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2008 Gibraltar Chess Festival - Challengers Entrants

 

This page features entrants to the Challengers events at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival. Short biographies (and most of the photos) are by - please let me know if I have made any mistakes! A list of the tournament's administrative staff may be found here. Entrants for other sections: Masters • Amateur

 

Gibtelecom Challengers (ratings from January 2008 List)

Last Edited: Friday January 25, 2008 2:49 PM

 

CHALLENGERS 1
Simon Rosberg	SWE	2246	Born in 1990 (eligible for junior prizes).
Juan Antonio Urbina Perez	ESP	2241
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.
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.
Linda Jap Tjoen San	NED	2177wm	Born in 1977. Linda won two Dutch junior titles in the 1990s and represented her country in the Women's Olympiads of 1998 and 2000. At the Hoogeveen Open in 1997, she won a game against GM David Bronstein. She has won the Dutch Women's Blitz Championship twice, in 2005 and 2007.
Tamas Vasvari	HUN	2174
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.
Ali Al Sulaiti	BRN	2162	Born in 1973, Ali is secretary of the Bahrain Chess Club.
Oleg Kozlov	RUS	2152m	Born 1960.
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.
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.
Ray Morris-Hill	ENG	2129	Ray plays for Morley College in the London League and AMCA Dragons in the 4NCL, and has a grade of 163. He is entered in the two Challengers tournaments. He picked up a big cheque for scoring 3½/5 to take the under 2000 prize in the 2007 Gibtelecom Challengers 2 tournament.
Jonathan Arnott	ENG	2117	Jonathan is 26 and has lived in Sheffield all his life. He has an ECF grade of 184. He is a member of the SASCA club and has played for White Rose in the 4NCL. He captained the Yorkshire county side from 2002 to 2004. and led them to competition successes. Jonathan is very active politically and has stood as a candidate for the UKIP party on several occasions (click here for a longer CV).
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)
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."
Philip Wheldon	ENG	2096	Born in 1956, Philip's ECF grade is 168 and he is a member of the Urmston club (near Manchester).
Benjamin Arvola	NOR	2062	Born 1993.
Ahmad Madni Waqar	PAK	2055
Wasim Akram	PAK	2048
Raymond Wynarczyk	ENG	2039	Raymond is in his mid to late forties and from Northumberland. He has a current ECF grade of 148. He is an English congress regular, having played at Southend, Leyland, Dyfed, Exmouth, Chorley and Dundee in the past few years.
Kinga Revesz	HUN	2026	A female player, born in 1989.
Lasse Ostebo Lovik	NOR	2025	Lasse is from Stavanger and was born in 1992. He has a Norwegian national rating of 2051.
Axel Husin	SWE	2012	Born in 1991.
Robert Thollin	SWE	2011	Born in 1990.
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.
Nigel Dennis	ENG	1998	Nigel is 63 and has long been an industrious (but self-effacing) organiser of senior and junior chess in the Berkshire area; yet he still finds time to play himself, notably at the Jersey and Guernsey congresses as well as Hastings. He played last year in Gibraltar, scoring 2½/5 in the Challengers 2 event. Nigel is a member of Maidenhead Chess Club and has an ECF grade of 142. I've just dug out the programme for the first tournament I ever played in - the Berks and Bucks (Marlow) Congress of 1968 - and, sure enough, there was Nigel's name amongst the entrants. I was just a kid at the time but I have since grown distinctly grey and middle-aged. Nigel, on the other hand, looks exactly the same as he did 40 years ago. How does he do it? Hint to the ECF: it's about time Nigel was nominated for the President's Award.
