THE WEEK IN CHESS 392 13th May 2002 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) Prague Agreement
3) 59th Men's Polish Chess Championships
4) Mitropa Cup
5) Capablanca Memorial
6) First Saturday May
7) Championships of Uruguay
8) Backa Palanka
9) NAO Chess Club 2nd IM tournament
10) Russian Women's Championships
11) 11th Macedonian Team Cup
12) Dutch Team Playoffs
13) Final Weekend of the 4NCL
14) Alushta-100
15) Philippine National Championship
16) Oceania (3.2b) Zonal Championship
17) Prague Unity Agreement Comments
18) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Games section

59th Men's Polish Championships       42 games
Mitropa Cup                          120 games
Capablanca Memorial                  133 games
First Saturday May                    76 games
Championships of Uruguay              42 games
Backa Palanka                         62 games
Russian Women's Championships         33 games
11th Macedonian Team Cup             120 games
Dutch Team Playoffs                   40 games
Final Weekend of the 4NCL            144 games
Alushta-100                           91 games
Philippine National Championship     120 games
Oceania (3.2b) Zonal Championship    163 games
1185 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Vladica Andrejic, Laszlo Nagy, Lanfranco Bombelli, John Henderson, Pawel Suwarski and Bartlomiej Macieja, Gabriela Koskoska, Alejandro Nogueira, Andres Bacsi, Adolivio Capece, Bobby Ang, Arthur Brameld, Joel Lautier, Jovan Dragic and all those who helped with this issue.

The agreement reached in Prague for a unified World Championships is only the start of the process. A week down the line it has been shown not to be unifying as far as the leading players are concerned. In the next few months we will see how the parties involved plan to put it into practice. The details may be even more controversial than the original agreement.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Prague Agreement

Its now a week since the Prague agreement to produce a single World Chess Champion and there has been some time to take in the implications. Whilst I think unification is essential the deal certainly leaves a sour taste.

Garry Kasparov has been world number one for nearly two decades and is also the most famous player. His participation is both financially and for publicity purposes very desirable. However there seems no sporting justification for seeding him directly to a match against one of the champions Ponomariov. Moreover Kasparov seems to have emerged with more political power than any other player, worrying as Kasparov has proved to be very divisive away from the board.

One reading of the situation is to say simply good luck to Kasparov, he negotiated a good deal for himself whilst the other players did not. Most certainly Kasparov is a powerful personality who tends to get his way a lot of the time. Nevertheless the agreement leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Anand and Ivanchuk turned down the Dortmund qualifier remaining loyal to FIDE and in return they were not offered a place in the unification process.

One obvious solution would have been to take Ivanchuk (as losing FIDE finalist), Svidler and Anand (as losing semi-finalists) and add Garry Kasparov to produce an elimination tournament of 12 rounds, the winner to play Ruslan Ponomariov. However that would have had to have been firmly on the agenda before the offer was made to Kasparov (and we don't know who floated this idea and when it became real). Once Kasparov found the idea of playing Ponomariov acceptable he was hardly going to accept anything less. Kasparov then negotiated with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov directly and they came to an agreement before Prague. If the solution of an extra qualifying tournament had been the one offered to Kasparov then he would have had to either accept or turn it down. There is some talk that the Ponomariov - Kasparov match is only agreed in principal and that other players could be included but it would be very hard to add another stage now although Kasparov would look incredibly magnanimous if he accepted such a proposal.

3) 59th Men's Polish Chess Championships

The 59th Men's Polish Chess Championships took place in Warsaw April 28th - May 12th 2002. Michal Krasenkow took clear first with 10.5/13. My thanks to Pawel Suwarski and Bartlomiej Macieja.

Internet coverage: http://szachy.plusgsm.pl/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
59th ch-POL Warsaw POL (POL), 29 iv-12 v 2002                    cat. X (2498)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Krasenkow, Michal      g POL 2641  * = 1 1 = 1 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 1 10.5  2738 
 2. Macieja, Bartlomiej    g POL 2584  = * = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.0  2702 
 3. Markowski, Tomasz      g POL 2538  0 = * = = = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 =  9.0  2636 
 4. Kempinski, Robert      g POL 2570  0 = = * 1 = = 1 1 1 0 = 1 1  8.5  2602 
 5. Grabarczyk, Miroslaw   g POL 2484  = = = 0 * = = = 1 = 1 1 = 1  8.0  2586 
 6. Socko, Bartosz         g POL 2564  0 0 = = = * 1 1 = 1 1 0 0 1  7.0  2522 
 7. Cyborowski, Lukasz     m POL 2510  0 = = = = 0 * = 0 = = = 1 1  6.0  2468 
 8. Gdanski, Jacek         g POL 2523  = = 0 0 = 0 = * = 0 1 = 1 1  6.0  2467 
 9. Bobras, Piotr          m POL 2435  0 0 0 0 0 = 1 = * 1 = = 1 1  6.0  2474 
10. Blehm, Pawel           g POL 2547  = 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 * 0 1 1 1  5.5  2437 
11. Bartel, Mateusz        m POL 2417  0 0 0 1 0 0 = 0 = 1 * 1 0 1  5.0  2417 
12. Tomczak, Rafal         f POL 2384  = 0 0 = 0 1 = = = 0 0 * 1 0  4.5  2396 
13. Stryjecki, Marek       m POL 2456  0 0 0 0 = 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 0  2.5  2250 
14. Lagowski, Patryk       f POL 2321  0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 *  2.5  2260 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) Mitropa Cup

The Mitropa Cup took place in Leipzig 3rd-11th May 2002. Slovenia (Alexander Beliavsky, Dusko Pavasovic, Adrian Mikhalchishin and Georg Mohr) defeated Germany (Christopher Lutz, Robert Huebner, Alexander Graf and Fabian Doettling) in round 7 which meant they took first place by just one point.

Internet coverage: http://www.sv-goerlitz.de/Turniere/Mitropacup2002/Mitropacup.html

Round 4 6th May 2002

Hungary        - Slovakia         2-2   
Austria        - Slovenia         0-4   
Croatia        - Switzerland      2-2   
Italy          - Czech Republic  1½-2½   
Germany        - France          3½-½   

Round 5 7th May 2002

France         - Hungary         1½-2½   
Czech Republic - Germany          1-3   
Switzerland    - Italy            2-2   
Slovenia       - Croatia         3½-½   
Slovakia       - Austria          3-1   

Round 6 8th May 2002

Hungary        - Austria          3-1   
Croatia        - Slovakia         2-2     
Italy          - Slovenia         ½-3½   
Germany        - Switzerland     2½-1½     
France         - Czech Republic  1½-2½   

Round 7 9th May 2002

Czech Republic - Hungary          1-3   
Switzerland    - France           4-0   
Slovenia       - Germany         2½-1½   

Beliavsky,Alexand - Lutz,Christopher   1-0   
Pavasovic, Dusko  - Hübner,Robert,Dr.  ½-½   
Mikhalchishin,Adr - Graf,Alexander     ½-½   
Mohr, Georg       - Döttling,Fabian    ½-½   

Slovakia       - Italy            2-2   
Austria        - Croatia         2½-1½   

Round 8 10th May 2002

Hungary        - Croatia          2-2   
Italy          - Austria         1½-2½   
Germany        - Slovakia        2½-1½     
France         - Slovenia         ½-3½   
Czech Republic - Switzerland      ½-3½   

Round 9 11th May 2002

Switzerland    - Hungary         1½-2½   
Slovenia       - Czech Republic   2-2   
Slovakia       - France           2-2     
Austria        - Germany          ½-3½     
Croatia        - Italy            1-3   

Final Standings:
 1. Slovenia       2548   7 2 0 16-2 27.0 
 2. Germany        2581   8 0 1 16-2 26.0 
 3. Hungary        2492   5 3 1 13-5 21.5 
 4. Switzerland    2482   4 2 3 10-8 21.5 
 5. Slovakia       2422   2 4 3 8-10 17.5 
 6. Italy          2391   2 2 5 6-12 15.5 
 7. Czech Republic 2439   2 2 5 6-12 14.5 
 7. Croatia        2432   1 4 4 6-12 14.5 
 9. Austria        2351   3 0 6 6-12 12.0 
10. France         2376   1 1 7 3-15 10.0 

Teams

1   Italy                   2391
1   Borgo, Giulio        IM 2418   ITA
2   Sedina, Elena  (IM) WGM 2407   ITA
3   Sarno, Spartaco      IM 2399   ITA
4   Mantovani, Renzo     IM 2369   ITA
5   Isonzo, Davide       FM 2360   ITA
  
2    Germany   2581     
1    Lutz,Christopher    GM 2644   GER
2    Hübner,Robert,Dr.   GM 2628   GER
3    Graf,Alexander      GM 2623   GER
4    Döttling,Fabian     IM 2540   GER
5    Sprenger,Jan Micha  IM 2468   GER
  
3   France                  2376
1   Pira, Davoud         IM 2434   FRA
2   Touzane, Olivier     IM 2352   FRA
3   Dunis, Aurelien         2405   FRA
4   Gozzoli, Yannick        2313   FRA
  
4   Czech Republic          2439     
1   Kalod,Radek          IM 2472   CZE
2   Groß,David           IM 2470   CZE
3   Cvek, Robert         IM 2430   CZE
4   Rasik,Vitezlav       IM 2424   CZE
5   Jirka, Jiri             2398   CZE
  
5   Switzerland             2482     
1   Korchnoi, Viktor     GM 2635   SUI
2   Jenni, Florian       IM 2508   SUI
3   Forster, Richard     IM 2459   SUI
4   Hug, Werner          IM 2461   SUI
5   Moor, Olivier        FM 2346   SUI
  
6   Slovenia                2548
1   Beliavsky,Alexande   GM 2661   SLO
2   Pavasovic, Dusko     GM 2567   SLO
3   Mikhalchishin,Adri   GM 2535   SLO
4   Mohr, Georg          GM 2509   SLO
5   Grosar, Aljosa       IM 2470   SLO
  
7   Slovakia                2422
1   Markos, Jan          IM 2467   SVK
2   Plachetka,Jan        GM 2441   SVK
3   Priehoda,Viteslav    IM 2425   SVK
4   Manik, Mikulas       IM 2410   SVK
5   Kotan, Ladislav      IM 2365   SVK
  
8   Austria                 2351     
1   Balinov, Ilija       GM 2464   AUT
2   Moser,Eva           WIM 2311   AUT
3   Groetz, Harald       FM 2353   AUT
4   Kuba, Guenter        FM 2317   AUT
5   Pilaj, Herwig        FM 2310   AUT
  
9   Croatia                 2432
1   Stevic, Hrvoje       GM 2523   CRO
2   Golubovic, Boris     IM 2462   CRO
3   Kovacevic, Blazimi   IM 2461   CRO
4   Brumen, Dinko        IM 2408   CRO
5   Brkic, Ante          FM 2306   CRO
  
10  Hungary                 2492     
1   Ruck,Robert          GM 2569   HUN
2   Berkes, Ferenc       GM 2511   HUN
3   Horvath, Adam        IM 2464   HUN
4   Czebe, Attila        IM 2462   HUN
5   Csom,Istvan          GM 2456   HUN

5) Capablanca Memorial

The XXXVII Capablanca Memorial takes place in the Hotel Neptuno - Tritón, La Habana May 5th-17th 2002. The main event is the Category XIII Elite event but also there are two Category IX events.

