THE WEEK IN CHESS 229 - 29th March 1999 by Mark Crowther
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Games section
8th Amber Blindfold and Rapid 60 games
International Open, Bled 301 games
4th Stage of Cup Russia, Novgorod 304 games
15th Spring Festival in Budapest 55 games
Murugan-Levitt rapidplay match. 6 games
Danish Chess Championships 15 games
Korchnoi-Spassky Match 6 games
Indian National Championships 54 games
5th Werther Schloß Open 1 game
US Amateur Team east correction 1 game
My thanks to Eric Van der Schilden, TASC, Jan Mußgnug, Laszlo Nagy,
John Henderson,GM School, Boris Yeshan, Club Kasparov, Ales Drinovec, Stewart
Reuben, Arne Moll, Venkatachalam Saravanan and all those who helped with this
issue.
The Amber tournament saw Kramnik win overall, Anand win the rapidplay and a
three way tie between Kramnik, Shirov and Topalov, most of the players will now
move on to Dos Hermanas for the next big event of the year.
FIDE's press release saw them take action, not only over ratings from Burma
but also some tournaments in Romania which is a country whose results have
caused concern for a little time. This is a good sign and the integrity of the
FIDE ratings is very important, not only for professional chess but also shows
FIDE starting to take care of one of their greatest responsibilities.
Kasparov and FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzinov have both been in London
trying to get chess classified as a sport in England. Stewart Reuben writes on
some of the background and I'll try and get some information on the various
events that surrounded the campaign.
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.
Vladimir Kramnik hung on to his early lead to win the Melody Amber
tournament in the overall standings. He scored 14.5 points just half a point
clear of Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov (who had a fine latter part of the
event). Viswanathan Anand took the rapidplay event with 7.5/11 a point clear of
Kramnik, however a poor blindfold performance meant he finished in a tie for
fourth in the overall standings. There was a three way tie in the blindfold
event with Shirov, Topalov and Kramnik all scoring 8 points a point and a half
clear of Lautier in fourth.
The official coverage is by TASC at: http://www.tasc.nl/amber8
Rapidplay Standings
-------------------
Round 7 (March 23, 1999)
Karpov, Anatoly - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 60 A70 Modern Benoni
Piket, Jeroen - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 34 D46 Semi-Slav
Lautier, Joel - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 26 D20 QGA;
Gelfand, Boris - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 51 D37 Queen's gambit
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 0-1 31 E12 Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 62 E63 Kings indian
Round 8 (March 24, 1999)
Anand, Viswanathan - Nikolic, Predrag 1-0 38 C92 Ruy Lopez
Kramnik, Vladimir - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 31 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Piket, Jeroen 0-1 51 D39 Queen's gambit
Topalov, Veselin - Lautier, Joel 1/2 21 E32 Nimzo indian
Shirov, Alexei - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 39 B81 Sicilian
Van Wely, Loek - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 63 D37 Queen's gambit
Round 9 (March 26, 1999)
Karpov, Anatoly - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 36 E63 Kings indian
Piket, Jeroen - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 25 E11 Bogo indian
Lautier, Joel - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 0-1 86 E12 Nimzo indian
Gelfand, Boris - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 80 D85 Gruenfeld indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 25 D37 Queen's gambit
Nikolic, Predrag - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 26 D43 Semi-Slav
Round 10 (March 27, 1999)
Anand, Viswanathan - Karpov, Anatoly 1/2 25 E32 Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 28 E37 Nimzo indian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Nikolic, Predrag 1/2 29 A90 Dutch defence
Topalov, Veselin - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 62 D43 Semi-Slav
Shirov, Alexei - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 17 B90 Sicilian; Najdorf
Van Wely, Loek - Lautier, Joel 1-0 36 E15 Nimzo indian
Round 11 (March 28, 1999)
Karpov, Anatoly - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 45 D18 Slav defence
Piket, Jeroen - Shirov, Alexei 0-1 49 D97 Gruenfeld indian
Lautier, Joel - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 26 D56 QGD;
Gelfand, Boris - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 0-1 70 D46 Semi-Slav
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 15 E15 Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 40 D10 Slav defence
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 * = 0 1 1 = 1 = = 1 = 1 7.5 2800
2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2751 = * = 1 = 1 = 0 = = 1 = 6.5 2735
3 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2571 1 = * 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 = 6.0 2722
4 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2700 0 0 1 * 1 = 1 = = 0 = 1 6.0 2710
5 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 0 = 1 0 * 0 0 1 = 1 1 1 6.0 2708
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2710 = 0 0 = 1 * = 1 = 1 = 0 5.5 2674
7 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2632 0 = 1 0 1 = * = 1 0 = = 5.5 2681
8 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2619 = 1 1 = 0 0 = * = 0 0 1 5.0 2646
9 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2596 = = 0 = = = 0 = * = = 1 5.0 2648
