THE WEEK IN CHESS 810 17th May 2010 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, David Cohen, Miklos Orso, Anders Hansen, Mladen Zelic, Yochanan Afek, Jeroen Schuil, Adolivio Capece, Eddy Sibbing, Laszlo Nagy, Dimitris Skyrianoglou, Herman Van de Wynkele, Gujuan Tzu, George Mirijanian, Vovan Grabinsky and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Viswanathan Anand retained the World Chess Championship in Sofia by winning a tense final game against his challenger Veselin Topalov. I covered the event in detail on the main website so I don't want to go into too much detail again here. Anand has cemented his place in chess history, defending the world title is a big deal. Before winning the unified world title Anand had achieved everything a chess player could possibly want except the world title. Now he can look forward to pushing his way up the legends list with every successful defence. I felt sorry for Topalov (as I would Anand) at the end he really gave it all in a real battle for the title. As I said here before, I understand economic restraints, but it would have been nice to see four more games. I am relieved it didn't go to a rapid and blitz shootout.

It takes quite something for a World Title Match to get overshadowed in the chess world but the knock-down, drag-down bare knuckled fist fight for the nomination by the Russian Chess Federation for the FIDE Presidency between Anatoly Karpov and sitting President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov certainly comes close. Ilyumzhinov claims that Karpov's behaviour makes him unfit to be president. Whilst no-one can actually know what kind of job Karpov will eventually do, I'm left wondering what did Ilyumzhinov expect? Should Karpov have just let the President of the Russian Federation walk all over him? No-one is going to unseat Ilyumzhinov (who clearly wants to be FIDE President for life) without going to war, especially if even only a small fraction of what is said to have happened in previous elections involving Ilyumzhinov is true. I dread what is going to happen at the FIDE Congress. Some of us remember the 1994 FIDE Presidential Elections (Campomanes' last win) which saw threats to candidates and delegates alike. The fact that the final election is again in Russia again doesn't bring me a whole lot of hope. Karpov finally dropped the bomb today. I've been going on about the rules until I'm blue in the face. Presidential Candidates need to be nominated by their Federation (with the caveat that there always seems to be a way round these things, but the intention of the regulation is utterly clear, Presidents serve as representatives of their Federations, as do players, delegates, arbiters, everyone). Karpov today says Ilyumzhinov can't stand because Ilyumzhinov doesn't have the support of his Federation. With the chaos in the Russian Federation I think he's jumped the gun, it is extremely unclear who is actually empowered to nominate the FIDE Candidate (there is no such thing as a moral right, just the law in the end). I think all along this was the reason for the fight, if one of these two can eleminate the other before the FIDE Congress then that's obviously what they will do. My guess this is just the start of an ugly battle which will take place both in Khanty-Mansiysk at the FIDE Congress and almost inevitably in some court afterwards.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) World Championship Match Anand - Topalov

The World Chess Championship took place in Sofia, Bulgaria Saturday 24th April to 11th May 2010. Viswanathan Anand won a very hard fought match 6.5-5.5 against his challenger Veselin Topalov to retain his title. In the final game Topalov's quest for complications led to trouble and he couldn't recover from a bad blunder.

I don't have time to rehash here the extensive coverage on TWIC but there was detailed coverage at: http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/events/world-chess-championship-2010

Official site: http://www.anand-topalov.com/

3) FIDE Grand Prix Astrakhan

FIDE GP Astrakhan 2010 (Astrakhan RUS) Sun 9th May 2010 - Tue 25th May 2010

Grand Prix (14 players 13 Rds SRR Indiv TC:120m:60m:15m+30spm(61))

The top two in the Grand Prix standings qualify for the next FIDE Candidates cycle 2010-11. Levon Aronian has enough points to secure qualification so decided not to play this event.

Official site: http://astrakhan2010.fide.com/

4) US Championships Saint Louis

The 2010 US Championships take place in Saint Louis 13th-25th May 2010. Defending champion Hikaru Nakamura is the top seed ahead of Gata Kamsky and Alexander Onischuk.

Official site: http://saintlouischessclub.org/content/2010-us-championship

5) Max Euwe Matches

5 matches between experienced Grandmasters and Youngsters took place at the Max Euwe Centrum in Amsterdam 13th-16th May 2010. The top match was between Nigel Short and Anish Giri.

Nigel Short finally broke through in game three to take the lead 2.5-1.5 with a game to go. Short played a Veresov and a very sharp position emerged. However Giri blundered badly on move 14 and Short made no mistake. Giri leveled in the final game after Short's Chigorin Defence came under pressure almost right from the start although later there seemed to alternatives to break the bind, some of which might have been better than the game.

Other scores: Lubomir Ftacnik 3-1 Robin van Kampen, Yasser Seirawan 2.5-1.5 Benjamin Bok, Sebastian Siebrecht 2.5-1.5 Lisa Schut and Dennis de Vreugt 4-0 Anne Haast.

Official site: http://www.maxeuwe.nl/activiteiten/max-euwe-matches.html

5) European Chess Festival Lublin

The European Chess Festival takes place in Lublin 8th-18th May 2010.

Official site: http://www.lzszach.lublin.pl/arc2010/index.html

6) Bosna 2010

The 40th Bosna International took place 5th-14th May 2010. Wang Hao took first place with 23 points (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw) ahead of Zahar Efimenko and Viktor Bologan.

Official site: http://open2010.skbosna.ba

7) Parsvnath Commonwealth Championship

The Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship takes place in Dehli 10th-19th May 2010. 11 Rounds. 90 minutes with 30 seconds a move from move 1.

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

8) Somov Memorial

The VIII World's Youth Stars 2010 (Somov Memorial) takes place in Kirishi 9th-20th May 2010. Some of the best juniors play in this interesting annual event.

Official Site - Results

Somov Memorial (12 players 11 Rds SRR Indiv TC:90m+30spm(1))

9) Ivan Cvitanovic Memorial

The 15th Annual Tournament Father Ivan Cvitanovic Memorial took place 9th-15th May 2010 in Split (Croatia). Category 6 (Imre Hera jr, Sinisa Dtazic, Gyula Sax,...). Imre Hera Jr won the event with 7.5/9.

http://www.a1split.hr/index.html - Results - http://chess-results.com/tnr33784.aspx?lan=1

10) KNSB Final

The KNSB Cup final in the Netherlands took place on May 13th 2010. There were both semi-finals and finals. In the Semi-Finals the favourites HSG (Loek van Wely, Wouter Spoelman, Friso Nijboer and Henk Vedder) had to work hard to overcome LSG (Jan-Willem de Jong, Eelke Wiersma, Rudy van Wessel and Edwin van Haastert), this was tied 2-2, HSG went through after a blitz playoff. Stukkenjagers (Piece Hunters) from Tilburg (Herman Grooten, Mart Nabuurs, Jan Sprenger and Mark Haast) surprisingly beat hosts Homburg Apeldoorn (Stefan Kuipers, Sjef Rijnaarts, Armen Hachijan and Tom Meurs). In the final HSG won 3-1 against Stukkenjagers and LSG beat Apeldoorn 2.5-1.5.

