The Week in Chess 240

THE WEEK IN CHESS 240 - 14th June 1999 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to TASC, Eric Van der Schilden, Lubomir Ftacnik, Bretislav Modr (Sachinfo magazine), Jerry Bibuld, Francisco Acosta, Lennarth Eriksson, Laszlo Nagy, Alexei Shirov, Alex Yermolinsky, Juergen Daniel and all those who helped with this issue.

Anand's defeat of Karpov in the Advanced Chess Match in Leon should not have come as any surprise, Anand is completely at home with the modern technology and Karpov clearly not. It was the fault of the organisers for inviting a "name" and in a way Karpov's fault for accepting. Karpov's career as a leading chess player is clearly coming to an end and its quite sad to see how far his play has declined. However his increasingly selfish actions where he seeks to extract the last drop out of his reputation as a great player (for instance getting the FIDE Championships postponed by almost a year for his own benefit) is becoming increasingly tiresome and unworthy. He has his place amongst the greats, for his play over the board, it really is time to leave the front stage to others and become a dignified elder statesman of the game.

The fallout of the failed WCC cycle continues. Shirov gives his opinions on what has happened and especially the Anand-Kasparov match below, Anand also gave some measure of reply in Leon.

I understand that Caesar's Palace has been confirmed as the venue of the FIDE Championships after final negotiations and that announcements as to the details of the venue (for those who wish to attend for instance) and final list of players are imminent.

In addition there are interesting tournaments in Portoroz, Malmoe and elsewhere.

On the local (British) front, in recognition of his achievements British Chess player Nigel Short has been awarded the MBE in the latest Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) Karpov vs Anand Advanced Chess Match

The Anatoly Karpov vs Viswanathan Anand Advanced Chess Match took place June 11-14th in Leon, Spain. The players used computer programs and databases to aid their play, the games were a maximum of two hours in duration. The result was an overwhelming 5-1 victory for Viswanathan Anand.

Day 1 Anand won game one with black and drew game two with white.

Day 2 The same story took place on day two with Anand winning game three with black and drawing game four with white.

Day 3 Anand completed a hat-trick of victories with black in the event before winning also with white to complete a really one sided victory.

The result of the match doesn't really come as much of a surprise. After the organisers and Kasparov had a dispute the sponsors wanted a big name replacement for Kasparov. In Spain that name is still Anatoly Karpov. However Karpov is well known as not one of the better users of computer technology, he does use databases, but only to print out games to look at them on a normal board. He probably doesn't make much use of computer playing programs either. It is said that he was paid double the appearance fee of Anand to act as Kasparov's replacement.

Probably the more significant action took place off the board. Both Anand and Karpov gave interviews. Unfortunately my Spanish is not very good (the original reference is: http://deportes.ole.com/espdep/articulo/articulo.cfm?ID=DEP1839) but a crude electronic translation revealed some interesting points. Karpov has been playing an extraordinary series of political games in recent weeks. He gave an explosive interview to Schach magazine revealing many behind the scenes FIDE secrets, I understand he has tried to undermine Kirsan Iljumzhinov's position with the IOC by going to their President Samaranche and claiming that Iljumzhinov was not eligible to be elected as FIDE President, he has also threatened to sue FIDE as they did not consult him over the timing of the FIDE Championships in Las Vegas. The interview with Anand refers to a Karpov interview where he says that he leaves open the question of his participation in Las Vegas. Anand's interview was a little more straightforward. He defends himself against Shirov's accusation that he should not have taken the match against Kasparov as Shirov was the player who qualified to play him. "I am not an opportunist" Anand is reported as saying. He goes on to say that the WCC had collapsed and he was accepting a match with a completely different organisation and that whilst he conceeded that the whole situation was a mess it was not his fault. [See Shirov's letter and press release below for a comprehensive view on his point of view]

Official coverage: http://www.ajedrezdelfuturo.com (Spanish) http://www.advancedchess.com (English).

3) Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament, Malmoe

The Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament takes place in Malmo, Sweden June 8th-16th. Boris Gelfand, Jan Timman, Sergei Movsesian, Nick deFirmian, Joel Lautier, Evgeny Agrest, Jesper Hall, Jonny Hector, Ralf Åkesson and Lars Karlsson play. Boris Gelfand has been in fantastic form scoring 6/7, conceeding just two draws, including one to second placed Nick DeFirmian who is also scoring well with 5/7.

Official site: http://www.sigeman-chess.com/english/intro.html

Round 1 (June 8, 1999)

Gelfand, Boris     -  DeFirmian, Nick E  1/2   24  E32  Nimzo indian
Agrest, Evgenij    -  Timman, Jan H      1/2   59  A33  English; 1.c4 c5
Karlsson, Lars     -  Akesson, Ralf      1/2   36  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Hall, Jesper       -  Lautier, Joel      1/2   25  B93  Sicilian; Najdorf
Hector, Jonny      -  Movsesian, Sergei  0-1   44  B43  Sicilian

Round 2 (June 9, 1999)

Agrest, Evgenij    -  Hector, Jonny      1-0   76  A00  Irregular
Movsesian, Sergei  -  Hall, Jesper       1-0   39  B56  Sicilian
Timman, Jan H      -  DeFirmian, Nick E  0-1   41  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Lautier, Joel      -  Karlsson, Lars     1-0   41  A81  Dutch defence
Akesson, Ralf      -  Gelfand, Boris     0-1   26  D48  Meran Variation

Round 3 (June 10, 1999)

Gelfand, Boris     -  Lautier, Joel      1-0   27  D45  Semi-Slav
DeFirmian, Nick E  -  Akesson, Ralf      1-0   42  B43  Sicilian
Karlsson, Lars     -  Movsesian, Sergei  1/2   33  A37  English; 1.c4 c5
Hall, Jesper       -  Agrest, Evgenij    1/2   25  B93  Sicilian; Najdorf
Hector, Jonny      -  Timman, Jan H      0-1   53  C16  French; Winawer

Round 4 (June 11, 1999)

Agrest, Evgenij    -  Karlsson, Lars     1-0   76  B38  Sicilian
Movsesian, Sergei  -  Gelfand, Boris     0-1   41  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Timman, Jan H      -  Akesson, Ralf      1-0   29  B54  Sicilian
Lautier, Joel      -  DeFirmian, Nick E  1/2   26  E12  Nimzo indian
Hector, Jonny      -  Hall, Jesper       0-1   42  C10  French

Round 5 (June 12, 1999)

Gelfand, Boris     -  Agrest, Evgenij    1-0   45  E81  Kings indian; Saemisch
DeFirmian, Nick E  -  Movsesian, Sergei  1/2   38  B80  Sicilian
Karlsson, Lars     -  Hector, Jonny      1/2   17  A07  Reti (1.Nf3)
Hall, Jesper       -  Timman, Jan H      0-1   52  A45  Queen's pawn
Akesson, Ralf      -  Lautier, Joel      1/2   30  D45  Semi-Slav

Round 6 (June 14, 1999)

Agrest, Evgenij    -  DeFirmian, Nick E  1/2   34  A33  English; 1.c4 c5
Movsesian, Sergei  -  Akesson, Ralf      1-0   27  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Timman, Jan H      -  Lautier, Joel      1/2   56  D30  Queen's gambit
Hall, Jesper       -  Karlsson, Lars     1/2   51  C18  French; Winawer
Hector, Jonny      -  Gelfand, Boris     1/2   16  B96  Sicilian; Najdorf

Round 7 (June 15, 1999)

