Contact the London Chess
Centre
E-Mail info@chess.co.uk
Tel: +44 020-73882404 Fax:+44 020-73882407
USA Telephone Orders: 1 561 827 0993 http://www.chess.co.uk/
My thanks to Jakub Fuksik, Brian Jones, Dario Mione, Dr. Szentpáli Krisztina, Jaakko Mantyniemi,
Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Michael Truran, Mirjana Medic, Paul Truong, Philip Feeley,
Robert Fontaine and everyone else who helped with the issue.
A bit of a quieter week for games. The Russian's won the China - Russia match but only in the rapid and
blitz phases (games are sadly missing). China will see evidence of an advance that they beat the Russian
men in the standard time rate games. The SPICE Cup in America saw a big tie for first place settled in
favour of Pentala Harikrishna on tie-break. The US has been short of strong all-play-alls and the organisers
hope for an increase in strength from the very reasonable category XV next year. The new rating list will
be out in the next couple of days and will no doubt see some very significant movements at a time where
its practically impossible to say who the best player really is. Its a very long time since we've had
a situation where so many players are so close at the top of the list given the long periods of
domination of Karpov and Kasparov. We're also closing in on the start of the Anand - Kramnik world
title match (just over a couple of weeks) and a couple of days later the European Club Cup.
So if this week is quiet, it won't remain so for very long.
The 5th China vs Russia Chess Match took 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.
Standard timerate: China 26 Russia 24. (China Men 14.5 - Russia Men 10.5 - China Women 11.5 Russia Women 13.5)
Rapids. Russia Men won 13-7 (match points - 28-22). The Women tied 10-10 tie in match points and 25-25 - on individual results. No games
available.
In the blitz-match proved stronger than Chinese men (14-6) and Russian girls (11-9).
Overall Russia won the match but I'm not completely sure on the scoring system they used for the
rapids but the Chinese victory in the standard time rate games in the men's event will no doubt be
regarded as the most important for them.
The SPICE Cup took place September 19th-28th 2008 at the Texas Tech Student Union
Building. There was a four way tie in the
cup. Pentala Harikrishna took first on tie-break.
Alejandro Ramirez and Gergely Antal seem to have finished first with 4.5/5 in the Spice Cup Open Grand-Prix which took place
on the 27th-28th as did the Texas Women's Open which was won by Sabina-Francesca Foisor again with 4.5/5.
The Campeonato de Espana Individual Absoluto
takes place in Ceuta, 27th September - 4th October 2008.
I some trouble sorting the games out so I will look at them this week.
The second Rivas vs Ibarra game from round 1 seems to be missing along
with some of the rapid games (possibly the second set) from the first round.
The Commonwealth Chess Championship takes place 28th September
- 6th October 2008 in Nagpur, India. Nigel Short and Surya Shekhar Ganguly are the top seeds
and both started with 2/2.
The 58th Hungarian Championship took place in Nyiregyhaza (220 km east from Budapest) 12th-23rd September 2008.
The championship was a 16 participant, KO-system event with Zoltan Almasi (6 times Hungarian Champion) and Gyula Sax (Gold medalist of the Buenos Aires Olympiad, 1978).
Zoltan Almasi defeated Csaba Balogh in the rapid playoffs 2.5-1.5.
Robert Ruck beat Gabor Kovacs by the same score in the 3rd-4th playoff.
The Norwegian Championship took place 5th-13th July 2008. Jon Ludvig Hammer and
Frode Elsness both finished on 6.5/9 and played off for the title and Frode Elsness dominated
the final and won with 1.5/2.
Europe Echecs organises the "Circuit Espoir Europe-Echecs" and the 3rd event will be held under
the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The 4 players are Anna Rudolf, Dana Reizniece, Sophie Milliet and Pauline Guichard and takes place on the
5th October 2008.
The President of the European Union, Nicolas Sarkozy, will be present
because it's the day of "Vivre le sport" with all the best sports men and women from all the European Countries.
European Youth Chess Championship 2008
took place in Herceg Novi (Montenegro) 14th-25th September 2008. 9 Round Swiss. Xavier Vila Gazquez edged
out Alexander Kopylov and David Recuaro Guerra for the gold medal in the boys under-18 event after both scored 7/9.
Katerina Nemcova won the under-18 girls event. There were under-16, under-14, under-12 and under-10 sections
also.
The 5th International Chess Festival Highlands Open 2008, took place in the town
of Zdar nad Sazavou 20th-28th September 2008. Pavel Simacek edged out Jiri Stocek on tie-break
after both finished on 7/9.