My thanks to Jeroen Schuil for the games.

Short report on the Dutch Chess Federation Site

Host site: http://dnn.sgamersfoort.nl/

11) German Cup Team and Individual

The Final of the German Chess Cup (Deutsche Pokalmeisterschaften) for Teams and Individuals 2009-10 took place in Halle 13th-15th May 2010. OSG Baden-Baden won the Team event with a better board count (win on higher board) against SG Porz after they drew 2-2 in their match. Michael Strache won the individual event which seems to have been a Swiss System event (Details: http://www.chess-international.de/?p=767)

Details: http://www.schachbund.de/news/article.html?article_file=1273168744.txt - http://www.liveschach-schau.de/pokal/

12) Ashdod Retains the Israeli Title

Report by Yochanan Afek

The Israeli team champion Ashdod-Ilit defended successfully its national title following a highly tensed last round against the runners up from Beer-Sheva on Friday. Prior to the last round both teams were leading the field on 52 points each.

Here are the board results of the crucial match:

Following this 3:3 total score both teams tied for the first place, however omitting the Bonus points for team victories leaves Ashdod with better board points tie- break and thus the title remains in the southern port city. Rishon Letzion (with GMs Alterman, Kosashvily and Liss) finished third.

At the bottom an unexpected victory 5.5 : 1.5 of the young Porat team (3 brothers and sister Maya reinforced by IMs Jiry Jirka, Nathan Birnboim and Yochanan Afek) over Jerusalem sent the latter to the second division together with the second team of Ashdod and the third team of Beer-Sheva.

Final standings: Ashdod Ilit and Beer-Sheva 55 each; Rishon-Letzion 42.5; Hertzlya (GMs Psakhis, Zifroni, Soffer and Lev) 38; Beer-Sheva B (IMs Caspi and Nabati and GM Ma. Tseitlin) 37.5; Kfar-Saba ( GMs Rosenthalis, Lerner, An. Bikhovsky and Gershon) 37; Petakh-Tikva ( GMs Komarov and Gofshtein and Av. Bikhovsky) 35.5; Tel-Aviv (GMs Manor and Finkel) 34.5; Porat 32; Jerusalem (GMs Oleksienko, Rechlis and Murey) 31.5; Ashdod B (GMs Kantsler and Abargel) 29.5; Beer-Sheva F (GM Tunik) 21.

A game file with all available games is in the PGN section.

13) 4th All China Games

The 4th All China Games takes place in Hefei 17th-23rd May 2010, the capital city of Anhui Province. There is an 11 round rapid chess tournament as part of this event. It is proving a little impractical to read the results. I could not find a website for the games themselves. There was a report on Round 2 (http://games.sports.cn/chessorg/domesticnews/2010-05-17/2018180.html in Chinese). The games are live at: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html and I grabbed round 2. I couldn't find an archive (even at http://www.chende.net which has the results in Chinese as a download).

China's Chess Website: http://chess.sport.org.cn/

15) Ukrainian Championships

The Ukrainian Championship took place 3rd-11th May 2010. Sergey Pavlov edged out Vladimir Jakimov for first place on tie-break after both finished on 7.5/9. Anatoliy Polivanov finished half a point further back. There were none of the Ukraine's biggest stars.

Official site: http://www.ukrchess.org.ua/turnir/t226.html

16) Ukrainian Team Championships

The Ukrainian Team Championships take place 13th-20th May 2010. Website has games and results.

Official site: http://www.ukrchess.org.ua/turnir/t227.html

17) I Torneig Tancat Femeni De La Societat Coral Colon De Sabadell 2010

The I Tancat Women's tournament organised by the Societat Coral Colon takes place in Sabadell, Spain 14th-22nd May 2010

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr33979.aspx?lan=1

Official site may well be http://www.escacsvalldeltenes.cat/club/index.php but I couldn't connect.

18) Campionat Individual Absolut de Catalunya 2010

The Individual Championship of Catalunya takes place 15th-22nd May 2010. The event is a knockout, I will round up the games next week.

Official site: http://www.escacs.cat

Results: http://www.escacs.cat/competicions/absolu2010.htm

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr33758.aspx?lan=1

19) 12th Salou Open

The 12th Open took place 4th-12th May 2010. Sergey Fedorchuk took first place on tie-break from Valentin Iotov and Omar Almeida Quintana after all finshed on 7/9. No games available.

Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr33675.aspx

20) Flemish Championships

The Flemish Championship took place in Gent 13th-16th May 2010. Roel Hamblok took first place after a playoff from Maarten Larmuseau.

Official site: http://schaakfabriek.be/

21) Stuttgart State Championships

The Stuttgart Open International State Championships took place 13th-16th May 2010. Yuri Solodovnichenko took first place on tie-break from Vyacheslav Ikonnikov after both scored 6/7.

Official site: http://www.stuttgarter-stadtmeisterschaft.de/index.cgi?ID=Index

22) First Saturday May

The First Saturday May tournaments took place 1st-12th of May, Budapest.

Report: IM Miklos Orso Chief Arbiter

17 countries represented at First Saturday Budapest May.

A record number of countries gathered in Budapest for the First Saturday May events. Players from AUT, BLR, DEN, ENG, GER, HUN, LUX, MAS, NED, PER, RUS, SRB, SVK, SYR, RSA, USA, VIE were put in six groups of different level sections.

GM: Grandmasters showed great forms so neither candidates could achieve any title-norms. GM Kovalev Andrei (BLR) and former Hungarian Champion GM Varga Zoltan took the first two places and both remained unbeaten.

IM-A: To, Nhat Minh (HUN) had the most victories so his first place is fully deserved. Brustkern Juergen (GER) performed his second IM norm by 7.5 points scored after R10.

IM-B: IM Berczes Csaba (HUN) won the double Round-Robin group with strong finish. Brightest spot of this group was 13 year-old Csonka Balazs (HUN) winning 23.7 rating points in his first IM-group appearance.

