THE WEEK IN CHESS 683 10th December 2007 by Mark Crowther

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Contact The Week in Chess Mark Crowther E-Mail mdcrowth@btinternet.com Mobile 07971 920016 http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html Contents 1) Introduction 2) World Chess Cup 3) Bundesliga 4) 67th Italian Championship 5) Chigorin Memorial 6) VI Bali International Chess Festival 7) Parsvnath Commonwealth Championship 8) First Saturday December 9) Eupen IM Norm Tournament 10) Austrian League 11) Fecerj International 12) Rijeka Open 13) Festival Internacional de Xadrez Americana 14) World Youth Championships Story 15) Forthcoming Events and Links

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Praful Zaveri, Miklos Orso, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Georgios Souleidis, Doug Bake, Misha Savinov, Peter Doggers, Franz Jittenmeier, Mauro Petrolo, Eugenio Davolio, Jeroen van den Berg, Vojko Mencinger, Stewart Reuben and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The World Chess Cup is approaching its very final stages. Already Gata Kamsky has reached the final eliminating Magnus Carlsen in the first semi-final. Sergey Karjakin has already achieved something that no-one else has in this event, take Alexei Shirov to a playoff.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) World Chess Cup

The World Chess Cup takes place in Khanty-Mansiysk. Arrival 22nd, Opening Ceremony 23rd and Round 1 24th November, departure after 7 knockout rounds on 18th December 2007.

Time control. Standard 90m+30s/move to move 40 then 30m+30s/move to the end of the game. Rapids 25m+10s/move, Blitz 5m+10s/move. Final sudden death game White 6 mins, Black 5 mins, without any addition. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces is declared as winner. [FIDE regulations]

Official site: http://www.ugra-chess.ru/eng/main_e.htm [and link to the handy pairings tree is at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1520] Further coverage: http://www.chessdom.com/world-chess-cup-2007/ and http://www.chessvibes.com/

3) Bundesliga

The German Bundesliga for 2007-8 takes place 19th October 2007 - 20th April 2008. The first games were on Friday 19th October as part of the special round 7 - fixtures from this round are played before various weekend programs. Most of Rounds 3 and 4 took place 24th-25th November 2007 but the fixtures at Baden Baden take place on 15th-16th December. Rounds 5 and 6 took place 8th-9th December 2007 but there was also an extensive round 7 program on the Friday.

Official site: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/ further coverage: http://www.schach.com and also at the national Federation site at: http://www.schachbund.de/SchachBL/index.php and statistics also at: http://www.godesbergersk.de/bundesliga-statistik/

4) 67th Italian Championship

The 67th Italian Championship took place 23rd November - 4th December 2007. The tournament was a 12 players in a round robin at the 4 star Park Hotel San Michele in Martina Franca. Fabiano Caruana won by a massive 3 point margin on the way to taking the title with 9.5/11.

Official site: http://www.torneionline.com/cia2007/

5) Chigorin Memorial

The Chigorin Memorial took place in St Petersburg 29th November - 9th December 2007. Sergei Movsesian edged out Alexei Gubajdullin on tie-break after both finished on 6.5/9.

Official site: http://www.totalchess.spb.ru/kalend/2007/chigorin.html

6) VI Bali International Chess Festival

The VI Bali International Chess Festival took place 30th November 9th December 2007. The main tournament of stars rapid was won by Vladimir Malaniuk. The final days games are missing from their pgn file but are available in a viewer. Viswanathan Anand gave a simul.

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

7) Parsvnath Commonwealth Championship

The Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship took place 2nd-10th December 2007 in the Sirifort Sports Complex, Khel, New Delhi, India. RB Ramesh edged out SS Ganguly on tie-break after both finished on 8.5/10. My thanks to Praful Zaveri for the games, the organisers put nearly 1000 games in the file.

Grandmaster Ramesh is the Commonwealth Chess Champion report by Praful Zaveri

In a thrilling 10th and final round of Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship 2007, which concluded here at Sirifort Sports Auditorium, Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh of India was crowned as the new Commonwealth Chess Champion with a score of 8½.

