THE WEEK IN CHESS 530 3rd January 2005 by Mark Crowther

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Contents

1) Introduction
2) FIDE Rating List January 2005
3) Pamplona Navarra Tournament
4) Drammen Chess Festival
5) 47th Reggio Emilia Tournament
6) Hastings Chess Congress
7) Rilton Cup 2004-5
8) Bois-Colombes Masters
9) Harmonie Chess Tournament
10) Asian Juniors
11) 31st Annual Eastern Open
12) XIII Erandio Open
13) 25th Bethune Chess Open
14) XX Nice International Open
15) Czech Chess Christmas
16) Mataró Tournaments
17) Dallas Tournament
18) 13th Donau Open Aschach
19) 2nd Riva del Garda International Open
20) Zadar Open
21) Blitz Russian Federation Open Internet Cup
22) Australian Open
23) Cairnhill Chess Festival
24) 127th New York Masters
25) Russian Cup
26) Hyeres Women's Tournament
27) Arnold Denker 1914-2005
28) Forthcoming Events and Links


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Games section

Pamplona Navarra Tournament                  41 games
Drammen Chess Festival                       35 games
47th Reggio Emilia Tournament                30 games
Hastings Chess Congress                      35 games
Rilton Cup 2004-5                           312 games
Bois-Colombes Masters                        15 games
Harmonie Chess Tournament                    20 games
Asian Juniors                                91 games
31st Annual Eastern Open                     34 games
XIII Erandio Open                            75 games
25th Bethune Chess Open                     146 games
XX Nice International Open                   71 games
Czech Chess Christmas                       130 games
Mataró Tournaments                           60 games
Dallas Tournament                            45 games
13th Donau Open Aschach                     135 games
2nd Riva del Garda International Open        54 games
Zadar Open                                  413 games
Blitz Russian Federation Open Internet Cup  190 games
Australian Open                             152 games
Cairnhill Chess Festival                    119 games
127th New York Masters                        4 games
Arnold Denker 1914-2005                       1 game
2208 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Luis Salinas, Mirjana Medic, Harald Grafenhofer, Jim Eade, John Fernandez, David Avron, Stéphane Laborde, Thomas Henrich, Leonid Galperin, Lahcene Chemali, Per Söderberg, Kenny Chern, Sergey Abramov, María Luisa Repiso Álvarez, Pedro Alberdi, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Andy McFarland and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The New Year sees a tremendous amount of chess throughout the World. The strongest event still running is the Drammen tournament which sees Peter Heine Nielsen lead with two rounds to go. Boris Gelfand completed victory in the Category XVII Pamplona event. For the first time in many years Vladimir Kramnik drops down to 4th in the World below Vesselin Topalov. Most of the top 10 excluding Kasparov play in Wijk aan Zee starting on the 15th. Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Peter Leko and Michael Adams also meet in the Linares tournament the following month so there should be plenty of changes in the top 10 before the April list. Arnold Denker died this week at the age of 90. He knew and analysed with Alexander Alekhine, played in the first major post-war tournament in Groningen where he met the new generation of Soviets and was in New York during the development of Fischer. Probably only Andrei Lilienthal has links to pre-war chess going further back.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) FIDE Rating List January 2005

Garry Kasparov keeps the number one spot and his rating over 2800. A very bad European Club Cup performance was saved to an extent by an impressive victory in the Russian Championship, nevertheless Kasparov still lost 9 points. Anand closes the gap further with his 8/11 at the Olympiad being worth 5 rating points. Topalov who hasn't played a rated game in this period nevertheless rises from 5 to 3 due to Kramnik's loss of 6 rating points in retaining his title against Leko in Brissago which makes him now 4th in the world and Leko rises 6 for the same reason and moves up to 5th. Morozevich dropped 17 points at the Olympiad and Russian Championship and is down from 4 to 6 in the World. Michael Adams played 20 games gaining just 1 rating point. Peter Svidler played 19 and his rating remained exactly the same.

Out of the list temporarily is October's number 9 Judit Polgar who hasn't played since the Hotel Bali tournament in Benidorm in November 2003. She returns in Wijk aan Zee after taking time out to have a child in 2004.

Into the top 20 is Vallejo Pons who gains 8 rating points to be number 18, Ivan Sokolov gained 22 points to be at 19. 18 year old rising star Andrei Volokitin of the Ukraine is up from 45 to 20 gaining 33.

FIDE Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov is up from 47 to 25 with a gain of 28 points. Another major gainer is Rafael Vaganian who is up from 58 to 32 with a gain of 30. Emil Sutovsky drops from 17th to 34th. Kiril Georgiev up from 77 to 44 gaining 29. Pavel Smirnov up from 76 to 51 gaining 19. David Navara up from 84 to 54. Baadur Jobava up from 93 to 56. Alexsej Aleksandrov 42nd to 61st and Alexander Beliavsky 40th to 62nd were major fallers. Hikaru Nakamura dropped 7 points to be 2613 a new high for the rating required to be in the top 100. He however has his US Championship victory and match win against Karjakin to come in the April list.

Back into the top 100 after dropping out in the last are Robert Kempinski, Jan Gustavsson and Vladimir Epishin. Viktor Korchnoi and Christopher Lutz return after longer absences. Into the top 100 for the first time as far as I'm aware is Ehsan Ghaem Maghami who is one of the most active players (I see his name a lot when compiling TWIC!) in the world as shown by his 66 games this time. He rises from 2558 to 2623.

Players dropping out of the list include October's World number 56 Zdenko Kuzul, Ferenc Berkes, Sergey Volkov, Rustem Dautov, Alexei Fedorov, Bu Xiangzhi, Semen Dvoirys, Zoltan Gyimesi, Igor Miladinovic and Gabriel Sargissian.

Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there.

No. Name                               t  NAT ju03 oc03 ja04 ap04 ju04 oc04 ja05  Gms
   1 Kasparov, Garry.................  g  RUS 2830 2830 2831 2817 2817 2813 2804  16
   2 Anand, Viswanathan..............  g  IND 2774 2766 2766 2774 2782 2781 2786  11
   3 Topalov, Veselin................  g  BUL 2735 2735 2735 2737 2737 2757 2757  0
   4 Kramnik, Vladimir...............  g  RUS 2785 2777 2777 2764 2770 2760 2754  14
   5 Leko, Peter.....................  g  HUN 2739 2722 2722 2741 2741 2743 2749  14
   6 Morozevich, Alexander...........  g  RUS 2679 2702 2732 2732 2743 2758 2741  21
   7 Adams, Michael..................  g  ENG 2719 2725 2720 2731 2738 2740 2741  20
   8 Svidler, Peter..................  g  RUS 2723 2723 2747 2733 2727 2735 2735  19
   9 Bacrot, Etienne.................  g  FRA 2645 2664 2664 2675 2712 2718 2715  5
  10 Shirov, Alexei..................  g  ESP 2732 2737 2736 2713 2725 2726 2713  19
  11 Ivanchuk, Vassily...............  g  UKR 2710 2710 2716 2716 2715 2705 2711  29
  12 Grischuk, Alexander.............  g  RUS 2732 2732 2719 2719 2705 2704 2710  26
  13 Bareev, Evgeny..................  g  RUS 2721 2739 2714 2711 2715 2715 2709  10
  14 Dreev, Alexey...................  g  RUS 2698 2705 2682 2689 2690 2698 2704  19
  15 Ponomariov, Ruslan..............  g  UKR 2718 2718 2722 2722 2722 2710 2700  8
  16 Gelfand, Boris..................  g  ISR 2695 2703 2709 2714 2709 2693 2696  17
  17 Akopian, Vladimir...............  g  ARM 2703 2684 2693 2689 2692 2692 2693  13
  18 Vallejo Pons, Francisco.........  g  ESP 2662 2662 2663 2666 2679 2678 2686  26
  19 Sokolov, Ivan...................  g  NED 2693 2695 2706 2690 2679 2663 2685  24
  20 Volokitin, Andrei...............  g  UKR 2585 2594 2594 2600 2638 2652 2685  20
  21 Aronian, Levon..................  g  GER 2649 2649 2648 2645 2671 2675 2684  12
  22 Bologan, Viktor.................  g  MDA 2650 2673 2679 2665 2663 2669 2683  26
  23 Van Wely, Loek..................  g  NED 2661 2654 2617 2651 2680 2681 2679  13
  24 Lautier, Joel...................  g  FRA 2677 2666 2676 2680 2666 2682 2678  21
  25 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam............  g  UZB 2664 2668 2652 2652 2640 2650 2678  17
  26 Sakaev, Konstantin..............  g  RUS 2655 2657 2656 2665 2664 2669 2677  6
  27 Nikolic, Predrag................  g  BIH 2649 2647 2648 2648 2671 2676 2676  0
  28 Short, Nigel D..................  g  ENG 2701 2701 2702 2712 2684 2687 2674  17
  29 Karpov, Anatoly.................  g  RUS 2693 2693 2682 2682 2682 2682 2674  4
  30 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter.........  g  ROM 2666 2675 2678 2692 2686 2687 2673  22
  31 Krasenkow, Michal...............  g  POL 2585 2597 2609 2609 2632 2676 2672  34
  32 Vaganian, Rafael A..............  g  ARM 2623 2623 2623 2639 2642 2640 2670  16
  33 Moiseenko, Alexander............  g  UKR 2618 2618 2623 2631 2640 2653 2669  25
  34 Sutovsky, Emil..................  g  ISR 2639 2646 2666 2661 2679 2697 2669  21
  35 Milov, Vadim....................  g  SUI 2595 2574 2632 2680 2683 2683 2668  18
  36 Radjabov, Teimour...............  g  AZE 2648 2650 2656 2670 2664 2663 2667  18
  37 Motylev, Alexander..............  g  RUS 2634 2634 2640 2649 2658 2651 2665  17
  38 Malakhov, Vladimir..............  g  RUS 2696 2696 2700 2695 2674 2664 2664  8
  39 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab..........  g  GEO 2702 2693 2678 2679 2679 2672 2662  19
  40 Khalifman, Alexander............  g  RUS 2678 2678 2674 2668 2669 2669 2662  13
  41 Dominguez, Lenier...............  g  CUB 2610 2607 2605 2612 2629 2645 2661  11
  42 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz..........  g  AZE 2585 2595 2646 2657 2662 2660 2657  25
  43 Sasikiran, Krishnan.............  g  IND 2654 2679 2654 2659 2666 2668 2657  22
  44 Georgiev, Kiril.................  g  MKD 2637 2651 2637 2637 2626 2625 2654  33
  45 Zvjaginsev, Vadim...............  g  RUS 2653 2653 2654 2654 2650 2650 2653  10
  46 Bruzon, Lazaro..................  g  CUB 2614 2603 2603 2602 2628 2637 2652  28
  47 Onischuk, Alexander.............  g  USA 2657 2661 2652 2652 2655 2653 2652  24
  48 Rublevsky, Sergei...............  g  RUS 2672 2672 2655 2671 2686 2649 2650  17
  49 Nielsen, Peter Heine............  g  DEN 2636 2626 2638 2628 2652 2663 2648  15
  50 Ye, Jiangchuan..................  g  CHN 2683 2681 2681 2681 2681 2649 2648  3
  51 Smirnov, Pavel..................  g  RUS 2629 2629 2609 2601 2620 2626 2645  25
  52 Vescovi, Giovanni...............  g  BRA 2618 2633 2633 2648 2648 2645 2645  0
  53 Smirin, Ilia....................  g  ISR 2656 2670 2670 2675 2671 2673 2644  27
  54 Navara, David...................  g  CZE 2600 2607 2604 2602 2616 2620 2644  26
  55 Eljanov, Pavel..................  g  UKR 2574 2597 2596 2592 2613 2629 2643  8
  56 Jobava, Baadur..................  g  GEO 2596 2605 2616 2616 2615 2614 2640  17
  57 Lputian, Smbat G................  g  ARM 2623 2630 2634 2634 2634 2634 2640  12
  58 Fressinet, Laurent..............  g  FRA 2640 2654 2636 2638 2637 2640 2638  21
  59 Graf, Alexander.................  g  GER 2643 2646 2629 2656 2661 2646 2637  25
  60 Bauer, Christian................  g  FRA 2589 2602 2599 2595 2590 2622 2636  6
  61 Aleksandrov, Aleksej............  g  BLR 2659 2664 2679 2668 2666 2659 2635  35
  62 Beliavsky, Alexander G..........  g  SLO 2668 2667 2667 2667 2679 2660 2635  27
  63 Sadvakasov, Darmen..............  g  KAZ 2600 2595 2611 2626 2626 2631 2635  26
  64 Gurevich, Mikhail...............  g  BEL 2644 2656 2656 2672 2667 2644 2634  26
  65 Kobalia, Mikhail................  g  RUS 2656 2656 2643 2630 2618 2621 2634  16
  66 Illescas Cordoba, Miguel........  g  ESP 2602 2602 2616 2623 2618 2626 2633  18
  67 Hansen, Curt....................  g  DEN 2618 2616 2635 2635 2635 2633 2633  0
  68 Harikrishna, P..................  g  IND 2558 2570 2582 2599 2609 2612 2632  42
  69 Seirawan, Yasser................  g  USA 2626 2621 2621 2621 2631 2631 2631  0
  70 Avrukh, Boris...................  g  ISR 2557 2609 2620 2620 2600 2614 2629  26
  71 Kaidanov, Gregory S.............  g  USA 2638 2624 2623 2621 2621 2611 2629  10
  72 Tregubov, Pavel V...............  g  RUS 2635 2635 2628 2636 2628 2629 2629  0
  73 Goldin, Alexander...............  g  USA 2608 2629 2616 2611 2624 2620 2628  10
  74 Almasi, Zoltan..................  g  HUN 2655 2631 2633 2631 2644 2650 2628  9
  75 Hjartarson, Johann .............  g  ISL 2640 2640 2640 2640 2628 2628 2628  0
  76 Tiviakov, Sergei................  g  NED 2613 2601 2600 2593 2601 2617 2627  43
  77 Ni, Hua.........................  g  CHN 2533 2560 2560 2587 2583 2611 2625  22
  78 Movsesian, Sergei...............  g  SVK 2647 2645 2639 2647 2646 2629 2624  28
  79 Kempinski, Robert...............  g  POL 2565 2561 2577 2586 2612 2608 2624  24
  80 Huebner, Robert Dr..............  g  GER 2604 2604 2604 2603 2624 2624 2624  0
  81 Najer, Evgeniy..................  g  RUS 2608 2608 2602 2606 2608 2624 2624  0
  82 Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan............  g  IRI 2544 2540 2549 2558 2552 2558 2623  66
  83 Vladimirov, Evgeny..............  g  KAZ 2606 2614 2621 2621 2628 2627 2623  19
  84 Naiditsch, Arkadij..............  g  GER 2574 2578 2576 2571 2574 2611 2623  7
  85 Ehlvest, Jaan...................  g  EST 2587 2602 2602 2596 2605 2631 2622  19
  86 Filippov, Valerij...............  g  RUS 2630 2630 2609 2639 2627 2632 2621  7
  87 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij.........  g  UKR 2537 2571 2602 2599 2615 2617 2620  17
  88 Timofeev, Artyom................  g  RUS 2575 2575 2578 2591 2611 2611 2619  26
  89 Macieja, Bartlomiej.............  g  POL 2627 2635 2653 2633 2633 2613 2618  26
  90 Korchnoi, Viktor................  g  SUI 2628 2580 2569 2579 2568 2601 2617  29
  91 Istratescu, Andrei..............  g  ROM 2586 2595 2590 2587 2603 2611 2617  5
  92 Sadler, Matthew.................  g  ENG 2626 2626 2626 2626 2617 2617 2617  0
  93 Gustafsson, Jan.................  g  GER 2570 2571 2572 2579 2611 2603 2616  20
  94 Iordachescu, Viorel.............  g  MDA 2606 2611 2634 2627 2633 2632 2615  23
  95 Epishin, Vladimir...............  g  RUS 2642 2658 2633 2610 2635 2599 2614  42
  96 Lutz, Christopher...............  g  GER 2631 2613 2597 2597 2596 2596 2614  18
  97 McShane, Luke J.................  g  ENG 2619 2649 2651 2656 2643 2629 2614  17
  98 Kharlov, Andrei.................  g  RUS 2591 2591 2607 2593 2604 2613 2614  6
  99 Nakamura, Hikaru................  g  USA 2568 2565 2571 2580 2601 2620 2613  25
 100 Kazhgaleyev, Murtas.............  g  KAZ 2610 2610 2568 2596 2598 2607 2613  2

3) Pamplona Navarra Tournament

The Pamplona, Navarra tournament took place 20th - 29th December 2004. This saw a Category 16 GM event won by Boris Gelfand who finished on 5.5/7 a point clear of Sergey Karjakin who in turn was half a point clear of Lazaro Bruzon, all three were undefeated. ELO favourite Emil Sutovsky finished badly on 3/7. The Swiss event alongside saw Ivan Cheparinov edge out Jordi Magem Badals on tie-break after both finished on 7.5/9.

Official site: http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/iosumena/ with further info at: http://www.jaque.tv/pamplona04.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------
XIV It Pamplona ESP (ESP), 22-29 xii 2004            cat. XVI (2630)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Gelfand, Boris             g ISR 2693  * = = 1 1 1 1 =  5.5  2851 
2. Karjakin, Sergey           g UKR 2576  = * = = = = 1 1  4.5  2740 
3. Bruzon, Lazaro             g CUB 2637  = = * = 1 = = =  4.0  2679 
4. De la Riva Aguado, Oscar   m AND 2528  0 = = * 0 1 = 1  3.5  2644 
5. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar     g AZE 2660  0 = 0 1 * = = =  3.0  2576 
6. Naiditsch, Arkadij         g GER 2611  0 = = 0 = * = 1  3.0  2583 
7. Sutovsky, Emil             g ISR 2697  0 0 = = = = * 1  3.0  2570 
8. Vaganian, Rafael A         g ARM 2640  = 0 = 0 = 0 0 *  1.5  2398 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 5 (December 27, 2004)

Gelfand, Boris            -  Bruzon, Lazaro            1/2   19  D45  Anti-Meran Variations
De la Riva Aguado, Oscar  -  Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar    0-1   39  C45  Scotch Game
Sutovsky, Emil            -  Karjakin, Sergey          0-1   53  C45  Scotch Game
Vaganian, Rafael A        -  Naiditsch, Arkadij        0-1   22  E14  Queens Indian

Round 6 (December 28, 2004)

Gelfand, Boris            -  De la Riva Aguado, Oscar  1-0   46  D15  Slav Defence
Bruzon, Lazaro            -  Karjakin, Sergey          1/2   39  D26  QGA
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar    -  Vaganian, Rafael A        1/2   31  D37  QGD 5.Bf4
Naiditsch, Arkadij        -  Sutovsky, Emil            1/2  115  B92  Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2

Round 7 (December 29, 2004)

Karjakin, Sergey          -  Naiditsch, Arkadij        1/2   25  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation
De la Riva Aguado, Oscar  -  Bruzon, Lazaro            1/2   14  C91  Ruy Lopez
Sutovsky, Emil            -  Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar    1/2   18  C36  Kings Gambit Modern Variation
Vaganian, Rafael A        -  Gelfand, Boris            1/2   14  D55  Queens Gambit Old Lasker Variation

---------------------------------------------------------
Open Pamplona ESP (ESP), 21-29 xii 2004
---------------------------------------------------------
 1. Cheparinov, Ivan                m  BUL 2576  7½  51
 2. Magem Badals, Jordi             g  ESP 2500  7½  50½
 3. Conquest, Stuart                g  ENG 2488  7   49½
 4. Llaneza Vega, Marcos            f  ESP 2298  7   47½
 5. Teran Alvarez, Ismael           m  ESP 2431  7   47½
 6. Perez, Rodney                   m  CUB 2422  7   45½
 7. Bruned, Yvalin                     ESP 2284  6½  49½
 8. Garbisu de Goni, Unai           m  ESP 2460  6½  49
 9. Jerez Perez, Alfonso            m  ESP 2434  6½  47½
10. Zamarbide Inarrea, Borja           ESP 2159  6½  45½
11. Pena Riascos,Alexander             ESP ----  6½  43½
12. Ivanov, Jordan                  m  BUL 2395  6½  43½
13. Fidalgo Fernandez, Javier          ESP 2140  6½  40
14. Huerga Leache, Mikel               ESP 2139  6   46
15. Llaneza Vega, Patricia          wm ESP 2181  6   45
16. Ros Octavio de Toledo, Eduardo     ESP 2172  6   45
17. Garcia, Raul                    f  AND 2259  6   44
18. Vinal Gutierrez,Pedro              ESP ----  6   43½
19. Bruned, Boris                      ESP 2173  6   43½
20. Cortes Bueno, Jesus Javier      f  ESP 2264  6   43
21. Lakunza Velasco, Ibai              ESP ----  6   40
22. Argaya Urdaniz, Miguel             ESP 2052  6   39
23. Balado Saez, Sergio                ESP 2263  5½  48
116 players

4) Drammen Chess Festival

The Drammen Chess Festival takes place 27th December 2004 - 5th January 2005.

Official site: http://www.buskerudsjakk.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smartfish Masters Drammen NOR (NOR), 27 xii 2004 - 5 i 2005cat. XIV (2600)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Nielsen, Peter Heine       g DEN 2663  * . = 1 = = 1 = . 1  5.0  2756 
 2. McShane, Luke J            g ENG 2629  . * = 0 = 1 . 1 1 =  4.5  2706 
 3. Shirov, Alexei             g ESP 2726  = = * . 1 = = . 1 0  4.0  2640 
 4. Macieja, Bartlomiej        g POL 2613  0 1 . * = = 0 1 = .  3.5  2582 
 5. Korchnoi, Viktor           g SUI 2601  = = 0 = * = . . = 1  3.5  2628 
 6. Khalifman, Alexander       g RUS 2669  = 0 = = = * = = . .  3.0  2554 
 7. Lie, Kjetil A              m NOR 2474  0 . = 1 . = * 0 = =  3.0  2563 
 8. Stefanova, Antoaneta       g BUL 2523  = 0 . 0 . = 1 * = =  3.0  2542 
 9. Johannessen, Leif Erlend   g NOR 2519  . 0 0 = = . = = * 1  3.0  2542 
10. Carlsen, Magnus            g NOR 2581  0 = 1 . 0 . = = 0 *  2.5  2488 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (December 27, 2004)

Nielsen, Peter Heine      -  Carlsen, Magnus           1-0   64  D17  Slav Defence
Macieja, Bartlomiej       -  Stefanova, Antoaneta      1-0   30  C54  Giuoco Piano
Korchnoi, Viktor          -  McShane, Luke J           1/2   48  E62  King's Indian 6...Nc6
Khalifman, Alexander      -  Shirov, Alexei            1/2   24  D44  Anti-Meran Gambit
Lie, Kjetil A             -  Johannessen, Leif Erlend  1/2   41  B18  Caro Kann

Round 2 (December 28, 2004)

Shirov, Alexei            -  Nielsen, Peter Heine      1/2   40  C42  Petroff's Defence
Macieja, Bartlomiej       -  Khalifman, Alexander      1/2   26  B57  Sicilian Sozin Attack
Stefanova, Antoaneta      -  McShane, Luke J           0-1   60  A45  Trompowsky
Johannessen, Leif Erlend  -  Korchnoi, Viktor          1/2   47  E16  Queens Indian
Carlsen, Magnus           -  Lie, Kjetil A             1/2   65  B38  Sicilian Maroczy Bind

Round 3 (December 29, 2004)

Nielsen, Peter Heine      -  Macieja, Bartlomiej       1-0   41  E39  Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
McShane, Luke J           -  Johannessen, Leif Erlend  1-0   32  B11  Caro Kann Two Knights
Korchnoi, Viktor          -  Carlsen, Magnus           1-0   40  D34  Tarrasch Defence, Main Line
Khalifman, Alexander      -  Stefanova, Antoaneta      1/2   46  D15  Slav Defence
Lie, Kjetil A             -  Shirov, Alexei            1/2   29  A15  English counter King's Fianchetto

Round 4 (December 30, 2004)

Shirov, Alexei            -  Korchnoi, Viktor          1-0   25  C02  French Advance
Macieja, Bartlomiej       -  Lie, Kjetil A             0-1   48  B35  Sicilian Defence
Khalifman, Alexander      -  Nielsen, Peter Heine      1/2   18  C43  Petroff's Defence
Stefanova, Antoaneta      -  Johannessen, Leif Erlend  1/2   15  D30  Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Carlsen, Magnus           -  McShane, Luke J           1/2   21  E92  King's Indian Classical

Round 5 (January 1, 2005)

Nielsen, Peter Heine      -  Stefanova, Antoaneta      1/2   45  D10  Slav Defence
McShane, Luke J           -  Shirov, Alexei            1/2   31  C26  Vienna Game
Korchnoi, Viktor          -  Macieja, Bartlomiej       1/2   41  A33  English Symmetrical
Lie, Kjetil A             -  Khalifman, Alexander      1/2   33  A15  English counter King's Fianchetto
Johannessen, Leif Erlend  -  Carlsen, Magnus           1-0   59  E98  King's Indian Classical

Round 6 (January 2, 2005)

Nielsen, Peter Heine      -  Lie, Kjetil A             1-0   51  E91  King's Indian Classical
Shirov, Alexei            -  Johannessen, Leif Erlend  1-0   40  B12  Caro Kann Advanced
Macieja, Bartlomiej       -  McShane, Luke J           1-0  100  A48  King's Indian Defence /c2-c4
Khalifman, Alexander      -  Korchnoi, Viktor          1/2   49  C11  French Defence
Stefanova, Antoaneta      -  Carlsen, Magnus           1/2   77  A45  Trompowsky

Round 7 (January 3, 2005)

McShane, Luke J           -  Khalifman, Alexander      1-0   48  B20  Sicilian (Big Clamp)
Korchnoi, Viktor          -  Nielsen, Peter Heine      1/2   29  A18  English Opening
Lie, Kjetil A             -  Stefanova, Antoaneta      0-1   40  C51  Evans Gambit
Johannessen, Leif Erlend  -  Macieja, Bartlomiej       1/2   35  E11  Bogo Indian Defence
Carlsen, Magnus           -  Shirov, Alexei            1-0   38  C95  Ruy Lopez Breyer

5) 47th Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 47th Reggio Emilia Tournament takes place December 29th 2004 - January 6th 2005 at the Mercure-Astoria Hotel.

