THE WEEK IN CHESS 722 8th September 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Aard Daanen, Adolivio Capece, Axel Fritz, Corrado Astengo, Diego Redondo, Douglas Griffin, Efstratios Grivas, Frank Berry, Gary Suffield, Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk, John Saunders, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr., Marcelo Pagano, Marlon Bernardino, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, Michael J. Yeo, George Mirijanian, Nigel P B Freeman, Miklos Orso, Patricia Claros Aguillar, Sevan A. Muradian, Gerard Demuydt and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Things are supposed to quieten down at the start of September but there is still a huge amount of chess going on. There is no shortage of elite chess with the Grand Slam in Bilbao heading the list. The three points for a win (I am not a fan and doesn't seem to have made one whit of difference to the styles of the players and causes extra problems for coverage of the tournament) event is now led by Magnus Carlsen who scored his 3rd win today. He would be sharing the lead with Topalov and a tie-break of number of wins would place him top anyway. Much like Kramnik, World Champion Viswanathan Anand is in indifferent form. In the good old days players such as Tal (I have a really nice Russian bulletin of Tal's last event before he went on to beat Botvinnik, he didn't set the world on fire in a none-too-taxing tournament) would play tournaments prior to the world championship and not much care as to the result, just to play themselves in, its to be hoped that's true for Anand and Kramnik rather than a serious indication of form. There has been some high quality stuff and no doubt the final rounds will be exciting too. The women's world championship is in the semi-finals with favourite Humpy Koneru still in there. The first part of the Spanish Team Championship took place this week with many strong players competing. The Russian Championships 1st League is also taking place with many strong players also. One of my favourite players Ian Nepomniachtchi, shares the lead with Nikita Vitiugov and Artyom Timofeev after 6 rounds. The winners play in the super-final which is to be held in October this year. These are just the best of another busy and generally high quality week. The European Union Championships start on Tuesday just to add to the mix.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Grand Slam in Bilbao

The Chess Grand Slam Final takes place in Bilbao 1st-13th September 2008. There are 6 players. The first qualifiers were the winners of Corus 2008, Morelia - Linares 2008, and Mtel Masters 2008 - GM Levon Aronian, GM Viswanathan Anand, and GM Vassily Ivanchuk. Then the 2nd place players also qualified GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Veselin Topalov and finally the best all-round player left Teimour Radjabov. Three points for a win and one for a draw rules are in effect.

Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and another 60 minutes to finish the game.

Players are not allowed to agree draw without arbiter's permission. In case both players request it to him, the arbiter will make his decision after consulting with a technical assistant.

Official site for the event: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com. On the spot reports from http://www.chessvibes.com. Videos also from http://www.europe-echecs.com and http://www.chessclub.com/. Some commentary at: http://www.chessok.com/ (seems to have temporarily disappeared), Playchess.com and http://www.chessdom.com/

There is an unusual scoring system of three points for a win and one for a draw. Rightly or wrongly I'm going to stick with 1, ½ and 0 in the actual results part of the table.

Grand Slam Final Bilbao (ESP), 2-13 ix 2008											cat. XXI (2769)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2775	*	*	0	.	1	1	½	.	1	.	½	.	11	2887
2.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2777	1	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	½	½	1	.	10	2888
3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2737	0	0	½	.	*	*	1	.	½	.	½	.	6	2718
4.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2781	½	.	½	.	0	.	*	*	½	.	½	½	5	2714
5.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2744	0	.	½	½	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	5	2717
6.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2798	½	.	0	.	½	.	½	½	½	.	*	*	5	2708

Round 1 (September 2, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	51	A32	English Symmetrical
Radjabov, Teimour	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	49	C45	Scotch Game
Anand, Viswanathan	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	58	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Round 2 (September 3, 2008)
Topalov, Veselin	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	37	D11	Slav Defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	29	B78	Sicilian Modern Dragon
Anand, Viswanathan	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	34	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Round 3 (September 4, 2008)
Carlsen, Magnus	- Topalov, Veselin	0-1	56	D58	Queens Gambit Tartakover
Aronian, Levon	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	42	D16	Slav Lasker/Smyslov
Radjabov, Teimour	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	35	D20	QGA
Round 4 (September 5, 2008)
Topalov, Veselin	- Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	25	E15	Queens Indian
Carlsen, Magnus	- Radjabov, Teimour	1-0	37	B78	Sicilian Modern Dragon
Aronian, Levon	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	70	D27	QGA
Round 5 (September 6, 2008)
Radjabov, Teimour	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	34	C45	Scotch Game
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	44	E34	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Anand, Viswanathan	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	36	C63	Ruy Lopez Schliemann
Round 6 (September 8, 2008)
Topalov, Veselin	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	73	E74	King's Indian Averbakh
Carlsen, Magnus	- Aronian, Levon	1-0	36	D47	Queens Gambit Meran
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	32	D19	Slav Defence

3) Women's World Championship

The World Women's Championship 2008 takes place in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian Federation), 28th August - 18th September 2008 with a prize fund of 450,000 USD. FIDE and the organisers have stressed that events in Ossetia shouldn't have any impact on the event but a number of players have chosen not to participate. These include all the Georgian players (Maia Chiburdanidze, Lela Javakhishvili, Sopio Gvetadze, Maia Lomineishvili, Sopiko Khukhashvili and Nino Khurtsidze), Tea Bosboom Lanchava, Karen Zapata, Marie Sebag, and Irina Krush all of whom lost by default in the first round and also it looks like Ekaterina Korbut didn't make it either. Two pairings seem to have no players in attendance so there will be byes in round 2.

Sudden Death Playoff regulations: White shall receive 6 minutes, Black shall receive 5 minutes, without any addition. The winner qualifies for the next round. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces qualifies for the next round.

Official site: http://nalchik2008.fide.com

http://www.chessdom.com/ has live blog coverage.

WCh-Women Nalchik (RUS), 28 viii - 18 ix 2008 Round 5 Results 11th-13th September 2008.
NAT	Name	Rtng	G1	G2	Rp1	Rp2	Bz1	Bz2	SD	Total
Round 5 Match 01
RUS	Kosteniuk, Aleksandra	2510
SWE	Cramling, Pia	2544
Round 5 Match 02
CHN	Hou, Yifan	2557
IND	Koneru, Humpy	2622

WCh-Women Nalchik (RUS), 28 viii - 18 ix 2008 Round 4 Results 8th-10th September 2008.
NAT	Name	Rtng	G1	G2	Rp1	Rp2	Bz1	Bz2	SD	Total
Round 4 Match 01
RUS	Kosteniuk, Aleksandra	2510	½	1						1½
UKR	Ushenina, Anna	2476	½	0						½
Round 4 Match 02
IND	Koneru, Humpy	2622	1	1						2
CHN	Shen, Yang	2445	0	0						0
Round 4 Match 03
ARM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2436	½	0						½
CHN	Hou, Yifan	2557	½	1						1½
Round 4 Match 04
BUL	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2550	0	½						½
SWE	Cramling, Pia	2544	1	½						1½

WCh-Women Nalchik (RUS), 28 viii - 18 ix 2008 Round 3 Results 4th-7th September 2008.
NAT	Name	Rtng	G1	G2	Rp1	Rp2	Bz1	Bz2	SD	Total
Round 3 Match 01
RUS	Matveeva, Svetlana	2412	0	0						0
UKR	Ushenina, Anna	2476	1	1						2
Round 3 Match 02
HUN	Hoang Thanh Trang	2487	½	0						½
IND	Koneru, Humpy	2622	½	1						1½
Round 3 Match 03
CHN	Hou, Yifan	2557	1	0	1	1				3
ITA	Sedina, Elena	2344	0	1	0	0				1
Round 3 Match 04
UKR	Gaponenko, Inna	2468	0	0						0
BUL	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2550	1	1						2
Round 3 Match 05
SWE	Cramling, Pia	2544	1	½						1½
CHN	Ruan, Lufei	2499	0	½						½
Round 3 Match 06
IND	Harika, Dronavalli	2461	½	0						½
ARM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2436	½	1						1½
Round 3 Match 07
CHN	Shen, Yang	2445	½	½	0	1	1	½		3½
RUS	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	2460	½	½	1	0	0	½		2½
Round 3 Match 08
RUS	Kosteniuk, Aleksandra	2510	½	1						1½
RUS	Kosintseva, Tatjana	2511	½	0						½

WCh-Women Nalchik (RUS), 28 viii - 18 ix 2008 Round 2 Results 1st-3rd September 2008.
NAT	Name	Rtng	G1	G2	Rp1	Rp2	Bz1	Bz2	SD	Total
Round 2 Match 01
RUS	Matveeva, Svetlana	2412	1	½						1½
CHN	Xu, Yuhua	2483	0	½						½
Round 2 Match 02
IND	Koneru, Humpy	2622	+	-						2
			-	+						0
Round 2 Match 03
MGL	Mongontuul, Bathuyang	2406	0	0						0
CHN	Hou, Yifan	2557	1	1						2
Round 2 Match 04
BUL	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2550	½	½	1	1				3
CHN	Ju, Wenjun	2389	½	½	0	0				1
Round 2 Match 05
CHN	Tan, Zongyi	2387	½	0						½
SWE	Cramling, Pia	2544	½	1						1½
Round 2 Match 06
POL	Gasik, Anna	2211	½	0						½
ARM	Mkrtchian, Lilit	2436	½	1						1½
Round 2 Match 07
CHN	Shen, Yang	2445	1	½						1½
CHN	Zhao, Xue	2522	0	½						½
Round 2 Match 08
RUS	Kosintseva, Tatjana	2511	1	½						1½
USA	Zatonskih, Anna	2446	0	½						½
Round 2 Match 09
			-	-						0
RUS	Kosteniuk, Aleksandra	2510	+	+						2
Round 2 Match 10
LTU	Cmilyte, Viktorija	2508	½	½	0	½				1½
RUS	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	2460	½	½	1	½				2½
Round 2 Match 11
IND	Harika, Dronavalli	2461	½	½	½	1				2½
SLO	Muzychuk, Anna	2504	½	½	½	0				1½
Round 2 Match 12
CHN	Ruan, Lufei	2499	½	1						1½
ARG	Amura, Claudia	2345	½	0						½
Round 2 Match 13
UKR	Gaponenko, Inna	2468	1	0	½	1				2½
USA	Rohonyan, Katerine	2321	0	1	½	0				1½
Round 2 Match 14
VIE	Nguyen, Thi Thanh An	2323	½	½	0	0				1
ITA	Sedina, Elena	2344	½	½	1	1				3
Round 2 Match 15
POL	Socko, Monika	2473	½	0						½
HUN	Hoang Thanh Trang	2487	½	1						1½
Round 2 Match 16
GER	Paehtz, Elisabeth	2481	0	½						½
UKR	Ushenina, Anna	2476	1	½						1½

4) Russian Championship Higher League

The 61st Russian Championship Higher League takes place in Novokuznetsk 3rd-14th September 2008. The event is a qualifier for the superfinals held in October. The event is an 11 round swiss with some very strong players. Live coverage of all the games on the official site. Play starts at 3pm local time, but be aware its GMT+8 there at the moment.

Official site: http://www.rcc2008.org/eng/index.htm

61st ch-RUS HL Novokuznetsk (RUS), 3-14 ix 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1.	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2602	+46	+17	=4	+10	=8	=2	.	.	.	.	.	4½	2806
2.	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2616	+49	+24	=6	=5	+9	=1	.	.	.	.	.	4½	2770
3.	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2650	=37	+39	=22	=12	+30	+14	.	.	.	.	.	4½	2758
4.	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2674	+19	+36	=1	=9	=6	=10	.	.	.	.	.	4	2732
5.	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	2617	+45	=22	+23	=2	=14	=8	.	.	.	.	.	4	2729
6.	Lastin, Alexander	g	RUS	2639	+54	+21	=2	=14	=4	=11	.	.	.	.	.	4	2743
7.	Kobalia, Mikhail	g	RUS	2618	+12	=53	=35	=33	=27	+25	.	.	.	.	.	4	2697
8.	Grachev, Boris	g	RUS	2640	=52	=25	+41	+35	=1	=5	.	.	.	.	.	4	2694
9.	Smirnov, Pavel	g	RUS	2592	=43	+31	+38	=4	-2	+32	.	.	.	.	.	4	2720
10.	Volkov, Sergey1	g	RUS	2636	=25	+52	+20	-1	+24	=4	.	.	.	.	.	4	2703
11.	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2675	=29	=28	+53	=18	+33	=6	.	.	.	.	.	4	2706
12.	Maslak, Konstantin	g	RUS	2521	-7	+56	+34	=3	=15	+27	.	.	.	.	.	4	2724
13.	Galkin, Alexander	g	RUS	2615	-24	=49	=31	+44	+22	+23	.	.	.	.	.	4	2669
14.	Landa, Konstantin	g	RUS	2615	+50	=23	+32	=6	=5	-3	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2684
15.	Sakaev, Konstantin	g	RUS	2635	-22	+45	=37	+39	=12	=20	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2604
16.	Khalifman, Alexander	g	RUS	2634	=41	=26	=25	=40	+45	=19	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2590
17.	Zvjaginsev, Vadim	g	RUS	2663	+42	-1	=40	=19	+41	=18	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2622
18.	Kokarev, Dmitry	g	RUS	2582	=55	=47	+43	=11	=23	=17	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2606
19.	Kryakvin, Dmitry	m	RUS	2565	-4	=44	+49	=17	+43	=16	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2626
20.	Lysyj, Igor	g	RUS	2596	+51	=38	-10	=26	+40	=15	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2625
21.	Bocharov, Dmitry	g	RUS	2582	+48	-6	=26	-23	+54	+37	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2615
22.	Sjugirov, Sanan	m	RUS	2545	+15	=5	=3	=27	-13	=35	.	.	.	.	.	3	2623
23.	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2689	+33	=14	-5	+21	=18	-13	.	.	.	.	.	3	2596
24.	Lintchevski, Daniil	m	RUS	2506	+13	-2	+36	=30	-10	=42	.	.	.	.	.	3	2607
25.	Maletin, Pavel	g	RUS	2545	=10	=8	=16	+38	=32	-7	.	.	.	.	.	3	2641
26.	Matlakov, Maxim	m	RUS	2484	=30	=16	=21	=20	=38	=29	.	.	.	.	.	3	2606
27.	Tregubov, Pavel V	g	RUS	2658	=39	=37	+28	=22	=7	-12	.	.	.	.	.	3	2557
28.	Ovetchkin, Roman	g	RUS	2558	=32	=11	-27	=48	+50	=30	.	.	.	.	.	3	2591
29.	Yakovich, Yuri	g	RUS	2566	=11	-32	=52	=50	+46	=26	.	.	.	.	.	3	2554
30.	Korotylev, Alexey	g	RUS	2609	=26	=41	+48	=24	-3	=28	.	.	.	.	.	3	2528
31.	Kornev, Alexei	g	RUS	2523	=34	-9	=13	=42	+53	=33	.	.	.	.	.	3	2589
32.	Najer, Evgeniy	g	RUS	2670	=28	+29	-14	+53	=25	-9	.	.	.	.	.	3	2575
33.	Shomoev, Anton	g	RUS	2566	-23	+50	+47	=7	-11	=31	.	.	.	.	.	3	2568
34.	Potkin, Vladimir	g	RUS	2629	=31	=43	-12	=37	=39	+48	.	.	.	.	.	3	2504
35.	Deviatkin, Andrei	g	RUS	2567	=47	+55	=7	-8	=37	=22	.	.	.	.	.	3	2530
36.	Khismatullin, Denis	g	RUS	2613	+44	-4	-24	-45	+55	+51	.	.	.	.	.	3	2511
37.	Vorobiov, Evgeny E	g	RUS	2550	=3	=27	=15	=34	=35	-21	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2563
38.	Amonatov, Farrukh	g	TJK	2650	+40	=20	-9	-25	=26	=41	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2493
39.	Smikovski, Ivan	m	RUS	2554	=27	-3	+46	-15	=34	=45	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2533
40.	Kiriakov, Petr	g	RUS	2553	-38	+51	=17	=16	-20	=43	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2515
41.	Chadaev, Nikolai	m	RUS	2535	=16	=30	-8	+47	-17	=38	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2543
42.	Shaposhnikov, Evgeny	g	RUS	2558	-17	=46	=44	=31	=48	=24	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2456
43.	Pokazanjev, Nikolai	m	RUS	2442	=9	=34	-18	+52	-19	=40	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2521
44.	Kalegin, Evgenij	m	RUS	2495	-36	=19	=42	-13	=49	+53	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2516
45.	Kabanov, Nikolai	m	RUS	2521	-5	-15	+56	+36	-16	=39	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2519
46.	Smirnov, Artem	m	RUS	2452	-1	=42	-39	+56	-29	+54	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2481
47.	Kravtsov, Sergey	m	RUS	2404	=35	=18	-33	-41	-56	+55	.	.	.	.	.	2	2388
48.	Garakov, Mikhael	m	RUS	2439	-21	+54	-30	=28	=42	-34	.	.	.	.	.	2	2455
49.	Skorchenko, Dmitriy	g	RUS	2511	-2	=13	-19	-54	=44	+56	.	.	.	.	.	2	2415
50.	Iskusnyh, Sergei	g	RUS	2499	-14	-33	+55	=29	-28	=52	.	.	.	.	.	2	2421
51.	Chuprikov, Dmitry		RUS	2450	-20	-40	=54	=55	+52	-36	.	.	.	.	.	2	2421
52.	Rychagov, Andrey	g	RUS	2549	=8	-10	=29	-43	-51	=50	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2345
53.	Chuprov, Dmitry	g	RUS	2577	+56	=7	-11	-32	-31	-44	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2371
54.	Rustemov, Alexander	g	RUS	2547	-6	-48	=51	+49	-21	-46	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2319
55.	Klimov, Anton	f	RUS	2423	=18	-35	-50	=51	-36	-47	.	.	.	.	.	1	2246
56.	Kosov, Ivan	f	RUS	2405	-53	-12	-45	-46	+47	-49	.	.	.	.	.	1	2224