Internet coverage: http://www.inder.co.cu/capablanca/

Round 5 Standings:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capablanca Mem Elite Havana CUB (CUB), 6-17 v 2002      cat. XIII (2559)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Vera, Reynaldo            g CUB 2537  * = = . . = = 1 . .  3.0  2626 
 2. Arencibia, Walter         g CUB 2542  = * . . 1 . . = 1 0  3.0  2629 
 3. Nogueiras, Jesus          g CUB 2534  = . * = = . . . = 1  3.0  2634 
 4. Bruzon, Lazaro            g CUB 2569  . . = * = . = . = 1  3.0  2640 
 5. Nataf, Igor-Alexandre     g FRA 2567  . 0 = = * 1 . = . .  2.5  2548 
 6. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan   g CHI 2556  = . . . 0 * = 1 = .  2.5  2568 
 7. Stefansson, Hannes        g ISL 2598  = . . = . = * 0 . 1  2.5  2548 
 8. Zapata, Alonso            g COL 2541  0 = . . = 0 1 * . .  2.0  2488 
 9. Dominguez, Lenier         g CUB 2601  . 0 = = . = . . * =  2.0  2476 
10. Kogan, Artur              g ISR 2540  . 1 0 0 . . 0 . = *  1.5  2419 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 6 Standings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capablanca Mem Premier I Havana CUB (CUB), 6-15 v 2002            cat. IX (2451)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Del Rio Angelis, Salvador G   m ESP 2495  * = 1 . = . 1 = 1 . . .  4.5  2656 
 2. Vassallo, Mauricio            m ARG 2438  = * . = . 0 . . . 1 1 =  3.5  2496 
 3. Franco Ocampos, Zenon         g PAR 2510  0 . * 1 . . = . = . = 1  3.5  2503 
 4. Cacho Reigadas, Sergio        m ESP 2469  . = 0 * 0 . . 1 . . 1 1  3.5  2515 
 5. Borges Mateos, Juan           m CUB 2438  = . . 1 * = 0 . = = . .  3.0  2444 
 6. Perez, Rodney                 m CUB 2425  . 1 . . = * = = . . 0 =  3.0  2453 
 7. Abreu, Aryam                  m CUB 2480  0 . = . 1 = * . = = . .  3.0  2444 
 8. Gretarsson, Helgi Ass         g ISL 2521  = . . 0 . = . * = = . 1  3.0  2430 
 9. Garcia Martinez, Silvino      g CUB 2395  0 . = . = . = = * = . .  2.5  2417 
10. Alvarez, Jose                 m CUB 2403  . 0 . . = . = = = * = .  2.5  2395 
11. Gonzalez, Yuri                m CUB 2444  . 0 = 0 . 1 . . . = * =  2.5  2383 
12. Alonso, Rene                  m CUB 2398  . = 0 0 . = . 0 . . = *  1.5  2274 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capablanca Mem Premier II Havana CUB (CUB), 6-15 v 2002         cat. IX (2452)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Delgado, Neuris             m CUB 2506  * . . = = 1 . . = = 1 .  4.0  2556 
 2. Herrera, Irisberto          g CUB 2474  . * = = . 1 = = . . . 1  4.0  2568 
 3. Zarnicki, Pablo             g ARG 2499  . = * . = . . = . 1 1 =  4.0  2579 
 4. Reinaldo Castineira, Roi    m ESP 2404  = = . * = . . . . = 1 1  4.0  2592 
 5. Hauchard, Arnaud            g FRA 2518  = . = = * . 1 . 1 . 0 .  3.5  2506 
 6. Gomez, Felix                m CUB 2406  0 0 . . . * = 1 1 . = .  3.0  2449 
 7. Almeida, Omar               m CUB 2484  . = . . 0 = * = . 1 . =  3.0  2453 
 8. De la Paz, Frank            m CUB 2427  . = = . . 0 = * . = . 1  3.0  2460 
 9. Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor      m ISL 2396  = . . . 0 0 . . * = = 1  2.5  2399 
10. Herraiz Hidalgo, Herminio   m ESP 2456  = . 0 = . . 0 = = * . .  2.0  2327 
11. Gongora, Maikel             m CUB 2408  0 . 0 0 1 = . . = . * .  2.0  2329 
12. Vazquez, Renier             m CUB 2442  . 0 = 0 . . = 0 0 . . *  1.0  2174 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capablanca Mem Mixto Havana CUB (CUB), 6-15 v 2002               cat. II (2284)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Zambrana, Oswaldo           f BOL 2389  * 1 = . 1 1 . = . . 1 .  5.0  2524 
 2. Pina, Sulennis             wm CUB 2371  0 * = 1 . . . 1 1 . . =  4.0  2435 
 3. Collazo, Niala             wf CUB 2192  = = * . . . 1 = 0 = . .  3.0  2296 
 4. Araque, Rafael              m COL 2365  . 0 . * . 1 = 0 = 1 . .  3.0  2276 
 5. Frometa, Zirka             wm CUB 2213  0 . . . * 0 1 . 1 0 1 .  3.0  2259 
 6. Montalvo, Alejandro         m PUR 2268  0 . . 0 1 * . . . 1 = =  3.0  2312 
 7. Fleitas, Yuleikis          wm CUB 2209  . . 0 = 0 . * 1 . . = 1  3.0  2275 
 8. Arribas, Maritza           wg CUB 2290  = 0 = 1 . . 0 * = . . .  2.5  2231 
 9. Ramon, Vivian              wg CUB 2206  . 0 1 = 0 . . = * . . =  2.5  2251 
10. Ocampo, Raul MEX            m MEX 2312  . . = 0 1 0 . . . * = =  2.5  2215 
11. Hernandez, Tania           wm CUB 2174  0 . . . 0 = = . . = * 1  2.5  2244 
12. Pazos Gambarrotti, Plinio   m ECU 2420  . = . . . = 0 . = = 0 *  2.0  2131 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) First Saturday May

There are GM-IM-FM-norm and also a FIDE ELO-rating tournaments in Budapest, 4th-16th of May 2002.

Internet coverage: http://w3.enternet.hu/firstsat/

Round 9 Standings: 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
FSGM May Budapest HUN (HUN), 4-16 v 2002            cat. VII (2410)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Kallio, Heikki     g FIN 2502  * . = 1 1 . 1 = 1 1 1  7.0  2724 
 2. Balogh, Csaba      f HUN 2413  . * 1 = . 1 = = 1 = 1  6.0  2594 
 3. Nyback, Tomi       m FIN 2420  = 0 * . = . = 1 0 1 1  4.5  2446 
 4. Vajda, Albert      m ROM 2379  0 = . * = 1 = 1 . = .  4.0  2474 
 5. Husari, Satea      m SYR 2383  0 . = = * = = = . = 1  4.0  2416 
 6. Seres, Lajos       m HUN 2483  . 0 . 0 = * = 1 = 1 =  4.0  2387 
 7. Lukacs, Peter      g HUN 2460  0 = = = = = * . = . =  3.5  2371 
 8. Rajlich, Vasik G   f USA 2377  = = 0 0 = 0 . * . 1 1  3.5  2368 
 9. Bilek, Istvan      g HUN 2377  0 0 1 . . = = . * = =  3.0  2377 
10. Lengyel, Bela      m HUN 2354  0 = 0 = = 0 . 0 = * 1  3.0  2285 
11. Gonda, Laszlo      f HUN 2359  0 0 0 . 0 = = 0 = 0 *  1.5  2145 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FSIM May Budapest HUN (HUN), 4-16 v 2002                 cat. II (2277)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Berczes, Csaba       f HUN 2243  * = 1 . = = 1 1 = . 1 1  7.0  2504 
 2. Bui Vinh               VIE 2420  = * 0 . . 1 1 1 1 1 = 1  7.0  2473 
 3. Papp, Gellert          HUN 2244  0 1 * 1 1 . = = = . 0 1  5.5  2365 
 4. Dub, Zeev            f ISR 2297  . . 0 * 1 = = = 1 0 1 =  5.0  2305 
 5. Volodin, Viktor      m RUS 2319  = . 0 0 * = = . = 1 1 =  4.5  2265 
 6. Brustkern, Juergen   f GER 2293  = 0 . = = * 1 = 0 = . =  4.0  2225 
 7. Szabo, Krisztian       HUN 2226  0 0 = = = 0 * 1 . 1 . =  4.0  2224 
 8. Mueller, Markus        GER 2195  0 0 = = . = 0 * = 1 1 .  4.0  2248 
 9. Eperjesi, Laszlo     m HUN 2322  = 0 = 0 = 1 . = * = 0 .  3.5  2208 
10. Vass, Viktor           HUN 2218  . 0 . 1 0 = 0 0 = * = 1  3.5  2210 
11. Nemeth, Zoltan       m HUN 2364  0 = 1 0 0 . . 0 1 = * 0  3.0  2145 
12. Berczes, David         HUN 2179  0 0 0 = = = = . . 0 1 *  3.0  2166 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

7) Championships of Uruguay

Alejandro Nogueira reports: The chess Championships of Uruguay take place 6th-16th May in Best Western Palladium Hotel - Montevideo - Uruguay. It is a 12 round robin with two invited IM : Alfredo Giaccio of Argentina and Cristobal Valiente from Paraguay. There are actually two players running for the title at this time, both IM from Uruguay: Bernardo Roselli and Martin Crosa, this last one made in Asunción, Paraguay his third IM norm last month. The results against the invited IM don´t count for the title, but gives the tournament a international level at least.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-URU Montevideo URU (URU), 6-16 v 2002                            cat. I (2269)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Crosa, Martin                  f URU 2384  * . 1 = . 1 1 1 = . . 1  6.0  2575 
 2. Roselli Mailhe, Bernardo       m URU 2419  . * 0 1 . = . 1 . 1 1 1  5.5  2504 
 3. Giaccio, Alfredo               m ARG 2517  0 1 * 0 1 . 1 . 1 . . 1  5.0  2426 
 4. Valiente, Cristobal            m PAR 2331  = 0 1 * = . = . 1 . 1 .  4.5  2388 
 5. Curi, Gabriel                  f URU 2267  . . 0 = * = = 1 . = 1 .  4.0  2324 
 6. Riverol, Jose                    URU 2278  0 = . . = * 0 . 1 1 = .  3.5  2229 
 7. Granara Barreto, Sebastian A     URU 2237  0 . 0 = = 1 * . 0 . . 1  3.0  2238 
 8. Bauza, Alejandro               f URU 2260  0 0 . . 0 . . * = 1 1 0  2.5  2127 
 9. Echevers,Ignacio                 URU ----  = . 0 0 . 0 1 = * 0 . .  2.0  2145 
10. Saralegui, Mario                 URU 2118  . 0 . . = 0 . 0 1 * = 0  2.0  2076 
11. Larrea, Manuel                   URU 2180  . 0 . 0 0 = . 0 . = * 1  2.0  2115 
12. Sosa Macho, Juan Manu            URU 2240  0 0 0 . . . 0 1 . 1 0 *  2.0  2144 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8) Backa Palanka

The 3rd Backa Palanka Open tournament took place 2nd-10th May 2002. The event took place in Backa Palanka (30 km western of Novi Sad). The winner was Misa Pap with 7/9.

Internet coverage: http://solair.eunet.yu/~kingns/Open2002e.htm or http://www.backapalankaopen.com

Final Standings: 
  1  Pap, Misa (17)            YUG   2413 im    7       39.5
  2  Lajthajm, Borko (15)      YUG   2419 fm    6.5     37.5
  3  Rajkovic, Dusan (1)       YUG   2501 gm    6.5     36.0
  4  Tadic, Branko (11)        YUG   2442 im    6.5     34.5
  5  Sanduleac, Vasile (7)     MDA   2477 im    6.5     34.0
  6  Drazic, Sinisa (8)        YUG   2474 gm    6.5     33.0
  7  Svetushkin, Dmitry (4)    MDA   2484 gm    6.5     32.0
  8  Andrijevic, Milan (24)    YUG   2368 im    6.5     30.5
  9  Jeremic, Veljko (5)       YUG   2482       6       34.0
 10  Savic, Miodrag R. (2)     YUG   2498 im    6       32.5
 11  Markovic, Zoran S. (18)   YUG   2409 im    6       31.0
 12  Kozakov, Mikhail (10)     UKR   2448 gm    6       31.0
 13  Zlatic, Mihajlo (25)      YUG   2356 fm    6       30.5
 14  Radovanovic, Dusan (32)   YUG   2294       6       28.0
 15  Todorovic, Goran M (3)    YUG   2487 gm    5.5     31.5
 16  Pilgaard, Kim (12)        DEN   2426 im    5.5     31.5
 17  Bogdan, Dan (23)          ROU   2374 im    5.5     30.5
 18  Perunovic, Milos (6)      YUG   2478 im    5.5     30.0
 19  Brenjo, Slavisa (14)      YUG   2424 im    5.5     30.0
 20  Zakharchenko, Arnold (22) UKR   2391 im    5.5     29.0
 21  Arsovic, Zoran (16)       YUG   2416 im    5.5     28.5
 22  Ostojic, Nikola (9)       YUG   2462 im    5.5     28.5
 23  Weinzettl, Ernst (20)     AUT   2397 im    5.5     27.0
 24  Vujadinovic, Goran (21)   YUG   2394 im    5.5     27.0
 25  Kernazhitsky, Leonid (19) UKR   2401 im    5.5     25.0
81 players

9) NAO Chess Club 2nd IM tournament

The NAO Chess Club 2nd IM tournament takes place 13th-21st May 2002. The main point of interest is the player Yoshiharu Habu. The 31 year old is from Japan. He is considered to be the strongest ever player of Shogi and is a big star in his country. He also happens to be a keen chess player, and a very good one at that. He has been taught the game seven years ago, and although he can devote very little time to our game due to his busy schedule, he already scored an IM norm last year in his second (!) official tournament.

Players: Micea - Sergiu Lupu 2470, Cyril Marcelin 2452, Ventzislav Inkiov 2440, Mark Taimanov 2423, Laurent Guidarelli 2366, Yoshiharu Habu 2342, Sébastien Midoux 2288, Tervel Serafimov 2284, François Marchand 2259 and Edouard Bonnet 2194.

Internet coverage: http://www.nao-cc.com

10) Russian Women's Championships

The Russian Women's Championships take place in Elista, May 10th-18th 2002. The event is a 9 round Swiss. The standings are based on the games as there isn't one on the official site (one game and therefore result may be missing).

Internet coverage: http://www.chessdaily.com/wrcc/

Round 2 Standings:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
52nd ch-RUS w Elista RUS (RUS), 10-16 v 2002
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  1   2 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Zimina, Olga                   wm RUS 2360  +29 +19  2.0       
 2. Grabuzova, Tatiana             wg RUS 2388  +21 =11  1.5  2493 
 3. Matveeva, Svetlana             wg RUS 2437  +20 =12  1.5  2492 
 4. Kharashkina, Bairta            wf RUS 2193  +30 = 7  1.5  2531 
 5. Kosintseva, Tatiana            wg RUS 2373  =24 +16  1.5  2408 
 6. Kursova, Maria                 wf RUS 2255  =10 +26  1.5  2591 
 7. Polovnikova, Ekaterina         wg RUS 2366  +27 = 4  1.5  2414 
 8. Demina, Julia                  wg RUS 2334  =15 +25  1.5  2378 
 9. Slavina, Irina                 wg RUS 2370  =14 +24  1.5  2320 
10. Sudakova, Irina                wm RUS 2369  = 6 +31  1.5  2433 
11. Kozlovskaya, Valentina         wg RUS 2246  +34 = 2  1.5  2570 
12. Pogonina, Natalija             wf RUS 2303  +32 = 3  1.5  2473 
13. Kosintseva, Nadezhda           wm RUS 2336  +33 =14  1.5  2340 
14. Khasanova, Elmira                 RUS 2033  = 9 =13  1.0  2353 
15. Chistiakova, Tamara            wf RUS 2207  = 8 =17  1.0  2319 
16. Vasilevich, Irina                 RUS 2208  +22 - 5  1.0  2359 
17. Dorofeeva, Anna                wm RUS 2304  =25 =15  1.0  2185 
18. Semenova, Irina                wm RUS 2284  =26 =23  1.0  2382 
19. Kovanova, Baira                   RUS 2124  +28 - 1  1.0  2332 
20. Mirzoeva, Elmira               wg RUS 2296  - 3 +32  1.0  2280 
21. Styazhkina, Olga               wg RUS 2355  - 2 +34  1.0  2377 
22. Zaiatz, Elena                  wg RUS 2346  -16 +33  1.0  2234 
23. Strutinskaya, Galina N         wm RUS 2336   .  =18  0.5  2284 
24. Chasovnikova, Eugenia          wm RUS 2222  = 5 - 9  0.5  2178 
25. Fominykh, Maria                   RUS 2163  =17 - 8  0.5  2126 
26. Stepovaia-Dianchenko, Tatiana  wg RUS 2428  =18 - 6  0.5  2076 
27. Khusnutdinova, Luiza           wm RUS 2250  - 7 =30  0.5  2145 
28. Kryukova, Irina                wg RUS 2304  -19 =29  0.5  1991 
29. Shaidullina, Sandugach         wf RUS 2245  - 1 =28  0.5  2139 
30. Tomilova, Elena                   RUS 2311  - 4 =27  0.5  2028 
31. Guseva, Olga                      RUS 2226   .  -10  0.0       
32. Dordzhieva, Nadezhda           wf RUS 2123  -12 -20  0.0       
33. Druzhinina, Olga                  RUS 2261  -13 -22  0.0       
34. Shumiakina, Tatiana            wg RUS 2366  -11 -21  0.0       
-------------------------------------------------------------------

11) 11th Macedonian Team Cup

Gabriela Koskoska reports: 12 men's teams and 4 women's teams took part in the 11th Macedonian Team Cup, which took place in Stip, 8th-12th May 2002. "BM-Kisela Voda" from Skopje (Georgiev Kiril, Damljanovic Branko, Mitkov Nikola, Georgiev Vladimir, Stamenkov Vanco and Mitkov Marjan) won the Men's Cup with 18/20 and "Alkaloid" from Skopje (Koskoska Gabriela, Sekulovska Vesna and Gjorgjieva Ivana) won the Women's Cup with 11/12.

12) Dutch Team Playoffs

The four strongest Dutch teams competed in the Dutch Championship play-offs of the "Meesterklasse" on May 9th-10th in Enschede. Ordina (Van Wely, Sokolov, Timman, Gurevich etc) beat HSG (Piket, Seirawan, Nikolic, Van der Sterren, Nijboer, Rogers etc) 6.5-3.5 in the final.

Internet coverage: http://www.schaakbond.nl

Semi-Finals May 9th 2002

      ING/ESGOO          HSG              3-7 
 1.   Feygin           - Seirawan         1-0 
 2.   Schebler         - Piket            1-0 
 3.   Hennig           - Van der Sterren  ½-½ 
 4.   Hoffmann         - Nikolic          ½-½ 
 5.   Hausrath         - Ljubojevic       0-1 
 6.   Henrichs         - Nijboer          0-1 
 7.   Kroeze           - Rogers           0-1 
 8.   Kiseleva         - Kosashvili       0-1 
 9.   Van Wissen       - De Vreugt        0-1 
10.   Bolwerk          - Polgar           0-1 

      LSG                Ordina           3-7 
 1.   Van Wessel       - Van Wely         0-1 
 2.   Smeets           - Sokolov          0-1 
 3.   Van Haastert     - Timman           0-1 
 4.   Bosman           - Gurevich         ½-½ 
 5.   Erwich           - Tkachiev         1-0 
 6.   Van Blitterswijk - Chuchelov        ½-½ 
 7.   Konings          - Van den Doel     0-1 
 8.   Middelburg       - Kuijf            ½-½ 
 9.   Rebers           - Blees            ½-½ 
10.   Roobol           - Cuijpers         0-1 

Final May 10th 2002

      Ordina             HSG            6.5-3.5
 1.   Van Wely         - Piket            1-0 
 2.   Sokolov          - Seirawan         1-0 
 3.   Timman           - Nikolic          ½-½ 
 4.   Gurevich         - Van der Sterren  1-0 
 5.   Van der Wiel     - Nijboer          ½-½ 
 6.   Van den Doel     - Ljubojevic       ½-½  
 7.   Tkachiev         - Kosashvili       ½-½ 
 8.   Chuchelov        - Rogers           1-0 
 9.   Delemarre        - Stellwagen       0-1 
10.   Janssen          - De Vreugt        ½-½ 
 
3rd-4th Playoff May 10th 2002

      LSG                ING/ESGOO      6.5-3.5
 1.   Bosman           - Hausrath         0-1
 2.   Van Haastert     - Hoffmann         1-0
 3.   Smeets           - Feygin           ½-½
 4.   Middelburg       - Schebler         ½-½
 5.   Erwich           - Kiseleva         1-0
 6.   Konings          - Henrichs         ½-½
 7.   Van Blitterswijk - Van Wissen       1-0
 8.   Van Wessel       - Kroeze           0-1
 9.   Roobol           - Ellenbroek       1-0
10.   Rebers           - Bolwerk          1-0

13) Final Weekend of the 4NCL

The Final Weekend of the 4NCL took place May 4th-6th 2002. Beeson Gregory won the league with 10 wins and 1 draw a point clear of Wood Green 1 who had 10 wins and 1 loss they had Alexander Morozevich for the final two rounds. The bottom three clubs Thistle White Rose, Beeson Gregory 2 and Wessex were relegated. My thanks to Arthur Brameld for the games throughout the season.

