THE WEEK IN CHESS 370 10th December 2001 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) FIDE World Chess Championships
3) Botvinnik Memorial Match
4) John William Collins September 23rd 1912 - December 2nd 2001
5) German Championships
6) First Saturday December
7) Rijeka Open
8) Bundesliga 2001-2
9) Loures Young Masters
10) Roman Levit Memorial
11) Forthcoming Events and Links


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New In Chess Yearbook 58 New In Chess $22.50/£15 Opening preparation is not the first thing that comes to mind when the name of Brain Game World Champion Vladimir Kramnik is brought up. However, with the right ingredients in hand he is more than capable of producing some spicy opening dishes. Have a taste from Kramnik's Kitchen. CHEF DE CUISINE Thanks to Vladimir Kramnik an old line against the Gruenfeld Indian has come back into fashion.

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Games section

FIDE World Championships  74 games
Botvinnik Memorial Match  20 games
German Championships     125 games
First Saturday December  183 games
Rijeka Open               57 games
Bundesliga 2001-2         32 games
Loures Young Masters      66 games
Roman Levit Memorial      12 games
572 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Eugeny Atarov, Laszlo Nagy, Miklos Orso and Andres Bacsi, John Fernandez and all those who helped with this issue.

Two big events this week. The Kasparov vs. Kramnik match didn't quite live up to its billing. Mostly because the only really important result was the four game standard time rate match. A win for Kasparov would have strengthened his claims for a rematch without qualification and win for Kramnik would have strengthened his position. The match was tied 2-2 with only one real struggle. The FIDE Championships are in their semi-final stage with Anand playing Ivanchuk and Ponomariov playing Svidler. Both matches are tied at 1-1 at the half way stage. Could this be the year that Vassily Ivanchuk manages to keep his nerves in check and exploits his huge talent for the game? Or will it be fellow Ukranian 18 year old Ruslan Ponomariov who looks better and better with every round? No doubt favourite Viswanathan Anand and in form Peter Svidler will want their say.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) FIDE World Chess Championships

The FIDE Championships take place in Moscow November 25th - December 14th 2001 (Kremlin) with the final in the Hall of Columns January 16th-26th 2002.

Schedule for the Kremlin: Round 1 Tuesday-Wednesday November 27th-28th 2001, Round 2 Thursday-Friday November 29th-30th, Round 3 Saturday-Sunday December 1st-2nd, Round 4 Monday and Wednesday 3rd and 5th December, Round 5 Thursday-Friday December 6th-7th, Round 6 Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday December 8th ,10th ,11th ,13th and 14th 2001.

Time limits: All moves in 90 minutes plus an incremental time of 30 seconds per move from move one. Playoff games: 2 games at 20 minutes + 10 seconds per move. If level 2 five-minute games + 10 seconds per move. If still level one sudden death game is played White has 6 minutes, black 5 minutes no increment the winner qualifies for the next round. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces qualifies.

The fourth round saw the first unpredictable struggles. Dreev looked like a tough opponent for Anand but he was dispatched in a professional standard draw with black and win with white. Michael Adams didn't look to have put a foot wrong so far in the event but he was held by Peter Svidler and lost with white in the second blitz game to become the highest seed eliminated. 18 year old Ruslan Ponomariov looks like he is going to the very top and his win against Alexander Morozevich in a tough match was not a shock. Vassily Ivanchuk easily dispatched Ye Jiangchuan. There were wins too for Lautier, Bareev and Gelfand. The tie of the round was between Veselin Topalov and Alexei Shirov. This was the biggest match of the event so far. The two proved very closely matched and the match was won by Shirov only after the sudden death blitz game where he only needed a draw with black.

In the fifth round Anand was the only player to go through without a playoff. His match against Shirov looked awkward but Anand just won the first game with white and drew with black to go through. Ruslan Ponomariov won 2-0 in the rapid playoffs to beat Evgeny Bareev. Peter Svidler continued his good form winning in the blitz again this time against Boris Gelfand. Vassily Ivanchuk whose nerve has frequently been called into question won a tense match against Joel Lautier in the blitz.

After two of the four games of the semi-finals the matches Anand-Ivanchuk and Svidler Ponomariov are tied at 2-2.

The women's World Championship finals are also over four games. They are between Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia and Zhu Chen of China. They shared wins in the first two games.

The official site will be: http://wcc2001.fide.com

4th Round

1 Dreev, Alexey          g RUS 2690   - * Anand, Viswanathan      g IND 2797 1/2 0-1
2 Adams, Michael         g ENG 2744   - * Svidler, Peter          g RUS 2695 1/2 1/2 1.5-2.5
3 Ponomariov, Ruslan     g UKR 2684 * -   Morozevich, Alexander   g RUS 2739 1-0 0-1 1.5-0.5
4 Ivanchuk, Vassily      g UKR 2731 * -   Ye Jiangchuan           g CHN 2677 1-0 1/2
5 Lautier, Joel          g FRA 2675 * -   Nikolic, Predrag        g BIH 2652 1/2 1/2 2-0
6 Bareev, Evgeny         g RUS 2719 * -   Ehlvest, Jaan           g EST 2627 1-0 1-0
7 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2674   - * Gelfand, Boris          g ISR 2714 1/2 1/2 1.5-2.5
8 Topalov, Veselin       g BUL 2711   - * Shirov, Alexei          g ESP 2706 1/2 1/2 2-3

Women's Championships

1 Kosteniuk, Alexandra RUS 2445 * -   Skripchenko-Lautier, Almi MDA 2494 1/2 1-0
2 Peng Zhaoqin         NED 2401   - * Chiburdanidze, Maia       GEO 2513 1-0 0-1 1.5-2.5
3 Khurtsidze, Nino     GEO 2450   - * Zhu Chen                  CHN 2497 1/2 1/2 2-3
4 Xu Yuhua             CHN 2502 * -   Foisor, Cristina Adela    ROM 2423 1/2 1/2 3-1

