Gibraltar Chess Festival: Who's Who in 2008

2008 Gibraltar Chess Festival - Who's Who (Masters Entrants Part 2)

This page features details of entrants to the 2008 Gibtelecom Masters tournament.

A list of the tournament's administrative staff may be found here.
Entrants for other sections: Challengers • Amateur

Short biographies (and most of the photos) are by - please let me know if I have made any mistakes! Many thanks to others who have supplied photos (Cathy Rogers, Simen Agdestein, etc). We would like to have photos and details of all the participants, not just the big stars. If you are playing at Gibraltar 2008 and we don't currently display your photo, do please send one in to and I'll be delighted to put it up here. Also feel free to write your own mini-biography!

Gibtelecom Masters (ratings from January 2008 List)

This page last edited: Friday January 25, 2008 2:47 PM

(... continuation of the Masters Entrants)			Page 1 • Page 2
Joachim Wintzer	GER	2349f	Aged 40. Joachim, who has one IM norm to his name, plays for SG Kirchheim in Division Two of the Bundesliga. He is a historian by profession and a prolific reviewer of chess books.
Max Devereaux	ENG	2348f	Oxford-educated Max Devereaux already has two IM norms (both in the summer of 2006) to his credit. Indeed, at the EU Championship in Liverpool, he started with a tremendous burst of 4½/6 against GMs and a further 0/3(!) was enough to secure him the norm - a virtual IM norm from six games must be highly unusual, if not unique. The same summer he himself organised a FIDE-rated international tournament with title norms in Hereford - and played in it, and ran the website - quite a feat! Max was the star of the TV programme Faking It, in which he had to pretend to be a football coach. He was very successful in that the team he managed played way above their usual form to win the competition. However he did not fool the experts into thinking he was a real football coach (one of the give-aways was that he was too well-spoken and didn't use bad language), A case of "the operation was successful but the patient died"?
Carlos Salgado Allaria	ESP	2347f	Carlos is 39 years old, born in Argentina but living in Spain since 1990. He dedicated himself to chess arbiting for a long time (International Arbiter in 1998, FIDE Master in 1999) and last year returned to the chessboard to record some successes: runner-up at the Benidorm Open for U2300 players, and best U2300 player in Gibraltar 2007, achieving his first IM norm. He is coming again to Gibraltar in 2008 to fight for the second one.
Ismael Karim	MAR	2347	Born in 1985. Ismael made his 2nd IM norm in March 2007 in the French Team Championship. He was formerly registered as a French player. He has represented Morocco at two Olympiads - on board six in 2004 and on board three in 2006.
Anna Zozulia	BEL	2344m	As usual, 27-year-old Anna is accompanying her husband Vadim Malakhatko to the tournament but she is of course a very strong player in her own right. They are both Ukrainian but now registered for Belgium. She holds both IM and WGM titles. When England's Ruth Sheldon won the World Girls' Under 14 championship in 1993, Anna was the only player who managed to beat her. She herself is a former holder of the European Girls' Under 18 Championship and winner of various national (Ukrainian) girls' titles. She has played at the last three Monarch Assurance tournaments, scalping GM Mark Hebden in 2006 (though Mark had his revenge in 2007).
Radoslav Dimitrov	BUL	2341	Born in 1993, hence eligible for the under-18 prize. Radoslav already has two IM norms. His brother Pavel (see above) is also playing in Gibraltar.
Arkadi Vul	RUS	2337g	Arkadi Eremeevich Vul is 54 years old. He made a remarkably big score (11/14) in a category 4 tournament in Moscow in 2002. Scored 5/9 in the 2006/7 Hastings Masters.
Aarthie Ramaswamy	IND	2322wg	Born 1981, Aarthie Ramaswamy won the 1999 world girls' under 18 championship. She played in the British Championship three times between 2000 and 2003 (scoring 50% every time) and also at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International in 2004 (making 4½/9). She also scored 4/9 at the Viking IM tournament in York in 2000. She became a WGM in 2005. At the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters she held Viktor Korchnoi to a draw in round five.
