THE WEEK IN CHESS 158 - 17th November 1997 by Mark Crowther

E-Mail          mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk
www             http://www.tcc.net/twic/twic.html
Tel or fax      01274 882143 [Bradford England]


1) Introduction
2) 6th Investbanka Tournament Belgrade
3) Geza Maroczy GM Tournament
4) Kasparov Chess Simultaneous Exhibitions
5) Leeuwarden Tournament
6) First Saturday Tournaments. November
7) 7th World Seniors Championships
8) Lebanese Championships
9) XVII Mitropa Cup
10) Upcoming events

Games section

Belgrade Investbanka    30
Geza Maroczy GM         20
World Senior            53
FSIM A                  66
FSIM B                  66
Liberian Champs         66
XVII Mitropa Cup       149

1) Introduction

My thanks to Massimiliano Orsi, Samir Sursock, Gerhard Hund, Shahcom, Dutch Teletext, Graham Lee, Ross Amann, Zoltan Blazsik, Sinisa Joksic, Laszlo Nagy, Gerald Schendel, and all those who helped with this issue.

A rather workmanlike issue due to time-pressure away from the magazine but a good one anyhow. The 6th Investbanka tournament is a fabulous event full of interesting fighting chess. I will continue to cover the event daily and I can hardly wait to get the next rounds results. Ivanchuk leads in spite of losing possibly two half points in time scrambles. In the last year we have had far too few of such events.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) 6th Investbanka Tournament Belgrade

The 6th Investbanka Tournament is taking place in Belgrade November 11th-21st. It has already produced some extremely lively (if not necessarily accurate) chess so far. My thanks to Sinisa Joksic for sending games and news (on which most of the round by round summary below is based) from the event.

Round 1

Just as two years ago the first round saw all the games end decisively.

Anand went down fairly easily to Joel Lautier after messing up his opening. It seems clear that 14. Bd3 was the start of all his troubles. Although this move has been known black (possibly with 14. ...Be6 somehow managed to set up a pawn front which cut Anand's position in two. Lautier took his time exploiting this but his position seemed overwhelming at this point. Anand's pawns never got going. Ivanchuk and Georgiev had a theoretical battle which Ivanchuk gradually got the better of (19. f4 has been suggested as new). Eventually Georgiev got desperate and lost a lot of material. Ljubojevic tried to play simply against Beliavsky. He missed a very strong queen sac for Rook, Knight and two pawns and was ground down. Shirov got the better of a theoretical dispute in the Sicilian and converted the ending. The longest game of the day saw Kramnik gradually assume the initiative after a long series of book moves (at least 24). Those who play competitive chess to a reasonable level will be familiar with the scenario where the stronger player just plays on and on against the weaker player. The position might be drawn but Kovacevic eventually went astray. My thanks to Sinisa Joksic for the games and some brief comments.

Round 2

The main story was the defeat of Kramnik by Viswanathan Anand. Kramnik who has lost just two games this year in normal tournament play (against Kasparov at Linares and against Short in Novgorod) and who has been undefeated in his last two events lost in 45 moves with white against Anand's Slav. This is Anand's first win in tournament chess against Kramnik since April 1996. Sinisa Joksic reports that the sacrifice that Kramnik initiated on move 12 was probably quite strong. "I would make this sacrifice, too" Anand said after the game. Kramnik quickly got into time trouble as there were many possibilities in following the move up. For instance whether to choose 16. Bh5 or 16. Bg4. Later Kramnik could have obtained a slight advantage by taking the Bishop on b7 but he was looking for a win. He started missing things: 19. ...h5 and especially 26. ...Bd5! after that it was really no surprise when Anand won the game. The only player on 100% after two rounds is Vassily Ivanchuk who beat local player Aleksander Kovacevic in 42 moves of a Sicilian. The game was settled in the opening when the Yugoslav player tried the extremely risky 13. ...b5 and had his position effectively wrecked by Ivanchuk's reply. In a turbulant game Lautier eventually emerged the exchange up in an ending against Shirov. However all did not go smoothly and somehow Shirov got a draw. The other two games were balanced games which ended in draws.

