11th Cup of Rector, Match of the Champions

The 11th Cup of Rector is scheduled to take place on 25th-29th March in Kharkov, Ukraine.This year's match is of a different format from previous year's matches. This year's a match is between "PVK KievChess", the bronze medalist from the recent European Club Cup , and Kharkov's "Law Academy". The match will be played over five rounds. Here is a list of the participants:

PVK KievChess:

1. GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2726
2. GM Efimenko Zahar 2688
3. GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2667
4. GM Beliavsky Alexander 2646
5. GM Baklan Vladimir 2627
6. GM Vysochin Spartak 2526
7. IM Nyzhnyk Illya 2503

Law Academy:

1. GM Eljanov Pavel 2693
2. GM Moiseenko Alexander 2676
3. IM Firman Nazar 2546
4. GM Kovchan Alexander 2543
5. GM Aveskulov Valeriy 2526
6. GM Brodsky Michail 2517
7. IM Onischuk Vladimir 2487

The time control will be 90 minutes for each player to finish the game with extra 30 seconds for each move from the start (Fischer system). The official tournament website is:http://www.chesslaw.org.ua/Eng/index.html

Good luck to all the players!

Fourth FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik

The fourth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament will be held from April 14th to 29th, 2009, in the Intour Hotel Sindica in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. Here is a list of all the participants in this event:

The fourteen participants are: Vladimir Akopian (Armenia), Evgeny Alekseev (Russia), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Etienne Bacrot (France), Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Gata Kamsky (USA), Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Peter Leko (Hungary), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Peter Svidler (Russia). The average elo of these players is 2725 which makes it the strongest Grand Prix event yet.

The Time control for this event is 120 minutes for the first forty moves, 60 minutes for the next twenty moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.

Games will be played from April, 15 till April, 29 every day. April 20 and 25 are rest days. The total prize fund is 162,000 Euros. Good luck to all the players! The official tournament website for this event is:

http://www.nalchik2009.fide.com/

Humans are not the only intelligent species on the planet!

A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl in Denver, Col., choked on her breakfast has been honoured as a hero.Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter's Animal Lifesaver Award. In November, Willie's owner, Megan Howard, was babysitting a toddler.

Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.

Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre but says Willie "is the real hero."

More stories like this need to be in the news, to show those people on the planet who believe that humans can do anything they want to animals or who feel other animals are not intelligent, learn that all animals and life on the planet deserves to be treated with respect.

source:

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/090324/K032402AU.html

Watch what you say at websites:even anonymously!

Ontario judge orders website to reveal identity data on anonymous posters
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"An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered a pair of website owners to turn over identifying information about eight people being accused of defamation after posting anonymous comments.

"In my view, the defendants are under an obligation to disclose all documents in their power and control," Justice Stanley Kershman said in a ruling delivered Monday to defendants Connie Wilkins-Fournier and Mark Fournier of Kingston, Ont., who run the website Free Dominion.

Kershman also ordered the couple to pay $5,000 in costs to the plaintiff in the case, Ottawa human rights lawyer Richard Warman, described by Kershman as an "anti-hate speech advocate."

The Fourniers had argued that people using the message boards do so with the expectation of anonymity and may make statements or provide information that they wouldn't normally with family, friends or co-workers.

However, Kershman cited a 2004 case that said privacy cannot be used to protect a person from the application of civil or criminal liability, and that privacy rights must be balanced against the rights of other interests and the public interest."

The reason this controversy arouse: Warman is in the process of suing the Fourniers, alleging they "falsely and maliciously published and circulated" information on the site that claimed Warman had posted hateful, racist words. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Source:http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/25/tech-090325-anonymous-posters.html

Asteroid tracked from space to Earth for 1st time

"Scientists for the first time have recovered meteorite pieces from an asteroid first observed in space — a stroke of luck that could prove valuable when tracking space rocks heading on a collision course toward Earth.

The asteroid, called 2008 TC3, was first observed on Oct. 6 by astronomers in Arizona and was subsequently tracked as it entered the atmosphere and became a shooting star, the first time astronomers have managed that feat.

The space rock broke up in the atmosphere about 35 to 40 km above Sudan, giving astronomers little hope that they might recover fragments.

But SETI Institute astronomer Peter Jenniskens worked with colleagues at the University of Khartoum in the Sudan and, in December, they made an expedition to the Nubian Desert in northern Sudan.

