10th Chess Festival "The Battle of Senta 1697"

The Chess Festival took place on July 21st-30th in Senta, northern Serbia. Events included: Main "A" tournament, unrated "B" group, blitz and rapid tournaments (both held on July 24th), kids rapid and woman rapid tournament.


IM Misa Pap is the winner of the main tournament with 7.5 points out of 9 rounds. In 8th round he has defeated previous leader GM Miodrag Savic with black pieces, and it proved to be decicive moment since all top games in round 9 were drawn.

"A" group final standings (144 players):
1. IM Misa Pap (2409) 7.5
2-3. GM Miodrag Savic (2518) and IM Branko Tadic (2487) 7.0
4-11. GM Vladimir Kostic (2433), IM Miroslav Miljkovic (2399), IM Nikola Ostojic (2416), IM Slobo Vratonjic (2465), IM Zoran Arsovic (2441), Mirko Mamuzic (2233), FM Zoltan Simonyi (2239) and Nikola D. Nestorovic (2353) with 6.0 etc

IM Misa Pap

Winner of the "B" group was German player Martin Seifert who scored 8.0 points out of 9 rounds.

"B" group final standings:
1. Martin Seifert 8.0
2. Velibor Trajkovic 7.5
3-5 Mihalj Ujhazi, Janos Csomos and Ferenc Mester 6.5 etc


Blitz tournament final standings:
1-2. GM Milos Perunovic (2526) and GM Vladimir Kostic (2433) with 7.5 out of 9 rounds
3-7. GM Goran Cabrilo (2461), GM Miodrag Savic (2518), IM Miroslav Miljkovic (2399), IM Radovan Govedarica (2415) and Imre Balog (2265) with 7.0 etc

GM Milos Perunovic

Rapid tournament final standings:
1-2. GM Dusan Popovic (2533) and GM Miodrag Savic (2518) 7.5/9
3-7. GM Milos Perunovic (2526), IM Viktor Erdos (2528), GM Vladimir Kostic (2433), IM Nikola Ostojic (2416) and IM Miroslav Miljkovic (2399) with 7.0 (136 participants)

GM Dusan Popovic

Back from Senta

After 7 hours in bus and train at 34 degrees, Bogdan Girmacea and I have finally reached my home in Cuprija. Personally, the most important event for me in Senta was that I have met my colleague Bogdan (also WCN Admin) in person. We had great time together over the last 10 days and my spoken english has significantly improved. Like I was told before the tournament, the hospitality is great and the organizers did their best to make chessplayers feeling at home. In total, more then 300 players took participation in different events during the 10-days festival. WorldChessNetwork has awarded them all with 4 months of gold membership on the playing site.

As for my play, the main impression is that I was unable to win a game; scoring 2 wins, 5 draws! (all played) and 2 losses (both to IMs), losing 9 rating points. I will analyze the games later. Bogdan marked the tournament with the highest rating jump - 55 points. Results and standings in next post...

Bogdan on the right (yes, that's a tongue)

Going To Senta

Tomorrow I'm taking bus to Senta for my first tournament after three years of break (not counting team events). I've chosen 10-th Anniversary Chess Festival "The Battle of Senta 1697" because of its great reputation and nice atmosphere. There was no serious preparation; I only took advice of GM James Plaskett to rely on talent and good look.

You will be able to find tournament updates on the official website and/or WorldChessNetwork news page. WCN is one of the festival sponsors. I'm not sure if I will have internet access, therefore the blog might be in hibernation until July 31st.

Biel Chess Festival

The Biel Chess Festival has a lot of history behind it. The list of past winners of the Grandmaster tournament includes Anatoly Karpov, Viswanathan Anand, Vasily Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov, Peter Svidler, Alexei Dreev, Anthony Miles, John Nunn, Lev Polugajevski, Boris Gulko, Ivan Sokolov, and more. The only local Swiss Grandmaster to win the tournament was Viktor Korchnoi, who won in 1979, and then again 22 years later in 2001.

The GM tournament is a 6-player double-round-robin format, which allows players to concentrate their preparations on just five other players. The double-round-robin format often sets the stage for exciting revenge matches in the second leg, much like Topalov’s comeback at this year’s Linares-Morelia tournament.

