The Week in Chess 281

THE WEEK IN CHESS 281 27th March 2000 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Lost Boys, Malcolm Pein, Ram Soffer, Israeli Chess Federation, Sinisa Joksic, Elie Holishian and Hassan Khaled, Frank Berry, Jovan Petronic, Gunnar Bjornsson, Nigel Johnson and BCM, Laszlo Nagy, Mig Greengard and all those who helped with this issue.

Alexei Shirov is having an excellent Amber tournament and might even head all three standings. A useful reminder of the power of this player at his best. Shirov may feel that it is he that should be the man to play Garry Kasparov. The consortium backed by Ray Keene is going down the rating list trying to find a match opponent for him. Viswanathan Anand could not reach agreement and now they are to ask Vladimir Kramnik, if they can't then Shirov is next. We'll have to see what happens.

Hope you enjoy this issue

Mark

2) 9th Amber Tournament

The 9th Amber Tournament started on Thursday March 16th 2000. The blindfold and rapidplay tournament includes three players from Linares: Kramnik, Anand and Shirov. Below are the results and standings to round 10. With one round to go Alexei Shirov appears to have all but sewn up the overall event being 1.5 points clear of closest rival Veselin Topalov. Shirov leads the rapidplay event by half a point from his final round opponent Vassily Ivanchuk. Vladimir Kramnik leads the Blindfold event by half a point from Shirov, Topalov and Anand.

Official site: http://chess.lostcity.nl/amber/

Results to round 10

Rapidplay standings:

Round 5 (March 21, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   26  B81  Sicilian
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Piket, Jeroen         1/2   16  D39  Queen's gambit
Topalov, Veselin      -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   28  B80  Sicilian
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Lautier, Joel         1-0   34  B80  Sicilian
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   29  D43  Semi-Slav
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Karpov, Anatoly       0-1   57  A30  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 6 (March 22, 2000)

Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   36  C10  French
Topalov, Veselin      -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   32  C11  French; Classical
Gelfand, Boris        -  Lautier, Joel         1/2  111  D47  Semi-Slav
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Van Wely, Loek        0-1   46  D39  Queen's gambit
Piket, Jeroen         -  Karpov, Anatoly       1/2   35  E12  Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   21  D10  Slav defence

Round 7 (March 23, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Topalov, Veselin      1-0   75  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Van Wely, Loek        -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     0-1   49  D20  QGA;
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Piket, Jeroen         1-0   46  C95  Ruy Lopez
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2  111  D12  Slav defence
Lautier, Joel         -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   28  A30  English; 1.c4 c5
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Gelfand, Boris        0-1   39  A12  English; 1.c4

Round 8 (March 24, 2000)

Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Lautier, Joel         1-0   41  B49  Sicilian
Topalov, Veselin      -  Karpov, Anatoly       1-0   74  D37  Queen's gambit
Gelfand, Boris        -  Van Wely, Loek        1/2   77  D94  Gruenfeld indian
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   39  E70  Kings indian
Piket, Jeroen         -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   44  D19  Slav defence
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Anand, Viswanathan    0-1   35  D12  Slav defence

Round 9 (March 26, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Gelfand, Boris        1-0   40  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Van Wely, Loek        -  Topalov, Veselin      1-0   47  E97  Kings indian; Main line
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   38  B33  Sicilian; Sveshnikov
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   29  E32  Nimzo indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   39  B07  Pirc
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Piket, Jeroen         0-1   34  D45  Semi-Slav

Round 10 (March 27, 2000)

Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Anand, Viswanathan    1-0   50  B17  Caro-Kann
Topalov, Veselin      -  Lautier, Joel         1-0   25  D30  Queen's gambit
Gelfand, Boris        -  Karpov, Anatoly       1-0   51  B12  Caro-Kann
Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   31  D17  Slav defence
Piket, Jeroen         -  Van Wely, Loek        1/2   53  A34  English; 1.c4 c5
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1/2   34  D77  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6


Amber Rapidplay Monaco MNC (MNC), 16-28 iii 2000     cat. XVIII (2684)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 * . 1 1 1 = 1 1 = = = 1  8.0  2914
 2 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2709 . * = 1 = 1 1 = = = 1 1  7.5  2867
 3 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2702 0 = * 0 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 .  6.5  2804
 4 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2646 0 0 1 * = 1 1 = = . = =  5.5  2726
 5 Gelfand, Boris        g ISR 2692 0 = 0 = * = . 1 = 1 = 1  5.5  2710
 6 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 = 0 0 0 = * = . 1 1 1 1  5.5  2711
 7 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 0 0 = 0 . = * = 1 1 1 =  5.0  2674
 8 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2696 0 = 0 = 0 . = * = = 1 1  4.5  2639
 9 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2633 = = = = = 0 0 = * 0 . 1  4.0  2622
10 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2659 = = 0 . 0 0 0 = 1 * = =  3.5  2580
11 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2632 = 0 0 = = 0 0 0 . = * =  2.5  2501
12 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2559 0 0 . = 0 0 = 0 0 = = *  2.0  2454
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Blindfold Standings:

Round 5 (March 21, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   44  E12  Nimzo indian
Gelfand, Boris        -  Topalov, Veselin      0-1   42  D58  QGD;
Piket, Jeroen         -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   27  D27  QGA;
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1/2   39  E32  Nimzo indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Anand, Viswanathan    0-1   72  D46  Semi-Slav
Van Wely, Loek        -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2  112  D19  Slav defence

Round 6 (March 22, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Nikolic, Predrag      1-0   54  B08  Pirc; Classical
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Topalov, Veselin      1-0   47  A37  English; 1.c4 c5
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Piket, Jeroen         1/2   57  D07  Chigorin
Lautier, Joel         -  Gelfand, Boris        1/2   38  B42  Sicilian
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1-0   49  D76  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Van Wely, Loek        -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   59  A35  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 7 (March 23, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Lautier, Joel         1/2   36  D47  Semi-Slav
Topalov, Veselin      -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   35  C42  Petroff defence
Gelfand, Boris        -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1-0   54  D58  QGD;
Piket, Jeroen         -  Anand, Viswanathan    1/2   26  D19  Slav defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Van Wely, Loek        1-0   57  E25  Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Karpov, Anatoly       1/2   63  E15  Nimzo indian

Round 8 (March 24, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Piket, Jeroen         1-0   32  C83  Ruy Lopez
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   18  E12  Nimzo indian
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Topalov, Veselin      0-1   39  E69  Kings indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   26  D39  Queen's gambit
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Kramnik, Vladimir     0-1   26  E32  Nimzo indian
Van Wely, Loek        -  Gelfand, Boris        1/2   79  A21  English; 1.c4 e5

Round 9 (March 26, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir     -  Anand, Viswanathan    1-0   32  D43  Semi-Slav
Topalov, Veselin      -  Van Wely, Loek        1/2   56  B80  Sicilian
Gelfand, Boris        -  Shirov, Alexei        1/2   35  D45  Semi-Slav
Piket, Jeroen         -  Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  1/2   31  D27  QGA;
Ivanchuk, Vassily     -  Karpov, Anatoly       1-0   44  E04  Nimzo indian
Nikolic, Predrag      -  Lautier, Joel         0-1   50  D47  Semi-Slav

Round 10 (March 27, 2000)

Shirov, Alexei        -  Kramnik, Vladimir     1/2   49  C42  Petroff defence
Anand, Viswanathan    -  Ivanchuk, Vassily     1/2   19  D21  QGA;
Karpov, Anatoly       -  Gelfand, Boris        0-1   53  E39  Nimzo indian
Lautier, Joel         -  Topalov, Veselin      1/2   65  A43  Queen's pawn
Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  -  Nikolic, Predrag      1/2   63  D45  Semi-Slav
Van Wely, Loek        -  Piket, Jeroen         0-1   49  A34  English; 1.c4 c5


Amber Blindfold Monaco MNC (MNC), 16-28 iii 2000     cat. XVIII (2684)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 * = = 1 0 1 1 . = 1 = 1  7.0  2824
 2 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 = * = = = 1 . = 1 = 1 =  6.5  2784
 3 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2702 = = * 0 1 = 1 1 = . 1 =  6.5  2804
 4 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 0 = 1 * . = = = 1 1 = 1  6.5  2784
 5 Gelfand, Boris        g ISR 2692 1 = 0 . * 0 = 1 = 1 = =  5.5  2710
 6 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2633 0 0 = = 1 * = = . = 1 1  5.5  2730
 7 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2709 0 . 0 = = = * 1 = 0 = 1  4.5  2638
 8 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2696 . = 0 = 0 = 0 * 1 = = 1  4.5  2639
 9 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2632 = 0 = 0 = . = 0 * 1 1 0  4.0  2622
10 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2559 0 = . 0 0 = 1 = 0 * = =  3.5  2584
11 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2659 = 0 0 = = 0 = = 0 = * .  3.0  2541
12 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2646 0 = = 0 = 0 0 0 1 = . *  3.0  2541
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Standings:

Amber Rapidplay Monaco MNC (MNC), 16-28 iii 2000                  cat. XVIII (2684)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Shirov, Alexei        g ESP 2751 ** 1= == .. 1= 1= =1 1= 1= =1 =1 1=  14.5  2849
 2 Topalov, Veselin      g BUL 2702 0= ** 1= =1 =0 11 == 11 0= 11 1= ..  13.0  2804
 3 Kramnik, Vladimir     g RUS 2758 == 0= ** 01 =1 =0 11 .. 01 1= 1= 11  12.5  2770
 4 Ivanchuk, Vassily     g UKR 2709 .. =0 10 ** 1= == == =1 11 == 1= 10  12.0  2746
 5 Anand, Viswanathan    g IND 2769 0= =1 =0 0= ** .. 1= == 01 1= 11 =1  11.5  2724
 6 Gelfand, Boris        g ISR 2692 0= 00 =1 == .. ** =0 11 == 1= == 11  11.0  2710
 7 Piket, Jeroen         g NED 2633 =0 == 00 == 0= =1 ** == =1 01 .. 1=   9.5  2680
 8 Karpov, Anatoly       g RUS 2696 0= 00 .. =0 == 00 == ** =1 == 11 1=   9.0  2639
 9 Van Wely, Loek        g NED 2646 0= 1= 10 00 10 == =0 =0 ** .. =1 ==   8.5  2640
10 Nikolic, Predrag      g BIH 2659 =0 00 0= == 0= 0= 10 == .. ** =0 ==   6.5  2565
11 Lautier, Joel         g FRA 2632 =0 0= 0= 0= 00 == .. 00 =0 =1 ** =1   6.5  2569
12 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir  g YUG 2559 0= .. 00 01 =0 00 0= 0= == == =0 **   5.5  2528
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Kasparov match later this year?

According to various reports GM Ray Keene has put together a consortium which looks likely to bring a match between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand for the "World Chess Championship" as claimed by Kasparov. Kasparov is reported to have already agreed to the deal. The problem is a challenger. According to Raymond Keene after a week's discussion a deadline of Monday noon was given to Anand. After that deadline passed the consortium is now to offer Vladimir Kramnik the opportunity of a match against Garry Kasparov. The consortium has withdrawn their offer to Viswanathan Anand and has moved to the next person in the rating list, Kramnik. According to Keene, negotiations floundered after Anand's lawyers made a number of last minute demands including an advance on the prize fund of 300,000 dollars. However, according to Keene, with the two million dollar prize fund already held in escrow, this was deemed inappropriate. The winner of the title match, to be played in October will receive 1,333,000 dollars and the loser half that much. It is hoped that negotiations will be concluded quickly enough to enable there to be an official launch at Simpson's in the Strand on April 5th.

Kasparov, who is reported to have already agreed to the deal, has remained not surprisingly silent on the subject having seen many recent deals fall through. The match will be over 16 games and according to GM Keene it will the first in a series of annual challenges for the world champion some of which may be against computers. All matches will be broadcast live on the internet. The venue is not fixed but I understand the favourite is London.

Repeat Cynic Warning. Its worth pointing out that in recent years many similar announcements have ended in nothing and my batting average of correct World Championship announcements is getting alarmingly low.

4) Tel Aviv International

Ram Soffer sends news of the Tel Aviv International. The event takes place in Sol & Sissy Mark Center, Tel Aviv March 20-29, 2000. The event is FIDE Category 9 GM norm = 6.5 IM norm = 4.5. Leonid Gofshtein leads with 3.5/4 albeit against the tail enders. My thanks to Ram Soffer and the Israeli Chess Federation for news.

Round 1 (March 20, 2000)

Gofshtein, Leonid D     -  Botvinnik, Mikhail2     1-0   42  D40  QGD; Tarrasch Defence
Botvinnik, Ilia         -  Gershon, Alik           1/2   24  A46  Queen's pawn
De Vreugt, Dennis       -  Mikhalevski, Alexander  1-0   37  C80  Ruy Lopez
Bykhovsky, Avigdor      -  Jonkman, Harmen         1/2   64  D35  Queen's gambit
Postny, Evgeny          -  Marin, Mihail           0-1   40  E13  Nimzo indian

Round 2 (March 21, 2000)

Gofshtein, Leonid D     -  Postny, Evgeny          1-0   73  D10  Slav defence
Marin, Mihail           -  De Vreugt, Dennis       1-0   40  A22  English; 1.c4 e5
Mikhalevski, Alexander  -  Bykhovsky, Avigdor      1-0   37  E11  Bogo indian
Jonkman, Harmen         -  Botvinnik, Ilia         1/2   54  C02  French; Advance
Botvinnik, Mikhail2     -  Gershon, Alik           0-1   64  E32  Nimzo indian

Round 3 (March 22, 2000)

Gershon, Alik           -  Jonkman, Harmen         1-0   55  D27  QGA;
Botvinnik, Ilia         -  Mikhalevski, Alexander  1/2   12  E18  Nimzo indian
De Vreugt, Dennis       -  Gofshtein, Leonid D     1/2   64  B01  Scandinavian
Bykhovsky, Avigdor      -  Marin, Mihail           1/2   28  E39  Nimzo indian
Postny, Evgeny          -  Botvinnik, Mikhail2     0-1   56  E13  Nimzo indian

Round 4 (March 23, 2000)

Gofshtein, Leonid D     -  Bykhovsky, Avigdor      1-0   40  A07  Reti (1.Nf3)
Marin, Mihail           -  Botvinnik, Ilia         1/2   25  A40  Queen's pawn
Mikhalevski, Alexander  -  Gershon, Alik           1/2   18  E32  Nimzo indian
Postny, Evgeny          -  De Vreugt, Dennis       1-0   41  D16  Slav defence
Botvinnik, Mikhail2     -  Jonkman, Harmen         0-1   72  D29  QGA;


Tel Aviv International ISR (ISR), 20-29 iii 2000      cat. IX (2460)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Gofshtein, Leonid D     g ISR 2580 * . . . . . = 1 1 1  3.5  2751
 2 Gershon, Alik           m ISR 2471 . * . = = 1 . . . 1  3.0  2594
 3 Marin, Mihail           g ROM 2555 . . * = . . 1 = 1 .  3.0  2641
 4 Botvinnik, Ilia           ISR 2405 . = = * = = . . . .  2.0  2487
 5 Mikhalevski, Alexander  m ISR 2479 . = . = * . 0 1 . .  2.0  2460
 6 Jonkman, Harmen         f NED 2446 . 0 . = . * . = . 1  2.0  2404
 7 De Vreugt, Dennis       m NED 2498 = . 0 . 1 . * . 0 .  1.5  2422
 8 Bykhovsky, Avigdor      g RUS 2467 0 . = . 0 = . * . .  1.0  2322
 9 Postny, Evgeny            ISR 2424 0 . 0 . . . 1 . * 0  1.0  2283
10 Botvinnik, Mikhail2       ISR 2274 0 0 . . . 0 . . 1 *  1.0  2287
--------------------------------------------------------------------

5) 55th Yugoslav Championships

Sinisa Joksic reports: The 55th Yugoslav Championships have started in Subotica. The event runs March 17th - April 2nd 2000. There are 16 participants. After 9 rounds veteran GM Dragoljub Velimirovic leads with 6.5/9. Bookmakers would be very happy to take bets on the current Yugoslav Championships. There have been unbelievable results and incredible twists and turns during games. All of which has made the championships extremely suspenseful with experts being unable to predict the results. On the other side of the coin nobody seems in their best form. Damljanovic and Tosic had very good starts but quickly returned back to 50 percent scores. After nine rounds the eldest competitor 58 year old, GM Dragoljub Velimirovic leads. Velimirovic began with a draw and a defeat, than he won 5 in a row, then another loss and finally another win in round 9. After Round 8 the leader was GM Zlatko Ilincic (32), who had a 1.5 from 4 start and then after four consecutive wins wandered into a mate in the last move before the first time control. Who is going to win this year? No idea! The Championships are Cat X (2478) but there are a number of strong players from Yugoslavia not competing. Norms gm=10, im=7 and national master =6.

