2009 Gibraltar Chess Festival - Challengers Entrants
This page features entrants to the Challengers events. 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
A simple list of entrants to ALL 2009 Gibtelecom Festival tournaments, showing full FIDE registration details may be found here.
Gibtelecom Challengers (ratings from January 2009 List) • skip to Challengers 2 players
Last Edited: Thursday January 1, 2009 3:57 PM
CHALLENGERS 1 • skip to Challengers 2 players |
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Andrew Dunn |
ENG | 2216c | Born in 1967. He has played in four Gibtelecom Festivals - 2004 to 2007. Scored 4½/10 in 2004, 5/10 in 2005, 5½/10 in 2006 and 4/9 in 2007, when he also gave Challengers 1 a punt scoring 3½/5. In 2006 he won a game against the Moroccan IM Mohamed Tissir. Andrew plays for the Poisoned Pawns in the 4NCL and he has been a regular at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man tournament where he has recorded draws against GM Sulskis and the soon-to-be GM Parikarjan Negi. |
Johannes Luangtep Kvisla |
NOR | 2208 | Another young Norwegian born in 1990 (a very fruitful year for chessplayers in that part of the world). 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. He had a particularly good 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 5/5 to win Challengers 1 and 4/5 to finish 2nd= in Challengers 2. He also scored 5/10 in the Masters |
Nicolai Getz |
NOR | 2190 | Born in 1991. Played in the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 3/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 in Challengers 2. |
Arne Hagesaether |
NOR | 2184 | Born in 1972, Arne is Norwegian but lives and works in England - he is Jovanka Houska's 'significant other'. Arne has two chessplaying siblings, Halvard and Torill, and also a cousin Ellen who is a woman master. He scored 3½/10 in the 2004 Gibtelecom Masters and 3½/9 in the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International in the same year. He scored 7/11 in the 2006 Major Open in Swansea. Arne once took a video of me playing a rapidplay game against Jovanka Houska. Very sneaky - I didn't know I was being filmed! |
Lasse Ostebo Lovik |
NOR | 2183 | Lasse is from Stavanger and was born in 1992. Scored 5/10 in the 2008 Gibtelecom Masters but the bare score doesn't tell the story of his highly memorable tournament: he beat US IM Joe Bradford (2419), Kruttika Nadig (2208) and IM (now GM) Nana Dzagnidze (2429). He also scored 3/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 in Challengers 2. |
Odin Blikra Vea |
NOR | 2169 | 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. He is also very good at poker, winning the poker tournament played during the 2006 congress. In 2008 he scored 4½/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Challengers 1 and 4/5 in Challengers 2. The photo shows one of his more creative hair styles. |
Alan Byron |
ENG | 2162 | Born in 1963, Alan is from Leicester and, back in the early 1980s, was one of the best young players in the country. In 1981 he was invited to take on the 70-year-old former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a prestigious junior simul. But Alan decided not to go in for the glamorous and glitzy lifestyle of a professional chessplayer (!) and opted for a real job. Then, a few years ago, Alan returned to the chessboard after something like a quarter of century and started playing a few tournaments. In 2007 he even travelled as far afield as Bulgaria where he proved he hadn't lost his touch by drawing a game with Bulgarian GM Krum Georgiev. In 2008 he played in the Gibtelecom Festival, though he arrived a few rounds late, scoring 3/7 in the Masters. |
Antonio Molina |
PHI | 2157f | Born in 1955, Antonio scored 4½/10 in the 2008 Gibtelecom Masters, 1½/5 in Challengers 1 and 3½/5 in Challengers 2. |
Caspar Bates |
ENG | 2142 | Born in 1975, Caspar has only had an official FIDE rating since his appearance at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival although he had previously recorded a 2200+ result at Metz 2005. He scored 5/10 in the 2008 Masters, 3½/5 in the Week 1 Challengers and 3/5 in the Week 2 Challengers. In 2009 he is once again competing in all three of these events. |
Andrew D Green |
SCO | 2136 | Born in 1990, Andrew evidently believes in starting at the top. In 2001, aged ten, he was one of ten players worldwide who got the chance to play Vladimir Kramnik in an online simul just before the then world champion played a match against Deep Fritz in Bahrain. Andrew later represented Scotland in the Glorney Cup and captained the Scottish squad in the 2006 European U18 Team Tournament, making a 2200 TPR, and he also played in the 2007 and 2008 events. He scored 5½/11 in the 2006 Major Open in Swansea. In 2008 he shows signs of steady improvement, scoring 5½/9 in the 2008 Scottish Championship and then 7/11 in the Major Open in Liverpool. Originally from Wimbledon in London, Andrew is a member of Edinburgh Chess Club, attends Stewart's Melville College and currently has a 2141 national rating. |
