THE WEEK IN CHESS 228 - 22nd March 1999 by Mark Crowther
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8th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tmt 72 games
Suat Atalik wins in Alushta 91 games
Manhattan Chess Club March International 7 games
Falkoner International Team 25 games
First Saturday, March 29 games
Lugano International Open 103 games
Icelandic Team Championships 37 games
4NCL 96 games
15th Spring Festival in Budapest 76 games
My thanks to Eric Van der Schilden, TASC, Mikhail Golubev, Carsten Hensel,
Martin Bennedik, John Fernandez, John Watson, the Mechanics Institute, Laszlo
Nagy, Sinisa Joksic, Daði Örn Jónsson, John Saunders and all
those who helped with this issue.
At last things are coming together. Dortmund announced the dates of their
event in July and also sent the text of a release from FIDE they received.
Although not everything is in place it looks like July and August will be the
dates for the FIDE Championships.
The annual Amber tournament brings together many of the best players for a
blindfold and rapidplay event. After six rounds it looks as if it might be
Kramnik's year.
Hope you enjoy this issue
Mark
The Eighth Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament takes place in the
Metropole Palace hotel at the casino square in Monaco, from March 16 until
March 28 1999.
The players play one rapid game and one blindfold game with reversed colours
against the same opponent each day. The Fischer time registration method will
be used. The time control is set at 25 min per game plus 10 sec (rapid) or 20
sec (blindfold) per move.
The tournament is sponsored by the well-known chess patron Mr. J.J. van
Oosterom and has a prize fund of US$ 137,250 which will be distributed for
standings in the individual blindfold and rapid events aswell as the overall
standings.
The official coverage is by TASC at: http://www.tasc.nl/amber8
After six rounds Anand has 4.5/6 in the rapidplay event, half a point clear
of Topalov and Kramnik. Kramnik has 5/6 in the blindfold event ahead of Shirov
on 4.5. Kramnik has a clear lead in the overall standings with 9/12 ahead of
Lautier and Topalov on 7.5.
Round 1
Day one saw Anatoly Karpov take the lead when he beat Amber debutant Boris
Gelfand. Anand lost his rapidplay game against Ljubojevic when he became
overoptimistic and played 29. b4. Ljubo even had a huge advantage in the
blindfold game but the game ended in a draw. Karpov-Gelfand and Shirov-Van Wely
were both good blindfold games but there were also blunders, Ivanchuk hung a
rook for instance.
Round 2
In the rapidplay Anand won on the black side of the Najdorf against Shirov,
he had most of the complications worked out at home. He almost made it 2-0 but
Shirov hung on to draw the rapid game. Ljubojevic eventually drew a long ending
against Kramnik in the rapidplay (not in full in the gamesfile) but could not
hold on as black in the blindfold game. After a shocking start Ivanchuk got
into his stride drawing both games against Karpov.
Round 3
The clash of the day was Anand-Kramnik, the rapidplay game ended in a draw
but the pair played a spectacular blindfold game won in nice style by the
Russian. Piket-Karpov and Gelfand-Ivanchuk were also well played blindfold
games. Karpov and Kramnik headed the standings with Anand only in 8th=place.
Round 4
Anand-Topalov (tactics) and Ljubojevic-Shirov (endgame) were the pick of
the rapidplay games. Lautier drew with Karpov in the rapidplay game and beat
him in the blindfold game to overtake him in the standings. Topalov beat Anand
in a nice positional crush to take revenge for the rapids.
Round 5
Karpov lost a mini-match for the second day running when he was defeated by
Nikolic in the rapidplay game and the blindfold game was drawn. Shirov and
Kramnik drew both their games the blindfold game being quite important for
Gruenfeld theory. The Ivanchuk-Lautier blindfold game was a spectacular draw.
Round 6
Karpov blundered horribly against Ljubojevic in the rapidplay game but took
his revenge in the blindfold section. Kramnik did the double over Ivanchuk.
Anand won a pawn in the rapidgame against Gelfand and it proved enough, their
blindfold game was drawn.
