THE WEEK IN CHESS 337 23rd April 2001 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) XI Dos Hermanas GM tournament
3) Category XVII in Enghien-les-Bains
4) Garry Kasparov vs. Terence Chapman charity odds match
5) Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov unite against FIDE. Shirov replies.
6) 74th St. Petersburg Championship
7) Category 13 in Kharkov
8) Redbus Knockout
9) Israel Open Championships
10) Bucharest Spring Festival
11) First Saturday April
12) Third Saturday, Belgrade
13) Cuban Chess Championships
14) Dutch Team Championships
15) Braingames Controversy
16) Dubai Open
17) Hampstead GMs
18) Championships of Uruguay
19) GM Tournament Rijeka
20) Gausdal Classics
21) 4th Tanta Open, Egypt
22) Vukovar IM Tournament
23) Austrian Team Championships Final
24) Karpov vs Kouvatsou in Rethymno
25) Foxwoods Open
26) 5th Int. Neckar-Open
27) 13th Lenk Open
28) Easter Open Essen-Borbeck
29) Polish Junior Championships
30) 50th Bulgarian Women's Championships
31) 5th Sandanski Rapid Open
32) 2nd European Open women's Championship
33) Geneva Chess Club's 100th Anniversary Tournament
34) Forthcoming Events and Links


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The Chigorin Defence by Martin Breutigam At master level, the Chigorin Defence has seldom been played and probably thats why it has been less analysed than other openings - good prerequisites for freethinkers and adventurers on the chess board!“ (Breutigam) The Chigorin Defence resulting after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 has become popular again thanks to Alexander Morozevich who with has been holding his own even against the best. FIDE master Martin Breutigam includes a small but swell database with 100 entries - 7 texts and 93 sample Another database includes 54 training questions enabling the user to test his freshly acquired knowledge. Furthermore, the CD features a big database of more than 4.000 games as a reference database plus a big tree of all games. System requirements: Pentium, Windows 95,98,2000,Me RRP: £17.95 / $27

CHESSBASE MAGAZINE 80 February 2001 ChessBase Magazine 80 contains the main body of 1262 games and five database reports. There are many strong tournaments, the men´s Olympiad in Istanbul and the Braingames and FIDE World Championships in London and Delhi/Teheran.l RRP: £17.95 / $27

Main Line Caro-Kann Neil McDonald Everyman $21.95/£14.99 The Caro Kann has always been one of the most widely played openings among club and tournament players. This handy battle manual deal with the critical main line positions after 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4. Highly-regarded author Grandmaster Neil McDonald offers a comprehensive survey of the state of opening theory for both White and Black players, explaining the basic elements, strategies and tactics for both sides

New In Chess Yearbook 58 New In Chess $22.50/£15 Opening preparation is not the first thing that comes to mind when the name of Brain Game World Champion Vladimir Kramnik is brought up. However, with the right ingredients in hand he is more than capable of producing some spicy opening dishes. Have a taste from Kramnik's Kitchen. CHEF DE CUISINE Thanks to Vladimir Kramnik an old line against the Gruenfeld Indian has come back into fashion.

Offbeat Spanish Glenn Flear Everyman $21.95/£14.99 Deciding what to do against the Spanish (Ruy Lopez) is a perennial problem for those who play too passively and end up having to face what is known as the 'Spanish Torture'. In this book Grandmaster Glenn Flear studies a wide variety of ambitious and offbeat answers catering for many different playing styles. From the super-solid Berlin (as used so successfully by Vladimir Kramnik in his Brain Games World Championship victory against Garry Kasparov) to the uncompromising Schliemann, there is enough choice here for any prospective black player facing the Spanish

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Games section

XI Dos Hermanas GM tournament       25 games
Dos Hermanas GMB Tournament         20 games
Category XVII in Enghien-les-Bains  20 games
Kasparov-Chapman odds match          4 games
74th St. Petersburg Championship    66 games
Category 13 in Kharkov              21 games
Redbus Knockout                     30 games
Israel Open Championships           37 games
Bucharest Spring Festival           12 games
First Saturday April                70 games
Third Saturday, Belgrade            10 games
Third Saturday, Belgrade IM         11 games
Cuban Chess Championships          136 games
Cuban Championships (Osmel Garcia)   8 games
Dutch Team Championships           181 games
Dubai Open                         300 games
Hampstead GMs                       35 games
Hampstead Match                      5 games
Championships of Uruguay            10 games
GM Tournament Rijeka                25 games
Gausdal Classics GM                 35 games
Gausdal Classics IMA                35 games
Gausdal Classics IMB                35 games
4th Tanta Open, Egypt               76 games
Vukovar IM Tournament               45 games
Austrian Team Championships        396 games
Karpov vs Kouvatsou in Rethymno      2 games
Foxwoods Open                       87 games
5th Int. Neckar-Open                92 games
13th Lenk Open                      20 games
Easter Open Essen-Borbeck           94 games
Polish U20 Championships            12 games
Polish U20 Championships Women      12 games
50th Bulgarian Women's Championship 66 games
Geneva CC 100th Anniversary         15 games
2048 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to David Llada, Alon Shulman, Radu Chirila, Laszlo Nagy, Alexei Shirov, Jon Speelman, Vladica Andrejic, Wybe Koopmans, Alejandro Nogueira, Angus French, Eirik Gullaksen, Vladica Andrejic, Ossi Weiner, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, Ravi, Adam Raoof, Hassan Khaled, Mihajlo Savic, Argiris Kotsis, Michael Atkins, Markus Brenner, Rumen Angelov and all those who helped with this issue.

Again a huge amount of chess to enjoy this week. The future of the game came under the spotlight again this week with a letter signed by Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov outlining their objections to FIDE and FIDE Commerce, it was followed by a number of reactions and also the publication of an interview with FIDE Commerce director Artiom Tarasov. Add to this mix a letter signed but amongst others Alexei Shirov and Alexander Khalifman and we see that there is a huge mix of opinion which will be very hard to reconcile.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) XI Dos Hermanas GM tournament

The XI Dos Hermanas GM tournament takes place 19th-27th April 2001. After five rounds Ilia Smirin leads the Category XVI event half a point clear of Illescas and Vallejo. The child star Teimour Radjabov plays his first event as a GM and is on 50%.

Internet coverage: http://www.doshermanas.net/ and http://www.edami.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GMA Dos Hermanas ESP (ESP), 19-20 iv 2001                 cat. XVI (2634)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Smirin, Ilia               g ISR 2691  * . = . = . 1 = . 1  3.5  2758 
 2. Illescas Cordoba, Miguel   g ESP 2562  . * . 1 = 0 . = 1 .  3.0  2740 
 3. Vallejo Pons, Francisco    g ESP 2559  = . * . . . = 1 = =  3.0  2713 
 4. Dreev, Alexey              g RUS 2685  . 0 . * . . = 1 = 1  3.0  2687 
 5. Almasi, Zoltan             g HUN 2640  = = . . * = = . = .  2.5  2628 
 6. Gurevich, Mikhail          g BEL 2688  . 1 . . = * . 0 = =  2.5  2637 
 7. Radjabov, Teimour          g AZE 2533  0 . = = = . * . . 1  2.5  2646 
 8. Sokolov, Ivan              g BIH 2659  = = 0 0 . 1 . * . .  2.0  2565 
 9. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab     g GEO 2670  . 0 = = = = . . * .  2.0  2554 
10. Krasenkow, Michal          g POL 2655  0 . = 0 . = 0 . . *  1.0  2391 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (April 19, 2001)

Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Dreev, Alexey             1-0   34  B19  Caro Kann
Gurevich, Mikhail         -  Almasi, Zoltan            1/2   18  A36  English Botvinnik Variation
Sokolov, Ivan             -  Smirin, Ilia              1/2   39  E70  King's Indian Fianchetto
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab    -  Vallejo Pons, Francisco   1/2   31  D12  Slav Defence
Krasenkow, Michal         -  Radjabov, Teimour         0-1   40  E90  King's Indian Classical

Round 2 (April 20, 2001)

Smirin, Ilia              -  Krasenkow, Michal         1-0   72  B30  Sicilian Rossolimo Variation
Vallejo Pons, Francisco   -  Sokolov, Ivan             1-0   40  C87  Ruy Lopez
Dreev, Alexey             -  Azmaiparashvili, Zurab    1/2   38  D24  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Almasi, Zoltan            -  Radjabov, Teimour         1/2   15  C05  French Tarrasch
Gurevich, Mikhail         -  Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  1-0   29  D97  Gruenfeld Defence Russian

Round 3 (April 21, 2001)

Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Almasi, Zoltan            1/2   34  B36  Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Radjabov, Teimour         -  Smirin, Ilia              0-1   56  E97  King's Indian Classical
Sokolov, Ivan             -  Dreev, Alexey             0-1   31  D43  Anti-Meran Gambit
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab    -  Gurevich, Mikhail         1/2   59  A80  Dutch Defence
Krasenkow, Michal         -  Vallejo Pons, Francisco   1/2   21  A11  Reti Opening

Round 4 (April 22, 2001)

Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Azmaiparashvili, Zurab    1-0   59  B07  Pirc Defence
Vallejo Pons, Francisco   -  Radjabov, Teimour         1/2   27  C10  French Rubinstein
Dreev, Alexey             -  Krasenkow, Michal         1-0   52  D92  Gruenfeld Defence 5.Bf4
Almasi, Zoltan            -  Smirin, Ilia              1/2   40  B82  Sicilian Scheveningen Variation
Gurevich, Mikhail         -  Sokolov, Ivan             0-1   75  D10  Slav Defence

Round 5 (April 23, 2001)

Smirin, Ilia              -  Vallejo Pons, Francisco   1/2   19  C42  Petroff's Defence
Radjabov, Teimour         -  Dreev, Alexey             1/2   21  D46  Semi-Slav Defence
Sokolov, Ivan             -  Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  1/2   27  D92  Gruenfeld Defence 5.Bf4
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab    -  Almasi, Zoltan            1/2   26  B30  Sicilian Rossolimo Variation
Krasenkow, Michal         -  Gurevich, Mikhail         1/2   17  A88  Dutch Leningrad System

3) Category XVII in Enghien-les-Bains

The Category XVII Enghien-les-Bains tournament in France took place April 10th-20th 2001. Vladimir Akopian took first place half a point clear of Joel Lautier. Evgeny Bareev led the event before losing two out of his last three games. Rising star Alexander Grischuk limited the damage to his rating by getting back to 50% after being on -2 at one stage.

Further details: http://enghien.free.fr

--------------------------------------------------------------------
It Enghien-les-Bains FRA (FRA), 11-20 iv 2001       cat. XVII (2652)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Akopian, Vladimir     g ARM 2654  * = = = 1 = = = 1 1  6.0  2776 
 2. Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2658  = * = 0 = 1 1 = 1 =  5.5  2731 
 3. Bacrot, Etienne       g FRA 2627  = = * = = 1 = 0 1 =  5.0  2697 
 4. Bareev, Evgeny        g RUS 2709  = 1 = * = 0 1 = 0 1  5.0  2688 
 5. Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2670  0 = = = * = 1 1 1 0  5.0  2693 
 6. Grischuk, Alexander   g RUS 2668  = 0 0 1 = * = 1 0 1  4.5  2650 
 7. Fressinet, Laurent    g FRA 2575  = 0 = 0 0 = * 1 1 =  4.0  2617 
 8. Tkachiev, Vladislav   g FRA 2672  = = 1 = 0 0 0 * = =  3.5  2569 
 9. Bologan, Viktor       g MDA 2676  0 0 0 1 0 1 0 = * 1  3.5  2569 
10. Bauer, Christian      g FRA 2612  0 = = 0 1 0 = = 0 *  3.0  2531 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 6 (April 17, 2001)

Akopian, Vladimir    -  Bologan, Viktor      1-0   41  D37  Queen's Gambit: 5.Bf4
Bareev, Evgeny       -  Bauer, Christian     1-0   37  B00  Owen's Defence
Van Wely, Loek       -  Bacrot, Etienne      1/2   62  D36  Queen's Gambit: Exchange Variation
Grischuk, Alexander  -  Tkachiev, Vladislav  1-0   45  C88  Ruy Lopez (Closed System)
Fressinet, Laurent   -  Lautier, Joel        0-1   27  B31  Sicilian Rossolimo Variation

Round 7 (April 18, 2001)

Lautier, Joel        -  Van Wely, Loek       1/2   30  D97  Gruenfeld Defence (Russian System)
Bacrot, Etienne      -  Akopian, Vladimir    1/2   15  E20  Nimzo Indian Defence
Tkachiev, Vladislav  -  Fressinet, Laurent   0-1   43  D47  Queen's Gambit: Meran Variation
Bologan, Viktor      -  Bareev, Evgeny       1-0   59  C11  French Defence
Bauer, Christian     -  Grischuk, Alexander  0-1   22  A84  Dutch Defence

Round 8 (April 19, 2001)

Akopian, Vladimir    -  Bareev, Evgeny       1/2   23  D23  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Bacrot, Etienne      -  Lautier, Joel        1/2   34  E20  Nimzo Indian Defence
Van Wely, Loek       -  Tkachiev, Vladislav  1-0   41  E15  Queen's Indian Defence
Grischuk, Alexander  -  Bologan, Viktor      0-1   51  C99  Ruy Lopez (Tchigorin Variation)
Fressinet, Laurent   -  Bauer, Christian     1/2   19  C01  French Exchange Variation

Round 9 (April 20, 2001)

Lautier, Joel        -  Akopian, Vladimir    1/2   42  E45  Nimzo Indian Defence
Bareev, Evgeny       -  Grischuk, Alexander  0-1   31  A84  Dutch Defence
Tkachiev, Vladislav  -  Bacrot, Etienne      1-0   40  D49  Queen's Gambit: Meran Variation
Bologan, Viktor      -  Fressinet, Laurent   0-1   43  C55  Two Knight's Defence
Bauer, Christian     -  Van Wely, Loek       1-0   40  B78  Sicilian Modern Dragon

4) Garry Kasparov vs. Terence Chapman charity odds match

Garry Kasparov beat Terence Chapman in their charity odds match which took place April 21st-22nd 2001 in Simpson’s-in-the Strand, London. Kasparov had 6 pawns and 60 minutes, Chapman all 8 pawns and 90 minutes per game. The match proved very competitive with the odds being very balanced. In game one Chapman only missed his way right at the end missing at least one draw before going down to a loss. In game two his imaginative King walk saved the day when Kasparov appeared to be building up a very threatening attack. Game three saw Chapman level the match after he went on the offensive and Kasparov tried to complicate things by sacrificing material. Chapman took everything and calmly converted his material advantage in the face of what proved to be superficial Kasparov threats. The final game was a little disappointing. Kasparov rapped things up very quickly after missing a simple tactic from Kasparov which won a pawn and wrecked Chapman's position.

he TWIC Mini-site for the event is at: http://www.chesscenter.com/chapmankasparov/

Saturday 21st April 2001
Chapman,Terence  -  Kasparov, Garry  0-1    37
Kasparov, Garry  -  Chapman,Terence  1/2    34

Sunday 22nd April 2001
Chapman,Terence  -  Kasparov, Garry  1-0    37
Kasparov, Garry  -  Chapman,Terence  1-0    24

Charity Odds Match London ENG (ENG), 21-22 iv 2001
--------------------------------------------------------
                              1   2   3   4 
--------------------------------------------------------
Kasparov, Garry g  RUS 2827    1   =   0   1   2.5  
Chapman,Terence    ENG ----    0   =   1   0   1.5  
--------------------------------------------------------

Terence Chapman

I (MC) spoke to Terence Chapman by phone before the match on Wednesday 4th April 2001.

A chance conversation amongst chess players led to this month's challenge match between Garry Kasparov and Terence Chapman. "What odds would you need to beat Kasparov?" was the question, " Two pawns" was Chapman's answer. After a little thought he realised that he might be able to make the challenge happen.

Kasparov's commitment to his Chess Academy (recently moved to Jerusalem ) is well known and he showed himself open to this kind of challenge. Terence Chapman will be making a generous donation to the Kasparov Chess Academy which is organising a project for the development of chess in schools worldwide. You can also sponsor Terry Chapman at: http://www.terencechapmanchess.com/support_for_charities.html proceeds of which will go to One World Action which has a 3rd World focus working in places such as Angola and Venezuela which is a cause Chapman very much believes in.

The Terence Chapman Group PLC was floated in 1999 at 104 million pounds and specialises in IT and Software products for financial institutions. It sponsors the BCF annual Grand Prix competition.

