THE WEEK IN CHESS 738 29th December 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Adolivio Capece, Dinu-Ioan Nicula, Geurt Gijssen, Giorgio Gozzi, Sinisa Drazic, Steve Giddins, David Preuss, Jonathan Tisdall, Luiz Roberto De Costa Jr, Marcelo Pagano, Vinay Bhat and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The final week of the year sees plenty of chess. The Elista Grand Prix finished in a three way tie between Radajbov, Jakovenko and Grischuk. Pamplona was won by Krishnan Harikrishna. Hastings, Reggio Emilia continue and Magnus Carlsen will play a rapid at the start of the new year. I hope everyone has a good New Year even though we all know its likely to be a rough one worldwide economically.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) FIDE Grand Prix Elista

The latest Grand Prix tournament took place in Elista 13th-29th December 2008. Teimour Radjabov, Dmitry Javkovenko and Alexander Grischuk finished on 8/13.

Official site: http://elista2008.fide.com/

Magnus Carlsen's reasons for withdrawing http://blog.magnuschess.com/1229553815_more_background_info_.html

2nd Association of Chess Professionals press release on the changes to the cycle: ACP Press Release

The Association of Chess Professionals have a press release on the changes to the cycle: ACP Press Release

FIDE Grand Prix Elista (RUS), 14-28 xii 2008														cat. XIX (2713)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2751	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	0	8	2796
2.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2737	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	8	2798
3.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2719	½	½	*	0	1	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	½	8	2799
4.	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2703	½	½	1	*	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	7½	2770
5.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2747	½	½	0	1	*	0	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	6½	2710
6.	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2705	0	½	½	½	1	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	6½	2713
7.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2731	½	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	6½	2711
8.	Wang Yue	g	CHN	2736	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	1	½	½	6½	2711
9.	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2672	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	1	0	½	1	1	6½	2716
10.	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2696	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	0	*	1	0	1	1	6	2685
11.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2715	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	0	*	0	1	½	5½	2655
12.	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2720	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	1	1	*	½	1	5½	2655
13.	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	2679	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	0	½	*	½	5	2628
14.	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2669	1	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	½	*	5	2629

Round 9 (December 23, 2008)
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	1-0	34	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Gashimov, Vugar	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	1-0	32	B63	Sicilian Rauzer
Wang Yue	- Cheparinov, Ivan	1-0	39	E95	King's Indian Classical
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Bacrot, Etienne	½-½	25	E10	Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Eljanov, Pavel	- Radjabov, Teimour	0-1	40	E99	King's Indian Classical
Akopian, Vladimir	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	33	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	34	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Round 10 (December 25, 2008)
Radjabov, Teimour	- Alekseev, Evgeny	1-0	54	A13	Reti Opening
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Inarkiev, Ernesto	1-0	58	D11	Slav Defence
Lékó, Peter	- Gashimov, Vugar	1-0	57	C42	Petroff's Defence
Bacrot, Etienne	- Wang Yue	½-½	47	D10	Slav Defence
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Eljanov, Pavel	1-0	41	D30	Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	32	D15	Slav Defence
Cheparinov, Ivan	- Akopian, Vladimir	1-0	59	D18	Slav Defence
Round 11 (December 26, 2008)
Grischuk, Alexander	- Cheparinov, Ivan	½-½	66	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Gashimov, Vugar	- Jakovenko, Dmitry	½-½	55	B19	Caro Kann
Wang Yue	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	46	E92	King's Indian Classical
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	41	B31	Sicilian Rossolimo
Eljanov, Pavel	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	70	E15	Queens Indian
Akopian, Vladimir	- Bacrot, Etienne	½-½	77	B31	Sicilian Rossolimo
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	0-1	86	C92	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Round 12 (December 27, 2008)
Radjabov, Teimour	- Akopian, Vladimir	½-½	19	C45	Scotch Game
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Eljanov, Pavel	½-½	19	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Lékó, Peter	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	28	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Bacrot, Etienne	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	14	D20	QGA
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Wang Yue	½-½	35	D10	Slav Defence
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	- Cheparinov, Ivan	1-0	46	E92	King's Indian Classical
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Gashimov, Vugar	½-½	31	C42	Petroff's Defence
Round 13 (December 28, 2008)
Grischuk, Alexander	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	97	E97	King's Indian Classical
Gashimov, Vugar	- Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	½-½	33	C92	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Wang Yue	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	29	E15	Queens Indian
Cheparinov, Ivan	- Bacrot, Etienne	½-½	61	D15	Slav Defence
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Jakovenko, Dmitry	½-½	31	C43	Petroff's Defence
Eljanov, Pavel	- Inarkiev, Ernesto	1-0	61	D17	Slav Defence
Akopian, Vladimir	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	25	C42	Petroff's Defence

Grand Prix Standings After 3 Rounds
Player	NAT	Baku 08	Sochi 08	Elista 08	Total	Played
Teimour Radjabov	AZE	60	150	153.33	363.33	3
Wang Yue	CHN	153.33	120	80	353.33	3
Vugar Gashimov	AZE	153.33	65	110	328.33	3
Alexander Grischuk	RUS	105	45	153.33	303.33	3
Dmitry Jakovenko	RUS		90	153.33	243.33	2
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	AZE	105		80	185	2
Levon Aronian	ARM		180		180	1
Gata Kamsky	USA	60	120		180	2
Peter Svidler	RUS	85	90		175	2
Sergey Karjakin	UKR	60	90		150	2
Ivan Cheparinov	BUL	35	45	50	130	3
Etienne Bacrot	FRA	15		80	95	2
Peter Leko	HUN			80	80	1
Rustam Kasimdzhanov	UZB			80	80	1
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR		65		65	1
David Navara	CZE	35	15		50	2
Pavel Eljanov	UKR			35	35	1
Evgeny Alekseev	RUS			35	35	1
Boris Gelfand	ISR		30		30	1
Ernesto Inarkiev	RUS	15		15	30	2
Vladimir Akopian	ARM			15	15	1
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	153.33				withdrew
Michael Adams	ENG	85				withdrew

3) 18th Pamplona International

18th Pamplona International consists of a invitational Grandmaster tournament, and an open 9 round tournament. Both tournaments take place from 22nd December - 29th December 2008.

The invitational Grandmaster tournament is an eight-player round robin. Players are: GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2694, IND), GM Roiz, Michael (2677,ISR), GM Malakhov, Vladimir (2675, RUS), GM Vallejo, Pons Francisco (2664,ESP), GM Caruana, Fabiano (2640,ITA), GM Delchev, Aleksander (2632,BUL), GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2616,RUS), and GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan (2556,ESP).

Official website: http://www.chesspamplona.com/

Magistral Pamplona (ESP), 22-29 xii 2008											cat. XVI (2644)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2694	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	5	2795
2.	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2675	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	4	2689
3.	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2664	0	½	*	0	1	½	1	1	4	2691
4.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2640	0	½	1	*	½	½	½	½	3½	2644
5.	Delchev, Aleksander	g	BUL	2632	½	½	0	½	*	½	1	½	3½	2646
6.	Roiz, Michael	g	ISR	2677	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	3	2589
7.	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2616	½	½	0	½	0	½	*	1	3	2598
8.	Salgado Lopez, Ivan	g	ESP	2556	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	*	2	2498