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.
Sigge Reichard	SWE	1967	Born in 2000(!) (according to the FIDE rating list). Probably a clerical error...
Dragan Dimitrijevic	ITA	1965	Born in 1965.
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.
Alan Gravett	GIB	1955	Formerly a Jersey player, now ENG - but also GIB.
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.
Jostein Munz	NOR	1839	Jostein was born in 1991 and will be part of the large Norwegian party in Gibraltar.
Vegar Koi Gandrud	NOR	1819	Born in 1991.
Joseph Quinn	ENG	1750
Caspar Bates	ENG	e2190	Born 1975, English-registered but unrated and ungraded. Had a 2200+ result at Metz 2005.
Ian Pendlebury	ENG	(169)	Like Philip Wheldon, Ian is a member of Urmston Chess Club. His ECF grade is 169 (roughly equating to a 1950 rating).
Craig Whitfield	ENG	(141)	Craig is 12 years old and a member of the Cheddleton & Leek Chess Club. in 2005 he represented England at the under-10 level in the World Youth Championships. He has had some excellent results in the UK Land Challenge and at the tender age of 11 was nominated as Staffordshire's 'Play of the Year' in 2006.
Abdelali Ben Rherbal	MAR	?
CHALLENGERS 2
Simon Rosberg	SWE	2246	see above
Juan Antonio Urbina Perez	ESP	2241
Andrew J Bigg	ENG	2231c	see above
Mark Lyell	ENG	2221f	see above
Laszlo Molnar	HUN	2217	There are six people of this exact name and nationality on the latest FIDE list! Might be tough looking his games up on ChessBase... Born in 1970.
Kamal Daoudi	MAR	2188
Tamas Erdelyi	HUN	2186m	see above
Linda Jap Tjoen San	NED	2177wm	see above
Tamas Vasvari	HUN	2174	see above
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.
Odin Blikra Vea	NOR	2168	see above.
Ali Al Sulaiti	BRN	2162	see above
Arjon Severijnen	NED	2158	Arjon was born in 1984 and is a player, coach, trainer and arbiter. A former student of astronomy; he has been playing chess for about 11 years now. This is his first visit to the Gibtelecom Masters. He also likes to play online at the Playchess site.
Oleg Kozlov	RUS	2152m	see above
Enrique Osuna Vega	ESP	2146c	see above.
Alistair Compton	NZL	2132	see above
Carlos Vinas Guerrero	ESP	2129	see above
Jonathan Arnott	ENG	2117	see above
Pal Andreas Hansen	NOR	2108	see above
Piotr Gasik	POL	2103	Born in 1951.
Ray Morris-Hill	ENG	2103	see above
Gilles Suez-Panama	FRA	2099	see above
Benjamin Arvola	NOR	2062	see above
Wasim Akram	PAK	2048	see above
Raymond Wynarczyk	ENG	2039
David Jameson	WLS	2026	Played in Gibraltar (Masters and Challengers) in 2007, and has also appeared in the Welsh Championship and the Liverpool Open.
Kinga Revesz	HUN	2026	see above
Lasse Ostebo Lovik	NOR	2025	see above
Axel Husin	SWE	2012	see above
Robert Thollin	SWE	2011	see above
John E Hickman	ENG	2009	see above
Daniel Larsson	SWE	2003	see above
Askild Bryn	NOR	1997	see above
Nigel Dennis	ENG	1998	see above
Emilia Georgieva	BUL	1985	see above
Anders Pettersson	SWE	1984	see above
Sigge Reichard	SWE	1967	see above
Dragan Dimitrijevic	ITA	1965	see above
Martyn Hamer	ENG	1962	see above
Adrian P Joseph	ENG	1958	see above
Alan Gravett	GIB	1955	Formerly a Jersey player, now ENG - but also GIB.
Martijn Blom	NED	1946	Born in 1987.
Jostein Munz	NOR	1839	see above
Caspar Bates	ENG	e2190	see above
Martin Hassall	ENG	(162)	From Truro. Scored 2½/7 at the 2007 Paignton Premier. Way back in the mists of time, in Rhyl in 1969, I remember a player called M Hassall playing in the same British Under-16 Championship as me. Funny how one can remember stuff like that. I wonder if it is the same one...
Vegar Koi Gandrud	NOR	(1819)	see above
Abdelali Ben Rherbal	MAR	?
Johan Saloman	?	?
Juan Carlos Mundaga	?	?

 

 

 

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