Chapman himself was British under 14 Champion and London under 18 champion but had limited himself in recent years to 8 or 9 games for the Oxford and Cambridge Team in the London league. His level of activity since the challenge was accepted has risen dramatically. He hasn't played as much chess as he has this year for around 25 years. "Its a once in a lifetime opportunity" and he definitely wants to acquit himself as well as possible in this "very interesting privilege as well as I can". He has played in tournaments, with Fritz and on the Internet as much as he can given his company responsibilities. He has also studied chess, reading a few interesting books and sharpening his analytical abilities with study. He is a by his own admission a very competitive person and he is determined to be ready. To that end he has already worked with Speelman and Nunn and played a match with Julian Hodgson. In the final ten days before the match he will be off to Oxfordshire for more of the same and physical preparation also. His task will be to get close to or higher then his previous peaks, adapt to the unusual problems posed by the challenge and be sharp in readiness for the match.

Chapman seems quietly confident of doing himself justice. Kasparov commented recently that he was astonished to hear that he was 7-1 favourite. When he agreed to the match he believed the odds should be around 50-50 and says now he thinks he was over-generous adding that if he was setting the odds he would make Chapman 2-1 favourite. Chapman even when pressed won't go beyond calling these comments "interesting". Nor is outside opinion any more helpful with a wide range of opinions from Grandmasters asked.

There will be four separate challenges in the different games. In each case Chapman will have all his pieces and pawns and Kasparov will have all his pieces but only six pawns but they will be removed in different places for each game. The time limit will be 90 minutes per game for Chapman and 60 minutes for Kasparov.

Kasparov will have missing A and H pawns in game 1, A and D pawns in game 2, A and B pawns in game 3 and A and E pawns in game 4. Kasparov will be white in games two and four.

I asked him if there were certain games he plans to win as the starting positions offer different opportunities. "In my mind there is definite inequality between the four positions." but would "definitely not say which was which" when asked which were the better ones for him. When asked about the dark side of the odds in terms of open lines for Kasparov he added "there is some immediate compensation".

Chapman isn't worried about Kasparov's famed intensity at the board "rightly or wrongly" and plans to try and play the positional controlling game he favours. He is simply looking to maintain his own concentration. Indeed he added that Kasparov might feel the psychological pressure of being two pawns down.

I asked him if it didn't feel a little weird playing these unbalance positions but with all the practice he's been having he says he now finds it a little strange when playing the normal game.

Chapman is says he is focussed on the challenge and looks forward to the intensity of the struggle. I asked him if his new level of chess activity, at least in part, would continue after the match. He, not surprisingly, "isn't thinking beyond the match with Kasparov" but he has enjoyed meeting old friends again and would certainly have to think about it.

Websites: http://www.terencechapmanchess.com (where you can read much more about Chapman and the challenge) and the TWIC site: http://www.chesscenter.com/chapmankasparov/

5) Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov unite against FIDE. Shirov replies.

An open letter signed by Kasparov, Karpov and Kramnik has appeared on the Russian Club Kasparov site: http://www.clubkasparov.ru/site/rev/polemic/art15.htm Owen Williams Kasparov's manager has sent a translation see below in addition you can also read an article based on the letter at: http://www.iht.com/articles/17420.html in Friday 20th 2001 International Herald Tribune. FIDE have been quick to respond on thier own website: http://www.fide.com/cgi-bin/material/main.pl and somewhat contradicting this http://www.gmchess.com/news/fide/ where Artiom Tarasov states clearly "War is war".

Open Letter to the Global Chess Community

As the 12th, 13th, and 14th World Chess Champions, we are writing jointly to voice our disagreement with recent statements and unilateral decisions made by FIDE, the international chess federation. In particular, we are very concerned about FIDE’s policy changes regarding the official time controls, their treatment of the history of the World Championship, and their open hostility toward the organizers of traditional events.

The world’s chessplayers have been denied a voice in these matters, and we who represent these conventions at the highest level see the need to set aside our differences and speak out publicly in defense of the game that has brought us so much joy. Many players and European chess federations are critical of FIDE’s recent actions and we hope to lend a powerful and unequivocal voice to this protest.

The time honored traditions and rules of classical chess are not to be toyed with and any changes should be made only after such plans are studied and debated in an open forum. Drastically shortening the amount of time available during a game is an attack on both the players and on the artistic and scientific elements of the game of chess itself. To implement these rules without an adequate period for reflection, discussion, and review is foolhardy and cavalier.

Of greater concern is the behavior of FIDE in regard to the prestige and tradition of the World Chess Championship. FIDE’s declaration in Tehran laid claim to a title that existed long before FIDE was created and, we might say, will exist long after it is gone. A century of tradition cannot be wiped away simply by saying that it is so. The true tradition lives on in us and in the minds and memories of millions of chess enthusiasts around the globe. It is unacceptable for FIDE to claim rights to the World Chess Championship while at the same time working to destroy the structures upon which the tradition was built.

Nor are the traditional tournaments that have given so much to chess safe from FIDE. Their threat to schedule FIDE events in competition with traditional ones is nothing less than a direct attack on the organizers, players, and fans of events such as Linares, Dortmund, and Wijk aan Zee.

Chess is not FIDE’s property to toss around like a bauble. The game belongs to the global chess community.

Based on FIDE’s accompanying statements, these ill-advised measures have been taken in an attempt to popularize the sport of chess. This is an admirable goal, but it is impossible to achieve it by assaulting the very things that elevate the game most of all: beautiful games of chess, traditional top tournaments, and the quest for the World Championship.

The chess world is depending on its leaders to provide a suitable and democratic solution to this unsatisfactory state of affairs. We propose an open dialogue on these matters between FIDE, the national federations of which it is composed, and the players – professional and amateur alike – it was created to represent. In this dialogue we will depend on the participation of the fans, organizers, and sponsors to whom chess owes a great deal. We, who have both given to and received so much from chess, look forward to being on the front lines in this battle to protect the status and legacy of the game we love.

Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov Vladimir Kramnik Moscow, April, 2001

Reply to the letter of the three Ks

You can read the original Russian version at: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/reply.html.

On behalf of the World Players Council (WPC) reply to the letter of three Ks. [Authorship mainly Shirov, Khalifman, Akopian and Salov.]

English translation of the letter from the World Players Council regarding the open letter of Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik

After reading the letter of the 3 Ks, we would like to accept the kind invitation of the authors and participate in the discussion regarding burning problems of modern chess. However, unfortunately, some passages from the letter force us to initially comment on the letter itself.

We have been used to the fact that V. Kramnik calls himself the 14th World Champion, but it was the 12th World Champion who really surprised us. In early 1998, having beaten over V. Anand in Lausanne, Karpov declared himself Champion and Mr. Kasparov Impostor. On 10 January 2001, at the same venue, Lausanne, Mr. Karpov (in front of the Commission of the Sports Arbitrage, for USD 50, 000) admitted the legitimacy of the titles of the 14th and 15th World Champions, A. Khalifman and V. Anand respectively. And now “ We, 12th, 13th and 14th World Champions, are writing this joint letter…”!

Chess is not the only sport where the official International Federation has rights to organise the official World Championship. It is obvious that FIDE clearly has more rights than for example, BGN (Cartel of Brain Games), which had invited the participant who lost the qualification tournament (Mr. Kramnik) for the match, the source of the financing of which is now being investigated by the British police. It is not the first time one has to be reminded that ALL top active chess players participated in the last official World Championship in New Delhi-Tehran, except the representatives of this mysterious “top level guild”, i.e. authors of the open letter.

We are ready to participate in the search for the ways to modify the World Championship cycle. But to turn the Championship into the selection process to play against Mr. Kasparov, which will in its turn, be the qualification to the match with Mr. Kramnik (or vice versa) we think unacceptable. The World Championship should become an honest sports competition of all the strongest sportsmen without any privileges for anyone whosoever.

We agree that FIDE Commerce (not FIDE) has come forward with a very shallow play of Grand Prix 2002 - both from the point of view of financial conditions and the Calendar. But if the project is going to be finalised, then Grand Prix tournaments might become a valuable innovation. Here we mean the tournaments for 32 people and not for 6, as in Linares and Dortmund. Of course, besides Linares and Dortmund there are (at least in the 2001 Calendar), Wijk aan Zee, Cannes, Monaco, Astana, Merida, Leon and many other important tournaments. And this is why when the Grand Prix tournaments are introduced, it is not going to be possible to avoid some dates clashes. And “the millions of the fans” might on some occasion, wish the top players play and not leave for the trainers’ teams of “the super stars”.

Now on the time control. Each Organiser should have a chance to choose it for own tournament. For instance, if the tournament in honour of the ever alive chess classic of the 20th century V. Korchnoi, where, by the way, two from the undersigned will participate, is a rapid chess tournament, this only shows that there is an objective tradition to accelerate the tempo of the game. And nobody is going to forbid the classic time control, though the quality of the game even with such time control is likely to be a little inferior to the advanced chess game.

In conclusion citing from the letter of 3K: "The games belongs to the world chess community". Nobody has ever thought that chess can belong to anyone. But the interests of professional chess players are still there. And they should not be subject either to FIDE, or the Messrs. Authors of the open letter.

22 April 2001, St. Petersburg.

GM Alexei Shirov, Vice World Champion
GM Alexander Khalifman, 14th World Champion
GM Vladimir Akopyan, Vice World Champion of 1999
Mr. Boris Khropov, Vice President of the St. Petersburg Chess Federation
Mr. Boris Kurkhinen, Chess School Manager, St. Petersburg
Participants of the St. Petersburg Championship 2001:
GM Valery Popov, St. Petersburg Champion 2001
GM Sergei Ivanov
GM Vasili Emelin
GM Sergei Ionov
GM Valery Loginov
GM Vladimir Karasev
IM Evgeny Alexeev
IM Sergei Sivokho
FM Ruslan Kashtanov
Mr. Alexei Polyaninov
Mr. Alexander Utkin
GM Konstantin Aseev
FM Genrikh Chepukaitis
GM Konstantin Sakaev
GM Evgueny Solozhenkin
IM Evgueny Shaposhniklov
GM Valery Salov, President, World Players’ Council

6) 74th St. Petersburg Championship

The 74th St. Petersburg Championship took place 10th-21st April 2001. Valerij Popov won half a point clear of Evgeny Alekseev.

Coverage http://www.gmchess.com/ (in English) http://www.totalchess.spb.ru (in Russian)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-St Petersburg RUS (RUS), 10-21 iv 2001                 cat. IX (2471)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Popov, Valerij        g RUS 2545  * = 0 = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1  7.5  2597 
 2. Alekseev, Evgeny      m RUS 2510  = * 0 = 1 1 1 = = 1 = =  7.0  2569 
 3. Ivanov, Sergey        g RUS 2547  1 1 * = = 1 = 0 = = 0 1  6.5  2529 
 4. Ionov, Sergey         g RUS 2505  = = = * = = 1 = = 0 1 1  6.5  2532 
 5. Yemelin, Vasily       g RUS 2522  = 0 = = * 1 = = = 0 1 =  5.5  2466 
 6. Loginov, Valery A     g RUS 2499  = 0 0 = 0 * 1 = 0 1 1 1  5.5  2468 
 7. Kashtanov, Ruslan     f RUS 2412  0 0 = 0 = 0 * 1 1 = 1 1  5.5  2476 
 8. Sivokho, Sergey       m RUS 2476  0 = 1 = = = 0 * 1 = 0 =  5.0  2434 
 9. Lugovoi, Aleksei      g RUS 2512  0 = = = = 1 0 0 * 1 1 0  5.0  2431 
10. Karasev, Vladimir I   m RUS 2420  = 0 = 1 1 0 = = 0 * 0 0  4.0  2373 
11. Utkin, Aleksey          RUS 2345  0 = 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 * =  4.0  2380 
12. Polaninov, Aleksy       RUS 2359  0 = 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 1 = *  4.0  2379 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

7) Category 13 in Kharkov

The 3rd International Rector Cup takes place in the National Law Academy of Ukraine, Kharkov, 18-25 April 2001 Participants: 1. GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR, ELO 2673) 2. GM Alexander Moiseenko (UKR, ELO 2561) 3. IM Alexander Zubarev (UKR, ELO 2460) 4. GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR, ELO 2558) 5. GM Maxim Turov (RUS, ELO 2553) 6. GM Yannick Pelletier (SWZ, ELO 2531) Average rating=2556, Category XIII Info: Mikhail Golubev

Internet coverage: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/rector01.htm

3rd Rector Cup Kharkov UKR (RUS), 18-25 iv 2001cat. XIII (2556)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1  2  3  4  5  6 
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 Ponomariov, Ruslan    g UKR 2673 ** == 1. 01 1. =.  4.5  2638
2 Moiseenko, Alexander  g UKR 2561 == ** =. 1. 0. 1=  4.0  2621
3 Eljanov, Pavel        g UKR 2558 0. =. ** == 01 1.  3.5  2538
4 Pelletier, Yannick    g SUI 2531 10 0. == ** 0. 1.  3.0  2526
5 Zubarev, Alexander1   m UKR 2460 0. 1. 10 1. ** 00  3.0  2519
6 Turov, Maxim          g RUS 2553 =. 0= 0. 0. 11 **  3.0  2493
---------------------------------------------------------------

8) Redbus Knockout

The Redbus Chess Knockout tournament was held as part of the Southend Chess Congress at the town's Civic Centre over the Easter weekend, 13th-16th April 2001. The players were Julian Hodgson, Michael Adams, Luke McShane, Jim Plaskett, Mark Hebden, Murray Chandler, John Emms, Nigel Davies, Bogdan Lalic, Jonathan Rowson, Chris Ward, Glenn Flear, Stuart Conquest, Peter Wells, Aaron Summerscale and Jonathan Levitt.

The favourite Michael Adams won the event with consumate ease in the first three rounds he went through by virtue of winning with white and drawing with black, in the final he bettered that by winning with both colours against Julian Hodgson.

Internet coverage: http://www.chess.redbus.co.uk/

Redbus KO Southend ENG  2001

Final
-----

Adams,Mi 2.0
Hodgson,Ju 0.0

Semifinal
---------

Lalic,B 0.5
Adams,Mi 1.5

Hodgson,Ju 1.0 (Hodgson 2-0 in the playoff)
McShane,L 1.0

Quarterfinal
------------

Emms,J 0.5
Lalic,B 1.5

Adams,Mi 1.5
Chandler,M 0.5

Davies,N 1.0
Hodgson,Ju 1.0 (Hodgson 2-0 in the playoff)

McShane,L 1.5
Levitt,J 0.5

Round 1
-------

Plaskett,J 0.5
Emms,J 1.5

Lalic,B 2.0
Conquest,S 0.0

Ward,C 0.5
Adams,Mi 1.5

Flear,G 1.0
Chandler,M 1.0 (won 1.5-0.5 in playoffs)

Wells,P 0.5
Davies,N 1.5

Hodgson,Ju 1.5
Rowson,J 0.5

Hebden,M 0.0
McShane,L 2.0

Summerscale,A 0.5
Levitt,J 1.5

9) Israel Open Championships

The Israel Open Championship took place in the Kasparov Academy in Tel Aviv 9th-17th April 2001. 128 players compete from 13 countries including 23 GMs and 19 IMs.

Alon Shulman reports: A dramatic last round saw 2 players come from behind to share joint first place. Israeli G.M Alon Greenfeld played briliantly to beat Gyimesi on board 1 and take first place with 7 pts. If Greenfeld's win is a slight surprise the identity of the co-champion is a sensation. Just a week ago, 18-year-old I.M Evgeny Postny won the Israel U-20 Youth championship with 8/9. In this tournament he played against no less than 6 Grandmasters ! beating 3 and drawing 2. In the penultimate round the young I.M from Haifa created a major upset by beating G.M Sutovsky with black. In the last round he beat G.M Victor Mikhalevsky after the young G.M from Beer-Sheba played too wildly. Postny was declared champion by tie-break.

Spring seems to really be shining on Postny. Within 2 weeks he became National Youth Champion, National Open Champion, got his first G.M norm and can enjoy his first prize of about $3500. A fine achievement too for Alon Greenfeld the captain of the Israeli National Team. Alon will comfort himself with $3000.

Third came Erik Van den Doel (NDL) who drew with Doettling (GER) in the last round. Doettling came 6th. and clinched his final G.M norm. Fourth was Dov Zifroni after a short draw with Kantsler.

The prize for best lady went to Stefanova (BUL) and Nora Medvegy who played 4 G.M's but missed the I.M norm after losing in the last round. $250 Beauty prize went to Anatoly Donchenko for hos incredible win with black over G.M Gofshtein.

It was a wonderful tournament with lots of excitement and plenty of very interesting games. The 4 Arbiters were: IA Yochanan Afek, IA Avi Dorner, NA Malkiel Perets, NA Alon Shulman.

My thanks to Alon Shulman for results and games.

