THE WEEK IN CHESS 546 25th April 2005 by Mark Crowther

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Contact The Week in Chess Mark Crowther E-Mail mdcrowth@netcomuk.co.uk Tel or fax 01274 882143 [Bradford England] Mobile 07971 920016 http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html Contents 1) Introduction 2) Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 3) Russian Team Championship 4) Polish Championship 5) 3 Arrows Cup 6) Kasparov comments on Assault 7) FIDE Championship in Argentina? 8) German Cup Final 9) Gausdal Classics 10) Cuban Championship 11) Chicago Spring Invitational 12) Heroes of Chernobyl Memorial (not) 13) Cutro International Festival 14) 2nd Porto Carras International Open 15) Galati Chess Open 16) Azura Chess Open 17) Torch Real Estate Cup China Chess League 18) 13th Cork Chess Congress 19) Serbia and Montenegro Women's Championship 20) Vietnam Championship 21) OCF Tulsa April FIDE Open 22) Hungarian Women's Team Championship 23) Caissa IM April tournament 24) Easter Third Saturday Novi Sad 25) 5th Grand Prix d'Echecs de Bordeaux 26) English Deaf Chess Association Qualifier 27) South African Championships 28) Dragoljub Minic 1936-2005 29) TWIC Theory 30) Forthcoming Events and Links

Contact the London Chess Center Contact the London Chess Center email: info@chess.co.uk Call 1-561-714-0828 in the USA or Canada Call +44 (0) 207 388 2404 or Fax +44 (0) 207 388 2407 in the UK and ROW Great New Software: Order from: http://www.chess.co.uk/newsoftware.html Join Chess Express and receive all the latest chess news straight into your inbox. Simply click here to start receiving chess express Have you seen our Special of the Week? Check this link regularly for great discounts on books and software. Savings of 50-75%! http://www.chess.co.uk/specialweek.html TWIC Theory TWIC Theory is a new electronic magazine with high quality articles delivered in ChessBase, PGN or PDF format. A 3 month subscription costs $15. In February the sample issues are free. To subscribe click here: http://www.chesscenter.com/twictheory/ Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors Volume 4 Out now . http://www.chess.co.uk/kasparovgreats.html ChessBase 9 - : http://www.chess.co.uk/chessbase9.html New books and DVDs http://www.chess.co.uk/newbooks.html

Games section

Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament           20 games
Gausdal Classics                        55 games
Cuban Championship                      90 games
Serbia and Montenegro Championship      28 games
First Saturday April                    62 games
2nd Coventry Chess International       591 games
7th United Insurance GM                 92 games
7th Dubai Open Chess Championship       91 games
4NCL                                    96 games
Lenk Open                               46 games
Team Championship of Ukraine           216 games
2nd K41 International                   45 games
Carilo International                    45 games
Chicago Spring Invitational             12 games
Heroes of Chernobyl Memorial            28 games
XIII Dos Hermanas International          2 games
French Team championship TOP 16          2 games
1521 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Sinisa Joksic, Alasdair Macleod, Eldar Mukhametov, Gary Suffield, Korpics Zsolt, Mateusz Bartel, Vladica Andrejic, Frank K. Berry, Bognar Csaba, Nick Barnett, Michal Krasenkow, Stéphane Laborde, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Ching Kim Lye, Alexey Mazurok, Sinisa Drazic, Ben Finegold, Daniel Denes, Nick Barnett, Richard Palliser, Jan van de Mortel, Thomas Henrich and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Jan Timman recorded his best result in years in sharing first place with Krishnan Sasikiran in the 13th Sigeman tournament. Both players were undefeated in scoring 6.5/9. The Russian Team Championship is a strong event with players such as Vassily Ivanchuk, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Alexander Morozevich, Boris Gelfand, Evgeny Bareev, Alexey Dreev, Vladimir Akopian and Viktor Bologan. FIDE announced an 8 player World Championship tournament. If it doesn't happen, as in the case of the Kasparov - Kasimdzhanov Dubai match, then I think we can say this has to be the end of the current administration and certainly the end of reporting these things. Finally one of the hidden disgraces in chess are fixed games and even ghost tournaments where no games are played at all. This week we seem to have caught one in its creation (perhaps as rare as the creation of a black hole) as the Heroes of Chernobyl Memorial was presented as an ongoing tournament one of its participants was at home preparing to play the Polish Championship and it turned out that most, if not all of the other players weren't there either.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

The Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament was co-arranged by the Malmo-based Limhamn Chess Club and the Copenhagen Chess Federation. The first five rounds were played at the classical Hipp Theater in the center of Malmo, and the tournament was concluded with four rounds in Copenhagen (at Quality Hotel in Hoje Taastrup). The event took place April 15th-24th 2005. Jan Timman and Krishnan Sasikiran finish on 6.5/9

Official site: http://www.ksu.dk/sigeman/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
13th Sigeman & Co Copenhagen/Malmoe DEN (DEN), 15-24 iv 2005cat. XIII (2570)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Timman, Jan H            g NED 2607  * = = = 1 1 1 = 1 =  6.5  2732 
 2. Sasikiran, Krishnan      g IND 2642  = * 1 1 = = = = 1 1  6.5  2728 
 3. Nakamura, Hikaru         g USA 2657  = 0 * = 1 = 1 1 = 1  6.0  2685 
 4. Hansen, Curt             g DEN 2633  = 0 = * 1 = 1 = = 1  5.5  2643 
 5. Hector, Jonny            g SWE 2513  0 = 0 0 * 1 = 1 1 1  5.0  2619 
 6. Iordachescu, Viorel      g MDA 2609  0 = = = 0 * 0 = 1 1  4.0  2523 
 7. Palo, Davor              m DEN 2525  0 = 0 0 = 1 * = = 1  4.0  2532 
 8. Hansen, Sune Berg        g DEN 2553  = = 0 = 0 = = * 1 0  3.5  2492 
 9. Hermansson, Emil         m SWE 2432  0 0 = = 0 0 = 0 * 1  2.5  2419 
10. Hillarp Persson, Tiger   g SWE 2533  = 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 *  1.5  2301 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Russian Team Championship

The Russian Team Championship takes place April 18th-29th 2005 in Dagomys, Sochi. This is the XII Russian men team championship, Premier League and 1st League; and VI Russian women team championship. 30 games of the championship will be broadcasted every day.

Official site http://www.chessliga.ru - Special webpage: http://www.chessliga.ru/article.php?id=87

Russian Chess Federation: http://www.russiachess.ru/ - Special webpage

Men's Table

Women's Table

4) Polish Championship

The Polish Chess Championships takes place 21st April - 4th May 2005.

Official site: http://www.impm2005.prv.pl/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
62nd ch-POL Poznan POL (POL), 21 iv-4 v 2005                  cat. XII (2526)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Wojtaszek, Radoslaw    m POL 2569  * . . = . . = . . 1 . . 1 1  4.0  2794 
 2. Markowski, Tomasz      g POL 2560  . * = . . . . . = . = 1 . 1  3.5  2619 
 3. Bobras, Piotr          m POL 2501  . = * . . = . . 1 . = = . .  3.0  2559 
 4. Macieja, Bartlomiej    g POL 2613  = . . * . 1 = . . . = . = .  3.0  2603 
 5. Miton, Kamil           g POL 2592  . . . . * 0 = . . . 1 = 1 .  3.0  2595 
 6. Czarnota, Pawel        m POL 2478  . . = 0 1 * . = . = . . . .  2.5  2557 
 7. Kempinski, Robert      g POL 2627  = . . = = . * . . = . . . =  2.5  2561 
 8. Urban, Klaudiusz       m POL 2497  . . . . . = . * = . = = = .  2.5  2475 
 9. Warakomski, Tomasz     f POL 2384  . = 0 . . . . = * . . = . 1  2.5  2508 
10. Socko, Bartosz         g POL 2583  0 . . . . = = . . * . . 1 =  2.5  2524 
11. Grabarczyk, Miroslaw   g POL 2487  . = = = 0 . . = . . * . . .  2.0  2480 
12. Jaracz, Pawel          g POL 2530  . 0 = . = . . = = . . * . .  2.0  2434 
13. Szelag, Marcin         m POL 2497  0 . . = 0 . . = . 0 . . * .  1.0  2330 
14. Moranda, Wojciech      f POL 2452  0 0 . . . . = . 0 = . . . *  1.0  2304 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) 3 Arrows Cup

The 3 Arrows Cup took place in Jinan 14th-19th April 2005. Anna Zatonskih won with 9/11.

Official site: http://www.64.net.cn/ (Results: http://www.64.net.cn/web1/javalive.htm) and Games http://www.64.net.cn/view/05chessgirls.htm. Additional info: http://www.chessbase.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Arrows Cup Jinan CHN (CHN), 14-19 iv 2005                 cat. II (2284)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Zatonskih, Anna       wg USA 2435  * = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0  9.0  2532 
 2. Zhu Chen               g CHN 2494  = * 1 = = 1 1 1 1 0 1 1  8.5  2476 
 3. Krush, Irina           m USA 2455  0 0 * = 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1  7.5  2401 
 4. Nebolsina, Vera       wm RUS 2302  = = = * = = 1 = = = 1 1  7.0  2384 
 5. Hou Yifan             wf CHN 2158  0 = 0 = * 1 1 0 1 1 1 1  7.0  2397 
 6. Skripchenko, Almira    m FRA 2453  0 0 0 = 0 * 1 1 1 1 1 1  6.5  2334 
 7. Yildiz, Betul Cemre   wm TUR 2156  0 0 0 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 = 1  4.5  2231 
 8. Siti, Zulaikha        wf MAS 2158  0 0 0 = 1 0 0 * 0 1 1 =  4.0  2193 
 9. Andriasian, Siranush     ARM 2263  0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 * 1 = 1  4.0  2184 
10. Machalova, Veronika      SVK 2176  0 1 1 = 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 =  3.0  2119 
11. Navabi, Shirin        wf IRI 2122  0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 1 * 1  3.0  2124 
12. Schneider, Veronika   wm HUN 2241  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 *  2.0  2026 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) Kasparov comments on Assault

Garry Kasparov has commented in his diary on the recent physical attack on him which he believes is a shot across his bow in his opposition to Vladimir Putin.Kasparov's interview: http://www.chesschamps.com/diary08.html and photos of the attack at: http://www.federalpost.ru/russia/issue_18731.html

7) FIDE Championship in Argentina?

