THE WEEK IN CHESS 476 22nd December 2003 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Pamplona
3) Belfort GM
4) Indian National A Championships
5) XVI Carlos Torre Memorial
6) Bundesliga Rounds 5-6
7) 3rd Annual Little Sweden Festival
8) 6th Tanta Open
9) Salona GM
10) NAO GM and IM Tournaments
11) 1st Bois-Colombes GM
12) Zadar Christmas Open
13) First Saturday December
14) 87th Marshall Chess Club Championships
15) Mystery consultation match 2
16) Ilijas Subasic Memorial
17) Ukrainian Chess Championship
18) Russia vs Ukraine Internet Blitz
19) 2nd Lindsborg Open
20) Malmö Open
21) Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial
22) Austrian Teams B-Mitte
23) Association of Chess Professionals Elections
24) FIDE World Championship Regulations
25) Check your FIDE Rating
26) Harmonie Chess Tournament
27) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Games section

Pamplona                              8 games
Belfort GM and Women's Tournament    42 games
Indian Championships                 72 games
XVI Carlos Torre Memorial           157 games
Bundesliga Rounds 5-6               136 games
3rd Annual Little Sweden Festival    15 games
6th Tanta Open                      124 games
Salona GM                            45 games
NAO GM and IM Tournaments            70 games
1st Bois-Colombes GM                  5 games
Zadar Christmas Open                181 games
First Saturday December              72 games
87th Marshall CC Championships        8 games
Ilijas Subasic Memorial              45 games
Ukrainian Chess Championship        675 games
Russia vs Ukraine Internet Blitz    128 games
2nd Lindsborg Open                   18 games
Malmö Open                            3 games
Austrian Teams B-Mitte              144 games
Harmonie Chess Tournament             5 games
1953 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Andy McFarland, George D. Alexopoulos, Rod McShane, Eirik T. Gullaksen, David Llada, Gabor Pali, Hassan Khaled, Miklos Orso, Maurice Ouvrier, Thomas Henrich, Joel Lautier, Igor Alelekov, Dennis Leong, Jan Mazuch, Pablo Sierra, Stewart Reuben, Harald Grafenhofer, Pascal Villalba, Jonas Eriksson, John Fernandez, Julio Alberto González, Stephen Boyd, Mirjana Medic, Frank Berry, Peter Kartal, George Mirijanian, Cor Kamstra and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The Indian Championships had a very close finish with Surya Shekhar Ganguly just edging out Chanda Sandipan on tie-break, both scoring 17.5/23 half a point clear of ELO favourite Pentala Harikrishna. Early leader Humpy Koneru dropped away a little finishing on 15 points level with Abhijit Kunte and Dibyendu Barua. The Category XV Pamplona and Belfort tournaments are the strongest events over the next week. Surprise of the week was Yuniesky Quezada's victory in the Torre Memorial, he defeated both Boris Gelfand and Valery Filippov in mini-matches in the knockout. Happy Christmas to everyone.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Pamplona

The Pamplona international tournament takes place 20th-28th December 2003. No official internet coverage announced. My thanks to the organisers for sending the games.

Round 1 (December 20, 2003)

Sutovsky, Emil            -  Nakamura, Hikaru          1-0   40  B30  Sicilian Rossolimo
Romero Holmes, Alfonso    -  McShane, Luke J           1/2   21  B54  Sicilian Rauzer
Bologan, Viktor           -  Karjakin, Sergey          0-1   31  B90  Sicilian Najdorf
Pelletier, Yannick        -  Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  0-1   47  D84  Gruenfeld 4.Bf4

Round 2 (December 21, 2003)

Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  -  Karjakin, Sergey          1/2   19  B23  Sicilian Closed
McShane, Luke J           -  Bologan, Viktor           0-1   60  B50  Sicilian Defence
Pelletier, Yannick        -  Sutovsky, Emil            1/2   45  D90  Gruenfeld Flohr
Nakamura, Hikaru          -  Romero Holmes, Alfonso    0-1   60  C16  French Winawer

It Pamplona ESP (ESP), 20-28 xii 2003              cat. XV (2606)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Karjakin, Sergey          g UKR 2562 * = . . 1 . . .  1.5  2830
2 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel  g ESP 2602 = * . . . . 1 .  1.5  2776
3 Sutovsky, Emil            g ISR 2646 . . * . . . = 1  1.5  2777
4 Romero Holmes, Alfonso    g ESP 2544 . . . * . = . 1  1.5  2800
5 Bologan, Viktor           g MDA 2673 0 . . . * 1 . .  1.0  2605
6 McShane, Luke J           g ENG 2649 . . . = 0 * . .  0.5  2415
7 Pelletier, Yannick        g SUI 2604 . 0 = . . . * .  0.5  2431
8 Nakamura, Hikaru          g USA 2565 . . 0 0 . . . *  0.0      
-----------------------------------------------------------------

3) Belfort GM

6th Masters and 2nd Women's Masters Comtois d'échecs is organised by Belfort Chess in the Grand Hôtel du Tonneau d'Or, 15th-24th December 2003.

Internet coverage: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/

6th Masters Belfort FRA (FRA), 15-24 xii 2003    cat. XV (2603)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1  2  3  4  5  6 
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 Gurevich, Mikhail     g BEL 2656 ** =. == 1. 1. 11  5.5  2822
2 Fressinet, Laurent    g FRA 2654 =. ** 10 1. =1 =.  4.5  2679
3 Bauer, Christian      g FRA 2602 == 01 ** =. 1. =.  4.0  2667
4 Tregubov, Pavel V     g RUS 2635 0. 0. =. ** 1= =1  3.5  2578
5 Le Roux, Jean-Pierre  f FRA 2480 0. =0 0. 0= ** 1.  2.0  2474
6 Hamdouchi, Hichem     g MAR 2588 00 =. =. =0 0. **  1.5  2386
---------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Women's Masters Belfort FRA (FRA), 15-24 xii 2003cat. III (2323)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1  2  3  4  5  6 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Gaponenko, Inna         m UKR 2409 ** =. =1 11 1. =.  5.5  2548
2 Foisor, Cristina Adela  m ROM 2398 =. ** =. 1. 1= 11  5.5  2510
3 Klinova, Masha          m ISR 2378 =0 =. ** =. 11 =.  4.0  2358
4 Milliet, Sophie        wm FRA 2326 00 0. =. ** 1. 11  3.5  2321
5 Roumegous, Marina      wm FRA 2195 0. 0= 00 0. ** 1.  1.5  2129
6 Muller, Anne           wm FRA 2229 =. 00 =. 00 0. **  1.0  2038
-----------------------------------------------------------------

4) Indian National A Championships

Indian National Men A Chess Championship took place at the Chessindia Complex, Calicut 4th to 20th December 2003. SS Ganguly took first place on SB tie-break from Sandipan Chanda, both finished on 17.5/23 half a point clear of ELO favourite Pentala Harikrishna.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessindia.org/nationala Live Coverage : http://www.live.chessindia.org/men.asp

ch-IND National A Calicut IND (IND), 4-20 xii 2003                                  cat. VIII (2426)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar     g IND 2531 * = = = 1 = 0 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  17.5  2622
 2 Sandipan, Chanda           m IND 2504 = * 0 = = 1 = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  17.5  2624
 3 Harikrishna, P             g IND 2570 = 1 * = 0 = 1 = = 1 0 1 1 1 1 = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1  17.0  2603
 4 Kunte, Abhijit             g IND 2535 = = = * = = = = = = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 = = = 1 1  15.0  2530
 5 Barua, Dibyendu            g IND 2528 0 = 1 = * = 1 0 = = = = = 1 1 = 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1  15.0  2531
 6 Koneru, Humpy              g IND 2485 = 0 = = = * = 0 1 = 0 1 1 = = = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  15.0  2532
 7 Bakre, Tejas               m IND 2443 1 = 0 = 0 = * 0 1 1 = = = = = = = 1 1 1 = = 1 1  14.0  2504
 8 Neelotpal, Das             m IND 2443 0 = = = 1 1 1 * = 0 = 1 = 0 1 = 1 = = = = = 1 =  13.5  2489
 9 Sundararajan, Kidambi      m IND 2446 = = = = = 0 0 = * = = 0 1 = = 1 1 1 = 1 = = 1 1  13.5  2489
10 Ramesh, R.B                m IND 2466 0 = 0 = = = 0 1 = * = 0 = = 1 1 = = = 1 1 1 = 1  13.0  2473
11 Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi     IND 2421 = 0 1 = = 1 = = = = * = = = = = = 0 1 = = = = =  12.0  2439
12 Venkatesh, M.R               IND 2401 0 0 0 = = 0 = 0 1 1 = * = 1 = 1 0 1 = = 0 = 1 1  11.5  2426
13 Thipsay, Praveen M         g IND 2486 = 0 0 0 = 0 = = 0 = = = * 1 = = 0 1 1 = = = 1 1  11.0  2408
14 Roktim, Bandyopadhyay      m IND 2352 0 = 0 = 0 = = 1 = = = 0 0 * = = = 0 = = 1 1 = 1  10.5  2399
15 Prathamesh, Sunil Mokal    m IND 2379 = 0 0 = 0 = = 0 = 0 = = = = * = = 1 = = 1 = = 1  10.5  2398
16 Satyapragyan, Swayangsu    m IND 2415 = = = 0 = = = = 0 0 = 0 = = = * = = = = 1 0 1 0   9.5  2360
17 Sareen, Vishal               IND 2367 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 = = 1 1 = = = * 0 1 = 0 = = =   9.0  2348
18 Singh, S. Vikramjit          IND 2342 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 0 1 0 = 1 * 0 = = 1 = 1   9.0  2349
19 Das, Arghyadip               IND 2299 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 = = = 0 = 0 = = = 0 1 * = = 1 = =   8.5  2336
20 Suvrajit, Saha               IND 2387 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = = = = = = = = * 1 = = 1   8.5  2332
21 Ravi, Thandalam Shanmugam  m IND 2380 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = = 0 = 1 = 0 0 0 1 = = 0 * 1 = =   8.0  2317
22 Sriram, Jha                m IND 2458 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = = 0 = = = 0 = 1 = 0 0 = 0 * 1 1   8.0  2314
23 Hariharan, Venkatachalam     IND 2245 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 0 = = 0 = = = = = 0 * 0   4.5  2193
24 Srinivasa Rao, M             IND 2329 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 = 0 = 0 1 *   4.5  2189
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) XVI Carlos Torre Memorial

The XVI Carlos Torre Memorial takes place in Merida in the Yucatan region of Mexico 12th-20th December 2003. A 6 Round Swiss was followed by a knockout (although the Swiss did continue to round 9 and was indeed rejoined by Vadim Milov). The top 12 after 6 rounds of the Swiss qualified and were joined by Alexei Dreev, Boris Gelfand, Valery Filippov and Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu. Surprisingly Yuniesky Quezada (who beat both Gelfand and Filippov) won the event. Games from rounds 8 and 9 of the continued Swiss are missing. My thanks to David Llada for his help.

Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx (additional info: http://fenamac.com)

XVI Carlos Torre Memorial Knockout

Final
-----

Filippov,Va 0.5
Quezada,Y 1.5

Semifinal
---------

Filippov,Va 1.5
Zapata,A 0.5

Gelfand,B 0.5
Quezada,Y 1.5

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

Simutowe,A 0.5
Filippov,Va 1.5

Zapata,A 1.5
Espinosa,Ra MEX 0.5

Aldama,D 0.0
Gelfand,B 2.0

Quezada,Y 3.0
Nisipeanu,LD 2.0

Round 1
-------

Simutowe,A 2.0
Milov,V 0.0

Perez,Lu 0.0
Filippov,Va 2.0

Gonzalez Zamora,J 2.5
Zapata,A 3.5

Espinosa,Ra MEX 1.5
Dreev,A 0.5

Ramirez,Al 0.5
Aldama,D 1.5

Hernandez,Gi 0.5
Gelfand,B 1.5

Luther,T 2.0
Quezada,Y 3.0

Hernandez,Rom 1.0
Nisipeanu,LD 4.0

Round 6 Standings Swiss (top 12 qualified for KO)
 1 Milov Vadim                SUI GM 2574 5.5 
 2 Luther Thomas              GER GM 2580 4.5 
 3 Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlo MEX FM 2510 4.5 
 4 Ramirez Alvarez Alejandro  CRC IM 2483 4.5 
 5 Quesada Perez Yuniesky     CUB IM 2475 4.5 
 6 Zapata Alonso              COL GM 2472 4.5 
 7 Aldama Degournay Dionisio  CUB IM 2447 4.5 
 8 Simutowe Amon              ZAM IM 2424 4.5 
 9 Hernandez Guerrero Gilbert MEX GM 2538 4 
10 Gonzalez Garcia Jose       MEX IM 2449 4 
11 Perez Rodriguez Luis Manue CUB IM 2427 4 
12 Hernandez Roman            CUB GM 2415 4 
13 Espinosa Rafael            MEX IM 2415 4 
14 Martin Del Campo Roberto   MEX IM 2407 4 
15 Garmendez Gonzalez Florent MEX IM 2391 4 
16 Russek Libni Guil          MEX IM 2365 4 
17 Garcia Silvino             CUB GM 2350 4 
18 Hernandez Andres Gustavo   MEX    2311 4 
19 Dominguez Aguilar Guillerm MEX FM 2289 4 

Final Round 9 Standings:
 1 Milov Vadim                   SUI GM 2574 7.5   
 2 Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlo    MEX FM 2473 7   
 3 Russek Libni Guil             MEX IM 2365 6 48.5 
 4 Hernandez Guerrero Gilberto   MEX GM 2538 6 48 
 5 Perez Rodriguez Luis Manuel   CUB IM 2408 6 47.5 
 6 Hernandez Carmenate Holden    CUB FM 2403 6 45 
 7 Norgaard Jesper               DEN FM 2406 6 43 
 8 Escobedo Tinajero Alberto     MEX IM 2366 6 42 
 9 Hernandez Roman               CUB GM 2420 5.5 51.5 
10 Gonzalez Garcia Jose          MEX IM 2449 5.5 46.5 
11 Martin Del Campo Roberto      MEX IM 2407 5.5 44.5 
12 Berry Jonathan                CAN FM 2269 5.5 44.5 
13 Garmendez Gonzalez Florentino MEX IM 2391 5.5 43 
14 Watanabe Akira                JPN FM 2358 5.5 41 
15 Estrada Nieto Julian          MEX IM 2290 5.5 40.5 
16 Dominguez Aguilar Guillermo   MEX FM 2289 5 45.5 
17 Garcia Martinez Silvino       CUB GM 2380 5 45 
18 Predescu Sebastian            CAN FM 2196 5 44.5 
19 Hernandez Andres Gustavo      MEX    2311 5 43.5 
20 Ibarra Chami Luis             MEX    2091 5 43 
21 Alonso Baez Luis              MEX    1962 5 43 
22 Navarro Segura Roberto        MEX IM 2258 5 40.5 
23 Leon Hoyos Manuel             MEX FM 2303 5 39 

6) Bundesliga Rounds 5-6

SC Porz still lead the league ahead of second placed SC Baden-Oos. SC Baden-Oos dropped their first points when were held by Werder Bremen in Round 5. Stars Viswanathan Anand and Alexei Shirov won but wins for Bremen on lower boards by lars Schandorff and Sven Joachim levelled the match.

