THE WEEK IN CHESS 695 3rd March 2008 by Mark Crowther

1) Introduction

My thanks to Sinisa Joksic, Peter Doggers, Gerry Graham, Javier Rubio Doblas, George Mirijanian, Varlam Vepkhvishvili, Marika Japaridze, Malcolm Armstrong, Miklos Orso, Roman M. Parparov, Jose Manuel Blanco, Bill Townsend, Juan Rodriguez Rey, Sergey Bystrov, Lennarth Eriksson, Doug Bake and everyone else who helped with the issue.

Last week I was talking to someone and they asked me well, who is going to win Linares, and in the end I said without a huge amount of conviction it would be Anand. After four rounds in Linares I think I'm more confident that he will win. He's been rock solid and with a lead he's certainly very much the man to beat, I really can't see him returning to the field only a winning run from one of the other players will do it. The games have been interesting if a bit uneven. No-one seems in absolute top form but Anand certainly looks the best. Time and another three rounds will tell.

Hope you enjoy this issue.

Mark

2) Morelia - Linares Tournament

The Morelia - Linares tournament takes place 15th-23rd February (Mexican half) and then 28th February - 7th March 2008 (Spanish half). The first half has been completed and the players now fly to Spain and restart on Friday. Viswanathan Anand leads by half a point from Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov but with seven rounds to go almost everyone is still in with a chance of winning.

Alongside was the III Morelia Open tournament which took place 14th-17th February 2008 won by Alejandro Ramirez. No games seem to be available.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx/

XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares (MEX/ESP), 15 ii-7 iii 2008																	cat. XXI (2756)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	*	*	0	½	1	½	½	.	½	½	½	.	1	1	1	.	7	2848
2.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	1	½	*	*	0	.	0	1	½	½	1	½	½	.	½	.	6	2797
3.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	0	½	1	.	*	*	1	.	0	.	½	1	½	1	½	0	6	2796
4.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	½	.	1	0	0	.	*	*	½	½	1	½	0	1	1	.	6	2785
5.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2735	½	½	½	½	1	.	½	½	*	*	½	.	0	.	0	½	5	2725
6.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	½	.	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	.	*	*	½	.	1	1	5	2718
7.	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2755	0	0	½	.	½	0	1	0	1	.	½	.	*	*	½	½	4½	2694
8.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2753	0	.	½	.	½	1	0	.	1	½	0	0	½	½	*	*	4½	2686

Round 8 (February 28, 2008)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	57	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Aronian, Levon	- Topalov, Veselin	1-0	65	A29	English Four Knights
Radjabov, Teimour	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	39	E15	Queens Indian
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	40	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Round 9 (February 29, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	27	E15	Queens Indian
Carlsen, Magnus	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	80	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Topalov, Veselin	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	54	C63	Ruy Lopez Schliemann
Lékó, Peter	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	0-1	48	B19	Caro Kann
Round 10 (March 1, 2008)
Anand, Viswanathan	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	22	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Radjabov, Teimour	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	31	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	62	B87	Sicilian Sozin Attack
Shirov, Alexei	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	38	C89	Ruy Lopez Marshall
Round 11 (March 3, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	22	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Topalov, Veselin	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	34	D89	Gruenfeld Alekhine
Radjabov, Teimour	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	18	B18	Caro Kann
Lékó, Peter	- Carlsen, Magnus	1-0	62	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov

3) Ibero-Americano Championship

The II Ibero-Americano Championship has started its second phase in Linares, Spain 28th February - 8th March 2008. There are two double round robin groups of four players.

Official sites: http://www.fibda.com/ and http://www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx/

II ch-Ibero-Americano Gp A Linares (ESP), 15-19 ii 2008											cat. XIII (2571)
					1		2		3		4
1.	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2588	*	*	½	.	1	½	1	.	3	2754
2.	Hernandez Carmenates, Holden	g	CUB	2590	½	.	*	*	1	.	0	½	2	2563
3.	De la Riva Aguado, Oscar	g	AND	2548	0	½	0	.	*	*	1	.	1½	2494
4.	Flores, Diego	m	ARG	2558	0	.	1	½	0	.	*	*	1½	2492

II ch-Ibero-Americano Gp B Linares (ESP), 15-19 ii 2008											cat. XII (2550)
					1		2		3		4
1.	Iturrizaga, Eduardo	m	VEN	2470	*	*	½	1	0	.	1	.	2½	2653
2.	Bachmann, Axel	g	PAR	2505	½	0	*	*	1	.	1	.	2½	2636
3.	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	g	CUB	2607	1	.	0	.	*	*	½	0	1½	2465
4.	Vescovi, Giovanni	g	BRA	2617	0	.	0	.	½	1	*	*	1½	2460

4) 4NCL

The 4th weekend of the 4NCL took place 1st-2nd March 2008. My thanks to Malcolm Armstrong for the games.