Gelfand, Boris     -  Hall, Jesper       1-0   40  A77  Modern Benoni
DeFirmian, Nick E  -  Hector, Jonny      1-0   35  C84  Ruy Lopez
Lautier, Joel      -  Movsesian, Sergei  1/2   91  B85  Sicilian
Karlsson, Lars     -  Timman, Jan H      1/2   26  A05  Reti (1.Nf3)
Akesson, Ralf      -  Agrest, Evgenij    0-1   59  E15  Nimzo indian


Malmoe SWE (SWE), vi 1999                       cat. XIV (2578)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Gelfand, Boris     g BLR 2691 * = 1 1 . 1 . 1 = 1  6.0  2872
 2 DeFirmian, Nick E  g USA 2610 = * = = 1 = . . 1 1  5.0  2759
 3 Agrest, Evgenij    g SWE 2533 0 = * . = . 1 = 1 1  4.5  2673
 4 Movsesian, Sergei  g CZE 2650 0 = . * . = = 1 1 1  4.5  2662
 5 Timman, Jan H      g NED 2670 . 0 = . * = = 1 1 1  4.5  2640
 6 Lautier, Joel      g FRA 2596 0 = . = = * 1 = . =  3.5  2586
 7 Karlsson, Lars     g SWE 2470 . . 0 = = 0 * = = =  2.5  2470
 8 Hall, Jesper       m SWE 2486 0 . = 0 0 = = * 1 .  2.5  2491
 9 Hector, Jonny      g SWE 2542 = 0 0 0 0 . = 0 * .  1.0  2278
10 Akesson, Ralf      g SWE 2530 0 0 0 0 0 = = . . *  1.0  2293
---------------------------------------------------------------

4) 13th Dr Milan Vidmar Memorial

The Slovenian Chess Federation is organising the 13th Dr Milan Vidmar Memorial Category XIV tournament. 6 players play in this double round robin event. Zvjaginsev (RUS), Beliavsky (SLO), Kozul (CRO), Stohl (SVK), Pavasovic (SLO), Aronian (ARM). The event takes place in the Hotel Bernardin in Portoroz and runs June 13th-23rd 1999. This is also the 30th Anniversary of the first Milan Vidmar memorial tournament (the 1st was in 1969). Kozul has the early lead with 2/2.

Official coverage: http://www.sah-zveza.si/mv13/

Round 1 (June 13, 1999)

Stohl, Igor             -  Zvjaginsev, Vadim       0-1   55  D37  Queen's gambit
Aronian, Levon          -  Beliavsky, Alexander G  0-1   43  A07  Reti (1.Nf3)
Pavasovic, Dusko        -  Kozul, Zdenko           0-1   23  B31  Sicilian

Round 2 (June 14, 1999)

Kozul, Zdenko           -  Aronian, Levon          1-0   29  A55  Benoni
Zvjaginsev, Vadim       -  Beliavsky, Alexander G  1/2   20  C21  1.e4 e5
Stohl, Igor             -  Pavasovic, Dusko        1-0   27  D43  Semi-Slav


Portoroz SLO (SLO), vi 1999                       cat. XIV (2578)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1  2  3  4  5  6 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kozul, Zdenko           g CRO 2585 ** .. .. .. 1. 1.  2.0      
2 Zvjaginsev, Vadim       g RUS 2658 .. ** =. 1. .. ..  1.5  2804
3 Beliavsky, Alexander G  g SLO 2650 .. =. ** .. 1. ..  1.5  2773
4 Stohl, Igor             g SVK 2573 .. 0. .. ** .. 1.  1.0  2580
5 Aronian, Levon          m ARM 2502 0. .. 0. .. ** ..  0.0      
6 Pavasovic, Dusko        m SLO 2502 0. .. .. 0. .. **  0.0      
-----------------------------------------------------------------

5) Third Broekhuis Tournament

For the third consecutive time Rotterdam is hosted the event. The event took place May 29 until June 10. Predrag Nikolic won the event with 8.5/11. He led throughout and just held out from Jeroen Piket who mounted a late challenge. If Nikolic wishes to defend his title he will have to make himself available for the Dutch Olympiad side, something he is unlikely to do.

Internet coverage:http://www.nkschaken.nl

Round 9 (June 8, 1999)

Reinderman, Dimitri        -  Van den Doel, Erik         1/2   63  C68  Ruy Lopez; Exchange
Van der Wiel, John         -  Janssen, Ruud              1-0   32  B11  Caro-Kann
Sokolov, Ivan              -  Nijboer, Friso             1-0   42  E92  Kings indian; Classical
Van der Sterren, Paul      -  Piket, Jeroen              0-1   28  D13  Slav defence
Cifuentes Parada, Roberto  -  Van Wely, Loek             0-1   69  D75  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Peng Zhaoqin               -  Nikolic, Predrag           0-1   43  E12  Nimzo indian

Round 10 (June 9, 1999)

Nikolic, Predrag           -  Van der Wiel, John         1/2   18  D43  Semi-Slav
Piket, Jeroen              -  Cifuentes Parada, Roberto  1-0   41  D46  Semi-Slav
Sokolov, Ivan              -  Peng Zhaoqin               1-0   41  D43  Semi-Slav
Van den Doel, Erik         -  Van der Sterren, Paul      1/2   65  C95  Ruy Lopez
Nijboer, Friso             -  Van Wely, Loek             1/2   34  B81  Sicilian
Janssen, Ruud              -  Reinderman, Dimitri        1/2   36  B38  Sicilian

Round 11 (June 10, 1999)

Reinderman, Dimitri        -  Nikolic, Predrag           1/2   12  A08  Reti (1.Nf3)
Van der Wiel, John         -  Sokolov, Ivan              1-0   26  B82  Sicilian
Van Wely, Loek             -  Piket, Jeroen              1/2   24  D20  QGA;
Van der Sterren, Paul      -  Janssen, Ruud              1/2   18  E05  Nimzo indian
Cifuentes Parada, Roberto  -  Van den Doel, Erik         1/2   60  E15  Nimzo indian
Peng Zhaoqin               -  Nijboer, Friso             1-0   50  D91  Gruenfeld indian


Rotterdam NED (NED), v-vi 1999                              cat. XII (2549)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Nikolic, Predrag           g BIH 2633 * = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2752
 2 Piket, Jeroen              g NED 2619 = * = = = = = 1 1 1 1 1  8.0  2717
 3 Reinderman, Dimitri        g NED 2541 = = * = 1 1 = 1 1 0 = =  7.0  2651
 4 Van der Wiel, John         g NED 2526 = = = * = 1 1 = = 1 0 1  7.0  2652
 5 Van Wely, Loek             g NED 2632 0 = 0 = * 1 1 = 1 1 = 1  7.0  2643
 6 Sokolov, Ivan              g BIH 2624 = = 0 0 0 * = = = 1 1 1  5.5  2542
 7 Van den Doel, Erik         g NED 2535 = = = 0 0 = * = = 0 1 1  5.0  2514
 8 Van der Sterren, Paul      g NED 2535 0 0 0 = = = = * 1 1 = =  5.0  2514
 9 Cifuentes Parada, Roberto  g NED 2529 0 0 0 = 0 = = 0 * = 1 1  4.0  2448
10 Peng Zhaoqin               m NED 2452 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 = * 1 0  3.5  2424
11 Nijboer, Friso             g NED 2515 0 0 = 1 = 0 0 = 0 0 * =  3.0  2376
12 Janssen, Ruud                NED 2445 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 = *  2.5  2347
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) Prague Sachinfo 99

GM Lubomir Ftacnik writes: The tournament in Prague was the brainchild of Bretislav Modr, the owner and publisher of Sachinfo chess magazine. The event had the character of family affair with friends and chess gentlemen playing for modest fees and prizes, but cherishing the level of competition and cosy atmosphere during meals and social ocassions.

