Recent reports on USCF’s finances both suggest that the move to Crossville, TN may come in under-budget, but that also it may have unpaid vendors elsewhere. Neither financial detail can be verified since both the budget and payables is currently board-only information.

FISCHER DRAMA

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's parliament granted former world chess champion Bobby Fischer citizenship Monday, enabling the fugitive American to settle in the tiny North Atlantic republic where he won the world title in 1972.

BUT WASHINGTON —  The United States demanded Tuesday that Japan hand over Bobby Fischer despite Iceland's move to accept the chess legend currently detained by Japanese immigration authorities since last July.

THEN an announcement that Fischer would be released at Midnight 23 March

AND Mainichi Daily News: The United States is "disappointed" Iceland has granted Bobby Fischer citizenship, but still wants to bring him to trial in his homeland, a U.S. Embassy in Tokyo spokesman told the Mainichi Daily News on Wednesday 3/23/05.  Press Attache Michael J. Boyle said the U.S. position on Fischer remained unchanged even if the Grand Master had been granted Icelandic citizenship, and continued, “Mr. Fischer is a fugitive from justice in the United States. There is a federal warrant for his arrest for violating sanctions against the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.”

SO Reykjavik: says that the statute of limitations for prosecuting Fischer over the 1992 U.S. grand jury has expired in Iceland.  At a press conference on arrival in Iceland Fischer declared that he was “finished with the corrupt chess world.”

The opening ceremony and sortition will take place 16th March at 6 p.m. Moscow time (+3 GMT) in the city chess club.  The rounds start at 3 p.m. Moscow time (+3 GMT), except the games where Astashov plays, these games start at 4 p.m.  The Saint-Petersburg Company Shahcom provides live coverage of games in the playing hall and at website www.ruschess.co

As usually the grandmasters will play every day one rapid game and one blindfold game of about one hour each.  Rest days March 23 and 28.

Chessville coverage   Download all the games   Official site

Political pressure has been steadily rising, from the Icelandic Parliament, the international community acting with the RJF Committee, but also by numerous questions within the Japanese Parliament.  A very terse message to the US Ambassador was written by Gardar Sverrisson, a political scientist, and was published in the Icelandic daily Morgunbladid.  It is to be noted that Iceland has an extradition treaty with the USA.  Read all about it in the Fischer Freedom Watch.

Chessville coverage   Download all the games   Official site

Icelandic Saga?

He also remembers Marcel Duchamp and Stanley Kubrick.

At the end of round 12 Garry Kasparov was 1.5 points clear of the field, with two rounds to go. Kasparov has 3 games won with the black pieces, and no other player has achieved a win with the black pieces for 12 rounds except Anand. In the final round Adams also achieved this distinction by beating Anand.

Final Standings:
1 Kasparov 8.0 / 12
2 Topalov 8.0
3 Anand 6.5
4 Leko 6.0
5 Adams 5.5
7 Vallejo Pons 4.0
7 Kasimdzhanov 4.0

And more Surprises: At the end of the tournament Kasparov announced in an often tearful press conference that he will retire from further serious play!

The Chess world is all agog with this announcement, mostly celebrating the career of perhaps the strongest player ever, but also looking forward to which players will now occupy this space at the top.

The official site was: www.ajedrezenlinares.com and only in Spanish, and which was ‘down’ a good amount of the time.

Participants: Peter Svidler, Etienne Bacrot, Alexander Grischuk, Alexey Dreev, Viktor Bologan, Rafael Vaganian, Lenier Domingues, Alexander Onischuk, Sergey Rublevsky and Daremen Sadvakasov.  Category XVIII.
 

Participants: Alexander Graf 2637, Jan Gustafsson 2616, Igor Khenkin 2604, Artur Jusupow 2582, Philipp Schlosser 2570, Klaus Bischoff 2555, David Baramidze 2550, Leonid Kritz 2547, Thomas Luther 2543 etc.

The tournament was won by Jussupow [pictured] with 7.0 points.

Participants : Almira Skripchenko 2459 FRA, Zawadzka Jolanta 2363 POL, Robert Fontaine 2537 FRA, Alexei Chernuschevich 2527 FRA.

Internet site: www.europe-echecs.com
Information provided by Jean-Michel Pechine

View games   Games in PGN
Internet site: www.beochess.org.yu
Information provided by Dragan Kotevski

Icelandic Saga?

The latest news is that while the Icelandic embassy in Tokyo holds
Fischer's Icelandic passport, the Japanese authorities have cut off all of his contacts with the outside world, including with lawyers, the media, and visitors. Two days ago they also prevented him meeting with Icelandic officials.  Another report says that Fischer has lost a lot of weight and is now ‘very thin.’