5) European Union Championships, Liverpool

This years European Union Championships takes place in Liverpool, England 9th - 18th September 2008. The prize fund is 30,000 pounds with 6000 pounds first prize.

Official site: http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk

European Union Championships Liverpool (ENG), 9-18 ix 2008 Top 10 players:
	Name	T	Rating
1	Adams, Michael	g	2735
2	Bacrot, Etienne	g	2691
3	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	2681
4	Short, Nigel D	g	2655
5	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	2645
6	Fridman, Daniel	g	2637
7	L'Ami, Erwin	g	2610
8	Beliavsky, Alexander G	g	2606
9	Laznicka, Viktor	g	2601
10	Baramidze, David	g	2593
138 players

6) Montreal International

The Tournoi international de Montreal took place 24th August - 2nd September 2008. The main sponsor was the EMPRESA Group. Yuri Shulman took clear first place with 6½/9.

Official site: http://perso.b2b2c.ca/lesechecauquebec/tim2008.htm

9th TIM Montreal (CAN), 24 viii-2 ix 2008												cat. XIII (2556)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Shulman, Yuri	g	USA	2623	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	6½	2714
2.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2697	½	*	1	½	½	½	0	½	1	1	5½	2619
3.	Akobian, Varuzhan	g	USA	2610	½	0	*	1	0	½	1	1	1	½	5½	2629
4.	Bluvshtein, Mark	g	CAN	2548	½	½	0	*	½	1	1	½	½	1	5½	2636
5.	Nataf, Igor-Alexandre	g	FRA	2534	0	½	1	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	4½	2557
6.	Maze, Sebastien	g	FRA	2553	0	½	½	0	½	*	½	1	½	1	4½	2555
7.	Zugic, Igor	m	CAN	2457	½	1	0	0	½	½	*	0	½	½	3½	2486
8.	Charbonneau, Pascal	g	CAN	2499	0	½	0	½	½	0	1	*	0	1	3½	2481
9.	Kovalyov, Anton	m	ARG	2548	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	1	*	½	3½	2476
10.	Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	m	CAN	2486	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	*	2½	2397

Round 8 (September 1, 2008)
Shulman, Yuri	- Charbonneau, Pascal	1-0	36	E92	King's Indian Classical
Akobian, Varuzhan	- Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	½-½	49	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Nataf, Igor-Alexandre	- Bluvshtein, Mark	½-½	32	C43	Petroff's Defence
Maze, Sebastien	- Zugic, Igor	½-½	32	C18	French Winawer
Kovalyov, Anton	- Nakamura, Hikaru	0-1	33	A10	Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Round 9 (September 2, 2008)
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Maze, Sebastien	½-½	38	D91	Gruenfeld 5.Bg5
Bluvshtein, Mark	- Kovalyov, Anton	½-½	49	E20	Nimzo Indian
Zugic, Igor	- Shulman, Yuri	½-½	12	C10	French Rubinstein
Charbonneau, Pascal	- Akobian, Varuzhan	0-1	42	C10	French Rubinstein
Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	- Nataf, Igor-Alexandre	½-½	22	A26	English Sicilian Attack

7) CECLUB Spanish Club Chess Championship

The CECLUB Spanish Club Chess Championship took place 3rd-7th September 2008. A large number of very strong players competed. The top finishers from each group will play off on 1st-2nd November 2008 for the title.

Official site: http://www.feda.org/ with details of the event.

CECLUB Division de Honor grupo I Binissalem, Mallorca (ESP), 3-7 ix 2008
Rk.	No	Equipo	Partidas	+	=	-	Des 1	Des 2	Des 3
1	4	CAJACANARIAS	5	3	2	0	18,5	8	1
2	2	LINEX MAGIC	5	3	2	0	18,5	8	1
3	5	ESCUELA INT. KASPAROV-MARCOTE	5	3	2	0	17,5	8	0
4	1	IRETZA GROS	5	2	0	3	14,5	4	0
5	3	SESTAO NATURGAS ENERGIA	5	1	0	4	13,5	2	0
6	6	BINISSALEM	5	0	0	5	7,5	0	0

CECLUB Division de Honor grupo II Sabadell, Barcelona (ESP), 3-7 ix 2008
Rk.	Equipo	1	2	3	4	5	6	Des 1	Des 2	Des 3
1	Merida Patrimonio - Ajoblanco	*	2½	2½	3½	5	5	18,5	6	0
2	CA Solvay	3½	*	3½	3½	3½	4	18,0	10	0
3	Reverte Albox - UAL	3½	2½	*	4	3	4½	17,5	7	0
4	SCC Sabadell	2½	2½	2	*	5	4½	16,5	4	0
5	CE Barberà	1	2½	3	1	*	3	10,5	2	0
6	Foment Martinenc	1	2	1½	1½	3	*	9,0	1	0

8) 7th Izmir International Open

The 7th Izmir International Open Chess Tournament took place 29th August - 8th September 2008. Tornike Sanikidze won the event with 8.5/10.

Official site: http://izmiropen2008.tsf.org.tr/

7th Open Izmir (TUR), 30 viii-7 ix 2008 Final Round 10 Standings:
Rank	SNo.		Name	NRtg	IRtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.	SB.	vict
1	5	IM	Sanikidze, Tornike	0	2486	GEO	8½	59	64	56,75	7
2	6	IM	Magalashvili, Davit	0	2480	GEO	8	59	64	53,75	6
3	1	GM	Gurevich, Mikhail	2635	2631	TUR	8	58	64½	55,50	6
4	13	FM	Yilmaz, Mustafa	2242	2362	TUR	8	58	63½	52,25	7
5	22	FM	Bakr, Jwan Mohamed	0	2269	SYR	8	56½	61½	51,00	7
6	14	WIM	Batsiashvili, Nino	0	2349	GEO	8	53½	58½	48,50	7
7	4	IM	Jojua, Davit	0	2488	GEO	7½	60½	66½	52,25	5
8	7	IM	Esen, Baris	2510	2448	TUR	7½	58	63	48,50	5
9	2	GM	Atalik, Suat	2624	2585	TUR	7½	56½	62	46,75	7
10	3	IM	Sulashvili, Malkhaz	0	2499	GEO	7½	54½	60	45,75	6
11	16	FM	Secer, Ata	2377	2320	TUR	7½	53½	59½	45,25	6
12	12		Abasov, Nijat Azad	0	2369	AZE	7½	52	56½	45,25	6
13	8	IM	Annaberdiev, Meilis	0	2444	TKM	7	57½	63	45,00	5
14	15	WGM	Mamedjarova, Zeinab	0	2326	AZE	7	56	60½	42,00	5
15	21	FM	Hamad, Ahmad Mahmoud	0	2276	SYR	7	55½	60½	41,00	7
16	29	FM	Soozankar, Amir Mohammad	0	2225	IRI	7	54	59½	41,00	6
17	19	IM	Klinova, Masha	0	2290	ISR	7	53½	59	42,00	6
18	32	FM	Mohannad, Farhan	0	2214	JOR	7	53	58½	42,50	5
19	44		Sirin, Atakan	2114	2107	TUR	7	53	58½	40,00	6
20	40		Sengul, Cengiz	2193	2146	TUR	7	53	57½	39,50	5
21	11	GM	Odeev, Handszar	0	2422	TKM	7	52½	58	42,50	5
22	30		Firat, Burak	2213	2219	TUR	7	52	57	38,75	6
23	24		Reyhan, Dogan Heval	2288	2248	TUR	7	52	56½	40,75	5
24	35		Gurbanzade, Erkin	0	2193	AZE	7	51½	56	38,00	6
25	25		Dogantug, Ahmet Ismail	2235	2246	TUR	7	50½	55	39,50	6
26	31	WIM	Umudova, Nargiz	0	2219	AZE	7	50	54½	38,75	6
27	61	CM	Yuksel, Atilla Koksal	2022	1936	TUR	7	50	54	35,50	7
28	37		Akcan, Umit	2200	2153	TUR	7	49½	54½	39,75	5
29	47		Nalbantoglu, Hasan Hulki	2073	2029	TUR	7	49	53	36,25	6
30	10	IM	Morchiashvili, Bachana	0	2427	GEO	7	47½	52½	38,75	6
31	247		Bassel, Charaf	0	0	LIB	7	46½	52	39,75	6
271 players

9) Serbian Team Championship

The 1st Serbian League for men and women takes place in Subotica 1st-13th September 2008.

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

10) US Chess League

The 2008 season of the US Chess League started 25th August 2008. The second round took place on 3rd September 2008.

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

US Chess League ICC (INT), 27 viii-31 x 2008 Round 2 (of 10) Results:
9th September 2008
	New Jersey			vs	Queens
1	GM	Joel Benjamin	NJ	vs	IM	Dmitry Schneider	QNS	1-0
2	IM	Eli Vovsha	QNS	vs	NM	Mackenzie Molner	NJ	1-0
3	NM	Evan Ju	NJ	vs	IM	Alex Lenderman	QNS	0-1
4		Benjamin Katz	QNS	vs	NM	Victor Shen	NJ	1-0
	Philadelphia			vs	Baltimore
1	GM	Sergey Kudrin	PHI	vs	GM	Sergey Erenburg	BAL	1/2
2	IM	Larry Kaufman	BAL	vs	FM	Thomas Bartell	PHI	0-1
3	NM	Daniel Yeager	PHI	vs	FM	Ray Kaufman	BAL	1-0
4	FM	Ralph Zimmer	BAL	vs	NM	Elvin Wilson	PHI	1-0
	Boston			vs	Carolina
1	GM	Larry Christiansen	BOS	vs	IM	Lev Milman	CAR	1/2
2	FM	Oleg Zaikov	CAR	vs	SM	Denys Shmelov	BOS	1/2
3	NM	Charles Riordan	BOS	vs	FM	Ronald Simpson	CAR	1-0
4	NM	Craig Jones	CAR	vs	NM	Marc Esserman	BOS	0-1
	Miami			vs	New York
1	GM	Julio Becerra	MIA	vs	GM	Pascal Charbonneau	NY	1-0
2	IM	Irina Krush	NY	vs	FM	Osmany Perea	MIA	0-1
3	FM	Charles Galofre	MIA	vs	SM	Gregory Braylovsky	NY	1/2
4	NM	Matthew Herman	NY	vs	NM	Eric Rodriguez	MIA	0-1
	Chicago			vs	San Francisco
1	FM	Florin Felecan	CHC	vs	IM	Josh Friedel	SF	0-1
2	IM	Vinay Bhat	SF	vs	IM	Emory Tate	CHC	1-0
3	FM	Mehmed Pasalic	CHC	vs	FM	Sam Shankland	SF	1-0
4	FM	Daniel Naroditsky	SF	vs	IM	Angelo Young	CHC	0-1
	Tennessee			vs	Seattle
1	FM	Todd Andrews	TEN	vs	GM	Gregory Serper	SEA	0-1
2	FM	Slava Mikhailuk	SEA	vs	FM	Peter Bereolos	TEN	0-1
3	FM	John Bick	TEN	vs	FM	John Readey	SEA	1-0
4	NM	Michael Lee	SEA	vs	FM	Jerry Wheeler	TEN	1-0
	Dallas			vs	Arizona
1	IM	Drasko Boskovic	DAL	vs	IM	Levon Altounian	ARZ	1/2
2	FM	Daniel Rensch	ARZ	vs	IM	John Bartholomew	DAL	0-1
3	FM	Igor Schneider	DAL	vs	FM	Robby Adamson	ARZ	1/2
4	NM	Warren Harper	ARZ	vs	WFM	Bayaraa Zorigt	DAL	0-1

