THE WEEK IN CHESS 730 3rd November 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Holger Lieske, Gary Suffield, Erik Osbun, George Mirijanian, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Adolivio Capece, Dennis Monokroussos, Miklos Orso, Pierre Bourget, Gabor Pali and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Viswanathan duly saw out the 11th game with white to a draw and retained his world title. This world championship match victory probably ticks the final box in a career full of achievement. He has earned quite a high place now in the list of people who have held the title and a couple of defences against say Topalov next year and Carlsen after that would leave his career with few rivals. He has the power to add. Kramnik said afterwards that he would look to improve both his own preparation which he conceded was inferior to Anand's and possibly try and also change his style. I feel he isn't playing to his full potential and it will be interesting to see what he does change. Its been a busy week elsewhere also with the Spanish Team Championships (not a terrribly good game file I'm afraid) and Cap D'Agde which was won by Hikaru Nakamura who beat Vassily Ivanchuk. Oh and 5 new games from Gary Kasparov, although it was a simul against quite weak opposition and Peter Svidler grabbed his 5th Russian title in a playoff.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) World Chess Championship

World Champion Viswanathan Anand successfully defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in a 12 game match in Bonn, Germany, October 14th - 2nd November, 2008. The main sponsor was Evonik Industries AG and the prizemoney 1,5 Million Euro.

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

World Championship Results
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	32	D14	Slav Exchange
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	32	E25	Nimzo Indian Saemisch
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	0-1	41	D49	Queens Gambit Meran
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	29	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	0-1	35	D49	Queens Gambit Meran
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	1-0	47	E34	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	36	D19	Slav Defence
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	39	D39	QGD Vienna Variation
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	45	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	29	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	24	B96	Sicilian Najdorf

World Chess Championship Bonn (GER), 14 x - 2xi 2008
Name	Ti	NAT	Rtng	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total	Perf
Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2783	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	½	½	0	½	.	6½	2837
Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	1	½	.	4½	2718

Other Coverage

3) Cap d'Agde

The Cap d'Agde took place 26th October - 1st November 2008. Hikaru Nakamura beat Vassily Ivanchuk in the final.

Details: http://www.capechecs.com/trophee_ccas.php and coverage: http://www.europe-echecs.com/articles/a-la-une-8e-rencontres-du-cap-d-agde-1451.html

Trophee CCAS GpA Cap d'Agde (FRA), 26-28 x 2008											cat. XVI (2637)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2640	*	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	5½	2866
2.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2786	½	*	½	0	1	1	1	1	5	2774
3.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2716	0	½	*	1	½	1	1	½	4½	2728
4.	Bu Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2714	0	1	0	*	1	½	1	1	4½	2728
5.	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2696	½	0	½	0	*	1	1	1	4	2678
6.	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2488	½	0	0	½	0	*	0	1	2	2500
7.	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2525	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	1	2	2495
8.	Sebag, Marie	g	FRA	2533	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	*	½	2230

Trophee CCAS GpB Cap d'Agde (FRA), 26-28 x 2008											cat. XVI (2634)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2786	*	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	5½	2841
2.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2704	½	*	0	1	1	1	1	1	5½	2853
3.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2751	0	1	*	½	1	½	1	1	5	2774
4.	Karpov, Anatoly	g	RUS	2651	½	0	½	*	½	1	½	½	3½	2631
5.	Hou Yifan	wg	CHN	2578	0	0	0	½	*	1	1	1	3½	2641
6.	Feller, Sebastien	g	FRA	2526	½	0	½	0	0	*	0	1	2	2491
7.	Koneru, Humpy	g	IND	2618	0	0	0	½	0	1	*	½	2	2477
8.	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2455	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	2350

Trophee CCAS GpB Playoff Cap d'Agde (FRA), 28 x 2008
				1	2	3	4
Karpov, Anatoly	g	RUS	2651	1	0	1	1	3	2771
Hou Yifan	wg	CHN	2578	0	1	0	0	1	2458

Trophee CCAS Knockout Cap d'Agde (FRA), 28 x 2008
Final
Ivanchuk,V	0.5
Nakamura,Hi	1.5
Semi-final
Carlsen,M	1.5
Ivanchuk,V	2.5

Karpov,Ana	1
Nakamura,Hi	3
Quarter-final
Bu Xiangzhi	0.5
Carlsen,M	1.5

Radjabov,T	1
Ivanchuk,V	3

Caruana,F	2.5
Karpov,Ana	3.5

Nakamura,Hi	3
Vachier Lagrave,M	1

4) Russian Championship

The 61st Russian Championship SuperFinal took place 3rd-15th October 2008. There was a three way tie on 7/9. Dmitry Jakovenko beat Nikita Vitiugov to overtake him and catch Evgeny Alekseev. Peter Svidler started with three wins then became becalmed and lost his lead with a loss to Timofeev. In the final round he defeated the leader Evgeny Alekseev to catch him and set up a three way playoff. Playoffs were on 28th October 1pm Moscow time - according to the regulations it was supposed to after the final round, but that would have lasted until 1am - the format was 6 games (double-round robin) of 15'+10'' Peter Svidler won with 3/4 to earn a 5th Russian title.

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

ch-RUS Playoff Moscow (RUS), 28-28 x 2008								cat. XIX (2718)
					1		2		3
1.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2738	*	*	½	1	1	½	3	2901
2.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2709	½	0	*	*	1	1	2½	2818
3.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2708	0	½	0	0	*	*	½	2401

ch-RUS Moscow (RUS), 3-15 x 2008													cat. XVII (2673)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2737	*	½	1	½	1	0	½	1	1	½	½	½	7	2769
2.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2727	½	*	1	½	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	7	2770
3.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2715	0	0	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	7	2771
4.	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2646	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	½	6½	2740
5.	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2638	0	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	6½	2741
6.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2787	1	0	½	0	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	6½	2728
7.	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2670	½	1	0	0	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	6	2709
8.	Lastin, Alexander	g	RUS	2651	0	½	½	1	0	½	½	*	½	0	½	1	5	2639
9.	Sakaev, Konstantin	g	RUS	2640	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	4	2574
10.	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2669	½	0	0	½	0	½	0	1	½	*	½	½	4	2571
11.	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	2656	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	*	1	3½	2541
12.	Maslak, Konstantin	g	RUS	2544	½	½	0	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	0	*	3	2510

5) 1st Gedeon Barcza Memorial

The 1st Gedeon Barcza Memorial takes place 27th October - 5th November 2008.

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

I Gedeon Barcza Mem (HUN), 27 x-5 xi 2008											cat. XII (2532)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Papp, Gabor	m	HUN	2509	*	*	½	.	1	0	½	.	½	.	1	1	4½	2631
2.	Ruck, Robert1	g	HUN	2574	½	.	*	*	0	½	½	1	1	.	½	.	4	2577
3.	Szabo, Krisztian1	m	HUN	2520	0	1	1	½	*	*	½	.	0	.	½	.	3½	2536
4.	Kulaots, Kaido	g	EST	2556	½	.	½	0	½	.	*	*	1	0	1	.	3½	2534
5.	Romanishin, Oleg M	g	UKR	2532	½	.	0	.	1	.	0	1	*	*	0	½	3	2481
6.	Skoberne, Jure	m	SLO	2501	0	0	½	.	½	.	0	.	1	½	*	*	2½	2431

6) Spanish Teams

The finals of the Spanish CECLUB Championships saw four teams compete in Motril over the weekend of 1st-2nd November 2008. The event went to a rapid playoff between Linex-Magic and Cajacanrias after both teams finished tied 3-3. The rapid playoff also finished 3-3 and Cajacanrias took the title for reasons I'm unsure of, probably a win on a higher board in the original final match. The games were all broadcast live but I only have one of the semi-final matches and there is one game from the final missing also, hopefully they'll turn up somewhere. Its been one of those weeks for games not being easy to come by so thanks to Gary Suffield and Holger Lieske for their help for this and Cap D'Agde.

