THE WEEK IN CHESS 228 - 22nd March 1999 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) The Eighth Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament
3) Suat Atalik wins in Alushta
4) FIDE Championships announcement
5) Kasparov at the CeBit Fair
6) Manhattan Chess Club March International
7) Falkoner International Team
8) First Saturday, March
9) Lugano International Open
10) Icelandic Team Championships
11) 4NCL
12) 15th Spring Festival in Budapest
13) Forthcoming Events


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Games section

8th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tmt  72 games
Suat Atalik wins in Alushta              91 games
Manhattan Chess Club March International  7 games
Falkoner International Team              25 games
First Saturday, March                    29 games
Lugano International Open               103 games
Icelandic Team Championships             37 games
4NCL                                     96 games
15th Spring Festival in Budapest         76 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Eric Van der Schilden, TASC, Mikhail Golubev, Carsten Hensel, Martin Bennedik, John Fernandez, John Watson, the Mechanics Institute, Laszlo Nagy, Sinisa Joksic, Daði Örn Jónsson, John Saunders and all those who helped with this issue.

At last things are coming together. Dortmund announced the dates of their event in July and also sent the text of a release from FIDE they received. Although not everything is in place it looks like July and August will be the dates for the FIDE Championships.

The annual Amber tournament brings together many of the best players for a blindfold and rapidplay event. After six rounds it looks as if it might be Kramnik's year.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) The Eighth Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament

The Eighth Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament takes place in the Metropole Palace hotel at the casino square in Monaco, from March 16 until March 28 1999.

The players play one rapid game and one blindfold game with reversed colours against the same opponent each day. The Fischer time registration method will be used. The time control is set at 25 min per game plus 10 sec (rapid) or 20 sec (blindfold) per move.

The tournament is sponsored by the well-known chess patron Mr. J.J. van Oosterom and has a prize fund of US$ 137,250 which will be distributed for standings in the individual blindfold and rapid events aswell as the overall standings.

The official coverage is by TASC at: http://www.tasc.nl/amber8

After six rounds Anand has 4.5/6 in the rapidplay event, half a point clear of Topalov and Kramnik. Kramnik has 5/6 in the blindfold event ahead of Shirov on 4.5. Kramnik has a clear lead in the overall standings with 9/12 ahead of Lautier and Topalov on 7.5.

Round 1

Day one saw Anatoly Karpov take the lead when he beat Amber debutant Boris Gelfand. Anand lost his rapidplay game against Ljubojevic when he became overoptimistic and played 29. b4. Ljubo even had a huge advantage in the blindfold game but the game ended in a draw. Karpov-Gelfand and Shirov-Van Wely were both good blindfold games but there were also blunders, Ivanchuk hung a rook for instance.

Round 2

In the rapidplay Anand won on the black side of the Najdorf against Shirov, he had most of the complications worked out at home. He almost made it 2-0 but Shirov hung on to draw the rapid game. Ljubojevic eventually drew a long ending against Kramnik in the rapidplay (not in full in the gamesfile) but could not hold on as black in the blindfold game. After a shocking start Ivanchuk got into his stride drawing both games against Karpov.

Round 3

The clash of the day was Anand-Kramnik, the rapidplay game ended in a draw but the pair played a spectacular blindfold game won in nice style by the Russian. Piket-Karpov and Gelfand-Ivanchuk were also well played blindfold games. Karpov and Kramnik headed the standings with Anand only in 8th=place.

Round 4

Anand-Topalov (tactics) and Ljubojevic-Shirov (endgame) were the pick of the rapidplay games. Lautier drew with Karpov in the rapidplay game and beat him in the blindfold game to overtake him in the standings. Topalov beat Anand in a nice positional crush to take revenge for the rapids.

Round 5

Karpov lost a mini-match for the second day running when he was defeated by Nikolic in the rapidplay game and the blindfold game was drawn. Shirov and Kramnik drew both their games the blindfold game being quite important for Gruenfeld theory. The Ivanchuk-Lautier blindfold game was a spectacular draw.

Round 6

Karpov blundered horribly against Ljubojevic in the rapidplay game but took his revenge in the blindfold section. Kramnik did the double over Ivanchuk. Anand won a pawn in the rapidgame against Gelfand and it proved enough, their blindfold game was drawn.