10 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2691 0 = 0 1 0 0 1 1 = * 0 = 4.5 2610
11 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2714 = 0 0 = 0 = = 1 = 1 * 0 4.5 2608
12 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2633 0 = = 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 1 * 4.0 2579
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Blindfold Standings
-------------------
Round 7 (March 23, 1999)
Shirov, Alexei - Nikolic, Predrag 1-0 32 B09 Pirc; Austrian
Topalov, Veselin - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 49 E15 Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir - Piket, Jeroen 1-0 80 D31 Queen's gambit
Anand, Viswanathan - Lautier, Joel 1/2 23 B33 Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 25 A52 Benoni
Van Wely, Loek - Karpov, Anatoly 0-1 30 E15 Nimzo indian
Round 8 (March 24, 1999)
Lautier, Joel - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 30 D37 Queen's gambit
Nikolic, Predrag - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 21 D20 QGA;
Karpov, Anatoly - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 70 E04 Nimzo indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 41 B35 Sicilian
Gelfand, Boris - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 19 A33 English; 1.c4 c5
Piket, Jeroen - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 41 D58 QGD;
Round 9 (March 26, 1999)
Shirov, Alexei - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 23 B12 Caro-Kann
Topalov, Veselin - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 41 A17 English; 1.c4
Kramnik, Vladimir - Nikolic, Predrag 1/2 19 A30 English; 1.c4 c5
Anand, Viswanathan - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 28 C67 Ruy Lopez
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Lautier, Joel 1/2 24 D24 QGA;
Van Wely, Loek - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 88 E15 Nimzo indian
Round 10 (March 27, 1999)
Lautier, Joel - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 19 B86 Sicilian
Nikolic, Predrag - Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 1/2 45 D53 QGD;
Karpov, Anatoly - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 19 E15 Nimzo indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 43 B53 Sicilian
Gelfand, Boris - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 22 D37 Queen's gambit
Piket, Jeroen - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 25 D58 QGD;
Round 11 (March 28, 1999)
Shirov, Alexei - Piket, Jeroen 1/2 31 C78 Ruy Lopez
Topalov, Veselin - Karpov, Anatoly 1-0 44 E20 Nimzo indian
Kramnik, Vladimir - Lautier, Joel 1/2 24 D26 QGA;
Anand, Viswanathan - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 36 C42 Petroff defence
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 22 D45 Semi-Slav
Van Wely, Loek - Nikolic, Predrag 1/2 41 D20 QGA;
Monte Carlo (MNC), iii 1999 cat. XVIII (2677)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 * 1 = = 1 1 = = = = 1 1 8.0 2847
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2700 0 * = 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 8.0 2849
3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2751 = = * = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 8.0 2845
4 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2596 = 0 = * 0 1 = 1 1 = = 1 6.5 2749
5 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2633 0 = = 1 * = 1 = 0 = = = 5.5 2681
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2710 0 0 = 0 = * = 1 = = 1 1 5.5 2674
7 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2714 = 0 0 = 0 = * = 1 1 = = 5.0 2637
8 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2691 = 0 = 0 = 0 = * 1 = 1 0 4.5 2610
9 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2619 = = 0 0 1 = 0 0 * = 1 0 4.0 2580
10 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2781 = 0 0 = = = 0 = = * = = 4.0 2565
11 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2571 0 = 0 = = 0 = 0 0 = * 1 3.5 2553
12 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2632 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 1 = 0 * 3.5 2548
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 == 1= == =1 11 01 == =1 14.5 2787
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2700 0= ** 10 01 =1 =1 1= 1= =1 == 01 11 14.0 2776
3 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726 == 01 ** 0= == 01 11 11 1= 1= 1= 01 14.0 2774
4 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2781 =0 10 1= ** == == 1= 0= =0 == 1= 1= 11.5 2681
5 Lautier, Joel g FRA 2596 == =0 == == ** =1 10 0= == =1 =1 01 11.5 2698
6 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2710 0= =0 10 == =0 ** 0= 01 == 1= 11 =1 11.0 2674
7 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2633 == 0= 00 0= 01 1= ** == 11 00 == == 9.5 2631
8 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir g YUG 2571 =0 0= 00 1= 1= 10 == ** 1= 00 10 01 9.5 2636
9 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2714 00 =0 0= =1 == == 00 0= ** 11 1= == 9.5 2623
10 Piket, Jeroen g NED 2619 10 == 0= == =0 0= 11 11 00 ** 00 =0 9.0 2617
11 Gelfand, Boris g BLR 2691 == 10 0= 0= =0 00 == 01 0= 11 ** 10 9.0 2610
12 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2632 =0 00 10 0= 10 =0 == 10 == =1 01 ** 9.0 2616
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was a FIDE Press release on Friday 19th March which covered the FIDE
Presidential Board meeting in Ankara, Turkey, which took place 13-14 March
1999. As well as covering the World Championships (as reported last week) the
board are to investigate the Myanmar ratings and also those of some Romanian
tournaments. Source: http://www.schaakbond.nl . According to
reports from the Melody Amber tournament Karpov has the definite intention
taking legal action against FIDE as he was not consulted over the dates.