Desert treasure trove

A flat, open and dry region with little vegetation, the desert turned up a treasure trove of pieces: 47 fragments with a total mass of 3.95 kg.

The findings were reported in this week's issue of the journal Nature."

To read the entire news story concerning this fascinating scientific development go to:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/25/asteroid-meteorite.html

Scientists are beginning to understand colony collapse disorder

A terrible new problem has emerged in honey-bee colonies. These important insects are now being killed by what scientists have named "Colony Collapse Disorder" . According to a new article published in Scientific America Magazine, " a survey of bee keepers found that 30 percent of all commercial bee colonies in the United States had died! The next winter the die-off resumed and expanded, hitting 36 percent of U.S. beekeepers!! Reports of large losses also surfaced from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe and other regions. More recent data are not available yet, but some beekeepers say they have seen their colonies collapse this winter, too.

What is alarming about this development is that humans have come to rely heavily on honeybees:
"one third of the world's agricultural production depends on the European honeybee, Apis mellifera the kind universally adopted by beekeepers in Western countries."

The scientists who have researched and tried to discover why CCD has happened can only offer these hypotheseses:

"Our collaboration has ruled out many potential causes for CCD and found many possible contributing factors. But no single culprit has been identified. Bees suffering from CCD tend to be infested with multiple pathogens, including a newly discovered virus, but these infections seem secondary or opportunistic much the way pneumonia kills a patient with AIDS. The picture now emerging is of a complex condition that can be triggered by different combinations of causes. There may be no easy remedy to CCD. It may require taking better care of the environment and making long-term changes to our beekeeping and agricultural practices."

Scientists conclude:
"The growing consensus among researchers is that multiple factors such as poor nutrition and exposure to pesticides can interact to weaken colonies and make them susceptible to a virus-mediated collapse. In the case of our experiments in greenhouses, the stress of being confined to a relatively small space could have been enough to make colonies succumb to IAPV and die with CCD-like symptoms. More recent results from long-term monitoring have identified other unexpected factors for increased colony loss, including the fungicide chlorothalonil. Research is now focused on understanding how these factors relate to colony collapse."

Source:http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=saving-the-honeybee

Let us hope that these scientists can pinpoint reasons for the development of CCD in bee hives, so that these important insects do not disappear forever from our world!

Antidepressants Help Patients with Fibromyalgia

As someone who suffers from the medical condition known as fibromyalgia, it is nice to know that some scientists and medical professionals believe that my medical condition exists in my body, and is not a figment of my imagination. I have lots of pain and worst of all my memory and sleep are severely affected by this medical condition. I say it is nice to know that some scientists and medical professionals believe in the existence of fibromyalgia, as these wonderful people are engaging in research which is helping us understand what causes fibromyalgia and how it can be treated to bring fibromyalgia sufferers such as myself some relieve from the symptoms of the disease (Fibromyalgia was recognized as a disease by the World Health Organization in the early 1990's).

An exciting new research study into Fibromyalgia has indicated that:

"Drugs traditionally used to treat depression are also effective in easing widespread pain, sleep disturbances and dismal moods associated with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), according to a large-scale analysis published today in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Fibromyalgia, an often overlooked disorder believed to cause widespread muscle pain, sleep disturbances, depression and fatigue, affects up to 12 million people (4 percent of the U.S. population), nearly 11 million of them women. The degree of debilitation caused by the disease ranges "from very little to total," says Roland Staud, a professor of medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, adding that he has known some patients who have been bedridden for as long as a year because of symptoms, which typically appear between ages 40 and 60 and may last for the remainder of sufferers' lives."

German researchers reviewed findings from 18 clinical trials (involving a total of 1,427 people in North America, South America and Europe) on the effect of antidepressants in relieving symptoms of fibromyalgia. Trial participants were given a drug from one of four classes of antidepressant drugs—tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants (TCA's), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI's), and serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI's).

"All classes of antidepressants had substantial effects on pain [but] we found differences between the classes of antidepressants on other key symptoms of FMS such as sleep disturbances, fatigue and depressed mood," says lead study author Winfried Häuser, an internist at Klinikum Saarbrücken, a hospital in Germany.

