THE WEEK IN CHESS 493 19th April 2004 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) ACP, FIDE and Ruslan Ponomariov
3) ACP Inaugural Internet Tournament
4) 6th Annual Foxwoods Open
5) Beer Sheva Rapid
6) 10th WDB Easter Open
7) Nabokov Memorial
8) Berlin Championship
9) First Saturday April
10) 1st Beirut International Open
11) 6th Dubai Open
12) Russian Juniors
13) 2nd Annual Western Pacific Open
14) Rishon le Zion IM
15) Oslo Easter Chess Festival 2004
16) 1st Coventry International
17) Danish Championship
18) Asian Boys and Girls Championships
19) 8th Neckar-Open
20) Hungarian Under 20 Championships
21) 77th Championship of St Petersburg
22) Richard A Furness 1937-2004
23) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Games section

ACP Inaugural Internet Tournament    651 games
6th Annual Foxwoods Open             166 games
10th WDB Easter Open                  10 games
Nabokov Memorial                      48 games
Berlin Championship                   90 games
First Saturday April                  98 games
Rishon le Zion IM                     45 games
Oslo Easter Chess Festival 2004      405 games
Asian Boys and Girls Championships   234 games
Hungarian Under 20 Championships      85 games
77th Championship of St Petersburg     1 game
1932 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Michael Klenburg, Michael Atkins, Thomas Henrich, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, Emil Anka, Theo van der Storm, Zsolt Korpics, Miklos Orso, Tarjei J. Svensen, Jovan Petronic, Bartlomiej Macieja, Ray English, Elli Sperdokli, Toni Ayza, Jan Mazuch, Horst Metzing and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The politics of chess took another twist this week. The Association of Chess Professionals has now clearly started to function as an organisation and they are beginning to try and address some of the key issues facing the modern chess professional. However FIDE haven't made any concessions as yet and at some point the ACP is going to have to demonstrate that its members are prepared to stick together and actually not attend events if their demands are not met. Otherwise it will be little more than a talking shop. They are planning a second function which is to organise their own events. Their ChinaCom sponsored Internet event is the first of what they hope is going to be many tournaments.

I wrote a little about Ruslan Ponomariov last week. The winner of the last FIDE Championships in late 2001 and early 2002 seems highly unlikely to compete in Libya to defend his title. He continued his protest with a very extreme interview to the Russian press (see below) in which he accused Kasparov and possibly FIDE of orchestrating a boycott against him. I don't know where he got this idea from but it is proposterous. Kasparov has fallen out with at least some of the organisers of the leading tournaments and hasn't played a classical event outside of Linares since 2001. FIDE also has poor relations with a number of elite events. So Ponomariov needs to look elsewhere for an explanation. The interview hints at the start of a very disturbing paranoia which has in the past consumed a number of the best players in chess history. Having won the FIDE Championships in 2001 and been in and around the top 10 for that time he's already accomplished more than most players ever will. He probably can afford to take the time to get some perspective on life because carrying on thinking in the way indicated in the interview is a guaranteed way to an unhappy life.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) ACP, FIDE and Ruslan Ponomariov

There have been further announcements from the Asscociation of Chess Professionals this week. The main ones are to recommend that their players not play the 2004 European Championship in Turkey unless the participants are free to choose their own accomodation. There have also been discussion between FIDE representatives Mr Israel Gelfer, Mr Morten Sand and the ACP President Joel Lautier which did not result in a change in contract as the ACP. A number of qualified players have indicated that they will not sign an unaltered contract but the ACP's advice is that players have to make up their own mind.

See http://www.chess-players.org and http://www.fide.com/

In the follow up to last weeks letter to the ACP Ruslan Ponomariov gave an interview with Yuri Vasiliev of the Russian paper Sport Express (in Russian)http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?84597 in which he made quite extraordinary allegations about Kasparov keeping him out of events.

It reveals a very disturbed state of mind which possibly is the reason he hasn't been playing. If I were to make a guess as to why he isn't receiving any invitations then it would be because he either is perceived as demanding too higher an appearance fee or actually is doing so.

3) ACP Inaugural Internet Tournament

The ACP Inaugural Internet Tournament sponsored by ChinaCom and hosted by playchess.com took place from April 12th-17th 2004. Peter Svidler won the final 3.5-2.5.

ACP site: http://www.chess-players.org. Full details of the event: http://www.chessbase.com/events/acp/results.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACP Blitz Prelim1 playchess.com INT (INT), 12-12 iv 2004                     cat. XI (2525)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Timofeev, Artyom           g RUS 2591  * = 1 = 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 = = 0 1 1 1 12.0  2679 
 2. Matveeva, Svetlana        wg RUS 2496  = * 1 = = 0 = 1 = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 12.0  2684 
 3. Iordachescu, Viorel        g MDA 2627  0 0 * 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.0  2676 
 4. Kiriakov, Petr             g RUS 2568  = = 1 * 0 1 = = 1 1 1 0 0 = 1 1 1 1 11.5  2655 
 5. Volkov, Sergey1            g RUS 2629  0 = 1 1 * 1 = 0 1 0 1 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 11.0  2628 
 6. Sasikiran, Krishnan        g IND 2659  0 1 1 0 0 * 1 = 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 = 1 1 11.0  2627 
 7. Dreev, Alexey              g RUS 2689  1 = 0 = = 0 * = 0 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 11.0  2625 
 8. McShane, Luke J            g ENG 2656  1 0 0 = 1 = = * 0 1 = 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 11.0  2627 
 9. Komarov, Dimitri           g UKR 2565  0 = 0 0 0 0 1 1 * = = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 10.0  2587 
10. Pelletier, Yannick         g SUI 2581  0 = 0 0 1 1 0 0 = * = 1 1 0 1 1 = 1  9.0  2542 
11. Bartel, Mateusz            m POL 2501  0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = = = * 1 1 1 1 1 1 =  8.5  2526 
12. Moreno Carnero, Javier     g ESP 2525  0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 * = 1 1 0 1 1  7.5  2481 
13. Lobron, Eric               g GER 2493  = = 0 1 = 0 = 0 = 0 0 = * 0 0 1 1 1  7.0  2461 
14. Fontaine, Robert           g FRA 2525  = 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 * 0 1 1 1  7.0  2459 
15. Karjakin, Sergey           g UKR 2580  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 * 1 0 0  4.0  2319 
16. Dimitrijevic, Aleksandra  wf SCG 2292  0 0 0 0 = = 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 * 1 1  4.0  2336 
17. Berry, Jonathan            f CAN 2255  0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 1  3.0  2278 
18. Agababean, Naira          wg MDA 2216  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 0 0 *  1.5  2160 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACP Blitz Prelim2 playchess.com INT (INT), 13-13 iv 2004                cat. XII (2547)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Kazhgaleyev, Murtas    g KAZ 2596  * = = 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.0  2806 
 2. Naiditsch, Arkadij     g GER 2571  = * 0 1 1 1 = = 1 1 = = 1 1 1 = 1 1 13.0  2747 
 3. Erenburg, Sergey       g ISR 2513  = 1 * 1 0 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 13.0  2751 
 4. Kobalia, Mikhail       g RUS 2630  1 0 0 * = 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 0 1 1 12.5  2726 
 5. Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan   g IRI 2558  = 0 1 = * = 0 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 = 1 12.0  2704 
 6. Bareev, Evgeny         g RUS 2711  0 0 1 0 = * 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 = 1 11.0  2647 
 7. Kharlov, Andrei        g RUS 2593  = = = 0 1 0 * 0 1 1 = 1 1 = 1 0 1 0  9.5  2587 
 8. Gustafsson, Jan        g GER 2579  0 = 0 0 0 0 1 * 1 = = = 0 1 1 1 1 1  9.0  2566 
 9. Godena, Michele        g ITA 2533  0 0 = = 0 0 0 0 * 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 0 1  8.5  2548 
10. Glek, Igor V           g GER 2571  0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 * = = 1 1 1 1 0 1  7.0  2480 
11. Gallegos, Carlos       m VEN 2452  0 = 0 0 0 1 = = = = * 0 0 0 0 1 1 1  6.5  2465 
12. Shomoev, Anton         g RUS 2487  0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 * 0 0 1 1 1 1  6.5  2463 
13. Sagalchik, Gennadij    g USA 2487  0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 * 0 1 1 0 =  6.0  2440 
14. Zhukova, Natalia      wg UKR 2471  0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 0 1 1 1 * 0 0 1 1  6.0  2441 
15. Vescovi, Giovanni      g BRA 2648  0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 1 1 1  5.5  2408 
16. Notkin, Maksim         m RUS 2471  0 = 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 0 =  5.0  2393 
17. Macieja, Bartlomiej    g POL 2633  0 0 0 0 = = 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 0  5.0  2384 
18. Grabuzova, Tatiana    wg RUS 2348  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 *  3.0  2297 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACP Blitz Prelim3 playchess.com INT (INT), 14-14 iv 2004                cat. XII (2531)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Zhang Zhong            g CHN 2633  * 1 = = = 1 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.5  2820 
 2. Belov, Vladimir        g RUS 2543  0 * = 1 1 1 = = 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 12.5  2714 
 3. Grischuk, Alexander    g RUS 2719  = = * 0 = = 1 0 1 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 12.0  2677 
 4. Lautier, Joel          g FRA 2680  = 0 1 * = 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 11.5  2655 
 5. Vaisser, Anatoly       g FRA 2573  = 0 = = * 0 1 1 0 0 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 10.5  2615 
 6. Zarnicki, Pablo        g ARG 2521  0 0 = 1 1 * 0 0 1 0 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.5  2618 
 7. Berg, Emanuel          m SWE 2495  0 = 0 0 0 1 * 0 1 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 10.5  2620 
 8. Relange, Eloi          g FRA 2505  = = 1 0 0 1 1 * 0 = 0 1 = 0 1 1 1 1 10.0  2597 
 9. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam   g UZB 2652  0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 * 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10.0  2588 
10. Landa, Konstantin      g RUS 2550  0 0 0 0 1 1 = = 1 * 0 1 1 0 1 1 = 1  9.5  2572 
11. Fressinet, Laurent     g FRA 2638  = 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 1 * 1 0 1 1 = 1 1  9.5  2567 
12. Nielsen, Peter Heine   g DEN 2628  0 1 0 1 = = 0 0 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 1 1  9.0  2546 
13. Golubev, Mihail        g UKR 2532  0 0 = = = 0 = = 0 0 1 0 * = 0 1 1 1  7.0  2465 
14. Luther, Thomas         g GER 2577  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 = * 1 1 1 0  5.5  2395 
15. Petrosian, Tigran L    m ARM 2539  0 1 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 * 1 1 1  5.5  2397 
16. Raetsky, Alexander     m RUS 2393  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 * = 1  2.0  2203 
17. Atarov, Evgeniy          RUS 2138  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 = * =  1.5  2171 
18. Sharevich, Anna       wm BLR 2240  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 = *  1.5  2165 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACP Blitz Prelim4 playchess.com INT (INT), 15-15 iv 2004            cat. XII (2534)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Svidler, Peter        g RUS 2733  * 0 = 1 = 1 1 1 = 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.0  2714 
 2. Shipov, Sergei        g RUS 2593  1 * = 0 1 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 11.5  2696 
 3. Najer, Evgeniy        g RUS 2606  = = * 1 1 0 1 0 = 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 = 11.0  2670 
 4. Tregubov, Pavel V     g RUS 2636  0 1 0 * 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 10.5  2644 
 5. Fridman, Daniel2      g LAT 2594  = 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 0 = 0 1 1 1 1 1 10.0  2625 
 6. Bologan, Viktor       g MDA 2665  0 1 1 0 0 * 0 0 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 10.0  2620 
 7. Zaitsev, Mikhail        RUS 2466  0 = 0 0 0 1 * 1 1 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 1  9.5  2603 
 8. Epishin, Vladimir     g RUS 2610  0 0 1 1 0 1 0 * 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1  9.0  2572 
 9. Harikrishna, P        g IND 2599  = 0 = 1 0 0 0 1 * 1 1 0 0 = 1 1 1  8.5  2551 
10. Lputian, Smbat G      g ARM 2634  1 = 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 * 0 = 0 1 = 0 1  7.5  2506 
11. Skripchenko, Almira   m FRA 2456  = 0 1 0 = = = 0 0 1 * 1 1 0 0 0 1  7.0  2496 
12. Golod, Vitali         g ISR 2552  0 0 0 = 1 0 0 1 1 = 0 * 0 = = = 1  6.5  2468 
13. Socko, Bartosz        g POL 2579  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 1 0 1 * 0 = = 1  6.5  2466 
14. Psakhis, Lev          g ISR 2545  0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 1 = 1 * 1 1 1  6.5  2468 
15. Gofshtein, Zvulon     g ISR 2522  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 = = 0 * 1 1  5.5  2417 
16. Polaczek, Richard     m BEL 2426  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 = = 0 0 * 1  4.0  2347 
17. Battesti, Saveriu       FRA 1864  0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 *  0.5  2038 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final 17th April 2004