Read the entire article by Jordan S. Berson

Quebec Open Chess Championship

The Quebec Open took place on July 7th-16th in Montreal, Canada. Guest star Alexander Moiseenko was merciless to win the tournament with 8 points out of 9 rounds. IM Michael Schleifer, who is also WCN admin, achieved fine result tied on 2nd place. Some of the best Quebec players missed this event; GM Alexandre Lesiège quit chess to play poker, while young lions IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon and IM Eric Lawson preferred to play Canadian Open which takes place in Kitchener.


Final standings:
1. GM Alexander Moiseenko (UKR 2662) 8.0
2-4. GM Abhijit Kunte (IND 2535), WGM Swathi Ghate (IND 2376) and IM Michael Schleifer (CAN 2303) 6.5
5-7. NM Roland Chabot (CAN 2287), NM Steve Bolduc (CAN 2277) and FM Sam Kleinplatz (CAN 2263) with 6.0 etc


IM Michael Schleifer 2303 - GM Alexander Moiseenko 2662
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. b4 Bxb4 9. Qc2 O-O 10. Rb1 Qe7 11. a3 Bd6 12. Nb5 Bg4 13. d3 Bc5 14. Ng5 Bf5 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Nxc7 Rac8 17. Na6 Bd6 18. e4 Bg4 19. h3 Bd7 20. Kg2 c5 21. Qc3 h6 22. Nf3 f5 23. Nh4 f4 24. Nf3 Qe6 25. g4 h5 26. Nh2 Rc6 27. Qa5 Qf6 28. f3 Qh4 29. Rb2 Qg3+ 30. Kh1 Qxh3 31. g5 Qe6 32. Bd2 c4 0-1

FM Sylvain Barbeau 2442 - IM Michael Schleifer 2303
1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. f4 a6 7. Qf3 Qc7 8. g4 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. a3 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. Bd2 Be7 13. O-O-O O-O-O 14. Rhe1 Kb8 15. Kb1 Nd7 16. Qf2 Nb6 17. Bc1 Nc4 18. Na2 Rc8 19. b3 Nb6 20. Bb2 Rhg8 21. Nb4 Qc7 22. Bf1 Ka8 23. Re2 Nd7 24. Nd3 Nf6 25. Bg2 Nxg4 26. Qg3 Nf6 27. Nf2 g6 28. Qd3 Rgd8 29. Qh3 Nh5 30. Qe3 Bf6 31. Red2 Be7 32. Bd4 Re8 33. Kb2 Bf8 34. Bb6 Qc6 35. Nd3 0-1


Official website

15. Abierto Cidade das Burgas

This open tournament took place on July 4th-12th in Ourense, Spain. IM Dragan Paunovic and GM Alejandro Hoffman have tied for the first place among 117 participants.


Final standings:
1-2. IM Dragan Paunovic (SCG 2506) and GM Alejandro Hoffman (ARG 2408) with 7.5/9
3-5. IM Luis Manuel Perez (CUB 2414), GM Vladimir Dimitrov (BUL 2454) and IM Ilmars Starostits (LAT 2445) 6.5
6-10. Krasimir Rusev (BUL 2455), IM Francisc Nemeth (ROM 2458), IM Valentin Iotov (BUL 2493), GM Zenon Franco Ocampos (PAR 2525) and Nikolay Milchev (BUL 2213) 6.0 etc

21th North Sea Cup

The 21th North Sea Cup was held on July 8th-15th in Esbjerg, Denmark. 99 participants were playing for 6700 euros prize fund. Four Grandmasters have tied for the first place.


Final standings:
1-4. GM Stefan Djuric (SCG 2466), GM Aloyzas Kveinys (LIT 2546), GM Igor Rausis (BAN 2510) and GM Gerhard Schebler (GER 2499) with 7.0/9
5-9. IM Ranko Szuhanek (ROM 2452), IM Mikkel Antonsen (DEN 2380), IM Anatol Donchenko (GER 2405), Aljoscha Feuerstack (GER 2327) and Jan Rod Pedersen (DEN 2257) with 6.5 etc