Moulthun Ly	AUS	2319	Australian chess has high hopes for Moulthun Ly, 16, from Queensland. he has already recorded some excellent results in Australia and elsewhere. He scored 6/11 in the 2005 Australian Open Championship, starting with a round-one win against IM Aleksandar Wohl. He created a sensation when he won the Australian Rapidplay Championship the same year. In the same year he became Australia's youngest ever National Junior Champion aged just 13. In the Essent Hoogeveen Open of October 2006 he beat 2587-rated grandmaster Ikonnikov. He scored 4½/9 at the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters, beating Thal Abergel and Nana Dzagnidze. Later in 2007 he scored 4/9 at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International, scoring hard-fought draws with GMs Speelman, Haslinger and Svetushkin. He has two IM norms to his credit so will be hoping to clinch his title in Gibraltar.
Masha Klinova	ISR	2315m	Born in 1968, Masha travels the world with her partner Mikhail Gurevich (and is often to be seen partnering at the card table). She is an IM in her own right (as well as WGM) and has represented Israel at six Women's Olympiads (between 1994 and 2006) and five European Women's Team Championships (between 1992 and 2007) - every one of these appearances was on top board. In 1994 she beat women's world champion Xie Jun at the Moscow Olympiad. Played in Gibraltar in both 2006 and 2007.
Michael Langer	USA	2314f	Born in 1974. Michael, from Austin, Texas, played in the 2007 US Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma,last May where he claimed a couple of good 2400+ scalps and scored 4½/9 to make an IM norm (as did Joe Bradford, also playing in Gibraltar). Tip for ChessBase look-up: also check out games played under his former name of Mikhail Langer.
Joachim Thomassen	NOR	2308f	Like Espen Forsaa, rated 2263 and born in 1990. Have these crafty Norwegians started cloning their players? And, whilst googling, I found there was a young Norwegian soccer player of the same name. I've no idea if they are one and the same but if they've managed to clone Simen Agdestein then Norway will soon rule the world. Joachim beat GM Jonny Hector in the first round of the 2006 Politiken Cup so he must be pretty good. You have been warned. Added 45 points to his rating on the January 2008 list.
Horst Vonthron	GER	2308f	Aged 45 (in January 2008), Horst is the vice-president of Heidelberg-Kirchheim Chess Club in Germany and plays for the club's first team in Division Two of the German Bundesliga. He is a computer engineer by profession and works in an assurance company in public administration. Besides playing chess, which has been his main passion for about 30 years, and reading lots of chess-books, his second engagement is in sports, namely swimming.
Sohan Phadke	IND	2307	Born in 1985. Added nearly 50 points to his rating on the January 2008 list.
Tim Jaksland	DEN	2294f	Born in 1967.
Dimo Werner	GER	2293m	Born in 1952, so even older than the Gib webmaster... he scored 4/9 at the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters.
Espen Forsaa	NOR	2285	Born in 1990.
Zoltan Revesz	HUN	2283	Born in 1987.
Klaus-Peter Zuse	GER	2274f	Born in 1961.
Michael Tscharotschkin	GER	2272	Born in 1964.
Povilas Lasinskas	LTU	2265	Born in 1970.
Holger Rasch	GER	2263	Aged 37.
Bunmi Olape	NGR	2263	Bunmi has represented Nigeria in four Olympiads: 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006. In 2004 he was on top board.
Simon Rosberg	SWE	2246	Born in 1990 (eligible for junior prizes). "My name is Simon Rosberg and I’m 17 years old. I live in Sweden and play chess for Sollentuna SK. My best chess performance was when I won the Nordic Championship 2007. I’m studying at a chess school called Metapontum."
Juan Antonio Urbina Perez	ESP	2241
Henry Steel	RSA	2241	Henry is 17 (born 1989) and won the 2007 South African championship in December. He made a 4½/9 score in the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters. Later in the year he scored 5½/9 in the African Continental Championship, beating Amon Simutowe along the way. He is planning to visit Europe in his gap year and chase titles.
Andrew J Bigg	ENG	2231c	25-year-old Andrew Bigg attended Jesus College, Oxford, and represented his university in three Oxford-Cambridge Varsity matches (2002, 2003 and 2004). He has played three times in the British Championships and turned out for Perceptron Youth in the 4NCL.
Rachid Hifad	MAR	2226f	No year of birth available. Rachid won the 2006 Moroccan Championship, played in Marrakech. In November/December of the same year, he also won the world amateur championship in Tripoli, Libya. The photo shows him holding the trophy for the latter achievement. He is a member of the Diffaa Hassani Jadidi club.
Mark Lyell	ENG	2221f	Born in 1961, Mark has been a regular competitor in British events for many years, with appearances in the British Championship, Hastings, etc. Mark is an uncompromising and entertaining player who is quite capable of putting a GM to the sword on a good day (Arkell and Gormally are on his list of victims). His wife is the Armenian-born England women's international Meri Grigoryan-Lyell.
Srinath Narayanan	IND	2210f	Born in 1994, eligible for the under-18 prize. I (JS) took the photo at the 2006/7 Hastings Masters where the 12-year-old scored 5½/9 and made his first IM norm. He scored 3½/9 at the Gibtelecom Masters that followed it.
Pedro Navarro Torres	ESP	2210	Aged 42, Pedro scored 4/9 at the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters.
Kruttika Nadig	IND	2208wm	Kruttika Nadig is 19 years old with some good performances in national and international junior competitions behind her. She has played in Gibraltar twice, in 2004 and 2006, scoring 4½/10 and 5½/10 respectively. Tip for anyone preparing to play against her: when you are looking her up on Chessbase's Mega/Big Database you will find her games listed under Krutika, Nadig as well as Nadig, Kruttika.
Alan Walton	ENG	2207c	Alan is 32 and a regular competitor at British chess tournaments, and for 3Cs in the 4NCL. He scored 4/11 in the 2003 British Championship. He is a regular visitor to the Isle of Man, usually scoring around 4 or 4½ in this tough event. Scored 4½/10 in the 2005 Gibtelecom Masters and 5/10 in 2006.
Alexander Kulago	RUS	2206	Born 1944, Alexander is eligible for the senior prize. He made 3½/9 in the 2006/7 Hastings Masters.
Francis Rayner	WLS	2201	Born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1960, Francis Rayner has played for Wales in four Olympiads (1990, 1992, 2002 and 2004) and also in the European Team Championships of 1989 and 1992. He has also been a regular competitor in the British Championship, Hastings (where he now lives) and the Isle of Man. As well as a chess player, he is a highly accomplished concert pianist who has played at major concert halls around Europe. Teaches both chess and the piano.
David Spence	ENG	2198	Dave, 28, has an ECF grade of 189. He comes from Ipswich in Suffolk. He played in the British Championship in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2007, and has been a very frequent tournament competitor over the past ten years, playing at Southend, the Isle of Man and for the BCCA club in the 4NCL. Played in the Gibtelecom Masters in 2006 and 2007.
Kamal Daoudi	MAR	2188	Played in the final five rounds of the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters, scoring 4/5. He also scored 4½/5 in the Challengers Week 2 competition - unluckily for him, this high score was only good enough to take second prize because Odin Blikra Vea scored 5/5!
Tamas Erdelyi	HUN	2186m	54-year-old Dr. Tamas Erdelyi became a lawyer in 1977, but since then he has taught chess and organized international tournaments in Kecskemet, Hungary. He became an IM in 1986 and had some good tournament results in the 1980s. Since 1990 he has been the owner and manager of Caissa Kft, which publishes chess books in English, German, French and Hungarian. He also owns the largest chess shop in Hungary and attends major events in Europe, such as Olympiads and other big tournaments. Caissa runs a small hotel where monthly tournaments for master norms and ratings are held. This is his fourth trip to Gibraltar. Previously he has only played in some evening events, but this time he is taking part in the two Challengers tournaments.
Ioulia Makka	GRE	2186wm	Born in 1983.
Vincent Heinis	FRA	2184	Aged 41.