1st Round
Peter Svidler      RUS 2733 1 1 0 ½ 2½ 
Sergey Erenburg    ISR 2513 0 0 1 ½ 1½ 
          
Alexander Grischuk RUS 2719 ½ ½ 0 0 1 
Vladimir Belov     RUS 2543 ½ ½ 1 1 3 
          
Evgeny Bareev      RUS 2711 0 ½ 0  ½ 
Petr Kiriakov      RUS 2568 1 ½ 1  2½ 
          
Alexei Dreev       RUS 2689 ½ 0 1 1 2½ 
ArtyomTimofeev     RUS 2591 ½ 1 0 0 1½ 
          
Joel Lautier       FRA 2680 0 ½ ½ ½ 1½ 
Sergey Shipov      RUS 2593 1 ½ ½ ½ 2½ 
          
Mikhail Kobalia    RUS 2639 ½ ½ 1 1 3 
Murtas Kazhgaleyev KAZ 2596 ½ ½ 0 0 1 
          
Pavel Tregubov     RUS 2636 ½ 0 0  ½ 
Evgeniy Najer      RUS 2606 ½ 1 1  2½ 
          
Zhang Zhong        CHN 2633 0 ½ 0  ½ 
Sergey Volkov      RUS 2629 1 ½ 1  2½ 

2nd Round
Peter Svidler      RUS 2733 ½ 1 1  2½ 
Sergey Volkov      RUS 2629 ½ 0 0  ½ 
          
Vladimir Belov     RUS 2543 0 0  0  0 
Evgeniy Najer      RUS 2606 1 1  1  3 
          
Petr Kiriakov      RUS 2568 ½ 0  0  ½ 
Mikhail Kobalia    RUS 2639 ½ 1  1  2½ 
          
Alexei Dreev       RUS 2689 ½ 1  1  2½ 
Sergey Shipov      RUS 2593 ½ 0  0  ½ 

Semi-Finals
Peter Svidler      RUS 2733 1 1 1 ½  3 
Alexei Dreev       RUS 2689 0 0 0 ½  ½  
           
Evgeniy Najer      RUS 2606 0 1 0  1 1 3  
Mikhail Kobalia    RUS 2639 1 0 1  0 0 2  

Final
Peter Svidler      RUS 2733 1 0 0 1 1 ½ 3½ 
Evgeniy Najer      RUS 2606 0 1 1 0 0 ½ 2½ 

4) 6th Annual Foxwoods Open

Michael Atkins reports: The Easter weekend of April 7-11 saw over 500 players come to the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut for the 6th Annual Foxwoods Open. Run by the Continental Chess Association, the tournament has in 6 years become one of the classic Swiss tournaments on the U.S. chess circuit. Foxwoods is a pretty amazing place, the world's largest casino surrounded by an inner shopping mall that has everything imaginable.

Full coverage is at http://www.foxwoodsopen.com

The nine round Open ended in a 4 way tie among GMs Julio Becerra, Ildar Ibragimov, Alex Goldin, and Jaan Ehlvest at 7-2. The top 2 finishers, Becerra and Ibragimov played a blitz playoff to determine the title winner who gets a free room at the hotel next year and Ibragimov won the playoff. The Open went to a nine round format this year to make it a FIDE norm tournament and 4 norms were earned. IM Renier Gonzalez earned his first GM norm. IM norms were earned by FMs Lev Milman, David Rensch and Ilye Figler. Qualifiers for the U.S. Championship were Julio Becerra, Renier Gonzalez, Alex Stripunsky, Alexander Ivanov and Esther Epstein.

GM Hikaru Nakamura won the blitz tournament with a 9-1 score

Class sections were won by:

2200 Olivier Tessier-Desrosier 6-1
2000 Matthew Herman, Da Mohammad-Pour, Blas Q Soler, Fayez Abouel-Komsan at 6-1 1800 Jeffrey Viera 6.5 1600 Matthew W Brown 6.5 1400 Keith Forbes + Ryan Goldenberg 6-1 1200 Stephen A Welt 6.5 Unr Miro Maslick 7-0!