US Chess League ICC (INT), 27 viii-31 x 2008 Round 2 (of 10) Standings :
EASTERN DIVISION	W	L	Game Points	Opp Avg Rating	Opps Record
Boston	2	0	6.0/8 (75%)	2401	1-1 (50%)
Queens	2	0	5.5/8 (69%)	2397	2.0-0.0 (100%)
New Jersey	1	1	4.0/8 (50%)	2421	1.0-1.0 (50%)
Philadelphia	1	1	4.0/8 (50%)	2421	1.0-1.0 (50%)
Carolina	1	1	4.0/8 (50%)	2378	1.5-0.5 (75%)
Baltimore	0	2	2.5/8 (31%)	2423	0.0-2.0 (0%)
New York	0	2	1.5/8 (19%)	2409	2.0-0.0 (100%)
WESTERN DIVISION	W	L	Game Points	Opp Avg Rating	Opps Record
Miami	2	0	7.0/8 (88%)	2413	0.5-1.5 (25%)
San Francisco	1.5	0.5	4.5/8 (56%)	2408	1.0-1.0 (50%)
Dallas	1	1	4.5/8 (56%)	2448	0.5-1.5 (25%)
Arizona	1	1	3.5/8 (44%)	2354	1.5-0.5 (75%)
Chicago	0.5	1.5	3.5/8 (44%)	2429	0.5-1.5 (25%)
Tennessee	0.5	1.5	3.0/8 (38%)	2398	0.0-2.0 (0%)
Seattle	0.5	1.5	2.5/8 (31%)	2338	1.0-1.0 (50%)

11) Icelandic Championship

Icelandic Chess Championship 2008 took place in Reykjavik 27th August - 4th September 2008. Hannes Stefansson won with 9/11.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15339.aspx?lan=1

Official site: http://www.skaksamband.is/ - Direct Link

ch-ISL Reykjavik ISL (ISL), 27 viii-6 ix 2008													cat. VI (2391)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Stefansson, Hannes	g	ISL	2566	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	9	2637
2.	Danielsen, Henrik	g	ISL	2526	½	*	1	1	1	½	½	0	½	½	1	1	7½	2511
3.	Thorhallsson, Throstur	g	ISL	2449	0	0	*	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	7	2487
4.	Kristjansson, Stefan	m	ISL	2477	½	0	½	*	0	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	6½	2448
5.	Ulfarsson, Magnus Orn	f	ISL	2403	0	0	½	1	*	1	1	½	0	0	1	1	6	2425
6.	Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor	m	ISL	2437	0	½	0	½	0	*	½	1	½	½	1	1	5½	2386
7.	Kjartansson, Gudmundur	f	ISL	2328	0	½	½	1	0	½	*	1	1	0	½	0	5	2360
8.	Lagerman, Robert	f	ISL	2354	½	1	½	0	½	0	0	*	½	½	½	1	5	2358
9.	Thorfinnsson, Bragi	m	ISL	2387	½	½	0	0	1	½	0	½	*	½	1	½	5	2355
10.	Thorfinnsson, Bjorn	f	ISL	2422	0	½	0	0	1	½	1	½	½	*	0	1	5	2352
11.	Olafsson, Thorvardur		ISL	2177	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	1	*	½	2½	2199
12.	Halldorsson, Jon Arni		ISL	2165	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	½	0	½	*	2	2149

12) 10th Trieste International Festival

The 10th Trieste International Festival took place 31st August - 7th September 2008. Sergei Tiviakov edged out Marin Bosiocic on tie-break after both finished on 7/9. Final round games are missing.

Official site: http://www.sst1904.com/pagine/index.html - Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15025.aspx?lan=2

Masters Trieste (ITA), 31 viii-7 ix 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Tiviakov Sergei	GM	NED	2645	7,0	39,5	51,0	2483
2	Bosiocic Marin	IM	CRO	2540	7,0	38,0	49,0	2436
3	Lenic Luka	GM	SLO	2584	6,0	39,5	50,5	2387
4	Erdos Viktor	GM	HUN	2576	6,0	38,5	49,5	2420
5	Palac Mladen	GM	CRO	2587	6,0	35,5	47,0	2385
6	Fercec Nenad	GM	CRO	2486	6,0	33,5	43,5	2296
7	Narayanan Srinath	FM	IND	2220	5,5	39,0	50,5	2456
8	Drazic Sinisa	GM	SRB	2505	5,5	38,5	49,5	2439
9	Lalic Bogdan	GM	CRO	2533	5,5	38,0	49,0	2394
10	Banusz Tamas	IM	HUN	2481	5,5	36,5	46,0	2391
11	Simutowe Amon	IM	ZAM	2459	5,5	35,5	46,5	2372
12	Rukavina Josip	IM	CRO	2414	5,5	33,0	43,5	2287
13	Degtiarev Evgeny	FM	GER	2367	5,5	32,0	39,5	2292
14	Srebrnic Marko	FM	SLO	2313	5,0	35,5	46,0	2353
15	Scalcione Michelangelo	FM	ITA	2398	5,0	34,0	43,5	2336
16	Basagic Zlatko	IM	SLO	2337	5,0	34,0	43,0	2301
17	Mogranzini Roberto	IM	ITA	2423	5,0	33,5	43,5	2333
18	Cherin Diego	FM	ITA	2287	5,0	30,5	39,5	2214
42 players

13) 5th Kalamaria Open

5th Kalamaria Open Chess Tournament (Thessaloniki) Greece took place 27th August - 3rd September 2008. Tamaz Gelashvili took first place on tie-break from Eduardas Rozentalis after both finished on 7/9.

Results and games: http://chess-results.com/tnr15356.aspx?lan=2

5th Open Kalamaria (GRE), 27 viii-3 ix 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	Des 1	Des 3
1	Gelashvili Tamaz	GM	GEO	2612	7,0	38,0	53,0
2	Rozentalis Eduardas	GM	LTU	2599	7,0	37,5	53,5
3	Berg Emanuel	GM	SWE	2592	6,5	34,5	53,0
4	Haznedaroglu Kivanc	IM	TUR	2444	6,5	33,5	50,0
5	Milanovic Danilo	IM	SRB	2529	6,5	33,5	50,5
6	Andriasian Zaven	GM	ARM	2533	6,5	32,5	48,5
7	Salem A R Saleh	IM	UAE	2443	6,5	32,5	48,0
8	Stocek Jiri	GM	CZE	2559	6,5	32,0	47,0
9	Jankovic Alojzije	GM	CRO	2532	6,5	29,5	42,5
10	Timoshenko Georgy	GM	UKR	2572	6,0	34,0	50,0
11	Paulet Iozefina	WIM	ROU	2275	6,0	33,0	48,5
12	Carlsson Pontus	GM	SWE	2514	6,0	33,0	47,5
13	Iotov Valentin	GM	BUL	2519	6,0	33,0	48,5
14	Mastrovasilis Athanasios	GM	GRE	2518	6,0	32,0	50,5
15	Dimitrov Pavel	IM	BUL	2415	6,0	30,5	44,5
16	Saravanan V	IM	IND	2405	5,5	33,5	49,0
17	Erdogdu Mert	IM	TUR	2440	5,5	32,5	50,0
18	Manik Mikulas	GM	SVK	2453	5,5	32,0	44,5
19	Tissir Mohamed	IM	MAR	2440	5,5	31,5	51,0
20	Shavtvaladze Nikoloz	IM	GEO	2435	5,5	31,0	48,0
21	Saric Ante	GM	CRO	2513	5,5	30,5	47,0
22	Bojkov Dejan	IM	BUL	2498	5,5	30,0	42,0
23	Aginian Nelly	WGM	ARM	2301	5,5	28,5	44,0
24	Oreopoulos Konstantinos		GRE	2284	5,5	27,5	44,0
25	Kiratzopoulos Efthimios		GRE	2125	5,5	25,0	39,0
26	Hidzos Georgios		GRE	2026	5,5	23,5	39,0
27	Pavlidis Antonios		GRE	2266	5,0	28,5	48,0
28	Dimitrov Radoslav	IM	BUL	2400	5,0	28,0	46,0
29	Zakarian David		ARM	2346	5,0	27,0	45,5
30	Pambalos Panayiotis		GRE	2118	5,0	26,5	43,0
94 players

14) 7th Winter Open of Villa Ballester

The 7th Winter Open of Villa Ballester ChessClub, Buenos Aires ARG took place 16th-24th August 2008. Facundo Pierrot won with 6/7.

Official site: Official site

8th Abierto Invierno Villa Ballester (ARG), 16-24 viii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Nr	Jugador	Tit.	Elo	Pts.	Prog	Buch	BuchM
1	Pierrot, Facundo	IM	2421	6	25,50	33,5	24,5
2	Barrionuevo, Pablo	FM	2363	5,5	24,00	34	24,5
3	Gibson, Tomas		2237	5,5	23,50	32	23
4	Bronstein, Luis Marcos	IM	2383	5	21,00	32,5	23,5
5	Scarella, Enrique Alejandr	IM	2365	5	23,00	32	23
6	Calderon Fernandez, Gervas		2303	5	20,00	29,5	21
7	Fulgenzi, Ernesto	FM	2358	5	21,00	28,5	20
8	Della Morte, German	FM	2387	5	18,00	26	18,5
9	Quiroga, Facundo	IM	2339	4,5	20,00	30,5	21,5
10	Yakisich, Marcelo		1868	4,5	17,00	26,5	19,5
11	Bulcourf, Carlos	FM	2146	4,5	19,00	26,5	19
12	Conde, Adrian		2039	4,5	17,00	26,5	19
13	Lopez Rebert, Pablo		2058	4,5	17,00	26	18
14	Lalanne, Pablo		2193	4,5	18,00	25	17
50 players

15) National Chess League Argentina

The National Chess League started in Villa Martelli on the 9th August. Coverage below. I will round up the games at the conclusion of the event.

Official site: http://www.lna.org.ar/liga08/lna2008.htm

National Chess League Argentina (ARG), 16-24 viii 2008 Leading Round 5 Standings:
Rk	Equipo	Part.	+	=	-	Pts.	BUC
1	MUNICIPALIDAD DE MORENO	5	4	0	1	11	44½
2	MARTELLI - VICENTE LOPEZ	5	3	1	1	11	43
3	GIMNASIA Y ESGRIMA BS AS	5	4	1	0	10	39
4	CALICE - LIGURIA	5	2	3	0	9½	41
5	ASOCIADOS CREDICOOP	5	3	0	2	9	39½
6	TORRE BLANCA - CHESSHOP	5	2	2	1	8½	42
7	VENTAJEDREZ - PLASTIGAL	5	2	0	3	8½	39
8	ART/CHESS	5	4	0	1	8½	25
9	CAM 3 -. TRES DE FEBRERO	5	3	1	1	8	43½
10	T & E - SAN MARTÍN	5	1	2	2	8	41
11	MIGUEL TAL - MALVINAS	5	3	0	2	8	36½
12	M. PARRINELLO	5	2	2	1	7½	36½
13	CIRCULO PATAGONICO	5	1	2	2	7	40½
14	SAN ISIDRO PERFIL JAQUE	5	2	0	3	7	37½
15	FERRO	5	1	2	2	6½	39½
16	RONDI - MUPAS	5	2	0	3	6½	28½
17	NAJDORF - POLVORINES	5	1	0	4	5½	36
18	PERGAMINO	5	2	0	3	5½	28½
19	LOS RANQUELES	5	2	0	3	4½	27
20	EDIFIKO - AAAC	5	1	0	4	4	24½
21	MAR DEL PLATA - LOS LOBOS	5	2	0	3	3½	28

16) AFOCS 12th Open chess tournament

The AFOCS 12th Open chess tournament 2008 (Men) takes place in Abu Dhabi 6th-11th September 2008. I couldn't find any games or web coverage. Results below.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15697.aspx?lan=2

12th AFOCS Open Abu Dhabi (UAE), 6-16 ix 2008 Round 3 (of 9) Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	Des 1	Des 2
1	Chernin,Alexander	GM	HUN	2593	3,0	6,0	16,0
2	Gagunashvili,Merab	GM	GEO	2566	3,0	6,0	14,0
	Sturua,Zurab	GM	GEO	2514	3,0	6,0	14,0
4	Kenges,Edvins	GM	LAT	2543	3,0	6,0	11,5
5	Ibrahimov,Rasul	GM	AZE	2537	3,0	5,0	15,5
	Raetsky,Alexander	GM	RUS	2421	3,0	5,0	15,5
7	Suhail.Sukari		SYR	0	3,0	5,0	12,5
8	Kotsur,Pavel	GM	KAZ	2566	3,0	4,5	17,5
9	Gaprindashvili, Valeriane	GM	GEO	2452	3,0	4,5	15,5
10	Antonio,Molina		PHI	2156	3,0	4,0	17,5
11	Bajarani,Ulvi	FM	AZE	2201	3,0	4,0	16,0
12	Sale,Srdjan	IM	CRO	2380	3,0	4,0	15,5
13	Adly,Ahmed	GM	EGY	2593	3,0	3,5	16,5
14	Safarli,Eltaj	GM	AZE	2527	3,0	3,5	16,0
15	Dargan,Paul.G		ENG	2207	3,0	3,0	16,5
16	Al-Kaabi,Abdulla		UAE	1790	3,0	2,5	17,0
17	Faisal,Abdulla		UAE	2151	2,5	5,5	15,5
18	Amin,Bassem	GM	EGY	2561	2,5	4,0	14,5
19	Kayumov,Sergey	IM	UZB	2479	2,5	3,5	16,5
20	Issa,Mohamed		UAE	2007	2,0	6,5	11,5
	Zayed,Ali Al-Hamed		UAE	1750	2,0	6,5	11,5
131 players

17) Herzliya International Open

The Herzliya (Israel) International Open Chess Tournament takes place 2th-12th September 2008. Konstantin Lerner is the top seed. Games available in a viewer but not in PGN so far.

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

18) 3rd XtraCon EMT

The 3rd XtraCon EMT takes place in the Skovbo Chess Club in Borup 5th-16th September 2008 over two weekends.