Espen Haugstad |
NOR | 2115 | Born 1990. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Challengers 1 and 1½/5 in Challengers 2. |
Anders Hagen |
NOR | 2110 | Born 1990. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 3/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Abdessadek Maalla |
MAR | 2108 | |
| Aleksander I Nikitin |
BLR | 2060 | Born in 1965. Not to be confused with the Russian player of the same name who used to coach Garry Kasparov. |
| Brendan Lyons |
IRL | 2060 | Born in 1963. Plays for St Benildus in Ireland. |
| Gabor Pali |
HUN | 2049 | Born in 1983. |
Vegar Koi Gandrud |
NOR | 2046 | Born in 1991. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 3/10 in the Masters, 2/5 in Challengers 1 and 1½/5 in Challengers 2. |
Gilles Suez-Panama |
FRA | 2033 | From Martinique. Wonder if he plays the Canal variation? That was my little joke last year and Gilles himself commented: "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." Gilles scored 4½/10 in the 2008 Masters, 3/5 in both Challengers 1 and 2. He was unlucky to have default wins in the first round of each of the Challengers events. |
Martyn Hamer |
ENG | 2022 | Born in 1979, Martyn is graded 165 and is 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. At the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival he scored 4/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Challengers 1 and 3/5 in Challengers 2. |
Joar Gullestad Pettersen |
NOR | 2016 | Born in 1984. This will be his third Gibtelecom Festival. At 2007 he scored 2½/9 in the Masters, 2½/5 in Challengers 1 and 2/5 in Challengers 2. In 2008 he scored 4/10 in the Masters, 2/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 (including a full point bye) in Challengers 2. Not much of a photo but it's the only one I've got... |
Peter Cafolla |
IRL | 2013 | Born in 1957, Peter has chosen to write his own mini-biog... "Dangerous but inconsistent. Has beaten players up to 2499 and drawn with a few GMs but just as likely to get outplayed by one of the Gibraltar monkeys. Could have been world champion but for a poor work ethic, a bad memory and a distinct lack of ability. Aims to become the oldest player to achieve the International Master title when he reaches 70!!" Ah, that goes for all of us, doesn't it? Peter has been a regular at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International, played in a couple of European Union Championships, also Irish Championship and the Bunratty Masters. This will be his second Gibtelecom Masters. In 2006 he scored 4½/10 in the Masters and 3/5 for a share of 4th place in the second week Challengers. |
Ian Pendlebury |
ENG | (177) | Ian is a member of Urmston Chess Club. His ECF grade is 177 (roughly equating to a 2016 rating). He played in Challengers 1 in 2008 and scored 2½/5. |
Elias DeMac |
NOR | 1993 | Born in 1992, Elias is one of the large Norwegian party (one of the few who was not also here in 2008). I am told Elias has always been considered a great talent. He finally made his breakthrough six months ago when he finished second in the Norwegian Junior Championship behind his school mate Espen Forsaa. |
Mikael Helin |
SWE | 1974 | Born in 1962. Has played in Gibraltar in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Scored 4/10, 3/9 and 4/9 in successive Masters events (having missed a few games at the start and finish of tournaments). |
Marianne Wold Haug |
NOR | 1935 | Born 1992. A member of the Norwegian party, making her Gibtelecom debut. Marianne is a member of the Oslo chess club Schakklubben av 1911. |
Alan Gravett |
GIB | 1934 | Formerly a Jersey player, now ENG - but also GIB. Scored |
Oystein Aagedal Skage |
NOR | 1925 | Born 1991. Oystein is a member of Bergen Chess Club. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 1½/5 in both Challengers 1 and 2. |
Jo Kristian Loberg |
NOR | 1923 | Born 1992. Played in the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 3/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Amateur 1 and 4/5 in Amateur 2 for 3rd= place. |
Rupert Dickens |
ENG | (159) | Rupert was born in 1956 and is chairman and match captain of the BBC Chess Club. He shared 3rd prize at the 2005 Gibtelecom Challengers tournament and he also played in 2006 and 2008, scoring 3/5 in the Amateur 1 event. |
Joseph Quinn |