5th Round

1 Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2797 * -   Shirov, Alexei         g ESP 2706 1-0 1/2
2 Gelfand, Boris         g ISR 2714   - * Svidler, Peter         g RUS 2695 1/2 1/2 1.5-2.5
3 Ponomariov, Ruslan     g UKR 2684 * -   Bareev, Evgeny         g RUS 2719 1/2 1/2 2-0
4 Lautier, Joel          g FRA 2675   - * Ivanchuk, Vassily      g UKR 2731 1/2 1/2 1.5-2.5

Women's Semi-Finals

1 Xu Yuhua                  CHN 2502  - * Kosteniuk, Alexandra      RUS 2445 1-0 0-1 0-2
2 Chiburdanidze, Maia       GEO 2513  - * Zhu Chen                  CHN 2497 1/2 1/2 1.5-2.5

6th Round (Semi-Finals)

1 Ivanchuk, Vassily      g UKR 2731   -   Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2797 1/2 1/2
2 Svidler, Peter         g RUS 2695   -   Ponomariov, Ruslan     g UKR 2684 1/2 1/2

Women's Final 

1 Kosteniuk, Alexandra      RUS 2445  -   Zhu Chen                 CHN 2497 1-0 0-1

3) Botvinnik Memorial Match

The Botvinnik Memorial took place in Moscow 1st-9th December 2001. Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov played matches over different time-limits: classical, fast chess and blitz. The four classical games were the most important and were played at the time control of 2 hours for 40 moves, 1 hour for 20 and 30 minutes to the end of the games. The importance that the players gave to these games was shown in their play. Only game two where Kramnik probably missed wins was fully played out, games 1, 3 and 4 finished in 18, 21 and 19 moves respectively. The players loosened up a little for the rapids with Kasparov winning the first and Kramnik the sixth and last to see that series tied 3-3. Kasparov came out of the traps very quickly in the 10 game blitz series winning game one and missing a big chance in game two, he then won games six, seven and eight before losing his only game in the 9th. This result meant that Kasparov was the winner of the event over all.

Websites: http://www.chessmoscow.ru, http://www.kasparovchess.com and further info at: http://www.joeblack.h1.ru

Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1/2   18  D27  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   72  B41  Sicilian Paulsen
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1/2   21  D58  Queens Gambit Tartakover
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   19  C80  Ruy Lopez Open


Botvinnik Mem Match Moscow RUS (RUS), 1-5 xii 2001
----------------------------------------------------------
                                1   2   3   4 
----------------------------------------------------------
Kasparov, Garry   g  RUS 2838    =   =   =   =   2.0  2809
Kramnik, Vladimir g  RUS 2809    =   =   =   =   2.0  2838
----------------------------------------------------------

Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    0-1   54  D27  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   30  E34  Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1/2   62  D15  Slav Defence
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   42  A10  Dutch, Queen's Indian and King's Indian Systems
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1/2   31  D02  Queen's Pawn Game
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  0-1   52  E44  Nimzo Indian Rubinstein


Botvinnik Mem Rapid Match Moscow RUS (RUS), 8-7 xii 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------
                                1   2   3   4   5   6 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Kasparov, Garry   g  RUS 2838    1   =   =   =   =   0   3.0  2809
Kramnik, Vladimir g  RUS 2809    0   =   =   =   =   1   3.0  2838
------------------------------------------------------------------

Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    0-1   55  E14  Queens Indian
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   47  E12  Queens Indian Petrosian System
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1/2   39  D27  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   24  D37  QGD 5.Bf4
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1/2   31  D27  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1-0   50  E39  Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    0-1   34  D27  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1-0   31  E10  Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Kramnik, Vladimir  -  Kasparov, Garry    1-0   43  D27  Queen's Gambit Accepted
Kasparov, Garry    -  Kramnik, Vladimir  1/2   47  E12  Queens Indian Petrosian System


Botvinnik Mem Blitz Match Moscow RUS (RUS), 9-9 xii 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------
                               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
--------------------------------------------------------------
Kasparov, Garry   g  RUS 2838   1 = = = = 1 1 1 0 =  6.5  2919
Kramnik, Vladimir g  RUS 2809   0 = = = = 0 0 0 1 =  3.5  2728
--------------------------------------------------------------

4) John William Collins September 23rd 1912 - December 2nd 2001

Chess Teacher John W. (Jack) Collins has died at the age of 89. He was best known for his involvement in the early career of Bobby Fischer.

Collins was born in Newburgh NY in 1912. An accident at birth meant that he was confined to a wheelchair. His formal education largely finished after elimentary school, after that he taught himself. This included chess. Learning from a neighbour he soon ran out of challenging opponents. He taught five boys to play and formed a chess club in his own house, the "Hawthorne Chess Club" named after the street where he lived. They competed as a team in various competitions and the club started to meet several times a week and began to attract a wide variety of regulars including Hermann Helms and Irving Chernev.

Collins himself was a strong player being ranked as high as 17 in the US and winning the US Correspondence Chess Championships in 1943. He also won the Marshall Chess Club Championships and the New York State Championships.

Collins edited the 9th Edition of Modern Chess Openings and wrote a book about his teaching called "My Seven Chess Prodigies".

It was in his role as a teacher that he became best known. American players William Lombardy, Donald and Robert Byrne and players as late as Max Dlugy were all were taught by Collins.

In 1956 13 year old Bobby Fischer started to visit spending a large amount of time at his home, almost as a member of the family. Collins concentrated on the practical and the line between playing and studying often became blurred. He believed in the study of the chess classics from all eras getting his best pupils to analyse at least 100 games from each of the World Champions. Collins never claimed credit for teaching Fischer merely saying that he "imparted knowledge" to him. Fischer's access to Collins huge chess library was probably just as important as the teaching itself. However it is no accident that Collins was heavily influential in the period when Fischer "just got good".

Collins and Fischer were close for many years but post-1972 they eventually became estranged as Fischer's increasingly racist views disgusted Collins.

