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Alekhine's Parrot

TheParrot Says…Welcome to the archive of the weekly leader of chess events around the world.  Chessville welcomes your Feedback to TheParrot on this week’s news by writing to TheParrot@Chessville.com where selected letters will be featured.

More Alekhine's Parrot Archives

3-25-2006

Chess News USA:

Furor at USCF:

Fiery Issue #1: A new editor of Chess Life Mr. Lucas has summarily fired columnists GM Evans, GM Rohde, GM Byrne. In comments about the Evans column, he thought that it was ‘played out’, whereas by more objective method, that column has always been the most popular in the magazine! One reader wrote:

“During the years I was reading CL, the GM Larry Evans' column was the most striking feature of the magazine.  It was CL's signature, fingerprint, something that made CL unique, different from other mags.”

Fiery Issue #2: Just to keep it simple, ex-editor Pehme wrote a voluntary public letter which also recommended firing GM Polgar. Mr. Pehme’s attention to the 7% female participation in chess in the USA is somewhat equivocal, as was his commissioning of the infamous ‘Budapest report’, and private enthusiasms.

Fiery Issue #3: And for truly simple minds, a USCF delegate said that if Susan Polgar writes her own column, ‘the lady has one big case of narcissim’, and also accused her of not writing her own messages or columns.

Fiery Issue #4: A board member Don Schultz, said he did not even know about the firings until he read about it in a newsgroup. It is a wonder that Chess Life can be regarded as being the communication vehicle of USCF if board members don’t know radical shifts are going on, to reflect radical policy shifts?  Schultz’s statement is either unbelievable because such a major decision cannot surely be made on a whim of a new guy? Or it is unbleiveably passive for the board not to be involved in the policy for which the magazine is the vehicle. Either way, his statement is unbelievable.

Fiery Issue #5: Where’s the beef?

In other investigations of how many adult rated USCF members actually played a rated game of chess in the past 12 months, the Parrot’s own number of 10,500 provided by a USCF source, Mike Nolan, was disputed by another record keeper Tom Martiniak. The question was simple, how did 2005 compare with 1970? In subsequent discussion it was resolved with a USCF data keeper that:-

a) 'nobody actually knows'
b) that the current USCF number of 10,500 was an estimate, not a measurement, and no one knows current numbers of adult rated players
c) the estimated numbers do not reflect all adult members
d) it is unknown what proportion of adult members the estimate does reflect
e) no one knows anything about 1970 either, except from writers at that time //eg, Horowitz, who mentioned about ‘8,000 players’.

f) USCF according to Martiniak doesn’t know the age of its players, but according to Nolan ‘the USCF know the ages of over 95% of its current members.’

Chess News WORLDWIDE:

Not chess, but … Marina Litvinovich, an aide to Russian opposition politician Garry Kasparov and a former head of the electoral headquarters of the liberal SPS party was badly beaten on a Moscow street on Monday evening. She says the attack may be linked to her work with the victims of the Beslan and Nord-Ost crises.

The Women`s World Chess Championship 2006 takes place in Ekaterinburg, Russia 10th-27th March 2006. 64 participants in knockout system:

Round 6 (final) 23-27 March:
Galliamova - Xu Yuhua 0-1
Round 5 (semifinal):
Cmilyte - Galliamova 1/2,0-1
Matveeva - Xu Yuhua 1/2,0-1
Round 4 (quarterfinal):
Galliamova - Khurtsidze 1-0,1-0
Matveeva - Sebag 1/2,1-0
Kovalevskaya - Xu 1/2,1/2,0-1,1/2
Chiburdanidze - Cmilyte 1-0,0-1,0-1,0-1

Caption: Maya Chiburdanisdze who quipped:

I have many other interests but for chess.  Chess is my hobby though the most serious one.  In fact I’ve been thinking of leaving sports.  But I still can’t do it , you see” (laughing).

Official site: www.womenchess.com

 

The 15th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament will be held in Monaco March 18-30 2006. The players are: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Viswanathan Anand g IND 2792 (1969), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Boris Gelfand g ISR 2723 (1968), Alexander Morozevich g RUS 2721 (1977), Alexander Grischuk g RUS 2717 (1983), Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982), Loek Van Wely g NED 2647 (1972), Peter Heine Nielsen g DEN 2644 (1973). Vladimir Kramnik withdrew from the event because of health problems. The prizefund is Euro 216.000

The 7th Poikovsky in the name of Anatoly Karpov tournament takes place March 19-27 2006. The participants are: Ruslan Ponomariov g UKR 2723 (born 1983), Alexei Shirov g ESP 2709 (1972), Evgeny Bareev g RUS 2698 1966, Alexey Dreev g RUS 2697 (1969), Ivan Sokolov g NED 2689 (1968), Sergey Rublevsky g RUS 2665 (1974), Vadim Zvjaginsev g RUS 2664 (1976), Viktor Bologan g MDA 2661 (1971), Evgenij Najer g RUS 2652 (1977) and Alexander Onischuk g USA 2650 (1975).

Round 5 standings:
1-4 Shirov, Rublevsky, Zvjaginsev, Najer - 3.0
5-8 Bareev, Dreev, Sokolov, Ponomariov - 2.5
9 Onischuk - 2.0
10 Bologan - 1.0

The 15th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament is held in Monaco March 18-30 2006. The players are: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Viswanathan Anand g IND 2792 (1969), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Boris Gelfand g ISR 2723 (1968), Alexander Morozevich g RUS 2721 (1977), Alexander Grischuk g RUS 2717 (1983), Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982), Loek Van Wely g NED 2647 (1972), Peter Heine Nielsen g DEN 2644 (1973). Vladimir Kramnik withdrew from the event because of health problems. The prizefund is Euro 216.000
Round 5 combined standings:
1 Morozevich 6.0
2 Leko 6.0
3 Anand 5.5
4 Vallejo 5.5
5 Aronian 5.0
6 Grischuk 5.0
7 Nielsen 5.0
8 Topalov 5.0
9 Van Wely 4.5
10 Ivanchuk 4.5
11 Gelfand 4.5
12 Svidler 3.5

3-18-2006

Chess News North America

A rumor circulating this week had Chess Live going out of business – this rumor has now been substantiated. USCF have made no official statement at this time. Former head of Chess Live, Joel Berez, is now head of ICC.
Another rumor has suggested that a USCF alternate delegate as the mysterious [and indecent] impersonator of other chess writers in some chess newsgroups.
Alexander Onischuk became the US Champion after the final match vs Yury Shulman, which he won with 1.5:0.5.  Anna Zatonskih took the title among women defeating Rusadan Goletiani 1.5:0.5 in the women's final. Just announced is the participation of Alex Onishuk in the Poikovsky / Anatoly Karpov tournament in March (see below) The U.S. Chess Championship took place in San Diego March 1st-12th 2006.

Next Big Thing:  The Susan Polgar Foundation proudly presents the First Annual Susan Polgar World Open Chess Championship for Girls under 21 as part of the Las Vegas International Chess Festival. Still time to sign up!  Information courtesy Susan Polgar.  More information can be found at www.SusanPolgarFoundation.org.

Chess News Around the World

Acting on a complaint by the German Chess Federation the FIDE Ethics Commission and Hungarian Chess Federation get heavy with a fraudulent tournament that included many high-ranked players.

