NEWS for APRIL 2004
BEER
SHEVA: KORCHNOI WINS!
This
strong rapid tournament (time control: 25
minutes + 10 seconds a move) shows that age
doesn’t have to mean the end of one’s
competitive edge. The legendary Viktor Korchnoi – the
old man of the event – took clear first
with a fine 8-3 score. Other scores: 2nd & 3rd Dvoirys
and Erenburg (7 pts), 4th Roiz
(6.5 pts), 5th Greenfeld (6 pts),
6th Huzman (5.5 pts), 7th Vydeslaver
(5 pts), 8th & 9th Tyomkin
and Avrukh (4.5 pts), 10th – 12th Golod
and Khmelniker and Tseitlin (4 pts).
FIDE
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: MORE FIDE MADNESS
The
following extract, from the new player's
association headed by French GM Joel Lautier,
was recently published in Chess Today and illustrates how FIDE continues to act
in a very unsavory manner.
The
FIDE World Championship will be held from
June 18 until July 13 in Tripoli (Libya)
and Valetta (Malta). Qualified players have
been asked by the FIDE Secretariat to sign
a copy of the "Player's Undertaking",
before the 21st of April 2004, as presented
on the FIDE website. This document does not
constitute a proper contract between the
participants and FIDE, for the simple reason
that it only describes the player's obligations
towards FIDE, whereas no mention is made
of FIDE's obligations toward the players.
Moreover, the undertaking is to be signed
only by the participant and bears no signature
from any FIDE representative, thus relieving
FIDE of any legal responsibility. This means
that should a dispute arise, FIDE will have
a signed commitment from the participant
to produce in court, while the latter is
left empty-handed.
Among
several contentious points, we would like
to draw your attention to the obligation
for the players to stay in the official hotels,
either in Libya or in Malta. Although highly
unpopular, this compulsory measure is once
more imposed on the participants, and this
time without any mention of the expected
prices for accommodation.
The
answer from FIDE once again demonstrated
their concern for the player’s well
being:
FIDE Announcement
Athens
- April 14, 2004
Announcement
to all chess media & participants of
the 2004 World Chess Championship
Dear
chess friends,
It
has come to the attention of FIDE that the
Association of Chess Professionals (ACP)
has published a message to qualified participants
of the 2004 World Chess Championship, not
to hurry to sign the Players Undertaking
and furthermore that the ACP has developed
its own contract for the Championship.
To
avoid any misunderstandings, FIDE emphasizes
that:
1)
the deadline for return
of the Players Undertaking (April 21, 2004)
will not be extended, and
2)
only those players who, within the deadline,
sign and return to FIDE the Players Undertaking which is published and distributed
by FIDE will be accepted to participate in
the WCC.
FIDE
is asking all the qualified and reserve players
to meet the above requirements.
Released
by the FIDE Secretariat Athens, 14-04-2004
FOXWOODS OPEN: ILDAR IBRAGIMOV WINS ON
TIEBREAKS
REPORT
BY JOHN DONALDSON: Grandmaster Ildar Ibragimov,
formally of Kazan, Russia, and now representing
the United States, was the winner of the
2004 Foxwoods Open on tiebreak. Ibragimov,
whose 7-2 score was matched by fellow GMs
Julio Becerra, Jan Ehlvest and, I believe,
Giorgi Kacheishvili (the CCI report on Foxwoods
is down as I write). Ibragimov was a deserving
winner as he played the top seeds facing
by far the strongest opposition, but even
he needed a little luck in round 3 as Berkeley's
David Pruess had him completely beat with
an extra piece and a big time advantage to
boot, before letting things get out of hand.
It would have been a fantastic double-header
for Pruess had he converted because in the
previous round he beat GM Yury Shulman.
COGAS MATCH: VAN WELY BEATS TIMMAN
Held
April 8th – 10th,
the four game match saw a 1-1 tie in the
first two games (both rapid), and 2-0 for
Van Wely in the final two (standard time
control).