Collins continued to teach successive generations of players of widely differing abilities. The US Chess Federation recognised his contributions by inducting him into the Chess Hall of Fame in Washington DC in 1991.

Collins was looked after by his sister Ethel until she died in 1993.

Further information: http://www.chesslinks.org/chess/hof/collins.html, NY Times (may need registration), http://www.uschess.org/news/press/uspr0147.html and http://www.iht.com/articles/41019.html

5) German Championships

The German Championships 2001 took place in Altenkirchen 30th November - 8th December 2001. The winner was Christopher Lutz with 7/9.

Internet coverage: http://www.schachdm2001.de/dem2001/start.htm Live coverage: http://schach.com/altenkirchen/

Final Standings:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-GER Altenkirchen GER (GER), 30 xi-8 xii 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Lutz, Christopher      g  GER 2643  + 3 = 6 +17 = 9 +11 + 8 = 2 =10 +12  7.0  2695 
 2. Huebner, Robert        g  GER 2612  +19 = 4 +24 = 8 +17 =10 = 1 + 3 = 6  6.5  2650 
 3. Handke, Florian        m  GER 2407  - 1 +37 +15 +13 + 9 + 5 =10 - 2 + 8  6.5  2706 
 4. Prusikhin, Mihailo     m  GER 2502  +38 = 2 =13 = 5 +14 =12 = 6 =11 +22  6.0  2594 
 5. Jussupow, Artur        g  GER 2633  =39 +30 = 6 = 4 +28 - 3 =16 +17 +10  6.0  2565 
 6. Rabiega, Robert        m  GER 2503  +37 = 1 = 5 -11 +36 +27 = 4 +20 = 2  6.0  2591 
 7. Tischbierek, Raj       g  GER 2493  +35 +15 = 9 -10 =27 +22 -12 +16 +13  6.0  2599 
 8. Mueller, Karsten       g  GER 2506  +42 +31 +20 = 2 =10 - 1 +19 +12 - 3  6.0  2598 
 9. Bischoff, Klaus        g  GER 2541  +21 +22 = 7 = 1 - 3 =16 =17 +19 =11  5.5  2498 
10. Slobodjan, Roman       g  GER 2522  =30 +40 +27 + 7 = 8 = 2 = 3 = 1 - 5  5.5  2559 
11. Braun, Arik               GER 2229  -27 +26 +39 + 6 - 1 =28 +18 = 4 = 9  5.5  2562 
12. Naiditsch, Arkadij     g  GER 2540  +25 -17 +34 =14 +24 = 4 + 7 - 8 - 1  5.0  2507 
13. Lobron, Eric           g  GER 2524  +41 =16 = 4 - 3 +25 -19 +14 +21 - 7  5.0  2445 
14. Berezovsky, Igor       m  GER 2432  -31 +42 +21 =12 - 4 +33 -13 =15 +29  5.0  2459 
15. Hertneck, Gerald       g  GER 2570  +34 - 7 - 3 +41 -19 =23 +36 =14 +18  5.0  2427 
16. Espig, Lutz            g  GER 2411  +32 =13 =18 -24 +20 = 9 = 5 - 7 =26  4.5  2486 
17. Jugelt, Tobias            GER 2420  +23 +12 - 1 +20 - 2 =18 = 9 - 5 =21  4.5  2522 
18. Levin, Felix           g  GER 2531  +26 =27 =16 =28 =22 =17 -11 +30 -15  4.5  2402 
19. Hammes, Michael        f  GER 2374  - 2 =38 =40 +31 +15 +13 - 8 - 9 =20  4.5  2468 
20. Wahls, Matthias        g  GER 2580  +29 +28 - 8 -17 -16 +31 +27 - 6 =19  4.5  2417 
21. Bastian, Herbert       f  GER 2353  - 9 +36 -14 +35 -29 +25 +24 -13 =17  4.5  2411 
22. Schlindwein, Rolf      m  GER 2440  +36 - 9 =31 +29 =18 - 7 =23 +28 - 4  4.5  2416 
23. Schulz, Karsten        f  GER 2268  -17 -25 =37 +39 +38 =15 =22 =29 =27  4.5  2396 
24. Kalinitschew, Sergey   g  GER 2487  =40 +39 - 2 +16 -12 =29 -21 =35 +33  4.5  2398 
25. Baramidze, David          GER 2335  -12 +23 -28 +40 -13 -21 =33 +37 +35  4.5  2376 
26. Muranyi, Karl-J        f  GER 2331  -18 -11 -35 +42 +41 =36 =30 +34 =16  4.5  2340 
27. Breutigam, Martin      f  GER 2411  +11 =18 -10 +30 = 7 - 6 -20 =33 =23  4.0  2373 
28. Gutman, Lev            g  GER 2489  +33 -20 +25 =18 - 5 =11 =29 -22 =30  4.0  2372 
29. Grafl, Florian         f  GER 2373  -20 =33 +32 -22 +21 =24 =28 =23 -14  4.0  2357 
30. Kleeschaetzky, Rainer  f  GER 2318  =10 - 5 +33 -27 =31 +35 =26 -18 =28  4.0  2379 
31. Christ, Ralf              GER 2272  +14 - 8 =22 -19 =30 -20 -34 +38 +39  4.0  2369 
32. Haensel, Thomas           GER 2259  -16 =41 -29 -33 +42 =34 =37 =36 +40  4.0  2285 
33. Singer, Christoph         GER 2300  -28 =29 -30 +32 +34 -14 =25 =27 -24  3.5  2304 
34. Schramm, Christian     f  GER 2359  -15 +35 -12 =38 -33 =32 +31 -26 =36  3.5  2272 
35. Scherer, Max              GER 2310  - 7 -34 +26 -21 +40 -30 +38 =24 -25  3.5  2284 
36. Bruehl, Andreas           GER 2277  -22 -21 +42 +37 - 6 =26 -15 =32 =34  3.5  2302 
37. Bischoff, Dieter          GER 2313  - 6 - 3 =23 -36 +39 =38 =32 -25 =41  3.0  2216 
38. Dunsbach, Ralf         f  GER 2312  - 4 =19 =41 =34 -23 =37 -35 -31 +42  3.0  2211 
39. Von Herman, Ulf        f  GER 2395  = 5 -24 -11 -23 -37 =42 +41 +40 -31  3.0  2222 
40. Wolter, Kai            f  GER 2295  =24 -10 =19 -25 -35 =41 =42 -39 -32  2.0  2148 
41. Keilhack, Harald       f  GER 2318  -13 =32 =38 -15 -26 =40 -39 -42 =37  2.0  2148 
42. Knuth, Hannes             GER 2313  - 8 -14 -36 -26 -32 =39 =40 +41 -38  2.0  2127 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) First Saturday December