The indicted Tournament, Kali Cup GM 2004, was a complete fraud. Such an event did not take place.  Disciplinary Committee elected by the GA of HCF has taken the following disciplinary measures:

  • IM Istvandi, Lajos organizer of the event in question has been forbidden to organize arbitrate and to participate in all chess events for two years.

  • IA Fazekas, Gyorgy who contributed creating the report for the request of the organizer has been forbidden to arbitrate at any chess event for one and a half years.

  • One-year suspension from tournament play beginning March 1, 2006: IM Vadim Eschenko (Ukraine), IM Timofey Galinsky (Ukraine), GM Mato Damjanovic (Croatia), GM Attila Czebe (Hungary)

  • Two and a half years suspension from tournament play beginning March 1, 2006: IM Miroslav Shvarts

  • Two and a half years suspension from arbiting or organizing tournaments: IM Lajos Istvan, IM Gyorgy Fazekas

The 7th Poikovsky / Anatoly Karpov tournament takes place March 19-27 2006. The participants are: Ruslan Ponomariov g UKR 2723 (born 1983), Alexei Shirov g ESP 2709 (1972), Evgeny Bareev g RUS 2698 1966, Alexey Dreev g RUS 2697 (1969), Ivan Sokolov g NED 2689 (1968), Sergey Rublevsky g RUS 2665 (1974), Vadim Zvjaginsev g RUS 2664 (1976), Viktor Bologan g MDA 2661 (1971), Evgenij Najer g RUS 2652 (1977) and Alexander Onischuk g USA 2650 (1975).  Official site

The Women`s World Chess Championship 2006 takes place in Ekaterinburg, Russia 10th-27th March 2006.  64 participants in knockout system: Stefanova Antoaneta GM BUL 2499, Koneru Humpy GM IND 2537, Cramling Pia GM SWE 2515, Kosteniuk Alexandra GM RUS 2514, Chiburdanidze Maia GM GEO 2511, Xu Yuhua WGM CHN 2502, Lahno Kateryna IM UKR 2500, Zhu Chen GM CHN 2482, Kosintseva Nadezhda IM RUS 2480, Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman IM/WG IND 2479, Kosintseva Tatiana IM RUS 2479, Socko Monika IM POL 2475, Cmilyte Viktorija IM LTU 2475, Zhao Xue WG- CHN 2473, Qin Kanying WGM CHN 2469, Galliamova Alisa IM RUS 2467, Dembo Yelena IM GRE 2461, Skripchenko Almira IM FRA 2461, Kovalevskaya Ekaterina IM RUS 2458, Mkrtchian Lilit IM ARM 2453, Dzagnidze Nana IM GEO 2452, Krush Irina IM USA 2447, Javakhishvili Lela IM GEO 2444, Zhukova Natalia WGM UKR 2432, Khurtsidze Nino IM GEO 2430, Matveeva Svetlana IM RUS 2428, Korbut Ekaterina WGM RUS 2427, Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan IM GEO 2426, Danielian Elina IM ARM 2423, Paehtz Elisabeth IM GER 2422, Zaiatz Elena IM RUS 2422, Radziewicz Iweta IM POL 2421, Kononenko Tatiana WGM UKR 2417, Sebag Marie IM FRA 2415, Peng Zhaoqin GM NED 2407, Foisor Cristina Adela IM ROM 2402, Zielinska Marta WGM POL 2398, Ushenina Anna WGM UKR 2398, Vasilevich Irina IM RUS 2386, Wang Yu A. WGM CHN 2385, Shen Yang CHN 2380, Turova IM RUS 2379, Amura Claudia N. WGM ARG 2366, Ovod Evgenija IM RUS 2366, Ruan Lufei CHN 2361, Pina Sulennis WGM CUB 2358, Houska Jovanka IM ENG 2355, Lujan Carolina WGM ARG 2346, Purtseladze Maka IM GEO 2341, Aketaeva Dana WIM KAZ 2330, Kursova Maria WIM RUS 2319, Pourkashiyan Atousa WIM IRI 2296, Ju Wenjun CHN 2290, Meenakshi S. WGM IND 2289, Berezina Irina IM AUS 2285, Hou Yifan WFM CHN 2269, Arribas Maritza WGM CUB 2261, Zapata Karen WIM PER 2218, Hoang Xuan Thanh Khiet WIM VIE 2196, Rivera Ingris COL 2128, Khoudgarian Natalia WIM CAN 2106, Basta-Sohair F. WIM EGY 2083, Sabure Tuduetso WGM BOT 2072, Mezioud Amina ALG 1989.  Official site
The 15th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament will be held in Monaco March 18-30 2006. The players are: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Viswanathan Anand g IND 2792 (1969), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Boris Gelfand g ISR 2723 (1968), Alexander Morozevich g RUS 2721 (1977), Alexander Grischuk g RUS 2717 (1983), Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982), Loek Van Wely g NED 2647 (1972), Peter Heine Nielsen g DEN 2644 (1973). Vladimir Kramnik withdrew from the event because of health problems. The prizefund is Euro 216.000
The Championships of Russia: juniors under 20 is taking place in Cheboksary 1-13 March. The tournament comprises round robin tournaments with 12 participants, the title is for Champions.  Official site Result: Boris Grachev and Elena Tairova became the Champions of Russia under 20.
Obituary: Chess Master Peter Manetti died in Guerneville, Sonoma County, California on March 8, 2006 of prostate cancer. He succumbed after a long illness. Two years ago he was given six months to live. He outlived his prognosis.

3-11-2006

Chess News North America

The U.S. Chess Championship takes place in San Diego March 1st-12th 2006.  There are two groups of 32 players, the winners of each will meet in a final for the title.  These matches are of two games of rapid chess, with blitz tiebreaks.  Group A top participants: Onischuk Alexander g 2650, Nakamura Hikaru g 2644, Ibragimov Ildar g 2635, Akobian Varuzhan g 2600, Finegold Banjamin m 2563, Goldin Alexander g 2598, Stripunsky Alexander 2564, Kudrin Sergey g 2554, Benjamin Joel g 2576, Dlugi Max g 2531, De Firmian Nick g 2547, Serper Gregory g 2517, Gurevich Dmitry g 2503.

Group A Round 8 Leaders

No.  T Name USCF FIDE  
Pts
1 GM Onischuk, Alexander 2686 2650   6.5
2 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2774 2644   5.5
3 GM Ibragimov, Ildar 2707 2635   5.5
4 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2662 2600   5.5
5 GM Stripunsky, Alexander 2642 2564   5.5
6 GM Goldin, Alexander 2642 2598   5.0
7 GM Kudrin, Sergey 2627 2554   5.0
8 IM Fernandez, Daniel 2424 2423   5.0

Alexander Onischuk

Yuri Shulman

Group B Round 8 Leaders

No. T Name USCF FIDE  
Pts
1 GM Shulman, Yury 2623 2581   6.5
2 GM Kamsky, Gata 2729 2686   5.5
3 GM Christiansen, Larry 2633 2546   5.5
4 GM Shabalov, Alexander 2665 2595   5.0
5 GM Novikov, Igor 2643 2575   5.0
6 GM Fishbein, Alexander 2593 2519   5.0
7 GM Yermolinsky, Alex 2590 2554   5.0

Self-Indulgent Favorite Photo-Section from US Open and Music Too!  First here’s ‘Terminator’ Alex Stipunsky, then Emory Tate Jr. 19-year-old Batchimeg Tuvshintugs who was born in Mongolia, and Anna Zatonskih:


In a series of responses to set questions with the players Boris Gulko admits that there is nothing currently playing on his MP3 player, whereas Dean Ippolito admits to “I’m a Little Teapot”, and Alex Ivanov admits liking Joe Dassin. 2455-rated Josh Friedel from Goffstown NH is doing Voodoo Child by Hendrix. Laura Ross, 17 from Forest Hills NY is into “Que Onda Guera” by Beck. Leaders Onishuk isn’t listening to anything but Shulman is into ‘some Russian music.’