Leading Final Round 9 Standings: 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6th Foxwoods Open Connecticut USA (USA), 7-11 iv 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Becerra Rivero, Julio       g  USA 2547  7.0 44   52.5   38 
  2. Ibragimov, Ildar            g  USA 2556  7.0 44   52     39 
  3. Goldin, Alexander           g  USA 2611  7.0 44   52     38 
  4. Ehlvest, Jaan               g  EST 2596  7.0 43   53     36 
  5. Kacheishvili, Giorgi        g  GEO 2600  6.5 44   53     34 
  6. Nakamura, Hikaru            g  USA 2580  6.5 42   50.5   36 
  7. Gonzalez, Renier            m  USA 2419  6.5 40   48.5   33.5
  8. Shulman, Yuri               g  USA 2559  6.5 39   46.5   33 
  9. Akobian, Varuzhan           m  USA 2516  6.5 37   45.5   32.5
 10. Shabalov, Alexander         g  USA 2624  6.0 44.5 52.5   34.5
 11. Stripunsky, Alexander       g  USA 2553  6.0 43   50.5   33.5
 12. Mitkov, Nikola              g  MKD 2520  6.0 42.5 48     34 
 13. Ivanov, Alexander           g  USA 2544  6.0 42   49.5   34 
 14. Friedel, Joshua E           f  USA 2398  6.0 40.5 47     30 
 15. Gurevich, Dmitry            g  USA 2497  6.0 40   49     33 
 16. Figler, Ilye                f  USA 2327  6.0 39.5 48     28.5
 17. Milman, Lev                 f  USA 2383  6.0 39.5 46     34 
 18. Rensch, Daniel              f  USA 2364  6.0 38   45.5   30 
 19. Sarkar, Justin              m  USA 2375  6.0 37.5 46     30.5
 20. Schneider, Dmitry           m  USA 2454  6.0 36   44.5   28.5
 21. Annakov, Babakuli           g  TKM 2489  6.0 34   37     28.5
 22. Garcia, Gildardo            g  COL 2458  6.0 32.5 32.5   26 
 23. Winer, Steven               f  USA 2335  6.0 31.5 37.5   26 
 24. Wojtkiewicz, Aleksander     g  USA 2559  5.5 41.5 46     32 
 25. Lein, Anatoly Y             g  USA 2375  5.5 40   44.5   27.5
 26. Georgiev, Vladimir          g  MKD 2563  5.5 39   43     32 
 27. Sharavdorj, Dashzeveg       g  MGL 2444  5.5 36.5 42.5   26.5
 28. Stein, Alan R                  USA ----  5.5 36.5 41.5   28.5
 29. Lugo, Blas                  m  USA 2395  5.5 36   44.5   28 
 30. Adamson, Robby              f  USA 2375  5.5 34   40     28.5
 31. Lewis, James E                 DOM 2230  5.5 29.5 29.5   22 
 32. Enhbat, Tegshsuren          f  USA 2412  5.0 38.5 47     28.5
 33. Rogers, Norman              f  USA 2300  5.0 38   45.5   24.5
 34. Stolerman, Jack                USA 2258  5.0 37.5 45.5   25 
 35. Smith, Bryan G              f  USA 2334  5.0 37.5 40.5   28 
 36. Blatny, Pavel               g  CZE 2451  5.0 37   43     27.5
 37. Donaldson, John W           m  USA 2459  5.0 37   41     28.5
 38. Rizzitano, James            m  USA 2395  5.0 36.5 44.5   28.5
 39. Ippolito, Dean              m  USA 2381  5.0 36.5 44     27.5
 40. Bartholomew, John           f  USA 2327  5.0 36   43     28 
 41. Atoofi, Pedram                 IRI 2298  5.0 36   43     24 
 42. Foygel, Igor                m  USA 2462  5.0 35   42.5   28 
 43. Dougherty, Michael          f  CAN 2213  5.0 34.5 40.5   24.5
 44. Ardaman, Miles              f  USA 2307  5.0 34   40.5   22.5
 45. Fierro Baquero, Martha L    wg ECU 2327  5.0 33.5 40     25.5
 46. Tsyganov, Igor M            f  USA 2324  5.0 33   37.5   21 
 47. Watson, John L              m  USA 2361  5.0 31   36.5   25 
 48. Roper, David C              f  USA 2292  5.0 30   30     25 
 49. Bisguier, Arthur B          g  USA 2282  5.0 28.5 28.5   23.5
 50. Enkin, Max                     USA 2111  5.0 25.5 25.5   18.5
135 players

5) Beer Sheva Rapid

Beer Sheva chess club is Israel hosts a rapid tournament 18th-21st April 2004. Time rate 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move. News Michael Klenburg.

Live games: http://www.worldchessnetwork.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rapid Beer Sheva ISR (ISR), 18-21 iv 2004              cat. XII (2537)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Avrukh, Boris       g ISR 2620  * 0 . . . . 1 = 1 1 . 1  4.5  2711 
 2. Huzman, Alexander   g ISR 2589  1 * = . = = . . = . 1 .  4.0  2670 
 3. Korchnoi, Viktor    g SUI 2579  . = * 1 . . = . 1 . 1 0  4.0  2667 
 4. Dvoirys, Semen I    g RUS 2612  . . 0 * 1 . 0 1 . 1 . 1  4.0  2634 
 5. Erenburg, Sergey    g ISR 2513  . = . 0 * . 1 1 . = . 1  4.0  2653 
 6. Roiz, Michael       g ISR 2563  . = . . . * . 1 = = 0 =  3.0  2508 
 7. Tyomkin, Dimitri    g CAN 2503  0 . = 1 0 . * 0 . . . 1  2.5  2498 
 8. Tseitlin, Mark D    g ISR 2455  = . . 0 0 0 1 * . . 1 .  2.5  2486 
 9. Golod, Vitali       g ISR 2552  0 = 0 . . = . . * = = .  2.0  2417 
10. Khmelniker, Ilya      ISR 2458  0 . . 0 = = . . = * = .  2.0  2426 
11. Vydeslaver, Alik    m ISR 2448  . 0 0 . . 1 . 0 = = * .  2.0  2407 
12. Greenfeld, Alon     g ISR 2551  0 . 1 0 0 = 0 . . . . *  1.5  2372 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

6) 10th WDB Easter Open

The 10th WDB Easter Open took place 7th-12th April 2004. Evgeny Shaposhnikov won the event with 8/9. News: Franz Jittenmeier.

Official site: http://www.chess-international.de/ticker/borbeck04/index.html

--------------------------------------------------------
10th WDB Easter Open Essen GER (GER), 7-12 iv 2004
--------------------------------------------------------
 1. Shaposhnikov, Evgeny      g  RUS 2559  8.0 43.5 53.5
 2. Khurtsidze, Nino          m  GEO 2387  7.5 38.0 53.0
 3. Eismont, Igor                GER 2311  7.0 35.0 49.5
 4. Thiel, Thomas             f  GER 2306  7.0 34.5 50.0
 5. Henrichs, Thomas          m  GER 2427  7.0 34.0 46.0
 6. Koscielski, Janus Darius  f  GER 2320  6.5 37.0 54.0
 7. Rahman, Taibur            f  BAN 2245  6.5 34.5 49.0
 8. Villwock, Martin             GER 2185  6.5 30.0 43.5
 9. Becker, Marcel            f  GER 2299  6.0 36.0 54.0
10. Kummerow, Heiko           f  GER 2265  6.0 34.5 52.5
11. Curic, Drazan                CRO 2207  6.0 33.5 53.5
12. Podzielny, Karl-Heinz     m  GER 2479  6.0 33.0 50.0
13. Stabolewski, Andreas         GER 2193  6.0 32.5 45.5
14. Heimsoth, Holger             GER 2171  6.0 32.0 46.5
15. Voge, Andreas                GER 2149  6.0 31.5 45.0
16. Rose, Dominik                GER ----  6.0 31.0 49.5
17. Mueller, Martin              GER 2089  6.0 30.5 45.0
18. Biedekoepper, Robert         GER 2183  6.0 30.5 44.5
19. Hegemann, Eike               GER 2108  6.0 29.0 46.5
20. Soehnchen, Andreas           GER 2109  6.0 28.5 42.5
21. Muehlenhaus, Sven         f  GER 2196  6.0 27.0 40.5
133 players

7) Nabokov Memorial

The Nabokov Memorial takes place in the Avangardis Chess Club in Kiev 12th-21st April 2004.

Coverage at http://mirror01.iptelecom.net.ua/~chessfed/t019r.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Nabokov Mem Kiev UKR (UKR), 12-21 iv 2004                cat. IV (2326)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Goreskul, Alyona       wm UKR 2244  * . = 1 = . = 1 = = . 1  5.5  2461 
 2. Solomaha, Andrey          UKR 2384  . * . . = 0 1 = 1 = 1 1  5.5  2457 
 3. Pavlov, Sergey2           UKR 2338  = . * = = = . 1 = 1 . =  5.0  2410 
 4. Galinsky, Timofey       m UKR 2416  0 . = * = . = 1 . 1 = 1  5.0  2409 
 5. Stopkin, Vladimir         RUS 2229  = = = = * . = . . = = 1  4.5  2388 
 6. Kochetkov, Vitali         BLR 2356  . 1 = . . * 1 0 0 1 0 =  4.0  2333 
 7. Matorin, Evgeny         m RUS 2307  = 0 . = = 0 * 1 = = . .  3.5  2273 
 8. Moliboga, V               RUS 2329  0 = 0 0 . 1 0 * 1 . 1 .  3.5  2287 
 9. Onischuk, Vladimir      f UKR 2237  = 0 = . . 1 = 0 * . 0 1  3.5  2293 
10. Chokhonelidze, Giorgi   m GEO 2339  = = 0 0 = 0 = . . * 1 .  3.0  2242 
11. Zakharchenko, Arnold    m UKR 2362  . 0 . = = 1 . 0 1 0 * 0  3.0  2245 
12. Berezin, Viktor UKR     f UKR 2371  0 0 = 0 0 = . . 0 . 1 *  2.0  2127 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

8) Berlin Championship

The Berlin Championship took place 9th-17th April 2004. The event was won by Yakov Meister.

