EICC round 7 pairings

European Individual Chess Championship
Round 7 top board pairings

Bo.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg
1	GM	Potkin Vladimir	2653	5½		5	GM	Volokitin Andrei	2677
2	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2707	5		5	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	2626
3	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	2680	5		5	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2626
4	GM	Khairullin Ildar	2634	5		5	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	2673
5	GM	Ragger Markus	2614	5		5	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2664
6	GM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	2606	5		5	GM	Khismatullin Denis	2662
7	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2598	5		5	GM	Feller Sebastien	2657
8	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	2720	4½		5	IM	Wirig Anthony	2480
9	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	2711	4½		4½	GM	Hracek Zbynek	2631
10	GM	Safarli Eltaj	2628	4½		4½	GM	Dreev Aleksey	2697
11	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	2673	4½		4½	GM	Saric Ivan	2626
12	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	2672	4½		4½	GM	Beliavsky Alexander G	2619
13	GM	Mamedov Rauf	2667	4½		4½	GM	Kovchan Alexander	2563
14	GM	L'ami Erwin	2623	4½		4½	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	2663
15	GM	Guseinov Gadir	2584	4½		4½	GM	Gharamian Tigran	2650
16	GM	Jones Gawain C B	2578	4½		4½	GM	Korobov Anton	2647
17	GM	Svidler Peter	2730	4		4	GM	Azarov Sergei	2615
18	GM	Stevic Hrvoje	2611	4		4	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	2729
19	GM	Navara David	2722	4		4	GM	Popov Ivan	2613
20	GM	Jakovenko Dmitry	2718	4		4	GM	Grigoryan Avetik	2608
21	GM	Reinderman Dimitri	2601	4		4	GM	Jobava Baadur	2707
22	GM	Nikolic Predrag	2596	4		4	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2692
23	GM	Laznicka Viktor	2688	4		4	GM	Tregubov Pavel V	2598
24	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2595	4		4	GM	Polgar Judit	2686
25	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2684	4		4	GM	Buhmann Rainer	2590

Full pairings here: http://chess-results.com/tnr45941.aspx

34th San Sebastian City International

34th San Sebastian City International Chess Tournament 
16th to 23rd April at the Gros Xake Taldea. Anoeta passeig, 20. Donostia

The 34th San Sebastian City International Chess Tournament is scheduled to take place from 16th to 23rd April at the Gros Xake Taldea. Anoeta passeig, 20. Donostia- San Sebastián. The playing system is 9-round Swiss open, with the time control of 90 minutes + 30 sec/move.

One month before the start of the competition already 153 players are signed to participate. The legendary GM Viktor Korchnoi, who turned 80 few days ago, confirmed his arrival. Currently top seeded is GM Kevin Spraggett, for many years regular player in San Sebastián. Top prize is 1500 EUR, a trophy and traditional Txapela.

Official website

Here are some of the top seeds

GM Spraggett Kevin CAN 2576
GM Korchnoi Viktor SUI 2557
GM Dgebuadze Alexandre BEL 2544
IM Sebenik Matej SLO 2530
IM Moreno Ruiz Javier ESP 2527
GM Alvarez Pedraza Aramis CUB 2515
GM San Segundo Carrillo Pablo ESP 2513
IM Andres Gonzalez Alberto ESP 2503
IM Pap Misa SRB 2496
IM Franco Alonso Alejandro ESP 2489
GM Starostits Ilmars LAT 2486
IM Elsness Frode NOR 2484
GM Tratar Marko SLO 2482
IM Llaneza Vega Marcos ESP 2473
IM Hansen Torbjorn Ringdal NOR 2459
FM Gonzalez Perez Arian CUB 2458
IM Venkatesh M R IND 2455
IM Colovic Aleksandar MKD 2452
GM Mateo Ramon DOM 2446

Open Letter by Turkish Chess Federation President

Due to the very intensive political environment during the European Chess Union, ECU, General Assembly in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2010, members of the general assembly had decided that it was better to postpone the decision regarding the organization of the events to a new extraordinary assembly. This new Extraordinary General Assembly of the ECU will be held in Aix-les-Bains, on March 29th, 2011. However, in addition to the topic of event organizations, the current ECU management has prepared a long list of further proposals to be discussed at Aix-les-Bains.

