THE WEEK IN CHESS 791 4th January 2010 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Gheorghe Nemeth, Keith Rust, Geurt Gijssen, Paulo Rocha, George Mirijanian, Peter Doggers, Adolivio Capece, Association Max Euwe, Pam Thomas, Ian Rogers and everyone else who helped with the issue.

The first issue of 2010 rounds up the remaining issues of 2009 with the Russian Championships being won by Alexander Grischuk and a large number of results and games from the Christmas Congresses. Then the events that take place over the New Year are heading towards a conclusion with traditional events in Reggio Emilia, Hastings etc. Magnus Carlsen became the youngest holder of the number one spot in the FIDE Rating list following Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand. This has brought his name to the general public's attention, Time Magazine, front page of Wikipedia today etc and I think this will only continue. It will be interesting to see how he handles it. In London he looked a bit tired and his work with Kasparov suggests he knows he isn't the finished article (a frightening prospect) watching him in the Wijk aan Zee tournament starting on January 15th will be interesting. Should be a great year.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Russian Championships 2009

The Russian Championships took place 20th-30th December 2009. Both men's and women's events were 10 player round robins.

The venue was the Central Chess House on Gogolevsky Boulevard in Moscow. The prizefund was $100,000.

Alexander Grischuk secured a draw to finish on 6.5/9 and finish first alone. Alisa Galliamova took the women's title with 7.5/9.

The venue was the Central Chess House on Gogolevsky Boulevard in Moscow. The prizefund is $100,000.

Official site: http://tal.russiachess.org/

62nd ch-RUS Moscow (RUS), 20-29 xii 2009												cat. XVIII (2691)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2736	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	6½	2852
2.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	0	6	2809
3.	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2694	½	½	*	½	1	1	0	½	1	0	5	2733
4.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2715	½	½	½	*	0	½	1	½	½	½	4½	2688
5.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2736	0	½	0	1	*	½	½	½	½	1	4½	2686
6.	Khismatullin, Denis	g	RUS	2643	½	0	0	½	½	*	1	½	0	1	4	2653
7.	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	2661	0	0	1	0	½	0	*	½	1	1	4	2651
8.	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2708	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	4	2646
9.	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2651	½	0	0	½	½	1	0	½	*	½	3½	2615
10.	Sjugirov, Sanan	g	RUS	2612	0	1	1	½	0	0	0	0	½	*	3	2574

Round 9 (December 29, 2009)
Vitiugov, Nikita	- Khismatullin, Denis	1-0	22	E81	King's Indian Saemisch
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½	19	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Jakovenko, Dmitry	- Sjugirov, Sanan	1-0	41	B10	Caro Kann
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	- Svidler, Peter	0-1	57	A29	English Four Knights
Timofeev, Artyom	- Riazantsev, Alexander	0-1	46	B14	Caro Kann Panov

59th ch-RUS w Moscow (RUS), 20-29 xii 2009												cat. VIII (2439)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Galliamova, Alisa	m	RUS	2460	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	7½	2709
2.	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	RUS	2518	½	*	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	7	2649
3.	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2446	½	0	*	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	6	2562
4.	Kosintseva, Tatiana	m	RUS	2522	½	½	½	*	1	0	1	1	½	½	5½	2509
5.	Zaiatz, Elena	m	RUS	2390	0	0	1	0	*	½	1	1	1	0	4½	2444
6.	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	wg	RUS	2372	0	0	0	1	½	*	0	1	1	1	4½	2446
7.	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2501	0	½	0	0	0	1	*	0	1	1	3½	2351
8.	Stepovaia, Tatiana	wg	RUS	2384	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	1	1	3	2319
9.	Manakova, Maria	wg	SRB	2344	0	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	*	1	2	2229
10.	Romanko, Marina	m	RUS	2449	0	0	0	½	1	0	0	0	0	*	1½	2164

Round 9 (December 29, 2009)
Gunina, Valentina	- Galliamova, Alisa	½-½	12	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Kosintseva, Tatiana	- Kosintseva, Nadezhda	½-½	13	B67	Sicilian Rauzer
Zaiatz, Elena	- Pogonina, Natalija	1-0	0
Bodnaruk, Anastasia	- Romanko, Marina	1-0	47	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Stepovaia, Tatiana	- Manakova, Maria	1-0	53	B23	Sicilian Closed

3) 52nd Reggio Emilia Tournament

The 52nd Reggio Emilia Tournament, category XV, takes place 28th December 2009 - 6th January 2010. The tournament consists of 10 players in a round robin at the 4-star Mercure Grand Hotel Astoria in the center of Reggio Emilia. January 1st is a rest day.

Official website: http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it/default.asp

52nd It Reggio Emilia ITA (ITA), 28 xii 2009 - 6 i 2010												cat. XV (2624)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2704	*	.	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	.	5½	2850
2.	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2695	.	*	½	½	1	½	.	½	1	1	5	2750
3.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2652	½	½	*	½	½	.	1	1	.	0	4	2680
4.	Godena, Michele	g	ITA	2537	½	½	½	*	½	.	.	½	½	1	4	2670
5.	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	2696	0	0	½	½	*	½	1	.	.	1	3½	2634
6.	Landa, Konstantin	g	RUS	2664	½	½	.	.	½	*	0	½	½	1	3½	2626
7.	Bologan, Viktor	g	MDA	2692	0	.	0	.	0	1	*	1	1	½	3½	2616
8.	Safarli, Eltaj	g	AZE	2592	0	½	0	½	.	½	0	*	1	.	2½	2533
9.	Brunello, Sabino	m	ITA	2507	0	0	.	½	.	½	0	0	*	1	2	2468
10.	Vocaturo, Daniele	m	ITA	2500	.	0	1	0	0	0	½	.	0	*	1½	2404

Round 2 (December 29, 2009)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Almasi, Zoltan	½-½	14	E00	Catalan
Godena, Michele	- Vocaturo, Daniele	1-0	45	B22	Sicilian Alapin
Jobava, Baadur	- Bologan, Viktor	1-0	44	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Safarli, Eltaj	- Kamsky, Gata	½-½	30	C77	Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Brunello, Sabino	- Landa, Konstantin	½-½	38	E04	Catalan
Round 3 (December 30, 2009)
Almasi, Zoltan	- Jobava, Baadur	1-0	46	B65	Sicilian Rauzer
Kamsky, Gata	- Godena, Michele	½-½	48	A07	Barcza System
Landa, Konstantin	- Safarli, Eltaj	½-½	15	D81	Gruenfeld Botvinnik
Bologan, Viktor	- Brunello, Sabino	1-0	35	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Vocaturo, Daniele	- Caruana, Fabiano	1-0	45	A07	Barcza System
Round 4 (December 31, 2009)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Kamsky, Gata	½-½	57	B18	Caro Kann
Jobava, Baadur	- Vocaturo, Daniele	1-0	36	E77	King's Indian Four Pawns
Landa, Konstantin	- Bologan, Viktor	0-1	29	E97	King's Indian Classical
Safarli, Eltaj	- Godena, Michele	½-½	36	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Brunello, Sabino	- Almasi, Zoltan	0-1	40	D71	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Round 5 (January 2, 2010)
Almasi, Zoltan	- Landa, Konstantin	½-½	22	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Kamsky, Gata	- Jobava, Baadur	1-0	40	A10	Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Godena, Michele	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	35	C07	French Tarrasch
Bologan, Viktor	- Safarli, Eltaj	1-0	40	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Vocaturo, Daniele	- Brunello, Sabino	0-1	63	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Round 6 (January 3, 2010)
Jobava, Baadur	- Godena, Michele	½-½	21	D22	QGA
Landa, Konstantin	- Vocaturo, Daniele	1-0	65	B76	Sicilian Modern Dragon
Bologan, Viktor	- Almasi, Zoltan	0-1	100	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Safarli, Eltaj	- Caruana, Fabiano	0-1	34	B40	Sicilian Classical
Brunello, Sabino	- Kamsky, Gata	0-1	49	E60	King's Indian without Nc3
Round 7 (January 4, 2010)
Almasi, Zoltan	- Safarli, Eltaj	1-0	61	C70	Ruy Lopez
Kamsky, Gata	- Landa, Konstantin	½-½	44	B18	Caro Kann
Caruana, Fabiano	- Jobava, Baadur	½-½	39	B65	Sicilian Rauzer
Godena, Michele	- Brunello, Sabino	½-½	22	B18	Caro Kann
Vocaturo, Daniele	- Bologan, Viktor	½-½	76	C50	Giuoco Piano

4) 19th Pamplona tournament

The 19th Pamplona International took place 21st-29th December 2009. Georg Meier edged out Julio Granda Zuniga, Viktor Laznicka and Kiril Georgiev on tie-break after all finished on 6/9.

Official site: http://www.chesspamplona.com/English.html

XIX Magistral Pamplona (ESP), 21-29 xii 2009												cat. XIII (2575)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Meier, Georg	g	GER	2653	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	6	2691
2.	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2640	½	*	1	½	0	½	1	½	1	1	6	2692
3.	Laznicka, Viktor	g	CZE	2637	½	0	*	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	6	2692
4.	Georgiev, Kiril	g	BUL	2672	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	6	2689
5.	Reinaldo Castineira, Roi	m	ESP	2488	0	1	0	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	5	2627
6.	Lopez Martinez, Josep Manuel	g	ESP	2589	½	½	0	½	0	*	½	½	1	1	4½	2573
7.	Mirzoev, Azer	g	AZE	2617	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	1	½	1	4½	2570
8.	Alsina Leal, Daniel	m	ESP	2523	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	*	½	½	3½	2500
9.	Recuero Guerra, David	m	ESP	2494	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	*	½	2½	2417
10.	Huerga Leache, Mikel	m	ESP	2435	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	*	1	2239

Round 9 (December 29, 2009)
Granda Zuniga, Julio E	- Georgiev, Kiril	½-½	70	A29	English Four Knights
Reinaldo Castineira, Roi	- Lopez Martinez, Josep Manuel	1-0	60	B91	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.g3
Mirzoev, Azer	- Laznicka, Viktor	½-½	35	D15	Slav Defence
Alsina Leal, Daniel	- Meier, Georg	½-½	71	C10	French Rubinstein
Recuero Guerra, David	- Huerga Leache, Mikel	½-½	22	D45	Anti-Meran Variations

5) Hastings Chess Congress 2009-10

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place Mon 28th Dec 2009 - Tues 5th Jan 2010.

A quick updates going into the final round (the full standings after round 8 aren't available to me at the time of writing) Masters Tournament current positions are: 1st= A.Istratescu (Rou) and M.Hebden 6.5/8 3rd=Y.Drozdovskij (Ukr), R.Edouard (Fra), D.Howell (Eng), Hracek (Cze), D.Gormally (Eng) 6/8.

Jonathan Hawkins, Christophe Philippe and Simon Ansell all missed GM norm opportunities after their results in Round 8.

IM Norms possible: Jonathan Hawkins looks to have made an IM norm. Martin Mitchell 1/2 v 2316 or 1.5/2 v 1900 Robert Eames needs 1.5/2 v 2400 Elias Demac needs 1/2 v 2456 or 1.5/2 v 2042 Andrew Green needs 2/2 v 2394 Samuel Franklin needs 2/2 v 2394 James Jackson needs 2/2 v 2180 Peter Williams needs 2/2 v 2271 These Norm possibilities were calculated prior to Rd.8.

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

Hastings Chess Congress (ENG), 28 xii 2009 - 4 i 2010 Round 7 (of 9) Standings:
Rank	Name	Ti	Fed.	Rating	Score	TPR	W-We
1	Drozdovskij, Yuri	GM	UKR	2625	5.5	2627	0.1
2	Hracek, Zbynek	GM	CZE	2624	5.5	2624	0.11
3	Istratescu, Andrei	GM	ROU	2624	5.5	2714	0.8
4	Edouard, Romain	GM	FRA	2620	5.5	2660	0.42
5	Howell, David W L	GM	ENG	2597	5.5	2598	0.1
6	Hebden, Mark L	GM	ENG	2522	5.5	2584	0.58
7	Ansell, Simon T	IM	ENG	2387	5.5	2479	0.85
8	Gormally, Daniel W	GM	ENG	2479	5	2439	-0.21
9	Arkell, Keith C	GM	ENG	2464	5	2573	1.04
10	Philippe, Christophe	IM	FRA	2430	5	2501	0.75
11	Greet, Andrew N	IM	ENG	2423	5	2510	0.93
12	Zdebskaja, Natalia	WGM	UKR	2408	5	2279	-0.87
13	Bates, Richard A	IM	ENG	2383	5	2358	-0.06
14	Breder, Dennis	IM	GER	2427	4.5	2442	0.22
15	Martin, Andrew D	IM	ENG	2423	4.5	2285	-1.03
16	Kjartansson, Gudmundur	IM	ISL	2391	4.5	2326	-0.41
17	Strunski, Andreas	FM	GER	2386	4.5	2308	-0.52
18	Hawkins, Jonathan	FM	ENG	2383	4.5	2527	1.42
19	Lorscheid, Gerhard	FM	GER	2348	4.5	2296	-0.31
20	Eames, Robert S	FM	ENG	2276	4.5	2382	0.94
21	Mitchell, Martin		SCO	2195	4.5	2467	2.45
22	Demac, Elias		NOR	2084	4.5	2373	2.57
23	Jackson, James P		ENG	2067	4.5	2309	2.24
24	Sreeves, Clement		SCO	2061	4.5	2311	2.3
25	Williams, Simon K	GM	ENG	2550	4	2286	-2.01
26	Eggleston, David J	FM	ENG	2367	4	2207	-1.37
27	Kolbus, Dietmar	IM	GER	2355	4	2343	-0.05
28	Giffard, Nicolas	IM	FRA	2351	4	2335	-0.05
29	Knott, Simon J B	IM	ENG	2348	4	2325	-0.11
30	Prosviriakov, Vladimir	IM	USA	2311	4	2236	-0.53
31	Talsma, Paul		NED	2252	4	2198	-0.38
32	Worek, Joanna	WIM	POL	2226	4	2204	-0.18
33	Sugden, John N		ENG	2219	4	2272	0.49
34	Anderson, John		ENG	2209	4	2296	0.8
35	Maduekwe, Chiedu		NGR	2182	4	2173	0.02
36	Snape, Ian L		ENG	2176	4	2195	0.21
37	Lock, Gavin R		ENG	2170	4	2114	-0.44
38	Rayner, Francis		WLS	2153	4	2161	0.02
39	Green, Andrew D		SCO	2151	4	2323	1.54
40	Griffiths, Ryan Rhys		IRL	2148	4	2309	1.46
41	De Coverly, Roger D		ENG	2109	4	2254	1.32
42	Grant, David J		ENG	2020	4	2287	1.91
43	Williams, Peter A		ENG	2012	4	2330	2.72
44	Collins, Sam E.	IM	IRL	2431	3.5	2165	-2.26
45	Webb, Laurence E	FM	ENG	2321	3.5	2160	-1.42
46	Druckenthaner, Andreas	FM	AUT	2296	3.5	2220	-0.7
47	Getz, Nicolai		NOR	2270	3.5	2159	-1.06
48	Marusenko, Petr	IM	UKR	2264	3.5	2144	-1.14
49	Addison, Bret C		ENG	2258	3.5	2116	-1.26
50	Mason, Donald J		ENG	2255	3.5	2130	-1.15
51	Kwiatkowski, Feliks J	CM	ENG	2248	3.5	2198	-0.47
52	Grant, Alan G		SCO	2236	3.5	2100	-1.24
53	Ledger, Dave J	FM	ENG	2227	3.5	2071	-1.32
54	Furman, Boris	FM	RUS	2223	3.5	2247	0.22
55	Almond, Richard J		ENG	2174	3.5	2234	0.54
56	O'Toole, George E		ENG	2146	3.5	1945	-1.66
57	Cafferty, Bernard	FM	ENG	2141	3.5	2120	-0.11
58	Franklin, Samuel G A		ENG	2139	3.5	2360	1.82
59	Gregory, Stephen J		ENG	2126	3.5	2127	0.03
60	Nilsen, Joachim Birger		NOR	2126	3.5	2221	0.84
61	Hansen, Victor		NOR	2113	3.5	2205	0.81
62	Horn, Stefan		GER	2074	3.5	2060	-0.13
63	Foord, Dominic		ENG	2051	3.5	2088	0.32
64	Gibson, Christopher A		ENG	1964	3.5	2079	1.04
65	Rudd, Jack	IM	ENG	2296	3	2111	-1.72
66	Martinsen, Stig K		NOR	2240	3	2003	-2.09
67	Jaunooby, Ali R		ENG	2171	3	2100	-0.73
68	Salimbeni, George P W		ENG	2162	3	2217	0.34
69	Goodger, Martyn		ENG	2147	3	2129	-0.35
70	Straub, Peter		GER	2122	3	2080	-0.48
71	Barton, R Alan		ENG	2119	3	2039	-0.67
72	Tozer, Philip		ENG	2106	3	2037	-0.68
73	Wilson, Alexandra	WFM	SUI	2089	3	2025	-0.55
74	Atako, Chino		ENG	2038	3	2122	0.74
75	Norinkeviciute, Rasa	WFM	LTU	2027	3	2080	0.5
76	Brechin, Hugh R		SCO	2025	3	2102	0.59
77	Pickersgill, Adrian O		ENG	2014	3	2072	0.51
78	Kirk, Jason		FRA	1994	3	2122	1.1
79	Tari, Aryan		NOR	1932	3	2030	0.82
80	Kirk, Ezra		FRA	1919	3	1984	0.58
81	Hoare, Amy		ENG	1797	3	2043	1.95
82	McKenna, Jason P		ENG	2147	2.5	1994	-1.45
83	Obiamiwe, Paul		NGR	2046	2.5	1936	-0.97
84	Muheim, Sebastien		FRA	2040	2.5	2078	0.28
85	Spanton, Tim R		ENG	2026	2.5	2011	-0.2
86	Webb, Matthew		ENG	1987	2.5	2022	0.23
87	Young, Mel J		ENG	1971	2.5	1879	-0.89
88	Doran, Chris		ENG	1963	2.5	2006	0.27
89	Campbell, Eoin		SCO	1910	2.5	1981	0.5
90	Nomat, Emil-Lion		IRQ	1809	2.5	1862	0.35
91	Niloy, Chakraborty		IND	1800 *	2.5	2045	2045
92	Malhotra, Tarun		IND	1735	2.5	1868	0.89
93	Calvert, D Ian		ENG	2070	2	1857	-1.36
94	Safarian, Alek		AUS	2018	2	1900	-1.14
95	McDonnell, James J.		IRL	2014	2	1733	-2.54
96	Cumming, Rhys		ENG	1969	2	1927	-0.44
97	Yurenok, Maria S	WFM	ENG	1968	2	1878	-0.76
98	Haria, Ravi		ENG	1840	2	1869	0.11
99	Lenier, Jude		ENG	1828	2	1727	-0.4
100	Macrae, James S		SCO	1753	2	1786	0.11
101	Dean, Michael		ENG	1718	2	1626	-0.76
102	Moore, Gillian A		ENG	1902	1.5	1772	-1.14
103	Sanders, Isaac B		ENG	1777	1.5	1788	0.05
104	Devoille, Hugo		FRA	1691	1.5	1653	-0.4
105	Chowdhury, Sohel		BAN	2194	1	1648	-0.25
106	Howell, Chris I		ENG	2077	0.5	1797	-0.34
107	Penfold, Bill			1770 *	0.5	1543	0
108	O'Neil, Tom C		SCO	1523	0	1059	-1.09

6) Rilton Cup 2009-10

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

Official: http://www.rilton.se

XXXIX Rilton Cup Stockholm (SWE), 27 xii 2009 - 5 i 2010 Standings: Round 8 (of 9)
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	Rozentalis Eduardas	GM	LTU	2611	6	30
2	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	GM	POL	2637	6	28
3	Ponkratov Pavel	IM	RUS	2575	6	27
4	McShane Luke	GM	ENG	2615	6	27
5	Lysyj Igor	GM	RUS	2609	6	26.5
6	Grandelius Nils	IM	SWE	2540	5.5	25.5
7	Ionov Sergey	GM	RUS	2545	5.5	25.5
8	Popov Valerij	GM	RUS	2588	5.5	25.5
9	Gleizerov Evgeny	GM	RUS	2566	5.5	24.5
10	Handke Florian	GM	GER	2513	5.5	24.5
11	Brynell Stellan	GM	SWE	2472	5.5	23
12	Shimanov Aleksandr	GM	RUS	2535	5	28
13	Ivanov Sergey	GM	RUS	2530	5	26.5
14	Miezis Normunds	GM	LAT	2530	5	25
15	Gorovykh Eduard	IM	RUS	2410	5	22
16	Semcesen Daniel	IM	SWE	2460	5	22
17	Berczes David	GM	HUN	2512	5	20.5
18	Richter Michael	IM	GER	2412	4.5	24
19	Cramling Pia	GM	SWE	2525	4.5	23
	Lauber Arnd	IM	GER	2503	4.5	23
21	Gavrilov Alexei	IM	RUS	2481	4.5	22
22	Karlsson Lars	GM	SWE	2491	4.5	22
23	Molchanova Tatjana	WIM	RUS	2368	4.5	20.5
24	Hammer Jon Ludvig	GM	NOR	2588	4.5	20.5
25	Berczes Csaba	IM	HUN	2379	4.5	20.5
26	Cramling Dan	IM	SWE	2408	4.5	20
27	Kauppila Osmo	FM	FIN	2279	4.5	18
28	Niemi Mikko		FIN	2219	4.5	17
29	Yuneev Alexey	IM	RUS	2428	4	21.5
30	Akesson Ralf	GM	SWE	2454	4	21.5
31	Ulibin Mikhail	GM	RUS	2548	4	21
32	Bellon Juan	GM	ESP	2435	4	20.5
33	Jacobsen Bo		DEN	2306	4	20
34	Markevich Ilya		RUS	2162	4	19
35	Gagarin Vasily	IM	RUS	2422	4	18
36	Pohjala Henri		FIN	2153	4	17.5
37	Satonen Arto		FIN	2177	4	17
38	Andersen Mads	FM	DEN	2294	4	16.5
39	Nithander Victor	FM	SWE	2434	4	16
40	Angskog Kent		SWE	2229	4	16
41	von Bahr Oskar		SWE	2316	4	15.5
42	Bryntze Stefan		SWE	2073	4	14
43	Ask Josef		SWE	2183	4	13.5
44	de Verdier Michael		SWE	2270	3.5	20.5
45	Vaarala Eric		SWE	2032	3.5	17
46	Glimbrant Torbjoern		SWE	2263	3.5	13.5
47	Loegdahl Harald	FM	SWE	2214	3.5	12
48	Jakobsen Kovachev Daniel		NOR	2243	3.5	11.5
49	Lokander Martin		SWE	1820	3.5	10.5
50	Lindberg Bengt	IM	SWE	2407	3	17
51	Kiuttu Roope		FIN	2194	3	14.5
52	Kopasov Alexander		RUS	2221	3	14
53	Wiander Michael		SWE	2195	3	13
54	Koskela Niina	WGM	FIN	2189	3	12
55	Evertsson Lennart		SWE	2159	3	11
56	Hobber Anders		NOR	2132	3	10
57	Agrest Inna	WIM	SWE	2180	2.5	13.5
58	Nguyen Michael		DEN	2187	2.5	12.5
59	Gromova Iulia	WIM	RUS	2222	2.5	11
60	Mardell Jimmy		SWE	2182	2.5	10.5
61	Rosenkilde Alexander		DEN	2201	2.5	10.5
62	Grochowalski Pawel		POL	2072	2.5	10.5
63	Adahl Mattias		SWE	2133	2.5	9
64	Vovk Oksana	WIM	DEN	2145	2.5	8.5
65	Johansson Gunnar		SWE	2234	2	11.5
66	Svensson Leif		SWE	2195	2	10
67	Janse Love		SWE	2141	2	7
68	Nordlander Sven		SWE	1894	1.5	4

7) Groningen Chess Festival 2009

The Groningen Chess Festival took place 21st-30th December 2009. Jan Timman beat Robin van Kampen in a four game match 2.5-1.5. 13 year old Ukrainian Junior Illya Nyzhnyk demolished the A-Group Open section with an impressive score of 7.5/9.

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

Detailed photo and video report: ChessVibes story

Match Groningen
Timman, Jan H	-	Van Kampen, Robin	1-0	39	D17	Slav Defence
Van Kampen, Robin	-	Timman, Jan H	1-0	50	C11	French Defence
Timman, Jan H	-	Van Kampen, Robin	½-½	32	D17	Slav Defence
Van Kampen, Robin	-	Timman, Jan H	0-1	40	B43	Sicilian Paulsen

Match Groningen (NED), 26-29 xii 2009
Name	Ti	NAT	Rtng	1	2	3	4	Total	Perf
Timman, Jan H	g	NED	2591	1	0	½	1	2½	2565
Van Kampen, Robin	m	NED	2470	0	1	½	0	1½	2504

Open A Groningen (NED), 21-30 xii 2009 Final Round Standings:
No.	Name	Score	WP	SB	PS	rat.	TPR	W-We
1.	Nyzhnyk, Illya	7.5	48.5	40.00	38.0	2494	2741	+2.75
2.	Werle, Jan	6.5	53.0	36.75	35.5	2565	2670	+1.28
	Reinderman, Dimitri	6.5	52.0	36.75	37.5	2575	2662	+1.11
4.	Chadaev, Nikolai	6.0	50.0	30.00	32.0	2567	2555	-0.03
	Greenfeld, Alon	6.0	48.5	31.00	32.0	2559	2571	+0.23
	Nijboer, Friso	6.0	47.0	29.50	32.5	2561	2545	-0.12
	Brandenburg, Daan	6.0	46.5	30.75	32.0	2481	2573	+1.22
	Baklan, Vladimir	6.0	46.5	30.75	30.0	2655	2549	-1.04
	Giri, Anish	6.0	45.5	29.00	32.0	2585	2582	+0.04
	Deviatkin, Andrei	6.0	45.0	28.00	29.0	2608	2503	-0.82
	Poetsch, Hagen	6.0	36.5	23.75	26.5	2361	2410	+0.70
12.	Ernst, Sipke	5.5	46.0	26.50	26.5	2587	2432	-1.55
	Meijers, Viesturs	5.5	46.0	26.00	28.5	2488	2456	-0.29
	Kleijn, Christov	5.5	46.0	25.50	28.0	2383	2461	+0.99
	Pruijssers, Roeland	5.5	44.5	24.75	26.5	2413	2434	+0.35
	Saravanan, V	5.5	44.0	24.75	29.5	2356	2499	+1.78
	Podzielny,Karl-Heinz	5.5	42.0	21.50	28.0	2456	2425	-0.18
	Hoffmann, Michael	5.5	40.5	23.25	27.0	2509	2365	-1.47
	Caspi, Israel	5.5	40.0	20.75	26.0	2423	2402	-0.09
20.	Swinkels, Robin	5.0	47.5	25.25	31.5	2500	2484	-0.16
	Bok, Benjamin	5.0	47.0	23.50	29.0	2337	2523	+2.14
	Kantans, Toms	5.0	43.5	20.75	24.5	2281	2486	+2.30
	Popilski, Gil	5.0	42.5	20.00	26.0	2441	2394	-0.49
	Pijpers, Arthur	5.0	42.5	18.75	23.0	2201	2366	+1.86
	Wiel van der, John	5.0	41.0	21.50	25.0	2475	2373	-1.10
	Berkovich, Mark A	5.0	37.5	17.50	23.5	2406	2283	-1.30
	Groenewold,Jan Joris	5.0	36.0	18.00	18.5	2145	2313	+1.96
28.	Grover, Sahaj	4.5	43.5	18.75	26.0	2372	2429	+0.72
	Heemskerk, Wim	4.5	40.5	17.50	21.5	2236	2320	+0.94
	Klein, David	4.5	40.5	16.75	21.5	2262	2364	+1.14
	Bijlsma, Nick	4.5	39.5	17.50	20.0	2075	2255	+1.98
	Afek, Yochanan	4.5	39.5	16.75	21.5	2285	2330	+0.39
	Hoeksema, Erik	4.5	38.0	17.00	22.5	2331	2233	-1.14
	Paulet, Iozefina	4.5	37.5	12.00	20.0	2312	2217	-1.07
	Haast, Anne	4.5	33.5	14.25	19.0	2251	2229	-0.34
36.	Burg, Twan	4.0	48.5	21.00	25.5	2460	2340	-1.34
	Genova, Lyubka	4.0	45.0	19.50	21.0	2263	2317	+0.57
	Genov, Petar	4.0	44.5	17.75	26.5	2476	2299	-1.98
	Piasetski, Leon	4.0	39.0	14.75	18.5	2269	2238	-0.48
	Donker, Roel	4.0	38.0	16.50	20.5	2140	2259	+1.13
	Jellema, Yme Jan	4.0	37.5	14.50	17.5	2193	2194	-0.14
	Nabuurs, Joep	4.0	36.0	13.75	18.5	2191	2210	+0.19
	Thompson, Ian D	4.0	30.0	9.25	10.0	2266	2080	-2.08
44.	Assendelft van, F	3.5	43.5	17.25	23.5	2325	2356	+0.22
	Theulings, PP	3.5	41.0	12.75	20.5	2135	2239	+1.02
	Racherbaumer,Marcel	3.5	39.5	14.75	20.5	2301	2242	-0.73
	Mostertman, Milan	3.5	38.0	12.75	17.0	2169	2244	+0.72
	Sparenberg, Erik	3.5	37.0	12.50	17.5	2072	2195	+1.25
	Efroimski, Marsel	3.5	36.5	11.25	17.5	2150	2162	+0.04
	Lyell, Mark	3.5	35.5	11.00	16.5	2245	2163	-1.13
	Warmelink, Evie	3.5	32.5	6.75	15.0	1970	2033	+0.52
52.	Hirth, Ulrich	3.0	35.0	10.00	15.0	2108	2105	-0.08
	Balje, Jan	3.0	33.0	9.50	14.5	2188	2094	-1.03
	Holm, Sejer	3.0	30.0	8.00	10.0	2256	2067	-2.33
	Herwaarden van, A	3.0	26.5	6.00	7.0	2162	1992	-1.83
56.	Hertog ten, Hugo	2.5	38.0	14.50	16.0	2159	2283	+0.81
	Schiffer, Kai Uwe	2.5	36.5	18.75	17.0	2318	2122	-1.25
	Potze, Rudolf	2.5	36.0	8.50	11.5	2132	2114	-0.27
	Vergert ten, Paul	2.5	34.0	7.75	10.5	2071	2080	-0.01
60.	Cako, Laszlo	2.0	36.0	6.50	12.0	2155	2029	-1.42
	Rauw, Gert Jan	2.0	33.0	6.75	12.5	2070	1968	-1.11
	Slagter, David	2.0	32.5	6.25	12.0	2108	1976	-1.45
63.	Danielian, Elina	1.0	41.5	20.25	9.0	2499	2364	-0.36
	Aginian, Nelly	1.0	40.0	18.75	9.0	2304	2229	-0.14

8) FIDE Rating List January 2010

Magnus Carlsen duly became World Number 1 at the age of 19 after the release of the FIDE rating list for January 2010. Carlsen's result in the Pearl Spring tournament in China with 8/10 took him most of the way there in the last list. Solid if not spectacular gains in the Tal Memorial and London Chess Classic confirmed it whilst Topalov's performance in four games whilst sick at the European Team Championships cost him the 5 points that is the difference. The number one spot clearly isn't Topalov's priority at the moment as he prepares himself for the World Championship match against Viswanathan Anand in 2010 (Anand's mind also seems focused on this). Vladimir Kramnik moves back to four in the world with gains in the Tal Memorial and London tournaments. Most of the rest of the top 10 seems to be fairly insignificant shuffling about except for Morozevich's fall to 17 from 10 and Wang Yue's rise to 9.

Talented youngsters Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wesley So return to the top 100.

Sergey Karjakin's move from Ukraine to Russia has been reflected official in this list. Argentina and Ukraine are major nations whose players are missing from the general list (but not the top lists) because their Federations are behind in their payments to FIDE. Their players will be restore upon payment.

Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there.

FIDE Rating List January 2010 Top 100
Rank	No09	Name	Title	NAT	B-Year	ju08	oc08	ja09	ap09	ju09	se09	no09	Rating	Gms
1	2	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	1990	2775	2786	2776	2770	2772	2772	2801	2810	16
2	1	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	1975	2777	2791	2796	2812	2813	2813	2810	2805	4
3	3	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	1969	2798	2783	2791	2783	2788	2788	2788	2790	9
4	5	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	1975	2788	2772	2759	2759	2759	2772	2772	2788	16
5	4	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	1982	2737	2757	2750	2754	2768	2773	2786	2781	17
6	7	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	1968	2720	2719	2733	2733	2755	2756	2758	2761	25
7	6	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	1986	2717	2703	2723	2730	2740	2740	2758	2759	21
8	12	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	1969	2781	2786	2779	2746	2703	2756	2739	2749	13
9	16	Wang, Yue	g	CHN	1987	2704	2736	2739	2738	2736	2736	2734	2749	8
10	8	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	1976	2738	2727	2723	2726	2739	2741	2754	2744	27
11	19	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	1985	2742	2731	2724	2725	2717	2721	2719	2741	19
12	9	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	1979	2741	2747	2751	2751	2756	2762	2752	2739	9
13	13	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	1983	2718	2719	2726	2726	2727	2741	2739	2737	25
14	17	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	1983	2716	2720	2693	2693	2716	2717	2729	2736	14
15	14	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	1983	2728	2719	2733	2748	2733	2733	2736	2736	8
16	11	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	1987	2744	2751	2761	2756	2756	2757	2748	2733	13
17	10	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	1977	2788	2787	2771	2751	2751	2750	2750	2732	19
18	23	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	1990	2681	2716	2696	2684	2703	2718	2718	2730	21
19	15	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	1983	2709	2737	2760	2753	2760	2742	2736	2730	17
20	20	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	1972	2741	2726	2745	2745	2732	2730	2719	2723	19
21	18	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	1990	2727	2730	2706	2721	2717	2722	2723	2720	12
22	31	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	1980	2689	2675	2692	2709	2707	2715	2706	2716	15
23	28	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	1989	2704	2736	2739	2696	2690	2690	2708	2715	10
24	34	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	1983	2691	2705	2722	2728	2721	2709	2700	2713	18
25	21	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	1983	2708	2719	2717	2721	2716	2719	2719	2712	4
26	33	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	1976	2668	2663	2680	2685	2684	2685	2704	2710	7
27	30	Navara, David	g	CZE	1985	2646	2633	2638	2654	2687	2692	2707	2708	15
28	24	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	1987	2697	2704	2699	2701	2710	2735	2715	2708	7
29	22	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	1978	2723	2732	2751	2747	2716	2711	2718	2708	2
30	27	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	1987	2646	2646	2664	2684	2689	2688	2708	2705	14
31	26	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	1982	2650	2664	2702	2688	2693	2696	2711	2705	10
32	39	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	1983	2665	2664	2669	2687	2684	2696	2696	2704	15
33	25	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	1985	2708	2715	2718	2716	2714	2725	2715	2703	13
34	32	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	1979	2679	2672	2687	2695	2672	2702	2705	2702	2
35	40	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	1979	2674	2672	2676	2677	2710	2710	2695	2697	6
36	37	Rublevsky, Sergei	g	RUS	1974	2699	2702	2702	2702	2703	2703	2697	2697	4
37	38	Nielsen, Peter Heine	g	DEN	1973	2652	2662	2660	2668	2680	2687	2697	2697	0
38	29	Short, Nigel D	g	ENG	1965	2655	2642	2663	2674	2684	2706	2707	2696	7
39	36	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	1971	2735	2734	2712	2703	2699	2682	2698	2694	17
40	41	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	1974	2723	2729	2725	2720	2717	2692	2695	2693	6
41	42	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	1987	2616	2638	2687	2688	2681	2681	2694	2692	8
42	44	Volokitin, Andrei	g	UKR	1986	2672	2659	2671	2671	2678	2681	2691	2692	8
43	43	Bologan, Viktor	g	MDA	1971	2686	2682	2687	2690	2689	2688	2692	2692	6
44	45	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	GER	1985	2665	2678	2693	2700	2697	2685	2689	2687	13
45	46	Miroshnichenko, Evgenij	g	UKR	1978	2593	2632	2667	2680	2696	2690	2686	2686	0
46	48	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	1976	2711	2711	2693	2693	2687	2687	2680	2682	4
47	50	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	g	ROU	1976	2692	2684	2675	2675	2675	2664	2677	2681	12
48	51	Sargissian, Gabriel	g	ARM	1983	2660	2642	2678	2660	2667	2678	2676	2680	12
49	35	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	1971	2673	2679	2700	2696	2712	2698	2700	2678	10
50	49	Moiseenko, Alexander	g	UKR	1980	2632	2678	2676	2690	2682	2694	2677	2677	0
51	81	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	1992	2630	2640	2646	2649	2670	2662	2652	2675	18
52	47	Bu, Xiangzhi	g	CHN	1985	2710	2714	2702	2704	2702	2702	2682	2673	6
53	54	Georgiev, Kiril	g	BUL	1965	2671	2645	2634	2637	2645	2663	2672	2672	0
54	53	Harikrishna, P.	g	IND	1986	2668	2659	2673	2686	2679	2673	2672	2672	0
55	78	Fressinet, Laurent	g	FRA	1981	2673	2676	2666	2664	2667	2658	2653	2670	12
56	62	Areshchenko, Alexander	g	UKR	1986	2664	2664	2673	2657	2651	2667	2664	2670	6
57	52	Onischuk, Alexander	g	USA	1975	2670	2644	2659	2684	2699	2699	2672	2670	4
58	93	Zhigalko, Sergei	g	BLR	1989	2583	2592	2587	2622	2621	2646	2646	2668	13
59	65	Smirin, Ilia	g	ISR	1968	2637	2649	2647	2641	2650	2648	2662	2668	11
60	58	Kurnosov, Igor	g	RUS	1985	2617	2606	2602	2658	2669	2669	2666	2668	10
61	59	Najer, Evgeniy	g	RUS	1977	2670	2682	2669	2669	2663	2681	2666	2665	4
62	61	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	1973	2645	2686	2684	2697	2674	2670	2664	2662	2
63	67	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	1985	2617	2656	2634	2635	2647	2646	2661	2661	0
64	91	Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	1978	2631	2635	2635	2631	2631	2636	2648	2660	20
65	55	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	1986	2687	2696	2679	2678	2678	2667	2671	2660	15
66	66	Berkes, Ferenc	g	HUN	1985	2645	2645	2651	2638	2647	2663	2661	2659	9
67	70	Lastin, Alexander	g	RUS	1976	2639	2651	2643	2650	2648	2648	2656	2659	4
68	79	Meier, Georg	g	GER	1987	2556	2558	2608	2641	2658	2664	2653	2658	12
69	--	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	1990	2602	2616	2628	2624	2632	2632	2626	2658	10
70	92	Beliavsky, Alexander G	g	SLO	1953	2606	2619	2646	2640	2662	2656	2648	2657	18
71	56	Efimenko, Zahar	g	UKR	1985	2670	2680	2688	2682	2654	2654	2668	2657	10
72	60	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	1983	2705	2710	2709	2724	2701	2692	2665	2657	10
73	88	Smeets, Jan	g	NED	1985	2593	2604	2601	2626	2632	2642	2650	2657	10
74	57	Sutovsky, Emil	g	ISR	1977	2654	2651	2660	2660	2675	2676	2666	2657	9
75	68	Roiz, Michael	g	ISR	1983	2680	2677	2647	2635	2658	2658	2659	2657	8
76	74	Avrukh, Boris	g	ISR	1978	2656	2657	2645	2647	2641	2668	2655	2656	8
77	--	So, Wesley	g	PHI	1993	2577	2610	2627	2641	2646	2640	2640	2656	8
78	69	Krasenkow, Michal	g	POL	1963	2639	2624	2620	2622	2631	2651	2656	2656	0
79	89	Fridman, Daniel	g	GER	1976	2637	2630	2650	2646	2665	2661	2649	2654	8
80	75	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	g	IND	1983	2631	2603	2614	2625	2637	2634	2654	2654	4
81	73	Baklan, Vladimir	g	UKR	1978	2631	2625	2627	2618	2639	2646	2655	2654	2
82	80	Grachev, Boris	g	RUS	1986	2640	2653	2655	2652	2669	2684	2652	2653	18
83	64	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	1981	2684	2694	2711	2682	2669	2661	2664	2653	4
84	--	Laznicka, Viktor	g	CZE	1988	2601	2591	2598	2598	2617	2634	2637	2652	16
85	86	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	1985	2650	2670	2671	2677	2681	2668	2651	2652	4
86	96	Khismatullin, Denis	g	RUS	1984	2613	2606	2601	2601	2604	2614	2643	2651	16
87	72	Dreev, Alexey	g	RUS	1969	2657	2670	2688	2668	2660	2662	2655	2650	9
88	84	Sokolov, Ivan	g	BIH	1968	2658	2650	2657	2669	2655	2657	2652	2649	12
89	94	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	1985	2675	2669	2656	2676	2675	2664	2645	2649	6
90	90	Seirawan, Yasser	g	USA	1960	2634	2634	2634	2634	2646	2646	2649	2649	2
91	99	Korobov, Anton	g	UKR	1985	2590	2605	2613	2616	2623	2633	2642	2648	17
92	87	Postny, Evgeny	g	ISR	1981	2661	2674	2652	2648	2647	2651	2650	2648	7
93	--	Le, Quang Liem	g	VIE	1991	2577	2583	2591	2591	2602	2602	2624	2647	20
94	71	Pashikian, Arman	g	ARM	1987	2564	2611	2621	2655	2650	2663	2656	2647	6
95	63	Landa, Konstantin	g	RUS	1972	2615	2613	2626	2627	2655	2655	2664	2645	10
96	85	Milov, Vadim	g	SUI	1972	2705	2681	2669	2659	2659	2659	2652	2644	6
97	--	Nyback, Tomi	g	FIN	1985	2639	2634	2644	2655	2627	2615	2628	2643	13
98	--	Bareev, Evgeny	g	RUS	1966	2655	2647	2645	2636	2634	2633	2634	2643	10
99	77	Kazhgaleyev, Murtas	g	KAZ	1973	2641	2640	2630	2626	2639	2643	2653	2643	9
100	97	Socko, Bartosz	g	POL	1978	2627	2631	2631	2637	2656	2637	2643	2643	8

9) World Team Championship

The World Team Championship takes place Bursa, Turkey 3rd-14th January 2010. The first round is on 5th January 2010, they have delayed the start by a day and there will be now no rest day.

Teams: Russia, Brazil, Egypt, India, Armenia, Israel, USA, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Greece.

Official site: http://wtcc2009.tsf.org.tr/

World Team Championship Bursa (TUR), 3-14 i 2010 Teams:
Position	Ti	Name	Born	Elo Nov	Peak Elo
Russia. Average age 25. Top 4 ELO average is 2728. Team ELO average is 2719.
1st Board	GM	Alexander Morozevich	1977	2750	2788
2nd Board	GM	Alexander Grischuk	1983	2736	2748
3rd Board	GM	Vladimir Malakhov	1980	2706	2715
4th Board	GM	Dmitr Jakovenko	1983	2736	2760
1st Reserve	GM	Evgeny Tomashevsky	1987	2708	2708
2nd Reserve	GM	Nikita Vityugov	1987	2694	2694
Captain	GM	Alexander Motylev	1979	2695	2710
Chief of Delegation		Alexander Bakh
Armenia. Average age: 27.66 Average ELO: 2671 Top 4 average ELO: 2704
1st Board	GM	Levon Aronian	1982	2786	2786
2nd Board	GM	Vladimir Akopian	1971	ELO: 2700	2713
3rd Board	GM	Gabriel Sargissian	1983	ELO: 2676	2678
4th Board	GM	Arman Pashikian	1987	2656	2563
1st Reserve	GM	Tigran Petrosian	1984	2615	2629
2nd Reserve	GM	Tigran Kotanjian	1981	2542	2580
Coach	GM	Arshak Petrosian	1953	2470
Azerbaijan. Average age 22.83, average 2684!, and average for top 4 2715!!
1st Board	GM	Vugar Gashimov	1986	2758	2758
2nd Board	GM	Teimour Radjabov	1987	2748	2761
3rd Board	GM	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	1985	2719	2760
4th Board	GM	Rauf Mamedov	1988	2634	2645
1st Reserve	GM	Gadir Guseinov	1986	2625	2667
2nd Reserve	GM	Nidjat Mamedov	1985	2617	2620
Coach	GM	Zurab Azmaiparashvili	1960	2637	2702
Brazil. Average age 32.33, average 2587, top 4 average 2631
1st Board	GM	Giovanni Vescovi	1978	2648	2648
2nd Board	GM	Rafael Leitao	1979	2621	2623
3rd Board	GM	Alexandr Fier	1988	2653	2653
4th Board	GM	Gilberto Milos	1963	2603	2644
1st Reserve	GM	Andre Diamant	1990	2493	2526
2nd Reserve and Chief	GM	Darcy Lima	1962	2504	2550
India. Average age 22.5, average 2607, top 4 average 2646
1st Board	GM	Pentala Harikrishna	1986	2672	2686
2nd Board	GM	K.Sasikiran	1981	2664	2711
3rd Board	GM	S. Ganguly	1983	2654	2654
4th Board	GM	G.N. Gopal	1989	2593	2598
1st Reserve	GM	S.Arun Prasad	1988	2570	2570
2nd Reserve	IM	B.Adhiban	1992	2486	2504
Egypt. Average age 33.1, average 2488, top 4 average 2519
1st Board	GM	Ahmed Adly	1987	2583	2593
2nd Board	GM	Bassem Amin	1988	2553	2566
3rd Board	IM	Mohamed Ezat	1978	2472	2472
4th Board	IM	Khaled Abdel Razik	1975	2469	2470
1st reserve	IM	Imed Abdelnabbi	1957	2447	2498
2nd Reserve	IM	Walaa Sarwat	1960	2405	2407
Coach		Farag Amrou Mohamed	1960	2293
Greece. Average age: 32.33 Average 2587 Top 4 ELO: 2603
1st Board	GM	Vassilios Kotronias	1964	2599	2628
2nd Board	GM	Ioannis Papaioannou	1976	2628	2628
3rd Board	GM	Hristos Banikas	1978	2615	2615
4th Board	GM	Stelios Halkias	1980	2573	2589
1st Reserve	GM	Dimitrios Mastrovasilis	1983	2569	2580
2nd Reserve	GM	Athanasios Mastrovasilis	1979	2513	2543
Coach	GM	Ioannis Nikolaidis
Chief of Delegation		Mihail Kaloskambis
Israel Average age 31.33, average 2670, Top 4 average 2683
1st Board	GM	Boris Gelfand	1968	2758	2758
2nd Board	GM	Michael Roiz	1983	2659	2680
3rd Board	GM	Ilia Smirin	1968	2662	2702
4th Board	GM	Emil Sutovsky	1977	2666	2697
1st Reserve	GM	Evgeny Postny	1981	2650	2674
2nd Reserve	GM	Maxim Rodhstein	1989	2623	2650
Coach	GM	Alon Greenfeld	1964	2559	2581
Turkey. Average age: 22.16 Average ELO: 2464 Top 4 average ELO: 2475
1st Board	GM	Kivanc Haznedaroglu	1981	2497	2499
2nd Board	IM	Mert ERDOGDU	1979	2489	2489
3rd Board	IM	Mustafa YILMAZ	1992	2468	2475
4th Board	IM	Emre CAN	1990	2449	2471
1st Reserve	IM	Baris Esen	1986	2493	2494
2nd Reserve	FM	Burak Firat	1993	2392	2392
Coach	GM	Efstratios Grivas	1966	2492	2520
USA Average 2643, Top 4 average 2679, average age 24.83
1st Board	GM	Hikaru Nakamura	1987	2715	2735
2nd Board	GM	Alexander Onischuk	1975	2672	2699
3rd Board	GM	Yuri Shulman	1975	2623	2648
4th Board	GM	Varuzhan Akobian	1983	2624	2637
1st Reserve	GM	Robert L. Hess	1991	2572	2572
2nd Reserve	IM	Ray Robson	1994	2567	2567
Coach	IM	John W Donaldson	1958	2394

10) Australian Championship 2010

The Australian Championship takes place in Sydney 2nd-13th January 2010. Favourite Zhao Zong-Yuan and Darryl Johansen and George Wendi Xie have all started with 3/3. Xie hammered second favourite Gawain Jones in Round 3. There is a rest day for the Championship on Tuesday when they hold the Australian Lighting Championship.

Official site: http://www.australianchesschampionship.com/pm/pmwiki.php?n=Main.Schedule

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr28954.aspx

ch-AUS Sydney (AUS), 2-13 i 2010 Standings Round 3 (of 11):
Rk.	Ti	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Zhao Zong-Yuan	AUS	2572	3.0	6.0
	GM	Johansen Darryl K	AUS	2453	3.0	6.0
	IM	Xie George Wendi	AUS	2448	3.0	6.0
4		Yuan Yi	AUS	2129	2.5	4.5
5	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2561	2.0	5.0
		Ikeda Junta	AUS	2275	2.0	5.0
		Brown Andrew	AUS	2114	2.0	5.0
8	FM	Smirnov Vladimir	RUS	2392	2.0	4.0
	IM	Lane Gary W	AUS	2377	2.0	4.0
10	FM	Nakauchi Gene	AUS	2081	2.0	3.0
11	IM	Solomon Stephen J	AUS	2428	1.5	3.5
	FM	Rej Tomek	AUS	2364	1.5	3.5
13	IM	Morris James	AUS	2305	1.5	2.5
		Illingworth Max	AUS	2248	1.5	2.5
15		Bird Andrew	AUS	2182	1.5	2.0
16	IM	Wohl Aleksandar H	AUS	2458	1.0	3.0
	IM	Feldman Vladimir	AUS	2271	1.0	3.0
18		Ly Moulthun	AUS	2335	1.0	2.5
	FM	Levi Eddy	AUS	2271	1.0	2.5
20		Wallis Christopher	AUS	2246	1.0	1.5
		Atzmon-Simon Barak	ISR	2182	1.0	1.5
		Schon Eugene	AUS	2167	1.0	1.5
		Morris Michael	AUS	2016	1.0	1.5
24	FM	Hamilton Douglas G	AUS	2193	1.0	1.0
		Pyke Malcolm	AUS	2164	1.0	1.0
26		Matheson Laurence	AUS	2048	0.5	1.5
27		Lazarus Ben	AUS	2162	0.5	1.0
28		Charles Gareth	AUS	2175	0.0	0.0

11) II World Chess Open In Leon

The II World Chess Open took place in Leon (Spain) 1st-3rd January 2010.Michal Krasenkow won on tie-break from Mikhail Gurevich on tie-break after both finished with 8/9.

Total Prize around 30.000€ first place 5000€.

TIME CONTROL: 35 minutes plus 3 additional seconds per move.

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

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr28699.aspx?lan=1

World Chess Open Leon (ESP), 1-3 i 2010 Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Krasenkow Michal	GM	POL	2656	8	52.5	57	49.25
2	Gurevich Mikhail	GM	TUR	2597	8	52.5	56.5	49
3	Georgiev Kiril	GM	BUL	2672	7.5	51	55.5	44.5
4	Gulko Boris F	GM	USA	2535	7	51.5	55.5	41.25
5	Romanishin Oleg M	GM	UKR	2510	7	50	54	39.25
6	Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G	GM	ESP	2524	7	48.5	53.5	38.75
7	Kurajica Bojan	GM	BIH	2519	7	46	50	38.75
8	Cifuentes Parada Roberto	GM	ESP	2525	7	46	50	37.75
9	Larino Nieto David	IM	ESP	2471	6.5	50.5	54	34.75
10	Moreno Ruiz Javier	IM	ESP	2459	6.5	50	54	36.5
11	Strikovic Aleksa	GM	SRB	2531	6.5	49.5	52.5	34.75
12	Salgado Lopez Ivan	GM	ESP	2584	6.5	48.5	53	37.75
13	Ubilava Elizbar	GM	ESP	2526	6.5	48.5	51.5	36.75
14	Hoffman Alejandro	GM	ARG	2426	6.5	47.5	50.5	31.5
15	Llaneza Vega Marcos	IM	ESP	2514	6.5	47	51.5	35.25
16	Huerga Leache Mikel	IM	ESP	2463	6.5	47	50.5	33.75
17	San Segundo Carrillo Pablo	GM	ESP	2534	6.5	46	49.5	30.75
18	Santos Santos Pablo	FM	ESP	2326	6.5	45	48.5	31.5
19	Nikolic Predrag	GM	BIH	2597	6.5	43.5	47	31.5
20	Pilgaard Kim	IM	DEN	2435	6.5	43	47.5	33.5
21	Lalic Bogdan	GM	CRO	2494	6.5	43	47	32.25
22	Vila Dupla Aurelio	FM	ESP	2177	6.5	39	42.5	24.5
23	Ipatov Alexander	IM	ESP	2497	6	47	51.5	32.25
24	Barria Zuniga Daniel	IM	CHI	2430	6	46.5	51	32.25
25	Martin Fuentes Alberto		ESP	2237	6	46	48.5	29
26	Pozueta Alegria Adrian		ESP	2088	6	45	48.5	28.75
27	Gonzalez Valero Julio		ESP	2281	6	44	47.5	27.5
28	Cruz-Lopez Claret Carlos	FM	ESP	2318	6	44	47	27.5
29	Garcia Dorado Alberto		ESP	1972	6	43.5	47	25.5
30	Jimenez Martinez Jose Vicente		ESP	2241	6	43	46	27
31	Diogo Vasco	FM	POR	2303	6	42	45.5	25.5
32	Fidalgo Fernandez Javier		ESP	2285	6	42	45	26.75
33	Sanchez-Alarcos Galian Victor		ESP	2149	6	42	44.5	26
34	Vuilleumier Alexandre	IM	SUI	2332	6	41.5	44.5	24.5
35	Baragano Campa David		ESP	2144	6	41	43.5	25.75
36	Pena Gomez Manuel	IM	ESP	2432	6	40.5	44.5	23
37	Rudolf Anna	WGM	HUN	2283	6	40	44	28
38	Reyes Larenas Luis		PER	2209	6	39.5	41	24
39	Vlashki Nino		BUL	2238	6	39	42	24.25
40	Senlle Caride Miguel		ESP	2173	6	38.5	41.5	21.75
41	Leskovar Matias	FM	ARG	2278	6	38	41	23.5
42	Gonzalez Diaz Julio		ESP	2288	6	35.5	38	25.5
43	Caspi Israel	IM	ISR	2427	5.5	49.5	53.5	29
214 players

12) North American Open 2009

The North American Open took place 26th-29th December 2009. Varuzhan Akobian edged out Alexander Shabalov, Victor Mikhalevski, Josh Friedel and Alex Yermolinsky on tie-break (earning an extra $200) after all finished on 5½/7.

Official site: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/north-american-open/

Report: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9993/565

North American Open Las Vegas (USA), 26-29 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
#	Name	Ti	Rtng	Tot
1	Varuzhan Akobian	GM	2690	5½
2	Alexander Shabalov	GM	2669	5½
3	Victor Mikhalevski	GM	2666	5½
4	Joshua Ed Friedel	GM	2609	5½
5	Alex Yermolinsky	GM	2583	5½
6	Sundarajan Kidambi	GM	2616	5
7	Dmitry Gurevich	GM	2526	5
8	Lev Milman	IM	2510	5
9	Mark Ginsburg	IM	2427	5
10	Kazim Gulamali	FM	2418	5
11	Steven C Zierk	FM	2387	5
12	Daniel Naroditsky	FM	2375	5
13	David Alan Zimbeck		2293	5
14	Siddharth Ravichandran		2489	4½
15	Mesgen Amanov	GM	2448	4½
16	Alexander Kretchetov	FM	2444	4½
17	Charles R Riordan	FM	2411	4½
18	Michael Lee	FM	2399	4½
19	Emory A Tate	IM	2375	4½
20	Darwin Yang	FM	2370	4½
21	Anatoly Y Lein	GM	2355	4½
22	Alex Cherniack		2280	4½
23	William J Schill	FM	2203	4½
24	Ryan J Moon		2188	4½
25	Christopher Heung		2168	4½
26	Roman Sapozhnikov		2398	4
27	Takashi Iwamoto	FM	2299	4
28	Jim H Dean	FM	2263	4
29	Cornelius Rubsamen		2263	4
30	Luis M Belliard		2251	4
31	Edward W Formanek	IM	2251	4
32	Renard W Anderson	FM	2249	4
33	Eugene Yanayt	FM	2240	4
34	Giovanni Carreto		2237	4
35	Arkady Khashper		2228	4
36	Jorge Boules	IM	2221	4
37	Bob Holliman		2200	4
38	Sean K Higgins		2181	4
39	Roger Norman		2181	4
40	Show Kitagami		2172	4
41	Robby Adamson	FM	2337	3½
75 players

13) 18th Donau Open

The 18th Donau Open took place in Aschach, Austria, 26th-31st December 2009. David Shengelia took first place on tie-break from Jan Krajci, Marko Tratar, Josef Jurek, Vladimir Sergeev and Petr Neuman after all finished on 5.5/7.

Official site: http://www.aschach.at/schach/

18th Donau Open Aschach (AUT), 26-31 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl	SNr	Name	Ti	Elo	Nat	Pts	RF	Rp
1	1	Shengelia David	GM	2560	AUT	5½	24.5	2557
2	4	Krejci Jan	IM	2458	CZE	5½	24.5	2549
3	3	Tratar Marko	GM	2480	SLO	5½	23.5	2519
4	12	Jurek Josef	IM	2343	CZE	5½	23	2519
5	6	Sergeev Vladimir	GM	2428	UKR	5½	20.5	2409
6	5	Neuman Petr	IM	2439	CZE	5½	20.5	2408
7	8	Faibisovich Vadim Z	IM	2414	RUS	5	21	2346
8	13	Glienke Manfred Dr.	IM	2325	GER	5	21	2342
9	2	Horvath Jozsef	GM	2557	HUN	5	19.5	2382
10	7	Cifka Stanislav	FM	2423	CZE	5	19.5	2348
11	10	Knoll Hermann	IM	2389	AUT	5	19	2305
12	53	Klek Hanna-Marie		2081	GER	5	17	2369
13	22	Knechtel Roland	FM	2226	GER	5	16.5	2239
14	15	Studnicka Tomas	FM	2320	CZE	4½	21.5	2339
15	11	Pomaro Alberto	FM	2367	ITA	4½	21	2365
16	39	Handler Lukas		2158	AUT	4½	20.5	2414
17	9	Sakelsek Tadej	IM	2400	SLO	4½	20.5	2360
18	20	Juhasz Kristof		2232	HUN	4½	20	2307
19	24	Schreiner Peter		2225	AUT	4½	19.5	2297
20	18	Aschenbrenner Robert	FM	2246	AUT	4½	19	2310
21	14	Schneider-Zinner Harald	IM	2325	AUT	4½	18	2207
22	43	Sandhoefner Florian	FM	2129	AUT	4½	15.5	2210
23	31	Sadilek Peter		2202	AUT	4½	15.5	2144
24	23	Liepold Stefan		2226	GER	4	20	2307
25	17	Menacher Manfred	FM	2264	GER	4	19.5	2286
26	30	Binder Michael		2202	AUT	4	19	2339
27	33	Mayerhofer Peter		2194	AUT	4	18	2303
28	29	Obermayr Hermann	MK	2204	AUT	4	18	2251
29	27	Lautner Josef Mag.		2208	AUT	4	18	2171
30	45	Schwabeneder Florian		2125	AUT	4	18	2155
31	88	Menezes Christoph		1856	AUT	4	16.5	2240
32	32	Steiner Guenther		2196	AUT	4	16.5	2209
33	21	Konrad Edmund		2230	AUT	4	16.5	2129
34	40	Walter Thomas		2146	GER	4	16	2156
35	63	Posch Roland		2061	AUT	4	14	2182
93 players

14) Czech Chess Christmas 2009-10

The Czech Chess Christmas Open took place in Litomysl (CZE) 26th December - 2nd January 2010. Petr Martin edged out Bartolomiej Heberla, Jan Bernasek and Richard Biolek on tie-break after all finished on 7/9.

11th christmas chess FIDE tournament, swiss system of 9 round, rate of game 2 x 1,5h + 30s/move, prize fund 64.000 CZK.

