St Petersburg Times, Russia
Dec 29 2004

China Wins 1st Internet Chess International

THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

The world’s first international chess tournament played over the
Internet ended Thursday with China clinching an unexpected victory
ahead of France, Russia and Armenia.

The Tigran Petrosian Internet Memorial tournament was held in
commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the birth of the late world
chess champion Tigran Petrosian, an Armenian. Each four-player team
played six rounds.

China was the lowest-ranked team, but finished with 14 points to
Russia’s and France’s 13, but France beat Russia on tiebreaks to take
second place. Armenia finished with 8 points.

The St. Petersburg Chess Federation with the support of the city
government and the Armenian community in St. Petersburg were among
the organizers of the competition, which took place Dec. 18 to 23.

The teams of the four competing countries fought it out for $55,000
in prize money without leaving their home countries.

The Russian team of Pyotr Shvidler, Alexander Khalifman, Alexei
Dreyev and Vadim Zvyagintsev played in St. Petersburg under
supervision of French referee Jean-Claude Templeur.

“Apart from the handshake, the playing conditions resembled the
conditions of any high-level tournament,” Templeur said. “Whether you
are playing on the Internet under official supervision or meeting
your opponent face-to-face seems not to matter much.”

“This tournament has shown that from now on it will be possible to
play chess under realistic sporting conditions from any part of the
planet, where you live,” he said. “Why don’t we dream of huge opens
played at 50 or 100 sites around the world. After my experience here
in St. Petersburg, I know that this is already possible.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress