All games available at The Week in Chess: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
*****
End of Deep Blue Saga?
Feng-hsiung Hsu, one of three major programmers that worked on IBM's
chessplaying Goliath Deep Blue, recently released an open letter where he
brings us up to date on what has happened with the Deep Blue project.
Read all about it at TWIC: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/feng.html
*****
Ivanov wins in Stockholm
This year's edition of Sweden's largest international tournament, the Rilton
Cup, was completely dominated by players from eastern Europe. Russian
grandmaster Sergey Ivanov led the 100 man field from start to finish and
secured clear first with 7.5 out of 9.
Final top standings: 1.Ivanov, Russia 7.5/9 2-4.Galkin,
Russia, Matros, Kazakhstan and Gleizerov, Russia 7.0/9 5-7.Oral, Czech
Rep., Ulibin, Russia and Macieja, Poland 6.5/9.
Results, games and photos at: http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-21958/stock.html
*****
Khalifman pulverised by Leko
FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman
was completely destroyed by Peter Leko in a six-game exhibition match,
which finished on Sunday in Budapest. The 20-year-old Hungarian won by a
crushing 4.5-1.5, after winning games 2, 4 and 6.
Report and annotated games here:
buda
All games are available at:
http://www.terra.es/deportes/ajedrez/portada.htm
*****
Hastings
The 75th Hastings Chess Congress features no less than 9 tournaments of varying
strength. The main attraction is, as usual, the Premier Group, where
English teen star Luke McShane has so far held his own against some truly
awesome opposition. In round 5 he beat Russian favourite Alexey Dreev
(2680) with black!
Standings after 5 rounds: 1.Sutovsky, Israel 3.5 2-5.Chandler,
England, Speelman, England, McShane, England and Sokolov, Bosnia 3.0 6.Dreev,
Russia 2.5 7-9.Krush, USA, Bischoff, Germany and Lalic, England 2.0 10.Emms,
England 1.0.
Daily coverage at The Week in Chess: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
and BCM Online: http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/news/hastings9900.htm
*****
Reggio Emilia
The 42nd Reggio Emilia tournament ended on January 5 and saw former World
Championship candidate Leonid Yudasin of Israel taking top honours with 7
out of 9.
Results, games and some photos at: http://www.cronaca.it/ippogrifo
*****
Groningen Chess Festival
The 38th Groningen Chess Festival consisted of six international tournaments.
Holland's latest import, former Russian Sergey Tiviakov, took care of
business in the Open Section, finishing with an impressive 8.5 out of 11.
Results, games and photos at: http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~johan-z/.
*****
Russian Championship
Heavy favourite Konstantin Sakaev was simply unstoppable in the
52nd Russian Championships in Moscow. Sakaev beat Alexey Bezgodov by 3 to 1 in
the final match.
Further details and annotated games at Club Kasparov: http://www.clubkasparov.ru/index0e.htm
*****
Super-Blitz in Poland
Most of the world's top players are currently competing in the "PLUS
GSM World Blitz Chess Cup" in Warszawa. After six double rounds, former
World Champion Anatoly Karpov is in the lead with an impressive 11 out of
12.
Some additional info at: https://www.polkomtel.com.pl/turniej/english/index.asp
*****
World Chess Rankings
The World Chess Federation, FIDE, recently released the new rating list for
January, 2000 at: http://www.worldfide.com/
Top 10 players in the world:
