THE WEEK IN CHESS 736 15th December 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Adolivio Capece, Ben Hummel, Frederic Delort, Gary Suffield, Georgious Souleidis, Doug Bake, Spiros Ilandzis, Javier Perez Llera, Jorge Fernandez, Luis Blasco de la Cruz, Luis Scalise, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Marcelo Petrolo, George Mirijanian, Miklos Orso, Vlad Rekhson and everyone else who helped with the issue.

A really good week for chess on the run up to Christmas. The Category XXI Pearl Spring tournament in Nanjing is at it's half way stage and little is settled with Bu Xiangzhi, Veselin Topalov and Levon Aronian on 3/5. If that's not enough the FIDE Grand Prix which was originally was supposed to be in Doha but that was cancelled at the last moment. The organisation of the Elista event is important to FIDE to keep the series (which is very nice for chess followers) going but its clear its in trouble. See the Ilyumzhinov Press Conference. In part because a number of the players, most notable of which is Magnus Carlsen, don't think its worth it anymore. It remains to be seen what happens. Still as I said its still a nice event and I look forward to the battle, although perhaps not so much on Christmas Day!

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Pearl Spring

The Pearl Spring Super GM Tournament takes place 10th - 22nd December 2008 in Nanjing, China. Six-player double round robin event.

Further info: http://www.64ge.net/ and Gujuan Tzu's Chessnews Blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

Official site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/yindex.htm

In round 1 home player Bu Xiangzhi took the lead on his own after gradually outplaying Sergei Movsesian on the black side of a Bishop's opening. Peter Svidler should have joined him after obtaining a decisive advantage on the black side of a Ruy Lopez Chigorin's Defence. Just when it seemed he had a win, he failed to see it and agreed to a draw by perpetual check after a long thought. 34...Rh5!! winning a piece or queen for rook and probably 34...Rf6 would have won. Levon Aronian and Veselin Topalov gradually traded into a drawn bishops of opposite colour ending from a Slav Defence.

Levon Aronian beat Vassily Ivanchuk in round 2. The opening was a Sicilian Maroczy Bind of tremendous complexity. Black seemed to be doing fine but after 23.b4! black was pushed back and his position collapsed quite quickly. Sergei Movsesian beat Peter Svidler on the black side of a Sicilian Scheveningen. It's hard to be sure where Svidler went wrong but he was gradually pushed back after sacrificing rook for bishop and pawn in order to weaken the enemy king. White had more than enough compensation at first. Topalov vs Bu Xiangzhi was a well played Slav which ended in perpetual.

Round 3. Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov blasted out 22 moves of Caro Kann and finished with a drawn bishops of opposite colours endings. Sergei Movsesian and Levon Aronian also reached a drawn bishop of opposite colours ending from a bishops opening. Bu Xiangzhi and Peter Svidler also drew from an English Opening.

Round 4. Sergei Movsesian played the Bb5 Sicilian against Veselin Topalov and played for a slight space advantage. The game finished in a draw by repetition. Bu Xiangzhi against Vassily Ivanchuk was a very odd variation (Fiachetto Gruenfeld according to ChessBase but it ended up in a Benoni style structure briefly also before going very weird). The game then saw some dynamic exchanges that left a totally drawn rook and pawn ending. Peter Svidler tried the Worrall Attack of the Ruy Lopez against Levon Aronian but didn't obtain any advantage, in fact might have stood worse but eventually they found a position where repetition was pretty much forced.

Round 5. Veselin Topalov defeated Peter Svidler in the only decisive game of the round. Topalov offered the sacrifice of the exchange on move 20 which Svidler accepted. Possibly this wasn't wise as Svidler's position tumbled down hill almost straight away, 26... Bf6? meant that the game didn't reach move 30. Vassily Ivanchuk vs Sergei Movsesian was a dynamic draw in a Siciian Scheveningen. Ivanchuk sacrificed a pawn just out of the opening but the game never went from balanced equality and finished in perpetual check. Levon Aronian against Bu Xiangzhi was a dynamic Slav Defence where Aronian obtained something of an advantage but exploiting his extra kingside pawns and defending his king at the same time proved beyond him and the game finished with black giving perpetual check.

Pearl Spring Nanjing (CHN), 11-21 xii 2008										cat. XXI (2751)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Bu Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2714	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	½	.	½	.	3	2830
2.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2757	½	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	½	.	3	2822
3.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2791	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	1	.	3	2815
4.	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	2732	0	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	1	.	2½	2755
5.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2786	½	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	2	2672
6.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2727	½	.	½	.	0	.	0	.	½	.	*	*	1½	2607

Round 1 (December 11, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	39	D12	Slav Defence
Movsesian, Sergei	- Bu Xiangzhi	0-1	58	C24	Bishop's Opening
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	37	C99	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Round 2 (December 12, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	33	B36	Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Topalov, Veselin	- Bu Xiangzhi	½-½	49	D19	Slav Defence
Svidler, Peter	- Movsesian, Sergei	0-1	47	B83	Sicilian Scheveningen
Round 3 (December 13, 2008)
Bu Xiangzhi	- Svidler, Peter	½-½	26	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Movsesian, Sergei	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	32	C55	Two Knights Defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	22	B10	Caro Kann
Round 4 (December 14, 2008)
Bu Xiangzhi	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	30	D73	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Movsesian, Sergei	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	28	B52	Sicilian Rossolimo
Svidler, Peter	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	48	C86	Ruy Lopez Worrall Attack
Round 5 (December 15, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Bu Xiangzhi	½-½	46	D17	Slav Defence
Topalov, Veselin	- Svidler, Peter	1-0	29	D86	Gruenfeld Simagin
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Movsesian, Sergei	½-½	35	B80	Sicilian Scheveningen

3) FIDE Grand Prix Elista

The latest Grand Prix tournament takes place in Elista 13th-29th December 2008. There have been a number of withdrawals due to FIDE's change of regulations but the event is still a very reasonable category 19. There is play on Christmas day!

Official site: http://elista2008.fide.com/

FIDE Grand Prix Elista (RUS), 14-28 xii 2008														cat. XIX (2713)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2703	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1½	2910
2.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2719	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2932
3.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2737	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2900
4.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2751	.	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1½	2893
5.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2715	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2686
6.	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2696	.	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2741
7.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2731	.	½	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2707
8.	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	2679	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	1	2742
9.	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2669	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	1	2725
10.	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2672	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	1	2712
11.	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2705	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	½	2518
12.	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2720	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	.	½	2494
13.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2747	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	½	2506
14.	Wang Yue	g	CHN	2736	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	½	2510

Round 1 (December 14, 2008)
Gashimov, Vugar	- Eljanov, Pavel	1-0	93	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Wang Yue	1-0	54	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Radjabov, Teimour	- Cheparinov, Ivan	½-½	45	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	28	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Inarkiev, Ernesto	- Alekseev, Evgeny	½-½	49	C95	Ruy Lopez Breyer
Bacrot, Etienne	- Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	½-½	14	B70	Sicilian Dragon
Lékó, Peter	- Akopian, Vladimir	½-½	28	C99	Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Round 2 (December 15, 2008)
Grischuk, Alexander	- Lékó, Peter	1-0	39	E15	Queens Indian
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Gashimov, Vugar	½-½	60	B52	Sicilian Rossolimo
Cheparinov, Ivan	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	60	B38	Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Akopian, Vladimir	- Jakovenko, Dmitry	½-½	25	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	- Eljanov, Pavel	½-½	44	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Bacrot, Etienne	- Radjabov, Teimour	0-1	73	A10	Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Wang Yue	- Inarkiev, Ernesto	½-½	64	D11	Slav Defence

4) Bundesliga

The 8th and 9th rounds the last two encounters of the seventh round took place over the weekend of 12th-14th December 2008. 144 games were covered live in the internet. Baden-Baden played in Eppingen and beat Kreuzberg (a district of Berlin) and Dresden. Tegernsee lost to Bremen at home. The closest competitor to Baden-Baden is Muelheim who beat Katernberg (a district of Essen), drew with Hamburg and beat Berlin. Muelheim has the most successful player in his squad so far was Russian grandmaster Konstantin Landa with 5,5 out of 6 and a performance of 2985, he added 2/3 with a win and two draws. The Schachbundesliga takes a winter break until the end of January 2009 now.

Official site: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx

Bundesliga 2008-9 (GER), 2 x 2008 - iii 2009
Bad Wiessee (Tegernsee):
Friday, 12th of December, 4 pm (7th round)
TV Tegernsee	5.5-2.5	Bayern Muenchen
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
TV Tegernsee	2.5-5.5	Werder Bremen
Bayern Muenchen	4-4	SK Turm Emsdetten
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
Werder Bremen	5,5-2.5	Bayern Muenchen
SK Turm Emsdetten	4-4	TV Tegernsee
Wattenscheid:
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
SV Wattenscheid	5-3	SC Remagen
Aljechin Solingen	4.5-3.5	SG Turm Trier
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
SC Remagen	2.5-5.5	Aljechin Solingen
SG Turm Trier	3-5	SV Wattenscheid
Katernberg:
Friday, 12th of December, 4 pm (7th round)
SF Katernberg	3.5-4.5	SV Muelheim Nord
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
SF Katernberg	6.5-1.5	SF Berlin
SV Muelheim Nord	4-4	Hamburger SK
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
SF Berlin	2.5-5.5	SV Muelheim Nord
Hamburger SK	5.5-2.5	SF Katernberg
Eppingen:
Saturday, 13th of December, 2 pm (8th round)
SC Eppingen	6-2	SC Kreuzberg
OSG Baden-Baden	7.5-0.5	USV TU Dresden
Sunday, 14th of December, 10 am (9th round)
SC Kreuzberg	3-5	OSG Baden-Baden
USV TU Dresden	2.5-5.5	SC Eppingen

Bundesliga 2008-9 (GER), 2 x 2008 - iii 2009 Round 9 Standings:
1.	OSG Baden-Baden	9	18	54,5
2.	SV Muelheim-Nord	9	15	46,5
3.	SC Eppingen	9	14	41,5
4.	TV Tegernsee	9	13	41,0
5.	Werder Bremen	9	13	41,0
6.	SG Aljechin Solingen	9	13	40,5
7.	SV Wattenscheid	9	12	40,5
8.	SC Kreuzberg	9	11	39,5
9.	Hamburger SK	9	9	35,0
10.	SF Katernberg	9	7	35,5
11.	SK Turm Emsdetten	9	6	33,0
12.	SC Remagen	9	5	33,5
13.	SF Berlin	9	5	26,0
14.	SG Trier	9	2	27,5
15.	FC Bayern Muenchen	9	1	23,0
16.	USV TU Dresden	9	0	17,5

5) Russian Women's Championship

The Russian Women's Championship took place in Moscow 5th-14th December 2008. Nadezhda Kosintseva took clear first place with 6½/9.

