THE WEEK IN CHESS 323 15th January 2001 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Corus Wijk aan Zee 2001
3) FIDE January Rating list
4) Karpov vs. FIDE case settled
5) VIII "Anibal" Open
6) Keres Memorial Women's Rapid Tournament
7) Bundesliga
8) Foment Martinenc IM Closed
9) REBEL vs Van der Wiel
10) Czech Extra League 2000/2001
11) 2001 Australian Open Championships
12) 1st Darmstadt International
13) 108th New Zealand Championship
14) Ambassador Open
15) Estonia vs. Finland
16) Tapolca Open
17) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Kasparov v Kramnik: GM Nigel Davies and IM Andrew Martin is now available at pounds 9.99 / £ 14.50 plus shipping.

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Games section

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2001                14 games
VIII "Anibal" Open                    155 games
Keres Memorial Women's Rapid           28 games
Bundesliga                             32 games
Foment Martinenc IM Closed             42 games
REBEL vs Van der Wiel                   3 games
Czech Extra League 2000/2001          144 games
2001 Australian Open Championships    298 games
1st Darmstadt International            45 games
108th New Zealand Championship        121 games
Ambassador Open                       160 games
Estonia vs. Finland                    30 games
1072 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Mart Tarmak, Ülar Lauk, Marc Narciso, Maarten van Gils and Ed Schroeder, Martin Pribyl, Paul Dunn, Ian Rogers, Michael Freeman and Lionel Frost, Sinsa Joksic, Laszlo Nagy and all those who helped with this issue.

The start of the Corus tournament sees the start of a new era with Kasparov appearing in a tournament without a world title to his name for the first time since 1995. He has started with 2/2 but now the real work starts in round 3 with Viswanathan Anand. It's going to be interesting.

Please note that the ratings I use in TWIC are the July ratings. I need time to update my database with the January 2001 ratings hopefully by next week (I have the correct ratings for Wijk aan Zee).

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) Corus Wijk aan Zee 2001

14 players compete in the Corus 2001 chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands January 13th-28th 2001. The top nine players in the January 2001 rating list are taking part. Round 1 was on January 13th. Rest days are on Monday (15th), Friday (19th) and Wednesday (24th). The B Tournament starts on Tuesday 16th January 2001.

After two rounds Garry Kasparov leads alone with 2/2. He beat two of the expected tail-enders with the black pieces. Kasparov has white against his three most important opponents in the event Anand, Kramnik and Shirov. Behind Kasparov on 1.5/2 are those three players and Alexander Morozevich. Kasparov plays Anand on Tuesday which will mark the real start of the battle for first place. Nevertheless Kasparov is a confidence player and he was extremely effective in brushing aside his first two opponents, if he brushes aside Anand too we could be talking about a massacre.

The question as to whether Kasparov and Kramnik will shake hands with Shirov (or indeed the other way round) will be answered in rounds 9 and 12. Both players expressed annoyance about Shirov's implication (prior to the event) that the match was fixed. It is to be hoped that even if relations are frosty, professional etiquette can be maintained. These disputes never end up being worth it no-matter what the point of principal is.

Anand has given a couple of recent interviews just before travelling to Wijk aan Zee. One with David Llada at: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/event/wijk2001/anand.html and one with Arvind Aaron with the newspaper "The Sportstar" at: http://www.thesportstar.com/tss2402/24020500.htm

TWIC has special coverage in association with the organisers which includes John Henderson's picture reports from the venue.

Official coverage at: http://www.corusgroup.com/coruschess/home.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-28 i 2001                         cat. XIX (2710)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Kasparov, Gary          g RUS 2849  * . . . . . . . . . 1 . . 1  2.0       
 2. Shirov, Alexei          g ESP 2718  . * . . . . . = . 1 . . . .  1.5  2924 
 3. Kramnik, Vladimir       g RUS 2772  . . * . . = . . . . . 1 . .  1.5  2857 
 4. Anand, Viswanathan      g IND 2790  . . . * . . = . . . . . . 1  1.5  2864 
 5. Morozevich, Alexander   g RUS 2745  . . . . * = . . . . . . 1 .  1.5  2823 
 6. Timman, Jan             g NED 2629  . . = . = * . . . . . . . .  1.0  2758 
 7. Adams, Michael          g ENG 2746  . . . = . . * . = . . . . .  1.0  2753 
 8. Leko, Peter             g HUN 2745  . = . . . . . * . . = . . .  1.0  2646 
 9. Ivanchuk, Vassily       g UKR 2717  . . . . . . = . * . . = . .  1.0  2723 
10. Topalov, Veselin        g BUL 2718  . 0 . . . . . . . * . . 1 .  1.0  2675 
11. Fedorov, Alexei         g BLR 2575  0 . . . . . . = . . * . . .  0.5  2604 
12. Van Wely, Loek          g NED 2700  . . 0 . . . . . = . . * . .  0.5  2551 
13. Piket, Jeroen           g NED 2632  . . . . 0 . . . . 0 . . * .  0.0       
14. Tiviakov, Sergei        g NED 2597  0 . . 0 . . . . . . . . . *  0.0       
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (January 13, 2001)

Shirov, Alexei         -  Topalov, Veselin       1-0   24  B81  Sicilian Defence (Keres Attack)
Timman, Jan            -  Kramnik, Vladimir      1/2   15  B50  Sicilian Defence (Variations with 2...d6)
Adams, Michael         -  Anand, Viswanathan     1/2   48  B47  Sicilian Defence (Paulsen Variation)
Leko, Peter            -  Fedorov, Alexei        1/2   49  B32  Sicilian Defence (Labourdonnais Variation)
Van Wely, Loek         -  Ivanchuk, Vassily      1/2   71  A61  Benoni Defence
Piket, Jeroen          -  Morozevich, Alexander  0-1   40  D07  Tchigorin Defence)
Tiviakov, Sergei       -  Kasparov, Gary         0-1   53  B23  Sicilian Defence (Closed System)

Round 2 (January 14, 2001)

Kramnik, Vladimir      -  Van Wely, Loek         1-0   33  D85  Gruenfeld Defence (Main Line)
Anand, Viswanathan     -  Tiviakov, Sergei       1-0   45  B77  Sicilian Modern Dragon
Morozevich, Alexander  -  Timman, Jan            1/2   73  C26  Vienna Game
Leko, Peter            -  Shirov, Alexei         1/2   28  B97  Sicilian Najdorf
Ivanchuk, Vassily      -  Adams, Michael         1/2   33  E34  Nimzo Indian Defence (4.Qc2)
Topalov, Veselin       -  Piket, Jeroen          1-0   58  E15  Queen's Indian Defence (Main Line - Deviations)
Fedorov, Alexei        -  Kasparov, Gary         0-1   25  B20  Sicilian Defence (Sicilian Wing Gambit and Unusual Moves)

3) FIDE January Rating list

The new complete FIDE Rating list has been released for January 2001. The rapid rating list will follow shortly.

The main talking point was the non-rating of the Kramnik-Kasparov match. I understand the match was not submitted for rating so FIDE didn't rate it. Braingames need to answer the question as to why it was not. However FIDE certainly had the power to do so. In their own regulations it says "In principle, all important events should be rated. All top level tournaments may be rated by FIDE even if no rating report is submitted by the federation of the territory in which the event is held. " [ Quote from the FIDE Handbook: http://handbook.fide.com/ Section B, 02 FIDE Rating Regulations (Qualification Commission) 0.0 Introduction, section 0.2].

I'm sure the event could have been rated without implying FIDE acceptance of it as a World Championship its non-inclusion certainly is detrimental to the accuracy of the FIDE list. In Wijk aan Zee both Kramnik and Anand spoke of it as damaging the FIDE list which perhaps scotches suggestions that Kramnik and Kasparov agreed prior to their match that it would not be rated. Elsewhere Anand rises, perhaps not quite as much as expected, to 2790. Karpov has fallen another 20 rating points to 2679. The numbers at the end are the games played since the October 2000 list. Van Wely rises 57 points to reach 2700. The FIDE list is still more important than the Professional World Chess Rankings list, for all its faults it doesn't have some of the bizarre ratings once you get down below 30 in the world (Patrick Wolff's high rating puzzled him years ago and he's still there) and Michael Adams rated as low as 14 in the PWC list defies explanation. The PWC ratings do act as a good predictor of trends in players ratings however, showing Karpov's precipitate decline much more quickly than the FIDE list (when exactly did Karpov last have a half-way decent result?).