13 year-old Csonka Balazs (HUN) came second in IM-B group

There were three sections with 26 participants fighting for FIDE-rating points. 17 year old girl Kantor Reka (SVK) won the FM-A sections ahead of 11 men opponents.

FM Letay Gyula (HUN) winner of the FM-B section increased his rating with 22.5 points. Hingst Silke (GER) won the FM-C section which group again brought tough battles between the youngest and oldest generations.

Next First Saturday event will start on 5th June.

Official site: http://www.firstsaturday.hu/

23) III Magistral Ciudad de Asuncion

The III Magistral Ciudad de Asuncion, "Copa Roggio chess tournament takes place in Asuncion, Paraguay, May 19th-29th 2010.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezciudaddeasuncion.com.py/

The organizer is Eng. Julio Ingolotti, Secretary-General of the Feparaj. Email: julioingolotti@gmail.com

24) 39th Canadian Junior Championship

FM Shiyam Thavandiran won the 39th Canadian Junior Championship held in Toronto April 30 - May 4, scoring 7/9. Thavandiran first won the title back in 2005!

My thanks to David Cohen for the games.

25) French League Top 16

The French League Top 16 saw the 2nd weekend of games 29th April - 2nd May 2010. Group A was in Marseilles and Group B in Mulhouse. After this weekend the top 4 in each group will go into Poule Haute (Top Group), the bottom 4 into Poule Basse. The teams that haven't met so far (each team will have already met three teams) in the competition will meet in the final rounds in Bretagne 3rd-6th June 2010.

Games from Round 7 of Group A still not available.

Time control 90mins for 40 moves, 30mins for the rest, 30 seconds per move from move one.

First weekend of games: 26th-28th March 2010. There are two initial groups, each with two venues. Group A took place in Vandoeuvre (Deauville, Drancy, Montpellier and Vandoeuvre) and in Evry (Evry, Noyon, Guingamp and Marseille Echecs). Group B took place in Chalons-en-Champagne (Cannes, Lyon, Strasbourg and Chalonnais) and Clichy (Metz, Mulhouse and Clichy-Echecs-92 (Bischwiller couldn't raise a team)).

French Chess Federation: http://www.echecs.asso.fr

Venue Links: http://www.lechiquier-chalonnais.com - http://www.clichy-echecs.org/ - http://www.evry-grandroque.com/ - http://www.vandoeuvre-echecs.com/ - http://marsechecs-top16.blogspot.com/ - http://www.philidor-mulhouse.net/ (who deserve praise for the clarity of presentation, you don't need French to understand where to find anything)

Compiled game files: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Tournois/2010/Equipes/2.pgn and http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Tournois/2010/Equipes/3.pgn.

26) Florencio Campomanes Memorial

The Florencio Campomanes Memorial takes place in Ankara, Turkey 17th-21st May 2010. Azer Mirzoev is the top rated player in one of two Scheveningen tournaments.

http://angora.tsf.org.tr/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/lang,turkish/

27) Lacona - Isle Of Elba

The Lacona Isle Of Elba took place May, 9th-16th 2010. Lexy Ortega took clear first with 8/9. No games available.

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

28) Eastern Maine Championship

George Mirijanian reports: The Eastern Maine Championship took place 15th-16th May 2010 at the Hollywood Slots Hotel in Bangor, Maine, USA. GM Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts clinched first place in the five-round Swiss tournament by winning four consecutive games and then withdrawing from the event to leave the other competitors to battle it out for the remaining prizes. The tournament was held in five sections and drew a total of 43 players. Kenneth Ballou, a U.S. Chess Federation-certified associate national TD from Framingham, Massachusetts, directed for the sponsoring Relyea Chess affiliate.

29) Chinese Events 2010

Gujuan Tzu sends new of events in China in 2010. At the moment if you don't grab the games live they have a tendency to disappear (although http://ccl.sports.cn/2010/news/2010-04-01/1995059.html does now seem to have the early rounds of the Chinese League). It would be nice to find one spot where the Chinese Federation archives all their games.

1. The 4th All China Games in cluding chess game in 17-23 May 2010 in Hefei, Anhui, China. 11 rounds rapid games, Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

2. Chinese Championships: in 23 May-4 June 2010 in Xinghua, Jiangsu, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

3. Chinese League A, Round 4-6, in 6-9 June 2010 in Shenzhan, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

4. The 1st Chinese GM Super Tournament in 10-20 June 2010 in Hainan, China. 10 players: Wang Hao 2722; Bu Xiangzhi 2682; Ni Hua 2667; Zhou Jianchao 2652; Li Chao b 2619; Hou Yifan 2589; Yu Yangyi 2585; Zhou Weiqi 2585; Zhao Jun 2575; Ding liren 2547. Prize fund: 500,000 yuan or 50,000€. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

5. Hou Yifan vs Kapov Match : 4-game and 4-rapid game in 9-15 July 2010 in Hainan, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

6. Asia Boys and Girls in 8-18 July 2010 in Beijing, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

7. Chinese League A Round 7-9 in 23-25 July 2010 in Shanghai, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

8. The 7th China vs Russia Match in 14-25 August 2010 in Ningbo, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

9. The 2nd Chess King and Queen Matches in 29 August-3 Sept. 2010 in Jiangzhou, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

10. Chinese League A Round 10-12 in 9-12 Sept. 2010 in Guangzhou, China. Live Games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

11. Chinese League A Round 13-15 in 10-13 October 2010 in Hangzhou, China. Live Games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

11. The 3rd Nanjing Super Chess Tournament in 18-28 October 2010 in Nanjing, China. 6 players, Official site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/2009/cn/index.htm

12. The second half of Bilbao Final Masters in 10-16 October 2010 in Shanghai, China. Official site: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/

13. Chinese League A Round 16-18 in 28-30 December 2010 in Beijing, China. Live Games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

Gujuan Tzu Website: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

30) Forthcoming Events and Links

18th annual Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

The 18th Annual Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament takes place at the classical Hipp Theater in central Malmo, for the thirteenth time. As last year, six players play a single round-robin tournament. Organised by the Limhamn Chess Club.

Official site: http://www.sigeman-chess.com

Ikaros Chess Festival (Aegean Open) 2010

The Ikaros Chess Festival 2010 is a traditional annual chess event which sees its 33rd consecutive edition on the picturesque island of Ikaria in Greece.

The main event of the festival, the International Aegean Open Championship, takes place from 13th-21st July 2010.

