Four nations chess challenge

Oslo - Norway, 15 - 17 February 2008

Four Nations Chess Challenge will be a match between Norway, Sweden, England and Latvia in Oslo - Norway, 15 - 17 February 2008. It is a part of the preparation of the teams for the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Dresden 2008. For this reason the rate of play is 40 moves in 90 minutes and 30 minutes for the rest with 30 seconds increment per move.

The games will take place in Bridgesenteret, Oslo. All games from the Norway match and the top man and woman board (board 1 and 6) from the other match will be live on the internet. The other games will be available at Chessdom.com after every round. There will be live commentary at the playing venue by IM Torstein Bae. Entry is free and visitors are welcome.

England was the first to announce their team and today Mr. Dag Danielsen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Chess Federation, sent us the other teams together with the schedule.

Schedule

Round 1: Norway - Latvia, England - Sweden (start 17:00 CET)
Round 2: Norway - Sweden, England - Latvia (start 15:00 CET)
Round 3: Norway - England, Sweden - Latvia (start 10:00 CET)

Norway Chess team

1. GM Kjetil A. Lie 2556
2. GM Leif Erlend Johannessen 2521
3. GM Berge Ostenstad 2482
4. GM Rune Djurhuus 2452
5. IM Espen Lie 2428

Average rating men 2488

6. WIM Sheila B. Sahl 2227
7. WIM Ellen Hages�ther 2234
8. WFM Silje Bjerke 2162
9. Torill Skytte 1971
10. Yerazik Khachatourian 2044

Average rating women 2128

England chess team

1. GM Gawain Jones 2562
2. GM David Howell 2528
3. GM Peter Wells 2520
4. IM Stephen Gordon 2501
5. GM Stewart Haslinger 2495

Average rating men 2521

6. WGM Harriet Hunt 2457
7. WFM Sabrina Chevannes 2074
8. Kanwal Bhatia 2054
9. Sarah Hegarty 1974
10. Amisha Parmar 1995

Average rating women 2111

Sweden chess team

1. GM Emanuel Berg 2593
2. GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson 2567
3. GM Evgenij Agrest 2541
4. GM Jonny Hector 2520
5. GM Pontus Carlsson 2481

Average rating men 2540

6. GM Pia Cramling 2531
7. WIM Svetlana Agrest 2255
8. WIM Christin Andersson 2209
9. Inna Agrest 2121
10. Ellinor Frisk 2109

Average rating women 2245

Latvia chess team

1. GM Normunds Miezis 2553
2. GM Maris Krakops 2525
3. GM Evgeny Sveshnikov 2506
4. IM Arturs Neiksans 2470
5. Vitalijs Samolins 2444

Average rating men 2500

6. WGM Dana Reizniece 2309
7. WIM Ilze Berzina 2281
8. WIM Tatjana Voronova 2242
9. WFM Viktorija Ni 2132
10. WFM Renate Praude 2131

Average rating women 2219

Here is the invitation from the Norwegian Chess Federation emitted in September last year.

Oslo, 28/09/2007

Dear Friends,

The Norwegian Chess Federation hereby has the pleasure of inviting England, Latvia and Sweden (including the host nation Norway) to a four nations meet in chess.

The event will take place in Oslo from Friday 15 of February till Sunday 17 of February 2008. The match will be played on 10 boards with five female and five male players on all teams. There will be one round per day and we will use 90 minutes + 30 minutes with 30 seconds increment, the Olympic playing time.

The Norwegian Chess Federation pays for accomodation and meals during the stay, while the invited federations pay for their own players' travel expenses.

From our point of view this will be a positive initiative regarding our federation's prepatations for the Chess Olympiad in Dresden and we hope your federation is able to participate in this tournament. Please let us know by October 20 whether your federation is able to participate or not.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerly

Dag Danielsen General Secretary The Norwegian Chess Federation

Expect extensive coverage on Chessdom.com and official website.