THE WEEK IN CHESS 181 - 27th April 1998 by Mark Crowther

Sponsored by the London Chess Center

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

1) Introduction
2) St. Petersburg Championships
3) Dos Hermanas Open
4) Vecernjakov Grand Prix
5) Adams - Rowson Match
6) Asian Women's Championships
7) Garry Kasparov's visit to Arizona by Eric Schiller
8) Kasparov to play Timman
9) Austria. Qualifier for Staatsliga A
10) Argentine Championships
11) Hungarian Championships
12) KNSB Dutch Team Championships
13) Bundesliga
14) Richardson Cup Final
15) 3rd Thursday
16) Upcoming Events

Games section

St Petersburg Championships             14 games
Dos Hermanas Open                      161 games
Sarajevo                                66 games
Rowson-Adams                             1 game
Asian Women's Championships            120 games
Argentinian Championships               48 games
Dutch Teams                              8 games
Richardson Cup                           8 games
3rd Thurs April                         45 games
Kasparov simul game                      1 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Shahcom, Laszlo Nagy, Zoltan Blazsik, John Henderson, Jesús J. Boyero, Sead Bicevic, SS Quah, Eric Schiller, Adrian Rolden and Ruben Casafus, Dutch Chess Federation, Gerald Schendel and all those who helped with this issue.

The rest of the year is now firming up to be a very promising one. Kasparov will play Topalov in a couple of exhibition events, and then take on Timman in September. May will see Shirov-Kramnik and October the winner plays Kasparov. There is the possiblility of the FIDE Championships being in the USA, and the Olympiad will take place in Elista. Dortmund tournament and Frankfurt rapid promise much too. This week there are a number of interesting events including the conclusion of the St Petersburg Championships and the Dos Hermanas open.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) St. Petersburg Championships

Evgeny Solozhenkin took the Championship of St. Petersburg by half a point from Valerij Popov after a final round win against Evgeny Shaposhnikov. Popov was held to a draw by Alexander Khalifman. The two leaders drew a brief game in round 12. In third place was Valery Loginov ahead of Sergey Ionov and pre-event favourite Alexander Khalifman who never quite got his momentum going in this event.

Internet coverage by Shahcom at: http://www.ruschess.com/News/SPB98/main.html They are now covering the 48th Russian Women's Championship in Elista.

Round 12 (1998.04.19)

Solozhenkin, Evgeniy  -  Popov, Valerij        1/2    8  D45  Semi-Slav
Khalifman, Alexander  -  Taimanov, Mark E      1/2   60  D37  Queen's gambit
Ivanov, Sergey        -  Lugovoi, Aleksei      1-0   41  E32  Nimzo indian
Yemelin, Vasily       -  Loginov, Valery A     0-1   37  B86  Sicilian
Kochyev, Alexander    -  Shaposhnikov, Evgeny  1-0   36  A08  Reti (1.Nf3)
Biriukov, Oleg V      -  Aseev, Konstantin N   1/2   41  D41  QGD; Tarrasch Defence
Shchukin, Dmitry      -  Ionov, Sergey         0-1   38  E12  Nimzo indian

Round 13 (1998.04.20)

Popov, Valerij        -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   17  A10  English; 1.c4
Loginov, Valery A     -  Biriukov, Oleg V      1-0   60  A11  English; 1.c4
Ionov, Sergey         -  Kochyev, Alexander    1/2   16  E95  Kings indian; Classical
Shaposhnikov, Evgeny  -  Solozhenkin, Evgeniy  0-1   60  C53  Italian game
Lugovoi, Aleksei      -  Shchukin, Dmitry      1-0   49  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Aseev, Konstantin N   -  Ivanov, Sergey        0-1   38  D44  QGD; Botwinnik
Taimanov, Mark E      -  Yemelin, Vasily       0-1   47  A17  English; 1.c4


St Petersburg RUS (RUS), IV 1998                              cat. X (2498)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Solozhenkin, Evgeniy  g RUS 2500  * = = 1 = 1 1 1 = = = = 1 1  9.5  2672
 2 Popov, Valerij        m RUS 2505  = * = = = = 1 1 = = 1 = 1 1  9.0  2638
 3 Loginov, Valery A     g RUS 2500  = = * 0 = = = 1 = 1 = 1 1 1  8.5  2607
 4 Ionov, Sergey         g RUS 2530  0 = 1 * 1 = = = = = = 1 = 1  8.0  2582
 5 Khalifman, Alexander  g RUS 2660  = = = 0 * 1 0 1 = = 1 1 = 1  8.0  2572
 6 Ivanov, Sergey        g RUS 2570  0 = = = 0 * = 1 0 1 1 = 1 1  7.5  2549
 7 Shaposhnikov, Evgeny  f RUS 2415  0 0 = = 1 = * = 0 = = = 1 1  6.5  2504
 8 Yemelin, Vasily       g RUS 2485  0 0 0 = 0 0 = * 1 1 = 1 1 1  6.5  2498
 9 Kochyev, Alexander    g RUS 2430  = = = = = 1 1 0 * 0 = = = 0  6.0  2474
10 Lugovoi, Aleksei      m RUS 2540  = = 0 = = 0 = 0 1 * = = 0 1  5.5  2437
11 Aseev, Konstantin N   g RUS 2565  = 0 = = 0 0 = = = = * = = 0  4.5  2382
12 Biriukov, Oleg V        RUS 2390  = = 0 0 0 = = 0 = = = * = =  4.5  2396
13 Taimanov, Mark E      g RUS 2490  0 0 0 = = 0 0 0 = 1 = = * =  4.0  2357
14 Shchukin, Dmitry        RUS 2390  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 = = *  3.0  2295
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Dos Hermanas Open

The I Abierto Internacional Ciudad de Dos Hermanas is underway with146 players from 16 countries. Dos Hermanas is most well known for its superGM event which runs every two years. The Tournament takes place Friday 17 - Saturday 25 April, 1998. News and games from Jesús J. Boyero with additional results and material from:

Hichem Hamdouchi won the Dos Hermanas Open with 7.5/9.

El Pais and http://www.elpais.es/p/d/ajedrez3/1998/doshermanas98/index.html

Net64 http://www.chessnet64.com/torneos_offline/doshermanas98/index.html

Leading round 4 results

  1.-  11 WOJTKIEWICZ, ALEXANDE ( 3.0) 1/2   2 ILLESCAS, MIGUEL      ( 3.0)
  2.-   3 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR     ( 3.0) 1/2  13 DE LA RIVA, OSCAR     ( 3.0)  
  3.-   5 LALIC, BOGDAN         ( 3.0) 1/2  14 DE LA VILLA, JESUS    ( 3.0)  
  4.-   7 YUDASIN, LEONID       ( 3.0) 1/2  18 KOMLJENOVIC, DAVOR    ( 3.0)  
  5.-  15 MATAMOROS, CARLOS     ( 3.0) 1/2   8 CIFUENTES PARADA, ROB ( 3.0)  
  6.-  21 FROIS, ANTONIO        ( 3.0) 0-1  10 MAGEM, JORDI          ( 2.5)* 
  7.-   1 EHLVEST, JAAN         ( 2.5) 1-0  30 DIAS, PAULO           ( 2.5)  
  8.-  31 RODRIGUEZ, RAFAEL     ( 2.5) 0-1   4 SPRAGGETT, KEVIN      ( 2.5)  
  9.-   9 HAMDOUCHI, HICHEM     ( 2.5) 1-0 106 CALDERON SUAREZ, ANTO ( 2.5)  
 10.-  56 BARRERO GARCIA, CARLO ( 2.5) 0-1  12 CAMPORA, DANIEL       ( 2.5)  
 11.-  33 MARTINEZ MARTIN, DAVI ( 2.5) 1/2  16 FRANCO, ZENON         ( 2.5)  
 12.-  29 TISSIR, MOHAMED       ( 2.5) 0-1  32 PINHEIRO, JOSE        ( 2.5)  

