THE WEEK IN CHESS 816 28th June 2010 by Mark Crowther

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1) Introduction

My thanks to Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr, Miklos Orso, Adolivio Capece, Luis Blasco de la Cruz, Yuri Vovk, Mitko Iliev, Dmitry Borisenkov, Mark Berkovich, Srdjan Zelenika, Yuri Zimmerman, Olivier Breisacher, Denis Vretenar, Johan Hut, Smbat Lputian and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Magnus Carlsen recorded another great victory. This time he won the Kings tournament in Medias by two points from Boris Gelfand and Teimour Radjabov. Carlsen had some rather dodgy moments starting with some very crude play against Boris Gelfand in round 3 and he also won a lost position in Round 6 against Ruslan Ponomariov. I have the feeling that Carlsen is still experimenting and learning rather than trying to maximise his results, if so this is the case this was an even more impressive win than at first sight. Women's chess has certainly improved in recent years and the Grand Prix tournaments have all been nice events. They've nearly reached the half way stage in Jermuk and Nana Dzagnidze is impressing with 4.5/5. Elsewhere there are opens, the French Cup final was won by Metz, and we should know a lot more about Karpov's chances for the Presidency when he submits his ticket to FIDE which he has to do in the next couple of days.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Kings Tournament Medias

The 4th Kings tournament took place in Medias, Romania, Monday, June 14, 2010 - Friday, June 25, 2010. Magnus Carlsen took clear first place with 7.5/10. A final round win against tail ender Wang Yue extended the winning margin to two points when combined with Radjabov's win against Gelfand. Carlsen gave the impression that he was experimenting with some new ideas which led to some unconvincing moments. However he managed to get out of these tight spots and make this an even more impressive victory.

Round 8: Magnus Carlsen drew with black against second placed Boris Gelfand. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu beat Wang Yue in the only decisive game of the day.

Round 9: After all three games were drawn in Round 9 Magnus Carlsen takes a one point lead into Friday's final round.

3) 4th Women's Grand Prix Jermuk

The 4th Women's Grand Prix takes place in Jermuk 24th June - 6th July 2010. Hou Yifan is the top seed.

Women's Grand Prix 2009-10

The Women's Grand Prix series will see four more events in 2010.

The 5th Grand Prix will take place in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia, on 29 July - 12 August 2010

The 6th Grand Prix will take place in Santiago, Chile, on 27th October - 9th November 2010

The first Grand Prix was in Istanbul 5th-20th March 2009 and was won by Humpy Koneru. The 2nd Grand Prix was in Nanjing, China, 27th Sept - 9th October 2009 and was won by Xu Yuhua.

4) French Cup

The French Cup final was between Metz Fischer and Evry Grand Roque on June 27th. The Quarter and Semi-Finals of the competition took place over the weekend of 12th-13th June 2010 in Noyon and Marseilles. The women's final saw Evry beat Naujac 3-0. In the main Coupe de France : Evry beat Metz 2-1.

Official site: http://www.echecs.asso.fr

5) 24th Pula Open

The 24th International Chess Tournament "Pula Open 2010" took place 19th-26th June 2010 in Hotel Histria, Pula, Croatia.Borki Predojevic was the top seed. 283 registered players from 23 countries. There were also 63 titled players of which 12 were GM, 1WGM and 15 IM. Robert Zelcic edged out Ognjen Jovanic and Sinisa Drazic on tie-break after all scored 7.5/9.

Official site: http://www.skpula.hr

Results: http://chess-results.com/Tnr34498.aspx

6) Polonia Wroclaw Chess Festival

The Polonia Wroclaw Chess Festival takes place 26th June - 4th July 2010. Incorporates the 5th Open and 19th Adolf Anderssen Memorial.

Official site: http://www.turniej.polonia.wroclaw.pl/

7) HSG Open

The HSG Open takes place in Hilversum 26th June - 4th July 2010. Leading players: Konstantin Landa, Friso Nijboer and Hedinn Steingrimsson.

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

8) 14th Voronezh International Chess Festival

The 14th Voronezh International Chess Festival took place June 10th-21st 2010.Aleksandr Rakhmanov edged out Denis Khismatullin on tie-break after both finished on 7/9. Games now available my thanks to Dmitry Borisenkov.

Official site: http://homes.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/

9) XXVIII Balaton International Chess Festival

The XXVIII Balaton International Chess Festival took place in Heviz 19th-27th June 2010. GM I Group saw Kamil Miton, Oleg Romanishin, Pablo Lafuente and Richard Rapport compete. This group was completely disrupted by the withdrawal of Rapport due to illness. Apparently the remaining players had a rapid event to decide the standings, the results of this are not available. Albert Bokros and Levente Vajda finished on 6/9 in the 2nd GM Group.

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

10) 3rd Sveins Memorial

3rd Sveins Memorial took place in Oslo 18th-22nd June 2010. 9 Round Swiss. Mark Hebden won on tie-break from Jon Ludvig Hammer after both finished on 7/9.

Official site: http://sveins3minneturnering.blogspot.com/

11) Eforie International Chess Festival 2010

The Eforie International Chess Festival took place 17th-27th June 2010. Maxim Turov edged out Marius Manolache and Alexei Gavrilov on tie-break after all finished on 8.5/11. IM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian achieved his third and final GM Norm.

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

12) Kfar Saba Experience vs Youth

The Experience against Youth Scheveningen tournament in Kfar Saba takes place 20th June - 1st July 2010. Most of the young players are the students of Yoel Geva's young chess talents project and the representatives of the local Kfar Saba Chess Club .

13) King's Gambit Tournament Lipetsk

The "King's Gambit" Chess Festival takes place in Lipetsk, Russia, June 22nd (arrival day) - July 1st, 2009. The festival consists of two round-robin tournaments (one with GM norm and one with IM norm) and an open for FIDE rating.

Festival director: Yuri Zimmerman who sends the games.

News: http://www.obninskchess.ru/news/

14) Guadeloupe tournament

The Guadeloupe tournament took place 12th-13th June 2010. Kevin Terrieux won with 6.5/7 ahead of the favourite Thal Abergal.

Details: http://www.echecs-guadeloupe.com/

15) 1st Marrakech International

The 1st Marrakech International took place June 25th - July 1st 2010. 9 rounds - Swiss system - 75 min per player. Georg Meier of Germany and Sergey Fedorchuk of the Ukraine are the stars. I couldn't see any games.

Official site: http://www.callson.fr/chess/tournament.htm

16) 38th Annual World Open

38th Annual World Open Chess Championships take place June 29th - July 5th 2010 at the Valley Forge Convention Center Scanticon and Radisson Hotel in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

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

17) Asian Junior Chess Championship

The Asian Junior Chess Championship took place June 14th-23rd 2010. International Master Shyam Sundar of India and WFM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam won the Stree Seva Mandir Asian Junior & Asian Junior Girls Chess Championships respectively.

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

18) 70th Italian Championship Semi-Final

The semi-final of the 70th Italian Championship took place in Torino 20th-27th June 2010. The top 5 qualified for the main event in November.

Details: http://www.scacchisticatorinese.it/nuovo_portale/archivio_tornei.php

19) 45th Capablanca Memorial

The 45th Capablanca Memorial took place in Havana, Cuba 9th-22nd June 2010. Vassily Ivanchuk had won the event three times in a row 2005-7, returned to the Elite Group alongside Evgeny Alekseev, Ian Nepomniatchi, Nigel Short and Leinier Dominguez and Lazaro Bruzon. Vassily Ivanchuk beat Nigel Short in Round 1 and Evgeny Alekseev in Round 2. All three games were drawn in Round 3. Nigel Short got back to a 50% score with a sacrificial win over Evgeny Alekseev in Round 4. Round 5 saw Ivanchuk defeat Nepomniachtchi and Short move into clear 2nd place with a win over Bruzon on the black side of a MacCutcheon French. In Round 8 Ian Nepomniachtchi found a difficult sacrificial idea against Nigel Short and won a crushing victory to move within half a point of the leader Vassily Ivanchuk. Round 9 Ivanchuk won with black against Bruzon to take a full point lead over Nepomniachtchi into the final round. Ivanchuk secured first place for the 4th time with a draw against Nepomniachtchi who finished second. Dominguez and Short both won in the final round and shared 3rd place.

Games from the final round of the Premier Group and the last two rounds of the open are still not available.

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

20) 43rd Biel International Chess Festival

The 43rd Biel International Chess Festival takes place 17th-30th July 2010. There will be 9 events including a strong Open, Fischer, Rapid and blitz tournaments and of course the traditional closed tournament. This year they have decided to go with a tournament of youngsters and with the talent around at the moment they probably couldn't have chosen a better moment.

