E-Mail mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk Tel or fax 01274 882143 [Bradford England] http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
1) Introduction
2) FIDE World Chess Championships
3) FIDE Women's Candidates
4) III. Guðmundur Arason International
5) Rapid Chess in Koeln
6) Mechanic's Masters
7) First Saturday Tournaments
8) Belgian Interteams Championships
9) 4th Loures Young Masters
10) Upcoming events
Games section
FIDE World KO Championships 232 games FIDE Women's Candidates 28 games 3rd Arason International 18 games Rapidplay in Koeln 4 games Mechanics Masters 3 games First Saturday GM tournament 42 games First Saturday IM A tournament 42 games First Saturday IM B tournament 42 games 4th Loures Tournament 45 games Belgian interteams 174 games
My thanks to Eric Schiller, Chess Planet, Lost Boys, Ian Rogers, Europe Echecs, Chess in Iceland, Laszlo Nagy, Luis Santos, Alain Talon and Mark Schepers and all those who helped with this issue.
Most of my time this week has been taken up with day by day reporting of the games and results from the FIDE World Championships. This issue compiles together some of the material from that daily coverage from my pages. The large number of games in the first week have produced almost too many games to look at. The second week should allow more concentration on the games themselves rather than results. I'll continue to try and improve the daily coverage over the event. Primary sites for information on the event are Chess Planet's official site and Dutch Teletext links to which are given on my main pages. The live coverage is provided by Lost Boys.
As to what I make of the event. It certainly has had its fair share of excitement but the tension is getting to the players and there have been some very nervous performances. The event nearly lost its top star Anand, who quite frankly has been outclassed by Khalifman in their two game match. However the rapid games may prove something different. Nerves clearly got to Khalifman at the end in his inability to convert a game he would normally do with ease. If the event loses its really top stars before the match against Karpov in the final it will be difficult for FIDE to justify it as a real World Championships. On Wednesday we see Adams vs Svidler in round 4. Both players are near the top of their form, it seems a shame that one of them will be eliminated at this stage. My final thought is that the event is working out better than I thought it would but it is still no World Championships to me. However as an event which occurs every two years it looks good. Surely it would have been better to call it something like FIDE's super knockout tournament, much like the Grand Slam Cup in tennis and leave the emotional question of whether its a World Championships to others. Personally I would hate to see it totally replace classic chess matches and Candidates tournaments even though the current valuation in terms of prize money needs to be downgraded in my opinion.
Hope you enjoy this issue
Mark
The opening ceremony for the FIDE World Chess Championships took place on December 8th 1997 in Groningen in the Netherlands. The event was opened by FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov and expressed the hope that a great challenger will emerge from Groningen to beat Anatoly Karpov in Lausanne.
Prior to the first round 2 players originally in the starting line-up couldn't make it. Esam Mohamed could not make it due to visa problems and earlier 16 year old Taisuke Ichikawa wasn't allowed to play because his headmaster believed the game is not "serious" in the light of Kasparov's loss to Deep Blue. This left the unfortunate Jon Speelman missing out on the Championships. He was assured prior to the zonal tournament that he had already qualified to play in the World Championships so did not play and was the victim of the change of format. Nevertheless a few players did make it by agitating behind the scenes. For instance Smyslov wrote to the FIDE President to ensure his participation.
The first round acted as a sort of preliminary round. Most of the top rated players were seeded through to the second round. Nevertheless there were a number of casualties amongst the well known names who did have to play. Peter Leko lost a strange match to Roman Slobodjan. He seemed to be completely thrown by a strange and probably not very good novelty from the young German and drifted into a bad position. The second game saw him get a completely winning position before time trouble and nerves saw it frittered away to a draw. Gretarsson's elimination of Illescas was also a shock. A terrible blunder in the opening of the second game put the Spanish player out. Stefan Kindermann eliminated the highly rated Yermolinsky in the playoffs. Vadim Zvjaginsev a last minute substitute outlasted Joel Benjamin in the playoffs in the tie of the round according to many good judges. The last to finish was the Christiansen - Andersson match. The American blundered a pawn away and went out at around 12-30am on the 11th.