Official site: http://russiachess.org

ch-RUS w Superfinal Moscow RUS (RUS), 5-14 xii 2008												cat. VIII (2432)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	RUS	2468	*	½	½	½	1	0	1	1	1	1	6½	2593
2.	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	wf	RUS	2381	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	5½	2517
3.	Kosintseva, Tatiana	m	RUS	2513	½	½	*	1	0	1	½	1	0	1	5½	2502
4.	Romanko, Marina	wg	RUS	2398	½	½	0	*	0	1	½	1	1	0	4½	2435
5.	Shadrina, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2429	0	½	1	1	*	0	½	0	½	1	4½	2432
6.	Korbut, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2459	1	0	0	0	1	*	0	½	½	1	4	2385
7.	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2381	0	½	½	½	½	1	*	0	½	½	4	2394
8.	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2474	0	½	0	0	1	½	1	*	1	0	4	2384
9.	Ovod, Evgenija	m	RUS	2429	0	½	1	0	½	½	½	0	*	1	4	2389
10.	Stepovaia, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2386	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	1	0	*	2½	2270

6) Slovenian Team Championship

The Slovenian Team Championship took place in Murska Sobota 6th-14th December 2008. SD Tehcenter Ptuj (Andrei Volokitin Alexander Beliavsky) won with a perfect score.

Official site: http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0812/si08lgdm/

TCh-SLO Murska Sobota (SLO), 6-14 xii 2008
No.	Team	MT	T	MTB
1	SD Tehcenter Ptuj	18	38.5	231.5
2	ZSK Maribor LANCom	15	36	234.0
3	SK ZM Branik Maribor	11	30	240.0
4	SK Nova Gorica	8	28.5	241.5
5	LSK Metalka Trgovina	10	28	242.0
6	SK Triglav Krsko	9	27.5	242.5
7	SD Radenska Pomgrad MS	7	26.5	243.5
8	SD dr. Milan Vidmar LJ	8	24.5	245.5
9	SD Krka Novo mesto	4	20.5	249.5
10	SK Milan Majcen Sevnica	0	10	260.0

7) 68th Italian Championship

The 68th Italian Championship took place 3rd December - 14th December 2008. Strong favourite Fabiano Caruana took clear first place with 8/11 but he almost did his best to blow it with two losses in a row in rounds 6 and 7.

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

68th ch-ITA Martina Franca (ITA), 3-11 xii 2008													cat. VIII (2448)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2640	*	½	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	½	1	1	8	2606
2.	Godena, Michele	g	ITA	2517	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	7½	2575
3.	Bruno, Fabio	m	ITA	2452	0	½	*	1	1	0	½	½	½	1	1	1	7	2550
4.	Brunello, Sabino	m	ITA	2455	0	½	0	*	½	1	½	1	1	½	½	½	6	2483
5.	Piscopo, Pierluigi	m	ITA	2380	0	½	0	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	6	2490
6.	Genocchio, Daniele	f	ITA	2452	1	0	1	0	½	*	0	0	½	½	1	1	5½	2448
7.	Rombaldoni, Denis	m	ITA	2436	0	½	½	½	0	1	*	½	1	½	0	1	5½	2449
8.	Valsecchi, Alessio		ITA	2342	1	0	½	0	0	1	½	*	1	0	½	½	5	2422
9.	Garcia Palermo, Carlos	g	ITA	2459	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	0	*	1	1	1	5	2411
10.	Dvirnyy, Daniyyl	f	ITA	2458	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	1	0	*	½	0	4	2345
11.	Shytaj, Luca	m	ITA	2472	0	0	0	½	½	0	1	½	0	½	*	1	4	2344
12.	Contin, Daniel	m	ITA	2318	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	0	1	0	*	2½	2249

8) VII Benidorm International Chess Festival

The VII Festival Internacional de Ajedrez takes place in Benidorm, Spain 28th November - 8th December 2008. Vassily Ivanchuk took first place by half a point from Alexei Shirov who beat him in one of their individual games. Games section now complete.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezbali.com/ - Videos: http://www.europe-echecs.com

VII Stars Benidorm (ESP), 5-8 xii 2008										cat. XIII (2564)
					1		2		3		4		5		6
1.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2786	*	*	½	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	8	2760
2.	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2726	½	1	*	*	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	7½	2725
3.	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2686	0	½	0	0	*	*	1	1	1	½	½	1	5½	2576
4.	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2488	0	0	1	0	0	0	*	*	1	0	1	1	4	2507
5.	Vila Gazquez, Xavier	m	ESP	2422	0	0	0	1	0	½	0	1	*	*	½	0	3	2443
6.	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	wg	ESP	2278	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	1	*	*	2	2381

Round 1 (December 5, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Lahno, Kateryna	1-0	31	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Vila Gazquez, Xavier	- Tiviakov, Sergei	0-1	80	B01	Centre Counter
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	- Shirov, Alexei	0-1	34	B81	Sicilian Keres Attack
Round 2 (December 5, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	1-0	46	D23	QGA
Shirov, Alexei	- Vila Gazquez, Xavier	1-0	30	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Lahno, Kateryna	- Tiviakov, Sergei	0-1	48	B01	Centre Counter
Round 3 (December 6, 2008)
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Shirov, Alexei	0-1	24	C24	Bishop's Opening
Vila Gazquez, Xavier	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	0-1	35	B20	Sicilian Wing Gambit
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	- Lahno, Kateryna	0-1	33	B09	Pirc Defence
Round 4 (December 6, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Tiviakov, Sergei	1-0	27	B36	Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Lahno, Kateryna	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	48	C77	Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	- Vila Gazquez, Xavier	½-½	119	B01	Centre Counter
Round 5 (December 6, 2008)
Shirov, Alexei	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	45	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	½-½	49	B80	Sicilian Scheveningen
Vila Gazquez, Xavier	- Lahno, Kateryna	0-1	52	B20	Sicilian Wing Gambit
Round 6 (December 7, 2008)
Shirov, Alexei	- Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	1-0	41	B46	Sicilian Paulsen
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Vila Gazquez, Xavier	½-½	55	B18	Caro Kann
Lahno, Kateryna	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	0-1	63	C90	Ruy Lopez
Round 7 (December 7, 2008)
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Lahno, Kateryna	1-0	114	C24	Bishop's Opening
Vila Gazquez, Xavier	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	43	D05	Colle System
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	0-1	25	B70	Sicilian Dragon
Round 8 (December 7, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Vila Gazquez, Xavier	1-0	23	D20	QGA
Shirov, Alexei	- Tiviakov, Sergei	1-0	40	B01	Centre Counter
Lahno, Kateryna	- Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	1-0	30	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Round 9 (December 8, 2008)
Shirov, Alexei	- Lahno, Kateryna	1-0	29	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	57	B52	Sicilian Rossolimo
Vila Gazquez, Xavier	- Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	0-1	45	B85	Sicilian Scheveningen
Round 10 (December 8, 2008)
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Shirov, Alexei	0-1	68	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Lahno, Kateryna	- Vila Gazquez, Xavier	0-1	23	B29	Sicilian Defence
Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	- Tiviakov, Sergei	0-1	55	B01	Centre Counter

9) 77th Ukrainian Championships

The 77th Ukrainian Championships took place 1st-10th December 2008. Evgenij Miroshnichenko edged out Yuri Drozdovskij on tie-break after both players finished on 6½/9.

Official site: http://www.ukrchess.org.ua/turnir/ukr08mf_Poltava/index.html

77th ch-UKR Poltava (UKR), 2-10 xii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1.	Miroshnichenko, Evgenij	g	UKR	2632	=11	+9	=8	+16	+12	+3	=2	=6	=4	6½	2716
2.	Drozdovskij, Yuri	g	UKR	2587	=14	+21	+22	+7	=3	=4	=1	=5	+6	6½	2720
3.	Korobov, Anton	g	UKR	2605	=15	+11	+20	+8	=2	-1	=6	+12	=5	6	2671
4.	Zubov, Alexander	m	UKR	2564	=21	=14	+23	=6	+8	=2	=12	+11	=1	6	2642
5.	Kuzubov, Yuriy	g	UKR	2622	=6	=10	+19	-12	+14	=15	+7	=2	=3	5½	2622
6.	Kononenko, Dmitry1	g	UKR	2527	=5	=13	+17	=4	+20	+19	=3	=1	-2	5½	2661
7.	Baklan, Vladimir	g	UKR	2625	=9	+15	=16	-2	=11	+20	-5	+18	+12	5½	2620
8.	Borovikov, Vladislav	g	UKR	2580	+23	+19	=1	-3	-4	=10	=13	+15	=9	5	2602
9.	Kovchan, Alexander	g	UKR	2545	=7	-1	+21	=18	=22	=17	=10	+14	=8	5	2593
10.	Zubarev, Alexander1	g	UKR	2546	=13	=5	=18	-20	+25	=8	=9	+24	=11	5	2551
11.	Kravtsiv, Martyn	m	UKR	2549	=1	-3	=14	+17	=7	+16	=15	-4	=10	4½	2565
12.	Nyzhnyk, Illya	f	UKR	2444	+17	=16	=13	+5	-1	+22	=4	-3	-7	4½	2594
13.	Kryvoruchko, Yuriy	g	UKR	2627	=10	=6	=12	=14	-19	+23	=8	=16	=17	4½	2526
14.	Maximov, Dmitry	g	UKR	2497	=2	=4	=11	=13	-5	=18	+21	-9	+24	4½	2526
15.	Tukhaev, Adam	g	UKR	2498	=3	-7	+26	=22	+18	=5	=11	-8	=16	4½	2559
16.	Gasanov, Eldar	g	UKR	2550	+25	=12	=7	-1	=21	-11	+20	=13	=15	4½	2502
17.	Neverov, Valeriy	g	UKR	2571	-12	+25	-6	-11	+24	=9	=26	+19	=13	4½	2466
18.	Oleksienko, Mikhailo	g	UKR	2585	-20	+26	=10	=9	-15	=14	+19	-7	=22	4	2474
19.	Vovk, Yuri	g	UKR	2549	+24	-8	-5	+23	+13	-6	-18	-17	+26	4	2472
20.	Sitnikov, Anton	m	UKR	2480	+18	=22	-3	+10	-6	-7	-16	-23	+25	3½	2449
21.	Boroday, Sergey		UKR	2370	=4	-2	-9	+24	=16	=25	-14	=26	=23	3½	2383
22.	Brodsky, Michail	g	UKR	2550	+26	=20	-2	=15	=9	-12	-24	=25	=18	3½	2374
23.	Zherebukh, Yaroslav	m	UKR	2473	-8	+24	-4	-19	+26	-13	-25	+20	=21	3½	2378
24.	Solovchuk, Alexey		UKR	2285	-19	-23	+25	-21	-17	+26	+22	-10	-14	3	2344
25.	Shtanko, Dmitro		UKR	2301	-16	-17	-24	-26	-10	=21	+23	=22	-20	2	2245
26.	Pavlov, Maxim	m	UKR	2367	-22	-18	-15	+25	-23	-24	=17	=21	-19	2	2244

10) Brazilian Championship

75th Brazilian Championship takes place in Porto Alegre, capital of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul 7th-16th December, 2008. 12 players (round robin tournament) with top seed GMs Giovanni Vescovi, Rafael Leitao, Gilberto Milos and Alexandr Fier.

