THE WEEK IN CHESS 815 21st June 2010 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Miklos Orso, Adolivio Capece, Gujuan Tzu, Luis Blasco de la Cruz, Emmanuel Variniac, Patricia Claros Aguilar, Yuri Vovk, Janos Rigo, Mitko Iliev and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Magnus Carlsen has just won his fourth game in a row to take a one point lead over Boris Gelfand in the Kings Tournament in Medias. Carlsen's play has seemed a bit experimental and been very risky, especially against Ponomariov where he must surely have been lost. Carlsen is just terribly difficult to play over the board and he has great confidence in his own abilities, it is one of the things that makes him a big star of the game. Ivan Cheparinov won the Ruy Lopez Festival with a fantastic 6/7. Vassily Ivanchuk won the Capablanca Memorial for the fourth time. There was plenty of exciting chess there and the web coverage was the best ever from Cuba where gamescores have sometimes been difficult to come by. Jan Smeets won the Dutch Championship by half a point from Anish Giri. Giri apparently cut himself accidently in Round 7 and then lost in round 8 to Loek van Wely. There was also controversy as two of the rounds were postponed to miss clashing with the Dutch matches in the world cup. Loek van Wely was allowed to postpone his round 2 game to go and play in a team blitz event in Germany and then he had a very strange game in Round 4 where he was part of an experiment to test his reactions to the game by being wired up. His opponent Benjamin Bok had other ideas and repeated the position, thus ruining the idea of the experiment, Van Wely saw no way out and the pair repeated moves from move 13 to 37 before someone decided to put an end to it. Hans Ree was less than amused all these things were less than respectful, but I guess it will get lines in the press it wouldn't normally have got. The busy summer season is underway and there is plenty of chess elsewhere.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Kings Tournament Medias

The 4th Kings tournament takes place in Medias, Romania, Monday, June 14, 2010 - Friday, June 25, 2010. Play starts at 1:30pm UK time each day except for the final round which is at 11:30am.

The players will be staying in Bazna where the tournament was held before and there is the possibility that the tournament will move there in later rounds.

Round 1: Magnus Carlsen's aggressive intent on the white side of a Catalan was countered well by Ruslan Ponomariov. They agreed a draw on move 31 when it was clear Carlsen didn't have an advantage. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu defeated Teimour Radjabov on the white side of a Sicilian. Radjabov played aggressively and suddenly his position got difficult and then just fell apart. Boris Gelfand beat Wang Yue after outplaying him in a locked position with plenty of maneuvering.

Round 2 saw all the games drawn. Carlsen pressed with very little against Radjabov.

Round 3: Carlsen's rather crude 13.f4 never looked likely to trouble Gelfand, whether this was merely the best option after his opening preparation failed or a misjudgment is unclear but he had to exercise care to get his draw. Nisipeanu - Wang Yue finished in a draw by repetition. Radjabov converted a significant advantage he got on the black side of a King's Indian against Pononariov in the final game to finish.

There were three white winners in Round 4. Radjabov found a way through Gelfand's Petroff, Ponomariov beat Nisipeanu's Blumenfeld and finally Magnus Carlsen won with the King's Gambit against Wang Yue although it wasn't a particularly spectacular win it was an impressive display.

Magnus Carlsen took the lead at the half way stage when he beat Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu on the black side of a Sicilian Dragon. Boris Gelfand beat Ruslan Ponomariov to catch Teimour Radjamov in 2nd place.

Magnus Carlsen extended his lead to a point with 4.5/6 when he scored a very risky win against Ponomariov in a King's Indian Saemisch.

Round 7: Carlsen squeezed a fourth win in a row. This time he ground down Teimour Radjamov in a double rook ending to move further ahead.

The final standing of the players will be determined according to points. then greatest 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.

3) 45th Capablanca Memorial

The 45th Capablanca Memorial took place in Havana, Cuba 9th-22nd June 2010. Vassily Ivanchuk had won the event three times in a row 2005-7, returned to the Elite Group alongside Evgeny Alekseev, Ian Nepomniatchi, Nigel Short and Leinier Dominguez and Lazaro Bruzon. Vassily Ivanchuk beat Nigel Short in Round 1 and Evgeny Alekseev in Round 2. All three games were drawn in Round 3. Nigel Short got back to a 50% score with a sacrificial win over Evgeny Alekseev in Round 4. Round 5 saw Ivanchuk defeat Nepomniachtchi and Short move into clear 2nd place with a win over Bruzon on the black side of a MacCutcheon French. In Round 8 Ian Nepomniachtchi found a difficult sacrificial idea against Nigel Short and won a crushing victory to move within half a point of the leader Vassily Ivanchuk. Round 9 Ivanchuk won with black against Bruzon to take a full point lead over Nepomniachtchi into the final round. Ivanchuk secured first place for the 4th time with a draw against Nepomniachtchi who finished second. Dominguez and Short both won in the final round and shared 3rd place.