Rapidplay Standings
-------------------

Round 1 (March 16, 1999)

Anand, Viswanathan    -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  0-1   34  B38  Sicilian
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Topalov, Veselin      1-0   28  A40  Queen's pawn
Van Wely, Loek        -  Shirov, Alexei        1-0   85  D91  Gruenfeld indian
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   56  D46  Semi-Slav
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Nikolic, Predrag      0-1   34  E32  Nimzo indian
Piket, Jeroen         -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   29  D31  Queen's gambit

Round 2 (March 17, 1999)

Topalov, Veselin      -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   18  B81  Sicilian
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   43  D73  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   51  A34  English; 1.c4 c5
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Piket, Jeroen         0-1   73  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Shirov, Alexei        -  Anand, Viswanathan    0-1   24  B81  Sicilian
Gelfand, Boris        -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   52  E12  Nimzo indian

Round 3 (March 18, 1999)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   54  D27  QGA;
Topalov, Veselin      -  Shirov, Alexei        1-0   75  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Lautier, Joel         -  Nikolic, Predrag      1-0   56  E11  Bogo indian
Van Wely, Loek        -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   48  E16  Nimzo indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   44  B84  Sicilian
Piket, Jeroen         -  Karpov, Anatoly       0-1   64  E12  Nimzo indian

Round 4 (March 19, 1999)

Anand, Viswanathan    -  Topalov, Veselin      1-0   34  E94  Kings indian; Classical
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Van Wely, Loek        1/2   21  A34  English; 1.c4 c5
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   19  D20  QGA;
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Piket, Jeroen         1-0   60  E52  Nimzo indian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Shirov, Alexei        0-1   65  D30  Queen's gambit
Gelfand, Boris        -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   28  A87  Dutch defence

Round 5 (March 21, 1999)

Topalov, Veselin      -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   37  E18  Nimzo indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   30  A46  Queen's pawn
Van Wely, Loek        -  Anand, Viswanathan    0-1   25  D20  QGA;
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Karpov, Anatoly       1-0   43  D20  QGA;
Shirov, Alexei        -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   32  C42  Petroff defence
Piket, Jeroen         -  Gelfand, Boris        0-1   39  E15  Nimzo indian

Round 6 (March 22, 1999)

Anand, Viswanathan    -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   38  B92  Sicilian; Najdorf
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1-0   54  E32  Nimzo indian
Topalov, Veselin      -  Nikolic, Predrag      1-0   43  D28  QGA;
Van Wely, Loek        -  Piket, Jeroen         1/2   27  D39  Queen's gambit
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Karpov, Anatoly       1-0   20  D26  QGA;
Shirov, Alexei        -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   77  B36  Sicilian


Monte Carlo (MNC), iii 1999                          cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2781 * = 1 . 1 . . 0 . 1 . 1  4.5  2871
 2 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2751 = * 1 . = . 1 = . = . .  4.0  2812
 3 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2700 0 0 * . 1 . . 1 1 1 . .  4.0  2807
 4 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2596 . . . * . = = . 1 = = =  3.5  2739
 5 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2632 0 = 0 . * . . 1 . 1 = .  3.0  2691
 6 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2710 . . . = . * = 0 0 . 1 1  3.0  2637
 7 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2714 . 0 . = . = * . 0 . 1 1  3.0  2666
 8 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2571 1 = 0 . 0 1 . * . 0 . .  2.5  2659
 9 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2633 . . 0 0 . 1 1 . * . 0 =  2.5  2614
10 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2726 0 = 0 = 0 . . 1 . * . .  2.0  2546
11 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2619 . . . = = 0 0 . 1 . * 0  2.0  2537
12 Gelfand, Boris        g BLR 2691 0 . . = . 0 0 . = . 1 *  2.0  2550
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Blindfold Standings
-------------------

Round 1 (March 16, 1999)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   42  A11  English; 1.c4
Lautier, Joel         -  Piket, Jeroen         1-0   60  D38  Queen's gambit
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1-0   23  D43  Semi-Slav
Topalov, Veselin      -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   29  D58  QGD;
Gelfand, Boris        -  Karpov, Anatoly       0-1   42  E04  Nimzo indian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   44  D18  Slav defence

