13th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International

25 Sept - 3 Oct 2004

GM Jonathan Rowson of Troon finished 3rd= in the Monarch Assurance, Isle of Man Masters. Rowson recovered from a round 5 loss to the veteran Viktor Korchnoi to score 6.5/9 including the scalp of 2601 rated US GM Nakamura. The little known 22-year-old Iranian GM Ghaem Maghami finished first on tie break ahead of the Russian GM Kiriakov both on 7/9.

The official tournament home page is run by John Saunders editor of the British Chess Magazine.

The prizegiving ceremony contained extracts of the Tim Rice/Abba collaboration Chess performed by the Manx Operatic Society. Soviet defector Korchnoi (on whom the musical was largely based) was presented to the cast and wittily commented that he was, “still with my Florence”, a reference to the lead female character and Korchnoi's wife.

Jonathan Rowson (left)	Korchnoi meets Chess cast
Jovanka Houska and Keti Arakhamia share Ladies Prize

 

 

Isle of Man Venue	Above Port Erin
Jonathan Rowson	Kete Arakhamia
Colin McNab	Steve Mannion
Ian Marks	Alan Grant

Photos by Scottish internationalist Helen Milligan