Current standings     *  Download all the games
Rules and regulations     *  Official site
Chessville's Special Preview Report

Next Big Thing:  The Susan Polgar Foundation proudly presents the First Annual Susan Polgar World Open Chess Championship for Girls under 21 as part of the Las Vegas International Chess Festival, June 16 - 18, 2006 | Las Vegas, Nevada.  Format: 6 SS | Sections: Under 21, 15, 13 and 10 (as of June 14, 2006).  Time control: G/45.  Information courtesy Susan Polgar.  More information can be found here.

Chess News Around the World

The second half of the tournament in Linares (Spain) begans 3rd March.  The prize fund is 380.000 Euros. Participants: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Etienne Bacrot g FRA 2717 (1983), Teimour Radjabov g AZE 2700 (1987) and Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982).  Stuggling Topalov, near the bottom of the table, got off to a great start against when the games resumed in Spain after he had not scored well in Mexico, in fact he was on the bottom of the table.  Then he beat Petr Svidler by scoring a whole point with the black pieces, then in the next game beat Bacrot with the black pieces, then in the next beat Aronian with the white pieces, then stabilized his position near the top of the table with 2 draws; AND THEN…
...with one round to go the seemingly impossible happens, from the bottom of the table Topalov moves directly to the top. This is the play of a strong world champion hitting his championship form play against an extremely strong field.  In the final round, Leko, with the white pieces, managed to lose to Aronian in 40 moves.  One of the best performances of his career, our congratulations to Levon Aronian!

Final standings

1.    Aronian     8.5 / 14
2-3  Topalov, Radjabov     8
4.     Leko     7.5
5-6  Ivanchuk, Svidler     6.5
7.     Bacrot     6
8.     Vallejo    5

Chessville coverage

Download all the games

The Championships of Russia: juniors under 20 is taking place in Cheboksary 1-13 March. The tournament comprises round robin tournaments with 12 participants, the title is for Champions of Russia, boys and girls. The highest ranked male player is Elo 2586, and female 2349.
 

Round 8 standings:
     1 Savchenko 5.0
     2 Tomashevsky 5.0
     3 Vitiugov 5.0
     4 Nepomniachtchi 5.0
Official site

The Hungarian Championship took place in Szekesfehervar, 1st-9th March 2006.
Zoltan Almasi became the Champion.
Official site

Final standings:
  1 Almasi Zoltan g 2646 - 6.5
  2-3 Gyimesi Zoltan g 2602, Balogh Csaba g 2561 - 5.5
  4-6 Berkes Ferenc g 2597, Ruck Robert g 2540, Cao Sang g 2543 - 5.0
  7 Sax Gyula g 2539 - 4.5
  8 Szabo Krisztian m 2447 - 3.0
  9-10 Portisch Lajos g 2533, Horvath Adam g 2532 - 2.5

The Polish Championship took place in Krakow 25th February - 9th March 2006.  Mateusz Bartel took the title.  Official site

Final standings:
1 Bartel Mateusz g 2524- 8.5
2-5 Socko Bartosz g 2610, Wojtaszek Radoslaw g 2605, Bobras Piotr g 2531, Macieja Bartlomiej g 2585 - 7.0
6 Czarnota Pawel m 2497 - 6.5
7 Heberla Bartlomiej m 2487 - 6.0
8-10 Dziuba Marcin m 2491, Gajewski Grzegorz m 2486, Markowski Tomasz g 2565 - 5.5
11 Kempinski Robert g 2619 - 5.0
12 Grabarczyk Miroslaw g 2479 - 4.0
13 Warakomski Tomasz f 2430 3.5

3-4-2006

Chess News North America

U.S. Chess Championship takes place from March 1-12 in San Diego, California.  Of the 64 players taking part only 19 were born in the USA!

* Results by round: 1 2
* Current standings
* Download all the games

* Rules and regulations
* Official site

Chessville's Special Preview Report

2006 U.S. Junior Chess Congress - Breaks Attendance Record!

260 chess enthusiasts under the age of 19 participated this past weekend in the 2006 U.S. Junior Chess Congress.  The six round national chess championship was held at the East Middle School in Anderson, Indiana under the direction of Chief Tournament Director Scott Reisinger.  The 260 chess players represented only eight US states!  The championship was divided up into six sections for individual winners as well as team competition.  The winners of each section were:

18 & Under:
1st - Matthew Fouts (IN) 5 points.
Team winner: Terre Haute South Vigo HS (Terre Haute, IN)

16 & Under:
1st - Evan Hanley (IN) 5 points.
Team winner: Lafayette Jefferson HS (Lafayette, IN)

14 & Under:
1st - Gautam Nagendra 5 points.
Team winner: Canterbury School (Ft. Wayne, IN)

12 & Under:
1st - Boris Xu (GA) 6 points (perfect score)
Team winner: Sycamore School (Indianapolis, IN)

10 & Under:
1st - Sean Vibbert 5.5 points.
Team winner: Evansville Chess Club (Evansville, IN)

8 & Under:
1st - Stevan Kriss (KY) 5.5 points.
Team winner: Kentucky Knights Chess Club (KY)

Finals results for all players will be posted at the official website soon.

Chess News Around the World

And this year at Linares the tournament is divided into 2 parts: the first half of the tournament took place in Morelia (Mexico).

Standings after round 9:

     1.- Leko     6 / 9
     2.-  Aronian     5.5
     3-5  Radjabov, Topalov, Svidler     4.5
     6-7  Ivanchuk, Vallejo     4
     8.-  Bacrot     3

Chessville coverage

The second half in Linares (Spain) began 3rd March.  The prize fund is 380.000 Euros.  Participants: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Etienne Bacrot g FRA 2717 (1983), Teimour Radjabov g AZE 2700 (1987) and Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982). 

Stuggling Topalov got off to a great start against Svidler by scoring a whole point with the black pieces, and Bacrot also scored a point with black against Ivanchuk.  The other two games were drawn.

The Championships of Russia: juniors under 20 is taking place in Cheboksary 1-13 March. The tournament comprises round robin tournaments with 12 participants, the title is for Champions of Russia, boys and girls. The highest ranked male player is Elo 2586, and female 2349.  Official site


The Cappelle la Grande tournament took place 18th-25th February 2006.

Final Standings:
1 Moiseenko Alexander g UKR 2657 7.5
2 Gashimov Vugar g AZE 2625 7.0
3 Goloshchapov Alexander g UKR 2533 7.0
4 Azarov Sergei g BLR 2581 7.0
5 Drozdovskij Yuri g UKR 2509 7.0
6 Grigoriants Sergey g RUS 2550 7.0
7 Sasikiran Krishnan g IND 2670 7.0
8 Burmakin Vladimir g RUS 2519 7.0
9 Szelag Marcin m POL 2468 7.0

2-25-2006

Chess News Podcast:  Mostly for beginners, but an interesting demonstration of technology for chess, are podcasts available from Alexandra Kosteniuk: http://www.kosteniuk.com/podcast/

Chess News North America

1088 chess enthusiasts made up 272 teams to compete in the 2006 U.S. Amateur Team East (USATE) Chess Championship held at the Parsippany Hilton Feb. 18-20 in Parsippany, New Jersey.

