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) Four Nations Chess League
6) First Saturday Tournaments
7) European Team Championships 1999
8) Belgian Interteams Championships
9) Upcoming events
Games section
FIDE World KO Championships 70 games FIDE Women's Candidates 28 games 3rd Arason International 63 games 4NCL 97 games First Saturday GM tournament 18 games First Saturday IM A tournament 24 games First Saturday IM B tournament 23 games Belgian interteams 89 games
My thanks to Chess Planet, Lost Boys, Ian Rogers, Europe Echecs, Chess in Iceland, Laszlo Nagy, John Saunders, Nigel Johnson, Alain Talon and Mark Schepers and all those who helped with this issue.
Again the absolutely dominant event of the week is the FIDE World Chess Championships. Although I don't follow my chess by nationality the presence of two Englishmen in the semi-finals of the Groningen part of the event and a guaranteed finalist adds to the event in this country. The clash of Short and Adams who don't meet that often will be an interesting one. Adams is probably the favourite but Short's devil may care attitude to the whole event (he thinks the event is only for the money and too much at that) has allowed him to play his most impressive chess in a long time. His experience and competitive instincts should not be ruled out. In the other semi-final is Viswanathan Anand who is my favourite for the event, not least because he ought to have the best chance of beating Karpov in Switzerland, and the strongest player left in the event. Nevertheless he has never dominated against his opponent Boris Gelfand and the match will be a tense affair. Anand probably is strong favourite if the match reaches the playoffs.
I will be working Christmas Day if there are any playoffs but I hope all my readers throughout the World whatever crede, colour or religion either have a good Christmas or if they don't celebrate that a good week.
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 is now entering its final phase in the Netherlands with Adams playing Short and Gelfand playing Anand. The winners of these matches will play a four game match to decide who will play a six game match with Karpov in Lausanne.
The tie of the round was Khalifman vs Anand. Khalifman not yet made the impact at the very top that his talent deserves but he continues to improve. Against Anand he dominated the whole match only to find that the Indian took his one and only chance. With white in game one he built a nice advantage only to dissipate it by playing cautiously. Probably if he had chosen the full blooded 18. bxc3 followed by f3 and e4 (a plan suggested by Anand) he would have had a big advantage. Instead the game ended in a draw. The second game was his biggest chance. Anand's initiative as white faultered in a Sicilian. He said he realised that the opening hadn't gone well when he saw 18. ...Rd8 and this have been the direct cause of his inferior continuation 19. Bh3 instead of 19. Bd3 and trying to neutralise black's advantage. When Khalifman got to a double rook and pawn ending with two connected passed pawns Anand was already to resign. He felt there were complications after 42. ...e3 and perhaps the change in body language had its effect on Khalifman. A few moves later with still some time on the clock he could have chosen 50.... Ra5 51.b4 Ra1+ 52.Ke2 Ra2+ 53.Ke1 Rf2 which is winning. He could have gone for this with only the danger of perpetual check but chose simply to repeat. Khalifman started out dominating the speed chess in particular building up a nice position in particular in the 2nd 25 minute game. Anand got out of jail with 31.. ...Nd3. Khalifman was even slightly better in the first 15 minute game but after Anand equalised he lost the thread of the game and lost. Anand comfortably held the draw to go through.
Yasser Seirawan also had reason to rue missed chances. He agreed to a draw when short of time but better against Zvjaginsev in game one. In the second game he built up a winning position but in order to build up more time on the clock decided to repeat the position. He carelessly repeated once too often allowing his relieved opponent to claim a draw by three fold repitition. This kind of miss can have a disturbing effect. Its not clear that happened here but Seirawan was held comfortably in the first game of the playoffs and then demolished by Zvjaginsev in a beautiful game.
Perhaps Dreev is convinced Sadler is stronger with black than white, much of the currently highly rated Sadler's results have come as black in team competitions. Here Dreev offered a brief draw as white and then comprehensively outplayed the Englishman in the second game to go through.
The battle between Dutchmen Loek Van Wely and Jeroen Piket was a generally messy and unsatisfactory affair. Van Wely sneaked through after 4 playoff games. The exception was their second normal time rate game is probably one of the most interesting and difficult games of the event so far. A Van Wely Kingside attack was being repulsed with the help of a potentially queening pawn from Piket. After the game Piket suggested 42. Nh4+ Kg7 43. e6 was winning for Van Wely but it was certainly an interesting struggle.