Round 3

The 1000 spectators who turned up to the third round saw only one decisive game but there were a number of games which could have finished differently. Non more so than the game of the round Anand-Ivanchuk. Only Ivanchuk's time pressure saved Anand from defeat. Anand played the Ruy Lopz and Ivanchuk chose to defend the ultra-sharp Arhangelsk variation. He chose the rare 11...Na5 to which Anand responded with new move 12.Bg5. At first Anand seemed to be better but this impression changed with Ivanchuk's 17. ...Kh8. Ivanchuk whipped up an attack but it cost him a lot of time. By the 19th move Anand had 55 minutes and Ivanchuk only 7. By the 22nd when he had only 3 minutes left Ivanchuk missed 22...Rg3! 23.hg3 d6! which gives him excellent winning chances. Down to less than a minute Ivanchuk offered a draw which Anand accepted as the position is still better for black. The didn't analyse after the game as Ivanchuk left straight away leaving Anand to explain that his opponent missed at least two wins in time trouble. Vladimir Kramnik played his Petroff Variation against Shirov. Although he managed to secure some advantage it was never enough to win. Gelfand was another player who might have won. His advantage was disappated when he overlooked 28. a6. He should have played 26...Qc4! with excellent chances. (27.Rb1 Ne4 28.Rb7 Qe2! or 27.Qe3 Nd5 28.Qa7 Qe2 with Qb2! winning). After Ljubojevic missed 16.Ng5 (instead of 16.Qe2) the game against Lautier drifted to a draw. Georgiev scored his first win, and Kovacevic had his third zero. Kovacevic seems overawed with the experience of playing in such a strong event.

Round 4

Two wins and three draws prior to the first rest day on November 15th. Firstly Anand won as black against the struggling Kovacevic in the Ruy Lopez. He simply found a tactic in the middlegame and his opponent resigned. Joel Lautier won a nice game against Beliavsky. 10...Bc3 from Beliavsky was not correct and in time trouble he miscalculated a tactical sequence and lost a piece. The game of greatest interest was that between Ivanchuk and Shirov. Shirov tried one of his favourite variations of the Ruy Lopez. 10. Re1 was Ivanchuk's twist for the day (perhaps a theoretical novelty). Shirov got the better of it but both players were in time trouble. Shirov decided to play safely with 25.... g6. In the final seconds before the first time control Shirov tried the risky 36. ...h5 instead of playing his perpetual check. Perhaps Ivanchuk could have won with 39. Kh3 which was in any case better than the 39. Kg3 he played. After time control Shirov found that 41. ....Rf3 gave him a draw. Kramnik has been making a lot with small initiatives recently however resolute defence from Ljubojevic proved that Kramnik's edge was not enough. Kiril Georgiev was better for most of his game against Gelfand. He should have played 19.ab6 instead 19.e4. This allowed the combination 19. ...Rc3 still allowed play with 22.Qc7 after which Gelfand offered a draw which was accepted because of slight time trouble by Georgiev. Georgiev was still better eg. 24.de5 Nc4 25.Td1 Qb4 and than 26.Rd7 not what they looked after the game 26.Qd7 Qa5 which was unclear.