Round 2 (March 17, 1999)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   48  E73  Kings indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   46  D19  Slav defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Karpov, Anatoly       1/2   53  B17  Caro-Kann
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   62  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Piket, Jeroen         -  Nikolic, Predrag      1-0   54  A17  English; 1.c4
Van Wely, Loek        -  Topalov, Veselin      0-1   79  A70  Modern Benoni

Round 3 (March 18, 1999)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Topalov, Veselin      1-0   49  B09  Pirc; Austrian
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Lautier, Joel         1-0   44  D82  Gruenfeld indian
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Piket, Jeroen         1/2   48  E46  Nimzo indian
Gelfand, Boris        -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   27  D39  Queen's gambit
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   24  B56  Sicilian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   73  A58  Benko gambit

Round 4 (March 19, 1999)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   28  B83  Sicilian
Lautier, Joel         -  Karpov, Anatoly       1-0   40  E12  Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Gelfand, Boris        1/2   26  D39  Queen's gambit
Topalov, Veselin      -  Anand, Viswanathan    1-0   63  B19  Caro-Kann
Piket, Jeroen         -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     0-1   38  D31  Queen's gambit
Van Wely, Loek        -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   60  D46  Semi-Slav

Round 5 (March 21, 1999)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   43  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   35  D20  QGA;
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   31  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Gelfand, Boris        -  Piket, Jeroen         1-0   38  D46  Semi-Slav
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Van Wely, Loek        1/2   28  A34  English; 1.c4 c5
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Topalov, Veselin      1/2   42  A33  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 6 (March 22, 1999)

Lautier, Joel         -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   47  A32  English; 1.c4 c5
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Topalov, Veselin      1/2   17  A64  Modern Benoni
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   30  A70  Modern Benoni
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   26  A13  English; 1.c4
Gelfand, Boris        -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   28  A39  English; 1.c4 c5
Piket, Jeroen         -  Van Wely, Loek        0-1   40  D43  Semi-Slav


Monte Carlo (MNC), iii 1999                          cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2751 * = . . = . 1 . 1 1 . 1  5.0  2960
 2 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2726 = * = . 1 . . . = 1 . 1  4.5  2864
 3 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2596 . = * 0 . 1 = 1 . . 1 .  4.0  2807
 4 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2633 . . 1 * = = 1 = . . 0 .  3.5  2728
 5 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2700 = 0 . = * . . . 1 = . 1  3.5  2739
 6 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2710 . . 0 = . * = 1 . 1 = .  3.5  2694
 7 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2714 0 . = 0 . = * = . . 1 .  2.5  2609
 8 Gelfand, Boris        g BLR 2691 . . 0 = . 0 = * = . 1 .  2.5  2618
 9 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2781 0 = . . 0 . . = * = . =  2.0  2553
10 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2571 0 0 . . = 0 . . = * . 1  2.0  2591
11 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2619 . . 0 1 . = 0 0 . . * 0  1.5  2469
12 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2632 0 0 . . 0 . . . = 0 1 *  1.5  2498
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Overall Standings
-----------------


Monte Carlo (MNC), III 1999                                      cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2751 ** 1= .. == =1 .. .. 11 =1 =1 .. ..  9.0  2880
 2 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2700 0= ** .. 10 01 .. 1= .. 1= 11 .. ..  7.5  2777
 3 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2596 .. .. ** == .. =1 10 == .. .. =1 =1  7.5  2777
 4 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2726 == 01 == ** 0= .. .. .. 11 01 .. ..  6.5  2700
 5 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2781 =0 10 .. 1= ** .. .. .. 0= 1= 1= ..  6.5  2707
 6 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2710 .. .. =0 .. .. ** 0= == 01 .. 11 1=  6.5  2666
 7 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2633 .. 0= 01 .. .. 1= ** 11 .. .. == 00  6.0  2671
 8 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2714 00 .. == .. .. == 00 ** .. .. 1= 11  5.5  2637
 9 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2571 =0 0= .. 00 1= 10 .. .. ** 01 .. ..  4.5  2629
10 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2632 =0 00 .. 10 0= .. .. .. 10 ** .. =1  4.5  2604
11 Gelfand, Boris        g BLR 2691 .. .. =0 .. 0= 00 == 0= .. .. ** 11  4.5  2588
12 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2619 .. .. =0 .. .. 0= 11 00 .. =0 00 **  3.5  2504
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Suat Atalik wins in Alushta

Suat Atalik won a Category 10 tournament in Alushta, Ukraine that took place March 3rd-13th. He was in first place alone ahead of Vadim Malakhatko on 7.5, and Kuzmin and Miles on 7.0.

