THE WEEK IN CHESS 745 16th February 2009 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Leonid Galperin, Esteve Ribalta Bertran, Richard Reich, Sinisa Joksic, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Bela Lengyel, Miklos Orso, Tinni, Neuris Delgado, Adolivio Capece, Axel Fritz, Gorka Bravo, Kevin Hyde, Dinu-Ioan Nicula and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Although there is a reasonable amount of chess this week, its pretty much all about next week with the Veselin Topalov against Gata Kamsky match to decide who plays Viswanathan Anand for his world title heading the agenda, just ahead of the Aeroflot Open which starts on the same day, then the Linares tournament starts a couple of days later. So we certainly can't complain about lack of chess next week.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Topalov - Kamsky Candidates Match

Veselin Topalov plays Gata Kamsky in Sofia in an 8 game match for the right to play World Champion Viswanathan Anand later in the year. The match takes place 17th-27th February with playoffs on the 28th if required.

Official site: http://www.wccc2009.com/

3) Aeroflot Open

The mega Aeroflot Open takes place in Moscow 16th February (the day of arrival) to 27th February 2009 (the day of departure).

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

4) XXVI Linares

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 Leinier Dominguez Perez.

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

5) UEP bid for Candidates and World title matches

Whilst there hasn't been anything settled for the World Championship match for this year between Anand and the winner of Kamsky and Topalov, perhaps understandably, although given the economy worryingly, FIDE have announced the bidding process for the 2010 Candidates tournament and 2011 World Championship match and they've already received a bid from UEP (http://www.uep-chess.com/) the organisers of Kramnik - Leko in Brissago and Anand - Kramnik in Bonn. FIDE discuss the UEP bid and the process at: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/3748-uep-make-bid-for-candidates-2010-and-world-championship-2011

6) 80th German Championship

The 80th German Championship took place in Saarbruecken 5th-15th February 2009. Arik Braun took first place on tie-break from Michael Prusikin after both finished on 7/9. Correction to the result of Boidman - Hort from last week.

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

7) 2nd Pfalz Open

The 2nd Pflaz Open takes place 15th-22nd February 2009 in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. Favourite Sergei Tiviakov is amongst a big group on 3/3.

Official site: http://www.pfalzopen.de and http://www.schach.com/neustadt

8) Czech Republic Championship

The Championship of the Czech Republic takes place 10th-20th February 2009 in Decin, Czech Republic.

Official site: http://www.chess.cz/www/ - http://www.chess-teplice.cz/news.php and results http://chess-results.com/tnr19388.aspx

9) 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.

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

10) First Saturday February

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

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

11) Dutch Teams

The Dutch Team Championship takes place 27th September 2008 - 10th May 2009. Round 6 on 7th March ( Schrijvers Rotterdam - BSG, Homburg Apeldoorn - Hotels.nl, LSG - HMC Calder, HSG - Utrecht and Voerendaal - ESGOO ) I think there may be playoffs after that. Games from round 5 now available.

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

12) 1st Maravilhosa Festival

The 1st Maravilhosa Festival takes place in Rio de Janeiro, 9th-18th February, 2009.

Official site: http://www.cxg.org.br/festcxg09.htm

13) 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. My thanks to Neuris Delgado for all the games.

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

14) 7th Nancy Chess Festival

The 7th International Chess Festival takes place in Nancy (France) 16th-22nd February 2009. The top event is 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)...

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

15) 92nd Marshall Chess Club Championship

The 92nd Marshall Chess Club Championship took place 17th-26th October 2008. Zvaid Izoria and Giorgi Kacheishvili finished equal first on 7½/9. My thanks to Richard Reich for the games and news.

16) Cutitaba ITT

There was an international rating tournament in Curitiba, Brazil 2nd-8th February 2009. Sandro Mareco took first place with 7.5/10. Sadly the games file has no round numbers and is practically impossible to understand or append dates to, especially as there was a playoff for second place between Chomi and da Silva.

Details: http://www.fexpar.esp.br/ and http://rodrigodisconzi.blogspot.com/2009/02/itt-iep-final.html

17) 4th Circuit Espoirs Europe Echecs in Cannes

The 4th Circuit Espoirs Europe Echecs in Cannes took place 11th-15th February 2009.

Bilel Bellahcene won this event and Christian Bauer on tie-break from Hichem Hamdouchi after both scored 7/9 in the stronger A-Open alongside. Sabino Brunello (19) made his second GM norm. I can't find any games from this section.

Full report at Europe-Echecs

18) So - Torre Match doesn't seem to have happened

14-year-old Wesley So and 56-year-old Eugene Torre were supposed to play a match starting on 10th February in Quezon City, Davao and Iloilo for a big prize fund but it doesn't seem to have happened.

