THE WEEK IN CHESS 698 24th March 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Patricia Claros Aguilar, José Mariano Acosta, Mihajlo Savic, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Ian Rogers, Páli Gábor, Laszlo Nagy, Dmitry V. Borisenkov, Miklos Orso, Doug Bake, Michael Atkins, Lennarth Eriksson, Varlam Vepkhvishvili, Harald Grafenhofer, Aravind Pinto, Zeno Terteleac and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The Amber tournament has been exciting with Levon Aronian leading the rapid and joint standings with a fine all round performance with Magnus Carlsen a point behind. In 3rd place is Peter Leko who will no doubt be glad to be winning games of any sort at this level after his recent form. Alexander Morozevich leads the blindfold section where he always excels. Also the Hevíz GM tournament in Hungary has produced interesting play. Another late finish and there is material held over until next week.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Amber Rapid and Blindfold Tournament

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.

Official site: http://www.amberchess2008.com

Amber Blindfold Results

Amber Blindfold Nice (FRA), 15-27 iii 2008													cat. XXI (2752)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2765	*	.	0	1	.	½	1	1	.	1	½	½	5½	2898
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	.	*	.	½	½	.	0	0	1	1	1	1	5	2842
3.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2799	1	.	*	½	.	½	½	½	.	½	½	½	4½	2796
4.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	0	½	½	*	½	1	½	.	½	.	.	1	4½	2803
5.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	.	½	.	½	*	.	1	½	½	½	½	½	4½	2789
6.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2753	½	.	½	0	.	*	½	½	.	1	½	1	4½	2802
7.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	0	1	½	½	0	½	*	.	1	.	.	½	4	2757
8.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	0	1	½	.	½	½	.	*	½	½	½	.	4	2742
9.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2732	.	0	.	½	½	.	0	½	*	½	1	½	3½	2704
10.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2681	0	0	½	.	½	0	.	½	½	*	1	.	3	2664
11.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2737	½	0	½	.	½	½	.	½	0	0	*	.	2½	2603
12.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2760	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	.	½	.	.	*	2½	2621

Round 4 (March 18, 2008)
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Morozevich, Alexander	1-0	57	E51	Nimzo Indian
Aronian, Levon	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	105	E06	Catalan
Anand, Viswanathan	- Leko, Peter	½-½	33	B19	Caro Kann
Karjakin, Sergey	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	41	B42	Sicilian Paulsen
Gelfand, Boris	- Van Wely, Loek	0-1	38	A07	Barcza System
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Topalov, Veselin	0-1	28	B18	Caro Kann
Round 5 (March 20, 2008)
Morozevich, Alexander	- Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	29	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Carlsen, Magnus	- Gelfand, Boris	1-0	33	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Topalov, Veselin	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	38	C42	Petroff's Defence
Leko, Peter	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	1-0	30	C95	Ruy Lopez Breyer
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	27	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Van Wely, Loek	- Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	30	A29	English Four Knights
Round 6 (March 21, 2008)
Carlsen, Magnus	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	65	B13	Caro Kann Exchange
Aronian, Levon	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	52	A10	Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Leko, Peter	½-½	49	E20	Nimzo Indian
Karjakin, Sergey	- Anand, Viswanathan	0-1	29	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Van Wely, Loek	- Morozevich, Alexander	0-1	23	D08	Albin Counter Gambit
Gelfand, Boris	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	24	D11	Slav Defence
Round 7 (March 22, 2008)
Morozevich, Alexander	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	50	C77	Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	34	E97	King's Indian Classical
Topalov, Veselin	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	84	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Leko, Peter	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	24	C42	Petroff's Defence
Anand, Viswanathan	- Carlsen, Magnus	1-0	47	B04	Alekhine's Defence
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	26	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Round 8 (March 23, 2008)
Carlsen, Magnus	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	1-0	34	B46	Sicilian Paulsen
Aronian, Levon	- Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	50	E10	Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	89	C42	Petroff's Defence
Karjakin, Sergey	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	56	B19	Caro Kann
Van Wely, Loek	- Leko, Peter	0-1	15	A30	English Symmetrical
Gelfand, Boris	- Morozevich, Alexander	½-½	39	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4

Amber Rapid Results

Amber Rapid Nice (FRA), 15-27 iii 2008													cat. XXI (2752)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	*	½	1	.	.	1	1	0	½	1	1	.	6	2939
2.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	½	*	0	0	1	.	½	.	1	½	.	1	4½	2800
3.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	0	1	*	.	.	½	½	½	1	0	1	.	4½	2790
4.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2753	.	1	.	*	0	½	½	½	½	.	½	1	4½	2802
5.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2799	.	0	.	1	*	½	1	½	0	.	½	½	4	2753
6.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	0	.	½	½	½	*	.	1	.	1	0	½	4	2742
7.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	0	½	½	½	0	.	*	.	½	1	.	1	4	2760
8.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2737	1	.	½	½	½	0	.	*	.	½	½	0	3½	2701
9.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2760	½	0	0	½	1	.	½	.	*	½	.	½	3½	2719
10.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2732	0	½	1	.	.	0	0	½	½	*	1	.	3½	2704
11.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2681	0	.	0	½	½	1	.	½	.	0	*	½	3	2664
12.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2765	.	0	.	0	½	½	0	1	½	.	½	*	3	2670

Round 4 (March 18, 2008)
Carlsen, Magnus	- Aronian, Levon	0-1	43	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Leko, Peter	- Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	28	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Karjakin, Sergey	1-0	49	B87	Sicilian Sozin Attack
Topalov, Veselin	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	31	E94	King's Indian Classical
Van Wely, Loek	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	136	A37	English Symmetrical
Morozevich, Alexander	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	48	A01	Larsen Opening
Round 5 (March 20, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	52	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Anand, Viswanathan	- Morozevich, Alexander	1-0	35	C14	French Classical
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Topalov, Veselin	1-0	33	E94	King's Indian Classical
Gelfand, Boris	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	47	E17	Queens Indian
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Leko, Peter	½-½	49	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Karjakin, Sergey	- Van Wely, Loek	1-0	26	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Round 6 (March 21, 2008)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	42	C95	Ruy Lopez Breyer
Leko, Peter	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	21	C11	French Defence
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Gelfand, Boris	½-½	50	A30	English Symmetrical
Topalov, Veselin	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	69	E00	Catalan
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	23	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Morozevich, Alexander	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	26	D10	Slav Defence
Round 7 (March 22, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Topalov, Veselin	1-0	35	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Carlsen, Magnus	- Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	48	A20	English Opening
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Morozevich, Alexander	½-½	53	B81	Sicilian Keres Attack
Gelfand, Boris	- Leko, Peter	½-½	40	E15	Queens Indian
Karjakin, Sergey	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	36	B09	Pirc Defence
Van Wely, Loek	- Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	60	A09	Reti Opening
Round 8 (March 23, 2008)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	29	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Leko, Peter	- Van Wely, Loek	½-½	36	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	73	A30	English Symmetrical
Topalov, Veselin	- Karjakin, Sergey	1-0	102	D11	Slav Defence
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	44	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Morozevich, Alexander	- Gelfand, Boris	1-0	28	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation

Amber Combined Results

Amber Combined Nice FRA (FRA), 15-27 iii 2008																										cat. XXI (2752)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12
1.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	*	*	½	1	.	.	½	1	1	½	.	.	.	.	½	1	½	1	½	0	½	½	½	1	10.5	2863
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	½	0	*	*	.	.	½	½	0	1	.	.	.	.	0	½	1	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	9.5	2812
3.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2753	.	.	.	.	*	*	0	½	½	1	½	0	½	1	½	½	.	.	½	½	1	½	1	½	9.0	2802
4.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	½	0	½	½	1	½	*	*	½	½	½	0	0	1	.	.	½	1	.	.	1	½	.	.	8.5	2781
5.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	0	½	1	0	½	0	½	½	*	*	½	1	0	1	.	.	1	½	.	.	½	1	.	.	8.5	2778
6.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2799	.	.	.	.	½	1	½	1	½	0	*	*	1	½	½	½	.	.	½	½	½	0	½	½	8.5	2774
7.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2765	.	.	.	.	½	0	1	0	1	0	0	½	*	*	1	½	.	.	½	1	½	½	1	½	8.5	2778
8.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	½	0	1	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	½	½	0	½	*	*	½	1	½	1	.	.	½	0	8.0	2742
9.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	UKR	2732	½	0	0	1	.	.	½	0	0	½	.	.	.	.	½	0	*	*	1	½	½	½	½	1	7.0	2704
10.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2737	½	1	0	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	*	*	.	.	0	½	6.0	2657
11.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2760	½	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	.	.	½	½	.	.	*	*	.	.	6.0	2675
12.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2681	½	0	0	0	0	½	.	.	.	.	½	½	0	½	½	1	½	0	1	½	.	.	*	*	6.0	2664

3) Heviz GM

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

Games in PGN

Official site: http://www.palace-heviz.hu with live games.