Round 5 leading results

  1.-  10 MAGEM, JORDI          ( 3.5) 1/2   1 EHLVEST, JAAN         ( 3.5)  
  2.-   2 ILLESCAS, MIGUEL      ( 3.5) 0-1  12 CAMPORA, DANIEL       ( 3.5)  
  3.-  14 DE LA VILLA, JESUS    ( 3.5) 1/2   3 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR     ( 3.5)  
  4.-   4 SPRAGGETT, KEVIN      ( 3.5) 1-0  15 MATAMOROS, CARLOS     ( 3.5)  
  5.-  13 DE LA RIVA, OSCAR     ( 3.5) 1/2   5 LALIC, BOGDAN         ( 3.5)  
  6.-  32 PINHEIRO, JOSE        ( 3.5) 0-1   7 YUDASIN, LEONID       ( 3.5)  
  7.-   8 CIFUENTES PARADA, ROB ( 3.5) 1-0  11 WOJTKIEWICZ, ALEXANDE ( 3.5)  
  8.-  18 KOMLJENOVIC, DAVOR    ( 3.5) 0-1   9 HAMDOUCHI, HICHEM     ( 3.5)  
  9.-   6 UBILAVA, ELIZBAR      ( 3.0) 1-0  33 MARTINEZ MARTIN, DAVI ( 3.0)  
 10.-  16 FRANCO, ZENON         ( 3.0) 1-0  37 DURAO, JOAQUIN        ( 3.0)  
 11.-  34 PALACIOS DE LA PRIDA, ( 3.0) 0-1  19 VALLEJO PONS, FRANCIS ( 3.0)  
 12.-  20 GONZALES, JORGE       ( 3.0) 1-0  38 LOPEZ RODRIGUEZ, FERN ( 3.0)  
 13.-  43 FERNANDO, DIOGO       ( 3.0) 0-1  21 FROIS, ANTONIO        ( 3.0)  
 14.-  22 TERAN, ISMAEL         ( 3.0) 0-1  39 INSUA MELLADO, JOSE L ( 3.0)  
 15.-  26 COENEN, NORBERT       ( 3.0) 1-0  72 CEBADA BENITEZ, FERNA ( 3.0)  
 16.-  30 DIAS, PAULO           ( 2.5) 1-0  96 BORONDO GARCIA, RAUL  ( 3.0)* 

Leading Round 6 results

  1.-   9 HAMDOUCHI, HICHEM     ( 4.5) 1-0   4 SPRAGGETT, KEVIN      ( 4.5)  
  2.-   7 YUDASIN, LEONID       ( 4.5) 1-0   8 CIFUENTES PARADA, ROB ( 4.5)  
  3.-  12 CAMPORA, DANIEL       ( 4.5) 1-0   6 UBILAVA, ELIZBAR      ( 4.0)* 
  4.-   1 EHLVEST, JAAN         ( 4.0) 1/2  16 FRANCO, ZENON         ( 4.0)  
  5.-   3 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR     ( 4.0) 1-0  26 COENEN, NORBERT       ( 4.0)  
  6.-   5 LALIC, BOGDAN         ( 4.0) 1-0  20 GONZALES, JORGE       ( 4.0)  
  7.-  19 VALLEJO PONS, FRANCIS ( 4.0) 1/2  10 MAGEM, JORDI          ( 4.0)  
  8.-  21 FROIS, ANTONIO        ( 4.0) 1/2  13 DE LA RIVA, OSCAR     ( 4.0)  
  9.-  39 INSUA MELLADO, JOSE L ( 4.0) 0-1  14 DE LA VILLA, JESUS    ( 4.0)  

Leading round 7 results

  1.-  12 CAMPORA, DANIEL       ( 5.5) 1-0   7 YUDASIN, LEONID       ( 5.5)  
  2.-  14 DE LA VILLA, JESUS    ( 5.0) 1/2   9 HAMDOUCHI, HICHEM     ( 5.5)* 
  3.-   5 LALIC, BOGDAN         ( 5.0) 1/2   3 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR     ( 5.0)  
  4.-  18 KOMLJENOVIC, DAVOR    ( 4.5) 0-1   1 EHLVEST, JAAN         ( 4.5)  
  5.-   2 ILLESCAS, MIGUEL      ( 4.5) 1/2  16 FRANCO, ZENON         ( 4.5)  
  6.-   4 SPRAGGETT, KEVIN      ( 4.5) 0-1  19 VALLEJO PONS, FRANCIS ( 4.5)  
  7.-   8 CIFUENTES PARADA, ROB ( 4.5) 1/2  21 FROIS, ANTONIO        ( 4.5)  
  8.-  10 MAGEM, JORDI          ( 4.5) 1-0  31 RODRIGUEZ, RAFAEL     ( 4.5)  
  9.-  30 DIAS, PAULO           ( 4.5) 0-1  11 WOJTKIEWICZ, ALEXANDE ( 4.5)  
 10.-  13 DE LA RIVA, OSCAR     ( 4.5) 1-0  29 TISSIR, MOHAMED       ( 4.5)  

Leading round 8 results

  1.-   9 HAMDOUCHI, HICHEM     ( 6.0) 1-0  12 CAMPORA, DANIEL       ( 6.5)* 
  2.-   1 EHLVEST, JAAN         ( 5.5) 1/2  13 DE LA RIVA, OSCAR     ( 5.5)  
  3.-   3 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR     ( 5.5) 1/2  10 MAGEM, JORDI          ( 5.5)  
  4.-  11 WOJTKIEWICZ, ALEXANDE ( 5.5) 1/2   5 LALIC, BOGDAN         ( 5.5)  
  5.-   7 YUDASIN, LEONID       ( 5.5) 1/2  14 DE LA VILLA, JESUS    ( 5.5)  
  6.-  19 VALLEJO PONS, FRANCIS ( 5.5) 0-1   6 UBILAVA, ELIZBAR      ( 5.0)* 
  7.-  22 TERAN, ISMAEL         ( 5.0) 1/2   2 ILLESCAS, MIGUEL      ( 5.0)  
  8.-  33 MARTINEZ MARTIN, DAVI ( 5.0) 0-1   8 CIFUENTES PARADA, ROB ( 5.0)  
  9.-  16 FRANCO, ZENON         ( 5.0) 1-0  43 FERNANDO, DIOGO       ( 5.0)  
 10.-  21 FROIS, ANTONIO        ( 5.0) 1/2  34 PALACIOS DE LA PRIDA, ( 5.0)  

Leading round 9 results

  1.-   5 LALIC, BOGDAN         ( 6.0) 1/2   9 HAMDOUCHI, HICHEM     ( 7.0)* 
  2.-  12 CAMPORA, DANIEL       ( 6.5) 1/2   1 EHLVEST, JAAN         ( 6.0)* 
  3.-   8 CIFUENTES PARADA, ROB ( 6.0) 0-1   3 EPISHIN, VLADIMIR     ( 6.0)  
  4.-   6 UBILAVA, ELIZBAR      ( 6.0) 1-0  11 WOJTKIEWICZ, ALEXANDE ( 6.0)  
  5.-  13 DE LA RIVA, OSCAR     ( 6.0) 1/2   7 YUDASIN, LEONID       ( 6.0)  
  6.-  10 MAGEM, JORDI          ( 6.0) 0-1  16 FRANCO, ZENON         ( 6.0)  
  7.-  14 DE LA VILLA, JESUS    ( 6.0) 1/2   4 SPRAGGETT, KEVIN      ( 5.5)* 
  8.-   2 ILLESCAS, MIGUEL      ( 5.5) 1-0  37 DURAO, JOAQUIN        ( 5.5)  
  9.-  51 ORTEGA VALLE, RAMON   ( 5.5) 0-1  19 VALLEJO PONS, FRANCIS ( 5.5)  
 10.-  54 LANDERO LUNA, VICENTE ( 5.5) 1/2  21 FROIS, ANTONIO        ( 5.5)  
 11.-  34 PALACIOS DE LA PRIDA, ( 5.5) 1/2  22 TERAN, ISMAEL         ( 5.5)  
 12.-  56 BARRERO GARCIA, CARLO ( 5.5) 0-1  29 TISSIR, MOHAMED       ( 5.5)  