Rapidplay Standings
-------------------
Round 1 (March 16, 1999)
Anand, Viswanathan - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 0-1 34 B38 Sicilian
Kramnik, Vladimir - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 28 A40 Queen's pawn
Van Wely, Loek - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 85 D91 Gruenfeld indian
Karpov, Anatoly - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 56 D46 Semi-Slav
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Nikolic, Predrag 0-1 34 E32 Nimzo indian
Piket, Jeroen - Lautier, Joel 1/2 29 D31 Queen's gambit
Round 2 (March 17, 1999)
Topalov, Veselin - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 18 B81 Sicilian
Karpov, Anatoly - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 43 D73 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 51 A34 English; 1.c4 c5
Nikolic, Predrag - Piket, Jeroen 0-1 73 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Shirov, Alexei - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 24 B81 Sicilian
Gelfand, Boris - Lautier, Joel 1/2 52 E12 Nimzo indian
Round 3 (March 18, 1999)
Kramnik, Vladimir - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 54 D27 QGA;
Topalov, Veselin - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 75 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Lautier, Joel - Nikolic, Predrag 1-0 56 E11 Bogo indian
Van Wely, Loek - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 48 E16 Nimzo indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 44 B84 Sicilian
Piket, Jeroen - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 64 E12 Nimzo indian
Round 4 (March 19, 1999)
Anand, Viswanathan - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 34 E94 Kings indian; Classical
Kramnik, Vladimir - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 21 A34 English; 1.c4 c5
Karpov, Anatoly - Lautier, Joel 1/2 19 D20 QGA;
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 60 E52 Nimzo indian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 65 D30 Queen's gambit
Gelfand, Boris - Nikolic, Predrag 1/2 28 A87 Dutch defence
Round 5 (March 21, 1999)
Topalov, Veselin - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 37 E18 Nimzo indian
Lautier, Joel - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 30 A46 Queen's pawn
Van Wely, Loek - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 25 D20 QGA;
Nikolic, Predrag - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 43 D20 QGA;
Shirov, Alexei - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 32 C42 Petroff defence
Piket, Jeroen - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 39 E15 Nimzo indian
Round 6 (March 22, 1999)
Anand, Viswanathan - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 38 B92 Sicilian; Najdorf
Kramnik, Vladimir - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 54 E32 Nimzo indian
Topalov, Veselin - Nikolic, Predrag 1-0 43 D28 QGA;
Van Wely, Loek - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 27 D39 Queen's gambit
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 20 D26 QGA;
Shirov, Alexei - Lautier, Joel 1/2 77 B36 Sicilian
Monte Carlo (MNC), iii 1999 cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2781 * = 1 . 1 . . 0 . 1 . 1 4.5 2871
2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2751 = * 1 . = . 1 = . = . . 4.0 2812
3 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2700 0 0 * . 1 . . 1 1 1 . . 4.0 2807
4 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2596 . . . * . = = . 1 = = = 3.5 2739
5 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2632 0 = 0 . * . . 1 . 1 = . 3.0 2691
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2710 . . . = . * = 0 0 . 1 1 3.0 2637
7 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2714 . 0 . = . = * . 0 . 1 1 3.0 2666
8 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2571 1 = 0 . 0 1 . * . 0 . . 2.5 2659
9 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2633 . . 0 0 . 1 1 . * . 0 = 2.5 2614
10 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 0 = 0 = 0 . . 1 . * . . 2.0 2546
11 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2619 . . . = = 0 0 . 1 . * 0 2.0 2537
12 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2691 0 . . = . 0 0 . = . 1 * 2.0 2550
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Blindfold Standings
-------------------
Round 1 (March 16, 1999)
Shirov, Alexei - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 42 A11 English; 1.c4
Lautier, Joel - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 60 D38 Queen's gambit
Nikolic, Predrag - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 23 D43 Semi-Slav
Topalov, Veselin - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 29 D58 QGD;
Gelfand, Boris - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 42 E04 Nimzo indian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 44 D18 Slav defence
Round 2 (March 17, 1999)
Kramnik, Vladimir - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 48 E73 Kings indian
Lautier, Joel - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 46 D19 Slav defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Karpov, Anatoly 1/2 53 B17 Caro-Kann