Official site with full details: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/

21) Forthcoming Events and Links

Paignton Congress

This year's week-long Paignton Congress starts on Sunday September 5th, the 60th consecutive congress held in the same room, the magnificent Ballroom of Oldway Mansion. This record of consistency is probably unique in chess.

To commemorate this milestone, the committee has planned several extra features. Michael Adams is coming to put on a simultaneous display, and there will be a Junior International tournament held in the Mayor's Parlour.

In addition, Committee Member, Bob Jones, is publishing a book on the history of the event, which was won spectacularly by Harry Golombek after he beat the former World Champion, Max Euwe, on the very first day of the first congress. Since that day, many top players have tested the Paignton waters; from the likes of Barden, Wade, Yanofsky, Alexander and Clarke in the early days, to youngsters like Keene, Hartston, Adams, Hodgson, Norwood, Arkell, the list goes on.

Details can be found on the chessdevon website, or obtained from the Congress Secretary, Alan Crickmore on 01752-768206.

4th Rijeka open chess tournament "Mediterranean 2017"

The 4th Rijeka open chess tournament "Mediterranean 2017" takes place 13th-20th November 2010 in the city of Rijeka, located at the North-west part of the Croatian coast of the Adriatic sea.

The president of the Republic of Croatia, Ivo Josipovic, has accepted to be a sponsor of this chess event while the County primorsko-goranska and the City of Rijeka are the co-sponsors.

Details: http://www.mediteran2017.com/en/home/About_the_tournament/Application

IX Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Benidorm 2010

The IX Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Benidorm 2010 takes place 3rd-12th December 2010.

Further details: http://www.ajedrezenelbali.com

Entries: info@ajedrezenelbali.com

Information: festivaldebenidorm@gmail.com

Geller Memorial 2010

The 6th Efim Geller Memorial (Open) will take place in Odessa, Ukraine on 21-29 August 2010 (Open A, Open B), the children's open will take place on 16-19 August. There also will be a blitz tournament on 30 August.

Details in Russian: http://chessportal.od.ua/news.php?extend.758.10

Contact with organisers: chess@te.net.ua

X Savaria Summer Chess Festival

X Savaria Summer Chess Festival 27.07.2010.- 04.08.2010. Szombathely, Hungary GM,IM Round-Rubin, Open A,B,C Group Contact: Csonka Attila attila_csonka@hotmail.com

Details: http://chess-results.com/Tnr31363.aspx?lan=1

London Chess Classic 2010

Viswanathan Anand will become the first reigning world chess champion to play in a major tournament in London since Anatoly Karpov in 1984 when he joins the eight-player field for the second London Chess Classic, which runs from 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre.

Alongside him will be World Number one Magnus Carlsen, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, US number one Hikaru Nakamura and the top four English players Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell.

IM Malcolm Pein is back as tournament director.

Vishy Anand is the one change from the stellar field which brought spectators flocking to London to watch elite chess in December 2009. The great Indian player, who will turn 41 during the tournament, recently retained his title as the undisputed champion of the world by defeating Veselin Topalov in the latter’s home city of Sofia, Bulgaria. In London he will meet his immediate predecessor as champion, Vladimir Kramnik, 36, of Russia, and also the young man who is currently riding high as the world’s highest rated player and widely tipped to be Anand’s next challenger – Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who will be 20 by the time the tournament starts.

London is thus privileged to witness a clash of the past, present and likely future chess champions. At the time of writing Carlsen is world number one on the FIDE (World Chess Federation) Rating List, Kramnik is number three and Anand number four. Looking forward, London is also bidding to host the 2012 World Championship title match, so Anand’s clashes with Carlsen and Kramnik could well be a preview of what happens in London’s Olympic year.

Five more players make up the field of eight, all of whom played in the exciting 2009 event. Each one earned his place for his fighting play last year. The fourth non-British player is Hikaru Nakamura, USA, who will turn 23 during the London event. The American is known as the ‘H-Bomb’ for his explosive and totally uncompromising style of play. He has won the US Championship twice and also won major events in San Sebastian and Gibraltar in the past couple of years. He is improving all the time and can be expected to press hard for wins against the leading trio of players.

England has an established quartet of elite players and all four will be playing in London. Michael Adams, 39, from Cornwall, has recently wrested back his position as England number one and he spent a number of years as the world number four. He is fresh from winning the prestigious Gibraltar International. Nigel Short, 45, became a chess legend when he broke the Kasparov-Karpov strangehold on world title matches, beating Anatoly Karpov on the way to a title match with Garry Kasparov in 1993. He is still one of the most entertaining players on the circuit – and not to be missed in the commentary room after the game! Luke McShane, 26, started a financial career after university but couldn’t resist the lure of the international chess scene. He is now re-establishing his status as one of the most talented of the world’s young grandmasters. David Howell, 20 in November, had a sensational elite tournament debut in this event last year when he finished third behind Carlsen and Kramnik. He had recently won the British Championship by a handsome margin and has subsequently shared first at Hastings and won the British Rapidplay Championship for the second year in succession. Tournament Line-Up

For more information and to buy tickets to The London Chess Classic, please go to www.londonchessclassic.com Tickets will go on sale in July.

For further information please call:

Malcolm Pein

Tournament Director, London Chess Classic

T: 020 7388 2404

E: info@chess.co.uk

Chinese Chess League Division A

The Youngor Chinese Chess League Division A takes place April 16th - December 30th 2010 in China. 10 teams compete in the Double Round-Robin event.

Time control: 1 hour 30 minutes for the whole game with an incremental time of 30 seconds per move.

Prize: 500,000 yuan or Euro 50,000.

The first 3 rounds took place in Ningbo city.

Official website : http://ccl.sports.cn/ - http://games.sports.cn/chessorg.ccl2010/index.html

The live games broadcast : http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

Archive of games should be here eventually: http://ccl.sports.cn/2010/news/2010-04-01/1995059.html

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr32818.aspx

Rounds 4-6 take place June 6th - June 9th 2010 in Shenzhen

Rounds 7-9 in July 23th - July 26th 2010 in Shanghai

Rounds 10-12 9th-11th Sept 2010 in Guangzhou

Rounds 13-15 in Oct. 10th-13th 2010

Round 16-18 in Dec. 28th-30th 2010 in Beijing.

Leading players: Wang Yue g CHN 2749; Wang Hao g CHN 2713; Alexander Motylev g RUS 2705; Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2682; Zhou Jianchao g CHN 2650; Li Chao b g CHN 2613; Zhang Pengxiang g CHN 2605; Zhou Weiqi g CHN 2585; Peng Xiaominn g CHN 2581; Zhao Jun g CHN 2575; Yu Yangyi g CHN 2574; Hou Yifan g CHN 2570; Ding Liren g CHN 2564; Wen Yang g CHN 2520; Li Shilong g CHN 2514; Xu Jun g CHN 2513; Liang Chong g CHN 2502; Ju Wenjun wg CHN 2500; Xiu Deshun CHN 2493; Zhao Xue g CHN 2490; Ruan Lufei wg CHN 2479; Xu Yuhua g CHN 2478; Zhu Chen g QAT 2476; Tan Zhongyi wg CHN 2464; Wu Shaobin g SIN 2453; Lin Chen CHN 2448; Liu Qingnan m CHN 2445; Shen Yang wg CHN 2444; Huang Qian wg CHN 2439; Zhang Xiaowen wg CHN 2437; Le Thanh Tu wg VIE 2318

Gujuan Tzu Blog is http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

14th Unive Tournament

The 14th Unive Tournament takes place in Hoogeveen, Netherlands Fri 22nd - Sat 30th Oct 2010.

The 4 player double round robin sees Alexei Shirov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri and Sergei Tiviakov compete.

There is an open alongside for which entry is invited on the official site. Both events don't have a rest day in order to accommodate travel to Bulgaria for the European Club Cup.

(4 players 6 Rds DRR Indiv TC: 90m:30m+30spm(1))

Official Site

VIII Marx Gyorgy Memorial

The VIII Marx Gyorgy Memorial takes place 5th-16th August, 2010.

Double Round Robin with 6 players.

Time limit: 100 minutes/40 moves+40minutes+30 seconds/move from the first move. Sophia rule: The players can offer a draw in the first 40 moves only with arbiter’s permission in particular cases. Criteria used for tie: 1. more wins, 2. result against each other, 3. Berger.

XIV. Paks open 11th-15th August 2010

7 rounds swiss tournament A and B (under1900) groups, 90 minutes + 30 seconds/move.

Application and information Videki Sandor (0036-75421225; 0036-304012866 Email: videkis2001@yahoo.com )

Children-tournament 8th August, 2010 Rapid-tournament 10th August, 2010 Blitz-tournament 13th August, 2010

European Individual Senior Championship 2011

The European Individual Senior Championship 2011 has been awarded by the ECU to Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy 10th-20th April 2010.