FIDE have announced that their double round robin World Championship has been awarded to the Province of San Luis, Argentina with a prize fund of USD 1,000,000. Its due to take place 27th September - 16th October 2005. The offer is also backed by a financial guarantee and an agreement concerning further organsing details signed by the Governor of San Luis, H.E. Dr Alberto Rodriguez Saa and the FIDE President H.E. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The invited players according to the FIDE website are: 1. Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2. Michael Adams 3. Vladimir Kramnik 4. Peter Leko 5. Garry Kasparov 6. Viswanathan Anand 7. Veselin Topalov 8. Alexander Morozevich. However Kasparov has retired, I would doubt Kramnik would play and its by no means certain that all the others will compete. If the event can't get these players I see no chance of the event taking place. I've covered these announcements so many times in TWIC over the years and am on such a low percentage of events actually going ahead that I barely rate these initial announcements as news anymore. I am told the money is likely to be there this time which is why I'm reporting it now, but my confidence level that this event will happen is still pretty low.

Details at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=691

8) German Cup Final

The German Team and Individual Cups took place 15th-17th April 2005 in Baden Baden. Udo Kaiser won the individual event and Baden Baden took the men's on board count from Potz by virtue of Svidler's win against Van Wely on board one.

Official site: http://www.chesstigers.de/rochade/live.htm

German Team Cup 

Semi-Final Team Saturday 16th April 2005

A.   SF Neukölln                     SG Porz                       0,5 : 3,5 
1.   IM Rainer Polzin     (2520) -   GM Ivan Sokolov      (2662)     0 : 1
2.   IM Dirk Poldauf      (2418) -   GM Loek Van Wely     (2687)     0 : 1
3.   IM Lars Thiede       (2432) -   GM Christopher Lutz  (2614)     ½ : ½
4.   FM Christoph Nogly   (2241) -   GM Rafael Vaganian   (2631)     0 : 1

B.   OSC Baden-Baden                 Hannoverscher SK              4,0 : 0,0 
1.   GM Peter Svidler     (2725) -      Ilja Schneider    (2372)     1 : 0
2.   GM Michal Krasenkow  (2672) -      Klaus Cordes      (2263)     1 : 0
3.   GM Rustem Dautov     (2609) -      Nikolas Nüsken    (2243)     1 : 0
4.   GM Dr. Robert Hübner (2624) -      Florian Kull      (2191)     1 : 0

Final Sunday 17th April 2005
A.   SG Porz                         OSC Baden-Baden               2,0 : 2,0   3:4 
1.   GM Loek Van Wely     (2687) -   GM Peter Svidler     (2725)     0 : 1     0:4
2.   GM Ivan Sokolov      (2662) -   GM Michal Krasenkow  (2672)     1 : 0     3:0
3.   GM Christopher Lutz  (2614) -   GM Rustem Dautov     (2609)      ½:½      0:0
4.   GM Rafael Vaganian   (2631) -   GM Dr. Robert Hübner (2624)      ½:½      0:0

3rd-4th Playoff
B.   SF Neukölln                     Hannoverscher SK              2,5 : 1,5   6:1 
1.   IM Rainer Polzin     (2520) -      Ilja Schneider    (2372)     1 : 0     4:0
2.   IM Lars Thiede       (2432) -      Dennes Abel       (2177)      ½:½      0:0
3.   IM Dirk Poldauf      (2418) -      Klaus Cordes      (2263)     1 : 0     2:0
4.   FM Christoph Nogly   (2241) -      Nikolas Nüsken    (2243)     0 : 1     0:1

Individual German Cup

Quarter Final Individual Friday 15th April 2005

1.   FM Kai Wornath       (2388) -   FM Falko Meyer       (2325)     1 : 0
2.      Michael Willim    (2099) -   FM Udo Kaeser        (2345)     0 : 1
3.      Thomas Frübing    (2199) -      Ulrich Rissmann   (2094)     ½ : ½    ½:1½
4.   FM Roland Voigt      (2364) -      Alexej Guitkis    (2045)     ½ : ½    2:0

Semi-Final Individual Saturday 16th April 2005
1.   FM Kai Wornath       (2388) -   FM Roland Voigt      (2364)     ½ : ½     0:2
2.   FM Udo Kaeser        (2345) -      Ulrich Rissmann   (2094)     ½ : ½     2:1

Final Sunday 17th April 2005
1.   FM Udo Kaeser        (2345) -        FM Roland Voigt (2364)     1 : 0

9) Gausdal Classics

The Gausdal Classics took place in Norway, 13th - 21st April 2005. Sergei Tiviakov scored a huge result with 8.5/9. Magnus Carlsen scored a disappointing 4/9.

Official site: http://home.online.no/~eirikgu/gausdal2005/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
GMA Gausdal NOR (NOR), 13-21 iv 2005                          cat. X (2495)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Tiviakov, Sergei             g NED 2631  * 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.5  2923 
 2. Kulaots, Kaido               g EST 2572  0 * = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.0  2706 
 3. Korneev, Oleg                g RUS 2611  = = * 0 1 = = 1 1 1  6.0  2606 
 4. Nordahl, Helge               m NOR 2402  0 = 1 * = = = = = 1  5.0  2548 
 5. Lie, Kjetil A                m NOR 2495  0 0 0 = * 1 0 1 1 1  4.5  2494 
 6. Pedersen, Christian Kyndel   f DEN 2396  0 0 = = 0 * 1 = = 1  4.0  2462 
 7. Carlsen, Magnus              g NOR 2548  0 0 = = 1 0 * 0 1 1  4.0  2445 
 8. Williams, Simon              m ENG 2466  0 0 0 = 0 = 1 * 1 1  4.0  2454 
 9. Vidoniak, Roman              m GER 2417  0 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 * =  1.5  2230 
10. Bogner, Sebastian              GER 2409  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = *  0.5  2060 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------
GMB Gausdal NOR (NOR), 13-21 iv 2005                 cat. VII (2415)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Akesson, Ralf         g SWE 2461  * = = 1 = = 1 = 1 1  6.5  2575 
 2. Howell, David WL      m ENG 2416  = * = 0 = 1 = 1 1 1  6.0  2539 
 3. Barkhagen, Jonas      m SWE 2461  = = * = 1 = = = = =  5.0  2452 
 4. Greet, Andrew         f ENG 2403  0 1 = * 1 = = 0 = 1  5.0  2459 
 5. Sebag, Marie          m FRA 2417  = = 0 0 * 0 1 1 = 1  4.5  2414 
 6. Ward, Christopher     g ENG 2485  = 0 = = 1 * 0 = = 1  4.5  2407 
 7. Reinderman, Dimitri   g NED 2509  0 = = = 0 1 * = = 1  4.5  2404 
 8. Tallaksen, Geir S     f NOR 2326  = 0 = 1 0 = = * = =  4.0  2381 
 9. Michalczak, Thomas    f GER 2369  0 0 = = = = = = * =  3.5  2340 
10. Hammer, Jon Ludvig      NOR 2303  0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = = *  1.5  2154 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
IMA Gausdal NOR (NOR), 13-21 iv 2005                     cat. II (2293)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Kveinys, Aloyzas         g LTU 2539  * = 1 1 1 1 = = 1 1  7.5  2538 
 2. Westerinen, Heikki M.J   g FIN 2365  = * = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2558 
 3. Hole, Oystein            f NOR 2329  0 = * = 0 1 1 1 1 =  5.5  2369 
 4. Moskow, Eric               USA 2194  0 0 = * 1 0 1 1 1 1  5.5  2384 
 5. Andreasen, Per           f DEN 2323  0 = 1 0 * = = 1 = 1  5.0  2332 
 6. Cooksey, Paul S            ENG 2252  0 0 0 1 = * = = = 1  4.0  2254 
 7. Bentsen, Hakon             NOR 2159  = 0 0 0 = = * = 0 =  2.5  2142 
 8. Johannessen, Svein       m NOR 2281  = 0 0 0 0 = = * = =  2.5  2128 
 9. Ghannoum, Marc           f CAN 2252  0 0 0 0 = = 1 = * 0  2.5  2131 
10. Ferkingstad, Sjur          NOR 2237  0 0 = 0 0 0 = = 1 *  2.5  2133 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMB Gausdal NOR (NOR), 13-21 iv 2005                      cat. II (2291)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Jakubowski, Krzysztof     m POL 2479  * = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.0  2621 
 2. Siebrecht, Sebastian      m GER 2438  = * = = 1 1 1 1 1 1  7.5  2547 
 3. Loeffler, Stefan          m GER 2429  0 = * 1 1 1 1 1 1 =  7.0  2495 
 4. Silseth, Simon            f SWE 2310  = = 0 * = = 1 1 1 1  6.0  2414 
 5. Hartvig, Ove Weiss        f DEN 2246  0 0 0 = * 1 = = = 1  4.0  2253 
 6. Bentsen, Oyvind             NOR 2185  0 0 0 = 0 * = = = 1  3.0  2178 
 7. Saevareid, Ove              NOR 2206  0 0 0 0 = = * 1 = =  3.0  2175 
 8. Niemi, Kalle                FIN 2247  0 0 0 0 = = 0 * 1 =  2.5  2130 
 9. Arsenault, Nicolas          CAN 2159  0 0 0 0 = = = 0 * 1  2.5  2139 
10. Scholseth, Tor Kristian   f NOR 2213  0 0 = 0 0 0 = = 0 *  1.5  2026 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

10) Cuban Championship

The final stages of the Cuban Championship take place in Santa Clara 18th-26th April 2005. Bruzon plays Dominguez in the final.

