24th April, 2003

ONLY in the week of the English celebrating St George's Day! Just prior
to Nigel Short's memorable victory in Budapest, another English chess
success was achieved in the Hungarian capital as 12-year-old East Sussex
wunderkind David Howell became the youngest westerner to win an
International Master event - and in doing so finally achieved his first
IM norm.

Playing in the April edition of Laszo Nagy's First Saturday tournament
that ran 5-18 April, Howell was at his devastating best as he
obliterated the field. Showing a maturity of play that belied his age,
Howell scored 7.5/9 (seven wins!) and his margin of victory was such
that he finished 1.5-points ahead of nearest rival (and the only player
he lost to in the tournament), Hungarian top seed IM Miklos Galyas - and
in doing so, the youngster almost achieved a GM performance with a TPR
of 2563.

Although the Hunguest Hotels "Talent and Courage" tournament was one of
the strongest Hungarian events in 75 years, Nagy's First Saturday
tournaments, held in their traditional rooms of the Hungarian Chess
Federation beside the Hungarian Parliament, have become world-famous and
continue to be excellent opportunities for ambitious players to make
their norms or achieve FIDE ratings. As the name implies, these events
begin on the first Saturday of every month "with the punctuality of a
Swiss watch," in Laszlo's own words.

First started in 1991, the tournament has attracted players from every
country in the world who were in the hunt for a norm or a rating - even
a future world championship contender! En route to becoming the world's
youngest GM in 1993, Peter Leko scored a GM norm at a First Saturday
tournament.

S Farago - D Howell
First Saturday, (3)
Ruy Lopez
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 a4
Bb7 9 c3 d5 10 d3 Na5 11 Bc2 dxe4 12 dxe4 Qxd1 13 Bxd1 Bxe4 14 Nxe5 Bd6
15 Nd2 Bd5 16 b4 Rae8 17 Nef3 Rxe1+ 18 Nxe1 Re8 19 Kf1 Nc4 20 Be2 Nxd2+
21 Bxd2 Ne4 22 Nf3 Be5 23 Ra3 c6 24 Be1 Bf6 25 axb5 axb5 26 Nd4 Nd6 27
Ra6 Bxd4 28 cxd4 Nf5 29 Bc3 g6 30 Bf3 Bc4+ 31 Kg1 Nxd4 32 Bxc6 Ne2+ 33
Kh1 Rd8 0-1

JOHN B HENDERSON