Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #484

The A.F. Fink Amateur had an exciting finish Sunday night. George Sanguinetti went into the last round with a score of 5-0, a full point ahead of Jayakrishna Ramachandran and Hovik Manvelyan, but lost to the latter in a game that went the distance forcing a three-way tie for first. Anthony Corrales and John Donaldson directed the 36-player event held in memory of the world-class San Francisco problemist.

George Sanguinetti has forwarded results of the last two Wednesday Night Blitz events. Carlos D' Avila and Jorge Lopez shared top honors on March 3rd scoring 11 from 13. Arthur Ismakov was third with 10.5 in the 14-player round robin. Lopez shared first with Romy Fuentes with 10.5 from 12 on March 10. Jules Jelinek and Carlos D' Avila were equal third with 8.5 points in the 13 player round robin.

Last Sunday afternoon 35 chess fans came to the Mechanics' Institute to hear FM Daniel Naroditsky discuss his new book Mastering Positional Chess. Former US Champion Patrick Wolff , noted chess book collectors and historians Robert Moore and Ming Chen and San Francisco Chronicle reporter Steve Rubenstein were among those in attendance.

The Spring Tuesday Night Marathon starts this evening. The eight-round Swiss is open to all USCF members.

2) Mark Eudey

Former Mechanics' Trustee Bob Burger reports that Mark Wrede Eudey, one of the founders of the California Chess Reporter and a life-long friend of the Mechanics' Institute, died last year. Eudey, who was in his 90s at the time of his passing, was a man of many talents. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a PhD in Mathematics, Eudey worked for Cal Municipal Statistics for much of his life along with his good friend Guthrie McClain. They may have conceived of the idea for a new chess magazine while taking a break from statistical analysis of the viability of a public utility.

The two Cal grads and Dr. H.J. Ralston founded The California Chess Reporter in the summer of 1951 and it soon became the journal of record for chess players throughout the West. McClain was the public face behind the magazine, but Eudey played a vital role behind the scenes and worked for the periodical throughout its 25-year existence.

Eudey' professional career and family prevented him from playing as often he might have liked, but he found time to win several Castle Chess Club Championships, events composed primarily of Cal Berkeley graduates.

Bob Burger relates one anecdote about Eudey from the latter's days serving in the U.S. Air Force. During World War II the United States government needed to evaluate the effectiveness of its high altitude bombing campaign in Germany. To do this they required the services of someone who could parachute behind enemy lines and do statistical analysis of the bombing. Finding someone who could do the former wasn't so hard, and statisticians were around, but combining the two abilities must have produced a short list of candidates. Mark got the job but his report Study of Effectiveness of Certain Bombs Used Against German Industrial Targets, in which he reported that the bombing campaigns were not hitting their intended targets with the expected rate of success was not appreciated by higher-ups.

Hi everybody,
If you are in the San Francisco area on March 20th or 21st, then you are invited to my chess-Haiti fundraiser.

Cheers,
Lauren

Details are below:
You are cordially invited to the "Chess Diva" Chess-Haiti Fundraiser! Nationally ranked chess players Barbara and Lauren Goodkind, producers of the award winning local access TV show "Chess Diva," will play 5-minute blitz games against the public. Non chess players will find it entertaining to watch! Parents, bring your kids!

5) Here and There

Nakamura, Kamsky, 17 Others Confirmed for 2010 U.S. Chess Championship

By Mike Wilmering

Nineteen players have accepted invitations to the 2010 U.S. Championship, scheduled to be held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis May 13-25. Four wild card spots and the winner of the Internet Chess Club (ICC) State Champion of Champions online tournament, all yet to be determined, will round out the 24-player field.

International Master Anna Zatonskih won an automatic bid to the 2010 U.S. Championship as the winner of the 2009 U.S. Womens Championship, but had to decline because of prior commitments and familial obligations. Her invitation was extended to Grandmaster Ben Finegold, the next highest-listed player by rating according to the USCF's February rating supplement.

Each of the following eight players has accepted his invitation and has earned a bid to the championship by winning a qualifying event:

GM Hikaru Nakamura (2778): 2009 U.S. Champion
GM Larry Christiansen (2665): 2009 U.S. Senior Open Champion
GM Ray Robson (2623): 2009 U.S. Junior Champion
GM-elect Alex Lenderman (2649): T-1st 2009 U.S. Open
GM Alex Yermolinsky (2589): T-1st 2009 U.S. Open
GM Sergey Kudrin (2581): T-1st 2009 U.S. Open
GM Jesse Kraai (2560): T-1st 2009 U.S. Open
GM Dmitry Gurevich (2519): T-1st 2009 U.S. Open


Each of the following 11 players has accepted his invitation and has earned a bid by rating:

GM Gata Kamsky (2768)
GM Alexander Onischuk (2734)
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2699)
GM Yury Shulman (2682)
GM Jaan Ehlvest (2673)
GM Alexander Shabalov (2669)
GM Gregory Kaidanov (2643)
GM Robert Hess (2641)
GM Melikset Khachiyan (2629)
GM Joel Benjamin (2621)
GM Ben Finegold (2616)


This year's prize fund is being increased from $135,000 to more than $170,000 with a grand prize of $35,000, a minimum of $3,000 for last place and more funds going to second place in particular ($20,000 as compared to $15,000 in 2009). The prize fund is differentiated at every single place with the exception of the fourth- and fifth-place finishers, who will both receive $10,000.

"We are proud to present the largest per capita prize fund in U.S. Championship history," said Tony Rich, executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. Darwin Yang, a 13-year-old Senior Master from Texas is leading with 2.5/3 in the SPICE Spring Invitational, held at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Standings after 4 rounds:

1. FM Darwin Yang and GM Julio Becerra-3
2-3. IM Dean Ippolito-2.5
4-5. IM Gergely Antal and IM Gabor Papp-2
6- GM Ben Finegold- 1.5 (with one game to play)
7-8. IM Davorin Kuljasevic and FM Eric Hansen- 1.5
9. IM Irina Krush-1 (with one game to play)
10. GM Jesse Kraai-1


The GM norm for the event is 6 points and the IM norm is 4 points.

Los Angeles IM Dr. Anthony Saidy reports that on March 14 a copy of Alessandro Salvio's Trattato dell'Inventione et Arte Liberale del Gioco Degli Scacchi, which was published in Naples in 1604, sold for $4,716 on E-Bay. Salvio was considered to be one of the best players and analysts of his day.