Round 4 (March 20, 2000)

Velimirovic, Dragoljub  -  Sedlak, Nikola          1-0   50  B57  Sicilian
Ivanisevic, Ivan        -  Kalezic, Blazo          1-0   36  D46  Semi-Slav
Damljanovic, Branko     -  Antic, Dejan            0-1   68  D85  Gruenfeld indian
Perunovic, Milos        -  Marjanovic, Slavoljub   1/2   23  B90  Sicilian; Najdorf
Pavlovic, Milos         -  Kosic, Dragan           1/2   10  A12  English; 1.c4
Tosic, Miroslav         -  Markovic, Miroslav      0-1   83  E94  Kings indian; Classical
Todorovic, Goran M      -  Drasko, Milan           1/2   12  C10  French
Mijailovic, Zoran       -  Ilincic, Zlatko         1/2   43  D11  Slav defence

Round 5 (March 21, 2000)

Ilincic, Zlatko         -  Tosic, Miroslav         1-0   68  A55  Benoni
Markovic, Miroslav      -  Todorovic, Goran M      1-0   44  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Antic, Dejan            -  Velimirovic, Dragoljub  0-1   44  E90  Kings indian; Classical
Kalezic, Blazo          -  Perunovic, Milos        0-1   43  B27  Sicilian; Closed
Kosic, Dragan           -  Damljanovic, Branko     1/2   12  E12  Nimzo indian
Marjanovic, Slavoljub   -  Pavlovic, Milos         1-0   33  B40  Sicilian
Drasko, Milan           -  Ivanisevic, Ivan        1/2   54  A37  English; 1.c4 c5
Sedlak, Nikola          -  Mijailovic, Zoran       1/2   49  B42  Sicilian

Round 6 (March 22, 2000)

Velimirovic, Dragoljub  -  Kosic, Dragan           1-0   66  C05  French; Tarrasch
Ivanisevic, Ivan        -  Markovic, Miroslav      1/2   40  E71  Kings indian
Damljanovic, Branko     -  Marjanovic, Slavoljub   0-1   88  A14  English; 1.c4
Perunovic, Milos        -  Drasko, Milan           1/2   60  C18  French; Winawer
Pavlovic, Milos         -  Kalezic, Blazo          1/2   75  A11  English; 1.c4
Todorovic, Goran M      -  Ilincic, Zlatko         0-1   51  B81  Sicilian
Mijailovic, Zoran       -  Tosic, Miroslav         1/2   60  D43  Semi-Slav
Sedlak, Nikola          -  Antic, Dejan            0-1   40  C11  French; Classical

Round 7 (March 23, 2000)

Ilincic, Zlatko         -  Ivanisevic, Ivan        1-0   43  E69  Kings indian
Markovic, Miroslav      -  Perunovic, Milos        0-1   39  B30  Sicilian
Antic, Dejan            -  Mijailovic, Zoran       1/2   79  E15  Nimzo indian
Kalezic, Blazo          -  Damljanovic, Branko     1-0   43  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Kosic, Dragan           -  Sedlak, Nikola          1/2   34  A11  English; 1.c4
Marjanovic, Slavoljub   -  Velimirovic, Dragoljub  0-1   33  E79  Kings indian
Tosic, Miroslav         -  Todorovic, Goran M      1/2   13  C80  Ruy Lopez
Drasko, Milan           -  Pavlovic, Milos         1/2   43  A30  English; 1.c4 c5

Round 8 (March 25, 2000)

Velimirovic, Dragoljub  -  Kalezic, Blazo          0-1   39  B01  Scandinavian
Ivanisevic, Ivan        -  Tosic, Miroslav         1-0   49  E90  Kings indian; Classical
Antic, Dejan            -  Kosic, Dragan           1/2   11  D48  Meran Variation
Damljanovic, Branko     -  Drasko, Milan           1-0   33  A25  English; 1.c4 e5
Perunovic, Milos        -  Ilincic, Zlatko         0-1   49  B81  Sicilian
Pavlovic, Milos         -  Markovic, Miroslav      0-1   40  B38  Sicilian
Mijailovic, Zoran       -  Todorovic, Goran M      0-1   57  D30  Queen's gambit
Sedlak, Nikola          -  Marjanovic, Slavoljub   0-1   29  C11  French; Classical

Round 9 (March 26, 2000)

Ilincic, Zlatko         -  Pavlovic, Milos         0-1   40  E15  Nimzo indian
Markovic, Miroslav      -  Damljanovic, Branko     1/2   60  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Kalezic, Blazo          -  Sedlak, Nikola          1/2   26  B22  Sicilian; Alapin (2.c3)
Kosic, Dragan           -  Mijailovic, Zoran       1-0   56  E14  Nimzo indian
Marjanovic, Slavoljub   -  Antic, Dejan            1/2   45  C11  French; Classical
Tosic, Miroslav         -  Perunovic, Milos        1/2   57  A46  Queen's pawn
Todorovic, Goran M      -  Ivanisevic, Ivan        0-1   59  B57  Sicilian
Drasko, Milan           -  Velimirovic, Dragoljub  0-1   41  A63  Modern Benoni


55th ch-YUG Subotica YUG (YUG), 16 iii-2 iv 2000                   cat. X (2479)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Velimirovic, Dragoljub  g YUG 2558 * . . . 1 0 0 . 1 = 1 . . 1 1 1  6.5  2631
 2 Ivanisevic, Ivan        m YUG 2460 . * 0 = = . 1 . = . 1 1 1 = . .  6.0  2628
 3 Ilincic, Zlatko         g YUG 2554 . 1 * = . . 0 1 . 0 . 1 1 = = .  5.5  2541
 4 Markovic, Miroslav      g YUG 2586 . = = * . = . 0 . 1 . 1 1 = = .  5.5  2552
 5 Antic, Dejan            m YUG 2491 0 = . . * 1 . 1 = = = . . . = 1  5.5  2544
 6 Damljanovic, Branko     g YUG 2534 1 . . = 0 * 0 . = . 0 . . 1 1 1  5.0  2523
 7 Kalezic, Blazo            YUG 2403 1 0 1 . . 1 * 0 . = . 0 = . . =  4.5  2469
 8 Perunovic, Milos        f YUG 2384 . . 0 1 0 . 1 * = . = = . = . =  4.5  2491
 9 Kosic, Dragan           g YUG 2521 0 = . . = = . = * = . . = . 1 =  4.5  2450
10 Pavlovic, Milos         g YUG 2481 = . 1 0 = . = . = * 0 . . = . =  4.0  2454
11 Marjanovic, Slavoljub   g YUG 2524 0 0 . . = 1 . = . 1 * 0 0 . . 1  4.0  2419
12 Tosic, Miroslav         g YUG 2503 . 0 0 0 . . 1 = . . 1 * = = = .  4.0  2429
13 Todorovic, Goran M      g YUG 2426 . 0 0 0 . . = . = . 1 = * = 1 .  4.0  2453
14 Drasko, Milan           g YUG 2520 0 = = = . 0 . = . = . = = * . .  3.5  2418
15 Mijailovic, Zoran       m YUG 2394 0 . = = = 0 . . 0 . . = 0 . * =  2.5  2333
16 Sedlak, Nikola          f YUG 2323 0 . . . 0 0 = = = = 0 . . . = *  2.5  2310
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) 16th Asian Cities

Elie Holishian and Hassan Khaled report on the 16th Asian Cities Team Championship which started in Beirut - Lebanon and runs until Saturday 25 March. There are 22 teams from 15 countries and the event is a nine round swiss. The time rate all moves in 100 Minutes and 30 seconds added for every move. Monday sees the 2nd & 3rd rounds and Tuesday the 4th & 5th rounds Wednesday is a rest Day. The Winner gets the Dubai Cup for one year which is valued at $150,000. First prize is $3000, 2nd $2000, 3rd $1000, 4th $5000. The Chief Arbiter is Mr Casto Abundo - Deputy Arbiters are Dr. Hesham Elgendy & Mr. Mohamed Succar The leading teams are Pavlodar Pavel Kotsur (2587), Evgeny Vladimirov (2586), Ruslan Irzhanov (2503), Alibek Ibragimov (2441) and Evgeni Egorov (2417) and Namangan Alexander Nenashev (2600), Saidali Iuldchev (2509), Marat Dzumaev (2483) and Dmitry Kalumov (2475). Mohamad Al-Modiahki (2538) plays for Doha.

