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1) Introduction
2) Fontys Tournament Tilburg
3) 6th Monarch Assurance Open
4) Manhattan Chess Club Championship by John Fernandez
5) More Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and FIDE
6) First Saturday Tournament October
7) Kasparov in Scotland
8) Visa Nordic Grand Prix
9) Novgorod the Great 98
10) Russian Women's Championships
11) World Junior Championships
12) A couple of www links
Games section
Fontys Tilburg NED 1997 48 Monarch Isle of Man 1997 3 Manhatten CC New York USA 1997 22 ch-RUS 1997 136
My thanks to Lost Boys, John Henderson, John Fernandez, Willy Iclicki, Chess Planet, Laszlo Nagy, Chess in Iceland, Chess Assistant, Gerald Schendel and all those who helped with this issue. To the Internet Chess Club who are TWIC's first advertisers for the next couple of weeks.
I've had a lot of fun this week following the Fontys tournament in Tilburg. Lively exciting chess with the several players in excellent form. A good advert for a well put together tournament, it is interesting to see Kasparov adjust from playing almost exclusively Category 19 events to ones of slightly lesser category. Kramnik was always expected to be there with him but a number of the other players are playing excellent chess, non more so than Peter Svidler. The rest of the issue is a little light on games and results. I have a number of partial results which I hope to chase up for next week.
Hope you enjoy this issue
Mark
To guarantee an exciting tournament in advance is very hard. Organisers put together a field of players and then have to hope for an "explosive mixture". The Fontys tournament in Tilburg seems to have managed to find the correct formula. World numbers one and two Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik head up a strong line-up. Shirov, Adams, Lautier, Polgar, Van Wely and Piket are amongst the more experienced players in the field, then the juniors Svidler, Leko, Onischuk and Shaked have their chances to test their skills. By not just rounding up the "usual suspects" they have introduced points of interest when players who rarely if ever have played meet. The early rounds saw Gary Kasparov scoring at will with wins over Van Wely, Polgar, Shaked, Shirov and Leko. He got a large advantage against Onischuk in round 4 also but was held to a draw. With his confidence high he took one risk too many against Peter Svidler who has played well here and lost. He got back on track with a comfortable win against Piket. Vladimir Kramnik has also looked good, he has drawn a few more games than Kasparov but has still put in a class performance. A theoretical win against Shirov and a fine endgame win against Lautier have been highlights but he has pressed in other games too. Peter Leko found a very attractive stalemate combination in his game from round 8. Peter Svidler, already multiple winner of the Russian Championships is clear second after eight rounds and is showing the quality to live in this company.
The final rounds should be fascinating. Kasparov's run in of Adams with Black, Kramnik with White and a final round against his bete noire Joel Lautier would be interesting enough, but with Svidler and Kramnik breathing down his kneck he probably needs to have a plus score to guarantee first place.
Elsewhere there have been some disappointing performances. Shirov has lost against the top 3 players but may pick up towards the end. Jeroen Piket has blundered a number of promising positions away including a winning position against Lautier ruined by a one mover. Of course attention turns to the last minute invitee Tal Shaked, he started with 7 straight losses. Although he had some chances in a couple of games he has looked all at sea. Hopefully he will be able to take something from the tournament but in principal one should invite a player 125 points below the next weakest player. His start of Kasparov and Kramnik in the first 3 rounds did not help, especially as he wasted two whites against players one would expect him to lose almost every game to (simple statistics).
An exciting few days ahead and a full round up to follow next week and daily coverage on my pages. Full marks to the organisers.