The former British Open Champion who was in the lead at the half-way stage but lost his way after that, recovered the last ground with a fantastic rear-guard charge to score 3-consecutive wins in the last 3-rounds to become richer by Rs.1,37,500/- In the final round he defeated the overnight joint leader Vikramaditya Kamble with a flawless display of high quality chess.

Top-seeded GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly, also from India, scored a fine win against the joint overnight leader IM Rathnakaran to finish with an identical score of 8½ but had to content with the 2nd place due to an inferior tie-break. He however; had the consolation of getting the same prize money of Rs. 1,37,500/-

Abhijeet Gupta, who finished his Grandmaster title requirement to become India’s 17th Grandmaster, clinched the Bronze Medal with a fantastic performance of 8 points. He bagged the cash prize of Rs.75000/- Abhijeet also won Gold in the Under-20 category.

IM Harika Dronavalli retained her women’s title, which she had won at the last edition of this event at Mumbai. She finished 07th overall in this very strong combined event, which had 13 Men’s Grandmasters. By virtue of this performance she got the cash prize of Rs.40000/-. WGM of Tania Sachdev finished behind Harika while WGM Nisha Mohota had to be content with the 3rd place.

The Indians also dominated the various age-groups categories as their players won 44 of the 45 medals available. GM Gawain Jones of England prevented the clean sweep by winning a Bronze in the Under-20 category.

The Indian players who won the Gold in various categories are; Meghna C.H. (Under-8), Vaibhav Suri (Boys U-10), Sahaj Grover (Boys U-12), Pratyusha Bodda (Girls U-12), Priyadarshan K (Boys U-14), Padmini Rout (Girls U-14), GM Parimarjan Negi (Boys U-16), Pon N Krithika (Girls U-16), P. Karthikeyan (Boys U-18), WIM Kiran Mohanty (Girls U-18), GM Abhijeet Gupta (Boys U-20) and IM S.C. Sahu (Seniors).

Two more Indian players, Pon Krithika and Preethi also earned their 1st Women’s International Master norm.

The prize distribution ceremony was presided over by Shri Pradeep Jain, Chairman of Parsvnath Developers Ltd., - the Sponsors of this event. Shri Jain said that "Parsvnath is always very supportive of Chess which is pegged as a 'Thinkers Game'. Our association with Chess championship is to promote the game and take it to the masses. In last six years of our contribution in the game, we have experienced the growing interest of amateurs and eminent players in chess championships. The Parsvnath Commonwealth Championship has emerged as a platform to represent India as the key participant on the global arena." Mr Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Parsvnath Developers Ltd said on the occasion.

The special guest for this event was Mr.Ignatius Leong, General Secretary of FIDE (World Chess Federation).

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

8) First Saturday December

The First Saturday tournaments for December takes place 1st-11th December 2007.

Official site: http://www.firstsaturday.hu/

9) Eupen IM Norm Tournament

The Eupen IM Norm Tournament taks place 7th-15th December 2007 and is organised by the Chess Federation of German-speaking Belgium, with the support of Belgian Federal chess. The time rate is 40 move in 100 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. For the rest of the game 50 minutes plus 30 seconds per move.

Official site: http://www.chess-international.de/ticker/0belgien_normenturnier/index.html

10) Austrian League

The Austrian Bundesliga got underway 30th November 1st-2nd December 2007 in Baden with the first three rounds. News: Marko Siil.

Details: http://www.chess.at/staatsligen/stl_a.htm and http://www.chess-results.com/tnr6376.aspx?lan=0

11) Fecerj International

The Fecerj International took place in Rio de Janeiro 25th November - 3rd December 2007. Ruben Felgaer won the event with a 2700 performance. However the last three rounds are missing and I couldn't find a final table.

Official site: http://www.fexerj.com.br/index2.htm

12) Rijeka Open

The "Mediterranean 2013" Open chess tournament took place in Rijeka Croatia, 25th November - 2nd December 2007. Zoran Jovanovic won the event on tie-break with 7/9 ahead of Aleksandar Kovacevic and Boris Chatalbashev. Round 8 games now available.