There are three main FS events taking place 1st-14th December 2001. The first round GMA and GMB standings are below. My thanks to Laszlo Nagy, Miklos Orso and Andres Bacsi for the information.

Internet coverage: http://w3.enternet.hu/vlagyus/fs1201.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSGMA December Budapest HUN (HUN), 1-13 xii 2001                cat. X (2478)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Berkes, Ferenc        m HUN 2541  * = = . = . = . 1 . 1 1 . 1  6.0  2655 
 2. Czebe, Attila         m HUN 2491  = * . 1 = 1 = . = 0 . . . 1  5.0  2575 
 3. Bakre, Tejas          m IND 2446  = . * . . 1 . = 0 = 1 = 1 .  5.0  2569 
 4. Ilincic, Zlatko       g YUG 2521  . 0 . * 0 . = = . . 1 1 1 1  5.0  2575 
 5. Schenk, Andreas         GER 2443  = = . 1 * . = = . . . = 1 0  4.5  2547 
 6. Koneru, Humpy        wg IND 2484  . 0 0 . . * 1 = . . 0 1 1 1  4.5  2523 
 7. Varga, Zoltan         g HUN 2506  = = . = = 0 * . . 1 . . = =  4.0  2483 
 8. Horvath, Jozsef       g HUN 2551  . . = = = = . * = = = . . =  4.0  2458 
 9. Paschall, William M   m USA 2393  0 = 1 . . . . = * 1 0 = = .  4.0  2482 
10. Felgaer, Ruben        m ARG 2467  . 1 = . . . 0 = 0 * 1 0 = .  3.5  2425 
11. Antal, Gergely        m HUN 2426  0 . 0 0 . 1 . = 1 0 * = . .  3.0  2401 
12. Cao, Sang             m HUN 2507  0 . = 0 = 0 . . = 1 = * . .  3.0  2378 
13. Bokros, Albert        m HUN 2429  . . 0 0 0 0 = . = = . . * 1  2.5  2327 
14. Horvath, Adam         m HUN 2490  0 0 . 0 1 0 = = . . . . 0 *  2.0  2302 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSGMB December Budapest HUN (HUN), 1-13 xii 2001                cat. VII (2411)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Vajda, Levente          g ROM 2489  * . = . = = 1 1 1 . . 1 . 1  6.5  2665 
 2. Horvath, Peter1         m HUN 2441  . * = 1 1 . . . = . 1 0 = 1  5.5  2547 
 3. Nyback, Tomi            m FIN 2430  = = * = . 1 . . 0 1 = . 1 .  5.0  2498 
 4. Balogh, Csaba           f HUN 2367  . 0 = * . . . . = 1 = 1 = 1  5.0  2493 
 5. Grivas, Efstratios      g GRE 2489  = 0 . . * 1 = = . = = . 1 .  4.5  2455 
 6. Vajda, Albert           m ROM 2416  = . 0 . 0 * 1 0 . . . 1 1 1  4.5  2465 
 7. Szeberenyi, Adam        m HUN 2365  0 . . . = 0 * = . 1 . 1 = 1  4.5  2461 
 8. Kosanovic, Goran A      g YUG 2442  0 . . . = 1 = * . = = = = .  4.0  2417 
 9. Munoz Pantoja, Miguel   f PER 2375  0 = 1 = . . . . * 0 0 . = 1  3.5  2360 
10. Vajda, Szidonia        wg HUN 2352  . . 0 0 = . 0 = 1 * . = . 1  3.5  2365 
11. Pierrot, Facundo        m ARG 2427  . 0 = = = . . = 1 . * 0 . 0  3.0  2330 
12. Pilgaard, Kim           m DEN 2437  0 1 . 0 . 0 0 = . = 1 * . .  3.0  2325 
13. Colovic, Aleksandar     m MKD 2364  . = 0 = 0 0 = = = . . . * .  2.5  2274 
14. Biro, Sandor            m ROM 2360  0 0 . 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 1 . . *  1.0  2082 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSIMA December Budapest HUN (HUN), 1-13 xii 2001                  cat. II (2281)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Meszaros, Tamas               HUN 2364  * = 1 . = . = . 1 . 1 1 .  5.5  2496 
 2. Petran, Pal                 m HUN 2372  = * . 1 = . = = . . 1 . 1  5.0  2452 
 3. Rajlich, Vasik G            f USA 2257  0 . * 1 0 1 . 1 . 1 0 . 1  5.0  2378 
 4. Gonda, Laszlo                 HUN 2309  . 0 0 * 1 . 0 . 1 1 1 1 .  5.0  2360 
 5. Mensch, Etienne             f FRA 2299  = = 1 0 * . 1 . . . = . 1  4.5  2394 
 6. Berczes, Csaba              f HUN 2216  . . 0 . . * 1 = 0 1 . = 1  4.0  2323 
 7. Boguszlavszkij, Jevgenyij   m HUN 2268  = = . 1 0 0 * 0 . . 1 . 1  4.0  2297 
 8. Galyas, Miklos              m HUN 2347  . = 0 . . = 1 * = 0 . 1 .  3.5  2265 
 9. Varadi, Viktor                HUN 2248  0 . . 0 . 1 . = * 1 . 0 1  3.5  2289 
10. Paci, Cedric                  FRA 2256  . . 0 0 . 0 . 1 0 * . 1 =  2.5  2171 
11. Resika, Nathan A            f USA 2182  0 0 1 0 = . 0 . . . * = .  2.0  2143 
12. Erdelyi, Zombor               HUN 2242  0 . . 0 . = . 0 1 0 = * 0  2.0  2083 
13. Musanti, Diego              f ARG 2293  . 0 0 . 0 0 0 . 0 = . 1 *  1.5  2018 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------
FSIMB December Budapest HUN (HUN), 1-10 xii 2001  cat. II (2276)
----------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1  2  3  4  5  6 
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Farago, Sandor       m HUN 2323  ** 1. =. .1 11 10  5.5  2488 
2. Tian Tian              CHN 2355  0. ** 1= 10 1. 11  5.5  2391 
3. Eperjesi, Laszlo     m HUN 2294  =. 0= ** =. == 1=  4.5  2266 
4. Kaposztas, Miklos    m HUN 2210  .0 01 =. ** == 1.  4.0  2296 
5. Brustkern, Juergen   f GER 2275  00 0. == == ** =.  2.5  2135 
6. Ashok, K               IND 2199  01 00 0= 0. =. **  2.0  2110 
----------------------------------------------------------------