Round 2 (December 23, 2008)
Malakhov, Vladimir	- Roiz, Michael	½-½	58	A16	English Opening
Vallejo Pons, Francisco	- Delchev, Aleksander	1-0	46	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	½-½	39	B14	Caro Kann Panov
Salgado Lopez, Ivan	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	35	B42	Sicilian Paulsen
Round 3 (December 24, 2008)
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Salgado Lopez, Ivan	½-½	21	D30	Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Vallejo Pons, Francisco	1-0	40	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Delchev, Aleksander	- Malakhov, Vladimir	½-½	19	D52	Queens Gambit Cambridge Springs
Roiz, Michael	- Nepomniachtchi, Ian	½-½	18	A29	English Four Knights
Round 4 (December 26, 2008)
Vallejo Pons, Francisco	- Malakhov, Vladimir	½-½	50	D15	Slav Defence
Caruana, Fabiano	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	0-1	33	B80	Sicilian Scheveningen
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	- Delchev, Aleksander	0-1	58	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Salgado Lopez, Ivan	- Roiz, Michael	½-½	33	C68	Ruy Lopez Exchange
Round 5 (December 27, 2008)
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Vallejo Pons, Francisco	1-0	47	D46	Semi-Slav Defence
Malakhov, Vladimir	- Nepomniachtchi, Ian	½-½	27	D76	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Delchev, Aleksander	- Salgado Lopez, Ivan	½-½	24	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Roiz, Michael	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	31	D12	Slav Defence
Round 6 (December 28, 2008)
Sasikiran, Krishnan	- Roiz, Michael	1-0	33	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Vallejo Pons, Francisco	- Nepomniachtchi, Ian	1-0	25	B23	Sicilian Closed
Caruana, Fabiano	- Delchev, Aleksander	½-½	26	C43	Petroff's Defence
Salgado Lopez, Ivan	- Malakhov, Vladimir	0-1	60	B66	Sicilian Rauzer
Round 7 (December 29, 2008)
Malakhov, Vladimir	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	52	D12	Slav Defence
Delchev, Aleksander	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	½-½	46	D12	Slav Defence
Roiz, Michael	- Vallejo Pons, Francisco	½-½	20	D30	Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	- Salgado Lopez, Ivan	1-0	45	C10	French Rubinstein

Open Pamplona (ESP), 22-29 xii 2008
Rank	Nombre		FED	Elo	Pts	BUC
1	REINALDO CASTINEIRA, Roi	IM	ESP	2516	7½	50½
2	HUERGA LEACHE, Mikel	IM	ESP	2417	7½	49½
3	RECUERO GUERRA, David	IM	ESP	2425	7	52½
4	ARRIBAS LOPEZ, Angel	FM	ESP	2334	7	51
5	NAVARRO CIA, Miguel	FM	ESP	2318	6½	50
6	VEGA GUTIERREZ, Sabrina	WGM	ESP	2278	6½	49
7	MELLADO TRIVIÑO, Juan Manuel	IM	AND	2434	6½	49
8	RUDOLF, Anna	WGM	HUN	2318	6½	48½
9	MINAYA MOLANO, Juan	FM	COL	2196	6½	45½
10	BURGUETE ARCHEL, Eduardo		ESP	2176	6½	42
11	LARIÑO NIETO, David	IM	ESP	2469	6	49
12	DJINGAROVA, Emilia	WGM	BUL	2352	6	46
13	GARCIA PAOLICCHI, Raul	FM	AND	2257	6	46
14	MUNOZ ARANA, Miguel		ESP	2100	6	44½
15	IGNACZ, Rozsa		HUN	2061	6	41
16	DE PABLOS FERNANDEZ, Mariano		ESP	2061	6	39
104 players

4) Groningen Chess Festival

The annual Groningen Chess Festival takes place December 21st-30th 2008. It will be held in the renowned Harmoniegebouw, closely related to the 1946 Staunton tournament won by Botwinnik. In several groups players of all strengths will compete with some strong Dutch and international contenders playing in the top group. The 45th edition of the Groningen Chess Festival will also feature a match between two young Dutch grandmasters. Groningen based law student Jan Werle, who became EC champion in October, will face this year's Dutch champion Jan Smeets. Both players were members of the Dutch team that competed at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. Games will be played between 25th and 29th December. Rapid games will decide the outcome of the match on December 30th 2008 if required. Hans Boehm and former Dutch champion Gert Ligterink will provide live commentary during the match. The Groningen Chess Festival is organised by the Stichting Schaakstad Groningen.

Official site: http://www.schaakstadgroningen.nl/index.php/festival-2008

Challenge Match Werle 1.5 - Smeets 1.5 Best of 4

Werle, Jan - Smeets, Jan 1/2 41 D12 Slav Defence

Smeets, Jan - Werle, Jan 1/2 125 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin

Werle, Jan - Smeets, Jan 1/2 16 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit

Groningen Chess Festival Open A (NED), 21-30 xii 2008 Leading Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	Fed.	Rating	Score	TPR	W-We
1	Rotstein, Arkadij	GM	GER	2496	6.5	2690	1.93
2	Gagunashvili, Merab	GM	GEO	2576	6	2645	0.72
3	Giri, Anish	FM	RUS	2466	6	2614	1.57
4	Spoelman, Wouter	IM	NED	2459	6	2577	1.27
5	Swinkels, Robin	IM	NED	2451	6	2649	2.12
6	Ernst, Sipke	GM	NED	2576	5.5	2543	-0.25
7	Reinderman, Dimitri	GM	NED	2543	5.5	2579	0.41
8	Van Der Wiel, John	GM	NED	2501	5.5	2548	0.57
9	Sundararajan, Kidambi	IM	IND	2501	5.5	2513	0.17
10	Bojkov, Dejan	GM	BUL	2472	5.5	2534	0.71
11	Van Den Doel, Erik	GM	NED	2570	5	2554	-0.16
12	Nijboer, Friso	GM	NED	2540	5	2502	-0.38
13	Hoffmann, Michael	IM	GER	2469	5	2519	0.57
14	Brandenburg, Daan	IM	NED	2436	5	2373	-0.57
15	urg, Twan	FM	NED	2382	5	2382	0.06
16	Bitalzadeh, Ali	IM	NED	2370	5	2411	0.51
17	Bok, Benjamin		NED	2265	5	2429	1.76
68 players

5) Indian National A Championships

The 46th Indian National A Championship for men takes place in Mangalore 17th-30th December 2008.

The 35th Indian National A Championship for women takes place in New Delhi 18th-28th December 2008.

I've taken the standings from the games. The moves from the round 1 women's games are missing.

Various websites cover the event: http://www.karnatakachess.com/ - http://www.indianchessfed.org/ with results of the men's (but not as far as I can see women's): http://chess-results.com/tnr18097.aspx and games at: http://monroi.com/

46th ch-IND National A Mangalore (IND), 17-30 xii 2008													cat. IX (2466)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3
1.	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	g	IND	2603	*	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	.	1	1	7½	2592
2.	Akshayraj, Kore	m	IND	2400	½	*	1	0	½	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	1	7½	2566
3.	Negi, Parimarjan	g	IND	2597	0	0	*	.	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	7	2556
4.	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J	g	IND	2464	0	1	.	*	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	6½	2519
5.	Rathnakaran, K	m	IND	2458	½	½	0	½	*	1	½	½	0	1	1	.	½	6	2505
6.	Sriram, Jha	m	IND	2457	½	½	½	0	0	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	.	6	2505
7.	Neelotpal, Das	g	IND	2477	½	0	½	½	½	½	*	.	1	1	0	½	1	6	2505
8.	Satyapragyan, Swayangsu	m	IND	2417	½	0	½	½	½	½	.	*	1	½	½	1	0	5½	2469
9.	Thipsay, Praveen M	g	IND	2444	½	1	½	½	1	0	0	0	*	.	½	0	½	4½	2403
10.	Konguvel, Ponnuswamy	m	IND	2463	½	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	.	*	½	0	1	4	2366
11.	Shyam, Sundar M	m	IND	2402	.	½	0	0	0	0	1	½	½	½	*	½	½	4	2357
12.	Thejkumar, M. S		IND	2441	0	0	0	½	.	0	½	0	1	1	½	*	½	4	2367
13.	Adhiban, B	m	IND	2439	0	0	0	½	½	.	0	1	½	0	½	½	*	3½	2336