Round 5

The free day re-energised the players and there were 4 decisive games out of 5. Vishy Anand won nice Sicilian Dragon against Georgiev. Georgiev's 10...Na5 looks slow especially in conjunction with 14...e6. 16...Qb6 instead of 16...hg4 didn't work because of simple 17.Bf6 Bf6 18.gh5 winning. Kramnik looked very good in defeating Beliavsky but his play cannot have been right. Beliavsky's 19.Nd4 was doubtful and 26.g4 was catastrophic. Most interesting game was Gelfand-Lautier was a very interesting struggle. Gelfand played TN 9.Re1 which was home preparation. He sacrifice a pawn for a strong initiative. Lautier's mistake was 12...Nf5 he had the better 12...Be6 13.Qh5 g6 14.Qh6 which would have kept white's advantage within bounds. Gelfand's moves 13.Nc3!, 15.Bh7! and 21.Ng5! were very good. After the 25th move both of them were in time trouble. Lautier blundered with 32...Rb4 putting rook in a trap allowing White to obtain a completing winning position after 34.g4. Then came a shock. Gelfand blundered with 39.Rc5?? (winning was 39.Kd2) probably thinking that everything was over with just to make two last until the time control. Lautier got a chance to win the game with 39...b4!! After 40.ab4 b2! or 40.Rd5 ba3 or 40.Kd2 ba3 41.Kc1 b2 with 42.Be4 winning. Lautier also didn't see this and played 39...Bc4?? and he resign after the next move. The funny thing was that both players didn't see this even in the analysis after the game, and went in hotel unaware of these final discoveries. Shirov won a good game against the indisposed Kovacevic. Black's 17...Ne5 was wrong. He should play 17...f6 but white is still better. Ljubojevic-Ivanchuk finished in a draw. Interesting was 9.e3 instead of 9.b3.

Round 6

Ivanchuk took the lead alone after winning against Beliavsky. The only other winner was Kovacevic who to the relief of all but his opponent Ljubojevic managed to get off the mark with a win. The other games were drawn. Full comments next week (tomorrow on my web pages.)

Round 1 (1997.11.11)

Ivanchuk, Vassily       -  Georgiev, Kiril         1-0   32  B36  Sicilian
Shirov, Alexei          -  Gelfand, Boris          1-0   55  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Anand, Viswanathan      -  Lautier, Joel           0-1   41  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    -  Beliavsky, Alexander G  0-1   31  B06  Modern defence
Kovacevic, Aleksandar   -  Kramnik, Vladimir       0-1   74  C42  Petroff defence

Round 2 (1997.11.12)

Ivanchuk, Vassily       -  Kovacevic, Aleksandar   1-0   42  B36  Sicilian
Lautier, Joel           -  Shirov, Alexei          1/2   45  E76  Kings indian
Kramnik, Vladimir       -  Anand, Viswanathan      0-1   42  D43  Semi-Slav
Gelfand, Boris          -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    1/2   33  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Georgiev, Kiril         -  Beliavsky, Alexander G  1/2   42  D58  QGD;

Round 3 (1997.11.13)

Shirov, Alexei          -  Kramnik, Vladimir       1/2   33  C43  Petroff defence
Anand, Viswanathan      -  Ivanchuk, Vassily       1/2   32  C78  Ruy Lopez
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    -  Lautier, Joel           1/2   51  E05  Nimzo indian
Beliavsky, Alexander G  -  Gelfand, Boris          1/2   31  A32  English; 1.c4 c5
Kovacevic, Aleksandar   -  Georgiev, Kiril         0-1   47  B01  Scandinavian

Round 4 (1997.11.14)

Ivanchuk, Vassily       -  Shirov, Alexei          1/2   45  C78  Ruy Lopez
Lautier, Joel           -  Beliavsky, Alexander G  1-0   35  E42  Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir       -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    1/2   42  E17  Nimzo indian
Georgiev, Kiril         -  Gelfand, Boris          1/2   23  D43  Semi-Slav
Kovacevic, Aleksandar   -  Anand, Viswanathan      0-1   30  C60  Ruy Lopez

Round 5 (1997.11.16)

Shirov, Alexei          -  Kovacevic, Aleksandar   1-0   32  E90  Kings indian; Classical
Anand, Viswanathan      -  Georgiev, Kiril         1-0   30  B78  Sicilian; Dragon
Gelfand, Boris          -  Lautier, Joel           1-0   40  D27  QGA;
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    -  Ivanchuk, Vassily       1/2   20  D23  QGA;
Beliavsky, Alexander G  -  Kramnik, Vladimir       0-1   34  D58  QGD;

Round 6 (1997.11.17)

