THE WEEK IN CHESS 421 2nd December 2002 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Bali Hotel International in Benidorm
3) Curacao Open
4) German Chess Championships
5) Open Letter from Alexei Shirov
6) Spanish Team Chess Championships
7) Sao Paulo Chess Club Centenary
8) Italian Championships
9) Santo Domingo
10) Kubanskaja Osen
11) Genova Open
12) 4NCL
13) National Chess Congress
14) Hotel Opatija GM
15) Israeli Championships
16) Greek Chess Championships
17) 15th Belgrade "Obrenovac" Open
18) British Rapidplay
19) Moscow Chess Ceremonies
20) Professional World Chess Ranking
21) Open Letter from Susan Polgar
22) Taastrup Chess Club 30th Anniversary
23) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Games section

Bali Hotel International in Benidorm   68 games
Curacao Open                          174 games
German Chess Championships            126 games
Spanish Team Chess Championships       40 games
Sao Paulo Chess Club Centenary         35 games
Italian Championships                  66 games
Kubanskaja Osen                        66 games
Genova Open                           100 games
4NCL                                   96 games
Hotel Opatija GM                       48 games
Israeli Championships                  80 games
Greek Chess Championships              40 games
15th Belgrade "Obrenovac" Open          4 games
Leuven Correction                       1 game
Taastrup Chess Club 30th Anniversary   99 games
1043 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Mikhail Golubev, Laszlo Nagy, Adolivio Capece, Alik Gershon, Nigel Freeman, John Fernandez, Leontxo Garcia, Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk, Thomas Henrich, Mary Vigliraki, Axel Fritz, Carlos J Penin, Arthur Brameld and Richard Furness, Michael Atkins, Jovan Petronic, Eugeny Atarov, Lars Hansen and Susan Polgar and everyone else who helped with the issue.

I love the internet. Its brilliant for instant news and the chess fan has never been better informed. Its not so funny when rumours run out of control. I woke this morning to the possiblity that Peter Leko had died. The story had been running for hours whilst I (and as it fortunately as it turns out Peter Leko) was asleep. No sources, or confirmation but once a story appears on the internet it takes a life on its own. Fortunately it was confirmed this was a hoax and Susan Polgar confirms in a letter to TWIC that certainly as far as the internet is concerned it stemmed from her, although it initally seems to have started in Hungary. When I was training as an information scientist I was taught that if you are asked the time you should say the clock on the wall over there says 11-15, that way even if the time turns out to be wrong you've given all the details to weigh up the quality of the information. A bit of that would probably have come in handy last night.

Real chess this week centred round the Bali Hotel tournament in Benidorm won by Judit Polgar who edged out Ruslan Ponomariov after a playoff. 12 year old Sergey Karjakin had an excellent event beating amongst others Alexei Shirov and drawing with the top two players. He says he expects to become World Champion at 16, I don't think that will happen but its clear that there are now a whole host of real young talents coming through the like we haven't seen for a long time.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Bali Hotel International in Benidorm

This was a new tournament which took place in Benidorm, Spain. Based on the idea of the New York Open with amateurs and stars playing together in the same venue and is organised by Alfonso Pedraza. The Festival ran November 22nd-December 1st 2002 there are almost 300 participants from 17 countries. The event finished with a "Stars Tournament" (November 29th-December 1st 2002). That saw a 12 players round robin 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. Leontxo Garcia reports "Two blitz games (3’ plus 2 seconds), the first one was a draw, Judit won the second one in a very brilliant style, giving up two pawns for a very strong attack. “I just trusted my intuition, and it worked very well”, said Polgar after her victory, one of the most brilliant in her career. Karjakin, 12, lost in the last round to San Segundo when he was fighting for the first prize, after four wins and six draws in ten rounds. It looked like the tension was too big for the prodigy child. However, his performance here has been very impressive. "

Sergey Karjakin games collection at chess-sector: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/games.html

One of the targets is to promote the second edition of the event which will take place in November 2003. This will be announced in January or February, giving enough time to many European and American amateurs to plan their holidays.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezbali.com

Superstars Hotel Bali Benidorm ESP (ESP), 29 xi-1 xii 2002   cat. XIII (2565)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Polgar, Judit                g HUN 2685 * 1 = 1 = 1 0 1 1 1 0 1  8.0  2729
 2 Ponomariov, Ruslan           g UKR 2743 0 * = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  8.0  2723
 3 Shirov, Alexei               g ESP 2699 = = * 1 0 1 1 0 1 = 1 1  7.5  2685
 4 Karpov, Anatoly              g RUS 2688 0 = 0 * = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2686
 5 Karjakin, Sergey             g UKR 2527 = = 1 = * = = 1 0 = 1 1  7.0  2670
 6 Psakhis, Lev                 g ISR 2588 0 0 0 = = * 1 = = 1 = 1  5.5  2562
 7 Kurajica, Bojan              g BIH 2548 1 = 0 0 = 0 * = = = 1 =  5.0  2530
 8 Paunovic, Dragan             m YUG 2532 0 0 1 0 0 = = * = 1 1 =  5.0  2531
 9 San Segundo Carrillo, Pablo  g ESP 2523 0 0 0 0 1 = = = * = 1 =  4.5  2503
10 Granero Roca, Antonio        m ESP 2342 0 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = * = 1  3.5  2452
11 Vera, Reynaldo               g CUB 2544 1 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = * 1  3.0  2391
12 Amura, Claudia N            wg ARG 2360 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = = 0 0 *  1.5  2274
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Polgar, Judit       -  Ponomariov, Ruslan  1/2   83  C67  Ruy Lopez Berlin
Ponomariov, Ruslan  -  Polgar, Judit       0-1   41  A30  English Symmetrical


Superstars Hotel Bali Playoff Benidorm ESP (ESP), 1-1 xii 2002
---------------------------------------------------
                                 1   2 
---------------------------------------------------
Polgar, Judit       g HUN 2685    =   1   1.5  2936
Ponomariov, Ruslan  g UKR 2743    =   0   0.5  2492
---------------------------------------------------

Leontxo Garcia Interview With Sergey Karjakin (after the fourth round)

Q: What do you think about your first results in this tournament?

A: It’s the first time I beat somebody so strong like Shirov in a tournament game. So, that’s really very exceptional and makes me very happy.

Q: How did you managed to become grandmaster at only 12 years old?

A: Just working hard. Nothing else special or, at least, I don’t remember anything more important.

Q: What’s the most difficult part of chess for you?

A: Nothing, I don’t now. So far, everything was very easy for me.

Q: One year ago you were one of Ponomariov’s team members. Why?

A: Before that I beat him in a couple of friendly rapid games in a chess club, and I think he was impressed by that. So, he invited me to work with him.

Q: How is a normal day in your life?

A: After breakfast, I go to the chess club. And after lunch as well. I also play some table tennis and I like reading and watching TV.

Q: You mean you don’t go to the school?

A: Only sometimes.

Q: And what about your hobbies?

A: Besides chess and table tennis, nothing special. Just some movies, like any other boy of my age.

Q: What’s your favourite dish?

A: Chicken with potatoes.

Q: Ponomariov, Volokitin, Karjakin - three very young chess stars coming from Ukraine. What’s the secret?

A: We have a fantastic chess school, with very good chess teachers and coaches.

Q: Who is your chess hero?

A: Nobody. I like all the champions, but nobody in particular.

Q: When do you expect to be world champion?

A: At 16.

3) Curacao Open

The Curacao 1962-2002 chess tournament took place November 16th-28th 2002. The tournament commemorated the 40th Anniversary of the Candidates tournament in 1962. Viktor Korchnoi and Yona Kosashvili finished on 7/9, Korchnoi taking first on Buchholz tiebreak. My thanks to John Fernandez.

Note there was an error last week in the games section I confused the unrated player Tijs Van Dijk with the rated player Timon Van Dijk.

Internet coverage at: http://www.curacao.com/chess.

40th Ann Open Curacao AHO (AHO), 2-14 xi 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Korchnoi, Viktor        g SUI 2634  +21 +11 = 7 = 4 + 9 + 6 - 2 + 3 +10  7.0 /9  2638
 2 Kosashvili, Yona        g ISR 2543  =19 +35 +14 = 7 +18 + 3 + 1 - 4 + 9  7.0 /9  2587
 3 Macieja, Bartlomiej     g POL 2615  +20 +13 + 5 + 9 = 4 - 2 + 7 - 1 + 8  6.5 /9  2618
 4 Timman, Jan H           g NED 2594  +24 +22 + 6 = 1 = 3 = 7 = 8 + 2 = 5  6.5 /9  2618
 5 Gallegos, Carlos        m VEN 2432  +27 +18 - 3 +17 - 6 +12 +14 + 7 = 4  6.5 /9  2525
 6 Ligterink, Gert         m NED 2401  +25 +29 - 4 +10 + 5 - 1 =17 +11 =13  6.0 /9  2479
 7 Polgar, Sofia           m HUN 2462  +30 +15 = 1 = 2 +13 = 4 - 3 - 5 +20  5.5 /9  2484
 8 Zapata, Alonso          g COL 2556  +28 =14 - 9 +19 =11 +10 = 4 +17 - 3  5.5 /9  2405
 9 Sequera, Jose           m VEN 2378  +32 +17 + 8 - 3 - 1 =18 +21 +22 - 2  5.5 /9  2442
10 Molander, Riku          f FIN 2301  =23 +12 +19 - 6 +14 - 8 +18 +20 - 1  5.5 /9  2377
11 Belakovskaia, Anjelina wg USA 2270  +31 - 1 +28 =15 = 8 =20 +12 - 6 +22  5.5 /9  2393
12 Grimm, Sascha           f GER 2372  =34 -10 +16 +30 +15 - 5 -11 +21 +17  5.5 /9  2300
13 Hernandez, Alexander    f VEN 2269  +37 - 3 +24 +21 - 7 -17 +25 +16 = 6  5.5 /9  2385
14 Gikas, Basilius           GER 2254  +39 = 8 - 2 +28 -10 +30 - 5 =19 +27  5.0 /9  2304
15 Broehl, Stefan            GER 2223  +38 - 7 +23 =11 -12 +19 -22 =24 +18  5.0 /9  2242
16 Neumann, Han H.W.M        AHO 2211  -35 =23 -12 =29 +37 +33 +28 -13 +26  5.0 /9  2119
17 Duesterwald, Marc         GER 2213  +33 - 9 +26 - 5 +22 +13 = 6 - 8 -12  4.5 /9  2297
18 Salman, Joel            f USA 2236  +26 - 5 +25 +20 - 2 = 9 -10 +23 -15  4.5 /9  2271
19 Fernandez, John C         USA 2138  = 2 +34 -10 - 8 +32 -15 +29 =14 =24  4.5 /9  2226
20 Mensing, Fabio            AHO 2200  - 3 +37 +35 -18 +23 =11 +27 -10 - 7  4.5 /9  2206
21 Malmdin, Nils-Ake         SWE 2201  - 1 +31 +29 -13 =27 +34 - 9 -12 +30  4.5 /9  2208
22 Loew, Gerald            f GER 2268  +36 - 4 =30 +34 -17 +25 +15 - 9 -11  4.5 /9  2254
23 Van Tol, Leon J           NED 1883  =10 =16 -15 +33 -20 =28 +30 -18 +31  4.5 /9  2162
24 Strijkers, Niek           NED 2164  - 4 +36 -13 +31 -25 =27 +34 =15 =19  4.5 /9  2199
25 Vasquez, Rafael           VEN ----  - 6 +40 -18 +35 +24 -22 -13 -26 +34  4.0 /9  2105
26 Hansch, Klaus Michael     GER ----  -18 +27 -17 =32 -30 =31 +37 +25 -16  4.0 /9  2108
27 Vlugt, F                  NED 2088  - 5 -26 +39 +36 =21 =24 -20 +35 -14  4.0 /9  2096
28 Popitz, Andreas           GER 2164  - 8 +39 -11 -14 +36 =23 -16 =34 +35  4.0 /9  2087
29 Van Dijk, Tijs            NED ----  +40 - 6 -21 =16 -34 +32 -19 +38  .   3.5 /8  2075
30 Bet, Sjaak J.M            AHO 2131  - 7 +38 =22 -12 +26 -14 -23 +33 -21  3.5 /9  2080
31 Eckert,Heiko              GER ----  -11 -21 +38 -24 =35 =26 =33 +32 -23  3.5 /9  1977
32 Dekker, Marvin            AHO ----  - 9 +33 -34 =26 -19 -29 +38 -31 +37  3.5 /9  1977
33 Sagredo,Claudio           AHO ----  -17 -32 +37 -23 +38 -16 =31 -30 +36  3.5 /9  1968
34 Straschewski,Joerg        GER ----  =12 -19 +32 -22 +29 -21 -24 =28 -25  3.0 /9  2073
35 Tjong A Hung,Edwin        AHO ----  +16 - 2 -20 -25 =31 =37 +36 -27 -28  3.0 /9  2062
36 Eaker,Anthony             USA ----  -22 -24 +40 -27 -28 +38 -35 =37 -33  2.5 /9  1910
37 Van der Bor,Otto          AHO ----  -13 -20 -33 +38 -16 =35 -26 =36 -32  2.0 /9  1855
38 Hantke,Volker             GER ----  -15 -30 -31 -37 -33 -36 -32 -29 +40  1.0 /9  1688
39 Girigori,Lindomar         AHO ----  -14 -28 -27  .   .   .   .   .   .   0.0 /3      
40 BYE                           ----  -29 -25 -36  .   .   .   .   .  -38  0.0 /4      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) German Chess Championships

The German Chess Championships took place in Saarbrücken November 21st - 30th 2002. GM Thomas Luther took the title with 7/9 half a point clear of Alexander Graf and Florian Handke. The event was a 9 Round Swiss with 42 Players.