35th ch-IND w National A New Delhi IND (IND), 18-28 xii 2008													cat. II (2284)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Nadig, Kruttika	wm	IND	2387	*	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	0	½	1	8	2449
2.	Sachdev, Tania	m	IND	2425	1	*	½	½	1	0	0	½	1	1	½	1	7	2372
3.	Mohota, Nisha	wg	IND	2311	0	½	*	½	1	½	1	½	1	½	½	0	6	2317
4.	Karavade, Eesha	wg	IND	2386	½	½	½	*	0	½	1	1	½	0	1	½	6	2310
5.	Swathi, Ghate	wg	IND	2320	0	0	0	1	*	½	1	1	0	1	1	½	6	2316
6.	Gomes, Mary Ann	wg	IND	2298	0	1	½	½	½	*	0	0	1	1	0	1	5½	2282
7.	Soumya, Swaminathan	wm	IND	2326	0	1	0	0	0	1	*	0	½	1	1	½	5	2243
8.	Bhakti, Kulkarni	wf	IND	2163	0	½	½	0	0	1	1	*	0	1	½	½	5	2258
9.	Amrutha, Mokal		IND	2163	0	0	0	½	1	0	½	1	*	½	1	½	5	2258
10.	Pon, N Krithika	wf	IND	2191	1	0	½	1	0	0	0	0	½	*	½	1	4½	2227
11.	Padmini, Rout	wm	IND	2235	½	½	½	0	0	1	0	½	0	½	*	½	4	2186
12.	Kiran, Manisha Mohanty	wm	IND	2198	0	0	1	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	½	*	4	2189

6) Asian Chess Club Championship League

The Asian Chess Club Championship League takes place in Alain, UAE 25th-31st December 2008.

Official site: http://asia-chess.com/main/index.php

7) III Open Palma de Mallorca

The III Open Palma de Mallorca took place 6th-14th December 2008. Stewart Haslinger finished with 7.5/9. Games from rounds 8-9 now available.

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

8) 2nd Berkeley Masters

The 2008 Berkeley Masters took place December 14th-23rd 2008 in Berkeley, California, Giorgi Kacheishivili won with 7.5/10. IM-norms: FM Daniel Rensch, FM Marc Esserman, WIM Iryna Zenyuk WGM-norm: WIM Iryna Zenyuk. It is a 10 round swiss, open to players rated fide 2200+. Space in the tournament and conditions for some Grandmasters are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Prize fund $5000 US. Games were broadcast on ICC.

Info at http://dotq.org/chess.

Berkeley Masters (USA), 14-23 xii 2008
1	Kacheishvili, Giorgi	g	GEO	2572	7.5	/10
2	Izoria, Zviad	g	GEO	2610	7.0	/10
3	Friedel, Joshua E	m	USA	2498	6.0	/10
4	Krush, Irina	m	USA	2452	6.0	/10
5	Rensch, Daniel	f	USA	2354	6.0	/10
6	Bhat, Vinay S	m	USA	2498	5.5	/10
7	Pruess, David	m	USA	2422	5.5	/10
8	Kraai, Jesse	g	USA	2502	5.0	/10
9	Sarkar, Justin	m	USA	2451	5.0	/10
10	Sharavdorj, Dashzegve	g	MGL	2441	5.0	/10
11	Esserman, Marc		USA	2348	5.0	/10
12	Zenyuk, Iryna	wf	USA	2237	5.0	/10
13	Milman, Lev	m	USA	2488	4.0	/10
14	Naroditsky, Daniel	f	USA	2382	4.0	/10
15	Haessel, Dale R	f	CAN	2199	4.0	/10
16	Evans, Bela	f	USA	2258	3.5	/10
17	Kustar, Sandor	m	HUN	2356	3.0	/10
18	Lee, Andy C		USA	2240	1.5	/2
19	Jahedi, Salar		USA	2106	0.5	/3
20	Shivaji, Shivkuma	f	PLE	2308	0.0	/1

9) Hastings Chess Congress

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place 28th December 2008 - 5th January 2009. Mark Hebden, Valerij Neverov, Gawain Jones, Stephen Gordon and Stuart Conquest lead on 2/2.

Further details: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk

10) 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament takes place 27th December 2008 - 4th January 2009. Zoltan Almasi will defend the trophy won last year in a category 14 tournament. Two strong young italian IMs , Ronchetti and Shytaj will try their chances for a GM norm. This year also a B tournament , category 5, for the IM norm will take place:

Official site: http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it/

51st It Reggio Emilia (ITA), 27 xii-4 i 2008											cat. XIV (2576)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2663	*	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	1	.	3
2.	Ni Hua	g	CHN	2710	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	2½	2798
3.	Dreev, Alexey	g	RUS	2670	.	½	*	½	1	.	.	.	.	.	2	2751
4.	Gustafsson, Jan	g	GER	2634	.	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	.	1	2	2664
5.	Leon Hoyos, Manuel	g	MEX	2535	.	.	0	½	*	.	1	.	.	.	1½	2639
6.	Marin, Mihail	g	ROU	2556	0	.	.	.	.	*	0	1	.	.	1	2457
7.	Landa, Konstantin	g	RUS	2613	0	.	.	.	0	1	*	.	.	.	1	2459
8.	Shytaj, Luca	m	ITA	2472	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	*	½	½	1	2362
9.	Cebalo, Miso	g	CRO	2493	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	½	2342
10.	Ronchetti, Niccolo	m	ITA	2414	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	½	2332

51st It B Reggio Emilia (ITA), 27 xii-4 i 2008											cat. V (2351)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Rombaldoni, Axel	f	ITA	2334	*	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	1	.	3
2.	Thorfinnsson, Bjorn	f	ISL	2399	.	*	.	.	.	1	½	.	.	1	2½	2607
3.	Galyas, Miklos	m	HUN	2454	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	1	.	1	2½	2637
4.	Cocchi, Andrea	f	ITA	2305	.	.	.	*	.	.	1	.	1	.	2
5.	Kovacevic, Blazimir	m	CRO	2472	0	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	1	.	1½	2263
6.	Pomaro, Alberto		ITA	2254	.	0	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	1	1½	2397
7.	Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor	m	ISL	2430	.	½	½	0	.	.	*	.	.	.	1	2261
8.	Corvi, Marco	f	ITA	2343	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
9.	Barillaro, Luca		ITA	2202	0	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	*	.	0
10.	Lucaroni, Massimiliano	f	ITA	2320	.	0	0	.	.	0	.	.	.	*	0

11) Gjovik International Festival 2008-9

The Gjovik International Chess Festival 2008-9 takes place 29th December - 7th January 2009.

Magnus Carlsen, Peter Svidler, Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Kjetil Lie play in a Super rapid tournament January 2nd-5th 2009.

The tournament has a similar format to the Mainz Classic, with a double round tournament followed by final and bronze final games. The Norwegian audience will be eager to see Magnus Carlsen on home-gound again, as he hasn't played in Norway during 2008.

The rapid contest is part of a chess festival with a big and varied program, held on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Gjovik chess club. The festival starts on December 29th, and the main tournament is a 9 round GM-Swiss open to players with a rating abov 2100. Reigning European champion Sergei Tiviakov (NL) 2686 is the highest rated player of the preliminary list of participants. There is also a parallell group open for all players rated below 2100.

Official site: http://www.gjovikfestival.sjakkweb.no

12) Leon World Chess Open

The city of Leon held it's World Chess Open 26th-28th December 2008. Evgeny Bareev took first place from Artur Jussupov, Alexei Shirov, Daniel Fridman, Sergey Fedorchuk, Renier Vazquez Iharza, Orelvis Perez Mitjans and Dragan Paunovic after all scored 7.5/9. I couldn't find any games although I think some may have been broadcast, I couldn't get that page to work either.

