THE WEEK IN CHESS 744 9th February 2009 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Axel Fritz, Mikhail Golubev, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, Lazlo Nagy, Sean Hewitt, John Saunders, Miklos Orso, Adolivio Capece, Claudio Pantaleoni, Doug Bake, Dusan Rusjan, Dinu-Ioan Nicula, Helen Milligan, Justin Davis, George Mirijanian, Nigel Freeman, Sinisa Joksic, Yochanan Afek and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Peter Svidler took first place in the Gibraltar Gibtelecom Chess Festival and Alexander Onischuk the Moscow International Open in the two main events of the week. We have to wait until next week for the real excitement to begin. Veselin Topalov against Gata Kamsky takes place 16th-28th February 2009 and also the Aeroflot Open also takes place at the same time.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival

The 7th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival took place Tuesday 27th January - Thursday 5th February 2009 at the Caleta Hotel. Peter Svidler won the event after beating Vadim Milov in a two game rapid playoff match. Both finished on 8/10 half a point clear of Vugar Gashimov, Hikaru Nakamura, Emanuel Berg and Varuzhan Akobian. Corrections to Geoffrey Bishop's games, I misidentified him as a rated player last week and Claudio Pantaleoni corrects his round 1 game against Viktoria Cmilyte from round one. My thanks to John Saunders, and Sean Hewitt.

Official site: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2009/index.html

7th Gibtelecom Masters Caleta (ENG), 27 i-5 ii 2009 Leading Final Round 10 Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	Fed.	Rating	Score	TPR	W-We
1	Svidler, Peter	GM	RUS	2723	8	2829	1.28
2	Milov, Vadim	GM	SUI	2669	8	2769	1.26
3	Gashimov, Vugar	GM	AZE	2723	7.5	2764	0.68
4	Nakamura, Hikaru	GM	USA	2699	7.5	2700	0.18
5	Berg, Emanuel	GM	SWE	2606	7.5	2648	0.6
6	Akobian, Varuzhan	GM	USA	2619	7.5	2640	0.4
7	Harikrishna, Pentala	GM	IND	2673	7	2694	0.38
8	Dzagnidze, Nana	GM	GEO	2518	7	2675	2.21
9	Sokolov, Ivan	GM	NED	2657	7	2626	-0.27
10	Stefanova, Antoaneta	GM	BUL	2557	7	2612	0.79
11	Cramling, Pia	GM	SWE	2548	7	2511	-0.23
12	Socko, Bartosz	GM	POL	2631	6.5	2671	0.61
13	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	GM	IND	2614	6.5	2660	0.7
14	Golod, Vitali	GM	ISR	2575	6.5	2653	1.2
15	Avrukh, Boris	GM	ISR	2645	6.5	2652	0.16
16	Beliavsky, Alexander G	GM	SLO	2646	6.5	2651	0.15
17	Roiz, Michael	GM	ISR	2647	6.5	2610	-0.37
18	Gurevich, Mikhail	GM	TUR	2624	6.5	2603	-0.19
19	Berkes, Ferenc	GM	HUN	2651	6.5	2588	-0.74
20	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	GM	FRA	2696	6.5	2587	-1.19
21	Lopez Martinez, Josep Manu	GM	ESP	2540	6.5	2583	0.71
22	Papp, Gabor	IM	HUN	2517	6.5	2558	0.71
23	Gordon, Stephen J	IM	ENG	2524	6.5	2551	0.5
24	Al Sayed, Mohamad N.	IM	QAT	2488	6.5	2536	0.75
25	Berczes, David	GM	HUN	2513	6.5	2521	0.27
26	Szabo, Krisztian	IM	HUN	2508	6.5	2513	0.25
27	Krush, Irina	IM	USA	2457	6.5	2496	0.69
28	Speelman, Jon S	GM	ENG	2536	6.5	2487	-0.43
29	Kozlov, Oleg	IM	RUS	2187	6.5	2481	3.65
30	Pavlovic, Milos	GM	SRB	2520	6.5	2467	-0.49
31	Zatonskih, Anna	IM	USA	2462	6.5	2463	0.2
32	Cmilyte, Viktorija	IM	LTU	2497	6.5	2458	-0.24
33	Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel	GM	ESP	2440	6.5	2453	0.4
34	Maryasin, Boris	IM	ISR	2340	6.5	2445	1.37
35	D`Costa, Lorin A R	IM	ENG	2445	6.5	2438	0.15
36	Nezad, Husein Aziz	IM	QAT	2403	6.5	2405	0.34
37	Kotronias, Vasilios	GM	GRE	2603	6	2613	0.32
38	Hauchard, Arnaud	GM	FRA	2497	6	2586	1.15
39	Nithander, Victor	FM	SWE	2369	6	2518	2.06
40	Hammer, Jon Ludvig	IM	NOR	2532	6	2517	-0.1
41	Del Rio De Angelis, Salvad	GM	ESP	2532	6	2509	-0.08
42	Sandipan, Chanda	GM	IND	2568	6	2477	-0.98
43	Nemeth, Miklos	IM	HUN	2472	6	2463	-0.02
44	Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan	IM	SCO	2500	6	2449	-0.47
45	Hommeles, Theo	FM	NED	2410	6	2435	0.41
46	Kiik, Kalle	IM	EST	2466	6	2430	-0.3
47	Karim, Ismael	IM	March	2407	6	2404	0.11
48	Capo Vidal, Uriel	IM	MEX	2336	6	2381	0.66
49	Perez Ponsa, Federico	FM	ARG	2390	6	2378	-0.07
50	Socko, Monika	GM	POL	2449	6	2362	-0.91
51	Sachdev, Tania	IM	IND	2435	6	2343	-1.03
52	Bruno, Fabio	IM	ITA	2460	6	2326	-1.51
53	Carlhammar, Magnus		SWE	2351	6	2312	-0.33
54	Leniart, Arkadiusz	FM	POL	2360	6	2308	-0.58
55	De Groote, Ewoud		NED	2203	6	2275	1
56	Bravetti, Antonio		ITA	2205	6	2237	0.47
57	Csonka, Attila Istvan	FM	HUN	2289	5.5	2435	1.95
58	Houska, Jovanka	IM	ENG	2392	5.5	2430	0.53
59	Quillan, Gary		ENG	2357	5.5	2429	0.98
60	Bok, Benjamin		NED	2277	5.5	2390	1.39
61	Carlsson, Pontus	GM	SWE	2509	5.5	2373	-1.65
62	Lovik, Lasse Ostebo		NOR	2184	5.5	2367	2.02
63	Calzetta, Monica	WGM	ESP	2371	5.5	2350	-0.16
64	Spence, David J		ENG	2223	5.5	2347	1.51
65	Van Eijk, Sander	FM	NED	2355	5.5	2336	-0.19
66	Devereaux, Maxim L	IM	ENG	2437	5.5	2333	-1.19
67	Forsaa, Espen	FM	NOR	2322	5.5	2314	0.04
68	Gandrud, Vegar Koi		NOR	2046	5.5	2277	2.55
69	Ashton, Adam G	FM	ENG	2321	5.5	2276	-0.5
70	Hartvig, Ove Weiss	FM	DEN	2237	5.5	2274	0.44
71	Welling, Gerard	IM	NED	2371	5.5	2265	-1.27
72	Armbrust, Florian	FM	GER	2321	5.5	2253	-0.76
73	Kharous, Ernest	IM	RUS	2400	5.5	2249	-1.77
74	Demac, Elias		NOR	1993	5.5	2230	2.59
75	White, Michael J R	FM	ENG	2251	5.5	2214	-0.43
76	Thomassen, Joachim	FM	NOR	2290	5.5	2207	-1
77	Dunn, Andrew	CM	ENG	2216	5.5	2166	-0.63
78	Van Den Bersselaar, Jeroen		NED	2191	5.5	2156	-0.38
79	Vernay, Clovis	IM	FRA	2338	5	2398	0.74
194 players

3) Moscow International Open

The Moscow Open took place January 31st - 8th February 2009 in the Russian State Social University, Moscow, Russia. Alexander Onischuk won the event with 7.5/9 half a point clear of Sergei Tiviakov, Ernesto Inarkiev, Ian Nepomniachtchi (who looks in reasonable shape to try and defend his Aeroflot title next week), Alexey Korotylev and Viorel Iordachescu all of whom finished on 7/9.

