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OLD FRONT PAGE STORIES 2003 |
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| Pamplona Tournament The Pamplona international tournament took place 20th-28th December 2003. My thanks to Jesús Mena for the games. Games in PGN Final Round 7 Standings: 1. Illescas Cordoba, Miguel g ESP 2602 4.5; 2. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2649 4.5; 3. Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2646 4.5; 4. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2673 3.5; 5. Romero Holmes, Alfonso g ESP 2544 3.0; 6. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2565 3.0; 7. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2562 2.5; 8. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2604 2.5; |
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| US Championships 2004 Next year's US Championships which take place in the first couple of weeks of December 2004 have found a new co-sponsor. The event is organised by America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) and they will be sponsoring the event with NTC Foundation. Read more in the America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) Press Release on US Championships 2004 |
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| Mystery Consultation Match II The NAO Consultation rematch started Monday 24 November 2004 and finished on 28th December 2004. Both games were drawn Teams: Igor Nataf had Teimour Radjabov and Milos Pavlovic in game 1, and replaced Pavlovic with Etienne Bacrot in game two. Mme Nahed Ojjeh had Laurent Fressinet, Joel Lautier and Peter Svidler in both games. Team N. OJJEH vs Team I. NATAF (2) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.d3 Bf5 14.Qf3 Re8 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16.Nd2 Qe1+ 17.Nf1 Bg6 18.g3 b4 19.Bxd5 cxd5 20.Qxd5 Rd8 21.Bg5 Qxa1 22.Bxd8 Bf8 23.Ba5 Qb1 24.Kg2 Bxd3 25.Nd2 Qc2 26.Qa8 Qxd2 27.Bxb4 h5 28.Qxf8+ Kh7 29.Qxf7 Qe2 30.Qf4 Qf1+ 31.Kf3 Qe2+ 32.Kg2 Qf1+ 33.Kf3 Qe2+ 34. Kg2 Qf1 1/2 Draw by repetition. (Finished 28th December 2003). Internet coverage: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html |
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| Association of Chess Professionals The elections to the board of the Association of Chess Professionals have concluded. Voting took place November 10th - December 15th 2003. See chessville.com interview with Joel Lautier (who received the largest number of votes) at: http://www.chessville.com/misc/Interviews/Lautier.htm Board members - 9 representatives (7 men and 2 women): J.Lautier (France) 94 votes P.Tregubov (Russia) 72 votes V.Kramnik (Russia) 59 votes B.Macieja (Poland) 57 votes V.Bologan (Moldova) 50 votes A.Baburin (Ireland) 42 votes I.Glek (Germany) 41 votes for the male representatives; A.Skripchenko (France) 104 votes S.Matveeva (Russia) 65 votes for the female representatives. The board will commence its official duties on January 1st 2004. They have also announced they will be campaigning on a number of priority issues including hotels in official events, sponsorship in chess and decisions of both FIDE and the ECU. Full details: http://www.chess-players.org |
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| 1st Bois-Colombes 1st Bois-Colombes (Paris, France) GM tournament took place 21st-30th December 2003. Manuel Apicella won the event with 6.5/9. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Apicella, Manuel g FRA 2542 6.5; 2. Janev, Evgeni g BUL 2423 6.0; 3. Todorov, Todor m BUL 2472 5.5; 4. Marcelin, Cyril g FRA 2473 5.5; 5. Okhotnik, Vladimir m UKR 2454 5.0; 6. Wirig, Anthony FRA 2424 4.0; 7. Rainfray, Arnaud f FRA 2409 4.0; 8. Afek, Yochanan m ISR 2376 3.5; 9. Shoker, Samy FRA 2273 3.5; 10. Bernard, Vincent FRA 2278 1.5; Internet coverage: http://www.bois-colombes-echecs.com/ |
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| Harmonie Chess
Tournament The Harmonie Chess Tournament, Groningen, took place 21st-30th December 2003. The formula of the invitationgroup was: young talent against established players. Friso Nijboer won the event with 7/9. Jan Smeets made a GM norm. My thanks to Cor Kamstra. Games in PGN Final Round 9 Standings: 1. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2577 7.0; 2. Kurnosov, Igor g RUS 2527 6.5; 3. Gagunashvili, Merab g GEO 2582 6.0; 4. Smeets, Jan m NED 2511 6.0; 5. L'Ami, Erwin NED 2470 5.0; 6. Ernst, Sipke m NED 2474 4.0; 7. Li Wenliang m CHN 2477 3.5; 8. Michiels, Bart f BEL 2390 3.0; 9. Werle, Jan m NED 2409 2.5; 10. Dambacher, Martijn NED 2419 1.5; Internet coverage: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2003/2003eng.html. Live coverage: http://www.so-on.org/kerst2003/2003.html |
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| Belfort GM 6th Masters and 2nd Women's Masters Comtois d'échecs was organised by Belfort Chess in the Grand Hôtel du Tonneau d'Or, 15th-24th December 2003. Mikhael Gurevich won the event with 7/10. Games in PGN Final Round 10 Standings: 1. Gurevich, Mikhail g BEL 2656 7.0; 2. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2654 6.0; 3. Bauer, Christian g FRA 2602 5.5; 4. Tregubov, Pavel V g RUS 2635 5.0; 5. Le Roux, Jean-Pierre f FRA 2480 3.5; 6. Hamdouchi, Hichem g MAR 2588 3.0; Internet coverage: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ |
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| NAO
Internationals The NAO Chess Club organised their 3rd GM and 4th IM Tournaments, 15th - 23rd December 2003. Andrei Shchekachev won the event with 7.5/9. Games in PGN (Shchekachev 1-0 Skripchenko [3] was not played and Skripchenko was replaced by Santo-Roman) GM Final Round 9 Standings (corrected): 1. Shchekachev, Andrei g RUS 2522 7.5/9; 2. Maze, Sebastien FRA 2464 5.5/9; 3. Murey, Jacob g ISR 2465 5.0/9; 4. Marzolo, Cyril m FRA 2462 4.5/9; 5. Gozzoli, Yannick FRA 2430 4.0/9; 6. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 2412 4.0/9; 7. Vandevoort, Pascal f BEL 2363 4.0/9; 8. Bagheri, Amir m IRI 2541 3.5/9; 9. Santo-Roman, Marc g FRA 2385 3.0/6; 10. Pira, Davoud m FRA 2403 3.0/9; 11. Skripchenko, Almira wg FRA 2460 1.0/3; Withdrew Skripchenko, Almira wg FRA 2460 1.0/3; Website: http://www.nao-cc.com/naocc/index.html |
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| Indian National A
Championships Indian National Men A Chess Championship took place at the Chessindia Complex, Calicut 4th to 20th December 2003. SS Ganguly took first place on SB tie-break from Sandipan Chanda, both finished on 17.5/23 half a point clear of ELO favourite Pentala Harikrishna. Games in PGN Final Round 23 Standings: 1. Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2531 17.5; 2. Sandipan, Chanda m IND 2504 17.5; 3. Harikrishna, P g IND 2570 17.0; 4. Kunte, Abhijit g IND 2535 15.0; 5. Barua, Dibyendu g IND 2528 15.0; 6. Koneru, Humpy g IND 2485 15.0; 7. Bakre, Tejas m IND 2443 14.0; 8. Neelotpal, Das m IND 2443 13.5; 9. Sundararajan, Kidambi m IND 2446 13.5; 10. Ramesh, R.B m IND 2466 13.0; 11. Roy Chowdhury, Saptarshi IND 2421 12.0; 12. Venkatesh, M.R IND 2401 11.5; 13. Thipsay, Praveen M g IND 2486 11.0; 14. Roktim, Bandyopadhyay m IND 2352 10.5; 15. Prathamesh, Sunil Mokal m IND 2379 10.5; 16. Satyapragyan, Swayangsu m IND 2415 9.5; 17. Sareen, Vishal IND 2367 9.0; 18. Singh, S. Vikramjit IND 2342 9.0; 19. Das, Arghyadip IND 2299 8.5; 20. Suvrajit, Saha IND 2387 8.5; 21. Ravi, Thandalam Shanmugam m IND 2380 8.0; 22. Sriram, Jha m IND 2458 8.0; 23. Hariharan, Venkatachalam IND 2245 4.5; 24. Srinivasa Rao, M IND 2329 4.5; Internet coverage: http://www.chessindia.org/nationala Live Coverage : http://www.live.chessindia.org/men.asp |
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| XVI Carlos Torre
Memorial The XVI Carlos Torre Memorial took place in Merida in the Yucatan region of Mexico 12th-20th December 2003. 6 Round Swiss followed by a knockout. The top 12 in the Swiss qualified and were joined by Alexei Dreev, Boris Gelfand, Valery Filippov and Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu. Surprisingly Yuniesky Quezada (who beat both Gelfand and Filippov) won the event.  Winner Yuniesky Quezada. Photo © David Llada Knockout has 2 90 minute games followed if needed by 2 15 minute games followed by sudden death 5 minute games. Games KO in PGN Knockout Section Final GM Valerij Filippov (Rus) 2630 0.5-1.5 IM Yuniesky Quezada (Cub) 2475 Semi-Final GM Valerij Filippov (Rus) 2630 1.5-0.5 GM Alonso Zapata (Col) 2472 GM Boris Gelfand (Isr) 2703 0.5-1.5 IM Yuniesky Quezada (Cub) 2475 Round 2 GM Alonso Zapata (COL) 2472 1.5-0.5 GM Rafael Espinosa (MEX) 2415 GM Valerij Filippov (RUS) 2630 1.5-0.5 GM Amon Simutowe (ZAM) 2424 GM Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2703 2-0 GM Dionisio Aldama (MEX) 2447 GM Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu (ROM) 2675 2-3 GM Yuniesky Quesada (CUB) 2475 Round 1 GM Alexei Dreev (RUS) 2705 0.5-1.5 IM Rafael Espinosa (MEX) 2415 FM Juan Carlos González (MEX) 2510 2.5-3.5 GM Alonso Zapata (COL) 2472 GM Valerij Filippov (RUS) 2630 2-0 MI Manuel Pérez (CUB) 2427 GM Vadim Milov (SUI) 2574 0-2 IM Amon Simutowe (ZAM) 2424 GM Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2703 1.5-0.5 GM Gilberto Hernandez (MEX) 2538 IM Alejandro Ramírez (CRC) 0.5-1.5 IM Dionisio Aldama (MEX) 2447 GM Liviu-Deter Nisipeanu (ROM) 2675 3-1 GM Román Hernández (CUB) 2415 GM Tomas Luther (GER) 2580 2-3 IM Yuniesky Quesada (CUB) 2475 Swiss Games in PGN Swiss Open Round 6 Standings (top 12 qualify): 1 Milov Vadim SUI GM 2574 5.5 2 Luther Thomas GER GM 2580 4.5 3 Gonzalez Zamora Juan Carlo MEX FM 2510 4.5 4 Ramirez Alvarez Alejandro CRC IM 2483 4.5 5 Quesada Perez Yuniesky CUB IM 2475 4.5 6 Zapata Alonso COL GM 2472 4.5 7 Aldama Degournay Dionisio CUB IM 2447 4.5 8 Simutowe Amon ZAM IM 2424 4.5 9 Hernandez Guerrero Gilbert MEX GM 2538 4 10 Gonzalez Garcia Jose MEX IM 2449 4 11 Perez Rodriguez Luis Manue CUB IM 2427 4 12 Hernandez Roman CUB GM 2415 4 13 Espinosa Rafael MEX IM 2415 4 14 Martin Del Campo Roberto MEX IM 2407 4 15 Garmendez Gonzalez Florent MEX IM 2391 4 16 Russek Libni Guil MEX IM 2365 4 17 Garcia Silvino CUB GM 2350 4 18 Hernandez Andres Gustavo MEX 2311 4 19 Dominguez Aguilar Guillerm MEX FM 2289 4 Official site: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx (additional info: http://fenamac.com) |
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| Kasparov vs.