A special case was the playoff blitz games with Saitek clocks (one of the main sponsors of the competition). After a draw in the normal tournament game, players had to switch colours and play 6:5 minutes with white obliged to play for win.

The main event feautured two Czech players who qualified for the Las Vegas world championship Movsesian and Babula, with guests, the best Australian and Slovak players Rogers and Ftacnik. The favourite Movsesian was not exactly in the best form and his Houdini-like escape in the first round against Rogers helped him a lot to get back into the swing and claim a narrow victory in the end. On the other side of the crosstable Rogers played much better than his result would indicate, but luck was simply not on his side.

If the Kasparov-Anand match is at least partly staged in Prague you can count on some surprise side tournaments arranged by Mr.Modr. He has organized many round robins in Prague for his club Bohemians and in modern days exhibitions and events for famous personalities have also been held. Well connected and loving chess he publishes a highly respected chess magazine as a one man show. As they say: „Love for chess can sometimes move mountains."

Prague CZE (CZE), v-vi 1999             cat. XV (2605)
------------------------------------------------------
                                 1  2  3  4 
------------------------------------------------------
1 Movsesian, Sergei  g CZE 2650 ** == == =1  3.5  2646
2 Babula, Vlastimil  g CZE 2565 == ** 10 ==  3.0  2617
3 Ftacnik, Lubomir   g SVK 2585 == 01 ** ==  3.0  2611
4 Rogers, Ian        g AUS 2618 =0 == == **  2.5  2543
------------------------------------------------------

Taking into account the blitz playoffs:
Black had draw odds in these blitz games.
Results presented round by round.

1 Movsisian   1 0 1 1 1 1   5
2 Rogers      0 1 1 0 0 1   3  
3 Ftacnik     0 1 0 1 0 0   2
4 Babula      1 0 0 0 1 0   2

7) St. Petersburg vs Beer Sheva

After a 36-36 draw between the two teams in Israel in 1988 there is an informal 10 round Scheveningen system match between Beer-Sheva and the Petersburg Kings taking place in St. Petersburg 5-15th June 1999. After nine of the ten rounds the score is Peterburg Kings 24 Beer Sheva 21. Both sides have one player who has scored 6/9. Boris Avrukh for the Israelis and Vassily Yemelin for the Russians. Alexander Khalifman and Sergey Ivanov have both scored 5.5/9 for the Russians.

Daily internet coverage at: http://www.gmchess.spb.ru

Round 3 (June 7, 1999)

Avrukh, Boris         -  Ivanov, Sergey        1-0   33  D49  Meran Variation
Tseitlin, Mark D      -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   14  C42  Petroff defence
Greenfeld, Alon       -  Lugovoi, Aleksei      1/2   40  C67  Ruy Lopez
Mikhalevski, Victor   -  Yemelin, Vasily       0-1   35  E12  Nimzo indian
Huzman, Alexander     -  Aseev, Konstantin N   1/2   73  A13  English; 1.c4

Round 4 (June 8, 1999)

Ivanov, Sergey        -  Tseitlin, Mark D      1/2   28  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Aseev, Konstantin N   -  Avrukh, Boris         1/2   11  B85  Sicilian
Khalifman, Alexander  -  Greenfeld, Alon       1-0   41  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Lugovoi, Aleksei      -  Mikhalevski, Victor   1/2   34  D97  Gruenfeld indian
Yemelin, Vasily       -  Huzman, Alexander     1/2   20  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf

Round 5 (June 9, 1999)

Avrukh, Boris         -  Yemelin, Vasily       1/2   26  E46  Nimzo indian
Tseitlin, Mark D      -  Aseev, Konstantin N   1/2   32  B63  Sicilian
Huzman, Alexander     -  Lugovoi, Aleksei      1-0   46  E92  Kings indian; Classical
Mikhalevski, Victor   -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   14  E05  Nimzo indian
Greenfeld, Alon       -  Ivanov, Sergey        1-0   49  D48  Meran Variation

Round 6 (June 10, 1999)

Ivanov, Sergey        -  Mikhalevski, Victor   1-0   30  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Khalifman, Alexander  -  Huzman, Alexander     1/2   19  A35  English; 1.c4 c5
Lugovoi, Aleksei      -  Avrukh, Boris         0-1   34  D97  Gruenfeld indian
Yemelin, Vasily       -  Tseitlin, Mark D      1/2   38  C88  Ruy Lopez
Aseev, Konstantin N   -  Greenfeld, Alon       0-1   36  A50  Benoni

Round 7 (June 12, 1999)

Mikhalevski, Victor   -  Aseev, Konstantin N   1-0   35  E05  Nimzo indian
Huzman, Alexander     -  Ivanov, Sergey        1/2   15  A00  Irregular
Avrukh, Boris         -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   13  A57  Benko gambit
Tseitlin, Mark D      -  Lugovoi, Aleksei      1/2   74  C92  Ruy Lopez
Greenfeld, Alon       -  Yemelin, Vasily       1-0   32  A34  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 8 (June 13, 1999)

Aseev, Konstantin N   -  Huzman, Alexander     1/2   19  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Ivanov, Sergey        -  Avrukh, Boris         1-0   50  E73  Kings indian
Khalifman, Alexander  -  Tseitlin, Mark D      1-0   40  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Lugovoi, Aleksei      -  Greenfeld, Alon       1-0   40  D91  Gruenfeld indian
Yemelin, Vasily       -  Mikhalevski, Victor   1-0   33  C45  Scottish

Round 9 (June 14, 1999)

Tseitlin, Mark D      -  Ivanov, Sergey        0-1   63  A07  Reti (1.Nf3)
Greenfeld, Alon       -  Khalifman, Alexander  1/2   29  A48  Queen's pawn
Mikhalevski, Victor   -  Lugovoi, Aleksei      1/2   44  E01  Nimzo indian
Huzman, Alexander     -  Yemelin, Vasily       1/2   44  E11  Bogo indian
Avrukh, Boris         -  Aseev, Konstantin N   1-0   40  E42  Nimzo indian

8) Fan Adams International 1999

The Fan Adams International got underway in the Marshall Chess Club in New York on Sunday June 13th. The event consists of several stages. The Scheveningen qualifier event has started. The first group Leonid Sokolin, Boris Kreiman, Josh Waitzkin, Jan Gustafsson, David Gross (of Germany) and William Morrison are in one group, they play one game each against the second group of Arnaud Hauchard, Yury Lapshun, Ronald Burnett, Arnaud Payen, Jonathan Ady and Gregory Shahade. The results of these games will determine who plays in the norm events which includes John Fedorowicz, Giorgi Kacheishvili, Pavel Blatny and Miron Sher are GMs and Jay Bonin, Saudin Robovic, Rafal Furdzik and Ernesto Encarnacion are the IMs. In round 1 Burnett missed a clear win against Waitzkin (56.Rb7 instead of 56.Kc6).

Official coverage at: http://masterchess.com/marshallchessclub/ and http://masterchess.com/marshallchessclub/pairings.html

Round 1 (June 13, 1999)

Gross, David GER   -  Lapshun, Yury      1-0   60  C88  Ruy Lopez
Burnett, Ronald    -  Waitzkin, Joshua   1/2   64  B40  Sicilian
Hauchard, Arnaud   -  Morrison, William  1/2   48  D35  Queen's gambit
Kreiman, Boris     -  Shahade, Gregory   1/2   30  B20  Sicilian
Sokolin, Leonid M  -  Payen, Arnaud      1/2   38  E05  Nimzo indian
Ady, Jonathan J    -  Gustafsson, Jan    0-1   29  B47  Sicilian

9) Russian Women's Championships

The Russian Women's Championships took place in Moscow 15th-27th May 1999. The 11 round Swiss system tournament was won by Julia Demina ahead of Svetlana Matveeva and Elena Zayac. All three scored 7.5/11 with Demina taking the title after additional tie-breaking methods. The three players on 7.5 points and also Olga Stjazhkina qualified for the FIDE women's championships to be held in Kishinev in September.