----------------------------------------------------------
Israel Open Championships Tel Aviv ISR (ISR), 9-17 iv 2001
----------------------------------------------------------

 1. Postny, Evgeny          m  ISR 2432  7.0
 2. Greenfeld, Alon         g  ISR 2570  7.0
 3. Van den Doel, Erik      g  NED 2574  6.5
 4. Zifroni, Dov            g  ISR 2525  6.5
 5. Avrukh, Boris           g  ISR 2600  6.5
 6. Doettling, Fabian       m  GER 2509  6.5
 7. Huzman, Alexander       g  ISR 2578  6.5
 8. Gyimesi, Zoltan         g  HUN 2571  6.5
 9. Tseitlin, Mark D        g  ISR 2492  6.5
10. Jonkman, Harmen         m  NED 2410  6.5
11. Kantsler, Boris         g  ISR 2507  6.5
12. Gruenfeld, Yehuda       g  ISR 2520  6.5
13. Sutovsky, Emil          g  ISR 2604  6.0
14. Zoler, Dan              m  ISR 2487  6.0
15. Khenkin, Igor           g  GER 2609  6.0
16. Bykhovsky, Avigdor      g  RUS 2420  6.0
17. Psakhis, Lev            g  ISR 2575  6.0
18. Rabinovich, Alexander   m  ISR 2433  6.0
19. Mikhalevski, Alexander  m  ISR 2443  6.0
20. Lerner, Konstantin Z    g  UKR 2575  6.0
21. Donchenko, Anatoly G    m  RUS 2436  6.0
22. Kaldor, Avraham         m  ISR 2260  6.0
23. Kundin, Alexander       f  ISR 2417  6.0
24. Kleiner, Bronislav         RUS 2238  6.0
25. Roiz, Michael           m  ISR 2449  5.5
26. Golod, Vitali           g  ISR 2593  5.5
27. Mikhalevski, Victor     g  ISR 2523  5.5
28. Movsziszian, Karen      g  ARM 2508  5.5
29. Zilberman, Yaacov       g  ISR 2481  5.5
30. Gofshtein, Leonid D     g  ISR 2523  5.5
31. Berkovich, Mark A       m  ISR 2413  5.5
32. Oratovsky, Michael      m  ISR 2499  5.5
33. Murey, Jacob            g  ISR 2528  5.5
34. Bitansky, Igor             ISR 2323  5.5
128 players

10) Bucharest Spring Festival

The Lasker S.R.L. chess club organised a Spring Festival in Bucharest, Romania 6th-20th April 2001. There is an IGM event Category 7-9 with 12 players and a women's event with 10. The GM event was won by Andrei Istratescu with 8.5/11 undefeated. Organised by Emil Pessi. My thanks to Radu Chirila for the news.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spring Festival Bucharest ROM (ROM), 6-20 iv 2001          cat. VIII (2431)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Istratescu, Andrei       g ROM 2582  * = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2627 
 2. Kalezic, Blazo           m YUG 2443  = * 0 = = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.0  2604 
 3. Dumitrache, Dragos       m ROM 2425  = 1 * = 1 = 1 0 = = 1 1  7.5  2564 
 4. Vajda, Albert            m ROM 2409  = = = * = = = = 0 = 1 1  6.0  2468 
 5. Ionescu, Constantin      g ROM 2504  = = 0 = * = = = 1 = = 1  6.0  2459 
 6. Negulescu, Adrian        g ROM 2510  0 = = = = * = 1 = = = 1  6.0  2459 
 7. Vasiesiu, Dan            m ROM 2439  = 0 0 = = = * 1 0 1 1 1  6.0  2465 
 8. Cioara, Andrei Nestor    m ROM 2410  0 0 1 = = 0 0 * 1 1 = 1  5.5  2432 
 9. Slovineanu, Viacheslav   m MDA 2412  0 0 = 1 0 = 1 0 * = = =  4.5  2367 
10. Iankowski, Roman         m MDA 2388  0 0 = = = = 0 0 = * 1 1  4.5  2369 
11. Jovanovic, Nenad           YUG 2351  0 0 0 0 = = 0 = = 0 * =  2.5  2226 
12. Gavela, Dragan           f YUG 2294  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = *  1.0  2060 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Spring Festival Women Bucharest ROM (ROM), 6-20 iv 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Mosnegutu, Mariana     wf ROM 2241  * = = = 1 = 1 = = 1  6.0  2329 
 2. Vajda, Szidonia        wg HUN 2316  = * = = = = = 1 1 1  6.0  2321 
 3. Marin, Luiza           wm ROM 2196  = = * = 1 = 1 = = =  5.5  2289 
 4. Glodeanu, Ion           m ROM 2303  = = = * = = 1 = 1 =  5.5  2278 
 5. Apostoaie, Liliana     wf ROM 2180  0 = 0 = * = = 1 1 1  5.0  2254 
 6. Popescu, Cristian         ROM 2222  = = = = = * = = = =  4.5  2207 
 7. Goczo, Melinda            HUN 2185  0 = 0 0 = = * 1 1 1  4.5  2211 
 8. Partac, Elena          wf MDA 2202  = 0 = = 0 = 0 * = 1  3.5  2129 
 9. Osman, Mihai              FRA 2180  = 0 = 0 0 = 0 = * =  2.5  2045 
10. Teodorescu, Margareta  wg ROM 2060  0 0 = = 0 = 0 0 = *  2.0  2005 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

11) First Saturday April

The April First Saturday events took place 7th-20th of April. IM Marc Narciso of Spain scored a 9 round GM norm in finishing first equal with Ferenc Berkes of Hungary. FM Adnan Sendur of Turkey scored a second IM norm in Budapest in winning the IMA event and Cedric Paci won the IMB event but missed the norm in the final round.

First Saturday webpage: http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat/hirek1.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSGM April Budapest HUN (HUN), 7-20 iv 2001                  cat. VIII (2441)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Berkes, Ferenc           HUN 2393  * = = = 0 1 0 = = 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2554 
 2. Narciso Dublan, Marc   m ESP 2544  = * 0 1 = 0 = = = 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2543 
 3. Varga, Zoltan          g HUN 2503  = 1 * = 0 = 1 = = = = = 1 1  8.0  2523 
 4. Cao, Sang              m HUN 2488  = 0 = * 1 = = = = = 1 1 = 1  8.0  2524 
 5. Kallio, Heikki         m FIN 2410  1 = 1 0 * = = 1 = 1 0 1 0 =  7.5  2500 
 6. Hoang Thanh Trang      m VIE 2465  0 1 = = = * = 0 1 1 1 0 1 =  7.5  2496 
 7. Almasi, Istvan         m HUN 2424  1 = 0 = = = * = = 0 = 1 1 =  7.0  2471 
 8. Fogarasi, Tibor        m HUN 2446  = = = = 0 1 = * = = = 0 = 1  6.5  2440 
 9. Lukacs, Peter          g HUN 2458  = = = = = 0 = = * 0 = = = =  5.5  2382 
10. Zivanic, Marko         m YUG 2403  0 0 = = 0 0 1 = 1 * = 1 0 =  5.5  2387 
11. Barczay, Laszlo        g HUN 2391  0 0 = 0 1 0 = = = = * = = =  5.0  2358 
12. Kritz, Leonid          f GER 2427  0 0 = 0 0 1 0 1 = 0 = * 1 0  4.5  2332 
13. Anka, Emil             m HUN 2425  0 0 0 = 1 0 0 = = 1 = 0 * =  4.5  2332 
14. Lanzani, Mario         m ITA 2399  0 0 0 0 = = = 0 = = = 1 = *  4.5  2334 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSIMA April Budapest HUN (HUN), 7-20 iv 2001               cat. II (2279)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Sendur, Adnan        f TUR 2303  * 1 0 1 = 0 1 1 1 1 1 + + 9.5  
 2. Pachow, Joerg        f GER 2297  0 * = 1 = 1 = = = 1 = + 1 8.0  
 3. Khechumyan, Gagik      ARM 2221  1 = * 0 0 1 0 1 = 1 1 + 1 8.0  
 4. Rajlich, Vasik G       USA 2337  0 0 1 * = = 1 = = 1 1 + 1 8.0  
 5. Nezar, Mustapha        FRA 2292  = = 1 = * 0 = = = 1 = + 1 7.5  
 6. Zimmerman, Yuri      m HUN 2362  1 0 0 = 1 * = = = 0 1 1 + 7.0  
 7. Xu Hanbing             CHN 2235  0 = 1 0 = = * 1 1 = 0 1 + 7.0  
 8. Brustkern, Juergen   f GER 2263  0 = 0 = = = 0 * 1 = 1 1 + 6.5  
 9. Eperjesi, Laszlo     m HUN 2303  0 = = = = = 0 0 * = 1 1 + 6.0  
10. Sinkovics, Peter     m HUN 2317  0 0 0 0 0 1 = = = * 1 + + 5.5  
11. Spielmann, Alain       FRA 2341  0 = 0 0 = 0 1 0 0 0 * 1 + 4.0  
12. Szonyi, Bence          HUN 2145  - - - - - 0 0 0 0 - 0 * - 0.0  
13. Valenti, Giuseppe      ITA 2206  - 0 0 0 0 - - - - - - - * 0.0  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
FSIMB April Budapest HUN (HUN), 7-20 iv 2001           cat. II (2291)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Paci, Cedric             FRA 2213  * 0 1 1 = 0 = 1 1 1  6.0  2424 
 2. Galyas, Miklos         m HUN 2371  1 * = = 1 = = = = =  5.5  2361 
 3. Cmiel, Thorsten        f GER 2292  0 = * 0 1 = 1 = 1 1  5.5  2370 
 4. Petran, Pal            m HUN 2392  0 = 1 * 0 = 1 1 = =  5.0  2322 
 5. Philippe, Christophe     FRA 2335  = 0 0 1 * 1 = = = 1  5.0  2328 
 6. Tian Tian                CHN 2302  1 = = = 0 * 0 = 1 =  4.5  2289 
 7. Sipos, Istvan            HUN 2206  = = 0 0 = 1 * = = 1  4.5  2300 
 8. Appleberry, Martin       FRA 2301  0 = = 0 = = = * 1 1  4.5  2289 
 9. Nemeth, Zoltan         m HUN 2319  0 = 0 = = 0 = 0 * 1  3.0  2162 
10. Roberts, Paul            SCO 2177  0 = 0 = 0 = 0 0 0 *  1.5  2030 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

12) Third Saturday, Belgrade

The first edition of the Third Saturday tournament takes place in Belgrade 21st April to 3rd May 2001. My thanks to Vladica Andrejic for the news.

Games and website by Vladica Andrejic http://www.beochess.org.yu

Round 2 Standings:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TSGM Belgrade YUG (YUG), 21 iv-3 v 2001                   cat. VIII (2437)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Pavlovic, Milos         g YUG 2501  * . . = . . . . . 1 . .  1.5  2638 
 2. Narciso Dublan, Marc    m ESP 2544  . * = . . . . . . . 1 .  1.5  2584 
 3. Sahovic, Dragutin       g YUG 2446  . = * . = . . . . . . .  1.0  2457 
 4. Mozetic, Dejan          m YUG 2480  = . . * . . . . . . = .  1.0  2419 
 5. Estrada Nieto, Julian   m MEX 2371  . . = . * . . = . . . .  1.0  2439 
 6. Matulovic, Milan        g YUG 2420  . . . . . * = . = . . .  1.0  2441 
 7. Vuckovic, Bojan         m YUG 2479  . . . . . = * . . = . .  1.0  2415 
 8. Nestorovic, Dejan       m YUG 2433  . . . . = . . * . . . .  0.5  2371 
 9. Zivanic, Marko          m YUG 2403  . . . . . = . . * . . .  0.5  2420 
10. Kallio, Heikki          m FIN 2410  0 . . . . . = . . * . .  0.5  2297 
11. Rajlich, Vasik G          USA 2337  . 0 . = . . . . . . * .  0.5  2319 
12. Milanovic, Danilo         YUG 2421  . . . . . . . . . . . *  0.0       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
TSIM Belgrade YUG (YUG), 21 iv-3 v 2001                  cat. I (2268)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Andrijevic, Milan   m YUG 2365  * . . = . . . . 1 . . .  1.5  2447 
 2. Johnsen, Sverre       NOR 2170  . * . . . = . . . . . 1  1.5  2475 
 3. Brkljaca, Ante      m YUG 2365  . . * . . . . . . . . 1  1.0       
 4. Lochte, Thomas        GER 2168  = . . * = . . . . . . .  1.0  2335 
 5. Dena, Branislav     f YUG 2306  . . . = * . = . . . . .  1.0  2238 
 6. Ciric, Dragan         YUG 2205  . = . . . * . . . . = .  1.0  2124 
 7. Zmijanac, Dusko       YUG 2309  . . . . = . * = . . . .  1.0  2284 
 8. Popovic, Dragan B     YUG 2263  . . . . . . = * . = . .  1.0  2296 
 9. Boskovic, Drasko    f YUG 2341  0 . . . . . . . * . 1 .  1.0  2221 
10. Jovanovic, Sasa T   f YUG 2284  . . . . . . . = . * . .  0.5  2263 
11. Bustamante, Oscar     ARG 2078  . . . . . = . . 0 . * .  0.5  2080 
12. Vasovski, Nikola    f MKD 2359  . 0 0 . . . . . . . . *  0.0       
----------------------------------------------------------------------

13) Cuban Chess Championships

The Cuban Championships took place in Las Tunas and concluded on April 20th 2001 (contrary to my report last week). All the games and results apart from the final round are available. Osmel Garcia played the first 8 rounds before withdrawing.

Reynaldo Vera took the title when he won his final round game against Ricardo Leyva and Lenier Dominguez only drew against Silvino Garcia Martinez.

Internet coverage: http://www.galeon.com/capablanca/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-CUB Las Tunas CUB (CUB), 1-20 iv 2001                                  cat. IX (2452)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Vera, Reynaldo             g CUB 2534  * = 1 = = 1 = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.5  2666 
 2. Dominguez, Lenier          m CUB 2556  = * = 1 = 1 = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 12.0  2638 
 3. De la Paz, Frank           m CUB 2437  0 = * 1 = = = = = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 11.0  2593 
 4. Bruzon, Lazaro             g CUB 2589  = 0 0 * = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 = 1 = 10.0  2538 
 5. Perez, Rodney              m CUB 2471  = = = = * 1 = = 1 = = = 0 = = 1 0  8.5  2471 
 6. Almeida, Omar              f CUB 2426  0 0 = = 0 * 0 = = 1 = = 1 = 1 1 1  8.5  2474 
 7. Delgado, Neuris            m CUB 2481  = = = = = 1 * = 0 1 0 0 = = = 1 =  8.0  2450 
 8. Nogueiras, Jesus           g CUB 2557  = = = = = = = * 0 = = = = = = = 1  8.0  2445 
 9. Abreu, Aryam               m CUB 2480  = = = 0 0 = 1 1 * = = 0 = = = 1 =  8.0  2450 
10. Garcia Martinez, Silvino   g CUB 2378  0 = = = = 0 0 = = * = 1 = 1 = = =  7.5  2435 
11. Vazquez, Renier            m CUB 2393  = 0 0 0 = = 1 = = = * 0 = 1 0 = 1  7.0  2412 
12. Quesada, Roberto             CUB 2244  0 0 0 0 = = 1 = 1 0 1 * 1 0 = 0 1  7.0  2421 
13. Herrera, Irisberto         g CUB 2432  0 0 0 0 1 0 = = = = = 0 * 1 1 = =  6.5  2388 
14. Gonzalez, Yuri             m CUB 2426  0 = 0 0 = = = = = 0 0 1 0 * = 1 =  6.0  2366 
15. Gomez, Felix               m CUB 2462  0 0 0 = = 0 = = = = 1 = 0 = * 0 1  6.0  2364 
16. Leyva, Ricardo             f CUB 2400  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = = 1 = 0 1 * 1  5.0  2314 
17. Gongora, Maikel            m CUB 2417  0 0 = = 1 0 = 0 = = 0 0 = = 0 0 *  4.5  2288 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14) Dutch Team Championships

The final round of the Dutch Team Championships took place on April 22nd 2001. Ordina won the league stages and along with HSG, Magnus BSG and ING/ESGOO go forward to the final playoffs in May for the title. SMB and Ordina 2 were relegated. My thanks to Wybe Koopmans.

News: http://www.schaakbond.nl/

Games from round 5-8: http://www.svordina.com/

Round 9 22nd April 2001
 Ordina    2436 - Amstelveen         2336 7   - 3
 Ordina 2  2129 - SMB                2317 3.5 - 6.5
 ING/ESGOO 2231 - Schaakstad A'doorn 2372 4   - 6
 Rotterdam 2222 - Magnus BSG         2383 3.5 - 6.5
 LSG       2322 - HSG                2417 1   - 9

Final standings after the league stages
  
     Team               Mp  Bp   
 1.  Ordina             16  63     PL
 2.  HSG                16  61.5   PL
 3.  Magnus BSG         11  45     PL
 4.  ING/ESGOO          10  47.5   PL
 5.  Amstelveen          9  45   
 6.  LSG                 7  39   
 7.  Rotterdam           7  38   
 8.  Schaakstad A'doorn  7  37.5 
 9.  SMB                 5  37     D
10.  Ordina 2            2  36.5   D

15) Braingames Controversy

A controversy errupted this week about a computer match to be organised by Braingames between their champion Kramnik and a program as yet to be established. At the moment there will be a match between Deep Fritz and Deep Junior organised by Enrique Irazoqui in Cadaques. There are some moves to try and resolve some of the problems outlined below.