Official site: http://www.a64.cz/tournaments/litomysl2009/

11th Christmas Open Litomysl (CZE), 26 xii 2009 - 2 i 2010 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Petr Martin	IM	CZE	2495	7	54	42.5	2372
2	Heberla Bartolomiej	GM	POL	2515	7	53	42.5	2392
3	Bernasek Jan	IM	CZE	2476	7	52.5	41.5	2373
4	Biolek Richard	IM	CZE	2385	7	47.5	37.5	2216
5	Tazbir Marcin	IM	POL	2497	6.5	54.5	43	2376
6	Stupak Kirill	IM	BLR	2456	6.5	51.5	40.5	2341
7	Simacek Pavel	IM	CZE	2513	6.5	51.5	40	2344
8	Kulhanek Tomas	IM	CZE	2441	6.5	49.5	38	2223
9	Bulski Krzysztof	FM	POL	2416	6.5	48	37	2284
10	Plat Vojtech	IM	CZE	2388	6.5	48	37	2269
11	Manik Mikulas	GM	SVK	2435	6	47	36.5	2296
12	Hoffmann Paul	FM	GER	2355	6	47	36	2250
13	Sabol Marian	FM	CZE	2343	6	46.5	36.5	2272
14	Ponizil Cyril	FM	CZE	2304	6	45.5	36	2182
15	Bures Jaroslav		CZE	2300	6	45.5	35	2165
16	Hellwig Tobias		GER	2114	6	43	34	2121
17	Svoboda Vaclav		CZE	2292	6	43	32.5	2157
18	Seifert Volker	FM	GER	2355	5.5	51	40.5	2278
19	Sodoma Jan		CZE	2355	5.5	51	39.5	2275
20	Cerveny Martin	FM	CZE	2353	5.5	50.5	39.5	2264
21	Heinzel Olaf	IM	GER	2332	5.5	49.5	39	2235
22	Novak Pavel		CZE	2377	5.5	49	38.5	2255
23	Skliba Martin	FM	CZE	2281	5.5	48	39	2227
24	Fuchs Judith	WIM	GER	2188	5.5	46.5	36	2148
25	Vrana Jan		CZE	2298	5.5	46.5	35.5	2194
26	Kanovsky David	IM	CZE	2471	5.5	45.5	36	2165
27	Krupa Monika	WGM	POL	2216	5.5	45	35.5	2149
28	Volodin Viktor	IM	RUS	2206	5.5	44.5	34.5	2146
29	Jedlicka Ales	FM	CZE	2320	5.5	44	34	2125
30	Pokorny Petr		CZE	2191	5.5	43.5	34	2132
31	Olsarova Karolina	WFM	CZE	2192	5.5	43.5	34	2123
32	Navratil jun. Jiri		CZE	1910	5.5	43	34	2149
33	Polacik Igor		SVK	2175	5.5	43	34	2070
34	Seidl Stepan		CZE	1964	5.5	41.5	34	2072
35	Olsarova Tereza		CZE	2164	5.5	41	32.5	2169
36	Vavra Pavel	IM	CZE	2351	5	50.5	39	2179
37	Kotva Milan		CZE	2051	5	47.5	37	2213
38	Pecha Tomas		CZE	2236	5	47	36.5	2187
39	Zakharchenko Arnold	IM	UKR	2206	5	46.5	36	2170
40	Bujnoch Radek		CZE	2196	5	43.5	34	2069
41	Duchrow Oliver		GER	2152	5	43	34	2157
42	Schuetze Norman		GER	2269	5	42	34	2099
43	Sochor Stanislav		CZE	2118	5	41.5	33	2110
44	Cizinsky Petr		CZE	2062	5	41.5	32	2132
45	Strache Michael		GER	2254	5	41.5	31.5	2067
46	Seidl Antonin		CZE	1963	5	41	33	2184
47	Pilch Roman		CZE	2170	4.5	46	37	2180
48	Novotny Michal	FM	CZE	2292	4.5	45.5	35.5	2168
49	Pekar Vaclav		CZE	2072	4.5	44	34	2130
50	Kastner Oldrich		CZE	2102	4.5	42.5	32.5	2125
51	Richter Dustin		GER	2065	4.5	42	33.5	2065
52	Blazkova Petra	WIM	CZE	2178	4.5	42	33	2134
53	Cuhra Martin		CZE	2141	4.5	41.5	34	2075
54	Lorenc Oldrich		CZE	2111	4.5	41.5	33	2113
55	Jurkiewicz Krzysztof		POL	2158	4.5	41.5	32.5	2055
56	Maciol Ryszard		POL	2245	4.5	41.5	32	2086
57	Weglarz Leszek	IM	POL	2233	4.5	41.5	31.5	2098
58	Hillmann Michael		GER	2150	4.5	40	31	2065
59	Trojan Lubos		CZE	2060	4.5	39.5	30.5	2053
60	Mojzis Jaroslav	FM	CZE	2266	4.5	39.5	29.5	1979
61	Kosek Marek		CZE	1965	4.5	39	30.5	2050
62	Navratil sen. Jiri		CZE	2163	4.5	38	30.5	2056
63	Machan Jan		CZE	1710	4.5	37.5	29.5	1996
64	Schaffer David		CZE	0	4.5	28.5	22.5	1836
65	Konstacky Matej		CZE	2117	4	46	36	2128
66	Macka Oto		SVK	2065	4	44.5	34.5	2110
67	Musil Vitezslav		CZE	2017	4	40	31	2035
68	Hrabal Michal		CZE	1989	4	39.5	30.5	2100
69	Bartosova Lucie		CZE	1920	4	39	30	2059
70	Schaefer Reyk		GER	2155	4	38	30	2003
71	Walas Aleksandra		POL	1892	4	38	29.5	2028
72	Valickova Martina		CZE	2064	4	37.5	30	1992
73	Orosi Peter		SVK	1905	4	37	28.5	2043
74	Olsar Zdenek		CZE	2054	4	34.5	27	1803
75	Sandor Lukas		SVK	1888	4	33	25.5	1866
76	Prokopova Jirina		CZE	1730	4	31.5	24.5	1958
77	Oltean Stefan		ROU	1776	4	31	24.5	1865
78	Markus Nico		GER	1882	4	29	22	1800
79	Kuciel Wladyslaw		POL	2114	3.5	40.5	30	1951
80	Prachar Josef		CZE	1915	3.5	39.5	31	1979
81	Van Nieuwenhuizen Hans		NED	1989	3.5	37	29	2077
82	Kolomaznikova Barbora		CZE	1910	3.5	37	28	1969
83	Nytrova Adela		CZE	1814	3.5	36	29	2015
84	Reichmann Pavel		CZE	0	3.5	35.5	27	2010
85	Trhal Tomas		CZE	2034	3.5	35.5	26.5	1883
86	Balkova Anna		CZE	1881	3.5	33.5	26.5	1817
87	Odstrcil Jaromir		CZE	1768	3.5	32.5	24	1959
88	Kozusek Slavomir		CZE	0	3.5	31.5	25	1918
89	Krupa Anna		POL	1846	3.5	31	24	1856
90	Krupa Jerzy		POL	1951	3	40	31	1986
91	Lehnert Stefan		GER	0	3	36	28	1931
92	Krusina Patrik		CZE	1771	3	34.5	27	1932
93	Kozusek Daniel		CZE	0	3	33.5	26	1819
94	Hajek Lukas		SVK	1753	3	33.5	25.5	1827
95	Melichar Vojtech		CZE	0	3	33	24.5	1741
96	Nisztuk Michal		POL	1835	3	31.5	26	1858
97	Navratilova Alena		CZE	1802	3	31	24.5	1812
98	Dostalek Petr		CZE	0	3	28.5	21.5	1808
99	Thonig Manfred		GER	1704	3	27.5	21.5	1836
100	Schaffer Ondrej		CZE	0	3	27	21.5	1769
101	Danada Tomas		SVK	1790	2.5	38.5	29.5	2029
102	Musil Stanislav		CZE	0	2.5	29	22	1767
103	Nytra Matej		CZE	1794	2.5	26.5	20	1782
104	Danada Ondrej		SVK	1884	2	35.5	27	1872
105	Kogut Artur		POL	0	2	32	25.5	1829
106	Stodola Marek		CZE	0	2	29	21.5	1724
107	Kozlova Lucie		CZE	0	2	27.5	22	1698
108	Melichar Zdenek		CZE	0	1.5	26	20	1784
109	Valenta Vit		CZE	2196	0.5	35.5	28	1889

15) New Zealand Championship

The New Zealand Championship takes place in Auckland 2nd-14th 2010.

Official site: http://www.aucklandchesscentre.co.nz/news

Additional info: http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/NZChamp117/NZChamp117.html

ch-NZL Auckland (NZL), 2-13 i 2010 Leading Round 3 (of 11) Standings:
No	Name	NAT	Loc	Total
1	Steadman, Michael	NZL	2337	3
2	Ker, Anthony	NZL	2423	3
3	Croad, Nicholas	NZL	2332	2.5
4	Hart, Ralph	NZL	2276	2.5
5	Davis, Justin	NZL	2035	2
6	Depasquale, Chris	AUS	2274	2
7	Nyberg, Michael	NZL	2033	2
8	Garbett, Paul	NZL	2350	2
9	Thornton, Gino	NZL	2214	2
10	Han, Daniel	NZL	2200	2
11	McLaren, Leonard	NZL	2258	2
12	Milligan, Helen	NZL	2018	2
13	Krstev, Antonio	NZL	2057	2
14	Steffenello, Leonard	BRA	2184	1.5
15	Watson, Bruce	NZL	2297	1.5
16	Smith, Robert	NZL	2368	1.5
17	Jackson, Ross	NZL	2013	1
18	Stuart, Peter	NZL	2057	1
19	Bennett, Hilton	NZL	2089	1
20	Krstev, Mario	NZL	2122	1
21	Barlow, Matthew	NZL	2144	1
22	Gunn, Neil	NZL	2064	1
23	Fuatai, Fuatai	NZL	2020	1
24	Lim, Benjamin	NZL	2069	0.5
25	Marner, Gavin	NZL	2071	0.5
26	Shen, Daniel	NZL	2221	0.5
27	Fraemohs, Peter	NZL	2028	0.5
28	Nijman, Brian	NZL	2168	0

16) Zurich Open

The 33rd Zurich Open takes place 26th-30th December 2009. Leonid Milov edged out Yannick Pelletier David Baramidze, Pawel Jaracz and Matthew Turner after all finished on 5.5/7.

Official site: http://www.kradolfer-informatik.ch/schach/wop/

33rd Zurich Open (SUI), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Nr.	Name	ELO	Pts	Buchh	BuSumm
1	Milov Leonid	2539	5.5	33	197.5
2	Pelletier Yannick	2589	5.5	32.5	192
3	Baramidze David	2519	5.5	32	202.5
4	Jaracz Pawel	2532	5.5	31	198.5
5	Turner Matthew J	2508	5.5	31	196.5
6	Pavlovic Milos	2539	5.5	30.5	205
7	Bindrich Falko	2504	5.5	28.5	196.5
8	Kurmann Oliver	2428	5	31	209
9	Romanishin Oleg	2510	5	30	201.5
10	Zude Arno	2461	5	30	192.5
11	Moor Olivier	2406	5	26.5	189
12	Buhmann Rainer	2603	5	26	180.5
13	Heimann Andreas	2441	5	26	173.5
14	Filipovic Branko	2450	5	25.5	181
15	Drechsler Christo	2193	4.5	32.5	184
16	Lafuente Pablo	2550	4.5	31.5	194
17	Izzat Kanan	2056	4.5	31	184
18	Pikula Dejan	2541	4.5	30.5	185.5
19	Gloor Roger	2101	4.5	29	184
20	Eschbach Dennis	2426	4.5	28.5	195.5
21	Hug Marcel	2303	4.5	27.5	186
22	Antognini Frances	2251	4.5	25	183.5
23	Friedrich Norbert	2282	4.5	25	175.5
24	Bogdanov Oleksi	2280	4.5	24.5	189.5
25	Gaehler Marco	2261	4.5	24.5	187
26	Froewis Georg	2274	4.5	23.5	185
27	Livner Anders	2316	4.5	23.5	180
28	Gattenloehner Seba	2245	4.5	23.5	177.5
106 players

17) Pan American Intercollegiate

The Pan American Intercollegiate took place on South Padre Island, Texas December 27th-30th 2009. The University of Maryland Baltimore County won clear first at the Pan-American Championships in South Padre Island, Texas (December 27-30). The team earned a perfect 6-0 score.

Official site: http://www.utb.edu/sa/chess/Pages/standings.aspx

Details: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9995/565/

18) 26th Travemuender Open

The 26th Travemuender Open took place 27th-30th December 2009. Alexander Evdokimov took clear first place with 6.5/7. No games available yet.

Official site: http://schachopen.com/open/

26th Travemuender Open (GER), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Elo	Land	S	R	V	Pts	Buchh
1	Evdokimov,Alexander A	GM	2556	RUS	6	1	0	6.5	27
2	Rabiega,Robert	GM	2531	GER	6	0	1	6	26
3	Mainka,Romuald	GM	2513	GER	5	2	0	6	24
4	Von Herman,Ulf	IM	2424	GER	5	2	0	6	23.5
5	Zakhartsov,Viacheslav V	GM	2562	RUS	4	3	0	5.5	27.5
6	Stocek,Jiri	GM	2592	CZE	5	1	1	5.5	26.5
7	Fries Nielsen,Jens-Ove	IM	2432	DEN	4	3	0	5.5	25.5
8	Schmidt,Harald		2408	GER	5	1	1	5.5	24.5
8	Michna,Marta	WGM	2366	GER	5	1	1	5.5	24.5
10	Figura,Atila Gajo	FM	2415	GER	5	1	1	5.5	24
10	Buchenau,Frank	FM	2245	GER	5	1	1	5.5	24
12	Zimmermann,Julian	FM	2298	GER	5	1	1	5.5	23.5
13	Solleveld,Maarten	IM	2489	NED	5	1	1	5.5	21.5
14	Ackermann,Hans Werner	FM	2311	GER	5	1	1	5.5	20.5
15	Klein,Felix	FM	2317	GER	5	1	1	5.5	19.5
245 players

19) 6th Open Paderborn

The 6th Open took place in Paderborn, Germany, for the Schachtuerken-Cups 27th-30th December 2009. Henrik Teske edged out Lev Gutman, Gerhard Schebler, Stefan Wehmeier and Josip Boidman in the A-Group after all finished on 5.5/7.

It appears that the 18th IPCCC (International Paderborn Computer Chess Championships) was cancelled as there were too few entries.

Official site: http://www.schachtuerken-cup.de/

6th Schachtuerken Cup Paderborn (GER), 27-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl.	Name	ELO	Pts	Buchh	PktSum
1	Teske,Henrik	2552	5.5	30.5	24
2	Gutman,Lev	2448	5.5	30	24.5
3	Levin,Felix	2486	5.5	30	24
4	Schebler,Gerhard	2486	5.5	29.5	23.5
5	Wehmeier,Stefan,D	2443	5.5	27.5	23
6	Gazic,Josip	2240	5.5	25	21.5
7	Boidman,Yuri	2393	5	28	21
8	Eichhorn,Andreas	2274	5	27	21
9	Hess,Christian	2250	5	26	20
10	Tscheuschner,Tobi	2045	5	23.5	16
11	Bluebaum,Matthias	2059	5	22	19
12	Funke,Martin		4.5	26.5	19.5
13	Sicker,Rolf	2199	4.5	25	19
14	Steinle,Carsten	2137	4.5	25	18
15	Bruehl,Andreas	2368	4.5	22.5	19
16	Gutzmann,Tobias	2106	4.5	20	15.5
17	Roemhild,Marcus	2158	4	25.5	19
18	Turzo,Attila	2276	4	25.5	18
19	Himpenmacher,Andy	2202	4	25.5	17.5
20	Freiberger,Jonas	2216	4	25	19
21	Heinichen,Nils	2002	4	24.5	16.5
22	Biebinger,Gerhard	2318	4	24	17.5
23	Richter,Gerald	2134	4	24	17
24	Schwarzenberg,Jos	2112	4	24	16.5
25	Laurenz,Waldemar	2090	4	24	16.5
26	Tran,Duc Cuong	1885	4	23.5	15.5
27	Haskenhoff,Jan	2076	4	23	16.5
28	Iseringhausen,Mar	2087	4	23	15
29	Kaster,Martin	2155	4	22.5	15
30	Rieke,Theo	2165	4	22	17
31	Kemper,Meinolf	2103	4	22	16
32	Nolte,Christoph	2111	4	19.5	13.5
72 players

20) South African Championship

The 44th South African Championship took place 27th November - 6th December 2009. Nicholas Van der Nat won with 9/11.

Keith Rust reports: The tournament took place in Cape Town from 27 November to 6 December 2009, and was won for the 3rd time by FM Nicholas van der Nat, who scored 9 out of 11. Van der Nat now joins David Friedgood and Piet Kroon as 3-times winners of the title, behind only Charles De Villiers (6 titles) and the late Wolfgang Heidenfeld (8 titles).