Stefan Djuric 2466 - Aljoscha Feuerstack 2327
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. a3 Qb6 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. e5 Nd7 9. f4 f6 10. Bd3 fxe5 11. Qh5+ Kd8 12. fxe5 Be7 13. Bg5 Qxb2 14. Bxe7+ Kxe7 15. Qh4+ g5 16. Qxg5+ Ke8 17. Kd2 Qb6 18. Rhf1 Qc5 19. Rae1 Qe7 20. Qh5+ Kd8 21. Rf7 Qxa3 22. Qh4+ Kc7 23. Qd4 1-0

Aloyzas Kveinys 2546 - Torsten Lindestrom 2246
1. Nf3 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. Qb3 c6 6. d3 Qb6 7. O-O Na6 8. Qc2 O-O 9. e4 d6 10. e5 Ng4 11. exd6 exd6 12. Bf4 Ne5 13. Nbd2 Bd7 14. d4 Nxf3+ 15. Nxf3 d5 16. Qd2 Rfe8 17. Be5 Nc7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Ne5 Be6 20. Rfe1 Nb5 21. Qf4 Qd8 22. Nd3 b6 23. Nb4 Qd7 24. c4 a5 25. cxb5 axb4 26. bxc6 Qxc6 27. Rac1 Qb5 28. Bf1 Qa4 29. b3 Qxa2 30. Rxe6 Rxe6 31. Rc7+ Kf6 32. Qh4+ 1-0


Official website

Igor Khenkin Wins Andorra Open

GM Igor Khenkin was the only one to win his last round game from the large group of players tied with 6 points each. He took clear first place with 7.0/9. Serbian GM Branko Damljanovic tied 2nd with 6.5. After shaky start, GM Kevin Spraggett managed to catch the leaders and finish with 6.5. His games were by far most interesting, two are posted bellow.


Final standings:
1. GM Igor Khenkin (GER 2586) 7.0
2-9. GM Branko Damljanovic (SCG 2625), GM Luis Galego (POR 2528), GM Fernando Peralta (ARG 2546), GM Aleksander Delchev (BUL 2637), IM Abhijeet Gupta (IND 2424), GM Kevin Spraggett (CAN 2577), GM Lluis Comas Fabrego (ESP 2495) and IM Maxim Rodstein (ISR 2494) 6.5 etc


GM Kevin Spraggett - IM Maxim Rodstein
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Nb3 Qa3 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Be2 h5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Kh1 Bd7 14. Nd1 Qa4 15. c4 Qb4 16. Qb2 Be7 17. Ne3 Na5 18. Nc2 Qb6 19. Qc3 Nxb3 20. axb3 h4 21. h3 Rg8 22. Nd4 e5 23. Nc2 Rg3 24. Bf3 exf4 25. Nd4 Qc5 26. Ra5 b5 27. Nf5 Bxf5 28. exf5 Qxf5 29. cxb5 Rc8 30. bxa6 d5 31. Qd2 Rxf3 32. Rxf3 Qb1+ 33. Kh2 Bc5 34. Qe2+ Be3 35. Rxe3+ fxe3 36. a7 d4 37. a8=Q Rxa8 38. Rxa8+ Ke7 39. Qb5 Qe1 40. Qc5+ 1-0

GM Kevin Spraggett- GM Ruslan Pogorelov
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Qe2 c5 10. dxc5 Qc7 11. O-O-O Bxc5 12. Bxc5 Qxc5 13. Ne5 Qe7 14. f4 b6 15. g4 Bb7 16. Rhf1 Rad8 17. g5 Nd7 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. g6 fxg6 21. Nxg6 Qf6 22. f5 exf5 23. Rxf5 Rfe8 24. Rxf6 Nxf6 25. Rxd8 Nxh5 26. Rxe8+ Kh7 27. Re7 Bd5 28. Re5 Nf6 29. Nf8+ Kh6 30. Nd7 Bg2 31. Nxf6 gxf6 32. Re7 1-0


Previous post

South Wales International

The 3rd South Wales International Chess Tournament was held on July 8th-13th. Serbian GM Milos Pavlovic won the tournament with 7 points out of 9 rounds. This was the first appearance of GM Danny Gormally after the Olympiad incident with Levon Aronian.