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

4NCL 2007-8 Results Rounds 7-8
Round 7 1st March 2008
RD 7		SLOUGH SHARKS 1	2293	2 - 6	THE ADS	2325
1	w	Jones, Gawain C B	2562	½ - ½	Speelman, Jonathan S	2491
2	b	Rendle, Thomas E	2393	0 - 1	Davies, Nigel R	2480
3	w	Jessel, Stephen	2309	0 - 1	Mestel, A Jonathan	2470
4	b	Martyn, Rafe	2296	½ - ½	Richardson, John R	2310
5	w	Marlow, Michael	2269	0 - 1	Snape, Ian	2213
6	b	Muter, Donny	2232	½ - ½	Graham, David B	2216
7	w	Van Weersel, Arlette (F)	2168	½ - ½	Anderton, David	2251
8	b	Purton, Ben J	2112	0 - 1	Bellin, Jana (F)	2170
RD 7		BARBICAN 4NCL 1	2377	3 - 5	GUILDFORD-A&DC 1	2508
1	w	Parker, Jonathan	2535	½ - ½	Rowson, Jonathan	2580
2	b	Collinson, Adam	2385	0 - 1	Hebden, Mark L	2530
3	w	Devereaux, Maxim	2348	1 - 0	Conquest, Stuart C	2539
4	b	Collins, Sam	2394	1 - 0	Pert, Nicholas	2528
5	w	Knott, Simon	2374	½ - ½	Howell, David W L	2528
6	b	D'Costa, Lorin A R	2406	0 - 1	Kosten, Anthony C	2511
7	w	Ferguson, Mark	2412	0 - 1	King, Daniel J	2510
8	b	Lauterbach, Ingrid (F)	2159	0 - 1	Lalic, Susan (F)	2334
RD 7		NORTH WEST EAGLES 1	2239	4 - 4	RICHMOND	2203
1	w	Macak, Stefan	2361	0 - 1	Bates, Richard A	2375
2	b	Morrison, Graham	2319	½ - ½	Wall, Gavin	2305
3	w	Carleton, John J	2304	1 - 0	Bisby, Daniel L	2278
4	b	Coates, Kenneth G	2242	½ - ½	Franklin, Michael J	2243
5	w	Lyell, Mark	2221	1 - 0	Nixon, Thomas C M	2202
6	b	Hulmes, David I	2220	0 - 1	Meyer, Gordon	2154
7	w	Redmond, John	2210	1 - 0	Chevannes, Sabrina (F)	2074
8	b	Grigoryan-Lyell, Meri (def) (F)	2036	0 - 1	Allen, Dominic	1996
RD 7		WOOD GREEN	2283	3½-4½	BETSSON.COM	2386
1	w	Turner, Matthew J	2484	½ - ½	Hunt, Adam C	2466
2	b	Martin, Andrew D	2425	1 - 0	Ledger, Andrew J	2424
3	w	Sowray, Peter J	2346	0 - 1	Hunt, Harriet (F)	2457
4	b	Tiller, Bjorn	2389	0 - 1	Pert, Richard G	2461
5	w	Pein, Malcolm	2395	1 - 0	Ansell, Simon	2402
6	b	Rechel, Bernd	2415	1 - 0	Ledger, David J	2277
7	w	Hegarty, Sarah (F)	1967	0 - 1	Webb, Laurence E	2304
8	b	Cumming, Rhys	1845	0 - 1	Eames, Robert G	2294
RD 7		BARBICAN 4NCL 2	2279	3 - 5	HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1	2294
1	w	Rogers, Jonathan W	2347	0 - 1	Gordon, Stephen J	2501
2	b	Cox, John J	2375	0 - 1	Greet, Andrew N	2444
3	w	Lewis, Andrew P	2292	0 - 1	Hanley, Craig A	2434
4	b	Taylor, Martin R	2334	½ - ½	Therrien, Alex	2240
5	w	Berry, Neil	2319	½ - ½	Briscoe, Christopher	2268
6	b	Twyble, Michael S	2267	1 - 0	Lindner, Daniel	2237
7	w	Taylor, Peter	2246	½ - ½	McFarland, Robert S	2229
8	b	Bhatia, Kanwal K (F)	2054	½ - ½	Parmar, Amisha (F)	1995
RD 7		CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1	2214	2½-5½	GUILDFORD-A&DC 2	2410
1	w	Dearing, Eddie	2381	1 - 0	Cherniaev, Alexander	2491
2	b	Pinter, Gabor	2361	0 - 1	Shaw, John K	2458
3	w	Moskovic, David M	2273	0 - 1	Cornette, Matthieu	2491
4	b	Conlon, Joe	2205	0 - 1	Tissir, Mohamed	2444
5	w	Pickard, Charles	2203	0 - 1	Buckley, Graeme	2392
6	b	Eckersley-Waites, Adam	2199	½ - ½	Muir, Andrew J	2358
7	w	Cooley, Oliver	2106	1 - 0	Povah, Nigel E	2334
8	b	Broomfield, Lucy (F)	1983	0 - 1	Sandu, Mihaela (F)	2313
Round 8 2nd March 2008
RD 8		GUILDFORD-A&DC 1	2508	6½-1½	WOOD GREEN	2283
1	w	Rowson, Jonathan	2580	1 - 0	Turner, Matthew J	2484
2	b	Hebden, Mark L	2530	0 - 1	Rechel, Bernd	2415
3	w	Conquest, Stuart C	2539	1 - 0	Tiller, Bjorn	2389
4	b	Pert, Nicholas	2528	½ - ½	Martin, Andrew D	2425
5	w	Howell, David W L	2528	1 - 0	Sowray, Peter J	2346
6	b	Kosten, Anthony C	2511	1 - 0	Pein, Malcolm	2395
7	w	King, Daniel J	2510	1 - 0	Hegarty, Sarah (F)	1967
8	b	Lalic, Susan (F)	2334	1 - 0	Cumming, Rhys	1845
RD 8		HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1	2294	4 - 4	SLOUGH SHARKS 1	2290
1	w	Gordon, Stephen J	2501	½ - ½	Jones, Gawain C B	2562
2	b	Greet, Andrew N	2444	½ - ½	Rendle, Thomas E	2393
3	w	Hanley, Craig A	2434	0 - 1	Jessel, Stephen	2309
4	b	Therrien, Alex	2240	0 - 1	Martyn, Rafe	2296
5	w	Briscoe, Christopher	2268	1 - 0	Marlow, Michael	2269
6	b	Lindner, Daniel	2237	1 - 0	Muter, Donny	2232
7	w	McFarland, Robert S	2229	½ - ½	Van Weersel, Arlette (F)	2168
8	b	Parmar, Amisha (F)	1995	½ - ½	de Coverly, Roger	2092
RD 8		GUILDFORD-A&DC 2	2410	7 - 1	NORTH WEST EAGLES 1	2222
1	w	Cherniaev, Alexander	2491	½ - ½	Macak, Stefan	2361
2	b	Shaw, John K	2458	½ - ½	Morrison, Graham	2319
3	w	Cornette, Matthieu	2491	1 - 0	Lyell, Mark	2221
4	b	Tissir, Mohamed	2444	1 - 0	Coates, Kenneth G	2242
5	w	Buckley, Graeme	2392	1 - 0	Redmond, John	2210
6	b	Muir, Andrew J	2358	1 - 0	Hulmes, David I	2220
7	w	Povah, Nigel E	2334	1 - 0	Chin, Francis *	2275
8	b	Sandu, Mihaela (F)	2313	1 - 0	Morrison, Lynne (F)	1929
RD 8		THE ADS	2325	5 - 3	BARBICAN 4NCL 2	2263
1	w	Speelman, Jonathan S	2491	1 - 0	Berry, Neil	2319
2	b	Davies, Nigel R	2480	1 - 0	Lewis, Andrew P	2292
3	w	Mestel, A Jonathan	2470	1 - 0	Rogers, Jonathan W	2347
4	b	Richardson, John R	2310	0 - 1	Taylor, Martin R	2334
5	w	Snape, Ian	2213	1 - 0	Taylor, Peter	2246
6	b	Graham, David B	2216	0 - 1	Twyble, Michael S	2267
7	w	Anderton, David	2251	0 - 1	Dorrington, Christopher	2248
8	b	Bellin, Jana (F)	2170	1 - 0	Bhatia, Kanwal K (F)	2054
RD 8		BETSSON.COM	2366	3 - 5	BARBICAN 4NCL 1	2375
1	w	Hunt, Harriet (F)	2457	½ - ½	Parker, Jonathan	2535
2	b	Hunt, Adam C	2466	½ - ½	Collins, Sam	2394
3	w	Ansell, Simon	2402	½ - ½	Knott, Simon	2374
4	b	Ledger, Andrew J	2424	½ - ½	D'Costa, Lorin A R	2406
5	w	Pert, Richard G	2461	½ - ½	Ferguson, Mark	2412
6	b	Eames, Robert G	2294	0 - 1	Cox, John J	2375
7	w	Ledger, David J	2277	0 - 1	Devereaux, Maxim	2348
8	b	Ledger, Stephen C	2149	½ - ½	Lauterbach, Ingrid (F)	2159
RD 8		RICHMOND	2203	5½-2½	CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1	2214
1	w	Bates, Richard A	2375	1 - 0	Dearing, Eddie	2381
2	b	Wall, Gavin	2305	½ - ½	Pinter, Gabor	2361
3	w	Nixon, Thomas C M	2202	0 - 1	Moskovic, David M	2273
4	b	Franklin, Michael J	2243	½ - ½	Eckersley-Waites, Adam	2199
5	w	Bisby, Daniel L	2278	1 - 0	Pickard, Charles	2203
6	b	Meyer, Gordon	2154	1 - 0	Conlon, Joe	2205
7	w	Chevannes, Sabrina (F)	2074	½ - ½	Cooley, Oliver	2106
8	b	Allen, Dominic	1996	1 - 0	Broomfield, Lucy (F)	1983

