26/5/2007 Summer Courses by Malta Chess Federation

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The Malta Chess Federation will be organising two courses this summer: Introduction to Chess for Kids and Chess for Beginners.

Introduction to Chess for Kids: This course is aimed to teach kids under the age of 12 how to play the game of chess. Basic idea of the chessboard and pieces would help but is not a requirement for the applicants.

Chess for Beginners: Targeted to people who know the basic rules of the game and would like to learn basic techniques. The course is open for all ages.

The courses will be held this summer during the months of July to September. Each course will consist of 10 sessions of one and a half hours each, with two sessions held every week. The total cost for the course is Lm20. All sessions will be held in an air-conditioned environment at the chess club at 87, St.Vincent Street, Sliema. Places are limited and are on a first come first served basis.

The courses will be delivered by Ray Azzopardi – an experienced teacher and chess player, Colin Pace (2 times Malta Champion) and Duncan Vella (twice runner-up).

The Introduction to Chess for Kids course will start on the 9th July and will be held every Monday and Thursday at 6pm-7:30pm. This course ends on the 9th August.

The Chess for Beginners course will start on the 11th July and will be held every Wednesday at 6pm – 7:30pm and Saturday at 9am – 10:30am. This course ends on the 11th August. The dates and time may change depending on the number of applications. The final dates will be sent two weeks prior to the start of the courses.

Applications and payments (to Malta Chess Federation) for these courses are open till Friday 15th June. To apply send the form below and send it by post to: Malta Chess Federation, 87, St.Vincent Street, Sliema SLM 1445 or by email: info@chessmalta.com. Click here for a printer friendly version of the application.

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15/12/2006 Simultaneous Chess Exhibition at Societa' Filarmonica Sliema

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National Chess Master Duncan Vella, who has a local chess rating of 2107, was the guest of honour for the 2nd edition of the Simultaneous Chess Challenge held at the luxurious Cultural Performance Hall of the Societa' Filarmonica Sliema last Sunday. Vella took on a field of eleven U16 players selected from the results of the Junior Chess Championship 2006. The activity was organised with the collaboration of the Malta Chess Federation.

The players who were invited for this activity were Christopher Farrugia, Glenn A.Fenech, Daniel Saliba, Andre Xuereb, Andrew Micallef, Luke Saliba, Luke J.Buhagiar, Rita Saliba, Darryl Agius, Jean Pierre Xuereb and Clarissa Cremona.

Duncan Vella had approximately two hours to finish off all the games.

Vella took this friendly challenge seriously developing his white pieces to the best squares to take advantage of his superiority in the early stages of the game. Some of the younger players were soon in deep trouble however a number of boards were very well balanced and the middle-game proved to be relatively tougher to Vella than he had anticipated.

The game against L.Saliba turned into an interesting end-game of two active rooks against a rook, knight and bishop. Saliba gave up a rook for the knight and bishop however he mis-calculated and come out of this scuffle with two pawns down. Vella slowly transformed the game into a win.

G.Fenech and D.Saliba also managed to give Vella a very good show and it was only through end-game technique that the black kings were finally laid to rest.

The same cannot be said for the game against C.Farrugia which ended in a draw. In a desperate position Farrugia found a way out by giving up his knight and then perpetually 'checked' the white monarch with his queen. A meritable draw for the U18 Champion.

The surprise of the day came about on board nine where Rita Saliba, 13 yrs of Sliema, managed to beat the challenger. In an end-game of 2 rooks versus 2 rooks Vella picked a pawn switfly on the e7 square with his rook missing the point that Saliba's rooks were both defending this square from both ends of the e-file. Saliba came out of this exchange with one whole rook up! Vella resigned the game immediately.

At the end of the allocated time the tally was nine wins, one draw and one lost game for NM Vella. This is a good score and certainly a good lesson in opening theory and basic tactics for the younger generation of chess players.

The activity was very well received by everyone involved. Cav. Dott.Tonio Portughese, President of the Societa' Filarmonica Sliema, acknowledged that this second edition was another successful event and said that he looks forward for the third edition next year. He thanked everyone involved and presented Mr.D.Vella with a commemorative token.

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11/12/2006 MCF Annual General Meeting 2006

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The AGM of the Malta Chess Federation was held last Sunday at the chess premises in St.Vincent Str, Sliema. The MCF council for this coming year is made up as follows:

• President Mr.G.D.Borg
• VP Mr.D.Vella,
• General Secretary Mr.C.Pace
• Treasurer Mr.J.J.Borg
• Members: Mr.R.Sammut, Mr.R.Azzopardi, Mr.S.Farrugia and Mr.N.Grima

The Chess Calendar for 2006/2007 will be published shortly. In the meantime the new council wishes to remind all chess players that this Wednesday there will be the annual Chess Simultaneous Exhibition at the Cultural performance hall of the Societa' Filarmonica Sliema at 9.30am where Duncan Vella will play against twelve U16 players.

Also starting this week there is the first round of the Malta Open 2006 competition at the chess club in Sliema.

The Malta Open will be played between the 15th and the 21st with both days inclusive. To check details go to www.chessmalta.com or contact Mr.R.Sammut on 99466706.

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19/09/2006 APS Junior Chess Championship 2006 at St.Elias College

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The Malta Chess Federation Junior Championship 2006, kindly sponsored by APS Bank, came to an end last week at the Main hall of St.Elias College in St.Venera.

The top category, that of Junior Chess Champion 2006, was won by Mark Cardona, of Qormi, who made it three in a row after his successes in the same competition in 2004 and 2005.

Patrick Zerafa of Marsaxlokk, and Rabat lad Sam Sacco, came second and third respectively with Sacco coming very close to a major upset after beating the Champion Cardona in round four. Sacco needed the full point in his last encounter on Friday however he missed to beat the more experienced Zerafa and after pushing it a little too far ended up losing the game and the title.

Christopher Farrugia was declared U/18 Champion with Leonard Farrugia clinging the U/16 title.

In the U/14 competition Luke Saliba, of St.Venera, retained his U/14 Champion trophy for the second year running with Luke Joseph Buhagiar taking second place. Rita Saliba was third overall and picked the Best female trophy leaving the third place trophy to Naomi Mercieca.

In the U/12 competition the struggle for first place was decided by Bucholtz since Rubi Mercieca, Jean Pierre Xuereb and Clarissa Cremona all ended the competition with four points out of five games. Interesting these three very promising youngsters managed to win one game each in their direct clashes whilst they all managed to beat the rest of the field in style. In the end Rubi Mercieca was declared U/12 Champion with nine year old Jean Pierre Xuereb taking second place and the U/10 Champion title. Cremona was third overall winning the Best Female award. Other trophy winners were Daniel Bezzina, Jean Luke Mangion and youngster Claude Spiteri Belcher.

The prize giving was presided by two vice Presidents of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), namely, Libyan national Mr.Nizar Ali ELHAJ, and Mr.Geoffrey D.Borg who is also the President of the local Chess Federation. Mr.Borg thanked the College rector, Fr.Charles Mallia, for hosting the Junior Championship and the organising group for the good work. He also thanked the parents and all the participants for their contributions to make this event another success story.

The competition was staged at the main hall of St.Elias College in St.Venera.

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09/08/2006 National Chess Championship 2006 - Patrick Zerafa wins the Candidates

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The second phase of the National Chess Championship - the Candidates - kindly sponsored by Simonds Farsons Cisk, came to an end with the final round staged this Monday at 6pm.

Unexpectedly, although deservedly, Patrick Zerafa, M'Xlokk, came first after he overcame the top seed of the competition Colin Pace in the last round. Pace paid dearly in the end-game when he lost on time after having consumed most of the time on his clock deliberating opening and middel-game positions.

Zerafa won five games out of seven beating three much higher rated players in the process.

The second, third and fourth placed players were close behind on five points with David Cilia Vincenti declared as overall second with a superior Bucholtz-score. Duncan Vella was third and Joe Gauci fourth.

Zerafa, Cilia Vincenti, Vella and Gauci now qualify for this year's chess finals scheduled for October. They will be joined by Andrew Borg and the legendary, 2005 Champion, Harry Camilleri for the National Chess Finals 2006. The National Chess finals is the last phase of the Simonds Farsons Cisk Chess Championship cycle.

Colin Pace and Mark Cardona, both finalists last year, were left stranded in fifth and sixth place followed by Oliver Said.

George Caruana, who is returning to the local chess scene after some years, had a relatively good competition playing above his ranking and ending on fifty percent score.

Ron Sammut, on the other hand, will quickly put this competition behind him after a disappointing performance whilst Noel Grima and Jesseica Aguilar, who had qualified to the Candidates from the preliminaries of February, must have found the goings a little too tough for them against much higher rated players.

For all the results and standings, click here.

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09/06/2006 Geoffrey D.Borg elected as Vice President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE)

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Geoffrey.D.Borg, President of the Malta Chess Federation and also a FIDE Master, was elected as one of seven Vice Presidents of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) during the second day of the FIDE General Assembly held in Turin, Italy last Saturday 3rd June 2006.

The General Assembly, this year, was characterized by the challenge of the Right Move for a Bona FIDE campaign, led by Dutch businessman Bessel Kok, to take over the running of FIDE. Geoffrey Borg was the campaign director of this group as well as a candidate for the Treasurer position on the main five-man ticket.

Thanks to his hard work and relentless efforts, the campaign developed into a very tense struggle with the developed countries declaring opening their support for Kok and the ex-Soviet block and the developing countries sticking together in support of the current President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. It is to be noted that Ilyumzhinov is the same person who, in the political World, is also the President of the Russian republic of Kalmykia.

Unfortunately, however not surprisingly, the Kirsan block-vote with their grass-root support, managed to win the elections with 96 country votes in favour and 54 countries against. A clear victory for the incumbent President albeit against a significantly large opposition. Following this election the President nominated three Vice Presidents as per FIDE statute and the race was on for the remaining three VP places that required direct elections with 150 countries taking part, each country having one vote.

Geoffrey contested this election on an individual basis. The other contenders were Selivanov from Russia, B.Kelleher from the USA, A.Nihat Yazici the Turkish Chess Federation President, the Iranian Chess Federation President Maddahi and the Hungarian delegate Racsanyi.

Notwithstanding the Ilyumzhinov block-vote for Selivanov, Kelleher and Racsanyi, and also the political strength of the other very well known contestants, Geoffrey Borg received a staggering 83 votes and was elected as a VP together with Selivanov and the American Kelleher. This great result was the fruit of the visits that Borg made to various Arab, African, Latin American and Caribbean countries in the last few months before the election.

