THE WEEK IN CHESS 784 16th November 2009 by Mark Crowther

Sponsored by the London Chess Centre

TWIC Home| The London Chess Centre| Online-Shop

1) Introduction

My thanks to Igor Glek, Adolivio Capece, Miklos Orso, Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Peter Boel, Igor Kragelj, Arthur Brameld, and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The Tal Memorial was a great triumph for Vladimir Kramnik who played the best chess and finished in clear first place with 6/9. Magnus Carlsen was a bit under the weather throughout but two wins in the final two rounds would take him to the top of the FIDE list if calculated now, he still has the London Chess Classic to come where he will have to score maybe +3 to keep this position. The event is followed by the World Blitz which is 42 rounds long over three days. The Bundesliga also took place this weekend. So a huge amount of chess to look at.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Tal Memorial

The Tal Memorial took place 4th-19th November 2009. Kramnik took clear first place with 6/9, half a point clear of Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen. Aronian beat World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the final round and Magnus Carlsen won his second game in a row.

Official Site

Tal Mem (10 players 9 Rds SRR Indiv TC:120:60:15+30spm(61))

3) World Blitz Championship

The World Blitz Championship takes place in Moscow following the Tal Memorial. 22 players compete. Mon 16th Nov 2009 - Wed 18th Nov 2009. The games section suffers from a few games being lost or incomplete, hopefully Carlsen's win against Kramnik will be available fully eventually.

Official Site

World Blitz (22 players 42 Rds SRR Indiv TC:3m+2spm)

4) Barcelona-Casino

The Casino GM tournament in Barcelona finished with a surprise win for Daniel Alsina Leal on 6.5/9 a point clear of Josep Manuel Lopez Martinez and Jordi Magem Badals. Alexey Dreev, Pavel Tregubov and Alexandr Fier all had varying degress of bad result the latter finished on a catastrophic 2/9. Time control: 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds/move from move 1.

Official site: http://escacs.cat/ciutat09/index.html

5) Schachbundesliga 2009-10

The Schachbundesliga in Germany is the strongest league in the world.

Rounds 3 and 4 were on the 14th and 15th of November 2009.

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

6) Russian Cup

The Russian Cup took place in St Peterburg 3rd-12th November 2009. The event was a 32 player knockout for men and 18 players for the women.

Evgeny Bareev beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in a rapid playoff to take the title. The women's event was won by Tatiana Stepovaia who beat Irina Turova after a final blitz game.

Official site: http://www.totalchess.spb.ru/

7) US Chess League

The US Chess League got under way on August 31st 2009. The preliminaries are concluded and the knockout pairings are established.

http://www.uschessleague.com/

8) World Senior Championship

The World Senior Championship took place in Condino a little village not far from Trento 27th October - November 7th 2009. Misa Cebalo edged out Janis Klovans on tie-break after both finished on 8.5/11. Nona Gaprindashvili took the women's title with 7/9. Some games now available. My thanks to Adolivio Capece.

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

9) First Saturday November

The First Saturday GM-IM all-play-all tournaments take place Budapest 7th-18th of November 2009.

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

10) Russian State Social University

GM tournament of the Chess Festival "18th anniversary of the formation of the Russian State Social University (RGCU)" took place November 2nd-13th 2009. Igor Glek won. No games available.

Official site: http://icce.su/page.php?id=51 - http://www.chess-events.org/

11) Club Penya Escacs Cerdanyola

Club Penya Escacs Cerdanyola is organising some tournaments 24th October - 14th November 2009. No games seem to be available.

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

12) World Youth Championships

World Youth Championships takes place in Kemer-Antalya, Turkey, November 11th 2009 (arrival) - November 23rd 2009 (departure). I will round up results and games at the end.

Official site: http://wycc2009.tsf.org.tr/

13) Dutch League

The Dutch League takes place 26th September 2009 - 18th April 2010.

Rounds: Round 1 - 26th September, Round 2 - 31 October, Round 3 - 21st November, Round 4 - 12th December 2009. Round 5 - 9th January Round 6 - 6th February, Round 7 - 6th March, Round 8 - 27 March, Round 9 - 18 April 2010.

Games are normally at schakers.info but couldn't find any.

Official site: http://www.schaakbond.nl/wedstrijdschaak/knsb-competitie.