Live coverage: http://www.dem-2002.de

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
74th ch-GER Saarbruecken GER (GER), 22-30 xi 2002
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Luther, Thomas        g  GER 2538  =28 = 9 +31 +21 +20 + 2 - 4 +12 + 5  7.0  2674 
 2. Graf, Alexander       g  GER 2635  +20 +10 - 4 +19 + 6 - 1 =13 +15 +14  6.5  2665 
 3. Handke, Florian       m  GER 2504  +23 =12 =21 - 6 +22 +20 =14 +13 + 4  6.5  2630 
 4. Naiditsch, Arkadij    g  GER 2586  +24 +33 + 2 =11 = 7 +12 + 1 - 5 - 3  6.0  2654 
 5. Gutman, Lev           g  GER 2476  =27 -21 +28 +30 +17 =14 + 7 + 4 - 1  6.0  2575 
 6. Gisbrecht, Ewgeni     m  GER 2414  +41 = 8 = 7 + 3 - 2 =10 +28 =11 +16  6.0  2613 
 7. Dautov, Rustem        g  GER 2617  +40 =19 = 6 +10 = 4 =13 - 5 +23 +11  6.0  2587 
 8. Bischoff, Klaus       g  GER 2554  +30 = 6 =19 -20 + 9 +16 =15 =14 =10  5.5  2534 
 9. Seger, Ruediger       f  GER 2406  +37 = 1 -11 =17 - 8 =32 +30 +25 +26  5.5  2483 
10. Kalinitschew, Sergey  g  GER 2485  +42 - 2 +32 - 7 =26 = 6 +27 +33 = 8  5.5  2516 
11. Slobodjan, Roman      g  GER 2521  =21 +28 + 9 = 4 -13 +19 =12 = 6 - 7  5.0  2520 
12. Huebner, Robert       g  GER 2640  +26 = 3 +13 =14 +18 - 4 =11 - 1 =15  5.0  2568 
13. Gustafsson, Jan       m  GER 2554  +39 +17 -12 =15 +11 = 7 = 2 - 3 =20  5.0  2547 
14. Jussupow, Artur       g  GER 2622  =34 +22 =15 =12 +25 = 5 = 3 = 8 - 2  5.0  2534 
15. Kritz, Leonid         m  GER 2476  =32 +36 =14 =13 =16 +18 = 8 - 2 =12  5.0  2556 
16. Mueller, Karsten      g  GER 2518  =36 =32 +38 =25 =15 - 8 +22 +17 - 6  5.0  2426 
17. Holzhaeuer, Mathias   f  GER 2407  +35 -13 +29 = 9 - 5 +30 =23 -16 +27  5.0  2419 
18. Tischbierek, Raj      g  GER 2523  =22 +34 =25 +33 -12 -15 =20 +28 =19  5.0  2472 
19. Siebrecht, Sebastian  m  GER 2426  +38 = 7 = 8 - 2 +39 -11 =25 +34 =18  5.0  2517 
20. Breutigam, Martin     f  GER 2398  - 2 +42 +37 + 8 - 1 - 3 =18 +21 =13  5.0  2500 
21. Schulz, Karsten       f  GER 2321  =11 + 5 = 3 - 1 =33 =25 =26 -20 +34  4.5  2456 
22. Kersten, Uwe          f  GER 2331  =18 -14 =26 +32 - 3 +35 -16 +31 =23  4.5  2406 
23. Becking, Stephan      f  GER 2315  - 3 -37 +24 =38 +41 +26 =17 - 7 =22  4.5  2369 
24. Bastian, Herbert      f  GER 2376  - 4 -31 -23 +42 =27 -40 +41 +35 +33  4.5  2343 
25. Pirrot, Dieter        m  GER 2421  =29 +27 =18 =16 -14 =21 =19 - 9 =32  4.0  2360 
26. Mueller, Matthias     m  GER 2403  -12 =29 =22 +31 =10 -23 =21 +40 - 9  4.0  2340 
27. Schunk, Thomas1       f  GER 2294  = 5 -25 =34 =41 =24 +39 -10 +32 -17  4.0  2332 
28. Schmidt, Harald          GER 2332  = 1 -11 - 5 +37 +38 +33 - 6 -18 =36  4.0  2368 
29. Langrock, Hannes      f  GER 2265  =25 =26 -17 -39 +36 =34 -33 =30 +41  4.0  2324 
30. Singer, Christoph        GER 2341  - 8 =41 +36 - 5 +35 -17 - 9 =29 +38  4.0  2307 
31. Schunk, Eduard           GER 2297  -33 +24 - 1 -26 -34 +41 +39 -22 +37  4.0  2318 
32. Mayer, Frank1            GER 2256  =15 =16 -10 -22 +42 = 9 +40 -27 =25  4.0  2359 
33. Zeller, Frank         m  GER 2454  +31 - 4 +35 -18 =21 -28 +29 -10 -24  3.5  2298 
34. Baramidze, David         GER 2390  =14 -18 =27 -35 +31 =29 +37 -19 -21  3.5  2271 
35. Tabatt, Hendrik          GER 2222  -17 +39 -33 +34 -30 -22 =36 -24 +40  3.5  2291 
36. Vatter, Hans-Joachim  f  GER 2320  =16 -15 -30 =40 -29 +42 =35 =37 =28  3.5  2256 
37. Barmbold, Jens           GER 2190  - 9 +23 -20 -28 =40 +38 -34 =36 -31  3.0  2221 
38. Bischof, Detlef          GER 2268  -19 +40 -16 =23 -28 -37 =42 +39 -30  3.0  2224 
39. Scherer, Max             GER 2339  -13 -35 +42 +29 -19 -27 -31 -38 +43  3.0  2166 
40. Stewart, Neil         f  GER 2388  - 7 -38 =41 =36 =37 +24 -32 -26 -35  2.5  2154 
41. Bischoff, Dieter         GER 2233  - 6 =30 =40 =27 -23 -31 -24 +42 -29  2.5  2166 
42. Lentrodt, Thomas      f  GER 2300  -10 -20 -39 -24 -32 -36 =38 -41  .   0.5  1890 
43. BYE                          ----   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  -39  0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) Open Letter from Alexei Shirov

Alexei Shirov has released an open letter addressed to GMs on the proposals for the new structure of the FIDE World Championships.

There are a lot of details available on the proposals at: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=604 and I have also tried to summarise them in the latest TWIC (TWIC420 of November 25th 2002) You can also read further details about the elite GM vote about timecontrols at: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/gmtime.htm.

An open letter to grandmasters

FIDE steps back to medieval - for better or worse?

Dear colleagues,

As I wasn’t playing in Bled I had at first very little information about what was going on at the last FIDE congress. Still, after having gathered some of it from various Internet sources, I would like to express my concerns. And of course, as an active professional I am mainly concerned about the future World championships and time controls. As I can understand, at the moment there is no proposed alternative to Seirawan - Kasparov scheme. But the scheme is not without drawbacks. If you put together ‘first’, ‘second’ and ‘third’ cycle, the logic simply disappears.

I don’t wish to interfere in ‘the first cycle’, so let me pass directly to the ‘second’. The ‘double knock-out’ qualification is interesting but it doesn’t seem easy to put it into practice as for the number of qualifiers concerned. Fourteen or eight qualifiers would fit easily into the system but seven? Either there is a mysterious way to make a double knock-out for seven qualification places (as suggested for the ‘third cycle’) or the authors of the scheme know that the ‘third cycle’ isn’t going to happen. It’s needless to say that the old Swiss system offers more flexibility for the number of qualification places than the double knock-out.

I wouldn’t be concerned about the number of qualifiers if I didn’t see it as the ONLY logical explanation why all the four players involved in the first cycle get direct privileges for the second cycle. The following are the arguments against this unfair planning.

1. The direct seeding of four players into the second cycle wasn’t mentioned in the Prague agreement. Neither Dortmund nor Moscow was a direct qualifier for future cycles.

2. Ivanchuk, Anand (who otherwise would be the ELO favourite to win Dortmund) and several other strong players were not even given their second chance in the first cycle and we all know that FIDE is responsible for that. Giving the Dortmund winner an extra bonus for the next cycle is definitely not a correction of that mistake.

3. Not all the four players involved in the first cycle have higher ELO than others.

4. Giving wildcards to as many as four players would be a giant step back from the sporting point of view. Three last FIDE World championships were played with equal conditions for all the participants and this was a big success for democracy in chess. And I think the last time when so many players got direct seeds from one cycle to another was in 1985 which is nearly the same as medieval ages.

My conclusion would be simple - the losers of the matches Kramnik-Leko and Kasparov-Ponomariov should start the second cycle on the same basis as all the other players in the double knock-out event or whatever. Since I don’t know whether my opinion would be supported by other players, I suggest that the 200 best players decide this (as well as the time control issue) in a poll.

Alexei Shirov 26th November 2002

6) Spanish Team Chess Championships

The Spanish Team Chess Championships 2002 take place 30th November-8th December 2002 at the Hotel Cemar, Mondariz, Galicia. Karpov, Vallejo, Illescas, Tiviakov play in 9 Round Robin Team Event.

Live coverage (4 leading boards online), standings and information at: http://www.tabladeflandes.com/, http://www.ajedrez21.com (spanish) http://www.chess21.com (english) http://www.echecs21.com (french) http://www.shahmaty21.com (russian)

Round 1 30th November 2002

IBERCAJA 1,5    FOMENT MARTINENT 2,5 
       
ILLESCAS CORDOBA MIGUEL  1/2 MARIN MIHAIL 
DAMLJANOVIC BRANKO       1-0 NARCISO DUBLAN MARC 
BARON RODRIGUEZ JESUS    0-1 GRANADOS GOMEZ MANUEL 
DE LA ROCHA PRIETO RAMON 0-1 JEREZ PEREZ ALFONSO 
        
REVERTE ALBOX 1,0    BARCELONA VULCA 3,0 
       
RUSTEMOV ALEXAND.        1/2 RODRIGUEZ VARGAS  ORESTES 
ROMERO HOLMES ALFONSO    0-1 CAMPOS MORENO JAVIER 
DEL RIO ANGELIS GABRIEL  1/2 MARTIN GONZALEZ ANGEL 
HERNANDO RODRIGO JOSE M. 0-1 ESTREMERA PAÑOS SERGIO 
        
TERRASSA 2,0    CAJA INSULAR 2,0 
       
CIFUENTES PARADA ROBERTO 1/2 GUREVICH MIKHAIL 
PABLO MARI ALEJAND.      0-1 CORRAL BLANCO JUAN ANT 
POMES MARCET JOAN        1/2 LEZCANO JAEN PEDRO 
GONZALEZ VELEZ FERMIN    1-0 GARCIA PADRON JOSE 
        
TIENDAS UPI 3,5    COFIMAN 0,5 
       
VALLEJO PONS FCO.        1-0 RGUEZ GUERRERO ENRIQUE 
MAGEM BADALS JORDI       1-0 ALMAGRO MAZARIEG. SEBAST. 
MORENO CARNERO JAVIER    1-0 CASTILLO GALLEGO SERGIO 
CANDELA PEREZ JOSE       1/2 RUIZ JIMENEZ FCO. 
        