The topic of the proposals include the shift of event decision power from general assembly to the board, the budget, Sofia rules, dress code, Bilbao rules, and copyright for moves. We, as the Turkish Chess Federation, find all of these proposals unsound and lacking:

1. The shift of event decision power from general assembly to the board is unacceptable, because the board intends to pass this important proposal hastily without giving all federations sufficient time to respond.
2. The proposed budget changes are intended to increase the spending, whereas the ECU management has yet to attempt to collect 100,000€ worth of debts from three organizers and has yet find one Euro worth of sponsorship after their six month mandate.
3. Sofia rules divide the rule set of the world championship cycle, and this division hurts the image of chess; therefore, such proposal should be implemented not on a continental, but on a global level.
4. The dress code proposal burdens many of the smaller European chess federations financially, because it is not backed up by a continental sponsorship program.
5. The Bilbao rules would not only bring chaos to rating and title calculations, but also hurt the image of chess by splitting the rule set across the world championship cycle.
6. A copyright for moves cannot be enforced and would only discourage the media to promote chess.

We hope that you, the esteemed managers and delegates of the esteemed federations of the ECU, will be convinced by the end of this letter that these ineffectual proposals that could have very negative consequences for European and for world chess. We invite you to reject all of these proposals at the Extra Ordinary General Assembly in Aix-les-Bains.


EUROPE BELONGS US! IT IS OURS! YOU SHOULD REACT AS WELL!


Gens Una Sumus
Respectfully yours,
Ali Nihat Yazici 
President - Turkish Chess Federation

Potkin leads EICC

Leaders after 6 rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2653	5.5	3380	16.0	24.0
2	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	ROU	2626	5.0	3296	13.5	20.5
3	IM	Wirig Anthony	FRA	2480	5.0	2957	16.5	23.0
4	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2673	5.0	2914	15.5	24.5
5	GM	Khismatullin Denis	RUS	2662	5.0	2898	13.5	20.5
6	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2707	5.0	2892	14.5	21.5
7	GM	Ragger Markus	AUT	2614	5.0	2881	15.0	21.5
8	GM	Khairullin Ildar	RUS	2634	5.0	2866	13.5	20.0
9	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	ROU	2598	5.0	2766	16.0	24.0
10	GM	Volokitin Andrei	UKR	2677	5.0	2763	16.0	23.5
11	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	BUL	2664	5.0	2739	14.0	20.5
12	GM	Feller Sebastien	FRA	2657	5.0	2727	13.0	19.5
13	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	BLR	2680	5.0	2720	13.5	20.0
14	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	MDA	2626	5.0	2712	15.5	23.5
15	GM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	NOR	2606	5.0	2711	12.5	19.0

Full standings here.

EICC round 6 results

Round 6 EICC top board results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	27	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	2673	4½	½ - ½	5	GM	Potkin Vladimir	2653	43
2	170	IM	Wirig Anthony	2480	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2598	87
3	61	GM	Saric Ivan	2626	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	2711	7
4	64	GM	Romanov Evgeny	2624	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2707	9
5	12	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2692	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	2606	79
6	14	GM	Polgar Judit	2686	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Ragger Markus	2614	73
7	71	GM	Savchenko Boris	2616	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	2680	17
8	21	GM	Volokitin Andrei	2677	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Reinderman Dimitri	2601	84
9	26	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	2673	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Guseinov Gadir	2584	97
10	113	GM	Kovchan Alexander	2563	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	2672	28
11	33	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2664	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	2584	98
12	36	GM	Khismatullin Denis	2662	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Zhigalko Andrey	2571	107
13	40	GM	Feller Sebastien	2657	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Papin Vasily	2569	108
14	115	GM	Zherebukh Yaroslav	2560	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Khairullin Ildar	2634	55
15	59	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	2626	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Bellaiche Anthony	2472	175
16	60	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2626	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Vaisser Anatoly	2522	151

Full results here.