FIDE have also released the first of their top 32 lists http://www.fide.com/fide/html/top32.html. Effectively a ranking list for their World Cup and World Championship cycles it places Anand and Shirov at the top before listing the rest in rating order. In the future this list will depart even further from the rating list being even more strongly based on FIDE results. It places Kasparov 3rd in the list which shouldn't effect Kasparov too much as I'm sure he has no intention of playing in FIDE events in the near future. This list could be more accurately descibed as the "dash for cash " ranking list as it will be a deciding factor in gaining invitations to the potentially lucrative FIDE World Cup and Championships. Its only important if you want to play in these events. I'm sure Judit Polgar will be mightily relieved to appear on the list after being the highest rated player not to find a way to the last FIDE Championships bringing about rumours that FIDE didn't want women playing in their main championships but instead to strengthen their women's event. In fact I think her exclusion was just an error on FIDE's part, they just ran out of invitations before realising she wasn't qualified as of right. Certainly FIDE will have some explaining to do if she doesn't have a place next time.

January 2001 Rating list
No. Name                              t  NAT  ja00 ju00 oc00  ja01 Gms
  1 Kasparov, Gary..................  g  RUS  2851 2849 2849  2849  0
  2 Anand, Viswanathan..............  g  IND  2769 2762 2774  2790 16
  3 Kramnik, Vladimir...............  g  RUS  2758 2770 2772  2772  0
  4 Adams, Michael..................  g  ENG  2715 2755 2754  2746 35
  5 Leko, Peter.....................  g  HUN  2725 2743 2748  2745 16
  6 Morozevich, Alexander...........  g  RUS  2748 2756 2734  2745 16
  7 Shirov, Alexei..................  g  ESP  2751 2746 2746  2718 57
  8 Topalov, Veselin................  g  BUL  2702 2707 2707  2718 26
  9 Ivanchuk, Vassily...............  g  UKR  2709 2719 2716  2717 39
 10 Gelfand, Boris..................  g  ISR  2692 2681 2683  2712 37
 11 Bareev, Evgeny..................  g  RUS  2709 2702 2694  2709 22
 12 Van Wely, Loek..................  g  NED  2646 2643 2643  2700 62
 13 Svidler, Peter..................  g  RUS  2672 2689 2695  2695 40
 14 Gurevich, Mikhail...............  g  BEL  2694 2667 2673  2694 35
 15 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam............  g  UZB  2614 2690 2690  2693 27
 16 Khalifman, Alexander............  g  RUS  2656 2667 2658  2690 30
 17 Smirin, Ilia....................  g  ISR  2666 2677 2674  2686 33
 18 Dreev, Alexey...................  g  RUS  2680 2676 2681  2685 13
 19 Bologan, Viktor.................  g  MDA  2589 2641 2651  2684 22
 20 Karpov, Anatoly.................  g  RUS  2696 2699 2699  2679 15
 21 Ponomariov, Ruslan..............  g  UKR  2627 2630 2624  2677 45
 22 Georgiev, Kiril.................  g  BUL  2677 2661 2674  2676 46
 23 Polgar, Judit (GM) w ...........  g  HUN  2658 2656 2656  2676 34
 24 Short, Nigel D..................  g  ENG  2683 2677 2687  2676 29
 25 Tkachiev, Vladislav.............  g  FRA  2670 2657 2659  2672 15
 26 Ye, Jiangchuan..................  g  CHN  2616 2670 2682  2671 13
 27 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab..........  g  GEO  2673 2673 2678  2670 39
 28 Grischuk, Alexander.............  m  RUS  2581 2606 2601  2663 38
 29 Movsesian, Sergei...............  g  CZE  2668 2666 2666  2661 37
 30 Sokolov, Ivan...................  g  BIH  2637 2611 2611  2659 67
 31 Krasenkow, Michal...............  g  POL  2661 2702 2702  2658 42
 32 Lautier, Joel...................  g  FRA  2632 2648 2648  2658 35
 33 Onischuk, Alexander.............  g  UKR  2637 2627 2647  2658 20
 34 Rublevsky, Sergei...............  g  RUS  2662 2670 2653  2657 26
 35 Akopian, Vladimir...............  g  ARM  2660 2660 2671  2656  8
 36 Xu, Jun.........................  g  CHN  2578 2668 2665  2655 16
 37 Nikolic, Predrag................  g  BIH  2659 2657 2657  2652 45
 38 Nenashev, Alexander.............  g  UZB  2600 2642 2645  2649 18
 39 Peng, Xiaomin...................  g  CHN  2624 2657 2655  2648 17
 40 Jussupow, Artur.................  g  GER  2628 2610 2610  2645 21
 41 Vaganian, Rafael A..............  g  ARM  2618 2623 2627  2641 26
 42 Almasi, Zoltan..................  g  HUN  2676 2668 2668  2640 42
 43 Andersson, Ulf..................  g  SWE  2625 2641 2641  2640 26
 44 Seirawan, Yasser................  g  USA  2647 2647 2647  2640 21
 45 Shipov, Sergei..................  g  RUS  2640 2640 2640  2640  0
 46 Korchnoi, Viktor................  g  SUI  2659 2620 2632  2639 24
 47 Sakaev, Konstantin..............  g  RUS  2629 2627 2620  2639 18
 48 Kharlov, Andrei.................  g  RUS  2616 2627 2627  2639 15
 49 Beliavsky, Alexander G..........  g  SLO  2640 2654 2629  2638 43
 50 Ehlvest, Jaan...................  g  EST  2622 2627 2628  2638 34
 51 Crisan, Alexandru...............  g  ROM  2537 2538 2538  2635  0  *
 52 Sadler, Matthew.................  g  ENG  2630 2628 2628  2633  6
 53 Piket, Jeroen...................  g  NED  2633 2649 2640  2632 54
 54 Lastin, Alexander...............  g  RUS  2510 2560 2633  2631 34
 55 Dautov, Rustem..................  g  GER  2602 2606 2603  2631 15
 56 Zvjaginsev, Vadim...............  g  RUS  2641 2634 2635  2631  7
 57 Avrukh, Boris...................  g  ISR  2620 2625 2625  2630 29
 58 Rozentalis, Eduardas............  g  LTU  2553 2570 2593  2630 29
 59 Timman, Jan H...................  g  NED  2655 2639 2639  2629 38
 60 Tregubov, Pavel V...............  g  RUS  2615 2620 2610  2628 30
 61 Gulko, Boris F..................  g  USA  2644 2643 2642  2622 28
 62 Rustemov, Alexander.............  g  RUS  2553 2534 2553  2620 62
 63 Filippov, Valerij...............  g  RUS  2584 2593 2601  2619 16
 64 Hansen, Curt....................  g  DEN  2618 2613 2620  2619 13
 65 Bauer, Christian................  g  FRA  2517 2562 2562  2618 65
 66 Ftacnik, Lubomir................  g  SVK  2579 2608 2608  2618 36
 67 Bacrot, Etienne.................  g  FRA  2594 2613 2613  2618 21
 68 Najer, Evgeniy..................  g  RUS  2572 2597 2590  2616 32
 69 Huebner, Robert Dr..............  g  GER  2620 2615 2606  2616 24
 70 Malakhov, Vladimir..............  g  RUS  2593 2605 2605  2613 57
 71 Baklan, Vladimir................  g  UKR  2571 2599 2611  2613 20
 72 Smagin, Sergey..................  g  RUS  2580 2605 2613  2613  0
 73 Khenkin, Igor...................  g  GER  2622 2633 2633  2612 28
 74 Vladimirov, Evgeny..............  g  KAZ  2586 2598 2621  2612 22
 75 Aleksandrov, Aleksej............  g  BLR  2606 2591 2597  2610 33
 76 Landa, Konstantin...............  g  RUS  2598 2610 2610  2610  7
 77 Lutz, Christopher...............  g  GER  2587 2595 2595  2609 28
 78 Shabalov, Alexander.............  g  USA  2592 2601 2599  2609 24
 79 Milos, Gilberto.................  g  BRA  2620 2633 2644  2608 25
 80 Magomedov, Magaram..............  g  RUS  2594 2608 2608  2608  0
 81 Lputian, Smbat G................  g  ARM  2605 2598 2610  2607 33
 82 Kaidanov, Gregory S.............  g  USA  2599 2624 2619  2607 20
 83 Zhang, Zhong....................  g  CHN  2611 2636 2607  2607  0
 84 Sutovsky, Emil..................  g  ISR  2597 2609 2609  2605 11
 85 Milov, Vadim....................  g  SUI  2653 2626 2626  2604 68
 86 Marin, Mihail...................  g  ROM  2555 2557 2569  2604 45
 87 Speelman, Jonathan S............  g  ENG  2604 2623 2612  2604 22
 88 Dorfman, Josif D................  g  FRA  2593 2600 2600  2602 22
 89 Hracek, Zbynek..................  g  CZE  2620 2612 2604  2602 15
 90 Sasikiran, Krishnan.............  g  IND  2514 2573 2594  2601 35
 91 Najdoski, Toni..................  g  MKD  2548 2492 2559  2601 24
 92 Korneev, Oleg...................  g  RUS  2619 2619 2619  2600 76
 93 Psakhis, Lev....................  g  ISR  2599 2611 2624  2598 36
 94 Baburin, Alexander..............  g  IRL  2591 2590 2590  2598 20
 95 Tiviakov, Sergei................  g  NED  2567 2608 2606  2597 39
 96 Shariyazdanov, Andrey...........  g  RUS  2612 2582 2582  2596 36
 97 Hodgson, Julian M...............  g  ENG  2625 2640 2633  2596 21
 99 Novikov, Igor A.................  g  UKR  2591 2611 2600  2596 10
 99 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter.........  g  ROM  2611 2592 2592  2596  9
100 Tukmakov, Vladimir B............  g  UKR  2574 2582 2582  2595 57
101 Markowski, Tomasz...............  g  POL  2531 2568 2568  2595 36
102 Goldin, Alexander...............  g  ISR  2566 2575 2588  2595 15
103 Kozul, Zdenko...................  g  CRO  2597 2611 2616  2594 53

Left out Salov, Hjartarsson, Hellers, Granda Zuniga all due to inactivity. 