Round 6: Almasi takes the lead Nisipeanu - Naiditsch Ruy-Lopez Black made an unpleasant pin that provoked White to break up the king-side pawn structure. While White restructured his king-position Black and created a passed-pawn on the Queen-side. White had to put all his eggs in one basket and went on for the king with all his forces. Black was a little careless so the attack resulted a better endgame with a pawn up for white. 1-0 in 55. Mikhalevski - Almasi Z. London-System White failed to play c4 to have a usual Catalan, black played an early b5 and equalised. Black took the initiative gradually and an interesting two bishop against rook arose. 0-1 in 70. Balogh Cs. - Vallejo Pons Ruy-Lopez Closed Early trades gave a slight positional advantage for White. Black started against the king bringing up both knights. White traded one of them and was able to keep the edge. However, both of them got into time pressure and a draw was agreed in 31 moves.

Round 5 Almasi Z - Vallejo Pons Caro Cann Defence. Black's usual central blast with c5 came early then White isolated the d5-pawn. It was impossible to defend it so Black activated his Queen to find counter chances on the Black squares. White found it advisable to trade the queens with a slight positional advantage. But Black saved the game with a surprising king-manoeuvre. Draw in 26 moves. Nisipeanu - Mikhalevski Ruy-Lopez Exchange Black castled long and started action against the e4-pawn. White found the best way of defence and was left with an advantage due to his Kingside majority of pawns and by the formidable central knights. 1-0 in 46 moves. Naiditsch - Balogh Cs. English opening Fine positional play went on for the centre for a long time. Then White started to advance on both flanks with his pawns in order to gain some space. Black held on well and in mutual time pressure a draw was agreed in move 37 with a complicated position left behind.

Round 4 Balogh Cs. - Almasi Z. Ruy-Lopez Berlin - Defence White offered a pawn for an attack before Black could castle. It lead to a jungle of complications. Both king-positions became vulnerable and repetition of moves became inevitable. Draw in 32 moves. Mikhalevski - Naiditsch Catalan opening White sacrificed his c4-pawn for central dominance. A Central break-through came soon and then even after castling Black seemed to have serious difficulties but he found clever counter-play against the king by sacrificing a piece. In the course of defence White had to give an exchange back so material got about even. After trading the Queens a draw was agreed on move 40. Vallejo Pons - Nisipeanu English opening A Hedgehog system arose and the usual pressure on d6 was compensated for with counter-pressure on c4. Finally the liberating b5 arrived on time to save the game. A draw was agreed in 26 moves.

Round 3 Almasi-Nisipeanu Philidor- defence They quickly left known lines and all knights disappeared. Both players concentrated all their forces in the centre and the balance was never broken though Black's position looked more impressive at some stages. Draw agreed in 31 moves. Vallejo Pons - Naiditsch QGA Queen's-Gambit soon transformed into a Catalan opening. After an early Queen-trade White decided to keep on a central knight against a bishop. Black successfully undermined its position and then his Q-side majority with the support of the R and B configuration became strong. 0-1 in 36 moves. Balogh Cs - Mikhalevski Ruy-Lopez Open The e5-outpost pawn was as strong as a fort and White started to set up against the king behind it. Black advanced on the Q-side with his pawn-majority. White missed the right course of attack so black survived with a complicated heavy piece endgame. Draw was agreed in 27 moves.

Round 2 The 2nd round of the Heviz GM tournament was no less fierce than the first. Mikhalevski - Vallejo Pons started as a Miles defence that transformed into a kind of Benoni. White could build up a strong centre and offered a bishop to breaking through with two passed central pawns. Later in mutual time pressure these two proved to be decisively stronger. Naiditsch - Almasi Ruy Lopez Classical - Black opened the c-file hoping for counter-play. White took risk with a pawn sacrifice in the hope of taking the initiative but Black countered the plan with immediate central actions a draw was agreed in 27 moves. Nisipeanu-Balogh was a Slav Defence. After a balanced opening Black sacrificed a rook for a knight and two passed pawns on the queenside. White succeeded in blockading them well enough for a correct draw.

Round 1 Almasi beat Mikhalevski in an Open Ruy-Lopez line in spectacular attacking style. Naiditsch judged the endgame phase well and beat Nisipeanu after hard a battle in a sharp Sicilian Scheveningen variation. Vallejo Pons blundered a winning endgame to allow a draw against Balogh after a fine positional game in a Double fianchetto. With the consent of all the players rounds 4 and 5 will be exchanged to avoid having the same colors three times in a row for two players.

Reports: Miklos Orso.

Palace Hotel GM Heviz HUN (HUN), 18-28 iii 2008										cat. XVI (2645)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2667	*	*	½	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	1	1	4	2764
2.	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	GER	2638	½	.	*	*	1	0	½	.	1	.	½	.	3½	2709
3.	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	g	ROU	2684	½	.	0	1	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	3½	2694
4.	Balogh, Csaba	g	HUN	2575	½	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	½	½	.	3	2661
5.	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2675	½	.	0	.	½	.	½	½	*	*	0	.	2	2503
6.	Mikhalevski, Victor	g	ISR	2632	0	0	½	.	0	.	½	.	1	.	*	*	2	2526

Round 1 (March 18, 2008)
Almasi, Zoltan	- Mikhalevski, Victor	1-0	33	C80	Ruy Lopez Open
Naiditsch, Arkadij	- Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	1-0	45	B81	Sicilian Keres Attack
Vallejo Pons, Francisco	- Balogh, Csaba	½-½	57	A07	Barcza System
Round 2 (March 19, 2008)
Naiditsch, Arkadij	- Almasi, Zoltan	½-½	27	C99	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	- Balogh, Csaba	½-½	37	D11	Slav Defence
Mikhalevski, Victor	- Vallejo Pons, Francisco	1-0	38	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Round 3 (March 20, 2008)
Almasi, Zoltan	- Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	½-½	31	C41	Philidor's Defence
Balogh, Csaba	- Mikhalevski, Victor	½-½	27	C83	Ruy Lopez Open
Vallejo Pons, Francisco	- Naiditsch, Arkadij	0-1	36	E02	Catalan
Round 4 (March 21, 2008)
Balogh, Csaba	- Almasi, Zoltan	½-½	32	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Vallejo Pons, Francisco	- Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	½-½	26	A30	English Symmetrical
Mikhalevski, Victor	- Naiditsch, Arkadij	½-½	40	E04	Catalan
Round 5 (March 22, 2008)
Almasi, Zoltan	- Vallejo Pons, Francisco	½-½	26	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Naiditsch, Arkadij	- Balogh, Csaba	½-½	37	A29	English Four Knights
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	- Mikhalevski, Victor	1-0	46	C68	Ruy Lopez Exchange
Round 6 (March 24, 2008)
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	- Naiditsch, Arkadij	1-0	55	C91	Ruy Lopez
Balogh, Csaba	- Vallejo Pons, Francisco	½-½	31	C48	Four Knights Rubinstein
Mikhalevski, Victor	- Almasi, Zoltan	0-1	70	A46	Queen's Pawn Opening

4) Ataturk International Women Masters

The Ataturk International Women Masters took place 10th-20th March 2008. Hou Yifan took clear first place with 7/9 a point clear of Pia Cramling.

Official site: http://awm2008.tsf.org.tr/

Isbank Ataturk Women's Masters Istanbul TUR (TUR), 11-20 iii 2008												cat. IX (2461)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Hou Yifan	wg	CHN	2527	*	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	7	2674
2.	Cramling, Pia	g	SWE	2524	½	*	½	1	0	1	1	½	½	1	6	2579
3.	Zhao Xue	wg	CHN	2517	½	½	*	1	0	½	0	1	1	1	5½	2535
4.	Atalik, Ekaterina	m	TUR	2408	0	0	0	*	½	1	1	½	1	1	5	2510
5.	Javakhishvili, Lela	m	GEO	2470	½	1	1	½	*	0	½	½	½	0	4½	2460
6.	Harika, Dronavalli	m	IND	2455	½	0	½	0	1	*	0	½	1	½	4	2419
7.	Zhu Chen	g	QAT	2548	0	0	1	0	½	1	*	0	½	1	4	2408
8.	Krush, Irina	m	USA	2473	0	½	0	½	½	½	1	*	½	0	3½	2380
9.	Ushenina, Anna	m	UKR	2484	0	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	*	1	3	2333
10.	Yildiz, Betul Cemre	wm	TUR	2207	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	1	0	*	2½	2323

5) Russian u20 Championships

The Russian under-20 Championships for boys and girls took place in St-Petersburg 8th-18th March 2008. Sanan Sjugirov and Anastasia Bodnaruk won the two events and they will go on to play in the World Junior Championships. News Boris Yeshan.