Official site: http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it

--------------------------------------------------------------------
47th It Reggio Emilia ITA (ITA), 29 xii 2004 - 6 i 2005cat. VIII (2444)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Delchev, Aleksander   g BUL 2601  * . . = . 1 = 1 = 1  4.5  2591 
 2. Miladinovic, Igor     g GRE 2611  . * 1 = 0 = . = 1 .  3.5  2465 
 3. Cebalo, Miso          g CRO 2520  . 0 * . 1 . 1 1 = 0  3.5  2475 
 4. Komarov, Dimitri      g UKR 2555  = = . * = . = = . =  3.0  2439 
 5. Di Caro, Calogero     f ITA 2317  . 1 0 = * . = 0 1 .  3.0  2452 
 6. Rombaldoni, Denis       ITA 2251  0 = . . . * = = = 1  3.0  2466 
 7. Sciortino, Massimo      ITA 2222  = . 0 = = = * . . =  2.5  2409 
 8. Tirabassi, Maurizio   f ITA 2330  0 = 0 = 1 = . * . .  2.5  2418 
 9. Naumkin, Igor         g RUS 2479  = 0 = . 0 = . . * 1  2.5  2418 
10. Chatalbashev, Boris   g BUL 2554  0 . 1 = . 0 = . 0 *  2.0  2313 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

6) Hastings Chess Congress

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place 28th December 2004 to 9 January 2005 and has a new format. The Hastings Premier and Challengers are combined into one knockout tournament. Let us imagine 120 players enter for the event which finishes 6 January. Then 60 players go forward from the first round, with 4 lucky losers. These 64 players play a second round of knockout. The 56 losers play in the Challengers Swiss. The 64 players continue in one game knockouts until there are 8 players left. These 8 play in the Premier of 2 game knockouts. All players knocked out will be contracted to play in the Swiss Challengers, except for the losing finalist. Players when knocked out will carry forward their score in the standard play games. Of course White would have been a big advantage. There was an error earlier. The games will be played with White having 70 minutes and Black 90 in which to make the first 40 moves. Then each player will receive an extra 20 minutes for all the moves. There will be an addition of one minute per move cumulatively from the first. Where games are drawn, ties will be resolved first by blitz games, failing that an Armageddon play-off.

In the Semi-Finals Alexei Barsov meets Bartosz Socko and Vladimir Below meets Milos Pavlovic.

Official site: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk

Round 7 3rd January 2005

  Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (5)     -    SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (5)    13   3
  2 BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (5½)    -    PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (5)     4  11   
  
Round 6 2nd January 2005
      
  Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 BLUVSHTEIN,Mark  2502 (4)   0 - 1  BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (4)     9  13
  2 PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (4)   1 - 0  RENDLE,Thomas    2303 (3½)   11  32
  3 HOWELL,David     2340 (4)   0 - 1  SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (4)    28   3
  4 ZIATDINOV,Rashid 2464 (3½)  0 - 1  BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (4½)   14   4

Round 5 1st January 2005

  Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (3½)  ½ - ½  BLUVSHTEIN,Mark  2502 (3½)   13   9
  2 RENDLE,Thomas    2303 (3½)  0 - 1  PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (3)    32  11
  3 SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (3½)  ½ - ½  HOWELL,David     2340 (3½)    3  28
  4 BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (3½)  1 - 0  ZIATDINOV,Rashid 2464 (3½)    4  14

Round 4 30th December 2004

Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 BLUVSHTEIN,Mark  2502 (3)   ½ - ½  KOTRONIAS,Vasili 2599 (3)     9   1
  2 PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (2½)  ½ - ½  WU,Li            2236 (2½)   11  44
  3 EFIMENKO,Zahar   2594 (1)   0 - 1  SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (2½)    2   3
  4 GORMALLY,Daniel  2472 (2½)  ½ - ½  BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (3)    12   4
  5 HEBDEN,Mark      2550 (2½)  ½ - ½  BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (3)     5  13
  6 GREET,Andrew     2362 (3)   ½ - ½  RENDLE,Thomas    2303 (3)    25  32
  7 HOWELL,David     2340 (2½)  1 - 0  HUSS,Andreas     2332 (2½)   28  29
  8 ZIATDINOV,Rashid 2464 (2½)  1 - 0  CHERNIAEV,Alexan 2509 (3)    14   8 
      
Round  3  29th December 2004

Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 KOTRONIAS,Vasili 2599 (2)   1 - 0  PERT,Richard     2420 (1½)    1  19
  2 WU,Li            2236 (1½)  1 - 0  BONDAR,Tana      2172 (1)    44  52
  3 SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (2)   ½ - ½  HENDRIKS,Willy   2396 (2)     3  21
  4 BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (2)   1 - 0  KNOTT,Simon      2384 (2)     4  24
  5 MCNAB,Colin      2434 (2)   ½ - ½  HEBDEN,Mark      2550 (2)    17   5
  6 RUDD,Jack        2291 (1½)  0 - 1  GREET,Andrew     2362 (2)    36  25
  7 STEVENS,Christia 2287 (1½)  ½ - ½  HOWELL,David     2340 (2)    38  28
  8 CHERNIAEV,Alexan 2509 (2)   1 - 0  MARUSENKO,Peter  2320 (2)     8  30
  9 GONZALES,Jayson  2422 (2)   0 - 1  BLUVSHTEIN,Mark  2502 (2)    18   9
 10 DONOVAN,Nigel    2130 (½)   ½ - ½  EFIMENKO,Zahar   2594 (½)    56   2

 11 ZUDE,Erik        2385 (2)   0 - 1  PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (1½)   23  11
 12 LIASSOTA,Evgueni 2348 (1½)  0 - 1  GORMALLY,Daniel  2472 (1½)   26  12
 13 BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (2)   1 - 0  EAMES,Robert     2309 (2)    13  31
 14 WEGERLE,Joerg    2343 (2)   ½ - ½  ZIATDINOV,Rashid 2464 (2)    27  14
 15 WOMACKA,Mathias  2445 (2)   0 - 1  RENDLE,Thomas    2303 (2)    15  32
 16 HUSS,Andreas     2332 (2)   ½ - ½  SOCKO,Monika     2439 (1½)   29  16
     
Round 2 28th December 2004    
      
Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 HOUSKA,Jovanka   2298 (½)   0 - 1  KOTRONIAS,Vasili 2599 (1)    33   1
  2 SCHAACK,Harry    2294 (1)   ½ - ½  WU,Li            2236 (1)    35  44
  3 RADOVANOVIC,Jovi 2288 (1)   0 - 1  SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (1)    37   3
  4 SMITH,Alan       2272 (1)   0 - 1  BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (1)    41   4
  5 HEBDEN,Mark      2550 (1)   1 - 0  BRITTON,Richard  2295 (1)     5  34
  6 KAUFMAN,Raymond  2211 (1)   ½ - ½  RUDD,Jack        2291 (1)    49  36
  7 LALIC,Bogdan     2515 (½)   ½ - ½  STEVENS,Christia 2287 (1)     7  38
  8 MIRZOEVA,Elmira  2265 (1)   0 - 1  CHERNIAEV,Alexan 2509 (1)    42   8
  9 BLUVSHTEIN,Mark  2502 (1)   1 - 0  LYELL,Mark       2230 (1)     9  46
 10 EFIMENKO,Zahar   2594 (0)   ½ - ½  PERT,Nicholas    2501 (1)     2  10

 11 PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (1)   ½ - ½  SNAPE,Ian        2273 (1)    11  40
 12 GORMALLY,Daniel  2472 (1)   ½ - ½  NEVEROV,Valerij  2536 (0)    12   6
 13 HARPER,Ryan      2246 (0)   0 - 1  BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (1)    43  13
 14 ZIATDINOV,Rashid 2464 (1)   1 - 0  RAYNER,Francis   2212 (0)    14  48
 15 ANDERTON,Matthew 2233 (0)   0 - 1  WOMACKA,Mathias  2445 (1)    45  15
 16 SOCKO,Monika     2439 (1)   ½ - ½  GRANT,Alan       2206 (½)    16  50
 17 CAFFERTY,Bernard 2218 (0)   0 - 1  MCNAB,Colin      2434 (1)    47  17
 18 PATTERSON,Roger  2192 (0)   0 - 1  GONZALES,Jayson  2422 (1)    51  18
 19 PERT,Richard     2420 (½)   1 - 0  HAGESAETHER,Arne 2170 (0)    19  53
 20 BONDAR,Tana      2172 (0)   1 - 0  GWAZE,Robert     2402 (1)    52  20

 21 HENDRIKS,Willy   2396 (1)   1 - 0  BARTON,R Alan    2154 (0)    21  55
 22 NORINKEVICIUTE,R 2032 (1)   ½ - ½  DONOVAN,Nigel    2130 (0)    66  56
 23 ALMOND,Richard   2158 (0)   0 - 1  ZUDE,Erik        2385 (1)    54  23
 24 KNOTT,Simon      2384 (1)   1 - 0  GILES,Benjamin   2075 (0)    24  59
 25 GREET,Andrew     2362 (1)   1 - 0  KRAVCHENJA,Anast 2063 (0)    25  60
 26 PAFURA,Godfrey   2105 (0)   ½ - ½  LIASSOTA,Evgueni 2348 (1)    57  26
 27 MANSSON,James    2093 (0)   0 - 1  WEGERLE,Joerg    2343 (1)    58  27
 28 HOWELL,David     2340 (1)   1 - 0  BENEDIKTOVICH,Mi 2055 (½)    28  62
 29 HARMAN,Ronald    2057 (0)   0 - 1  HUSS,Andreas     2332 (1)    61  29
 30 MARUSENKO,Peter  2320 (1)   1 - 0  CALVERT,D. Ian   2041 (0)    30  65

 31 PYM,Thomas       2054 (0)   0 - 1  EAMES,Robert     2309 (1)    63  31
 32 RENDLE,Thomas    2303 (1)   1 - 0  TWITCHELL,Nevill 1997 (½)    32  72

Round  1  27th December 2004

Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 KOTRONIAS,Vasili 2599 (0)   1 - 0  HARPER,Ryan      2246 (0)     1  43
  2 WU,Li            2236 (0)   1 - 0  EFIMENKO,Zahar   2594 (0)    44   2
  3 SOCKO,Bartosz    2570 (0)   1 - 0  ANDERTON,Matthew 2233 (0)     3  45
  5 BELOV,Vladimir   2552 (0)   1 - 0  CAFFERTY,Bernard 2218 (0)     4  47
  6 RAYNER,Francis   2212 (0)   0 - 1  HEBDEN,Mark      2550 (0)    48   5
  7 NEVEROV,Valerij  2536 (0)   0 - 1  KAUFMAN,Raymond  2211 (0)     6  49
  8 GRANT,Alan       2206 (0)   ½ - ½  LALIC,Bogdan     2515 (0)    50   7
  9 CHERNIAEV,Alexan 2509 (0)   1 - 0  PATTERSON,Roger  2192 (0)     8  51
 10 HAGESAETHER,Arne 2170 (0)   0 - 1  BLUVSHTEIN,Mark  2502 (0)    53   9

 11 PERT,Nicholas    2501 (0)   1 - 0  BONDAR,Tana      2172 (0)    10  52
 12 BARTON,R Alan    2154 (0)   0 - 1  PAVLOVIC,Milos   2481 (0)    55  11
 13 DONOVAN,Nigel    2130 (0)   0 - 1  GORMALLY,Daniel  2472 (0)    56  12
 14 BARSOV,Alexei    2471 (0)   1 - 0  ALMOND,Richard   2158 (0)    13  54
 15 KRAVCHENJA,Anast 2063 (0)   0 - 1  ZIATDINOV,Rashid 2464 (0)    60  14
 16 WOMACKA,Mathias  2445 (0)   1 - 0  MANSSON,James    2093 (0)    15  58
 17 GILES,Benjamin   2075 (0)   0 - 1  SOCKO,Monika     2439 (0)    59  16
 18 MCNAB,Colin      2434 (0)   1 - 0  PAFURA,Godfrey   2105 (0)    17  57
 19 GONZALES,Jayson  2422 (0)   1 - 0  HARMAN,Ronald    2057 (0)    18  61
 20 BENEDIKTOVICH,Mi 2055 (0)   ½ - ½  PERT,Richard     2420 (0)    62  19

 21 GWAZE,Robert     2402 (0)   1 - 0  PYM,Thomas       2054 (0)    20  63
 22 CALVERT,D. Ian   2041 (0)   0 - 1  HENDRIKS,Willy   2396 (0)    65  21
 23 PASCHALL,William 2394 (0)   0 - 1  NORINKEVICIUTE,R 2032 (0)    22  66
 24 ZUDE,Erik        2385 (0)   1 - 0  LINK,Michael     2008 (0)    23  68
 25 VOGEL,Jorg       2012 (0)   0 - 1  KNOTT,Simon      2384 (0)    67  24
 26 SNOWDEN,James    2001 (0)   0 - 1  GREET,Andrew     2362 (0)    70  25
 27 LIASSOTA,Evgueni 2348 (0)   1 - 0  RETY,John        2001 (0)    26  69
 28 WEGERLE,Joerg    2343 (0)   1 - 0  SPANTON,Timothy  2001 (0)    27  71
 29 BARBER,Glen      1959 (0)   0 - 1  HOWELL,David     2340 (0)    74  28
 30 HUSS,Andreas     2332 (0)   1 - 0  YOUNG,Mel        1966 (0)    29  73

 31 COLLINS,Samuel   1933 (0)   0 - 1  MARUSENKO,Peter  2320 (0)    75  30
 32 EAMES,Robert     2309 (0)   1 - 0  FLOCKHART,Hugh   1926 (0)    31  76
 33 SIRISENA,Chantal 1925 (0)   0 - 1  RENDLE,Thomas    2303 (0)    77  32
 34 TWITCHELL,Nevill 1997 (0)   ½ - ½  HOUSKA,Jovanka   2298 (0)    72  33
 35 BRITTON,Richard  2295 (0)   1 - 0  TUCKER,Andrew    1903 (0)    34  78
 36 FRASER,Joe       1897 (0)   0 - 1  SCHAACK,Harry    2294 (0)    79  35
 37 RUDD,Jack        2291 (0)   1 - 0  COHEN,Ronnie     1806 (0)    36  80
 38 DEMPSEY,John     1805 (0)   0 - 1  RADOVANOVIC,Jovi 2288 (0)    81  37
 39 STEVENS,Christia 2287 (0)   1 - 0  RICHARDSON,Joe   1790 (0)    38  83
 40 LYELL,Mark       2230 (0)   1 - 0  WEGE,Jochen      2277 (0)    46  39

 41 SNAPE,Ian        2273 (0)   1 - 0  GOELDENBOOG,Juer 2044 (0)    40  64
 42 POZZO,Sebastian  1795 (0)   0 - 1  SMITH,Alan       2272 (0)    82  41
 43 MACRAE,James     1785 (0)   0 - 1  MIRZOEVA,Elmira  2265 (0)    84  42

7) Rilton Cup 2004-5

The Rilton Cup takes place 27th December 2004 – 5th January 2005.