Official site: http://www.moscowchessopen.ru

Open A Moscow (RUS), 31 i-8 ii 2009 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	Nrat	vict	BH.
1	Onischuk Alexander	GM	USA	2659	7.5	2581	6	53
2	Tiviakov Sergei	GM	NED	2685	7	2579	5	55
3	Inarkiev Ernesto	GM	RUS	2656	7	2558	5	52.5
4	Nepomniachtchi Ian	GM	RUS	2628	7	2550	5	56
5	Korotylev Alexey	GM	RUS	2587	7	2537	5	49
6	Iordachescu Viorel	GM	MDA	2584	7	2504	6	47.5
7	Lastin Alexander	GM	RUS	2643	6.5	2537	4	47
8	Ponkratov Pavel	IM	RUS	2557	6.5	2532	5	45.5
9	Yudin Sergei	IM	RUS	2562	6.5	2526	5	49
10	Savchenko Boris	GM	RUS	2654	6.5	2524	5	46.5
11	Riazantsev Alexander	GM	RUS	2634	6.5	2523	5	52
12	Amonatov Farrukh	GM	TJK	2647	6.5	2522	5	47
13	Popov Ivan	GM	RUS	2541	6.5	2519	5	45
14	Dreev Alexey	GM	RUS	2688	6.5	2497	4	48
15	Lysyj Igor	GM	RUS	2620	6.5	2493	4	48.5
16	Andreikin Dmitry	GM	RUS	2614	6.5	2492	4	47
17	Zubov Alexander	IM	UKR	2574	6.5	2489	4	48.5
18	Kurnosov Igor	GM	RUS	2602	6.5	2485	5	48.5
19	Belov Vladimir	GM	RUS	2627	6.5	2485	4	48
20	Vorobiov Evgeny E	GM	RUS	2591	6.5	2477	4	44.5
21	Zhumabayev Rinat	IM	KAZ	2522	6.5	2469	6	43
22	Safarli Eltaj	GM	AZE	2564	6.5	2447	5	43.5
23	Sakaev Konstantin	GM	RUS	2619	6.5	2392	5	49
24	Kotsur Pavel	GM	KAZ	2563	6	2540	4	51
25	Nikolenko Oleg	GM	RUS	2511	6	2538	4	50.5
26	Timofeev Artyom	GM	RUS	2671	6	2526	4	51
27	Yakovich Yuri	GM	RUS	2556	6	2526	4	49
28	Areshchenko Alexander	GM	UKR	2673	6	2506	5	50.5
29	Deviatkin Andrei	GM	RUS	2566	6	2503	4	46.5
30	Kabanov Nikolai	IM	RUS	2502	6	2502	3	47
31	Ehlvest Jaan	GM	USA	2595	6	2500	3	51
32	Vaganian Rafael A	GM	ARM	2596	6	2494	4	46.5
33	Kazhgaleyev Murtas	GM	KAZ	2630	6	2481	4	46
34	Kim Alexey	GM	KOR	2470	6	2478	5	47.5
35	Khairullin Ildar	GM	RUS	2574	6	2473	3	45
36	Kobalia Mikhail	GM	RUS	2634	6	2466	3	47
37	Pridorozhni Aleksei	IM	RUS	2515	6	2464	5	48.5
38	Sveshnikov Evgeny	GM	LAT	2535	6	2463	5	46.5
39	Kharlov Andrei	GM	RUS	2511	6	2445	4	46
40	Yemelin Vasily	GM	RUS	2578	6	2443	3	45
41	Balashov Yuri S	GM	RUS	2378	6	2441	4	43
42	Grishchenko Sergey	FM	RUS	2423	6	2436	6	39
43	Fedorov Alexei	GM	BLR	2619	6	2406	5	40.5
44	Lushenkov Mikhail	IM	RUS	2462	6	2382	5	41.5
45	Chernyshov Konstantin	GM	RUS	2544	6	2374	5	38.5
46	Ivanov Victor L	IM	RUS	2499	6	2352	5	41
47	Tseshkovsky Vitaly	GM	RUS	2542	5.5	2549	4	53
48	Ajrapetjan Yuriy	GM	UKR	2490	5.5	2532	3	50.5
49	Zvjaginsev Vadim	GM	RUS	2636	5.5	2526	3	51
50	Danin Alexandre	IM	RUS	2465	5.5	2521	3	46.5
318 players

Open C Women Moscow (RUS), 31 i-8 ii 2009 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	NAT	Rtg	Pts	Nrat	vict	BH.
1	Pogonina Natalija	WGM	RUS	2467	8	2302	7	51
2	Molchanova Tatjana	WIM	RUS	2319	7	2313	5	52.5
3	Matveeva Svetlana	WGM	RUS	2422	7	2278	5	52
4	Gunina Valentina	WFM	RUS	2400	7	2231	6	45.5
5	Gu Xiaobing	WGM	CHN	2283	7	2180	6	45.5
6	Mongontuul Bathuyag	WGM	MGL	2425	7	2135	6	49.5
7	Muzychuk Anna	WGM	SLO	2540	6.5	2323	5	52
8	Paehtz Elisabeth	IM	GER	2455	6.5	2262	5	55
9	Demina Julia	WGM	RUS	2361	6.5	2245	4	49
10	Romanko Marina	WGM	RUS	2451	6.5	2242	6	53
11	Akatova Ekaterina	WIM	RUS	2261	6.5	2183	6	46
12	Muzychuk Mariya	WGM	UKR	2427	6.5	2170	5	49.5
13	Manakova. Maria	WGM	SRB	2299	6.5	2167	5	46.5
14	Grabuzova Tatiana	WGM	RUS	2332	6.5	2141	5	43
15	Tomilova Elena	WFM	RUS	2300	6.5	2099	5	41.5
16	Girya Olga	WFM	RUS	2315	6	2316	5	52
17	Petrukhina Irina		RUS	1905	6	2267	4	48.5
18	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	WGM	RUS	2442	6	2259	5	53
19	Ushenina Anna	WGM	UKR	2499	6	2250	4	50
20	Zhukova Natalia	WGM	UKR	2490	6	2239	4	47.5
21	Shadrina Tatiana	WGM	RUS	2416	6	2231	6	45.5
22	Iljushina Olga	WIM	RUS	2269	6	2194	4	51.5
23	Savina Anastasia		RUS	2297	6	2179	6	46
24	Shen Yang	WGM	CHN	2448	6	2139	4	47.5
25	Bulmaga Irina	WIM	MDA	2300	6	2123	5	46.5
26	Lelekova Olga		RUS	2222	6	2104	6	44.5
27	Severiukhina Zoja	WFM	RUS	2327	6	2078	6	42
28	Strutinskaya Galina N	WIM	RUS	2291	6	2047	5	46
158 players

4) 80th German Championship

The 80th German Championship takes place in Saarbruecken 5th-15th February 2009.