19) Aivars Gipslis Memorial

The Aivars Gipslis Memorial takes place 12th-18th February 2009. Organised by the Riga Chess Federation. Couldn't find any coverage.

Riga Chess Federation

20) 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. Eduardo Arruda da Gama A Cunha won with 7/9. Games from the final two rounds are missing.

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

21) 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. I will round up the games when the become available. My thanks to Dinu-Ioan Nicula for the news.

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

22) Grand Slam Association Announcements

There was a press release from the Grand Slam Association on February 4th, summarising: Bilbao will host the Grand Slam Masters final again this year The Pearl Spring Chess Tournament of Nanjing, China (2008), has joined the Grand Slam Chess Association in 2009. This means Veselin Topalov's win in China and Sergey Karjakin's win in the Corus Tournament 2009 in Wijk ann Zee (Netherlands) have qualified them already for the Bilbao Masters Final. Nanjing 2009 will be the first tournament of the Grand Slam 2010.

Other decisions of the meeting of the representatives of the Grand Slam in Wijk ann Zee is the concern of the organisers about the unfought draws during the Corus tournament, as well as early triple-repetition of the position placed in other tournaments where the Sofia’s Rule has been applied. By common agreement, all the tournaments of the Grand Slam will apply the Sofia’s Rule from the 2010 edition onwards, and other regulations will be considered in order to fight against this practice.

23) 32 Pieces: The Art Of Chess

PRESS RELEASE by Larry List

Artists of all eras and cultures have been interested in chess, "the Royal Game" of rulers, soldiers, prisoners, and exiles. From the early 20th century to the present this interest has paralleled major social (re)evolutions, with artists increasingly using chess imagery and ideas in their art. During such times, chess has provided a universally acknowledged societal model in miniature, that artists re-design based on patterns of love, war, and play. Sigmund Freud viewed chess as parallel to psychoanalysis - a mapping of the mind - while French-born Marcel Duchamp saw chess as art. In 1944, art theorist Andre Breton insisted that "...what must be changed is the game, itself, not the pieces." The Fluxus artists of the 1960’s made a grand gameof- making-the-game and transformed chess into a sensory questioning of identities.

In this exhibition, prominent contemporary artists Fryer, Kruger and Turk push the boundaries of interactivity while Kusama, Tunga, Clegg, the Chapman brothers and Cattelan explore mental states, real or imagined. Emin and Ronay transmute chess courtship rituals into heated intimacies and through serious or nonsensical creative play Mackie, Hirst, Whiteread, Friedman and McCarthy each reconstruct a new identity based on the game via the deconstruction of a chosen environment.

Marcel Proust once explained that what is needed is not a new landscape, but, rather, a new vision. These leading contemporary artists offer new viewpoints from which to reconsider the creative social landscape through chess, while the timeless conceptual landscape of "the Royal Game" stands ever-ready to lend itself to future visions.

The exhibition is co-curated by Larry List, Mark Sanders and Julia Royse for the Reykjavik Art Museum in Iceland (24 January - 12 April 2009) Catalogue will be available from the end of February 09.

More details and some images at: http://www.r-s-a.co.uk/ and a lengthier version of the press release at: Art of Chess Press Release

24) Forthcoming Events and Links

X Pamplona Chess Festival

The X Pamplona Chess Festival takes place 5th-10th October 2009.

Details: http://www.festivalcinepamplona.com/

Alushta Diary 2009

Alushta Diary 2009:

GM Norm events: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, IM Norm: 23.05 - 1.06, 2.06 - 12.06, 15.06 - 25.06, 2.09 - 12.09, 14.09 - 24.09, 26.09 - 6.10, Rating tournament: 4.06 - 12.06, 22.06 - 27.06, 5.09 - 13.09, Open tournament (under 16 years) 3.06 - 11.06, 13.06 - 21.06, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament First prize - 1000$ First prize (woman) - 500$ 28.06 - 6.07, 10.07 - 18.07, 20.07 - 28.07, 22.08 - 30.08, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Blitz tournament 7.07, 19.07, 29.07, Alushta Swiss 9 rounds Open tournament (rapid chess) 8.07 - 9.07, 30.07 - 31.07, Alushta Session of school of Gennadi Kuzmin 21.06 - 27.06, 15.07 - 24.07. Individual and group studying Further information: http://www.kaissa.com.ua phone +38 (06560)5-05-32, +380505828911 (for Russian speaking), + 380506692604 (for English speaking) e-mail: info@kaissa.com.ua

I Costa del Sol International

The I Costa del Sol International takes place 22nd February - 28th March 2009 over several weekends if I understand the press release correctly. Details: http://es.geocities.com/clubajedrezsanpedro/

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/

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 event@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).

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.

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/

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