E-Mail mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk Tel or fax 01274 882143 [Bradford England] http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
1) Introduction
2) 60th Hoogovens Tournament , Wijk aan Zee
3) FIDE Rating list
4) Rishon LeZion
5) Linares Open Tournament
6) Zagreb Open
7) FIDE Journalists Tournament
8) Excelsior Cup 1998
9) 9th International Open Ano Liosia
10) Recent events in Singapore
11) Upcoming Events
Games section
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee 21 games Rishon LeZion 189 games Zagreb Open 185 games FIDE Journalists Blitz Cup 7 games Excelsior Cup 30 games Ano Liosia Open 81 games Karpov GM Event 47 games
My thanks to Lost Boys, Christophe Bouton of Europe Echecs, Ram Soffer, Guillermo Baches Garcia, Hellas Chess Club, Argiris Kotsis, Chia Chee Seng and all those who helped with this issue.
Hoogovens underway in the first post-FIDE knockout event. The talking is over, Anand and Kramnik have both been critical of Karpov and should be out to prove it here. Sport is about that and we the public should sit back and enjoy the entertainment. Karpov has white against his two rivals and perhaps feels there is less to prove. The results should be extremely interesting. Hoogovens 60th event in the Netherlands, I hope to be around for the 100th. In terms of commitment to chess which sponsor can match it?
Hope you enjoy this issue
Mark
The 60th Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee kicked got underway on January 16th. 4 of the top 6 players in the World are playing. The presence of Anatoly Karpov with Viswanathan Anand adds extra spice to the anniversary event. Both Anand and Kramnik were critical of Karpov's seeding to the final and the tight schedule of the event. Anand, who played Karpov in the final compared the event to the Japanese gamesshow endurance and does not recognise Karpov as Champion who beat him in a speed playoff. Kramnik did not enter the event saying that Karpov had at least a 70% chance to win the event and he would not enter the event under such conditions. Both will be looking to send a message to the wider public about their real status in World chess. This competitive edge may be the true legacy of the FIDE event and can do nothing but good.
After 3 rounds Vladimir Kramnik leads with 3/3. He was number one in the draw and thus got two whites in a row at the start. He used this to effect against Jeroen Piket (floored with a 15. Bd2 novelty in the semi-slav) and Frisco Nijboer who he outclassed. In the third round he played black against FIDE semi-finalist Michael Adams. At first he equalised and then pressed. This lead to a quick technical win in only 29 moves.
Viswanathan Anand started the event with a draw against Timman as black. The Dutchman managing to hack most of the pieces off. He followed this with wins against Loek Van Wely and Valery Salov, in both cases his smooth style combining opening preparation, positional play and sly tactics proved too much for his opponents.
Just behind are Gelfand and Topalov. They both have scored 1 win and 2 draws. Gelfand beat Judit Polgar in round 1 in a complex game where he converted an exchange advantage. Topalov won his round 3 game against Van Wely in similar style.
On 50% is Karpov. Although he would have been looking to beat Nijboer even with black it wasn't a bad result to draw in round 1. His draws with Adams and Gelfand were against the tougher end of the table so there are no indications of form yet. Timman has started the event in bright form and has perhaps been a little unlucky. Nevertheless he still has had three draws. Adams played the two aforementioned games but outclassed Van der Sterren in round one in spite of a biteless opening. Judit Polgar might not he a hope for the first woman to become World chess champion anymore but she is undoubtably one of the most entertaining players around. A loss to Topalov, a win against her favourite customer Shirov and a really quite strange draw against Timman all gave us much to study.
Even at this early stage most of the players in the bottom half of the table look likely to struggle. Shirov and Salov may move up but the rest need to find some form quickly otherwise they will be punished. We will know more in what promises to be a fascinating event. Once again the Dutch know how to put on a chess event.
Oh and Karpov has white in rounds 8 and 13 against Anand and Kramnik respectively. Anand has white in round 9 against Kramnik. Just in case you wondered.
Daily coverage on my pages and live coverage by Lost Boys at: http://208.28.202.73/hoogovens98/
Round 1 (1998.01.16)
Kramnik, Vladimir - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 48 D46 Semi-Slav
Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1-0 70 E54 Nimzo indian
Timman, Jan H - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 19 B52 Sicilian
Adams, Michael - Van der Sterren, Paul 1-0 49 C47 Four knights
Nijboer, Friso - Karpov, Anatoly 1/2 39 C92 Ruy Lopez
Shirov, Alexei - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 38 A70 Modern Benoni
Van Wely, Loek - Salov, Valery 1/2 62 A29 English; 1.c4 e5
Round 2 (1998.01.17)
Kramnik, Vladimir - Nijboer, Friso 1-0 29 E97 Kings indian; Main line
Anand, Viswanathan - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 42 E17 Nimzo indian
Topalov, Veselin - Timman, Jan H 1/2 42 D43 Semi-Slav
Karpov, Anatoly - Adams, Michael 1/2 33 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Polgar, Judit - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 40 B66 Sicilian
Van der Sterren, Paul - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 31 E94 Kings indian; Classical
Piket, Jeroen - Salov, Valery 1/2 66 E17 Nimzo indian
Round 3 (1998.01.18)
Gelfand, Boris - Karpov, Anatoly 1/2 42 D37 Queen's gambit
Timman, Jan H - Polgar, Judit 1/2 34 B47 Sicilian
Adams, Michael - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 29 B70 Sicilian; Dragon
Nijboer, Friso - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 36 C78 Ruy Lopez
Shirov, Alexei - Van der Sterren, Paul 1/2 61 C95 Ruy Lopez
Salov, Valery - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 48 D43 Semi-Slav
Van Wely, Loek - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 48 A70 Modern Benoni
Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), I-II 1998 cat. XVII (2671)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2790 * . . . . . 1 . 1 . . . 1 . 3.0
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2770 . * . . = . . . . . . 1 . 1 2.5 2908
3 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2675 . . * . . = . 1 . . = . . . 2.0 2778
4 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2740 . . . * = . . . . = . . . 1 2.0 2770
5 Timman, Jan H g NED 2620 . = . = * . . = . . . . . . 1.5 2726
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2735 . . = . . * = . = . . . . . 1.5 2645
7 Adams, Michael g ENG 2670 0 . . . . = * . . . 1 . . . 1.5 2693
8 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2670 . . 0 . = . . * . 1 . . . . 1.5 2668
9 Nijboer, Friso g NED 2590 0 . . . . = . . * . . . 1 . 1.5 2701
10 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2710 . . . = . . . 0 . * = . . . 1.0 2530
11 Van der Sterren, Paul g NED 2555 . . = . . . 0 . . = * . . . 1.0 2560
12 Salov, Valery g RUS 2680 . 0 . . . . . . . . . * = = 1.0 2526
13 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2580 0 . . . . . . . 0 . . = * . 0.5 2413
14 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2605 . 0 . 0 . . . . . . . = . * 0.5 2457
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FIDE rating list was duly released on 13th January 1998. Although it took some time to work it out there was confirmation that some of the delay was due to FIDE trying to work out to do about nations that are in arrears with their dues. Kazakstan's Vladislav Tkachiev was missing from the list. It emerged this was due to his Federation and he will only be reinstated after his Federation pays their dues.
I mentioned Hungary as a possible last week. In fact they were never in danger of failing to pay and last did so on 06.11.1997 and am certainly happy to make clear that they didn't delay the publication of the list or indeed any implication (certainly unintended) that they did anything wrong. The Hungarian Federation also found it remarkable that during the last FIDE Congress held in the autumn in Kishinew the FIDE treasurer Mr. Jarrett had not given any details to the public on the arrears of the Federations.
I don't know of any other Federations who also have had their players ratings suspended, only a detailed look at the list will tell us that, there has been no direct reference to it by FIDE. Whilst the get tough stance is certainly to be welcomed in that in the past some of the fees seem to have been paid for virtually in return for votes it isn't clear to me that this is the best punishment. Tkachiev is a top GM who has done absolutely nothing wrong. His limbo status is such that he may lose out professionally in invitations to closed events and in opens he will mess up the draw if he enters as unrated. Some have speculated already that he may have some legal recourse for restraint of trade. Of course all this may act as a hurry up or reminder to the Kazakstan Chess Federation and he will be back in the list in a very short time (the intention of course) and it won't be an issue. Nevertheless perhaps the correct punishment was to not rate events from those countries and suspend them from participation in FIDE events. The amount due from Kazakstan unless they were seriously behind is unlikely to add up to more than a few hundred pounds. The costs only really mount up when countries have more than 2000 players in the rating list (and cynics have wondered if that was the reason that players rated 2000 and above are now published instead of 2200 as used to be the case).
There were a large amount of events to be rated this time and this seems to have led to some errors. The French part of the list seems to have a number of errors with 33 players going missing and the inclusion of 2 players who are dead. The Dutch part of the list will be subject to quite a bit of change as FIDE rated their team Championships in the July list and again in this January list. However elsewhere the Scottish list appears to be correct according to their ratings officer. Nevertheless with the huge importance of rating in the determination of invitations it is a little worrying to hear of omissions and errors.
At the top of the list Kasparov goes up 5 to 2825 but Kramnik has narrowed the gap going up 20 points to 2790. Anand is up five point. Ivanchuk and Topalov are level on 2740 and Karpov who lost ten points is on 2740. Kamsky is retired and at medical school (although there has been speculation that he will resume some chess activity in conjunction with those studies and it is to be hoped that this is the case). Shirov is 8th going up ten points just ahead of Svidler who enters the top 10 for the first time. Further down there are some notable changes in ratings. Tiviakov is up 45 points to 2640, surely a better reflection of his class as a player. 34 year old Alexandru Crisan of Rumania gained 105 points to go to 2635. I can't find any games by him so its difficult to evaluate the result. Strangely he played no rated games in the July list. Jeroen Piket crashed out of the top 100 losing 50 points to go to 2580. The stand out rating on the entire list is one Babakuli Annakov an IM from Turkmenistan. His rating went from 2380 to 2585 off an incredible 212 games. Whilst I hear that some of the 18 results that produced this rating were as long ago as December 1996 he nevertheless managed to sqeeze in 87 games for the July list. I'm told there might be nothing particularly fishy about the rating. There can be some strange effects when large amounts of games are fed into the ratings formula and this may simply be a function of that. He has some horrid losses on his record from 1996 (the last games I have seen of his) but also a few reasonable draws. I have not been able to track down a single 1997 game. Further details are again required to evaluate this performance.
In the junior list Peter Leko at 2670 is first, Sergei Movsesian at 2595 is second and third is Ruslan Ponomariov at 2580 who is reported to have recorded the norms which will eventually confirm him as the youngest GM in history recently (I don't have full details). He was born 11.10.83. Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria is the top girl at 2480 and also 10th in the women's list headed by Judit Polgar at 2670 and her sister and women's World Champion Zsuzsa Polgar at 2565 (although she hasn't played in this rating period.) Pia Cramling and Maia Chiburdinadze are both 2535.
Rank Player Title NAT Ju97 Ja98 Gms Date of B
1 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2820 2825 21 13.04.63
2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2770 2790 39 25.06.75
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2765 2770 28 11.12.69
4 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2725 2740 26 18.03.69
5 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2745 2740 26 15.03.75
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2745 2735 19 23.05.51
7 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2720 2720 0 02.06.74
8 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2700 2710 25 04.07.72
9 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2660 2690 49 17.06.76
10 Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2710 2690 29 17.12.53
11 Salov, Valery g RUS 2680 2680 11 26.05.64
12 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2695 2675 53 24.06.68
13 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2670 2675 37 21.11.66
14 Georgiev, Kiril g BUL 2670 2675 34 28.11.65
15 Adams, Michael g ENG 2680 2670 51 17.11.71
16 Leko, Peter g HUN 2635 2670 36 08.09.79
17 Polgar, Judit (GM) g HUN 2670 2670 26 23.07.76 w
18 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2650 2665 26 15.10.74
19 Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2655 2660 71 18.01.66
20 Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2645 2660 41 14.11.63
21 Yermolinsky, Alex g USA 2650 2660 39 11.04.58
22 Short, Nigel D. g ENG 2660 2660 27 01.06.65
23 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2660 2660 23 07.12.71
24 Oll, Lembit g EST 2645 2655 61 23.04.66
25 Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2635 2655 23 18.08.76
26 Sadler, Matthew g ENG 2665 2650 30 15.05.74
27 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2645 2650 10 16.03.60
28 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2660 2645 40 12.04.73
29 Chernin, Alexander g HUN 2640 2645 31 06.03.60
30 Tiviakov, Sergei g RUS 2590 2640 45 14.02.73
31 Gurevich, Mikhail g BEL 2620 2640 29 22.02.59
32 Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2640 2640 10 15.10.51
33 Crisan, Alexandru g ROM 2530 2635 50 31.07.62
34 Milov, Vadim g SUI 2635 2635 19 01.08.72
35 Andersson, Ulf g SWE 2640 2635 17 27.06.51