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	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	0	1	8	2675
2.	Chadaev, Nikolai	m	RUS	2471	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	8	2677
3.	Ponkratov, Pavel	m	RUS	2489	½	0	*	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	½	½	7½	2633
4.	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	RUS	2573	0	½	½	*	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	6½	2557
5.	Lintchevski, Daniil	m	RUS	2440	½	½	0	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	6½	2569
6.	Romanov, Evgeny	g	RUS	2543	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	½	1	½	1	1	6	2531
7.	Papin, Vasily	m	RUS	2475	½	0	½	0	½	0	*	1	½	0	½	1	4½	2436
8.	Nechepurenko, Roman V	f	RUS	2495	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	*	½	0	1	1	4½	2434
9.	Popov, Ivan RUS	g	RUS	2595	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	*	1	1	½	4½	2425
10.	Shimanov, Aleksandr	m	RUS	2441	0	0	0	½	0	½	1	1	0	*	1	½	4½	2439
11.	Rakhmanov, Aleksandr	g	RUS	2524	1	0	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	0	*	1	4	2395
12.	Lovkov, Roman	f	RUS	2457	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	*	1½	2194

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	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	8½	2482
2.	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2295	0	*	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	7	2375
3.	Vasilkova, Svetlana	wm	RUS	2359	1	1	*	0	1	½	1	0	0	½	½	1	6½	2332
4.	Charochkina, Daria	wm	RUS	2383	0	0	1	*	1	1	0	0	½	1	1	1	6½	2330
5.	Girya, Olga	wf	RUS	2342	½	1	0	0	*	½	0	1	½	½	1	1	6	2305
6.	Savina, Anastasia		RUS	2202	0	1	½	0	½	*	1	½	0	½	1	1	6	2317
7.	Severiukhina, Zoja	wf	RUS	2199	0	0	0	1	1	0	*	1	1	½	1	0	5½	2282
8.	Ivakhinova, Inna	wm	RUS	2250	0	0	1	1	0	½	0	*	½	1	1	0	5	2241
9.	Tarasova, Viktoriya	wm	RUS	2267	0	0	1	½	½	1	0	½	*	0	½	1	5	2239
10.	Shlakich, Anna		RUS	2244	1	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	1	*	0	½	4½	2212
11.	Ambartsumova, Karina	wf	RUS	2228	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	1	3	2104
12.	Meleshko, Anna	wm	RUS	2215	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	½	0	*	2½	2069

6) Bobby Fischer Memorial

The Bobby Fischer Memorial took place in Villa Martelli Buenos Aires, Argentina, 11th-19th March 2008. Diego Valerga won the event from Mauricio Flores Rios on Sonnen-Berger tie-break after both finished on 5.5/9.

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

Bobby Fischer mem Villa Martelli ARG (ARG), 11-19 iii 2008												cat. IX (2457)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Valerga, Diego	m	ARG	2478	*	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	½	½	5½	2534
2.	Flores Rios, Mauricio	f	CHI	2391	½	*	½	1	1	½	0	0	1	1	5½	2544
3.	Panno, Oscar	g	ARG	2429	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	5	2503
4.	Flores, Diego	m	ARG	2558	1	0	½	*	0	1	0	1	½	1	5	2489
5.	Lemos, Damian	m	ARG	2460	½	0	½	1	*	0	½	1	½	1	5	2499
6.	Rodriguez Vila, Andres	g	URU	2566	0	½	½	0	1	*	½	1	½	1	5	2488
7.	Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag	m	BRA	2456	0	1	0	1	½	½	*	½	½	½	4½	2457
8.	Coelho, Luis Henrique	m	BRA	2392	0	1	½	0	0	0	½	*	1	1	4	2421
9.	Slipak, Sergio	g	ARG	2448	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	*	½	3½	2378
10.	Claverie, Raul		ARG	2394	½	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	*	2	2244

7) Austrian Bundesliga

The final round of games from the Austrian Bundesliga took place in 13th-16th March 2008 in Graz (Novapark) and SK Advisory Invest Baden won the title. The final four rounds are now in the games section. My thanks to Harald Grafenhofer.

Official site: http://www.chess.at/, results chess-results.com

Austrian Team Championship 2007-8 (AUT), 30 xi 2007 - 16 iii 2008
Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	SK Advisory Invest Baden	*	3½	3½	3	3½	2½	4½	3½	3½	4	4	5	40,5	28	2
2	Holz Dohr	2½	*	3	3½	3½	3½	3½	4½	4½	4½	4	3½	40,5	28	0
3	SK Hohenems	2½	3	*	3	3½	2½	4½	4½	3	4½	3	4	38,0	19	0
4	SK Kl.Ztg.MPÖ Maria Saal	3	2½	3	*	2½	3	3	4	2½	3½	4½	4½	36,0	16	0
5	ASVÖ Wulkaprodersdorf	2½	2½	2½	3½	*	2½	2½	3	4	4	4½	3	34,5	14	0
6	Union Ansfelden	3½	2½	3½	3	3½	*	3	2½	3	3½	2	3½	33,5	18	0
7	Styria Graz	1½	2½	1½	3	3½	3	*	3½	3½	3	3½	4½	33,0	18	0
8	ASVÖ Pamhagen	2½	1½	1½	2	3	3½	2½	*	4	2	3½	4½	30,5	13	0
9	SK Absam	2½	1½	3	3½	2	3	2½	2	*	3	3	4½	30,5	10	0
10	SC Die Klagenfurter	2	1½	1½	2½	2	2½	3	4	3	*	4	4	30,0	11	0
11	Mayrhofen/Zillertal	2	2	3	1½	1½	4	2½	2½	3	2	*	5	29,0	8	0
12	RbEJ Gleisdorf	1	2½	2	1½	3	2½	1½	1½	1½	2	1	*	20,0	1	0

8) Serbian Championships

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

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

ch-SRB Mataruska Banja SRB (SRB), 15-28 iii 2008														cat. XII (2536)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Pikula, Dejan	g	SRB	2524	*	½	½	1	.	1	½	½	0	1	.	.	.	1	6	2684
2.	Miladinovic, Igor	g	SRB	2604	½	*	½	.	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	.	.	.	5½	2624
3.	Vuckovic, Bojan	g	SRB	2556	½	½	*	½	½	1	.	.	.	0	1	½	1	.	5½	2622
4.	Ivanisevic, Ivan	g	SRB	2649	0	.	½	*	½	.	½	1	½	.	.	1	½	1	5½	2592
5.	Perunovic, Milos	g	SRB	2570	.	½	½	½	*	½	.	½	.	½	½	1	.	½	5	2583
6.	Damljanovic, Branko	g	SRB	2582	0	0	0	.	½	*	1	.	1	1	½	.	1	.	5	2583
7.	Markus, Robert	g	SRB	2575	½	½	.	½	.	0	*	1	.	.	½	½	1	½	5	2561
8.	Pavlovic, Milos M	m	SRB	2457	½	½	.	0	½	.	0	*	.	.	1	½	1	1	5	2573
9.	Kovacevic, Aleksandar	g	SRB	2575	1	0	.	½	.	0	.	.	*	1	0	1	½	½	4½	2530
10.	Sedlak, Nikola	g	SRB	2568	0	½	1	.	½	0	.	.	0	*	½	1	1	.	4½	2532
11.	Bogosavljevic, Boban	f	SRB	2492	.	½	0	.	½	½	½	0	1	½	*	.	.	1	4½	2550
12.	Drazic, Sinisa	g	SRB	2489	.	.	½	0	0	.	½	½	0	0	.	*	1	1	3½	2455
13.	Velickovic, Sasa	m	SRB	2401	.	.	0	½	.	0	0	0	½	0	.	0	*	1	2	2326
14.	Leskur, Dejan		SRB	2468	0	.	.	0	½	.	½	0	½	.	0	0	0	*	1½	2252

9) Danish Championship

The Danish Championship took place in Silkeborg March 15th-24th 2008. Peter Heine Nielsen played for the first time in five years and after a scare against Esben Lund in the first round he went on to win with 7/9 a point clear of Lars Schandorff. Three time defending champion Sune Berg Hansen was half a point further back.