Fritz Kasparov took on an X3D version of Fritz in a 4 game match in New York 11th-18th November 2003. Games on 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th November. Games 1-4 in PGN Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz in Macromedia Flash Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 4 Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 3 Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 2 Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz Malcolm Pein on game 1 Game 4 X3D FRITZ - Kasparov New York City, USA (4), 18.11.2003 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Bb3 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.Bf4 Na5 12.d5 Nxb3 13.Qxb3 exd5 14.Rad1 Be6 15.Qxb7 Bd6 16.Bg5 Rb8 17.Qxa6 Rxb2 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxd6 Qxc3 20.Nd4 Rxa2 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 23.Rf1 Qc5 24.Qxd5 Rfxf2 25.Rxf2 [25.Qd8+ Rf8+; 25.Qxc5?? Rxg2+ 26.Kh1 Rxh2+ 27.Kg1 Rag2#]25...Qxf2+ 26.Kh1 h6 27.Qd8+ Kh7 1/2 - 1/2 Game 4 was a relatively tame draw which left an exciting match drawn at 2 - 2 The site http://x3dchess.com/ again promoted the event. Kasparov has previously played high profile matches against Karpov and Junior for the company. |
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| Robert Huntington
Letter Robert Huntington has been a familiar face covering chess events for the AP for many years. His contract was terminated in September and this open letter is his analysis of the chess world. I would endorse many of his comments. Open letter to the chess world by Robert Huntington |
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| Cultural Village
Tournament The Cultural Village Tournament took place in Wijk aan Zee 24th November - 2nd December 2003. Games in PGN Complete and Corrected Final Standings: 1. Langheinrich 6½ 2. van Delft 6 3. Wohl 5½ 4. Bezemer, Tan 5 6. Afek 4½ 7. Ris, Armas 4 9. Schuurman 2½ 10. Bottema 2 Internet coverage: http://www.coruschess.com |
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| Santo Domingo International
Chess Open The Santo Domingo International Chess Open (Great Nazir Atallah Cup) took place 27th November - 5th December 2003. Vadim Milov took first place on tie-break from 8 others on 7.5/10. 9 players on 7.5/10: 1. Milov, Vadim 2. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 3. Moiseenko, Alexander 4. Kiriakov, Petr 5. Delgado, Neuris 6. Campora, Daniel H 7. Ramirez, Alejandro 8. De Vreugt, Dennis 9. Socko, Bartosz Internet coverage: http://www.copanaziratallah.com/ |
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Nail Muhamedzjanov
1944-2003 Nail Muhamedzjanov 1994-2003 Photo © Eugeny Atarov ("64") Nail Muhamedzjanov born 15th January 1944 - died 5th December 2003. The 59 year old was the main chess organizer from Kazan (Tatarstan). Under his managament "Kazan-Ladia-1000" became 3 time champion of Russia. Kasparov played for his team in the European Club Cup in Crete. Report Eugeny Atarov. |
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| Decameron Resort & Casino
Tournament The Caribbean Village Decameron Resort & Casino tournament took place in the Dominican Republic December 6th-10th 2003. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu won the event with 7.5/9 a point clear of Lazaro Bruzon and 15 year old Alejandro Ramirez. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2675 7.5; 2. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2603 6.5; 3. Ramirez, Alejandro m CRC 2483 6.5; 4. Campora, Daniel H g ARG 2503 5.5; 5. Zapata, Alonso g COL 2472 5.5; 6. De la Paz, Frank m CUB 2427 4.0; 7. Lugo, Blas m USA 2418 3.5; 8. Mateo, Ramon m DOM 2445 3.0; 9. Dominiguez, Jose M m DOM 2313 2.0; 10. Alvarado, Nelson f DOM 2318 1.0; Internet coverage: http://www.decameronopen.com and live on ICC |
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| 3rd Annual Little Sweden
Festival Lindsborg Open December 19th-23rd 9 round swiss Start with 120 minutes. After move 40 add 60 minutes. Players included: Agrest Atalik Baburin Blatny Charbonneau Krush Kudrin Perelshteyn Sharavdorj Shulman Yermolinsky. Further details: http://www.lindsborg.org/chess_tournament.html Live coverage ICC (http://www.chessclub.com). The 3rd Annual Little Sweden Festival had events 13th-14th and 19th-23rd December 2003 in Lindsborg, Kansas USA. December 13th-14th all play all - 25 mins + 10 seconds. My thanks to Frank Berry for the games. Games in PGN All play all rapid final standings: 1. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2693 3.5; 2. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2661 3.0; 3. Donaldson, John W m USA 2456 2.5; 4. Shulman, Yuri g USA 2564 2.5; 5. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2583 2.0; 6. Charbonneau, Pascal m CAN 2485 1.5; |
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| Bali International
Benidorm Bali international in Benidorm was a nine round swiss taking place 21st to 28th November 2003. Along side was an all-play-all stars event with 12 players 15 minutes + 10 seconds per player 27th-29th November 2003. Vesselin Topalov took clear first on 7/10. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 7.0; 2. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 6.5; 3. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2650 6.5; 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2662 6.0; 5. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2562 5.0; 6. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2512 4.5; 7. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2693 4.5; 8. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz g AZE 2595 4.5; 9. Graf, Alexander g GER 2646 4.0; 10. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2722 4.0; 11. Romero Holmes, Alfonso g ESP 2544 2.5; Anatoly Karpov withdrew (was disqualified) from the event. Here is a statement from the Bali International press office: Karpov withdraws in Benidorm The Russian GM Anatoli Karpov, former world champion, withdrew yesterday from the Tournament of Stars, which is being contested in the Hotel Bali in Benidorm. The reason was that he was declared losing by forfeit in the first round. His opponent was the 16 years old Teimour Radjabov, from Azerbaiyan, famous for having beaten Gary Kasparov in the last edition of the Linares tournament. Karpov, arriving directly from Brazil, argued that he had been deprived of sleep due to the late arrival of his plane, and asked that his game versus Radjabov should be played on Friday, in the morning. After some consideration, Radjabov declined the proposal. Of the other ten participants, a number proclaimed themselves annoyed because Karpov is notorious for such incidents. During a conversation with the press office of the tournament, Karpov concluded: "I don't understand these idiots. Postponing a game for reasons of force majeure is normal in our sport. My conclusion is that the current bad situation in the chess world is not surprising, because they deserve it?." Karpov equally failed to appear for the second game, against the Hungarian Judit Polgar, for which, according to the rules, he was disqualified from the tournament by the arbiter. Internet coverage:http://www.ajedrezbali.com |
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| World Computer Chess
Championships The 19th World Computer Chess Championship 2003 (WMCCC) took place in Graz November 22nd - 30th, 2003. Shredder beat Fritz in a playoff. Official coverage: http://www.chess003.at/ |
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| Korchnoi - Navara Match There was a two-game match between David Navara (the Czech No. 1 on FIDE list - 2607) and Viktor Korchnoi in Prague, in the Hotel Kampa-Stara Zbrojnice. The games were played on Friday and Saturday November 21st-22nd 2003. The time control was the FIDE standard 90+30. The sponsors of the event were the weekly newspaper EURO and ABN AMRO Asset Management. GM Vlastimil Hort provided a live commentary of the games. The first game on Friday ended in draw after Korchnoi missed a winning continuation (Ng4) on move 22 in Ruy Lopez Open. Narvara won the second to take the match 1.5-0.5. Games in PGN Live coverage at site http://www.promopro.cz. News from http://www.sachinfo.cz |
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Larsen vs Olafsson Olafsson vs. Larsen Photo © Ómar Óskarsson Bent Larsen and Fridrik Olafsson played an 8 game rapid match in Reykjavic 11th-14th November 2003. Olafsson beat Larsen 5-3. The match, sponsored by the Kaupthing Bank, continues with two rounds per evening commencing at 20.00 Icelandic time. The pair first played an historic 8 game match in Reykjavik in 1956 when both were 20 years old. In that match Larsen led 3.5-1.5 before Olafsson came back to level the match by winning games 6 and 7. Larsen won a final tense game to take the match 4.5-3.5. (Incidently ChessBase Megabase has this match as being in Oslo 1955 which was the date and venue of the Scandanavian Championships. The match was the playoff the following year in Reykjavic after the two players tied. There is an account of the match in Larsen's own book of selected games.) Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.icechess.com/kb-match2003 |
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| FIDE announcement on the World Chess
Championship The FIDE Congress has decided that they will hold 2 KO qualifiers for a unified Men's World Championship, in April-May tentatively in Baku (Azerbaijan) and Tripoli (Lybia). The winners of the two sections will play and the winner of that will play Garry Kasparov for the unified title. It seems from my reading of the proposals they will ignore the claims of Vladimir Kramnik (who defeated Kasparov, yet Kasparov is in the unification process in spite of neither having nor claiming any world title) and Peter Leko (who is due to play him). [This is an observation not a comment, I really don't have an opinion anymore, except that something needs to happen and that ideal, or even good solutions no longer exist]. FIDE are back in financial problems and will move their headquarters to Greece. FIDE announcement at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=259 Further information in Russian at: http://www.worldchessrating.ru/ and http://www.chess-express.ru/main/index2.html |