Further details including annotated games by the winner at Mikhail Golubev's www site: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua

Alushta UKR (UKR), iii 1999                              cat. X (2486)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Atalik, Suat          g TUR 2593 * = = = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1  9.0  2737
 2 Malakhatko, Vadim     m UKR 2496 = * 1 = = 0 1 = 1 1 1 =  7.5  2617
 3 Kuzmin, Gennadi P     g UKR 2546 = 0 * 1 1 = = = = = 1 1  7.0  2582
 4 Miles, Anthony J      g ENG 2609 = = 0 * = 1 = = 1 = 1 1  7.0  2576
 5 Korotylev, Alexey     m RUS 2440 0 = 0 = * 1 = = = = 1 1  6.0  2525
 6 Rogovski, Vladimir    m UKR 2455 0 1 = 0 0 * 0 1 = = 1 1  5.5  2488
 7 Rakhmangulov, Andrei  m UKR 2417 0 0 = = = 1 * = 0 = = 1  5.0  2455
 8 Zubov, Alexander        RUS 2502 0 = = = = 0 = * 1 = 0 =  4.5  2419
 9 Svetushkin, Dmitry    m MDA 2471 0 0 = 0 = = 1 0 * 1 0 1  4.5  2421
10 Nosenko, Alexander      UKR 2433 = 0 = = = = = = 0 * = 0  4.0  2388
11 Khomyakov, Vladimir     UKR 2380 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 1 = * 0  3.0  2320
12 Salinnikov, D.Y         RUS 2484 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 *  3.0  2310
----------------------------------------------------------------------

4) FIDE Championships announcement

According to Carsten Hensel, one of the organisers of the Dortmund Chess Days event FIDE had a press release on Friday which said "The FIDE Presidential Board at its meeting in Ankara, Turkey, 13-14 March 1999, unanimously resolved that the $ 3.000.000 annual World Championship would be held at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in the period from 26 July to 29 August 1999. The Board directed the World Championship Cycle Committee to finalise all technical arrangements as well as the Player's Contract for the World Championship an resolved further that the detailed programme programme for the Championship should be finalised by 31 March 1999."

This announcement has allowed Dortmund to make its own announcement that the 27th Dortmund Chess Days will be held from July 9th to July 18th in the Grand Opera House (City Center of Dortmund). The Chess Days event will have a Super-Tournament from July 9th or 10 to July 17th (eight Grandmasters - category 19). Another Master-Tournament and a Big Open will be held at the same time. The main sponsor will be "Stadtsparkasse".

5) Kasparov at the CeBit Fair

Kasparov appeared at the CeBit Fair in Germany on Friday March 19th reports Martin Bennedik.

He was there with "Windhorst Electronics". He played two games without a clock against German actor Heiner Lauterbach and won both in under 20 moves. Then he played two games against Elisabeth Paetz. She put up more resistance, especially in the second game where she seemed to get a good position with White against Kasparov's g6 defence, however she lost that one as well. In the afternoon Kasparov played two 15" minute games against Fritz (Friedel, Wuellenweber etc. were present), Daniel King providing a live commentary. However it was very loud and Kasparov had problems in concentrating, especially during the second game. Obviously the company which was next to it had not been informed about Kasparov's appearance, otherwise a better synchonization of events could have been acheived. It was Kasparov's first public display against a computer since his loss against Deep Blue. The first game saw Kasparov with the Black pieces in a good game which he was close to winning. The game ended with a perpetual check delivered by Kasparov. The second game saw Kasparov with the White pieces weakening him self by playing f4, and having two weak pawns on e3 and g3. Fritz seemed to play a positional game at a high level, but then it allowed Kasparov to block the position with f5 and Kasparov seemed too have a good position after that. However Fritz found a trick and won a pawn. Upon that Kasparov offered a draw to the Chessbase team, which was taken because of the playing conditions. After that German interior minister Otto Schily all of a sudden entered the scene followed with some bodyguards and a huge amount of press people. He is known for being a hobby chess player and he put up a tough resistance with the White pieces. Kasparov sacced an exchange and the position got too complicated for the minister. After the show was over Kasparov signed autographs and then he went back to the computer in the corner and played another unofficial game against Fritz which he won easily. The game however was still transmitted to the screen and the public cheered.