Gm1 Gm2 P/O Qualifier
Aleksandrov, A..BLR 2660 - Gulko, B........USA 2580 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Aleksandrov
Benjamin, J.....USA 2580 - Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Zvjaginsev
Rublevsky, S....RUS 2650 - Spraggett, K....CAN 2575 .. 1-0 1-0 Rublevsky
Kindermann, S...GER 2570 - Yermolinsky, A..USA 2650 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Kindermann
Rozentalis, E...LTU 2645 - Lerner, K.......UKR 2560 .. 1/2 1-0 Rozentalis
Petursson, M....ISL 2555 - Oll, L..........EST 2645 .. 0-1 1/2 Oll
Krasenkow, M....POL 2645 - Van Der Sterren.NED 2555 .. 1-0 1/2 Krasenkow
Christiansen, L.USA 2550 - Andersson, U....SWE 2640 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Andersson
Chernin, A......HUN 2640 - Istratescu, A...ROM 2550 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Istratescu
Slobodjan, R....GER 2550 - Leko, P.........HUN 2635 .. 1-0 1/2 Slobodjan
Seirawan, Y.....USA 2630 - Anastasian, A...ARM 2545 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Seirawan
Kurajica, B.....BIH 2545 - Granda Zuniga...PER 2625 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Granda Zuniga
Giorgadze, G....GEO 2625 - Bacrot, E.......FRA 2545 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Giorgadze
Fominyh, A......RUS 2535 - Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 .. 0-1 1/2 Tkachiev
Malaniuk, V.....UKR 2615 - Hamdouchi, H....MAR 2535 .. 1-0 1-0 Malaniuk
Peng, X.........CHN 2530 - Almasi, Z.......HUN 2615 .. 1/2 0-1 Almasi
Alterman, B.....ISR 2615 - Wells, P........ENG 2530 .. 1-0 1/2 Alterman
Van Der Wiel, J.NED 2525 - Ehlvest, J......EST 2610 .. 1/2 0-1 Ehlvest
Korchnoi, V.....SUI 2610 - Hernandez, G....MEX 2525 .. 1-0 1/2 Korchnoi
Luther, T.......GER 2525 - Portisch, L.....HUN 2610 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Luther
Adianto, U......INA 2610 - Wang, Z.........CHN 2520 .. 1-0 1-0 Adianto
Barua, D........IND 2515 - Hracek, Z.......CZE 2605 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Hracek
Hjartarson, J...ISL 2605 - Sulskis, S......LTU 2510 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Hjartarson
Glek, I.........RUS 2505 - Nijboer, F......NED 2605 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Nijboer
Hansen, C.......DEN 2600 - Miladinovic, I..GRE 2500 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Miladinovic
Shaked, T.......USA 2500 - Morovic, I......CHI 2600 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Shaked
Milos, G........BRA 2590 - Murshed, N......BAN 2490 .. 1-0 1-0 Milos
Smyslov, V......RUS 2480 - Morozevich, A...RUS 2590 .. 0-1 0-1 Morozevich
Sutovskij, E....ISR 2590 - Garcia, G.......COL 2480 .. 0-1 1/2 Garcia
Gretarsson, H...ISL 2475 - Illescas, M.....ESP 2585 .. 1/2 1-0 Gretarsson
Kotronias, V....GRE 2585 - Milov, V........SUI 2635 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Milov
Hoeksema, H.....NED 2400 - Nenashev, A.....UZB 2585 .. 1/2 0-1 Nenashev
Sokolov, A......RUS 2585 - Kobese, W.......RSA 2315 .. 1-0 1/2 Sokolov
Umgayev, A......RUS 2000 - Bologan, V......MDA 2585 .. 0-1 0-1 Bologan
Rapid games 25 minutes 10 second increment. Two game match.
Followed by a sudden death system (see introduction to the event)
Gm1 Gm2 S/D Qualifier
Aleksandrov, A..BLR 2660 - Gulko, B........USA 2580 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Aleksandrov
Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 - Benjamin, J.....USA 2580 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Zvjaginsev
Yermolinsky, A..USA 2650 - Kindermann, S...GER 2570 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Kindermann
Christiansen, L.USA 2550 - Andersson, U....SWE 2640 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Andersson
Chernin, A......HUN 2640 - Istratescu, A...ROM 2550 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Istratescu
Seirawan, Y.....USA 2630 - Anastasian, A...ARM 2545 .. 1-0 1-0 Seirawan
Kurajica, B.....BIH 2545 - Granda Zuniga...PER 2625 .. 0-1 1/2 Granda Zuniga
Bacrot, E.......FRA 2545 - Giorgadze, G....GEO 2625 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Giorgadze
Luther, T.......GER 2525 - Portisch, L.....HUN 2610 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Luther
Barua, D........IND 2515 - Hracek, Z.......CZE 2605 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Hracek
Sulskis, S......LTU 2510 - Hjartarson, J...ISL 2605 .. 1/2 0-1 Hjartarson
Nijboer, F......NED 2605 - Glek, I.........RUS 2505 .. 1/2 1-0 Nijboer
Hansen, C.......DEN 2600 - Miladinovic, I..GRE 2500 .. 0-1 1/2 Miladinovic
Shaked, T.......USA 2500 - Morovic, I......CHI 2600 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Shaked
Milov, V........SUI 2635 - Kotronias, V....GRE 2585 .. 1/2 1-0 Milov
I should start by saying that the word "surprise" is something that should be banned from these reports. Lower rated players are going to beat the "favourites" in individual matches. Round 2 demonstrated this with a mixture of nerves and overoptimism seeing off a few of the more high profile names. In tournament chess you take risks to extract the maximum amount of points. Here the avoidance of loss and awaiting opportunities to show superior ability are the abilities required.