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

3rd XtraCon EMT Borup (DEN), 5-16 ix 2008 Round 3 (of 9) Standings:
Pl	Player	Ti	Land	Elo	Pts	Buchh	SoBerg
1	Kulaots, Kaido	GM	EST	2531	3	5	5
2	Haznedaroglu, Kiv	IM	TUR	2444	3	4.5	4.5
3	Hammer, Jon Ludvi	IM	NOR	2494	3	4	4
4	Grabarczyk, Miros	GM	POL	2510	2.5	5.5	4.5
5	Jakobsen, Ole	IM	DEN	2358	2.5	4.5	3.5
6	Ivanov, Mikhail	GM	RUS	2489	2.5	4	3.25
6	Lund, Esben	IM	DEN	2431	2.5	4	3.25
8	Schmidt, Horst Hu		DEN	1925	2	7	4
9	Schandorff, Lars	GM	DEN	2537	2	6.5	4.25
10	Tikkanen, Hans	IM	SWE	2417	2	6	3
11	Humphrey, Jonatha	FM	AUS	2289	2	5	2.75
12	Bekker-Jensen, Si	IM	DEN	2396	2	5	2
12	Jacobsen, Bo		DEN	2323	2	5	2
12	Christensen, Bo G		DEN	2247	2	5	2
15	Pitl, Gregory	IM	GER	2410	2	4	2
15	Semcesen, Daniel	FM	SWE	2387	2	4	2
15	Gajic, Mladen		SWE	2135	2	4	2
18	Madsen, Poul Henr		DEN	2111	2	4	1.5
19	Nielsen, Henning		DEN	2171	2	3.5	1.5
131 players

19) 6th Amantea Open

The 6th Amantea Open took place 31st August - 7th Sepember 2008. Nikita Maiorov took clear first with 8/9.

Official site: http://www.altirchess.com/amantea/Open%20A/Torneo%20Open%20A.htm

6th Amantea Open (ITA), 31 viii-7 ix 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Nat	ELO	Pts
1	Maiorov, Nikita	GM	BLR	2535	8
2	Bentivegna, Francesco	FM	ITA	2329	6
3	Naumkin, Igor	GM	RUS	2502	6
4	Shytaj, Luca	IM	ITA	2467	6
5	Marholev, Dimitar	IM	BUL	2366	5.5
6	Damia, Angelo	FM	ITA	2247	5.5
7	Spassov, Liuben	GM	BUL	2428	5.5
8	Isonzo, David	FM	ITA	2362	5
9	Calzetta Ruiz, Monica	WGM	ESP	2264	5
10	Estremera Panos, Sergio	IM	ESP	2394	5
11	Fascetti, Angelo De Leon		BRA	2089	5
12	Savage, Ben D.M.	-M	ENG	2309	5
13	Ljubisavljevic, Zivojin Z.	IM	SRB	2261	4.5
14	Shaw, David A.	-M	ENG	2269	4.5
15	Procacci, Sergio	CM	ITA	2006	4.5
16	Duggan, Christopher		ENG	2050	4.5
17	Ambrosanio, Raffaele	CM	ITA	1942	4.5
18	Gad, Ahmad	1N	ITA	1957	3.5
19	Stoja, Rocco	1N	ITA	1899	3.5
20	Garofalo, Massimo	CM	ITA	1829	3.5
21	Sabia, Corrado	-M	ITA	2205	3
22	Lombardi, Mariano	CM	ITA	1928	2
23	Grimaldi, Fabio	1N	ITA	1814	2
24	Rigo, Gianfrancesco	CM	ITA	2016	1
25	Valotta, Massimiliano	1N	ITA	1891	0
26	De Rasis, Giovanni	1N	ITA	1912	0

20) 16th Nikea Open

The 16th Nikea Open took place 25th August - 1st September 2008. Ionnis Nikolaidis took first place on tie-break from Nikoloz Managadze after both scored 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.fysiolatris.net/open08/en/indexen.html

16th Nikea Open Athens 25 viii-1 ix 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name		IRtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.	SB.
1	Nikolaidis Ioannis	GM	2516	GRE	7½	51	44	44,00
2	Managadze Nikoloz	IM	2444	GEO	7½	50½	43½	46,00
3	Dobrev Nanko	IM	2423	BUL	7	53½	46	45,25
4	Dochev Dimitar	IM	2428	BUL	7	52½	45½	42,50
5	Rusev Krasimir	IM	2508	BUL	7	51½	44½	43,75
6	Sergeev A	FM	2354	KAZ	7	50½	43½	43,00
7	Ronchetti Niccolo'	FM	2434	ITA	7	50½	43½	42,50
8	Aggelis Nikolaos		2271	GRE	7	49½	42	41,00
9	Sigalas Frangiskos		2242	GRE	7	48	40½	38,25
10	Skaperdas Kostantinos		2180	GRE	7	48	40½	36,00
11	Westerinen Heikki M J	GM	2376	FIN	7	47	40	38,50
12	Kordis Konstantinos		2216	GRE	7	46	39	37,00
13	Goumas Georgios		2276	GRE	7	44½	38½	38,25
14	Skalkotas Nikolaos	IM	2273	GRE	6½	50½	43½	37,50
15	Atanasov Radislav		2232	BUL	6½	50	42½	38,25
16	Arnaudov G Petar	FM	2311	BUL	6½	47½	40½	36,25
17	Stergiou Evangelos		2188	GRE	6½	47	39½	35,25
18	Goumas Ioannis		2219	GRE	6½	47	39½	33,00
19	Kostopoulos Evangellos		2150	GRE	6½	46½	39½	34,75
20	Dounis Alexandros		2162	GRE	6½	46½	39½	33,00
21	Enchev Ivajlo		2367	BUL	6½	46½	39	34,00
22	Nikolaidis Konstantinos	FM	2279	GRE	6½	46	39	34,25
23	Kokolias Konstantinos		2197	GRE	6½	45	38	33,75
24	Kouvatsos Filippos		2108	GRE	6½	40	33½	25,25
25	Draci Robert		2180	ALB	6½	39	33	29,25
26	Nikolova Adriana	WFM	2242	BUL	6	50½	43½	33,75
27	Stoumbos Konstantinos		2161	GRE	6	49	41½	32,00
28	Filippas Sebastian		2240	GRE	6	47½	40½	32,75
29	Malikentzos Sotirios		2063	GRE	6	47½	40½	32,50
30	Videnova Iva	WFM	2211	BUL	6	47½	40½	32,00
363 players

21) XVI Albacete International Open

The XVI Albacete (Spain) International Open took place 1st-6th September 2008. Julian Radulski took first place on tie-break from Yuri Solodovnichenko after both scored 7.5/9. Games from the first 6 rounds only are available.

Official site: http://www.faclm.org/ - Results http://chess-results.com/tnr15393.aspx - http://www.tabladeflandes.com/cmancha/albacete_2008/albacete_2008.php

XVI Open Albacete (ESP), 1-6 ix 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Radulski Julian	GM	BUL	2516	7,5	50,0	54,5	40,5
2	Solodovnichenko Yuri	GM	UKR	2542	7,5	48,5	53,0	39,5
3	Guliev Logman	IM	AZE	2437	7,0	49,0	52,5	39,0
4	Castellanos Rodriguez Renier	IM	ESP	2438	7,0	42,5	46,5	33,0
5	Suba Mihai	GM	ROU	2507	6,5	48,0	52,0	34,5
6	Sanchez Jerez Emilio Miguel		ESP	2143	6,5	43,0	47,0	30,5
7	Babaev Rashad	GM	AZE	2484	6,0	48,5	51,5	33,0
8	Ivanov Jordan	IM	BUL	2421	6,0	47,5	51,5	34,0
9	Epishin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2574	6,0	46,5	50,5	32,0
10	Espinosa Aranda Angel	FM	ESP	2313	6,0	44,5	48,0	30,5
11	Valmana Canto Jaime	FM	ESP	2376	6,0	44,0	48,5	32,5
12	Fenollar Jorda Manuel	FM	ESP	2298	6,0	44,0	47,5	31,0
13	Vega Gutierrez Sabrina	WGM	ESP	2281	6,0	44,0	46,0	30,5
14	Cabrera Alexis	GM	COL	2513	6,0	43,5	45,5	28,5
15	Kovacevic Slobodan	IM	SRB	2417	6,0	41,5	45,5	30,5
16	Pardo Simon David		ESP	2204	6,0	40,5	43,5	28,0
17	Sriram Jha	IM	IND	2429	5,5	48,5	52,5	34,0
18	Pogorelov Ruslan	GM	UKR	2459	5,5	47,5	51,0	33,5
19	Cueto Jonny	IM	BOL	2321	5,5	45,0	49,0	30,5
20	Garcia Moreno Carlos		ESP	2176	5,5	44,0	48,0	28,5
21	Serna Lara Sergio		ESP	2247	5,5	42,5	46,5	31,0
22	Campayo Hernandez Juan		ESP	2123	5,5	42,0	45,0	28,0
23	Vega Gomez Francisco B		ESP	2170	5,5	42,0	44,5	28,5
24	Draghici Flutur Gravril *		ESP	2111	5,5	42,0	44,0	28,0
25	Peric Slavisa	IM	SRB	2253	5,5	41,5	45,0	29,0
26	Buendia Pinar Alvaro		ESP	1743	5,5	40,0	43,5	25,0
27	Alcaraz Ortega Javier		ESP	2105	5,5	39,5	42,5	29,0
28	Camacho Calle Pedro		ESP	2140	5,5	39,0	42,0	27,5
29	Perez Garcia Roberto		ESP	2154	5,5	39,0	42,0	26,5
30	Llavador Moron Juan Jose		ESP	2195	5,0	43,0	46,5	27,0
97 players

22) III Timisoara Cup

The III Timisoara Cup took place 1st-8th August 2008. Zoltan Varga won the GM tournament with 6/9 half a point clear of the field. I give the games from the IM event again as I confused IM Dan Bogdan with a much weaker player. My thanks to Nigel Freeman.

Official site: http://www.ajsahtimis.ro/cupa08/index.php

Timisoara Cup IM Timisoara (ROM), 2-8 viii 2008												cat. I (2262)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Ogleznev, Alexandr	f	MDA	2285	*	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	6½	2478
2.	To, Nhat Minh		HUN	2322	0	*	0	1	½	1	1	1	½	½	5½	2388
3.	Nemes, Silviu-Virgil		ROU	2273	½	1	*	0	½	1	0	½	½	1	5	2356
4.	Bogdan, Dan	m	ROU	2401	½	0	1	*	½	½	1	0	1	½	5	2342
5.	Mrkonjic, Nenad	m	CRO	2394	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	4½	2300
6.	Foisor, Cristina Adela	m	ROU	2344	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	1	4½	2305
7.	Agafii, Victor	f	MDA	2306	½	0	1	0	½	½	*	½	1	0	4	2267
8.	Sfarlog, Tudor-Vlad		ROU	2288	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	*	0	½	3½	2232
9.	Dragomirescu, Robin-Alexandru		ROU	2232	0	½	½	0	½	0	0	1	*	1	3½	2238
10.	Voiteanu, Gabriel	f	ROU	2251	0	½	0	½	½	0	1	½	0	*	3	2191

23) 3rd PGMA Cup

The 3rd President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) Cup takes place in Manila, Philippines 6th-13th September 2008. Among the top seeds and favourites are GM Murtas Kazgaleyev (KAZ), GM Zhang Zong (SIN) GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili (GEO), GM Li Chao (CHN), GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan (IRI), and GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (VIE). Local player Wesley So also competes.Official site: http://chessasia.net/ - Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr15726.aspx?lan=1 - FIDE report

24) XV Feria del Orinoco

The XV Feria del Orinoco 9 round Swiss Open took place in Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela) 25th-31st August 2008. 281 players. GM Julio Granda Zuniga took clear first with 8.5/9. Still no PGN file available. I may look into extracting the games from the bulletin.

GM Judit Polgar gave a simultaneous at Plaza Bolivar in Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela) against 30 players (+25=4-1) on 23rd August and also a lecture about "Chess and Woman Today" on 27th August.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezferiadelorinoco.com/ and additional information at http://www.ajedrezguayana.blogspot.com/

XV Feria del Orinoco Open Bolivar (VEN), 25-31 viii 2008 Final Round 9:
Place	Name	NAT	Rtg	Score	Progr.	M-Buch.	Berg.
1	Granda, Julio	PER	2599	8.5	41	47	54.25
2	Macieja, Bartlomiej	POL	2606	8	40	45	49
3-5	Mitkov, Nicola	MKD	2556	7.5	41	46.5	40.25
	Rodriguez, Andres	URU	2531	7.5	38	43.5	43
	Iturrizaga, Eduardo	VEN	2561	7.5	36.5	42	37.5
6-15	Bachman, Axel	PAR	2511	7	39.5	46.5	38.5
	Felgaer, Ruben	ARG	2566	7	39.5	46	42.25
	leitao, Rafael	BRA	2590	7	38.5	45	40.25
	Ortega, Mariano	CUB	2410	7	38.5	45	40.25
	Ostos, Julio	VEN	2316	7	38	45.5	41.5
	Bruzon, Lazaro	CUB	2592	7	37.5	42.5	38
	Ravelo, Eddy	CUB	2371	7	35.5	41.5	32.5
	Alvarez, Johann	VEN	2430	7	34	37.5	33.75
	Cori, Jorge	PER	2381	7	33	36.5	29.5
	Cordoba, Emilio	PER	2519	7	30	36	34.5
16-25	Soppe, Guillermo	ARG	2423	6.5	38.5	46	37.75
	Prasca, Rafael	VEN	2408	6.5	36.5	45	37.5
	Ferragut, Arnaldo	CUB	2284	6.5	36	41	32.5
	Cori, Deysi	PER	2280	6.5	34.5	42.5	29.75
	Quesada, Yuniesky	CUB	2573	6.5	34.5	41.5	32.5
	Hernandez, Alexander	VEN	2261	6.5	34	43	33.5
	Marichal, Ariel	CUB	2217	6.5	33	42.5	34.25
	Rios, Celisbeth (114)	VEN		6.5	32.5	38	30.5
	Aristimuno, Juan Jose	VEN		6.5	29	34	27.75
	Uran, Oliver (138)	VEN		6.5	27.5	37.5	24
26-52	Zapata, Alonso	COl	2500	6	36	44.5	31
154 players

25) The 4th Annual Okie Chess Festival

The 4th Annual Okie Chess Festival By Tom Braunlich

In a summer when turnouts have been down, presumably due to high gas prices, attendance at the 4th Annual Okie Chess Festival (Labor Day Weekend in Tulsa) was up. Featuring the "laddered" events it is known for - two 8-player master rounds-robins an Open Swiss - plus a Fischer-Random speed chess pizza bash - the event this year totaled 68 players.

The 2008 Okie Masters RR featured $3,100 in prizes, and was sponsored by IA Frank K. Berry. With a minimum prize of $250 (to cover player expenses), the event aims at giving mid-level masters the rare chance at professional-style round robin play, complete with opening ceremony and traditional pea soup for good luck!

This year’s Okie Masters was dominated by IM Bryan Smith of Philadelphia. He was aided by the last-minute withdrawal of two main rivals (FMs Michael Langer and Keaton Kiewra), but I doubt if it would have made any difference since he played sharp and scintillating chess all weekend.

