The Week in Chess 685

THE WEEK IN CHESS 685 24th December 2007 by Mark Crowther

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Games Section
Russian Championship Superfinals	72 games
XX Carlos Torre Memorial	169 games
XVII Pampona International	34 games
Groningen Chess Festival	75 games
3rd Bosnian Championship	35 games
Open Championship of Croatia	225 games
Warsaw - Buenos Aires - Kolkata Match	24 games
74th Brazilian Championship	42 games
South African Championship	66 games
4th Singapore International Convention	190 games
Central Serbian Championships	228 games
Podgorica International	45 games
Hafnarfjordur Championship	43 games
Russia vs ROW Correspondence	128 games
1380 games

1) Introduction

My thanks to Jesper Norgaard Welen, Nick Barnett, Gary Suffield, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Sinisa Joksic, Adolivio Capece, Bartlomiej Macieja, Rolf Behovits, Carsten Hensel, Goran Urosevic, Snorri G. Bergsson and everyone else who helped with the issue.

There really can be no better news that Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik have signed up to play a match for the World Chess Championship in Bonn, Germany in October. For Anand the chance to retain his title against Kramnik will leave little or nothing left for him to prove. Similarly for Kramnik who has already beaten Kasparov and Topalov only needs Anand to complete the set of the dominant forces of his era. I certainly won't have any trouble selling this as the most important match for many a long year and I think we can be very hopeful that it may garner the kind of mass media coverage World Championship Matches of old used to generate, particularly as its being held somewhere that isn't dangerous to travel to. Also its highly unlikely to be scarred by the kind of off the board rubbish that all but ruined the Kramnik - Topalov match last year, although I've no doubt there will be tensions because they almost invariably happen. I wish the match was longer than 12 games but you can't have everything in life. Have a great Christmas, there can't be many better presents.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Anand - Kramnik World Championship Match

A Press release from UEP Promotions announces that Viswanathan Anand will defend his World title against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany October 11th–30th October, 2008. Main sponsor Evonik Industries AG and prizemoney 1,5 Million Euro. The match will be 12 games followed by playoffs if required. The contract was signed by both players 18th December 2007.

Website: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

3) Russian Championship Superfinals

The Russian Championship Superfinals take place 17th-30th December 2007. Alexander Morozevich leads with 4.5/6 half a point clear of Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Farrukh Amonatov and Evgeny Tomashevsky are a further half point behind.

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

60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (RUS), 18-30 xii 2007 cat. XVII (2656)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2755	*	.	.	.	1	1	.	0	.	1	½	1	4½	2817
2.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2715	.	*	.	1	1	.	½	½	½	.	½	.	4	2769
3.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2732	.	.	*	½	.	0	1	1	½	.	½	.	3½	2682
4.	Amonatov, Farrukh	g	TJK	2637	.	0	½	*	.	½	1	.	½	.	.	1	3½	2705
5.	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2646	0	0	.	.	*	½	.	1	.	1	.	1	3½	2700
6.	Rychagov, Andrey	g	RUS	2528	0	.	1	½	½	*	½	.	.	½	.	.	3	2668
7.	Dreev, Alexey	g	RUS	2607	.	½	0	0	.	½	*	.	1	.	1	.	3	2666
8.	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2594	1	½	0	.	0	.	.	*	.	½	.	1	3	2686
9.	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2674	.	½	½	½	.	.	0	.	*	½	.	½	2½	2603
10.	Sakaev, Konstantin	g	RUS	2634	0	.	.	.	0	½	.	½	½	*	1	.	2½	2594
11.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2710	½	½	½	.	.	.	0	.	.	0	*	1	2½	2623
12.	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2637	0	.	.	0	0	.	.	0	½	.	0	*	½	2268

60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (RUS), 18-30 xii 2007 cat. XVII (2656)
Round 1 (December 18, 2007)
Svidler, Peter	- Rychagov, Andrey	0-1	51	C13	French Classical
Amonatov, Farrukh	- Timofeev, Artyom	1-0	32	B89	Sicilian Sozin Attack
Dreev, Alexey	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	22	E39	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Vitiugov, Nikita	- Tomashevsky, Evgeny	0-1	43	E20	Nimzo Indian
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Sakaev, Konstantin	½-½	40	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Morozevich, Alexander	½-½	69	C11	French Defence
Round 2 (December 19, 2007)
Morozevich, Alexander	- Vitiugov, Nikita	0-1	71	B48	Sicilian Paulsen
Grischuk, Alexander	- Amonatov, Farrukh	1-0	55	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Svidler, Peter	- Dreev, Alexey	1-0	36	B63	Sicilian Rauzer
Rychagov, Andrey	- Tomashevsky, Evgeny	½-½	52	E15	Queens Indian
Sakaev, Konstantin	- Jakovenko, Dmitry	1-0	41	E18	Queens Indian
Timofeev, Artyom	- Inarkiev, Ernesto	½-½	64	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Round 3 (December 20, 2007)
Amonatov, Farrukh	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	25	B46	Sicilian Paulsen
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	- Morozevich, Alexander	0-1	44	A09	Reti Opening
Dreev, Alexey	- Rychagov, Andrey	½-½	34	D36	QGD Exchange
Vitiugov, Nikita	- Sakaev, Konstantin	½-½	28	D17	Slav Defence
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	38	D44	Anti-Meran Gambit
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Timofeev, Artyom	1-0	39	B35	Sicilian Defence
Round 4 (December 22, 2007)
Grischuk, Alexander	- Jakovenko, Dmitry	½-½	38	A30	English Symmetrical
Svidler, Peter	- Inarkiev, Ernesto	½-½	51	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Rychagov, Andrey	- Morozevich, Alexander	0-1	50	E15	Queens Indian
Dreev, Alexey	- Amonatov, Farrukh	0-1	59	A65	Benoni
Sakaev, Konstantin	- Tomashevsky, Evgeny	0-1	37	E18	Queens Indian
Timofeev, Artyom	- Vitiugov, Nikita	0-1	60	B91	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.g3
Round 5 (December 23, 2007)
Morozevich, Alexander	- Sakaev, Konstantin	1-0	59	D10	Slav Defence
Amonatov, Farrukh	- Rychagov, Andrey	½-½	59	C09	French Tarrasch
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	- Timofeev, Artyom	1-0	38	A13	Reti Opening
Vitiugov, Nikita	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	59	E58	Nimzo Indian
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Dreev, Alexey	0-1	41	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	37	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Round 6 (December 24, 2007)
Grischuk, Alexander	- Tomashevsky, Evgeny	1-0	45	E15	Queens Indian
Svidler, Peter	- Vitiugov, Nikita	1-0	30	B60	Sicilian Rauzer
Amonatov, Farrukh	- Inarkiev, Ernesto	½-½	41	C45	Scotch Game
Rychagov, Andrey	- Sakaev, Konstantin	½-½	39	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Dreev, Alexey	- Jakovenko, Dmitry	1-0	45	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Timofeev, Artyom	- Morozevich, Alexander	0-1	36	B50	Sicilian Defence

57th ch-RUS w Moscow RUS (RUS), 18-30 xii 2007 cat. VII (2415)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Kosintseva, Tatiana	m	RUS	2492	*	.	1	½	½	.	.	½	.	1	1	.	4½	2613
2.	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2462	.	*	.	1	.	.	½	½	½	1	1	.	4½	2601
3.	Tairova, Elena	m	RUS	2391	0	.	*	.	½	1	1	1	.	.	.	1	4½	2612
4.	Korbut, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2443	½	0	.	*	.	.	.	.	1	1	1	1	4½	2605
5.	Matveeva, Svetlana	m	RUS	2433	½	.	½	.	*	½	0	1	1	.	.	.	3½	2472
6.	Ovod, Evgenija	m	RUS	2386	.	.	0	.	½	*	1	½	½	.	½	.	3	2415
7.	Shadrina, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2379	.	½	0	.	1	0	*	.	.	½	.	1	3	2394
8.	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	RUS	2469	½	½	0	.	0	½	.	*	.	.	.	1	2½	2363
9.	Stepovaia, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2375	.	½	.	0	0	½	.	.	*	½	.	1	2½	2346
10.	Girya, Olga	wf	RUS	2338	0	0	.	0	.	.	½	.	½	*	1	.	2	2308
11.	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2448	0	0	.	0	.	½	.	.	.	0	*	½	1	2140
12.	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2359	.	.	0	0	.	.	0	0	0	.	½	*	½	2016

4) XX Carlos Torre Memorial

The XX Carlos Torre Memorial took place in Mérida, Yucatán, México 15th-23rd December 2007. Vassily Ivanchuk added to his wins in 2004 and 2006 to retain his title. He beat 3rd seed Pentala Harikrishna in the final 3-1 after two rapid playoffs. My thanks to Jesper Norgaard Welen for his help with the games.

Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/ or http://www.idey.gob.mx/ct2008.htm

XX Carlos Torre Wimbledon Merida (MEX), 19-22 xii 2007
1/8 Final
No	Ti	Name	FED	Rating	P1	P2	D1	D2	TB	MS
1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	1	½				1.5
16	GM	Bruzón, Lazaro	CUB	2607	0	½				0.5

8	GM	Almeida, Omar	CUB	2502	½	1				1.5
9	GM	Gonzalez, José	MEX	2541	½	0				0.5

4	IM	León Hoyos, Manuel	MEX	2495	0	0				0
13	GM	Quezada, Yuniesky	CUB	2546	1	1				2

5	GM	Hernandez, Holder	CUB	2566	0	0				0
12	GM	Graf, Alexander	GER	2576	1	1				2

2	GM	Dominguez Perez, Lenier	CUB	2683	½	½	1	0	0	2
15	GM	Nogueiras, Jesús	CUB	2549	½	½	0	1	1	3

7	IM	Cordova, Emilio	PER	2493	1	1				2
10	GM	Zapata, Alonso	COL	2495	0	0				0

3	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2668	1	½				1.5
14	GM	Hernandez, Gilberto	MEX	2536	0	½				0.5

6	GM	Meier, Georg	GER	2558	0	1	0	1	1	3
11	GM	Tregubov, Pavel	RUS	2609	1	0	1	0	0	2
1/4 Final
No	Ti	Name	FED	Rating	P1	P2	D1	D2	TB	MS
1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	1	½				1.5
8	GM	Almeida, Omar	CUB	2502	0	½				0.5

13	GM	Quezada, Yuniesky	CUB	2546	½	0				0.5
12	GM	Graf, Alexander	GER	2576	½	1				1.5

15	GM	Nogueiras, Jesús	CUB	2549	1	1				2
7	IM	Cordova, Emilio	PER	2493	0	0				0

3	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2668	1	½				1.5
6	GM	Meier, Georg	GER	2558	0	½				0.5
1/2 Final
No	Ti	Name	FED	Rating	P1	P2	D1	D2	TB	MS
1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	1	0	½	1		2.5
12	GM	Graf, Alexander	GER	2576	0	1	½	0		1.5

15	GM	Nogueiras, Jesús	CUB	2549	½	0				0.5
3	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2668	½	1				1.5
Final
No	Ti	Name	FED	Rating	P1	P2	D1	D2	TB	MS
1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2787	1	0	1	1		3
3	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	IND	2668	0	1	0	0		1

XX Carlos Torre Magistral Merida (MEX), 15-22 xii 2007
1	16	Bachmann, Axel	7	IM	PAR	35	49	37
2	4	Hernandez Carmenates, Hold	6.5	GM	CUB	36	52.5	37.75
3	11	Hernandez Guerrero, Gilber	6.5	GM	MEX	34.5	51	35.75
4	2	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	6.5	GM	CUB	34	52	36.5
5	17	De La Paz Perdomo,Frank	6.5	GM	CUB	34	48	31.75
6	14	Zapata, Alonso	6.5	GM	COL	34	48.5	33.5
7	5	Arencibia Rodriguez, Walte	6	GM	CUB	32	52.5	33.25
8	20	Perez Garcia, Rodney	6	IM	CUB	31	44.5	28.5
9	19	Perez Rodriguez, Luis Manu	6	IM	CUB	31	45	26
10	22	Ibarra Chami, Luis Fernand	6	IM	MEX	30.5	45.5	28
11	13	Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo, Rey	6	GM	CUB	30.5	46	29.75
12	26	Huerta, Dayron	6	FM	CUB	30	45	27
13	23	Dominguez Aguilar, Guiller	6	FM	MEX	29	43	26
14	35	Sanchez Enriquez, Oscar Ge	6		MEX	27.5	41	24.25
15	1	Tregubov, Pavel V.	5.5	GM	RUS	33.5	55	33.25
16	10	Gonzalez Garcia, Jose	5.5	GM	MEX	33	51.5	30.75
17	27	Blanco Fernandez, Alvaro	5.5	IM	MEX	30	48	26.75
18	25	Capo Vidal, Uriel	5.5	FM	MEX	28.5	44	24
19	7	Gonzalez Zamora, Juan Carl	5.5	GM	MEX	28	45	27.25
20	30	Alford, Jason	5.5	FM	MEX	27	42.5	22.5
21	21	Almeida Saenz, Alfonso	5	IM	MEX	29	44	19.75
95 players

5) XVII Pampona International

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

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

Magistral Pamplona (ESP), 22-29 xii 2007 cat. XVII (2652)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2660	*	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	2
2.	Beliavsky, Alexander G	g	SLO	2646	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	1	1½	2864
3.	Rodshtein, Maxim	m	ISR	2615	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	1	1½	2881
4.	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	2670	.	½	.	*	.	½	.	.	1	2645
5.	Wang Yue	g	CHN	2703	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	.	1	2609
6.	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	2644	0	.	.	½	.	*	.	.	½	2472
7.	Khamrakulov, Ibragim S	g	ESP	2604	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	2488
8.	Sargissian, Gabriel	g	ARM	2673	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	*	0

Open Pamplona (ESP), 22-29 xii 2007 cat. XVII (2652) Round 2 Standings
Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Club	Pts	BH.
1	1	GM	GRANDA ZUÑIGA, Julio E.	2592	PER	Can	3	4
2	4	GM	SAN SEGUNDO CARRILLO, Pablo	2536	ESP	Can	3	4
3	5	IM	LAFUENTE, Pablo	2489	ARG		3	4
4	10	GM	POGORELOV, Ruslan	2411	UKR	Ara	3	4
5	7	IM	SALGADO LOPEZ, Ivan	2460	ESP	Gal	3	4
6	14	IM	ESTREMERA PAÑOS, Sergio	2400	ESP	Cat	3	4
7	12	FM	RECUERO GUERRA, David	2407	ESP	Ast	3	3½
8	2	GM	LI, Chao B	2553	CHN		3	3
9	9	IM	LLANEZA VEGA, Marcos	2426	ESP	Ast	2½	4½
10	11	IM	MELLADO TRIVIÑO, Juan	2410	ESP	Cat	2½	4½
11	15	FM	NAVARRO CIA, Miguel	2359	ESP	Nav	2½	4½
12	42		IGNACZ, Rozsa	2079	HUN		2½	4
13	6	GM	KRIVOSHEY, Sergei	2484	UKR	Can	2½	4
14	30		BARRANTES MUÑOZ, Hugo Pedro	2170	ESP	And	2½	4
15	33		PUERTO TRAVER, Juan Manuel	2130	ESP	Val	2½	4
16	25		SANCHEZ ROMERO, Miguel Angel	2252	ESP	Val	2½	3½
17	13	IM	MARTINEZ MARTIN, David	2400	ESP	Mad	2½	3½
18	32		ROS OCTAVIO DE TOLEDO, Eduardo	2166	ESP	Nav	2½	3½
19	17	FM	RUBIO MEJIA, Luis Ignacio	2327	ESP	Mad	2½	3½
20	18	FM	RIVERO OJEDA, Jesus Carmelo	2326	ESP	Cat	2½	3½
21	8	FM	HUERGA LEACHE, Mikel	2440	ESP	Nav	2½	3
22	27		MINDEGUIA GURUCEAGA, Juan Jesus	2224	ESP	Nav	2½	3
131 players

6) Groningen Chess Festival

The Groningen Chess Festival include the Harmonie Open A which takes place 21st-30th December 2007.

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

Harmonie Open A Groningen (NED), 21-30 xii 2007 Round 3 Standings:
Rank	Name	Fed.	Rating	Score	BH
1	GM Li, Shilong	CHN	2509	3.0	4.5
2	GM Banikas, Hristos	GRE	2591	2.5	4.0
3	GM Halkias, Stelios	GRE	2589	2.5	5.0
4	GM Nijboer, Friso	NED	2559	2.5	4.5
5	GM Ernst, Sipke	NED	2539	2.5	5.5
6	IM Brandenburg, Daan	NED	2483	2.5	4.0
7	IM Hoffmann, Michael	GER	2471	2.5	5.0
8	GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios	GRE	2559	2.0	6.0
9	GM Reinderman, Dimitri	NED	2510	2.0	4.0
10	GM Adly, Ahmed	EGY	2494	2.0	5.0
11	IM Lobzhanidze, Davit	GEO	2489	2.0	4.5
12	IM Simutowe, Amon	ZAM	2446	2.0	4.0
13	IM Spoelman, Wouter	NED	2445	2.0	5.0
14	IM Swinkels, Robin	NED	2433	2.0	5.5
15	IM Pruijssers, Roeland	NED	2408	2.0	6.5
16	IM Hendriks, Willy	NED	2402	2.0	3.0
17	Geurink, Jasper	NED	2339	2.0	3.5
18	Michielsen, Joost	NED	2309	2.0	4.0
19	Ringoir, Tanguy	BEL	2236	2.0	6.5
20	FM Heemskerk, Wim	NED	2230	2.0	6.0
21	Van Den Berg, Harmen	NED	2167	2.0	4.0
50 players

7) 3rd Bosnian Championship

3rd Bosnian Championship takes place in Sarajevo 18th-26th December 2007.