Anand, Viswanathan - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 62 D85 Gruenfeld indian
Piket, Jeroen - Nikolic, Predrag 1-0 54 A17 English; 1.c4
Van Wely, Loek - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 79 A70 Modern Benoni
Round 3 (March 18, 1999)
Shirov, Alexei - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 49 B09 Pirc; Austrian
Nikolic, Predrag - Lautier, Joel 1-0 44 D82 Gruenfeld indian
Karpov, Anatoly - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 48 E46 Nimzo indian
Gelfand, Boris - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 27 D39 Queen's gambit
Anand, Viswanathan - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 24 B56 Sicilian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 73 A58 Benko gambit
Round 4 (March 19, 1999)
Shirov, Alexei - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 28 B83 Sicilian
Lautier, Joel - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 40 E12 Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 26 D39 Queen's gambit
Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 63 B19 Caro-Kann
Piket, Jeroen - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 38 D31 Queen's gambit
Van Wely, Loek - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 60 D46 Semi-Slav
Round 5 (March 21, 1999)
Kramnik, Vladimir - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 43 D85 Gruenfeld indian
Karpov, Anatoly - Nikolic, Predrag 1/2 35 D20 QGA;
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Lautier, Joel 1/2 31 B33 Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Gelfand, Boris - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 38 D46 Semi-Slav
Anand, Viswanathan - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 28 A34 English; 1.c4 c5
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 42 A33 English; 1.c4 c5
Round 6 (March 22, 1999)
Lautier, Joel - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 47 A32 English; 1.c4 c5
Nikolic, Predrag - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 17 A64 Modern Benoni
Karpov, Anatoly - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 30 A70 Modern Benoni
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 26 A13 English; 1.c4
Gelfand, Boris - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 28 A39 English; 1.c4 c5
Piket, Jeroen - Van Wely, Loek 0-1 40 D43 Semi-Slav
Monte Carlo (MNC), iii 1999 cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2751 * = . . = . 1 . 1 1 . 1 5.0 2960
2 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 = * = . 1 . . . = 1 . 1 4.5 2864
3 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2596 . = * 0 . 1 = 1 . . 1 . 4.0 2807
4 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2633 . . 1 * = = 1 = . . 0 . 3.5 2728
5 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2700 = 0 . = * . . . 1 = . 1 3.5 2739
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2710 . . 0 = . * = 1 . 1 = . 3.5 2694
7 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2714 0 . = 0 . = * = . . 1 . 2.5 2609
8 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2691 . . 0 = . 0 = * = . 1 . 2.5 2618
9 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2781 0 = . . 0 . . = * = . = 2.0 2553
10 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2571 0 0 . . = 0 . . = * . 1 2.0 2591
11 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2619 . . 0 1 . = 0 0 . . * 0 1.5 2469
12 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2632 0 0 . . 0 . . . = 0 1 * 1.5 2498
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Standings
-----------------
Monte Carlo (MNC), III 1999 cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2751 ** 1= .. == =1 .. .. 11 =1 =1 .. .. 9.0 2880
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2700 0= ** .. 10 01 .. 1= .. 1= 11 .. .. 7.5 2777
3 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2596 .. .. ** == .. =1 10 == .. .. =1 =1 7.5 2777
4 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 == 01 == ** 0= .. .. .. 11 01 .. .. 6.5 2700
5 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2781 =0 10 .. 1= ** .. .. .. 0= 1= 1= .. 6.5 2707
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2710 .. .. =0 .. .. ** 0= == 01 .. 11 1= 6.5 2666
7 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2633 .. 0= 01 .. .. 1= ** 11 .. .. == 00 6.0 2671
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2714 00 .. == .. .. == 00 ** .. .. 1= 11 5.5 2637
9 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2571 =0 0= .. 00 1= 10 .. .. ** 01 .. .. 4.5 2629
10 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2632 =0 00 .. 10 0= .. .. .. 10 ** .. =1 4.5 2604
11 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2691 .. .. =0 .. 0= 00 == 0= .. .. ** 11 4.5 2588
12 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2619 .. .. =0 .. .. 0= 11 00 .. =0 00 ** 3.5 2504
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suat Atalik won a Category 10 tournament in Alushta, Ukraine that took place
March 3rd-13th. He was in first place alone ahead of Vadim Malakhatko on 7.5,
and Kuzmin and Miles on 7.0.