News: Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr.

Updates: http://www.vanguardia.co.cu

Final (April 24-26, 2005)

Bruzon, Lazaro    - Dominguez, Lenier 

Semi-Finals (April 21-23, 2005)

Bruzon, Lazaro    - Arencibia, Walter  1-0 0-1 Playoff 1/2 1-0
Almeida, Omar     - Dominguez, Lenier  1/2 0-1

Quarter Final Round 1 (April 18-20, 2005) 

Dominguez, Lenier - Quezada, Yuniesky  1-0 1/2
Arencibia, Walter - De la Paz, Frank   1/2 1-0
Bruzon, Lazaro    - Nogueiras, Jesus   1/2 1/2 Playoff 2-0
Gongora, Maikel   - Almeida, Omar      0-1 1/2

11) Chicago Spring Invitational

The Chicago Spring Invitational took place 16th-22nd April 2005. The 12 player Category 8 event saw Benjamin Finegold make a GM norm in finishing level with Varuzhan Akobian on 8/11. Jan Van de Mortel made an IM norm.

Official site: http://www.ilchess.org and Ben Finegold gives round by results and his games at: http://www.angelfire.com/ult/chessassociation/ChicagoPairings.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spring Inv Chicago USA (USA), 16-22 iv 2005               cat. VIII (2436)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Finegold, Benjamin     m USA 2522  * = = = 1 = 1 = = 1 1 1  8.0  2602 
 2. Akobian, Varuzhan      g USA 2556  = * = = = 1 = = 1 1 1 1  8.0  2599 
 3. Smetankin, Stanislav   m BLR 2479  = = * = = = = = 1 1 1 =  7.0  2533 
 4. Mitkov, Nikola         g MKD 2530  = = = * = = 0 = = 1 1 1  6.5  2491 
 5. Georgiev, Vladimir     g MKD 2535  0 = = = * = = = = 1 1 1  6.5  2491 
 6. Kraai, Jesse           m USA 2416  = 0 = = = * 1 1 = = 1 0  6.0  2473 
 7. Van de Mortel, Jan     f NED 2410  0 = = 1 = 0 * = = = 1 1  6.0  2473 
 8. Matikozian, Andranik   m ARM 2515  = = = = = 0 = * = = 0 1  5.0  2392 
 9. Burnett, Ronald        m USA 2433  = 0 0 = = = = = * 0 1 1  5.0  2399 
10. Goletiani, Rusudan    wg USA 2332  0 0 0 0 0 = = = 1 * = 1  4.0  2342 
11. Karagianis, Pete         USA 2259  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 = * 1  2.5  2240 
12. Chow, Albert           f USA 2239  0 0 = 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 *  1.5  2144 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

12) Heroes of Chernobyl Memorial (not)

I reported the International Chess GM Tournament Memorial Heroes of Chernobyl took place Óity a Slavutich (Kiev region, Ukraine) 14th-26th April 2005 (the site now suggests 14th-18th but this is again not true). This event turned out to be a brazen attempt at faking a tournament. Its possible some games were played at a rapid time rate but a large number of the participants didn't compete at all as the organisers didn't have any money and its now clear some of them didn't even know of the event (Bobras for instance). I gather there is a game file for the entire event! Covering the event on the internet turned out to be a bit stupid as Piotr Bobras was at home preparing for the Polish Championship.

The Ukrainian Chess Federation wrote to me "It is our duty to inform you that The Ukrainian Chess Federation inspected 'The International Chess GM Tournament Memorial Heroes of Chernobyl', announced by TWIC, and found it outrage in rules for chess tournaments. Thereby The Ukrainian Chess Federation plans to apply sanctions to the organizers and arbiters. The results of this tournament will not be sended to FIDE. "

My thanks to Michael Krasenkow for informing me first about this problem. You should delete the games from this event from your database.

Official! site (Russian): http://chess-ukr.narod.ru/

Faked Final Table
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heroes of Chernobyl Mem Slavutich UKR (UKR), 14-26 iv 2005    cat. VIII (2427)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 14100690 Nosenko, Alexander    IM UKR 2513 # 1 = = = 1 = = = 1 1 1 1 1   10   1
 2 14108801 Kislinsky, Alexey     IM UKR 2410 0 # = 1 0 = = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1    9,5 2
 3 14101270 Komarov, Dimitri      GM UKR 2531 = = # = = = = = 1 = 1 1 1 1    9   3
 4 14107180 Drozdovskij, Yuri     GM UKR 2517 = 0 = # = = = = = 1 1 1 1 1    8,5 4-5
 5 14105403 Savinov, Viktor       IM UKR 2507 = 1 = = # = = = = = 1 1 1 =    8,5 4-5
 6 1106880  Bobras, Piotr         IM POL 2501 0 = = = = # = = = = 1 1 1 1    8   6
 7 14102340 Mikhaletz, Lubomir    GM UKR 2451 = = = = = = # = 0 = = = 1 1    7   7
 8 13900994 Stepa, Dima           FM MDA 2422 = 0 = = = = = # 0 = = = 1 1    6,5 8-9
 9 13902504 Savinov, Vladimir        MDA 2407 = 0 0 = = = 1 1 # 0 = = = 1    6,5 8-9
10 317446   Indrak, Igor          FM CZE 2357 0 0 = 0 = = = = 1 # = 0 = 1    5,5 10
11 13601059 Chokhonelidze, Giorgi IM GEO 2311 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = = = # = 1 1    4,5 11
12 14104288 Huda, Maryana            UKR 2290 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = = 1 = # = =    4   12
13 14114453 Tuka, Oleg               UKR 2400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = # =    2   13
14 24112895 Ivanov, Sergei           RUS 2354 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 = = #    1,5 14
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13) Cutro International Festival

The Cutro International Festival takes place April 23rd - May 1st 2005. In the same place April 30th - May 1st 2005, will be the 5th edition of CIPS open italian chess programs championship.

Official site: http://e4e6.com/cutro

Round 2 Standings:
---------------------------------------------------
Masters Open Cutro ITA (ITA), 23 iv-1 v 2005
---------------------------------------------------
 1. Starostits, Ilmars          m  LAT 2450    2.0 
 2. Drasko, Milan               g  SCG 2510    2.0 
 3. Lazic, Miroljub             g  SCG 2500    2.0 
 4. Bukal, Vladimir jr          m  CRO 2405    2.0 
 5. Kasparov, Sergey            m  BLR 2461    2.0 
 6. Georgiev, Krum              g  BUL 2457    2.0 
 7. Velikov, Petar              g  BUL 2427    1.5 
 8. Blagojevic, Dragisa         g  SCG 2549    1.5 
 9. Roeder, Mathias             m  GER 2404    1.5 
10. Ninov, Nikolai              m  BUL 2486    1.5 
11. Zaja, Ivan                  g  CRO 2489    1.5 
12. Isonzo, David               f  ITA 2325    1.5 
13. Napoli, Nicolo'                ITA 2205    1.5 
14. Miladinovic, Igor           g  GRE 2604    1.0 
15. Bratanov, Zsivko            m  BUL 2423    1.0 
16. Ivanov, Mikhail M           g  RUS 2418    1.0 
17. Karpatchev, Aleksandr       g  RUS 2472    1.0 
18. Mrdja, Milan                m  CRO 2373    1.0 
19. Marholev, Dimitar           m  BUL 2395    1.0 
20. Brancaleoni, Maurizio       f  ITA 2296    1.0 
21. Sautto, Daniele                ITA 2119    1.0 
22. Kasparova, Tatiana             BLR 2240    1.0 
23. Bentivegna, Francesco          ITA 2229    1.0 
24. De Rosa, Maria              wf ITA 2081    1.0 
25. Cordi', Domenico               ITA 2084    1.0 
26. Rinaldi, Francesco             ITA 2140    1.0 
27. Cetkovic, Sergio               SCG 2121    1.0 
28. Blasco, Domenico               ITA 2004    1.0 
29. Sautto, Alessandra             ITA 1968    0.5 
30. Parrotta,Daniele               ITA ----    0.5 
31. Abatino, Maurizio           f  ITA 2214    0.5 
32. Rizzo, Giovanbattista          ITA 2088    0.5 
33. Lacrosse, Marc              f  BEL 2289    0.0 
34. Scerbo, Antonio                ITA 2097    0.0 
35. Hocevar, Nikola                SLO 2092    0.0 
36. Van Hoolandt, Patrick       f  MNC 2181    0.0 
37. Parrella, Alfredo              ITA 2176    0.0 
39. Panarello,Giuseppe             ITA ----    0.0 
39. Santurbano, Maria Vincenza     ITA 2043    0.0 
40. Voiska, Margarita           wg BUL 2340  withdrew
--------------------------------------------------------

14) 2nd Porto Carras International Open

The 2nd Porto Carras International Open takes place 22nd-28th April 2005, 9 rounds swiss system and time control 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move.