Official site: http://www.mediteran2013.com/en/default.asp

13) Festival Internacional de Xadrez Americana

The Festival Internacional de Xadrez Americana (Brasil) takes place 4th-11th December, 2007

Official site: http://www.fpx.com.br/

14) World Youth Championships Story

http://www.chessvibes.com/ have a story of monumental misjudgement by the appeals committee of Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Florencio Campomanes and Georgios Makropoulos from the World Youth Championships getting a 14 year old boy out of bed at 23:00 to continue a game, something that should NEVER have crossed anyone's mind to do. To be fair the trainers of both the players involved should have flat out refused to contemplate such nonesense either. Breakfast was the time to deal with any appeals. People would simply have had to wait for the corrected pairings.

Story: http://www.chessvibes.com/?p=1434 - http://schaakfabriek.be

15) Forthcoming Events and Links

83rd Hastings International Congress

The Celebration 83rd Hastings International Congress takes place 28 December 2007 to 6 January 2008. This includes a 10 round Master Swiss, and an open FIDE Rated tournament 5-6 January. Celebrating what? The lives of the many people who have died within the past four years, who have so enriched the chess scene with their work.

Full details http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/ Contact: Con Power conpowr@aol.com

Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2008

The 6th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival will be held from 22nd-31st January 2008 at the Caleta Hotel, one of Gibraltar's best hotels. In previous years players of the quality of Alexei Shirov, Michael Adams and Nigel Short have played in the Masters section. Usually the Masters field includes at least 30 grandmasters. In 2008 the first prize in the Masters has gone up to £12,000 and the tournament is so strong at the top that it even offers a £2,000 prize for the best score by a player rated under 2600 (we think that might be unique worldwide) as well as the same amount for other rating categories down to sub-2200. There is also big money to be won in the Under 2250 (£1,500 first prize) and Under 1850 (£1,000 first prize) events. Even the relatively light-hearted evening events (which cost nothing to enter) have a combined prize fund of £1,200.

Full details and entry form: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008

The field for the 2008 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee has been announced at http://www.coruschess.com Five of the top 6 in the world are playing including the new World Champion Anand and new World number 2 Ivanchuk. Also Kramnik and Gelfand who finished 2nd in Mexico City. The full field for all tournaments is now available.

The Corus Chess Tournament 2008 will be held from 11-27 January 2008 in Wijk aan Zee. The tournament venue is the De Moriaan Community Centre

25th Bled Chess Festival

The 25th Chess Festival BLED takes place 23rd February - 2nd March 2008 (the main event finishes 1st March which allows participation in other events around that time).

Details: http://www.sah-zveza.si/bled/2008/

2nd ACP World Rapid Cup

The PIVDENNY Bank carries out the 2nd ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa, Ukraine in January 4-7, 2008. The prize fund of the tournament is 136,000$. 16 players are participating. Dmitry Jakovenko, Vassily Ivanchuk, Peter Leko, Teimour Radjabov, Evgeny Najer, Sergey Karjakin, Peter Svidler, Alexander Shabalov, Pavel Eljanov, Ernesto Inarkiev, Boris Savchenko, Alexei Shirov, and Boris Gelfand have qualified via the ACP Tour, while Anatoly Karpov, Judit Polgar, and Yuri Drozdovskij received wild cards from the organizers. The standings for the ACP Tour 2006/07 are available at http://chess-players.org/eng/tour/tour_2006/standings.html. The official site of the event: http://worldcup.pivdenny.com/ru/

74th Brazilian Championship

The 74th Brazilian Championship takes place in Rio de Janeiro 14th-22nd December, 2007. 12 players Prize Fund US$ 6.000,00.

Players: GM Giovanni Vescovi, GM Rafael Leitão, GM Gilberto Milos, IM Herman Claudius, IM Krikor Mekhitarian, IM André Diamant, IM Everaldo Matsuura, IM Diego Di Berardino, FM Roberto Molina, FM Jorge Bittencourt (new IM), Roberto Calheiros and Yago Santiago

Official site: http://www.fexerj.com.br/index2.htm

Coulsdon Christmas International

The Coulsdon Christmas International takes place 21st-22nd December 2007. They have taken the ambitious step of deciding to run a 2nd IM norm International plus a 2nd Challengers event alongside the first ones. They are still looking for FMs who want to play. In addition the organiser may also be short of an IM.