Results will appear: http://www.4ncl.co.uk/

Round 9 May 4th 2002

    BARBICAN 4NCL 1    2377 5 - 3 MIDLAND MONARCHS     2330
1 w Parker, Jonathan   2532 ½ - ½ Pert, Nicholas       2452
2 b Kelly, Brian       2445 ½ - ½ Ledger, Andrew J.    2395
3 w Knott, Simon       2370 ½ - ½ Hunt, Adam C.        2365
4 b Palliser, Richard  2443 0 - 1 Williams, Simon K.   2423
5 w Shikerov, Stefan   2298 1 - 0 Eames, Robert G.     2327
6 b Crouch, Colin S.   2365 ½ - ½ Pert, Richard G.     2327
7 w Ferguson, Mark     2376 1 - 0 Naylor, John         2229
8 b Regan, Natasha (F) 2185 1 - 0 Tidman, Sophie (F)   2119
    Board order by agreement  -   norm chance      

    WOOD GREEN 1       2525 7 - 1 WESSEX               2214
1 w Short, Nigel       2673 1 - 0 Poulton, James       2409
2 b Speelman, Jonathan 2596 ½ - ½ Webb, Richard M.     2361
3 w Baburin, Alexander 2565 1 - 0 Corkett, Anthony R.  2326
4 b Emms, John M.      2537 1 - 0 Simons, Martin J.    2230
5 w Turner, Matthew J. 2505 1 - 0 Yeo, Michael J.      2206
6 b Ward, Christopher  2500 ½ - ½ Neil, David R.       2222
7 w Hunt, Harriet (F)  2415 1 - 0 Pleasants, Allan J.  1944
8 b Levitt, Jonathan   2412 1 - 0 Howard, Emily (F)    2017

    BARBICAN 4NCL 2    2291 1½-6½ BEESON GREGORY 1     2503
1 w Webster, Andrew    2413 ½ - ½ Nunn, John D.M.      2595
2 b Rogers, Jonathan   2346 0 - 1 Rogers, Ian          2559
3 w Collinson, Adam    2391 ½ - ½ Chandler, Murray G.  2543
4 b Berry, Neil        2265 0 - 1 Hebden, Mark L.      2537
5 w Duncan,Christopher 2336 0 - 1 McShane, Luke J.     2538
6 b Trent, Lawrence    2219 ½ - ½ Summerscale, Aaron   2503
7 w Coleman, David     2234 0 - 1 Mestel, A. Jonathan  2495
8 b Lauterbach, Ingrid 2127 0 - 1 Richards, Heather F  2252

    BRISTOL 1          2290 4½-3½ GUILDFORD-ADC 1      2343
1 w Ansell, Simon      2396 ½ - ½ Rowson, Jonathan     2527
2 b Sherwin, James T.  2339 0 - 1 Plaskett, James      2462
3 w Burgess, Graham    2301 0 - 1 Matros, Alexander    2455
4 b Beaumont, Chris    2300 ½ - ½ Kinsman, Andrew P.H. 2401
5 w Cobb, Charles      2297 ½ - ½ Povah, Nigel E.      2351
6 b McFarland, Robert  2280 1 - 0 Benitah, Yohan *     2325
7 w Collier, David O.  2255 1 - 0 Coates, Kenneth G.   2188
8 b Buckley, Melanie   2150 1 - 0 Norman, Dinah (F)    2032

    SLOUGH 1           2345 5 - 3 BEESON GREGORY 2     2257
1 w Wells, Peter K.    2499 ½ - ½ McDonald, Neil R.    2389
2 b McNab, Colin A.    2411 1 - 0 Richardson, John R.  2308
3 w Kiseleva, Natalia  2373 1 - 0 Broom, Mark          2240
4 b Wohl, Aleksandar   2388 1 - 0 Graham, David B.     2254
5 w Thiruchelvam, Mur  2269 0 - 1 Moskovic, David M.   2250
6 b Howell, David W.L. 2239 0 - 1 Snape, Ian *         2185
7 w Devereaux, Maxim   2282 1 - 0 Bellin, Jana (F)     2203
8 b Houska, Miroslav   2300 ½ - ½ Anderton, David W.   2230

    WOOD GREEN 2       2331 6 - 2 THISTLE WHITE ROSE   2304
1 w Littlewood, Paul   2403 ½ - ½ Arkell, Keith C.     2478
2 b Martin, Andrew D.  2443 0 - 1 Dunnington, Angus J. 2382
3 w Tiller, Bjorn      2383 1 - 0 Kirsanov, Oleg       2330
4 b Sowray, Peter J.   2312 1 - 0 Gayson, Peter M.     2281
5 w Lee, Graham D.     2338 1 - 0 Burnett, Jim         2218
6 b Law, Andrew P.     2302 1 - 0 Buckley, Simon T.    2243
7 w Tan, Desmond       2281 ½ - ½ Barrett, Steve J.    2199
8 b Jackson, Sheila    2183 1 - 0 default   

Round 10 May 5th 2002

    MIDLAND MONARCHS   2289 4 - 4 SLOUGH 1             2333
1 w Hunt, Adam C.      2365 ½ - ½ Wells, Peter K.      2499
2 b Williams, Simon K. 2423 1 - 0 McNab, Colin A.      2411
3 w Ledger, Andrew J.  2395 1 - 0 Kiseleva, Natalia *  2373
4 b Ledger, David J.   2283 0 - 1 Wohl, Aleksandar H.  2388
5 w Pert, Richard G.   2327 ½ - ½ Howell, David W.L.   2239
6 b Naylor, John       2229 ½ - ½ Thiruchelvam, Mur    2269
7 w Ledger, Stephen C. 2168 ½ - ½ Tarifa, Alket        2249
8 b Tidman, Sophie (F) 2119 0 - 1 Richmond, Robert J.  2234

    THISTLE WHITE ROSE 2271 2½-5½ BARBICAN 4NCL 1      2389
1 w Arkell, Keith C.   2478 ½ - ½ Parker, Jonathan     2532
2 b Kirsanov, Oleg     2330 0 - 1 Kelly, Brian         2445
3 w Dunnington, Angus  2382 ½ - ½ Knott, Simon         2370
4 b Gayson, Peter M.   2281 0 - 1 Palliser, Richard    2443
5 w Burnett, Jim       2218 ½ - ½ Ferguson, Mark       2376
6 b Buckley, Simon T.  2243 ½ - ½ Rogers, Jonathan W.  2346
7 w Barrett, Steve J.  2199 0 - 1 Webster, Andrew      2413
8 b Keeling, Karen (F) 2038 ½ - ½ Regan, Natasha (F)   2185

    BEESON GREGORY 1 2503   7 - 1 WESSEX               2214
1 w Nunn, John D.M.    2595 ½ - ½ Poulton, James       2409
2 b Rogers, Ian        2559 1 - 0 Webb, Richard M.     2361
3 w Chandler, Murray   2543 1 - 0 Corkett, Anthony R.  2326
4 b Hebden, Mark L.    2537 1 - 0 Yeo, Michael J.      2206
5 w McShane, Luke J.   2538 ½ - ½ Simons, Martin J.    2230
6 b Summerscale, Aaron 2503 1 - 0 Neil, David R.       2222
7 w Gallagher, Joseph  2498 1 - 0 Pleasants, Allan J.  1944
8 b Richards, Heather  2252 1 - 0 Howard, Emily (F)    2017

    GUILDFORD-ADC 1    2429 5½-2½ BARBICAN 4NCL 2      2283
1 w Rowson, Jonathan   2527 1 - 0 Crouch, Colin S.     2365
2 b Conquest, Stuart   2582 ½ - ½ Collinson, Adam      2391
3 w Kosten, Anthony    2536 1 - 0 Duncan, Christopher  2336
4 b Plaskett, James    2462 ½ - ½ Berry, Neil          2265
5 w Gormally, Daniel   2514 1 - 0 Dishman, Stephen     2323
6 b Matros, Alexander  2455 ½ - ½ Trent, Lawrence      2219
7 w Benitah, Yohan *   2325 1 - 0 Coleman, David       2234
8 b Norman, Dinah (F)  2032 0 - 1 Lauterbach, Ingrid   2127

    BRISTOL 1          2290 4 - 4 WOOD GREEN 2         2340
1 w Ansell, Simon      2396 ½ - ½ Littlewood, Paul E.  2403
2 b Burgess, Graham    2301 ½ - ½ Martin, Andrew D.    2443
3 w Sherwin, James T.  2339 ½ - ½ Levitt, Jonathan P.  2412
4 b Cobb, Charles      2297 ½ - ½ Sowray, Peter J.     2312
5 w Beaumont, Chris    2300 1 - 0 Tiller, Bjorn        2383
6 b Collier, David O.  2255 0 - 1 Law, Andrew P.       2302
7 w McFarland, Robert  2280 ½ - ½ Tan, Desmond         2281
8 b Buckley, Melanie   2150 ½ - ½ Jackson, Sheila (F)  2183

    BEESON GREGORY 2   2286 1 - 7 WOOD GREEN 1         2564
1 w Mestel, A Jonathan 2495 ½ - ½ Turner, Matthew J.   2505
2 b McDonald, Neil R.  2389 0 - 1 Morozevich,Alexander 2718
3 w Moskovic, David M. 2250 0 - 1 Short, Nigel         2673
4 b Richardson, John R 2308 0 - 1 Speelman, Jonathan   2596
5 w Friedgood, David   2224 0 - 1 Baburin, Alexander   2565
6 b Snape, Ian *       2185 0 - 1 Ward, Christopher    2500
7 w Bellin, Jana (F)   2203 0 - 1 Emms, John M.        2537
8 b Anderton, David W. 2230 ½ - ½ Hunt, Harriet (F)    2415
Board order by agreement - norm chance 

Round 11 May 6th 2002

    WOOD GREEN 2       2347 5 - 3 BARBICAN 4NCL 1      2375
1 w Littlewood, Paul   2403 1 - 0 Parker, Jonathan     2532
2 b Martin, Andrew D.  2443 0 - 1 Kelly, Brian         2445
3 w Levitt, Jonathan   2412 1 - 0 Collinson, Adam      2391
4 b Lee, Graham D.     2338 ½ - ½ Knott, Simon         2370
5 w Tiller, Bjorn      2383 ½ - ½ Ferguson, Mark       2376
6 b Sowray, Peter J.   2312 1 - 0 Rogers, Jonathan W.  2346
7 w Law, Andrew P.     2302 ½ - ½ Webster, Andrew      2413
8 b Jackson, Sheila    2183 ½ - ½ Lauterbach, Ingrid   2127