Its all about SPAIN!  First FIDE has announced that it will boycott Spain from future Fide events because of activities there at the last Olympiad, where a senior Fide official appears to have engaged in fisticuffs, and a bit of headbutting.  USCF are unlikely to boycott FIDE as an act of solidarity with the Spanish, one of the strongest chess countries in the world.  Perhaps they will restrict themselves to sending a memo?  But that’s enough about chess politics...

Meanwhile… The Super-Tournament at Linares is taking place from 23rd February to the 10th of March.

Round 9 Standings
1 Kasparov 5.5/8
2 Topalov 4.0/7
3 Anand 4.0/7
4 Leko 4.0/8
5 Adams 3.5/8
6 Kasimdzhanov 3.0/8
7 Vallejo Pons 2.5/7

Official site: www.ajedrezenlinares.com in Spanish.  On-Line transmission of the games together with GM commentary will be provided by www.ruschess.com in both English and Russian languages.  Chessville coverage

Round 6 Standings
1 Bologan 4.5
2 Grischuk 3.5
3 Bacrot 3.5
4 Onischuk 3.5
5 Dreev 3.5
6 Svidler 3.0
7 Vaganian 3.0
8 Rublevsky 2.5
9 Dominguez 2.5
10 Sadvakasov 0.5

Game replays at www.ruschess.com.  Official site: www.admoil.ru.  Chessville coverage          Download all the games

ICELANDIC PASSPORT FOR BOBBY FISCHER

Update:  The latest news is that the Icelandic Authorities had just decided to grant Fischer a special foreigners’ passport which would allow him to travel to western Europe.  Read the details in this update from the Icelandic RJF Committee.  If this measure to help Bobby Fischer out does not work the Althingi will proceed with citizenship.  Deputy Consul-General of China, Mr. Kuang Weilin, to Make First Chess Move.

Chess Queens to Face Off in the Big Apple

Accoona.com, the new SuperCool Artificial Intelligence Search Engine, announced it will present the Accoona World Women's Chess Championship on March 1, 2005, 5:00 p.m., at The ABC Times Square Studios, in the heart of New York City.  This world-class Chess event, sanctioned by the New York City Sports Commission, the US Chess Federation, and the Association of Chess Professionals, promises to be an exciting cultural exchange between China and America.

"On behalf of New York City I am proud to welcome the Accoona Women's Chess Championship to New York City," said New York City Sports Commissioner Ken Podziba. "Chess fans throughout China and worldwide will be watching closely as these champions square off in a battle of great minds," continued Podziba.  On Tuesday, March 1, two women, Grandmaster Zhu Chen, 27, the ninth Women's World Chess Champion from China, and International Master Irina Krush, 21, a rising American star, will play for the Accoona World Chess Championship in ABC's Times Square Studios at 46th Street and Broadway.

Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Peter Leko, Michael Adams, Francisco Vallejo Pons and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

Round 3 Standings:
1 Kasparov 2.0/3
2 Anand 1.5/2
3 Leko 1.5/3
4 Kasimdzhanov 1.5/3
5 Topalov 1.0/2
6 Adams 1.0/3
7 Vallejo Pons 0.5/2

Official site: www.ajedrezenlinares.com in Spanish.  On-Line transmission of the games together with GM commentary will be provided by www.ruschess.com in both English and Russian languages.  Chessville coverage
 

Aeroflot Open Chess Festival takes off again 14-24 February in Moscow. Prize fund: $175.000.

Among the participants: Etienne Bacrot FRA 2715, Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2711, Levon Aronian ARM 2684, Viktor Bologan MDA 2683, Konstantin Sakaev RUS 2677, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu ROM 2673, Emil Sutovsky ISR 2669, Teimour Radjabov AZE 2667, Alexander Motylev RUS 2665, Alexander Khalifman RUS 2662. The Aeroflot is part of the Official ACP Tour.

Final standings:
1 Sutovsky 6.5
2 Kharlov 6.5
3 Ivanchuk 6.5
4 Motylev 6.5
5 Akopian 6.5

Nothing happened in chess this week in the USA. Except that 5 times US Champion GM Larry Evans told a previous Chess Life editor, Larry Parr: “GM Evans told me he was interviewed recently by Japan TV (the BBC of Asia) for a new documentary they are making about Bobby [Fischer].”

Fischer has now spent 9 months in a Japanese prison, and it is unclear what basis there is for holding him from either Japanese or American Government sources, or of a potential future as an Icelandic citizen.

Fischer Freedom Watch

Round 4 leading pairings:

3.0 Kharlov - Ivanchuk 3.0
2.5 Eljanov - Akopian 2.5
2.5 David - Bologan 2.5
2.5 Van Wely - Ni Hua 2.5
2.5 Sutovsky - Filippov 2.5
2.5 Areshchenko - Mamedjarov 2.5

Official site: www.aeroflotchess.com

FIDE world championship in Ho Chi Minh City?