The most high profile losers in round 2 were Vassily Ivanchuk and
Topalov. Both were victims of what might be described as their gross
overoptimism as black. Ivanchuk knew of Seirawan's unusual line against
the Kings Indian since 1991 when they looked at it together. Ivanchuk
decided on a setup solely predicated on getting his setup with 13. ...Qb6
to work, but once he realised 14...Qxb2 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.Rxd6 he could not
find a satisfactory continuation. His whole position was dreadful. Its was
not necessary to play in this uncompromising yet careless manner. In the
second game he also got an advantage but blitzed his way through the game
missing 16. g4! Bg6 17. f4 exf4 18. Bxf4 Re6 19. Bh3 which was thought
after the game to give him a huge advantage. He simply ended up in a level
position. Topalov too had a strange match against Piket. He drew his first
game with white when he might have pressed harder at the end rather than
steering to a draw and then again chose a strategically dubious opening
with black. Once he was hit by a TN (This seems to be on move 16 with
Rad1, they were following two Khenkin games
Khenkin,I (2445) - Kramnik,V (2490) [D39] Sochi-B, 1989
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.Nc3 e6 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4
8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qb3 a6 13.Be2 Nc6
14.0-0 Qc7 15.Qa3 Rc8 16.Rfd1 Na5 17.c4 Qc5 ½-½
and
Khenkin,I (2450) - Akopian,V (2550) [D39] Minsk, 1990
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4
8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qb3 a6 13.Be2 Nc6
14.0-0 Qc7 15.Qa3 Rc8 16.Rfd1 Na5 17.c4 Qc5 18.Qg3 Nc6 19.Nb3 Qf8 20.Rd2
Rg8 21.Qe3 Nb8 22.Rb1 Bc6 23.Na5 Qg7 24.g3 Qg5 25.Qxg5 Rxg5 26.Nxb7 Bxb7
27.Rxb7 Rgc5 28.f4 R5c7 29.Rdb2 Nd7 30.Kf2 Nc5 31.Rxc7 Rxc7 32.Ke3 Ke7
33.Rb8 Nd7 34.Ra8 Nb6 35.Rxa6 Nxc4+ 36.Kd4 e5+ 37.fxe5 fxe5+ 38.Kd5 Ne3+
39.Kxe5 Rc2 40.Ra7+ Kf8 41.Bh5 Rc5+ 42.Kf6 Rc6+ 43.Kg5 Rc5+ 44.Kh6 1-0
My thanks to Europe Echecs for the references) he did not manage to
justify his compromised position at all going astray almost immediately
17. ...h5 was compulsary to keep him in the game and 18. Qh6 left him
looking at a dreadful position. Again a more cautious approach and going
into the playoffs should have been his first thought.
Elsewhere there were a number of impressive performances. Predrag Nikolic looked a hard first round for Viswanathan Anand but he made it look all too easy. After Nikolic's poor 18. Bb1 he gradually took the initiative increasing the pressure on the centre until it collapsed. He finished it off with a pleasing flourish. The second game was totally dominated by Anand finishing off with a nice combination winning the Queen. Things look promising for Anand, except he plays Khalifman in the next round. He completed a reasonably comfortable win against Nijboer 2-0. Indeed this half of the draw still looks reasonably tough with Gelfand, Dreev, Seirawan (who seems to be enjoying the format) Almasi, Jussupow and Shirov still in the event. Judit Polgar seemed to be pressing for a win in her second game against Almasi when, just before the first time control she found the poor 39. g3 in a sharp position, and just 8 moves later had to resign. Shirov almost blew his one game advantage against Granda Zuniga. The Peruvian missed several opportunities to win allowing Shirov just to hold the draw and go through.
In the top half of the draw Bareev made light work of Malaniuk, he will meet Krasenkow who is a very strong player. Beliavsky is offically the strongest player left in the top half but Peter Svidler's almost casual win against Adianto (who is an extremely tough customer) makes him the man most likely in my opinion. His crushing win in the first of their games consisted of a barage of tactics culminating in an attractive Queen sac. Michael Adams is at the very top of his form and is has just the right kind of personality to win the event entirely. He was a very comfortable winner against Giorgadze.