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

75th ch-BRA Porto Alegre (BRA), 7-16 xii 2008													cat. IX (2470)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	2635	*	½	.	.	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	0	6½	2611
2.	Leitao, Rafael	g	BRA	2590	½	*	½	½	½	.	½	.	1	1	1	1	6½	2615
3.	Diamant, Andre	m	BRA	2412	.	½	*	1	.	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	6½	2609
4.	Fier, Alexandr	g	BRA	2581	.	½	0	*	½	1	½	1	½	.	1	1	6	2582
5.	Milos, Gilberto	g	BRA	2593	0	½	.	½	*	.	½	½	½	1	1	1	5½	2540
6.	Lima, Darcy	g	BRA	2488	0	.	½	0	.	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	5½	2520
7.	Bittencourt, Jorge	m	BRA	2455	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	.	½	½	.	1	5	2506
8.	Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag	m	BRA	2511	0	.	1	0	½	0	.	*	½	½	½	1	4	2410
9.	Oliveira, Silvio Eduardo		BRA	2345	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	.	.	3½	2427
10.	Barreto Filho, Carlos Alberto		BRA	2300	0	0	0	.	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	.	2	2283
11.	Di Berardino, Diego Rafael	m	BRA	2502	0	0	0	0	0	0	.	½	.	½	*	1	2	2261
12.	Gattas, Allan		BRA	2223	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.	.	0	*	1	2178

11) Figueira da Foz Open

The Figueira da Foz Open took place 30th November - 7th December 2008. Kevin Spraggett took first place on tie-break from Anton Kovalyov and Dragan Paunovic after all scored 7.5/9.

Figueira da Foz Open (POR), 30 ix - 7 xii 2008
Rk.	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Spraggett Kevin	GM	CAN	2597	7.5	19575	38	30
2	Kovalyov Anton	GM	ARG	2571	7.5	19562	39.5	29.5
3	Paunovic Dragan	GM	SRB	2532	7.5	19023	38.5	29
4	Petkov Vladimir	GM	BUL	2484	6.5	18560	35	29
5	Perez Garcia Rodney	IM	CUB	2436	6	18826	33.5	27
6	Ravi Lanka	IM	IND	2371	6	18432	33	27
7	Dias Paulo	FM	POR	2406	6	17206	27	24
8	Rotstein Arkadij	GM	GER	2496	6	16567	31	29
9	Galvao Henrique		POR	2200	6	14899	27.5	24
10	Romanishin Oleg M	GM	UKR	2532	5.5	18878	32	29
11	Ferreira Jorge Viterbo		POR	2153	5.5	17957	30	24.5
12	Leite Catarina	WIM	POR	2153	5.5	17571	29	25
13	Silva Stephane		POR	2210	5.5	16951	26.5	23
14	Nebolsina Vera	WGM	RUS	2340	5	17802	28	24.5
15	Cruz Jorge Filipe Egas Da		POR	2139	5	17684	27	25
16	Chemeris Roman	FM	UKR	2265	5	17187	27.5	23
17	Santos Antonio P		POR	2279	5	16655	26	21
18	Redondo Arguelles Graciela	WFM	ESP	2102	5	16331	23.5	21
19	Ribeiro Fernando	FM	POR	2266	5	15635	30.5	24
20	Abella Vazquez Cesar		ESP	2132	5	15331	25	23.5
21	Beltran Edda		ESP	1906	5	15046	22	21.5
51 players

12) Nea Filadelfia Autumn

The Nea Filadelfia Autumn tournament took place 20th October - 27th Novebmer 2008. Marios Tassopoulos took clear first with 8.5/11.

Autumn Nea Filadelfia (GRE), 20 x-27 xi 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Tassopoulos, Marios		GRE	2280	*	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	8½	2337
2.	Kostopoulos, Evangellos		GRE	2179	½	*	1	0	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	8	2311
3.	Ilandzis, Spyridon		GRE	2147	½	0	*	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	7½	2271
4.	Delithanasis, Dimitrios		GRE	2251	½	1	½	*	1	½	0	1	0	½	1	1	7	2231
5.	Klokas, Konstantinos		GRE	2175	½	½	0	0	*	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	7	2238
6.	Poteas, Ioannis		GRE	2164	0	½	½	½	0	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	6½	2202
7.	Skalkotas, Nikolaos	m	GRE	2276	0	0	½	1	0	½	*	½	0	1	1	1	5½	2127
8.	Konistis, Loukas		GRE	2035	0	0	0	0	1	0	½	*	1	½	½	1	4½	2084
9.	Kaldis, Georgios		GRE	2011	0	0	0	1	0	½	1	0	*	½	½	½	4	2049
10.	Vazelakis, Dimitrios		GRE	2089	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	*	½	1	3	1969
11.	Geroukalis, Athanasios		GRE	1996	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	2½	1941
12.	Andronis, Vasilios		GRE	2072	½	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	*	2	1883

13) III Open Palma de Mallorca

The III Open Palma de Mallorca took place 6th-14th December 2008. Stewart Haslinger finished with 7.5/9. Games from rounds 8-9 are not yet available.

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

III Open Palma de Mallorca (ESP), 6-14 xii 2008
Rank	Name	Ti	FED	EloInt	Pts	vict	BUC	Prog
1	Haslinger, Stewart G	GM	ENG	2506	7½	7	42	38½
2	Svetushkin, Dmitry	GM	MDA	2588	7	7	43	37
3	Safarli, Eltaj	GM	AZE	2568	7	5	41½	37½
4	Cabrera, Alexis	GM	ESP	2507	7	5	41	37
5	Narciso Dublan, Marc	GM	ESP	2511	6½	5	39	33
6	Arizmendi Martinez, Julen Luis	GM	ESP	2497	6½	5	36½	34
7	Kveinys, Aloyzas	GM	LTU	2533	6½	4	40	34
8	Rowson, Jonathan	GM	SCO	2596	6½	4	39	31
9	Libiszewski, Fabien	IM	FRA	2487	6½	4	37	32½
10	Mikkelsen, Nikolaj	IM	DEN	2441	6	6	34½	29
11	D`costa, Lorin A R	IM	ENG	2411	6	5	41½	35½
12	Arutinian, David	GM	GEO	2584	6	5	39½	31½
13	Andres Gonzalez, Alberto	IM	ESP	2465	6	5	39	32½
14	Saravanan, V	IM	IND	2417	6	5	36	31
15	Durarbeyli, Vasif	IM	AZE	2434	6	5	34	30
16	Asis Gargatagli, Hipolit	IM	ESP	2408	6	4	41½	34
17	Savchenko, Stanislav	GM	UKR	2565	6	4	40½	35½
18	Edouard, Romain	IM	FRA	2531	6	4	38	32½
19	Alonso Rosell, Alvar	FM	ESP	2416	6	4	38	32
20	Djuric, Stefan	GM	SRB	2463	6	4	35	29
21	Gonzales, Jayson	GM	PHI	2468	5½	5	37½	30½
22	Venkatesh, M R	IM	IND	2468	5½	5	37	30
23	Bellia, Fabrizio	IM	ITA	2403	5½	5	35½	28½
24	Ibanez Aullana, Jose Ramon		ESP	2308	5½	5	34	26½
25	Thinius, Marco	IM	GER	2421	5½	5	33½	29
26	Aloma Vidal, Robert	IM	ESP	2399	5½	5	32	23½
27	Garcia Roman, Daniel	IM	ESP	2446	5½	4	38½	31½
28	Garcia Del Rey, Senen		ESP	2295	5½	4	38½	31
29	Karim, Ismael	IM	MAR	2392	5½	4	35	28
30	Henrichs, Thomas	IM	GER	2485	5½	4	32½	26
31	Pogorelov, Ruslan	GM	UKR	2441	5½	3	37½	30½
32	Devereaux, Maxim L	IM	ENG	2415	5½	3	34½	28½
33	Belezky, Alexander	IM	UKR	2466	5½	2	36½	31
34	Sundararajan, Kidambi	IM	IND	2501	5½	2	36	31
126 players

14) UTD Internationals

The UTD Invitational ran from November 26-30 and had two sections, an IM-norm section and a GM-norm section 26th-30th November 2008 in Richardson USA. Julio Becerra Rivero won the GM event with 6½/9. My thanks to Gary Suffield for downloading the games.

Detailed report: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8961/422/

UTD Invitational GM Richardson (USA), 26-30 xi 2008												cat. X (2492)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Becerra Rivero, Julio	g	USA	2602	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	6½	2645
2.	Ramirez, Alejandro	g	CRC	2533	½	*	½	0	½	1	1	½	1	1	6	2612
3.	Kuljasevic, Davorin	m	CRO	2521	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	5	2531
4.	Stopa, Jacek	m	POL	2461	0	1	½	*	1	0	0	1	½	1	5	2538
5.	Kudrin, Sergey	g	USA	2553	½	½	½	0	*	½	1	½	½	1	5	2528
6.	Wang Puchen	m	NZL	2450	0	0	½	1	½	*	1	½	½	½	4½	2496
7.	Zivanic, Marko	m	SRB	2465	0	0	½	1	0	0	*	1	1	½	4	2451
8.	Bartholomew, John	m	USA	2453	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	*	½	½	3½	2416
9.	Bercys, Salvijus	m	USA	2428	0	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	3	2373
10.	Boskovic, Drasko	m	SRB	2452	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	2½	2330

UTD Invitational IM Richardson (USA), 26-30 xi 2008												cat. II (2298)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Kraai, Jesse	g	USA	2502	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	7	2495
2.	Annakov, Babakuli	g	USA	2455	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	6	2405
3.	Schneider, Igor	f	USA	2397	½	½	*	1	½	1	0	1	1	0	5½	2367
4.	Vaidya, C.N		IND	2170	½	½	0	*	1	½	1	½	1	½	5½	2392
5.	Bayaraa, Zorigt	wf	MGL	2203	0	0	½	0	*	½	1	1	1	1	5	2351
6.	Kiewra, Keaton F	f	USA	2380	½	½	0	½	½	*	0	1	½	1	4½	2288
7.	Bantic, Mihail		SRB	2195	0	0	1	0	0	1	*	½	1	1	4½	2309
8.	Vedrickas, Tautvydas		LTU	2268	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	1	3½	2221
9.	Lopez, Nelson M ii		USA	2173	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	*	1	2	2091
10.	Guadalupe, Francisco II		USA	2237	0	0	1	½	0	0	0	0	0	*	1½	2031

15) VII Pereyra Puebla Memorial

The VII Pereyra Puebla Memorial (ITT Sheraton) took place in Mendoza Argentina 5th-12th December 2008. Ernesto Real de Azua won the event with 7/9.