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| Tragedy for Egyptian Chess Egypt's top player 38 year old Essam Ahmed Ali died on Monday 27th October and team boss Mohammed Labib, 60 the following day of cerebral malaria contracted at the African Games in Abuja, Nigeria. They were incorrectly diagnosed in Egypt after becoming ill. Two of the delegation of the African games travelled on to the World Youth Championships (player Ahmed Adly and his coach Hassan Khaled) in Halkidiki, Greece where they were diagnosed and sent to Special Diseases Hospital in Thessaloniki. They recovered and went back to Egpyt. Cerebral malaria is a disease of the brain that is accompanied by fever. The mortality ratio is between 25 and 50 percent, and if a sufferer is not treated, the disease is fatal in 24 to 72 hours. Sources: News 24.com or The Age from Australia and later Al Ahram (some of the info in these stories is incorrect). Also: http://www.sportmeeting.gr/WYCC2003/news.htm on the treatment in Greece. |
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| 2nd Selfoss Milk
Tournament The 2nd Selfoss Milk Tournament took place October 29 - November 7th 2003 in Icelandair's Hotel Selfoss. Games in PGN (a couple of games are incomplete) Final Standings: 1. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2695 7.0; 2. Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2647 7.0; 3. Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2696 6.5; 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2662 5.0; 5. Rowson, Jonathan g SCO 2541 4.5; 6. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2654 4.5; 7. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2673 4.0; 8. Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2567 2.5; 9. Thorhallsson, Throstur g ISL 2444 2.0; 10. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2553 2.0; Tomas Oral, Jan Votava, Henrik Danielsen, Regina Pokorna, Stefan Kristjansson, Luis Galego, Tomas Bjornsson, Ingvar Johannesson, Jon Arni Halldorsson and Robert Hardarson play in the Challengers. Official coverage: http://icechess.com/milk2003/. Live coverage of some games: Internet Chess Club |
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7th Corsica Open Anand - Topalov final. Photo © Europe-Echecs The 7th Corsica Open took place in Bastia 28th October - 3rd November 2003. 350 players from 40 countries compete including: Vishy Anand, Vesselin Topalov, Anatoly Karpov, Alexei Shirov, Teimour Radjabov, Boris Gelfand, Loek Van Wely etc. Timerates: 2 games 20mins+5secs then if necessary 2 games at 10m+5s and finally 2 games at 5m+5s until a winner was found. Games in PGN Finals 3rd November 2003 Anand, Viswanathan - Topalov, Veselin 4-2 (4 draws before Anand won both 5m+5s games) Semi-Finals 2nd November 2003 Topalov, Veselin - Shirov, Alexei 2.5-1.5 Anand, Viswanathan - Grischuk, Alexander 1.5-0.5 Quarter-Finals 2nd November 2003 Topalov, Veselin - Gurevich, Mikhail 1.5-0.5 Gelfand, Boris - Grischuk, Alexander 0.5-1.5 Lautier, Joel - Anand, Viswanathan 0.5-1.5 Shirov, Alexei - Karpov, Anatoly 3.5-2.5 1/8th Finals 1st November 2003 Grischuk, Alexander - Radjabov, Teimour 4.0-2.0 Van Wely, Loek - Karpov, Anatoly 0.5-1.5 Gurevich, Mikhail - Sasikiran, Krishnan 1.5-0.5 Topalov, Veselin - Motylev, Alexander 2.0-0.0 Aronian, Levon - Gelfand, Boris 1.5-2.5 Tkachiev, Vladislav - Shirov, Alexei 2.0-4.0 [Tkachiev lost by playing an illegal move in the final game] Lautier, Joel - Epishin, Vladimir 2.0-0.0 Cebalo, Miso - Anand, Viswanathan 0.5-1.5 Further details: http://www.opencorsica.com and games: http://ffe.ods.org |
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Cap d'agde World Rapid Chess
Championship Anand- Svidler semi-finals Photo © Europe-Echecs 6th National and International Chess Encounters World Rapid Chess Championship organised by CCAS took place in Cap d'agde 23rd-30th October 2003. CCAS is Caisse Centrale d'Activités Sociales des Electriciens et Gaziers de France (EDF-GDF), the national company for Gas and Electricity. 16 World Class GMs among them 11 of the 12 top rated players took part. Each player has 25 minutes + 10 seconds per played move. This means games that will last at most between 50 minutes to 1hr 20. Viswanathan Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik 1.5-0.5 in the final. Two groups played an all-play-all starting Friday 24th October, top 4 qualifiers from each play a knockout starting October 27th. (info ICC) Knockout Section Game in PGN Games in PGN for the group stage complete KO Final (October 30, 2003) Gm1 Kramnik, Vladimir - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 19 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 46 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov KO S/F (October 29, 2003) Gm1 Grischuk, Alexander - Kramnik, Vladimir 0-1 54 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo Gm2 Kramnik, Vladimir - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 40 E39 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Gm1 Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1/2 20 B82 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm2 Svidler, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 28 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Blitz 3 mins + 3 seconds playoff Gm3 Svidler, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 53 B46 Sicilian Paulsen Gm4 Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1-0 34 B42 Sicilian Paulsen KO Q/F Day 1 (October 27, 2003) Gm1 Kramnik, Vladimir - Polgar, Judit 1-0 38 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Gm2 Polgar, Judit - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 35 B21 Sicilian Morra Gambit Gm1 Anand, Viswanathan - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 60 C95 Ruy Lopez Breyer Gm2 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 52 E15 Queens Indian KO Q/F Day 2 (October 28, 2003) Gm1 Bacrot, Etienne - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 68 E20 Nimzo Indian Gm2 Grischuk, Alexander - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 30 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Blitz 3 mins + 3 seconds playoff Gm3 Grischuk, Alexander - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 48 C41 Philidor's Defence Gm4 Bacrot, Etienne - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1 62 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Gm1 Svidler, Peter - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 24 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Gm2 Topalov, Veselin - Svidler, Peter 0-1 46 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Gp A Final (Round 7) Standings: 1. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2777 4.5; 2. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2718 4.5; 3. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2664 4.5; 4. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2735 3.5; (after beating Gelfand in a playoff) 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2703 3.5; 6. Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2693 2.5; 7. Adams, Michael g ENG 2725 2.5; 8. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2739 2.5; GpB Final Rd7 Standings: 1. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2723 5.0; 2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2732 4.5; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2766 4.0; 4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2722 4.0; 5. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2737 3.5; 6. Leko, Peter g HUN 2722 3.5; 7. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2666 2.0; 8. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2693 1.5; Official site: http://www.ccas.fr/ and also there is full coverage at: http://www.europe-echecs.com |
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Kasparov visit to the London
Chess Center Malcolm Pein greets people Queueing down the street waiting for Garry Photo © John Henderson Garry Kasparov visited the London Chess Centre on the 21st October 2003 to promote his highly successful book series 'Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors' for a book signing. Read John Henderson's report See more pictures at: http://www.chesscenter.com/gkvisit/ 5 Simul Games in PGN  Kasparov signing his new book. Photo © John Henderson Details of the book: http://www.chess.co.uk/kasparovgreats.html Further details: http://www.chess.co.uk/gkvisit2003.html |
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| Sample "Chess Magazine" Article
on the Gruenfeld Download a sample article in PDF format from "Chess Magazine". the article is called "The Exchange Gruenfeld: An old sacrifice revived" by Malcolm Pein Download file (1.3 Megabites): GruenfeldPein.pdf |
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1st Samba Cup Vassily Ivanchuk suffers his second consecutive defeat in rd7 inflicted by Darmen Sadvakasov. Photo © Leon Muijs from the Official site photo page The Category 16 1st Samba Cup took place Friday 10th October to Sunday 19th October 2003 (free day 15th Oct) in Skanderborg, Denmark. Games in PGN Round 9 (October 19, 2003) Nielsen, Peter Heine - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 1/2 19 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Ivanchuk, Vassily - Hansen, Curt 1/2 56 B64 Sicilian Rauzer Bologan, Viktor - Sasikiran, Krishnan 1-0 61 C91 Ruy Lopez Alekseev, Evgeny - Short, Nigel D 1/2 19 D58 Queens Gambit Tartakover Palo, Davor - Sadvakasov, Darmen 1/2 39 D26 QGA Final Standings: 1. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2626 5.5; 2. Sadvakasov, Darmen g KAZ 2595 5.5; 3. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2701 5.5; 4. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2616 5.5; 5. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2710 5.0; 6. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2673 5.0; 7. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2668 4.5; 8. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2613 3.5; 9. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2679 2.5; 10. Palo, Davor m DEN 2510 2.5; Official site http://www.skanderborgskakklub.dk/gm2003 - (including live coverage) |