Official site: http://www.skak-dm.dk/2008/

ch-DEN Silkeborg (DEN), 15-23 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1.	Nielsen, Peter Heine	g	DEN	2625	=8	+13	+5	+10	=3	+2	+4	=7	=9	7	2667
2.	Schandorff, Lars	g	DEN	2526	=13	+8	=9	+12	+10	-1	=3	+5	=4	6	2588
3.	Hansen, Sune Berg	g	DEN	2549	+17	=9	=15	+5	=1	=4	=2	=6	=8	5½	2538
4.	Glud, Jakob Vang	m	DEN	2486	-14	+18	+7	=6	+9	=3	-1	+16	=2	5½	2500
5.	Rasmussen, Allan Stig	f	DEN	2468	+18	+14	-1	-3	+15	+8	+9	-2	=10	5½	2536
6.	Antonsen, Mikkel	m	DEN	2409	=7	+16	-10	=4	-8	+17	+13	=3	+15	5½	2482
7.	Matthiesen, Arne	f	DEN	2327	=6	=12	-4	=13	+14	+11	=8	=1	=16	5	2431
8.	Lund, Esben	m	DEN	2403	=1	-2	+19	=11	+6	-5	=7	+12	=3	5	2475
9.	Kristiansen, Jens	m	DEN	2441	+19	=3	=2	+15	-4	+12	-5	=10	=1	5	2514
10.	Rasmussen, Karsten	m	DEN	2505	=20	+11	+6	-1	-2	=13	+18	=9	=5	5	2461
11.	Petersen, Tom Petri		DEN	2309	=15	-10	+17	=8	=12	-7	=14	=19	+20	4½	2369
12.	Jakobsen, Ole	m	DEN	2372	=16	=7	+14	-2	=11	-9	+19	-8	=17	4	2317
13.	Holmsgaard, Henrik		DEN	2324	=2	-1	=16	=7	+18	=10	-6	=20	=19	4	2358
14.	Jacobsen, Bo		DEN	2316	+4	-5	-12	=19	-7	+20	=11	=17	=18	4	2323
15.	H(/o)i, Carsten	g	DEN	2404	=11	+20	=3	-9	-5	=16	=17	+18	-6	4	2341
16.	Teplyi, Igor		DEN	2256	=12	-6	=13	=18	=17	=15	+20	-4	=7	4	2329
17.	Matthiesen, Martin		DEN	2365	-3	=19	-11	+20	=16	-6	=15	=14	=12	3½	2280
18.	Boe, Mads	f	DEN	2337	-5	-4	+20	=16	-13	+19	-10	-15	=14	3	2251
19.	Knudsen, Per	f	DEN	2305	-9	=17	-8	=14	=20	-18	-12	=11	=13	2½	2188
20.	Kristensen, Kaare	f	DEN	2325	=10	-15	-18	-17	=19	-14	-16	=13	-11	1½	2073

10) 67th Georgian Championships Men

The Georgian Men's Championships take place 15th-30th March 2008. The event is a knockout with rapid playoffs of 25-25 mins. +10 sec. a move. Games from the first round are in the PGN section. News: Varlam Vepkhvishvili.

67th ch-GEO KO Tbilisi (GEO), 15-30 iii 2008
Round 3 21-23 March 2008
Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	g	GEO	2635	4
Supatashvili, Khvicha	m	GEO	2466	3

Jojua, Davit	m	GEO	2463	0.5
Pantsulaia, Levan	g	GEO	2629	1.5

Magalashvili, Davit	m	GEO	2449	1.5
Shanava, Konstantine	g	GEO	2521	2.5

Margvelashvili, Giorgi	m	GEO	2455	4
Arutinian, David	g	GEO	2576	2
Round 2 18-20 March 2008
Bregadze, Levan	f	GEO	2427	0.5
Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	g	GEO	2635	1.5

Benidze, Davit	f	GEO	2359	1.5
Supatashvili, Khvicha	m	GEO	2466	2.5

Jojua, Davit	m	GEO	2463	3
Sturua, Zurab	g	GEO	2515	1

Pantsulaia, Levan	g	GEO	2629	3
Jobava, Beglar	m	GEO	2446	1

Magalashvili, Davit	m	GEO	2449	3.5
Gelashvili, Tamaz	g	GEO	2622	2.5

Shanava, Konstantine	g	GEO	2521	1.5
Chigladze, Iveri		GEO	2389	0.5

Margvelashvili, Giorgi	m	GEO	2455	2.5
Aroshidze, Levan	g	GEO	2535	1.5

Arutinian, David	g	GEO	2576	2.5
Kekelidze, Mikheil	g	GEO	2454	1.5
Round 1 15th-17th March 2008
Bregadze, Levan	f	GEO	2427	3
Morchiashvili, Bachana	m	GEO	2434	1

Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	g	GEO	2635	2
Patsia, Zviad		GEO	2213	0

Benidze, Davit	f	GEO	2359	1.5
Bagaturov, Giorgi	g	GEO	2498	0.5

Supatashvili, Khvicha	m	GEO	2466	3
Gelazonia, Parmen		GEO	2361	1

Zarkua, Davit		GEO	2377	1
Jojua, Davit	m	GEO	2463	3

Sturua, Zurab	g	GEO	2515	1.5
Vepkhvishvili, Varlam	f	GEO	2359	0.5

Kashashvili, Alexandre	m	GEO	2272	0
Pantsulaia, Levan	g	GEO	2629	2

Jobava, Beglar	m	GEO	2446	1.5
Nigalidze, Gaioz		GEO	2420	0.5

Kuparadze, Giga		GEO	2407	0.5
Magalashvili, Davit	m	GEO	2449	1.5

Gelashvili, Tamaz	g	GEO	2622	2
Mgeladze, Tamaz		GEO	2289	0

Azaladze, Shota		GEO	2353	0.5
Shanava, Konstantine	g	GEO	2521	1.5

Sanikidze, Tornike	m	GEO	2461	1.5
Chigladze, Iveri		GEO	2389	2.5

Paichadze, Luka		GEO	2396	0.5
Margvelashvili, Giorgi	m	GEO	2455	1.5

Aroshidze, Levan	g	GEO	2535	1.5
Tskitishvili, Irakli	f	GEO	2332	0.5

Batsiashvili, Nino	wm	GEO	2317	0.5
Arutinian, David	g	GEO	2576	1.5

Kekelidze, Mikheil	g	GEO	2454	1.5
Lomsadze, Davit		GEO	2400	0.5

11) Bulgarian Championships

The Bulgarian Championships for men and women took place in Plovdiv 14th-24th March 2008. Vasily Spasov took clear first in the men's event with 9.5/13 half a point clear of Milen Vasilev. Elitsa Raeva finished a point and a half clear in the women's event with a 9/11 score.

Official site: http://www.chessmix.com/en/events/2930/

72nd ch-BUL Plovdiv BUL (BUL), 14-24 iii 2008														cat. VIII (2428)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Spasov, Vasil	g	BUL	2579	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	9½	2591
2.	Vasilev, Milen	m	BUL	2470	½	*	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	9	2565
3.	Rusev, Krasimir	m	BUL	2521	½	1	*	½	0	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	8½	2530
4.	Nikolov, Momchil	m	BUL	2500	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	0	1	½	1	1	1	8½	2532
5.	Radulski, Julian	g	BUL	2511	½	½	1	½	*	½	0	½	½	½	1	1	0	1	7½	2478
6.	Janev, Evgeni	g	BUL	2485	½	½	½	½	½	*	1	½	0	½	0	1	1	1	7½	2480
7.	Petkov, Vladimir	g	BUL	2434	½	½	0	½	1	0	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	7½	2484
8.	Iotov, Valentin	m	BUL	2495	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	1	1	0	1	½	1	7	2451
9.	Tsvetkov, Ilia		BUL	2352	0	0	½	1	½	1	½	0	*	½	0	0	1	½	5½	2376
10.	Kozhuharov, Spas	m	BUL	2456	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	½	½	1	5½	2368
11.	Lilov, Valeri		BUL	2323	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	1	1	½	*	0	1	½	5½	2389
12.	Mladenov, Plamen		BUL	2288	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	1	½	1	*	½	½	4½	2328
13.	Milchev, Nikolay	f	BUL	2373	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	*	½	3	2221
14.	Arnaudov, G. Petar	f	BUL	2345	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	*	2	2138

57th ch-BUL w Plovdiv BUL (BUL), 14-24 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Raeva, Elitsa	wf	BUL	2258	*	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	9	2421
2.	Velcheva, Maria	wg	BUL	2266	0	*	1	½	0	1	1	1	½	½	1	1	7½	2291
3.	Videnova, Iva	wf	BUL	2188	0	0	*	1	1	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	7½	2298
4.	Nikolova, Adriana	wf	BUL	2194	½	½	0	*	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	½	6½	2230
5.	Chilingirova, Pavlina	wm	BUL	2213	½	1	0	0	*	½	0	½	½	1	1	1	6	2199
6.	Genova, Lyubka	wm	BUL	2232	½	0	½	0	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	6	2197
7.	Jordanova, Svetla	wf	BUL	2145	½	0	½	0	1	½	*	0	1	½	½	1	5½	2169
8.	Voiska, Margarita	wg	BUL	2333	0	0	0	0	½	½	1	*	½	1	1	1	5½	2152
9.	Savova, Stefka	wm	BUL	2165	0	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	½	½	4	2065
10.	Trifonova, Sandra		BUL	1957	0	½	0	1	0	½	½	0	0	*	½	½	3½	2053
11.	Vladimirova, Maria		BUL	1971	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	0	½	½	*	1	3½	2052
12.	Bednikova, Stefi		BUL	2088	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	*	1½	1865

12) Bologne Easter tournament

There is an Easter international tournament took place in Bologna 20th-24th March 2008. FM Niccolo Ronchetti took clear first place. Games were broadcast live but are currently unavailable in PGN.