Official site: http://www.bihchess.com/sarajevo07/index.htm

3rd ch-BIH Sarajevo (BIH), 18-26 xii 2007 cat. X (2498)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Nikolic, Predrag	g	BIH	2657	*	½	½	.	1	1	½	½	1	.	5	2658
2.	Saric, Ibro	g	BIH	2541	½	*	½	1	.	1	½	.	½	1	5	2658
3.	Predojevic, Borki	g	BIH	2645	½	½	*	½	.	½	.	1	1	1	5	2638
4.	Runic, Zoran	m	BIH	2417	.	0	½	*	1	0	1	.	1	½	4	2539
5.	Jakovljevic, Vlado	m	BIH	2461	0	.	.	0	*	½	½	1	1	1	4	2525
6.	Bogut, Zeljko	m	BIH	2458	0	0	½	1	½	*	½	½	.	.	3	2479
7.	Stojanovic, Dalibor	m	BIH	2510	½	½	.	0	½	½	*	½	.	½	3	2436
8.	Vukic, Milan	g	BIH	2474	½	.	0	.	0	½	½	*	0	½	2	2348
9.	Nurkic, Sahbaz	m	BIH	2415	0	½	0	0	0	.	.	1	*	½	2	2355
10.	Dumpor, Atif	m	BIH	2399	.	0	0	½	0	.	½	½	½	*	2	2336

8) International Open Championship of Croatia

The International Open Championship of Croatia took place in Zadar 16th-22nd December 2007. Aleksander Delchev edged out Nikola Sedlak on tie-break after both finished on 6.5/9. The top 4 Croatian players qualified for the 2008 closed Championship.

Official site: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/zadar/07/index_e.shtm

Open A Zadar CRO (CRO), 16-22 xii 2007
Place	SBr.	Ti	Name	Rtg	FED	Club	Pts	BH.	BH.	Cum
1	1	GM	Delchev Aleksander	2613	BUL	Šk Casper, Zadar	6½	38½	49	32½
2	2	GM	Sedlak Nikola	2605	SRB	Šk Mladost, Ernestinovo	6½	37½	48	34
3	7	GM	Kovac(evic' Aleksandar	2554	SRB	Šk Slaven, Vukovar	6	39½	50	36
4	3	GM	Miladinovic' Igor	2603	SRB	Šk Junior, Rijeka	6	37	47½	32½
5	13	GM	Stevic' Hrvoje	2531	CRO	Šk ?akovo, ?akovo	6	36½	46½	33
6	4	GM	Zelc(ic' Robert	2578	CRO	Šk Zagreb, Zagreb	6	36	45½	27
7	12	GM	Cvitan Ognjen	2543	CRO	Šk Rijeka, Rijeka	6	35½	43½	32
8	11	GM	Jankovic' Alojzije	2548	CRO	Šk Liburnija, Rijeka	6	28	35	22½
9	29	IM	Režan Saša	2398	CRO	Šk Goran, Bibinje	5½	37	47½	30½
10	40		Dimitrov Radoslav	2332	BUL		5½	37	46½	28½
11	16	GM	Ferc(ec Nenad	2487	CRO	Šk Pula, Pula	5½	35½	45½	27½
12	35	FM	Martinovic' Saša	2362	CRO	Šk Zadar, Zadar	5½	34	44½	24½
13	15	GM	Jovanic' Ognjen	2492	CRO	Šk Liburnija, Rijeka	5½	34	43½	26
14	6	GM	Palac Mladen	2567	CRO	Šk Zagreb, Zagreb	5½	33½	42	28
15	23	IM	Šaric' Ivan	2466	CRO	Šk Petar Sedlar-Pepe, Kaš	5½	32	40½	25½
16	5	GM	Brkic' Ante	2577	CRO	Šk ?uro ?akovic' Holding,	5	36	45½	28
17	9	GM	Popovic' Dušan	2552	SRB	Šk Belišc'e, Belišc'e	5	32½	42½	25½
18	33	IM	Feletar Darko	2367	CRO	Gšk Požega, Požega	5	30	37	22½
19	8	GM	Kurajica Bojan	2554	CRO	Gšk Mravince-Dalmacijacem	4½	39½	49	29½
20	10	GM	Cebalo Mišo	2550	CRO	Šk Osijek, Osijek	4½	36	45	26
21	20	IM	Rusev Krasimir	2479	BUL		4½	35	45	25½
22	48	FM	Zelic' Mladen	2286	CRO	Šk A1 Split, Split	4½	33½	42	24
23	14	GM	Rogic' Davor	2505	CRO	Šk ?uro ?akovic' Holding ,	4½	32	41½	24
24	21	IM	Doric' Darko	2471	CRO	Šk Liburnija, Rijeka	4½	32	40½	25
25	24	IM	Dimitrov Pavel	2453	BUL		4½	31½	41	20½
26	18	IM	Ljubic(ic' Filip	2480	CRO	Šk A1 Split, Split	4½	31½	40½	24
27	26	GM	Šaric' Ante	2441	CRO	Šk Liburnija, Rijeka	4½	31	39	20
28	44		Sutkovic Damir	2318	BIH		4½	30½	39½	24
29	41	FM	Milchev Nikolay	2328	BUL		4½	29½	37	19
30	17	IM	Kovac(evic' Blažimir	2482	CRO	Šk Vukovar ' 91, Vukovar	4½	28½	35½	22½
31	49		Yordanov Nikolay	2257	BUL		4½	24	30	14½
32	22	GM	Žaja Ivan	2467	CRO	Šk Zagreb, Zagreb	4	34	44	23½
33	27	IM	Živkovic' Vjekoslav	2426	CRO	Šk ?uro ?akovic', Slavonsk	4	32½	42½	22
34	32	IM	Hoelzl Franz	2374	AUT		4	32	41	19½
35	28	IM	Franic' Milan	2401	CRO	Šk Pula, Pula	4	28½	38	18
36	34	FM	Arnaudov G Petar	2366	BUL		4	28½	37½	17½
37	39	IM	Armanda Ivica	2340	CRO	Šk Petar Sedlar-Pepe, Kaš	4	26½	34	17
38	36	FM	Plenkovic' Zdenko	2347	CRO	Šk A1 Split, Split	3½	33	42	18½
39	43	FM	Mihalj Miroslav M	2323	SRB		3½	30	39½	17½
40	30	FM	Ašc(ic' Pero	2394	CRO	Šk ?uro ?akovic' Holding,	3½	28½	37½	18
41	19	IM	Sakelšek Tadej	2479	SLO	Šk Vukovar ' 91, Vukovar	3½	27½	35½	17½
42	38	FM	Orak Ljubomir	2340	CRO	Šd Varaždin, Varaždin	3½	26½	35½	14½
43	45	FM	Krištovic' Marijan	2316	CRO	Šk I N A, Zagreb	3½	26½	33	16
44	46	FM	Badev Kiril	2302	BUL		3½	25	32	14
45	47	FM	Ivic' Mateo	2293	CRO	Šk Vis, Vis	3½	24	30	13½
46	31	IM	Stupavski Zdenko	2392	SRB		3	29½	38	16
47	25	IM	Žufic' Miroslav	2452	CRO	Šk Pula, Pula	3	25½	33	16½
48	42	FM	Biliškov Vjekoslav	2326	CRO	Šk Goran, Bibinje	2½	26	33½	13
49	50	FM	Titz Heimo	2223	AUT		2	27	34	9½
50	37	IM	Majeric' Zoran	2345	CRO	Šk Slaven, Vukovar	1½	31	39	8½

9) Warsaw - Buenos Aires - Kolkata Match

A three city match between Warsaw, Buenos Aires and Kolkata took place before the European Individual Rapid Championship in Warsaw I reported last week. The Kolkata team won all three of its matches to finish clear of the 1st team from Warsaw.