14.02.2005 The Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamnet, is reporting that the 2005 World Chess Championship will be held at the end of the year in Ho Chi Minh City.  "The National Committee for Sports and Physical Training and the HCMC People's Committee are organizing the event," writes the agency.

The Fide President also admitted a qualification to his statement, after being pressed by his interviewer: I confess I was under the impression that the Turkish Organizers raised the money only for the case that Kasparov would participate.

”Kasparov of course is a cult figure in chess, but the Government of Turkey was giving money for the World Championship,” replied Kirsan.

The “Cult figure” recently decided not to negotiate further with Fide on world championship unification, and to return his attention to chess activities. We should observe his next major participation at Linares.

Meanwhile, in Germany...

Dresdner Schachfruehling 2005 18-27 February.

Offene Europaeische Senioren-Mannschafts-Meisterschaft  18-25 February.

AOK-Sachsen-Cup 24-27 February.

1 Wells 6.5
2 Mchedlishvili 6.0
3 Meier 6.0
4 Reinderman 5.0
5 Baramidze 4.5
6 Heinz 4.5

The photo shows Peter Wells at left.

Play the Polgar Sisters in Las Vegas – June 9^th 2005

Official site: www.aeroflotchess.com

Among the participants: Etienne Bacrot FRA 2715, Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2711, Levon Aronian ARM 2684, Viktor Bologan MDA 2683, Konstantin Sakaev RUS 2677, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu ROM 2673, Emil Sutovsky ISR 2669, Teimour Radjabov AZE 2667, Alexander Motylev RUS 2665, Alexander Khalifman RUS 2662. The Aeroflot is part of the Official ACP Tour.

Important! Players and visitors should visit the official site to understand new visa regulations for Russia. The site currently lists 17 persons officially attending from the USA, as well as participants from countries around the world.

More Chess Events in Germany

Dresdner Schachfruehling 2005 18-27 February.

Offene Europaeische Senioren-Mannschafts-Meisterschaft - 18-25 February.

Sparkassen-Jungsenioren-Cup - 18-20 February 2005.

AOK-Sachsen-Cup 24-27 February.

Official site: www.schachfestival.de.  Information was provided by Falk Sempert, Vice-president of ZMD Schachfestival Dresden e.V.

Round 8 Standings

Official site: www.olympia-jugend-2008.steffans-schachseiten.de

The Parrot has become distracted by talking with an AI computer named Zed this week, could it be love at first flight?

Citing financial irregularities and other aspects of apparent favoritism The petitioners, who included V. Anand, said they would ensure that the game of chess did not suffer in the interim period as a result of the court order, and hoped that the AICF president and others would act speedily to appoint new office-bearers in place of Koya and Mazumdar and continue with efforts to develop the game in India.

1 Vescovi, Giovanni BRA 2645 3.0
2 Gelfand, Boris ISR 2696 3.0
3 Harikrishna, P IND 2632 3.0
4 Dominguez, Lenier CUB 2661 2.5
5 Volokitin, Andrei UKR 2685 2.0
6 Macieja, Bartlomiej POL 2618 1.5

Game replay viewer at: www.ruschess.com.
Official site      Chessville coverage

7.5 points 1 ARONIAN,Lev 2 EFIMENKO,Zahar 3 GEORGIEV,Kiril 4 SHIROV,Alexei 5 SUTOVSKY,Emil 6 ARESHCHENKO,Alexander

7.0 points 7 GORMALLY,Daniel  8 KOTRONIAS,Vasilios 9 NAKAMURA,Hikaru 10 SARGISSIAN,Gabriel

English player Danny Gormally is pictured after attaining his final GM norm to join the leaders on 6/8, Shirov, Spraggett,  Areshchenko, Sutovsky, Efimenko, Nakamura, and Sargissian Aronian, with two rounds to go. Gormally playing with the black pieces in round 7 against Ian Rogers found a nice shot with 29… Nc3.

ROGERS,I - GORMALLY,D
Gibtelecom Masters 2005 Caleta Hotel Gibraltar
(7.7), 31.01.2005

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 d5 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nge7 8.c4 0-0 9.cxd5 Nb4 10.Na3 a6 11.Be2 f5 12.g4 f4 13.Qe4 Nexd5 14.Nc4 Nf6 15.Qf5 b5 16.a3 bxc4 17.Bxc4+ Kh8 18.axb4 fxe3 19.fxe3 Nd7 20.Qh5 Nf6 21.Qh4 Ne4 22.Qxd8 Raxd8 23.Rh2 Bxb4 24.Ba3 a5 25.Bxb4 axb4 26.h4 Ra8 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 28.Bd5 Ra1+ 29.Ke2 Nc3+ 30.Kd3 Nxd5 31.Rf2 Ra8 32.Rf5 Re8 33.g5 g6 34.Rf7 Re7 35.Rf8+ Kg7 36.Rd8 Nb6 37.Ke4 Rd7 38.Re8 Kf7 39.Rh8 Ke6 40.Re8+ Re7 41.Rb8 Kd6 42.Kf3 e4+ 43.Kg4 Kc5 44.Kf4 Nd7 45.Rb7 Ne5 46.Kxe4 Nc4+ 0-1

Game replay viewer at: www.ruschess.com

Official site: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

"Jugend-olympiamannschaft" 5.Internationales Schach-Jugendtreffen takes place 04-11 February in Pulvermuehle, Germany.