MARCOTE 2,5    VALENCIA 1,5 
       
GIORGADZE GUIORGUI       1/2 HERNANDEZ GILBERTO 
FRANCO OCAMPOS  ZENON    1-0 ARIMENDI MARTINEZ JULEN 
REINALDO CASTIÑEIRA ROI  1/2 VASSALLO MAURICIO 
GUERRA BASTIDA DIEGO     1/2 LLOBELL CORTELL ENRIQUE 

Round 2 1st December 2002

FOMENT MART. (2.5) 2,0    VALENCIA (1.5) 2,0 

MARIN MIHAIL             1/2 HERNANDEZ GILBERTO 
NARCISO DUBLAN MARC      1/2 ARIMENDI MARTINEZ JULEN 
GRANADOS GOMEZ MANUEL    1/2 VASSALLO MAURICIO 
JEREZ PEREZ ALFONSO      1/2 LLOBELL CORTELL ENRIQUE 
        
COFIMAN (0.5) 0,0    MARCOTE (2.5) 4,0 
RGUEZ GUERRERO ENRIQUE   0-1 GIORGADZE GUIORGUI 
ALMAGRO MAZARIEG. SEBAST 0-1 FRANCO OCAMPOS  ZENON 
CASTILLO GALLEGO SERGIO  0-1 REINALDO CASTIÑEIRA ROI 
RUIZ JIMENEZ FCO.        0-1 GUERRA BASTIDA DIEGO 
        
CAJA INSULAR (2) 0,5    TIENDAS UPI (3.5) 3,5 
       
GUREVICH MIKHAIL         0-1 VALLEJO PONS FCO. 
CORRAL BLANCO JUAN ANT   0-1 DOMINGUEZ LENIER 
LEZCANO JAEN PEDRO       1/2 CAMPORA SIVORI DANIEL 
CARRASCO MTEZ JUAN M.    0-1 MAGEM BADALS JORDI 
        
BCN VULCA (3) 2,5    TERRASSA (2) 1,5 

RODRIGUEZ VARGAS ORESTES 1/2 CIFUENTES PARADA ROBERTO 
CAMPOS MORENO JAVIER     0-1 PABLO MARI ALEJAND. 
MARTIN GONZALEZ ANGEL    1-0 POMES MARCET JOAN 
ESTREMERA PAÑOS SERGIO   1-0 GONZALEZ VELEZ FERMIN 
        
IBERCAJA (1.5) 1,5    REVERTE ALBOX (1) 2,5 

ILLESCAS CORDOBA MIGUEL  1/2 RUSTEMOV ALEXAND. 
DAMLJANOVIC BRANKO       0-1 ROMERO HOLMES ALFONSO 
BARON RODRIGUEZ JESUS    0-1 DEL RIO ANGELIS GABRIEL 
DE LA ROCHA PRIETO RAMON 1-0 HERNANDO RODRIGO JOSE M. 

Round 2 Standings:
 1   C.A. TIENDAS UPI AND       7 
 2   C.A. MARCOTE  GAL          6,5 
 3   C.A. BARCELONA VULCA  CAT  5,5 
 4   FOMENT MARTINENC CAT       4,5 
 5-7 C.E. TERRASSA CAT          3,5 
 5-7 C.A. VALENCIA  VAL         3,5 
 5-7 C.A. REVERTE ALBOX AND     3,5 
 8   C.A. IBERCAJA ARA          3 
 9   C.A. CAJA INSULAR AND      2,5 
 10  C.A. COFIMAN AND           0,5 

7) Sao Paulo Chess Club Centenary

Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk reports: The São Paulo Chess Club's 100 Years Championship is being held November 25th - December 3rd 2002. The Special guest is IM Martin Neubauer from Austria. After 7 rounds IM Mauro Guimarães de Souza is likely to retain his title.

Internet coverage: http://200.246.90.112/HiperChess

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CXSP Sao Paulo BRA (BRA), 25 xi-3 xii 2002                    cat. I (2260)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. De Souza, Mauro              m BRA 2343  * . = = 1 = . 1 1 1  5.5  2438 
 2. Caldeira, Adriano            f BRA 2394  . * = = = = 1 = 1 .  4.5  2368 
 3. Van Riemsdijk, Herman C      m BRA 2372  = = * = = . = . 1 1  4.5  2357 
 4. Aranha Filho, Alvaro Z         BRA 2260  = = = * 0 = 1 1 . .  4.0  2384 
 5. Neubauer, Martin             m AUT 2388  0 = = 1 * = 0 . . 1  3.5  2289 
 6. Nogueira, Ivan K               BRA 2255  = = . = = * . = = =  3.5  2224 
 7. Martinez, Carlos Alejandro   f BRA 2402  . 0 = 0 1 . * = 1 =  3.5  2228 
 8. Carvalho, Herbert Abreu        BRA 2187  0 = . 0 . = = * 0 1  2.5  2134 
 9. De Lima,Dio                    BRA ----  0 0 0 . . = 0 1 * =  2.0  2121 
10. Arruda,W                       BRA ----  0 . 0 . 0 = = 0 = *  1.5  2048 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

8) Italian Championships

The 62nd Italian Championships take place in Montecatini Terme 20th-30th November 2002. Duilio Collutiis won the tie-break (4 games rapid 25' and 2 games blitz 5') against Bruno Belotti (the champion of 2001). Collutiis played for the ICSC (International Committee for Silent Chess) team in the Bled Olympiad and which I believe means he's deaf-and-dumb. Games for the playoff not yet available.

The Cat. V (2354) event had coverage at: http://www.federscacchi.it/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-ITA Montecatini Terme ITA (ITA), 20-30 xi 2002            cat. V (2354)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Collutiis, Duilio       f ITA 2332  * 1 0 1 = 0 1 = = 0 1 1  6.5  2421 
 2. Belotti, Bruno          m ITA 2419  0 * = = = = = 1 = 1 = 1  6.5  2413 
 3. Braga, Fernando         m ITA 2434  1 = * = = = = 0 = 1 = =  6.0  2383 
 4. Lanzani, Mario          m ITA 2350  0 = = * = = 1 = = 1 = =  6.0  2390 
 5. Mantovani, Renzo        m ITA 2359  = = = = * = 0 0 1 1 = 1  6.0  2390 
 6. Bellia, Fabrizio        m ITA 2410  1 = = = = * 0 = = 0 = 1  5.5  2349 
 7. Vezzosi, Paolo          m ITA 2394  0 = = 0 1 1 * 1 = 0 = =  5.5  2350 
 8. De Santis, Alessio      f ITA 2267  = 0 1 = 1 = 0 * = = 0 1  5.5  2362 
 9. Manca, Federico         m ITA 2349  = = = = 0 = = = * = 1 =  5.5  2354 
10. Genocchio, Daniele      f ITA 2345  1 0 0 0 0 1 1 = = * = =  5.0  2319 
11. Buchicchio, Gianpaolo     ITA 2254  0 = = = = = = 1 0 = * 0  4.5  2298 
12. Di Paolo, Raffaele      f ITA 2340  0 0 = = 0 0 = 0 = = 1 *  3.5  2222 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Santo Domingo

Los Inmortales takes place November 29 - December 5 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. According to the website players include: Svidler, Peter 2690 GM RUS, Short, Nigel D. 2682 GM ENG, Dreev, Alexey 2676 GM RUS, Krasenkow, Michal 2662 GM POL, Kasimdzhanov, Rustan 2660 GM UZB, Aleksandrov, Alexey 2648 GM BLR, Volkov, Sergey 2648 GM RUS, Vescovi, Giovanni 2626 GM BRA, Tiviakov, Sergei 2625 GM NED, Milov, Vadim 2615 GM SUI, Dominguez, Lenier 2613 GM CUB, Macieja, Bartlomiej 2607 GM POL, Van Den Doel, Erik 2602 GM NED, Khenkin, Igor 2598 GM GER, Bruzon, Lazaro 2590 GM CUB, Shchekachev, Andrei 2590 GM RUS, Glek, Igor 2590 GM GER, Korneev, Oleg 2583 GM RUS, Gyimesi, Zoltan 2580 GM HUN, Moiseenko, Alex 2578 GM UKR, Fridman, Daniel 2577 GM LAT, Kolev, Atanas 2575 GM BUL, Volzhin, Alexander 2560 GM RUS and Oratovsky, Michael 2556 GM ISR.

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

10) Kubanskaja Osen

The Kubanskaja Osen tournament took place in Krasnodar, 15th-26th November 2002. Eduard Andreev won with 8/11. Roman Jenetl made an IM norm. Many of his games are missing (draws) opening up the possibility he played just 61 moves in 11 rounds to make his norm. My thanks to Thomas Henrich for the news.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kubanskaja Osen Krasnodar RUS (RUS), 15-25 xi 2002          cat. IX (2471)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Andreev, Eduard         m UKR 2466  * = = 1 = = 1 = = 1 1 1  8.0  2645 
 2. Poluljahov, Aleksandr   g RUS 2501  = * = 0 = = = 1 1 1 = 1  7.0  2569 
 3. Maiorov, Oleg           m RUS 2458  = = * = = = = 1 = 1 = =  6.5  2536 
 4. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly     g RUS 2545  0 1 = * = = 1 = = = 0 1  6.0  2499 
 5. Malaniuk, Vladimir P    g UKR 2556  = = = = * = = = = = 1 =  6.0  2498 
 6. Jenetl, Roman             RUS 2428  = = = = = * = = = = = =  5.5  2474 
 7. Frolyanov, Dmitry         RUS 2433  0 = = 0 = = * = 1 1 = =  5.5  2473 
 8. Geller, Jakov             RUS 2433  = 0 0 = = = = * 1 0 1 1  5.5  2473 
 9. Bryzgalin, Kirill       f RUS 2439  = 0 = = = = 0 0 * = 1 =  4.5  2408 
10. Panarin, Michail          RUS 2445  0 0 0 = = = 0 1 = * 1 =  4.5  2407 
11. Gasanov, Eldar          m UKR 2473  0 = = 1 0 = = 0 0 0 * =  3.5  2337 
12. Stambulian, Arsen       m ARM 2469  0 0 = 0 = = = 0 = = = *  3.5  2337 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

11) Genova Open

The 10th Genova International Chess Festival took place 25th November - 1st December 2002. Alexandre Dgebuadze took clear first with 7.5/9.

Website: http://digilander.libero.it/centurini/

----------------------------------------------------
10th Ducale Open Genova ITA (ITA), 25 xi-1 xii 2002
----------------------------------------------------
 1 Dgebuadze, Alexandre   GM BEL 2537  7.5  47.5 
 2 Maksimenko, Andrei     GM UKR 2507  6.5  46   
 3 Sanchez, Joseph           PHI 2307  6.5  46   
 4 Sareen, Vishal            IND 2335  6.5  45.5 
 5 Lazic, Miroljub        GM YUG 2461  6    46.5 
 6 Laketic, Gojko         IM YUG 2444  6    42   
 7 Efimov, Igor           GM ITA 2480  6    40.5 
 8 Georgiev, Vladimir     GM MKD 2501  5.5  48   
 9 Mrdja, Milan           IM CRO 2368  5.5  47.5 
10 Aceto, Lorenzo            ITA 0     5.5  40.5 
11 Fossati, Remigio          ITA 0     5.5  37.5 
12 Gorshkova, Irina       WF BEL 2190  5.5  37.5 
13 Mollero, Michele          ITA 2164  5    39   
14 Stroppa, Daniel           FRA 2274  5    37   
15 Capurro, Giuliano         ITA 2048  5    36.5 
16 Gentile, Claudio          ITA 2156  5    36   
17 Astengo, Marcello         ITA 2092  5    33.5 
18 Carosso, Andrea           ITA 0     4.5  40   
19 Massa, Giovanni           ITA 2096  4.5  40   
20 Bartonicek, Zdenek        CZE 2109  4.5  39.5 
21 Van Hoolandt, Patrick     MNC 2173  4.5  37.5 
22 Fongarolli, Diego         ITA 2089  4.5  35.5 
23 Catalini, Giampiero       ITA 0     4.5  33.5 
44 players

12) 4NCL

The 4NCL started over the weekend of 23rd-24th November 2002. (My thanks to Arthur Brameld for the games and Richard Furness for the results and standings).