FIDE Press Release
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 of from 26 July to 29
August 1999. The Board directed the World Chess Championship Cycle Committee to
finalise all technical arrangements as well as the Player's Contract for the
Championship and resolved further that the detailed programme for the
Championship should be finalised by 31 March 1999.
Regarding the Women's World Championship final match between Zsuzsa Polgar
of Hungary and Xie Jun of China, the Board decided that FIDE shall organise the
match in line with the resolution of the General Assembly in Elista between the
last week of May up to 20 July 1999. After noting that no offer had been
received to meet the minimum prize fund, it called for the best offer possible
to be submitted to the FIDE Secretariat not later than 15 April 1999.
The Board noted with concern, the late publication and difficulties
associated with the January 1999 Rating List and approved that the Rating List
should now be published within the FIDE Secretariat. Towards this end, it
approved the setting up of an office in Elista, to handle all aspects of the
FIDE Rating publication, publication of the FIDE Forum, FIDE web site and other
specific projects as may be approved from time to time by the Executive
Director.
Still on the issue of ratings, the Board resolved to suspend with immediate
effect the publication of the new ratings of players from the Myanmar Chess
Federation, pending a full investigation by the Qualification Commission in
conjunction with the Titles and Ratings Committee, to ascertain the exact
circumstances how some players could have obtained such exceedingly high
ratings as to place them among others in the top 10 list of FIDE. In this
connection, the Board confirmed the proposal of the former Chairman of the
Qualification Commission, Mr. J. A. Mas of Argentine, to implement the rule
that no player should be allowed to obtain more than 100 rating points in a
given period, except in very special situations, with effect from the July 1999
Rating List. The Board also directed that an inquiry should be instituted in
respect of the rating results of three tournaments in Romania.
After noting that many Federations were in the habit of not following up on
their promises to organise FIDE events, the Board directed the FIDE Secretariat
to strictly enforce the requirement that all bids for the organisation of FIDE
events must be accompanied by deposit fees or financial guarantees, which will
be forfeited once the concerned Federation fails to organise the event.
In order to improve and standardise the quality of services rendered by the
various coaches, instructors and arbiters throughout the world, the Board
directed the Chess in Schools Committee, Trainers' Council and the Arbiters'
Council and their respective Commissions to submit a joint proposal to the 70th
FIDE Congress in Doha, Qatar, on the classification and grading of the various
levels of coaches and arbiters at national and international levels. It
directed that the joint Committee should consider the possibility of charging
an annual licensing fee to be jointly administered and monitored by FIDE and
National Federations.
The Board resolved to extend a message of appreciation to His Excellency
Suleyman Demirel, President of the Republic of Turkey, who reaffirmed his
country's commitment to host the 34th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, in the year
2000 during a courtesy call at the Presidential Palace in Ankara by members of
the Board. It further thanked FIDE Vice President, Emrehan Halici, for the warm
hospitality.
Kasparov has issued a press release on his own www site (http://www.clubkasparov.ru/) on his
dispute with the Leon organisers which lead to him not playing in the
"Advanced Chess" match in June against Anand.
Kasparov said:
" Frankly speaking, the attitude of Spanish organizers to chess players
has roused a lot of censure. In this particular occasion Sion carried on all
the negotiations with me in a rather bold manner: you mustn’t do this, you
shouldn’t do that… He had an opportunity to hold a Kasparov-Anand
match for a ridiculous sum of money, and thus could have been more delicate.
Gradually, my desire to put the organizers in their own place increased. And it
wasn’t but a small incident that became the last straw. Owen Williams, my
manager, sent Sion a contract where he tried to consider sad experience of the
match with Shirov and therefore, added the following point: in case the match
does not take place through the organizers’ fault, then they will still
have to pay a large honorarium entirely. In response, we received a fax that
considered this point as “completely unacceptable”, which is too
strong an expression for business English. This was an obvious demonstration of
their disdain.
Of course, we could have patched things up but I was very hurt by these
words. Moreover, it did not happen somewhere, it happened in Spain and only
half a year after the match with Shirov did not take place. “Completely
unacceptable”, how do you like that? The journalist Leontxo Garcia will
say later on that it sounds absolutely normal in Spanish. However, Leontxo can
not deny the Shirov precedent and, thus, the situation looks very delicate.
“Unacceptable”? All right then, next day I told Owen to immediately
send a refusal. Certainly, it’s a pity I won’t play this match. I
understand that advanced chess will suffer greatly, though probably, the
organizers will find somebody to replace me. However, once and for all they
should realize that it is their attitude that is unacceptable, they should
learn to behave themselves with chess players in general and with the World
Champion in particular. Who, if not me, will put them in their own place? I
stress that we are now talking about the country where such a thing as
abolition of the match with Shirov could happen.