Leading final Standings

 1 Hamdouchi, Hichem              g MAR 2535    7.5 39.5 
 2 Campora, Daniel H              g ARG 2520    7.0 39.0 
 3 Epishin, Vladimir              g RUS 2590    7.0 37.0 
 4 Franco, Zenon                  g ESP 2465    7.0 34.5 
 5 Ubilava, Elizbar               g GEO 2540    7.0 34.0
 6 Yudasin, Leonid                g ISR 2540    6.5 37.5
 7 De la Villa Garcia, Jesus M    m ESP 2485    6.5 36.5
 8 Lalic, Bogdan                  g CRO 2545    6.5 36.5
 9 De la Riva, Oscar              m ESP 2495    6.5 36.0
10 Ehlvest, Jaan                  g EST 2610    6.5 35.0
11 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel       g ESP 2600    6.5 34.5
12 Vallejo Pons, Francisco        m ESP 2415    6.5 34.0
13 Tissir, Mohamed                f MAR 2300    6.5 32.5
14 Cifuentes Parada, Roberto      g NED 2535    6.0 35.5
15 Magem Badals, Jorge            g ESP 2535    6.0 35.0
16 Wojtkiewicz, Aleksander        g POL 2535    6.0 35.0
17 Frois, Antonio                 m POR 2385    6.0 34.0
18 Spraggett, Kevin               g CAN 2565    6.0 33.5
19 Komljenovic, Davor             g CRO 2425    6.0 33.0
20 Matamoros Franco, Carlos S     m ECU 2470    6.0 32.0
21 Teran Alvarez, Ismael          f ESP 2375    6.0 31.5
22 Palacios de la Prida, Ernesto  f ESP 2220    6.0 31.5
23 Pinheiro, Jose                 f POR 2265    6.0 31.0
24 Rodriguez Lopez, Rafael        f ESP 2285    6.0 29.5
25 Landero Luna, V                  ESP ----    6.0 29.0
26 Carretero Ortiz, Francisco       ESP 2155    6.0 29.0
27 Nuevo Perez, Antonio             ESP 2100    6.0 27.5
28 Martinez Martin, David           ESP 2235    5.5 31.0
29 Durao, Joaquim                 m POR 2200    5.5 30.5
30 Coenen, Norbert                f GER 2335    5.5 30.5
31 Gonzales, Jorge A              m COL 2390    5.5 30.5
32 Barrero Garcia, C                ESP  ----   5.5 30.0
33 Perez Garcia, Roberto            ESP 2085    5.5 28.0
34 Lorenzo, Marcos                  ESP 2210    5.5 28.0
35 Larios Crespo, M                 ESP ----    5.5 27.0
36 Gomez Feria,JM                   ESP ----    5.5 26.5
37 Ortega Valle,R                   ESP ----    5.5 26.5
38 Ferrer Garcia, Isaac             ESP 2135    5.5 24.5
39 Moreno Fuentes, A                ESP ----    5.5 24.5
40 Camino Rubio, Jose M             ESP ----    5.5 23.0
146 players

4) Vecernjakov Grand Prix

There was a Category VIII event held in Sarajevo, Bosnia , 31.March - 12. April 1998. The Vecernjakov Grand Prix saw Zdenko Kozul and Gyula Sax both finish on 8/11 undefeated (Kozul had the superior tie-break) ahead of Georg Mohr and Bojan Kurajica on 7.5 points. News from Sead Bicevic, secretary of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Chess Federation.

Sarajevo BIH (BIH), III-IV 1998                    cat. VIII (2429)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kozul, Zdenko     g CRO 2585  * = = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1  8.0  2590
 2 Sax, Gyula        g HUN 2535  = * = = = 1 = 1 = 1 1 1  8.0  2594
 3 Mohr, Georg       g SLO 2455  = = * = = = = = 1 1 1 1  7.5  2559
 4 Kurajica, Bojan   g BIH 2580  = = = * = = 0 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2548
 5 Cvitan, Ognjen    g CRO 2560  = = = = * = = 1 = = 1 1  7.0  2519
 6 Dizdarevic, Emir  g BIH 2540  = 0 = = = * 0 1 1 1 1 0  6.0  2455
 7 Boric, Muhamed    m BIH 2400  0 = = 1 = 1 * = = = = 0  5.5  2431
 8 Nurkic, Sahbaz    m BIH 2460  0 0 = 0 0 0 = * 1 = 1 1  4.5  2361
 9 Jakupovic, Neven    BIH 2150  0 = 0 0 = 0 = 0 * 1 0 1  3.5  2321
10 Subasic, Ilijas   f BIH 2285  = 0 0 0 = 0 = = 0 * = =  3.0  2267
11 Trkulja, Goran      BIH 2300  0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 = * 1  3.0  2265
12 Glavas, Dragan      BIH 2300  0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 = 0 *  2.5  2229
-------------------------------------------------------------------

5) Adams - Rowson Match

Michael Adams and Jonathan Rowson play a six game challenge match running April 16th-21st in London. Internet coverage at: http://www.cableinet.co.uk/users/jsaunders/nclmajr.htm

Michael Adams completed a very satisfactory result for him by drawing the final game and gaining more rating points which should see him over 2700 in the next rating list

Rowson, Jonathan  -  Adams, Michael    0-1   40  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Adams, Michael    -  Rowson, Jonathan  1-0   34  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf
Rowson, Jonathan  -  Adams, Michael    0-1   38  C78  Ruy Lopez
Adams, Michael    -  Rowson, Jonathan  1/2   26  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf
Rowson, Jonathan  -  Adams, Michael    0-1   29  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Adams, Michael    -  Rowson, Jonathan  1/2   20  B30  Sicilian

London ENG (ENG), IV 1998
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                               1   2   3   4   5   6 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Adams, Michael    g ENG 2670    1   1   1   =   1   =   5.0  2758
Rowson, Jonathan  m SCO 2485    0   0   0   =   0   =   1.0  2397
-----------------------------------------------------------------

6) Asian Women's Championships

April 9th - 22nd 1998 saw the Asian Women's Championships in the Genting Highlands in Malaysia. News and games from SS Quah.

The event was won by Chinese player Xu Yuhua, the top seed in the event took first place on 8.5 just ahead of joint second seed Eva Repkova of the Lebanon on 8. Maisa Ovezova also rated 2300 had a terrible tournament scoring less than 50%. There was a Women's Grandmaster Norm for the winner Xu Yuhua of China for her 8.5 points in the first 9 games. There were Women's International Master Norms for Rena Mamedova (Uzbekistan) 7/11 games Le Thi Phuong Lien (Vietnam) 7/11 games and Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky (Australia) 6/10 games.

Full internet coverage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/6485/ including the women's event also.