Round 6  Standings:

Rank Team       Con. Pts  Buchh
  1 Pavlodar             KAZ   19.0    5.5  
  2 Namangan             UZB   18.0    5.0  
  3 Ashgabat             TKM   15.5    4.5  
  4 Gorgan               IRI   13.5    3.5  
  5 Baghdad              IRQ   13.0    3.0  
  6 Ulaanbator           MGL   12.5    3.5  
  7 Damascus             SYR   11.5    2.5  
  8 Tehran               IRI   12.5    3.5  
  9 Beirut               LIB   12.5    3.0  
 10 Sharjah              UAE   11.5    3.5  
 11 Dubai                UAE   12.5    3.0  
 12 Alleppo              SYR   11.0    3.0  
 13 Doha                 QAT   12.5    3.0  
 14 Nagpur               IND   13.5    3.5  
 15 Sanaa                YEM   11.5    2.5  
 16 Amman                JOR    9.5    2.0  
 17 Manama               BRN    8.5    1.5  
 18 Zahle                LIB   11.5    3.5  
 19 Saida                LIB    9.5    2.0  
 20 Ghaza                PLE    7.5    1.0  
 21 Jerusalem            PLE    4.0    0.5  
 22 Jezzin               LIB   11.0    2.5

7) National Open

Frank Berry reports: The National Open in Las Vegas ran March 17th-19th 2000. 225 players competed in the open and 900 players overall in this 6 round swiss. There was a 13 way tie for 1st with 5/6.

1st= Jaan Ehlvest, Alex Yermolinsky, Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Goldin, Alexander Baburin, Grigory Serper, Dmitry Gurevich, Pavel Blatny, Alexander Stripunsky, Yuri Shulman, Eduard Gufeld (who celebrated his 64th birthday during the event and he defeated Joel Benjamin with black), Levon Altouian and Rade Milovanotic.

8) Serbian Championships

The Serbian Championships took place in Kragujevac (YUG). The 19th-27th February 2000. This was the 1st individual senior championships of Serbia. There was a six way tie for first. Three players qualified for the Yugoslav Championships they were: Zoran Mijailovic, Goran Todorovic and Milos Perunovic. This was the 1st Serbian Championships and was a qualifier tournament for the Yugoslav championships in Subotica. Previously these events were called Yugoslav Championships semi-finals. There were two qualifiers ones in Serbia and Montenegro (three qualifiers from Serbia and one from Montenegro). My thanks to Jovan Petronic.

ch-Serbia Kragujevac YUG (YUG), 19-27 ii 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Mijailovic, Zoran        m YUG 2394  =18 +51 = 3 +11 = 8 = 5 =29 +22 + 9  6.5  2532
 2 Todorovic, Goran M       g YUG 2426  +47 +19 +22 = 8 = 5 =10 = 9 =13 +12  6.5  2569
 3 Perunovic, Milos         f YUG 2384  +37 =11 = 1 =18 = 4 +35 +31 + 9 = 6  6.5  2525
 4 Scekic, Milos            m YUG 2454  =41 +59 =12 =21 = 3 +20 =10 +16 +17  6.5  2542
 5 Marinkovic, Slavisa      m YUG 2458  =32 =46 +53 +44 = 2 = 1 = 7 +19 +15  6.5  2503
 6 Tadic, Branko            m YUG 2406  =66 +67 - 9 +37 =35 +21 +11 +10 = 3  6.5  2495
 7 Milanovic, Danilo          YUG 2378  +58 -22 =55 +49 =13 +23 = 5 +29 = 8  6.0  2517
 8 Arsovic, Goran           m YUG 2427  +69 =20 +45 = 2 = 1 =31 =19 +32 = 7  6.0  2491
 9 Jakovljevic, Vlado       f YUG 2310  +30 =17 + 6 =20 +36 +14 = 2 - 3 - 1  5.5  2487
10 Pikula, Dejan            m YUG 2476  +48 =12 =15 +26 +17 = 2 = 4 - 6 =13  5.5  2475
11 Pavlovic, Dean             YUG 2301  +24 = 3 =52 - 1 +26 +28 - 6 =27 +39  5.5  2437
12 Benkovic, Petar            YUG 2376  +44 =10 = 4 -31 +45 +36 +14 =15 - 2  5.5  2475
13 Paunovic, Dragan         m YUG 2465  =45 =32 +46 =19 = 7 =24 +34 = 2 =10  5.5  2431
14 Vuckovic, Bojan          m YUG 2427  +40 =52 +49 =17 +20 - 9 -12 =21 +37  5.5  2395
15 Jovic, Stanoje             YUG 2370  +70 +35 =10 =36 =31 =19 +38 =12 - 5  5.5  2481
16 Bojkovic, Natasa        wg YUG 2423  =33 =53 -44 +47 +64 =34 +37 - 4 +32  5.5  2363
17 Savicevic, Vlatko          YUG 2415  +60 = 9 +66 =14 -10 +44 =32 +31 - 4  5.5  2433
18 Stojanovic, Dalibor        YUG 2249  = 1 +63 =35 = 3 =23 =38 =24 =39 =29  5.0  2434
19 Simic, Dragisa             YUG 2346  +64 - 2 +40 =13 +22 =15 = 8 - 5 =23  5.0  2435
20 Vujacic, Borivoje        f YUG 2358  +68 = 8 +29 = 9 -14 - 4 +36 =25 =24  5.0  2407
21 Popovic, Djordje         f YUG 2313  -31 +70 +28 = 4 =38 - 6 +30 =14 =25  5.0  2448
22 Brenjo, Slavisa          m YUG 2492  +50 + 7 - 2 =34 -19 +53 +52 - 1 =26  5.0  2391
23 Vojinovic, Goran         m YUG 2451  =46 +33 =34 =32 =18 - 7 +62 =24 =19  5.0  2351
24 Markovic, Zoran            YUG 2186  -11 =58 +51 =55 +52 =13 =18 =23 =20  5.0  2361
25 Petronic, Jovan          m YUG 2423  -52 =47 =33 =40 =39 +49 +54 =20 =21  5.0  2348
26 Brkljaca, Ante           m YUG 2353  +65 =36 =31 -10 -11 =56 +60 +38 =22  5.0  2394
27 Zakic, Srdjan            m YUG 2359  +57 =31 -36 =45 -54 +70 +35 =11 =28  5.0  2383
28 Arsovic, Zoran           m YUG 2444  =59 =41 -21 +46 =53 -11 +55 +52 =27  5.0  2353
29 Vratonjic, Slobo         m YUG 2441  +62 =34 -20 +66 =32 +54 = 1 - 7 =18  5.0  2364
30 Savic, Miodrag R         f YUG 2430  - 9 +60 =37 +62 =34 -32 -21 +44 +46  5.0  2339
31 Bodiroga, Predrag        f YUG 2439  +21 =27 =26 +12 =15 = 8 - 3 -17 =41  4.5  2369
32 Grujic, Lazar              YUG 2331  = 5 =13 +54 =23 =29 +30 =17 - 8 -16  4.5  2418
33 Trajkovic, Predrag         YUG 2280  =16 -23 =25 =48 =40 +42 -39 +50 =36  4.5  2383
34 Andrijevic, Milan        m YUG 2360  +61 =29 =23 =22 =30 =16 -13 -37 +59  4.5  2381
35 Kovacevic, Aleksandar    m YUG 2462  +43 -15 =18 +59 = 6 - 3 -27 =48 +49  4.5  2332
36 Lajthajm, Borko          f YUG 2428  +55 =26 +27 =15 - 9 -12 -20 +56 =33  4.5  2324
37 Avramovic, Zoran           YUG 2219  - 3 +48 =30 - 6 +41 +55 -16 +34 -14  4.5  2374
38 Ostojic, Nikola          m YUG 2419  =49 =54 +41 =52 =21 =18 -15 -26 +53  4.5  2298
39 Maksimovic, Branimir     m YUG 2408  =54 -49 =64 =56 =25 +58 +33 =18 -11  4.5  2263
40 Lazic, Dragoljub           YUG 2286  -14 +65 -19 =25 =33 =57 =45 +47 =42  4.5  2311
41 Dinic, Dragan            f YUG 2330  = 4 =28 -38 =70 -37 +63 =53 +58 =31  4.5  2335
42 Novoselski, Zoran        m YUG 2392  =67 -66 =47 +69 -44 -33 +57 +62 =40  4.5  2262
43 Prelevic, Dusan            YUG 2332  -35 -44 +65 -53 -57 +69 =51 +68 +60  4.5  2248
44 Grbic, Milorad             YUG 2211  -12 +43 +16 - 5 +42 -17 =50 -30 =48  4.0  2342
45 Boskovic, Drasko           YUG 2332  =13 +56 - 8 =27 -12 =60 =40 -49 +52  4.0  2285
46 Somborski, Nebojsa       f YUG 2330  =23 = 5 -13 -28 =50 +64 =56 +54 -30  4.0  2314
47 Radovanovic, Dusan         YUG 2283  - 2 =25 =42 -16 +61 =59 =48 -40 +64  4.0  2281
48 Nikolic, Nebojsa YUG       YUG 2298  -10 -37 +57 =33 +66 -52 =47 =35 =44  4.0  2252
49 Trifunovic, Miroljub     f YUG 2279  =38 +39 -14 - 7 =63 -25 +70 +45 -35  4.0  2338
50 Radosavljevic, Slobodan  f YUG 2344  -22 =61 =56 -54 =46 +66 =44 -33 +62  4.0  2239
51 Miljkovic, Miroslav        YUG 2240  =53 - 1 -24 =63 +69 -62 =43 =57 +65  4.0  2230
52 Panic, Nenad               YUG 2282  +25 =14 =11 =38 -24 +48 -22 -28 -45  3.5  2289
53 Popovic, Dusan             YUG 2254  =51 =16 - 5 +43 =28 -22 =41 =59 -38  3.5  2303
54 Perunovic, Miodrag         YUG 2256  =39 =38 -32 +50 +27 -29 -25 -46 =57  3.5  2281
55 Dmitrovic, Tomislav      f YUG 2308  -36 +57 = 7 =24 =58 -37 -28 =65 =61  3.5  2184
56 Tomanovic, Nikola          YUG 2208  =63 -45 =50 =39 =62 =26 =46 -36 =58  3.5  2264
57 Dodic, Dragan              YUG 2194  -27 -55 -48 +68 +43 =40 -42 =51 =54  3.5  2214
58 Komnenic, Branko         f YUG 2211  - 7 =24 +63 =64 =55 -39 =59 -41 =56  3.5  2216
59 Zivanic, Marko           f YUG 2317  =28 - 4 +67 -35 =70 =47 =58 =53 -34  3.5  2244
60 Kekenj, Aleksandar         YUG 2277  -17 -30 -70 +65 +67 =45 -26 +63 -43  3.5  2232
61 Jovanovic, D. Dusan        YUG 2195  -34 =50 -62 =67 -47 =65 =68 +69 =55  3.5  2192
62 Misailovic, Nebojsa      f YUG 2315  -29 =68 +61 -30 =56 +51 -23 -42 -50  3.0  2195
63 Rihterovic, Milan          YUG 2375  =56 -18 -58 =51 =49 -41 +64 -60 =67  3.0  2119
64 Cajic, Mihajlo             YUG 2160  -19 +69 =39 =58 -16 -46 -63 +70 -47  3.0  2194
65 Kolbert, Engelbert         YUG 2124  -26 -40 -43 -60 +68 =61 +66 =55 -51  3.0  2144
66 Markovic, Slavoljub        YUG 2252  = 6 +42 -17 -29 -48 -50 -65 =67 =68  2.5  2150
67 Milosevic, Slavisa         YUG 2246  =42 - 6 -59 =61 -60 -68 =69 =66 =63  2.5  2132
68 Martic, Ivan               YUG 2182  -20 =62 -69 -57 -65 +67 =61 -43 =66  2.5  2090
69 Urosevic, Radojko        f YUG 2291  - 8 -64 +68 -42 -51 -43 =67 -61 +70  2.5  2098
70 Markovic, Marko            YUG 2206  -15 -21 +60 =41 =59 -27 -49 -64 -69  2.0  2079
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Icelandic Team Championships

Gunnar Bjornsson reports: The last three rounds of the Icelandic Team Championships 1999-2000 were played in Reykjavik 24th and 25th March 2000. Hellir Chess Club retained the Team Championship title. The first part of the championships, (rounds 1-4) were played last autumn. Going into to the final three rounds Reykjavik Chess Club was expected to win the championships. They were two points clear of their main rival, Hellir Chess Club. The two teams had already met and two of Hellir's titled players, GM Arnason amd IM Thorsteins, did not play in the last three rounds. In spite of this Hellir managed to close in on Reykjavik Chess Club, and finally took a lead of half a point before the seventh and last round. In the final round Hellir showed great competitive spirit and beat their opponent, Gardabaer, with a score of 8-0! Hellir therefore won with 42 points out of 56 games. Reykjavik Chess Club was second with 40½ points.

Website (including crosstables): http://www.simnet.is/hellir/dk99-00.htm

Final results:
   
   1. Hellir Chess Club 42/56 pts.
   2. Reykjavik Chess Club 40½ pts.
   3. Akureyri Chess Club 33 pts.
   4. Hellir Chess Club (b-team) 24½ pts.
   5. Hafnarfjordur Chess Club 24 pts.
   6. Gardabaer Chess Club 22 pts.
   7. Reykjavik Chess Club (b-team) 21½ pts.
   8. Bolungarvik Chess Club 16½ pts.
   
   The players of Hellir Chess Club were as follows:
   
   1. GM Hannes Stefansson 2566 5½/7 
   2. GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson 2544 6/7
   3. GM Jon L. Arnason 2528 2/2
   4. GM Helgi Olafsson 2491 5½/7
   5. IM Karl Thorsteins 2485 3/3
   6. FM Ingvar Asmundsson 2359 0/1
   7. Bjorn Thorfinnsson 2195 4½/7
   8. David Kjartansson 2171 3½/7
   9. Bragi Halldorsson 2243 3/4
   10. Johannes Gisli Jonsson 2315 3/3
   11. Kristjan Edvardsson 2170 5/7
   12. David Olafsson 2275 1/1
   Captain: Hrannar Arnarsson

10) 4NCL

The 7th and 8th rounds of the 4 Nations Chess League took place over the weekend on March 25th-26th 2000. Slough are still on 100% with 8/8 match wins and it looks as if only Wood Green can catch them (they have a +7 =1 match record) when they meet in the final round (11) on May 1st. The final three rounds take place April 29th, 30th and May 1st 2000.

Round 7 25th March 2000

Index IT 1         2.5-5.5   Barbican 4NCL 1  
Bristol 1          4.5-3.5   The AD's  
Slough 1           6.0-2.0   Guildford-ADC  
Silvine White Rose 3.0-5.0   Bigwood 1  
Richmond           1.0-7.0   Wood Green 1  
North West Eagles  4.0-4.0   Wood Green 2  

Round 8 26th March 2000

Wood Green 1       4.5-3.5   Index IT. 1  
The AD's           2.0-6.0   Slough 1  
Wood Green 2       1.0-7.0   Guildford-ADC  
Barbican 4NCL 1    4.5-3.5   Bristol 1  
Richmond           6.5-1.5   Silvine White Rose  
Bigwood 1          6.0-2.0   North West Eagles  

Round 8 Standings:

                        P  W  D  L  MP  GP
 1  Slough 1            8  8  0  0  16  48.5 
 2  Wood Green 1        8  7  1  0  15  43.0
 3  Bigwood 1           8  6  1  1  13  40.0
 4  Barbican 4NCL 1     8  5  1  2  11  37.5
 5  Index IT 1          8  3  2  3   8  30.5
 6  Guildford-ADC       8  3  1  4   7  33.0
 7  Richmond            8  3  1  4   7  29.5
 8  Bristol 1           8  3  0  5   6  26.0
 9  Silvine White Rose  8  2  0  6   4  25.5
10  The AD's            8  2  0  6   4  25.0
11  NWEagles            8  1  1  6   3  23.0
12  Wood Green 2        8  0  2  6   2  22.5

Official site: http://freespace.virgin.net/nigel.chess96/ and official site for games: http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/news/4nclnews9900.htm

11) Budapest Spring Festival and FS April

The 16th Budapest Spring Festival was a 9 round Swiss Open chess tournament, the event ran 17th-25th of March 2000, in Budapest. There was a five way tie for first on 7/9.

There are two IM groups and one GM group for the FS April events which run April 1st-14th 2000.

FSGM April: Csaba Horvath (HUN gm 2519), Tibor Tolnay (HUN gm 2514), Zoltan Varga (HUN g 2530), Tibor Fogarasi (HUN im 2429), Nguyen Anh Dun (VIE im 2496), Hoang Thanh Trang (VIE wgm 2448), Heikki Kallio (FIN im 2448), Miklos Galyas (HUN im 2440), Kifly Tunasly (IND fm 2400), Ferenc Berkes (HUN 2398), Csaba Balogh (HUN 2356), Kerim Aliev (TKM 2328) reserves Alexander Cherniaev (RUS 2480) and Mark Berkovich (ISR im 2404).