There were some heart breakers on Saturday in the tie-breaks. How Ivan Sokolov even ended up in a tie break is a mystery to me as he contrived to lose a favourable position the day before (33. ...Na8 looks the likely culprit) . Epishin won the tie-break 1.5 - 0.5. Ulf Andersson was in the lead against Vadim Milov both after the first normal game and after the first 25 minute game but lost the first sudden death game. Korchnoi and Short drew their way through their games until the Englishman won with black in the second 15 minute rapidplay game. Vadim Zvjaginsev is a young player with a future. He just squeaked past Gregory Kaidanov in the playoffs. Matthew Sadler also got past Ehlvest in the playoffs and although I don't expect him to advance to the final stages will be a dangerous customer in these matches. Aleksandrov is a player to watch rated 2660 and winner of the Rubinstein Memorial earlier in the year.
Gm1 Gm2 P/O Qualifier
Azmaiparashvili.GEO 2645 - Slobodjan, R....GER 2550 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Azmaiparashvili
Aleksandrov, A..BLR 2660 - Hjartarson, J...ISL 2605 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Aleksandrov
Bareev, E.......RUS 2670 - Malaniuk, V.....UKR 2615 .. 1-0 1-0 Bareev
Krasenkow, M....POL 2645 - Garcia, G.......COL 2480 .. 1-0 1/2 Krasenkow
Beliavsky, A....SLO 2710 - Timman, J.......NED 2625 .. 1/2 1-0 Beliavsky
Rublevsky, S....RUS 2650 - Shaked, T.......USA 2500 .. 1/2 1-0 Rublevsky
Short, N........ENG 2660 - Korchnoi, V.....SUI 2610 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Short
Istratescu, A...ROM 2550 - Sokolov, A......RUS 2585 .. 0-1 0-1 Sokolov
Topalov, V......BUL 2745 - Piket, J........NED 2630 .. 1/2 0-1 Piket
Van Wely, L.....NED 2655 - Miladinovic, I..GRE 2500 .. 1/2 1-0 Van Wely
Georgiev, K.....BUL 2670 - Alterman, B.....ISR 2615 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Georgiev
Andersson, U....SWE 2640 - Milov, V........SUI 2635 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Milov
Adams, M........ENG 2680 - Giorgadze, G....GEO 2625 .. 1-0 1-0 Adams
Rozentalis, E...LTU 2645 - Tiviakov, S.....RUS 2590 .. 0-1 1/2 Tiviakov
Svidler, P......RUS 2660 - Adianto, U......INA 2610 .. 1-0 1/2 Svidler
Sokolov, I......BIH 2635 - Epishin, V......RUS 2570 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Epishin
Hracek, Z.......CZE 2605 - Lautier, J......FRA 2660 .. 0-1 1/2 Lautier
Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 - Bye Gelfand
Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 - Salov, V........RUS 2680 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Tkachiev
Morozevich, A...RUS 2590 - Oll, L..........EST 2645 .. 0-1 1/2 Oll
Seirawan, Y.....USA 2630 - Ivanchuk, V.....UKR 2725 .. 1-0 1/2 Seirawan
Kaidanov, G.....USA 2600 - Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Zvjaginsev
Ehlvest, J......EST 2610 - Sadler, M.......ENG 2665 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Sadler
Nenashev, A.....UZB 2585 - Dreev, A........RUS 2640 .. 1/2 0-1 Dreev
Nikolic, P......BIH 2630 - Anand, V........IND 2765 .. 0-1 0-1 Anand
Nijboer, F......NED 2605 - Khalifman, A....RUS 2655 .. 0-1 0-1 Khalifman
Almasi, Z.......HUN 2615 - Polgar, J.......HUN 2670 .. 1/2 1-0 Almasi
Gretarsson, H...ISL 2475 - Jussupow, A.....GER 2640 .. 1/2 0-1 Jussupow
Granda Zuniga...PER 2625 - Shirov, A.......ESP 2700 .. 0-1 1/2 Shirov
Milos, G........BRA 2590 - Kindermann, S...GER 2570 .. 1-0 1-0 Milos
Luther, T.......GER 2525 - Akopian, V......ARM 2660 .. 1/2 0-1 Akopian
Bologan, V......MDA 2585 - Vaganian, R.....ARM 2640 .. 0-1 0-1 Vaganian
Playoffs
Gm1 Gm2 Gm3 Gm4 S/D Qualifier
Slobodjan, R....GER 2550 - Azmaiparashvili.GEO 2645 . 0-1 1/2 Azmaiparashvili
Hjartarson, J...ISL 2605 - Aleksandrov, A..BLR 2660 . 1/2 0-1 Aleksandrov
Korchnoi, V.....SUI 2610 - Short, N........ENG 2660 . 1/2 1/2 1/2 0-1 Short
Alterman, B.....ISR 2615 - Georgiev, K.....BUL 2670 . 1/2 0-1 Georgiev