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

CECLUB Finals Motril ESP, 1-2 xi 2008
Semi-Finals 1st November 2008
LINEX-MAGIC	4-2	MERIDA PATRIMONIO AJOBLANCO
Shirov, Alexei	1-0	Karjakin, Sergei
Adams, Michael	1/2	Jakovenko, Dimitri
Ponomariov. Ruslan	1-0	Eljanov, Pavel
Akopian, Vladimir	1/2	Volokitin, Andrei
Sargissian, Gabriel	1/2	Khamrakulov, Ibrahim
Pérez Candelario, Manuel	1/2	Llanes, Miguel
CAJACANARIAS	4.5-1.5.	SOLVAY
Alekseev, Evgeny	1/2	Harikrishna, Pentala
Motylev, Alexander	1-0	Ganguly, Surya
Bareev, Evgeny	1-0	Mamedov, Nidjat
Korneev, Oleg	1/2	Negi, Parimarjan
Illescas, Miguel	1-0	Ubilava, Elizbar
San Segundo, Pablo	1/2	Bernal, Luis J
Finals 2nd November 2008
LINEX-MAGIC	3-3	CAJACANARIAS
Shirov, Alexei	1/2	Ivanchuk, Vassily
Adams, Michael	1-0	Alekseev, Evgeny
Ponomariov. Ruslan	1/2	Motylev, Alexander
Akopian, Vladimir	1/2	Bareev, Alexander
Sargissian, Gabriel	1-0	Illescas, MIguel
Pérez Candelario, Manuel	1/2	San Segundo, Pablo
Playoff
CAJACANARIAS	3-3	LINEX-MAGIC
Ivanchuk, Vassily	0-1	Shirov, Alexei
Alekseev, Evgeny	0-1	Adams, Michael
Motylev, Alexander	1/2	Ponomariov. Ruslan
Bareev, Alexander	1-0	Akopian, Vladimir
Illescas, MIguel	1/2	Sargissian, Gabriel
San Segundo, Pablo	1-0	Pérez Candelario, ManLe
3rd-4th Places 2nd November 2008
MERIDA PATRIMONIO AJOBLANCO	2-4	SOLVAY
Karjakin, Sergei	0-1	Harikrishna, Pentala
Jakovenko, Dimitri	1-0	Ganguly, Surya
Eljanov, Pavel	0-1	Mamedov, Nidjat
Volokitin, Andrei	0-1	Negi, Parimarjan
Khamrakulov, Ibrahim	1/2	Ubilava, Elizbar
Llanes, Miguel	1/2	Bernal, Luis J

7) Casino De Barcelona

The Casino De Barcelona tournament takes place in Barcelona October 30th - November 7th, 2008.

Official site: http://www.directefcde.org/ and http://escacs.cat/ciutat08/index.html

Casino de Barcelona Barcelona (ESP), 30 x-7 xi 2008												cat. XIV (2583)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Georgiev, Kiril	g	BUL	2645	*	½	1	½	.	.	½	.	.	1	3½	2748
2.	Dreev, Alexey	g	RUS	2670	½	*	1	.	.	½	½	.	.	1	3½	2743
3.	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	2664	0	0	*	.	1	.	.	1	1	.	3	2662
4.	Stefanova, Antoaneta	g	BUL	2548	½	.	.	*	.	½	.	1	½	½	3	2641
5.	Lopez Martinez, Josep Manuel	g	ESP	2547	.	.	0	.	*	½	1	.	½	1	3	2640
6.	Gulko, Boris F	g	USA	2552	.	½	.	½	½	*	.	0	1	.	2½	2571
7.	Corrales Jimenez, Fidel	m	CUB	2552	½	½	.	.	0	.	*	½	.	1	2½	2600
8.	Hernandez Carmenates, Holden	g	CUB	2580	.	.	0	0	.	1	½	*	½	.	2	2493
9.	Narciso Dublan, Marc	g	ESP	2511	.	.	0	½	½	0	.	½	*	.	1½	2429
10.	Kogan, Artur	g	ISR	2561	0	0	.	½	0	.	0	.	.	*	½	2226

8) US Chess League

The 2008 season of the US Chess League started 25th August 2008.

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

US Chess League ICCINT, 27 viii-29 xi 2008 Final Round 10 Results:
29th October 2008
	Carolina			vs	Philadelphia
1	IM	Lev Milman	CAR	vs	GM	Sergey Kudrin	PHI	1/2
2	FM	Tom Bartell	PHI	vs	FM	Oleg Zaikov	CAR	1-0
3	FM	Ron Simpson	CAR	vs	WGM	Jennifer Shahade	PHI	1-0
4	FM	Michael Shahade	PHI	vs	NM	Craig Jones	CAR	0-1
	Boston			vs	Queens
1	GM	Larry Christiansen	BOS	vs	IM	Dmitry Schneider	QNS	1-0
2	IM	Eli Vovsha	QNS	vs	GM	Eugene Perelshteyn	BOS	0-1
3	SM	Marc Esserman	BOS	vs	IM	Alex Lenderman	QNS	1/2
4		Benjamin Katz	QNS	vs	NM	Ilya Krasik	BOS	0-1
	New York			vs	New Jersey
1	GM	Pascal Charbonneau	NY	vs	GM	Joel Benjamin	NJ	1-0
2	IM	Dean Ippolito	NJ	vs	IM	Irina Krush	NY	1-0
3	SM	Gregory Braylovsky	NY	vs	SM	Mackenzie Molner	NJ	1/2
4		Andrew Ng	NJ	vs	NM	Matthew Herman	NY	0-1
	Tennessee			vs	Baltimore
1	GM	Jaan Ehlvest	TEN	vs	GM	Sergey Erenburg	BAL	1/2
2	FM	Tegshsuren Enkhbat	BAL	vs	FM	Todd Andrews	TEN	1-0
3	FM	Jonh Bick	TEN	vs	FM	Ralph Zimmer	BAL	1-0
4	NM	Aaron Kahn	BAL	vs		Gerald Larson	TEN	0-1
	Miami			vs	San Francisco
1	GM	Julio Becerra	MIA	vs	GM	Vinay Bhat	SF	1/2
2	IM	David Pruess	SF	vs	FM	Bruci Lopez	MIA	1/2
3	FM	Osmany Perea	MIA	vs	FM	Dmitry Zilberstein	SF	1-0
4	NM	Gregory Young	SF	vs		Matan Prilleltensky	MIA	1/2
	Dallas			vs	Chicago
1	IM	Davorin Kuljasevic	DAL	vs	FM	Emory Tate	CHC	1-0
2	FM	Mehmed Pasalic	CHC	vs	IM	John Bartholomew	DAL	1-0
3	FM	Andrei Zaremba	DAL	vs	IM	Angelo Young	CHC	1/2
4		Adam Strunk	CHC	vs	WFM	Bayaraa Zorigt	DAL	0-1
	Arizona			vs	Seattle
1	IM	Levon Altounian	ARZ	vs	GM	Gregory Serper	SEA	1/2
2	FM	Slava Mikhailuk	SEA	vs	IM	Mark Ginsburg	ARZ	1-0
3	FM	Robby Adamson	ARZ	vs	WGM	Katerina Rohonyan	SEA	1-0
4	NM	Michael Lee	SEA	vs	NM	Warren Harper	ARZ	0-1

US Chess League ICC INT, 27 viii-31 x 2008 Final Round 10 Standings
EASTERN DIVISION	W	L	Game Points	Opp Avg Rating	Opps Record
Carolina	7	3	24.0/40 (60%)	2388	38.5-47.5 (45%)
Queens	7	3	23.5/40 (59%)	2401	41.0-45.0 (48%)
Boston	6	4	23.0/40 (58%)	2406	41.0-45.0 (48%)
New York	5	5	18.0/40 (45%)	2416	41.5-44.5 (48%)
New Jersey	4.5	5.5	20.0/40 (50%)	2419	41.0-45.0 (48%)
Philadelphia	2	8	15.0/40 (38%)	2429	44.0-42.0 (51%)
Baltimore	1.5	8.5	14.0/40 (35%)	2398	40.0-46.0 (47%)
WESTERN DIVISION	W	L	Game Points	Opp Avg Rating	Opps Record
Miami	7	3	26.5/40 (66%)	2407	47.5-38.5 (55%)
San Francisco	6.5	3.5	23.5/40 (59%)	2404	46.5-39.5 (54%)
Dallas	6.5	3.5	21.0/40 (53%)	2409	46.5-39.5 (54%)
Seattle	4.5	5.5	18.0/40 (45%)	2400	42.5-43.5 (49%)
X- Arizona	4.5	5.5	17.5/40 (44%)	2398	48.5-37.5 (56%)
Chicago	4	6	19.5/40 (49%)	2392	42.0-44.0 (49%)
Tennessee	4	6	16.5/40 (41%)	2398	41.5-44.5 (48%)

US Chess League ICC Quarter Finals INT, 10 xi 2008 Final Round 10 Standings
1	Boston Blitz	vs	Queens Pioneers	7:00 ET	(Queens receives draw odds)
2	New York Knights	vs	Carolina Cobras	7:30 ET	(Carolina receives draw odds)
3	San Francisco Mechanics	vs	Dallas Destiny	8:30 ET	(SF receives draw odds)
4	Miami Sharks	vs	Seattle Sluggers	9:00 ET	(Miami receives draw odds)

9) Chigorin Memorial

The Chigorin Memorial took place in St Petersburg 4th-11th October 2008. Vladimir Belov took first place on tie-break from Farrukh Amonatov and Valerij Popov after all finished on 7/9.