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

Leon World Chess Open (ESP), 26-28 xii 2008
1	Bareev, Evgeny	2647	RUS	7.5	52	56
2	Jussupow, Artur	2570	GER	7.5	49.5	53.5
3	Shirov, Alexei	2726	ESP	7.5	49.5	53
4	Fridman, Daniel	2630	GER	7.5	48	53
5	Fedorchuk, Sergey	2604	UKR	7.5	48	53
6	Vazquez Igarza, Renier	2546		7.5	47	51
7	Perez Mitjans, Orelvis	2446	CUB	7.5	45	49
8	Paunovic, Dragan	2532	SRB	7.5	41.5	45
9	Granda Zuñiga, Julio	2628	PER	7	51.5	56.5
10	Beliavsky, Aleksander	2619	SLO	7	49.5	53.5
11	Timman, Jan	2580	NED	7	49	53.5
12	Ljubojevic, Ljubomir	2553	SRB	7	49	53.5
13	Suba, Mihail	2531	ROM	7	48.5	52.5
14	Peralta, Fernando	2557	ARG	7	47.5	50.5
15	Lopez Martinez, Jose Manuel	2548	CAT	7	45.5	50
16	Guliyev, Namig	2521	AZE	7	45	48.5
17	Perez Candelario, Manuel	2520	EXT	7	41.5	45.5
18	Milov, Vadim	2681	SUI	6.5	54.5	59.5
19	Malakhatko, Vadim	2633	UKR	6.5	53	56
20	Rivas Pastor, Manuel	2514		6.5	50.5	54.5
21	Agrest, Eugeny	2574	SWE	6.5	50.5	54
22	Naiditsch, Arkadij	2678	GER	6.5	48.5	53
23	Andersson, Ulf	2562	SWE	6.5	46.5	51
24	Oms Pallise, Josep	2522	CAT	6.5	45	49
25	Del Rio De Angelis, Gabriel	2531	AND	6.5	45	48.5
26	Escobar Forero, Alder	2482	COL	6.5	44	48.5
27	San Segundo Carrillo, Pablo	2564	CAN	6.5	44	47.5
28	Shchekachev, Andrei	2514	FRA	6.5	44	47.5
29	Portisch, Lajos	2513	HUN	6.5	44	46.5
30	Panelo Munoz, Marcelo	2427	ARG	6.5	43	47
31	Arruebarrena Rodriguez, Rafael Erne	2274	AST	6.5	41.5	45
341 players

13) Rilton Cup

The XXXVIII Rilton Cup takes place 27th December 2008 - 5th January 2009.

Official site: http://www.rilton.se/

14) North American Open

The 18th North American Open takes place 26th-29th December 2008. Giorgi Kacheishvili leads alone on 4.5/5 with two rounds to go.

Official site: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/category/north-american-open/

15) 5th IRT Merlo

The 5th IRT Merlo takes place 19th December 2008 - 7th January 2009.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezplus.com.ar/index.php

5th IRT Merlo (ARG), 19 xii 2008 - 7 i 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Tomeo, Nicolas		ARG	2043	*	.	.	½	½	1	1	1	.	.	4	2333
2.	Barrionuevo, Pablo	f	ARG	2341	.	*	.	0	.	½	1	1	1	.	3½	2272
3.	Sapienza, Julian		ARG	2169	.	.	*	1	1	.	.	.	.	1	3
4.	De Picciotto, Marcelo		ARG	2070	½	1	0	*	½	.	.	.	.	1	3	2209
5.	Koch, Juan		ARG	2037	½	.	0	½	*	.	.	.	1	1	3	2184
6.	Pagano, Marcelo		ARG	2049	0	½	.	.	.	*	½	1	1	.	3	2248
7.	Preuss, Maximiliano		ARG	2114	0	0	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	1	1½	2045
8.	Godoy, Carlos ARG		ARG	2199	0	0	.	.	.	0	.	*	.	1	1	1939
9.	Menon, Daniel		ARG	2186	.	0	.	.	0	0	.	.	*	.	0
10.	Tomeo, Ivan		ARG	2095	.	.	0	0	0	.	0	0	.	*	0

16) 4th Assisi Open

The 4th Assisi Open took place 18th-22nd December 2008. Viesturs Meijers won the event with 8/9.

4th Open Assisi (ITA), 18-22 xii 2008
Pos	NAME	T	Fed	Rtg	Pts	BucT	Buc1
1	Meijers Viesturs	GM	LAT	2514	8	46.5	42.5
2	VOCATURO Daniele	IM	ITA	2383	7.5	47.5	43.5
3	TOCCHIONI Doriano	-M	ITA	2259	6	46	43
4	Vuelban Virgilio	FM	PHI	2390	5	49.5	45.5
5	DE FILOMENO Simone	CM	ITA	2147	5	45.5	42.5
6	PROCACCI Sergio	CM	ITA	2052	5	45	42.5
7	CARUSO Augusto	-M	ITA	2250	5	42	39.5
8	CORVI Marco	FM	ITA	2343	5	41.5	39
9	Quimi Marco	M	PER	2239	5	39	37
10	Bighiu Gheorghe	CM	ITA	2026	5	35	33
11	Aleksic Nenad	IM	SRB	2376	4.5	48	45
12	CALANDRI Fausto	CM	ITA	2130	4	48	46
13	TRASCIATTI Mirko	1N	ITA	1963	3.5	33	31
14	GAMBARDELLA Piero	CM	ITA	2021	3.5	32.5	30.5
15	DI LASCIO Savino	CM	ITA	1953	3	32.5	30.5
16	CUPPONE Damiano	1N	ITA	1953	3	32.5	30.5
17	MARSILI Riccardo	1N	ITA	1859	2.5	30.5	28.5
18	Diekmann Hans-Joa(W)	M	GER	2199	0.5	34.5	32.5

17) X Mirko Srajber Memorial

The X Memorial "Mirko Srajber" took place 17th-25th December 2008. Milos Roganovic and Robert Markos led on 5/7 before coverage stopped at: http://chess-results.com/tnr18237.aspx. Games were broadcast at: http://chess-press.com/open/index.html and the official site was: http://www.spartakchess.com/site/index.php but I couldn't find the final results or a games archive.

18) Romanian Rapid and Blitz Championship

The Romanian Rapid and Blitz Championship Romanian took place 6th-7th December 2008 at the Rin Grand Hotel Bucharest (the biggest hotel in Romania, with over 1500 rooms). The rate of play was 15'+12'' at Rapid and 5'+3" at Blitz.

Romanian Rapid Bucharest (ROM), 6-7 xii 2008
Rank	Name	NRtg	Pts	BH.
1	Miron Lucian-Costin	2437	6,0	33,0
2	Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula	2502	6,0	31,0
3	Ionescu Constantin	2422	6,0	30,0
4	Nanu Ciprian-Costica	2506	5,5	34,5
5	Manolache Marius	2494	5,5	33,0
6	Ardelean George-Catalin	2502	5,5	33,0
7	Sofronie Iulian	2471	5,5	30,0
8	Petrisor Adrian-Marian	2249	5,5	27,5
9	Doncea Vladimir	2434	5,5	26,5
10	Raceanu Valentin	2436	5,0	34,0
123 players
Romanian Rapid Women Bucharest (ROM), 6-7 xii 2008
Rank	Name	Rtg	Pts	BH.
1	Cosma Elena-Luminita	2340	6,0	29,0
2	Marin Irina-Luiza	2160	5,5	28,5
3	Padurariu Ioana-Smaranda	2179	5,5	28,0
4	Craciun Paula-Iulia	2154	5,0	25,5
5	Teodorescu Anca	2031	5,0	25,0
6	Sgircea Silvia-Raluca	2174	4,5	31,0
7	Ciubara Vladlena	2107	4,5	26,5
8	Jicman Ligia-Letitia	2167	4,5	23,5
9	Dobre Ana-Margareta	1860	4,0	29,0
10	Adoamnei Roxana	1998	4,0	24,0
30 players