Tamas Vasvari	HUN	2174
Luis Felipe Jaime Montalvan	ESP	2170f	Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1967, and has lived in Malaga, Spain since 1996. Has been playing non-professional chess for the last 25 years. He usually plays in the Andalucian Superior Teams League with the Miraflores-Malaga Team and has taken part in many International open tournaments including the Gibtelecom Masters of 2005, 2006 and 2007, and three Spanish Open Championships. FIDE Master since 2002. Doctor of Medicine, anaesthesiologist and pain clinician in Gibraltar.
Dan Erichsen	DEN	2169	Born 1976. "As you can tell, the photo is a few years old, but I pretty much look the same today. About myself: I have represented Guildford a few times in the 4NCL back at the time when they sucked sufficiently that they’d let me in. (And I’ll get upset at anyone wearing t-shirts putting down my team...) I came second in the 6th world amateur championship in Hastings (Quote Stewart Reuben: “It’s a shame this tournament has become so weak. I reckon I could beat anyone in it.”) and I have since repeatedly reaffirmed my status as an amateur. In my civilian life, I hold a PhD in video processing and make a living designing TV broadcast equipment. Born in Denmark, I currently live in Vancouver in Canada." Editor's note: I have a tee-shirt which refers to the fact that I personally scored 5-0 in matches against Guildford teams during the 1997/98 season, so perhaps I'd better not wear it in Gib.
Odin Blikra Vea	NOR	2168	Born in 1984, Odin is a regular visitor to the Gibtelecom festival. In fact, he has been to every one and makes a habit of hoovering up the prizes in the Challengers. The photo (left) shows him playing not chess but poker - and he wins at that too! He won the poker tournament played during the 2006 congress.
Alan Tate	SCO	2163	Alan played in the strong 2005 Scottish Championship and found the going quite tough. But he is an improving player and did well to score 4/9 in the hugely strong 2007 Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International, and he did it the hard way. He started with 2/2 (including a win versus German IM Thomas Casper). Later in the tournament he beat a second IM, Anna Zozulia. Both IMs were victims of direct assaults on the king - you have been warned. He is a member of the Edinburgh-based Wandering Dragons club. Actually 2007 has been a good year all round for him as he started it by winning the Championship section at the Lothians Congress and later in the same month won a game against GM Colin McNab at Perth.
Ali Al Sulaiti	BRN	2161	Born in 1973, Ali is secretary of the Bahrain Chess Club.
Jeroen Van den Bersselaar	NED	2156	Aged 40, Jeroen played in Gibraltar in 2005 and 2006, and at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International in 2007.
Enrique Osuna Vega	ESP	2146c	Born 1966, Enrique has competed in all the Gibetelcom Festivals bar the first one. Plays for CA Algeciras in the Spanish Club Championship.
Oleg Kozlov	RUS	2144m	Born 1960.
Ben Lazarus	AUS	2143	Ben is a young man from Australia with a number of good national performances to his credit. He is a member of the Gap Chess Club in Brisbane, Queensland.
Alistair Compton	NZL	2132	Born 1969, Alistair has been long resident in the UK where he plays for the King's Head club in London. He played in the Gibtelecom Masters and Challengers tournaments in 2007 and beat Subbaraman Meenakshi along the way.
Johannes Luangtep Kvisla	NOR	2130	Another young Norwegian born in 1990. Spooky: my Norwegian cloning conspiracy theory still looks to be a runner... Played at the 2007 Gibtelecom tournament, scoring 2½/5 in Challengers 1, 3½/5 in Challengers2, and 4/9 in the Masters. In the Arctic Chess Challenge at Tromso in August 2007, he beat GM Nick de Firmian with a checkmating attack.
Carlos Vinas Guerrero	ESP	2129	Year of birth not available. Has played in all bar the first Gibtelecom Festival. Plays for CA Algeciras in the Spanish Club Championship.
Andrew Borg	MLT	2127	45-year-old Andy Borg is the elder brother of FM Geoffrey Borg who is president of the Maltese Chess Federation, a former vice-president of FIDE and the CEO of Global Chess BV, FIDE's marketing and business arm. Andy himself is a medical doctor and spent many years in Wales, where he worked as a consultant, playing for Abergavenny Chess Club and in the 4NCL. Shortly after returning to live in Malta, he won the 2004 Maltese national championship. He has played for Malta in six Olympiads between 1980 and 2006.
Juan Jesús Ocaña Roca	ESP	2127	Born in 1980. Juan Jesús is from Algeciras, i.e. the other side of the bay from Gibraltar. He has played in the last three Gibtelecom tournaments. He scored 4½/10 in the 2005 and 2006 masters, and 3½/9 in 2007. He plays for CA Algeciras in the Spanish Club Championship.
Jonathan Arnott	ENG	2117	Jonathan Arnott, ECF 184, will be 27 at the time of the Gibraltar Masters. He captained the Yorkshire county side from 2002-2004 and has played for White Rose in the 4NCL. Notable results include wins at the British Rapidplay over GMs Hebden (2003) and Arkell (2007), and his best FIDE-rated result is a draw against Jonathan Rowson (Blackpool 2004). Jonathan gained a Master's Degree in Mathematics from Sheffield University at age 19 and now plays for the university side in the Sheffield league, as well as coaching at local junior club SASCA.
Martyn Goodger	ENG	2113	Martyn will be 44 by the time of the 2008 Gibtelecom Masters. Martyn comes from Ely and plays a lot of his chess in Suffolk. He has played in every Monarch Assurance tournament since 1999 except for one. His best was probably 2001 when he started with 2/2, beating Ketevan Arakhamia, and progressed to 4/6. He scored 4½/10 at the 2006 Gibtelecom Masters. Martyn had an excellent performance at the 2007/8 Hastings tournament, scoring 5½/10 against opposition averaging 2302.
Ralf Danielmeier	GER	2112	Born in 1963. "I'm 44 years old and I play for Bielefelder SK, where I'm also busy as cashier and assistant webmaster. This is my first big tournament outside Germany. Until now I have only played against international opponents in Budapest's Gellert Bath and in a park near Newski Prospekt in St. Petersburg :-)). I have also added a photo during my last tounament in Paderborn, Germany."
Sondre Waage Tofte	NOR	2108	Born 1991. Beat Finnish GM Westerinen at Tromso in August 2007.
Pal Andreas Hansen	NOR	2108	"Pal is 13 years old and won the Norwegian Championship for kids born 1994 and 1995 in 2007 with a score of 7/9. Pal also won the spring tournament in his local club, Verdal, in 2007, well in front of higher ranked players. He is considered the biggest talent in the Trondelag region of Norway. His national ELO has increased from 700 to 1750 since his first ELO publication in June 2005." (contributed by Terje Lund, Pal's club mate in Verdal Sjakklag)
Richard J Almond	ENG	2107	Born in 1967, Richard is a member of the Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club and a frequent competitor in tournaments in both Britain and Europe. Richard produced an eye-catching performance in the 2006 European Individual Championship when he beat two IMs and had Belgian GM Winants at his mercy when he agreed a draw. His first six games brought him a TPR of 2415 - not bad for a club player.
Gilles Suez-Panama	FRA	2099	From Martinique. Wonder if he plays the Canal variation? Gilles himself comments: "I liked your joke about my name. I have to admit that I first decided to come to the Gibraltar Congress because I was curious to see how two canals (me) would feel in a strait!! I found it funny and decided to have a look at it... so here I am... about 8000 km from my small but beautiful island: Martinique, "l'ile aux fleurs" as they say in French...don't hesitate to visit us...www.echecs-martinique.com…’cause we do play chess and we do have good tournaments (...to come). I was born in 1973 and I learned chess at 14 at school. I've been champion of Martinique five times, and every year since 1998 I have been to France to test my skill in the national championship (where I have to admit I've not been very successful). My chess friends call me "the key keeper" because I usually play long, long games - I like 6 hour-games and even more. I hope this skill will be useful for those 20 games I intend to play within 10 days. Of course I intend to play a variation I kept secret for years: "The Two-Canals Variation"!!!...and where else could I have tried to play it if not here in Gibraltar."