Final standings:
1. GM Milos Pavlovic (GM 2497) 7.0
2-6. GM Alexei Barsov (UZB 2546), GM Danny Gormally (ENG 2513), FM James Cobb (WLS 2370), FM Richard Jones (WLS 2342) and FM Matthew Broomfield (2325) 6.5 etc


GM Milos Pavlovic - GM Vladimir Dobrov
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Nbd7 6. b3 Bd6 7. Bb2 Qe7 8. Ne5 Ba3 9. Bxa3 Qxa3 10. Bd3 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd7 12. f4 Nc5 13. Qc2 b5 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. O-O Bd7 16. Nf3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 Rc8 18. Qd2 O-O 19. Rfc1 a5 20. Nd4 Rfd8 21. Rab1 g6 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Rb2 g5 24. fxg5 Qe7 25. h4 h6 26. Qd1 hxg5 27. Qh5 gxh4 28. Rf2 Kg7 29. Rf4 1-0


Official website

Canadian Open 2006

I'm not posting so often lately, mainly because being busy with covering WCN Member Support. Some of the things that had to be done are take care of the live broadcast of The Canadian Open and find a writer for preview article. I think I made good choice by asking Jordan S. Berson to do it. After he saw my delightedness with the material, Jordan told me that he was involved in writing and radio for a long time now. I'm looking forward to reading his articles in the future.

Canadian Open 2006 is being held on July 15th-23rd and the list of participants includes GM Evgeny Bareev, GM Alexander Moiseenko, GM Mark Paragua, GM Alexander Huzman, GM Rauf Mamedov, GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM Walter Arencibia, GM Abhijit Kunte etc. We will have live audio coverage of the tournament on the WorldChessNetwork with commentators like GM Larry Christiansen, IM Irina Krush, GM Alex Finkel, GM Victor MIkhalevski and GM Arthur Kogan.


Canadian Open 2006 by Jordan S. Berson

Le Championnat International de Paris 2006

Paris International Chess Championship takes place on July 8th-16th. Main festival group features 66 participants with 17 GMs among them. US Women champion WGM Anna Zatonskih is also playing.


Standings after round 4:
1. GM Goran Dizdar (CRO 2521) 4.0
2-4. GM Elshan Moradiabadi (IRI 2502), IM Ognjen Jovanic (CRO 2464) and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA 2577) 3.5

GM Milan Drasko (SCG 2521) and GM Alojzije Jankovic (CRO 2525) are in the large group of players with 3.0 points


Official website has nice photo gallery but no player names. Though I can recognize Anna Zatonskih listed first ;)

Correction

I was writing earlier about FM Dragan Stamenkovic achieving 2nd and 3rd IM norm on his Brasil tour. Tonight Dragan pointed out that final standings that I posted are not correct - last round results are missing. I simply transcribed standings from the official website before the final update. My apologies to Dragan. Correct results now included. And while we are on this subject, bellow you can find a nice game, when Dragan sacrificed two Knights for the winning attack.


1st Magistral Internacional do Espirito Santo:
1. GM Andrés Rodriguez (ARG 2502) 7.0/9
2. FM Dragan Stamenkovic (SCG 2334) 7.0
3. IM Robert Hungaski (USA 2400) 6.0
4. FM Jorge Bittencourt (BRA 2395) 5.5
5-7. IM Martin Crosa (ARG 2449), Diego di Berardino (BRA 2342) and FM André Diamant (BRA 2244) 4.5
8. FM Roberto Molina (BRA 2307) 3.0
9. Andrey Neves (BRA 2207) 2.0
10. Fernando Viana (BRA 2226) 1.0


FM Dragan Stamenkovic 2334 - FM Roberto Molina 2307
1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nxe4 Nd7 4. Bc4 e6 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. d3 Be7 7. Qe2 c5 8. Bd2 O-O 9. a4 Nb6 10. Bb3 Nbd5 11. Ne5 Qc7 12. f4 b6 13. O-O Ba6 14. Ng5 h6 15. Ngf3 Bd6 16. Rae1 Rad8 17. Kh1 Rfe8 18. Qf2 Ne7 19. Nxf7