Everything Garcia angrily told me after the press conference in Linares was
in vain. What is the use of this nonsense: the end, the tragedy… GM
Illescas also told me that he was impressed by my decision, that it became a
hard blow to the chess in Spain, that I should have remembered my
responsibility. Then I asked him: “What about you, are you responsible for
anything?” I did not talk much, while Illescas pronounced a real tirade:
Kasparov ruined the tournament in Leon, the organizers won’t hold it any
more, Kasparov has to be responsible. I did not want to remind that he also had
responsibilities. For example, why did he ignore Salov’s regular and
absolutely groundless accusations against me – one shouldn’t defame
the World Champion and stay unpunished. Many people think of Garry Kasparov and
his responsibilities only when it touches their personal interests: it is well
known that Illescas was going to be a commentator during the match in Leon.
Garcia says that I undermine my own authority making a mountain out of a
molehill. However, there are some trifles that turn out to be very important,
as they form the understanding of serious problems. Moreover, I reckon Leontxo
Garcia well remembers an unpleasant incident that happened in the editorial
office of his newspaper “El Pais”. When I was in Madrid in June and
we carried on negotiations with Spaniards concerning our mutual work in the
Internet, Leontxo told that he wanted me to meet his director, sports editor of
“El Pais”. I bet you know how these offices look: everybody sits in
one big room and the editor is in his own office behind a transparent
partition. We came up to him when he was talking on the phone. Leontxo entered
the room and quitted it the following moment. “Just one more minute,”
he said. We waited – two, three, five, ten, fifteen minutes – and the
editor went on talking as if we were not there. Then I told Leontxo that I
would rather leave. In the evening Leontxo had to apologize on his
director’s behalf. It turned out that he had talked to the coach of the
Madrid “Real”, and this conversation was very important for him. It
might seem to be a trifle but it shows the attitude to chess in general.
Let us be reasonable, there are a lot of soccer clubs in Spain but there is
only one World Champion. It seems to me, that at a certain point such people as
this editor should be taught a lesson. They should see that as long as they
behave in such a way, I do not care about them either: in the long run, I do
not lack invitations. However, what worries me, is that no one in the World of
Chess realizes that similar situations are intolerable. Unless somebody gets to
grips with the situation, this will go on forever. And this is the defense of a
chess player’s good name – people begin to understand that chess and
chess players should be treated with greater respect. "
There was a strong open in Bled, Slovenia 20-28th March. The 20th Bled
festival had 70 players in the A tournament (162 in total). There were 10 GMs
Belyavsky, Atalik, Kozul, Romanishin, Sveshnikov, Michalchisin, Sermek, Farago,
Sax and Cebalo and 4 women GMs. Gyula Sax scored 7.5/9 ahead of Kuzul and
Wilhelmi on 6.5.
The URL for further information and games is:
http://www.sah-zveza.si/bled/
1. Sax Gyula GM 2524 2546 HUN 7.5 39.0 50.0 2.37
2. Kozul Zdenko GM 2585 2593 CRO 6.5 41.0 53.0 0.65
3. Wilhelmi Christian IM 2446 2446 GER 6.5 37.5 47.0 2.00
4. Romanishin Oleg M GM 2572 2572 UKR 6 40.5 52.5 0.60
5. Beliavsky Alexandr GM 2650 2641 SLO 6 38.0 49.5 -0.84
6. Miroshnichenko Evgenij IM 2500 2500 UKR 6 38.0 49.0 0.69
7. Mikhalchishin Adrian GM 2542 2527 SLO 6 36.0 46.0 0.24
8. Tratar Marko IM 2450 2416 SLO 6 36.0 45.5 0.96
9. Grischuk Alexander IM 2482 2482 RUS 6 35.5 45.0 1.41
10. Atalik Suat GM 2593 2608 TUR 6 34.5 45.0 -0.39
11. Sermek Drazen GM 2540 2543 SLO 5.5 37.0 47.0 0.10
12. Sveshnikov Evgeny GM 2563 2594 RUS 5.5 36.5 47.0 -0.35