ENG | 1835 | Joseph was born in 1995 and has been playing chess since he was six years old when he was first taught chess by his ex-headmaster at school. Since then he has represented Sussex and played for England in a number of international events. This is his second trip to the Gibtelecom Festival (he scored 3/5 in the 2008 Challengers 1) and he is looking forward to playing again. |
| David McGladdery | ENG | (114) | Dave, from Hassocks in Sussex, played in the 2007 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 2½/5 in Amateur 2. He is a keen tournament competitor in the UK. |
James Feeney |
GIB | (60) | James has played n the last four Gibtelecom Festivals. Last year he scored 2/5 in Amateur 2. |
CHALLENGERS 2 • skip to Challengers 1 players |
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| Andrew Dunn |
ENG | 2216c | Born in 1967. He has played in four Gibtelecom Festivals - 2004 to 2007. Scored 4½/10 in 2004, 5/10 in 2005, 5½/10 in 2006 and 4/9 in 2007, when he also gave Challengers 1 a punt scoring 3½/5. In 2006 he won a game against the Moroccan IM Mohamed Tissir. Andrew plays for the Poisoned Pawns in the 4NCL and he has been a regular at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man tournament where he has recorded draws against GM Sulskis and the soon-to-be GM Parikarjan Negi. |
| Johannes Luangtep Kvisla |
NOR | 2208 | Another young Norwegian born in 1990 (a very fruitful year for chessplayers in that part of the world). 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. He had a particularly good 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 5/5 to win Challengers 1 and 4/5 to finish 2nd= in Challengers 2. He also scored 5/10 in the Masters |
| Nicolai Getz |
NOR | 2190 | Born in 1991. Played in the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 3/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Arne Hagesaether |
NOR | 2184 | Born in 1972, Arne is Norwegian but lives and works in England - he is Jovanka Houska's 'significant other'. Arne has two chessplaying siblings, Halvard and Torill, and also a cousin Ellen who is a woman master. He scored 3½/10 in the 2004 Gibtelecom Masters and 3½/9 in the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International in the same year. He scored 7/11 in the 2006 Major Open in Swansea. Arne once took a video of me playing a rapidplay game against Jovanka Houska. Very sneaky - I didn't know I was being filmed! |
| Lasse Ostebo Lovik |
NOR | 2183 | Lasse is from Stavanger and was born in 1992. Scored 5/10 in the 2008 Gibtelecom Masters but the bare score doesn't tell the story of his highly memorable tournament: he beat US IM Joe Bradford (2419), Kruttika Nadig (2208) and IM (now GM) Nana Dzagnidze (2429). He also scored 3/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Odin Blikra Vea |
NOR | 2169 | 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. He is also very good at poker, winning the poker tournament played during the 2006 congress. In 2008 he scored 4½/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Challengers 1 and 4/5 in Challengers 2. The photo shows one of his more creative hair styles. |
| Antonio Molina |
PHI | 2157f | Born in 1955, Antonio scored 4½/10 in the 2008 Gibtelecom Masters, 1½/5 in Challengers 1 and 3½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Caspar Bates |
ENG | 2142 | Born in 1975, Caspar has only had an official FIDE rating since his appearance at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival although he had previously recorded a 2200+ result at Metz 2005. He scored 5/10 in the 2008 Masters, 3½/5 in the Week 1 Challengers and 3/5 in the Week 2 Challengers. In 2009 he is once again competing in all three of these events. |
| Espen Haugstad |
NOR | 2115 | Born 1990. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Challengers 1 and 1½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Anders Hagen |
NOR | 2110 | Born 1990. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 3/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Abdessadek Maalla |
MAR | 2108 | |
| Aleksander I Nikitin |
BLR | 2060 | Born in 1965. Not to be confused with the Russian player of the same name who used to coach Garry Kasparov. |
| Brendan Lyons |
IRL | 2060 | Born in 1963. Plays for St Benildus in Ireland. |
| Gabor Pali |
HUN | 2049 | Born in 1983. |
| Vegar Koi Gandrud |
NOR | 2046 | Born in 1991. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 3/10 in the Masters, 2/5 in Challengers 1 and 1½/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Gilles Suez-Panama |
FRA | 2033 | From Martinique. Wonder if he plays the Canal variation? That was my little joke last year and Gilles himself commented: "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." Gilles scored 4½/10 in the 2008 Masters, 3/5 in both Challengers 1 and 2. He was unlucky to have default wins in the first round of each of the Challengers events. |