    THISTLE WHITE ROSE 2271 3½-4½ BRISTOL 1            2310
1 w Arkell, Keith C.   2478 ½ - ½ Ansell, Simon        2396
2 b Kirsanov, Oleg     2330 ½ - ½ Beaumont, Chris      2300
3 w Dunnington, Angus  2382 ½ - ½ Sherwin, James T.    2339
4 b Gayson, Peter M.   2281 0 - 1 Cobb, Charles        2297
5 w Burnett, Jim       2218 ½ - ½ Burgess, Graham      2301
6 b Buckley, Simon T.  2243 ½ - ½ Collier, David O.    2255
7 w Barrett, Steve J.  2199 0 - 1 McFarland, Robert S. 2280
8 b Keeling, Karen (F) 2038 1 - 0 default   

    WOOD GREEN 1       2564 7 - 1 GUILDFORD-ADC 1      2437
1 w Morozevich, A      2718 ½ - ½ Rowson, Jonathan     2527
2 b Speelman, Jonathan 2596 1 - 0 Conquest, Stuart C.  2582
3 w Short, Nigel       2673 1 - 0 Kosten, Anthony C.   2536
4 b Baburin, Alexander 2565 1 - 0 Plaskett, James      2462
5 w Emms, John M.      2537 ½ - ½ Gormally, Daniel W.  2514
6 b Turner, Matthew J. 2505 1 - 0 Matros, Alexander    2455
7 w Ward, Christopher  2500 1 - 0 Benitah, Yohan *     2325
8 b Hunt, Harriet (F)  2415 1 - 0 Yurenok, Maria  (F)  2098

    SLOUGH 1           2334 2 - 6 BEESON GREGORY 1     2503
1 w Wells, Peter K.    2499 0 - 1 Nunn, John D.M.      2595
2 b Wohl, Aleksandar   2388 0 - 1 Rogers, Ian          2559
3 w Kiseleva, Natalia  2373 ½ - ½ Gallagher, Joseph G. 2498
4 b McNab, Colin A.    2411 ½ - ½ Hebden, Mark L.      2537
5 w Howell, David W.L. 2239 0 - 1 McShane, Luke J.     2538
6 b Thiruchelvam, Mur  2269 0 - 1 Summerscale, Aaron   2503
7 w Mehmeti, Dritan    2255 1 - 0 Chandler, Murray G.  2543
8 b Richmond, Robert   2234 0 - 1 Richards, Heather    2252

    BARBICAN 4NCL 2    2259 3½-4½ MIDLAND MONARCHS     2305
1 w Duncan,Christopher 2336 ½ - ½ Ledger, Andrew J.    2395
2 b Shikerov, Stefan   2298 0 - 1 Pert, Nicholas       2452
3 w Crouch, Colin S.   2365 1 - 0 Eames, Robert G.     2327
4 b Dishman, Stephen   2323 ½ - ½ Pert, Richard G.     2327
5 w Berry, Neil        2265 0 - 1 Hunt, Adam C.        2365
6 b Coleman, David     2234 ½ - ½ Ledger, David J.     2283
7 w Trent, Lawrence    2219 1 - 0 Ledger, Stephen C.   2168
8 b Seymour, Jane (F)  2035 0 - 1 Tidman, Sophie (F)   2119

    WESSEX             2214 3½-4½ BEESON GREGORY 2     2241
1 w Poulton, James     2409 ½ - ½ McDonald, Neil R.    2389
2 b Webb, Richard M.   2361 ½ - ½ Richardson, John R.  2308
3 w Corkett, Anthony   2326 ½ - ½ Moskovic, David M.   2250
4 b Simons, Martin J.  2230 1 - 0 Shaw, David A.       2211
5 w Yeo, Michael J.    2206 1 - 0 Friedgood, David     2224
6 b Neil, David R.     2222 0 - 1 Snape, Ian *         2185
7 w Pleasants, Allan   1944 0 - 1 Bellin, Jana (F)     2203
8 b Howard, Emily (F)  2017 0 - 1 Howell, Christopher  2160

Team                  +   -   =   Pts
BEESON GREGORY 1      10  1   0   21
WOOD GREEN 1          10  0   1   20
GUILDFORD-ADC 1        7  0   4   14
BARBICAN 4NCL 1        7  0   4   14
BRISTOL 1              6  1   4   13
WOOD GREEN 2           5  2   4   12
MIDLAND MONARCHS       5  1   5   11
SLOUGH 1               4  1   6   9
BARBICAN 4NCL 2        3  1   7   7
THISTLE WHITE ROSE     2  1   8   5
BEESON GREGORY 2       2  0   9   4
WESSEX                 1  0  10   2

14) Alushta-100

12 year old Sergey Karjakin is already making something of a reputation for himself. He was the youngest player to make a GM norm a few months ago and also helped Ruslan Ponomariov during his match against Vassily Ivanchuk. He made his second norm at the Alushta-100 tournament April 19th-29th 2002 in the Ukraine. Sadly the games don't have round numbers so they're a bit jumbled up.

Internet coverage: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/alu02apr.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alushta-100 Alushta UKR (UKR), 19-29 iv 2002                    cat. VIII (2427)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij   m UKR 2510  * = = = = 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 = 1  9.5  2595 
 2. Karjakin, Sergey          m UKR 2489  = * 0 = 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1  9.5  2597 
 3. Zubov, Alexander          m UKR 2478  = 1 * = = = = = = 1 1 = 1 1  9.0  2564 
 4. Ovsejevitsch, Sergei      g UKR 2529  = = = * = 0 = 1 = 1 = = = 1  7.5  2476 
 5. Varavin, Viktor           g RUS 2476  = 0 = = * 1 = = = = = 1 1 =  7.5  2480 
 6. Firman, Nazar             m UKR 2509  0 = = 1 0 * 1 0 = 0 1 1 1 1  7.5  2477 
 7. Zavgorodniy, Sergiy       m UKR 2389  = = = = = 0 * 0 = 1 = = 1 1  7.0  2459 
 8. Yagupov, Igor             m RUS 2474  0 0 = 0 = 1 1 * = = 0 = 1 1  6.5  2423 
 9. Shtyrenkov, Veniamen      g RUS 2474  0 0 = = = = = = * = = 1 1 =  6.5  2423 
10. Pavlov, Maxim             m UKR 2400  = 0 0 0 = 1 0 = = * = = = 0  4.5  2319 
11. Arzumanian, Georgy        m ARM 2461  0 0 0 = = 0 = 1 = = * = = 0  4.5  2314 
12. Kozlov, Viktor Mihail       RUS 2325  0 0 = = 0 0 = = 0 = = * = 1  4.5  2324 
13. Vozovic, Oksana             UKR 2297  = = 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = = = * 1  4.0  2296 
14. Khudyakov, Alexander      f RUS 2168  0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = 1 1 0 0 *  3.0  2236 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15) Philippine National Championship

Bobby Ang reports: The Philippine National Championship this year was held in three phases: FIRST, there was an open swiss tournament among non-masters which qualified 30 for the semi-finals. SECOND, the 30 qualifiers were joined by all the Philippine national masters and regional champions for another 11-round swiss, with the top ten going to the national finals. THIRD, the 10 from the semi-finals were joined by 6 seeded players to form a 16-player cast in the National Finals.

Seeded were: The Philippines' three grandmasters: GM Eugenio Torre GM Bong Villamayor GM Rogelio Antonio Jr The Philippines' three highest rated juniors: IM Mark Paragua NM John Paul Gomez NM Oliver Barbosa

After 15 rounds of chess GM Eugene Torre came out on top to earn the title of Philippine Champion for the umpteenth time. He started the tournament horrendously, with successive losses in the 3rd and 4th rounds to Melvin Merelos (not yet even a national master) and IM Chito Garma. He then regained his bearings with a short draw against GM Bong Villamayor, and then scored 8.5 in the next 9 rounds to get back on the driver's seat. He then had the luxury of a short draw against GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr to formally claim the chess crown. At 51 (yes, he looks much younger than that) he sets another record which I am sure he does not want - Eugene Torre becomes the oldest Philippine champion ever. IM Nelson Mariano, on the comeback trail after a long slump, won his last three games to tie for 2nd place with IM Mark Paragua and IM Petronio Roca to take 2nd on tie-break.

The top 6 will represent the country in the forthcoming 2002 Bled Chess Olympiad. They are: GM Eugenio Torre IM Nelson Mariano IM Mark Paragua IM Petronio Roca GM Bong Villamayor GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. IM Chito Garma scored the same number of points as GMs Villamayor and Antonio, but lost out on tie-breaks.

16) Oceania (3.2b) Zonal Championship

The Oceania Zonal Chess Championship took place at the Warwick Fiji hotel resort, Fiji 6th-11th May 2002. The favourite Darryl Johansen was the clear winner with 7.5/9 half a point clear of Gary Lane. Irina Berezina won the women's event. In the game Zelda Prasad vs. Sita Anjali Devi from round 7 the players played with the wrong colours.