7) Rijeka Open

The Rijeka Open took place 1st-9th December 2001. Vasily Yemelin won the 9 round swiss with 7.5/9.

Internet coverage: http://www.sah-rijeka.hr/t-ori/

1  Yemelin, Vasily      g RUS 2490  7.5
2  Palac, Mladen        g CRO 2572  7.0  
3  Golubovic, Boris     m CRO 2458  7.0  
4  Kovacevic, Blazimir  m CRO 2434  6.5
5  Bukal, Vladimir      m CRO 2437  6.5
6  Doric, Nenad         f CRO 2372  6.5
7  Medancic, Rikard     m CRO 2237  6.5
8  Jovanic, Ognjen      m CRO 2409  6.0  
9  Zelenika, Srdjan       CRO 2331  6.0  
10 Jurkovic, Hrvoje     f CRO 2389  6.0  
11 Rezan, Sasa          f CRO 2337  6.0  
12 Doric, Darko           CRO 2254  6.0  
13 Fercec, Nenad        m CRO 2458  6.0  
14 Goric, Esad            BIH 2296  6.0  
15 Kecic, Stevan          SLO 2241  6.0  
16 Dumpor, Atif           BiH 2325  6.0  
17 Bistric, Faruk       m BiH 2446  5.5
18 Tratar, Marko        m SLO 2405  5.5
19 Loncar, Robert       m CRO 2458  5.5
20 Rukavina, Josip      m CRO 2415  5.5
21 Muslija, Idris         CRO 2215  5.5
22 Vukovic, Nikola        CRO       5.5
79 players

8) Bundesliga 2001-2

The 3rd and 4th rounds of the Bundesliga took place over the weekend of 24th-25th November 2001. Additional round 3-4 games are now available.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessgate.de and http://www.schach.com

9) Loures Young Masters

The Loures Young Masters took place 27th November - 7th December 2001. Diogo Fernando won the event after a playoff against Evgeni Janev.

Internet coverge: http://planeta.ip.pt/~ip001018/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th YM Loures POR (POR), 27 xi-7 xii 2001                     cat. I (2252)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Fernando, Diogo          f POR 2367  * = = = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1  8.5  2452 
 2. Janev, Evgeni            m BUL 2487  = * = = 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2441 
 3. Georgiev, Vladimir       g BUL 2564  = = * = 1 0 = 1 1 1 1 1  8.0  2398 
 4. Vassallo, Mauricio       m ARG 2454  = = = * 1 1 = 0 1 = 1 1  7.5  2366 
 5. Pinheiro, Jose           f POR 2339  = 0 0 0 * 1 0 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2308 
 6. Francisco, Joae            ANG 2210  0 1 1 0 0 * 0 = 1 0 1 1  5.5  2255 
 7. Nogueira, Nelson         m POR 2276  0 0 = = 1 1 * 0 0 = = 1  5.0  2213 
 8. Silva, Pedro               POR ----  0 0 0 1 0 = 1 * 0 0 1 1  4.5  2209 
 9. Peixoto, Antonio           POR 2118  = 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 * 1 0 1  4.5  2198 
10. Guerra, Victor             POR 2160  0 0 0 = 0 1 = 1 0 * 0 0  3.0  2084 
11. Ribeiro, Luis Landeiro     POR 2044  0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 * 0  2.5  2059 
12. Andrade,Bruno              POR ----  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 *  2.0  2012 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) Roman Levit Memorial

The Roman Levit Memorial took place in Milwaukee, WI, USA November 23rd-25th, 2001.

John Fernandez reports: The Roman Levit Memorial was held this past Thanksgiving Weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Organized by Alex Betaneli, the event was held to commemorate Roman Levit, one of the leaders of Wisconsin Chess in the past decades. On hand, and giving speeches at the event were his wife and grandson. Plans are currently underway to create a fund to support Wisconsin Chess in his name. Mr. Levit's presence at Wisconsin chess events is greatly missed, and many personal friends and former opponents of his showed up to play in the event in his honor.

Due to the naming of the National Chess Congress in Philadelphia and the American Open in Los Angeles as US Championship qualifiers, many thought the overall turnout would be hurt. This was not to be the case, as over 100 players showed up to play, causing the prize fund to be increased to the delight of the participants!

GM Yuri Shulman of Belarus, now living in Dallas, Texas, won the event with an undefeated 4.5-0.5 score, only giving up a draw to IM Hikaru Nakamura in the fourth round. Illinois masters Peter Pelts, Aleksander Stamnov and Steven Szpisjak tied for second with 4-1. IMs John Donaldson and Osman Palos led a group of players on 3.5-1.5 for equal fifth place. Before the event, reigning United States Junior Champion IM Hikaru Nakamura gave a simultaneous exhibition, and won all of his games convincingly.