IM Smith won $1,000, plus $200 for snatching first place in the popular Fischer-Random speed chess tournament. The only one to hold him to a draw in the tournament was WIM Bayaraa Zorigt, a UTD student from Mongolia, and she had to sac her queen for a nice perpetual check to do it!

An example of Smith’s sparkling play was his last round game with young Conrad Holt of Kansas, who also had an excellent event. With a 1.5 point lead, Smith offered a draw on move three. He seemed a bit miffed when the kid refused, and proceeded to create a terrific queenless mating attack. (See annotated game by Smith.)

FM Movsisyan had an off tournament, having not played much recently and following his recent relocation to Tulsa. An example of the strength of this event is that Indian Chaitanya Vaidya (also of UTD) could only score 2.5 - compare that to his 7-2 score at the recent U.S. Open in which he defeated GM Yermolinsky.

The Challengers RR was won by former Denker Champion Nelson Lopez II of North Carolina and Mihail Bantic of Serbia. Both are students on the UTD chess team in Dallas, and both qualify for next year’s Masters. 2008 U.S. Junior Open Champ Maxx Coleman was leading throughout, but failing to win a won game with Lopez and a tough reversal to FM Tom Brownscombe in the last round set him back to third in this hard-fought tournament.

The 52-player Okie Open seven round Swiss ended in a four-way tie between Tim Steiner, James Long, George Trammell, and Chuck Johnson. Steiner and Long qualify for next year’s "Challengers."

I was impressed by the play of young Kenny Lin, of Broken Arrow, who was fearlessly "sacking and attacking" the whole tournament and gained over 100 rating points. He is quite talented and should be a master some day.

The events were directed by IA Frank Berry, and organized by me.

Official site: http://okchess.org

Okie Masters Tulsa (USA), 30 viii-1 ix 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Smith, Bryan G	m	USA	2394	*	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	6½	2636
2.	Holt, Conrad		USA	2219	0	*	1	½	1	1	0	½	4	2289
3.	Bayaraa, Zorigt	wf	MGL	2179	½	0	*	½	½	½	1	1	4	2294
4.	Chua, Alexander J		USA	2262	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	1	4	2282
5.	Schoonmaker, Nicholas		USA	2195	0	0	½	½	*	½	1	½	3	2192
6.	Gossell, Thomas		USA	2251	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	2½	2132
7.	Vaidya, C.N		IND	2145	0	1	0	0	0	½	*	1	2½	2147
8.	Movsisyan, Movses	f	USA	2247	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	*	1½	2005

Okie Challengers Tulsa (USA), 30 viii-1 ix 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Lopez, Nelson M ii		USA	2124	*	½	½	1	1	0	½	1	4½	2277
2.	Bantic, Mihail		SRB	2192	½	*	0	½	½	1	1	1	4½	2267
3.	Coleman, Maxx W		USA	2212	½	1	*	0	0	1	1	½	4	2212
4.	Brownscombe, Thomas	f	USA	2192	0	½	1	*	½	½	½	1	4	2215
5.	Orton, William R		USA	2166	0	½	1	½	*	0	½	1	3½	2169
6.	Niggel, Christopher		USA	2129	1	0	0	½	1	*	0	½	3	2124
7.	Galant, Sergey		USA	2196	½	0	0	½	½	1	*	0	2½	2063
8.	Mokriak, Liudmila	wm	UKR	2141	0	0	½	0	0	½	1	*	2	2015

26) Novin

The Novin Close Rated Tournament took place 5th-13th June 2008. Mahjoob Morteza won on tie-break from Ehsan Ghaem Maghami after both scored 8.5/9. No games available.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15729.aspx?tnr=15729&art=4&lan=2&m=-1

ONovin Closed (IRI), 5-13 vi 2008
Rk.	0	Nombre	Elo	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	Des 1	Des 2	Des 3
1	GM	Mahjoob Morteza	2488	IRI	*	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8,5	32,25	0,5	8
	GM	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan	2604	IRI	½	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8,5	32,25	0,5	8
3		Garsiforoush M	2161	IRI	0	0	*	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	6,5	19,25	0,0	6
4		Faramarzi Vahid	0	IRI	0	0	0	*	0	1	1	1	1	1	5,0	12,00	0,0	5
5		Korhani Navid	0	IRI	0	0	0	1	*	½	½	½	1	1	4,5	12,50	0,0	3
6		Kanzi Hesamodin	2074	IRI	0	0	½	0	½	*	½	1	1	1	4,5	11,50	0,0	3
7		Vezvaei Alireza	0	IRI	0	0	0	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	3,0	7,50	0,0	1
8		Zadsham Shayan	0	IRI	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	*	0	½	1,5	4,50	0,0	0
9		Tabatabaei M.Amin	0	IRI	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	0	1,5	3,00	0,0	1
10		Ghadiri Radmehr	0	IRI	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	1,5	2,25	0,0	1

27) Portuguese Championship

The final of the Portuguese took place 27th August - 4th September 2008. Antonio Fernandes won with 8/9.

Official site: http://www.fpx.pt/online/cna08/cnaf2008.html

ch-POR Almada POR (POR), 27 viii-4 ix 2008												cat. V (2370)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Fernandes, Antonio	g	POR	2408	*	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	8	2716
2.	Fernando, Diogo	m	POR	2449	0	*	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	6½	2526
3.	Galego, Luis	g	POR	2506	0	½	*	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	5	2397
4.	Vitor, Antonio	f	POR	2375	0	0	½	*	1	0	1	½	1	1	5	2411
5.	Andrade, Jose M Vieira	f	POR	2290	1	½	½	0	*	½	½	½	0	1	4½	2378
6.	Pereira, Ruben	f	POR	2418	0	0	½	1	½	*	1	½	½	½	4½	2364
7.	Diogo, Vasco		POR	2294	0	½	1	0	½	0	*	1	1	0	4	2334
8.	Damaso, Rui	m	POR	2441	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	*	½	1	3	2236
9.	Dias, Paulo	f	POR	2440	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	½	*	1	3	2236
10.	Cruz, Jorge Filipe Egas Da		POR	2074	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	0	*	1½	2129

28) 23rd Teteven Open

The 23rd Teteven Open took place August 16th-22nd 2008.Kalin Karakehajov won with 8/9. The game file is incomplete and I will wait for a more complete one before trying to publish the games. All the games are available in the viewer but the PGN file is only to round 4 and incomplete at that.

Official site: http://www.geocities.com/mitko74/teteven23/teteven23.htm

3rd Teteven Open (BUL), 16-22 viii 2008 Provisional team members:
Rank	Name		FED	IRtg	Pts	BG	FIDE
1	Kalin Karakehajov	IM	BUL	2453	8	18.5	18
2	Valeri Lilov	FM	BUL	2382	7.5	13.2	24
3	Metodi Stoinev	NM	BUL	2278	7.5	21.1	23
4	Kiril Badev	FM	BUL	2337	7	8.5	5
5	Georgi Filev	FM	BUL	2395	6.5	-10.8	-10
6	Evgeni Janev	GM	BUL	2502	6.5	-5	-9
7	Sasho Nikolov	IM	BUL	2398	6.5	-7.3	-6
8	Adriana Nikolova	WFM	BUL	2242	6.5	3.4	13
9	Petar Popov	IM	BUL	2290	6.5	21.6	5
10	Momchil Todorov	NM	BUL	2237	6.5	3.9	10
11	Nedelcho Dichev	NM	BUL	2158	6.5	14.5	13
12	Nanko Dobrev	IM	BUL	2423	6.5	-8.7	-8
13	Anatolij Noskov	NM	KAZ	2232	6	19.6	14
14	Hristo Velchev	FM	BUL	2245	6	14.6	16
15	Marian Bojchev	FM	BUL	2406	6	-5.1	-7
16	Nino Vlashki		BUL	2226	6	11.9	7
17	Stojan Ivanov L		BUL	2099	6	6.1	14
18	Ivan Janakiev	IM	BUL	2258	6	0.1	-3
19	Petar Orev	IM	BUL	2207	6	-0.6	-4
20	Steljan Georgiev		BUL	2121	6	-10.2	4
21	Todor Galunov	FM	BUL	2278	6	-10.1	-1
22	Krasimir Bochev	NM	BUL	2123	6	-13.2	-12
23	Plamen Ribarov	NM	BUL	2128	6	-7.8	-16
24	Gokhan Kursuz		TUR	1957	6	27.3	26
136 players

29) Edami-CosmoCaixa Barcelona

The category XII Edami-CosmoCaixa tournament takes place in Barcelona 8th-14th September, 2008.

Official site: http://www.edami.com/home03.aspx?ID=157

Edami-CosmoCaixa Barcelona (ESP), 8-14 ix 2008 Players
N	Name	Ti	FED	Elo
1	ILLESCAS, Miguel	GM	ESP	2603
2	GRANDA, Julio	GM	PER	2599
3	MOSKALENKO, Viktor	GM	UKR	2569
4	PERALTA, Fernando	GM	ARG	2558
5	ALSINA, Dani	MI	ESP	2517
6	GONZÁLEZ, José	GM	MEX	2506
7	REINALDO, Roi	MI	ESP	2504
8	FLUVIA, Jordi	MI	ESP	2500
9	IBARRA, José Carlos	MI	ESP	2496
10	LLANEZA, Marcos	MI	ESP	2468

30) Costa Rican Championships

The LXXII Costa Rican National Championship took place 23rd August - 4th September 2008. IM Bernal Gonzalez is the new Costa Rican Champion. This is his 10th National Championship title, making a new National record. The Championship started on May and ended on September 4th. It was developed in two stages, in the first stage (preliminaries) 53 Costa Rican First Division players participated, Allan Machado won this stage. The second stage was played in a 10-player round-robin format and was won by IM Bernal Gonzalez.

There were live broadcasts of the second stage which were seen by thousands of chess fans mainly from Central America. The main page was http://www.tablerotico.com/ (in spanish) Final Official Standings for stage 1: http://www.tablerotico.com/torneos/20080517_costarica(ch)/index.html Final Official Standings for stage 2: http://www.tablerotico.com/torneos/20080517_costarica(ch)/final/SMWSite/ News Diego Redondo.

LXXII ch-CRC Fase 2 San Jose (CRC), 23 viii-4 ix 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Gonzalez, Bernal	m	CRC	2423	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	8	2504
2.	Valdes, Leonardo	m	CRC	2408	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	7½	2428
3.	Murillo, Alexis	m	CRC	2319	0	½	*	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	6½	2330
4.	Hernandez Basante, Francisco	m	CRC	2254	½	½	½	*	0	½	½	1	½	1	5	2215
5.	Ruiz Blais, Sebastian		CRC	2195	0	0	0	1	*	0	1	1	1	1	5	2221
6.	Vargas Serano, Pablo		CRC	1829	0	0	0	½	1	*	0	0	1	1	3½	2139
7.	Cabrera, Marco Antonio		CRC	2065	0	0	0	½	0	1	*	1	0	1	3½	2113
8.	Alfaro Rojas, Alfonso		CRC	2181	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	*	½	1	3	2055
9.	Vives, David		CRC	2061	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	½	*	1	3	2068
10.	Machado Ramirez, Allan		CRC	2068	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	0

LXXII ch-CRC Fase 1 Moravia (CRC), 17-25 v 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name	Rating	Fed.	Score	BH	SB
1	Machado Ramirez, Allan	2078	CRC	7	47	36.25
2	Solano Lopez, Royner	2119	CRC	6.5	44	30.75
3	Alfaro Rojas, Alfonso	2244	CRC	6.5	53	37.25
4	Cabrera, Marco Antonio	2121	CRC	6.5	42.5	28.25
5	Vargas Serano, Pablo	2018	CRC	6.5	46.5	31.5
6	Granados, Carlos	2189	CRC	6	47	30.25
7	Bermudez, Sergio	2164	CRC	6	47.5	31
8	Vives, David	2109	CRC	6	46.5	29.75
9	Leandro, Johnny	2110	CRC	5.5	51.5	32
10	Campos, Roberto	2136	CRC	5.5	44.5	24.25
11	Ugalde, Ronald	2160	CRC	5.5	48.5	27.25
12	Carvajal, Jonathan	2193	CRC	5.5	46.5	24.25
13	Solis, Efren	2064	CRC	5.5	43.5	25
14	Montenegro Masis, Esteban	2123	CRC	5.5	37.5	18.25
15	Jimenez, Alonso	2135	CRC	5.5	43	25.25
16	Bermudez, Alexander	2153	CRC	5.5	36	22.25
17	Barrios Zamora, Carlos	2134	CRC	5	45.5	24.75
18	Minero, Carlos	2132	CRC	5	40.5	21.75
19	NM Alfaro, Carlos	2201	CRC	4.5	42.5	22.25
20	Peraza, Rafael	2045	CRC	4.5	43	20.75
53 players

31) 62nd Foire de Chalons-en-Champagne au Parc

The 62nd Foire de Chalons-en-Champagne au Parc took place 4th-5th September 2008. Maxime Vachier Lagrave took clear first in this rapid event organised by Europe Echecs and Chalons Chess Club with a time control of 10 minutes + 2 seconds a move on the first day and 5 minutes + 2 seconds a move on the second day in a double round robin event.

Coverage: http://www.europe-echecs.com

2nd Circuit Europe-Echecs Chalons FRA (FRA), 4-5 ix 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2681	+4	=2	+3	+4	+2	+3	-4	+2	+3	+4	+2	+3	10.5	2793
2	Edouard, Romain	m	FRA	2508	+3	=1	+4	+3	-1	+4	+3	-1	+4	-3	-1	+4	7.5	2609
3	Cossin, Sebastien	m	FRA	2466	-2	+4	-1	-2	+4	-1	-2	+4	-1	+2	=4	-1	4.5	2441
4	Guilleux, Fabien		FRA	2397	-1	-3	-2	-1	-3	-2	+1	-3	-2	-1	=3	-2	1.5	2229

32) 5th LGA Premium Schach Cup

The 5th LGA Premium Schach Cup takes place 4th-7th September 2008 in Nuernberg, Germany. Aleksandar Berelovich emerged with the best tie-break from Arik Braun, Axel Bachmann and David Baramidze all of whom scored 6/7. My thanks to Axel Fritz.