Further details including annotated games by the winner at Mikhail
Golubev's www site: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua
Alushta UKR (UKR), iii 1999 cat. X (2486)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Atalik, Suat g TUR 2593 * = = = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 9.0 2737
2 Malakhatko, Vadim m UKR 2496 = * 1 = = 0 1 = 1 1 1 = 7.5 2617
3 Kuzmin, Gennadi P g UKR 2546 = 0 * 1 1 = = = = = 1 1 7.0 2582
4 Miles, Anthony J g ENG 2609 = = 0 * = 1 = = 1 = 1 1 7.0 2576
5 Korotylev, Alexey m RUS 2440 0 = 0 = * 1 = = = = 1 1 6.0 2525
6 Rogovski, Vladimir m UKR 2455 0 1 = 0 0 * 0 1 = = 1 1 5.5 2488
7 Rakhmangulov, Andrei m UKR 2417 0 0 = = = 1 * = 0 = = 1 5.0 2455
8 Zubov, Alexander RUS 2502 0 = = = = 0 = * 1 = 0 = 4.5 2419
9 Svetushkin, Dmitry m MDA 2471 0 0 = 0 = = 1 0 * 1 0 1 4.5 2421
10 Nosenko, Alexander UKR 2433 = 0 = = = = = = 0 * = 0 4.0 2388
11 Khomyakov, Vladimir UKR 2380 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 1 = * 0 3.0 2320
12 Salinnikov, D.Y RUS 2484 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 * 3.0 2310
----------------------------------------------------------------------
According to Carsten Hensel, one of the organisers of the Dortmund Chess
Days event FIDE had a press release on Friday which said "The FIDE
Presidential Board at its meeting in Ankara, Turkey, 13-14 March 1999,
unanimously resolved that the $ 3.000.000 annual World Championship would be
held at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in the period from 26 July to 29 August
1999. The Board directed the World Championship Cycle Committee to finalise all
technical arrangements as well as the Player's Contract for the World
Championship an resolved further that the detailed programme programme for the
Championship should be finalised by 31 March 1999."
This announcement has allowed Dortmund to make its own announcement that the
27th Dortmund Chess Days will be held from July 9th to July 18th in the Grand
Opera House (City Center of Dortmund). The Chess Days event will have a
Super-Tournament from July 9th or 10 to July 17th (eight Grandmasters -
category 19). Another Master-Tournament and a Big Open will be held at the same
time. The main sponsor will be "Stadtsparkasse".
Kasparov appeared at the CeBit Fair in Germany on Friday March 19th reports
Martin Bennedik.
He was there with "Windhorst Electronics". He played two games
without a clock against German actor Heiner Lauterbach and won both in under 20
moves. Then he played two games against Elisabeth Paetz. She put up more
resistance, especially in the second game where she seemed to get a good
position with White against Kasparov's g6 defence, however she lost that one as
well. In the afternoon Kasparov played two 15" minute games against Fritz
(Friedel, Wuellenweber etc. were present), Daniel King providing a live
commentary. However it was very loud and Kasparov had problems in
concentrating, especially during the second game. Obviously the company which
was next to it had not been informed about Kasparov's appearance, otherwise a
better synchonization of events could have been acheived. It was Kasparov's
first public display against a computer since his loss against Deep Blue. The
first game saw Kasparov with the Black pieces in a good game which he was close
to winning. The game ended with a perpetual check delivered by Kasparov. The
second game saw Kasparov with the White pieces weakening him self by playing
f4, and having two weak pawns on e3 and g3. Fritz seemed to play a positional
game at a high level, but then it allowed Kasparov to block the position with
f5 and Kasparov seemed too have a good position after that. However Fritz found
a trick and won a pawn. Upon that Kasparov offered a draw to the Chessbase
team, which was taken because of the playing conditions. After that German
interior minister Otto Schily all of a sudden entered the scene followed
with some bodyguards and a huge amount of press people. He is known for being a
hobby chess player and he put up a tough resistance with the White pieces.
Kasparov sacced an exchange and the position got too complicated for the
minister. After the show was over Kasparov signed autographs and then he went
back to the computer in the corner and played another unofficial game against
Fritz which he won easily. The game however was still transmitted to the screen
and the public cheered.