Official site: http://www.chessa.co.za/SOUTHAFRICANCLOSED.html

FIDE Report: http://ratings.fide.com/view_source.phtml?code=47499

ch-RSA Cape Town (RSA), 27 xi - 6 xii 2009													cat. I (2251)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Van der Nat, Nicholas	f	RSA	2272	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	9	2511
2.	Mabusela, Johanne Mayedi	m	RSA	2270	½	*	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	7	2351
3.	Van den Heever, Donovan		RSA	2266	½	0	*	½	0	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	7	2351
4.	Solomon, Kenny	m	RSA	2368	½	½	½	*	1	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	6½	2305
5.	De Villiers, Charles	f	RSA	2274	0	0	1	0	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	6½	2314
6.	Kobese, Watu	m	RSA	2385	0	½	0	0	½	*	½	1	1	1	1	½	6	2274
7.	Cawdery, Daniel		RSA	2281	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	5½	2248
8.	Ophoff, Ja		RSA	2273	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	*	0	1	0	1	4½	2184
9.	Gluckman, David	m	RSA	2276	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	1	*	0	½	1	4½	2183
10.	Mosetlhe, Kgaugelo		RSA	2100	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	0	1	*	1	1	4½	2199
11.	Solomons, Deon		RSA	2191	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	½	0	*	1	3	2081
12.	Van Rensburg, Ryan Pierre		RSA	2057	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	0	0	*	2	2006

21) Boeblinger Open

The Boeblinger Open took place 26th-30th December 2009. Top seed Vladislav Borovikov finished half a point clear of the field on 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.boeblinger-open.de/einzelseiten/ergebnisse/2009/ergebnisse_2009.htm

Boeblinger Open (GER), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Land	Elo	S	R	V	Pts	RaLstg	RaDiff
1	Borovikov,Vladislav	GM	UKR	2585	6	3	0	7.5	2614	72
2	Bogner,Sebastian	GM	GER	2504	5	4	0	7	2544	69
3	Strohhaeker,Raoul	IM	GER	2443	6	2	1	7	2377	-14
4	Bertagnolli,Alexander	FM	ITA	2332	5	3	1	6.5	2468	155
5	Hirneise,Tobias	IM	GER	2421	4	5	0	6.5	2461	59
6	Velicka,Petr	GM	CZE	2480	4	5	0	6.5	2412	-37
7	Mutschnik,Illya	IM	GER	2439	4	5	0	6.5	2392	-11
8	Abel,Dennes		GER	2380	5	3	1	6.5	2370	15
9	Schneider,Ilja	IM	GER	2496	4	4	1	6	2432	-21
10	Rusev,Krasimir	GM	BUL	2537	5	2	2	6	2432	-105
11	Heinz,Axel	IM	GER	2436	4	4	1	6	2411	-36
12	Dausch,Rene	FM	GER	2373	6	0	3	6	2362	54
13	Pfrommer,Christoph	FM	GER	2327	4	4	1	6	2361	103
14	Hirneise,Jens	FM	GER	2293	4	4	1	6	2344	112
15	Konopka,Michal	IM	CZE	2448	5	2	2	6	2339	-95
16	Arman,Deniz		TUR	2222	6	0	3	6	2328	106
17	Mueller,Ralf	FM	GER	2410	5	2	2	6	2327	-59
18	Werner,Claus		GER	2208	5	2	2	6	2303	154
19	Mueller,Fabian	FM	GER	2331	5	2	2	6	2250	-67
20	Kniest,Oliver	FM	GER	2322	5	2	2	6	2218	-54
21	Frick,Christoph		GER	2244	5	2	2	6	2198	41
22	Vatter,Hans-Joachim	FM	GER	2321	4	3	2	5.5	2308	-6
23	Donchenko,Anatoly	IM	GER	2380	3	5	1	5.5	2288	-10
24	Nabavi,Parwis		SUI	2219	5	1	3	5.5	2243	57
25	Wagener,Claude	FM	LUX	2262	4	3	2	5.5	2234	-28
26	Kabisch,Thilo		GER	2334	5	1	3	5.5	2223	-22
27	Peschel,Andreas		GER	2225	5	1	3	5.5	2188	8
28	Grosshans,Ralf-Michael		GER	2189	5	1	3	5.5	2176	-47
29	Minor,Samuel		GER	2212	5	1	3	5.5	2165	5
30	Rombach,Michael		GER	2178	5	1	3	5.5	2026	-111
111 players

22) Baroque Chess Open

The Baroque Chess Open took place in Buchen 26th-31st December 2009. Joszef Pinter took first place on tie-break from Imre Hera after both scored 5.5/7. Games from the final round not yet available.

Official site: http://www.schachclub-buchen.de/

Baroque Chess Open Buchen (GER), 26-31 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Rank	StP	Name	Tit	TWZ	FED	n	w	r	l	Pts	Buchh	SoBerg
1.	2.	Pinter, Joszef	GM	2580	HUN	7	4	3	0	5.5	32.0	24.50
2.	3.	Hera,Imre	GM	2570	HUN	7	4	3	0	5.5	30.5	23.25
3.	1.	Stojanovic, Mihajlo	GM	2585	SRB	7	5	0	2	5.0	30.0	19.00
4.	7.	Schloetzer, Waldemar		2272	GER	7	4	2	1	5.0	28.5	18.50
5.	6.	Reinhardt,Bernd		2374	GER	7	3	3	1	4.5	28.0	16.75
6.	8.	Serafimov, Dimitar	FM	2222	BUL	7	4	1	2	4.5	26.5	14.00
7.	4.	Serafimov,Tervel	IM	2415	BUL	7	3	2	2	4.0	28.5	13.75
8.	5.	Eisenbeiser, Amadeus	IM	2394	GER	7	3	2	2	4.0	26.5	11.75
9.	19.	Toews, Manuel		1864	GER	7	3	2	2	4.0	20.0	9.00
10.	12.	Eisenbeiser, Karlhei		2059	GER	7	2	3	2	3.5	26.0	11.00
11.	21.	Gehrig, Matthias		1822	GER	7	3	1	3	3.5	26.0	10.50
12.	10.	Schmidt, Horst		2173	GER	7	2	3	2	3.5	22.5	9.50
13.	11.	Kleinschroth, Roland		2164	GER	7	2	3	2	3.5	21.0	7.25
14.	20.	Schuhmacher, Jakob		1724	GER	7	2	2	3	3.0	25.5	9.25
15.	17.	Dr. Armasow, Ulrich		1972	GER	7	1	4	2	3.0	24.5	9.50
16.	14.	Gogollok, Carsten		2012	GER	7	2	2	3	3.0	24.5	8.00
17.	15.	Greis, Bernhard		1987	GER	7	1	4	2	3.0	20.5	5.75
18.	9.	Herbold, Manfred		2179	GER	7	1	3	3	2.5	22.0	5.25
19.	16.	Krebs, Ralf		1979	GER	7	1	3	3	2.5	17.5	3.50
20.	18.	Milivojevic, Jelena		1952	SRB	7	1	2	4	2.0	20.5	2.25
21.	22.	Hefner, Felix		1612	GER	7	1	2	4	2.0	18.5	2.25
22.	13.	Reinhardt, Daniel			GER	7	0	0	7	0.0	19.5	0.00

23) Geneve Christmas Open

The Geneve Christmas Open took place 26th-30th December 2009. Favourite Igor Khenkin finished on 6/7. Games from the final two rounds are not currently available.

Official site: http://www.fge-echecs.ch/

Geneve Christmas Open (SUI), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Rg	Ti	Name	Elo	FED	Pts	BH
1	GM	Khenkin Igor	2595	GER	6	34½
2	GM	Sokolov Andrei	2572	FRA	5½	37
3	IM	Starostits Ilmars	2466	LAT	5½	31
4	IM	Olivier Jean-Christophe	2378	FRA	5½	29½
5	IM	Krivonosov Oleg	2432	LAT	5½	29
6	GM	Vorotnikov Vladislav V	2425	RUS	5	35½
7	GM	Bauer Christian	2594	FRA	5	34
8	FM	Valsecchi Alessio	2336	ITA	5	31½
9	IM	Vuilleumier Alexandre	2334	SUI	5	30½
10		Prunescu Claudiu	2198	ROU	5	28
11	IM	Borsos Bogdan	2331	UKR	4½	31
12	IM	Netzer Jean	2394	FRA	4½	30½
13		Vianin Pascal	2202	SUI	4½	30
14	IM	Huss Andreas	2343	SUI	4½	29
15		Duport Nicolas	2148	SUI	4½	28½
16	IM	Aguettaz Maxime	2399	FRA	4½	28
17		Guex Pascal	2155	SUI	4½	26½
18		Jagstaidt Patrick	2055	SUI	4	31½
19		Andersen Lars Even	2241	NOR	4	30
20		Kierzek Matthias Dr	2154	GER	4	29½
21	IM	Okhotnik Vladimir	2463	FRA	4	29
22		Bagri Jaspaul	2218	SUI	4	28½
23		De Seroux Camille	1989	SUI	4	26½
24		Vartsaba Alexander	2091	UKR	4	24
25		Burgueno Diego	1934	SUI	4	22½
26		Kuznetsov Volodymyr	2164	UKR	3½	32½
27	IM	Domont Alexandre	2342	SUI	3½	30½
28		Stoeri Simon	2015	SUI	3½	28½
29	IM	Gerber Richard	2367	SUI	3½	27½
30	WFM	Kierzek Mira	2043	MKD	3½	27½
65 players

24) IX Gema Open Mondariz

The IX Gema Open Mondariz took place 26th-30th December 2009. Aleksa Strikovic took clear first with 6/7.

Results http://chess-results.com/tnr28685.aspx?art=1&rd=7&lan=10&m=-1&wi=1000

IX Gema Open Mondariz (ESP), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Rk.	Name	Ti	FED	Elo	Pts.	Des 1	Des 2	Des 3
1	Strikovic Aleksa	GM	SRB	2519	6	25.5	27.5	30
2	Movsziszian Karen	GM	ARM	2541	5.5	23	29.5	32.5
3	Hoffman Alejandro	GM	ARG	2426	5.5	23	29	31.5
4	Lariño Nieto David	IM	ESP	2467	4.5	20.5	28	31.5
5	Korneev Oleg	GM	RUS	2571	4.5	19.5	28	30.5
6	Ferreira Jorge João		POR	2273	4.5	19.5	27	29
7	Garcia Castro Pablo	IM	ESP	2396	4.5	19.5	26	28
8	Frois Antonio	IM	POR	2404	4.5	19.5	23.5	26
9	Outerelo Ucha Manuel		ESP	2150	4.5	18	25.5	27.5
10	Montes Gutierrez Ignacio		ESP	2154	4.5	17	23.5	24.5
11	Senlle Caride Miguel		ESP	2173	4	18.5	24.5	27
12	Silva Luis Miguel		POR	1706	4	17.5	24	27.5
13	Rodriguez Boado Martin		ESP	2165	4	17	23	25
14	Vila Gonzalez Daniel		ESP	2052	4	15	22.5	25
15	Rodriguez Lopez Rafael	IM	ESP	2323	4	13.5	20.5	22.5
16	Andias João		POR	1800	3.5	14.5	22.5	24.5
17	Teijeiro Barros Alberto		ESP	2176	3.5	14	21	22
18	Rodriguez Melendez Juan Humbert		PER	0	3.5	13.5	21.5	24
19	Sousa Barreiro Bieito		ESP	1639	3.5	12.5	20	22
20	Villar Perez Samuel		ESP	2079	3.5	12.5	18.5	20.5
21	Fernandez Andrade Antonio		ESP	1830	3.5	12	23.5	25.5
22	Martinho Filipe		POR	1969	3	13	24	26
23	Martinho Nuno		POR	1741	3	8	17.5	18.5
24	Alonso Martinez Tomas		ESP	2149	2.5	14.5	25.5	28
25	Álvarez Nistal David		ESP	1736	2.5	10	21	23
26	Agra Torres Alfonso		ESP	1886	2.5	10	19	21
27	Docampo Garcia David		ESP	1510	2.5	9.5	16	18
28	Meireles Ana Maria		POR	1635	2.5	8.5	18.5	19.5
29	Pousada Gonzalez Almudena		ESP	1787	2.5	7.5	19	21
30	Fernandez Rey Jorge		ESP	1743	2	8	19	21
31	Dominguez Certal Dario		ESP	1517	2	8	18.5	19.5
32	Sio Areal Manuel		ESP	1507	1	5	16	17
33	Bento Iglesias Anxo		ESP	1440	0	0	21	24.5
34	Rodriguez Plana Jose Israel		ESP	1759	0	0	17	19.5

25) 7th Schwalbacher Christmas Open

The 7th Schwalbacher Christmas Open took place 26th-30th December 2009. Top seed Fred Berend finished on 6.5/7 half a point clear of Christian Vogel. No games available.

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

7th Schwalbacher Christmas Open (GER), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Land	Elo	S	R	V	Pts	Buchh	SoBerg
1	Berend,Fred	IM	LUX	2391	6	1	0	6.5	26.5	24.5
2	Vogel,Christian,D		GER	2218	5	2	0	6	25	22.75
3	Tabatt,Hendrik		GER	2349	4	2	1	5	29	20.75
4	Mueller,Reinhold		GER	2270	4	2	1	5	26.5	18.25
5	Becker,Joerg		GER	2154	5	0	2	5	24	18
6	Becker,Thomas		GER	2168	4	2	1	5	21.5	17.25
7	Dobosz,Henryk	IM	POL	2404	3	3	1	4.5	29	18
8	Martin,Paul Guido			1803	4	1	2	4.5	24.5	15.75
9	Frischmann,Rick		GER	1846	3	3	1	4.5	24	16.5
10	Gress,Alexander		GER	2018	4	1	2	4.5	24	14.25
11	Bentout,Pascal		FRA	2169	4	1	2	4.5	23.5	15.25
12	Meiser,Michael			1811	3	3	1	4.5	19.5	12.75
13	Faas,Dominik			2051	3	2	2	4	29	14.25
14	Fries,Frederik		GER	1934	4	0	3	4	25	12
15	Schuh,Thomas		GER	2098	4	0	3	4	23.5	12.5
16	Sgarlata,Marco			1780	4	0	3	4	21.5	11
44 players

26) Bethune Christmas Open

The Bethune Christmas Open took place 26th-30th December 2009. Vladimir Burmakin edged out Boris Grachev, Alexis Cabrera and Stanislav Novikov after they tied on 7/9. No games seem to be available.