Scott Freeman at chess@ccfworld.com would like to hear from anyone who may be interested in taking part in these events.

Details: http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/Results/2007-12-21_International.htm

Slovenian Women's Tour

The Slovenian Women's Tour took place 29th November - 8th December 2007.

Official site: http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0711/si07lgdw/

Russian Championship Superfinals

The Russian Championship Superfinals take place 17th-30th December 2007.

According to Chess Today the players are: Men: Alekseev, Amonatov, Vitjugov, Grischuk, Dreev, Inarkiev, Morozevich, Rychagov, Svidler, Timofeev, Tomashevsky, Jakovenko. Women: Galliamova, Gunina, Matveeva, Kovalevskaya, Korbut, N.Kosintseva, T.Kosintseva, Kosteniuk, Ovod, Stepovaya, Tairova, Shadrina.

50th Reggio Emilia

The 50th "Torneo di Capodanno" in Reggio Emilia takes place December 29th 2007 - January 6th 2008. The tournament was created by Enrico Paoli, who organized it for many many years. The tournament will be played, as usual, in Hotel Astoria Mercure, with rounds starting at 2.30 pm (last round at 10.30 am). XVI FIDE cathegory, elo 2635 chief director Mrs Franca Dapiran. Main sponsors UNIPOL spa, STUDIO ALFA spa, VANETON srl, and ORLANDINI srl. Official commentator GM Croato Miso Cebalo.

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

British Rapidplay

The British Rapidplay Chess Championships took place 17th-18th November 2007 at the North Bridge Leisure Centre, Halifax. 1st - G.M.Peter Wells 9.5 /11 2nd- G.M.Mark Hebden 9 /11 3rd- G.M.Stewart Haslinger 8.5/11. I will try and round the games and fuller results up next week.

The event British Rapidplay Chess 2008 takes place November 29th-30th 2008.

Official site: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/

John Watson's Book Show

Regular TWIC contributer John Watson has a book radio show on chess.fm on Tuesdays. This week Larry Christiansen appears. You can catch the show by signing up for ICC trial membership. Link: http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/

XX Carlos Torre Memorial

The XX Carlos Torre Memorial takes place in Mérida, Yucatán, México 15th-23rd December 2007.

Details: http://www.idey.gob.mx/ct2008.htm

13th Euro Chessweek in Leutersdorf

The 13th Euro Chessweek in Leutersdorf (Germany) takes place 3rd-7th February 2008.

http://www.scoberland.de/

Dutch Team Championship

The Dutch Team Championships take place 15th September 2007 - 17th May 2008.

Links: Dutch Chess Federation: http://www.schaakbond.nl/ - Meesterklasse Games side bar at: http://www.schakers.info/

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008

The field for the 2008 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee has been announced at http://www.coruschess.com Five of the top 6 in the world are playing including the new World Champion Anand and new World number 2 Ivanchuk. Also Kramnik and Gelfand who finished 2nd in Mexico City.

The Corus Chess Tournament 2008 will be held from 11-27 January 2008 in Wijk aan Zee. The tournament venue is the De Moriaan Community Centre

Anand Interview at Internet Chess Club

There is an interview with Viswanathan Anand at the Internet Chess Club on the occasion of the Indian festival "Diwali". Internet Chess Club's Chess.fm India presents an exclusive Interview with World Champion Viswanathan Anand. As special tribute, ICC http://www.chessclub.com has made an exclusive coverage of Anand's world championship triumph in Mexico followed by a historic reception in his hometown of Chennai. The Diwali special treat is available at http://webcast.chessclub.com/India/Macauley/Anand_interview.html & http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/India.asx

XXI Benidorm Open

The XXI Open Internacional de Ajedrez Villa de Benidorm 2008 Benidorm organised an international tournament 1977 till 1995 now it has returned second year. The event takes place 25nd April - 4st May 2008 (10 rounds). 35.000 Euros in prizes. Information: Mr. Alfonso Vilches Tel: +34 695 91 56 78. E-mail: open@chessbenidorm.com

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

Chess Classic Mainz 2008

The schedule for Chess Classic Mainz 2008 is now available. The event takes place 21st-28th July 2008 in Mainz/Germany.