Chigorin Memorial St Petersburg (RUS), 4-11 x 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
1.	Belov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2579	7.0	54.5	41.00	39.0	2733	+1.77
	Amonatov, Farrukh	g	TJK	2634	7.0	49.5	37.00	36.5	2674	+0.50
	Popov, Valerij	g	RUS	2542	7.0	48.5	37.00	34.5	2633	+1.04
4.	Sjugirov, Sanan	m	RUS	2549	6.5	52.5	35.75	37.0	2639	+1.19
	Zontakh, Andrey	g	UKR	2579	6.5	52.5	38.50	32.5	2581	+0.18
	Vysochin, Spartak	g	UKR	2520	6.5	52.0	34.50	35.5	2605	+1.10
	Savchenko, Boris	g	RUS	2648	6.5	50.0	34.50	35.5	2649	+0.11
	Demchenko, Anton	m	RUS	2510	6.5	48.0	33.00	34.0	2599	+1.15
	Brodsky, Michail	g	UKR	2550	6.5	46.5	33.00	31.0	2548	+0.10
	Ionov, Sergey	g	RUS	2543	6.5	46.0	32.50	31.0	2481	-0.52
11.	Zhigalko, Sergei	g	BLR	2592	6.0	49.5	32.50	33.0	2568	-0.25
	Rozum, Ivan	m	RUS	2439	6.0	49.5	30.50	33.0	2557	+1.55
	Vorobiov, Evgeny E.	g	RUS	2577	6.0	48.0	31.00	34.0	2579	+0.07
	Levin, Evgeny A.	m	RUS	2487	6.0	48.0	31.25	32.5	2538	+0.67
	Loginov, Valery A	g	RUS	2481	6.0	47.0	29.25	31.0	2514	+0.46
	Yevseev, Denis	g	RUS	2534	6.0	46.5	29.75	32.5	2539	+0.15
	Utkin, Aleksey	f	RUS	2359	6.0	46.5	30.75	27.0	2540	+1.90
	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	g	BLR	2617	6.0	46.0	29.00	32.5	2562	-0.52
	Teterev, Vitaly	g	BLR	2513	6.0	46.0	29.75	31.0	2501	+0.04
	Yakovich, Yuri	g	RUS	2567	6.0	45.5	28.75	29.5	2466	-0.90
	Trushelyov, Victor		AZE	2340	6.0	45.0	26.75	31.0	2522	+2.28
	Matlakov, Maxim	m	RUS	2490	6.0	44.5	28.00	30.0	2460	-0.26
	Shimanov, Aleksandr	m	RUS	2476	6.0	44.5	28.50	30.0	2480	+0.14
	Ponfilenok, Vladimir		RUS	2440	6.0	41.0	27.25	29.5	2429	-0.05
	Pakhomov, Egor		RUS	2220	6.0	40.0	23.50	25.5	2393	+1.74
26.	Goganov, Aleksey		RUS	2356	5.5	46.5	27.25	29.0	2505	+1.91
	Melnikov, Dmitry	f	RUS	2280	5.5	46.5	26.25	25.0	2428	+1.75
	Lovkov, Roman	m	RUS	2434	5.5	45.5	25.25	30.5	2385	-0.36
	Lintchevski, Daniil	m	RUS	2502	5.5	45.5	26.00	30.0	2454	-0.47
	Malakhov, Igor	f	RUS	2346	5.5	45.0	25.25	29.5	2501	+1.93
	Alavkin, Arseny	m	RUS	2476	5.5	45.0	26.50	27.0	2360	-1.22
	Duzhakov, Ilya		RUS	2276	5.5	44.5	23.25	27.5	2474	+2.32
	Slugin, Sergey	f	RUS	2431	5.5	43.0	23.75	29.5	2435	+0.28
	Kurilov, Viktor		RUS	2312	5.5	42.5	22.75	29.0	2415	+1.36
	Balakirev, Ilya		RUS	2243	5.5	42.5	24.50	25.5	2439	+2.32
	Demina, Julia	wg	RUS	2357	5.5	41.5	21.50	27.0	2393	+0.53
	Gladyszev, Oleg	m	RUS	2448	5.5	40.0	23.00	25.0	2337	-1.16
	Kaganskiy, Gleb	f	RUS	2330	5.5	39.5	23.75	24.5	2382	+0.66
	Solovjova, Valentina	wm	RUS	2303	5.5	39.0	22.25	27.0	2455	+1.65
	Pankov, German	f	RUS	2375	5.5	38.5	21.25	25.5	2366	+0.03
	Sudakova, Irina	wg	RUS	2349	5.5	36.5	20.00	25.0	2346	+0.09
	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	wf	RUS	2381	5.5	34.0	21.75	20.0	2203	-1.75
138 players

10) Milko Bobotsov Memorial

The Milko Bobotsov Memorial took place in Sofia 15th-22nd October 2008. Milen Vasilev was a convincing winner with 8/9.

Official site: http://www.chessbg.com/calendar.php?i=tournament&s=results&id=486

1st Bobotsov Mem Sofia (BUL), 15-22 x 2008												cat. VIII (2447)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Vasilev, Milen	m	BUL	2477	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	8	2794
2.	Rusev, Krasimir	m	BUL	2541	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	6½	2602
3.	Georgiev, Vladimir	g	MKD	2517	0	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	5½	2518
4.	Ermenkov, Evgenij	g	PLE	2465	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	0	1	½	5	2487
5.	Nikolov, Momchil	m	BUL	2488	0	½	½	½	*	1	1	0	½	1	5	2485
6.	Filev, Georgi	f	BUL	2375	0	0	½	0	0	*	1	1	½	1	4	2411
7.	Janev, Evgeni	g	BUL	2491	0	½	½	½	0	0	*	½	½	1	3½	2361
8.	Mrdja, Milan	m	CRO	2401	0	0	0	1	1	0	½	*	½	0	3	2326
9.	Todorov, Ognjan	m	BUL	2318	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	2½	2294
10.	Dragojlovic, Andjelko	m	SRB	2393	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	½	*	2	2232

11) Ugra Cup Khantiy Mansiysk

The Ugra Cup took place in Khantiy Mansiysk 15th-23rd October 2008. Dmitry Bocharov took clear first place with 6.5/9. Games from the final four rounds are not yet available.

Ugra Cup Khantiy Mansiysk RUS, 15-23 x 2008
1.	Bocharov, Dmitry	6.5	46.5	32.25	33.5	2597	2700	+1.25
2.	Mamedov, Rauf	6.0	49.5	33.00	31.5	2631	2694	+0.75
	Guseinov, Gadir	6.0	48.0	31.00	32.0	2650	2661	+0.18
	Kokarev, Dmitry	6.0	46.0	28.00	34.0	2588	2658	+0.88
	Iordachescu, Viorel	6.0	45.5	26.25	30.5	2572	2620	+0.55
	Frolyanov, Dmitry	6.0	45.0	28.25	31.5	2557	2652	+1.20
	Gasanov, Eldar	6.0	41.0	25.75	26.0	2550	2558	+0.16
8.	Smirnov, Pavel	5.5	48.5	28.50	31.0	2579	2637	+0.74
	Kurnosov, Igor	5.5	46.5	27.50	27.5	2606	2605	+0.02
	Kabanov, Nikolai	5.5	46.0	26.25	27.5	2483	2613	+1.63
	Chuprov, Dmitry	5.5	43.5	24.25	28.5	2573	2550	-0.16
	Zhumabayev, Rinat	5.5	41.5	21.25	26.0	2490	2556	+0.89
13.	Kotsur, Pavel	5.0	45.0	21.50	28.0	2563	2559	+0.01
	Ovetchkin, Roman	5.0	43.5	22.25	25.5	2540	2488	-0.58
	Solodovnichenko, Yuri	5.0	43.0	22.00	26.0	2590	2526	-0.73
	Chernyshov, Konstantin	5.0	41.5	22.75	26.0	2569	2519	-0.60
	Alikhanov, Felix	5.0	40.5	21.00	22.5	2438	2485	+0.56
	Obodchuk, Andrei	5.0	39.0	17.25	23.5	2434	2518	+1.00
19.	Obukhov, Alexander	4.5	42.5	19.25	22.0	2436	2475	+0.49
	Iljiushenok, Ilia	4.5	39.0	16.00	19.5	2314	2459	+1.68
	Tolstikh, Nikolay	4.5	36.5	16.50	21.5	2383	2388	+0.06
	Vokarev, Sergey	4.5	36.0	18.00	20.5	2542	2354	-2.14
	Reutsky, Sergei	4.5	34.0	14.75	18.0	2411	2418	+0.08
24.	Pridorozhni, Aleksei	4.0	44.0	17.50	23.5	2523	2450	-0.80
	Demianjuk, Alexander	4.0	37.0	13.25	18.0	2323	2366	+0.48
	Matvienko, Ivan	4.0	36.5	12.75	18.5	2268	2334	+0.54
	Gutov, Andrey	4.0	35.5	14.00	19.0	2477	2333	-1.70
	Belyakov, Bogdan	4.0	32.0	12.50	16.5	2194	2268	+0.65
29.	Lozhnikov, Vyacheslav	3.5	42.0	13.25	21.0	2250	2369	+1.15
	Iskusnyh, Sergei	3.5	41.0	13.75	22.5	2467	2395	-0.91
	Erushev, Gennady	3.5	38.0	12.00	18.5	2351	2296	-0.57
	Kazakov, Konstantin	3.5	38.0	10.50	16.5	2250	2311	+0.48
	Karpov, Alexander	3.5	35.0	9.25	15.5	2330	2237	-1.01
34.	Sosnin, Anatoly	3.0	33.5	5.25	16.0	2274	2208	-0.69
	Pogromsky, Mikhail	3.0	31.5	6.00	12.0	2413	2167	-2.55
36.	Artamonov, Valery	2.5	33.5	6.50	12.5	2309	2174	-1.34
	Tjurin, Alexander P.	2.5	33.0	5.75	12.5	2339	2171	-1.65
37 players

