1:5
ESTONIA               CZECH REPUBLIC

1.   Raud Rainer           2395 - GM Jansa Vlastimil       2480  0-1  
2.   Leito Priit           2355 - IM Babula Vlastimil      2545  ½-½
3.   Tänäv Tiit          ------   IM Jirovsky Milos        2480  ½-½
4.   Kangur Alvar          2240 – IM Polak Tomas           2470  0-1  
5.   Rauk Tönu            ------  IM Sergeev Vladimir      2455  0-1
6.   Narva Regina          2465 - IM Orsag Milan           2350  0-1

MATCH FOR 5th PLACE

GOSA SMEDEREVSKA PALANKA - ELITZUR PETACH TIKVA  1:5
YUGOSLAVIA       ISRAEL  

1. GM Sakaev Konstantin     2590 - GM Yermolinsky Alex  2650    ½-½
2. GM Djuriæ Stefan         2545 - GM Alterman Boris    2615    0-1
3. GM Martinoviæ Slobodan   2470 - GM Yudasin Leonid    2610    0-1
4. GM Ristiæ Nenad          2420 - GM Smirin Ilia       2600    ½-½
5. IM Ristiæ Nebojsa        2440 - GM Goldin Alexander  2595    0-1
6. IM Kostiæ Vladimir       2425 - IM Kogan Arthur      2500    0-1

MATCH FOR 7th PLACE 

JURIDICAL ACADEMY KHARKIV    –   BOROVO VUKOVAR       5-0
UKRAINE – UKRAINA                  CROATIA

1. GM Savon Vladimir       2465 - 
2.    Zubarev Alexander    2435 - 
3.    Moiseenko Alexander  2435 -  
4.    Iljin Stanislav      2325 - 
5.    WIM Zozulia Anna     2275 - 
6.    Eljanov Pavel        2190 - 

FINAL  CLASIFFICATION

1. POLONIA PKO BP WARSZAWA     POLAND
The team will take part in the final of the 13th European Club Cup in Kazan, 

2. CHESS TEAM REZINA-GAZ MOLDOVA         
3. DUM ARMADY PRAHA CZECH REPUBLIC  
4. REVAL SPORT TALLINN ESTONIA           
5. ELITZUR PETACH TIKVA ISRAEL
6. GOSA SMEDEREVSKA PALANKA YUGOSLAVIA    
7. JURIDICAL ACADEMY KHARKIV UKRAINE 

The final of the 13th European Club Cup will 
be held from November 30 till December 2, 1997 in 
Kazan, Russia

4) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is away

A report in the international pages of the Guardian (Wednesday 24th September) reports that FIDE President and Kalmykian President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has flown with his entire Government to the Foros in the Ukraine "for an extended break." The move conincided with a Russian Federal Commissions arrival in Elista to examine the accounts of the Russian region of Kalmykia. This is not the first such investigation. According to the Guardian "Accusations of fraud, corruption, vote-rigging, repression of dissent and violation of the constitution have been laid against the President for years." Kirsan has declared it ''Youth Self-Government Week'' and has all the major posts covered by juniors although many of the Deputies remain and they may be exercising the real power.. The decision to have this week was only taken a few hours before. Although initially for a week the break might be extended longer.

"Sheep, caviar smuggling and federal subsidies are the mainstays of the economy: about three quarters of the local budget comes from Moscow." according the the article's author James Meek. There have been complaints about the amount of money he spent becoming FIDE President and holding the Karpov-Kamsky match there last year.

However it seems unlikely that this is anything other than a passing storm. Since the Chechnian war the central Government of Russia has been reluctant to get involved in the region. In addition Meek says "Mr. Ilyumzhinov is believed to have artificially lowered the communist share of the vote in his region to help Boris Yeltsin win re-election."

This was one of a series of reports this week on this disappearing act. Coverage was included in the Boston Globe also. Ilyumzhinov is due for meetings at in Moscow on October 4th and 5th with FIDE Executive Director Emmanuel Omuku. There are obvious concerns about the $5m sponsorship of the FIDE World Championships in December and January if Ilyumzhinov is in serious political trouble. Phil Haley, FIDE delegate and Zonal President of Canada made this point to Omuku who said that he was100% sure that the finance was already in place. Nevertheless Haley's concern at the lack of a statement from Ilyumzhinov must be widely shared.

A definite case of watch this space.

5) Deep Blue Shelved?

IBM have annouced that they are scrapping the Deep Blue project and have no plans to revive it. "Our scientists said they really did want to move on to other grand challenges and the company wants to." said company spokeswoman Melinda McMullen in a Reuters report from Tuesday 23rd September. Their weaker baby Deep Blue program will continue to play. Although this seems quite final there are reports that if Kasparov was to come up with the right sponsor Deep Blue might play again next year. Although quite who has the money to sponsor such a match, especially as it would be good publicity for IBM is unclear. The Deep Blue team are reported to be ready to publish material about the match which will appear in the next few months.

Gary Kasparov responded to the initial statement a day later:

"I am very disappointed at IBM's Statement.

From the beginning, I believed in this concept as a scientific experiment coupled with a way of bringing chess into almost every home in the World.

I am amazed to read that they wish "to quit while they are ahead". We stand at one match all and there is enormous worldwide enthusiasm for a tie-breaking third match.

IBM could continue this great experiment and at the same time they could address the many questions left unanswered since New York. In this regard, IBM's Dr. Tan promised to publish the computer's details for the scientific workd. I trust this will happen because 300 million chess players worldwide await the answers.

This action has the public appearance on an investor cashing in their chips on the stock market - take your profits and run. It puts a lie to the scientific experiment and good of mankind theory they have espoused.

It is not too late to announce a sporting match under great conditions which would be a public relations coup for IBM.

Garry Kasparov. Moscow 24/09/97

6) Kasparov in Scotland

Gary Kasparov will visit Scotland on November 4th-5th to celebrate the club's 175th anniversary.The main event will be the "Scotsman Challenge" where Kasparov will take on the Scottish Olympiad squad.

Further details:

http://www.jthin.co.uk/ecc.htm

7) Kettler Cup

Bretislav Modr from Prague reports on the Kettler Cup Rapid chess tournament. There were 4 players in this double round robin rapid (25 minute chess) on September 22nd. The event was won by the legend Viktor Korchnoi.

Ceska Trebova CZE (CZE), IX 1997     cat. XIII (2560)
-----------------------------------------------------
                                1  2  3  4 
-----------------------------------------------------
1 Korchnoi, Viktor  g SUI 2610 ** =1 1= 1=  4.5  2736
2 Kavalek, Lubomir  g USA 2520 =0 ** 1= 1=  3.5  2630
3 Ftacnik, Lubomir  g SVK 2585 0= 0= ** 1=  2.5  2494
4 Smejkal, Jan      g CZE 2525 0= 0= 0= **  1.5  2378
-----------------------------------------------------

8) Spanish Team Championships

Angel Martin sends news of the Spanish Team Championships in Ponferrada 29.VIII - 6.IX.1997. The championships were won by Barcino who were two points clear of Vulca.

Honour Division

1st.  BARCINO (Spraggett, Izeta, Garcia Ilundain, Mellado) 23 p.

2. VULCA ( Pia Cramling, Bellon, O.Rodriguez, Martin Gonzalez ) 21 p.

3. UGA (Illescas, Magem, Oms, Ochoa) 21 p.

4. CIDA ( Granda, Romero Holmes, Garcia Padron, Solana) 18 p.

5. TERRASSA ( Arencibia, Comas, F. Gonzalez, Joanpera) 11 p.

6. VILLA de TEROR (Tkachiev, Gomez Esteban, Sanz, Lopez Colon) 11 p.

7. MARCOTE ( Franco, Estremera, Vallejo, Rivera) 6 p.

8. EL OLIVAR ( Mitkov, Gil Capape, Ramo, Garza) 5 p.

9. LABRADORES ( Nogueiras, Alvarez Ibarra, Vega, Teran) 4 p.

10. MORATALAZ ( San Segundo, Del Rio, Rojo, Ballesteros) 3 p.

1st Division Group A

1. ENDESA ( Giorgadze, Paramos, Iruzubieta, Corral) 22 p.

2. CAJACANARIAS   22 p.

3. IBERCAJA  18 p.

4. ALCUDIA  13 p.

5. TROPIC  7 p.

6. BERAUN BERA  6 p.

7. U. RIOJANA 6 p.

8. BURJASSOT  5 p.

9. CAYMU  5 p.

1st Division Group B

1. FOMENT (Korneev, De la Riva, Narciso, Jose) 25 p.

2. MASPALOMAS  21 p.

3. NEW CHESS  18 p.

4. OBERENA 16 p.

5. U. SANTIAGO 16 p.

6. PROMUTUCAN  14 p.

7. REGATAS  9 p.

8. C. VIESQUES  7 p.

9. C. DE TORRES  5 p.

10. UNED SEGOVIA 0 p.

9) Russian Women's Championships

The Russian women's Championships are underway with coverage by ChessAssistant.

http://www.chessassistant.com

10) Ampuriabrava "Terres Catalanes"

Angel Martin also sends news of this Category 10 event in Ampuriabrava which was won by Ubilava.

Ampuriabrava ESP (ESP), IX 1997                            cat. X (2499)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Ubilava, Elizbar           g GEO 2520  * = = 1 = = = 1 1 1  6.5  2662
 2 Giorgadze, Giorgi          g GEO 2625  = * 1 0 1 = = = 1 1  6.0  2609
 3 Cifuentes Parada, Roberto  g NED 2555  = 0 * 1 = = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2617
 4 Spraggett, Kevin           g CAN 2575  0 1 0 * = 1 = 1 1 0  5.0  2533
 5 Vehi Bach, Victor M        m ESP 2395  = 0 = = * = = 1 = =  4.5  2510
 6 Mellado, Juan              m ESP 2430  = = = 0 = * = = = =  4.0  2463
 7 Garcia Ilundain, David     g ESP 2495  = = 0 = = = * = = =  4.0  2455
 8 Izeta Txabarri, Felix      g ESP 2525  0 = = 0 0 = = * = 1  3.5  2415
 9 Pomes, Juan                m ESP 2430  0 0 0 0 = = = = * 1  3.0  2381
10 Sion Castro, Marcelino     m ESP 2435  0 0 0 1 = = = 0 0 *  2.5  2339
------------------------------------------------------------------------

11) World Junior Championships

The World Junior Championships are underway in Armenia. There is internet coverage available.

Official site from Arminco