News: http://scalise.fortunecity.com which is Luis Scalise's new site with more bandwidth.

VII Pereyra Puebla Mem Mendoza (ARG), 5-12 xii 2008												cat. IV (2326)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Real de Azua, Ernesto	m	ARG	2413	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	7	2536
2.	Salguero, Francisco	f	ARG	2336	½	*	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	6½	2490
3.	Lopez Silva, Hugo		CHI	2410	½	1	*	0	½	½	½	0	1	1	5	2359
4.	Perez Ponsa, Federico	f	ARG	2363	0	½	1	*	½	0	½	1	½	1	5	2364
5.	Van Riemsdijk, Herman C	m	BRA	2403	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	½	½	4½	2317
6.	Luconi, Cristian		ARG	2300	0	0	½	1	½	*	0	½	½	1	4	2285
7.	Castro, Oscar H	m	COL	2395	0	0	½	½	½	1	*	0	½	1	4	2275
8.	Zuriel, Marisa	wm	ARG	2189	0	0	1	0	0	½	1	*	½	1	4	2298
9.	Granara Barreto, Sebastian A	f	URU	2260	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	0	3	2208
10.	Herrera, Martin		ARG	2191	0	½	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	*	2	2121

16) XVIII Magistral Elgoibar

The XVIII Magistral Elgoibar takes place 12th-19th December 2008. Azer Mirzoev leads with 3.5/4.

Official site

XVIII Magistral Elgoibar ESP (ESP), 12-19 xii 2008												cat. X (2486)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Mirzoev, Azer	g	AZE	2567	*	½	.	1	.	.	1	.	.	1	3½	2816
2.	Paunovic, Dragan	g	SRB	2532	½	*	.	½	1	.	.	1	.	.	3	2680
3.	Korneev, Oleg	g	RUS	2623	.	.	*	.	1	.	.	0	1	1	3	2604
4.	Cruz, Cristhian	f	PER	2534	0	½	.	*	.	½	1	.	.	.	2	2514
5.	Pena Gomez, Manuel	f	ESP	2467	.	0	0	.	*	1	.	1	.	.	2	2506
6.	Franco Alonso, Alejandro	m	ESP	2490	.	.	.	½	0	*	.	.	½	1	2	2449
7.	Larino Nieto, David	m	ESP	2469	0	.	.	0	.	.	*	.	1	1	2	2474
8.	Gonzalez de la Torre, Santiago	f	ESP	2382	.	0	1	.	0	.	.	*	½	.	1½	2421
9.	Narayanan, Srinath	f	IND	2412	.	.	0	.	.	½	0	½	*	.	1	2298
10.	Argandona Riveiro, Inigo	m	ESP	2385	0	.	0	.	.	0	0	.	.	*	0

17) Championship of Israel

34th Israel Chess Championship took place November 30th - December 12th, 2008 at the MadaTech chess club in Haifa, Israel. PlayE4 contributed the 1st prize 10,000 ILS (about $2,570). Boris Avrukh edged out Ilia Smirin, Victor Mikhalevski and Maxim Rodstein on tie-break, prior to the final round they were all tied on tie-break!

Website: http://www.playe4.com/

34th ch-ISR Haifa (ISR), 1-12 xii 2008
1-4	Avrukh, Boris	2657	2720	6.5	48.5
	Smirin, Ilia	2649	2657	6.5	48.0
	Mikhalevski, Victor	2602	2609	6.5	44.5
	Rodshtein, Maxim	2609	2610	6.5	44.0
5-7	Huzman, Alexander	2590	2594	6	44.5
	Bykhovsky, Anatoly	2447	2490	6	44.5
	Lerner, Konstantin	2542	2573	6	42.5
8-11	Postny, Evgeny	2674	2682	5.5	48.5
	Vydeslaver, Alik	2399	2421	5.5	47.0
	Nabaty, Tamir	2456	2482	5.5	43.0
	Klenburg, Mikhail	2403	2406	5.5	42.0
12-16	Golod, Vitaly	2584	2590	5	48.5
	Baron, Tal	2299	2367	5	45.0
	Greenfeld, Alon	2560	2561	5	42.0
	Tseitlin, Mark	2437	2427	5	41.5
	Raznikov, Danny	2251	2366	5	38.0
17-23	Roiz, Michael	2677	2675	4.5	46.5
	Kantsler, Boris	2491	2491	4.5	45.5
	Gofshtein, Leonid	2546	2548	4.5	44.5
	Caspi, Israel	2408	2378	4.5	43.0
	Pruzhanski, Genrich	2316	2389	4.5	41.5
	Berkovich, Mark A	2409	2402	4.5	38.5
	Porat, Ido	2363	2360	4.5	36.0
24-30	Gershkowich, David	2341	2350	4	45.5
	Zilberman, Yaacov	2447	2433	4	45.0
	Tarnopolsky, Anatoly	2301	2324	4	38.0
	Popilski, Gil	2394	2407	4	36.0
	Kaplivatski, Alexander	2286	2288	4	36.0
	Gukhvat, Peter	2196	2245	4	35.5
	Aharon, Ofir	2118		4	34.0
31-33	Kataev, Simho	2315	2360	3.5	43.0
	Vasiliev, Olga	2235	2257	3.5	33.5
	Vovinkina, Natalia	2147	2106	3.5	31.0
34-36	Porat, Maya	2167	2224	3	36.5
	Zak, Uri	2205	2246	3	35.0
	Miller, Evgeny	2291	2330	3	30.5
37-40	Chernomordik, Pavel	2302	2335	2.5	35.5
	Igla, Bella	2254	2254	2.5	34.5
	Atnilov, Bela	2119	2123	2.5	31.5
	Efroimski, Marsel	2052	2079	2.5	31.5

18) Carlos Torre Memorial

The XXI Carlos Torre Memorial takes place in Merida, Yucutan, Mexico 13th-22nd December 2008. The event consists of a Swiss system event which then splits off to a knockout with those leading the swiss after 6 rounds going on to play the stars starting on December 17th. I couldn't find a list of the names of the leading players in the KO. Ivanchuk has won the event several times but clearly he's not playing this year. There have been three rounds so far.

Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/inicio2008.htm

19) Scaccomatto Open

Adolivio Capece reports: IM Daniele Vocaturo, 18 years old, from Roma, won the master group in the tournament "Scaccomatto 2008" in Turin with 7/9. Another great victory of the young italian IM. Unfortunately he had not the chance to met 3 GMs and so he cannot made his second GM norm. He got the first norm some weeks ago winning the strong Open "Rhode" in Sautron (France). Secon place for Milan Mrdja from Croatia, 6.5. Third place ex aequo for GM Alexander Dgebuadze (Belgio), GM Imre Hera (Hungary), the italian IM Giulio Borgo and the outsider wgm Cristina Foisor (Rumenia) 6 points. Games from rounds 1-8 now available.

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

Scaccomatto Open (ITA), 1-8 xii 2008
#	Name	cat	ELO	pts	BH	SB
1	Vocaturo Daniele	IM	2383	7	50½
2	Mrdja Milan	IM	2401	6½	48½
3	Dgebuadze Alexandre	GM	2544	6	50
4	Hera Imre Jr.	GM	2530	6	48½
5	Borgo Giulio	IM	2426	6	48	31
6	Foisor Cristina Adela	IM	2365	6	48	29½
7	Benitah Yohan	IM	2428	5½	48½
8	Vuelban Virgilio	FM	2390	5½	48
9	Foisor Ovidiu Doru	IM	2408	5½	47	27
10	Mogranzini Roberto	IM	2414	5½	47	26½
11	Giffard Nicolas	IM	2376	5½	44
12	Sarno Spartaco	IM	2336	5½	43½
13	Vernay Clovis	IM	2341	5½	41½
14	Naumkin Igor	GM	2506	5	47½
15	Skembris Spyridon	GM	2422	5	45
16	Fierro Baquero Martha L.	IM	2361	5	44½	22¼
17	Trabert Bettina	WGM	2289	5	44½	21¾
18	Midoux Sebastien		2346	5	44
19	Saccona Silvano	CM	2172	5	42½
20	Vezzosi Paolo	IM	2337	5	41½
21	Tate Alan		2144	5	40½
22	Finocchiaro Gianluca	CM	2026	5	34½
23	Gallucci Alessio	CM	2197	4½	40	18
44 players

20) Milan

The Crespi Memorial organized by Societa Scacchistica Milanese (founded in 1881) took place in Milano, Italy December 6th-13th 2008. Karen Movsziszian took clear first place with 7.5/9. Games from the first three rounds only are available.

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

Crespi Mem Milan (ITA), 6-13 xii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
Pos	NAME	Fed.	Rtg	Pts	Buc1	BucT	ARO	Cmlt
1	Movsziszian Karen	ARM	2558	7.5	45.5	50	2399.11	42
2	Solodovnichenko Yuri	UKR	2591	6.5	48	52.5	2379.88	29
3	Salvador Roland	PHI	2464	6.5	44	47	2377.78	33
4	Trent Lawrence	ENG	2470	6.5	44	47	2359.89	33.5
5	Barsov Alexei	UZB	2513	6	46	50.5	2391.89	33
6	Sulashvili Malkhaz	GEO	2495	6	36.5	39	2195.56	28
7	Kasparov Sergey	BLR	2492	5.5	47.5	51	2404.11	32.5
8	Drazic Sinisa	SRB	2528	5.5	45.5	48	2356.89	31
9	Morchiashvili Bachan	GEO	2411	5.5	44	47.5	2320.22	29.5
10	Stella Andrea	ITA	2234	5.5	41.5	45	2307.44	29.5
11	Rettore Ludwig	ITA	2171	5.5	33	35.5	2134.11	24
12	Bove Alessandro	ITA	2246	5	45	49	2344.56	29.5
13	Ljubicic Filip	CRO	2415	5	40.5	44.5	2233.78	26.5
14	Profumo Alberto	ITA	2230	5	39.5	43.5	2185	24
15	Bozzali Ermanno	ITA	2154	5	38.5	40.5	2242.25	22.5
16	Brigati Alessandro	ITA	2090	5	34.5	37	2167.38	15.5
48 players

21) Greek Championship

The Greek Championship took place 30th November - 12th December 2008. Hristos Banikas took clear first place with 8/11.