Games from the final round of the Premier Group and the last two rounds of the open are not yet available.

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

4) 4th International Ruy Lopez Festival

The Ruy Lopez Chess Festival 2010 took place 11th-19th June 2010 in Villafranca de los Barros, Spain. Ivan Cheparinov scored a fantastic 6/7 to win by a point and a half from the rest of the field.

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

5) 1st Danzhou Tournament

The 1st Danzhou Tournament took place in Danzhou City, Hainan province, China. Bu Xiangzhi took first place on tie-break from Li Chao. Bu drew his final game and Li beat Yu Yangyi in the final round. Ni Hua had a bit of a catastrophe finishing dead last.

http://chess.sport.org.cn/danzhou/

6) Dutch Championships

The Dutch Championships took place in Eindhoven 11th-20th June 2010. Top seed Jan Smeets secured victory with a three move draw in the final round. He finished half a point clear of rising star Anish Giri whose chances to win were finally finished by a loss to Loek van Wely in Round 8. Sipke Ernst held Van Wely to secure 3rd place.

Official site: http://nk.schaakbond.nl/

7) First Saturday June 2010

The First Saturday June tournaments took place 5th-15th June 2010, Budapest. Imre Balog achieved his 2nd GM norm in winning the top group.

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

8) 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 the IV International Open Chess Festival in 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.

Davit Jojua edged out Vladimir Georgiev and Pavel Dimitrov on tie-break in the Open after both finished on 7/9.

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

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr35100.aspx

9) French Cup

The French Cup final will be between Metz Fischer and Evry Grand Roque on June 27th. The Quarter and Semi-Finals of the competition took place over the weekend of 12th-13th June 2010 in Noyon and Marseilles. Only one match each day was broadcast from Marseilles. I now have the games from Noyon, just missing games from one of the ties from Marseilles.

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

10) 24th Pula Open 2010

The 24th International Chess Tournament "Pula Open 2010" takes place 19th-26th June 2010 in Hotel Histria, Pula, Croatia.Borki Predojevic is the top seed. 283 registered players from 23 countries. There are also 63 titled players of which 12 are GM, 1WGM and 15 IM. Live coverage of the games is available.

Official site: http://www.skpula.hr

Results: http://chess-results.com/Tnr34498.aspx

11) Teplice Open

The Teplice Open took place 12th-20th June 2010. Jan Bernasek edged out Alexandre Dgebuadze on tie-break after both finished on 7/9.

Official site: http://www.openteplice.cz

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr31478.aspx

12) 32nd Nezhmetdinov Memorial

The 32nd Nezhmetdinov Memorial took place in Kazan 31st May - 7th June 2010. Viacheslav Zakhartsov won with 7.5/9. Games now available.

Official site: http://tatchess.ucoz.ru/

13) 14th Voronezh International Chess Festival

The 14th Voronezh International Chess Festival took place June 10th-21st 2010.Aleksandr Rakhmanov edged out Denis Khismatullin on tie-break after both finished on 7/9.

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

14) XXVIII Balaton International Chess Festival

The XXVIII Balaton International Chess Festival takes place in Heviz 19th-27th June 2010. GM I Group sees Kamil Miton, Oleg Romanishin, Pablo Lafuente and Richard Rapport compete. Results, photos and live coverage on the official site. There are other tournaments alongside.

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

15) 3rd Sveins Memorial

3rd Sveins Memorial takes place in Oslo 18th-22nd June 2010. 9 Round Swiss. I will round up the games next week.

http://sveins3minneturnering.blogspot.com/

16) Eforie International Chess Festival 2010

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

Official site: http://www.clubulregilor.ro/

17) Aberto do Brasil

Aberto do Brasil took place in Etapa Fortaleza 3rd-6th June 2010. Rafael Leitao edged out Reis Paulo Jatoba De Oliveira and Darcy Lima on tie-break after all finished with 6/7. I've done my best with the games.

Official site: http://www.aeecxadrez.com.br/

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr34706.aspx

18) Royal Residence Cup IM

The Royal Residence Cup IM tournament took place June 8th-16th 2010 in Zhovkva (25 km north of Lviv and 35 kilometers east of the Polish border). News: Yuri Vovk.