Internet site: http://www.4ncl.co.uk

Round 1 23rd November 2002

   S. WALES DRAGONS 1   2236    1 - 7  WOOD GREEN 1           2551
1  Cobb, James E.       2318    0 - 1  Adams, Michael         2745
2  Cooper, John G.      2318    0 - 1  Speelman, Jonathan S.  2583
3  Jones, Richard S.    2246    ½ - ½  Baburin, Alexander     2580
4  Zeidler, Sven P.     2275    0 - 1  Lalic, Bogdan          2542
5  Richmond, Peter A.   2254    0 - 1  Emms, John M.          2520
6  Trevelyan, John      2207    0 - 1  Turner, Matthew J.     2519
7  Blackburn, Jonathan  2158    0 - 1  Ward, Christopher      2513
8  Cast, Abigail (F)    2114    ½ - ½  Hunt, Harriet (F)      2406

   The ADs              2244    3 - 5  BETSSON.COM            2324
1  Cooper, Lawrence     2348    ½ - ½  Williams, Simon K.     2391
2  Richardson, John R.  2312    0 - 1  Pert, Nicholas         2462
3  Broom, Mark          2240    0 - 1  Ledger, Andrew J.      2397
4  Snape, Ian           2225    ½ - ½  Pert, Richard G.       2391
5  Cafferty, Bernard    2201    0 - 1  Hunt, Adam C.          2365
6  Bellin, Jana (F)     2203    ½ - ½  Ledger, David J.       2267
7  Anderton, David W.   2257    1 - 0  Ledger, Stephen C.     2172
8  Mangwengwende, John  2163    ½ - ½  Tidman, Sophie (F)     2147

   PERCEPTRON YOUTH     2238    4½-3½  BRISTOL 1              2314
1  Haslinger, Stewart   2385    1 - 0  Ansell, Simon          2398
2  Taylor, Martin R.    2300    0 - 1  Buckley, Graeme        2417
3  Broomfield, Matthew  2255    0 - 1  Sherwin, James T.      2337
4  Rendle, Thomas E.    2238    ½ - ½  Beaumont, Chris        2318
5  Yastrebov,Alexander  2207    1 - 0  Burgess, Graham        2309
6  Mutton, Jonathan B.  2197    0 - 1  Cobb, Charles          2313
7  Hodge, David J.      2165    1 - 0  Collier, David O.      2274
8  Bensdorp, Marlies(F) 2159    1 - 0  Buckley, Melanie (F)   2145

   RICHMOND             2282    2½-5½  GUILDFORD-ADC 1        2432
1  Quinn, Mark          2429    1 - 0  Kosten, Anthony C.     2551
2  Wall, Gavin          2362    0 - 1  Hebden, Mark L.        2515
3  Bates, Richard A.    2367    ½ - ½  Gormally, Daniel W.    2502
4  Hinks-Edwards,Thomas 2363    0 - 1  Cherniaev, Alexander   2506
5  Franklin, Michael J. 2222    0 - 1  Plaskett, James        2467
6  Webb, Laurence E.    2279    0 - 1  Matros, Alexander      2452
7  Nixon, Thomas C.M.   2204    ½ - ½  Povah, Nigel E.        2360
8  Wilson, Alexandra(F) 2029    ½ - ½  Yurenok, Maria S. (F)  2103

   BARBICAN 4NCL 1      2357    5 - 3  BARBICAN 4NCL 2        2262
1  Palliser, Richard    2455    1 - 0  Trent, Lawrence        2254
2  Kelly, Brian         2451    ½ - ½  Shikerov, Stefan       2339
3  Rogers, Jonathan W.  2346    1 - 0  Mack, Andrew           2272
4  Knott, Simon         2401    ½ - ½  Berry, Neil            2276
5  Collins, Sam         2372    0 - 1  Coleman, David         2239
6  Collinson, Adam      2390    ½ - ½  Cox, John J,           2289
7  Dishman, Stephen     2297    1 - 0  Rich, Mark             2227
8  Lauterbach,Ingrid(F) 2142    ½ - ½  Regan, Natasha (F)     2200

   WOOD GREEN 2         2349    5 - 3  SLOUGH 1               2263
1  Littlewood, Paul E.  2399    0 - 1  Wells, Peter K.        2489
2  Pein, Malcolm        2425    ½ - ½  Houska, Jovanka (F)    2397
3  Rechel, Bernd        2414    1 - 0  Wohl, Aleksandar H.    2422
4  Sowray, Peter J.     2323    1 - 0  McNab, Colin A.        2406
5  Tiller, Bjorn        2380    1 - 0  Houska, Miroslav       2298
6  Lee, Graham D.       2367    0 - 1  Devereaux, Maxim       2305
7  Tan, Desmond         2307    1 - 0  de Coverly, Roger      2113
8  Jackson, Sheila (F)  2173    ½ - ½  Johnson, Nigel A.      1672

Round 2 24th November 2002

   WOOD GREEN 1         2551    7 - 1  WOOD GREEN 2           2349
1  Adams, Michael       2745    1 - 0  Littlewood, Paul E.    2399
2  Speelman, Jonathan S 2583    1 - 0  Pein, Malcolm          2425
3  Baburin, Alexander   2580    1 - 0  Rechel, Bernd          2414
4  Lalic, Bogdan        2542    ½ - ½  Sowray, Peter J.       2323
5  Ward, Christopher    2513    1 - 0  Tiller, Bjorn          2380
6  Turner, Matthew J.   2519    1 - 0  Lee, Graham D.         2367
7  Emms, John M.        2520    ½ - ½  Tan, Desmond           2307
8  Hunt, Harriet (F)    2406    1 - 0  Jackson, Sheila (F)    2173

   SLOUGH 1             2257    5½-2½  S. WALES DRAGONS 1     2238
1  Wells, Peter K.      2489    1 - 0  Jones, Richard S.      2246
2  Houska, Jovanka (F)  2397    1 - 0  Cooper, John G.        2318
3  McNab, Colin A.      2406    1 - 0  Cobb, James E.         2318
4  Wohl, Aleksandar H.  2422    1 - 0  Morris, Charles F.     2220
5  Devereaux, Maxim     2305    1 - 0  Richmond, Peter A.     2254
6  Houska, Miroslav     2298    0 - 1  Zeidler, Sven P.       2275
7  Johnson, Nigel A.    1672    0 - 1  Blackburn, Jonathan *  2158
8  Varnam, Liam D.      2066    ½ - ½  Cast, Abigail (F)      2114

   BRISTOL 1            2230    5 - 3  The ADs                2244
1  Ansell, Simon        2398    ½ - ½  Cooper, Lawrence       2348
2  Beaumont, Chris      2318    1 - 0  Richardson, John R.    2312
3  Sherwin, James T.    2337    1 - 0  Broom, Mark            2240
4  Cobb, Charles        2313    1 - 0  Snape, Ian             2225
5  Burgess, Graham      2309    ½ - ½  Cafferty, Bernard      2201
6  Collier, David O.    2274    ½ - ½  Bellin, Jana (F)       2203
7  Buckley, David E.    2190    ½ - ½  Anderton, David W.     2257
8  Nicol, Ruth * (F)    1700    0 - 1  Mangwengwende, John *  2163

   GUILDFORD-ADC 1      2432    3½-4½  BARBICAN 4NCL 1        2357
1  Gormally, Daniel W.  2502    0 - 1  Palliser, Richard      2455
2  Hebden, Mark L.      2515    ½ - ½  Kelly, Brian           2451
3  Kosten, Anthony C.   2551    0 - 1  Collins, Sam           2372
4  Cherniaev, Alexander 2506    ½ - ½  Knott, Simon           2401
5  Plaskett, James      2467    1 - 0  Rogers, Jonathan W.    2346
6  Matros, Alexander    2452    ½ - ½  Collinson, Adam        2390
7  Povah, Nigel E.      2360    ½ - ½  Dishman, Stephen       2297
8  Yurenok, Maria S (F) 2103    ½ - ½  Lauterbach, Ingrid (F) 2142

   BARBICAN 4NCL 2      2260    3½-4½  RICHMOND               2282
1  D'Costa, Lorin A.R.  2274    1 - 0  Quinn, Mark            2429
2  Shikerov, Stefan     2339    0 - 1  Bates, Richard A.      2367
3  Trent, Lawrence      2254    1 - 0  Wall, Gavin            2362
4  Berry, Neil          2276    0 - 1  Hinks-Edwards, Thomas  2363
5  Coleman, David       2239    0 - 1  Webb, Laurence E.      2279
6  Cox, John J,         2289    ½ - ½  Nixon, Thomas C.M.     2204
7  Taylor, Peter        2212    0 - 1  Franklin, Michael J.   2222
8  Regan, Natasha (F)   2200    1 - 0  Wilson, Alexandra (F)  2029

   BETSSON.COM          2342    4 - 4  PERCEPTRON YOUTH       2238
1  Williams, Simon K.   2391    ½ - ½  Haslinger, Stewart     2385
2  Pert, Richard G.     2391    ½ - ½  Taylor, Martin R.      2300
3  Ledger, Andrew J.    2397    0 - 1  Broomfield, Matthew    2255
4  Pert, Nicholas       2462    1 - 0  Rendle, Thomas E.      2238
5  Hunt, Adam C.        2365    1 - 0  Yastrebov, Alexander   2207
6  Ledger, David J.     2267    ½ - ½  Mutton, Jonathan B.    2197
7  Eames, Robert G.     2313    ½ - ½  Hodge, David J.        2165
8  Tidman, Sophie (F)   2147    0 - 1  Bensdorp, Marlies (F)  2159

Round 2 Standings:

                    P  W  D  L  Gms  Pts
WOOD GREEN 1        2  2  0  0  14.0  4
BARBICAN 4NCL 1     2  2  0  0   9.5  4
BETSSON.COM         2  1  1  0   9.0  3
PERCEPTRON YOUTH    2  1  1  0   8.5  3
GUILDFORD-ADC 1     2  1  0  1   9.0  2
BRISTOL 1           2  1  0  1   8.5  2
SLOUGH 1            2  1  0  1   8.5  2
RICHMOND            2  1  0  1   7.0  2
WOOD GREEN 2        2  1  0  1   6.0  2
BARBICAN 4NCL 2     2  0  0  2   6.5  0
The ADs             2  0  0  2   6.0  0
S. WALES DRAGONS 1  2  0  0  2   3.5  0

13) National Chess Congress

The 33rd Annual National Chess Congress organized and directed by the Continental Chess Association took place in Philadelphia November 29th-December 1st 2002. Games follow next week.