For example, SSRI's (such as Prozac) significantly reduced pain and lightened depression, but did not relieve fatigue or sleep disturbances, whereas SNRI's (such as Cymbalta) helped with pain, sleep disturbances and the blues, although they did not perk up the weary. TCA's (such as Vanatrip) helped alleviate pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances, but MAOI's (such as Manerix) only seemed to help with pain.

"This is a major advance," says psychiatrist Leslie Arnold, director of the Women's Health Research Program at the University of Cinncinnati's College of Medicine, Arnold. "We are trying to identify new treatments for fibromyalgia and raise awareness for this disease."

To read the entire article go to:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=new-study-antidepressants-fibromyalgia

Coral may live for thousands of years

Some species of coral can live for over 4,000 years — longer than any other animal that lives in the ocean, a study has found.Uncertainty over how to date coral makes estimates of their lifespan contentious. A radiocarbon-dating study published in 2006 by Brendan Roark, then at Stanford University in California, suggested that living colonies of Gerardia corals could be more than 2,700 years old. But a 2002 study by Richard Grigg at the University of Hawaii had estimated the life span of the same species to be around 70 years. To read the entire article about this new research go to: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090323/full/news.2009.185.html

India Chess Federation requests India be treated as a separate chess zone

From the FIDE Website:

"The All India Chess Federation has requested a separate zone for the country, similar to the ones awarded to Russia and China. As reasons have been stated the rise of chess in the country and the titles won by the players in the past several years. The All India Chess Federation desires that the FIDE Create a new zone in Asia 3.7, with India being the only member of the zone.

The General Assembly approved a recommendation by the Executive board for global study of the zone structure. A decision should be taken soon.

FIDE establishes a Commission for Women's Chess.

According to the FIDE Website at http://www.fide.com, two of the most prominent and talented women chess players in the world have become co-chairpersons for a Commission for Women's Chess:GM Susan Polgar and GM Alexandria Kosteniuk. You can read letters that each player has written to the FIDE concerning these appointments at http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/15-chess-news/3863-the-letter-of-co-chairman-of-the-commission-for-womens-chess-alexandra-kosteniuk and at http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/15-chess-news/3862-the-letter-of-co-chairman-of-the-commission-for-womens-chess-susan-polgar . Congratulations to Alexandra and Susan on your appointments, I wish you all the best in your new positions!

Tatiana Kosintseva wins 10th European Individual Women's Chess Championship

WGM/IM Tatiana Kosintseva won the 10th European Individual Women's Chess championship in a playoff with Lilith Mkrtchian. Kosintseva won the match by a score of 1.5-0.5. Congratulations to Tatiana! Lilith Mkrtchian wins the silver medal and Natalia Pogonina wins the bronze medal (by defeating Maia Lomineishvili in a playoff by the score of 3-1).

10th European Individual Women's Chess Championship:round 11 standings

Here are the standings after 11 rounds of play in the European Women's Individual Chess Championship. Due to the tie for first between Mkrtchian and Kosintseva, the two will have a playoff to decide who wins the title of 2009 European Individual Women's Chess Champion.

Final

Rank Name Score Fed. M/F Rating TPR W-We BH-HiLo BH PS


1 IM Mkrtchian, Lilit 8.5 ARM F 2460 2598 +1.94 64.5 78.0 53.0 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1
2 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana 8.5 RUS F 2497 2551 +0.76 60.0 73.0 46.5 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
3 GM Socko, Monika 8.0 POL F 2449 2565 +1.64 66.5 81.0 53.0 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½
4 WGM Shadrina, Tatiana 8.0 RUS F 2416 2552 +1.97 63.0 76.0 49.5 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 0 1
5 IM Lomineishvili, Maia 8.0 GEO F 2437 2520 +1.14 61.0 74.0 49.5 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½
6 IM Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 8.0 RUS F 2442 2550 +1.52 60.5 74.0 52.0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0
7 WGM Pogonina, Natalija 8.0 RUS F 2467 2540 +1.07 60.5 73.5 49.5 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½
8 IM Rajlich, Iweta 8.0 POL F 2399 2552 +2.20 59.5 73.0 50.5 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½
9 IM Ovod, Evgenija 8.0 RUS F 2430 2504 +1.02 56.0 68.5 48.0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
10 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 7.5 HUN F 2483 2526 +0.68 63.5 76.5 53.5 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½
11 WGM Romanko, Marina 7.5 RUS F 2451 2482 +0.51 61.5 75.5 47.5 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
12 WGM Kovanova, Baira 7.5 RUS F 2386 2490 +1.66 59.5 72.0 48.0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½
13 IM Turova, Irina 7.5 RUS F 2379 2485 +1.61 57.5 71.0 45.5 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½
14 IM Paehtz, Elisabeth 7.5 GER F 2455 2457 +0.09 57.0 70.0 45.0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½
15 IM Khukhashvili, Sopiko 7.5 GEO F 2416 2485 +1.06 56.5 69.0 46.5 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½
16 WGM Zawadzka, Jolanta 7.5 POL F 2385 2490 +1.66 56.5 69.0 46.5 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1
17 IM Muzychuk, Anna 7.5 SLO F 2540 2463 -0.88 55.5 68.0 43.5 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1
18 IM Muzychuk, Mariya 7.5 UKR F 2427 2450 +0.37 53.0 65.5 43.5 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½


