THE WEEK IN CHESS 749 16th March 2009 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Miklos Orso, Varlam Vepkhvishvili, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Vadims Daskevics, Michael Rahal, Tina Ramic, Bill Townsend, Chris Bird, Dave Clayton, Gorka Bravo, Harry Schaack, Henri Koskinen, John Saunders, Bela Lengyel, Marcelo Pagano, Marcio Vargas, Oscar de la Riva, Robert Fontaine, Tony Ficzere, Vadik Daskevics and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The Amber tournament is well under way with most of the best players competing this year. There is plenty of chess elsewhere including the 10th European Individual is going into its final round with little settled. Also there are three elite women's events this week, a bunch of team events and much more.

FIDE postponed the Anand - Topalov world championship until April 2010 at the latest. I don't tend to report bidding processes anymore there is far too much announced that ends up being wrong, it hardly counts as news. For a change I have a little sympathy with FIDE, in normal economic times I don't think there would be too many problems getting a sponsor for this match, but now, who knows? Having said that there is clearly money around in the Indian Premier League in cricket, Anand is one of India's biggest sporting stars, and it would only take a fraction of those amounts. There surely should be money to play the match in India if no-where else.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Amber Blindfold and Rapid

The 18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament takes place March 14th (first round) - March 26 (last round) at the five-star hotel Palais de la Mediterranee, splendidly located on the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France. The event is organised by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco.

The total prize-fund is - 216,000 Euros.

This year's field is stronger than ever with all the world's best players taking part.

The twelve participants are (in alphabetical order): World Champion Viswanathan Anand (India), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Gata Kamsky (United States), Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Peter Leko (Hungary), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Wang Yue (China).

Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 hrs. The fourth session finishes around 20.00 hrs. (Note: the final round on March 26 starts at 12.30 hrs. March 18 and 23 are rest days.)

Official website: http://www.amberchess2009.com

3) 10th European Individual Budva Montenegro

The 10th European Individual Budva takes place in Montenegro 6th-17th March 2009. There is a big tie on 7.5/10 going into the final round.

Official site: http://www.eurobudva2009.com

4) FIDE Women's Grand Prix Istanbul

The FIDE Women's Grand Prix takes place in Istanbul 5th-20th March 2009.

Official site: http://istanbul2009.fide.com/

5) 10th European Individual Women's Championship

The 10th European Individual Women's Chess Championship takes place March 7th - 21st 2009 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Anna Muzychuk (2540) is the top seed.

Official site: http://www.wiecc2009.com/

On the spot photo and video reports: http://www.europe-echecs.com/actualites/actualites-chp.-d-europe-individuel-feminin-1763.html

6) 41st Belgrade Women's Tournament

The 41st Belgrade Women's Tournament took place in Belgrade, Slavija Hotel, 3rd-11th March 2009. Anna Benderac took first place from Irina Chelushkina on tie-break after both scored 6/9.

Official site: http://www.beochess.rs/2009/8mart2009/8mart2009en.html

7) 127th Varsity Match

The 127th Varsity Oxford vs Cambridge match took place in the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London on 14th March 2009. Oxford won 5-3 to take the over all score to 56 to Cambridge and 52 to Oxford with 19 drawn matches. My thanks to John Saunders for the news and games.

8) First Saturday March

The First Saturday tournaments (GM, IM and FM) take place 7th-20th March in Budapest.

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

9) US Amateur Teams East

The U.S. Amateur Team tournaments were held over President’s Day weekend (Feb. 14-16) in four locations around the United States. Team East, held at its usual site in Parsippany, NJ, is by far the largest, and it dares to call itself the World Amateur Team. In spite of the economic downturn, attendance was the second largest ever as 1,207 players competed in 283 teams. The record was set in 2008: 1251 players and 291 four-man teams.

This year’s winning team was called "Palin Gambit - I Can See Checkmate From Here" and the team members were: FM Paul MacIntyre, Brian Hulse, Libardo Rueda and Alan Price. No tie-breaks were involved: this was the only team to have a perfect 6-0 record.

There are a lot of reasons for the popularity of this event. A festival atmosphere predominates, with door prizes handed out at the beginning of every round and special prizes for best team name and best team gimmick. In spite of the fact that this is an amateur event, some of the strongest players in the country sometimes play - so long as the average team rating is below 2,200 USCF, anything goes. Among the titled players participating were: GM William Lombardy, GM Larry Kaufman, GM Giorgi Kacheishvili, GM Sergey Kudrin, GM Nick DeFirmian, GM John Fedorowicz, former Canadian champion GM Pascal Charbonneau, current New York State Champion IM Alex Lenderman and GM Arthur Bisguier, the Dean of American Chess.

