THE WEEK IN CHESS 696 10th March 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Henri Koskinen, Snorri G. Bergsson, Varlam Vepkhvishvili, Zenón Franco Ocampos, Jürgen Wempe, Nebojsa Baralic, Thomas Henrich, Miklos Orso, Valery Maes, Boris Yeshan, Eduard Piacun, Manuel Rodríguez García, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Thierry Paris, Yochanan Afek, Vladica Andrejic, Gerry Graham, Michael Rahal, Dave Clayton, Sinisa Joksic, Doug Bake, Rolf Behovits, Bill Townsend and everyone else who helped with the issue.

A huge issue of games this week and quality too. Viswanathan Anand takes the headlines as he won the Morelia Linares tournament and he will definitey be world number one alone in April (the event will be rated) and with his world title he has strengthened his grip to be recognised as the best player in the world. Magnus Carlsen was less steady but in coming second he really strengthens the idea that he will become world champion one day. Elsewhere there too many events team, all-play-all and swiss to mention. Plenty to keep you busy for the week.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Morelia - Linares Tournament

The Morelia - Linares tournament took place 15th-23rd February (Mexican half) and then 28th February - 7th March 2008 (Spanish half). Viswanathan Anand took clear first half a point clear of Magnus Carlsen.

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

Round 12 (March 4, 2008)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	37	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Carlsen, Magnus	- Topalov, Veselin	1-0	37	A28	English Four Knights
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	58	B45	Sicilian Classical
Shirov, Alexei	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	77	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Round 13 (March 6, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	28	E17	Queens Indian
Topalov, Veselin	- Lékó, Peter	1-0	48	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Radjabov, Teimour	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	29	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	23	B86	Sicilian Sozin Attack
Round 14 (March 7, 2008)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	23	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Carlsen, Magnus	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	69	C63	Ruy Lopez Schliemann
Lékó, Peter	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	34	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Shirov, Alexei	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	30	C12	French MacCutcheon

XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares (MEX/ESP), 15 ii-7 iii 2008																	cat. XXI (2756)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	*	*	1	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	8½	2829
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	0	½	*	*	1	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	½	0	½	1	8	2808
3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	1	½	0	½	*	*	0	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	7½	2787
4.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	½	½	0	0	1	0	*	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	0	1	7½	2781
5.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2735	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	*	*	½	½	0	½	0	1	7	2758
6.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	*	*	1	1	½	½	6½	2727
7.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2753	0	½	½	1	½	½	0	0	1	½	0	0	*	*	½	½	5½	2676
8.	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2755	0	0	½	0	½	½	1	0	1	0	½	½	½	½	*	*	5½	2675

3) Reykjavic Open

The Reykjavic Open takes place 3rd-11th March 2008.

Official site for the Reykjavic Open

The event will be followed by the Icelandic Rapid Championships which act as the Bobby Fischer Memorial. Special guests will arrive for some days of rememberance, and festivity, including Boris Spassky, Lajos Portisch, Vlastomil Hort, and other older masters.

Official site: http://www.skaksamband.is

XXIII Open Reykjavik (ISL), 3-11 iii 2008 Leading Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	Rp
1	Wang Hao	GM	CHN	2665	6,0	21,0	2772
2	Stefansson Hannes	GM	ISL	2564	5,5	20,0	2634
3	Wang Yue	GM	CHN	2698	5,5	20,0	2649
4	Caruana Fabiano	GM	ITA	2598	5,0	22,5	2666
5	Kveinys Aloyzas	GM	LTU	2521	5,0	22,5	2632
6	Halkias Stelios	GM	GRE	2580	5,0	21,5	2648
7	Mikhalevski Victor	GM	ISR	2632	5,0	21,5	2616
8	Hillarp Persson Tiger	GM	SWE	2535	5,0	19,5	2545
9	Lie Kjetil A	GM	NOR	2556	5,0	19,5	2590
10	Malakhatko Vadim	GM	BEL	2600	5,0	19,0	2610
11	Thorfinnsson Bragi	IM	ISL	2406	5,0	18,5	2502
12	Al-Modiahki Mohamad	GM	QAT	2569	5,0	18,5	2533
13	Gaponenko Inna	IM	UKR	2422	4,5	22,0	2608
14	Stefanova Antoaneta	GM	BUL	2464	4,5	20,0	2507
15	Meier Georg	GM	GER	2570	4,5	20,0	2507
16	Carlsson Pontus	GM	SWE	2501	4,5	19,5	2522
17	Paehtz Elisabeth	IM	GER	2420	4,5	19,5	2563
18	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	IM	SCO	2457	4,5	19,0	2461
19	Dizdar Goran	GM	CRO	2564	4,5	19,0	2507
20	Thorfinnsson Bjorn	FM	ISL	2364	4,5	18,5	2505
21	Tania Sachdev	IM	IND	2417	4,5	18,5	2532
22	Vavrak Peter	IM	SVK	2472	4,0	23,0	2556
23	Adly Ahmed	GM	EGY	2551	4,0	22,5	2505
24	Lie Espen	IM	NOR	2428	4,0	22,0	2561
25	Robson Ray	FM	USA	2389	4,0	21,5	2497
26	Galego Luis	GM	POR	2529	4,0	21,0	2479
27	Bjornsson Sigurbjorn	FM	ISL	2286	4,0	20,0	2455
28	Malisauskas Vidmantas	GM	LTU	2489	4,0	19,5	2438
29	Kristjansson Stefan	IM	ISL	2476	4,0	19,5	2395
30	Gunnarsson Jon Viktor	IM	ISL	2429	4,0	19,5	2493
31	Nataf Igor-Alexandre	GM	FRA	2552	4,0	19,5	2371
32	Jankovic Alojzije	GM	CRO	2541	4,0	19,0	2404
33	Bojkov Dejan	IM	BUL	2523	4,0	19,0	2392
34	Miezis Normunds	GM	LAT	2553	4,0	18,5	2410
35	Danielsen Henrik	GM	ISL	2506	4,0	18,5	2392
36	Nyzhnyk Illya	FM	UKR	2405	4,0	18,0	2359
37	Popovic Milos T	IM	SRB	2405	4,0	17,5	2326
38	Grover Sahaj	FM	IND	2242	4,0	17,0	2378
39	Lagerman Robert	FM	ISL	2348	4,0	16,0	2303
40	Bjarnason Saevar	IM	ISL	2226	4,0	15,5	2318
41	Jackova Jana	IM	CZE	2375	4,0	13,0	2218
42	Simutowe Amon	IM	ZAM	2457	3,5	21,0	2394
43	Perunovic Miodrag	IM	SRB	2440	3,5	2364
91 players

4) Bundesliga

The German Bundesliga for 2007-8 takes place 19th October 2007 - 20th April 2008. Rounds 10 and 11 took place 8th-9th March 2008. Next rounds 5th-6th April 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.phpand statistics also at: http://www.godesbergersk.de/bundesliga-statistik/.

Bundesliga Rounds 10-11 8-9 iii 2008
Round 10 8/3/2008
Venue: Bindlach
	Bindlach-Aktionä	4½-3½	SC Kreuzberg
1	Navara,David	0-1	Sargissian,Ga	2
2	Baklan,Vladim	1-0	Luther,Thomas	5
3	Laznicka,Vikt	1-0	Kalinitschew,	7
4	Baramidze,Dav	1-0	Volke,Karsten	8
5	Bindrich,Falk	0-1	Moser,Eva	10
7	Slobodjan,Rom	½-½	Loeffler,Stef	11
9	Markos,Jan	0-1	Schilow,Vladi	12
10	Stohl,Igor Dr	1-0	Huth,Kevin	16
	Erfurter SK	4-4	SK Zehlendorf
1	Kraemer,Marti	0-1	Maksimenko,An	3
2	Votava,Jan	1-0	Novikov,Stani	4
3	Haba,Petr	½-½	Berczes,David	6
4	Kuczynski,Rob	½-½	Prohaszka,Pet	8
5	Machelett,Hei	½-½	Meister,Jakov	9
6	Mueller,Matth	0-1	Berger,Steve	10
7	Enders,Peter	½-½	Orzech,Domini	12
8	Casper,Thomas	1-0	Brener,Ilia	15
Venue: Eppingen
	SC Eppingen	3-5	OSC Baden Baden
1	Tiviakov,Serg	½-½	Svidler,Peter	2
2	Berkes,Ferenc	½-½	Bacrot,Etienn	5
3	Braun,Arik	0-1	Nisipeanu,Liv	6
4	Gyimesi,Zolta	½-½	Movsesian,Ser	7
5	Balogh,Csaba	½-½	Harikrishna,P	9
6	Acs,Peter	0-1	Naiditsch,Ark	10
7	Guliyev,Namig	½-½	Schlosser,Phi	13
8	Medvegy,Zolta	½-½	Doettling,Fab	14
	TV Tegernsee	4-4	SC Trier
1	Volokitin,And	1-0	Cyborowski,Lu	2
4	Khenkin,Igor	½-½	Flumbort,Andr	4
5	Sokolov,Andre	½-½	Jaracz,Pawel	5
6	Ribli,Zoltan	0-1	Parligras,Mir	6
7	Rozentalis,Ed	1-0	Gonda,Laszlo	7
10	Boensch,Uwe	½-½	Galyas,Miklos	8
11	Kindermann,St	½-½	Seger,Ruedige	9
14	Gross,David	0-1	Cioara,Andrei	11
Venue: Muelheim
	SV Mülheim Nord	5½-2½	SC Remagen
2	Landa,Konstan	½-½	Miroshnichenk	3
3	Fridman,Danie	½-½	Avrukh,Boris	4
4	Vachier-Lagra	½-½	Fedorchuk,Ser	5
5	Tregubov,Pave	1-0	Goloshchapov,	6
7	Golod,Vitali	½-½	Degraeve,Jean	7
8	Berelovich,Al	1-0	Popovic,Petar	8
10	Levin,Felix	1-0	Mainka,Romual	9
13	Schebler,Gerh	½-½	Swinkels,Robi	12
	SF Katernberg	6-2	Godesberger SK
1	Motylev,Alexa	½-½	Kasimdzhanov,	1
2	L'Ami,Erwin	½-½	Lutz,Christop	2
4	Postny,Evgeny	1-0	Sprenger,Jan-	3
6	Chuchelov,Vla	1-0	Likavsky,Toma	7
7	Firman,Nazar	1-0	Breder,Dennis	8
9	Senff,Martin	½-½	Jackelen,Thom	9
11	Ris,Robert	1-0	Seul,Georg	10
12	Souleidis,Geo	½-½	Dranov,Alexan	11
Venue: Hamburg
	Hamburger SK	3½-4½	SG Aljechin Soli
2	Gustafsson,Ja	1-0	Stellwagen,Da	1
3	Ftacnik,Lubom	½-½	Nikolic,Predr	2
4	Kempinski,Rob	½-½	Jussupow,Artu	3
7	Mueller,Karst	1-0	Naumann,Alexa	5
8	Heinemann,Thi	0-1	Werle,Jan	6
9	Beikert,Guent	½-½	Hoffmann,Mich	7
11	Sebastian,Dir	0-1	Ragger,Markus	8
15	Huschenbeth,N	0-1	Ernst,Sipke	10
	Werder Bremen	5-3	SV Wattenscheid
1	McShane,Luke	0-1	Eljanov,Pavel	1
2	Efimenko,Zaha	0-1	Najer,Evgeniy	2
3	Areshchenko,A	½-½	Rustemov,Alex	4
4	Fressinet,Lau	1-0	Johannessen,L	5
7	Hracek,Zbynek	½-½	Appel,Ralf	8
8	Nyback,Tomi	1-0	Holzke,Frank	9
9	Babula,Vlasti	1-0	Handke,Floria	10
11	Fish,Gennadij	1-0	Straeter,Timo	13
Round 11 9/3/2008
Venue: Bindlach
	SC Kreuzberg	3-5	Erfurter SK
2	Sargissian,Ga	1-0	Kraemer,Marti	1
5	Luther,Thomas	½-½	Votava,Jan	2
6	Tischbierek,R	0-1	Haba,Petr	3
7	Kalinitschew,	½-½	Kuczynski,Rob	4
8	Volke,Karsten	½-½	Machelett,Hei	5
10	Moser,Eva	0-1	Mueller,Matth	6
11	Loeffler,Stef	0-1	Enders,Peter	7
12	Schilow,Vladi	½-½	Casper,Thomas	8
	SK Zehlendorf	3-5	Bindlach-Aktionä
3	Maksimenko,An	½-½	Navara,David	1
4	Novikov,Stani	½-½	Baklan,Vladim	2
6	Berczes,David	0-1	Laznicka,Vikt	3
8	Prohaszka,Pet	0-1	Baramidze,Dav	4
9	Meister,Jakov	½-½	Bindrich,Falk	5
10	Berger,Steve	½-½	Slobodjan,Rom	7
12	Orzech,Domini	½-½	Markos,Jan	9
15	Brener,Ilia	½-½	Stohl,Igor Dr	10
Venue: Eppingen
	OSC Baden Baden	5½-2½	TV Tegernsee
2	Svidler,Peter	1-0	Volokitin,And	1
5	Bacrot,Etienn	½-½	Khenkin,Igor	4
6	Nisipeanu,Liv	½-½	Sokolov,Andre	5
7	Movsesian,Ser	½-½	Ribli,Zoltan	6
9	Harikrishna,P	½-½	Rozentalis,Ed	7
10	Naiditsch,Ark	1-0	Boensch,Uwe	10
13	Schlosser,Phi	½-½	Kindermann,St	11
14	Doettling,Fab	1-0	Gross,David	14
	SC Trier	2-6	SC Eppingen
2	Cyborowski,Lu	0-1	Tiviakov,Serg	1
4	Flumbort,Andr	½-½	Berkes,Ferenc	2
5	Jaracz,Pawel	0-1	Braun,Arik	3
6	Parligras,Mir	½-½	Gyimesi,Zolta	4
7	Gonda,Laszlo	½-½	Balogh,Csaba	5
8	Galyas,Miklos	0-1	Acs,Peter	6
9	Seger,Ruedige	0-1	Guliyev,Namig	7
11	Cioara,Andrei	½-½	Medvegy,Zolta	8
Venue: Muelheim
	SC Remagen	4-4	SF Katernberg
3	Miroshnichenk	½-½	Motylev,Alexa	1
4	Avrukh,Boris	½-½	L'Ami,Erwin	2
5	Fedorchuk,Ser	0-1	Postny,Evgeny	4
6	Goloshchapov,	1-0	Chuchelov,Vla	6
7	Degraeve,Jean	0-1	Firman,Nazar	7
8	Popovic,Petar	½-½	Senff,Martin	9
9	Mainka,Romual	1-0	Siebrecht,Seb	10
12	Swinkels,Robi	½-½	Ris,Robert	11
	Godesberger SK	1½-6½	SV Mülheim Nord
1	Kasimdzhanov,	½-½	Landa,Konstan	2
2	Lutz,Christop	½-½	Fridman,Danie	3
3	Sprenger,Jan-	0-1	Vachier-Lagra	4
7	Likavsky,Toma	0-1	Tregubov,Pave	5
9	Jackelen,Thom	½-½	Golod,Vitali	7
11	Dranov,Alexan	0-1	Berelovich,Al	8
13	Armbruster,Al	0-1	Levin,Felix	10
15	Samorukova,Ja	0-1	Schebler,Gerh	13
Venue: Hamburg
	SG Aljechin Soli	3½-4½	Werder Bremen
1	Stellwagen,Da	½-½	McShane,Luke	1
2	Nikolic,Predr	½-½	Efimenko,Zaha	2
3	Jussupow,Artu	½-½	Areshchenko,A	3
5	Naumann,Alexa	½-½	Fressinet,Lau	4
6	Werle,Jan	½-½	Hracek,Zbynek	7
7	Hoffmann,Mich	½-½	Nyback,Tomi	8
8	Ragger,Markus	0-1	Babula,Vlasti	9
10	Ernst,Sipke	½-½	Fish,Gennadij	11
	SV Wattenscheid	4½-3½	Hamburger SK
1	Eljanov,Pavel	½-½	Gustafsson,Ja	2
2	Najer,Evgeniy	1-0	Ftacnik,Lubom	3
4	Rustemov,Alex	½-½	Kempinski,Rob	4
5	Johannessen,L	½-½	Mueller,Karst	7
8	Appel,Ralf	½-½	Heinemann,Thi	8
9	Holzke,Frank	½-½	Beikert,Guent	9
10	Handke,Floria	½-½	Reeh,Oliver	10
13	Straeter,Timo	½-½	Sebastian,Dir	11