There will probably be two IM Groups. Players: Zoltan Nemeth (im HUN), Janos Dudas (im HUN), Laszlo Eperjesi (im HUN), Miklos Orso (im HUN), Pal Petran (im HUN), Sandor Farago (im HUN), Mirka Uuro (FIN), Umut Atakisi (TRK), Nathan Resika (USA), Yelena Dembo (ISR), Vasik Rajlich (USA), Peer Berkvens (NED), Stefan Van Blittersvijk (NED), Lenar Muzin (fm RUS), Adam Szieberth (fm HUN), Alfred Nathan (ENG), Yu Minguan (CHN), Mika Karttunen (FIN), Heikki Lehtinen (FIN), Stephane Guedon (FRA), Adam Szeberenyi (HUN), Peter Froehlich (GER) and Norbert Barth (GER).

There may be vacancies for the events, contact Laszlo Nagy below.

Info: Nagy, Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@elender.hu www.elender.hu/~firstsat Tel-fax: (361)-263-28-59 Mobile: (36)-30-230-1914 ICQ # 44805877.

16th Budapest Spring Festival HUN (HUN), 17-25 iii 2000
--------------------------------------------------------
 1 Nguyen Anh Dung      m VIE 2496  7.0
 2 Gladyszev, Oleg      m RUS 2349  7.0
 3 Szeberenyi, Adam       HUN 2257  7.0
 4 Kahn, Evarth         m HUN 2301  7.0
 5 Khechumyan, Gagik      ARM 2236  7.0
 6 Hera, Imre jr          HUN 2312  6.5
 7 Antal, Gergely         HUN 2339  6.5
 8 Galyas, Miklos       m HUN 2440  6.5
 9 Parkanyi, Attila     f HUN 2362  6.5
10 Yu Mingyuan            CHN 2419  6.5

Best Senior

   Csapo, Zoltan        f HUN 2250  6.0

Best U-20

   Pataki, Gyozo          HUN 2267  6.0

Best U-14

   Berkes, Ferenc         HUN 2398  5.5

Best Women's player

   Forgo, Eva          wm HUN 2258  5.0

Best unrated

   Tian Tian              CHN ----  5.0
95 players from 14 Countries

12) Open Letter from Mig replying to Xie Jun

TWIC always welcomes letters. No publication is guaranteed but the magazine can act as a forum for chess issues of the moment. The views expressed in these letters are those of the authors not of TWIC or Chess & Bridge Ltd.

Mig Greengard VP Content and Editor-in-Chief KasparovChess.com replies on behalf of Kasparovchess.com to Xie Jun's letter that appeared in TWIC 280. Reply dated 27th March 2000.

We have just a few comments about the unfortunate cancellation of the KasparovChess.com match between women's world chess champion Xie Jun of China and the top PC chess program in the world Deep Junior, and the more unfortunate letter from Xie Jun that filled these pages last week.

We understand that it was a traumatic and frustrating experience for all involved and we again extend our apologies to Xie Jun and the staff that assisted her during the match. Mistakes both technical and organizational were made by KasparovChess before and during the event and we accept full responsibility for them.

Of more concern to us were Xie Jun's comments regarding us as an organization that cannot be trusted to fulfill obligations and that we insulted her on our website. We feel that no accusations were made against Xie Jun on our part at any time (the document she refers to is still present on the site), nor do we agree that her honor or sportsmanship were anywhere criticized by anyone on our staff or anywhere on the KasparovChess.com website.

As for fulfilling our obligations, the best we can do is provide the facts so the reader may make his or her own interpretation of how things were handled and what was, or was not, sporting.

1. Months prior to the event KasparovChess.com told Xie Jun that she would be paid 50% of her participation fee a month prior to the match as a guarantee. During the transfer of financial procedures from our Israeli office to our NY offices in January-February, this paperwork was lost and this payment was not made. This was obviously completely our fault and had Xie Jun refused to participate in the match as the event drew near we would have completed the payment of 50% regardless.

2. With the match less than one week away, Xie Jun agreed to participate, but insisted that she receive in advance not only the full amount promised for her participation, but also the full amount of the winner's purse.

3. Despite the irregularity of this request, in an attempt to avoid an embarrassing debacle it was granted and the money was transferred to the specified account and confirmation of the transfer faxed to Xie Jun and her representative prior to the start of the event.

4. Without belaboring the various technical issues that arose on both sides during the match, we do feel that, perhaps due to the aforementioned complications, the spirit of cooperation during the match was all but nonexistent. This spirit is very much required in the world of internet chess, and without it the chances of a successful event are zero. Several requests by our technical personnel were consciously disregarded by the event staff in China, making it impossible to complete the event as scheduled. There were, as previously stated, technical problems on both sides, and it is now clear that for any event of this sort someone from our staff must be on location.

KasparovChess.com wishes to make it very clear that insult to GM Xie Jun was neither intended nor implied. We admire her forthrightness as well as her play, and both elements have made her universally respected in the chess world. After being so delighted about her participation in a KC event we are terribly disappointed to see things end this way. It is our sincere desire that this misunderstanding can be put behind us.

We lament the fact that KasparovChess.com has as yet been unable to reach a professional standard for our professional events, and we beg only patience as things are improving rapidly in this regard. Our successes so far outweigh our failures and we look forward to a bright future for professional online chess.

Mig Greengard VP Content and Editor-in-Chief KasparovChess.com mig@kasparovchess.com

13) Forthcoming Events and Links

Redbus International

The Redbus group of companies, owned by Cliff Stanford, the founder of Demon Internet, have just announced that they will again be supporting an elite knockout tournament to run alongside the Southend Easter Congress. Stanford, a keen chess player, has just seen his latest hi-tech project, 'Interhouse' enjoy a successful stock exchange listing. This year's event has a much stronger line-up than last year with fourteen Grandmasters and two International Masters in the field. The average rating of the players is an impressive 2530, a testament to the strength in depth of English chess. The lone Scot in the event is GM Jonathan Rowson. This year the England no1 Michael Adams has agreed to play and he outrates the second seed Jon Speelman by a massive 111 rating points and so must be considered the firm favourite. The time control will again be 100 minutes plus 30 seconds per move for the whole game with one round per day and two games per round. Matches tied at 1-1 will be decided by two ten minute games followed by sudden death blitz if necessary. The prize fund is £7,400 with the eight first round losers receiving 200 pounds, second round losers receive 400 pounds, semi-finalists take home 600 pounds. The two finalists will split 3000 pounds with 2000 going to the winner if the match is settled without speed chess. The full line-up for the Redbus Knockout is: Michael Adams 2715 Jon Speelman 2604 Tony Miles 2579 Bogdan Lalic 2548 John Emms 2546 Murray Chandler 2527 Glenn Flear 2519 Jim Plaskett 2515 Daniel King 2514 Chris Ward 2509 Jonathan Rowson 2499 Nigel Davies 2497 Peter Wells 2494 Mark Hebden 2493 Matthew Turner 2489 Luke McShane 2438 The Southend Easter Congress will have events for players of all strengths and is supported this year by Southend Council and The GFI group. The top section will be a seven round FIDE rated Open. Players wishing to participate at Southend should call Howard Grist On 01702 617976

Xie Jun vs The World

A new Chinese Website is organising a match against Xie Jun. http://chess.lotof.com is in Chinese and English reports Yin Hao. The match has already started.

21st Bled Chess Festival

Ales Drinovec reports: The 21st Bled Chess Festival 2000 has started with 208 participants. Average rating in Open A with 63 players is 2365. 10 GMs with Zdenko Kozul, Oleg Romanishin, Suat Atalik, Bu Xiangzhi, ..., 17 IMs. There are 80 players in Open B, 22 seniors and 43 juniors. Results and games at: http://www.sah-zveza.si/bled

British Problem Solving Championships

Brian Stephenson reports: The 1999-2000 British Chess Solving Championship is now complete. Full details can be found at: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/9900/bcsc.html and supporting pages. If you are a journalist and wish to quote some or any of the problems you may only quote those not classified as 'original'. It would be respectful to the composers of the problems and the publications that first published their compositions (the sources) if you were to quote composer and source along with the diagram.

New York Open

Michael Atkins reports: The New York Open is back!! Long, the strongest Open tournament in the U.S., the NY Open is scheduled over the period of May 5-11, 2000. Playing at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, the same site as the last two NYO's, the Open section will feature $50,000 in prizes which is about $10,000 more than in the open section in 1998.

New York Open website http://w-w-w.com/nyopen/

An International Chess Tournament - Our 17th Year - Nine Round Swiss - May 5th to May 11th At the New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eight Avenue at 34th St., New York, NY 10001 - USA Hotel rates: $119 for Single, Double; $139 Triple, Quad. Reservations: (800) 764-4680, (212) 971-0101, Fax (212) 563-6136, http://www.hotelny.com Reserve hotel rooms early. Call New York Open if you have any trouble making reservations.