Further info: http://www.schakers.info/

14) 2nd Haye Kramer Invitation tournament

The 2nd Haye Kramer Invitation tournament and 27th Waling Dijkstra tournament took place Friday 13th - Sunday 15th November 2009 in Provincial Library ‘Tresoar’, Leeuwarden, Holland.

Haye Kramer Invitation tournament This 5-round tournament featured GMs Yge Visser, Sipke Ernst, Jan Werle, IMs Daan Brandenburg and Mark van der Werf, and FM Migchiel de Jong. Jan Werle took clear first place with 3.5/5.

Waling Dijkstra Open tournament. This 6-round Open had 2 level groups. Namig Guliyev took clear first place with 6/6.

Time control was 1hr 55mins + 5 seconds per move.

Official site: http://www.philidor162.nl.

15) British Rapidplay

The British Rapidplay takes place in Halifax 21st-22nd November 2009. Full details and entry details below. Live coverage: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/page2.html

Official site: http://www.british-rapidplay.org.uk/

16) Guernsey International Chess Festival

Tiger Hillarp-Persson won the Guernsey International Chess Festival 18th-24th October 2009. My thanks to Arthur Brameld for the games.

Official site: http://www.guernseychessclub.org.gg/festival/festival.aspx

17) Slovenian team championship

The Slovenian team championship 1st League East ended last weekend. Info: . I will round up the news next week.

18) Forthcoming Events and Links

Viessmann Open Satu Mare (Romania)

Viessmann Open, scheduled between 6th-12th December in Satu Mare (Romania). Organiser: IO Ciprian-Sorin Muntean (ciprimuntean@yahoo.com). Prize fund: 4000 Euro. It will be the largest Swiss tournament ever held in this Transylvanian city.

Austrian Bundesliga

The first weekend of the Austrian Bundesliga (11 rounds) took place 6th-8th November 2009 in Jenbach, Austria.

Time control: 100 minutes for 40 moves an additional 50 minutes with 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Remaining fixtures: 14th-17th January 2010 in Graz and 27th-30th March 2010 in Baden.

Official site: http://www.chess.at/staatsligen/stl_a.htm

Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr21147.aspx

The London Chess Classic in December

The London Chess Classic takes place in the Olympia Conference Centre 7th-15th December 2009

A star studded field comprising England's four leading Grandmasters; Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Luke McShane and David Howell, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, 18 year old Magnus Carlsen widely seen as a future champion, one of China's finest players; Ni Hua and the US Champion Hikaru Nakamura completes the field.

The London Chess Classic 2009 will offer free admission to children for the duration of the event which runs from December 8th to 15th.

Adult tickets are just £10 per day or just £50 for all seven rounds. Adult and junior ticket holders receive admission to the tournament, which is being staged at London's prestigious Olympia Conference Centre, plus a guaranteed seat in the auditorium and access to the Commentary Room where some of the UK's leading Grandmasters will give insights into the play and answer questions.

Full details at: http://www.londonchessclassic.com or call the London Chess Center on 0207 388 2404.

Press Release Malcolm Pein 26th September 2009

A week long chess festival including a FIDE Rated Open with a guaranteed £8000 prize fund will run alongside the London Chess Classic 2009 which takes place at the Olympia Conference Centre from December 8-15 2009. The tournament has been scheduled to allow players to watch the opening moves of the Classic before their games in the Open begin. A minimum of six Grandmasters will be invited to the Open Classic and title norm opportunities will be available.

There will also be a weekend tournament, a one day Rapidplay and every evening, Blitz in the foyer. Anyone entering the Open, Rapidplay or Weekend Classic will receive free entry to the auditorium to watch the main event and they will also be able to access the Grandmaster Commentary Room. In addition the games will be relayed on screens throughout the Olympia Conference Centre.

Details on how to enter and the tournament regulations are at www.Londonchessclassic.com I am delighted to announce that there will be no entry fees to any Classic tournament for children under the age of 16.

For those who would rather just watch, tickets are now on sale and again, admission for children under 16 will be free throughout the event.