13. Staudner Oliver FM 2353 2353 AUT 5.5 36.5 45.5 1.99
14. Drei Andrea FM 2349 2349 ITA 5.5 36.5 44.5 1.90
15. Farago Ivan GM 2533 2500 HUN 5.5 35.5 46.5 -0.80
16. Pavasovic Dusko IM 2502 2491 SLO 5.5 35.5 45.5 -0.08
17. Kosteniuk Alexandra WGM 2329 2329 RUS 5.5 33.5 43.0 0.56
18. Balinov Ilija 2434 2434 BUL 5.5 32.0 41.5 -0.26
19. Bojkovic Natasa WGM 2424 2424 YUG 5.5 32.0 40.5 -0.08
20. Podlesnik Bogdan IM 2409 2425 SLO 5.5 30.5 39.5 0.01
21. Gustafsson Jan 2416 2416 GER 5 36.5 45.0 1.13
22. Grosar Aljosa IM 2450 2436 SLO 5 36.0 46.5 0.23
23. Zimmerman Yuri IM 2374 2374 RUS 5 34.5 44.5 0.16
24. Savanovic Aleksandar FM 2435 2435 YUG 5 34.5 43.0 -0.04
25. Lekic Dusan 2381 2381 YUG 5 33.5 43.0 -0.04
26. Cebalo Miso GM 2511 2490 CRO 5 33.0 43.0 -1.21
27. Bozanic Ivica FM 2305 2305 CRO 5 31.0 41.0 0.59
28. Kovacevic Blazimir FM 2429 2415 CRO 5 31.0 40.0 -0.67
29. Soln Primoz FM 2425 2419 SLO 5 30.0 39.0 -1.36
30. Wiley Tom E. 2280 2280 ENG 5 30.0 39.0 1.49
31. Zheliandinov Viktor M 2402 2402 UKR 4.5 36.0 46.5 0.90
32. Brumen Dinko FM 2309 2341 CRO 4.5 35.0 44.0 1.08
33. Krivoshey Sergei IM 2451 2451 UKR 4.5 33.5 43.5 -0.06
34. Rukavina Josip IM 2426 2426 CRO 4.5 33.0 42.0 -1.08
35. Osterman Rudi FM 2376 2361 SLO 4.5 31.5 39.0 -0.54
36. Krstic Uros 2332 2332 CRO 4.5 30.0 39.5 -0.27
37. Basagic Zlatko IM 2316 2345 SLO 4.5 30.0 38.0 0.72
38. Filipovic Branko IM 2434 2434 YUG 4.5 29.5 37.0 -1.17
39. Jelen Igor IM 2389 2422 SLO 4.5 28.5 36.0 -1.44
40. Sebenik Matej MK 2154 2172 SLO 4.5 27.5 34.5 1.71
70 players
The 4th stage of the Russia Cup is in Novgorod took place March 19-27th.
Pavel Kotsur won with 8/10. Mihail Kobalija and Alexander Volzhin finished in
second on 7. There are eight of the ten rounds games available. There is
coverage at: http://www.ruschess.com
Leading final standings
1 Kotzur P. KAZ GM 2499 8.0
2 Kobalia M. RUS GM 2537 7.5
Volzhin A. RUS GM 2543 7.5
4 Volkov S. RUS GM 2587 7.0
5 Akopyan Vl. ARM GM 2640 6.5
Burmakin V. RUS GM 2534 6.5
Evseev D. RUS IM 2503 6.5
Galkin A. RUS GM 2521 6.5
Kharitonov A. RUS GM 2562 6.5
Kharlov A. RUS GM 2600 6.5
Loginov V. RUS GM 2532 6.5
Malaniuk V. UKR GM 2552 6.5
Zakharevich I. RUS IM 2532 6.5
14 Beshukov S. RUS GM 2511 6.0
Dolmatov S. RUS GM 2589 6.0
Dreev A. RUS GM 2639 6.0
Gallyamova A. RUS GM 2558 6.0
Goloshchapov A. UKR IM 2466 6.0
Ibragimov I. RUS GM 2602 6.0
Lastin A. RUS GM 2558 6.0
Sarkisian G. ARM NM 2390 6.0
Sorokin M. ARG GM 2551 6.0
Vaulin A. RUS GM 2547 6.0
Voitsekhovsky S. RUS IM 2558 6.0
76 players
Laszlo Nagy reports: The 15th Spring Festival in Budapest ran March
17th-25th. The event was sponsored by the Hungarian Chess Federation and had 72
players from 12 countries. There are 3 IMs Lengyel, Krutti and Nguyen Anh Dung
and two WIM Ruth Sheldon, and Irina Semenova.
Three players finished on 7 points, Galyas, Lengyel and Bu.
1 Galyas, Miklos f HUN 2440 7.0
2 Lengyel, Bela m HUN 2350 7.0
3 Bu Xiangzhi CHI 2365 7.0
4 De Santis, Alessio f ITA 2356 6.5
5 Nguyen Anh Dung m VIE 2485 6.5
6 Krutti, Valer m HUN 2354 6.5
7 Struk, Jerzy POL 2200 6.5
8 Heinlein, Reinhold GER 2108 6.0
9 Semenova, Irina wm RUS 2268 6.0
10 Francsics, Endre HUN 2270 6.0
72 players
Nagy Laszlo's next tournaments for the GM-, IM-norms and ELO-ratings are the
"FIRST SATURDAY" April '99 events in BUDAPEST, Hungary from the 3rd
of April. E-mail: firstsat@elender.hu webpages:
http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat
and http://www.illawarra.net.au/chesscentral/
Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59
The London Chess Centre was the venue for a rapidplay match on Sunday 29th
March between ten year old Murugan Thiruchelvam and GM Jonathan Levitt. In
winning the third game of the six game match Murugan became the youngest ever
player to defeat a Grandmaster. He beat the previous record held by Hikaru
Nakamura by nine months. The time rate for the match was all the moves in 30
minutes. Levitt eventually prevailed in the match by taking the last two games.