The following press release from SHREDDER programmer Ossi Weiner appeared.

"Living-room World Championship" without SHREDDER

It's a well-known fact: the German chess program SHREDDER is not only the reigning, Absolute Computer Chess World Champion and a three times Microcomputer World Champion but, with a recent series of additional tournament wins, SHREDDER has been beyond any doubt world's most successful chess tournament program over the past 5 years. With this in mind, Stefan Meyer-Kahlen of Düsseldorf, in late 2000 challenged the winner of the London Braingames World Championship tournament to a match man against computer. Following Vladimir Kramnik's surprise win over Garry Kasparov, we were informed at the beginning of this year that 'Braingames' has come to an agreement with the Government of Bahrain, where in October 2001 a tournament is to take place between the two world champions, Kramnik and SHREDDER. Negotiations regarding the details of this match have been going on for some time.

It came therefore as no small surprise when Stefan Meyer-Kahlen received an invitation for a so-called 'Braingames Computer Chess World Championship' which ­ out of the blue ­ was to serve as a qualifying round for the match against Kramnik. Furthermore (and much to Stefan's astonishment), this qualification tournament was to be held in closed session, ie excluding the public as well as the programmers concerned, in the private residence of a Spanish computer chess tester. As an entry fee, each programmer was to pay no less than US$ 5,000. It is quite clear that the reigning Absolute Computer World Champion has no interest whatsoever defending his title at this kind of 'living-room tournament'. An official title can be defended only at a regular and public World Championship tournament under the auspices of an official and independent organisation, such as the ICCA.

We are clearly more than interested in taking on the reigning Braingames world champion Kramnik, and, given SHREDDER's numerous World Championship titles, we firmly believe that none other than SHREDDER is better qualified to do so. However, since the promoter has submitted a draft contract containing several unacceptable demands, a number of issues need to be addressed, such as the demand that SHREDDER be under an obligation, not to participate with SHREDDER in any match against any top-ranking player for an extended period of time. This is, of course, most detrimental to Stefan Meyer-Kahlen's plans. Moreover, the contract will put the programmer under an obligation to deliver the finished programme to Kramnik three months before the match, without being able to implement any modifications afterwards. This would mean that Meyer-Kahlen would not be allowed to develop his programme any further and prepare for the tournament. Under those circumstances, a fair competition is hardly possible.

This very awkward situation has been further aggravated by a newspaper article published in London, stating that the 'Braingames' company is currently being investigated on suspicion of money-laundering for the Russian mafia. Whether or not the investigation will eventually lead to official charges being filed, this situation puts a huge question mark over the planned tournament in Bahrain. For this reason, we are at present contacting other potential organisers with the firm intention of having a top chess event some time in the year 2001. And we would like to emphasize that SHREDDER is and always will be ready to take on any of the world's top chess players under fair tournament conditions!

Further articles appeared at: http://www.computerchess.com and a Wired article at: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,43203,00.html with comments from all sides.

The Braingames article referred to in the above press release appeared in the News of the World on April 8th 2001 in which it was stated that "Sir Jeremy Hanley had been quizzed by police investigating allegations that the company he fronts is involved in a 3 million pound money-laundering operation. An ex-employee claims the Russian mafia funnelled the cash through Brain games Network which promotes chess". On April 16 an El Pais article in Spanish by Leontxo Garcia repeated the story with the new information that the employee making the allegations was Suzanne Martin. Raymond Keene stated that it was absolutely clear the money was legal and that everything was above board and transparent. He added that he was sure there were far better methods of laundering money than via a high profile chess match. He added that Braingames were preparing a lawsuit against Suzanne Martin for "for theft, calumny and libel".

16) Dubai Open

The 3th Dubai Open Chess Tournament 15th-26th April 2001 sees a strong field with amongst others: Andrei Kharlov, Valerij Filippov, Jaan Ehlvest, Evgeny Vladimirov, Aleksej Alexandrov, Alexander Motylev, Zurab Sturua, Andrey Shariyazdanov, Alexei Fedorov, Mihail Kobalija, Alexey Kuzmin, Evgeny Pigusov, Karen Asrian, Yuri Yakovich, Pavel Kotsur, Ashot Anastasian, Evgeny Sveshnikov, Abhijit Kunte, Igor V Glek, Valeriy Neverov, Alexander Galkin, Elmar Magerramov and Artashes Minasian in a field of 100. My thanks to Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh and Ravi.

Internet coverage: http://www.iranchess.com/dubaiopen/

Crosstable after round 6 (of 11)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dubai Open Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Cup UAE (UAE), 15-26 iv 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  1    2    3    4    5    6   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Asrian, Karen                 g  ARM 2582  + 25 + 26 + 24 = 28 + 45 =  7    5.0  2781 
  2. Ehlvest, Jaan                 g  EST 2630  + 37 -  3 + 71 + 32 + 24 + 19    5.0  2767 
  3. Pavasovic, Dusko              g  SLO 2515  + 46 +  2 =  6 = 30 = 29 + 34    4.5  2715 
  4. Vladimirov, Evgeny            g  KAZ 2612  + 41 =  7 + 50 =  5 = 13 + 35    4.5  2713 
  5. Kunte, Abhijit                g  IND 2568  + 79 = 40 +  8 =  4 = 16 + 31    4.5  2665 
  6. Aleksandrov, Aleksej          g  BLR 2610  = 49 + 36 =  3 = 48 + 69 + 32    4.5  2649 
  7. Sermek, Drazen                g  SLO 2525  + 85 =  4 = 17 + 78 + 33 =  1    4.5  2634 
  8. Gadjily, Raouf                m  AZE 2425  = 66 + 39 -  5 + 65 + 59 + 28    4.5  2515 
  9. Minasian, Artashes            g  ARM 2554  + 97 + 52 = 15 = 29 = 11 + 30    4.5  2648 
 10. Safin, Shukhrat               g  UZB 2504  + 78 - 11 + 75 + 57 = 17 + 29    4.5  2606 
 11. Shariyazdanov, Andrey         g  RUS 2594  + 58 + 10 = 18 = 35 =  9 = 22    4.0  2629 
 12. Kuzmin, Alexey                g  RUS 2588  = 43 = 47 + 41 + 21 = 20 = 27    4.0  2538 
 13. Glek, Igor V                  g  GER 2566  + 72 + 21 = 45 = 16 =  4 = 14    4.0  2651 
 14. Kharlov, Andrei               g  RUS 2639  = 36 = 49 + 40 = 31 + 42 = 13    4.0  2581 
 15. Kobalija, Mihail              g  RUS 2590  + 67 + 44 =  9 = 18 = 35 = 20    4.0  2628 
 16. Motylev, Alexander            g  RUS 2601  + 60 + 51 = 35 = 13 =  5 = 18    4.0  2641 
 17. Sturua, Zurab                 g  GEO 2600  = 47 + 43 =  7 = 69 = 10 + 52    4.0  2541 
 18. Galkin, Alexander             g  RUS 2556  + 76 + 55 = 11 = 15 = 30 = 16    4.0  2624 
 19. Fedorov, Alexei               g  BLR 2590  + 75 + 59 = 32 = 20 + 28 -  2    4.0  2642 
 20. Dizdar, Goran                 g  CRO 2533  + 84 + 65 = 33 = 19 = 12 = 15    4.0  2553 
 21. Sandipan, Chanda              m  IND 2428  + 74 - 13 + 68 - 12 + 57 + 45    4.0  2508 
 22. Sorokin, Maxim                g  ARG 2538  + 70 + 80 - 28 = 52 + 48 = 11    4.0  2497 
 23. Ermenkov, Evgenij             g  BUL 2478  - 65 + 84 - 57 + 76 + 58 + 53    4.0  2344 
 24. Jobava, Baadur                m  GEO 2543  + 89 + 77 -  1 + 38 -  2 + 49    4.0  2503 
 25. Mahjoob, Morteza                 IRI 2304  -  1 + 90 - 48 + 74 + 54 + 51    4.0  2463 
 26. Odeev, Handszar               m  TKM 2471  + 90 -  1 = 79 = 58 + 61 + 62    4.0  2406 
 27. Volzhin, Alexander            g  RUS 2528  +101 - 45 + 49 + 63 = 34 = 12    4.0  2577 
 28. Anastasian, Ashot             g  ARM 2574  + 53 + 48 + 22 =  1 - 19 -  8    3.5  2533 
 29. Pigusov, Evgeny               g  RUS 2584  + 61 = 42 + 54 =  9 =  3 - 10    3.5  2527 
 30. Yakovich, Yuri                g  RUS 2577  + 57 = 54 + 42 =  3 = 18 -  9    3.5  2533 
 31. Al-Modiahki, Mohamad          g  QAT 2490  - 77 + 70 + 61 = 14 + 37 -  5    3.5  2416 
 32. Magerramov, Elmar             g  AZE 2556  + 68 + 56 = 19 -  2 + 40 -  6    3.5  2545 
 33. Sveshnikov, Evgeny            g  RUS 2571  + 62 + 69 = 20 = 45 -  7 = 36    3.5  2520 
 34. Kotsur, Pavel                 g  KAZ 2576  = 39 + 66 = 64 + 56 = 27 -  3    3.5  2343 
 35. Neverov, Valeriy              g  UKR 2562  + 83 + 73 = 16 = 11 = 15 -  4    3.5  2567 
 36. Sharma, Dinesh K                 IND 2385  = 14 -  6 + 82 = 50 + 83 = 33    3.5  2488 
 37. Sale, Srdjan                  m  CRO 2378  -  2 = 46 + 89 + 44 - 31 + 68    3.5  2428 
 38. Abdelnabbi, Imed              m  EGY 2434  - 80 + 81 + 62 - 24 = 72 + 66    3.5  2259 
 39. Alavi, Sayed Javad               IRI 2268  = 34 -  8 + 91 = 59 = 56 + 73    3.5  2445 
 40. Ghane, Shojaat                   IRI 2465  + 94 =  5 - 14 + 79 - 32 + 72    3.5  2432 
 41. El Arousy, Abdul Hameed       m  EGY 2370  -  4 + 86 - 12 + 84 = 46 + 64    3.5  2341 
 42. El Taher, Fouad               m  EGY 2476  + 99 = 29 - 30 + 47 - 14 + 67    3.5  2462 
 43. Gokhale, C.S                     IND 2306  = 12 - 17 - 46 + 92 + 91 + 69    3.5  2357 
 44. Annageldyev, Orazly           m  TKM 2503  + 88 - 15 = 67 - 37 + 79 + 75    3.5  2379 
 45. Filippov, Valerij             g  RUS 2632  + 71 + 27 = 13 = 33 -  1 - 21    3.0  2509 
 46. Sadatnajafi, M                   IRI 2155  -  3 = 37 + 43 = 55 = 41 = 56    3.0  2396 
 47. Shetty, Rahul                    IND 2318  = 17 = 12 = 51 - 42 + 65 = 48    3.0  2444 
 48. Vakhidov, Tahir               m  UZB 2468  + 91 - 28 + 25 =  6 - 22 = 47    3.0  2390 
 49. Mahdi, Khaled                 m  AUT 2354  =  6 = 14 - 27 + 81 + 78 - 24    3.0  2435 
 50. Arkhipov, Sergey              g  RUS 2531  + 81 = 64 -  4 = 36 = 67 = 60    3.0  2304 
 51. Dzhumaev, Marat               g  UZB 2514  + 86 - 16 = 47 + 64 = 52 - 25    3.0  2292 
 52. Ravi, Thandalam Shanmugam     f  IND 2385  + 92 -  9 + 74 = 22 = 51 - 17    3.0  2367 
 53. Abdullah, Mansoor             m  UAE 2258  - 28 = 91 = 66 + 77 + 55 - 23    3.0  2251 
 54. Bagirov, Rufat                m  AZE 2469  + 87 = 30 - 29 = 67 - 25 + 84    3.0  2330 
 55. Heidenfeld, Mark              m  IRL 2403  + 82 - 18 = 65 = 46 - 53 + 86    3.0  2189 
 56. Tahirov, Farhad               m  AZE 2406  + 93 - 32 + 77 - 34 = 39 = 46    3.0  2268 
 57. Alibaev, Akbar                   UZB 2287  - 30 + 99 + 23 - 10 - 21 + 82    3.0  2331 
 58. Mamedov, Roufat                  AZE 2313  - 11 + 97 = 59 = 26 - 23 + 85    3.0  2370 
 59. Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan          m  IRI 2500  + 96 - 19 = 58 = 39 -  8 + 83    3.0  2319 
 60. Hamed, Ahmed                  m  EGY 2331  - 16 - 78 + 92 + 85 = 66 = 50    3.0  2236 
 61. Al Sayed, Mohamad N           m  QAT 2304  - 29 + 87 - 31 + 94 - 26 + 78    3.0  2275 
 62. Bengafer, Moh                    LBA 2245  - 33 + 98 - 38 + 95 + 63 - 26    3.0  2310 
 63. Othman, A. Moussa             f  UAE 2386  - 64 +101 + 80 - 27 - 62 + 81    3.0  2189 
 64. Salem, Ghuloom                       ----  + 63 = 50 = 34 - 51 = 75 - 41    2.5  2390 
 65. Hassan, Mohamed Seif             UAE 2023  + 23 - 20 = 55 -  8 - 47 + 89    2.5  2339 
 66. Molina, Antonio                      ----  =  8 - 34 = 53 + 89 = 60 - 38    2.5  2317 
 67. Ozolin, Maxim                 f  RUS 2313  - 15 + 88 = 44 = 54 = 50 - 42    2.5  2387 
 68. Saleh, Nabil                     UAE 2228  - 32 + 93 - 21 = 73 + 71 - 37    2.5  2304 
 69. Ramesh, R.B                   m  IND 2458  + 98 - 33 + 83 = 17 -  6 - 43    2.5  2330 
 70. Akhavan Rad, A                   IRI 2215  - 22 - 31 + 87 = 71 - 73 + 92    2.5  2248 
 71. Asylguzhin, Radik                RUS 2384  - 45 + 85 -  2 = 70 - 68 + 88    2.5  2273 
 72. Kayumov, Sergey                  UZB 2244  - 13 - 74 + 96 + 82 = 38 - 40    2.5  2200 
 73. Neelotpal, Das                m  IND 2423  + 95 - 35 - 78 = 68 + 70 - 39    2.5  2172 
 74. Li,Georgiy                           ----  - 21 + 72 - 52 - 25 = 88 + 96    2.5  2199 
 75. Jasim, A.R. Saleh             f  UAE 2310  - 19 + 96 - 10 + 88 = 64 - 44    2.5  2238 
 76. Akbarinia, Syed Arash            IRI 2232  - 18 - 82 + 97 - 23 = 77 + 91    2.5  2124 
 77. Ihsan, Jawad                     PLE 2053  + 31 - 24 - 56 - 53 = 76 = 79    2.0  2237 
 78. Somev, Abdo                      LIB 2106  - 10 + 60 + 73 -  7 - 49 - 61    2.0  2281 
 79. Al Argha, Hisham                 SYR 2244  -  5 + 94 = 26 - 40 - 44 = 77    2.0  2218 
 80. Kolyaie,Hasan                        ----  + 38 - 22 - 63 - 83 - 81 + 97    2.0  2172 
 81. Khalid AlShaali                  UAE 2185  - 50 - 38 + 90 - 49 + 80 - 63    2.0  2159 
 82. Ramezan,Nejad A                      ----  - 55 + 76 - 36 - 72 + 96 - 57    2.0  2147 
 83. Shabash, Abdullatief Mohamed     LBA 2240  - 35 + 95 - 69 + 80 - 36 - 59    2.0  2192 
 84. Afshari, Mhamadreza              IRI 2206  - 20 - 23 + 99 - 41 + 87 - 54    2.0  2183 
 85. Khechen, Nabil E                 LIB 2178  -  7 - 71 + 98 - 60 + 94 - 58    2.0  2133 
 86. Kusnetsov, Kiril                 RUS 2146  - 51 - 41 - 95 + 99 + 90 - 55    2.0  2089 
 87. Ghobadi Baigvand,Ali                 ----  - 54 - 61 - 70 + 98 - 84 + 95    2.0  2074 
 88. Othman, Rabeea                   UAE 2097  - 44 - 67 + 93 - 75 = 74 - 71    1.5  2058 
 89. Mahmoody, M. Sadegh              IRI 2220  - 24 = 92 - 37 - 66 + 95 - 65    1.5  1964 
 90. Fardbehbahani,Behna                  ----  - 26 - 25 - 81 + 97 - 86 = 93    1.5  1991 
 91. Javanmard,G. Bahram                  ----  - 48 = 53 - 39 +101 - 43 - 76    1.5  2092 
 92. Zinal,Arif                           ----  - 52 = 89 - 60 - 43 + 99 - 70    1.5  2049 
 93. Rahimi,Amirali                       ----  - 56 - 68 - 88 - 96 +100 = 90    1.5  1942 
 94. Kase,Vladimir                        ----  - 40 - 79 +101 - 61 - 85 = 99    1.5  2035 
 95. Nizam,Abdulrahman                    ----  - 73 - 83 + 86 - 62 - 89 - 87    1.0  1939 
 96. Straub, Peter                    GER 2081  - 59 - 75 - 72 + 93 - 82 - 74    1.0  1902 
 97. Ghadiri,Bidhendi                     ----  -  9 - 58 - 76 - 90 + 98 - 80    1.0  1910 
 98. Khori,M. Essa                        ----  - 69 - 62 - 85 - 87 - 97 +100    1.0  1873 
 99. Bin Hafiz,Mohamed                    ----  - 42 - 57 - 84 - 86 - 92 = 94    0.5  1784 
100. BYE                                  ----    .    .    .    .  - 93 - 98    0.0       
101. Saud, Mohamed                    UAE 2181  - 27 - 63 - 94 - 91     .    .   0.0       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17) Hampstead GMs

The Hampstead GM tournament takes place 17th-23rd April 2001. In addition there is a £5000 challenge match between Daniel Gormally and Matthew Turner at the same time. My thanks to Adam Raoof for the information.