A deservedly great accomplishment for a Maltese delegate in a major international sport Federation that is the third largest international Federation with almost 160 member countries.

A deservedly great triumph also for Geoffrey Borg on a personal basis, for Malta in general and for Maltese Chess in particular. Chess in Malta will certainly look forward with higher hopes now that its President is part of the main FIDE Board.

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10/03/2006 FARSONS CHESS PRELIMINARIES

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The Farsons Chess Preliminaries, the first stage of the National Chess Championship 2006, came to an end recently at the Chess Premises in Sliema with newcomer Jesseica Aguilar, sister to Filipina Aguilar, winning the competition with a staggering 6/7. Jesseica played splendidly throughout winning five games and drawing the other two. She has now qualified for the candidates that is planned for July/August 2006.

The other qualifiers are Noel Grima and George Caruana, followed by Matthew Saliba, Aymna Ibrahim and Clarence Psaila.

Congratulations to all of them from the Malta Chess Federation council - Prosit!

In the last round Aguilar had the better of Alex Farrugia, who needed a full point to qualify, beating him with the white pieces. The other top games, between Ayman Ibrahim and George Caruana, and that between Matthew Saliba and Clarence Psaila ended in a convenient draw - a half point won that was all that they needed to qualify. On fourth board Noel Grima defeated Michael Cuschieri to earn his place in the Candidates and thanks to this win he managed to end the competition in second place.

At the bottom of the table the clash between Andre Xuereb and Daniel Saliba, both fourteen year olds, ended in a draw while Rita Saliba managed the full point against Stephen Attard. Newcomer Michael Grech registered his second straight win beating Kurt Crockfort with white.

Classification:

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17/11/2004 2004 TABAC-ORIGINAL Alekhine-Attard Chess Event

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Informed sources have reported that preparations are in an advanced state for the annual Chess competition held under the auspices of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture. The event will close the main 2004 Malta Chess Calendar. Some educational establishments are known to be planning internal Christmas competitions.

The contingent arriving from Moscow is likely to include the winner of European Senior Lady Champion POPIVODA Radmila(Elo-2234). She won this title in Italy this year. The contingent will also include three stalwart attendees Archangelsky, Loktiev and Gasparients.

The Russian Chess Competition has been annually organized in one form or another for the last twenty years. At some stage it used to be called “The Ambassador’s Cup”. This event commemorates Alexander Alekhine many times World Champion and Wilfrid George Attard many times Malta Chess Champion. The sponsors are led by Tabac-Original and Preluna Hotel. Further details will be published in the near future. The days of play are (subject to some alteration) from the 11th to the 16th December 2004. The Federation will supply the use of the chess equipment which includes Digital Clocks. There will not be the usual “Sudden Death” after two hours of play by each player. Instead, the clock starts by allowing a time limit of 90 minutes but awards a half minute for each completed move. This type of clock is favoured by FIDE and has already been successfully used during the 2004 Malta Championship played at the Mediterranean Conference Hall and won by Dr. Andrew Borg. An attempt will be made to make this event not only available for rating but also for possible title qualification. Last year’s Prize Fund has been guaranteed.

This international event is open to all chess players but the organisers may limit the entry to thirty players using rating ranking as criteria for first preference. Results of the games are published in the general media. The scores of the games are usually selected by the editor of the Malta Chess Magazine and may be published and perhaps analysed too. Intending players should show their interest (many have already done so) by contacting the Chess Arbiter on email:mbaron@keyworld.net

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08/07/2004 Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen turns up unexpectedly

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Dane number 1 chess player, Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen turned up unexpectedly at the Malta Chess Federation chess rooms in Sliema last Sunday morning to participate in round six of the 2004 KPMG Chess Rapid Grand Prix Series. Dane number 1 chess player, Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen turned up unexpectedly at the Malta Chess Federation chess rooms in Sliema last Sunday morning to participate in round six of the 2004 KPMG Chess Rapid Grand Prix Series.

GM Nielsen presented himself quietly during registration time and then stunned the organisers when they queried if, perhaps, he was rated and they heard the soft-spoken Nielsen repeat his ELO rating of 2652! Matters quickly clarified. The Malta Chess Federation was hosting GM Nielsen, number 1 player in Denmark and currently in the world's list of the top 50 strongest grandmasters!! A pleasant surprise for everyone and a day to remember for Matthew Saliba, Christian Pullicino, Mark Cardona, Oliver Said and Colin Pace who were drawn to play the Grand Master in the five round event that ensued.

As expected GM Nielsen had an easy ride beating the local young talent with masterly skills. MCF President FM Geoffrey Borg, President of the Malta Chess Federation, arrived at the Chess Club during the course of the games and met with GM Nielsen informally. He also found the time to play two friendly Blitz games with the Grandmaster, losing one and drawing the other, to round up a memorable Sunday morning.

For the records the final standings after five rounds read:

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13/03/2004 The Fourth San Anton School Under 16 Open

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A beautiful sunny day, heralding the end of Winter and ushering in Spring was the ideal weather for the fourth San Anton School Under 16 Open held on March 13th.

As opposed to last year when apart from bleak and windy weather, we also witnessed power cuts and alarm bells, this year’s edition was as smooth as it could ever hope to be. Once again the invaluable help of the rest of the MCF’s committee was fundamental: Duncan with his trustworthy laptop, Peter, Ray, Stephen and Tony all ensuring that the participants played correctly, and Geoffrey who in recent times seems to have turned into a rather keen photographer.

Although we had 62 entrants, we ended up with 51 players on the day – curiously the same number as last year. A major alteration to the tournament was holding the Under 12 section completely separate from the remaining players. This seems to have gone down well with all. First of all it avoided the more experienced players just going through the motions in the first round or two. Secondly, the younger players didn’t have the daunting task of meeting players 5 or 6 years their senior, which at that age is quite a significant age gap.

Another pleasant surprise was that most games made good use of the time available and there were very few games which finished in double speed time. Duncan and I were reminiscing about a game last year which more or less finished before we had even finished calling out all the pairings! Nothing of that this year, and apart from some over enthusiasm with the clocks, the players are showing that they can follow instructions and learn quickly when it comes to chess etiquette.

With 19 players in the Under 12 section it was well fought out but in the end young Clive Sacco, the youngest of the Sacco brothers was a worthy winner having won 6 and drawn his final game, when he had already won the trophy outright. In second place was Rita Saliba who was consistent throughout, ending up with 5 points.

In the Under 16 section, with Charles Sinn now over age, and with last year’s holder Robert Zerafa not taking part, a win for Mark Cardona was well overdue, and disappoint us he did not. He won all 7 games, beating all his fiercest rivals in the process. If Mark’s win was expected, the fight for the other top placings was eagerly fought out and eventually second place went to Christian Pullicino, followed by Fabiano Bugelli, Sam Sacco and Kurt Aquilina. Kurt is a new face from St. Paul’s Missionary College. Hopefully his presence will not be a one off!

Taking top place in the Under 14 category was Gary Brincat followed closely by Daniel Saliba who had a great tournament too.

It was encouraging to see players from so many different schools and apart from the now customary crowd from St.Elias, St.Paul’s M C had 4 participants, San Andrea had 6, and there was representation from Savio College, De La Salle, M. Mortimer Junior Lyceum, St.Michael’s College and of course a substantial crowd from San Anton itself.

All in all, a great day for everyone, and the presence of so many youngsters can only but encourage the Committee to invest further in the game.

For the record these were the trophy winners this time round:

• 1st place - Mark Cardona
• 2nd place - Christian Pullicino
• 3rd place - Fabiano Bugelli
• 4th place - Sam Sacco
• 5th place - Kurt Aquilina
• 1st place Under 14 - Gary Brincat
• 2nd place Under 14 - Daniel Saliba
• 1st Place Under 12 - Clive Sacco
• 2nd Place Under 12 - Rita Saliba
• 1st Place Girls - Christine Mizzi
• 2nd Place Girls - Chiara Buhagiar
• 1st place San Anton - Andrea Gravina
• 2nd place San Anton - Wayne Giordmaina

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16/02/2004 News Round-up

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Welcome to the 2nd chess e-mail newsletter.

2004 started as usual with the yearly Juniors vs Veterans friendly match. The match finished 3.5-3.5 with the following results:
T. Sorensen vs C. Pace 1-0;
D. Vella vs P. Sammut Briffa 1/2;
V. Cilia Vincenti vs A. Duren 0-1;
M. Saliba vs J. Zachariasen 0-1;
R. Azzopardi vs N. Grima 0-1;
J. Farrugia vs O. Rippengal 1-0;
A. Muscat Baron vs L. Sciberras 1-0

Also in January, the Delicata Rapid Tournament was a success with 23 participants. Ex-Champion David Cilia Vincenti returned to winning ways by winning outright with 4.5 points drawing against another ex-champion (1981) Joe Gauci. Joe, together with another draw against Mark Cardona finished 2nd while Mark who drew Colin Pace finished in 3rd place. This tournament also saw 3 new players in Jean-Paul Ebejer, Christian Borg and Sergio Muscat. An impressive performance was achieved by Braden Borg who finished in joint 2nd place (4th on Bucholtz) on 4 points. Final Standings were:
1: David Cilia Vincenti 4.5 pts
2-4: Joe Gauci, Mark Cardona, Braden Borg 4 pts
5-6: Colin Pace, Oliver Said 3.5 pts
7-11: Duncan Vella, Ian Refalo, Noel Grima Joe Demanuele, Michael Cuschieri 3pts
12-14: Matthew Saliba, Sam Sacco, Christian Pullicino 2.5pts
15-18: Sergio Muscat, Ray Azzopardi, Ivan Attard, Anthony Muscat Baron 2pts
19-20: Christian Borg, Omar Shamala 1.5pts
21-23: Ryan Borg, Jean-Paul Ebejer, Olive Rippengal 1pt

February KPMG Rapid 1st Feb

16 players took part in the first rapid tournament of the KPMG Grand Priz series. As expected, top seed Torben Sorensen took first place with 4.5 pts drawing only against Colin Pace. Young Mark Cardona had a great tournament beating champion and ex-champ, Colin and Peter Sammut Briffa respectively but losing to Torben to finish second. Colin Pace finished 3rd on 3.5 pts. More info with games in March's magazine.

February Blitz 15th Feb

The first Muscat Motors Blitz Grand Priz tournament attracted 13 players. And what a tournament with 2 FMs and over half of the participants rated over 2150! FM Geoffrey Borg headed the list with a 2512 rating followed by Torben Sorensen on 2348. Another Danish, FM Andreas Bang (2287) also took part together with Andrew Borg (2246), Daniel Abela (2246), Mark Cardona (2220) and Duncan Vella (2191).