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

Warsaw-Buenos Aires-Kolkata Match Warsaw (POL), 11-13 xii 2007
Place	SNo.	Team	Fed.	Local	Match Points	Total	B.1	B.2	B.3
1	3	Kolkata	IND	2522	6.0	7.5	1.5	2.0	2.0
2	2	Warsaw Team 1	POL	2614	4.0	7.5	2.0	2.0	1.0
3	1	Buenos Aires	ARG	2535	2.0	5.0	0.5	1.0	2.0
4	4	Warsaw Team 2	POL	2449	0.0	4.0	2.0	1.0	1.0

Warsaw-Buenos Aires-Kolkata Match Warsaw (POL), 11-13 xii 2007
Place	SNo.	Title	Name	Fed.	FIDE	Local	Total	MBch.	Bch.	Wins	Prog.
1	4	GM	Kempinski, Robert	POL	2596	2596	2.5	1.50	3.50	2	4.5
2	1	GM	Socko, Bartosz	POL	2646	2646	2.0	1.50	4.00	1	4.0
2	1	IM	Olszewski, Michal	POL	2424	2424	2.0	1.50	4.00	1	4.0
2	4	IM	Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi	IND	2418	2418	2.0	1.50	4.00	1	4.0
5	3	GM	Barua, Dibyendu	IND	2491	2491	2.0	1.00	4.00	1	4.5
5	3	GM	Felgaer, Ruben	ARG	2539	2539	2.0	1.00	4.00	1	4.5
7	2	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	IND	2585	2585	2.0	1.00	4.00	1	4.0
7	2	GM	Macieja, Bartlomiej	POL	2606	2606	2.0	1.00	4.00	1	4.0
9	4	IM	Lafuente, Pablo	ARG	2489	2489	1.5	2.00	4.50	1	3.5
10	1	GM	Sandipan, Chanda	IND	2593	2593	1.5	2.00	4.50	1	2.5
11	2	IM	Socko, Monika	POL	2473	2473	1.0	2.00	5.00	0	2.0
11	2	GM	Peralta, Fernando	ARG	2546	2546	1.0	2.00	5.00	0	2.0
13	3	GM	Bartel, Mateusz	POL	2608	2608	1.0	2.00	5.00	0	1.5
13	3	FM	Leniart, Arkadiusz	POL	2329	2329	1.0	2.00	5.00	0	1.5
15	1	IM	Flores, Diego	ARG	2566	2566	0.5	2.00	5.50	0	1.5
16	4		Brzeski, Maciej	POL	2307	2307	0.0	2.00	6.00	0	0.0
17	5	IM	Lahiri, Atanu	IND	2290	2290	0.0	1.50	1.50	0	0.0

10) 74th Brazilian Championship

The 74th Brazilian Championship took place in Rio de Janeiro 14th-22nd December, 2007. 12 players Prize Fund US$ 6.000,00. Giovanni Vescovi took clear first with 9/11.

Official site: http://www.fexerj.com.br/brasileiro2007/

ch-BRA Rio de Janeiro BRA (BRA), 14-22 xii 2007 cat. VIII (2428)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	2617	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	9	2672
2.	Leitao, Rafael	g	BRA	2601	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	8½	2623
3.	Milos, Gilberto	g	BRA	2592	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	0	1	1	7	2514
4.	Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag	m	BRA	2428	0	0	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	6½	2492
5.	Di Berardino, Diego Rafael	m	BRA	2430	0	0	½	½	*	½	0	1	1	1	½	1	6	2463
6.	Van Riemsdijk, Herman C	m	BRA	2391	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	0	1	1	½	5½	2431
7.	Molina, Roberto Junio Brito	f	BRA	2322	½	0	0	0	1	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	5½	2437
8.	Matsuura, Everaldo	m	BRA	2511	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	*	½	1	0	1	5	2384
9.	Bittencourt, Jorge	f	BRA	2448	0	½	½	0	0	1	½	½	*	0	1	1	5	2389
10.	Diamant, Andre	m	BRA	2395	0	0	1	½	0	0	0	0	1	*	1	½	4	2328
11.	Santiago, Yago de Moura		BRA	2185	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	0	*	½	2	2187
12.	Miranda, Roberto Calheiros de		BRA	2213	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	*	2	2185

11) South African Championship

The South African Championship took place in the ChessCube Centre in Milnerton 14th-22nd December 2007.

Nick Barnett reports "South African Championship ended on Saturday. The winner, Henry Steel, 17, was the youngest competitor. The tournament was marred by the late withdrawal of Kenneth Willenberg and Deon Solomons, so that Steel did not have an opponent in the two final rounds. Since he demolished the top half of the table he is a worthy winner, but IM Watu Kobese may have caught him. The top three Steel, IM Kobese and IM Mabusela are automatic selections for the SA team to the Olympiad. Steel now travels to Gilbraltar where he hopes to gain a Fidé title, then on to Budapest and France. SA¹s top woman player WIM Melissa Greeff follows the same itinerary, but first to Malawi where she will contest the African junior ‹ in the boys section ‹ before the SA Women¹s closed in a couple of weeks time! She is determined to get her second WGM norm."

Official site: http://www.chessa.co.za

ch-RSA Milnerton (RSA), 14-22 xii 2007
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Steel, Henry Robert		RSA	2241	*	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	0	1	1	8½	2443
2.	Kobese, Watu	m	RSA	2389	0	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	8	2394
3.	Van den Heever, Donovan		RSA	2202	½	½	*	0	1	1	0	½	½	1	½	1	6½	2301
4.	Mabusela, Johanne Mayedi	m	RSA	2277	0	½	1	*	1	0	0	1	½	1	½	1	6½	2294
5.	Ophoff, Ja		RSA	2260	0	0	0	0	*	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	6½	2296
6.	Solomon, Kenny	m	RSA	2332	½	½	0	1	½	*	1	0	½	½	1	½	6	2260
7.	Cawdery, Daniel		RSA	2254	½	0	1	1	0	0	*	½	½	½	1	1	6	2267
8.	Klaasen, Calvin Jong		RSA	1982	0	½	½	0	0	1	½	*	½	1	1	1	6	2292
9.	Gluckman, David	m	RSA	2306	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	4½	2161
10.	Mosetlhe, Kgaugelo		RSA	2144	1	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	*	0	1	3½	2108
11.	Solomons, Deon		RSA	2231	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	1	3½	2100
12.	Willenberg, Kenneth Sean		RSA	2183	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	*	½	1768

12) 4th Singapore International Chess Convention

The 4th Singapore International Chess Convention took place 16th-22nd December 2007. The main masters event saw Zurab Azmaiparashvili edge out Zhang Zhong on tie-break after both finished on 7/9.