* Alexandru Crisan's rating has been restored to its January 1998 
heights subject to further investigation.

4) Karpov vs. FIDE case settled

Anatoly Karpov received a one off payment of $50,000 (described as a gesture of goodwill) in settlement of his dispute with FIDE over their scheduling of the Las Vegas FIDE Championships. He is unlikely to have made much money out of the case as he has to bear his own costs and share those of taking the case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. Both sides have agreed to refrain from criticism of each other. "Mr. Anatoly Karpov has no objection, and undertakes not to object, to FIDE's conferring of its World Championship title to Alexander Khalifman in 1999 and Viswanathan Anand in 2000."

Read the decision in full in a FIDE Press release: http://www.fide.com/fide/html/press/press65.html

5) VIII "Anibal" Open

The VIII "Anibal" Open takes place in Linares, January 8th-18th, 2001. This 11 round Swiss system event has reached round 7 amd Sarunas Sulskis leads alone on 6/7. My thanks to the Linares Chess Club for the news.

Round 7/11 standings
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anibal Open Linares ESP (ESP), 8-18 i 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Sulskis, Sarunas              g  LTU 2501  6     34.5   30.5 24.50  
 2. Zulfugaryi, Magomed           m  AZE 2496  5.5   38.5   31.0 25.00  
 3. Najer, Evgeniy                g  RUS 2616  5.5   38.0   31.0 24.25  
 4. Sturua, Zurab                 g  GEO 2580  5.5   37.5   26.5 22.75  
 5. Motylev, Alexander            m  RUS 2570  5.5   36.0   29.0 23.00  
 6. Kacheishvili, Giorgi          g  GEO 2556  5.5   35.0   29.0 22.00  
 7. Kobalija, Mihail              g  RUS 2581  5.5   34.0   27.5 22.00  
 8. Epishin, Vladimir             g  GER 2578  5.5   33.5   28.5 21.00  
 9. Milov, Vadim                  g  SUI 2604  5     37.0   27.5 22.00  
10. Zhang Zhong                   g  CHN 2607  5     36.0   27.5 20.00  
11. Potkin, Vladimir              m  RUS 2470  5     35.0   27.0 20.25  
12. Turov, Maxim                  g  RUS 2546  5     33.5   25.0 20.25  
13. Herrera, Irisberto            m  CUB 2404  5     33.0   28.0 18.00  
14. Gershon, Alik                 m  ISR 2540  5     33.0   25.5 18.50  
15. Bruzon, Lazaro                g  CUB 2584  5     32.5   26.0 19.50  
16. Arencibia, Walter             g  CUB 2534  5     32.5   25.0 19.25  
17. Zvjaginsev, Vadim             g  RUS 2631  5     32.5   24.5 19.50  
18. Ibragimov, Ildar              g  RUS 2571  5     31.5   25.5 18.50  
19. Mirzoev, Azer                 m  AZE 2463  5     31.0   23.5 17.50  
20. Bacrot, Etienne               g  FRA 2618  5     29.5   22.5 17.25  
161 players

6) Keres Memorial Women's Rapid Tournament

Mart Tarmak reports: As reported last week the 11th Paul Keres Memorial, rapid chess tournament, organized by sport society Kalev took place in Tallinn January 5th-7th 2001. The event marked the 85th anniversary of the birth of Paul Keres.

This week the games from the women's event are available. The event was won by WGM Viktorija Cmilyte.

Games provided by Ülar Lauk.

Internet site: http://online.ee/~maleliit/11th.htm

---------------------------------------------------------------
Keres Mem Rapid Women Tallinn EST (EST), 6-7 i 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Cmilyte, Viktorija  wg LTU 2335  * 1 = 1 0 1 1 1  5.5  2429 
2. Reizniece, Dana     wm LAT 2275  0 * = = 1 1 1 1  5.0  2366 
3. Voronova, Tatiana   wm LAT 2278  = = * = 1 = = 1  4.5  2310 
4. Piarnpuu, Leili     wm EST 2227  0 = = * = 1 0 1  3.5  2215 
5. Budylina, Sofia        EST 2076  1 0 0 = * 0 1 =  3.0  2186 
6. Fomina, Tatyana     wm EST 2266  0 0 = 0 1 * 1 =  3.0  2159 
7. Tsiganova, Monika   wm EST 2225  0 0 = 1 0 0 * 1  2.5  2113 
8. Bashkite, Viktoria     EST 2052  0 0 0 0 = = 0 *  1.0  1931 
---------------------------------------------------------------

7) Bundesliga

The 5th round of the Bundesliga took place over the weekend of January 6th-7th 2001. Games from Godesberger SK 3½-4½ SG Köln Porz, Gelsenkirchen ½ -7½ Solinger SG and Lübecker SV 4½-3½ Hamburger SK were given last week, the remainder are now available.

Internet coverage: http://www.chess-online.de/, http://www.schach.com/bundesliga, http://www.chessgate.de/ and http://www.chess-international.de/ticker/2000/bundesliga3/bundesliga5.htm.

8) Foment Martinenc IM Closed

There is an IM Closed taking place in Foment Martinenc (C/ Provenza 591 Barcelona) 8th-18th January 2001. There are 12 players and there are IM norms available. My thanks to Marc Narciso.

Internet coverage in Spanish and Catalan: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Falls/4480/OPEN01/FOMCER.htm and http://www.internet.ad/feva/noticies2001/tancat_fom2001.htm

Round 7 Standings:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IM Closed Martinenc ESP (ESP), 8-18 i 2001                           cat. V (2356)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Gonzalez Rodriguez, Jorge A     m COL 2336  * . 1 . . 1 = = . 1 1 1  6.0  2639 
 2. Narciso Dublan, Marc            m ESP 2507  . * . . 1 = 1 = . 1 1 1  6.0  2631 
 3. Fluvia Poyatos, Joan              ESP 2403  0 . * = . 1 . 1 1 . 1 1  5.5  2576 
 4. Granados Gomez, Manuel          f ESP 2408  . . = * 1 . = 1 0 = . 1  4.5  2425 
 5. Buecker, Stefan                 f GER 2346  . 0 . 0 * = 1 . . 1 = 1  4.0  2402 
 6. Torrecillas Martinez, Antonio     ESP 2379  0 = 0 . = * 1 . 1 = . .  3.5  2364 
 7. Ferron Garcia, Carlos             ESP 2283  = 0 . = 0 0 * . 1 1 . .  3.0  2329 
 8. Jose Abril, Ramon                 ESP 2361  = = 0 0 . . . * = . = 1  3.0  2320 
 9. Welling, Gerard                 m NED 2364  . . 0 1 . 0 0 = * . 1 =  3.0  2294 
10. Gallego, Ruben                    AND 2313  0 0 . = 0 = 0 . . * 1 .  2.0  2219 
11. Jerez Perez, Alfonso              ESP 2386  0 0 0 . = . . = 0 0 * .  1.0  2066 
12. Serra Pages, Jordi                ESP 2191  0 0 0 0 0 . . 0 = . . *  0.5  1967 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) REBEL vs Van der Wiel

There was a match in Maastricht between John Van der Wiel and the computer program Rebel. It took place January 2nd to 11th, 2001. John van der Wiel has developed explicit ideas about playing against computers and Rebel 11.0 (November 2000) seems to be much stronger than its predecessors. The organisers are Stichting Chess Events Maastricht. The venue: Centre Céramique, Avenue Céramique 50 Maastricht, The Netherlands. Dates: January 2-4, 2001 Round 1-3. January 9-11, 2001 Round 4-6. Match (6 games): GM John van der Wiel vs REBEL 11.0. Time control: 40/120 + 60/all. Games start at 13:00 local time. Entry is free.