Official site: http://www.dem-2009.de/

80th ch-GER Saarbruecken (GER), 6-14 ii 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1.	Braun, Arik	g	GER	2558	+23	+14	+9	=5	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2840
2.	Meier, Georg	g	GER	2608	+15	+21	=3	+12	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2773
3.	Zude, Arno	m	GER	2465	+35	+39	=2	+10	.	.	.	.	.	3½	2750
4.	Hausrath, Daniel	m	GER	2493	+26	+17	=5	=7	.	.	.	.	.	3	2627
5.	Khenkin, Igor	g	GER	2644	+36	+18	=4	=1	.	.	.	.	.	3	2652
6.	Beikert, Guenther	m	GER	2470	=28	+29	=11	+27	.	.	.	.	.	3	2546
7.	Buhmann, Rainer	g	GER	2565	=37	+38	+16	=4	.	.	.	.	.	3	2529
8.	Siebrecht, Sebastian	g	GER	2440	-17	+26	+39	+24	.	.	.	.	.	3	2470
9.	Fridman, Daniel2	g	GER	2650	+30	+40	-1	+21	.	.	.	.	.	3	2639
10.	Bischoff, Klaus	g	GER	2545	+27	=16	+20	-3	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2483
11.	Baramidze, David	g	GER	2548	=33	+34	=6	=14	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2487
12.	Prusikin, Michael	g	GER	2529	+25	=20	+33	-2	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2498
13.	Markgraf, Alexander	f	GER	2463	=29	=28	=15	+33	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2393
14.	Zude, Erik	m	GER	2397	+32	-1	+38	=11	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2456
15.	Heinig, Wolfram	f	GER	2328	-2	+41	=13	+40	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2531
16.	Wichmann, Cliff	f	GER	2389	+44	=10	-7	+31	.	.	.	.	.	2½	2472
17.	Mueller, Reinhold		GER	2229	+8	-4	=18	=20	.	.	.	.	.	2	2441
18.	Wippermann, Till	m	GER	2456	+31	-5	=17	=23	.	.	.	.	.	2	2360
19.	Boidman, Yuri	m	GER	2415	-39	+35	=31	=22	.	.	.	.	.	2	2244
20.	Von Herman, Ulf	m	GER	2378	+42	=12	-10	=17	.	.	.	.	.	2	2361
21.	Hirneise, Tobias	f	GER	2426	+41	-2	+25	-9	.	.	.	.	.	2	2447
22.	Hort, Alex		GER	2232	-40	=30	+37	=19	.	.	.	.	.	2	2385
23.	Deglmann, Ludwig	f	GER	2325	-1	=32	+43	=18	.	.	.	.	.	2	2341
24.	Bastian, Herbert	m	GER	2361	-38	+43	+28	-8	.	.	.	.	.	2	2256
25.	Malek, Daniel		GER	2306	-12	+42	-21	+39	.	.	.	.	.	2	2328
26.	Zierke, Oliver	f	GER	2300	-4	-8	+41	+38	.	.	.	.	.	2	2324
27.	Vatter, Hans-Joachim	f	GER	2322	-10	+44	+40	-6	.	.	.	.	.	2	2406
28.	Zelbel, Patrick		GER	2294	=6	=13	-24	=34	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2331
29.	M("u)ller, Hans Georg	f	GER	2250	=13	-6	=34	=30	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2329
30.	Gross, Georg	f	GER	2351	-9	=22	=32	=29	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2246
31.	Westphal, Wolfgang		GER	2242	-18	+36	=19	-16	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2310
32.	Oberhofer, Andre		GER	2202	-14	=23	=30	=37	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2262
33.	Tabatt, Hendrik		GER	2322	=11	+37	-12	-13	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2379
34.	Jorczik, Julian	f	GER	2381	=43	-11	=29	=28	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2223
35.	Strunski, Andreas		GER	2287	-3	-19	+42	=36	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2251
36.	Mayer, Frank1		GER	2331	-5	-31	+44	=35	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2245
37.	Hirneise, Jens	f	GER	2325	=7	-33	-22	=32	.	.	.	.	.	1	2137
38.	Hundack, Rolf		GER	2139	+24	-7	-14	-26	.	.	.	.	.	1	2212
39.	Strache, Michael		GER	2218	+19	-3	-8	-25	.	.	.	.	.	1	2213
40.	Strohhaeker, Raoul	f	GER	2451	+22	-9	-27	-15	.	.	.	.	.	1	2190
41.	Sternheimer, Erhard		GER	2224	-21	-15	-26	+43	.	.	.	.	.	1	2108
42.	Bischoff, Dieter		GER	2142	-20	-25	-35	+44	.	.	.	.	.	1	2089
43.	Mehlhorn, Uwe		GER	2151	=34	-24	-23	-41	.	.	.	.	.	½	2000
44.	Stahr, Ralf-Peter		GER	2158	-16	-27	-36	-42	.	.	.	.	.	0

5) Mate of the King in Tehran

To mark the 30th Anniversary of the Islamic revolution there was a match between Anatoly Karpov and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami in Tehran 26th January - 3rd February 2009. 4 Classical Games, 4 rapid games and 12 blitz games took place with many appearing on national tv. Organiser Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh. The main thing was that every game was played to a total finish, mate, stalemate etc, no resignation or agreed draws.

The Classical and Blitz matches were both drawn 2-2 Ehsan Ghaem Maghami won the blitz match 6.5-5.5 for a 10.5-9.5 over all win.

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

Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	1-0	42	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	1-0	91	B14	Caro Kann Panov
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	½-½	44	E36	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	½-½	32	B14	Caro Kann Panov

Mate of the King Classical Tehran (IRI), 27-31 i 2009
				1	2	3	4
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	g	IRI	2604	0	1	½	½	2	2644
Karpov, Anatoly	g	RUS	2644	1	0	½	½	2	2604

Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	0-1	29	B14	Caro Kann Panov
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	0-1	48	E36	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	1-0	38	B14	Caro Kann Panov
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	1-0	43	E36	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2

Mate of the King Rapid Tehran (IRI), 1 ii 2009
				1	2	3	4
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	g	IRI	2604	0	1	1	0	2	2644
Karpov, Anatoly	g	RUS	2644	1	0	0	1	2	2604

Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	0-1	75	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	0-1	34	B14	Caro Kann Panov
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	0-1	56	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	1-0	40	B10	Caro Kann
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	½-½	46	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	0-1	68	B14	Caro Kann Panov
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	½-½	64	E34	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	½-½	51	A28	English Four Knights
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	0-1	37	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	0-1	36	E06	Catalan
Karpov, Anatoly	- Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	0-1	37	E32	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	- Karpov, Anatoly	0-1	70	E05	Catalan

Mate of the King Blitz Tehran (IRI), 2 ii 2009
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	g	IRI	2604	1	0	1	1	½	0	½	½	1	0	1	0	6½	2673
Karpov, Anatoly	g	RUS	2644	0	1	0	0	½	1	½	½	0	1	0	1	5½	2575

6) Polish Championship

The 66th Polish Championship took place in Chotowa 26th January - 6th February 2009. Bartlomiej Macieja defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek in a rapid playoff after both tied on 7½/11.