Levitt, Jonathan - Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan 1/2 56 D63 QGD;
Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan - Levitt, Jonathan 1/2 56 C07 French; Tarrasch
Levitt, Jonathan - Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan 0-1 72 D50 QGD;
Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan - Levitt, Jonathan 1/2 48 B40 Sicilian
Levitt, Jonathan - Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan 1-0 29 D55 QGD;
Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan - Levitt, Jonathan 0-1 35 B40 Sicilian
London ENG (ENG), iii 1999
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Levitt, Jonathan ENG 2310 = = 0 = 1 1 3.5 2077
Thiruchelvam, Thirumurugan ENG 2020 = = 1 = 0 0 2.5 2253
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Danish Chess Championships are taking place in Aarhus. There are ten
players in this nine round all-play-all event starting 27th March and is lead
by Peter Heine Nielsen after three rounds.
There is live coverage on the internet at:
http://mmm.uni-c.dk/~dm99/english.htm
Danish Championships (DEN), iii-iv 1999 cat. X (2492)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2515 * . . . = . 1 1 . . 2.5 2772
2 Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2527 . * = . . = . . 1 . 2.0 2592
3 Hansen, Lars Bo g DEN 2565 . = * . . . . = 1 . 2.0 2554
4 Larsen, Bent g DEN 2532 . . . * = . = . . 1 2.0 2632
5 Hansen, Curt g DEN 2608 = . . = * = . . . . 1.5 2515
6 Hansen, Sune Berg g DEN 2499 . = . . = * . = . . 1.5 2519
7 Borge, Nikolaj m DEN 2466 0 . . = . . * . . 1 1.5 2498
8 Mortensen, Erling m DEN 2424 0 . = . . = . * . . 1.0 2401
9 El-Kher, Henrik DEN 2338 . 0 0 . . . . . * = 0.5 2240
10 Fries-Nielsen, Jens Ove m DEN 2447 . . . 0 . . 0 . = * 0.5 2172
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Casino Conte in St Petersburg is the venue for a 10 game rapidplay match
(60 minutes for all moves) between Victor Korchnoi and Boris Spassky. The match
is organised by the St. Petersburg Chess Federation as a part of a celebration
of the 275 year jubilee of St. Petersburg University. The match runs 27th March
- 1st April. March 30th is a rest day.
Grandmaster Chess School covers the event live at:
http://www.gmchess.spb.ru/classic.htm.
You can see some game annotations there too.
After six games Korchnoi leads by a point. He has had the best of the
opening play but has had some time trouble problems.
Venkatachalam Saravanan reports: The National A Championships are being 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,
Sashikiran and Kunte etc. There is an official website at:
http://www.bpclnationalchess.findhere.com
Sashikiran leads clearly after 6 rounds in this massive 18 player
all-play-all.
Indian Championships (IND), iii-iv 1999 cat. VII (2404)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Sashikiran, Krishnan m IND 2525 * . . . . . 1 . . = 1 1 1 . . . . 1 5.5 2783
2 Ramesh, R.B m IND 2391 . * . = . 1 1 . . . . . . . . = 1 1 5.0 2694
3 Kunte, Abhijit m IND 2455 . . * = . = . . . . . . . 1 . 1 = 1 4.5 2608
4 Prakash, G B IND 2403 . = = * = . . = 1 . . . . . = . . . 3.5 2448
5 Neelotpal, Das IND 2436 . . . = * . 0 . . . . 1 . . . = = 1 3.5 2468
6 Deshmukh, Anup IND 2430 . 0 = . . * . . 1 . 0 . . = . . 1 . 3.0 2412
7 Thipsay, Praveen M g IND 2467 0 0 . . 1 . * 0 . 1 . . . . 1 . . . 3.0 2398
8 Ravi, Thandalam Shanmugam f IND 2336 . . . = . . 1 * . . . = = . . = . 0 3.0 2394
9 Saravanan, V IND 2393 . . . 0 . 0 . . * . 1 . . = . 1 = . 3.0 2410
10 Koshy, Varugeese m IND 2368 = . . . . . 0 . . * = = = . = . . . 2.5 2342
11 Mishra, Neeraj-Kumar m IND 2363 0 . . . . 1 . . 0 = * . = = . . . . 2.5 2357
12 Rathore, S.K IND 2372 0 . . . 0 . . = . = . * 1 . = . . . 2.5 2331
13 Bakre, Tejas m IND 2333 0 . . . . . . = . = = 0 * . 1 . . . 2.5 2326
14 Konguvel, Ponnuswamy m IND 2436 . . 0 . . = . . = . = . . * . = = . 2.5 2355
15 Suvrajit, Saha IND 2335 . . . = . . 0 . . = . = 0 . * . . 1 2.5 2332
16 Hegde, Ravi Gopal m IND 2397 . = 0 . = . . = 0 . . . . = . * . . 2.0 2282
17 Prasad, Devaki V m IND 2435 . 0 = . = 0 . . = . . . . = . . * . 2.0 2298
18 Shankar, Roy IND 2394 0 0 0 . 0 . . 1 . . . . . . 0 . . * 1.0 2140
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan Mußgnug reports on the 5th Werther Schloß Open. 142 chess
players took part in the 5th Werther Schloß Open which ran from March
26th - 28th. 60 participants played in the A-group (Rating >1800 ), 82 in
the B- group. The favourites in the A-group were:
IM Dimitrij Bunzmann (2555)
GM Sergej Kalinitschew (2528)
GM Andrej Maksimenko (2524)
IM Viesturs Meijers (2425)
IM Alexandre Sulypa (2425)
IM Mikhail Kozakov (2420)
FM Ruediger Seger (2384)
The tournament was won by IM Alexandre Sulypa due to the better tie-breaker.