Frits Obers	NED	2094	Frits is a 41-year-old Dutchman who will be making his fourth visit to Gibraltar in 2008. He scored 4½/10 in the Masters in 2005, and the same score again in 2006. In 2007 he scored 2½/5 in Challengers 1, 3/5 in Challengers 2 and 4/9 in the Masters.
Jorge Flores Chico	ESP	2092	Born in 1975.
Torvald Perman	FIN	2092	Born 1937. Torvald represented his country in the World Students Olympiads of 1960, 1962 and 1963.
Stephen Fairbairn	CAN	2086	Steve, 42, is a Canadian journalist who makes frequent forays to Europe in search of strong chess events. He greatly favours time controls which allow him plenty of time to think, which means he likes tournaments such as the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International and the Politiken Cup which give him the chance to take on tough opponents. This will be Steve's first Gibtelecom Masters; he has played five straight Isle of Man Internationals, where his best result was a win against 2424-rated Erik Zude in 2005.
Morten Lilleoren	NOR	2065	Morten was born in 1955. He seems to be a relatively recent recruit to OTB chess but has a background in correspondence play.
Rasa Norinkeviciute	LTU	2064wf	From Lithuania, but long resident in Eastbourne, England and a member of the Hastings & St Leonards club. Has an ECF grade of 153.
Benjamin Arvola	NOR	2062.	Born 1993.
Sigmund Reppen	NOR	2061	Born 1989.
Lasse Ostebo Lovik	NOR	2052	Lasse is from Stavanger and was born in 1992. He has a Norwegian national rating of 2051.
Roy Hughes	ENG	2051	Born in 1959, Roy's ECF grade is 163 and he is a member of the Broadland club in Norfolk. He played in the 2006 British Championship in Swansea and scored 3½/11.
Anders Hagen	NOR	2049	Born 1990.
Veronica Foisor	ROU	2043	Born 1994. 13-year-old Mihaela-Veronica Foisor’s parents are IMs and her sister Sabina is a WGM. There is another photo of Veronica in a family group under her mother's biography (it will help you to navigate there if you know that her rating is 2412).
Espen Haugstad	NOR	2042	Born 1990.
Henrik Mortensen	DEN	2034	Born in 1963, Henrik Mortensen works as a teacher of geography, history and biology in a Danish primary school. He has a weekly chess column in the daily newspaper Horsens Folkeblad and writes for the Danish chess magazine Skakbladet. He has written two chess books in danish, Skak er sjovt (CHESS IS FUN, 2006) and Mere sjov i skak (MORE FUN IN CHESS, 2007). He has made four or five trips to Australia to play chess. The last time he played in Europe outside Denmark was at Andorra in 2001.
David Jameson	WLS	2033	Played in Gibraltar (Masters and Challengers) in 2007, and has also appeared in the Welsh Championship and the Liverpool Open.
Rudy Van Kemenade	WLS	2029	Rudy is 61 and a regular competitor in British congresses. He has made several visits to the Isle of Man and competed in both the Welsh and British Championships. Plays for the South Wales Dragons in the 4NCL. Don't let his somewhat lugubrious countenance fool you - he is of a very amiable disposition and self-deprecating sense of humour. A university lecturer by profession, he is a member of Aberystwyth Chess Club and lives in Aberhosan, Machynlleth.
Joar Gullestad Pettersen	NOR	2026	Born in 1984.
Melissa Greeff	RSA	2025wm	Melissa, from South Africa, is only 13 years old but already a woman master. She has won the South African Women's Open Championship for the past two years. The photo shows her being presented with her prize for winning the 2007 South African Women's Open by former US Women's Champion WGM Jennifer Shahade. In 2006 she won the African Women's Under-20 Championship in in Botswana, and was awarded the WM title and her first WGM norm. Her win in Botswana also qualified her to play in the World Women's U20 Championships in 2007.
Ian Campbell	ENG	2024	Born 1949, Ian has an ECF grade of 156. He played in the 2007 Gibtelecom Masters and also in the 2006 and 2007 open internationals in Liverpool. Since writing this, Ian has emailed me with more... he tells me he is from Liverpool - an ECF Arbiter - and an enthusiastic amateur who nowadays combines chess with a holiday. He plays for Aigburth (2006/07 Merseyside champions ahead of Atticus CC) and also for Widnes in the Warrington League. On the Atticus Chess Club Forum he has taken to writing "anonymously" under the name HermitCrab.