In addition there is a Chess Classic Calendar for the next year, which will be available in the first week of December. It is a big format (420 x 594 mm) and shows the stars and the biggest moments of the 14 years tournament history. The copies are limited to 200 (39,- Euro plus delivery) plus 64 with an autograph of World Champion Vishy Anand (48,- Euro plus delivery). Contact for order: juergen.wienecke@chesstigers.de

Further details: http://www.chesstigers.de

16th Donau Open

The 16th Donau Open takes place 26th-31st December 2007

Further details: http://www.aschach.at/schach/

Icelandic Rapid Championships

The Icelandic Rapid Championships took place 18th-20th October 2007. Bragi and Björn Þorfinnsson will meet in the final in December which be on TV in Iceland.

Official site: http://www.skaksamband.is/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5661&Itemid=387

Games Festival Halkidiki 2008

Games Festival is a mass event organized for the third year in Halkidiki, Greece 28th April - 6th May 2008. The festival includes series of tournaments & exhibitions in prestigious sports like, chess, billiards, bridge, darts, streetbasketball and popular table games like scrabble, strategic games, pc games etc.

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

28th Bethune Open

The Bethune chess club is preparing his 28th International Open, Hall Olof Palme, Commercial centre La Rotonde, Bethune, France (Pas-de-Calais) from December 26 to 30. 9 rounds The tournament is divided in 2 tournaments: - Tournament A for players whose Elo rating is above or equal to 1600, 1st price : 1500 euros - Tournament B for players strictly below 1900, 1st price : 400 euros, Fischer pace 1h30+30s KO for each game in both tournaments. At least 6000 euros of prices, prices for Elo categories in both tournaments. Inscription fee : 40 euros (adults), 20 euros (youngsters under 20), free for IM, GM and FIDE Masters. Conditions for IM and GM and special conditions for GM>2600, contact us at open@bethunechess.com

For more information visit: http://www.bethunechess.com

Harmonie Chess Tournament

The Harmonie Chess Tournament takes place 21st-30th December 2007.

Official site: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2007/2007eng.html

XVII Pampona International

The XVII Pampona International takes place 21st-29th December 2007.

Details: http://www.chesspamplona.com/

Czech Chess Christmas 2007

The Czech Chess Christmas 2007 tournament takes place in Litomysl (CZE) 26th December 2007 - 1st January 2008

9th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK = 700 EUR), special conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme. Contact: Proclient s.r.o., Jaroslav Fuksik, Svedska 3, 772 00 Olomouc, mobile: +420 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz,

Further details: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2007/

Hungarian Chess Tournaments October 2007 - March 2008

1. 6th-19th of October 2007 FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM-IM-FM, GM-IM-FM round robins (BERGER), 9 -13 games, GM-IM norm possibilities in Budapest, venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Falk Miksa Str.10. 2nd floor. Organisation: Nagy Laszlo, FIDE International Chess Organizer /NL/, E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net Website: http://www.firstsaturday.hu Other website: http://home.hu.inter.net/~firstsat Phone-fax: +(361)-2632859, cellphone: +(36)-30-230-1914 /From 12:00 a.m. until midnight - Central European Time = GMT+1/

2. 24th-31st of October, HÉVÍZ Open - 200 km West from Budapest, 9 rounds Swiss, org: IM Rigo, http://www.lellechess.tar.hu

3. 22nd-30th of October KECSKEMET, IM Berger tmt, org: Dr.Erdelyi, Tamas, e-mail: postmaster@caissa.t-online.hu

Website: http://www.caissachessbooks.hu Usually also in the second half of the month IM tmt-s in Kecskemet. 100 km South-East from Budapest.