Full Results at http://www.berlinerschachverband.de/events/bsv/bem/2004/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-city Berlin GER (GER), 9-17 iv 2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Meister, Yakov           m  RUS 2505  +19 =10 + 3 + 6 = 4 - 2 + 9 + 7 +11  7.0  2548 
 2. Paulsen, Dirk            f  GER 2376  +14 - 6 +11 + 9 = 8 + 1 + 4 + 3 - 5  6.5  2467 
 3. Schlemmermeyer, Wilhelm  f  GER 2341  =15 +18 - 1 +14 + 7 = 4 + 6 - 2 + 9  6.0  2437 
 4. Von Herman, Ulf          f  GER 2396  +20 + 8 = 6 + 7 = 1 = 3 - 2 = 9 =10  5.5  2401 
 5. Lukaszewski, Marcin         POL 2229  - 7 =13 +16 - 8 =19 +18 +17 =11 + 2  5.5  2306 
 6. Gaerths, Ronny              GER 2269  +13 + 2 = 4 - 1 = 9 +11 - 3 =16 = 8  5.0  2351 
 7. Richter, Michael         m  GER 2424  + 5 = 9 +15 - 4 - 3 =10 + 8 - 1 +16  5.0  2339 
 8. Escher, Clemens             GER 2147  +11 - 4 +17 + 5 = 2 - 9 - 7 =12 = 6  4.5  2284 
 9. Sarbok, Torsten          f  GER 2362  +12 = 7 +10 - 2 = 6 + 8 - 1 = 4 - 3  4.5  2320 
10. Brener, Ilja                GER 2263  +17 = 1 - 9 +15 -11 = 7 =16 =14 = 4  4.5  2293 
11. Dauth, Benjamin             GER 2281  - 8 +12 - 2 +19 +10 - 6 +15 = 5 - 1  4.5  2261 
12. Haemmerlein, Thomas         GER 2167  - 9 -11 +20 -17 +18 =14 +13 = 8 =15  4.5  2181 
13. Horn, Sven                  GER 2096  - 6 = 5 -14 -18 +20 +19 -12 +17 +21  4.5  2165 
14. Gebigke, Martin             GER 2181  - 2 =19 +13 - 3 -16 =12 +18 =10 =17  4.0  2174 
15. Held, Peter                 GER 2158  = 3 +16 - 7 -10 =17 +20 -11 =18 =12  4.0  2196 
16. Lueders, Gerhard         f  GER 2271  =18 -15 - 5 +20 +14 =17 =10 = 6 - 7  4.0  2171 
17. Ritz, Olaf                  GER 2059  -10 +20 - 8 +12 =15 =16 - 5 -13 =14  3.5  2111 
18. Schmidt, Peter2             GER 2138  =16 - 3 -19 +13 -12 - 5 -14 =15 +20  3.0  2085 
19. Hansen, Kay                 AUT 2242  - 1 =14 +18 -11 = 5 -13 -20  .   .   2.0  2076 
20. Vandre, Wolfgang            GER 2208  - 4 -17 -12 -16 -13 -15 +19 +21 -18  2.0  1949 
21. BYE                             ----   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  -20 -13  0.0       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) First Saturday April

The First Saturday events took place 3rd-15th of April 2004. The main event was a Category 7 event. Levente Vajda won the event with 8.5/13. The IM event saw Sandor Farago win and FM Hardarson Robert (ISL,2307) and FM Olaf Wegener (GER,2405) make IM norms. Games from the GM event are complete, the first 9 rounds of the IM event only are available.

News from Miklos Orso and Laszlo Nagy.

Internet coverage: http://www.firstsaturday.hu

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSGM April Budapest HUN (HUN), 3-15 iv 2004                    cat. VII (2417)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Vajda, Levente          g ROM 2482  * 1 = 0 = 1 = = = = = 1 1 1  8.5  2521 
 2. Nguyen Ngoc Truongson   f VIE 2436  0 * = 1 = 1 1 = 0 1 = = = 1  8.0  2502 
 3. Paschall, William M     m USA 2401  = = * = 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 = 1 1  8.0  2504 
 4. Czebe, Attila           g HUN 2487  1 0 = * 0 = 1 0 = 1 1 1 = 1  8.0  2498 
 5. Kustar, Sandor          m HUN 2351  = = 1 1 * = = = = = = 0 = 1  7.5  2478 
 6. Horvath, Peter1         m HUN 2464  0 0 1 = = * 0 = = 1 = 1 1 1  7.5  2470 
 7. Vajda, Albert           m ROM 2427  = 0 0 0 = 1 * 1 1 = = 1 = =  7.0  2444 
 8. Breder, Dennis          m GER 2473  = = 0 1 = = 0 * 1 0 1 = = =  6.5  2412 
 9. Seres, Lajos            g HUN 2496  = 1 0 = = = 0 0 * = = 1 = =  6.0  2381 
10. Groetz, Harald          f AUT 2359  = 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 = * = = 1 1  6.0  2392 
11. Blauert, Joerg          m GER 2370  = = 1 0 = = = 0 = = * = = 0  5.5  2363 
12. Muir, Andrew J          m SCO 2303  0 = = 0 1 0 0 = 0 = = * = =  4.5  2315 
13. Pataki, Gyozo             HUN 2374  0 = 0 = = 0 = = = 0 = = * =  4.5  2310 
14. Jakab, Attila           m HUN 2411  0 0 0 0 0 0 = = = 0 1 = = *  3.5  2242 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------
FSIM April Budapest HUN (HUN), 3-15 iv 2004 cat. II (2293)
----------------------------------------------------------
 1. Farago, Sandor          m HUN 2314 9.5  89.0
 2. Wegener, Olaf           f GER 2405 9.0  82.0
 3. Hardarson, Robert       f ISL 2307 9.0  82.0
 4. Werner, Dimo            m GER 2362 8.0  83.0
 5. Meinhardt, Maximilian     GER 2285 8.0  83.0
 6. Lengyel, Bela           m HUN 2328 7.5  83.5
 7. Nagle, Sean             f USA 2375 7.5  83.5
 8. Gerard, Nicolas         f FRA 2283 7.0  84.0
 9. Brustkern, Juergen      f GER 2266 6.5  84.5
10. Fodor, Tamas jr         f HUN 2183 5.5  88.0
11. Thorarinsson, Pall A      ISL 2278 5.0  86.0
12. Gikas, Basilius           GER 2271 4.5  86.5
13. Wilke, Werner             AUT 2275 2.5  86.0
14. Batyte, Daiva             LTU 2176 1.5  82.0
-----------------------------------------------------------

10) 1st Beirut International Open

The 1st Beirut International Open finished on 10th April 2004. IM Tigran L. Petrossian (2539) finished on 8/9 with 7 wins, 2 draws, and no losses.

Unrated Jamal Shamieh took 10th place (6.0 points) among the 24 internationally rated players.

Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
  1.  Petrosian Tigran L.  2539  8.0  55.0
  2.  Tratar Marko         2452  7.0  54.5
  3.  Hakki Imad           2451  6.5  54.5
      Videki Sandor        2415  6.5  50.5
      Ermenkov Evgenij     2449  6.5  50.0
      Raes A               2215  6.5  45.0
  7.  Sebenik Matej        2440  6.0  50.5
      Najjar Ahmad         2344  6.0  50.0
      Khairallah Faisal    2288  6.0  50.5
      Shamieh Jamal        0000  6.0  50.5
      Kassis Antoine       2224  6.0  48.5
      Mouradian Knarik     2102  6.0  47.0
      Eid Fadi             2390  6.0  48.0
      Assaf Mansour        2281  6.0  46.0
      Kadrash H.           2132  6.0  42.5
 16.  Shamieh Mahmoud      2175  5.5  45.0
      Shtereva Slaveja     2116  5.5  48.0
      Sakr Nassim          2152  5.5  50.0
      Hazouri Ismail       2175  5.5  43.5
      Mrad Charif          2032  5.5  39.0
      Najjar Issam         0000  5.5  37.5
72 players

11) 6th Dubai Open

The 6th Dubai Open takes place 18th-28th April 2004 in Dubai Chess Club. 160 players, including 43 GMs, 28 IMs compete for more than $40,000 in prizes.

Official site is http://www.arabfide.com/dubaiopen2004

12) Russian Juniors

The Russia under 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 championships for boys and girls took place 4th-17th April 2004 in Sochi. Sadly no games available.

Official site: http://www.russiachess.ru

Leading results of top groups
Boys Under-18
 1 Nepomniachtchi, Ian  2445 9.0     
 2 Yudin, Sergei        2425 8.0 69,0
 3 Iljin, Artem         2481 8.0 63,5
 4 Danin, Alexandre     2332 8.0 63,0
 5 Ekdyshman, Mikhail   2453 8.0 62,0
 6 Romanov, Evgeny      2392 7.5 73,5
 7 Khairullin, Ildar    2481 7.5 72,5
 8 Savchenko, Boris     2510 7.5 69,5
 9 Geller, Yakov        2489 7.5 66,5
10 Anisimov, Pavel      2458 7.5 66,0
11 Yatsenko, Alexey     2286 7.5 65,0
107 players

Boys Under-16
 1 Sirotine, Konstantin   2326 9.0 75,0
 2 Ponkratov, Pavel       2407 9.0 71,5
 3 Chadaev, Nikolai       2370 8.5 76,5
 4 Moskalenko, Alexander  2300 8.5 71,0
 5 Trofimov, Sergey P.    2301 8.0 72,5
 6 Nechepurenko, Roman V. 2348 8.0 69,0
 7 Lyanguzov, Oleg        2303 8.0 67,0
 8 Kirillov, Evgeniy      2200 8.0 55,5
 9 Lanin, Alexsej         2328 7.5 70,0
10 Bratkovskiy, Dmitry    2194 7.5 66,0
11 Kozlov, Konstantin     2236 7.5 64,5
12 Yemelin, Arseny        2184 7.5 62,5
124 players

Girls Under-18
 1 Kursova, Maria         2329 9.0
 2 Guseva, Marina         2292 8.5  72 67,0  
 3 Tomilova, Elena        2229 8.5  72 66,0  
 4 Lomako, Anna           2193 8.0
 5 Kirillova, Varvara     2229 7.5
 6 Chistiakova, Tamara    2297 7.0  72,5
 7 Avdeeva, Ver.          2142 7.0  65   60,5
 8 Kineva, Ekaterina      2146 7.0  65,0 60,0
 9 Bannikova, Anastasia   2139 7.0  63,5
10 Dolgova, Olga          2131 7.0  62,5
11 Burtasova, Anna        2299 7.0  62,0
12 Kovanova, Baira        2225 7.0  61,5
13 Cherenkova, Kristina   2240 7.0  61,0
14 Akatova, Ekaterina     2153 7.0  60,0
15 Kostrikina, Anna       2137 7.0  57,0
16 Donets, Valentina      2155 6.5
   Molkova, Oksana        2131 6.5
   Kariakina, Marina      2066 6.5
   Turcheniak, Mariy      2034 6.5
72 players

13) 2nd Annual Western Pacific Open

2nd Annual Western Pacific Open. Burbank, CA, April 2-4, 2004. 5-SS. $10,000 based on 200 players, $6000 guaranteed. Top section FIDE rated.