36 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2630 2635 15 11.09.60
37 Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2610 2630 50 23.03.31
38 Hjartarson, Johann g ISL 2605 2630 45 08.02.63
39 Granda Zuniga, Julio E g PER 2625 2630 38 25.02.67
40 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2615 2630 33 29.08.76
41 Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2640 2630 15 30.01.69
42 Jussupow, Artur g GER 2640 2630 14 13.02.60
43 Nenashev, Alexander g UZB 2585 2625 65 25.08.62
44 Sokolov, Ivan g BIH 2635 2625 48 13.06.68
45 Seirawan, Yasser g USA 2630 2625 16 24.03.60
46 Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2590 2620 51 13.04.74
47 Shipov, Sergei g RUS 2575 2620 48 17.04.66
48 Timman, Jan H g NED 2625 2620 43 14.12.51
49 Kaidanov, Grigory S g USA 2600 2620 25 11.10.59
50 Shabalov, Alexander g USA 2585 2615 52 12.09.67
51 Alterman, Boris g ISR 2615 2615 42 04.05.70
52 Aleksandrov, Aleksej g BLR 2660 2615 37 11.05.73
53 Adianto, Utut g INA 2610 2615 11 16.03.65
54 Rozentalis, Eduardas g LTU 2645 2610 50 27.05.63
55 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2600 2610 42 01.08.76
56 Onischuk, Alexander g UKR 2625 2610 40 03.09.75
57 Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2610 2610 39 14.10.62
58 Tukmakov, Vladimir B g UKR 2575 2610 35 15.03.46
59 Lputian, Smbat G g ARM 2585 2610 34 14.02.58
60 Hracek, Zbynek g CZE 2605 2610 15 09.09.70
61 Nunn, John D.M. g ENG 2620 2610 11 25.04.55
62 Huzman, Alexander g ISR 2610 2610 3 10.04.62
63 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2655 2605 75 07.10.72
64 Speelman, Jonathan S. g ENG 2630 2605 40 02.10.56
65 Giorgadze, Giorgi g GEO 2625 2605 39 10.10.64
66 Eingorn, Vereslav S g UKR 2590 2605 37 23.11.56
67 Spasov, Vasil g BUL 2600 2605 34 17.02.71
68 Hellers, Ferdinand g SWE 2585 2605 18 28.01.69
69 Wahls, Matthias g GER 2595 2605 9 25.01.68
70 Malaniuk, Vladimir P g UKR 2615 2600 82 21.07.57
71 Dautov, Rustem g GER 2595 2600 43 28.11.65
72 Baburin, Alexander g IRL 2570 2600 29 19.02.67
73 Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2610 2600 21 04.04.37
74 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2585 2600 9 03.12.65
75 Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2600 2600 9 24.03.63
76 Dorfman, Josif D g FRA 2600 2600 0 01.05.53
77 Miles, Anthony J g ENG 2595 2595 83 23.04.55
78 Atalik, Suat g TUR 2590 2595 67 10.10.64
79 Movsesian, Sergei g CZE 2555 2595 60 03.11.78
80 Filippov, Valerij g RUS 2535 2595 56 28.11.75
81 Savchenko, Stanislav g UKR 2565 2595 49 21.01.67
82 Sveshnikov, Evgeny g RUS 2570 2595 44 11.02.50
83 Vaisser, Anatoli g FRA 2575 2595 40 05.03.49
84 Fedorov, Alexei g BLR 2600 2595 38 27.09.72
85 Sutovskij, Emil g ISR 2590 2595 35 19.09.77
86 Hansen, Curt g DEN 2600 2595 31 18.09.64
87 Sturua, Zurab g GEO 2585 2595 30 08.06.59
88 Benjamin, Joel g USA 2580 2595 22 11.03.64
89 Lutz, Christopher g GER 2590 2595 18 24.02.71
90 Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2570 2590 64 11.07.65
91 Ibragimov, Ildar g RUS 2585 2590 64 16.08.67
92 Goldin, Alexander g RUS 2595 2590 54 27.02.65
93 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2590 2590 47 18.07.77
94 Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2600 2590 47 21.01.68
95 DeFirmian, Nick E g USA 2570 2590 40 26.07.57
96 Nijboer, Friso g NED 2605 2590 38 26.05.65
97 Pinter, Jozsef g HUN 2590 2590 25 09.11.53
98 Annakov, Babakuli m TKM 2380 2585 212 29.05.72
99 Kharitonov, Andrei Y g RUS 2540 2585 69 04.04.59
100 Dvoirys, Semen I. g RUS 2615 2585 41 02.11.58
101 Kozul, Zdenko g CRO 2605 2585 39 21.05.66
102 Gulko, Boris F g USA 2580 2585 29 09.02.47
103 Hebden, Mark g ENG 2575 2585 29 15.02.58
Ram Soffer sends news, games and results from the Rishon LeZion tournament. The event was organized by the Rishon LeZion chess club to celebrate the club's 60th anniversary, which coincided with the State of Israel's 50th anniversary. It took place between December 25 and January 2. The format was slightly unusual: an invitational swiss. 16 of the 42 players were grandmasters. Some of the top Israeli juniors were allowed to play and they generally achived very good results. The field was topped by GM Victor Mikhalevski, GM V. Golod and GM A. Goldin with a score of 6.5/9. Mikhalevski was declared the winner on tiebreak. GM Smirin, GM A. Greenfeld amd GM Soffer scored 6/9. Alexander Mikhalevski (elder brother of Victor, 5.5/9) missed his final GM norm by half a point. Karmi Zalkind (5/9) scored his 1st IM norm. Igor Bitansky (4.5/9) scored his 2nd IM norm.