4NCL 2007-8 Round 8 Standings
Team	+	=	-	Pts
GUILDFORD-A&DC 1	7	1	0	15
GUILDFORD-A&DC 2	7	0	1	14
BARBICAN 4NCL 1	6	1	1	13
BETSSON.COM	6	1	1	13
THE ADS	5	0	3	10
HILSMARK KINGFISHER 1	2	3	3	7
WOOD GREEN	2	2	4	6
RICHMOND	2	2	4	6
BARBICAN 4NCL 2	2	1	5	5
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 1	1	2	5	4
NORTH WEST EAGLES 1	0	2	6	2
SLOUGH SHARKS 1	0	1	7	1

5) First Saturday March

The First Saturday February GM-IM-FM closed tournaments take place in Budapest 1st-14th March 2008. (break 2nd March for team events)

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

FSGM March Budapest HUN cat. VIII (2448)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Bui Vinh	m	VIE	2482	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
2.	Antal, Gergely	m	HUN	2467	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2398
3.	Fodor, Tamas jr	f	HUN	2407	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	2500
4.	Ilincic, Zlatko	g	SRB	2561	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2442
5.	Kosic, Dragan	g	MNE	2511	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2445
6.	Llaneza Vega, Marcos	m	ESP	2445	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2511
7.	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	f	VIE	2398	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2467
8.	Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas	m	CAN	2442	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2561
9.	Szabo, Krisztian1	m	HUN	2500	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	2407
10.	Varga, Zoltan	g	HUN	2506	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	½	2383
11.	Wang Puchen	m	NZL	2383	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	½	2506
12.	Garbisu de Goni, Unai	m	ESP	2464	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
13.	Rajlich, Iweta	m	POL	2437	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
14.	Porat, Ido	f	ISR	2272	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

FSIM March Budapest HUN, 1-14 iii 2008 cat. II (2285)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3
1.	Lengyel, Bela	m	HUN	2261	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
2.	Szegi, Tomas		SVK	2293	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1
3.	To, Nhat Minh		HUN	2293	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
4.	Porat, Maya		ISR	2190	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2280
5.	Szamoskozi, Gabor		HUN	2280	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2190
6.	Szeberenyi, Adam	m	HUN	2350	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2293
7.	Werner, Dimo	m	GER	2293	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2350
8.	Balla, Tamas	f	ROU	2341	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	0
9.	Duong The Anh	f	VIE	2381	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	0
10.	Schmidt, Raul		ROU	2160	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	0
11.	Gara, Anita	wg	HUN	2325	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
12.	Llaneza Vega, Patricia	wm	ESP	2281	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
13.	Lorand, Norbert		HUN	2259	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

6) 25th Bled Chess Festival

The 25th Chess Festival BLED took place 23rd February - 2nd March 2008. Evgeny Sveshnikov won the event with 7/9.

Official site: http://www.sah-zveza.si/bled/2008/

25th Festival Open A Bled (SLO), 23 ii-1 iii 2008 Leading Final Round Standings:
Pl	Name	Ti	NAT	ELO	Pts	MBuch
1	Sveshnikov,Evgeny	GM	LAT	2506	7	38.5
2	Sebenik,Matej	IM	SLO	2479	6.5	40.0
3	Lenic,Luka	GM	SLO	2568	6.5	38.5
4	Drasko,Milan	GM	MNE	2540	6.5	36.5
5	Tratar,Marko	GM	SLO	2507	6.5	36.5
6	Romanishin,Oleg M	GM	UKR	2528	6	36.0
7	Pavasovic,Dusko	GM	SLO	2601	6	35.0
8	Sedlak,Nikola	GM	SRB	2568	5.5	41.5
9	Skoberne,Jure	IM	SLO	2484	5.5	40.0
10	Okhotnik,Vladimir	IM	FRA	2460	5.5	39.5
11	Dimitrov,Radoslav		BUL	2341	5.5	38.5
12	Barle,Janez	IM	SLO	2396	5.5	38.0
13	Zorko,Jure	FM	SLO	2333	5.5	35.0
14	Muzychuk,Mariya	WGM	UKR	2357	5.5	34.5
15	Klenburg,Mikhail	IM	UKR	2428	5	38.0
16	Dimitrov,Pavel	IM	BUL	2448	5	37.0
17	Cebalo,Miso	GM	CRO	2547	5	36.5
18	Soln,Primoz	IM	SLO	2384	5	36.0
19	Praznik,Niko	FM	SLO	2369	5	35.0
20	Srebrnic,Marko	FM	SLO	2321	5	32.5
21	Stojanovic,Andjelija	WIM	SRB	2310	5	31.5
22	Sakelsek,Tadej	IM	SLO	2461	5	31.0
23	Gombac,Jan	FM	SLO	2293	5	30.0
24	Martinovic,Sasa	FM	CRO	2363	4.5	34.5
25	Khmelniker,Ilya	IM	ISR	2469	4.5	34.5
26	Gjuran,Denis	FM	SLO	2309	4.5	34.0
27	Buzeti,Jernej	MK	SLO	2146	4.5	32.5
28	Lazar,Ales ml.	FM	SLO	2273	4.5	31.5
29	Praznik,Anton	FM	SLO	2289	4.5	31.0
30	Cepon,Dusan	MK	SLO	2220	4.5	29.5
31	Plenca,Julijan		CRO	2256	4.5	29.5
32	Jeraj,Zlatko	MK	SLO	2135	4.5	29.0
33	Jeran,Bostjan	MK	SLO	2173	4.5	29.0
34	Kizilkaya,Mehmet		TUR	2240	4.5	28.0
35	Kierzek,Matthias Dr.		GER	2128	4	30.0
36	Sirnik,Bostjan	I	SLO	2207	4	29.0
37	Grilc,Andrej	MK	SLO	2113	4	27.0
38	Kersic,Matej	MK	SLO	2199	4	25.0
54 players

7) 65th Polish Championship

The 65th Polish Chess Championship takes place in Lublin 25th February -9th March 2008. There is a three way tie on 5/7 with 6 rounds to go.