Russian Women's Championships (RUS), v 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Matveeva, Svetlana            wg RUS 2405  -13 +25 +23 =12 +10 + 4 + 3 - 6 = 2 + 7 = 5  7.5  2430
 2 Demina, Julia                 wg RUS 2361  +21 +15 = 6 = 3 =17 =11 + 9 = 4 = 1 +18 = 7  7.5  2475
 3 Zayac, Elena                  wg RUS 2293  +29 +30 = 4 = 2 + 7 + 8 - 1 =15 + 6 = 5 = 9  7.5  2439
 4 Stjazhkina, Olga              wg RUS 2340  +22 + 5 = 3 +14 + 6 - 1 +15 = 2 - 7 = 9 =10  7.0  2395
 5 Kulish, Irina                 wm RUS 2280  +11 - 4 +30 = 8 =26 = 7 =19 +10 +14 = 3 = 1  7.0  2414
 6 Galianina, Julia              wm RUS 2300  +20 +27 = 2 +10 - 4 -15 +18 + 1 - 3 = 8 =12  6.5  2377
 7 Zaitseva, Ludmila G           wg RUS 2334  +31 +13 =14 =15 - 3 = 5 =12 +17 + 4 - 1 = 2  6.5  2367
 8 Shumiakina, Tatiana           wg RUS 2407  =23 =16 +24 = 5 +14 - 3 =10 = 9 =17 = 6 +15  6.5  2349
 9 Grabuzova, Tatiana            wg RUS 2281  -14 +29 =27 +13 =11 +26 - 2 = 8 +12 = 4 = 3  6.5  2368
10 Strutinskaya, Galina N        wm RUS 2295  +19 =24 +16 - 6 - 1 +21 = 8 - 5 +27 +15 = 4  6.5  2360
11 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina       wg RUS 2494  - 5 =22 +28 +24 = 9 = 2 -14 =12 +19 =16 +18  6.5  2336
12 Fatalibekova, Elena           wg RUS 2271  =17 =23 +19 = 1 -15 +22 = 7 =11 - 9 +20 = 6  6.0  2348
13 Ovod, Evgenija                wm RUS 2290  + 1 - 7 =26 - 9 +31 -14 =24 -16 +25 +27 +23  6.0  2310
14 Zakurdjaeva, Irina               RUS 2143  + 9 +17 = 7 - 4 - 8 +13 +11 -18 - 5 =23 =16  5.5  2345
15 Lopatskaya, Elena P           wm RUS 2284  +32 - 2 +21 = 7 +12 + 6 - 4 = 3 =18 -10 - 8  5.5  2289
16 Polovnikova, Ekaterina        wm RUS 2336  =25 = 8 -10 =21 -22 +20 =27 +13 =26 =11 =14  5.5  2287
17 Stepovaia-Dianchenko, Tatiana wg RUS 2444  =12 -14 +25 +27 = 2 -18 +26 - 7 = 8 =22 =19  5.5  2280
18 Shadrina, Tatiana             wm RUS 2325  -24 -19 +29 +30 +23 +17 - 6 +14 =15 - 2 -11  5.5  2277
19 Kosintseva, Tatiana           wf RUS 2177  -10 +18 -12 -23 +30 +29 = 5 =24 -11 +31 =17  5.5  2289
20 Ovchinikova, Julia               RUS 2205  - 6 -26 =32 +28 =27 -16 =21 +31 +24 -12 +22  5.5  2253
21 Ershova, Svetlana             wm RUS 2263  - 2 +32 -15 =16 +24 -10 =20 -22 =31 +28 +29  5.5  2242
22 Chasovnikova, Eugenia         wf RUS 2247  - 4 =11 +31 -26 +16 -12 =28 +21 =23 =17 -20  5.0  2284
23 Slavina, Irina                wf RUS 2265  = 8 =12 - 1 +19 -18 =27 +32 =26 =22 =14 -13  5.0  2222
24 Kosintseva, Nadezhda          wf RUS 2209  +18 =10 - 8 -11 -21 +30 =13 =19 -20 -25 +32  4.5  2199
25 Gansvind, V.I                    RUS 2240  =16 - 1 -17 -31 -32 =28 =30 +29 -13 +24 +27  4.5  2197
26 Kosteniuk, Alexandra          wg RUS 2329  -30 +20 =13 +22 = 5 - 9 -17 =23 =16 -29 -28  4.0  2178
27 Andreeva, N                      RUS 2254  +28 - 6 = 9 -17 =20 =23 =16 +32 -10 -13 -25  4.0  2171
28 Mashinskaya, Iulia            wg RUS 2354  -27 =31 -11 -20 -29 =25 =22 =30 +32 -21 +26  4.0  2137
29 Mirzoeva, Elvira                 RUS 2161  - 3 - 9 -18 +32 +28 -19 -31 -25 +30 +26 -21  4.0  2143
30 Polyakova, Natalia            wf RUS 2218  +26 - 3 - 5 -18 -19 -24 =25 =28 -29 +32 +31  4.0  2133
31 Lundina, A                       RUS 2220  - 7 =28 -22 +25 -13 -32 +29 -20 =21 -19 -30  3.0  2051
32 Verevochkina,Elena                   ----  -15 -21 =20 -29 +25 +31 -23 -27 -28 -30 -24  2.5  2032
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) 13th Open in Pula

The 13th Open in Pula took place May 29th - June 8th 1999. There was a four way tie on 7/9 at the conclusion of the event. Veteran Vladimir Tukmakov winning the event with a superior progressive score after other tie-breaks failed to seperate him from Dusko Pavasovic, Vladimir Malaniuk and Vladimir Burmakin also finished on 7/9.

Daily information at: http://www.gradpula.com/sport/chess

Final standings:

Pula Open (CRO), v-vi 1999                      M-Buch. Buch Prog Berg.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Tukmakov, Vladimir B  g UKR 2581   7.0 /9  2687 40.0 50.5 38.5 37.75
 2 Pavasovic, Dusko      m SLO 2502   7.0 /9  2627 40.0 50.5 36.5 38.75 
 3 Malaniuk, Vladimir P  g UKR 2552   7.0 /9  2609 40.0 50.0 36.5 38.00 
 4 Burmakin, Vladimir    g RUS 2534   7.0 /9  2632 35.5 46.5 35.0 34.75 
 5 Stevic, Hrvoje        m CRO 2465   6.5 /9  2617 41.5 53.0 35.5 37.00 
 6 Fercec, Nenad         m CRO 2495   6.5 /9  2510 38.0 49.0 31.5 34.00
 7 Sermek, Drazen        g SLO 2540   6.5 /9  2553 38.0 48.0 32.0 33.50 
 8 Sax, Gyula            g HUN 2524   6.5 /9  2552 36.5 47.0 35.0 31.75 
 9 Kozul, Zdenko         g CRO 2585   6.0 /9  2553 42.0 54.0 34.0 33.00 
10 Zelcic, Robert        g CRO 2554   6.0 /9  2567 40.5 52.5 34.5 32.25 
11 Romanishin, Oleg M    g UKR 2572   6.0 /9  2542 40.5 50.5 33.5 30.25 
12 Hulak, Krunoslav      g CRO 2493   6.0 /9  2538 39.5 50.0 32.0 31.75 
13 Dizdar, Goran         g CRO 2563   6.0 /9  2525 36.5 46.5 31.5 30.00 
14 Golubovic, Boris      m CRO 2450   6.0 /9  2386 34.5 45.0 29.0 28.50 
15 Drlje, Josip            CRO 2092   6.0 /9       33.5 42.0 26.0 24.00
....90 players
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

11) Guillermo Garcia Tournament

Francisco Acosta reports on the Guillermo Garcia Tournament in Cuba. There were two sections to this international event in Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba that took place May 24th - June 7th 1999. The first section was a Category VIII (2445) tournament won by Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez with 10/13. Lenier Dominguez of Cuba scored a GM norm. A curiosity is the game Jose Alvarez vs Roberto Paramos Dominguez which was given as a draw in the final table (the result which I've taken) but was given as a win for Paramos Dominguez in the gamefile which actually looks more plausible. In the second section there was a two way tie on 9.5/13. Irisberto Herrera and Lazaro Bruzon both tied for first and scored GM norms to complete their titles. On 8.5 points Salvador Gabriel Del Rio Angelis scored a nine round norm. 17 year old fm Bruzon in fact had three IM norms in 6 months but now has the norms for the GM title too, completed in less than a month.