On another note, Kasparov also confirmed his appearance at the Frankfurt
Chess Classic tournament, together with Anand, Kramnik and Karpov, according to
Mr. Schmidt. The smaller tournament will probably see Fritz, who won the Open
last year also play.
John Fernandez reports: The Manhattan Chess Club March International ran
March 5th-15th and was a Category 10 event. GM Georgy Timoshenko steamrolled
the field to score 8/9. IM Maurice Ashley made his 3rd and final GM norm and
scored 6/9 taking clear second. GM John Fedorowicz took third with 5.5/9 and FM
Greg Shahade scored 4.5/9, tying for fourth and getting his first IM norm.
Round 5 (March 10, 1999)
Burnett, Ronald - Shliperman, Igor 1/2 7 C01 French; Exchange
Round 9 (March 15, 1999)
Timoshenko, Georgy - Ashley, Maurice 1-0 41 D27 QGA;
Fedorowicz, John P - Shahade, Gregory 1/2 13 B52 Sicilian
Negulescu, Adrian - Shliperman, Igor 1-0 40 C15 French; Winawer
Ady, Jonathan J - Burnett, Ronald 1/2 71 B85 Sicilian
Kacheishvili, Giorgi - Waitzkin, Joshua 1/2 6 D13 Slav defence
New York USA (USA), iii 1999 cat. X (2479)
------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Timoshenko, Georgy g UKR 2592 * 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 8.0 2817
2 Ashley, Maurice m USA 2473 0 * = 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 6.0 2604
3 Fedorowicz, John P g USA 2574 = = * = = = = = 1 1 5.5 2548
4 Shahade, Gregory f USA 2386 0 1 = * 0 1 = 0 = 1 4.5 2489
5 Negulescu, Adrian m ROM 2452 0 0 = 1 * 1 0 = = 1 4.5 2481
6 Waitzkin, Joshua m USA 2467 = = = 0 0 * 1 1 = 0 4.0 2437
7 Burnett, Ronald m USA 2420 0 0 = = 1 0 * = = = 3.5 2405
8 Ady, Jonathan J f HKG 2412 0 0 = 1 = 0 = * = 0 3.0 2361
9 Kacheishvili, Giorgi g GEO 2570 0 0 0 = = = = = * = 3.0 2343
10 Shliperman, Igor m USA 2442 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1 = * 3.0 2357
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Falkoner International took place in the Mechanics Institute, March
12-16. It was a qualifier for the Bronstein Jubilee April 6-7th. Among the
participants will be Yasser Seirawan, twice a Candidate for the World
Championship and Slovak Grandmaster Lubomir Ftacnik.
Falkoner International Team 1999
-------------- Wolski,T 2305 2.5/5
| ----------- Bhat,V 2312 2.0/5
| | -------- Stein,Alan 2.0/5
| | | ----- Shipman,W 2341 1.5/5
| | | | -- Cusi,R 2375 1.5/4
| | | | |
1 McCambridge,V 2450 1 1 ½ 1 1 4.5/5
2 Yoos,J 2291 0 1 1 1 0 3.0/5
3 Rey,G 2346 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 3.0/5
4 Lobo,Ri 2277 ½ 0 1 ½ 2.0/4
5 Watson,J 2357 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 2.0/5
Laszlo Nagy reports on the March edition of his First Saturday tournaments.
If you wish to contact him his new E-Mail address is: firstsat@elender.hu, his
new website is at: http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat
additional coverage of First Saturday events is available at:
http://www.illawarra.net.au/chesscentral/.
Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59
The main event is a category III. International master round robin
tournament, with 14 participants (ELO-average 2306). The IM-norm was 9.5/13
which wasn't reached by anyone. The event was won by Yuri Zimmerman with 9/13 a
point clear of Chinese youngster Bu Xiangzhi, Gagik Khechumyan and Laszlo
Eperjesi.