Genting Highlands MAS (MAS), IV 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Xu Yuhua                    wm CHN 2380  +21 =13 + 7 = 2 + 3 +12 + 6 =11 = 4 +14 = 5  8.5  2394
 2 Repkova Eid, Eva            wg LIB 2300  - 6 +22 +20 = 1 + 7 + 8 = 4 +14 + 3 - 5 +10  8.0  2330
 3 Ovezova, Mekhri             wm TKM 2225  +20 + 4 +12 = 8 - 1 - 6 + 7 +13 - 2 +11 +14  7.5  2343
 4 Mamedova, Rena              wf UZB 2185  +17 - 3 = 5 =14 +13 +10 = 2 + 6 = 1 + 8 - 9  7.0  2288
 5 Le Thi Phuong Lien             VIE 2125  +15 -12 = 4 - 7 +19 +17 -14 +18 +11 + 2 = 1  7.0  2268
 6 Nguyen Thi Dung             wf VIE 2150  + 2 - 8 +18 +11 =10 + 3 - 1 - 4 -13 +19 +17  6.5  2210
 7 Gorshkova, Irina               UZB 2115  =14 +10 - 1 + 5 - 2 + 9 - 3 +15 - 8 +21 +19  6.5  2234
 8 Thipsay, Bagyashree Sathe   wm IND 2205  +22 + 6 +14 = 3 -12 - 2 -10 +19 + 7 - 4 +16  6.5  2152
 9 Nguyen Thi Thuan Hoa        wm VIE 2210  =16 -11 +15 -10 +20 - 7 -13 +21 +22 +12 + 4  6.5  2180
10 Phan-Koshnitsky, Ngan       wf AUS 2115  =11 - 7 +16 + 9 = 6 - 4 + 8 -12 +15 +13 - 2  6.0  2213
11 Sulistya, Maria Lucia Ratna wm INA 2235  =10 + 9 =13 - 6 +17 =14 +12 = 1 - 5 - 3 +20  6.0  2195
12 Khegai, Angela              wf UZB 2225  +18 + 5 - 3 +13 + 8 - 1 -11 +10 -14 - 9 +21  6.0  2199
13 Gokhale, Anupama            wm IND 2205  +19 = 1 =11 -12 - 4 +18 + 9 - 3 + 6 -10 +22  6.0  2153
14 Tamin, Upi Darmayana        wm INA 2250  = 7 +16 - 8 = 4 +15 =11 + 5 - 2 +12 - 1 - 3  5.5  2193
15 Ovezova, Maisa                 TKM 2300  - 5 =17 - 9 +16 -14 +20 +21 - 7 -10 +22 =18  5.0  1901
16 Lee, Samantha                  MAS ----  = 9 -14 -10 -15 +22 +21 =20 =17 =19 =18 - 8  4.5  1939
17 Ovezova,Maral                  TKM ----  - 4 =15 +22 +18 -11 - 5 -19 =16 +21 =20 - 6  4.5  1999
18 Huda, Nurul                    MAS 2040  -12 +19 - 6 -17 +21 -13 +22 - 5 =20 =16 =15  4.5  1905
19 Lim,Jeanie                     MAS ----  -13 -18 +21 =20 - 5 +22 +17 - 8 =16 - 6 - 7  4.0  1707
20 Roslina, Marmono               MAS 2065  - 3 +21 - 2 =19 - 9 -15 =16 +22 =18 =17 -11  4.0  1817
21 Yap,Cynthia                    SIN ----  - 1 -20 -19 +22 -18 -16 -15 - 9 -17 - 7 -12  1.0      
22 Lee,Wing Lan                   MAC ----  - 8 - 2 -17 -21 -16 -19 -18 -20 - 9 -15 -13  0.0      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7) Garry Kasparov's visit to Arizona by Eric Schiller

Garry Kasparov visited Arizona over the weekend. Eric Schiller reports, you can read further shortly at his site http://www.chessworks.com

Garry Kasparov spent the weekend in the small city of Peoria, Arizona (not to be confused with the city of the same name in the state of Illinois), where he gave a 15-board simul and attended a scholastic tournament which awarded college scholarships to young players. The events, hosted by the City of Peoria, provided a rare opportunity for American chess fans to discuss a wide range of chess issues with Kasparov. The visit was arranged by the Honorable Geroge T. Anagnost, and featured a tournament for high school players, competing for $6000 in scholarships and prizes, donated by Judge Anagnost and Saitek. Of greatest interest to TWIC readers, no doubt, are Kasparov's remarks on the current World Championship situation. Kasparov explained the history of the World Championship, from Steinitz to himself, was based on the title being transferred only when a challenger defeated the reigning champion, or when the champion was unable or unwilling to defend the title. It is the responsibility of the champion to defend the title against a qualified challenger periodically, traditionally within a three year period. For this reason, he is under a moral obligation to defend his title this year.

Having rejected the FIDE format for reasons which have been presented elsewhere, and after all attempts at reconciling the situation had failed, he decided to offer the challenger's position to the winner of a qualifying match. There was no time for any sort of cycle, but he did not want to simply hand pick an opponent. Consulting the rating list, the two most qualified persons were Anand and Kramnik. Although he had convincingly defeated Anand in 1995, Kasparov saw no reason to deny Vishy a shot at the World Championship, so it was logical that Anand and Kramnik play a match. Anand, perhaps influenced by the promise of another FIDE event this year, and the well-known contractual obligation, declined. So, going down the rating list, Shirov, next in line, took his place and will play Kramnik next month.

Kasparov expressed surprise and disappointment that so much is being made of the new WCC organization. "It doesn't matter who runs the championship match", he said, as long as it takes place properly. The WCC is not a new world chess organization. It is simply a group that will supervise a proper championship match. The continuation of the rating list, using the formula adopted by the PCA, is needed because FIDE's list has lost all credibility through its politicization, including the removal of professional players just because some national bureaucrats failed to pay FIDE fees. The individuals, he noted, had no way of maintaining their professional rated status, even if they offered to pay dues individually! A rating list free of politics must be maintained and used for professional chess, he insisted. The title of World Champion does not "belong" to FIDE, he continued. The lineage of champions must be continued by direct confrontation of the best players. There must be a match of significant length, with no time outs. The match in October, he stated, would have four games per week. The world must decide if the challenger is a worthy one, but he added: "I have already defeated Karpov several times, Short once, and Anand. Everyone knows, and the rating list shows, that Kramnik and Shirov are the top two available contenders." While a system may be devised in the future to offer a shot at the crown to a larger group, he wondered how anyone could question the credibility of the match. In response to a question about Karpov, he noted that "Karpov is not playing very well right now. He has not won any major events. He is now the 8th ranked player." He suggested that if he played a match with Karpov, many would complain that he was avoiding the inevitable and much anticipated ehe matchup with Kramnik. He made it clear that he expected Kramnik to defeat Shirov, but conceded that Shirov could be dangerous. "Everyone expects Kramnik to win, but if Shirov wins, he will have earned his challenge."

In response to a suggestion that the FIDE knockout cycle was influenced by a desire to impress the International Olympic committee in an effort to get chess into the Olympic games, a view publicly enunciated by many FIDE officials, he had the following to say. "Is it so good, really, to make individual chess competition part of the Olympics? Won't that just weaken the tradition of the World Championship, which, by the way, has been around longer than the IOC itself?" Implying that chess might be relegated to a minor role, he added "Summer or Winter games, even that is a question." As for team competition, that would be fine, he said. "It might not benefit me personally, but for many countries it could be useful in developing chess. So sure, why not?"

As for the future of man vs. machine contests, Kasparov said he was more than willing to accept the challenge, but that the rules of the contest wold have to be fair. He reiterated his disappointment that almost a year after the match, the printout of Deep Blue's thinking was still not available. The machine was dismantled, and no investigation could take place. He likened examination of the printouts to a drug test routinely given athletes after major competitions. He also promoted his concept of Advance Chess, which allows each player to use computer programs to assist with analysis, with displays showing the audience the analysis being considered by each player. This idea will be implemented as an experiment in a match against Topalov in Leon in June. [Kasparov also plays Topalov in a speed chess match next weekend in Sofia]

Kasparov covered other topics, and these, and some additional details on the above, will be posted shortly at http://www.chessworks.com. Kasparov won all 15 of his simul games, though he was in trouble in one game. Kasparov genuinely enjoyed this visit and was sincere in stating a desire to return in the future. The young players who had a chance to meet him will no doubt remember this event for a long time. Everything was splendidly organized, and it looks like Peoria, and the whole state of Arizona, are building a scholastic program which will bear great fruit. The city of Peoria invested a lot of money in this chess event, and deserves a great deal of thanks. How they will top this next year is certainly a challenge!

Here is a game from Kasparov's simul.