It is a 9 round swiss event with prize fund 3600 Euros in total (1st prize 1000 Euros, special money prizes for ladies and veterans). Special conditions are offered to GMs/IMs/WGMs/WIMs. Special discounts for families and club teams are also offered.

Apart from the Aegean Open, Ikaros Chess Festival 2010 also includes the 1st Mediterranean Rapid Team Tournament 2010 that will be a 5 round swiss event for 4-member teams coming from the countries of the Mediterranean Sea.

Detail: http://www.chess.gr/ikaros

E-mail is: ikaroschess@gmail.com (Mr. Ulysses Vazelakis) while participants can also call: (++30) 6947-829772 (Mr. Dimitris Kapagiannidis) or (++30) 6977-730286 (Mrs. Antzela Shiaka)

Grandcoach friends IM and CM Tournament

Two tournaments "Grandcoach friends IM and CM" take place June 18th-26th 2010 in Lviv, Ukraine. The tournaments will be held by round robin system with 10 participants. In IM tournament there will be norm of International Master, CM will be Fide rating calculated. To participate the tournament contact FIDE senior trainer Vladimir Grabinsky by email perfectchess@gmail.com

Official site: http://www.grandcoach.com. Also Read more about grandmasters Andrei Volokitin, Yuriy Kryvoruchko, Yaroslav Zherebukh, Yuri Vovk, Martyn Kravtsiv, their commented games, many photos, blogs at this website.

First Saturday June

There are still some vacancies for the First Saturday tournaments for 5th-15th June 2010.

Contact: Laszlo Nagy http://www.firstsaturday.hu - Mobile phone: +(36)-30-230-19-14 Office phone from 12:00 (noon) until 22:00 hour Central European Time: +(36)-1-263-28-59 E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

World Chess Tour Events

Tournaments, simuls and classes in Moscow.

Contact: Contact: Igor Glek, International Grandmaster, FIDE Trainer, Deputy Chairman of the RSUPES&T Chess Chair E-mail: worldchesstour@gmail.com Russia: (7)903-5593052, (Germany/World): (49)152-04014194

Web-site: http://www.chess-events.org

Guadeloupe tournament

The Guadeloupe tournament takes place 12th-13th June 2010.

Details: http://www.echecs-guadeloupe.com/

1st Marrakech International

The 1st Marrakech International takes place June 25th - July 1st 2010. 9 rounds - Swiss system - 75 min per player. · Registration : 50 Euros - Limited to 150 players · Registration at least (June 15th 2010)

Contact: Subscription from Morocco : inscription-maroc@callson.fr · Other subscriptions: inscription-international@callson.fr · Menara Chess Club : saidarif401@hotmail.com

Official site: http://www.callson.fr/chess/tournament.htm

4th International Ruy Lopez Festival

The 4th International Ruy Lopez Festival takes place in Villafranca de los Barros 11th-19th June 2010.

There will be encounters, simultaneous exhibitions, tournaments for young amateurs, conferences, a Masters tournament, an International Open, an essay competition, etc. a great number of activities in the Extremenan chess festival.

All under the co-ordination and organization of Linex-Magic Chess Club of Extremadura and the Ruy Lopez Association of Zafra.

Players: Malakhov, Cheparinov, Sargissian, Pia Cramling, Deisy Cori, Ivan Salgado, Caruana and Candelario.

Official site: http://ruylopez.juntaextremadura.net/modules/news/

Ontario International Chess Open, Toronto

Victoria Day weekend - 22, 23, 24 May, 2010.

Venue: http://www.918bathurst.com/

6 round Open: 6 sections + seniors, juniors, team

Cash-Prizes, Trophies, Free Refreshments, etc.

Televised coverage + press, media, internet, podcast.

Entry: $90; students: $60; seniors: $50 (also IM/FM).

GMs Free Entry + accommodation (for out-of-town)

Limit 200 players - FIDE & CFC Rated.

Simuls & sales - books, software, DVDs, DGT board.

Registration: tedwinick@rogers.com; (Sub: "Ontario Open")

Telephone Registration: 1-416-537-2299; 1-647-406-9179;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC8JiE76eaI

King's Gambit Tournament Lipetsk

The "King's Gambit" Chess Festival takes place in Lipetsk, Russia, June 22nd (arrival day) - July 1st, 2009. The festival consists of two round-robin tournaments (one with GM norm and one with IM norm) and an open for FIDE rating.

Opening ceremony: 2.30 p.m. on July 23, 1st round at 3 p.m. Festival director: Zimmerman, Yuri . Tel.: +7-4742-720064, or +7-980-250-4375. E-mail: zimmerman@lipetsk.ru.

News: http://www.obninskchess.ru/news/

4th ACP World Rapid Cup

The 4th ACP World Rapid Cup takes place 27th-29th May 2010. Sponsor Pivdenny. Knockout tournament The 4th ACP WRC will be a KO tournament. The time control will be 20 minutes per game with an increment of 5 seconds per move.

16 players: 13 grandmasters who performed best on the ACP Tour 2008/2009 + 3 Wild Cards given by the organizers.

Official site http://www.worldcup.pivdenny.com (currently not working)

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting

The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund takes place 15th - 25th July 2010. Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik is the top seed. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Peter Leko, Arkadij Naiditsch and the winner of the Aeroflot Open Le Quang Liem compete.

Official site: http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/2010/

27th BSG Pinkstertournament

The 27th BSG Pinkstertournament is held between Friday 21 and Monday 24 may in Bussum, the Netherlands. It is an FIDE-rated 7-round weekendtournament. The total prize fund is Euro 4.225. First place is Euro 1.250. Bussum lies central in the Netherlands, 30 km from both the centre of Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Official site: http://www.bsg-bussum.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123&Itemid=105

FISCA Chess Romania

International Chess Festival "FISCA 2010" Venue: Cap Aurora, on the Black Sea Coast Organiser: IO Mariana Ionita (vicepresident of Romanian Chess Federation and former champion of Romania) Period: 18-27 June 2010 There will be a main open for FIDE registered players, three tournaments for juniors (U8, U10, U12) and a solving tournament for all the categories. For children there are entertaining programs and an excursion to the historical places of Balchik.

Official site: http://sahaurora.blogspot.com

Contact: IO Mariana Ionita, tel.+40723.574.212 , mail: ionitamar@yahoo.com

2nd Limpedea Cup

The 2nd Limpedea Cup GM Norm Tournament takes place 23th May - 3rd June 2010.