12) Rohde Open Sautron

The 8th Rohde Open took place 25th October - 1st November 2008. Daniele Vocaturo won with 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.sautronechecs.fr

8th Rohde Open Sautron FRA, 25 x 1 xi 2008
Pl	Name		Elo	Fede	Pts	Tr.	Bu.	Perf.	FFE
1	VOCATURO Daniele	m	2383	ITA	7,5	43,5	52,5	2678	2734
2	GAGUNASHVILI Merab	g	2576	GEO	7	45,5	57	2648	2648
3	MAIOROV Nikita	g	2530	BLR	7	42,5	52,5	2515	2448
4	SPASSOV Liuben	g	2417	BUL	7	41	50,5	2505	2523
5	LAFUENTE Pablo	g	2522	ARG	6,5	46,5	57	2521	2511
6	LALIC Bogdan	g	2531	CRO	6,5	46	55,5	2540	2532
7	CARLSSON Pontus	g	2515	SWE	6,5	44	53,5	2521	2512
8	ABBASOV Farid	g	2578	AZE	6,5	43	51,5	2433	2224
9	COLIN Vincent	m	2421	FRA	6,5	42,5	51,5	2433	2401
10	MONROY Charles	f	2400	FRA	6,5	41	50	2362	2315
11	SERAFIMOV Tervel		2371	BUL	6,5	40,5	50,5	2364	2334
12	BENSDORP Marlies	mf	2303	NED	6,5	39,5	48	2320	2315
13	DAMIA Angelo	f	2222	ITA	6,5	39	48	2329	2349
14	TISSIR Mohamed	m	2463	MAR	6	46	56,5	2447	2437
15	DAS Arghyadip		2404	IND	6	44,5	55	2398	2392
16	ROMBALDONI Denis	m	2436	ITA	6	43	52	2352	2224
17	DELORME Alban	f	2257	FRA	6	40	48	2180	2109
18	GODART Francois		2012	FRA	6	40	47,5	2177	2292
19	GRILL Marc		2161	FRA	6	39	47,5	2186	2226
20	JAULIN Philippe		2175	FRA	6	35,5	43,5	2049	1994
21	BEAUGEARD Meddy		1893	FRA	6	31,5	38	1851	1851
37 players

13) Corsican Circuit

The 12th Corsica Masters started in Bastia 25th-26th October and finished in Ajaccio 27th-28th October 2008. There were a large number of events. Gary Kasparov gave a simul and there was a big swiss rapid open 15mins + 3secs per move. This acted as a qualifier (top 13 finishers) for a knockout for the masters title. I don't have the results from the knockout although after round one the games seem to be almost complete (one Mamedyarov game missing) and the results correct. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat Sergei Tiviakov in the final. Games from the first 8 rounds of the swiss only are available.

News and games from http://www.echecs.asso.fr/

12th Corsica Masters KO Bastia/Ajaccio (FRA), 25-27 x 2008
Pl	Name	Elo		Pts	Tr.	Perf	Bu.
1	MILOV Vadim	2681		9	71	2745	84
2	TIVIAKOV Sergei	2686		8½	68½	2643	79
3	HAMDOUCHI Hichem	2598		8	71	2603	83½
4	MALAKHATKO Vadim	2633		8	70	2617	81½
5	TREGUBOV Pavel V.	2658	g	8	69½	2625	80½
6	DIMITROV Radoslav	2378		8	68½	2510	80
7	AGREST Evgenij	2574	g	8	68	2544	78½
8	DIMITROV Pavel	2404		8	68	2478	79
9	GODENA Michele	2517		8	67	2493	77
10	SANCHEZ Joseph	2471		7½	69½	2476	79½
11	DJURIC Stefan	2463	g	7½	68	2434	80
12	ZOZULIA Anna	2380		7½	68	2408	78
13	BRIH Said	2243		7½	65½	2299	76
14	BUJISHO Benjamin	2417	m	7½	64½	2343	76½
15	MASSONI Michael	2244		7½	63½	2280	74
16	ORNDAHL Markus	2195		7½	63	2276	73
17	MOINGT Jean-Claude	2285	f	7½	62	2324	70½
18	CRISTOFARI Antoine	2136		7½	59½	2189	68½
19	HAMDOUCHI Adina-Maria	2306	gf	7½	59	2185	70
20	ORNDAHL Mats	2160		7½	58½	2155	67
21	ANGELOV Zvetomir	2126		7	63½	2169	71
22	PREVOST Matthieu	2020		7	63½	2132	73
23	HUMEAU Cyril	2203		7	60	2197	70
24	DIONISI Thomas	2115		7	60	2128	70
25	COSTA Pierre-Mathieu	1958		7	59	2034	67
26	BRONGERS Henk	2121		7	58½	2157	68½
27	BARNIER Alain	2046		7	57½	2041	64½
123 players

12th Corsica Masters KO Ajaccio (FRA), 27-28 x 2008
Final
Mamedyarov,S	1.5
Tiviakov,S	0.5
Semi-finals
Mamedyarov,S	2
Tregubov,P	0

Bacrot,E	1
Tiviakov,S	3
Quarter-final
Mamedyarov,S	1
Agrest,E	0

Milov,V	2
Tregubov,P	2

Bacrot,E	2
Sanchez,Joseph	0

Tiviakov,S	2
Malakhatko,V	0
Round 1 Results incomplete
Mamedyarov,S	1
Brih,S	0

Agrest,E	1
Godena,M	0

Dimitrov,Pa	0
Milov,V	1

Tregubov,P	1
Bujisho,B	0

Bacrot,E	1
Dimitrov,R	0

Hamdouchi,H	0
Sanchez,Joseph	1

Djuric,S	1
Malakhatko,V	0

14) World Seniors

The 18th World Seniors takes place in Bad Zwischenahn 28th October - 9th November 2008. Mihai Suba is the top seed. I couldn't find a PGN file.

Official site: http://www.seniorenschach.de/

15) Le Touquet Open

The Le Touquet Open took place 25th October - 1st November 2008. Andrei Sokolov took first place on tie-break from Neelotpal Das after both finished on 7/9.

Official site: http://www.opalechecs.com/accueil.php

Le Touquet Open A (FRA), 25 x-1 xi 2008
Pl	Name	Ti	Elo	Fede	Pts	Tr.	Perf.
1	SOKOLOV Andrei	g	2559	FRA	7	43	2575
2	NEELOTPAL Das	g	2477	IND	7	41,5	2539
3	D'COSTA Lorin A R	f	2411	ENG	6,5	46	2516
4	COLLINS Sam E.	m	2412	IRL	6,5	44,5	2484
5	GORMALLY Daniel W	g	2514	ENG	6,5	43,5	2464
6	MAES Wim	f	2294	BEL	6,5	43	2465
7	CLERY Nicolas	f	2349	FRA	6,5	42,5	2470
8	ARKELL Keith C	g	2521	ENG	6,5	41	2435
9	SHIRAZI Kamran	m	2416	FRA	6,5	39,5	2364
10	QUILLAN Gary		2329	ENG	6,5	38,5	2506
11	HOUSIEAUX David	f	2425	FRA	6	41,5	2406
12	BERNARD Christophe	m	2364	FRA	6	38,5	2345
13	SOYEZ Cyril		2234	FRA	6	38	2313
14	STEFFENELLO Leonard		2162	BRA	6	37	2286
15	MICHIELS Rob		2262	BEL	5,5	42,5	2358
16	DOBREV Nanko	m	2408	BUL	5,5	40	2329
17	CAPPON John		2222	FRA	5,5	39,5	2284
18	AGLAVE Arnaud		2136	BEL	5,5	36	2127
19	HELSEN Steff		2171	BEL	5,5	35,5	2193
20	LARMUSEAU Michiel		1969	BEL	5,5	32,5	2204
78 players

16) Zvenigoroskaya Open

There was a very strong open in Zvenigorodsk near Moscow,24th-30th September 2008. Vladimir Belov edged out Evgeniy Naer, Farrukh Amonatov, Anton Shomoev and Dmitry Bocharov on tie-break as all finished on 6.5/9.