Van Wely - Timman [D54]
Cogas Energy Match (game 1), 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3
d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0–0 6.Rc1 h6 7.Bh4
b6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Bd3
c5 12.Ne2 Nd7 13.0–0 Nf6 14.b3 Bb7
15.Rc2 Rfc8 16.Qc1 a5 17.a4 g6 18.h3 Rc7
19.Qa3 Rac8 20.Rfc1 Ne4 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Nc3
Bc6 23.d5 Be8 24.d6 Qxd6 25.Nxe4 Qe6 26.Nd2
Rd8 27.Nc4 Rcd7 28.Qb2 Rd3 29.Rc3 R3d5 30.Qe2
Bc6 31.e4 Rd4 32.f3 Bb7 33.Qe3 Kg7 34.Qf4
Ba6 35.Ne3 h5 36.h4 Bb7 37.R1c2 R8d7 38.Kh2
Ba6 39.g4 hxg4 40.Nxg4 Qd6 41.Qxd6 R7xd6
42.Ne3 f5 43.exf5 Rxh4+ 44.Kg3 Rh5 45.fxg6
Kxg6 46.Ng4 Bc8 47.Re2 Bxg4 48.fxg4 Rhd5
49.Rce3 Rd3 50.Kh4 Rxe3 51.Rxe3 Kf7 52.g5
Rd1 53.Kg4 Rg1+ 54.Kf5 Rf1+ 55.Ke5 Rd1 56.Rf3+
Kg6 57.Rf6+ Kxg5 58.Rxb6 Rd3 59.Rb5 Kg6 60.Ke6
Rc3 61.Rxa5 Rxb3 62.Rxc5 Kg7 63.a5 Ra3 64.Ke7
Ra1 65.Kd7 Kf6 66.Rb5 Kf7 67.Kc7 Ke7 68.Kb7
Kd7 69.a6,
1–0.
Timman - Van Wely [B30]
Cogas Energy Match (game 2), 2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Qe2
Ng6 7.h4 h5 8.e5 f6 9.Qe4 Kf7 10.Na3 d5
11.exd6 Qxd6 12.Nc4 Qd5 13.Ne3 Qxe4 14.dxe4
Ba6 15.Bd2 Bd6 16.Ba5 Ke7 17.Nd2 Ne5 18.f4
Ng4 19.Nxg4 hxg4 20.g3 e5 21.f5 Rab8 22.0–0–0
c4 23.Nf1 Bc5 24.Rh2 Rb5 25.Bc3 Rhb8 26.b3
R5b7 27.h5 cxb3 28.axb3 Rd7 29.Rxd7+ Kxd7
30.Nd2 Be3 31.Kd1 Bg5 32.Nb1 c5 33.Bd2
c4 34.Bxg5 fxg5 35.h6 cxb3 36.hxg7 Bc4
37.Rh8 Rg8 38.cxb3 Bxb3+ 39.Kd2 Rxg7 40.Rb8
Bf7 41.Rb7+ Ke8 42.Nc3 Rh7 43.Nb5 Rh6 44.Rxa7
Bc4 45.Nc7+ Kd8 46.Ra4 Kxc7 47.Rxc4+ Kd6
48.Rc3 Rh3 49.Rd3+ Ke7 50.Kc3 Rh1 51.Rd5
Kf6 52.Rd6+ Kf7 53.Kc4 Ra1 54.Re6 Ra3 55.Kd5
Rxg3 56.Rg6 Ra3 57.Rxg5 g3 58.Kxe5 Rf3
59.Rg4 Ke7 60.Rg7+ Kf8 61.f6 Ra3 62.Kf5, 1–0.
Van Wely - Timman [E32]
Cogas Energy Match (game 3), 2004
1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.a3
Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.f3 h6 9.Bh4
d5 10.e3 Nbd7 11.Nh3 c5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd8
Nxc3 14.Be7 Rfe8 15.Bh4 Nd5 16.Bb5 g5 17.Bf2
Red8 18.e4 N5f6 19.0–0 Rac8 20.Rad1
a6 21.Be2 Kf8 22.Be3 Ke7 23.Nf2 cxd4 24.Rxd4
Rc2 25.Rd2 Rxd2 26.Bxd2 Rc8 27.Nd1 Ne8
28.Ne3 a5 29.b4 axb4 30.Bxb4+ Kf6 31.Bb5
Nb8 32.Nc4 Ba6 33.Nxb6 Rd8 34.a4 Nc7 35.Bc3+
e5 36.Rb1 Bxb5 37.axb5 Rd3 38.Ba5 h5 39.Rc1
Nxb5 40.Nd5+ Kg7 41.Rb1, 1–0.