Official site: http://live.schach.lga.de

5th LGA Premium Schach CUP Nuernberg (GER), 4-7 ix 2008 Final Round 7 Standings:
Rk	Player	ELO	Pt.	Bh.
1	Berelovich,Aleksandar	2557	6	34,5
2	Braun,Arik	2533	6	33,5
3	Bachmann,Axel	2511	6	33
4	Baramidze,David	2593	6	31,5
5	Bromberger,Stefan	2490	5,5	32,5
6	Hector,Jonny	2537	5,5	32
7	Haba,Petr	2570	5,5	32
8	Naumann,Alexander	2502	5,5	31
9	Mainka,Romuald	2480	5,5	29,5
10	Kopylov,Michael	2459	5,5	27,5
11	Meinhardt,Maximilian	2366	5,5	27,5
12	Gutman,Lev	2497	5	32
13	Wells,Peter K	2526	5	31,5
14	Heinemann,Thies	2485	5	31,5
15	Kunin,Vitaly	2532	5	31,5
16	Mihok,Oliver	2346	5	30,5
17	Siebrecht,Sebastian	2453	5	29,5
18	Boguslavskyy,Oleg	2402	5	29,5
19	Farago,Ivan	2482	5	29
20	Bangiev,Alexander	2438	5	29
21	Lorscheid,Gerhard	2348	5	28
22	Jahnel,Günther	2329	5	26,5
23	Heinzel,Olaf	2386	5	25,5
24	Scherer,Max	2315	5	22,5
25	Milov,Leonid	2531	4,5	32,5
26	Löw,Gerald	2264	4,5	30,5
27	Wagner,Florian	2213	4,5	30,5
28	Seyb,Alexander	2243	4,5	29,5
29	Zude,Erik	2397	4,5	29,5
30	Donchenko,Anatoly	2399	4,5	29
31	Koch,Moritz	2273	4,5	29
32	Promyshlyanskiy,Vitaliy	2245	4,5	29
33	Espig,Lutz	2346	4,5	28,5
34	Jussupow,Ekaterina	2114	4,5	28,5
35	Kulik,Dawid	2205	4,5	28,5
36	Solonar,Stefan	2372	4,5	28
37	Renner,Christoph	2431	4,5	28
38	Kahlert,Thomas	2262	4,5	28
39	Panteleev,Petar	2292	4,5	28
40	Fuchs,Judith	2197	4,5	27,5
41	Unzicker,Ferdinand,Dr.	2308	4,5	27,5
42	Zaragatski,Ilja	2419	4,5	27
43	Gara,Anita	2340	4,5	26,5
44	Schuster,Karsten	2238	4,5	26,5
45	Klundt,Klaus	2361	4,5	26
46	Troyke,Christian	2372	4,5	26
47	Kordts,Wolfgang	2229	4,5	26
48	Meier,Volker	2276	4,5	24,5
49	Hirn,Oskar	2214	4,5	24,5
50	Hofer,Markus	2004	4,5	24
181 players

33) First Saturday September

The First Saturday tournaments take place 6th-18th of September 2008. GM-IM-FM events.

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

FSGM September Budapest HUN (HUN), 6-14 ix 2008												cat. VII (2415)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2516	*	.	.	.	1	.	½	.	.	.	1½	2624
2.	Paschall, William M	m	USA	2330	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2582
3.	Ilincic, Zlatko	g	SRB	2519	.	.	*	.	.	1	.	.	?	.	1
4.	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	f	VIE	2477	.	½	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	2359
5.	Grafl, Florian	m	GER	2404	0	.	.	.	*	.	.	1	.	.	1	2452
6.	Wittmann, Walter	m	AUT	2272	.	.	0	.	.	*	.	.	.	1	1	2410
7.	Berczes, David	m	HUN	2458	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	?	.	½	2516
8.	Szalanczy, Emil	m	HUN	2388	.	.	.	½	0	.	.	*	.	.	½	2247
9.	Farag('o), Ivan	g	HUN	2482	.	.	?	.	.	.	?	.	*	.	0
10.	Kislik, Erik Andrew		USA	2302	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	*	0

FSIMA September Budapest (HUN), 6-16 ix 2008												cat. I (2264)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1
1.	To, Nhat Minh		HUN	2322	*	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1	2
2.	Lyell, Mark	f	ENG	2232	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	2
3.	Lengyel, Bela	m	HUN	2286	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	1	.	.	.	1½	2486
4.	Werner, Dimo	m	GER	2329	.	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2447
5.	Parkanyi, Attila	m	HUN	2393	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	1	.	.	1
6.	Vegh, Endre	m	HUN	2298	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	.	?	.	.	½	2329
7.	Konnyu, Janos		HUN	2314	0	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	2111
8.	Csirik, Andras		HUN	2272	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	0
9.	Simonyi, Zoltan	f	SRB	2247	.	.	.	.	0	?	.	.	*	.	.	0
10.	Perez Aleman, Pedro Tomas		ESP	2210	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
11.	Kang Kai		CHN	----	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

FSIMB September Budapest (HUN), 6-15 ix 2008										cat. II (2290)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Moskovic, David M		ENG	2293	*	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1½	2425
2.	Ruecker, Benjamin		GER	2246	.	.	*	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	1½	2380
3.	Petr('a)n, P('a)l	m	HUN	2361	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2378
4.	Galyas, Miklos	m	HUN	2463	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	1	2316
5.	Li Panru		CHN	2104	0	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	*	.	.	½	2076
6.	Farago, Sandor	m	HUN	2271	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	½	2161

34) 23rd Parla International Open

The 23rd Parla (Spain) International Open takes place 6th-14th September 2008. Vladimir Epishin is the top seed.

Official site: http://www.clubdeajedrezparla.com/ - Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15722.aspx?lan=1

35) UAE President's Cup

UAE President's Cup 2008 took place in the Al-Ain Intercontintal hotel 23rd-30th August 2008. The championship had a $31,500 prize fund and a first prize of $13500. Moussa Othman won the event with 7.5/9.

Results http://chess-results.com/tnr15283.aspx?lan=1

UAE President's Cup Al Ain (UAE), 23 viii-1 ix 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Othman A Moussa	FM	UAE	2327	7,5	2101	35,0	36,0
2	Yahya Mohamed Saleh	FM	UAE	2136	7,0	2036	31,0	37,5
3	Ali Abdulkhaleq		UAE	2130	6,5	2111	38,5	39,5
4	Alhuwar Jasem	FM	UAE	2260	6,5	2039	30,5	34,5
5	Khouri Ibrahim Mohamed	FM	UAE	2083	6,5	2003	31,0	34,5
6	Ali Mahmoud		UAE	2180	6,0	2088	32,0	37,0
7	Hassan Abdulla	IM	UAE	2334	6,0	2038	31,0	38,5
8	Saeed Ishaq	FM	UAE	2219	5,5	2135	34,5	41,0
9	Zayed Ali Al-Hamed		UAE	1750	5,5	2010	23,5	32,0
10	Abdul Majeed Mohamad	FM	UAE	2281	5,0	2135	33,0	38,5
11	Mohamed Houssein	FM	UAE	2201	5,0	2082	29,0	35,5
12	Omar Noaman		UAE	1946	5,0	1944	27,0	37,5
13	Omar Abdulwahab		UAE	2059	5,0	1937	25,5	33,0
14	Saleh Nora Mohd	WFM	UAE	1859	5,0	1851	25,0	34,0
15	Abduaziz Eman	WFM	UAE	1693	5,0	1657	21,5	26,0
16	Khalifa Khamis		UAE	2010	4,5	1918	25,5	35,0
17	Khouri Ahmed Abbas	FM	UAE	1965	4,5	1908	25,5	33,5
18	Mansour Abbas		UAE	1968	4,5	1864	24,5	34,5
19	Essa Kulood		UAE	1766	4,5	1832	22,0	31,5
20	Abdulkarim Ali		UAE	1906	4,5	1814	23,5	32,0
21	Al-Kaabi Abdulla		UAE	1790	4,5	1761	23,5	31,0
22	Sultan Ibrahim		UAE	0	4,5	1688	18,5	29,0
38 players

36) 2nd Urumia International Open

The 2nd International Urumia (Orumiyeh) Open Chess Tournament Sardarane Shahid Cup took place August 26th - September 2nd 2008. Merab Gagunashvili finished first on tie-break from Rasul Ibrahimov, Levan Babujian, Homayoon toufighi and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami all of whom scored 9/10.

2nd Open Urumia (IRI), 26 viii-1 ix 2008 Final Round 10 Standings:
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Gagunashvili Merab	GM	GEO	2566	9,0	82,5	75,5	73,5
2	Ibrahimov Rasul	GM	AZE	2537	9,0	81,5	75,0	72,5
3	Babujian Levan	IM	ARM	2415	9,0	80,0	74,0	71,0
4	Toufighi Homayoon	FM	IRI	2425	9,0	76,5	70,5	67,5
5	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan	GM	IRI	2597	9,0	73,5	68,0	64,5
6	Gaprindashvili Valeriane	GM	GEO	2452	8,5	73,5	68,5	64,5
7	Darban Morteza	IM	IRI	2390	8,5	73,5	68,0	64,5
8	Bajarani Ulvi	FM	AZE	2201	8,5	73,0	67,0	64,0
9	Abbasov Farid	GM	AZE	2552	8,5	72,5	66,5	64,0
10	Ahmadinia E		IRI	2298	8,5	71,0	65,0	62,0
11	Momeni E		IRI	2267	8,5	69,5	64,0	60,5
12	Bagaturov Giorgi	GM	GEO	2482	8,0	78,5	72,0	69,5
13	Sharbaf Mohsen	FM	IRI	2417	8,0	75,0	69,0	66,0
14	Mallahi Amir	IM	IRI	2393	8,0	72,5	67,0	63,5
15	Rzayev Bahruz		AZE	2245	8,0	71,5	66,0	63,0
16	Inants Aghasi		ARM	2188	8,0	71,5	65,5	63,0
17	Rasulov Vugar	FM	AZE	2392	8,0	70,5	65,0	62,5
18	Pilvaieh Ali		IRI	2171	8,0	70,5	65,0	61,5
19	Ghane Shojaat	GM	IRI	2415	8,0	70,0	64,5	61,0
20	Noroozi Omid		IRI	2290	8,0	70,0	64,0	61,0
21	Agayev Nidjat		AZE	2281	8,0	69,5	64,0	61,5
22	Ghanbari Rasool		IRI	2227	8,0	67,0	61,5	59,0
23	Askerov Mushfig		AZE	2195	8,0	66,5	61,0	58,5
24	Golizadeh Asghar		IRI	2271	8,0	66,5	60,5	59,5
25	Ryahi Naser		IRI	2216	8,0	63,5	59,0	55,5
26	Nasrollahy Habib		IRI	0	8,0	61,0	56,0	54,0
336 players

37) Akiba Rubinstein International Chess Festival

The Akiba Rubinstein International Chess Festival took place in Polanica Zdroj 19th-28th August, 2008. Alexander Moiseenko won the main GM group with 6½/9. Michal Olszewski edged out Aloyzas Kveinys on tie-break after both scored 8/10. Final round games from the open A now available.

Official site: http://www.rubinstein.64pola.pl/

44th Rubinstein Mem GM Polanica Zdroj (POL), 20-28 viii 2008												cat. XIII (2564)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Moiseenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2632	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	6½	2722
2.	Miton, Kamil	g	POL	2580	½	*	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	6	2687
3.	Swiercz, Dariusz	m	POL	2456	½	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	6	2701
4.	Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	g	GEO	2604	½	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	½	5	2602
5.	Kuzubov, Yuriy	g	UKR	2578	½	0	½	½	*	1	0	½	1	1	5	2605
6.	Malakhatko, Vadim	g	BEL	2612	½	½	0	½	0	*	½	½	1	1	4½	2558
7.	Gajewski, Grzegorz	g	POL	2575	0	½	½	0	1	½	*	½	½	0	3½	2482
8.	Markos, Jan	g	SVK	2568	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	1	3½	2483
9.	Moranda, Wojciech	m	POL	2533	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	3	2442
10.	Warakomski, Tomasz	m	POL	2502	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	½	*	2	2350

Round 7 (August 26, 2008)
Moiseenko, Alexander	- Markos, Jan	1-0	29	E70	King's Indian Fianchetto
Swiercz, Dariusz	- Gajewski, Grzegorz	½-½	33	E61	King's Indian Defence
Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	- Warakomski, Tomasz	½-½	32	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Kuzubov, Yuriy	- Miton, Kamil	0-1	54	D11	Slav Defence
Malakhatko, Vadim	- Moranda, Wojciech	1-0	35	E15	Queens Indian
Round 8 (August 27, 2008)
Miton, Kamil	- Moranda, Wojciech	½-½	18	E12	Queens Indian Petrosian
Kuzubov, Yuriy	- Swiercz, Dariusz	½-½	21	A80	Dutch
Gajewski, Grzegorz	- Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	0-1	63	E05	Catalan
Markos, Jan	- Malakhatko, Vadim	½-½	18	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Warakomski, Tomasz	- Moiseenko, Alexander	0-1	45	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Round 9 (August 28, 2008)
Moiseenko, Alexander	- Gajewski, Grzegorz	1-0	41	E70	King's Indian Fianchetto
Swiercz, Dariusz	- Miton, Kamil	½-½	10	D10	Slav Defence
Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	- Kuzubov, Yuriy	½-½	14	D23	QGA
Malakhatko, Vadim	- Warakomski, Tomasz	1-0	30	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Moranda, Wojciech	- Markos, Jan	½-½	46	E92	King's Indian Classical