Information: http://www.schachbundesliga.com and http://www.schachbund.de

Round 5 13th December 2003

Venue: Plauen

SK König Plauen              ½ : 7½ SG Köln Porz
GM Stefan Kindermann         ½ : ½  GM Christopher Lutz
GM Lutz Espig                0 : 1  GM Loek Van Wely
IM Viteslav Priehoda         0 : 1  GM Ulf Andersson
FM Gunter Sandner            0 : 1  GM Alexander G Beliavsky
FM Michael Kuraszkiewicz     0 : 1  GM Alexander Graf
FM Ulrich Dirr               0 : 1  GM Mikhail Gurevich
FM Roland Pfretzschner       0 : 1  GM Curt Hansen
Thomas Espig                 0 : 1  GM Edwin Kengis

TV Tegernsee                4½ : 3½ SF Katernberg
GM Igor Khenkin              0 : 1  GM Andrei Volokitin
GM Andrei Sokolov            0 : 1  GM Vladimir Chuchelov
GM Zoltan Ribli              ½ : ½  GM Igor V Glek
GM Klaus Bischoff            1 : 0  GM Alfonso Romero Holmes
GM Uwe Boensch               1 : 0  IM Javier Moreno Carnero
GM Valery Beim               ½ : ½  IM Martin Senff
GM Gerald Hertneck           ½ : ½  IM Matthias Thesing
GM Henrik Teske              1 : 0  IM Georgios Souleidis

Venue: Solingen

SG Solingen                  7 : 1  SCA St. Ingbert
GM Predrag Nikolic           1 : 0  GM Christian Bauer
GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov       1 : 0  GM Cyril Marcelin
GM Artur Jussupow            1 : 0  GM Vladimir Lazarev
GM Christian Gabriel         1 : 0  IM Emmanuel Bricard
GM Matthew Sadler            1 : 0  Chi Minh Nguyen
IM Alexander Naumann         1 : 0  FM Xavier Parmentier
IM Jan Werle                 0 : 1  IM Dieter Pirrot
IM Michael Hoffmann          1 : 0  Dennis Drollinger

SV Wattenscheid              6 : 2  SV Hofheim
GM Levon Aronian             1 : 0  GM Joerg Hickl
GM Peter-Heine Nielsen       ½ : ½  IM Sergei Krivoshey
GM Leif Erlend Johannessen   ½ : ½  IM Gennadi Ginsburg
IM Ralf Appel                1 : 0  WGM Jovanka Houska
GM Florian Handke            1 : 0  FM Stephan Buchal
IM Dr. Frank Holzke          1 : 0  FM Patrick Burkart
IM Dr. Volkmar Dinstuhl      1 : 0  FM Oliver Brendel
FM Timo Straeter             0 : 1  FM Georg Haubt

Venue: Bremen

SV Werder Bremen             4 : 4  SC Baden-Oos
GM Luke James McShane        0 : 1  GM Viswanathan Anand
GM Zbynek Hracek             0 : 1  GM Alexei Shirov
GM Zahar Efimenko            ½ : ½  GM Francisco Vallejo Pons
GM Yannick Pelletier         ½ : ½  GM Rustem Dautov
GM Lars Schandorff           1 : 0  GM Dr. Robert Huebner
GM Joseph G. Gallagher       ½ : ½  GM Michal Krasenkow
Sven Joachim                 1 : 0  GM Roland Schmaltz
IM Gerlef Meins              ½ : ½  Rainer Buhmann

Bremer SG                    6 : 2  Stuttgarter SF
GM Konstantin Landa          1 : 0  GM Eckhard Schmittdiel
GM Johann Hjartarson         ½ : ½  IM Igor Berezovsky
GM Evgenij Agrest            ½ : ½  IM Hedinn Steingrimsson
GM Hannes Stefansson         1 : 0  FM Severin Papa
GM Alexander Baburin         ½ : ½  FM Andreas Reuss
IM Gannadij Fish             1 : 0  FM Gerhard Lorscheid
IM Ewgeni Gisbrecht          ½ : ½  FM Aleksandar Vuckovic
IM Otto Borik                1 : 0  Josef Gabriel

Venue: Koelln

SC Kreuzberg                 3 : 5  Hamburger SK
GM Zoltan Almasi             ½ : ½  GM Lubomir Ftacnik
GM Jens-Uwe Maiwald          0 : 1  GM Jan Gustafsson
GM Bartosz Socko             ½ : ½  GM Robert Kempinski
GM Raj Tischbierek           0 : 1  GM Sune Berg Hansen
GM Ralf Lau                  ½ : ½  GM Matthias Wahls
GM Sergey Kalinitschew       ½ : ½  GM Michael Bezold
IM Karsten Volke             1 : 0    IM Oliver Reeh
IM Drazen Muse               0 : 1  IM Thies Heinemann

Round 6 14th December 2003

Venue: Plauen

SG Porz                      5 : 3 TV Tegernsee
GM Christopher Lutz          ½ : ½ GM Igor Khenkin
GM Loek Van Wely             ½ : ½ GM Andrei Sokolov
GM Ulf Andersson             ½ : ½ GM Zoltan Ribli
GM Alexander G Beliavsky     1 : 0 GM Klaus Bischoff
GM Alexander Graf            ½ : ½ GM Uwe Boensch
GM Mikhail Gurevich          1 : 0 GM Valery Beim
GM Curt Hansen               ½ : ½ GM Gerald Hertneck
GM Edwin Kengis              ½ : ½ GM Henrik Teske

SF Katernberg                3 : 5 SK König Plauen
GM Andrei Volokitin          ½ : ½ GM Stefan Kindermann
GM Vladimir Chuchelov        ½ : ½ GM Lutz Espig
GM Igor V Glek               ½ : ½ IM Viteslav Priehoda
GM Alfonso Romero Holmes     0 : 1 FM Gunter Sandner
IM Javier Moreno Carnero     ½ : ½ FM Michael Kuraszkiewicz
IM Martin Senff              1 : 0 FM Ulrich Dirr
IM Matthias Thesing          0 : 1 FM Roland Pfretzschner
IM Georgios Souleidis        0 : 1 Thomas Espig

Venue: Solingen

SCA St. Ingbert             3½ : 4½ SV Wattenscheid
GM Christian Bauer           ½ : ½ GM Levon Aronian
GM Cyril Marcelin            ½ : ½ GM Peter-Heine Nielsen
GM Vladimir Lazarev          ½ : ½ GM Leif Erlend Johannessen
IM Emmanuel Bricard          1 : 0 IM Ralf Appel
Chi Minh Nguyen              ½ : ½ GM Florian Handke
FM Xavier Parmentier         0 : 1 IM Dr. Frank Holzke
IM Dieter Pirrot             ½ : ½ IM Dr. Volkmar Dinstuhl
Dennis Drollinger            0 : 1 FM Timo Straeter

SV Hofheim                   2 : 6 SG Solingen
GM Joerg Hickl               0 : 1  GM Predrag Nikolic
IM Sergei Krivoshey          0 : 1 GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
IM Gennadi Ginsburg          ½ : ½ GM Artur Jussupow
WGM Jovanka Houska           ½ : ½ GM Christian Gabriel
FM Stephan Buchal            0 : 1 GM Matthew Sadler
FM Patrick Burkart           ½ : ½ IM Alexander Naumann
FM Oliver Brendel            0 : 1 IM Jan Werle
FM Dr. Reinhard Zunker       ½ : ½ IM Michael Hoffmann

Venue: Bremen

SC Baden-Oos                 6 : 2 Bremer SG
GM Viswanathan Anand         ½ : ½ GM Konstantin Sakaev
GM Alexei Shirov             1 : 0 GM Etienne Bacrot
GM Francisco Vallejo Pons    ½ : ½ GM Konstantin Landa
GM Rustem Dautov             ½ : ½ GM Johann Hjartarson
GM Dr. Robert Huebner        ½ : ½ GM Evgenij Agrest
GM Michal Krasenkow          1 : 0 GM Hannes Stefansson
GM Roland Schmaltz           1 : 0 GM Alexander Baburin
Rainer Buhmann               1 : 0 IM Ewgeni Gisbrecht

Stuttgarter SF              2½ : 5½ SV Werder Bremen
GM Eckhard Schmittdiel       0 : 1 GM Luke James McShane
IM Igor Berezovsky           1 : 0 GM Zbynek Hracek
IM Hedinn Steingrimsson      0 : 1 GM Zahar Efimenko
FM Severin Papa              0 : 1 GM Yannick Pelletier
FM Andreas Reuss             1 : 0 GM Lars Schandorff
FM Gerhard Lorscheid         ½ : ½ GM Joseph G. Gallagher
FM Aleksandar Vuckovic       0 : 1 WGM Almira Skripchenko-Lautier
Josef Gabriel                0 : 1 Sven Joachim

Venue: Koelln

Hamburger SK                 4 : 4 SF Neukölln
GM Lubomir Ftacnik           ½ : ½ GM Sergei Movsesian
GM Jan Gustafsson            ½ : ½ GM Dorian Rogozenko
GM Robert Kempinski          ½ : ½ IM Stephan Berndt
GM Sune Berg Hansen          ½ : ½ IM Rainer Polzin
GM Matthias Wahls            0 : 1 IM Dr. Martin Borriss
GM Michael Bezold            1 : 0 IM Dirk Poldauf
IM Oliver Reeh               ½ : ½ IM Lars Thiede
IM Thies Heinemann           ½ : ½ FM Henrik Rudolf

Round 7 12th December 2003

Venue: Solingen

SG Solingen                   5 : 3 SV Wattenscheid
GM  Predrag Nikolic           ½ : ½ GM  Levon Aronian
GM  Rustam Kasimdzhanov       ½ : ½ GM  Peter-Heine Nielsen
GM  Artur Jussupow            ½ : ½ GM Leif Erlend Johannessen
GM  Christian Gabriel         1 : 0 IM  Ralf Appel
GM  Matthew Sadler            1 : 0 GM  Florian Handke
IM  Alexander Naumann         ½ : ½ IM  Dr. Frank Holzke
IM  Jan Werle                 ½ : ½ IM  Dr. Volkmar Dinstuhl
IM  Michael Hoffmann          ½ : ½ FM  Timo Straeter

Venue: Bremen

Werder Bremen                 2 : 6 Bremer SG
GM Luke James McShane         0 : 1 GM Konstantin Sakaev
GM Zbynek Hracek              0 : 1 GM Etienne Bacrot
GM Zahar Efimenko             ½ : ½ GM Konstantin Landa
GM Yannick Pelletier          ½ : ½ GM Johann Hjartarson
GM Lars Schandorff            0 : 1 GM Evgenij Agrest
GM Joseph G. Gallagher        ½ : ½ GM Hannes Stefansson
WGM Almira Skripchenko        0 : 1 GM Alexander Baburin
Sven Joachim                  ½ : ½ IM Ewgeni Gisbrecht

Venue: Koelln
       
SF Neukölln                 4,5 : 3,5 SC Kreuzberg
GM Sergei Movsesian           ½ : ½   GM Zoltan Almasi
GM Dorian Rogozenko           1 : 0   GM Jens-Uwe Maiwald
IM Stephan Berndt             ½ : ½   GM Bartosz Socko
IM Rainer Polzin              ½ : ½   GM  Raj Tischbierek
IM Dr. Martin Borriss         0 : 1   GM  Ralf Lau
IM Dirk Poldauf               1 : 0   GM  Sergey Kalinitschew
IM Lars Thiede                ½ : ½   IM  Karsten Volke
FM Henrik Rudolf              ½ : ½   IM  Drazen Muse

Table
 1. SG Porz              7   39,5   13:1
 2. SC Baden-Oos         6   33,5   11:1
 3. Bremer SG            7   32,5   10:4
 3. SV Werder Bremen     7   32,5   10:4
 5. Hamburger SK         6   34,0    9:3
 6. SG Solingen          7   30,0    8:6
 7. SV Wattenscheid      7   27,5    6:8
 8. SF Neukölln          6   23,0    6:6
 9. TV Tegernsee         5   21,5    6:4
10. SF Katernberg        7   24,0    4:10
11. SC Kreuzberg         6   22,0    4:8
12. SK König Plauen      5   13,0    4:6
13. SCA St. Ingbert      6   15,5    2:10
14. SV Hofheim           6   14,5    1:11
15. Stuttgarter SF       6   13,0    0:12

7) 3rd Annual Little Sweden Festival

The 3rd Annual Little Sweden Festival December has events 13th-14th and 19th-23rd 2003 in Lindsborg, Kansas USA. December 13th-14th all play all - 25 mins + 10 seconds. My thanks to Frank Berry for the games.