Here are the rules for the tie-break:


Tie-break Matches
In the European Individual Chess Championship and European Individual Women’s Chess Championship tie-breaks are organized only in the following cases:
a) to establish the Champion;
b) to establish the medal winners;
c) to establish qualifiers for the World Chess Championship.
In the case of a) and b) the relevant tie-break matches will decide the final ranking and the money prizes connected with these places.
In the case of c), the relevant tie-break matches will not influence the final ranking and the money prizes will be shared equally.


System of the Tie-break matches:
Additional matches of two games will be played with 15 minutes on the clock and addition of 10 seconds before each move.
If this match is drawn again, then two games will be played with five minutes plus two seconds per move.
If this match is again drawn, then the sudden-death game will be played with White having 5 minutes on the clock and Black having 4 minutes, without any addition. White has to win the sudden-death game in order to win the match.


Source: http://wiecc2009.com/admin/upload_data/Spb2009-regulationsNEW.doc

10th European Individual Women's Chess Championship:round 11 results

The 11th round of the European Individual Women's Chess Championship has been played. Here are the results from the top boards:

Results from round 11 (Thursday, 19 March 2009)

Table	White	Score		Rating	Black	Score		Rating	Result
1	IM Kosintseva, Tatiana	7.5		2497	IM Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	8.0		2442	1-0
2	IM Lomineishvili, Maia	7.5		2437	WGM Pogonina, Natalija	7.5		2467	½-½
3	IM Mkrtchian, Lilit	7.5		2460	WGM Romanko, Marina	7.5		2451	1-0
4	IM Rajlich, Iweta	7.5		2399	GM Socko, Monika	7.5		2449	½-½
5	GM Hoang Thanh Trang	7.0		2483	IM Khukhashvili, Sopiko	7.0		2416	½-½
6	IM Paehtz, Elisabeth	7.0		2455	WGM Kovanova, Baira	7.0		2386	½-½
7	IM Ovod, Evgenija	7.0		2430	WFM Bodnaruk, Anastasia	7.0		2384	1-0
8	IM Turova, Irina	7.0		2379	IM Muzychuk, Mariya	7.0		2427	½-½
9	WGM Shadrina, Tatiana	7.0		2416	IM Melia, Salome	7.0		2422	1-0
10	WGM Demina, Julia	6.5		2361	IM Muzychuk, Anna	6.5		2540	0-1
11	IM Vasilevich, Irina	6.5		2340	GM Lahno, Kateryna	6.5		2488	1-0
12	IM Dworakowska, Joanna	6.5		2352	IM Gaponenko, Inna	6.5		2450	½-½
13	IM Foisor, Cristina-Adela	6.5		2412	WIM Paulet, Iozefina	6.5		2315	½-½
14	WGM Zawadzka, Jolanta	6.5		2385	WGM Botsari, Anna-Maria	6.5		2289	1-0
15	GM Dzagnidze, Nana	6.0		2518	WFM Severiukhina, Zoja	6.0		2327	1-0
16	WGM Shumiakina, Tatiana	6.0		2324	IM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan	6.0		2500	0-1
17	IM Ushenina, Anna	6.0		2499	WIM Solovjova, Valentina	6.0		2324	½-½
18	WGM Zhukova, Natalia	6.0		2490	WIM Galojan, Lilit	6.0		2316	1-0
19	WGM Nebolsina, Vera	6.0		2312	GM Peng, Zhaoqin	6.0	NED	2461	0-1
20	IM Khurtsidze, Nino	6.0		2421	WGM Stjazhkina, Olga	6.0	RUS	2280	1-0
21	WGM Grabuzova, Tatiana	6.0		2332	IM Sedina, Elena	6.0	ITA	2380	1-0
22	WFM Girya, Olga	6.0		2315	WGM Stojanovic, Andjelija	6.0	SRB	2372	1-0
23	WIM Chasovnikova, Eugenia	6.0		2302	WGM Cherednichenko, Svetlana	6.0	UKR	2367	1-0
24	WGM Manakova, Maria	6.0		2299	WIM Majdan, Joanna	6.0	POL	2351	0-1
25	IM Peptan, Corina-Isabela	5.5		2401	WFM Paikidze, Nazi	6.0	GEO	2280	1-0