Official site: http://www.obninskchess.ru/alltur/alltur08/zvos08/

Zvenigoroskaya Open A RUS, 24-30 ix 2008
1	Belov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2561	6,5	1,92	50,5
2	Najer, Evgeniy	g	RUS	2670	6,5	0,6	49,5
3	Amonatov, Farrukh	g	TJK	2650	6,5	0,78	47,5
4	Shomoev, Anton	g	RUS	2566	6,5	1,43	44
5	Bocharov, Dmitry	g	RUS	2582	6,5	1,17	44
6	Buhmann, Rainer	g	GER	2561	6	1,16	47
7	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	g	BLR	2574	6	1,12	47
8	Lysyj, Igor	g	RUS	2596	6	0,67	44
9	Kokarev, Dmitry	g	RUS	2582	6	0,43	44
10	Khairullin, Ildar	g	RUS	2575	5,5	0,21	48
11	Shaposhnikov, Evgeny	g	RUS	2558	5,5	0,42	46,5
12	Deviatkin, Andrei	g	RUS	2567	5,5	0,19	46
13	Zhumabayev, Rinat	m	KAZ	2442	5,5	2,18	45,5
14	Krapivin, Alexander	g	RUS	2471	5,5	1,3	42,5
15	Sakaev, Konstantin	g	RUS	2635	5,5	-0,91	41,5
16	Malakhatko, Vadim	g	BEL	2612	5,5	-0,88	41,5
17	Frolyanov, Dmitry	g	RUS	2567	5,5	-0,09	41
18	Smirnov, Pavel	g	RUS	2592	5,5	-0,18	41
19	Kotsur, Pavel	g	KAZ	2566	5,5	-0,84	39,5
20	Vorobiov, Evgeny E	g	RUS	2550	5,5	-0,28	39
21	Khismatullin, Denis	g	RUS	2613	5	0,01	50,5
22	Yandemirov, Valeri	g	RUS	2463	5	1,27	46,5
23	Kuzubov, Yuriy	g	UKR	2578	5	-0,25	45
24	Ponkratov, Pavel	m	RUS	2530	5	-0,03	44,5
25	Filippov, Anton UZB	g	UZB	2531	5	0,08	43
26	Tunik, Gennady	g	RUS	2490	5	0,27	42,5
27	Golovin, Leonid		RUS	2457	5	0,51	42,5
28	Romanov, Evgeny	g	RUS	2554	5	-0,2	41
29	Vysochin, Spartak	g	UKR	2514	5	-0,5	41
30	Zimmerman, Yuri	m	RUS	2318	5	2,29	38,5
31	Romanko, Marina	wg	RUS	2374	5	0,98	35,5
69 players

17) 3rd Magistral de Zaragoza

3rd Magistral de Zaragoza took place 18th-26th October 2008. Aimen Rizouk and Diego Adla finished on 6/9.

Official site: http://ajedrezaragon.com/index.htm

III It Zaragoza (ESP), 18-26 x 2008												cat. IX (2467)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Rizouk, Aimen	g	ALG	2507	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	6	2587
2.	Adla, Diego	m	ARG	2497	½	*	0	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	6	2588
3.	Mirzoev, Azer	g	AZE	2567	½	1	*	½	½	½	0	½	1	1	5½	2535
4.	Reinaldo Castineira, Roi	m	ESP	2516	0	0	½	*	1	1	½	½	½	1	5	2504
5.	Barsov, Alexei	g	UZB	2513	½	0	½	0	*	½	1	1	1	½	5	2504
6.	Llorente Zaro, Alfonso	m	ESP	2424	0	½	½	0	½	*	1	½	1	1	5	2514
7.	Antoli Royo, Joaquin Miguel	f	ESP	2425	½	0	1	½	0	0	*	1	½	½	4	2428
8.	Ramiro Ovejero, Juan Luis	f	ESP	2380	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	*	½	½	3½	2396
9.	Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando	m	ESP	2444	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	2½	2303
10.	Garza Marco, Sergio	m	ESP	2394	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	*	2½	2308

18) Vasylyshyn Memorial

The Vasylyshyn Memorial took place 21st-31st October 2008. Yaroslav Zherebukh took clear first place with 11/15.

Vasylyshyn Mem Lviv (UKR), 21-31 x 2008															cat. X (2483)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
1.	Zherebukh, Yaroslav	m	UKR	2473	*	0	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	½	11.0	2659
2.	Vovk, Yuri	g	UKR	2549	1	*	0	0	½	1	½	0	1	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	9.5	2573
3.	Babujian, Levon	m	ARM	2502	0	1	*	1	½	0	½	0	1	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	9.5	2577
4.	Geller, Jakov	m	RUS	2511	½	1	0	*	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	½	9.0	2553
5.	Vovk, Andrey	m	UKR	2488	0	½	½	½	*	½	0	½	0	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	9.0	2555
6.	Ipatov, Alexander UKR		UKR	2472	½	0	1	½	½	*	½	1	½	1	0	½	1	½	0	1	8.5	2534
7.	Zakhartsov, Viacheslav V	g	RUS	2537	½	½	½	1	1	½	*	½	½	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	8.0	2500
8.	Margvelashvili, Giorgi	m	GEO	2478	0	1	1	½	½	0	½	*	0	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	8.0	2504
9.	Papin, Vasily	m	RUS	2455	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	1	*	½	1	1	0	1	½	0	7.5	2485
10.	Oleksienko, Mikhailo	g	UKR	2585	0	0	1	½	0	0	1	½	½	*	0	1	½	½	1	1	7.5	2476
11.	Kravtsiv, Martyn	m	UKR	2549	0	½	0	½	0	1	1	½	0	1	*	0	½	½	½	1	7.0	2457
12.	Nyzhnyk, Illya	f	UKR	2444	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	0	0	1	*	½	1	½	½	6.5	2435
13.	Grekh, Andrey	m	UKR	2391	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	6.0	2417
14.	Muzychuk, Mariya	wg	UKR	2436	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	*	½	½	4.5	2337
15.	Leniart, Arkadiusz	f	POL	2368	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	*	1	4.5	2342
16.	Sulashvili, Malkhaz	m	GEO	2495	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	1	0	0	½	0	½	0	*	4.0	2307

19) Magistral Endesa GM

The Magistral Endesa GM took place 23rd-31st October 2008.Ruben Felgaer and Salvador Alonso finished on 7/9.

Magistral Endesa GM Endesa CHI (CHI), 23-31 x 2008												cat. VII (2419)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Felgaer, Ruben	g	ARG	2591	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	7	2619
2.	Alonso, Salvador	m	ARG	2446	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	7	2635
3.	Valenzuela Fuentealba, Luis	m	CHI	2434	½	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	6½	2583
4.	Ricardi, Pablo	g	ARG	2505	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	0	1	1	5½	2489
5.	Lopez Silva, Hugo		CHI	2410	0	½	0	½	*	½	1	1	1	1	5½	2499
6.	Vasquez, Rodrigo	g	CHI	2522	½	0	0	½	½	*	1	1	1	1	5½	2487
7.	Michel Yunis, Christian D	m	PLE	2368	0	0	½	0	0	0	*	1	1	1	3½	2344
8.	Llorens, Marcelo	f	CHI	2353	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	*	1	½	2½	2260
9.	Valdes Escobar, Alvaro		CHI	2305	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	*	½	1	2080
10.	Valiente, Cristobal	m	PAR	2254	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	*	1	2086

20) Pan American

The Pan-American Continental Chess Championship takes place in Florida November 2nd-7th 2008. Leading players: GM Julio Becerra (USA) Rating 2602, GM Alexander Shabalov (USA) Rating 2585, GM Jaan Ehlvest (USA) Rating 2581, GM Alexandr Stripunsky (USA) Rating 2553, GM Alexander Ivanov (USA) Rating 2546, GM Manuel Leon Hoyos (Mexico) Rating 2535, GM Alonso Zapata (Colombia) Rating 2501, IM Josh Ed Friedel (USA) Rating 2498, IM Vinay Bhat (USA) Rating 2497, GM Darcy Lima (Brazil) Rating 2488, IM Alder Escobar (Colombia) Rating 2482 and IM Everaldo Matsuura (Brazil) Rating 2469

I hope that they put together a file of games in one place. Getting games one by one from Monroi is not really a fun process.

Official site: http://chesseducators.com/ and Live Games: http://www.monroi.com/

21) 13th IBCA Olympiad

13th IBCA. Olympiad took place in Heraklion, Crete from 18th-29th October 2008. Russia took clear first place, ahead of Ukraine and Spain.

Official site: http://www.sokoridallou.gr/olympiad08/index.html

13th IBCA Olympiad (GRE) 18-29 x 2008
Rank	Team	Gam.	+	=	-	MP	SB
1	Russia	9	8	1	0	17	274
2	Ukraine	9	5	3	1	13	238½
3	Spain	9	5	3	1	13	194½
4	Poland	9	4	4	1	12	223½
5	Germany	9	5	2	2	12	199½
6	United Kingdom	9	4	3	2	11	190
7	Serbia	9	5	1	3	11	189
8	Kazakhstan	9	5	1	3	11	186
9	Croatia	9	5	1	3	11	163
10	Czech Rep	9	4	3	2	11	145
11	Romania	9	4	2	3	10	179½
12	Fyrom	9	4	2	3	10	168
13	Slovenia	9	4	2	3	10	155
14	Lithuania	9	4	2	3	10	139
15	Venezuela	9	4	2	3	10	134
16	Moldova	9	4	1	4	9	141½
17	Montenegro	9	3	3	3	9	137
18	Hungary	9	4	1	4	9	130
19	India	9	4	1	4	9	127½
20	Netherlands	9	3	3	3	9	127½
21	Slovakia	9	4	1	4	9	121½
22	Italy	9	4	1	4	9	105½
23	Sweden	9	4	0	5	8	161
24	Belgium	9	3	2	4	8	96
25	Finland	9	3	1	5	7	121½
26	Greece 1	9	3	1	5	7	90
27	Turkey	9	2	3	4	7	72½
28	Norway	9	3	1	5	7	72
29	Switzerland	9	3	1	5	7	52
30	Brasil	9	2	2	5	6	101½
31	South Africa	9	1	3	5	5	66
32	Greece 2	9	2	1	6	5	56
33	Denmark	9	1	2	6	4	63
34	Greece 3	9	0	0	9	0	21½