Official site: http://www.pzszach.org.pl

66th ch-POL Chotowa (POL), 26 i-6 ii 2009													cat. XII (2539)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2608	*	½	1	½	½	½	0	1	1	½	1	1	7½	2666
2.	Macieja, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2607	½	*	½	1	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	7½	2666
3.	Mista, Aleksander	g	POL	2559	0	½	*	1	½	1	½	0	1	1	½	1	7	2639
4.	Bartel, Mateusz	g	POL	2594	½	0	0	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	7	2636
5.	Miton, Kamil	g	POL	2595	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	6½	2599
6.	Gajewski, Grzegorz	g	POL	2581	½	½	0	½	½	*	1	0	½	½	1	1	6	2571
7.	Olszewski, Michal	m	POL	2517	1	½	½	0	0	0	*	1	1	1	½	0	5½	2541
8.	Piorun, Kacper	m	POL	2464	0	1	1	0	½	1	0	*	0	0	1	½	5	2510
9.	Swiercz, Dariusz	m	POL	2472	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	1	*	1	1	1	5	2509
10.	Dziuba, Marcin	g	POL	2556	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	1	0	*	0	1	4	2435
11.	Kanarek, Marcel	f	POL	2453	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	0	0	1	*	0	2½	2336
12.	Tomczak, Jacek	m	POL	2465	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	0	1	*	2½	2335

Macieja, Bartlomiej	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	1-0	39	B80	Sicilian Scheveningen
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	- Macieja, Bartlomiej	½-½	49	E08	Catalan

66th ch-POL Playoff Chotowa (POL), 6 ii 2009
				1	2
Macieja, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2607	1	½	1½	2801
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2608	0	½	½	2414

7) 14th HIT Open

The 14th HIT Open took place in Nova Gorica and saw Dusko Pavasovic edge out Luka Lenic on tie-break after both scored 6.5/9.

Official site: http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0901/hitopen/

14th HIT Open A Nova Gorica (SLO), 31 i-7 ii 2009 Final Round 9 Standings:
1. Pavasovic,Dusko	GM	SLO	2598	6.5	37.5	48.5
2. Lenic,Luka	GM	SLO	2548	6.5	37.5	48.0
3. Palac,Mladen	GM	CRO	2553	6.0	36.0	45.0
4. Sedlak,Nikola	GM	SRB	2592	6.0	35.0	42.5
5. Jovanic,Ognjen	GM	CRO	2527	5.5	36.5	45.5
6. Mazi,Leon	IM	SLO	2377	5.5	35.0	44.5
7. Simutowe,Amon	IM	ZAM	2485	5.5	34.5	44.0
8. Martinovic,Sasa	IM	CRO	2427	5.0	38.5	48.5
9. Saric,Ante	GM	CRO	2514	5.0	37.0	47.5
10. Kokol,Peter	FM	SLO	2332	5.0	33.0	40.0
11. Jeran,Bostjan	MK	SLO	2229	5.0	31.0	39.5
12. Rukavina,Josip	IM	CRO	2417	5.0	28.5	36.5
13. Zorko,Jure	FM	SLO	2396	4.5	36.5	44.0
14. Stajner,Samo	MK	SLO	2278	4.5	34.5	43.5
15. Cebalo,Miso	GM	CRO	2509	4.5	34.0	44.0
16. Gjuran,Denis	FM	SLO	2344	4.5	32.0	39.5
17. Gombac,Jan	FM	SLO	2293	4.5	29.5	37.0
18. De Val,Daniele	MK	ITA	2237	4.5	28.0	36.0
19. Buzeti,Jernej	MK	SLO	2199	4.5	27.0	35.0
20. Srebrnic,Marko	FM	SLO	2323	4.0	29.0	37.5
21. Srebrnic,Vojko	MK	SLO	2229	4.0	28.5	34.5
22. Arsenault,Nicolas	MK	CAN	2229	3.5	31.0	39.0
23. Laco,Giuseppe	M	ITA	2138	3.0	28.5	35.5
24. Rozic,Vesna	WIM	SLO	2280	3.0	26.5	33.0
25. Tomazini,Aljosa	I	SLO	2206	1.5	28.5	37.0

8) 25th Bermuda Open

The 25th Bermuda Open took place 30th January - 1st February 2009 at the luxurious Fairmont Southampton Resort on the South Shore. 5 round Swiss. Pascal Charbonneau and David Cummings of Canada finished on 4.5/5.

Nigel Freeman reports: "The 25th Bermudian Open had an increase to 50 players and was a Canadian success with both the tie-breaks blitz (to win the return trip and hotel for 2010 being all Canadian affairs). Charbonneau beating Cummings and Moffat beating Ho. Regret I cannot find many top games (they tend to forget to hand them in). It least it gives me a chance to show you that once in a while I can play something resembling chess! Denis Strenzwilk received special prizes for participating in all 25! Thanks especially to Donna Reis for sponsorship."

Reports: Pascal Charbonneau - http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9112/517/ - Polly Wright - http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/ and Final Standings.

Bermuda Open Southampton (BER), 30 i-1 ii 2009 Final Round 5 Standings:
1	Pascal Charbonneau	4.5
2	David Cummings	4.5
3	Alexander Ivanov	4.0
4	Nick E De Firmian	4.0
5	Dean J Ippolito	4.0
6	Esther Epstein	4.0
7	Conrad Ho	4.0
8	Andrei Moffat	4.0
9	Paul Mac Intyre	3.5
10	Alex Cherniack	3.0
11	Denis F Strenzwilk	3.0
12	Patrick R Sciacca	3.0
13	Moses Mufundaedza	3.0
14	Ben Gershenov	3.0
15	Nick W Faulks	3.0
16	Ralph Italie	3.0
17	Max Steinberg	3.0
18	Gary Cooper	3.0
19	Kumi Bradshaw	3.0
20	Ruben Reyes	3.0
50 players

9) 2nd Queenstown Chess Classic

Queenstown Chess Classic took place in Queenstown, South Island of New Zealand 15th-24th January 2009. David Smerdon took clear first with 8/10 in spite of losing in the final round to Gawain Jones. There is a new, complete file of games, I have also made some corrections to the naming I used in the file in TWIC 742. My thanks to Helen Milligan and Justin Davis.

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

Queenstown Chess Classic (NZL), 15-24 i 2009 Final Round 10 Standings:
1	Smerdon, David C	im	AUS	2463	8
2	Rozentalis, Eduardas	gm	LTU	2590	7.5
3	Mikhalevski, Victor	gm	ISR	2608	7.5
4	Bischoff, Klaus	gm	GER	2545	7.5
5	Jones, Gawain	gm	ENG	2540	7.5
6	Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios	gm	GRE	2580	7.5
7	Johannessen, Leif Erlend	gm	NOR	2539	7.5
8	Wohl, Aleksander H	im	AUS	2342	7
9	Dragicevic, Domagoj		AUS	2205	7
10	Chow, Samuel		AUS	2267	7
11	Johansen, Darryl K	gm	AUS	2455	7
12	Goldenberg, Igor	fm	AUS	2398	6.5
13	Wells, Peter	gm	ENG	2513	6.5
14	Hecht, Hans-Joachim	gm	GER	2394	6.5
15	Ker, Anthony	im	NZL	2321	6.5
16	Solomon, Stephen J	im	AUS	2460	6.5
17	Brown, Andrew		AUS	1987	6.5
18	Saw, Geoffrey	fm	AUS	2257	6.5
19	Reilly, Tim	fm	AUS	2256	6.5
20	Lyell, Mark	fm	ENG	2287	6.5
21	Drummond, Matthew		AUS	2236	6.5
22	Ikeda, Junta		AUS	2247	6.5
23	Stojic, Dusan		AUS	2219	6.5
24	Illingworth, Max		AUS	2250	6.5
25	West, Guy	im	AUS	2346	6
26	Motoc, Alina	wgm	ROU	2358	6
27	Shen, Daniel		NZL	2098	6
28	Smith, Robert W	fm	NZL	2281	6
29	Garbett, Paul	im	NZL	2329	6
30	Bakker, Sven		NED	2233	6
31	Steadman, Michael		NZL	2273	6
32	Van Riemsdijk, Herman	im	BRA	2392	6
33	Zawadzka, Jolanta	wgm	POL	2385	6
34	van der Elburg, Freddie		NED	2277	6
35	Levi, Eddy L	fm	AUS	2219	6
36	Hohler, Peter	fm	SUI	2214	6
37	Goldsmith, Alan D		AUS	2226	6
38	Krivec, Jana	wgm	SLO	2343	5.5
120 players

10) Arcapita International Bahrain

The Arcapita International Chess Championship took place 23rd January - 3rd February 2009 in Manama, Bahrain. Vadim Malakhatko finished in clear first place with 7½/9 and a first prize of £4,000 My thanks to Mikhail Golubev for the news and especially the games of which there are now additional games from last week.