On another note, Kasparov also confirmed his appearance at the Frankfurt Chess Classic tournament, together with Anand, Kramnik and Karpov, according to Mr. Schmidt. The smaller tournament will probably see Fritz, who won the Open last year also play.

6) Manhattan Chess Club March International

John Fernandez reports: The Manhattan Chess Club March International ran March 5th-15th and was a Category 10 event. GM Georgy Timoshenko steamrolled the field to score 8/9. IM Maurice Ashley made his 3rd and final GM norm and scored 6/9 taking clear second. GM John Fedorowicz took third with 5.5/9 and FM Greg Shahade scored 4.5/9, tying for fourth and getting his first IM norm.

Round 5 (March 10, 1999)

Burnett, Ronald       -  Shliperman, Igor      1/2    7  C01  French; Exchange


Round 9 (March 15, 1999)

Timoshenko, Georgy    -  Ashley, Maurice       1-0   41  D27  QGA;
Fedorowicz, John P    -  Shahade, Gregory      1/2   13  B52  Sicilian
Negulescu, Adrian     -  Shliperman, Igor      1-0   40  C15  French; Winawer
Ady, Jonathan J       -  Burnett, Ronald       1/2   71  B85  Sicilian
Kacheishvili, Giorgi  -  Waitzkin, Joshua      1/2    6  D13  Slav defence


New York USA (USA), iii 1999                         cat. X (2479)
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Timoshenko, Georgy    g UKR 2592 * 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1  8.0  2817
 2 Ashley, Maurice       m USA 2473 0 * = 0 1 = 1 1 1 1  6.0  2604
 3 Fedorowicz, John P    g USA 2574 = = * = = = = = 1 1  5.5  2548
 4 Shahade, Gregory      f USA 2386 0 1 = * 0 1 = 0 = 1  4.5  2489
 5 Negulescu, Adrian     m ROM 2452 0 0 = 1 * 1 0 = = 1  4.5  2481
 6 Waitzkin, Joshua      m USA 2467 = = = 0 0 * 1 1 = 0  4.0  2437
 7 Burnett, Ronald       m USA 2420 0 0 = = 1 0 * = = =  3.5  2405
 8 Ady, Jonathan J       f HKG 2412 0 0 = 1 = 0 = * = 0  3.0  2361
 9 Kacheishvili, Giorgi  g GEO 2570 0 0 0 = = = = = * =  3.0  2343
10 Shliperman, Igor      m USA 2442 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 = *  3.0  2357
------------------------------------------------------------------

7) Falkoner International Team

The Falkoner International took place in the Mechanics Institute, March 12-16. It was a qualifier for the Bronstein Jubilee April 6-7th. Among the participants will be Yasser Seirawan, twice a Candidate for the World Championship and Slovak Grandmaster Lubomir Ftacnik.

Falkoner International Team  1999

                        --------------  Wolski,T       2305     2.5/5
                        |  -----------  Bhat,V         2312     2.0/5
                        |  |  --------  Stein,Alan              2.0/5
                        |  |  |  -----  Shipman,W      2341     1.5/5
                        |  |  |  |  --  Cusi,R         2375     1.5/4
                        |  |  |  |  |  
 1 McCambridge,V  2450  1  1  ½  1  1     4.5/5
 2 Yoos,J         2291  0  1  1  1  0     3.0/5
 3 Rey,G          2346  1  ½  ½  ½  ½     3.0/5
 4 Lobo,Ri        2277  ½  0  1  ½        2.0/4
 5 Watson,J       2357  0  ½  0  ½  1     2.0/5

8) First Saturday, March

Laszlo Nagy reports on the March edition of his First Saturday tournaments. If you wish to contact him his new E-Mail address is: firstsat@elender.hu, his new website is at: http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat additional coverage of First Saturday events is available at: http://www.illawarra.net.au/chesscentral/. Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59

The main event is a category III. International master round robin tournament, with 14 participants (ELO-average 2306). The IM-norm was 9.5/13 which wasn't reached by anyone. The event was won by Yuri Zimmerman with 9/13 a point clear of Chinese youngster Bu Xiangzhi, Gagik Khechumyan and Laszlo Eperjesi.