19...Kxf7 20. Ng5+ hxg5 21. Bxe6+ Kg6 22. fxg5 Bxh2 23. gxf6 Rh8 24. Bf7+ Kxf7 25. Rxe7+ Kg8 26. fxg7 Qxe7 27. gxh8=Q+ Kxh8 28. Kxh2 Kg8 29. Bc3 Qd6+ 30. Kg1 Rf8 31. Qxf8+ Qxf8 32. Rxf8+ Kxf8 33. Be5 c4 34. dxc4 Bxc4 35. b4 a6 36. Bc7 b5 37. a5 Ke7 38. Kf2 Bd5 39. g4 Kf7 40. Ke3 Be6 41. g5 Kg6 42. Bd8 Bc8 43. Kd4 Bh3 44. Kc5 Bg4 45. Kb6 Bc8 46. Kc7 1-0

Open Internacional d'Andorra

24th International Chess Open of the Valleys of Andorra takes place on July 8th-16th. 86 participants (16 GMs) are fighting over total prize fund of 10000 euros. Serbian GM Branko Damljanovic (2625) is currently having 2 points after 2 rounds. In round 3 he will meet prodigy IM Maxim Rodstein (ISR 2494). Last year I played Maxim couple of times, he knocked me badly.


GM Branko Damljanovic - FM Miguel Navarro Cia
Round 1
1. c4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. b3 g6 4. Bb2 Bg7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 d6 7. d4 Qe8 8. Nbd2 Na6 9. O-O Rb8 10. a4 h6 11. Bc3 c5 12. dxc5 dxc5 13. Be5 Ra8 14. a5 g5 15. Ne1 Qh5 16. Bf3 Ng4 17. Bxg4 Qxg4 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. f4 e5 20. Ndf3 exf4 21. Ne5 Qh3 22. gxf4 Qe3+ 23. Rf2 Be6 24. Ng2 Qd4 25. Qc1 gxf4 26. Nf3 Qf6 27. Nxf4 Kh7 28. Kh1 Nb4 29. Rf1 Rae8 30. Rg1 Rg8 31. Qd2 Rxg1+ 32. Rxg1 Bf7 33. Qd7 Re7 34. Qc8 Nc6 35. Nh5 Qc3 36. Qxf5+ 1-0


Official website

2n Open Internacional d'Escacs "Vila de Sort"

This open tournament was held on June 26th-July 4th in Catalan city Sort. There were 84 participants.


Final standings:
1. GM Julio Granda Zuniga (PER 2631) with 7.5/9
2-8. GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE 2532), IM Rashad Babaev (AZE 2486), IM Levan Aroshidze (GEO 2498), IM Nidjat Mamedov (AZE 2523), GM Mihai Suba (ROM 2527), IM Sergei Krivoshey (UKR 2531) and IM Jesus Baron Rodriguez (ESP 2402) 6.5
9-10. WGM Carolina Lujan (ARG 2378) and IM Fabio Bruno (ITA 2394) 6.0 etc


GM Julio Granda Zuniga - IM Rashad Babaev
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Bg4 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Rb1 a6 11. b3 Rb8 12. Bb2 b5 13. Qc2 e5 14. dxe6 Bxe6 15. cxb5 axb5 16. Nce4 Nd5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Qb2+ Kg8 19. Nf3 Bf5 20. Nfg5 h6 21. Rbd1 hxg5 22. Rxd5 Bxe4 23. Bxe4 Nc6 24. Qd2 Qe7 25. Bg2 g4 26. e3 Rfd8 27. Rd1 Qe6 28. a3 Rd7 29. b4 Rdd8 30. Qc2 c4 31. Rxb5 Rxb5 32. Bxc6 Rh5 33. e4 Qf6 34. Qxc4 Qh8 35. Qd4 Qh6 36. Qf6 Rf8 37. h4 gxh3 38. Kh2 Re5 39. Rxd6 Qc1 40. Qxe5 Qf1 41. Rxg6+ 1-0

GM Arthur Kogan - GM Mihai Suba
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g4 h6 7. Bg2 Nc6 8. h3 Bd7 9. Nb3 a6 10. f4 b5 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Qe2 Rb8 13. Qf2 Bc8 14. O-O-O b4 15. Ne2 Be7 16. Ng3 Nd7 17. e5 dxe5 18. f5 O-O 19. h4 Nf6 20. Qe2 exf5 21. gxf5 e4 22. Rhg1 Kh7 23. Rdf1 Qxg3 24. Bxe4 Nxe4 25. Bf4 Nc3 26. bxc3 Qxc3 27. Rg3 Nd4 28. Nxd4 Qa1+ 29. Kd2 Qxd4+ 30. Rd3 Qf6 31. Be5 Qxh4 32. Bxb8 Bg5+ 33. Kd1 Qc4 34. Qf3 Qxa2 35. Bf4 Bf6 36. Bc1 Qc4 37. Qf4 Qb5 38. Rh1 Bxf5 39. Rxh6+ gxh6 40. Qxh6+ Kg8 41. Qxf6 Bxd3 42. Bb2 Qh5+ 43. Kc1 Qh1+ 44. Kd2 Qg2+ 45. Ke3 Qe2+ 46. Kd4 Rc8 0-1