XXI Moratalaz International Open took place in Barakaldo (Spain) 20th-28th September 2008. Pablo Almagro Llamas won
on tie-break from Krikor Mekhitarian after both scored 7/9. Very few games are available I will try and round
them up next week.
There was a match between Finland and Sweden in Aland (FIN), 13th September 2008.
Aland is an archipelago between Finland and Sweden. Finland won 20-15.
News: Jaakko Mantyniemi.
The 9th Lausanne Young Masters Chess Tournament took place 19th-22nd September 2008.
Alexander Dgebuadze edged out Cristina Foisor on tie-break after both finished on
6/7. The main Young Masters event didn't take place this year due to lack of sponsorship,
they hope to hold it in 2009.
The 4th Bjelovar open took place 18th-21st September 2008. Branko Rogulj won the event on tie-break
from Darko Devcic, Robert Loncar and Veljko Kovacevic after all finished on 5.5/7. News: Mirjana Medic.
The 7th Bergamo Chess Open took place September 12th-14th 2008 at the Valtesse Sport Center. Russian GM and Elo favorite Oleg Korneev took the title with 5 points out of 6 after beating Serbian GM Sinisa Drazic in the final round; IM Roland Salvador (PHI), GM Erald Dervishi (ALB), GM Bogdan Lalic (CRO), GM Todor Todorov (BUL) and GM Andrey Sumets (UKR) shared second place on 4.5; candidate master Marco Brugo from Novara made a very good performance, with a nice win against Israeli GM Arthur Kogan in the first round and a draw against the Italian IM Paolo Vezzosi in the second. Dante Tomio from Treviso won the "B" group with 5/6, Ignazio Panades from Bergamo made a perfect score (5/5) in the U16 group. 100 players competed in the event (8 GMs and 6 IMs); the event was organized by Bergamo chess club and Antoniana sport association. News: Dario Mione.
Press release: 2nd Aquaprofit-Polgar Chess Day - within the frameworks of the renaissance year
The Polgár sisters are playing on 100 boards again
Budapest, 29th September. 2008
By favour of the Aquaprofit Co. there will be a chess festival with the Polgár sisters this year as well. This event will take place in an extraordinary beautiful place: in the Blue and the Glass Hall of the Palace of Arts on the 11th of October. Zsuzsa and Zsófi, who live abroad will travel home only for the sake of the chess day, so that they together with Judit, who lives in Hungary can play against their opponents. In the event, being held within the frameworks of the “Renaissance year” actors, journalists, media people, professional and amateur chess players and young talents will sit to the tables. In addition the organizers are planning to make a great announcement as well.
The Aquaprofit Co. is a relevant sponsor of the Hungarian chess life for years; it is the name giving sponsor of the chess team of Nagykanizsa, which is one of the strongest chess teams in Hungary. Last year the management hired Judit Polgár to bring her back to the circulation of the domestic chess life. Besides it organized the successful Aquaprofit-Polgár chess day, this way, after ten years the world famous sisters played together again in Hungary The Aquaprofit Co. would like to continue this tradition this year as well: the 2nd Aquaprofit-Polgár Chess day will be held in the Palace of Arts at 3 pm on the 11th of October 2008.
Judit, who lives in Hungary, Zsuzsa, who will come from New York and Zsófi, who lives in Canada will play against the opponents altogether on 45 boards at the same time (on 15 boards each) and new players will come after each game. This way, according to the plans more than a hundred players will have the chance to play in the simultaneous games.
There is an enormous interest for the event, there are already more than two hundred entrants. One thing is sure: young talents, professional chess players, actors and journalists will sit to the tables.
The organizers are planning to make a great announcement as well at the opening of the event.
10th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of
game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK
= 750 EUR), 10 financial prizes redeemable by drawings, special
conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme.
The 8th Winterthur (SUI) Chess Week takes place 3rd-12th October 2008.
The tournament comprises two opens (Masters Open (Elo > 1899) / General Open (Elo < 2001)),
the ACCENTUS Young Masters, a Youth Open and two blitz (individual and team) events.
The tournament homepage is located at http://www.schachwoche.org where the top four boards
of the masters open will be broadcasted live during the tournament.
Leon Open
The city of Leon open takes place 26th-28th December 2008.
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.
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.
VII Benidorm International Festival
The VII Benidorm International Festival of Chess takes place 29th November - 8th December 2008.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
For any queries, please contact Dr Robert Howard, University of New
South Wales, on rwh@unsw.edu.au
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.
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.
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.
Etienne Bacrot has a website at: http://www.chess22.fr/ with his analysis
and news. Very worth while, especially when he's playing.
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.