Budapest HUN (HUN), iii 1999 cat. III (2302)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Zimmerman, Yuri m RUS 2374 * 0 = = = 1 1 1 = 0 1 1 1 1 9.0 2437
2 Bu Xiangzhi CHI 2365 1 * 1 = 1 0 0 = 0 = 1 1 = 1 8.0 2384
3 Khechumyan, Gagik ARM 2372 = 0 * 1 0 1 = = 0 1 1 1 = 1 8.0 2383
4 Eperjesi, Laszlo m HUN 2329 = = 0 * = = = 1 = = 1 1 = 1 8.0 2387
5 Turzo, Attila m HUN 2314 = 0 1 = * = = 1 1 1 = 0 1 0 7.5 2358
6 Kiss, Gedeon HUN 2259 0 1 0 = = * 1 = 1 0 = 1 = 1 7.5 2362
7 Hrvacic, Pavle CRO 2235 0 1 = = = 0 * 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 7.5 2364
8 Pham Minh Hoang VIE 2357 0 = = 0 0 = 1 * = 1 1 1 = 1 7.5 2355
9 Toth, Andras HUN 2301 = 1 1 = 0 0 = = * = 0 1 0 = 6.0 2273
10 Serrer, Christoph f GER 2285 1 = 0 = 0 1 0 0 = * = 0 1 1 6.0 2274
11 Gara, Anita wm HUN 2287 0 0 0 0 = = 0 0 1 = * = 1 1 5.0 2216
12 Gara, Ticia HUN 2216 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 1 = * 1 = 4.5 2198
13 Malada, Vinko CRO 2265 0 = = = 0 = 0 = 1 0 0 0 * = 4.0 2164
14 Jamrich, Gyorgy HUN 2273 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 = 0 0 = = * 2.5 2053
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lugano International Open took place in the Hotel de la Paix 10-16 March
as part of the Swiss Chess Tour 1999. The event was won by Joe Gallagher with
6/7 after a final round victory with black against Ian Rogers. Vladimir
Tukmakov, Peter Horvath and Cvitan Ognjen were all on 5.5.
1st Open "De la Paix" Lugano, March 12.-16
Sinisa Joksic reports: Lugano hosted an chess open tournament after a gap of
10 years. This time it was as a part of the "SWISS CHESS TOUR 99". 80
players, 30 of whom held international titles (8 GMs, 10 IMs, 12 FMs), spent
time in beautiful surroundings from March 12 to 16, during the tournament.
Seven rounds in five days wasn't easy, especially in temperatures of 20-22
Celsius. It was sunny with unbelievably nice natural surroundings including a
blue water lake. The host, a four star, the "Hotel De la Paix" was an
excellent site for chess. The winner was unclear until the end, with tough
fighting spirit. All the favorites started well. Joe Gallagher won from a lost
position in a time scramble against IM Joksic and got new stimulus. He lost in
Round 4 against Tukmakov (this was a revenge for their game that took place in
Basel,during the Hilton-open in January) but then won the rest of his games.
Especially decisive was the last round. Gallagher, playing with the black
pieces against Ian Roger won after his draw offer was turned down, Rogers,
missed Nxf3 only a few moves later. Gallagher's win was on merit. Six victories
and only one game lost, showed his well-known chess style. Rogers after losing
in the final round finished 5th. If Ian Rogers had won it he would have won the
even, a success that wouldn't have been unmerited (in fact Ian Rogers had a
superior tie-break and had he known this he would have taken a draw against
Gallagher, MC). His performance level in Lugano was very high. Tukmakov had the
chance to catch up with Gallagher in the last round. He needed to beat IM Peter
Horvath and had he done so he could have won the tournament on Bucholz tie
break. However, he overlooked winning a pawn in the opening opening and his
dreams of winning were ended. Vladimir Tukmakov and Peter Horvath played very
solidly and Ognjen Cvitan didn't make an effort. There were three quick draws.
IMs Kriszany, Hoffmann, Varga, Czebe and Mantovani showed good form. Alec
Salvetti proved to be a "lady killer" he beat WGMs Alisa Maric and
Elena Sedina.Tukmakov, Cvitan, Gheorghiu, Horvath and Varga finished
undefeated. The top ten won money prizes, distributed by Bucholz-system. Alisa
Maric won the ladies prize. (YUG, 15th-4,5 points). The senior prize went to
Rolf Bucher (SUI, 39-3,5). The junior prize to Daniel Hersvik (NOR, 26-4). The
best Ticino player was Vitomir Malesevic (SUI, 33-4) and the best schoolboy
Lorenz Drabke (ITA, 43-3,5). The organisation was very good. The next events on
the SWISS CHESS TOUR 99 are Lenk (April 1.-5.) and Cran Montana (April 7.-12.)