Nigel Short qualified 2-0 against Andre Sokolov. He's playing with great spirit in this event. In the first game Sokolov at first seemed to have the better of the opening after an inaccuracy. When Sokolov missed 17. ...Ne5! 18. fxe5 Bxe5 with good chances Short quickly put him away. In the return game he also lost the opening battle and if Sokolov had found 22. Qh5 Bc6 22. Qc5 may very well have turned things round. Short then played excellently and even won in the end.
Michael Adams won an impressive positional game against Tiviakov (who know each other's styles well after having played a tough match together) and then mananged to hold off strong pressure (28. ...Qa6 was a star move) to take the match by drawing the second game.
Adams next opponent Peter Svidler seemed in full control of his match against Epishin. He took a few risks in Epishin's time trouble and after a couple of errors the Russian's position collapsed. He easily got the draw he needed in game two.
Krasenkow should not be underrated. He is capable at times of playing excellent chess and here he equalised with black against Bareev using the Dutch defence. When Bareev tried to overcomplicated Krasenkow blew apart his king position. He easily held the draw in game two.
Another sad story as Vadim Milov tried to press for a win in game two of his match against Kiril Geogiev. He overpressed, missed a couple of things and lost.
Gelfand showed that he has nothing to fear from the fast chess as he won 3-1 against Lautier in overtime. Shirov edged past Milos in the speed games.
Almasi won through after winning the second game of his match against Jussupow which featured the move 39. f6+ a shock which could have been met by Juzzupow's immediate resignation.
Tkachiev drew two games against Oll at normal timerate and chose to rely on his skills at faster chess. Oll sacrificed a pawn unsoundly in game one and lost and Tkachiev easily held the second game to go through. Beliavsky too could only qualify after speed games. Akopian and Vaganian showed how dull speed chess could be (but very serious for them given the money involved) eventually Akopian won the first sudden death game. Azmaiparashvili won a tough first game against Aleksandrov and then drew game two to go through.
Top half Gm1 Gm2 P/O Qualifier
Lautier, J......FRA 2660 - Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Gelfand
Oll, L..........EST 2645 - Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Tkachiev
Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 - Seirawan, Y.....USA 2630 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Zvjaginsev
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 Anand
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 Shirov
Vaganian, R.....ARM 2640 - Akopian, V......ARM 2660 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Akopian
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 Beliavsky
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 Van Wely
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
Playoffs
Gm1 Gm2 Gm3 Gm4 S/D Qualifier
Lautier, J......FRA 2660 - Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 .. 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 Gelfand
Anand, V........IND 2765 - Khalifman, A....RUS 2655 .. 1/2 1/2 1-0 1/2 Anand
Piket, J........NED 2630 - Van Wely, L.....NED 2655 .. 0-1 1-0 1/2 0-1 Van Wely
Seirawan, Y.....USA 2630 - Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 .. 1/2 0-1 Zvjaginsev
Beliavsky, A....SLO 2710 - Rublevsky, S....RUS 2650 .. 1-0 1/2 Beliavsky
Shirov, A.......ESP 2700 - Milos, G........BRA 2590 .. 1/2 1-0 Shirov
Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 - Oll, L..........EST 2645 .. 1-0 1/2 Tkachiev
Vaganian, R.....ARM 2640 - Akopian, V......ARM 2660 .. 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 YES Akopian
Down to eight matches five of which went to rapid playoffs. It became increasingly obvious that strong nerves are going to play a big part in the results as the prize money increased.
The Almasi - Anand match was one effectively finished in the first game when Anand won with black. The game itself was one of the most puzzling of the event. Anand was offered a draw early in the game but it became obvious that Almasi was getting the initiative soon after that. 22. ...a5 was a very risky choice according to Anand after the game and 28. f4 threatened to increase that with a comfortable advantage for white. Anand's choice was to give up the exchange, a deep and I still think slightly dubious strategy but it lured Almasi into seeking a definite win. Almasi struggled with the clock and in finding a good plan. He had a go at attacking f7 and in doing so allowed Anand to push his a pawn to a3. Shortly after the first time control he blundered away his E-pawn. In time pressure and losing more material Almasi resigned. The Hungarian put up only token resistance in the second game.
Van Wely utilising some of the knowledge he had gained working as Gata Kamsky's second got a tremendous advantage out of the opening against Kiril Georgiev. When 18. d5 arrived he was probably already winning and ten moves later the Bulgarian resigned. The second game saw Georgiev do all but equalise the match. It has been seen though that even with winning positions the must win situation can lead to nerves at the vital moment. 37. Be6 probably wins instantly. Even though he pressed for a long time Georgiev couldn't get the win he needed and Van Wely went through.
After a dry draw in their first game Shirov managed to go through by a fine victory in the second game of his match against Akopian. His grab of a pawn with 24. Qxh6 didn't really look worth it for quite a while as Shirov had to reorganise his position against an assault on his King and the centre. In the end he obtained an overwhelming ending which he converted.