Further details: http://www.auschess.org.au/oceania/fzt.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oceana zt Warwick Fiji FIJ (FIJ), 6-11 v 2002
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. Johansen, Darryl K  g  AUS 2531  +10 +13 + 3 = 2 + 4 = 8 = 5 + 6 + 7  7.5  2583 
 2. Lane, Gary W        m  AUS 2446  +19 = 6 +16 = 1 + 5 +13 + 3 - 4 +10  7.0  2519 
 3. Rujevic, Mirko      f  AUS 2303  +22 +15 - 1 = 6 +19 = 7 - 2 +16 + 4  6.0  2410 
 4. Canfell, Gregory    f  AUS 2334  +17 =16 = 6 + 9 - 1 =11 +13 + 2 - 3  5.5  2372 
 5. Ker, Anthony F      m  NZL 2320  =18 + 7 =11 +12 - 2 =16 = 1 +14 = 8  5.5  2356 
 6. Kagan, Naum         f  AUS 2250  +23 = 2 = 4 = 3 - 8 +18 +17 - 1 +12  5.5  2308 
 7. Depasquale, Chris   f  AUS 2335  -15 - 5 +26 +24 +10 = 3 + 9 + 8 - 1  5.5  2318 
 8. Feldman, Vladimir   m  AUS 2316  +26 = 9 -12 +15 + 6 = 1 =11 - 7 = 5  5.0  2283 
 9. Reilly, Tim         f  AUS 2240  +24 = 8 =13 - 4 =14 +12 - 7 =17 +18  5.0  2226 
10. Jones, Brian           AUS 2223  - 1 =20 +25 =14 - 7 +21 +22 +11 - 2  5.0  2250 
11. Smith, Robert W     f  NZL 2282  +20 =12 = 5 =19 =16 = 4 = 8 -10 =14  4.5  2214 
12. Jones, Lee R           AUS ----  +14 =11 + 8 - 5 -13 - 9 +15 +21 - 6  4.5  2239 
13. Levi, Eddy          f  AUS 2264  +21 - 1 = 9 +17 +12 - 2 - 4 =18 =16  4.5  2213 
14. Tindall, Brett      f  AUS 2273  -12 +18 =15 =10 = 9 +19 =16 - 5 =11  4.5  2199 
15. Fancy, Stuart          PNG 2209  + 7 - 3 =14 - 8 =20 =23 -12 +24 +22  4.5  2136 
16. Green, Peter           NZL 2247  +25 = 4 - 2 +18 =11 = 5 =14 - 3 =13  4.5  2253 
17. Spiller, Paul          NZL 2072  - 4 =23 +22 -13 =21 +20 - 6 = 9 +26  4.5  2120 
18. Bennett, Hilton        NZL 2055  = 5 -14 +20 -16 +25 - 6 +19 =13 - 9  4.0  2158 
19. Norris, Damian C       FIJ 2220  - 2 +21 +24 =11 - 3 -14 -18 +25 =20  4.0  2108 
20. Goundar,Sanmogam       FIJ ----  -11 =10 -18 +23 =15 -17 =24 +26 =19  4.0  2074 
21. Kumar,Manoj            FIJ ----  -13 -19 +23 =22 =17 -10 +26 -12 +25  4.0  2043 
22. Egan,Bill              AUS ----  - 3 =25 -17 =21 +24 +26 -10 +23 -15  4.0  2046 
23. Parmeshwar,Rajnesh     FIJ ----  - 6 =17 -21 -20 +26 =15 +25 -22 +24  4.0  2016 
24. Sharma,Roneel          FIJ ----  - 9 +26 -19 - 7 -22 +25 =20 -15 -23  2.5  1945 
25. Prakash,Nilesh         FIJ ----  -16 =22 -10 +26 -18 -24 -23 -19 -21  1.5  1809 
26. Doobenen,William       FIJ ----  - 8 -24 - 7 -25 -23 -22 -21 -20 -17  0.0       
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Oceana zt w Warwick Fiji FIJ (FIJ), 6-11 v 2002
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Berezina, Irina     m AUS 2259  * 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2464 
 2. Lane,Nancy            AUS ----  0 * 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2322 
 3. Moylan, Laura      wm AUS 2087  = 0 * = = 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2205 
 4. Lip, Catherine        AUS 2069  0 = = * = 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2207 
 5. Szuveges, Narelle  wf AUS 2031  0 0 = = * 1 1 1 1 1  6.0  2171 
 6. Smith, Vivian         NZL ----  0 0 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 1  4.0  2006 
 7. Sukhu,Gloria          FIJ ----  0 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 1 1  2.0  1829 
 8. Devi,Sita Anjali      FIJ ----  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * = 0  1.5  1776 
 9. Devi,Artila           FIJ ----  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = * 1  1.5  1776 
10. Prasad,Zelda          FIJ ----  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 *  1.0  1698 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

17) Prague Unity Agreement Comments

I E-Mailed various leading players to elicit their comments on the Prague agreement. I'm interested in the further comments of leading players who will take part in either the 1st or 2nd cycles as proposed (for in my view their opinions are really the most important) which can be mailed to me at mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk.

Viswanathan Anand Comments:

Anand was quoted by Leontxo Garcia in El Pais on Wednesday saying that "I do not want to play in the Candidates because I am against Kasparov having the privilege of facing Ponomariov directly".

Via Arvind Aaron of the Hindu there was a further press release from Anand.

"This is in reply to the various persons of the press who have been wondering GM Viswanathan Anand's stand on the current status of the Unification.

For the record Anand was not present at the 6th May meeting. The reasons for the same are that the deal was already made even before all parties came to a common ground to discuss these matters. Secret and not so secret meetings were taking place before and during the Eurotel Trophy.

On the day Anand won the Eurotel trophy, GM Yasser Seirawan explained to Anand that the solution had already been reached. Kasparov would get his rematch entirely on the terms that he has so long been waiting for.

It was indeed surprising that this was presented as a solution for the chess world. Therefore seeing that the meeting was just a formality Anand declined to attend the same.

FIDE did not even consult it's top players who by virtue of doing well in their Championship cycles do not get an opportunity to be part of the unification plan.

Anand hopes that the Unification would at least ensure a just cycle in the year 2004. Speaking on his immediate plans Anand said "In the next two years, I will have more time to spend in India. In this period I do hope to work with the present crop of young Indian talent. It has been my intention to start an academy. This may be the best time to lay the foundation for that. My focus will be my chess and I hope at least in the larger picture chess will benefit from this plan."

Press release Viswanathan Anand 9th May 2002

Boris Gelfand Comments:

First of all I think it is very important to return to structure of World Championship we had till 1993 (with qualification tournament, candidates matches or tournament, World championship match). I think that structure proposed from 2nd cycle and further is basically good and also can be supported by absolute majority of players. Concerning first the unification cycle the big drawback is that great players like Anand, Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Svidler and others don't have a chance to take part in it. I believe, more goodwill was necessary from all parties included to solve this problem. I hope that other important subjects which were omitted from final version of signed documents will be included in agreement between FIDE and Bessel Kok such as the establishment of an elected GM Steering Committee, Health and Benefit Fund etc. Also I believe that it is important to standardise time-controls. For instance have a 7-hour control with increment or without - to be discussed (and supported by majority of leading players) for classical chess, 25 min +10 sec for active chess and time control for blitz tournament (5 min per game or 4+2 sec). It is important in my opinion to stop Fide experiments with time controls (even last year it was changed twice - what can we expect in years to come?)

Boris Gelfand 10th May 2002

Alexei Shirov comments:

I was not present at the Prague meeting but on 5th of May I still sent a fax to Bessel Kok with my proposal. Until now I don't even know whether my fax was read at all.

In my proposal (written unfortunately in a big hurry) I stated that the only way to make a fair World Championship system is to abolish the privileges of Kasparov, Kramnik and Ponomariov and make the competition of 16 players, so the most of big names would be included. The future cycles should also consist of 16 players, fourteen of them qualifying from a big swiss tournament and the World champion, as well as the highest rated player, added to the qualifiers.

Of course, my proposal was unrealistic because Kasparov and Kramnik are not exactly the people that would give up their benefits in exchange of justice. But now we have got the cycle without Anand and Ivanchuk, the latter completely betrayed by FIDE, and we have a full uncertainty about the future cycles. I am afraid that the future system will not be announced until the results of this cycle are known. In the last three official World championships nobody had privileges and the rules were clear. Now it's lost and nothing for the future championships is secured.

I understand that Ilyumzhinov could no longer pay the World Championships from his pocket but the moral bankruptcy (and I can't find other words for FIDE right now) is sometimes even more drastic than the financial bankruptcy. I believe that the only chance for players (and I am talking first of all about the players who refused to either sign the document or attend the Prague meeting at all) to regain some optimism is to make and publish a fair system for the future World Championships before Dortmund starts.

Alexei Shirov 10th May 2002

Alexander Khalfiman comments:

Questions about the Prague deal.

Good or bad thing?

That's a bit rhetoric question. In fact the reunification was a vital necessity for the chess world and to have one World Championship and one Undisputed World Champion is great aim. However, the way it was done in Prague is, in my opinion, no reunification at all. The World Championship where only 11 players can take part is not unifying but just an act of discrimination. Many players are out till 2005 just by definition and that's really bad. When somebody says that this way was the only one to reach the reunification it's still not a reason to do it this way. There were many other versions of reunification suggested and supported by many respected professionals and I find it incredibly strange that in Prague no word was said about it just as Bessel Kok's proposal was the one and only.

Kasparov's position in the FIDE cycle and non-participation of Ivanchuk and Anand?

Considering Kasparov's undoubted position No1 in world's ranking and his fantastic tournament results there were enough reasons to seed him to some special position. Actually many other suggestions were also quite favourable for him and nobody offered that he would start from Round 1 in big k.o. tournament. However, all Kasparov's successes are not enough reason to exclude many strong players from the World Championship. This group, of course, includes Anand and Ivanchuk but is not just limited to them. So, in my opinion, just adding both grandmasters (somehow) to the existing format wouldn't solve the problem at all. Excluding players like Grischuk, Svidler, Karpov, Dreev, Lautier etc. from the World Championship is just unfair. Maybe they must start from some qualifying stage but they must have right to compete there - it's the only fair solution.

What do you expect of the 2nd cycle?

Well I still hope that Bessel Kok's plan will be revised somehow and the Reunification cycle will be more inclusive. As a matter of fact, the document signed in Prague contains only the words "FIDE supports THE PRINCIPLES of unity plan presented by Bessel Kok". So it's just about principles - the plan itself is not supported yet, at least formally. At the same time, FIDE vice-president Mr.Makroupolos publicly stated then that "FIDE will do the best to find the fairest format and to include all the best players in the World Championship cycle". So let's wait. However, I'm really worried that if the plan by Bessel Kok will work and in 2003 the chess world will have the FIDE World Championship cycle consisting of 2(!) players then the future World Championship would be organised for some limited top group again. Of course, it's unfair but now we're dangerously close to this "bright" future.

Alexander Khalifman 12th May 2002

Brief Vesselin Topalov Comment

I guess any agreement was better than nothing. Kasparov got all he wanted and I believe now Anand and Ivanchuk are the big losers. As always chessplayers were not united....

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.

18) Forthcoming Events and Links

European Club Cup 2002

Information about the European Club Cup 2002 "The Champions League" takes place 22nd - 28th September in Kallithea -Halkidiki.

Information: http://www.sportmeeting.gr/

Vedior Trophy

The "Vedior Trophy" in Milan will be a Cat II or III Tournament taking place May 16th-26th 2002. IM norms will be available. Sponsor Vedior and Bugnion. 12 players.

Details: http://www.italiascacchistica.com

VII Memorial Nacional De Ajedrez

The VII Memorial Nacional De Ajedrez takes place 8th-9th June 2002.

Details: http://www.memorialdeajedrez.com

Mendoza Memorial

The Mendoza Memorial is taking place now.

Coverage: http://usuarios.lycos.es/frubiod/home.html

Aristophanes Publishers

Paul Connors of Aristophanes Press at startup company in California/Colorado is looking for chess authors. If you are interested in finding out more you can contact him at chesspubs@aristophanes.com.

4th ShakkiNet International

The 4th ShakkiNet International will take place in Helsinki from June 24th to July 4th, 2002. There are three different 12-player round-robin (all-play-all) groups: Group A for players rated over 2400, Group B for players rated over 2200, Group C for players rated between 1900 and 2200. All groups are ELO-rated, in Group A there is a possibility to achieve GM-norm, in Group B there is a possibility to achieve an IM-norm. Playing times In all groups: 2 h / 40 moves + 1 h / 20 moves + 30 min to finish the game Entry fees Group A: EUR 200, Group B: EUR 150, Group C: EUR 100 Prizes for three best players in each group: Group A: EUR 600, EUR 400, EUR 200, Group B: EUR 450, EUR 300, EUR 150, Group C: EUR 300, EUR 200, EUR 100. Money prizes will be shared equally between players with same amount of points.