Timman - Van Wely [B31]
Cogas Energy Match (game 4), 2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0–0 Bg7 5.Re1 Nf6
6.e5 Nd5 7.Nc3 Nc7 8.Bxc6 dxc6 9.Ne4 Ne6
10.d3 0–0 11.Be3 b6 12.Qd2 f5 13.exf6
exf6 14.c3 Ba6 15.Rad1 Qc7 16.Bh6 Rad8
17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qc2 Nf4 19.c4 Bc8 20.Re3
Bg4 21.Rde1 Bxf3 22.Rxf3 Ne6 23.Qd2 Nd4
24.Rfe3 Nf5 25.Rh3 h5 26.Ng3 Nh6 27.Re4
Rfe8 28.Qe2 Qf7 29.Nf1 Nf5 30.Nd2 Qd7 31.Kf1
Rxe4 32.Nxe4 Re8 33.Qc2 Re6 34.Qc1 Qc7
35.Qd2 Qe5 36.Ng3 Nh6 37.f4 Qd4 38.f5 Re5
39.fxg6 Ng4 40.Nxh5+ Kxg6 41.Nf4+ Kf7 42.g3
Ne3+ 43.Kg1 Nxc4+ 44.Qf2 Re1+ 45.Kg2 Ne3+
46.Kf3 Rf1 47.Rh7+ Kg8, 0–1.
DANISH CHAMPIONSHIPS: PEDERSEN
WINS
Held
April 4th - 12th, this
sixteen-player knockout was won by Steffen
Pedersen.
El Kher – S Pedersen [D00]
Denmark, 2004
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 f6 3.Bh4
c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 7.g4 Bg6
8.Bd3 Qd7 9.h3 0–0–0 10.Nge2
e5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Bg3 d4 13.Bxe5 fxe5 14.Bxg6
hxg6 15.Ne4 Qc6 16.Qd3 Nf6 17.f3 Bb4+ 18.Kf2
Nd5 19.Rac1 Kb8 20.Kg3 Be7 21.h4 Qb6 22.c3
dxc3 23.bxc3 Nf4 24.Qc2 Rxh4 25.Nxf4 exf4+
26.Kg2 Rxh1 27.Rxh1 a6 28.Rd1 Rc8 29.Rd7
Bf6 30.Rd3 g5 31.Qd2 Qb1 32.Rd7 Rh8 33.Nf2
Qb6 34.c4 Rc8 35.Qd5 Rc5 36.Rxb7+ Qxb7 37.Qxc5
Qb2 38.Qd6+ Kb7 39.Qd5+ Ka7 40.Qc5+ Kb7 41.Qd5+
Ka7 42.Qc5+ Kb7 43.Qd5+,
1/2-1/2.
S Pedersen - Sorensen [C01]
Denmark, 2004
1.e4 e6 2.d4
d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd3 c5 5.exd5 exd5 6.dxc5
Nc6 7.Nf3 Bxc5 8.0–0 Nge7 9.Bf4 0–0
10.h3 a6 11.a3 Ba7 12.Re1 d4 13.Ne4 Ng6
14.Bd6 f5 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.Nfg5 Nce5 17.Qh5
h6 18.Bxf8 fxe4 19.Nf7+ Nxf7 20.Qxg6 Qxf8
21.Bxf7 Qc5 22.Qxe4 Bf5 23.Qxb7 Rb8 24.Re8+
Rxe8 25.Bxe8 d3 26.cxd3 Qxf2+ 27.Kh1 Bd4
28.Bf7 Kh7 29.Qb8 h5 30.Qg8+ Kh6 31.Qh8+
Kg5 32.Qxh5+ Kf6 33.Bc4 Bxb2 34.Rd1 Bxa3
35.Qf7+ Kg5 36.Qxg7+ Bg6 37.Qe5+ Kh6 38.Qh8+
Kg5 39.Qe5+ Kh6 40.d4 Bb2 41.Qh8+ Kg5 42.Qe5+
Kh6 43.Bxa6 Bc2 44.Rf1 Qxd4 45.Qxd4,
1–0.
BANGLADESH CHAMPIONSHIP: RAHMAN
DOMINATES
This
fourteen-player event was held March 28th -
April 10th. Grandmaster Ziaur
Rahman destroyed the competition with an
overwhelming 11.5 - 1.5 score.
Reefat - Rahman [B06]
Bangladesh, 2004
1.e4 g6 2.d4
Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 d6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.Qd2 b5
7.Bd3 0–0 8.Bh6 Bg4 9.Bxg7 Kxg7 10.Ng5
e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.h3 Bc8 13.Ne2 Nbd7 14.a4
Nc5 15.axb5 cxb5 16.Qc3 Nxd3+ 17.cxd3 b4
18.Qxb4 h6 19.Nf3 Qxd3 20.Ng3 a5 21.Qd2
Qb5 22.Qe2 Qb6 23.0–0–0 Be6
24.Qe3 Qc6+ 25.Kb1 Rfb8 26.Rd3 Qb5 27.Qd2
Qa4, 0–1.