Ivanchuk, Vassily       -  Beliavsky, Alexander G  1-0   41  B07  Pirc
Anand, Viswanathan      -  Shirov, Alexei          1/2   23  C78  Ruy Lopez
Kramnik, Vladimir       -  Gelfand, Boris          1/2   66  E97  Kings indian; Main line
Georgiev, Kiril         -  Lautier, Joel           1/2   32  B91  Sicilian; Najdorf
Kovacevic, Aleksandar   -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    1-0   61  B39  Sicilian


Belgrade YUG (YUG), XI 1997                         cat. XVIII (2679)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily       g UKR 2725  * = = . . . 1 = 1 1  4.5  2848
 2 Shirov, Alexei          g ESP 2700  = * = = = 1 . . . 1  4.0  2815
 3 Anand, Viswanathan      g IND 2765  = = * 0 1 . 1 . . 1  4.0  2800
 4 Lautier, Joel           g FRA 2660  . = 1 * . 0 = = 1 .  3.5  2741
 5 Kramnik, Vladimir       g RUS 2770  . = 0 . * = . = 1 1  3.5  2717
 6 Gelfand, Boris          g BLR 2695  . 0 . 1 = * = = = .  3.0  2679
 7 Georgiev, Kiril         g BUL 2670  0 . 0 = . = * . = 1  2.5  2623
 8 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir    g YUG 2565  = . . = = = . * 0 0  2.0  2555
 9 Beliavsky, Alexander G  g SLO 2710  0 . . 0 0 = = 1 * .  2.0  2555
10 Kovacevic, Aleksandar   m YUG 2525  0 0 0 . 0 . 0 1 . *  1.0  2426
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Full coverage on my pages. There is also a www site:

http://www.invbankachess.org.yu

3) Geza Maroczy GM Tournament

The Geza Maroczy Grandmaster Tournament started on November 14th in Szeged Hungary. The organiser of the event is the Portal Chess Club in Szaged. The venue is the Hotel Forra's. The first move of the event was made by Geza Maroczy's 93 year old son on Adorjan's board. The event got off to a slow start but Zhang Zhong's 3/4 will mean that the event should liven up considerably. My thanks to Zoltan Blazsik for the news and games.

Round 1 (1997.11.14)

Zhang Zhong       -  Miles, Anthony J  1/2   20  B03  Alekhine defence
Atalik, Suat      -  Ivanisevic, Ivan  1/2   40  D44  QGD; Botwinnik
Ribli, Zoltan     -  Sax, Gyula        1/2   18  E19  Nimzo indian
Adorjan, Andras   -  Oll, Lembit       1/2   13  A22  English; 1.c4 e5
Wells, Peter K    -  Lalic, Bogdan     1/2   35  E20  Nimzo indian

Round 2 (1997.11.15)

Miles, Anthony J  -  Ribli, Zoltan     1/2   16  E05  Nimzo indian
Lalic, Bogdan     -  Ivanisevic, Ivan  1/2   14  A34  English; 1.c4 c5
Oll, Lembit       -  Atalik, Suat      1/2   38  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Sax, Gyula        -  Adorjan, Andras   1/2   17  B96  Sicilian; Najdorf
Wells, Peter K    -  Zhang Zhong       0-1   31  B97  Sicilian; Najdorf

Round 3 (1997.11.16)

Zhang Zhong       -  Lalic, Bogdan     1/2   17  B31  Sicilian
Atalik, Suat      -  Sax, Gyula        1-0   26  E37  Nimzo indian
Ribli, Zoltan     -  Wells, Peter K    1-0   24  D41  QGD; Tarrasch Defence
Ivanisevic, Ivan  -  Oll, Lembit       1/2   16  D66  QGD;
Adorjan, Andras   -  Miles, Anthony J  0-1   61  D43  Semi-Slav

Round 4 (1997.11.17)

Zhang Zhong       -  Ribli, Zoltan     1-0   45  B85  Sicilian
Miles, Anthony J  -  Atalik, Suat      1/2   20  A48  Queen's pawn
Lalic, Bogdan     -  Oll, Lembit       1/2   22  E97  Kings indian; Main line
Sax, Gyula        -  Ivanisevic, Ivan  1-0   36  B82  Sicilian
Wells, Peter K    -  Adorjan, Andras   1/2   13  A43  Queen's pawn