Bundesliga Rounds 11 Standings
1	OSC Baden Baden	11	22	61½
2	SV Mülheim Nord	11	17	54½
3	Werder Bremen	11	16	50½
4	Bindlach-Aktionä	11	15	47½
5	TV Tegernsee	11	13	44½
6	SF Katernberg	11	12	44½
7	SG Aljechin Soli	11	11	47
8	SC Eppingen	11	10	42½
9	SC Trier	11	10	40½
10	SV Wattenscheid	11	10	40½
11	Hamburger SK	11	9	43½
12	Erfurter SK	11	8	38½
13	SC Remagen	11	7	39½
14	SK Zehlendorf	11	7	37½
15	SC Kreuzberg	11	5	40
16	Godesberger SK	11	4	31½

5) Ibero-Americano Championship

The II Ibero-Americano Championship saw its second phase take place in Linares, Spain 28th February - 8th March 2008. There were two double round robin groups of four players followed by a final won by Julio Granda Zuniga against Eduardo Iturrizaga and a 3rd-4th playoff won by Giovanni Vescovi.

Official sites: http://www.fibda.com/ and http://www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx/

II ch-Ibero-Americano Gp A Linares (ESP), 15-19 ii 2008											cat. XIII (2571)
					1		2		3		4
1.	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2588	*	*	1	0	½	½	1	½	3½	2622
2.	Flores, Diego	m	ARG	2558	0	1	*	*	1	½	0	1	3½	2632
3.	Hernandez Carmenates, Holden	g	CUB	2590	½	½	0	½	*	*	1	0	2½	2507
4.	De la Riva Aguado, Oscar	g	AND	2548	0	½	1	0	0	1	*	*	2½	2521

II ch-Ibero-Americano Gp B Linares (ESP), 15-19 ii 2008											cat. XII (2550)
					1		2		3		4
1.	Iturrizaga, Eduardo	m	VEN	2470	*	*	1	½	0	1	½	1	4	2701
2.	Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	2617	0	½	*	*	½	1	0	1	3	2527
3.	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	g	CUB	2607	1	0	½	0	*	*	0	1	2½	2473
4.	Bachmann, Axel	g	PAR	2505	½	0	1	0	1	0	*	*	2½	2507

II ch-Ibero-Americano Gp A Linares Playoff 5 iii 2008
Flores, Diego	- Granda Zuniga, Julio E	0-1	56	D36	QGD Exchange
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	- Flores, Diego	½-½	52	B07	Pirc Defence

II ch-Ibero-Americano Gp A P/O Linares ESP (ESP), 5 iii 2008
				1	2
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2588	1	½	1½	2751
Flores, Diego	m	ARG	2558	0	½	½	2395

II ch-Ibero-Americano 3rd-4th Linares ESP (ESP), 6-7 iii 2008
Vescovi, Giovanni	- Flores, Diego	1-0	68	E91	King's Indian Classical
Flores, Diego	- Vescovi, Giovanni	0-1	35	D40	Semi-Tarrasch Defence

II ch-Ibero-Americano 3rd-4th Linares (ESP), 6-7 iii 2008
				1	2
Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	2617	1	1	2
Flores, Diego	m	ARG	2558	0	0	0

II ch-Ibero-Americano Final Linares ESP (ESP), 6-7 iii 2008
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	- Iturrizaga, Eduardo	0-1	129	D38	QGD Ragozin
Iturrizaga, Eduardo	- Granda Zuniga, Julio E	0-1	41	E15	Queens Indian
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	- Iturrizaga, Eduardo	½-½	77	E20	Nimzo Indian
Iturrizaga, Eduardo	- Granda Zuniga, Julio E	0-1	52	D45	Anti-Meran Variations

II ch-Ibero-Americano Final Linares ESP (ESP), 6-7 iii 2008
				1	2	3	4
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2588	0	1	½	1	2½	2565
Iturrizaga, Eduardo	m	VEN	2470	1	0	½	0	1½	2501

6) First Saturday March

The First Saturday February GM-IM-FM closed tournaments take place in Budapest 1st-14th March 2008. (break 2nd March for team events)

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

FSGM March Budapest HUN cat. VIII (2448)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Ilincic, Zlatko	g	SRB	2561	*	0	.	½	.	1	½	1	.	.	.	.	1	½	4½	2525
2.	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	f	VIE	2398	1	*	½	.	.	.	.	½	.	½	.	½	½	1	4½	2526
3.	Fodor, Tamas jr	f	HUN	2407	.	½	*	½	.	½	½	1	½	.	½	.	.	.	4	2516
4.	Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	m	CAN	2442	½	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	1	½	½	½	.	.	4	2523
5.	Varga, Zoltan	g	HUN	2506	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	½	½	½	½	.	1	½	4	2480
6.	Garbisu de Goni, Unai	m	ESP	2464	0	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	½	½	1	1	.	½	4	2513
7.	Bui Vinh	m	VIE	2482	½	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	0	1	.	0	1	1	4	2479
8.	Antal, Gergely	m	HUN	2467	0	½	0	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	1	1	1	4	2482
9.	Szabo, Krisztian1	m	HUN	2500	.	.	½	0	½	½	1	.	*	½	½	.	.	.	3½	2456
10.	Wang Puchen	m	NZL	2383	.	½	.	½	½	½	0	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	3	2421
11.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2511	.	.	½	½	½	0	.	.	½	½	*	½	.	.	3	2399
12.	Llaneza Vega, Marcos	m	ESP	2445	.	½	.	½	.	0	1	0	.	.	½	*	0	.	2½	2331
13.	Porat, Ido	f	ISR	2272	0	½	.	.	0	.	0	0	.	.	.	1	*	1	2½	2368
14.	Rajlich, Iweta	m	POL	2437	½	0	.	.	½	½	0	0	.	.	.	.	0	*	1½	2220

FSIM March Budapest HUN, 1-14 iii 2008 cat. II (2285)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3
1.	To, Nhat Minh		HUN	2293	*	.	.	½	.	½	½	1	1	1	.	.	1	5½	2493
2.	Werner, Dimo	m	GER	2293	.	*	1	½	.	½	½	.	.	1	.	½	½	4½	2379
3.	Balla, Tamas	f	ROU	2341	.	0	*	.	.	½	1	.	.	1	1	½	.	4	2371
4.	Gara, Anita	wg	HUN	2325	½	½	.	*	1	.	.	0	1	.	1	0	.	4	2344
5.	Duong The Anh	f	VIE	2381	.	.	.	0	*	1	.	1	½	0	.	.	1	3½	2317
6.	Schmidt, Raul		ROU	2160	½	½	½	.	0	*	.	0	.	.	1	1	.	3½	2303
7.	Szamoskozi, Gabor		HUN	2280	½	½	0	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	½	1	.	3	2278
8.	Lorand, Norbert		HUN	2259	0	.	.	1	0	1	.	*	0	.	.	.	½	2½	2241
9.	Llaneza Vega, Patricia	wm	ESP	2281	0	.	.	0	½	.	.	1	*	.	0	.	1	2½	2254
10.	Porat, Maya		ISR	2190	0	0	0	.	1	.	½	.	.	*	0	1	.	2½	2204
11.	Lengyel, Bela	m	HUN	2261	.	.	0	0	.	0	½	.	1	1	*	.	0	2½	2173
12.	Szegi, Tomas		SVK	2293	.	½	½	1	.	0	0	.	.	0	.	*	.	2	2139
13.	Szeberenyi, Adam	m	HUN	2350	0	½	.	.	0	.	.	½	0	.	1	.	*	2	2169

7) 65th Polish Championship

The 65th Polish Chess Championship took place in Lublin 25th February - 9th March 2008. Bartosz Socko took clear first place with 9/13.