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7th Essent Chess Tournament Karpov-Aronian Rd3. Photo © Fred Lucas The 7th Essent Chess Tournament took place in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands 11th-18th October 2003. The Crown Group saw Judit Polgar take first place ahead of Ivan Sokolov, Levon Aronian and Anatoly Karpov. The Open Group was won by Zviad Izoria ahead or Ernesto Inarkiev both made 7/9. All Games in PGN 7th Essent Chess Tournament Round 1 Polgar's Double Bishop Sacrifice Round 6 (October 18, 2003) Polgar, Judit - Aronian, Levon 1-0 35 C90 Ruy Lopez Karpov, Anatoly - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 32 D15 Slav Defence Final Rd6 Standings: 1. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2722 4.0; 2. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2695 3.0; 3. Aronian, Levon g GER 2649 3.0; 4. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2693 2.0; Official site: http://www.hoogeveen.nl/essent-chess/ Some pictures by Fred Lucas: http://www.momentoo.nl (miscellaneous-chesspics-Essent) |
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| European Team Championships Plovdiv in Bulgaria hosted the European team championship October 10th-21st 2003. 37 men's and 31 women's teams competed. The Russian team of Bareev, Svidler, Grischuk, Morozevich and Khalifman took first place edging out Israel, Georgia finished 3rd. Official site: http://www.etcc.chessbg.com/ (of particular interest is an interview with Ponomariov) Men's Games in PGN Women's Games in PGN European Team Championships Round 9 European Team Championships Round 8 European Team Championships Round 7 European Team Championships Round 6 European Team Championships Round 5 European Team Championships Round 4 European Team Championships Round 3 European Team Championships Round 2 European Team Championships Round 1 |
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Anand in Moscow Anand in play to his left Kobalia and the President Russian chess federation Zhukov. Photo © Marina Bessonova http://www.chess-express.ru Anand played in the Moscow regional blitz tournament on 17th October 2003 in Moscow in the "Sergiev Posad" team along with GM's Kobalia and Smagin. |
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| Arctic Cup Geurt Gijssen is in Salekhard (Far North) and reports. Salekhard is the only city in the world located on the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33 minutes latitude). The government of the region has organised a team competiton (4 players: 3 boys and 1 girl). The players must be born after 31st December 1985. 16 teams participate in this tournament: 14 teams from different regions and republics of Russia plus Germany and The Netherlands. All Games in PGN Final Standings (confirmed): 1. Sverdlovsk R 27.5 2. Netherlands 27.0 3. Arkhangelsk R 22.0 Saint-Petersburg 22.0 5. Vologodskaya R 20.5 6. Yamalo-Nenets AD 1 20.0 Khanty-Mansiysky AD 20.0 8. Tumen R 19.5 9. Yamalo-Nenets AD 2 19.0 10. Chelyabinsk R 18.5 11. Germany 18.0 12. Kurgan R 17.5 13. Salekhard 11.5 14. Komi R 10.0 15. Krasnoyarsk T 7.5 Nenets AD 7.5 |
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| FIDE October Rating List The new FIDE Rating list for October 2003 has been released. The Russian Championships didn't make the list which has been officially released 2 weeks before it becomes active for the first time. Garry Kasparov didn't play an games in the rating period and stays at 2830. Vladimir Kramnik lost 8 rating points so Kasparov's lead has extended. Viswanathan Anand also lost 8 points. Other headline changes include: Bareev up from 9 to 4. Shirov up from 7 to 5 Adams gains a few points, Leko down from 4 to 10, Morozevich up from 23 to 16, Sasikiran 40 to 24, Bologan 42 to 27, Luke McShane 74 to 46. FIDE October 2003 Rating List: Top 100 Further information including the full list: http://www.fide.com |
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| European Club Cup The European Club Cup Men & Women took place in the CRETA STAR HOTEL 27th September-5th October 2003. Rd1-7 Men's Games in PGN (Volkov-Morozevich rd5 is clearly wrong at the end) and Rd1-7 Women's Games in PGN Final Standings (corrected) 1 NAO Chess Club FRA 30 180½ 2 Polonia Plus GSM Warszawa POL 29 169 3 Kiseljak BIH 29 152 4 Norilsk Nikel RUS 26½ 173 5 Ladya-Kazan-1000 RUS 28½ 162½ 6 St. Petersburg Lentransgaz RUS 27½ 164 7 Beer-Sheva Chess Club ISR 25½ 175½ 8 Tbilisi GEO 22 182 9 Chess Club Alkaloid Skopje MKD 30½ 135 10 Zalaegerszeg-Hydrocomp HUN 27 137 11 Tomsk-400-Yukos RUS 25 166½ 12 Werder Bremen GER 25 162½ 13 GKSz Polfa Grodzisk Mazowiecki POL 24½ 146½ Results European Club Cup Round 7 Including Final Standings European Club Cup Round 6 European Club Cup Round 5 European Club Cup Round 4 European Club Cup Round 3 European Club Cup Round 2 European Club Cup Round 1 Official site: http://www.venizelia.gr/ecc2003/ Garry Kasparov played for Ladia-Kazan (other players include Sergei Rublevsky (2672), Ilia Smirin (2656), Viktor Bologan (2650) and Alisa Galliamova (2502). The French NAO Chess Club of Paris is also fielding an exceptionally strong team, comprising of Alexander Grischuk (2732), Peter Svidler (2723), Michael Adams (2719), Joel Lautler (2677), Vallejo Pons Francisco (2662), Etienne Bacrot (2645), Laurent Fressinet (2640) and Igor-Alexandre Nataf (2549). Bosna Sarajevo have Alexei Shirov, Evgeny Bareev and Ivan Sokolov, other players include Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Alexey Dreev, Vladimir Malakhov, Alexander Onischuk, Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Khalifman, Konstantin Sakaev and Viktor Korchnoi. |
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| Kramnik Letter Vladimir Kramnik has released a letter making clear that he is in charge of finding a sponsor for the Kramnik - Leko match not Einstein TV who he says are in breach of contract. Kramnik Letter September 8th 2003 |
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| Association of Chess Professionals The Association of Chess Professionals now has a chess site. Glek interview and a Kramnik note there already. Link to site: http://www.chess-players.org |
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| Kasparov vs. Azmaiparashvili Garry Kasparov took on Zurab Azmaiparashvili in a 2 rapid game (25mins+10 seconds Kasparov won 2-0) and four blitz game (5mins + 3 seconds games Kasparov won 3.5-0.5) match in Crete 23th September 2003. Rapid Games in PGN Blitz Games in PGN Rapid Games Gm1 Kasparov, Garry - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1-0 49 C41 Philidor's Defence Gm2 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Kasparov, Garry 0-1 25 D11 Slav Defence Blitz Games Gm1 Kasparov, Garry - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1-0 32 B07 Pirc Defence Gm2 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Kasparov, Garry 0-1 52 A07 Barcza System Gm3 Kasparov, Garry - Azmaiparashvili, Zurab 1/2 57 B07 Pirc Defence Gm4 Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Kasparov, Garry 0-1 38 A04 Dutch System |
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| Beijing Chess Challenge The Beijing Chess Challenge Match took place September 22nd-23rd 2003, in China Resources Hotel, Beijing between Chinese teams and an International team. On day 1 the international team won 5-4 against a Chinese A team, on day 2 the international team was held 4.5-4.5 by the Chinese B team. Games in PGN Complete Live coverage: http://www.64.net.cn/view/kings02.htm International Team players: Evgeny Bareev g RUS 2721 Nigel Short g ENG 2701 Yasser Seirawan g USA 2626 Chinese Team A players: Ye Jiangchuan g 2683 Zhang Zhong g 2658 Xu Jun g 2626 Chinese Team B players: Bu Xiangzhi g 2588 Zhang Pengxiang g 2567 Ni Hua f 2533 There are three games a day, each Chinese player take a player of International Team, the game start from 14:00 to 18:00 Beijing time, the time controls are 25 minutes, each move with a 10 seconds increment, 30 minutes rest after each game. 22nd September International team - Chinese Team A 14:00 - 18:00 Beijing time Xu Jun - Nigel Short 0.5, Zhang Zhong - Engeny Bareev 0-1, Yasser Seirawan - Ye Jiangchuan 1-0 Chinese Team A - International Team 0.5-2.5 Round 2 Nigel Short - Zhang Zhong 1-0, Engeny Bareev - Ye Jiangchuan 0.5, Xu Jun - Yasser Seirawan 0.5 Chinese Team A - International Team 1-2 Round 3 Ye Jiangchuan - Nigel Short 0.5, Engeny Bareev - Xu Jun 0-1, Yasser Seirawan - Zhang Zhong 0-1 Chinese Team A - International Team 2.5-0.5 Final standings come soon¡¡ Chinese Team A - International Team 4-5 23rd september International Team - Chinese Team B 14:00 - 18:00 Beijing time Round 1 Nigel Short - Ni Hua 0-1, Evgeny Bareev - Bu Xiangzhi 0.5, Zhang Pengxiang - Yasser Seirawan 1-0. Chinese Team B - International Team 2.5-0.5 Round 2 Ni Hua - Evgeny 0.5, Bu Xiangzhi - Yasser Seirawan 0.5, Nigel Short - Zhangpeng 1-0 Chinese Team B - International Team 1-2 Round 3 Yasser Seirawan - Ni hua 1-0, Bu Xiangzhi - Nigel Short 1-0, Zhang Pengxiang - Evgeny Bareev 0-1, Chinese Team B - International Team 1-2. Day 2 total Chinese Team B - International Team 4.5 - 4.5 |
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| Lausanne Young Masters The 4th Lausanne Young Masters took place 17th-22nd September 2003. Luke McShane won the knockout event by beating Etienne Bacrot in the final. Games in PGN Final Rounds September 21st-22nd 1st-2nd Bacrot, Etienne - McShane, Luke J 1/2 0-1 3rd-4th Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz - Naiditsch, Arkadij 1-0 1-0 5th-6th Karjakin, Sergey - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 1/2 7th-8th Paehtz, Elisabeth - Papa, Severin 1/2 0-1 Round 2 (September 19-20, 2003) Round 1 Winners McShane, Luke J - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz 1/2 1/2 Playoff 2-0 Bacrot, Etienne - Naiditsch, Arkadij 1-0 1/2 Minor Placings Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Paehtz, Elisabeth 1-0 1/2 Karjakin, Sergey - Papa, Severin 1-0 1-0 Round 1 (September 17-18, 2003) McShane, Luke J - Paehtz, Elisabeth 1/2 1-0 Naiditsch, Arkadij - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 1-0 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 1-0 Bacrot, Etienne - Papa, Severin 1-0 1/2 Players in bold won their matches. Internet coverage: http://www.lausanneyoungmasters.com |