Further details: http://www.lindsborg.org/chess_tournament.html

Round 1 (December 13, 2003)

Shulman, Yuri            -  Karpov, Anatoly          0-1   61  B12  Caro Kann Advanced
Morovic Fernandez, Ivan  -  Onischuk, Alexander      1/2   58  C78  Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Charbonneau, Pascal      -  Donaldson, John W        0-1   52  B35  Sicilian Defence

Round 2 (December 13, 2003)

Karpov, Anatoly          -  Charbonneau, Pascal      1-0   61  D10  Slav Defence
Onischuk, Alexander      -  Donaldson, John W        1/2   78  D94  Gruenfeld Closed
Morovic Fernandez, Ivan  -  Shulman, Yuri            1/2   21  B85  Sicilian Scheveningen

Round 3 (December 14, 2003)

Donaldson, John W        -  Karpov, Anatoly          1/2   17  E42  Nimzo Indian Rubinstein
Shulman, Yuri            -  Onischuk, Alexander      1/2   51  C36  Kings Gambit Modern Variation
Charbonneau, Pascal      -  Morovic Fernandez, Ivan  1-0   33  B10  Caro Kann

Round 4 (December 14, 2003)

Onischuk, Alexander      -  Karpov, Anatoly          1/2   24  D20  QGA
Shulman, Yuri            -  Charbonneau, Pascal      1/2   34  D15  Slav Defence
Morovic Fernandez, Ivan  -  Donaldson, John W        1/2   34  D94  Gruenfeld Closed

Round 5 (December 14, 2003)

Karpov, Anatoly          -  Morovic Fernandez, Ivan  1/2   35  D85  Gruenfeld Defence
Donaldson, John W        -  Shulman, Yuri            0-1   30  A33  English Symmetrical
Charbonneau, Pascal      -  Onischuk, Alexander      0-1   61  C28  Vienna Game


Lindsborg Inv Rapid Kansas USA (USA), 13-14 xii 2003cat. XIII (2574)
------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 
------------------------------------------------------------
1 Karpov, Anatoly          g RUS 2693 * = = 1 = 1  3.5  2698
2 Onischuk, Alexander      g USA 2661 = * = = = 1  3.0  2628
3 Donaldson, John W        m USA 2456 = = * 0 = 1  2.5  2597
4 Shulman, Yuri            g USA 2564 0 = 1 * = =  2.5  2575
5 Morovic Fernandez, Ivan  g CHI 2583 = = = = * 0  2.0  2499
6 Charbonneau, Pascal      m CAN 2485 0 0 0 = 1 *  1.5  2442
------------------------------------------------------------

8) 6th Tanta Open

Hassan Khaled sends news of the 6th Tanta Open which took place place 7th–17th December 2003 in Tanta City about 90 Km. from Cairo, Egypt. The main event was a closed Swiss System section with 28 players. The winner was GM Evgenij Miroshnichinko from the Ukraine. Another Open Section had 96 Players, 36 of them were FIDE rated, the winner was 30th seed Malak Ragheb rated only 2089, there were participants from 8 countries.

Saturday 20th sees the start of the Arab Individual Championships in Cairo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6th Open Tanta City EGY (EGY), 7-16 xii 2003
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij  g  UKR 2571  =14 +22 = 3 +27 + 7 = 2 +16 + 4 +12  7.5  2669 
 2. Vysochin, Spartak        g  UKR 2584  + 8 +12 = 6 + 7 + 4 = 1 = 3 +13 = 5  7.0  2642 
 3. Ezat, Mohamed            m  EGY 2405  +10 +27 = 1 + 6 =16 = 4 = 2 + 9 +11  7.0  2618 
 4. Abdelnabbi, Imed         m  EGY 2484  +21 +16 = 7 + 5 - 2 = 3 + 8 - 1 +10  6.0  2535 
 5. Nanu, Ciprian            m  ROM 2463  -22 +15 + 8 - 4 =14 +20 = 9 + 6 = 2  5.5  2449 
 6. Adly, Ahmed              m  EGY 2448  +28 +18 = 2 - 3 = 9 =13 + 7 - 5 +14  5.5  2462 
 7. Manolache, Marius        m  ROM 2457  +13 +25 = 4 - 2 - 1 +14 - 6 +17 +16  5.5  2461 
 8. Doghri, Nabil            f  TUN 2313  - 2 +21 - 5 +17 +20 +12 - 4 -10 +13  5.0  2399 
 9. Yasseen, Aly             m  EGY 2327  =15 =20 =28 +26 = 6 =16 = 5 - 3 +21  5.0  2383 
10. Ibrahim, Hatim              EGY 2274  - 3 -17 =21 +23 =19 +27 +25 + 8 - 4  5.0  2339 
11. Hamad, Ahmad                SYR 2241  -16 -13 +23 +24 =18 +26 =17 +15 - 3  5.0  2311 
12. Abdel Razik, Khaled      f  EGY 2380  +26 - 2 =14 +28 =13 - 8 +18 +16 - 1  5.0  2406 
13. Bengafer, Moh               LBA 2280  - 7 +11 +18 =14 =12 = 6 +15 - 2 - 8  4.5  2365 
14. Frhat, Ali               f  EGY 2313  = 1 =24 =12 =13 = 5 - 7 +26 +18 - 6  4.5  2385 
15. Georg, Magdy             f  EGY 2222  = 9 - 5 =19 +25 +27 =18 -13 -11 +17  4.5  2289 
16. Ismail, Hamed               EGY 2335  +11 - 4 +22 +20 = 3 = 9 - 1 -12 - 7  4.0  2346 
17. Jday, Wassim                TUN 2101  -25 +10 -27 - 8 +23 +19 =11 - 7 -15  3.5  2206 
18. Naby, Saiid A               EGY 2331  +19 - 6 -13 +22 =11 =15 -12 -14 =20  3.5  2225 
19. Hamam, Reda                 EGY 2224  -18 =26 =15 =21 =10 -17 =27 =20 =23  3.5  2183 
20. Hassan, Sayed Barakat    m  EGY 2348  =24 = 9 +25 -16 - 8 - 5 =21 =19 =18  3.5  2239 
21. Karlovich, Anastazia     wg UKR 2296  - 4 - 8 =10 =19 +24 -25 =20 +27 - 9  3.5  2240 
22. Sameeh, Hany             f  EGY 2289  + 5 - 1 -16 -18 -25 +28 -23 =24 +27  3.5  2263 
23. Abdel Fadil, Mohamed        EGY 2204  -27 -28 -11 -10 -17 +24 +22 +26 =19  3.5  2172 
24. Yousry, Salah               EGY 2268  =20 =14 -26 -11 -21 -23 +28 =22 +29  3.5  2168 
25. Elgabry, Mohsen          m  EGY 2317  +17 - 7 -20 -15 +22 +21 -10  .   .   3.0  2233 
26. Eldesoky, Hatem             EGY 2269  -12 =19 +24 - 9 +28 -11 -14 -23  .   2.5  2138 
27. Sarwat, Walaa            m  EGY 2325  +23 - 3 +17 - 1 -15 -10 =19 -21 -22  2.5  2121 
28. Hassan, Tarek Ahmed         EGY 2278  - 6 +23 = 9 -12 -26 -22 -24  .   .   1.5  2082 
29. BYE                             ----   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  -24  0.0       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Salona GM

The Salona GM 2003 tournament took place in Solin (12th-16th December 2003.)/Split (17th-21st December 2003), Croatia. Andrey Shariyazdanov won the event with 6.5/9. My thanks to Mirjana Medic.

Internet coverage: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/solin/index.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salona GM Solin-Split CRO (CRO), 12-18 xii 2003            cat. IX (2471)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Shariyazdanov, Andrey     g RUS 2580  * = 1 = = = = 1 1 1  6.5  2624 
 2. Cvorovic, Drazen          m CRO 2424  = * 0 1 = = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2601 
 3. Kovacevic, Vlatko         g CRO 2503  0 1 * = = = = = 1 1  5.5  2547 
 4. Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina  wg RUS 2447  = 0 = * 1 = = = = 1  5.0  2516 
 5. Dizdarevic, Emir          g BIH 2507  = = = 0 * = = = 1 1  5.0  2509 
 6. Kurajica, Bojan           g BIH 2557  = = = = = * = = = =  4.5  2461 
 7. Brkic, Ante               m CRO 2428  = 0 = = = = * = = 1  4.5  2475 
 8. Cvitan, Ognjen            g CRO 2516  0 = = = = = = * = =  4.0  2422 
 9. Saric, Ante               m CRO 2382  0 0 0 = 0 = = = * =  2.5  2314 
10. Armanda, Ivica            m CRO 2365  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = = *  1.5  2209 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) NAO GM and IM Tournaments

The NAO Chess Club organise their 3rd GM and 4th IM Tournaments, 15th - 23rd December 2003.

Website: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd NAO GM Paris FRA (FRA), 15-23 xii 2003                 cat. VIII (2446)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Shchekachev, Andrei       g RUS 2522  * 0 = 1 . = . 1 . 1 1  5.0  2611 
 2. Pira, Davoud              m FRA 2403  1 * . 0 0 1 = 1 . = .  4.0  2506 
 3. Maze, Sebastien             FRA 2464  = . * = 1 0 . = 1 = .  4.0  2495 
 4. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime     FRA 2412  0 1 = * 0 . 1 . = = .  3.5  2448 
 5. Vandevoort, Pascal        f BEL 2363  . 1 0 1 * . 0 = = = .  3.5  2442 
 6. Murey, Jacob              g ISR 2465  = 0 1 . . * = 0 . 1 =  3.5  2468 
 7. Marzolo, Cyril            m FRA 2462  . = . 0 1 = * = 0 1 .  3.5  2428 
 8. Gozzoli, Yannick            FRA 2430  0 0 = . = 1 = * . . =  3.0  2398 
 9. Santo-Roman, Marc         g FRA 2385  . . 0 = = . 1 . * . .  2.0  2425 
10. Bagheri, Amir             m IRI 2541  0 = = = = 0 0 . . * .  2.0  2283 
11. Skripchenko, Almira      wg FRA 2460  0 . . . . = . = . . *  1.0  2347 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------
4th NAO IM Paris FRA (FRA), 15-23 xii 2003           cat. IV (2348)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Chabanon, Jean-Luc   g FRA 2438  * . . 1 1 = = = 1 1  5.5  2556 
 2. Lukov, Valentin      g BUL 2429  . * = 0 = 1 . 1 1 =  4.5  2421 
 3. Onkoud, Abdelaziz      MAR 2323  . = * 0 = . = 1 1 1  4.5  2441 
 4. Shirazi, Kamran      m USA 2428  0 1 1 * = . = 0 1 .  4.0  2394 
 5. Goldsztejn, Gildas     FRA 2245  0 = = = * = . 1 . =  3.5  2357 
 6. Glicenstein, Asher     FRA 2339  = 0 . . = * 1 1 0 =  3.5  2340 
 7. Nguyen Chi Minh        FRA 2375  = . = = . 0 * 0 1 1  3.5  2346 
 8. Dubois, Loic           FRA 2252  = 0 0 1 0 0 1 * . .  2.5  2266 
 9. Colin, Vincent         FRA 2351  0 0 0 0 . 1 0 . * 1  2.0  2217 
10. Marechal, Andy       f BEL 2295  0 = 0 . = = 0 . 0 *  1.5  2127 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

11) 1st Bois-Colombes GM

1st Bois-Colombes (Paris, France) GM tournament takes place 21st-30th December 2003.

Internet coverage: http://www.bois-colombes-echecs.com/

BC Masters Bois Colombes FRA (FRA), 21-30 xii 2003cat. VII (2412)
----------------------------------------------------------------
                                  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
----------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Apicella, Manuel    g FRA 2542 * . . . . . . . 1 .  1.0      
 2 Janev, Evgeni       g BUL 2423 . * . . . . . 1 . .  1.0      
 3 Rainfray, Arnaud    f FRA 2409 . . * . . . . . . 1  1.0      
 4 Afek, Yochanan      m ISR 2376 . . . * . = . . . .  0.5  2454
 5 Bernard, Vincent      FRA 2278 . . . . * . = . . .  0.5  2472
 6 Okhotnik, Vladimir  m UKR 2454 . . . = . * . . . .  0.5  2376
 7 Todorov, Todor      m BUL 2472 . . . . = . * . . .  0.5  2278
 8 Marcelin, Cyril     g FRA 2473 . 0 . . . . . * . .  0.0      
 9 Wirig, Anthony        FRA 2424 0 . . . . . . . * .  0.0      
10 Shoker, Samy          FRA 2273 . . 0 . . . . . . *  0.0      
----------------------------------------------------------------

12) Zadar Christmas Open

The 10th Christmas Open, Zadar (Croatia) took place 15th-21st December 2003. Zdenko Kozul won the event with 7.5/9. News from Mirjana Medic.

Internet coverage: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/zadar/index.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------
Christmas Open Zadar CRO (CRO), 15-21 xii 2003
-----------------------------------------------------------
 1. Kozul, Zdenko         g  CRO 2597  7.5  38.5 49.0 36.5
 2. Kovacevic, Blazimir   m  CRO 2424  6.5  43.0 53.5 35.0
 3. Stevic, Hrvoje        g  CRO 2555  6.5  40.5 51.5 35.5
 4. Sedlak, Nikola        m  SCG 2543  6.5  39.0 49.5 32.0
 5. Markus, Robert        m  SCG 2522  6.5  38.5 49.0 33.0
 6. Makarov, Marat        g  RUS 2517  6.5  38.0 49.0 32.5
 7. Gagarin, Vasilij      m  RUS 2439  6.5  37.0 48.0 34.0
 8. Saric, Ibro           f  BIH 2415  6    40.0 48.5 34.0
 9. Blagojevic, Dragisa   m  SCG 2521  6    39.0 49.5 34.0
10. Delchev, Aleksander   g  BUL 2603  6    38.0 49.0 34.0
11. Ljubicic, Filip       m  CRO 2398  6    37.5 48.0 30.5
12. Filipovic, Branko     m  CRO 2420  6    36.5 47.0 31.5
13. Jankovic, Alojzije    f  CRO 2383  6    36.0 47.5 28.0
14. Palac, Mladen         g  CRO 2534  5.5  39.5 51.0 33.5
15. Zelcic, Robert        g  CRO 2552  5.5  39.0 51.0 32.0
16. Geller, Jakov         m  RUS 2486  5.5  39.0 49.0 33.0
17. Navinsek, Tomaz          SLO 2309  5.5  37.5 47.0 27.5
18. Feletar, Darko        m  CRO 2406  5.5  36.0 47.5 29.5
19. Jovanovic, Zoran CRO  m  CRO 2448  5.5  35.5 45.5 30.0
20. Kuljasevic, Davorin   m  CRO 2429  5.5  35.0 46.0 28.0
21. Tratar, Marko         m  SLO 2452  5.5  35.0 45.0 27.0
22. Kutuzovic, Branko     m  CRO 2388  5.5  35.0 44.0 29.5
23. Kosanski, Stanko      m  CRO 2373  5.5  34.5 44.0 27.5
24. Rezan, Sasa           f  CRO 2381  5.5  34.0 44.5 27.5
25. Mestrovic, Zvonimir   m  SLO 2397  5.5  33.5 43.5 26.5
26. Jurkovic, Hrvoje      m  CRO 2422  5.5  31.5 41.5 24.0
27. Mandekic, Ivan           CRO 2258  5.5  30.0 39.0 24.0
28. Brumen, Dinko         m  CRO 2405  5.5  28.0 36.0 24.5
90 players

13) First Saturday December

The First Saturday December took place 6th-18th December 2003. My thanks to Laszlo Nagy and Miklos Orso. GMs Levente Vajda and Kamil Miton won the GM event with 9.5/13, no GM norms. IM Vladimir Sergeev won the IM event. Christian Seel GER made an IM norm 8.5/11games Juergen Brustkern GER also made an IM norm but only from 7.5/10 games. My thanks to Laszlo Nagy and Miklos Orso.