He shared places 1-3 with R.Seger and D.Bunzmann (all on 4,5/5). The B group
was dominated by S.Raicich who took 1st place alone with 5/5. The event was
sponsored by the Sparkasse Halle/Westf.
Further information: http://www.wadewitz.de/skwerther/
CHESS AS A SPORT BY STEWART REUBEN, Chairman of the British Chess Federation
Many of you will know by now of the momentous announcement by Minister of
Sport Tony Banks on Monday 15 March in the British House of Commons. It was
during an Adjournment Debate. He said that he agreed chess deserves more
support from the government (currently we receive £49,000 and he declared
it was now government policy that chess should be recognised as a sport. This
will require legislation and UK readers should put pressure where possible on
the powers that be, particularly their MPs, Tony Blair and Chris Smith. Write
your individual letter asking them to help make sure time is made available in
the next parliament which starts in November 1999. The decision about time will
be made in April, so get going now. Tuesday by coincidence FIDE President
Kirsan Iljumzhinov and Deputy President Georgio Makropoulos came to town. They
were here to form a company based in London to market chess. Back I went to The
House of Commons for a photo-call and a meeting with the Chief Executive of the
British Olympic Movement. He made it clear he had nothing against chess as such
but everything against the proliferation of sports at the Olympic Games. It was
made clear to him FIDE are primarily seeking recognition for chess,
participation would be icing on the cake. I have been trying to arrange a
meeting with Tony Banks for over a year. Wednesday we got to see him, the
President clearly having unlocked the door. Moreover I will be having another
meeting Thursday 25 March,just before the big presentation by Saitek at the
House of Commons, "Serious support for a serious sport". MPs
Charlotte Atkins and Dr Even Harris are the two we have most to thank for this
tremendous development. Dr Harris partnered Malcolm Pein in exhibition games
against the Presy and Deputy. They were both drawn but looked like the real
thing. They certainly made us late for our appointment with Tony Banks. But
don't overlook the earlier work of the Eagle twins, Angela and Maria. Tony said
he had received more representations about chess as a sport than on any other
single topic since he had become a minister. Readers from countries such as
Germany will be puzzled. What is the problem? Of course chess is a sport. This
is not true in the English language, physical prowess is required. Change the
definition in Britain and it is likely a whole host of other countries will
fall into line. In Britain this could mean access to millions of pounds.
Whether we would actually receive any is another matter. But we would at least
be able to make out a case.
The 2nd World Internet Bullet (1 minute chess) Championships was played was
played March 22nd reports Arne Moll . The two finalists were German IM Roland
Schmaltz and US GM Max Dlugy. They played a best-of-20 series on the Internet
Chess Club and Schmaltz retained the title he won last year on the Free
Internet Chess Server with a 10.5 - 7.5 victory. Over 300 people observed the
event live on ICC. In the participants lists were also such names as GMs Loek
van Wely , Ram Soffer and Pablo Zarnicki, in fact almost everybody who is any
good at this form of chess played in the tournament. In total, 100 people were
playing on ICC and FICS for this knock-out event.
More information at:http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/dropzone/9881/lightningchamp2.htm
The game Rohde - Feldman given in TWIC225 was a Rohde game but not against
Feldman, the correct game is given in twic this week.
The WCC World Chess Rankings are out for April 1st 1999.
1. Kasparov,Garry RUS 2828 144
2. Anand,Viswanathan IND 2757 122
3. Kramnik,Vladimir RUS 2722 130
4. Shirov,Alexei ESP 2708 171
5. Morozevich,Alexander RUS 2703 162
6. Leko,Peter HUN 2692 134
7. Gelfand,Boris ISR 2687 144
8. Short,Nigel D ENG 2674 140
9. Ivanchuk,Vassily UKR 2660 155
10. Adams,Michael ENG 2659 164
11. Polgar,Judit (GM) HUN 2653 176
12. Azmaiparashvili,Zurab GEO 2653 140
13. Seirawan,Yasser USA 2652 178
14. Karpov,Anatoli RUS 2651 138
15. Bareev,Evgeny RUS 2650 159
16. Rublevsky,Sergei RUS 2650 156
17. Svidler,Peter RUS 2649 151
18. Topalov,Veselin BUL 2648 171
19. Timman,Jan H NED 2648 193
20. Onischuk,Alexander UKR 2644 183
21. Zvjaginsev,Vadim RUS 2643 130
22. Sokolov,Ivan BIH 2634 175
23. Salov,Valery RUS 2632 191
24. Georgiev,Kiril BUL 2630 156
25. Almasi,Zoltan HUN 2628 155
26. Korchnoi,Viktor SUI 2627 162
27. Dreev,Alexey RUS 2622 161
28. Sadler,Matthew ENG 2621 162
29. Ponomariov,Ruslan UKR 2620 163
30. Nikolic,Predrag BIH 2618 148
Foxwoods Open
Michael Atkins will cover the Foxwoods open taking place from April 1-5. The
Continental Chess Association's Foxwoods Open will take place at Foxwoods
Resort Casino & Hotel (World's largest casino). The $50,000 tournament will
have 8 sections. http://www.wizard.net/~matkins/fox/foxwoods.htm
Doeberl Cup
Anthony Peck reports that the Doeberl Cup, Australia's Premier Weekend
Tournament takes place April 2nd-5th at the Fenner Hall in Canberra. For
further information on the event contact pjdunn@compuserve.com for more
details.
Dortmund
As reported last week he 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 10th 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".
The soLett Chess Open 1999
The soLett Chess Open 1999 will take place 1-5 April in SKELLEFTEÅ,
SWEDEN. Coverage at: http://www.surf.to/schackinorr
Participants include: Ildar Ibragimov, Andrei Kharlov, Tiger
Hillarp-Persson and Vaidas Sakalauskas.
German "Damen-Bundesliga"
The German "Bundesliga" for women has finished reports Gerhard
Hund. oThe team of Elberfeld won the championships.
Further information at:
http://TeleSchach.com/berichte/bundes-d.html
IV. Pécsi Sütõ International Chess Tournament
IV. Pécsi Sütõ International Chess Tournament
Pécs Hungary (http://www.pecs.hu) or
(http://city.net/countries/hungary/pecs) from 19th of June to 25th of June
1999.
Place of tournament : Baranya Megyei Közgyûlés
Díszterme ( Pécs, Papnövelde u. 5.) Opening Ceremony : 19th
of June 2.30 p.m. Arrangement : FIDE, B and C group, 9 rounds, Swiss System, 40
moves in 2 hours and 1 hour to the end.
Date of rounds :
19th of June 3.00 p.m.: 1. round
20th of June 9.00 a.m.: 2. round, 4.00 p.m.: 3. round
21st of June 2.00 p.m.: 4. round
22nd of June 9.00 a.m.: 5. round, 4.00 p.m.: 6. Round
23rd of June 2.00 p.m.: 7. Round
24th of June 2.00 p.m.: 8. Round
25th of June 9.00 a.m.: 9. Round
23rd of June 8.00 p.m.: Lightning tournament
FIDE group
Prizes : I. 120.000 HUF VI. 20.000 HUF XI. 8.000 HUF II. 80.000 HUF VII.
15.000 HUF XII. 5.000 HUF III. 50.000 HUF VIII. 10.000 HUF XIII. 5.000 HUF IV.
35.000 HUF IX. 8.000 HUF XIV. 5.000 HUF V. 25.000 HUF X. 8.000 HUF XV. 5.000
HUF
Extra prizes : (Token prizes)
Best player under 20 (min.6 players) ;Best woman ;Best player without FIDE
elo (min.6 players) ;Best player above 60
Entry fee : without FIDE elo : 40 DM ; 2001 - 2200 : 35 DM ; 2201 - 2400 :
30 DM ; 2401 - 2450 : 20 DM ; GM, IM and above 2450 : free
B group
Prizes : I- X. Token prizes
Extra prizes :
Best player under 20 (min 6 players) ;Best woman ;Best player under 1501
elo ;Best player 1501 - 1700 elo ; 1701 - 1900 elo ; 1901 - 2100 elo
Entry fee : 20 DM
Above 2200 FIDE elo only in FIDE group !
C group for players under 16 (born in 1983 and younger)
Prizes : I - III. Token prizes and charter ; IV - V. Charter
Entry fee : 4 DM
Accommodation :
7 DM / Person / night in student's hostel ;70 DM / for max. 7 persons /
night in apartment (2-3 rooms with TV, kitchen, bathroom)
On request organisers can reserve rooms in hotels until 1st of May 1999.
Entries should be sent to : Fülöp Csaba H-7626 Pécs,
Rákóczi street 75. Hungary
Information : Fülöp Csaba (36) 30-9276900 Fax : (36) 72-336991
Horváth Péter (36) 72-320354
E-mail : fulop@mail.pecs.matav.hu
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 almost complete!.