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| 3 Arrows Cup The 3 Arrows (San Jian) Cup took place in Ji Nan 17th-20th September 2003. A team of Chinese women (Queens) took on a men's team (Kings). Final Score Kings 12.5 - Queens 3.5. Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.64.net.cn |
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Kings and Queens match in Yong Chuan, China Players in the Kings and Queens match. Photo Yin Hao All Games in PGN A double round robin match took place September 13th to 15th 2003 in China. The 4 "Kings" were GM Evgeny Bareev RUS 2721, GM Nigel Short ENG 2701, GM Ye Jiangchuan CHN 2683 and GM Yasser Seirawan USA 2626. The 4 "Queens" GM Xie Jun CHN 2569, GM Zhu Chen CHN 2495, WGM Xu Yuhua CHN 2485, WGM Zhao Xue CHN 2467. Alternating moves in the games the players drew a number to choose their partners. There were 3 games a day, time controls were 25 minutes, each move with a 10 seconds increment. Round 1 (September 13, 2003) Zhao Xue/Nigel Short - Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 1-0 39 A62 Benoni Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan - Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 1-0 51 B19 Caro Kann Round 2 (September 13, 2003) Zhao Xue/Nigel Short - Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 1/2 39 E05 Catalan Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan - Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 1-0 43 E70 King's Indian Fianchetto Round 3 (September 13, 2003) Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev - Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 0-1 73 A07 Barcza System Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan - Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 1/2 50 B40 Sicilian Classical Round 4 (September 15, 2003) Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan - Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 1/2 25 E34 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev - Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 1-0 35 A08 Barcza System Round 5 (September 15, 2003) Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev - Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 1/2 41 B24 Sicilian Closed Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan - Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 0-1 59 B85 Sicilian Scheveningen Round 6 (September 15, 2003) Zhao Xue/Nigel Short - Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 0-1 34 A04 Dutch System Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan - Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 1/2 49 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Final Standings: 1. Zhao Xue/Nigel Short 4.0 2. Zhu Chen/Yasser Seirawan 3.0 3. Xie Jun/Evgeny Bareev 2.5 4. Xu Yuhua/Ye Jiangchuan 2.5 |
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Russian Championships Prize Ceremony Photo © Eugeny Atarov ("64") The Russian Championships for men took place 3rd-12th September 2003 in Krasnoyarsk. Swiss system, 9 Rounds. 80 players are expected including 57 GMs 15 IMs and only 8 NM. FIDE-ELO from 2732 to 2606 - 22 players: Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Alexei Dreev, Vladimir Malakhov, Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Khalifman, Sergei Rublevsky etc. Chief Arbiter Vladimir Dvorkovich. Peter Svidler edged out Alexander Morozevich with a better better Bucholz tie-break after both finished on 7/9. All Games in PGN Correction to the result Bachin - Sveshnikov (3) Malcolm Pein on Russian Championships Rd 2 Morozevich vs. Dvoirys Leading Final (Rd 9) Standings: 1. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2723 51,5 2845 7.0 2. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2679 50,0 2832 7.0 3. Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2696 49,5 2719 6.0 4. Dvoirys, Semen I g RUS 2555 49,0 2752 6.0 5. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2653 48,0 2664 6.0 6. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2634 47,0 2732 6.0 7. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2732 46,0 2709 6.0 8. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2678 46,0 2693 6.0 9. Volkov, Sergey g RUS 2620 43,5 2683 6.0 10. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2608 43,0 2692 6.0 11. Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2564 51,5 2703 5.5 12. Yakovich, Yuri g RUS 2573 45,5 2659 5.5 13. Kharlov, Andrei g RUS 2591 43,0 2633 5.5 14. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2538 42,5 2703 5.5 15. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2613 41,0 2636 5.5 16. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2655 40,0 2622 5.5 17. Bocharov, Dmitry m RUS 2526 38,0 2647 5.5 18. Glek, Igor V g GER 2566 38,0 2618 5.5 19. Sorokin, Maxim g ARG 2560 38,0 2587 5.5 79 players Further details: http://www.kraschess.ru or http://www.russiachess.ru (Live coverage of the games available and PGN later each day) Both sites in Russian, although the results and games are perfectly fine. |
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| Simpsons Tournament To mark the 175th Anniversary of Simpsons in the Stand a tournament supported by the Staunton Society, the Savoy Hotel and organised by Ray Keene and Barry Martin took place August 24th - September 1st, 2003 4 Player-Double Round Robin. Jon Speelman won the event with 4.5/6. Games in PGN Round 5 (September 1, 2003) King, Daniel J - Emms, John M 1/2 75 A36 English Botvinnik Round 6 (August 31, 2003) Emms, John M - Speelman, Jonathan S 1/2 26 C07 French Tarrasch Howell, David WL - King, Daniel J 1/2 50 C09 French Tarrasch Final Standings: 1. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 4.5; 2. King, Daniel J g ENG 2503 3.5; 3. Emms, John M g ENG 2520 3.0; 4. Howell, David WL f ENG 2323 1.0; |
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Chess Classic Mainz Anand playing as black against Polgar in the final game 8 Photo © Franz Jittenmeier of chess-international.de Vishwanathan Anand beat Judit Polgar in an 8-game rapid chess match in Mainz August 14th-17th 2003. Alongside it will be the Ordix open. Mainz will also be hosting a Chess960 (a form of shuffle chess) match between Peter Leko and Peter Svidler. They are also holding an internet match Chess Tigers vs. "The Rest of the World" in Chess960 chess which started 15th July 2003. Every day one pair of moves is played. All internet users are eligible to take part, but players are entitled to cast only one vote per move. Every day a prize will be raffled among the correct e-mail contributors. The daily move is made through simple majority. All Games in PGN Final Score Anand 5 - Polgar 3 Gm1 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 49 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm2 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 41 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm3 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 0-1 57 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm4 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 52 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2 Gm5 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 27 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm6 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 60 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gm7 Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 55 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2 Gm8 Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 47 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Internet site: http://www.chesstigers.de/ |
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Dortmund 2003 Bologan receives the trophy. Photo © David Llada The "Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2003" took place in the Dortmund Theatre 31st July - 10th August 2003. Viktor Bologan held Vladimir Kramnik in the final round to take clear first by a point from Anand and Kramnik for the best result of his career. Games in PGN Round 10 (August 10, 2003) Kramnik, Vladimir - Bologan, Viktor 1/2 38 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 Radjabov, Teimour - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 13 E11 Bogo Indian Defence Naiditsch, Arkadij - Leko, Peter 1/2 24 B72 Sicilian Dragon Final (of 10) Standings: 1. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2650 6.5; 2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2785 5.5; 3. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2774 5.5; 4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2648 5.0; 5. Leko, Peter g HUN 2739 4.0; 6. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2574 3.5; Official site: http://www.chessgate.de/dortmund2003/ or in English: http://www.chessgate.de/dortmund2003/e/index.html Malcolm Pein on Dortmund Dortmund Round 10 Dortmund Round 9 Dortmund Round 8 Dortmund Round 7 Dortmund Round 6 Dortmund Round 5 Dortmund Round 3-4 Round 11 British - Round 2 Dortmund Round 10 British - Round 1 Dortmund |
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Final FIDE deadline falls  Illjumzhinov press-conference announcing cancellation. Photos © Eugeny Atarov ("64") FIDE have cancelled the Kasparov vs. Ponomariov match. Instead it has been proposed there will be a knockout in December 2003. The winner will play Kasparov and the winner of that will play Leko - Kramnik. Further info:http://www.fide.com - FIDE Press Release: (Microsoft Word Document) and Ukrainian Chess Federation Reply: (Microsoft Word Document)- earlier press release announcing the deadline: FIDE on Ponomariov - Kasparov match |