This combination of the silly and the serious produces some interesting chess - most notable was the fantastic game Hess-MacIntyre from round two where IM Hess sacrificed two queens in a row to get a winning position.

Report and games: Bill Townsend.

Other news at: http://www.njscf.org/

10) Brazilian Interclubs

The Brazilian Interclub Championship took place 28th February - 8th March 2009. in Hebraica/Pinheiros - Sao Paulo. CXS A won the event. I ran out of time to process the games.

Official site: http://www.fpx.com.br/

11) I Costa del Sol International

The I Costa del Sol International takes place 22nd February - 29th March 2009. Abel Carrascoso Morales and Antonio Naranjo Moreno lead on 5.5/6. Details: http://es.geocities.com/clubajedrezsanpedro/

12) 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

13) Eastern Class Championships

Chris Bird reports: GM Darmen Sadvakasov and Marc Esserman won the Eastern Class Championships held in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, USA, March 6th-8th, 2009. Both players finished unbeaten with 4/5. Tied for 3rd-4th with 3.5/5 were GM Sergey Kudrin and Denys Shmelov.

A report on the tournament along with some photos can be viewed at the Chess Life Online site: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9184/520.

14) Gipslis Memorial

Officials site: http://www.chess.lv/lv/

15) Ajedrez Plus Chess Festival

The Ajedrez Plus Chess Festival takes place in Ramos Mejia - Buenos Aires 14th-22nd March 2009. GM Andres Rodriguez Vila plays.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezplus.com.ar/ver_noticia.php?id=32

16) Finnish Teams

EtVaS Vantaa won the Finnish Team Championship after exciting final weekend, their first medal in 10 years. Salo took its first ever medal by grabbing silver before favourits Tampere. News: Henri Koskinen.

Games, individual results etc. can be found on the website: http://www.shakki.net/pelaaminen/turnaukset/liiga.html

17) 4NCL

The 4NCL takes place 4th October 2008 - 4th May 2009. Rounds 7-8 take place 21st-22nd March 2009 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

18) SPICE Spring Invitational

The SPICE Spring Invitational takes place 16th-22nd March 2009.

Official site: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/spice/SPICE_Spring_Invitational.php with live coverage at: http://www.monroi.com

19) 10th Internet Chess Tournament - Ciudad de Dos Hermanas

Press release: Michael Rahal.

The 10th Internet Chess Tournament takes place on the Internet Chess Club (ICC), March 13th-21st 2009).

This year one of the most important cities in Spain celebrates the tenth edition of it's chess tournament. The 10th Internet Chess Tournament "Ciudad de Dos Hermanas" is being held on the ICC Internet Chess Club. With a prize fund of 7.500 euros (first prize 2.000), the event is one of the most important tournaments on the international Internet chess calendar.

In addition to the main cash prizes there are many other smaller cash prizes for rating sections  along with daily ICC memberships raffles and Peon de Rey magazine prizes. Due to the success of the event, year after year, the playing system has remained untouched: 12 qualifiers are played with a 12-round Swiss system. Games are played using the popular 3/0 playing rate.

The latest count gives us 1467 players registered and after the first six qualifiers the following GM's have already qualified for the final: Venezuela's Eduardo Iturrizaga, Armenian's Gabriel Sargissian, Zaven Andriasian and Hrant Melkumyan and the Iranian Ehsan Ghaem Maghami.

Complete standings, game file, PGN game files and other interesting information can be found at the Dos Hermanas web site: http://www.doshermanas.net

Standings of the first five qualifiers

Qualifier-5 | Manager: Kiebitz | Sunday, March 15 | 15:00 EDT | 485 players

• Standings and Results for Q-5
• Download PGN for Q-5
• Raffle Prize Winner: fiume

Qualifier-4 | Manager: Beats20Cents | Saturday, March 14 | 20:00 EDT | 329 players

• Standings and Results for Q-4
• Download PGN for Q-4
• Raffle Prize Winner: mala9

Qualifier-3 | Manager: Lisebeth | Saturday, March 14 | 15:00 EDT | 422 players

• Standings and Results for Q-3
• Download PGN for Q-3
• Raffle Prize Winner: blunderville

Qualifier-2 | Manager: kicksacan | Friday, March 13 | 20:00 EDT | 343 players

• Standings and Results for Q-2
• Download PGN for Q-2
• Raffle Prize Winner: Elpotro