Van der Wiel took the lead after a win in the third game however he lost games four and five and lost the match overall by 3.5-2.5. My thanks to Maarten van Gils and Ed Schroeder for the news.

Internet coverage: http://www.chess.dts.nl and more info at: http://www.rebel.nl/rebwiel.htm

REBEL CENTURY 3.0   -  Van der Wiel, John  1/2   90  B08  Pirc Defence
Van der Wiel, John  -  REBEL CENTURY 3.0   1/2   74  A00  Irregular Openings
REBEL CENTURY 3.0   -  Van der Wiel, John  0-1   59  B15  Caro Kann (Flohr Variation)
Van der Wiel, John  -  REBEL CENTURY 3.0   0-1   46  A34  English Opening (Symmetrical Variation)
REBEL CENTURY 3.0   -  Van der Wiel, John  1-0   45  C10  French Rubinstein Variation
Van der Wiel, John  -  REBEL CENTURY 3.0   1/2   32  A47  Queen's Indian (without c2-c4)


Stichting Computer Match Maastricht NED (NED), 2-11 xii 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1   2   3   4   5   6 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
REBEL CENTURY 3.0         ----    =   =   0   1   1   =   3.5  2588
Van der Wiel, John g  NED 2531    =   =   1   0   0   =   2.5  1943
-------------------------------------------------------------------

10) Czech Extra League 2000/2001

Martin Pribyl reports: The team championships of the former Czechoslovakia started in 1947. Until 1969 the whole event was played in a few days. Then the league competition began; it starts in the autumn (October - November), and every month one or two rounds are played. It ends in the spring (March - April). The rules of the competition are similar to the German Bundesliga - each match has teams of 8 players, a win brings 2 points, draw 1 point. In case of a tie the board points act as a tie-break. Among the 8 players 3 foreigner or guests players (Czech players registered with other clubs) can compete. This rule has made the competition stronger each year.

This season Extra League 2000/2001 there are among 192 players in 12 teams registered 29 GMs, 4 WGMs, 52 IMs, 2 WIMs, 14 FMs from 12 countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Georgia).

Some registered players sorted by ELO from January 1: Shirov 2718, Movsesian 2661, Krasenkow 2658, Ftacnik 2618, Hracek 2602, Macieja 2578, Babula 2564, Oral 2555, Stohl 2554, Gretarsson 2548, Kovalev 2544, Blatny 2541, Stocek 2537, Zezulkin 2530, Timoscenko 2525, Mirumian 2522, Chernyshov 2521, Cicak 2517, Smejkal 2515, Blehm 2512, Votava 2510, Lanka 2507, Polak 2505, Jakubiec 2501, Mikhaletz 2499, Ioseliani 2499, Klovans 2495, Kalod 2490, Meduna 2489, Vokac 2485, Konopka 2485, Sergeev 2485, Matlak 2476, Jansa 2470, Mokry 2469, Navara 2466, Vavra 2463, Antoniewski 2461, Haba 2461, Berzinsh 2460, D. Gross 2455, M. Jirovsky 2452, Velicka 2451, Zurek 2449, Stryjecki 2445, Tibensky 2440, David 2436, Voloshin 2430, Likavsky 2428, Rasik 2423, Biolek 2422, Markos 2419, Borik 2419, Hausner 2417, Salai 2416, Plachetka 2416, Mozny 2412, Talla 2410, Prandstetter 2410, Cvek 2404, Lechtynsky 2400 etc.

Rounds 6 a 7 are scheduled for February 24 - 25. Interesting matches will be played between Slatinice - Holdia DP Prague, Pardubice - Holdia DP Prague.

More information can you find in following web pages:
Official web page - http://www.chess.cz/extraliga/
Detailed results - http://www.chess.cz/extraliga/vysledky.htm
Teams and players - http://www.chess.cz/extraliga/soupisky.htm
Time schedule - http://www.chess.cz/extraliga/rozlosovani.htm
Playing halls - http://www.chess.cz/extraliga/hracimista.htm
Games - http://www.chess.cz/extraliga/partie.htm

Round 4 - 13.1.2001

Hagemann Opava   - DA Prague		          6:2
Trinom Zlin      - Vysehrad Prague		    4:4
NH Ostrava       - Infinity Pardubice		 3:5
TZ Trinec        - A64 Slatinice		      3,5:4,5
Mahrla Prague    - Kolin			             3,5:4,5
Holdia DP Prague - Ingem Pilsen		       4,5:3,5

Round 5 - 14.1.2001

Hagemann Opava   - Vysehrad Prague	     6,5:1,5
Trinom Zlin      - DA Prague			         5:3
NH Ostrava       - A64 Slatinice		      3,5:4,5
TZ Trinec        - Infinity Pardubice		 5:3
Mahrla Prague    - Ingem Pilsen	       	4:4
Holdia DP Prague - Kolin		              6,5:1,5

After 5 rounds of 11 the table is as follows:
 1. Holdia DP Prague	  9:1	 24,5
 2. TZ Trinec	        	8:2	 24,5
 3. A64 Slatinice	     8:2	 21,0
 4. Hagemann Opava	    7:3	 25,0
 5. Infinity Pardubice	6:4	 21,5
 6. Ingem Pilsen		     5:5	 23,0
 7. Mahrla Prague	     5:5	 20,0
 8. Vysehrad Prague	   5:5	 18,5
 9. Kolin		            4:6	 15,0
10. Trinom Zlin		      3:7	 18,5
11. DA Prague		        0:10	14,5
12. NH Ostrava		       0:10	14,0

11) 2001 Australian Open Championships

The Australian Open Championships took place in Canberra 28th December 2000 - 9th January 2001. Stefan Djuric took clear first place with 9/11 half a point clear of Ian Rogers. My thanks to Paul Dunn and Ian Rogers.

Internet coverage: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/austmain.html

Final Standings Round 11
------------------------------------------------------------------
Australian Open Canberra AUS (AUS), 30 xii 2000 - 11 i 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Djuric, Stefan           g  YUG 2472  9.0 8 2447 6.0  75 2640 
  2. Rogers, Ian              g  AUS 2558  8.5 9 2345 6.5  72 2511 
  3. Kunte, Abhijit           m  IND 2556  8.0 9 2347 6.0  67 2472 
  4. Lane, Gary W             m  ENG 2452  8.0 8 2273 5.5  69 2414 
  5. Zhao Zong Yuan           m  AUS 2341  8.0 7 2354 4.0  57 2404 
  6. Smerdon, David              AUS 2315  8.0 7 2337 4.5  64 2439 
  7. Pisk, Petr               m  CZE 2400  8.0 7 2241 4.0  57 2291 
  8. Volzhin, Alexander       g  RUS 2556  8.0 5 2374 3.5  70 2523 
  9. Johansen, Darryl K       g  AUS 2505  7.5 6 2330 3.5  58 2387 
 10. Ezat, Mohamed            m  EGY 2348  7.5 6 2202 4.0  67 2327 
 11. Reilly, Tim              f  AUS 2215  7.5 3 2420 1.0  33 2295 
 12. El Amary, Kamal             EGY 2113  7.5 2 2331 0.5  25 2138 
 13. Tan, Justin                 AUS 2201  7.5 0          
 14. Heidenfeld, Mark         m  IRL 2375  7.0 8 2424 4.0  50 2424 
 15. Bjelobrk, Igor              NZL 2137  7.0 7 2413 4.0  57 2463 
 16. Sarwat, Walaa            m  EGY 2392  7.0 5 2294 2.0  40 2222 
 17. Boyd,Tristan                    ----  7.0 7 2268 3.0  43 2218 
 18. Bartlett,Stephen                ----  7.0 5 2111 3.0  60 2183 
 19. Bliznyuk,Andrey                 ----  7.0 5 2295 2.5  50 2295 
 20. West, Guy                m  AUS 2372  7.0 5 2140 2.5  50 2140 
 21. Wright, Neil                AUS 2127  7.0 2 2412 1.0  50 2412 
 22. Kabir, S. Ruhul             BAN 2244  7.0 0          
 23. Dwyer, Daniel            f  AUS 2152  7.0 2 2058 2.0 100    
125 players

12) 1st Darmstadt International

The 1st Integrata GM tournament in Darmstadt, Germany took place 8th-14th January 2001. This category 10 event saw GM Sergei Ovsejevitsch take first place by half a point from Bogdan Grabarczyk.