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| 1st Malmo Masters The Category IX 1st Malmö Masters took place July 28th - August 6th 2003 in Malmö, Sweden. Luke McShane conceded just three draws on the way to winning the event with 7.5/9. Games in PGN Round 9 (August 6, 2003) Johannessen, Leif Erlend - Sebag, Marie 1/2 27 A29 English Four Knights Speelman, Jonathan S - Ahlander, Bjorn 1-0 72 E18 Queens Indian Berg, Emanuel - Tairi, Faruk 1-0 45 B20 Sicilian Wing Gambit Jakobsen, Ole - McShane, Luke J 0-1 67 D95 Gruenfeld Closed Brynell, Stellan - Hellsten, Johan 1/2 15 B22 Sicilian Alapin Final Standings: 1. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 7.5; 2. Johannessen, Leif Erlend g NOR 2525 6.0; 3. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 5.5; 4. Hellsten, Johan m SWE 2511 5.5; 5. Berg, Emanuel m SWE 2495 5.5; 6. Jakobsen, Ole m DEN 2381 4.0; 7. Brynell, Stellan g SWE 2511 4.0; 8. Ahlander, Bjorn m SWE 2393 3.0; 9. Sebag, Marie wm FRA 2432 2.0; 10. Tairi, Faruk SWE 2245 2.0; Internet site will be http://www.limhamnssk.m.se information there soon. |
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Biel International Chess Festival Biel 2003 Bacrot, Pelletier, Lutz, Korchnoi, Smirin and Morozevich Photo © Schachfestival Biel. The Biel International Chess Festival took place 19th July-1st August 2003 for the 36th consecutive summer, with 9 different tournaments. The main Category 16 GM event took place 21st-31st July and Alexander Morozevich scored a huge 8/10 performance to win by a point and a half from Bacrot and Smirin. Games in PGN Round 10 (July 31, 2003) Smirin, Ilia - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 15 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Lutz, Christopher - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 31 C11 French Defence Korchnoi, Viktor - Pelletier, Yannick 0-1 41 D12 Slav Defence Final (Round 10) Standings: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2679 8.0; 2. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2645 6.5; 3. Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2656 6.5; 4. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2602 4.0; 5. Lutz, Christopher g GER 2631 3.0; 6. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2628 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch - there is a great interview with the winner Alexander Morozevich on the official site |
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| Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships
The Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships took place Sunday 20th July - Saturday 2nd August at the George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. Abhijit Kunte won the event with a score of 8.5/11 half a point clear of compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, Cypriot Vassilios Kotronias and Paul Motwani. Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant was the leading women's player in 5th. Games in PGN Malcolm Pein on the British Championships Round 11 Round 10 Round 9 Round 8 Round 7 Round 7 Pairings Round 5-6 Round 4 Round 3 Round 2 Round 1 Round 1 Pairings Malcolm Pein Preview of the British Championships Leading Final (Rd11) Standings: 1 Kunte,Abhijit IND g 2515 8½ 2 Harikrishna,Pentala IND g 2558 8 3 Kotronias,Vassilios CYP g 2602 8 4 Motwani,Paul SCO g 2525 8 5 Arakhamia-Grant,Ketevan GEO wg 2408 7½ 6 Gallagher,Joseph G SUI g 2520 7½ 7 Pert,Nicholas ENG m 2483 7½ 8 Rowson,Jonathan SCO g 2536 7½ 9 Summerscale,Aaron ENG g 2492 7½ 10 Bakre,Tejas IND m 2433 7 11 Ganguly,Sura Sekhar IND g 2535 7 12 Ghasi,Ameet K ENG 2305 7 13 Gormally,Daniel ENG m 2478 7 14 Hossain,Enamul BAN m 2452 7 15 Howell,David W ENG f 2323 7 16 Rahman,Ziaur BAN g 2521 7 17 Sowray,Peter J ENG f 2346 7 96 players Official site: http://bcfservices.org.uk/ |
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| Kasparov Interview by Mig Greengard On July 14 Garry Kasparov gave a discussion and book signing for his new book "My Great Predecessors, Part I" at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York City. After the signing he took questions from the audience. A transcript is below, followed by further comments on his upcoming FIDE match with Ponomariov and his match with Fritz that was just announced. Kasparov Book Signing Interview by Mig Greengard |
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| Montreal International The 4th Montreal International took place 23rd July - 3rd August 2003. Category 11. Players: Alexei Barsov, Mark Bluvshtein, Pascal Charbonneau, Nicolay Legky, Alexandre Lesiège, Aleksei Lugovoi, Igor Nataf, Alexander Onischuk, Oleg Romanishin, Dave Ross, Eduardas Rozentalis and Reynaldo Vera. Internet coverage: http://www.timontreal.ca/ |
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| Politiken Cup The 25th Copenhagen Open Politiken Cup took place 14th-25th of July 2003. Krishnan Sasikiran won with 9/11. Games in PGN Leading Final Round 11 Standings: 1. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2654 9.0; 2. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2668 8.5; 3. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 8.5; 4. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2585 8.5; 5. Jussupow, Artur g GER 2583 8.5; 6. Nyback, Tomi m FIN 2483 8.5; 7. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2655 8.0; 8. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 8.0; 9. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2553 8.0; 10. Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2525 8.0; 11. Rasmussen, Karsten m DEN 2437 8.0; 12. Skytte, Rasmus m DEN 2404 8.0; 13. Michelakis, George m RSA 2405 8.0; 14. Nilssen, John Arni f FAI 2382 8.0; 15. Carlsen, Magnus f NOR 2385 8.0; 16. Christensen, Tobias m DEN 2371 8.0; 241 players Official site: http://www.politikencup.dk |
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| Open Dutch Championship The Open Dutch Championship took place 22nd-31st July 2003. Players included: Friso Nijboer, Dennis De Vreught, Sergei Tiviakov, Jeroen Bosch, Erwin L'Ami... Internet coverage (live for 8 boards): http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/dieren2003/ |
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| Ken Whyld 1926 - 2003 Kenneth Whyld 6th March 1926 - 11th July 2003 Ken Whyld, the chess researcher, bibliophile and author has died at the age of 77. His 1984 work "The Oxford Companion to Chess" written with David Hooper still is the standard single volume encyclopedia in English. He had a wide range of interests across chess history and was a particular expert on Emanuel Lasker, his "The Collected Games of Emanuel Lasker" is the outstanding work on the former World Champion's games. He was very generous with his knowledge aiding many chess authors with their research. Books include: The Oxford Companion to Chess David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld 1984 (2nd Edition 1993) Alekhine - Nazi Articles (3rd ed.) Ken Whyld 2002 Chess Columns - A List - Ken Whyld 2002 Guinness Chess The Records, London, Ken Whyld - Guinness Superlatives Ltd, 1986 First Chess Olympiad London,1927 Kenneth Whyld (Editor) 1993 Fake Automata in Chess Kenneth Whyld 1994 |
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| Polgar - Gelfand Match Judit Polgar and Boris Gelfand played a match in Pacs, Hungary July 10th-13th 2003. The event was called the George Marx match and saw 8 rapid 25 minutes per player games. Gelfand won by an impressive 6-2 margin. Games in PGN Gm1 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 0-1 56 B54 Sicilian Rauzer Gm2 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 48 B23 Sicilian Closed Gm3 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1-0 59 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm4 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 61 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov Gm5 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1-0 46 E92 King's Indian Classical Gm6 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 69 B51 Sicilian Rossolimo Gm7 Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 1/2 37 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen Gm8 Polgar, Judit - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 44 B51 Sicilian Rossolimo Internet coverage: http://www.acsgroup.hu. My thanks to Andy McFarland of ICC. |
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| 13th Smith and Williamson Young Masters The 13th Smith & Williamson Young Masters took place at Millfield School, Somerset 9th-17th July. GM Evgeny Prokopchuk finished first equal with FM Craig Hanley both scoring 6.5/9, and Hanley making his 5th IM norm. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Prokopchuk, Evgeny g RUS 2504 6.5; 2. Hanley, Craig f ENG 2387 6.5; 3. Jones, Gawain C ENG 2347 5.5; 4. Mah, Karl m ENG 2418 5.5; 5. Trent, Lawrence ENG 2299 5.0; 6. Antal, Gergely m HUN 2475 5.0; 7. Dearing, Eddie SCO 2367 5.0; 8. Broomfield, Matthew ENG 2249 5.0; 9. Sinkevich, Petr f RUS 2313 5.0; 10. Dvorak, Tomas f CZE 2319 5.0; 11. Haslinger, Stewart f ENG 2414 4.5; 12. Gordon, Stephen J ENG 2216 4.5; 13. Buckley, Simon T ENG 2267 4.5; 14. Bigg, Andrew J ENG 2287 4.0; 15. Palliser, Richard m ENG 2438 4.0; 16. Pinter, Gabor m HUN 2376 3.5; 17. Addison, Bret ENG 2251 3.5; 18. Jasny, Stanislav f CZE 2319 3.0; 19. Buckley, Melanie ENG 2130 2.5; 20. Nixon, Thomas CM ENG 2226 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.swyoungmasters.co.uk/ |
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| 18th North Sea Cup Esbjerg Denmark The Category XV 18th North Sea Cup took place July 4th-12th 2003. Alexei Dreev, Luke McShane and Krishnan Sasikiran all made 6.5/9. Games in PGN Final Standings: 1. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2698 6.5; 2. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 6.5; 3. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2654 6.5; 4. Hansen, Curt g DEN 2618 4.5; 5. Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2636 4.0; 6. Dominguez, Lenier g CUB 2610 4.0; 7. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2585 4.0; 8. Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2614 3.5; 9. Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2525 3.5; 10. Koneru, Humpy g IND 2468 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.northseacup.dk/nsc2003/index.htm |