Internet coverage: http://www.firstsaturday.hu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSGM December Budapest HUN (HUN), 6-18 xii 2003           cat. VIII (2436)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Vajda, Levente     g ROM 2537  * = 1 = = 1 0 1 = 1 1 1 = 1  9.5  2603 
 2. Miton, Kamil       g POL 2530  = * = = = 1 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 1  9.5  2603 
 3. Antal, Gergely     m HUN 2473  0 = * = 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 = 1 1  8.5  2542 
 4. Grigore, George    g ROM 2485  = = = * = = 1 1 0 1 = 0 1 1  8.0  2519 
 5. Carlsen, Magnus    m NOR 2450  = = 1 = * 0 1 0 = = = 1 1 1  8.0  2521 
 6. Horvath, Peter1    m HUN 2457  0 0 0 = 1 * 1 = 1 = = 1 = =  7.0  2463 
 7. Drabke, Lorenz     m GER 2449  1 0 1 0 0 0 * = = 1 = 0 1 1  6.5  2434 
 8. Kayumov, Sergey    m UZB 2434  0 = 0 0 1 = = * = = = 1 1 =  6.5  2435 
 9. Vajda, Albert      m ROM 2477  = 0 0 1 = 0 = = * = 1 0 = 1  6.0  2403 
10. Porat, Shi         f ISR 2360  0 = 0 0 = = 0 = = * 1 1 1 =  6.0  2412 
11. Howell, David WL   f ENG 2381  0 0 0 = = = = = 0 0 * 1 0 1  4.5  2330 
12. Taylor, Timothy    m USA 2385  0 = = 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 * 0 0  4.0  2298 
13. Vajda, Szidonia   wg IM  2360  = 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 1 1 * 0  3.5  2266 
14. Berczes, David     f HUN 2323  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 1 1 *  3.5  2269 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSIM December Budapest HUN (HUN), 6-18 xii 2003                  cat. I (2270)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Sergeev, Vladimir           m UKR 2447  * = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  9.5  2562 
 2. Seel, Christian             f GER 2315  = * = = 1 1 = = 1 1 1 1  8.5  2476 
 3. Brustkern, Juergen          f GER 2214  = = * = = 1 = 1 1 = 1 1  8.0  2449 
 4. Werner, Dimo                m GER 2342  0 = = * 0 0 1 1 = 1 1 1  6.5  2328 
 5. Lengyel, Bela               m HUN 2324  = 0 = 1 * = = = 0 = 1 0  5.0  2228 
 6. Boguszlavszkij, Jevgenyij   m HUN 2262  0 0 0 1 = * 0 = 1 0 1 1  5.0  2234 
 7. Porat, Ido                    ISR 2255  0 = = 0 = 1 * = 0 1 0 =  4.5  2205 
 8. Logothetis, Sotirios          GRE 2248  0 = 0 0 = = = * 1 0 = 1  4.5  2206 
 9. Fodor, Tamas jr             f HUN 2137  0 0 0 = 1 0 1 0 * 1 0 1  4.5  2216 
10. Varga, Csaba2                 HUN 2303  0 0 = 0 = 1 0 1 0 * 0 1  4.0  2164 
11. Pinkus, Lutz                  GER 2171  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 1 * =  4.0  2176 
12. Humphrey, Jonathan            AUS 2217  0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 0 = *  2.0  2012 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14) 87th Marshall Chess Club Championships

Jaan Ehlvest won the 87th Marshall Chess Club Championships with 6.5/9. The event took place 7th-15th December 2003. News John Fernandez.

Links: http://www.marshallchessclub.org

Final Round 9 Standings
---------------------------------------------------
87th Marshall CCC New York USA (USA), 7-14 xii 2003
---------------------------------------------------
 1. Ehlvest, Jaan          g  EST 2602 6½
 2. Shabalov, Alexander    g  USA 2597 6 
 3. Fedorowicz, John P     g  USA 2519 6 
 4. Yudasin, Leonid        g  ISR 2569 5½
 5. Figler, Ilye           f  USA 2328 5½
 6. Shapiro, Daniel E      f  USA 2264 5½
 7. Privman, Boris         f  USA 2240 5½
 8. Becerra Rivero, Julio  g  USA 2558 5 
 9. Stripunsky, Alexander  g  USA 2530 5 
10. Bonin, Jay R           m  USA 2339 4½
11. Sena, Juan                DOM 2163 4½
12. Agaian, Sarkis            USA 2162 4½
13. Simon,Jerry                   ---- 4 
14. Hess, Robert L            USA 2132 4 
15. Kopiecki,Edward               ---- 4 
16. Treger, Effim             USA 2246 3½
17. Salman, Joel           f  USA 2234 3½
18. Thaler, Michael           USA 2093 3½
19. Hellenschmid,Andrew           ---- 3½
20. West, James R             USA 2230 2½
21. Paciulli,Frank                ---- 2 
22. Teasley, Dolly O       wm USA 2142 0 
23. Zukoff,Leon                   ---- 0 
---------------------------------------------------

15) Mystery consultation match 2

The NAO Consultation rematch started Monday 24 November 2004. Game one of the series sponsored by SMS text messaging was a draw. White is a team captained by the club sponsor Mme Nahed Ojjeh (average ELO of the players 2681) - the same as in game one. Igor Nataf's team has one change and their rating rises to an average of ELO 2625

Team N. OJJEH vs Team I. NATAF

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.d3 Bf5 14.Qf3 Re8 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16.Nd2 Qe1+ 17.Nf1 Bg6 18.g3 b4 19.bxd5 cxd5 20.Qxd5 Rd8 21.Bg5 Qxa1 22.Bxd8 Bf8 23.Ba5 Qb1 24.Kg2 Bxd3 25.Nbd2 Qc2 26.Qa8 Qxd2 27.Bxb4 h5 28.Qxf8 Kh7 (last update here 22nd December 2003) continues:

Internet coverage: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html

16) Ilijas Subasic Memorial

The Ilijas Subasic Memorial International Tournament took place in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina 6th-12th December 2003.

Internet coverage: http://www.sah.co.ba/html/linkovi/zenica03/INDEX2.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Subasic Mem Zenica BIH (BIH), 6-12 xii 2003       cat. VI (2379)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Dizdarevic, Emir      g BIH 2507  * 1 = = 1 1 = = 1 1  7.0  2585 
 2. Boskovic, Drasko      f SCG 2402  0 * = 1 = 1 = 1 = =  5.5  2456 
 3. Saric, Ibro           f BIH 2415  = = * 0 1 = 1 = 1 =  5.5  2455 
 4. Trkulja, Goran        f BIH 2293  = 0 1 * 1 0 1 0 1 1  5.5  2469 
 5. Zivanic, Marko        m SCG 2436  0 = 0 0 * 1 = 1 1 1  5.0  2416 
 6. Dumpor, Atif          f BIH 2364  0 0 = 1 0 * 1 0 1 1  4.5  2381 
 7. Rajkovic, Dusan       g SCG 2449  = = 0 0 = 0 * 1 1 1  4.5  2371 
 8. Mestrovic, Zvonimir   m SLO 2397  = 0 = 1 0 1 0 * 0 1  4.0  2334 
 9. Bajramovic, Halid       BIH 2250  0 = 0 0 0 0 0 1 * =  2.0  2173 
10. Muratovic, Enver      f BIH 2281  0 = = 0 0 0 0 0 = *  1.5  2117 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

17) Ukrainian Chess Championship

The Ukrainian Chess Men's Championship took place in Simferopol, 3rd-12th November 2003. 108 players took part in the 9 round swiss. Including 14 GMs, 37 IMs and 1 FM. The Chief arbiter was international arbiter V. Gergel. Info: V. Retinsky. Evgenij Miroshnichenko won the event with 7.5/9.

Anna Muzychuk ran away with the women's event with 8.5/9 one and a half points clear of Lidia K Semenova. The women's event took place at the same time as the men's but in Nikolaev, Ukraine.

I've taken a small risk with the men's championships. The results of the games and the table don't match. However if there was an error confusing the games Savvopulo-Arutyunova and Smoljarov-Myshakov round 9 then the table works, and the games are next to each other in the file. So I'm making this guess and changing the names on the games as it also matches the round results as given.