Romanian Blitz Bucharest (ROM), 6-7 xii 2008
Rank		Name	Rtg	Pts	BH.	SB.
1	IM	Ardelean George-Catalin	2502	8	51.5	45,25
2	GM	Badea Bela	2485	7.5	52.5	42,50
3	IM	Nanu Ciprian-Costica	2506	7.5	52.5	41,75
4	IM	Mateuta Gabriel	2501	7	51	37,50
5	IM	Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula	2502	7	50.5	38,50
6	GM	Grigore George-Gabriel	2519	7	50	36,50
7	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2594	6.5	52.5	34,50
8		Anton Teodor	2350	6.5	50	33,00
9	GM	Marin Mihail	2556	6.5	47.5	34,50
10	IM	Grecescu Gabriel-Andrei	2421	6	57.5	35,50
101 players
Romanian Blitz Women Bucharest (ROM), 6-7 xii 2008
Rank		Name	Rtg	Pts	BH.	SB.
1	WIM	Marin Irina-Luiza	2160	7	50.5	36,50
2	WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	2340	7	44	34,00
3	WIM	Padurariu Ioana-Smaranda	2179	7	44	33,75
4	WIM	Jicman Ligia-Letitia	2167	6	50	29,00
5	WIM	Paulet Iozefina	2307	6	48.5	29,75
6		Serbanescu Diana-Maria	1714	5.5	48	24,50
7		Uta Adeline-Ramona	2068	5.5	45	24,50
8	WFM	Craciun Paula-Iulia	2154	5.5	40.5	21,25
9	WFM	Sgircea Silvia-Raluca	2174	5	45	21,50
10		Ilie Maria-Ruxandra	1888	5	41	21,50
11		Tutulan Mihaela	2047	5	37.5	17,50
25 players

19) III Open Internacional d'Escacs

The III Open Internacional d'Escacs Illes Medes takes place 28th December 2008 - 4th January 2009. Boris Chatalbashev is the top seed. Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr18305.aspx

20) Carlos Torre Memorial

The XXI Carlos Torre Memorial took place in Merida, Yucutan, Mexico 13th-22nd December 2008. The event consists of a Swiss system event which then split off to a knockout with those leading the swiss after 6 rounds going on to play the stars starting on December 17th. Alexander Onischuk won the event by defeating Yuniesky Quezada Perez 1.5-0,5 in the final. Open section now available.

Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/inicio2008.htm

XXI Carlos Torre KO Merida (MEX), 17-21 xii 2008
Final 21st December 2008
Quezada Perez,Y	0.5	1.5	Onischuk,Al
Semi-final 20th December 2008
Quezada Perez,Y	1.5	0.5	Ehlvest,J
Akobian,V	2	3	Onischuk,Al
Quarter-final 19th December 2008
Quezada Perez,Y	3	1	Tregubov,P
Harikrishna,P	2	3	Ehlvest,J
Akobian,V	2.5	1.5	Moiseenko,A1
Sadvakasov,D	0.5	1.5	Onischuk,Al
Round 2 18th December 2008
Quezada Perez,Y	1.5	0.5	Gonzalez Zamora,J
Tregubov,P	2	0	Leon Hoyos,M
Harikrishna,P	1.5	0.5	Delgado Ramirez,N
Ehlvest,J	3	2	Bruzon Batista,L
Akobian,V	1.5	0.5	Shulman,Y
Hernandez Carmenates,Hold	0.5	1.5	Moiseenko,A1
Hernandez Guerrero,G	0.5	1.5	Sadvakasov,D
Geetha Narayanan,G	0.5	1.5	Onischuk,Al
Round 1 17th December 2008
Graf,A	0.5	1.5	Quezada Perez,Y
Gonzalez Zamora,J	1.5	0.5	Zapata,Alo
Gomez Garrido,C	0.5	1.5	Tregubov,P
Meier,Geo	2	3	Leon Hoyos,M
Capo Vidal,U	0	2	Harikrishna,P
Gonzalez Garcia,J2	1.5	2.5	Delgado Ramirez,N
Ehlvest,J	2	0	Garcia,Gild
Bruzon Batista,L	1.5	0.5	Mitkov,N1
Ibarra Chami,L	0.5	1.5	Akobian,V
Cordova,Em	2	3	Shulman,Y
Hernandez Carmenates,Hold	1.5	0.5	Zatonskih,A
Moiseenko,A1	1.5	0.5	Nogueiras Santiago,J
Martinez,Lel	1	3	Hernandez Guerrero,G
Borges Mateos,J	0.5	1.5	Sadvakasov,D
Almeida Quintana,O	1	3	Geetha Narayanan,G
Matnadze,A	0	2	Onischuk,Al

XXI Carlos Torre (MEX), 13-22 xii 2008
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	Des 1
1	MARTINEZ Lelys	FM	CUB	2485	6.5	35.5
2	ALMEIDA QUINTANA Omar	GM	CUB	2519	6.5	35
	ZAPATA Alonso	GM	COL	2501	6.5	35
4	BORGES MATEOS Juan	GM	CUB	2459	6.5	34.5
5	MITKOV Nikola	GM	MKD	2556	6.5	34
	CORDOVA Emilio	GM	PER	2533	6.5	34
7	NOGUEIRAS SANTIAGO Jesus	GM	CUB	2574	6.5	33
8	QUESADA PEREZ Yasser		CUB	2344	6.5	32.5
9	ARENCIBIA RODRIGUEZ Walte	GM	CUB	2536	6.5	30.5
10	DELLA MORTE Pablo	FM	ARG	2292	6.5	29.5
11	MATNADZE Ana	IM	GEO	2411	6	33
12	GOMEZ GARRIDO Camilo	FM	CUB	2454	6	32
13	BLANCO FERNANDEZ Alvaro	IM	MEX	2323	6	30
14	VERA GONZALEZ-QUEVEDO Rey	GM	CUB	2497	6	29
15	IBARRA CHAMI Luis Fernand	IM	MEX	2389	5.5	33
16	CAPO VIDAL Uriel	IM	MEX	2339	5.5	31.5
17	ALVAREZ PEDRAZA Aramis	IM	CUB	2466	5.5	30
	CABRERA TRUJILLO Jorge	FM	ESP	2439	5.5	30
19	ESTRADA NIETO Julian	IM	MEX	2347	5.5	29
20	DE LA PAZ PERDOMO Frank	GM	CUB	2491	5.5	28.5
21	LUJAN Carolina	IM	ARG	2366	5.5	28
22	ORDAZ VALDES Lisandra	WIM	CUB	2306	5.5	27
23	VEGA GARCIA Jorge Arturo	FM	MEX	2274	5.5	26.5
	CONTRERAS TORRES Javier		MEX	2196	5.5	26.5
25	TINAJERO TRISTAN Dante	IM	MEX	2164	5.5	24.5
26	VIGOA APECHECHE Yanira	WFM	CUB	2257	5.5	23.5
27	GONGORA MONTES Benjamin	IM	MEX	2281	5.5	22.5
28	GARMENDEZ GONZALEZ Floren	IM	MEX	2296	5	28.5
100 players

21) Mark Diesen 1957-2008

Former World Junior Champion Mark Carl Diesen has died at the age of 51 (16th September 1957 - 10th December 2008). Having dropped out of the chess world the news seems to have escaped the chess media. Below is a listing from an unidentified Knoxville newspaper sourced via his family. I couldn't find anything online.

Mark Carl Diesen DIESEN, MARK CARL - age 51 of Conroe, Texas native of Buffalo New York, passed away suddenly December 9, 2008 in Conroe, Texas. He was a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He worked as a reservoir engineer for Shell Oil, Pennzoil and Noble Energy. Mark was a World Junior Chess Champion in 1976, the US Junior Co-Champion, the Louisiana State Champion in 1986, 1987, 1988, Texas State Champion, Southwestern Open Champion, and an active chess coach in Houston, Texas and online. He is survived by his wife, Melinda Diesen of Conroe, Texas; daughters and sons-in-law, Gina and Travis Perkins of Knoxville, Amy and Daniel Smith of Houston, TX, and Sarah Diesen of Conroe, TX; mother, Marjorie Diesen; sister and brother-in-law, Laura and J.C Butler all of Bristow, VA; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Paul and Joyce McGlothin of Knoxville; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Paul and Meredith Averill-McGlothin of Ossining, NY; several nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be 1:00 P.M. Saturday at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension with Rev. Dr. Howard J. Hess officiating. Interment to follow at Highland Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the U.S. Chess Trust, PO Box 838, Wallkill, NY 12589, 800-388-5464. Friends may call at their convenience at Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel. www.rosemortuary.com

22) Forthcoming Events and Links

Aeroflot Open 2009

The mega Aeroflot Open takes place in Moscow 16th February (the day of arrival) to 27th February 2009 (the day of departure). There are five tournaments the main ones being: A1 higher than 2549 70000 Euros, A2 higher than 2399, but lower than 2550 36000 Euros, B higher than 2199, but lower than 2400 19500 Euros and C lower than 2200 and unrated 12000 Euros. Time control: Tournament A 1 and A 2: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, finally 15 minutes for the remaining moves with an increment of 30 seconds per move in the last period. Tournament B and C: 90 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 1.