Szeged HUN (HUN), XI 1997                      cat. XIII (2560)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
---------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Zhang Zhong       m CHN 2475  * = . = . 1 . . . 1  3.0  2766
 2 Miles, Anthony J  g ENG 2595  = * = . . = . . 1 .  2.5  2625
 3 Atalik, Suat      g TUR 2590  . = * . = . 1 = . .  2.5  2682
 4 Lalic, Bogdan     g CRO 2600  = . . * = . . = . =  2.0  2547
 5 Oll, Lembit       g EST 2645  . . = = * . . = = .  2.0  2553
 6 Ribli, Zoltan     g HUN 2570  0 = . . . * = . . 1  2.0  2542
 7 Sax, Gyula        g HUN 2570  . . 0 . . = * 1 = .  2.0  2546
 8 Ivanisevic, Ivan  f YUG 2540  . . = = = . 0 * . .  1.5  2514
 9 Adorjan, Andras   g HUN 2485  . 0 . . = . = . * =  1.5  2498
10 Wells, Peter K    g ENG 2530  0 . . = . 0 . . = *  1.0  2339
---------------------------------------------------------------

4) Kasparov Chess Simultaneous Exhibitions

As mentioned in the last issue Garry Kasparov was in England last week giving a couple of chess exhibitions. Kasparov visited Oakham School in Rutland to launch a chess scholarship by the school which will see a young player of Kasparov's nomination get the opportunity for schooling at Oakham which has a full time chess coach, Graham Lee.

Kasparov actually played 8 not 6 players as reported last week. Further details at:

Oakham School
Chess and Bridge

The following day he took on a stronger field in an exhibition for the Fragile X Charity in London at the Cobden Club. He played both individuals and a number of teams of opponents. The main point of contention was that he refused to continue after 29 moves because he believed he was in fact playing an opponent being aided by a computer.

Ross Amann, the captain of the ICC team accused of cheating by Kasparov has written to me to deny this accusation strenuously. Furthermore he said in his E-Mail to me that while Kasparov's accusations started early in the game (as early as move 14), his final abandonment of play was delayed until move 30 when he was in danger of having a clearly losing position. (See TWIC157 for the game) He can be contacted at: rgtiserv@saturn.superlink.net

5) Leeuwarden Tournament

A 9 round Swiss system tournament in the Netherlands finished with a two way tie between Ivan Sokolov and Evgeny Gleizerov.

1-2  Sokolov, Gleizerov                         6.5
3-6  Bosboom, Speelman, Van Wely, Lobron        6.0
7-13 Yakovich, Kharitonov, Van den Doel, Ulibin 5.5
     Reinderman, Kharlov, Landa 5,5

6) First Saturday Tournaments. November

Laszlo Nagy reports the early results from his November events which started on the 2nd November. The two IM events did not produce any norms this month. Jose Gonzalez Garcia won the A event and Gyula Izsak the B event, both are IMs already. In the games section are the games from both October events.

You can contact Laszlo Nagy at the addresses below. There is also a www site where he has published the another 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/

First Saturday IM A Tournament

Budapest HUN (HUN), XI 1997                               cat. II (2297)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Gonzalez Garcia, Jose  m MEX 2420  * = = 1 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1  9.0  2547
 2 Eperjesi, Laszlo       m HUN 2340  = * = = 1 = 1 = = = 1 1  7.5  2425
 3 Paschall, William M    f USA 2280  = = * 0 = = 1 = 1 0 1 1  6.5  2363
 4 Karatorossian, David     ARM 2335  0 = 1 * 0 0 = = 1 1 1 1  6.5  2358
 5 Grabics, Monika       wm HUN 2330  0 0 = 1 * = 0 1 0 1 1 1  6.0  2329
 6 Kahn, Evarth           m HUN 2270  = = = 1 = * = = = = 0 =  5.5  2299
 7 Francsics, Endre         HUN 2245  = 0 0 = 1 = * 0 1 1 = =  5.5  2301
 8 Toth, Andras             HUN 2280  0 = = = 0 = 1 * = 0 1 1  5.5  2298
 9 Lehmann, Zoltan          HUN 2275  0 = 0 0 1 = 0 = * = 1 =  4.5  2233
10 Farago, Sandor         m HUN 2330  0 = 1 0 0 = 0 1 = * 0 =  4.0  2191
11 Tindall, Brett           AUS 2190  0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 1 * =  3.0  2131
12 Le Thi Phuong Lien       VIE 2265  0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = = = *  2.5  2088
------------------------------------------------------------------------