Official site: http://www.stockholmschack.nu/

--------------------------------------------------------------
34th Rilton Cup Stockholm SWE (SWE), 4 xii 2004 - 5 i 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------
  1   Volkov, Sergei         gm RUS 2628  5     12331   19.0
  2   Ivanov, Sergej         gm RUS 2553  5     12271   19.5
  3   Hermansson, Emil       im SWE 2414  5     12089   17.5
  4   Bellon, Juan           gm ESP 2425  5     11785   17.0
  5   Khenkin, Igor          gm GER 2587  4.5       0   17.5
      Ulibin, Mikhail        gm RUS 2556  4.5       0   17.5
      Lyrberg, Patrik        im SWE 2432  4.5       0   17.5
  8   Gleizerov, Evgenij     gm RUS 2539  4.5       0   17.0
      Cramling, Pia          gm SWE 2477  4.5       0   17.0
      Aagaard, Jacob         im DEN 2431  4.5       0   17.0
 11   Nybäck, Tomi           gm FIN 2554  4.5       0   16.5
      Palo, Davor            im DEN 2526  4.5       0   16.5
      Handke, Florian        gm GER 2467  4.5       0   16.5
 14   Berg, Emanuel          gm SWE 2529  4.5       0   15.0
 15   Nygren, David             SWE 2204  4.5       0   14.5
 16   de Firmian, Nick       gm USA 2550  4         0   17.5
 17   Åkesson, Ralf          gm SWE 2472  4         0   15.5
      Poley, Vladimir        im BLR 2402  4         0   15.5
 19   Furhoff, Johan         fm SWE 2338  4         0   15.0
      Ong, Kezli                SWE 2325  4         0   15.0
 21   Carlsson, Pontus       fm SWE 2360  4         0   14.5
      Molander, Riku         fm FIN 2328  4         0   14.5
      Backelin, Rikard          SWE 2304  4         0   14.5
      Doggers, Peter            NED 2292  4         0   14.5
 25   Nouro, Mikael          im FIN 2361  4         0   14.0
      Lindberg, Bo           .  SWE 2326  4         0   14.0
 27   Marttala, Thomas          SWE 2245  4         0   13.5
106 players

8) Bois-Colombes Masters

The Bois-Colombes Masters took place 19th-29th December 2004. Manuel Apicella edged out Todor Todorov on tie-break as both finished on 6.5/9.

Official site: http://www.bois-colombes-echecs.com/evenements/bc_chessmasters_2004/calendrier.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------
BC Masters Bois Colombes FRA (FRA), 19-29 xii 2004      cat. VIII (2448)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Apicella, Manuel          g FRA 2543  * 1 = = 1 1 0 1 = 1  6.5  2603 
 2. Todorov, Todor            m BUL 2509  0 * = = 1 = 1 1 1 1  6.5  2607 
 3. Shchekachev, Andrei       g RUS 2546  = = * 1 = = = = = 1  5.5  2517 
 4. Abergel, Thal             m FRA 2428  = = 0 * = = 1 = = 1  5.0  2493 
 5. Sulypa, Alexandre         g UKR 2484  0 0 = = * = = 1 1 1  5.0  2487 
 6. Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas   m CAN 2425  0 = = = = * 1 = = =  4.5  2451 
 7. Marcelin, Cyril           g FRA 2453  1 0 = 0 = 0 * = 1 1  4.5  2447 
 8. Sebag, Marie              m FRA 2428  0 0 = = 0 = = * 1 1  4.0  2407 
 9. Okhotnik, Vladimir        m UKR 2426  = 0 = = 0 = 0 0 * 1  3.0  2325 
10. Pietrasanta, Jeremy         FRA 2242  0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 *  0.5  2027 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

9) Harmonie Chess Tournament

The Harmonie Chess tournament 2004 took place December 21st-30th 2004 in Groningen. There was a four way tie on 6/9. 14 year old Yuriy Kuzubov took first place on tie-break, a combination of the results of games played amongst the leaders and Sonnenborn-Berger points. Also on 6/9 was Friso Nijboer, John Van der Wiel and Yge Visser. Kuzubov is yet another Ukrainian Junior making a GM norm.

Live coverage of the games: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2004/

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Harmonie Groningen NED (NED), 21-30 xii 2004           cat. X (2495)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Nijboer, Friso        g NED 2567  * = = 0 1 1 1 0 1 1  6.0  2611 
 2. Kuzubov, Yuriy        m UKR 2530  = * 1 = = 0 1 1 = 1  6.0  2615 
 3. Van der Wiel, John    g NED 2493  = 0 * = 1 = 1 = 1 1  6.0  2619 
 4. Visser, Yge           m NED 2451  1 = = * 0 = = 1 1 1  6.0  2624 
 5. L'Ami, Erwin          m NED 2516  0 = 0 1 * = = 1 1 1  5.5  2572 
 6. Gagunashvili, Merab   g GEO 2567  0 1 = = = * 1 1 0 =  5.0  2529 
 7. Zhigalko, Andrey      m BLR 2515  0 0 0 = = 0 * 1 1 =  3.5  2412 
 8. Jones, Gawain C       f ENG 2447  1 0 = 0 0 0 0 * 0 1  2.5  2334 
 9. Ernst, Sipke          m NED 2521  0 = 0 0 0 1 0 1 * 0  2.5  2325 
10. Brandenburg, Daan       NED 2340  0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 1 *  2.0  2291 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

10) Asian Juniors

The 27th Asian Junior Chess Championship for Boys and Girls took place 22nd-30th December 2004 in Bikaner. S Arun Prasad won the event on tie-break from Chakkravarthy Deepan both finishing on 7.5/11. Arun Prasad had the event under control until he lost in the penultimate round but he and second place Deepan both drew in the final round. Hoang Thi Bao Tram edged out Dronavalli Harika in the girls event.

Official site: http://www.chessindia.org/asianjunior/

Final Round 11 Standings:
-------------------------------------------------------
Asian Juniors Bikaner IND (IND), 22-30 xii 2004
-------------------------------------------------------
 1. Arun Prasad, S           f  IND 2367  7.5     50.5
 2. Deepan, Chakkravarthy J  m  IND 2396  7.5     48.0
 3. Poobesh Anand, S         m  IND 2367  7       45.5
 4. Gupta, Abhijeet          f  IND 2412  7       45.0
 5. Gopal, G.N                  IND 2278  7       42.5
 6. Venkatesh, M.R           m  IND 2450  7       40.5
 7. Rohit, G                    IND 2281  7       40.0
 8. Das, Arghyadip              IND 2353  6.5     44.0
 9. Nguyen Van Huy              VIE 2325  6.5     43.5
10. Filippov, Anton          m  UZB 2475  6.5     36.5
11. Holmirzaev, Bahodir         UZB 2161  6.5     34.5
12. Hasan, Mehdi                BAN 2251  6       36.5
13. Sriram, Sarja               IND 2260  6       34.0
14. Nikhilesh, Kumar K       f  IND 2240  6       31.0
15. Amanov, Mesgen              TKM 2250  5.5     35.0
16. Samakov, Nurdin             KGZ 2179  5.5     35.0
17. Akshayraj, Kore             IND 2400  5.5     34.0
18. Soumitra, Majumdar          IND 2148  5.5     32.5
19. Navin, Kanna T.U            IND 2058  5.5     32.0
20. Abhyudaya, Rajpurohit       IND 2017  5.5     27.0
21. Foudzi, Johan Iskandar   f  MAS 2078  5       27.5
22. Foudzi, Kamal Firdaus       MAS 2024  5       26.0
23. Lakshmi, Narayanan M.V      IND 1897  5       24.5
24. Thrimavitharana,Ravin       SLK ----  3.5     25.0
25. Ahmad,Wahab                 PAK ----  3       17.5
26. Batra, Kartikeya            IND 1821  3       17.0
27. Roshan,Jaiswal              IND ----  2.5     18.0
28. Niyazov,Niyazklich          TKM ----  1        9.0
-------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Asian Juniors Girls Bikaner IND (IND), 22-30 xii 2004
------------------------------------------------------
 1. Hoang Thi Bao Tram     wf VIE 2217  9.5     59.0
 2. Harika, Dronavalli     wg IND 2391  9.5     56.5
 3. Soumya, Swaminathan       IND 2137  8       49.0
 4. Nadig, Kruttika           IND 2182  6.5     41.5
 5. Saheli, Nath              IND 2130  6.5     41.0
 6. Gomes, Mary Ann        wf IND 2183  6.5     38.5
 7. Raghavi, N                IND 2117  6       40.5
 8. Pratibha, Y            wm IND 2203  6       38.0
 9. Siti, Zulaikha         wf MAS 2162  6       37.5
10. Priya, P                  IND 2131  6       35.0
11. Kavitha, J.E              IND 2088  6       33.0
12. Sandhya, N                IND 2113  5.5     34.0
13. Hallaeva, Bahar        wf TKM 2153  5.5     33.5
14. Sowmya, H                 IND 2007  5.5     31.5
15. Amrutha, Mokal            IND 2104  5.5     31.0
16. Anuprita, Patil           IND 2081  5.5     30.5
17. Syed, Nabeela Farheen     IND 2058  5.5     29.5
18. Gevorgyan, Irina          UZB 2015  5.5     28.0
19. Sivasankari, P            IND 2112  5.5     27.0
20. Kurbanova, Maya        wf TKM 2094  4.5     28.0
21. Tilenbaeva, Janyl         KGZ 2080  4       22.5
22. Methmali,UGY              SRI ----  2       16.0
23. Wettasinghe,Samanthi      SRI ----  1       11.0
------------------------------------------------------

11) 31st Annual Eastern Open

The 31st Annual Eastern Open took place December 26th-29th 2004 in the Wyndham DC Hotel, Washington, DC. Alexander Ivanov won with 7/8 a point clear of Stanis Smetankin.

Official site: http://www.chessctr.org/eastern/eastern04.htm

----------------------------------------------------------
31st Eastern Open Washington DC USA (USA), 26-29 xii 2004 
----------------------------------------------------------
 2. Smetankin, Stanislav   m BLR 2471 6  1000
 3. Negulescu, Adrian      m ROM 2422 5½  385.71
 4. Muhammad, Stephen A    f USA 2387 5½  385.71
 5. Fernandez, Daniel      f USA 2391 5½  385.71
 6. Kaufman, Larry C       m USA 2373 5½  385.71
 7. Shibut, Macon          f USA 2315 5½  385.71
 8. Bengtson, Matthew      f USA 2271 5½  385.71
 9. Fayvinov, Zakhar       f USA 2257 5½  385.71
10. Enhbat, Tegshsuren     f USA 2406 5
11. Rubenchik, Rodion      f USA 2356 5
12. Getz, Shelby D         f USA 2289 5
13. Schneider, Igor        f USA 2315 5
14. Zimmer, Ralph            USA 2281 5
15. Alexander Barnett        USA 2156 5
16. Boris Privman          f USA 2302 5
17. Teddy Coleman          f USA 2251 5
70 players

12) XIII Erandio Open

The XIII Erandio Open took place 17th-23rd December 2004. The 8 rounds Swiss was won by Azer Mirzoev on tie-break from Aimen Rizouk. Games now available.

Further details: http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/sperandio/ajedrez/open04/ and http://ajedrezvasco.com/

Leading Final Round 8 Standings:
------------------------------------------------------------
XIII Open Erandio ESP (ESP), 18-23 xii 2004
------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Mirzoev, Azer                   g  AZE 2513  6,5   31,0
 2. Rizouk, Aimen                   m  ALG 2465  6,5   31,0
 3. Bojkov, Dejan                   m  BUL 2475  6,0   29,5
 4. Vasilev, Milen                  m  BUL 2425  5,5   28,5
 5. Kovacevic, Slobodan             m  SCG 2367  5,5   28,0
 6. Veingold, Aleksandr             m  EST 2473  5,5   28,0
 7. Garrido Ligarreta, Jose Javier     ESP 2073  5,5   26,0
 8. Salinero de Prado, Juan M          ESP 2192  5,5   25,0
 9. Galzagorri Uli, Yeray              ESP 2205  5,5   25,0
10. Uria Ramirez,Aitor                 ESP ----  5,5   24,5
11. Trigo Urquijo, Sergio              ESP 2062  5,0   23,0
12. Martinez Pelaez, David             ESP 2008  5,0   23,0
13. Basto Auzmendi, Mario              ESP 2111  5,0   23,0
14. Gonzalez Gonzalez, Asier           ESP ----  5,0   19,0
15. Angulo Martinez, Jon               ESP 2089  4,5   25,0
16. Resano Lopez, Francisco            ESP 2092  4,5   24,0
46 players

13) 25th Bethune Chess Open

The Bethune chess club celebrated its 25th International Open, venue Olof Palme, Commercial centre La Rotonde, Bethune, France (Pas-de-Calais) 26th-30th December 2004. The 7 round Swiss was won by former Candidate Andrei Sokolov on 6/7 ahead of Oleg Korneev, Azer Mirzoev and Namig Gouliev.

The 25th Bethune International Open (North of France) took place 26th-30th December 2004 and was particularly strong this year. Favorite Andrei Sokolov (GM 2591 FRA) won the Open A on a tie-break ahead of Oleg Korneev (GM 2583 RUS) and Azer Mirzoev (GM 2513 AZE). GMs neutraized each others and Andrei Sokolov was never really in danger in his games. The B tournament once again saw an unrated player win the event: the astonishing Omar Selmi. He even won the last game to finish clear first ahead of favourite Jessy Brutin (1780) and Jerome Menneveux (1500). 210 participants played in the Olof Palme hall, it was a record for this period as there were many tournaments this year at the same time of ours. Once again playing conditions in Bethune have seduced the players and all the staff consisting of voluntary people would like to thank them for this success. News: Lahcene Chemali.