International Prize Fund US$50,000 Guaranteed Cash Prizes Sponsors: Heraldica Imports, Makers of fine hand engraved heraldic jewelry; Air Europa, Official Airline of the New York Open; Lladro USA, Makers of fine artistic porcelain products; Chess.net, Premier Internet Chess Site Limited number of free hotel rooms and travel allowance available to grandmasters in the top 100 FIDE list.

OPEN SECTION - Open to all US$14,000 - $7,000 - $4,000 - $2,000 - $1,000 - $750 - $750 - $750 - $750 10th thru 19th $500 each - 20th thru 29th $400 each Winner also gets an exquisite porcelain chess set by Lladro Under 2400: US$4,000 - $2,500 - $1,500 Under 2300: US$2,000 This is an International Tournament, and FIDE ratings will be used both for pairing purposes and prize distributions. Players without FIDE ratings may use their USCF, CFC, or FQE ratings. All others will be considered unrated, but are eligible for all prizes. GM, IM norms and FIDE rated results possible. Schedule: Rounds 1: Friday, May 5, 6pm; Rounds 2 through 5: Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7, 10am and 5pm each day; Rounds 6 through 9: Monday, May 8 through Thursday, May 11, 6pm each day. Time limit for all games is 40/2, SD/1

Entry Fees: Free entry to Grandmasters, but an entry fee of $200 will be deducted from any winnings, GM's must agree to play all rounds. All others, all sections: US$235 if paid by April 1, 2000, $265 after April 1st,Open Section Only: Door entry of $275 Friday, May 5th, 2pm to 5pm at site. All: Credit cards - VISA, Mastercard, American Express - accepted by mail and fax. No personal checks accepted after April 21. All checks must be in US funds drawn on a US bank. Amateur Tournament: May 12th through May 14th New Format! This year the New York Open introduces a new formula for class players rated below 2200. Instead of a Swiss Tournament in different sections every 200 rating points, we shall have Round Robin Tournaments in groups of ten players, in order of rating, starting at 2199 and going down to the lowest rated player. Players must agree to play all rounds. There will be a single prize of $2,000 for each 10 player section. FIDE, USCF, CFC and FQE ratings accepted on an equal basis. If rated under more than one system, highest rating will be used, except American experts with FIDE ratings under 2230 will be permitted to play with their USCF rating. Provisionally rated foreign players and all unrated players must play in the Open Section. American provisional ratings accepted for all Amateur Sections.. Tournament Organizer reserves the right to assign ratings or expel improperly rated players during the tournament. Playing schedule: Rounds are at 10am, 2:30pm, and 7pm each day. Advance entries accepted until May 8. NO DOOR ENTRIES. Time Limit for all games is Game/2.

Send checks, money orders, or credit card information to New York Open, 21W. 46th St., Room 1004, New York, NY 10036. Tel. (212) 719-4204 Fax (212) 719-4369 e-mail: nyopen@w-w-w.com

Lausanne Young Masters

The second edition of the Olympic Capital Young Masters Tournament will take place in Lausanne between 31st May - 4th June 2000. 3 events will take place in the Casino de Montbenon. Young Masters: GMs Ponomariov, Bacrot and Grischuk take part. Masters Open for players above 2000 ELO 15 year old WGM A.Kostaniuk and other titled players compete. Also an Open for other amateur players. Information and registration on our home-page www.lausanneyoungmasters.com more information : +41.21.729.63.85 fax +41.21.729.63.31

World Seniors

The 10th World Senior Championships will be held September 10th-24th, 2000 in the small village of Rowy in Poland. The event is open to men born in 1939 or earlier and women in 1949 or earlier).

Further information: Polish and Russian language: Mr. Alfred Obszanski - Postomino, Poland, tel/fax: + 48 (59) 810-85-77 or German language: Mr. Jerzy Konikowski - Dortmund (Germany), tel/fax: +49 (231) 17-15-67 e-mail: konikowski@vobis.net

APPLICATIONS, REGISTRATION AND ENTRANCE FEE UNTIL AUGUST 20, 2000 All participants are obliged and kindly requested to send or fax the Application Forms (enclosed) to address: TS 'Jantar', 76-113 Postomino, tel/fax +48 (59) 810-85-77 as soon as possible but not later than August 20, 2000. The amount 170 CHF- Swiss Francs (includes also the FIDE entrance fee) or the equivalent in DM or USD should be paid to the account of 931510562-09878-11 in the Bank BS Ustka (owner TS 'Jantar' Slupsk) before August 20, 2000. Remark:

PRIZES Money prizes and trophies. Prize fund for Gentlemen at least 20.000 DM and for Ladies at least 8.000 DM.

RECEPTION The reception will be arranged in the Sport Hall near to the "Kormoran" boarding house. Open from 8.00 to 22.00 in the arrival day. All participants should register his participation and take part in the Technical Meeting on September 10 at 20.00 o'clock.

Rowy (near the city of Slupsk - the distance about 25 km from Gdansk) is a beautiful tourist village and a health resort with a legendary tradition. The village is situated at the Baltic seaside, lies on the Lupawa river near by the Gardno Lake and the Rowokol Mountain that was the venue of a pagan cult. Participants can arrive to Rowy before the Championship, but should announce the date of arrival to the Organizers. Accompanying persons are also kindly requested. The Organizers will prepare for them a tourist programme

Official site: http://www.powiat.Slupsk.pl or http://www.powiat.Slupsk.pl/chess

Veszprem Summer Tournament

VI.Veszprem Summer - HEMO Coup, International Chess Tournament from 22nd-30th July.2000. Venue: HEMO Building (Presidial Culture House) Zalka Mate square 1, Veszprem city, Hungary Organizer: HEMO Chess Society, Veszprém.

Events: "A" group - IM tournament , 10 players "B" group - Swiss type open tournament in 9 rounds according to the FIDE rules.

Entry fees: "A" group: 10.000 HUF (about 70 DM) "B" group: below FIDE 2200 3.500 HUF (25 DM) 2200 - 2299 3.000 HUF (20 DM) 2300 - 2399 2.000 HUF (13 DM) 2400 - ------ HUF Prizes: "B" group: 60.000 HUF; 40.000 HUF; 20.000 HUF; 15.000 HUF; 10.000 HUF; 5.000 HUF.

Information: Norbert Szelényi Phone number: 88-401-400 Place of work: 88-426-233 /358 (am. 8.00 - pm. 16.00) Fax number: 88-426-233 /364 (am. 8.00 - pm. 16.00) For more information E-mail to: vpinfo@veszpremtej.hu

Web pages: http://www.infornax.hu/hotelves and http://testver.sednet.hu/veszpm/e_alap.html

GM Ariel Sorin vs World

GM Ariel Sorin will play against the World from January 31st 2000. The game will start at 17:00 (-03:00GMT). To play it is free. IM Guillermo Llanos will suggest some moves, and the people will choose one of them. GM Ariel Sorin will play: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. World will play: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Sunday will be a rest day. However, there will be an analysis of the position and the moves of the week.

Website: http://chessok.virtualave.net

Malahide Millennium Tournament

The Malahide Chess Club in Dublin, Ireland are holding a weekend tournament in in association with the National Millennium Council present the Malahide Millennium Tournament on the weekend of April 8th & 9th, 2000. The venue is St. Sylvester's GAA Club, Church Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin and there are three events - an Open, an Under 1600 ELO and a Top Team event. To enter contact Vincent Bissett on 353 1 8453609 and further detailed information is available on our website at http://members.tripod.co.uk/MalahideCC.