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

IV Torneo Internacional A.D.San Juan

The IV Torneo Internacional A.D.San Juan takes place in Cerrado 24th July - 1st August 2010. Alexander Morozevich is the star. This actually appears to be the Pamplona tournament although this is completely unclear from the chess-results entry.

Chess Results entry: http://chess-results.com/tnr34216.aspx

http://www.clubajedrezorvina.com/Foro.aspx?postid=3208#3208

7th South Wales International

The 7th South Wales International takes place 10th -15th July 2010. 4 GM’s and 2 IM’s are confirmed entrants to this year’s Tournament.

Titled Entrants so far: GM K.Arkell ENG, GM P.Wells ENG, GM K.Rusev BUL, GM V.Georgiev MAC, IM J.Rudd ENG and IM P.Marusenko UKR.

Official site: http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI/home.html

Canadian Open Chess Championship 2010

The 47th Canadian Open Chess Championship takes place 10th-18th July, in Westin Harbour Castle, downtown Toronto, Ontario. This is a 9-round one-game-per-day single-section Swiss with a guaranteed prize fund of C$ 32,000. Additional side events will include the Speed Chess Championship, GM simuls (including one by GM Mark Bluvshtein), lectures, Chess960, and a chess camp for kids. Grandmasters already confirmed are P. Harikrishna, E. Bareev, L. McShane, E. Rozentalis, A. Shabalov, J. Friedel , M. Gagunashvili and W. Arencibia.

Contacts: Michael Barron ( barron045@yahoo.com ) and Brian Fiedler (fiedlerbrian@yahoo.com.au )

Registration form and more information is available at http://www.chess.ca/canopen.shtml, and http://www.monroi.com.

Satu Mare Romanian Open

SPI Open" International Chess Tournament Venue: Satu Mare Organiser: IO Ciprian-Sorin Muntean Period: 16-23 July 2010 Prize fund: 2000 Euro (1st place: 700 Euro) Free entrance for IM, WIM, GM and WGM (with FIDE rating >2400) Contact: ciprimuntean@yahoo.com

11th World University Chess Championship

The 11th World University Chess Championship takes place in Zurich 5th-11th September 2010.

Official site: http://www.wucc2010.ch/

Chinese Events 2010

Gujuan Tzu sends new of events in China in 2010. At the moment if you don't grab the games live they have a tendency to disappear (although http://ccl.sports.cn/2010/news/2010-04-01/1995059.html does now seem to have the early rounds of the Chinese League). It would be nice to find one spot where the Chinese Federation archives all their games.

1. The 4th All China Games in cluding chess game in 17-23 May 2010 in Hefei, Anhui, China. 11 rounds rapid games, Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

2. Chinese Championships: in 23 May-4 June 2010 in Xinghua, Jiangsu, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

3. Chinese League A, Round 4-6, in 6-9 June 2010 in Shenzhan, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

4. The 1st Chinese GM Super Tournament in 10-20 June 2010 in Hainan, China. 10 players: Wang Hao 2722; Bu Xiangzhi 2682; Ni Hua 2667; Zhou Jianchao 2652; Li Chao b 2619; Hou Yifan 2589; Yu Yangyi 2585; Zhou Weiqi 2585; Zhao Jun 2575; Ding liren 2547. Prize fund: 500,000 yuan or 50,000€. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

5. Hou Yifan vs Kapov Match : 4-game and 4-rapid game in 9-15 July 2010 in Hainan, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

6. Asia Boys and Girls in 8-18 July 2010 in Beijing, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

7. Chinese League A Round 7-9 in 23-25 July 2010 in Shanghai, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

8. The 7th China vs Russia Match in 14-25 August 2010 in Ningbo, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

9. The 2nd Chess King and Queen Matches in 29 August-3 Sept. 2010 in Jiangzhou, China. Live games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

10. Chinese League A Round 10-12 in 9-12 Sept. 2010 in Guangzhou, China. Live Games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

11. Chinese League A Round 13-15 in 10-13 October 2010 in Hangzhou, China. Live Games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

11. The 3rd Nanjing Super Chess Tournament in 18-28 October 2010 in Nanjing, China. 6 players, Official site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/2009/cn/index.htm

12. The second half of Bilbao Final Masters in 10-16 October 2010 in Shanghai, China. Official site: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/

13. Chinese League A Round 16-18 in 28-30 December 2010 in Beijing, China. Live Games: http://live.chinaqiyuan.com/chess.html

Gujuan Tzu Website: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

Ikaros Chess Festival (Aegean Open) 2010

The Ikaros Chess Festival 2010 is a traditional annual chess event which sees its 33rd consecutive edition on the picturesque island of Ikaria in Greece.