The event is covered on the internet by Lost Boys.http://www.lostcity.nl/chess/fontys/default.html
Daily reportage from Inside Chess
Round 1 (1997.09.27)
Svidler, Peter - Leko, Peter 1/2 39 B81 Sicilian
Adams, Michael - Onischuk, Alexander 1-0 31 C55 Two knights
Van Wely, Loek - Kasparov, Gary 0-1 51 A25 English; 1.c4 e5
Shirov, Alexei - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 33 C96 Ruy Lopez
Lautier, Joel - Polgar, Judit 1/2 17 A16 English; 1.c4
Shaked, Tal - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 35 E46 Nimzo indian
Round 2 (1997.09.28)
Kasparov, Gary - Polgar, Judit 1-0 32 E26 Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 36 E97 Kings indian; Main line
Leko, Peter - Adams, Michael 1/2 33 C89 Ruy Lopez
Onischuk, Alexander - Lautier, Joel 1-0 63 B92 Sicilian; Najdorf
Van Wely, Loek - Shaked, Tal 1-0 28 E97 Kings indian; Main line
Piket, Jeroen - Svidler, Peter 0-1 38 D27 QGA;
Round 3 (1997.09.29)
Svidler, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 26 B33 Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Adams, Michael - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 42 C90 Ruy Lopez
Polgar, Judit - Onischuk, Alexander 1-0 107 C90 Ruy Lopez
Shirov, Alexei - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 35 B92 Sicilian; Najdorf
Lautier, Joel - Leko, Peter 0-1 37 D97 Gruenfeld indian
Shaked, Tal - Kasparov, Gary 0-1 20 D85 Gruenfeld indian
Round 4 (1997.09.30)
Kasparov, Gary - Onischuk, Alexander 1/2 60 E13 Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir - Adams, Michael 1/2 48 A34 English; 1.c4 c5
Leko, Peter - Polgar, Judit 1/2 48 B52 Sicilian
Van Wely, Loek - Svidler, Peter 1/2 22 D82 Gruenfeld indian
Piket, Jeroen - Lautier, Joel 0-1 47 E15 Nimzo indian
Shaked, Tal - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 91 A57 Benko gambit
Round 5 (1997.10.02)
Svidler, Peter - Shaked, Tal 1-0 36 C19 French; Winawer
Adams, Michael - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 21 B54 Sicilian
Polgar, Judit - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 45 C92 Ruy Lopez
Onischuk, Alexander - Leko, Peter 1/2 59 B83 Sicilian
Shirov, Alexei - Kasparov, Gary 0-1 40 B90 Sicilian; Najdorf
Lautier, Joel - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 53 E58 Nimzo indian
Round 6 (1997.10.03)
Kasparov, Gary - Leko, Peter 1-0 31 C45 Scottish
Kramnik, Vladimir - Polgar, Judit 1/2 48 A35 English; 1.c4 c5
Van Wely, Loek - Lautier, Joel 1/2 32 B48 Sicilian
Shirov, Alexei - Svidler, Peter 0-1 35 B43 Sicilian
Piket, Jeroen - Onischuk, Alexander 1/2 23 E04 Nimzo indian
Shaked, Tal - Adams, Michael 0-1 56 E44 Nimzo indian
Round 7 (1997.10.04)
Svidler, Peter - Kasparov, Gary 1-0 37 B50 Sicilian
Adams, Michael - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 26 C33 Kings gambit
Leko, Peter - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 30 B39 Sicilian
Polgar, Judit - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 42 B92 Sicilian; Najdorf
Onischuk, Alexander - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 41 C08 French; Tarrasch
Lautier, Joel - Shaked, Tal 1-0 35 E11 Bogo indian
Round 8 (1997.10.05)
Kasparov, Gary - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 30 D27 QGA;
Svidler, Peter - Adams, Michael 1/2 39 C45 Scottish
Kramnik, Vladimir - Leko, Peter 1/2 54 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Van Wely, Loek - Onischuk, Alexander 1/2 114 E12 Nimzo indian
Shirov, Alexei - Lautier, Joel 1/2 20 B35 Sicilian
Shaked, Tal - Polgar, Judit 1/2 42 B22 Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Tilburg NED (NED), IX-X 1997 cat. XVII (2667)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2820 * 0 . . 1 1 = 1 1 . 1 1 6.5 2885
2 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2660 1 * = = = . . = 1 . 1 1 6.0 2866
3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2770 . = * = = = = . 1 1 . 1 5.5 2782
4 Adams, Michael g ENG 2680 . = = * = . 1 = = . = 1 5.0 2741
5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2635 0 = = = * = = . . 1 1 . 4.5 2732
6 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2670 0 . = . = * 1 = . = = = 4.0 2661
7 Onischuk, Alexander g UKR 2625 = . = 0 = 0 * = . 1 = . 3.5 2647
8 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2655 0 = . = . = = * 0 = . 1 3.5 2621
9 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2700 0 0 0 = . . . 1 * = = 1 3.5 2628
10 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2660 . . 0 . 0 = 0 = = * 1 1 3.5 2605
11 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2630 0 0 . = 0 = = . = 0 * . 2.0 2488
12 Shaked, Tal m USA 2500 0 0 0 0 . = . 0 0 0 . * 0.5 2257
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cherry Orchard Hotel on the Isle of Man is again the venue for the Monarch Assurance open from 4-12 October, reports John Henderson.
One of the most popular events because of its hospitality there is a respectable field playing in this 9 round Swiss event, headed by Matthew Sadler.
Round 1
Sadler 1:0. Buckley Cooper 1/2 B Lalic Hebden 1:0 Sindik Baum 0:1 Baburin Liss 1/2 Thompson Coleman 0:1. Emms Kosten 1:0 Coathup McLean 0:1 Gallagher Agnos 1:0 Rice Maggs 0:1 Ward Rausis 1:0 Sedgwick Spanton 0:1 David Van Den Doel 1:0 Campbell Nicholson 0:1 Donaldson A Ledger 1:0 Benson
This past weekend, the Manhattan Chess Club held it's annual championship, with a total prize fund of well over $1000, making this the largest tournament of the year at the club. This year, as in 1996, the championship was divided into two sections, the Championship being restricted to Masters Only, and the Amateur Championship being limited to Non-Masters. In the 32 player Amateur Championship, Kasaun Henry, John Bronsteen, Peter Bierkens, and Bruno Bier tied for first place with scores of 4/5.
In the 34 player Championship section, it was a tournament of upsets. In the first round, most of the favorites won, with the exception of Jorge Zamora, fresh from the U.S. Championship, losing to FM Arkady Rabinovich. Angelo Young, a talented player from the Philippines with a FIDE rating over 2400, was defeated by James Lewis. It was Saturday morning, however, when things began to get strange. GM John Fedorowicz, also fresh from the U.S. Championship, was defeated by new FM Yurij Lapshun in an interesting game, which sent GM Fedorowicz home, and put Lapshun on a nice streak where he went on to draw FM Saulespurenis, draw U.S. Champion GM Joel Benjamin, before losing in the final round to IM Maurice Ashley.
As for the U.S. Champion, GM Benjamin got off to a good start, but couldn't seem to win against either IM Ashley, GM Sher, or FM Lapshun, and ended up a half point out of the title. GM Miron Sher, new to the New York area, had a good tournament, starting 3 out of 3, then taking a half point bye Sunday morning, before drawing with GM Benjamin for a 2757 performance rating and a share of first place. IM Ashley started by winning his first two games, then drawing Benjamin, new New Yorker IM Alexander Stripunsky, before beating the deadly FM Lapshun in the final round. The 1997 Manhattan Chess Club Champion, IM Jay Bonin from Queens, New York, is a well-known New York tournament player for many years. He has won this year the 1997 Manhattan Chess Club Championship, 1997 Marshall Chess Club Championship, and the 1997 New York State Championship, a very good year!! He played the so-called "Swiss Gambit" perfectly, drawing his first two games, before winning the next 3 to catch Ashley and Sher.
The event was superbly directed by Nicholas Conticello, and we hope to improve the number of players for next year's championship. See you then! Any information about the club, which is located on 353 West 46th Street in New York City, can be reached by calling (212) 333-5888.
Manhattan Chess Club Championship
September 26-28, 1997
Final Standings
Name rating rd 1 rd 2 rd 3 rd 4 rd 5 TOT PERF
1 IM Ashley, Maurice........2509 W 20 W 6 D 4 D 5 W 10 4.0 2692
2 GM Sher, Miron............2500 W 12 W 13 W 5 H--- D 4 4.0 2757
3 IM Bonin, Jay*............2484 D 17 D 14 W 27 W 21 W 8 4.0 2534
4 GM Benjamin, Joel.........2659 W 11 W 8 D 1 D 10 D 2 3.5 2593
5 IM Stripunsky, Alexander..2550 W 23 W 9 L 2 D 1 W 11 3.5 2545
6 Terzic, Ilijas............2364 W 34 L 1 W 31 W 14 H--- 3.5 2490
7 Treger, Yefim.............2216 D 19 W 25 D 17 D 15 W 16 3.5 2452
8 Ippolito, Dean............2447 W 24 L 4 W 13 W 17 L 3 3.0 2456
9 IM Robovic, Saudin........2416 W 28 L 5 F--- W 29 W 15 3.0 2535
10 FM Lapshun, Yurij.........2411 W 22 W 26 D 16 D 4 L 1 3.0 2546