Adult tickets are just £10 per day or just £50 for all seven rounds. Adult and junior ticket holders receive admission to the tournament plus a guaranteed seat in the auditorium and access to the Commentary Room where some of the UK's leading Grandmasters will give insights into the play and answer questions. Tickets can be purchased from the London Chess Centre on 0207 388 2404 or online at www.Londonchessclassic.com

The London Chess Classic is the strongest all play all tournament to be held in Britain for 25 years with four of the world's finest players and England's leading quartet of Grandmasters. Heading the field is the fourteenth world champion Vladimir Kramnik and 18 year old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen already hailed as a future champion by Garry Kasparov who has recently agreed to train the chess genius.

Malcolm Pein (IM)

London Chess Centre

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

Two Hungarian events

1. 26th of Nov until 4th of Dec.Tenkes Cup, Harkany, Link to: http://baranyasakk.hu/index.php?cat=naptar&id=3&age=0&vid=15&lang=en&det=12 - Open 9 rounds Swiss, 250 km West from Budapest, free thermal bathes, Organizer: Mr. Fulop, Csaba e-mail address: fulopcsa@invitel.hu First rize: bruttó 1800 Euros (in HUF)

2,5th-16th of December Budapest, First Saturday GM-IM-FM ELO tournaments, 9...11 rounds, Org: Nagy Laszlo, e-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net - link to: http://www.firstsaturday.hu

Czech Tour 2009-10

5.-12.12. 2009 1st PILSEN OPEN (Central hotel) - http://www.czechtour.net/pilsen-open/

8-15.1. 2010 9th PRAGUE OPEN (TOP HOTEL Praha) - http://www.czechtour.net/prague-open/

16-23.1. 2010 9th MARIENBAD OPEN (Kossuth hotel) - http://www.czechtour.net/marienbad-open/

13-20.2. 2010 1st NOVY BOR OPEN (Grandhotel Prazak) - http://www.czechtour.net/novy-bor-open/

The registration deadline for 3rd SOUTH BOHEMIA OPEN, which takes place 14.-21.11. 2009 in the town of Cesky Krumlov (http://www.czechtour.net/south-bohemia-open/), which is one of the most beautiful places in the Czech Republic, has been prolonged without extra fee for the late enrolment till 9.11. 2009.

Preliminary starting lists on 4.11. 2009 should be found at http://www.czechtour.net/news/.

First ACP Women World Rapid Cup

The First ACP Women World Rapid Cup takes place at the Rixos hotel in Konya, Turkey from November 30th to December 4th 2009. The event will be a Round Robin rapid tournament with twelve participants including eight qualifiers from the ACP Women Series 2008-09, three Turkish Chess Federation nominees, one ACP nominee. The total prize fund will amount to USD 20,000.

The full players' list is now announced. ACP WS 2008-09 qualifiers: Kosintseva, Tatiana Kosteniuk, Alexandra Kosintseva, Nadezhda Cramling, Pia Cmilyte, Viktorija Zhukova, Natalya Javakhishvili, Lela Socko, Monica (replaces Pogonina) ACP nominiee: Klinova, Masha TCF nominies: Ozturk, Kubra Menzi, Nezihe Ezgi Yildiz, Betul Cemre

News: http://www.chess-players.org/eng/index.html

Spassky - Korchnoi Match

Boris Spassky vs Viktor Korchnoi 8 game Match Elista, Russia, 17th-27th Dec, 2009. 400th Aniversary Kalmykia - Russia. Prize Fund US$ 20.000

Rilton Cup 2009-10

The XXXIX Rilton Cup takes place 27th December 2009 - 5th January 2010.

The 39th Rilton Cup has a prize fund of more than SEK 200 000 (about 22 000 euro) and will be played in three groups: Rilton Cup, Rilton Elo and Rilton Open (Rilton Open is only open for Nordic players with a rating lower than national 1800). Rilton Cup and Rilton Elo is Elo registrated and play 9 rounds FIDE-Swiss.

Send your entry with name, address, country, Elo rating and Elo ID by mail, fax or e-mail, no later than the 17th of December to: Stockholm’s Chess Federation, att.: "Rilton Cup". Pg 25 79 58-9 or Bg 822-1301.

Mobile telephones (cell phones) are not allowed in the playing hall! Playing hall: Malarsalen, Münchenbryggeriet, Torkel Knutssonsgatan 2, Stockholm, SWEDEN

Details: http://www.rilton.se - http://www.rilton.se/invitation0910.asp - http://www.rilton.se/players.asp

Lorenzo Forlani

33rd international rapid Cup "Lorenzo Forlani" takes place November 29th, 2009. in Vodnjan. For more information please contact on e-mail apacic@inet.hr

World Cup 2009

The World Cup takes place in Khanty-Mansiysk 20th November - 15th December 2009. The event is part of the next world championship cycle. 7 rounds of knockout chess produce the winner.