Official site: http://www.chessfed.gr/

58th ch-GRE Rhodes (GRE), 30 xi-10 xii 2008												cat. VIII (2433)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1
1.	Banikas, Hristos	g	GRE	2572	*	½	1	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	8	2659
2.	Papaioannou, Ioannis	g	GRE	2597	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	7	2565
3.	Kapnisis, Spyridon	m	GRE	2418	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	7	2583
4.	Kotronias, Vasilios	g	GRE	2587	0	½	½	*	1	0	1	1	1	½	1	6½	2527
5.	Nikolaidis, Ioannis	g	GRE	2529	½	½	½	0	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	6	2495
6.	Mastrovasilis, Athanasios	g	GRE	2495	½	0	0	1	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	6	2498
7.	Papadopoulos, Ioannis K	m	GRE	2452	½	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	1	1	1	5½	2467
8.	Gavrilakis, Nikolaos	m	GRE	2426	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	0	1	3	2284
9.	Filippas, Sebastian		GRE	2221	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	1	3	2305
10.	Darmarakis, Mihail		GRE	2194	0	½	0	½	0	0	0	1	0	*	½	2½	2263
11.	Dagkakis, Panagiotis		GRE	2272	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	*	½	1979

22) Gibtelecom Chess Festival ICC Qualifier

Details: http://www.chessclub.com/activities/gibraltar_2009/

The 2nd Gibtelecom Qualifier took place on the ICC December 13th-14th 2008. Nearly 400 players started battling it out through two hotly-contested large swiss events for the coveted 8 spots for the finals on the Sunday. Time control 3,0 blitz.

And just like last year's inaugural event, again there was an all-titled line-up for the finals on the Suday with (in ICC rating order): 1. IM Anton Kovalyov (Argentina), 2. GM Alexey Dreev (Russia), 3. FM Federico Perez Ponsa (Argentina), 4. IM Levon Atounian (USA), 5. GM Yuri Vovk (Ukraine), 6. IM Gaby Livshitz (Israel), 7. GM Mark Hebden (England), 8. GM Sergei Azarov (Belarus).

It was the young turks who prevailed over the veterans as 19-year-old FM Federico Perez Ponsa (Argentina) and 20-year-old GM Yuri Vovk (Ukraine) fought it out for the top prize, with the Ukrainian winning the tussle 3.5-2.5.

Prizes:

GM Yuri Vovk - Gibraltar package
FM Federico Perez Ponsa - USD $400
GM Mark Hebden - USD $150
IM Anton Kovalyov - USD $150

¤	1/4 FINAL	1/2 FINAL	FINAL
1 8	IM Anton Kovalyov (ARGENTINA, 3419) 5.0 GM Sergei Azarov (BELARUS, 2764) 3.0	IM Kovalyov 3.0 GM Vovk 5.0	GM Vovk 3.5 FM Ponsa 2.5
4 5	IM Levon Altounian (USA, 2945) 3.0 GM Yuri Vovk (UKRAINE, 2944) 5.0	IM Kovalyov 3.0 GM Vovk 5.0
2 7	GM Alexey Dreev (RUSSIA, 3250) 0.5 GM Mark Hebden (ENGLAND, 2779) 2.5	GM Hebden 2.5 FM Ponsa 3.5
3 6	FM Federico Perez Ponsa (ARGENTINA, 3163) 3.0 IM Gaby Livshitz (ISRAEL, 2930) 1.0	GM Hebden 2.5 FM Ponsa 3.5

23) First Saturday

The First Saturday tournaments take place in Hungary 6th-16th December 2008.

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

FSGM December Budapest (HUN), 6-18 xii 2008													cat. VIII (2446)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3
1.	Varga, Zoltan	g	HUN	2494	*	½	½	.	1	.	.	½	½	.	½	½	1	5	2528
2.	Ilincic, Zlatko	g	SRB	2542	½	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	½	½	1	½	1	5	2523
3.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2511	½	½	*	½	½	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	1	4½	2580
4.	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	m	VIE	2452	.	.	½	*	.	½	½	.	½	½	1	1	.	4½	2523
5.	Bromberger, Stefan	m	GER	2504	0	½	½	.	*	1	.	½	.	.	0	1	1	4½	2477
6.	Duong The Anh	m	VIE	2420	.	.	.	½	0	*	½	.	½	1	1	½	½	4½	2465
7.	Prohaszka, Peter2	m	HUN	2502	.	.	½	½	.	½	*	½	1	½	½	.	.	4	2478
8.	Matsenko, Sergei	m	RUS	2447	½	.	.	.	½	.	½	*	0	½	½	½	1	4	2427
9.	Skomorokhin, Roman	m	RUS	2400	½	½	.	½	.	½	0	1	*	0	.	.	.	3	2423
10.	Rohit, Gogineni	m	IND	2457	.	½	0	½	.	0	½	½	1	*	.	.	.	3	2417
11.	Gara, Anita	wg	HUN	2312	½	0	.	0	1	0	½	½	.	.	*	.	.	2½	2378
12.	Paschall, William M	m	USA	2351	½	½	.	0	0	½	.	½	.	.	.	*	½	2½	2363
13.	Toth, Ervin	f	HUN	2401	0	0	0	.	0	½	.	0	.	.	.	½	*	1	2158

FSIM December Budapest (HUN), 6-18 xii 2008													cat. I (2256)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3
1.	Demir, Gokhan		TUR	2239	*	½	½	1	.	.	.	.	½	½	1	1	½	5½	2395
2.	Szalanczy, Emil	m	HUN	2343	½	*	.	.	½	1	1	0	.	.	1	.	½	4½	2368
3.	Yatzenko, Anton		RUS	2267	½	.	*	0	.	.	.	.	½	½	1	1	1	4½	2340
4.	Toth, Lili	wm	HUN	2194	0	.	1	*	.	1	.	1	1	.	.	0	.	4	2366
5.	Kislik, Erik Andrew		USA	2278	.	½	.	.	*	0	½	1	.	1	0	.	1	4	2320
6.	Kahn, Evarth	m	HUN	2297	.	0	.	0	1	*	½	.	½	1	½	.	½	4	2262
7.	Stigar, Petter	f	NOR	2299	.	0	.	.	½	½	*	.	½	1	½	.	½	3½	2272
8.	Bacso, Gabor	f	HUN	2181	.	1	.	0	0	.	.	*	½	0	½	½	1	3½	2213
9.	Juhasz, Kristof		HUN	2214	½	.	½	0	.	½	½	½	*	.	.	½	.	3	2196
10.	Adams, Nick A		USA	2205	½	.	½	.	0	0	0	1	.	*	.	1	.	3	2208
11.	Bravetti, Antonio		ITA	2205	0	0	0	.	1	½	½	½	.	.	*	.	.	2½	2170
12.	Simonyi, Zoltan	f	SRB	2248	0	.	0	1	.	.	.	½	½	0	.	*	½	2½	2135
13.	Karolyi, Tibor jr	m	HUN	2363	½	½	0	.	0	½	½	0	.	.	.	½	*	2½	2128

24) 5th Singapore Masters

The 5th Singapore Masters took place 10th-14th December 2008. Richard Bitoon took clear first with 6.5/9.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr17292.aspx?art=1&rd=9&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&m=-1 I couldn't find any games at: http://www.singaporechess.org.sg/

5th Singapore Masters (SIN), 10-14 xii 2008
Rk.	Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	Bitoon Richard	PHI	2439	6.5	49	34.25
2	Paragua Mark	PHI	2526	6	49	31.5
3	Megaranto Susanto	INA	2536	6	46.5	28.5
4	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	VIE	2567	6	46	29.5
5	Sadorra Julio Catalino	PHI	2431	6	45.5	30.25
6	Bui Vinh	VIE	2507	6	45	29.75
7	Dao Thien Hai	VIE	2510	6	45	29
8	Nguyen Thanh Son	VIE	2434	6	45	27.5
9	Panchanathan Magesh Chandran	IND	2493	6	42.5	25.75
10	Laxman R.R.	IND	2468	5.5	51	29.75
11	Nguyen Anh Dung	VIE	2496	5.5	46.5	27
12	Filippov Anton	UZB	2543	5.5	46.5	25.75
13	Zhao Jun	CHN	2568	5.5	40	23.75
14	Tirto	INA	2406	5	44.5	23
15	Yu Ruiyuan	CHN	2261	5	42	19.5
16	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	INA	2303	5	42	18.75
17	Dimakiling Oliver	PHI	2448	5	40.5	19
18	Yap Kim Steven	PHI	2386	4.5	48.5	24.25
19	Ballecer Dino	PHI	2410	4.5	44	18.75
20	Chiong Luis	PHI	2361	4.5	41.5	19.5
21	Nadanian Ashot	ARM	2445	4.5	41	19.5
22	Chan Yi-Ren Daniel	SIN	2260	4.5	38.5	17.75
23	Shen Siyuan	CHN	2303	4.5	38	14.5
24	Chua Zheng Yuan Terry	SIN	2139	4.5	35.5	15
25	Thejkumar M. S.	IND	2441	4.5	34.5	14.5
26	Nguyen Van Huy	VIE	2422	4	43	14.75
42 players

25) Copa PDV Sur

The Torneo Internacional Copa PDV Sur took place in Buenos Aires - Club Argentino de Ajedrez - 30th November - 11th December 2008. IM Sandro Mareco won with an impressive 8/9.

Official site: http://www.argentinodeajedrez.com.ar/index.htm

1st Copa PDV Sur Buenos Aires (ARG), 30 xi-11 xii 2008 Final Round 9 Standings:
1	Mareco. Sandro	IM	ARG	2481	8	55	42	48
2	Liascovich. Lucas	IM	ARG	2430	7	56	39	42.5
3	Mayorga. Nicolas	FM	ARG	2274	7	51.5	36	38
4	Rodriguez Vila. Andres	GM	URU	2508	7	50.5	36	37
5	Bronstein. Luis Marcos	IM	ARG	2378	7	49	35.5	36
6	Perez Pietronave. Carlos	FM	ARG	2188	7	46.5	35	34
7	Julia. Ernesto	FM	ARG	2367	7	44.5	33.5	34.5
8	Pierrot. Facundo	IM	ARG	2420	6.5	56.5	36	36
9	Garcia. Raimundo	IM	ARG	2340	6.5	51.5	32.5	35.25
10	Tristan. Leonardo		ARG	2393	6.5	51	36.5	34
11	Meza. Hugo		ARG	2317	6.5	48.5	33	33.25
12	Wisniacki. Flavio		ARG	2289	6.5	45.5	30	30.75
13	De Cara. Juan Antonio		ARG	0	6.5	44	27	29.75
14	Virgillito. Cristian		ARG	2172	6.5	42	32.5	30.25
15	Alonso. Salvador	IM	ARG	2446	6	54.5	35	34.5
16	Dos Santos. Ramiro	FM	ARG	2435	6	52.5	36	33
17	Goldwaser. Christian		ARG	2396	6	49.5	31	29.25
18	Ocampos. Ian		ARG	1898	6	49	29	30.5
19	Bielicki. Carlos	IM	ARG	2365	6	48	31	32.25
20	Lopez. Diego		ARG	2154	6	47.5	30.5	28.25
21	Pichot. Alan	FM	ARG	1925	6	47	28.5	27.5
22	Cori T.. Deysi	WIM	PER	2279	6	46.5	32.5	26
23	Jimenez. Joaquin		ARG	2249	6	46.5	32.5	27.75
24	Fernandez.Florencia		ARG	2095	6	46.5	30	26
25	Krysa. (R)Leandro		ARG	2100	6	46	30.5	31.25
26	Arenas. Sergio		ARG	2155	6	45	30	27.25
27	Goiriz. Y Damian		PAR	2072	6	44.5	27	21
28	Paniagua Chnelik. Sebastia		ARG	2094	6	43	29	20.75
29	Zeta. Rodrigo		ARG	2049	6	42	28	24
30	Malbran. Guillermo	IM	ARG	2247	6	39	31	23.75
31	Restuccia. Francisco		ARG	2126	6	38.5	27	23.5
32	Cori. Jorge	FM	PER	2380	5.5	55.5	36.5	31
157 players