Further details: http://www.circuit.demon.co.uk/barnet.htm

Standings after 7 of 9 rounds
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GM Hampstead ENG (ENG), 17-23 iv 2001                 cat. VI (2400)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Plaskett, Jim        g ENG 2461  * . = 1 = 1 1 = . 1  5.5  2615 
 2. McNab, Colin A       g SCO 2409  . * 1 = = 1 = = = .  4.5  2500 
 3. Barsov, Alexei       g UZB 2519  = 0 * = = . 1 . 1 1  4.5  2500 
 4. Crouch, Colin S      m ENG 2403  0 = = * . 1 1 = . =  4.0  2444 
 5. Rizouk, Aimen        m ALG 2406  = = = . * = = . = =  3.5  2411 
 6. Krush, Irina         m USA 2380  0 0 . 0 = * . 1 1 1  3.5  2394 
 7. Richardson, John R   f ENG 2338  0 = 0 0 = . * 1 1 .  3.0  2370 
 8. Koneru, Humpy       wm IND 2311  = = . = . 0 0 * = =  2.5  2292 
 9. Hunt, Adam           m ENG 2431  . = 0 . = 0 0 = * =  2.0  2228 
10. Palliser, Richard    f ENG 2342  0 . 0 = = 0 . = = *  2.0  2257 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Turner, Matthew   -  Gormally, Daniel  1/2   37  A28  English Four Knights Variation
Gormally, Daniel  -  Turner, Matthew   1-0   40  C41  Philidor's Defence
Turner, Matthew   -  Gormally, Daniel  1/2   47  A13  Reti Opening
Gormally, Daniel  -  Turner, Matthew   1/2   15  C60  Ruy Lopez
Turner, Matthew   -  Gormally, Daniel  1/2   43  E05  Catalan System


Match Hampstead ENG (ENG), 17-23 iv 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                               1   2   3   4   5   6 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gormally, Daniel m  ENG 2492    =   1   =   =   =   .   3.0  2588
Turner, Matthew  m  ENG 2516    =   0   =   =   =   .   2.0  2420
-----------------------------------------------------------------

18) Championships of Uruguay

The Championships of Uruguay take place 21st-29th April 2001. 9 round 10 player all-play-all. The official page is http://uruwow.com/secciones/deportes/ajedrez/ My thanks to Alejandro Nogueira for the news.

Round 2 Standings: 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-URU Montevideo URU (URU), 21-29 iv 2001                      cat. I (2261)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Roselli Mailhe, Bernardo       m URU 2413  * . . . . . 1 . 1 .  2.0       
 2. Granara Barreto, Sebastian A     URU 2146  . * . . . 1 = . . .  1.5  2480 
 3. Curi, Gabriel                  f URU 2312  . . * = . . . . 1 .  1.5  2449 
 4. Izquierdo, Daniel              f URU 2288  . . = * . . . . . 1  1.5  2444 
 5. Bauza, Alejandro               f URU 2287  . . . . * . . = . 1  1.5  2374 
 6. Riverol, Jose                    URU 2284  . 0 . . . * . 1 . .  1.0  2159 
 7. Crosa, Martin                    URU 2290  0 = . . . . * . . .  0.5  2086 
 8. Muniz, Rafael                    URU 2172  . . . . = 0 . * . .  0.5  2092 
 9. Escofet, Jaime                   URU 2224  0 . 0 . . . . . * .  0.0       
10. Larrea, Manuel                   URU 2191  . . . 0 0 . . . . *  0.0       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

19) GM Tournament Rijeka

There is a GM Tournament in Rijeka 18th-26th April 2001.

Internet coverage: http://www.sah-rijeka.hr/turniri.html

Round 5 Standings:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
5th GM Rijeka HUN (HUN), 18-27 iv 2001              cat. VII (2409)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Cvitan, Ognjen       g CRO 2526  * 1 1 . = . 1 . . 1  4.5  2755 
 2. Rukavina, Josip      m CRO 2414  0 * . 1 . 1 . 1 = .  3.5  2577 
 3. Velikov, Petar       g BUL 2439  0 . * . = = 1 . 1 .  3.0  2503 
 4. Bistric, Faruk       m BIH 2454  . 0 . * = = . 1 1 .  3.0  2484 
 5. Inkiov, Ventzislav   g BUL 2482  = . = = * . 0 1 . .  2.5  2439 
 6. Zaja, Ivan           m CRO 2482  . 0 = = . * = . . 1  2.5  2383 
 7. Vucic, Mladen        m USA 2383  0 . 0 . 1 = * . . 1  2.5  2431 
 8. Ljubicic, Filip      m CRO 2397  . 0 . 0 0 . . * 1 1  2.0  2300 
 9. Mandekic, Ivan         CRO 2285  . = 0 0 . . . 0 * 1  1.5  2237 
10. Muslija, Idris         CRO 2229  0 . . . . 0 0 0 0 *  0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------

20) Gausdal Classics

The Gausdal Classics had one GM-group and two IM-groups each with 10 players. A 7 hour playing session was used. The venue was the Gausdal Høifjellshotel. In the B tournament FM Erik Hedman made an IM-norm. The main moment of controversy was the game Elsness-Trygstad (5) when the game was declared drawn by the arbiter after Trygstad's flag fell. Elsness withdrew from the event for the last three rounds after this dispute. Games from the first seven rounds only are available, the rest should follow next week.

Eirik Gullaksen reports: The Gausdal Classics were played at Gausdal Høifjellshotell in Norway 15-22. April 2001. In the GM group there was an impressive result by Åkesson, who cruised to a 2750 performance. The Swede also won the previous tournament at Gaudal, the Troll Masters in January. The IMA group saw a good result by the Bulgarian Petrov, who seems to be climbing in the rating lists. Hole and Hersvik both came close to their first IM-norms, but in the end both were half a point short after drawing in the final round. 10 year old prodigy Magnus Carlsen made his debut a this level, and can be satisfied with his 2090 performance. In the IMB event Badea led all through the tournament, but a couple of draws at the end allowed Hedman to catch up. The Swede made an IM-norm after his strong finish with 5 points from the last six games.

My thanks to Eirik Gullaksen for the information.

Home page: http://eirikgu.home.online.no/gausdal2001/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Classics GM Gausdal NOR (NOR), 15-22 iv 2001               cat. VI (2399)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Akesson, Ralf              g SWE 2463  * 1 1 1 1 1 = = 1 1  8.0  2742 
 2. Miezis, Normunds           g LAT 2596  0 * = 1 1 0 + 1 1 1  6.5  2543 
 3. Brynell, Stellan           m SWE 2489  0 = * = 1 = + 1 1 1  6.5  2555 
 4. Johannessen, Leif Erlend   m NOR 2407  0 0 = * = = + 1 1 1  5.5  2478 
 5. Solozhenkin, Evgeniy       g RUS 2512  0 0 0 = * 1 1 1 = 1  5.0  2429 
 6. Trygstad, Kristian           NOR 2322  0 1 = = 0 * = 0 = =  3.5  2327 
 7. Elsness, Frode             m NOR 2412  = - - - 0 = * = 1 1  3.5  2317 
 8. Hanley, Craig                ENG 2306  = 0 0 0 0 1 = * 0 =  2.5  2243 
 9. Hansen, Torbjorn R           NOR 2209  0 0 0 0 = = 0 1 * =  2.5  2254 
10. Tikkanen, Hans               SWE 2274  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = = *  1.5  2139 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Classics IMA Gausdal NOR (NOR), 15-22 iv 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Petrov, Marijan        m BUL 2425  * 1 = = 1 1 1 = 1 1  7.5  2488 
 2. Hole, Oystein            NOR 2245  0 * 1 1 = = 1 1 1 =  6.5  2401 
 3. Hersvik, Daniel          NOR 2195  = 0 * 1 = 1 1 = 1 1  6.5  2407 
 4. Hermansson, Emil       m SWE 2400  = 0 0 * 1 = 1 1 1 1  6.0  2343 
 5. Vegh, Endre            m HUN 2305  0 = = 0 * 1 = 1 = 1  5.0  2272 
 6. Lahlum, Hans Olav        NOR 2233  0 = 0 = 0 * = = 1 1  4.0  2194 
 7. Hitzgerova, Gabriela  wm CZE 2255  0 0 0 0 = = * 1 1 1  4.0  2191 
 8. Carlsen, Magnus          NOR 2064  = 0 = 0 0 = 0 * = =  2.5  2090 
 9. Caoili, Arianne       wf PHI 2140  0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = * 1  2.0  2027 
10. Kvisvik, Brede           NOR 2106  0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 *  1.0  1900 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Classics IMB Gausdal NOR (NOR), 15-22 iv 2001            cat. II (2295)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Badea, Bela              g ROM 2492  * = 1 = = 1 = 1 1 =  6.5  2439 
 2. Hedman, Erik             f SWE 2332  = * = 1 0 1 1 1 = 1  6.5  2457 
 3. Westerinen, Heikki M.J   g FIN 2412  0 = * 0 1 = 1 1 = 1  5.5  2362 
 4. Wikstrom, Per              SWE 2244  = 0 1 * 1 = 0 = 1 0  4.5  2300 
 5. Gabrielsen, Stig         f NOR 2286  = 1 0 0 * 0 = = = 1  4.0  2253 
 6. Leer-Salvesen, Bjarte      NOR 2306  0 0 = = 1 * = = = =  4.0  2250 
 7. Adnoy, Hallvard V          NOR 2185  = 0 0 1 = = * 0 = 1  4.0  2264 
 8. Tallaksen, Geir S          NOR 2233  0 0 0 = = = 1 * 1 =  4.0  2259 
 9. Ekeberg, Carl Fredrik      NOR 2098  0 = = 0 = = = 0 * 1  3.5  2237 
10. Jakobsen, Lars Veno      f DEN 2363  = 0 0 1 0 = 0 = 0 *  2.5  2121 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

21) 4th Tanta Open, Egypt

The 4th Tanta Open takes place 18th-28th April 2001 in Tanta City about 90 km from Cairo-Egypt. 38 Players from 17 Countries 5 GMs -26 IMs - 1 WIM -2 FMs.

My thanks to Hassan Khaled General Director of the Egyptian Chess Federation.

Round 4 (of 9) Standings:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th Tanta Open EGY (EGY), 18-27 iv 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               1   2   3   4   
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Mirzoev, Azer              m  AZE 2488  +23 +14 +17 = 2   3.5  2766 
 2. Stefansson, Hannes         g  ISL 2570  +24 +27 +12 = 1   3.5  2728 
 3. Tissir, Mohamed            m  MAR 2352  +15 +34 =16 = 5   3.0  2650 
 4. Fominyh, Alexander         g  RUS 2571  +21 -12 +33 +16   3.0  2599 
 5. Komarov, Dimitri           g  UKR 2539  +33 =16 +29 = 3   3.0  2584 
 6. Spasov, Vasil              g  BUL 2571  =25 +18 = 8 =13   2.5  2482 
 7. Dochev, Dimitar            m  BUL 2362  =11 = 9 =15 +29   2.5  2562 
 8. Kasparov, Sergey           m  BLR 2456  =10 +31 = 6 =12   2.5  2510 
 9. Dutreeuw, Marc             m  BEL 2413  =19 = 7 =18 +27   2.5  2388 
10. Ezat, Mohamed              m  EGY 2332  = 8 =20 =27 +26   2.5  2466 
11. Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav      g  RUS 2558  = 7 =25 +35 =14   2.5  2462 
12. Khamrakulov, Ibragim S     m  UZB 2451  +38 + 4 - 2 = 8   2.5  2572 
13. Jirovsky, Milos            m  CZE 2452  +26 -17 +34 = 6   2.5  2502 
14. Loeffler, Stefan           m  GER 2413  +36 - 1 +25 =11   2.5  2511 
15. Kalod, Radek               m  CZE 2495  - 3 +37 = 7 +17   2.5  2431 
16. Navrotescu, Catalin        m  ROM 2453  +35 = 5 = 3 - 4   2.0  2448 
17. Szieberth, Adam            m  HUN 2389  +28 +13 - 1 -15   2.0  2392 
18. Georg, Magdy                  EGY 2277  +30 - 6 = 9 =22   2.0  2466 
19. Rahman, Yehya              m  EGY 2267  = 9 -29 +30 =21   2.0  2401 
20. Surjadnji, Aleksei         m  UKR 2431  =31 =10 =26 =23   2.0  2328 
21. Abdel Razik, Khaled        f  EGY 2365  - 4 =23 +31 =19   2.0  2373 
22. Antoniewski, Rafal         m  POL 2456  -34 =30 +28 =18   2.0  2294 
23. Himdan, Maher              m  EGY 2348  - 1 =21 +37 =20   2.0  2381 
24. Ahmed, Esam Aly            m  EGY 2362  - 2 -26 +36 +34   2.0  2374 
25. Hassan, Sayed Barakat      m  EGY 2363  = 6 =11 -14 =28   1.5  2331 
26. Elgabry, Mohsen            m  EGY 2328  -13 +24 =20 -10   1.5  2307 
27. Abdel Aziem, Ramadan          EGY 2269  +32 - 2 =10 - 9   1.5  2345 
28. Amin, Bassem               f  EGY 2133  -17 +32 -22 =25   1.5  2319 
29. Sarakauskas, Gediminas     m  LTU 2403  =37 +19 - 5 - 7   1.5  2265 
30. Likavsky, Tomas            m  SVK 2425  -18 =22 -19 +35   1.5  2245 
31. Frhat, Ali                    EGY 2306  =20 - 8 -21 +37   1.5  2286 
32. Labib, Ibrahim Hasan       m  EGY 2416  -27 -28 +38 =33   1.5  2180 
33. Sarwat, Walaa              m  EGY 2356  - 5 +38 - 4 =32   1.5  2372 
34. El Ghazali, Youssef M      m  EGY 2343  +22 - 3 -13 -24   1.0  2212 
35. Abou el Zein, Eid Mahmoud  m  EGY 2330  -16 +36 -11 -30   1.0  2230 
36. Ghonimy, Soltan            m  EGY 2256  -14 -35 -24 +38   1.0  2161 
37. Sidorova, Elena            wm RUS 2243  =29 -15 -23 -31   0.5  2066 
38. Sameeh, Hany                  EGY 2313  -12 -33 -32 -36   0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

22) Vukovar IM Tournament

Mihajlo Savic reports: There was a Category V tournament in Vukovar (Croatia) 13th-21st April 2001.Ten players from five countries took part.Two cadets had the opportunity to reach an IM norm: Brkic Ante (CRO) born 1988 and Ivan Cheparinov (BUL) born 1986 year. The tournament favourite GM Vladimir Dimitrov of Bulgaria won. Goric Esad (BIH), Ivan Cheparinov (BUL) and Zoran Jovanovic (CRO) achieved IM norms. The Chief Arbiter was Petracic Ivan-Cico.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cat V Vukovar CRO (CRO), 13-21 iv 2001                  cat. V (2372)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Dimitrov, Vladimir     g BUL 2512  * = = = 1 1 = = 1 1  6.5  2522 
 2. Cheparinov, Ivan         BUL 2444  = * = = = = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2489 
 3. Goric, Esad              BIH 2327  = = * = = = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2502 
 4. Jovanovic, Zoran CRO     CRO 2383  = = = * = = 1 1 = 1  6.0  2496 
 5. Milu, Romeo Sorin      m ROM 2433  0 = = = * = = 1 1 1  5.5  2445 
 6. Szuhanek, Ranko        m ROM 2410  0 = = = = * = 1 = 1  5.0  2411 
 7. Novakovic, Dragan      f YUG 2403  = 0 0 0 = = * 1 = =  3.5  2288 
 8. Lukic, Milutin         f CRO 2230  = = = 0 0 0 0 * = =  2.5  2222 
 9. Brkic, Ante              CRO 2212  0 0 0 = 0 = = = * =  2.5  2224 
10. Macanga, Branko        f CRO 2369  0 0 0 0 0 0 = = = *  1.5  2099 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

23) Austrian Team Championships Final

Merkur won the Austrian team championships. The final three rounds took place in Fürstenfeld 16th-18th of March 2001. Games from the whole event are available.