Michael Atkins will report on the events at: http://members.cox.net/tournaments/ncc/

Leading Final Round 6 Standings:
 1 Igor Novikov       2719  5 
 2 Leonid G Yudasin   2699  5 
 3 Alexande Shabalov  2680  5 
 4 Alexan Stripunsky  2618  5 
 5 Gennadi Zaitshik   2577  5 
 6 Alexande Onischuk  2728  4½ 
 7 Zhao Qin Peng      2493  4½ 
 8 Lev Milman         2312  4½ 
 9 Alexander Fishbein 2573  4 
10 Maurice A Ashley   2518  4 
11 William Paschall   2497  4 
12 Michael A Rohde    2497  4 
13 Luis R Chiong      2433  4 
14 Jay R Bonin        2413  4 
15 Alan R Stein       2385  4 
16 Yevgeniy Gershov   2354  4 
17 Daniel Fernandez   2345  4 
18 Rodion Rubenchik   2344  4 
19 Mikhail Belorusov  2342  4 
20 Rafal Furdzik      2304  4 
21 Ilye Figler        2298  4 
22 Nicholas Adams     2215  4 
92 players

14) Hotel Opatija GM

The Hotel Opatija GM tournament took place 22nd November - 1st December 2002. Milan Vukic and Milen Vasilev won the event with 6.5/11. IM norms for Ibro Saric (BIH) 6.0/11, Ante Saric (CRO) 6.0/11, Zlatko Topalovic (CRO) 6.0/11

Internet coverage: http://www.geocities.com/liburnija01/

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hotel Opatija GM Nov Rijeka CRO (CRO), 22 xi-1 xii 2002cat. VIII (2429)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Vukic, Milan        g YUG 2516  * = = = = 1 = = = 1 = =  6.5  2485 
 2. Vasilev, Milen      m BUL 2442  = * 1 = 0 = = = = 1 = 1  6.5  2492 
 3. Saric, Ante         f CRO 2380  = 0 * = 1 = 1 = = = = =  6.0  2469 
 4. Topalovic, Zlatko     CRO 2272  = = = * = = = = 1 = = =  6.0  2479 
 5. Plachetka, Jan      g SVK 2444  = 1 0 = * = 0 = 1 = 1 =  6.0  2463 
 6. Saric, Ibro         f BIH 2384  0 = = = = * = 1 = = = 1  6.0  2468 
 7. Fercec, Nenad       m CRO 2504  = = 0 = 1 = * = 0 = 1 1  6.0  2457 
 8. Jovanic, Ognjen     m CRO 2432  = = = = = 0 = * = = = 1  5.5  2428 
 9. Naumkin, Igor       g RUS 2443  = = = 0 0 = 1 = * = = =  5.0  2391 
10. Loncar, Robert      m CRO 2439  0 0 = = = = = = = * = 1  5.0  2391 
11. Rogic, Davor        m CRO 2496  = = = = 0 = 0 = = = * 0  4.0  2320 
12. Rukavina, Josip     m CRO 2393  = 0 = = = 0 0 0 = 0 1 *  3.5  2299 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

15) Israeli Championships

The Israeli Championships take place 24th November - 3rd December 2002 in Tel Aviv. Smirin, Sutovsky, Avrukh, Gershon, Greenfeld, Mikhalevski and Lerner play in the Swiss System Event. Live coverage: http://www.chess.org.il/en/Isrch.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-ISR Tel Aviv ISR (ISR), 24 xi-3 xii 2002
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Sutovsky, Emil        g  ISR 2657  =21 +32 = 7 +19 + 8 + 2  .   .   .   5.0  2730 
 2. Smirin, Ilia          g  ISR 2683  +16 +14 + 5 = 8 + 3 - 1  .   .   .   4.5  2729 
 3. Avrukh, Boris         g  ISR 2595  +11 +13 = 8 + 9 - 2 =10  .   .   .   4.0  2657 
 4. Gofshtein, Zeev-Alon  g  ISR 2519  -24 +25 =11 +16 =10 +15  .   .   .   4.0  2560 
 5. Golod, Vitali         g  ISR 2523  +25 +27 - 2 =13 = 7 +16  .   .   .   4.0  2589 
 6. Shachar, Ehud         f  ISR 2374  = 9 - 7 =25 +32 +19 +13  .   .   .   4.0  2542 
 7. Lerner, Konstantin Z  g  UKR 2504  =22 + 6 = 1 =12 = 5 =14  .   .   .   3.5  2533 
 8. Roiz, Michael         m  ISR 2512  +29 +24 = 3 = 2 - 1 = 9  .   .   .   3.5  2585 
 9. Gershon, Alik         g  ISR 2562  = 6 +21 =18 - 3 +22 = 8  .   .   .   3.5  2509 
10. Greenfeld, Alon       g  ISR 2553  =30 +28 =12 =18 = 4 = 3  .   .   .   3.5  2503 
11. Bar, Roman            m  ISR 2413  - 3 +26 = 4 =14 =17 +29  .   .   .   3.5  2503 
12. Finkel, Alexander     g  ISR 2485  =23 +31 =10 = 7 -15 +21  .   .   .   3.5  2489 
13. Tseitlin, Mark D      g  ISR 2472  +26 - 3 +32 = 5 +18 - 6  .   .   .   3.5  2452 
14. Postny, Evgeny        g  ISR 2497  +20 - 2 =22 =11 =21 = 7  .   .   .   3.0  2444 
15. Mikhalevski, Victor   g  ISR 2524  -27 +23 -16 +24 +12 - 4  .   .   .   3.0  2399 
16. Vydeslaver, Alik      m  ISR 2434  - 2 +20 +15 - 4 +29 - 5  .   .   .   3.0  2482 
17. Zilberman, Yaacov     g  ISR 2467  -32 =29 +23 =22 =11 =18  .   .   .   3.0  2324 
18. Kantsler, Boris       g  ISR 2486  =28 +30 = 9 =10 -13 =17  .   .   .   3.0  2441 
19. Erenburg, Sergey      m  ISR 2494  =31 =22 +27 - 1 - 6 +28  .   .   .   3.0  2372 
20. Kaganskiy, Gleb          RUS 2315  -14 -16 +31 =30 =28 +27  .   .   .   3.0  2363 
21. Kundin, Alexander     f  ISR 2429  = 1 - 9 +24 =29 =14 -12  .   .   .   2.5  2422 
22. Vainshtein, Vladimir     ISR 2321  = 7 =19 =14 =17 - 9 =23  .   .   .   2.5  2409 
23. Deutsch, Eyal            ISR 2272  =12 -15 -17 +25 =27 =22  .   .   .   2.5  2357 
24. Porat, Shi            f  ISR 2343  + 4 - 8 -21 -15 =31 +30  .   .   .   2.5  2387 
25. Pasman, Michael       f  ISR 2345  - 5 - 4 = 6 -23 +32 +31  .   .   .   2.5  2297 
26. Lederer, Yoav            ISR 2272  -13 -11 =28 =31 =30 +32  .   .   .   2.5  2262 
27. Kreizberg, Michael    f  ISR 2346  +15 - 5 -19 =28 =23 -20  .   .   .   2.0  2267 
28. Khmelniker, Ilya         ISR 2225  =18 -10 =26 =27 =20 -19  .   .   .   2.0  2286 
29. Klenburg, Mikhail        UKR 2331  - 8 =17 +30 =21 -16 -11  .   .   .   2.0  2312 
30. Bitansky, Igor        m  ISR 2370  =10 -18 -29 =20 =26 -24  .   .   .   1.5  2190 
31. Polyakov, Alex           ISR 2311  =19 -12 -20 =26 =24 -25  .   .   .   1.5  2182 
32. Rot, Yefim               ISR 2125  +17 - 1 -13 - 6 -25 -26  .   .   .   1.0  2158 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16) Greek Chess Championships

The 52nd Greek Men's Championship and the 25th Greek Women's Championships take place in Athens 28th November - 6th December 2002. My thanks to Mary Vigliraki for the games.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessfed.gr

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-GRE Athens GRE (GRE), 28 xi-6 xii 2002                 cat. VIII (2446)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Banikas, Hristos            g GRE 2520  * = = . . 1 . . 1 .  3.0  2672 
 2. Papaioannou, Ioannis        g GRE 2587  = * . 1 . = = . . .  2.5  2590 
 3. Mastrovasilis, Athanasios   m GRE 2452  = . * = . . = 1 . .  2.5  2563 
 4. Halkias, Stelios            m GRE 2528  . 0 = * . . . 1 . 1  2.5  2488 
 5. Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios      GRE 2461  . . . . * 0 . = 1 1  2.5  2448 
 6. Anagnostopoulos, Dimitri    g GRE 2438  0 = . . 1 * . . = .  2.0  2502 
 7. Nikolaidis, Ioannis         g GRE 2495  . = = . . . * . = =  2.0  2421 
 8. Simeonidis, Ioannis           GRE 2329  . . 0 0 = . . * . 1  1.5  2324 
 9. Tzermiadianos, Andreas      m GRE 2440  0 . . . 0 = = . * .  1.0  2285 
10. Mihailidis, Anastacios        GRE 2205  . . . 0 0 . = 0 . *  0.5  2131 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-GRE w Athens GRE (GRE), 28 xi-6 xii 2002
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Kouvatsou, Maria       wg GRE 2212  * . . . = . 1 1 1 .  3.5  2496 
 2. Makka, Ioulia             GRE 2257  . * . . 1 . . = = 1  3.0  2328 
 3. Botsari, Anna-Maria    wg GRE 2320  . . * . . 1 0 . 1 1  3.0  2358 
 4. Papadopoulou, Vera        GRE 2165  . . . * . 1 = 0 1 .  2.5  2265 
 5. Makropoulou, Marina    wg GRE 2272  = 0 . . * . . 1 . 1  2.5  2253 
 6. Fakhiridou, Ekaterini  wm GRE 2313  . . 0 0 . * 1 . . 1  2.0  2181 
 7. Stiri, Alexandra          GRE 2170  0 . 1 = . 0 * . . .  1.5  2165 
 8. Grapsa, Georgia           GRE 2093  0 = . 1 0 . . * . .  1.5  2139 
 9. Sperdokli, Elli           GRE 2106  0 = 0 0 . . . . * .  0.5  1916 
10. Kasioura, Froso        wf GRE 2072  . 0 0 . 0 0 . . . *  0.0       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

17) 15th Belgrade "Obrenovac" Open

The 15th Belgrade "Obrenovac" International Open took place 18th-28th November 2002. Miodrag Savic took clear first with 8.5/11. My thanks to Jovan Petronic for a small number of games.

Further details: http://www.beochess.org.yu/english.htm

15th Belgrade "Obrenovac" International Open
  1 SAVIC,Miodrag,r (3)           m 2519 YUG  8.5  79.0 
  2 FONTAINE,Robert (4)           g 2517 FRA  8.0  77.5 
  3 TODOROVIC,Goran,m (16)        g 2467 YUG  8.0  77.0 
  4 TADIC,Branko (12)             m 2480 YUG  8.0  75.5 
  5 MARKUS,Robert (15)            m 2470 YUG  8.0  74.5 
  6 PERUNOVIC,Milos (19)          m 2456 YUG  8.0  74.0 
  7 ROMANISHIN,Oleg (1)           g 2562 UKR  8.0  73.5 
  8 STANOJOSKI,Zvonko (10)        m 2482 MKD  8.0  71.0 
  9 ANTIC,Dejan (18)              g 2457 YUG  8.0  70.5 
 10 ABRAMOVIC,Bosko (7)           g 2492 YUG  8.0  68.0 
 11 POPCHEV,Milko (25)            g 2436 BUL  7.5  76.5 
 12 PREDOJEVIC,Borki (23)         f 2437 YUG  7.5  76.0 
 13 MILANOVIC,Danilo (24)         . 2436 YUG  7.5  75.0 
 14 STOJANOVIC,Dalibor (29)       f 2418 YUG  7.5  75.0 
 15 JEREMIC,Veljko (8)            m 2487 YUG  7.5  74.0 
 16 CHEPARINOV,Ivan (14)          m 2473 BUL  7.5  73.0 
 17 BLAGOJEVIC,Dragisa (2)        m 2537 YUG  7.5  71.5 
 18 RADULSKI,Julian (9)           m 2487 BUL  7.5  70.5 
 19 SVETUSHKIN,Dmitry (6)         g 2505 MDA  7.5  70.5 
 20 HELLSTEN,Johan (11)           m 2481 SWE  7.5  69.5 
 21 BOSKOVIC,Drasko (40)          f 2389 YUG  7.5  69.0 
 22 KOZHUHAROV,Spas (56)          f 2323 BUL  7.5  64.5 
 23 PEEV,Peicho (50)              m 2349 BUL  7.0  75.0 
 24 DOBREV,Nanko (46)             m 2371 BUL  7.0  73.5 
 25 BRENJO,Slavisa (28)           m 2424 YUG  7.0  71.5 
 26 CVETKOVIC,Srdjan (39)         m 2390 YUG  7.0  69.5 
 27 PAVLOVIC,Dejan,s (33)         . 2407 YUG  7.0  69.0 
 28 ARSOVIC,Zoran (31)            m 2410 YUG  7.0  68.5 
 29 MOZETIC,Dejan (20)            m 2450 YUG  7.0  68.5 
 30 MARINKOVIC,Slavisa (17)       m 2462 YUG  7.0  65.0 
 31 VASILJEVIC,Dragan (48)        m 2361 YUG  7.0  64.0 
 32 ANDRIJEVIC,Milan (42)         m 2387 YUG  7.0  63.5 
178 players

18) British Rapidplay

British Rapidplay Chess Championships 2002 took place 30th November-1st December 2002 at the Bradford City Football Stadium, Valley Parade Bradford. Peter Wells won the event with 9/11 half a point clear of GM Keith Arkell. Stewart Haslinger finished clear third on 8 points.