Rahman - Uddin [A30]
Bangladesh, 2004
1.Nf3 Nf6
2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0–0 Be7
6.Nc3 0–0 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.e4
Nxc3 10.bxc3 c5 11.d4 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nd7
13.Bf4 b5 14.d5 exd5 15.exd5 Bf6 16.Rc1
Rc8 17.d6 Rc4 18.Qb3 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Qb6 20.Rc7
Bc8 21.Qc2 Qb8 22.Ng5 g6 23.Nxf7 Kxf7 24.Bh6
Rd8 25.Qb3+,
1–0.
(83) Hossain,E (2446) - Ahmed,S (2280)
[B53]
Bangladesh, 2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 5.c4 Nc6 6.Qd2 Nf6
7.Nc3 e6 8.Be2 Be7 9.0–0 0–0
10.b3 Qc7 11.Bb2 b6 12.h3 Bb7 13.Qe3 Rfd8
14.Rac1 Rac8 15.Nd5 exd5 16.cxd5 Qd7 17.dxc6
Rxc6 18.Nd4 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 g6 20.Nf5 gxf5
21.Qg5+ Kf8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Qxf6 Bxe4 24.Bxa6
Ra8 25.Bc8 Qe8 26.Qh8+, 1–0.
MILLENNIUM
OPEN: NAKAMURA & IBRAGIMOV TIE
FOR FIRST
GMs
Hikaru Nakamura and Ildar Ibragimov tied
for first in the 5th Millennium Open held
April 2 - 4 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The two winners, who scored 4.5 from 5, each
received $1850. Tying for third through seventh
at 4-1 in the 67 player open section were
GMs Alex Wojtkiewicz and John Fedorowicz,
IM John Donaldson and NMs Alex Stamnov and
Boris Zisman. Among those on 3.5 were GMs
Jaan Ehlvest and Julio Becerra. This year’s
edition of the Millennium Open, organized
by Tom Braunlich and directed by Ernie Schlich
and Michael Atkins, attracted 270 players
and maintained its reputation as one of the
best-run tournaments in the United States.
Donaldson
- Reichstein [A34]
5th
Millennium Open, 2004
1.Nf3
c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d5
6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.0–0 Nxc3 8.bxc3 e5
9.d3 Be7 10.Nd2 0–0 11.Rb1 Be6 12.Qa4
Qc7 13.Nc4 Bd7 14.Ne3 Qc8 15.Nd5 Bd6 16.Qh4
Qd8 17.Bg5 f6 18.Be4 h6 19.Bxh6 gxh6 20.Qxh6
f5 21.Nf6+ Rxf6 22.Bd5+ Be6 23.Bxe6+ Rxe6
24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Rxb7,
1–0.
77th CHAMPIONSHIP
OF ST PETERSBURG: LOGINOV & POPOV WIN
This
event took place April 1st to
the 11th. Valery Loginov and Valery
Popov tied for first with 7-3 scores.
Final
Standings: 1st - 2nd Loginov & Popov
(7 pts), 3rd - 4th Lugovoi & Yemelin
(6 pts), 5th - 7th Solovjov,
Ionov, Yevseev (5.5 pts), 8th -
9th Klimov & Matlakov (4.5
pts), 10th Chepukaitis (2.5 pts),
11th Feofanov (1 pt).
Yemelin - Chepukaitis [B06]
St Petersburg, 2004
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 a6 5.Nf3
b5 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.e5 f5 8.a4 b4 9.Ne2 e6 10.0–0
Ne7 11.c4 a5 12.Be3 Bb7 13.Nc1 Nb6 14.Nb3
0–0 15.Qe2 Re8 16.Bf2 Nec8 17.Rfe1
Qd7 18.exd6 cxd6 19.d5 Qc7 20.dxe6 Bxf3
21.gxf3 Nd7 22.exd7 Rxe2 23.dxc8Q+ Qxc8
24.Rxe2 Qd7 25.Nd4 Re8 26.Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.b3
Bf6 28.Re1 Qf8 29.Kg2 Qh6 30.Ne6 Bh4 31.Bg3
Kf7 32.c5 dxc5 33.Bc4 Kf6 34.Nxc5 Kg7 35.Ne6+
Kh8 36.Rd1 Bf6 37.Rd7 Qh5 38.Rf7, 1–0.