Baia Mare Chess Club, in cooperation with Romanian Chess Federation and the local authorities, organizing at Limpedea Hostel in Baia Sprie (Maramures County), the second edition of Limpedea Cup, closed tournament with international guests.

Playing system : Round-robin, 12 players Playing time : 1h 30 min. for 40 moves + 30 min KO, with an addition of 30 sec./move from first move Arbiter: IA Radu Catalin Chirila Prizes : 5 prizes, in total amount of around 1500 Euro

Dombi Rudolf: +40742/659111 CSM President Pop Daniel: +40722/324803 CSM Vicepresident, owner of the Limpedea Hostel Bonte Andrei: +40741/167937

15th Pannonia-Nitrokemia Cup

The 15th Pannonia-Nitrokemia Cup takes place in Balatonalmadi 28th July - 1st August 2010.

Group A: International Open Tournament for FIDE ratings. Group B: International Open Tournament for FIDE ratings, but competitors over 2000 ELO points can't attend, and competitors under 18 years will be rated separately.

Swiss system chess competition with 7 rounds and without age limits

Venue: The air-conditioned Conference Hall of Pannonia Kulturalis Kozpont es Konyvtar Address: Balatonalmadi, Varoshaz Square 6.

Details: http://fancsyimi.fw.hu

Entry Address and further information Address: Fancsy Imre: 8222. Balatonalmadi, Gabor Aron utca 15. HUNGARY E-mail: almadikupa@freemail.hu

Kings Tournament Bazna

The 4th Kings tournament takes place in Bazna, Romania, Monday, June 14, 2010 - Friday, June 25, 2010. A very strong field including World Number One Magnus Carlsen competes.

Official opening 13 June 2010 with the drawing of lots, at 20 hours. Double round-robin system. The rounds are scheduled daily from 15.30 hours, except the last round which will be from 13.30 hours.

Time control: 120 minutes for the first forty moves, 60 minutes for the next twenty moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move. No draw agreement by the players are allowed before move 30.

The final standing of the players will be determined according to points. In case of sharing of places - the following criteria will be decisive for the tie-break: · A greater number of wins. · The result of the direct mini-matches between contenders. · Berger. · A tie-break match will be played in case of a tie for the first place in the tournament between the first two players in the final standing (according to points, or the additional criteria). The match will consist of two games with a time-control of 15 minutes per player + 3 seconds added for every move played. In case of a tie, another match of two blitz-games will be played with a time-control of 5 minutes per player + 3 seconds for every move played. In case of another tied result – there will be played a last "sudden-death" decisive game with a time-control 5 minutes for the whole game for the White-player and 4 minutes for the whole game for Black-player. The White-player will only need a victory in this game to win the tournament, whole the Black-player will win the tournament by just not losing that final decisive game.

Round 1 Monday, 14 June Rest day - Friday, 18 June and Wednesday, 23 June Final Round 10 Friday, 25 June

XXIII Ciudad De Leon

The XXIII Ciudad De Leon will take place 3rd-7th June 2010 in spite of the financial crisis.

Leon is one of the Spanish cities where chess is used more in education of children and the prevention of Alzheimer.

The 23rd edition sees Levon Aronian (Armenia), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Leinier Dominguez (Cuba) and Paco Vallejo (Spain) compete.

The tournament director Marcelino Sion highlighted what's new this year, during the presentation in Madrid: "Although a big majority of the top chess stars have played in Leon, Aronian, Gelfand and Leinier Dominguez are coming for the first time. Joining them will be Paco Vallejo, who has already earned a place in the elite". Sion also recalled that the live Internet broadcast of the 2009 final was followed by 60,000 people.

The three public sponsors emphasized different aspects of chess. Natalia Rodriguez, Councillor for Sports, said that Leon has already produced several Spanish champions among children, the Municipal School of Chess has more than 700 students, and first activities on chess and brain aging are developing successfully. Jose Maria Lopez, Deputy of Sports, stressed the great social utility of chess, especially for children, as demonstrated in the experience of various schools in the province. The County Council will host a lecture from Leontxo Garcia (chess against Alzheimer) on June 5 at the Institute of Culture. GM Miguel Illescas will give another lecture for young talents on June 2nd.

Alejandro Vaquera, Director of Sports at the University, said that chess is a form of culture, as well as an elite sport, which is why the University will sponsor, once again, a cycle of films about chess (30 May to 5 June) and an exhibition of simultaneous games of Aronian, 7 June. The two representatives of private companies (Manuel Alberto Gajate of Cajaduero, and Javier Martinez, Manager of Alsa) stressed the good image that chess is giving to the sponsors, because it is closely linked with intelligence.

Details: http://www.advancedchessleon.com

Eforie Chess Festival 2010

Eforie Chess Festival takes place 17th-27th June 2010.

Website http://www.clubulregilor.ro

Chinese Chess League Division A

The Chinese Chess League Division A takes place April 16th - December 30th 2010 in China. 10 teams compete in the Double Round-Robin event.

Time control: 1 hour 30 minutes for the whole game with an incremental time of 30 seconds per move.

Prize: 500,000 yuan or Euro 50,000.

The first 3 rounds took place in Ningbo city.

Official website : http://ccl.sports.cn/ - http://games.sports.cn/chessorg.ccl2010/index.html

The live games broadcast : http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

Archive of games should be here eventually: http://ccl.sports.cn/2010/news/2010-04-01/1995059.html

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr32818.aspx

Rounds 4-6 take place June 6th - June 9th 2010 in Shenzhen

Rounds 7-9 in July 23th - July 26th 2010 in Shanghai

Rounds 10-12 9th-11th Sept 2010 in Guangzhou

Rounds 13-15 in Oct. 10th-13th 2010

Round 16-18 in Dec. 28th-30th 2010 in Beijing.

Leading players: Wang Yue g CHN 2749; Wang Hao g CHN 2713; Alexander Motylev g RUS 2705; Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2682; Zhou Jianchao g CHN 2650; Li Chao b g CHN 2613; Zhang Pengxiang g CHN 2605; Zhou Weiqi g CHN 2585; Peng Xiaominn g CHN 2581; Zhao Jun g CHN 2575; Yu Yangyi g CHN 2574; Hou Yifan g CHN 2570; Ding Liren g CHN 2564; Wen Yang g CHN 2520; Li Shilong g CHN 2514; Xu Jun g CHN 2513; Liang Chong g CHN 2502; Ju Wenjun wg CHN 2500; Xiu Deshun CHN 2493; Zhao Xue g CHN 2490; Ruan Lufei wg CHN 2479; Xu Yuhua g CHN 2478; Zhu Chen g QAT 2476; Tan Zhongyi wg CHN 2464; Wu Shaobin g SIN 2453; Lin Chen CHN 2448; Liu Qingnan m CHN 2445; Shen Yang wg CHN 2444; Huang Qian wg CHN 2439; Zhang Xiaowen wg CHN 2437; Le Thanh Tu wg VIE 2318

Gujuan Tzu Blog is http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

11th Poikovsky Karpov Tournament

The 11th Poikovsky Karpov Tournament takes place 31st May to 14th June, 2010. The field has been expanded to 12 players. No finalised field available yet. Shirov isn't playing as wrongly reported last week.