11 Cooke, Eric...............2300 L 4 W 34 W 29 W 18 L 5 3.0 2452
12 Grechikhin, Vladimir......2268 L 2 L 23 B--- W 31 W 21 3.0 2280
13 Lewis, James E............2249 W 32 L 2 L 8 W 23 W 19 3.0 2472
14 FM Rabinovich, Arkady.....2238 W 33 D 3 D 18 L 6 W 20 3.0 2435
15 Feldman, Boris............2348 L 16 W 28 W 23 D 7 L 9 2.5 2276
16 FM Saulespurens, Valdis...2314 W 15 H--- D 10 H--- L 7 2.5 2325
17 Krush, Irina..............2249 D 3 W 30 D 7 L 8 D 22 2.5 2316
18 Hulse, Brian..............2213 H--- W 19 D 14 L 11 D 30 2.5 2272
19 FM Dolgitser, Konstantin..2349 D 7 L 18 W 22 D 20 L 13 2.0 2158
20 Schneider, Dmitry.........2275 L 1 D 22 W 30 D 19 L 14 2.0 2226
21 Sena, Juan................2238 H--- H--- X--- L 3 L 12 2.0 1976
22 Fleischman, Eric..........2235 L 10 D 20 L 19 W 30 D 17 2.0 2217
23 Arluck, William S.........2200 L 5 W 12 L 15 L 13 B--- 2.0 2154
24 Senkiewicz, Mike..........2239 L 8 H--- D 25 H--- U--- 1.5 2124
25 Polyakin, Vladimir........2200 H--- L 7 D 24 D 28 U--- 1.5 2097
26 GM Fedorowicz, John.......2613 W 27 L 10 U--- U--- U--- 1.0 2355
27 FM Klein, Erez............2298 L 26 B--- L 3 U--- U--- 1.0 2149
28 Barsky, Sam...............2236 L 9 L 15 H--- D 25 U--- 1.0 2055
29 Fitzko, Mitchell..........2205 H--- H--- L 11 L 9 U--- 1.0 1958
30 Aravena, Peter............2200 H--- L 17 L 20 L 22 D 18 1.0 1943
31 Song, Paul................2181 H--- D 32 L 6 L 12 U--- 1.0 2098
32 Young, Angelo.............2462 L 13 D 31 U--- U--- U--- 0.5 2015
33 Zamora, Jorge H...........2441 L 14 U--- U--- U--- U--- 0.0 1838
34 Braylovsky, Gregory.......2233 L 6 L 11 U--- U--- U--- 0.0 1932
* Since IM Bonin was the only club member among those tied for first, he
was proclaimed the 1997 Manhattan Chess Club Champion.
Legend: W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; H = 1/2 pt. bye; B = 1 pt. bye; F =
Forfeit Loss; X = Forfeit win; Perf = Performance Rating.
Note: All ratings are U.S. Ratings, as well as perfomances.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov seems to effortlessly make the papers these days. In the Guardian Sports section on Saturday 4th October (page 13) he makes the football diary. He is reported to have presented a Mercedes 600 intended to reward his own team, Uralan on their almost certain promotion, to the opposition that beat them, Mettallurg.
The sponsorship of the FIDE World Championships is reported not to be by Halzan (this might be a small subsiduary) but rather Russian oil company Rosneft. If so there should be plenty of finance available for the FIDE KO. This is about to be sold off in Russia in one of the most high profile privatisation sales left. Willy Icklicki points out that all the finance for the Championships has to be in FIDE's accounts by the end of November so there will be no question as to whether the prize money will be available by the time the event starts.
Veselin Topalov has decided to join the FIDE competition after having some questions before signing up.
The reports in the Guardian and Boston Globe that have appeared in the last two weeks don't seem to have been followed up and why they appeared at this time is unclear.
Laszlo Nagy sends news and games from the September First Saturday Tournament.
The First Saturday Tournaments for October started on October 4th. It is a Category VII GM tournament.
You can contact Laszlo Nagy at the addresses below. There is also a www site where he has published the 14th issue of his Hungarian Chess electronic magazine.
Postal address: H-1101 Budapest, Hungaria krt. 5.-7. XI.ep.I.em.7.