Probably the match of the round was that between Nigel Short and Alexander Beliavsky. Playing the English Defence as black was a risky choice from Short. He had seen a rather wet treatment by Beliavsky in a previous game. This time Beliavsky came up with a new idea 7. Be2 and Short started to have to sacrifice material. At first it definitely seemed enough with Beliavsky losing most of his pawns. In a crazy game where it would not surprise me if Short missed a chance or two (although generally it seemed mostly in Beliavsky's favour) Beliavsky managed to make it to time control with a winning position after some hair raising moments. Short was saved in the second game by Beliavsky going down a very bad line of the Ruy Lopez. It isn't clear that either side knew the theory all the way down to the end but Short believed 14. ...c6 was already bad. In fact theory went down to 22. ...h5 which was the first new move. Five moves later Beliavsky lost most of his pieces. In the playoffs Short played quite agressively with an active version of the black side of the Queens Gambit vs Bf4. His isolated pawn was a potential weakness but as Beliavsky tried to play for a win he started to take too many risks. Short was allowed to get a passed pawn on d4 and then d3. He then very effectively rapped up an ending which was hard to defend at speed chess. Short played simply and effectively against the Modern in the second game easily securing the point he need to go through.
Prior to the round Adams -Svidler looked the tie of the round. However the players had far too much respect for each other and the match became a war of attrition. Draws were agreed in a tedious Sicilian and Ruy Lopez called to a halt just out of the opening. This lead to an incredible series of speed games where Adams emerged with 3/4. The first game saw a level position slip away from him as white. The next should have seen Svidler find a boring line and get the draw to go through. Instead in a sharp Ruy Lopez Adams was allowed to set up a potentially winning Queenside which left Svidler trying to get something on the Kingside. When he didn't things fell apart quickly. 1-1. The next saw a Marshall Attack against Svidlers Ruy Lopez which looked good for the Russian who was a pawn up and looking for a victory. Adams is very stubborn in defence and he kept finding strong lines of resistance. When 50. d4 came in the roof fell in remarkably quickly (b4 would have been very different). c4 followed and then Adams mopped up the Queenside to win. The final game saw Svidler win a pawn through a tactical trick but as Adams put the shutters up Svidler suicided rather than give the draw.
Mikhail Krasenkow went through after a struggle against the highly rated Zurab Azmaiparashvili. A ding dong match when Krasenkow should have gone through in the second normal time rate game until his normally good endgame technique abandoned him. Two draws in the 25 minute speed games were followed by a win for Azmaiparashvili in the first 15 minute game. A determined performance saw him level the match after a long game. Then he won the first sudden death game with Azmaiparashvili when the Georgian went down a known book trap and lost a pawn.
Zvjaginsev was eventually outlasted by Dreev but only after a hard match. Dreev seemed to be in control of game one when some weird play (13. ...Nd8) should have led to a technically winning ending. But inaccuracies allowed Zvjaginsev to activate his rook just in time to save the draw. The reverse was true of the next game with Dreev being in terrible trouble in a Queen and pawn ending. Somehow these endings aren't as easy as they appear for this kind of money and Dreev managed to find perpetual check. It all ended rather tragically for Zvjaginsev. He got a huge position after finding a nice tactic in the opening of the first 25 minute game. But he couldn't find a way through, bailed out into an ending a couple of useless pawns up and lost. He understandably didn't put up much resistance in game 2.
Tkachiev fancies himself as a speed expert, once he managed to hold out against Gelfand with black in the second game he fancied his chances. In fact it probably was a good option. In the playoffs lthough he was absolutely stuffed in the first game he played very nicely to level the match after two games. Another draw and then Tkachiev achieved a significant advantage in the 4th. Gelfand really pulled out all the stops and took over the initiative and then took the game to go through.