FIDE World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk (Khantiy Mansiysk RUS)

Fri 20th Nov 2009 - Tue 15th Dec 2009 - Official Site

World Cup (128 players 7 Rds KO Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1))

BNbank Blitz 2009

On October 31 the stage is set for a great chess spectacle in Norway. In six citys - Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Tromsø, Trondheim and Porsgrunn - there will be arranged blitz tournaments in shopping malls. The winner from each city will earn a spot in the final in Oslo on November 28 where he or she will compete against ten invited world class players for a prize fund of 74 000 NOK. You do not have to be a member of a federation or a chess club to participate in these qualifiers. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura star in the final.

Official site: http://www.sjakk.no/bnbankblitz/index_en.html

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2010

The field for the 2010 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee has been announced. Dates Friday 15th January 2010 - Sunday 31st January 2010.

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

The A-Group is category XIX and once again is a pretty exciting field.

The B-Group is a not too shabby category 16 and once again they have a mixed field of youth and experience that should provide some real entertainment.

There will also be a C-Group, the field will be announced later.

Hastings Chess Congress 2009-10

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place 28th December 2009 - 5th January 2010.

Contact details conpowr@aol.com

Official site: http://www.hastingschess.org.uk

Gibtelecom Masters 2010

The Gibtelecom Masters takes place 26th January - 4 February 2010.

Contact details: hotel conf.banq@caletahotel.gi; technical stewartreuben@aol.com.

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

Moscow Non-Stop Chess Events of the World Chess Tour

Following round-robin tournaments (GM. IM. rating) of the "World Chess Tour 2009/10" series. Autumn / Winter 2009/10:

2009: 18-28.11, 29.11-10.12, 13-22.12.

2010: 2-13.01, 17-28.01, 9-19.02, 20.02-3.03 etc.

Since November 2009 also "Non-stop" events are available. in different formats (depending of participant's wish: 1) 5-6 days 2) 7-8 days 3) 9-11 days 4) 12-15 days 5) 16-21 days 6) 22-31 days 7) more than 1 month.

Contact: GM Igor Glek. Phone mobile: Russia: (7)903-5593052, (7)926-0523889 Germany: (49)152-04014194 Phone/Fax (Russia): (7)495-4336634 Skype: Prinzflorisel E-mail: wlct06@gmail.com, worldchesstour@gmail.com

Official site: http://www.chess-events.org/

Official site: www.chess-events.org/en_US/rr-tur.html

II World Chess Open In Leon

The II WORLD CHESS OPEN in Leon (Spain) takes place 1st-3rd January 2010, from Friday to Sunday.

31st December 2009 sees a special dinner and a party, which will be of course optional for the players and companion and which will have an special price. We hope that all chess legends invited by the organisation will come and enjoy this celebration.

1st day of January first game starts at 17.00 pm and ches players who cannot arrive in time can ask 2 byes for both games of 1st of january (2 half points).

Total Prizes are around 30.000€, and first is 5000€. Prizes for players below 2350 ELO FIDE (10 prizes and 1st is 1000 €), below 2200 ELO FIDE, and below 2000 ELO FIDE.

TIME CONTROL: Players will have 35 minutes plus 3 additional seconds per move so they are not so rapid games as usual.

Amongst the players who can be invited by the organisation this time are Nigel Short, Robert Hubner, Mark Taimanov, Vlastimil Hort, Henrique Mecking, Bent Larsen, Eugene Torre, Jan Elhvest, Borislav Ivkov, Svetozar Gligoric, Maia Chiburdanidze, Oleg Romanishin, Lev Psakhis, Gyula Sax, Gheorguiu, Uhlmann, Sveshnikov, Smejkal, Vasiukov, Vaganian, Unzicker, Kurajica, Suba, Lilienthal…We will invite 8-10 players.

Official web page, http://www.openmundialdeleon.com

8th Nancy Chess Festival

The 8th Nancy (France) Chess Festival takes place 22nd-28th February 2010.