Further details: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/

19) Moscow Chess Ceremonies

On Wednesday 27th November 2002 Moscow's Central Chess Club there were ceremonies honoring the Russian Olympiad teams. Garry Kasparov also received the Chess Oscar-64 for 2001. My thanks to Eugeny Atarov for the news.

20) Professional World Chess Ranking

The Professional World Chess Ranking for players rated 2500 and higher for December 1st 2002 has been released . Produced by Ken Thomson, New Jersey and calculated by Vladimir Dvorkovich, Moscow.

NN  Name  Birthday  Country  Rating  Variance
 1  Kasparov,Garry         13.04.1963   RUS   2805  114
 2  Kramnik,Vladimir       25.06.1975   RUS   2789  124
 3  Topalov,Veselin        15.03.1975   BUL   2712  171
 4  Ponomariov,Ruslan      11.10.1983   UKR   2697  160
 5  Anand,Viswanathan      11.12.1969   IND   2694  162
 6  Leko,Peter             08.09.1979   HUN   2688  159
 7  Bareev,Evgeny          21.11.1966   RUS   2685  182
 8  Shirov,Alexei          04.07.1972   ESP   2682  149
 9  Grischuk,Alexander     31.10.1983   RUS   2677  159
10  Adams,Michael          17.11.1971   ENG   2667  155
11  Dreev,Alexey           30.01.1969   RUS   2650  136
12  Gelfand,Boris          24.06.1968   ISR   2649  135
13  Khalifman,Alexander    18.01.1966   RUS   2648  138
14  Ivanchuk,Vassily       18.03.1969   UKR   2647  139
15  Polgar,Judit           23.07.1976   HUN   2644  170
16  Akopian,Vladimir       07.12.1971   ARM   2636  159
17  Svidler,Peter          17.06.1976   RUS   2636  172
18  Malakhov,Vladimir      27.11.1980   RUS   2635  185
19  Ye Jiangchuan          20.11.1960   CHN   2629  159
20  Short,Nigel D          01.06.1965   ENG   2628  150
21  Sokolov,Ivan           13.06.1968   BIH   2627  147
22  Azmaiparashvili,Zurab  16.03.1960   GEO   2625  146
23  Karpov,Anatoli         23.05.1951   RUS   2624  130
24  Bacrot,Etienne         22.01.1983   FRA   2620  148
25  Zvjaginsev,Vadim       18.08.1976   RUS   2618  147
26  Lautier,Joel           12.04.1973   FRA   2617  124
27  Sutovsky,Emil          19.09.1977   ISR   2611  195
28  Kasimdzhanov,Rustam    05.12.1979   UZB   2608  165
29  Morozevich,Alexander   18.07.1977   RUS   2608  197
30  Lputian,Smbat G        14.02.1958   ARM   2607  172
31  Sakaev,Konstantin      13.04.1974   RUS   2603  150
32  Vaganian,Rafael A      15.10.1951   ARM   2602  170
33  Movsesian,Sergei       03.11.1978   CZE   2599  160
34  Nikolic,Predrag        11.09.1960   BIH   2596  143
35  Macieja,Bartlomiej     04.10.1977   POL   2595  169
36  Georgiev,Kiril         28.11.1965   BUL   2593  169
37  Smirin,Ilia            21.01.1968   ISR   2593  177
38  Almasi,Zoltan          29.08.1976   HUN   2592  139
39  Tkachiev,Vladislav     09.11.1973   FRA   2592  143
40  Vallejo Pons,Francisco 21.08.1982   ESP   2592  168
41  Goldin,Alexander       27.02.1965   ISR   2590  176
42  Tiviakov,Sergei        14.02.1973   RUS   2588  144
43  Van Wely,Loek          07.10.1972   NED   2587  186
44  Radjabov,Teimour       12.03.1987   AZE   2585  143
45  Onischuk,Alexander     03.09.1975   USA   2585  188
46  Piket,Jeroen           27.01.1969   NED   2584  178
47  Motylev,Alexander      17.06.1979   RUS   2583  174
48  Seirawan,Yasser        24.03.1960   USA   2583  174
49  Pigusov,Evgeny         31.03.1961   RUS   2581  136
50  Krasenkow,Mikhail      14.11.1963   POL   2581  183

21) Open Letter from Susan Polgar

Dear all,

Last night, when I received telephone calls at my home around 10 PM New York time regarding the unconfirmed news of Grandmaster Leko while I was doing an online chess event at the World Chess Network, I was absolutely shocked and sad. I hoped and prayed that this was not true. For the next 5 hours, I tried to confirm this report with all my sources but it was very hard since it was in the middle of the night in Budapest.

Grandmaster Peter Leko is a World Class Grandmaster, an asset to the chess community and is one of the national treasures of Hungary. My family and I have known him since he was very young and I am very proud to see him grow and mature into a wonderful chess player. I am very happy and relieved that the news is false. I would like to thank ChessBase for stepping in so quickly and clarified the truth.

My best wishes to Grandmaster Leko and his family and for with his upcoming match with World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. It will be a very good match and a very exciting event for all chess enthusiasts.

Sincerely, GM Susan Polgar

22) Taastrup Chess Club 30th Anniversary

The Taastrup Chess Club 30th Anniversary tournament took place 22nd-30th November 2002. Alexander Raetsky and Emil Hermansson finished on 7/9. My thanks to Lars Hansen.

Internet site: http://www.taastrupskakforening.dk/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30th Ann TSF Taastrup DEN (DEN), 22-30 xi 2002
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Raetsky, Alexander        m  RUS 2423  +10 + 8 + 2 = 3 + 4 = 5 + 7 =11 = 6  7.0  2547 
 2. Hermansson, Emil          m  SWE 2370  +16 +12 - 1 + 7 +11 = 3 +10 = 4 + 5  7.0  2526 
 3. Bromann, Thorbjorn        f  DEN 2366  +18 =17 +14 = 1 = 6 = 2 = 4 + 7 +11  6.5  2461 
 4. Niklasch, Oliver          f  GER 2301  +21 +20 = 7 =11 - 1 + 6 = 3 = 2 +10  6.0  2426 
 5. Koerholz, Ludger          m  GER 2356  -20 +21 -12 + 9 +16 = 1 +14 +10 - 2  5.5  2325 
 6. Aagaard, Jacob            m  DEN 2371  -17 = 9 +13 +14 = 3 - 4 = 8 +15 = 1  5.0  2304 
 7. Jakobsen, Ole             m  DEN 2381  +13 =11 = 4 - 2 +18 +17 - 1 - 3 +14  5.0  2320 
 8. Hartvig, Ove Weiss        f  DEN 2286  +19 - 1 =16 -15 = 9 +18 = 6 =13 +17  5.0  2274 
 9. Lund, Esben                  DEN 2329  =14 = 6 -10 - 5 = 8 +22 =18 +21 +13  5.0  2271 
10. Nordenbaek, Jan              DEN 2237  - 1 +19 + 9 =12 +15 +11 - 2 - 5 - 4  4.5  2273 
11. Naes, Flovin Tor             FAI 2280  +22 = 7 +17 = 4 - 2 -10 +12 = 1 - 3  4.5  2294 
12. Nolsoe, Eydun                FAI 2236  +15 - 2 + 5 =10 -17 -14 -11 +19 +18  4.5  2216 
13. Kongsted, Christian          DEN 2221  - 7 -14 - 6 +22 +21 +15 +17 = 8 - 9  4.5  2228 
14. Nielsen, Niels-Peter         DEN 2147  = 9 +13 - 3 - 6 +19 +12 - 5 =17 - 7  4.0  2242 
15. Pallesen, Jacob              DEN 2071  -12 =18 +20 + 8 -10 -13 +16 - 6 =19  4.0  2175 
16. Nilsson, Nils S              DEN 2182  - 2 +22 = 8 =17 - 5 =19 -15 +20 =21  4.0  2157 
17. Pedersen, Hans Dahl          DEN 2211  + 6 = 3 -11 =16 +12 - 7 -13 =14 - 8  3.5  2194 
18. Korolev, Nikolaj             DEN 2178  - 3 =15 =21 +20 - 7 - 8 = 9 =22 -12  3.0  2106 
19. Nielsen, Michael1            DEN 2095  - 8 -10 +22 =21 -14 =16 =20 -12 =15  3.0  2050 
20. Nohr, Finn                   DEN 2157  + 5 - 4 -15 -18 -22 =21 =19 -16 +23  3.0  2035 
21. Hansen, Lars-Henrik Bech     DEN 2131  - 4 - 5 =18 =19 -13 =20 +22 - 9 =16  3.0  2091 
22. Nielsen, Jan Mose            DEN 2128  -11 -16 -19 -13 +20 - 9 -21 =18  .   1.5  1945 
23. BYE                              ----   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  -20  0.0       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

23) Forthcoming Events and Links

VI Málaga International Open

The VI Málaga International Open 2003 takes place 20th-28th February 2003. 7.800 euros in prizes.

Details: http://www.malagajedrez.org

1st Pan American Amateur Championships

The 1st Pan American Amateur Championship will be held at the elegant Fairmont Southampton from 27th January to 5th February 2003. It will be nine rounds plus a rest day and will be held alongside two GM Invitational Tournaments (Cat XV and X). The rate of play will be 150 plus 30 seconds per move. It is open to players under 2000 FIDE or no FIDE rating at all. Each Federation in the Americas is allowed to nominate two players who do not have to pay an entry fee, otherwise entry fee is $150 per player. It will be followed by the 20th Bermuda Open from 6th to 9th February.

Rooms are $125 per night plus taxes etc. for one or two people, a third person in a room would be an extra $30 plus taxes. etc To book rooms contact the Fairmont Southampton on 1-800-441-1414 or 1-441-238-8000, mentioning "PanAmerican Amateur Chess".

Details/Info: http://www.Bermuda.bm/chess or Nigel Freeman 441-234-2322, cadilly@ibl.bm or Carol Jarecki 917-690-8566, cjareck@attglobal.net.

Round Robins in Singapore

IM norm Round Robins in Singapore (after the 20th Cairnhill Open) 1st Round Robin event from 16th to 23rd Dec 02 Category 1-4 (2251-2350), 12 players maximum 2nd Round Robin event from 24th to 29th Dec 02 Category 1-4 (2251-2350), limited to 10 players Any players (titled or non-title) who may wish to participate please contact Kenny Chern E-mail: open_chess@yahoo.com.sg

Chesmayne Chess Dictionary 2003

The Chesmayne Chess Dictionary 2003 is out now. Available at: http://chesmayn.valuehost.co.uk/

Seagaard ChessReviews - Book of the Year 2002

Seagaard ChessReviews has now selected the best books that was suggested from our readers. It is now the readers time to make a choice and pick "Seagaard ChessReviews - Book of the Year 2002". Readers can vote from 1/12 until 8/12 2002 and the book with the highest number is the winner. Read more: http://seagaard.dk/review

Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Sergei Karjakin

There will be a match between Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Sergei Karjakin in Brissago 1st-6th February 2003.

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

1st Samba Cup

The Skanderborg Chess Club is organising a new GM tournament in Denmark. There will be 2 groups, A-group category 15/16, B-group category 9/10, 10 players in each group, round-robin.

Dates of play: October 10th-20th 2003. Venue: Hotel Skanderborghus in Skanderborg, Denmark. The hotel is beautifully located near lake and forest, see much more at http://www.hotel-skanderborghus.dk/

Players who are interested may contact Tournament Organiser Michael Andersson, e-mail GM@skanderborgskakklub.dk

15th Belgrade Open Championships

The 15th Belgrade Open Championships take place 18th-28th November 2002. Leading players: 1. Romanishin,Oleg G 2572 UKR 2. Blagojevic,Dragisa M 2537 YUG 3. Savic,Miodrag,R M 2519 YUG 4. Fontaine,Robert G 2517 FRA 5. Timoscenko,Gennadij G 2509 SVK 6. Svetushkin,Dmitri G 2505 MDA.

Internet coverage: http://www.beochess.org.yu/english.htm

Bermuda 2003

The Bermuda tournament in 2003 will consist of a GM 'A' - Category XV or XVI (25th January to 5th February) and a GM 'B' - Category IX or X (25th January to 5th February) PanAmerican Amateur - under 2000 FIDE or unrated (27th January to 5th February) 20th Bermuda International Open (6th February to 9th February). Players are yet to be confirmed.