     1st Place:    My G8 Predecessors
     2nd Place:   UTD White
     3rd Place:    Mike Khodarkovsky’s Tycoons
     4th Place:    The Fed Express
     5th Place:    Hikaru Wins the Games

My G8 Predecessors secured first place and will represent the USATE in an online playoff against the other three winners from the: 2006 U.S. Amateur Team Mid-West (USATMW), 2006 U.S. Amateur Team West (USATW) and 2006 U.S. Amateur Team South (USATS). Details for the playoff will be announced soon, say USCF.

Chess News Around the World

And this year at Linares the tournament is divided into 2 parts: the first half of the tournament took place in Morelia (Mexico) February 18th-26th 2006, at the Palacio de Clavijero in the city of Morelia, Michoacan.  The second half in Linares (Spain).  The prize fund is 380.000 Euros. Participants: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Etienne Bacrot g FRA 2717 (1983), Teimour Radjabov g AZE 2700 (1987) and Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982).  The web site also offers information on two other tournaments to take place in Morelia.  See Official site in Mexico: www.moreliachess.com.     Chessville coverage

Before this round currently famous player Topalov was infamous!  He sat at the bottom of the table, with Svidler and Leko playing confidently and clear leaders at the top.  Then came two Round 5 Queen pawn openings with very different results…

It must feel fantastic for Toppy to bounce back into the race with a fine win with the black pieces over Ivanchuk, who seemed to retreat his pieces after the opening, allowing Toppy the two bishops in a semi-open position, then allowed simplifying play to allow black to activate all his pieces and to comprise white's k side position; a shot at move 36 with a temporary knight sac settled the game result at move 40.

Meanwhile Svidler couldn't hold Aronian even though his game seemed completely equal at move 30, by move 35 Svidler had sacked a pawn, and also allowed White to gain a supported passed-pawn, apparently thinking he still had a draw in hand, but he had to resign the black pieces at move 38.

Its interesting that even though he lost this game Svidler is still in clear 2nd place, a half point from the lead. Speculation on Leko and Svidler has always been that one of them would become world champion. In the aftermath of Kasparov’s era in chess the world waits for a new player to emerge and claim the crown by consistently demonstrated high level play, and this will be the chess agenda for Topalov, Svidler and Leko over the next few years.

Round 5 standings:
     1 Leko 4.0
     2 Svidler 3.5
     3 Aronian 3.0
     4 Ivanchuk 2.0
     5 Bacrot 2.0
     6 Topalov 2.0
     7 Radjabov 2.0
     8 Vallejo Pons 1.5
The Cappelle la Grande tournament takes place 18th-25th February 2006.  Partcipants: Sasikiran Krishnan g IND 2670, Delchev Aleksander g BUL 2661, Moiseenko Alexander g UKR 2657, Korneev Oleg g RUS 2649, Gashimov Vugar g AZE 2625, Miroshichenko Evgenij g UKR 2619, Guseinov Gadir g AZE 2607, Baklan Vladimir g UKR 2601, Roiz Michael g ISR 2599, Riazantsev Alexander g RUS 2594, Popov Valerij g RUS 2592, Rozentalis Eduardas g LTU 2582, Azarov Sergei 2581, Brodsky Michail g UKR 2581, Spraggett Kevin g CAN 2581, Golod Vitali g ISR 2577, Erenburg Sergey g ISR 2573, Luther Thomas g GER 2569, Andersson Ulf g SWE 2562, Shengelia Davit g GEO 2562, Sorokin Maxim g RUS 2560 etc.

Round 6 leaders standings:
     1 g Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2657 5.5
     2 g Gashimov Vugar AZE 2625 5.0
     3 g Goloshchapov Alexander UKR 2533 5.0
     4 g Luther Thomas GER 2569 5.0
     5 g Vysochin Spartak UKR 2551 5.0
     6 g Drozdovskij Yuri UKR 2509 5.0
     7 g Grigoriants Sergey RUS 2550 5.0
     8 g Azarov Sergei BLR 2581 5.0
     9 g Malakhatko Vadim UKR 2556 5.0
     10 g Belikov Vladimir RUS 2528 5.0
     11 g Kulaots Kaido EST 2558 5.0
     12 g Shengelia Davit GEO 2562 5.0

Then come 24 very strong players all at 4.5 points.  Official site


The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship 2006 will take place in Ekaterinburg, Russia from 10-27 March 2006.

The list of 64 final participants is posted at: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=951

2-18-2006

Chess News North America

Highly recommended:  A selection of pictures from Mark Taimanov’s photo album is current appearing at www.chessbase.com, with a few anecdotes about famous players and politicians, including one of Mark Taimanov and Larry Evans with Che Guevara looking on.  For more about this legendary Russian GM and former World Championship candidate, see his 20 Questions interview, and his annotations to Taimanov-Fischer, 1971 World Championship Quarterfinal Candidate's Match, in the March 2004 Lesson's Learned: A Defeat Which Could Not Be Forgotten.

Chess News Around the World

The official website of the European Chess Championship 2005 (Zegrze Poludniowe / Warsaw / Poland) http://www.eurochamp.pl/film/index.html  is featuring a 20-minute film devoted to that event. The film was originally broadcast in Stockholm's local channel, in Sweden, on the 18th of July 2005. Viewing requirements: Flash8.

Krzymowski Chess TV Production, is the biggest chess TV producer in the world. They have produced and aired over 30 hours of chess material in Stockholm's local channel, in Sweden, and produce reports from tournaments, make interviews and compose chess films.   You can contact them by e-mailing tv@mittischack.se , or telefax: +46-8-106811. It is also possible to mail to: Krzymowski Chess TV, Box 2071, 103 12 Stockholm, Sweden.  Information courtesy: Bartlomiej Macieja.

On Again: Match on a title of the World Chess Champion between Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) will take place in mid September this year in Elista (Kalmykia) according to a press-conference by the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. It is planned that contracts with participants will be signed in the near future. The match will consist of 12 games with the 7-hour time control. In case the match results in a draw after 12 games, additional games will be played until one of the players wins a game. The prize fund of 1.2 dollars will be divided 50/50 between participants irrespective of the result. The winner of this match will be included in the general system of carrying out the World Chess Championships.
And this year at Linares the tournament is divided into 2 parts: the first half of the tournament takes place in Morelia (Mexico) February 18th-26th 2006, at the Palacio de Clavijero in the city of Morelia, Michoacan.