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.

Time control 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

Details: http://www.grandcoach.com/en/students/11/blog/25/

19) Forthcoming Events and Links

IX Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Benidorm 2010

The IX Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Benidorm 2010 takes place 3rd-12th December 2010.

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

Entries: info@ajedrezenelbali.com

Information: festivaldebenidorm@gmail.com

Geller Memorial 2010

The 6th Efim Geller Memorial (Open) will take place in Odessa, Ukraine on 21-29 August 2010 (Open A, Open B), the children's open will take place on 16-19 August. There also will be a blitz tournament on 30 August.

Details in Russian: http://chessportal.od.ua/news.php?extend.758.10

Contact with organisers: chess@te.net.ua

X Savaria Summer Chess Festival

X Savaria Summer Chess Festival 27.07.2010.- 04.08.2010. Szombathely, Hungary GM,IM Round-Rubin, Open A,B,C Group Contact: Csonka Attila attila_csonka@hotmail.com

Details: http://chess-results.com/Tnr31363.aspx?lan=1

Asian Junior Chess Championship

The Asian Junior Chess Championship starts June 14th 2010.

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

London Chess Classic 2010

Viswanathan Anand will become the first reigning world chess champion to play in a major tournament in London since Anatoly Karpov in 1984 when he joins the eight-player field for the second London Chess Classic, which runs from 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre.

Alongside him will be World Number one Magnus Carlsen, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, US number one Hikaru Nakamura and the top four English players Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell.

IM Malcolm Pein is back as tournament director.

Vishy Anand is the one change from the stellar field which brought spectators flocking to London to watch elite chess in December 2009. The great Indian player, who will turn 41 during the tournament, recently retained his title as the undisputed champion of the world by defeating Veselin Topalov in the latter’s home city of Sofia, Bulgaria. In London he will meet his immediate predecessor as champion, Vladimir Kramnik, 36, of Russia, and also the young man who is currently riding high as the world’s highest rated player and widely tipped to be Anand’s next challenger – Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who will be 20 by the time the tournament starts.

London is thus privileged to witness a clash of the past, present and likely future chess champions. At the time of writing Carlsen is world number one on the FIDE (World Chess Federation) Rating List, Kramnik is number three and Anand number four. Looking forward, London is also bidding to host the 2012 World Championship title match, so Anand’s clashes with Carlsen and Kramnik could well be a preview of what happens in London’s Olympic year.

Five more players make up the field of eight, all of whom played in the exciting 2009 event. Each one earned his place for his fighting play last year. The fourth non-British player is Hikaru Nakamura, USA, who will turn 23 during the London event. The American is known as the ‘H-Bomb’ for his explosive and totally uncompromising style of play. He has won the US Championship twice and also won major events in San Sebastian and Gibraltar in the past couple of years. He is improving all the time and can be expected to press hard for wins against the leading trio of players.

England has an established quartet of elite players and all four will be playing in London. Michael Adams, 39, from Cornwall, has recently wrested back his position as England number one and he spent a number of years as the world number four. He is fresh from winning the prestigious Gibraltar International. Nigel Short, 45, became a chess legend when he broke the Kasparov-Karpov strangehold on world title matches, beating Anatoly Karpov on the way to a title match with Garry Kasparov in 1993. He is still one of the most entertaining players on the circuit – and not to be missed in the commentary room after the game! Luke McShane, 26, started a financial career after university but couldn’t resist the lure of the international chess scene. He is now re-establishing his status as one of the most talented of the world’s young grandmasters. David Howell, 20 in November, had a sensational elite tournament debut in this event last year when he finished third behind Carlsen and Kramnik. He had recently won the British Championship by a handsome margin and has subsequently shared first at Hastings and won the British Rapidplay Championship for the second year in succession. Tournament Line-Up

For more information and to buy tickets to The London Chess Classic, please go to www.londonchessclassic.com Tickets will go on sale in July.

For further information please call:

Malcolm Pein

Tournament Director, London Chess Classic

T: 020 7388 2404

E: info@chess.co.uk

Chinese Chess League Division A

The Youngor 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

14th Unive Tournament

The 14th Unive Tournament takes place in Hoogeveen, Netherlands Fri 22nd - Sat 30th Oct 2010.

The 4 player double round robin sees Alexei Shirov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri and Sergei Tiviakov compete.

There is an open alongside for which entry is invited on the official site. Both events don't have a rest day in order to accommodate travel to Bulgaria for the European Club Cup.