Top half Gm1 Gm2 P/O Qualifier
Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 - Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Gelfand
Dreev, A........RUS 2640 - Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Dreev
Almasi, Z.......HUN 2615 - Anand, V........IND 2765 .. 0-1 0-1 Anand
Akopian, V......ARM 2660 - Shirov, A.......ESP 2700 .. 1/2 0-1 Shirov
Bottom Half
Azmaiparashvili.GEO 2645 - Krasenkow, M....POL 2645 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Krasenkow
Beliavsky, A....SLO 2710 - Short, N........ENG 2660 .. 1-0 0-1 YES Short
Van Wely, L.....NED 2655 - Georgiev, K.....BUL 2670 .. 1-0 1/2 Van Wely
Adams, M........ENG 2680 - Svidler, P......RUS 2660 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Adams
Gm1 Gm2 Gm3 Gm4 S/D Qualifier
Playoffs
Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 - Tkachiev, V.....KAZ 2615 .. 1-0 0-1 1/2 1-0 Gelfand
Zvjaginsev, V ..RUS 2635 - Dreev, A........RUS 2640 .. 0-1 0-1 Dreev
Azmaiparashvili.GEO 2645 - Krasenkow, M....POL 2645 .. 1/2 1/2 1-0 0-1 YES Krasenkow
Beliavsky, A....SLO 2710 - Short, N........ENG 2660 .. 0-1 0-1 Short
Adams, M........ENG 2680 - Svidler, P......RUS 2660 .. 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 Adams
Down to four matches and again tension played its part.
Shirov lost the first game of the top match against Anand. He played one of his current favourite defences, the Arkhangel Variation (I believe) and introduced the first novelty 13. ...exd4. It lead to complex play but Anand always seemed to have things under control achieving a completely winning ending at first time control. The second game was drawn with Shirov holding the initiative all the time but not finding a way to make it tell.
Short who at one point this year seemed to have forgotten how to win got another two against Krasenkow. All went to plan for Krasenkow for a while. Short played a long game and brought to play his emense experience, in fact this is some of the best play I've seen from him for many years, only his openings still look a little lightweight. Here he kept a small advantage for a long while and then Krasenkow cracked allowing first a significant initiative and then with 44. ...Bc8 a terminal solution for white. Short equalised with black in the second game and as Krasenkow continued to try to find something found a rather big one mover 28. ...Nxg3 to secure his passage.
The other two matches went to playoffs.
Van Wely against Adams was one of the most hard fought of all the matches here. Both are very tough mentally and they had to be as both were in trouble in the normal time rate games. Adams had a very big initiative in the first game but allowed a highly unusual but surprisingly effective sacrifice from Van Wely of Queen for just Rook and Pawn. It became clear that Adams couldn't easily exploit this advantage and in the end Adams forced Van Wely to give perpetual check. Van Wely seemed certain to go through in the second game. A strange game in which Van Wely offered an early draw, something in retrospect Adams should have taken (although the nature of the psychology of these matches is that when Adams saved a lost game he had the high ground going into the speed play). Adams gradually had his pieces misplaced and this cost him a pawn and more seemed certain to follow. In a difficult game two opportunities to win seem to have been missed, 57.Rf6+ Ke8 58.Ng7+ Ke7 59.Nxe6 Rxe6 60.Rf5 and 62.Nd6 Ke6 63.Ne4 the pressure however continued and a final chance with 84. Nd3 was also passed up before Adams forced the draw in 92 moves. The speed play games continued the hard fought nature of the games. Adams suffered under slight pressure in a Queens Indian for some time. Probably releasing the pressure with 37. e5+ when he only had to be careful to draw. The final game was a tragedy for Van Wely. Both players quickly used up their 25 minute reserve of time from the start of the game and were down to playing 10 seconds a move in a highly unusual 1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 f6 treatment of the opening. Adams gradually took the initiative and left many possibilities on the board. He eventually took a queen sacrifice Van Wely had left on the board and penetrated with his Queen. In one of the most undignified exits so far Van Wely lost on time whilst trying to upright a piece he had knocked over. After the game he seems not to have been as disappointed to go out this way as I would have been.
Gelfand and Dreev drew both normal time rate games. Gelfand completely dominated the playoffs. He played a fine first game but time trouble intervened which saw him wreck an overwhelming position. The second game saw a drawish position set up. However Gelfand outplayed Dreev comprehensively in the late stage of the game to go through.
Top half Gm1 Gm2 P/O Qualifier
Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 - Dreev, A........RUS 2640 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Gelfand
Anand, V........IND 2765 - Shirov, A.......ESP 2700 .. 1-0 1/2 Anand
Bottom Half
Short, N........ENG 2660 - Krasenkow, M....POL 2645 .. 1-0 1-0 Short
Adams, M........ENG 2680 - Van Wely, L.....NED 2655 .. 1/2 1/2 YES Adams
Playoffs
Gm1 Gm2 Qualifier
Van Wely, L.....NED 2655 - Adams, M........ENG 2680 .. 1/2 0-1 Adams
Gelfand, B......BLR 2695 - Dreev, A........RUS 2640 .. 1/2 1-0 Gelfand
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 9.5/12 and justly so, she has played by far the best chess. Chiburdinadze and Xie Jun are on 7.5 and seem most likely to fight out for the second place. Ketino Kachiani-Gersinska withdrew after the tenth round and will default the rest of her games. The top two will play a match to decide who plays Zsuzsa Polgar.