Live games will be broadcast by http://www.chess.gr/

Round 5 Pairings and scores:
 1  3    GM  Mastrovasilis Dimitrios     3½    -    4     GM  Miezis Normunds         2
 2  8    IM  Mastrovasilis Athanasios    3½    -    3½    GM  Chatalbashev Boris      6
 3  1    GM  Korneev Oleg                3     -    3     GM  Bykhovsky Avigdor      12
 4  4    GM  Postny Evgeny               3     -    3         Karapanos Nikolaos     19
 5  15   IM  Bergez Luc                  3     -    3     GM  Nikolaidis Ioannis      5
 6  9    IM  Zysk Robert                 3     -    3         Troffiguer Olivier     24
 7  7    IM  Sanduleac Vasile            2½    -    2½   WIM  Makka Ioulia           18
 8  20       Skiadopoulos Nikolaos       2½    -    2½    IM  Obodchuk Andrei        10
 9  11   IM  Allahverdiev Anar           2½    -    2½        Pavlidis Anastasios    34
10  14   IM  Tolstikh Nikolay            2½    -    2½        Schmitz Andreas Arnold 23
11  13   FM  Rendle Thomas               2     -    2½        Erlank Keith           42
12  30       Psathas Thomas              2     -    2         Tsarouhas Konstantinos 16
13  29       Kiriakopoulos Antonios      2     -    2         Kaloskambis Mihail     21
14  31       Andronis Vasilios           2     -    2         Kalaitzoglou Panayotis 22
15  32       Hering Evgenios             2     -    2         Sand Rolf Dr           25
16  39       Desai D K                   2     -    2         Kanakaris G            27
17  26  WFM  Schmitz Manuela             1½    -    2         Panagiotopoulos Vas    35
18  17       Bernard Jacques             1½    -    1½        Wilken Justin          53
19  33       Konstantinidis Mihalis      1½    -    1½        Pavlidou Ekaterini     37
20  47       Mathioulakis Fanis          1½    -    1½        Markopoulos Theodoros  36
21  45       Liederman Ciaran            1     -    1         Katzourakis Pavlos     28
22  38  WIM  Laubscher Anzel             1     -    1         Mitridis Savvas        48
23  52       Voges Gerhardus             1     -    1         Drakakis Ioannis       40
24  49       Papadopoulos Panagiotis     1     -    1         Deligiorgis Georgios   41
25  43       Esau Omar                   1     -    1         Perros Gavriil         50
26  51       Vlahos Emmanuel             ½     -    0         Kolia Evi              44
    46       Masmanidis Prokopios        0     -    Bye

15) Galati Chess Open

The Galati Chess Open, the first of the Romanian Chess Grand Prix, takes place April 16th-24th 2005.

Further info: http://www.chess-romania.ro

Round 6 Standings:
 1-2  Bogdan, Dan                    ROM   2467  5      23.0
      Parligras, Mircea              ROM   2560  5      23.0
3-10  Nevednichy, Vladislav          ROM   2566  4.5    25.5
      Lupulescu, Constantin          ROM   2546  4.5    22.5
      Cioara, Andrei Nestor          ROM   2386  4.5    22.5
      Grunberg, Mihai-Lucian         ROM   2421  4.5    22.5
      Murariu, Andrei                ROM   2430  4.5    22.5
      Vajda, Albert                  ROM   2442  4.5    21.0
      Manolache, Marius              ROM   2468  4.5    20.5
      Bogza, Adina-Maria             ROM   2297  4.5    20.0
11-23 Rogozenko, Dorian              ROM   2512  4      24.5
      Slovineanu, Viacheslav         MDA   2389  4      21.5
      Ionescu, Mihai                 ROM   2390  4      21.5
      Mateuta, Gabriel               ROM   2478  4      21.0
      Voicu, Carmen                  ROM   2310  4      20.0
      Burnoiu, Nicolae-Costel        ROM   2370  4      20.0
      Teodorescu, Ioan               ROM   2243  4      20.0
      Raceanu, Valentin              ROM   2402  4      20.0
      Bets, Anatolij                 MDA   2360  4      19.5
      Andreescu, Marcel              ROM   2234  4      19.5
      Ionica, Iulia-Ionela           ROM   2245  4      19.0
      Voiteanu, Gabriel              ROM   2187  4      18.0
      Nanu, Ciprian-Costica          ROM   2450  4      18.0

16) Azura Chess Open

The Azura Chess Open International Rapid Chess Tournament also Belgian Rapid Chess Championship 2005 Brussels Rapid Chess Championship 2005 took place Saturday-Sunday 23rd-24th April 2005 (11 rounds ~ 25 minutes games). Tournament for players with more than 2000 elo. Vladimir Baklan, Hannes Stefannson and Arkadij Naiditsch finished with 8.5/11.

Details: http://www.creb.be/

 1  GM  Vladimir  Baklan       2584  UKR  8,5/11  2721  58    2822
 2  GM  Hannes  Stefansson     2573  ISL  8,5/11  2695  56    2804
 3  GM  Arkadij  Naiditsch     2626  GER  8,5/11  2662  52    2736
 4  GM  Ivan  Sokolov          2662  NED  8/11    2649  51,5  2702
 5  GM  Arthur  Kogan          2592  ISR  8/11    2634  51    2707
 6  GM  Ulf  Andersson         2579  SWE  8/11    2631  52,5  2739
 7  GM  Arkadij  Rotstein      2551  UKR  8/11    2627  48,5  2698
 8  GM  Robert  Fontaine       2539  FRA  8/11    2591  50    2657
 9  IM  Nikolai  Pedersen      2460  DEN  8/11    2494  45    2593
10  GM  Ralf  Akesson          2461  SWE  7,5/11  2578  48    2618
11  IM  Milen  Vasilev         2403  BUL  7,5/11  2550  47    2606
12  GM  Alexandre  Dgebuadze   2534  BEL  7,5/11  2474  44,5  2534
13  GM  Florian  Handke        2480  GER  7,5/11  2468  45,5  2556
14  GM  Mihail  Saltaev        2485  UZB  7,5/11  2422  43,5  2508
15  GM  Vladimir  Epishin      2605  GER  7/11    2551  50    2658
16  GM  Pedrag  Nikolic        2627  BIH  7/11    2539  48    2632
17  IM  Ekrem  Cekro           2408  BEL  7/11    2464  45,5  2525
18  FM  Rafe  Martyn           2302  ENG  7/11    2421  41,5  2483
19  IM  Alexander  Alienkin    2393  RUS  7/11    2414  43,5  2449
20  FM  Stefan  Docx           2341  BEL  7/11    2395  39    2425
21      Wouter  Spoelman       2399  NED  7/11    2383  42    2479
22      Fabrice  Wantiez       2206  BEL  7/11    2356  39,5  2361
23  GM  Daniel  Fridman        2562  LVA  6,5/11  2489  46    2553
24  GM  Jan  Votava            2511  CZE  6,5/11  2459  48,5  2530
25  GM  Petar  Popovic         2508  SCG  6,5/11  2458  47    2519
26  IM  Jan-Michaël  Sprenger  2496  GER  6,5/11  2437  45,5  2532
27  FM  Frank  Wuts            2306  NED  6,5/11  2418  42,5  2473
28  IM  Marc  Dutreeuw         2352  BEL  6,5/11  2400  41    2437
29  GM  Viesturs  Meijers      2486  LVA  6,5/11  2385  41,5  2446
30  IM  Richard  Polaczek      2426  BEL  6,5/11  2350  42    2445
31      Ruben  Akhayan         2205  BEL  6,5/11  2341  39    2388
32  FM  Daniel  Pedersen       2358  DEN  6,5/11  2338  40,5  2421
33  FM  Jeroen  Claesen        2264  BEL  6,5/10  2338  38    2378
34  IM  Pieter  Claesen        2388  BEL  6,5/11  2323  39,5  2401
35  IM  Anatoly  Donchenko     2459  GER  6,5/11  2322  40    2419
36      Robert  Schuermans     2212  BEL  6,5/11  2295  37,5  2374
37  GM  Jean-Marc  Degraeve    2557  FRA  6,5/11  2268  38,5  2351
111 players

17) Torch Real Estate Cup China Chess League

The Torch Real Estate Cup China Chess League takes place April 20th-28th 2005. Games from rounds 1-6 available. I'm struggling a bit with the Chinese so hopefully I've managed to sort out most of the games. Wang Yu has two games in round 4 which I can't fix.

