Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #431

Anand belongs to the group of players called "œintuitive." It means that they choose the majority of their moves based on intuition, not calculation. Karpov is another example of such a player. On the other hand, Kasparov was a player who tended to start examining a position by calculating enormous amounts of variations. It doesn't mean that Kasparov's intuition was bad, it just shows a different approach to chess. By the way, Vishy's calculation is incredibly fast. Anyone who has had a chance to discuss variations with him can confirm that it is very hard to keep up with his speed.

Gregory Kaidanov - Chess Life, January 2009, p. 29

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Alex Onischuk wins Moscow Open
3) Peter Svidler wins Gibraltar Open
4) Northwest Chess: Over 60 years old
5) Upcoming Events                                                                         
Don't miss the People's Open in Berkeley this coming Sunday and Monday.

    1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

IM Ricardo DeGuzman and Expert Romulo Fuentes tied for first in the 47 player 9^th Annual Henry Gross Memorial held February 7^th. The two winners, who scored 4.5 points in the five round event, did not play each other.



      Expert Oleg Shaknazarov continues to lead the Winter Tuesday Marathon after 6 rounds with 5 points with a large group trailing him at 4.5 with two rounds remaining.

      Good luck to Sam Shankland, Mark Pinto, Daniel and Alan Naroditsky who will be journeying down to Los Angeles this weekend to play in the US Amateur Team West.

NM Robert Burger, has this to say about Grandmaster Chess (California Chess Reporter 1975), a record of Lone Pine 1975, one of the best books ever published on an American tournament:



Th  There was never a copyright on the book -- it was a labor of love. The idea came from Jude Acers. The resources came from Guthrie McClain and the Reporter's office, and a lot of the backing and filling from me. In those days we (I) set the diagrams by hand, one square at a time, with lead, in my basement. We proofed them on a 1880 Challenge 8x12 press, in the same basement. My secretary typed the thing on paper plates, after the diagrams were in position. And we printed it on a multilith, with "perfect binding" by a friend of ours who worked for martinis. The pleasure was in just doing it. For Mac, it was sort of a coda to his career in chess. Just the mention of the book brings strong memories back.

2)    2) Alex Onischuk wins Moscow Open

     GM Alex Onischuk turned in an outstanding performance to win the Moscow Open with a score of 7.5 from 9 good for a performance of over 2800. The strength of the field in the Moscow Open can be judged by the fact 40 of the first 50 finishers were GMs. Rated 2659 going into the event, and with 14 ratings in his pocket from Merida, Alex looks to have achieved a career high in rating after Moscow and looks to be around 2690. The two other American players competing, GM Jaan Ehlvest and IM Ray Robson, had 6 and 5 points respectively.

1. GM Onischuk (USA, 2659) - 7Â½/9
2-6. GMs Tiviakov (NED, 2685), Inarkiev (RUS, 2656), Nepomniachtchi
(RUS, 2628), Korotylev (RUS, 2587)and Iordachescu (MDA, 2584) â€“ 7, etc.
(318 players).

3)    3) Peter Svidler wins Gibraltar Open



      Last week we gave incorrect information on the Gibraltar Open which was actually 10 and not 9 rounds. Peter Svidler and Vadim Milov scored 8 out of 10 with Svidler taking first in a playoff. American GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian tied for third place with 7.5 while top ranked American women Irina Krush and Ana Zatonskih both ended with 6 points. All US players performed above their rating.

Final standings:
1-2. Svidler and V.Milov - 8
3-6. Gashimov, Akobian, Nakamura and Berg - 7Â½
7-11. Dzagnidze, Stefanova, I.Sokolov and P.Cramling - 7, etc.

5)    4) Northwest Chess: Over 60 years old

Everyone knows that the oldest continuously published monthly chess magazine in the world is the British Chess Magazine which dates back to 1881 but what is the oldest in the United States? The answer, which is not too surprising, is Chess Life which started out as a newspaper in 1946. One could also claim 1933 as that was the year Chess Review was founded and it merged with Chess Life in 1969.

Much more challenging is to come up with the second oldest magazine still coming out like clockwork each month. One that has been around since 1947 and has produced well over 700 issues! Give up? Try Northwest Chess, the source of chess of chess news for players from Washington, Oregon and occasionally Idaho and British Columbia for seven different decades.