All the details are on the Bethune website : http://www.bethunechess.com

---------------------------------------------------------
Open A Bethune FRA (FRA), 26-30 xii 2004
---------------------------------------------------------
  1. Sokolov, Andrei          g  FRA 2591  6    34   2704
  2. Korneev, Oleg            g  RUS 2583  6    31   2721
  3. Mirzoev, Azer            g  AZE 2513  6    30   2617
  4. Gouliev, Namig           m  AZE 2509  6    29   2624
  5. Afek, Yochanan           m  ISR 2322  5,5  28   2386
  6. Petitcunot, Pierre       f  FRA 2351  5,5  27   2481
  7. Le Quang, Kim            f  BEL 2276  5,5  26,5 2322
  8. Bojkov, Dejan            m  BUL 2475  5    31   2504
  9. Solleveld, Maarten       m  NED 2468  5    29   2436
 10. Van der Stricht, Geert   m  BEL 2413  5    28   2417
 11. Clery, Nicolas              FRA 2325  5    27,5 2330
 12. Novitzkij, Dmitrij       m  BLR 2394  5    25,5 2293
 13. Guez, Fabien                FRA 2196  5    22,5 2274
 14. Rouzaud, Philippe           FRA 2246  4,5  28   2277
 15. Martsynovskaya, Marina   wm FRA 2182  4,5  27   2302
 16. Luberti, W                  USA 2223  4,5  27   2245
 17. Giffard, Nicolas         m  FRA 2341  4,5  27   2211
 18. Windels,Jan                 BEL ----  4,5  26,5 2249
 19. Tupet, Guillaume            FRA 2030  4,5  26   2318
 20. Abeln, Michiel           f  NED 2341  4,5  25,5 2257
 21. Kononenko, Tatiana       wg UKR 2305  4,5  25,5 2231
 22. Masztalir, Matthieu         FRA ----  4,5  25,5 2222
 23. Morelle, Ludovic            FRA 2173  4,5  25   2238
 24. Briet, Guillaume            FRA 2143  4,5  25   2199
 25. Ait-Chaouche, Samy          FRA 2057  4,5  24   2179
 26. Roger, Mehdi                FRA 2219  4,5  24   2171
 27. Burgnies, Stephane          FRA 2162  4,5  24   2161
 28. Zhang, Tony                 NED ----  4,5  23,5 2202
 29. Maes, Thomas                BEL 2229  4,5  23,5 2191
 30. Martin,Jean Luc             FRA ----  4,5  23   2104
 31. Roussel, Cyril              FRA 1959  4,5  19,5 2062
 32. Bratanov, Zsivko         m  BUL 2448  4    30   2323
 116 players

14) XX Nice International Open

The XX Nice International Chess Open on the French Riviera took place December 26th-30th 2004 in the prestigious Grand Hôtel Aston (4 stars), near of the famous Place Massena. Vladimir Epishin edged out Joseph Sanchez on tie-break both scored 6/7.

Official site: http://www.echiquier-nicois.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------
20th Open Nice FRA (FRA), 26-30 xii 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Epishin, Vladimir             g  RUS 2599 6   37    2668
 2. Sanchez, Joseph               m  PHI 2430 6   32,5  2577
 3. Maze, Sebastien               m  FRA 2464 5,5 35    2539
 4. Hamdouchi, Hichem             g  MAR 2575 5,5 33,5  2596
 5. Libiszewski, Fabien           m  FRA 2419 5,5 32,5  2386
 6. Drogou, Gerard                   FRA 2094 5,5 32    2385
 7. Dunis, Aurelien               m  FRA 2461 5,5 31,5  2477
 8. Ribreau, Herve                   FRA 2222 5,5 31,5  2448
 9. Issermann, Ryhar                 GER 2325 5,5 31    2383
10. Govciyan, Pavel                  FRA 2291 5,5 28,5  2346
11. Sulava, Nenad                 g  CRO 2477 5   32,5  2381
12. Lamorelle, Julien                FRA 2202 5   31,5  2341
13. Perez, Flavio                    FRA 2230 5   31    2261
14. Van der Borck,Alexis             FRA ---- 5   29    2143
15. Lazic, Miroljub               g  SCG 2512 5   28,5  2336
16. Midoux, Sebastien                FRA 2305 5   28,5  2251
17. Noally, Thibault                 FRA 2075 5   28    2149
18. Henneteau, Jeremy                FRA 2063 5   27,5  2234
19. Tayeb, Suhail                    UAE 2240 5   26    2191
20. Vilaisarn, Akkhavanh             FRA 2187 5   26    2139
21. Zermiche, Cherif                 FRA 1952 5   25    2036
22. Le Gall, Jacques                 FRA 2006 5   24,5  1970
179 players

15) Czech Chess Christmas

Czech Chess Christmas 2004 tournament took place 26th December 2004 - 2nd January 2005 in Litomysl (Czech Republic). Pavel Blatny won with 8/9. Games from the first six rounds currently available.

Daily results and games: http://www.proclient.cz/a64/tournaments/litomysl2004/

-------------------------------------------------------------
Czech Christmas Litomysl CZE (CZE), 26 xii 2004 - 2 i 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Blatny Pavel           g  CZE 2454  8    41   55½   2362 
  2 Laznicka Viktor        m  CZE 2478  7   34½   51½   2308 
  3 Kovalev Andrei         g  BLR 2575  7    33    48   2260 
  4 Plachetka Jan          g  SVK 2435  6½   35    51   2352 
  5 Bernasek Jan           m  CZE 2384  6½  34½   51½   2356 
  6 Votava Jan             g  CZE 2505  6½   34    50   2319 
  7 Neuman Petr            m  CZE 2433  6    34   47½   2290 
  8 Luch Michal            f  POL 2364  6   33½   51½   2331 
  9 Zawadzki Stanislaw     m  POL 2398  6   33½    47   2298 
 10 Stocek Jiri            g  CZE 2569  6   32½   48½   2329 
 11 Splosnov Sergei        m  BLR 2367  6    32    49   2265 
 12 Cernousek Lukas           CZE 2343  6   31½   47½   2301 
 13 Velicka Petr           m  CZE 2427  6    31   47½   2266 
 14 Groetz Harald          f  AUT 2299  6    30   41½   2218 
 15 Blazkova Petra         wm CZE 2214  6    29    47   2230 
 16 Plischki Sebastian        GER 2346  5½  33½   54½   2362 
 17 Sabol Marian              CZE 2358  5½   31   46½   2258 
 18 Stehno Pavel              CZE 2326  5½   30   45½   2256 
 19 Krejci Jakub              CZE 2257  5½  28½   48½   2234 
 20 Manik Mikulas          m  SVK 2510  5½  28½    45   2261 
 21 Zawadzka Jolanta       wm POL 2329  5½   28    47   2230 
 22 Karlik Vladimir        f  CZE 2332  5½  27½   42½   2205 
 23 Vyskocil Neklan           CZE 2300  5½  25½   41½   2103 
 24 Cerveny Martin            CZE 2135  5½  25½   38½   2119 
 25 Masek Miroslav            CZE 2200  5½   25    41   2184 
 26 Valenta Vit               CZE 2164  5½   24   35½   2082 
 27 Kotan Ladislav         m  SVK 2332  5   30½    51   2297 
 28 Novak Pavel               CZE 2338  5   28½    46   2244 
 29 Holemar David          f  CZE 2326  5    28   44½   2246 
 30 Michenka Josef         m  CZE 2350  5    28    42   2191 
 31 Novotny Michal            CZE 2210  5   27½   43½   2282 
 32 Herbold Manfred           GER 2140  5    27   40½   2228 
 33 Jedlicka Ales             CZE 2266  5   25½    41   2115 
 34 Sochor Stanislav          CZE 2133  5    25   40½   2055 
 35 Srba Milan                CZE 2144  5   24½   42½   2197 
 36 Mejzlik Ondrej            CZE 2054  5    23    40   2110 
 37 Vanek Tomas               CZE 2060  5   22½   40½   2166 
 38 Cerveny Petr              CZE 2098  5    22   44½   2165 
 39 Dichtl Dieter             AUT    0  5   19½    35   2052 
89 players

16) Mataró Tournaments

There are a number of tourmanets in Mataró (Spain) including GM and IM norms which take place 26th December 2004 - 5th January 2005.

Official site: http://www.escacsmataro.net/magistral/index.php

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st GM Mataro ESP (ESP), 26 xii 2004 - 5 i 2005                cat. IX (2464)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Lopez Martinez, Josep Manuel   m ESP 2481  * . = 1 . 1 1 1 = .  5.0  2755 
 2. Baron Rodriguez, Jesus         m ESP 2432  . * . = 0 1 . 1 1 1  4.5  2647 
 3. Moskalenko, Viktor             g UKR 2551  = . * = = . = 1 = .  3.5  2527 
 4. Comas Fabrego, Lluis           g ESP 2509  0 = = * 1 = . . . =  3.0  2454 
 5. Rodriguez Guerrero, Enrique    m ESP 2433  . 1 = 0 * 0 . . = 1  3.0  2464 
 6. Barrientos, Sergio             f COL 2435  0 0 . = 1 * = 1 . .  3.0  2464 
 7. Gonzalez Garcia, Jose          m MEX 2447  0 . = . . = * 0 1 1  3.0  2469 
 8. Narciso Dublan, Marc           g ESP 2487  0 0 0 . . 0 1 * . 1  2.0  2331 
 9. Fluvia Poyatos, Joan           m ESP 2467  = 0 = . = . 0 . * 0  1.5  2263 
10. Tissir, Mohamed                m MAR 2394  . 0 . = 0 . 0 0 1 *  1.5  2269 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st IM Mataro ESP (ESP), 26 xii 2004 - 5 i 2005             cat. IV (2333)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Gomez Anadon, Daniel        f ESP 2304  * . 1 1 0 = = . . 1  4.0  2470 
 2. Vidarte Morales, Arturo     m PER 2375  . * = = 1 = = . 1 .  4.0  2479 
 3. Ferron Garcia, Carlos       f ESP 2305  0 = * . = . 1 1 1 .  4.0  2457 
 4. Asis Garagatagli, Hipolit     ESP 2340  0 = . * . = 1 1 . 1  4.0  2445 
 5. Alonso Moyano, Jonathan       ESP 2417  1 0 = . * . . = = 1  3.5  2364 
 6. Munoz Pantoja, Miguel       m PER 2404  = = . = . * 0 1 = .  3.0  2319 
 7. Llorente Zaro, Alfonso        ESP 2321  = = 0 0 . 1 * . . 1  3.0  2335 
 8. Gonzalez Vericat, Sergio      ESP 2237  . . 0 0 = 0 . * 1 =  2.0  2223 
 9. Mela, Benjamin                ARG 2340  . 0 0 . = = . 0 * =  1.5  2143 
10. Rios, Alejandro             m COL 2283  0 . . 0 0 . 0 = = *  1.0  2053 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

17) Dallas Tournament

The University of Texas at Dallas hosted a Category X tournament 7th-15th December 2004. The University of Texas At Dallas is in Richardson Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Dr. Timothy Redman is the International Arbiter for the event. Igor Novikov and Yuri Shulman both finished on 6.5/9. All games now available. My thanks to Luis Salinas.

Official site: http://chessweb.utdallas.edu/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
UTD GM Dallas USA (USA), 7-16 xii 2004                  cat. X (2481)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Novikov, Igor A        g USA 2588  * = 0 = 1 1 = 1 1 1  6.5  2634 
 2. Shulman, Yuri          g USA 2549  = * = = 0 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2639 
 3. Moiseenko, Alexander   g UKR 2653  1 = * = = = 1 0 1 1  6.0  2586 
 4. Ramirez, Alejandro     g CRC 2519  = = = * = = 1 1 = 0  5.0  2519 
 5. Simutowe, Amon         m ZAM 2424  0 1 = = * 1 0 = = 1  5.0  2530 
 6. Mahesh Chandran, P     m IND 2482  0 0 = = 0 * 1 1 1 1  5.0  2523 
 7. Vavrak, Peter          m SVK 2388  = 0 0 0 1 0 * = 1 =  3.5  2411 
 8. Kujovic, Michal          SVK 2360  0 0 1 0 = 0 = * 0 1  3.0  2369 
 9. Schneider, Dmitry      m USA 2453  0 0 0 = = 0 0 1 * =  2.5  2317 
10. Fernandez, Daniel      f USA 2391  0 0 0 1 0 0 = 0 = *  2.0  2270 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

18) 13th Donau Open Aschach

The 13th Donau Open in Aschach took place 26th-31st December 2004. Vladimir Petkov took clear first with 6.5/7. My thanks to Harald Grafenhofer.

Official site: http://www.aschach.at/schach

------------------------------------------------------------
13th Donau Open Aschach AUT (AUT), 26-31 xii 2004
------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Petkov, Vladimir                 BUL 2413  6½ 26,0 2693
 2. Stanec, Nikolaus              g  AUT 2560  5½ 23,5 2540
 3. Szuhanek, Ranko               m  ROM 2451  5½ 22,0 2440
 4. Cifka, Stanislav                 CZE 2310  5½ 20,0 2446
 5. Sandhoefner, Florian             AUT 2251  5  24,0 2499
 6. Jurek, Josef                  m  CZE 2367  5  23,0 2460
 7. Priborsky, Jan                   CZE 2318  5  22,5 2468
 8. Ardeleanu, Alin               m  ROM 2391  5  22,5 2398
 9. Ragger, Markus                f  AUT 2428  5  22,0 2429
10. Tratar, Marko                 m  SLO 2473  5  21,0 2394
192 players in 3 tournaments - 1 GM, 10 IM

19) 2nd Riva del Garda International Open

2nd Riva del Garda International Open Chess Tournament took place 26th-30th December 2004. Sabino Brunello won the event on Bucholz tiebreak ahead of Giancarlo Braschi and Valerio Luciani, all at 5,5. The 15 years old winner from Rogno (Bergamo) scored a success also in Chiaravalle last summer. Claudio Pantaleoni and Michael Trauth finished on 5 the top player from Trento was Eraldo Giancotti with 4,5.