Qualifier-1 | Manager: Kiebitz | Friday, March 13 | 15:00 EDT | 433 players

• Standings and Results for Q-1
• Download PGN for Q-1
• Raffle Prize Winner: OguzKaganAslan

20) Grand Slam Chess Association Press Releases

Amsterdam, March 16th, 2009

During the Presidential board meeting of the GSCA (Grand Slam Chess Association) in Linares (Saturday, March 7th 2009), the next decisions have been made:

A. The GSCA Presidential board will now consist of these members:

Juan Fernandez (Linares) President
Silvio Danailov (Sofia) Executive Director
Jeroen van den Berg (Wijk aan Zee) Spokesman
Andoni Madallaga (Bilbao) General Secretary

A fifth member from Nanjing (China) will be announced later.

B. The potential new member of the GSCA, San Luis, has not yet made an official request to enter the GSCA. In case San Luis wants to enter this year, the deadline is April 1st 2009.

C. Via Malcolm Pein the GSCA has received a request from a new tournament in London to enter the GSCA. The GSCA will decide about London’s participation in the Grand Slam after the players field has been announced. Since it is important to have a 3 years guarantee for each new tournament in the Grand Slam, the GSCA considers to include London as an invitational tournament for the year 2009.

D. The next GSCA Meeting will be held on 22/23 May 2009 in Sofia, during the M-tel Masters Tournament.

E. In the agenda for the next meeting these items will be discussed: unified criteria for all tournaments, such as time control, dress code, tie breaks, etc etc.

F. Next GSCA Tournaments:

Sofia, M-Tel Masters: 12-23 May 2009
Bilbao, Grand Slam Masters Final: 2-15 September 2009
Nanjing: 27 September - 9 October 2009
Corus Chess Tournament: 15-31 January 2010

In an earlier press release Grischuk was confirmed to have made the Grand Slam final after winning Linares.

ALEXANDER GRISCHUK GETS THE INVITATION TO THE BILBAO GRAND SLAM BILBAO MASTERS FINAL 2009

The Russian player is the winner of the XXVI "Ciudad de Linares".

The Russian chess player Alexander Grischuk gets the invitation from the Grand Slam Chess Association to participate in the Masters Final which will take place in Bilbao during the first two weeks of September 2009. He has been invited as winner of the “Ciudad de Linares” tournament which has ended last weekend.

Grischuk joins Véselin Topálov, winner of Nanjing Pearl Spring Tournament (China) and Sergey Karjakin, winner of Corus 2009 Tournament in Wijk ann Zee (Holland), both of them have already received their invitations.

The Grand Slam Association consists of the following tournaments: Nanjing Pearl Springs (China), Corus-Wijk aan Zee (Holland), Ciudad de Linares (Spain), Mtel Masters-Sofia (Bulgaria) and the Masters Final, which will take place in Bilbao.

Chess Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk was born in 1983 in Russia. Along with being a very talented young player, Grischuk is also known as one of the best blitz chess players, he won the World Blitz Championship in Rishon LeZion (Israel).

Bilbao, March 11th, 2009

21) Forthcoming Events and Links

Chess Classic Mainz

The Chess Classic Mainz takes place 27th July - 2nd August 2009 in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz.

The world championships in rapid chess and Chess960 will be staged in a tried and trusted double round robin format with four players, after which the players battle it out in mini-matches to determine the top spot. The players for the main events have already been contracted.

The GRENKELEASING Rapid World Championship sees the World Chess Champion and Chess Classic serial winner Vishy Anand will try to defend his title for the 11th time in a row. He faces Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Arkadij Naiditsch.

Other events include the gigantic ORDIX rapid chess Open, the FiNet Ches960 Open, the open tournaments for U14 talents, the 40 board simultaneous exhibition with Levon Aronian, the Livingston Chess960 Computer World Championship, etc., etc.

Full details: http://www.chesstigers.de

XXVII Andorra International Chess Open

The XXVII Andorra International Chess Open takes place 18th-26th July 2009. Contact: open@escacsandorra.com

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

Rector Cup

The Rector Cup takes place 25th-29th March 2009 in the Palace of Students of the National Law Academy in Kharkov, Ukraine.

The event includes a match between the two strongest Ukrainian clubs, Law Academy and PVK-Kievchess.

Players include: GMs Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Beliavsky, Vladimir Baklan, Alexander Moiseenko, Pavel Eljanov, Valeriy Aveskulov, Evgenij Miroshnichenko, Zahar Efimenko and the most talented Ukrainian young player, Illya Nyzhnyk.

News Chess Today.

Official site: http://www.chesslaw.org.ua

40th Mar del Plata International

The 40th Mar del Plata International takes place 5th-12th April 2009.