The organizers would like to thank the sponsors of the event, specifically: Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Internet Chess Club, Lewis Sound Inc., Jawad Inc., Kapur Associates, Chiesa family, Corrado family, Hando family, Holm family, Robert Bruch, Neil Gleason, John Fernandez, Guy Hoffman, Paul Kaesberg, Scott Kittsley, Rob Millette, Mike Nietman, Gerald Noel, Brad Phillips, Larry Schmitt, Richard Susens, Bill Williams and Karl Zangerle. The was fantastically directed by Guy Hoffman and Jerry Noel.

--------------------------------------------------------
Roman Levit Memorial Milwaukee USA (USA), 23-25 xi 2001
--------------------------------------------------------
  1. Shulman, Yuri         g   BLR   2587   4.5
  2. Pelts, Peter          f   USA   2312   4.0
     Stamnov, Aleksander       MKD   2252
     Szpisjak, Steven          USA   2240
  5. Donaldson, John W     m   USA   2436   3.5
     Palos, Osman          m   BIH   2339
     Wheat, James Franklin     USA   2210
     Weeramantry, Sunil    f   SRI   2195
     Reimaa, Sven              EST   2115
     Fernandez, John C         USA   2043
     Tisinger, Steve           USA   ----
 12. Nakamura, Hikaru      m   USA   2466   3.0
43 Players

11) Forthcoming Events and Links

77th Hastings Congress

The 77th Hastings International chess Congress takes place 28th December 2001 - 6th January 2002. There are events for all strengths of players, lasting from 3 to the full 10 days. There is play either in the morning or afternoon.

Final line up for the Premier: Alexei Barsov (2525), Joe Gallagher (2511), Pentala Harikrishna (2502), Mark Hebden (2567), Petr Kiriakov (2547), Irina Krush (2411), Nicholas Pert (2451), Krishnan Sasikiran (2569), Peter Wells (2517) and Zhang Zhong (2657).

Further details: Con Power: power@hicc.demon.co.uk

Internet coverage: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk

GM Loek van Wely vs REBEL

Loek Van Wely will play the program REBEL February 19th- 22nd 2002. It will be a four game match with a time control of 40 moves in 2 hours and thereafter 60 minutes for the rest of the game.

Location: Centre Céramique, Avenue Céramique 50, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Games start at 13:00 local time. Entry is free.

Internet coverage: http://www.rebel.nl/reb-wely.htm

Prague - Abner Cup

The Prague - Abner Cup takes place 26th December 2001 - 1st January 2002.

Further information: http://www.sach.cz/ or e-mail: orbis64@login.cz.

Melbourne Festival of Chess

The Melbourne Festival of Chess takes place December 28th 2001 - January 19th 2002. The event incorporates the Australian National Championships, Australian Senior Championships, Australian Championships Reserves, Australian Rapid Play Championships, Australian Lightning Championships, Australian Women's Championships Black Opal Masters, All Season Fide Tournament and a Fischer_Random Exhibition Tournament.

Further details: http://www.chessvictoria.com/austch.htm

3rd Friendship chess tournament

The 3rd Friendship chess tournament takes place 4th-14th December 2001 in Prerov (Czech Republic). There will be organized several tournaments including round-robin IM and GM tournament and 3 open tournaments. For more information contact the director of this tournament Mr. Richard Biolek (richard.biolek@atlas.cz).

Internet site: http://www.proclient.cz/a64

Bermuda Hotel Change

There will be several invitational GM and IM Tournaments in the Fairmont Southampton Princess Hotel (note the change from the Elbow Beach Hotel) in Bermuda prior to their traditional 5 round Open, 17th January to 4th February 2002. There will also be a nine round GM Open.

Contact Nigel Freeman at cadilly@ibl.bm or see the site http://www.bermuda.bm/chess

Cairnhill Open 2001

The 19th Cairnhill International Open Chess Championship will be held from 26th to 30th December 2001 in Singapore. 7 rounds Swiss System and will be limited to a maximum of 120 entries only.

Details and entry form at: http://cairnhil.fide.org/open.htm E-mail: cairnhil@fide.com or open_chess@yahoo.com.sg

On-line Tournament

The 1st Hellenic Chess Server "Apollo" a real time chess game application will host the 1st On-Line Chess Championship in Greece. The games will start at the end of February 2002.

In order to participate (free of charge) visit http://andyhot.di.uoa.gr/chess/tourn/part_form.asp open to players Worldwide.

Further details: webmaster@chess.gr

Hungarian Events

1. 1st-14th of December, FIRST SATURDAY, Budapest, HUN GM /cat. IX and VII/,IM,FM closed events, org: Nagy Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@elender.hu Website: http://www.elender.hu/~firstsat 2. 15th-28th of December, THIRD SATURDAY, Belgrade, YUG, GM,IM,FM, org: FM Kotevski, 3. 4th-12th of January, TAPOLCA Open Budapest, org: Parej Jozsef, 4. 19th-31th of January, THIRD SATURDAY Novi Sad YUG, GM-IM-FM, YUG, org: IGM Drazic, 5. 2nd-15th of February, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest HUN GM-IM-FM, org: Nagy Laszlo 6. 16th-28th of February THIRD SATURDAY GM-IM-FM Belgrade, YUG, org: Kotevski, 7. 2nd-15th of March FIRST SATURDAY Budapest, HUN, GM-IM-FM, org: Nagy, 8. 15th-23rd of March /18th Budapest Spring Festival Open/, 9 rounds Swiss, org: Nagy Laszlo. 9. 16th - 28th of March THIRD SATURDAY Novi Sad, YUG, GM-IM-FM, org.: IGM Drazic

Aeroflot Open 2002

The Aeroflot Open 2002 will take place in Moscow January 31st (arrival day) - 7th February (departure day) 2002. According to the website below there will be $150,000 US in prizes.