Internet coverage: http://www2.integrata.de/beratung/news/welcome.htm#schach

---------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Integrata GM Darmstadt GER (GER), 2-16 i 2001       cat. X (2492)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Ovsejevitsch, Sergei   g UKR 2526  * = = = = 1 1 1 1 1  7.0  2708 
 2. Grabarczyk, Bogdan     m POL 2432  = * = = 1 1 1 = = 1  6.5  2664 
 3. Savchenko, Stanislav   g UKR 2579  = = * = = = = 1 = =  5.0  2525 
 4. Grabarczyk, Miroslaw   m POL 2495  = = = * = = = = = 1  5.0  2534 
 5. Galdunts, Sergey       m ARM 2495  = 0 = = * = 0 1 1 1  5.0  2534 
 6. Bunzmann, Dimitrij     m GER 2484  0 0 = = = * = 1 = 1  4.5  2493 
 7. Ginsburg, Gennadij     m GER 2487  0 0 = = 1 = * 0 1 =  4.0  2449 
 8. Rechel, Bernd          f GER 2402  0 = 0 = 0 0 1 * 1 1  4.0  2459 
 9. Jakubiec, Artur          POL 2488  0 = = = 0 = 0 0 * 1  3.0  2367 
10. Gutman, Lev            g GER 2533  0 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 0 *  1.0  2136 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

13) 108th New Zealand Championship

The 108th New Zealand Championships took place 30th December 2000 - 11th January 2001. They were held at the Lincoln Green Motor Lodge, Waitakere, Auckland, hosted by the Waitemata Chess Club. Chris Depasquale won the event but the 20001 New Zealand Champion was Scott Wastney the top placed New Zealander. My thanks to Michael Freeman and Lionel Frost for the results and games.

Internet coverage: http://sites.netscape.net/lionelfrost/index.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
108th ch-NZL Auckland NZL (NZL), 30 xii 2000 - 11 i 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Depasquale, Chris      f  AUS 2309  +18 + 3 +17 = 6 + 4 + 5 - 2 = 7 +11 + 8 = 9  8.5  2421 
 2. Wastney, Scott            NZL 2219  +16 + 7 = 4 =14 - 6 +15 + 1 = 3 = 5 +17 +13  8.0  2389 
 3. Sandler, Leonid        m  AUS 2416  +20 - 1 = 5 +17 +11 + 6 = 4 = 2 = 7 +13 = 8  7.5  2360 
 4. Garbett, Paul Anthony  f  NZL 2368  +19 +15 = 2 = 5 - 1 +18 = 3 = 6 = 9 +16 +14  7.5  2294 
 5. Mc Laren, Leonard         NZL 2250  +21 = 6 = 3 = 4 +14 - 1 +10 +13 = 2 = 7 +17  7.5  2380 
 6. Dive, Russell John     m  NZL 2414  +14 = 5 +12 = 1 + 2 - 3 +13 = 4 - 8 +18 = 7  7.0  2288 
 7. Ker, Anthony F         m  NZL 2348  +11 - 2 =18 =13 -17 +19 +15 = 1 = 3 = 5 = 6  6.0  2237 
 8. Croad,Nicholas            NZL ----  =12 =10 -14 +19 -13 +20 + 9 =18 + 6 - 1 = 3  6.0  2203 
 9. Wang,Rong                 CHN ----  =13 -17 +15 -11 +16 =14 - 8 +21 = 4 =10 = 1  5.5  2136 
10. Green, Peter              NZL 2239  -15 = 8 =19 +20 =18 +11 - 5 =14 -17 = 9 +21  5.5  2091 
11. Spain, Graeme             NZL 2180  - 7 =16 +20 + 9 - 3 -10 +17 +12 - 1 -21 +23  5.5  2156 
12. Hart,Ralph                NZL ----  = 8 +13 - 6 -18 -15 +23 =16 -11 +21 =20 +19  5.5  2109 
13. Guthrie, David            NZL 2143  = 9 -12 +16 = 7 + 8 +17 - 6 - 5 +14 - 3 - 2  5.0  2124 
14. Wheeler,Bruce             NZL ----  - 6 +21 + 8 = 2 - 5 = 9 =18 =10 -13 +23 - 4  5.0  2125 
15. Robinson, John            NZL ----  +10 - 4 - 9 +21 +12 - 2 - 7 -20 +23 =19 =16  5.0  2112 
16. Elliott, Darryl           NZL ----  - 2 =11 -13 +23 - 9 +21 =12 =19 +20 - 4 =15  5.0  2088 
17. Van der Hoorn, Mark       NZL 2115  +22 + 9 - 1 - 3 + 7 -13 -11 +23 +10 - 2 - 5  5.0  2171 
18. McNabb,Matthew            NZL ----  - 1 +23 = 7 +12 =10 - 4 =14 = 8 =19 - 6 -20  4.5  2116 
19. Barlow, Matthew           NZL 2166  - 4 =20 =10 - 8 +21 - 7 +23 =16 =18 =15 -12  4.5  2048 
20. Metge, J. Nigel           NZL 2152  - 3 =19 -11 -10 +23 - 8 -21 +15 -16 =12 +18  4.0  2002 
21. Krstev, Antonio           NZL 2146  - 5 -14 +23 -15 -19 -16 +20 - 9 -12 +11 -10  3.0  1914 
22. Hare, Tim                 NZL 2180  -17  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   0.0       
23. BYE                           ----   .  -18 -21 -16 -20 -12 -19 -17 -15 -14 -11  0.0       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14) Ambassador Open

Sinsa Joksic reports: Bern (SUI) - Georgian grandmaster Zurab Sturua won the 7th Ambassador open, a traditional Christmas tournament, played in Bern December 26th to 30th 2000. After 5 rounds under the Swiss system, the four highest placed players played a knock-out event whilst the others continued with the Swiss system event IM Petr Velicka (TCH) on 4.5 and GM Zurab Sturua (GEO), GM Jozef Horvat (HUN) and IM Lajos Seres (HUN) on 4 points contested the knockout. GM Csaba Horvath (HUN), IM Kaenel (SUI), IM Berzinsh (LAT) and IM Sibrecht (GER) were also on 4 points but had inferior Buchholz tiebreaks. In the semi-finals Seres beat Velicka. It was the highest rated player Zurab Sturua however who won both his semi-final and final matches both in "blitz" games and with a little bit of luck. He wasn't in his best form but won thanks to greater experience and a cool-headed finish. The top 10 players got money prizes: 2.000, 1.500, 1.000, 800, 600, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 SF, another 10 nature prizes and special prizes were distributed to WGM Betina Trabert (GER), ahead of WGM Nino Gurieli (GEO), best senior GM Suetin (RUS), best Swiss and Berner player IM Franzoni, junior Jost Sascha (SUI) and schoolboy Karron Julien (SUI). The tournament was organised very well.

Results of the knock-out games:
Semi-final: Velicka - Seres               1/2 0-1
            Sturua  - Jozef Horvat        1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1-0 
Final:      Sturua  - Seres               1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1-0                          
            Velicka - Jozef Horvat        1/2 1/2 0-1         

Final standings:

 1. Sturua, Zurab          g  GEO 2594  
 2. Seres, Lajos           m  HUN 2444  
 3. Horvath, Jozsef        g  HUN 2558  
 4. Velicka, Petr          m  CZE 2464  

 5. Horvath, Csaba         g  HUN 2513  5.5  28.5,  
 6. Berzinsh, Roland       m  LAT 2438  5.5  28.0,  
 7. Franzoni, Giancarlo    m  SUI 2430  5.5  24.0  159.0 
 8. Kiss, Pal              m  HUN 2400  5.5  24.0  157.0 
 9. Siebrecht, Sebastian   m  GER 2376  5.0  27.0,  
10. Dudas, Janos           m  HUN 2338  5.0  26.0  153.0 
11. Landenbergue, Claude   m  SUI 2390  5.0  26.0  151.0 
12. Horther, Heinrich         GER 2348  5.0  26.0,  
13. Trabert, Bettina       wm GER 2259  5.0  25.0,  
14. Suetin, Alexey S       g  RUS 2364  5.0  24.0,  
15. Meyer, Bernhard           SUI 2235  5.0  24.0,  
16. Goldstern, Flip        f  NED 2403  4.5  29.5,  
17. Kaenel, Hansjuerg      m  SUI 2452  4.5  28.0,  
18. Kolly, Jacques            SUI 2199  4.5  27.5, 
19. Pavlovic, Milos        g  YUG 2461  4.5  27.0  152.5 
20. Rufener, Markus           SUI 2138  4.5  27.0  147.5 
21. Gurieli, Nino          m  GEO 2373  4.5  26.5,  
22. Joksic, Sinisa         m  YUG 2281  4.5  26.0, 
23. Ciric, Dragoljub M     g  YUG 2356  4.5  25.0,  
24. Leutwyler, Mathias        SUI ----  4.5  23.5  152.0 
25. Stewart, Neil          f  GER 2321  4.5  23.5  150.0 
26. Hamzabegovic, Mersudi     SUI 2114  4.5  23.5  149.0 
27. Svendsen, Thomas          NOR 2104  4.5  21.5,  
28. Sutter, Dominik               ----  4.5  18.0   
108 players

15) Estonia vs. Finland

Mart Tarmak reports: There was a scheduled match over 100 boards between Estonia and Finland on January 14. Estonia has held 100 board matches before against Latvia. With good organisation there were more than hundred Estonian players who came arrived at the venue, the passenger ship Nordlandia. Unfortunately there were only 72 Finnish players were opposing them. Also many strong players were missing in the Finnish team so the result was crushing - 64:8 (+58, =12, -2). This match was played on the sea when the ship Nordlandia was on route between the two capitals from Tallinn to Helsinki. The two neighbouring countries have played many matches over different numbers of boards (including the Chess Olympiads) and Estonia has never lost. Next year a new match will be organized and Finland will have good chances for revenge. They have many more chessplayers and a much bigger population and also a good level of national team competition. Many Estonian players play for Finnish clubs. In a hypothetical match over the strongest 200 boards Estonia definitely have no chance. The games on the first 30 boards are available. On the top board Estonian GM Jaan Ehlvest won against his Finnish colleague Jouni Yrjola in an interesting game lasting 22 moves.