Guillermo Garcia Group 1
Santa Clara CUB (CUB), v 1999                                    cat. VIII (2445)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel   g ESP 2447 * = 1 = = 1 1 1 0 1 = 1 1 1  10.0  2656
 2 Dominguez, Lenier           m CUB 2479 = * 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 0   9.5  2617
 3 Nogueiras, Jesus            g CUB 2540 0 1 * = = = = = = 1 1 = 1 1   8.5  2547
 4 Sadvakasov, Darmen          g KAZ 2487 = = = * = 0 1 = = = = 1 0 1   7.0  2470
 5 De la Paz, Frank            m CUB 2495 = 0 = = * 1 = 0 1 = = = 1 =   7.0  2470
 6 Delgado, Neuris             f CUB 2417 0 0 = 1 0 * = 1 1 0 1 = = 1   7.0  2476
 7 Gongora, Maikel             f CUB 2427 0 = = 0 = = * 0 = 1 1 1 1 0   6.5  2446
 8 Matamoros Franco, Carlos S  m ECU 2458 0 0 = = 1 0 1 * 0 = 0 1 1 1   6.5  2444
 9 Rivera, Alberto             m CUB 2392 1 0 = = 0 0 = 1 * 0 1 0 = 1   6.0  2420
10 Alvarez, Jose               m CUB 2368 0 0 0 = = 1 0 = 1 * = = = 1   6.0  2422
11 Otero, Diasmany             f CUB 2403 = 0 0 = = 0 0 1 0 = * 1 0 1   5.0  2361
12 Gomez, Felix                f CUB 2463 0 0 = 0 = = 0 0 1 = 0 * 1 1   5.0  2356
13 Paramos Dominguez, Roberto  m ESP 2445 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 = = 1 0 * 1   4.5  2335
14 Gamboa, Nelson                COL 2411 0 1 0 0 = 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 *   2.5  2196
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guillermo Garcia Group 2
Santa Clara CUB (CUB), v 1999                                          cat. VIII (2426)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Herrera, Irisberto                 m CUB 2450 * 1 = 0 0 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 =  9.5  2598
 2 Bruzon, Lazaro                     f CUB 2488 0 * = 1 = = = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  9.5  2596
 3 Del Rio Angelis, Salvador Gabriel  m ESP 2408 = = * = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 0 1 =  8.5  2537
 4 Vilela, Jose Luis                  m CUB 2396 1 0 = * = 1 1 = = = 0 = = 1  7.5  2485
 5 Pecorelli Garcia, Humberto         m CUB 2430 1 = 0 = * 0 = 0 = 1 = = = 1  6.5  2425
 6 Perdomo, Carlos Andres             m COL 2410 0 = = 0 1 * 0 1 = = 1 = = =  6.5  2427
 7 Abreu, Aryam                       m CUB 2410 0 = 0 0 = 1 * = = = = 1 = 1  6.5  2427
 8 Perez, Rodney                      m CUB 2406 0 = = = 1 0 = * = = = = = =  6.0  2398
 9 Hernandez, Roman                   g CUB 2419 0 0 = = = = = = * = = = = =  5.5  2369
10 Oms Pallise, Josep                 m ESP 2444 = 0 0 = 0 = = = = * 0 1 1 =  5.5  2367
11 Asanov, Bolat                      g KAZ 2500 0 0 0 1 = 0 = = = 1 * 0 = 1  5.5  2363
12 Alzate, Dario                      m COL 2417 0 0 1 = = = 0 = = 0 1 * = 0  5.0  2339
13 Garcia Martinez, Silvino           g CUB 2420 0 0 0 = = = = = = 0 = = * 1  5.0  2339
14 Hernando Rodrigo, Jose Maria         ESP 2363 = 0 = 0 0 = 0 = = = 0 1 0 *  4.0  2289
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12) Czech Championships

Sachinfo magazine reports: The Championships of the Czech Republic took place 3rd-13th June 1999. The event was won by Marek Vokac who scored 8/11 and a superior Sonnen-Berger tie-break than Petr Velicka (who also scored 8).

Lazne Bohdanec CZE (CZE), vi 1999                 cat. VIII (2444)
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Vokac, Marek      m CZE 2495 * = = = 1 1 1 = = 1 = 1  8.0  2614
 2 Velicka, Petr     m CZE 2449 = * = = = 1 = 1 1 1 = 1  8.0  2618
 3 Meduna, Eduard    g CZE 2493 = = * 1 0 = 0 0 1 1 1 1  6.5  2504
 4 Talla, Vladimir   f CZE 2362 = = 0 * = = = 1 0 1 = 1  6.0  2487
 5 Haba, Petr        g CZE 2545 0 = 1 = * 0 = = = 1 1 =  6.0  2470
 6 Freisler, Pavel   m CZE 2328 0 0 = = 1 * 0 1 1 0 1 1  6.0  2490
 7 Stocek, Jiri      g CZE 2537 0 = 1 = = 1 * = = 1 0 0  5.5  2435
 8 Votava, Jan       m CZE 2511 = 0 1 0 = 0 = * = = 1 1  5.5  2437
 9 Konopka, Michal   m CZE 2480 = 0 0 1 = 0 = = * 0 = 1  4.5  2375
10 Jansa, Vlastimil  g CZE 2467 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 1 * 1 1  4.5  2376
11 Jurek, Josef      m CZE 2362 = = 0 = 0 0 1 0 = 0 * =  3.5  2318
12 Sobek, Jaroslav     CZE 2299 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 0 0 0 = *  2.0  2195
------------------------------------------------------------------

13) Two Rating tournaments in Stockholm

Lennarth Eriksson reports: There were two rating tournaments held in Stockholm June 5th-13th 1999. There was a Category V IM event won by Patrik Lyrberg with 6 points ahead on Berger tie-break of Sergey Klimov also on 6. In the ELO tournament Niclas Hjelm won the event with 7.5/9.