Popov - Yemelin [D34]
St Petersburg, 2004
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5
5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.0–0
0–0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bf4
Re8 12.Ncb5 Nh5 13.Be3 Bg4 14.h3 Bd7 15.Nc3
Nf6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Bxh3 18.Nxc6 bxc6
19.Bxc6 Bxf1 20.Qxf1 Bf6 21.Bxa8 Qxa8 22.Rb1
Qb7 23.b3 h5 24.Rc1 Qa6 25.Rc2 Be5 26.Qh3
Re6 27.Qxh5 Bxg3 28.Qc5 Be5 29.Qxa7 Rg6+
30.Kf1 Qe6 31.Qa8+ Kh7 32.Qh1+ Kg8 33.Rc4
Bf6 34.Qa8+ Kh7 35.Qh1+ Kg8 36.Ke1 Be7
37.Qa8+ Kh7 38.Qh1+ Kg8 39.Qa8+ Kh7 40.Qe4
Qd7 41.Ra4 Bd8 42.Ra7 Qd6 43.Ra8 Qf6 44.Kd1
Qa1+ 45.Kc2 Bf6 46.Bc1 Qc3+ 47.Kd1 Qh3
48.Ra5 Bd8 49.Rd5 Bb6 50.Rg5 Bxf2 51.Rxg6
fxg6 52.Qf3 Qd7+ 53.Bd2 Bc5 54.a4 Qd4 55.Kc2
Ba3 56.Qh1+ Kg8 57.Bc3 Qe3 58.Qa8+ Kh7
59.Qf3 Qe6 60.Qh1+ Kg8 61.Qa8+ Kh7 62.Qh1+
Kg8 63.Qf3 g5 64.e4 g4 65.Qf5 Qxf5 66.exf5
g3 67.Bd4 Bb4 68.Kd3 Kf7 69.Ke2 g6 70.fxg6+
Kxg6 71.Bb6 g2 72.Kf2 Kf5 73.a5, 1–0.
Loginov - Chepukaitis [B40]
St Petersburg, 2004
1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6
5.g3 g5 6.Bg2 h6 7.0–0 Bg7 8.exd5
exd5 9.Re1+ Nge7 10.Nb3 b6 11.c3 a5 12.a4
Bf5 13.d4 c4 14.Nbd2 0–0 15.h4 g4
16.Nh2 Qd7 17.b3 cxb3 18.Qxb3 Rfb8 19.Ba3
Be6 20.Nhf1 Nf5 21.Ne3 Nxe3 22.Rxe3 Rc8
23.Rae1 Rab8 24.Rxe6 fxe6 25.Rxe6 Qxe6
26.Bxd5 Qxd5 27.Qxd5+ Kh8 28.Ne4 Nd8 29.Be7
Nc6 30.Bf6 Bxf6 31.Nxf6 Kg7 32.Nh5+, 1–0.
Lugovoi - Klimov [D99]
St Petersburg, 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7
5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3
Nfd7 9.Qb3 c5 10.d5 Na6 11.Nd2 e6 12.d6
Bd4 13.Nb5 e5 14.h3 Be6 15.Bc4 Bxc4 16.Nxc4
Qh4 17.0–0 Qxe4 18.Rfe1 Qf5 19.Nc7
Rab8 20.a3 Kg7 21.Qb5 Rfd8 22.Bxd4 cxd4
23.Nxe5 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Qd7 25.Re7 Qxb5 26.Nxb5
Nc5 27.Rd1 Kf8 28.Rxd4 Ne6 29.Rd3 a6 30.Nc3
b5 31.Ne4 Rxd6 32.Rxf7+ Kxf7 33.Rxd6 a5
34.Rd7+,1–0.
Popov - Loginov [E92]
St Petersburg, 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3
0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Na6 8.d5 Ng4 9.Bg5
f6 10.Bh4 Qe8 11.h3 Nh6 12.Nd2 Bd7 13.f3
Nf7 14.a3 c5 15.Rb1 Qe7 16.Bd3 Bh6 17.Ke2
Nc7 18.b4 b6 19.Qc2 Ne8 20.bxc5 dxc5 21.a4
Nc7 22.a5 Na6 23.axb6 Nb4 24.Qb2 axb6 25.Ra1
Nd6 26.Ndb1 Rxa1 27.Qxa1 b5 28.cxb5 c4
29.Bxc4 Nxc4 30.Bf2 Be3 31.Bxe3 Nxe3 32.Qa7
Nxg2 33.d6 Nf4+,
0–1.