4. 3rd-15th of November, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest, org.:NL

5. 15th-23rd of November, XXXI. TENKES CUP, 9 round Swiss Open, Harkany, 300 km South-West from Budapest, org: Mr.FULOP, Csaba, e-mail: fulopcsa@invitel.hu

Website:http://www.baranyasakk.hu/index.php?cat=naptar&id=3&age=0&vid=15⟨=hu&det=12

6. 1st-13th of December, FS GM-IM-FM, Budapest, org.NL

7. 15th-21st of Dec, Kecskemet, IM tmt

8. 27th Dec- 5th Jan Kecskemet IM tmt,

9. 11th-19th of January 2008 Open in Budapest, Season opening, org: IA FAZEKAS, György, e-mail: srcolonel@freemail.hu

10. 19th-28th of January - IM tmt, Kecskemet

11. 2nd-15th of February - First Saturday Budapest,

12. 16th-25th of February - IM tmt Kecskemet,

13. 1st-13rd of March - First Saturday Budapest,

14. 21st-29th of March - Budapest Spring Festival Open, org.: Nagy Laszlo

Halkidiki Chess Festival 2008

The Halkidiki Chess Festival takes place in Kallithea, 28th April - 5 May 2008.

The Organizing Committee of the Halkdiki Chess Festival 2008. Tel/fax: +30 2310 865778 - e-mail: teotsorb@otenet.gr V.Olgas 285, Thessaloniki, Greece.

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

4th Singapore International Chess Convention

4th Singapore International Chess Convention, 16 - 22 December 2007: - Singapore Masters 2007 - Seminar for Coaches - Seminar for Arbiters The offical website of the organiser is the website of the Singapore Chess Federation:

Official site: http://www.singaporechess.org.sg

Computer Chess Events

On Saturday 29th September will take place the 1st AICA Man-Machine Match, Accademia Due Torri, Bologna, Italy. Delfi, current italian computer champion, will play FM Nicolò Ronchetti, who has just scored his third IM norm. Time control: Ronchetti 2 hours, Delfi 10 seconds per move. The game will be relayed on PlayChess, from 10:00 (CET). Site: http://e4e6.com/g6. On the same place, on 29 and 30 September will take place the 2nd Chess Computer Cup, also valid as 7th italian computer chess championship (CIPS 2007). 7 rounds, around 20 players. First two boards will be relayed on PlayChess, from 13:00 (CET).

Moscow Open 2008

The 4th International Chess Festival Moscow Open 2008 takes place 2nd-10th February 2008. Venue - the Russian State Social University. Minimal gartanted prize fund of full festival is RUR 5 000 000 (nearly EUR 150 000 or USD 200 000, two times more than in 2007!) There are Open “A” (for all, 1st prize RUR 500 000 - also possible to play 6- or 7 days like last two years), Open “B” (<2300, 1st RUR 150 000), Women Open (new! 1st prize RUR 150 000), open tournaments for school chidrens (qualify for World School Ch). Conditions for GMs 2600+ and best rated women GMs will be given probably, for GMs 2550+ it’s still unclear. More details in the middle of September. Some days later (13-22.2) “Aeroflot Open 2008” will start. As preparation to the World Mind Games in China – 2008 there are probably "Moscow Open Mind Games 2008" - Chess 960, Bridge, Go, Shogi, Damen tournaments etc. Some days later (13-22.2) “Aeroflot Open 2008” will start.

Contact: wlct06@gmail.com

Further details: http://www.chess-events.org

Etienne Bacrot's Website

Etienne Bacrot has a website at: http://www.chess22.fr/ giving news about himself, some comments on recent events including the World Championships in Mexico City etc. Worth check out.

1st South Bohemia Open

1st SOUTH BOHEMIA OPEN 2007 International Chess Festival which takes place in one of the most beautiful Czech towns – Cesky Krumlov on 13.-20.10. 2007. Open FIDE, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival.

Details: http://www.czechtour.net/south-bohemia-open/

32nd Kings Head Rapidplay

The 32nd Kings Head Rapidplay takes place Saturday 5 April 2008 start time 11:00, details below: 6-round Swiss rapidplay (30 minutes), prize fund £700

The Porchester Hall Porchester Road Bayswater London W2 5HS

Contact: Colin Mackenzie 9 Allan Way Acton London W3 0PW 020 8992 1849 colin.mackenzie@atosorigin.com

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

Baltic Sea Cup

The Baltic Sea Cup (Bornholm, Denmark) took place July 30th - August 5th 2007. Reynaldo Vera and Allan Stig Rasmussen finished on 7.5/9. A games file is on its way from the organisers.