Andersson, U....SWE 2640 - Milov, V........SUI 2635 . 1-0 0-1 1/2 1/2 YES Milov
Sokolov, I......BIH 2635 - Epishin, V......RUS 2570 . 1/2 0-1 Epishin
Salov, V........RUS 2680 - Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 . 0-1 0-1 Tkachiev
Kaidanov, G.....USA 2600 - Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 . 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 Zvjaginsev
Ehlvest, J......EST 2610 - Sadler, M.......ENG 2665 . 1/2 1-2 0-1 0-1 Sadler
This as yet uncompleted round saw 8 of the 16 qualifiers decided before rapidplay games were needed. The nearest casualty was tournament favourite Viswanathan Anand. He got out of a bad position with black in the opening against Khalifman to get a short draw. He was on the verge of resigning his second game against the Russian when Khalifman moved his e pawn too early which introduced complications which convinced the Russian to take a draw (even though he was still probably winning). Possibly not just a lucky escape for Anand but also for interest in the tournament. Right from the time I saw the draw I thought this would be a key match. Khalifman on his day is one of the very best players in the World and although Anand is good at fast chess Khalifman is still not out of this match. Krasenkow eliminated Evgeny Bareev when the Russian went horribly wrong in game one of their match. Bareev couldn't generate any winning chances with black in their second game. Loek Van Wely couldn't see a win at the death in his game against Piket, according to Bill Doyle 48. e6!! b1=Q 49. Rh8+ Ke7 50. Rf7+ Kd6 51. Rxd8+ Kc5 52. e7 is just terminal [actually according to Amir Ban and his Junior computer its still a draw 52. e7 Nf1+ 53. Kg2 Qf4+! 54. Kxf1 Rxg4! with a perpetual]. Almasi also was pretty lucky to beat Jussupow in a sharp game. Dreev, Almasi, Azmaiparashvili, Krasenkow, Short, Georgiev, Adams and Svidler are also through. The rest of the ties will be resolved by rapidplay tomorrow. In round 4 Adams meets Svidler. These are two potential winners of the event and is potentially the tie of the round.
Top half Gm1 Gm2 P/O Qualifier Lautier, J......FRA 2660 - Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Oll, L..........EST 2645 - Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 - Seirawan, Y.....USA 2630 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Dreev, A........RUS 2640 - Sadler, M.......ENG 2665 .. 1/2 1-0 Dreev Khalifman, A....RUS 2655 - Anand, V........IND 2765 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Jussupow, A.....GER 2640 - Almasi, Z.......HUN 2615 .. 1/2 0-1 Almasi Milos, G........BRA 2590 - Shirov, A.......ESP 2700 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Vaganian, R.....ARM 2640 - Akopian, V......ARM 2660 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Bottom Half Azmaiparashvili.GEO 2645 - Aleksandrov, A..BLR 2660 .. 1-0 1/2 Azmaiparashvili Bareev, E.......RUS 2670 - Krasenkow, M....POL 2645 .. 0-1 1/2 Krasenkow Beliavsky, A....SLO 2710 - Rublevsky, S....RUS 2650 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Short, N........ENG 2660 - Sokolov, A......RUS 2585 .. 1-0 1-0 Short Piket, J........NED 2630 - Van Wely, L.....NED 2655 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Georgiev, K.....BUL 2670 - Milov, V........SUI 2635 .. 1/2 1-0 Georgiev Adams, M........ENG 2680 - Tiviakov, S.....RUS 2590 .. 1-0 1/2 Adams Svidler, P......RUS 2660 - Epishin, V......RUS 2570 .. 1-0 1/2 Svidler
Alongside the FIDE Championships in Groningen is the women's Candidates tournament. A ten player double round robin, it makes one nostalgic for this format which used to be used for deciding the men's challenger. Galliamova of Russia leads with 5/7 just above Ioseliani and Chiburdinadze on 4. Lurking on 3.5 points is Xie Jun who recovered from a poor start. The top two will play a match to decide who plays Zsuzsa Polgar.