Further details: http://ccl.sports.cn/ and http://www.chende.net

18) 13th Cork Chess Congress

The 13th Cork Chess Congress 2005 took place 1st - 3rd April 2005. The event followed the European Union Championship and was pretty strong. Bartosz Socko won with 5.5/6. News: Richard Palliser.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
13th Weekender Cork IRL (IRL), 1-3 iv 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Socko, Bartosz            g  POL 2583  5.5      17.0  24.5   19.5
 2. Hebden, Mark              g  ENG 2514  5        16.5  24.5   19.5
 3. Kotronias, Vasilios       g  GRE 2578  5        16.5  23.0   19.0
 4. Ziatdinov, Raset          m  USA 2445  5        15.0  22.5   17.0
 5. Palliser, Richard         m  ENG 2402  5        14.0  21.0   18.0
 6. Miezis, Normunds          g  LAT 2564  4.5      16.5  25.0   19.0
 7. Cicak, Slavko             g  SWE 2530  4.5      16.5  24.0   18.5
 8. Medvegy, Zoltan           g  HUN 2474  4.5      14.5  22.5   17.5
 9. Wall, Gavin               m  IRL 2368  4.5      14.5  22.0   17.0
10. Ryan, Joseph              f  IRL 2328  4.5      13.0  19.0   16.0
11. Weber,Arno                       ----  4.5      13.0  19.0   15.0
12. D'Costa, Lorin            f  ENG 2341  4.5      12.0  17.5   15.5
13. Baburin, Alexander        g  IRL 2523  4        16.0  24.0   16.5
14. Quinn, Mark               m  IRL 2395  4        15.0  23.0   16.0
15. Williams, Simon           m  ENG 2466  4        14.5  21.0   17.0
16. Wessels,Martin                   ----  4        14.0  21.5   14.0
17. Fitzimons,David                  ----  4        13.5  20.0   13.5
18. Heimerdinger, Joerg          GER 2162  4        13.0  21.5   13.5
19. McPhillips, Karl             IRL 2235  4        12.5  19.0   14.5
20. Grzymek, David                   ----  4        10.0  14.5   10.5
91 players

19) Serbia and Montenegro Women's Championship

The Women's Chess Championship of Serbia and Montenegro takes place in Pancevo (near Belgrade) 18th-26th April 2005. After 7 rounds Marija Petrovic leads on 5.5/7.

Official coverage: http://www.scgchess.org/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ch-SCG w Pancevo SCG (SCG), 18-26 iv 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Petrovic, Marija       wm SCG 2221  * = . . 1 1 = 1 1 =  5.5  2407 
 2. Benderac, Ana          wg SCG 2287  = * 1 . 0 = . 1 = =  4.0  2246 
 3. Chelushkina, Irina     wg SCG 2369  . 0 * 1 = = 0 1 . 1  4.0  2235 
 4. Maksimovic, Suzana     wg SCG 2231  . . 0 * 1 = = 0 1 1  4.0  2239 
 5. Drljevic, Ljilja       wf SCG 2164  0 1 = 0 * = = 1 . .  3.5  2223 
 6. Vasic, Milena          wf SCG 2180  0 = = = = * . . = 1  3.5  2230 
 7. Kostic, Maja           wm SCG 2168  = . 1 = = . * 0 = 0  3.0  2154 
 8. Mijovic, Aleksandra    wf SCG 2106  0 0 0 1 0 . 1 * 1 .  3.0  2180 
 9. Stojanovic, Andjelija  wf SCG 2175  0 = . 0 . = = 0 * 1  2.5  2091 
10. Savic, Marijana        wm SCG 2163  = = 0 0 . 0 1 . 0 *  2.0  2075 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

20) Vietnam Championship

The Championship of Vietnam took place 2nd-15th April 2005. Nguyen Anh Dung won the event.

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

Leading Placings
-----------------------------------------
ch-VIE Places Hue VIE (VIE), 2-15 iv 2005
-----------------------------------------
 1. Nguyen Anh Dung      g  VIE 2561 
 2. Dao Thien Hai        g  VIE 2609 
 3. Bui Vinh             m  VIE 2467 
 4. Ly Hong Nguyen          VIE 2281 
 6. Le Quang Liem        f  VIE 2349 
 7. Nguyen Van Huy          VIE 2344 
 8. Tran Thanh Tu           VIE 2233 
 9. Hoang Canh, Huan        VIE 2145 
10. Duong The Anh        f  VIE 2288 

Final 

Dao Thien Hai  - Nguyen Anh Dung  1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2,0-1	

3rd-4th 

Bui Vinh       - Ly Hong Nguyen   1-0 1-0

Semi Final

Bui Vinh       - Dao Thien Hai    0-1 1/2
Ly Hong Nguyen - Nguyen Anh Dung  1/2 0-1	

----------------------------------------------------
ch-VIE Prelim Hue VIE (VIE), 2-9 iv 2005
----------------------------------------------------
                                          
----------------------------------------------------
 1. Nguyen Anh Dung          g  VIE 2561   6.5  2480 
 2. Dao Thien Hai            g  VIE 2609   6.5  2462 
 3. Bui Vinh                 m  VIE 2467   6.5  2494 
 4. Ly Hong Nguyen              VIE 2281   6.0  2445 
 5. Tran Thanh Tu               VIE 2233   6.0  2403 
 6. Le Quang Liem            f  VIE 2349   6.0  2366 
 7. Nguyen Van Huy              VIE 2344   6.0  2406 
 8. Tu Hoang Thai               VIE 2389   6.0  2291 
 9. Hoang Canh, Huan            VIE 2145   6.0  2429 
10. Dinh Duc Trong           f  VIE 2362   5.5  2244 
11. Duong The Anh            f  VIE 2288   5.5  2295 
12. Pham Chuong              f  VIE 2313   5.5  2366 
13. Nguyen Thien Viet           VIE 2348   5.5  2252 
14. Nguyen Thanh Nghia          VIE ----   5.5  2209 
15. Nguyen Huynh Minh H      f  VIE 2195   5.0  2235 
16. Nguyen Giang Son            VIE ----   5.0  2223 
17. Nguyen Thanh Phuc           VIE ----   5.0  2283 
18. Ngo Ngoc Quang              VIE 2289   4.5  2267 
19. Tu Hoang Thong           g  VIE 2486   4.5  2139 
20. Nguyen Hoang Nam            VIE 2156   4.5  2173 
21. Tran Ngoc Thach             VIE 2182   4.5  2123 
22. Bao Quang                f  VIE 2369   4.5  2088 
23. Nguyen Duc Hoa           f  VIE 2110   4.0  2244 
24. Ngo Ninh                    VIE ----   4.0  2085 
25. Ton That Nhu,Tung           VIE ----   4.0  2047 
26. Phung Nguyen Tuong,Minh     VIE ----   4.0  1988 
27. Nguyen Huu Duc Luan         VIE ----   4.0  2147 
28. Nguyen Huu Hoang,Anh        VIE ----   4.0  1956 
29. Bao Khoa                    VIE 2078   4.0  1882 
30. Nguyen Ngoc Phung           VIE ----   3.5  2196 
31. Nguyen Hoang Tuan           VIE 2211   3.5  1979 
32. Tran Ngoc Lan               VIE ----   3.5  2042 
33. To Ngoc Minh                VIE ----   3.5  1990 
34. Le Trong Toan               VIE ----   3.5  1958 
35. Phan Anh Tuan               VIE ----   3.0  1973 
36. Nguyen Dinh Quang           VIE ----   3.0  1858 
37. Nguyen Xuan Quang           VIE ----   3.0  1981 
38. Vo Hoai Thuong              VIE ----   2.5  1842 
39. Tran Tuan Minh              VIE ----   2.0  1763 
----------------------------------------------------

Final
Nguyen Thi Thanh An - Le Thanh Tu       1-0 1/2

3rd-4th
Le Kieu Thien Kim   - Luong Minh Hue    1/2 1/2 1-0 1/2

Semi-Final

Nguyen Thi Thanh An - Le Kieu Thien Kim 1/2 1-0
Luong Minh Hue      - Le Thanh Tu       1/2 0-1

-------------------------------------------
ch-VIE w Places Hue VIE (VIE), 2-9 iv 2005
-------------------------------------------
 1. Nguyen Thi Thanh An     wm VIE 2358 
 2. Le Thanh Tu             wf VIE 2283 
 3. Le Kieu Thien Kim       wm VIE 2328 
 4. Luong Minh Hue          wf VIE 2133 
 5. Hoang Thi Bao Tram      wf VIE 2267 
 6. Hoang Xuan Thanh Khiet     VIE 2175 
 7. Dang Bich Ngoc             VIE 2158 
 8. Huynh Mai Phuong Dung      VIE 2128 
 9. Nguyen Ngan Bin            VIE 2146 
10. Tran Thi Kim Loan       wf VIE 2159 

---------------------------------------------------
ch-VIE w Prelim Hue VIE (VIE), 2-9 iv 2005
---------------------------------------------------
 1. Le Kieu Thien Kim       wm VIE 2328  7.0  2388 
 2. Le Thanh Tu             wf VIE 2283  6.5  2317 
 3. Luong Minh Hue          wf VIE 2133  6.5  2354 
 4. Nguyen Thi Thanh An     wm VIE 2358  6.0  2304 
 5. Hoang Thi Bao Tram      wf VIE 2267  5.5  2239 
 6. Dang Bich Ngoc             VIE 2158  5.5  2209 
 7. Hoang Xuan Thanh Khiet     VIE 2175  5.5  2218 
 8. Huynh Mai Phuong Dung      VIE 2128  5.5  2166 
 9. Nguyen Ngan Bin            VIE 2146  5.0  2185 
10. Luong Huyen Ngoc           VIE ----  5.0  2123 
11. Tran Thi Kim Loan       wf VIE 2159  5.0  2088 
12. Nguyen Thi Thu Quyen           ----  4.5  2096 
13. Vo Thi Kim Phung               ----  4.5  2073 
14. Luong Nhat Linh                ----  4.5  2049 
15. Do Thi Diem Thuy               ----  4.5  2054 
16. Pham Thi Ngoc Tu           VIE 2078  4.0  2054 
17. Nguyen Phuong Thao             ----  4.0  1989 
18. Pham Thi Thu Hien              ----  4.0  1994 
19. Hoang Thi Nhu Y                ----  4.0  1965 
20. Pham Thi Thu Hoai              ----  4.0  2024 
21. Ton Nu Hong,An                 ----  3.0  1929 
22. Nguyen Thi Diem Trang          ----  1.5  1758 
23. Nguyen Thanh Xuan              ----  1.5  1733 
24. Do Thuy Duong                  ----  1.0  1678 
---------------------------------------------------

21) OCF Tulsa April FIDE Open

The OCF Tulsa April FIDE Open took place April 16th-17th 2005. IM Stas Kriventsov of Louisiana, USA won the event with 4.5/5. Thoma and Fernandez made 4-game FIDE norms, Van Deelen and Classeen 3-game norms and Patton made his final norm. Frank K. Berry organized with Jim Berry and Alex Relyea directing.