Official site: http://www.lzszach.lublin.pl/mpm2008/ There is live coverage.

65th ch-POL Lublin (POL), 2 ii-9 iii 2008																cat. XIII (2553)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Socko, Bartosz	g	POL	2635	*	.	.	½	½	1	½	.	½	.	1	.	.	1	5	2710
2.	Bartel, Mateusz	g	POL	2613	.	*	1	.	.	½	.	½	.	0	.	1	1	1	5	2690
3.	Gajewski, Grzegorz	g	POL	2594	.	0	*	.	.	½	1	.	.	½	.	1	1	1	5	2698
4.	Dziuba, Marcin	g	POL	2556	½	.	.	*	½	½	½	.	½	.	1	1	.	.	4½	2672
5.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2614	½	.	.	½	*	.	.	1	1	.	½	½	½	.	4½	2630
6.	Miton, Kamil	g	POL	2609	0	½	½	½	.	*	.	½	.	1	.	.	1	.	4	2606
7.	Macieja, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2617	½	.	0	½	.	.	*	½	.	1	½	.	1	.	4	2587
8.	Bobras, Piotr	g	POL	2581	.	½	.	.	0	½	½	*	½	.	½	.	.	1	3½	2560
9.	Heberla, Bartlomiej	g	POL	2506	½	.	.	½	0	.	.	½	*	½	½	.	½	.	3	2489
10.	Czakon, Jakub	m	POL	2504	.	1	½	.	.	0	0	.	½	*	.	0	.	1	3	2516
11.	Grabarczyk, Miroslaw	g	POL	2476	0	.	.	0	½	.	½	½	½	.	*	½	.	.	2½	2475
12.	Moranda, Wojciech	m	POL	2533	.	0	0	0	½	.	.	.	.	1	½	*	.	0	2	2391
13.	Lubczynski, Rafal	m	POL	2413	.	0	0	.	½	0	0	.	½	.	.	.	*	1	2	2419
14.	Szoen, Dariusz	m	POL	2491	0	0	0	.	.	.	.	0	.	0	.	1	0	*	1	2244

8) 65th Georgian Women's Championship

The 65th Georgian Women's Championship takes place in Tbilisi 28th February - 12th March 2008. News: Varlam Vepkhvishvili, games entered by Marika Japaridze my thanks for her help.

65th ch-GEO w Tbilisi GEO 28 ii-12 iii 2008 cat. IV (2329)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Dzagnidze, Nana	m	GEO	2429	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	1	1	.	.	1	4½	2669
2.	Charkhalashvili, Inga	wg	GEO	2369	.	*	½	½	.	.	1	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	4	2575
3.	Lomineishvili, Maia	m	GEO	2410	.	½	*	½	1	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	3½	2471
4.	Melia, Salome	wg	GEO	2362	.	½	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	½	.	3½	2513
5.	Guramishvili, Sopiko	wm	GEO	2300	.	.	0	.	*	½	.	1	.	1	.	.	.	1	3½	2464
6.	Khukhashvili, Sopiko	m	GEO	2387	½	.	.	.	½	*	½	.	½	1	.	.	.	.	3	2378
7.	Tsatsalashvili, Keti	wf	GEO	2214	.	0	.	.	.	½	*	½	.	.	½	1	.	.	2½	2348
8.	Tereladze, Sopiko	wm	GEO	2195	0	.	.	.	0	.	½	*	1	.	.	.	1	.	2½	2302
9.	Batsiashvili, Nino	wm	GEO	2317	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	0	*	.	1	½	.	½	2½	2337
10.	Khotenashvili, Bela	wg	GEO	2271	0	.	½	.	0	0	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	1	1½	2218
11.	Gvetadze, Sopio	m	GEO	2352	0	.	.	0	.	.	½	.	0	.	*	.	1	.	1½	2165
12.	Khurtsidze, Nino	m	GEO	2441	.	0	.	0	.	.	0	.	½	.	.	*	1	.	1½	2153
13.	Nikoladze, Sopio	wm	GEO	2251	.	0	.	½	.	.	.	0	.	.	0	0	*	.	0½	1977
14.	Khurtsilava, Inga	wm	GEO	2312	0	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	½	0	.	.	.	*	0½	1979

9) XII Israel University Winter Games

Roman M. Parparov reports: The XII Israel University Winter Games including three chess events were held in Eilat in the south of Israel, on the shore of the Red Sea, 24th-27th February 2008.

The chess events are held in memory of Shlomo Har-Zvi who was the manager of Tel-Aviv University Chess Club for many years till his untimely death a few years ago. He was an outstanding chess enthusiast and sponsor, and his family provides great prizes for this yearly memorial. Tel-Aviv University's club main chess team "ASA Shlomo Har-Zvi" also carries his name.

This year's event was held in the very heat of the chess activity in Europe, thus failing to attract the regular number of GM and IM guest entries of previous years. Also, only five institutions entered the team event.

The team event was won relatively easily by the Tel-Aviv University team who defeated all its opponents, including the strong Open University Team. Technion managed to put a decent bid fighting for second place.

After GM Zifroni from the Open University had to retire after the first event, the clear favorite of the field remained IM Gaby Lifshitz, who held his mark by scoring 100% in both rapid and blitz event. IM Lifshitz maintained his reputation of top class blitz player he earned by qualification into the World Blitz Championship held in Israel in 2006.

IA Dr. Mordechay Shorek seamlessly ran this competition with humble assistance of these lines' author.

ASA Team (25/02/2008) Final Standings (5 Team RR 20 min/game)
No	Name	Total	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5
1	Tel-Aviv	13.5	*	3.0	2.5	4.0	4.0
2	Open U.	11.0	1.0	*	2.0	4.0	4.0
3	Technion	10.5	1.5	2.0	*	3.0	4.0
4	Hertzliyah IDC	4.5	0.0	0.0	1.0	*	3.5
5	Wingate	.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	.5	*

Team lineup highlights: Tel-Aviv - IM G. Lifshitz, NM M. Botvinnik, FM Y. Stepak, WIM O. Vassiliev et al. Open U - GM D. Zifroni, IM A. Kundin et al.