Official site: http://www.accademiascacchistica.it/tornei/elo/www200308/playercard.html

Bologne Easter tournament 20-24 iii 2008 Players:
Pl	Name	Ti	NAT	Rat	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts
1	Ronchetti Niccolo'	FM	ITA	2431	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	½	6
2	Berzinsh Roland	IM	LAT	2417	½	*	½	1	1	0	½	½	½	1	5.5
3	Laketic Gojko	IM	SRB	2443	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5.5
4	Rombaldoni Axel	FM	ITA	2394	0	0	½	*	1	0	1	1	1	1	5.5
5	Martinez Rolly	IM	PHI	2447	0	0	½	0	*	1	1	½	1	1	5
6	Tomba Ivan	--	ITA	2301	0	1	½	1	0	*	0	0	1	1	4.5
7	Barillaro Luca	--	ITA	2180	½	½	½	0	0	1	*	1	0	½	4
8	Scalcione Michelangelo	FM	ITA	2431	½	½	½	0	½	1	0	*	0	½	3.5
9	Vancini Edoardo	FM	ITA	2277	½	½	0	0	0	0	1	1	*	½	3.5
10	Gilevich Artem	--	UKR	2069	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	*	2

13) Inter Unit PSPB Championship

The Inter Unit PSPB Chess Championship Indian team tournament was held in the Hotel Monarch, Ooty, 8th-10th March 2008. The winners were ONGC (Oil & Natural GC - A) who had the following players: Koneru Humpy, Sasikiran, Sandipan Chanda, Neelotpal Das (ALL GMS) and P.Konguvel (IM). This was followed by a rapid event won by Krishnan Sasikiran.

Event games at: http://cyberchess.co.in/

XIX PSPB Inter Unit Chess Tournament - Team Event
Rnk	Team	+	=	-	MP	Pts.
1	Oil & Natural GC - A	6	0	0	12	21½
2	Bharat Petroleum CL	4	1	1	9	19
3	Indian Oil CL	4	1	1	9	18
4	Oil India Ltd	4	0	2	8	15
5	Indian Oil CL (Assam Div)	3	0	3	6	11
6	Oil & Natural GC - B	3	0	3	6	10½
7	Bongaigaon Refineries PL	3	0	3	6	10½
8	Hindusthan Petroleum CL - B	2	1	3	5	10
9	Hindusthan Petroleum CL - A	2	1	3	5	8
10	Engineers India Ltd	1	1	4	3	9
11	Mangalore Refineries PL	1	0	5	2	6
12	GAIL (India) Ltd	0	1	5	1	5½

XIX PSPB Inter Unit Chess Tournament - Team Event
Rnk	Ti	Name	Rtg	Club	Pts	BH.
1	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2677	ONGC	8	51
2	GM	Kunte Abhijit	2550	IOCL	8	50½
3	GM	Koneru Humpy	2612	ONGC	7½	49½
4	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2579	IOCL	7	49
5	IM	Gupta Abhijeet	2495	BPCL	6	49
6	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J	2491	IOCL	6	47½
7	IM	Venkatesh M R	2444	BPCL	6	45
8	IM	Saravanan V	2379	BPCL	6	44½
9	IM	Konguvel Ponnuswamy	2394	ONGC	6	43
10	GM	Neelotpal Das	2486	ONGC	6	42½
11	IM	Sengupta Deep	2476	IOCL	5½	49½
12	IM	Arun Prasad S	2423	BPCL	5½	48½
13		Imocha Laishram	2240	OIL	5½	44
14	GM	Ramesh R B	2473	IOCL	5½	42
15	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2593	ONGC	5½	41½
16	IM	Ravi Lanka	2387	ONGC	5½	41
17	IM	Koshy Varugeese	2270	ONGC	5½	40½
18	WGM	Mohota Nisha	2409	OIL	5½	39
19		Suryanarayanan J	0	EIL	5½	36½
20		Manoj Barua	2065	OIL	5½	36
21	IM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2442	BPCL	5	48½
22	GM	Gopal G N	2528	BPCL	5	47
62 players

14) 3rd Kolkata Open

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

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

3rd Kolkata Open Grandmaster 24 iii - 2 iv 2008 Round 2 Pairings
Bo.	SNo.		Name	IRtg	FED	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	IRtg	FED	SNo.
1	1	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2677	IND	1		1		Barbosa Oliver	2410	PHI	28
2	29	WGM	Mohota Nisha	2409	IND	1		1	GM	Lputian Smbat G	2616	ARM	2
3	3	GM	Koneru Humpy	2612	IND	1		1	IM	Satyapragyan Swayangsu	2406	IND	30
4	31	IM	Saptarshi Roy	2404	IND	1		1	GM	Laznicka Viktor	2595	CZE	4
5	5	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2593	IND	1		1		Das Arghyadip	2404	IND	32
6	7	GM	David Alberto	2557	LUX	1		1	IM	Konguvel Ponnuswamy	2394	IND	36
7	33	IM	Akshayraj Kore	2399	IND	1		1	GM	Adly Ahmed	2551	EGY	8
8	9	GM	Nguyen Anh Dung	2525	VIE	1		1	IM	Kamble Vikramaditya	2387	IND	38
9	11	GM	Abdulla Al-Rakib	2506	BAN	1		1		Thejkumar M S	2382	IND	40
10	35	IM	Lodhi Mahmood	2397	PAK	1		1	GM	Dobrov Vladimir	2501	RUS	12
11	13	GM	Safin Shukhrat	2493	UZB	1		1	IM	Saravanan V	2379	IND	42
12	37	IM	Kobese Watu	2389	RSA	1		1	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2492	BAN	14
13	15	GM	Barua Dibyendu	2491	IND	1		1	IM	Prathamesh Sunil Mokal	2371	IND	44
14	43	FM	Ahmed Sk Nasir	2379	BAN	1		1	GM	Neelotpal Das	2486	IND	16
15	17	IM	Ashwin Jayaram	2478	IND	1		1		Murali Krishnan B T	2363	IND	46
16	45	IM	Suvrajit Saha	2363	IND	1		1	GM	Ramesh R B	2473	IND	18
17	19	GM	Bakre Tejas	2459	IND	1		1		Palit Somak	2340	IND	48
18	47	IM	Prakash G B	2341	IND	1		1	IM	Sriram Jha	2457	IND	20
19	21	IM	Venkatesh M R	2444	IND	1		1	IM	Shankar Roy	2335	IND	50
20	52	FM	Minhazuddin Ahmed	2333	BAN	1		1	IM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2442	IND	22
21	23	IM	Laxman R R	2440	IND	1		1		Udeshi Aditya	2331	IND	54
22	67		Shyam Nikil P	2301	IND	1		1	IM	Rathnakaran K	2437	IND	24
23	25	GM	Murshed Niaz	2428	BAN	1		1	IM	Singh D P	2326	IND	56
24	114		Kavan Shah	1806	IND	1		1	IM	Arun Prasad S	2423	IND	26
25	27		Nolte Rolando	2412	PHI	1		1		Ghosh Diptayan	2016	IND	106
26	91		Bitan Banerjee	2181	IND	½		½	GM	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan	2589	IRI	6
27	62		Swapnil S Dhopade	2319	IND	½		½	IM	Himanshu Sharma	2398	IND	34
28	39	IM	Garma Chito	2383	PHI	½		½		Ankit R Rajpara	2122	IND	98
29	41	IM	Frhat Ali	2379	EGY	½		½		Ghosh Ananda K	2153	IND	96
30	51	IM	Babu N Sudhakar	2333	IND	½		½		Rishi Thariani	1949	IND	110
31	53	IM	Solomon Kenny	2332	RSA	½		½		Shaati Majumder	1896	IND	112
32	55	FM	Mohannad Farhan	2329	JOR	½		½		Prince Bajaj	1986	IND	108
33	83		Imocha Laishram	2240	IND	0		0	IM	Hossain Enamul	2522	BAN	10
34	49		Abhishek Das	2337	IND	0		0	FM	Grover Sahaj	2242	IND	82
35	85		Swayams Mishra	2214	IND	0		0	FM	Rahman Md Taibur	2325	BAN	57
36	58	IM	Gokhale Chandrashekhar	2323	IND	0		0		Nimmy A G	2222	IND	84
37	87	FM	Narayanan Srinath	2210	IND	0		0		Tiwari Arjun	2322	IND	59
38	60	IM	Shetty Rahul	2320	IND	0		0		Mohammad Ali	2211	BAN	86
39	89	WIM	Nadig Kruttika	2208	IND	0		0	FM	Hasan Mehdi	2320	BAN	61
40	93		Negi V S	2165	IND	0		0		Shashikant Kutwal	2316	IND	63
41	95		Amrutha Mokal	2157	IND	0		0		Arun Karthik R	2313	IND	64
42	65		Thakur Akash	2312	IND	0		0	WIM	Padmini Rout	2210	IND	88
43	97	FM	Sai Krishna G V	2124	IND	0		0		Phadke Sohan	2307	IND	66
44	99		Abhishek Kelkar	2117	IND	0		0	FM	Ramakrishna J	2296	IND	68
45	69		Prasenjit Datta	2296	IND	0		0		Mehta Praful	2191	IND	90
46	101		Prem Krishna Maharjan	2096	NEP	0		0		Singh Gurpreet Pal	2292	IND	70
47	71	FM	Singh Rishpal S	2282	IND	0		0		Janardhan Shrestha	2180	NEP	92
48	103		Gagare Shalmali	2068	IND	0		0		Debashis Das	2279	IND	72
49	73	IM	Balasubramaniun Ramnathan	2274	IND	0		0		Shailendra K Bajpai	2158	IND	94
50	105		Das Sayantan	2024	IND	0		0		Mohammad Javed	2273	BAN	74
51	75	WIM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	2270	IND	0		0		Satyajit Kundu	2117	IND	100
52	107		Roy Pallabi	2009	IND	0		0		Sagar Shah	2263	IND	76
53	77		Matta Vinay Kumar	2260	IND	0		0		Abhratanu Dutta	2081	IND	102
54	109		Vaibhav Suri	1962	IND	0		0	WIM	Gomes Mary Ann	2255	IND	78
55	79		Chatterjee K K	2251	IND	0		0		Anuprita Patil	2062	IND	104
56	111		Mohana Sengupta	1896	IND	0		0		Madjidov Jasur	2249	UZB	80
57	81		Joshi G B	2246	IND	0		0		Karma Pandya	1856	IND	113