Details: http://www.bornholms-skakklub.dk/balticseacup07/

 
Baltic Sea Cup July 30th - August 5th 2007
Standing
--------

No        Name                              Fed ELO  Nat  # Points
  1 - 2   GM Reynaldo Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo     2479          7.5
  1 - 2   FM Allan Stig Rasmussen               2450 2451     7.5
  3 - 5   GM Igor Khenkin                       2602          7
  3 - 5   GM Eduardas Rozentalis                2551          7
  3 - 5   GM Jonny Hector                       2550 2550     7
  6 - 9   GM Vadim Malakhatko                   2596          6.5
  6 - 9   GM Sune Berg Hansen                   2574 2580     6.5
  6 - 9   GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson              2568 2568     6.5
  6 - 9   IM Thorbjørn Bromann                  2413 2414     6.5
 10 - 20  GM Boris Savchenko                    2577          6
 10 - 20  GM Sergey Kasparov                    2500          6
 10 - 20  IM Kim Pilgaard                       2448 2453     6
 10 - 20  IM Jens Kristiansen                   2436 2439     6
 10 - 20  IM Jacob Vang Glud                    2435 2434     6
 10 - 20  GM Carsten Høi                        2422 2427     6
 10 - 20  Esben Lund                            2396 2408     6
 10 - 20  Ashwin Jayaram                        2399          6
 10 - 20  FM Jorge Cabrera Trujillo             2324          6
 10 - 20  FM Jake Kleiman                       2312          6
 10 - 20  Andreas Skytte Hagen                  2256 2278     6
 21 - 32  GM Alexander Stripunsky               2589          5.5
 21 - 32  Martin Matthiesen                     2363 2353     5.5
 21 - 32  WGM Anna Zozulia                      2332          5.5
 21 - 32  IM Bjørn Brinck-Claussen              2324 2300     5.5
 21 - 32  FM Jacob Carstensen                   2304 2293     5.5
 21 - 32  FM Tobias Hirneise                    2293          5.5
 21 - 32  FM Teddy Coleman                      2239          5.5
 21 - 32  FM Ove Weiss Hartvig                  2232 2210     5.5
 21 - 32  Andreas Wiwe                          2187 2152     5.5  
 21 - 32  Parker Zhao                           2180          5.5  
 21 - 32  Morten Kock Møller                    2178 2141     5.5  
 21 - 32  CM Andreas Arnold Schmitz             2081          5.5  
118 players

10th European Senior Team-Championship

10th European Senior Team-Championship take place 11th-19th February 2008 in RAMADA-Hotel in Dresden.

Further info contact: ZMD Schachfestival Dresden e.V., Oskar-Mai-Straße 6, D-01159 Dresden, Fon +49 (0)351 416 16 29, Fax: +49 (0)351 416 16 39 Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, Hepkestraße 131, D-01277 Dresden, Fon +49 (0)351 251 34 20, E-Mail: gerhard.schmidt@schachfestival.de

XXXVII Rilton Cup

XXXVII Rilton Cup takes place 27th December 2007 – 5th January 2008 in Mälarsalen. Münchenbryggeriet, Torkel Knutssonsgatan 2, Stockholm, SWEDEN Stockholm Chess Federation welcomes all chess players to the 37th Rilton Cup. This year’s tournament, with a prize fund of more than SEK 200 000 (about 22 000 euro) will be played in three groups: Rilton Cup, Rilton Elo and Rilton Open (Rilton Open is only open for Nordic players with a rating lower than national 1800). Rilton Cup and Rilton ELO is Elo registrated Rilton Cup and Rilton Elo plays 9 rounds Fide Swiss. The first round starts at 13:00 on the 27th of December and the following rounds start at 11:00 every day until the 5th of January. The 1st of January (New Year’s Day) is free. Send your entry by mail, fax or e-mail, not later than the 17th of December to Stockholm Chess Federation, attention “Rilton Cup”. Mobile telephones or computers are not allowed in the playing hall. Rilton Cup Open for players with an Elo rating or national rating >= 2200. Reflection time: 40 moves in two hours, 20 moves in one hour and 30 minutes for the rest of the game.

