Reply #1: Chess News for the Week Ending August 27 [View All]

[Jack Rabbit]

Ivan Sokolov wins Staunton Memorial



Dutch grandmaster Ivan Sokolov, originally from Bosnia, won the Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament in London with 9 points in 11 rounds.

Sokolov won 7 games and drew four without a loss. Jan Timman of Holland and Michael Adams of Britain tied for second with 8½ points apiece.

Official Cross Table
Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament
London

---------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 T- (W) (SB).
.1. Ivan Sokolov. . . . . . .- ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 9. (7) .....
.2. Jan Timman. . . . . . . .½ - ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8½ (6) 42.75
.3. Michael Adams . . . . . .½ ½ - ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 8½ (6) 39.50
.4. Jan Werle . . . . . . . .½ 0 ½ - ½ 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 7, (5) .....
.5. Erwin L'Ami . . . . . . .0 0 ½ ½ - ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 6½ (4) .....
.6. Peter Wells . . . . . . .½ 0 0 1 ½ - 1 0 1 1 ½ 0 5½ (3) .....
.7. Jonathan Speelman . . . .0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 - ½ 1 1 ½ 1 5. (3) .....
.8. Tea Bosboom-Lanchava . . 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 ½ - 1 0 ½ 1 4½ (3) .....
.9. Yge Visser. . . . . . . .0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 - 1 1 1 4. (3) .....
10. David Howell. . . . . . .0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1 1 3½ (2) .....
11. Jonathan Levitt . . . . .0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 - 1 3. (1) .....
12. Lawrence Day. . . . . . .0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1. (1) .....

The first six games of the tournament were played at the historic Simpson's Divan, a famous chess parlor since the 1840s. The remaining games were played at Wellington College.

Tkachiev defeats Fressinet in playoff to win overall French Championship



Vladislav Tkachiev, originally from Kazakhstan, defeated Laurent Fressinet in a two-game rapid chess palyoff to win the overall national championship of France Friday in Besançon.

Both men finished the 11-round event with 7½ points. Each won 4 and drew 7 without a loss.

Tkachiev and Fressinet drew the frist game of the playoff. Tkachiev won the second in 71 moves.

Unofficial Cross Table
French National Championship, General Event
Besançon, Franche-Comté province, Burgundy region

---------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 T- (W)
.1 g Vladislav Tkachiev . . .- ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7½ (4)
.2 g Kaurent Fressinet. . . .½ - ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 7½ (4)
.3 g Robert Fontaine. . . . .½ ½ - 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 7. (4)
.4 g Joel Lautier . . . . . .½ ½ 0 - ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 6. (3)
.5 g Maxime Vachier-Lagrave .0 ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6. (2)
.6 g Christian Bauer. . . . .½ 0 0 1 ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ (2)
.7 g Josef Dorfman. . . . . .½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 5½ (0)
.8 g Andrei Sokolov . . . . .0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ - ½ 1 ½ 0 5. (2)
.9 g Anatoly Vasser . . . . .½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ - 1 0 1 4½ (2)
10 g Igor Nataf . . . . . . .½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 - 1 0 4½ (1)
11 m Vincent Colin. . . . . .0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 - 1 4. (2)
12 m Favien Libiszewski . . .0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 - 3. (2)

The Jack Rabbit Unofficial Cross Table uses games won as first tie break

It was a dissappointing tournament for top seed Joel Lautier, who finished tied for fourth with 6 points.

Robert Fontaine, a 21-year-old grandmaster who occasionally plays in the United States, surprised observers by finishing third after winning his individual encounter with Lautier in the early rounds of the event.

Almira Skripchenko runs away with French women's championship

Almira Skirpchenko, a Moldavian native of Ukrainian ancestry who has been a French citizen since 2001, won the French women's national championship in Besançon ;ast week with 10 points out of a possible 11.

Mlle. Skipchenko won nine games. She drew two, one in the third round against runner-up Pauline Guichard and an 11-move last round game with third place finisher Maria Leconte.



Almira Skripchenko
Photo: ChessBase.com

Mlle. Skripchenko had a point and a half lead going into the final round.