Further information: http://mirror01.iptelecom.net.ua/~chessfed/index_e.html

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ch-UKR Simferopol UKR (UKR), 4-12 xi 2003
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                                               1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9 
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  1. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij  g  UKR 2571  + 70 + 46 + 28 = 14 + 35 =  4 +  5 + 13 =  6  7.5  2749 
  2. Kuzmin, Gennadi P        g  UKR 2520  =  5 + 71 + 59 + 21 =  4 = 16 +  9 = 10 = 13  6.5  2652 
  3. Rogovski, Vladimir       m  UKR 2474  + 62 = 38 + 18 = 11 + 46 =  9 =  4 + 16 =  5  6.5  2604 
  4. Karjakin, Sergey         g  UKR 2562  + 44 = 57 + 60 + 41 =  2 =  1 =  3 = 15 + 18  6.5  2613 
  5. Efimenko, Zahar          g  UKR 2547  =  2 = 50 + 89 + 45 + 19 + 20 -  1 + 12 =  3  6.5  2605 
  6. Kovchan, Alexander       g  UKR 2561  + 47 = 59 + 30 - 35 = 56 + 45 + 38 + 37 =  1  6.5  2572 
  7. Eljanov, Pavel           g  UKR 2597  + 86 = 60 = 40 + 33 - 12 + 46 + 27 = 23 + 29  6.5  2582 
  8. Vysochin, Spartak        g  UKR 2584  + 61 + 56 = 21 = 65 = 11 + 50 = 13 = 29 + 27  6.5  2580 
  9. Malaniuk, Vladimir P     g  UKR 2525  = 90 + 76 = 57 + 43 + 40 =  3 -  2 + 20 + 15  6.5  2590 
 10. Borovikov, Vladislav     g  UKR 2571  = 50 + 74 - 52 + 82 + 28 + 55 = 15 =  2 + 23  6.5  2569 
 11. Kovalev, Denis              UKR 2330  + 13 + 55 = 20 =  3 =  8 = 23 = 35 + 53 = 16  6.0  2620 
 12. Sergeev, Vladimir        m  UKR 2447  = 67 + 85 = 37 + 32 +  7 = 15 = 16 -  5 + 43  6.0  2534 
 13. Malakhatko, Vadim        g  UKR 2529  - 11 + 77 + 61 + 38 + 65 + 14 =  8 -  1 =  2  6.0  2561 
 14. Krivoshey, Sergei        m  UKR 2495  + 98 + 81 + 91 =  1 = 15 - 13 = 43 = 17 + 37  6.0  2534 
 15. Zubov, Alexander         m  UKR 2521  + 34 + 49 = 41 + 36 = 14 = 12 = 10 =  4 -  9  5.5  2534 
 16. Areshchenko, Alexander   g  UKR 2539  + 64 + 33 = 65 + 52 = 20 =  2 = 12 -  3 = 11  5.5  2512 
 17. Anapolsky, Sergey        m  UKR 2425  + 39 - 91 + 34 = 64 - 36 + 68 + 33 = 14 = 20  5.5  2431 
 18. Sharapov, Evgeny         m  UKR 2350  + 73 = 19 -  3 + 24 = 42 + 40 = 31 + 35 -  4  5.5  2490 
 19. Kuzubov, Yuriy              UKR 2441  + 72 = 18 = 22 + 37 -  5 = 32 + 50 = 43 = 21  5.5  2431 
 20. Nosenko, Alexander       m  UKR 2505  + 32 + 45 = 11 + 90 = 16 -  5 + 56 -  9 = 17  5.5  2501 
 21. Zavgorodniy, Sergiy      m  UKR 2418  + 54 + 68 =  8 -  2 - 39 + 34 = 36 + 64 = 19  5.5  2441 
 22. Bylino, Oleg                UKR 2258  + 24 = 52 = 19 = 57 - 53 + 49 - 30 + 81 + 56  5.5  2501 
 23. Kobylkin, Evgeni         f  UKR 2443  + 63 = 36 - 90 + 26 + 91 = 11 + 64 =  7 - 10  5.5  2444 
 24. Kislinsky, Alexey        m  UKR 2429  - 22 + 88 = 70 - 18 + 76 = 44 + 47 + 45 = 31  5.5  2410 
 25. Smirnov, Igor UKR        m  UKR 2446  - 68 + 54 = 44 + 76 - 64 + 90 = 28 + 39 = 30  5.5  2393 
 26. Seletsky, Grigory           UKR 2240  + 29 = 30 - 35 - 23 + 78 - 28 + 98 + 61 + 60  5.5  2475 
 27. Zubarev, Alexander1      g  UKR 2460  = 92 - 89 + 83 + 44 + 57 + 36 -  7 + 52 -  8  5.5  2470 
 28. Peskov, Alexsey             UKR 2410  + 87 + 94 -  1 = 91 - 10 + 26 = 25 = 32 + 51  5.5  2375 
 29. Arzumanian, Georgy       m  ARM 2427  - 26 +102 - 64 + 63 + 89 + 48 + 39 =  8 -  7  5.5  2421 
 30. Matjushin, Gennady       m  UKR 2416  +102 = 26 -  6 = 89 = 54 + 91 + 22 = 31 = 25  5.5  2405 
 31. Kononenko, Dmitry1          UKR 2468  = 83 + 92 - 36 + 81 + 52 = 64 = 18 = 30 = 24  5.5  2440 
 32. Zinchenko, Yaroslav         UKR 2310  - 20 +106 + 75 - 12 + 74 = 19 = 55 = 28 + 52  5.5  2473 
 33. Dovzik, Juri             m  UKR 2394  + 96 - 16 + 69 -  7 + 67 = 66 - 17 + 85 + 58  5.5  2453 
 34. Ivanov, Andrey A            UKR 2311  - 15 +104 - 17 +101 = 58 - 21 + 82 + 84 + 55  5.5  2425 
 35. Maximov, Dmitry          m  UKR 2438  = 89 + 83 + 26 +  6 -  1 = 39 = 11 - 18 = 36  5.0  2397 
 36. Jakymov, Volodymyr          UKR 2352  +100 = 23 + 31 - 15 + 17 - 27 = 21 = 58 = 35  5.0  2447 
 37. Rudak, Vladimir             UKR 2316  + 53 = 40 = 12 - 19 + 60 + 42 + 66 -  6 - 14  5.0  2513 
 38. Alexikov, Alexander      m  UKR 2383  + 51 =  3 = 42 - 13 + 86 + 53 -  6 = 55 = 40  5.0  2465 
 39. Kucherenko, Daniil          UKR 2226  - 17 + 58 + 78 = 56 + 21 = 35 - 29 - 25 + 84  5.0  2471 
 40. Nechaev, Andrei             UKR 2417  + 93 = 37 =  7 + 67 -  9 - 18 = 69 + 62 = 38  5.0  2404 
 41. Pavlov, Maxim            m  UKR 2443  + 95 + 43 = 15 -  4 - 50 = 62 = 44 = 69 + 72  5.0  2403 
 42. Sumets, Andrey           m  UKR 2467  = 71 + 79 = 38 = 50 = 18 - 37 = 81 = 44 + 76  5.0  2372 
 43. Truskavetsky, Alexandr      UKR 2364  + 97 - 41 + 94 -  9 + 82 + 65 = 14 = 19 - 12  5.0  2373 
 44. Alexeev, Alexey          m  UKR 2335  -  4 +108 = 25 - 27 + 80 = 24 = 41 = 42 + 66  5.0  2419 
 45. Derjabin, Ilja           m  UKR 2393  +106 - 20 + 63 -  5 + 69 -  6 + 65 - 24 + 54  5.0  2416 
 46. Korobkov, Piotr             UKR 2404  + 99 -  1 + 68 + 51 -  3 -  7 - 54 + 83 + 64  5.0  2372 
 47. Tishin, D                m  UKR 2334  -  6 +103 = 55 = 60 - 51 + 73 - 24 + 75 + 65  5.0  2363 
 48. Ljukin, Sergei              UKR 2371  + 80 - 65 - 51 + 77 + 95 - 29 - 58 + 92 + 69  5.0  2319 
 49. Papenin, Nikolai         m  UKR 2388  +104 - 15 - 67 = 72 + 79 - 22 = 92 + 89 + 77  5.0  2310 
 50. Tarlev, Konstantin          UKR 2341  = 10 =  5 + 84 = 42 + 41 -  8 - 19 = 66 = 53  4.5  2501 
 51. Kruglyakov, Pavlo           UKR 2066  - 38 + 62 + 48 - 46 + 47 - 56 + 57 = 60 - 28  4.5  2380 
 52. Gasanov, Eldar           m  UKR 2414  + 88 = 22 + 10 - 16 - 31 + 98 + 62 - 27 - 32  4.5  2378 
 53. Moroz, Alexander         g  UKR 2522  - 37 = 93 = 79 + 71 + 22 - 38 + 59 - 11 = 50  4.5  2311 
 54. Varchenko, Grigory          UKR 2218  - 21 - 25 + 96 + 78 = 30 = 57 + 46 = 56 - 45  4.5  2370 
 55. Vasilevich, Tatjana      m  UKR 2425  + 77 - 11 = 47 + 70 + 90 - 10 = 32 = 38 - 34  4.5  2346 
 56. Simantsev, Mikhail       m  UKR 2407  +101 -  8 + 98 = 39 =  6 + 51 - 20 = 54 - 22  4.5  2321 
 57. Nalivajko, Evgeny        m  UKR 2400  +108 =  4 =  9 = 22 - 27 = 54 - 51 = 71 + 79  4.5  2305 
 58. Shalimov, Valery         m  UKR 2464  - 91 - 39 + 99 + 92 = 34 = 81 + 48 = 36 - 33  4.5  2303 
 59. Averjanov, Alexey        m  UKR 2398  +103 =  6 -  2 = 66 - 62 + 63 - 53 = 79 + 85  4.5  2358 
 60. Kurbetdinov, Ramis       m  UZB 2409  +105 =  7 -  4 = 47 - 37 + 67 + 89 = 51 - 26  4.5  2313 
 61. Solovchuk, Alexey           UKR 2342  -  8 +101 - 13 + 87 - 66 = 85 + 95 - 26 + 88  4.5  2318 
 62. Zhornik, Nikolay            UKR 2302  -  3 - 51 +108 + 94 + 59 = 41 - 52 - 40 + 82  4.5  2274 
 63. Iljin, Timofey              UKR 2262  - 23 +100 - 45 - 29 +104 - 59 = 80 + 98 + 81  4.5  2267 
 64. Bakalov, Eugeny             RUS 2332  - 16 + 96 + 29 = 17 + 25 = 31 - 23 - 21 - 46  4.0  2362 
 65. Shishkin, Vadim          m  UKR 2473  + 69 + 48 = 16 =  8 - 13 - 43 - 45 + 70 - 47  4.0  2373 
 66. Andreev, Eduard          m  UKR 2473  = 76 - 90 + 73 = 59 + 61 = 33 - 37 = 50 - 44  4.0  2262 
 67. Gritsayeva, Oksana          UKR 2267  = 12 = 84 + 49 - 40 - 33 - 60 = 73 = 94 + 99  4.0  2252 
 68. Mihalichenko, Bladimir      UKR 2265  + 25 - 21 - 46 = 84 + 75 - 17 - 70 = 80 + 92  4.0  2311 
 69. Shulga, Jury                UKR 2297  - 65 + 80 - 33 + 73 - 45 + 97 = 40 = 41 - 48  4.0  2233 
 70. Yastreb, Konstantin         UKR 2338  -  1 + 99 = 24 - 55 = 97 - 89 + 68 - 65 + 94  4.0  2242 
 71. Poluektov, Yury             UKR 2287  = 42 -  2 = 92 - 53 = 87 =105 + 97 = 57 = 73  4.0  2238 
 72. Garifulin, Alexander        UKR 2261  - 19 - 73 +103 = 49 - 81 = 75 + 87 + 86 - 41  4.0  2256 
 73. Sysoenko,Alexey             UKR ----  - 18 + 72 - 66 - 69 +102 - 47 = 67 + 95 = 71  4.0  2260 
 74. Shkuran, Daniil          m  UKR 2405  = 82 - 10 + 85 = 95 - 32 = 77 = 79 - 76 + 93  4.0  2238 
 75. Biliy, Vadim             m  UKR 2422  = 85 = 82 - 32 = 79 - 68 = 72 + 93 - 47 + 89  4.0  2211 
 76. Pavlov, Sergey2             UKR 2301  = 66 -  9 + 93 - 25 - 24 = 87 +105 + 74 - 42  4.0  2325 
 77. Ostrovskiy, Andrey          UKR 2227  - 55 - 13 +106 - 48 +108 = 74 = 86 + 78 - 49  4.0  2291 
 78. Maly, Alexey             m  UKR 2373  - 94 + 87 - 39 - 54 - 26 +108 +102 - 77 + 96  4.0  2120 
 79. Ajrapetjan, Yuriy           UKR 2271  = 84 - 42 = 53 = 75 - 49 + 94 = 74 = 59 - 57  3.5  2304 
 80. Odnorozhenko,Evgeniy        UKR ----  - 48 - 69 + 88 = 98 - 44 = 83 = 63 = 68 = 86  3.5  2217 
 81. Dmitrenko, Viktor        f  UKR 2380  +107 - 14 = 95 - 31 + 72 = 58 = 42 - 22 - 63  3.5  2252 
 82. Kononenko, Dmitry2          UKR 2151  = 74 = 75 + 86 - 10 - 43 = 92 - 34 + 91 - 62  3.5  2283 
 83. Tatarinov, Maxim            UKR 2297  = 31 - 35 - 27 = 93 =105 = 80 + 96 - 46 = 87  3.5  2188 
 84. Labensky, Igor           m  UKR 2462  = 79 = 67 - 50 = 68 - 98 + 93 + 91 - 34 - 39  3.5  2195 
 85. Kudin, Valery               UKR 2221  = 75 - 12 - 74 = 97 +103 = 61 + 90 - 33 - 59  3.5  2233 
 86. Nazarevich, Vitaly          UKR 2345  -  7 +105 - 82 +102 - 38 = 95 = 77 - 72 = 80  3.5  2171 
 87. Kladko, Ruslan              UKR 2178  - 28 - 78 +107 - 61 = 71 = 76 - 72 +104 = 83  3.5  2186 
 88. Kovytev, Nikolay            UKR 2199  - 52 - 24 - 80 - 96 = 94 +106 +100 + 90 - 61  3.5  2103 
 89. Golubka, Petr               UKR 2260  = 35 + 27 -  5 = 30 - 29 + 70 - 60 - 49 - 75  3.0  2302 
 90. Tukhaev, Adam               UKR 2318  =  9 + 66 + 23 - 20 - 55 - 25 - 85 - 88 = 91  3.0  2265 
 91. Yarmysty, Mikhail           UKR 2279  + 58 + 17 - 14 = 28 - 23 - 30 - 84 - 82 = 90  3.0  2273 
 92. Rudenko, Eugeny             UKR 2271  = 27 - 31 = 71 - 58 +101 = 82 = 49 - 48 - 68  3.0  2211 
 93. Golovach, Valery            UKR 2217  - 40 = 53 - 76 = 83 + 96 - 84 - 75 +101 - 74  3.0  2216 
 94. Lahno,Igor                  UKR ----  + 78 - 28 - 43 - 62 = 88 - 79 +104 = 67 - 70  3.0  2162 
 95. Arutyunova, Diana        wm UKR 2264  - 41 + 97 = 81 = 74 - 48 = 86 - 61 - 73 =102  3.0  2151 
 96. Kilimnik, Evgeny            UKR 2075  - 33 - 64 - 54 + 88 - 93 + 99 - 83 +102 - 78  3.0  2139 
 97. Popov,Yuriy                 UKR ----  - 43 - 95 +105 = 85 = 70 - 69 - 71 =100 = 98  3.0  2125 
 98. Pasko, Alexander            UKR 2303  - 14 +107 - 56 = 80 + 84 - 52 - 26 - 63 = 97  3.0  2134 
 99. Kasanskij, Georgiy          UKR 2145  - 46 - 70 - 58 -104 +107 - 96 +103 +105 - 67  3.0  2091 
100. Smoljarov,Sergey            UKR ----  - 36 - 63 -101 -103 =106 +107 - 88 = 97 +105  3.0  2029 
101. Mjasoedov, Gleb             UKR 2176  - 56 - 61 +100 - 34 - 92 -104 +108 - 93 +106  3.0  2073 
102. Savvopulo, Anatolij         UKR 2202  - 30 - 29 +104 - 86 - 73 +103 - 78 - 96 = 95  2.5  2063 
103. Ljahovetsky, Igor           UKR 2098  - 59 - 47 - 72 +100 - 85 -102 - 99 =107 +108  2.5  2025 
104. Kuchin, Pavel               UKR 2067  - 49 - 34 -102 + 99 - 63 +101 - 94 - 87   .   2.0  2014 
105. Myshakov, Fyodor            UKR 2178  - 60 - 86 - 97 +106 = 83 = 71 - 76 - 99 -100  2.0  1986 
106. Subbotin, Alexander         UKR 2070  - 45 - 32 - 77 -105 =100 - 88 =107 +108 -101  2.0  1962 
107. Lisitza, Sergey             RUS 2056  - 81 - 98 - 87 -108 - 99 -100 =106 =103 +109  2.0  1922 
108. Kim, Stanislav              UKR 2104  - 57 - 44 - 62 +107 - 77 - 78 -101 -106 -103  1.0  1875 
109. BYE                             ----    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .  -107  0.0       
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ch-UKR w Nikolaev UKR (UKR), 4-12 xi 2003
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                                             1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
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 1. Muzychuk, Anna           wm UKR 2325  +28 +15 + 3 +14 = 9 +25 + 2 + 7 + 8  8.5  2657 
 2. Semenova, Lidia K        wg UKR 2233  -18 +29 +28 +26 +15 + 9 - 1 + 3 +11  7.0  2413 
 3. Aslanian, Ludmila K      wm UKR 2193  +38 + 6 - 1 =18 +14 +19 + 8 - 2 +13  6.5  2357 
 4. Ushenina, Anna           wg UKR 2311  +31 =16 -14 =20 = 5 =18 +28 +21 +15  6.0  2243 
 5. Matseyko, Katerina       wm UKR 2195  =25 =12 -18 +40 = 4 =32 +20 +14 +16  6.0  2232 
 6. Kononenko, Tatiana       wg UKR 2343  +17 - 3 +23 +16 = 7 =10 =11 -13 +19  5.5  2288 
 7. Rohonyan, Katerina       wm UKR 2369  +13 +27 +11 = 9 = 6 - 8 +26 - 1 =12  5.5  2351 
 8. Vozovic, Oksana          wg UKR 2330  =14 -25 +31 +17 +18 + 7 - 3 +10 - 1  5.5  2265 
 9. Alexandrova, Olga        m  UKR 2448  +19 +24 +33 = 7 = 1 - 2 =10 -11 +22  5.5  2338 
10. Zozulia, Anna            wg UKR 2332  +23 =21 =26 +13 =19 = 6 = 9 - 8 +27  5.5  2310 
11. Sulejmanova, Ava         wm RUS 2230  +20 +41 - 7 -19 +16 +28 = 6 + 9 - 2  5.5  2284 
12. Kostiuk, Tatiana         wm UKR 2277  -15 = 5 -20 =34 +38 +36 +23 +26 = 7  5.5  2179 
13. Mutchnik, Larisa         wf UKR 2145  - 7 +36 +41 -10 +35 =22 +25 + 6 - 3  5.5  2270 
14. Dolzhikova, Kateryna        UKR 2134  = 8 +30 + 4 - 1 - 3 =23 +33 - 5 +26  5.0  2251 
15. Chulivska, Vita             UKR 2091  +12 - 1 +24 +33 - 2 =21 =22 +27 - 4  5.0  2286 
16. Maiko, Julia                UKR 2178  +39 = 4 =21 - 6 -11 +31 +32 +25 - 5  5.0  2193 
17. Kostiukova, Liubov          UKR 2144  - 6 =38 +39 - 8 -28 =29 +30 +34 +25  5.0  2134 
18. Kostak, Tatiana             UKR 2071  + 2 -33 + 5 = 3 - 8 = 4 -27 =24 +34  4.5  2198 
19. Moskalets, Svetlana         UKR 2146  - 9 +34 +30 +11 =10 - 3 =21 =22 - 6  4.5  2214 
20. Sluzhbina, Anastasiya       UKR 1993  -11 =35 +12 = 4 +24 -26 - 5 +33 =28  4.5  2213 
21. Doluhanova, Evgeniya        UKR 2175  +37 =10 =16 +22 -25 =15 =19 - 4 =23  4.5  2163 
22. Goreskul, Alyona         wm UKR 2274  +29 =26 =25 -21 +27 =13 =15 =19 - 9  4.5  2160 
23. Breslavska, Galina          UKR 2137  -10 +32 - 6 =30 +31 =14 -12 +36 =21  4.5  2151 
24. Gutsko, Anastasia           UKR 2203  +36 - 9 -15 +29 -20 -27 +35 =18 +32  4.5  2118 
25. Rudakova,Zhanetta           UKR ----  = 5 + 8 =22 +27 +21 - 1 -13 -16 -17  4.0  2173 
26. Abramchuk, Klavdia          UKR 2171  +40 =22 =10 - 2 +33 +20 - 7 -12 -14  4.0  2159 
27. Alexanian, Nelli            RUS 2178  +32 - 7 +40 -25 -22 +24 +18 -15 -10  4.0  2105 
28. Romanova, Ekaterina         UKR 2127  - 1 +37 - 2 +41 +17 -11 - 4 =32 =20  4.0  2094 
29. Muzychuk, Mariya            UKR 2088  -22 - 2 +36 -24 -37 =17 +42 =35 +38  4.0  2074 
30. Pastukh,Alexandra           UKR ----  +35 -14 -19 =23 -32 =39 -17 +42 +37  4.0  2041 
31. Dubinskaya, M               UKR 2100  - 4  .  - 8 +38 -23 -16 +40 =37 +42  4.0  2063 
32. Stasenko,Yulia              UKR ----  -27 -23 =34 +39 +30 = 5 -16 =28 -24  3.5  2025 
33. Dvoretska, Olena            UKR 2212  +34 +18 - 9 -15 -26 +37 -14 -20 =40  3.5  2013 
34. Chumak, Ninel               UKR 1935  -33 -19 =32 =12 +40 =35 +38 -17 -18  3.5  2036 
35. Mokriak, Liudmila        wm UKR 2199  -30 =20 =38 +37 -13 =34 -24 =29 =36  3.5  1960 
36. Kovaleva,Natalia            UKR ----  -24 -13 -29 +42 +41 -12 +39 -23 =35  3.5  2036 
37. Trofimova,Anastasia         UKR ----  -21 -28 +42 -35 +29 -33 =41 =31 -30  3.0  1975 
38. Sova,Olga                   UKR ----  - 3 =17 =35 -31 -12 +42 -34 +41 -29  3.0  1979 
39. Tomchakovskaya,Viktoria     UKR ----  -16  .  -17 -32 +42 =30 -36 -40 +41  3.0  1921 
40. Finkelshtein,Evgenia        UKR ----  -26 +42 -27 - 5 -34 =41 -31 +39 =33  3.0  1962 
41. Hudoshina,Valentina         UKR ----  +42 -11 -13 -28 -36 =40 =37 -38 -39  2.0  1835 
42. BYE                             ----  -41 -40 -37 -36 -39 -38 -29 -30 -31  0.0       
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18) Russia vs Ukraine Internet Blitz