The second half in Linares (Spain).  The prize fund is 380.000 Euros. Participants: Veselin Topalov g BUL 2801 (born 1975), Peter Svidler g RUS 2765 (1976), Levon Aronian g ARM 2752 (1982), Peter Leko g HUN 2740 (1979), Vassily Ivanchuk g UKR 2729 (1969), Etienne Bacrot g FRA 2717 (1983), Teimour Radjabov g AZE 2700 (1987) and Francisco Vallejo Pons g ESP 2650 (1982).  The web site also offers information on two other tournaments to take place in Morelia. See Official site in Mexico: www.moreliachess.com

The Aeroflot Open took place in Moscow 8th-17th February 2006. Among participants: Shakhrijar Mamedjarov g AZE 2709, Vladimir Akopian g ARM 2704, Alexei Dreev g RUS 2697, Vladimir Malakhov g RUS 2694, Areshchenko Alexander g UKR 2670, Krishnan Sasikiran g IND 2670, Zahar Efimenko g UKR 2666, Dmitry Jakovenko g RUS 2662, Viorel Bologan 2661, Alexander Khalifman g RUS 2660, Arkadij Naiditsch 2657, Alexander Moiseenko g UKR 2657, Pavel Eljanov g UKR 2655, Artem Timofeev g RUS 2653, Aleksej Aleksandrov g BLR 2653, Evgeniy Najer 2652, Zvaid Izoria g GEO 2652, Konstantin Sakaev g RUS 2649, Karen Asrian g ARM 2646, Bu Xiangxi g CHN 2645, Kiril Georgiev g BUL 2645, Alexander Motylev g RUS 2638, Evgeny Alekseev g RUS 2634 etc.  The winner of this event will take part in Dortmund tournament.
Leaders Final standings:
1    Jobava 6.5
2    Bologan 6.5
3    Sasikiran 6.5
4    Mamedyarov 6.5
5    Eljanov 6.0
6    Vachier-Lagrave 6.0
7    Petrosian 6.0
8    Akopian 6.0
9    Georgiev 6.0
10  Naiditsch 6.0
11  Jakovenko 6.0


Baadur Jobava

Several Chess stars were in Moscow, including Evgeny Sveshnikov, and Alexandra Kosteniuk.  Official site
 

2-11-2006

Chess News North America

United States Chess Federation’s Scholastic Director Jerry Nash has announced the return of a stand-alone publication to address the needs of the scholastic community. The target audience of the new bi-monthly Chess Life, Jr. (CLjr) will be students age 12 and younger, but will also have articles of interest for parents, teachers, and coaches.  CLjr will coordinate its presentation with the USCF website, to expand its coverage of events across the country and around the world.  Former Chess Life editor Glenn Petersen will be the editor of the new publication, premiering April, 2006.

Chess News Around the World

Happy Birthday!  Mark Taimanov is 80!  As a professional pianist Mark Taimanov was included in the top 1000 best musical performers of 20th century.  In his ‘other’ career Chessville had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing him a few years ago in 20-Questions format, and also receiving his contribution to Lesson’s Learned, which featured his 3rd match game against Robert James Fischer (A Defeat Which Could Not Be Forgotten) a game that achieved possibly the most complex position in chess from the C20th?
The German Championship takes place in Osterburg 2nd-12th February 2006.  The participants: Gustafsson Jan GM 2614, Jussupow Artur GM 2605, Graf Alexander GM 2604, Khenkin Igor GM 2595, Luther Thomas GM 2569, Prusikin Michael GM 2563, Kritz Leonid GM 2561, Baramidze David GM 2544, Naumann Alexander GM 2532, Sprenger Jan-Michael IM 2505, Meister Jakov IM 2502, Tischbierek Raj GM 2466, Kunin Vitaly IM 2462, Meins Gerlef IM 2446, Heinemann Thies IM 2443, Henrichs Thomas IM 2434 ... 46 players.
 

Round 8 leaders:
1 Kritz 6.0
2 Khenkin 5.5
3 Henrichs 5.5
4 Kunin 5.5
5 Luther 5.5
6 Jussupow 5.5

Official site: www.chess-international.de/ticker/dem2006/index.html
The information was given by Franz Jittenmeier.

The Aeroflot Open takes place in Moscow 8th-17th February 2006. Among participants: Shakhrijar Mamedjarov g AZE 2709, Vladimir Akopian g ARM 2704, Alexei Dreev g RUS 2697, Vladimir Malakhov g RUS 2694, Areshchenko Alexander g UKR 2670, Krishnan Sasikiran g IND 2670, Zahar Efimenko g UKR 2666, Dmitry Jakovenko g RUS 2662, Viorel Bologan 2661, Alexander Khalifman g RUS 2660, Arkadij Naiditsch 2657, Alexander Moiseenko g UKR 2657, Pavel Eljanov g UKR 2655, Artem Timofeev g RUS 2653, Aleksej Aleksandrov g BLR 2653, Evgeniy Najer 2652, Zvaid Izoria g GEO 2652, Konstantin Sakaev g RUS 2649, Karen Asrian g ARM 2646, Bu Xiangxi g CHN 2645, Kiril Georgiev g BUL 2645, Alexander Motylev g RUS 2638, Evgeny Alekseev g RUS 2634 etc.  The winner of this event will take part in Dortmund tournament.  Official tournament of the ACP Tour.  Official site
Just finished is The Cuernavaca Young Masters round robin tournament in Mexico 1st-11th February 2006.  The participants: Ponomariov Ruslan g UKR 2723, Volokitin Andrei g UKR 2665, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2660, Bruzon Lazaro g CUB 2650, Vallejo Pons Francisco g ESP 2650, Nakamura Hikaru g USA 2644, Dominguez Lenier g CUB 2638, Cheparinov Ivan g BUL 2625, Felgaer Ruben g ARG 2607, Leon Hoyos Manuel m MEX 2428.  Official site  (Spanish language site).  Final standings:
 
1
Vallejo Pons, Francisco - GM
2650
ESP
6.5
 
Ponomariov, Ruslan - GM
2723
UKR
6.5
3
Nakamura, Hikaru - GM
2644
USA
6.0
4
Domínguez, Leinier -GM
2638
CUB
5.5
5
Bruzón, Lázaro - GM
2650
CUB
5.0
6
Volokitin, Andrei - GM
2665
UKR
4.5
7
Cheparinov, Ivan - GM
2625
BUL
4.0
8
Karjakin, Sergey - GM
2660
UKR
3.5
9
León, Manuel - IM
2428
MEX
2.0
10
Felgaer, Rubén - GM
2607
ARG
1.5

The International Moscow festival "Moscow Open 2006" took place in Moscow 29th January - 6 February.  The organizer of the event is Moscow Chess Federation.  Dreev Alexei g RUS 2697, Aleksandrov Aleksej g BLR 2653, Belov Vladimir g RUS 2608, Winner = Alexander g RUS 2594, Riazantsev Alexander g RUS 2594, Bocharov Dmitry g RUS 2590, Khismatullin Denis g RUS 2576, Rustemov Alexander g RUS 2573, Amonatov Farrukh g TJK 2564 etc. The prize fund is 700000 rubles (about $25000).
 

Final Standings:
     1 Lastin, Alexander 7.5
     2 Grachev, Boris 7.5
     3 Rychagov, Andrey 7.0


Official site

2-4-2006

Chess News North America

USCF membership Numbers: are posted, courtesy Peter Nixon at http://detroitchess.com/USCFmem2.htm

A late notice of an LA Open Tournament: This coming first Sunday of the month, Feb. 5th, will be the occasion of a free, unrated, open, three-round chess tournament. Cash prizes will *NOT* be awarded.