Round 8 (1997.12.17)
Chiburdanidze, Maia - Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa 1/2 52 D43 Semi-Slav
Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan - Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino 1-0 54 B12 Caro-Kann
Ioseliani, Nana - Xie Jun 1/2 10 C55 Two knights
Cramling, Pia - Maric, Alisa 1/2 51 E11 Bogo indian
Gurieli, Nino - Peng Zhaoqin 1/2 89 D02 Queen's pawn
Round 9 (1997.12.18)
Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa - Ioseliani, Nana 1-0 49 B42 Sicilian
Xie Jun - Gurieli, Nino 1-0 73 C00 French
Peng Zhaoqin - Cramling, Pia 1/2 65 A43 Queen's pawn
Maric, Alisa - Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 1/2 42 D78 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino - Chiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 37 D46 Semi-Slav
Round 10 (1997.12.20)
Chiburdanidze, Maia - Ioseliani, Nana 1/2 18 A84 Dutch defence
Xie Jun - Peng Zhaoqin 0-1 71 C09 French; Tarrasch
Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan - Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa 0-1 59 B67 Sicilian
Cramling, Pia - Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino 1-0 42 E61 Kings indian
Gurieli, Nino - Maric, Alisa 1/2 69 A13 English; 1.c4
Round 11 (1997.12.21)
Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa - Cramling, Pia 1-0 40 B32 Sicilian
Chiburdanidze, Maia - Xie Jun 1/2 24 D79 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ioseliani, Nana - Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 1/2 36 B04 Alekhine defence
Maric, Alisa - Peng Zhaoqin 1-0 44 E62 Kings indian
Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino - Gurieli, Nino 0-1 0
Round 12 (1997.12.22)
Xie Jun - Maric, Alisa 1-0 98 B17 Caro-Kann
Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan - Chiburdanidze, Maia 1-0 41 B18 Caro-Kann
Cramling, Pia - Ioseliani, Nana 1-0 36 D31 Queen's gambit
Peng Zhaoqin - Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino 1-0 0
Gurieli, Nino - Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa 0-1 73 B22 Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
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 ** =. 0. =1 1. =1 1. 1. 11 1. 9.5 2684
2 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2525 =. ** 1= =0 == =. =. 1. 1. 1. 7.5 2553
3 Xie Jun g CHN 2495 1. 0= ** 1. =. =. =0 =1 1. 1. 7.5 2550
4 Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan m GEO 2430 =0 =1 0. ** 1= 0. =. =. 1. 1. 6.5 2499
5 Ioseliani, Nana m GEO 2520 0. == =. 0= ** 10 =. 1. 1. 1. 6.5 2490
6 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2520 =0 =. =. 1. 01 ** =. =. 0. =1 6.0 2453
7 Peng Zhaoqin m NED 2400 0. =. =1 =. =. =. ** =0 =. =1 6.0 2462
8 Maric, Alisa m YUG 2460 0. 0. =0 =. 0. =. =1 ** 1= =. 5.0 2391
9 Gurieli, Nino wg GEO 2370 00 0. 0. 0. 0. 1. =. 0= ** 11 4.0 2335
10 Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino wg GER 2415 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. =0 =0 =. 00 ** 1.5 2132
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The III. Guðmundur Arason International took place in Hafnarfjörður,
Iceland December 13th–21st 1997. A Scheveningen event saw two teams
of nine players take each other on. The top scorers all on 7 were Jón
Viktor Gunnarsson (who made his third and final IM norm), Stellan Brynell
(achieving a second GM norm) and Jakob Aagaard. Full coverage on the Chess
in Iceland pages.
http://www.vks.is/skak/gudara97.html
Final Standings
III Arason It 1997
-------------------------- Brynell,S 2465 7.0/9
| ----------------------- Bosboom,M 2430 5.5/9
| | -------------------- Astrom,R 2455 5.0/9
| | | ----------------- Hardarson,R 2325 3.5/9
| | | | -------------- Edvardsson,K 2210 3.0/9
| | | | | ----------- Bjarnason,S 2265 2.5/9
| | | | | | -------- Kinsman,A 2395 2.0/9
| | | | | | | ----- Thorfinnsson,Br 2215 1.5/9
| | | | | | | | -- Jensson,E 2225 1.0/9
| | | | | | | | |
1 Aagaard,J 2435 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 7.0/9
2 Gunnarsson,J 2315 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 7.0/9
3 Thorhallsson,T 2510 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 6.5/9
4 Hall,Je 2460 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 6.5/9
5 Raetsky,A 2405 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 6.5/9
6 Westerinen,H 2410 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 6.0/9
7 Vidarsson,J 2380 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 5.0/9
8 Ivanov,MM 2445 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 4.0/9
9 Halldorsson,Br 2270 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1.5/9
The 3rd and 4th rounds of the 4NCL took place in the DeMontford Hotel in Kenilworth November 22nd - 23rd. Below are the results for the first league but this season there is also a second league. My thanks to John Saunders and Nigel Johnson for the news and games. You can get full coverage of the league at: http://wkweb1.cableinet.co.uk/jsaunders/nclindex.htm
Round 3 of the 4NCL was played at the DeMontford Hotel in Kenilworth.