Official site: http://www.mdpajedrez.org.ar/arch800/abierto40.htm

27th Elba Chess Festival

The 27th Elba Chess Festival takes place 10th-17th May 2009.

Official site: http://www.tuscanhotels.it/cmsx.asp?IDPg=10

Calgary International

Calgary, Alberta (Canada) stages a small 9 round international norm event May 14th-18th, 2009. A host of GM's and IM's will be in attendance, IM norms will be available.

Official site:http://www.albertachess.org/Calgary_International.html

For more info, email the tournament organiser Tony Ficzere at tficzere@telus.net

Dutch Teams

The Dutch Team Championship takes place 27th September 2008 - 10th May 2009. Round 6 took place on the 7th March. Round 7 is on the 28th March 2009.

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

London super-tournament in December 2009

Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament. [Press release 9th March 2009]

London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.

Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England's leading players could lock horns with the world's best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.

The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.

The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.

The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.

The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 10 and will include a blindfold chess display and charity simultaneous. Play will take place daily from Friday, December 11 to Thursday, December 17 inclusive.

The list of players and venue will be announced in April.

Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre

Notes for editors: All communications to Malcolm Pein IM at London Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404. E-Mail: info@chess.co.uk. Website: www.chess.co.uk

Masterskill Commonwealth Chess Championships

The Masterskill Commonwealth Chess Championships takes place 14th-21st July 2009 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

Details: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/3827-commonwealth-chess-championship-2009-in-malaysia

Maia Chiburdanidze Cup

The "Maia Chiburdanidze Cup" (International Open Women's Chess Tournament) takes place in the Chess Palace, Tbilisi (Georgia) 4th-13th June 2009. The Tournament is open to all women players. Each player must herself (or her federation) cover all her expenses: entry fee, transportation, accommodation and board. 9 round Swiss. Rate of play: 90 min for all moves, increment 30 seconds per move. Details available from the addresses below.

Contact IA, FM Varlam Vepkhvishvili E-mail: chessgeorgia@hotmail.com or chessvarlam@hotmail.com.

Phone:
(995)32-997736 - Federation
(995)32-960199 - Home
(995)99-771974 - Mobile

Official site: http://www.gcf.org.ge

1st International Open Tbilisi

The 1st International Open Tbilisi Chess Tournament takes place 14th-24th June 2009.

Official site: http://www.chess.tbilisi.ge (not yet up and running)

9 round Swiss. Rate of play: 90 min for all moves, increment 30 seconds per move. Details available from the addresses below.

e-mail: chessvarlam@hotmail.com - Varlam Vepkhvishvili
e-mail: ggrs92@hotmail.com - Giorgi Khomeriki

Varna Chess Festival

The 1st International Chess Festival Varna, takes place at the Grand Hotel Varna 11th-20th June 2009. Contact: seahorse@abv.bg for more details.

Website: http://euroschoolchess.org/ (although I couldn't find the event myself)

Tournament of Young Talents

The 30th annual Tournament of Young Talents takes place 9th - 13th April 2009 in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic. It is a festival of three tournaments: Tournament of young talents - several groups for youth players under 14 years Up to 8 years children championship - open Czech Championship under 8 years Pobeskydi - FIDE open and at least one round-robin with the possibility to achieve IM/WGM norm.

Further details: http://www.chessfm.cz

European Youth Championships

The European Youth Championships (U10 - U18) takes place in Fermo/Italy 30th August - 10th September 2009.

Details: http://www.euroyouth2009.com

European Senior Championships

The European Individual Senior Championship takes place in Rogaska Slatina/Slovenia 22nd - 31st July 2009. For the first time just before the event a European Senior Rapid Championship will be organised. The dates are 19th - 21st July.

Further details are published under http://www.sahohlacnik.com/eu-sen/

European Union Website

The European Chess Union Website ECU website has changed address to http://www.europechess.org

Szombathely IM

There is an IM tournament in Szombathely (HUN) 26th March - 3rd April 2009 9-11 rounds 100 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes , 30 sec addition after each move Chief Arbiter: PERGEL Laszlo International Arbiter Accomodation: Pansion (tv, bathroom, wifi) 40 Eur/night/room/2 person Entry Fee: 120 euro Schedule: Opening Ceremony: 26th March 2009 15.30 Rounds: 26th March - 3rd April every day 16.00 Information: CSONKA Attila 0036-70-200-4233 attila_csonka@hotmail.com PERGEL Laszlo 0036-70-775-4901 pergell@citromail.hu

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

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).

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, Tamas, 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.

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