44th Rubinstein Mem Open A Polanica Zdroj (POL), 19-28 viii 2008 Leading Final Round 10 Standings:
Pl	Name	Title	Fed.	Elo	Total	MBch.	Bch.	Wins	Prog.
1	Olszewski, Michal	IM	POL	2458	8	50.5	64	7	47
2	Kveinys, Aloyzas	GM	LTU	2527	8	47	59	6	43.5
3	Szoen, Dariusz	IM	POL	2477	7.5	46	58	6	38.5
4	Kanarek, Marcel	FM	POL	2349	7.5	45.5	56	6	39
5	Brzeski, Maciej		POL	2208	7	48	60.5	4	39
6	Galazewski, Tomasz		POL	2210	7	44	55.5	6	34.5
7	Owczarzak, Jerzy	FM	POL	2343	6.5	51.5	63	5	44.5
8	Heberla, Bartlomiej	GM	POL	2510	6.5	50.5	64	4	42.5
9	Piorun, Kacper	FM	POL	2445	6.5	49	60.5	5	40
10	Tokarski, Lukasz		POL	2238	6.5	47.5	59	5	40.5
11	Czarnota, Pawel	GM	POL	2526	6.5	47	59.5	5	37.5
12	Szczepkowska-Horowska, Karina	WFM	POL	2285	6.5	45.5	56.5	5	37
13	Tokarski, Bartosz		POL	2157	6.5	44.5	54	5	32
14	Kadziolka, Beata	WGM	POL	2313	6.5	42	51.5	5	34
15	Jaroch, Pawel		POL	2255	6.5	42	51	6	33.5
16	Fistek, Dariusz		POL	2208	6	49.5	61	4	38.5
17	Krzyzanowski, Marcin		POL	2261	6	47	59.5	5	37
18	Hnydiuk, Aleksander		POL	2387	6	45.5	57.5	3	37.5
19	Kozak, Magdalena	WIM	POL	2195	6	45	55.5	4	34
20	Sadzikowski, Daniel		POL	2140	6	43.5	52.5	4	31
21	Stoma, Pawel		POL	2294	6	42	51.5	5	32
22	Mickiewicz, Piotr		POL	2347	6	41.5	52	5	31.5
23	Panocki, Adrian		POL	2338	6	41.5	51	5	30.5
24	Majdan, Joanna	WIM	POL	2323	6	40	48	5	30
25	Dluzniewski, Marcin		POL	2228	6	37.5	47.5	4	31
26	Toma, Katarzyna	WIM	POL	2212	5.5	48	60.5	4	33.5
27	Wcislo, Damian		POL	2216	5.5	47.5	60.5	3	33.5
28	Gralka, Julian	FM	POL	2268	5.5	46.5	58.5	3	36.5
29	Sieciechowicz, Marcin		POL	2311	5.5	45.5	56.5	3	34
30	Litwin, Jozef		POL	2181	5.5	44.5	54.5	5	31
31	Barski, Radoslaw		POL	2154	5.5	43	54.5	5	28.5
32	Banasik, Krzysztof		POL	2215	5.5	42	53	4	32.5
33	Praszak, Michal		POL	2235	5.5	41.5	52	5	31.5
34	Bugalski, Michal		POL	2279	5.5	41.5	50.5	3	32.5
35	Scibior, Adam		POL	2157	5.5	41	51	5	26
36	Leniart, Arkadiusz	FM	POL	2391	5.5	40.5	50	4	32
37	Mucha, Roman		POL	2160	5.5	40	50	4	28.5
38	Swiech, Przemyslaw		POL	2027	5.5	36.5	46.5	4	25
84 players

38) Ideal Max Euwe

The Ideal Max Euwe International Tournament took place 22nd-31st August 2008. The 10 player round robin, time control 2 hours/40 moves + 1 hour/20 moves + 30 minutes KO (+ 30 seconds/move) features 3 players from BRAZIL + 7 players from another countries. Zhao Zong Yuan and Gilberto Milos finished on 6½/9. The game Watanabe-Milos is now available.

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

2nd Euwe Stimulans Sao Paulo (BRA), 22-31 viii 2008												cat. IX (2454)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Zhao Zong-Yuan	g	AUS	2561	*	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	6½	2608
2.	Milos, Gilberto	g	BRA	2598	½	*	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	6½	2604
3.	Van der Wiel, John	g	NED	2504	1	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	5½	2528
4.	Matsuura, Everaldo	m	BRA	2463	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	½	0	1	5	2496
5.	El Debs, Felipe de Cresce	f	BRA	2440	0	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	5	2498
6.	Diaz Hollemaert, Nahuel	m	ARG	2419	0	½	½	½	½	*	0	½	1	1	4½	2458
7.	Zambrana, Oswaldo	g	BOL	2458	0	½	½	0	½	1	*	0	½	1	4	2410
8.	Lujan, Carolina	m	ARG	2361	0	0	½	½	0	½	1	*	0	½	3	2339
9.	Watanabe, Akira	f	JPN	2353	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	1	*	0	2½	2299
10.	Roselli Mailhe, Bernardo	m	URU	2385	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	1	*	2½	2295

39) Bratto Open

The 28th Bratto Open took place August 22nd-30th 2008. Sergei Tiviakov took first place on tie-break from Carlos Matamoros Franco and Vladimir Burmakin after all scored 7/9. More games from the final round are available. My thanks to Corrado Astengo.

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

28th Open Bratto (ITA), 22-30 viii 2008 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Pos	NAME	Ti	Fed.	Rtg	Pts	Buc1	BucT	ARO
1	Tiviakov Sergei	GM	NED	2644	7	48	53	2466.78
2	Matamoros Franco Car	GM	ECU	2508	7	47.5	51.5	2437.33
3	Burmakin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2625	7	44.5	49	2393.67
4	Epishin Vladimir	GM	RUS	2574	6.5	49	53	2455.56
5	Shytaj Luca	IM	ITA	2467	6.5	42.5	45.5	2341.67
6	Simutowe Amon	IM	ZAM	2459	6	46.5	50.5	2359.78
7	Colovic Aleksandar	IM	MKD	2470	6	46	50.5	2386.89
8	Jaracz Pawel	GM	POL	2501	6	45.5	50	2377.22
9	Vocaturo Daniele	IM	ITA	2417	6	45.5	48	2409.56
10	Drazic Sinisa	GM	SRB	2505	6	45.5	48	2388.22
11	Leon Hoyos Manuel	GM	MEX	2543	6	45	49	2392.56
12	Korneev Oleg	GM	RUS	2631	6	44	48	2372.78
13	Brunello Sabino	IM	ITA	2482	6	44	48	2361.11
14	Bruno Fabio	IM	ITA	2454	6	43	47	2333
15	Horvath Csaba	GM	HUN	2537	6	43	46.5	2336
16	Sax Gyula	GM	HUN	2506	6	42.5	46.5	2357.44
17	Lucaroni Massimilian	FM	ITA	2289	6	42	45	2335.78
18	Efimov Igor	GM	MNC	2458	6	40	43	2305.22
19	Fierro Baquero Marth	IM	ECU	2379	6	36.5	39.5	2286.89
20	Levin Felix	GM	GER	2564	5.5	47	51	2386.56
21	Guido Flavio	FM	ITA	2356	5.5	44	48	2373.78
22	Tjiam Dharma	IM	NED	2372	5.5	44	47	2353
23	Piscopo Pierluigi	IM	ITA	2389	5.5	44	47	2337.67
24	Rombaldoni Denis	IM	ITA	2418	5.5	44	46	2425.78
25	Borgo Giulio	IM	ITA	2442	5.5	43.5	47.5	2328.44
26	Salvador Roland	IM	PHI	2443	5.5	43	47	2382.56
27	Bellia Fabrizio	IM	ITA	2403	5.5	43	46.5	2391.89
28	David Alberto	GM	LUX	2568	5.5	42.5	45	2322.56
29	Narayanan Srinath	FM	IND	2220	5.5	41.5	44	2328.78
30	Mogranzini Roberto	IM	ITA	2422	5.5	41	44.5	2326.89
31	Spassov Liuben	GM	BUL	2428	5.5	41	44	2360.44
32	Manca Federico	IM	ITA	2367	5.5	40	43	2326.22
33	Scalcione Michelange	FM	ITA	2398	5.5	38.5	41.5	2278.89
34	Cebalo Miso	GM	CRO	2523	5.5	37.5	41	2277.11
35	Tomba Ivan	FM	ITA	2309	5.5	37	40.5	2171.89
36	Bentivegna Francesco	FM	ITA	2329	5.5	34.5	37	2193.44
37	Lanzani Mario	IM	ITA	2349	5	45.5	49	2398.67
38	Godena Michele	GM	ITA	2519	5	43.5	48.5	2345.22
39	Klip Hans	FM	NED	2390	5	43	46.5	2357.67
40	Marholev Dimitar	IM	BUL	2366	5	42.5	46.5	2342.67
41	De Haan Eric	FM	NED	2356	5	42	45.5	2353.44
42	Qendro Llambi	IM	ALB	2375	5	40	42.5	2307.56
43	Vezzosi Paolo	IM	ITA	2352	5	40	42	2263
44	Brun Dario	--	ITA	2245	5	39	42.5	2245.44
45	Tatai Stefano	IM	ITA	2372	5	37.5	40	2239.78
46	Gallucci Alessio	--	ITA	2152	5	37	39.5	2275
47	De Santis Alessio	FM	ITA	2295	5	36	36.5	2133.44
48	Madiai Federico	--	ITA	2066	5	34	36.5	2190.89
49	Piasetski Leon	IM	CAN	2314	4.5	45.5	48.5	2363.22
50	Damia Angelo	FM	ITA	2246	4.5	41	43.5	2274.78
322 players

40) Zayed CaresChess Championship

The Zayed CaresChess Championship for Men took place in Dubai 2nd-6th September 2008. Fouad El Taher edged out Ishaq Saeed on tie-break after both scored 7/9. No games available.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15568.aspx?lan=2

41) Santa Catarina

There was a rapid play in Santa Catarina, Brazil on the 9th-10th August. Andres Rodriguez took first place with 6.5/7. No games available.

Official site: http://www.fcx.org.br/re-TacaSC-2008a.htm

42) Solvay Centenary Tournament

The Torneo Centenario de Solvay took place in Torrelavega 23rd-30th August 2008. Ilmars Starostits took clear first with 7.5/9. No games appear to be available.

Results: http://www.ajedrezenmadrid.com/torneos/torneo.asp?torneo=08082300

Solvay Centenary (ESP), 23-30 viii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
1	Starostits, Ilmars	LAT	2497	m	7.5	41.0	52.0	37.5
2	Paunovic, Dragan	SRB	2539	g	7.0	44.0	55.5	39.5
3	Campora, Daniel H	ARG	2532	g	7.0	41.0	50.5	35.5
4	Djuric, Stefan	SRB	2462	g	7.0	40.0	50.5	36.0
5	Alcaraz Ortega, Javier	ESP	2105		6.5	39.0	49.5	33.5
6	Reinaldo Castineira, Roi	ESP	2504	m	6.0	42.0	54.0	38.0
7	Mirzoev, Azer	AZE	2565	g	6.0	40.0	51.0	33.0
8	Veganzonez Rojo, David	ESP	2074		6.0	33.5	43.5	25.0
9	Pozueta Alegria, Adrian	ESP	2016		6.0	33.0	43.5	31.0
10	Fernandez Fernandez, Juan Carlos	ESP	2065		6.0	30.0	39.0	26.5
11	Jimenez Serna, Alvaro	ESP	1947		5.5	34.0	41.0	27.5
12	Tejedor Fuentes, Enrique	ESP	2039		5.5	32.5	42.5	29.0
50 players

43) 68th New England Open

George Mirijanian reports: The 68th New England Open took place August 31st-September 1st 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough, Massachusetts, USA. In a surprise finish, GM Alexander Ivanov, 52, of Newton, Mass. - who needed just a draw to clinch first place - was upset in the sixth and final round by national master Alex Cherniack, 44, of Watertown, Mass. National master Denys Shmelov, 22, of Pepperell, Mass., who lost to Ivanov in the fourth round, opted before the second round to take a half-point bye in the final round and succeeded in tying Cherniack and Ivanov for first place in an Open section field of 27 players. All three ended up with scores of 4.5-1.5 to share the 2008 New England Open championship title. The tournament was held in 12 sections, six of which were scholastic sections, and drew a total of 183 players. FIDE arbiter-elect F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire was the chief tournament director, assisted by fellow U.S. Chess Federation-certified senior directors Robert Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire and R. Kenneth Ballou of Framingham, Mass. as well as local TD Nita Patel of Bedford, N.H. Nicholas Sterling of Needham, Mass. directed the scholastic tournaments.

68th New England Open (USA), 31 viii - 1 ix 2008 Final Round 6 Standings:
No	Name	Ti	Elo	Tot
1	Alexander Ivanov	g	2566	4.5
2	Alex Cherniack		2243	4.5
3	Denys Shmelov		2349	4.5
4	Paul MacIntyre	f	2290	4.0
5	Igor Foygel	m	2474	4.0
6	Max Enkin		2262	4.0
7	David Vigorito	m	2382	3.5
8	James Lung			3.5
9	Libardo Rueda		2226	3.5
10	William Kelleher	f	2360	3.0
11	Henry Terrie		2060	3.0
12	Leonid Tkach		2122	3.0
13	Jason Spector			3.0
27 players

44) VIII Obert Internacional Vila de Poblenou

The VIII Obert Internacional Vila de Poblenou took place 6th-7th September 2008. Luis Alberto Rojas Keim won with 9/10. No games available.

Official site: http://chess-results.com/tnr15598.aspx?lan=2

VIII Obert Internacional Vila de Poblenou (ESP), 6-7 ix 2008 Final Round 10 Standings:
Rk.	Nombre	Ti	FED	FIDE	Pts.	Des 1
1	Rojas Keim Luis Alberto	IM	CHI	2411	9,0	59,0
2	Cuartas Jaime Alexander	IM	COL	2495	8,5	64,5
3	Gual Pascual Antonio	FM	ESP	2443	8,0	63,5
4	Perez Mitjans Orelvis	FM	CUB	2447	8,0	58,5
5	Narciso Dublan Marc	GM	ESP	2525	7,5	61,0
6	Munoz Pantoja Miguel	IM	PER	2499	7,0	65,5
7	Almeida Quintana Omar	GM	CUB	2524	7,0	59,0
8	Gonzalez Garcia Jose	GM	MEX	2506	7,0	59,0
9	Vehi Bach Victor Manuel	IM	ESP	2411	7,0	58,5
10	Dominguez Pons Eric	MK	ESP	2259	7,0	56,5
11	Mingo Fernandez Matias	MK	ESP	2223	7,0	54,5
12	Vera Pons Felipe	MK	ESP	2212	7,0	52,5
13	Burgos Figueroa Carlos E	IM	ESA	2272	7,0	51,5
14	Chalmeta Ugas Jordi		ESP	2117	7,0	51,5
15	Rios Parra Alejandro	IM	COL	2340	6,5	62,5
16	Cruz Estrada Filemon	FM	PER	2416	6,5	55,0
17	Lorenzo De La Riva Lazaro	FM	ESP	2367	6,5	55,0
18	Sanchez Ibern Marc		ESP	2161	6,5	54,5
19	Esquivel Golcher Luis E.	FM	PAN	2178	6,0	59,5
20	Castellano Egea Einar		ESP	2128	6,0	57,5
21	Fabregas Fontanet Antonio		ESP	2057	6,0	56,0
22	Perez Campos Adria	MK	ESP	2206	6,0	55,5
23	Ayza Leon David	MK	ESP	2232	6,0	54,5
24	Hernandez Funes Ruben	MK	ESP	2160	6,0	54,0
25	Vigo Allepuz David		ESP	2156	6,0	51,5
26	Ridameya Tatche Jose Miguel	NM	ESP	2133	6,0	50,5
27	Vela Villares Hector		ESP	2106	6,0	50,0
28	Godesard Forga Carles		ESP	2051	6,0	49,5
29	Rosell Formosa Jaime		ESP	2108	6,0	49,5
30	Delcadillo Torrico Felipe		ESP	2021	6,0	47,0
99 players

45) XXV Torneo Abierto de Collado Villalba

The XXV Torneo Abierto de Collado Villalba took place 20th-30th August 2008. Isam Ortiz Suarez won with 7.5/9. Final round games still not available.