(4 players 6 Rds DRR Indiv TC: 90m:30m+30spm(1))

Official Site

VIII Marx Gyorgy Memorial

The VIII Marx Gyorgy Memorial takes place 5th-16th August, 2010.

Double Round Robin with 6 players.

Time limit: 100 minutes/40 moves+40minutes+30 seconds/move from the first move. Sophia rule: The players can offer a draw in the first 40 moves only with arbiter’s permission in particular cases. Criteria used for tie: 1. more wins, 2. result against each other, 3. Berger.

XIV. Paks open 11th-15th August 2010

7 rounds swiss tournament A and B (under1900) groups, 90 minutes + 30 seconds/move.

Application and information Videki Sandor (0036-75421225; 0036-304012866 Email: videkis2001@yahoo.com )

Children-tournament 8th August, 2010 Rapid-tournament 10th August, 2010 Blitz-tournament 13th August, 2010

European Individual Senior Championship 2011

The European Individual Senior Championship 2011 has been awarded by the ECU to Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy 10th-20th April 2010.

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

38th Annual World Open

38th Annual World Open Chess Championships take place June 29th - July 5th 2010 at the Valley Forge Convention Center Scanticon and Radisson Hotel in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

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

IV Torneo Internacional A.D.San Juan

The IV Torneo Internacional A.D.San Juan takes place in Cerrado 24th July - 1st August 2010. Alexander Morozevich is the star. This actually appears to be the Pamplona tournament although this is completely unclear from the chess-results entry.

Chess Results entry: http://chess-results.com/tnr34216.aspx

http://www.clubajedrezorvina.com/Foro.aspx?postid=3208#3208

7th South Wales International

The 7th South Wales International takes place 10th -15th July 2010. 4 GM’s and 2 IM’s are confirmed entrants to this year’s Tournament.

Titled Entrants so far: GM K.Arkell ENG, GM P.Wells ENG, GM K.Rusev BUL, GM V.Georgiev MAC, IM J.Rudd ENG and IM P.Marusenko UKR.

Official site: http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI/home.html

Kfar Saba Experience vs Youth

The Experience against Youth Scheveningen tournament in Kfar Saba takes place 20th June - 1st July 2010. Most of the young players are the students of Yoel Geva's young chess talents project and the representatives of the local Kfar Saba Chess Club .

Experience: Lerner K. ( GM, UKR, 2530); Zilberman Y. ( GM, 2437);Nedobora M. ( IM, UKR, 2388); Kudischevitsch D. (IM, RUS, 2352);Botvinnik M.( 2348); ); Belytsky A. ( FM, RUS,2323); Tarnopolski A. ( FM, 2312); Arlinsky A. (2293); Shnaider D. ( RUS, 2247); Libov G ( FM, BLR, 2198).

Average 2342.8 , IM - norm - 6.5; WGM - 6; WIM - 4.

Youth : Steinberg N. ( 2221);Efroimski M. ( WF, 2170 - current World and European Champion G14); Boruchovsky A. (2159); Ben Artzi I.(2143) ; Foo, Benjamin (SIN, 2112) ; Levine Y. ( 2085); Wee, Chun Jie Eugene (SIN, 2024); Veinberg N. (1952); Reshef O. (1950); Beker Ziv (1834).

News: Dr. Mark Berkovich,IM, captain of the national youth team.

Canadian Open Chess Championship 2010

The 47th Canadian Open Chess Championship takes place 10th-18th July, in Westin Harbour Castle, downtown Toronto, Ontario. This is a 9-round one-game-per-day single-section Swiss with a guaranteed prize fund of C$ 32,000. Additional side events will include the Speed Chess Championship, GM simuls (including one by GM Mark Bluvshtein), lectures, Chess960, and a chess camp for kids. Grandmasters already confirmed are P. Harikrishna, E. Bareev, L. McShane, E. Rozentalis, A. Shabalov, J. Friedel , M. Gagunashvili and W. Arencibia.

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.

Satu Mare Romanian Open

SPI Open" International Chess Tournament Venue: Satu Mare Organiser: IO Ciprian-Sorin Muntean Period: 16-23 July 2010 Prize fund: 2000 Euro (1st place: 700 Euro) Free entrance for IM, WIM, GM and WGM (with FIDE rating >2400) Contact: ciprimuntean@yahoo.com

11th World University Chess Championship

The 11th World University Chess Championship takes place in Zurich 5th-11th September 2010.

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

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

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.

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

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/

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/

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

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

Eforie Chess Festival 2010

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

Website http://www.clubulregilor.ro

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.

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

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

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

Aosta Valley

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

UE Championship, September 4th-12th 2010.

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

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

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