Website (with english informations page) : http://echecs54.free.fr Contact : philippe.chr@free.fr

Serie of closed tournaments round-robins 10 players each : Group A for GM-norm (in 2009 : category 13, average 2557, winner Harikrishna), group B for IM-norms, group C for 10 players over 2200 elo, group D for 10 players over 2100 elo, group E for 10 players over 2000 elo, group F for 10 players over 1900 elo ...etc...18 groups with 174 players in 2009. 9 rounds 90min/40moves+30min(+30sec). Entry fee : adult 56 euros young 28 euros. Possibilities of hotels with special chess prices : see tournament website.

Icelandic Teams

The Icelandic Team Championship takes place 25th September 2009 - 3rd March 2010. Rounds 1-4 have taken place.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr25745.aspx

Official site in Icelandic: http://www.skaksamband.is

4NCL

The 4NCL starts Sat 24th Oct - Sun 25th Oct. 2009.

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

Live games: http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/4ncl/0910/index.htm

Sydney International and Doeberl Cup

Entries are invited for the 2010 Sydney International Open and Challengers Chess Tournaments, to be held 7-11 April 2010.

The organisers have received financial support from a variety of sources and the principal sponsor for 2010 is GM Murray Chandler.

The venue is again the historic Parramatta Town Hall in Western Sydney and free hotel accommodation (twin share room) is offered to International Chess Grandmasters. There are two nine-round FIDE-rated swiss tournaments, the Sydney International Open (SIO) and the Sydney International Challengers (SIC). Cash prizes exceed A$16,000 and visas can be arranged on request for overseas players (please provide passport details). More Information is available at http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?site=open

For those players that want even more chess, the Doeberl Cup will be held in Canberra from 1-5 April 2010. See http://www.doeberlcup.com.au Transport from Canberra to Sydney on Tuesday 6 April 2010 will be provided free of charge for all overseas players.

18th Donau Open

The 18th Donau Open takes place in Aschach, Austria, 26th-31st December 2009.

Details: http://www.aschach.at/schach/

Contact: Guenter Mitterhuemer, Seebach 19, 4070 Eferding Tel.: 07272 / 4398 (Vorwahl Österreich: 0043) Email: guenter.mitterhuemer@schach.at

Leocity Cup

Leocity Cup Round Robin GM Tournament takes place November 25th - December 3rd 2009 Lviv , Ukraine

ORGANIZERS: GM Yuri Vovk (tournament director) IM Grabinsky Volodymyr (honorable coach of Ukrainian Youth team) The playing time will be 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Under the auspices of Lviv Chess Federation.

PARTICIPATION 10 players participate in the tournament .11 rounds will be played. Players can participate only according to prior negotiations with tournament director.Also all non-GM players must pay entry fee according to the following table. ELO USD >2500 50 2500-2480 60 2480-2460 70 2460-2440 80 2440-2420 90 2420-2400 100 2400-2350 125 2350-2300 150 2300-2200 200 <2200 300

To participate the tournament please contact the tournament director IGM Yuri Vovk (English,Ukrainian,Russian languages ) via: e-mail:wolfisthegreatestpredator@gmail.com mobile phone:+380 673912027 skype:Imperator15chess

Cappelle-la-Grande 2010

The 26th International Open of Cappelle-la-Grande will take place 13th-20th February 2010.

For every players wishing to be invited, please contact Mr GOUVART at the following address: stephanegouvart@gmail.com phone: +33671624629

Official site : http://www.cappelle-chess.fr/

IV Open Internacional Ciutat de Palma

The IV International Open Chess City of Palma, Iberostar Trophy takes place 21st-28th November 2009.

Official site: http://www.chesspalma.com/index.php?le=en

Czech Chess Christmas 2009-10

Czech Chess Christmas 2009 Litomysl (CZE) 26th December - 2nd January 2010

11th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK (1st prize 20.000 CZK = 800 EUR), special conditions for IM, WGM and GM, New Year’s Eve programme.

Contact: Proclient s.r.o., Jaroslav Fuksik, Svedska 3, 772 00 Olomouc, mobile: +420 608 364 664, e-mail: a64@proclient.cz, web: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2009/

Hungarian Tournaments October 2009 - April 2010

First Saturday chess tournaments, GM-IM-FM sections, 50-60-70 players usually out of 10-15 countries, for 9...14 days here.