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

Bethune Christmas Open (FRA), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Fede	Elo	Pts	Tr.	Perf.	FFE
1	BURMAKIN Vladimir	g	RUS	2602	7	43	2654	2651
2	GRACHEV Boris	g	RUS	2652	7	42	2650	2638
3	CABRERA Alexis	g	ESP	2528	7	42	2614	2616
4	NOVIKOV Stanislav	g	RUS	2562	7	41	2567	2559
5	SHIRAZI Kamran	m	FRA	2433	6.5	43.5	2580	2580
6	GHARAMIAN Tigran	g	FRA	2614	6.5	40.5	2549	2535
7	LALIC Bogdan	g	CRO	2503	6.5	40	2494	2486
8	ALIENKIN Aleksander	m	RUS	2398	6.5	39	2460	2460
9	MOUSSARD Jules	f	FRA	2364	6.5	39	2419	2420
10	OLEKSIENKO Mikhailo	g	UKR	2546	6.5	37	2466	2444
11	WIRIG Anthony	m	FRA	2484	6	43.5	2559	2559
12	DEGRAEVE Jean-Marc	g	FRA	2573	6	42	2547	2547
13	MIEDEMA Roi	f	NED	2400	6	41	2490	2490
14	RINGOIR Tanguy	f	BEL	2396	6	39.5	2454	2454
15	DONCEA Vladimir	m	ROM	2493	6	38.5	2417	2417
16	MASSONI Michael		FRA	2272	6	37.5	2379	2379
17	SIMON Olivier	m	FRA	2314	6	37	2315	2315
18	BERNAL MORO Luis Javier	m	ESP	2444	6	36.5	2424	2424
19	MATTHIESEN Martin	f	DEN	2295	6	33.5	2263	2257
20	MICHIELS Bart	m	BEL	2461	5.5	43	2488	2488
21	DUBREUIL Julien	f	FRA	2249	5.5	40	2382	2382
22	JOLLY Jean-Francois	f	FRA	2406	5.5	39	2369	2369
23	ONKOUD Abdelaziz	m	March	2377	5.5	39	2346	2342
24	LAGARDE Maxime	f	FRA	2393	5.5	38.5	2379	2378
25	PICARD Romain	f	FRA	2376	5.5	38	2372	2371
26	GUILLEUX Fabien	f	FRA	2342	5.5	38	2346	2346
27	LARMUSEAU Maarten		BEL	2160	5.5	37.5	2426	2426
28	MILLIET Sophie	m	FRA	2390	5.5	37	2323	2315
29	QUILLAN Gary	m	ENG	2394	5.5	34.5	2418	2402
30	FANTIN Ludwig		FRA	2212	5.5	34.5	2356	2356
31	BEDOUIN Xavier	f	FRA	2351	5.5	34	2242	2242
32	FRANCA Ricardo Bedin	f	BRA	2296	5.5	34	2239	2239
33	GRUENTER Martin		GER	2150	5.5	33	2284	2284
34	NIJS Nils		BEL	2223	5.5	31.5	2293	2293
35	OOTES Lennart		NED	2128	5.5	31	2177	2177
138 players

27) 19th Radisson Blu Christmas Festival

The 19th Radisson Blu Christmas Festival takes place in Efurt 26th-30th December 2009. Martin Kraemer took clear first place with 7.5/8. No games available.

Official site: http://www.schach-info.de/erfurt/

19th Radisson Blu Christmas Festival Erfurt (GER), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 8 Standings:
Pl	StN	Name	ELO	Land	Punkte	Buchh
1	2	Kraemer,Martin	2482	GER	7.5	36.5
2	4	Volke,Karsten	2429	GER	6.5	40
3	19	van Ginkel,Pieter	2210	NED	6	37
4	64	Huss,Rolf	2110	GER	6	34.5
5	3	Tischbierek,Raj	2434	GER	6	31.5
6	5	Langheinrich,Ferenc	2425	GER	5.5	37
7	63	Schmitt,Philipp	2046	GER	5.5	36.5
8	7	Eichner,Sebastian	2335	GER	5.5	35
9	18	Doberitz,Paul	2220	GER	5.5	34
10	35	Hannes,Diana	2125	GER	5.5	29
11	39	Ulms,Sandra	2127	GER	5	35.5
12	44	Mayer,Frank	2138	GER	5	33.5
13	30	Meissner,Felix	2121	GER	5	31.5
14	43	Schroeder,Wilfried	2127	GER	5	28.5
15	6	Pribyl,Josef	2370	CZE	5	27.5
16	12	Jahncke,Giso	2218	GER	5	26
17	1	Luther,Thomas	2559	GER	4.5	38
18	59	Hesse,Maximilian	2035	GER	4.5	35
19	13	Grandadam,Nicolas	2223	SUI	4.5	33.5
20	10	Koch,Moritz	2316	GER	4.5	33.5
21	15	Haasler,Andre	2242	GER	4.5	33.5
22	14	Barthel,Ansgar,	2217	GER	4.5	33
23	74	Koehnke,Torben	2028	GER	4.5	33
24	46	Grandadam,Patrick	2106	SUI	4.5	32
25	28	Erlbeck,Peter	2123	GER	4.5	32
26	36	Horn,Sven	2134	GER	4.5	31.5
27	27	Juegel,Marcel	2226	GER	4.5	29.5
28	25	Spiess,Martin	2153	GER	4.5	29.5
29	11	Reipsch,Jens	2271	GER	4.5	29.5
30	38	Naundorf,Maik	2118	GER	4.5	29
31	20	Schneider,Henning	2195	GER	4.5	29
32	68	Klueting,Reiner	2080	GER	4.5	28.5
33	21	Wehner,Janis	2204	GER	4.5	27
34	57	Hahn,Markus	2016	GER	4.5	27
79 players

28) 25th Post Open

The 25th Post Open took place in Duesseldorf 26th-31st December 2009. Michail Kolkin edged out Michael Coenen when he scored 6 wins and a draw (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw was in operation) whilst Coenen lost one. No games available.

Official site: http://www.post-sv-duesseldorf.de/schach/default.htm

25th Post Open Duesseldorf (GER), 26-31 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Elo	Nat	W	D	L	Pts	PktSu	SoBerg
1	Kolkin,Michail		2321	UKR	6	1	0	19	80	78.5
2	Coenen,Michael		2202	GER	6	0	1	18	69	75
3	Tkachuk,Sergij		2144	GER	5	2	0	17	74	74.5
4	Hausrath,Daniel	IM	2524	GER	5	2	0	17	72	74.5
5	Meins,Gerlef	IM	2441	GER	5	2	0	17	70	76.5
6	Wacker,Peter		2244	GER	5	2	0	17	70	73
7	de Gleria,Frances	IM	2313	GER	5	2	0	17	68	71
8	Fowler,Gordon		2100		5	0	2	15	66	56
9	Harff,Marcel		2087	GER	4	3	0	15	64	66.5
10	Preuschoff,Michae		2140	GER	5	0	2	15	63	57
11	Raasch,Joerg		2221	GER	5	0	2	15	63	56
12	Schnelle,Lukas		1958	GER	5	0	2	15	63	54
13	Probst,Patrick		2009		5	0	2	15	63	49
14	Weimann,Maximilia		2137	GER	5	0	2	15	60	61
15	Angermuende,Dirk		1997	GER	5	0	2	15	60	54
16	Fehling,Michael,P		2144	GER	4	3	0	15	58	56.5
17	Probst,Andreas		1932		5	0	2	15	57	48
18	Bogorad,Michail		2134	GER	4	2	1	14	71	60
19	Braun,Christian	FM	2285	GER	4	2	1	14	67	66.5
20	Bakhmatov,Eduard	FM	2217	GER	4	2	1	14	67	58
21	Huettemann,Ralf		1988	GER	4	2	1	14	63	52
22	Koehler,Markus		2134	GER	4	2	1	14	61	56.5
23	Kosin,Jens		2021	GER	4	2	1	14	61	49
24	Mueller,Frank		2017	GER	4	2	1	14	60	54.5
25	Werrn,Pascal		1982	GER	4	2	1	14	58	49
26	Sokalskaja,Olena	WFM	1922	UKR	4	2	1	14	56	51.5
27	Meertens,Martin		2024	GER	4	2	1	14	52	47.5
189 players

29) Hamburg Christmas Open

The 6th Hamburg Christmas Open takes place 27th-30th December 2009. Michael Kopylov took first place on tie-break from Dusan Nedic after both finished on 5.5/7. No games are available.

Official site: http://www.ani-cup.de/

Hamburg Christmas Open (GER), 27-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Land	Elo	S	R	V	Punkte	Buchh	SoBerg
1	Kopylov,Michael	IM	UKR	2440	5	1	1	5.5	28.5	20.5
2	Nedic,Dusan		GER	2369	5	1	1	5.5	28	24
3	Ludwig,Jan		GER	1960	3	4	0	5	30	19.5
4	Ekat,Michael		GER	2008	4	2	1	5	29.5	23.25
5	Maahs,Erich		GER	2151	4	2	1	5	25	18.25
6	Reddmann,Hauke,Dr	FM	GER	2281	4	2	1	5	23.5	17
7	Wolter,Jens		GER	2139	3	3	1	4.5	24.5	15.5
8	Porth,Hartmut		GER	2131	3	3	1	4.5	23.5	16
9	Franke,Lutz		GER	2107	4	1	2	4.5	21.5	13.5
10	Hagenlueke,Thomas		GER	1914	1	6	0	4	26	13
11	Biedekoepper,Rober		GER	2105	2	4	1	4	24.5	12.5
12	Hertel,Holger		GER	2017	3	2	2	4	24	14
13	Koenig,Christian		GER	2131	3	2	2	4	23	11
14	Szobries,Torsten,		GER	2136	4	0	3	4	23	10
15	Krause,Jonah			1745	3	2	2	4	22.5	9.75
16	Mairon,Oliver			1741	3	2	2	4	22	13
17	Richter,Thomas		GER	1843	3	2	1	4	21	12.25
18	Schoenhof,Timo		GER	2085	1	5	1	3.5	24.5	13
19	Brodmann,Anton		GER	1825	3	1	3	3.5	23	9.25
20	Krotofil,Kurt		GER	2025	3	1	3	3.5	21	8.75
21	Schwarzkopf,Joerg,		GER	1696	2	3	2	3.5	20.5	9.5
22	Topuz,Soner Marce		GER	1749	3	1	3	3.5	18.5	7.75
40 players

30) Nice Christmas Open

The Nice Christmas Open took place 26th December - 30th December 2009. 1st Miguel Llanes Hurtado 6/7. 2nd Vladimir Epishin 5,5/7. 3rd Benjamin Bijisho avec 5,5/7. I couldn't find any games.

Official site: http://echiquiernicois.centerblog.net/

Christmas Open (FRA), 26-30 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 7 Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	Elo	Fede	Pts	Tr.	Me.	Perf.
1	LLANES HURTADO Miguel	g	2493	ESP	6	28.5	23	2557
2	EPISHIN Vladimir	g	2613	RUS	5.5	31.5	26	2552
3	BUJISHO Benjamin	m	2405	FRA	5.5	30.5	25	2452
4	SULAVA Nenad	g	2558	CRO	5.5	30.5	24.5	2561
5	FARGERE Francois	g	2501	FRA	5.5	29.5	24	2532
6	PERALTA Fernando	g	2557	ARG	5.5	29.5	24	2527
7	GOVCIYAN Pavel	m	2422	FRA	5.5	29	23.5	2477
8	VIDARTE MORALES Arturo	m	2423	ESP	5.5	28.5	23	2522
9	BRIH Said		2343	FRA	5.5	27	21.5	2397
10	VILLEGAS Pierre		2226	FRA	5.5	27	21.5	2258
11	ZERMICHE Cherif		2061	FRA	5.5	25.5	20	2164
12	RUCH Bernard		1973	FRA	5.5	25.5	20	2146
13	DEMUTH Adrien	f	2387	FRA	5	30.5	24.5	2402
14	IANNIELLO Riccardo	f	2204	ITA	5	28.5	23	2154
15	STOPPA Omar		2276	ITA	5	28.5	22.5	2309
16	IWANESKO Alexandre		2195	FRA	5	28	22.5	2254
17	ALLARD Thomas		1736	FRA	5	27.5	22	2204
18	DELSENY Serge		1998	FRA	5	25	19.5	2145
19	DE BARBERIS Massimo		2073	ITA	5	25	19.5	2090
20	OLIVEIRA Sancho		2224	FRA	5	24	18.5	2164
21	LUDWIG Remi		2213	FRA	5	23	18.5	2077
22	FOURCAND Pierre		1970	FRA	5	23	18	2066
23	PETRINI Roberto		2054	ITA	5	21.5	17.5	1991
24	MOHOREA Vasile		2123	ROU	5	21	17	2059
25	BRESSAC Stephane		2144	FRA	4.5	27	21.5	2107
26	GERANDI Guillaume		1802	FRA	4.5	27	21.5	1987
27	DUBOIS Martine	mf	1968	FRA	4.5	26.5	20.5	2028
28	ROUSSIERE Christophe		2056	FRA	4.5	26	20.5	2068
29	NAJART David		1940	FRA	4.5	25.5	20	2115
30	BERTI Olivier		2116	FRA	4.5	25.5	19.5	2071
31	ALBANESI Roberto		1986	ITA	4.5	24	18.5	1927
32	CLARET Franck		1920	FRA	4.5	23	17.5	2049
33	CAYLA Jonathan		1957	FRA	4.5	23	17.5	1969
34	VANDEN BERGHE Gregory		1934	BEL	4.5	21.5	17	1924
139 players

31) Satu Mare Blitz Romania

Gheorghe Nemeth a chess player of Satu Mare (Transylvania, Romania) organised a blitz tournament commemorating the fall of the communist regime in 1989. The event was in Satu Mare on Sunday 27th December 2009. The event is organised by his Foundation for the Rebirth of Satu Mare’s chess. Petrut Sandor won with 14/15.

Gheorghe Nemeth reports that "At the award ceremony, as the tournament director, I was very honoured to receive a diploma for my activity of dissident. Now I am very proud that my dreams begin to become true: after all the tourmanents organised this year by Petrica Costin and IO Ciprian-Sorin Muntean, Satu Mare is the most important chess center in Romania, after Bucharest."

Details: http://www.frsah.ro/alte_turnee.htm

Memorial Ceausescu Blitz (ROU), 27 xii 2009 Leading Final Round 15 Standings:
Rk.	Ti	Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	CM	Sandor Petrut	2191	ROU	*	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	14	0	94	106
2	CM	Muntean Ciprian-Sorin	2256	ROU	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	12.5	0.5	81.5	107.5
3	MK	Levay Sorin	2254	ROU	0	½	*	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	12.5	0.5	79.75	107.5
4	FM	Suciu Dinu-Simi	2106	ROU	½	½	0	*	1	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	11.5	0	70	108.5
5	IM	Florescu Codrut-Constantin	2210	ROU	0	½	½	0	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	11	0	66.75	109
6	CM	Vasut Zaharia	2118	ROU	0	0	0	½	0	*	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9.5	0	47.25	110.5
7	CM	Samu Sorin-Mihai	2089	ROU	0	0	0	1	0	0	*	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	8	0	43.5	112
8		Marchis Arghil	2048	HUN	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	*	0	1	1	0	½	1	1	1	7.5	0	37	112.5
9	I	Catricicau Claudiu	1829	ROU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	6.5	0	27.75	113.5
10	CM	Craiovan Onisifor	1991	ROU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	6	0	21	114
11	I	Polner Iosif	1968	ROU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	*	1	1	1	1	1	5.5	1	18.75	114.5
12	I	Hasznosi Lorand	1963	ROU	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	0	0	*	1	1	1	1	5.5	0	23	114.5
13	I	Boros Sergiu	2021	ROU	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	0	0	*	1	1	0	4	0	21	116
14	CM	Costin Petrica	2176	ROU	0	½	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	1	1	3	0	14.75	117
15	II	Nemeth Gheorghe	1393	ROU	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	*	½	1.5	0.5	8.75	118.5
16	I	Luca Ioana-Sanziana	1836	ROU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	½	*	1.5	0.5	4.75	118.5

32) Turin Scheveningen

The Torino (Turin) 'scheveningen' tournament takes place in the club Scacchistica Torinese. 5 italians and 5 foreign players. The event finishes on January 10th 2010. For the Italian players there is the possibility of an IM norm if they score 6.5 out of 10.

Players: Turin Team: Enrico Pepino, Folco Castaldo, Fabrizio Molina, Alberto Pulito (23 years old) and Alessio Gallucci (18).

Foreign Team: wgm Margareta Voiska (Bulgaria) GM Igor Naumkin (Russia) IM Milan Mrdja (Croazia) IM Zivoin Ljubisavljevic (Serbia) IM Virgilio Vuelban (Philippine)

Time Control: 90 minutes x 40 moves, then 30 minutes, plus 30 seconds/move starting from the 1st move.

Official site: http://www.scacchisticatorinese.it - Live Games: http://www.scacchisticatorinese.it/nuovo_portale/upload/partite_live/partite_online.php

33) Bosnjaci Open

The Bosnjaci Open takes place 3rd-9th January 2010. Robert Zelcic is the top seed.

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

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr28900.aspx?lan=1

34) 22nd Staufer Open 2010

The 22nd Staufer Open takes place 2nd-6th January 2010. Games are available in a viewer but not yet in PGN.

Official site: http://www.staufer-open.de/

35) Basel Chess Festival 2010

The Basel Chess Festival takes place 1st-5th January 2010. No games available.

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

36) Herb Healy Open 2010

George Mirijanian reports: The Herb Healy Open House tournament took place New Year's Day 2010 at the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. Winning the 28-player U.S. Chess Federation-rated section with a perfect 4-0 score was national master Lawyer Times, 45, of Hyde Park, Mass. Capturing second place with a 3.5-0.5 tally was senior master Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell, Mass., who had won the tournament in 2009. Tying for third place with 3-1 results were national master Chris Williams, 20, of Brighton, Mass., national master Carey Theil, 31, of Arlington, Mass., national master Greg Kaden, 38, of Wellesley, Mass., expert Benjamin Goldberg of Cumberland, Rhode Island, and fellow expert Matthew Derek Meredith of West Hartford, Connecticut. Winning the 16-player unrated section with a perfect 4-0 score was FIDE master Charles Riordan, 30, of Somerville. Tying for second place with 3-1 tallies were 60-year-old FM William Kelleher and 45-year-old USCF life master Alex Cherniack, both of Watertown, Mass. Bernardo Iglesias of Stoughton, Mass. directed the tournament and was assisted by Walter Driscoll of Cambridge, Mass. The event honored the memory of Herbert E. Healy (1885-1974), an original charter member of the Boylston Chess Club when the club - one of the oldest and most prestigious in the United States - was formally founded on August 27, 1919 at the Young Men's Christian Union on Boylston Street in Boston. After being located 85 years in Boston, the club moved in 2004 to the Boston suburb of Somerville, where it is currently open daily at 240 Elm Street in the Davis Square section of that city.

37) 2010 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament

The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament takes place at the Palais de la Mediterranée, a legendary hotel on the world-famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, March 12th-25th 2010. The event is organized by the Association Max Euwe of chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom, which is based in Monaco. The new number one in the world rankings, Magnus Carlsen, is the top-seed in Nice. Also present are Levon Aronian, the winner of the past two Amber tournaments, and Vladimir Kramnik, who won the Amber tournament a record six times.

Likely website: http://www.amberchess2010.com/

19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Nice (FRA), 12-25 iii 2010				cat. XX (2746)
WRk	Name	Title	NAT	B-Year	Ja2010
1	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	1990	2810
4	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	1975	2788
5	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	1982	2781
6	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	1968	2761
7	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	1986	2759
8	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	1969	2749
10	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	1976	2744
13	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	1983	2737
17	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	1977	2732
21	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	1990	2720
25	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	1983	2712
73	Smeets, Jan	g	NED	1985	2657

38) Forthcoming Events and Links

Aeroflot Open 2010

The 9th International Chess Festival "Aeroflot Open 2010" takes place in Moscow 8th February (the day of arrival) - 19th February 2010 (the day of departure). For the fifth year the festival will take place in the major tourist complex "Izmailovo", hotel "Gamma - Delta".

The festival has the same total prize fund as in 2009: € 180 000 (the prizes for the World Blitz Qualification Tournament included).

Four Open Tournaments (A1,A2, B and C) are made up according to the rating of the participants.

Tournament A1 for chessplayers with a FIDE rating higher than 2549. Prize fund 70000 €

Tournament A2 for chessplayers with a FIDE rating less than 2550, but higher than 2399. Prize fund: € 36000

Tournament B:for chessplayers with a FIDE rating less than 2400, but higher than 2199. Prize fund € 19500

Tournament C:for chessplayers with a FIDE rating lower than 2200 or without rating. Prize fund Group C: € 12000

All information regarding registration, the package payment details and the World Blitz QualificationTournament are published on the official site: http://www.aeroflotchess.com.

Contact details: e-mail: aeroflotchess@gmail.com

tel/fax: +7 (495) 691-8578 tel.: +7 (495) 690-6084

13) Dutch League

The Dutch League takes place 26th September 2009 - 18th April 2010. Round 4 took place on the 12th December 2009, the games are now available.

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.

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

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

Dutch League (NED), 26 ix 2009 - 18 iv 2010 Round 3 Standings:
Pl	Team	Mp	Bp	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	8	24½	x	.	6	.	.	.	6	6	6.5	.
2	HSG	6	28½	.	x	.	8.5	7	8.5	.	.	4.5	.
3	Schrijvers Rotterdam	6	23½	4	.	x	.	.	5.5	6.5	.	7.5	.
4	Utrecht	5	21	.	1.5	.	x	5	.	.	.	7.5	7
5	LSG	5	21	.	3	.	5	x	.	.	7.5	.	5.5
6	Homburg Apeldoorn	4	22	.	1.5	4.5	.	.	x	.	8	.	8
7	HMC Calder	2	16½	4	.	3.5	.	.	.	x	3	.	6
8	Braceland ESGOO	2	15½	4	.	.	.	2.5	2	7	x	.	.
9	SMB	2	14	3.5	5.5	2.5	2.5	.	.	.	.	x	.
10	HWP Sas van Gent	0	13½	.	.	.	3	4.5	2	4	.	.	x

Dutch League (NED), 26 ix 2009 - 18 iv 2010 Round 3 Standings:
Round 1 - 26 September
01	SMB	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam	2½	-	7½
02	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	-	Braceland ESGOO	6	-	4
03	HMC Calder	-	HWP Sas van Gent	6	-	4
04	Homburg Apeldoorn	-	HSG	1½	-	8½
05	LSG	-	Utrecht	5	-	5
Round 2 - 31 October
01	Utrecht	-	SMB	7½	-	2½
02	HSG	-	LSG	7	-	3
03	HWP Sas van Gent	-	Homburg Apeldoorn	2	-	8
04	Braceland ESGOO	-	HMC Calder	7	-	3
05	Schrijvers Rotterdam	-	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	4	-	6
Round 3 - 21 November
01	SMB	-	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	3½	-	6½
02	HMC Calder	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam	3½	-	6½
03	Homburg Apeldoorn	-	Braceland ESGOO	8	-	2
04	LSG	-	HWP Sas van Gent	5½	-	4½
05	Utrecht	-	HSG	1½	-	8½
Round 4 - 12 December
01	HSG	-	SMB	4½	-	5½
02	HWP Sas van Gent	-	Utrecht	3	-	7
03	Braceland ESGOO	-	LSG	2½	-	7½
04	Schrijvers Rotterdam	-	Homburg Apeldoorn	5½	-	4½
05	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	-	HMC Calder	6	-	4
Round 5 - 9 January
01	SMB	-	HMC Calder		-
02	Homburg Apeldoorn	-	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl		-
03	LSG	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam		-
04	Utrecht	-	Braceland ESGOO		-
05	HSG	-	HWP Sas van Gent		-
Round 6 - 6 February
01	HWP Sas van Gent	-	SMB		-
02	Braceland ESGOO	-	HSG		-
03	Schrijvers Rotterdam	-	Utrecht		-
04	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	-	LSG		-
05	HMC Calder	-	Homburg Apeldoorn		-
Round 7 - 6 March
01	SMB	-	Homburg Apeldoorn		-
02	LSG	-	HMC Calder		-
03	Utrecht	-	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl		-
04	HSG	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam		-
05	HWP Sas van Gent	-	Braceland ESGOO		-
Round 8 - 27 March
01	Braceland ESGOO	-	SMB		-
02	Schrijvers Rotterdam	-	HWP Sas van Gent		-
03	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl	-	HSG		-
04	HMC Calder	-	Utrecht		-
05	Homburg Apeldoorn	-	LSG		-
Round 9 - 18 April
01	LSG	-	SMB		-
02	Utrecht	-	Homburg Apeldoorn		-
03	HSG	-	HMC Calder		-
04	HWP Sas van Gent	-	Groningen 1/Hotels.nl		-
05	Braceland ESGOO	-	Schrijvers Rotterdam		-

II Genset Cup

The II Genset Cup IM Tournament takes place 26th March - 3rd April 2010 Szombathely.

9 -11 round Robin 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes , 30 sec addition after each move

INFORMATION: CSONKA Attila 0036-70-200-4233 attila_csonka@hotmail.com PERGEL László 0036-70-775-4901 pergell@citromail.hu

9th Czech Tour 2009/2010

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

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

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

Dates of the first tournaments of the 10th jubilee CZECH TOUR 2010 / 2011 Series:

15.-22.5. 2010 1st HRADEC KRALOVE OPEN (the Cernigov hotel)

15.7.-1.8. 2010 21st CZECH OPEN (Pardubice, CEZ Arena)

4.-12.8. 2010 13th OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER (the Sigma hotel)

Official site: http://www.czechtour.net/news/

Anand - Topalov World Championship is in Sofia in April/May 2010

The World Chess Championship takes place in Sofia, Bulgaria 23 April (1st round) to 12 May 2010 (possible tiebreaks). The match is between World Champion Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov. An agreement was signed by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the President of the Bulgarian Chess Federation Stefan Sergiev on the 16th December 2009. This was in the presence of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Mr Boiko Borisov who is guaranteeing the match.

Linares 2010

The Linares tournament takes place in Spain (a pairing with Dubai fell through) 12th-25th February 2010. Players invited so far are: Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons and for the first time in a super-tournament Vugar Gashimov who deserves his chance in this company. (Source ChessDom who also speculate that Boris Gelfand will make up the field).

International Correspondence Chess Federation

The International Correspondence Chess Federation has announced the Preliminary Sections of the World Correspondence Chess Championship will start on March 10th. 2010.

Also Slovenia's 15 Years Membership of ICCF tournament semi-finals.

Details on the ICCF Official site: http://www.iccf.com/content/index.php

Reykjavik Open

The Reykjavík Open 2010 takes place 24th February - 3rd March 2010.

Details: http://www.chess.is and the contact e-mail of the organize commitee is reykjavikopen2010@gmail.com.

FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship

FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship - an Official FIDE World Chess Championship! 9R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. Holiday Inn Hotel: 5300 W Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.679.8900. $20,000 Guaranteed. Open to players with no FIDE title and rated under 2000 FIDE. All players compete in a single section. Please see tournament website for more detailed rating regulations.

Prizes: Overall: $3000-2000-1600-1400; Top Women: $1000-600-400-200; (1799-1600): $1000-600-400-200; (1599-1400): $1000-600-400-200; (U1400): $1000-600-400-200; (Unrated): $1000-600-400-200;

EF: $120 by 6pm 02/15, $150 by 6pm 03/15; $200 thereafter and onsite. No re-entries allowed. No half-point byes allowed (zero point byes only). Onsite registration from 3-5pm 03/19.

Rds: 3/19 - 6:30pm; 3/20-21 - 12pm and 6:30pm per day; 3/22-25 - 6:30pm per night.

Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to) 4957 Oakton Street, Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077.

More information and online registration available at: http://www.worldchesschamps.com. Questions via email only: sevan@worldchesschamps.com

Schachbundesliga 2009-10

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

Rounds 8 and 9 are on 6th and 7th of February 2010. Baden-Baden are the only team left on 100%.

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

Bermuda open

2010 BERMUDA INTERNATIONAL OPEN 5th-7th February 2009, Cocktail party & Blitz on the 4th Fairmont Southampton Resort & C.C.

FIDE event with FIDE ratings available; 60 GP pts. PRIZES: 1st $1,000; 2nd $800; 3rd $600; 4th $400; 5th $200; U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600: $250, $150, $100 each group

Also airfare from NY area and hotel for 2011 to 1st overall and 1st untitled player Trophy for first place in each category. Entry fee $100 on site only. Rds. Fri 8pm, S&S 9 & 3 Sunday evening free dinner buffet & bar for all players and spouses Hotel 1-800-441-1414; $179+tax

Contacts: Nigel Freeman nigelfreeman@fide.com, C. Jarecki carolj10280@yahoo.com

South Lakes Congress

The South Lakes Congress is taking place on w/e of 11-13th June 2010 at The Grand Hotel, Grange-over-Sands. The contact for the event is: Trevor Blower, 18 Blackbutts Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 3AP. email: trevor.blower@talktalk.net, Phone No 01229 472100.

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

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/.

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.

Corus A Wijk aan Zee (NED), 15-31 i 2010				cat. XIX (2720)
Ti	Player	NAT	Elo Sept	WRk	DoB
GM	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2788	2	1969
GM	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2772	4	1990
GM	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2772	5	1975
GM	Peter Leko	HUN	2762	6	1979
GM	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2756	8	1969
GM	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2735	16	1987
GM	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2730	18	1972
GM	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2722	20	1990
GM	Leinier Dominguez Perez	CUB	2719	22	1983
GM	Nigel Short	ENG	2706	29	1965
GM	Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2670	57	1973
GM	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2662	71	1992
GM	Loek van Wely	NED	2650	86	1972
GM	Jan Smeets	NED	2642	101	1985

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.

Corus B Wijk aan Zee (NED), 15-31 i 2010			cat. XVI (2627)
Ti	Player	NAT	Elo Sept	DoB
GM	Ni Hua	CHN	2692	1983
GM	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2685	1985
GM	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2676	1977
GM	Pentala Harikrishna	IND	2673	1986
GM	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2664	1976
GM	Wesley So	PHI	2644	1993
GM	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2637	1983
GM	David Howell	ENG	2624	1990
GM	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2615	1993
GM	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2615	1985
GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2606	1985
GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2572	1972
GM	Anish Giri	NED	2552	1994
WGM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2533	1990

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

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

Gibtelecom Masters (ENG), 26 i - 4 ii 2010 Leading Entries
Zhu Chen	QTR	GM	2473
Al-Modiahki Mohamad	QTR	GM	2570
Cmilyte Victorja	LTU	IM	2475
Zhukova Natalia	UKR	WGM	2465
Skripchenko Almira	FRA	IM	2450
Fressinet Laurent	FRA	GM	2667
Zatonskih Anna	USA	IM	2466
Fridman Daniel	GER	GM	2665
Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	GM	2536
Krush Irina	USA	IM	2458
Zozulia Anna	BEL	IM	2341
Malakhatko Vadim	BEL	GM	2573
Cramling Pia	SWE	GM	2531
Bellon Juan	ESP	GM	2430
Sachdev Tania	IND	IM	2410
Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	IM	2441
Houska Jovanka	ENG	IM	2380+
Roiz Michael	ISR	GM	2662
Golod Vitali	ISR	GM	2592
Calzetta Monica	ESP	WGM	2344
Koneru Humpy	IND	GM	2611
Siebrecht Sebastian	GER	GM	2456
Hoffmann Michael	GER	GM	2513
Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	GM	2522
Dronavalli Harika	IND	IM	2449
Kruttika Nadig	IND	WGM	2264
Karavade Eesha	IND	WGM	2391
Mohota Nisha	IND	WGM	2336
Speelman Jon	ENG	GM	2525
Agdestein Simen	NOR	GM	2570
Arakhamia Ketevan	SCO	GM	2500
Sedina Elena	ITA	IM	2335
Adams Michael	ENG	GM	2682
Romain Edouard	FRA	GM	2622
Istratescu Andrei	ROU	GM	2624
Movsesian Sergey	CZE	GM	2711
Kosteniuk Alexandra	RUS	GM	2516
Gopal Naravanyan	IND	GM	2586
Sandipan Chandra	IND	GM	2585
Vitiugov Nikita	RUS	GM	2689
Romanov Evgeny	RUS	GM	2591

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

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.

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/

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

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

Ajedrez 21 English site

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

Kingpin Magazine

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

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

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