The main event of the festival, the International Aegean Open Championship, takes place from 13th-21st July 2010.

It is a 9 round swiss event with prize fund 3600 Euros in total (1st prize 1000 Euros, special money prizes for ladies and veterans). Special conditions are offered to GMs/IMs/WGMs/WIMs. Special discounts for families and club teams are also offered.

Apart from the Aegean Open, Ikaros Chess Festival 2010 also includes the 1st Mediterranean Rapid Team Tournament 2010 that will be a 5 round swiss event for 4-member teams coming from the countries of the Mediterranean Sea.

Detail: http://www.chess.gr/ikaros

E-mail is: ikaroschess@gmail.com (Mr. Ulysses Vazelakis) while participants can also call: (++30) 6947-829772 (Mr. Dimitris Kapagiannidis) or (++30) 6977-730286 (Mrs. Antzela Shiaka)

World Chess Tour Events

Tournaments, simuls and classes in Moscow.

Contact: Contact: Igor Glek, International Grandmaster, FIDE Trainer, Deputy Chairman of the RSUPES&T Chess Chair E-mail: worldchesstour@gmail.com Russia: (7)903-5593052, (Germany/World): (49)152-04014194

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

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting

The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund takes place 15th - 25th July 2010. Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik is the top seed. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Peter Leko, Arkadij Naiditsch and the winner of the Aeroflot Open Le Quang Liem compete.

Official site: http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/2010/

15th Pannonia-Nitrokemia Cup

The 15th Pannonia-Nitrokemia Cup takes place in Balatonalmadi 28th July - 1st August 2010.

Group A: International Open Tournament for FIDE ratings. Group B: International Open Tournament for FIDE ratings, but competitors over 2000 ELO points can't attend, and competitors under 18 years will be rated separately.

Swiss system chess competition with 7 rounds and without age limits

Venue: The air-conditioned Conference Hall of Pannonia Kulturalis Kozpont es Konyvtar Address: Balatonalmadi, Varoshaz Square 6.

Details: http://fancsyimi.fw.hu

Entry Address and further information Address: Fancsy Imre: 8222. Balatonalmadi, Gabor Aron utca 15. HUNGARY E-mail: almadikupa@freemail.hu

Swiss Team Championships 2010

The Nationalliga A of Switzerland takes place 14th February - 7th November 2010. Round 2 games not yet available.

Dates: Round 1 (2010.02.14), Round 2 (2010.03.21), Round 3 (2010.04.25), Round 4 (2010.06.13), Round 5 (2010.06.27), Round 6 (2010.08.28), Round 7 (2010.08.29), Round 8 (2010.11.06) and Round 9 (2010.11.07).

Details

Mihajlo Savic Website

The international arbiter, FIDE master and international organizer, Mihajlo Savic, the author of the book Commentary on the Laws of chess, has launched a new column You ask, we answer at website: http://www.chessdiagonals.com

Chess Classic Mainz 2010

The 17th Chess Classic Mainz takes place 6th-8th August 2010. The festival has suffered from the general economic slowdown with the open taking the lead along with simuls.

The rapid chess open has been upgraded to the Grenke Rapid World Championship. The tenth edition of the Chess Classic in Mainz is sponsored by GRENKE Group, FiNet AG, Livingston GmbH, Hilton Mainz, Congress Centre Mainz, Stadtwerke Mainz AG and our Prime-Partners ChessBase, DGT and Schach Niggemann.

The prize fund for the rapid chess world championship is no less than Euro 30.000. Chess960 has to take a break for a year.

On the first day of the event, 6th August 2010, Anand will play a standard simul on 40 boards. On the same day, Alexandra Kosteniuk will play a 20-board Chess960 simul.

The Grenke Rapid World Championship will also be a treat for chess lovers: Levon Aronian, who is the current rapid chess world champion and the winner of the 2009 ORDIX Open, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, will play the open tournament to face a unique mixture of numerous world-class grandmasters and amateurs.