26) WBX Team Tournament

A team tournament called WBX Team Tournament took place in Edmonton, Alberta Canada between Dec 13-14, 2008. Each team consisted of 3 participants and the average rating of teams did not exceed 1900 at the time of their registration. A Team called "E4 Effort" from the province of Saskatchewan won the event with 11.5/15 This team consisted of: Robert Sasata (2267), Jamin Gluckie (2080) and Josh Timm (1354). Second place went to: " Rybka Incarnate" which also had two players from Saskatchewan and an FM from Calgary, Alberta. They received 11/15 points and consisted of: FM Eric Hansen (2362), Chris Achtemichuk (1677) and Tyler Janzen (1586). Report: Vlad Rekhson.

27) Groningen Chess Festival

The annual Groningen Chess Festival takes place December 21st-30th 2008. It will be held in the renowned Harmoniegebouw, closely related to the 1946 Staunton tournament won by Botwinnik. In several groups players of all strengths will compete with some strong Dutch and international contenders playing in the top group. The 45th edition of the Groningen Chess Festival will also feature a match between two young Dutch grandmasters. Groningen based law student Jan Werle, who became EC champion in October, will face this year's Dutch champion Jan Smeets. Both players were members of the Dutch team that competed at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. Games will be played between 25th and 29th December. Rapid games will decide the outcome of the match on December 30th 2008 if required. Hans Boehm and former Dutch champion Gert Ligterink will provide live commentary during the match. The Groningen Chess Festival is organised by the Stichting Schaakstad Groningen.

Official site: http://www.schaakstadgroningen.nl/index.php/festival-2008

28) 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament takes place 27th December 2008 - 4th January 2009. Zoltan Almasi will defend the trophy won last year in a category 14 tournament. Two strong young italian IMs , Ronchetti and Shytaj will try their chances for a GM norm. This year also a B tournament , category 5, for the IM norm will take place:

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

51st Reggio Emilia Tournament (ITA), 27 xii 2008 - 4 i 2009
1.	GM	Ni Hua	CHN	2710
2.	GM	Zoltan Almasi	HUN	2663
3.	GM	Gadir Guseinov	AZE	2650
4.	GM	Konstantin Landa	RUS	2613
5.	GM	Mihail Marin	ROM	2556
6.	GM	Manuel Leon Hoyos	MEX	2535
7.	GM	Alexey Dreev	RUS	2670
8.	GM	Miso Cebalo	CRO	2493
9.	IM	Luca Shytaj	ITA	2472
10.	IM	Niccolò Ronchetti	ITA	2414

51st Reggio Emilia Tournament B (ITA), 27 xii 2008 - 4 i 2009
1.	IM	Kovacevic Blazhimir	CRO	2472
2.	IM	Galyas Miklos	HUN	2454
3.	IM	Gunnarsson Jon Viktor	ICE	2430
4.	FM	Thorfinsson Bjorn	ICE	2399
5.	FM	Corvi Marco	ITA	2343
6.	FM	Rombaldoni Axel	ITA	2334
7.	FM	Lucaroni Massimiliano	ITA	2320
8.	FM	Cocchi Andrea	ITA	2305
9.	M	Pomaro Alberto	ITA	2254
10.	M	Barillaro Luca	ITA	2202

29) Ivanchuk - Leko Match

Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko will play a 6 game rapid match in Mukachevo , Ukraine 3rd-5th January 2009. Time control: (6 rounds, 25 min + 10 sec per move).

Schedule: * January 2 2009: o 18:00 - official open ceremony * January 3 2009: o 15:30 - 1-st round o 17:00 - 2-nd round * January 4 2009: o 15:30 - 3-d round o 17:00 - 4-th round * January 5 2009: o 15:30 - 5-d round o 17:00 - 6-th round o 19:00 - official close ceremony

According to google with the offical site: http://www.ivanchukleko2009.com and http://chess32x64.org/ (Ukrainian language) had problems with trojans, but this has been definitively fixed now.

30) Manchester NH Swiss

George Mirijanian reports: The Manchester December Swiss took place December 6th 2008 at the Best Western Executive Court Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. Sharing top honors with scores of 3.5-0.5 were GM Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Massachusetts, and IM David Vigorito of Lowell, Mass. Both drew each other in the third round. Tying for third place with 2-2 tallies were national master Henry "Hal" Terrie of Manchester and U.S. Chess Federation Class A-rated contestants Roger Pedersen of New York state and John Phythyon Sr. of Maine. The tournament drew 17 players in two sections and was directed by FIDE arbiter F. Alexander Relyea of Bedford, New Hampshire, assisted by Nita Paterl, also of Bedford.

31) A few events

I thought I'd added some games from the Chinese League Torch Real Estate Cup in a previous issue but it seems I didn't. Also there are games from the Cap D'Agde main open won by Mladen Palac and games from the Milton Keynes Open won by Mark Hebden with a perfect 5/5 score.

Grand Prix CCAS Cap D'Agde (FRA), 25 x-1 xi 2008
Pl	Name	Ti	NAT	Elo	Pts	Perf.	Tr.	Bu.	FFE
1	PALAC Mladen	g	CRO	2583	7.5	2693	44.5	53.5	2694
2	BAUER Christian	g	FRA	2592	7	2643	46.5	56	2640
3	CORNETTE Matthieu	m	FRA	2548	7	2596	44.5	53	2593
4	BENITAH Yohan	m	FRA	2428	7	2531	41	48	2531
5	GORDON Stephen J	m	ENG	2521	6.5	2530	41	49.5	2525
6	KOSTEN Anthony C.	g	FRA	2510	6.5	2518	43.5	51.5	2512
7	TRENT Lawrence	m	ENG	2470	6.5	2510	43	53	2510
8	IVANOV Jordan	m	BUL	2428	6.5	2499	41.5	50	2499
9	PHILIPPE Christophe	m	FRA	2458	6.5	2492	40	49	2492
10	GRISHCHENKO Sergey	f	RUS	2405	6.5	2468	40	46.5	2475
11	SAATDJIAN Thomas		FRA	2284	6.5	2466	39	44.5	2466
12	LIBISZEWSKI Fabien	m	FRA	2487	6.5	2411	37.5	45	2379
13	DEMUTH Adrien	f	FRA	2332	6	2407	39	44.5	2407
14	DESLANDES Pascal		FRA	2299	6	2398	37.5	43	2398
15	COLLAS Didier	m	FRA	2451	6	2395	39.5	48	2395
16	OLIVIER Jean-Christophe	m	FRA	2363	6	2392	39.5	46.5	2392
17	MULLON Jean-Baptiste	f	FRA	2354	6	2383	40	47.5	2383
18	BERBATOV Kiprian	f	BUL	2346	6	2361	37	44.5	2361
19	ABERGEL Thal	m	FRA	2509	6	2344	35.5	42.5	2286
20	MENSCH Etienne	m	FRA	2339	6	2330	37	43.5	2330
21	MILLIET Sophie	gf	FRA	2366	6	2323	37	45	2323
22	COLLAS Silvia	m	FRA	2352	6	2309	35	41	2309
23	BARON Thierry		FRA	2259	6	2292	34	40.5	2292
24	SIMON Olivier	m	FRA	2376	6	2290	37	45.5	2290
25	BROCHET Philippe	m	FRA	2377	6	2272	31	36	2272
26	PRIE Eric	g	FRA	2491	5.5	2470	41.5	50.5	2464
27	ELISHEV Ivan		RUS	2194	5.5	2382	38.5	46.5	2382
28	CALISTRI Tristan	f	FRA	2361	5.5	2373	40	48.5	2373
29	SANCHEZ Nicolas		FRA	2232	5.5	2371	40.5	47.5	2371
30	GRANDADAM Nicolas		SUI	2103	5.5	2366	35.5	42.5	2366
31	SONG Julien		FRA	2249	5.5	2347	40	46.5	2347
32	CHOMET Pascal	m	FRA	2349	5.5	2336	40.5	49	2336
33	ASHTON Adam G	f	ENG	2325	5.5	2336	39.5	47	2336
34	HOURIEZ Clement		FRA	2245	5.5	2316	33	41	2316
35	SCHWEITZER Viktoriya	mf	FRA	2208	5.5	2304	37	44.5	2304
36	LYELL Mark	f	ENG	2248	5.5	2295	37	44	2295
37	IGLESIAS Joachim		FRA	2178	5.5	2268	33	40	2268
38	WUNDERMAN Xavier		FRA	2164	5.5	2266	37.5	44.5	2266
39	DELORT Frederic		FRA	2217	5.5	2227	33.5	40.5	2227
40	FARGERE Francois	f	FRA	2444	5	2426	42.5	50	2426
146 players

32) 4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009. Rounds 3-4 took place 6th-7th December 2008 in the Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island. Next round 17th-18th January 2009. Games now available.