-----------------------------------------------
April FIDE Tulsa USA (USA), 16-17 iv 2005
-----------------------------------------------
 1. Kriventsov, Stanislav G  m  USA 2409  4.5
 2. Galant, Sergey              USA 2211  4.0
 3. Thoma,Phil                  USA ----  4.0
 4. Berry, James E              USA 2184  4.0
 5. Braunlich, Tom              USA 2200  3.5
 6. Movsisyan, Movses           USA 2300  3.5
 7. Claassen,Chris              USA ----  3.5
 8. Berry, Frank K              USA 2033  3.0
 9. Fernandez,Jaime             USA ----  3.0
10. Patton,Tom                  USA ----  3.0
11. Joy,James                   USA ----  3.0
12. Kline,Les                   USA ----  3.0
31 players

22) Hungarian Women's Team Championship

The Hungarian Women's Team Championship took place in Budapest 19th-23rd April 2005. MTK II. (WGM/IM Hoang Thanh Trang, WGM Medvegy Nora, WGM Gara Ticia) won on tie-break (more match points) before Honved I. (WGM Muzychuk Anna, WGM Lakos Nikoletta, WGM Grabics Monika). News: Zsolt Korpics.

Final standings:
1. MTK II.           8
2. Honved I.         8
3. MTK I.            7
4. Decs              6,5
5. Piremon           5,5
6. Paks              5,5 
17 teams, 5 rounds Swiss system
 
Best players:
 
Board 1: Muzychuk Anna (Honved I.) 4,5
Board 2: Medvegy Nora (MTK II.)    4
         Gara Anita (MTK I.)       4
         Ignacz Maria (Paks)       4

23) Caissa IM April tournament

The Caissa IM April tournament took place in Kecskemét (HUN) 16th-23rd April 2005. The Category IV (2330) double round robin tournament, Dritan Mehmeti made an IM norm with 7,5/10. Games to follow. News: Csaba Bognar.

There will be a new event 20th-28th June 2005. Contact Dr. Tamas Erdelyi caissa@axelero.hu if you are interested in playing.

More info: http://www.caissachessbooks.com

Ranking after round 10 of Caissa IM April
No.  PNo.  Name                       Score WP    SB     PS    rat.  TPR 
W-We
  1.    3  Jakab, Attila          HUN im   7.5  45.0  30.75  42.5    2448  2441 -0.10
        5  Mehmeti, Dritan        ALB      7.5  45.0  27.75  40.5    2360  2463 +1.10
  3.    6  Peric, Slavisa         SCG im   6.5  47.0  27.25  38.5    2248  2393 +1.62
  4.    1  Fejzullahu, Afrim      SCG fm   3.5  53.0  15.75  16.5    2314  2193 -1.26 
  5.    4  Zakharchenko, Arnold   UKR im   3.0  54.0  12.00  17.0    2279  2150 -1.28 
  6.    2  Andriska, Zsolt        HUN      2.0  56.0   6.50  10.0  *(2100) 2090  2090
*not FIDE rated

24) Easter Third Saturday Novi Sad

The Easter Third Saturday tournament took place in Novi Sad 16th-21st April, 2005. Sinisa Drazic won with 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.drazic.co.yu

Final Standings:
1    Drazic Sinisa    7,5
2    Valerian Adam    6,5
3-4  Dumpor Atif        5
3-4  Todorovic Jovan    5
5    Dragojlovic A.   4,5
6    Micic Cedomir      4
7-8  Dostan Janos     3,5
7-8  Josic Hrvoje     3,5
9    Illijin Nebojsa    3
10   Mujagic Ramo     2,5

25) 5th Grand Prix d'Echecs de Bordeaux

The 5th Grand Prix d'Echecs de Bordeaux takes place 28th April - 1st May with Anatoly Karpov, Laurent Fressinet + 6 qualified players from a qualifying tournament which took place on 24th April 2005. Qualifiers: IM Marie Sebag, IM Namig Gouliev, IGM Hicham Hamdouchi, FIDE Master Xavier Beudaert, IGM Jean Luc Chabanon, and IM Arnaud Rainfray.

Details: http://www.grandprixdebordeaux.com. Further news: http://www.lepalamede.com/article.aspx?ID=112

26) English Deaf Chess Association Qualifier

The English Deaf Chess Association Qualifying tournament, took place in London, 22nd-24th April 2005.

The top 4 players earned the right to represent England in the next World Team Championship for the Deaf to be held in Italy next year. The 5 man team is completed by Alasdair MacLeod who earns automatic selection as the current EDCA Champion.

Lewis Martin, 13, proved that his 4th place in the EDCA National Championship last October in Romford was no fluke as he comfortably earned selection in 2nd place on tie-break narrowly ahead of 7 times EDCA Champion Phillip Gardner. News: Alasdair MacLeod, Secretary, English Deaf Chess Association.

Final Standings:
1st  Richard Dunn     (BCF 136, Hampstead)    3.5/5
2nd  Lewis Martin     (BCF 117, Swindon)      3.0/5
3rd  Phillip Gardner  (BCF 157, Letchworth)   3.0/5
4th  Chris Kreuzer    (BCF 141, Twickenham)   2.5/5
5th  Ilan Dwek        (BCF 130, Cricklewood)  1.5/5
6th  Barry David      (BCF 125, Finchley)     1.5/5

27) South African Championships

The South African Championships started 7th April 2005. The Men's division was won by FM Nicholas van der Nat (for the second time) ahead of Jacque Ophoff, FM Daniel Cawdery and IM Kenny Solomon. The Women's by WIM Denise Frick from WIM Janine Ellapen. The top two in the original field for the men withdrew at the last moment IM George Michelakis had a business commitment in London while IM Watu Kobese demanded too an appearance fee. WIM Cecile van der Merwe became the first woman to compete in the Men's section. Games should follow.

The Chess South Africa site: http://chessa.co.za

No.    
Name                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
 1 Nicholas van der Nat   f     2192    * 0 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  8.0
 2 Daniël Cawdery               2195    1 * = = = = 1 = 1 1 1  7.5
 3 Jacques Ophoff               2216    0 = * = 1 1 1 1 1 1 =  7.5
 4 Kenny Solomon          m     2376    = = = * = 1 1 = 1 1 1  7.5
 5 Heinrich Stander       m     2177    0 = 0 = * 1 1 = = 1 1  6.0
 6 Donovan vd Heever            2334    = = 0 0 0 * = 1 0 1 1  4.5
 7 Charles de Villiers    f     2236    0 0 0 0 0 = * 1 1 1 1  4.5
 8 David Gluckman         m     2284    0 = 0 = = 0 0 * 1 1 =  4.0
 9 Lyndon Bouah                 2158    0 0 0 0 = 1 0 0 * 0 1  2.5
10 Shabir Bhawoodien      f     2211    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * 1  2.0
11 Cecile van der Merwe   w     2053    0 0 = 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 *  1.0

South African Women's
No.     
       Name                             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  
 1 Denise Frick            w     1842   * = = = 1 1 1 1 1 6.5
 2 Jenine Ellappen         w     1955   = * 1 0 = 1 = 1 1 5.5
 3 Suvania Moodliar              1702   = 0 * = 1 1 = = 1 5.0
 4 Anzel Laubscher         w     1796   = 1 = * = 0 = 0 1 4.0
 5 Carmen de Jager               1810   0 = 0 = * 0 1 1 1 4.0
 6 Heather Bleazard              1562   0 0 0 1 1 * = = = 3.5
 7 Yolandi Sutil                 1577   0 = = = 0 = * = 1 3.5
 8 Sandra van de Venter          1690   0 0 = 1 0 = = * 0 2.5
 9 Elmie Janse van Rensburg      1443   0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 * 1.5

28) Dragoljub Minic 1936-2005

Sinisa Joksic writes: GM Dragoljub Minic, who was for many years a member of the Yugoslav national team, passed away in Novi Sad, where he had lived for the last few years. Friends found him in his apartment, on April 9th, after many days, when he didn't respond to telephone calls and inter-phone on the entrance. Doctors said that he died from a heart attack approximately on his 69th birthday on April 5th 2005.

Minic was born in Podgorica on April 5th 1936. He was a chess player who understood the game pretty well, with great chess knowledge. Minic became a national master in 1961; Yugoslav champion 1962; international master 1964; he won various medals from Olympiads, European team Championships, Balkaniad; won many of International tournaments; winner of zonal tournament Praja da Rocha 1969;

Minic was a second to Gligoric, Ljubojevic and the Yugoslav national team.

Minic got an honorary GM title during Novi Sad Olympiad 1991. During his time norms were much harder to obtain than nowadays. Anyhow it is strange that such a strong player did not capture GM title before.

Collegues, chess players, had respect for Minic. He always was elegant, with a smile but very dangerous over the chess board.

29) TWIC Theory

TWIC Theory is a new electronic magazine with high quality articles delivered in ChessBase, PGN or PDF format. A 3 month subscription costs $15. 9th subscription article: "The Sicilian, O’Kelly Variation" by IM Andrew Martin.