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

4th Singapore Masters 17-21 xii 2007
Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	GM	Azmaiparashvili Zurab	GEO	2606	7,0	50,0	37,00	39,5
2	GM	Zhang Zhong	SIN	2634	7,0	48,0	37,50	33,5
3	GM	Sandipan Chanda	IND	2593	6,5	50,0	35,00	34,5
4	IM	Sadorra Julio Catalino	PHI	2414	6,0	48,5	30,75	34,0
5	GM	Dao Thien Hai	VIE	2530	6,0	48,5	29,75	32,5
6	IM	Laxman R R	IND	2395	6,0	47,0	28,25	31,0
7	GM	Megaranto Susanto	INA	2569	6,0	45,5	28,50	30,0
8	IM	Girinath P D S	IND	2448	6,0	43,5	26,50	31,5
9	GM	Wu Shaobin	SIN	2449	6,0	42,5	25,50	29,5
10	IM	Dimakiling Oliver	PHI	2491	5,5	46,5	25,25	30,0
11	GM	Nguyen Anh Dung	VIE	2537	5,5	43,5	26,50	28,0
12	GM	Paragua Mark	PHI	2514	5,5	43,5	24,00	27,0
13		Lin Chen	CHN	2363	5,5	41,0	21,25	27,5
14	IM	Paciencia Enrique	SIN	2431	5,0	48,5	24,00	28,0
15		Wan Yunguo	CHN	2393	5,0	44,5	23,00	29,0
16	WGM	Gu Xiaobing	CHN	2300	5,0	42,0	19,50	23,0
17	IM	Jayson Gonzales	PHI	2454	5,0	41,5	20,75	23,5
18	IM	Sitanggang Salor	INA	2410	5,0	41,5	19,25	27,0
19	WIM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	INA	2275	5,0	39,0	16,50	22,5
20		Wang Li	CHN	2318	4,5	48,5	23,25	26,5
21	IM	Mas Hafizulhelmi	MAS	2372	4,5	40,0	19,75	21,0
22	IM	Nadanian Ashot	ARM	2436	4,5	38,5	16,25	23,0
23		Shen Siyuan	CHN	2337	4,0	46,0	20,00	24,0
24	WGM	Li Ruofan	SIN	2417	4,0	42,5	14,50	24,0
25	FM	Lim Yee Weng	MAS	2336	4,0	42,5	14,50	17,5
26		Jia Haoxiang	CHN	2193	4,0	41,0	15,00	20,0
27	WGM	Corke Anya	HKG	2210	4,0	38,5	12,00	21,0
28	WGM	Nguyen Thi Thanh An	VIE	2324	4,0	37,0	13,00	19,0
29		Andador Rolando	PHI	2199	4,0	37,0	11,50	15,0
30		Chan Wei Xuan Timothy	SIN	2231	4,0	32,5	14,25	14,5
31	CM	Teo Wei Xing	SIN	2191	4,0	32,5	12,75	14,0
32	FM	Chua Zheng Yuan Terry	SIN	2096	3,5	37,0	11,75	16,5
33	CM	Chan Yi Ren Daniel	SIN	2137	3,5	34,0	11,00	14,0
34	FM	Simanjuntak Sebastian	INA	2271	3,5	33,5	11,00	16,0
35		Kuznetsov Kirill	RUS	2252	3,0	37,0	8,50	17,0
36	FM	Lo Kin Mun Dominic	SIN	2151	3,0	36,5	11,25	16,0
37		Koh Jonathan	SIN	2090	3,0	31,5	7,50	14,5
38	FM	Chua Xing Jian Graham	SIN	2065	2,5	38,5	5,50	15,5
39	FM	Fernandez Daniel Howard	SIN	2102	2,5	31,5	7,50	11,5
40		Tahmankar Mandar	IND	2141	2,5	30,0	5,75	7,0
41	CM	Neubronner Jarred	SIN	2097	2,5	28,5	7,25	10,0
42		Dotsenko Viacheslav	RUS	2132	2,0	33,5	6,00	10,5
43	WFM	Liu Yang	SIN	2056	0,5	41,0	2,50	4,5
44	FM	Nava Roderick	PHI	2351	0,0	38,0	0,00	0,0

13) Central Serbian Championships

The 2007 Central Serbian Championships took place in Vrnjacka Banja on 10th-16th December 2007. GM Pikula and GM Drazic qualified for the main 2008 Serbian Men Championship. Games from the final round are missing.

Official site: http://www.sah-centralnasrbija.com/2007/prvcs07/prvcs07.htm and final standings at http://www.sah-centralnasrbija.com/2007/prvcs07/muskarci_prvcs07/tab_prvcs 07m.html.

The women's championship had only 5 players because the WGMs preferred to play in the men's event. The winner was WFM Marija Urosevic with 2nd place for Sandra Djukic.

ch-Central Serbia Vrnjacka Banja SRB (SRB), 10-16 xii 2007
1	5	GM	Pikula Dejan	2494	SRB	7	41
2	6	GM	Drazic Sinisa	2493	SRB	7	39½
3	8	GM	Todorovic Goran M	2470	SRB	6½	40
4	1	GM	Savic Miodrag R	2539	SRB	6½	39½
5	9	IM	Arsovic Zoran	2459	SRB	6	42
6	14	GM	Kostic Vladimir G	2402	SRB	6	38½
7	17	WGM	Chelushkina Irina	2351	SRB	6	38
8	32		Zivkovic Ivan B	2222	SRB	6	37
9	4	GM	Cabrilo Goran	2497	SRB	6	37
10	10	IM	Vratonjic Slobo	2453	SRB	6	36
11	7	IM	Arsovic Goran	2478	SRB	6	34
12	16	FM	Sredojevic Ivan	2357	SRB	6	32½
13	12	GM	Tosic Miroslav	2422	SRB	5½	37½
14	2	GM	Lajthajm Borko	2512	SRB	5½	36½
15	15	IM	Maksimovic Branimir	2367	SRB	5½	33½
16	22		Biljanic Ljubomir	2291	SRB	5½	32½
17	11		Bozic Milan	2435	SRB	5	41½
18	3	GM	Abramovic Bosko	2508	SRB	5	36½
19	18	WGM	Benderac Ana	2328	SRB	5	34½
20	13	FM	Kojovic Dragan	2413	SRB	5	33½
21	26		Stojanovic Zlatko	2245	SRB	5	33½
22	28		Pantelic Sasa	2237	SRB	5	33
23	21	GM	Nikolic Stanimir	2297	SRB	5	33
24	29		Colovic Zoran	2234	SRB	5	30½
25	20		Mrsevic Miroslav	2313	SRB	5	30
26	24	FM	Spiric Igor	2278	SRB	5	30
27	23	FM	Djosic Slavoljub	2280	SRB	4½	33½
28	35		Radovanovic Slavko	2200	SRB	4½	33
29	25	FM	Radosavljevic Slobodan D	2256	SRB	4½	32
30	34		Boskovic Zlatomir	2207	SRB	4½	31½
31	42		Ilic Slobodan S	2166	SRB	4½	31½
32	27	FM	Milicevic Miodrag	2243	SRB	4½	30
33	38		Vasic Vladimir	2185	SRB	4½	29
34	37		Radenkovic Dragan	2188	SRB	4½	26½
35	49		Karaklajic Milutin	2099	SRB	4	32½
36	31		Savic Dragan	2229	SRB	4	30½
37	48		Manojlovic Selimir	2110	SRB	4	30½
38	43		Dodic Dragan	2162	SRB	4	30
39	44		Antic Dragan	2158	SRB	4	30
40	33		Marcetic Predrag	2219	SRB	4	28
41	47		Pantovic Dragan M	2137	SRB	4	27½
42	36		Pantic Ivica	2192	SRB	4	26
43	19	IM	Misailovic Nebojsa	2318	SRB	3½	30½
44	46		Simic Milan	2140	SRB	3½	30
45	59		Pavicevic Jovan	0	SRB	3½	29½
46	39		Tasic Zoran	2178	SRB	3½	29
47	40		Jokic Miodrag	2174	SRB	3½	27½
48	51		Simic Vladica	2082	SRB	3½	27
49	41		Dorontic Zoran	2167	SRB	3½	23½
50	52		Jovanovic Miroslav V	2052	SRB	3	31
51	45		Draskovic Dragan	2154	SRB	3	30½
52	56		Boskovic Maksimilijan	1850	SRB	3	23½
53	58		Matejic Dragoljub	0	SRB	3	22½
54	54		Filipovic Tomislav	2010	SRB	2½	27½
55	55		Gagic Miroljub	1930	SRB	2	25
56	57		Lisanin Ivica	0	SRB	1	24
57	50		Lecic Predrag	2089	SRB	1	14
58	53		Grujicic Zoran	2044	SRB	½	13
59	30		Misojcic Miroslav	2232	SRB	½	2½

14) Podgorica International

City of Podgorica, capitol of Montenegro, restored international tournament after a 20 year hiatus. Junior Stefan Mijovic earned IM norm, other two juniors FM Boban Bogosavljevic and Nikola Nestorovic missed their GM and IM norms.

PGN at http://www.cgsah.org/2007/velemajstorski/velemajstorski.htm, crosstable at http://www.cgsah.org/2007/velemajstorski/tab.html

It Podgorica (MNE), 9-17 xii 2007 cat. VII (2414)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Bogosavljevic, Boban	f	SRB	2491	*	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	0	1	5½	2485
2.	Kalezic, Blazo	m	MNE	2392	½	*	½	0	1	½	1	1	½	½	5½	2496
3.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2482	0	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	5½	2486
4.	Rajkovic, Dusan	g	SRB	2522	½	1	½	*	½	½	½	0	½	1	5	2445
5.	Mijovic, Stefan		MNE	2228	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	5	2477
6.	Jacimovic, Dragoljub	g	MKD	2412	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	4½	2414
7.	Nikcevic, Nebojsa	g	MNE	2421	½	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	4	2370
8.	Nestorovic, Nikola		SRB	2436	0	0	0	1	½	½	½	*	1	½	4	2368
9.	Podlesnik, Bogdan	m	MNE	2401	1	½	0	½	0	½	½	0	*	0	3	2290
10.	Nikac, Predrag		MNE	2356	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	1	*	3	2295

15) Hafnarfjordur Championship

The Hafnarfjordur Championship (about 25,000 inhab., suburb of Reykjavik) took place 13th-16th December 2007. The 2007 champion is GM Henrik Danielsen. (Thorfinnsson lives in Reykjavik). The first two rounds of rapid games are missing. Info: Snorri G. Bergsson.