| Martyn Hamer |
ENG | 2022 | Born in 1979, Martyn is graded 165 and is 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. At the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival he scored 4/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Challengers 1 and 3/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Joar Gullestad Pettersen |
NOR | 2016 | Born in 1984. This will be his third Gibtelecom Festival. At 2007 he scored 2½/9 in the Masters, 2½/5 in Challengers 1 and 2/5 in Challengers 2. In 2008 he scored 4/10 in the Masters, 2/5 in Challengers 1 and 2½/5 (including a full point bye) in Challengers 2. Not much of a photo but it's the only one I've got... |
| Peter Cafolla |
IRL | 2013 | Born in 1957, Peter has chosen to write his own mini-biog... "Dangerous but inconsistent. Has beaten players up to 2499 and drawn with a few GMs but just as likely to get outplayed by one of the Gibraltar monkeys. Could have been world champion but for a poor work ethic, a bad memory and a distinct lack of ability. Aims to become the oldest player to achieve the International Master title when he reaches 70!!" Ah, that goes for all of us, doesn't it? Peter has been a regular at the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International, played in a couple of European Union Championships, also Irish Championship and the Bunratty Masters. This will be his second Gibtelecom Masters. In 2006 he scored 4½/10 in the Masters and 3/5 for a share of 4th place in the second week Challengers. |
| Ian Pendlebury |
ENG | (177) | Ian is a member of Urmston Chess Club. His ECF grade is 177 (roughly equating to a 2016 rating). He played in Challengers 1 in 2008 and scored 2½/5. |
| Elias DeMac |
NOR | 1993 | Born in 1992, Elias is one of the large Norwegian party (one of the few who was not also here in 2008). I am told Elias has always been considered a great talent. He finally made his breakthrough six months ago when he finished second in the Norwegian Junior Championship behind his school mate Espen Forsaa. |
| Ian Nisbet |
SCO | 1975 | Born 1990, his full name is Alex Ian Nisbet and he is also a member of the East Kilbride club. Latest Scottish rating is 1974. Ian shared first place in the Open at the 2006 Scottish Championship and took the Scottish Boys' Championship title. Represented Scotland on board two in the 2008 European Team Championship and finished 7th in the 2007 Scottish Championship. You can see him playing against Callum Kilpatrick at the 2008 Blackpool Congress in this short Youtube clip. |
Nigel Dennis |
ENG | 1956 | Born in 1944, Nigel 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 has played twice in Gibraltar, scoring 2½/5 in the Challengers 2 event in 2007, then 2/5 in the two Challengers events in 2008. Nigel is a member of Maidenhead Chess Club. I remember seeing him playing the first tournament I ever played in - the Berks and Bucks (Marlow) Congress of 1968. 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? |
| Marianne Wold Haug |
NOR | 1935 | Born 1992. A member of the Norwegian party, making her Gibtelecom debut. Marianne is a member of the Oslo chess club Schakklubben av 1911. |
| Alan Gravett |
GIB | 1934 | Formerly a Jersey player, now ENG - but also GIB. Scored 1½/5 in the 2008 Challengers 1 and 2/5 in Challengers 2. |
| Oystein Aagedal Skage |
NOR | 1925 | Born 1991. Oystein is a member of Bergen Chess Club. Played at the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 4½/10 in the Masters, 1½/5 in both Challengers 1 and 2. |
| Jo Kristian Loberg |
NOR | 1923 | Born 1992. Played in the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 3/10 in the Masters, 3½/5 in Amateur 1 and 4/5 in Amateur 2 for 3rd= place. |
| Alex Nisbet |
SCO | 1922 | Born 1965 and a member of the East Kilbride club in Scotland. Alex's latest Scottish rating is 1868. |
| Tom Middleton | ENG | (150) | Born in 1971. It will be good to see Tom again as we were club mates at Mitcham Chess Club in the 1990s. He's currently inactive as regards grade and rating but has estimated his strength as around ECF 150 (1800-ish). |
| Aztlan Badillo Garcia | MEX | (1383) | Born in 1996, U12 state champion 2008, finalist in U14 for 2009. |
| David McGladdery | ENG | (114) | Dave, from Hassocks in Sussex, played in the 2007 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 2½/5 in Amateur 2. He is a keen tournament competitor in the UK. |
| Luis Correa Vargas | MEX | (1192) | Born 1998, U10 state champion 2008. |
| Raul Vargas Salgado | MEX | (1156) | Born 1998, 3rd in 2008 state U10s, finalist for the 2009 U12 championship. |
| James Feeney |
GIB | (60) | James has played n the last four Gibtelecom Festivals. Last year he scored 2/5 in Amateur 2. |