Blitz Tournament 26 Feb. 2009 a double nine-round Swiss Blitz Tournament will be held in the same venue. It is a Qualification Tournament for the World Blitz Championship 2009 (Final). The final tournament will take place in Moscow from 15 to 17 Nov.2009.

Information e-mail: aeroflotchess@gmail.com tel/fax: +7 (495) 691-8578 tel.: +7 (495) 690-6084

Details at the official site: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

Novi Sad in January 2009

1) Bosnjaci open, 3-9 jan.2009 , 9 rounds , fide tempo , 80 km from N.Sad, more on http://www.drazic.co.rs

2) Open turnir , 10-11 jan. 2009 , Srpska Nova g. u N. Sadu , 5 kola , rejtinguje se !!, fide tempo http://www.drazic.co.rs

3) IM , berger, 10-18.jan.2009. , 10 rounds, fide tempo, Novi SAd, for elo and norms fide, http://www.drazic.co.rs

4) Open turnir , 16-18 jan.2009, Novi Sad "Zima u Novom Sadu", 5 kola , rejtinguje se !!, fide tempo http://www.drazic.co.rs

5) cuger turnir , Olimpik, 12. jan.2009, Novi Sad, start 20 h , http://www.drazic.co.rs

6) program of chess edukation, every day from 12-15 jan. 2009 chess lessons with varius GM and Im (available in 3 languages),,,, some of teachers GM Kosanovic G. , GM SEdlak Nikola, GM Kovacevic A , GM DRazic Sinisa etc...

7) Open t. , "Dunav-Drava -Sava" , Banja Junakovic(87km from N.Sad), 9 rounds, fide tempo, possible norms fide and elo, date - 21-25.01.2009., special package , only 130 eur, 4 days full board with available swiming pool, and include also entry fee !! more http://www.drazic.co.rs Special discount for people who take part in more than one events.

Prague and Marienbad Open

The 8th International Chess Festival PRAGUE OPEN 2009, takes place 9th-16th January 2009 in the capital of the Czech Republic, has been prolonged without extra fee for the late entering till 4.1. 2009. On the date 18.12. 2008. 89 players were registered to the main FIDE open with the possibility to fulfil IM norm (out of which 5 GM, 1 WGM and 15 IM) and 53 players were registered to the side FIDE open. More detailed information should be found on http://www.czechtour.net/prague-open/.

8th International Chess Festival MARIENBAD OPEN 2009 will be held 17.-25.1. 2009 in Marienbad (the second biggest spa town in the Czech Republic). Within the frame of the festival there will be 1 closed GM tournament, 2 closed IM tournaments, FIDE open, active chess and blitz tournament. Regulatios should be found on http://www.czechtour.net/marienbad-open/).

Current list of applications for both events is available on http://www.czechtour.net/news/.

Paul Keres Memorial Rapid

The 19th International Rapid Chess Tournament of Paul Keres Memorial, takes place in 9th-11th January 2009.

Website: http://www.maleliit.ee/tabelid/2009/keres/. There's a pdf file with regulations on this link http://www.maleliit.ee/download/2009/kereseng.pdf

Ivanchuk - Leko Match

Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko will play a 6 game rapid match in Mukachevo , Ukraine 3rd-5th January 2009. Time control: (6 rounds, 25 min + 10 sec per move).

Schedule: * January 2 2009: o 18:00 - official open ceremony * January 3 2009: o 15:30 - 1-st round o 17:00 - 2-nd round * January 4 2009: o 15:30 - 3-d round o 17:00 - 4-th round * January 5 2009: o 15:30 - 5-d round o 17:00 - 6-th round o 19:00 - official close ceremony

According to google with the offical site: http://www.ivanchukleko2009.com and http://chess32x64.org/ (Ukrainian language) had problems with trojans, but this has been definitively fixed now.

Luis Scalise

Luis Scalise's chess pages have moved to: http://scalise.fortunecity.com/

Corus Fields all settled 2009

The 71st Corus Chess tournament takes place Friday, January 16th to Sunday, February 1st, 2009 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov are the favourites for the event in the absence of world champion Viswanathan Anand, challenger Vladimir Kramnik and World Number one Veselin Topalov. This shake up of the field with these three regular missing has really freshened things up and should make for exciting chess, in the usual way they do things they'll probably be all back next year.

Five players will make their debut in the A-group: the young Dutch grandmasters Jan Smeets and Daniel Stellwagen, the sensational Wang Yue from China, who climbed up to the 11th place on the latest world ranking list, the winner of Grandmastergroup B in 2008, Sergei Movsesian, and Leinier Dominguez from Cuba (ranked 21st on the FIDE October rating list).

Grandmastergroup B is stronger than ever, with an average rating of 2631. Remarkable names in this group include former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) former world championship challenger Nigel Short and former World Championship Candidate Henrique Mecking (Brazil).

In Grandmastergroup C former top player Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine) is one of the 14 participants. Romanishin won the recently held Cultural Village Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Young GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (Venezuela) qualified early November by winning the ICC Online Qualifier, while Manuel Bosboom (The Netherlands) and Frank Holzke (Germany) gained their places in the C-group by winning the two highest amateur events (nine-rounds-all-play-all) in January 2008. Besides, two more names are remarkable: the two Junior World Champions Abhijeet Gupta (boys under 20) and Dronavalli Harika (girls under 20) will participate. Harika and Gupta both represent India.

As from January 2009, the rate of play in Grandmaster groups A, B and C will change. The rate of play will be: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, followed by 15 minutes with 30 seconds per move increment to finish the game.

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

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee A-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009
No.	Name	Country	WRank	Rating	Born
1	Alexander Morozevich	RUS	2	2787	1977
2	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	3	2786	1969
3	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	4	2786	1990
4	Levon Aronian	ARM	7	2757	1982
5	Teimour Radjabov	AZE	8	2751	1987
6	Wang Yue	CHN	11	2736	1987
7	Michael Adams	ENG	12	2734	1971
8	Sergei Movsesian	SLW	13	2732	1978
9	Sergei Karjakin	UKR	15	2730	1990
10	Gata Kamsky	USA	16	2729	1974
11	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	21	2719	1983
12	Loek van Wely	NED		2618	1972
13	Daniel Stellwagen	NED		2605	1987
14	Jan Smeets	NED		2604	1985

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee B-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009 Average rating: 2631 Category: 16
No.	Ti	Name	Country	Rating	Born
1	GM	Krishnan Sasikiran	IND	2694	1981
2	GM	Zahar Efimenko	UKR	2680	1985
3	GM	Rustam Kasimdzhanov	UZB	2672	1979
4	GM	Alexander Motylev	RUS	2672	1979
5	GM	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2664	1982
6	GM	Andrei Volokitin	UKR	2659	1986
7	GM	Nigel Short	ENG	2642	1965
8	GM	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2640	1992
9	GM	David Navara	CZE	2633	1985
10	GM	Erwin L'Ami	NED	2610	1985
11	GM	Jan Werle	NED	2582	1984
12	WGM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2578	1994
13	GM	Henrique Mecking	BRA	2567	1952
14	GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2543	1972

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee C-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009 Average rating: 2512 Category: 11
No.	Ti	Name	Country	Rating	Born
1	GM	Wesley So	PHI	2610	1993
2	GM	David Howell	ENG	2593	1990
3	GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2580	1989
4	GM	Tiger Hillarp Persson	SWE	2543	1970
5	GM	Friso Nijboer	NED	2540	1965
6	GM	Eduardo Iturrizaga	VEN	2538	1989
7	IM	Manuel Leon Hoyos	MEX	2535	1989
8	GM	Oleg Romanishin	UKR	2532	1952
9	GM	Frank Holzke	GER	2524	1971
10	FM	Anish Giri	RUS	2466	1994
11	WGM	Dronavalli Harika	IND	2462	1991
12	IM	Roeland Pruijssers	NED	2458	1989
13	IM	Manuel Bosboom	NED	2416	1963
14	FM	Ali Bitalzadeh	NED	2370	1989

7th Nancy Chess Festival

The 7th International Chess Festival takes place in Nancy (France) 16th-22nd February 2009. It will be a category 13 with average elo over 2550 (with january-elo). With the indian number 3 Pentala Harikrishna, the french number 5 Christian Bauer, the young hope of Germany Georg Meier, and the numbers 2 and 3 under-20 in France : Edouard and Feller (born in 1990 and 1991)...