15) Victor Ciocaltea Memorial

Victor Ciocaltea Memorial takes place in Bucharest 14th-27th March 2008. Vadim Shishkin and Constantin Lupulescu share first on 6.5/10 with a round to go. Alongside was a junior tournament also which was won by Vlad-Victor Barnaure with 7/9.

Official site: http://www.sahclub.ro/

Victor Ciocaltea mem Bucharest (ROM), 14-25 iii 2008													cat. IX (2475)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Shishkin, Vadim UKR	g	UKR	2493	*	½	0	½	½	½	1	.	½	1	1	1	6½	2584
2.	Lupulescu, Constantin	g	ROU	2553	½	*	.	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	6½	2572
3.	Romanishin, Oleg M	g	UKR	2528	1	.	*	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	0	6	2534
4.	Szabo, Gergely-Andras-Gyula	m	ROU	2509	½	½	½	*	.	1	½	½	½	0	1	½	5½	2511
5.	Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	m	CAN	2442	½	½	0	.	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	0	5½	2511
6.	Murariu, Andrei	g	ROU	2483	½	½	½	0	½	*	.	0	½	1	½	1	5	2469
7.	Jianu, Vlad-Cristian	g	ROU	2530	0	½	½	½	½	.	*	½	½	½	½	1	5	2469
8.	Pap, Misa	m	SRB	2465	.	½	½	½	0	1	½	*	½	½	0	½	4½	2438
9.	Sanduleac, Vasile	g	MDA	2452	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	0	.	½	4	2409
10.	Chirila, Ioan Cristian	f	ROU	2400	0	½	0	1	0	0	½	½	1	*	½	.	4	2417
11.	Baratosi, Daniel	f	ROU	2441	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	1	.	½	*	1	4	2409
12.	Raceanu, Valentin	m	ROU	2407	0	0	1	½	1	0	0	½	½	.	0	*	3½	2379

Romanian Young Int Bucharest (ROM), 14-22 iii 2008												cat. V (2360)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Barnaure, Vlad-Victor	m	ROU	2469	*	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	7	2567
2.	Badev, Kiril	f	BUL	2314	0	*	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	6	2490
3.	Georgescu, Tiberiu	f	ROU	2356	½	0	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	6	2485
4.	Miron, Lucian-Costin	f	ROU	2408	0	½	½	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	6	2479
5.	Burnoiu, Nicolae-Costel	m	ROU	2435	½	0	½	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	5	2394
6.	Filev, Georgi		BUL	2353	½	½	0	0	0	*	1	½	1	1	4½	2360
7.	Agafii, Victor	f	MDA	2298	0	½	0	½	½	0	*	½	1	1	4	2323
8.	Ogleznev, Alexandr		MDA	2300	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	1	3½	2286
9.	Carmaciu, Lucian-Catalin	m	ROU	2424	½	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	3	2227
10.	Padurariu, Ioana-Smaranda	wm	ROU	2243	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	0

16) 19th Pobeskydi Chess Festival

The 19th Pobeskydi Chess Festival took place 20th-24th March 2008 in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic. I couldn't see games or standings.

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

17) 31st San Sebastian City Open

The 31st San Sebastian City Open took place in Donostia 16th-23rd of March 2008. Ivan Salgado Lopez took clear first place with 7.5/9. Games from the final round not yet available.

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

31st San Sebastian Open Donostia (ESP), 16-23 iii 2008
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	EloFIDE	Pts.	T/B
1	Salgado Lopez Ivan	IM	ESP	2459	7,5	41,0
2	Spraggett Kevin	GM	CAN	2588	7,0	37,5
3	Andres Gonzalez Alberto	IM	ESP	2436	7,0	37,5
4	San Segundo Carrillo Pablo	GM	ESP	2542	7,0	36,5
5	Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G	GM	ESP	2487	7,0	36,0
6	Cifuentes Parada Roberto	GM	ESP	2520	7,0	35,5
7	Mateo Ramon	IM	DOM	2484	6,5	36,5
8	Lafuente Pablo	IM	ARG	2489	6,5	35,0
9	Alsina Leal Daniel	FM	ESP	2455	6,5	35,0
10	Narciso Dublan Marc	GM	ESP	2513	6,5	34,5
11	Huerga Leache Mikel	FM	ESP	2440	6,5	34,5
12	Recuero Guerra David	FM	ESP	2424	6,5	32,0
13	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	GM	ESP	2550	6,0	36,5
14	Alonso Arburu Juan Ignacio		ESP	2368	6,0	33,5
15	Argandona Riveiro Inigo	IM	ESP	2404	6,0	32,0
16	Bellia Fabrizio	IM	ITA	2405	6,0	32,0
17	Simutowe Amon	IM	ZAM	2457	6,0	33,0
18	Andres Gonzalez Ivan	FM	ESP	2375	6,0	32,0
19	Hernandez Elvis	FM	DOM	2322	6,0	30,0
20	Rubio Mejia Luis Ignacio	FM	ESP	2373	6,0	31,5
21	Hallerod Ralph		SWE	2131	6,0	32,0
22	Ladron De Guevara Galar Fco J		ESP	2084	6,0	29,0
23	Garcia Blanco Omar		ESP	2139	6,0	30,0
24	Perez Cameselle Francisco		ESP	1993	6,0	28,5
25	Martin Alvarez Inigo		ESP	2189	6,0	30,5
26	Fuente San Sebastian Ernesto		ESP	0	6,0	28,5
27	Gonzalez de la Torre Santiago	FM	ESP	2389	5,5	31,5
125 players

18) 15th Belisce Metalis Open

The Belisce-Metalis open 2008." took place 21th-24th February 2008.in spa Bizovacke Toplice(CRO). GM Popovic Dusan finished first with the better tie-break from Jovanovic Zoran and Zelcic Robert after all finished on 6/7. News: Mihajlo Savic.