Kasparov,G - Reading,M [A41]
Peoria Chess Exhibition, 17.04.1998
[Schiller]
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 e5 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.Bd2 f6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.g4! Kc8 [9...Bxg4? 10.Bh6+] 10.h3 a5 11.Bg2 Ne7 12.Be3 Na6 13.Nd2 Bc6 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bb5 Kasparov's position is getting ugly, so he decides to sacrifice for the attack. 16.Ne4 Bxe2 17.Rd2 Bb5 18.d6 Bc6! 19.Re1 Rd8 20.f4 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 c6?! Now White's better coordinated pieces and powerful bishops are more than enough compensation for the pawn. [21...Rxd6 22.fxe5 Rxd2 23.Bxd2 fxe5 would have been very strong for Black, since 24.Bxa5 fails to 24...Nc5 and the a-pawn falls.] 22.fxe5 Kd7? 23.exf6?! Kasparov goes for the clean kill, but there was a stronger plan. [23.e6+! Kxe6 24.Bb6!] 23...Bxf6 24.Rf2 Rf8 25.Ref1 Kasparov first advanced the pawn to g5. He realized that this would lose to 25...Bxg5, and switched to doubling the rooks. Black still has a good position. 25...Bg7?! [25...Rae8 would have been dead equal, and a draw would have been the likely result.] 26.Rf7+! Ke6 27.Bd3 Rxf7 28.Bc4+ Kxd6 29.Rxf7 White has compensation for the pawn, in the occupation of the seventh rank and the bishop pair. 29...b5 30.Rxg7 bxc4 31.Rxh7 Rg8? A passive move. Black should have been attacking here, using both the rook and the knight to go after the White king. [31...Re8 32.Bf4+ Kc5 would have been a good start.] 32.Kd2 Nb4 33.a3 Nd5 34.Bd4 c5 35.Bc3 Rf8 36.Rh6 Nf4! 37.h4 Kd5 38.Bxa5 Re8 39.Bc7 Nd3? The knight should have maneuvered to d4 via e6. Then the White king would be in greater danger. [39...Ne6 40.Bg3 Nd4 41.Rxg6 Re2+ 42.Kd1 Rxb2 43.h5 Ke4!] 40.Rxg6 Nxb2 41.h5 Na4 42.Rd6+! The rook will now be able to assist with the defense. 42...Ke4 43.h6 c3+ 44.Kc2 Rf8 45.h7 Rf2+ 46.Kc1 Rf1+ 47.Rd1 Rf8 48.Ba5 Black resigned. 1-0

8) Kasparov to play Timman

In addition to his matches against Topalov in Sofia and Leon Kasparov will play a 6 game match with Jan Timman. The match sponsored by Bessel Kok will take place in Prague in September and there will be a prize fund around $200,000. The match will be a warm up for Kasparov facing the winner of the Shirov-Kramnik match in Cazorla, Spain starting May 23rd. Kasparov vs Shirov or Kramnik will take place in October.

9) Austria. Qualifier for Staatsliga A

Karlheinz Zoechling from Vienna reports on the the qualifying tournament for promotion to the Austrian Staatsliga A division played over the weekend 17-19. April 1998. He confirms the following results stand after an appeal. So Loosdorf and Kufstein go through to the A-League.

Final standings: 
                          points/ team pt./ board pt./ Sonneborn                         
                                     
 1 SK Loosdorf              9,5      4      803         15,75
 2 SK Hypo Kufstein         9        3      736         13,5
 3 Raika Gamlitz/Leutscha   9        3      724         13,583
 4 ATSV Stein/Steyr         8,5      2      677         13

10) Argentine Championships

There is a shock leader after 10 of 15 rounds of the 71st Championships of Argentina a Category 9 all play all event which started on April 15th in Buenos Aires. Fm Guillermo Malbran rated 2355 leads with 8/10 a point clear from Hugo Spangenberg after winning his last five games.

Daily internet coverage by Adrian Rolden and Ruben Casafus at Ajedrez Argentino, address: http://www.adrian-roldan.com 15th April - May 1st 1998.

Round 5 (1998.04.20)

Malbran, Guillermo     -  Hoffman, Alejandro     1/2   43  B30  Sicilian
Sorokin, Maxim         -  Soppe, Guillermo       1/2   16  D15  Slav defence
Slipak, Sergio         -  Spangenberg, Hugo      1/2   28  B76  Sicilian; Dragon
Ginzburg, Maximiliano  -  Fiorito, Fabian        1-0   43  B51  Sicilian
Giaccio, Alfredo       -  Alonso, Salvador       1/2   26  B76  Sicilian; Dragon
Seminara, Juan Pablo   -  Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  0-1   20  B19  Caro-Kann
Dolezal, Cristian      -  Ricardi, Pablo         1/2   50  B20  Sicilian
Szmetan, Jorge         -  Zarnicki, Pablo        1/2   24  A30  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 6 (1998.04.21)

Spangenberg, Hugo      -  Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  1-0   40  C10  French
Hoffman, Alejandro     -  Sorokin, Maxim         1/2    9  A87  Dutch defence
Zarnicki, Pablo        -  Malbran, Guillermo     0-1   92  B05  Alekhine defence
Ricardi, Pablo         -  Szmetan, Jorge         1-0   21  E20  Nimzo indian
Soppe, Guillermo       -  Ginzburg, Maximiliano  1-0   69  A09  Reti (1.Nf3)
Slipak, Sergio         -  Giaccio, Alfredo       1-0   54  E11  Bogo indian
Fiorito, Fabian        -  Seminara, Juan Pablo   1-0   31  E61  Kings indian
Alonso, Salvador       -  Dolezal, Cristian      1/2   80  B07  Pirc

Round 7 (1998.04.22)

Malbran, Guillermo     -  Ricardi, Pablo         1-0   43  B52  Sicilian
Sorokin, Maxim         -  Zarnicki, Pablo        0-1   39  A18  English; 1.c4
Ginzburg, Maximiliano  -  Hoffman, Alejandro     0-1   41  C10  French
Giaccio, Alfredo       -  Spangenberg, Hugo      1/2   36  B42  Sicilian
Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  -  Fiorito, Fabian        1/2   13  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Seminara, Juan Pablo   -  Soppe, Guillermo       1-0   63  B01  Scandinavian
Dolezal, Cristian      -  Slipak, Sergio         1-0   40  C47  Four knights
Szmetan, Jorge         -  Alonso, Salvador       1-0   48  D76  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6

Round 8 (1998.04.23)

Spangenberg, Hugo      -  Fiorito, Fabian        1/2   41  B70  Sicilian; Dragon
Hoffman, Alejandro     -  Seminara, Juan Pablo   0-1   39  E70  Kings indian
Zarnicki, Pablo        -  Ginzburg, Maximiliano  1/2   35  B08  Pirc; Classical
Ricardi, Pablo         -  Sorokin, Maxim         1/2   14  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Soppe, Guillermo       -  Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  1/2   19  A28  English; 1.c4 e5
Slipak, Sergio         -  Szmetan, Jorge         1-0   40  B93  Sicilian; Najdorf
Giaccio, Alfredo       -  Dolezal, Cristian      1-0   26  B40  Sicilian
Alonso, Salvador       -  Malbran, Guillermo     0-1   41  B03  Alekhine defence

Round 9 (1998.04.24)

Malbran, Guillermo     -  Slipak, Sergio         1-0   25  B01  Scandinavian
Sorokin, Maxim         -  Alonso, Salvador       1-0   32  A16  English; 1.c4
Ginzburg, Maximiliano  -  Ricardi, Pablo         1-0   45  B63  Sicilian
Fiorito, Fabian        -  Soppe, Guillermo       0-1   30  C64  Ruy Lopez
Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  -  Hoffman, Alejandro     1/2   20  B38  Sicilian
Seminara, Juan Pablo   -  Zarnicki, Pablo        1/2   35  C42  Petroff defence
Dolezal, Cristian      -  Spangenberg, Hugo      1/2   25  B20  Sicilian
Szmetan, Jorge         -  Giaccio, Alfredo       1/2   46  A38  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 10 (1998.04.26)