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

14) Rishon le Zion IM

There was a small IM tournament in Rishon le Zion organised by Victor Glatman. Avigdor Bykhovsky and Konstantin Lerner finished on 6.5/9 undefeated. My thanks to Lev Psakhis for sending the news.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
It Rishon le Zion ISR (ISR), 20-28 iii 2004            cat. IV (2335)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Bykhovsky, Avigdor     g RUS 2439  * = 1 1 1 = = = = 1  6.5  2489 
 2. Lerner, Konstantin Z   g UKR 2515  = * = = = 1 1 = 1 1  6.5  2480 
 3. Pliskine, Valeri         ISR 2212  0 = * 1 = = = 1 1 1  6.0  2473 
 4. Rodshtein, Maxim         ISR 2357  0 = 0 * 1 1 = 1 1 =  5.5  2412 
 5. Ganor, Dotan             ISR 2317  0 = = 0 * = 1 1 = =  4.5  2336 
 6. Kaplan, Sasha            ISR 2292  = 0 = 0 = * 1 0 = 1  4.0  2296 
 7. Kaganskiy, Gleb          RUS 2376  = 0 = = 0 0 * = 1 1  4.0  2287 
 8. Blokh, Dmitry            ISR 2261  = = 0 0 0 1 = * 1 0  3.5  2263 
 9. Drozdov, Alexandre     f RUS 2344  = 0 0 0 = = 0 0 * 1  2.5  2167 
10. Bykhovsky, Anatoly     f ISR 2236  0 0 0 = = 0 0 1 0 *  2.0  2125 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

15) Oslo Easter Chess Festival 2004

The Oslo Easter Chess Festival 2004 took place 3rd-11th April 2004.

The main event was the Open Norwegian Championships 3rd-11th April which was won by Mark Hebden.

Further details: http://home.online.no/~vichan/paske04/eng/indexa.html and http://home.online.no/~vichan/paske04/anm/index.html

-----------------------------------------------------
Open ch-NOR Oslo NOR (NOR), 3-11 iv 2004
-----------------------------------------------------
 1. Hebden, Mark              g  ENG 2544   7.5  2637 
 2. Dannevig, Oystein         f  NOR 2372   7.0  2508 
 3. Miezis, Normunds          g  LAT 2530   6.5  2515 
 4. Brynell, Stellan          g  SWE 2458   6.5  2490 
 5. Gullaksen, Eirik          m  NOR 2376   6.5  2498 
 6. Lemmers, Oscar            m  NED 2379   6.5  2426 
 7. Hunt, Adam                m  ENG 2411   6.5  2391 
 8. Hole, Oystein                NOR 2300   6.5  2402 
 9. Williams, Simon           m  ENG 2411   6.0  2482 
10. Van der Weide, Karel      m  NED 2460   6.0  2448 
11. Howell, David WL          f  ENG 2332   6.0  2360 
12. Lie, Kjetil A             m  NOR 2430   6.0  2331 
13. Alvir, Aco                m  AUT 2374   6.0  2373 
14. Andersen, Alf R              NOR 2181   6.0  2267 
15. Ekeberg, Carl Fredrik        NOR 2252   6.0  2227 
16. Hansen, Torbjorn Ringdal  f  NOR 2388   5.5  2310 
17. Tjiam, Dharma                NED 2324   5.5  2341 
18. Vea, Odin Blikra             NOR 2031   5.5  2296 
19. Sollid, Stein                NOR 2076   5.5  2316 
20. Pert, Richard G           m  ENG 2424   5.5  2286 
21. Sousa, Helsio Paulo          NOR 2096   5.5  2313 
22. Ferkingstad, Sjur            NOR 2193   5.5  2268 
23. Bjerke, Richard           f  NOR 2242   5.5  2199 
24. Borchgrevink, Harald         NOR 2227   5.5  2137 
25. Stenersen, Gudmund           NOR 2172   5.0  2254 
26. Wohl, Aleksandar H        m  AUS 2399   5.0  2285 
27. Johannessen, Svein        m  NOR 2313   5.0  2197 
28. Bae, Torstein             f  NOR 2303   5.0  2228 
29. Scholseth, Tor Kristian   f  NOR 2250   5.0  2151 
30. Adnoy, Hallvard V            NOR 2211   5.0  2165 
31. Kolas, Tore                  NOR 2171   5.0  2202 
32. Martinsen, Stig K            NOR 2143   5.0  2194 
33. Hagesaether, Ellen           NOR 2194   5.0  2185 
34. Bjerke, Silje                NOR 2083   5.0  2201 
35. Ofstad, Per                  NOR 2214   5.0  2163 
36. Berntsen, Sheila Barth    wf NOR 2106   5.0  2136 
37. Gvein, Kenneth               NOR 2101   5.0  2142 
92 players

16) 1st Coventry International

The 1st Coventry International took place April 16th-18th 2004 at King Henry VIII School, Coventry. Jonathan Rowson, Mark Hebden, Keith Arkell, Roland Berzinsh and Gavin Wall are in the field of 99. I will round up the results and games next week.

Live coverage: http://www.coventrychess.org.uk

17) Danish Championship

The Danish Championships took place April 4th-12th in Koege, Denmark. The event was a 16 player knockout won by Steffen Pedersen who beat Henrik El Kher in the final after winning a playoff 2-0. My thanks to Brian Joergensen.

Official site: http://www.skak-dm.dk/2004/

18) Asian Boys and Girls Championships

The Hotel Olympic in Tehran hosted the Asian Boys and Girls Championships Under 16 & under 18 2nd-9th April 2004. There were 72 participates from 6 countries Iran, India, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Iran. Games now available although I had to do so much work on them there is a danger that I may have introduced errors.

My thanks to Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh.

Official site http://www.iranchess.com includes games, results, pairings and photos.

19) 8th Neckar-Open

The 8th Neckar-Open took place 8th – 12th April 2004 in Deizisau, Germany. All games and results given last week. Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Roland Schmaltz won the event with 6.5/7.

Official site: http://www.neckar-open.de

--------------------------------------------------
8th Neckar Open Deizisau GER (GER), 8-12 iv 2004
--------------------------------------------------
 1. Kasimdzhanov,Rust  GM 2652 UZB 6.5 36.0 218.5 
 2. Schmaltz,Roland    GM 2527 GER 6.5 29.5 202.5 
 3. Külaots,Kaido      GM 2530 EST 6.0 33.0 208.5 
 4. Burmakin, Vladimi  GM 2596 RUS 6.0 32.5 209.0 
 5. Kasparov,Sergey    IM 2486 BLR 5.5 34.5 200.5 
 6. Baklan,Vladimir    GM 2606 UKR 5.5 33.5 203.0 
 7. Slaby, Jerzy       IM 2405 POL 5.5 33.5 195.5 
 8. Groszpeter, Attil  GM 2508 HUN 5.5 33.0 191.0 
 9. Naiditsch,Arkadij  GM 2576 GER 5.5 32.5 195.5 
10. Eljanov, Pavel     GM 2596 UKR 5.5 32.0 203.0 
11. Shengelia,Davit    IM 2496 GEO 5.5 32.0 191.5 
12. Landa,Konstantin   GM 2563 RUS 5.5 31.5 201.5 
13. Gelashvili,Tamaz   GM 2542 GEO 5.5 31.5 200.5 
14. Sax,Gyula          GM 2542 HUN 5.5 31.0 203.5 
15. Malakhatko, Vadim  GM 2543 UKR 5.5 30.5 194.5 
16. Postojev,Alexande     2137 GER 5.5 28.0 196.0 
17. Gheng,Josef        FM 2367 GER 5.5 27.5 189.0 
18. Gottschlich,Carst     2338 GER 5.5 27.0 192.5 
19. Ragger, Markus     FM 2351 AUT 5.5 26.5 200.5 
20. Baramidze,David    IM 2456 GER 5.5 26.0 185.5 
21. Schulz,Karsten     FM 2352 GER 5.5 24.0 192.5 
319 players