The Library's address and contact information is:

     Exposition Park Regional Library
     3665 South Vermont Avenue
     Los Angeles, California 90007
     Tel: 1 323 732 0169
     Fax: 1 213 612 0540

Chess News Around the World

Just started is The Cuernavaca Young Masters round robin tournament in Mexico 1st-11th February 2006. The participants: Ponomariov Ruslan g UKR 2723, Volokitin Andrei g UKR 2665, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2660, Bruzon Lazaro g CUB 2650, Vallejo Pons Francisco g ESP 2650, Nakamura Hikaru g USA 2644, Dominguez Lenier g CUB 2638, Cheparinov Ivan g BUL 2625, Felgaer Ruben g ARG 2607, Leon Hoyos Manuel m MEX 2428.

Round 1:
Ponomariov - Nakamura 1/2
Volokitin - Vallejo Pons 1/2
Cheparinov - Karjakin 1/2
Bruzon - Dominguez 1/2
Leon Hoyos - Felgaer ½
I’m not going to comment on 5 games 5 draws. Let’s call it nerves.  Round 2 was more decisive:
 

1

Karjakin, Sergey

1/2 - 1/2

Domínguez, Leinier

2

Felgaer, Rubén

1/2 - 1/2

Bruzón, Lázaro

3

Vallejo Pons, Francisco

1 - 0

León, Manuel

4

Nakamura, Hikaru

1 - 0

Volokitin, Andrei

5

Cheparinov, Ivan

1/2 - 1/2

Ponomariov, Ruslan

Chessville coverage     Official site (Spanish)

The Gibtelecom Chess Festival took place 24th January - 2nd February 2006 in Gibraltar. The participants: Shirov Alexei g ESP 2709, Akopian Vladimir g ARM 2704, Short Nigel g ENG 2676, Bologan Viktor g 2661 MDA, Kobalia Mikhail g 2654 RUS, Georgiev Kiril g 2645 BUL, Gurevich Mikhail g 2629 TUR, Volkov Sergey g 2629 RUS, Sutovsky Emil g 2624 ISR, Korchnoi Viktor g 2608 SUI etc.  Final standings:

1 Georgiev Kiril 8.5
2 Short Nigel 7.5
3 Sutovsky Emil 7.5
4 Akopian Vladimir 7.0
5 Areshchenko Alexander 7.0
6 Efimenko Zahar 7.0
7 Gurevich Mikhail 7.0
8 Gyimesi Zoltan 7.0
9 Shirov Alexei 7.0
10 Volkov Sergey 7.0
11 Al-Modiakhi Mohamad 6.5
12 Bellon Lopez Juan 6.5
13 Bologan Viorel 6.5
14 Kobalia Mikhail 6.5
15 Korchnoi Victor 6.5
16 Pavlovic Milos 6.5
17 Pelletier Yannick 6.5
18 Sandipan Chanda 6.5
19 Spragget Kevin 6.5
20 Stefanova Antoaneta 6.5
21 Sundararajan Kidambi 6.5
22 Zhu Chen 6.5
23 Zhukova Natalia 6.5
 

 No photos from this event were available at the website by the final round. An early look at Round 10 games had tournament leader Georgiev at least equal against Sutovsky, but a more exciting game in Al-Modiaki against Nigel Short, who played a Ruy with g6 and f5.    Official Site

The International Moscow festival "Moscow Open 2006" takes place in Moscow 29th January - 6 February.  The organizer of the event is Moscow Chess Federation.  In A tournament take part (the list changed): Dreev Alexei g RUS 2697, Aleksandrov Aleksej g BLR 2653, Belov Vladimir g RUS 2608, Lastin Alexander g RUS 2594, Riazantsev Alexander g RUS 2594, Bocharov Dmitry g RUS 2590, Khismatullin Denis g RUS 2576, Rustemov Alexander g RUS 2573, Amonatov Farrukh g TJK 2564 etc.  The prize fund is 700,000 rubles (about $25,000.)  Official site
Round 6 leaders:

     1 Lastin Alexander 5.5
     2 Najer Evgeniy 5.0
     3 Kosyrev Vladimir 5.0
     4 Nikolenko Oleg 5.0
     5 Grachev Boris 5.0
     6 Nepomniachtchi Ian 5.0
     7 Czarnota Pawel 5.0
     8 Ivanov Victor L 5.0

6th International Chess Festivals Series CZECH TOUR 2006/2007 and preliminary regulations of 17th International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games CZECH OPEN 2006.  Dr. Jan Mazuch, Director of CZECH OPEN & CZECH TOUR - j.mazuch@avekont.cz.  CZECH OPEN - International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games - http://www.czechopen.net.  CZECH TOUR - International Chess Festivals Series - http://www.czechtour.net.  International Chess Calendar - http://www.avekont.cz/calendar/.  Sachovy kalendar turnaju v CR a SR - http://www.avekont.cz/kalendar/.  Chess shop - http://www.avekont.cz/shop.  Information courtesy: Jan Mazuch

1-28-2006

Chess News North America

College Chess USA, looking for international action.  A new inter-collegiate tournament next month open for team registrations at www.tatiana.net/iccl/. The tournament will be hosted by the internet chess club, and they have offered us free ICC accounts to the teams participating in the tournament. There will be many new teams in the tournament, and it should prove to be quite competitive. We also are trying to attract some of the international college teams that participated in the Pan-American college tournament this year in Miami. Information courtesy: Gregory Alexander.

A USCF board member, IM Greg Shahade, has resigned after only 5 months in office.

Meanwhile USCF have not addressed the boycott (see USCF's Fingerfehler) by their outsourced sales company Chesscafe to books on America’s own chess heritage!  The titles ironically are kept alive and in print by a British Publisher, Hardinge Simpole.  USCF members will not be able to read about these books on or by:

Morphy
Pillsbury
Marshall
Reshevsky--2 vols
Fine
Fischer
Evans

Parr
Watson
Mednis
Schiller
Denker
Peters
Piatigorsky Cups: 1963 & 1966

Or buy them, since USCF's retailer, Chesscafe, doesn't carry any of them.  Silence has been the stern reply to all inquiries.

Chess News Around the World

The Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee is taking place January 13th-29th 2006.

Participants of A tournament: Topalov Veselin g BUL 2801, Anand Viswanathan g IND 2792, Aronian Levon g ARM 2752, Leko Peter g HUN 2740, Ivanchuk Vassily g UKR 2729, Gelfand Boris g ISR 2723, Bacrot Etienne g FRA 2717, Mamedyarov Shakhriyar g AZE 2709, Adams Michael g ENG 2707, Sokolov Ivan g NED 2689, Kamsky Gata g USA 2686, Tiviakov Sergei g NED 2669, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2660, Van Wely Loek g NED 2647.

Topalov continues to prove himself against the best players in the world and leads the field at round 12.  Official site     Chessville coverage
Standings:

1.-   Topalov     8.5 / 12
2.-  Anand     8
3-5  Gelfand, Karjakin, Adams     7
6.-  Ivanchuk     6.5
7.-  Leko     6
8-10 Van Wely, Tiviakov, Aronian     5.5
11.-  Bacrot     5
12.-  Kamsky     4.5
13-14  Mamedyarov, Sokolov     4

Parrots Picks from Round 11:

Ivanchuk Topalov; Ivanchuk declined to draw by repeating the position at move 23 then sacked an exchange at move 31, won it back at 37, to enter an endgame with equal pawns but Topalov’s passed black pawn on b6.

Leko won the exchange on against Mamedyarov on move 21 of a Ruy, which looks like an unforced error, and wrapped it up at move 37 with 2 white Queens on the board.