13th IBCA Olympiad Top 20 performers (GRE) 18-29 x 2008
Rank	Ti	Name	Rtg	Team	Rp	Pts.	Games	Bo.
1	WIM	Zsiltzova-Lisenko L.	2265	Ukraine	2435	8	9	3
2	IM	Krylov Sergey	2388	Russia	2424	7½	9	3
3		Clemente Llamero R.	2118	Spain	2384	5	5	4
4		Grigorchuk Sergey	2244	Ukraine	2371	6	9	1
5	IM	Crouch Colin S	2359	Un. Kingdom	2369	6½	9	1
6		Vela Ignacio Jos M.	2103	Spain	2358	7	8	4
7	FM	Mueller Oliver	2292	Germany	2351	7½	9	1
8	IM	Dukaczewski Piotr	2338	Poland	2336	5½	9	1
9	IM	Meshkov Yuri A	2400	Russia	2319	5	9	1
10	FM	Kocovski Ivan	2266	Fyrom	2292	5	9	1
11		Pulvett Daniel	2207	Venezuela	2268	6	9	1
12	FM	Pribeanu Dacian	2232	Romania	2252	6	9	1
13		Gunajew Rafal	2233	Poland	2237	6	9	2
14		Smirnov Sergei	2301	Russia	2225	6½	8	4
15		Palacios Perez Manuel	2195	Spain	2220	4	9	1
16	IM	Berlinsky Vladimir	2325	Russia	2216	5½	8	2
17		Marendic Vlatko	2089	Croatia	2197	7½	9	2
18		Bibikov Yuriy	1400	Kazakhstan	2193	7½	9	3
19		Olsar Jaroslav	2326	Czech Rep	2189	6	9	1
20	FM	Wassin Sergej	2325	Ukraine	2161	6	9	2

22) First Saturday

The First Saturday tournaments take place in Hungary 1st-11th November 2008.

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

FSGM November Budapest HUN (HUN), 1-11 xi 2008													cat. VIII (2428)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Martinovic, Sasa	f	CRO	2416	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
2.	Varga, Zoltan	g	HUN	2494	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
3.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2511	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2452
4.	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	m	VIE	2452	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2511
5.	Prasanna, Rao	f	IND	2311	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2425
6.	Recuero Guerra, David	f	ESP	2425	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2311
7.	Wittmann, Walter	m	AUT	2281	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	½	2383
8.	Thorfinnsson, Bragi	m	ISL	2383	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	½	2281
9.	Ilincic, Zlatko	g	SRB	2542	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	?	.	.	0
10.	Prohaszka, Peter2	m	HUN	2502	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	?	*	.	.	0
11.	Arngrimsson, Dagur	f	ISL	2392	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
12.	Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor	m	ISL	2430	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

FSIMA November Budapest HUN (HUN), 1-11 xi 2008													cat. I (2268)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Denisov, Ivan		RUS	2189	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
2.	Kjartansson, Gudmundur	f	ISL	2284	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
3.	Konnyu, Janos		HUN	2316	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1
4.	Bacso, Gabor	f	HUN	2181	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	2309
5.	Horvath, Andras	f	HUN	2251	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2278
6.	Kislik, Erik Andrew		USA	2278	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2251
7.	Lengyel, Bela	m	HUN	2309	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	2181
8.	Werner, Dimo	m	GER	2328	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	½	2330
9.	Humphrey, Jonathan	f	AUS	2330	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	½	2328
10.	Naslund, Mikael	f	SWE	2243	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
11.	Szeberenyi, Adam	m	HUN	2310	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
12.	Toth, Lili	wm	HUN	2194	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

FSIMB November Budapest (HUN), 1-11 xi 2008											cat. I (2263)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Adams, Nick A		USA	2205	*	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
2.	Henriksson, Jacob		SWE	2250	.	.	*	*	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1
3.	Farago, Sandor	m	HUN	2251	.	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	2297
4.	Kahn, Evarth	m	HUN	2297	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	.	.	½	2251
5.	Parkanyi, Attila	m	HUN	2361	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	*	*	.	.	0
6.	Pochinkov, Andrey		RUS	2211	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	*	0

23) National Chess League Argentina

The National Chess League took place in Villa Martelli 9th August - 4th October 2008. Martelli - Vte. Lopez won the event with 5 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. Games section not yet complete, I will wait until it is.

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

24) 16th North American FIDE Invitational

The 16th North American FIDE Invitational took place October 18th - 24th 2008. IM Valay Parikh won with 7/9. I couldn't find a games file and only 5 rounds were available on Monroi.

Official site: http://nachess.org/fide/

25) World Youth Chess Championships

The World Youth Championships took place in Vung Tau city 20th-30th October 2008. Ivan Saric won the main open (boys) championship on tie-break. I've put the games from the Boys and Girls U18, U16 sections and Boys U14 in the games section. Games were complicated to deal with but I was impressed with the work done on it by the bulletin editors.