Upcoming tournaments:

1. 3rd-15th of October, GM-IM-FM First Saturday Budapest, org: Nagy Laszlo, firstsat@hu.inter.net,

2. 23rd-31st of October, GM tmt, Pecs, 250 km West from Budapest,

3. 7th-19th of November, GM-IM-FM, First Saturday, Budapest, 4. 26th of Nov-3rd of Dec, Harkany Open, 250 km South-West from Budapest, org: Mr.Fulop, e-mail to: fulopcsa@invitel.hu

5. 5th-17th of December, GM-IM-FM, First Saturday, Budapest,

6. 8th-16th of January 2010 Perenyi memorial Open, 9 rounds Swiss, Budapest, info: Nagy Laszlo,

7. 6th-18th of February 2010 FS GM-IM-FM, Budapest,

8. 6th-18th of March 2010, FS GM-IM-FM Budapest,

9. 19th-28th of March 2010 26th Budapest Spring Festival, 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy Laszlo

10.3rd-16th of April 2010 FS GM-IM-FM Budapest

Contact: Nagy, Laszlo International chess organizer, member of the FIDE organizers' committee, "GENS UNA SUMUS" ET "PACTA SUND SERVANDA" http://www.firstsaturday.hu

Possible in the website online chat also... Mobile: +36-30-230-19-14 Phone-fax: +36-1-263-28-59 E-mail: firstsat@hu.inter.net ICC, SKYPE, YAHOO, MSN, www.chess.com nickname: mrfirstsaturday

Czech Coal Match 2009

Jan Timman, Viktor Korchnoi, Robert Huebner and Vlastimil Hort play against a team of ladies in the Czech Coal Match event which takes place 28th November - 5th December 2009 in the hotel Crystal Palace in Marianske Lazne. The final lineup is waiting for the women players and a potential clash with the FIDE Women's Grand Prix.

Details - Likely official site: http://www.praguechess.cz/

Milano

Milano (Italy), December 5th-13th 2009 - International tournament "Memorial Crespi" - edition number 30 details: http://www.scacchisticamilanese.it

Mundial Chess Internet Tournament

The organising Committee Mundial Chess invites all the players (from the amateurs to Grandmasters) to take part in the 1st Internet tournament with the prize fund of more than 130.000 EUR in cash and many special prizes. The 1st prize in the main tournament will be not less than 10.000 EUR.

Registration (and information in English) in the tournament is possible following the link - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/en/zvfdxt6 Registration and information in Spanish - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/es/zvfdxt6 Registration and information in Russian - http://www.mundialchess.com/chess-online/ru/zvfdxt6

Commonwealth Chess Championships

The Masterskill Commonwealth Chess Championships take place 9th-15th December 2009 in conjunction with the 6th Singapore International Chess Festival.

Details of the change: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/3991-commonwealth-chess-championship-2009

Ajedrez 21 English site

Ajedrez 21 now has an English site: http://www.ajedrez21.com/en/

FIDE World Cup Nov-Dec 2009

FIDE have announced some of the qualifiers for the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, 20 November to 15 December 2009. In a few days the list with qualifiers from the Continental and Zonal Championships 2008-09 will also be published.

FIDE announcement: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4037-list-of-qualifiers-for-world-cup

Kingpin Magazine

The humourous and satirical chess magazine Kingpin has a new website.

New website address: http://www.kingpinchess.net

VIII Benidorm International Chess Festival

VIII Benidorm International Chess Festival 2009 takes place 27th November - 8th December 2009.

Website: http://www.ajedrezbali.com

Torch Real Estate Cup

The Chinese team competition the Torch Real Estate Cup started in Chengdu China on 4th May 2009. I'm hoping for a full game file.

Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess/tfd.htm

Official site: http://chess.sport.org.cn/

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr21650.aspx

Historical Elo Ratings

http://www.shakki.net/history/elotop.htm has a list of historical top ten FIDE lists. The text is in Finnish but is understandable anyhow.

Reno Far West Open

The Far West Open Chess Tournament took place April 10th-12th 2009 in Reno Nevada. Sergey Kudrin edged out Enrico Sevillano and Gergerly Antal who finished on 5/6. Games should follow.

Official site: http://www.renochess.org/fwo/index.html

European Union Website

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

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

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