20) Hungarian Under 20 Championships

Zsolt Korpics reports that the Hungarian U20 Championships took place in Budapest 5th-13th April 2004. IM Andras Flumbort won the boys tournament undefeated with 7.5/9 games (swiss). Maria Ignacz won the girls tournament with 7.5/9.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-HUN U20 Budapest HUN (HUN), 5-13 iv 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Flumbort, Andras     m  HUN 2486  +18 = 2 +17 = 3 = 4 + 7 + 6 + 8 + 5  7.5  2626 
 2. Szabo, Krisztian        HUN 2336  +13 = 1 = 6 +12 - 7 + 9 - 4 + 3 + 8  6.0  2447 
 3. Banusz, Tamas        f  HUN 2379  +10 + 8 = 7 = 1 = 6 = 4 = 5 - 2 + 9  5.5  2416 
 4. Berczes, David       f  HUN 2293  =15 +11 + 8 = 7 = 1 = 3 + 2 - 5 = 6  5.5  2409 
 5. Meszaros, Tamas      m  HUN 2314  +20 - 7 =12 +14 +11 = 6 = 3 + 4 - 1  5.5  2344 
 6. Pap, Gyula              HUN 2323  +19 =17 = 2 +18 = 3 = 5 - 1 +13 = 4  5.5  2373 
 7. Boros, Denes         f  HUN 2408  +16 + 5 = 3 = 4 + 2 - 1 - 8 - 9 +13  5.0  2358 
 8. Erdos, Viktor        m  HUN 2473  + 9 - 3 - 4 +13 +14 +16 + 7 - 1 - 2  5.0  2316 
 9. Leviczki, Tibor         HUN 2251  - 8 =15 +10 =11 +18 - 2 +16 + 7 - 3  5.0  2313 
10. Szabo, Balazs           HUN 2141  - 3 =14 - 9 +20 +12 -13 +15 =11 +16  5.0  2196 
11. Sebestyen, Balazs    f  HUN 2286  +14 - 4 =15 = 9 - 5 +18 -13 =10 +19  4.5  2155 
12. Radnai, Adam            HUN 2175  -17 +19 = 5 - 2 -10 =15 +14 =16 +20  4.5  2158 
13. Papp, Tamas             HUN 2112  - 2 -18 +19 - 8 +20 +10 +11 - 6 - 7  4.0  2215 
14. Kiss,Tiborcz Zoltan     HUN ----  -11 =10 +16 - 5 - 8 =19 -12 +20 +15  4.0  2139 
15. Tamas, Milan            HUN 1959  = 4 = 9 =11 -17 -16 =12 -10 +19 -14  3.0  2074 
16. Koczo, Kristof          HUN 2192  - 7 =20 -14 +19 +15 - 8 - 9 =12 -10  3.0  2042 
17. Jakab, Attila        m  HUN 2390  +12 = 6 - 1 +15  .   .   .   .   .   2.5  2330 
18. Varga, Csaba2        f  HUN 2261  - 1 +13 +20 - 6 - 9 -11  .   .   .   2.0  2122 
19. Takacs, Balazs          HUN 2069  - 6 -12 -13 -16  .  =14 =20 -15 -11  1.0  1812 
20. Balazs, Gabor2          HUN 2029  - 5 =16 -18 -10 -13  .  =19 -14 -12  1.0  1836 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-HUN U20 Girls Budapest HUN (HUN), 5-13 iv 2004
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Ignacz, Maria           HUN 2142  * = 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2319 
 2. Schneider, Veronika     HUN 2092  = * = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2324 
 3. Rudolf, Anna            HUN 2197  0 = * 1 1 1 = 1 1 1  7.0  2260 
 4. Toth, Lili           wm HUN 2226  1 = 0 * = 0 1 = 1 1  5.5  2116 
 5. Horvath, Orsolya        HUN 1859  0 0 0 = * 1 1 1 0 =  4.0  2034 
 6. Remete, Zsuzsa          HUN 2073  0 0 0 1 0 * = 1 = 1  4.0  2010 
 7. Solyomvari, Roxanne     HUN 2009  0 0 = 0 0 = * = 1 1  3.5  1980 
 8. Ruszin, Anna            HUN 1909  0 0 0 = 0 0 = * 1 =  2.5  1906 
 9. Remete, Eszter          HUN 2135  0 0 0 0 1 = 0 0 * 1  2.5  1880 
10. Ruszin, Rita            HUN 1915  0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 *  1.0  1720 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

21) 77th Championship of St Petersburg

The 77th Championship of St Petersburg took place 1st-11th April 2004. Valery Loginov and Valerij Popov finished on 7/10. The game Matlakov-Loginov had a truly bizarre finish with Loginov agreeing a draw in a totally winning position after mutual blindness. Please delete my attempted correction last week.

Official site: http://www.ruschess.com

22) Richard A Furness 1937-2004

Richard A Furness, British chess organiser, arbiter and administrator died on 15th April 2004 after a long illness. Starting as an organisers in the early 1970s with the Manchester and District Congress and later the Benedictine International also held in Manchester from 1978 to 1983. In the early 1990s he organised the Oakham Young Masters which saw amongst others Viswanathan Anand, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler and Alexei Shirov competed. He was also an organiser of the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International the 4NCL and the 1995 Intel World Grand Prix as well as Hastings and the British Championships.

He became FIDE International Arbiter in 1984 and FIDE International Organiser in 1995. He was presented with the BCF President's Award for 2004 to mark his contribution to British chess.

Full obituary at: http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/news/obitfurness.html

23) Forthcoming Events and Links

Etienne Bacrot vs Ivan Sokolov

Etienne Bacrot will take on Ivan Sokolov in Albert, France 27th April - 2nd May 2004.

Information: http://www.europe-echecs.com

Arthur Dake Memorial

The 2004 Arthur Dake Memorial IM will be held June 5th-13th at US Fiberglass, Inc. offices at 117 NE 5th Street, Suite D,McMinnville, OR 97128, USA.

It will be a 10 player round robin and a FIDE rated CAT II to CAT IV event. For more info contact please Clark Harmon charmon@solarprism.com or GM Emil Anka emilanka@freemail.hu

4th CSVN Computer

The 4th CSVN Tournament takes place in Leiden (The Netherlands) 23rd-25th April 2004.

The Dutch Computer Chess Association CSVN organises its fourth International CSVN Tournament a.k.a. ICT4 takes place Friday till Sunday 23-25 April 2004 in the Denksportcentrum (Minds Sports Centre) in Leiden, The Netherlands.

16 programs will be present in Leiden (see below), among them World Champion Shredder, the winner of last year The King a.k.a ChessMaster, winner of the Dutch Open 2003 Ruffian and the winner of the IPCCC 2004 Hydra. The total prize fund is $3000, the winner will get $1500. Main Sponsor of the ICT4 is Pal Computer Games from the United Arab Emirates, Lokasoft from The Netherlands will act once again as co-sponsor.

Programmes: Hydra Shredder Chess Tiger X The King Ruffian Diep IsiChess MMX Deep Sjeng Tao Ant The Baron Nexus Zzzzzz Praetorian GoldBar Neurosis

90 minutes per player for the whole game. Three rounds per day will be played.

Full coverage: http://www.computerschaak.nl

Previous winners:
CSVN Tournament 2001 : 1. Fritz 2. Gambit Tiger 3. Diep
CSVN Tournament 2002 : 1. Fritz 2. Diep 3. Shredder
CSVN Tournament 2003 : 1. The King 2. Shredder 3. Deep Sjeng

Czech Open 2004

The 15th International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games and the European Amateurs Championship in Chess takes place in Pardubice, Czech Republic 15th July - 1st August 2004. There are a large number of different events.

More details: http://www.czechopen.net

You can read about the Czech Tour 2004/2005 4th International Chess Festivals Series details: http://www.czechtour.net

Open de Sants

The VI International Chess Open de Sants, Hostafrancs & La Bordeta Barcelona takes place 28th August - 5th September 2004.

Information: http://www.secretariat.org/open/Ingles.htm

2nd Savaria IM Tournament

The 2nd Savaria IM Tournament takes place 3rd-11th May 2004. (Szombathely, Hungary).

The organisers are looking for two players from abroad (FM or without title) Information: Korpics Zsolt korpicschess@axelero.hu

Pobeskydi Tournament

The Pobeskydi tournament took place 8th-12th April 2004. It has two parts, firstly closed IM, WGM and WIM tournaments, secondly a FIDE open. Hopefully games and results will become available.

Further details: http://www.chessfm.cz

Sigeman Tournament 2004

The Sigeman Tournament 2004 organised by the Limhamn Chess Club and the Copenhagen Chess Federation takes place in Malmo and Høje Taastrup April 30th - May 9th 2004.

Players: Alexander Beliavsky, Peter Heine Nielsen, Curt Hansen, Eduardas Rozentalis, Evgeny Agrest, Magnus Carlsen. Nick De Firmian, Tiger Hillarp-Persson, Jonny Hector and Jacob Aagaard.

Further information: http://www.ksu.dk/sigeman/default.asp?id=2

VII Memorial Pedro Salas Caparros

The III Torneo Internacional de Vera or "VII Memorial Pedro Salas Caparros" takes place in Vera, Almería, Spain, 8th-11th July 2004.

Players
-----------------------------------------------
RI    Nombre                 Tí Fed  Elo   Edad
-----------------------------------------------
 1. Radjabov, Teimour        GM AZE  2670   17 
 2. Vallejo Pons, Francisco  GM ESP  2666   21 
 3. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar   GM AZE  2657   19 
 4. Korchnoi, Viktor         GM SUI  2579   73 
-----------------------------------------------

Official site: http://www.jaque.tv/noticia9204.htm

36th Chess Olympiad

The 36th Chess Olympiad takes place in Calvià (Majorca), 14th-31st October 2004. There is now a website with lots of information on the event.

Official site: http://www.36chessolympiad.com

37th Biel International Chess Festival

The 37th Biel International Chess Festival 17th-30th July 2004.

Events include GM tournament (category 17), "Accentus" ladies Grandmaster tournament, with six of the best juniors of the world and other 10 international events.

Newly designed website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch in English, German, French and Russian. With special offers.

XXII Andorra Open

The XXII Andorra International Open takes place 3rd-11th July 2004.