Rishon LeZion (ISR), I 1998
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Mikhalevski, Victor g ISR 2535 +39 +33 = 4 = 8 + 3 =10 +21 = 2 = 5 6.5 2659
2 Golod, Vitali g ISR 2515 =37 +23 =13 +20 = 8 +12 +10 = 1 = 4 6.5 2633
3 Goldin, Alexander g RUS 2595 -12 +36 +19 + 9 - 1 +28 = 7 +10 + 8 6.5 2608
4 Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2600 +40 +17 = 1 = 7 =10 =11 + 9 = 8 = 2 6.0 2619
5 Greenfeld, Alon g ISR 2540 +31 =20 -12 -29 +15 +18 +34 + 7 = 1 6.0 2574
6 Soffer, Ram g ISR 2520 -30 =16 +27 =19 +36 =13 =26 +18 +14 6.0 2528
7 Mikhalevski, Alexander m ISR 2470 =23 +25 +28 = 4 =13 = 8 = 3 - 5 +26 5.5 2581
8 Gofshtein, Leonid D g ISR 2545 =25 +37 +29 = 1 = 2 = 7 +11 = 4 - 3 5.5 2567
9 Bykhovsky, Avigdor g RUS 2400 +26 +14 =10 - 3 =28 +24 - 4 +21 =13 5.5 2643
10 Kanstler, Boris m KGZ 2535 +16 +30 = 9 +12 = 4 = 1 - 2 - 3 =17 5.0 2510
11 Khasin, Alexander g RUS 2505 +15 =19 =24 =21 +17 = 4 - 8 =13 =16 5.0 2501
12 Murrey, Jacob g ISR 2440 + 3 =28 + 5 -10 +34 - 2 =24 =26 =21 5.0 2586
13 Novikov, Igor A g UKR 2590 +35 =29 = 2 =34 = 7 = 6 =14 =11 = 9 5.0 2530
14 Zaichik, Gennadi g GEO 2540 +27 - 9 -18 =31 +25 +16 =13 +19 - 6 5.0 2432
15 Kundin, Alexander ISR 2305 -11 -18 +42 +22 - 5 =36 +31 +20 =25 5.0 2455
16 Zalkind, Karmi ISR 2315 -10 = 6 =35 +41 =20 -14 +40 +34 =11 5.0 2510
17 Kaspi, Alexander m ISR 2495 +42 - 4 +40 =24 -11 =23 =22 +32 =10 5.0 2454
18 Oratovsky, Michael m ISR 2465 -19 +15 +14 =26 =21 - 5 +28 - 6 =24 4.5 2475
19 Bitansky, Igor ISR 2165 +18 =11 - 3 = 6 =40 =20 +29 -14 =22 4.5 2496
20 Fridman, Daniel m LAT 2480 +32 = 5 =21 - 2 =16 =19 =23 -15 +36 4.5 2346
21 Brodsky, Michail g UKR 2545 =38 +22 =20 =11 =18 +29 - 1 - 9 =12 4.5 2457
22 Mittelman, Gur ISR 2415 =24 -21 =37 -15 +30 +27 =17 =23 =19 4.5 2355
23 Postniy, Evgeny ISR 2175 = 7 - 2 -31 +33 +35 =17 =20 =22 =28 4.5 2440
24 Psakhis, Lev g ISR 2565 =22 +38 =11 =17 =29 - 9 =12 =25 =18 4.5 2440
25 Karpman, Vadim m UKR 2365 = 8 - 7 +32 -28 -14 +30 +39 =24 =15 4.5 2421
26 Zilberman, Yaacov m ISR 2560 - 9 =27 +33 =18 =31 +40 = 6 =12 - 7 4.5 2410
27 Ribshtein, Nati ISR 2335 -14 =26 - 6 =32 +41 -22 =35 +39 +34 4.5 2414
28 Liss, Eran g ISR 2540 +36 =12 - 7 +25 = 9 - 3 -18 =29 =23 4.0 2374
29 Palatnik, Semon g UKR 2500 +41 =13 - 8 + 5 =24 -21 -19 =28 =30 4.0 2405
30 Rapoport, Evgeny ISR 2310 + 6 -10 -34 =35 -22 -25 +37 +38 =29 4.0 2395
31 Botvinnik, Ilia BLR 2350 - 5 =32 +23 =14 =26 -34 -15 =35 +40 4.0 2369
32 Bar, Roman ISR 2210 -20 =31 -25 =27 =42 +41 +36 -17 =33 4.0 2303
33 Rinberg, Alexander UKR 2260 +34 - 1 -26 -23 -39 +42 =38 +41 =32 4.0 2307
34 Kogan, Artur m ISR 2500 -33 +39 +30 =13 -12 +31 - 5 -16 -27 3.5 2303
35 Alienkin, Aleksander RUS 2435 -13 =41 =16 =30 -23 =37 =27 =31 =39 3.5 2245
36 Fleish, Felix ISR 2350 -28 - 3 +39 +38 - 6 =15 -32 +40 -20 3.5 2340
37 Khetsuriani, Besarion f GEO 2305 = 2 - 8 =22 -40 =38 =35 -30 =42 =41 3.0 2267
38 Krays, Alexander m ISR 2375 =21 -24 =41 -36 =37 =39 =33 -30 =42 3.0 2222
39 Kataev, Simcho RUS 2310 - 1 -34 -36 +42 +33 =38 -25 -27 =35 3.0 2252