Official site: http://www.4ncl.co.uk

4NCL Hinckley Island (ENG), 4 x 2008 - 4 v 2009 Results Rounds 3-4
4CNL Division 1A
RD 3		CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1	2283	½-7½	GUILDFORD-A&DC 2	2440
1	w	Wong, Zi Jing	2414	0-1	Kosten, Anthony C	2510
2	b	Dearing, Eddie	2393	0-1	Prie, Eric	2491
3	w	Pinter, Gabor	2355	0-1	Flear, Glenn C	2473
4	b	Mah, Karl C C	2408	0-1	Shaw, John K	2469
5	w	Alfred, Nathan	2323	0-1	Cherniaev, Alexander	2438
6	b	Churm, Rohan M	2207	0-1	Tissir, Mohamed	2463
7	w	Conlon, Joe	2212	½	Buckley, Graeme	2399
8	b	Broomfield, Lucy (F)	1949	0-1	Sandu, Mihaela (F)	2273
RD 3		WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1	2468	7-1	WHITE ROSE 1	2315
1	w	Berczes, David	2514	1-0	Wells, Peter K	2516
2	b	Gordon, Stephen J	2521	1-0	Jones, Gawain C B	2548
3	w	Szabo, Krisztian *	2520	½	McNab, Colin	2455
4	b	Lalic, Bogdan	2531	½	Palliser, Richard	2407
5	w	Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (F)	2448	1-0	Gayson, Peter M	2254
6	b	Greet, Andrew N	2440	1-0	Barrett, Steve J	2226
7	w	Berczes, Csaba	2399	1-0	Adams, David M	2177
8	b	Tiller, Bjorn	2370	1-0	Maroroa, Sue (F) *	1938
RD 3		SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 1	2200	4½-3½	RICHMOND	2184
1	w	Cobb, James E	2451	½	Bates, Richard A	2387
2	b	Cooper, John G	2362	½	Wall, Gavin	2307
3	w	Morris, Charles F	2195	0-1	Bisby, Daniel L	2287
4	b	Zeidler, Sven P	2224	0-1	Muter, Donny	2190
5	w	O'Neill, Paul	2204	1-0	Meyer, Gordon	2161
6	b	James, David J	2137	½	Franklin, Michael J	2232
7	w	Roberts, David L	2144	1-0	Mitchem, Nicholas D	1971
8	b	Blackburn, Suzie (F)	1883	1-0	Sirisena, Chantal N (def) (F)	1935
RD 3		BARBICAN 4NCL 1	2385	7½	SAMBUCA SHARKS	2143
1	w	Parker, Jonathan	2538	1-0	Rendle, Thomas E	2385
2	b	Turner, Matthew J	2505	1-0	Krensing, Jan	2287
3	w	Ferguson, Mark	2398	1-0	Martyn, Rafe	2293
4	b	Collinson, Adam	2389	½	Williams, Samuel G	2218
5	w	Knott, Simon	2348	1-0	Roberson, Peter T	2236
6	b	Cox, John J	2381	1-0	Purton, Ben J	2106
7	w	Berry, Neil	2323	1-0	Makepeace, Philip J	2027
8	b	Regan, Natasha (F)	2197	1-0	Sainbayar, Anuurai (F) *	1590
RD 4		GUILDFORD-A&DC 2	2460	3½-4½	WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1	2468
1	w	Pert, Nicholas	2532	½	Lalic, Bogdan	2531
2	b	Hebden, Mark L	2515	½	Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (F)	2448
3	w	King, Daniel J	2518	½	Szabo, Krisztian *	2520
4	b	Kosten, Anthony C	2510	½	Berczes, David	2514
5	w	Cherniaev, Alexander	2438	0-1	Gordon, Stephen J	2521
6	b	Prie, Eric	2491	0-1	Greet, Andrew N	2440
7	w	Buckley, Graeme	2399	1-0	Berczes, Csaba	2399
8	b	Sandu, Mihaela (F)	2273	½	Tiller, Bjorn	2370
RD 4		RICHMOND	2219	½-7½	BARBICAN 4NCL 1	2382
1	w	Bates, Richard A	2387	½	Parker, Jonathan	2538
2	b	Wall, Gavin	2307	0-1	Turner, Matthew J	2505
3	w	Bisby, Daniel L	2287	0-1	Eggleston, David J	2368
4	b	Muter, Donny	2190	0-1	Cox, John J	2381
5	w	Meyer, Gordon	2161	0-1	Ferguson, Mark	2398
6	b	Franklin, Michael J	2232	0-1	Knott, Simon	2348
7	w	Mitchem, Nicholas D	1971	0-1	Berry, Neil	2323
8	b	default		0-1	Regan, Natasha (F)	2197
RD 4		WHITE ROSE 1	2315	6½-1½	CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1	2283
1	w	Wells, Peter K	2516	½	Pinter, Gabor	2355
2	b	Jones, Gawain C B	2548	½	Dearing, Eddie	2393
3	w	McNab, Colin	2455	1-0	Mah, Karl C C	2408
4	b	Palliser, Richard	2407	½	Wong, Zi Jing	2414
5	w	Gayson, Peter M	2254	1-0	Alfred, Nathan	2323
6	b	Barrett, Steve J	2226	1-0	Conlon, Joe	2212
7	w	Adams, David M	2177	1-0	Churm, Rohan M	2207
8	b	Maroroa, Sue (F) *	1938	1-0	Broomfield, Lucy (F)	1949
RD 4		SAMBUCA SHARKS	2108	3-5	SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 1	2200
1	w	Rendle, Thomas E	2385	1-0	Cobb, James E	2451
2	b	Krensing, Jan	2287	0-1	Cooper, John G	2362
3	w	Martyn, Rafe	2293	1-0	Morris, Charles F	2195
4	b	Williams, Samuel G	2218	½	Zeidler, Sven P	2224
5	w	Purton, Ben J	2106	0-1	O'Neill, Paul	2204
6	b	Coddington, Oliver	1975	0-1	James, David J	2137
7	w	Makepeace, Philip J	2027	½	Roberts, David L	2144
8	b	Milson, Amy (F) *	1570	0-1	Blackburn, Suzie (F)	1883
4CNL Division 1B
RD 3		NORTH WEST EAGLES	2169	2-6	BETSSON.COM	2284
1	w	Morrison, Graham	2328	½	Hunt, Adam C	2431
2	b	Coates, Kenneth G	2241	0-1	Ledger, Andrew J	2429
3	w	Hulmes, David I	2203	½	Webb, Laurence E	2347
4	b	Redmond, John	2199	1-0	Eames, Robert G	2329
5	w	Charleshouse, Glenn L	2194	0-1	Ledger, David J	2254
6	b	Jaunooby, Ali	2145	0-1	Nelson, Jonathan	2247
7	w	Mulligan, Stephen	2113	0-1	Ledger, Stephen C	2151
8	b	Morrison, Lynne (F)	1926	0-1	Chaumont, Adeline (F) *	2083
RD 3		WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 2	2303	4-4	PRIDE AND PREJUDICE	2296
1	w	Houska, Jovanka (F)	2399	½	Emms, John M	2489
2	b	Martin, Andrew D	2425	½	Ward, Chris G	2431
3	w	McDonald, Neil	2398	½	Summerscale, Aaron	2467
4	b	Sowray, Peter J	2316	½	Hunt, Harriet (F)	2462
5	w	Broomfield, Matthew	2344	0-1	Sahl, Sheila (F)	2219
6	b	Lindner, Daniel	2242	½	Zhou, Yang-Fan	2276
7	w	Fowler, Simon	2214	1-0	Summerscale, Claire E (F)	2007
8	b	Hegarty, Sarah (F)	2088	½	Auckland, Elliott	2017
RD 3		BRISTOL 1	2213	2½-5½	THE GAMBIT ADS	2332
1	w	Cobb, Charles	2407	0-1	Speelman, Jonathan S	2530
2	b	Rudd, Jack	2344	0-1	Chandler, Murray G	2515
3	w	Buckley, David E	2244	0-1	Davies, Nigel R	2490
4	b	Beaumont, Chris	2317	0-1	Richardson, John R	2308
5	w	Dilleigh, Stephen P	2147	½	Snape, Ian	2219
6	b	Pickering, Andrew *	2160	½	Wheeler, Darren P	2234
7	w	Curtis, John	2122	1-0	Cafferty, Bernard	2179
8	b	Smith, Olivia (F)	1961	½	Bellin, Jana (F)	2183
RD 3		GUILDFORD-A&DC 1	2521	7-1	BARBICAN 4NCL 2	2268
1	w	Rowson, Jonathan	2596	1-0	Rogers, Jonathan W	2347
2	b	Howell, David W L	2593	1-0	Eggleston, David J	2368
3	w	Cornette, Matthieu	2548	1-0	Lewis, Andrew P	2277
4	b	Pert, Nicholas	2532	½	Pritchett, Craig W	2308
5	w	Conquest, Stuart C	2526	1-0	Dorrington, Christopher	2259
6	b	King, Daniel J	2518	½	Taylor, Peter	2254
7	w	Hebden, Mark L	2515	1-0	Franklin, Samuel	2156
8	b	Lalic, Susan (F)	2341	1-0	Lauterbach, Ingrid (F)	2178
RD 4		BETSSON.COM	2284	3½-4½	WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 2	2303
1	w	Hunt, Adam C	2431	½	Houska, Jovanka (F)	2399
2	b	Ledger, Andrew J	2429	½	Martin, Andrew D	2425
3	w	Webb, Laurence E	2347	½	McDonald, Neil	2398
4	b	Eames, Robert G	2329	1-0	Sowray, Peter J	2316
5	w	Ledger, David J	2254	0-1	Broomfield, Matthew	2344
6	b	Nelson, Jonathan	2247	½	Lindner, Daniel	2242
7	w	Ledger, Stephen C	2151	½	Fowler, Simon	2214
8	b	Chaumont, Adeline (F) *	2083	0-1	Hegarty, Sarah (F)	2088
RD 4		THE GAMBIT ADS	2332	2-6	GUILDFORD-A&DC 1	2501
1	w	Speelman, Jonathan S	2530	½	Rowson, Jonathan	2596
2	b	Chandler, Murray G	2515	0-1	Howell, David W L	2593
3	w	Davies, Nigel R	2490	½	Cornette, Matthieu	2548
4	b	Richardson, John R	2308	0-1	Conquest, Stuart C	2526
5	w	Snape, Ian	2219	0-1	Shaw, John K	2469
6	b	Wheeler, Darren P	2234	0-1	Flear, Glenn C	2473
7	w	Cafferty, Bernard	2179	½	Tissir, Mohamed	2463
8	b	Bellin, Jana (F)	2183	½	Lalic, Susan (F)	2341
RD 4		PRIDE AND PREJUDICE	2285	5-3	NORTH WEST EAGLES	2169
1	w	Emms, John M	2489	½	Morrison, Graham	2328
2	b	Summerscale, Aaron	2467	1-0	Coates, Kenneth G	2241
3	w	Hunt, Harriet (F)	2462	½	Hulmes, David I	2203
4	b	Ward, Chris G	2431	1-0	Redmond, John	2199
5	w	Sahl, Sheila (F)	2219	1-0	Charleshouse, Glenn L	2194
6	b	Kilpatrick, Callum	2184	0-1	Jaunooby, Ali	2145
7	w	Auckland, Elliott	2017	½	Mulligan, Stephen	2113
8	b	Summerscale, Claire E (F)	2007	½	Morrison, Lynne (F)	1926
RD 4		BARBICAN 4NCL 2	2242	3½-4½	BRISTOL 1	2213
1	w	Rogers, Jonathan W	2347	½	Cobb, Charles	2407
2	b	Pritchett, Craig W	2308	0-1	Rudd, Jack	2344
3	w	Dorrington, Christopher	2259	½	Beaumont, Chris	2317
4	b	Taylor, Peter	2254	0-1	Buckley, David E	2244
5	w	Piper, Matthew S *	2290	½	Curtis, John	2122
6	b	Ynojosa, Felix J	2145	1-0	Pickering, Andrew *	2160
7	w	Franklin, Samuel	2156	½	Dilleigh, Stephen P	2147
8	b	Lauterbach, Ingrid (F)	2178	½	Smith, Olivia (F)	1961

4NCL Hinckley Island (ENG), 4 x 2008 - 4 v 2009 Standings After Round 4
Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1	4	0	0	8
WHITE ROSE 1	3	0	1	6
SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 1	2	2	0	6
BARBICAN 4NCL 1	2	1	1	5
GUILDFORD-A&DC 2	2	0	2	4
RICHMOND	1	0	3	1 *
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1	0	1	3	1
SAMBUCA SHARKS	0	0	4	0
Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
GUILDFORD-A&DC 1	4	0	0	8
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE	3	1	0	7
WOOD GREEN HILSMARK KINGFISHER 2	2	1	1	5
THE GAMBIT ADS	2	0	2	4
BETSSON.COM	1	0	3	2
BARBICAN 4NCL 2	1	0	3	2
BRISTOL 1	1	0	3	2
NORTH WEST EAGLES	1	0	3	0 *

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

33) 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. Couldn't find any games or results so far.