Further information at http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-21958/stock.html and http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-21958/imoelo99.html

Stockholm IM
Stockholm SWE (SWE), vi 1999                                cat. V (2359)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Lyrberg, Patrik              m SWE 2409 * 1 = = = 1 0 1 = 1  6.0  2478
 2 Klimov, Sergey               f RUS 2432 0 * = 0 1 1 1 1 1 =  6.0  2476
 3 Engqvist, Thomas             m SWE 2351 = = * 1 = 1 1 = 0 =  5.5  2440
 4 Kallio, Heikki               f FIN 2352 = 1 0 * = 0 1 1 = 1  5.5  2439
 5 Sandstrom, Ludvig              SWE 2356 = 0 = = * 1 0 1 = =  4.5  2359
 6 Pedersen, Daniel Vesterbaek    DEN 2299 0 0 0 1 0 * 1 = 1 1  4.5  2365
 7 Couso, Luis                  f SWE 2302 1 0 0 0 1 0 * 0 1 =  3.5  2285
 8 Hedman, Erik                 f SWE 2348 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 * 1 =  3.5  2280
 9 Lindberg, Bengt              f SWE 2307 = 0 1 = = 0 0 0 * =  3.0  2239
10 Dzevlan, Miralem             m BIH 2435 0 = = 0 = 0 = = = *  3.0  2225
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stockholm ELO
Stockholm SWE (SWE), vi 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------
                                  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
----------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Hjelm, Niclas       f SWE 2306 * = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2488
 2 Andersson, Mats     f SWE 2313 = * 0 1 1 = 1 1 1 1  7.0  2434
 3 Rylander, Dennis      SWE 2141 = 1 * = 0 = 1 1 1 1  6.5  2399
 4 Logdahl, Harald       SWE 2204 0 0 = * 1 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2392
 5 Backelin, Rikard      SWE 2300 = 0 1 0 * 1 = 1 1 1  6.0  2341
 6 Livner, Anders        SWE 2169 0 = = 0 0 * 0 1 1 1  4.0  2187
 7 Holving, Rasmus       SWE 2130 0 0 0 0 = 1 * = = 1  3.5  2155
 8 Azizi, Haroon         SWE 2193 0 0 0 0 0 0 = * = =  1.5  1955
 9 Ullen, Jan            SWE 2175 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = * =  1.5  1957
10 Lappalainen, Tommy    SWE 2315 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = *  1.0  1863
----------------------------------------------------------------

14) First Saturday, June

Laszlo Nagy reports: The June First Saturday events started June 5th in Budapest. The main event is an 11 player Category IX GM tournament. There is also a Category I IM event. Nine rounds have been played in each event this saw the conclusion of the IM event with Laszlo Eperjesi and Otto Magyar share first place. 12 year old Csaba Berces in his first IM event came 4th with 5/9. Andrey Zontakh leads with 7.5/8 in the GM event.

The next First Saturday events start on the 3rd of July in Budapest

You can contact Laszlo Nagy about his First Saturday events. E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu webpages: http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat and http://www.illawarra.net.au/chesscentral/ Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59

FSGM June 
Round 3 (June 7, 1999)

Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   -  Czebe, Attila       1/2   53  B30  Sicilian
Nguyen Anh Dung     -  Anastasian, Ashot   0-1   54  B05  Alekhine defence
Seres, Lajos        -  Hoffmann, Michael   0-1   39  E15  Nimzo indian
Llanos, Guillermo   -  Zontakh, Andrey     0-1   31  E32  Nimzo indian
Lorscheid, Gerhard  -  Varga, Zoltan       0-1   47  E70  Kings indian

Round 4 (June 8, 1999)

Zontakh, Andrey     -  Lorscheid, Gerhard  1-0   26  B07  Pirc
Varga, Zoltan       -  Nguyen Anh Dung     1/2    7  E17  Nimzo indian
Anastasian, Ashot   -  Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   0-1   34  A40  Queen's pawn
Hoang Thanh Trang   -  Llanos, Guillermo   0-1   60  A80  Dutch defence
Czebe, Attila       -  Seres, Lajos        1/2   41  B70  Sicilian; Dragon

Round 5 (June 9, 1999)

Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   -  Varga, Zoltan       1-0   15  A07  Reti (1.Nf3)
Nguyen Anh Dung     -  Zontakh, Andrey     0-1   38  E15  Nimzo indian
Seres, Lajos        -  Anastasian, Ashot   1/2   45  E15  Nimzo indian
Hoffmann, Michael   -  Czebe, Attila       1/2   32  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Lorscheid, Gerhard  -  Hoang Thanh Trang   0-1   47  A81  Dutch defence

Round 6 (June 10, 1999)

Zontakh, Andrey     -  Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   1/2   39  E97  Kings indian; Main line
Varga, Zoltan       -  Seres, Lajos        1/2   19  B73  Sicilian; Dragon
Anastasian, Ashot   -  Hoffmann, Michael   1-0   60  D92  Gruenfeld indian
Hoang Thanh Trang   -  Nguyen Anh Dung     1/2   12  D13  Slav defence
Llanos, Guillermo   -  Lorscheid, Gerhard  1-0   33  B07  Pirc

Round 7 (June 11, 1999)

Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   -  Hoang Thanh Trang   0-1   57  A81  Dutch defence
Nguyen Anh Dung     -  Llanos, Guillermo   1-0   44  B01  Scandinavian
Czebe, Attila       -  Anastasian, Ashot   1/2   44  E12  Nimzo indian
Seres, Lajos        -  Zontakh, Andrey     0-1   39  D20  QGA;
Hoffmann, Michael   -  Varga, Zoltan       0-1   22  B07  Pirc

Round 8 (June 12, 1999)

Zontakh, Andrey     -  Hoffmann, Michael   1-0   40  E20  Nimzo indian
Varga, Zoltan       -  Czebe, Attila       1/2   37  B30  Sicilian
Hoang Thanh Trang   -  Seres, Lajos        1-0   34  A40  Queen's pawn
Llanos, Guillermo   -  Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   0-1   54  E91  Kings indian; Classical
Lorscheid, Gerhard  -  Nguyen Anh Dung     1/2   27  E73  Kings indian

Round 9 (June 13, 1999)

Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   -  Lorscheid, Gerhard  1-0   32  B07  Pirc
Anastasian, Ashot   -  Varga, Zoltan       1/2   52  A37  English; 1.c4 c5
Czebe, Attila       -  Zontakh, Andrey     0-1   47  D18  Slav defence
Seres, Lajos        -  Llanos, Guillermo   1-0   54  E62  Kings indian
Hoffmann, Michael   -  Hoang Thanh Trang   1-0   34  A81  Dutch defence


Budapest HUN (HUN), vi 1999                             cat. IX (2454)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Zontakh, Andrey     g UKR 2530 * = . . 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5 / 8  2871
 2 Maiwald, Jens-Uwe   m GER 2467 = * 1 1 . 0 = = = 1 1  6.0 / 9  2574
 3 Varga, Zoltan       g HUN 2518 . 0 * = = = = = 1 1 1  5.5 / 9  2518
 4 Anastasian, Ashot   g ARM 2529 . 0 = * 1 . = = 1 1 =  5.0 / 8  2530
 5 Nguyen Anh Dung     m VIE 2485 0 . = 0 * = 1 . 1 1 =  4.5 / 8  2494
 6 Hoang Thanh Trang  wg VIE 2450 0 1 = . = * . 1 0 0 1  4.0 / 8  2449
 7 Czebe, Attila       m HUN 2420 0 = = = 0 . * = = . 1  3.5 / 8  2417
 8 Seres, Lajos        m HUN 2428 0 = = = . 0 = * 0 1 .  3.0 / 8  2382
 9 Hoffmann, Michael   m GER 2407 0 = 0 0 0 1 = 1 * . .  3.0 / 8  2391
10 Llanos, Guillermo   m ARG 2437 0 0 0 0 0 1 . 0 . * 1  2.0 / 8  2273
11 Lorscheid, Gerhard  f GER 2323 0 0 0 = = 0 0 . . 0 *  1.0 / 8  2157
----------------------------------------------------------------------

FSIM June

Round 3 (June 7, 1999)