As expected Geoffrey won the tournament although for the first time in blitz play for over a year, he dropped half a point against Joe Gauci. Andreas finished second with Torben and Joe 3rd. More info with top games in March's magazine.

Forthcoming events

The first tournament of the Farsons Championship Cycle, the Preliminaries will start on Tuesday 24th February at the MCF premises in Sliema. The tournament is a 7-round swiss system with play held twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday at 6pm. Rate of play is 2 hours for the whole game each player. The tournament is open to MCF members only with a rating of 1850 or less. The top 6 will qualify for the 2nd phase, the Candidates. Entrance fee is LM 2 and prize fund is 1st: LM15; 2nd: LM10 and 3rd LM5.

Ron Sammut will be the official arbiter for the event. So far 11 players have applied. Players may apply by replying to this e-mail or contacting any of the committee members. Non-members can pay up their membership on the first round to take part.

Annual Dinner and Prize Giving

The Annual Prize Giving Dinner held at Hotel Santana was well attended and everyone had a good time meeting other chess players and their families without a chess board in the middle.

The Committee
Malta Chess Federation
E-mail: info@chessmalta.com
Web site: www.chessmalta.com

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24/12/2003 News Round-up

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Alekhine-Attard Memorial International

The Alekhine-Attard Memorial tournament has just finished. There were GM Oleg Chernikov, 2 IMs and a WFM. Also taking part were the present Malta Champion Colin Pace together with 3 ex-champions. A great welcome should be extended to Joseph Gauci (Malta Champion 1981) who returns to the game after an absence of about 20 years. The maximum number of players possible (30) took part to make this a successful tournament. IA Anthony Muscat Baron assisted by FM Geoffrey Borg were the arbiters.

The 1st round offered no surprises and most games finished as expected. Oliver Said obtained an interesting draw against the Russian unrated Alexey Sevenyuk. Joe Gauci drew IM Archangelsky while Mark Cardona drew against Colin Pace in round 2. Peter Sammut Briffa was very unlucky against IM Loktiev blundering into a mate in one when his other possible move would have kept the game going. Harry Camilleri had a good fight against GM Chernikov but the GM's connected passed pawns were too much to handle in the end.

In round 3, the foreign players were paired against each other and drew all their games. This gave the other players opportunity to catch up. Worth mentioning is Sam Sacco's win against championship finalist Ron Sammut.

Round 4 saw Joe Gauci gain another draw against the other IM (Loktiev) while Colin beat Harry's aggressive play in an advanced French. There were 10 players in first place at this point inducing Joe Gauci, Colin, Peter and John Petterson.

In round 5 Peter had a great game against GM Chernikov. He had an equal position with an endgame of R+5pawns each. Peter decided to play the ending with a fight (instead of playing passively) but in the end the GM's two pawns on the queenside decided the game. Joe Gauci suffered his first and only loss to Danish Torben Sorensen who is residing in Malta. Mark beat Oliver Said in a game which could have gone either way in the endgame. At the end there were 5 foreign players on 4 pts closely followed by Mark Cardona on 3.5pts.

In round 6, Mark Cardona was unlucky to lose to WFM Chernikova. Although a pawn down he could have made it much more difficult for his opponent. Joe Gauci gained yet another draw against the Russian Garry Gaspariants. GM Chernikov beat IM Loktiev to share first place with his daughter WFM Chernikova.

The direct encounters in the final round saw GM Chernikov play a swift draw against IM Archangelsky to secure at least a joint first position. Torben Sorensen had to win against WFM Chernikova with black but finally agreed to a draw. Peter beat Colin in a direct encounter to win the best Maltese placing.

The final top positions read:

1-2: GM Chernikov, WFM Chernikova: 5.5pts

3-6: Sorensen, IM Archangelsky, IM Loktiev, Sammut Briffa: 5pts

7-8: Gaspariants, Sevenyuk: 4.5pts

9-13: Pace, Gauci, Cardona, Petterson, Borg 4pts

Most games will be included in January's magazine so make sure you are eligible to receive it.

The January 2004 chess magazine

Members will be receiving their magazine early next year. The magazine includes

• details of forthcoming tournaments
• details of the Annual Prize Giving Dinner on Sat. Jan 24th
• Ratings commission report as presented in the AGM
• Full details and games of the Alekhine-Attard Memorial International tournament
• Info on the first European Internet Championship
• The Centenary of the British Chess Federation

Forthcoming events (For details click here)

As usual at 9:30am of the first Sunday of the New Year (4th Jan), the usual Juniors vs. Veterans match will be held. In the past 2 matches the veterans won their match easily so let's see if things change this year. The event is open to all.

For the 2nd time, Delicata Winemakers Weekend Tournament will be held on the 17th-18th Jan. This rapid event (30mins per player) will be open to members only. There will be 3 games on Sat and 2 games on Sun. The venue is at the MCF premises in Sliema. The tournament is open to the first 22 players who apply. Entrance fee is LM2 and all participants (excluding prize winners) will take a bottle of wine. Prizes: 1st - 9 bottles; 2nd 6 bottles 3rd 3 bottles.

Annual Dinner and Prize Giving

The Annual Dinner will be held at Hotel Santana, Triq il-Maskli, St. Paul's Bay on Sat 24th Jan at 8pm. It's a great time to meet fellow chess players and their families without a chess board in the middle. Moreover the prizes acquired in 2003 will be presented.

Please book by sending email to chessmalta@kemmunet.net.mt or phoning Duncan Vella on 21581858 (H), 23599357 (W) or 99420714 (M).

Membership

We have received questions from people asking how they can renew or becoming members of the MCF. You can either give the fee to any Committee Member of the MCF or else send a cheque by post to Malta Chess Federation, 87, St. Vincent Street, Sliema. Please address the cheque to Malta Chess Federation. The fees are: Adults: LM10; Juniors U20: LM5; U15: LM2. Also send in your details including mail address, tel/mobile numbers, date of birth and e-mail address.

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26/4/2003 Final Result Of Le Meridien-Phoenicia Inter School Chess Tournament 2003

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The 2003 edition of the Inter School Chess Team Tournament was run by the Malta Chess Federation at Le Meridien Phoenicia Hotel in Floriana. Nine teams presented themselves; the organizers admitted some disappointment especially when some schools amply assisted by the MCF failed to muster even one three –man team. Furthermore there were no female participants at all. The event has been announced at least since January of this year.

The eventual winners were St. Elias A formed of Fabiano Bugelli, Sam Sacco and Christian Pullicino who have been in the forefront of chess of their age group for at least two years; the team garnered the maximum available fifteen points not even conceding one draw . They faced some pretty though opposition especially from Handaq Lyceum where the game Braden Borg – Sam Sacco took almost all the two hours available and was decided in fact when Borg lost on time after offering a dour series of threats and attacks.

In second place there came a second team from the same college led by Peter Paul Briffa backed by Omar Shamala and Gary Brincat who obtained 9.5 points. Schools are allowed to field more than one team in recognition of the greater chess organization and activity practiced in several establishments.

The next class of scored points was 9 points which was shared by Saint Aloysius College formed of Samuel Meilak, Alex Zammit and Simon Gatt who with a buholz of 39 led from fourth placed SE (Muscat) whose opponents’ score was 27.5.

The tournament proved to be a good catalyst between the young students from various educational establishments. Some teams were formed by students themselves and in this regard Philip Leone Ganado (St. Aloysius) and Daniel Saliba (Seminary) merit mention. Two teachers Ray Azzopardi (St. Elias) and Kenneth Camilleri (Handaq) accompanied their teams throughout the event; their presence appeared quite reassuring to these young contenders.

Each of the five daily rounds was preceded by a pep talk by the arbiter who encouraged more concentration and reflection before each and every move; the advice was heeded in the main and in fact there were none of the usual ten minute disasters which marred previous events. The arbiter was also grateful for the ample co-operation shown by all the players who generously helped in setting up and dismantling the playing hall every single day . The MCF is also grateful to Le Meridien –Phoenicia who provided an ideal playing environment in a most central location.

The MCF will announce the date for the award of prizes in due course.

FINAL RESULTS OF LE MERIDIEN-PHOENICIA CHESS TEAM TOURNAMENT 2003:

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16/3/2003 San Anton School Chess Under 16 Open

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The 3rd edition of the San Anton School Chess Under 16 Open was held on Saturday 15th March in the foyer of the School.

Once again the number of participants increased from last year’s 46 to 51, although it was unfortunate that a considerable number of those who had “booked” their place never showed up. It was all the more disappointing when one considers that at least 10 other participants were turned down as the number of confirmed entrants had swelled to over 66!

This year we also faced another obstacle in that we had no electricity, so a combination of batteries, UPS, generators and gas cylinders ensured that all would run smoothly.

This year’s 7-round tournament ensured that we would have a new winner as last year’s winner, Charles Sinn, did not participate. Pre-tournament favourite was Mark Cardona, with Braden Borg seeming the most likely challenger. The newly “discovered” Zerafa brothers, Patrick and Robert who surprised everyone with their level of play in the Preliminaries (both qualifying for the candidates), ensured that the top places would be well fought out! San Anton and St. Elias provided the bulk of the students taking part but there was representation from Tal-Handaq, San Andrea, St.Edwards, Lily of the Valley, De La Salle, Verdala JL, St.Joseph’s JL, M. Mortimer JL and St.Aloysius.

The first three rounds were of 10 minutes each and by the end of this round it was evident who the front runners were going to be with Cardona, Zerafa brothers and Braden Borg all surging ahead. The fourth round left a few players with maximum points and round 5 was to prove to be decisive. Mark Cardona faced Robert Zerafa, a game which both players knew could very well decide the final outcome of the tournament. In a tight game, Robert exploited an error by Mark to go a piece up and held his own to eventually promote a pawn and win the game. For the first time in the tournament we had a sole leader! It was at this stage that the School alarm deafened everyone and we had to “evacuate” the premises for 5 minutes! Fortunately the games resumed soon after.

The 6th round brought Robert facing his brother Patrick, but any doubts that Patrick was going to do his brother a favour were soon dispelled as Robert clawed his way back from a piece down to claim a draw. With one round to go, Robert needed to win against Omar Shamala, who was having a good tournament himself. Win he did and Robert Zerafa deservedly became San Anton Chess Open Champion of 2003.

As usual, we had medals for all participants and 13 trophies as well as the San Anton Chess Open Challenge Cup which will remain at the School with a list of all the past winners. Mr. Louis Pisani, principal of San Anton School handed out all the medals and trophies.