Official site: http://www.lzszach.lublin.pl/mpm2008/

65th ch-POL Lublin (POL), 2 ii-9 iii 2008																cat. XIII (2553)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Socko, Bartosz	g	POL	2635	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	9	2687
2.	Macieja, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2617	½	*	1	½	0	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	½	8½	2658
3.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2614	½	0	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	8½	2658
4.	Dziuba, Marcin	g	POL	2556	½	½	½	*	0	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	8½	2662
5.	Gajewski, Grzegorz	g	POL	2594	0	1	½	1	*	½	½	0	½	½	½	1	1	1	8	2636
6.	Miton, Kamil	g	POL	2609	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	7½	2605
7.	Bobras, Piotr	g	POL	2581	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	6½	2550
8.	Bartel, Mateusz	g	POL	2613	½	0	0	0	1	½	½	*	½	½	0	1	1	1	6½	2548
9.	Heberla, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2506	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	6	2527
10.	Grabarczyk, Miroslaw	g	POL	2476	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	6	2529
11.	Czakon, Jakub	m	POL	2504	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	1	½	½	*	0	1	1	5½	2499
12.	Moranda, Wojciech	m	POL	2533	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	1	*	½	0	5	2467
13.	Lubczynski, Rafal	m	POL	2413	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	*	1	4	2422
14.	Szoen, Dariusz	m	POL	2491	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	*	1½	2221

8) 65th Georgian Women's Championship

The 65th Georgian Women's Championship takes place in Tbilisi 28th February - 12th March 2008. News: Varlam Vepkhvishvili, games entered by Marika Japaridze my thanks for her help. Sopio Gvetadze has withdrawn and her games won't count towards the final standings. I have reworked the table to reflect that.

65th ch-GEO w Tbilisi GEO 28 ii-12 iii 2008 cat. IV (2328)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3
1.	Melia, Salome	wg	GEO	2362	*	½	.	½	½	½	1	.	1	1	1	½	1	7½	2524
2.	Dzagnidze, Nana	m	GEO	2429	½	*	½	.	1	1	.	1	1	0	1	0	1	7	2460
3.	Khukhashvili, Sopiko	m	GEO	2387	.	½	*	1	1	½	½	1	1	½	0	.	½	6½	2435
4.	Lomineishvili, Maia	m	GEO	2410	½	.	0	*	½	0	1	0	½	.	1	1	1	5½	2333
5.	Charkhalashvili, Inga	wg	GEO	2369	½	0	0	½	*	1	½	.	½	1	0	1	½	5½	2335
6.	Tsatsalashvili, Keti	wf	GEO	2214	½	0	½	1	0	*	½	½	.	1	.	½	½	5	2346
7.	Guramishvili, Sopiko	wm	GEO	2300	0	.	½	0	½	½	*	1	1	0	1	½	.	5	2321
8.	Tereladze, Sopiko	wm	GEO	2195	.	0	0	1	.	½	0	*	0	1	½	1	1	5	2333
9.	Khotenashvili, Bela	wg	GEO	2271	0	0	0	½	½	.	0	1	*	½	1	1	.	4½	2309
10.	Khurtsidze, Nino	m	GEO	2441	0	1	½	.	0	0	1	0	½	*	0	1	½	4½	2244
11.	Khurtsilava, Inga	wm	GEO	2312	0	0	1	0	1	.	0	½	0	1	*	.	½	4	2276
12.	Nikoladze, Sopio	wm	GEO	2251	½	1	.	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	.	*	1	3½	2220
13.	Batsiashvili, Nino	wm	GEO	2317	0	0	½	0	½	½	.	0	.	½	½	0	*	2½	2144

9) 24th Bad Wörishofen Schachfestival

The 24th Bad Wörishofen Schachfestival took place 28th February - 7th March 2008. Vladimir Burmakin took first place on Buchholz tie-break after 6 players finished on 7/9.

Official site: http://chessorg.de/bad_woerishofen.php

24th Bad Wörishofen Schachfestival 28th ii - 7th iii 2008
Platz	Name	Pkt.	Buch.	Feinw.
1.	Burmakin Vladimir	7.0	56.50	461.00
2.	Georgiev Vladimir	7.0	54.50	453.50
3.	Borovikov Vladislav	7.0	54.00	456.50
4.	Drozdovsky Yuriy	7.0	53.50	452.00
5.	Teske Henrik	7.0	53.00	437.00
6.	Rozentalis Eduardas	7.0	51.00	445.00
7.	Iotov Valentin	6.5	53.50	449.00
8.	Kunin Vitaly	6.5	53.50	431.00
9.	Epishin Vladimir	6.5	52.50	448.00
10.	Lupor Andre	6.5	51.50	423.50
11.	Pirrot Dieter	6.5	49.00	423.50
12.	Anistratov Dimitrij	6.5	49.00	403.50
13.	Ivanov Michail	6.5	46.50	426.00
14.	Babar Michael	6.5	46.00	401.00
15.	Skembris Spyridon	6.0	53.00	423.50
16.	De Francesco Klaus	6.0	52.00	424.50
17.	Zdebskaja Natalia	6.0	49.00	420.00
18.	Karpatchev Alexander	6.0	49.00	417.50
19.	Loew Gerald	6.0	48.50	423.50
20.	Bronznik Valeri	6.0	48.50	412.00
21.	Salvermoser Bernd	6.0	47.00	411.50
22.	Trabert Bettina	6.0	44.50	394.00
23.	Stuemer Paul	6.0	44.00	403.50
24.	Gerstner Bernhard	6.0	44.00	395.00
167 players

10) L'Ami vs Stellwagen Complete Chess Match

The "Chess Events Maastricht Foundation" organised a four game "complete chess" match between Erwin L'Ami and Daniel Stellwagen 3rd-6th March 2008. The rules were that both players were allowed to use a computer during the games, as in Advanced Chess. The time limit was 40 moves in two hours, followed by 20 in one hour and finally 15 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. Advanced Chess with the time limits of Classic Chess is called Complete Chess. The first moves were forced: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6, the Two Knights Defence. The first and second game continued with the main line 4. d4, the third and fourth game with the classical move 4. Ng5. The match finished in a 2-2 draw.

http://www.chessevents.nl/ast_match.shtml

Complete Chess Match Maastricht (NED), 3-6 iii 2008
Stellwagen, Daniël	- L'Ami, Erwin	½-½	43	C56	Two Knights Defence
L'Ami, Erwin	- Stellwagen, Daniël	½-½	40	C56	Two Knights Defence
L'Ami, Erwin	- Stellwagen, Daniël	½-½	53	C59	Two Knights Defence
Stellwagen, Daniël	- L'Ami, Erwin	½-½	36	C58	Two Knights Defence

Complete Chess Match Maastricht (NED), 3-6 iii 2008
				1	2	3	4
L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2581	½	½	½	½	2	2625
Stellwagen, Daniël	g	NED	2625	½	½	½	½	2	2581

11) 3rd l'Ouest Toulousain Open

The 3rd Open de l'Ouest Toulousain, Colomiers took place 25th February - 2nd March 2008. Ramon Mateo won the event with 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.colomiers-chess.com/

"3rd l'Ouest Toulousain Open Colomiers (FRA), 25 ii-2 iii 2008
Pl	Name	ti	NAT	Rat.	Pts	Tr.	Bu.	Perf.	FFE
1	Mateo, Ramon	m	DOM	2484	7,5	44	53	2631	2636
2	Kasparov, Sergey	g	BLR	2458	7	44,5	55	2594	2636
3	Libiszewski, Fabien	m	FRA	2468	7	40	49,5	2509	2503
4	Abbasov, Farid	g	AZE	2519	6,5	44,5	53,5	2550	2548
5	Miladinovic, Igor	g	SRB	2604	6,5	44	52,5	2524	2442
6	Arutinian, David	g	GEO	2576	6,5	43	53	2559	2544
7	Fomichenko, Eduard	m	RUS	2476	6,5	43	52,5	2492	2486
8	Babaev, Rashad	g	AZE	2468	6,5	42,5	51,5	2511	2513
9	Barsov, Alexei	g	UZB	2521	6,5	42	50	2504	2488
10	Doncea, Vladimir		ROU	2444	6	46	56	2526	2545
11	Abergel, Thal	m	FRA	2517	6	43	52	2464	2445
12	Sasu-Ducsoara, Andreea-Teodora	wm	ROU	2223	6	42	48,5	2383	2461
13	Marholev, Dimitar	m	BUL	2401	6	40,5	49,5	2389	2381
14	Kasparova, Tatiana	wm	BLR	2167	6	40,5	47	2317	2337
15	Ivanova, Svetlana	wg	UKR	2302	6	38,5	45,5	2260	2244
16	Hervet, Gilles		FRA	2010	6	35	40	2206	2240
17	Collas, Didier	m	FRA	2441	5,5	44	52,5	2463	2469
18	Peric, Slavisa	m	SRB	2258	5,5	42,5	50	2230	2222
19	Leconte, Maria	wg	FRA	2345	5,5	39	47	2271	2250
20	Leconte, Jean-Olivier	f	FRA	2316	5,5	38,5	47	2313	2313
21	Sanchez Rojo, Gustavo		ESP	2245	5,5	38	45,5	2147	2135
22	Sanchez, Nicolas		FRA	2216	5,5	38	45	2238	2247
23	Iwanesko, Alexandre		FRA	2010	5,5	38	44	2203	2237
24	Prasad, Devaki V	m	IND	2409	5,5	37,5	45	2269	2199
25	Cesbron, Guy		FRA	2108	5,5	34,5	41,5	2014	1989
26	Ouerk, Yanis		FRA	1875	5,5	34,5	41	2068	2101
27	Laurain, Dominique		FRA	2035	5,5	34,5	40,5	2073	2082
28	Collas, Silvia	m	FRA	2405	5,5	34	41	2204	1974
29	Zarrouati, Pierre		FRA	2160	5	40,5	48	2218	2234
30	Troubat, Michael		FRA	2085	5	40	47	2112	2116
91 players

12) Breizh Masters Guingamp

The Breizh Masters took place in Guingamp, France 22nd February - 1st March 2008. The main GM group was won by Dragos-Nicolae Dumitrache with 6.5/9 he also made a GM norm. Spas Kozhuharov won the IM Group with 7.5/9. Jean-Francois Jolly was second a point behind and he made an IM norm. There was an open won by Colin Vincent ahead of Sergey Fedorchuk on tie-break after both finished on 7.5/9. No games from the open are available.

Breizh Masters A Guingamp (FRA), 22 ii-1 iii 2008 cat. VIII (2441)
	Name	Ti	NAT	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts	SB	Ko.	Perf
1	Dumitrache, Dragos-Nicolae	m	ROM	2495	*	1	1	0	½	1	½	1	½	1	6,5	27,75	3,5	+12,44
2	Benitah, Yohan	m	FRA	2413	0	*	1	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	5,5	22,75	2,5	+13,93
3	Flear, Glenn C	g	ENG	2493	0	0	*	1	1	1	½	1	0	1	5,5	22,5	3	+2,69
4	Kozakov, Mikhail	g	UKR	2445	1	½	0	*	½	1	½	1	½	0	5	23	3	+4,49
5	Eliet, Nicolas	m	FRA	2453	½	½	0	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	4,5	19	2	-1,65
6	Janev, Evgeni	g	BUL	2485	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	1	½	1	4,5	17	1	-6,19
7	Le Roux, Jean-Pierre	m	FRA	2491	½	0	½	½	½	0	*	½	½	1	4	17	2	-12,06
8	Monroy, Charles	f	FRA	2380	0	½	0	0	½	0	½	*	1	1	3,5	13	1	-1,45
9	Terrieux, Kevin	f	FRA	2363	½	0	1	½	0	½	½	0	*	0	3	15,5	2,5	-4,13
10	Vernay, Clovis	f	FRA	2391	0	½	0	1	½	0	0	0	1	*	3	13	2	-7,94

Breizh Masters B Guingamp (FRA), 22 ii-1 iii 2008 cat. III (2318)
	Name	Ti	NAT	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pts	SB	Ko.	Perf
1	Kozhuharov, Spas	m	BUL	2456	*	1	½	1	½	1	½	1		1	1	7.5	28.5	3	+11.70
2	Jolly, Jean-Francois	f	FRA	2290	0	*	1	½	1	0	1	1		1	1	6.5	22.5	2.5	+24.05
3	Koziak, Vitali	m	UKR	2481	½	0	*	0	½	1	1	1		1	1	6	19.5	1	-6.19
4	Guilleux, Fabien		FRA	2345	0	½	1	*	½	1	½	½		½	½	5	20.25	2	+1.33
5	Le Goff, Damien		FRA	2217	½	0	½	½	*	0	1	0		1	1	4.5	15.25	1.5	+13.85
6	Alanic, Xavier		FRA	2284	0	1	0	0	1	*	½	0	½	1		4	15.25	2	-0.19
7	Mullon, Jean-Baptiste	f	FRA	2329	½	0	0	½	0	½	*	1	½	½		3.5	13.5	1	-11.40
8	Piankov, Evgenij	m	UKR	2348	0	0	0	½	1	1	0	*		½	½	3.5	12.25	1.5	-14.05
9	Van Dongen, Patrick	f	FRA	2371						½	½		*	1		2	5.25	0	+2.60
10	Ringoir, Tanguy		BEL	2229	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	*		1.5	6	0.5	-17.68
11	Aurel, Luc	f	FRA	2148	0	0	0	½	0			½			*	1	4.25	0.5	-5.19

12th Guingamp Open (FRA), 23 ii-1 iii 2008
Pl	Nom		Elo	Fede	Pts	Bu.	Tr.	Cu.	FFE
1	COLIN Vincent	m	2396	FRA	7,5	52,5	43,5	39,5	2486
2	FEDORCHUK Sergey A.	g	2652	UKR	7,5	50	43	34,5
3	BAUDON Andrew		1926	FRA	6,5	49,5	41,5	29,5	2194
4	LAURENT Bruno	m	2359	BEL	6,5	49,5	40,5	33	2097
5	INKIOV Ventzislav	g	2451	BUL	6,5	47	40	32,5	2401
6	FOSSET Francois		1999	BEL	6,5	47	39	32	2123
7	PEYRE Thomas		1894	FRA	6,5	44	36,5	28,5	2044
8	CROUAN Stephane	f	2206	FRA	6	54,5	45	36	2275
9	BODENEZ Vincent		2175	FRA	6	48,5	40	33,5	2141
10	LUCO Alain		2092	FRA	6	48,5	39,5	31,5	2150
11	BOUVET Laurent		2127	FRA	6	48	39,5	31	2081
12	STEPHAN Victor		2094	FRA	6	47	38,5	28,5	1993
13	BARRE Yann		1943	FRA	6	46	38	30	2083
14	NGUYEN-HUU Hoang		2100	FRA	6	43,5	36,5	28,5	2094
15	GERARD Nicolas	f	2283	FRA	5,5	55,5	45	34,5	2171
16	VIDENOVA Iva	ff	2188	BUL	5,5	50	41,5	31,5	2116
17	MARCILLE Florian		1985	FRA	5,5	47,5	40,5	31,5	2091
18	LE TALBODEC Emmanuel		1933	FRA	5,5	47,5	40,5	30	2112
19	PICART Laurent		2122	FRA	5,5	47,5	39,5	31,5	2041
20	SERRALTA Michel		2133	FRA	5,5	46,5	39	29,5	2038
21	MIGOT Tanguy		2023	FRA	5,5	46	38	28	2011
22	FOUSSARD Gervais		1764	FRA	5,5	43,5	38	22,5	1948
80 players

13) Russian u20 Championships

The Russian under-20 Championships for boys and girls takes place in St-Petersburg 8th-18th March 2008. News Boris Yeshan.

The winners qualify to participate in the World Championships under 20.

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

ch-RUS Boys u20 St Petersburg (RUS), 8-18 iii 2008 cat. X (2500)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Sjugirov, Sanan	m	RUS	2491	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1	.	.	2
2.	Lintchevski, Daniil	m	RUS	2440	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	2
3.	Chadaev, Nikolai	m	RUS	2471	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2709
4.	Romanov, Evgeny	g	RUS	2543	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2657
5.	Nechepurenko, Roman V	f	RUS	2495	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2724
6.	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	RUS	2573	.	.	.	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2509
7.	Rakhmanov, Aleksandr	g	RUS	2524	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	½	.	.	.	1	2524
8.	Shimanov, Aleksandr	m	RUS	2441	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	1	.	.	.	1	2483
9.	Papin, Vasily	m	RUS	2475	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	0	*	.	.	.	½	2289
10.	Popov, Ivan RUS	g	RUS	2595	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
11.	Lovkov, Roman	f	RUS	2457	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
12.	Ponkratov, Pavel	m	RUS	2489	.	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

ch-RUS Girls u20 St Petersburg RUS (RUS), 8-18 iii 2008 cat. I (2275)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	wf	RUS	2317	*	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1	.	2
2.	Charochkina, Daria	wm	RUS	2383	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	2
3.	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2295	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	2
4.	Savina, Anastasia		RUS	2202	.	.	.	*	.	½	.	1	.	.	.	.	1½	2472
5.	Shlakich, Anna		RUS	2244	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2506
6.	Vasilkova, Svetlana	wm	RUS	2359	.	.	.	½	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2223
7.	Ivakhinova, Inna	wm	RUS	2250	0	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	1	.	.	.	1	2272
8.	Severiukhina, Zoja	wf	RUS	2199	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	*	.	1	.	.	1	2272
9.	Ambartsumova, Karina	wf	RUS	2228	.	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	*	.	.	.	0
10.	Girya, Olga	wf	RUS	2342	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	*	.	.	0
11.	Meleshko, Anna	wm	RUS	2215	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
12.	Tarasova, Viktoriya	wm	RUS	2267	.	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

14) Blackpool Chess Congress

The Blackpool Chess Congress took place 7th-9th March 2008. Alexandre Dgebuadze won the event with 4.5/5 full details next week.

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

Reports: http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/blackpool/2008/index.htm

15) 126th Varsity Match

The 126th Varsity Match took place at the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London on 8 March 2008, sponsored by Henry Mutkin. The match was drawn 4-4. Cambridge still lead the series with 56 wins Oxford have 51. 19 matches have been drawn.

Coverage: http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/news/varsity2008.html

Varsity Match London (ENG), 8 iii 2008
Eckersley-Waites, Tom	Oxf	0-1	Cam	Wu, Li	54	B52	Sicilian Rossolimo
Roberson, Peter T	Cam	1/2	Oxf	Kangur, Alvar	44	B27	Sicilian Early Fianchetto
Wagner, Benedikt	Oxf	0-1	Cam	Eckersley-Waites, Adam	32	B07	Pirc Defence
Robertson,J Stuart	Cam	0-1	Oxf	Heaton, Robert J	24	A90	Dutch Classical
Schaper,Steffen	Oxf	1-0	Cam	Tyomkyn, Mikhail	53	B23	Sicilian Closed
Rohrmeier,Martin	Cam	1/2	Oxf	Bicknell,Carl	42	A57	Volga Gambit
Morris, Graham P	Oxf	1-0	Cam	Oozeerally,Tariq Hassen	41	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Kourtseva,Julie	Cam	1-0	Oxf	Salputra,Agnese	38	A00	Irregular Openings

16) Reykjavic Championship

The Reykjavic Championship took place 6th-25th January 2008. David Kjartansson won the event from Henrik Danielsen due to an unusual tie-break that I couldn't quite follow, conventional tables had him the winner.

Official site: http://www.taflfelag.is

ch-Reykjavik (ISL), 6-25 i 2008
1	Danielsen Henrik	GM	ISL	2506	7,0	43,0
2	Kjartansson David	FM	ISL	2288	7,0	42,5
3	Kjartansson Gudmundur	FM	ISL	2307	6,5	43,5
4	Bjornsson Sigurbjorn	FM	ISL	2286	6,5	40,0
5	Omarsson Dadi		ISL	1999	6,5	39,5
6	Bjornsson Sverrir Orn		ISL	2116	6,5	39,0
7	Johannesson Ingvar Thor	FM	ISL	2338	6,0	44,0
8	Sigfusson Sigurdur	FM	ISL	2313	6,0	43,5
9	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn		ISL	2247	6,0	42,0
10	Loftsson Hrafn		ISL	2248	6,0	40,0
11	Olafsson Thorvardur		ISL	2144	6,0	38,5
12	Eliasson Kristjan Orn		ISL	1917	6,0	35,0
13	Ragnarsson Johann		ISL	2085	5,5	42,0
14	Einarsson Halldor	FM	ISL	2279	5,5	39,0
15	Thorgeirsson Sverrir		ISL	2120	5,5	38,5
16	Oskarsson Aron Ingi		ISL	1868	5,5	35,0
17	Thorsteinsdottir Hallgerdur		ISL	1867	5,5	33,0
18	Bjarnason Saevar	IM	ISL	2226	5,0	39,5
19	Edvardsson Kristjan		ISL	2261	5,0	38,5
20	Baldursson Haraldur		ISL	2033	5,0	35,5
21	Asbjornsson Ingvar		ISL	2020	5,0	35,0
22	Haraldsson Sigurjon		ISL	2046	5,0	31,5
23	Jonsson Bjorn		ISL	0	5,0	30,0

17) 43rd Cyprus Championship

The 43rd Cyprus Championship took place 19th January - 2nd March 2008. The 11 round swiss was won by Vassilis Aristotelous with 8.5/11.

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

ch-CYP Limassol (CYP), 19 i-9 iii 2008
Pl	Name	Ti	NAT	Rat	Pts	M-Buch.	Buch	Progr.	Wins
1	Aristotelous, Vassilis		CYP	1941	8.5	56.5	67.5	46.5	8
2	Antoniou, Antonis		CYP	2183	8	61	74.5	50	5
3	Paunescu,Valentin		CYP	----	8	59.5	71.5	54.5	7
4	Klerides, Paris	f	CYP	2199	8	58	71	47	6
5	Savva, Panikos		CYP	2086	7.5	63	76	48	6
6	Sarmadi, Ashkan		CYP	1970	7.5	59	70	45.5	7
7	Constantinou,Pavlos		CYP	----	7	61.5	75	45	6
8	Florentiades, Michalis		CYP	2080	7	53.5	65	44.5	5
9	Abatzidis, Stelios		CYP	2036	6.5	53.5	65	40	5
10	Avsitidiysky,Andrey		CYP	----	6.5	53	64	38	4
11	Markidou,Christianna		CYP	----	6	57.5	70.5	39	6
12	Lazaris,Stelios		CYP	----	6	54	65.5	37	5
13	Vassiliou,Costas		CYP	----	6	52	63	38	5
14	Georgiades,Michalis		CYP	----	6	50.5	62	37	6
15	Alepides,Soullis		CYP	----	6	46	56.5	33	4
16	Papouis,Diomidis		CYP	----	6	44.5	55	29	4
17	Kassinopoullos, Doros		CYP	2118	5.5	60.5	74	42.5	4
18	Zacharoplastis,Pambos		CYP	----	5.5	51.5	62.5	31.5	4
19	Georgiou,Andreas		CYP	----	5.5	50	63	32.5	5
20	Katsikides,Pavlos		CYP	----	5.5	46	57	28.5	4
21	Damianou,Pantelis		CYP	----	5.5	43.5	54	30.5	4
22	Evdokiou,Neofytos		CYP	----	5.5	43.5	53.5	29.5	4
23	Panagiotou,Andreas		CYP	----	5	46.5	57.5	33	5
24	Jebejian,Vahe		CYP	----	5	45.5	55	31.5	1
25	Poullis,Giannos		CYP	----	5	40.5	49.5	25.5	4
26	Economides,Neofytos		CYP	----	5	40	50	22	3
27	Kelires,Andreas		CYP	----	4.5	41.5	51	24.5	2
28	Zardiles,Nikos		CYP	----	4	45.5	56.5	23	2
29	Alepides,Alexis		CYP	----	4	45	56	28	4
30	Touzopoullos,Panayiotis		CYP	----	4	42	52.5	16	1
31	Theofylou,Andreas		CYP	----	4	40.5	50	25	3
32	Kasparis,Nikolas		CYP	----	2.5	46.5	58	22.5	1
33	Andreou,Andreas		CYP	----	2.5	43	52.5	24.5	1
34	Pavlou,Giannis		CYP	----	2.5	41.5	51	18.5	2
35	Adamou,Christodoulos		CYP	----	3.5	41.5	50	18.5	1
36	Athanasiou,Giorgos		CYP	----	0	8	8	0	0

18) Mediterranean Flowers WGM tournament

The Mediterranean Flowers Women's GM Chess Tournament took place in Rijeka, Croatia 1st-9th March 2008. Carolina Lujan took clear first with 8.5/10.