Further Information: http://chess-results.com/tnr9243.aspx

ch-Hafnarfjordur Reykjavik (ISL), 13-16 xii 2007
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	Rp
1	Danielsen Henrik	GM	ISL	2491	6,0	22,5	2472
	Thorfinnsson Bjorn	FM	ISL	2323	6,0	22,5	2481
3	Olafsson Thorvardur		ISL	2150	4,5	23,5	2267
4	Kristjansson Atli Freyr		ISL	1979	4,5	21,0	2245
5	Gudmundsson Stefan Freyr		ISL	2110	4,5	18,0	2120
6	Bjornsson Sverrir Orn		ISL	2107	4,0	22,5	2198
7	Thorgeirsson Sverrir		ISL	2061	3,5	25,5	2143
8	Bjornsson Sigurbjorn	FM	ISL	2290	3,5	22,5	2121
9	Salama Omar		EGY	2232	3,5	21,0	2089
10	Rodriguez Fonseca Jorge		ESP	2057	3,5	19,5	2043
11	Sigurjonsson Siguringi		ISL	1902	3,0	19,0	2060
12	Benediktsson Thorir		ISL	1956	3,0	17,0	1934
13	Cross Ted		USA	2108	2,5	18,5	1985
14	Fridgeirsson Dagur Andri		ISL	1804	2,5	17,0	1880
15	Halldorsson Halldor		ISL	2230	2,0	21,0	2192
16	Sigurdsson Jakob Saevar		ISL	1837	2,0	16,0	1834
17	Petursson Daniel		ISL	1975	2,0	15,5	1809
18	Palsson Svanberg Mar		ISL	1829	1,5	16,0	1571
19	Thorvaldsson Arni		ISL	1987	0,0	17,5	0

16) VI Memorial Pereyra Puebla

VI Abierto Internacional de Ajedrez En Mendoza (VI Memorial Pereyra Puebla 2007) took place 14th-22nd December 2007. Andres Carlos Obregon led by half a point going into the final round. Final results and standings are missing as are most of the games (round 1 and 7 currently available)

Official site: http://www.ajedrez.ucongreso.edu.ar/presentacion.php

17) Arnoldo Ellerman Memorial

The Arnoldo Ellerman Memorial took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina 10th-21st December 2007. Ramiro Dos Santos edged out Leonardo Fusco and Diego Valerga all finished on 7/9. No games available.

Official site: http://www.argentinodeajedrez.com.ar/ellerman07.htm

Arnoldo Ellerman Memorial Buenos Aires ARG 10-21 x 2007
1-3	DOS SANTOS, Ramiro	ARG	2419	7.5	40.0
	FUSCO, Leonardo	ARG	2341	7.5	37.5
	VALERGA, Diego	ARG	2469	7.5	35.5
4-7	BARRIONUEVO, Pablo	ARG	2319	7	37.0
	MARECO, Sandro	ARG	2438	7	36.0
	GARCIA, Raimundo	ARG	2344	7	36.0
	PERELMAN, Hernan	ARG	2296	7	34.5
8-16	VILLANUEVA, Mario	ARG	2278	6.5	38.5
	TRISTAN, Leonardo	ARG	2345	6.5	36.5
	BITELMAJER, Martin	ARG	2270	6.5	36.5
	DELLA MORTE, German	ARG	2370	6.5	35.0
	MAZZIOTTI IRIGOYEN, Gabriel	ARG	2296	6.5	34.5
	GOLDWASER, Cristian	ARG	2331	6.5	34.0
	FILGUEIRA, Hernan	ARG	2331	6.5	33.0
	DOLEZAL, Cristian	ARG	2424	6.5	31.5
	CUEVAS, Alex	ARG	2190	6.5	26.0
17-31	PIERROT, Juan Facundo	ARG	2450	6	35.5
	SORIN, Ariel	ARG	2495	6	34.0
	LUJAN, Carolina	ARG	2379	6	32.0
	SARQUIS, Maria Belen	ARG	2180	6	31.0
	CARRARO, Denise	ARG	2059	6	31.0
	ARAUJO, Rafael	BRA	2150	6	30.5
	REIDES, Marcelo	ARG	2357	6	29.5
	ANELLI, Antonio	ARG	2218	6	29.5
	DE LAS HERAS, Juan C.	ARG	2309	6	29.0
	LAPICKI, Raul	ARG	2304	6	29.0
	LALANNE, Pablo	ARG	2225	6	29.0
	JUAREZ, Carlos E.	ARG	2180	6	29.0
	REY, Fernando	ARG	2174	6	29.0
	LOPEZ, Favio	ARG	2062	6	27.0
	LODI, Guillermo	ARG	2019	6	26.5
167 players

18) Russia vs ROW Correspondence

The Russian Chess Federation celebrated its 10th anniversary by challenging the rest of the world to a match over 64 boards with 2 games for each pairing. The match took place 15th February 2004 and ended 27th November 2006. Players included Joop van Oosterom. Final score Rest of the World Score 65½ .Russia 62½. For some reason I missed the end of the match a year ago but the games are probably still worth presenting. I left the ELO ratings out as this was a correspondence match and identifying the players with the Otb list was in some cases impossible.

Official site: http://www.mychessweb.com/Tables/Internationale/Play/russia-world.htm and results also at: http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=5577