Spangenberg, Hugo      -  Soppe, Guillermo       1-0   30  C45  Scottish
Hoffman, Alejandro     -  Fiorito, Fabian        1-0   42  E70  Kings indian
Zarnicki, Pablo        -  Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  1-0   56  B17  Caro-Kann
Ricardi, Pablo         -  Seminara, Juan Pablo   1-0   30  A11  English; 1.c4
Slipak, Sergio         -  Sorokin, Maxim         1/2   57  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Giaccio, Alfredo       -  Malbran, Guillermo     0-1   41  B03  Alekhine defence
Dolezal, Cristian      -  Szmetan, Jorge         1-0   41  C47  Four knights
Alonso, Salvador       -  Ginzburg, Maximiliano  0-1   43  B07  Pirc


Buenos Aires ARG (ARG), IV-V 1998                                 cat. IX (2453)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Malbran, Guillermo     f ARG 2355  * . = 1 1 = . 1 . 1 = 1 = . 1 .  8.0  2701
 2 Spangenberg, Hugo      g ARG 2530  . * . . = 1 . = 1 = = 1 1 = = .  7.0  2584
 3 Hoffman, Alejandro     m ARG 2510  = . * . . . = = 1 = 1 = 0 1 . 1  6.5  2538
 4 Zarnicki, Pablo        g ARG 2515  0 . . * . . 1 = = = . 1 = 1 = =  6.0  2494
 5 Ricardi, Pablo         g ARG 2555  0 = . . * . = = 0 1 . . 1 = 1 1  6.0  2503
 6 Soppe, Guillermo       m ARG 2455  = 0 . . . * = . 1 0 1 = 0 1 . 1  5.5  2466
 7 Sorokin, Maxim         g RUS 2555  . . = 0 = = * = = . = = 1 . 1 .  5.5  2498
 8 Slipak, Sergio         m ARG 2510  0 = = = = . = * . 1 . . . 0 = 1  5.0  2459
 9 Ginzburg, Maximiliano  m ARG 2470  . 0 0 = 1 0 = . * . 1 = = . 1 .  5.0  2472
10 Giaccio, Alfredo       m ARG 2460  0 = = = 0 1 . 0 . * . . . 1 = =  4.5  2418
11 Fiorito, Fabian        m ARG 2455  = = 0 . . 0 = . 0 . * = 1 1 . =  4.5  2399
12 Gomez Baillo, Jorge H  m ARG 2440  0 0 = 0 . = = . = . = * 1 . . 1  4.5  2422
13 Seminara, Juan Pablo     ARG 2320  = 0 1 = 0 1 0 . = . 0 0 * . . .  3.5  2374
14 Dolezal, Cristian      f ARG 2300  . = 0 0 = 0 . 1 . 0 0 . . * = 1  3.5  2370
15 Alonso, Salvador         ARG 2390  0 = . = 0 . 0 = 0 = . . . = * 0  2.5  2274
16 Szmetan, Jorge         m ARG 2420  . . 0 = 0 0 . 0 . = = 0 . 0 1 *  2.5  2266
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11) Hungarian Championships

The Hungarian Championships this year are being held in the Federations Chess Hall in Budapest and are using a knockout format (although first round losers had a second chance via a repachage. The semi-finalists are: Csaba Horvath (2535), Gyula Izsak (2415), Ivan Farago (2475) and Robert Ruck (2450). My thanks to Zoltan Blazsik for the news of this event.

Round 1
Almasi I.- Rigo J. normal:1-1; rapid 1-1;speed 1-1, 0-1  > Rigo J.
Gyimesi Z.-Kustar         2-0                            > Gyimesi 
Horvath J.-Izsak          2-0                            > Horvath J.
Horvath Cs.-Borocz        2-0                            > Horvath Cs.
Krizsany-Groszpeter       1-1        1-1         1-1 draw> Groszpeter
Arnold-Seres L.          0.5-1.5                         > Seres  
Farago I.-Varga P.       1.5-0.5                         > Farago I.
Ruck R.-Sinkovics         1-1        2-0                 > Ruck
Medvegy Z. Acs P.         1-1        0-2                 > Acs P.
Lakos N.-Csom I.          1-1        0-2                 > Csom
Lengyel B.-Adorjan A.    1.5-0.5                         > Lengyel B.
Fogarasi T.-Meszaros A.  1.5-0.5                         > FogarasiT.
Nemeth Z.-Varga Z.        1-1        0-2                 > Varga Z.
Feher Gy.-Kubacsny        1-1       1.5-0.5              > Feher Gy.


Round 2

Acs- Gyimesi              1-1        1-1        0.5-1.5  > Gyimesi
Horvath J.-Seres          1-1        2-0                 > Horvath J.
Fogarasi -Varga           1-1        0-2                 > Varga
Lengyel B.-Ruck          0.5-1.5                         > Ruck
Horvath Cs.-Rigo J.      1.5-0.5                         > Horvath Cs.
Groszpeter-Feher         1.5-0.5                         > Groszpeter
Csom-Farago               1-1        0-2                 > Farago

Round 3

Horvath Cs.-Gyimesi Z.    1-1       1.5-0.5              > Horvath Cs.
Izsak - Groszpeter        1-1       1.5-0.5              > Izsak
Horvath J.-Farago I.      1-1        1-1           0-2   > Farago
Ruck- Varga               1-1        1-1          1.5-0.5> Ruck
Izsak qualified from the repechage.

The final round of the KNSB competition for Dutch Teams in Nijmegen on 25th April produced its fair share of interest. There were two issues to be decided. The qualifiers for the playoffs and those relegated from the first league. In the ten team league there are 4 qualifiers for the end of season play offs. HSG Hilversum and Panfox I were already qualified. Amstelveen and Groningen were prior to the round both in the qualifying positions but could be caught. As it was Amstelveen, Groningen and their closest rival SMB Nijmegen all lost and Panfox II couldn't qualify in spite of their final round win.

12) KNSB Dutch Team Championships

It was in the relegation positions that the real changes occured. LSG Leiden were already mathmatically relegated but it was close for the final position between Utrecht (5 points) (actually in the relegation spot before play started), Van Berkel BSG (6 points) and Panfox II and Rotterdam on 7 points. By virtue of their loss to Panfox I Rotterdam found themselves relegated after the teams below them all won!

Internet coverage at: http://www.smb.nl/slotronde.html

Round 9 results 
LSG Leiden       -  Panfox 2         4.0 - 6.0 
SMB Nijmegen     -  Van Berkel BSG   4.5 - 5.5 
HSG Hilversum    -  Groningen        4.0 - 6.0  
Amstelveen       -  Utrecht          4.5 - 5.5 
Rotterdam        -  Panfox 1         4.0 - 6.0

Final Standings
----------------------
Panfox 1     14-59   
HSG H'sum    14-55.5 
Groningen    11-46    
Amstelv.     10-49  
----------------------
Panfox 2      9-42
SMB Nijmegen  8-44.5
v.Berkel BSG  8-43.5
Utrecht       7-41 
-------------------
Rotterdam     7-37  
LSG           2-32,5

13) Bundesliga

The final rounds of the Bundesliga took place this weekend 25th-26th April 1998. It saw SG Koeln Porz win the title by two points from Solinger SG. In a sign of the times the financial crisis that has effected SV Empor Berlin this season meant that they were relegated this season.The venue in Solingen was the Museum Baden. (information from Gerald Schendel.