Division 1
Bristol 1 Richmond
1 w S Ansell 2390 1-0 L McShane 2455
2 b G Buckley 2315 0-1 R Bates 2345
3 w C Baker 2295 0-1 S Williams 2310
4 b K Mah 2365 0-1 G Wall 2330
5 w G Burgess 2315 1-0 R Phillips 2230
6 b C Beaumont 2345 0-1 T Hinks-Edwards 2255
7 w G Copeland 2330 1/2 M Franklin 2220
8 b M Buckley 2025 1/2 Miss R Bates 2050
3-5
Wood Green Midland Monarchs
1 w C Ward 2485 1/2 J Parker 2510
2 b J Emms 2530 1/2 J Rowson 2490
3 w K Arakhamia 2430 1/2 M Ferguson 2420
4 b J Levitt 2440 1/2 K Arkell 2480
5 w P Littlewood 2435 0-1 B Kelly 2390
6 b M Pein 2430 1/2 A Collinson 2400
7 w P Sowray 2350 0-1 H Hunt 2360
8 b A Law 2330 1/2 M Barnes 2260
3-5
Slough Barbican 1
1 w M Adams 2680 1-0 H J Plaskett 2450
2 b A Kosten 2430 1/2 C Crouch 2375
3 w A Summerscale 2420 1/2 Danny Kopec 2405
4 b M Houska 2360 0-1 C Duncan 2325
5 w S Lalic 2375 0-1 S Dishman 2325
6 b A P Smith 2255 1-0 A Plueg 2375
7 w J Houska 2155 1/2 K Bowden 2355
8 b M Armstrong 168 0-1 I Lauterbach 2165
3-4
South Wales Dragons Guildford 1
1 w D Cummings 2370 1/2 A Kinsman 2395
2 b J Cooper 2335 1/2 N Povah 2325
3 w C Morris 2245 1/2 R Webb 2290
4 b J Saunders 2225 0-1 C Kennaugh 2300
5 w P Richmond 2200 1/2 M Anderton 2240
6 b D James 2255 1/2 I Thompson 2260
7 w A Dyce 2150 1-0 R Abayasekera 2230
8 b A Cast 1925 0-1 A Ashby 2115
3-4
British Chess Magazine North West Eagles
1 w I Rogers 2570 1-0 D Tebb 2280
2 b M Chandler 2555 1-0 D James 2240
3 w J Mestel 2500 1-0 B Lund 2285
4 b R Bellin 2400 1-0 G Quillan 2320
5 w S Giddins 2375 0-1 A A Smith 2235
6 b T Wall 2375 1-0 R Sheldon 2295
7 w M Lyell 2235 0-1 J Merriman 2255
8 b J Bellin 2175 0-1 W Illecki .
5-3
Invicta Knights 1 Northumbria Vikings
1 w J Speelman 2630 1-0 D Ledger 2255
2 b J Nunn 2620 1-0 J Grant .
3 w N McDonald 2490 1-0 N Pert 2240
4 b A Ledger 2415 1/2 J Richardson 2260
5 w D Gormally 2425 1/2 R Pert 2230
6 b J Vigus 2255 1-0 S Ledger 2230
7 w N Dickenson 2310 1-0 S Dighton 191
8 b H Richards 160 1-0 E Ford .
7-1
Here are the results for the first division of the 4NCL, round 4, played
at the De Montfort Hotel in Kenilworth on Sunday 23rd November 1997.