Registration Players interested to participate, please contact the organizer Mr Sami Hämäläinen, email: aurifera@kolumbus.fi. In GM- and IM-events (groups A and B) the organizer reserves the right to choose players from the interested players so that there is a possibility to reach international title norms (minimum requirements: 3 GMs in group A, 3 IMs in group B, 4 non-Finnish players from at least two different countries in both groups). In group C the players will be chosen by the order of registration.

Olomouc Chess Summer Festival 2002

The Olomouc Chess Summer Festival 2002 in the Czech Republic takes place 31st July - 8th August 2002. The event includes: 1) 3-4 groups of round-robin IM tournaments, category 3-4 FIDE (10-12 players) 2) FIDE open - swiss, 9 rounds, 2/40+1, 1st prize 10000 CZK 3) open for youngsters up to 18 years of age.

Detailed information at: http://www.proclient.cz/a64

IV Sants Hostafrancs

IV Sants Hostafrancs I La Bordeta Open takes place in Barcelona 30th August - 8th September 2002.

Details of entry: http://www.secretariat.org/open/Ingles.htm

Julian Borowski International in Essen

Before the Dortmund tournament is a Category 16 event in Essen which takes place 16th-25th May 2002. Time rate 2h/40 moves + 1h/20 + 30 min for the rest of the game. A tournament: Players: 1. Peter Leko 2717, 2. Viktor Korchnoi 2635, 3. Vadim Zvjaginsev 2645, 4. Christopher Lutz 2644, 5. Thomas Luther 2566, 6. Michael Krasenkow 2641, 7. Arthur Jussupow 2618, 8. Rustem Kasimdzhanov 2677, 9. Daniel Fridman 2571, 10. Rustem Dautov 2636

There are also B and C events.

Internet coverage: http://www.chessgate.de

Rethymno 2002

The new Chess Club Caissa Of Rethymno and Kydon Sports Club of Chania have organised a Congress 27th April - 2nd May 2002. The Chess Festival Easter in Rethymno 2002 will include a two game match between Korchnoi and Kouvatsou.

Live broadcast in http://www.caissa.gr

Liechtenstein Chess Open

The 20th International Liechtenstein Chess Open takes place 3rd-11th May 2002 in Gemeindesaal in Triesen.

Internet coverage: http://www.supra.net/schach/open.htm

Tiviakov in Egypt

Tiviakov reports on his victory in the 6th Golden Cleopatra Chess Open with a huge photo report including sight seeing around the pyramids where he claims to have photographed a "creature from the the parallel world"!

Reports in Russian http://www.tiviakov.demon.nl/egypt2002-rus.htm and English http://www.tiviakov.demon.nl/egypt2002-eng.htm.

Ikaros Chess Festival

The Ikaros Chess Festival 2002 takes place from 7th-23rd of July 2002. The Ikaros Chess Festival has been held for the last 24 years on Ikaria island, one of the most picturesque aegean islands of Greece. This year's events include the traditional open international tournament "Open Aegean Championship" (13th-21st July 2002) as well as plenty of other side events such as Women, Junior and Veteran tournaments, blitz, rapid and simultaneous exhibition events, blindfold chess, chess lectures and many others.

Full details at: http://www.chess.gr/ikaros/

XX Andorra International Open

The XX Andorra International Open takes place 6th-14th July 2002.

Details of prizes and entry http://www.feva.ad

Sarajevo International

The 32nd traditional Bosnian tournament takes place in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina 21st-31st May 2002. The event will be Category 16 (2628).

Daily Internet coverage by the Sah BIH Portal http://www.sah.co.ba Live coverage is hoped for.

Players:
 1. Shirov, Alexei    g ESP 2704 
 2. Smirin, Ilia      g ISR 2685 
 3. Dreev, Alexey     g RUS 2677 
 4. Georgiev, Kiril   g BUL 2654
 5. Sokolov, Ivan     g BIH 2647 
 6. Movsesian, Sergei g CZE 2624 
 7. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2610 
 8. Kozul, Zdenko     g CRO 2595 
 9. Kurajica, Bojan   g BIH 2555 
10. Dizdarevic, Emir  g BIH 2526 

Bled and Ljubljana Opens

The 23rd Chess Festival Bled is taking take place from 2 July to 10 July 2002 in Bled (Slovenia). Open A (ELO > 2200): PF 15.500 EUR, 1st Prize: 2.500 EUR, For EU-Grand Prix, sensor boards and direct internet transmition of games Open B (ELO < 2300): 6.000 EUR, 1st Prize: 600 EUR, Summer Open Seniors Juniors Tournaments will be played 9 rounds, swiss, 90 min+30 sec/move. Rounds at 6 p.m. Further details: http://www.sah-zveza.si/bled/2002

It is possible to combine play in this tournament with the 13th Ljubljana Open which takes place 22nd-30th June 2002. Further details: http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0206/ljubljana/lj02op.htm

Korinthos Computer Event

Korinthos will hold a man maching event with two Grand Masters Belgian Mikhail Gurevich and Christodoulos Banikas taking on Junior 7 on a Pentium 4 at 2000 MHz and RAM 1 GB

Schedule 13 - 16/5/2002 Gurevich vs Junior 7 (rapid games of equal number - 60 minutes for each player) 17 & 18/5/2002 Chr. Banikas vs Gurevich (6 rapid games - 25 minutes for each player)

Coverage: Hellas Chess Club http://www.chess.gr

North Sea Cup

The North Sea Cup takes place in Esbjerg Denmark July 5th-13th 2002. The event is organised by the Esbjerg Chess Union and is a 10-player category 14 round-robin with: Alisa Galliamova, Lazaro Bruzon, Leinier Dominguez, Sergey Tiviakov, Hannes Stefansson, Igor Glek, Andrey Volokitin, Peter Heine Nielsen, Curt Hansen and Sune Berg Hansen.

Internet coverage: http://home1.inet.tele.dk/tpherman/vh2002/1index.htm

Gausdal Tournaments

Hans Olav Lahlum has put more details on his the web site for this tournament. It now includes: 1) Introduction and basic information about the tournament. 2) Portraits of all 40 participants. 3) Results and moves of all 180 games. 4) Bulletins with round reports covering all 180 games. 5) Commented grades and ELO-calculations for all 40 participants. 6) A list of quotes from the tournament (!?). The final results and games appeared in last weeks TWIC.

Internet site: http://home.online.no/~eirikgu/gausdal2002/

Qingdao Festival including the Tan Chin Nam Cup

The Qingdao Chess Festival will take place July 4th-8th, 2002. Qingdao, known as Tsingdao, is a seaside city located in the east coast of China. At 2008 Olympic Games, the sailing events will take place there.

Four events: 3.1 Tan Chin Nam Cup GM International Open 2002 (Section A) For players 2450 and above. Most US players who will attend the China – USA Chess Summit 2002 have confirmed their participation. 3.2 IM Open (Section B) For players 2150 and above 3.3 NM Open (Section C) For players below 2150 and unrated 3.4 Senior Open (Section D) For players aged 55 years old and above as on January 1st 2002.

Prize fund: 5.1 Section A (total US$ 21,100) 5.2 Section B (total US$ 8900) 5.3 Section C (total RMB 8500, 1 US$ = 8.3 RMB)

In the Section A, there are financial Guarantees for GM: Players with 2500-2549 shall get the at least US$ 400, with 2550-2599 shall get the at least US$ 600, with 2600-2649 shall get the at least US$ 800, with 2650 and above shall get the at least US$ 1000. In every different category, the first 8 GM with earliest entry can have the conditions mentioned above. Other GM¡ s financial guarantees will depend on sponsorship.

Contact addresses: Tel: 86-532-296 7803 Fax: 86-532-282 0125 E-mail: yunqi@qingdaonews.com, yinhao128@hotmail.com

Full details: http://www.64.net.cn/qdopen.htm

Tanta Open

This year Tanta Open will be open to all and held 13th-23th May at Tanta City about 90 Km from Cairo, Egypt. The event will be a Swiss Sytem – 9 Rounds ( Accelerated method in the first 2 Rounds) – 160 players (5 GMs – 20 IMs , available for Fide Rating and Titles) – New Fide Time Control (90 Min for all game and 30 Sec. Added for every move) play starts at 6 p.m. daily from 13 to 22 May , Rest Day 17 May , Arrival 12 May ,1st Round 13 May , last Round 22 May , Closing Ceremony 23 May 6 p.m. then departure.

Prizes as follows : 1st till 10th. 750 - 650 - 600 - 550 - 500 - 450 - 400 - 350 - 300 - 250 US$. Prizes are distributed according to Hort system (between the number of players corresponding to number of advertised prizes). Players who wants to participate will pay - 30 US$ daily for full accommodation in Double Bedroom or 40 US$ for single Room 4 Star Hotel – 20 US$ daily for Double bedroom or 30 US$ for Single Room 3 Star Hotel.

That included : Free transportation inside Egypt , including from and to Airport; Free Tourist tour; Free entry fee ; Daily Bulletin , and Book of the tournament distributed on Closing Ceremony.

Special conditions for limited no of GMs and IMs. ( Organizers asks for only one invited player from each country) Last day for registering is 3 May 2002.

Contact: E-Mail ecf@idsc.net.eg and haskh@yahoo.com Hassan Khaled General Director Egyptian Chess Federation Phone +20-2-3378987 and Mobile:+20-10-5003063; Blitzin handle: haskd Egyptian Chess Federation : Phone and Fax : +20-2-2604285

Swiss Chess Tour event 2002

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2002" will continue in Basle with the State (Bundesturnier) Championship May 9th-12th, 2002. “Swiss Chess Tour” is providing a second year in a row a most popular chess competition in Switzerland. The championship consist 5 groups (category). Two of that are senior’s groups. The host and one of the sponsors is Hotel “Hilton”. Swiss system, 7 rounds (seniors 5 rounds); 36 moves for 90 minutes and 60 minutes till the end. Group 1 (1800 and more) prizes are: 1.500/1.200/900/700/600/500/400/300/2x200 SF Entry fee: 120 SF (juniors 60+ FIDE masters) GM + IM free. Group 2 (1600-1839) prizes are: 1.000/800/600/500/400/300/2x200/2x150. Entry fee: 110 SF (juniors 55 SF) Group 3 (less then 1600) prizes are: 800/600/500/400/2x300/2x200/2x150. Entry fee: 100 SF (juniors 50) Senior 1 (1600 and more) prize are: 400/300/200. Entry fee: 60 SF Senior 2 (less then 1600) prize are: 300/200/100. Entry fee: 60 SF At the door 10 SF for the all players.

Time table: May 9th 10.00-11.30 last registration; 11.30 opening ceremony; Round 1st 12.00-17.00 (for all tournaments); Rounds 2nd 17.30-22.30 May 10th Round 3rd (seniors 2nd) 10.00-15.00; Round 4th (seniors 3rd) 15.30-20.30 May 11th Round 5th (seniors 4th) 10.00-15.00; Round 6th 15.30-20.30 May 12th Round 7th (seniors 5th) 10.00-15.00 Closing ceremony 16.00

Beochess +41+34+424-01-06 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch/

Cesenatico International Open

The Cesenatico International Open takes place in Italy 2nd-8th September 2002.