Further information: http://members.aon.at/schach1/

Austrian Team Championships final standings:
 1  Merkur               43 
 2  Hohenems             38½ 
 3  Gamlitz/Leutschach   37½ 
 4  Gleisdorf            35 
 5  Austria Graz         35 
 6  Husek/Ottakring      34½ 
 7  Fürstenfeld          34 
 8  Hietzing/Fischer     32½ 
 9  Melk/Wachau          32 
10  Salzburger SK Mozart 27½ 
11  VOEST Linz           24 
12  Wr. Neustädter       22½ 

24) Karpov vs Kouvatsou in Rethymno

The Union of Cretan Chess Associations organised a Chess Festival called "Easter in Rethymno 2001" held at the hotel "LEFKONIKO" in Rethymno from the 17th-21st April 2001. Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov played two games against World Girl Champion Maria Kouvatsou at a time rate 25 minutes + 5 seconds, the match ended 1-1 on April 21st 2001. The day before Karpov gave a simul 22.5-1.5 (3 draws). My thanks to Argiris Kotsis.

Internet coverage: http://www.chess.gr/essk/enter.html

25) Foxwoods Open

The Foxwoods Open is getting larger and larger each year. Held at the world's largest Casino, the Foxwoods Resort and Casino on the grounds of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation in Connecticut ran April 12th-15th 2001.

The Open section ended in a 7-way tie for first with 5.5/7. GMs Novikov, Wojtkiewicz, Ibragimov, Stripunsky, Kudrin and Ashley and IM William Paschall were the winners! Paschall's final day achievement of defeating both GMs Yermolinsky and Ivanov, with the black pieces, to move into the winners group was a great result.

My thanks to Michael Atkins.

Internet coverage by Michael Atkins at: http://www.wizard.net/~matkins/fox/foxwoods.htm

--------------------------------------------------
Foxwoods Open Connecticut USA (USA), 12-15 iv 2001
--------------------------------------------------
 1. Novikov, Igor A             g  UKR 2596  5.5
 2. Wojtkiewicz, Aleksander     g  POL 2576  5.5
 3. Ibragimov, Ildar            g  RUS 2578  5.5
 4. Stripunsky, Alexander       g  USA 2497  5.5
 5. Kudrin, Sergey              g  USA 2509  5.5
 6. Ashley, Maurice             g  USA 2484  5.5
 7. Paschall, William M         m  USA 2370  5.5
 8. Shabalov, Alexander         g  USA 2595  5.0
 9. Gurevich, Dmitry            g  USA 2543  5.0
10. Blatny, Pavel               g  CZE 2547  5.0
11. Fishbein, Alexander         g  USA 2504  5.0
12. Goldin, Alexander           g  ISR 2599  4.5
13. Kosyrev, Vladimir           g  RUS 2565  4.5
14. Ivanov, Alexander           g  USA 2582  4.5
15. Chernin, Alexander          g  HUN 2588  4.5
16. Yermolinsky, Alex           g  USA 2574  4.5 
17. Finegold, Benjamin          m  USA 2511  4.5 
18. Foygel, Igor                f  USA 2463  4.5 
19. Karklins, Andrew            f  USA 2376  4.5 
20. Winer, Steven               f  USA 2326  4.5 
21. Belorusov, Mikhail             RUS 2298  4.5 
22. Resika, Nathan A            f  USA 2246  4.5
23. Times,Jerald W                 USA ----  4.5 
24. Christiansen, Larry M       g  USA 2566  4.0 
25. Gamboa, Nelson              m  COL 2360  4.0 
26. Mulyar, Michael A           f  USA 2431  4.0 
27. Visweswaran, K                 IND 2301  4.0 
97 players

26) 5th Int. Neckar-Open

The 5th International Neckar-Open took place April 12th-16th 2001. The winner was Konstantin Landa who along with Lubomir Ftacnik scored 7.5/9. Games are available. My thanks to Markus Brenner for his help.

Internet coverage

-------------------------------------------------------------
5th Neckar Open Deizisau GER (GER), 12-16 iv 2001
-------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Landa, Konstantin       g  RUS 2610  6 3 0 7.5 54.5 444.0
 2. Ftacnik, Lubomir        g  SVK 2618  6 3 0 7.5 53.5 455.0
 3. Tregubov, Pavel V       g  RUS 2628  5 4 0 7.0 57.5 440.0
 4. Horvath, Jozsef         g  HUN 2551  5 4 0 7.0 52.5 437.0
 5. Milov, Vadim            g  SUI 2605  6 2 1 7.0 50.0 432.0
 6. Graf, Alexander         g  GER 2649  6 2 1 7.0 49.5 424.0
 7. Lindemann, Stefan          GER 2358  6 2 1 7.0 45.0 409.0
 8. Balinov, Ilija          g  AUT 2482  6 1 2 6.5 53.0 421.5
 9. Bezold, Michael         g  GER 2510  4 5 0 6.5 52.5 417.5
10. Schlosser, Philipp      g  GER 2493  4 5 0 6.5 52.0 419.5
11. Rogers, Ian             g  AUS 2528  6 1 2 6.5 51.5 429.0
12. Kekelidze, Mikheil      g  GEO 2491  5 3 1 6.5 51.5 413.5
13. Volke, Karsten          m  GER 2486  6 1 2 6.5 51.5 411.5
14. Farago, Ivan            g  HUN 2485  5 3 1 6.5 50.0 421.5
15. Gheng, Josef            f  GER 2307  5 3 1 6.5 48.0 407.0
16. Brendel, Oliver         f  GER 2389  6 1 2 6.5 48.0 399.5
17. Hoi, Carsten            m  DEN 2408	 4 5 0 6.5 45.0 390.5
205 players

27) 13th Lenk Open

The 13th "Lenkerfof-Open" April 12th-16th 2001 (part of the "Swiss Chess Tour 2001") was a Swiss system, 7 rounds with the top four players going into a knockout after five rounds with the rest carrying on to finish their final two games. The players played one game at normal time rate and then playoff games after a faster time rate until the first decisive result. In the final Florin Gheorghiu was beaten by Sandor Videki 1.5-0.5. The 3rd-4th playoff saw Janos Dudas beat Gyula Meszaros 2.5-1.5. (Semi-finals: Gheorghiu beat Meszaros 1.5-0.5 and Sandor Videki beat Janos Dudas 1-0).

Final Standings

 1. Videki Sandor       IM 2405 HUN 5 2 0 6   29 172½
 2. Gheorghiu Florin    GM 2478 ROM 4 3 0 5½  31 164
 3. Dudas Janos         IM 2386 HUN 4 2 1 5   31½ 162
 4. Meszaros Gyula      IM 2390 HUN 4 3 0 5½  28 172½

Open

 5. Miles Tony          GM 2564 GBR 5 2 0 6  29½ 159½
 6. Groszpeter Attila   GM 2483 HUN 4 3 0 5½ 29 165½
 7. Gerber Richard      IM 2432 SUI 5 1 1 5½ 28 158½
 8. Kachiani Ketino     GM 2456 GER 5 1 1 5½ 25 161
 9. Tukmakov Vladimir   GM 2595 UKR 3 4 0 5  29½ 159
10. Berend Fred         IM 2337 LUX 4 2 1 5  28 156
11. Seres Lajos         IM 2445 HUN 4 2 1 5  27 162½
12. Vogt Lothar         GM 2478 GER 4 2 1 5  27 160½
13. Hobuss Udo             2402 GER 5 0 2 5  27 158
14. Krizsany Laszlo     IM 2455 HUN 3 4 0 5  26½ 161
15. Nemet Ivan          GM 2437 SUI 4 2 1 5  26½ 156
16. Loeffler Markus     IM 2379 GER 5 0 2 5  26 158½
17. Jenni Florian       IM 2491 SUI 4 2 1 5  26 154½
18. Gyoerkoes Layos     IM 2388 HUN 4 2 1 5  25 151½
19. Suetin Alexej       GM 2352 RUS 3 3 1 4½ 28½ 150
129 players

28) Easter Open Essen-Borbeck

The Osteropen took place in Essen-Borbeck 11th-16th April 2001. The event was won by Karl-Heinz Podzielny with 7.5/9 half a point clear of Robert Kuczynski.

Internet coverage

---------------------------------------------------------
Osteropen Essen-Borbeck GER (GER), 11-16 iv 2001
---------------------------------------------------------

 1. Podzielny, Karl-Heinz  m  GER 2471 6 3 0 7.5 39.0 51.0 
 2. Kuczynski, Robert      g  POL 2509 5 4 0 7.0 38.5 56.5 
 3. Rizouk, Aimen          m  ALG 2406 4 5 0 6.5 36.5 52.0 
 4. Schebler, Gerhard      m  GER 2500 5 3 1 6.5 35.5 53.5 
 5. Zaragatski, Ilja          GER 2209 5 3 1 6.5 35.5 50.0 
 6. Friedrichs, Klaus         GER 2348 5 3 1 6.5 35.0 50.5 
 7. Braslavskij, Alex         UKR 2232 6 1 2 6.5 35.0 49.5 
 8. Dischinger, Frank      f  GER 2241 5 3 1 6.5 34.0 49.0 
 9. Brustman, Agnieszka    wg POL 2347 4 5 0 6.5 34.0 47.0 
10. Limbourg, Philipp         GER 2244 5 3 1 6.5 30.0 45.5 
11. Bashilin, Roman           UKR 2354 5 2 2 6.0 32.0 49.0 
12. Hirsch, Stefan            GER 2237 5 2 2 6.0 31.5 46.0 
13. Schlange, Stefan          GER 2236 5 2 2 6.0 31.0 45.0 
14. Heidel, Nicolas           GER 2118 5 2 2 6.0 29.5 45.0 
15. Mietner, Wolfgang         GER 2107 4 4 1 6.0 29.0 44.0
16. Van Treeck,Johann         GER ---- 5 2 2 6.0 26.5 39.0
106 players

29) Polish Junior Championships

The Polish Junior under 20 Championships took place in Brzeg Dolny 7th-17th February 2001. Games from the final two rounds are now available. My thanks to Przemek Jahr.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-POL u20 Brzeg Dolny POL (POL), 7-17 ii 2001              cat. V (2363)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Tomczak, Rafal          POL 2314  * 0 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 = 1  8.5  2578 
 2. Dziuba, Marcin        f POL 2421  1 * = 1 0 = = 1 = 1 1 1  8.0  2533 
 3. Mista, Aleksander       POL 2432  0 = * 0 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 1  7.5  2490 
 4. Radziewicz, Iweta    wg POL 2350  0 0 1 * 1 = 1 = = 1 1 =  7.0  2466 
 5. Heberla, Bartlomiej     POL 2364  0 1 0 0 * = 1 1 = 1 = 1  6.5  2428 
 6. Stryjecki, Marek      m POL 2445  = = 0 = = * 0 = = 1 1 1  6.0  2391 
 7. Szelag, Marcin        m POL 2403  0 = 0 0 0 1 * 0 1 1 1 1  5.5  2359 
 8. Owczarzak, Jerzy        POL 2311  = 0 = = 0 = 1 * = = = =  5.0  2332 
 9. Wisniewski, Adrian      POL 2292  0 = 0 = = = 0 = * 0 = =  3.5  2236 
10. Bartel, Mateusz         POL 2392  0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = 1 * = 1  3.5  2227 
11. Lagowski, Patryk        POL 2301  = 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = = * =  3.0  2194 
12. Zawadzki, Stanislaw     POL 2335  0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = = 0 = *  2.0  2103 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-POL u20 Women Brzeg Dolny POL (POL), 7-17 ii 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Jurkiewicz, Katarzyna     POL 2189  * = 1 = 1 1 0 1 1 0 = 1  7.5  2255 
 2. Matras, Agnieszka      wm POL 2235  = * 1 0 0 = 1 = 1 = 1 1  7.0  2220 
 3. Toma, Katarzyna           POL 2101  0 0 * = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 =  7.0  2232 
 4. Kadziolka, Beata          POL 2169  = 1 = * 0 0 = = = 1 1 1  6.5  2189 
 5. Zawadzka, Jolanta         POL 2028  0 1 0 1 * 1 = = = 1 0 =  6.0  2173 
 6. Szymanowska, Karolina     POL 2130  0 = = 1 0 * 1 0 = 1 = 1  6.0  2163 
 7. Szczepkowska, Karina      POL 2140  1 0 = = = 0 * = 0 = 1 1  5.5  2126 
 8. Andrzejewska, Edyta       POL 2244  0 = 0 = = 1 = * = 1 1 0  5.5  2117 
 9. Pokojska, Daria           POL 2048  0 0 0 = = = 1 = * 1 = 0  4.5  2070 
10. Chmielinska, Alicja       POL 2065  1 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 * 1 =  3.5  2000 
11. Reszka, Malgorzata        POL 2093  = 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 0 * 1  3.5  1998 
12. Staszewska, Anna          POL 2094  0 0 = 0 = 0 0 1 1 = 0 *  3.5  1998 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

30) 50th Bulgarian Women's Championships

The 50th Bulgarian Women's Championships took place 20th-30th March 2001 in Plovdiv. Maria Velcheva won the title. Note I said it was the 49th in error in TWIC 334. My thanks to Rumen Angelov for the news.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessbg.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-BUL Women Plodiv BUL (BUL), 20-30 iii 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Velcheva, Maria                 wg BUL 2273  * 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1  8.5  2391 
 2. Georgieva, Liubka                  BUL 2144  1 * = 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 = =  8.0  2367 
 3. Voiska, Margarita               wg BUL 2305  = = * = = 1 1 = 1 = 1 1  8.0  2353 
 4. Genova, Ruzka                   wm BUL 2198  0 1 = * = 1 = = 1 1 1 1  8.0  2362 
 5. Chilingirova, Pavlina           wm BUL 2206  0 0 = = * = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2320 
 6. Djingarova, Emilia              wm BUL 2235  = = 0 0 = * = = 1 1 = 1  6.0  2220 
 7. Jovkova-Draganova, Petranka        BUL 2040  0 0 0 = 0 = * = 1 1 1 1  5.5  2202 
 8. Ilieva, Hristina                   BUL 2190  0 0 = = 0 = = * 0 = = 1  4.0  2086 
 9. Plachkinova, Tatjana Georgieva     BUL 2211  = 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * = 1 1  4.0  2084 
10. Besheva, Svetla                    BUL 2158  0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = = * 1 1  3.5  2058 
11. Andreeva, Mariya                   BUL 2218  0 = 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 * 0  1.5  1876 
12. Doncheva, Marinela                 BUL 2085  0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 *  1.5  1889 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

31) 5th Sandanski Rapid Open

Rumen Angelov reports: The 5th Sandanski Rapid Open tournament was a 7 round Swiss System event with 1 hour per player 20th-22nd April 2001. The town is located about 180 km, south of Sofia , near to the border with Greece.

Final Round 7 Standings
Place Name                   Feder Rtg  Loc  Title Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Georgiev, Kiril        BUL   2676 2610 gm    6.5      23.5  32.0   26.5
  2   Genov, Petar           BUL   2447 2450 im    6        22.5  30.0   24.5
  3   Tsvetkov, Ilia         BUL   2319 2380       6        21.0  30.0   25.0
  4   Stamenkov, Vancho      MKD   2380 2380 fm    5.5      25.0  34.5   24.5
  5   Marholev, Dimitar      BUL   2327 2375       5.5      23.5  33.0   24.0
  6   Manolov, Ivan          BUL   2377 2295 im    5.5      23.0  32.0   22.5
  7   Kukov, Velislav        BUL   2180 2290       5.5      21.5  29.0   22.5
  8   Bojkov, Dejan          BUL   2398 2385       5        23.5  33.0   23.0
  9   Kuzev, Jordan          BUL   2277 2255       5        21.0  29.0   19.0
 10   Kostadinov, Atanas     BUL   2236 2170       5        20.5  26.5   21.0
 11   Drenchev, Petar        BUL   2345 2395       5        20.0  29.0   22.0
 12   Milchev, Nikolaj       BUL   2098 2160       5        18.5  26.5   18.0
 13   Angelov, Zvetomir      BUL   2109 2195       5        18.0  24.5   18.0
 14   Grigorov, Grigor       BUL        2030       5        18.0  24.0   19.0
 15   Asparuhov, Parvan      BUL        2040       5        17.5  24.5   18.0
 16   Georgiev, Krum         BUL   2510 2450 gm    4.5      24.5  34.5   22.0
 17   Badev, Kiril           BUL   2280 2306       4.5      22.0  30.0   21.5
 18   Milosiev, Todor        MKD   2255 2255       4.5      21.0  29.5   19.5
 19   Simeonov, Stefan       BUL   2338 2355       4.5      20.5  29.0   21.0
 20   Bratanov, Zsivko       BUL   2436 2425 im    4.5      20.5  29.0   19.5
 21   Ivanov, Bozhidar       BUL        2010       4.5      20.5  28.0   18.5
 22   Popov, Georgi          BUL   2273 2180       4.5      19.5  28.5   19.5
 23   Georgieva, Emilia      BUL   2068 2045       4.5      17.5  24.5   16.5
90 players

32) 2nd European Open women's Championship

The 2nd European open women's Championship will be held from April 21st (round 1 April 22nd) - May 5th 2001 in the “Marriott” Hotel, Warsaw, Poland.