Igor Alelekov of Bereg Ltd sends news of a strong International Internet blitz match between Russia and the Ukraine on 14th December 2003. The event took place in the playing zone of bereg.ru. (http://www.bereg.ru/games/club/hall.shtml).

Teams consists of 13 people (8 main boards and 5 spare players) The event was a Double Round Scheveningen (16 rounds) Time control - 3 minutes without addition for each player. Match mean rating - 2535 Result - Russia 67.5 points - Ukraine - 60.5. My thanks also to Dennis Leong.

Match statistics - http://www.bereg.ru/chess/club/tour?tour_id=40. Match comments by Sergey Shipov and photos - http://www.wcr.ru/themes/basic/material-content.asp?folder=6&matId=1680

Match Russia - Ukraine 14.12.2003

Russia - 67.5
    Name                            gms +  =  -  points
 1. Kobalia, Mikhail        g 2656  13  6  4  3  8
 2. Najer, Evgeniy          g 2608  14  8  3  3  9.5
 3. Rustemov, Alexander     g 2604  15  6  6  3  9
 4. Shipov, Sergey          g 2589   9  5  2  2  6
 5. Riazantsev, Alexander   g 2572  13  8  0  5  8
 6. Belov Vladimir          g 2553  11  5  2  4  6
 7. Potkin, Vladimir        g 2534   9  2  2  5  3
 8. Dobrov, Vladimir        m 2492   9  1  2  6  2
 9. Berdichevski, Igor      g 2546   5  1  1  3  1.5
10. Vlassov, Nikolai        m 2466  10  5  2  3  6
11. Virovlansky, Semen      m 2438   6  1  2  3  2
12. Lubashov, Alexei          2411   6  2  1  3  2.5
13. Kodinets, Konstantin      2409   8  3  2  3  4

Captain - Sergey Shipov

Ukraine - 60.5
    Name                            gms +  =  -  points
 1. Moiseenko, Alexander    g 2618  10  4  0  6  4
 2. Baklan, Vladimir        g 2600  11  4  5  2  6.5
 3. Eljanov, Pavel          g 2597  16  9  2  5  10
 4. Vysochin, Spartak       g 2584  12  2  3  7  3.5
 5. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g 2571  13  7  0  6  7
 6. Komarov, Dimitri        g 2566   5  0  2  3  1
 7. Karjakin, Sergey        g 2562  12  3  4  5  5
 8. Zontakh, Andrey         g 2531  16  7  7  2  10.5
 9. Malahatko, Vadim        g 2529  14  5  2  7  6
10. Zubov, Alexander        m 2521   6  1  0  5  1
11. Savinov, Viktor         m 2482   4  2  1  1  2.5
12. Drozdovskij, Yuri       m 2454   5  1  3  1  2.5
13. Kislinsky, Alexey       m 2429   4  1  0  3  1

Captain - Viktor Savinov

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RUS-UKR Blitz g/3 bereg.ru INT (INT), 14-14 xii 2003
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Zontakh, Andrey          g  UKR 2531  =22 =23 - 3 = 4 +14 +20 +21 +11 -20 = 3 + 5 = 4 +22 =14 +10 = 6 10.5  2634 
 2. Eljanov, Pavel           g  UKR 2597  = 4 +11 - 5 +17 +11 + 3 + 6 + 4 - 4 +14 -11 +21 = 6 - 9 +22 - 3 10.0  2659 
 3. Najer, Evgeniy           g  RUS 2608  = 8 +13 + 1 +16 +25 - 2  .  =16 +16 = 1 +13 -15 - 7  .  +16 + 2  9.5  2709 
 4. Rustemov, Alexander      g  RUS 2604  = 2 =25 +16 = 1 +15 = 8  .  - 2 + 2 -15 + 7 = 1 =13 +12 + 8 -19  9.0  2642 
 5. Riazantsev, Alexander    g  RUS 2572  +26 +12 + 2 + 8 - 7  .  +18 -12 +12 -13 - 1  .  +26 - 7  .  +13  8.0  2633 
 6. Kobalia, Mikhail         g  RUS 2656   .   .  =13 =25 +16 +24 - 2 - 8  .  -12 +16 +25 = 2 +15 + 7 = 1  8.0  2651 
 7. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij  g  UKR 2571   .   .   .  -22 + 5 - 9 +17 +22 +22 -17 - 4 - 9 + 3 + 5 - 6 +21  7.0  2580 
 8. Baklan, Vladimir         g  UKR 2600  = 3 +17 =20 - 5 +22 = 4 = 9 + 6  .   .   .   .   .  +23 - 4 = 9  6.5  2629 
 9. Shipov, Sergei           g  RUS 2589   .   .  -12  .   .  + 7 = 8  .  -13  .   .  + 7 +15 + 2 +26 = 8  6.0  2699 
10. Vlassov, Nikolai         m  RUS 2466   .  -16 -18  .   .  =16 +12 =18  .   .  +24 +16 +12 +13 - 1  .   6.0  2601 
11. Belov, Vladimir          g  RUS 2553  +25 - 2  .   .  - 2 +12 =16 - 1  .  +24 + 2 +12  .  -26  .  =12  6.0  2582 
12. Malakhatko, Vadim        g  UKR 2529  +14 - 5 + 9 =21  .  -11 -10 + 5 - 5 + 6 +23 -11 -10 - 4  .  =11  6.0  2489 
13. Karjakin, Sergey         g  UKR 2562  =17 - 3 = 6  .   .  -21  .   .  + 9 + 5 - 3 +22 = 4 -10 =14 - 5  5.0  2488 
14. Kodinets, Konstantin L      RUS 2409  -12  .   .  +26 - 1  .   .   .  +26 - 2  .   .   .  = 1 =13 +15  4.0  2551 
15. Moiseenko, Alexander     g  UKR 2618  -23 -20  .   .  - 4  .   .   .   .  + 4 +17 + 3 - 9 - 6 +17 -14  4.0  2477 
16. Vysochin, Spartak        g  UKR 2584   .  +10 - 4 - 3 - 6 =10 =11 = 3 - 3  .  - 6 -10 +20  .  - 3  .   3.5  2401 
17. Potkin, Vladimir         g  RUS 2534  =13 - 8  .  - 2  .   .  - 7 =19 +19 + 7 -15  .   .   .  -15  .   3.0  2435 
18. Savinov, Viktor          m  UKR 2482   .   .  +10  .   .   .  - 5 =10  .  +20  .   .   .   .   .   .   2.5  2573 
19. Drozdovskij, Yuri        m  UKR 2454   .   .  =21  .   .   .  =22 =17 -17  .   .   .   .   .   .  + 4  2.5  2520 
20. Lubashov, Alexei            RUS 2411   .  +15 = 8  .   .  - 1  .   .  + 1 -18  .   .  -16  .   .   .   2.5  2500 
21. Virovlansky, Semen       m  RUS 2438   .   .  =19 =12  .  +13 - 1  .   .   .   .  - 2  .   .   .  - 7  2.0  2415 
22. Dobrov, Vladimir         m  RUS 2492  = 1  .   .  + 7 - 8  .  =19 - 7 - 7  .   .  -13 - 1  .  - 2  .   2.0  2334 
23. Berdichevski, Igor       g  RUS 2546  +15 = 1  .   .  -24  .   .   .   .   .  -12  .   .  - 8  .   .   1.5  2392 
24. Kislinsky, Alexey        m  UKR 2429   .   .   .   .  +23 - 6  .   .   .  -11 -10  .   .   .   .   .   1.0  2362 
25. Komarov, Dimitri         g  UKR 2566  -11 = 4  .  = 6 - 3  .   .   .   .   .   .  - 6  .   .   .   .   1.0  2375 
26. Zubov, Alexander         m  UKR 2521  - 5  .   .  -14  .   .   .   .  -14  .   .   .  - 5 +11 - 9  .   1.0  2244 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19) 2nd Lindsborg Open

December 19th-23rd sees the followup to the invitational rapid. The 9 round swiss with a time rate of 120 minutes + 60 mins more after move. My thanks to ICC for games they broadcast.

Further details: http://www.lindsborg.org/chess_tournament.html Live coverage ICC (http://www.chessclub.com).

Standings after round 6: 1- 5 4.5 Atalik, Blatny, Khachiyan, Mitkov, Nedev 6-12 4.0 Agrest, Baburin, Kudrin, Perelshteyn, Sevillano, Sharavdorj, Yermolinsky 13-18 3.5 Charnonneau, Donaldson, Krush, Shulman, Smetankin, Zatonskih.

20) Malmö Open

The Malmö Open took place 19th - 21st December 2003. Nick de Firmian took first place with 6.5/7.

Small amount of games and info at: http://www.chess2chess.com

Tournament entry details: http://w1.401.telia.com/~u40106905/malmoopen.html

----------------------------------------------------------
Open Malmoe SWE (SWE), 19-21 xii 2003 
----------------------------------------------------------
 1. De Firmian, Nick E                g   USA  2553 6.5
 2. Hillarp Persson, Tiger            g   SWE  2512 6.0
 3. Jakobsen, Ole                     m   DEN  2389 6.0
 4. Hector, Jonny                     g   SWE  2515 6.0
 5. Brynell, Stellan                  g   SWE  2462 6.0
 6. Malekian, Babak                       SWE  2326 5.5
 7. Olsson, Linus                         SWE  2269 5.5
 8. Miskulin, Dennis                      SWE  2180 5.5
 9. Persson, Andreas                      SWE  2123 5.5
10. Johnson, Bjorn                        SWE  2195 5.5
11. Grujic, Matej                         SWE  2220 5.0
12. Reid, Greger                          ---  ---- 5.0
13. Ikonic, Borislav                      SWE  2295 5.0 
14. Skjoldborg, Jesper                    DEN  2253 5.0 
134 players

21) Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial

George Mirijanian reports: The Harry Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament took place 13th-14th December 2003 at the Cavendish Club in Dedham, Massachusettts, USA. GM Alexander Ivanov captured first place, scoring 3.5-0.5. Runners-up with 2.5-1.5 tallies were FM John Curdo, national master Avraam Pismennyy, national experts Melvin Zhang, Max Enkin, Patrick Sciacca and Joshua Bakker, and Class A contestant Jason Spector. The Massachusetts Chess Association sponsored the event, which had 43 players competing in four sections. Complete crosstables are available at http://www.masschess.org

22) Austrian Teams B-Mitte

There have now been 4 rounds of the Austrian Team Championships B-Mitte section. VOEST Linz now lead.