Entry fees: 800 SEK, 400 for FM, 300 for players born 1987 or later. IGM and IM free. Prizes (SEK): 1st 20 000 2nd 16 000 3rd 12 000 4th 10 000 5th 8 000 6th 6 000 7:th 5 000 8th 4 000 9th 3 000 10th 3 000 10th 3 000 Rating prizes: 3 000, 2 000 and 1000 (not for GMs and IMs). Prizemoney is not divided. Rilton Elo Open for all players with a n Elo rating or national rating up to 2199. Reflection time: 40 moves in two hours, then one hour for the rest of the game. Entry fees: 600 SEK, 400 for FM, 300 for players born 1987 or later. Prizes (SEK): 1st 8 000 2nd 5000 3rd 3 000 4th 2 000 5th 1 000 6th 500 Rating prizes: 3 000, 2 000 and 1000 Prizemoney is not divided.

Stockholms Schackförbund Hornsgatan 82 118 21 Stockholm Tel: 08-669 36 54 Mobil: 073-613 19 73 Fax: 08-669 64 44 Spellokal: 08-668 21 35 (under turneringen) E-mail:stockholms.schackfrbund@telia.com

Further details: http://www.stockholmschack.nu

Alex Brunetti's TotoScacco Site

Alex Brunetti's TotoScacco Site allows predictions for current chess tournaments. http://e4e6.com/toto

olimpbase

Its always worth mentioning Wojciech Bartelski's excellent http://www.olimpbase.org which covers not only Olympiads but all team chess.

New events: European U18 Team Championship has recently finished in Subotica, Serbia. http://www.olimpbase.org/2007eb/2007in.html (boys' results) and http://www.olimpbase.org/2007eg/2007in.html (girls' results)

The 9th All-Africa Games took place in Algiers, Algeria 11th-23rd July There were 13 men's team in a four board round robin (rate of play was Active Chess 25+10). No games available. See details: http://www.olimpbase.org/2007f/2007in.html

Sydney International Open 2008

The 2008 Sydney International Open takes place at Parramatta Town Hall 25th-29th March 2008. Free accommodation and modest conditions are offered to GMs. All enquiries to the Tournament Organiser, FM Brian Jones, at info@chessaustralia.com.au

Details: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/

GM Amir Bagheri's Website and Match

GM Amir Bagheri's Website: http://amirbagheri.freehostia.com/

Amir Bagheri (Iran, rating 2481) will play a 2-game match vs. members of the ICCF Forum. The games (one with White and one with Black pieces) will be played on the ICCF Webserver and are intended to start on June 20th 2007, with the reflection time rule "10 moves/100 days". http://www.iccf-webchess.com

Maxim Dlugy

Former World Junior Champion GM Maxim Dlugy now has a website. http://www.dlugy.com/

MyChess correspondence Chess Server

There is a correspondence chess server designed by Matthias Karkowski at: http://www.mychess.de/

Details: http://www.ajedrezbali.com/

British Chess Problem Society

Brian Stephenson of the British Chess Problem Society has a new website: http://www.bstephen.me.uk/. The site has much info on the Winton Capital British Chess Solving Championship.

Endgame Studies

Alexander Rueb Vereniging voor SchaakEindspelStudie. Endgame studies: http://www.arves.org/

ICC and FICS client for mobile phones

Mats Luthman has written a program that connects to ICC and FICS, compatable with many modern mobile phones. I've been looking for something like this for a while for watching live tournaments if I'm out and about. Its a nice free solution, you can also play but I haven't tried that.

Website: http://www.luthman.nu/Mobi/Mobi.html

Alushta Diary 2007

GM Norm events: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, IM Norm: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, Rating tournament: 4.06 - 12.06, 22.06 - 27.06, Open tournament (under 16 years) First prize - 200$ 3.06 - 11.06, 13.06 - 21.06, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament First prize - 1000$ First prize (woman) - 500$ 28.06 - 6.07, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Blitz tournament 7.07, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament (rapid chess) 8.07 - 9.07, Alushta Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 21.06 - 27.06

Individual and group studying Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32, +380505828911 (for Russian speaking) + 44 7717890632 (for English speaking, call after 18.00) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

Pierre Barthélémy Chess Blog

Pierre Barthélémy Chess Blog in French: http://echecs-info.blogspot.com

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