Open ASA Active (26/02/2008) Final Standings (7 rounds 25 min/game)
Place	Name	Loc	Ti	Club	Score	Buch.	Berg.
1	Lifshitz, Gaby	2420	im	TAU	7	29.5	29.50
2	Botvinnik, Michael	2354		TAU	5.5	31.5	22.50
3	Zohar, Michael	2235		TAU	5	25.0	16.75
4-6	Zubrilov, Nikita	2095		Technion	4.5	30.5	16.25
	Kundin, Alex	2330	im	OpenU	4.5	27.5	16.00
	Golberg, Igor	2198		TAU	4.5	25.5	14.25
7-13	Kunin, Pavel	2234		TAU	4	32.0	15.50
	Vassiliev, Olga	2250	wim	TAU	4	30.0	13.50
	Goikhpis, Ilya	2083		Technion	4	28.5	11.00
	Ivanchenko, Pavel	2020		Guest	4	27.0	11.00
	Barenboim, Igor	2178		OpenU	4	26.5	14.50
	Filosof, Asi	1959		OpenU	4	26.5	13.75
	Lehocky, Victor	2112		Hertzliyah IDC	4	20.0	9.50
14-16	Ben-Dan, Itay	2080		Technion	3.5	28.0	13.25
	Tratatovici, Dan	2186		OpenU	3.5	27.5	10.75
	Felman, Haim	1580		Guest	3.5	17.5	7.25
17-20	Ben-Efraim, Enar	2000		OpenU	3	23.5	6.00
	Horowitz, Guy	1690		Hertzliyah IDC	3	22.5	4.50
	Yusupkhanov, Sadi	1828		OpenU	3	21.5	6.00
	Badalov, Arkady	1400		Wingate	3	18.0	3.00
21	Gottenstein, Yuval	1400		Hertzliyah IDC	2.5	22.0	3.75
22-24	Rabinovich, Dan	1879		Technion	2	25.0	6.50
	Almaraene, Manasek	1400		Wingate	2	21.5	2.00
	Nakash, Meayan	1400		Emek Izreel	2	18.0	1.00
25	Ben-Ami, Hana	1400		Hertzliyah IDC	1	22.5	0.00
26	Farkash, Tali	1400		Hertzliyah IDC	0	9.5	0.00

All players except Victor Lehocky (SVK) are ISR, and all ratings are local.

Open ASA Blitz (27/02/2008) Final Standings (9 rounds 5 min/game)
Place	Name	Loc	Title	Club	Score	Buch.	Berg.
1	Lifshitz, Gaby	2420	im	TAU	9	48.5	48.50
2	Botvinnik, Michael	2354		TAU	7.5	50.5	38.50
3	Kundin, Alex	2330	im	OpenU	6	49.0	29.25
4-7	Kunin, Pavel	2234		TAU	5.5	49.5	24.75
	Zubrilov, Nikita	2095		Technion	5.5	47.5	23.00
	Bereslavsky, Michael	2221		Technion	5.5	44.5	23.75
	Goikhpis, Ilya	2083		Technion	5.5	36.0	18.75
8-12	Vassiliev, Olga	2250	wim	TAU	5	49.0	22.00
	Parparov, Roman	2221		TAU	5	47.0	20.25
	Tratatovici, Dan	2186		OpenU	5	42.5	19.50
	Barenboim, Igor	2178		OpenU	5	33.5	16.50
	Roth, Yefim	2140		Technion	5	25.0	13.00
13-14	Golberg, Igor	2198		TAU	4.5	40.0	14.75
	Ivanchenko, Pavel	2020		Guest	4.5	38.0	19.75
15-20	Rosenstein, Maxim	2045		Bar-Ilan	4	44.0	16.00
	Lehocky, Victor	2065		Hertzliyah IDC	4	42.0	15.50
	Badalov, Arkady	1400		Wingate	4	41.5	8.00
	Filosof, Asi	1959		OpenU	4	40.5	15.50
	Ben-Efraim, Aner	2000		OpenU	4	36.0	11.00
	Shorek, Mordechay	1906		Guest	4	35.5	4.50
21-22	Yusupkhanov, Sadi	1828		OpenU	3.5	45.5	12.75
	Gottenstein, Yuval	1400		Hertzliyah IDC	3.5	39.5	6.25
23-24	Rabinovich, Dan	1879		Technion	3	29.5	5.00
	Almaraene, Manasek	1400		Wingate	3	29.0	4.50
25	Oren, Kfir	1400		Wingate	1	35.5	0.50
26	Rabukhin, Rami	1400		Guest	0.5	34.0	1.75

All players except Victor Lehocky (SVK) and Michael Bereslavsky (RUS) are ISR, and all ratings are local.

Contrary to previous years, individual student prizes weren't awarded for the blitz tournament this year.

10) US Amateur Team East

Bill Townsend reports: The U.S. Amateur Team tournaments were held over President’s Day weekend (February 16th-18th 2008) in four locations around the United States, but the East is where it all started in 1970 and it’s traditionally the largest by far. This year’s Team East, held in Parsippany, NJ, broke all previous records with 1251 players competing in 291 four-man teams. The previous record was set in 2005: 286 teams, 1205 players.

This year’s winner was actually a bit controversial: a team named "GGGg" featuring three grandmasters (Zviad Izoria, Eugene Perelshteyn and Roman Dzindzichashvili) and a 5 year old boy (Stephen Fanning) rated just 178. The grandmasters won all their games, except for a draw by Izoria in the final round, and they were the only team with a perfect 6-0 score.

All of which brings up the question: what are these grandmasters doing at an event with "Amateur" in its name? The rules state that the average team rating has to be below master strength (2,200 USCF) but beyond that, anything goes. There were other grandmasters playing in the event, among them former U.S. Champions Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Hikaru Nakamura and Arthur Bisguier.

There used to be a rule saying that there couldn’t be a rating difference of more than 1,000 points between boards three and four, but this was abandoned, at least in the East, some years ago. However that rule is still in place in some of the other Amateur Team events – would it be fair to let this stacked team in the Amateur Team playoffs? The whole matter was settled amicably – "GGGg" stepped aside in favor of the second place team, named simply "1.d4." This team was the only one to finish with 5½-½ and consists of: Daniel Yeager, Victor Shen, Scott Low and Jared Defibaugh. The setup of this team is much more traditional: only 214 rating points separate boards one and four.