Official website

FINEC Rektor Cup

The Rektor Cup was held on June 26th-July 4th at the University of economy and finance in St. Petersburg, Russia. Untitled junior Nikita Vitiugov (2550) won the tournament with impressive 7.5/9 and rating performance over 2700. This result brought him GM norm. Maxim Matlakov, another untitled player, has earned IM norm.


Final standings:
1. Nikita Vitiugov (RUS 2550) 7.5
2-3. IM Ildar Khairullin (RUS 2544) and GM Michail Brodsky (UKR 2561) 6.0
4. Maxim Matlakov (RUS 2410) 5.5
5. GM Sergey Zagrebelny (UZB 2485) 4.5
6-8. Sergei Mihajlovskij (BLR 2414), FM Alexei Lanin (RUS 2447) and GM Denis Yevseev (GM 2580) 4.0
9. Oleg Biriukov (RUS 2404) 2.0
10. Victor Trushelyov (AZE 2358) 1.5


GM Denis Yevseev - Nikita Vitiugov
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Nge2 Bb7 6. a3 Be7 7. d5 O-O 8. g3 b5 9. Qb3 Na6 10. cxb5 Nc5 11. Qc2 Nxd5 12. e4 Nxc3 13. Nxc3 f5 14. Bg2 Bf6 15. O-O Bxc3 16. Qxc3 Nxe4 17. Qc2 Bd5 18. b4 Qb8 19. Bb2 Qb7 20. Rad1 Rac8 21. Qe2 Rf7 22. Qd3 Rb8 23. a4 Nf6 24. f3 d6 25. Bc3 f4 26. Rd2 Rbf8 27. g4 Nd7 28. Bd4 Nb6 29. Ra1 Nc4 30. Re2 e5 31. Bf2 e4 32. fxe4 Be6 33. e5 f3 34. exd6 fxg2 0-1

3rd Sanxenxo Open

3rd Open Internacional Municipio de Sanxenxo was held on June 26th-July 3rd. There were 64 participants.


Final standings:
1-5. IM Frois Antoinio (POR 2356), FM Salgado Lopez Ivan (ESP 2358), GM De La Villa Garcia Jesus (ESP 2461), FM Garcia Castro Pablo (ESP 2309) and IM Reinaldo Castineira Roi (ESP 2441) with 6.5/9
6-12. GM Hoffman Alejandro (ARG 2444), FM Navarro Cia Miguel (ESP 2350), GM Hamdouchi Hichem (MAR 2559), IM Perez Luis Manuel (CUB 2414), WGM Bogza Adina-Maria (ROM 2297), IM Starostits Ilmars (LAT 2460) and Pena Gomez Manuel (ESP 2357) 6.0 etc


Official website

University Chess - Belgrade vs Novi Sad

Belgrade and Novi Sad State Universities have played a match on July 2nd in Novi Sad. This is one of the events organized to promote introduction of chess into Serbian educational system. Match was played on 30 boards, double round robin. Belgrade won 31.5-28.5


NOVI SAD - BELGRADE 11.5-12.5
GM Dragan Solak 2566 - GM Bojan Vuckovic 2531 0.5-1.5
IM Dusan Popovic 2533 - IM Vladimir Podinic 2410 2-0
FM Slobodan Munizaba 2315 - FM Dusko Prelevic 1.5-0.5
Vanja Cengija 2304 - Ivan Martic 2329 1-1
FM Sinisa Saric 2264 - FM Ivan Sredojevic 2329 0-2
FM Novak Pezelj 2251 - Milorad Grbic 2276 2-0
Darko Donevski 2109 - Bojan Podinic 2237 2-0
Nenad Pavlovic 2110 - Ivan Bugarcic 2201 0-2
Ljubomir Vranic 2190 - Branko Vuckovic 2182 0-2
Vojislav Veljkovic 2167 - Marko Maksimovic 2146 1-1
Sinisa Remecki 2116 - Djordje Duvnjak 2079 0.5-1.5
Jovo Petovic - Milos Sibinovic 2195 1-1

Novi Sad - Belgrade (women) 6.5-11.5
Novi Sad - Belgrade (professors) 10.5-7.5


Belgrade University and The University of Texas at Dallas will play 30 boards match over the internet on the 2nd half of October.