The event will be a Swiss system - 11 rounds (one free day on April 28, tie-breaks on May 4). The new time control shall be 40 moves in 75 minutes followed by all moves in 15 minutes. Each player shall receive an extra 30 seconds thinking time prior to the move.

The 29 best players best players from the field of 157 will qualify for the 2001 FIDE Women’s World Championship.

Top 20 players entered: Galliamova, Alisa (IM) (RUS 2554 wgm), Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina (RUS 2488 wgm), Stefanova, Antoaneta (IM) (BUL 2473 wgm), Peptan, Corina (IM) (ROM 2461 wgm), Zhukova, Natalia (UKR 2460 wgm), Khurtsidze, Nino (IM) (GEO 2459 wgm), Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino (IM) (GER 2456 wgm), Bojkovic, Natasa (YUG 2447 wgm), Matveeva, Svetlana (RUS 2447 wgm), Skripchenko-Lautier, Almira(I (MDA 2441 wgm), Lomineishvili, Maia (GEO 2439 wgm), Stepovaia-Dianchenko, Tatian (RUS 2436 wgm), Vasilevich, Tatjana (UKR 2436 wgm), Alexandrova, Olga (IM) (UKR 2432 wgm), Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (IM) (GEO 2427 wgm), Zatonskih, Anna (UKR 2427 wgm), Hunt, Harriet (ENG 2426 wgm), Prudnikova, Svetlana (YUG 2419 wgm), Foisor, Cristina Adela (IM) (ROM 2408 wgm), Kosteniuk, Alexandra (IM) (RUS 2397 wgm).

Internet page: http://www.pzszach.org.pl/europa/womens.htm

33) Geneva Chess Club's 100th Anniversary Tournament

The 100th Anniversary Tournament of Geneva Chess Club took place 19th-22nd April 2001. The event was won by Joseph Gallagher with 6/7.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessonline.ch/members/lejoueur/opengeneve.htm

--------------------------------------------------
100th Anniversary Geneva CC (SUI), 19-22 iv 2001
--------------------------------------------------
 1. Gallagher, Joseph G       g  SUI 2524   6.0
 2. Miralles, Gilles          g  FRA 2473   5.5
 3. Guadalpi, David              FRA 2282   5.5
 4. Lazarev, Vladimir         g  RUS 2500   5.5
 5. Tukmakov, Vladimir B      g  UKR 2604   5.0
 6. Preissmann, Emmanuel      f  SUI 2380   5.0
 7. Meijers, Viesturs         m  LAT 2454   5.0
 8. Landenbergue, Claude      m  SUI 2401   5.0
 9. Masserey, Yvan            f  SUI 2373   5.0
10. Leib, Agripa                 SUI 2239   4.5
11. Bucher, Denis             f  SUI 2314   4.5
12. Habibi, Ali               m  GER 2255   4.5
13. Javet, Blaise                SUI 2057   4.5
50 players

34) Forthcoming Events and Links

Korchnoi Anniversary Tournament

The Viktor Korchnoi 70th Birthday Tournament takes place in the Hotel Savoy in Zürich, Switzerland (Main Sponsor: Bank Hofmann, Zürich).

Schedule: April 25th Clock simul Korchnoi vs. 8 Swiss Juniors (at the Bank Hofmann, Zürich) April 28th Rapid tournament, Qualification in two groups (A and B) April 29th Rapid tournament, Quarterfinals (best 4 of each group), Semifinals and Finals

The 12 players are: Viktor Korchnoi, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Swidler, Nigel Short, Jeroen Piket, Boris Spassky, Wolfgang Unzicker and the other swiss players Yannick Pelletier, Werner Hug, Florian Jenni and Richard Forster.

Its a rapid tournament (25 minutes for the whole game, no timebonus). Semifinals and Finals two games. Tiebreaks: 2 Blitzgames (10 min), 2 Blitzgames (5 min), Sudden Death (White 6 min, Black 5 min, Black wins in the case of a Draw).

Internet coverage: http://www.chessbase.com

Capablanca Memorial

The Capablanca Memorial tournament takes place May 3rd-21st 2001. Invited players in the Premier include: Ulf Anderssson, Zhang Zhong, Alexandre Lesiege, Anthony Miles, Francisco Vallejo, Thomas Luther, Igor Alexander Nataf, Hannes Stefansson.

Internet coverage: http://www.galeon.com/capablanca/

Besançon Masters

The Category IV Besançon Masters 21st-29th April 2001. 10 players.

Internet coverage: http://www.ifrance.com/besancontpg/

Cutro Tournament

The 7th International tournament Gio. Leonardo di Bona in Cutro, Italy takes place April 22nd-May 2nd 2001.

Players: 1) Giulio Borgo ITA IM 2408, 2) Spyridon Skembris GRE GM 2450, 3) Boris Chatalbashev BUL GM 2518, 4) Nenad Ristic YUG GM 2425, 5) Vladimir Georgiev BUL GM 2592, 6) Stelios Halkias GRE IM 2494, 7) Igor Miladinovic GRE GM 2519, 8) Nenad Aleksic YUG IM 2417, 9) Piero Pegorari ITA FM 2380, 10) Milan Drasko YUG GM 2521, 11) Lexy Ortega ITA IM 2487

Internet coverage: http://www.infcom.it/fsi/tornei/01cutro.htm

5th Golden Cleoptra

The 5th Golden Cleopatra Open takes place 2nd-12th May 2001 in Cairo in the Eastern Company Sports Club, about 5 kms from Pyramids. The event is Open for GM-IM-invited players then high ratings until the event reaches 60 players. Swiss System - 10 Rounds - 60 Players ( 10 GMs - 20 IMs) - 20 EGY players - Time control 7 hours - Fischer system. 1st Round 2 May , last Round 11 May , Closing Ceremony 12 May. . Play start at 4.pm daily And its prizes is : 1st 1000 US$ then 2nd 800 3rd 700 4th 600 5th 500 6th 400 7th 300 8th 200 9th 150 10th 150 .Full Accommodation and 3 meals in 3 star Hotel - single Room for Invited GMs and double Room for invited IMs Free transportation inside Egypt , including from and to Airport; Free Tourist tours; Free entry fee for invited players. They only need one player per country and already they're close to their target. Contact: Hassan Khaled ecf@idsc.net.eg and haskh@yahoo.com

Ikaros Chess Festival 2001

The Ikaros Chess Festival 2001 will take place 3rd-16th July 2001. The Ikaros Chess Festival has been held for the last 23 years on Ikaria island, one of the most picturesque aegean islands of Greece. This year's events include the traditional open international tournament "Open Aegean Championship" (7th-15th of July) as well as plenty of other side events such as Women, Junior and Veteran tournaments, blitz and simultaneous exhibition events, blindfold chess, chess lectures and many others.

Further information http://www.chess.gr/ikaros/

or send an e-mail to Mr. Dimitris Skyrianoglou at: dimiski@di.uoa.gr

VI International Chess Festival in Cesenatico

The VI International Chess Festival in Cesenatico takes place 9th-16th September 2001. Open events etc.

Internet coverage: http://www.antiquascom.it/

Jezdimir Vasiljevic arrest

Jezdimir Vasiljevic was arrested in February after a return to Belgrade after 8 years in hiding in Cyprus. The former banker was wanted for embezzlement, he sponsored the 1992 match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. My thanks to Kevin Dolan.

Internet reference: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/February/28/news8.htm

3rd Julian Borowski Tournament

The 3rd Julian Borowski Tournament takes place in Essen, May 2nd-11th 2001.

Group A (Categorie XV or XVI): Mikhail Gurevich (BEL/2694), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB/2693), Michal Krasenkow (POL/2658), Artur Jussupow (GER/2645), Rustem Dautov (GER/2631), Sergey Smagin (RUS/2613), Christopher Lutz (GER/2609), Emil Sutovsky (ISR/2605), Oleg Romanischin (UKR/2556), Klaus Bischoff (GER/2552).

Group B (Categorie IX): IM Daniel Fridman (LAT/ 2559, GM Yannick Pelletier (SUI/2548), GM Aloyzas Kveinys (LTU/2530), GM John van der Wiel (NED/2493), IM Arkadij Naiditsch (GER/2484), IM Ralf Appel (GER/2481), IM Georg Seul (GER/2434), IM Francesco de Gleria (GER/2427), IM Markus Schäfer (GER/2393), IM Sebastian Siebrecht (GER/2386).

Venue: HOTEL ASTORIA, Wilhelm-Nieswandt-Allee 175, D-45326 Essen-Altenessen, phone (0049)-(0)201-83584, Fax (0049)-(0)201-8358040.

Live Internet Coverage: http://www.chessgate.de

3rd Bydgoszcz International

The 3rd Bydgoszcz International Chess Festival 2001 will take place April 27th-May 5th 2001. There will be 4 opens: Bank Pocztowy SA Open A (ratings above 2100), Poczta Polska Open B (above 1800), Ruch SA Open C (below 1800) and Open D (kids). In addition there will be a match between Alexei Shirov and Bartlomiej Macieja (4 games, rapid chess) on May 5th. The results and standings will be updated daily at: http://www.szachy.lo.pl and the games will be available after the festival.

II Open Backa Palanka

The II Open Backa Palanka (Yugoslavia) takes place 2nd-10th May 2001.

Further information: http://www.backapalankaopen.com

Hotel Lipa Tournament

The Hotel Lipa International Chess Grandmaster and Master Tournaments take place in Szentgotthárd, Hungary June 13th-23rd 2001.

Further details: http://www.primerate.hu

32 Hour Blitz Marathon in Budapest

A 32-hour (non-stop, approx. 150 rounds) super-marathon blitz tournament (ELTE 32) starting at 12:00, April 29 (Sunday) will take place in Budapest, aiming at breaking the previous (non-registered) 30-hour record. TV, radio and the press are very likely to pop up. Further information at 25vos@ludens.elte.hu or at Attila PIRÓTH, +36-1-2218695. The details of the tournament can be checked out at the homepage of the Hungarian Chess Federation, http://www.chess.hu (see "versenynaptar"). About 100 participants are expected. 20-30 prizes, 1st prize around DM 200. Entry fee, including 3 meals not more than DM 30.

Pilsen Open

The 7th International Chess Festival "Festival Schneider Bohemia " Pilsen 2001, takes place 18th-26th August 2001 at the "Strelecky stadion" Pilsen Lobzy (The Czech Republic). The main tournament of this Festival is the International Open Czech Championship. (1st prize 20 000 CZK, sum of prizes 81 000 CZK). For detailed information look at http://www.volny.cz/pmarik/

International Championships of Slovakia

International Championships of Slovakia 2001, which will be hold as tournament A of Presov Chess Festival 2001: Presov Chess Festival 11.8 - 19.8.2001 (9 rounds) A) International Championship of Slovakia 2001 (OPEN) - 1st prize 30 000 Sk (about 1500 DEM) - total prize fund 114 000 Sk (about 5500 DEM) B) National Open - 1st prize 7 000 Sk (about 350 DEM) - total prize fund 31 000 Sk (about 1500 DEM) Venue: Presov, SPS Strojnicka school (next to hotel Saris) Accomodation: College of SPS Strojnicka - 2-beds room 10 DEM / person / night - 1-bed room 13 DEM / person / night Boarding: SPS Strojnicka 10 DEM per day Registration deadline 15.7.2001 Further information: http://www.chess.vadium.sk/presov

Notzai

Notzai (always worth visiting) were in satirical mode for April 1st. http://www.notzai.com, specifically http://www.notzai.com/notzai/KC.html.

Weihnachts-Open 2001

The Weihnachts-Open 2001 takes place in Strausberg (Berlin) Germany from 27.12.2001 to 30.12.2001. The tournament will be ELO and DWZ rated. First prize : 500 DM entry fee : 30 DM

Further information: http://www.weihnachtsopen.de

Rebel vs. the World events

Chess Tiger vs the Web organized by ChessBrain located at: http://www.chessbrain.de/td/te/te.html Rebel Century 3.0 is playing against the Internet at ChessLines located at: http://www.chesslines.com/rebelvsnet/rebel.html and the brand-new Gambit Tiger 2.0 plays against the Internet on the fastest PC around. Organization: Ed Panek and Jorge Pichard, location at: http://www.rebel.nl/gt2-web.htm The overall address is: http://www.rebel.nl/rebweb.htm

Bucharest Chess Open

The Bucharest Chess Open takes place: 22th-29th.April.2001

ORGANISER: ASTRAL CHESS CLUB

VENUE: BUCHAREST FAIRS COMPLEX PAVILION T-PUBLITER

9 rounds, possibilities for GM and IM norms.

Prizes (USD): 800, 400 .... 20 prizes in total; special women, U-18, U-12,... and SPECIAL PRIZES after each round.

Special Conditions for GMs ENTRY FEE 23 USD (payable in leu) GM&IM free TIME CONTROL 40 moves for 2 hours, then 30 for the rest of the game

PROGRAM SUNDAY 22nd 11a.m. deadline for inscriptions 3p.m. first round 23rd to 27th rounds 2-6 at 4.30p.m. 28th 9a.m. round 7 4.30p.m. round 8 29th 9a.m. round 9 2.30p.m. CLOSING CEREMONY

INFORMATION e-mail: isd@euro.ro dorualex@hotmail.com mpanait@fx.ro LIVIU DOBRONAUTEANU phone 004094322001 fax 004016596958 Important note Hotel reservations till 10th of April

DEEP SHREDDER vs. THE WORLD

There is a DEEP SHREDDER vs. THE WORLD match about to start. Prizes available for taking part in this challenge match. Further details: http://www.gambitsoft.net/_shredder

Merida GM Event in May

The II Merida Tournament takes place 16th-22nd May with Anand, Khalifman, Short and Gilberto Hernández. Internet coverage: http://www.deportesmerida.gob.mx/magistral/ultimo.htm

Manhattan Chess Club 2001 Open Championships

Sponsored by Chess Forum, Greenwich Villiage, New York City. May 4th - 6th, 2001.

Open Section: (Open to USCF>2000, and FIDE Rated players on April list) 1st - $500 plus Chronos Digital Clock, 2nd - $300, 3rd - $200, U2400 - $100, U2200 - $100 Top Junior (Under 18 years of age) - $200 plus Chronos Digital Clock

U2000 section: 1st - $100 plus Chronos Digital Clock, 2nd - $50

5 Round Swiss, 30/90 SD/1 Time control. Entry fee is $35 for members, and $50 for non-members. All GMs free. $5 discount if registered by 4/26/2001.

For more information: http://www.manhattanchessclub.com

1st Asean International Open Chess Championships

The 1st Asean International Open Chess Championships take place 29th July - 5th August, 2001 in Brunei, Darussalam.

Contacts: Awang Zaidi B Hj Dollah BCF Deputy Secretary General C/O SES114, BSP Co. Sdn. Bhd. Seria Brunei Darussalam KE3435 Tel : (673)3 3 373970 Fax : (673)3 330195 Email : bruneichessfederation@hotmail.com

Mr. Leong Voon Choon BCF Secretary General P.O. BOX 523 Kuala Belait Brunei Darussalam KA1131 Tel : (673)3 333157/373612 Fax : (673)3 372182 Email : Voon-Choon.V.C.Leong@shell.com.bn

Yap Choow Tun BCF Tournament Director C/O ODE/23 Dept., Brunei Shell Co. Sdn. Bhd. Seria Brunei Darussalam KE3435 Tel : (673)3 372485 Fax : (673)3 373130 Email : Choow-Tun C.T. Yap@shell.com.bn

Further information http://www.geocities.com/brunei_chess_fed (more detail in three weeks from 26/3/01)

2nd Open "Backa Palanka 2001"

The 2nd Open"Backa Palanka 2001"will take place in Backa Palanka(20.km.western from Novi Sad)2nd-10th may 2001. There are 9.rounds on the tournamnet,Swiss Pairing,with possibility of reaching IM and GM norms.Ten prices and one special price. Contakt:Mr.Jovan Dragic(English and Germany)phone:++ 381 21 747-758 mobile 063/562-584,E-mail:kingns@EUnet.yu

Internet coverage:http://www.backapalankaopen.com/

50th ICCF JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

FREE ICCF Jubilee Open Email Tournament (time limit 10 moves in 60 days) This special celebration Email tournament is FREE to all chess players in the World !