More info: http://members.aol.com/schachbl/BED/bl15ef.htm

Bundesliga Round 14

SCA St. Ingbert    3½-4½  Castrop Rauxel 
SK Fr.Zaehringen   4½-3½  SG Bochum 
SVg Plettenberg    4½-3½  PSV Duisburg 
Solinger SG        4 - 4  SG Koeln Porz 
SV Empor Berlin    4 - 4  USG Chemnitz 
SFR Neukoelln      4 - 4  Dresdner SC 
SV Erfurt West     ½ -7½  Hamburger SK 
SK Passau          3½-4½  SV Werder Bremen 

Detailed results:

SCA St. Ingbert          3½-4½  Castrop Rauxel

  1  Dautov              ½ : ½  Sterren        2 
  2  Giorgadze           1 : 0  Conquest       3 
  3  Bauer               0 : 1  Gallagher      4 
  6  Kachiani-Gersinska  ½ : ½  King           5 
  7  Werner              ½ : ½  Hoffmann       6    
  9  Becker              ½ : ½  Appel          8    
 11  Kummerow            ½ : ½  Dinstuhl       9    
 14  Jung                0 : 1  Brendel       10    


SK Fr.Zaehringen      4½-3½  SG Bochum                

  1  Hodgson          ½ : ½  Alterman       3         
  2  Cvitan           ½ : ½  Keitlinghaus   4         
  3  Siegel           ½ : ½  Bosch          7         
  4  Baklan           1 : 0  Ellers         8         
  5  Roos,D           ½ : ½  Buenermann    11         
  7  Maier            0 : 1  Kitte         12         
  8  Roos,L           1 : 0  De Gleria     13         
 13  Herbrechtsmeier  ½ : ½  Senff         14 


SVg Plettenberg    4½-3½  PSV Duisburg

  1  Balashov      ½ : ½  Sax            3 
  2  Kupreichik    1 : 0  Enders         5 
  6  Luecke        1 : 0  Kraut          6 
  8  Thiel         0 : 1  Unzicker       7 
  9  Luethgens     0 : 1  Thesing        8 
 11  Oswald        ½ : ½  Pirrot         9 
 13  Schlecht      1 : 0  Prang         11 
 14  Kuhnen        ½ : ½  Schmitz       12 


Solinger SG        4 - 4  SG Koeln Porz 

  1  Adams         ½ : ½  Lutz           1 
  2  Jussupow      1 : 0  Wely           2 
  3  Sadler        ½ : ½  Khalifman      3 
  4  Piket         0 : 1  Timman         4 
  5  Speelman      ½ : ½  Vaganian       6 
  6  Gabriel       ½ : ½  Hansen         8 
  7  Huebner       ½ : ½  Stangl         9 
  9  Bischoff      ½ : ½  Wiel          11 


SV Empor Berlin    4 - 4  USG Chemnitz

  3  Muse          0 : 1  Womacka        1 
  4  Poldauf       ½ : ½  Roesch         2 
  5  Volke         1 : 0  Kunze          3 
  6  Hetey         1 : 0  Lorenz         4 
  7  Thinius       ½ : ½  Kyas           5 
  8  Richter       ½ : ½  Mirschinka     6 
 10  Apel          ½ : ½  Helbig,U       7 
 12  Kleeschaetzk  0 : 1  Ahner          8 


SFR Neukoelln      4 - 4  Dresdner SC

  1  Movsesian     ½ : ½  Bologan        3 
  2  Stohl         ½ : ½  Lanka          4 
  4  Hellsten      ½ : ½  Boensch        5 
  5  Polzin        0 : 1  Tischbierek    6 
  6  Bunzmann      ½ : ½  Uhlmann        7 
  7  Schoene       ½ : ½  Maiwald        8 
  8  Berndt        ½ : ½  Borriss        9 
 11  Rudolf        1 : 0  Gauglitz      11 


SV Erfurt West     ½ -7½  Hamburger SK

  3  Casper        0 : 1  Ftacnik        1 
  4  Kuczynski     0 : 1  Wahls          2 
  5  Mueller       0 : 1  Kempinski      3 
  6  Renner        0 : 1  Mueller        4 
  7  Troyke        0 : 1  Heinemann      5 
  8  Fuhrmann      0 : 1  Michaelsen     7 
  9  Petrosian     ½ : ½  Wilhelmi       8 
 14  Voekler       0 : 1  Gustafsson    11 


SK Passau          3½-4½  SV Werder Bremen

  2  Schlosser     ½ : ½  Hracek         1 
  4  Smejkal       ½ : ½  Kindermann     2 
  5  Wells         ½ : ½  Knaak          3 
  6  Pichler       0 : 1  Babula         4 
  7  Klebel        0 : 1  Meins          5 
  8  Schmidt       ½ : ½  Heissler       6 
  9  Schlingensie  1 : 0  Floegel       10 
 12  Pflug         ½ : ½  Forchert      13 

Round 15

Castrop Rauxel     3½-4½  SK Fr.Zaehringen 
SG Bochum          4 - 4  SCA St. Ingbert 
PSV Duisburg       2 - 6  Solinger SG 
SG Koeln Porz      6½-1½  SVg Plettenberg 
USG Chemnitz       2 - 6  SFR Neukoelln 
Dresdner SC        4½-3½  SV Empor Berlin 
Hamburger SK       5½-2½  SK Passau 
SV Werder Bremen   5 - 3  SV Erfurt West 

Tabelle

Castrop Rauxel     3½-4½  SK Fr.Zaehringen

  2  Sterren       0 : 1  Hodgson           1 
  3  Conquest      ½ : ½  Cvitan            2 
  4  Gallagher     ½ : ½  Siegel            3 
  6  Hoffmann      0 : 1  Baklan            4 
  8  Appel         ½ : ½  Roos,D            5 
  9  Dinstuhl      1 : 0  Roos,J           11 
 11  Hennig        1 : 0  Schuh            12 
 14  Hille         0 : 1  Herbrechtsmeier  13 


SG Bochum          4 - 4  SCA St. Ingbert

  3  Alterman      0 : 1  Dautov               1 
  4  Keitlinghaus  ½ : ½  Giorgadze            2 
  7  Bosch         ½ : ½  Bauer                3 
  8  Ellers        ½ : ½  Kachiani-Gersinska   6 
 11  Buenermann    ½ : ½  Werner               7 
 12  Kitte         0 : 1  Becker               9 
 13  De Gleria     1 : 0  Kummerow            11 
 14  Senff         1 : 0  Jung                14 


PSV Duisburg       2 - 6  Solinger SG

  3  Sax           0 : 1  Adams          1 
  5  Enders        0 : 1  Sadler         3 
  6  Kraut         0 : 1  Piket          4 
  7  Unzicker      ½ : ½  Speelman       5 
  8  Thesing       0 : 1  Gabriel        6 
  9  Pirrot        ½ : ½  Bischoff       9 
 11  Prang         ½ : ½  Reeh          13 
 12  Schmitz       ½ : ½  Schaefer      14 


SG Koeln Porz      6½-1½  SVg Plettenberg

  1  Lutz          ½ : ½  Balashov       1 
  2  Wely          1 : 0  Kupreichik     2 
  3  Khalifman     1 : 0  Luecke         6 
  4  Timman        1 : 0  Thiel          8 
  6  Vaganian      1 : 0  Luethgens      9 
  8  Hansen        1 : 0  Oswald        11 
 10  Vogt          0 : 1  Schlecht      13 
 11  Wiel          1 : 0  Kuhnen        14 


USG Chemnitz       2 - 6  SFR Neukoelln

  1  Womacka       0 : 1  Movsesian      1 
  2  Roesch        0 : 1  Stohl          2 
  3  Kunze         ½ : ½  Hellsten       4 
  4  Lorenz        1 : 0  Polzin         5 
  5  Kyas          0 : 1  Bunzmann       6 
  6  Mirschinka    0 : 1  Berndt         8 
  7  Helbig,U      0 : 1  Thiede         9 
  8  Ahner         ½ : ½  Rudolf        11 


Dresdner SC        4½-3½  SV Empor Berlin

  3  Bologan       ½ : ½  Muse           3 
  4  Lanka         1 : 0  Poldauf        4 
  5  Boensch       ½ : ½  Volke          5 
  6  Tischbierek   ½ : ½  Hetey          6 
  7  Uhlmann       ½ : ½  Thinius        7 
  8  Maiwald       ½ : ½  Richter        8 
  9  Borriss       0 : 1  Apel          10 
 11  Gauglitz      1 : 0  Kleeschaetzky 12 