Further Information and entry at: http://www.antiquascom.it/scacchi.htm

3rd European Individual Championships

The 3rd European Individual Championships will be held in Batumi, Georgia, June 11th-27th 2002.

Further details: http://www.eurochess.org/start/index.php

Jeff Sonas Statistics on World Championship Formats

Jeff Sonas presents a statistical analysis of various world championship formats, especially evaluating the FIDE, Einstein Group, and Seirawan approaches in detail.

Championship Chessmetrics Analysis by Jeff Sonas (version 2)

3rd European Individual Women's Championships

The 3rd European Individual Women's Chess Championship takes place May 26th - June 9nd 2002 in Varna, Bulgaria. Leading players signed up so far include: Nana Ioseliani, Almira Lautier, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Corina Peptan, Antoaneta Stefanova, Zhao Qin Peng, Ketino Kachiani, Viktorija Cmilyte, Alisa Maric, Nino Khurtsidze, Joanna Dworakowska, Svetlana Matveeva, Cristina Adela Foisor, Natasa Bojkovic, Tatiana Stepovaia, Natalia Zhukova, Svetlana Prudnikova, Tatjana Vasilevich, Inna Gaponenko, Harriet Hunt, Olga Alexandrova, Marta Zielinska and Elena Sedina (103 players). Additional players from Georgia, Macedonia and Bulgaria have yet to be established.

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

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting

The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2002 takes place 6th-21st July 2002. The main event is a Candidates tournament to find a challenger for Vladimir Kramnik's Einstein Group World Chess title.

Seven of the top ten players in the World will compete. They are split into two preliminary groups:

Group I:
1. Veselin Topalov      BLG (1) 
2. Boris Gelfand        ISR (4) 
3. Alexei Shirov        ESP (5) 
4. Christopher Lutz     GER (8) 

Group II:
1. Alexander Morozevich RUS (2)
2. Michael Adams        ENG (3)
3. Peter Leko           HUN (6)
4. Evgeny Bareev        RUS (7)

The top two from each group will go forward to the semi-finals. Sadly Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov will not be playing they are probably the top three Candidates you would want to see.

Official website: http://www.chessgate.de

Advanced Chess in Leon

Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand will play an Advanced Chess Match in Leon, Spain June 20th to June 24th 2002.

They will be playing Advanced Chess with both players consulting with their databases and chess programs (Chessbase is one of the sponsors of the tournament). Each player has 1 hour for the whole game. Schedule: Drawing of lots June 20th at the Conde Luna Hotel of León. The event will be played in 3 sessions: 2 games on Friday 21st, 2 games on Saturday 22nd and the last 2 games on Sunday 23rd . If the tournament finishes 3 to 3, there will be a tiebreak blitz match to decide the winner.

Probable web page: http://www.advancedchessleon.com

5th Malbork Castle Cup

The 5th Malbork Castle Cup (Poland) 14-15 September 2002 (swiss type, open tournament in 9 rounds, 30' game, prizes fund 7000 PLN (about 2000 Euro). The Castle Malbork was honoured with an entry into UNESCO's List of the World's Cultural Heritage. The city populated by forty-thousand inhabitants is visited each year by half a milion tourists.

Detailed information (English, Germany and Polish) at: http://skoraf.republika.pl/index.htm

7th Computer Olympiad

The 7th Computer Olympiad (including World Chess Championship) takes place in Maastricht July 5th-11th 2002.

Internet coverage: http://www.cs.unimaas.nl/Olympiad2002/

19th Barnet Congress

The 19th Barnet Congress will be held on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May

Further info: http://www.gtryfon.demon.co.uk/bcc/About_BCC/Congress/barnetcc.htm

Entry form contacts John Venn (0208-449-9538) 17 The Crescent, Hadley Common, Barnet, Herts, EN5 5QQ

3rd Asean Age-Group Championships

The 3rd Asean Age-Group Championships take place in Singapore 8th-14th June 2002.

Internet coverage: http://www.aseanchess.com/agegrp.htm

South African and Open Chess Championships

The South African and Open Chess Championships take place in Boardwalk Casino & Entertainment Centre (Tsitsikama Conference Hall) Port Elizabeth South Africa 1st-13th July 2002.

Further details: http://www.geocities.com/saopen2002/

Frank Quisinsky Computer Chess

Frank Quisinsky's Computer Chess pages have been updated. Computer Chess calendar and a database computer games since 1990 are availble.

Link: http://www.amateurschach.de

Open du Parc Paris

The Open du Parc takes place in Paris 18th-20th May 2002.

- 7 rounds 2 hours KO, FIDE homologation - free for Masters and Grand Masters - 1st prize : 760 euros - 2nd prize : 460 euros - 3rd prize : 270 euros,... - etc

Further information: http://jeen.online.fr/

Bergen Chess International

The Bergen Chess International 2002 takes place 20th-28th July 2002 in Bergen, Norway. Open GM-tournament 9-round Swiss 7-hour playing session Side events: Lower section, Cafe Chess Championship, Blitz tourneys

Further information: http://eirikgu.home.online.no/bergen2002/

Pula Open 2002

The "Pula Open 2002" takes place 12th-19th May 2002 in Pula, Croatia.

Details: http://sahklubpula.virualave.net

6th Voronezh International Chess Festival

The 6th Voronezh International Chess Festival takes place June 10th-21st 2002.

Further details: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/

12th Heart of Finland Open

The 12th Heart of Finland Open takes place in Jyväskylä, July 17th-21st 2002. The tournament is played in one group with Swiss system. The event is FIDE-rated, and there are possibilities to reach title norms. There is the option to start the tournament from the 2nd round with a ½ point bye. Time rate: 2 hours / 40 moves + 1 hour to finish.

Entry fees GM/IM free (must register May 31 at the latest), FM/U20 50 EUR, ELO-players 60 EUR, others 80 EUR. 10% discount from the entry fee if registration before May 31, 20% discount if registration before March 31. Total prize fund approx. 7000 EUR, also rating prizes.

Contact info: Sami Hämäläinen: Tel. +358-9-3238840 Email: aurifera@kolumbus.fi

New Internet Correspondence Game to Begin

Beginning March 11th, 2002 the World Team will begin a new game against GM Nick de Firmian. Having most recently finished the second of two games against Chinese IM Yin Hao (WT 1.5 YH 0.5) the World Team now will play against three-time U.S. champion Nick de Firmian, who will play the white pieces.

The World Team consists of players from around the World, many of whom came together for the first time during the Kasparov vs. World Internet Game held in 1999. The games against Yin Hao attracted players from Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and the United States.

Everyone willing to follow the rules of the game is welcome to play in this new game against GM de Firmian. To participate or observe go to the World Team strategy board and official site at

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

More details about the game (and how to join the World Team) can be found at the Game Info and Rules link at the official site. It should be fun and "A Serious Game Among Friends".

Plaskett vs The ROW

GM James Plaskett will play the Rest of the World starting 1st March on the internet at: http://www.chessworld.net

The match will be played at the rate of 5 days per move. Players will vote their moves by clicking on the chess board while discussing and formulating strategies and tactics in the Rest of World team forum. This match is open to all who visit www.ChessWorld.net. Those wanting to play Plaskett will need to login and follow the Opponents menu to 'Play the Expert'.

Pardubice Chess and Bridge Festival

The 13th International Chess & Bridge Festival CZECH OPEN 2002 will be held 11th-28th July 2002 in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Further details: http://www.proclient.cz/czechtour

BCF Grading Questionaire

Results of the British Chess Federation Grading Questionaire are available at the British Chess Federation site.

Internet site: http://www.bcf.ndirect.co.uk/grading/questionnaire.htm

Savaria Summer

SAVARIA SUMMER International Chess Open Szombathely (Hungary), 26th July- 1st August 2002. Two events an "A" group- for FIDE-Elo and a "B" group- for children under 13. Further details from: KORPICS Zsolt H-9700 Szombathely, Rohonci 13. +(36)-30/951-0063 korpicszs@freemail.hu

6th United Insurance International Masters

6th United Insurance International Masters Chess Tournament 2002 10th April to 20th April 2002 Venue: Conference-Room National Sports Council 62/3 Purana Paltan, Dhaka-1000 Organised by : Bangladesh Chess Federation Sponsored by : United Insurance Company Limited Tournament System : 11 Round Swiss Number of Participants : Around 40 Schedule : 10th April to 20th April 2002 Arrival : 9th April 1st Round plays : 10th April Main session : Every day 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Last Round : 20th April 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The rate of play : 6 Hours play. Rate of play 40 moves in 2 hours and rest of the moves in 1 hour to finish the game. Prize distribution : 20th March 5:00 p.m. Prize Fund : US$ 1500 divided as follows: 1st - US$ 500, 2nd - US$ 300, 3rd - US$ 200, 4th - US$ 100, 5th -100 US$ 6th - US$ 75, 7th - US$ 75, 8th - US$ 75, 9th - US$ 75 Note: Cash prize will be divided equally among Equal pointers. Accommodation : Free for all IM and Foreign Rated Players with 2200+ Food : Modest Food & Local transportation will be given to all IM and Foreign Rated Players with 2200+ Appearance Fee : No appearance many will be given but some pocket money Will be given to select foreign players. Passage : Passage up to Dhaka would have to be borne by players own Federation. Last Date of entry : Invited players must send their conformation to participate in the above tournament on or before 15th March 2002 to the General Secretary, Bangladesh Chess Federation, 62/3 Purana Paltan, Dhaka-1000, Fax No- 880-02-9666766 or 9563304 Phone N0- 880-02-9666766, E-mail: bcf@bdonline.com (Syed Shujauddin Ahmed) General Secretary Bangladesh Chess Federation.

NK Snelschaken Voor Clubteams

The NK Snelschaken Voor Clubteams takes place 1 June 2002 at the Golden Tulip Bel Air hotel, Johan de Witlaan, Den Haag organised by the SC De Vogelwijk Further information: Ruud Vissers, 010-2207070 (kantoor) of 06-26776496 ruv@epg.nl

X Lasker Memorial Barlinek Poland

The X Lasker Memorial Festival in Barlinek Poland takes place 17th-27th July 2002. Blitz, rapid, open A, open B and under-16 events. Further details: Krzysztof Kedzior E-Mail: umig@barlinek.pl

Tony Miles Memorial

Tony Miles Memorial Open on May 18th-19th 2001 in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Details: http://members.shaw.ca/chessforall/

17th North Sea Cup

Esbjerg will stage a 17th North Sea Cup July 5th-13th 2002, probably category 13-14. A 10 player round-robin hoping to carry on the reputation with previous tournament winners like Short, Jusupov, Adorjan, Larsen, Vaganian, C.Hansen, Svidler etc. Info: Brian Isaksen at brisak@esenet.dk

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

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.

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.