Chess improvement series: Sicilian Alapin

In The Insight chess show GM Henrik Danielsen takes a look at the solid Alapin variation of the Sicilian defence. Part 1 of the video shows options how to transfer to French, but also focuses on the solid reply e6 from black.

The Insight chess show with analysis of the Sicilian defence Alapin variation. The variation starts with 1. e4 e6 2. c3 e6. It is a continuation of the Alapin variation part 1, by GM Henrik Danielsen.

Special thanks to our friends at Chessdom for sharing these videos with our bloggers.

Anand or Kasimdzhanov?

Who will win the rapid match between Anand and Kasimdzhanov?
	Anand 3-1
	Anand 2.5-1.5
	2-2 tie
	Kasimdzhanov 3-1
	Kasimdzhanov 2.5-1.5
	Anand by a bigger margin
	Kasimdzhanov by a bigger margin

London Chess Classic

The 3rd London Chess Classic has been announced on 26th March 2011. The event will take place 3rd-12th December 2011 and will again be at the Olympia Conference Centre. This time there will be an additional player making it a 9 round 9 player event. 1 player per round will have a day off and help the commentary team. In the tradition of promoting chess in the UK there will be junior training, lectures, GM and amateur opens. There is an increased prize-fund.

Chess Promotions

Chess Promotions Ltd


44 Baker Street, London, W1U 7RT


TEL: 0207935 3445


Email: chessinschools@gmail.com


London Chess Classic 2011 dates confirmed.


For general release on 26th March 2011


The dates for the London Chess Classic 2011 have been confirmed and the tournament will be held from December 3-12 at the Olympia Conference centre in Kensington. The tournament will change format slightly with the addition of one more player, making the UK’s most prestigious tournament even stronger.


Each day, one player will have a day off and will assist the LCC commentary team both at Olympia and in the internet broadcast, making the Classic even more exciting to watch.


There will also be five days of junior coaching, a Grandmaster Open, and weekend tournaments for players of all levels. An innovation this year will be a chess festival with lectures, teaching and film screenings. The prize fund has been increased again and will be in excess of €150,000. The lineup will be announced in May.


Malcolm Pein (IM)


Tournament Director.

EICC round 6

Round 6 top board pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	27	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	2673	4½		5	GM	Potkin Vladimir	2653	43
2	170	IM	Wirig Anthony	2480	4½		4½	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2598	87
3	61	GM	Saric Ivan	2626	4		4	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	2711	7
4	64	GM	Romanov Evgeny	2624	4		4	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	2707	9
5	12	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2692	4		4	GM	Hammer Jon Ludvig	2606	79
6	14	GM	Polgar Judit	2686	4		4	GM	Ragger Markus	2614	73
7	71	GM	Savchenko Boris	2616	4		4	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	2680	17
8	21	GM	Volokitin Andrei	2677	4		4	GM	Reinderman Dimitri	2601	84
9	26	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	2673	4		4	GM	Guseinov Gadir	2584	97
10	113	GM	Kovchan Alexander	2563	4		4	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	2672	28
11	33	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2664	4		4	GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	2584	98
12	36	GM	Khismatullin Denis	2662	4		4	GM	Zhigalko Andrey	2571	107
13	40	GM	Feller Sebastien	2657	4		4	GM	Papin Vasily	2569	108
14	115	GM	Zherebukh Yaroslav	2560	4		4	GM	Khairullin Ildar	2634	55
15	59	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	2626	4		4	IM	Bellaiche Anthony	2472	175
16	60	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2626	4		4	GM	Vaisser Anatoly	2522	151

Full pairings here: http://chess-results.com/tnr45941.aspx