Official site: http://wycc2008.vietnamchess.com/ and Results

WYCC Vung Tau City (VIE), 20-30 x 2008
Boys U18
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1	IM	Saric Ivan	2516	CRO	8	78	78
2	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	2567	VIE	8	77½	77½
3	FM	Shankland Samuel L	2436	USA	8	73½	73½
4	FM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	2495	ARM	8	72	72
5	IM	Chirila Ioan Cristian	2462	ROU	8	70	70
6	GM	Le Quang Liem	2583	VIE	7½	69	69
7	GM	Howell David W L	2593	ENG	7½	68	68
8	IM	Can Emre	2464	TUR	7½	65	65
9	IM	Tomczak Jacek	2461	POL	7	75	75
10	IM	Matlakov Maxim	2490	RUS	7	73½	73½
11	IM	Ashwin Jayaram	2437	IND	7	73	73
12	IM	Karthikeyan P	2426	IND	7	70½	70½
13		Ma Qun	2241	CHN	7	69½	69½
14		Tran Manh Tien	2159	VIE	7	68½	68½
15	FM	Pereira Ruben	2437	POR	7	62	62
16		Darini Pouria	2263	IRI	6½	72	72
17		Ludwig Daniel	2400	USA	6½	68½	68½
		Kulakov Viacheslav	2377	RUS	6½	68½	68½
19		Pavlidis Anastasios	2322	GRE	6½	68	68
20	FM	Paichadze Luka	2437	GEO	6½	63½	63½
21	FM	Klimov Anton	2451	RUS	6½	61½	61½
22	FM	Tologontegin Semetey	2359	KGZ	6½	59½	59½
23		Hovhannisyan Robert	2409	ARM	6½	57½	57½
74 players
Boys U16
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1	IM	Adhiban B	2439	IND	9	78½	74
2	IM	Sethuraman S P	2441	IND	8	75½	71
3		Debashis Das	2309	IND	8	72	68½
4		Soors Stef	2176	BEL	8	71½	67½
5		Hansen Eric	2362	CAN	8	66½	62½
6	FM	Priyadharshan K	2245	IND	7½	76	72½
7	IM	Durarbeyli Vasif	2434	AZE	7½	74½	70
8	FM	Gritsenko Andrey	2380	RUS	7½	74	69½
9	FM	Kanarek Marcel	2458	POL	7½	66½	62½
10	FM	Bregadze Levan	2387	GEO	7	75½	70
11	FM	Grandelius Nils	2464	SWE	7	73	68
12	FM	Yilmaz Mustafa	2387	TUR	7	72	66½
13	FM	Jorczik Julian	2382	GER	7	71	66½
14	IM	Shyam Sundar M	2402	IND	7	70	65
15		Kocheev Aleksandr	2114	BLR	7	66	62½
16		Kilpatrick Callum	2184	ENG	7	64	59½
17		Khamroev Ravshan	2181	UZB	7	61	57½
18	IM	Shimanov Aleksandr	2476	RUS	6½	80	75
19		Karayev Assylkhan	2283	KAZ	6½	68	63½
20		Pascua Haridas	2307	PHI	6½	66	61½
21	FM	Saeed Ishaq	2179	UAE	6½	65½	61½
22		Rojas Alarcon Julian Antonio	2187	MEX	6½	65	61½
23		Csirik Andras	2324	HUN	6½	63	59
73 players
Boys U14
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1	FM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2356	IND	9	78½	73½
2		Lortkipanidze Nodar	2135	GEO	8½	73½	69
3	IM	Swiercz Dariusz	2478	POL	8	77	72
4	FM	Bajarani Ulvi	2232	AZE	8	78½	73
5	FM	Lagarde Maxime	2332	FRA	8	74	70
6	FM	Stukopin Andrey	2363	RUS	7½	73½	68
7	FM	Narayanan Srinath	2412	IND	7½	70½	66½
8	FM	Van Kampen Robin	2307	NED	7½	67	63
9	FM	Naroditsky Daniel	2382	USA	7½	66½	62
10		Garcia Jan Emmanuel	2256	PHI	7	76	72½
11		Chen Peng	2046	CHN	7	70½	66½
12		Berchtenbreiter Maximilian	2116	GER	7	67½	64
13	CM	Grigoryan Karen H	2072	ARM	7	66	61½
14		Juhasz Kristof	2214	HUN	7	65	61
15	FM	Moussard Jules	2293	FRA	7	65	60½
16	FM	Chua Xing-Jian Graham	2229	SIN	7	57½	53½
17		Bok Benjamin	2265	NED	6½	76½	72
18		Givon Asaf	2101	ISR	6½	70	66
19		Meskovs Nikita	2247	LAT	6½	68	64
20	FM	Bukavshin Ivan	2376	RUS	6½	68	63
21		Pham Hoai Nam	1973	VIE	6½	67½	64½
22		Ankit R Rajpara	2200	IND	6½	67	63
23		Talipov Nafis	2029	RUS	6½	66½	62
24		Kotainy Jens	2210	GER	6½	65½	61½
25	CM	Chan Yi-Ren Daniel	2260	SIN	6½	63½	59½
		Baboyan Eduard	2170	RUS	6½	63½	59½
27		Urtnasan Nasanjargal	2075	MGL	6½	62	60
28		Navalgund Niranjan	2064	IND	6½	58½	55
86 players
Boys U12
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1		Das Sayantan	2112	IND	9½	71	69½
2		Gordievskiy Dmitry	2217	RUS	8½	76	70½
3	FM	Yang Darwin	2182	USA	8	77	73
4		Ynojosa Felix Jose	2145	ENG	8	70½	66
5		Gagare Shardul	2092	IND	8	67	63½
6		Shiven Khosla	2206	IND	8	66	62
7		Le Tuan Minh	2027	VIE	7½	81	76½
8		Nguyen Hung Cuong	0	VIE	7½	75	70
9		Wagner Dennis	2000	GER	7½	70½	67
10	FM	Girish A Koushik	2161	IND	7½	70	66
11		Georgiadis Nico	1952	SUI	7½	69	64
94 players
Boys U10
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1		Duda Jan-Krzysztof	2013	POL	9½	77	74
2		Xu Yi	0	CHN	8½	77	72½
3		Wang Yi Ye	0	CHN	8½	81½	76
4		Ghosh Diptayan	2041	IND	8	75	72½
5	FM	Pichot Alan	1925	ARG	8	75	72
6		Lorpari Zangeneh Shahin	0	IRI	8	75	70
7		Nguyen Ngoc Minh Tri	0	VIE	8	69	65
8		Mousavi Seyed Khalil	2042	IRI	7½	72½	68½
9		Tari Aryan	0	NOR	7½	67	64
10		Asgarizadeh Ahmad	2026	IRI	7½	65½	61½
90 players
Boy U8
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.
1		Tran Minh Thang	0	VIE	10	77
2		Liu Xiangyi	0	CHN	9	81
3		Liao Yu Hao	0	CHN	8½	73
4		Olamaei Alireza	0	IRI	8	79½
5		Chiang Jonathan	1535	USA	8	73½
6		Sarana Alexey	0	RUS	7½	71
7		Lee Jonah	0	CAN	7½	67½
8		Sabhareesh m	1499	IND	7½	67
83 players
Girls U18
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1	WGM	Golubenko Valentina	2273	CRO	9	74	69
2		Preethi R	2156	IND	8	69½	65½
3	WFM	Girya Olga	2332	RUS	7½	76½	70½
4	WGM	Nemcova Katerina	2369	CZE	7½	72½	67
5		Li Panru	2126	CHN	7½	69½	66
6	WFM	Gevorgyan Irina	2179	UZB	7	70½	66½
7	WFM	Zhorzholiani Meri	2122	GEO	7	69½	69
8		Agrest Inna	2215	SWE	7	64	60½
	WFM	Rysbayeva Aigerim	2180	KAZ	7	64	60½
10	WFM	Nakhbayeva Guliskhan	2201	KAZ	7	62½	59
11		Gosciniak Maria	2161	POL	6½	74	70½
12	WFM	Pham Bich Ngoc	2090	VIE	6½	65	61½
13	WGM	Corke Anya	2301	HKG	6½	65	60
14	WFM	Ngo Dieu Hoa	2007	VIE	6½	60½	58
15		Skinke Katrina	2186	LAT	6	72½	68½
16	WFM	Danelia Mariam	2218	GEO	6	72	67½
17		Bakhtiyarly Aysel	1988	AZE	6	69	64
18		Hannes Diana	2055	GER	6	66	61½
19		Deur Zrinka	2003	CRO	6	64½	61
20	WFM	Nguyen Thi Diem Huong	0	VIE	6	64½	60½
21		Pham Thi Thu Hien	2006	VIE	6	64	63½
22		Shlakich Anna	2203	RUS	6	59	55½
23		Richard Emma	2082	FRA	6	57½	54
24	WFM	Ozturk Kubra	2254	TUR	5½	64	60
47 players
Girls U16
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1	WFM	Paikidze Nazi	2292	GEO	9	74	69½
2	WFM	Kulon Klaudia	2228	POL	9	73½	68
3	WIM	Tsatsalashvili Keti	2235	GEO	8	72½	67½
4	WFM	Le Hoang Tran Chau	2041	VIE	7½	69	65
5		Abylkassymova Raushan	1834	KAZ	7½	65	62
6		Guliyeva Sabina	2004	AZE	7½	63	61
7	WFM	Eric Jovana	2146	SRB	7	73	68
8	WFM	Repina Varvara	2258	RUS	7	69	65
9		Shakryan Zozan	1899	ARM	7	68	63½
10		Bernales Christy Lamiel	1998	PHI	7	67½	63
11		Docena Jedara	1978	PHI	7	67	63½
12	WFM	Pon N Krithika	2191	IND	6½	70	65½
13	WFM	Havlikova Kristyna	2179	CZE	6½	66½	62½
14	WFM	Hoang Thi Nhu Y	2127	VIE	6½	66½	62
15		Savola Laura	2035	FIN	6½	62	58
16		Lvova Yulia	2028	BLR	6½	61½	58
17		Niji A	2057	IND	6½	60½	57½
18		Trubitsyna Yulia	1908	RUS	6½	55½	52
62 players
Girls U14
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1	WIM	Padmini Rout	2235	IND	10	79½	74
2	WFM	Arabidze Meri	2182	GEO	9	78½	73
3		Baciu Diana	2062	MDA	8	75½	71½
4	WFM	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	2123	VIE	8	74	68½
5		Camacho Chardine Cheradee	2100	PHI	7½	77	72
6	WFM	Hakimifard Ghazal	2043	IRI	7½	73	69½
7	WGM	Mona Khaled	1967	EGY	7½	72½	67½
8		Gagare Shalmali	2110	IND	7½	72	67
9	WFM	Nguyen Thao Han	1925	VIE	7	75½	70½
10		Schut Lisa	2153	NED	7	74	69
11		Jalabadze Natia	2023	GEO	7	72½	68
12	WFM	Efroimski Marsel	2052	ISR	7	70	65½
13		Neuhauser Salome	1899	FRA	7	64	60
14		Orlova Yelizaveta	1863	CAN	7	63	59
15		Fronda Jan Jodilyn	1996	PHI	7	62½	59
16	WFM	Asmat Diana	1977	PER	7	57½	54½
79 players
Girls U12
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1		Zhai Mo	2079	CHN	8½	77	72
2		Osmanodja Filiz	1939	GER	8½	72	67½
3		Pratyusha Bodda	1945	IND	8	73	69½
4	WCM	Medina Warda Aulia	0	INA	8	80	75½
5	WFM	Rodriguez Rueda Paula Andrea	2047	COL	8	70	66
6		Nie Xin	0	CHN	7½	75	70
7		Bivol Alina	1957	RUS	7½	74½	71
8	WCM	Saduakassova Dinara	1863	KAZ	7½	73½	69
9		Kahramanova Mohinur	1874	UZB	7½	68	63½
10		Nandhidhaa P V	1823	IND	7½	62	61½
72 players
Girls U10
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1		Goryachkina Aleksandra	1899	RUS	9	76½	71½
2		Li Zhuoling	0	CHN	9	75½	71
3		Anastasia Patricks	0	INA	8	79	73
4	WFM	Haussernot Cecile	1882	FRA	8	77	72½
5		Sunyasakta Satpathy	1766	IND	8	75	70
6	WCM	Vu Thi Dieu Ai	0	VIE	8	72½	69
7		Vu Hoang Lan	0	VIE	7½	72½	69
8		Khomeriki Nino	1647	GEO	7½	65½	63½
69 players
Girls U8
Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	BH.
1		Abdumalik Zhansaya	0	KAZ	10	75½	70½
2		Zhou Qiyu	0	FIN	8½	75	70
3		Mammadzada Gunay	0	AZE	8	78	74
4		Wang Kelly	0	CAN	8	76½	72
5		Vu Thi Dieu Uyen	0	VIE	7½	70½	65½
6		Gundogan Sinem Cagla	0	TUR	7½	68	64½
7		Liu Hannah	0	USA	7	77	71½
8		Nominerdene Davaademberel	0	MGL	7	71½	68
9		Dong Khanh Linh	0	VIE	7	70½	69
10		Savant Riya	1404	IND	7	70½	65
11		Hilmi Parveen	0	IND	7	67½	63½
12		Zhao Ying Tong	0	CHN	7	64½	60½
55 players

26) Corus Qualifier on ICC

16 invited players, selected by Corus in consultation with ICC, fight it out in an online rapid knockout tournament, held on the weekends of November 1st & 2nd, and 8th & 9th (starting at 10:00 am Eastern Time each day), with the winner receiving the Corus 'C' Group invite, a round-trip ticket to Wijk aan Zee, Hotel & Breakfast plus $1,300 (1,000 Euro).