Hamburger SK       5½-2½  SK Passau

  1  Ftacnik       1 : 0  Schlosser         2 
  2  Wahls         ½ : ½  Smejkal           4 
  3  Kempinski     1 : 0  Wells             5 
  4  Mueller       ½ : ½  Pichler           6 
  5  Heinemann     ½ : ½  Klebel            7 
  7  Michaelsen    ½ : ½  Schmidt           8 
  8  Wilhelmi      ½ : ½  Schlingensiepen   9 
 11  Gustafsson    1 : 0  Pflug            12 


SV Werder Bremen   5 - 3  SV Erfurt West

  1  Hracek        1 : 0  Casper         3 
  2  Kindermann    ½ : ½  Kuczynski      4 
  3  Knaak         ½ : ½  Mueller        5 
  4  Babula        0 : 1  Renner         6 
  5  Meins         ½ : ½  Troyke         7 
  6  Heissler      1 : 0  Fuhrmann       8 
 10  Floegel       ½ : ½  Petrosian      9 
 13  Forchert      1 : 0  Voekler       14 


standings:

 1. SG Koeln Porz     15 82½:37½  28- 2       Champion
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 2. Solinger SG       15 83 :37   26- 4
 3. Hamburger SK      15 69½:50½  20-10
 4. Dresdner SC       15 64½:55½  19-11
 5. SV Werder Bremen  15 63½:56½  19-11
 6. SCA St. Ingbert   15 63½:56½  17-13
 7. SG Bochum         15 59½:60½  17-13
 8. Castrop Rauxel    15 62½:57½  16-14
 9. SK Passau         15 61 :59   15-15
10. SFR Neukoelln     15 59 :61   14-16
11. PSV Duisburg      15 57½:62½  12-18
12. SV Erfurt West    15 56 :64   12-18
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13. SK Fr.Zaehringen  15 53½:66½  12-18       relegated
14. SVg Plettenberg   15 46½:73½   9-21
15. SV Empor Berlin   15 44½:75½   2-28
16. USG Chemnitz      15 33½:86½   2-28

14) Richardson Cup Final

Grangemouth Sports Centre was the venue for Scotland's Chess Cup final reports John Henderson.

Defending Richardson Cup champions, Crowwood Chess Club, managed to salvage what could have potentially been a disastrous season for the Glasgow-based club by defeating Wandering Dragons in a closely fought final, by the narrow margin 4.5-3.5. On paper the Edinburgh-based Wandering Dragons, with the Irish Internationalist IM Mark Orr on top board, looked the better of the two teams, having an average grading over the eight boards of 2188, compared to Crowwood's 2138.

The match, which from an early stage looked as if it would be going to the Dragons by the narrowest of margins, turned with the unexpected result of the board eight encounter between Paul Hopper - playing in his first final - and Eoin Campbell. As the Crowwood captain, I'd mentally marked the board down as a win for Dragons as Hopper looked to be in a desperate situation. However, an unexpected blunder by Campbell gifted the point to Crowwood. Star performer for Crowwood throughout the season in the Richardson Cup was board four, IM Andrew Muir, who's vying for a place in Scotland's Olympiad squad. A good team player, he not only won all his games en route to the final but afterwards revealed that his personal score in Richardson matches over the year's is now 18/19!

15) 3rd Thursday

The latest 3rd Thursday tournament finished in Szeged, Hungary reports Zoltan Blazsik. IM Tibor Farkas shared first place with Endre Ambrus of Rumania who scored an IM norm.

Szeged HUN (HUN), IV 1998                           cat. I (2273)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Farkas, Tibor       m YUG 2340  * = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1  7.0  2485
 2 Ambrus, Endre         ROM 2230  = * = = = 1 1 1 1 1  7.0  2497
 3 Dovzik, Juri        m UKR 2375  = = * 1 = = = 1 1 1  6.5  2427
 4 Nanu, Ciprian         ROM 2325  0 = 0 * 1 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2432
 5 Bogdan, Dan         m ROM 2410  = = = 0 * 1 = 1 1 1  6.0  2382
 6 Revuckij, Vladimir    UKR 2215  = 0 = 0 0 * = 1 0 1  3.5  2198
 7 Papp Z., Csaba      f HUN 2350  0 0 = 0 = = * 0 1 1  3.5  2183
 8 Bernat, Robert        HUN 2140  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * 1 1  3.0  2162
 9 Bajusz, Tamas         HUN 2110  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 * 1  2.0  2070
10 Herpai, Jozsef        HUN 2230  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 *  0.0      
-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDE 1-5 category closed tournaments for the IM-norm at Szeged, Hungary!

Szeged is the "Town of the Sunlight" at the south border of Hungary! http://www.szeged.hu/ At the end of last year we organized the Maroczy Geza Grandmaster Tournament with Miles, Oll, Zhang, Atalik, Adorjan, Ribli, Sax, Wells, Lalic and Ivanisevic. At Szeged, in this event was played the "Game of 1997", Suat Atalik against Gyula Sax. ( TWIC-158) The name of the Series is "Third Thursday" because we organize one or more groups (with 10 or 12 chess players) in every month and the clocks start at every 3. Thursday of the month.

Starting dates for 1998: 16/04,21/05,18/06,16/07,20/08,17/09,15/10,19/11,10/12 (before Christmas) We plan to organize GM-norm Robin Round Tournaments, too. Entry fees for the IM-norm Tournaments are: Below 2200 FIDE Elo: DM-450 2201-2300 : DM-400 2301-2400 : DM-350 Above 2400 : DM-300 with lodgings at the place of the tournament!

The venue is the Chess-Cafe, Szeged, Szent-Gyorgyi Albert street 13.(opposite to the "Hotel Forras").

More info and entry: Blazsik Zoltan e-mail: blazsik@sol.cc.u-szeged.hu 6701 Szeged Pf.: 1298 Phone (Hungary): 62-486304

16) Upcoming Events

Karpov-Polgar

Judit Polgar will face Anatoly Karpov in an 8 game exhibition match in Budapest, Hungary. The dates are June 9-12, 2 games per day at G/30 time controls. tiebreak to be blitz games. The sponsors of the exhibition match are MOL, PanonGSM and AEGON.

Internet coverage: http://www.polgarchess.com/sevents/karpovju.html

Pula 98

The Tournament will be a 9 round Swiss system event. The limit of the game is 40 moves during the first 2 hours + 1 hour per player for the rest of the game.

PRIZE FUND: 22.000 DEM
 1. 5.000 DEM          8.   800 DEM
 2. 4.000 DEM          9.   700 DEM
 3. 2.500 DEM         10.   600 DEM
 4. 2.000 DEM         11.   500 DEM
 5. 1.500 DEM         12.   400 DEM
 6.   900 DEM      13-14.   200 DEM 
 7.   800 DEM      15-18.   100 DEM
The best qualified women:
 1.   800 DEM	    2.   500 DEM

The entry fee is 200 Kunas (ca 55 DEM). Grandmasters and international masters do not pay entry fee.

The full board prices in DEM:
                                 1/2         1/1
 HotelHistria                    40.-        60.-
 Hotel Palma                     40.-        54.-
 Hotel Brioni                    38.-        52.-
 Hotel Park/App. Punta Verudela  32.-        42.-
 Sojourn tax DEM 1.60 per person per day.

INFORMATION: The arival of the participants is planned for 13th May in the afternoon. Final entry 14th May at 12 o'clock in hotel Histria. First round 14th May at 3 p.m.

Written registration not later than 5th May at the address:

ARENATURIST, A. Smereglia 3, 52100 Pula, Croatia; tel. /385/52 34588 fax. /385/52 212138

CROATIAN CHESS FEDERATION, Trg sportova 11, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; tel. /385/1 350561 fax /385/1 391119

Eduard Piacun epiacun@poaluh.hr

http://klub.posluh.hr/draga/

First Saturday May

The First Saturday chess tournaments in Budapest start on the 2nd of May. International master and Scheveningen event for the FIDE rating. If interested contact the organiser Laszlo Nagy, e-mail: 100263.1700@compuserve.com