No website yet but it may be something like http://www.admoil.ru/chess2010/index_chess_2010.htm

Women's Grand Prix 2009-10

The Women's Grand Prix series will see four more events in 2010.

The 4th Grand Prix will take place in Jermuk, Armenia, on 23rd June - 6th July 2010

The 5th Grand Prix will take place in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia, on 29 July - 12 August 2010

The 6th Grand Prix will take place in Santiago, Chile, on 27th October - 9th November 2010

The first Grand Prix was in Istanbul 5th-20th March 2009 and was won by Humpy Koneru. The 2nd Grand Prix was in Nanjing, China, 27th Sept - 9th October 2009 and was won by Xu Yuhua.

14th Voronezh International Chess Festival

The 14th Voronezh International Chess Festival takes place June 10th-21st 2010.

Official site: http://homes.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/

Royal Residence Cup IM

Royal Residence Cup IM takes place June 8th-16th 2010 in Zhovkva (25 km north of Lviv and 35 kilometers east of the Polish border).

Organisers: (Zhovkva Region Chess & Checkers Federation). Yuri Galkin and Yuri Vovk (International Grandmaster; responsible for participants invitation and contacts with invited players) and Anton Romashov.

Round robin system . The playing time will be 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. 12 players to participate in the tournament. All players are offered a comfortable rooms on villa(2-3 persons per room).Accommodation + 2 meals per day(breakfast + evening meal) costs 120 UAH(12,5 Euros) per person per day. Villa is not far from playing hall.

To participate the tournament please contact the responsible for contacts tournament director GM Yuri Vovk (English,Ukrainian,Russian languages ) via:

e-mail:wolfisthegreatestpredator@gmail.com
mobile phone:+380 673912027
skype:Imperator15chess
ICC: Imperator15
Playchess: JohnConnor
Facebook: Yuri Vovk

Women's Bundesliga

The Women's Bundesliga took place 7th November 2009 - 28th March 2010. USV Volksbank Ha took the title after beating OSG Baden Baden in Round 8. Games from the final two rounds not yet available.

Results: http://www.schachbund.de/SchachBL/bedh.php?liga=fb1

Games: http://www.schachbund.de/chronik/meister/dfmm/2010/index.html

Swiss Team Championships 2010

The Nationalliga A of Switzerland takes place 14th February - 7th November 2010. Round 2 games not yet available.

Dates: Round 1 (2010.02.14), Round 2 (2010.03.21), Round 3 (2010.04.25), Round 4 (2010.06.13), Round 5 (2010.06.27), Round 6 (2010.08.28), Round 7 (2010.08.29), Round 8 (2010.11.06) and Round 9 (2010.11.07).

Details

Mihajlo Savic Website

The international arbiter, FIDE master and international organizer, Mihajlo Savic, the author of the book Commentary on the Laws of chess, has launched a new column You ask, we answer at website: http://www.chessdiagonals.com

Chess Classic Mainz 2010

The 17th Chess Classic Mainz takes place 6th-8th August 2010. The festival has suffered from the general economic slowdown with the open taking the lead along with simuls.

The rapid chess open has been upgraded to the Grenke Rapid World Championship. The tenth edition of the Chess Classic in Mainz is sponsored by GRENKE Group, FiNet AG, Livingston GmbH, Hilton Mainz, Congress Centre Mainz, Stadtwerke Mainz AG and our Prime-Partners ChessBase, DGT and Schach Niggemann.

The prize fund for the rapid chess world championship is no less than Euro 30.000. Chess960 has to take a break for a year.

On the first day of the event, 6th August 2010, Anand will play a standard simul on 40 boards. On the same day, Alexandra Kosteniuk will play a 20-board Chess960 simul.

The Grenke Rapid World Championship will also be a treat for chess lovers: Levon Aronian, who is the current rapid chess world champion and the winner of the 2009 ORDIX Open, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, will play the open tournament to face a unique mixture of numerous world-class grandmasters and amateurs.

The Open will be played in the same established format as in the previous editions. On 7th-8th August 2010 11 rounds will be played, in which the time control is 20 minutes + 5 seconds per move.

Official site: http://www.chesstigers.de

45th Capablana Memorial

The 45th Capablanca Memorial takes place 9th-22nd June 2010. The Elite Group will see Vassily Ivanchuk who won the event three times in a row 2005-7 back alongside Evgeny Alekseev, Ian Nepomniatchi, Nigel Short and Leinier Dominguez and Lazaro Bruzon, the Cuban representatives.

Official site: http://www.capablanca.co.cu

Torino Rapid Open

Rapid Open - TORINO - June, 19 2010. TORINO open - June 20-27 2010 tournaments for women and for not rated players during the Italian Champioships the former capital of Italy prepares itself to celebrate the 150 years of unity of Italy http://www.scacchisticatorinese.it

Arvier (Aosta Valley) July

ARVIER (Aosta Valley) - July, 3-9 2010. 2nd Festival Francophone (open, 9 rounds) - http://www.scacchivda.com Free to all the players of the about 70 countries belonging to the "Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie" (OIF) http://www.francophonie.org Aosta Valley is one of the most famous touristic regions in Italy, very well known for its castles, food and wines

Arvier (Aosta Valley) - September

ARVIER (Aosta Valley) - September, 4-12 2010. 6th European Union championship (open, 9 rounds) - http://www.scacchivda.com Free to all the players of the countries belonging to European Union, plus players from Croatia, Fyrom and Turkey without the right to the title. Aosta Valley is one of the most famous touristic regions in Italy, very well known for its castles, food and wines

Livigno (Sondrio, Valtellina)

LIVIGNO (Sondrio, Valtellina) - September, 10-18 2010. Open A (players more than 2000 elo) Open B (players less than 2000 elo) Open C (players without elo) http://www.livignoscacchi.it - http://www.livigno.eu Livigno is very well known as touristic skying town. It is said "the little Tibet". A few km far there is the village of Trepalle at 2250 metres above sea level, the highest inhabited place of Europe!