The event will be played exclusively using Email communication and will comprise of three stages, with 11 participants in each Qualifying Group, and 11-15 players in each of the Semi-final and Final Sections, according to the number of entries and qualifiers. Winners and runners-up (including tied players) will qualify to progress at each stage.

All Semi-finalists will be given a free entry into an ICCF World Master Class Section and Finalists, will earn free entry to an Email World Championship Semi-final Section.

The overall Winner (tie break rules apply) will receive a free entry into the next Email World CC Championship Final and those players placed 2nd,3rd and 4th (including tied players) will be awarded free entries to future Email World CC Championship ¾ Finals.

Finalists will receive free one year subscriptions to ChessBase Magazine (6 editions), generously sponsored by ChessBase GmbH, and also a complimentary copy of the ICCF Jubilee Book.

All games played in this tournament will be rated in the official International CC Rating system and title norms will be available, where Groups satisfy ICCF qualification rules.

This will give new ICCF players a chance to acquire properly calculated international ratings, joining 30,000+ players, who already have games in the ICCF rating databank.

Entries to this FREE Open Email Tournament should be made using the special entry form available (from 1.4.2001) on http://www.iccf.com, either by individuals or via their national ICCF member federations. Only one entry per person will be allowed. The Closing Date for entries is 15th July and play in the Groups is scheduled to begin on 1st September 2001. The Tournament Controller will be Chris Lüers (GER). As we are anticipating very large participation in this unique tournament, the early submission of entries would be appreciated, to help us to make all of the necessary arrangements.

Roenne Chess Club's 100th anniversary tournament

On occasion of its 100th anniversary Roenne Chess Club, Bornholm (Denmark), holds a major Swiss tournament where at least 10 GMs will be participating. 9 rounds with a total rate of play of 6 hours It takes place 24th-30th June 2001.

Further information: Bent Schioett Hansen, Laerkevej 19, 3700 Roenne, Denmark.

Phone: +45 5695 1453 Fax: +45 5695 1453

http://www.skak-bornholm.dk

e-mail: info@skak-bornholm.dk

Hotel Lipa International Chess Tournament

There are IM and GM norm tournaments in the Hotel Lipa in Szentgotthárd, Hungary. 12 round robin 13th June to 23rd June 2001.

Entry: Tomcsányi Péter Mobile: (+36) 20/9217-074 H-2651 Rétság, Széchenyi u. 15. Tel./Fax: (+36) 1/3703651 (office hours) E-mail: primerat@mail.matav.hu

Further information: http://www.primerate.hu

Bergen Chess International

Bergen Chess International 4-12. August 2001 Playing venue: Bergen, Norway 9 rounds open GM-tournament 50-60 participants of which 6-7 GMs and 7-8 IMs. Limited number of unrated players. 7 hour playing session No double rounds or adjournments No start fee for foreign players with FIDE ELO.

Internet coverage: http://eirikgu.home.online.no/bergen2001/

European Youth Championships

Information on the European Youth Chess Championships (August 30th - September 10th 2001) and F.I.D.E. Congress (September 4th to 10th) is now on-line.

Internet coverage: http://www.sportmeeting.org/

Advantech Tweetallen 2001

The Advantech Tweetallen, Roosendaal Netherlands 2001 tournament takes place on 31st March 2001.

Entry info http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ad_bruijns/advantech.htm

Open Crans Montana

Next station of the "Swiss Chess Tour 2001" in Crans Montana with the 7th "Open Etrier Crans Montana" April 19th –22nd 2001. Swiss system, 7 rounds, (30 moves 90 minutes + 30 minutes til the end) The first four after 5th round, play knock-out and the other continue tournament. Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. From 11.- 20. places natural prizes. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1941), junior(1981-84), schoolboy (1985) 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 ”Etrier”

Time table: April 19: The last registration 16.00-17.45, Open ceremony 17.45-18.00, Round 1st 18.00-22.00,; April 20th –22nd Rounds 2nd, 4th, 6th 10.00-14.00, Rounds 3rd, 5th, 7th 15.00-19.00.

Closing ceremony April 22nd at 19.30.

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/

Two tournaments in Slovakia

XV Slovan 9 round Swiss Open 2001 28th April - 5th May 2001 in Bratislava (Slovakia)

Further information: http://www.chess.sk/turnaje/turnaje.html

VII Tatry Open 2001 in Tatranské Zruby 29 September - 6 October 2001.

Further information: http://www.chess.sk/turnaje/turnaje.html

Hawaii International Chess Festival

Hawaii International Chess Festival returns in 2002 with the first World Families Chess Championships. Pro (2000+), Mixed, and Amateur (all players under 2000). Prizes for all sorts of combinations of family members. Information: hawaii@chessworks.com. Website (coming soon) www.familychess.com.

Malahide Millennium Tournament

Malahide Chess Club present the Malahide Millennium Tournament on the weekend of May 5th, 6th & 7th 2001. The venue is St. Sylvester's GAA Club, Church Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin and there are three events - an Open, an Under 1600 Elo and a Top Team event. The first prize for the Open is £750 and the first prize for U1600 is £350. Total prize fund of over £2,000. To enter contact Vincent Bissett on (00353) 1 8453609 and further detailed information is available at: http://members.tripod.co.uk/MalahideCC.

Odyssey 2001 computer chess tournament

There is a computer chess tournament running as a 15 round Swiss system event. The first round has just been completed. 26 leading chess programs compete. The website has games and commentary.

Website:http://www.rebel.nl/odyssey.htm

"Liepajas rokade" GM Rapidplay

Kaspars Migla reports: Liepaja, Latvia organised a GM rapid chess tournament "Liepajas rokade". (Andra Cimina's report on that event appeared in TWIC 301 14th August 2000). This years tournament will be much stronger. It takes place 2nd-5th August. Players: 1. Alexei Shirov (ESP, 2718) 2. Aleksandr Khalifman (RUS, 2690) 3. Ulf Andersson (SWE, 2640) 4. Jaan Ehlvest (EST, 2638) 5. Aleksandr Shabalov (USA, 2609) 6. Edvins Kengis (LAT, 2589) 7. Utut Adianto (INO, 2583) 8. Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (POL, 2572) 9. Aloyzas Kveinys (LTU, 2530) 10. Maxim Dlugy (USA, 2531) 11. Darmen Sadvakasov (KAZ, 2509) 12. Viktoria Chmilite (LTU, 2433) There will be live coverage: The Internet site for "Liepajas rokade" will be available soon.

There is also an open: GsM and IMs are invited to the "Open" tournament. Entry is still open. Prizes 1) 1000 USD, 2) 500 USD, 3) 300 USD, 4) 200 USD, 5) 100 USD, 6) 50 USD Blitz chess tournament (5 August) prizes total 1000 USD. For more information contact: Aris Ozolins +371-9207601 (mobile) +371-3484128 Cieceres 28-4 Liepaja, Latvia LV-3416 e-mail: ozolins@apollo.lv kurvar@apollo.lv

Olympic Capital Young Masters 2001

The Olympic Capital Young Masters 2001 tournament will be played at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. There are various events:

20-27 may The Olympic YOUNG MASTERS, for this KO system tournament, we are inviting the worlds 8 best junior GM's.(Fide rating of 31/12/2000)

22-27 may The MASTERS OPEN, 9 round swiss system Open, for players with Elo above 2000 points. The tournament meets regulations for GM and IM norms.

24-27 may The GENERAL OPEN, 7 round swiss system Open, for players of all levels with maximum rating of Elo 2150.

For more detailed information and registration, visit our Home-page : http://www.lausanneyoungmasters.com

5th Voronezh International Chess Festival

The 5th Voronezh International Chess Festival takes place June 10th - 21st, 2001.

1.Rapid tournament, 10-11.06, 9 rounds swiss, 25 minutes. Entry fee - 120 RR. Prizes in RR 2000/1500/1000. Special prizes.

2.Blitz tournament, 17.06, 11 rounds swiss. Entry fee - 60 RR. Prizes 1000/800/600. Special prizes.

3.Open "A". 12-21.06; 9 rounds swiss; 5 hours. Entry fee in RR: 1500 - without Elo; 1200 - 2001-2100; 1000 -2101-2200; 800 -2201-2250; 600-2251-2300;500 -2301-2350; 400 -2351-2400; 300 -2400-2450. Juniors (1983+), ladies, seniors (1940-) have to pay 50%. Free for GM, IM, 2450+. Prizes in RR : 20000/15000/12000/10000/8000/6000/5000/4000/3000/2000x2/1000x2. Special prizes for juniors, ladies, seniors, players without Elo. A participant may get not more than one prize. Opportunity to qualify for FIDE ratings and norms.

4.Open "B"(Elo<2251). 12-20.06; 9 rounds; 4 hours. Entry fee - 500 RR for rated players, 800 RR for unrated players. Prizes:5000/4000/3000/2000/1500x2/1000x2.Special prizes. 5.Open "C"(for unrated players). 13-20.06; 7 rounds swiss; 3,5 hours. Entry fee 400 RR. Prizes : 3000/2000/1500x2/1000x2/500x3. Special prizes.

Accommodation - from 50 RR per night. (1 USD appr. 30 RR)

Place of the festival: Voronezh Chess Club, Engels str.34, ph.007-0732-551777

Information: Alexander Raetsky, Ostuzheva 22 - 46, 394042 Voronezh, Russia. Fax 007-0732-522951(for A.Raetsky) ph.007-0732-136076(20.00-22.00) e-mail: alex.raetsky@usa.net

Website: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open

Salou Tournaments

The "Torrevella Chess Club" in Salou, Spain is planning to organise 4 events during this year.

Each event will have a minimum of 3 tournaments with chances to make GM and IM norms as well as getting an Elo rating. Salou is a city 100km south of Barcelona. The first of these events will take place 7th-18th May 2001. Further details: prizes, accomodation, entry fees, etc. about these tournaments can be found on the web page: http://home2.worldonline.es/ortumsal

Dortmund 2001

The Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2001 will have Anand and Kramnik as the stars of the event. The event which is also the 29th International Dortmund Chess Days will be held July 12th-22nd in Dortmund Opera House (1200 seats for spectators). 6 players from the top ten will be invited for the double round robin event they will include Kramnik and Anand the event will be Category 20 or 21. An announcement will be made in May of the full field. Alongside the super-tournament will be a computer match with a top player, other matches and an Open with 300 participants. Internet coverage will be by http://www.chessgate.de

Further details: http://teleschach.de/dortmund-2001/

Colombian Chess Magazine

There is a new magazine for Colombian chess players. The pages are those of Fide Master Juan Minaya whose the address is: http://www.gimnasio-moderno.edu.co/ajedrezgm/indexaj.htm. Subjects include: Chess as an educational help Activities of the Colombian Chess Federation and its leagues. Information, tournaments, achievements, Elo, etc. Up date information both local and international. Local and international anecdotes. Chess problems for all levels, tests, etc. Preferred links.

Hungarian Events

Chess tournaments in the near future in Hungary and in Yugoslavia: March-April-June 2001...

1. 7th-19th of April FS GM-IM-FM tournaments, Budapest, org: NL

2. 21st of April - 3rd of May THIRD SATURDAY GM-IM tournaments, Belgrade, (YUG) /only 7 hours by train from Budapest, org: NL.

3. 5th-17th of May FS IM-FM tournaments, Budapest, org.NL,

4. 21st of May - 2nd of June ELEKES memorial GM-IM-event, organizer IM Zsinka,mobile phone: (36)-20-921-9197

5. 2nd-14th of June FS GM-IM-FM events, Budapest, org: NL.

6. 16th-28th of June THIRD SATURDAY GM-IM events in Belgrade.Org.NL.

North Sea Cup

The Esbjerg Chess Union stages a 16 edition of its North Sea Cup at Esbjerg Denmark July 6-14 2001. The tournament will again be a 10 player round-robin, at least category 12 is expected. Website address to follow.

Pakistan Chess Player

There is a new website in Pakistan called "Pakistan Chess Player" to promote chess in that region.

Website: http://pakchess.cjb.net

Interesting Links

I came across an interesting interview Kramnik gave in May 1999. It is called "Where have all the chess fans gone?" There seem to be elections in Kalmykia here is an article about that "Liberals accuse authorities" both come from the site: http://www.russiajournal.com/

You can see the results of the deliberations of the FIDE Problem Commission meeting last year which looked at the years 1995, 1996 and 1997. You can find them at: http://www.sci.fi/~stniekat/pccc/studies.htm

Gambito Magazine

The Spanish Chess Magazine "Gambito" has a new website, editor Alfonso Romero. Info David Llada.

Internet site: http://www.revistagambito.com/

Rebel Century 3 vs The Web

A match between Rebel Century 3 against the Web is underway.

Internet coverage: http://www.chesslines.com/rebelvsnet/rebel.html

Pula Open May 2001

The Croatian Chess Federation and Pula Chess Club are holding an open 18th-26th May 2001. 9 round swiss system.

Full details including contact details at: http://sahklubpula.virtualave.net

E-Mail denis.vretenar@pu.tel.hr ( tel. 385/52/534840) or edvard.glavas@pu.tel.hr

Karpov in Greece

The former World Champion Anatoly Karpov will visit Greece in a chess festival that will take place in Rethymno of Crete. Karpov will play in exhibition match against the 1999 Woman World Champion U-20, Maria Kouvatsou. He will also give a simultaneous match against 20 distinguished opponents. This will take place 17th-21st April 2001.

Internet coverage at: http://www.chess.gr

Advanced Chess Leon 2001

The Advanced Chess tournament will be held in Leon (Spain) June 8th-11th 2001. This is the 3rd time the event has been held and is also the 14th Leon tournament. This was originally the idea of Garry Kasparov. Players compete the help of a computer and a Database. The players will be Viswanathan Anand (India), Alexei Shirov (Spain), Peter Leko (Hungary) and Vesselin Topalov (Bulgaria). The main sponsors are: Telefonica, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Caja Duero, Chess Base, Excmo. Ayuntamiento de León, Excma. Diputación de León, Junta de Castila y León and the University of Leon. There will be 4 games per day and the event is a knockout. Timerate: 20 minutes per player, with 10 or 15 seconds increment after every move. The official websites will be at: http://www.elajedrezdelfuturo.com and http://www.advancedchessleon.com On 1st February 2001 there will be a preliminary presentation for this tournament alongside the European Team Championships, which will also be held in Leon (5th to 16th November 2001) at FITUR.

Politiken Cup 2001

The 23rd Copenhagen Open (Politiken Cup) takes place 16th-27th July 2001.

11 round event. One game per day (rest day Monday July 23rd 2001). Timerate: 40 moves in 2 hours / 20 move in 1 hour / 30 min. finish. Totally 7 hours. GM and IM-norms are possible.

Main Prizes 1.15.000 ,- 2. 10.000 ,- 3. 8.000 ,- 4. 6.000 , 5. 4.000,- 6. 3.000 ,- 7. 2.000 ,- 8. 2.000 ,- 9. 2.000 ,- 10.-12. 1.000 ,- Special prizes: Best Women Player 1. 2.000,- 2. 1.000,- Best player born after 1.1. 1987: 1. 2.000,- 2. 1.000,- Ratingprizes : for players with less than 2350, in groups off at least 30 players, placest after highest rating (national or elo.) you can only win one prize ! 1. 3.000 kr. 2. 2.000 kr. 3. 1.000 kr.

Entry: GM + IM free FM + WGM + WIM 600 kr. Juniorer (born 1981 or later) 500 kr. Seniorer (67 years) 500 kr. Players with elo 750 kr. Players without elo 850 kr.

Venue: Nørrebrohallen, Bragesgade 5, 2200 København N.

Contact: Lars Bech Hansen. Address: Hjertebjærgparken 20 Kvarmløse DK-4340 Tølløse Danmark. Email: formand@kbhsu.dk

Further information: http://www.kbhsu.dk

GM sites, Tiviakov and Ehlvest

There are a couple of sites where GMs comment on recent events they have competed in.

Sergey Tiviakov has a personal homepage in English and Russian languages with games, articles and more on the site. The latest report is about the Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee 2001 where he competed. Site at: http://www.tiviakov.demon.nl/

Jaan Ehlvest reviews the Keres Memorial Rapid Tournament in Estonia on his own site at: http://www.ehlvest.com.

Kasparov's Pepsi Advert

Garry Kasparov got some of the greatest exposure of his chess career. He featured in a Pepsi Advery shown during the Superbowl.

You can see it too at: http://www.pepsi.com/current/joy_of_pepsi/tv_spots/index.cfm. The advert is called Man vs. Machine.

Also at: http://superbowl.adcritic.com/qt/content/pepsi-kasparov-man-vs-machine.htm with better quality and it also gets stored as a temporary file so you can keep it.

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

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/

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

Andorra Open 2001

There is a website for the Andorra open 30th June-8th July 2001. You can also win a digital camera or enter the event by visiting their website.

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

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.

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.

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