40 Uritzky, Maxim m ISR 2450 - 4 +42 -17 +37 =19 -26 -16 -36 -31 2.5 2210
41 Vovsha, Eli ISR 2240 -29 =35 =38 -16 -27 -32 +42 -33 =37 2.5 2165
42 Kaminik, Aleksandar UKR 2245 -17 -40 -15 -39 =32 -33 -41 =37 =38 1.5 2054
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A strong international open took place in Linares Spain. Sergei Tiviakov
took clear first with 8/9 ahead of Tony Miles, Stanislav Savchenko, Karen
Movsziszian, Georgy Timoshenko, Karen Asrian, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and
Gennady Kuzmin on 7.5. The field also included Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir
Epishin and Valeri Filippov in the 186 participants. Games and more
details next week. Coverage including full results on the internet at:
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/2708/index.html
. In addition the Ubeda tournament starts on the 20th January.
My thanks to Guillermo Baches Garcia for the info.
IM Milan Franic sends news of the Zagreb open (3-11.1.'98). Full details of this event and the Croatian Closed Championships currently running can be found on the Croatian Chess pages. The Closed Championships in Pula for men is a category 10 event with 6 GMs and 7 IMs.
Zagreb (CRO), I 1998 1 Jovanovic, Sasa D f CRO 2345 8.0 /9 2596 2 Kutuzovic, Branko f CRO 2420 7.5 2511 3 Kristovic, Marijan f CRO 2310 7.5 4 Devcic, Ivan f CRO 2295 7.0 5 Loncar, Robert m CRO 2385 7.0 6 Kovacevic, Blazimir f CRO 2340 7.0 7 Jurkovic, Ante CRO 2335 7.0 2387 8 Marangunic, Srdjan m CRO 2460 7.0 9 Petrov, Jole CRO 2365 6.5 2414 10 Brumen, Dinko f CRO 2365 6.5 2351 11 Milasin, Miljenko f CRO 2295 6.5 12 Sitnik, Igor SLO 2250 6.5 13 Jovanovic, Zoran CRO 2145 6.5 14 Bukal, Vladimir jr f CRO 2325 6.5 15 Krstic, Uros CRO 2265 6.5 16 Kosanski, Stanko m CRO 2355 6.5 17 Ivekovic, Mario f CRO 2305 6.5 18 Devide, Zoran CRO 2245 6.5 19 Rezan, Sasa CRO 2250 6.5 20 Glavica, Zeljko f CRO 2260 6.5 21 Jusic, Zdenko CRO 2370 6.5 225 players
In the final stages of the FIDE World Championships there was also a journalists event. This was a blitz event (5-5 without additional time) although more or less organised on the same lines of the real event. It took place on the mornings of the 5th & 6th games of the Karpov-Anand match. The winner was Christophe Bouton of Europe Echecs and he sends some details of the event and the games from the final.
There were 40 participants in the tournament, 24 of whom did not play in the first round. Thus there was a 32 player elimination contest starting from the second round. 2 games were played and in the case of a draw a single sudden death was played with the drawing of lots for the colour as in Groningen (White 5 min had to win, Black 4 min and could draw to qualify.)
The event was for journalists without a FIDE title (no IM's, GM's or FIDE masters allowed). Entry fee : zilch. Prize fund : $50 000 provided by H.E Kirsan Iljumzhinov. The losers of 1st round received $300 dollars, the ones of the 2nd $500. In the semi-final there was a 4 game match and in the Final a six game match.