First Saturday IM B tournament

Budapest HUN (HUN), XI 1997                                 cat. II (2293)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Izsak, Gyula             m HUN 2405  * = = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1  8.0  2458
 2 Dudas, Janos             m HUN 2400  = * 1 = 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 =  7.5  2416
 3 Miton, Kamil             f POL 2350  = 0 * = 1 = = = 1 1 1 1  7.5  2421
 4 Madl, Ildiko             m HUN 2375  = = = * = = 1 0 1 = 1 1  7.0  2387
 5 Martic, Zlatko           f CRO 2320  = 1 0 = * = 0 = = 1 1 1  6.5  2355
 6 Molnar, Laszlo             HUN 2210  = 0 = = = * 1 0 = 1 = 1  6.0  2336
 7 Jamrich, Gyorgy            HUN 2240  0 1 = 0 1 0 * = 0 1 1 =  5.5  2298
 8 Mann, Gerald               HUN 2275  0 0 = 1 = 1 = * 0 0 1 1  5.5  2295
 9 Rodriguez Lopez, Rafael  f ESP 2325  0 0 0 0 = = 1 1 * 0 1 1  5.0  2254
10 Shishkim, V                RUS 2250  = 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 1 * 0 =  3.5  2164
11 Szeberenyi, Adam           HUN 2215  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 * 1  2.5  2089
12 Pinter, Gabor              HUN 2155  0 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 *  1.5  1996
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

7) 7th World Seniors Championships

7th World Seniors Championships which started on November 9th. The official FIDE event has now become a fixture in the calendar.

Leading standings after 6 rounds.
  1. Darga Klaus           GM Waldenbuch          5.5         24.0
  2. Uhlmann Wolfgang      GM Dresden             5.0         24.5
  3. Klovans Janis         IM Lettland            5.0         25.0
  4. Lein Anatoly          GM USA                 5.0         25.5
  5. Taimanov Mark         GM Russland            5.0         22.5
  6. Suetin Alexey         GM Russland            5.0         20.0
  7. Arkhangelsky Boris    IM Russland            5.0         23.0
  8. van Geet Dick         IM Niederlande         5.0         22.0
  9. Solonar Ion           FM Moldawien           5.0         23.0
 10. Baumgartner Heinz     FM Oesterreich         5.0         20.5
 11. Fronczek Heinrich     FM Calw                5.0         23.0
 12. Gruzmann Boris           Russland            5.0         24.5
 13. Jugow Alexander          Kronberg            5.0         20.5
 14. Bagirov Vladimir      GM Lettland            4.5         22.0
 15. Chernikov Oleg        IM Russland            4.5         23.5
 16. Borisenko Georgiy        Uzbekistan          4.5         24.5
 17. Lapienis Donatas         Litauen             4.5         19.0
 18. Vatnikov Josif Dr.    IM USA                 4.5         20.0
 19. Zoltek Tadeuz         FM Polen               4.5         22.5
 20. Rosen Willy              Essen               4.5         17.0
 21. Rost van Tonningen       Niederlande         4.5         19.5
 22. Niebling Ferdinand       Hofheim             4.5         20.5
 23. Usachyi Mark          FM Ukraine             4.5         23.5
 24. Lainburg Viktor          Ulm                 4.5         24.0
 25. Franck Rudolf            Gladbeck            4.5         19.5
 26. Winiwarter Felix Dr.     Oesterreich         4.5         22.5
 27. Branz Jefim              Russland            4.5         22.0

Gerhard Hund is producing full daily Internet coverage is at:

http://www.teleschach.de/berichte/swm97-01.html

8) Lebanese Championships

FM Samir Sursock sends news of the Lebanese Championships which took place October 10-26th 1997. Mansour Assaf won the event by a clear point from ELO favourite Eid Fadi and Antoine Kassis.