Further details: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

London Championships

The London Championships take place 14th-16th December 2001 at the South Bank University, Wandsworth Road. 6 round Swiss open to all, £400 first, total £1250. Details Andrew Webster scorchaw@hotmail.com. Telephone 01438 213 969.

October FIDE List Study and FIDE Championships

Chess Siberia http://www.chessib.com/ has two new articles. An article "Study of the October 2001 FIDE Rating List" (By Boris Schipkov, 12.11.2001) and one predicting the results of the FIDE Championships in Moscow.

New FIDE Sites

There are two new FIDE sites. Chess Daily http://www.chessdaily.com has individual FIDE rating calculations. Also the FIDE site for the World Championships in Moscow has been launched at: http://wcc2001.fide.com

Leko Interview

Peter Leko has a new interview on his www site: http://www.chessgate.de/leko/homepage.html Main content: - Expectations FIDE WC in Moscow - Statement: New time control - Review 2001. There will be an English version today or soon after.

Linares 2002

Most of the line-up for Linares 2002 has been announced. The players will be Kasparov, Anand, Shirov, Adams, Ivanchuk, Francisco Vallejo and on other player who will be confirmed soon (likely to be either Topalov or Kramnik).

Greekbase

Greek games at: http://www.geocities.com/greekbase1

ChessMetrics Site

Jeff Sonas has updated his site: http://www.chessmetrics.com/. It now has lots of colorful graphs. It includes ratings based on ChessBase games from 1851 to 1998, and then weekly rating lists based on TWIC issues from January 1999 to September 10th 2001.

Praha Open

The 1st Praha Open takes place 2nd-9th February 2002 in Prague (the Czech Republic). As part of the Czech Tour 2001-2 and links up well with participation in the Open Marianske Lazne.

Further details: http://www.proclient.cz/czechtour

Claude Bloodgood Article

Marc Davis has written a lengthy article for the Virginian-Pilot on Claude Bloodgood. It will be available for the next few weeks.

Internet: http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw1029blo.html

20th Stanislaw Gawlikowski Memorial

GM Bartlomiej Macieja reports: The 20th Stanislaw Gawlikowski Memorial includes two tournaments: 1) Amplico AIG Life Chess Tournament 15-16 December 2001. 2) Warsaw Blitz Chess Championship 15 December from 18:00.

Both tournaments will be played in the sport hall, located in the main building of Polonia Warsaw Sport Club 6, Konwiktorska Street Warsaw Poland

Full details (Polish and English): http://www.amplicolife.pl

Winter Cup, Bucharest

Lasker Chess Club in Bucharest is organising a Winter cup with a GM and IM event. 11th-23rd December 2001.

Further details: http://www.web.rol.ro/rchirila

Marianske Lazne Open

The I. International Chess Tournament OPEN MARIANSKE LAZNE 2002 takes place 25.1.-1.2. 2002 in the spa Marianske Lazne (the Czech Republic). This tournament is a part of series CZECH TOUR 2001 / 2002.

Further details: http://www.proclient.cz/czechtour

2 Websites

Mastermove with chess quizzes and endgame studies. http://www.so-on.org/mastermove.html

200 words by Lev Khariton. http://pkchess.bizland.com/chesspress/200words/200words.html

Gausdal Troll Masters 2002

The Gausdal Troll Masters Open International takes place January 6th-13th 2002 at Gausdal Høifjellshotel. Includes: * GM- and IM norms available * 9 rounds * FIDE rules. * 2h/40 moves, 1h/20 moves and ½hour rest. * 1st round Sunday January 6th at 19:30. * 9th and last round Sunday 13th at 9:00. * Double rounds on Thursday. * Open to all with FIDE-rating and a limited number of non-FIDE-rated players. * Several strong GMs and IMs are invited.

Details: http://home.online.no/~bjarke-k/TrollMasters/

5th Email Afro-Asian Championship

All chessplayers from Africa and Asia are invited to take part to the 5th email Afro-Asian Championship 2002-2003 , organised by the ICCF. The start date for the preliminaries is : 15-01-2002. Like the previous editions there are 2 stages (preliminaries and Final) and no entry fees are required . The entries should be sent not later than 31.12.2001 to M. Samraoui , email address : samraoui@aol.com .

2002 US Chess Championships

The 2002 US Chess Championships are held under the auspices of the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and sponsored by the Seattle Chess Foundation.

They take place in Seattle, Washington, January 5th-13th 2002 at the Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center and Experience Music Project. 56 players will compete in a nine-round Swiss tournament for a $200,000 prize fund, with $15,000 slotted for the winner. Included in the line-up are Grandmasters, top women and junior players, as well as an emerging young stars who qualified in the US Open such as the second strongest woman player, 12 year old Hana Itkis.

Further information http://www.seattlechessfoundation.org

ONCE Chess Lectures

Next month there will be some lectures by famous people in chess: Leontxo Garcia, GM Valery Salov, IM Boris Zlotnik, IM Ricardo Calvo. The organisers will publish the names of the winners of the literary contest about chess at the same time. ONCE is the organizer (spanish organization for blind people) of all these events.

Further details: http://www.hechiceros.net/site/news/articulos/espana/nesp00138.shtml

Free Online ajedrez.uruwow.com event

ajedrez.uruwow.com launches an International on-line Tournament 3 levels : Beginners, Advanced and Profesional, in series of 5 players. Registration is free.

Address: http://ajedrez.uruwow.com

Linares Chess Open 2002

The IX ANIBAL CHESS OPEN in Linares, Spain takes place 1st-10th March, 2002. The dates are parallel to the XX CIUDAD DE LINARES International Chess Tournament. The event will be Swiss system, 10 rounds using the new FIDE time control. The venue will be the Hotel Anibal, Linares.

Prizes in Euros (-25% taxes) 1º D.Luis Rentero Suarez prize 10.000 2º 5.000 3º 2.500 4º 1.500 5º 1.000 6º-25º 300 26º-50º 160

Conditions: GM and IM with inscription confirmed by the Organization: free accommodation in a double room Hotel Anibal GM 2600 ELO check special conditions.

