NEWSLETTER 23 (April 25, 2011)

THE PRESIDENT OF ECU SILVIO DANAILOV WAS AWARDED WITH THE ORDER OF STARA PLANINA I-ST CLASS BY THE PRESIDENT OF BULGARIA GEORGI PARVANOV

During official ceremony the President of the European Chess Union Silvio Danailov was awarded with the highest state award – the Order of Stara Planina I- st class by the President Georgi Parvanov. The Order is awarded to Mr. Danailov for “his exceptional contribution to the Republic of Bulgaria in the field of physical education and sport.”

During the ceremony, the President Georgi Parvanov determined Silvio Danailov as very strong chess player and prominent analyst, outstanding manager with tremendous contribution for transformation of our country into world chess power, founder of the Grand Slam and the man who conducted many reforms in the world chess. Mr. Danailov thanked to the President and the state for this exceptional recognition and stated that this Order obliges Him to continue working with redoubled efforts for achieving new heights, among which He mentioned one of the main His goals for returning the world chess crown in Bulgaria.

The President of Bulgaria awards with the Order of Stara Planina politicians, diplomats, public figures, athletes, Bulgarian and foreign citizens. Among the winners of the order are very renowned names such as: Colin Powell, Sylvie Vartan, Nicolas Sarkozy, Silvia (Queen of Sweden), Angela Merkel, Tony Blair, José Manuel Barroso, Condoleezza Rice, Nelson Mandela, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Silvio Berlusconi and others.

SERBIAN WOMEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 JOVANA ERIC CHAMPION!

Place and date: Belgrade, Serbia April 11 – April 22, 2011

System: 11 rounds according to the Round Robin System.

Rate of play: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

Final ranking:

Rank Title Name Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points Eric 1 WIM Jovana 2230 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 9 Stojanovic 2 WGM Andjelija 2318 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8,5 Manakova 3 WGM Maria 2336 ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 8 Benderac 4 WGM Ana 2305 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7,5 Drljevic 5 WIM Ljilja 2295 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 7,5 Chelushkina 6 WGM Irina 2314 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 1 5,5 Maksimovic 7 WGM Suzana 2203 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 5,5 Rakic 8 WIM Marija 2309 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 5,5 Miladinovic 9 Lena 2086 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 4 Brankov 10 Kristina 1898 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 Panic 11 Anastasija 1894 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Dragojevic 12 Marija 1985 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Official web-site: http://serbiachess.net/

60th BULGARIAN WOMEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 ELITSA RAEVA CHAMPION!

Place and date: Bankya, Bulgaria April 12 – April 21, 2011

System: 11 rounds according to the Round Robin System.

Rate of play: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

Final ranking:

Rank Title Name Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points Raeva 1 WIM Elitsa 2308 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 Nikolova 2 WIM Adriana 2311 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 Djingarova 3 WGM Emilia 2349 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 8,5 Voiska 4 WGM Margarita 2313 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 Videnova 5 WIM Iva 2304 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 7 Zlatanova 6 WIM Emilia 2024 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 5 Chilingirova 7 WIM Pavlina 2141 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 4,5 Yordanova 8 WIM Svetla 2155 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 4,5 Ivanova 9 Simoneta 1871 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 4 Krumova 10 Ani 1913 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 3 Sirkova 11 WFM Darena 2101 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 2,5 Todorova 12 Kalina 1830 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Official web –site: http://www.chessbg.com/

75th BULGARIAN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 JULIAN RADULSKI CHAMPION!

Place and date: Bankya, Bulgaria April 11 – April 21, 2011

System: 13 rounds according to the Round Robin System.

Rate of play: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

Final ranking:

Rank Title Name Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points Radulski 1 GM Julian 2586 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9,5 Delchev 2 GM Aleksander 2625 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 9 Nikolov 3 GM Momchil 2571 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 9 Spasov 4 GM Vasil 2590 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 8 Berbatov 5 IM Kiprian 2454 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 7,5 Chatalbashev 6 GM Boris 2602 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 7,5 Ninov 7 IM Nikolai 2543 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 7 Rusev 8 GM Krasimir 2536 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6,5 Arnaudov G 9 IM Petar 2453 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6,5 Popchev 10 GM Milko 2465 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 5,5 Enchev 11 FM Ivajlo 2431 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5,5 Nikolov 12 IM Sasho 2429 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 4 Pantev 13 FM Veselin 2396 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 3,5 Lalev 14 IM Dimitar 2389 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 2

ShSM – 64 WON 18th RUSSIAN TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

The 18th Russian Team Championship took place in Olginka from 04-23 April, Russia. 95 players are participated – among them 65 GM and 14 IM.

After 11 rounds the Team of ShSM – 64 won the title: Team Composition – ShSM-64: GM Gelfand Boris, GM Wang Hao, GM Caruana Fabiano, GM Giri Anish, GM Riazantsev Alexander, GM Potkin Vladimir, GM Grachev Boris, GM Najer Evgeniy