Details: http://www.chess.at/

Round 4 Standings
  1 VOEST Linz                      17.0  10
  2 Union Styria Kleine Zeitung Gr  15.0  10
  3 SG Alpine Raika Trofaiach Nikl  14.0   7
  4 Strassenbahn Graz               13.5   9
  5 Kl.Zeitung MPÖ Maria Saal       13.5   7
  6 Die Klagenfurter                12.5   5
  7 SC Leoben                      111.5   6
  8 ASVÖ Raika St.Veit/G.           10.0   6
  9 SC Hörsching                    10.0   3
 10 SpG. Sauwald                     9.5   3
 11 ASK St. Valentin                 9.5   1
 12 ESV Austria Graz 2               8.0   1

23) Association of Chess Professionals Elections

The elections to the board of the Association of Chess Professionals have concluded. Voting took place November 10th - December 15th 2003.

See chessville.com interview with Joel Lautier (who received the largest number of votes) at: http://www.chessville.com/misc/Interviews/Lautier.htm

Board members - 9 representatives (7 men and 2 women): J.Lautier (France) 94 votes P.Tregubov (Russia) 72 votes V.Kramnik (Russia) 59 votes B.Macieja (Poland) 57 votes V.Bologan (Moldova) 50 votes A.Baburin (Ireland) 42 votes I.Glek (Germany) 41 votes for the male representatives; A.Skripchenko (France) 104 votes S.Matveeva (Russia) 65 votes for the female representatives.

The board will commence its official duties on January 1st 2004. They have also announced they will be campaigning on a number of priority issues including hotels in official events, sponsorship in chess and decisions of both FIDE and the ECU.

Full details: http://www.chess-players.org

24) FIDE World Championship Regulations

FIDE have published the regulations for the World Championships 2003-4 at their website. This clarifies the decisions of the 74th FIDE Congress in Halkidiki, Greece, 27 October - 3 November, 2003.

Some of the items in the lengthy documents.

The cycle will include: 4 Continental Chess Championships (CCC) - The World Chess Championship tournament (WCCCT) - The World Chess Championship final match (WCCCFM). Bids for the World Championship tournament will opened on 23rd February 2004.

If at any time the bidding procedure fails, "the Presidential Board shall decide, where, when and how the Championship will be organised." The Championships can be organised in 1 group (with 128 players) or 2 groups (with 64 players each) under the knockout format, if there are two groups the winners will play for the title.

Players will have to sign a document called players undertaking before being allowed to take part a document that will be published at the FIDE website. All players shall pay their own cost of travel, accommodation and meals for their duration of stay.

"The winner of the final match of the World Championship shall be designated as World Champion. Following the spirit of the Prague Agreement and not later than July 2005, he shall play a match against the best rated player GM G. Kasparov for a minimum prize fund of USD 500, 000 and the winner of this match shall be declared World Champion. He is precluded alongside with other qualifiers from the quarterfinal stage of the Championship from playing in a "World Championship match" that is not officially recognized by FIDE."

"In accordance with the Prague Agreement, the new World Champion will play a match with the winner of the Kramnik-Leko match for the title of the undisputed World Champion. In case this match is not organised, FIDE shall announce its new decision in due course."

Information: http://www.fide.com (MS Word Document: http://www.fide.com/news/download/WCCRegs.doc)

25) Check your FIDE Rating

FIDE have released a preliminary version of the rating list for Janaury 2004. Players should check their details at their site and report any problems to FIDE by Monday, 29 December 2003.

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

26) Harmonie Chess Tournament

The Harmonie Chess Tournament, Groningen, 21st-30th December 2003. The formula of the invitationgroup is: young talent against established players.

Internet coverage: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2003/2003eng.html. Live coverage: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2003/2003.html

Harmonie Groningen NED (NED), 21-30 xii 2003        cat. X (2484)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Ernst, Sipke         m NED 2474 * . . . . . . . . 1  1.0      
 2 Kurnosov, Igor       g RUS 2527 . * . . . . . . 1 .  1.0      
 3 Werle, Jan           m NED 2409 . . * . . . . 1 . .  1.0      
 4 Li Wenliang          m CHN 2477 . . . * . = . . . .  0.5  2470
 5 Nijboer, Friso       g NED 2577 . . . . * . = . . .  0.5  2511
 6 L'Ami, Erwin           NED 2470 . . . = . * . . . .  0.5  2477
 7 Smeets, Jan          m NED 2511 . . . . = . * . . .  0.5  2577
 8 Dambacher, Martijn     NED 2419 . . 0 . . . . * . .  0.0      
 9 Gagunashvili, Merab  g GEO 2582 . 0 . . . . . . * .  0.0      
10 Michiels, Bart       f BEL 2390 0 . . . . . . . . *  0.0      
-----------------------------------------------------------------

27) Forthcoming Events and Links

Gausdal Troll Masters 2004 Cancelled

Gausdal Troll Masters 2004 was due to take place 26th January - 3rd February 2004. the event has now been cancelled due to problems with the playing venue which is also the biggest sponsor.

Further details: http://eirikgu.home.online.no/troll2004/

Organiser and contact for events: IA & IO Hans Olav Lahlum (NOR) - hanso.lahlum@c2i.net

2nd Nancy International

16-22 February 2004 in Nancy (France) 2nd international Chess Festival, 9 rounds closed tournaments 10 players. For any player between 1000 and 2300, to obtain or to improve FIDE and National Elo + an IM-tournament (completed). Prices : At least 200ˆ-120ˆ-80ˆ in each group. Info: philippechr@wanadoo.fr and http://echiquier.nanceien.free.fr

Swiss Chess Tour 2004

The Swiss Chess Tour starts in Basle in the New Year (1.-4.1.2004.). The 6th Hilton Open features with Vlastimil Hort, Yannick Pelletier, Andrei Sokolov and Florian Jenni. They will play each other, one game on classic time control and the other in rapid. Timetable of the 6th Hilton Open: 1.1.2004. registration 10.00-12.00; 1.01.2004. Blitz open 21.00-23.00; 9 rounds, 5 minutes. 1.-4.1.2004. Fujitcu Siemens – Junior’s Open; 7 rounds, 4 hours. 1.-4.1.2004. Hilton Open; 7 rounds, 5 hours (40 moves-120 minutes, 30 minutes till the end.) 1.-4.1.2004. Baloise Open; 7 rounds, 4 hours (30 moves-90 minutes, 30 minutes till the and.) 1.-4.1.2004. Senior Open; same as Baloise Open. 1.-2.1.2004. ITAG Tele-Rapid; with Hort, Pelletier, Sokolov, Jenni; 15 minutes per game. 1.-4.1.2004. ITAG Masters (Hort, Pelletier, Sokolov, Jenni); classic time control, 6 hours. 2.1.2004. Fujitsu Siemens PC-Challenge (men&computer) 20.00-22.00. 4.1.2004. Closing ceremony 16.30-17.00.

Prizes: Hilton Open: 2000/1500/1200/800/600/500/2x400/2x300/2x200 Fr. Special prizes (200 Fr. each): Best Lady, Senior (1944), Basler, Junior (1984-87), Pupil (1988). 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. Fujitsu Siemens-Junior Open: 400/300/200 + natural prizes for all participants. Entry fee: 50 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

GibTelecom Chess Festival Competition

A new competition is taking in The English Times from 6th December to 3rd January. Details of the Winning Move competition are as follows: The GibTelecom Chess Festival is taking place January 26 to February 5, 2004 at the 4 star Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. They are offering a fabulous prize worth £1000 of a holiday for two for the whole event, including air travel from Gatwick, Luton or Manchester, bed and breakfast accommodation and entry fees to the competition. The winners must hold valid passports and visas, if relevant. All correct entries sent in for the Winning Moves from 6 December up to and including January 3, 2004 will automatically be entered for a chance to win this prize.

The closing date is January 8. The prize is not transferable. The editor's decision is final. Times rules apply.

Further details on the event http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com or Tel 00350 76501

Stewart Reuben has sent a current list of invitees to the GibTelecom Masters. He comments: 15 of these are females, including some of the best players in the world. Of course tournaments solely for women, such as the Olympiad, European Women's Championship, Women's World Championship have attracted a much larger and stronger group. My question: In an open event, is this the highest percentage and strongest group of female contestants ever to take part in such an event? The Lloyds Bank Masters used to be very good from this viewpoint, but female chess was weaker 10 years ago and the players there were less strong at the top.

Alexei Dreev        Russia        GM    2705  Ranked 14 World
Nigel Short         England       GM    2701  Ranked 17 World
Vladimir Epishin    Russia        GM    2658  Ranked 37 World
Vasilios Kotronias  Cyprus        GM    2626  Ranked 67 World
Lenier Dominguez    Cuba          GM    2607  Ranked 96 World
Lazaro Bruzon       Cuba          GM    2603  Ranked 101 World 
M. Al-Modiakhi      Qatar         GM    2588  Ranked 1 Qatar
Sarunas Sulskis     Lithuania     GM    2586  Ranked 2 Lithuania 
Jon Speelman        England       GM    2575  Ranked 7 England
Vladislav Borovikov Ukraine       GM    2571  Ranked 10= Ukraine
Pentala Harikrishna India         GM    2570  Ranked 3 India
Sergey Karjakin     Ukraine       GM    2562  Youngest-ever GM
Mark Hebden         England       GM    2560  Ranked 8 England
Jonathan Rowson     Scotland      GM    2541  Ranked 1 Scotland
Dragan Solak        Serbia,Monte  GM    2539  Ranked 7 Serbia
Paul Motwani        Scotland      GM    2536  Scottish Champion 1=
Abhijit Kunte       India         GM    2535  British Champion
Dibyendu Barua      India         GM    2528  Commonwealth Champion
Evgeny Postni       Israel        GM    2526  Ranked 19 Israel
Alexander Fominyh   Russia        GM    2522  Ranked 84 Russia
Joe Gallagher       Switzerland   GM    2522  Ranked 4= Switzerland
Chris Ward          England       GM    2522  Ranked 11 England
John Emms           England       GM    2520  Ranked 12 England
Murray Chandler     England       GM    2508  Ranked 15 England 
Bojan Vuckovic      Serbia,Monte  GM    2507  Ranked 17 Serbia
Bogdan Lalic        England       GM    2503  Ranked 17 England 
Sergey Erenburg     Israel        IM    2500  Ranked 23 Israel
Antoaneta Stefanova Bulgaria  GM/WGM    2497  Ranked 4 World
Zhu Chen            China     GM/WGM    2495  Woman World Champion
Nigel Davies        England       GM    2491  Ranked 23 England
Humpy Koneru        India     GM/WGM    2485   World U-20 Girls Gold 02 
Peter Wells         England       GM    2485  Ranked 25 England 
Jim Plaskett        England       GM    2483  Ranked 28 England
Gabriel Del Rio     Spain         GM    2480  Ranked 15 Spain
Pia Cramling        Sweden    GM/WGM    2470   Woman Europe Champion
John Shaw           Scotland      IM    2465  Ranked 3 Scotland 
Davor Komljenovic   Croatia       GM    2440  Ranked 16 Croatia
Ketevan Arakhamia   Georgia   IM/WGM    2435  Scottish Champion 1=
S Vijayalakshmi     India     IM/WGM    2426  Ranked 2 India Women
Juan Bellon         Spain         GM    2425  Ranked 37 Spain
David Howell        England       FM    2381  12 years old, England 50
Colin McNab         Scotland      GM    2379  Ranked 4 Scotland
Daniel Contin       Italy         IM    2377  Ranked 18 Italy
Jovanka Houska      England      WGM    2358   Ranked 2 England Women
D Harika            India        WIM    2353
Steve Mannion       Scotland      IM    2348  Ranked 8 Scotland

5th Wellington College International

The 9 Round Swiss Wellington International (formerly the Yateley Manor International but the venue has now changed to Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire. RG45 7PU).This is a qualifying event for the British Championships, part of the BCF Grand Prix and will be rated by FIDE and BCF. The prize fund is £1,000 (depends on entry) and includes a paid place in 2004 British Championships (highest placed player not already qualified).

The event takes place over 2 weekends Friday 30th January to Sunday 1st February 2004 and Saturday 7th to Sunday 8th February 2004 Venue: Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire RG45 7PU (35 miles south west of London) Tournament Director: IM Andrew Martin. Chief Controller: Neville Belinfante (BCF Arbiter) Rate of play is 40 moves in 2 hours followed by all remaining moves in 1 hour. No adjournments.

Tournament Secretary Entries, requests for accommodation lists, travel details, detailed map and other enquiries should be addressed to : Ray Clark High Cedars, Oak End Way, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, SL9 8DA England Tel. (44) (0)7802 306210 (Mon.-Fri. daytime) or Tel. (44) (0)1753 883300 (other times) E-mail rayclark.mc@tiscali.co.uk

6th Annual ChessAward

Visitors can now nominate their favourite chess website for the 6th Annual ChessAwards in 13 different categories. Deadline 31st December 2003. Between January 1st to 20th 2004, visitors will be given the opportunity to vote on the nominated sites. The winners will be presented the 1st of Febuary 2004.