Results &smp; games: http://sah.posluh.hr/draga/rijeka/rijeka.htm

Cvijet Mediterana Rijeka (CRO), 1-8 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1
1.	Lujan, Carolina	m	ARG	2365	*	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	8½	2500
2.	Ionica, Iulia-Ionela	wm	ROU	2251	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	7½	2409
3.	Voicu, Carmen	wg	ROU	2290	0	½	*	1	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	6	2284
4.	Vojinovic, Jovana		MNE	2207	0	0	0	*	1	½	1	½	1	1	½	5½	2256
5.	Maisuradze, Nino	wm	GEO	2270	0	0	½	0	*	1	½	1	1	½	1	5½	2250
6.	Medic, Mirjana	wg	CRO	2248	½	½	½	½	0	*	½	½	½	½	1	5	2216
7.	Sargac, Rajna	wm	CRO	2197	½	0	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	½	4½	2185
8.	Franciskovic, Borka	wm	CRO	2238	0	½	1	½	0	½	½	*	0	½	½	4	2145
9.	Jelica, Mara	wm	CRO	2163	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	1	*	½	1	4	2152
10.	Coimbra, Margarida	wf	POR	2124	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	2½	2035
11.	Berke, Ana		CRO	2059	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	*	2	1995

19) Bunratty Chess Festival

The Bunratty Chess Festival took place 22nd-24th February 2008. Peter Svidler won the event with 5.5/6. Games now available.

Official site: http://members.aol.com/bunrattychess/

Bunratty Chess Festival 22-24 ii 2008 Final Round 6 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	NAT	Rat	Pts
1	Svidler, Peter	GM	RUS	2763	5.5
2	Baburin, Alexander	GM	IRL	2542	5
3	Pert, Nicholas	GM	ENG	2528	4.5
4	Lopez, Alex	FM	IRL	2340	4.5
5	Thorfinnsson, Bjorn	FM	ISL	2364	4.5
6	Johannesson, Ingvar Thor	FM	ISL	2338	4.5
7	Quinn, Mark	IM	IRL	2403	4
8	Jones, Gawain	GM	ENG	2562	4
9	Wall, Gavin	IM	ENG	2305	4
10	Heidenfeld, Mark	IM	IRL	2343	4
11	Collins, Sam	IM	IRL	2394	3.5
12	Short, Philip	FM	IRL	2300	3.5
13	Cooper, Lawrence	IM	ENG	2306	3.5
14	Heinrich, Jan		SVK	2133	3.5
15	Gunnarsson, Jon	IM	ISL	2429	3.5
16	McPhillips, Karl		IRL	2236	3.5
17	Murphy, Dara		IRL	1956	3.5
18	Williams, Simon	GM	ENG	2482	3
19	Galligan, Brian		IRL	2041	3
20	Bjornsson, Gunnar		ISL	2149	3
21	Einarsson, Kristinn		ISL	2067	3
22	Aoustin, Arnaud		FRA	2130	3
23	Griffiths, Ryan-Rhys		IRL	2039	3
24	Quinn, Rory		IRL	2122	3
25	Fleuren, Jan		NED	2123	3
26	Wolferink, Frans		NED	2163	3
27	Healy, Tom		IRL	2016	3
28	Wijnhoven, Theo		NED	2039	3
29	O'Shea, Kevin		IOM	2035	3
30	Fox, Anthony		IRL	2100	2.5
31	Fitzsimons, David		IRL	2115	2.5
32	Osborne, Sam		IRL	2045	2.5
33	Murray, David		IRL	2019	2.5
34	Wilson, Alexandra	WFM	SUI	2070	2.5
35	Orr, Mark	IM	SCO	2258	2.5
36	Hanly, Steven		IRL	2020	2.5
37	Cafolla, Peter		IRL	2048	2.5
38	Schoonenberg, Olav		NED	2036	2.5
39	O'Connor, Eddie		IRL	2003	2.5
40	Armstrong, Malcolm		ENG	2109	2
41	Lyons, Brendan		IRL	2115	2
42	McCabe, Darren		IRL	2106	2
43	O'Donoghue, D.J.		IRL	2090	2
44	Delaney, Killian		IRL	2001	2
45	Short, Stephen		IRL	2033	1.5
46	Crichton, Martin		ENG	2109	1.5
47	Eliens, Arno		NED	2004	1.5
48	Duffy, Seamus		IRL	1873	1

20) 10th Rector Cup

The 10th Rector Cup took place in Kharkiv (UKR) 27th February - 4th March 2008. Vladimir Onischuk edged out Michail Brodsky and Gervorg Harutjunyan on tie-break in the main GM event after all finished on 6/9.

Official site: http://www.chesslaw.kharkov.ua

10th Rector Cup Kharkiv (UKR), 27 ii-4 iii 2008 cat. IX (2460)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Onischuk, Vladimir	m	UKR	2474	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	6	2583
2.	Brodsky, Michail	g	UKR	2572	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	6	2572
3.	Harutjunyan, Gevorg		ARM	2423	½	½	*	0	1	½	½	1	1	1	6	2589
4.	Aveskulov, Valeriy	g	UKR	2532	½	½	1	*	½	0	½	½	1	1	5½	2532
5.	Kovchan, Alexander	g	UKR	2515	½	½	0	½	*	1	½	1	1	0	5	2497
6.	Simonian, Hrair	m	ARM	2435	0	0	½	1	0	*	1	½	1	1	5	2505
7.	Firman, Nazar	m	UKR	2501	½	½	½	½	½	0	*	0	1	1	4½	2455
8.	Kharchenko, Boris	m	UKR	2440	0	½	0	½	0	½	1	*	1	1	4½	2462
9.	Khakimov, Timur	m	RUS	2380	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	1	1½	2196
10.	Hadzimanolis, Antonios	f	GRE	2329	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	*	1	2123

10th Rector Cup w Kharkiv (UKR), 27 ii-4 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Sukandar, Irine Kharisma	wm	INA	2266	*	1	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	0	6	2316
2.	Breslavska, Galina	wf	UKR	2216	0	*	0	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	6	2322
3.	Karlovich, Anastazia	wg	UKR	2198	½	1	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	5½	2279
4.	Vozovic, Oksana	wg	UKR	2327	1	0	½	*	1	1	0	1	0	1	5½	2264
5.	Doluhanova, Evgeniya	wg	UKR	2223	½	½	½	0	*	1	1	0	½	1	5	2239
6.	Borisova, Elizaveta		RUS	2305	0	½	½	0	0	*	1	½	1	1	4½	2187
7.	Ostroverkhova, Elena		UKR	2055	0	0	½	1	0	0	*	½	½	1	3½	2134
8.	Dvoretska, Olena	wm	UKR	2164	0	0	0	0	1	½	½	*	½	1	3½	2122
9.	Grapsa, Georgia		GRE	2103	0	0	½	1	½	0	½	½	*	0	3	2084
10.	Bulmaga, Irina	wf	MDA	2132	1	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	2½	2040

21) Match of Champions in Kharkiv

A match (Match of Champions) between the teams of the Juridical Academy Kharkiv and Kievchess took place in Kharkiv on March 5th 2008. Kiev won 4.5-1.5.

Official site: http://www.chesslaw.kharkov.ua and Kiev coverage at: http://ukrchess.org.ua/

Match of Champions Khakiv (UKR), 5 iii 2008
Eljanov, Pavel	Kharkiv	0-1	Kiev	Ponomariov, Ruslan	22	D00	Queen's Pawn Game
Efimenko, Zahar	Kiev	1-0	Kharkiv	Moiseenko, Alexander	57	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Aveskulov, Valeriy	Kharkiv	½-½	Kiev	Baklan, Vladimir	42	B63	Sicilian Rauzer
Beliavsky, Alexander G	Kiev	1-0	Kharkiv	Brodsky, Michail	38	E17	Queens Indian
Kovchan, Alexander	Kharkiv	0-1	Kiev	Areshchenko, Alexander	35	B82	Sicilian Scheveningen
Vysochin, Spartak	Kiev	0-1	Kharkiv	Firman, Nazar	28	B07	Pirc Defence

22) 4th Rectors Cup Belgorod

The 4th Rectors Cup took place in Belgorod (Russia) 25th February - 4th March 2008. Hrant Melkumian won with 7.5/9 and he along with Avetik Grigoryan and Alexander Ivanov all made GM norms.

Result table http://www.fide.com/ratings/view_source.phtml?code=12464

4th Rectors Cup Belgorod (RUS), 25 ii-4 iii 2008 cat. IX (2454)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Melkumyan, Hrant	m	ARM	2485	*	½	½	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	7½	2723
2.	Grigoryan, Avetik	m	ARM	2509	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	6½	2614
3.	Ivanov, Alexander Al	m	RUS	2430	½	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	6½	2622
4.	Gasanov, Eldar	g	UKR	2541	0	0	½	*	½	1	1	1	1	1	6	2569
5.	Solodovnichenko, Yuri	g	UKR	2541	0	0	½	½	*	0	1	1	1	1	5	2487
6.	Benza, Artem		RUS	2333	0	½	0	0	1	*	0	1	1	1	4½	2467
7.	Zakharevich, Igor	g	RUS	2457	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	½	1	1	3½	2373
8.	Danin, Alexandre	m	RUS	2480	½	½	½	0	0	0	½	*	½	½	3	2326
9.	Gubajdullin, Alexei	f	RUS	2504	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	*	½	1½	2175
10.	Uzhva, Andrey		RUS	2261	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	*	1	2124

23) Romanian Championship

The Romanian Championships took placein Cluj 25th February - 2nd March 2008. Vladislav Nevednichy took first place on tie-break after 5 players tied on 7/9. Game from the first 7 rounds only available.

Official site: http://www.brokerasigurare.ro/sah/

ch-ROU Cluj ROU (ROU), 25 ii-2 iii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	NAT	Rat	Pts	BH	EloP	SB	Gain
1	Nevednichy, Vladislav	g	ROU	2538	7.0	44.5	2623	41.00	5
2	Szabo, Gergely-Andras-Gyula	m	ROU	2509	7.0	41.5	2549	39.75	5
3	Lupulescu, Constantin	g	ROU	2553	7.0	41.0	2605	39.50	5
4	Manolache, Marius	g	ROU	2530	7.0	40.5	2508	38.25	6
5	Jianu, Vlad-Cristian	g	ROU	2530	7.0	40.0	2508	37.50	6
6	Grecescu, Gabriel-Andrei		ROU	2383	6.5	42.0	2510	38.25	5
7	Mateuta, Gabriel	m	ROU	2503	6.5	41.0	2465	36.75	5
8	Ardelean, George Catalin	m	ROU	2475	6.5	40.5	2474	35.50	4
9	Badea, Bela	g	ROU	2491	6.5	40.5	2412	36.25	5
10	Breahna, Radu	f	ROU	2294	6.5	38.5	2494	34.00	5
11	Chirila, Ioan Cristian	f	ROU	2400	6.5	38.5	2427	33.00	6
12	Parligras, Mircea	g	ROU	2574	6.5	38.5	2403	34.00	5
13	Filip, Lucian		ROU	2462	6.5	38.5	2390	34.25	5
14	Danilov, Vladimir	m	ROU	2432	6.5	37.0	2397	32.50	5
15	Grunberg, Mihai-Lucian	m	ROU	2424	6.0	42.0	2487	33.75	5
16	Anton, Teodor		ROU	2242	6.0	41.5	2493	33.00	4
17	Raceanu, Valentin	m	ROU	2407	6.0	41.0	2520	31.75	5
18	Nemeth, Francisc	m	ROU	2451	6.0	40.5	2442	33.50	5
19	Miron, Lucian-Costin	f	ROU	2408	6.0	39.5	2426	31.50	5
20	Nanu, Ciprian-Costica	m	ROU	2527	6.0	39.5	2399	32.50	4
21	Georgescu, Tiberiu	f	ROU	2356	6.0	38.5	2434	31.00	4
22	Manea, Alexandru	m	ROU	2380	6.0	38.5	2343	30.50	4
23	Berescu, Alin	g	ROU	2498	6.0	37.0	2386	29.50	4
24	Marinescu, Mircea		ROU	2252	6.0	37.0	2350	27.75	4
25	Taras, Ioan-Iulian		ROU	2269	6.0	34.5	2347	25.75	5
26	Moldovan, Daniel	m	ROU	2446	6.0	34.5	2262	28.50	5
27	Mures, Cristian		ROU	2204	6.0	33.5	2269	25.50	6
28	Pessi, Emil-George	f	ROU	2274	6.0	33.5	2221	27.50	5
29	Barzanu, Iulian		ROU	2268	6.0	32.0	2257	26.25	4
30	Dragomirescu, Robin-Alexandru		ROU	2142	5.5	41.0	2413	30.25	4
31	Grigore, George-Gabriel	g	ROU	2532	5.5	39.0	2361	28.25	3
154 players

24) Russian Women's First League Final

The Russian Women's Championship 1st liga final took place in Smolensk 27th February - 6th March 2008. Anastasia Savina won with 7.5/9.