This tempest in a teapot actually affected very few players, and a good time was had by all. Team East really is a unique event – average club players can find themselves across the table from some of the best players in the country, and yet it’s not a big money tourney – clocks and trophies are the only prizes.

11) XI Malaga Open

The XI Malaga Open took place 23rd February - 1st March 2008. Omar Almeida Quintana won the event on tie-break after 7 players finished tied on 7/9.

Official site: http://www.ajedrezmalaga.org/ and results updated at: http://chess-results.com/tnr10811.aspx

XI Open Malaga (ESP), 23 ii-1 iii 2008
Rk.	Name		FED	RtgI	Pts.	Buchholz	Rp
1	Almeida Quintana Omar	GM	CUB	2500	7,0	50,0	2573
2	Carlsson Pontus	GM	SWE	2501	7,0	49,5	2581
3	Jedynak Radoslaw	GM	POL	2525	7,0	48,5	2599
4	Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis	GM	ESP	2506	7,0	47,5	2580
5	Mirzoev Azer	GM	AZE	2518	7,0	46,5	2564
6	Perez Rodriguez Luis Manuel	IM	CUB	2432	7,0	45,0	2497
7	Jovanic Ognjen	GM	CRO	2491	7,0	43,5	2451
8	Herraiz Hidalgo Herminio	IM	ESP	2485	6,5	49,0	2509
9	Pakleza Zbigniew	IM	POL	2492	6,5	48,5	2482
10	Rivas Pastor Manuel	GM	ESP	2505	6,5	46,0	2501
11	Cori Jorge	FM	PER	2346	6,5	45,5	2445
12	Huerga Leache Mikel	FM	ESP	2440	6,5	45,0	2422
13	Guerra Bastida Diego	IM	ESP	2386	6,5	44,5	2460
14	Pilaj Herwig	IM	AUT	2374	6,5	40,5	2346
15	Kovacevic Slobodan	IM	SRB	2413	6,0	47,0	2411
16	Fernandez Romero Ernesto	IM	ESP	2462	6,0	46,0	2429
17	Dolezal Cristian	IM	ARG	2425	6,0	46,0	2412
18	Perez Garcia Rodney	IM	CUB	2427	6,0	45,0	2324
19	Strikovic Aleksa	GM	SRB	2543	6,0	43,0	2294
20	Shoker Samy	IM	FRA	2381	6,0	42,0	2339
21	Karim Ismael	FM	MAR	2347	6,0	41,5	2350
22	Cueto Johnny	IM	BOL	2312	6,0	41,0	2346
23	Paunovic Dragan	GM	SRB	2522	6,0	41,0	2248
24	Kislik Erik Andrew		USA	2216	6,0	40,5	2168
25	Cruz Ravina Francisco Javier	FM	ESP	2361	6,0	39,0	2257
26	Cruz Alvarez De Ron Dan		ESP	2246	6,0	35,5	2172
27	Simutowe Amon	IM	ZAM	2457	6,0	35,0	2281
28	Karlsson Lars	GM	SWE	2488	5,5	49,5	2408
29	Ivanov Jordan	IM	BUL	2371	5,5	47,5	2359
30	Gavilan Diaz Mario		ESP	2280	5,5	46,5	2284
31	Matamoros Franco Carlos S.	GM	ECU	2529	5,5	46,0	2405
	Lasinskas Povilas		LTU	2265	5,5	46,0	2423
33	Ris Robert	IM	NED	2386	5,5	44,5	2346
34	Rodriguez Lopez Rafael	IM	ESP	2285	5,5	44,5	2262
35	Cori T Deysi	WFM	PER	2201	5,5	44,0	2201
36	Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel	GM	ESP	2455	5,5	43,5	2220
37	Roeder Mathias	IM	GER	2461	5,5	43,0	2347
38	Ortega Ruiz Jose M.		ESP	2290	5,5	43,0	2271
39	Tate Emory	IM	USA	2390	5,5	43,0	2335
40	Berbatov Kiprian	FM	BUL	2195	5,5	43,0	2236
41	Piasetski Leon	IM	CAN	2308	5,5	42,5	2279
42	Naranjo Moreno Antonio		ESP	2257	5,5	42,0	2246
	Ramos Moreno Francisco Jose		ESP	2111	5,5	42,0	2215
44	Jimenez Martinez Jose Vicente		ESP	2200	5,5	40,5	2270
45	Fenollar Jorda Manuel	FM	ESP	2253	5,5	39,5	2212
46	Quillan Gary		ENG	2362	5,5	38,5	2117
47	Fandino Reyes Roquelina	WIM	CUB	2197	5,5	36,5	2026
48	Bolado Saez Sergio	FM	ESP	2367	5,5	36,5	2094
49	Doric Darko	IM	CRO	2465	5,0	47,0	2302
50	Cisnero Alvarez Juan Jose		ESP	2043	5,0	45,5	2234
161 players

12) Lendas do Xadrez tournament

The Lendas do Xadrez (Legends of Chess) tournament takes place February 29th - March 9th 2008 and is organised by the chess club ALEX (Associación Leopoldinense de Xadrez), at the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), their first international round robin tournament with 9 rounds and the possibility of IM norms. IMs include: Diego di Berardino (Brazil), Leandro Perdomo (Argentina) and Dan Cramling (Sweden).

http://www.lendasdoxadrez.kit.net/

Lendas do Xadrez Rio de Janeiro (BRA), 29 ii-9 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Di Berardino, Diego Rafael	m	BRA	2430	*	.	1	1	.	.	1	½	1	.	4½	2631
2.	Teixeira, Ricardo da Silva	f	BRA	2394	.	*	.	½	1	.	1	1	.	1	4½	2574
3.	Perdomo, Leandro	m	ARG	2354	0	.	*	0	.	.	1	.	1	1	3	2361
4.	Cramling, Dan	m	SWE	2425	0	½	1	*	.	0	.	.	1	.	2½	2334
5.	Chauca, Jose		PER	2186	.	0	.	.	*	1	0	1	.	½	2½	2211
6.	Fontes, Carlos Henrique Batista		BRA	2232	.	.	.	1	0	*	0	.	½	1	2½	2240
7.	Bottari, Raimondo		ITA	2178	0	0	0	.	1	1	*	.	.	.	2	2247
8.	Ferreira, Kleber Victor		BRA	2105	½	0	.	.	0	.	.	*	½	½	1½	2135
9.	Mascarenhas, Alberto Pinheiro	f	BRA	2263	0	.	0	0	.	½	.	½	*	.	1	2069
10.	Maia, Jose Eduardo Bastos O		BRA	2149	.	0	0	.	½	0	.	½	.	*	1	2014