Round 1 (1997.12.09)
Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa - Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 1/2 64 D85 Gruenfeld indian
Ioseliani, Nana - Chiburdanidze, Maia 1/2 22 E48 Nimzo indian
Peng Zhaoqin - Xie Jun 1/2 49 A68 Modern Benoni
Maric, Alisa - Gurieli, Nino 1-0 43 D76 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino - Cramling, Pia 1/2 48 E00 Nimzo indian
Round 2 (1997.12.10)
Xie Jun - Chiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 54 B12 Caro-Kann
Cramling, Pia - Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa 1/2 41 D43 Semi-Slav
Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan - Ioseliani, Nana 1-0 39 B66 Sicilian
Peng Zhaoqin - Maric, Alisa 1/2 48 D37 Queen's gambit
Gurieli, Nino - Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino 1-0 42 E63 Kings indian
Round 3 (1997.12.11)
Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa - Gurieli, Nino 1-0 90 D36 Queen's gambit
Chiburdanidze, Maia - Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 1/2 53 D79 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ioseliani, Nana - Cramling, Pia 1-0 31 A04 Reti (1.Nf3)
Maric, Alisa - Xie Jun 1/2 40 D76 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino - Peng Zhaoqin 1/2 24 E00 Nimzo indian
Round 4 (1997.12.12)
Xie Jun - Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 1-0 33 B85 Sicilian
Cramling, Pia - Chiburdanidze, Maia 1/2 35 E15 Nimzo indian
Peng Zhaoqin - Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa 0-1 31 D45 Semi-Slav
Maric, Alisa - Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino 1/2 42 A49 Queen's pawn
Gurieli, Nino - Ioseliani, Nana 0-1 32 D31 Queen's gambit
Round 5 (1997.12.14)
Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa - Maric, Alisa 1-0 75 C67 Ruy Lopez
Chiburdanidze, Maia - Gurieli, Nino 1-0 25 D72 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ioseliani, Nana - Peng Zhaoqin 1/2 19 C02 French; Advance
Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan - Cramling, Pia 0-1 41 C17 French; Winawer
Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino - Xie Jun 0-1 39 E73 Kings indian
Round 6 (1997.12.15)
Xie Jun - Cramling, Pia 1/2 22 C06 French; Tarrasch
Peng Zhaoqin - Chiburdanidze, Maia 1/2 45 A17 English; 1.c4
Maric, Alisa - Ioseliani, Nana 0-1
Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino - Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa 0-1 65 D45 Semi-Slav
Gurieli, Nino - Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 0-1
Groningen NED (NED), XII 1997 cat. IX (2458)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa m RUS 2445 ** .. .. .. =. =. 1. 1. 1. 1. 5.0 2705
2 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2525 .. ** =. 1. =. =. =. .. .. 1. 4.0 2580
3 Ioseliani, Nana m GEO 2520 .. =. ** .. 1. 0. =. 1. .. 1. 4.0 2575
4 Xie Jun g CHN 2495 .. 0. .. ** =. 1. =. =. 1. .. 3.5 2515
5 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2520 =. =. 0. =. ** 1. .. .. =. .. 3.0 2471
6 Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan m GEO 2430 =. =. 1. 0. 0. ** .. .. .. 1. 3.0 2479
7 Peng Zhaoqin m NED 2400 0. =. =. =. .. .. ** =. =. .. 2.5 2419
8 Maric, Alisa m YUG 2460 0. .. 0. =. .. .. =. ** =. 1. 2.5 2383
9 Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino wg GER 2415 0. .. .. 0. =. .. =. =. ** 0. 1.5 2255
10 Gurieli, Nino wg GEO 2370 0. 0. 0. .. .. 0. .. 0. 1. ** 1.0 2192
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The III. Guðmundur Arason International is taking place in Hafnarfjörður,
Iceland December 13th–21st 1997. Full coverage on the Chess in
Iceland pages.
http://www.vks.is/skak/gudara97.html
Standings after 2 rounds
Hafnarfjordur ICL (ICL), XII 1997
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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1 Aagaard, Jacob m DEN 2435 +11 + 9 . . . . . . . 2.0
2 Raetsky, Alexander m RUS 2405 +16 + 8 . . . . . . . 2.0
3 Brynell, Stellan m SWE 2465 +18 +14 . . . . . . . 2.0
4 Hall, Jesper m SWE 2460 +15 +17 . . . . . . . 2.0
5 Westerinen, Heikki M.J g FIN 2410 = 7 +13 . . . . . . . 1.5 2540
6 Thorhallsson, Throstur g ISL 2510 +17 = 7 . . . . . . . 1.5 2515
7 Bosboom, Manuel m NED 2430 = 5 = 6 . . . . . . . 1.0 2460
8 Astrom, Robert m SWE 2455 +12 - 2 . . . . . . . 1.0 2425
9 Kinsman, Andrew P.H m ENG 2395 +10 - 1 . . . . . . . 1.0 2352
10 Halldorsson, Bragi ISL 2270 - 9 +16 . . . . . . . 1.0 2310
11 Hardarson, Robert f ISL 2325 - 1 +18 . . . . . . . 1.0 2407
12 Ivanov, Mikhail M g RUS 2445 - 8 +15 . . . . . . . 1.0 2332
13 Bjarnason, Saevar m ISL 2265 =14 - 5 . . . . . . . 0.5 2169
14 Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor ISL 2315 =13 - 3 . . . . . . . 0.5 2172
15 Edvardsson, Kristjan ISL 2210 - 4 -12 . . . . . . . 0.0
16 Jensson, Einar Hjalti ISL 2225 - 2 -10 . . . . . . . 0.0
17 Thorfinnsson, Bragi ISL 2215 - 6 - 4 . . . . . . . 0.0
18 Vidarsson, Jon G f ISL 2380 - 3 -11 . . . . . . . 0.0
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Taking advantage of some of the players eliminated in the first round of
the FIDE World Championship knockout event Koeln had a strong field taking
part in their rapidplay 13th-14th December 1997. A 13 round event of
20-minutes games and there were 242 participants.Full results from Gerhard
Hund at :
http://www.teleschach.de/berichte/koeln97.html
Joel Benjamin, a player widely regarded as being unlucky in Groningen took first place with 10.5/13 on tie break from Igor Khenkin. Just behind was Fritz5 and Tony Miles. Chernin, Leko, Lutz, Glek, Christiansen, Huebner, Bologan were just some of the other players.