The Everett Chess Letter, which started in the summer of 1947, became the Washington Chess Letter in November of 1947. The magazine changed names a couple of times through the years, first to the Northwest Chess Letter and later to its present name of Northwest Chess. The 29 editors have included internationally known figures like IM Nikolay Minev and such well known regional and national personalities as Robert Karch and Rusty Miller. The past decade has been quite stable with only four editors; Peter Prochaska, Phillip Peterson, Fred Kleist and the current chief Ralph Dubisch, who produces the magazine from his home in San Jose.

5) Upcoming Events

MI Events - full details at www.chessclub.org

A.J. Fink Amateur Championship - March 14-15
Max Wilkerson Open - March 28
Walter Lovegrove Senior Open - April 4-5
Imre Konig Memorial - April 18

Northern California

People's Open ( Berkeley) February 15-16

Hans Poschmann Memorial ( Fremont) March 21-22

Southern California

February 14-16
26th Annual U.S. Amateur Team West
6-SS, 40/2, SD/1. Warner Center Marriott, 21850 Oxnard Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.
Four-player teams plus optional alternate, average rating of four highest must be U/2200, diff. between bds. 3 & 4 may not exceed 1000. Dec. list used.
EF: $118 per team if received by 2-13, $30 individual (on line only), $136 at site, under age 18 $86 by 2-13, $100 site.
Trophies and 4 clocks to top 3 teams, U2100, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400/unr. Trophies (1 large, 4 small) to top college, industrial, junior (under 18), Senior (over 55), U1200. Clocks to best score each board, alternate, and any 6-0. Gift certificate prizes for best team names (1st/2nd).
Reg.: 8:30-10 a.m. 2-14.
Rds.: 11-6, 11-6, 10-4:30.
HR: $119, 800-228-9290, ask for Western Chess. Reserve by Jan. 23 or rates may go up. Parking $6.
Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N Wilton Place #1A, Los Angeles, CA 90038. On-line entry, help in forming teams, advance entry list: www.westernchess.com.
NS, NC, W. F. WCL JGP.
2009 U.S. Amateur Team Playoff will be held March 21, 2009 on ICC.

Mar. 6-8 or 7-8 Western Chess Congress GPP: 100 Enhanced California Northern

5SS, 40/2, SD/1 (2-day option, rds. 1-2 G/75; U1100 & U900 sections are 6SS, 3/7-8 only, G/65). Concord Hilton Hotel, 1970 Diamond Blvd, Concord CA 94520 (I-680 Willow Pass Rd exit). Free shuttle between hotel and Concord BART station. Free parking. In 8 sections. $$G 20,000. Premier, open to all over 1950 and juniors under 18 over 1800: $1600-900-500-300, clear or tiebreak winner $100, top U2300 $800-400. FIDE. Under 2100: $1400-700-400-300. Under 1900: $1400-700-400-300. Under 1700: $1400-700-400-300. Under 1500: $1200-600-300-200. Under 1300: $1200-600-300-200. Under 1100: $600-300-200-100. Under 900: $600-300-200-100. Unrated must play in U1900 or below with maximum prize U1900 $600, U1700 $500, U1500 $400, U1300 $300, U1100 $200, U900 $100; balance goes to next player(s) in line. Top 6 sections EF: 4-day $119, 3-day $119, 2-day $118 mailed by 2/26, all $120 online at chesstour.com by 3/3, $125 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 3/3 (entry only, no questions), $140 at site. U1100, U900 Sections EF: $57 mailed by 2/26, $60 online at chesstour.com by 3/3 (entry only, no questions), $65 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 3/3, $70 at site. All: FREE TO UNRATED. Unofficial uschess.org ratings based on 4 or more games usually used if otherwise unrated. Special 1 yr USCF dues with Chess Life if paid with entry: online at chesstour.com $30; mailed, phoned or paid at site $40. Re-entry (except Master) $60. Mailed EF $7 less to rated CalChess members. 3-day schedule: Reg. Fri to 6:30 pm, rds Fri 7:30, Sat 11-6, Sun 9-3:30. 2-day schedule: Reg Sat to 10 am, rds Sat 11-2:30-6, Sun 9:30-4. U1100 & U900 schedule: Reg. Sat to 11:30 am, rds. Sat. 12-3-6, Sun. 9-12:30-3:30. All schedules: Byes OK all, limit 2, must commit before rd 3 and have under 2 pts. HR: $99-99-109, 925-827-2000, reserve by 2/20 or rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD #D657633. Questions: chesstour.com, 845-496-9658. Ent: Continental Chess, c/o Goichberg, Box 661776, Arcadia CA 91066. $15 service charge for withdrawals. Advance entries posted at chesstour.com. WCL JGP.