Vitoria-Gasteiz Open

The Vitoria-Gasteiz Open takes place 26th July 2010 - 1st August 2010.

Details: http://sites.google.com/site/openvitoriagasteiz2010/Home/bases-del-torneo-1

Victor Mikhalevski Website

GM, author and coach Victor Mikhalevski has launched a new website at: http://vmikhalevski.webs.com/

33nd Taminco Open

33nd Taminco Open International Chess Tournament Gent (Belgium) takes place 17th-21st July 2010, 9 rounds Swiss, two hours KO chess, prize money 6875 Euros for 300 participants, first price 1800 Euros Guaranteed This traditional open tournament takes place near the center of the medieval town of Gent in the week of the famous annual Gent festivities. Organisers Royal Gent Chessclub (KGSRL).

Information and registration: http://www.kgsrl.be

Email: open2010@kgsrl.be

Info Gent annual festivities: http://www.gentsefeesten.be/

7th Knokke International Open

The 7th Knokke International Open takes place August 26th-29th 2010, consisting of 7 rounds "Swiss system" - 2 hours K.O.

Prize fund for a total amount of 3.730 Euros (increased by 1000 Euro this year)

Official site: http://www.knokkeschaak.be

email: knokkeschaak@knokkeschaak.be

11th World University Chess Championship

Zurich hosts the World University Chess Championship 2010 5th-11th September 2010. The Academic Chess Club Reti, which is organising the event, is expecting that up to 150 participants from over 25 countries will enter the contest, to be held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Many international masters and grandmasters between 18 and 28 years of age will fight for individual and team medals. The tournament will comprise nine rounds and will be played in accordance with the Swiss System.

The World University Chess Championship is held under the auspices of the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU). The organising club, the Academic Chess Club Reti in Zurich, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year. It is one of the four largest clubs in Zurich and has an ambitious team in the Swiss League. In 2009 many of the greatest champions and legends in the history of the game participated in the Zurich Chess Club’s 200-year jubilee. This year, some of the strongest champions of the future will be in Zurich.

Official site: http://www.wucc2010.ch

WUCC 2010 is an event of the FISU: http://www.fisu.net

1st Vaujany International Chess Festival

The 1st Vaujany International Chess Festival takes place July 10th-18th 2010.

Details: http://promoechecs.free.fr/

XXX Villa de Benasque Open

The XXX Open Internacional "Villa de Benasque" takes place 8th-17th July 2010.

Official site: http;//www.openbenasque.com

Canadian Open Chess Championship 2010

The traditional Canadian Open Chess Championship takes place 10th-18th July, in Westin Harbour Castle, Downtown Toronto, Ontario. This year's event is a 9-round one-game-per-day single-section Swiss with a guaranteed prize fund of at least C$ 30,000. Additional side events will be included like Speed Chess Championship, GM simuls, and lectures, etc. Grandmasters E. Rozentalis, A. Shabalov, and J. Friedel have already confirmed their participation.

Contacts: Michael Barron ( barron045@yahoo.com ) and Brian Fiedler (fiedlerbrian@yahoo.com.au )

Registration form and more information is available at http://www.chess.ca/canopen.shtml, and http://www.monroi.com.

Hungarian Tournaments March - October 2010

The list of the HUN GM-IM norm and Open chess tournaments from March until October 2010:

1. 6th-18th of March, FIRST SATURDAY (FS) GM-IM-rating Budapest, Org: Nagy Laszlo, http://www.firstsaturday.hu

2. 19th-28th of March, 26th Budapest Spring Festival, 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy Laszlo

3. 19th-27th of March IM + rating CAISSA Kecskemet (85 km from Budapest), Org: Dr.Erdelyi, http://www.caissachessbooks.com

4. 3rd-16th of April FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-rating Budapest, org: Nagy L,

5. 17th-25th of April, CAISSA Kecskemet, IM + rating, org: Erdelyi,

6. 1st-13th May, FIRST SATURDAY, Budapest, GM-IM-rating - org: Nagy L,

7. 14th-22nd May CAISSA Kecskemet IM + rating, org: Erdelyi,

8. 26th May-3rd June ZALAKAROS open, org: IM Horvath, Tamas, http://www.csutisk.hu,

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

10.19th-27h June, Balaton Open, HEVÍZ, GM-IM, org: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@t-online.hu

11.19th-27th June, CAISSA Kecskemet, IM + rating, Org: Erdelyi,

12.3rd-15th July, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest, GM+IM+rating, org: Nagy L,

13.17th-25th July, CAISSA Kecskemet, GM+IM+rating, org: Erdelyi,

14.27th July-4th August, GM-IM + Open, Szombathely (250 km West from Budapest), org: Csonka, Attila, e-mail: attila.csonka@lamived.hu

15.7th-19th August, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM+IM+rating, org: Nagy L

16.21st-29th August, CAISSA Kecskemet, GM+IM+rating, org: Erdelyi

17.4th-16th Sept, FIRST SATURDAY GM+IM+rating Budapest, org: Nagy L

18.17th-25th Sept CAISSA Kecskemet IM+rating, org: Erdelyi.

8th Davos Open

The 8th Davos Open takes place August, 8th-14th 2010, in the Hotel "Sunstar". Sinisa Joksic will organise the event which he hopes to be an old fashioned friendly tournament.

All information at: http://www.sinchess.com/davos

XXIII Leon Tournament 2010

The XXIII Leon Tournament takes place 3rd-7th June 2010. Levon Aronian, Boris Gelfand, Lenier Dominguez Perez and Francisco Vallejo Pons play in the knockout event. Each match will be played the best of four games (20 minutes per player + 10 seconds increment after each move). However, all four games will be played, even if the match winner has been already decided. If the result after four games is 2-2, a five minute games tiebreak match will be played immediately after the fourth normal game.

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

Aosta Valley

Championship of Francophone countries, July 3th-10th 2010.

UE Championship, September 4th-12th 2010.

Official site: http:\\www.scacchivda.com

Chess Summer in Varna 2010

V European OPEN Chess ClubTeams Championship and the VII European OPEN Festival "The Hopes of the World" - for school champions and IV International Open Chess Festival Varna takes place 11th-21st and 22nd-29th June 2010 in "Grand Hotel Varna", located in the Black Sea resort named "St. Constantine and Elena", 8 kilometers away from the city of Varna, Bulgaria.