Further details; http://www.relaxhotels.com/Scacchi/

----------------------------------------------------
2nd Open Riva del Garda ITA (ITA), 26-30 xii 2004
----------------------------------------------------
 1. Brunello, Sabino         ITA 2258  5.5 27.5 3.5
 2. Braschi, Giancarlo       ITA 2172  5.5 27.5 3.0
 3. Luciani, Valerio         ITA 2182  5.5 27.0
 4. Pantaleoni, Claudio      ITA 2220  5.0 26.0
 5. Trauth, Michael          GER 2233  5.0 24.5
 6. Braghetta, Sergio        ITA 2268  5.0 24.0
 7. Piantoni, Roberto        ITA 2133  4.5 28.0
 8. Farina, Saverio          ITA 2110  4.5 27.0
 9. Popa, Claudio            ITA 2182  4.5 25.0
10. Giancotti, Eraldo        ITA 2093  4.5 24.5
11. Dalponte, Dino           ITA 2096  4.5 23.0
12. Bove, Alessandro         ITA 2142  4.5 21.5
13. Cappai, Davide           ITA 2120  4.0 28.0
14. Bengsch, Bertram         GER 2054  4.0 26.5
15. Vaccari,Sergio           ITA ----  4.0 24.5 2.5 4
16. Horn, Peter              GER 2172  4.0 24.5 2.5 2
17. Picco, Ruggero           ITA 2022  4.0 23.5
18. Cereda, Loris            ITA 2002  4.0 23.0 3.0
19. Bressanelli, Roberto     ITA 2083  4.0 23.0 1.0
20. Pojer, Romeo             ITA 2127  4.0 22.5
47 players

20) Zadar Open

The Zadar Open in Croatia took place 13th-19th December 2004. Bojan Kurajica won the event with 8/9. News: Mirjana Medic.

Further details: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/zadar/index.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Open Zadar CRO (CRO), 13-19 xii 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Kurajica, Bojan        g  BIH 2541  8     43.5  54.5   43.5
  2. Nevednichy, Vladislav  g  ROM 2552  7     41.0  54.0   38.5
  3. Delchev, Aleksander    g  BUL 2601  6.5   43.0  56.5   36.0
  4. Kovacevic, Aleksandar  g  SCG 2556  6.5   42.0  53.5   35.5
  5. Zelcic, Robert         g  CRO 2531  6.5   41.0  52.0   35.5
  6. Kutuzovic, Branko      m  CRO 2369  6.5   40.5  52.5   32.5
  7. Kosic, Dragan          g  SCG 2519  6.5   40.5  51.0   34.5
  8. Pavasovic, Dusko       g  SLO 2581  6.5   39.5  50.5   32.0
  9. Dizdarevic, Emir       g  BIH 2538  6.5   36.5  49.0   31.0
 10. Blagojevic, Dragisa    m  SCG 2527  6.5   36.5  47.5   32.5
 11. Radulski, Julian       m  BUL 2501  6     40.0  52.0   33.0
 12. Saric, Ante            m  CRO 2437  6     39.5  50.0   31.5
 13. Jovanic, Ognjen        m  CRO 2475  6     39.0  48.5   32.5
 14. Saric, Ibro            f  BIH 2441  6     37.5  49.5   31.5
 15. Kovacevic, Blazimir    m  CRO 2503  6     37.5  48.0   31.0
 16. Sedlak, Nikola         g  SCG 2521  6     37.0  47.5   31.0
 17. Lalic, Bogdan          g  ENG 2515  6     35.5  45.0   31.5
 18. Mestrovic, Zvonimir    m  SLO 2376  6     35.0  43.5   31.5
 19. Jankovic, Alojzije     m  CRO 2477  6     33.0  42.0   30.0
 20. Zufic, Miroslav        m  CRO 2370  5.5   39.5  50.0   30.0
 21. Rezan, Sasa            f  CRO 2416  5.5   39.5  49.5   31.0
 22. Fercec, Nenad          m  CRO 2477  5.5   39.0  50.0   32.0
 23. Ljubicic, Filip        m  CRO 2395  5.5   39.0  50.0   31.5
 24. Leventic, Ivan         m  CRO 2502  5.5   38.5  49.5   32.0
 25. Rogic, Davor           m  CRO 2482  5.5   38.0  49.0   32.0
 26. Bilobrk, Franjo        f  CRO 2328  5.5   37.0  45.0   30.5
 27. Skatchkov, Pavel       m  RUS 2516  5.5   36.5  47.0   31.0
 28. Tratar, Marko          m  SLO 2473  5.5   35.5  47.0   29.0
 29. Kristovic, Marijan     f  CRO 2351  5.5   35.5  46.5   28.5
 30. Krstic, Uros           m  CRO 2360  5.5   33.5  45.0   27.0
 31. Feletar, Darko         m  CRO 2402  5.5   33.5  43.0   29.0
 32. Kljako, Damir          f  CRO 2257  5.5   33.0  42.5   25.5
 33. Navinsek, Tomaz        f  SLO 2337  5.5   32.5  42.0   26.5
 34. Stupar, Slavoljub         CRO 2164  5.5   29.0  38.0   20.5
114 players

21) Blitz Russian Federation Open Internet Cup

The Blitz Russian Federation Open Internet Cup Superfinal took place on December 28, 2004 at the Chess Assistant Club playing zone http://www.ChessAssistantClub.com. Sergei Shipov edged out Alexander Grischuk on tie-break both making 14.5 in this 19 round robin blitz event. 11 players were rated over 2650 and there were also 9 qualifiers. The event took place 8am-12pm New York time, or 1-5PM GMT, with a prize fund of $7000. News: Sergey Abramov.

Further details and games from qualifiers for this event: http://www.ChessAssistantClub.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russian Blitz Internet Cup Superfinal chessassistantclub.com INT (INT), 28 xii 2004cat. XV (2606)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Shipov, Sergei           g RUS 2588  * 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 0 = 1 1 14.5  2808 
 2. Grischuk, Alexander      g RUS 2704  0 * 1 1 1 = = = = 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.5  2802 
 3. Adams, Michael           g ENG 2740  1 0 * 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 = = 1 1 1 1 1 14.0  2782 
 4. Rublevsky, Sergei        g RUS 2649  0 0 0 * 1 = = 0 0 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.5  2683 
 5. Vlassov, Nikolai         m RUS 2492  1 0 0 0 * 1 1 = 1 = 1 = 0 0 1 1 = 0 1 1 11.0  2668 
 6. Kosyrev, Vladimir        g RUS 2539  0 = 1 = 0 * 1 = 1 = = 0 0 1 1 0 1 = 1 1 11.0  2666 
 7. Bareev, Evgeny           g RUS 2715  0 = 0 = 0 0 * 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 10.0  2621 
 8. Dobrov, Vladimir         g RUS 2487  0 = 1 1 = = 1 * 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 = = 1  9.5  2612 
 9. Motylev, Alexander       g RUS 2651  0 = 1 1 0 0 0 0 * = 1 = 0 = 1 1 1 = 0 1  9.5  2603 
10. Van Wely, Loek           g NED 2681  0 1 0 1 = = 0 1 = * 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 1 = 1  9.5  2601 
11. Dreev, Alexey            g RUS 2698  = = 0 = 0 = 0 1 0 1 * 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 = 1  9.5  2600 
12. Sakaev, Konstantin       g RUS 2669  0 0 0 0 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 * 0 0 1 0 1 0 = 1  9.5  2602 
13. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab   g GEO 2672  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 * 0 0 = = = 1 1  9.5  2602 
14. Turov, Maxim             g RUS 2543  0 0 = 0 1 0 1 0 = = 0 1 1 * 1 = 1 = 0 0  8.5  2573 
15. Ovetchkin, Roman         m RUS 2473  = 0 = 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 * 1 0 1 = 1  8.5  2576 
16. Panarin, Michail         m RUS 2482  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 = = 0 * 1 1 1 1  8.0  2555 
17. Bologan, Viktor          g MDA 2669  1 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 = 0 1 0 * = 1 1  7.5  2522 
18. Kharlov, Andrei          g RUS 2613  = 0 0 0 1 = 0 = = 0 0 1 = = 0 0 = * 0 1  6.5  2488 
19. Aleksandrov, Aleksej     g BLR 2659  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 1 = = = 0 1 = 0 0 1 * 0  5.5  2445 
20. Popov, Roman             m RUS 2392  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 *  2.0  2266 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

22) Australian Open

The Australian Open Chess Championships takes place December 28th, 2004 to January 9th, 2005. It is being played at Mount Buller, a tourist destination just a few hours from Melbourne, Australia. There are $18,500AU in prizes with a top prize of $4500. Players include Edvins Kengis and Darryl Johansen.

Website: http://www.mtbullerchess.com

Round 5 (of 11) Standings: 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lidums Australian Open Mount Buller AUS (AUS), 28 xii 2004 - 9 i 2005
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Arlandi, Ennio           m  ITA 2440  4.5  19.0  13.5  20.0
 2. Johansen, Darryl K       g  AUS 2483  4.5  18.5  14.0  20.5
 3. Bjelobrk, Igor              NZL 2377  4.5  18.5  14.0  20.5
 4. Kengis, Edvins           g  LAT 2543  4.0  17.0  13.5  20.5
 5. Sedina, Elena            m  ITA 2431  4.0  16.0  12.5  19.0
 6. Guthrie, Aaron              AUS 2170  4.0  16.0  12.5  17.5
 7. Humphrey, Jonathan          AUS 2152  4.0  15.5  12.5  18.5
 8. Hu, Jason                   AUS 2062  3.5  16.0  13.0  19.0
 9. Hecht, Hans-Joachim      g  GER 2389  3.5  15.5  13.5  19.0
10. D'Amore, Carlo           m  ITA 2448  3.5  15.5  11.5  18.0
11. Song, Raymond               AUS 2002  3.5  15.0  12.5  18.5
12. Rej, Tomek                  AUS 2248  3.5  14.5  13.0  20.0
13. Xie, George Wendi        f  AUS 2322  3.5  14.5  11.0  16.5
14. Wei, Michael                AUS 2090  3.5  14.0  11.0  16.5
15. Wongwichit, Phachara        AUS 2019  3.5  13.5  12.5  18.0
16. Mendes da Costa, Alex       AUS 1923  3.5  13.5  12.0  17.5
17. Dragicevic, Domagoj         AUS 2104  3.5  13.0  10.5  16.0
75 players

23) Cairnhill Chess Festival

As reported in TWIC 527 The Cairnhill Chess Festival 2004 took place 4th-12th of December 2004 in Singapore. This year's events included the 22nd Cairnhill International Open Chess Championship ‘The Cairnhill’s Cup’ as well as other side events such as Blitz and Rapidplay tournaments. Games now available.

Website: http://openchess.netfirms.com/

Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
  1.    5  Sadorra, Julio Catalino     8.5  45.5  42.00  43.0  2300 2740 +2.50
  2.    4  Goh, Weiming                7.0  51.5  37.50  39.0  2353 2458 +0.82
  3.    1  Tu, Hoang Thong             6.5  48.0  30.00  35.5  2499 2247 -1.01
       10  Mooi, Osric Kok Onn         6.5  44.0  30.25  30.0  2142 2272 +0.36
  5.   42  Ling Kay Soon               6.0  53.5  35.75  31.0  0000 2318 +1.50
        3  Tu, Hoang Thai              6.0  52.5  31.00  34.5  2404 2173 -1.55
        2  Villamayor, Buenaventura    6.0  51.0  30.00  32.5  2463 2295 -1.18
        8  Tan, Chor-Chuan             6.0  49.0  30.25  32.0  2190 2275 +0.48
       11  Khaled, Omar                6.0  47.5  31.00  29.5  2115 2241 +0.24
       15  Lee, Wei Cheng              6.0  45.0  28.75  27.0  2054  -   +0.00
        7  Yutuc, Rolando              6.0  44.0  28.50  28.0  2200 1513 -0.51
       57  Teo Wei Xing                6.0  42.5  27.00  30.0  0000 2286 0    
        6  Tan, Chin-Hoe               6.0  42.5  25.75  29.0  2269 2404 +0.18
 14.    9  Tan, Poh-Heng               5.5  47.5  25.00  32.5  2149 1705 -0.42
       39  Lee Wei Long                5.5  46.5  25.00  25.5  0000 2054  2054
       46  Ong Chuan Hock              5.5  45.0  25.00  27.5  0000 2112  2112
       13  Tan Koh Boon Mark           5.5  43.0  24.25  24.5  2091  -   +0.00
65 players       

24) 127th New York Masters

The 127th New York Masters took place on 21st December 2004. Below is the table for the 126th won by Yudasin and Wojkiewicz.