It was a lovely day for all the participants, who for many was the first-ever tournament they took part in. Seeing their beaming faces when they won a game and collected their medal was worth all the effort.

As usual, a tournament of this size is only possible with the help of a number of people who truly deserve a mention. Duncan Vella compiled the players’ list and was ever patient with all my e-mails. Duncan was in charge of the pairings and thanks to him ensured that the tournament moved at a brisk pace. Tony Muscat Baron helped in collecting enough clocks and boards as well as adding a few names for the tournament. Colin Pace and Peter Sammut Briffa also gave up their Saturday morning sleep-in and together with Ray Azzopardi helped with the boards, clocks and interminable queries from the players. To all of these people, a heartfelt thanks.

The final mention should go to all the players. When one considers that there were over 50 boys and girls in one place for over 4 hours, they have to be commended on their behaviour, sportsmanship, cooperation and general sense of fair play. Well done to all of you.

The various category winners were as follows:

Till next year!

Ian Refalo
Organiser of San Anton Open Tournament

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13/3/2003 Oliver Said Wins Philip Toledo Ltd. Preliminaries Tournament

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Oliver Said won the first phase of the Philip Toledo Ltd. Chess Championship 2003. Although still a junior, Said beat of the challenge of 22 other players to place first with a total of six and a half points from seven games, allowing only one draw to the experienced Ivan Attard.

The Preliminaries were open to players who have a rating lower then 1850 or who are unrated. This tournament has always been considered as the ideal springboard for new players to test their preparations for competitive chess, and this year’s edition was no exception. Sharing second place we find three players, two of who are brothers, Patrick and Robert Zerafa playing in an official tournament for the first time. Also sharing second place was Ian Refalo. The other qualifiers for the next stage are Ivan Attard in 5th place and Matthew Saliba in 6th. On equal points but failing to qualify on tiebreak are Kevin Attard and Christian Pullicino.

Surprises included the elimination of Anthony Muscat Baron and Uwe Lau, both previous qualifiers, but who this time round failed to even score fifty per cent.

The six qualifiers will now move on to the second stage, the Candidates Tournament where they will face the challenge of the top Maltese players in a bid to be one of the four players to qualify for the Finals.

Joe J. Grech
Press Officer Malta Chess Federation

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13/3/2003 Peter Sammut Briffa wins the 2nd KPMG Rapid Tournament

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The current Malta Champion, Peter Sammut Briffa, won the March edition of the 2003 Rapid Grand Prix sponsored by KPMG.

It was a close finish with no less than four players tying for first place with four points. Sammut Briffa took the honour on tiebreak. The other three players also on four points were Daniel Abela, Mark Cardona and Colin Pace.

Daniel Abela, the current Junior Champion, lost to Sammut Briffa while the latter lost to Colin Pace. This allowed the 12 year old Mark Cardona who beat Duncan Vella to catch up for a share of the glory.

A total of 21 players participated. The next Rapid tournament will be held on the 6th of April.

Joe J. Grech
Press Officer Malta Chess Federation

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25/2/2003 Second KPMG Rapid Tournament

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The Second Rapid Tournament of the KPMG Rapid Grand Prix 2003 is being held this Sunday 2nd march at the Aquasun, St. Georges Hotel, St. Julians. Play starts at 9.00 AM and everyone is eligible to participate. Entrance fees are purposely kept low and are only Lm1 for members of the Malta Chess Federation and Lm2 for non-members.

Games are played at the rate of 15 minutes per player.

Joe J. Grech
Press Officer Malta Chess Federation

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25/2/2003 Results of the First Blitz Tournament of the 2003 Series

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Last Sunday saw the start of a new initiative by the Malta Chess Federation. The first Blitz Tournament in the 2003 Series saw the participation of 17 players who competed against each other at the fast pace of 5 minutes per game on each side.

As expected Geoffrey Borg emerged as the clear winner. Borg will be looking to add the new Blitz Championship crown to the Rapid Championship that he has won two years in a row. Borg managed to win all his games for a total of 7 points out of 7 games.

In joint second place we find a trio of players, Colin Pace, Victor Cilia Vincenti and Mark Cardona. This was a good tournament for Cardona, who is still only 12 years of age and is rapidly becoming one of the most active juniors. His success is made even more pronounced by his victories in the last two rounds over Peter Sammut Briffa, the current Malta National Champion and Colin Pace, a national team member.

The final standings were as follows:

Joe J. Grech
Press Officer Malta Chess Federation

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25/2/2003 Excellent Result for Geoffrey Borg in Lebanon

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Geoffrey Borg and Colin Pace were the two Maltese representatives in the 1st International Friendship Tournament held in Lebanon during February.

Fide Master Geoffrey Borg finished unbeaten with a total score of 7 points from 9 games. Borg managed to win five of his games and drew the other four to finish in joint 3rd place with the same score as Grand Master Stefan Djuric of Yugoslavia. This is the second time within a year that Geoffrey Borg has finished tied with a Grand Master in a tournament. Borg had finished second in an international tournament held in Libya. His International Master level performance in Lebanon ensures that his international rating will increase.

The other Maltese contestant in Lebanon, Colin Pace, managed a respectable score of 3.5 points, winning one game and drawing another five games. This augurs well for Colin’s future activities in the international field.

The Maltese players were part of the European team invited to compete against the best players in Lebanon. Malta earned the privilege of presenting two players instead of one following increased international contacts and through its membership in the Mediterranean Chess Association, of which it is a founding member. The other European players included 2 Grandmasters, and three Fide Masters.

Joe J. Grech
Press Officer Malta Chess Federation

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6/2/2003 Philip Toledo Championship Cycle 2003 Starts Tuesday

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The Malta Chess Championship cycle sponsored by Philip Toledo Ltd. will be keeping its annual appointment when the first phase starts on Tuesday, 11 February.

This first phase, referred to as the Preliminaries, is aimed at those players who are unrated or have a national rating less than 1851. It is open to Chess Federation members and will be played over seven rounds. The top 6 players at the end of this phase will then proceed to the Candidates tournament where they will face the higher rated players including members of the national team. The cycle climax is reached when the top four qualifying players from the Candidates tournament join the Current Champion and last year’s runner up for the Finals.

Players who would like to apply for the Preliminaries can contact the Chess Federation Secretary on telephone number 21313798 or by email to chessmalta@kemmunet.net. The entrance fee is only Lm2. All games will be hosted at the Chess Federation premises in Sliema.

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6/2/2003 KPMG Rapid Tournament Results

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Fide Master Geoffrey Borg started his defence of the Malta Rapid Chess Championship with a resounding victory in the first Tournament of the 2003 Grand Prix Series sponsored by KPMG.

Geoffrey Borg managed a clean sweep winning all his five games for a score of 5 points. In joint second place with four points we find Duncan Vella, current Malta Champion, Peter Sammut Briffa, and Englishman Laurie Trewinnard. Duncan Vella took second place on a superior tie-break score. This tournament also registered a very positive showing for upcoming young players Oliver Said and Fabiano Bugelli in fifth and sixth place respectively with a score of three and a half points.

Perhaps less expected were the performances of Colin Pace and veteran player Victor Cilia Vincenti, both internationally rated players, who could only manage a total of three points and shared seventh to tenth place with Matthew Saliba and Christian Pullicino.

An encouraging total of 24 players took part in this first event of the series. The next KPMG Rapid Tournament will be held on Sunday 2nd March.

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26/1/2003 KPMG Rapid Grand Prix kicks off Sunday

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The first tournament of the 2003 Rapid Chess Grand Prix Series is being held on Sunday, 2nd February.

KPMG are the new sponsors of this very popular annual competition which last year saw more than 70 players taking part over the nine stages. The series of tournaments will be held one every first Sunday of the month up until October. At the end of the season the tally of points each player has obtained is summed up and the overall winner will be the Rapid Grand Prix Champion for 2003.

Rapid chess is played at the relatively fast rate of 15 minutes per game for each player. This contributes towards an exciting spectacle for both the players and spectators as games take on an urgent and risky nature where any result is possible and surprises are often known to happen.

The venue this Sunday is the Libertas Sports Association in Pembroke. The Tournament starts at 9.00 AM and it is open to all participants. The fee is Lm1 for Malta Chess Federation members and Lm2 for non-members. Spectators can visit for free; everyone is invited.

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26/1/2003 Results of the Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker Chess Open Tournament

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Internationally rated Hanna Sorial won the open weekend chess tournament sponsored by Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker.

Sorial, who hails from Egypt, has an international rating of 2264, which made him the pre-tournament favourite to win. Nonetheless, the competing Maltese players made it a difficult task, and twice Sorial was fortunate to not lose, first against Colin Pace who lost on time in a winning position and then against Duncan Vella who was unlucky to miss the right move during complications.

Sixteen players competed in this first five rounds weekend tournament. Sorial won all his five games for a perfect score, whilst in clear second place with four points we find national team player, Colin Pace. Duncan Vella, who is also a national player, finished with three and a half point in third place. The rest of the table is as follows: 4th –6th John Richards, Oliver Said, Ron Sammut; 7th Mark Cardona; 8th-12th Ivan Attard, Ralph Agius Fernandez, Matthew Saliba, Noel Grima, Sharon McKay; 13th-14th Ray Azzopardi, Tony Muscat Baron; 15th-16th Nelson Taylor, Olive Rippengal.

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12/1/2003 New Tournament Starts This week

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Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker Chess Open Tournament

This week will see the start of a new tournament in the Maltese chess calendar. For the first time in many years, the Malta Chess Federation is organising what is known as an open weekend tournament. This is a very popular format abroad which allows even those players who have a very tight schedule to complete a full tournament over the weekend.

The Tournament, which is sponsored by Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker, is open to all players and is being held at the Federation premises at 87 St. Vincent Street, Sliema. Play will start this Friday 17th January at 6.00 PM. This will be followed by two rounds on Saturday and two rounds on Sunday for a total of five rounds using the Swiss pairing system. Each player will have one hour to complete the game, so each round will last a maximum of two hours. The entrance fees are Lm2 for members of the Malta Chess Federation and Lm3 for non-members. Details from the Secretary on 21313798.

Everyone is being guaranteed a prize!

Under 14 New Year Tournament 2003

Mark Cardona confirmed his potential as one of the best junior players presently active on the Maltese chess scene by winning the first tournament of the current season with six points out of six games. This augurs well for Cardona who is only 12 years old. The Under 14 New Year Tournament 2003 attracted a total of 16 players.

In second place with a total of five points we find the promising Christian Pullicino who is also starting to achieve good results. In joint third place with four points we have Fabiano Bugelli, Omar Shamala and Philip Leone Ganado. Fabiano Bugelli took the third place prize on a superior tiebreak score. Rita Saliba won the Best Female Prize.