EUROPEAN WOMAN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
KOSTENIUK VICTORIOUS
Held
between March 21st and April 2nd,
this twelve round Swiss System ended in a
tie for first place between Alexandra Kosteniuk
and Peng Zhaoqin (each having 9.5 pts). In
their two-game playoff, Kosteniuk took the
title by winning the first game and drawing
the second.
Makropoulou - Cramling [B42]
Dresden, 2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6
5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.0–0 d6 8.c4
Nf6 9.Nc3 b6 10.f4 Nbd7 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Rf3
Qc7 13.Kh1 Rc8 14.Bd2 h5 15.Raf1 Ng4 16.Rh3
Ngf6 17.Rg3 g6 18.f5 Ne5 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Nd4
h4 21.Rh3 Nxd3 22.Rxd3 e5 23.Bg5 exd4 24.Bxf6
Bxf6 25.Rxf6 Qe7 26.e5 dxe5 27.Rxb6 Rf8
28.Nd5 Bxd5 29.cxd5 Rc2 30.Rb8+ Kd7 31.Rb7+
Kd6 32.Rb6+ Kxd5 33.Qd1 Qg5 34.Qg1 Rff2
35.Rb4 Qf4 36.Rd1 h3, 0–1.
Sedina - Kosteniuk [B51]
Dresden, 2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0–0
Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.d4
Bxe4 9.Bg5 Bd5 10.Nbd2 b5 11.b3 c4 12.bxc4
bxc4 13.Nf1 e6 14.Ne3 Qa5 15.Bxf6 gxf6
16.Nd2 Rg8 17.Ndxc4 Bxc4 18.Nxc4 Qb5 19.Ne3
Bh6 20.Rb1 Qa5 21.Qf3 Rd8 22.Nd5 Kf8 23.Nxf6
Rg6 24.Rb7 Qf5 25.Qxf5 exf5 26.Nd5 Re6
27.Rxe6 fxe6 28.Rxh7 exd5 29.Rxh6 Ke7 30.Rh7+
Ke6 31.h4 Rc8 32.h5 Kf6 33.h6 Kg6 34.Rd7
Kxh6 35.Rxd6+ Kg5 36.Rxd5 Rxc3 37.Ra5 Rd3
38.g3 Rxd4 39.Rxa6 f4 40.Kg2 Kg4 41.gxf4
Kxf4 42.a4 Kf5 43.a5 Rg4+ 44.Kf1 Ke5 45.Ra8
Kd6 46.f3 Ra4 47.Kf2 Kc6 48.a6 Kb6 49.Kg3,
1–0.
Peng Zhaoqin - Sedina [D17]
Dresden, 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4
5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 Bb4 8.e4 Bxe4 9.fxe4
Nxe4 10.Bd2 Qxd4 11.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12.Qe2 Bxd2+
13.Kxd2 Qd5+ 14.Kc2 Na6 15.Nxc4 0–0
16.Qf3 Qc5 17.Kb1 Rad8 18.Be2 Nb4 19.Rc1
Rd4 20.Ra3 Qg5 21.Qf2 Rf4 22.Rf3 Rg4 23.g3
c5 24.Qe3 Qg6+ 25.Bd3 Nxd3 26.Qxd3 Qg5
27.Qd7 Qg6+ 28.Ka2 Qe4 29.Ra3 Qe2 30.Rac3
Qe4 31.a5 h5 32.Rb3 Qe2 33.Qd2 Qxd2 34.Nxd2
Rd8 35.Nc4 Rdd4 36.Ne5 Ra4+ 37.Ra3 Rge4
38.Rxc5 f6 39.Ng6 Rxa3+ 40.Kxa3 Kf7 41.Nf4
e5 42.Rc7+ Kg8 43.Nxh5, 1–0.
Arakhamia - Sedina [C19]
Dresden, 2004
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3
Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.a4 h6 9.Bd3
b6 10.0–0 Ba6 11.a5 Qc6 12.Ba3 Bxd3
13.cxd3 Nd7 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.d4 Rc8 16.Qe2
0–0 17.Rfb1 Rfe8 18.dxc5 Nxc5 19.Nd4
Qa8 20.a6 Ne4 21.Rb7 Ng6 22.Bd6 Rxc3 23.Nb5
Rc6 24.Nc7 Qc8 25.Nxe8 Rc2 26.Qe3 d4 27.Qe1
d3 28.Nf6+ gxf6 29.Rb8 Nxd6 30.Rxc8+ Nxc8
31.exf6 Nf4 32.Qe3 d2 33.Qxf4 Nb6 34.Qxh6,
1–0.