Official site: http://www.bahrainchessclub.com/ and daily results at: http://chess-results.com/tnr19072.aspx

Arcapita International Chess Championship Manama (BRN), 23 i - 3 ii 2009 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	SNo.	Name	T	FED	Rtg	Pts	RtgSum
1	2	Malakhatko, Vadim	GM	BEL	2610	7½	19875
2	8	Iotov, Valentin	GM	BUL	2556	7	20005
3	11	Moradiabadi, Elshan	GM	IRI	2505	7	19517
4	5	Amin, Basem	GM	EGY	2562	6½	19818
5	16	Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi	IM	IND	2444	6½	19588
6	7	Filippov, Anton	GM	UZB	2556	6½	19482
7	4	Ibrahimov, Rasul	GM	AZE	2568	6½	19396
8	15	Jojua, Davit	IM	GEO	2484	6½	19352
9	9	El Gindy, Essam	GM	EGY	2527	6½	19098
10	3	Adly Ahmed	GM	EGY	2568	6½	19040
11	10	Kveinys, Aloyzas	GM	LTU	2522	6	19279
12	12	Kasparov, Sergey	GM	BLR	2488	6	19137
13	1	Tregubov, Pavel V	GM	RUS	2647	6	19136
14	6	Pelletier, Yannick	GM	SUI	2560	6	19102
15	26	Adnani, Moklis	FM	MAR	2326	6	16730
16	19	Ezat Mohamed	IM	EGY	2421	6	16485
17	14	Bagheri, Amir	GM	IRI	2486	6	16197
18	18	Sriram, Jha	IM	IND	2441	6	16043
19	22	Sharma Dinesh, K	IM	IND	2394	6	15883
20	25	Zozulia, Anna	IM	BEL	2376	6	15841
21	28	Hassan, Abdullah	IM	UAE	2320	6	11769
22	13	Golubev, Mikhail	GM	UKR	2487	5½	19196
23	21	Shoker, Samy	IM	FRA	2399	5½	18689
24	17	Sulashvili, Malkhaz	IM	GEO	2444	5½	18397
25	20	Frhat, Ali	IM	EGY	2408	5½	16847
26	23	Kiss, Pal	IM	HUN	2389	5½	16255
27	27	Othman A, Moussa	FM	UAE	2324	5½	15969
28	24	Sarwat, Walaa	IM	EGY	2388	5½	15709
29	96	Roshan, Dsouza		IND	0	5½	12056
30	29	Shetty, Rahul	IM	IND	2310	5½	11905
31	31	Alhuwar, Jasem	FM	UAE	2270	5½	9931
104 players

11) 11th Hotel Hilton Basel

The 11th Hotel Hilton Open took place in Basel, January 1st-4th 2009. Andrei Sokolov (not Ivan as I wrongly said in TWIC740) won on tie-break from Attila Czebe, Namig Guliyev, Andreas Heimann and Imre Hera Jr after all finished on 5/7. This is Sokolov's 4th win. The event was also the Ivan Nemet Memorial. Best junior was Andreas Heimann (GER), best Lady WIM Marina Martsynovskaya (FRA) and best Basle player IM Branko Filipovic. Amateur section (51 players); tree players finished with 5.5/7 Jean-Pier Lenders, Franz Meier and Velimir Remetic all SUI. Tie-break won Lenders. Senior tournament won Ulrich Gass (GER) 4.5/5; Alessandro Valli (SUI) 4.0 and Wolfgang Ledermann (SUI) 3.5/5. Games now available my thanks to Sinisa Joksic.

Official site: http://www.beochess.ch

11th Hilton Open 2009 Basle (SUI), 1-4 i 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Rang	Player	Ti	Rating	NAT	Pts	Buchh	BuSumm
1	Sokolov,Andrei	GM	2585	FRA	5	27	154
2	Czebe,Attila	GM	2468	HUN	5	26.5	154
3	Guliyev,Namig	GM	2523	AZE	5	25.5	157
4	Heimann,Andreas		2428	GER	5	25	154
5	Hera,Imre Jr.	GM	2530	HUN	5	23.5	156
6	Filipovic,Branko	IM	2426	CRO	4.5	26.5	147
7	Loetscher,Roland	FM	2366	SUI	4.5	26	147.5
8	Prohaszka,Peter	IM	2502	HUN	4.5	25.5	152.5
9	Varga,Zoltan	GM	2494	HUN	4.5	25	153
10	Rukavina,Josip	IM	2429	CRO	4.5	24.5	144.5
11	Hug,Marcel		2307	SUI	4.5	22.5	147
12	Vrhovnik,Damir		1966	CRO	4.5	21	141.5
13	Bukal,Vladimir Jr	IM	2380	CRO	4	29	151
14	Lutz,Bernhard		2239	GER	4	24.5	147.5
15	Jäggi,Dorian		2220		4	22	146.5
16	Martsynovskaya,Ma	WIM	2223	FRA	4	20.5	132
17	Milosevic,Goran	IM	2405	SUI	3.5	27	140.5
18	Vulevic,Vjekoslav	FM	2387	SUI	3.5	26.5	148.5
19	Haener,Philip		2182	SUI	3.5	22.5	130.5
20	Aumann,Welf		2347	GER	3.5	22	134
21	Zenkic,Mensur		2056	SUI	3.5	18.5	127
22	Melkumjanc,Nikola	FM	2288	GER	3	24	137.5
38 players

12) Romanian Championships

The Romanian Championships took place 31st January - 8th February 2009 in Eforie Nord on the Black Sea Coast. Prize fund: 7000 Euro. A 9th women's title for Corina-Isabela Peptan and first men's for Eduard-Andrei Valeanu. The games files from both events are very incomplete and only from the first three rounds, hopefully a better file will turn up. My thanks to Dinu-Ioan Nicula for the news.