Eric Schiller reports that the Mechanics Masters took place in the Mechanics Chess Club, 57 Post Street, San Francisco. A 5-round, swiss, open to masters and former masters only. 22 Players. The event was won by GM Dmitry Gurevich wins scoring 4-1, despite losing to Eric Schiller, who finished second at 3.5, together with FM Craig Mar and Burt Izumakawa. (Schiller beat Izumakawa and lost to Mar).
Laszlo Nagy reports on his tournaments in Budapest. He has a www site
at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/chess_first_saturday_hu/
he can be contacted via the site if you are interested in particpating in
future events.
In December he has organised one GM event and two IM events aswell as some events where you can earn a rating. After 8 rounds the standings in the main events are:
First Saturday GM
Budapest HUN (HUN), XII 1997 cat. VII (2417)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
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1 Acs, Peter f HUN 2460 * = = . 1 = = . . 1 1 1 6.0 2592
2 Almasi, Istvan m HUN 2430 = * = = = 1 . = 1 . 1 . 5.5 2565
3 Varga, Zoltan g HUN 2495 = = * 1 = = . . . = 1 1 5.5 2548
4 Lugovoi, Aleksei m RUS 2520 . = 0 * . 1 = 1 = 1 . 1 5.5 2554
5 Barczay, Laszlo g HUN 2395 0 = = . * . 0 1 . 1 1 1 5.0 2506
6 Salmensuu, Olli f FIN 2380 = 0 = 0 . * 1 0 1 1 . . 4.0 2437
7 Gonzalez Garcia, Jose m MEX 2420 = . . = 1 0 * 0 = . = 1 4.0 2413
8 Tomescu, Vlad m ROM 2410 . = . 0 0 1 1 * 0 . = 1 4.0 2410
9 Horvath, Adam HUN 2415 . 0 . = . 0 = 1 * 1 1 0 4.0 2404
10 Hoang Thang Trang m VIE 2350 0 . = 0 0 0 . . 0 * = 1 2.0 2230
11 Vadasz, Laszlo g HUN 2320 0 0 0 . 0 . = = 0 = * . 1.5 2170
12 Tate, Emory f USA 2405 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 0 1 0 . * 1.0 2111
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First Saturday IM A event
Budapest HUN (HUN), XII 1997 cat. III (2303)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Varga, Peter m HUN 2395 * = = = . = = . 1 1 1 . 5.5 2464
2 Dudas, Janos m HUN 2400 = * . = 0 . 1 1 = . 1 1 5.5 2411
3 Peredy, Ferenc HUN 2430 = . * = 1 1 = = . . = = 5.0 2401
4 Karatorossian, David ARM 2335 = = = * . = 1 . 1 0 . 1 5.0 2411
5 Nguyen Thi Tuong Van wm VIE 2160 . 1 0 . * = . 1 0 1 = 1 5.0 2393
6 Izsak, Gyula m HUN 2405 = . 0 = = * . 1 . 1 = = 4.5 2338
7 Colovic, Aleksandar f FRM 2360 = 0 = 0 . . * = = = 1 . 3.5 2273
8 Zalkind, Karmi ISR 2315 . 0 = . 0 0 = * 1 1 . = 3.5 2243
9 Azahari, Md Nor MAS 2110 0 = . 0 1 . = 0 * 0 1 . 3.0 2226
10 Hera, Imre jr HUN 2245 0 . . 1 0 0 = 0 1 * . = 3.0 2196
11 Vandrey, Wolfgang f GER 2300 0 0 = . = = 0 . 0 . * 1 2.5 2164
12 Rodighiero, Giuseppe ITA 2185 . 0 = 0 0 = . = . = 0 * 2.0 2130
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
First Saturday IM B event
Budapest HUN (HUN), XII 1997 cat. II (2285)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Mas, Hafizulhelmi f MAS 2370 * . = 1 1 0 1 . . 1 1 1 6.5 2521
2 Pihlajasalo, Antti FIN 2245 . * = . = 1 = 1 . 1 1 = 6.0 2468
3 Eperjesi, Laszlo m HUN 2340 = = * = = . = = = 1 . . 4.5 2338
4 Paschall, William M f USA 2280 0 . = * = 1 0 . 1 . = 1 4.5 2338
5 Farago, Sandor m HUN 2330 0 = = = * = . = 1 = . . 4.0 2293
6 Francsics, Endre HUN 2245 1 0 . 0 = * 1 . 0 . 1 = 4.0 2287
7 Kahn, Evarth m HUN 2270 0 = = 1 . 0 * = . = . 1 4.0 2279
8 Rodriguez Lopez, Rafael f ESP 2325 . 0 = . = . = * = 0 1 1 4.0 2275
9 Zemerov, Vladimir m RUS 2325 . . = 0 0 1 . = * = 1 0 3.5 2233
10 Allen, Andrew AUS 2215 0 0 0 . = . = 1 = * 0 . 2.5 2167