Total prizes: Total: 12.000€ including: 1st 2.500,00 € 2nd 2.000,00 € 3rd. 1.250,00 € 4th. 1.000,00 € 5th 800,00 € 6th. 650,00 € 7th. 500,00 € 8th. 360,00 € 9th. 300,00 € 10th. 250,00 € etc

Further details: http://www.feva.ad

Polish Championships

The Polish Men's Championship takes place April 24th-May 7th in Warsaw. The event is a 14 player round-robin. Each round starts at 16:00 (except the last round, which starts at 13:00). May 2nd is the day-off. The time control is 90 minutes for the whole game with a 30-second increment per move ("FIDE time control"). The Women's Championship takes place alongside April 26th-May 7th.

Coverage should be at http://www.zagraj.pl and there is certain to be a link from the Polish Chess Federation site: http://www.pzszach.org.pl

Here is the line-up:

 1 Macieja, Bartlomiej    g  2633
 2 Krasenkow, Michal      g  2609
 3 Markowski, Tomasz      g  2605
 4 Kempinski, Robert      g  2586
 5 Socko, Bartosz         g  2579
 6 Cyborowski, Lukasz     g  2565
 7 Miton, Kamil           g  2563
 8 Jaracz, Pawel          g  2539
 9 Jakubiec, Artur        g  2532
10 Gdanski, Jacek         g  2529
12 Mista, Aleksander      g  2517
16 Jakubowski, Krzysztof  f  2492
22 Murdzia, Piotr         m  2455
36 Lagowski, Patryk       m  2425
Average rating 2545, category 12

Alushta Tournaments

Leonid Galperin the Vice-President of the Chess Federation of the Ukraine sends news of future events in Alushta.

Official site: http://www.kaissa.com.ua/

1. GM norm events (11-13-15 rounds, circular system, VIII-IX category) 22.05-2.06 5.06-15.06 17.06-27.06 27.08-7.09 10.09-20.09 23.09-3.10

2. IM norm events (11-13 rounds, circular system, II-III category) 22.05-2.06 5.06-15.06 17.06-27.06 27.08-7.09 10.09-20.09 23.09-3.10

3. Festival "Alushta's summer-2004" The tournaments with the GM and IM norm (11-13 rounds, circular system) 05.06 - 15.06 17.06. - 27.07 Rating tournament (11-13 rounds, circular system) 17.06-27.06 Open tournament (under 16 years). First prize - 200 $. (9 rounds, swiss system ) 8.06-16.06 Blitz tournament (9 rounds, swiss system) 28.06 "Rapid chess" (open) (9 rounds, swiss system) 29.06-30.06 Open tournament (main tournament of festival)(9 rounds, swiss system) First prize 1000 $. First prize (woman) 500$. 1.07-10.07

Australian Open Championship update

The Australian Open Chess Championships take place December 28th, 2004 to January 9th, 2005. It will be played at Mount Buller, a tourist destination just a few hours from Melbourne, Australia. The organisers can arrange free transfer from Melbourne to Mt Buller.

Confirmed entries include:

GM Shabalov, Alex          (2636 - USA)                         
GM Ehlvehst, Jaan          (2599 - EST)  
GM Mikhalevski, Victor     (2568 - ISR) 
GM Wojtkiewicz, Aleksander (2564 - USA)
GM Kengis, Edvins          (2555 - LAT)
GM Golod, Vitali           (2544 - ISR)
GM Kosten, Tony            (2507 - FRA)

The organisers are looking for other GM or IM players interested in participating. Contact cordover@chessworld.com.au for details of conditions for players.

Prizes for the tournament are $3500, $2500, $1700, $1100, $900 . down to 8th place. There is a good chance the first prize will be increased to $10,000.

Further details: http://www.mindsports.com.au

Paks Tournaments

II. Marx György Memorial Paks, Hungary 5-15 June 2004 with Portisch, Korchnoi, Beliavsky, Ács, Berkes GM Tournament (10 rounds, 6 invited players) & 5-15 June IM group, 5-11 June FM group, 12-15 June Open Tournaments

VIII. Paks Cup 21-31 August 2004 GM-IM Tournaments 23-29 August 2004 FM Tournament

Further information: Videki Sandor Tel: 0036-75421225, 304012866 email: videkis2001@yahoo.com

17th Ciudad de Leon 2004

The 17th Ciudad de Leon 2004 will again be a knockout event taking place June 3rd-7th 2004 in Leon, Spain.

Players: Alexei Shirov (Spain), Peter Svidler (Russia), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbajan) and Francisco Vallejo (Spain).

Official site: http://www.advancedchessleon.com and http://www.elajedrezdelfuturo.com

Dutch Championships

The Dutch Championships take place June 28th - July 10th 2004.

Further info: http://www.schaakbond.nl/

Essent Dutch Championship
Name                Title Qualified 
Loek van Wely       GM    Essent NC 2003
Sergei Tiviakov     GM    Essent NC 2003
Daniel Stellwagen   IM    Essent NC 2003
John van der Wiel   GM    Essent NC 2003
Friso Nijboer       GM    Dutch Open
Ivan Sokolov        GM    wildcard
Erik van den Doel   GM    Semi Finals
Dennis de Vreugt    GM    Semi Finals
Yge Visser          IM    Semi Finals
Manuel Bosboom      IM    Semi Finals

Essent Dutch Championship for Women
Name                Title Qualified
Zhaoqin Peng        WGM   Essent NC
Tea lanchava        WGM   Essent NC 2003
Petra Schuurman      FM   Essent NC 2003
Désiree Hamelink    WIM   Dutch Open
Bianca Muhren             Semi Finals
Arlette van Weersel       Semi Finals

Golden Cleopatra

The 8th Golden Cleopatra Open 2004 will be held after the Dubai Open 30th April - 9th May 2004 at the Eastern Company Club about 5km from the Pyramids, Cairo. 10 Round Swiss Sytem Time Control (90 minutes for all the game + 30 seconds per move)

Arrival 29th April, Closing Ceremony 9th May 7 p.m. then departure.

Special conditions for limited no. of GMs and IMs over 2400. Note: Organizers needs only one invited player from each country. Last day for registering is 24 April 2004 .

E-mail is ecf@idsc.net.eg and haskh@yahoo.com Hassan Khaled General Director Egyptian Chess Federation

Phone is +20-2-3378987 and Mobile:+20-10-5003063; Eastern Company Club Fax : +20-2-5620931 Egyptian Chess Federation : Phone and Fax : +20-2-2604285

European Individual Championships

The European Individual Championships take place in Antalya/Turkey 14 May (arrival) to 31 May 2004 (departure).

In addition the European Senior Championship takes place Arvier, Aosta Valley (Italy) from 8th-16th September 2004.

Further info at: http://www.eurochess.org

Uruguay Championships

The Preliminary tournament for the Uruguay Championships are taking place in Montevideo.

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

US Championships

The 2004 US Championships will take place November 25th - December 5th at the Hilton Torrey Pines, La Jolla San Diego, California.

Further details of who has qualified so far and which events make-up the 2004 cycle can be found at http://www.af4c.org/events.asp.

Further details: http://www.af4c.org

8th Voronezh International Chess Festival

The 8th Voronezh International Chess Festival takes place June 10th-21st 2004.

Internet coverage: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/index_e.htm

Olimp Base

One of the huge reference gaps in online chess literature is a list of games and results from the Olympiads. There is a new site which is designed to fill that gap.

Site: http://www.olimpbase.org

Mikhail Golubev Ukraine

Mikhail Golubev chronicled Ukrainian Chess news over a number of years on his Chess-Sector website. He no longer updates the site but there is an archive at: http://members.lycos.co.uk/csarchive/. His personal pages are at: http://www.geocities.com/mikhail_golubev/

Other websites of Ukrainian news: http://www.ukrchess.org.ua, http://www.chesspage.kiev.ua, http://www.kaissa.com.ua and http://www.ladja.com.ua

Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Congress

The Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Congress takes place 25th September - 3rd October 2004. The open has 9 rounds and the 2 subsidiary events 7, the latter starting on the 27th. A number of very strong grandmasters are likely to compete as in previous years. Total prize fund £16500. The first World Senior Team Championship will take place 5th - 12th October also in the same Ocean Castle Hotel. This is for teams of 4 + one optional reserve. Male players have to be at least 60 on 1 January 2004 and female players at least 50. Further details on both events Stewartreuben@aol.com

Canadian Events

A calendar of Canadian events can be found at the Chess Federation of Canada's web site - http://www.chess.ca - Listed are the major Canadian events for the summer tourist season in order of date, with links that can be pasted into a web browser. Please note the FIDE Zone 2.2 Championships 77th Canadian Closed Ch - August 20-29.

Canadian Schedule 2004: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~bw998/schedule.html

19th North Sea Cup

North Sea Cup, Esbjerg, Denmark. After 18 round-robins the Esbjerg Chess Union has decided to change the format of their renowned North Sea Cup. The organizers have always felt indebted to the participants of the amateur section who year after year have made the NSC a little chess festival. So now any chess devotee is offered the ( at least theoretical) possibility of facing even a GM - the NSC transforms at least for one year into the Open format.

The 19th North Sea Cup will be played July 3-10 2004, 9 rounds Swiss (two rounds on the 4th), the three top prizes DKK 15.000 - DKK 10.000 - DKK 5.000. The first 4 GMs who sign up will be offered free accommodation. Last entry June 27. Entry fee DKK 200, GM-IM-WGM and WIM for free. More info: Brian Isaksen brisak@esenet.dk

Further info: http://www.northseacup.dk

3rd Condom Chess Open

3rd Condom Chess Open 2004 (south-west of France)

The tournament takes place 10-17 july 2004 9 rounds swiss system 40 moves/2h + 1h KO FIDE homogation total prize : 8000 â?¬ - 1st 1200 â?¬ E-Mail: echecs.condom@free.fr

Further details: http://echecs.condom.free.fr

Zhukova vs "All Sport" and "Chess in Ukraine"

Natalia Zhukova takes on the newspaper "All Sport" and the web-site "Chess in Ukraine". Voting seems to be via E-Mail.