13) 17th Eastern Class Championship

George Mirijanian reports: The 17th Eastern Class Championship took place on 29th February to 2nd March, 2008 in the Host Hotel at Cedar Lake in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, USA. Capturing first place with a score of 4.5-0.5 was GM Alexander Shabalov of Pennsylvania. GM Darmen Sadvakasov of Kazakhstan finished second with a 4-1 tally. Tying for third place with 3-2 performances were GM Sergey Kudrin of Stamford, Connecticut; U.S. Chess Federation-rated senior master Jorge Sammour-Hasbun of Providence, Rhode Island; FMs Braden Bournival of Manchester, New Hampshire, and William Kelleher of Watertown, Massachusetts; and IM James Rizzitano of Southborough, Massachusetts. The tournament drew 183 players in 8 sections and was directed by international arbiter William Goichberg for the sponsoring Continental Chess Association. He was assisted by USCF senior TD Robert Messenger of Nashua, New Hampshire. Complete crosstables are available at: http://masschess.org/

14) Young hopes of the North-West

Sergey Bystrov give details of the chess festival "Young hopes of the North-West" which took place in Kirishi (Leningrad region) 23rd-25th February. Participants: Kirill Alekseenko (born 1997) - silver medalist in the u10 Russian Championship, Championship of Europe 2007, Maria Butuc (1993) - Champion of Russia 2007 u14, Alexander Ganichev (1994) - silver medalist of the NW Russian region between boys under 12-14, Vadim Pischikov (1994) - winner of the Leningrad region Cup, Evgeny Polonovsky (1994) - Champion of NW region of Russia un to 12, Champion of Leningrad region un to 10, 12, 14, Vladimir Smirnov (1994) - Champion of Kirishi un to 14. During the festival there took place: the rapid chess tournament (23.02), classical chess tournament "Participants against computers" (23.02), round robin tournament "Chess 960" (24.02), Scheveningen tournament between participants and local team club "Kinef" (25.02), simuls by GM Evgeny Alekseev against the participants of Festival and GM Konstantin Sakaev against local chess club "Gambit". Shahcom Company provided live coverage of the games of the rapid chess and "Chess 960" tournaments in the playing hall and via Internet. The round started at 10 a.m. Moscow time (+3 GMT). Chess 960 (24 February) Rapid chess (23 February).

Further info: http://somovs-memorial.ru/sz/ and http://www.bs-chess.com/latin/english.html

ch-North-West Youth Rapid Kirishi (RUS), 23 iii 2008
					1	2	3	4	5	6
1.	Alekseenko, Kirill	f	RUS	2067	*	1	0	1	½	½	3	2139
2.	Polonovsky, Evgeny		RUS	2141	0	*	0	1	1	1	3	2125
3.	Ganichev, Alexander		RUS	2100	1	1	*	0	0	½	2½	2061
4.	Smirnov,Vladimir		RUS	----	0	0	1	*	1	½	2½	2081
5.	Pischikov,Vadim		RUS	----	½	0	1	0	*	1	2½	2081
6.	Butuc, Maria	wf	RUS	2098	½	0	½	½	0	*	1½	1912

15) German Championships

The 79th German Championship took place in Bad Woerishofen 15th-23rd February 2008. The event was won by the ELO favourite Daniel Fridman, a point clear of Klaus Bischoff. Note if you downloaded TWIC soon after it came out that I corrected (23:00GMT 26/2/08) in the games section the entry for Yakov Meister. I picked up the wrong player initially. It should be right in all versions now. My thanks to long time TWIC reader Christoph Pfrommer for pointing this out.

Official site: http://www.schachclub-tuerkheim-bw.de/

79th ch-GER Bad Woerishofen (GER), 15-23 ii 2008
Pl	Player	Ti	NAT	ELO	Pts	Av Op	Buchh
1.	Fridman,Daniel	GM	GER	2627	7.5	2475	46.0
2.	Bischoff,Klaus	GM	GER	2537	6.5	2506	48.5
3.	Kritz,Leonid	GM	GER	2592	6.0	2527	50.5
4.	Kunin,Vitaly	GM	GER	2538	6.0	2488	49.5
5.	Buhmann,Rainer	GM	GER	2570	6.0	2468	47.0
6.	Baramidze,David	GM	GER	2582	6.0	2461	49.0
7.	Henrichs,Thomas	IM	GER	2481	6.0	2449	42.5
8.	Gustafsson,Jan	GM	GER	2607	5.5	2492	49.5
9.	Markgraf,Alexander	FM	GER	2442	5.5	2490	46.0
10.	Chevelevitch,Evgueni		GER	2456	5.5	2455	47.5
11.	Siebrecht,Sebastian	IM	GER	2487	5.5	2452	44.0
12.	Zude,Arno	IM	GER	2452	5.5	2384	34.5
13.	Tischbierek,Raj	GM	GER	2487	5.5	2367	39.5
14.	Hausrath,Daniel	IM	GER	2507	5.0	2440	45.5
15.	Gschnitzer,Oswald,Dr.	IM	GER	2408	5.0	2423	42.0
16.	Huschenbeth,Niclas		GER	2437	5.0	2396	37.5
17.	Rotstein,Arkadij	GM	GER	2548	5.0	2366	39.0
18.	Levin,Felix	GM	GER	2563	5.0	2360	42.0
19.	Braun,Arik	IM	GER	2536	4.5	2500	48.0
20.	Jorczik,Julian	FM	GER	2286	4.5	2449	43.5
21.	Naumann,Alexander	GM	GER	2541	4.5	2441	44.0
22.	Lichmann,Peter		GER	2334	4.5	2436	42.5
23.	Schütze,Norman		GER	2317	4.5	2430	41.0
24.	Kachiani-Gersinska,Ketino	IM	GER	2395	4.5	2335	34.0
25.	Heinig,Wolfram,Dr.	FM	GER	2338	4.5	2330	37.0
26.	Tabatt,Hendrik		GER	2310	4.5	2284	33.5
27.	Meister,Jakob	IM	GER	2491	4.0	2439	46.0
46 players

16) Forthcoming Events and Links

Stockholm Ladies Open

The Stockholm Ladies Open tournament takes place 20th-25th March 2008. The prize money is over 100 000 Skr. The event has got the astonishing entry of s 60 WGMs and 47 WIMs and a total of 150 players making it the biggest women's event ever in Sweden and that mark may be a world one.

The Invitation are in english, Dutch and Russian http://www.scandinavian-chess.se/ and an update: http://www.scandinavian-chess.se/id_2008.asp?newsID=6

40th Belgrade Women's International

The 40th Belgrade Women's International takes place 3rd-11th. March 2008. Play takes place 16:00-21-00 local time.