Juniors Lose to Veterans in Close Match

The veterans managed to get the better of their junior counterparts by winning the annual Junior Vs Seniors Match by the score of 6.5 points to 4.5 points. In all there were 11 matches played which saw the Veterans winning six, the Juniors won four and one game was drawn. Twenty-two players took part in this fun event.

On top board current Malta Champion, Peter Sammut Briffa, overcame the challenge of national team player Colin Pace, while the experienced Victor Cilia Vincenti beat Mark Cardona on second board. Oliver Said for the juniors pulled off the greatest surprise of the day when he beat the much higher rated John Richards. Tony Muscat Baron and newcomer M.A. Abdilla registered the only draw of the day.

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5/1/2003 International Recognition for Maltese Chess

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Maltese Official Elected to Important International Posts

Following the FIDE (International Chess Federation) Congress held late last year, Maltese delegate Geoffrey D. Borg was elected to a number of important posts.

The official posts that Mr. Borg now holds are Auditor to the European Chess Union, General Secretary of the Small Nations Chess Association and Council member of the Mediterranean Chess Association. This is the first time that an official from Malta has been elected to posts in these International Chess Organisations.

The European Chess Union (ECU) encompasses 56 European Countries including the most important chess playing nations of the world like Russia. The Small Nations Chess Association (SNCA) is a worldwide organisation that caters for those countries that have a population of 2 million people or under, including renown chess nations like Slovenia and Iceland. The Mediterranean Chess Association (MCA) involves 29 countries and includes Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Turkey amongst others.

Geoffrey Borg was instrumental in the setting up of both the SNCA and MCA. He is the holder of the FIDE Master title and has been the top rated Maltese player for a number of years. He was captain of the Maltese team that competed in the Bled Olympiads.

It is envisaged that this increased international involvement will bring direct benefits to Maltese Chess. In fact, it is already starting to pay off. Malta has received an invitation to participate in an international tournament this February organised by Lebanon who have offered Malta a special concession of sending two players instead of one. Other international tournaments are being planned in Turkey and Libya that also include junior participation.

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29/12/2002 New Chess Season Ready To Kick Off

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January will see the start of another year full of chess activities.

In accordance with the Malta Chess Federation policy of building for the future, the season will be kicking off with a rapid tournament for junior players aged 14 years or younger. Taking advantage of the holidays, games will be played between the 2nd and 4th of January. All players born after 1 January 1988 can apply to the Secretary by phoning on 21313798 or by email at chessmalta@kemmunet.net.mt.

The traditional "Juniors versus Seniors" match will be then be held on Sunday, 5th January at 9.30 am at the Federation premises in Sliema. This is a fun event held annually and everyone, whether old or new, is welcome to attend. In the last few years the seniors have regularly won this match over their younger counterparts. However an exciting new crop of players is breaking through the ranks and this year's event should prove an exciting one.

The Annual Prize-Giving Dinner is being held on Saturday 25th January at the Aquasun Restaurant in St. Julians. Among those being rewarded for their achievements during 2002 we find the current Malta Champion Peter Sammut Briffa, the Rapid Grand Prix winner, Fide Master Geoffrey Borg, and the winner of the First Category, Duncan Vella.

The Malta Chess Federation is stepping up its activities this year to reflect the increasing awareness about chess. For the first time a Blitz Grand Prix is being held every third Sunday of each month. Blitz chess is an exciting format of 5-minute chess that offers both players and spectators the fast action not usually associated with a classic chess game, but which is becoming increasingly more popular. Together with the Rapid Chess Grand Prix, which will also be held this year on the first Sunday of each month, the Malta Chess Federation, like its counterparts in the international scene, is providing local chess players with an opportunity to participate in all the official formats of chess. Both the Blitz and Rapid events start in February and will run through October.

Other official events which will be held by the Malta Chess Federation this year are the Malta Chess Championship Cycle (in three stages, Preliminaries, Candidates and Finals), The Junior Championships, the Inter-Schools Competition, and the Categories (a league with three Divisions). Besides these, the Federation is also assisting a number of organisers who will be holding tournaments and school competitions throughout the year. All this activity augurs well for the run up to the next Biannual Chess Olympiads that will be held in 2004 in Minorca, Spain.

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27/12/2002 A Year's School chess at St. Elias

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During 2002 St. Elias College Chess coached by R. Azzopardi carried out a full programme of chess activity, both in and out of school.

They started with various demonstrations, the first being a simul by W G M Susannah Maksimovic against twenty students and teachers. Various coaching sessions were also held in particular emphasising the importance of end game techniques.

The Christmas Term Chess Competition was led by Fabiano Bugelli. Fabiano also figured well in non-college chess such as the San Giljan Chess Evening, the Under Fourteen in January , the Malta Junior Championship and the May de La Salle Open.

The College team had re-appeared in Inter School Chess the previous Easter. In 2002 however they managed to take the top honours against usually more favoured teams coming from a wide spectrum of government and private schools.

To round off the year, the College held an Annual School Competition where over twenty students from the five forms of St. Elias fought out a five round Swiss where each player was allowed ten minutes to finish the whole game. The time frame was adequate as was proved by the fact that only one game was decided by the fluctuation of the allowed thinking period.

In the final result, three players tied at the 4 point level, Christian Pullicino (Form 3), and two from form 5, Daniel Zerafa and David Herd. Pullicino had the best Buholz while the other two needed a furthest tie-break by means of SB.

The awards for both the Christmas and the Annual Competition were presented to the winners by Rev. Charles Mallia in the presence of several parents of the players.

Taking 2002 as a good base, the Chess Coach has produced a Cumulative Points table which will serve for future competitions as a ranking tool thus eliminating the less indicative alphabetical ranking system.

The St. Elias players intend to continue their exposure to various chess competitions and will also be attending the Attard Memorial Lectures at the Russian Culture Centre in summer for which they have been selected.

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15/12/2002 Alekhine-Attard Final Results

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For the third time Mikhail Archangelsky recorded a First Position in this international event in which he contributes by mustering other Russian chess personalities from the Association of Russian Chess Federations to visit Malta.

The Russian contingent this year included (1) Ivan Loktev who was here also last year and is due to officially receive the tile of International Master soon (2) Anatoly Bychovsky who trained such great names as Karpov, Kasparov and the current world champion Kramnik, (3) Garry Gaspariants, an Intenational Chess Arbiter, who was here two years ago and a new comer Mikhail Ivanov ( a first category amateur).

Congratulations to Braden Borg of M A Vassalli Lyceum, Tal-Handaq for his final round win over many times Malta Champion Harry Camilleri and his position sharing 4th - 5th places with none other than the highest rated competitor Ivan Loktev of Moscow.

Braden Borg is also the First Placed Maltese player above several others who are higher rated than him icluding the only member of the Olympiad team who competed here.

Marc G. Cardona of De La Salle also distinguished himself. He lost only to Gaspariants and Bychovsky and won against Ivanov. His opponents' score is the third highest in this competition.

Christian Pullicino won the special prize offered by Dr. Zolina of RSCS for the "most promising youngster". He also made a good showing especially when he beat experienced chess player John Richards in the last round.

Sam Sacco won the Trophy for the Best Placed student from St. Elias College who presented the largest school contingent.

This year's compettion attracted a higher number of competitors than last year.

The Russian Centre will register all the Malta resident payers as members for the next year.

On behalf of the Russian Delegation, Archangelsky thanked the RSCS for the smooth professional organisation of the event and the management of the Preluna Hotel as well as several Maltese chess players for their warm hospitality and help.

During the Closing Ceremony, Mrs. May Bonello in the name of the Attard family presented a Library of some 400 Chess Books to the Malta Chess Federation Library. These books belonged to the late Wilfrid G. Attard who was Malta champion many times starting in 1946 and who passed away in November 2001. Wilfrid was also the animator of this international competition.

The scores of the games are being prepared for publication in the "Malta Chess Magazine" which is distributed to paid up members of the Malta Chess Federation.

The Arbiter extended special thanks to the members of the Malta media who pubished regular reports of this daily event. To view the final placing click here.

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2/12/2002 Annual General Meeting 2002

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The new statute proposed by Geoffrey Borg has been approved, while the new committee is now composed of:

Click here to go to the AGM 2002 page.

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28/11/2002 A Magazine about the Bled Olympiad

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The Malta Chess Federation has just issued the December Chess Magazine. This issue concentrates mainly on the Malta Team ‘s performance in the FIDE Olympiad which took place in Bled, Slovenia, last month. The Editor who was also the team captain is very satisfied with the outcome. Malta scored 25 points against worldwide opposition. The effects on the national position and on the individual international ratings of the six competitors is also analyzed. Some would say that the Olympiad is a "final" test of the work of years of preparation and selection of the best available Maltese players. Only six Maltese players can be chosen to go and this does not happen every year but biennially. The next Olympiad will be held in another Mediterranean location in 2004 in Minorca. I can just see several players calculating what chances they might have to make it to this prestigious and select mondial chess summit.

Age has little relevance in the selection process. The Azerbajan team was formed mostly of teenagers sporting international titles.

The Magazine also gives some indication of impending chess events. There is the Lejla Cess Giljaniza which makes its second appearance on Thursday 28th November at 18.30 at Dar is-Solidajeta, Main Street, St, Julian’s. Then on Sunday 1st December, the Federation will hold their Annual General Meeting at the Chess Rooms in Sliema where after the regular reports by the President, Secretary , Treasurer and Ratings Commission , there will be the Annual Election to fill vacancies and perhaps the most important item will be a total revision of the Federation’s Statute.

The big December Chess Event will be the Alekhine-Attard Chess Tournament due to be held again at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Valletta. The time table has undergone some changes. There will be seven rounds as usual . On Saturday 7th, there will be the first round at 16.00; on Sunday 8th, there will be a round at 0900 and another one at 18.00. The other four rounds will be played at 18.00 from Monday through Thursday 12th when the Prize Giving will also be held. The Russian delegation will consist of six persons led as usual by Archangelsky most of whom are IMs. Last year the winner was WGM S. Maksimovic of Belgrade.

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21/11/2002 Strong Russian delegation for Alekhine –Tabac Original Chess Tournament

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The Alekhine Chess Club will be organizing this year’s international chess event from the 6th to the 12th December at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Valletta.

The programme has been slightly changed as follows :

The tempo of play will be Two hours per player to finish his whole game. The Prize fund will be like last year. The tournament is open to all chess players without any limitation as to chess rating, age, sex or nationality.