The Open will be played in the same established format as in the previous editions. On 7th-8th August 2010 11 rounds will be played, in which the time control is 20 minutes + 5 seconds per move.

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

Arvier (Aosta Valley) July

ARVIER (Aosta Valley) - July, 3-9 2010. 2nd Festival Francophone (open, 9 rounds) - http://www.scacchivda.com Free to all the players of the about 70 countries belonging to the "Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie" (OIF) http://www.francophonie.org Aosta Valley is one of the most famous touristic regions in Italy, very well known for its castles, food and wines

Arvier (Aosta Valley) - September

ARVIER (Aosta Valley) - September, 4-12 2010. 6th European Union championship (open, 9 rounds) - http://www.scacchivda.com Free to all the players of the countries belonging to European Union, plus players from Croatia, Fyrom and Turkey without the right to the title. Aosta Valley is one of the most famous touristic regions in Italy, very well known for its castles, food and wines

Livigno (Sondrio, Valtellina)

LIVIGNO (Sondrio, Valtellina) - September, 10-18 2010. Open A (players more than 2000 elo) Open B (players less than 2000 elo) Open C (players without elo) http://www.livignoscacchi.it - http://www.livigno.eu Livigno is very well known as touristic skying town. It is said "the little Tibet". A few km far there is the village of Trepalle at 2250 metres above sea level, the highest inhabited place of Europe!

Vitoria-Gasteiz Open

The Vitoria-Gasteiz Open takes place 26th July 2010 - 1st August 2010.

Details: http://sites.google.com/site/openvitoriagasteiz2010/Home/bases-del-torneo-1

Victor Mikhalevski Website

GM, author and coach Victor Mikhalevski has launched a new website at: http://vmikhalevski.webs.com/

33nd Taminco Open

33nd Taminco Open International Chess Tournament Gent (Belgium) takes place 17th-21st July 2010, 9 rounds Swiss, two hours KO chess, prize money 6875 Euros for 300 participants, first price 1800 Euros Guaranteed This traditional open tournament takes place near the center of the medieval town of Gent in the week of the famous annual Gent festivities. Organisers Royal Gent Chessclub (KGSRL).

Information and registration: http://www.kgsrl.be

Email: open2010@kgsrl.be

Info Gent annual festivities: http://www.gentsefeesten.be/

7th Knokke International Open

The 7th Knokke International Open takes place August 26th-29th 2010, consisting of 7 rounds "Swiss system" - 2 hours K.O.

Prize fund for a total amount of 3.730 Euros (increased by 1000 Euro this year)

Official site: http://www.knokkeschaak.be

email: knokkeschaak@knokkeschaak.be

11th World University Chess Championship

Zurich hosts the World University Chess Championship 2010 5th-11th September 2010. The Academic Chess Club Reti, which is organising the event, is expecting that up to 150 participants from over 25 countries will enter the contest, to be held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Many international masters and grandmasters between 18 and 28 years of age will fight for individual and team medals. The tournament will comprise nine rounds and will be played in accordance with the Swiss System.

The World University Chess Championship is held under the auspices of the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU). The organising club, the Academic Chess Club Reti in Zurich, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year. It is one of the four largest clubs in Zurich and has an ambitious team in the Swiss League. In 2009 many of the greatest champions and legends in the history of the game participated in the Zurich Chess Club’s 200-year jubilee. This year, some of the strongest champions of the future will be in Zurich.

Official site: http://www.wucc2010.ch

WUCC 2010 is an event of the FISU: http://www.fisu.net

1st Vaujany International Chess Festival

The 1st Vaujany International Chess Festival takes place July 10th-18th 2010.

Details: http://promoechecs.free.fr/

XXX Villa de Benasque Open

The XXX Open Internacional "Villa de Benasque" takes place 8th-17th July 2010.

Official site: http;//www.openbenasque.com

Hungarian Tournaments March - October 2010

The list of the HUN GM-IM norm and Open chess tournaments from March until October 2010:

1. 6th-18th of March, FIRST SATURDAY (FS) GM-IM-rating Budapest, Org: Nagy Laszlo, http://www.firstsaturday.hu

2. 19th-28th of March, 26th Budapest Spring Festival, 9 rounds Swiss Open, org: Nagy Laszlo

3. 19th-27th of March IM + rating CAISSA Kecskemet (85 km from Budapest), Org: Dr.Erdelyi, http://www.caissachessbooks.com

