INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The world’s two best players have jumped into the lead in the first great tournament of 1999. After five rounds of the Hoogovens tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Garry Kasparov of Russia has an outstanding score of 4 1/2- 1/2, and Viswanathan Anand of India is close behind at 4-1. Four other members of the world’s top ten, Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Alexey Shirov (Spain) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), share third place at 3-2.

Kasparov yielded a draw to Ivanchuk in the first round, then reeled off successive victories against Loek Van Wely (Netherlands), 1996 U.S. champion Alex Yermolinsky (Ohio), Topalov and Dimitri Reinderman (Netherlands). Although Kasparov had played no serious chess since May, he showed no signs of rust, achieving a fantastic 3003 performance rating.

Anand’s three wins came against slightly easier opposition, but confirm that he is near top form. The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the 10th round of the 13-round event.

The Hoogovens tournament also features a blitz tournament (five-minute chess) on the first free day. All the stars of the grandmaster event, except Shirov, participated. Kasparov won with an impressive 10 1/2-2 1/2 score, drawing Kramnik, Van Wely and Yermolinsky and losing to Shirov’s replacement, IM Manuel Bosboom (Netherlands). Anand and Ivanchuk tied for second at 9-4, Ivan Sokolov (Bosnia) finished fourth at 8 1/2-4 1/2, and Russian champion Peter Svidler achieved the only other plus score, 8-5.

The World Chess Federation (FIDE) has abandoned plans to hold its 100-player world championship tournament in Las Vegas this summer. The organization has not announced when or where the event will take place. It was originally planned for Las Vegas in December 1998.

Bobby Fischer, the 55-year-old former world champion, made a rare public appearance Jan. 13 in Budapest. Fischer, who has lived in Hungary since 1993, gave a live interview on a Hungarian radio station. The interviewer had to cut short the broadcast when Fischer repeatedly made vicious comments about “the Jewish conspiracy,” quoted admiringly from “Mein Kampf,” and denied that the Holocaust had occurred. Later he accused the interviewer of being part of the conspiracy against him.

Fischer did make a more rational complaint. He claims that he pays someone to store his belongings in the United States, and that the person has begun to sell his property to collectors of Fischer memorabilia.

LOCAL NEWS

Stephen Jones and Ed Cohen tied for first place with scores of 3 1/2- 1/2 last weekend in the 23-player Southern California Senior Championship, the state championship for players over age 50. It’s the third straight year that Jones has earned a share of the title. Robert Harshbarger, who won his first three games before losing to Jones, finished third at 3-1. Class prizes went to Mike Nagaran, Frank Burke, Peter Joseph, Richard Martin and Anthony Klimas (who defeated a player rated 770 points higher).

Defending champion Charles Van Buskirk and Harmonto (who uses only one name) scored 3 1/2- 1/2 to share first place in the Irvine Game/60 Championship, a tournament of one-hour games. Alan Compton and Roger Bowen shared under-1800 honors with 3-1 scores, and Jeff MacGurn scored 2-2 to finish as best under-1600. There were 20 players.

The fifth annual Warner Winter Scholastic tournament will be held Jan. 30 at Warner Elementary School, 615 Holmby Ave. in Westwood. Any student in grades K-12 may enter the four-round Advanced section. Students in grades K-5 who are unrated or rated less than 700 may enter the five-round Booster section. Call Vicki Feldman at (310) 470-1868 for more information.

Colette McGruder, the only competitor from Southern California, won the Region XI Women’s Championship two weeks ago in Palo Alto. The annual tournament honors the best female players in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.

Nathan Hala, Steve Labollita and Colette McGruder won prizes at the Chess Academy tournament last Sunday. The club, at 1335 N. La Brea Ave. in Hollywood, runs 30-minute tournaments every Sunday at 11 a.m. and simultaneous exhibitions by GM Eduard Gufeld Sundays at 3 p.m. For details, call (323) 883-0164.

For a list of 38 places to play chess, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Jack Peters/Chess, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.