Eperjesi, Laszlo   -  Dembo, Yelena      1/2   24  A48  Queen's pawn
Magyar, Otto       -  Lengyel, Bela      1/2   14  D64  QGD;
Berces, Csaba      -  Khechumyan, Gagik  1-0   36  B02  Alekhine defence
Szirmai, Eduard    -  Vadasz, Laszlo     1/2   10  D05  Queen's pawn
Belotelov, Denis   -  Peterson, Emery    0-1   34  B08  Pirc; Classical

Round 4 (June 8, 1999)

Eperjesi, Laszlo   -  Szirmai, Eduard    1-0   38  A55  Benoni
Lengyel, Bela      -  Berces, Csaba      1/2   39  B85  Sicilian
Vadasz, Laszlo     -  Belotelov, Denis   1/2   13  A89  Dutch defence
Peterson, Emery    -  Magyar, Otto       1/2   36  C30  Kings gambit
Dembo, Yelena      -  Khechumyan, Gagik  1/2   26  B04  Alekhine defence

Round 5 (June 9, 1999)

Magyar, Otto       -  Vadasz, Laszlo     1/2    7  D28  QGA;
Berces, Csaba      -  Peterson, Emery    1-0   21  C06  French; Tarrasch
Szirmai, Eduard    -  Dembo, Yelena      1/2   20  B31  Sicilian
Belotelov, Denis   -  Eperjesi, Laszlo   0-1   48  A45  Queen's pawn
Khechumyan, Gagik  -  Lengyel, Bela      1/2   41  D02  Queen's pawn

Round 6 (June 10, 1999)

Eperjesi, Laszlo   -  Magyar, Otto       1/2   18  E11  Bogo indian
Vadasz, Laszlo     -  Berces, Csaba      1/2   17  E68  Kings indian
Szirmai, Eduard    -  Belotelov, Denis   0-1   45  B06  Modern defence
Peterson, Emery    -  Khechumyan, Gagik  1-0   45  B02  Alekhine defence
Dembo, Yelena      -  Lengyel, Bela      0-1   46  C36  Kings gambit

Round 7 (June 11, 1999)

Magyar, Otto       -  Szirmai, Eduard    1/2   52  B07  Pirc
Lengyel, Bela      -  Peterson, Emery    1-0   26  C17  French; Winawer
Berces, Csaba      -  Eperjesi, Laszlo   1/2   17  B17  Caro-Kann
Belotelov, Denis   -  Dembo, Yelena      1-0   34  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Khechumyan, Gagik  -  Vadasz, Laszlo     1-0   27  E21  Nimzo indian

Round 8 (June 12, 1999)

Eperjesi, Laszlo   -  Khechumyan, Gagik  1/2   40  A48  Queen's pawn
Vadasz, Laszlo     -  Lengyel, Bela      1/2   10  D64  QGD;
Szirmai, Eduard    -  Berces, Csaba      1-0   53  C00  French
Belotelov, Denis   -  Magyar, Otto       0-1    0
Dembo, Yelena      -  Peterson, Emery    1/2   23  A49  Queen's pawn

Round 9 (June 13, 1999)

Magyar, Otto       -  Dembo, Yelena      1-0   43  D95  Gruenfeld indian
Lengyel, Bela      -  Eperjesi, Laszlo   1/2   12  B17  Caro-Kann
Berces, Csaba      -  Belotelov, Denis   1-0    0
Peterson, Emery    -  Vadasz, Laszlo     1/2   10  B15  Caro-Kann
Khechumyan, Gagik  -  Szirmai, Eduard    0-1   61  A55  Benoni


Budapest HUN (HUN), vi 1999                       cat. I (2261)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Eperjesi, Laszlo   m HUN 2329 * = = = = 1 1 1 = =  6.0  2378
 2 Magyar, Otto       f HUN 2300 = * = 1 = = = 1 = 1  6.0  2381
 3 Lengyel, Bela      m HUN 2350 = = * = = = 1 = = 1  5.5  2330
 4 Berces, Csaba        HUN 2146 = 0 = * = 0 1 1 1 =  5.0  2316
 5 Vadasz, Laszlo     g HUN 2287 = = = = * = = = 0 1  4.5  2257
 6 Szirmai, Eduard      HUN 2208 0 = = 1 = * = 0 1 =  4.5  2266
 7 Peterson, Emery      GER 2172 0 = 0 0 = = * 1 1 =  4.0  2227
 8 Belotelov, Denis   f RUS 2262 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 * 1 1  4.0  2217
 9 Khechumyan, Gagik    ARM 2372 = = = 0 1 0 0 0 * =  3.0  2123
10 Dembo, Yelena        ISR 2180 = 0 0 = 0 = = 0 = *  2.5  2103
---------------------------------------------------------------

15) Letters from Shirov and Yermolinsky

Open Letter from Alexei Shirov

Strange Speculations

In the last issue of twic magazine, Mark Crowther writes about the Kasparov-Anand match which seems to be on. Then he suggests that I get compensated for not playing Kasparov in the form of match against Polgar and misterious priveleges in the misterious next World Championship cycle. Just two remarks on it:

1. My match vs. Polgar has no connection with the match Kasparov-Anand. This was agreed upon with Bessel Kok when he invited me for the Prague match. And there is no single word on Kasparov or Anand nor World Championship in my contract for this match. I still claim that the match vs. Kasparov should be mine and not Anand's.

2. I have not been contacted about the next Non-Fide cycle but in any case I am not going to start it from lower stage than what I have already qualified for - the World Championship match.

Another thing I wanted to mention is Malcolm Pein's article in Daily Telegraph on 4th of June. Malcolm claims that by accepting the match offer, Anand removes the last vestige of credibility from the Fide cycle because its winner will be no more than the World number 3 player. This is a pure nonsense! One can not know what will be Anand's rating when he plays Kasparov (and rating is now the only Anand's credibility) but we all know that the Las Vegas winner will earn his title in the honest and equal fight with much more of the World best chessplayers than just one or two.

Sincerely, Alexei Shirov

Shirov Official Press Release 2 14.06.1999

In addition Shirov has a made a second press release available. (original appeared at http://www.schach-daniel.com/ and this is reproduced with permission.) Shirov writes:

More than five months have passed since my first press release. It's definitely not my style to write open letters, however after so much desinformation around my match against Kasparov (now in fact the match Kasparov- Anand) I feel that I have to clear some points. Just for chess' sake.

Even before my first press release was published, Kasparov had stated that he wanted to play Anand because 'it was impossible to find money for the match Shirov-Kasparov' and that 'the match Shirov-Kasparov was not interesting for sponsors because Anand was much stronger'. Kasparov repeated these statements until finally on 3rd of June this year Anand was rumoured (I can't find a better word since the official announcement is to be made on 10th of July) to sign the contract for their match.

Let me refute these statements one by one. First of all, Anand is not anymore stronger than me. Nor is he in comparison with ,for example, Kramnik and Morozevich. His last two tournament performances in Monaco and Dos Hermanas were complete failures as he was behind his main rivals. And now, after my relative success in Sarajevo my WCC rating is even higher than Anand's. I don't give much importance to the WCC rating but it's Kasparov who always considers the WCC rating to be more objective than the FIDE rating. Complete contradiction. When last year I collapsed in Dortmund, Kasparov was quick to say that my performance diminished sponsors' interest for the match. What has changed until now when Anand shared the last place in Dos Hermanas? Strange game.

A few words about Anand's legitimacy. Everybody knows that last year Anand refused to play the candidate's match vs. Kramnik, let me call it 'semifinal'. And now when I replaced him in the semifinal and qualified for the final, he goes to take my place apparently without any conscience problems! As if believing that it's not his problem that I don't have sponsors for the match and the people who want to make Kasparov-Anand match don't recognize my legitimacy.