Details: http://www.chessclub.com/activities/corusqual08/

27) Limerick Open

The Philip Hogarty Limerick Open took place 25th-27th October 2008. Alex Baburin took clear first with 5.5/6. No games.

Limerick Open (IRL), 25 x-1 xi 2008
Place	Name	Loc	Score
1	ALEXANDER BABURIN GM	2558	5.5
2	ALEX LOPEZ FM	2371	5
3-4	D J O'DONOUGHUE	1806	4.5
	STEPHEN SHORT	1837	4.5
5-6	WOJCIECH NADSTOGA	2072	4
	JAN HEINRICH	2087	4
7-11	SEMYON MKRTCHYAN	1897	3.5
	PETER CAFOLLA	1927	3.5
	JOHN DONOGHUE	1892	3.5
	KIERAN O'RIORDAN	1400	3.5
	HUGH DOYLE	1726	3.5
12-18	STEPHEN MORAN	1841	3
123 players

28) 3rd Lyon Trophy

The 3rd Lyon Trophy took place 29th October - 2nd November 2008. Alexandre Dgebuadze and Alexei Barsov finished on 8/9. No games available.

Details: http://www.lyon-olympique-echecs.com/textes/textes/accueil/trophee.html

29) Brazilian Championship Semi-Finals

The 75th Brazilian Championship Semi-Finals took place 17th-19th October 2008. Jorge Bittencourt took first place with 5.5/6.

Official site: http://www.fgx.org.br/classificacao.htm

30) 75th Greater Boston Open

George Mirijanian reports: William Kelleher, 59, of Watertown, Massachusetts, a FIDE master as well as a FIDE vice president, posted a score of 3.5-0.5 to win the 75th Greater Boston Open tournament, held October 26th 2008 at the Kennedy Senior Center in Natick, Massachusetts. Capturing second place with a 3-1 tally was IM David Vigorito, 38, of Lowell, Massachusetts, the newly elected president of the Boylston Chess Foundation in Somerville, Massachusetts. IM Igor Foygel, 61, of Brookline, Massachusetts tied for third place with U.S. Federation-rated Class A player Carlos Avalos, 45, of Rhode Island, the current champion of that state's Cranston-Warwick Chess Club. Both finished with scores of 2.5-1.5. The Massachusetts Chess Association-sponsored event drew 58 players in four sections and was directed by USCF senior TD Ken Ballou of Framingham, Massachusetts, assisted by fellow senior TD Bob Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire. Complete crosstables are available at http://masschess.org

31) Forthcoming Events and Links

Bundesliga

The second Bundesliga weekend took place 25th-26th October 2008.

The Schachbundesliga season 2008/09 runs 3rd-5th October and runs until March 2009. 16 Teams compete with team rosters of 16-18 players but only eight play each weekend. There will be live coverage of all the games.

Dates: 4th-5th October 2008 25th-26th October 2008 29th-30th November 2008 12th-14th December 2008 (Here the official seventh round will be played. Although some will be played at other times) 31st January 2008 - 1st February 2009. 28th February - 1st March 2009. 28th-29th March 2009.

Official site of the Schachbundesliga (http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx) Further information (in German) and the entrance site for the live coverage: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx

World Blitz Championship

The World Blitz Chess Championship takes place in Almaty (Kazakhstan), November, 7th-8th 2008.

Official site: http://www.worldblitz2008.kz

European Youth U-16 winners Texas Scholarships

The University of Texas at Dallas (USA) has offered scholarships to the winners of the U-16 European Youth Chess Championships since 2007. The agreement with the European Chess Union has been extended for another three years. The total value of the scholarships during this five-year period will be approximately 1 million USD, said James A. Stallings, Director of the UTD chess program.

Interview on the ECU website: http://www.europechess.org/home518.aspx?art=ft

Gjovik International Festival 2008-9

The Gjovik International Chess Festival 2008-9 takes place 29th December - 7th January 2009.

Magnus Carlsen, Peter Svidler, Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Simen Agdestein play in a Super rapid tournament January 2nd-5th 2009.

The tournament has a similar format to the Mainz Classic, with a double round tournament followed by final and bronze final games. The Norwegian audience will be eager to see Magnus Carlsen on home-gound again, as he hasn't played in Norway during 2008.

The rapid contest is part of a chess festival with a big and varied program, held on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Gjovik chess club. The festival starts on December 29th, and the main tournament is a 9 round GM-Swiss open to players with a rating abov 2100. Reigning European champion Sergei Tiviakov (NL) 2686 is the highest rated player of the preliminary list of participants. There is also a parallell group open for all players rated below 2100.

Official site: http://www.gjovikfestival.sjakkweb.no

Dresden Olympiad

The Olympiad takes place in Dresden 12th-25th November 2008. The England team will be sponsored by Liverpool Victoria which means their best players Adams and Short will take part.

Official site: http://dresden2008.de

4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009.

Fixtures 2008-9

Rounds 1 and 2: 4th/5th October 2008 De Vere Venues, Sunningdale Divisions 1-2

Rounds 3-4: 6th/7th December 2008 Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island Divisions 1-3

Rounds 5-6: 17th/18th January 2009 De Vere Venues, Sunningdale Divisions 1-2

Rounds 7-8: 21st/22nd March 2009 Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island Divisions 1-3

Rounds 9-11: 2nd-4th May 2009 De Vere Venues, Staverton Park Divisions 1-2

68th Italian Championship

The 68th Italian Championship takes place 3rd December - 14th December 2008. The tournament will consist of 12 players in a round robin at the 4 star Park Hotel San Michele in Martina Franca. Games will be played on DGT boards, and viewable live at the Italian Chess Federation´s web site. The players are: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Michele Godena, GM Carlos Garcia Palermo, IM Luca Shytaj, IM Sabino Brunello, IM Fabio Bruno, IM Denis Rombaldoni, IM Pierluigi Piscopo, IM Daniel Contin, FM Daniyyl Dvirnyy, FM Daniele Genocchio, and Alessio Valsecchi.

Official federation site: http://www.federscacchi.it/

27th Elba Island Festival

The 27th International Chess Festival of Elba Island "Luigi Amalfi", takes place at the Hotel Lacona 10th-17th May 2009.

Details: http://www.tuscanhotels.it/en/cmsx.asp?IDPg=23

Milan

Milano, Italy, organized by Società Scacchistica Milanese (founded in 1881) Master group: December 6th-13th 2008, 9 rounds, global prizes 3.000 euro - with GMs and IMs Good conventions with hotels Address - via S.Uguzzone 8 = closed to the underground (MM1 - Villa SG). The Mediterranean Championship will start in Courmayeur (Aosta valley) The dates are December 13th-21st 2008. It is possible to travel and play both.

Web site: http://www.scacchisticamilanese.it

25th Bermuda Open

The 25th Bermuda Open takes place 30th January - 1st February 2008 at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton Resort on the South Shore with private tennis courts, golf course, beach, walking trails, ferry into Hamilton for duty-free shopping 5 round Swiss. Register & pay on site. For info contact Nigel Freeman at cadilly@northrock.bm or Carol Jarecki at carolj10280@yahoo.com

9th Liberec Open

The 9th Liberec Open takes place 15th-22nd November 2008. Open FIDE, active chess and blitz tournament are part of the festival. More detailed information can be found in English, German, Russian and Polish at http://www.czechtour.net/liberec-open/

Icelandic Team Championship

Icelandic Team Champ 1st div first half took place 3rd-5th October 2008. The 2nd set of games are March 21st-22nd March 2009 if I understand the website correctly. A small number of games are available.

Official site: http://www.skaksamband.is/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5982&Itemid=499# and results: http://chess-results.com/tnr16443.aspx?tnr=16443&art=16&lan=2&flag=30&m=-1

Doeberl Cup and Sydney International 2009

The 2009 Doeberl Cup is in Canberra 9th-13th April 2009. See http://www.doeberlcup.com.au/

The 2009 Sydney International Open takes place 15th-19th April 2009. See http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?site=open

Free entry to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs.

Free accommodation for selected GMs and WGMs.

For further information, please contact Brian Jones info@chessaustralia.com.au

Czech Litomysl Chess Christmas

Czech Chess Christmas 2008 Litomysl (CZE) 26.12.2008-2.1.2009

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.

Contact: Proclient s.r.o., Jaroslav Fuksik, Svedska 3, 772 00 Olomouc, mobile: +420 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, web: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2008/

Leon Open

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

Details: http://www.openmundialdeleon.com

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Etienne Bacrot's Website

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

ICC and FICS client for mobile phones

Mats Luthman has written a program that connects to ICC and FICS, compatable with many modern mobile phones. I've been looking for something like this for a while for watching live tournaments if I'm out and about. Its a nice free solution, you can also play but I haven't tried that.

Website: http://www.luthman.nu/Mobi/Mobi.html