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

ch-ROM Eforie Nord (ROM), 31 i - 8 ii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts	BH.
1	Valeanu Eduard-Andrei		ROU	2432	7½	42½
2	Nanu Ciprian-Costica	IM	ROU	2506	7½	42
3	Lupulescu Constantin	GM	ROU	2608	7	44½
4	Badea Bela	GM	ROU	2485	7	44½
5	Chirila Ioan-Cristian	IM	ROU	2485	7	40½
6	Petrisor Adrian-Marian		ROU	2242	7	36½
7	Anton Teodor		ROU	2350	7	33½
8	Spulber Cicirone	FM	ROU	2326	6½	39
9	Georgescu Tiberiu	FM	ROU	2400	6½	37½
10	Filip Lucian	IM	ROU	2458	6½	36
11	Jianu Vlad-Cristian	GM	ROU	2544	6	44
12	Ardelean George-Catalin	IM	ROU	2502	6	40½
13	Schmidt Raul		ROU	2382	6	40½
14	Manea Alexandru	IM	ROU	2409	6	40
15	Sofronie Iulian	IM	ROU	2471	6	40
16	Baratosi Daniel	FM	ROU	2421	6	39
17	Manolache Marius	GM	ROU	2487	6	38½
18	Taras Iulian-Ioan	FM	ROU	2282	6	38½
19	Danilov Vladimir	IM	ROU	2415	6	38½
20	Ungureanu Vlad	FM	ROU	2304	6	36½
21	Dragomirescu Robin-Alexandru		ROU	2302	6	36
22	Mosnegutu Klauss		ROU	2256	6	35½
23	Duca Alexandru-Gabriel	FM	ROU	2230	6	35
24	Pepene Gheorghe		ROU	2129	6	31
144 players

ch-ROM w Eforie Nord (ROM), 31 i - 8 ii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rank	Name		FED	Rtg	Pts	BH.
1	Peptan Corina-Isabela	WGM	ROU	2401	7½	39½
2	Baciu Anca-Otilia	WFM	ROU	2165	7	38
3	Paulet Iozefina	WIM	ROU	2315	7	37½
4	Padurariu Ioana-Smaranda	WIM	ROU	2199	6½	40½
5	Vasile Teodora		ROU	1963	6½	36
6	Gheorghe Corina	WIM	ROU	2228	6	36
7	Sandu Mihaela	WGM	ROU	2285	5½	38
8	Foisor Mihaela-Veronica	WFM	ROU	2099	5½	37½
9	Marin Irina-Luiza	WIM	ROU	2163	5½	37
10	Anusca Madalina-Maria		ROU	1996	5½	34½
11	Chirita Andra-Marina	WFM	ROU	2031	5½	32½
12	Dragomirescu Angela	WIM	ROU	2220	5	39½
13	Adoamnei Roxana		ROU	1992	5	35½
14	Ilie Maria-Ruxandra		ROU	1884	5	33½
15	Berintan Teodora		ROU	1886	5	31½
16	Visanescu Daria-Ioana	WFM	ROU	1870	5	31½
17	Gelip Ioana		ROU	1760	5	30½
18	Morea Georgiana-Steluta		ROU	1774	5	30
39 players

13) First Saturday February

The First Saturday tournaments take place 7th-20th February in Budapest.

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

FSGM February Budapest (HUN), 7-19 ii 2009												cat. VII (2425)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Ilincic, Zlatko	g	SRB	2555	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
2.	Banusz, Tamas	m	HUN	2501	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2418
3.	Duong The Anh	m	VIE	2418	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2501
4.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2521	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	2465
5.	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	m	VIE	2465	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	2521
6.	Paschall, William M	m	USA	2354	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	½	2269
7.	Wittmann, Walter	m	AUT	2269	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	½	2354
8.	Ludwig, Daniel		USA	2421	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	?	.	0
9.	Szalanczy, Emil	m	HUN	2336	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	?	*	.	0
10.	Konnyu, Janos		HUN	2405	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

FSIM February Budapest (HUN), 7-19 ii 2009
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Farago, Sandor	m	HUN	2263	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
2.	Lyell, Mark	f	ENG	2287	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
3.	Cox, Tristan A		ENG	2131	.	.	*	.	.	.	?	.	.	.	0
4.	Csirik, Andras	f	HUN	2271	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	?	.	.	0
5.	Kislik, Erik Andrew		USA	2310	.	.	.	.	*	?	.	.	.	.	0
6.	Parkanyi, Attila	m	HUN	2334	.	.	.	.	?	*	.	.	.	.	0
7.	Simonyi, Zoltan	f	SRB	2226	.	.	?	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	0
8.	Vybiral, Zdenek		CZE	2232	.	.	.	?	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
9.	Bacso, Gabor	f	HUN	2123	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
10.	Toth, Lili	wm	HUN	2190	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

14) I Felix Alexander Sonnenfeld Memorial

The I Felix Alexander Sonnenfeld Memorial Festival took place in Praca Seca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st-8th February 2009. Results and games from the first seven rounds only currently available. Eduardo Arruda da Gama A Cunha led with 6/7 with a couple of rounds to go.

Official site: http://sonnenfeld.webnode.com/

I Sonnenfeld Mem Praca Seca (BRA), 1-8 ii 2009												cat. II (2292)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Cunha, Eduardo Arruda da Gama A	f	BRA	2206	*	.	.	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	6	2585
2.	Limp, Eduardo Thelio	m	BRA	2389	.	*	½	½	1	.	1	1	½	1	5½	2526
3.	Perdomo, Leandro	m	ARG	2387	.	½	*	.	½	½	1	1	1	1	5½	2498
4.	Saldano Dayer, Horacio	m	ESP	2449	0	½	.	*	½	1	.	1	1	1	5	2430
5.	Santos, Marcus Vinicius Moreira	m	BRA	2394	½	0	½	½	*	1	½	.	1	.	4	2344
6.	Guimaraes, Wagner Peixoto	f	BRA	2253	0	.	½	0	0	*	1	1	.	½	3	2247
7.	Guerrero, Alvaro		URU	2178	½	0	0	.	½	0	*	.	1	1	3	2252
8.	Chauca, Jose		PER	2173	0	0	0	0	.	0	.	*	½	1	1½	2080
9.	Silva, Celso Renato Rodrigues Da		BRA	2196	0	½	0	0	0	.	0	½	*	.	1	2001
10.	Medeiros, Jorge Luiz Cabral		BRA	2295	0	0	0	0	.	½	0	0	.	*	½	1868

15) Dutch Teams

The Dutch Team Championship takes place 27th September 2008 - 10th May 2009. I think there may be playoffs after that. Games from the first four rounds now available.

Great coverage at: http://www.schakers.info/ and also the http://www.schaakbond.nl/wedstrijdschaak/knsb-competitie/

TCh-NED 2008-9 (NED), 3 x 2008 - 30 ii 2009 Round 5 of 9 Standings:
	Meesterklasse	Mp	Bp	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1.	HSG	10	36	x	.	.	.	.	6½	7½	5½	8½	8
2.	Hotels.nl	8	33½	.	x	6	6½	8½	.	.	.	4½	8
3.	HMC Calder	6	27½	.	4	x	4	5½	5½	.	.	.	8½
4.	Schrijvers Rotterdam	6	25½	.	3½	6	x	4½	.	6	.	5½	.
5.	Utrecht	6	23½	.	1½	4½	5½	x	5½	.	6½	.	.
6.	Homburg Apeldoorn	4	25½	3½	.	4½	.	4½	x	5½	.	7½	.
7.	Voerendaal	4	24½	2½	.	.	4	.	4½	x	6½	.	7
8.	LSG	3	24½	4½	.	.	.	3½	.	3½	x	5	8
9.	ESGOO	3	19	1½	5½	.	4½	.	2½	.	5	x	.
10.	BSG	0	10½	2	2	1½	.	.	.	3	2	.	x

Round 5 - 7th February 2009
BSG	-	Voerendaal	3	-	7
ESGOO	-	HSG	1½	-	8½
Utrecht	-	LSG	6½	-	3½
HMC Calder	-	Homburg Apeldoorn	5½	-	4½
Hotels.nl	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam	6½	-	3½
Round 4 - 13th December 2008
Hotels.nl	-	BSG	8	-	2
Schrijvers Rotterdam	-	HMC Calder	6	-	4
Homburg Apeldoorn	-	Utrecht	4½	-	5½
LSG	-	ESGOO	5	-	5
HSG	-	Voerendaal	7½	-	2½
Round 3 - 22nd November 2008
BSG	-	HSG	2	-	8
Voerendaal	-	LSG	6½	-	3½
ESGOO	-	Homburg Apeldoorn	2½	-	7½
Utrecht	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam	5½	-	4½
HMC Calder	-	Hotels.nl	4	-	6
Round 2 - 1st November 2008
HMC Calder	-	BSG	8½	-	1½
Hotels.nl	-	Utrecht	8½	-	1½
Schrijvers Rotterdam	-	ESGOO	5½	-	4½
Homburg Apeldoorn	-	Voerendaal	5½	-	4½
LSG	-	HSG	4½	-	5½
Round 1 - 27th September 2008
BSG	-	LSG	2	-	8
HSG	-	Homburg Apeldoorn	6½	-	3½
Voerendaal	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam	4	-	6
ESGOO	-	Hotels.nl	5½	-	4½
Utrecht	-	HMC Calder	4½	-	5½

16) So - Torre Match

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.