Official site: http://www.crochess.com/turniri/bizovac/08/poredak.shtm

15th Belisce Metalis Open Bizovac (CRO), 21-24 iii 2008
Pl	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Bod	BH1.	ratP
1	Popovic Dusan	GM	SRB	2556	6,0	25,0	2648
2	Jovanovic Zoran	GM	CRO	2525	6,0	23,0	2631
3	Zelcic Robert	GM	CRO	2587	6,0	22,0	2584
4	Stevic Hrvoje	GM	CRO	2531	5,5	24,5	2581
5	Nevednichy Vladislav	GM	ROU	2538	5,5	23,5	2518
6	Savic Miodrag	GM	SRB	2536	5,5	23,5	2542
7	Farago Ivan	GM	HUN	2475	5,5	23,0	2544
8	Sax Gyula	GM	HUN	2509	5,5	22,5	2489
9	Palac Mladen	GM	CRO	2575	5,5	22,0	2483
10	Grecescu Gabriel-Andrei		ROU	2383	5,5	18,5	2381
11	Kozul Zdenko	GM	CRO	2600	5,0	26,0	2533
12	Jurkovic Ante	NM	CRO	2318	5,0	22,0	2397
13	Medic Mirjana	WGM	CRO	2248	5,0	22,0	2445
14	Doric Nenad	IM	CRO	2336	5,0	21,5	2372
15	Kovacevic Blazimir	IM	CRO	2482	5,0	20,5	2398
16	Rogulj Branko	IM	CRO	2389	5,0	20,5	2340
17	Mestrovic Zvonimir	IM	SLO	2310	5,0	19,5	2301
18	Dabo-Peranic Robert	NM	CRO	2309	5,0	19,5	2257
19	Sertic Rudolf	NM	CRO	2355	5,0	19,5	2322
20	Orak Ljubomir	FM	CRO	2325	5,0	18,5	2308
21	Medak Bojan	FM	CRO	2373	5,0	18,0	2243
22	Vargic Drago	FM	CRO	2406	5,0	17,0	2302

19) 35th La Roda Open

The 35th International Open of La Roda 2008 took place 19th-23rd March 2008. Fidel Corrales Jimenez took first place on tie-break. Final round games not yet available.

http://www.cplaroda.com/ajedrez/index2.html

XXXV Open La Roda (ESP), 19-23 iii 2008
Rk.	Number	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	T/B
1	Corrales Jimenez Fidel	IM	CUB	2509	7,5	50,0
2	Cabrera Alexis	GM	COL	2491	7,5	48,5
3	Movsziszian Karen	GM	ARM	2527	7,5	47,5
4	Pogorelov Ruslan	GM	UKR	2396	7,0	49,0
5	Paunovic Dragan	GM	SRB	2522	7,0	48,0
6	Perez Rodriguez Luis Manuel	IM	CUB	2432	6,5	51,5
7	Mirzoev Azer	GM	AZE	2518	6,5	49,5
8	Macak Stefan		SVK	2361	6,5	49,5
9	Almeida Quintana Omar	GM	CUB	2500	6,5	49,0
10	Kolev Atanas	GM	BUL	2572	6,5	48,5
11	Ubilava Elizbar	GM	ESP	2544	6,5	48,0
12	Suba Mihai	GM	ROU	2485	6,5	47,5
13	Granda Zuniga Julio E	GM	PER	2588	6,5	47,5
14	Strikovic Aleksa	GM	SRB	2543	6,5	47,5
15	Epishin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2577	6,5	46,0
16	Ibarra Jerez Jose Carlos	IM	ESP	2493	6,5	44,5
17	Vehi Bach Victor M	IM	ESP	2373	6,5	44,0
18	Kovacevic Slobodan	IM	SRB	2413	6,5	42,0
19	Marholev Dimitar	IM	BUL	2401	6,5	41,5
20	Ivanov Jordan	IM	BUL	2371	6,0	49,0
200 players

20) Stockholm Ladies Open

The Stockholm Ladies Open tournament takes place 20th-25th March 2008. The prize money is over 100 000 Skr. After 7 of 9m rounds Sopiko Khukhashvili leads on 6/7. Games from the first three rounds available. Others should also become available as there is live coverage but there seem to be technical problems.

Official site: http://www.scandinavian-chess.se/

SCT Ladies Open Stockholm (SWE), 20-25 iii 2008
Rk.	Ti	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	Rp
1	IM	Khukhashvili Sopiko	GEO	2387	6,0	28,0	31,5	2620
2	IM	Hunt Harriet	ENG	2457	5,5	29,5	33,5	2569
3	IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2460	5,5	29,5	32,5	2577
4	IM	Gaponenko Inna	UKR	2422	5,5	28,0	31,0	2537
5	IM	Jackova Jana	CZE	2375	5,5	27,0	30,0	2542
6	IM	Danielian Elina	ARM	2480	5,5	26,5	30,5	2533
7	IM	Lujan Carolina	ARG	2365	5,5	24,5	27,5	2452
8	WGM	Melia Salome	GEO	2362	5,0	27,5	31,0	2456
9	WIM	Worek Joanna	POL	2244	5,0	27,0	29,0	2319
10	IM	Vajda Szidonia	HUN	2418	5,0	26,0	29,0	2414
11	WGM	Reizniece Dana	LAT	2309	5,0	25,0	27,5	2384
12	WGM	Mamedjarova Zeinab	AZE	2332	5,0	24,0	27,0	2433
13	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	GEO	2235	5,0	24,0	26,5	2384
14	IM	Ciuksyte Dagne	ENG	2377	5,0	23,5	26,0	2355
15	WIM	Batsiashvili Nino	GEO	2317	5,0	22,0	25,0	2380
16	WIM	Nemcova Katerina	CZE	2342	5,0	22,0	24,5	2308
	WGM	Calzetta Monica	ESP	2269	5,0	22,0	24,5	2337
18	WGM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2357	4,5	27,5	30,5	2402
19	WGM	Tkeshelashvili Sopio	GEO	2250	4,5	27,0	29,0	2295
20	WGM	Shaidullina Sandugach	RUS	2306	4,5	26,5	29,5	2391
21	WGM	Sudakova Irina	RUS	2333	4,5	26,5	29,0	2345
	WGM	Benderac Ana	SRB	2324	4,5	26,5	29,0	2315
23	WGM	Mamedjarova Turkan	AZE	2313	4,5	26,0	28,5	2351
24	WGM	Tsereteli Tamar	GEO	2365	4,5	25,0	28,0	2347
25	IM	Socko Monika	POL	2479	4,5	24,5	28,0	2368
26	WIM	Burtasova Anna	RUS	2345	4,5	24,5	27,5	2342
27	WIM	Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina	POL	2293	4,5	24,5	27,0	2286
	WGM	Rogule Laura	LAT	2241	4,5	24,5	27,0	2269
29	IM	Kostiukova Liubov	UKR	2290	4,5	24,5	26,5	2247
30	WGM	Shumiakina Tatiana	RUS	2352	4,5	24,0	27,0	2331
31	WIM	Rudolf Anna	HUN	2242	4,5	24,0	25,0	2237
32	WGM	Khotenashvili Bela	GEO	2271	4,5	23,0	25,5	2249
126 players

21) Foxwood Open

The Foxwood Open took place 19th-22nd March 2008.Alexander Shabalov, Yuri Shulman, Julio Becerra Rivero, Alexander Ivanov and Robert Hess finished on 7/9. Shulman defeats Ivanov in an Armageddon blitz playoff for the title and free hotel roon next year. More games next week. My thanks to Michael Atkins.

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

10th Foxwoods Open Ledyard (USA), 19-23 iii 2008
1	Shabalov, Alexander	g	USA	2622	7
2	Shulman, Yuri	g	USA	2614	7
3	Becerra Rivero, Julio	g	USA	2573	7
4	Ivanov, Alexander	g	USA	2554	7
5	Hess, Robert L	m	USA	2445	7
6	Sadvakasov, Darmen	g	KAZ	2624	6½
7	Perelshteyn, Eugene	g	USA	2551	6½
8	Bonin, Jay R	m	USA	2351	6½
9	Arkell, Keith C	g	ENG	2489	6
10	Friedel, Joshua E	m	USA	2487	6
11	Charbonneau, Pascal	g	CAN	2496	6
12	Ippolito, Dean	m	USA	2417	6
13	Paragua, Mark	g	PHI	2521	6
14	Aleskerov, Faik		AZE	2339	6
15	Sarkar, Justin	m	USA	2412	6
16	Enhbat, Tegshsuren	f	USA	2365	6
17	Gulamali, Kazim	f	USA	2353	6
18	Stripunsky, Alexander	g	USA	2570	5½
19	Martinez, Marcel	f	USA	2418	5½
20	Adamson, Robby	f	USA	2335	5½
21	Nagendra, Rentala		IND	2318	5½
22	Molner, Mackenzie		USA	2333	5½
23	Harper, Warren		USA	2195	5½
24	Ardaman, Miles	f	USA	2314	5½
25	Parry, Matt J		USA	2269	5½
26	Liu, Elliot	f	USA	2253	5½
27	Acor, Corey B		USA	2246	5½
28	Williams, Christopher USA		USA	2201	5½
29	Onyekwere, Chikwere		NGR	2241	5½
30	Hungaski, Robert Andrew	m	USA	2404	5½
31	Hilton, Jonathan L		USA	----	5½
32	Vigorito, David	m	USA	2406	5
33	Ginsburg, Mark	m	USA	2365	5
34	Critelli, James M	f	USA	2346	5
35	Boor, Carl Brandon		USA	2300	5
120 players

22) XXXIX Mar del Plata Open

The XXXIX Mar del Plata Open took place 15th-22nd March 2008.Salvador Alonso edged out Leonardo Tristan on tie-break after both scored 7.5/9. My thanks to José Mariano Acosta.