To subscribe click here: http://www.chesscenter.com/twictheory/ or at http://www.chess4less.com (Directly: http://www.classicalgames.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=001316&AFFIL=CBL)

E-Mail for comments and contact: twictheory2005@yahoo.co.uk

Prospective Articles:
May 3   Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 4.Be3, 5.Nd2  WGM Elena Dembo
May 10  Sicilian Sveshnikov                            GM Larry Christiansen
May 17  Alekhine Defence, 4.Nf3                        IM Igor Khmelnitsky
May 24  Benko Gambit                                   IM Andrew Martin

30) Forthcoming Events and Links

Bundesliga Playoff

The playoff between Werder Bremen and SG Koeln Porz for the Bundesliga title takes place on May 8th 2005.

Further details: http://www.chessbase.de/bundesliga/nachrichten.asp?id=641

Dortmund 2005

The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting takes place 8th-17th July 2005 (rest day 13th) in the Civic Theatre Vladimir Kramnik plays in this event which is a 10 player all-play-all. The rest of the field including other top 10 players will be announced at a press conference on April 29th 2005.

Official site: http://www.chessgate.de/do2005/

XXIII Open Andorra

The XXIII Andorra Open takes place 9th-17th July 2005.

Official site: http://www.feva.ad/

4th Berlin Bughouse Tournament

The Berlin Bughouse Tournament takes place May 13th-16th 2005.

Further details: http://www.bughouse.info

Van Wely - Stellwagen Match

The Chess Events Maastricht Foundation is proud to announce a "Complete Chess match" between the Dutch Grandmasters Loek Van Wely (32, ELO 2687) and Daniel Stellwagen (18, ELO 2532). They will play four games in Maastricht, The Netherlands from 10th-13th May 2005. Both players may use a computer with ChessBase software during the encounters. A couple of the games will be standard, the other two with the pieces in random positions.

All games will be broadcasted live on http://www.chessevents.nl, where you can find comments, daily reports and pictures.

Instructional Tactics

There is an instructional tactical site at: http://www.chesstactics.org compiled by Ward Farnsworth.

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. There is an extension to the discount period for signing up for the event.

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

Canadian Open

The Canadian Open takes place July 9th-17th 2005.

GMs Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich and Alexei Shirov have confirmed their participation, as well as Alex Shabalov and some Canadian Grandmasters. Morozevich will give a simul, and Shirov will give a lecture during the event.

The official website is: http://www.edmontonchess.org/CdnOpen2005/

6th European Individual Chess Championship

The Warsaw Foundation for Chess Development and Sports Club Polonia Warsaw organise the 6th European Individual Chess Championship to be held from June 17th - July 3rd 2005, in Warsaw - Zegrze Poludniowe.

Official site: http://www.warsawchess.pl

Bosna 2005

The "Bosna 2005" will be held in Sarajevo, May 18th-28th 2005. Details as to the composition of the event are as yet undecided.

Chess Classic Mainz

The Chess Classic Mainz takes place August 9th-14th 2005.

For the first time the event will last six days. The extension of the event is a tribute to Wolfgang Unzicker. The Grandmaster from Munich will turn 80 on June 26 and will be honoured with a Gala-Tournament from August 9 to 10. From August 11 to 14, two additional events will be at the center of attention in the Rheingoldhalle: the Gerling Match for the world championship in Chess960 and especially the GrenkeLeasing Match, in which Viswanathan Anand will defend his title as the best rapid chess player in the world. His final opponent has yet to be decided by organiser Hans-Walter Schmitt. There will be the Ordix Open and various events and simuls alongside.

The Unzicker Gala 80" on August 9 and 10 sees legendary players will get together. In addition to Wolfgang Unzicker, who was probably the world’s strongest amateur player in the fifties, Victor Korchnoi and Boris Spassky will participate.

Official site: http://www.chesstigers.de/

Queenstown Chess Classic 2006

The Queenstown Chess Classic 2006 takes place on the South Island of New Zealand January 15th-24th 2006 followed by the NZ Rapid and Blitz Championship on Jan 25th & 26th. This event is being sponsored by NZ GM Murray Chandler and promises to be NZ's largest ever Open International event. The total prize fund is in excess of NZD $35,000. It is endorsed by the NZ Chess Federation and will incorporate the NZ Championship. Entries so far include GM's Chandler, Rogers and Hecht.

Further information: http://www.queenstownchess.com

Mtel Masters

"Mobiltel" and "Kaissa Chess Management" (the agency of Silvio Danailov, manager of Veselin Topalov) have organised a tournament May 11th-22nd, 2005 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event is a part of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the biggest Bulgarian mobile operator(http://www.mobiltel.bg)

Players: Viswanathan Anand (India), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), Michael Adams (England) and Judit Polgar (Hungary).

The Category 20 event will be a double round robin with a 7 hour time control. There will be a winner of the event as there will be a playoff in the case of a tie.

One unusual rule is that draw by mutual agreement between the players is forbidden. The players won't be allowed to offer a draw or speak to their opponent. The player can claim the draw only via Arbiter in 3 cases: A) Perpetual check B) Triple repetition C) A theoretically drawn position. Only the Arbiter can confirm the result of the game. The Arbiters will be advised by Zurab Azmaiparashvili on this. Arbiters: Chief Arbiter: Joaquin Espejo (Spain),Deputy arbiters: Boris Postovski (USA),Panaqiotis Nikolopoulos (Greece).

The venue is the five-star luxury Grand Hotel Sofia (http://www.grandhotelsofia.bg) and there will be an opening ceremony there. During the rest day Grand Master Veselin Topalov will give a simul to chess fans at the garden in front of the National Theatre.

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

20th North Sea Cup

The 20th North Sea Cup takes place in Esbjerg, Denmark, 2nd-9th July 2005. 9 Swiss Open, time control: 40 moves 2 H + ½ H rest Prize fund: DKK 65000,- = 8800 Euro

The organiser is Jens Nielsen Tel: 0045 75123975 Email: Jerneif@get2net.dk. Fax: 0045 75123975 Address: Storegade 66, 6700 Esbjerg Chief Arbiter: IA Lars Lindhard Deputy Arbiter: Aksel Hansen, Kim Schmidt, Karsten Jakobsen

Official site: http://www.northseacup.dk

2nd European Amateur Chess Championship

2nd European Amateur Chess Championship will be held in Herceg Novi (Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro) from May 25th to June 3rd, 2005. Tournament is open to all players representing ECU Chess Federations, and whose on the FIDE rating list of April 1st, 2005 will have rating 2200 and lower, like as player whose don’t have FIDE rating. Total prizes fund of the Championship will be 10.000 EUR The official site of the event is http://www.scgchess.org/amateur/index.html

GM Tournament Kiev-2005

The GM tournament scheduled for May will now take place in September due to its clash with the Eurovision Song contest.

Round-robin system, 16 participants. Participants rated 2400 and above preferably IMs and MFs are invited to take part in the tournament. Entrance fees: 2400 - 2449 - 200$ 2450 - 2499 - 150$ 2500 - 100$ IGMs will be given a guarantee. Cost of accommodation - 150$ and above.

Contact organiser us: 0445750409 Eshenko, Vadim (for Russian speaking), 0445559205 Marusenko, Petr (for English speaking), e-mail pobodo@yandex.ru & escha@list.ru

Official site (Russian): http://chess-ukr.narod.ru/

Kasparov on his retirement

Kasparov's website: http://www.chesschamps.com gives a diary entry on the reasons for his retirement: http://www.chesschamps.com/diary07.html

Leko Adams Rapid Match

There will be a rapid match between Peter Leko and Michael Adams in Miskolc, in Hungary. The Main Patron of the Match will be the Mayor of the City Of Miskolc Sandor Kali. The match will take place 1st-5th June 2005, 31st arriving, 1st evening the Opening Ceremony and drawing of lots, 2-5 playing days, two games per day 25 minutes + 5 seconds per move.

About the city: http://www.miskolc.hu, or about the County Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen http://www.baz.hu.

News: Zsuzsa Veroci.

Friendship Tournament in Cartak CZE

The Friendship Tournament in Cartak CZE takes place 18th-26th June 2005. 7th international chess festival A) round-robin grandmaster tournament (10-12 players) B) round-robin master tournament (10-12 players) C) open FIDE (swiss system of 9 round) Contact: Richard Biolek, phone: (+420)581209407, e-mail: biolci@volny.cz,

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

Znojmo Open 2005

Znojmo Open 2005, the 5th International Chess Festival part of CZECH TOUR 2005/2006 Series 14th-22nd May 2005, Znojmo, Czech Republic.

Further details: http://www.czechtour.net

Correspondence Chess - Romanian Chess Federation - 80 Years

Therer will be a CC tournament "Romanian Chess Federation - 80 Years"? which will be one of the strongest CC events of the year 2005 with 4 ICCF-GMs and 4 ICCF-SIMs among the 13 participants.

Every 2-3 months there will be reports on the tournament wrote by GM Dorian Rogozenko, IM Mihai Ghinda, IM Mircea Pavlov, IM Constantin Lupulescu and FM Marius Ceteras including comments around the games in progress (this is something new in CC).

A promo pdf booklet of the event is available in Romanian chess pages www.romanianchess.org , in the section dedicated to this event http://www.romanianchess.org/rcf80 The booklet contains the introduction of the players, their best games and a short history of the Romanian correspondence chess. Short link for download the promo booklet (archived pdf file) http://www.romanianchess.org/rcf80/rcf80.zip

The tournament will be played at ICCF webserver ( http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=278 ) .

Las Vegas International Chess Festival

The Las Vegas International Chess Festival comprises of the following events:

June 9th, Polgar Sisters Tandem Simul! For the first time in over 10 years the Polgar sisters, Susan, Judit and Sofia will give a tandem simul.