4. 3rd-16th of April FIRST SATURDAY GM-IM-rating Budapest, org: Nagy L,

5. 17th-25th of April, CAISSA Kecskemet, IM + rating, org: Erdelyi,

6. 1st-13th May, FIRST SATURDAY, Budapest, GM-IM-rating - org: Nagy L,

7. 14th-22nd May CAISSA Kecskemet IM + rating, org: Erdelyi,

8. 26th May-3rd June ZALAKAROS open, org: IM Horvath, Tamas, http://www.csutisk.hu,

9. 5th-17th June, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest, GM-IM-rating, org Nagy L,

10.19th-27h June, Balaton Open, HEVÍZ, GM-IM, org: IM Rigo, e-mail: me-ri@t-online.hu

11.19th-27th June, CAISSA Kecskemet, IM + rating, Org: Erdelyi,

12.3rd-15th July, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest, GM+IM+rating, org: Nagy L,

13.17th-25th July, CAISSA Kecskemet, GM+IM+rating, org: Erdelyi,

14.27th July-4th August, GM-IM + Open, Szombathely (250 km West from Budapest), org: Csonka, Attila, e-mail: attila.csonka@lamived.hu

15.7th-19th August, FIRST SATURDAY Budapest GM+IM+rating, org: Nagy L

16.21st-29th August, CAISSA Kecskemet, GM+IM+rating, org: Erdelyi

17.4th-16th Sept, FIRST SATURDAY GM+IM+rating Budapest, org: Nagy L

18.17th-25th Sept CAISSA Kecskemet IM+rating, org: Erdelyi.

8th Davos Open

The 8th Davos Open takes place August, 8th-14th 2010, in the Hotel "Sunstar". Sinisa Joksic will organise the event which he hopes to be an old fashioned friendly tournament.

All information at: http://www.sinchess.com/davos

Aosta Valley

Championship of Francophone countries, July 3th-10th 2010.

UE Championship, September 4th-12th 2010.

Official site: http:\\www.scacchivda.com

XXVIII Andorra International Chess Open

The XXVIII Andorra International Chess Open takes place 17th-25th July 2010. Prizes: 10.000 Euros / 1st Prize: 2.100 Euros

Details: http://www.escacsandorra.com

Contact: open@escacsandorra.com - FEVA - Tel/Fax: 00.376.824465

Czech Tour 2010-11

The 10th International Chess Festivals Series Czech Tour 2010-11 has the following preliminary list. (Subject to small changes.)

1st HRADEC KRALOVE OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 15th-22nd May 2010.

21st CZECH OPEN - Pardubice (European Youth Chess Teams Championship, European Amateurs Championship, GM open taken in ACP-TOUR, 4 FIDE opens, Open Championship of the Czech Republic in active chess taken in ACP-TOUR, Open Championship of the Czech Republic of 4-member teams, in blitz marathon, bughouse and Fischerandom chess, problem solving competition, blitz tournaments for individuals, pairs and teams, pairs active chess, youth tournament etc.). 15th July - 1st August 2010. http://www.czechopen.net

13th OLOMOUC CHESS SUMMER - Olomouc (FIDE open, closed GM and IM tournaments, seniors tournament, active chess, blitz chess tournament). 4th-12th August 2010.

9th Georgiev's and Kesarovsky´s Memorial - Sunny Beach, Bulgaria (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 28th August - 5th September 2010.

7th HIGHLANDS OPEN - Zdar nad Sazavou (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 25th September - 2nd October 2010.

11th LIBEREC OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 23rd-30th October 2010.

1st BRNO OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 14th-20th November 2010

4th SOUTH BOHEMIA OPEN - Cesky Krumlov (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 21st-27th November 2010.

2nd PILSNER OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament).4th-11th December 2010.

10th PRAGUE OPEN (2 FIDE opens, one of them with IM norm, active chess, blitz tournament). 7th-14th January 2011.

10th MARIENBAD OPEN (FIDE open, closed GM and IM tournaments, active chess, blitz tournament). 15th-22nd January 2011.

2nd NOVY BOR OPEN (FIDE open, active chess, blitz tournament). 12th-19th February 2011.

More detailed information: AVE-KONTAKT s.r.o., Sukova 1556, 530 02 Pardubice, Czech Republic tel./fax + 420 466 535 200, mobile phone + 420 608 203 007 e-mail: j.mazuch@avekont.cz

http://www.czechtour.net

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/

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

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

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

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.

European Union Website

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

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