Cramling - Slavina [D31]
Dresden, 2004
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 dxc4
5.a4 Bb4 6.e3 b5 7.Bd2 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9.Bxc3
cxb5 10.b3 Bb7 11.bxc4 b4 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Bd3
Nbd7 14.0–0 0–0 15.Nd2 Qc7
16.f4 a4 17.Rb1 Rfd8 18.Qe2 b3 19.Ba1 Nb8
20.e4 Nc6 21.d5 Nb4 22.Rf3 exd5 23.exd5
Qb6+ 24.Qf2 Qxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Nfxd5 26.Be4
Ne7 27.Bxb7 Rxd2+ 28.Kg3 Rb8 29.Bc3 Rd7
30.Bxb4 Rdxb7 31.Ba3 Nf5+ 32.Kg4 Nd4 33.Rd3
Nc2 34.Bd6 Rc8 35.c5 b2 36.Rc3 a3 37.c6
Rxc6 38.Rxc6 h5+ 39.Kxh5 a2, 0–1.
Foisor - Peng Zhaoqin [A20]
Dresden, 2004
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.a3 a5 5.Nc3
Bc5 6.e3 d6 7.Nge2 0–0 8.d4 Ba7 9.0–0
Bf5 10.h3 Re8 11.d5 Nb8 12.g4 Bd7 13.Ng3
h6 14.e4 Nh7 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.exf5 Nd7 17.Ne4
Bd4 18.Qb3 Ra7 19.Qg3 Nc5 20.Kh1 a4 21.h4
Qd7 22.Nxc5 dxc5 23.Be4 Nf6 24.f3 Ra6 25.g5
Nh5 26.Qg4 Nf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.Qxf4 Qd6
29.Qg4 Rb6 30.Rab1 h5 31.Qh3 Qf4 32.Rfe1
Rb3 33.Bc2 Rbe3 34.Rxe3 Rxe3 35.f6 g6 36.Rf1
Kh7 37.Bd1 Be5 38.Kg2 Rd3 39.Be2 Rd2 40.Rf2
Rxb2 41.Bf1 Rb3 42.Kg1 Bd4 43.Kg2 Bxf2
44.Kxf2 Rb2+ 45.Kg1 Qe3+ 46.Kh1 Qf2 47.Bg2
Qe1+ 48.Kh2 Qe5+ 49.Kg1 Rb1+ 50.Bf1 Ra1
51.Qg2 Rxa3 52.Qf2 Ra1 53.Kg2 b6 54.Bd3
Qe1 55.Qc2 Qh1+ 56.Kf2 Ra2,
0–1.
Peng Zhaoqin - Kosteniuk [D27]
Dresden, 2004
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4
5.e3 a6 6.a4 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.0–0
Be7 9.Qd3 0–0 10.Rd1 cxd4 11.exd4
Nb4 12.Qe2 b6 13.Ne5 Bb7 14.Ra3 Nbd5 15.Rb3
Qc7 16.Bg5 Rfe8 17.Re1 Bd6 18.h4 Nd7 19.Nxd7
Qxd7 20.Ne4 Bc7 21.Ra1 Qc6 22.Bd3 f5 23.Rc1
Qxa4 24.Ra3 Qd7 25.Nc3 Nf4 26.Bxf4 Bxf4
27.Rd1 b5 28.Raa1 Qc6 29.d5 exd5 30.Qf1
d4 31.Nxb5 Qf6 32.Bc4+ Kh8 33.Nxd4 Qxh4,
0–1.
OPEN LETTER FROM RUSLAN PONOMARIOV
Comment
from Silman: Though I never considered
Mr. Ponomariov World Champion (FIDE – a
mockery of an organization – has
turned the Championship into a mockery
of a title.), I tip my hat to him for having
the guts to stand up to FIDE’s self-serving
dictates.
Open
Letter from Ruslan Ponomariov to the ACP
Board - 7th April 2004.
To
the Members of the ACP
Dear
Colleagues,
I
would like to inform you about my views on
the most important issues of chess life.
The
latest FIDE decisions regarding the World
Championship granted exclusive privileges
to GM Garry Kasparov. This is unprecedented,
not only in chess history, but probably in
the complete Olympic history as well. Mr.
Kasparov bestowed on himself the title “Strongest
chess player of the world”, even though
there isn’t any mention of such a title
in FIDE Statutes or in any other official
papers. I view this situation as contrary
to all the rules of fair play.
FIDE
is constantly trying to put the blame on
me for canceling the Ponomariov – Kasparov match.