16) Tapolca Open

Tapolca Open was a 9 round Swiss Open tournament held in Budapest, 5th-13th of January 2001.

Lazslo Nagy reports:

The final results:

 1. FM Jakab, Attila   (HUN) 7.0 (16 years old!)
 2. FM Hajnal, Zoltan  (HUN) 7.0
 3. IM Galyas, Miklos  (HUN) 7.0
 4. IM Antal, Gergely  (HUN) 6,5
 5.    Berczes, Csaba  (HUN) 6.5 (13 years old)
 6. FM Horvath, Gabor  (HUN) 6.0
 7.    Tian, Tian (w)  (CHN) 6.0 
 8.    Bencze, Laszlo  (HUN) 6.0
 9. FM Majeric, Zoran  (CRO) 6.0
10.    Pasztor, Ferenc (HUN) 6.0.
.... 
50. NAGY, Laszlo (HUN) 4.0 points 

I play every year this tournament January is a holiday 
from the First Saturday Tournaments.

The best woman: Nemethne, Csom Etelka
Best senior:    Szirmai, Eduard 
Best U-20:      Erdelyi, Zombor
Best U-14       Vass, Viktor 
Best nonrated:  Bednay, Bence (11 years old!)

17) Forthcoming Events and Links

Cadaqués Computer Tournament 2001

Once a year the well-known computer chess expert, Prof. Enrique Irazoqui of Spain, runs a giant tournament with the strongest programs in the world.

Participants of the Cadaqués Tournament 2001: Deep Fritz, Gambit Tiger, Gandalf 4.32g, Junior 6a, Nimzo 7.32, Shredder 5.

This year the programs are playing on a dual Pentium-III 933 MHz with 768 MB of RAM. Time controls are 40 moves in 40 minutes. Each participant plays 20 game matches against all other participants, for a total of 300 games. Experts consider it the "Linares tournament" of computer chess. The winner is the strongest currently available chess program in the world.

Internet coverage: http://www.computerschach.de/tourn/index.htm

"Governador Mário Covas Júnior" Tournament

The Federação Paulista de Xadrez is hold a tournament called the "Governador Mário Covas Júnior" January 29th - February 8th 2001. The event is category VIII.

Players: 1 Izeta M ,Felix 2448 g, 2 Milos,Gilberto 2608 g, 3 Sega,Carlos Alberto 2286, 4 Limp,Eduardo 2462 m, 5 Benares Cruz,Ricardo 2276, 6 Rodriguez,Andres 2493 g, 7 De Toledo,James Mann 2384 m, 8 Lima,Darcy 2544 g, 9 Hoffman,Alejandro 2473 g, 10 Pelikian,Jefferson 2387 m, 11 Zapata,Alonso 2485 g, 12 Matsuura,Everaldo 2452 m.

Internet coverage: http://www.fpx.com.br/tmcj2001/tmcj2001.htm

Eger Hungary IM

There is an International Round Robin Tournament in Eger, Hungary for acquiring rating and IM norms. It takes place 16th-24th of February 2001. Category: II to IV. Number of participants: 10 to 12 Time limit: closed tournament with 10-12 rounds, 2 h/40 moves + 1 h /20 moves + 30 min for all remaining moves

Entry fee: depending on rating, to be stipulated by the organizer. Information: Europe Chess, IM Ali Habibi * Postfach 1148 D-35436 Linden * email: EuropeChess@web.de

The Europe Chess Round Robin Tournaments will be held in different European Countries. Combine quality chess with your vacation! If you register at least 5 participants ahead of time, we can organize a tournament at a date you pick. Soon more information in different chess magazines and on the internet.

WPC Site

Valery Salov heads the WPC (World Players Council) and they have their own website. The site is at: http://w.p.c.tripod.com with a mixture of material in Spanish and English. Includes a new interview with the Vice President of Iran Mr.Hashemi Taba.

Czech Open

The XII. International Chess Festival CZECH OPEN 2001 which will be held from 12 July to 29 July 2001 in Pardubice. Contact Jan Mazuch for more info j.mazuch@avekont.cz

First Saturday February

There will be GM and IM First Saturday events 3rd-16th February. Registered players so far GM event: IGM Sherzer, Alex (USA), IGM Lukacs, Peter (HUN), IGM Csom, Istvan (HUN), IM Almasi, Istvan (HUN), FM Szieberth, Adam (HUN), Berkes, Ferenc (HUN), IM Estrada, Julian (MEX), IM Horvath, Adam (HUN), IM Medvegy, Zoltan (HUN), IM Vajda, Albert (HUN), IM Kallio, Heikki (FIN), Rajlich, Vasik (USA), WGM Hoang, Thanh Trang (VIE). Reserves: IM Markus,Robert (YUG), IM Szeberenyi, Adam (HUN), FM Resika, Nathan (USA), WGM Vajda, Szidonia (HUN). Registered players so far IM events: IM Nemeth, Zolton (HUN), IM Eperjesi, Laszlo (HUN), IM Farago, Sandor (HUN), IM Seres, Lajos (HUN), IGM Vadasz, Laszlo (HUN), IM Boguszlavszkij, Evgenij (HUN), Thorfinson, Bragi (ISL), Galindo, Ricardo (ARG), Erdelyi, Zombor (HUN), FM Bognor, Csaba (HUN), WGM Vajda, Szid¢Nia (HUN), Bordas, Gyula (HUN), Xu, Hanbing (CHN), Tian, Tian (ChN), FM Magyar, Otto (HUN), Marxen, Peter (GER), FM Resika, Nathan (USA), Meszaros, Tam s (HUN), FM Jakab, Attila (HUN), WIM Dembo, Yelena (HUN), Jurkovic, Ante (CRO). Reserves: IM Petran, Pal (HUN), IM Kaposztas, Miklos, (HUN), IM Kahn, Evarth (HUN).

Budapest Spring Festival

17th Budapest Spring Festival 9 round Swiss system open chess tournament 16th-24th of March 2001 Organizer: Nagy, László Postal address: H-1101 Budapest, Hungária krt. 5-7. XI. ép. I. em. 7. Phone/fax: (061)-263-2859, mobile: 06-30-230-1914 E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu

Venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Budapest, 5th district.Falk Miksa Str.10.2nd floor, close to the red metro station KOSSUTH square. Rate of play: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 1 hour till the end, guillotine rules. Schedule: registration until 16th March 9 p.m. by phone at the organizer, then personally in the tournament hall until 14:30 on the 16th of March /here already 500,-Ft extra registration fee must be paid/. Besides of the entry fees 1200,-Ft annual ELO-registration fee must be paid to the Hungarian Chess Federation. Opening ceremony at 15:00. 1st-8th rounds : 15:30-21:30, last round 10:00-16:00 on the 24th of March. In case of equal points prizes will be decided by Buchholz, Berger-Sonneborn, then by progressive scores. Prizegiving ceremony at 16:00 on the 24th of March. Prizes: net 40-25-15-10-5-4-2x3-2x2.5-2x2 thousand Ft. Special prizes: 3 thousand Ft for the best U-20, U-14, above 60, woman and non-FIDE rated., if there are minimally 5 players in each group. The prizes are valid if there are minimum 70 players. If there are less players, prizes will be reduced proportionally . One player can get only one prize.

Entry fee system: from FIDE rating To FIDE-rating Entry fee /Ft/ Unrated 6000,- 2001 2100 5000,- 2101 2200 4000,- 2201 2250 3500,- 2251 2300 3000,- 2301 2350 2500,- 2351 2400 2000,- IGM, WGM , IM , WIM and above 2401 no entry fee.