Final ranking : Rank Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TB1 TB2 1 Shsm-64 3 3 4 3½ 5 4½ 4½ 4 5 5½ 5 20 47 2 Tomsk-400 3 3 3½ 3½ 4½ 4½ 4 4½ 4½ 5½ 6 20 47 3 SPb Chess Fed 3 3 2½ 3 4 5 5 4½ 5 5 6 17 46 4 Yugra 2 2½ 3½ 3 4 4 5½ 5 4½ 3½ 5 17 43 5 Economist-SGSEU 2½ 2½ 3 3 4 3 5 4½ 4½ 5 5½ 15 43 6 M.Chigorin Chess Club 1 1½ 2 2 2 3 4 3½ 4 5 3½ 11 32 7 Politekhnik 1½ 1½ 1 2 3 3 2½ 3½ 3½ 3½ 3½ 10 29 8 EGU-Perspektiva 1½ 2 1 ½ 1 2 3½ 2½ 4 5½ 3½ 8 27 9 BelGu 2 1½ 1½ 1 1½ 2½ 2½ 3½ 2½ 3½ 5 6 27 10 Atom Desnogorsk 1 1½ 1 1½ 1½ 2 2½ 2 3½ 3 3½ 5 23 11 Yamal ½ ½ 1 2½ 1 1 2½ ½ 2½ 3 4½ 3 20 12 Kemerovo 1 0 0 1 ½ 2½ 2½ 2½ 1 2½ 1½ 0 15

Official web-site: http://russiachess.org/

ShSM-RGSU WON 12th RUSSIAN TEAM WOMEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

The 12th Russian Team Women Championship took place on 16-23 April in Olginka, Russia. 40 players participated – among them 6 GM,11 IM, 9 WGM, 9 WIM.

After 11 rounds the Team of ShSM – RGSU won the title: Team Composition – ShSM-RGSU: GM Kosteniuk Alexandra, WGM Gunina Valentina, IM Romanko Marina, WGM Girya Olga, WGM Kashlinskaya Alina

Final ranking : Rk. Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Shsm-RGSU 2½ 3 1½ 3 1½ 2½ 4 10 18 2 2 Giprorechtrans Moscow 1½ 2½ 1½ 3 3 3 3½ 10 18 0 3 AVS Krasnoturinsk 1 1½ 2½ 3 2½ 3 2½ 10 16 0 4 Лдья 2½ 2½ 1½ 2½ 2½ 2 2 10 16 0 5 Politekhnik 1 1 1 1½ 2½ 2½ 2½ 6 12 0 6 СПШФ 2½ 1 1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 4 4 14 0 7 M.Chigorin Chess Club 1½ 1 1 2 1½2½ ½ 3 10 0 8 Yugra 0 ½ 1½ 2 1½ 0 3½ 3 9 0

ICELANDIC CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

Place and date: Egilsstaðir, Iceland, ria April 15 – April 23, 2011

System: 9 rounds according to the Round Robin System.

Rate of play: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

Final ranking:

Rank Title Name Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 1 GM Steingrimsson Hedinn 2554 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7,5 2 IM Thorfinnsson Bragi 2417 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 6,5 3 GM Danielsen Henrik 2533 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 6 4 IM Kristjansson Stefan 2483 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 5,5 5 GM Thorhallsson Throstur 2387 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 5,5 6 FM Lagerman Robert 2320 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4 7 Gislason Gudmundur 2291 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 3 8 FM Johannesson Ingvar Thor 2338 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 3 9 IM Kjartansson Gudmundur 2327 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 2,5 10 Halldorsson Jon Arni 2195 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 1,5

Gunnar Bjornsson, President of ICF, Bragi Thorfinnsson, Hedinn Steingrimsson and Henrik Danielsen

REPORT BY GUNNAR BJŐRNSSON - GM Steingrimsson Captures Icelandic Champion Title

GM Hedinn Steingrimsson beat GM Henrik Danielsen in a thrilling game in the last round of the Icelandic Chess Championship on Saturday. Danielsen (with black) stretched his position very far in search of a win that would have helped him clinch the title, but Steingrimsson held on. IM Bragi Thorfinnson, who drew against IM Gudmundur Kjartansson in the last round, needed a win to secure his first GM norm. The Icelandic Champion title is Steingrimsson´s second. In 1990, he won the title at age of 15 – which is still a record - when the Championship was held at Hofn in Hornafjordur, which like Eidar, the current playing venue, is in the eastern part of Iceland. Steingrimsson finshed the Championship with 7,5 points out of 9, followed by Thorfinnsson with 6,5 points and Danielsen with 6 points. GM Throstur Thorhallsson and IM Stefan Kristjansson shared 4th and 5th place with 5,5 points each, FM Robert Lagerman came 6th with 4 points, Gudmundur Gislason and FM Ingvar Thor Johannesson 7-8th with 3 points, followed by IM Gudmundur Kjartansson with 2,5 points and Jon Arni Halldorsson with 1,5 points.

The Icelandic Chess Championship in 2011 was one of the most exciting in recent memory with three GMs taking part. Steingrimsson´s performance equated to 2639 and helped him gain 9 Elo points and strengthen his position as the 2nd highest ranked Icelandic player, after GM JohannHjartarson. Steingrimsson did not lose a single game and was even never close to losing one in the entire tournament. Steingrimsson´s solid performance will earn him a place in both Iceland´s National Chess Team and the European Individual Men Chess Championship next year.

Thorfinnsson also sailed through the Championship without a single loss, but was agonizingly 0,5 point away from his first GM norm. Thorfinnson´s performance helped him gain 16 Elo points. He played confidently throughout, but narrowly escaped a loss against Gislason in the 8th round. Danielsson was close to the top for the entire tournament. He is a workhorse and posted his games and analysis on chessdom.com during the Championship. He arrived at Eidar, the playing venue, straight from overseas where he had been playing, and immediately left for an international tournament in Lubeck, Germany. He lost only 4 Elo points for his performance.

The Icelandic Chess Federation is grateful to the regional chess clubs and organizations that helped make the event a success.

Website: http://skaksamband.is/?c=webpage&id=448 including, games, pictures etc.