Budapest HUN (HUN), iii 1999                            cat. III (2302)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Zimmerman, Yuri    m RUS 2374 * 0 = = = 1 1 1 = 0 1 1 1 1  9.0  2437
 2 Bu Xiangzhi          CHI 2365 1 * 1 = 1 0 0 = 0 = 1 1 = 1  8.0  2384
 3 Khechumyan, Gagik    ARM 2372 = 0 * 1 0 1 = = 0 1 1 1 = 1  8.0  2383
 4 Eperjesi, Laszlo   m HUN 2329 = = 0 * = = = 1 = = 1 1 = 1  8.0  2387
 5 Turzo, Attila      m HUN 2314 = 0 1 = * = = 1 1 1 = 0 1 0  7.5  2358
 6 Kiss, Gedeon         HUN 2259 0 1 0 = = * 1 = 1 0 = 1 = 1  7.5  2362
 7 Hrvacic, Pavle       CRO 2235 0 1 = = = 0 * 0 = 1 1 = 1 1  7.5  2364
 8 Pham Minh Hoang      VIE 2357 0 = = 0 0 = 1 * = 1 1 1 = 1  7.5  2355
 9 Toth, Andras         HUN 2301 = 1 1 = 0 0 = = * = 0 1 0 =  6.0  2273
10 Serrer, Christoph  f GER 2285 1 = 0 = 0 1 0 0 = * = 0 1 1  6.0  2274
11 Gara, Anita       wm HUN 2287 0 0 0 0 = = 0 0 1 = * = 1 1  5.0  2216
12 Gara, Ticia          HUN 2216 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 1 = * 1 =  4.5  2198
13 Malada, Vinko        CRO 2265 0 = = = 0 = 0 = 1 0 0 0 * =  4.0  2164
14 Jamrich, Gyorgy      HUN 2273 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = *  2.5  2053
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Lugano International Open

The Lugano International Open took place in the Hotel de la Paix 10-16 March as part of the Swiss Chess Tour 1999. The event was won by Joe Gallagher with 6/7 after a final round victory with black against Ian Rogers. Vladimir Tukmakov, Peter Horvath and Cvitan Ognjen were all on 5.5.

1st Open "De la Paix" Lugano, March 12.-16

Sinisa Joksic reports: Lugano hosted an chess open tournament after a gap of 10 years. This time it was as a part of the "SWISS CHESS TOUR 99". 80 players, 30 of whom held international titles (8 GMs, 10 IMs, 12 FMs), spent time in beautiful surroundings from March 12 to 16, during the tournament. Seven rounds in five days wasn't easy, especially in temperatures of 20-22 Celsius. It was sunny with unbelievably nice natural surroundings including a blue water lake. The host, a four star, the "Hotel De la Paix" was an excellent site for chess. The winner was unclear until the end, with tough fighting spirit. All the favorites started well. Joe Gallagher won from a lost position in a time scramble against IM Joksic and got new stimulus. He lost in Round 4 against Tukmakov (this was a revenge for their game that took place in Basel,during the Hilton-open in January) but then won the rest of his games. Especially decisive was the last round. Gallagher, playing with the black pieces against Ian Roger won after his draw offer was turned down, Rogers, missed Nxf3 only a few moves later. Gallagher's win was on merit. Six victories and only one game lost, showed his well-known chess style. Rogers after losing in the final round finished 5th. If Ian Rogers had won it he would have won the even, a success that wouldn't have been unmerited (in fact Ian Rogers had a superior tie-break and had he known this he would have taken a draw against Gallagher, MC). His performance level in Lugano was very high. Tukmakov had the chance to catch up with Gallagher in the last round. He needed to beat IM Peter Horvath and had he done so he could have won the tournament on Bucholz tie break. However, he overlooked winning a pawn in the opening opening and his dreams of winning were ended. Vladimir Tukmakov and Peter Horvath played very solidly and Ognjen Cvitan didn't make an effort. There were three quick draws. IMs Kriszany, Hoffmann, Varga, Czebe and Mantovani showed good form. Alec Salvetti proved to be a "lady killer" he beat WGMs Alisa Maric and Elena Sedina.Tukmakov, Cvitan, Gheorghiu, Horvath and Varga finished undefeated. The top ten won money prizes, distributed by Bucholz-system. Alisa Maric won the ladies prize. (YUG, 15th-4,5 points). The senior prize went to Rolf Bucher (SUI, 39-3,5). The junior prize to Daniel Hersvik (NOR, 26-4). The best Ticino player was Vitomir Malesevic (SUI, 33-4) and the best schoolboy Lorenz Drabke (ITA, 43-3,5). The organisation was very good. The next events on the SWISS CHESS TOUR 99 are Lenk (April 1.-5.) and Cran Montana (April 7.-12.)

Final Standings:

Leading final standings:
 1 Gallagher, Joseph G                g SUI 2519  6.0 /7
 2 Tukmakov, Vladimir B               g UKR 2581  5.5 /7
 3 Horvath, Peter1                    m HUN 2415  5.5 /7
 4 Cvitan, Ognjen                     g CRO 2521  5.5 /7
 5 Rogers, Ian                        g AUS 2618  5.0 /7
 6 Gheorghiu, Florin                  g ROM 2450  5.0 /7
 7 Krizsany, Laszlo                   m HUN 2462  5.0 /7
 8 Barbero, Gerardo F                 g ARG 2462  5.0 /7
 9 Czebe, Attila                      m HUN 2420  5.0 /7
10 Hoffmann, Michael                  m GER 2407  5.0 /7
11 Varga, Peter                       m HUN 2448  5.0 /7
12 Mantovani, Renzo                   m ITA 2377  5.0 /7
13 Del Rio Angelis, Salvador Gabriel  m ESP 2408  4.5 /7
14 Salvetti, Alec                     f ITA 2280  4.5 /7
15 Maric, Alisa                       m YUG 2481  4.5 /7
16 Wendt, Rene                        f GER 2335  4.5 /7
17 Profumo, Alberto                     ITA 2268  4.5 /7
...etc 80 players

10) Icelandic Team Championships

The Hellir Chess Club won the Icelandic Team Championships. The event started November 13th-15th and the last three rounds were played March 5–6. After beating Reykjavik Chess Club 6-2 in the penultimate round Hellir Chess Club only needed half a point in the last round to clinch the title. News from Daði Örn Jónsson who produces the Chess in Iceland pages. He says that one game in particular is worth looking at, the game H Olafsson, H. - Jon V. Gunnarsson in which White sacrificed his Queen and set up a 'Zwickmuhle', reminiscent of the famous game Torre - Lasker, Moscow 1925.

Final standings:

  Team                            1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8  bd   mat fin
1 Taflfélagið Hellir B           ### 4.0 4.5 3.5 6.0 5.0 1.5 2.0 26,5  7  5
2 Taflfélag Reykjavíkur B        4.0 ### 3.0 3.0 5.5 3.5 2.5 0.0 21,5  3  7
3 Taflfélag Hólmavíkur           3,5 5.0 ### 2,5 6,5 2.0 0,5 1,5 21,5  4  6
4 Skákfélag Akureyrar A          4,5 5.0 5,5 ### 5,5 3,5 4,5 3,5 32   10  3
5 Taflfélag Kópavogs A           2.0 2,5 1,5 2,5 ### 1.0 1.0 0,5 11    0  8
6 Skákfélag Hafnarfjarðar A      3.0 4,5 6.0 4,5 7.0 ### 1,5 2,5 29    8  4
7 Taflfélag Reykjavíkur A        6,5 5,5 7,5 3,5 7.0 6,5 ### 2.0 38,5 10  2
8 Taflfélagið Hellir A           6.0 8.0 6,5 4,5 7,5 5,5 6.0 ### 44   14  1

[Team 8, Hellir A won the event.]

The winning team was as following:
1. GM Hannes Stefansson
2. GM Jon L. Arnason
3. GM Helgi Olafsson
4. GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson
5. IM Karl Thorsteins
6. FM Ingvar Asmundsson
7. Bragi Halldorsson
8. Bragi Thorfinnsson
9. Kristjan Edvardsson
10. Johannes Gisli Jonsson
11. David Kjartansson

Further internet coverage at: http://www.simnet.is/hellir/dk991dei.htm and at the Chess in Iceland pages at: http://www.vks.is/skak/indexe.html.

11) 4NCL

Rounds 7 and 8 of the 4 Nations Chess league took place on 20-21 March 1999. Slough maintained their 100% record and are 4 points clear of Wood Green. My thanks to John Saunders for news and games.