Kamsky, struggling in this tournament, player van Wely, and at move 34 had a Q, B PPP, against R BB PPPP. Black, however, had no weaknesses.

Adams seemed to lose his way and the initiative at move 24 against Bacrot, but the game ended peaceably at move 39.

Karjakin found a simple but profound shot at move 50 which converted his advantage against opponent Sokolov. The clever Parrot saw the move live on the Java game viewer (see URL below) and sure enough, Black resigned next move.

6th International Chess Festivals Series CZECH TOUR 2006/2007 and preliminary regulations of 17th International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games CZECH OPEN 2006.

Dr. Jan Mazuch, Director of CZECH OPEN & CZECH TOUR - j.mazuch@avekont.cz
CZECH OPEN - International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games - http://www.czechopen.net
CZECH TOUR - International Chess Festivals Series - http://www.czechtour.net
International Chess Calendar - http://www.avekont.cz/calendar/
Sachovy kalendar turnaju v CR a SR - http://www.avekont.cz/kalendar/
Chess shop - http://www.avekont.cz/shop

Information courtesy: Jan Mazuch

1-21-2006

Chess News North America

Now that the door has been firmly shut on USCF's new Book & Equipment Deal with Chess Cafe, USCF politicians have come out fighting. A pity this couldn’t have taken place during the process when it may have been useful, rather than after it. Of course, the worth of further discussion is now moot.
Although the continuing subject of book-banning by USCF and its sales representative of specific authors and publishing houses (see USCF's Fingerfehler) is not moot but still a taboo subject in any public discussion by the National Chess Federation of the USA.
Meanwhile in public newsgroup the subject of Chess Life as an on-line magazine is being bandied back and forth, in combination with a printed version, and de-coupled with membership requirements for rated chess. It is meeting some resistance from politicos who, presumably, are still waiting to see if the internet is here to stay.

Meanwhile, on the content of Chess Life, one board member has written publicly described an infamous CL article about, frankly, whoring in Budapest, as adding a ‘literary dimension’ to the magazine. The full-paragraph reads:

“The recent CL article concerned the experiences of an itinerant chess player in Hungary.  It reminded me of some of Hemingway's work (especially A Movable Feast).  It was too much for children and it offended some readers, but it sure added a literary dimension that I believe would be a very welcome addition to CL when it is separated  from Chess Mates.”

Whereas another public newsgroup writer has described this publishing episode as “pathetic, tawdry and sad” and TheParrot noticed that when it was first published a female chess organizer from Chicago wrote in to say that she would quit her membership and never organize for USCF again.

And by all these means, we reverse at full speed into the C21st of chess in the USA, with incidentally just 7% of USCF chess players being female.  I wonder why?  This topic is also not exactly welcome, as the recently published Chess Bitch explains.

Chess News Around the World

The Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee is taking place January 13th-29th 2006.  Participants of A tournament: Topalov Veselin g BUL 2801, Anand Viswanathan g IND 2792, Aronian Levon g ARM 2752, Leko Peter g HUN 2740, Ivanchuk Vassily g UKR 2729, Gelfand Boris g ISR 2723, Bacrot Etienne g FRA 2717, Mamedyarov Shakhriyar g AZE 2709, Adams Michael g ENG 2707, Sokolov Ivan g NED 2689, Kamsky Gata g USA 2686, Tiviakov Sergei g NED 2669, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2660, Van Wely Loek g NED 2647.  Round 7 standings:
 

1  Topalov     5
2  Karjakin     4.5
3  Anand     4.5
4  Gelfand     4
5  Ivanchuk     5
6  Adams     4
7  Van Wely     3.5

8  Leko     3.5
9  Mamedyarov     3
10  Tiviakov     3
11  Aronian     3
12  Bacrot     2.5
13  Sokolov     2.5
14  Kamsky     2
 


Round 6:  Kamsky and Anand

Official site

Chessville coverage

Try the live game viewer: recommended Parrot Picks games from round 6:

Adams Ivanchuk with an innovative Sicilian by Micky, eventually pentrating black’s position with Rf6, but strangely offering a draw at move 25, which fortunately for Micky was declined. In Kamsky Anand, where we find Gata suffering alone at the bottom of the Round 5 table with only a single point, plays against the clear leader of the tournament who ventured a Queens Gambit Accepted, and by absurd coincidence with the Adams game, Rf6 effectively seals Anand’s doom at move 29.

Magnus Carlsen plays an unusual Pelikan against Naiditsch, and although his King is shuffled to g6 by move 25 and black is a pawn down, a nice exchange sacrifice at move 29 provides a pretty swindle at move 33 to end the game! Other games of note are van der Wiel’s 26 move King-storming win against Bensdorp’s English Opening.

Still time to sign up for a Fide Arbiter Course, anyone?  There will be an arbiters course in Gibraltar from Thursday 26 to Monday 30 January 2006 to be conducted by FIDE Organizers Committee Chairman Stewart Reuben. There will be an examination and passing this will be equivalent to one FIDE Arbiter norm. Please download the invitation in Word format  and in pdf format.  If anybody should require a formal invitation for a visa, they need to contact Judy Whurr at conf.banq@caletahotel.gi.  A book by Stewart Reuben, Chess Organisers Handbook, was published early July.
And www.chessbase.com reports a frank interview with GM Alexander Morozevich:  'I will not play chess all my life'.  The current number eleven in the world is having second thoughts about the game. "Chess is not my calling, but only a temporary occupation, one of the methods to develop my intellect," he says, in this revealing Moscow News interview.  Full interview in Russian language is at: http://www.mn.ru/issue.php?2006-1-25
On the world stage, The Official FIDE site still seems to be pushing associations with the IOC, which of course involves the infamous drug testing question.  There are no notices of any debate on acceptance of this issue – and not even of any dissent from players world wide.
Meanwhile ACP and its new president is looking ahead: read two good interviews by Yannick Pelletier and Viorel Bologan at the official site.

1-14-2006

Chess News North America

100% Chess Politics, Finances and Organization
this week, at home and abroad


The great debate
surfaces in a public newsgroup over USCF’s deal with Chesscafe, a debate which raises more questions than answers about what USCF is up to, since it has gone into hiding since the election, and staffers reportedly told to keep its affairs secret.

Even so, two subjects very important to Chess in the USA have become hot-topics! The first is the reported book-banning of authors and even whole publishing houses (see USCF's Fingerfehler), and the second to do with USCF’s relationship with the book vendor Chesscafe (see The USCF's Book & Equipment Deal with Chess Cafe), and what happened to between $175,000 to $250,000 due USCF. See Chessville’s special report, The USCF's Finger-fehler, a letter from IM John Donaldson and in response to it UK’s GM Ray Keene, and today's Squaaawk!

How much is a lot?  Correspondent and former Chess Life editor Larry Parr makes the following analysis:

I have read and reread EB 06-018, moved by Joel Channing.  It would appear from this document that Hanon Russell's total debt under the contract he originally signed would be the original $173,000, plus an additional $350,000 through the end of March 2006 at the rate of about $29,000 a month.  That puts his total obligation under the old contract at $523,000 -- more than a cool half mil.