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| Formation of an Association of Chess Players Various press releases and replies from the Turkish Chess Union are below. The latest is at the top below are various other letters. The latest letter states it's purpose as: For our part, we, members of the initiative group for the creation of an Association of Chess Players, also want to explain to the chess society our view on the problems and the current situation in the chess world. Ali Nihat Yazici has now replied to that letter. 7th July - Ali Nihat Yazici reply to Initiative Group Press Release: Initiative Group for the creation of an Association of Chess Players Previous Letters Igor Glek on a Chess Union: On the anniversary of the Prague agreements Reply to open letter by Ali Nihat Yazici President of Turkish Chess Federation Formation of Chess Union and Open Letter on Conditions for the European Championships Igor Glek on a Chess Union: On the anniversary of the Prague agreements (Russian version: http://chess-sector.odessa.ua/glek2rus.htm) Earlier correspondence: Open Letter from Igor Glek - Letter from Turkish Chess Federation in Reply to Igor Glek and Igor Glek replies to the Letter from Turkish Chess Federation |
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| FIDE July 2003 Rating List The new FIDE Rating list for July 2003 has seen quite a lot of movement. Top 4 remain the same with Kasparov playing no games. Kramnik lost 4 points in the two games he played, Anand is up another 10 points in the 7 games he's played and Leko lost 7 points. Topalov up one place to 5th due to the loss of just 3 rating points by Shirov who drops two places. Grischuk is up 9 places to 6th a gain of 31 points. There are just 7 rating points separating 4th (Leko) and 7th (Shirov). 19 year old Luke McShane into the top 100 for the first time at 74 and 18 year old David Navara in at 95. 2600 was enough for a place in the top 100 in April, now the mark is 2606. FIDE July 2003 Rating List: Top 100 Source: http://www.fide.com. The full list is available for download there. |
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| Swedish Championships The Swedish Championships took place June 29th - July 12th 2003 in Umea, Sweden. The event was a 13 round Category IX. Rylander and Von Bahr withdrew from the tournament due to illness I have now removed their results from the standings. Evgenij Agrest won with a score on 7.5/11. Games in PGN Final Round 13 Standings (players scores out of 11): 1. Agrest, Evgenij g SWE 2591 7.5; 2. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2474 7.0; 3. Olsson, Anders f SWE 2383 6.0; 4. Wedberg, Tom g SWE 2539 6.0; 5. Lindberg, Bengt f SWE 2392 5.5; 6. Hector, Jonny g SWE 2553 5.5; 7. Berg, Emanuel m SWE 2514 5.0; 8. Ernst, Thomas g SWE 2442 5.0; 9. Karlsson, Lars g SWE 2478 5.0; 10. Brynell, Stellan g SWE 2538 5.0; 11. Ahlander, Bjorn m SWE 2389 4.5; 12. Tikkanen, Hans SWE 2337 4.0; Coverage: http://www.rockaden.nu/sm/index_800.html and on ICC. |
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World Open Winner Jaan Ehlvest Photo © John Henderson The 31st World Open took place in Philadelphia June 28th - July 6th 2003. There are many different schedules before they combined for the final few rounds. $180,000 guaranteed prizes. 37GMs compted. 10 players shared first place the top two on tie-break Jaan Ehlvest and Ilya Smirin played a one game playoff (black draw odds in a 6 minutes for white 5 for black game) for the title and an extra $500 which Ehlvest. Official Site: http://www.worldopen.com |
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| World Junior Championships The World Junior Championships (under 20) took place June 21st - July 3rd 2003 in Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan. There were articipants from 29 countries. The boys title was taken by home player GM Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov ahead of GM Sergei Azarov and IM Alexander Zubov. The girls title was taken by Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Complete Boys Games in PGN Complete Girls Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.chess.az/eng/ Final Standings: 1. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz g AZE 2607 10.0; 2. Azarov, Sergei g BLR 2530 9.5; 3. Zubov, Alexander m UKR 2494 8.5; 4. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2579 8.5; 5. Guseinov, Kadir g AZE 2505 8.5; 6. Bachin, Vitaly m RUS 2443 8.5; 7. Erenburg, Sergey m ISR 2499 8.5; 8. Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2542 8.0; 9. Harikrishna, P g IND 2563 8.0; 10. Pantsulaia, Levan m GEO 2465 8.0; 11. Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios m GRE 2456 7.5; 12. Izoria, Zviad g GEO 2569 7.5; 13. Mamedov, Rauf AZE 2330 7.5; 14. Kritz, Leonid m GER 2468 7.5; 15. Schneider, Dmitry m USA 2424 7.5; 16. Rohit, G IND 2357 7.5; 17. Jirka, Jiri CZE 2394 7.5; 18. Mahesh Chandran, P m IND 2419 7.0; 19. Kanep, Meelis m EST 2446 7.0; 20. Deepan, Chakkravarthy J m IND 2379 7.0; 21. Kuparadze, Giga GEO 2227 6.5; 22. Kozak, Leonid UZB 2178 6.5; 23. Sadykov, Rustem KAZ 2416 6.5; 24. Murariu, Andrei m ROM 2347 6.5; 25. Jatautis, Donatas LTU 2149 6.5; 26. Esplana, Christian f PER 2367 6.5; 27. Dziuba, Marcin m POL 2450 6.5; 28. Safarli, Eltaj AZE 2201 6.5; 29. Wang, Hao Yuan CAN 2226 6.5; 30. Hanley, Craig f ENG 2375 6.0; 31. Geirnaert, Steven BEL 2289 6.0; 32. Mabusela,Johannes RSA 0 6.0; 33. Arun Prasad, S IND 2275 6.0; 34. Monroy, Charles FRA 2294 6.0; 50 players Final Standings Girls: 1. Dzagnidze, Nana wm GEO 2376 9.5; 2. Calotescu, Cristina wm ROM 2334 7.5; 3. Mamedjarova, Zeinab wg AZE 2298 7.5; 4. Ubiennykh, Ekaterina wf RUS 2293 7.0; 5. Harika, Dronavalli wf IND 2294 7.0; 6. Sergeeva, Maria wg KAZ 2340 6.5; 7. Karavade, Eesha IND 2199 6.5; 8. Sachdev, Tania wm IND 2245 6.5; 9. Shukurova, Meihriban wm AZE 2250 6.5; 10. Makka, Ioulia wm GRE 2234 6.5; 11. Mamedjarova, Turkan AZE 2222 6.0; 12. Khudaverdieva, Afag AZE 2063 5.5; 13. Saheli, Nath IND 2078 5.5; 14. Topel, Zehra wf TUR 2092 5.5; 15. Morales Mendoza, Luciana PER 2051 5.5; 28 players |
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| Dutch Championships The Essent Dutch Championships took place in Leeuwarden 24th June - 5th July 2003. The men's event was a 9 round category XI event. The women's is a 6 player double round robin. Loek Van Wely took the men's event. Daniel Stellwagon led for most of the event but two late losses relegated him to third place. Men's Games in PGN Women's Games in PGN Men's Final (Rd9) Standings: 1. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2675 6.5; 2. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2623 5.5; 3. Stellwagen, Daniel m NED 2467 5.5; 4. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2508 4.5; 5. Ernst, Sipke m NED 2475 4.0; 6. Van den Doel, Erik g NED 2588 4.0; 7. L'Ami, Erwin NED 2433 4.0; 8. Janssen, Ruud m NED 2483 4.0; 9. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2562 3.5; 10. Delemarre, Jop m NED 2418 3.5; Women's Final (Rd10) Standings: 1. Peng Zhaoqin m NED 2433 9.0; 2. Bosboom-Lanchava, Tea wg NED 2329 6.5; 3. Schuurman, Petra NED 2293 6.0; 4. Hamelink, Desiree wm NED 2187 3.5; 5. Van Weersel, Arlette NED 2096 3.0; 6. Bensdorp, Laura NED 2063 2.0; Internet coverage: http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/nk2003/ |
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Greenland Open Regina Pokorna and Luke McShane Photo © Omar Oskarsson The Greenland Open 2003 took place in the southern town of Qaqortoq from 28 June to 1 July. A line up of foreign stars, all of whom will visited Greenland for the first time, and local players contested the event for a total prize fund of US$10,000. Luke McShane with a tremendous 8.5/9 score took clear first a point clear of Jóhann Hjartarson. Games in PGN Leading Final Standings: 1 Luke McShane ENG 2592 8.5 2 Jóhann Hjartarson ISL 2634 7.5 3 Predrag Nikolic BIH 2643 7 4-11 Nick de Firmian USA 2536 6 Ivan Sokolov NED 2677 6 Flóvin Þór Næs FAI 2324 6 Tomas Oral CZE 2537 6 Regina Pokorna SVK 2418 6 Róbert Harðarson ISL 2278 6 Frank Wuts NED 2308 6 Sævar Bjarnason ISL 2264 6 Further details: http://www.icechess.com/ |
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| London Chess Set Exhibition Sergei Karjakin, the youngest Grandmaster in chess history, played an Exhibition Tournament with 12 year old David Howell from Eastbourne, on Saturday 28 June 2003 to celebrate the opening of The Art of Chess at the Gilbert Collection. The game ended in a draw. UK TV Programme: Chess in Pieces - 21st Century Art was on Monday 7th July at 8.30 pm on BBC4 (tv). Chess in Pieces - 21st Century Art. The program was timed to coincide with The Art of Chess exhibition at the Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, London. There was some nice chess footage and some completely barmy artists on the programme. Internet coverage: http://www.gilbert-collection.org.uk D Howell - S Karjakin Gilbert Collection Exhibition 30' Sicilian Rossolimo 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bxd7+ Qxd7 5 c4 Nc6 6 Nc3 Nf6 7 d4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 e6 9 0-0 Be7 10 Be3 0-0 11 b3 a6 12 Qe2 Rfd8 13 Rfd1 Qc7 14 Rac1 Qa5 15 f3 Rac8 16 Na4 Nd7 17 Qd2 Qh5 18 Nc3 Nxd4 19 Bxd4 Ne5 20 Ne2 Nc6 21 Nf4 Qh6 22 Be3 Bg5 23 g3 Ne5 24 Kg2 Qf6 25 h4 Bh6 26 Qe2 Qe7 27 Nd3 Bxe3 28 Qxe3 Nc6 29 Nf4 Rd7 30 Rd2 Rcd8 31 Rcd1 Ne5 32 Nd3 Nc6 33 Qb6 h6 34 b4 e5 35 Nc1 Qe6 36 b5 Nd4 37 bxa6 bxa6 38 Nb3 Qxc4 39 Nxd4 exd4 40 Qxd4 Qxd4 41 Rxd4 Rc7 42 Kf2 Kf8 43 Ke2 Ke7 44 Rb1 Rc5 45 Rb6 a5 46 Ra6 h5 47 Kd3 d5 48 Ra7+ Ke6 49 Ra6+ Ke7 50 Ra7+ Ke6 draw |
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| White Nights The White Nights-2003 tournament took place in St. Petersburg 29th June - 8th July 2003. Nurlan Ibraev won the event with 6.5/9. Official Results in Russianand Games in PGN zipped both on the St. Petersburg Chess Federation site. |