Christophe Bouton had a "Russian Tournament" one where he played 5 Russians in 6 rounds. In the Semi finals he beat Alexander Roshal of 64 and in the final Evgeny Gik of Moskovsky Komsomolets. The final was a tense affair with Christophe Bouton taking a 2-0 lead after 3 games. Losing the 4th, the 5th was declared a draw when both flags were down, the sixth saw the Russian level the match. There was a single blitz playoff game where Christophe Bouton was black and needed a draw but white had more time. The game was declared drawn when it was found both flags had fallen.
The winner took $9000 the loser $6000.
5 minute games.
Bouton, Christophe - Gik, Evgeny 1-0 32 E97 Kings indian; Main line
Gik, Evgeny - Bouton, Christophe 0-1 41 A07 Reti (1.Nf3)
Bouton, Christophe - Gik, Evgeny 1/2 41 E97 Kings indian; Main line
Gik, Evgeny - Bouton, Christophe 1-0 68 B10 Caro-Kann
Bouton, Christophe - Gik, Evgeny 1/2 50 A45 Queen's pawn
Gik, Evgeny - Bouton, Christophe 1-0 39 C00 French
Sudden Death game 5 minutes to white 4 to black (who had draw odds)
Gik, Evgeny - Bouton, Christophe 1/2 49 B01 Scandinavian
Lausanne SUI (SUI), Blitz I 1998
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bouton, Christophe FRA 2210 1 1 = 0 = 0 = 3.5 2350
Gik, Evgeny RUS 2350 0 0 = 1 = 1 = 3.5 2210
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Category 9 Excelsior Cup 1998 took place in Gothenburg Sweden 7th - 15th Jan 1998. GM norm 6½ points, IM norm 4½ points. The event was won by by Danish IM Sune Berg Hansen. He also scored a GM norm. The tournament was played at the Hotel Excelsior in Gothenburg. The event was covered on the internet daily at:
http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d95mback/ssm/excelsior/
Round 6 (1998.01.12)
Hansen, Sune Berg - Akesson, Ralf 1-0 32 B85 Sicilian
Aagaard, Jacob - Gavrikov, Viktor 0-1 22 E15 Nimzo indian
Svensson, Bengt - Rytshagov, Mikhail 1/2 23 B81 Sicilian
Hartman, Christer - Gausel, Einar 0-1 45 B06 Modern defence
Ziegler, Ari - Brynell, Stellan 0-1 35 D20 QGA;
Round 7 (1998.01.13)
Rytshagov, Mikhail - Ziegler, Ari 1-0 31 C78 Ruy Lopez
Gausel, Einar - Aagaard, Jacob 1-0 30 D03 Queen's pawn
Gavrikov, Viktor - Hansen, Sune Berg 1/2 46 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Akesson, Ralf - Svensson, Bengt 1/2 66 D27 QGA;
Brynell, Stellan - Hartman, Christer 1-0 46 C69 Ruy Lopez; Exchange
Round 8 (1998.01.14)
Hansen, Sune Berg - Svensson, Bengt 1-0 49 B85 Sicilian
Gavrikov, Viktor - Gausel, Einar 1/2 19 B14 Caro-Kann
Aagaard, Jacob - Brynell, Stellan 1/2 14 D07 Chigorin
Hartman, Christer - Rytshagov, Mikhail 0-1 40 B48 Sicilian
Ziegler, Ari - Akesson, Ralf 0-1 35 D00 Queen's pawn
Round 9 (1998.01.15)
Rytshagov, Mikhail - Aagaard, Jacob 1/2 10 C63 Ruy Lopez
Gausel, Einar - Hansen, Sune Berg 1/2 11 E15 Nimzo indian
Akesson, Ralf - Hartman, Christer 1/2 27 D27 QGA;
Brynell, Stellan - Gavrikov, Viktor 1/2 48 B08 Pirc; Classical
Svensson, Bengt - Ziegler, Ari 1/2 13 D13 Slav defence
Gothenburg SWE (SWE), I 1998 cat. IX (2470)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Hansen, Sune Berg m DEN 2490 * = = = 1 1 = 1 1 1 7.0 2687
2 Rytshagov, Mikhail m EST 2525 = * 1 = = = = = 1 1 6.0 2588
3 Gausel, Einar g NOR 2540 = 0 * = 1 1 1 = 1 = 6.0 2586
4 Gavrikov, Viktor g SUI 2575 = = = * 0 = 1 = 1 1 5.5 2537
5 Akesson, Ralf g SWE 2520 0 = 0 1 * 1 0 = = 1 4.5 2463
6 Brynell, Stellan m SWE 2465 0 = 0 = 0 * = = 1 1 4.0 2427
7 Aagaard, Jacob m DEN 2435 = = 0 0 1 = * = = 0 3.5 2393
8 Svensson, Bengt m SWE 2385 0 = = = = = = * 0 = 3.5 2398
9 Hartman, Christer m SWE 2320 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 * 1 3.0 2361
10 Ziegler, Ari f SWE 2440 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 = 0 * 2.0 2252
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The 9th Ano Liosia International Open took place in Athens, Greece 3rd-11th 1998. The event was won by Andreas Tzermidianos who was undefeated.