Under the Channing resolution, it appears that Mr. Russell must pay 13.5 percent commission for the months of April-July.  So, one deducts, if I
understand correctly, $116,000 from the $523,000, leaving $407,000.  [[[[[ But here I may misunderstand.  It is possible that Mr. Russell will pay far less during these slow sales months -- his obligation being to pay on sales during that period rather than $29,000 a month.]]]]]  At which point Mr. Russell pays 12 percent with a lower annual guarantee for the months
August-March 2006.  That annual guarantee is $150,000 or $12,500 a month.  So, then, Mr. Russell will pay $100,000 during this period.  One deducts, then, $100,000 from $407,000, leaving a total of $307,000,
minus $86,500 as an agreed payment.

Over the first two years of the contract signed by Mr. Russell, the Federation has surrendered $220,500.  This number is possibly larger, depending on the amount that Mr. Russell will have to pay for the April-July 2005 period.  It seems fair to conclude that the Federation has forgiven Mr. Russell about $250,000 over the first two years of his original contract.

Meanwhile, in another Chessville interview Paul Troung tells us what should really be happening to promote chess in the USA for the C21st.

Chess News Around the World

New head of ACP:  Presidential elections of the Association of Chess Professionals took place.  The new President became grandmaster Pavel Tregubov (Russia).  The board included: Pavel Tregubov (Russia), Bartlomiej Macieja (Poland), Viorel Bologan (Moldova), Yannick Pelletier (Switzerland), Igor Glek (Germany), Alexei Shirov (Spain), Vladimir Chuchelov (Belgium), Elmira Skripchenko (France), Elena Sedina (Italy).  The secretary became Bartlomiej Macieja, the treasurer - Elmira Skripchenko.
And a Conference on Developing Chess: Russian Chess Federations from the Volga region, Southern and Central federal districts declare a First All-Russia Conference "Actual problems of development of chess in Russia". to take place from January 11th till January 14th 2006 in the Samara area. During the Conference problems of chess life in Russia, including questions of children's chess, refereeing, qualification, chess clubs, women’s chess, problems of professional chess players, rapid chess and decision-making methods will be discussed.     Official site
Fide Arbiter Course, anyone? There will be an arbiters course in Gibraltar from Thursday 26 to Monday 30 January 2006 to be conducted by FIDE Organizers Committee Chairman Stewart Reuben.  There will be an examination and passing this will be equivalent to one FIDE Arbiter norm.  Please download the invitation in Word format and in pdf format.

If anybody should require a formal invitation for a visa, they need to contact Judy Whurr at conf.banq@caletahotel.gi.  A book by Stewart Reuben, Chess Organisers Handbook, was published early July.

1-7-2006

Chess News North America

Steve Rubenstein, staff writer of the San Francisco Chronicle reports Mrs. Koltanowski, 99, who helped her husband [George] run chess tournaments and compose his chess column for more than five decades, died last week in her San Francisco apartment after a long illness.  They first met on a blind date!  Mr. Koltanowski began writing his daily chess column in The Chronicle, continuing without interruption until his death in 2000 at the age of 96.  It was the longest-running chess column in newspaper history, reports the Chronicle.

Correspondent ex-editor of Chess Life Larry Parr, points out that this is not strictly true; Hermann Helms' column in the Brooklyn Eagle ran from 1893 to 1955, when the paper itself folded.  Helm's magazine, the ACB, had a run from 1904 to 1963, when Hermann finally folded.  See the full SF Chronicle story.


Meanwhile
a revealing debate surfaces in a public newsgroup over USCF’s deal with Chesscafe, a debate which raises 20 questions about what USCF is up to, since it has gone into hiding since the election, and staff threatened with firings if they speak up.

Chess News Around the World

FIDE is announcing the 16 participants of the Candidates Matches for the World Chess Championship 2007 according to the FIDE January 2006 Rating List:

Levon Aronian ARM 2752 - Magnus Carlsen NOR 2625
Peter Leko HUN 2740 - Mikhail Gurevich TUR 2633
Ruslan Ponomariov UKR 2723 - Sergey Rublevsky RUS 2665
Boris Gelfand ISR 2723 - Rustam Kasimjanov UZB 2670
Etienne Bacrot FRA 2717 - Gata Kamsky USA 2686
Alexander Grischuk RUS 2716 - Vladimir Malakhov RUS 2694
Judith Polgar HUN 2711 - Evgeny Bareev RUS 2698
Alexei Shirov ESP 2709 - Michael Adams ENG 2707

The pairings were arranged according to article 3.1.A of the official regulations of the Candidate Matches of the World Chess Championship 2007.

Click here for: FIDE January 2006 Rating List for download.
 
Player ELO rating

Garry Kasparov

2812
Veselin Topalov 2801
Viswanathan Anand 2792
Peter Svidler 2765
Levon Aronian 2752
Vladimir Kramnik 2741
Peter Leko 2740
Vassily Ivanchuk 2729
Boris Gelfand 2723
Ruslan Ponomariov 2723
The Rilton Cup took place in Stockholm 27th December 2005 - 5th January 2006.  Official site

Final leaders standings:
1 Rozentalis, Eduardas LTU 2585 gm - 7.0
2 Ivanov, Sergey RUS 2538 gm - 7.0
3 Nybгck, Tomi FIN 2563 gm - 7.0
4 Postny, Evgeny ISR 2571 gm - 7.0
5 Miezis, Normunds LAT 2469 gm - 7.0
6 Karlsson, Lars SWE 2501 gm - 6.5
7 Johannessen, Leif Erlend NOR 2564 gm - 6.5
8 Berg, Emanuel SWE 2540 gm - 6.5
9 Cicak, Slavko SWE 2496 gm - 6.5
10 Nouro, Mikael FIN 2349 im - 6.5
11 Brynell, Stellan SWE 2496 gm - 6.5

The Hastings Chess Congress takes place 28th December 2005 - 6th January 2006.   Official site

Round 9 leaders:
1 Neverov Valeriy g UKR 2569 - 7.5
2-3 Gagunashvili Merab g GEO 2542, Pavlovic Milos g SCG 2507 - 7.0
4-7 Erenburg Sergey g ISR, Bobras Piotr g POL 2531, Williams Simon m ENG 2452, Colin Vincent m FRA 2374 - 6.5
8-16 Kristjansson Stefan m ISL 2476, Belov Vladimir g RUS 2620, Negi Parimarjan IND 2396, Kuzubov Yuriy g UKR 2541, Hendriks Willy m NED 2402, Pert Richard G m ENG 2429, Hebden Mark g ENG 2514, Kobese Watu m RSA 2397, Gordon Stephen J f ENG 2411 - 6.0

I started to watch the Final Round live games Friday 6 Jan and Game 1 was a 9 move draw between two leading players, Neverov 2569, and Gagunasvili 2542.  V. Colin 2376 played a very good last round game from the Black side to defeat S. Kristjansson 2469 in 30 moves. T he match has had 5 games broadcast daily by DGT products sensory boards.

Only six men's and four women's teams came to Iranian city of Esfahan to take part in the 14th Asian Team Championship.  China, gold medal winners in both categories from Jodhpur (2003) did not arrive this time.  Former Asian champions like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the Philippines were missing as well.  Because of limited number of participating teams the event was a double round robin.

Vietnam and India dominated the men's event.  India took their first ever Asian Championship title trouncing Vietnam 3-1 on penultimate round.  Iran "A" came third.

In the women's section Vietnam took gold after very close run ahead of India and sensational Iran "B".  Information courtesy: Wojtek Bartelski.
Find complete records, standings and all the games from the Esfahan
Championship at http://www.olimpbase.org


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