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National News:
Mikhailuk Wins Third Consecutive Washington State Championship

Shulman Victorious in OCF Shootout

World News:
Kharlov Leads Aeroflot Open

Kasparov, Anand Head Strong Linares Field

Chess In the Media: Chess Stories Across the USA and Around the World

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Kharlov Leads Aeroflot Open

Andrei Kharlov drew Sergey Volkov to maintain a slim half-point lead at the Aeorflot Open in Moscow. Kharlov had 6.5 points after 8 rounds, while Volkov and Ivanchuk have 6. With just one round to play, the winner should be one of the three leaders, although a group of nine players stands just one point behind.

The Aeroflot Open, which this year features 36 of the world's top players, is one of the world's most prestigous open swisses. Many of the most famous names in chess are competing, including French GM Etienne Bacrot, former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov, and many others.

The event began on February 14th, and ends on the 24th.

The top American in the field is Gregory Kaidanov, who is seeded 24th. Kaidanov has scored 4 points so far, good enough to place him in a tie for 44th place.

Here is the crucial game of the tournament so far: Kharlov's round 4 victory over Ivanchuk.

White: Kharlov, A (2614)
Black: Ivanchuk, V (2711)
Aeroflot Open, Round 4
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c3 a5 4. dxc5 Nf6 5. c4 e6 6. cxd5 Bxc5 7. Qc2 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 exd5 9. Bxb4 axb4 10. Nbd2 Nc6 11. Nb3 Bg4 12. g3 Rc8 13. Qd1 O-O 14. Bg2 Qb6 15. O-O Rfd8 16. Qd2 h6 17. Rfd1 Ne4 18. Qe1 d4 19. Nc1 Nc5 20. Nd3 Nxd3 21. Rxd3 Ra8 22. Rd2 Ra5 23. Qd1 Be6 24. b3 Bf5 25. h3 Be4 26. Ne1 Bxg2 27. Kxg2 Rc5 28. Nf3 Rc3 29. Qb1 Qa5 30. Qe4 Rxb3 31. Rad1 Ra3 32. Nxd4 Qd5 33. Qxd5 Rxd5 34. Nb3 Re5 35. Rc2 Na5 36. Rd3 Re8 37. Rf3 Nc6 38. Rd3 Rea8 39. Rdd2 Na5 40. Nd4 b3 41. axb3 Nxb3 42. Nxb3 Rxb3 43. Rd7 Rb5 44. Rcc7 Rf8 45. Re7 b6 46. Rb7 Rc5 47. Rxb6 h5 48. Rb4 g6 49. Rf4 Kg7 50. e4 Rc4 51. Rf3 Ra4 52. g4 hxg4 53. hxg4 Kh6 54. Kg3 f6 55. Rb3 Rc8 56. Kf4 g5+ 57. Kf5 Ra5+ 58. e5 Rxe5+ 59. Kxf6 1-0

Look for coverage of the conclusion to the Aeroflot Open in next week's issue.

Kasparov, Anand Head Strong Linares Field

Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand lead a typically strong field for the 2005 Linares tournament. The world's top two players will be joined by Veselin Topalov, Peter Leko, Michael Adams, local favorite Francisco Vallejo Pons, and FIDE Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

The format for Linares is a double round-robin. With seven players in the field, however, each round will feature just three games, with the seventh player having a rest day. For the first round, which will be played on Wednesday, February 23rd, Anand will have the free day. Here are the first round matches:

Topalov-Adams
Leko-Kasparov
Kasimdzhanov-Vallejo

The Leko-Kasparov game should be the most interesting of Day 1, pitting the former World Champion against Leko, who nearly defeated Vladimir Kramnik last year to gain the title for himself.

Most fans expect the tournament to be a battle for first between Kasparov and Anand, considered by most to clearly be the world's two strongest players at the moment. Kasparov has won Linares an incredible eight times (once shared with Kramnik), while Anand has been in great form over the last year.

However, Leko did win the Corus tournament last month, edging out Anand and beating him in their head-to-head matchup, and shouldn't be counted out in Linares. As the world's number three rated-player, Topalov could also be a factor, although his results in major tournaments has been spotty. A win by any other player would have to be considered a major upset, although every player in the tournament is ranked among the world's top 25.

We will be providing complete coverage of Linares 2005 in upcoming issues. For the official tournament site, click here.