Division 1 P MP GP
MMonarchs 4 8 24.0
Wood Green 4 6 20.0
Slough 4 6 19.5
Invicta Knights 1 4 6 19.0
Barbican 1 4 6 18.0
Guildford 1 4 4 15.5
Richmond 4 4 14.5
BCM 4 2 15.0
NWEagles 4 2 14.5
Bristol 1 4 2 13.5
SWDragons 4 1 11.5
Northumbria 4 1 7.0
Midland Monarchs Guildford 1
1 w J Parker 2510 1-0 A Kinsman 2395
2 b J Rowson 2490 1-0 N Povah 2325
3 w K Arkell 2480 1/2 R Webb 2290
4 b B Kelly 2390 1-0 C Kennaugh 2300
5 w M Ferguson 2420 1/2 M Anderton 2240
6 b H Hunt 2360 1-0 I Thompson 2260
7 w D Mason 2285 1/2 R Abayasekera 2230
8 b M Barnes 2260 1-0 A Ashby 2115
6-1
Slough Richmond
1 w M Adams 2680 1-0 L McShane 2455
2 b J Hodgson 2590 1/2 R Bates 2345
3 w A Kosten 2530 1-0 S Williams 2310
4 b A Summerscale 2420 1-0 G Wall 2330
5 w S Lalic 2375 1/2 P Johnstone 2295
6 b M Houska 2360 1-0 T Hinks-Edwards 2255
7 w J Houska 2155 1/2 M Franklin 2220
8 b M Armstrong 168 1-0 Miss R Bates 2050
6-1
British Chess Magazine Wood Green
1 w I Rogers 2570 1/2 C Ward 2505
2 b J Mestel 2500 0-1 J Emms 2530
3 w M Chandler 2555 1-0 K Arakhamia 2430
4 b R Bellin 2400 0-1 J Levitt 2440
5 w T Wall 2375 0-1 P Littlewood 2435
6 b S Giddins 2375 1/2 M Pein 2430
7 w M Lyell 2235 1-0 A Sowray 2350
8 b J Bellin 2175 1/2 A Law 2330
3-4
Barbican 1 Invicta Knights 1
1 w H J Plaskett 2450 1/2 J Speelman 2630
2 b C Crouch 2375 0-1 J Nunn 2620
3 w Danny Kopec 2405 1/2 N McDonald 2490
4 b K Bowden 2355 1/2 D Kumaran 2500
5 w S Dishman 2325 1/2 D Gormally 2425
6 b C Duncan 2325 0-1 A Ledger 2415
7 w J Rogers 2335 1/2 J Vigus 2255
8 b I Lauterbach 2165 0-1 H Richards 160
2-5
South Wales Dragons Northumbria Vikings
1 w D Cummings 2370 1/2 J Richardson 2260
2 b J Cooper 2335 1-0 R Pert 2230
3 w D James 2255 1-0 J Grant 2275
4 b C Morris 2245 0-1 N Pert 2240
5 w A Dyce 2150 1/2 S Ledger 2230
6 b P Richmond 2200 0-1 D Ledger 2255
7 w J Saunders 2225 0-1 S Dighton 191
8 b A Cast (1-0) 1925 1/2 E Ford (ineligible) .
4-4
North West Eagles Bristol 1
1 w G Quillan 2320 1-0 S Ansell 2390
2 b B Lund 2285 1-0 G Buckley 2380
3 w D Tebb 2280 0-1 C Baker 2295
4 b J Merriman 2255 1/2 K Mah 2365
5 w R Sheldon 2295 1/2 G Burgess 2315
6 b D James 2240 1/2 C Beaumont 2345
7 w A A Smith 2235 1-0 D Moskovic 2180
8 b W Illecki 2150 1-0 M Buckley 2025
5-2
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. The GM event saw Aleksei Lugovoi reach his 3rd and final GM norm. The IM A tournament saw Ferenc Peredy, in the IM B event Antti Pihlajasalo scored an IM norm and Hafizulhelmi Mas a partial norm.
First Saturday GM
Budapest HUN (HUN), XII 1997 cat. VII (2417)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Lugovoi, Aleksei m RUS 2520 * 1 0 = 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 8.5 2618
2 Acs, Peter f HUN 2460 0 * = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 7.5 2545
3 Varga, Zoltan g HUN 2495 1 = * = = = = 1 0 = 1 1 7.0 2511
4 Almasi, Istvan m HUN 2430 = = = * 1 = = = 1 0 1 1 7.0 2517
5 Salmensuu, Olli f FIN 2380 0 = = 0 * 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 7.0 2522
6 Barczay, Laszlo g HUN 2395 0 0 = = 0 * 0 1 1 1 1 1 6.0 2454
7 Gonzalez Garcia, Jose m MEX 2420 = = = = 0 1 * 0 = = = 1 5.5 2416
8 Tomescu, Vlad m ROM 2410 0 = 0 = 1 0 1 * 0 1 = 1 5.5 2417
9 Horvath, Adam HUN 2415 = 0 1 0 0 0 = 1 * 1 1 0 5.0 2380
10 Hoang Thang Trang m VIE 2350 0 0 = 1 0 0 = 0 0 * = 1 3.5 2289
11 Vadasz, Laszlo g HUN 2320 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = * 1 2.5 2214
12 Tate, Emory f USA 2405 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 * 1.0 2034
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emory Tate seems to have defaulted the last 3 rounds.