10th European Individual Women's Chess Championship:Round 10 results and standings

Here are the round 10 results from the top boards at the 10th European Individual Women's Chess Championship:



Results from round 10 (Wednesday, 18 March 2009)

Table	White	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	IM Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	7.0	RUS	2442	GM Hoang Thanh Trang	7.0	HUN	2483	1-0
2	IM Rajlich, Iweta	7.0	POL	2399	IM Mkrtchian, Lilit	7.0	ARM	2460	½-½
3	GM Socko, Monika	7.0	POL	2449	IM Lomineishvili, Maia	7.0	GEO	2437	½-½
4	WGM Romanko, Marina	6.5	RUS	2451	WGM Shadrina, Tatiana	7.0	RUS	2416	1-0
5	IM Kosintseva, Tatiana	6.5	RUS	2497	IM Foisor, Cristina-Adela	6.5	ROU	2412	1-0
6	IM Melia, Salome	6.5	GEO	2422	IM Turova, Irina	6.5	RUS	2379	½-½
7	WGM Pogonina, Natalija	6.5	RUS	2467	GM Dzagnidze, Nana	6.0	GEO	2518	1-0
8	IM Muzychuk, Anna	6.0	SLO	2540	WGM Zawadzka, Jolanta	6.0	POL	2385	½-½
9	WFM Bodnaruk, Anastasia	6.0	RUS	2384	IM Ushenina, Anna	6.0	UKR	2499	1-0
10	GM Lahno, Kateryna	6.0	UKR	2488	IM Dworakowska, Joanna	6.0	POL	2352	½-½
11	WIM Majdan, Joanna	6.0	POL	2351	IM Paehtz, Elisabeth	6.0	GER	2455	0-1
12	WIM Solovjova, Valentina	6.0	RUS	2324	IM Ovod, Evgenija	6.0	RUS	2430	0-1
13	WFM Severiukhina, Zoja	6.0	RUS	2327	IM Muzychuk, Mariya	6.0	UKR	2427	0-1
14	IM Khukhashvili, Sopiko	6.0	GEO	2416	WFM Girya, Olga	6.0	RUS	2315	1-0
15	WGM Kovanova, Baira	6.0	RUS	2386	WGM Nebolsina, Vera	6.0	RUS	2312	1-0

These results mean that the following standings exist after 10 rounds of play:

Rank	Name	Score	Fed.	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	BH-HiLo	BH	PS	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	IM Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	8.0	RUS	F	2442	2603	+1.94	50.5	62.5	44.0	1	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	1
2	GM Socko, Monika	7.5	POL	F	2449	2582	+1.71	54.5	67.5	45.0	1	1	1	1	½	0	1	½	1	½
3	IM Mkrtchian, Lilit	7.5	ARM	F	2460	2574	+1.45	53.0	65.5	44.5	1	½	1	1	1	1	0	½	1	½
4	IM Lomineishvili, Maia	7.5	GEO	F	2437	2525	+1.10	48.5	61.0	41.5	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	½
5	WGM Romanko, Marina	7.5	RUS	F	2451	2531	+1.00	48.0	60.0	40.0	1	1	½	0	1	1	0	1	1	1
6	WGM Pogonina, Natalija	7.5	RUS	F	2467	2551	+1.11	47.5	58.5	41.5	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	1
7	IM Rajlich, Iweta	7.5	POL	F	2399	2563	+2.13	47.0	60.0	42.5	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	½
8	IM Kosintseva, Tatiana	7.5	RUS	F	2497	2522	+0.34	46.0	57.0	38.0	½	½	1	½	1	1	0	1	1	1
9	GM Hoang Thanh Trang	7.0	HUN	F	2483	2539	+0.77	51.5	64.0	46.0	1	1	1	1	½	½	1	½	½	0
10	WGM Shadrina, Tatiana	7.0	RUS	F	2416	2521	+1.46	51.5	62.5	41.5	½	1	1	1	0	1	1	½	1	0
11	IM Melia, Salome	7.0	GEO	F	2422	2517	+1.28	49.5	61.0	44.0	1	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	0	½
12	WGM Kovanova, Baira	7.0	RUS	F	2386	2496	+1.56	49.0	60.5	40.5	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	½	0	1
13	WFM Bodnaruk, Anastasia	7.0	RUS	F	2384	2514	+1.75	47.5	59.5	40.0	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	½	0	1
14	IM Ovod, Evgenija	7.0	RUS	F	2430	2472	+0.58	45.5	57.5	40.0	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	1
15	IM Turova, Irina	7.0	RUS	F	2379	2493	+1.54	45.5	57.5	38.0	1	1	½	0	½	½	1	1	1	½
16	IM Paehtz, Elisabeth	7.0	GER	F	2455	2467	+0.19	45.5	57.0	37.5	1	½	½	½	1	½	1	0	1	1
17	IM Khukhashvili, Sopiko	7.0	GEO	F	2416	2488	+0.97	44.5	56.5	39.0	1	½	1	½	½	1	0	1	½	1
18	IM Muzychuk, Mariya	7.0	UKR	F	2427	2460	+0.44	44.0	55.0	36.0	1	½	½	0	1	½	1	1	½	1
19	IM Foisor, Cristina-Adela	6.5	ROU	F	2412	2492	+1.18	53.0	65.5	43.0	1	1	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	0
20	GM Lahno, Kateryna	6.5	UKR	F	2488	2463	-0.30	50.5	62.5	40.0	1	1	½	1	½	½	0	1	½	½
21	WGM Zawadzka, Jolanta	6.5	POL	F	2385	2474	+1.29	47.5	59.5	39.0	1	1	0	1	1	½	0	1	½	½
22	WGM Demina, Julia	6.5	RUS	F	2361	2418	+0.90	46.5	58.0	38.5	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	½	0	1
23	IM Dworakowska, Joanna	6.5	POL	F	2352	2418	+0.95	45.5	57.5	36.5	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	½
24	IM Muzychuk, Anna	6.5	SLO	F	2540	2437	-1.15	45.5	57.0	36.0	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	½
25	WIM Paulet, Iozefina	6.5	ROU	F	2315	2391	+1.06	45.0	57.0	33.5	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	½	1	1
26	IM Gaponenko, Inna	6.5	UKR	F	2450	2407	-0.53	42.5	53.5	35.0	1	1	0	½	½	½	1	0	1	1
27	WGM Botsari, Anna-Maria	6.5	GRE	F	2289	2351	+1.00	42.5	53.5	32.0	1	0	½	1	0	1	0	1	1	1
28	IM Vasilevich, Irina	6.5	RUS	F	2340	2370	+0.47	42.0	53.5	33.0	0	1	½	1	1	0	1	0	1	1

10th European Individual Chess Championship:Evgeny Tomashevsky wins championship

GM Evgeny Tomashevsky won the European Men's Individual Chess Championship. Tomashevsky defeated GM Vladimir Malakhov in the final by a score of 2:1. The two players each one a game in the G/15 10 final match and then in the playoff, Tomashevsky won the sudden death Armaggedon blitz match to take the title. I am sure that alot of chess fans are disappointed that the final of a major chess championship has once again been decided by short-time control games and an Armaggedon blitz game playoff. Unless professional chess players come up with some sort of solution to this kind of a final match setting to decide a major tournament, this format will keep happening!

GM Evgeny Tomashevsky was born on July 1st, 1987 in Saratov, Russia. In the year 2001 he won the U18 Russian championship with amazing score of 9/10 and in 2004 he finished second in the World U18 Chess Championship.