Chess@Iceland

Chess@Iceland is a World Class rapid tournament (25 min player/game) which takes place April 1st-2nd 2000, in Kopavogur, Iceland. There will be twelve players. These include: Kasparov, Anand, Korchnoi, Timman, Ivan Sokolov and winner of a qualifying tournament on ICC on March 5th (Svidler and Shirov are amongst the players in this strong field). The event will consist of two parts. Day one will see two 6 player round-robins. Day two sees the top two from each group play in final. Website: http://www.chess.is

Frankfurt Chess Classic 2000

The Frankfurt Chess Classic 2000 takes place June 16th-25th 2000. There will be six events: The Fujitsu Siemens Giants (6 players, double round robin, 4 days, June 22nd -25th) Participants: Anand, Kasparov, Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich, Shirov. Masters (8 players, double round robin, 4 days, June 22nd to June 25th) Participants: Adams, Bareev, Ivanchuk, Rabiega (winner of the German championships), Topalov, Van Wely (winner of last years open), Yussupov and the winner of this years open tournament. Computer exhibition matches (5 players, 2 games per match, June 17th to June 18th) Participants: Anand, Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich, Shirov · Ordix Open (15 rounds swiss, 3 days, June 16th to June 18th) The winner qualifies for the Master tournament, which starts afterwards! · two simuls (June 19th, June 20th) one by Kasparov and one by Ivanchuk · two Fischer Random Chess exhibition games In all events each player has 25 minutes per game. The opening ceremony will take place on the evening of June 21st, all players are obliged to participate. The closing ceremony including price giving takes place on June 25th following the last round of the Giants. Further details: http://www.frankfurt-west.de/ChessClassic2000

Mechanics Institute Events

The Mechanics Institute in San Francisco will be hosting a series of events from March 29 to April 14. A G/45 exhbition game between Alex Yermolinsky and Jaan Ehlvest on March 29 (7:3O pm start) will be followed by a WBCA blitz event the following day, then the Frisco Masters from March 31-April 3. Advance entries for the Masters includes GMs Ehlvest, Shabalov, Yermolinsky, Browne, Fedorowicz and Blatny. The Val Zemitis International will be held April 5-14. The IM norm event, with IM Cela (2527) as top seed, will be Category 4 (2340).

soLett Chess Open 2000

soLett Chess Open 2000 will be played at Scandic Hotel, Skellefteå in the northern part of Sweden. Grandmasters as Evgenij Agrest, Yuri Yakovic, Alexander Volzhin, Tiger Hillarp Persson, Vitali Golod, Nikola Mitkov, Alexei Lugovoi, Jonny Hector and Viktor Mikhalevski are registered. There will also be played a WIM-tournament: Skellefteå Kraft- Sweden Ladies International with 16 participants. Information at: http://tournament2000.tripod.com

Foxwoods Chess Open

The 2nd annual FOXWOODS CHESS OPEN April 20-23 or 21-23 7-round Swiss at the world's largest casino $100,000 prize fund. For details about entry fees etc see the website below.

Website: http://www.foxwoods.com/frm_chess.htm

Miguel Najdorf Blitz

The Club Argentino de Ajedrez in Buenos Aires is holding a blitz event on Saturday April 8th. $5.600 in prizes, starts at 18-00. 150 jugadores. Entry: $ 20 Club Members $10. 7 minutes per game. Further info: (011) 4811-9412. Arbiter, Adrián Roldán with Blas Pingas and Leandro Plotinsky. Contact: Adrian@Roldan.com. Website: http://Adrian.Roldan.com

Olomouc Opens

June 25-29, 2000 - Olomouc (CZE) "MLADI OPEN 2000" swiss system, 7 rounds 1) FIDE OPEN - for young players up to 20 years of age, 1st prize - FREE START in round-robin tournament 4th category FIDE in August in Olomouc 2) national open A - players born in 1984 and younger 3) national open B - players born in 1988 and younger Contact: Agentura 64, 783 73 Grygov 337, Czech Republic, tel./fax: ++420-68-5393327, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, WWW: http://www.proclient.cz/a64

August 2-10, 2000 - Olomouc (CZE) "OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER 2000" 1) round-robin GM tournament 10th category FIDE (10-12 players) 2) 2 round-robin IM tournaments 4th category FIDE (10-12 players) 3) FIDE open - swiss, 9 rounds, 2/40+1, 1st prize 10000 CZK We are looking for players without title for both round robin tournaments! Contact: Agentura 64, 783 73 Grygov 337, Czech Republic, tel./fax: ++420-68-5393327, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, WWW: http://www.proclient.cz/a64

Garry Koshnitsky Memorial

The Garry Koshnitsky Memorial Australian Chess Festival is being held this year from 7 June to 13 August in memory of arguably the most important figure in Australian chess history who died last year at the age of 91. The festival commences with the Surfers Paradise Parkroyal International which is being held at a five star venue on Queensland's Gold Coast in order to give Australian players the opportunity to play top class overseas opposition. The nine round Swiss event features GMs Nikolic, Ftacnik, Rogers and Johansen and runs from 7-17 June. Whilst the Prize Fund is a modest $5,000 the playing conditions are superb and the hotel is situated in one of the world's great holiday destinations. Entry fees are IMs and GMs FOC, players rated 2300+ $150, 2200+ $250, 2100+ $350, 2000+ $450. Overseas players are half price and there are discounts for payment by 15/3/00 ($50) and 15/4/00 ($25). There are very special room rates at the Parkroyal only available to competitors ($75 single, $37.50 twin share).

The Garry Koshnitsky Festival features the following events: 7 to 17 June Parkroyal Surfers Paradise International 18 June Parkroyal Surfers Paradise Corporate challenge 19 to 23 June GM coaching in local schools 24 to 25 June Gold Coast Open 26 to 30 June GM coaching of elite Australian juniors 1 to 2 July Noosa Open 8 to 9 July Queen Victoria Building event, Sydney 15 to 16 July Australian National University Open, Canberra 24 July to 4 August Australian Masters, Reserve Bank Building, Melbourne 12 to 13 August Adelaide Weekender (Festival Finale)

Contact details: Graeme Gardiner, President Australian Chess Federation, C/O Somerset College, Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland 4213 Phone: (+61 7 international) or (07) 5530 3777 (w); (07) 5530 5794 (h); (07) 5525 2676 (fax) Email: ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au

Bergen NOR

Tournament name : Bergen Chess International Site: Bergen, Norway. Date: 21-29th July 2000 Prize Fund : NOK 10000/6000/4000/2000/1000 + rating prizes The prize fund is garanteed. Entry fee : No entry fee for foreigners with FIDE-ELO Conditions : May be offered to a limited number of IMs/GMs. Number of rounds : 9 System : Modifed Swiss Rate of play : 2 hours/40 moves, 1 hour/20 moves, 0.5 hour/rest Side events : Rapid tournaments, GM-simuls, blitz etc

Home page : http://home.sol.no/~eirikgu/bi2000.htm

40-50 participants are expected of which there will be 5-6 GMs and 6-8 IMs. Only 6 unrated players will take part. Confirmed titled players: GM Yakovich (2580), GM Volzhin (2548), GM Gausel (2492), GM Djurhuus (2484), IM L. Johannessen (2431), IM Fyllingen (2408), IM Bern (2379) and IM Gullaksen (2353).

Oakham GM

The Oakham GM takes place 11th-19th April 2000, Oakham School, Rutland, Leicestershire. Chris Ward, Danny Gormally, Neil McDonald, Colin McNab, Irina Krush, Jacob Aagaard, Nick Pert, Yochanan Afek, Patrick Hummel and Alan Norris play.

Further details: http://www.circuit.demon.co.uk/oakham.htm

Politiken Cup 2000

The Politiken Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark takes place 17th-28th July 2000. There is a new venue at the Nørrebrohallen with room for 500-700 players.

Further information: http://www.kbhsu.dk

13th Ciudad de León Tournament

The 13th Ciudad de León Tournament will again use the "advanced chess" format (players will be allowed to use a computer for databases and a playing program). The competitors will be Anand, Shirov, Judith Polgar and Illescas. The event will run June 1st-5th 2000 (playing days: June 2nd Shirov-Illescas 2 game match, June 3rd Anand-Polgar 2 game match, June 3rd, final. The venue is the Junta de León” building, with the opening ceremony in the Conde Luna Hotel and the closing ceremony and Judit Polgar simul at the University.

The website is at: http://www.ajedrezdelfuturo.com and the English version will be up soon at: http://www.advancedchess.com

Interchess Club

The InterChess Club headed by GM Yuri Averbakh is a new server at: http://www.interchess.com It also has lectures by GMs and simuls on a regular basis.

19th Reykjavik International Open

The 19th Reykjavik International Chess Tournament takes place in the Reykjavík City Hall 5th-13th April 2000.

Minimum Prize fund: USD 15.000 1. prize USD 5.000 2. prize USD 3.000 3. prize USD 2.000 4. prize USD 1.500 5. prize USD 1.000 Under 2450 .USD 1.500 Under 2300 .USD 1.000.

9 rounds, Swiss System, Time Limit: 40 moves in 2 hours, 20 moves in 1 hour, and 30 minutes for the rest of the game.

Registration: Please contact the ICELANDIC CHESS FEDERATION, P.O. Box 8354, 128 Reykjavík, Iceland, entry still open. Tel.: 354 568 9141 Fax: 354 568 9116 Email: siks@itn.is Eligible: All players rated 2000 or more (FIDE rating list). No entrance fee for foreign players.

Coverage at:http://www.simnet.is/hellir/Reykopen00.htm