GM Dragan Solak and GM Bojan Vuckovic (photo by Nebojsa Baralic)

Grandmasters Leaving Bosnia

GM Bojan Kurajica (2562) and GM Emir Dizdarevic (2489) are leaving Bosnia & Herzegovina for Croatia on the next rating list. Kurajica says this is practically forced step, as BIH Chess Federation shows no care about its top players.

Many Bosnian players have already changed federations. GM Milan Vukic, GM Miodrag R.Savic, IM Aleksandar Savanovic and IM Vlado Jakovljevic are on SCG rating list. GM Ivan Sokolov moved to Netherlands while GM Predrag Nikolic refuses to play for Bosnia. GM Suat Atalik returned to Turkey and even Zurab Azmaiparashvili spent some months on Bosnian rating list.

Sergei Shipov Wins Midnight Sun Challenge

The Midnight Sun Chess Challenge was held on June 24th-July 2nd in Tromso, Norway. Russian Grandmaster and famous chess commentator Sergei Shipov won the tournament with 7.5 points out of 9 rounds. Hero of the event is local player Gunnar Johnsen who finished 4th ahead of some strong GMs.


Final standings:
1. GM Sergei Shipov (RUS 2576) 7.5/9
2-3. GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR 2646) and GM Leif Erlend Johannessen (NOR 2559) with 7.0
4. Gunnar Johnsen (NOR 2215) 6.5
5-12. GM Michal Krasenkow (POL 2650), GM Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU 2596), GM Kjetil A. Lie (NOR 2497), WGM Joanna Dworakowska (POL 2364), IM Eirik T. Gullaksen (NOR 2380), Tobias Pettersson (SWE 2071), GM Ralf Akesson (SWE 2472) and Torben Soraas (NOR 2115) with 6.0 etc


Kjetil A. Lie - Sergei Shipov
Round 9
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Nbd2 Ne7 10.Nxd4 Qxd4 11.Nf3 Qa4 12.b3 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qd8 14.b4 Ng6 15. g3 Be7 16.h4 f6 17.Re1 O-O 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Ng5 Bxg5 20.Bxg5 Qb6 21.Qd2 Rf3 22.Re3 Raf8 23.Rxf3 Rxf3 24.Kg2 Ne5 25.Bf1 d4 26.b5 Qc5 27.Rd1 d3 28.Bf4 Ng4 29.Be3 Rxe3 0-1


Official website

July FIDE Rating List

New rating list has just been announced. You can download it here. Veselin Topalov is 1st with 2813 (improved 9 points from April), while Vishy Anand dropped to 2779 (-24) mostly because of his poor Olympiad performance. Levon Aronian is stable 3rd with 2761 and my guy Vladimir is 4th with 2743. Top 100 Players July 2006 here.

On Country Top players list Serbia and Montenegro is still placed 17th. Separated rating lists will start on Jan 1st 2007. 45-years old GM Branko Damljanovic is now rated 2625, his highest rating ever, which ranks him 87th on the world. It's been quite awhile since Serbia had a player in top 100. Legendary GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic played 4 games in Dutch League and is now rated 2551. FM Borko Lajthajm had excellent season to bring him 2507 points. I haven't played any games standing on 2210.

Serbia top 10:
1. GM Branko Damljanovic 2625
2. GM Ivan Ivanisevic 2598
3. GM Robert Markus 2587
4. GM Igor Miladinovic 2584
5. GM Dragan Solak 2566
6. GM Aleksandar Kovacevic 2560
7. IM Mihajlo Stojanovic 2558
8. GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic 2551
9. GM Dejan Pikula 2533
10. GM Petar Popovic 2533