Milan Vukadinov 1936-2002

The Michigan Chess Association has an obituary of Milan Vukadinov one of the best (top 20) Canadian players for over 20 years, and played in the Malta Olympiad in 1980 representing Canada. His peak USCF rating was 2443 (about 2375 FIDE strength).

Internet coverage: http://www.michess.org/features/News_November.shtml

First Saturday December

The First Saturday for December take place 7th-20th December 2002.

Contact Laszlo Nagy if you wish to play. E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat phone-fax: (361)-263-28-59 mobile: (36)-30-230-1914

Players:

GM Event: IGM LUKACS, Peter /HUN/, IGM KOSANOVIC, Goran /YUG/, IGM ANKA, Emil /HUN/, IM VALDES, Leonardo /CRC/, WGM RADZIEWICZ, Iweta /POL/, IM HORVATH, Peter /HUN/, WGM VAJDA, Szidonia /HUN/, IM LOPEZ MARTINEZ, Jose Manuel /ESP/, IM RAMESH, R.B. /IND/, IM FLUMBORT, Andras /HUN/, IM BALOGH, Csaba /HUN/, WFM DIMITRIJEVIC, Aleksandra /YUG/, IM SZEBERÉNYI, Ádám /HUN/, IM CRAWLEY, Gavin /ENG/ Reserves: IGM HORVATH, Csaba /HUN/, IM KAHN, Evarth /HUN/, IM JAKAB, Attila, /HUN/, IM BELEZKY, Sasha /UKR/, FM BRUSTKERN, Juergen /GER/.

IM Event Cats 1-3: IM EPERJESI,Laszlo /HUN/, IM LENGYEL, Béla /HUN/, IM PEREDY, Ferenc /HUN/, IM FARAGÓ, Sándor /HUN/, FM BRUSTKERN, Jurgen /GER/, FM HEINZEL, Olaf /GER/, WIM RAMASHWAMI, Aartie /IND/, POPOVICS, Ádám /HUN/, FM RAJLICH, Vasik /USA/, DENCSI, Tibor /HUN/, FM GRAFL, Florian /GER/, FM DRESEN, Ulrich /GER/, IM BOGUSZLAVSZKIJ, Jevgenyij /HUN/, IM SCHNEIDER, Attila /HUN/, FM GRAHAM, Nathaniel /USA/, FM GERARD, Nicolas /FRA/, IM JAKAB, Attila /HUN/, IM WERNER, Dimo /GER/, GUNNARSSON, Anvar /ISL/. IM HABIBI Ali /GER/ Reserves: IM KAHN, Evarth /HUN/, PAPP, Gellért /HUN/, MARTINI, Balázs /HUN/.

FM groups will have 10-14 players.

Kasparov - Karpov Rapid Match

There will be a four game match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov in New York, NY, USA, December 19th-20th 2002. The match will take place in the ABC Studios in Times Square. The Kasparov - Sting event was there a year or so ago. 2 Games 25 mins + 10 secs each day. John Henderson will be on the spot for TWIC. The Kasparov - Deep Junior match in is set to take place in January, probably in being moved from Jerusalem to Jacksonville in Florida USA.

Website: http://www.x3dworld.com

2003 US Chess Championships in Seattle

The 2003 US Chess Championships will take place in Seattle starting on January 9th 2003. The event is organised by the America’s Foundation for Chess (AF4C). 58 of the US's Best Chess Players Compete for $255,000, the event incorporates the women's title event. The venue is the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms.

There will be several other events of interest to the general public, including live championship commentary, a Children’s Simul; Martin Luther King Jr. Day Open-Chess Tournament for children, and the awards ceremony of the U.S. Chess Championships.

For further information: http://www.af4c.org

Swiss Chess Tour 2003

The Swiss Chess Tour starts in Basle in the New Year. The 5th Hilton Open features Viktor Korchnoi, Vlastimil Hort, Yannick Pelletier and Ivan Nemet. They will play each other, one game on classic time control and the other in rapid. Timetable of the 5th Hilton Open: 31.12.2002. Blitz open; 14.00-17.00; registration 13.00; 9 rounds, 5 minutes. 1.1.2003. Fujitcu Siemens – Junior’s Open; 10.00-16.00; 7 rounds, 15 minutes. 1.-5.1.2003. Hilton Open; 7 rounds, 6 hours (40 moves-120 minutes, 60 minutes till the end.) 1.-5.1.2003. Baloise Open; 7 rounds, 4 hours (30 moves-90 minutes, 30 minutes till the and.) 1.-5.1.2003. Senior Open; same as Baloise Open. 1.-4.1.2003. ITAG Tele-Rapid; with Korchnoi, Hort, Pelletier, Nemet; 15 minutes per game. 2.-5.1.2003. ITAG Masters (Korchnoi, Hort, Pelletier, Nemet); classic time control, 6 hours. 5.1.2003. Fujitsu Siemens VIP&PC Challenge (+ 5 best juniors); 10.00-14.00 5.1.2003. Closing ceremony

Prizes: Hilton Open: 2000/1500/1200/800/600/500/2x400/2x300/2x200 Fr. Entry fee: 130 Fr. (FM & Juniors) GM & IM free. At the door 10 Fr. Baloise Open: 500/400/2x300/2x200/4x150 Fr. Entry fee: 110 Fr. (Juniors 50 Fr.) At the door 10. Senior Open: 400/300/200 Fr. + natural prizes Entry fee: 60 Fr. At the door 10 Fr. Junior Open: Natural prizes. Entry fee: 5 Fr. At the door 10 Fr. Blitz Open: 300/200/150/2x100/2x50 Fr. Entry fee: 20 Fr. (Junior 5 Fr.) Venue Hotel Hilton Basle.

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+34+424-01-06, fax +41+34+424-01-07 E-mail info@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

Fischer Story

Bobby Fischer and his mother were investigated by the FBI. Read the story: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/4535883.htm

Amplico Aig Life Rapid

The Amplico Aig Life Rapid tournament takes place in Warsaw (Poland) as part of the 21st Stanislaw Gawlikowski Memorial. The tournament will take place December 21st-22nd 2002 in the Palace of Culture in Warsaw. The prize fund is 15.000 USD. Among the participants will be Vassily Ivanchuk.

Further details: http://www.amplicolife.pl

Contact for entry: Marek Bartel (Tournament Director) m.bartel@poczta.jzk.pl or Maria Macieja (Deputy Tournament Director) janmac@mg.gov.pl

Gibraltar Chess Congress

The Gibraltar Chess Congress takes place 28th January 6th February 2003. Two 10 round Swisses. Amateur £3000 prize fund open to players under 2000 or unrated. Open £12,000 prize fund. Acceptances so far in attached list. Play takes place at the 4 star Caleta Hotel. Further details about Gibraltar, accommodation and visas: conf.banq@caletahotel.gi Technical details: Stewartreuben@aol.com

Praha and Marianske Lazne

Details of the Praha Open 2003 (17.-24.1. 2003) and Marianske Lazne Open 2003 (25.1.-1.2. 2003) and the round robin master tournament category 3-4 FIDE Marianske Lazne 2003 (25.1.-2.2. 2003) are now available at: http://www.proclient.cz/czechtour.

Round Robin's in Tel Aviv

5th International Tournament in Tel Aviv IM Round Robin in Tel Aviv, December 24- January 7; Category 1-4 (average rating-2251-2350); 12 players round robin system; Beginning of rounds 17:30pm, Thursday 31st-16:00, Thursday January 2nd-day off,Fridays: 12:00pm; Saturdays- day off;

6th International Tournament in Tel Aviv GM Round Robin in Tel Aviv, January 10 - January 23; Category 7-9 (average rating:2401-2475); 12 players round robin system; Beginning of rounds 17:30pm, Friday 10th (round 1)-13:00pm, Friday 17th and Saturdays- day off;

Contact Gofshtein Zvulon (Leonid) if you wish to play, e-mail: gofshtein@hotmail.com tel. numbers international: (972) 54 696432, (972) 3 7329233; tel. numbers local: 054 696432, 03 7329233;

XV Carlos Torre Tournament

The XV Carlos Torre International Tournament takes place 13th-21st December 2002. Players: GM Evgueny Pigousov, Rusia, 2622 GM Vadim Milov, Suiza, 2620 GM Valerij Filippov, Rusia, 2615 GM Lazaro Bruzón, Cuba, 2613 GM Lenier Domínguez, Cuba, 2608 GM Jaan Ehlvest, Estonia, 2600 GM Boris Gulko, USA, 2594 GM Alex Moiseenko, Ucrania, 2570 GM Alex Wojtkiewicz,Polonia, 2567 GM Larry Christiansen, USA, 2566 GM Alonzo Zapata, Colombia, 2556 GM Gilberto Hernández, México, 2546 GM Reinaldo Vera,Cuba, 2544 GM Lalic Bogdan, Inglaterra, 2542 GM Antoaneta Stefanova, Bulgaria, 2541 GM Stuart Conquest, Inglaterra, 2537 GM Arthur Kogan, Israel,2529 GM Nikola Mitkov, Macedonia, 2529 GM Jesús Nogueiras, Cuba 2528 GM Karen Movsisyan, Armenia, 2528 GM Walter Arencibia, Cuba, 2521 GM Zenon Franco, Paraguay, 2510 GM Vladimir Giorgev,Bulgaria, 2501 GM Evgueny Janev, Bulgaria, 2498 GM Azer Mirzoev, Azerbaijan, 2494 GM Andrés Rodríguez Vila, Uruguay,2493 GM Dimitry Tyomkin, Israel, 2492 GM Stefan Djuric, Yugoslavia, 2490 GM Ruslan Pogorelov, Ucrania, 2488 MI Johan Hellster, Suecia, 2481 GM Gildardo García, Colombia, 2480 GM Juan García Palermo, Argentina , 2467 MI Yuri González Vidal, Cuba, 2456 MF Yunieski Quezada Pérez, Cuba, 2438 MI Omar Almeida Quintana, Cuba,2437 MI Roberto Martin del Campo, México, 2421 GM Peter Szekely, Hungría, 2417 MI José González García, México, 2416 GM Silvino García, Cuba, 2382 MI Maikel Góngora, Cuba, 2377 MI Julian Estrada, México, 2345 MF Joaquín Díaz Díaz, Cuba, 2334 MI Peric Slavisa, Yugoslavia, 2268 WIM Tania Hernández, Cuba, 2250 MI Carlos Laravet Despaigne, Cuba

Internet coverage: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/convocatoria_2002.htm

Cup ShRGEK in Shakhti

The Cup ShRGEK take s place 13th-18th January 2003 in the city of Shakhti (Rostov region, Russia).

Further information: http://www.fanchess.ru/kuda/2003/01/srgek.htm

18th North Sea Cup Esbjerg Denmark

2003 will be the year when the Danish Chess Federation turns 100! The Esbjerg Chess Union and the renowned Danish round-robin the North Sea Cup are scheduled to play a major role in the celebrations. The gm group with 10 players will play July 4-12. After 3 category 14s back to back the organisers are hoping for a category 15 this time. Also a B-group, primarily for young Danish up and coming players, will be on offer at this Danish chess festival. 4 foreign ims will be invited, and the winner of the B-group will be invited to the gm group of the 19th NSC. Interested players should contact Brian Isaksen at brisak@esenet.dk

Homepage: http://home1.inet.tele.dk/tpherman/vh2002/1index.htm

78th Hastings Congress

The 78th Hastings International Chess Congress will take place at the Horntye Park Sport Complex from Saturday 28th December 2002 to Sunday 5th January 2003 inclusive. The event is once again sponsored by Hastings Borough Council with additional support from several local businesses.

The Premier Tournament is a 9-round all-play-all event for ten invited players. This year’s line-up includes WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS), 12 year old GM Sergey Karjakin (UKR), Alexei Barsov (Uzbekistan), Pentala Harikrishna (India), Krishnan Sasikiran (India), Keith Arkell, Glenn Flear, Luke McShane, Vitaly Tsheskovsky.

The Challengers Open Tournament which attracts players from home and overseas includes Grandmasters Vladislav Borovikov (UKR), Beshukov (Rus) Milos Pavlovic (YUG) Former Yugoslav Champion, and International Masters Alexander Cherniaev(Rus) and Ed Formanek (USA)

This year a new event has been introduced, the Golden Jubilee Weekend Tournament 28th and 29th December with sections for all levels of player including Beginners. The New Year Tournament for the more casual player will take place from Monday 30th December to Friday 3 January

The 20th Hastings Weekend Congress will take place from Friday 3 Jan to Sunday 5 January with sections from Experts to Novice.