Using chessbase I determined that GM Tomashevsky's favorite opening with White is 1.Nf3 (ala Kramnik!). Against 1.e4 GM Tomashevsky prefers to play classically with the response 1..e5. Against 1.d4 he plays 1...Nf6 (playing either the Queen's Indian Defense after 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3) or the Nimzo-Indian Defense after 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3). In his chess career GM Tomashevsky has defeated GM's Epishin, Ganguly, Minisian, Korneev, Motylev, Novikov, Dolmatov,Areshchenko,
and has draws with GM's Svidler, Adams,Morozovich,Rublevsky, Bu Xiangzhi, Bologan, Shirov and Ponomariov. Tomashevsky's current elo of 2664 makes him the 60th highest active-rated player in the World. GM Tomashevsky, congratulations on your victory in the European Individual Chess Championship, and I wish you continued success in your chess career!

Here is how GM Tomashevsky came to win the title:
Tiebreaks for European Champion title and medals: (two games at 15 min+5 sec, followed by 5/4 armaggedon)

Round 1
11 GM Nyback Tomi - 6 GM Malakhov Vladimir 0.5-1.5
7 GM Grachev Boris - 10 GM Guseinov Gadir 1-2
9 GM Kobalia Mikhail - 8 GM Jobava Baadur 1-2

Round 2
GM Jobava Baadur - GM Sokolov Ivan 2-0
GM Inarkiev Ernesto - GM Guseinov Gadir 2-1
GM Malakhov Vladimir - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 1.5-1.5
GM Tomashevsky Evgeny - GM Navara David 1.5-0.5

Semifinal
GM Jobava Baadur - GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 1-2
GM Malakhov Vladimir - GM Inarkiev Ernesto 1.5-0.5

Final
GM Malakhov Vladimir - GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 1-2

3rd place
GM Jobava Baadur - GM Inarkiev Ernesto 1.5-0.5

Tiebreaks for World Cup qualifiers

GM Areshchenko Alexander - GM Savchenko Boris 0-2
GM Sakaev Konstantin - GM Stevic Hrvoje 3-1
GM Vitiugov Nikita - GM Svetushkin Dmitry 1.5-0.5
GM Petrosian Tigran L - GM Dreev Alexey 1.5-0.5
GM Kurnosov Igor - GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 0.5-1.5
GM Pashikian Arman - GM Lupulescu Constantin 0-2
GM Mikhalevski Victor - GM Motylev Alexander 0-2

These players, all who finished with 7.5 points, have qualified for the World Cup 2009: Fedorchuk ,Mamedov, Mateusz, Meier, Nijboer, Rauf, Sjugirov, and Timofeev.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix Istanbul:round 11 results,final standings

The FIDE Women's Grand Prix event in Istanbul has concluded. Here are the results from the last round of play:

Round 11 on 2009/03/19
.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg
	GM	SEBAG Marie	2529	0 - 1	GM	KONERU Humpy	2621
	IM	DANIELIAN Elina	2496	1 - 0	GM	ZHAO Xue	2508
	WGM	SHEN Yang	2448	½ - ½	GM	HOU Yifan	2571
	GM	CHIBURDANIDZE Maia	2516	0 - 1	IM	FIERRO Baquero Martha L.	2403
	WGM	MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab	2362	½ - ½	WIM	YILDIZ Betul Cemre	2214
	GM	STEFANOVA Antoaneta	2557	0 - 1	GM	CRAMLING Pia	2548

Here are the final standings:Congratulations to GM Humpy Koneru who is the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event in Istanbul!

Final Ranking
Rank	.		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	Res.	SB.	Koya
1		GM	KONERU Humpy	2621	IND	8½	0	43,50	4½
2		IM	DANIELIAN Elina	2496	ARM	8	½	40,25	4
3		GM	HOU Yifan	2571	CHN	8	½	39,75	4
4		GM	ZHAO Xue	2508	CHN	7½	0	35,25	3½
5		GM	SEBAG Marie	2529	FRA	6	0	28,00	3
6		IM	FIERRO Baquero Martha L.	2403	ECU	5½	1	20,00	1
7		GM	CRAMLING Pia	2548	SWE	5½	0	22,75	1
8		GM	STEFANOVA Antoaneta	2557	BUL	5	½	20,75	2
9		GM	CHIBURDANIDZE Maia	2516	GEO	5	½	20,25	1½
10		WGM	MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab	2362	AZE	2½	1	10,25	1
11		WGM	SHEN Yang	2448	CHN	2½	0	17,75	2
12		WIM	YILDIZ Betul Cemre	2214	TUR	2	0	8,