Info about accommodation and the event: http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat

Khalifman Transcript

A transcript of Khalifman's ICC question and answer session is available. He talks at length on how he believes the FIDE Championships are the only one but isn't a craven FIDE loyalist. For instance he is not a supporter of the new FIDE time rate. He talks of the current big three (Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand) and how he feels he probably belongs in the next grouping of around 10 players (I agree). His objection to FIDE ratings. Why he isn't disappointed at being ignored by Corus (Why doesn't Khalifman get more invites? It puzzles me even in broken English he's a better ambassador for the game than many and he's playing well.) and how he believes Anand will not have sufficient recovery time to put in his best performance in Wijk aan Zee.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessclub.com/event/khalifman.html

Bermuda Tournaments

There will be two Invitational GM Tournaments in Bermuda, with the emphasis on youth they will followed by an Open.

The GM 'A' event will be a six player double-round event starting 20th January with GMs Gershon, Lesiege, Macieja, Shabalov, Stefansson and Vescovi (average rating, expected to be about 2575).

The GM 'B' event will be a twelve player event starting 19th January and confirmed participants so far are GMs Becerra & Thorhallsson, IMs Blehm, Doettling, Teplitsky & Bojan Vuckovic, WIM Fierro and Johann Alvarez, Charbonneau & Marcel Martinez, with a GM and another still to confirm.

The usual five round Open will start 1st February and will include most of those in the invitationals and GMs Van Wely, Rogers, Benjamin, Ilya Gurevich, Soltis & Bisguier have indicated attendance - not to forget Rupert Jones defending his Under 1800 prize!

Internet coverage: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess

Korchnoi-Ponomariov Match

There will be an 8 game Korchnoi-Ponomariov match will start on 16th January 2001 in Donetsk. The main sponsor is joint-stock company DANKO.

Details: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/match01p.htm

Helsinki IM and ELO

Helsinki Chess Circuit IM / ELO February 12th-22nd, 2001

Events: 12 player all-play-all IM-group (estimated FIDE category IV) 12 player all-play-all ELO-group (estimated rating average 2100)

Schedule Confirmation of participation Feb 12th at 10.00-11.00 (all times are local) Drawing of lots Feb 12th at 11.00 1st round Feb 12th at 14.00 2nd round Feb 13th at 14.00 3rd round Feb 14th at 11.00 4th round Feb 15th at 11.00 5th round Feb 16th at 14.00 6th round Feb 17th at 14.00 7th round Feb 18th at 14.00 8th round Feb 19th at 14.00 9th round Feb 20th at 14.00 10th round Feb 21st at 11.00 11th round Feb 22nd at 11.00 Prize giving ceremony immediately after 11th round Time rate 2 h / 40 moves + 1 h / 20 moves + 30 min to finish

Entry Fees IM group: FIM 600 (IMs and GMs conditions negotiable) ELO group: FIM 300 Prizes IM group: FIM 2000, 1500, 1000, 500 ELO group: FIM 1000, 750, 500, 250

Registration: Players interested to participate in IM- or ELO-group, please contact Mr. Sami Hämäläinen, tel. +358-9-5419091, email Sami.Hamalainen@icon.fi

26th Aubervilliers Speed Tournament

26th speed tournament of Aubervilliers (5 minutes travel from Paris) with £9000 in cash prizes takes place Saturday and Sunday 27th-28th January 2001.

Entry and further details: http://organisechecs.multimania.com/

Korchnoi-Ponomariov Match

There will be an 8 game Korchnoi-Ponomariov match will start on 16th January 2001 in Donetsk. The main sponsor is joint-stock company DANKO.

Details: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/match01p.htm

6th Stuttgart Open

The 6th International Stuttgart Open takes place in Ditzingen (Germany) from 24th-27th May 2001, 7ch.

Further information: http://www.tsv-zuffenhausen.de/schach/

2nd Yateley Manor International

The 2nd Yateley Manor International Open takes place 19th-21st January and 3rd-4th February 2001 (ie play is over 2 weekends). It takes place in Yateley Manor School, Reading Road, Yateley, nr Camberley, Hampshire.

For further details contact: Ray Clark High Cedars, Oak End Way, Gerrards Cross, Bucks. SL9 8DA e-mail ray.clark@kpmg.co.uk tel: 01753 883300

Deep Fritz vs. Germany

There is a Deep Fritz vs. Germany match taking place. Internet coverage: http://www.computerschach.de/dfritz/ with an English introduction at: http://www.computerschach.de/dfritz/dfritz1e.htm

VI FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships

The VI FIDE World Amateur Chess Championships take place in Pamplona (Spain). 27th December 2001 - 6 January 2002. Swiss 10 rounds Conditions: Players without Elo FIDE Entry: 50$ Information: Federación Española de Ajedrez Tfn: 34 (Spain)-91-3556009 Fax: 34-917256963 email: jaque@lite.eunet.es

Andorra Open 2001

The website for the Andorra open June 24th - July 2nd 2001. You can also win a digital camera or entry to the event by visiting their website.

Internet site: http://www.internet.ad/feva

Australian Junior Championships

2001 Australian Junior Championships 11-23 January Hellenic Club, Matilda St, Phillip, ACT The early-entry date is fast approaching and is next Wednesday 20 DECEMBER 2000. Late entries will be taken by the organisers up to 08 January and a late fee of $25 will apply, so get your entries in now. Print out the entry form from: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/junentryform.html and return to: 2001 Australian Junior Chess Championships PO Box 1403 Belconnen ACT 2616

New Chess Site

Emil Sutovsky has started contributing to the Chessy site. http://www.chesslove.h1.ru/eng/index.html

Sinisa Joksic www site

Yugoslav journalist Sinisa Joksic has a new internet site. He will cover Yugoslav chess in Serbo-Croatian and English and also the swiss chess tour.

Internet addresses: http://yubc.net/~yuchess or http://www.yuchess.bizland.com.

Two tournaments in Prague

There are two closed tournaments in Prague at the end of the year, the Wilhelm Steinitz Memorial and one open tournament - Karel Prucha Memorial.

Contact: FM Martin Pribyl Prague, Czech Republic E-mail: orbis64@login.cz

December 26, 2000 - January 5, 2001 Prague - Wihelm Steinitz Memorial - closed GM tournament, 12 participants, category 8 - 10. Entry fee for players with ELO > 2400 300 DEM. Closed IM tournament, 10-12 players, cat. 3. Info: Ruzena Pribylova, Kukelska 904/113, Praha 9, CZ-198 00, Czech Republic. E-mail: orbis64@login.cz

December 26, 2000 - December 30, 2000 Prague - Memorial Karel Prucha - international open tournament, 7 rounds. Info: Ruzena Pribylova, Kukelska 904/113, Praha 9, CZ-198 00, Czech Republic. E-mail: orbis64@login.cz

Two Swiss Chess Tour events 2000-1

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2000" will finish in Bern with the 7th "Ambassador Open" December 26th-30th 2000. Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Prize are: 2.000 SF, 1.500, 1.000, 800, 600, 500, 400, 300, 250 and 200 SF. From 11.- 20. places natural prizes. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1940), junior(1980-83), schoolboy (1984) and best local player. Entty fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free. Venue: Hotel "Ambassador"

New event - Blitz tournament, Swiss system, 9 double rounds.

Time table for "Ambassador Open": December 26.: The last registration 11.00-12.15 Open ceremony 12.15-12.30 Round 1st 12.30-17.30 December 27.: Round 2nd 9.30-14.30 Round 3rd 15.30-20.30 December 28.: Round 4th 12.30 Blitz 18.30-22.30 December 29.: Round 5th 9.30-14.30 The first four play knock-out and the other continue tournament. Round 6th 15.30-20.30 + semi-final December 30.: Round 7th 9.30-14.30 + final Closing ceremony 16.00

Registered: GM Sturua (GEO), WGM Gurieli(GEO), GM Suetin (RUS), GM C.Horvath (HUN), GM J.Horvath (RUS), IM Berzinsh (LAT), IM Velicka (CZE), IM Joksic(YUG), IM Seres (HUN), IM A.Meszaros (HUN), IM Pal (HUN).

Anniversary of Viktor Korchnoi Swiss Chess Tour 2001 The 3rd Hilton Open in Basle

Next year Viktor Korchnoi celebrates his 70th birthday. The Swiss Chess Federation, his club "Zurich", organizers from Switzerland and other countries want to take part and organize some chess event in honor of great champion. Swiss Chess Tour 2001 starts the first and address gala Hilton Open in honor of Viktor.