Website: hastingschess.org.uk

Rilton Cup

The 32nd Rilton Cup takes place 27th December 2002 - 5th January 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. 9 Round Swiss.

Full details: http://www.stockholmschack.nu/rilton.asp

British Rapidplay Chess Championships 2002

British Rapidplay Chess Championships 2002 take place 30th November-1st December 2002 at the Bradford City Football Stadium, Valley Parade Bradford

Further details: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/

Cairnhill Open 2002

The 20th Cairnhill International Open Chess Championship will be held from 11th to 15th December 2002 in Singapore. 7 rounds Swiss System. The Championship will be limited to a maximum of 120 entries only.

Hotel accommodation from 10th to 15th Dec 02 for limited no of GMs and IMs (only one invited player from each country). Registering will be based on a first-come-first-serve-basis.

Further details at http://pc-connect.com.sg/chess/open02/02_Main.htm E-mail: Kenny Chern open_chess@yahoo.com.sg

Novoshakhtinsk Open

The Novoshakhtinsk Open takes place 6th-11th January 2003 in the city of Novoshakhtinsk (Rostov region - Russia). 1st stage of the "Cup of Don - 2003.

Official site: http://www.fanchess.ru and specifically http://www.fanchess.ru/kuda/2003/01/1kubok.htm

Coulsdon Chess Fellowship

Coulsdon Chess Fellowship (CCF) is intending to host a 9 round IM norm closed tournament between Saturday 15th February and Sunday 23rd February with 1 round to be held each afternoon. Any players (title or non-title) who may wish to be considered for inclusion should email Scott Freeman at chess@ccfs.freeserve.co.uk

X "ANIBAL" INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN

The X Anibal Chess Open takes place in Linares, 28th February - 10th March, 2003 Dates are parallel to the XX "Ciudad de Linares" International Chess Tournament. Swiss system. 10 Rounds. New FIDE time control. Hotel Aníbal - Linares.

Further details from: e-mail: linareschess@teleline.es linareschess@wanadoo.es fax: 34 953652204

DEADLINE: Monday, 17th Feb 2003.

Novi Sad GM and IM

There is a tournament in Novi Sad Yugoslavia January 18th-26th 2003. Novi Sad is 76 km from Belgrade or 100 km from the Hungarian border conection by train from Wien 8 hours , from Budapest 5 hours, Belgrade airport, 70 km from Ns, bus connection from all of Europe . Venue: Hotel Park 20 euro double room full board, 25 euro in single. GM tourn. 12 players - FIDE timerate, cat. 9 (4 places at the moment ) IM tourn. cat. 3 or 4 - FIDE timerate, 12 players (5 places at the moment) elo t. , 12 players - 90 min . each. 2 blitz to. during the tournament. inscription fee according organiser , depending on elo, title and which tournament. Organiser GM Drazic Sinisa mail sdrazic@eunet.yu or thirdsaturday2002@yahoo.com tel .++381\ 21 \ 450-714 or 58-922 mobil | 64 | 124-9741

Swiss Chess Tour 2002

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2002" will finish in Interlaken, one of the most attractive tourist towns in Switzerland.

The 2nd “Casino Open” December 26th-30th 2002. Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. The first time, natural prizes for all participants. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1942), junior (1982-85), schoolboy (1986) and best local player. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free. 2nd "Chalet Oberland" Open. Players under 2000. Swiss system, 5 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours. Prizes: natural, for all participants. Entry fee: 100 SF (juniors 50 SF). At the doors +10 SF. Venue: "Casino" New event - Blitz tournament, Swiss system, 9 double rounds.

Time table for "Casino Open": December 26.: The last registration 11.00-12.15. Open ceremony and apero reception from 12.15-12.30. Round 1st 12.30-17.30. December 27. Round 2nd 9.30-14.30 Round 3rd 15.30-20.30 December 28.: Round 4th 12.30-17.30. December 29. Round 5th 9.30-14.30. Round 6th 15.30-20.30 December 30. Round 7th 9.30-14.30 Closing ceremonies 16.00.

Time table for “Chalet Oberland Open”: December 26 Round 1st 12.30-17.30; December 27 Round 2nd 9.30-14.30; December 28 Round 3rd 12.30-17.30; December 29 Round 4th 9.30-14.30; December 30 Round 5thh 9.30-14.30. Special chess rates in Hotel “Charlet Oberland”. Main sponsor “RAPP” company.

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+34+424-01-06, fax +41+34+424-01-07 E-mail info@beochess.ch or Ervin Tellenbach tel. +41+79+311-23-53 or Hotel “Charlet Oberland” tel. +41+33+827-87-87. Further information: http://www.beochess.ch/

Gausdal Troll Masters Open

The Gausdal Troll Masters Open GM-tournament will be played in Gausdal in Norway 7th -15th January 2003. 10 rounds modified Swiss 2 hours / 40 moves and 1 hour / rest Homepage: http://eirikgu.home.online.no/troll2003/ Contact: Hans Olav Lahlum at hanso.lahlum@c2i.net

2nd Annual Lindsborg Rotary Open

The 2nd Annual Lindsborg Rotary Open Chess Tournament takes place in Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas December 17-23 or December 20-23 2002. Anatoly Karpov will be a special guest of the tournament.

GM & IM norms are available; FIDE rating and evaluation guaranteed for 7-day option! GMS Onishuk, Shulman and Novikov are Confirmed! Ulf Andersson MAY PLAY. $3,000 guaranteed prize fund! 3 sections: FIDE: 9SS, 40/2, SD/1 (4-day option, rounds 1-5 G/50). First two rounds accelerated pairing. 1st - $1000, 2nd - $400, 3rd - $200, 4th - 150, 5th - 100 U2400: $100 - 75; U2200: $100 - 75 Open: 9SS, G/120 1st - $150 U2000: $100 - 75 - 50; U1800: $100 - 75 - 50 U1600: $100 - 75 - 50; U1400: $100 - 75 - 50 Scholastic (12/22): G/30. Trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each HS, MS, ES categories Entering fees: GMs & IMs free. Membership at Kansas Chess Association is required (dues can be paid on site). Before 11/1/02 Before 12/1/02 At site FIDE Section FIDE >2300 $70 $80 $90 FIDE, USCF >2200 $80 $90 $100 FIDE <2200 $90 $100 $110 non-FIDE rated, USCF <2200 * $120 $130 $140 Open Section $50 $55 $60 Scholastic Section $15 $20 $25 Credit cards OK. Online entry at www.lindsborg.org/events.htm * Number of non-FIDE rated players will be limited in this category

Schedules: FIDE Session: 7-day: 12/17-12/20 1:00 pm; 12/21 & 22 9:00 am & 5:00 pm; 12/23 9:00 am 4-day: 12/20 (G/50) 4:00 pm, 6:30 pm, 9:00 pm; 12/21 9:00 am, 1:00 pm, & 5:00 pm; 12/22 9:00 am & 5:00 pm; 12/23 9:00 am Open Sessions (G/120): 4-day: 12/20 4:00 pm; 12/21 9:00 am, 1:30 pm, 7:00 pm; 12/22 9:00 am, 1:30 pm, 7:00 pm; 12/23 9:00 am, 1:30 pm Scholastic Session (G/30): 12/22 10:00 am, 11:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 4:00 pm, 5:30 pm 1/2-pt byes OK at ALL. Limit 3. Last bye must commit before round 5. Special Event - 12/20 at 8:00 pm GM Igor Novikov will play simul games with 20 people. $20.

Hotel rates: $49 - $80 at Swedish Country Inn (1-800-231-0266), $36 - $56 at Coronado Motel (1-800-747-2793), $65 - $150 at Rosberg House B&B;(1-888-215-5234), $65 - $95 at Smoky Valley B & B (1-800-532-4407), and $60 - $120 at C&W Ranch Bed & Breakfast (785-668-2352). Reserve by 11/15 or rates may increase.

Ent: Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce (for the chess tournament), 104 E. Lincoln, Lindsborg, KS 67456. 1-888-227-2227; http://www.lindsborg.org/events.htm For more information please contact Mikhail Korenman at 785-227-3380, ext.8164 or korenman@bethanylb.edu USCF, FIDE. NS, NC.

XXVI Tenkes Cup

XXVI Tenkes Cup (Lajos Ózdi Memorial) takes place in the Hotel "Platán" in Harkány, Hungary November 14-22 2002. There will be 9-round A and B Opens. GMs, IMs, and over 2400 ELO no nominetings cost. More Information Lajos Gyökös: E-mail tenkescuo@egon.gyaloglo.hu Fax (36)-72-579-025

Cartak (CZE) Friendship Tournament 2002

The Friendship chess tournament takes place 6th- 15th December 2002 in Cartak (Czech Republic). There will be events including a: round-robin GM tournament, round-robin IM tournament and an open tournament.

Further details: http://www.proclient.cz/a64/tournaments/tp2002/default.htm

Evgeny Bareev vs. HIARCS 8

Evgeny Bareev will play a match against HIARCS 8 January 28th-31st 2003.

Further details: http://www.chessevents.nl/bareev_match.shtml

6th Email Afro-Asian Championship

6th Email Afro-Asian Championship: All players from Africa and Asia are invited to take part to the 6th email Afro-Asian championship which will start in January 2003. Like the previous editions, there are two stages : The preliminaries for all participants and the final for those who will qualify. The number of sections will depend upon the number of entries. The players interested by this competition may send their application to M. Samraoui. Email address is : samraoui@aol.com No entry fees is required but deadline for entries is 20.12.2002. (ICCF's website: http://www.iccf.com ) Announcement: Hirokaz Onoda (ICCF delegate for Japan)

Patrick Wolff vs. The World

GM Patrick Wolff will play the Rest of the World starting 31st August. The time limit for the match is 5 days per move. GM Wolff is a two times United States Champion. To play in the match go to http://www.letsplaychess.com and follow the Play menu to ‘Play the expert’ and from there join the world team.

Benidorm, Spain

There are tournaments in Benidorm, Spain November 22nd-30th 2002.

Further info: Telephones of general information during the month of August: 965202214 from 19 to 21 h.; 650407091; Sr. Hernández 950 130493 y 607631481, webmaster@ajedrezactual.com webmaster@jaque.tv

Details: http://www.jaque.tv/benidorm_avance2702.htm

Bethune Open

The 23rd Bethune International Open takes place 26th-30th December 2002 in the Salle Olof Palme, Commercial center La Rotonde, 62400 Bethune, FRANCE. There are 7 rounds over 5 days with a time rate of 40 moves for 2hours followed by one hour KO. Accelerated pairings, possibility of getting a FIDE rating.

This year the open is divided in two tournaments :- tournament A only for players whose ELO rating is above or equals 1600 (> or =1600) - tournament B only for players whose ELO rating is strictly under 1800 (<1800) At least 5500 euros prize (8300 euros given in 2001) 1st prize tournament A : 1500 euros 1st prize tournament B : 250 euros General standing and ELO-category prizes for both tournaments Entry cost : 40 Euros (adults) 20 Euros (youngsters under 20) A Blitz tournament (5 mins for each player) will be organised on Saturday 28th December from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm (free morning) in the tournament room. All the players can take part in it (entry cost 5euros). Prizes : 100 % of the entry. (for information 1 $ (US dollar) = 1.05 Euros)

Website : http://bethunechess.freefr

Contact e-mail: bethunechess@hotmail.com

1st Benidorm Internatonal

The 1st Benidorm Internatonal is an open taking place 21st-30th November 2002.

Further details: http://www.jaque.tv/benidorm_avance0702.htm

2003 Australian Open

The Australian Open Chess Championships is to be held 2nd-10th January 2003. The Championships are jointly organised by The New South Wales Chess Association Inc. and Australian Chess Enterprises on behalf of the Australian Chess Federation Inc.

Further information: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/penrith/index.cfm

New York Masters

Regular competition for players in New York Rated 2200 and above.

Further details: http://www.newyorkmasters.com/

Hawaii International Chess Festival Cancelled

The Hawaii International Chess Festival has been cancelled until further notice. Information: hawaii@chessworks.com.