Final Standings:
Leading final standings:
1 Gallagher, Joseph G g SUI 2519 6.0 /7
2 Tukmakov, Vladimir B g UKR 2581 5.5 /7
3 Horvath, Peter1 m HUN 2415 5.5 /7
4 Cvitan, Ognjen g CRO 2521 5.5 /7
5 Rogers, Ian g AUS 2618 5.0 /7
6 Gheorghiu, Florin g ROM 2450 5.0 /7
7 Krizsany, Laszlo m HUN 2462 5.0 /7
8 Barbero, Gerardo F g ARG 2462 5.0 /7
9 Czebe, Attila m HUN 2420 5.0 /7
10 Hoffmann, Michael m GER 2407 5.0 /7
11 Varga, Peter m HUN 2448 5.0 /7
12 Mantovani, Renzo m ITA 2377 5.0 /7
13 Del Rio Angelis, Salvador Gabriel m ESP 2408 4.5 /7
14 Salvetti, Alec f ITA 2280 4.5 /7
15 Maric, Alisa m YUG 2481 4.5 /7
16 Wendt, Rene f GER 2335 4.5 /7
17 Profumo, Alberto ITA 2268 4.5 /7
...etc 80 players
The Hellir Chess Club won the Icelandic Team Championships. The event
started November 13th-15th and the last three rounds were played March
5–6. After beating Reykjavik Chess Club 6-2 in the penultimate round
Hellir Chess Club only needed half a point in the last round to clinch the
title. News from Daði Örn Jónsson who produces the Chess in
Iceland pages. He says that one game in particular is worth looking at, the
game H Olafsson, H. - Jon V. Gunnarsson in which White sacrificed his Queen and
set up a 'Zwickmuhle', reminiscent of the famous game Torre - Lasker, Moscow
1925.
Final standings:
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 bd mat fin
1 Taflfélagið Hellir B ### 4.0 4.5 3.5 6.0 5.0 1.5 2.0 26,5 7 5
2 Taflfélag Reykjavíkur B 4.0 ### 3.0 3.0 5.5 3.5 2.5 0.0 21,5 3 7
3 Taflfélag Hólmavíkur 3,5 5.0 ### 2,5 6,5 2.0 0,5 1,5 21,5 4 6
4 Skákfélag Akureyrar A 4,5 5.0 5,5 ### 5,5 3,5 4,5 3,5 32 10 3
5 Taflfélag Kópavogs A 2.0 2,5 1,5 2,5 ### 1.0 1.0 0,5 11 0 8
6 Skákfélag Hafnarfjarðar A 3.0 4,5 6.0 4,5 7.0 ### 1,5 2,5 29 8 4
7 Taflfélag Reykjavíkur A 6,5 5,5 7,5 3,5 7.0 6,5 ### 2.0 38,5 10 2
8 Taflfélagið Hellir A 6.0 8.0 6,5 4,5 7,5 5,5 6.0 ### 44 14 1
[Team 8, Hellir A won the event.]
The winning team was as following:
1. GM Hannes Stefansson
2. GM Jon L. Arnason
3. GM Helgi Olafsson
4. GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson
5. IM Karl Thorsteins
6. FM Ingvar Asmundsson
7. Bragi Halldorsson
8. Bragi Thorfinnsson
9. Kristjan Edvardsson
10. Johannes Gisli Jonsson
11. David Kjartansson
Further internet coverage at:
http://www.simnet.is/hellir/dk991dei.htm
and at the Chess in Iceland pages at:
http://www.vks.is/skak/indexe.html.
Rounds 7 and 8 of the 4 Nations Chess league took place on 20-21 March
1999. Slough maintained their 100% record and are 4 points clear of Wood Green.
My thanks to John Saunders for news and games.