17) Franklin K. Young Memorial

George Mirijanian reports: The Franklin K. Young Memorial tournament took place on 31st January 2009 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. IM Rico Zenklusen, 27, of Switzerland, now a resident of Massachusetts, and IM David Vigorito, 38, of Somerville tied for first place with scores of 3.5-0.5. Runners-up with 3-1 results were national masters Lawyer Times, 44, of Hyde Park, Mass., and Carey Theil, 30, of Arlington, Mass. The tournament drew 30 players in two sections and was directed by Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass. for the sponsoring Boylston Chess Foundation. The tournament honored the memory of Boston-born Franklin Knowles Young (1857-1931), who wrote a series of largely esoteric chess books, using elaborate terminology, that applied battlefield principles to chess.

18) X CXG International

The X Internacional do CXG takes place in Rio de Janeiro, 9th-18th February, 2009.

http://www.cxg.org.br/

19) Cuban Championship

Cuban Championship - Final took place 20th - 28th January in Las Tunas, Cuba Lazaro Bruzon Batista won the event with the best tie-break after four players tied on 5,5/9. Sadly just the one game published in a newspaper is available. I'm hoping someone will come up with a game file.

Official site: http://www.capablanca.co.cu

20) Seville International Open

The XXXIV Open Internacional "Ciudad de Sevilla" took place 23rd-31st January 2009. Manuel Rivas Pastor won the event with 7.5/9.

Games from the final round missing.

Official site: http://www.fsajedrez.com/ (http://www.fsajedrez.com/torneos/2009/open/open.htm )

21) Raaphy Persitz 1934 - 2009

Yochanan Afek reports from Tel Aviv

Raaphy Persitz passed away in his sleep at the age of 74. He was a chess master but was mainly known as one of the brightest financial analysts , writing to the last day his highly instructive articles in the respectable daily Haaretz which belonged to his family. He was born in Tel-Aviv on 26 July 1934.

His grandmother Shoshana Persitz was a member of the first Kmesset (the Israeli parliament). In 1951 he was Israel's first junior champion. He was sent to England for his academic studies where he became an Oxford university graduate and was active in British chess, playing major tournaments such as Hastings premier 1955-56 (6th-7th place) and 1968-69 (7th-8th place) and representing England in 3 student olympiads:Oslo 1954 2nd board(+6 -0 =3) winning the gold medal! ; Uppsala 1956 1st board (+3 -1 =6); Reykjavik 1957 first board (+3 -6 =4).

He played 3 times the traditional Oxford- Cambridge match. He told me (and wickipedia confirms it) that In 1954 he won his individual game in the Oxford-Cambridge match in the morning, playing very quickly in order to be able to travel by train to Swindon (some 75 miles away) in time to play top board for his county (Oxfordshire) against Gloucestershire in the afternoon. He was paired against a former British champion, the famous Alexander and managed to win this game as well ! He was also a prolific and entertaining chess writer, contributing articles to a long-running column in British Chess Magazine entitled The Student's Corner.

Back in Israel he was one of the country's best players in the late 50th and 60th, representing Israel in Leipzig Olympiad 1960 on the fourth board (6+ 4- 2=). He was Israel's first champion for lightning chess and took part in the country's first International tournaments . Later for some 15 years he worked with his father in the banking business in Geneve, Switzerland. His command of the English language was amazing but he was indeed a super grandmaster of the Hebrew language creating various novelties especially economical terms, in his capacity as a member of the national Hebrew language academy.

He wrote a couple of Hebrew chess books and later translated several others to English. Raaphy was Chess (monthly), British Chess Magazine, The Problemist and EG regular reader to his last day.He was a passionate lover of the endgame study and a close friend of mine. A great man of culture, music and literature yet at the same time a modest and gentle person who was always willing to help and whom I will strongly miss. (Yochanan Afek)

Wikipedia entry on Raaphi Persitz

22) XXVI Linares Tournament 2009

The XXVI Linares 2009 tournament will take place only in Spain this year (their co-operation with Morelia in Mexico was ended last year). The tournament takes place 18th February - 8th March 2009 and has 314,000 Euros in prizes. There are no appearance fees for the players. The winner takes 100,000 Euros and the trophy 2nd and 3rd take 75,000 and 50,000 Euros.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand defends the Linares title after winning the event last year. Other players are Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov, Levon Aronian, Wang Yue, Alexander Grischuk and the Leinier Dominguez Perez.

Information: http://www.marca.com/2009/02/03/mas_deportes/ajedrez/1233689626.html

23) Forthcoming Events and Links

Chess in School Conference

There will be a Chess in Schools conference 25th-27th February 2209 in Turin (Torino-Italy).

The opening ceremony will be attended by the President of FIDE, Mr Ilyumzhinov. Among the speakers in the 3 days there will be many GMs, representatives of Fide and of many chess Federations, and obviously Italian teachers and experts.

Official web site and the complete program: http://www.turinchessinschools.com

Bunratty Chess Festival

The Bunratty Chess Festival takes place 20th-22nd February 2009. Peter Svidler will be returning to defend his title.

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

Aivars Gipslis Memorial

The Aivars Gipslis Memorial takes place 12th-18th February 2009. Organised by the Riga Chess Federation. They are looking for 1 foreign GM and one player with high motivation to get GM norm. Contact: Vadik Daskevics vadik.dashkevich@gmail.com

Aivars Gipslis Memorial Riga (LAT), 12 - 18 ii 2009 Players so far:
Ilmars Starostits	IM	LAT	2500
Juzefs Petkevich	GM	LAT	2435
Samolins Vitalijs		LAT	2430
Janis Klovans	GM	LAT	2418
Mihailovs Jurijs		LAT	2398
Abasov Nijat Azad olgu		AZE	2397
Vladimir Sveshnikov	FM	LAT	2397
Valdis Saulespurens	FM	USA	2384

21st Lenk International Chess Festival

After a great jubilee with the 20th Lenk Chess Festival, last year has come the shock news that the, 21st Lenk International Tournament, April 9th-13th 2009 will be the last chess event in the Simmental region, a very attractive tourist area. "Beochess" with "Swiss Chess Tour" this year close all their chess activity. During 21 years Lenk became very popular in chess world and it will be pity if nobody keeps on the tremendous tradition.

So, last time, Hotel Kreuz will be venue, Lenk Open. Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). The prizes: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 800, 600, 400, 2x300 and 3x200 SF. Special prizes: Ladies, senior (1948), junior(1989-92), schoolboy (1993) and amateur (under 2000) for all: 200 CHF. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 20 SF more, GMs and IMs free. Venue: Hotel "Kreuz". Time table: Round 1st 18.00-23.00 April 9,; Rounds 2/3 10.00-15.00 and 16.00-21.00 April 10,; Round 4 14.00-19.00 April 11,; Rounds 5/6 10.00-15.00 and 16.00-21.00 April 12,; Round 7 10.00-15.00 April 13. Closing ceremony April 13 at 16.00.