Website: http://www.chessaward.com

1st Bois-Colombes GM

The 1st Bois-Colombes GM tournament takes place 21st-30th December 2003. Players: M. Apicella (2542), S. Belkhodja (2439), E. Janev (2423), T. Todorov (2472), V. Okhotnik (2454), A. Wirig (2424), Y. Afek (2376), A. Rainfray (2409),V. Bernard (2278) and S. Shoker (2273)

Info: http://www.bois-colombes-echecs.com and http://www.europe-echecs.com/

Ken Whyld Association Founded

Calle Erlandsson reports: The Ken Whyld Association has been founded in Brunswick, Germany. The British chess historian Ken Whyld was one of the promotors of the chess historical association which was eventually founded after being in the planning for 20 years was founded in Amsterdam in 2002. Whyld died 77 years old on July 11, 2003, and regretfully he never saw the realisation of the society that come to wear his name. KWA was founded on November 21st in Brunswick (Braunschweig), Germany, and has so far 78 members from 22 nations. Jurgen Stigter, Amsterdam, was elected as KWA's first president and Peter Holmgren of Tyresö, Sweden, as deputy chairman. Hans Engberts of Utrecht, The Netherlands, Michael Negele of Wuppertal, Germany and Roger Klittich of Brunswick also were elected as members of the board. Correpondence chess GM Juan Morgado had travelled all the long way from Buenos Aires to participate. He will be the KWA contact person in Latin America.

The excursion to Bibliotheca Augusta - the Duke August library - in the adjacent town Wolfenbüttel gave possibility to watch the first German chess book as well as the manuscript, Gustavus Selenus: Das Schach- oder Köningspiel, printed in 1616. Germany's so-called Golden Book could also be seen with its illuminations from the 12th century. It can be seen at Wolfenbüttel six weeks a year and is the most valuable book in the country. It was bought some years ago for 37 million DM or about 14 million British Pounds.

On the KWAs homepage there are already a lot of information about the association, for example reports from the events in Brunswich and Wolfenbüttel. The annual membership fee for the KWA is EUR 50 and shall be paid from January 2004. If you are interested in joining the KWA you can do this through the homepage.

Website: http://www.kwabc.com/, http://www.kwabc.com/Homepage-UK/Foundation.htm and http://www.kwabc.com/Homepage-UK/Foundation2.htm

33rd International Rapid Chess Tournament Herford

Herford, 19th-20th June 2004 33rd International Rapid Chess Tournament 2004. Grand-Prix of Sparkasse Herford. Qualification tournament for the German Rapid Championships. 11 Rounds. Guaranteed Prize fund: € 1.500. 1st Prize € 500.-, Info: http://www.schach.com/herford/turnier/2004/herford2004ausschreibung.htm Homepage: http://www.schach.com/herford/

12th International Raiffeisen Donau Open

12th International Raiffeisen DONAU OPEN 2003 26th-31st December 2003 Place: Aschacher Veranstaltungszentrum Bahnhofstrasse 6 A- 4082 Aschach an der Donau AUSTRIA Turnaments A - FIDE Open open to all B - Turnier Elo under 2000 C - Turnier Elo under 1600 7 rounds - Swiss system - FIDE rated time: 40 moves/2 hours, then 1 hour for the rest Information Günter Mitterhuemer Seebach 19, A-4070 Eferding Tel.: 0 72 72 / 43 98 , Fax 0 72 73 / 63 36 15 E-mail: guenter.mitterhuemer@schach.at

British Simul Record Attempt for Charity

Andrew Martin writes: We are planning to break Ulf Andersson's World Record for the most opponents played simultaneously at one sitting (currently 310). We have set up a website which will enable players to enter online and gives details of the event which will take place at Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire on Saturday 21st Feb 2004. The event forms an integral part of the BCF Centenary Celebrations.

Entry is free although players will be asked to try and raise money for charity and sponsorship forms will be issued. All sponsorship proceeds will go to youth charities and activities involving young people.

Website: http://www.chessworldrecord.co.uk

Chennai International

1st International Open Chess Tournament organised by the Saranya Chess Centre and WIN TV, Chennai (Madras), India from January 21st to February 1st, 2004. Prize fund Rs.500,000 (about $11,000). 13 rounds Swiss. Venue: Hotel President, 25, Dr Radhakrishnan Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600004. Inauguration: Jan 21 at 5 p.m., Closing ceremony Feb 1, 5 p.m. Appearance fee for GMs rated above 2500: Rs.25,000 (about USD 550) but preconfirmation with organiser is a must. Free entry for IMs, IWMs, GMs, WGMs and those rated above 2400+ For others, there is an entry fee based on Elo rating. For details contact: Manuel Aaron at e-mail: tnca@eth.net or mobile +91-44-31039257 or N.N.Sivagnanam, e-mail: scc_sivagnanam@yahoo.com or mobile +91-44-32714005. Further details: at http://www.tamilchess.com/Ad_tour/tour3.html

Praha and Marianske Lazne (CZE)

3 International Chess Tournaments will be held in the Czech Republic.

Open Praha 2004 (16th-23rd January 2004)

Marianske Lazne Open 2004 24th-31st January 2004

2nd round robin master tournament category 3.-4. FIDE Marianske Lazne 2004 24th January - 1st February 2004

Details: Dr. Jan Mazuch, Director of CZECH OPEN & CZECH TOUR - j.mazuch@avekont.cz

Links: http://www.czechopen.net, http://www.czechtour.net and http://www.avekont.cz/calendar/

9th HIT Open

The 9th HIT Open takes place 30th January - 5th February 2004. Further details: tel.: ++386 5 3332174,fax: ++386 5 3025088, e-mail: krapse.stefan@siol.net. I couldn't get the website: http://skng.homeftp.net/ to work.

Tapolca Open

"TAPOLCA" Open 9 rounds Swiss system Open chess tournament, Budapest, Hungary, 9th-17th of January 2004 Sponsored by the Tapolca city administration...

Venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Falk Miksa Str.10. 2nd floor close to the red metro station Kossuth ter

Prizes: brutto, before taxes: 40-25-15-6-4-2x3-2x2.5- 2x2 thousand Ft-s 1 EURO = 256 Ft now.

Entry fees according the FIDE ELO Oct.list - between 2 and 6 thosuand Ft-s.

Organizer: Mr.PAREJ, Jozsef, mobile: +(36)-70-227-30-77

More info e.g. accommodation NAGY, Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net Website: http://www.firstsaturday.hu

Usually 80-90 players, 3-5 IM-s, 5-8 FM-s, 20-30 % foreigners, 60-70 % FIDE ELO rated.

Linares 2004

The lineup for Linares 2004 looks like being Gary Kasparov 2830 Vladimir Kramnik 2770 Veselin Topalov Peter Leko 2722 Alexei Shirov 2737 Paco Vallejo 2662 Teimour Radjabov 2650.

Dates are as follows: February 18th (draw of lots) Rd1 Feb. 19th Round 14 (Final) March 5th - Rest days Feb. 24th and March 1st.

German National Team vs. Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik will play the German National Team in a simultaneous exhibition. The match will take place 29th January 2004 at 4pm at the Centro Dannemann, in Brissago, on the shores of the Lago Maggiore.

The 2nd "Dannemann Chess Classico" will see Kramnik play against: Christopher Lutz, Rustem Dautov, Dr. Robert Hübner and Klaus Bischoff.

Vladimir Kramnik will have 4 hours for his moves on all four boards, while the German Grandmasters will have three hours each.

Germany’s public television network, Westdeutsche Fernsehen (WDR), plans a 60-minute special possibly to be aired on Sunday 1st February 2004.

Further information will be available at http://www.dannemann.com from December, this will be the official site for the event.

Panamerican Team Championship

The Panamerican Team Championships start December 13th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The winner will qualify for the World Team Championship.

Info: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=142

Singapore IM Tournament

The One Chess Week (IM) tournament will take place from 16th-24th of December 2003 in Singapore immediately after the Cairnhill Chess Festival 2003. Players can still contact the organiser Kenny Chern if they wish to play. E-mail: open_chess@yahoo.com.sg

Swiss Chess Tour 2003

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2003" will finish in Interlaken, one of the most attractive tourist towns in Switzerland.

The 3rd "Casino Open" December 26th-30th 2003. 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 natural prizes till 20th place. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1943), junior (1983-86), schoolboy (1987) and best local player. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free. Venue: Hotel "Chalet Oberland" New event - Blitz tournament, Swiss system, 9 double rounds.

Time table for "Chalet Oberland-Open Interlaken": December 26. The last registration 11.00-12.15. Open ceremony and apero reception from 12.15-12.30. Round 1st 14.00-19.00. December 27. Round 2nd 9.30-14.30 Round 3rd 15.30-20.30 December 28.: Round 4th 14.00-19.00. December 29. Round 5th 9.30-14.30. Round 6th 15.30-20.30 December 30. Round 7th 10.00-15.00 Closing ceremonies 15.30.

Special chess rates in Hotel "Charlet Oberland". Main sponsor "RAPP" company.

Players so far: GM Hort (GER), GM Ikonnikov (RUS), GM Djuric (SCG), GM Nemet (SUI), IM Rukavina (CRO) etc.

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/

Hastings Chess Congress

The line-up for the Hastings Premier, the world's longest-running international event is as follows: Alexander Cherniaev, Vladimir Epishin (Russia); Stuart Conquest, Danny Gormally, Mark Hebden (England); Vasilios Kotronias (Cyprus); Abhijit Kunte (India); Kateryna Lahno (Ukraine) who will celebrate her 14th birthday at the Drawing of Lots Ceremony on 27 December 2003 at Horntye Sports Centre; Peter Heine Nielsen (Denmark) and Jonathan Rowson (Scotland). The average rating is 2554 making this much the strongest event in the English chess calendar.

Among those in the Challengers are Joanna Dworakowska, Petr Marusenko, Bartosz and Monika Socko (Poland); Zahar Efimenko, Gennadi Kuzmin (Ukraine); Bogdan Lalic, Peter Wells (England); Steve Mannion, Colin McNab, John Shaw (Scotland). The whole event takes place 28 December to 5 January and there are many other tournaments for weaker players.

Further details: Con Power power@hicc.demon.co.uk, telephone 01424 431970 website

Internet site: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/

Aeroflot Open

The International Chess Open Festival "Aeroflot Open 2004" will be held in Moscow from 16th February (the day of arrival) to 26th February 2004 (the day of departure). The official hotel and tournament venue is the hotel "Rossija".

Further details: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/regulp.htm

65th Square Website

There is a new Turkish website: http://65thsquare.tripod.com I have given an interview to the webmaster Alper Efe Ataman.

Hungarian chess tournaments - Dec 2003 - Jan-March 2004

1. "SZENNAPACK" IM closed tournament, Kaposvar /200 km West from Budapest/, 17th-23rd of December, org: IM Mathe, Gaspar,

2. TAPOLCA Open 9 rounds Swiss, 9th-17th of January, Budapest, org. Parej Jozsef, More info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

3. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM closed, 7th-19th of February, org.Nagy L.

4. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 6th-18th of March, org. NL.

5. 20th BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL, 9 rounds Swiss Open, 18th-27th of March org.Nagy Laszlo

6. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 3rd-16th of April, org.NL.

7. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 1st-13th of May,

8. ELEKES memorial, Budapest GM-IM closed, 15th-25th of May, organizer: IM Zsinka.

9. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM 5th-17th of June, Budapest, org.Nagy L.

Western Canadian Open

The Western Canadian Open takes plce July 9th-18th, 2004. The FIDE rated event is organised by the British Columbia Chess Federation.

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

Australian Championships

The Australian Championships take place 29th December 2003 - 10th January 2004 at the University of Adelaide. Over $10,000 in prizes.

Details: http://www.unichess.org

Narender Nath Memorial Chess Tournament

The 3rd Annual Narender Nath Memorial Chess Tournament commemorating a man who died in the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001 is underway. The event raises money for charity.

Details: http://www.nathchesstournament.com/

28th Kings Head Rapidplay

The 28th Kings Head Rapidplay will take place on Saturday 13 March 2004,

6-round Swiss rapidplay (30 minutes), prize fund £650, entry fee £17

Further info: http://www.khcc.org.uk

Lorin D'Costa vs ROW

Top ranking junior UK Under-19 chess player Lorin D'Costa has started a "Rest of World match" at Chessworld.net.

To join the rest of world game against Lorin simply register and login at http://www.chessworld.net. The match will be played at the rate of 5 days per move. Players will vote their moves by clicking on the chess board while discussing and formulating strategies and tactics in the Rest of World team forum.

Chess Exhibition in Cleveland Ohio

The Worlds of Chess Champions exhibition contains items including Egyptian chess pieces, commemorative stamps, autographed material, rare books and original manuscripts.

The event is in Cleveland OH. The Cleveland Public Library’s John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection is currently exhibiting an installation titled, Worlds of Chess Champions. This temporary exhibition is located in the third floor exhibition hall of the Main Building, 325 Superior Ave., N.E. The Library exhibition is free and open to the public. Paid parking is available on Rockwell, one block north of Superior Ave.

Worlds of Chess Champions puts chess into context through the lives of chess experts, authors, and champions. This exhibition sets the historical stage of chess champions from the 19th Century to the present. To illustrate the context of chess in the world, the earliest items displayed feature chess pieces from Egypt dating back to 1300 B.C. Other early items on display from the John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection include original manuscripts from the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Other rare and interesting items include a death mask photograph of an early 19th-century player, commemorative chess stamps, hand-written letters by and about world-famous chess champions, autographed material, and published books by chess champions.

Some of the materials in Worlds of Chess Champions have never before been exhibited. The John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection is the world’s largest and most comprehensive chess collection. The collection contains chess sets and pieces as well as material related to chess. Many stamps commemorating chess champions are in the exhibition. Newspaper and magazine clippings, chess championship programs, score sheets from games, and other rare items will be on display through June 12, 2004.

Wales Interational

The Wales International 7th-15th January 2004. Further details kevin.staveley@btinternet.com.

Corus Wijk aan Zee

The Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee takes place 9th-25th January 2004. There is yet again a tremendous field for the Category 19 A Group.

Players: Kramnik 2785 2 Anand 2774 3 Leko 2739 4 Shirov 2732 7 Svidler 2723 8 Bareev 2721 9 Adams 2719 10 Akopian 2703 14 Sokolov 2693 20 Morozevich 2679 23 van Wely 2661 31 Zhang Zhong 2658 33 Bologan 2650 42 Timman 2575.

Garry Kasparov was invited but his manager said the event doesn't fit into his schedule.

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

Lilie Litomysl Open

OPEN LILIE LITOMYSL 2003 (26.12.2003-1.1.2004, Litomysl - Czech Rep.) 5th christmas chess tournament, FIDE open 9 rounds, rate 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 60.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK - cca. 650 EUR). Other info - http://www.proclient.cz/a64/tournaments/litomysl2003/default.asp

New York Masters

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

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