Full coverage at:
http://wkweb1.cableinet.co.uk/jsaunders/nclindex.htm
Division 1
Round 7 Slough 6½-1½ Barbican 2, Bigwood 4-4 Bristol,
Wessex 3½-4½ Barbican 1, Wood Green 7-1 Richmond, Home House 1-7
British Chess Magazine, NW Eagles 3½-4½ Invicta Knights.
Round 8 Barbican 1 2-6 Wood Green, Invicta Kts 2½-5½
Slough, BCM 3-5 Bigwood, Bristol 4-4 Richmond, Barbican2 4½-3½
Wessex, NW Eagles 7-1 Home House
4NCL Division 1: 1998/9
P W D L GPts MPts
1 Slough 8 8 0 0 50.5 16
2 Wood Green 8 5 2 1 40.0 12
3 Bigwood 8 4 2 2 38.5 10
4 Invicta Kts 8 4 2 2 32.5 10
5 Barbican 1 8 5 0 3 30.5 10
6 NW Eagles 8 4 0 4 31.0 8
7 Richmond 8 3 1 4 26.0 7
8 Bristol 8 1 4 3 28.0 6
9 Barbican 2 8 3 0 5 27.0 6
10 BCM 8 2 0 6 29.5 4
11 Wessex 8 1 2 5 26.5 4
12 Home House 8 1 1 6 24.0 3
Laszlo Nagy reports: The 15th Spring Festival in Budapest runs March
17th-25th. The event is sponsored by the Hungarian Chess Federation and has 72
players from 12 countries. There are 3 IMs Lengyel, Krutti and Nguyen Anh Dung
and two WIM Ruth Sheldon, and Irina Semenova.
Round 5 leaders
1 De Santis, Alessio f ITA 2356 4
2 Nguyen Anh Dung m VIE 2485 4
3 Bu Xiangzhi CHI 2365 4
4 Krutti, Valer m HUN 2354 4
5 Semenova, Irina wm RUS 2268 4
6 Karatorossian, David ARM 2348 4
7 Galyas, Miklos f HUN 2440 4
8 Horvath, Gabor1 f HUN 2236 4
72 players
Indian National Championships
Venkatachalam Saravanan reports: The National A Championships will be held
March 22-Aprill 11, in Nagpur, central India. The participants include all of
India's top players except Anand and Barua. Participants include Thipsay,
Sasikiran and Kunte etc. There is an official website at:
http://www.bpclnationalchess.findhere.com
there will be daily coverage with games and results.
30. Open Norwegian Ch. 1999
30. Open Norwegian Ch. 1999 April 5th - 11th 1999 Gausdal
Høifjellshotel
We welcome all chess players to this tournament which is dedicated to the
memory of Arnold J. Eikrem, who created and organized this event and many many
others at the popular skiing resort Gausdal Høifjellshotel.
* GM- and IM norms available. 9 round Nordic monrad tournament. FIDE rules.
* 2h/40 moves and 1hour to the rest (max. 6 hours in all).
* 1st round Saturday January 9th at 19:30. 9th and last round Friday the 15th
at 9:00.
* The championship starts on Monday April 5th (registration until 17:30) with
the first round beginning at 19:30. The 9th and last round starts on Sunday
April 11th at 9:00.
* Open to all with FIDE-rating and a limi-ted number of non-FIDE-rated players.
* Several strong GMs and IMs are invited
* Starting fee: Senior NOK 400,-, junior NOK250
* Prizes: (total prizefund NOK +20.000): 1st: 5.000 plus free stay at Gausdal
Høifjellshotel at next years event. 2nd: 3.500; 3rd: 2.000; 4th: 1.500;
5th: 1.000; 6th: 500. Rating prizes (NOK): 1st: 1,500 and 2nd 500 in each of
the classes 1,2,3 and 4. Many additional book prizes.
* Excellent chances to score titlenorms or gain your first international ELO
rating.
* For further Informasjonl: Kai S. Eikrem, "Sjakkutsalget",
Jomfrubråtveien 46a, 1179 Oslo tel. +47 22 67 95 20, telefax +47 22 67 95
13 between 19:00-22:00 tel. +47 22 67 94 84. e-mail: kseikrem@online.no
http://home.sol.no/~skak/open99nm/
TWIC CD is scheduled for the 3rd week of March.