And the absence of sponsors is not the true case at all. Now it's 100% clear to me that if Kasparov had always recognized me as his only legitimate opponent for the World Championship match, it would have been possible to make it. And he revealed himself when at the end of May he publicly stated that if Anand refused then he would play against me. So, it was definitely not a money problem that Kasparov preferred to play Anand instead of me. And the real reasons one will never know. I could only add that in March, during the Linares tournament Kasparov refused to have a telephone conversation with the Catalan manager Enric Turet who was working hard trying to make my match against Kasparov in Barcelona and Terrasa. And shortly after that (on March 12, I believe) Kasparov accepted the offer of Mr. Serge Grimaux, the promoter of Kasparov-Anand match, it remained just to wait for Anand's answer. And since the answer could come at any time, any organization that was interested in my match against Kasparov (apart from Mr.Turet I was also contacted by people in Poland, England and USA) could find it useless to go on working on it.

My last and real chance to play against Kasparov would have been Anand's negative responce to Mr. Grimaux's offer. But this was too much a hope as in our world a lot of people strive for money and more money, so Anand proved to be no exception by taking what doesn't belong to him. I consider both Anand and Kasparov guilty for depriving me of the World Championship match and that this century will end with their inlegitimate 'World Championship'.

Alexei Shirov, 14.06.1999

Open Letter from Alex Yermolinsky

Poor Lembit Oll was the odd-man-out holding a Number 21 spot in the FIDE World Championship Invitational List. He knew it all along. Exactly one year ago we played a tournament together and Lembit was speaking about his chances to make the cut. His wish came true, but ironically at the most inappropriate moment. Just days before his tragic and mysterious death he received a letter from FIDE that was officially upgrading his status from Reserve player to a full-fledged participant of the Las Vegas Extravaganza. Lembit called our mutual friend Shabba and began to make his travel plans for visiting the United States in the summer. Chicago, Vermont, Phila, then LA, and finally Vegas. We all expected to see him there. Then someone broke the news...

Here I am, Lembit's fellow GM who met him for the first time as far back as 1982, sitting there and fighting a battle with my conscience. Should I claim my rights for the vacated spot? After all, in the 1998 published ratings combined I come next with the average ELO of 2642.5, and logically, must be invited to take Lembit's place. It would be nice to have somebody else to make such a decision, but I can't wait any longer. No word from FIDE has come yet, and I have no choice but speak my mind. It all comes down to the extreme sloppiness which has become a trademark of the current FIDE administration. It has nothing to do with the uncertainty of the Las Vegas situation. Postpone the tournament, move it to a new location, whatever - we may get upset, but we can understand because somebody is talking big money there. What ticks me off is a total incompetence shown in handling simple matters of selecting the participants. What we got there is a 100-player tournament that is supposed to assume a knockout format. Simple math, or not even that, just recollections from Groningen 1997, and here we are with 28 players seeded into the second round. Who are they? Presumably, the rating invitees. So far so good, but has it ever been mentioned, put in writing by FIDE? The five guys, winners of Groningen-Lausanne, plus the twenty people in the published list makes 25, and what about the other three spots? Total darkness. Then again, Lembit got invited. At whose expense, I wonder? Has FIDE finally smarted up about Kasparov's non-participation? If so, was Lembit invited to the second round? Is there a certain cut-off rating floor, and the players below it wouldn't be considered as possible replacements for Kasparov, Anand, Karpov, Oll and the Serbian players Velimirovic and Djuric, who might not get their US visas or might simply not want to come to the country that is waging an undeclared war on their homeland? Would the preference to be given to "almost qualifiers" from different Zonal tournaments? If so, then what criteria will be used in making your choices among them? I'm not here to discuss the system. It may be stupid to invite players to a tournament that might or might not take place at the second half of 1999 based on their ratings circa 1998 that mostly reflect their performances before Groningen 1997. On the other hand, some people got into the Second Round of Groningen based on their ratings from 1994-1995. Whatever, it is, that's the criteria we all agree to use.

The problem is, nobody is monitoring FIDE daily activities, and there's a lot of loopholes left in what passes for World Knockout Championship Rules and Regulations Book. It's kind of stupid to offer USCF as an exemplary organization when it comes to running chess tournaments simply because we don't have any here in the States, but for every US Invitational Championship there's a 5-man deep list of alternative players. Just in case. By keeping the process of selecting the substitutes behind the closed doors FIDE further taints its own reputation. It feeds me dark thoughts - I'm paranoid, I'm a conspiracy theorist. Somewhere out there things are getting fixed in the worst tradition of professional boxing, and there is a dogfight going on for vacant spots, one of those being the property of a dead guy. How 'bout considering Lembit a Round Two loser and using that check to establish a trust for his kids? I know it's tough to come up with 3 million dollars, you don't have to tell me about it. But, c'mon FIDE boys, for crying out loud, stop hiding from us! Update your webpage, make a habit of a weekly press-release, or in any other way stay in touch with your rank-and-file players! Let it be Las Vegas in August or Katmandu in November - doesn't matter.

All I ask for is an open and fair process of selecting the participants. Tell me who goes to Round Two, who and in what order may get upgraded from Round One seeding to Round Two in case of some invitees' non-participation, and goddamn it, publish the alternative list NOW! GM Alex Yermolinsky Cleveland, Ohio.

16) Forthcoming Events and Links

CCA-ChessWise International

The CCA-ChessWise International has begun and runs through June 17. The event with a $20,000 prize fund, has seen 17 GMs and 4 IM's turn up to the Vermont Resort. Those include Ehlvest, Gulko, Kaidanov, Wojtkiewicz, Akopian, Kacheishvili, Timoshenko, Shabalov, Fedorowicz, Bologan, Novikov, Blatny, Yermolinsky, Minasian, Garcia, Goldin, Ivanov. 39 of the players have FIDE ratings.

Official coverage: http://www.chesswise.com/ccacw/

In addition the World Open is soon to take place, website at: http://www.worldopen.com

3rd Mind Sports Olympiad

The prize fund for this year's Mind Sports Olympiad has been set at 100,000 pounds. There may also be some additional prizes to be announced later. In addition to the cash prizes the leading players will also receive the traditional MSO gold, silver and bronze medals. There will be additional medals for the leading juniors in each tournament. The prize funds for some of the games are listed below. All figures are in pounds sterling.

Chess £20,000; Bridge £10,000; Go £8,500; 10x10 Draughts £8,000; Othello £7,000; Chinese Chess £6,000; Scrabble £6,000; Shogi £5,000; Stratego £5,000; 8x8 Draughts £4,000; Memory Skills £3,000; Cribbage £2,000; Dominoes £2,000; Intelligence £2,000

Prize funds for other games will be announced in due course. The detailed tournament schedule will be announced on their web site http://www.mindsports.co.uk/ in early June and printed entry forms will be available shortly thereafter.

World Computer Chess Championships

Heiner Matthias reports: The next World Computer Chess Championships are to be held in Paderborn, Germany, 14-20. June 1999. Participants are all top commercial progams including Fritz, Hiarcs, Rebel etc. and in addition a few programs like Cilkchess or ZUGZWANG running on multi-processor-systems. On the last day (20.06.99) there will be a man-machine contest, where the top 4 programs of the World Championship will be matched against 4 invited GM's (Christopher Lutz, Loek van Wely, Raphael Waganian and Ivan Sokolov). All the games are relayed live on the net. For further information, the address of our web site is: http://www.uni-paderborn.de/~wccc99/

Voronezh Open-99

The Voronezh Open-99 started 12 June 1999 in Voronezh, Russia. There are 118 participants (2GMs, 17 IMs, 5 FMs, 1 WIM, 1 WFM) from Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, France, Hungary, Romania, Uzbekistan and Mexico. Official sites:

http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/index.htm (in Russian) or http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/index_e.htm (in English)