Coverage on the internet including full results by the Hellas Chess Club at:
http://www.compulink.gr/chess/enter.html
1. Tzermiadianos, Andreas m GRE 2420 7.5 54.5 6.00 2. Vafiadis, Kleanthis GRE 2265 7.5 52.5 7.00 3. Ghinda, Mihail-Viorel m ROM 2455 7.0 56.0 5.00 4. Cela, Altin m ALB 2475 7.0 55.0 5.00 5. Nevednichy, Vladislav g ROM 2530 7.0 53.0 6.00 6. Skembris, Spyridon g GRE 2470 7.0 50.5 6.00 7. Vouldis, Angelos m GRE 2430 7.0 49.0 6.00 8. Grivas, Efstratios g GRE 2465 7.0 47.5 7.00 9. Bykhovsky, Anatoly A m RUS 2415 6.5 52.0 4.00 10. Banikas, Hristos m GRE 2450 6.5 51.5 5.00 11. Djuric, Stefan g YUG 2545 6.5 51.5 5.00 12. Nikolaidis, Ioannis g GRE 2520 6.5 51.5 4.00 13. Cvetkovic, Srdjan m YUG 2420 6.5 51.0 5.00 14. Halkias, Stelios f GRE 2385 6.5 51.0 5.00 15. Georgiev, Krum g BUL 2530 6.5 49.0 4.00 16. Kapnisis, Spyros GRE ---- 6.5 48.0 6.00 17. Szekely, Peter g HUN 2465 6.5 48.0 5.00 18. Olarasu, Gabriela wm ROM 2355 6.5 46.5 5.00 19. Gelashvili, Tamaz GEO 2440 6.5 41.0 6.00 206 players
Chia Chee Seng sent news of two events in Singapore in December. Firstly Wu Shaobin dominated the Karpov GM event which ran 14th - 24th December then he defeated Ardiansyah heavily in a match 3.5 - 0.5 . Below is the table and this week the games from the Karpov event.
Singapore SIN (SIN), XII 1997 cat. VII (2406)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Wu Shaobin m CHN 2430 ** == == 11 11 1= 1= 11 11.0 2632
2 Hsu Li Yang m SIN 2390 == ** 0= == 01 1= =1 1= 8.0 2458
3 Tu Hoang Thong m VIE 2475 == 1= ** 01 00 0= 1= 11 7.5 2425
4 Handoko, Edhi g INA 2470 00 == 10 ** =1 == 01 =1 7.0 2397
5 Marentek, Hanny INA 2405 00 10 11 =0 ** =0 =1 1= 7.0 2406
6 Ardiansyah, Haji g INA 2415 0= 0= 1= == =1 ** 01 00 6.0 2355
7 Wong Meng-Kong m SIN 2415 0= =0 0= 10 =0 10 ** 10 5.0 2303
8 Suradiradja, Herman g INA 2250 00 0= 00 =0 0= 11 01 ** 4.5 2295
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The 1998 Porto Carras open will take place in the luxurious resort hotel-casino SITHONIA BEACH in Halkidiki April 11 - 15. Further information http;//www.geocities.com/timessquare/fortress/7271
The 14th International ChessOrg Chess Festival will take place in Bad Woerishofen. There will be an open aswell as a seniors championships. The event will have DM 20.000 in prizes in total reports Gerhard Hund.
The previous winners are 1985: GM Smejkal, 1986: GM Kusmin, 1987: GM Meduna, 1988: GM Klinger, 1989: GM Kindermann, 1990: GM Miles, 1991: GM Dautov, 1992: GM Knaak, 1993: GM Magerramov, 1994: Magerramov, 1995: GM Boensch, 1996: GM Movsziszian and 1997: GM Kupreichik (see Gerhard Hund's report of 1997 on http://www.teleschach.de/aktuelles/woerishn.html)
Details of the schedule, accommodation and announcements of the 1998 tournaments are available at: http://www.teleschach.de/werbung/w-c-org8.html Gerhard Hund will report on the event daily from the venue at http://www.teleschach.de/aktuelles/aktuell_.html from 6.-15. March 98.