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 Peredy, Ferenc HUN 2430 * 1 = = 1 1 = = = = 1 = 7.5 2424
2 Izsak, Gyula m HUN 2405 0 * = = = 1 1 1 1 = 1 = 7.5 2427
3 Varga, Peter m HUN 2395 = = * = 1 = = = 1 0 1 1 7.0 2397
4 Karatorossian, David ARM 2335 = = = * 0 = 1 = 0 1 1 1 6.5 2365
5 Nguyen Thi Tuong Van wm VIE 2160 0 = 0 1 * 1 0 1 1 1 0 = 6.0 2352
6 Dudas, Janos m HUN 2400 0 0 = = 0 * 1 1 = 1 = 1 6.0 2330
7 Colovic, Aleksandar f FRM 2360 = 0 = 0 1 0 * = = 1 = 1 5.5 2298
8 Zalkind, Karmi ISR 2315 = 0 = = 0 0 = * 1 = 1 1 5.5 2302
9 Hera, Imre jr HUN 2245 = 0 0 1 0 = = 0 * = 1 1 5.0 2272
10 Rodighiero, Giuseppe ITA 2185 = = 1 0 0 0 0 = = * = 0 3.5 2181
11 Azahari, Md Nor MAS 2110 0 0 0 0 1 = = 0 0 = * 1 3.5 2187
12 Vandrey, Wolfgang f GER 2300 = = 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 2.5 2092
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Pihlajasalo, Antti FIN 2245 * = = 1 = 1 1 1 = = 1 = 8.0 2464
2 Mas, Hafizulhelmi f MAS 2370 = * 1 = = 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 7.5 2410
3 Farago, Sandor m HUN 2330 = 0 * = = = 1 = = = 1 1 6.5 2346
4 Rodriguez Lopez, Rafael f ESP 2325 0 = = * = 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 6.5 2346
5 Eperjesi, Laszlo m HUN 2340 = = = = * 1 = 0 = = = 1 6.0 2316
6 Allen, Andrew AUS 2215 0 0 = 1 0 * = 1 = 1 0 1 5.5 2291
7 Zemerov, Vladimir m RUS 2325 0 1 0 = = = * 1 = 0 1 0 5.0 2245
8 Francsics, Endre HUN 2245 0 1 = 0 1 0 0 * 1 0 1 = 5.0 2253
9 Kahn, Evarth m HUN 2270 = 0 = = = = = 0 * 1 0 1 5.0 2250
10 Paschall, William M f USA 2280 = 0 = 0 = 0 1 1 0 * = 1 5.0 2249
11 Le Thi Phuong Lien VIE 2265 0 0 0 0 = 1 0 0 1 = * 1 4.0 2185
12 Szeberenyi, Adam HUN 2215 = 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 0 * 2.0 2029
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The European Team Championships 1999 are to be hosted by the British Chess Federation 3rd - 11th April 1999. The venue is the Riviera Centre, Torquay. Duncan Laurie Ltd the sponsors of the British team are involved in the sponsorship of the event.
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. Games from rounds 5 and 6 available.
The 5th Frankfurt Chess Classic will be the strongest and largest yet. Held 16th - 21st June 1998 it will have two sections this year. A giants and a masters section. The giants section will have Anand, Kramnik, Jussupow and possibly Judit Polgar or the new FIDE Chess Champion. The Masters section will have Hübner, Timman, Korchnoi, Portisch, Smyslov and Adorjan. Organised by Schachclub Franfurt-West and Hans-Walter Schmitt who wants the event to be stronger every year. It has Open and Simultaneous events. The open will have a prizefund of at least DM 25,000. The event itself is in the Holiday Inn, Frankfurt Main-Taunus-Zentrum (which I discovered last year isn't the only Holiday Inn in Frankfurt!)
You can contact the organiser Hans-Walter Schmitt, about the opens or for further information at:
Tel.& Fax: 06196/22726
E-Mail: Hans-walter.Schmitt@rm.sni.de
1st KLUGER Memorial - FIRST SATURDAY, GM closed tmt. 7th - 19th of February 1998 Budapest
Prizes: 600-500-400 USD, cat.VII-IX., entry fee system - contact with the organizer: Nagy Laszlo, e-mail: 100263.1700@compuserve.com Tel-fax: intl.-/361/-263-28-59