Players: GM Harikrishna, P 2659 India GM Tregubov, Pavel 2646 Russia GM Krasenkow, Michal 2624 Poland GM Bauer, Christian 2592 France GM Meier, Georg 2558 Germany IM Edouard, Romain 2531 France GM Feller, Sebastien 2526 France IM Gozzoli, Yannick 2503 France IM Brunner, Nicolas 2415 France IM Nezar, Mustapha 2399 France

The all Festival includes 14 closed tournaments (10 players each) for all levels of players. Web (in french and english) : http://echecs54.free.fr/

11th Hotel Hilton Basle

The 11th Hotel Hilton Basle chess meeting The Swiss Chess Tour 2009 traditional start in the Hilton Basle from January 1-4. Three tournaments, main tournament will be 1st Memorial Ivan Nemet. GM Ivan Nemet pass away December 16, 2007. Prizes: 1.500/1.200/800/600/500/400/2x300/2x250 CHF. Special prizes, 200 CHF for best Lady, junior (89-92) and schoolboy (1993). Enter fee 140 CHF; FM and juniors 70 CHF; GM & IM free. At the door 20 CHF. The other tournaments Amateur Open and Senior Open. Amateur Open (under 2000 rating) Prizes: 700/500/400/3x300/4x200 CHF. Enter fee: 120 CHF (junior 60). Senior Open 5 rounds: Prizes: 500/400/300/2x200 CHF. Enter fee: 100 CHF. Application at the door for all groups 20 CHF. Time-control for all tournaments 7 rounds, 2 hours for 40 moves + 30 minutes each. Closing dinner 70 CHF.

Open desk for registration at January 1st at 12; Round 1 start at 5 p.m. in all groups.

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+62+9654-650, fax +41+62+9654-651 E-mail event@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

Grand Slam Masters Final

The 2nd edition of the Grand Slam Masters Final will be played in Bilbao, September 2-15th 2009. The winners of Corus-Wijk aan Zee, Ciudad de Linares and Mtel Masters-Sofia tournaments will qualify directly for the Masters Final in Bilbao, where the first edition (played at a central square, inside a glass cube) was a very big success last September.

More details on the 2009 tournament (number of players, system of play, etc) will be announced at the end of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The Grand Slam is in negotiations to include one more high level tournament in the 2009 circuit.

Grand Slam Chess Association (GSCA)

Dresden, 23 November 2008

The 7th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival takes place from Tuesday 27 January to Thursday 5 February 2009 at the Caleta Hotel. Details: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2009/index.html

Austrian Team Championship

The Austrian team championship started in St Veit 7th-9th November 2008, the 11 round competition has further rounds 22nd-25th January and 19th-22nd March 2009. Players in the first three rounds included: Sergei Movsesian, Hikaru Nakamura, Emil Sutovsky, Jan Gustafsson and Alexander Beliavsky.

Official site: http://www.chess.at/ and results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr12353.aspx?art=2&lan=1&m=-1

Chess Study

Dr Robert Howard is making a study of rated chess players.

The full article: http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/results

If you would like to participate, please go to this website: http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/

For any queries, please contact Dr Robert Howard, University of New South Wales, on rwh@unsw.edu.au

Jose Marca Memorial

The III Open Internacional ITT Jose Marca Memorial takes place in 10th-18th Lima January 2009. Grandmasters Sergey Tiviakov, Julio Granda, Bartolomiej Macieja and Emilo Cordova compete.

Official site: http://www.peruchess.org

4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009. Rounds 3-4 took place 6th-7th December 2008 in the Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island. Next round 17th-18th January 2009.

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

Fixtures 2008-9

Rounds 1 and 2: 4th/5th October 2008 De Vere Venues, Sunningdale Divisions 1-2

Rounds 3-4: 6th/7th December 2008 Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island Divisions 1-3

Rounds 5-6: 17th/18th January 2009 De Vere Venues, Sunningdale Divisions 1-2

Rounds 7-8: 21st/22nd March 2009 Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island Divisions 1-3

Rounds 9-11: 2nd-4th May 2009 De Vere Venues, Staverton Park Divisions 1-2

Bundesliga

The Schachbundesliga season 2008/09 runs 3rd-5th October and runs until March 2009. 16 Teams compete with team rosters of 16-18 players but only eight play each weekend. There will be live coverage of all the games.

Dates: 4th-5th October 2008 25th-26th October 2008 29th-30th November 2008 12th-14th December 2008 (Here the official seventh round will be played. Although some will be played at other times) 31st January 2008 - 1st February 2009. 28th February - 1st March 2009. 28th-29th March 2009.

Official site of the Schachbundesliga (http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx) Further information (in German) and the entrance site for the live coverage: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx

European Youth U-16 winners Texas Scholarships

The University of Texas at Dallas (USA) has offered scholarships to the winners of the U-16 European Youth Chess Championships since 2007. The agreement with the European Chess Union has been extended for another three years. The total value of the scholarships during this five-year period will be approximately 1 million USD, said James A. Stallings, Director of the UTD chess program.

Interview on the ECU website: http://www.europechess.org/home518.aspx?art=ft

27th Elba Island Festival

The 27th International Chess Festival of Elba Island "Luigi Amalfi", takes place at the Hotel Lacona 10th-17th May 2009.

Details: http://www.tuscanhotels.it/en/cmsx.asp?IDPg=23

25th Bermuda Open

The 25th Bermuda Open takes place 30th January - 1st February 2008 at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton Resort on the South Shore with private tennis courts, golf course, beach, walking trails, ferry into Hamilton for duty-free shopping 5 round Swiss. Register & pay on site. For info contact Nigel Freeman at cadilly@northrock.bm or Carol Jarecki at carolj10280@yahoo.com

Icelandic Team Championship

Icelandic Team Champ 1st div first half took place 3rd-5th October 2008. The 2nd set of games are March 21st-22nd March 2009 if I understand the website correctly. A small number of games are available.

Official site: http://www.skaksamband.is/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5982&Itemid=499# and results: http://chess-results.com/tnr16443.aspx?tnr=16443&art=16&lan=2&flag=30&m=-1

Doeberl Cup and Sydney International 2009

The 2009 Doeberl Cup is in Canberra 9th-13th April 2009. See http://www.doeberlcup.com.au/

The 2009 Sydney International Open takes place 15th-19th April 2009. See http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?site=open

Free entry to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs.

Free accommodation for selected GMs and WGMs.

For further information, please contact Brian Jones info@chessaustralia.com.au

Czech Litomysl Chess Christmas

Czech Chess Christmas 2008 Litomysl (CZE) 26.12.2008-2.1.2009

10th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK = 750 EUR), 10 financial prizes redeemable by drawings, special conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme.

Contact: Proclient s.r.o., Jaroslav Fuksik, Svedska 3, 772 00 Olomouc, mobile: +420 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, web: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2008/

So - Torre Match 2009

14-year-old Wesley So and 56-year-old Eugene Torre play a 12 game match starting February 10, 2009 at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City. Two games each will be played in Quezon City, Davao and Iloilo, and if the match remains undecided, the protagonists will return to Quezon City and finish the match. A knockout game will be played if the duel ends up 6-6. The winner will take home P600,000 while the loser will earn P400,000.Another P100,000 goes to the winner of each provincial leg while the loser will get P50,000.