Participants:  David Baramidze 2550 GER, Peter Wells 2519 ENG, Dimitri Reinderman 2517 NED, Mikheil Mchedlishvili 2515 GEO, Arik Braun 2463 GER, Ilija Balinov 2372 AUT, Georg Meier 2372 GER, Falko Bindrich 2326 GER, Ilja Brener 2321 GER, Axel Heinz 2317 GER.

Official site:
www.olympia-jugend-2008.steffans-schachseiten.de

The Corus Chess Tournament

...still dominates chess news around the world:  14th-30th January 2005 in Wijk-aan-Zee (Netherlands).

          1.-  Leko         8 / 12
          2.- Anand        7.5
          3.-  Topalov     7
          4-7  Grischuk, Polgar, Kramnik, Adams     6.5
          8-9  Bruzon, Ponomariov     6
        10-12  Short, Svidler, Van Wely     5.5
         13.-  Morozevich     4
         14.- Sokolov     3.5

Leading Corus B at Round 10 are:
1 Mamedyarov 7.5
2 Karjakin 7.5

Leading Corus C at Round 8 are:
1 L'Ami 8.0
2 Korotylev 7.5
3 Alekseev 7.5
4 Georgiev 7.5
5 Zhukova 7.5

GM Commentary of every other round in both English and Russian languages is at:  www.ruschess.com.

Chessville coverage
official web site

For Chess Professionals Only – ACP News Items:

Moscow Open 2005 - Are you a Grandmaster? The ACP announce an opportunity of free accommodation and board in a hotel which is situated close to the tournament hall. That is possible for minimal 10 Grandmasters with high rating who are members of ACP.

Contact: technical director of "Moscow Open 2005" Igor Glek (mcf05@mail.ru, igorglek@hotmail.com, +7(095)-3883328, +7(095)-2500441, mobile +7(903)-5593052, +49-179-7030605 (28.1 – 6.2, 11 – 13.2)

ACP is also calling for its members to vote:- "During our first year of practice the necessity to make amendments and addendums of the ACP statutes has become evident. We have prepared appropriate proposals and are asking all the members of our association to take part in the voting procedure concerning this important issue."

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

Jailed chess player Bobby Fischer suffered a damaging blow in his quest for freedom Wednesday morning after Justice Ministry lawyers told the Tokyo District Court they had no intention of letting him leave Japan for Iceland. Tsuyoshi Satake, lawyer for the Ministry of Justice, said the ministry wanted to continue the lawsuit in its current form, which requires Fischer be deported to the United States.

“As for unification, I cannot see an avenue to contribute further. For those who saw me as an obstacle, I will be one no longer. I am not giving up on chess. I will compete as well and as long as I am able to play my brand of chess. I will continue to serve chess and those who love our game. I have now held the #1 ranking for 20 years and I will defend my position against any opponent. My only retreat is from the battlefield of chess championship politics."

-  Garry Kasparov
Moscow – January 18, 2005

The Corus Chess Tournament!!!  HOORAY!!!

14th-30th January 2005 in Wijk-aan-Zee (Netherlands).  The traditional event at Wijk aan Zee often provides the best chess of the year – and this year is no exception.

Corus is providing some highly combative games from a selection of the world’s best players. One look at the bottom half of the standings [below] would make anyone think there has been a reporting mistake.  A taste of the intensity of competition came in the first round when J. Polgar defeated P. Svidler. And if you like miraculous escapes, see L. Polgar’s round 6 game.

4 points
L. Bruzon
V. Topalov
P. Leko
M. Adams

3½ points
A. Grischuk
V. Kramnik
V. Anand

3 points
J. Polgar
R. Ponomariov
L. van Wely

11. N. Short 2½ points
12. I. Sokolov 2 points
13. P. Svidler 1½
14. A. Morozevich ½

Live games broadcast:- www.coruschess.com.  Warning:- There have been a few problems with the viewer, no moves being displayed for as long as 30 minutes, and sometimes some of the pieces do not show up.

US Universities in the Northwest want to play distance-chess matches against other US universities, and also against universities overseas. Organizers please contact The Parrot.