A strong delegation is expected to come from Moscow under the aegis of the Association of Chess Federations. The Russian Chess delegation will be hosted by the Preluna Hotel. The leader is again Mikhail Archangelsky who also won in two editions. He is accompanied by Gary Gasparients and Ivan Loktiev, two chess masters who are already known here for their participation in previous Alekhine events. Then there are three new names viz. Anatoly Bylkovsky (chief coach of the Russian Junior Chess team) , Mikhail Ivanov and Ms. Svetlana Barychnikova. The winner last year was Woman Grand Master Susannah Maksimovic who was then residing temporarily in Gozo and gave several demonstrations in schools and clubs. The aim of the event is to commemorate Alexander Alekhine who played for several countries and who held the World Championship title until his sudden death in Madrid in 1946. This year the event also commemorates many times Malta chess champion Wilfrid G. Attard who passed away last year.

Chess players should apply to “The Chess Arbiter” 50 Graham Street Sliema Phone/Fax 21313798 email:mbaron@link.net.mt

In December, the Malta Chess Federation will hold their Annual General Meeting on Sunday 1st and then there is no other planned chess competition besides the Alekhine which thus fills a gap. Besides the 2002 Championship Cycle and the Chess Categories, the MCF ran a successful series of Rapid Tournaments on the first Sunday of the months from February to October and at the last Council meeting, a plan was studied to introduce more chess activity for members ; one form being considered is a monthly lightning chess event - which used to be quite popular before.

In November there is going to be the Chess Road Show on Sunday 24th at Bay Street, St. George’s Bay followed on Thursday 28th by a second edition of the successful St. Julian Chess Evening at Dar is-Solidarjeta in St. Julian’s.

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07/10/2002 Sammut Briffa Chess Champion for Third Time

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Peter Sammut Briffa met and beat Colin Pace in the tenth and last round of the 2002 Malta Chess Championship played at the Mediterranean Conference Hall on Monday 7th October.

Peter’s progress to this title was somewhat uncertain and there was a possibility that at the end there would be ties on top points. In Chess ties are usually broken by several methods like Buholz, Sonne-Born Berger, Winners/Losers, and several Median considerations; sometimes organising committees tend to seek other solutions but these should be pre-announced well before the event. The Malta Chess Federation has an addendum to their Statute which really should not be changed except by a general meeting of the members. However Sammut Briffa solved all these problems by finishing half a point ahead of the nearest competitor Daniel Abela.

Sammut Briffa’s progress went through 2 wins against H. P. Graf, 2 draws against Harry Camilleri, a loss and a draw against Daniel Abela , a win and a disturbing loss ( 9th Round) against Duncan Vella, and two wins against C. Pace, last year’s runner-up who fared very weakly this year.

Daniel Abela scored a personal success in more ways than one. A few weeks ago, he won the Malta Junior Championship and several times threatened to win or share also the Overall Malta Chess Title. He is only eighteen years old and has been showing considerable promise for several years. He surpassed his expected score in this event handsomely and this should boost his Malta rating considerably. As runner-up of the 2002 Championship, he will be freed from the incubus of re-qualification for next year’s championship Finals. He will also be forming part of the Malta Olympiad team which will play in Bled, Yugoslavia next month.

Duncan Vella tied with Abela on scored points but his total of SB points was 4.25 points below Abela’s.

The final score is : 1st (6.5 points) Peter Sammut Briffa 2nd-3rd (5.5 pts.) Daniel Abela (SB 29.25) , Duncan Vella ( SB 25.00) 4th: (5.5 pts.)Harry Camilleri 5th: (4 pts.) Colin Pace 6th: (2 pts) H.P. Graf

The full classification and other information can be found here.

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26/08/2002 Harry Camilleri Wins Grand Hotels Chess Tournament 2002

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Harry Camilleri has once again won the annual Grand Hotel Chess Tournament. Following his success at the Candidates Tournament earlier this year, Harry Camilleri was one of the favourites, but in the end his result of 8 points out of 9 games can still be considered a magnificent one. Camilleri at 71 years old is definitely Malta’s strongest veteran player ever.

The number one seed for this tournament was Colin Pace who finished in second place with 7.5 points, losing only to the eventual winner. Four players tied for 3rd place on 6.5 points sharing the cash prize. However, Duncan Vella won the third place trophy on tie-break followed by the Malta Junior Champion, Daniel Abela who won the 4th place medal. The other two players are HansPeter Graf and John Richards.

With a total of 51 registered players, this year’s edition was not only one of the biggest local tournaments for individuals ever held in Malta, but it was also characterised by a large number of junior players, which augurs well for the future of Maltese chess. There were 5 junior prizes to be won.

Mark Cardona, although only eleven years old, won the best Under 18 medal. The other juniors winning a prize were Braden Borg (Under 16), Ralph Agius Fernandez (Under 14), Ryan Borg (Under 12) and Rita Saliba (Under 10). The Best Mellieha resident prize was won by Joe Azzopardi.

The prizes were presented to the participants by the Mayor of Mellieha whose Council generously sponsored the Trophies. The Prize giving was held during the presentation dinner at the Paradise Bay Hotel.

The International Chess Organising Committee would also like to thank the Hotels which hosted the rounds of this event: The New Dolmen Hotel, The Seabank Hotel, The Qawra Palace Hotel, The Topaz Aparthotel, Mellieha Bay Hotel, The Porto Azzurro Resort, The Pergola Club Hotel, and The Paradise Bay Hotel.

The full classification and other information can be found at the ICOC web site.

Press Release by Joe J. Grech, PRO ICOC

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01/06/2002 The winners of the Farsons Chess Categories 2002

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The following are the winners of this year's Farsons Categories.

• Category 1 - Duncan Vella
• Category 2 - Laurie Trewinnard
• Category 3a - Paul Mizzi
• Category 3b - Oliver Said
• Category 3c - Ray Azzopardi

Click here for the complete results and standings of all categories.

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27/05/2002 The June Malta Chess Magazine

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The June Malta Chess Magazine is out and has been posted to Federation members. As usual it is full of Malta chess news and games from recent tournaments. The Editor G D Borg seems pleased, for once, that he is getting sufficient feedback and contributions.

The calendar of chess events starts off with the announcement of the June Rapid due to be held at AS Libertas on Sunday 2nd June and with the announcement of the second level of the 2002 Championship cycle, the Candidates, which starts off on June 4th.

Duncan Vella has established himself as a solidly strong player and has repeated his win of the Top Level Farsons Category. He faces a second trial in the Candidates from where players expect to find a springboard into the top Malta chess representative class in international chess- Duncan won an international rating and wishes to consolidate it.. All the games of this top category supply ample material for study by all chess players in Malta. While the Maltese public only fitfully attends live chess, these game records could reach a wider audience - with the added advantage of time for study and analysis.

Laurie Trewinnard continues his progress in establishing himself as a local player by winning the second Category - he won the Third Category last year. The article presumes that Trewinnard’s rating should move towards 1970 soon.

The May Rapid played in the attractive Attard Youth Centre was attended by even more players than usual. In fact, more boards and sets are being supplied in future Rapids. Alongside the Rapids, there are usually also a few players who find it an excellent opportunity to play friendlies while avoiding the challenge of the Rapids. G D Borg is again establishing himself as the prime candidate for the year’s collective Grand Prix trophy.

D. Vella reports on the latest Rapid Rating List and welcomes seven new names - all (except one) fruit of the chess activity in three schools.

GM Grufeld gives his reminiscences on the days of political pressure on Russian GMs - from a Federation which (to our envy has as choice of GMs) and how his "independent" attitude for the 1980 Olympiad in Malta affected his chances.

This year’s Chess in Liceo Vassalli’s three day marathon was embellished by a Blindfold Simul given by G D Borg against two students and the next day by a sighted simul by present Malta champion Peter Sammut Briffa against more than a dozen opponents. Demonstrations and explanations were also the order of the day and nights..

De La Salle opened their doors to all students for a day of chess on Saturday 18th May when Fabiano Bugelli of St. Elias led a field of twenty two players - the players were rewarded according to their final standing in their age group.

Mike Buttigieg shares with others the mysterious explosion of ambushing batteries (a queen is presented as an offer Black may not refuse) in the famous 1910 Vienna game between Reti and Tartakover, two great names in chess - a humble Bishop closes the event in just 11 moves.

More chess activity is in the offing. The MCF Federation will participate in the Queen’s Baton Run to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, is preparing for the GSSE 2003 in Malta, will be present in many chess exhibitions alongside Local Councils, take chess to Skolasajf in San Gwann, Msida, Zejtun and Senglea and the Inter School Sports days as well as the "Back to School Fair". Meanwhile the last touches are being put to the arrangements for the Grand Hotels Summer Event likely to start on 29th June.

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20/05/2002 Duncan Vella wins Category 1

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For the second year in a row, Duncan Vella managed to win the first Category. This is a remarkable achievement considering that the average rating of the players was an impressive 2112. Duncan also managed to finish the tournament unbeaten with three wins and three draws, thus surpassing four players with a higher rating than him, including Malta National Champion, Peter Sammut Briffa.

The major challengers for the tournament were David Cilia Vincenti and Colin Pace. David, the highest rated player of the tournament, played a good tournament but a loss against Joe J. Grech and a draw in the direct encounter against Duncan, put him in second place. The other challenger, Colin Pace, had a difficult tournament. After a bad start with a loss against David, Colin won three from the following four games, which put him in a position to challenge for the tournament. The last game between Colin and Duncan was decisive for the first places. If Colin won this game the three players, Colin, Duncan and David would share the first place. Colin played for a win but in the end Duncan managed to resist the pressure and draw a fine game, thus winning the tournament.

The national champion, Peter Sammut Briffa, had a very negative tournament finishing fifth, including two loses, and a draw in a game in which he should have lost against Harry Camilleri. In the last round he finally played an excellent game against Joe J. Grech but it was too late to challenge for an important placing.

Harry Camilleri also had disappointing results, but with more luck he could also win the tournament. In fact Harry won three games, drew one against Peter, and lost against David and Duncan. However in the three games where he did not manage to win he had winning positions and with slightly better results he would definitely place in the top three places.

With two points Joe J. Grech played slightly worst than his rating. The strange thing about Joe’s results is that he managed to beat the top rated player, David Cilia Vincenti, and went for a draw in a winning position against the winner of the tournament. The other draw Joe obtained was against Horace Cassar.

In last place finished Horace, who played only three of the six games. Horace obtained one draw from these games, and forfeited the rest and so finished with just half a point on six.

Click here for the complete results and standings.

