Correspondence games played at IECC, IECG, SEMI

 My chess links are here.

 All my games you find here here.

 Royal Open 1998 Prelininary (4/6 = 67%). - My first email tournament. The tournament was nicely organised by Narcis Crnic from Sveden. I started as an unrated player. More than 150 Chessplayer from all over the world participated, among them there were several master players rating 2400 and above. In my group there were at least 3 experienced chess players: IM Patrice Verdier (2400), Eric Benatar (2240) and Martin Alvebrink (2050). I decided to play solid games with white. With the black pieces I wanted to try the Latvian gambit and to have at least some fun. With this strategy I hoped to reach the next round. I managed to draw against Verdier, reached a draw against Eric Benatar with black pieces plaing a Latvian gambit and I won against Martin Alvebring. I proceeded into the next round. See the games.

 Royal Open 1998 Semifinal (2,5/4 =60%). - In this group 5 players competed: IM Virginijus Dambrauskas (2400), Göran Carlson (2350), Jan Malström (2250) Jerry Svendson and me. Only the winner could proceed to the final round. In the game with Virginius I chose solid Spanish and did not play the Latvian Gambit (maybe he expected that). With Göran I played an interesting dragon (draw after a hard fight). With Jan I played a Benko gambit and also in this game it was not easy to reach a draw. I had no problem to win the game with Jerry. So I became second in the Semifinale., IM Dambrauskas became first. See the games.

 IECC CL2 1998 (3/4 = 75%). - The first tournament in IECC. I played with Barlian Junaidi, Todd Andrews, David Hughes and Cameron Coltharp. During the game with Barlian (Froms gambit), I unfortunately made a mistake (send a wrong move). After this, I had to resign immediately. However I could win all other games and earned an award to play within the master group. See the games.

 IECC CL2 1999 (3/4 = 75%). - Here I met Deursen (2134), Mauro Scacco (2100), Dimitri Belov and Jonny Owens. See the games.

 IECC Thematic Latvian Gambit (4/4 = 100%). Opponents: Jonny Owens, Jeff Carlton. I won all games. Here are the games.

 IECC Thematic Smith Morra Gambit (1,5/2 =75%) - Don Femmel (2107). I won my black game, white game drawn. Here are the games.

 IECC International Team (8,5/10 = 85%): Milan Vujadinovic (2188), LW Luk (2154), Don Reithel (2150) a very friendly, experienced CC Player (and author). The games with Don Reithel (Warall Attack and a Latvian game) are both very nice ones. I also played games with Terry Taylor (2340) and Agustin Correa (CAPA) from Argentinia . Here are the games.

 IECG N 1998 (6,5/7 = 93%) - I applied for a membership in IECG in 1998. Starting with a rating of 900 I participated a tournament with low rated chess players. I won all games except one, in which I drew. After this tournament my rating was adjusted to 1900 by Ortwin Paetzold. See the games.

 IECG World Cup 2003 Preliminary (7,5/10 = 75%) - Since I was cowinner of the N tournament in 1999, I had the permission to take part in the WC 2003 Preliminary. The average rating in this tournament was only 1624. However the players were all winners from other tournaments and soon I found out that winning here was very difficult. At the end of the tournamen I was second (7,5 out of 10, which is a good result). I could win my games against Sergio Quadri (2047), Luc Sheepmaker (1627), Umberto Starace (1979) and Antonio Roldan (1448). In five games I only reached a draw. In the game with Pascal Roques (2071) I made an early mistake. However I could manage to get an unclear position and the game ended with a surprising stale mate. See the games.

 IECG World Cup 2003 Quarterfinale (5,5/8 = 69%) - In this tournament the mean rating was 2143. Here I met strong correspondence chess players, among them the IECG Champion 1999 Wilfried Braakhuis (2353), Jan Luc Duriez (2266) and Junior Tay (2208). I am proud that I hve won my game against Junior Tay, who was a member of the singapur olympic team. He has commented our game in ccnews69. Although I was leading during the tournament temporarily, I finally became 3rd behind Ingo Sander and Junnior Tay and was allowed to proceed to the semifinals. See the games.

 IECG World Cup 2003 Semifinal ( = %) - Now this is a really difficult competion. There are 6 groups with 11 players in each group. Average rating is ~2340. I have white pieces against Milan Martin (2462), Bernd Hoenig (2374), Raivo Raidna (2362), Gerhard Brueckel (2330) and Harilos Karabalis (2180). Black pieces I have in games with Jan Willem Schoonhoven (2662), Carl Siefring (2422), Andrzej Zawadka (2347), Manfred Fritz (2342), and Karl Heinz Weber (2291). My own rating in IECG is still only 1967(Okt 2002), which is the lowest rating of all finalists ...
Okt 2002: Bad, bad news I had to stop this tournament after two month of play and resign all games because of severe private reasons. I am very sorry for this ...

3rd World Championship Latvian Gambit Preliminary (4,5/6 = 75%). - Twelve groups, five players each (~60 competitors). Only one could player of each group could proceed to the semifinal . I played games with Joop Simmellink (2400), Michael Stewart (games were cancelled), Giorgio Perez and Ricardo Caponero. I could win all my white games and win my black game with Caponero. The black game with Simmellink I could draw. So I became first and proceeded to the Semifinale. See the games, See my game tree.

 3rd World Championship Latvian Gambit Semifinal (8/12 = 66%). - The semifinal is played in two groups, 7 players (12 games). Three players of each group could proceed to the final. I had to play Games with Bruno Gentinetta (2248), Ivano Zaniratti (2043), Michael Downey (2372), Francesco Trani (2224), David Koetsier (2440) and Roberto Rozzoni (1712). I won all my white games and could win two black games. I became second behind the World Champion Michael Downey (9.5/12!) and will proceed to the final, yeah! See the games, See my game tree.

 3^rd World Championship Latvian Gambit Final (7.5/10 = 75%). - The final is a real challange. Of course all players are ambitious and have quite a lot of experience. Downey, Laderchi and Gaard have played more than 200 Latvian games each. Rozzoni and Fredriksen also have scored well in treir previous games. My goal of course was to win all white games and try for a draw (or even a win) in the black games. I thought that 3.Ne5 would the best chance for white and trusted Budovskis move 7.d3. I scored 4,5/5 with white. The game Bartsch-Laderchi I could not win. With the black pieces I lost no game. This is a really good success and I think I have done something to keep the Latvian gambit alive. The last game Gaard-Bartsch was just has been finished and I am World Champion 2003. See the games.