Special prices at Hotel Anibal for those players whose inscription had been confirmed by the Organization:

Double room: 24,50 euros per person Single room: 45,00 euros Continental Breakfast: 1,90 euros Buffet Breakfast: 3,80 euros Lunch: 4,90 euros Dinner:4,90 euros

IMPORTANT: Only those players whose inscription had been confirmed by the Organization are guaranteed these prices

Inscription: Every player: 50 euros e-mail: linares@teleline.es linareschess@wanadoo.es Fax: 34 953 652204

DEADLINE: Monday, 18th February

New Dolmen International

Title of Tournament: New Dolmen International Tournament Country: Malta Tournament dates: 13th January to 19 January 2002 Venue: New Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, St. Paul's Bay Prize Fund: US$ 5000 Format: Open 7 round Swiss FIDE Rated Organisers: International Chess Organising Committee (Malta) C/O New Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, St. Paul's Bay, Malta Fax No. +356 438730 Email: jjgrech@mail.global.net.mt

Details: http://www.global.net.mt/jjgrech

Extensions to the pgn standard

Alan Cowderoy (Palamede), Ben Bulsink (DGT Projects), Andrew Templeton (Palamede/Palview), Eric Bentzen (Enpassant.dk, Palamede), Mathias Feist (Chessbase) and Victor Zakharov (Chess Assistant) have started discussions on possible extensions to the PGN standard. The original standard was compiled by Steven J. Edwards but it hasn't been possible to contact him (if you read this they'd like to talk to you!).

The new proposals can be read at: ftp://palamede.com/pub/chess/final.txt

XXXI Rilton Cup

The XXXI Rilton Cup takes place 27 December 2001 to 5th January 2002.

Information: http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-21958/XXXIRilton_cup0102.htm

109th New Zealand Chess Championships 2001/2002

The 109th New Zealand Chess Championships 2001/2002 take place 28th December 2001 - 11th January 2002 in Christchurch. The venue will be at The Millennium Hotel, 14 Cathedral square, Christchurch, New Zealand. The Chief Arbiter will be IA Leon Muys (Netherlands).

Chris Wright reports they have had numerous enquiries from overseas regarding the tournament, from Russia, Belarus, England, Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, and Australia. They hope to have a number of strong international players competing. The tournament will involve many of New Zealand's top players, as it is a selection event for next year's 35th World Chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia 2002.

Internet coverage: http://nzchesscongress109.tripod.com/

Two New Books in German

There are two new books in German are out. Both are written by famous chess players.

Svetozar Gligoric and Sinisa Joksic have produced a book in German about the King's Indian Defence. The title is "Gligoric-variante" and it is in German. It is the story of the Mar del Plata variantion which Gligoric played first in 1953 and afterwards played and analysed a lot. The last games included in the book from May and June 2001.

More info: http://avala.yubc.net/~yuchess/engleski/index.htm

The Exzelsior Verlag Berlin has just just published (in German) the only story by Emanuel Lasker: "Wie Wanja Meister wurde". A Hardcover book of 184 pages is costs DM 29.90. Further information Redaktion_Schach@compuserve.com.

Bethune Tournament

The 22nd International chess Tournament takes place in Bethune (North of France) 26th-30th December 2001 7 rounds, 40 moves in 2 hours plus one hour K.O, first prize 10000 Francs (about 1500 $)

For more information: http://bethunechess.free.fr

E-mail :bethunechess@aol.com

44th World Congress of Chess Composition

The 44th World Congress of Chess Composition was held at Wageningen, Netherlands from 28th July to 4th August. The highlight of the week's program was the 25th World Chess Solving Championship, which took place on 31st July and 1st August.

Internet coverage: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/pccc/2001pccc.html

Hawaii International Chess Festival Postponed

The Hawaii International Chess Festival has been postponed until 2003. It will have the first World Families Chess Championships. Pro (2000+), Mixed, and Amateur (all players under 2000). Prizes for all sorts of combinations of family members. Information: hawaii@chessworks.com.

Tiviakov reports

Sergey Tiviakov's site http://www.tiviakov.demon.nl/ has his reports on the European Championship in Ohrid (Macedonia) and the Dutch Championships in Leeuwarden.

Yin Hao+ vs. World Team (The Rematch)

Tom Hendricks reports: On July 5, 2001, Chinese IM Yin Hao (2576) will begin play against the World Team in an Internet correspondence chess game. This will be a rematch of the game they played last year. That game, which began July 5th, 2000 and ended January 18, 2001, was a 44-move struggle ending in a draw. This time colors will be reversed with Yin Hao now being white and the World Team black. As he was in the first game, Yin Hao will be assisted by U.S. correspondence player Richard Fleming (2404). The first game attracted World Team players from Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and the United States. Most of these players first came together during the Kasparov vs. The World game held in 1999. The upcoming game is open to anyone who wishes to play and is willing to follow the basic guidelines of the World Team. Players of all skill levels are welcome. General game topics and specific strategy are discussed at a moderated board found at:

http://boards.gamers.com/messages/overview.asp?name=WTChess&page=1

Visit the site and review the Game Rules and Move Selection Rules. To participate you must both register with gamers.com AND click on 'Request Password' at the top of the strategy board page. Registration with gamers.com is the process of selecting your UserName and Password. When you click on 'Request Password' you will be e-mailed another password that is specific to the strategy board. You will need to enter it only the first time that you post to the board. Those of you who participated in the first game with Yin Hao need not request the board password - it remains the same.

Book prizes and ICC (Internet Chess Club) memberships will be awarded throughout the game to lucky members of the World Team. So come and join the fun. Additional information can be obtained by writing to tahiv@hotmail.com

Weihnachts-Open 2001

The Weihnachts-Open 2001 takes place in Strausberg (Berlin) Germany from 27.12.2001 to 30.12.2001. The tournament will be ELO and DWZ rated. First prize : 500 DM entry fee : 30 DM

Further information: http://www.weihnachtsopen.de