Official site: http://www.mdpajedrez.org.ar/mdpajedrez/arch800/abierto39.htm

39th Open Mar del Plata (ARG), 15-22 iii 2008
Place	Name	Title	Feder	Rtg	Score	Buch.	M-Buch.	Progr.
1-2	Alonso, Salvador	im	ARG	2404	7.5	55.5	43.0	38.0
	Tristán, Leonardo		ARG	2345	7.5	52.0	40.5	37.5
3-7	De Dovittis, Alejo	im	ARG	2326	7	52.5	41.5	36.5
	Contín, Daniel	im	ITA	2309	7	51.5	40.0	36.0
	Needleman, Gastón	im	ARG	2406	7	51.0	40.0	38.5
	Pérez Ponsa, Federico	fm	ARG	2235	7	49.0	38.5	35.0
	Meza, Hugo		ARG	2246	7	44.5	34.5	34.0
8-17	Perdomo, Carlos Andrés	im	COL	2351	6.5	53.0	41.5	35.5
	Cuevas, Alex	fm	ARG	2165	6.5	52.5	42.0	34.5
	Leskovar, Mario	im	ARG	2355	6.5	52.5	40.5	35.0
	Musanti, Diego	fm	ARG	2314	6.5	52.0	40.5	36.5
	Needleman, Alejandro	im	ARG	2355	6.5	51.0	40.5	36.0
	Fidel, Roberto		ARG	2168	6.5	46.5	36.5	32.0
	Corsi Ferrari, Néstor	fm	ARG	2272	6.5	46.0	36.5	32.0
	Dimuro, Matías		ARG	2143	6.5	44.5	35.0	33.0
	Cristóbal, Manuel		ARG	2174	6.5	43.5	33.5	31.5
	Ruperez, Miguel Angel		ARG	2100	6.5	42.5	33.0	29.0
18-31	Cubas, José Fernando	im	PAR	2451	6	55.5	44.0	38.5
	Cornejo, Max	fm	PER	2338	6	53.5	42.0	36.0
	Roselli, Bernardo	im	URU	2420	6	53.0	42.0	36.0
	Goldwaser, Cristian		ARG	2350	6	52.5	42.5	36.5
	Espinoza Palomino, Willyam		PER	1945	6	52.5	42.0	34.0
	Alpern, Adrián Pablo		ARG	2187	6	47.5	36.5	28.5
	Vargas, Gabriela		PAR	2030	6	47.0	37.5	30.0
	Cristóbal, Rubén	fm	ARG	2283	6	46.5	36.0	28.5
	Oddone, Cristhian		URU	2145	6	45.0	36.0	32.0
	Coppola, Claudio		URU		6	44.5	34.5	28.5
	Lida García, Fernando		ARG	2049	6	43.5	34.0	28.0
	Amed, Stephanie	wfm	ARG	2083	6	43.0	32.5	27.0
	Fell, Sebastián		ARG	2129	6	40.0	31.5	25.0
	Aguilar, Andrés		ARG	2248	6	39.5	30.5	28.0
32-53	Pierrot, Facundo	im	ARG	2450	5.5	54.5	43.5	31.5
179 players

23) 24th Budapest Spring Festival

24th Budapest Spring Festival takes place 21st-29th of March 2008.

Coverage: http://www.firstsaturday.hu/

24) Aguascalientes Mexico

The Aguascalientes Mexico event took place 18th-23rd March 2008. Nikola Mitkov won the international event. I will round up the games and results in full next week.

Official site: http://www.axa.org.mx/54abiertomexicanodeajedrez/

25) Doeberl Cup Premier

The Doeberl Cup Premier took place March 20th-24th 2008, Varuzhan Akobian won with 7.5/9. I will round up the games next week when they all become available.

Official site: http://www.doeberlcup.com.au/

Doeberl Cup (AUS), 20-24 iii 2008
Pl	Seed	Name	Ti	Rating	Score
1	3	Akobian, Varuzhan	GM	2599	7.5
2	1	Zhang, Zhong	GM	2617	6.5
3	4	Ganguly, Surya	GM	2579	6.5
4	5	Jones, Gawain	GM	2562	6.5
5	6	Gagunashvili, Merab	GM	2553	6.5
6	7	Antic, Dejan	GM	2480	6.5
7	9	Solomon, Stephen J	IM	2468	6.5
8	15	Kizov, Atanas	IM	2398	6.5
9	17	Wang, Puchen	IM	2383	6
10	2	Malakhatko, Vadim	GM	2600	6
11	11	Li, Roufan	WGM	2425	6
12	12	Bitansky, Igor	IM	2424	6
13	22	Zozulia, Anna	WGM	2344	6
14	20	Ambrus, Endre		2378	6
15	8	Johansen, Darryl K	GM	2475	5.5
16	16	Goldenberg, Igor	FM	2395	5.5
17	10	Smerdon, David C	IM	2459	5.5
18	26	Rej, Tomek		2283	5.5
19	19	Bjelobrk, Igor	FM	2381	5.5
20	14	Toth, Andras	IM	2410	5.5
21	13	Lane, Gary W	IM	2412	5.5
22	18	Mas, Hafizulhelmi	IM	2382	5.5
23	34	Ikeda, Junta		2201	5.5
24	28	Berezina-Feldman, Irina	IM	2246	5.5
25	50	Hu, Jason		2120	5.5
82 players

26) Belgian Interteams

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

Leaders Bredene beat second placed CREC Charleroi in the last round to secure the title. In the relegation zone Eynatten 2 and Boey Temse were already relegated. My thanks to Valery Maes throughout the season. All games now available and I've also made a couple of corrections from last week.

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

Belgian Interteams Round 11 Results
KSK47-Eynatten 1	KGSRL 1	20 - 12
KSK47-Eynatten 2	CRELEL 1	22 - 10
Bredene 1	CREC 1	20 - 12
Borgerhout 1	SK Rochade 1	13 - 19
Boey Temse 1	Namur 1	12 - 20
Brussels 1	KBSK 1	19 - 13

Belgian Interteams Final Round 11 Standings
Pl	Team	BP	MP
1	Bredene 1	209	9.5
2	SK Rochade	197	9.5
3	CREC 1	196	8.5
4	KSK47-Eynatten 1	184	6.5
5	KGSRL 1	176	6
6	CRELEL 1	173	4.5
7	KBSK 1	172	5.5
8	Brussels 1	168	4
9	Namur 1	164	5
10	Borgerhout 1	162	4.5
11	KSK47-Eynatten 2	158	2
12	Boey Temse 1	145	0.5

27) Forthcoming Events and Links

Voronezh Chess Festival

12th Voronezh traditional chess festival takes place 10th-21st June 2008.

Details: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open

8th Brno Chess Festival

The 8th Brno Chess Festival 2008 takes place 27th or 29th June - 6th July 2008) in the luxury hotel BOBYCENTRUM****. Two open tournaments (FIDE and national) and closed tournaments (one grandmaster and 2-3 masters) are proposed. More details at: http://www.skduras.cz/en

Dutch Team Championship

The Dutch Team Championships take place 15th September 2007 - 17th May 2008. Round 8 is on 29th April 2008.

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/

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.

Brussels International Chess Festival

The Brussels International Chess Festival rapid chess tournament (11 rounds - 25 minutes) Open to all rated and unrated players takes place Saturday 24th May - Sunday 25th May 2008

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

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

Official site: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/

III President's Cup Baku

The III President's Cup takes place 11th-21st May 2008 in Baku, Azerbaijan dedicated to the memory of Haydar Aliyev has a prize fund of $85000. Details: http://www.chessclub.az/kubok3/regulations.htm

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.

2nd Annual Ennis Open

The 2nd Annual Ennis Open will take place on Friday 18th, Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th April 2008 at the Auburn Lodge Hotel, Galway Road, Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland (http://www.auburnlodge.com/). The tournament will incorporate the 2008 North Munster Championship, with the title of North Munster Champion going to the best performing player in the Open who is resident in or orginally from North Munster.

Alongside the Open an Under 1400 tournament will be run. Players rated under 1400 have the option of playing in either tournamet. A report of last years tournament can be viewed at the website of the Irish Chess Union (www.icu.ie)

Entries to: John Cassidy 065 6824642/ 087 2495913 or Rory Quinn 065 6821835 ennischessclub@hotmail.com

Tournament Venue: Auburn Lodge Hotel, Ennis, Co Clare Prizes: Subject to entries. Minimum first prize of Euro 700 in the Open. System: Swiss system of 6 rounds Starting Time: 8 pm sharp Time Control: All moves in 105 mins. Application deadline: 17th April Entry Fee: Titled players free, Adults Euro 40, Under 18 Euro 25 (players can deduct Euro 5 if fee received before closing date)

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 Euro 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 Euro, 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/

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/

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

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

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/

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

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

Paleochora International Open 2008

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

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

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

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 Euro 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

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