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13/05/2002 May Rapid Report

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The fourth Rapid tournament was held at the Attard Youth Centre. The premises were spacious, silent and ideal for a tournament like this. It would be ideal if the Federation finds something similar as a new premises. 31 players took part thus once again confirming that this monthly tournament is much enjoyed by chess playeres.

Geoffrey Borg continued what he did last month by winning all 5 games. This time the four pawn King’s Indian attack was unsuccessfully defended by Peter Sammut Briffa. This took place in the last round where both players had full points. The now regular Borg vs Colin Pace did not materialize after Pace lost to Duncan Vella in the third round (see game below). Victor Cilia Vincenti offered good resistance to Borg in the 4th round but failed by exceeding the time limit.

Sammut Briffa beat Vella in the fourth round although being an exchange down. Sammut Briffa showed how strong 2 bishops can be by forcing Vella to give up the exchange back but allowing a pawn to queen. Laurie Trewinnard also gathered 4 points losing only to Cilia Vincenti.

Ian Refalo continued with his progress by playing strong chess. After losing to James Cauchi in the first round, he won 3 consecutive games only to lose the last game against Vella by time in a drawn position.

In the overall Gran Prix classification, Geoffrey Borg (19pts) already has a 3½ pt lead over closest rival Colin Pace (15½ pts). In 3rd place is James Cauchi on 13½ pts. Close with 12 points is 11 year old Mark Cardona. The total classification include 48 players who took part over the first 4 rapids.

For all details regarding this tournament click here.

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13/05/2002 May Rapid Rating List Report

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Although playing with a rating of over 250 over his closest rival, Geoffrey Borg still managed to increase his rating. When calculating our local rating, a player who wins a tournament cannot lost rating points. (This was included so that high rated players keep on playing knowing that winning a tournament will not lose rating points and thus ease the pressure of having to do exceptionally well). But Borg has none of that. By winning all games, his performance was a staggering 2755 and his rating went up to 2442.

Other outstaning performances in the May Rapid were registered by Ivan Attard (2040), Matthew Saliba (1727), Fabiano Bugelli (1644) and Ralph Agius Fernandez (1212).

Peter Sammut Briffa moved closer to the 2200 mark and is now on 2193. Victor Cilia Vincenti increased to 2149. Duncan Vella and Colin Pace both lost rating points and are now on 2131 and 2234 respectively.

Since the last rapid rating list was published in March’s magazine, we have six new rated players. In April’s Rapid we had Sam Sacco (1697) and Matthew Saliba (1519) while in May’s Rapid we had Oliver Said (1814), Klaus Camilleri (1663), Christian Pullicino (1472) and Michael Cordina (1444). Well done to these players. Amongst the provisionally rated players we have Kenneth Camilleri (1667) who is one rating game away from achieving a rating while Eliot Farrugia (1567) needs another 2 rated games.

The last two rapids also brought 7 new players who are now in the provionally rated list. These are Andre Camenzuli, Mark Camilleri, Brian Fenech, David Tanti, Stephen Attard, Kenneth Curmi and Claude Camilleri.

Click here for the latest rapid rating list.

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07/04/2002 St. Elias clinch first Inter School Chess success

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St. Elias College (formerly Mount Carmel) of St. Vennera retained the minimum lead of half a point over their rivals De La Salle in the fifth and last round of the 2002 Inter School Chess Tournament. The event was run by the Malta Chess Federation in collaboration with the Education Ministry’s Sport YouthFest during the Easter school holidays at Pizza Hut in Galleria Fgura.

De La Salle formed by young but already experienced chess players (Karl Fenech, Justin Farrugia, Marc Cardona, Ralph Agius Fernandez) first achieved their total last round victory of three points in just under three quarters of the hour allowed for the whole game.

Attention then focussed on the first table where St. Elias faced determined opposition from Liceo Vassalli. Fabiano Bugelli and Christian Pullicino for St. Elias soon after clinched their wins over Clayton Galea and Joe Zammit, but on the middle board, Brian Fenech braced himself for a possible stalemate draw against Sam Sacco (St.Elias) who had overwhelming material - but games are won and lost at the end. Sacco wisely and prudently promoted another pawn and with about five minutes on his clock, commenced the irrevocable pushing of Fenech’s King towards the board’s edge.

The event was run by officials of the MCF validly assisted by energetic team captains and parents of the players. No fee was charged by the MCF for participating teams. Trophies will be won The three best-placed teams won a trophy for their schools. Each playing team member has won a medal. The Prizes will be presented at the Annual Dinner of the MCF and will include free dinner invitations for the members of the first placed team. The final order of merit was announced at the end of the competition and the organisers will present a copy of the Final Results to each team captain.

For all details regarding the tournament click here.

The next chess event is a Rapid (15 minutes) five games in one day event starting at 0930 on Sunday 7th April at AS Libertas where last month Colin Pace won away from Geoffrey Borg who was last year’s Grand Prix winner. Geoffrey Borg has recently figured in second place in a Libyan International Chess Event against higher rated opposition.

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02/04/2002 Geoffrey Borg second in Libya Chess Tournament

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Geoffrey Borg, Malta’s internationally titled chess player, started off as third ranked in the Remal Club International Competition in Libya.

He led until the sixth round and then drew with Abu Nar, Bouaziz and Asabri and finished second placed with 6 pts jointly with Tunisian GM Salim Bouaziz (who has a rating higher than Borg). First placed was Kaabi Mejdi of Tunisia with 7/9 pts.

Eng . Mohammed Gaddafi, the President of the Libyan Olympic Committee, presented prizes to the winners and hoped to see them again at this annual event next year. Borg was a special guest of the Remal Club after Libyan participation in the ICOC International held at the Dolmen Hotel in Malta in January this year.

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30/03/2002 Borg provisional leader

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Geoffrey Borg, who has a Fide international title, is currently taking part in an international chess tournament in Libya. In his opening matches, Borg won against Makter Amer (rating 2,180), Ramadan (2,298) and Said (2,006). Borg drew against Kaabi (2,352), Chahraki (2,312) and Asabri (UR).

After six of the nine rounds, Borg was the sole leader in the standings with a score of 4.5. Salim Bouaziz of Tunisia is the only other player rated higher than Borg. The two still have to play against each other.

The prizes offered at this tournament, organised by the Remal Chess Club and the Libyan Chess Federation, are $1,000 for the winner, with the runner-up receiving $600. There are $400 at stake for the third-placed player.

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27/03/2002 Geoffrey Borg sharing first place after three rounds in Libyan Tournament

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Currently, FM Geoffrey Borg is playing in an international tournament in Libya. The participants include GM Sleem Boaziz and IM M,Kaabi. After three rounds Geoffrey is leading the tournament along with five other players with a 2/3 score. In the first round, Geoffrey beat M,Amer (2180), while in the other rounds he drew against M,Kaabi (IM 2352) and I,Chahrani (2312).

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24/03/2002 Bumper Chess Activities

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This year something rare is happening in chess in Malta. Chess competitions are attracting more and more competitors than usual.

The monthly Rapid registered 26 in February while over 30 played five games in one day on the first Sunday of March. The next one is on Sunday April 7th and again the venue will be AS Libertas in Pembroke (bus 68 for those not having own transport).

Last year’s San Anton Open (Imselliet) attracted 32 young players. This year’s edition saw over forty young persons, male and female, trying their best to win in seven games on one day. The overall winner was again Charles Sinn (now of St. Aloysius) while the Best Female was again Maria Gatt ( San Anton). The second overall was Marc Cardona; last year it was his brother Chris Cardona - both are from De La Salle. This year three young students from St. Elias - Christian Pullicino, Sam Sacco and Fabiano Bugelli- placed in the next prominent positions.

The first part of the 2002 Malta Championship, the Preliminaries - saw twenty six competitors - last year there were a bare eleven. The winner was 11 year old Marc Cardona with an unsullied score.

And now it is the turn of the Farsons Categories. Usually there are barely enough to divide into the three main categories. This year in the base category "C" where new and not so strong players start off there are enough to make three sub-categories and the Chief Organiser has said "please enough" with about sixty competitors.

Then there is going to be the Inter School Team Tournament in the Easter Holidays. A game a day will be played from April 1sr to Friday 5th at Galleria Complex in Fgura starting at 15.00. Schools can present more than one team of at least three players and possibly one reserve. At least three schools have announced they are about to present at least two teams.

And in the Sunday Chess Clinics at the Chess Rooms (87 St. Vincent Street, Sliema) there are usually barely any vacant chairs - while more experienced players explain and coach new and not so new members-to-be in technical chess prowess. Those attending are both male and female, both young and older. And most are saying the few hours on Sunday morning are barely enough.

And Maltese players (especially rated) are getting more invitations to participate abroad.

This is all good news for the Malta Chess Federation which for years has been trying to get more and more chess players to come out into the open and improve their chess standards by vying with the opposition they can find in Malta - hopefully before trying their hand at higher chess arenas.

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19/03/2002 San Anton School Under 16 Chess Open

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Press Release by the tournament organizer Ian Refalo

If the turnout of this year’s tournament is anything to go by, the future of chess in Malta is looking bright. 46 boys and girls ranging from 11 to 16 years of age from 12 different schools turned up for the 2nd San Anton Open Chess Rapidplay tournament on Saturday 16th March.

Last year’s event attracted 32 players on the day, so a near 50% increase on last year’s number showed that events like these are well received. The tournament had quite a number of promising youngsters taking part. The "boys from St.Elias" all coached by Ray Azzopardi have all been fairly active in recent Federation rapidplays as well as in the Preliminaries. Fabiano Bugelli, Sam Sacco, Christian Pullicino are now becoming familiar names at recent tournaments. Charles Sinn, now a St. Aloysius College boy, was also taking part, defending the title he won emphatically last year. The biggest threat to Charles was surely to come from the pre-tournament favourite, the promising and rapidly improving Marc Cardona from De La Salle College. Marc who won the Preliminaries, beating higher ranked and experienced opposition, was clearly the one to look out for.

A large contingent of players came from San Anton’s neighbours, San Andrea School, represented by no less than 12 players. The Liceo Vassalli Tal-Handaq boys were also out in force and were to prove strong opposition throughout. San Anton School, playing home, had the largest group with 14 boys and 2 girls taking part, with Eliot Farrugia fresh from the Preliminaries and Aaron Falzon seeming their best hope with Maria Gatt possibly the strongest contender for the Girls’ trophy.