Beirut LIB (LIB), X 1997
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Assaf, Mansour     LIB 2205  * = 1 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1  9.0  2396
 2 Fadi, Eid        f LIB 2270  = * = = = 1 1 1 = 1 = 1  8.0  2192
 3 Kassis, Antoine    LIB 2170  0 = * = 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.0  2209
 4 Najjar, Ahmad      LIB 2230  1 = = * 1 0 = 0 1 1 1 1  7.5  2472
 5 Sakr, Nassim       LIB 2170  0 = 1 0 * 1 0 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2266
 6 Ftouni,M               ----  = 0 0 1 0 * 1 1 1 0 = 0  5.0  2153
 7 El Jaouish,A           ----  0 0 0 = 1 0 * 0 0 = 1 1  4.0  2101
 8 Somoff,A               ----  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 0 1 0 1  4.0  1894
 9 Barakat, Rafic     LIB 2175  0 = 0 0 0 0 1 1 * 0 1 =  4.0  2015
10 Ibrahim,A              ----  0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 1 * 0 1  3.5  1894
11 Omar, Hytham       LIB 2205  0 = 0 0 0 = 0 1 0 1 * 0  3.0  1802
12 Bokhazi,A              ----  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 = 0 1 *  2.5  1973
------------------------------------------------------------------

9) XVII MITROPA CUP

The XVII MITROPA CUP is taking place in Montecatini Terme - Italy 7-16 Novembre 1997. The "Mitropa Cup" is a team competition involving many central Europe (MITtel euROPA in German) countries. Similar competitions exist in many different sport (soccer for instance) despite which countries are entitled to be considered middle-European is not clear. My thanks to Massimiliano Orsi for the news. Full coverage on the internet: http://www.italway.it/associazioni/cssurya/mitropa.hstml

After 8 of 9 rounds
                     Bd   Match Points
  1 Croatia          21,5 14
  2 Slovenia         21,0 14
  3 Hungary          18,0 11
  4 Switzerland      18,0  9
  5 Germany          17,0 10
  6 Italy            16.0  8                                              7 France           13,5  5
  8 Czech Republic   13.0  3                                              9 Austria          11,5  4
  10 Slovakia        10.5  2                                            

10) Upcoming events

XVIIIth Open tournament Bethune (FRA)

XVIIIth Open tournament Bethune (FRA) (26-30 /XII/1997) 7 rounds swiss open chess tournament

Prizes: 8000 FF, 5500 FF, 4000 FF, 3000 FF, 2000 FF, 1500 FF and so on... + categories (Elo, ladies, Young players)

Fees: 230 FF Young players (<20 years) and senior (>65) : 115 FF
Free for IM and GM
1st round at 3 pm
Rate of play: 40 moves/2 hours then 1 hour KO
Organizer: Mr Francis Bugny
1, rue de Moscou
F-62400 BETHUNE
tel: +33 3 21.61.23.63

Internet Chess Match

Shahcom, a company based in St Petersburg are going to provide the electronic boards for an internet chess match between the Chigorin Chess Club in St Petersburg and the DD Club of the Netherlands. The players will sit at their boards in St Petersburg as normal and their moves will be relayed to their Dutch opponents. The match will take place on November 23rd. Further details at:

http://www.dux.ru/chess/

24th Open Bruges Belguim

The 24th Open International ECI Chess Tournament in Bruges, Belgium runs 26-29.12.97. The tournament will be held in the halls of the historic belfry in the market place. For further information:

Phone : Raf Barzeele +32 (50) 35.89.32

Webpage : http://users.skynet.be/jdecorte/chess/index.html
E-mail : johan.decorte@skynet.be