Info: Beochess +41+62+965-46-50 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch or site http://www.beochess.ch for more details.

Zuerich Chess Club 200th Anniversary

Dr. Christian Rohrer reports: The world's oldest chess club celebrates its 200th year with spectacular jubilee events, including World Champions Spassky, Kasparov and Anand.

The Schachgesellschaft Zuerich celebrates 200th anniversary with spectacular jubilee events

The Schachgesellschaft Zuerich, the world's oldest chess club, celebrates its 200th year in 2009 with spectacular jubilee events. To mark the anniversary, some of the greatest masters of the last five decades, including World Champions Spassky, Kasparov and Anand, will play at the event. Highlights will be a simultaneous exhibition and a rapid chess tournament on the 22nd and 23rd of August, held in Zurich Main Railway Station. With generous sponsor support from Credit Suisse the Schachgesellschaft Zuerich continues its long standing tradition of world class chess tournaments.

On Saturday the 22nd of August, in simultaneous games 200 amateurs will be honoured to face eight word-class chess players, who have made historical contributions to world chess over the last 50 years: Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov. On Sunday the 23rd of August, these champions will compete against each other in an exciting rapid chess format. Judit Polgar, the strongest female chess player ever, and Werner Hug of Schachgesellschaft Zuerich, former world junior chess champion, will replace Kasparov and Spassky, who have retired from competitive chess.

A huge number of spectators, from enthusiasts to the generally curious, is expected for the events at Zurich Railway Main Station. And no one need miss it: All commemorative events will be streamed live via Internet.

The jubilee commences with an open tournament; certain to be one of the most exciting open chess tournaments of 2009. Players of every skill level, from beginners to the elite world class, are expected and will be welcomed at the Zurich Kongresshaus from August 9th to the 15th, 2009. They will compete in two tournaments, 9 rounds each, for CHF 100.000 guaranteed prize money and many attractive prizes.

To further honour the occasion, Richard Forster, reputable chess historian, will release his comprehensive book, researched in great detail, on the unique history of the Schachgesellschaft Zuerich. Entitled "Schachgesellschaft Zuerich: 1809 bis 2009", Forster's work will analyze the development of the Schachgesellschaft Zuerich from the times of Napoleon to the present day.

Details: http://www.sgzurich2009.ch

5th Thessaloniki Games Festival

The 5th Thessaloniki Games Festival takes place 26th April - 4th May 2009.

Official site: http://www.gamesfestival.com/ (wasn't working when I checked) and a full listing of the event.

32nd Ikaros Chess Festival 2009

The traditional 32nd Ikaros Chess Festival 2009 takes place on Ikaria island.

The main event of the festival, the International Aegean Open Championship takes place 11th-19th July 2009. It is a 9 round swiss event with prize fund 3600 Euros in total (1st prize 1000 Euros, special money prizes for ladies and veterans). Special conditions for GMs/IMs and WGMs/WIMs are provided, special discounts for families and club teams are also offered (more information will be available in the official announcement of the festival that will be out soon on the official webpage.

Contact info: ikaros@chess.gr while to contact us on the phone one can try: +30 6932 478386 or +30 210 5010871 (Mr. Savas Kyriakou). For general information about the island of Ikaria one can also check at: http://www.island-ikaria.com

Official site: http://www.chess.gr/ikaros

32nd San Sebastian Open

32nd San Sebastian International Open, takes place 5th-12th April 2009 in the Spanish northern city of San Sebastian (near french border).

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

Tancats de la Societat Coral

The Tancats de la Societat Coral Colon Grup GM takes place 23rd January - 20th March 2009.

Official site: http://chess-results.com/tnr18677.aspx

Pula Open 2009

The 23rd International Chess Tournament "Pula Open 2009" takes place 27th June - 4th July 2009 in Pula, Croatia. Official site: http://www.skpula.hr and contact e-mail: pulaopen@globalnet.hr.

Aeroflot Open 2009

The mega Aeroflot Open takes place in Moscow 16th February (the day of arrival) to 27th February 2009 (the day of departure). There are five tournaments the main ones being: A1 higher than 2549 70000 Euros, A2 higher than 2399, but lower than 2550 36000 Euros, B higher than 2199, but lower than 2400 19500 Euros and C lower than 2200 and unrated 12000 Euros. Time control: Tournament A 1 and A 2: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, finally 15 minutes for the remaining moves with an increment of 30 seconds per move in the last period. Tournament B and C: 90 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 1.

Blitz Tournament 26 Feb. 2009 a double nine-round Swiss Blitz Tournament will be held in the same venue. It is a Qualification Tournament for the World Blitz Championship 2009 (Final). The final tournament will take place in Moscow from 15 to 17 Nov.2009.

Information e-mail: aeroflotchess@gmail.com tel/fax: +7 (495) 691-8578 tel.: +7 (495) 690-6084

Details at the official site: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

Hungarian Chess Tournaments March-October 2009

1. 7th-19th of February, FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-FM Budapest FIRST SATURDAY Budapest, 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/

2.20th-28th of February IM-Rating Caissa, Kecskemet, org: Dr.Erdelyi, Tamás, cellphone: +36-30-271-33-38, Landline phone-fax: +36-76-481-685 e-mail: postmaster@caissa.t-online.hu Website: http://www.caissachessbooks.hu Usually also in the second half of the month IM and rating tournaments in Kecskemet, a city 80 km South-East from Budapest.

3.7th-19th of March, First Saturday, Budapest, GM-IM-FM, org Nagy L.

4.20th-28th of March, 25th BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy L. - e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net

5.4th-16th of April First Saturday Budapest, org.Nagy L.

6.18th-26th of April Caissa, IM + rating Kecskemet, Org.Erdelyi,

7.2nd-14th of May, First Saturday GM-IM-FM Budapest, org Nagy L.

Kecskemet Caissa IM + rating tournaments more: 16th-25th of May, 20th-28th of June, 18th-27th of July, 15th-24th of August, 19th-28th of September. FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM-IM-FM tournaments more: 6th-18th of June, 4th-16th of July, 1st-13th of August, 5th-17th of September.

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.

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

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

Novi Sad Open

1) Open turnir , 10-11 jan. 2009 , Srpska Nova g. u N. Sadu , 5 kola , rejtinguje se !!, fide tempo http://www.drazic.co.rs

2) IM , berger, 10-18.jan.2009. , 10 rounds, fide tempo, Novi SAd, for elo and norms fide, http://www.drazic.co.rs

3) Open turnir , 16-18 jan.2009, Novi Sad "Zima u Novom Sadu", 5 kola , rejtinguje se !!, fide tempo http://www.drazic.co.rs

4) cuger turnir , Olimpik, 12. jan.2009, Novi Sad, start 20 h , http://www.drazic.co.rs

5) program of chess edukation, every day from 12-15 jan. 2009 chess lessons with varius GM and Im (available in 3 languages),,,, some of teachers GM Kosanovic G. , GM SEdlak Nikola, GM Kovacevic A , GM DRazic Sinisa etc...

6) Open t. , "Dunav-Drava -Sava" , Banja Junakovic(87km from N.Sad), 9 rounds, fide tempo, possible norms fide and elo, date - 21-25.01.2009., special package , only 130 eur, 4 days full board with available swiming pool, and include also entry fee !! more http://www.drazic.co.rs Special discount for people who take part in more than one events.

Luis Scalise

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

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/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GM Boris Alterman's Chess Lessons

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

Website: http://chesslessons.wordpress.com/

Etienne Bacrot's Website

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

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