11 Le Thi Phuong Lien VIE 2265 0 0 . = . 0 . 0 0 1 * 1 2.5 2136
12 Szeberenyi, Adam HUN 2215 0 = . 0 . = 0 0 1 . 0 * 2.0 2097
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The Belgian interteams Championships are underway. (Rounds 1 5/10/97 2 19/10/97 3 2/11/97 4 16/11/97 5 30/11/97 6 14/12/97 7 11/1/98 8 25/1/98 9 8/2/98 10 1/3/98 11 15/3/98) Alain Talon and Mark Schepers send the standings and games. A number of well known players including David Bronstein, Loek Winants, Mikhail Gurevich and Igor Glek compete.
Belgian Interteam Championships 1997-1998 Standings after 5 rounds: 1. Rochade Eupen 31.5 2. KGSRL (Gent) 26.5 3. Leuven 20.5 KASK (Antwerpen) 20.5 Ans 20.5 6. Eupen 20 7. Anderlecht 19.5 8. Jean Jaures 19 9. CREB (Brussel) 17.5 10. Hoboken 16 11. Tessenderlo 15.5 12. Mons 13 (In total, 11 rounds are played; last round: March 15, 1998)
The 4th Loures Young Masters a category II event will take place
December 3rd - 13th. News comes from Luis Santos' homepage at:
http://www.ip.pt/~ip001018.
Final results saw the Category II event won by Javier Campos Moreno.
Loures POR (POR), XII 1997 cat. II (2280)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Campos Moreno, Javier B m CHI 2440 * 1 = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 9.0 2544
2 Ribeiro, Fernando f POR 2340 0 * = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 8.0 2460
3 Mellado, Juan m ESP 2430 = = * 1 1 0 = 1 1 0 1 1 7.5 2491
4 Damaso, Rui m POR 2485 = = 0 * = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 7.5 2399
5 Santo Roman, Marc g FRA 2385 0 = 0 = * 1 0 1 1 = 1 1 6.5 2373
6 Santos, Carlos P f POR 2355 = 0 1 0 0 * = = 1 1 1 1 6.5 2333
7 Rivera, Daniel m URU 2370 = 0 = = 1 = * 0 = 1 = 1 6.0 2289
8 Reis, Luis Sousa POR 2230 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 * 1 1 1 1 6.0 2304
9 Dias, Paulo POR 2250 0 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 * 1 1 1 4.0 2125
10 Fernando,D ---- 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 0 0 * = 1 3.0 2096
11 Costa, Fernando J.M POR 2075 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = * 1 2.0 1921
12 Fernandes,Alv ---- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 0.0
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The Toronto International Open takes place during the Victoria Day Weekend 1998 i.e. 9 round Open Section (FIDE & CFC rated, title norms possible) May 14 - 18, 98 and the other five sections (7 rounds) May 15 - 18, 1998 at the Downtown Toronto Best Western Primrose Hotel. The prize fund is $26,000 Guaranteed!! Last year's tournament was won by IM Ziatdinov ahead of IGM's S. Kudrin, L. Psakhis and D. Gurevich.
Further details at: http://www.interlog.com/~ranko/
The International Chess Festival SAINT VINCENT (Italy, Aosta Valley) will take place February 7th - 15th 1998.
The festival will take place in Saint Vincent, a celebrated spa, which has a very famous Casino, close to renowned skiing and mountain-climbing resorts. The festival will be divided into 3 open tournaments: International Open (open to all) National Open (national rating less than 1900) and Promotion Open (beginners or players rated less than 1500). The prize money will be more than 23 millions Italian lire. The presence of at least 10 Grandmasters and 10 International Masters is assured. For further information contact: Mr. Franco BRUNOD Via Montagnayes 26 I - 11100 Aosta (home) (39) 165 43683 (office) (39) 165 40263 (fax too) E-Mail comitatoscacchivda@onw.net