34) Forthcoming Events and Links

Luis Scalise

Luis Scalise's chess pages have moved to: http://scalise.fortunecity.com/

Corus Fields all settled 2009

The 71st Corus Chess tournament takes place Friday, January 16th to Sunday, February 1st, 2009 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov are the favourites for the event in the absence of world champion Viswanathan Anand, challenger Vladimir Kramnik and World Number one Veselin Topalov. This shake up of the field with these three regular missing has really freshened things up and should make for exciting chess, in the usual way they do things they'll probably be all back next year.

Five players will make their debut in the A-group: the young Dutch grandmasters Jan Smeets and Daniel Stellwagen, the sensational Wang Yue from China, who climbed up to the 11th place on the latest world ranking list, the winner of Grandmastergroup B in 2008, Sergei Movsesian, and Leinier Dominguez from Cuba (ranked 21st on the FIDE October rating list).

Grandmastergroup B is stronger than ever, with an average rating of 2631. Remarkable names in this group include former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) former world championship challenger Nigel Short and former World Championship Candidate Henrique Mecking (Brazil).

In Grandmastergroup C former top player Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine) is one of the 14 participants. Romanishin won the recently held Cultural Village Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Young GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (Venezuela) qualified early November by winning the ICC Online Qualifier, while Manuel Bosboom (The Netherlands) and Frank Holzke (Germany) gained their places in the C-group by winning the two highest amateur events (nine-rounds-all-play-all) in January 2008. Besides, two more names are remarkable: the two Junior World Champions Abhijeet Gupta (boys under 20) and Dronavalli Harika (girls under 20) will participate. Harika and Gupta both represent India.

As from January 2009, the rate of play in Grandmaster groups A, B and C will change. The rate of play will be: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, followed by 15 minutes with 30 seconds per move increment to finish the game.

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

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee A-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009
No.	Name	Country	WRank	Rating	Born
1	Alexander Morozevich	RUS	2	2787	1977
2	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	3	2786	1969
3	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	4	2786	1990
4	Levon Aronian	ARM	7	2757	1982
5	Teimour Radjabov	AZE	8	2751	1987
6	Wang Yue	CHN	11	2736	1987
7	Michael Adams	ENG	12	2734	1971
8	Sergei Movsesian	SLW	13	2732	1978
9	Sergei Karjakin	UKR	15	2730	1990
10	Gata Kamsky	USA	16	2729	1974
11	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	21	2719	1983
12	Loek van Wely	NED		2618	1972
13	Daniel Stellwagen	NED		2605	1987
14	Jan Smeets	NED		2604	1985

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee B-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009 Average rating: 2631 Category: 16
No.	Ti	Name	Country	Rating	Born
1	GM	Krishnan Sasikiran	IND	2694	1981
2	GM	Zahar Efimenko	UKR	2680	1985
3	GM	Rustam Kasimdzhanov	UZB	2672	1979
4	GM	Alexander Motylev	RUS	2672	1979
5	GM	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2664	1982
6	GM	Andrei Volokitin	UKR	2659	1986
7	GM	Nigel Short	ENG	2642	1965
8	GM	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2640	1992
9	GM	David Navara	CZE	2633	1985
10	GM	Erwin L'Ami	NED	2610	1985
11	GM	Jan Werle	NED	2582	1984
12	WGM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2578	1994
13	GM	Henrique Mecking	BRA	2567	1952
14	GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2543	1972

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee C-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009 Average rating: 2512 Category: 11
No.	Ti	Name	Country	Rating	Born
1	GM	Wesley So	PHI	2610	1993
2	GM	David Howell	ENG	2593	1990
3	GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2580	1989
4	GM	Tiger Hillarp Persson	SWE	2543	1970
5	GM	Friso Nijboer	NED	2540	1965
6	GM	Eduardo Iturrizaga	VEN	2538	1989
7	IM	Manuel Leon Hoyos	MEX	2535	1989
8	GM	Oleg Romanishin	UKR	2532	1952
9	GM	Frank Holzke	GER	2524	1971
10	FM	Anish Giri	RUS	2466	1994
11	WGM	Dronavalli Harika	IND	2462	1991
12	IM	Roeland Pruijssers	NED	2458	1989
13	IM	Manuel Bosboom	NED	2416	1963
14	FM	Ali Bitalzadeh	NED	2370	1989

7th Nancy Chess Festival

The 7th International Chess Festival takes place in Nancy (France) 16th-22nd February 2009. It will be a category 13 with average elo over 2550 (with january-elo). With the indian number 3 Pentala Harikrishna, the french number 5 Christian Bauer, the young hope of Germany Georg Meier, and the numbers 2 and 3 under-20 in France : Edouard and Feller (born in 1990 and 1991)...

Players: GM Harikrishna, P 2659 India GM Tregubov, Pavel 2646 Russia GM Krasenkow, Michal 2624 Poland GM Bauer, Christian 2592 France GM Meier, Georg 2558 Germany IM Edouard, Romain 2531 France GM Feller, Sebastien 2526 France IM Gozzoli, Yannick 2503 France IM Brunner, Nicolas 2415 France IM Nezar, Mustapha 2399 France

The all Festival includes 14 closed tournaments (10 players each) for all levels of players. Web (in french and english) : http://echecs54.free.fr/

11th Hotel Hilton Basle

The 11th Hotel Hilton Basle chess meeting The Swiss Chess Tour 2009 traditional start in the Hilton Basle from January 1-4. Three tournaments, main tournament will be 1st Memorial Ivan Nemet. GM Ivan Nemet pass away December 16, 2007. Prizes: 1.500/1.200/800/600/500/400/2x300/2x250 CHF. Special prizes, 200 CHF for best Lady, junior (89-92) and schoolboy (1993). Enter fee 140 CHF; FM and juniors 70 CHF; GM & IM free. At the door 20 CHF. The other tournaments Amateur Open and Senior Open. Amateur Open (under 2000 rating) Prizes: 700/500/400/3x300/4x200 CHF. Enter fee: 120 CHF (junior 60). Senior Open 5 rounds: Prizes: 500/400/300/2x200 CHF. Enter fee: 100 CHF. Application at the door for all groups 20 CHF. Time-control for all tournaments 7 rounds, 2 hours for 40 moves + 30 minutes each. Closing dinner 70 CHF.

Open desk for registration at January 1st at 12; Round 1 start at 5 p.m. in all groups.

More information and registration: Robert Spoerri tel. +41+62+9654-650, fax +41+62+9654-651 E-mail event@beochess.ch Further information: http://www.beochess.ch

Grand Slam Masters Final

The 2nd edition of the Grand Slam Masters Final will be played in Bilbao, September 2-15th 2009. The winners of Corus-Wijk aan Zee, Ciudad de Linares and Mtel Masters-Sofia tournaments will qualify directly for the Masters Final in Bilbao, where the first edition (played at a central square, inside a glass cube) was a very big success last September.

More details on the 2009 tournament (number of players, system of play, etc) will be announced at the end of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The Grand Slam is in negotiations to include one more high level tournament in the 2009 circuit.

Grand Slam Chess Association (GSCA)

Dresden, 23 November 2008

The 7th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival takes place from Tuesday 27 January to Thursday 5 February 2009 at the Caleta Hotel. Details: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2009/index.html

Austrian Team Championship

The Austrian team championship started in St Veit 7th-9th November 2008, the 11 round competition has further rounds 22nd-25th January and 19th-22nd March 2009. Players in the first three rounds included: Sergei Movsesian, Hikaru Nakamura, Emil Sutovsky, Jan Gustafsson and Alexander Beliavsky.

Official site: http://www.chess.at/ and results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr12353.aspx?art=2&lan=1&m=-1

Hastings Chess Congress

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

Currently leading entries for the HASTINGS MASTERS BERG Emanuel, SWE, gm 2623, HOWELL David, ENG, gm 2593, NEVEROV Valeriy, UKR, gm (current Hastings Masters Champion) 2571, JONES Gawain, ENG, gm 2548, CONQUEST Stuart, ENG, gm (current British Champion) 2526, PAVLOVIC Milos, UKR, gm 2524, GORDON Stephen, ENG, im 2521, HEBDEN Mark, ENG, gm 2515, GORMALLY Daniel, ENG, gm 2514, HASLINGER Stewart, ENG, gm 2506, WILLIAMS Simon, ENG, 2494, BERNAL MORO Luis Javier, ESP, im 2451, GREET Andrew, ENG, im 2440, HUNT Adam, ENG, im 2431, HOUSKA Jovanka, ENG, wgm 2399, BATES Richard, ENG, im 2387

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

Chess Study

Dr Robert Howard is making a study of rated chess players.

The full article: http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/results

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

18th Pamplona International

18th Pamplona International consists of a invitational Grandmaster tournament, and an open 9 round tournament. Both tournaments take place from 22nd December - 29th December 2008.

The invitational Grandmaster tournament is an eight-player round robin. Players are: GM Sasikiran, Krishnan (2694, IND), GM Roiz, Michael (2677,ISR), GM Malakhov, Vladimir (2675, RUS), GM Vallejo, Pons Francisco (2664,ESP), GM Caruana, Fabiano (2640,ITA), GM Delchev, Aleksander (2632,BUL), GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2616,RUS), and GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan (2556,ESP).

Official website: http://www.chesspamplona.com/

Jose Marca Memorial

The III Open Internacional ITT Jose Marca Memorial takes place in 10th-18th Lima January 2009. Grandmasters Sergey Tiviakov, Julio Granda, Bartolomiej Macieja and Emilo Cordova compete.

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

Bundesliga

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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, Elista, Russia (Doha, Qatar withdrew)
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