As expected, the first couple of rounds, out of the seven to be played, did not give any clear indications as to the eventual outcome, and only after the third round did things start to take shape. The fourth round results left Sinn and Cardona as the only two players with maximum points with George Portelli half a point behind. The fifth round was to prove decisive with Sinn and Cardona battling it out for that elusive top place. It was Sinn who took the point and edged in front for the first time in the tournament. With two rounds to go, Sinn had made a significant step to reclaiming his crown. The position at this stage showed Charles Sinn on 5 points, followed by Eliot Farrugia, Fabiano Bugelli, Marc Cardona, Aaron Falzon, Kurt Bugeja and Christian Pullicino all on 4 points. Sinn last half a point in round 6, drawing with black against Christian Pullicino, who had a great tournament. As Cardona, Falzon and Farrugia all won their games, the final round saw Sinn half a point ahead. Cardona beat Farrugia to edge past him but any hopes of a final "colpo di scena" were lost when Sinn confidently beat Falzon to retain the title.

Commemorative medals were handed to all players and trophies were handed to the following winners:

• Charles Sinn - overall winner
• Marc Cardona - 2nd place
• Christian Pullicino - 3rd place
• Sam Sacco - 1st place under 14
• Daniel Croucher - 1st place under 12
• Eliot Farrugia - 1st place San Anton School
• Aaron Falzon - 2nd place San Anton School
• Maria Gatt - 1st place Girls
• Alexandra Marinelli - 2nd place Girls

A word of praise must be spared for Fabiano Bugelli who mistakenly was awarded the best Under 14 prize and very sportingly gave it up when he himself realised that his fellow schoolmate, Sam Sacco, had half a point more than him. It was a gesture, which befitted the spirit of the entire tournament. In fact, apart from the large number of boys and girls participating, the most enjoyable aspect for the organisers was seeing the sportsmanship, cooperation, manners and good chess etiquette of all the players. It is encouraging for the future of the game. Well done!

What emerged from the tournament is that once there is an interested contact person in any given school, a healthy turnout is virtually guaranteed as evidenced by the large number of entrants from 4 main schools. Praise is due to Mr. Martin Bezzina Wettinger (San Andrea), Mr. Ray Azzopardi (St.Elias) and Mr. Kenneth Camilleri (Tal-Handaq) who between them (as well as the 16 from San Anton) presented 38 of the 46 players. Imagine what the numbers would be like if we found another 4 pivotal persons!

It is also encouraging that after the event a substantial number of those present handed in their name for the Categories as well as showed interest for the upcoming InterSchools.

Finally, a word of thanks to Duncan Vella, Tony Muscat Baron, Ray Azzopardi, and Geoffrey Borg for spending the Saturday helping out, Robert Sinn for his inimitable photography, Mr.Titian Schembri from San Anton School who also snapped away at his camera and Mr. Tonio Pace, Assistant Head of the San Anton Senior School for presenting the trophies and for helping out in the preparation of the event.

Until next year ...

For the record, the following Schools had students taking part:

• San Anton School
• San Andrea School
• L. Vassalli Tal-Handaq
• De La Salle College
• St.Edwards College
• St.Martin’s College
• St.Aloysius College
• G.Schinas School, Luqa
• Mosta Primary ‘B’
• Lily of the Valley, Mosta
• St.Elias School, St.Venera

For all details regarding the tournament click here.

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07/03/2002 Chess Activity Briefs (March 2002)

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The Malta Chess Federation's most important activity is the granting of the annual P. Toledo Chess Championship title. The Candidates, the next level, is open only to players rated above 1850 and the first six of the Preliminaries.

To keep players actively interested the Federation also runs an annual Farsons Chess Categories Competition. All chess players are invited to apply. Then the Organiser Duncan Vella will select the players according to rating strength and split them ( usually) into three categories. They will play a Round Robin or All Play All. This format enables players to know beforehand who their opponents are and the colour of their pieces. Then the players may either follow the time table of one game per week or arrange games with their opponents according to work/study commitments. The only fixed requirement is that all games must be played before the last round. All players may apply by email chessmalta@kemmunet.net.mt or by phoning the MCF Secretary on 21 313798 BUT please by Friday 15th March. The Organiser reserves the right to refuse late entries.

The MCF will be playing Chess on Campus on the 18th March and the next day 19th March (a public holdiay) they will participate in the Parliamentary Secretary’s Sports for All at the National Pool Complex Gzira where chess games or chess instruction will be freely available to all - young and older, male or female.

The first Sunday was dedicated to the monthly Rapid and was played at A S Libertas in Pembroke by a record turn out of players young and old while on the sideline the free Chess Clinic was also busy. On other Sundays there will be the Chess Clinic at 87 St Vincent Street Sliema from 0930 to 1230 where all chess players are invited to try their hand against various opponents. Entrance is free.

On March 16th, at San Anton College (between Mosta and Mgarr) there will be a bumper one day seven round event for Under 16 from all schools the contact being Ian Refalo on 9946 2345 email:irefalo@keyworld.net (if any vacancies still exist).

During the Easter Holidays, the Federation will also organise the annual Inter Schools Team Tournament where all schools may present even more than one team. Last year’s winners were De La Salle College while second placed were St. Aloysius College.

The Chess Federation is also collaborating with the Malta Olympic Committee in other activities such as the preparatory run up to the 2003 Games in such fields as "Athletes and the Arts Exhibition" in the fringe "Non-Olympic Sports Programme" and in late July a seminar on "The Culture of Olympiads". In June then to celebrate the Queens’ Jubilee, there is going to be a Baton Run round several localities under (Queen’s) official and media supervision.

In the meantime the European Chess Union has announced that the European Junior Championships will be held at Baku, Azerbayzan from the 10th to the 20th September 2002.

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07/02/2002 Rapid series: Borg wins first event

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The Chess Rooms at the Federation's premises in Sliema were completely full of players last Sunday.

Twenty-five of them joined in the popular Rapid monthly series where players are allowed only 15 minutes to finish their whole game.

Geoffrey Borg, who on Saturday was awarded the Grand Prix Trophy for winning the 2001 Rapid Series although strongly challenged by Aleksandar Radoyicic, managed also to clinch the first edition of this year. Radoyicic, after his participation in the Dolmen International last month (which Borg missed) is now ahead of Borg in the Malta Rating List. The next Rapid will be held on Sunday, March 3.

For all details regarding the tournament click here.

In the meantime a promising turn-out of players, old and new, is forming for the 2002 Championships which start next Monday.

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23/01/2002 Grandmaster Djuric Wins the New Dolmen International Chess Tournament 2002

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Grandmaster Stefan Djuric from Yugoslavia emerged the clear victor after seven tough rounds of the New Dolmen International Chess Tournament played between the 13 and 19th January. The organisers of the Tournament hosted at the New Dolmen Hotel were the International Chess Organising Committee (Malta).

Some of the players who had been expected to play in this tournament couldn't make it due to different reasons. One of them, Komarov, is part of the team of Grandmaster Ponomariov who is at the moment playing in the World Championship finals in Moscow. However despite the absence of these players, the rest of the field made this tournament an exciting one.

Stefan Djuric started as the overall favourite but had to play consistently to maintain his lead and was continuously in danger of being caught by Woman Grandmaster Suzana Maksimovic who finished in second place.

The surprise of the Tournament were the two Libyan players particularly the internationally rated Bengafer who managed to take third prize.

The Maltese representatives had their good and bad moments. John Petterson beat the Russian Master Ivan Loktiev in the first round, while Radoyicic who is also resident in Malta managed to finish with the prize-winners in fourth place. The winner of the Best prize for a Maltese player went to the veteran Harry Camilleri who managed to surpass John Richards on tie-Break. Much more was expected from the other Internationally rated Maltese players Colin Pace and Duncan Vella who could only finish lower down in the standings.

The winner of the Best Lady Prize was International Woman Master Ana Benderac while the youngest player in the tournament, Mark Cardona aged 11 years, won the Best under-20 Trophy.

The Prizes were presented to the winners by the Hon. Minister of Tourism, Dr. Michael Refalo at the end of the last round.

The top places in the final standings were as follows:

• 1.Djuric S (Yug), 6 pts
• 2.Maksimovic S (Yug), 5.5 pts
• 3-5.Bengafer M (Libya), Radojicic A (Malta), Elfert A (Russia), 5 Pts
• 6.Benderac A (Yug), 4.5 pts
• 7-11.Lachaux J (France), Loktiev I (Russia), Elhaj N (Libya), Camilleri H (Malta), Richards J (Malta), 4pts

23 Players took part in total. For all details click here.

Press Release by Joe J. Grech, PRO ICOC

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03/01/2002 Final Preparations for the New Dolmen International Chess Tournament 2002

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The International Chess Organising Committee (Malta) is at the final preparations stage for the New Dolmen International Chess Tournament which will be held between the 13th and 19th January 2002.

This will be the first FIDE (International Chess Federation) rated chess tournament to be held in Malta for a number of years and will see the participation of strong players from various countries. They will be fighting for a share of the US$ 5000 prize fund. Among the top contenders we find five Grandmasters, the highest title that is awarded in chess.

The most famous name is that of Svetozar Gligoric from Yugoslavia, who was a many time candidate for the world-championship and is still considered as one of the strongest veterans in the game. Also from Yugoslavia is Woman Grandmaster Maximovic who won the Alekhine's Memorial Tournament last month. The new generation of Grandmasters is represented by Dimitri Komarov who hails from the Ukraine and Arthur Kogan from Israel. Another favourite will be the Russian Grandmaster, Petr Kiriakov.

Also participating are Loktiev and Elfert, two Russian Masters who played in the Alekhine's Memorial tournament, Other internationally rated players have already confirmed their participation.

This tournament is open to Maltese players and the entrance fee is only Lm25 for members of the Malta Chess Federation. Following the Grand Hotels Summer Chess Tournament, four players qualified for free participation in the International tournament. These are the winner of the Summer Tournament Duncan Vella, many times Malta Champion Harry Camilleri, last year's champion David Cilia Vincenti and the winner of the candidates Tournament Horace Cassar.

The chief official of the tournament is International Arbiter John Attard Kingswell while the tournament co-ordination is in the hands of the current Maltese champion, Peter Sammut Briffa. Any Maltese chess player who wishes to participate can do so by contacting Peter Sammut Briffa on Telephone Number 24 94 13 after office hours. Further details can be obtained on the web-site of the International Chess Organising Committee (Malta) at www.geocities.com/jjgrech.

All games will be played at the New Dolmen Hotel in Qawra who is the major sponsor and host for the tournament. The playing schedule is seven rounds of one game per day starting at 3.00PM from Sunday 13 January until Saturday 19 January. Each player will have 2 hours per game for a total playing time of four hours per game. The presentation dinner will be held after the last round.

Press Release by Joe J. Grech, PRO ICOC

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