Moves so far: Zhukova vs. "All Sport" and "Chess in Ukraine" 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f3 Be7 10.h4 b5 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.Ne2 0-0 13.Nd4 Rc8 14.g4 Bb7 15.Be3 Qc7 16.h5 continues.

Further details: http://www.chesspage.kiev.ua/

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2004

Dortmund has changed its format to that used by the event when it acted as a Candidates tournament in 2002. There will be preliminary groups followed by semifinal and final matches.

The event takes place in the Dortmund Theatre 22nd July - 1st August 2004.

Players not yet announced by the organisers but they're expecting the event to be very strong.

Pula Open 2004

The Pula Open 2004 takes place 19th-26th June 2004 in Pula, Croatia.

Further details: http://skpula.hr

Brno Events

The Duras Chess Club in Brno is organising Closed GM and IM events and the Duras international open 3rd-11th July 2004.

Details: http://www.volny.cz/skduras/indexe.htm

TWIC Messageboard

With the Linares tournament about to start it seems a good time to launch a new discussion forum. Vote on your prediction of the winner of Linares. The TWIC message board. You need to register to post and vote. Address: http://www.chesscenter.com/messageboard

Czech Tour 2004-2005

4th International Chess Festivals Series

15.-23.5. 2004 4th OPEN ZNOJMO (FIDE open, Open Women Championship of the Czech Republic in active chess ?Znojemska kralovna ? The Znojmo Queen?, tournament for girls up to 14 years of age, active chess tournament)

15.7.-1.8. 2004 15th CZECH OPEN ? Pardubice (5 FIDE opens, one of them with GM and IM norm, Open European Amateurs Championship, Open Championship of the Czech Republic of 4-member team tournament, in active chess, blitz tournament, bughouse and Fischerandom chess, 14 tournaments altogether)

4.-12.8. 2004 7th OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER (FIDE open, closed GM and IM tournaments, Open Seniors Championship of the Czech Republic, open tournament of youngsters)

18.-26.9. 2004 1st OPEN HIGHLANDS ? Havlickuv Brod (Men Championship of the Czech Republic - semifinals, FIDE open)

23.-30.10. 2004 5th OPEN LIBEREC (FIDE open)

14.-21.1. 2005 4th OPEN PRAHA (2 FIDE opens, one of them with IM norm)

22.-30.1. 2005 4th OPEN MARIANSKE LAZNE (FIDE open and 1-2 closed IM tournaments)

More details e-mail: j.mazuch@avekont.cz and http:/www.czechtour.net

3rd Saturday Tournament

A 3rd Saturday Tournament will take place in Novi Sad, 20th-27th March 2004. Improved Elo ratings, IM and maybe GM norms (depending on interest), Semi Open. More info in few days on www.drazic.co.yu. Venue NSK, the oldest club in all of the former Yugoslavia, center of Novi Sad, Serbia, no visa needed now for European and USA citizens.

CFC Cup

Correspondence Chess server of Chessfriend.com has a new free competition. The CFC Cup 2004 allows interested players to test the server without entry fees by playing a real tournament where ELO and titles are available.

More details: http://www.chessfriend.com

IM Silman vs The Rest of the World

IM Silman vs The Rest of the World ChessWorld.net hosting a "Rest of the World" match against IM Jeremy Silman. This is a voting game where the "Rest of the World" (ROW) votes for the moves against Silman, and the highest voted move played after five days. Kasparov played a ROW game a few years back. IM Jeremy Silman is the author of the one chess book that everyone raves about, How to ReAssess Your Chess.

The match has inspired the largest ROW team ever at ChessWorld, well over 300 players at last count. IM Silman opened the game with 1. d4 and the voting is underway. You can get in on the game at http://www.chessworld.net - head for Play!..World team games after logging in.

The up to date position is also available on the TWIC front page.

Lenk Chess Festival

Lenk International Chess Festival is a Swiss Chess Tour event 2004. The 16th "Kreuz-Open" takes place April 8th-12th 2004.

The Hosts will be the Hotel "Kreuz", "Grande" Open, Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end).

Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. From 11.- 20. places natural prizes. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1944), junior(1984-87), schoolboy (1988) and best local player. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free.

Time table: Round 1st 18.30-22.30 April 8,; Rounds 2/3 09.30-14.30 and 15.30-20.30 April 9,; Round 4 13.30-18.30 April 10,; Rounds 5/6 09.30-14.30 and 15.30-20.30 April 11,; Round 7 10.00-15.00 April 12. Closing ceremony April 12 at 16.00.

Info: Beochess +41+34+424-01-06 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch or site http://www.beochess.ch for more details.

Shirov's New Website

Alexei Shirov has a new webpage which includes an online school project (together with GM Alfonso Romero and IM Javier Sanz both from Spain) and a personal page within. The address is http://www.shirovonline.com, at the moment everything is in Spanish although the English version should follow soon.

IX Cesenatico International Open

The IX Cesenatico International Chess Open takes place in Cesenatico (Italy) 4th-12th September 2004.Open A 9 rounds. Open B 8 rounds.

Organiser Jean Christophe Pirini email info@antiquascom.it Fax +39547681217 # mobile phone +39335.6615956.

Further details: http://www.antiquascom.it/scacchi.htm

Hungarian chess tournaments April-August 2004

1. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 1st-13th of May,

2. ELEKES memorial, Budapest GM-IM round robin, 15th-25th of May, organizer: IM Zsinka, Laszlo, +(36)-20-9219197 e-mail: zsinkala@axelero.hu or: zsinka@budapest.hu

3. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 5th-17th of June, Budapest, org.Nagy L.

4. BALATON OPEN and GM-IM closed about 20th-30th of June, org: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@axelero.hu /150 km West from Budapest/,

5. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 3rd-16th of July, Org: Nagy Laszlo,

6. Open EGER 9 rounds Swiss, 17th-25th of July /100 km North-East from Budapest/ and GM-IM closed tmt, organizer: Rauch Ferenc, cell phone: +(36)-30-326-3692, e-mail: rauch@freemail.hu, other organizer: Vajda, Albert Sr. e-mail: avajda@udv.topnet.ro More info: Nagy Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

7. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 7th-19th of August 2004, org: NL.

8. Cat.XI. GM-closed, 10 participants, Budapest, 18th-27th of Aug. Org: PALI, Gabor, e-mail: gaborpali@freemail.hu Mobile: +/36/-20-470-50-37

9. TALENTUM CUP Open 19th-27th of Aug. BALATONZAMARDI /200 km West from Budapest/, organizer: MR VALIS, Janos e-mail: husi-sc@hu.inter.net

10. FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM, 4th-16th of September, Org: NL.

Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic

The Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic 2004. Glendale, CA, May 29-31, 2004. 6-SS. $20,000 based on 300 players, $10,000 guaranteed. Top section FIDE rated.

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

65th Square Website

There is a new Turkish website: http://www.65thsquare.org (note the change of address). I have given an interview to the webmaster Alper Efe Ataman.

33rd International Rapid Chess Tournament Herford

Herford, 19th-20th June 2004 33rd International Rapid Chess Tournament 2004. Grand-Prix of Sparkasse Herford. Qualification tournament for the German Rapid Championships. 11 Rounds. Guaranteed Prize fund: € 1.500. 1st Prize € 500.-, Info: http://www.schach.com/herford/turnier/2004/herford2004ausschreibung.htm Homepage: http://www.schach.com/herford/

Western Canadian Open

The Western Canadian Open takes place July 9th-18th, 2004. The FIDE rated event is organised by the British Columbia Chess Federation.

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

Narender Nath Memorial Chess Tournament

The 3rd Annual Narender Nath Memorial Chess Tournament commemorating a man who died in the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001 is underway. The event raises money for charity.

Details: http://www.nathchesstournament.com/

Chess Exhibition in Cleveland Ohio

The Worlds of Chess Champions exhibition contains items including Egyptian chess pieces, commemorative stamps, autographed material, rare books and original manuscripts.

The event is in Cleveland OH. The Cleveland Public Library’s John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection is currently exhibiting an installation titled, Worlds of Chess Champions. This temporary exhibition is located in the third floor exhibition hall of the Main Building, 325 Superior Ave., N.E. The Library exhibition is free and open to the public. Paid parking is available on Rockwell, one block north of Superior Ave.

Worlds of Chess Champions puts chess into context through the lives of chess experts, authors, and champions. This exhibition sets the historical stage of chess champions from the 19th Century to the present. To illustrate the context of chess in the world, the earliest items displayed feature chess pieces from Egypt dating back to 1300 B.C. Other early items on display from the John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection include original manuscripts from the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Other rare and interesting items include a death mask photograph of an early 19th-century player, commemorative chess stamps, hand-written letters by and about world-famous chess champions, autographed material, and published books by chess champions.

Some of the materials in Worlds of Chess Champions have never before been exhibited. The John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection is the world’s largest and most comprehensive chess collection. The collection contains chess sets and pieces as well as material related to chess. Many stamps commemorating chess champions are in the exhibition. Newspaper and magazine clippings, chess championship programs, score sheets from games, and other rare items will be on display through June 12, 2004.

New York Masters

Regular competition for players in New York Rated 2200 and above.

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