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

58th ch-RUS w 1st liga Smolensk (RUS), 27 ii-6 iii 2008
Rank	Ti	Name	NAT	Pts	BH	SB	Rating	TPR
1		Savina, Anastasia	RUS	7.5	46	36.5	2202	2456
2	WGM	Romanko, Marina	RUS	7	51	38	2322	2369
3	WFM	Tomilova, Elena	RUS	7	55	41.75	2276	2420
4	WIM	Solovjova, Valentina	RUS	7	51	37.25	2221	2435
5	WGM	Meshcheriakova, Evgenia	RUS	6.5	47.5	32	2318	2338
6	WFM	Akatova, Ekaterina	RUS	6.5	54.5	37.75	2296	2350
7	WGM	Semenova, Irina	RUS	6.5	48.5	33	2270	2335
8	WIM	Ivakhinova, Inna	RUS	6.5	52	36.75	2250	2334
9	WIM	Dolgova, Olga	RUS	6.5	46.5	31.25	2217	2311
10		Schepetkova, Margarita	RUS	6.5	44.5	29.75	2173	2284
11	WFM	Kalmykova, Anastasia	RUS	6	41	25	2124	2136
12		Gusarchuk, Anastasija	RUS	6	40	23.5	2101	2138
13		Kindinova, Ekaterina	RUS	6	43.5	27.75	2097	2278
14		Bezgodova, Maria	RUS	6	47	28	2050	2276
15	WFM	Lomako, Anna	RUS	5.5	49.5	28.25	2283	2244
16	WIM	Iljushina, Olga	RUS	5.5	44.5	22.25	2268	2098
17		Bezgodova, Svetlana	RUS	5.5	44.5	25.75	2237	2138
18		Lupik, Marina	RUS	5.5	49.5	28.75	2222	2208
19		Krestianova - Tsepeleva, T	RUS	5.5	49.5	28.75	2208	2189
20	WFM	Manakova, Irina	RUS	5.5	49.5	28.5	2200	2240
21	WFM	Avdeenko, Tatiana	RUS	5.5	46	25.75	2194	2186
22	WFM	Shulakova, Svetlana	RUS	5.5	48	28.25	2190	2207
23	WFM	Bannikova, Anastasia	RUS	5.5	46.5	24.5	2187	2193
24	WFM	Zainullina, Nataliya	RUS	5.5	45	26.75	2186	2187
25	WFM	Korchagina, Viktoria	RUS	5.5	40	23.25	2182	2100
26	WFM	Karibaeva, Elvira	RUS	5.5	45	23.25	2153	2122
27		Travkina, Anastasia	RUS	5.5	44	23.75	2083	2167
28		Ivanova, Anna	RUS	5	41.5	21.5	2169	2078
29	WFM	Repina, Varvara	RUS	5	41.5	20.25	2158	2041
30		Petrova, Olga	RUS	5	44	22	2102	2057
31	WFM	Semenova, Inna	RUS	5	49.5	24	2086	2181
32		Bukhteeva, Viktoria	RUS	5	40.5	16.75	2065	1960
33		Kuznetsova, Tatiana	RUS	5	44	21	2051	2110
34		Miloserdova, Irina	RUS	5	48	25	2015	2251
35		Semenova, Elena	RUS	5	42	20.25	2012	2096
36		Smolyaninova, Marina	RUS	5	39	20.75	2004	2085
37	WFM	Kharmunova, Nadejda	RUS	4.5	41.5	17.75	2170	2013
38	WFM	Airapetian, Tatevik	RUS	4.5	46.5	19	2162	2070
39	WFM	Dotdaeva, Aminat	RUS	4.5	42	18.25	2136	2035
40	WFM	Kuular, Valeria	RUS	4.5	42	19.75	2122	2058
41	WIM	Lomakina, Galja	RUS	4.5	36	14.25	2114	1976
42	WFM	Ter-Steponianc, Antonina	RUS	4.5	40	18.5	2100	2068
43		Grigorian, Marine	RUS	4.5	41	16.5	2082	1984
44	WFM	Malinicheva, Lidia	RUS	4.5	40	14.5	2075	2046
45		Gorozhankina, Julia	RUS	4.5	38	15.75	2037	2047
46		Yarullina, Alina	RUS	4.5	38.5	16.5	2022	1946
47	WFM	Abuladze, Lana	RUS	4.5	39	14	2016	2034
48		Barinova, Valerija	RUS	4.5	37	14.25	1984	1768
49		Chudinovskikh, Zinaida	RUS	4.5	39	17.5	1944	2091
50		Karavaeva, Nadezhda	RUS	4.5	34.5	12.5	1938	1817
51		Kulikova, Ekaterina	RUS	4.5	34.5	14.25	0	1994
89 players

25) US Amateur Team East

Bill Townsend reports: The U.S. Amateur Team tournaments were held over President’s Day weekend (February 16th-18th 2008) in four locations around the United States, but the East is where it all started in 1970 and it’s traditionally the largest by far. This year’s Team East, held in Parsippany, NJ, broke all previous records with 1251 players competing in 291 four-man teams. The previous record was set in 2005: 286 teams, 1205 players.

This year’s winner was actually a bit controversial: a team named "GGGg" featuring three grandmasters (Zviad Izoria, Eugene Perelshteyn and Roman Dzindzichashvili) and a 5 year old boy (Stephen Fanning) rated just 178. The grandmasters won all their games, except for a draw by Izoria in the final round, and they were the only team with a perfect 6-0 score.

All of which brings up the question: what are these grandmasters doing at an event with "Amateur" in its name? The rules state that the average team rating has to be below master strength (2,200 USCF) but beyond that, anything goes. There were other grandmasters playing in the event, among them former U.S. Champions Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Hikaru Nakamura and Arthur Bisguier.

There used to be a rule saying that there couldn’t be a rating difference of more than 1,000 points between boards three and four, but this was abandoned, at least in the East, some years ago. However that rule is still in place in some of the other Amateur Team events – would it be fair to let this stacked team in the Amateur Team playoffs? The whole matter was settled amicably – "GGGg" stepped aside in favor of the second place team, named simply "1.d4." This team was the only one to finish with 5½-½ and consists of: Daniel Yeager, Victor Shen, Scott Low and Jared Defibaugh. The setup of this team is much more traditional: only 214 rating points separate boards one and four.

This tempest in a teapot actually affected very few players, and a good time was had by all. Team East really is a unique event – average club players can find themselves across the table from some of the best players in the country, and yet it’s not a big money tourney – clocks and trophies are the only prizes.

Bill Townsend has sent a file of games including the stronger players in the event.

26) Belgian Interteams

The Belgian Interteams takes place 30th September 2007 - 6th March 2008.

Valery Maes reports: Leaders Bredene despite an elo average of 2584, narrowly escaped defeat against Rochade Eupen (2440) and face runner-ups CREC Charleroi in the last round trailing only by 5 board points. In the relegation zone there is no more hope for Eynatten 2 and Boey Temse.

Websites with further information: http://users.pandora.be/vmaes/interclub/ and also the http://www.frbe-kbsb.be/Interclubsnationaux.php

Belgian Interteams Round 10 Results
KGSRL - Brussels	19 - 13
KBSK - Boey Temse	19 - 13
Namur - Borgerhout	13 - 19
Rochade - Bredene	16 - 16
CRELEL - Eynatten 1	16 - 16
CREC - Eynatten 2	20 - 12

Belgian Interteams Round 10 (of 11) Standings
Standings	BP	MP
1 Bredene	189	8,5
2 CREC	184	8,5
3 SK Rochade	178	8,5
4 KGSRL	164	6
5 Eynatten 1	164	5,5
6 CRELEL	163	4,5
7 KBSK	159	5,5
8 Borgerhout	149	4,5
9 Brussels	149	3
10 Namur	144	4
11 Eynatten 2	136	1
12 Boey Temse	133	0,5

27) Dutch Team Championship

The Dutch Team Championships take place 15th September 2007 - 17th May 2008. Round 7 was on 8th March 2008.

Results: Schrijvers Rotterdam - HMC Calder 7-3; ESGOO - HWP Sas van Gent 5-5; LSG - Homburg Apeldoorn 4-6; HSG - Utrecht 7.5-2.5; LSG 2 - Hotels.nl 3.5-6.5.

I will round up the games next week. Details available from http://www.schakers.info/.

Links: Dutch Chess Federation: http://www.schaakbond.nl/- Meesterklasse Games side bar at: http://www.schakers.info/ and also photo coverage at: http://www.chessvista.com/

28) Finnish Team Championships

The final two rounds of the Finnish Team Championship took place 8th-9th March 2008. After four consecutive silver medals Matinkylä finally managed to get its first Championship since 1993. Defending Champion OpusCapita got silver and HSK Helsinki with topboard GM Dr R.Huebner was third. FM P.Kekki made his final IM-norm. News:Henri Koskinen.

Games, individual results etc. can be found on the website: http://www.shakki.net/pelaaminen/turnaukset/liiga.html. I will round them up for TWIC next week.

Finnish Team Championships Final Standings
1	MatSK, Espoo	16	23
2	OpusCapita, Tampere	14	16
3	HSK, Helsinki	11	8
4	JoeSK, Joensuu	10	4
5	Velhot, Helsinki	9	-4
6	EtVaS, Vantaa	8	1
7	Aatos, Helsinki	8	-7
8	JyS, Jyväskylä	6	-12
9	SalSK, Salo	4	-9

10	TuTS, Turku	4	-20

29) Lendas do Xadrez tournament

The Lendas do Xadrez (Legends of Chess) tournament takes place February 29th - March 9th 2008 and is organised by the chess club ALEX (Associación Leopoldinense de Xadrez), at the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), their first international round robin tournament with 9 rounds and the possibility of IM norms. IMs include: Diego di Berardino (Brazil), Leandro Perdomo (Argentina) and Dan Cramling (Sweden).

http://www.lendasdoxadrez.kit.net/

Lendas do Xadrez Rio de Janeiro (BRA), 29 ii-9 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Di Berardino, Diego Rafael	m	BRA	2430	*	½	1	1	½	1	.	1	1	1	7	2603
2.	Teixeira, Ricardo da Silva	f	BRA	2394	½	*	½	½	1	.	1	1	1	1	6½	2512
3.	Perdomo, Leandro	m	ARG	2354	0	½	*	0	½	1	1	1	.	1	5	2367
4.	Cramling, Dan	m	SWE	2425	0	½	1	*	.	0	0	1	1	1	4½	2316
5.	Ferreira, Kleber Victor		BRA	2105	½	0	½	.	*	½	½	½	0	½	3	2186
6.	Fontes, Carlos Henrique Batista		BRA	2232	0	.	0	1	½	*	1	0	0	½	3	2174
7.	Maia, Jose Eduardo Bastos O		BRA	2149	.	0	0	1	½	0	*	½	½	½	3	2180
8.	Bottari, Raimondo		ITA	2178	0	0	0	0	½	1	½	*	1	.	3	2197
9.	Chauca, Jose		PER	2186	0	0	.	0	1	1	½	0	*	½	3	2185
10.	Mascarenhas, Alberto Pinheiro	f	BRA	2263	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	.	½	*	2	2091

30) 40th Belgrade Women's International

The 40th Belgrade Women's International takes place 3rd-11th. March 2008. Play takes place 16:00-21-00 local time.

Official site: http://www.beochess.org.yu

40th WGM Belgrade (SCG), 3-11 iii 2008 cat. IV (2339)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Bojkovic, Natasa	m	SRB	2408	*	½	.	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7½	2762
2.	Petrenko, Svetlana	m	MDA	2282	½	*	½	.	½	1	0	½	1	1	5	2434
3.	Matveeva, Svetlana	m	RUS	2433	.	½	*	½	½	0	1	1	½	1	5	2413
4.	Houska, Jovanka	m	ENG	2393	0	.	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	1	5	2434
5.	Rakic, Marija		SRB	2218	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	.	1	4	2357
6.	Benderac, Ana	wg	SRB	2324	0	0	1	½	½	*	½	.	½	½	3½	2288
7.	Makropoulou, Marina	wg	GRE	2250	0	1	0	0	½	½	*	½	½	.	3	2260
8.	Foisor, Cristina Adela	m	ROU	2412	0	½	0	0	½	.	½	*	1	½	3	2244
9.	Stojanovic, Andjelija	wg	SRB	2310	0	0	½	½	.	½	½	0	*	1	3	2270
10.	Chelushkina, Irina	wg	SRB	2357	0	0	0	0	0	½	.	½	0	*	1	2025

31) World Championship Match Anand vs Kramnik in Bonn

The World Championship match where Viswanathan Anand will defends his World title against Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany will now take place October 14th– 2nd November, 2008. The main reason for the slight change in dates is to fit in with the sponsors and politicians ability to attend the opening. The main sponsor is Evonik Industries AG and the prizemoney 1,5 Million Euro. The contract was signed by both players 18th December 2007.