Full coverage at: http://wkweb1.cableinet.co.uk/jsaunders/nclindex.htm

Division 1

Round 7 Slough 6½-1½ Barbican 2, Bigwood 4-4 Bristol, Wessex 3½-4½ Barbican 1, Wood Green 7-1 Richmond, Home House 1-7 British Chess Magazine, NW Eagles 3½-4½ Invicta Knights.

Round 8 Barbican 1 2-6 Wood Green, Invicta Kts 2½-5½ Slough, BCM 3-5 Bigwood, Bristol 4-4 Richmond, Barbican2 4½-3½ Wessex, NW Eagles 7-1 Home House

4NCL Division 1: 1998/9
               P W D L GPts MPts
 1 Slough      8 8 0 0 50.5  16
 2 Wood Green  8 5 2 1 40.0  12
 3 Bigwood     8 4 2 2 38.5  10
 4 Invicta Kts 8 4 2 2 32.5  10
 5 Barbican 1  8 5 0 3 30.5  10
 6 NW Eagles   8 4 0 4 31.0  8
 7 Richmond    8 3 1 4 26.0  7
 8 Bristol     8 1 4 3 28.0  6
 9 Barbican 2  8 3 0 5 27.0  6
10 BCM         8 2 0 6 29.5  4
11 Wessex      8 1 2 5 26.5  4
12 Home House  8 1 1 6 24.0  3

12) 15th Spring Festival in Budapest

Laszlo Nagy reports: The 15th Spring Festival in Budapest runs March 17th-25th. The event is sponsored by the Hungarian Chess Federation and has 72 players from 12 countries. There are 3 IMs Lengyel, Krutti and Nguyen Anh Dung and two WIM Ruth Sheldon, and Irina Semenova.

Round 5 leaders
 1 De Santis, Alessio      f ITA 2356  4
 2 Nguyen Anh Dung         m VIE 2485  4
 3 Bu Xiangzhi               CHI 2365  4
 4 Krutti, Valer           m HUN 2354  4
 5 Semenova, Irina        wm RUS 2268  4
 6 Karatorossian, David      ARM 2348  4
 7 Galyas, Miklos          f HUN 2440  4
 8 Horvath, Gabor1         f HUN 2236  4
72 players

13) Forthcoming Events

Indian National Championships

Venkatachalam Saravanan reports: The National A Championships will be held March 22-Aprill 11, in Nagpur, central India. The participants include all of India's top players except Anand and Barua. Participants include Thipsay, Sasikiran and Kunte etc. There is an official website at:

http://www.bpclnationalchess.findhere.com

there will be daily coverage with games and results.

30. Open Norwegian Ch. 1999

30. Open Norwegian Ch. 1999 April 5th - 11th 1999 Gausdal Høifjellshotel

We welcome all chess players to this tournament which is dedicated to the memory of Arnold J. Eikrem, who created and organized this event and many many others at the popular skiing resort Gausdal Høifjellshotel.

* GM- and IM norms available. 9 round Nordic monrad tournament. FIDE rules.
* 2h/40 moves and 1hour to the rest (max. 6 hours in all).
* 1st round Saturday January 9th at 19:30. 9th and last round Friday the 15th at 9:00.
* The championship starts on Monday April 5th (registration until 17:30) with the first round beginning at 19:30. The 9th and last round starts on Sunday April 11th at 9:00.
* Open to all with FIDE-rating and a limi-ted number of non-FIDE-rated players.
* Several strong GMs and IMs are invited
* Starting fee: Senior NOK 400,-, junior NOK250
* Prizes: (total prizefund NOK +20.000): 1st: 5.000 plus free stay at Gausdal Høifjellshotel at next years event. 2nd: 3.500; 3rd: 2.000; 4th: 1.500; 5th: 1.000; 6th: 500. Rating prizes (NOK): 1st: 1,500 and 2nd 500 in each of the classes 1,2,3 and 4. Many additional book prizes.
* Excellent chances to score titlenorms or gain your first international ELO rating.
* For further Informasjonl: Kai S. Eikrem, "Sjakkutsalget",  Jomfrubråtveien 46a, 1179 Oslo tel. +47 22 67 95 20, telefax +47 22 67 95 13 between 19:00-22:00 tel. +47 22 67 94 84. e-mail: kseikrem@online.no

http://home.sol.no/~skak/open99nm/