The regular rapid event (mostly weekly) organised by IM Greg Shahade and John Fernandez provides regular chances for keen players of 2200 and above to compete against GMs and IMs in New York. See: http://www.newyorkmasters.com/

-----------------------------------------------------------------
126th New York Masters Action USA (USA), 7 xii 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1   2   3   4   Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------
   1. Yudasin, Leonid     g ISR 2691 + 8 = 2 +10 + 5   3.5  ($280)
   2. Wojtkiewicz, Aleks  g USA 2621 + 9 = 1 + 6 + 7   3.5  ($280)
   3. Bonin, Jay          m USA 2423 =14 =11 +12 + 8   3.0  ($ 60)
   4. Norowitz, Yaacov      USA 2285 =   +14 = 7 +11   3.0  ($120)
   5. Stripunsky, Alex    g USA 2640 +13 =10 +11 - 1   2.5
   6. Lenderman, Alex     f USA 2348 +16 = 7 - 2 +     2.5
   7. Miton, Kamil        g POL 2629 +12 = 6 = 4 - 2   2.0
   8. Sarkar, Justin      m USA 2341 - 1 + 9 +15 - 3   2.0
   9. Rosenberg, Evan       USA 2145 - 2 - 8 +16 +13   2.0
  10. Scekic, Milos       m SCG 2508 +17 = 5 - 1 ---   1.5
  11. Gonzales, Jayson    m PHI 2385 +15 = 3 - 5 - 4   1.5
  12. Furdzik, Rafal        USA 2242 - 7 +16 - 3 =     1.5
  13. Privman, Boris      f USA 2248 - 5 -15 +14 - 9   1.0
  14. Pressman, Leif        USA 2038 = 3 - 4 -13 =     1.0
  15. Logunov, Ilya         USA 1950 -11 +13 - 8 -16   1.0
  16. Paciulli, Frank       USA 1852 - 6 -12 - 9 +15   1.0
  17. Lerner, David         USA 2041 -10 --- --- ---   0.0

PRIZES

1ST   - $ 400
2ND   - $ 160
3RD   - $  60
U2400 - $ 120

25) Russian Cup

The Russian Cup took place 19th-30th December 2004. The event is a knockout and in the semi-finals where Artem Iljin beat Mihail Kobalia and Farrukh Amonatov beat Ernesto Inarkiev. Both after playoff games. In the final Iljin beat Amonatov 1.5-0.5 in the playoffs after the first two games were drawn. Sadly there don't appear to be any games made available.

Official site in Russian: http://www.russiachess.ru/mods.php?name=section&oid=831&bid=31&

26) Hyeres Women's Tournament

The International Chess Tournament for Women of the City of Hyeres (South of France) took place 26th-30th December 2004. Cristina Adela Foisor won the event with 8.5/9. No games available.

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

 1 Foisor Cristina Adela    wg 2436 ROM 8,5 50,5 34 2483   
 2 Foisor Sabina-Francesca     2228 ROM 7,5 51,0 30 2298 2341 
 3 Safranska Anda           wg 2305 LAT 7,0 51,5 29 2239 2265 
 4 Mallet Celine               2034 FRA 6,0 48,5 26 2035 2141 
 5 Levacic Melissa             2019 FRA 5,5 50,0 25 1946 2024 
 6 Tissot Alice                2000 FRA 5,5 49,0 24 1979 2080 
 7 Laurens Julia               2024 FRA 5,5 48,0 25 1868   
 8 Macarry Elodie              1660 FRA 5,0 39,5 23 1719 1862 
 9 Lebel-Arias Julia        wm 1986 MNC 4,5 49,0 21 1879 1875 
10 Nedelcheva Vania            1860 BUL 4,5 45,5 22 1807 1841 
11 Foisor Mihaela-Veronica     1929 ROM 4,5 42,5 22 1771 1749 
12 Fajolle Iris                1590 FRA 4,5 42,0 22 1691 1653 
13 Kostenko Gwendoline         1580 FRA 4,5 37,5 22 1544 1478 
14 Popard Magali               1340 FRA 4,5 30,5 22 1362 1309 
15 Karsenty Madeleine          1460 FRA 4,0 39,0 21 1621 1581 
16 Domenech Audrey             1260 FRA 4,0 37,5 21 1475 1480 
17 Ramazzotti Anne-Laure       1370 FRA 4,0 37,0 21 1578 1523 
18 Ramazzotti Claire           1340 FRA 4,0 35,0 21 1442 1378 
19 Frigeni Maryse              1310 FRA 3,5 31,5 19 1305 1250 
20 Lamberti Carla              1270 FRA 3,0 33,5 18 1302 1222 
21 Lamberti Nadine             1299 FRA 3,0 30,5 17 1198 1153 
22 Garro Marie-France          1070 FRA 2,5 34,0 16 1229 1144 
23 Baudson Marie               1380 FRA 2,5 32,0 16 1126 1042 

27) Arnold Denker 1914-2005

Arnold Denker has died at the age of 90. Born on February 20th 1914 he died after a brief illness on January 2nd 2005 according to his son Mitchell. Denker learned his chess on the New York scene in the 1920s and 1930s. He was US Champion in 1944 which was perhaps his most impressive result. He retained it in 1946 after beating Herman Steiner in a match. In 1945 he played Botvinnik on top board in the US vs USSR Radio match and then travelled to Moscow the following year for the return match over the board where he played Smyslov. He was 3rd= at Hastings 1945-6. His most important tournament was the Groningen 1946 tournament where he finished 10th=, this was effectively a Candidates Tournament for the World Championship Match Tournament in 1948. After this Denker's business committments prevented a professional career, and most of his chess after this was confined to the US. He seems to have lived a varied life including being a boxer in his early years. Denker was awarded the IM title in 1950 and then later in 1981 the GM title based on long past achievements (a very dubious practice that distorts historical records in my view, an IM title earned in 1950 was worth far more than a recalculated GM title in 1981). His "The Bobby Fischer I Knew and other Stories" is a fun and interesting read. Later he was an important chess organiser in the US but also continued to play until 2001.

This rather strange game settled the US Championship of 1944.

Denker,A - Fine,R [E43] US Championship New York 1944

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 Ne4 7.0-0 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Bxc3 9.Rb1 Ba5? [9...Nc6! Fischer] 10.Ba3 d6 11.c5! 0-0 12.cxd6 cxd6 13.e4 Re8 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nxe5 Qg5?! 16.g3 g6 17.Qa4! Qd8 18.Rfc1 b5 19.Bxb5 Qd5 20.f3 Bb6 21.Rc5!! Bxc5? [21...Qxa2 22.Bxe8 Qxb1+ 23.Rc1 Qf5 24.Bxf7+ Kg7 was a way to play on according to Denker] 22.Bxc5 Rf8 23.Bc4 Bc6 24.Bxd5 Bxa4 25.Bxa8 1-0

Detailed US Chess Federation appreciation at: http://www.uschess.org/news/press/uspr0501.php

Denker's US Championship win.
US Championship New York 1944
               D F H S P S A A A D W I N R S C G P 
 1 Denker      # 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  15½
 2 Fine        0 # ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1  14½
 3 Horowitz    0 ½ # 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  14
 4 Steiner,H   ½ 0 1 # ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  14
 5 Pinkus      0 ½ ½ ½ # ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  13½
 6 Shainswit   ½ 0 0 ½ ½ # 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1  10½
 7 Altman      ½ 0 0 0 0 0 # ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1   9
 8 Adams       0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ # 1 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1   8 
 9 Almgren     0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 # 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1   8 
10 DiCamillo   0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 # ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 1   7
11 Weinstock   0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ # 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 1   7
12 Isaacs      0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 # 1 ½ 0 1 1 1   6½
13 Neidich     0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 # 0 1 1 ½ ½   6½
14 Rothman     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 # 1 ½ 0 1   6½
15 Stromberg   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 # 1 1 1   5 
16 Chernev     0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 # 1 1   4½
17 Gladstone   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 # 1   2½
18 Persinger   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 #    ½
Denker's most important tournament
Staunton Groningen NED  1946
                            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
1   Botvinnik,M         URS * ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1  14.5/19
2   Euwe,M              NED ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  14.0/19
3   Smyslov,V           URS 0 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1  12.5/19
4   Najdorf,M           ARG 1 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1  11.5/19  107.75
5   Szabo,Laszlo        HUN 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1  11.5/19  95.25
6   Flohr,S             URS ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1  11.0/19  97.75
7   Boleslavsky,I       URS 0 0 0 0 0 ½ * 1 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1  11.0/19  90.50
8   Lundin,E            SWE 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1  10.5/19  93.00
9   Stoltz,G            SWE 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 1  10.5/19  89.50
10  Kotov,A             URS 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 0   9.5/19  96.25
11  Denker,A            USA ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½   9.5/19  83.50
12  Tartakower,S        FRA 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½   9.5/19  83.50
13  Kottnauer,C         CZE 0 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 0 * 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1   9.0/19
14  Yanofsky,DA         CAN 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½   8.5/19
15  Bernstein,O         FRA 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 0   7.0/19  67.50
16  Guimard,C           ARG 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1   7.0/19  57.25
17  Vidmar,M sr         YUG 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 0   6.5/19
18  Steiner,Her         USA 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½   6.0/19
19  O'Kelly de Galway,A BEL 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 * 1   5.5/19
20  Christoffel,M       SUI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 *   5.0/19

28) Forthcoming Events and Links

Linares 2005

According to Spanish Teletext Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Peter Leko, Michael Adams, Francisco Vallejo Pons and Rustam Kasimdzhanov will be the 7 players at this year's event. The event takes place 22nd February - 10th March 2005.

Last year Marca had the official website: http://www.marca.com/linares/

ELO Listing:
No. Name                               t  NAT ja05
   1 Kasparov, Garry.................  g  RUS 2804
   2 Anand, Viswanathan..............  g  IND 2786
   3 Topalov, Veselin................  g  BUL 2757
   5 Leko, Peter.....................  g  HUN 2749
   7 Adams, Michael..................  g  ENG 2741
  18 Vallejo Pons, Francisco.........  g  ESP 2686
  25 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam............  g  UZB 2678
Average Rating 2743 Category 20

Alushta Diary 2005

Leonid Galperin sends a calendar of planned events in Alushta, Ukraine 2005.

GM Norm events: 12.05 - 22.05 24.05 - 4.06 17.06-27.06. 1.09-11.09 25.09-5.10 7.10-17.10 IM Norm events 12.05 - 22.05 24.05 -4.06 17.06-27.06. 1.09-11.09 25.09-5.10 7.10-17.10 Rating tournament 5.06 - 13.06 Open tournament (under 16 years) First prize - 200 $ 14.06 - 22.06 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Blitz tournament 28.06 12.09 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament (rapid chess) 29 - 30.06 13-14.09 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament First prize 1000 $ First prize (woman) 500$ 2.07-10.07 15.09-23.09 Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 5.06-14.06 25.09-4.10 Alushta Individual and group studying

Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32 (for Russian speaking) + 38 050 669-26-04 (for English speaking) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

5th Chess Grand Prix of Bordeaux

The 5th Chess Grand Prix of Bordeaux takes place 28th April - 1st May 2005. In addition the 2nd Chess Grand Prix in d'Aix en Provence takes place in December 2005.

Details: http://www.grandprixdeparis.com/BA2005.html

Harald Malmgren 100 years Correspondence

31st Dec 2004 saw the start of the first Grandmaster tournament on the ICCF Webserver. The tournament is the "Harald Malmgren 100 years". The occasion is to commemorate the 100:d birthday of Harald Malmgren, Tierp in Sweden. Malmgren was runner up after Cecil Purdy in ICCF's first World Championship and earned his GM title in the event. Malmgren passed away in 1957. In his career he was also second in IFSB Championship 1939 and won the Swedish CC Championship in 1942. Malmgren was a true chess enthusiast and issued a book in 1953 "Mina bästa partier" (My best games) with only CC games he had played.

There are 13 participants and you will be able to follow the results on http://www.schack.se/SSKK/palview/res/malmgren.htm and as soon as about 10 moves are made in every game, SSKK will open a page for "live" games. That is games according to the ICCF CoC regulations for live games. The Category of the event is 10 which means that all norms are available.The tournament has two sponsors, Schackakademin and Svenska Schackbutiken AB.

The players are: IM Jan Bennborn, Sweden, IM Sture Olsson, Sweden, IM Rune Bergquist, Norway, IM Ervin Liebert, Estonia, IM Taisto Koskela, Finland, IM Leif Åhman, Sweden, SIM Jón A Pálsson, Iceland, SIM Josef Mrkvicka, Czech Rep, GM Matthias Rüfenacht; Switzerland, IM Gary S Benson, Australia, SIM John Pugh, England, Phillippe Chopin, France and Mads Smith Hansen, Denmark. The withdrawing ICCF President keeps playing CC and starts this event on his very last day in office.

Tomas Carnstam, Jonas Dahlgren, Robert Ericsson, Sebastian Nilsson and Per Söderberg wedish Correspondence Chess Federation (SSKK) Board members.

European Individual Women's Chess Championship

The European Individual Women's Chess Championship takes place in Chisinau, Moldova 10th-25th June 2005. Organisers Chess Federation of Moldova Sciusev Street, 111 2004, Chisinau Tel.: 00373-22-565451 Fax.: 00373-22-565451 or 210707 E-Mail: fskrip@company.md

Details on http://www.eurochess.org. Official site for the event http://www.eiwcc2005.chisinau.md

Games Festival Chalkidiki Greece

The Games Festival is is organised for the first time in Greece and takes place from 21st-29th of April 2005 at the Porto - Carras Grand Resort, in Chalkidiki in Greece.

Tennis, chess, golf, biliards, bridge, famous athletes, world champions will be present in Porto Carras. The festival includes a series of tournaments, competitions, seminars and exhibitions in sports and the most popular entertaining games.

The chess events are the 2nd International Open Chess Tournament "Porto Carras 2005" and the 1st World School Chess Championship. More specifically, the Open Tournament will be held 22nd-28th April 2005 at the Porto Carras Grand Rresort with open participation, 9 rounds swiss system and time control 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move, according to the official announcement of the Greek Chess Club "A.M.O. Galaxias". Total prizes: 6.500 EURO. For more information visit http://www.gamesfestival.com or contact info@gamesfestival.com & GrivasEfs@netonline.gr

The 1st World School Championship for school chess champions in categories Under 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16, will be held 21st-29th April 2005 at the Porto Carras Grand Resort. Organizers of this great event are the World Chess Federation (FIDE), the International School Chess Union, the Greek Chess Federation, the Chess Club "Galaxias" of Thessaloniki and the Hotel Complex of "Porto Carras Grand Resort".