Dates for the match: Gm1: Oct 14th, Gm2: Oct 15th, Gm3: Oct 17th, Gm4: Oct 18th, Gm5: Oct 20th, Gm6: Oct 21st, Gm7: Oct 23rd, Gm8: Oct 24th, Gm9: Oct 26th, Gm10: Oct 27th, Gm11: Oct 29th, Gm12: Oct 31st, Tiebreak Nov 2nd.

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

32) FIDE Grand Prix Events

The line ups for the FIDE Grand Prix events have been announced. The top four players in the world, along with players such as Morozevich and Shirov are missing. It seems that in the case of Kramnik and Topalov that they believe that the event doesn't have big enough prize money (according to quotes in Chess Today). All this was more or less known beforehand. However the players who have signed up make this a very attractive and interesting series of events. The grand prix is organised by Global Chess which is headed by Bessel Kok.

Details: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1607

FIDE Grand Prix 2008-9
Surname	First Name	NAT	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	Ck	08	Criteria	WRk
Svidler	Peter	RUS	2763	2763	2763		2763		2763	4	2	Pres Nom	5
Mamedyarov	Shakhriyar	AZE	2760	2760		2760	2760		2760	4	2	Rating	6
Leko	Peter	HUN	2753			2753	2753	2753	2753	4	1	Rating	8
Ivanchuk	Vassily	UKR	2751		2751		2751	2751	2751	4	1	Rating	9
Aronian	Levon	ARM	2739		2739		2739	2739	2739	4	1	Rating	10
Gelfand	Boris	ISR	2737		2737		2737	2737	2737	4	1	Rating	11
Radjabov	Teimour	AZE	2735	2735	2735	2735	2735			4	3	Rating	12
Carlsen	Magnus	NOR	2733	2733		2733	2733		2733	4	2	Wcup	13
Karjakin	Sergey	UKR	2732	2732	2732		2732	2732		4	2	Wcup	14
Adams	Michael	ENG	2726	2726		2726		2726	2726	4	2	Reserve	16
Kamsky	Gata	USA	2726	2726	2726		2726	2726		4	2	Matches	15
Jakovenko	Dmitry	RUS	2720		2720	2720		2720	2720	4	2	Hcity	17
Cheparinov	Ivan	BUL	2713	2713	2713	2713			2713	4	3	Pres Nom	19
Grischuk	Alexander	RUS	2711	2711	2711	2711	2711			4	3	Reserve	21
Bacrot	Etienne	FRA	2700	2700		2700	2700	2700		4	2	Pres Nom	22
Wang	Yue	CHN	2698	2698	2698	2698		2698		4	3	Pres Nom	25
Inarkiev	Ernesto	RUS	2681	2681		2681		2681	2681	4	2	Hcity	34
Navara	David	CZE	2680	2680	2680			2680	2680	4	2	Hcity	37
Gashimov	Vugar	AZE	2665	2665	2665	2665		2665		4	3	Hcity	48
Pelletier	Yannick	SWZ	2600			2600	2600	2600	2600	4	1	Hcity	165
Al Modiahki	Mohamad	QTR	2569		2569	2569	2569		2569	4	2	Hcity	274
AVERAGE RATING				2715.9	2709.9	2697.4	2714.9	2707.7	2708.9
Player Count	21		2709.1	14	14	14	14	14	14	84	42

Event 1 April 20th - May 6th 2008, Baku, Azerbaijan
Event 2 July 30th - August 15th 2008, Sochi, Russia
Event 3 December 13th - 29th, 2008, Doha, Qatar
Event 4 April 14th - 28th, 2009, Montreux, Switzerland
Event 5 August 8th - 24th, 2009, Elista, Russia
Event 6 December 7th - 23rd, 2009, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes Each Event
Place	EUR	Points
1	30,000	140 + 40 bonus
2	22,500	130 + 20
3	20,000	120 + 10
4	15,000	110
5	12,500	100
6	11,000	90
7	10,000	80
8	8,500	70
9	7,500	60
10	6,000	50
11	5,500	40
12	5,000	30
13	4,500	20
14	4,000	10

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes for Final Standings (Best three events)
Pl	Prize (Euros)
1st	75,000
2nd	50,000
3rd	40,000
4th	30,000
5th	25,000
6th	20,000
7th	18,000
8th	16,000
9th	14,000
10th	12,000

33) Forthcoming Events and Links

Magistral Ciudad de León

The 21st edition of the “Magistral Ciudad de León” takes place May 29th - June 2nd in León, Spain.

The players will be World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, and the 2 best Spanish Players, Alexei Shirov and Francisco Vallejo Pons.

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

The players will be World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, ant the 2 best Spanish Players, Top-10 Alexei Shirov and Francisco Vallejo Pons.

XIX Internet Chess Tournament "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas"

For the ninth year running the XIX Internet Chess Tournament "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas" (Spain) is being held on the ICC Internet Chess Club playing zone (http://www.chessclub.com). Registration for the event is completely free both for ICC members and non-members.

This event is clearly the most important Internet chess tournament in the world, featuring the biggest number of participants. In the 2007 edition, nearly 2000 players from all over the world took part. The winner, former prodigy child and under-10 World Champion IM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, overcome an impressive field of 300 IM/GM’s, including top players Shahriyar Mamedyarov, Tigran L. Petrosian, Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Kiril Georgiev and Sergey Shipov.

This year the prize fund is 7.700 euros, with 2.000 euros for the winner. In addition, there are many class prizes and special cash prizes for amateur players. Also, winners can achieve the opportunity to travel to Dos Hermanas for the main Event, with Topalov, Shirov, Polgar and Vallejo, at the end of April.

As in previous editions, the playing system is as follows: twelve 12-round Swiss qualifiers using the playing rate: 3 minutes per game. Qualifiers are held twice a day from March 28th to April 2nd, and the finals are held on April 4th and 5th. The 12 qualifier winners plus the 20 best scores qualify to the 32 KO final.

Full rules and registrations can be found on the Dos Hermanas website http://www.doshermanas.net/aje_9torneo.asp

Dvoretsky-Jussupow Chess School in Paris

The Dvoretsky-Jussupow Chess School will hold lessons in Paris in June.

The first stage will be held in the "Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris" 11th-15th June 2008. The training sessions (3 hours with Dvoretsky and 3 hours with Jussupow)are given in english (with possible translation into french), and the trainers will deliver written lessons (available both in English and French).

Groups : limited to 16 persons a day, groups of 8 persons maximum for each trainer.

Charges : 220 € per day.

Wednesday : under 1700 elo.

Thursday :1700-2100

Friday :1800-2199

Saturday :+2200

Sunday :+2200

Send your reservations to : L’Ecole Parisienne du jeu d’Échecs, 2 rue des Goncourt, 75011 Paris, France (cheque 220 €, order E.P.J.E.). The lessons will be delivered in la Cité Internationale Universitaire, Maison internationale, 19 Bd Jourdan, 75014 Paris. From 10h to 13h and from 14h to 17h. Further information: eneiman@free.fr or phone: +33 6 81 48 64 58

Official site (in French): http://epje.free.fr/

British Chess Championships 2008

The 95th Championships of The British Isles organised by the English Chess Federation takes place Sunday 27th July - Saturday 9th August 2008 in St. George's Hall, Liverpool.

Details: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/events/bc2008/index.html

Serbian Championships

The Serbian Championships take place in Mataruška 15th-28th March 2008. 14 player all-play-all.

Official site: http://www.serbiachess.net/

Serbian Championships 2008
Br.	Ti	Name	Rating	Birthday
1	GM	Ivanisevic Ivan	2649	1977
2	GM	Miladinovic Igor	2604	1974
3	GM	Damljanovic Branko	2582	1961
4	GM	Markus Robert	2575	1983
5	GM	Kovacevic Aleksandar	2575	1974
6	GM	Perunovic Milos	2570	1984
7	GM	Sedlak Nikola	2568	1983
8	GM	Vuckovic Bojan	2556	1980
9	GM	Pikula Dejan	2524	1969
10	FM	Bogosavljevic Boban	2492	1988
11	GM	Drazic Sinisa	2489	1967
12	IM	Leskur Dejan	2468	1972
13	IM	Pavlovic Milos M	2457	1984
14	IM	Velickovic Sasa	2401	1951

Canadian Open

The Canadian Open takes place in Montreal July 19th-27th 2008.

Further details: Fédération québécoise des échecs

II Ruy López International Chess Festival

The II Ruy López International Chess Festival takes place in Mérida 4th-13th April 2008 in the headquarters of the Parliament of Extremadura (Assemblea de Extremadura) which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The main event of the Festival is a masters tournament which takes place 5th-11th April 2008 with the participation of Michael Adams, Gabriel Sargissian, Zhang Pengxiang, Humpy Koneru, Julio Granda Zuniga, Hou Yifan, Fabiano Caruana and Manuel Perez Candelario. The games will be transmitted on Internet with commentaries by Leontxo García who will be present in the analysis room (open to all fans).

There are various other events including children's tournaments and a themed event with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 as the starting moves. Also on the 10th April in the Art School of Mérida there will be a day of "Art and Chess" attended by Fernando Arrabal who will give a conference.

All the relevant information about the Festival can be found in it´s official web page http://ruylopez.juntaextremadura.net/modules/news/

Bobby Fischer Memorial

The Bobby Fischer Memorial takes place in Villa Martelli Buenos Aires, Argentina, 11th-19th March 2008. Players: GM Oscar Panno, GM Andrés Rodríguez, GM Sergio Slipak, MI Diego Flores, MI Diego Valerga, MI Mauricio Flores Rios, MI Krikor Mekhitarian, MI Luis Coelho, Raul Claverie, etc.

Official site: http://ajedrezmartelli.org.ar/

Stockholm Ladies Open

The Stockholm Ladies Open tournament takes place 20th-25th March 2008. The prize money is over 100 000 Skr. The event has got the astonishing entry of s 60 WGMs and 47 WIMs and a total of 150 players making it the biggest women's event ever in Sweden and that mark may be a world one.

The Invitation are in english, Dutch and Russian http://www.scandinavian-chess.se/ and an update: http://www.scandinavian-chess.se/id_2008.asp?newsID=6

2nd Thun Open

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2008 continues in Thun with the 2nd "Rathaus Open Thun" May 9th-12th 2008. Thun is famous tourist town, 20 minutes from Bern by train, located on the lake of the same name. The venue is the Hotel-Restaurant "Rathaus" Thun, Open, Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1947), junior(1988-91), schoolboy (1992) and 3 best local players. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 20 SF more (for everybody include GM, IM), GMs and IMs free. Venue: Hotel "City House". Time table: Round 1st 18.00-23.00 May 9th ; Rounds 2/3 09.30-14.30 and 15.00-20.00 May 10th; Round 4/5 9.30-14.30 and 15.00-20.00 May 11th; Rounds 6/7 09.30-14.30 and 15.00-20.00 May 12th; Closing ceremony May 12 at 20.30. Info: Beochess +41+62+965-46-50 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch

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

Cidade de Ferrol International

XXIII International Chess tournament Cidade de Ferrol Prizes : 14750 euros (different sections) Dates : 15th-20th July 2008 Time rate : 90’ + 30 Secunden Accomodation : 24,5 euros Full board in a Student house. There other posibilities. Entry: 30 euros . contact e-mail: xanrei@arrakis.es Other tournaments: Bernasque 3/7-12/7. Circuito Galego From 22/7 to 30/9

Further info: http://www.cfxadrez.org

X Sants Open

The X International Open of Sants, Hostafrancs and la Bordeta (Barcelona - Spain) takes place 22nd-31st August 2008. 10 round swiss system tournament with + 12.000 euros in prizes.

Other activities include a blitz tournament and rapid chess tournament with 1500 euros in prizes. Last year: 500 players from 40 countries including 70 titled players competed. There were 2 GM and 5 IM norms.