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2001" start in Basle with the 3rd Hilton Open January 1st 7th 2000. Swiss system 7 rounds and Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till the end). After 5 rounds a first three + Korchnoi play knock-out system, the others continue with Swiss system. Prizes: 1. 2000 SF (Swiss Francs), 2. 1.500, 3. 1.200, 4. 1.000, 5. 800, 6. 600, 7. 500, 8. 400, 9.-10.2x300 i 11.-12. 2x200 SF (min 100 players). Special prizes 200 SF each: best Lady, senior (1941), junior (1981-84), schoolboy (1985), Basle player, player till 2000 rating points and a best player till 1800 points. Entry fee: 130 SF (FMs + juniors 60; GMs + IMs free). At the doors +10 SF. Venue Hotel "Hilton"

The others celebration events: January, 2nd "Juniors Chess King" four category U-20, U-17, U-14, U-12. January, 3rd Viktor Korchnoi, Simul & show-blitz with juniors and VIP persons January, 6th Blitz Open (5', Swiss system, 9 double round)

Time table for "Hilton Open": January 1.: The last registration 14.00-16.45 Open ceremony 16.45-17.00 Round 1st 17.00-23.00 January 2.: Juniors Tournament 10.00-17.00 Round 2nd 17.00-23.00 January 3.: Round 3rd 17.00-23.00 Korchnoi, Simul & show-blitz 14.00-17.00 January 4.: Round 4th 17.00-23.00 January 5.: Round 5th 17.00-23.00 The first four play knock-out and the other continue Tournament. January 6. : Round 6th 11.00-17.00 (The semi-final 10.00-16.00) Blitz Tournament 18.00-22.00 January 7. : Round 7th 11.00-17.00 (The final 10.00-16.00) The closing ceremony 18.00

Registered: GM Korchnoi (SUI), GM A. Sokolov (RUS), GM Tukmakov (UKR), GM Sturua (GEO), WGM Gurieli (GEO), GM Cvitan (CRO), GM Suetin (RUS), GM C.Horvath (HUN), GM J.Horvath (RUS), IM Joksic (YUG), IM Pikula (YUG), IM Seres (HUN), IM A.Meszaros (HUN), IM Pal (HUN).

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+34+424-01-06 faf +41+34+424-01-07 E-mail info@beochess.ch

Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

10th Aurec Rapidplay

The 10th Aurec (France) Rapidplay takes place 10th-11th February 2001.

Two rapid tournaments 7 rounds/20mn. 2 sections : - section A for every player (total prizes FF 35,000) - section B for under 1700 (total prizes FF 5,000 + prizes in kind) Board and lodging from Friday to Sunday for all titled players. No appearance fees. Contact : Olivier Deville - Coteviere - 43110 Aurec, France, tel. : (+33) 4 77 35 41 21 - Fax : (+33) 4 77 35 23 76 - E-mail : odeville@netcourrier.com

Gausdal Troll Masters

The Gausdal Troll Masters are played at the Gausdal Høifjellshotel in Norway 5-12th January 2001. Open 9-round GM-tournament with good norm chances. 14-18 titled players expected out of 60-70 participants. Maximum 10-12 unrated players. Confirmed GMs: Rozentalis (2593), Rausis (2551), Krakops (2522), Gausel (2492), Djurhuus (2484) and Westerinen (2370). Last date of entry: 1st Januay 2001 Start fee: NOK 300-900, depending on rating. Prizes: NOK 6000 - 4000 - 2500 - 1500 - 1000

More information on the home page: http://home.online.no/~bjarke-k/TrollMasters/Troll2001/Engelsk/index.htm

Participation in the tournament may be combined with the Open Norwegian Rapid Chess Championships, played in Fredrikstad (south-east of Oslo) 12-13th January 2001. Home page: http://www.sjakk.net/nm_2001.html

Cappelle la Grande

The XVII Cappelle la Grande open takes place 24th February-3rd March 2001.

Internet site: http://cappelle.free.fr

GM Alexander Baburin chess sites

GM Alexander Baburin has been a familiar presence on the internet with his Coffee Break magazine. He is now involved in two new websites. http://www.gmsquare.com The idea is to provide a place on the Web to those GMs who would like to have some presence on the Internet and currently there are sites of three GMs there - Alexander Baburin himself, Alexander Morozevich and Lev Psakhis. Secondly at: http://www.chesstoday.net there will be a commercial chess service, providing daily news, interviews and instruction to a wide range of players. Each issue will feature one annotated game and news from around the world, while weekend issues will have some instructional materials, particularly useful for club players. Chess Today costs about $15 for 4 months.

Tel Aviv Open 2001

Open Swiss International Tournament in Tel-Aviv Dates: 9th-17th April 2001. 9 rounds. Possibilities for GM and IM norms. Prizes: 4000 3000 2000 1200 800....20 prizes in total (10 last are 250$); special U-2400, U-2000, U-18 y.o: 500 300 200 + women prizes; Special Conditions for GMs and IMs (apply to Dima Tyomkin dimatyomkin@hotmail.com).

Info: The Israeli Chess Federation through Mr. Igal Lotan 03-6437627, 03-6437630;

Bobby Fischer contribution to the Ambassador Report

Bobby Fischer was associated with Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God for some time. The Ambassador report was compiled by opponents of the organisation. You can read it at: http://homepage.altavista.com/AmbassadorReport/files/Fischer.html

4NCL Fantasy Chess

Fantasy Chess is now running a competition based on the 4NCL. People have to predict the results of the matches rather than the individual games. One for the Bundesliga will follow.

http://play.at/fantasychess

Three Hungarian Tournaments

Szekszard HUN IM closed tournament 04-10 12 2000 9 rounds, 2 double rounds, cat. 3-4, entry fee: 200 DEM information: Videki Sandor Tel/fax: 00-36-75421225 email: videkisn@matavnet.hu

Szekszard HUN 9 rounds open, children, blitz tournaments 05-10 12 2000 prizefound: 400000 HUF Information: Papp Csaba, Decs Oreg str.53 Hungary email: rlaszlo@freemail.hu

There will be the TAPOLCA Open chess tournament in Budapest January 5th-13th 2001. Prizes: 40-25-15-10-6-4-2x3-2x2.5-2x2 thousand HUF /1 USD = 300 HUF now/. About 4-6 IM-s, 50-70 % FIDE rated usually. The organizer: PAREJ, Jozsef, phone: 00-36-87-321-950, home 19:00-21:00 hours Central European Time More info and accommodation in Budapest: Nagy, Laszlo International Chess Organizer E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu

IECG Cup

The IECG Cup VI preliminary stage. IECG Cup is an open tournament: players of any rating are merged together. So this is a nice opportunity to play a wide range of opponents. Subscriptions are open until September 15. Entries received after this date are used for a replacement list, which will be closed on October 1st. The tournament will be launched on October 1st, for a duration of 11 months. All the unfinished games will be adjudicated. During the preliminary phase, all participants take part in a 7 men, single round tournament (so 6 games to play). The 2 winners of each section will be entitled to play in the next stage, starting in October 2001. All games count for IECG rating, of course.

The entry form for Cup VI is at: http://www.iecg.org/cupentry.htm The web entry form is the best method to be enlisted in the Cup, as the process behind is easier for us.

Linares and Ubeda Opens 2001

The VIII "Anibal" Open takes place in Linares, January 8th-18th, 2001. 11 round Swiss System Event.

PRIZES 1º 1.000.000 pts. 2º 500.000 pts. 3º 250.000 pts. 4º 200.000 pts. 5º 150.000 pts. 6º-10º 100.000 pts. 11º-20º 50.000 pts. 21º-30º 30.000 pts. 31º-50º 25.000 pts. 1st Woman Chessplayer 50.000 pts. 1st Chessplayer under 2300 Elo 50.000 pts. 1st Chessplayer from Jaen 50.000 pts.

The VI "Ciudad de Ubeda" Open takes place Ubeda, January 21st-30th 2001. 10 Round Swiss System event.

PRIZES 1º 500.000 pts. 2º 250.000 pts. 3º 150.000 pts. 4º 125.000 pts. 5º 100.000 pts. 6º-15º 75.000 pts. 16º-50º 50.000 pts. 1st Woman Chessplayer 50.000 pts. 1st Chessplayer under 2300 Elo 50.000 pts. 1st Chessplayer from Jaen 50.000 pts.

New Russian Website

There is a new Russian Website (English content to follow) at: http://kvkchess.euro.ru/. Material includes chess history and statistics and a collection of the chess links.

New Greek Site

The OAA Heraklio Chess Club a new website: http://www.oaachess.bizland.com the site has chess news from Greece, chess features, etc. Includes a Greek chess calendar.

16th Maccabiah Chess Tournaments

As part of the 16th Maccabiah there will be a number of chess tournaments (GM/IM and open tournaments) The 16th Maccabiah (Jewish Olympiad) takes place in Tel-Aviv 16th-26th June 2001. http://www.slavchess.co.il/academy/maccabi.html