I hereby want to officially state that neither
I nor the Organizing Committee of the match
had any authority to cancel it. The match
was unilaterally cancelled by the FIDE president,
Mr. Ilyumzhinov. Unfortunately, starting
with the General Assembly in Bled, the FIDE
board exclusively defended the interests
of Mr. Kasparov, although, as an international
organization, it should have been taking
a neutral position, and should have guaranteed
that the conditions are fair and equal for
all participants.
It
concerns me greatly that the players’ opinions
are getting less and less consideration,
and that the players are becoming mainly
just a source of income for all kinds of
officials who sponge on chess. The prize
fund for the World championship is reduced
by half, choosing Libya as a venue will result
in dividing the participants into first-rate
and second-rate groups. If we stand by and
do nothing, the chances are it will keep
getting worse.
I
am not trying to hold on to my title whatever
it takes, but I can’t put up with the
absolute dictatorship of FIDE. I am ready
to defend my title on the conditions that
were clearly set at the time I won it. I
ask you, my colleagues, for understanding.
I hope that the Association of Chess Professionals
will be able to change this complicated situation.
Sincerely
yours,
Ruslan
Ponomariov, World Champion.
SHAKEUP ON THE APRIL FIDE RATING LIST
The
names remain the same, but the rankings were
slightly shuffled about as Anand returned
to the number two spot and Leko, who had
tumbled from number 4 to 10 this last year,
returned to his number 4 perch.
Top
15: 1st Kasparov (2817), 2nd Anand
(2774), 3rd Kramnik (2764), 4th Leko
(2741), 5th Topalov 2737, 6th Svidler
(2733), 7th Morozevich 2732, 8th Adams
(2731), 9th Judit Polgar (2728),
10th Ponomariov (2722), 11th Grischuk
(2719), 12th Ivanchuk (2716),
13th Gelfand (2714), 14th Shirov
(2713), 15th Short (2712).
13th AMBER
BLINDFOLD & RAPID: MOROZEVICH & KRAMNIK
TIE
This
wonderful event, usually held at the Metropole
Hotel, has been moved (due to construction)
to the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel. Every year
the fine location, excellent prizes, and
unusual format brings together many of the
World’s strongest players who will
face off in two game mini-matches against
each other – one game being blindfold
(they can look at an empty board on a computer
screen) and the other a “normal” rapid
game (30 minutes each).
The
event is broken down into three events (Rapid,
Blindfold, Combined), and a player can do
horribly in two (Blindfold and Combined,
for example) but still win the other (Rapid).
OPENING
CEREMONY: Opening ceremonies are almost always
opulent affairs in Europe, and this was no
exception. I’ve (Silman) witnessed
some really original drawing of lots while
playing there, and the custom continued when
all twelve participants were asked to put
pen to paper and draw a picture of one of
the Van Oosterom family dogs (Onyx and Whoopy).
After this was done, a local artist judged
each one, and this artistic ranking became
their pairing number.
ROUND
ONE:
In
his first Amber, Svidler had no problem splitting
the point against Amber-veteran Anand in
both formats. The other Amber “virgin,” Vallejo,
fared less well and lost two - zip to the
always formidable Bareev.
Perhaps
the most impressive result of the day was
Kramnik’s 2-0 whitewash against the
usually rock-solid Gelfand. Other scores:
Van
Wely 1 - 1 (two draws) vs. Topalov
Leko
1.5 - .5 vs. Shirov
Morozevich
2 - 0 vs. Ivanchuk (The blindfold game was
a hard fought affair, but he came late to
the second game and played very badly)
Kramnik
- Gelfand [B90]
13th Amber
Blindfold, 2004
1.e4
c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Nbd7 9.Qd2 b5
10.0–0–0 Qc7 11.g4 Nb6 12.g5
Nfd7 13.Na5 Rc8 14.Kb1 Be7 15.Nd5 Bxd5
16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Qxa5 18.Bd3 Qc7 19.h4
Qc6 20.Be4 Qxd5 21.Bxd5 Rc7 22.h5 h6 23.g6
fxg6 24.hxg6 Nf6 25.Be6 Rc6 26.f4 Bd8 27.fxe5
dxe5 28.Bf7+ Ke7 29.Bd2 Bb6 30.Rde1 e4
31.Bg5 hxg5 32.Rxh8 g4 33.Rb8 g3 34.Rb7+
Kd6 35.Bb3 Bc7 36.a4 Kc5 37.axb5 axb5 38.c4
bxc4 39.Ba4 e3 40.b4+ Kd6 41.Rd1+ Nd5 42.Rb5