Official site: http://www.beochess.org.yu

40th Belgrade Women's International 3-11 iii 2008 Players
Matveeva Svetlana	IM	RUS	2433
Bojkovic Natasa	IM	SRB	2408
Houska Jovanka	IM	ENG	2393
Foisor Cristina Adela	WGM	ROU	2412.
Chelushkina Irina	WGM	SRB	2357
Benderac Ana	WGM	SRB	2324
Stojanovic Andjelija	WGM	SRB	2310
Petrenko Svetlana	IM	MDA	2282
Makropoulou Marina	WGM	GRE	2250
Rakic Marija		SRB	2218

2nd Thun Open

The "Swiss Chess Tour 2008 continues in Thun with the 2nd "Rathaus Open Thun" May 9th-12th 2008. Thun is famous tourist town, 20 minutes from Bern by train, located on the lake of the same name. The venue is the Hotel-Restaurant "Rathaus" Thun, Open, Swiss system, 7 rounds and the games will last a maximum of 5 hours (40 moves for 2 hours and 30 minutes till the end). Prize are: 1.500 SF, 1.200, 900, 700, 500, 400, 300, 250, 200 and 150 SF. Special prizes for best Lady, senior (1947), junior(1988-91), schoolboy (1992) and 3 best local players. Entry fee 130 SF, FMs and juniors 60 SF, at the door 20 SF more (for everybody include GM, IM), GMs and IMs free. Venue: Hotel "City House". Time table: Round 1st 18.00-23.00 May 9th ; Rounds 2/3 09.30-14.30 and 15.00-20.00 May 10th; Round 4/5 9.30-14.30 and 15.00-20.00 May 11th; Rounds 6/7 09.30-14.30 and 15.00-20.00 May 12th; Closing ceremony May 12 at 20.30. Info: Beochess +41+62+965-46-50 (Robert Spoerri) or info@beochess.ch

Further info: http://www.beochess.ch

Cidade de Ferrol International

XXIII International Chess tournament Cidade de Ferrol Prizes : 14750 euros (different sections) Dates : 15th-20th July 2008 Time rate : 90’ + 30 Secunden Accomodation : 24,5 euros Full board in a Student house. There other posibilities. Entry: 30 euros . contact e-mail: xanrei@arrakis.es Other tournaments: Bernasque 3/7-12/7. Circuito Galego From 22/7 to 30/9

Further info: http://www.cfxadrez.org

X Sants Open

The X International Open of Sants, Hostafrancs and la Bordeta (Barcelona - Spain) takes place 22nd-31st August 2008. 10 round swiss system tournament with + 12.000 euros in prizes.

Other activities include a blitz tournament and rapid chess tournament with 1500 euros in prizes. Last year: 500 players from 40 countries including 70 titled players competed. There were 2 GM and 5 IM norms.

Details: http://http://www.cotxeres.org/open

19th Pobeskydi Chess Festival

The 19th Pobeskydi Chess Festival takes place 20th-24th March 2008 in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic. There will be at least two tournaments: - Round-robin with possibility to achieve IM and WGM norm - FIDE Open With very high probability, there will be more then one round-robin tournament.

Further details: http://www.chessfm.cz or more specifically in English at: http://www.chessfm.cz/English/Pobeskydi_eng/pobeskydi_e.php

FIDE Grand Prix Events

FIDE have announced their Grand Prix Circuit ( http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1588). The winner of the Grand Prix will play with the winner of the 2009 World Cup for the right to challenge the World Champion in 2010. Each Tournament will be a 14 player all play all. 14 players have the right to compete in the circuit and they have to play 4 of the 6 events (there will be local players too), these will be allocated to them.

Alexander Morozevich has declared he isn't playing in an interview in Sport Express and he claims Anand, Kramnik and Topalov won't play either although that has nothing to do with his decision. My doubts about this Grand Prix seem to be coming true. Reported in English at: http://www.chessdom.com/news/morozevich-grand-prix

FIDE Grand Prix 2008-9
Baku	AZE	April 20th - May 6th 2008
Krasnoyarsk *	RUS	July 30th - August 15th 2008
Doha	QAT	December 13th - 29th, 2008
Montreux	SUI	April 14th - 28th, 2009
Elista	RUS	August 1st - 17th, 2009
Karlovy Vary	CZE	December 7th - 23rd, 2009
* or other Russian city. Reserve cities are Istanbul and Teheran.

Grand Prix 2008-9 Qualified Players
No	Name	NAT	YroB	Ja08
1	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	1975	2799
2	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	1969	2799
3	Topalov, Veselin	BUL	1975	2780
4	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	1977	2765
5	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz	AZE	1985	2760
6	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	1972	2755
7	Leko, Peter	HUN	1979	2753
8	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	1969	2751
9	Aronian, Levon	ARM	1982	2739
10	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	1968	2737
11	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	1987	2735
12	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	1990	2733
13	Karjakin, Sergey	UKR	1990	2732
14	Kamsky, Gata	USA	1974	2726
Reserves
1	Adams, Michael	ENG	1971	2726
2	Svidler, Peter	RUS	1976	2763
3	Polgar, Judit	HUN	1976	2707
4	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	1983	2711

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes Each Event
Place	EUR	Points
1	30,000	140 + 40 bonus
2	22,500	130 + 20
3	20,000	120 + 10
4	15,000	110
5	12,500	100
6	11,000	90
7	10,000	80
8	8,500	70
9	7,500	60
10	6,000	50
11	5,500	40
12	5,000	30
13	4,500	20
14	4,000	10

Grand Prix 2008-9 Prizes for Final Standings (Best three events)
Pl	Prize (Euros)
1st	75,000
2nd	50,000
3rd	40,000
4th	30,000
5th	25,000
6th	20,000
7th	18,000
8th	16,000
9th	14,000
10th	12,000

Yerevan Open Rapid Chess Tournament 2008

The Chess Federation of Armenia is organizing an International Open Rapid Chess Tournament which takes place June 12th-15th, 2008, in Yerevan, Armenia. The event is organized simultaneously with the tournament "Chess Giants Yerevan 2008" with the participation of the world's top grandmasters.

The total prize fund of the open rapid tournament is 33000 USD with the following breakdown.

Breakdown of the Prize Fund
1st place	6 000 USD
2nd place	4 000 USD
3rd place	3 500 USD
4th place	2 500 USD
5th place	2 000 USD
6th place	1 800 USD
7th place	1 600 USD
8th place	1 500 USD
9th place	1 400 USD
10th place	1 300 USD
11th-20th	800 USD

Grandmasters and chess players with an Elo above 2450 will pay no entry fee. For the other participants the following fees are fixed: International Masters with an Elo up to 2450 30 USD Chess players with an Elo from 2301 to 2450 50 USD Chess players with an Elo from 2151 to 2300 70 USD Chess players with an Elo u