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

XXVIII Andorra International Chess Open

The XXVIII Andorra International Chess Open takes place 17th-25th July 2010. Prizes: 10.000 Euros / 1st Prize: 2.100 Euros

Details: http://www.escacsandorra.com

Contact: open@escacsandorra.com - FEVA - Tel/Fax: 00.376.824465

Czech Tour 2010-11

The 10th International Chess Festivals Series Czech Tour 2010-11 has the following preliminary list. (Subject to small changes.)

1st HRADEC KRALOVE OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 15th-22nd May 2010.

21st CZECH OPEN - Pardubice (European Youth Chess Teams Championship, European Amateurs Championship, GM open taken in ACP-TOUR, 4 FIDE opens, Open Championship of the Czech Republic in active chess taken in ACP-TOUR, Open Championship of the Czech Republic of 4-member teams, in blitz marathon, bughouse and Fischerandom chess, problem solving competition, blitz tournaments for individuals, pairs and teams, pairs active chess, youth tournament etc.). 15th July - 1st August 2010. http://www.czechopen.net

13th OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER - Olomouc (FIDE open, closed GM and IM tournaments, seniors tournament, active chess, blitz chess tournament). 4th-12th August 2010.

9th Georgiev's and Kesarovsky´s Memorial - Sunny Beach, Bulgaria (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 28th August - 5th September 2010.

7th HIGHLANDS OPEN - Zdar nad Sazavou (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 25th September - 2nd October 2010.

11th LIBEREC OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 23rd-30th October 2010.

1st BRNO OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 14th-20th November 2010

4th SOUTH BOHEMIA OPEN - Cesky Krumlov (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 21st-27th November 2010.

2nd PILSNER OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament).4th-11th December 2010.

10th PRAGUE OPEN (2 FIDE opens, one of them with IM norm, active chess, blitz tournament). 7th-14th January 2011.

10th MARIENBAD OPEN (FIDE open, closed GM and IM tournaments, active chess, blitz tournament). 15th-22nd January 2011.

2nd NOVY BOR OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 12th-19th February 2011.

More detailed information: AVE-KONTAKT s.r.o., Sukova 1556, 530 02 Pardubice, Czech Republic tel./fax + 420 466 535 200, mobile phone + 420 608 203 007 e-mail: j.mazuch@avekont.cz

http://www.czechtour.net

24th Pula Open 2010

The 24th International Chess Tournament "Pula Open 2010" takes place 19th-26th June 2010 in Hotel Histria, Pula, Croatia. Swiss system 9 rounds, 90 minutes + 30 seconds per every move (from the beginning of the game). Prize fund is 11 000 EUR net (in Croatian kunas). There are 53 prizes in total. The prizes are not cumulative. Entry fee is 50 EUR but players younger that 18 years pay 25 EUR and IM-s and GM-s do not pay. Last year 295 players from 25 counties participated.

Details: http://www.skpula.hr

E-mail: pulaopen@gmail.com

You can also contact the tournament director Mr. Denis Vretenar: +385/ 91/ 5268340

9th Czech Tour 2009/2010

13-20.2. 2010 1st NOVY BOR OPEN (the Prazak Grandhotel) http://www.czechtour.net/novy-bor-open/

8.-15.1. 2010 9th PRAGUE OPEN (TOP HOTEL Praha) http://www.czechtour.net/prague-open/

16.-23.1. 2010 9th MARIENBAD OPEN (the Kossuth hotel) http://www.czechtour.net/marienbad-open/

Dates of the first tournaments of the 10th jubilee CZECH TOUR 2010 / 2011 Series:

15.-22.5. 2010 1st HRADEC KRALOVE OPEN (the Cernigov hotel)

15.7.-1.8. 2010 21st CZECH OPEN (Pardubice, CEZ Arena)

4.-12.8. 2010 13th OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER (the Sigma hotel)

Official site: http://www.czechtour.net/news/

International Correspondence Chess Federation

The International Correspondence Chess Federation has announced the Preliminary Sections of the World Correspondence Chess Championship will start on March 10th. 2010.

Also Slovenia's 15 Years Membership of ICCF tournament semi-finals.

Details on the ICCF Official site: http://www.iccf.com/content/index.php

FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship

FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship - an Official FIDE World Chess Championship! 9R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. Holiday Inn Hotel: 5300 W Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.679.8900. $20,000 Guaranteed. Open to players with no FIDE title and rated under 2000 FIDE. All players compete in a single section. Please see tournament website for more detailed rating regulations.

Prizes: Overall: $3000-2000-1600-1400; Top Women: $1000-600-400-200; (1799-1600): $1000-600-400-200; (1599-1400): $1000-600-400-200; (U1400): $1000-600-400-200; (Unrated): $1000-600-400-200;

EF: $120 by 6pm 02/15, $150 by 6pm 03/15; $200 thereafter and onsite. No re-entries allowed. No half-point byes allowed (zero point byes only). Onsite registration from 3-5pm 03/19.

Rds: 3/19 - 6:30pm; 3/20-21 - 12pm and 6:30pm per day; 3/22-25 - 6:30pm per night.

Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to) 4957 Oakton Street, Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077.

More information and online registration available at: http://www.worldchesschamps.com. Questions via email only: sevan@worldchesschamps.com

South Lakes Congress

The South Lakes Congress is taking place on w/e of 11-13th June 2010 at The Grand Hotel, Grange-over-Sands. The contact for the event is: Trevor Blower, 18 Blackbutts Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 3AP. email: trevor.blower@talktalk.net, Phone No 01229 472100.

Mundial Chess Internet Tournament

The organising Committee Mundial Chess invites all the players (from the amateurs to Grandmasters) to take part in the 1st Internet tournament with the prize fund of more than 130.000 EUR in cash and many special prizes. The 1st prize in the main tournament will be not less than 10.000 EUR.

Registration (and information in English) in the tournament is possible following the link - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/en/zvfdxt6 Registration and information in Spanish - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/es/zvfdxt6 Registration and information in Russian - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/ru/zvfdxt6

Ajedrez 21 English site

Ajedrez 21 now has an English site: http://www.ajedrez21.com/en/

Kingpin Magazine

The humourous and satirical chess magazine Kingpin has a new website.

New website address: http://www.kingpinchess.net

Historical Elo Ratings

http://www.shakki.net/history/elotop.htm has a list of historical top ten FIDE lists. The text is in Finnish but is understandable anyhow.

European Union Website

The European Chess Union Website ECU website has changed address to http://www.europechess.org

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