Unofficial Cross Table
French National Championships, Women's Event
Besançon, Franche-Comté province, Burgundy region

--------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 T- (W)
.1 Almira Skripchenko. . . .- ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 (9)
.2 Pauline Guichard. . . . .½ - ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 9. (7)
.3 Maria Leconte . . . . . .½ ½ - 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 8½ (6)
.4 Anne Muller . . . . . . .0 0 0 - 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 5½ (4)
.5 Marina Roumegous. . . . .0 0 0 1 - 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 5. (4)
.6 Christine Flear . . . . .0 ½ 0 ½ 1 - ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 5. (1)
.7 Marie-Christine Esposito 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ - 0 ½ 1 1 1 4½ (3)
.8 Natacha Benmesbah . . . .0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 - 0 0 ½ 1 4½ (2)
.9 Friederike Wohlers-Armas 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 - 1 0 0 4. (3)
10 Mathilde Congiu . . . . .0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 - ½ ½ 3½ (1)
11 Mathilde Choisy . . . . .0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ - ½ 3½ (1)
12 Melanie Verot . . . . . .0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ - 3. (1)

The Jack Rabbit Unofficial Cross Table uses games won as first tie break

In addition to being an international grandmaster at chess, Mlle. Skripchenko studies law at the Sorbonne, speaks several languages fluently and recently took up world-class poker. One of the most photographed women in international chess, she also models for promotional posters for a German football team.

Mainz Chess Fest concludes

The annual Mainz Chess Classic festival concluded in Germany last week.

During the course of events, Vishy Anand of India once again claimed the world rapid chess championship by defeating Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov in a eight game match, 5-3.



Vishy Anand
Photo: ChessBase.com

Simultaneously with the rapid chess match, Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian, who is known for his prowess in chess variants, defeated Peter Svidler of Russia in a world championship match of FischeRandom chess, a chess variant developed by former world champion Bobby Fischer. Each player begin the game by placing their pieces on the back rank in an order of his choosing.

In the final days at Mainz, Rustam Kazimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov shared first place in an open tournament of rapid chess, each scoring 9½ points out of 11. Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine won a prize as the top finishing woman in the event with 8½ points.

Georgians take top spots in Athens

Grandmasters Tamaz Gelashvili and Levan Aroshidze of Georgia (the Caucasus republic) and reigning Argentine national champion Fernando Peralta tied for first prize in the general event of the Acroplis Open in Athens while 19-year-old master Solome Melia, also from Georgia, won the women's event.

Gelashvili, Aroshidze and Peralta each scored 7 points out of 9 in a hotly contested Swiss system tournament.

Ms. Melia had an easier time in the women's event, scoring 7 points, a half-point clear of her nearest rival, the top seeded Elina Danielian of Armenia. Ms. Melia went into the final round leading by a full point. Ms. Danielian won her final game with Black against Ioulia Makka of Greece in order to pull ahead of several rivals for the runner-up position.



Awards Ceremonies in Athens
Photos: Official website of the Acropolis Open, 2006

Some women participated in the main event, including former women's world champions Zhu Chen, formerly of China but who now plays for Qatar, and Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria. Ms. Zhu, who finishes tied for sixth place with 6 points, was one of many players vying for top honors before faltering in the last two rounds.

Youth team lead veterans in Amsterdam



A team of five young grandmasters, all but one in his teens, lead a team of veteran players, all but one in his fifties, in a Scheveningen team match in Amesterdam after eight rounds.

The score in individual points is 22-18.

The rising star team consists of Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, China's Wang Hao, and Dutch GMs Daniel Stellwagen and Jan Smeets.

The old timers are Ljubomir Ljubojevic of Serbia, Sweden's Ulf Andersson, Slovenian GM Alexander Beliavsky, Englishman John Nunn and Artur Jussupow (also spelled Yusupov) of Germany.

In today's action, Carlsen with Black defeated Jussupow and Ljubojuvic, playing White, defeated Smeets. All other games were drawn.

Carlsen, at 15 the youngest of the young players, is leading the individual scoring with 6 points in eight rounds. Calrsen has won four games. Beliavsky leads the old timers in scoring with 5 points.

The event concludes Tuesday.