Tel-fax: int-(361)-263-28-59
E-mail address:
chess_first_saturday_hu@compuserve.com or: 100263.1700@compuserve.com
Web
site:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/chess_first_saturday_hu/
Round 1 (1997.09.05)
Ashley, Maurice - Gorbatow, Alexej 1-0
Stocek, Jiri - Vadasz, Laszlo 1-0
Levin, Felix - Hoang Thang Trang 1/2
Waitzkin, Joshua - Mikhalevski, Alexander 1/2
Bilek, Istvan - Lengyel, Levente 1/2
Held, Markus - Afek, Yochanan 0-1
Cao, Sang - Kogan, Artur 0-1
Round 2 (1997.09.06)
Ashley, Maurice - Cao, Sang 1-0
Hoang Thang Trang - Bilek, Istvan 1/2
Afek, Yochanan - Waitzkin, Joshua 0-1
Gorbatow, Alexej - Mikhalevski, Alexander 1-0
Kogan, Artur - Levin, Felix 0-1
Lengyel, Levente - Stocek, Jiri 0-1
Vadasz, Laszlo - Held, Markus 1/2
Budapest HUN (HUN), IX 1997 cat. VII (2414)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Ashley, Maurice m USA 2445 * . . . . . . 1 . . . . . 1 2.0
2 Stocek, Jiri m CZE 2470 . * . . . . . . . . 1 . 1 . 2.0
3 Levin, Felix m UKR 2475 . . * . = . . . 1 . . . . . 1.5 2618
4 Waitzkin, Joshua m USA 2435 . . . * . . 1 . . = . . . . 1.5 2618
5 Hoang Thang Trang m VIE 2350 . . = . * = . . . . . . . . 1.0 2422
6 Bilek, Istvan g HUN 2370 . . . . = * . . . . = . . . 1.0 2342
7 Afek, Yochanan m ISR 2380 . . . 0 . . * . . . . 1 . . 1.0 2375
8 Gorbatow, Alexej m RUS 2420 0 . . . . . . * . 1 . . . . 1.0 2457
9 Kogan, Artur m ISR 2500 . . 0 . . . . . * . . . . 1 1.0 2495
10 Mikhalevski, Alexander m ISR 2470 . . . = . . . 0 . * . . . . 0.5 2234
11 Lengyel, Levente g HUN 2335 . 0 . . . = . . . . * . . . 0.5 2227
12 Held, Markus GER 2315 . . . . . . 0 . . . . * = . 0.5 2157
13 Vadasz, Laszlo g HUN 2320 . 0 . . . . . . . . . = * . 0.5 2199
14 Cao, Sang m VIE 2515 0 . . . . . . . 0 . . . . * 0.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edinburgh Chess Club are the hosts to Gary Kasparov who will be visiting Edinburgh on 4th & 5th November 1997 to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the club.
Amongst the events taking place will be the "Scotsman Challenge", where Kasparov will be playing a clock simultaneous against the Scottish Olympiad squad which comprises GM Colin McNab, IM Jonathan Rowson, GM Paul Motwani, IM Douglas Bryson and IM Steve Mannion. Depending on tournament commitments WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant may also take part. The venue will be the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
There will also be "An Audience with Gary" - a literary lunch put on by The Scotsman newspaper - one of the principal sponsors of the visit - at the Caledonian Hotel.
Further details:
http://www.jthin.co.uk/ecc.htm
A final all-play-all grand prix event rounds up the 1996-7 Visa Nordic Grand Prix. 14 players will complete in Reykjavik October 8-22. The titles of Grand Prix Champion and Nordic Champion comes with the event.
GM Curt Hansen Denmark 2600 65.79 GM Johann Hjartarson Iceland 2605 50.17 GM Hannes H. Stefansson Iceland 2545 49.50 IM Tiger Hillarp-Persson Sweden 2445 47.00 GM Rune Djurhuus Norway 2525 39.72 GM Einar Gausel Norway 2540 35.46 GM Jonatan Tisdall Norway 2480 35.00 GM Throstur Thorhallsson Iceland 2510 33.42 GM Ralf Akeson Sweden 2520 30.93 GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson Iceland 2475 25.00 GM Jonny Hector Sweden 2470 24.63 GM Lars Schandorff Denmark 2505 20.89 - John Arni Nilssen Faroe Islands 2310 par. 3.4 GM Heikki Westerinen Finland 2410 wild card Margeir Petursson an original qualifier was unable to take part due to other commitments.
The organisers of the Novgorod tournament have announced the dates of their 1998 edition. It will take place between August 13-25, 1998. There will be 6 players, 10 rounds and they hope for a Category 19 or 20 event. My thanks to Irina Kibina, the tournament director for the news.
Alisa Galliamova scored a crushing victory in the Russian Women's Championships with a score of 10/11 in the Championships held in Elista Russia September 18-29. She scored a performance rating of over 2700. My thanks to Chess Assistant for the games for the first 8 rounds. Final results from Chess Planet.
Elista RUS (RUS), IX 1997 1 Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa m RUS 2445 10.0 /11 2 Prudnikova, Svetlana wg RUS 2385 8.0 3 Matveeva, Svetlana wg RUS 2470 7.5 4 Stepovaia-Dianchenko, Tatiana wg RUS 2340 7.5 5 Umanskaya, Irina wg RUS 2315 6.5 6 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina wm RUS 2350 6.5 34 players
The World Junior Championships for under 16 and 18 boys and girls took place in Armenia. The final results appear to be unavailable from the internet site covering the event. More news next week hopefully.
Zsuzsa Polgár now has her own homepage.http://www.polgarchess.com
RISC (Russian Internet Super Chess) who have provided electronic boards for a number of Russian events including the 50th Russian Championship in Elista and Lord Novgorod The Great also provide some chess news. http://www.dux.ru/chess/