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

46) 1st Dragon Capital Vietnam Chess Open

The 1st Dragon Capital Vietnam Chess Open took place 26th August - 2nd September 2008 in Vung Tau. Le Quang Liem won with 7/9 half a point clear of Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Wesley So. Games from the final round games still not available.

Official site: http://www.vietnamchess.com/Tournament/Inter/2008/dragon1.htm

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr15291.aspx

47) Forthcoming Events and Links

5th China vs Russia Chess Match

The 5th China vs Russia Chess Match takes place 18th-27th September 2008, in Ningpo, China. 18th-23rd September standard (90+30), 24th-26th September rapid (25+10), 27th September blitz (3+2), no official site yet.

5th China vs Russia Chess Match Ningpo (CHN), 18-23 ix 2008 Provisional team members:
Russian men's team:
Svidler, Peter	g	2738
Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	2709
Alekseev, Evgeny	g	2708
Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	2675
Timofeev, Artyom	g	2650
Chinese men's team:
Bu Xiangzhi	g	2710
Ni Hua	g	2705
Wang Yue	g	2704
Wang Hao	g	2691
Li Chao b	g	2590
Zhou Jianchao	g	2604
Russian women's team:
Kosteniuk, Aleksandra	g	2510
Kosintseva, Tatjana	m	2511
Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	2460
Tairova, Elena	m	2417
Pogonina, Natalija	wg	2469
Korbut, Ekaterina		2459
Chinese women's team:
Xu Yuhua	g	2483
Hou Yifan	wg	2557
Zhao Xue	m	2522
Ruan Lufei	g	2498
Shen Yang	g	2445
Huang Qian	g	2430
Tan Zhongyi		2387

North American FIDE Invitationals

North American FIDE Invitationals. Are you on the hunt for your GM or IM norms? Visit http:/www.nachess.org/fide for the tournament schedule or contact Sevan A. Muradian at info@nachess.org for more information.

II Magistral do Circulo Militar

The II Magistral do Circulo Militar takes place Sao Paulo, 1st-9th October 2008.

Official site: http://www.comunic.com.br/xadrez/

European Youth Chess Championship

European Youth Chess Championship 2008 takes place in Herceg Novi (Montenegro) 14th-25th September 2008.

http://www.euroyouth2008.com/

Miami Chess Open

The Miami Chess Open takes place September 10th-14th 2008 at the Hyatt Regency - Miami Convention Center.

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

Villa Martelli

There is a new Villa Martelli chess festival 9th-28th October 2008.

a href="http://www.ajedrezmartelli.org.ar/">http://www.ajedrezmartelli.org.ar/

So - Torre Match 2009

14-year-old Wesley So and 56-year-old Eugene Torre play a 12 game match starting February 10, 2009 at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City. Two games each will be played in Quezon City, Davao and Iloilo, and if the match remains undecided, the protagonists will return to Quezon City and finish the match. A knockout game will be played if the duel ends up 6-6. The winner will take home P600,000 while the loser will earn P400,000.Another P100,000 goes to the winner of each provincial leg while the loser will get P50,000.

3rd Riviera dei Cedri International

3rd Riviera dei Cedri International Chess Festival takes place in Belvedere 8th-14th September 2008. Rainer Buhmann (2561) is the top seed.

http://scacchi.rivieradeicedri.it/

Torre Normanna Hotel Village

Torre Normanna Hotel Village international chess festival takes place 8th-14th September 2008. Evgeny Sveshnikov plays.

Official site: http://www.centroscacchi.it/torrenormanna/

Leon Open

The city of Leon open takes place 26th-28th December 2008.

Details: http://www.openmundialdeleon.com

VII Benidorm International Festival

The VII Benidorm International Festival of Chess takes place 29th November - 8th December 2008.

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

For information contact: E-Mail: eventosdeajedrez@yahoo.es festivaldebenidorm@gmail.com News: Patricia Claros Aguilar.

Commonwealth Chess Championship

The Commonwealth Chess Championship takes place 28th September - 6th October 2008 in Nagpur, India. Good conditions for GM/WGMs. Contact: Praful Zaveri (prafulzaveri@hotmail.com) for further information.

Further details: http://www.indianchessfed.org/tournamentreports08/ccwealth-at-Nagpur.asp

12th Essent Chess Tournament

The 12th edition of the Essent Chess Tournament takes place October 17th-25th 2008. The location is the city of Hoogeveen. Just like last year there are several competitions: a Crown Group, a strong Essent Open, an Amateur Tournament and an event for youth.

Official site: http://www.essentchess.nl/index2008.htm

Mindsports

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

Official site: http://www.2008wmsg.org/

Further details: http://players.chessdom.com/world-mind-sports-games-participants and http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/3069-entries-for-1st-world-mind-sports-games

Dresden Olympiad

The Olympiad takes place in Dresden 12th-25th November 2008.

Official site: http://dresden2008.de

VI Transcarpathian Rapidtournament Chess Decyk

VI Transcarpathian Rapidtournament "Chess Decyk" Ukraine, Uzhgorod, 28-29.08.2008

Organizers of tournament: Chess Federation of Uzhgorod Organizational committee: B. Borshosh, A. Samoylenko, V. Prokopishin Place: Ukraine, Uzhgorod, Pub-museum "Deca u notaria", Gagarin street, 98 Also Traditional Beer blitz-tournament will take place in Pub-museum "Deca u notaria"! Phone: +380503723900, +380503179153, (+3803122) 2-25-87 E-mail: chessfeduzh@rambler.ru Details: http://www.chessfeduzh.narod.ru

Bradford Chess Congress

The Bradford Chess Congress takes place 12th-14th September 2008.

Entry form: http://www.anno-domini.net/CHESS/BDCACHESS.htm

Ared Open (Romania)

The Ared International Chess Open (Romania) took place in Arad 25th-31st July 2008. Zlatko Ilincic edged out Vlad-Victor Barnaure on tie-break after both finished on 7.5/9. Games may still follow. News: Alin Campeanu.

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

2nd Berkeley Masters

The 2008 Berkeley Masters takes place December 14th-23rd 2008 in Berkeley, California, finishing two days before the start of the North American Open in Las Vegas. It is a 10 round swiss, open to players rated fide 2200+. Space in the tournament and conditions for some Grandmasters are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Prize fund $5000 US. Info at http://dotq.org/chess

British Rapidplay

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

Details: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/

Hungarian Chess Tournaments July 2008 - March 2009

1. 19th-28th of July 2008 KECSKEMET, IM-FM Berger tmt, org: Dr.Erdelyi, Tamas, e-mail: postmaster@caissa.t-online.hu Website: http://www.caissachessbooks.hu Usually also in the second half of the month IM tmt-s in Kecskemet. 100 km South-East from Budapest.

2. 2nd-14th of August, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM-IM-FM, GM-IM-FM round robins (BERGER), 9-13 games, GM-IM norm possibilities in Budapest, venue: Hungarian Chess Federation, Falk Miksa Str.10. 2nd floor. Organisation: Nagy Laszlo, FIDE International Chess Organizer /NL/, E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net Website: http://www.firstsaturday.hu Phone-fax: +(361)-2632859, cellphone: +(36)-30-230-1914. From 12:00 a.m. until midnight - Central European Time = GMT+1.

3.16th-25th of August, IM-FM tmt, Kecskemet, org: Erdelyi

4.6th-18th of September GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L,

5.20th -29th September IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org Erdelyi

6.4th-16th of October, GM-IM-FM tmt, First Saturday Budapest, org.Nagy L.

7.18th-30th of October, SAKKAKADEMIA, GM-IM closed, org: WGM Csonkics, Tunde, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

8.18th-27th of October IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org Erdelyi.

9.1st-13th of November GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L.

10. 15th-23rd of November, Kecskemet, IM dr.Erdelyi.

11.14th-22nd of November Tenkes Kupa Open, Harkany, 300 km South-West from Budapest, 9 round Swiss, org: Ambrus Lajos, mobile: 36-30-851-4224 e-mail: info@baranyasakk.hu www.baranyasakk.hu

12.6th-18th of December GM-IM-FM tmt, First Saturday Budapest, org Nagy L.

13.27th of Dec - 5th of January IM-FM tmt Kecskemet, org: Erdelyi.

14.9th-17th of January, EVADNYITO Open 9 rounds Swiss, Budapest, org: IA FAZEKAS, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

15.23rd of January - 2nd of February, BALASSAGYARMAT WINTER, GM-IM closed, 100 km North from Budapest, Org: Nagy Laszlo, info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

16.7th-19th of February, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM Budapest - org: Nagy Laszlo, www.firstsaturday.hu - info: firstsat@hu.inter.net

17.7th-19th of March, First Saturday, Budapest, GM-IM-FM, org Nagy L.

18.20th-28th of March, 25th BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy L. - e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

IV Alajuela International

The IV Alajuela International Chess Tournament (Costa Rica) took place 8th-13th July 2008. Rodolfo Arias reports that 17 year old Peruvian talent Emilio Cordova, (considered to be Julio Granda´s succesor) scored 8 wins (including a last round brilliant defensive game against g.m. Victor Mikhalevski) and one loss, to Nº 1 seeded, european champion Sergei Tiviakov of Holland.

Games from the first three rounds only currently available but more should become available.

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

Norwegian Championship

The Norwegian Championship took place 5th-13th July 2008. Jon Ludvig Hammer and Frode Elsness both finished on 6.5/9 and will play off for the title at a date to be announced.

Official site: http://nm2008.sjakkweb.no/

SPICE Cup

The SPICE Cup takes place September 19th-28th 2008 at the Texas Tech Student Union Building. Eugene Perelshteyn is the defending champion.

Official website: http://www.SPICE.ttu.edu

SPICE Cup (RUS), 19-28 ix 2008. Category 15 (2605)
Name	NAT	USCF	FIDE
Alexander Onischuk	USA	2734	2670
Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2724	2668
Leonid Kritz	GER	2667	2610
Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2660	2610
Gregory Kaidanov	USA	2664	2605
Julio Becerra Rivero	USA	2640	2598
Victor Mikhalevski	ISR	2679	2592
Kamil Miton	POL	2703	2580
Hannes Stefansson	ISL	2597	2566
Eugene Perelshteyn	USA	2619	2555

Romgaz Open

The 2nd edition of the "Open Romgaz" takes place 11th-19th September 2008 at the Polytechnical Institute of Bucharest, with a prize fund of 20000 Euro (a record for Romania!). Organizers: Romgaz & ACS "Elisabeta Polihroniade". - Free accomodation for all GM &WGM and full board for GM over 2500 & for WGM. The tournament will be preceded by "Open Romgaz Junior", 5th-11th September 2008 at the same venue, with a prize fund of 3000 Euro.

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

Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2009

The organizers of the 71st Corus Chess Tournament have invited the young Dutch Grandmasters Daniel Stellwagen (1987) and reigning Dutch Champion Jan Smeets (1985) for the Grandmaster group A in 2009. For both players it means a debut on the highest level. Together with Loek van Wely, they will represent the Netherlands in the traditional chess festival, that will be held from Friday January 16th to Sunday 1st of February 2009.

Besides the participation of the above mentioned three Dutch players, the following World Class players have confirmed their participation: Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Gata Kamsky (United States) and Teymour Radjabov (Azerbaijan). Carlsen, Ivanchuk and Morozevich will be in the Top-6 of the new World Ranking list, that will be published on July 1st 2008.

The young Ukrainian Grandmaster Sergei Karjakin, as well as the winner of last year’s Grandmaster group B, Sergei Movsesian (Slovakia), have also confirmed their participation. The complete field with 14 participants will be presented in October 2008, as well as the names of the participants in the Grandmaster groups B and C.

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

Torino, Italy

The Torino tournament in (Italy) takes place 30th November 2008 - 8th December 2008. 9 Round swiss top group (B Group 7 rounds). Contact for entries and info tornei@scacchisticatorinese.it

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

Hastings Chess Congress

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place 28th December 2008 - 5th January 2009. Contact: Con Power at: conpowr@ol.com

Further details: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk

European Club Cup

The European Club Cup 2008 (24th European Club Cup for Men, 13th European Club Cup for Women) takes place in Kallithea, Greece 16th-24th October 2008.

Official site: http://ecc2008.chessdom.com/

Chess Study

Do you have an FIDE rating?

Dr. Robert Howard of the University of New South Wales in Australia is carrying out a study of chess skill in internationally rated players. The study looks at effects of amount of practice, coaching and age of starting chess on chess skill and at chess players' views about chess skill. The study involves a short online survey. The survey is for anyone who has, or who ever has had, an FIDE rating.

The survey takes only about 5-10 minutes to complete. All responses are completely confidential. The survey is available in English, Spanish, Russian, and German.

To take part, you must know your exact FIDE ID number, which will be something like "14200887". ID numbers are posted on the FIDE website at http://www.fide.com

A summary and analysis of the study findings will be posted here when it is complete and will be emailed to any participant who requests it.

If you would like to participate, please go to this website: http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/

For any queries, please contact Dr Robert Howard, University of New South Wales, on rwh@unsw.edu.au

5th Highlands Open

The 5th International Chess Festival Highlands Open 2008, takes place in the town of Zdar nad Sazavou 20th-28th September 2008.

Details: http://www.czechtour.net/highlands-open/regulations/

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.

Advanced booking for the World Chess Championship 2008 between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) has started. The tickets are available at the price of 35 Euro per day. The following benefits are included: - entrance to the playing hall - entrance to the commentary room with analysis by prominent grandmasters. The tickets are available at all ticket agencies in Germany. You can also buy tickets for the match in advance via BONNTICKET: http://www.bonnticket.de tickets@bonnticket.de. Tel. +49-(0)-180/5001812. Tickets for a possible tiebreak on November 02, 2008, will be available after the 12th game. Exclusive VIP tickets are also available. Details at the website below along with features on the leadup to the championships.

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

Open "Mediterranean 2017" Rijeka

The Open "Mediterranean 2017" Rijeka (CRO) takes place 29th November - 6th December 2008.

Details: http://www.mediteran2013.com/en/default.asp

2nd Queenstown Chess Classic 2009

Queenstown Chess Classic takes place in Queenstown, South Island of New Zealand 15th-24th January 2009.

This will be the second such event, the first was held in Jan 2006.

The Tournament promoter is GM Murray Chandler. Over $50,000 (NZ) is being offered in prizes with additional prizes in the Rapid and Blitz events being held on January 25th-26th 2009.

Full details: http://www.queenstownchess.com

GM Boris Alterman's Chess Lessons

GM Boris Alterman has a blog with free chess lessons on it.

Website: http://chesslessons.wordpress.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

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

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.