7th United Insurance GM Rescheduled

The 7th United Insurance & United Leasing Grandmasters Chess Tournament has been rescheduled and now takes place 28th January to 7th February 2005 (before it was 2nd-13th February 2005) in the Conference-Room of the National Sports Council 62/3 Purana Paltan Dhaka-1000. Organised by the Bangladesh Chess Federation. 11 round Swiss System with around 40. Total Prize Money US $5000.00 Accommodation & Food : Free for all GM’s & IM’s, only accommodation 2350+ Appearance Money : GM 2500+ US $ 500.00, Some pocket money will given to IM’s Last Date of Entries on or before 5th January to Contact: Syed Shujauddin Ahmed, General Secretary Bangladesh Chess Federation, 2nd Floor, 62/3 Purana Paltan, Dhaka-1000, Fax + Phone: 88 (02) 7169336 , E-mail: bcf@bdonline.com

4th Casino Open

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2004" finished in Interlaken, one of the most attractive tourist towns in Switzerland. The 4th "Casino Open" December took place 26th-30th 2004.

Further information: http://www.beochess.ch/

Bermuda Tournament

The Bermuda Invitational will be held 30th January - 9th February 2005 with the traditional Open following - 10th Feb: Opening Party and Blitz; 11th to 13th, 5 round Open followed by Closing Party. The Invitational will be the strongest yet - Dominguez, Gelfand, Harikrishna, Macieja, Vescovi & Volokitin (exp. 2656 Elo) and several of the invitees have confirmed that they will play in the Open.

Further details: http://www.bermuda.bm/chess

38th Biel International Chess Festival

38th Biel International Chess Festival Dates: 16th-29th July 2005 with, in particular: - the Grandmaster tournament (17th-27th July 2005) - the Accentus Ladies Tournament 17th-27th July 2005) - the active chess tournament (16th and 17th July 2005) - the Master Open (18th-29th July 2005, last round in the morning) - the General Open (20th-29th July 2005, last round in the morning) - the Blitz tournament (23th July 2005)

Further details: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch

3rd Nancy International Festival

The 3rd Nancy (France) International Festival sees several round-robins tournaments (9 rounds / fischer 2 hours per players + 30 sec) by elo which take place 14th-20th February 2005.

Group A will be category 10 with : Bauer 2622 Istratescu 2611 Nijboer 2567 Tirard 2461 Marzolo 2437 Rocha 2431 Wirig 2408 Nezar 2375 Philippe 2371. (one im more than 2520 elo non-FRA-code can contact philippe.chr@free.fr).

Details in french/english/german on http://echiquier.nanceien.free.fr/festival.html

Events in India in 2005

5th Asian Individual Championship

The 5th Asian Individual Chess Championship 2005 takes place in Cochin, Total Prize Fund : US$33000 Arrival : 13/01/2005 Closing : 23/01/2005 Organiser : P.T. Ummer Koya , koya@chessindia.org ; aicf@chessindia.org Website: http://www.chessindia.org

Commonwealth Championships

The Commonwealth Chess Championships for Men, Women, Boys & Girls incorporating An International Open Chess Tournament TOtal Prize Fund: US$12000 ARRIVAL : 27/02/2005 CLOSING : 09/03/2005 Organiser : Rajastan State Chess Association Contact : aicf@chessindia.org ; slharsh2000@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://www.chessindia.org

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's International Open

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's International Open Chess Tournament, Raipur Total Prize Fund : Us$12000 Arrival : 10/03/2005 Closing : 20/03/2005 Organiser : Hotel Babylon, Vip Road, Raipur, India. Contact : aicf@chessindia.org ; vkrathi_aicf@rediffmail.com Website : Website: http://www.chessindia.org

Hamarat Challenge Match

The ICCF World Champion Tunc Hamarat (AUT) who has never lost a single game with White, has challenged the "Rest of the World" to a friendly 2-game match. He will have White in both games. The games (one will start with 1.e4 and one with 1.d4) will be played on the ICCF Webserver and started on 10th February 2005 with the rule "10 moves/70 days".

The players on the "Rest of the World" team will vote on each move. The move receiving the most votes will be selected. Should 2 or more moves receive the same number of votes, the "Rest of the World" will be given 2 more voting days to decide between the tied moves. Participation in this event is open to all players who pay an entry fee of 5 EUR or $7.00 US dollars via their National CC Federation or the ICCF Direct Entry (DE) option. All fees collected will be transferred to the ICCF Development Fund. The money will be used primarily for development and system support of the ICCF WebChess Server. It will be possible to join the "Rest of the World" team at any stage of the game.

The games may be seen "live" by all players and other observers at http://www.iccf-webchess.com

Each player who voted for the selected move will receive 1 point per move. The player(s) with the most points at the end of the games will receive an ICCF Gold Book. The list of all entrants will be published on the ICCF webpage.

21st Cappelle la Grande Open

21st INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN - CAPPELLE LA GRANDE - FRANCE 12th-19th February 2005. 9 Round Accelerated Swiss System Tournament, registered with FIDE Rate of play : 2 hours for 40 moves followed by a one hour quickplay finish. Playing hall : COMPLEXE SPORTIF ROGER GOUVART IGM's INVITATIONS - Possibility of norms. Prizes (minimum 600 players) :The 1st prize is :3000 euros The 2nd prize is 1500 euros and 3 to 10: 1000 euros. Registration by templeurjcs@club-internet.fr

Further details: http://www.cappelle-chess.com

Gibtele.com Masters International

The Gibtele.com Masters International takes place 25th January - 3rd February 2005. Many sections for different strengths of player.

Full details: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com

Hungarian chess tournaments December 2004 - August 2005

1. 7th-15th of January 2005, "TAPOLCA" Open, 9 rounds Swiss, Budapest, organizer: Paréj József, home, calling from abroad: +(36)-87-321-950, E-mail for info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

2. 5th-18th of February 2005, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, Org.NL.

3. 5th-18th of March 2005, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, Org. : NL,

4. 18th- 26th of March, "SPRING FESTIVAL" 9 rounds Swiss Open, Budapest, Org.: NL

5. 2nd-15th of April , FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, Org: NL:

6. 7th-19th of May, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, org.: NL

7. 20th-28th of May, ZALAKAROS Open, 9 rounds Swiss, (250 km West from Budapest), org: IM Horvath, Tamas, phone: +(36)-20-9777003

8. 21st-31st of May, ELEKES Memorial, GM-IM closed, Budapest, org.IM Zsinka, phone: +(36)-20-921-91-97

9. 4th-16th of June, FS GM-IM-FM, Budapest, Org: NL

10. 18th-26th of June, BALATONLELLE Open + GM-IM closed, 120 km West from Budapest, organizer: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@axelero.hu

11. 2nd-14th of July, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest, org. NL.

12. 23rd- 31st of July, Agria Open /EGER, 100 km North-East from Budapest/, organizer: Rauch Ferenc, e-mail: rauch@freemail.hu

13. 6th-18th of August, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest org.:NL

Dutch Open Blitzchess Championship

The Dutch Open Blitzchess Championship takes place on February 5th 2005 in the Mercure Hotel Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 17 double rounds with 5 minutes per player per game, Swiss system in one group. Prizefund Euro 8.500. First Euro 1.750, Second Euro 1.250, third Euro 1.000. Also several grading prizes. Contact: info@blitzchess.nl

Further details: http://www.blitzchess.nl

8th Afro-Asian Correspondence Championship

All players from Africa and Asia (including Japan , Hong-Kong, Singapore, New Zealand , Australia, Turkey, ...) may apply for the 8th Afro-Asian Correspondence championship (Zonal Championship) . The preliminary stage will start on 15.01.2005 and will be played by ICCF webserver .There is no entry fees required .The number of sections will depend upon the entries number . The application should be sent to : msamraoui@iccf.com not late than 31.12.2004. (supplied by the ICCF zonal director Med Samraoui)

ICCF website is http://www.iccf.com and for ICCFwebchess http://www.iccf-webchess.com

Czech Tour 2004-2005

4th International Chess Festivals Series

14th-21st January 2005 4th OPEN PRAHA (2 FIDE opens, one of them with IM norm)

22nd-30th January 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

Frank Quisinsky Chess Calendar

Frank Quisinsky has updated his computer chess calendar. Recent events include: Dutch-Open 2004, Diep won France-ch 2004, ChessTiger won Polish-ch 2004, Rzeznik won Australasian NCC-ch 2004, Warp won

Address: http://www.playwitharena.com the CC-Calendar is a selection of Arena Chess GUI webpage

CC-Calendar: http://www.playwitharena.com/directory/calendar.htm

Kings Head Rapidplay

The 29th Kings Head Rapidplay will take place on Saturday 12th March 2005, 6-round Swiss rapidplay (30 minutes), prize fund £650, entry fee £17 > The Porchester Hall Porchester Road Bayswater London W2

Contact: Colin Mackenzie 9 Allan Way Acton London W3 0PW 020 8992 1949 colin.mackenzie@atosorigin.com

Further details: http://www.khcc.org.uk

1st ICCF Webchess Open Tournament

The ICCF have announced the 1st WebChess Open Tournament and invites every player worldwide to participate in the event. The event is to be played on the ICCF dedicated Webserver http://www.iccf-webchess.com. This tournament is open to all correspondence chess players worldwide, also for those without any previous ICCF experience. Multiple entries are allowed. The tournament will be played in three stages - preliminaries, semifinal and final.

Details: http://www.iccf-webchess.com/Message.aspx?message=19

HB Global Chess Challenge

The HB Foundation has posted $500,000 prize fund for the HB Global Chess Challenge, a Maurice Ashley-led event expects to bring more than 4,000 participants to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The event takes place May 18th-22nd 2005 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. First place in the Open section has a cash prize of $50,000, and that overall more than 50 others will receive cash prizes. Many other side events.

Official sites: http://www.hbfoundation.org and http://www.generationchess.com

Swiss Chess Tour 2005

The Swiss Chess Tour starts in Basle in the New Year (1st-8th January 2005.). New event is European ITAG Masters & Rapid Championship will be 1-2.1.2005. 11 Round, 30 minutes each, guarantee prizes. Prizes: 2500/2000/1500/1000/800/700/600/500/ 2x400/2x300/4x250/4x200 CHF; Special prizes: 400/300/200 CHF for Ladys, seniors (1945), juniors (1985 and younger), amateur under 2200 (FIDE or national), under 1800. Enter fee 30.00 CHF Hilton Open (2-8.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 6 hours (2 hours for 40 moves + 60 minutes for complete the game. Prizes: 2000/1500/1200/800/600/500/2x400/2x300/5x200 CHF. Special prizes 200 CHF for best Lady, Senior (1945), junior (1985-88), schoolboy (1989). Enter fee: 130 CHF (FM and juniors 60 CHF) GM & IM free. At the door 10 CHF. Basle amateur (2-8.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 4 hours (90 minutes 30 moves + 30 minutes to complete the game). Players under 1900 rating (FIDE or national). Enter fee: 10 CHF (juniors 50 CHF). At the door 10 CHF. Prizes: 500/400/2x300/2x200/4x150 CHF. Basle juniors (2.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 15 minutes for the game. Juniors 1985 and younger. Enter fee 5 CHF. Natural prizes for all players. NSV Senior Open (1-4.1.2005.) 7 Rounds, 4 hours (90 minutes for 30 moves + 30 minutes for complete the game) Seniors 1945. Prizes: 400/300/200 CHF + natural prizes. Enter fee: 60 CHF. At the door 10 CHF. ITAG - Tele-Rapid (3-5.1.2005.) European Rapid Champion, Andrei Sokolov, last year winner and two others. 15 minutes for the game. All games will be on TV Tele-Basel in live. BaZ Lighting Chess (8.1.2005. from 19.00 to 22.00) 9 Rounds, 5 minutes. Enter fee: 20 CHF (juniors 5 CHF). Prizes 300/200/150/2x100/2x50 CHF natural prizes for everybody 50% and more points. ITAG Simultan (9.1.2005.) with European Rapid Champion 2005

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+34+424-01-06, fax +41+34+424-01-07 E-mail info@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

3rd Parsvnath International Open

The 3rd Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament takes place in New Delhi, 2nd-11th January 2005. Prizes : Total Cash Prizes: Rs.600,000/-

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

Jersey International Chess Festival 2005

The Jersey International Chess Festival takes place 13th-19th February 2005 inclusive. 7 rounds, three sections; OPEN (FIDE rated), MAJOR Under 160 / 1880 ELO and MINOR Under 130 / 1640 ELO. There is a total of £7,000 in prizes and is part of the British Chess Federation Grand Prix.

Details: http://www.geocities.com/adamraoof/jersey.htm

Russia vs ROW Correspondence

The Russian Chess Federation is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is using this occasion to challenge the rest of the world to a match over 64 boards with 2 games for each and the start is 15.02 2004. Players include Joop van Oosterom

http://www.mychessweb.com/Tables/Internationale/Play/russia-world.htm

2005 European Union Championship

The 2005 European Union Championship whic his part of the programme of events celebrating Cork City's status as European Capital of Culture for 2005. The event takes place 21st March - 3rd April 2005 in the Ballroom Suite Gresham Metropole Hotel MacCurtain Street Cork Ireland. Prize Fund - 7,750 Euros. A FIDE rated ten round Swiss Open for players registered with FIDE as a player in the European Union or a citizen of a European Union member state 1st prize 2,000 Euros plus numerous place prizes and other awards including a British Championship Qualifying Place.

In addition the 13th Annual Cork Congress takes place 1st-3rd April 2005 with a Prize Fund 5,000 Euros an ICU rated six round Swiss with three rated sections. 1st prize 750 Euros plus numerous place prizes and other awards

Full details, special offers to a limited number of IMs and GMs and entry forms are available from Michael Burniston Tournament Director Ladybird House Glengarriff County Cork Ireland. phone 00 353 27 63113 e mail jemcreations@eircom.net

Website: http://www.corkchess.com

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

New York Masters

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

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