June 9th, National Open Blitz Championship 7 double rounds, seeded Swiss format tournament.

June 10th, Breakfast with the Polgar Sisters

June 10th-12th, National Open Tournament $55,000 guaranteed prize fund! First place, $5000. 6 round, seeded Swiss format. 8 different sections. US Championship Qualifier.

June 13th, US Game/10 Championship $5,000 guaranteed prize fund. 7 round, seeded Swiss format.

June 13th-18th, US Senior Championship Open to US residents/citizens born before 6/13/1955. 6 round, seeded Swiss format, one round a day and this is also a US Championship Qualifier.

June 13th-18th, US "Under 50" Championship Open to US residents/citizens born on or after 6/13/1955. 6 round, seeded Swiss format, one round a day.

You can find out more information about all the above events, along with online entry at http://www.64.com

II Calvia Chess Festival

The 2nd Calvià Chess Festival offers a varied programme with tournaments for different categories covering all ages. Takes place October 21st-November 5th 2005.

http://www.calviafestival.com

VII Sants Open

The VII Sants Open in Barcelona takes place 27th August - 4th September 2005.

Further details: http://www.cotxeres.org/open2005 This tournament is part of the Catalan Grand Prix http://www.fcde.org/circuit/oberts.html

Prague Chess Holiday

The XV International Chess Holiday 2005 and VIII Professor Jaroslav Pelikán Memorial takes place in Prague. Three dates: 16th-23rd July 2005, 23rd-30th July 2005 and 30th July - 6th August 2005.

http://www.schach-prag.de/

2nd Skelmersdale Rapidplay

The 2nd Skelmersdale Rapidplay takes place Sunday 15th May 2005. 6 round Swiss.

Further details: http://www.skelmersdalechess.org.uk The organiser of the event is John Reid (tel) 01257 462822

2nd Amsterdam Chess Tournament

The 2nd Amsterdam Chess Tournament takes place 16th-24th July 2005.

Further details: http://home.hccnet.nl/w.haggenburg/act05/eng.html

9th Essent Chess Tournament

The 9th Essent Chess Tournament (Hoogeveen) takes place 21st-29th October 2005.

Last year the event was covered at: http://www.essentchess.nl

Computer Chess News

There have been recent computer events. See the Computer Chess Calendar at: http://www.playwitharena.com

Ratings Article

Jean-Claude Templeur on ratings manipulation: http://www.chessmile.com/articles.php?id=30

Final of the WCBCSC 2004-2005

Brian Stephenson of the British Chess Problem Society reports. The Final of the WCBCSC 2004-2005 took place at Oakham School on Saturday 19th February. It was a resounding success for solving GM and Ex-World Champion Jonathan Mestel, who came ahead of two other ex-world champions. The event was sponsored by Winton Capital Management: http://www.wintoncapital.com/

The full results can be found at my website. Follow this link for the final table: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/0405/finaltable.html and this for the problems used: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/0405/final_diag.html

British Chess Problem Society: http://www.bstephen.freeuk.com/

Swiss Chess Tour Davos Festival 2005

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2005" will continue in Davos with Chess Festival, the first time, besides "Open Davos", will be separate "Senior Open Davos", "Junior Open Davos" and "Summer-night open".

Davos is one of the most popular tourist places in Europe (summer and winter). Last year when all Europe caught by high tropical temperature at Davos was 20-25 degrees Celsius, always with a cupful of mountain wind. Next year, 2006, Davos will host European Individual Senior Championship.

Main event, the 4th "Sunstar Park Hotel Open", July 30th - August 7th 2005. "Sunstar Park Hotel" (4 stars) will be host festival in the new, comfortable "Congress Center". Swiss system, 9 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till the end). Valid for FIDE titles and FIDE rating. Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. From 11.- 20. places natural prizes. Special prizes for best Lady, best local player. Entry fee 140 SF, FMs and juniors 70 SF, at the door 10 SF more, GMs and IMs free. Time table: Rounds 1 16.00-22.00 July 30th; Round 2/8 14.00-20.00 July 31st- August 6th; Round 9 10.00-16.00 August 7th.

"Senior Open" July 31st - August 6th, senior 1945, 7 rounds and the games last of 5 hours (40 moves 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Valid for FIDE titles and FIDE rating. Prize is: 500/400/300/2x200/2x150 SF. Natural prizes for players with 4 points. Entry fee 70 SF, at the door 10 SF more. Time table 9.30 - 14.30 every day.

"Junior Open", born 1985 and younger. Exactly the same like "Senior Open" except, juniors lodging at "Sunstar Park Hotel" don't pay enter-fee. (Hotel pays for them).

"Summer-night Open", 7 rounds, 45 minutes for game; time-table 21.15-22.45 every day; natural prizes for all players with 4 points; enter fee 10 SF.

Venue: "Sunstar Park Hotel" (4 stars). Closing ceremony August 8th, half-hour after the last game. Unbelievable chess-rates. Info: Beochess +41+34+424-01-06 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch

9th Chess Festival Voronezh

The 9th Chess Festival Voronezh 2005 takes place 10th-21st June 2005.

Official site: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/

18th Ciudad de Leon

The 18th edition of the Ciudad de Leon chess tournament will be held in Leon, Spain June 9th-13th 2005. Players: Viswanathan Anand, Rustam Khasimdanov, Alexei Shirov and Magnus Carlsen. As usual, there will be 2 semi finals (June 10th and 11th) and a final (June 12th) and the venue will be the "Edificio de la Junta de Castilla y León" building. The sponsors are: the Ayuntamiento de León, the Junta de Castilla y León, the Diputación de León, the Universidad de León, Cajaduero and Alsa

The official web will be http://www.advancedchessleon.com and/or http://www.elajedrezdelfuturo.com

10th Stuttgart International Championship

The 10th Stuttgart International Championship takes place in Germany 5th-8th May 2005. Further details; Thomas Clemens e-mail: tc1772@nexgo.de

Further information: http://www.stuttgarter-stadtmeisterschaft.de.

Brno 2005

There are GM, IM and Open tournaments in Brno, Czech Republic 30th June - 10th July 2005.

Information: Internet - http://volny.cz/skduras E-mail - petr.pisk@centrum.cz Phone - Petr Pisk, +420- 731 465 344

FIDE Trainers Committee

IM Jovan Petronic. Chairman, FIDE Computer & Internet Chess Committee has written about the FIDE Trainers Committee. Link to his article below. In 1998 FIDE formed a powerful Committee comprising of leading chess trainers around the chess globe. Accordingly, it was named the FIDE Trainers Committee, and below, I will try to summarize the immense useful information for the readers, current major chess training activities and appeals of the Committee, etc. The number of certified FIDE Trainers has grown and they are now (in alphabetical order) - none other than: Alburt Lev (USA), Asanov Bolat (Kazahstan), Azmaiparashvili Zurab (Georgia), Boensch Uwe (Germany), Beliavsky Alexandr (Slovenia), Chernin Alexandr (Hungary), Dorfman Iossif (France), Dvoretsky Mark (Russia), Gelfer Israel (Israel), Georgadze Tamaz (Georgia), Gulko Boris (USA), Illescas Miguel (Spain), Kuzmin Alexey (Katar), Khodarkovsky Michael (USA), Leong Ignatius (Singapore), Mikhalcishin Adrian (Slovenia), Marjanovic Slavoljub (Serbia & Montenegro), Mohr Georg (Slovenia), Nikitin Alexandr (Russia), Petrosjan Arshak (Armenia), Polgar Zsuzsa (USA), Postovsky Boris (USA), Psakhis Lev (Israel), Razuvaev Yuri (Russia), Seirawan Yasser (USA), Sosonko Genna (Netherlands), Schmidt Wlodzimerz (Poland), Tukmakov Vladimir (Ukraine), Ubilava Elizbar (Georgia), Vladimirov Evgeny (Kazahstan), Zapata Alonso (Columbia) and Xie Yun (China).

Read the article: http://www.jovanpetronic.com/fidetrainerscommittee.htm

19th Pula Open

The 19th "Pula Open 2005" in Croatia takes place 19th-26th June 2005.

For further information on the event: http://www.skpula.hr. Contact Denis Vretenar by e-mail: pulaopen@globalnet.hr.

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://eiwcc2005.chisinau.md/

12th Echternach International Open

The 12th Echternach International Open takes place 25th-26th June 2005. Seniors should also note the following dates: 2nd Open (rapid chess) for young seniors (aged 50 and above) 13th-14th August 2005. 5th Open-seniors (aged 60 and above) 15th-21st August 2005.

Further info: http://www.desprenger-echternach.lu/

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

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.

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

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.

Hungarian chess tournaments May 2005 - August 2005

Contact Laszlo Nagy: firstsat@hu.inter.net

1. 7th-19th of May, FS GM-IM-FM closed, Budapest, org.: NL

2. 20th-28th of May, ZALAKAROS Open, 9 rounds Swiss, (250 km West from Budapest), org: IM Horvath, Tamas, phone: +(36)-20-9777003

3. 21st-31st of May, ELEKES Memorial, GM-IM closed, Budapest, org.IM Zsinka, phone: +(36)-20-921-91-97

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

5. 18th-26th of June, BALATONLELLE Open + GM-IM closed, 120 km West from Budapest, organizer: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@axelero.hu

6. 2nd-14th of July, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest, org. NL.

7. 23rd- 31st of July, Agria Open /EGER, 100 km North-East from Budapest/, organizer: Rauch Ferenc, e-mail: rauch@freemail.hu

8. 6th-18th of August, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest org.:NL

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

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

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