Giustino Mancini	ITA	2020	Aged 50. He is 'just64' on ICC: he speaks Russian, English and French and understands Spanish.
Nicolai Getz	NOR	2019	Born in 1991.
Christopher A Gibson	ENG	2019	Aged 27, and with a grade of 161, Chris is a member of Chess Mates Chess Club, Northampton.
Axel Husin	SWE	2012	Born in 1991."I’m a first year student at Metapontum Chess High School and I love chess."
Peter Svendsen	DEN	2011	Born in 1964.
Antonio Molina	PHI	2011
Robert Thollin	SWE	2011	Born in 1990. "Born in 1990! Playing for Vallentuna chess club and for Metapontum high school (The famous Swedish chess high school). Started playing 2001 and I will never stop, my favourite player is Svidler."
John E Hickman	ENG	2009	John Hickman is a keen English amateur player in his early 40s. A frequent competitor in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, this is John's third visit to the Gibtelecom Festival. He comes from Reading and has played for Bristol in the 4NCL. His pugnacious pose in the photo is unintentional... I think.
Daniel Larsson	SWE	2003	Born in 1989. "18 years old! I am here to play chess!! I’m studying chess at the chess high school Metapontum. My favourite player is Anand (sopuse) and sometime myself!! If you play against me I hope we can make the game fun and interesting."
Fredrik Aunan Lindsoe	NOR	2001	Born in 1988.
Askild Bryn	NOR	1997	Born in 1987. I hope that really is a photo of Askild Bryn. I took it at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man tournament of 2003 (when Simen Agdestein became the 'Manx Monarch' and even attempted to claim sovereignty over the Isle of Man in his victor's speech!).
Emilia Georgieva	BUL	1985	Wife of GM Kiril Georgiev
Anders Pettersson	SWE	1984	Born in 1991. "“Bishops move diagonally. That's why they often turn up where the kings don't expect them to be.” - Terry Pratchett My name is Anders Pettersson and I'm a 16 year old boy from Sweden. I'm currently studying at Metapontum, Sweden's best and only chess school. My ELO rating right now is 1984 but it is continuously increasing. My friends also playing in the tournament: Daniel Larsson, Simon Rosberg, Robert Thollin, Sigge and Axel Husin. They all can play some great chess, so be prepared! See you at the board! " (this website is becoming increasingly like Facebook - ed)
Ingar Edvardsen	NOR	1972	Born 1989.
Sigge Reichard	SWE	1967	Born in 2000(!) (according to the FIDE rating list). Probably a clerical error... "My name is Sigge. I’m 18 years old (told you -ed) and I live in Sweden. Besides chess I like running, golf, tennis and to read books. For the moment I’m studying at a chess high school called Metapontum. Hope I’ll see you guys at the board!"
Richard J Webster	ENG	1964	Aged 39, Richard is a member of the Ashfield club in Nottinghamshire, represents his county side in the 4NCL and has an ECF grade of 157. He is a frequent competitor at congresses around Britain, including Hastings, Paignton, Isle of Man, Southend and the Major Open. He is making his debut in the Gibtelecom Festival in 2008.
Martyn Hamer	ENG	1962	Born in 1979, Martyn is graded 161 and a member of Great Harwood Chess Club, having previously played for Warwick University. He has played in Gibraltar before, scoring 4/10 in 2005 and again in 2006, 2½/9 in 2007, plus some very respectable scores in the Challengers events. He plays games other than chess in the Mind Sports Olympiad and was runner-up in the poker tournament played during the 2006 Gibtelecom Chess Festival.
Adrian P Joseph	ENG	1958	Adrian is a member of the Ilford club and graded 143.
Mikael Helin	SWE	1935	Born in 1962.
Adrian Matthews	ENG	1920	Born in 1967, Adrian is graded 139 and from Leighton Buzzard. He plays regularly at the Southend Congress and in the 4NCL for FCA.