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| Enghien-les-Bains 2003 The 2003 Enghien-les-Bains category 17 tournament took place June 13th-22nd 2003. Time control is 2 hours + 1 hour.Evgeny Bareev won with 6.5/9 with a performance of over 2800 half a point clear of Michael Adams who also gained rating points. The bottom four players lost rating points especially Vladimir Akopian. Games in PGN Round 9 (June 22, 2003) Adams, Michael - Akopian, Vladimir 1/2 61 C07 French Tarrasch Gelfand, Boris - Bauer, Christian 1-0 42 E07 Catalan Fressinet, Laurent - Polgar, Judit 1/2 46 B52 Sicilian Rossolimo Radjabov, Teimour - Lautier, Joel 1/2 15 D47 Queens Gambit Meran Korchnoi, Viktor - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 29 D23 QGA Final Standings: 1. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2734 6.5; 2. Adams, Michael g ENG 2723 6.0; 3. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2700 5.5; 4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2715 5.5; 5. Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2595 4.5; 6. Bauer, Christian g FRA 2582 4.0; 7. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2644 3.5; 8. Lautier, Joel g FRA 2666 3.5; 9. Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2703 3.0; 10. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI 2632 3.0; Website: http://enghien.free.fr |
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| European Championships The European Championships took place May 30th - June 14th 2003 in Silivri, Turkey. Zurab Azmaiparashvili won the men's event alone on 9.5/13. Round 1-13 Men's Games in PGN and PGN zipped (corrections Ljubomir Ftacnik) - Playoff Games in PGN Round 1-11 Women's Games in PGN and PGN zipped (some corrections) - Women's Playoff Games in PGN Round 13 (June 13, 2003) Bayram, Yakup - De Vreugt, Dennis 1/2 20 E15 Queens Indian Roiz, Michael - Karadeniz, Emre 1/2 31 A11 Reti Opening Grischuk, Alexander - Fedorov, Alexei 1/2 26 B32 Sicilian Labourdonnais Ivanchuk, Vassily - Alekseev, Evgeny 1-0 59 C66 Ruy Lopez Berlin Moiseenko, Alexander - Kharlov, Andrei 1/2 14 D56 Queens Gambit Lasker Galkin, Alexander - Kobalia, Mikhail 1/2 9 B42 Sicilian Paulsen Sulskis, Sarunas - Georgiev, Kiril 1/2 32 B50 Sicilian Defence Sutovsky, Emil - Aronian, Levon 1/2 50 B87 Sicilian Sozin Attack Sakaev, Konstantin - Malakhov, Vladimir 1/2 10 D14 Slav Exchange Azmaiparashvili, Zurab - Graf, Alexander 1/2 18 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian Final (Rd 13) Standings: 1 Azmaiparashvili Zurab 2678 GEO 9½ 2 Malakhov Vladimir 2672 RUS 9 3 Graf Alexander 2630 GER 9 4 Georgiev Kiril 2647 MKD 8½ 5 Kharlov Andrei 2581 RUS 8½ 6 Sakaev Konstantin 2664 RUS 8½ 7 Iordachescu Viorel 2550 MDA 8½ 8 Kobalia Mikhail 2639 RUS 8½ 9 Sulskis Sarunas 2578 LTU 8½ 10 Sutovsky Emil 2652 ISR 8½ 11 Aronian Levon 2606 ARM 8½ 12 Ivanchuk Vassily 2704 UKR 8½ 13 Galkin Alexander 2591 RUS 8½ 14 Moiseenko Alexander 2627 UKR 8½ 207 players Playoffs: Bronze-Silver Vladimir Malakhov 1.5-0.5 Alexander Graf (15m + 10s). WC Qualification playoffs were not played, they were supposed to be Alexei Fedorov vs. Ernesto Inarkiev and Sergei Tiviakov vs. Andrei Istratescu but the players felt that all 32 players tied on 8 points should be involved. Women's Final (Rd 11) Standings: 1 Cramling Pia 2470 SWE 8½ 2 Cmilyte Viktorija 2430 LTU 8½ 3 Kosintseva Tatiana 2457 RUS 8 4 Sebag Marie 2394 FRA 8 5 Socko Monika 2381 POL 8 6 Galliamova Alisa 2489 RUS 7½ 7 Stefanova Antoaneta 2550 BUL 7½ 8 Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2444 GER 7½ 9 Radziewicz Iweta 2428 POL 7½ 10 Peng Zhaoqin 2433 NED 7½ 11 Kosintseva Nadezhda 2417 RUS 7½ 115 players. Championship playoff Pia Cramling 1.5-0.5 Viktorija Cmilyte. Bronze Medal Rd1 Marie Sebag (to progress to rd2) 2-0 Monika Socko. Tatiana Kosintseva 1.5-0.5 Marie Sebag. Qualification places: Natalija Pogonina 2.5-1.5 Regina Pokorna. Natalija Pogonina 2-0 Inna Gaponenko. Joanna Dworakowska 3-1 Maria Velcheva. Sopio Tkeshelashvili 1.5-0.5 Alina Motoc. Svetlana Petrenko 1.5-0.5 Olga Alexandrova Internet coverage: http://www.tsf.org.tr/english/index.html |
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16th Ciudad de León Final Topalov - Ponomariov. Photo from press chief Zenón Franco Ocampos The 16th "Ciudad de León" chess tournament took place June 5th-9th 2003 in León, Spain. This year was a quadrangular knockout rapid tournament. Ruslan Ponomariov beat Vesselin Topalov in the final 2.5-1.5. The key game was game three where Topalov missed several winning opportunities in a very complex game and eventually lost on time in spite of a 10 second increment per move being available. Games in PGN Final 8th June 2003 Gm1 Topalov, Veselin - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 32 A29 English Four Knights Gm2 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 58 B67 Sicilian Rauzer Gm3 * (Topalov lost on time) Topalov, Veselin - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1 58 C18 French Winawer Gm4 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 41 E91 King's Indian Classical Semi-Final 2 7th June 2003 Gm1 Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 44 C92 Ruy Lopez Chigorin Gm2 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 39 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Gm3 Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1 48 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm4 Ponomariov, Ruslan - Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 39 D37 QGD 5.Bf4 Semi-Final 1 6th June 2003 Gm1 Karjakin, Sergey - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 51 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm2 Topalov, Veselin - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 72 A31 English Symmetrical Gm3 Karjakin, Sergey - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 85 C42 Petroff's Defence Gm4 Topalov, Veselin - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 112 A29 English Four Knights 2 semi-finals of 4 games - 20 minutes + 10 seconds per move. Schedule: Friday June 6th : First Semi final: Topalov - Karjakin Saturday June 7th Second Semi final : Ponomariov - Vallejo Sunday June 8th: Final. Play starts 4.30 pm. Official site: http://www.advancedchessleon.com and http://www.ajedrez.educaterra.com/ The 16th Ciudad de León started with the Karjakin vs. Topalov 4 game match. Karjakin lost game 1 after a truly terrible blunder, Topalov went 2-0 Karjakin won game 3 before Topalov drew the final game to win 2.5-1.5. Ponomariov vs Vallejo - game one drawn, Ponomariov won game 2 and 3 to go through he also won the final irrelevant game 4 to win 3.5-0.5. |
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Anand On-line Chat Photo © http://www.chathurangam.com On June 17 Vishwanathan Anand took part in an on-line chat on Chennaionline. Read transcript: http://www.chathurangam.com/news/anandchat.asp |
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| Svidler vs. Chernyshov The 7th Voronezh International Chess Festival (ALFA-ECO Cup Voronezh) takes place June 10th-21st 2003. Peter Svidler beat Konstantin Chernyshov 2.5-1.5 in a 4 game standard match and 3-1 in a rapid match. An open tournament with 110 players also takes place alongside. Games in PGN Internet coverage: http://www.relex.ru/~xuser/voronezh_open/ |
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| Dutch team championship 2003 The Playoffs for the Dutch team championship 2003 took place June 21st-22nd 2003. The Team of ZZICT from Breda was the favorite to win the event and duly did so with a crushing 8-2 in the final against HSG (Hilversum). Players in the event included: Dennis De Vreugt, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Friso Nijboer, Predrag Nikolic, Yasser Seirawan, Paul Van der Sterren, Mikhail Gurevich, Ivan Sokolov, Jan Timman, John Van der Wiel and Loek Van Wely. Live coverage: http://www.schaakbond.nl/nieuws/plof2003/index.htm |
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33rd Bosnian Tournament Sarajevo Ivan Sokolov beats Teimour Radjabov in round 5. Photo © Official Website The 33rd Bosnia Tournament took place May 17th-27th in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ivan Sokolov won his home town tournament with 6.5/9 and a near 2800 performance. Games in PGN Round 9 (May 27, 2003) Movsesian, Sergei - Kurajica, Bojan 1-0 40 B01 Centre Counter Shirov, Alexei - Damljanovic, Branko 1-0 43 C41 Philidor's Defence Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Sokolov, Ivan 1/2 57 C94 Ruy Lopez Breyer Bareev, Evgeny - Radjabov, Teimour 1/2 32 E97 King's Indian Classical Dizdarevic, Emir - Kozul, Zdenko 1/2 50 E94 King's Indian Classical Final Standings: 1. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2677 6.5; 2. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2659 6.0; 3. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2735 6.0; 4. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2680 6.0; 5. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2644 5.0; 6. Kurajica, Bojan g BIH 2551 4.5; 7. Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2734 4.5; 8. Kozul, Zdenko g CRO 2601 3.0; 9. Damljanovic, Branko g YUG 2587 2.0; 10. Dizdarevic, Emir g BIH 2491 1.5 Internet coverage: http://www.skbosna.ba/ |
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| St-Petersburg vs. the NAO Chess Club There was a distance chess match between St-Petersburg vs. the NAO Chess Club in Paris May 28th 2003, on the day of the 300th anniversary of Saint-Petersburg. St. Petersburg beat NAO Chess Club 2.5-1.5, Viktor Korchnoi won the only decisive game against Laurent Fressinet. Games in PGN Results Sergey Karyakin 1/2 Konstantin Sakaev Viktor Kortchnoi 1-0 Laurent Fressinet Teimour Radjabov 1/2 Peter Svidler Alexander Khalifman 1/2 Vladimir Kramnik The playing rate was 15 minutes plus an increment of ten seconds per move for the whole game. The arbiters Geurt Gijssen in Saint Petersburg and Yakov Damsky in Paris will supervise the event. There was a revolutionary clock system which transmitted the moves between the boards. The players were supposed to be responsible for making their opponents transmitted moves aswell as their own but arbiters eventually did it. Internet coverage: http://www.ruschess.com (in Russian and English) and http://www.nao-cc.com (in French). |
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| Einstein TV Admit Defeat Over Kramnik - Leko Einstein TV have admitted they have failed to find a sponsor for the Kramnik - Leko match, this in addition to the delays to the Kasparov - Ponomariov match means that the unification of the titles has hit the buffers. My suggestion. Take the 4 players put them in a 6 cycle (18 game) tournament winner takes all. Unification needs to happen, this would surely be an event with interest. |