Russia vs RoW 2004-6 RCCA. 15 ii 2004 - 27 xi 2006
Russia 62½				Results				Rest of the World 65½
Bd	NAT	Ti	Name	W	B	W	B	NAT	Ti	Name
Bd 1	RUS	GM	Sanakoev, Grigory Konstantinovich	½	1	0	½	GER	GM	Baumbach, Dr. Fritz
Bd 2	RUS	IM	Raykin, Leonid Gershevich	0	½	½	1	NED	GM	Oosterom, Joop J. van
Bd 3	RUS		Perevertkin, Vladimir Viktorovich	½	½	½	½	FIN	GM	Kujala, Auvo
Bd 4	RUS	SM	Pinkovetsky, Semen Uscherovich	1	1	0	0	CZE	IM	Nývlt, Ing. Zdenek
Bd 5	RUS	GM	Korolev, Sergey Ivanovich	0	0	1	1	GER	IM	Voss, Maximilian
Bd 6	RUS	SM	Makarov, Aleksandr Arkadyevich	½	½	½	½	KAZ	SM	Balabaev, Farit Gasisovich
Bd 7	RUS	GM	Malinin, Vasily Borisovich	0	0	1	1	ISR	SM	Dothan, Yoav
Bd 8	RUS	SM	Matyukhin, Sergey Konstantinovich	0	½	½	1	FIN	GM	Kokkila, Tero
Bd 9	RUS	GM	Grodzensky, Sergey Yakovlevich	½	½	½	½	ISR	IM	Elyakim, Daniel
Bd 10	RUS		Dushin, Aleksandr Viktorovich	0	0	1	1	NOR	SM	Boger, Raymond
Bd 11	RUS	GM	Pankratov, Aleksandr Valerievich	½	½	½	½	GUA	SM	Blanco Gramajo, César Augusto
Bd 12	RUS		Lykhin, Oleg Vladimirovich	1	½	½	0	GER	SM	Hofstetter, Dr. Hans-Joachim
Bd 13	RUS	IM	Mikeshin, Sergey Alekseevich	0	1	0	1	HUN		Szücs, Csaba
Bd 14	RUS		Mikheev, Stanislav Valerievich	½	½	½	½	POR	SM	Soberano, Joaquim Pedro
Bd 15	RUS		Bobrov, Vladimir Nikolaevich	1	½	½	0	ISR	SM	Rozenberg, Dov
Bd 16	RUS		Popkov, Andrey Anatolievich	0	0	1	1	JPN		Ohtake, Sakae
Bd 17	RUS	SM	Pankratov, Valery Vladimirovich	½	½	½	½	LTU	SM	Kupsys, Alfonsas
Bd 18	RUS	IM	Shikalov, Andrei Viktorovich	½	½	½	½	ENG	IM	Pheby, Ian M.
Bd 19	RUS	IM	Antonenko, Vladimir Georgyevich	½	½	½	½	NOR	SM	Haugen, Arild
Bd 20	RUS	IM	Muzyka, Nikolai Avraamovich	1	1	0	0	BRA		Tórtora, Paulo César de Oliveira
Bd 21	RUS	SM	Yamaliev, Vil Usbekovich	0	0	1	1	POR	IM	Cleto, Fernando de Almeida Costa
Bd 22	ARM		Chaturyan, V.	½	½	½	½	ARG	IM	Etchechoury, Guillermo Augusto
Bd 23	RUS	IM	Turkov, Vladimir Sergeevich	½	½	½	½	URU	IM	Marotta Moraes, Cr. Martín
Bd 24	RUS	IM	Voll, Aleksei Borisovich	1	1	0	0	ENG	SM	Valerio, Giuseppe
Bd 25	RUS	IM	Muzyka, Yury Avraamovich	0	½	½	1	HUN	IM	Jakobetz, László
Bd 26	RUS	SM	Grigoryev, Valery Borisovich	½	½	½	½	UKR	SM	Kamenets, Anatoly V.
Bd 27	RUS		Kovernikov, Boris Nikolaevich	½	½	½	½	ENG		Kitson, Keith
Bd 28	RUS		Gerbich, Vladimir Fedorovich	½	½	½	½	BLR		Shablinsky, Mikhail Ivanovich
Bd 29	RUS	IM	Kantsurak, Fedor Nikolaevich	1	½	½	0	EST	SM	Tiits, Tõnu
Bd 30	RUS	IM	Alpert, Aleksandr Lazarevich	0	0	1	1	UKR	IM	Dudyev, Vladimir
Bd 31	RUS		Chupin, Vladimir Nikolaevich	½	½	½	½	UKR	IM	Kasapchuk, Alexandr
Bd 32	RUS	IM	Chigishev, Aleksandr Vasilievich	0	½	½	1	LAT	SM	Strautins, Vilnis
Bd 33	RUS	IM	Emelyanov, Sergey Alekseevich	0	½	½	1	NED	SM	Mooij, Walter J.
Bd 34	RUS		Lukyanenko, Aleksandr Anatolievich	0	½	½	1	FRA	IM	Bouverot, Olivier
Bd 35	RUS	IM	Salov, Sergey Aleksandrovich	½	0	1	½	EST	IM	Liebert, Ervin
Bd 36	RUS	IM	Aronov, Dr. Igor Moiseevich	½	½	½	½	BEL	IM	Pauwels, Christophe
Bd 37	RUS		Lednev, Valery Alekseevich	½	½	½	½	CHI		Soza, José
Bd 38	RUS		Napalkov, Vladimir Aleksandrovich	1	1	0	0	ARG		González, Juan Bautista
Bd 39	RUS	IM	Isaev, Anatoly Nikolaevich	½	½	½	½	BUL	SM	Hristov, Ilja
Bd 40	RUS	SM	Donskikh, Yury Fedorovich	½	½	½	½	CUB		Salcedo Mederos, Ing. Pablo
Bd 41	RUS		Lebedev, Valery Ivanovich	1	½	½	0	LAT	SM	Saksis, Juris
Bd 42	RUS	IM	Kozlov, Mikhail Yakovlevich	½	½	½	½	ESP	SM	Barrios Troncoso, José Antonio
Bd 43	RUS	IM	Lutovinov, Aleksandr Ivanovich	0	0	1	1	GER		Ollmann, Hans-Paul
Bd 44	RUS		Kopelevich, Aleksandr Solomonovich	0	1	0	1	ENG	IM	Timson, Paul F.
Bd 45	RUS	SM	Kashlyak, Anatoly Nikolaevich	0	½	½	1	HUN		Percze, János
Bd 46	RUS	IM	Dolgov, Igor Mikhailovich	½	½	½	½	IRL	SM	Taylor, W. Desmond
Bd 47	RUS		Narozhny, Yury Nikolaevich	0	½	½	1	BUL	IM	Kalchev, Joncho
Bd 48	RUS	IM	Goncharov, Igor Vladimirovich	0	0	1	1	SLO		Semrl, Marjan
Bd 49	RUS		Emelyanov, Mikhail Nikolaevich	1	½	½	0	SUI	IM	Hugentobler, Patrik
Bd 50	RUS		Borisenkov, Dmitry Vasilievich	0	½	½	1	AUS	IM	Runting, Tim E.
Bd 51	RUS		Romanov, Sergey Aleksandrovich	½	½	½	½	CZE	SM	Svácek, Pavel
Bd 52	RUS		Shulman, Boris Yakovlevich	½	1	0	½	NCA	IM	Bendaña Guerrero, Dr. Guy José
Bd 53	RUS		Vikulov, Alexander Sergeevich	½	½	½	½	SWE	IM	Olsson, Sture
Bd 54	RUS		Kharitonov, Aleksandr Alekseevich	½	½	½	½	NOR		Høidahl, Erik
Bd 55	RUS		Borzenko, Aleksandr Mikhailovich	1	1	0	0	ESP	IM	Alexandre Bisquert, Francisco
Bd 56	RUS	IM	Neborak, Yury Trofimovich	0	1	0	1	TUR	SM	Kösebay, Osman
Bd 57	RUS		Sakhabeev, Rais Salmanovich	½	1	0	½	CRO	IM	Krecak, Dr. Zvonko
Bd 58	RUS		Liushnin, Konstantin Victorovich	0	½	½	1	POR	IM	Almeida, Manuel Camejo de
Bd 59	RUS		Myakutin, Valery Igorevich	1	½	½	0	ITA	SM	Cimmino, Pietro
Bd 60	RUS		Romitsin, Nikolai Sergeevich	½	½	½	½	LUX	IM	Klauner, Thed
Bd 61	RUS		Davletov, Jalil	1	1	0	0	TKM		Annaev, Vladimir LAT SM Gaujens, Artis
Bd 62	RUS		Paramonov, Andrey Nikolaevich	1	1	0	0	HKG		Champion, Chris
Bd 63	RUS		Karachurin, Sagit	½	1	0	½	DEN	IM	Christiansen, Tonny
Bd 64	RUS		Pereverzev, Aleksey Rosti	½	½	½	½	ECU		Orellana, Carlos

19) Forthcoming Events and Links

Morelia Linares 2008

The field has been announced for the Morelia - Linares tournament, with only Alexei Shirov not playing at Wijk aan Zee the event is a category stronger than that event but with far fewer players and also missing Vladimir Kramnik who will probably be world number 2 when the event takes place. As usual the first half is in Morelia, Mexico and the second half in Linares, Spain.

Official site:http://www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx/

Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP 15-23 ii + 28 ii - 7 iii 2008
Name	Year of birth	Rating	W rnk
GM Viswanathan Anand	1969	2801	1
GM Vassily Ivanchuk	1969	2787	2
GM Veselin Topalov	1975	2769	4
GM Peter Leko	1979	2755	5
GM Teymour Radjabov	1987	2742	8
GM Levon Aronian	1982	2741	9
GM Alexei Shirov	1972	2739	10
GM Magnus Carlsen	1990	2714	17
Category: 21

10th Hotel Hilton Basle

10. Hotel Hilton Basle chess meeting The Swiss Chess Tour 2008 traditional start in the Hilton Basle. Next year is jubilee 10th edition – Memorial Werner Hafner, 1st and 2nd January 2008, a rapid tournament.. Memorial Werner Hafner (1-2.1.2008.) 9 rounds, one hour, 30 minutes each. Prizes: 1.000/700/600/500/400/300/250/200/150/100 CHF. Special prizes 4 rating groups: 200/150/100 CHF; best Lady, senior (1948); junior (1988-1991), schoolboy (1992). Enter fee: 60 CHF (FM and juniors 30 CHF) GM & IM free. At the door 10 CHF. Jubilee dinner 60 CHF. Time-table: 1st Day/Tuesday, 1st Jania 2008: 1200: registration; 1400-1500: Round 1; 1530-1630: Round 2; 1700-1800: Round 3; 1830-1930: Round 4; 2000-2100: Round 5. 2nd Day/Wednesday, 2nd January 2008: 1330-1430: Round 6; 1500-1600: Round 7; 1630-1730: Round 8; 1800-1900: Round 9. 1930-2000: Prize giving; 2000-2200: Jubilee dinner “10 Years Hilton Chess Festival”. Players so far for Hilton: GM Sokolov (FRA), GM Glek (GER), GM Lazarev (RUS), WGM Sedina (ITA), WGM Safranska (LAT), IM Starostits (LAT), IM Benkovic (SRB), IM Filipovic (CRO), IM Krivonosov (LAT), IM Maier (GER) etc.

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+62+9654-650, fax +41+62+9654-651 E-mail info@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

Francesc Alsina Memorial

The Francesc Alsina Memorial takes place in Parets del Vallès 30th December 2007. 8 round Swiss 20 mins per game.

Official site: http://www.paretana.com/htm/m_alsina.htm

Mindsports

The World Mindsports games takes place in Beijing, China after the Olympics 3rd –18th October 2008.

Details: http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/Calendar/files/WorldMindSportsGames2007.pdf.

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/

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

83rd Hastings International Congress 28 xii 2007 - 6 i 2008
MALAKHATKO Vadim	BEL	gm	2603
CHATALBASHEV Boris	BUL	gm	2581
GEORGIEV Vladimir	MKD	gm	2576
MAMEDOV Nidjat	AZE	gm	2575
JONES Gawain	ENG	gm	2567
NEVEROV Valeriy	UKR	gm	2558
HEBDEN Mark	ENG	gm	2542
CONQUEST Stuart	ENG	gm	2540
TAHIROV Farhad	AZE	gm	2540
PERT Nicholas	ENG	gm	2539
PAVLOVIC Milos	SRB	gm	2536
HOWELL David	ENG	gm	2527
HASLINGER Stewart	ENG	gm	2502
LALIC Bogdan	CRO	gm	2500
FLEAR Glenn	ENG	gm	2493
ELTAJ Safarli	AZE	im	2487
GORMALLY Daniel	ENG	gm	2484
WILLIAMS Simon	ENG	im	2475
SENGUPTA Deep	IND	im	2447
SIMUTOWE Amon	ZAM	gmc	2446
GREET Andrew	ENG	im	2441
ROY CHOWDHURY Saptarshi	IND	im	2418
CIUKSYTE Dagne	ENG	im/wgm	2411
HOUSKA Jovanka	ENG	im/wgm	2404
SATYAPRAGYAN Swayangsu	IND	im	2404
COLLINS SAM	IRL	im	2401

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

50th "Torneo di Capodanno" Reggio Emilia December 29th 2007 - January 6th 2008
1	GM	ALMASI ZOLTAN	2691	HUN
2	GM	LANDA KONSTANTIN	2678	RUS
3	GM	HARIKRISHNA PENTALA	2668	IND
4	GM	GASHIMOV VUGAR	2663	AZE
5	GM	NAVARA DAVID	2656	CZE
6	GM	TIVJAKOV SERGEJ	2643	NED
7	GM	NI HUA	2641	CHI
8	GM	KORCHNOI VIKTOR	2611	SWI
9	GM	MARIN MIHAIL	2551	ROM
10	GM	GODENA MICHELE	2535	ITA

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/

6th Gibraltar Gibtelecom Chess Festival 22-31 i 2008
Grischuk	Alexander	RUS	GM	2715
Wang	Yue	CHN	GM	2703
Bu	Xiang	CHN	GM	2692
Bologan	Viktor	MDA	GM	2657
Georgiev	Kiril	BUL	GM	2649
Nakamura	Hikaru	USA	GM	2648
Beliavsky	Alexander	SLO	GM	2646
Socko	Bartosz	POL	GM	2646
Pengxiang	Zhang	CHN	GM	2644
Hao	Wang	CHN	GM	2643
Ni	Hua	CHN	GM	2641
Areshchenko	Alexander	UKR	GM	2638
Efimenko	Zahar	UKR	GM	2624
Fridman	Daniel	GER	GM	2621
Pelletier	Yannick	SUI	GM	2609
Petrosian	Tigran	ARM	GM	2604
Mikhalevski	Victor	ISR	GM	2598
Malakhatko	Vadim	BEL	GM	2596
Berg	Emanuel	SWE	GM	2593
Sandipan	Chanda	IND	GM	2593
Agdestein	Simen	SWE	GM	2589
Akobian	Varuzhan	USA	GM	2585
Ganguly	SS	IND	GM	2585
Modiahki	Mohamed	QAT	GM	2572
Jones	Gawain	ENG	GM	2567
Persson	Tiger	SWE	GM	2567
Felgaer	Ruben	ARG	GM	2539
Chen	Zhu	QAT	GM	2531
Cramling	Pia	SWE	GM	2531
Zhao	Xue	CHN	IMe	2530
Sulskis	Sarunas	LTU	GM	2527
Gopal	GN	IND	GMe	2520
Cabrera	Alexis	COL	GM	2499
Speelman	Jon	ENG	GM	2492
Dronavalli	Harika	IND	IM	2480
Socko	Monika	POL	IM	2473
Mohamed	Al Sayed	QTR	IM	2469
Muzychuk	Anna	SLO	WGM	2469
Cmylite	Victoria	LTU	IM	2464
Stefanova	Antoaneta	BUL	GM	2463
Zatonskih	Anna	USA	IM	2458
Paehtz	Elisabeth	GER	IM	2452
Zhukova	Natalia	UKR	WGM	2452
Shen	Ying	CHN	WGM	2450
Greet	Andrew	ENG	IM	2441
Bellon	Juan	ESP	GM	2434
Dzagnidze	Nana	GEO	IM	2416
Van Haastert	Edwin	NED	IM	2414
Butnorius	Algimentas	LTU	GM	2413
Sachdev	Tania	IND	WGM	2413
Houska	Jovanka	ENG	IM	2404
Hammer	Jon Ludvig	NOR	FM	2402
Bellin	Robert	ENG	IM	2400
Nisha	Mohota	IND	WGM	2398
Rendle	Thomas	ENG	IM	2397
Foisor	Ovidiu	ROU	IM	2397
Milliet	Sophie	FRA	IM	2395
Foisor	Cristina	ROU	IM	2388

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

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008 A-Group 11th-27th January 2008
Name	Year of birth	Rating	W rnk
GM Viswanathan Anand	1969	2801	1
GM Vassily Ivanchuk	1969	2787	2
GM Vladimir Kramnik	1975	2785	3
GM Veselin Topalov	1975	2769	4
GM Peter Leko	1979	2755	5
GM Shakhryar Mamedyarov	1985	2752	7
GM Teymour Radjabov	1987	2742	8
GM Levon Aronian	1982	2741	9
GM Boris Gelfand	1968	2736	11
GM Michael Adams	1971	2729	13
GM Magnus Carlsen	1990	2714	17
GM Judit Polgar	1976	2708	20
GM Pavel Eljanov	1983	2681	30
GM Loek van Wely	1972	2680	32
Average rating: 2741 (based on October figures) Category: 20

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008 B-Group 11th-27th January 2008
	Name	Country	Rating
GM	Etienne Bacrot	FRA	2695
GM	Gabriel Sargissian	ARM	2673
GM	Ivan Cheparinov	BUL	2670
GM	Sergey Movsesian	SLK	2670
GM	Pentala Harikrishna	IND	2668
GM	Michal Krasenkow	POL	2668
GM	Nigel Short	ENG	2649
GM	Daniel Stellwagen	NED	2639
GM	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2611
GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2606
GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2577
GM	Jan Smeets	NED	2558
WGM	Hou Yifan	CHI	2502
IM	Wouter Spoelman	NED	2445
Average rating: 2617 (based on October figures) Category: 15

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008 C-Group 11th-27th January 2008
Name	(Country)	Birth year	Rating
GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko	(Ukraine)	1978	2651
GM Fabiano Caruana	(Italy)	1992	2594
GM Friso Nijboer	(Netherlands)	1965	2559
IM Arik Braun	(Germany)	1988	2541
GM Parimarjan Negi	(India)	1993	2514
GM Dimitri Reinderman	(Netherlands)	1972	2510
GM Efstratios Grivas	(Greece)	1966	2509
GM John van der Wiel	(Netherlands)	1959	2496
WGM Anna Ushenina	(Ukraine)	1985	2486
GM Pontus Carlsson	(Sweden)	1982	2481
WGM Irina Krush	(USA)	1983	2475
GM Zhaoqin Peng	(Netherlands)	1968	2419
IM Mark van der Werf	(Netherlands)	1968	2389
Dennis Ruijgrok	(Netherlands)	1985	2330
Average rating: 2497 (based on October figures) Category: 10

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2008 Honorary group 18th-27th January 2008 January 2008
	Name	Country	Rating
GM	Viktor Kortchnoi	SUI	2611
GM	Jan Timman	NED	2559
GM	Ljubomir Ljubojevic	SRB	2550
GM	Lajos Portisch	HUN	2530
Average rating: 2563 (based on October figures) Category: 13

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/

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. The next games take place 8th-10th February 2008.

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/. Games from Baden Baden at: http://www.rochade.de/live.htm

Stockholm Ladies Open

The Stockholm Ladies Open tournament takes place 20th-25th March 2008. The prize money is over 100 000 Skr

The Invitation are in english, Dutch and Russian http://www.scandinavian-chess.se/

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/

13th Euro Chessweek in Leutersdorf

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

http://www.scoberland.de/

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 26th-30th 2007. 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

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/

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

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

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/

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