VI Transcarpathian Rapidtournament Chess Decyk

VI Transcarpathian Rapidtournament "Chess Decyk" Ukraine, Uzhgorod, 28-29.08.2008

Organizers of tournament: Chess Federation of Uzhgorod Organizational committee: B. Borshosh, A. Samoylenko, V. Prokopishin Place: Ukraine, Uzhgorod, Pub-museum "Deca u notaria", Gagarin street, 98 Also Traditional Beer blitz-tournament will take place in Pub-museum "Deca u notaria"! Phone: +380503723900, +380503179153, (+3803122) 2-25-87 E-mail: chessfeduzh@rambler.ru Details: http://www.chessfeduzh.narod.ru

Hungarian Chess Tournaments July 2008 - March 2009

1. 19th-28th of July 2008 KECSKEMET, IM-FM Berger tmt, org: Dr.Erdelyi, Tamas, e-mail: postmaster@caissa.t-online.hu Website: http://www.caissachessbooks.hu Usually also in the second half of the month IM tmt-s in Kecskemet. 100 km South-East from Budapest.

2. 2nd-14th of August, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM-IM-FM, GM-IM-FM round robins (BERGER), 9-13 games, GM-IM norm possibilities in Budapest, venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Falk Miksa Str.10. 2nd floor. Organisation: Nagy Laszlo, FIDE International Chess Organizer /NL/, E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net Website: http://www.firstsaturday.hu Phone-fax: +(361)-2632859, cellphone: +(36)-30-230-1914. From 12:00 a.m. until midnight - Central European Time = GMT+1.

3.16th-25th of August, IM-FM tmt, Kecskemet, org: Erdelyi

4.6th-18th of September GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L,

5.20th -29th September IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org Erdelyi

6.4th-16th of October, GM-IM-FM tmt, First Saturday Budapest, org.Nagy L.

7.18th-30th of October, SAKKAKADEMIA, GM-IM closed, org: WGM Csonkics, Tunde, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

8.18th-27th of October IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org Erdelyi.

9.1st-13th of November GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L.

10. 15th-23rd of November, Kecskemet, IM dr.Erdelyi.

11.14th-22nd of November Tenkes Kupa Open, Harkany, 300 km South-West from Budapest, 9 round Swiss, org: Ambrus Lajos, mobile: 36-30-851-4224 e-mail: info@baranyasakk.hu www.baranyasakk.hu

12.6th-18th of December GM-IM-FM tmt, First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L.

13.27th of Dec - 5th of January IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org: Erdelyi.

14.9th-17th of January, EVADNYITO Open 9 rounds Swiss, Budapest, org: IA FAZEKAS, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

15.23rd of January - 2nd of February, BALASSAGYARMAT WINTER, GM-IM closed, 100 km North from Budapest, Org: Nagy Laszlo, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

16.7th-19th of February, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM Budapest - org: Nagy Laszlo, www.firstsaturday.hu - info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

17.7th-19th of March, First Saturday, Budapest, GM-IM-FM, org Nagy L.

18.20th-28th of March, 25th BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy L. - e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

2nd Queenstown Chess Classic 2009

Queenstown Chess Classic takes place in Queenstown, South Island of New Zealand 15th-24th January 2009.

This will be the second such event, the first was held in Jan 2006.

The Tournament promoter is GM Murray Chandler. Over $50,000 (NZ) is being offered in prizes with additional prizes in the Rapid and Blitz events being held on January 25th-26th 2009.

Full details: http://www.queenstownchess.com

GM Boris Alterman's Chess Lessons

GM Boris Alterman has a blog with free chess lessons on it.

Website: http://chesslessons.wordpress.com/

FIDE Grand Prix Events

The line ups for the FIDE Grand Prix events have been announced. The top four players in the world, along with players such as Morozevich and Shirov are missing. It seems that in the case of Kramnik and Topalov that they believe that the event doesn't have big enough prize money (according to quotes in Chess Today). All this was more or less known beforehand. However the players who have signed up make this a very attractive and interesting series of events. The grand prix is organised by Global Chess which is headed by Bessel Kok.

Details: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1607

FIDE Grand Prix 2008-9
Surname	First Name	NAT	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	Ck	08	Criteria	WRk
Svidler	Peter	RUS	2763	2763	2763		2763		2763	4	2	Pres Nom	5
Mamedyarov	Shakhriyar	AZE	2760	2760		2760	2760		2760	4	2	Rating	6
Leko	Peter	HUN	2753			2753	2753	2753	2753	4	1	Rating	8
Ivanchuk	Vassily	UKR	2751		2751		2751	2751	2751	4	1	Rating	9
Aronian	Levon	ARM	2739		2739		2739	2739	2739	4	1	Rating	10
Gelfand	Boris	ISR	2737		2737		2737	2737	2737	4	1	Rating	11
Radjabov	Teimour	AZE	2735	2735	2735	2735	2735			4	3	Rating	12
Carlsen	Magnus	NOR	2733	2733		2733	2733		2733	4	2	Wcup	13
Karjakin	Sergey	UKR	2732	2732	2732		2732	2732		4	2	Wcup	14
Adams	Michael	ENG	2726	2726		2726		2726	2726	4	2	Reserve	16
Kamsky	Gata	USA	2726	2726	2726		2726	2726		4	2	Matches	15
Jakovenko	Dmitry	RUS	2720		2720	2720		2720	2720	4	2	Hcity	17
Cheparinov	Ivan	BUL	2713	2713	2713	2713			2713	4	3	Pres Nom	19
Grischuk	Alexander	RUS	2711	2711	2711	2711	2711			4	3	Reserve	21
Bacrot	Etienne	FRA	2700	2700		2700	2700	2700		4	2	Pres Nom	22
Wang	Yue	CHN	2698	2698	2698	2698		2698		4	3	Pres Nom	25
Inarkiev	Ernesto	RUS	2681	2681		2681		2681	2681	4	2	Hcity	34
Navara	David	CZE	2680	2680	2680			2680	2680	4	2	Hcity	37
Gashimov	Vugar	AZE	2665	2665	2665	2665		2665		4	3	Hcity	48
Pelletier	Yannick	SWZ	2600			2600	2600	2600	2600	4	1	Hcity	165
Al Modiahki	Mohamad	QTR	2569		2569	2569	2569		2569	4	2	Hcity	274
AVERAGE RATING				2715.9	2709.9	2697.4	2714.9	2707.7	2708.9
Player Count	21		2709.1	14	14	14	14	14	14	84	42

Event 1 April 20th - May 6th 2008, Baku, Azerbaijan
Event 2 July 30th - August 15th 2008, Sochi, Russia
Event 3 December 13th - 29th, 2008, Elista, Russia (Doha, Qatar withdrew)
Event 4 April 14th - 28th, 2009, Montreux, Switzerland
Event 5 August 8th - 24th, 2009, Elista, Russia
Event 6 December 7th - 23rd, 2009, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes Each Event
Place	EUR	Points
1	30,000	140 + 40 bonus
2	22,500	130 + 20
3	20,000	120 + 10
4	15,000	110
5	12,500	100
6	11,000	90
7	10,000	80
8	8,500	70
9	7,500	60
10	6,000	50
11	5,500	40
12	5,000	30
13	4,500	20
14	4,000	10

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes for Final Standings (Best three events)
Pl	Prize (Euros)
1st	75,000
2nd	50,000
3rd	40,000
4th	30,000
5th	25,000
6th	20,000
7th	18,000
8th	16,000
9th	14,000
10th	12,000

Etienne Bacrot's Website

Etienne Bacrot has a website at: http://www.chess22.fr/ with his analysis and news. Very worth while, especially when he's playing.

ICC and FICS client for mobile phones

Mats Luthman has written a program that connects to ICC and FICS, compatable with many modern mobile phones. I've been looking for something like this for a while for watching live tournaments if I'm out and about. Its a nice free solution, you can also play but I haven't tried that.

Website: http://www.luthman.nu/Mobi/Mobi.html