Ian A Marks	SCO	1919	Ian is a retired Scottish schoolteacher who now seems to play everywhere, not just the Isle of Man but as far afield as Moscow. He has impeccable handwriting so will be popular with anyone whose job it is to key in his games. He may prove less popular with his opponents as he devotes a lot of his time to chess these days and is a bit underrated. Ian is a member of Cumbernauld CC and has a Scottish rating of 1962 as at the end of the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Masters (1 Oct 2007).
Oystein Skage	NOR	1919	Born 1991. Oystein is a member of Bergen Chess Club and his clubmate, IM Eirik Gullaksen kindly sent me his photo.
Ellisiv Reppen	NOR	1918	Ellisiv is 22 and played in Gibraltar in 2006. She also played in the Isle of Man in 2003, at the Coulsdon Xmas Congress in 2006 and the Liverpool Open in 2007.
Daniel Yarur Elsaca	CHI	1905?	Born in 1955, Mr Yarur is president of the Chilean Chess Foundation. He played in Gibraltar in 2006 and 2007.
Lin Jin Jorgensen	NOR	1867	Born 1991.
Geir Ole Aagedal	NOR	1839	"Born in the Eastern part of Norway in 1957. Now living on the West Coast, and member of Bergen Chess Club. Since his return in 2001 after more than 20 years doing anything else but chess, he has struggled to regain his former amateur level. In vain." (that's his life story told in Geir's own words)
Jostein Munz	NOR	1839	Jostein was born in 1991 and will be part of the large Norwegian party in Gibraltar.
Millan Gonzalez Amaya	ESP	1823	Born in 1971.
Marius Skjefstad Lode	NOR	1822	Born in 1992.
Vegar Koi Gandrud	NOR	1819	Born in 1991.
Maria Pitz Jacobsen	NOR	1803	Born 1988.
Klaus Kuenitz	GER	1645	Klaus was born in 1944 and has played in Gibraltar for the past three years, playing in the Masters, Challengers and Amateur. He won the 2nd week Amateur event in 2007.
Linda Marie Hansen	NOR	1531	Born in 1985.
Caspar Bates	ENG	(2190)	Born 1975, English-registered but unrated and ungraded. Had a 2200+ result at Metz 2005.
Lloyd Hughes	SCO	(1745)	Lloyd is 18 and Welsh by birth but he lives in Edinburgh and will soon be studying medicine in Dundee. He played for Scotland as a junior in two World Youth Championships (boys U14 in 2003 and U16 in 2005) and two Tri-Nations events. His Scottish rating is 1608 and his estimated FIDE rating was 1745 in 2005. Lloyd admitted to me that he played less chess after being "bettered" by his sister Rhian but he is determined to get back into the game during his 'gap' year. That's the spirit...
Peter Hughes	ENG	(1664)	From SW London, ECF-graded 133. Scored 2/5 in the 2007 Gibtelecom Amateur 1. Peter tells his own story: "I am entered for the two Amateur tournaments and the Masters (with some trepidation). I am aged 57. I restarted playing chess again three years ago having originally given up in 1973 (women were more exciting!). In my previous life I played county chess for Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Since my comeback I have had some minor successes - most recently 1st= in the U140 tournament at Northwick Park."
Achraf Oumalek	MAR	(1645)	Member of the Case d'Or club of Benslimane.
Jo Kristian Loberg	NOR	(1486)	Born 1992.
Haddou Sellak	MAR	?	Haddou Sellak was born in 1973.
Youssef Ennejjari	MAR	?	Born 1978, Youssef is a member of the Rachad Bernoussi club of Casablanca, Morocco.
Abdelali Ben Rherbal	MAR	?
Arina Mossiaguine	SWE	(1111)	"The founder of Chess High School Metapontum in Sweden."
Anastasia Mossiaguine	SWE	(920)	10 years old. "I’m 10 and I love chess!"
Juan Carlos Mundaga	?	?
David Brown	?	?
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2008 Gibraltar Chess Festival - Who's Who (Masters Entrants Part 2)

Gibtelecom Masters (ratings from January 2008 List)

Sponsors