Details: http://http://www.cotxeres.org/open

19th Pobeskydi Chess Festival

The 19th Pobeskydi Chess Festival takes place 20th-24th March 2008 in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic. There will be at least two tournaments: - Round-robin with possibility to achieve IM and WGM norm - FIDE Open With very high probability, there will be more then one round-robin tournament.

Further details: http://www.chessfm.cz or more specifically in English at: http://www.chessfm.cz/English/Pobeskydi_eng/pobeskydi_e.php

Yerevan Open Rapid Chess Tournament 2008

The Chess Federation of Armenia is organizing an International Open Rapid Chess Tournament which takes place June 12th-15th, 2008, in Yerevan, Armenia. The event is organized simultaneously with the tournament "Chess Giants Yerevan 2008" with the participation of the world's top grandmasters.

The total prize fund of the open rapid tournament is 33000 USD with the following breakdown.

Breakdown of the Prize Fund
1st place	6 000 USD
2nd place	4 000 USD
3rd place	3 500 USD
4th place	2 500 USD
5th place	2 000 USD
6th place	1 800 USD
7th place	1 600 USD
8th place	1 500 USD
9th place	1 400 USD
10th place	1 300 USD
11th-20th	800 USD

Grandmasters and chess players with an Elo above 2450 will pay no entry fee. For the other participants the following fees are fixed: International Masters with an Elo up to 2450 30 USD Chess players with an Elo from 2301 to 2450 50 USD Chess players with an Elo from 2151 to 2300 70 USD Chess players with an Elo up to 2150 and without an Elo 100 USD The board and lodging costs will be covered by the participants. The following accommodation options are offered: Ani Plaza Hotel Single room – 80 Euro Double room – 50 Euro Breakfast is included in the prices. Optionally lunch – 10 Euro, dinner – 10 Euro Erebuni Hotel Single room – 60 Euro Double room – 35 Euro Breakfast is included in the prices.

For further information please contact: Mr. Gaguik Oganessian General Secretary, Armenian Chess Federation President, FIDE Zone 1,5
Tel.: (374)10-554923
Fax: (374)10-570758
E-Mail armchess@arminco.com

The 8th European Senior Championship

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2008" will present the 7th Chess Summer Festival in Davos from August 9th to 17th, 2008. The main event will be the 8th European Individual Senior Championship. The second tournament will be traditional, 7th Davos Open.

8th European Individual Senior Championship, August 9th to 17th 2008. "Sunstar Park Hotel" (4 stars) will be host festival in Congress Center. Swiss system, 9 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 6 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 60 minutes till the end). Valid for FIDE titles and rating: FIDE, Swiss (SSB) and German (DWZ). Seniors: men born 1947 and earlier; women born 1957 and earlier. Prize (men): 2.500/1.700/1.000/700/600/500/2x400/2x300 CHF. 3-4 group rating prize (200/150/100 CHF). Women: 400/300/3x200 CHF; Entry fee 80 CHF; at the door 20 CHF more. Time table: Rounds 1 15.00-21.00 August 9th; Round 2/8 9.30-15.30 August 10th-16th; Round 9 9.30-15.30 August 17th.

7th Davos Open, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Prize are: 1.000 SF, 800, 600, 400, 300, 200, 2x150 CHF. Natural prizes for 4 and more points. Entry fee 130 CHF, FMs and juniors 60 CHF, GMs and IMs free; juniors lodging at Sunstar Park Hotel free; at the door 20 CHF more. Time table: Rounds 1 15.00-21.00 August 10th; Round 2/7 16.00-22.00 August 10th-16th. Venue: "Sunstar Park Hotel" Congress Center. Closing ceremony August 17th, 4 p.m. Info Beochess: +41+62+9654-650 (Robert Spoerri) Email beochess@bluewin.ch or read the website: http://www.beochess.ch

Bologne Easter tournament

There is an Easter international tournament in Bologna 20th-24th March 2008. IM norms will be available.

Details: http://www.accademiascacchistica.it/labacheca/torneo_internazionale_di_pasqua.html

Bologne Easter tournament 20-24 iii 2008 Players:
Player	NAT	Ti	Rating
Laketic Gojko	SRB	IM	2443
Martinez Rolly	PHI	IM	2447
Berzinsh Roland	LAT	IM	2417
Ronchetti Niccolo’	ITA	FM	2431
Scalcione Michelangelo	ITA	FM	2431
Rombaldoni Axel	ITA	FM	2394
Tomba Ivan	ITA	MF*	2301
Vancini Edoardo	ITA	FM	2277
Barillaro Luca	ITA	M	2180
Gilevich Artem	UKR	CM	2069

VII Benidorm International Chess Festival 2008

The VII Benidorm International Chess Festival takes place 28th November - 8th December 2008. For information contact: E-Mail: eventosdeajedrez@yahoo.es festivaldebenidorm@gmail.com News: Patricia Claros Aguilar.

3rd Kolkata Open

The 3rd Kolkata Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament takes place 24th March - 2nd April 2008.

Venue: Gorky Sadan, 3 Gorky Terrace, Kolkata 700017 (near Minto Park) Tournament Schedule Arrival 23rd March 2008. Inauguration 24th March 2008 at 1.00pm Players' meeting 23rd March 2008 at 7pm. Prize Distribution ceremony : 2nd April 08 at 17.00 hrs at Gorky Sadan. It is compulsory for all players to attend the Prize Distribution Ceremony. Prizes : Total Cash Prizes: Rs. 9,00,000/- ( 1 U.S.$ = Rs.41 approx.)

Contact: Alekhine Chess Club Gorky Sadan, 3 Gorky Terrace Kolkata 700017, West Bengal, India Tele fax:- 0091 33 22832746, Tel : 0091 33 22803957/3858 Email: alekhine_chess@rediffmail.com OR alekhinechessclub@hotmail.com

Web site: http://www.alekhinechessclub.com

Paleochora International Open 2008

The Paleochora (southern Crete) International Open takes place 21st-28th July 2008.

Further details: http://www.chaniachess.gr

Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament 2008

The 17th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament takes place March 14th-28th, 2008 at the Hotel Palais de la Mediterranée on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Twelve grandmasters from ten different countries will take part and the total prize-fund is 216,000 Euro.

Amber Rapid and Blindfold 14-28 iii 2008
No	Name	NAT	YroB	ja08	Gms	Wrnk
1	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	1975	2799	9	1
2	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	1969	2799	3	2
3	Topalov, Veselin	BUL	1975	2780	14	3
4	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	1977	2765	12	4
5	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz	AZE	1985	2760	35	6
6	Leko, Peter	HUN	1979	2753	9	8
7	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	1969	2751	30	9
8	Aronian, Levon	ARM	1982	2739	16	10
9	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	1968	2737	9	11
10	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	1990	2733	37	13
11	Karjakin, Sergey	UKR	1990	2732	36	14
12	Van Wely, Loek	NED	1972	2681	16	35

31st San Sebastian City Open

The 31st San Sebastian City Open takes place 16th-23rd of March 2008.

Details: http://www.fgajedrez.org/open/open.htm

Hévíz GM, IM and Open Tournaments 2008

The Palace Hotel International Chess Tournament Hévíz (Hungary) 18th-28th March 2008. There are GM, IM and Open sections.

Further details: http://www.lellechess.tar.hu/ and further info at: http://www.palace.heviz.hu

The Battle of Senta 1697 Chess Festival 2008

12th International Chess Festival "The Battle of Senta 1697" will be held 18th-25th. July 2008. in Senta (the Vojvodina /Serbia).

Further details: http://www.chess-senta.org.yuand in English: http://www.chess-senta.org.yu/select.php?lang=3&xid=2

XXVI International Chess Open of Andorra

The XXVI International Chess Open of Andorra takes place 19th-27th July 2008. Contact: open@escacsandorra.com FEVA - Tel/Fax: 00.376.824465

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

Austrian Bundesliga

The second round of games from the Austrian Bundesliga took place in Jenbach 10th-13th January 2008. The final round of games (rounds 8-11) take place 13th-16th March 2008 in Graz (Novapark).

Official site: http://www.chess.at/

Offene Internationale Stuttgarter Stadtmeisterschaft 2008

Offene Internationale Stuttgarter Stadtmeisterschaft 2008, 1st-4th May 2008, in Ditzingen, South-Germany. 7 Rounds, Swiss System, A/B/C-tournament, over 7000 € prizes.

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

Alushta Diary 2008

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. phone +38 (06560)5-05-32,

Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua

20th Lenk International Chess Festival

The great jubilee, 20th Lenk International Chess Festival part of the "Swiss Chess Tour 2008" continues in Lenk March 20th-24th 2008. The venue is the Hotel "Kreuz", Grande Open, Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). The Main Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 800, 600 and 400 SF. Special prizes: Ladies senior (1947), junior(1988-91), schoolboy (1992) and amateur (under 2000) for all: 200/150/100 CHF. Golden prizes for the players who play more then 10 times: 300/200/150 CHF. Silver prizes for the players who play MORE THEN 5 TIMES 200/150/100 CHF. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 20 SF more, GMs and IMs free. The teams competition, with 4 members; 3 prizes: 4x100/4x75/4x50 SF; entry fee 10 SF. Venue: Hotel "Kreuz". Time table: Round 1st 18.00-23.00 March 20,; Rounds 2/3 09.30-14.30 and 15.30-20.30 March 21,; Round 4 13.30-18.30 March 22,; Rounds 5/6 09.30-14.30 and 15.30-20.30 March 23,; Round 7 9.30-14.30 March 24. Closing ceremony March 24 at 16.00. Gala jubilee dinner March 22 from 19-22 at Hotel "Kreuz". Info: Beochess +41+62+965-46-50 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch or site http://www.beochess.chfor more details.

M-Tel Masters

M-Tel Masters takes place 7th-18th May 2008 in the Central Military Club in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The event is a 10 round double round robin with a 5 hour time control. In case of a draw at the top there will be a tie break for determining the winner. Like in the previous three editions of M-Tel Masters the rule for the draws introduced in Sofia will be valid. According to it the players do not have the right to agree a draw. This can be decided only by the chef arbiter of the tournament.

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

M-Tel Masters Sofia BUL 7-18 v 2008
Veselin Topalov	BUL	2780
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2751
Levon Aronian	ARM	2739
Teimour Radjabov	AZE	2735
Ivan Cheparinov	BUL	2713
Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	2691
Average rating: 2735 Category: 20

Chess Classic Mainz 2008

The schedule for Chess Classic Mainz 2008 is now available. The event takes place 28th July - 3rd August 2008 in Mainz/Germany (a week later than originally advertised).

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

IX European Individual Chess Championship 2008

The IX European Individual Chess Championship takes place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria 20th April (day of arrival) - 4th May (day of departure) 2008.

Official site: http://www.eicc2008.com

Pula Open 2008

The Pula Open 2008 takes place 21st-28th June 2008 in Pula, Croatia. Contact e-mail: pulaopen@globalnet.hr

Further details: http://www.skpula.hr

echiquier-nicois Website

Thierry Foissez's echiquier-nicois website reports on news and events in French daily.

http://www.echiquier-nicois.org

Hungarian Chess Tournaments March - June 2008

1. 1st-14th of March - First Saturday Budapest, org: Nagy L.

2. Hévíz GM, IM and Open Tournaments 2008

The Palace Hotel International Chess Tournament Hévíz (Hungary) 18th-28th March 2008. There are GM, IM and Open sections. Further details: http://www.lellechess.tar.hu/ and further info at: http://www.palace.heviz.hu

3. 21st-29th of March - Budapest Spring Festival 9 rounds Swiss Open, org.: Nagy Laszlo

4. 5th-18th of April First Saturday Budapest, org.NL,

5. 19th-28th of April, KECSKEMET, CAISSA IM tmt, org. Erdelyi

6. 3rd-15th of May First Saturday Budapest, org. NL,

7. 22nd-30th of May, ZALAKAROS Open, 9 rounds Swiss, 1st prize 500,000 Ft (brutto 2 thousand EURO), org: IM Horvath, Tamas, e-mail: mssz@zalaszam.hu Mobile: 36-20-9777003

8. 7th-19th of June First Saturday, Budapest, org: NL.,

9. 13th-21st of June, Balatonlelle Open, GM-IM round robin, org: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@t-online.hu

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/

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.

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 - 4th 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

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

Halkidiki Chess Festival 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/

Etienne Bacrot's Website

Etienne Bacrot has a website at: http://www.chess22.fr/ with his analysis and news. Very worth while, especially when he's playing.

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

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